Yes, good folk, today is the day of Saint Patrick, that saint who converted the Irish to Christianity and banished all the snakes from the Emerald Isle, all while wearing some stylish green robes.
We at the music library may not all be Irish lads and lasses but we sure do like to celebrate this most viridescent of holidays! We have plenty of streaming audio (thanks to our many electronic libraries) that can provide the perfect soundtrack to your St. Patty’s merriment.
Yes, our electronic resources offer plenty, featuring many sides of Irish music. For beginners, there’s the Rough Guide to Irish Music, which is exactly what it sounds like: an introduction to the traditional sounds of the Isle. If Irish folk is your thing, we have Adieu to Old Irelandby the House Devils streaming, as well as a collection of Irish sailing songs called Ships Ahoy! and an album of folk songs performed on Irish harps called Harps d’Irlande.
If these folk songs have gotten you into the mood for this joyous day, you’re either taken up with the holiday as official Church feast day, the death date of Ireland’s patron saint, or you’re trying to party! Fear not, for we have appropriate streams for either position.
For the religiously-inclined, we have a great compilation of Irish sacred music called Irlande musique sacree. If you’re looking to have a roaring good time, look no further than this comp of the 20 best Irish pub songs, and top it off with this collection of olde irish jigs and reels.
Well, what are you doing still reading this? Go out and have yourself a time for St. Patrick, and bring your AU credentials with you so you can stream these awesome compilations!
We’ve covered a few NPR All Things Considered music interviews in the past: eco-experimental classical composer John Luther Adams and indie rock producer du jour John Congleton (coincidentally both named John). Last week ATC featured another crucial musician, one Jeff Beal, composer of the eerie-yet-sophisticated House of Cards theme.
Beal, who has also composed music for shows such as Monk, The Newsroom, and Carnivale, as well as the heartbreaking SeaWorld documentary Blackfish, describes the “musical joke” of the main theme. The bass line plays an ostinato in A minor for the duration of the theme, but the melody often slips into A Major, causing fleeting dissonances that set the tone well for the sinister TV series.
One cool fact about Beal is that he has taken the writing, arranging, and even recording process entirely into his own hands. He has no assistance with the writing and arranging of his scores, and records a 17-piece string ensemble in his living room. He also plays the trumpet, piano and guitar parts, and his talented musical family helps out as well: his wife Joan has recorded vocals for the score and their son Henry contributed the main bass line, recording from his dorm room.
Another awesome revelation is that Beal has managed to take such a hands-on role, despite his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. While this crippling nervous disease began to show symptoms eight years ago, Beal’s combination of “alternative treatments” and strongly focused brain activity (via his feverish composing and recording) have managed to reverse brain atrophy and keep the disease at bay.
Jeff Beal is truly inspiring, as well as one of the coolest composers in the game (David Fincher hired him for House of Cards before even shooting it), and you should all check out this feature.
This guy is truly all the rage these days. I’ve seen his production credit on more 2014 albums that I can remember, and all of them (including albums by Speedy Ortiz, Cloud Nothings, Earl Sweatshirt, Swans, St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, and more) have been super quality.
What’s more impressive is that all of the above artists (and the scores more he has worked with) are extremely different. His greatest skill as a producer is to bring the best out of whoever he’s in the studio with, and he’s done it time and time again, no matter what kind of music is being recorded.
NPR just had him on All Songs Considered as a guest DJ, speaking to him about his musical interests and influences, as well as some of his favorite recordings, such as “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes (thanks, Phil Spector!), Suicide (the band), The Jesus Lizard, and “Mother” by Pink Floyd. Wide range, huh?
My favorite part was the discussion of his musical taste, influenced by John Peel: he assumes that if he doesn’t like something, the problem is with him, not the music itself. This open-minded approach hints to his success with producing a variety of different styles of music.
This segment/interview should be of great interest to anybody who likes audio production, the modern music scene or simply the appreciation of good-sounding and well-written music. And if you were truly inspired, come check out St. Vincent’s self-titled, which he produced!
Happy October! If you’re not buried in a punk documentary and are more the modern enviro-classical type, you’ll love our sweet new arrival!
NPR recently did a “First Listen” feature on John Luther Adams, an Alaskan experimental composer whose previous works include a piece for 9 to 99 percussionists and a piece where the audience walks through the performing musicians. However, the focus of this feature was Adams’ new piece, a Pulitzer-winning work for three mini-orchestras called Become Ocean.
