196. Aram Khachaturian

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(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: ↓

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195. Ian MacKaye suite of bands

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(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

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194. Felix Mendelssohn

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(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

193. The Monkees

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(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

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* good, in large part because it was produced by Adam Schlesinger, with tracks from Fountains of Wayne bandmates Brian Young and Jody Porter

192. Tomita

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(November 2018) I have completed episode 192 of my “opus project.” This edition: TOMITA. A pioneer of electronic music in the 1960s and 1970s, Isao Tomita is most famous for his electronic interpretations of famous classical works, although he did plenty of soundtracks too. I enjoy those early period synthesized sounds, although, listening from a distance, it can come off as cheesy. Also some nostalgia here, as Tomita was the playlist to many afternoons of board game playing.

Favorite album: Snowflakes are Dancing

Favorite song: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Debussy)

Compared to expectations: ↓

191. Sergei Rachmaninoff

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(November 2018) I have completed episode 191 of my “opus project.” This edition: SERGEI RACHMANINOFF. Wow, could this guy put a hurt on a piano. I wonder whether they have to euthanize the piano after Piano Concerto #3 is played. But don’t discount his orchestral and chamber work too. I think of him as the last Romantic composer, capping the long, famous line of Russians in this tradition.

Favorite piece: Piano Concerto #3

Favorite symphony: #2

Favorite solo piano : Piano Sonata #2

Favorite choral piece: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Favorite song: Vocalise (wordless, with a melody that might have been taken by Paul Simon in Bridge Over Troubled Water)

Compared to expectations: same

sergei_rachmaninoff,_1910s

190. Franz Ferdinand

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(November 2018) I have completed episode 190 of my “opus project.” This edition: FRANZ FERDINAND. The angular rock of their first album spent a lot of time in my CD player in the mid-aughts. Stuff after that, where they trended toward this neo-disco thing, not so much.

Favourite album: Frank Ferdinand

Favourite song: Take Me Out

Best song that’s also a spot-on homage to a Kinks song: Eleanor Put Your Boots On

Compared to expectations: same

189. Elvis Costello

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(November 2018) I have completed episode 189 of my “opus project.” This edition: ELVIS COSTELLO. I’ve always enjoyed his popular songs, but I never collected his albums. Arguably the most gifted living songwriter not named McCartney, Dylan or Simon, he is also incredibly prolific (a new release every 16 months over four decades) and diverse (rock, lounge, jazz, country, classical). He best work is in rock, and I find his crooner/lounge pop recordings to be almost unlistenable: ill-suited to his voice and soured by his tendency to melodic wandering.

Favourite album: Armed Forces

Favourite song: Veronica

Compared to expectations: ↓

Worst album: Kojak Variety

Favourite late-period album: Momofuku

Best collaboration: Wise Up Ghost (with The Roots)

188. The B-52s

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(October 2018) I have completed episode 188 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE B-52s. I bought their first album soon after it came out — one of only two* non-classic rock discs on my shelf . I loved the retro kitsch. But the retro kitsch ran thin fast. Beyond “Roam,” Love Shack,” and “Good Stuff,” most everything after “Rock Lobster” is vacuous.

Favorite album: The B-52s

Favorite song: Planet Claire

Compared to expectations: ↓

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187. The Runaways

January 20, 2019April 11, 2020 ~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(October 2018) I have completed episode 187 of my “opus project.” This edition: THE RUNAWAYS. The first all-female hard rock band, they paved the way for many others (think L7 and The Donnas). KISS may have sold out arenas but their contemporaries The Runaways were no less hard-charging and loud. They also gave us Joan Jett and Lita Ford.

Favorite album: Gueens of Noise

Favorite song: Cherry Bomb

Compared to expectations: ↑

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