(March 2021) Episode 326 is LAURIE SPIEGEL. Combining a music education with computer engineering, she helped design computerized sounds and composed electronic music with them, as well as created a popular algorithmic computer software program.
Favorite album: The Expanding Universe
Favorite song: Patchwork
Compared to expectations: same
(January 2021) Episode 310 is ÉLIANE RADIGUE, a French composer of drone music featuring long sustained notes and harmonics. She was an experimental pioneer in tape, feedback and early synthesizers in the 1960s. She converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the 1970s, which influenced the tone and topic of her works. In the 21st Century she switched to composing for acoustic instruments exploring a variety of harmonic resonances.
Favorite piece: Kailasha
Favorite series: Adnos I-II-III
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2020) Episode 301 is SARAH DAVACHI, a contemporary sound artist and composer of music best described as drone. She mainly uses analog synthesizers and acoustic instruments, a welcome throwback to the electric music pioneers of the 1970s, which I love. Her approach creates compositions that are both serious music and suitable for meditation or contemplation, quite distinct from the shallow, cloying stuff marketed as New Age. Check her out.
Favorite album: Barons Court
Favorite song: Buhrstone
Compared to expectations: ↑
(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: ↓
(September 2018) I have completed episode 179 of my “opus project.” This edition: DAFT PUNK. I’m not into Electronic Dance Music, but I took a lark on Daft Punk hoping to find another gem like “Get Lucky.” I was not rewarded, with the possible exception of Technologic and Robot Rock. .
Least unfavorite album: Random Access Memories
Favorite song: Get Lucky
Compared to expectations: ↓
(June 2018) I have completed episode 172 of my “opus project.” This edition: EDGARD VARÈSE. An avant-garde composer from the first half of the 20th century, his works, unbounded by conventional structure, influenced many threads of that century’s music, including electronic. Any fan of Frank Zappa should get to know his compositions, as Varèse was a major influence on him.
Favorite Piece: Amériques
Favorite electronic piece: Poème électronique
Compared to expectations: same
(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
(December 2017) I have completed episode 149 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s full discography. This edition: KRAFTWERK. It is shameful and unexplainable that they weren’t in my rotation back in the day, given my love of mid-70s electronic music. It’s so good. I prefer the earlier krautrock material to the later robot-pop.
Favorite album: Autobahn
Favorite song: Autobahn
Favorite period: 1973-77
Compared to expectations: same
(April 2017) I have completed episode 120 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: VANGELIS. Best known for his lush, new age-y soundtracks, his career is much more, covering psychedelic rock, avant-garde jazz, ambient and experimental electronica. As a fan of 1970s electronic music, I especially like his pioneering work in that period. Also, his first band, Aphrodite’s Child, makes an excellent contribution to psychedelic rock and probably should have received its own treatment.
Favorite album: Heaven and Hell
Favorite soundtrack album: Opera Sauvage
Favorite song: The Dragon
Favorite period: 1975-79
If you want nine hours of uninterrupted meditation music: The Tegos Tapes
Compared to expectations: same
(September 2016) I have completed episode 96 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to an artist’s full discography. This edition: BOARDS OF CANADA. I prefer my ambient music without beats, but if you like them together, this outfit is for you.
Favorite album: The Campfire Headphase
Favorite song: Dayvan Cowboy
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 