(December 2020) Episode 306 is RHBAND and BLOGGS, two projects of the California-based mysterious genius Ralph Haxton. These recordings, some exceedingly rare, are improvisational collages of acoustic sound textures using a variety of instruments and things. I enjoyed this more than the last time I listened, which was years ago.
Favorite album: First Tone
Favorite song: Eagle Rock 28/12/1997
Compared to expectations: ↑
Episode 305 is BEULAH. Another fine band from the Elephant 6 label (although they are from San Francisco not Athens, GA) delivering its characteristic sound of 60s-inspired melodic pop rock and lo-fi indie style. Very puzzling that I didn’t catch on until now.
Favorite album: When Your Heartstrings Break
Favorite song: Score from Augusta
Compared to expectations: ↑
(December 2020) Episode 304 is RALPH STANLEY and the STANLEY BROTHERS. Bill Monroe is the Father of Bluegrass, but the Stanleys are no less essential to the definition and popularization of this distinctively American musical style. It’s hard to imagine a figure more beloved within his musical tradition than Dr. Ralph.
Favorite album: Hard Times
Favorite song: I’m A Man of Constant Sorrow
Favorite instrumental: Hard Times
Best compilation if you want the best of: Old Songs and Ballads (vols 1 and 2)
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2020) Episode 303 is WHITE ZOMBIE and ROB ZOMBIE. Nu metal progenitors that started out raw and industrial but gained mass and propulsion to hit their apex with Astro Creep 2000. Rob’s solo work continued his horror metal style to accompany his various artistic horror genre projects.
Favorite album: Astro Creep 2000
Favorite song: Blood, Milk and Sky
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2020) Episode 302 is BELLE AND SEBASTIAN. They’ve always seemed like the iconic indie band to me. If you can get past Stuart Murdoch’s twee vocals you’ll find an abundance of catchy, melodic pop songs. And as they moved into the 00s and 10s they expanded their vocalists, instrumentation and styles, so it never gets stale.
Favourite album: The Life Pursuit
Favourite song: White Collar Boy
Best song that mentions the San Francisco Giants: Piazza, New York Catcher
Best non-album single and wannabe Austin Powers soundtrack: Legal Man
Compared to expectations: ↑
(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: ↑
(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: ↓
(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: ↑
(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: ↓
(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
Opus Project 