Tom Moon on the Beatles

"Their previous album, Rubber Soul, offers a program of wistful love songs. The next one, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, begins the band's headfirst charge into experimentation. Revolver connects the two. It has the plaintive earnestness of the early band, and the radical curiosity—about sound, subject matter, composition—that defined everything after. Although the band had already been exploring, this time they're brazen and much more thorough about it: 'Tomorrow Never Knows,' which finds Lennon reading excerpts from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, plays like a test to see how far into terrifying dissonance pop can go. Similarly, 'Taxman,' the bitterest song George Harrison ever wrote, voices a cynicism then unusual in pop. 'Good Day Sunshine' is its opposite—a grand attempt at the flamboyantly rococo, pure pop joy for its own sake. … Revolver contains … the band's first acid-trip cartoon … a feather-pillow McCartney ode, 'Here, There, and Everywhere,' that schooled Burt Bacharach and a generation of tunesmiths, and also 'Eleanor Rigby,' the odd still-life that is richer in character development than many three-hour movies. …" (1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, pp. 59-60).

Tom Moon on the Beach Boys

"Sooner or later Brian Wilson had to grow up. Summer might last forever, but at some point slinging surf music was gonna get old. … Though it's somewhat unified in terms of text, Pet Sounds is remarkably diverse in the orchestration department — virtually every track comes with its own set of instrumental touches, from the chiming bells of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' to the kettle drums that frame 'Sloop John B.' Though Pet Sounds did have several charting singles … the record didn't get massive promotion from Capitol; incredibly, it took until 2000 for the album to reach the million-copies-sold plateau. Despite these figures, Pet Sounds … has influenced just about everyone who makes pop music. It's also an illustration of the reciprocal nature of pop inspiration. Wilson cited the Beatles' Rubber Soul, released in December 1965, as a primary catalyst for Pet Sounds. In turn, Paul McCartney has said that he was deeply affected by Pet Sounds during the making of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. McCartney was once quoted as saying, 'I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard Pet Sounds'" (1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, p. 55).

Tom Moon on Aerosmith

"Aerosmith didn't invent blues-rock, wasn't the first band to dish bawdy lyrics, and really brought nothing innovative to the game—unless you count the scarves vocalist Steven Tyler tied around his microphone stand. Yet with its third album, Toys in the Attic, the Boston quintet took the basic three-chord guitar scheme, added some old-fashioned showbiz razzle-dazzle, and gave 'rawk' a new attitude. Toys is thirty-seven minutes of teenage air-guitar bliss—all double-time peel-outs and leering talk of fast girls, with a hit of rebellion on the side. Its pulverizing backbeats and tightly wound riff boogie ooze horniness ('Walk This Way,' still the prototype rock strut). Its songs about drugs ('Uncle Salty' and 'Sweet Emotion,' the cleverest deployment of bass marimbas in rock history) are disciplined verse-chorus odes disguised as spacey meandering. An instant hit that sold missions and established the band as arena headliners, Toys solidified the trick that the 'Toxic Twins' songwriting team, vocalist Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry, would turn for decades: slightly sleazy bad-boy stuff made irresistible by fireworks-on-cue hookcraft" (1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, pp. 11-12).

Steely Dan: Aja

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David Segal wrote in the New York Times: "For bowlers the ultimate test is the 7-10 split. For card sharks it’s the hot shot cut. For drummers it’s the funky little miracle of syncopation known as the Purdie Shuffle. You’ve heard Bernard Purdie — better known as Pretty Purdie — perform his creation on Steely Dan’s 'Home at Last,' from the 1977 album 'Aja.' … Created with six bass, high-hat and snare tones, the Purdie Shuffle is a groove that seems to spin in concentric circles as it lopes forward. The result is a Tilt-a-Whirl of sound, and if you can listen without shaking your hips, you should probably see a doctor. Now the beat has a whole new life. On YouTube dozens of amateurs, aspiring pros and assorted dilettantes have uploaded videos of their attempts to teach or demonstrate the Purdie Shuffle. … Mr. Purdie can be found these days at the Al Hirschfeld Theater playing for the Broadway revival of 'Hair.' … For years he showed up at sessions with two professionally made signs. … 'You done hired the hit maker,' read one. 'If you need me, call me, the little old hit maker,' said the other" ("Signature Shuffle," 3/31/09).

Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1, Violin Concerto No. 1

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Allan Kozinn wrote in the New York Times: "Esa-Pekka Salonen’s guest-conducting visit to the New York Philharmonic, planned for this week, promised to be a highlight of the New York music season, not only because Mr. Salonen is heard too infrequently here but also because he had assembled a killer program. The first half was to have opened with Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Christian Tetzlaff was to have been the soloist in Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. … Last week Mr. Salonen withdrew because of back problems, and the Philharmonic quickly found a replacement in David Zinman. … And the Szymanowski gave way to Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (with Mr. Tetzlaff still on hand). The Shostakovich, if more commonplace than the Szymanowski, was a worthy replacement, and Mr. Tetzlaff is generally worth hearing, no matter what he has on his stand. And if listeners used to hearing the Shostakovich in classic recordings by Oistrakh and other Russian players find Mr. Tetzlaff’s sound light for this work, there is much to be learned from the perspective he offers" (5/16/09).

Meiko: Meiko

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Jon Chattman wrote in the Huffington Post: "Her songs appear fairly regularly on 'Grey's Anatomy,' but don't hold that against her. … Meiko's tunes are easy on the ears — honest, melodic gems that prove once again that we're living a golden age of guitar-playing female singer/songwriters. The Los Angeles, CA-based and Roberta, GA-born musician has been gaining buzz and a whole lot of fans (Perez Hilton among them) ever since she broke out of the acclaimed Cali-talent pool AKA Hotel Cafe and released her self-titled album on her own over a year-and-a-half ago. That album was subsequently remixed and rereleased after she signed a deal with MySpace Records — speaking of which, that social network has helped make her a star. … In the midst of her first headlining tour, I caught up with the budding star. … [Q] What's the difference been thus far between headlining a show and warming up for other artists? [A] I can finally bring my own band with me. Usually, when I'm the opener or support act, I play by myself (or I con the headliner's musicians to play with me) …" ("Interview," 5/14/09).

Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos

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Peter G. Davis wrote in the New York Times: "In the heyday of the LP, from 1950 or so to 1980, exclusive contracts with major record labels were the norm for noted musicians, and an entire generation of artists preserved their works in quantity. Pianists were especially plentiful, and collectors were spoiled with choices. Today only a handful of important pianists can document their interpretations so prominently, among them Richard Goode, who has maintained a long and productive affiliation with Nonesuch Records that any musician would envy. The latest project in the series, scheduled for release on Tuesday, is a set of the five Beethoven piano concertos with Ivan Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra. … Even in those flush earlier days, Mr. Goode would have stood out for his fastidious musicianship, infallible fingers, warming spirit and vital connection to the living traditions set down by his predecessors. His keyboard personality shines even more brightly in today’s unruly musical world" ("Music: An Orderly Career, Hardly Ordinary," 5/3/09).

Featured Book: The Jazz Ear by Ben Ratliff, cont'd

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"Next on [Andrew Hill's] list was 'Blue Rondo à la Turk,' from Dave Brubeck's fluke-hit 1939 album, Time Out. The song is famous for its meter shifts: it flicks between a fast 9/8 and an easy, midtempo 4/4 swing, though it doesn't try to make them flow into each other. 'I keep hearing the different rhythm-melodies,' Hill said as the song played. 'The rhythm-melody that the drummer plays, for example. But this also represents when people weren't as comfortable playing rhythms like that' — he meant the 9/8 — 'all the way through numbers, as they are now.' With pieces like this, Brubeck made jazz seem sensible for many who came to it cold; it's a playful piece of music and very schematic. He phrased almost right on the beat and kept swing roped off in the song's 4/4 section" (p. 51).
I would just add that the rhythm in the 9/8 sections is more eccentric than that description implies. Traditional 9/8 is a three-beat bar subdivided in triplets, a fairly conventional sound. Here the 9/8 sounds to me like it is mostly subdivided (4+5)/8 or maybe (2+2+2+3)/8.

Featured Book: The Jazz Ear by Ben Ratliff

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"Next we heard 'Seven Steps to Heaven,' performed live by the Miles Davis Quintet — including Herbie Hancock, George Coleman, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams — in 1964. It is fast and confident, even in its improvised coda; Williams's drum solo crackles like gunfire, and Davis's solo is coolly imperious. 'This is the first record I ever got,' [Pat] Metheny said, as a prologue. 'I got this when I was eleven. My older brother Mike, who's a great trumpet player, had a couple of friends who were starting to get interested in jazz. He brought this record home. I always hear "jazz is something you really have to learn about, and you develop a taste for it, and da da da," that whole rap. But for me, as an eleven-year-old, within thirty seconds of hearing this record' — he snapped his fingers — 'I was down for life. … I know Herbie really well and I know Tony very well too, and I've talked with them about what was actually going down that night. They thought it was one of the worst gigs they'd ever done. But I was listening to Tony here. … It's such an incredibly fresh way of thinking of time. It sums up so much of what that period was" (p. 20).

