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Matt’s Music Monday #14

Summer Vibes

Rick Wakeman – The Journey Overture

Many people are familiar with Rick Wakeman’s work with the progressive rock band “Yes”. It wasn’t until last year that I was even made aware of the fantastic music Rick has been putting out. One common concept he uses is writing his own soundtracks for books. This triumphant overture is the opening track of his take on the 1864 science fiction novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne.

Franz Liszt – Un Sospiro

When studying music at Rowan University one set of classes you’re required to take is on the the development of musical styles. These were 3 separate semesters of serious in depth work. A lot of the music is extremely interesting I personally didn’t find much enjoyment in it. This piece was the tipping point. The constant flow of notes reminds me of trickling water with the melody reminding a flower taking a light trip down it.

Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Similar to the song “In A Sentimental Mood”, I’ll be sharing the original version and an alternate version. Again in this situation I do favor the cover but the openness in this performance is absolutely fantastic. There are many silly idioms in music about right notes verse wrong notes and so on. However cheesy it may be, the one that resonates with me in this song is It’s not what you play, but how you play.

Jeff Beck – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Hey! This is my list and if I want to put repeat artists on here I darn well will! That being said, there isn’t a single thing about this version that I don’t enjoy. The intro does a great at recreating the open feeling of the original, and even throughout. The keys have such a nice tone and compliment Jeff Beck’s masterfully tasteful and skillful playing. Plus that bass!

Hechizeros Band – El Sonidito

This song is just plain flat out ridiculous. I guess it’s okay? The main reason I’m sharing this is because of how often I use it to make my students laugh while also teaching them the effectiveness of one note. The piano in this song plays one note for what has to be 75 percent of the song. Enjoy!

Sum 41 – Still Waiting

Ahhh, it’s like I’m back in high school sitting in the gym waiting for school to start because the bus dropped us off too early. I remember listening to “My Chemical Romance”, “Andrew WK” and all those other bands from the 2000’s in my CD player. Sum 41 is an alternative rock/punk band that I liked because they had skateboarding in their music videos. They’re still together and putting out new music!

Amon Tobin – On a Hilltop Sat the Moon

This artist was recommended to me by Resonance’s own Vince Gattinella! He mentioned the album Foley Room during a discussion of electronic music. I kept him on a back burner and finally got a chance to look into him again. He’s an extremely experimental artist that really focuses on the dimensions of the space that you’re hearing the sounds in. There’s a huge amount of detail and focus on the panning and makes for an awesome listening experience. This is a track off his most recent project.

Tash Sultana – Jungle

So Tash basically blew up with her live performances of this song of hers. With the advancement of technology it’s becoming easier to bring the music in your head into the real world. She uses a full looping and drum station to record and layer all of the parts together one after another. This can sometimes lead to a slow build up but she does a great job at creating an overall solid composition.

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