Thursday Jam Session
Once again, a Very Cultured Playlist
Editor’s Note:
Welcome back to another Very Cultured Playlist by
.Not much I can say here. Take it away, Brady.
- Frank Theodat
Welcome again, music lovers. You know the deal by now. We’ve got some timeless classical music to kick us off and then we’ll take a crazy safari through a genre-spanning wilderness of essentials and rare cuts, all specially selected for you, dear listeners.
Here is the list:
And my notes for your reading pleasure and listening enhancement:
“Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622” - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sabine Meyer - Clarinet, Staatskapelle Dresden under Hans Vonk): For the unaware, a concerto is essentially an extended instrumental solo backed by an orchestra. Typically you’ll see them composed in three movements, as this one is, with two relatively uptempo sections sandwiching a slower tempo movement. Arguably the most famous concert piece for the clarinet, Mozart’s one and only clarinet concerto is the master at the height of his powers, being completed a few weeks before his sadly too-young passing. This is Classical period music at its peak and Meyer here gives a stunning and lyrical performance. Setting aside the technical discussions, this piece of music just makes me happy. I hope it has the same effect for you.
“Awakening” - Unleash the Archers: An aptly titled piece of music. If you've not heard this band, you’re in for a treat and it will wake you up to the possibility of making metal music both lush and gorgeous and accessible to a wider audience. Frontwoman Brittney Hayes has a serious set of pipes on her and delivers the soaring melodies and killer lyrics with conviction and consummate skill. The guitar playing is really something too, to say nothing of the rest of the rhythm section who slay as well. Concept albums are hard to pull off convincingly, but UtA’s Apex, from which this is drawn, succeeds wildly. If this track is something you dig, I highly recommend giving the whole album a spin.
“Neon Black” - Bourgeoisie: Don’t tell anybody, but I’ve got a cybernoir novel in the works and this is the soundtrack to get me into the mood for working on it. Bladerunner comparisons are inevitable but this tune is a special something on its own. As the kids say, “it’s a vibe”.
“Alive and Living” - Lari Basilio: I ran across Miss Basilio watching guitar players on YT. This woman is a darned phenom. She manages to play upbeat progressive fusion rock without it sounding corny and her guitar playing skills put us other players to shame. It’s not just the technical ability but her phrasing and musicality that blow me away. This is more happy-making music and I’m in awe of her skill.
“Red Rain” - Peter Gabriel: The obvious pick would be “In Your Eyes” but all of Gabriel’s landmark album So is excellent. I love Phil Collins, but for me this record is the best thing that came out of the Genesis crew. Gabriel’s raspy vocals are tremendous and the thread of melancholy that underlies all his pop composition gives this stuff real staying power. Plus on a production level it sounds gorgeous.
“Fedaykin” - Necropanther: Do you love Dune? I assume you have a soul and a functioning brain, so the answer has to be “Yes!”. This is the unofficial death’n’roll anthem of Paul Muad’Dib’s elite fighting force and it does great justice to the source material. Just try not to shout “Muad’dib!” along with this one.
“Rotlaust Tre Fell” - Wardruna: Wardruna is a pagan-folk revival band probably best known for their musical contribution to the popular History channel drama Vikings. The timbral aesthetics of all the Norse folk instruments are lovely and the lyrics steeped in mythology are a delight. This atmosphere of this music perfectly suits the land and culture by which it is inspired.
“The Banished Heart” - Oceans of Slumber: OoS is a truly unique band. If I have to classify this, I suppose it is “doom metal” but that is just a tag I’d apply because of the slower tempo that harkens in a way back to Black Sabbath. But there is also a rich, dark beauty to this lovelorn song that you won’t find in any comparable band. For whatever reason I’m featuring a lot of female metal vocalists today. Frontwoman Cammie Gilbert-Beverly delivers her lyrics to this heartsick odyssey with a crushing earnestness and the piano work here is superb.
“Mr. MTV” - NOTHING MORE: This is the most interesting band to get mainstream rock radio play in more than a decade. Their lyrics are excellent across the board and this hard hitting tune tears down corporate materialist culture with knife-sharp verbal barbs. Have a rockin’ good time and open your eyes to the emptiness of corpo-culture simultaneously! Music lovers will also note the delightful nod to Dire Straits in the intro.
