Classical Stocking Stuffer

I love procrastinating! While I'm supposed to be studying for exams today, I decided instead to make an album mix DVD for Steven of my favorite classical music. This was tricky because I don't follow any particular classical canon or critic, but rather rely on recommendations from a few sources, including Alex Ross and the Gramophone, and the hit or miss of borrowing and purchasing at random. As my friends know, I purchase and borrow popular music based on the criticism of Robert Christgau, to the point where its kind of a religious fanaticism. For classical, however, I've had a falling out with Alex Ross (nothing personal), and don't know where else to turn. So I just get whatever, listen to whatever, and try to find my way.

So, here are 22 recordings I adore. I am not an expert by any means, so these are not the "best" of anything except, perhaps, my personal collection. But I love them, and recommend them. Also note that there are very few adventurous recordings here--I'm not sure Steven would be into those. Merry Christmas!

C.P.E. Bach, Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Andrew Manze)
J.S. Bach, Bach Cantatas (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson)
J.S. Bach, The Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould/1955)
Béla Bartók, The Piano Concertos (Anda/DG Originals)
L.V. Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 "Choral" (Osmo Vänskä)
David Behrman, On the Other Ocean/Figure in a Clearing (Lovely)
Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique (John Eliot Gardiner/1991)
Crystal Tears (Andreas Scholl)
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 (Kubelik/DG Originals)
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 6 (Claudio Abbado/2005)
Olivier Messiaen, Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Walter Boeykens)
W.A. Mozart, Clarinet Concerto/Clarinet Quintet (Martin Fröst)
Arvo Pärt, Tabula Rasa (ECM)
Prokofiev/Ravel, Piano Concertos (Argerich/DG Originals)
Terry Riley, In C (Bang on a Can)
Franz Schubert, Goethe Lieder (Fischer-Dieskau/DG Originals)
Franz Schubert, String Quintet D.956 (Alban Berg Quartett)
Robert Schumann, Dichterliebe (Wunderlich/DG Originals)
Jean Sibelius, Symphonies Nos. 4-7 (Karajan/DG Originals)
Song of Songs (Stile Antico)
Igor Stravinsky, Pétrouchka/Le Sacre du printemps (Boulez/Sony)
Toru Takemitsu, Chamber Works (Naxos)

Where My Veterans At?

Pitchfork published their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s last week, and the net has a bunch of opinions about the matter, but none as interesting as this one: the lack of veteran performers. As you can see, this link is to a website dedicated to musicians who have performed for 25 or more years. Pitchfork gives up only 4 out of 200 to veterans, and surprisingly does not include either of Bob Dylan's masterpieces of the decade, Modern Times or Love and Theft, or Brian Wilson's Smile. Weird.

Everyone has a list of omissions, and mine includes: the Go-Betweens' The Friends of Rachel Worth and Oceans Apart, Mekons' OOOH! and Jon Langford's All the Fame of Lofty Deeds, Orchestre Baobab's Made in Dakar and Specialist in All Styles, Lou Reed's Ecstasy, Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, Tom Waits's Orphans, Madonna's Music, Tom Ze's Jogos de Armar, Maria Muldaur's Heart of Mine: The Love Songs of Bob Dylan, New York Dolls' One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This, Randy Newman's Harps and Angels, Orlando Cachaito Lopez's Cachaito, Marianne Faithfull's new Easy Come Easy Go, and Willie Nelson's new Willie and the Wheel.

Perhaps the most surprising offenses, beyond the above Dylan and Wilson omissions, are the absence of Youssou N'Dour, who released three near-perfect albums over the last 10 years (Nothing's in Vain, Egypt, and Rokku Mi Rokka), and the inclusion of Murray Street by Sonic Youth (their weakest in 25 years?) and the exclusion of two of their finest, NYC Ghosts and Flowers, and Rather Ripped. Of course, there's also the omission of Ornette Coleman's Pulitzer Prize winning Sound Grammar.

That said, Pitchfork's top 50 is pretty good, and though I'd replace most of them with my own favorites (like anyone), I enjoy contemplating their choices. Given their aesthetic, nothing in their top 20 seems ridiculous, which is kind of new for them. But really, people, you didn't hear a better album than Kid A this decade? I'm sorry to hear that. Let me recommend...

Made in Dakar - Orchestre Baob...

NYC Ghosts & Flowers - Sonic Y...

Modern Times - Bob Dylan

One Day It Will Please Us To R...

