547. The Temptations

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(February 2024) Episode 547 is THE TEMPTATIONS. I had known them as a legendary Motown act through classic mid-60s hits like “My Girl,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” who endured to the present day on the nostalgia circuit. What I did not know, and was not prepared by have MY MIND BLOWN by, were their “psychedelic soul” albums from 1968-1972 (notably Cloud Nine, Puzzle People and Psychedelic Shack). I knew “I Can’t Get Next To You” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” but hadn’t connected that this was the same outfit that made “My Girl.” This period is when producer Norman Whitfield took over and guided them to a rougher and funkier sound, as well as more socially conscious themes. Alongside Sly Stone and Funkadelic, this sound made the Temptations a big influence on funk and 70s soul. Love this stuff. I am a sucker for falsetto, so I highlight Eddie Kendricks, one of the best and one of my favorites (along with Curtis Mayfield, Phillip Bailey and Prince). Amidst lineup changes, they kept pumping out albums through the decades following R&B trends, but never recapturing the magic of their peak. The Temptations are around today, still led by founder Otis Williams, the last original member.

Favorite album: Psychedelic Shack

Favorite song: I Can’t Get Next To You

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Get those “psychedelic soul” albums referenced above, but their earlier “classic 5” era albums are very good too, such as Getting’ Ready and The Temptations with a Lot o’ Soul

546. Melvins

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(February 2024) Episode 546 is MELVINS. It’s difficult describe their sound, so let’s start where they started. The first recordings of this Washington state band in the 1980s had a heavy rock sound, with drop-D tunings jumping back and forth to the third fret, with a somewhat anarchic vocal style. This was grunge before grunge and sludge metal before sludge metal. So Melvins are credited as a key influence for both genres, although their subsequent two dozen+ albums defy either label. Low sludgy guitars are the regular feature throughout, but how they’re used varies. Styles shift within and among albums: various metal, hard rock, experimental, noise, sound collages, pop punk, country punk, and some clever covers. Amidst all this, they sound like they’re having a lot of fun, which is the glue that holds together what otherwise might come off as haphazard affairs.

Favorite album: The Maggot (1999)

Favorite song: Amazon (part 3)

Favorite early album: Ozma (1989)

Favorite later album: Working with God (2021)

Favorite cover song: I Fuck Around

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: I picked The Maggot as my favorite as it offers the most consistent heavy sludge/stoner grooves, but that may be my preference. There’s so much weird stuff here that you’ll have to explore on your own.

545. Michael Abels

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(January 2024) Episode 545 of the “opus project” is MICHAEL ABELS, a contemporary classical composer. Popular awareness found him when he wrote the nerve-inducing soundtracks to the three Jordan Peele films, Get Out, Us and Nope. That launched a steady stream of soundtrack work, some of which incorporates hip-hop elements. Long before that, Abels was composing orchestral, chamber and concert pieces. There’s a lot of variety in styles across his pieces and it would be hard to guess they all came from the same person.

Favorite piece Urban Legends (chamber backed by orchestra)

Favorite orchestral piece: Guitar Concerto “Borders”

Favorite soundtrack: Nope

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: If you’ve seen the Peele movies you know how well the soundtracks make the eerie atmosphere. Check out his orchestral pieces too.

544. Lana Del Rey

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(January 2024) Episode 544 is LANA DEL REY, another leap out of my comfort zone to explore a contemporary popular artist, one that my daughters would listen to. Not knowing her music, I did have a sense she was independent and a little saucy (as evidenced by the F-word in an album title) and not a corporate cookie-cutter pop star, which is something. And so she is. Lizzie Grant (her real name) has a great voice and is a talented songwriter, melodically and lyrically. What I had not expected was how consistently emo and languid her songs are. “Sadcore” I’ve seen it called. I don’t mind emo and languid in doses, but not full albums of it. On the recordings her voice is highly processed and layered, which I know is the way things are made now, but to me it erodes the authenticity that is otherwise central to the lyrical content.

Favorite album: Norman Fucking Rockwell

Favorite song: A&W

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: She’s got 52 million Spotify followers, so that tells you a lot. I’ll probably listen in to her new releases because she’s got the talent to do something unusual.

543. Bedřich Smetana

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(January 2023) Episode 543 is BEDŘICH SMETANA. I began this episode when I was in the Czech Republic, where he is one of their national musical heroes. He lived and composed in the mid-19th century at a time of national awakening. Harvesting local folk themes, Smetana’s music became both an expression of and inspiration for Czech (Bohemian) nationalism within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His compositions had a balanced range from opera to orchestral to chamber to piano. They are firmly in the Romantic style which, to be honest, I am finding rather tedious as I slog through this project. He may be the last Romantic composer I get to for a long while.

