Bideodromage
The maestro of Ethiopian saxophone: Gétatchèw Mèkurya. His music boasts a truly distinctive “nightmare carnival” quality that felled me upon first listen. The purveyors of a Colorado restaurant were kind enough to make a cassette copy for me, and it was off to the races.
The Velvet Underground consisted, in their heyday, of vocalist/guitarist Lou Reed, keyboardist/bassist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and Moe Tucker on the drumkit. Doug Yule replaced Cale in 1969, and Teutonic songstress Nico appeared on the group’s debut record.
Often cited as Godfathers of Punk, this hugely influential New York band mixed art rock, minimalism, garage rock, and often quite taboo lyrical subject matter. Brian Eno commented on the group’s initial lack of sales, “Everyone who bought one of those 30,000 albums (referring to the “Banana Album”) ended up starting a band.”
A primer that is {somewhat} epic in its brevity. Some very powerful music from The Love Dimension, Spiritualized, The Zombies, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Lemon Drops,The Paupers, The Charlatans, Weird Herald, Vamp, andBongwater, featuring Ann Magnuson.
Addendum: now includes the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, and Neo Maya.
And: Toy, Ten Years After, and Baby Grandmothers. And Wooden Shjips. And Carlton Melton. Yo. Plus The Seeds.
And! Rain Parade!
Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees created some of the most mesmerizing music of their era. Generally described as Post-punk or Goth, they really defied such categorizations. Either that, or they *defined* them. But, let’s not argue. The “Revolver” video is from the Peter Cook show of the same name; the tune is Hong Kong Garden.
What can one say, at this point, about Mr. Dylan? This post represents but a minute handful of personal favorites composed and performed by one of the great artists of our time. His idiosyncratic, poetic, often cryptic and/or surreal lyrics changed the course of Music history; of that there is simply no doubt. The subsequent and current musical landscapes simply would not exist without him.
We lost legendary singer-songwriter John Prine yesterday. This represents just a few personal favorites from the composers vast catalogue of memorable songs. He will be sorely missed.
We have here a modest collection of some of the most brilliant, gifted vocalists ever: Peggy Lee, Chris Connor, Anita O’Day, Lulu, Billie Eilish, and Dusty Springfield.
Addendum: also Marilyn McCoo, Irene Krall, and Dinah Washington. And Edith Piaf.
Edgy, evocative Medieval interpretations, from the album The Shape of Medieval Music to Come, a play on an iconic Ornette Coleman album.
The “Nightmare Carnival” stylings of saxophone maestro Gétatchèw Mèkurya.
Mesmerizing music from the Republic of Burundi; truly timeless.
Bideodromage 