This isn’t going to be a COVID post, except to say that I’ve found this to be an odd time, creatively. I have a few longer posts on the go, but motivation to post new stuff hasn’t been high. We think we have all of this time on our hands and we seem to still fill our days with things, but not necessarily the things we might have thought. I have three posts started and have had since the spring, but I’ve been weirdly unmotivated to get though them. In order to try to get the thought processes flowing again, I’ve decided not to worry about limiting myself to long, in-depth posts. This blog is about things that I like that are related to music, so I’m going to do that. Sometimes, as with this post, it’ll just be me sharing something that I’ve found, other times it will be the longer more in-depth stuff.
Today, I have two interesting things that have come along this past month or so. One of them is courtesy of NPR and it’s related to all of the civil unrest we’ve experienced this year (and continue to experience). They’ve created a list that is an homage to an album by Avant-Garde Jazz musician Max Roach, entitled We Insist! That album was inspired by the Emancipation Proclamation and growing African independence movements. NPR’s We Insist is a blog post that highlights songs that artists released this summer , inspired by, or overtly protesting, the injustices that were highlighted once again this year. The post is continuing to be updated as new songs and albums are released.
There is a huge variety of artists, many of whom you may not normally have in your favourites list, but I encourage you to read about the songs and artists and give a few a try.
The other thing that I’d like to highlight, is the update for 2020 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 Albums of All Time. They started this list in 2003 and ever year they seek input from artists, producers, critics and other industry figures. This isn’t a list created by a bunch of magazine writers. It’s immense and covers an incredibly broad spectrum of styles and artists. The usual albums are there, but every year it changes a little. Unlike NPR’s list, there are going to be albums on here that are your favourites but again, I encourage you to listen to one or two samples that you might not normally try. You might be pleasantly surprised.
It’s rainy season here in Alberta and the last couple of days have been gray and dreary. Spring is an interesting mashup of beautiful bright days, bright colours, and new life, and the necessary rain, gray, and clouds the Earth can’t do without. This year we have an added bonus; lockdown! It all combines for a lot of moodiness and emotion. What goes great with that? You guessed it, music.
Music can soothe in times of sadness and uncertainty, or it can inspire and invigorate. It’s sometimes nice to be able to sit in all that moodiness but it’s really easy for it, along with music, to slip into sadness. As the weather slipped into its moodiness, it sent me in search of music to maintain that balance and be in the background while I worked. To that end, I’ve created a Spotify playlist and am making it public for everyone to enjoy, or question, whichever you prefer.
You can also go here if you want to listen in Spotify.
If you knew me in the ’80s and early ’90s, you might know that I made a lot of mixtapes. I wasn’t the kind of person who made them and then gave them away. I made them and then made my friends and family listen to them when we were in the car. A typical 90 minute mixtape would take me 4 or 5 days to put together, carefully selecting the order and the flow. Of course there was the fact that I had to fade them in and out correctly and ensure that I programmed each side of the tape so there wasn’t a long gap, or a cut-off song, at the end of a side. I’m now a Cybersecurity consultant, not a music producer… The reason I say all of this is not to brag about my mixtape creating prowess, but to say this playlist is not like those mixtapes.
The Spotify playlist is a different beast for many reasons, but mainly it’s different because most people listen to Spotify on shuffle. Therefore all that effort to carefully plan out a playlist so that it flows from one song to the other is wasted. As are albums when programmed the same way so remember that the next time you shuffle your favorite artist’s carefully planned album 🙂 This playlist is four hours of music you can listen to in any order you want, and I made it in a few hours while doing other things (it’s so easy!).
Well, here we are, it’s Passover and Easter, although most of us have bigger things on our mind. However, music can be a great source of calm and/or spiritual connection. This holiday period is a perfect time to find some music for both. Unsurprisingly, much of the Easter music is rooted in the Church and is therefore mostly orchestral and choral, so that’s the focus of this post. So since it comes first, let’s look at Passover.
