Underrated Composer

Sometimes referred to as "The American Mystic", Alan Hovhaness, is an altogether amazing composer who doesn't get half the recognition he deserves. He just passed away in 2000, but the amount of music he left behind, and its' diversity, is astounding. He was one of those composers who was also an ethnomusicologist. He traveled extensively to study foreign instruments, traditional sounds and techniques from cultures all over the world. Thus, Alan Hovhaness composed music with a wide variety of sounds. However, nearly every one of his compositions share a mystical, reverent, and inspiring tone. They sound like whispered magic.

Fun Fact - Leonard Bernstein once referred to Hovhaness' work as "cheap ghetto music". I do have a deep respect for Bernstein (I recently listened to a few of his songs at his graveside), but geeze... What a dick, right? I've read that Leonard was not a very nice man.

On the bright side, Alan Hovhaness was praised by other composers, like John Cage and Leopold Stokowski. He was also extremely close friends with Jean Sibelius, whose music greatly influenced him as a child. If you haven't heard any Sibelius (especially his violin stuff!) go check him out.

Another Fun Fact - Alan Hovhaness composed about 70 symphonies & 434 opus numbers.
His surviving works total more than 500 compositions.
Early in his career (1930-1940) Hovhaness burned over 1,000 pages 

of his own original compositions. The process took over a week.

If you like these selections, check out this 

orchestration entitled, "... And God Created Great Whales"

Album of the Month (Latin Jazz)

So this album is only 6 songs long, but each one is gorgeous. I discovered this CD after being introduced to The Jazz Liberatorz, by my fiance. The Jazz Liberatorz are featured on this CD, but it's also composed by two other French jazz groups, The Space Jazz Trio and The Blue Claw Jazz.

I can't seem to find it on YouTube anywhere, so here's the title. Just look it up on Spotify and give their songs "Tentativa Del Hombre Infinito" and "Crepuscalario" a quick listen. I'm sure you'll add these gems to your favorite jazz playlist.

Title: Essential Latin Jazz Instrumental
Artists: Space Jazz Trio, Blue Claw Jazz, and The Jazz Liberatorz
released 2016 ( I think) Paris, France

80's French Pop Rock

Watching one of my Mom's old VHS recordings of 80s MTV music videos, I came across two bands that really intrigued me. I had never heard of them before, but they both made a lasting impression on me.

One of those bands is the wacky, weird French band, Les Rita Mitsouko. The band has primarily consisted of guitarist, Fred Chichin, and singer, Catherine Ringer. They play with some crazy genre bending stuff for a pop band. At times they sound like calypso or salsa, and at other times they sound like synth pop/new wave stuff.

However! The true key to this band is their captivating and whimsical music videos. The novelty of watching their music videos still hasn't worn off for me. I like to put on one of these bad boys on when I'm not at all sober.

Here's the video that hooked me.

And why not try another.

Celt-Rock New Wave Duo covers Folk Song

Watching one of my Mom's old VHS recordings of 80s MTV music videos, I came across two bands that really intrigued me. I had never heard of them before, but they both made a lasting impression on me.

The first band was a celt-rock band called Shelleyan Orphan. I think they're Irish. Not all of their songs are very good, but in my opinion... this woman can really sing!

If you like the singer/songwriter Tim Buckley, I think you'll enjoy this cover.

 

Beautiful, right? It gets stuck in my head all the time.

Jazzy Canadian Hip Hop

So there's a group from Montreal called Specifics. It's a three-man hip hop crew consisting of two MCs (Think Twice & Golden Boy) and one DJ (DJ Goser). They combine really soothing jazz samples with classic hip hop percussion to bring you a kind of music that feels like rain & cigarettes, or sunshine & cold beer, It's great stuff.

You know you liked it. CLiCK HERE for More.

Click Here for EVEN MORE!

Other good songs include - "Lonely City", "Let's Get", "The Kid Is Back", "Beach of Life"
It's been my observation that every CD they've released has been bad ass.

