Category: Episodes

678. Hermano

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(September 2025) Episode 678 is HERMANO. This stoner rock band was more a side project of John Garcia of Kyuss, but it’s worth knowing their 3.5 albums of material. The “stoner” label comes from the guitar tone. Applied with groove and tempo, you get Hermano and bands like Fu Manchu – as distinct from stoner metal with its slower if not drone pace and backgrounded vocals (the apex of which is Sleep). The latter is my preference, although I enjoyed Hermano. I also included the sole album Garcia recorded as UNIDA.

Favorite album: Dare I say…

Favorite song: The Bottle

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The first two albums are the best.

676. Gojira

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(September 2025) Episode 676 is GOJIRA. A big part of the enjoyment of this metal act from France is that they don’t confine themselves to one style; it’s a mix of thrash, death, nu, groove, prog and math metal, both within and across songs (not unlike Sepultura). This French stew has made them a national icon – they were the first metal band to play at an Olympic opening ceremony (Paris 2024) – and international status. Environmentalism is a recurring lyrical theme. Joe Duplantier’s pick scrape technique is a nice distinctive touch.

Favorite album: From Mars to Sirius

Favorite song: Flying Whales

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I think From Mars to Sirius, The Way of All Flesh and L’Enfant Sauvage are their best albums; Magma is their most acclaimed but my least favorite.

675. Scott Walker

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(September 2025) Episode 675 is SCOTT WALKER. I did this episode because I knew he gained a cult following for avant-garde music later in his career. What I didn’t realize was the slog it would take to get there. I have never understood the popularity or appeal of The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Well, the Walker Brothers (not their real names) sound just like that, a deep baritone voice over grandiose string-laden arrangements. Not my cup of tea. Scott largely continued that style when he went solo. But he started to move in an unorthodox direction in the 1980s, and by the 1990s was releasing full avant-garde recordings. It is interesting stuff, if nothing else than for being eccentric. But by the time I got there, I was so tired of his distinctive voice that it didn’t work for me.

Favorite album: Bish Bosch

Favorite song: SDSS1416+13B (Zercon, A Flagpole Sitter)

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: I can’t, really, although I acknowledge his cult following.

674. Odetta

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(September 2025) Episode 674 is ODETTA. She was an influential figure in the American folk revival in the 1950s and 1960s. Her biographies are full of famous names crediting her as an inspiration. She also contributed her voice and music to the civil rights movement. Odetta’s voice is distinctive for being deeper and lower in the register than similar singers, especially early in her career. While the bulk of the songs are folk, her music did touch on blues, jazz and spirituals.

Favorite song: It’s a Mighty World

Favorite song: Deportee

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The albums from 1962’s Odetta and the Blues and 1965’s Odetta Signs Dylan are her best work.

673. Žibuoklė Martinaitytė

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(September 2025) Episode 673 is  ŽIBOUKLĖ MARTINAITYTĖ. At this point deep into the Project, there aren’t many artists that WOW me anymore. So it is an uplifting surprise when I discover one. Žibuoklė Martinaitytė WOWed me. She is a Lithuanian classical composer who creates works that use tension and layers that transport you to unsettling, haunting and dynamic spaces. I’m not enough of a musicologist to be able to label it, but I’ve listened to enough contemporary ‘classical’ artists to say that there is an identifiable style with common elements among several 21st century (mostly women) composers* (call it post-post-minimalism?). And Žibuoklė Martinaitytė is among them. I love her work. And I hope to dig deeper into this field.

Favorite piece: Saudade

Favorite orchestral piece: Sielunmaisema

Favorite orchestral piece: Chant des Voyelles

Favorite album: Hadal Zone

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Start out with any of the pieces above. She has several CD-length recordings that are good compilations, including Horizons, In Search of Lost Beauty… and Ex Tenebris Lux

* Caroline Shaw, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, among others.         

672. Rhiannon Giddens

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(August 2025) Episode 672 of the “opus project” is RHIANNON GIDDENS. It is both impossible and unfair to apply a simple label to her music. It’s folk unbounded by convention, Americana unlimited by geography, and old-timey music beyond mere reinterpretation. On All the Pretty Horses she brings in British/Irish folk elements; on the two albums with Francesco Turrisi, Italian songs. Freedom Highway explores the African-American experience. You’re the One is more pop, while on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, Giddens returns to her fiddle & banjo roots. And she co-wrote an opera (Omar) with Michael Abels. I covered is just the listed solo work; there is a multitude of collaborations beyond. Whatever the style, it’s usually an interesting listen. My one fault is that her strong voice can tend to overpower songs that recommend a softer touch.

Favorite song: Freedom Highway

Favorite song: At the Purchaser’s Option

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Freedom Highway is the strongest album, but There Is No Other and They’re Calling Me Home (both with Turrisi) are the most interesting.

671. Sonny Boy Williamson

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(August 2025) Episode 671 is SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON. This is John Lee Curtis Williamson, now known to historians as Sonny Boy Williamson I to distinguish from a contemporary who used the same name.  He’s known for popularizing the harmonica (blues harp) as an essential blues instrument. His recording career in the 1930s and 40s was relatively short due to his murder at a young age. But it’s a solid collection of Chicago-style blues punctuated by his harmonica skills.

Favorite song: Good Morning Little School Girl

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: A classic acoustic blues sound.

670. The Spinners

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(August 2025) Episode 670 is THE SPINNERS. They started out as an R&B vocal group in Detroit and, naturally, signed to the Motown label. But it wasn’t until the beginning of the 1970s, which they switched to Atlantic, that they found success with hits like “I’ll be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” and “The Rubberband Man.” It’s not bad but I put them in a lower tier; they lack the groove and funk of many contemporaries. The Spinners are identified with “Philadelphia soul,” marked by lush strong and horn arrangements, which is not my preferred soul/funk sound.

Favorite album: Spinners

Favorite song: The Rubberband Man

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The albums from 1973-75 are their best work.

669. Glenn Branca

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(August 2025) Episode 669 of the “opus project” is GLENN BRANCA. A shorthand way of describing his work is this what you would get by combining Sonic Youth and Steve Reich. Or minimalism with loud guitars. He came out of the no wave movement (thus the connection to SY) and became known for composing in conventional form (13 symphonies) with very unconventional orchestration, such as a full orchestra of amplified, alternately and microtonally tuned guitars. What it produces is a wall of noise, often unsettling to the ear, droning with subtle or negligible shifts in pitch and rhythm. He did experiment with different instruments and had a few vocal tracks. This is not easy listening music, but I find it fascinating.

Favorite album: The Ascension

Favorite song: The Smoke (Guitar Concerto for Arad Evans)

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Not for everyone, but it may appeal to those with a taste for the avant-garde and experimental.

668. Esoteric

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(August 2025) Episode 668 is ESOTERIC. This is called funeral doom metal. It’s slow, loud, ponderous, and with a growl, but lacks any melody or discernable structure. Each song is a 12-15 minute long dirge. The result is a wall of sound, a cinematic soundtrack of Hell. It certainly produces its intended quality, and I appreciate the audacity of it. But sonically, I prefer the pure straight-out-of-the-speaker sound of traditional doom/metal guitars to what Esoteric is doing. And after a while it all sounds the same.

Favourite album: The Pernicious Enigma

Favourite song: Circle

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: It’s certainly not for everyone. I might find it better as background rather than foreground music.