Album Picks
St. Lawrence String Quartet: Haydn, Op. 20, by Jim Edwards
Feb 28, 2020
My current favorite recording is a three-LP set released last year by the St. Lawrence String Quartet containing all six quartets in Haydn’s Op. 20.
Aldous Harding, “Designer”, by Stefan Zorn
Feb 28, 2020
Do you ever hear songs that just shake you to your core? Why does this happen to us? Is it the lyrics, the music, some memory that they bring up?
Sasha Cooke, “If You Love for Beauty”, by Kevin Olson
Feb 28, 2020
This classical recording on Yarlung Records of Sasha Cooke singing Leider is beautiful. Lovely. Captivating.
Now Leider isn’t for everyone. I sometimes find it too stylized.
Prokofiev, “Lieutenant Suite” by Bernie Heeder
Feb 24, 2020
I found this vinyl recording in a used bin for $6.00 marked Mint. It must have been an audio file recording, Japanese/German project. It is a Deutsche Grammophon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado –
Steve Vai, “Passion and Warfare”, by Grant Stoner
Feb 21, 2020
My album pic for this month is Steve Vai’s Passion and Warfare. 1990 Relativity Records Vinyl. Guitar fans take note, this is one of the greatest guitar albums ever.
Nightfall, “Little Big Town”, by David Hicks
Jan 31, 2020
I find Little Big Town to be kind of a folksy name for a musical group. Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook formed the quartet twenty years ago and in equitable fashion they all take turns singing lead vocal at various times on various tracks and in addition they always harmonize well together.
Kate Bush, “Cloudbusting”, by Gregory Morgan
Jan 31, 2020
My 12” single recommendation is the UK 12” single for Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting. The ‘B’ side has Kate singing the traditional Scottish ballad ‘My Lagan Love’ solo in a church.
Regina Spektor, “Live in London”, by Stefan Zorn
Jan 02, 2020
Do you have a “perfect live album”? Can there even be such a thing? Part of what makes music so special to me is that there is no right answer to this question.
Elvis Presley, “Elvis Presley”, by Gregory Morgan
Dec 18, 2019
My album of the Month is Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley (RCA Victor LPM-1254). That’s right, my album of the month is Elvis’ first LP released in 1956.
Nilufer Yanya, “Miss Universe”, by Stefan Zorn
Dec 01, 2019
This is the first album by a rising young talent from London. Nilufer has been making waves since she first started uploading her own twist on independent rock music to Soundcloud in 2014.