Art Brut: Art Brut vs. Satan

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Contents: Alcoholics unanimous — DC comics and chocolate milkshake — The passenger — Am I normal? — What a rush — Demons out! — Slap dash for no cash — The Replacements — Twist and shout — Summer job — Mysterious bruises. All songs written by Art Brut.
Personnel: Art Brut (Eddie Argos, vocals; Mikey Breyer, drums; Ian Catskilkin, guitar; Freddy Feedback, bass; Jasper Future, guitar). Produced by Black Francis.
Sample lyrics: "I've had a song trapped in my head all day/ I can't shake it, it won't go away/ I start to sing it but manage to stop/ and cover it up with a little cough/ (ahem)/ I didn't mean to twist and shout/ something slipped and it just popped out … I need to keep my lips tight shut/ To sing now would be inappropriate/ lalalalala lalalalala lalalalala lala" ("Twist and Shout").
I probably couldn't give an adequate description of Eddie Argos's vocal work, but Fred Schneider of the B-52's would be an important point of reference. Art Brut is one of not too many bands that make real music inextricably mixed up with goofball humor.

Krzysztof Penderecki: Utrenja

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Vivien Schweitzer wrote in the New York Times: "The Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has often meshed avant-garde and traditional elements, reflecting the multiple aesthetics he has explored during his long career. His 'Utrenja,' inspired by the Eastern Orthodox Christian liturgy for Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, alternates passages of serene sacred music with his trademark startling harmonic clusters. Antoni Wit presents the work in a Naxos recording that vividly illuminates the contrast between Mr. Penderecki’s emotionally direct a cappella vocal writing and orchestral effects that mimic electronic music. … West German Radio commissioned 'Utrenja,' whose two parts — 'The Entombment of Christ' and 'The Resurrection of Christ' — were given separate premieres in Germany, in 1970 and 1971. … 'Utrenja,' using an Old Slavonic liturgical text, opens with sepulchral intonation by the basses. The rest of the choir joins to create harmonically ambiguous waves of sound. A solo soprano eventually rises above the exuberant orchestral frenzy of the second movement, 'Songs of Praise' …" (5/17/09).

The Alternate Routes: A Sucker's Dream

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Brian LaRue wrote in the New Haven Advocate: "Two bands on the [Meriden Daffodil Festival] schedule that have a national presence are roots rockers The Alternate Routes and indie rockers Bear Hands, and both have Connecticut roots. … Really, certain Boomers would be wise to join younger fans in checking out The Alternate Routes’ set. The Bridgeport-based band is a sort of contemporary classic rock band, steeped in rock ’n’ roll traditionalism and a timeless singer-songwriter sensibility. They deserve some kind of closeup. The Routes (full disclosure: Advocate contributing writer Mike Sembos has played in the band for years) have had an exceptionally good year. Two months ago, they released A Sucker’s Dream, their second full-length since signing to esteemed Nashville label Vanguard Records. As it turns out, the band recorded that album nearly a year ago. … The Routes are already getting national attention and with more touring planned in the warmer months, it would be no surprise if their recent recordings elevated their stature" ("The Main Stem: A Burden Is Lifted …," 4/23/09, p. 23).

Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas, Volume IV

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Contents: Sonata no. 12 in A-flat major, op. 26 — Sonata no. 13 in E-flat major, op. 27/1 — Sonata no. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 27/2, "Moonlight" — Sonata no. 15 in D major, op. 28, "Pastorale."
Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "Among other wonderful things, the pianist Andras Schiff’s Beethoven recitals on Friday night and Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall were awesome demonstrations of a musician’s ability to focus. With these two programs Mr. Schiff concluded his survey of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, performed in a series of recitals over two seasons. … Now 55, Mr. Schiff has spent several years immersed in this Beethoven project. His excellent recordings of the complete sonatas, taken from live performances, are available on the ECM label. Part of what makes Mr. Schiff’s Beethoven so engrossing is that his interpretive approach eludes definition. An artful blend of intuition and analysis has gone into his preparation. Yet the results are constantly surprising" ("Music Review," 4/21/09).

Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Cryptomnesia

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Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times: "So many jumpy, frenetic, whipsawing guitar lines go zooming through Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s head that his main band, the Mars Volta, can’t hold them all. That’s why he has his own extensive catalog of … largely (but not entirely) instrumental works. … 'Cryptomnesia' tilts toward songs instead. Its tracks were recorded in 2006 by members of the Mars Volta … and from Hella the hyperactive Zach Hill on drums, who can keep pace with every riff. … Then, last year, the Mars Volta’s singer, Cedric Bixler Zavala, added lyrics and vocals on most of the tracks. … The result is as frantic as the Mars Volta’s own material, but terser, and occasionally something approaching catchy in songs like 'Half Kleptos,' if helium-tinged vocals and bruising progressive-rock riffs could possibly add up to catchy. The lyrics have Mr. Bixler Zavala’s usual gross-out potential, profanity and medical obsessions — 'Don’t make me steal all your vital organs,' he croons, way up high, in the album’s title song — but his vocals carve simple paths through the thickets of notes" ("New CDs," 5/11/09).

Prokofiev: The Complete Symphonies

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Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "The conductor Valery Gergiev has been engaged in a lifelong campaign to convince the world beyond Russia that Prokofiev was a major opera composer. … Mr. Gergiev has been an equally tireless champion of Prokofiev’s seven symphonies and is now waging that campaign at Avery Fisher Hall. … Mr. Gergiev’s stunning insights into these scores are enhanced by his long experience conducting Prokofiev’s operas and ballets. … In 2004, three years before he became the principal conductor of the London Symphony, Mr. Gergiev recorded the symphonies live in concert with the orchestra. On this tour to New York, the [London] players dispatched these scores with even greater fervor. … The seldom-heard Sixth Symphony, written in the immediate aftermath of World War II, finds the composer stubbornly rebellious in the face of the cultural crackdown by Soviet authorities. This somber, beleaguered piece — with its brutal outbursts and waves of spinning lyrical lines, at once aimless and inexorable — is considered a masterpiece by Prokofiev champions" (3/26/09).

Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture

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Will Hermes wrote in the New York Times: "Like their international peers African artists are using digital technology to create musical hybrids and distribute them globally. At the same time Western fans of rock, rap and electronic music are using digital access to discover sounds that push familiar buttons in novel ways. Together these factors have helped dispel the notion of world music as a folk-rooted category geared strictly toward older listeners. Congolese acts like Konono No. 1 and Kasai Allstars, for example, working with European producers and artists … have connected their hypnotic, urbanized traditional music to Western fans of techno and psychedelic rock. … The most high-profile example of this new world-music trend comes not from Africa, however, but via India: the Grammy-winning hit soundtrack to the film 'Slumdog Millionaire.' Composed by A. R. Rahman, the music is modern Bollywood pop, full of digitally sequenced drums and processed vocals, raps, house music and schmaltzy balladry — and yes, some sitar" ("Changing Sounds of Africa," 3/22/09).

Chopin: Piano Concertos nos. 1 and 2

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Russell Platt wrote in the New Yorker: "Is there a composer who blends shadow and substance as unforgettably as Chopin? The music invades our soul but also stands apart with an aristocratic reserve; the melodies quiver with sensitivity but arise from an intricate web of counterpoint that emulates Bach. And we will never get enough of it, as a new batch of recordings proves. The two piano concertos represent the composer at his most public and proud, but Lang Lang, in his new disk on Deutsche Grammophon … is outclassed by Vassily Primakov, the young Russian pianist who has been taken up by the small but distinguished Bridge label. For Lang, rubato means slowing down whenever a right-hand roulade graces the end of a bar; for Primakov, well supported by the Odense Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Paul Mann, it is a device in which shifts of tempo, tone color, and articulation are blended into a subtly modulating flow. Primakov, a Juilliard graduate, is making a strikingly personal adaptation of the brawny Russian national style" ("Chopin List," 4/20/09, p. 16).

Various Artists: Dark Was the Night

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Nate Chinen wrote in the New York Times: "During the final moments of Dark Was the Night Live, a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night, more than a dozen singers … huddled at one end of the stage to warble 'This Land Is Your Land.' … The concert was a tie-in to 'Dark Was the Night' (4AD), the latest in a series of compilation albums made for the Red Hot Organization, an AIDS relief charity. … Like the album, the show was spearheaded by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National. … Feist made her appearance feel like a coffeehouse cameo. … Singing in her warm, flexible voice, she easily held the spotlight by herself. The one exception was 'Train Song,' a Vashti Bunyan ballad on which she welcomed Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. In his own set Mr. Vernon began with 'Brackett, WI,' one of his two haunting tracks on the album. … On 'Flume,' he delegated a verse to Shara Worden, who handled it well. Ms. Worden, appearing as My Brightest Diamond with backing from the National, struck one of the evening’s high points; her potent take on 'Feeling Good' evoked Nina Simone without an ounce of burden."