Become Ocean, like its forebear La Mer (Debussy), is meant to evoke, well, the ocean. The NPR review describes it as “sweeping… briny surges of sound”. The journalist also waxes philosophical on the implications of an ocean-themed piece in a time where the ocean is in flux due to global climate change. Whether or not this is but an intellectualizing of the art or not, the piece is a beautiful one.
And now you can play it, thanks to your friendly neighborhood Music Library! We just received the score this week. While you may not yourself be three mini-orchestras, you can still familiarize yourself with it, learn every part, show it to your conductor, whatnot. Here it is, get lost in the sea.
This morning our music librarian, the great Nobue, forwarded me a very interesting article regarding the much-discussed future of music consumption: streaming.
If you’re at all interested in the current music business, you know that streaming is taking over, and that many artists are quite unhappy about that. The main criticism is that the royalties that musicians gain from streaming are laughably low. Even with hundreds or thousands of streams on Spotify, Pandora, or other streaming services.
Usually the objections come from the rock world, with musicians such as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Galaxie 500’s Damon Krukowski, as well as music writers like Nitsuh Abebe adding to an ongoing discussion on the large drawbacks of streaming for musicians. However, this problem extends to composers in many genres, including new age and fusion jazz, as per this article that Nobue sent me.
Penned by composer Armen Chakmakian, formerly of the band Shadowfax, this article includes screen captures of all the royalties he received in the third quarter of 2013. As he describes, a five-figure amount of streams of his compositions netted him less than five dollars. HUH? He then speaks to the fact that he knows streaming companies are making money, but none of it goes to the artists. Because of this, he has quit the music business to compose for television. No matter what you may think of new age music or Shadowfax, it’s sad to know that the music industry is losing voices because we can’t figure out a way to keep artists paid.
This ongoing problem is something that (as we can see here) has the potential to kill off a large amount of artists. While streaming services have indeed helped make music more accessible to the public, they might also be making sure that in the future there will be less music to share.
What’s up, readers? Did you wake up from Halloweekend Part 2 with a headache and the realization that you had a big paper on American music history coming up?
Well, if you did, or even if you didn’t, we’ve got a treat for you! One of the hidden gems of our library is our membership in different databases that allow our patrons to stream thousands upon thousands of songs and albums, for research purposes or for otherwise. One such database is called “American Song,” a collection of over 7,000 titles that can be streamed.
BMW splash you on your rainy walk home? Stream this compilation, now on American Song!
Why do I bring this to your attention now? It turns out that American Song has just been updated with 210 new albums from labels including Rebel Records, Archeophone Records, Telarc, Thompson Square Records, and Appleseed Recordings. This has strengthened American Song’s already considerable ranks of blues, bluegrass, folk and soul recordings. Some cool new additions include the above compilation, Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends, Liza Minelli at Carnegie Hall, Hellhound on My Trail: Songs of Robert Johnson, and a compilation that sounds particularly interesting and intense, This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45 RPM 1957-1982.
So intense
This is a great resource both for research (any project regarding American musical folkways in any facet) and for discovering literally thousands of new titles. If this interests you, follow this link: http://subjectguides.library.american.edu/content.php?pid=77758&sid=821793 and choose the link for “American Song.” You can access it on any school computer, and if it prompts you for information, you need only to provide your last name and AU ID. Once you do that, you’ll be on your way to seriously discovering American history through music.
While AU students are relaxing at the beach, we’re still hard at work at the Music Library. This week’s picks have a little of everything from west coast jazz, to west Texas swing, to Japanese pop.
We recently picked up a couple Anita O’Day CDs (as well as the acclaimed documentary Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (Music Library DVD 331)) filling a glaring hole in our vocal jazz selection. This particular disc combines two fantastic 1957 releases. The tremendous session with Oscar Peterson’s group – featuring Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and John Poole on drums – is the highlight, but the other sessions are no small shakes; the larger ensembles feature such heavy hitters as Stan Getz, Bud Shank, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Guiffre, and Shelly Manne among others. Anita is at the very peak of her vocal powers, proving that she can hold her own with anyone in the pantheon of jazz singers.
