(August 2020) Episode 276 is THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN. Another band whose influence was greater than their sales, their biggest mark is planting the seed of Shoegazing with the fuzzy noise of their stunning debut album. But they chose not to stay and till that ground, instead meandering through many alt forms from the late 80s through 90s.
Favorite album: Psychocandy
Favorite song: Degenerate
Compared to expectations: same
(August 2020) Episode 275 is JOHN COLTRANE. It’s hard to be cooler than Coltrane. Although I have a mixed relationship with jazz and saxophone is far from my favorite instrument, I appreciate him for his talent, innovation and influence. I agree that A Love Supreme is his best album and see why My Favorite Things is his most popular song, but I find myself drawn to the sound of his later-career free-form recordings.
Favorite album: Ascension
Best album: A Love Supreme
Favorite song: India
Compared to expectations: same
(July 2020) Episode 274 is THE JESUS LIZARD. Delivering bass-heavy noise and growls unburdened by conventional form. It’s like eating a mixture of pop rocks and nails.
Favorite album: Liar
Favorite song: Gladiator
Compared to expectations: ↓
(July 2020) Episode 273 of the “opus project” is THE DOLLYROTS. Peppy, energetic pop-punk with plenty of hooks and a bubblegum attitude. Wife-and-husband team. I recommend the first two not-yet-overproduced albums.
Favorite album: Because I’m Awesome
Favorite song: Because I’m Awesome
Best cover: Brand New Key
Compared to expectations: same
(July 2020) Episode 272 of the “opus project” is HILDEGARD VON BINGEN. By the name you might think this is a German doom metal band. Not so! Hildegard lived in the 12th Century in what is now western Germany and was a visionary, mystic, poet, composer, naturalist and abbess — making her the oldest artist in the Project. Musically, she left us perhaps the greatest cache of medieval monophonic compositions. With their contemplative and mystical qualities, it is not a surprise her works have attracted attention from the New Age movement. For listening, I recommend finding recordings by genuine early music groups in order to avoid the New Age-y reimaginings.
Favorite piece: Ordo Virtutum
Compared to expectations: same
(June 2020) Episode 271 is JOHN FAHEY. Fingerpicked guitar is so wholesome. If you love it like I do then John Fahey is essential. He didn’t invent the technique (that was southern blues players) but he made it its own art form, often called American primitive guitar (a label I don’t like because it connects him to Windham Hill-type New Age music, a connection he rejected). Amidst his personal eccentricities, Fahey tried several styles including Dixieland jazz, sound collage, and Christmas covers. But he’s at his best when his right hand goes full speed on folk and blues numbers.
Favorite album: The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites
Favorite song: Jaya Shiva Shankara
Best song that Leo Kottke did a little better: The Last Steam Engine Train
Compared to expectations: same
(June 2020) Episode 270 is CAROLINE SHAW. Realizing most of my classical episodes are dead men, I sought out a contemporary woman composer, and found a fantastic one in Caroline Shaw, the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. While the instrumentation in mostly conventional, the sounds and structures are not. She makes full use of the range of sounds one can get from a stringed instrument, as well as voices. Give her a try.
Favorite piece (chamber): Plan & Elevation
Favorite vocal piece: Partita for 8 Voices
Favorite orchestral piece: Watermark
Favorite solo piece: in manus tuas
Compared to expectations: ↑
(June 2020) Episode 269 is SERGEI PROKOFIEV. Boy do I love 20th Century Russian composers. He was one of the big trio of Soviet composers (with Shostakovich and Khachaturian) whose output was shaped (or crimped) by political constraints. Yet he composed masterpieces in a broad range of forms: symphonies, operas, ballets, concertos, sonatas, songs. I’m particularly fond of his early (Stravinsky-ish) modernist compositions. Most know him as the ‘Peter and the Wolf’ guy.
Favorite piece: Symphony #5
Favorite chamber piece: Cello concerto in E minor
Favorite ballet: Romeo and Juliet
Favorite opera: The Fiery Angel
Favorite solo piece: Piano sonata #6
Compared to expectations: same
(June 2020) Episode 268 is SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE. Look up “ground-breaking” in the dictionary and there’s a photo of this band. The music synthesized trends of the late 60s — soul, rock, psychedelic and the San Francisco Sound — into a rocket of sound, with timely social commentary, reinforced by their composition as first fully integrated rock group. But Sly’s most lasting musical contribution may be as one of the Founders of Funk. As with anything, best when funky.
Favorite album: Stand!
Favorite song: Stand!
Best funk song: Loose Booty (just ask the Beastie Boys)
Compared to expectations: same
(June 2020) Episode 267 is SLEATER-KINNEY. If your 90s playlist doesn’t have S-K in it, it sucks. Or your general rock playlist for that matter. They are notable for emerging within the riot grrrl movement with its feminist and social consciousness. But at its core it’s aggressive guitar rock with an aggressive attitude — and isn’t what great rock is all about? Tucker’s high warble can get tedious, but I can overlook it.
Favorite album: Call the Doctor
Favorite song: Entertain
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 