Let’s Start at the Very Beginning . . .

To everything, there is a beginning, so as a way of beginning this new classical music blog as inspired by the Princeton Record Exchange, I would like to introduce myself and propose a premise to this forum.

Music in general, but classical music specifically, has been a passion of mine since the womb. You may laugh, but my mother tells the story that while singing “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” during a church choir rehearsal for The Messiah in December 1962 she felt me kick. She was thinking that I was liking what I was hearing. I jokingly think it was being I want out of the womb to correct some of the tenors’ wrong pitches. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rundgren meets Robert Johnson and takes it to the bank! Photo courtesy RundgrenRadio.com / Doug Ford

I keep telling you people, and you just don’t listen to me.  Well maybe now, you brave blogites are forging new paths, lighting out for new territories, peering into crevices where few have crept before.  Rundgren has returned to his blues-oriented roots and revived 12 of Blues legend Robert Johnson’s (now royalty-free) songs, 3 of them in a downloadable EP, live and hopefully an album!

And according to Amazon Blues charts, Todd Rundgren is finally getting his due.

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Bob Schneider is an Austin based singer/songwriter who has been in a smattering of bands before going solo in 1999.  He began his solo career under the name “Lonelyland” which he dropped as a performer but used as the title of his major label debut. 

Bob’s musical catalog includes nearly twenty albums, eight of which are solo albums and several with his various bands, all of which are legendary in the Austin music scene of the 90’s, The Scabs, Joe Rockhead and The Ugly Americans. Read the rest of this entry »

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 We always enjoy purchasing large classical CD collections and are pleased to have an enormous one to talk about today. Almost all of this 9,000 piece collection is vocal-oriented, either full-length operas or vocal recitals.  As you can imagine with a collection of this size, just about every opera composer is well-represented.  There are dozens (hundreds?) each from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, etc., but also many titles from somewhat less-common composers such as Janacek, Adam, Thomas, Rameau, Cavalli, and Meyerbeer just to name a few.  Also featured is a healthy dose of early 20^th Century operas. Read the rest of this entry »

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State Radio is a sociopolitical Boston based trio that has three full length albums, several EP’s, and a small number of live albums to their credit.  Chad Urmston, formerly of Dispatch, is the singer and primary songwriter.  If you are a fan of the Showtime comedy “Weeds”, you might be acquainted with their song “Keepsake”.   It appeared in the season three finale. Read the rest of this entry »

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Joseph Arthur is the singing /songwriting protégée of former Genesis front man and current world music guru Peter Gabriel.  Arthur was the first American recording artist singed to Gabriel’s Real World Records. 

 His 2000 release Come to Where I Am and the opening slot on tours with Ben Harper and Gomez helped Arthur attain a larger fan base.  He also briefly toured Europe with R.E.M. in 2004.  Read the rest of this entry »

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There is a nagging suspicion that these recurring themes I hear in music lately are no accident, but play into
the hands of a generation without direction, nothing of its own but hopelessness. All these purported advances in musical style are not braving a new world but are borrowed from our most colorful decade the 80′s.  The 80’s bred some sort of
strange postmodern musicianship that had previous generations scratching their heads. Read the rest of this entry »

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Erin Ivey hales from Austin, Texas and is one of the city’s beloved folk artists.  She was voted one of the city’s top 4 unsigned artists in 2007. 

Erin Ivey is a new artist for me as I just heard her for the first time on Dec. 20^th when she opened for Joe Purdy.  Her amazing voice, both haunting and angelic with a touch of sensuality, and quirky stage banter immediately endeared her to the sold out crowd.  She played for about 45 minutes and immediately after the show, I bought all of her music.

Since 2007, Erin has independently released and toured behind her first full-length album (The 11th Floor) and two EPs (Austin Lullabies and the Sweet Little). 

Her single “Chocolate” is an infectious little number that has her voice dripping over her guitar. 

On Erin’s “Sweet Little” EP, she does an amazing cover of Radiohead’s “Climbing Up the Walls”.

Check out Erin Ivey at www.erinivey.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX7BqCWAKC8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMz201u8das

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“Corn Flakes With John Lennon” by Robert Hilburn (Rodale)

For more than thirty years, Robert Hilburn was not only the music critic and editor of “The Los Angeles Times,” but his interviews, reviews and artist profiles have also been featured in numerous other publications throughout world. Seduced by music at a very young age, Hilburn was particularly keen on the country and rhythm and blues sounds of the late forties and early fifties. He was a teenager when rock and roll came crashing through the gates, and was immediately drawn to this energetic new form of music. While Hilburn’s taste in music sways heavily towards the mainstream side of the dial, he approaches his subjects with an extra keen eye. He remains objective and his intelligent observations definitely provoke food for thought. Read the rest of this entry »

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One Day as a Lion is the musical collaboration and eponymous debut EP of acid tongue, fire and brimstone, anti politico Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) and drummer Jon Theodore (Mars Volta).  Read the rest of this entry »

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Spoon is an indie rock band that hails from the great city of Austin, Texas.  Formed and co founded by Brit Daniels and Jim Eno in 1993.  Early musical comparisons to The Pixies and Sonic Youth quickly subsided as they began to define their own sound, a blend of sophisticated, guitar driven pop/post-punk that rocks.

Spoon’s career can be likened to that of a slow boil.  They have seven full length albums and an equal number of EP’s and received critical recognition for their work but have received little radio play along the way.  This might, in part, be related to the label issues that plagued them in the early years.  The irony of this is that there music has found it way on a litany of television shows that include the following: The Simpsons Veronica Mars, Bones, The O.C., Scrubs, and How I Met Your Mother.  Spoon also appears in the movies 17 Again, Cloverfield, and I Love You Man.

Their music is inventive and ambitious yet accessible. Their albums are consistently tight, usually containing ten or twelve well crafted tracks and clocking in around the forty minute mark. 

Spoon Discography

Check out Spoon at www.spoontheband.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro95Ns58qSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqPfCoAp_O0

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Once upon a time, there was a band nobody heard of.  The people HAD actually heard this band many times.  MTV, they were the backing band for Meatloaf’s massive debut album.  This band and many members of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band formed that famous backing troupe.

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For movie fans there is Sundance.  For sports fans there is the Super Bowl.  For us music nerds, there is the Grammys.  Actually — you know what…scratch that.  For the most part, we were all equally outraged (or at least should have been) by what transpired at this past year’s awards ceremony.  In a perfect world, the Grammys should be able to accurately inform the nation of which artists are currently trending and deserve recognition for their efforts.  Here in the real world, we were just told Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” was the best album of 2009.  Hmm…

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for music geeks everywhere, though.  No, I’m not talking about those of us that are obsessed with Rihanna or that think Drake is the man.  I’m talking about the select few that view music as a complete and utter obsession.  Those of us that still go to our favorite record stores and buy albums.  Those of us that still play in bands even though we know we really can’t afford it.  For us there is the South By Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas. Read the rest of this entry »

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Jeffrey Foucault is an insightful singer/songwriter who creates roots music that strikes with a surprising intimacy unveiling layers of wisdom and wonder.  A Wisconsin native cut from the folk troubadour cloth, Foucault has built an independent career touring extensively in the United States, Canada, and the UK. Read the rest of this entry »

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