Disclaimer:

I owe this particular find to the best DJ/Producer to ever touch a turntable. That's right... This find is thanks to Nujabes.      

R.I.P Seba Jun(1974-2010) 

If you haven't listened to every album from Nujabes, go do that right now.

Extremely Versatile Japanese Rock Band

ZAZEN BOYS are weird, to say the least. Sometimes, I think they're making my ears bleed and other times I think they're making love to my ears. They're like the Ween of Japan.

Their versatility is admirable. Let's view some quick examples.(And keep in mind! This is all on the same CD)


Here's the ZAZEN BOYS sounding like 80s new wave band The Cure.

Here's the ZAZEN BOYS sounding like a pop/dance DJ mix. (You gotta hear the whole thing to judge it...)

Here's the ZAZEN BOYS sounding like Rage Against the Machine.

Here's the ZAZEN BOYS sounding like a math rock/experimental band.

These next few aren't from the album above.

But here's the ZAZEN BOYS sounding like Ska/reggae band.

And here's the ZAZEN BOYS being cool.

One last video to prove my point.

If you dare... CLICK HERE.

The Tragedy of Sparklehorse

Sparklehorse was a Carolina/Virginia/Tennessee-based band who made really odd, and absolutely depressing music. They're labelled alternative rock... but I feel like that can give people the wrong impression.

They defy all description. They bow to no genre.

But here's the big Fuckin' deal. Sparklehorse's founder, Mark Linkous,(while on tour with Radiohead in 1996) "overdosed on alcohol, Valium and antidepressants and possibly other substances in his London hotel room. Rendered unconscious by the drugs, he collapsed with his legs pinned beneath him, and remained in that position for almost fourteen hours. Subsequent surgeries saved both legs but left him wheelchair-bound for six months; his legs never fully regained their original strength." 

In 2010 he committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart. However, this was not before collaborating with some of the best artists on the planet.

Here's a short list of his collaborations:

David Lynch

Danger Mouse

Tom Waits

Radiohead

Sage Francis

Fennesz

Here's one of the saddest songs ever recorded.

I can only post a few videos, so do yourself a huge favor and listen to every single one of Sparklehorse's albums. They're all very good.

P.s. His wife died this year, in March, just ten days before Ryo Fukui.

Trifonic (A Trip Hop Forget-Me-Not)

This is the real deal. This is the first video I saw from these guys back in 2008. And it's what I'm serving you up right now.

This is "Parks On Fire" by Trifonic. They're from San Francisco (just like Oxbow) and they make a kind of trip hop that contains elements of post-rock, and combines neoclassical sounds with crazy syncopated percussion samples.

Don't act like you didn't like ^that^ video... Take another look. This might be my current favorite by Trifonic. This one's entitled "Santa Rosa".

Danish Experimental Band

Under Byen is a personal favorite of mine. In the Goth realm, they're highly regarded for their visually striking music videos and haunting musicality. They're from Denmark. They've been making music since 1995, but are finally getting some recognition in recent years.

Their extremely innovative and entertaining musicians. I know I said that they're highly regarded in the Goth realm, but the fact is they're more "avant-garde" or "experimental" than Goth. Even if you don't love it, I'm sure you'll respect it.

Brooklyn Throwback (1984 Disco/Club/Funk)

Slap this bad boy on and enjoy nine heavenly minutes of Strafe's magnum opus "Set It Off". It may be one of the catchiest party anthems in all of history. You guys can actually thank Meat Farm for this one.

The Godmother of Goth

Anna Varney Cantodea... Shit. Where to begin? She was born in 1952. She was also born male, but obviously Ms. Cantodea has other thoughts on that subject. She was raised in Frankfurt, Germany and as a young child she had a premonition inside a train station. Anna Varney claims that she saw her future self, "an ageless creature (of undefinable gender), all dressed in black, with a beautiful, kind of pennate black mohawk. "

Now, she's about 63 years old, and she heads a Gothic super band(members come and go as Cantodea sees fit) entitled Sopor Aeturnus & The Ensemble of Shadows. They do some cool stuff, like setting Edgar Allen Poe's writings to music and sometimes they use awesome spooky symphony sounds... but it's really not for everybody... Like really, really not for everybody.