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys – San Antonio Rose (CD 3264)
Bear Family Records out of Germany isn’t known for doing things half way, and this massive 11-CD plus DVD box set is no exception. Containing everything Bob Wills recorded from 1932-1947, including alternate takes, air checks, and studio chatter, and an exhaustively thorough 180+ page book, this set is not for the faint of heart. Those willing to wade in will be surprised by the remarkably consistent quality of Wills’ tunes and bands over this time period, leaving little doubt as to the appropriateness of his title “the King of Western Swing.” His bands were forward-thinking and modern, combining big band jazz with popular country and old time fiddle music, and redefining what a country dance band could be by introducing horns, reeds, and drums. The included DVD of Take Me Back to Oklahoma, however, can be safely missed.
Jean Cocteau‘s 1946 film version of the Beauty and the Beast story, besides providing Disney with the source material for their animated version, was notable for its lush, dreamy atmosphere, elaborate camera work, and deliberate, poetic pacing. George Auric‘s score is the perfect complement to the film’s rich visual style, and stands on its own as a wonderful example of 20th century impressionism.
One of the best live gospel recordings of the pre-multitrack era, this disc captures several golden-age groups at the peak of their powers, and in an electric atmosphere that is closer to their natural environment than any recording studio. The most recognizable group on the bill for gospel novices is the Soul Stirrers, still featuring a young Sam Cooke. In the live setting they really stretch out; two of the group’s three tracks clock in at about eight minutes. Dorothy Love Coates’ Gospel Harmonettes turn in a 19 minute medley of hits, while the Pilgrim Travelers and the Caravans both turn in impassioned performances.
Japan’s Yellow Magic Orchestra spanned a variety of styles over the course of their career together, from pure pop and crossover electronic disco to experimental, semi-ambient electro-world beat (if such a genre actually exists). Their fourth album, BGM, occupies a place somewhere in between. The songs are less concerned with the dancefloor, and present a more mature, sometimes almost sleepy sound, while remaining catchy and memorable. The tunes “Cue” and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “1000 Knives” are the standouts.
The backbone of the 3,700 album collection is the output of legendary labels, New World Records and Composers Recordings, Inc, making it the single best streaming source for 20th century and contemporary American classical music. It also incorporates twenty-eight other labels and collections as well, including Albany Records, the Dartmouth Archive of Jon Appleton’s works, and the Ben Hall Gospel Archive.
Though Naxos Music Library is a fantastic resource, finding contemporary composers and works is sometimes spotty. The DRAM database fills in the gaps with its incredible collection of rare and important recordings.
American Song provides an impressive array of streaming audio for your entertainment. Here are some of my favorite finds. Note that there are pages upon pages of albums, so I suggest you type “Christmas” in the search bar and have at it if none of these picks tickle your fancy!
Hard-edged soul jazz guitarist, Melvin Sparks, was a popular sideman in New York during the late-60s and 1970s, and released several funky records as a leader as well. This lengthy compilation pulls from the latter, and includes driving versions of Sly Stone’s “Thank You,” War’s “Spill the Wine,” the Coasters’ “Charlie Brown,” and several of his funkiest originals.
An expansive, 2-disc set covering the Norman Whitfield era (roughly 1968-1973) in Temps history. Despite the loss of lead singer, David Ruffin, the group and Whitfield were firing on all cylinders, creating some the most inventive soul music anywhere, and scoring hit after massive hit. “Cloud Nine,” “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “Ball of Confusion,” “Runaway Child, Running Wild,” “Masterpiece,” “Psychedelic Shack,” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” were all top-10 hits.
A great find on American Song! Third Guitar’s two 1968 45s on Rojac (this one and “Baby Don’t Cry” b/w “Don’t Take Your Love From Me”) have long been coveted by soul collectors, and with good reason. “Lovin’ Lies” features intense vocals and rolling percussion. “Sad Girl” is a great ballad in the style of the Impressions.
The Stylistics were never better than on their ballads, and this set – despite being a slight, 10 track budget comp – nonetheless manages to include most of the best of these. “Break Up to Make Up,” “You Are Everything,” “Betcha By Golly, Wow,” and “You Make Me Feel Brand New” are all among the best sweet soul tracks ever to come out of Philly.
A hard left turn from my other four picks, this is Barbieri’s first session as a leader, coming hot on the heels of his time with Don Cherry’s group. It’s as forceful and (sometimes) grating as anything Albert Ayler or Pharoah Sanders was doing at the time, and an interesting peek at the beginnings of a career that would shortly turn towards innovative Latin-inspired works, and then a long glide towards commercial popularity.
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