Category: Episodes

351. Mudhoney

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2021) Episode 351 is MUDHONEY. I started this one while in the Seattle area.  They were delivering the grunge sound before the other Seattle-based bands who got more famous. I didn’t have Mudhoney in my playlist back then but I’m sure there are devotees who rank them above the others. They have a comparatively more punkish sound and sensibility and have been durable.

Favorite album: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Favorite song: Thorn

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: pretty core if you like any grunge stuff

349. Fela Kuti

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2021) Episode 349 is FELA KUTI.  The man who invented Afro-beat, combining polyrhythms of his Yoruba musical heritage with the sounds and instrumentation of jazz and funk. Immensely influential. I’m not much a ‘world music’ fan, but much of Fela’s music offers an irresistibly fun groove. The height of his musical creativity coincided with a growth of political activism against Nigeria’s military government (and imperialism in general) which got him beat up and jailed. But his pro-liberation stance did not extend to women, as he was apparently a sexist pig.

Favorite album: Gentlemen

Favorite song: Kalakuta Song

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: use this groove, to dance to, to liven a party, or play in background while you work

10 creative Fela Kuti song/album titles:

  1. Ye Ye De Smell
  2. Expensive Shit
  3. Equalisation of Trouser And Pant
  4. You No Go Die…Unless
  5. Grammarticalogylisationalism Is The Boss
  6. You Gimme Shit I Give You Shit
  7. Coffin for Head of State
  8. Original Suffer-Head 
  9. Government Chicken Boy
  10. I Go Shout Plenty

348. Gram Parsons

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2021)

(8/15/21) Episode 348 of the “opus project” is GRAM PARSONS.  He’s called the father of country rock, although to my ear a lot of other artists were doing similar things at the time. I also don’t get why his music is called “cosmic.” That said, his mix of country, folk, R&B, soul and rock was influential, and a welcome alternative to the chrome and sap of countrypolitan coming out of Nashville. Austin City Limits basically embodies the Gram Parsons sound.  He also introduced us to Emmylou Harris.

Favorite album: GP

Favorite song: A Song for You

Favorite group album: The Gilded Palace of Sin 

Favorite cover song: Love Hurts (duet with Emmylou)

Favorite folk song: November Nights

Compared to expectations: same

347. Julia Wolfe

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(August 2021) Episode 347 is JULIA WOLFE.  I’ve seen the words “relentless” and “visceral” used to describe her music, and they are apt, and why I love it. There is much diversity and eclecticism in her sounds and styles, in part due to her collaborations in the Bang on a Can partnership, with a strong undercurrent of post-minimalism.  Her compositions feature an abundant lack of convention, offering frequent surprises around each corner.

Favorite piece: Big Beautiful Dark and Scary

Favorite single instrument piece: LAD (bagpipes)

Favorite choral work: Shelter (with Gordon and Lang)

Favorite cello/vocal multimedia freak-out: Spinning

Compared to expectations: ↑

346. Mountain

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(August 2021) Episode 346 is MOUNTAIN. You know them for “Mississippi Queen” and perhaps for their appearance at Woodstock. Mostly their legacy comes from their heavy and loud sound which influenced the development of heavy metal. The first two albums are excellent period pieces and all that you need.

Favorite album: Climbing!

Favorite song:  Nantucket Sleighride

Compared to expectations: same

345. Cluster

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2021) Episode 345 is CLUSTER, plus side project HARMONIA. Make a Krautrock Venn diagram of the sounds of Can, Tangerine Dream and early Kraftwerk, and that space in the middle is the sound of Cluster, who unfairly didn’t get the recognition of the others. Cluster requites my inordinate love of mid-70s synthesizer music. The duo teamed up with Brian Eno on some (by definition) quality recordings, directing their later sound toward Eno-esque brainy ambient.

Favorite album: Zuckerzeit

Favorite song: Hollywood

Favorite Harmonia album: Deluxe

Favorite Harmonia song: Deluxe (Immer Wieder)

Compared to expectations: ↑

344. Louis Andriessen

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2021) Episode 344 of the “opus project” is LOUIS ANDRIESSEN, another one begun following the artist’s passing. Perhaps the most important modern Dutch composer, Andriessen’s works are like a menu sampler of classic musical genres of the 20th century, from neoclassical to serialism to minimalism, then arriving at a style iconoclastically his own. There is a lot here to choose from, including operas, experimental pieces, odd combinations featuring rock music elements, and quiet little piano pieces. 

Favorite piece: Workers Union

Favorite choral/orchestral piece: De Staat

Compared to expectations: ↑

343. Pantera

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2021) Episode 343 is PANTERA. Heavy metal as it is meant to be: propulsive, aggressive and ear-bleeding. Funny thing is they started out in the 80s as a run-of-the-mill hair metal band, but flipped the switch in the 90s to metal goodness with machine-gun riffs, double pedal speed and throat scream vocals, owning the decade. Quality stuff.

Favorite album: Vulgar Display of Power

Favorite song: Slaughtered

Compared to expectations: ↑

342. Elvis Presley

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(July 2021) Episode 342 is ELVIS PRESLEY. There’s a reason I listened to 341 artists before I got to the “King.”  Was never a fan, and this episode did not make me one. His influence on 20th century music is hard to overstate (even if it is tainted by whitewashing which I hold against the system, not Elvis personally). And his early rock-n-roll hits are catchy even if completely oversaturating. But I can’t stand his cloying, syrupy voice which, along with his act, have become a parody unto itself. This voice fits best in his countrypolitan sound of the 1970s, which says something.

Favorite album: Elvis Presley (you know, the one whose cover the Clash mimicked)

Favorite song:  Hound Dog

Best compilation of early hits if you feel that you must: Elvis’ Golden Records

Compared to expectations: same