I'm sure most of you won't make it through this video, and I don't blame you, but Anna Varney Cantodea is a beautiful soul and she deserves to be treated as such. Thus, I do have a few things for you to consider.

1. Cantodea is latin for "I sing, Godess."
2. Sopor Aeturnus is latin for "eternal sleep".
2. She once said that she "never performs in front of human beings."
3. Although it is very hard to believe, Anna Varney is mostly joking. Her videos and music are meant to scare off people who can't stomach abnormalities. I truly think that she knows exactly how ridiculous she's being, and if it repulses people, that makes her laugh.

For example, some of her videos have a titlecard which reads, "naturally fabulous, but shows NO sign of humor." Pick one of these videos and try not to be freaked out or thoroughly humored. I bet you'll experience both.


Anna Varney Cantodea

Sopor Aeturnus

The latest from The Ensemble of Shadows

The Godmother of Hip Hop

Bahamadia is one of the most underrated MCs in all of hip hop. She hails from west Philly and she's been around since the Golden Age of hip hop. I personally found her through Guru's Gang Starr Foundation. She's featured in a song with Guru on his Vol. 2 Jazz Matazz album. That track is dope as it gets. It's called Respect the Architect.

Her debut album Kollage (1996) is so bad ass it make rappers nowadays sound like ice cream truck music. Here's some links to a few of the best tracks on that CD.

For spontaneity click here

For wordplay click here

For gangsta shit click here

For even MORE gangsta shit click here


She's still making music and she's still highly underrated. She's made music with many notable hip hop acts like The Roots, Talib Kweli, Jedi Mind Tricks, and (my favorite) Mr. Lif. She's pretty involved with the NGE crowd, so she speaks about pretty profound shit sometimes. Word is bond, son. You can call her 'BB Queen'.

Check out her mad wise and winding wordplay with ridiculous vocabulary mastery.

Click Here to hear one of her first tracks (FRESH)

The Godmother of Classical (Impressionist & Minimalist)

Rebecca Clarke is one of the first female composers to gather a relatively large following. She was most popular in the 20s and 30s. She was born in England, but spent most of her life in New York City. She was influenced by various classical music bad asses like Satie, Ravel, and Debussy.

Her trios for violin, cello, and piano are superb. I found her on a great CD titled Lions Gate Trio - Ravel/Ives/Clarke: Piano Trios. If you enjoy Charles Ives or Maurice Ravel, definitely check out this CD. (it's on Spotify)

Death of a Japanese Jazz Pianist

Ryo Fukui - A Japanese jazz pianist. And a damn good one. He made very few records, but they are gorgeous works of art. I believe he once went like twenty years without releasing a CD. He was Sapporo-based and just died about four months ago (no joke). My favorite album of his, has to be his first release in 1976, Scenery. 

Alabama Indie Folk Rock

You may recall a certain band from the early 2000s named Northstar. They fit into the same category of Pop Punk Indie/Emo music that Brand New and Taking Back Sunday were a part of.

What many people don't know, is that the singer of Northstar later formed a kind of solo project called Cassino. Here's my favorite tracks by Cassino. (If you haven't, go listen to every song Northstar ever made. Sadly, it's only 2 CDs)


This is definitely their best song... could only get the link - CLICK HERE



Here's a few more.

Post Rock from Nashville, Tennessee

A duo from Dixieland makes extremely ambient, neoclassical, post rock goodness. They formed started releasing music in 2005 and have some great albums for doing homework or spacing out on a long drive. If you like Mogwai/Explosions In the Sky type stuff, you'll love Hammock.

Mexican Film Composer and Spanish Pop Singer

So there is a Mexican Film Composer and a Spanish Pop Singer who share the same name. Each of them have a song that I've fallen in love with. I will now lend you those songs.


