Non-Classical Music Listening Thread!

[AnotherSpin]

Most likely, we can expect some new recordings from Keith Jarrett, beyond the release that just came out recently. Jarrett isn't for everyone—and he doesn't have to be. For me, he's an endless, boundless fragment of my life, starting from the mid-seventies. I'm not expecting revelations, and this is one of those cases where that doesn't disappoint me—instead, it brings me pure joy.

[brewski]

Dipping into the original Broadway production of Sondheim's Passion, an unusual musical based on the 1981 film, Passione d'Amore by Ettore Scola. The ravishing score has some of Sondheim's best work, which is saying something.

[71 dB]

Spotify:
Autechre - elseq 2

[San Antone]

Dipping into the original Broadway production of Sondheim's Passion, an unusual musical based on the 1981 film, Passione d'Amore by Ettore Scola. The ravishing score has some of Sondheim's best work, which is saying something.

I quite agree; I tend to think of it as my favorite of his shows.  Donna Murphy is phenomenal.

[Henk]

Listened to Miley Cyrus' new album. Didn't like it. Fake heaviness.

Better stuff:
Anouk - Set this thing on fire

[Henk]

Very nice

[Kalevala]

I shared a video with a friend (we were yakking away about music); it was one that I saw some years ago on a late night talk show and remembering being really impressed by it.  It's a song by the Canadian artist Alessia Cara and is called "Here":

K

[AnotherSpin]

Very nice

Her music somehow passed me by, but her recent acting work was a pleasant surprise. House of Gucci, etc.

[SimonNZ]

cd1: "Brawlers"

[SimonNZ]

Wicked Grin (2001)

An album of Tom Waits covers produced by his good friend Tom Waits

[SimonNZ]

 Hayden Pedigo - I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away (2025)

[Kalevala]

Revisiting a favorite of mine from my younger days:  Jackson Browne's The Pretender:

  I think that you can see the whole album there.

K

p.s.  Lots of special and talented artists on there...like David Lindley, John Hall, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Albert Lee, Don Henley, Waddy Wachtel, JD Souther, etc. And the analogue recording!

K

[SimonNZ]

[brewski]

Maria Bethânia: Noite Luzidia (recorded in 2001). Unbelievably, my first time hearing her, the sister of Caetano Veloso. This concert was just uploaded yesterday, being broadcast "live" now, and (agreeing with the comments) a treasure.

[Henk]

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

I've kind of been getting into the Canadian jazz dreampop (?) band called Men I Trust lately and have had this particular piece circling around in my mind for a few days:

[AnotherSpin]

Kayhan Kalhor - Kamancheh
Erdal Erzincan - Baglama

[71 dB]

In search of good 80s synth pop I discovered Boy Meets Girl. I was even able to buy their 2nd album on CD for a reasonable price.

Here's my favourite track from their debut album:

[SimonNZ]

"Crooner: The CBS Years 1928-1934"

I'd been wanting a good set of early Bing, not some budget label knockoff with no notes, and this 3cd Columbia set ticks all boxes. What I hadn't expected (though should have) was just how saccharine and lackluster the material he was given at this time was.

[AnotherSpin]

I gave a listen to Cheaper Than Cheep, a live album from Frank Zappa's peak period. Good reminder of why he was once worth admiring — and why, at times, it's hard to sit through even thirty minutes of his music.

On the one hand, this is vintage Zappa: a flawless band, razor-sharp precision, lightning-fast shifts from jazz-rock to burlesque and back again — and, of course, the trademark humor that originally set him apart from both musical and social conventions.

But on the other hand, Cheaper Than Cheep lays bare the tiring underside of his act: the same old gags, the endless flirting with crudeness, the constant winking as if to say, "See how clever and funny I am?" There are no surprises. The endless excess, the relentless stream of "in-jokes," and the exhausting show of "I can do anything" end up sounding like a kind of nagging monologue. Theatricality tips into caricature. Zappa playing a parody of Zappa.

Cheaper Than Cheep is a document of an era when Zappa was still in full command of his abilities, but already stewing in his own formula. It's still worth hearing — but more as a historical artifact than as living music that can surprise or inspire.