Staff Picks: Music
I never really was much of a Who fan. I was familiar with a fair amount of their popular hits, and had dabbled in listening to some of their albums throughout my fairly brief existence on this planet, but never really felt much connection or excitement with the music. However, a friend of mine recently introduced me to some of their live material; that’s when I realized just how ignorant I was all along.
Most people are actually quite familiar with The Who’s crazy live repertoire (my ignorance was in the minority) but I still feel the urge to point out the obvious: Keith Moon’s drumming is frantic and insane; John Entwistle has the coolest bass style of probably anyone to have ever played rock music; Pete Townshend conjures tones from his Hiwatt stacks that sound like demons riding a chainsaw; and Roger Daltrey supplies the perfect vocals to carry the band powerfully from song to song.
It’s good stuff. I wish more modern bands could compete with the raw, on-stage energy that The Who dish out consistently from track to track. It’s a total domination of the stage and audience, and it’s totally awesome even 40+ years later.
Music
Live at Leeds
UMM261825C
Just when it seems that we need some good news the most, this will warm your heart. Yesterday, NPR blogger Anastasia Tsioulcas caught my attention with a post about the Landfill Harmonic: An Orchestra Built from Trash. Through the efforts of a music instructor and a local craftsman, a group of hardworking kids in Paraguay have formed an orchestra using instruments made with materials gathered from beneath their very feet – literally.
The village of Cateura is a slum built on top of a landfill, where many of the locals make their living by collecting and reselling garbage. In a town where “a violin costs more than a house,” a group of students have formed an orchestra and are learning to play music. Orchestra director Favio Chavez works with a local craftsman who fashions violins, violas, flutes, trumpets and guitars out of discarded trash; oil drums, tin cans, spoons, bottle caps, you name it. Now this might sound like the makings of a bad circus band (no offense against circus music) but the result is nothing short of breathtaking.
The group is currently documenting their work in a yet-to-be released film; a short trailer for it was posted a month ago on YouTube and has already collected nearly half-a-million views. The film opens with a quote from Chavez, saying “The world sends us garbage. We send back music.” In addition to the video, the group has set up a Facebook page to help spread the word about the orchestra.
In a world where we generate a ton of solid waste per capita every fifteen months (and that’s just in America) while school budgets get slashed beyond recognition, it’s refreshing to see what can be accomplished if the will is there.
Here’s an extended version of their story. It’s fascinating, watch it…
Book
Landfill Harmonic Orchestra
landfill-harmonic-160
http://www.facebook.com/landfillharmonicmovie
Richard Hawley is one of those singer songwriters that after hearing a couple of his songs, you wonder why he’s not a bigger name in the music world (he’s British, so that may explain it). After a brief stint playing guitar for Britpop hit makers Pulp in the late nineties, he set off on a solo career, culminating in seven excellent albums of wistful pop ballads soaked in lyrical reflection and reverb. Hawley’s voice is his greatest asset. He croons a bit like a throwback torch singer, sad and road weary, almost a kind of British Sinatra but with less swagger and more working class grit. His old school, rockabilly look is also suggestive of the influence of Elvis. His newest album, a bit of a sonic departure from previous albums, is less intimate and feels as though his ambient songs of forlorn pining have given way to a louder, more rock and roll Hawley.
Music
Truelove's Gutter
EMM694172C
Master musician and composer Ravi Shankar died yesterday at the age of 92. The iconic sitar player achieved worldwide fame during his long musical career, but remained a humble and dedicated student of music throughout his long life. Remember the life and music of Ravi Shankar through these KPL titles:
Ravi Shankar in portrait – DVD
The Very Best of Ravi Shankar – CD
Rare and Glorious – CD
Chants of India - CD
Raga @ fast track - CD
My Music, My Life by Ravi Shankar
Music
Rare and glorious
KOM906924C
When They All Played Ragtime: The True Story of an American Music was first published in 1950, it quickly became heralded as “the bible of ragtime” for its (then) insightful examination of an overlooked and all-but-forgotten American art form. While the book’s inevitable flaws have been the subject of controversy for decades since, authors Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis succeeded in creating a groundbreaking initial study of the origins of ragtime music. The scholarly work of writers like Edward A. Berlin and others have since attempted to correct many of the inaccuracies and set straight the resulting misconceptions, yet They All Played… remains a vital resource for information about what Blesh calls “the first genuinely American music [and] in reality a milestone in musical history.” Thanks to the Friends, I was able to add a nice clean copy of the updated and expanded 1966 third edition to my own reference library.
Consider this little series my own version of “Flea Market Finds,” an ongoing report of the latest bargains unearthed in the lower level of Central Library. What a treasure we have (quite literally) in the Friends Bookstore. When you can grab high quality books, music, and movies for little more than pocket change, life is good. And all the proceeds go to a great cause, too. So shop often; you never know what you’ll find. And stay tuned… I’ll let you know what I find!
Book
They All Played Ragtime
they-all-played-ragtime-160
/friends/bookstore/
I love the annual “Best of 2012” lists. As a huge music fan, I pour over these lists and compare what I picked up over the year to what is actually on the list. KPL staff have been posting our lists each of the past few years and I hope you have had a chance to check out my favorite CDs (The list only contains CDs in KPL’s collection.) In my opinion, 2012 was an incredible year for music! What impressed me the most is that one-third of the list contained debut albums. Below is a “mixtape” of my favorite tracks from each album on the list.