Mexican Composer: Javier Alvarez - Metro Chabacano

Spanish Pop Singer: Javier Alvarez - Porque Te Vas

Very different songs, but you must admit, they're both wonderful.

14-yr-old Rapper Reggae Fusion

Lil Vicious is a rapper from Brooklyn, NY. What makes him unique is how young he was when his career began. At the age of fourteen, he became a protegee of Doug E. Fresh, and in 1994 he released a pretty badass album titled, Destination Brooklyn.

His greatest strength lies with his groovy Jamaican accent. Caribbean people of Brooklyn represent.

The ironic part is... he still makes music, but his first record is pretty much the only thing good he ever created. Nevertheless, it has a few jams worth keeping in your back pocket.

Try these.

Lil Vicious - The Glock (Gangsta song)

Lil Vicious - Nika (His biggest hit)

Lil Vicious - Freaks

Lebanese Electro/Trip Hop/Middle Eastern Folk Fusion

This duo hails from Lebanon. They formed in 1997. The female vocalist is Yasmine Hamdan. She is exquisite. She's married to a middle-eastern filmmaker whose name I can't recall. She's also the woman singing at the end of Jim Jarmusch's film, The Only Lover's Left Alive.

It's like Boards of Canada meets Thievery Corporation, but the singer happens to be a diaphanous goddess woman lady baby.

 

Techno Decontructionist Duo ReComposes Ravel & Mussorgsky

This is a real genre-bending bad boy right here.

Two giants in the world of electronic innovation, Carl Craig & Moritz Von Oswald, share their techno version of Ravel's classical composition.

It's a long one, but if you're into this kind of stuff, it's well worth the time.

This is the 5th movement from the album.

Chinese Indie/Emo

We all know about the indie/emo band American Football. Now let's take a look at their Chinese equivalent.

If you're a fan of this particular genre... you really can't go wrong with Chinese Football.
They're grand and have humorous comic strips featuring each band member. This album is about a one-eyed underdog who must win the soccer championship of the universe.

Go ahead.

Japanese Guitarist Makes Excellent Trip Hop

A song from AIR's 1998 album "Usual Tone of Voice".

This song is made by an alternative rock guitarist from Japan who formed his solo project, AIR, during the early 90s. This artist is not to be confused with the French electronic duo who are also named Air (they're good musicians too).

This is one of those random finds that makes you wish you had an entire album just like that one song.

Avantgarde Noise Rock (the good kind)

Oxbow is a band from California that has been making music since the 80s. Steve Albini produced two of their albums; my favorite being "Serenade in Red" (1997).

They're gloomy, haunting and can't decide if they want to play classical music, the blues, or heavy metal. Schizophrenic music for sure...

Enjoy.

Dare you try another one?

If you have 12 minutes to waste, this song is kind of a masterpiece within its' genre.

Other good songs to check out by Oxbow include - "Over", "3 O'clock", and their 1991 album King of the Jews

Brazillian Rapper

Criolo is a rapper and singer from São Paulo, Brazil. His career began in the early 90s, but he's still going strong.

The man makes music from his soul. He raps about the harsh environment of São Paulo and the complexities of human emotion.

Check it, son.

Criolo Doido - Ainda Ha Tempo

Here's some more.

Criolo - ate me emocione

Criolo - sucrihlos

Criolo - lion man

Swedish Progressive Rock from the 70s

Samla Mammas Manna was a Swedish band in the 70s. They are weird.

They sound like jazzy folk minstrels speaking in gibberish.

They were heavily influenced by Zappa, but couldn't hide their Swedish folk music roots.

Try it out.

If that suited your fancy
Here's two more!
Flickan i Skogen by Samla Mammas Manna

Sister System by Samla Mammas Manna

1990's Japanese Indie/Punk Rock

Cowpers was a Japanese indie/punk/grunge/alternative rock band during the 90's.

Sounds like: Pixies, Fugazi, Pavement

They had an amazing CD released in 1998 entitled "Lost Days".


Here's a what I'm talking about.

You liked it. Don't lie.