This was new for me, not the Passover thing, but considering music for it. While not delving too deeply and showing my lack of knowledge… Unsurprisingly, there isn’t a ton of Passover music in the same way there is Church music for Easter (unless you count all of the clever You Tube parodies). That’s where it was new for me; the music part. Sure, we sing songs during the Seder, but as a Christian celebrating a Jewish holiday, I’ve never thought of listening to the music as I would Easter music. So, I did a search and one of the things I found was The Passover Seder Festival by Sholom Secunda. Just as it sounds, it’s the Seder story, but in an Oratorio-like setting. The recording that I listened to is conducted by the composer and has some great soloists, in particular Tenor, Richard Tucker. The recording is from 1962 so the chorus has a very 1962 sound to it (I don’t mean recording quality, I mean vocal quality) though is still enjoyable. While I’m accustomed to composers taking liberties with texts from Christian works (an entire song of just the word Alleluia anyone?), it caught me off guard here. While I’m not a Hebrew speaker, it was more the timing that surprised me. Songs that in our Seder dinners are fairly long, like Dayenu and Ma Nishtana, are both less than 2 minutes long in this work. In particular, the Dayenu has pretty much been condensed down into the one line, “It would have been enough.”. Sure, that’s what it means, but isn’t the Dayenu I’m used to (which undeniably drags on a touch). On the other hand the start of the meal, the Kiddush, in this work is almost 7 minutes long. None of this is bad, or wrong and I would recommend listening to it.
If you’re looking for something completely different for Passover, this page on the Chabad site has many songs to learn, some you can “sing on Passover trips in the family car…” or not, since we can’t go anywhere right now. So you can sing them while you’re searching for the Afikoman.
Switching gears to Easter now, for the Christians among the readers you may have a particular work that you like to listen to. Maybe you’ve heard of Handel’s Messiah? It’s not just for Christmas you know. In fact, it was originally written for Easter and debuted a couple of weeks after Easter in 1742. If you’re not familiar with the text, it loosely tells the story of Christ from before birth to death and then Resurrection. Therefore, fitting for Christmas and Easter. My favorite recording of the Messiah is by the English Consort and Chorus conducted by Trevor Pinnock. I’m not the only one who likes it; it is often regarded as the best recording. It’s on Spotify and You Tube, and other streaming services.
Another very common work for Easter is the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach. Full transparency; the first time I heard this live I, and many around me, slept through large parts of it. A gentleman in front of us hit his head hard enough against the wooden seat back that many could hear it. I was young, I suspect the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra was not anything like it’s current iteration, and while it has “Passion” in the title, Bach had a different way of expressing passion (not bad, just different) from more romantic composers (many don’t share my view by the way, it is considered one of the greatest works in the Western repertoire). In any case, the story is pretty dramatic and as a more “mature” listener I do have a greater appreciation for it than when I was 17. I can’t tell you a favorite recording, but there are many. You can’t really go wrong with this one, or this one. If you’d like a guided version, NPR has one here.
Another very common text setting is the Stabat Mater (Sorrowful Mother) and is about Mary’s suffering during Christ’s Crucifixion. Many, many composers have put this 13th century sequence to music, possibly the most famous of those is Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Pergolesi wrote it in the final weeks of his life and, it is said, finished it just before he died. Here is Pergolesi’s version and, if you’d like to compare, one from Dvorak, and one from Part.
Lastly is one that is new to me (but could qualify as both Easter and Passover… if you really stretch), The Passion of Yeshua by Richard Danielpour. This one I discovered through a service called Idagio (more about that in another post). The lyrics depict the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus and it’s written in both Hebrew and English.
I wanted to write a passion oratorio that would bring the story of the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth back to its Jewish origins because I wanted to give Christians in America the opportunity to more fully understand how deeply the root of their Christian faith is steeped in Judaism. I was also hoping to allow for the possibility of Jewish people in America to see the person of Jesus without the presence of all of the European accretions, and outrageous acts that were committed in the name of European Christianity over the last 2000 years.
Richard Danielpour
It’s a great idea and a very interesting work. You can listen to it here and here.
Anything you think is a must listen for either Passover or Easter? Let me know.
In the previous post, I highlighted artists and songs that I’d discovered thanks to Spotify’s recommendations. While I found some good music that way, the limitation is really that it’s not very good at recommending music that’s outside of your standard listening pattern. For example, recommending Greta van Fleet because I listen to Led Zeppelin is a bit of a no brainer (if you haven’t heard Greta van Fleet, they’re a great band and sound almost exactly like Zeppelin). What I’d really like is more of a listener-focused recommendation; So-and-so likes Led Zeppelin, but they also like Yola, therefore you might also like Yola (if you haven’t heard of Yola, keep reading). I get that this would be very hit and miss and likely result in a lot of complaints from people saying that Spotify has no idea how to recommend music. It’s not commercially successful, but it might be way more successful at helping people to discover artists and songs they never would have found on their own.
