Thursday's Very Cultured Playlist
For your ears only
Editor’s Note:
It wouldn’t be Thursday without a freshly curated playlist. Start the weekend early by diving into these selections with accompanied commentary from the magazine’s “Music Man,”
.As I sit here writing this, I’m listening to Saint-Saëns Symphony No 3 in C minor - a delight for my ears.
Don’t delay. Give it a listen.
- Frank Theodat
Hello again, music lovers. This week’s list starts off as usual with a big orchestral work, followed by a genre-hopping journey through the cream of the musical crop (in your servant’s exceedingly humble opinion).
Here is the list:
And the usual notes from yours truly, for your super-enhanced listening experience:
"Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ‘The Organ Symphony’" - Camille Saint-Saëns (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Lorin Maazel): As the title gives away, this epic symphony includes prominent use of full pipe organ, and it is glorious. Generally considered to be a response to “Wagnerism” in France (roughly the idea that the symphony was played out after Beethoven and full scale music drama was the way forward), ironically there are echoes of the sound Wagner popularized in this piece. I hear bits of the Ring Cycle in tone and melodic contour certainly. However, I don’t get the sense that Saint-Saëns was opposed to Wagner on aesthetic grounds more than he was for national and political reasons. At any rate, this symphony is every bit as massive and majestic as Wagner was and Camille threw the kitchen sink at it. Virtuosic passages abound from strings, piano, and of course the bone-shaking organ passages that round off the huge sound. The composer said that he gave everything he could to this piece and it isn’t hard to believe.
“Imaginary Places” - Busdriver: Okay, this is a weird one but I love it. The track is based on a sample from the final movement of JS Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor (aka “Badinerie”) and Busdriver raps in unison with it for the bulk of the song. It is zany and pyrotechnic and just flat impressive. After a goofy sort of loungy bridge section, the DJ takes a solo (!) where the record scratches sync up with the flute sample and Busdriver’s lazy mumbled humming. It’s amazing if you know anything about turntable technique.
“Dr. Feelgood” - Mötley Crüe: The best hair band for my money and this tune is one of the best guitar riffs in all 80s rock. Mick Mars was no technician, and his guitar solos leave something to be desired, but the guy could write a riff like nobody’s business. As to the lyrics, I suspect the good doctor did not in fact possess a medical degree. Here at P,P, & P we do not endorse the things this song refers to, but we do endorse listening to lots of Crüe.
“Try a Little Tenderness” - Otis Redding: One of the top five vocal performances in all recorded music, bar none. Redding is simply incredible on this track. We get a sweet ballad up front with some lovely lyrics, then a bit of a beat and some old school rock’n’roll feel, then an outro that is a backbeat-driven masterclass in going buckwild on a tune. If the grunts and “whats” and all that at the end don’t get you grooving like mad, I have some questions about your soul-health.
“I Sever” - Sylosis: This is something like neo-thrashy-death metal. Or deathy-neo-thrash metal? Who knows. Basically some faster and way more intense Metallica type riffing with growly vocals. It goes hard in the headbanging department until the coda, where we are treated to a stunning chorus melody (delivered in pitched screaming, which is insanely hard to do well) that rivals any great pop song for memorability and emotiveness. Lots of great “meedly-meedlies” for the shredheads too.
“None Shall Pass” - Aesop Rock: Honestly I understand less than half of what these lyrics are about, but it’s incredibly dense linguistically, masterfully delivered with a detached, world-weary swag, and the beat and samples sound fantastic. The beat feels like walking leisurely through a house of mirrors or something. One to just let wash over you rather than dissect.
“Prokopton” - Aephanemer: This is quintessential Swede-style melodic death metal. It also sounds to me like the soundtrack to a pirate voyage. There is something shanty-esque about the way it lilts along, though it maintains its rough edge. Fitting music for flying the black flag and hunting treasure. Though I’m not sure they intended it that way.