I Heart Weekends

What a week! I made it through hours of grading, reading, and tutoring, so I've taken the last couple days off, more or less. I was pulling 10-12 hours days there for a while, so naturally I got a cold. This is happening more and more it seems. Anyway, sneezing and coughing aside, I've had a good couple days off. After my long haul of classes on Thursday, I watched a couple episodes of Battlestar Gallactica on DVD (I'm up to season 3), then the NBC Parks and Recreation, Office, and Community trifecta.

Am I the only one who loves these shows? Sure, everyone loves the Office, but I need to stand up for Parks and Recreation, and Community. I didn't like Parks and Recreation at first either, but the last episode of the first season pulled me in, and now I'm hooked. Yes, I expect Amy Poehler to be funnier too, but she's up to something with this character: she plays an ambitious woman with a huge heart who doesn't know herself or how the world works, and she ends up looking foolish again and again because she just can't conceive of a world that is inherently hurtful. She believes in perseverance and a fair meritocracy; that if she continues to build this park with good will in her heart, she will one day be president. Rather than laugh at her optimism, though, Poehler's character gets you to believe in a just society and a better tomorrow because to believe in them is essential to living, that we need to believe in these things to stay sane and happy; to remain pure at heart in a maelstrom of modernity. Also, it's still kind of funny. We laugh at these characters make asses of themselves, because at our best--at our most earnest--we make asses of ourselves as well. And we're better people for it. Like Christgau says, we all need a little corn in our lives. It helps you shake some of that cynicism out of your head. Poehler's character does that.

As for Community, well, what can I say? I love college (obviously), and this show sums up that strange emotional and temporal space that is college and the college campus. Bake sales and candlelight vigils for victims of government oppression? Check. Dead Poets Society professor who climbs trees and makes his students stand on their desks to feel liberated? Check. Lonely, socially awkward students looking to redefine themselves within a new social environment and failing miserably? Check. All of these are played for laughs, and yet, like Parks and Recreation, its a heartfelt show: we're not laughing at these characters, we're laughing with them. I also think the dialogue is sharp, and Joel McHale, here and on The Soup, is a treasure.

My Friday was also wonderful: Kit made us soup for dinner, which was great for my cold, and her baby Logan sat in his jumper for the first time. We watched him learn to use his legs to jump for about 20 minutes. It was so beautiful. I can't imagine what it's like for Logan right now, learning so much so fast. Then we sat down to watch Dollhouse, which aired its first bad episode. Good premise, but a bad script led to some bad acting. I guess you can't win all the time.

I also discovered Lala for myself. Lala is basically the best music store on the internet. The MP3s are reasonably priced, and you can listen to entire albums at CD quality before you purchase them. You can also buy "web albums" which are very cheap, but you can only listen to them streaming from the website; you cannot download them. But, you can listen to them from any computer anywhere. And even better, there is a program that matches the music on your hard drive to music on Lala, and let's you listen to that music streaming from their website on any computer. Did you catch that? You can stream your entire collection from Lala for free anywhere! Anything they don't own can be uploaded for free as well. It's really amazing, and very forward thinking. They also have a sale going on now for albums listed in Pitchfork's Top 200 albums of the 2000s. A bunch of them are only $2-3, and many are as low as $6. Brilliant. Here's a sample:

A Positive Rage - The Hold Ste...

40 Alternatives to Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s

I love lists. Even lists as strange as Pitchfork’s Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. Like everyone else I know, Pitchfork’s aesthetic agenda rubs me the wrong way. But I find that their rewriting of the '70s, '80s and '90s rock canons does offer readers a good context for their otherwise absurd and contrarian opinions and recommendations; better than any of their reviews, that’s for sure. However, I have to add that I’m not convinced there’s much truth, meaning or even entertainment value in some of the choices that create Pitchfork’s critical context, which is a shame. Isn’t that why were in this business? So I thought I’d be an ass and put together my own alternative Top 40 Albums of the 1980s NOT listed in Pitchfork's list, in which I offer albums that I believe are far more reliable and meaningful choices than many of the ones compiled by Pitchfork.

I tried for 100, then 50, but 40 hit it just about right. Of course, I would include many of the albums in Pitchfork’s list; who wouldn’t? Who doesn’t love Thriller? Or Trust? Daydream Nation? Sign o’ the Times? So, take some of their list, maybe take some of mine, and you’ll get a pretty good take on the 1980s. As noted above, I can’t recommend some of the Pitchfork choices, but I recommend each of my selections below without reservation. And don’t just take my word for it: all of my choices are cribbed from lists by Spin Magazine, Robert Christgau, Pazz & Jop and various other similar critical institutions on the web.