Favorite piece (orchestral): Má Vlast

Favorite chamber piece: Piano Trio

Favorite Opera: The Bartered Bride

Favorite solo piano piece: Czech Peasants’ Festival (La fête des paysans bohémiens)

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: It’s … fine. But all Romantic composers now sound the same to me.

542. Cat Stevens / Yusuf

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(January 2024) Episode 542 is CAT STEVENS, who has also recorded as YUSUF ISLAM and YUSUF.  I detect four phases of his career. 1967-71: He started out in folky pop before transitioning to singer-songwriter mode with gentle songs and sweet melodies. This era produced his most popular tunes and is also his best. 1972-78: Stevens broadened into pop with more orchestration, but also lost the charm of his peak period. 1995-2004: After his conversion to Islam and two decades away from the recording studio, he made some recordings of religious content. 2006-present: As Yusuf, he returned to secular music and a return to his original form with pleasant results albeit with a time-worn voice (also credit to the guru of comebacks, Rick Rubin).

Favourite album: Teaser and the Firecat

Favourite song: Wild World

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: You can make do with a greatest hits of his first period. But for an interesting diversion, try some albums from the recent decade, like Tell ‘Em I’m Gone.

541. Fats Domino

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(January 2024) Episode 541 is FATS DOMINO, a pioneer of rock-and-roll, although he dismissed the term, noting that he was merely making the same piano-based New Orleans R&B he had been playing for years. “The Fat Man” (1949) is one of the many songs that historians nominate as the first rock-and-roll record. Regardless, he was massively influential on what became rock music. His success in the mid-1950s marked the peak of piano-based rock-and-roll before guitar became supreme. His sound was consistent (but also repetitive) over the years: piano beats in 12/4 time with his easy-going vocal style. I tire easily of early rock-and-roll but I find Fats, who unlike many in the business appeared to be a decent human being, an enjoyable listening experience.

Favorite album: This Is Fats Domino!

Favorite song: I’m Ready (1959)

Favorite later song: Work My Way Up Steady (1967)

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Any greatest hits record will do but also check out the two songs listed above which are unlikely to make the cut.

540. Nine Treasures

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(January 2024) Episode 540 is NINE TREASURES, a folk metal group from the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China. Its members are ethnically Mongolian (calling themselves Southern Mongolian), and the music blends heavy metal guitars and drums with traditional Mongolian musical instruments and throat singing. The fusion is quite enjoyable. And maybe there’s a logic to it. Historians have noted parallels between the warrior cultures and civilizational paths of Scandinavians and Mongolians. And since Nordic mythology and imagery seem a natural fit for metal music, as well as offer an explanation for its popularity in Scandinavian countries, perhaps we can see the same with Mongolians. Nine Treasures’ lyrics evoke Mongolian history, landscapes, legends and mythologies.

Favorite album: Wisdom Eyes

Favorite song: Black Heart

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Try it. I dislike most forms of fusion, but this one feels genuine and instinctive.

539. Meat Puppets

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(December 2023) Episode 539 is MEAT PUPPETS. In a slightly alternate universe, I would have been into the Meat Puppets from the beginning. But maybe because I didn’t hang around the college radio station enough, I never experienced that entry point that many of my peers did (same goes for me with lots of SST and other bands that followed a similar career arc, like Flaming Lips and Butthole Surfers). Coming at this retroactively, I’m not sure how to approach them. Is it through their first punk offering, their odd prog-guitar/slacker-vocal thing from the late 80s, their Nirvana-aided 15 minutes of MTV fame, their later conventional rock and country rock? Don’t get me wrong, there is lots of good music in here. And I appreciate that they evolved and didn’t rely on retreads.  But I can’t figure out what makes their music special enough to make me want to return to it. Maybe my hipper peers can inform me.

Favorite album: Meat Puppets II (1984)

Favorite song: Lake of Fire

Best mid-period album: Too High To Die (1994)

Best late-period album: Lillipop (2011)

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Kinda depends on your preference, given their style evolution (see above). But I’d recommend the first two raw-sounding albums.

538. The Stranglers

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(December 2023) Episode 538 is THE STRANGLERS. I have this odd fascination with the late 1970s UK musical moment, when vocalists chose to assert rather than deemphasize their British accents; Johnny Rotten’s God Save the Queen being a prime example. The Stranglers were among the burst of groups that emerged from the punk or punk-adjacent scene featuring angular and bass-driven beats and think accents: Wire, The Jam, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Gang of Four, the Damned, etc. Lovely stuff. The Stranglers’ first three albums are classics of this style, but they also stood apart, neither political nor in-your-face. Their sound evolved over the years, not chasing fads but also not plowing new ground. They’ve stayed active until the present, and while the recordings are successively less interesting, they’re not bad. “Golden Brown” is both their most popular and most unusual song with its neo-baroque pop sound.

Favourite album: No More Heroes

Favourite song: (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Listen to the first three albums.