Speaking recently with my old school friend Mike, we were talking about how when we used to always know what friends had been listening to lately. Now that we’re all grown up, I don’t get to hear about what people are listening to. Well, this note is an attempt to change all that…
So, tell me what music you’ve bought in the last couple of months that you think I ought to hear…
I just bought the Hesperion XX (Jordi Savall) album "Elizabethan Consort Music, 1558 - 1603, which is fantastic. I’m not much of an ‘original instruments’ kinda guy, but I’d happily get a bunch more of their recordings. There’s also Hesperion XXI, which is the same group recording in the 21st century.
Also, there’s the Tallis Scholars albums “William Byrd” and “Josquin - Missa Fortuna Desperata/Missa Malheur me bat”.
And then, I’ve got the three Ralph Towner albums I picked up just after New Year’s - Anthem, Time Line and Open Letter.
I don’t think you’d like what I’m listening to, but I just picked up Rob Zombie’s* Hellbilly Deluxe 2*, and I’m really surprised that I like it. I’ve been listening to that on repeat over and over (My favorite track: Werewolf Women of the SS) along with another band’s self titled debut: HaleStorm- they’ve got some great riffs, and it’s always interesting to hear a female singer in a hard rock band. Though every single song song on that album seems to basically be about the bad girl’s pov, which is an interesting change. It certainly gives me hope to hear what they come up with next though for their next album.
I have a very wide range as far as my taste in music goes, but lately I have been listening to progressive bluegrass and I got The Dillards (you know the guys from the Andy Griffith Show) disc There is a Time. I particularly like Ebo Walker, Dooley, and There is a Time. I also picked up a compilation disc of various “old timey” country music that includes some great racks by the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, and Grandpa Jones. Great for the drive to work.
On the other extreme of that, The Best of Strauss (2 CD set) is also getting a good bit of spin time in my car.
Lastly, I have rediscovered my hometown boy Johnny Mercer after leaving him in cobwebs for a few years. In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Blues in the Night, Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, Satin Doll, One For My Baby and One for the Road, & Spring, Spring, Spring are favs right now.
A friend of mine has been talking about Stereolab for ages, and I finally got around to checking them out as of early January, when I bought the Mars Audiac Quintet album. It’s fantastic! I love their existential ramblings, bubbly synths, and vocal harmonies.
On my own I discovered Cordelia’s Dad, a now-mostly-defunct Western Massachusetts folk/punk band. Their all folk album Spine is good on the level that I haven’t been able to shut up about it to everyone I know, including my parents. Sex and murder! Shape note and fiddle! And they look like punk rockers!
At the moment, I cannot stop listening to the Avett Brothers’ “I and Love and You,” which I suppose is considered alt-country. Nice blend of rock, folk, and bluegrass. To break it up occasionally, I’ve put in “The '59 Sound” by the Gaslight Anthem, which is more of a straightforward rock record in the Springsteen vein, and “xx” by The xx, which has a laid-back near-techno type of sound. Very good recent albums, all.
Some fabulous orchestral music by up-an-coming Dutch composer Robin de Raaff (Unisono, Piano Concerto, and Concerto for Orchestra) performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Beethoven & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos with Jascha Heifetz/Boston SO/Charles Munch
Stavinsky’s Pulcinella and Symphony in Three Movements on the “CSO Live” label with Pierre Boulez.
I’ve been listening to Phil Vassar. Country, but not your average country–Vassar is a pianist, and piano features prominently in his music. Try his Greatest Hits album for a good sampling of what he can do.
Just now: the new release by Present, Barbaro (Ma Non Troppo). In general: tons of Mahler. Currently working my way through Chailly’s recordings of the symphonies, having recently gone through the Bernstein ('60s), Tennstedt, and Kubelik sets. Also just recently got a CD version of the first Mahler recording I ever owned, Erich Leinsdorf conducting the First (actually a double CD coupled with Leinsdorf’s version of the Third, which I hadn’t heard before). Also just took a quick spin through the Bruckner symphonies, having picked up the Karajan box set.
Contra by Vampire Weekend. It’s so… innovative. At first really boppy and accessible, but actually with lots of depth, and challenging lyrics. According to Wikipedia they’re influenced by Soweto beat and Congolese kwassa kwassa, but they have a New York indie lyrical sound overlaid. Superb.
I found all of Vivaldi’s Gloria on YouTube, and have been listening to it a lot lately. It brings back a lot of memories…we performed the whole thing in high school, where I practiced with both the choir (as an alto) and the orchestra (as a second violin). For the concert, I ended up being in the orchestra, since it was smaller and I was the section leader.
Listening to it has made me regret falling out of practice in both violin and voice.
Been listening to a bunch of my own mix CDs recently … so, creme de la creme good stuff.
Also, several Latin jazz CDs I took out of the library – I’ve got a purring cat in my lap so I’m not going to go look – but know they include Chucho Valdez, whatshisface Rubencalva, and a compilation album. That and Marcus Roberts’s Rhapsody in Blue and my favorite Frank Emilio Flynn album make up another set.
For some inexplicable reason, I had never listened to Rosalyn Tureck’s two well-known performances of the well tempered clavier (das wohltemperierte Klavier) from 1953 and 1976.
Now that I have done it, I’m glad; the '76 interpretation is closer to pure Bach than the first one, though her strength lies both times, imo, more in the preludes. And, like many other pianists, she plays him too fast from time to time. But she refrains from the crazy, in contrast to Gould, doesn’t abuse the pedal, unlike Pollini or romanticise Bach the way Richter did.
Next to Gulda’s quite unique approach, I like hers the most so far – at least when it comes to a) the piano and b) recordings.