Back in the old days, one of the challenges with finding new music was that you typically had to have heard someone on the radio, or you’d get a recommendation from a friend. Most teenagers weren’t willing to drop $15 or so on an album unless they had heard at least one song already. Some record stores had “listening bars” where you could listen to a bunch of records that the store had opened. Once CD’s came along you could do the same with CD’s and since they didn’t get damaged as easily, I think a lot of record stores allowed this (Fidelio in Calgary and then A&B Sound had huge libraries of listening CD’s). I found some great albums this way. Do you remember when HMV had those little CD players on the wall? Yes, they were almost always broken, but it was a good idea. Or, maybe you joined me in credit card debt by signing up for this –
Today though, we have the opposite problem; we can listen to whatever we want. That has led to more focus on singles and also makes it hard to sift through all of the potential new stuff. How do you find stuff without having to spend hours on your favourite streaming service? Here are some suggestions from me, as well as some artists I’ve found this way.
So there are these things called “magazines”, some of you may have heard of them, some have even read one I expect. I have had a Next Issue/Texture/Apple News + subscription for a few years now and one of the pleasant surprises out of all of those magazines is Rolling Stone Magazine. It has turned out to be the way I find much of my new music. The reason that I like it compared to the recommendation engine in Spotify is that Rolling Stone doesn’t know anything about me (other than some obscure marketing profile for advertisers). So when they suggest a new artist, album, or song, it comes with no preconceived ideas of what I would like. That means that much of the time it isn’t right, but it also means that I find stuff I probably would never have found otherwise. Like who you ask?
Like Yola. She’s a fantastic R&B singer with a great ’60s sound who had 4 Grammy nominations this year. Her debut album Walk Through Fire is like nothing else out there right now. It has a great, relaxed vibe (for my singer friends, some of her phrasing is bizarre but remember, this is pop music) that’s perfect for sitting with a fancy cocktail and visiting with friends.
Another artist I found through Rolling Stone was Lana Del Ray. Now, before I go farther I should say that my daughter was listening to her before this, and I had heard some of her music. However, it wasn’t until I read a feature on her and her new album Norman F*#king Rockwell that I realized how great she (and this album) is. As you may have guessed from the title, it does have some explicit lyrics, so if you’re not OK with that, go on to my next artist. If you’ve ever sat in an LA coffee shop on a rainy winter day, or spent a cool evening looking out over the LA smog to the ocean from Bel-Air, this music will fit right in. It’s the antithesis of the Beach Boys‘, Surfin’ Safari, version of Southern California and it’s really good. Of course, there is a side of the Beach Boys that is very similar to this album. If you like songs like “Caroline, No“, “The Warmth of the Sun“, and “In My Room“, you’ll like this album.
Photo By Kenton Smith
This is getting long, so I’ll leave Rolling Stone Magazine for now (I am currently listening to every one of their top 50 albums of the 2010’s, so more to come on that). Another place that I’ve found some interesting artists is NPR. Very different from Rolling Stone, or my Spotify for that matter, NPR has all kinds of artists I never would have discovered. Their Tiny Desk series of concerts has revived my interest in a few artists with whom I was already familiar, but these concerts show how talented they really are (Taylor Swift, yes, and Lizzo both did really great concerts last year). You can’t hide behind a bunch of effects when you’re performing in someone’s office. A coupe of discovery highlights there are funk/jazz band Snarky Puppy and Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard. I knew of Alabama Shakes previously, but Brittany Howard on her own is a soul powerhouse.
And last, don’t ignore the musical tastes of your friends and family if you’re trying to find something you wouldn’t have considered before. Some selections from friends and family:
One of the things I’ve learned this year is that I’ll listen to pretty much anything. Enjoying it is another thing… but it’s good to venture out of your comfort zone every now and then, you might be surprised with what you discover. Let me know what artists are new to you.
If you’re a Spotify subscriber, you’ll have received your 2019 listening summary as well as ones for the whole decade. As part of that summary of 2019, Spotify told me that I discovered 1093 artists. Considering Spotify also says I listened to 5863 songs, that means that I must have listened to about 4 songs from every artist I discovered. That’s completely untrue because I listened to a lot of music from artists that weren’t new to me this year, but they make for interesting looking numbers. In Spotify-land, I can only assume that “discovered artists” means artists I hadn’t listened to on Spotify before. So, Shirley Bassey was one of those 1093; not a particularly new artist, but also not one I’d listened to on Spotify. I’m not a big fan of the way the streaming services do music recommendations, but I have a separate post planned for that. For now, here are a few of the artists that I did discover through Spotify last year and I suggest you check them out.
