Music Recommendations

Laura Nyro      The late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s produced a number of talented singer-songwriters, but none as precociously gifted as Laura Nyro.  Her musical range was vast and eclectic, including R&B, soul, jazz, and Broadway tunes.  While her songs were hits for others, her own performances had a harrowing intensity that will always unnerve casual listeners. She peaked young, recording her best albums before retiring at the age of 24.  She returned to make many more recordings before her death in 1997, but none match her early work.  Start with Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, and, if you can handle that, try its successor, New York Tendaberry.

Scott Walker     Scott Walker is the most naturally gifted singer ever to work in popular music.  He started out as a pop star with the Walker Brothers before alienated his fan base with a quartet of solo albums, Scott 1-4, on which his reputation is founded.  Imagine Gordon Jenkins-era Frank Sinatra channeling Kierkegaard.  His subsequent career followed an increasingly strange trajectory, and his recent work leaves even your humble scribe bewildered.  Instead, try Scott 3 and Scott 4.

Antonio Carlos Jobim        You all know “The Girl from Ipanima”, but I place Jobim in the highest echelon of popular composers, with Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson.  What can initially seem mere ‘easy listening’ gradually reveals harmonies and rhythms of great subtlety and sophistication. Try Elis and Tom, made with the wonderful Brazilian singer Elis Regina.  This would be nicely complemented by the instrumental Stone Flower.

Henry Cow      It is easy to forget that there was a time in which rock was not a stagnant and reactionary form, but part of an artistically and politically progressive cultural movement.  Active in the 1970’s, Henry Cow (a band, not a guy) produced some of the most complex and demanding music ever presented within the popular medium – a unique blend of rock, 20^th century classical, and free improvisation.  Try Unrest, followed by In Praise of Learning.  (Disclosure: I briefly worked for a company associated with this band, straight out of college.)

Magma           Magma is a French band led by virtuosic drummer Christian Vander.  They sing in an invented language, Kobaian.  Imagine a hybrid of John Coltrane, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the heaviest rock music on the planet.  They make Black Sabbath sound like the Carpenters.  Start with the recent K.A. (Köhntarkösz Anteria), then the classic Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh from 1973.