Category: Episodes

166. Miles Davis

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(May 2018) I have completed episode 166 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: MILES DAVIS. I’ve had a complicated relationship with jazz, but Miles Davis has always been my favorite jazz artist — he was a trumpeter (as were my father and I), he was a constant innovator, and he was cool as hell. While it may be considered heresy, my favorite is his “electric period” of experimental, funk and fusion (1969-75). This was a long one — I covered the studio and live albums released under his name, but not bootlegs or his recordings as sideman.

Favorite album: Bitches Brew

Favorite song: Pharaoh’s Dance

Coolest album (in the history of the world): Kind of Blue

Favorite live album: Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970

Favorite period: 1969-75

Worst song: Human Nature (Michael Jackson cover)

Best space jam that sounds like a Pink Floyd song that actually inspired Brian Eno: He Loved Him Madly (from Get Up With It)

Compared to expectations: same

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165. Opeth

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(April 2018) I have completed episode 165 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: OPETH. Who doesn’t love a little epic Swedish death metal? At some point they retired the demon howl for a greater focus on progressive metal and heavy mellow, but I prefer the earlier material.

Favorite album: Blackwater Park

Favorite song: Blackwater Park

Least favorite album: Damnation

Compared to expectations: same

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164. Devo

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(April 2018) I have completed episode 164 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: DEVO. As my interest in late-70s New Wave has grown, so has my appreciation of Devo’s first few albums. They’re more than a one-hit wonder, but their sound never really “evolved” (pun intended) from its one-dimensionality. If repetitiveness is proof of concept, they succeeded.

Favorite album: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

Favorite song: Uncontrollable Urge

Worst album: Total Devo

Compared to expectations: ↓

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163. Robert Johnson

~ ernopepper ~ 2 Comments

(April 2018) I have completed episode 163 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: ROBERT JOHNSON. We pretty much owe everything to this man. There are only 42 surviving recordings of his songs (13 are alternative takes), but you can hear his influence everywhere.

Favorite song: Sweet Home Chicago

Compared to expectations: same

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162. The Allman Brothers

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I have completed episode 162 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: THE ALLMAN BROTHERS. They didn’t invent Southern Rock*, but they pretty much defined it (see Midnight Rider and Blue Sky). A always enjoy the fret and slide work of Dickey and Duane. Their output after the 1970s often resembled little more than talent-rich bar band.

Favorite album: Idlewild South

Favorite song: Jessica

Favorite period: 1969-72

Compared to expectations: same

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* Gregg Allman once made an astute comment that “Southern rock” was a redundant term, like “rock rock.”

161. The Sonics

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(March 2018) I have completed episode 161 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: THE SONICS. The Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks of the mid-1960s deserve all the accolades they’re given, but none of them rocked harder than the Sonics. Out of Tacoma, WA, they were a definitive garage band, and their tonal aggression clearly influenced punk. After some 50 years, they were still spry enough to put out a kick-ass album (2015).

Favorite album: Here Are The Sonics

Favorite song: The Witch

Compared to expectations: same

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160. George Frideric Handel

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(March 2018) I have completed episode 160 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to the complete works of an artist. This edition: GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL. I love me some baroque, and I enjoy many Handel works. But this was a tedious effort. So many lengthy operas and oratorios — quite a slog. Prefer the chamber works.

Favorite work: “Water music” suites (HWV 348-350)

Favorite category: violin sonatas

Compared to expectations: same

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159. Jean-Michael Jarre

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(March 2018) I have completed episode 159 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. As a big fan of the golden age of electronic music, JMJ’s 1970s albums have always been in my rotation. Unlike some contemporaries, JMJ’s career did not wholly descend into new age-y drivel (like Tangerine Dream) or wander into vocals (like Mike Oldfield).

Favorite album: Óxygene

Favorite song: Équinoxe 5

Favorite period: 1973-78

Best ambient: Waiting for Cousteau (song)

Compared to expectations: same

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158. Squeeze

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(March 2018) I have completed episode 158 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an band’s full discography. This edition: SQUEEZE. I’ve long been a fan of the clever song-writing of the Difford-Tilbrook collaboration, who created one of the most melodically tuneful outfits from the UK New Wave. The first five albums are great; the 80s and 90s are serviceable but not memorable; the 2015 and 2017 albums are rather catchy.

Favourite album: East Side Story

Favorite song: Is That Love

Most resembles a late-period Paul McCartney album: Cradle to the Grave

Compared to expectations: same

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157. Michael Hedges

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(February 2018) I have completed episode 157 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: MICHAEL HEDGES. I still get amazed by the wizardry of his “violent acoustic” guitar — two-handed hammer-ons, thumping, harmonics, etc. But when he adds vocals it ruins the magic.

Favorite album: Aerial Boundaries

Favorite song: Aerial Boundaries

Worst album: The Road to Return

Compared to expectations: ↓

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