“The Way We Move” by Langhorne Slim
“Hold On” by Alabama Shakes
“Pretty Girl From Michigan” by The Avett Brothers
“Clear Eye Clouded Mind” by Nada Surf
“The Crane Wife 1, 2, and 3” by The Decemberists
“Sixteen Saltines” byJack White
“Mountain Sound” by Of Monsters and Men
“Flapper Girl” by The Lumineers
“North Side Gal” by JD McPherson
“Emmylou” by First Aid Kit
“Lost Without You” by Rhett Miller
“Duquesne Whistle” by Bob Dylan
“Here in the Deadlights” by Brendan Benson
“Lakeside View Apartments Suite” by The Mountain Goats
“Take A Walk” by Passion Pit
Book
langhorne slim and the law
langhorne-slim
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If you haven’t given this a spin because somebody mentioned a synthesizer, you are missing out. Sun is the ninth studio album from Cat Power, and for fans it has been a long six years since The Greatest, her last album of original work. Sun is definitely unique musically, but it is still every bit Cat Power. In many ways it feels lighter, but doesn’t lack any of the depth fans have come to expect. More than anything it is one of those albums that will sneak up on you, so you have to give it the chance.
Book
Cat Power “Sun”
cat-power-sun-cover
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We have a great music collection here at KPL. There are so many wonderful singers and musicians that don't may not make it onto the radio but whose music is fantastic. Time and again, I stumble upon a new group one way or another and happily discover KPL has their CD available for me to check out. One group that I have really appreciated the last few years and have introduced my family to is a folk group called the Wailin' Jennys. The first time my mom heard one of their CDs she asked me who they group was. I told her it was the Wailin' Jennys to which she replied, "But…who is Waylon Jennings singing with?" I explained that it was "wailin'" as in "cryin'" and the plural of the name Jenny…though none of the members are named Jenny.
The group started when the trio came together for a onetime evening performance at a guitar shop in Canada. They were such a success they joined forces and have been producing great music since. The group members are Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody, and Heather Masse, each of which comes with a distinct training and sound. We have three of their CDs at the library: their first CD 40 Days, Firecracker, and Bright Morning Stars which came out in 2011. I also recently discovered that the library owns The Garden by band member Ruth Moody. I checked this CD out as well and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I have favorite songs that I find myself listening to over and over and over again on each CD. You get an idea of the Wailin' Jennys tight harmony in their first song on 40 Days, their debut CD, titled One Voice. This CD also has a great cover of Neil Young's Old Man and my very favorite Wailin' Jennys song Ten Mile Stilts. I find Starlight and Apocalypse Lullaby on Firecracker hauntingly beautiful. Their style seems a little jazzier for Bright Morning Stars. Mona Louise and Cherry Blossom Love get stuck in my head very easily and after listening to them I find myself tapping my toes and singing them in my head for hours. As for Ruth Moody's CD, I like every song…a lot. On this week after Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the wonderful CD collection we have at KPL and the great music I have listened to because of it.
Music
40 Days
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The cover of Jimmy Buffett’s Meet Me in Margaritaville says it’s “the ultimate collection.” I’m not sure if that’s true or not (he’s already had a “greatest hits” collection, a boxed set, and a slew of live albums), but it’s a decent representation of his work nonetheless, including nearly a full disc’s worth of new (2003) recordings – what he calls “a new coat of paint on some old favorites.” It’s cold and snowing outside (I’m pretending it’s not). Still, the Friends Bookstore was packed to the rafters with happy (and thrifty) “Black Friday” shoppers who were wisely taking advantage of the annual gift book sale. So I guess that makes Meet Me... a worthwhile collection for days just like this, when a good book and a trip to Margaritaville is in order. Thanks, Friends.
Consider this little series my own version of “Flea Market Finds,” an ongoing report of the latest bargains unearthed in the lower level of Central Library. What a treasure we have (quite literally) in the Friends Bookstore. When you can grab high quality books, music, and movies for little more than pocket change, life is good. And all the proceeds go to a great cause, too. So shop often; you never know what you’ll find. And stay tuned… I’ll let you know what I find!
Book
Meet Me in Margaritaville
jimmy-buffett-margaritaville-cover-160
/friends/bookstore/
While the evolution of popular music is (and has been) a continual process, several distinct time periods stand out as important milestones; the ragtime era and the advent of early jazz, for example. Gunther Schuller’s monumental studies of the development of jazz are regarded as masterworks. The first volume, Early Jazz, was first published in 1968 and was heralded by The New York Times as “definitive.... A remarkable book by any standard... unparalleled in the literature of jazz.”
My Friends Find this week was volume two of Schuller’s remarkable journey, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz 1930-1945, an era that I admittedly know relatively little about (though I’m most anxious to learn). Written two decades after the first volume, The Swing Era explores the lives and musical significance of the many great bandleaders of the time; Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and the great soloists; Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young. This was a fantastic find that I can’t wait to read.
Consider this little series my own version of “Flea Market Finds,” an ongoing report of the latest bargains unearthed in the lower level of Central Library. What a treasure we have (quite literally) in the Friends Bookstore. When you can grab high quality books, music, and movies for little more than pocket change, life is good. And all the proceeds go to a great cause, too. So shop often; you never know what you’ll find. And stay tuned… I’ll let you know what I find!
Book
Winter Wonderland
9780195071405
/friends/bookstore/