“Maple Leaf Rag” - Scott Joplin (Alexander Peskanov - piano): Ragtime music sounds a little silly I think to the modern ear but it’s incredibly difficult to play well. Joplin was a true innovator and arguably the father of jazz and these bouncy anthems are something that warm the heart to revisit now and again.
“The Fire I Long For” - Avatarium: I love slide guitar and this features some of the best this side of Dwayne Allman. And look, another female metal vocalist! Jennie-Ann Smith is a powerhouse singer and her delivery here, coupled with the incredibly moving melody and lyrics, will hit you right in the heart. Beautiful stuff.
Fugue From Violin Sonata No. 1 - JS Bach (Christopher Parkening - guitar): Classical guitar is almost a different instrument from any other genre of guitar playing. I would describe this piece as near-impossible in difficulty. Parkening was an utter master of his instrument and this transcription from the undisputed greatest composer to ever live is an absolute delight.
“Joining a Fan Club” - Jellyfish: How to even talk about this band and album? It’s like the Beatles meets Queen meets Rush meets Ben Folds Five meets The Zombies meets who knows what. This is progressive rock (?) and utterly bizarre. But it’s so well done and the “meta” lyrics are incredible. One that really just needs to be listened to. Words fail.
“Turbo Killer” - Carpenter Brut: Unhinged electronic music. Fast, loud, distorted, yet melodic. Plus it’s got a pipe organ in it. This is driving at night with your shades still on neon-fueled maniac music. Get your pumping fist at the ready.
“Down by the Old Mill Stream” - The Schmitt Brothers: I freaking love barbershop quartet music. This is a staple tune on that scene and again here we need to look through the old-timeyness to appreciate the unbelievable skill that goes into performing something like this with pitch-perfect accuracy. The ultra-tight harmonies in barbershop are something any singer knows are only executable by masterful singers. Wonderful music, this.
“The Romantic Warrior” - Return to Forever: Chick Corea’s jazz fusion band that shot guitarist Al DiMeola to relative stardom is a fully peerless group and this album their magnum opus. The title track is a stunning display of technique and the atmosphere is somehow old and ever-fresh at the same time. There's really nothing like this before or since and it’s worth your time and attention.
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” - Willie Nelson: A true classic and country music masterpiece, this tune and Willie’s performance of it are sadness incarnate. There’s nothing to say about this song to explain how deeply it touches anyone who’s ever lost a love.
“Arise, My Soul, Arise” - Dan Forrest (Beckenhorst Singers): There is a whole movement of composers doing original choral anthems for liturgical church services. Incorporating timeless and theologically sound texts with compositional techniques both traditional and new, this is truly beautiful music made to the glory of the Lord.
“De mí” - Camila: Songwriter Mario Domm of the Mexican pop group Camila is probably little known in the States and English speaking world, sadly. This is my favorite song of his and Domm uses masterful harmonic modulation to increase the emotional payoff of this amazing chorus melody with every recurrence. I wish we had stuff this good on American pop radio. And his voice, wow.
“Down to the River to Pray” - Alison Krauss: Krauss has the voice of an angel. Taken from the soundtrack to the excellent movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, this a capella rendition of the gospel classic is totally arresting.
“Celebration Day” - Led Zeppelin: I think Zeppelin’s first five albums are basically perfect. Not a note would I change on them. All rock music must answer to their body of work. As such, there’s probably no such thing as a Zeppelin deep cut, but this is a lesser played tune from the lesser played album III. It’s wonky and fun and all killer, like everything they do.
“God Only Knows” - The Beach Boys: Here's a bold assertion: This is the best pop song ever written. The lyrics, the harmony, the tones, the performance. And the vocals on the ending. Wow. The Beach Boys were total geniuses and this is their magnum opus for my money. And to end this article on a polemic note, I assert the Beach Boys blow the Beatles (who are so overrated it’s not even funny) out of the water and support this opinion with an hysterical and totally correct meme:
Haha that meme is too on point. I only just recently started digging deeper into the Beach Boys discography after stupidly dismissing them as dated and kitschy. I was wrong!
To be fair to The Beatles, they did admit that the Beach Boys were the best band in the world when they were at the top. Kudos to them.
Also, Brian Wilson originally wrote Good Vibrations to be a symphony to the Holy Ghost (hence, that eerie and ghoulish warbling, which sounds like its ripped straight out of Scooby Doo).