Image:tedeschitrucksband.com
One of my definite favourites that Spotify has recommended is the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Susan Tedeschi is a very talented singer and guitarist who had her own band(s) who were an opening act for many big-name blues-rockers including the Allman Brothers, B.B. King, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones in the late ’90s and early 2000s. She met Derek Trucks when he was a guitarist for the Allman Brothers. Prior to that, he had his own band called… The Derek Trucks Band. He’s also played with blues artists such as J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh and Stephen Stills. After being married for a number of years they formed their own bands and currently have the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a fantastic conglomeration of talented blues-rock artists. Their albums are all really great, but my two favourites are “Made Up Mind” and “Signs”.
Image: marcuskingband.com
Another recommendation that came to me via Spotify is The Marcus King Band. It’s quite coincidental that over the last 14 months or so, I’ve spent a fair bit of time in the South and there is a definite feel to that part of the world. Sitting in an intimate coffee shop or a small bar in the Georgia, this band is exactly the sound you’d expect. Similar to the Tedeschi Trucks band, this is a blues-rock band but with a lot of soul thrown in. Marcus King’s guitar playing has rock, blues, country and jazz influences making for some really great guitar solos. Did I mention that his band also has a horn section? Oh, and Marcus King is only 23. Here’s a great performance from the Grand Ole Opry. If you want to hear Tedeschi Trucks and Marcus King performing together…
Changing gears a bit, another of my favourites this year is Kristina Train. Kristina is a classically trained violinist and singer/songwriter who easily moves between pop/R&B and Jazz. I first heard her album Dark Black and love the images she invokes with her lyrics and she has a really great, mellow voice. Saturdays are the Greatest is probably my favourite track from that album. Then, surprise, I started reading more about her and discovered that she spent two years touring with Herbie Hancock as the vocalist for his River: Joni Mitchell tour. Other artists with whom she’s collaborated? Wynton Marsalis, Susan Tedeschi, Tony Bennett, Coldplay, and Dr. Dre just to name a few.
Image:marcusmiller.com
The last Spotify-recommended artist I want to highlight is a great jazz bass guitarist and composer by the name of Marcus Miller. If you’re a jazz aficionado, you may have already heard of him as he’s played with Herbie Hancock (note to self; do a post on all of Herbie Hancock’s collaborations), Miles Davis, Bobbi Humphrey, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, David Sanborn, and the list goes on. He’s also a prolific film score composer and that’s how he was recommended to me; the soundtrack to the movie Marshall. I haven’t seen the movie (yet) but I really like the soundtrack. There are bits of standard movie soundtrack fills, but much of it is really great jazz. There is one other song, Stand Up for Something (written by Common and theDiane Warren), which was nominated for an Academy Award. That song has no relation to Marcus Miller but is another great song on a really good album. If you’re looking for some really great, bass-driven jazz, check out Marcus Miller.
The last recommendation I want to cover in this post is not an artist, but an album. I say it’s not an artist for a couple of reasons; firstly, I already knew the artist, Lang Lang, and have listened to many of his classical piano albums. The second reason is that it isn’t only him featured on the album. The album is New York Rhapsody and is a compilation of songs that, to Lang Lang, evoke images and the spirit of New York. Those of you who know me well, know that New York City is one of my favourites of all time, and when I listen to this album I can definitely feel NYC. It’s not all classical, though there is Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue with Herbie Hancock playing the second piano. See? He’s everywhere), Copeland, and Bernstein, there’s a great version of New York Minute (written by Don Henley) and performed by Kandace Springs, and Alicia Keys’Empire State of Mind performed by Andra Day (she also performed the aforementioned Stand Up for Something from the Marshall Soundtrack, FYI). Among others, there is also a very interesting mashup of Somewhere from Westside Story and Dirty Blvd by Lou Reed. Not my favourite song on the album, but I do think it’s a good representation of the mashup that is New York City.
So, there you have it, my interesting discoveries thanks to Spotify recommendations last year. My second post in this series will be for new discoveries from other sources. What were your great musical discoveries this past year?
What better time to start a music blog than Christmastime? I have been thinking about this one as I’ve been listening to more and more Christmas music. My challenge; keep this particular post short enough that people might actually read it.
In the interest of brevity (you may not believe that once you have read all of this, but trust me, this one is shorter than previous drafts), this post is about Christmas songs that stand-out for me. They stand out either because I really like them or, in some cases, I don’t like them or, they are just so unique (i.e bad or strange) you need to listen at least once.
I’ll start with a few of my favourites, emphasis is on MY favourites as I fully expect they won’t necessarily be yours (feel free to start your own blog). If I was to list all of my favourites, this post would be many, many pages long. I’m a Christmas music enthusiast(?), and I’d listen to it for more of the year than I do if I didn’t put some restrictions in place. So here are a few in no specific order:
I’ll be Home for Christmas – No particular artist though Leslie Odom Jr.’s is really nice. If you want a “hipster” alternative listen to the version by “She and Him”, AKA Zooey Deschanel and some guy.