“What is Hip?” - Tower of Power: Here ToP deals with the perennial problem of the poseur. What is hip indeed? The conclusion? It’s self evident, dig? This track grooves harder than a dozen others in the soul and funk genres. Special props go to the ultra-tight horn hits and the bloody insane bass playing from Rocco Prestia, one of the greats.
“Honky Tonk Heroes” - Waylon Jennings: The apotheosis of the outlaw country bar lament about the down and out among us. This tune has about 4 different great country grooves, shifting from one to another seamlessly, and some incredible guitar playing. One for the “lovable losers and no account boozers”.
“Kyrie” - Mr. Mister: Known primarily for their ultra-hit “Take these Broken Wings”, Mr. Mister was a stellar pop band from the 80s. While I love their most famous song, I submit that this is their magnum opus. The chorus is one of the best ever written in pop music. And while I’m generally opposed to direct modulation (unprepared key changes) the shift at the end of the song to another key while taking the chorus a capella is totally genius. Moving too. Plus I get a kick out of a successful radio song borrowing from the traditional liturgy appealing to Christ for mercy.
“The Chicken” - Jaco Pastorius: Like any normal teen growing up learning jazz fusion electric bass, I idolized Jaco. This tune features a lot of the musicians from the classic SNL band and you’ll hear that immediately if you ever watched it. The bass playing is an obvious highlight, fretless and drenched in chorus. It's just amazing. But be on the listen for the insane sax and trumpet solos too. This whole tune is a ridiculous display of skill and it’s just a really fun listen.
“Euclid” - Sleep Token: This is a new one from an album I've been spinning a lot. I suppose Sleep Token is technically a metal band but this is not a metal tune. The whole album (and this song) is a real genre-bender. It’s sort of radio-pop mixed with mall emo but heavier and some Raiohead type electronic experimental elements. It’s very hard to classify but it’s tremendous and the ending is just gorgeous.
“Strode Rode” - Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus is one of my all-time favorite jazz records and this cut is a highlight for me. It swings so hard you’ll be putting your keys in the fishbowl near the door (sorry for the crude joke but it popped into my head haha). The first solo chorus that Sonny takes drops all the accompaniment except for the walking bass line and it goes so hard it’s not even funny.
“Seven Pieces for Harp: 1. Viejo Zortico” - Jesus Guridi (Marisa Robles, harp): I recommend you listen to just about everything Marisa Robles has recorded. An absolute master of her instrument. This is a dreamy yet complicated mid-twentieth century piece that has a sort of inexplicable charm to me.
“Rosanna” - TOTO: Okay, look, I like “Africa”, but it’s far from their best work. “Hold the Line” is a candidate, but for me this tune is their crown jewel. The slap bass is awesome, the corny synth stabs just work in this context, and the guitar playing is nuts. Special attention should be paid to the outro, where you will hear one of music’s most underrated guitarists, Steve Lukather, absolutely shred everything to pieces.
“Overstepping” - Belmont: You’re having a house party. You want pop punk music for your soundtrack. You accidentally hire a metal band to show up and play said pop punk music. This band is Belmont, and they kick ass.
“Blues Deluxe” - Joe Bonamassa: Joe is hands down the best living electric blues guitarist and potentially the best of all-time. He puts everyone else to shame and this track is already 20 years old. And he just gets better every time I see him live. If you like rock and blues guitar playing and you’ve never heard this guy, it will change your life, no exaggeration. He’s no slouch in the singing department either and this is just a great old blues rock tune, actually originally written and performed by Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck back in the day.
“Calvary’s Anthem” - Grace Worship: Big shout out to
for showing me this group. This song is the best of modern worship music writing. Theologically sound, artistically lovely, well sung. But the thing that really takes this song to another level is the arrangement. It has a real sense of forward progress leading to a finale that is positively stuffed with lush sounds including a full horn section and orchestral chimes. Totally arresting and perfectly matched to the subject matter of our redemption through the Lord.
Sleep Token AND Belmont. Killer.
I agree 100% that Mötley Crüe is the best hair metal band, and "Dr. Feelgood" is my favorite song of theirs. I've always thought Mick Mars was an underrated guitarist.