Author: ernopepper

301. Sarah Davachi

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(December 2020) Episode 301 is SARAH DAVACHI, a contemporary sound artist and composer of music best described as drone.  She mainly uses analog synthesizers and acoustic instruments, a welcome throwback to the electric music pioneers of the 1970s, which I love. Her approach creates compositions that are both serious music and suitable for meditation or contemplation, quite distinct from the shallow, cloying stuff marketed as New Age.  Check her out.

Favorite album: Barons Court

Favorite song: Buhrstone

Compared to expectations: ↑

300. Aretha Franklin

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(November 2020) Episode 300 is ARETHA FRANKLIN. If there were a Mount Rushmore of American Voices, the Queen of Soul would surely be on it.  And yet, at risk of sacrilege, I find her voice to be too overpowering at times, dominating songs and even entire albums that would benefit from a little modulation. Her 60s classics are essential (also providing a soundtrack to the civil rights era) and her talents defined soul through the 70s, but avoid anything from the late 70s and 80s.   

Favorite album: Lady Soul

Favorite song: (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Favorite song written by Aretha: Think

Worst album: La Diva

Compared to expectations: ↓

299. The Glands

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(November 2020) Episode 299 of the “opus project” is THE GLANDS. Melodic, catchy lo-fi indie rock.  Being from Athens, GA, I would have thought them part of the Elephant 6 collective; they’re not, but they sure sound like it. Also, a great band name.

Favorite album: The Glands

Favorite song: i can see my house from here

Compared to expectations: ↑

298. Jonathan Richman

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(November 2020) Episode 298 is JONATHAN RICHMAN. The Troubadour of Boston. I became a fan early on with the proto-punkish Modern Lovers songs that made him a cult favorite.  But to be honest, the solo work that followed was disappointing.  The songs are simple and pleasant, but would be better enjoyed in a coffeehouse rather than by listening to albums, and they never attained the cleverness or weirdness of the early stuff.

Favorite album: The Modern Lovers

Favorite song: Pablo Picasso

Compared to expectations: ↓

297. Jon Gibson

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(November 2020) Episode 297 of the “opus project” is JON GIBSON, begun after his passing last month.  A woodwind player and founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, he was at the center of the minimalist movement, and I mean literally: Gibson played the premieres of Riley’s “In C,” Reich’s “Drumming” and “Reed Phase,” and Glass’s “Music in 12 Parts.”  But he also composed fine minimalist/avant-garde pieces of his own, which is what is covered in this episode.

Favorite album: Two Solo Pieces

Favorite “song:” Relative Calm: I. “Rise”

Compared to expectations: same

296. Mötley Crüe

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(November 2020) Episode 296 of the “opus project” is MÖTLEY CRÜE. They stood out from the hair metal crowd by pushing all the buttons: a mix of cock rock, double kick pedal thrashers and power ballads, a party/bad boy reputation they more than lived up to, Hollywood glam, theatrics, a devil name-drop, and of course the umlauts.

Favorite album: Shout at the Devil

Favorite song: Looks That Kill

Compared to expectations: same

295. Modest Mussorgsky

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(October 2020) Episode 295 is MODEST MUSSORGSKY.  Composer of the well-known Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain and Boris Gudonov (but that’s about all you need to know).  One of a group of Russian romantics who incorporated Russian national aesthetics (although not subversively aimed at national liberation, as contemporaries from other nations did), Mussorgsky did not leave a large oeuvre as he held a day job, was an alcoholic and died young.

Favorite piece: Night on Bald Mountain

Compared to expectations: same

An absolute unit.

294. ZZ Top

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Episode 294 is ZZ TOP. There are tons of boogie-blues bands out there, but none finer than ZZ Top, who stand out with their tight, top-notch musicianship, wry lyrics and proclivity for funky grooves. While their 80s synth- and gated drum-laden songs and videos were their height of popularity, I prefer the Texas BBQ-drenched 70s classics we grew up on, like “Cheap Sunglasses.”  I still chuckle that Frank Beard is the only member without a beard.

Favorite album: Tres Hombres

Favorite song: La Grange

Compared to expectations: same

Best inside-album cover ever:

293. Wendy Carlos

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(October 2020) Episode 293 is WENDY CARLOS. A pioneer of electronic music and arguably its earliest popularizer through her synthesized versions of classical works (like “Switched on Bach”).  You may know her best through the excellent soundtrack to “A Clockwork Orange.”  While the classical albums presented the possibilities of Moogs, it was her own compositional explorations that proved most influential — “Sonic Seasonings” practically invented the New Age and ambient genres. 

Favorite album: Sonic Seasonings

Favorite song: Spring

Compared to expectations: same

292. Chuck Berry

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Episode 292 is CHUCK BERRY. Of the Founders of Rock ‘n Roll, he is the most important. He cemented the guitar as its primary idiom, not only for the intro and the solo, but as an essential lyrical element on par with voice (see: “School Days”).  Plus, his antics and teen-focused, innuendo-filled lyrics set the form and attitude of rock.  Like his fellow Founders, his early hits are the essential stuff, and the subsequent albums are largely redundant, unless you really love old-timey rock ‘n roll. But to his credit, he never departed from his commitment to it (as in, he never had a disco phase). 

Favorite album: Chuck Berry Is On Top

Favorite song: Johnny B. Goode

Compared to expectations: same