Here’s a post that appears today on Kansas State University’s Department of English blog. Since 1942, the BBC’s Desert Island Discs program has invited guests (known as “castaways”) to divulge which eight recordings they would take, were they stranded on a desert island. Though the BBC program has never asked members of Kansas State University’s…
To keep our spirits up amidst the cascading catastrophes inflicted by the Russian Asset and his quislings (the GOP), the resistance needs a soundtrack. Here’s my offering for 2019. And here’s last year’s mix, which is also featured in a post that includes “75 better names for 45,” since there are so many more apt…
During the past week, my six-year-old niece Emily has invited me to – and I have joined – many dance parties.  “Dance party!” she declares, and then goes to the CD player to put on one of the (dance) mixes I’ve made for her.  She then skips directly to her favorite songs, and dances only to…
The holidays! When people sing – and expect you to sing. Except, perhaps, you don’t want to sing. Maybe you are shy. Or self-conscious about your voice. Or you imagine that everyone else sings better than you do. Well, worry no more! I am here to cure your self-consciousness, and to prove that many people are much,…
With the 2016 presidential election slightly less than 6 weeks away, it’s time to get up and dance. Or run around flailing and hollering. Likely, a bit of both. To aid you in this necessary activity, I have assembled two mixes – one for each of the two major presidential candidates. Â Actually, I’ve assembled three….
I think music is everything. Without music, I don’t think there’d be life; there would be no world left, then. Everybody’d be downhearted. Don’t you think so? – unidentified plumber, on opening track of Tony Schwartz’s Millions of Musicians (1956) Whether you have young people in your life or simply like light-hearted music, here are five songs…
Emmylou Harris has that catch in her voice. When she sings, the lyrics seem poised perfectly, uneasily, between her beautiful, glistening tone and a deep well of intense emotion – often, pain or longing. Her voice says: the world is broken, we are broken, but this music will keep us afloat… for now. When First Aid…
Man, you never lost your edge. – They Might Be Giants, “All the Lazy Boyfriends,” Glean (2015) They Might Be Giants‘ Glean – due out April 21 – is the band’s best record since its 1986 eponymous debut, affectionately known as The Pink Album (due to its pink cover). Like that record, it has a range of musical styles,…
This is the introductory text of this mix, which, before listing the songs (below), offers a few facts about them, such as the sad truth that the Free Design (track 3) had only one moderate hit, “Kites are Fun” (#33 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary charts, and #114 on the pop charts), or the happy fact that there are…
Composer/producer/musician Jon Brion distinguishes between songs and performance pieces. What’s the difference? In a 2006 episode of Sound Opinions (rebroadcast in a 2012 episode of 99% Invisible), he cites Led Zeppelin as an example of the latter. Though he’s “a big fan” of Zeppelin, their songs “are the ultimate performance pieces.” He explains, And the way…