The entire A Charlie Brown’s Christmas Album – Vince Guaraldi (OK, some of the kid’s singing on it is really not good, but it suits the album and, we’ve all been to “those” school concerts)
The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole (there are other good versions, but nothing beats the original)
All I Want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey (Yes, I went there, but it’s become a tradition). If you want something with the same pop-yness but without the same old AIWFCIY, try Candy Cane Lane by Sia.
River – Sarah McLaughlin or Sam Smith do beautiful versions. For an interesting alternative try Iron Man uh, Robert Downey Jr.
Marshmallow World – This is a big childhood memory for me but I don’t remember who I first heard sing it. Try Kim Stockwood for some Canadian content.
Mary, Did You Know? – CeeLo Green. You may not know that CeeLo has an amazing voice. This song will prove it to you.
As I said, I could go on, but I won’t. Here are a few general albums or categories that might surprise you, or repulse you…
How about TV singing competitions? Do they produce singers with good Christmas albums? Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red (My Favorite Things is a standout) is a really great album. Jordan Smith, a winner from The Voice, has some really great songs. His voice is beautiful and well suited to Christmas music. I particularly like his renditions of Grown Up Christmas List and O Holy Night (with, who else, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). An American Idol Loser, but hardly unsuccessful, is Katharine McPhee and she has an interesting interpretation of What are You Doing New Year’s Eve. However, she has better ones, like Who Would Imagine a King. In the “curious” category, Idol Winner Ruben Studdard has a duet version of O Holy Night with loser, um, runner-up Clay Aiken. Ruben also has a single out called Bite Bite Barracuda (really, it’s a Christmas song). The Sing Off produced Pentatonix and they have some fantastic Christmas music, two of my favourites are a Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy mash-up that’s very clever and the beautiful White Winter Hymnal.
Looking for a little humour injected into your usual Christmas fare? Definitely check out The Heebee-jeebee’s from right here in Calgary, or the ultimate college glee club, Straight No Chaser.
For the more traditionalist Christmas music lover: A Carnegie Hall Christmas is a staple in our house. A big-name smorgasbord including Winton Marsalis, Frederica von Stade, and Kathleen Battle directed by André Previn. If you want a little early music “rock-and-roll” for your Christmas pleasure, you need to crank-up Ein Kind geborn zu Bethlehem by Praetorius and performed by the Gabrielli Consort. Also, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, is a nice way to spend Christmas eve.
How about the bad, and the strange? (assuming you aren’t a Christmas music hater and consider it all bad and ugly). Some of these are so bad they’re good, like; The Twelve Days of Christmas by Bob and Doug McKenzie. Okay, maybe that’s the only one. Give these a try for some truly odd/bad/bizarre takes; Christmas in Compton by TQ (explicit), epic (in length) Disco Christmas by the Universal Robot Band, Christmas with the Devil by Spinal Tap (because there are “no bells in hell”), in the same vein as Santa Baby is Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man this Christmas) by The Weather Girls. How ’bout some good ol’ down home Rajin’ Cajun Redneck Christmas from The Robertsons of Duck Dynasty “fame”?
I have to finish with this one. I’ll admit, I went looking for strange and bizarre Christmas music and this was a true bonus; R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas from the album Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album. This song was the professional recording debut for a man by the name of John Bonjiovi who later changed his name to Jon Bon Jovi. Merry Christmas!
Warning: To all my choral and “classical” instrumental music friends, there is going to be a huge pop music focus for this blog. Just saying. I’m sure I can’t have a whole blog only about pop music, but consider yourself warned and pick your tags carefully.
Here’s the deal; I’m a fan of music, pretty much all of it. I’ve been reading a lot about music over the last number of years, and I’ve become more interested in it. I’m also a bit of a history buff, and the history of music is quite fascinating. One of the things I’ve learned (OK, maybe just decided) is that my generation has probably been witness to some of the most significant changes in the music world. We’ve seen new genres appear, other genres change significantly, we’ve seen the impact of race and gender, we’ve seen media come and go (reel-to-reel and 8-track anyone?), we were also witness to the impact of video on the music world (past-tense because really, who watches actual music videos any more?).
So, with all of that, and more, I’m taking the opportunity of this particular medium to talk about things I learn and have learned, share music that I find and that is found for me, and potentially to have discussions that lead to a better understanding of music and what interests others. Of course, no one is going to read it, so another focus of it will be for me to track music interests of mine and keep a bit of a record (pun intended) of my own music education.
I Have Things to Say About Music 