(December 2022) Episode 459 is THE SHIRELLES. I still dig the “girl group” sounds from the 1960s, and the Shirelles (from New Jersey) were among the first. Some classic hits here but lots of filler.
Favorite album: Tonight’s the Night
Favorite song: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: a sampling of their hits will suffice
(December 2022) Episode 458 is HOWLIN’ WOLF. Classic blues delivered in that singularly distinctive voice – all grit and gravel – make it a favorite of mine. He learned his guitar style from master Charley Patton, bridging Delta blues and Chicago blues. So many of his songs are covered as standards. Big in sound and body – he was a giant of a man. Special mention to the turn to psychedelic blues of his late 60s albums.
Favorite album: The Howlin’ Wolf Album
Favorite song: Killing Floor
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: definitely yes even if you have a passing interest in the blues
(December 2022) Episode 457 is PENTAGRAM, the last of the “big four” doom metal bands in my review (Trouble, Ep. 420; Candlemass, Ep. 435; Saint Vitus, Ep. 449). Of these, Pentagram best mimics the Black Sabbath sound, on their two excellent 80s albums. But frequent lineup changes make for an uneven effort and their later albums stink. They got an earlier starter than the others, and my favorite tracks are singles issued in the early 1970s.
Favorite album: Day of Reckoning
Favorite song: Forever My Queen
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: Go for the early stuff via the compilation album “1972-1979”
(December 2022) Episode 456 is JORMA KAUKONEN and HOT TUNA. Jorma has been my favorite member of Jefferson Airplane for his finger-picking guitar style (on JA songs “Embryonic Journey” and “Third Week on the Chelsea” and his solo album “Quah”) and his amiable singing voice. Most of his albums are in the folk/blues/Americana vein and enjoyable, while the pop ones, not so much. Hot Tuna started out as a blues-rock JA side gig with bassist Jack Casady and has endured through five decades of touring, also generally enjoyable.
Favorite solo album: Quah
Favorite solo song: Genesis
Favorite Hot Tuna album: America’s Choice
Favorite Hot Tuna song: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: if you like finger-style guitar as I do, you’ll like Jorma
(December 2022) Episode 455 is ETHEL SMYTH. In addition to the structural reasons that women are almost absent from classical repertoires, the ones who did compose got their works dismissed as not serious. UK-born Ethel Smyth suffered this, but persevered, composing a solid body of varied works – opera, orchestral, chamber, vocal pieces. She never settled on one style but that also makes it interesting. She was also politically active as a feminist, and her “March of the Women” became an anthem for the movement.
Favourite piece: String quartet in E minor
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: not ground-breaking but worth a listen
(December 2022) Episode 454 is SLEEP. This project can often be tedious labor of love, but my reward is finding music that speaks to my soul, like coming upon the Holy Grail after a long quest. And here is Sleep. Pure Iommic doom metal goodness, perhaps the ultimate stoner metal experience. A constant low, loud drone of dark matter. Beautiful noise. My joy is only tempered by discovering them decades too late, and for not reviewing them before spinoff OM (episode 437).
Favorite album: The Sciences
Favorite song: Dopesmoker
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: I’m all in. Not for everyone, but if you get it, you’ll be all in too.
(November 2022) Episode 453 is DAVID LANG. A contemporary, New York-based composer and co-founder of the Bang on a Can collective (with Julia Wolfe of episode 347). His early works seem generally minimalist/post-minimalist, but he prolifically composes in a diversity of styles and forms. From standard string arrangements and choirs to a roomful of broken instruments and distorted guitar duos. From ballet and opera to film soundtracks and small experimental pieces.
Favorite album/large ensemble piece: The Passing Measures
Favorite orchestral piece: Concerto (World to Come)
Favorite vocal piece: The Writings
Favorite violin piece: Killer
Favorite guitar piece: Warmth
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: many works have been published as album recordings so they are easy to get access to
(November 2022) Episode 452 is LORETTA LYNN, which I started after her passing. Legendary and iconic, Lynn had a voice perfect for her music. Her long recording career covered all kinds of country music, but she is perhaps best known for songs giving voice to the lived experiences of women: “Fist City,“ “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “The Pill”.
Favorite album: Van Lear Rose (the one with Jack White)
Favorite song: Too Far
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: solid in any country playlist
(November 2022) Episode 451 is THE SAINTS. What the Sex Pistols were to the UK and the Ramones to the US, the Saints were to Australia. In fact, they beat all the UK punk bands to vinyl. Their debut album ((I’m) Stranded) absolutely slays, prime punk with propulsive tempo and snarling vocals. But they tempered their sound on the second album with a horn section, and the remainder of their long recording career was variations of pop/rock. They attained legend status in Australia, but only that first disc grabbed me.
Favourite album: (I’m) Stranded
Favourite song: (I’m) Stranded
Compared to expectations: ↓
Recommendation: just the first album
(November 2022) Episode 450 is SPACEMEN 3. They’re labeled neo-psychedelic (perhaps for their ample drug use) but I hear them as noise rock — a transformative band, molding elements of MC5, the Stooges and Lou Reed and creating sounds you hear later in shoegazers (My Bloody Valentine) and sonic adventurers (Yo La Tengo). Few if anyone else was doing this in the 1980s, and I regret not knowing them then. But beyond the noise, Spacemen 3 offered surprisingly infectious low-structure songs, the kind of stuff you’ll hear with Spiritualized (not surprising, since Jason Pierce led both), Brian Jonestown Massacre and Beta Band.
Favourite album: Playing with Fire
Favourite song: Suicide
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: strongly recommend. Beautiful noise: Suicide, Revolution, Rollercoaster. Low-structure songs: Come Down Easy, How Does it Feel?, Hypnotized, I Love You
Opus Project 