And now, the rules: As with Pitchfork, I only consider classical and jazz albums with some kind of pop caché, and I include no single-artist compilations, though, for the record, I love compilations. Pitchfork includes Fela Kuti in their ‘70s list, so I figure Afro-pop is fair game. I was going to list my favorites alphabetically (it’s easier for shopping), but listing them in order of preference is really fun to write, and I find, fun to read. So, enjoy! Comments are encouraged.



1. X, Wild Gift (1981)
2. Marshall Crenshaw, Field Day (1983)
3. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
4. Robert Cray, Strong Persuader (1986)
5. Franco & Rochereau, Omona Wapi (1983)
6. Lucinda Williams, Lucinda Williams (1988)
7. Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Crenshaw (1982)
8. James Blood Ulmer, Odyssey (1983)
9. DeBarge, In a Special Way (1983)
10. Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love (1987)

11. Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive? (1984)
12. Lou Reed, The Blue Mask (1982)
13. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (1986)
14. George Clinton, Computer Games (1982)
15. New Order, Brotherhood (1986)
16. The Blasters, Non Fiction (1983)
17. John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy (1980)
18. Professor Longhair, Crawfish Fiesta (1980)
19. Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual (1983)
20. Lou Reed, Legendary Hearts (1983)



21. Flipper, Album—Generic Flipper (1982)
22. Lou Reed, New Sensations (1984)
23. Ornette Coleman, Of Human Feelings (1982)
24. Sonny Sharrock, Guitar (1986)
25. Richard & Linda Thompson, Shoot Out the Lights (1982)
26. Laurie Anderson, United States Live (1984)
27. The Blasters, Hard Line (1985)
28. Remmy Ongala, Songs for the Poor Man (1989)
29. Chic, Real People (1980)
30. Go-Betweens, Tallulah (1987)

31. Papa Wemba, L’Esclave (1988)
32. Ornette Coleman, Virgin Beauty (1988)
33. Alberta Hunter, Amtrak Blues (1980)
34. Neil Young, Freedom (1989)
35. King Sunny Ade, Aura (1984)
36. Aretha Franklin, Who’s Zoomin’ Who? (1985)
37. Hüsker Dü, Candy Apple Grey (1986)
38. Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk Talk (1981)
39. Donald Fagen, The Nightfly (1982)
40. Angry Samoans, Back from Samoa (1982)

Long Time Gone

My last post was in January?! F***! Well, friends, I'm back. I completed my first year of Ph.D. school: So far so good. I was hoping to work this summer and stack some dollars, but the recession has kept me at home. I'm usually studying my record collection, or taking naps, but I have knocked back a few books, listened to a lot of music that I wouldn't ordinarily hear, and wrote a song(!). It's my first in several years; boredom is a magical thing.

I had a big metal phase a few weeks ago. Lest you think that means I simply listened to Def Leppard or something (though I did), let me explain in more detail: First, I browsed through Ian Christe's Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, and, despite the lackluster prose and sketchy research, I firmly recommend his handy list of best metal albums in the back. Though he lists recommendations throughout the book for major subgenres of metal, he gives the mother of all lists in the very, very back: The 25 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. Trust me, it's not for sissies. Personally, I love Carcass's Heartwork and Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse, and totally agree that Ride the Lightning is Metallica's best. Who knew Rainbow's Rising was better than Dio's solo Holy Diver? Seems impossible, but it's oh so right. Anyway, this led to other lists and other albums, but nothing could match Christe's choices. So here they are:



The Best 25 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time
from Sound of the Beast by Ian Christe

AC/DC, Back in Black
Angel Witch, Angel Witch
Bathory, Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath
Carcass, Heartwork
Celtic Frost, To Mega Therion
Destruction, Infernal Overkill
Dream Death, Journey Into Mystery
Emperor, In the Nightside Eclipse
Exodus, Bonded by Blood
Holy Terror, Terror and Submission
Immortal, Battles in the North
Iron Maiden, Killers
Judas Priest, Unleashed in the East
Kreator, Terrible Certainty
Mercyful Fate, Melissa
Metallica, Ride the Lightning
Morbid Angel, Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
Mötley Crüe, Shout at the Devil
Motörhead, Overkill
Napalm Death, Fear, Emptiness, Despair
Rainbow, Rising
Saxon, The Eagle Has Landed
Slayer, Hell Awaits
Voivod, Dimension Hatröss

Since my metal phase, I started reading some rock history, like Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music and Jim Curtis's criminally undervalued Rock Eras 1954-1984. Both are excellent, though I eventually cooled off on both of them. It's not a loss of quality or anything, it's just that, as you know, my real jones is rock criticism. When I dug up Pop Music and the Press, edited by Steve Jones, I had to put the other books down. This, my friends, is the mother lode.



