(February 2019) I have completed episode 202 of my “opus project.” This edition: LOVE. The distinctive style of this late 60s band is hard to label — “thespian hippy” is my best attempt. After their masterpiece, Forever Changes, their sound became more conventional for the era. Also noted (for the time) for the racial diversity of their lineup.
Favorite album: Forever Changes
Favorite song: Seven and Seven Is
Compared to expectations: same
(February 2019) I have completed episode 201 of my “opus project.” This edition: RICHARD WAGNER. Opera is my least favorite form in classical music, and since opera is Wagner’s specialty, this episode was a grind. But a greatest hits collection of his top overtures and preludes is worth having. The Tannhäuser Overture is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever.
Favorite piece: Tannhäuser Overture
Favorite opera (for the music): Parisfal
Compared to expectations: ↓
(January 2019) I have completed episode 200 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS. Groovy, hippy, warm rays of sunshine to bring a smile to your face. And, oh, those harmonies! Their run was brief, but their role in popularizing folk rock was huge.
Favorite album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Favorite song: Got a Feelin’
Special sauce: Mama Cass
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2019) I have completed episode 199 of my “opus project.” This edition: TERRY RILEY. A (still living) composer of experimental music and pioneer of minimalism, Riley gained fame with works featuring loops and delay effects. Many of his pieces feature Indian musical and jazz elements. A multi-instrumentalist, the majority of his compositions are on keyboard, some of which sound new-agey to the ear. I prefer the early experimental stuff.
Favorite album: A Rainbow in Curved Air
Favorite piece (song): A Rainbow in Curved Air
Favorite live performance: Persian Surgery Dervishes
Favorite soundtrack: Les Yeux Fermés
Favorite later piece: The Cusp of Magic (with Kronos Quartet)
Compared to expectations: ↑
(January 2019) I have completed episode 198 of my “opus project.” This edition: GANG OF FOUR. The first two albums are great post-punk material. But then they adopt 80s synths and I lose interest, and my interest finds no reason to return on the several unremarkable albums after that.
Favorite album: Entertainment!
Favorite song: Ether
Compared to expectations: ↓
(January 2019) I have completed episode 197 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE BEAU BRUMMELS. Before there was the San Francisco Sound, there was The Beau Brummels. This relatively unknown Bay Area outfit not only earned the distinction as perhaps the first American band to mimic the music of the British Invasion, they also introduced folk rock before the Byrds popularized it.
Favorite album: Triangle
Favorite song: Laugh Laugh
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2019) I have completed episode 196 of my “opus project.” This edition: ARAM KHACHATURIAN. An Armenian considered one of the top three composers of the Soviet era, Khachaturian’s music is often bold and loud, although he could compose some sweet melodies. Understandably for his era, he also penned some Red Army marches and Odes to Lenin. He may be most famous for two ballets, Spartacus and Gayane, and you will recognize the famous “Sabre Dance” from the latter.
Favorite piece: Symphony #2
Favorite big piece: Spartacus ballet
Favorite little piece in a big piece: Adagio from Gayane
Favorite choral piece: Ode of Joy
Favorite concerto: Cello Concerto in E minor
Favorite piano piece: Piano Sonata
Favorite song: Song about Erevan
Compared to expectations: ↓
(December 2018) I have completed episode 195 of my “opus project.” This edition: the IAN MacKAYE suite of bands (MINOR THREAT, FUGAZI and THE EVENS, as well as Teen Idles, Skewbald/Grand Union, Egg Hunt, Embrace, and Pailhead). Minor Threat was my intro to hardcore punk through my college roommate; not really my thing but I grew to appreciate it. Same with Fugazi, although as a local D.C. institution I greatly regret not attending a show. The spare The Evens is a pleasant, and more approachable, surprise.
Favorite Minor Threat song: In My Eyes
Favorite Fugazi album: Red Medicine
Favorite Fugazi song: Arpeggiator
Favorite The Evens album: The Odds
Favorite The Evens song: Timothy Wright
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2018) I have completed episode 194 of my “opus project.” This edition: FELIX MENDELSSOHN. Solid and dependable, you really can’t go wrong with some Mendelssohn. Lacking the personal life drama of other composers, his music won’t adorn a biopic, but he wrote some very famous stuff (ever heard the wedding march?). This side of Mozart and Schubert, he was quite prolific for someone who died in his 30s.
Favorite piece: Symphony #5 in D major/minor
Favorite piano concerto: #2 in D minor
Favorite violin concerto: #2 in E minor
Favorite chamber piece: String Quartet #6 in F minor
Favorite song (without words): “Spring Song”
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2018) I have completed episode 193 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE MONKEES. Laugh if you must, but they put out some enduringly good music. While the Pre-Fab Four’s famous songs were written by others, their best albums came once they gained more creative control, earning a place among the pantheon of essential acts of the late ’60s golden age. The first two reunion albums are trash, but their 2016 album is quite good* and, for a Christmas album, so is 2018’s Christmas Party.
Favorite album: The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees
Favorite song: Pleasant Valley Sunday
Favorite song written by a Monkee: While I Cry
Best reunion album: Good Times! (2016)
Special sauce Mike Nesmith
Compared to expectations: same
* good, in large part because it was produced by Adam Schlesinger, with tracks from Fountains of Wayne bandmates Brian Young and Jody Porter
Opus Project 