Some of the essays are kind of juvenile: for instance, in his essay "Critical Senility vs. Overcomprehension," Robert B. Ray claims that critical darlings like Lou Reed, PJ Harvey, De La Soul and solo John Lennon are victims of overcomprehension (76). According to Ray, critics believe each of these artists must be valuable for their lyrics, because good (or "political") lyrics (according to Ray) make critics overpraise otherwise musically lackluster albums. This is, of course, total bullshit: the entire known history of music is intertwined with the musical expression of lyrics and poetry (all the way back to the Middle Ages; look it up), and there is a lot of nuance there to pick apart and discuss. Unfortunately, Ray more or less discredits that whole business of setting text to music, and that's really his loss. I agree that many critics are terrible at discussing this relationship, and that critics can rely too heavily on their interpretation of song lyrics in their reviews, but the relationship itself is a beautiful thing. I'm disappointed that Ray isn't willing to consider it.

On the bright side, several authors turn in essential discussions on criticism and rock writing in general: Steve Jones and Kevin Featherly on Hentoff, Gleason, Bangs and Christgau; Gudmundsson, Lindberg, Michelsen and Weisethaunet on the British rock press; Jeff Chang on hip hop; and the legendary Simon Frith on professional rock criticism within the larger field of arts criticism. Anyone interested must dive in.

Finally, I've also kept busy making mix CDs. My only great one so far concerns Max Martin. For those who don't know, Max Martin is a Swedish songwriter and producer who cowrote and coproduced dozens of hits for Backstreet Boys, Britney, Kelly Clarkson, etc. This mix includes all of my favorites, laid end to end in mostly chronological order. It's really exciting to hear how his style begins as slick Europop (1-3), then mutates into this kind of minor-keyed apocalyptic/millennial dance music (4-14, ending with two strange and undervalued Britney tracks), then changes again into a bombastic rock-influenced sound that gets closer and closer to disco as it reaches the present (15-21). Nearly every track is perfect, and as a whole, it totally flows. Below is the track list with relevant release dates. I call it "My Life Would Suck Without Max Martin." Because it would. Duh.



1. Backstreet Boys, “Quite Playing Games (With My Heart),” June 10, 1997
2. Robyn, “Show Me Love,” October 28, 1997
3. Backstreet Boys, “As Long As You Love Me,” October 21, 1997
4. ‘N Sync, “I Want You Back,” January 20, 1998
5. Backstreet Boys, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” March 31, 1998
6. Britney Spears, “…Baby One More Time,” October 23, 1998
7. Backstreet Boys, “I Want It That Way,” April 27, 1999
8. Backstreet Boys, “Larger Than Life,” August 24, 1999
9. Britney Spears, “(You Drive Me) Crazy (The Stop Remix!),” September 28, 1999
10. Céline Dion, “That’s the Way It Is,” November 1, 1999
11. Britney Spears, “Oops!...I Did It Again,” March 27, 2000
12. ‘N Sync, “It’s Gonna Be Me,” June 13, 2000
13. Britney Spears, “Overprotected,” March 12, 2002
14. Britney Spears, “Cinderella,” from Britney, November 6, 2001
15. Kelly Clarkson, “Since U Been Gone,” December 14, 2004
16. Pink, “Who Knew,” May 8, 2006
17. Pink, “U and Ur Hand,” October 31, 2006
18. Katy Perry, “I Kissed a Girl,” May 6, 2008
19. Pink, “So What,” August 15, 2008
20. Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold,” September 30, 2008
21. Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” January 13, 2009



Yeah, Angel Witch to Katy Perry. Don't worry, it confuses my wife as well. Being a musicologist isn't all fun and games.

Okay, that's it. RIP Michael Jackson. Lemon out.

Post-'69 Jazz Record Poll

As requested, here are PDFs of the Village Voice's "Post-'69 Jazz Record Poll," originally published for their "Miles Davis at 60" jazz supplement from August 1986. Note the number of recordings selected from the 1980s, despite the poll allowing for any recording released in the 1970s. And I thought the '80s was supposed to be a dry spot? Or is it just that many of these recordings are out of print? Hmm... Also note that many of these choices end up on the best of the 1980s poll republished at Destination: Out. To all of my jazz obsessives and record poll nuts: enjoy!

Best Jazz Albums of the 1980s at D:O

Today, Destination: Out posted the Village Voice's Best Jazz Albums of the 1980s, originally published in 1990. And to think I was just about to do the same! Anyway, perhaps if they don't post the Best Jazz Albums since 1969 (published in 1986), I'll have to post it. We shall see. Enjoy!