"Opera's Shakespeare:" why Verdi made one NYT critic's Top Ten

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/top-10-composers-hailing-operas-shakespeare-and-its-proust/ And I couldn't agree more!

John Adams on "Nixon in China"

http://www.earbox.com/posts/103
Read Adams' recollection of creating the roles and matching the singers to the music. He is self-effacing about his vocal writing and assesses his own music with a clear eye and a very approachable manner.

Listening to 20th century music: spotlight on a favorite blog

 I studied the Quartet for the End of Time in Professor Lori Dobbins' class last year at UNH and loved Messiaen's language. Here is an excellent guide to the work from Michael Barry's blog. Thanks for posting!

Retiring David Tyree on why gay marriage equals anarchy

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2011/06/retired_football_player_says_s.php
Sometimes the things people say are just too ridiculous to make up.

Skepticblog » “A Boy Named Sue” Revisited

Skepticblog » “A Boy Named Sue” Revisited
A list of top names by profession is statistically scrutinized by the Skepticblog.

Songs to Keep Cool

"Moondance," which I reviewed recently, is a very "chill" song. Here are a few more favorites for cool summer nights.

• Gnarls Barkley: Crazy  Cee Lo Green evokes craziness in such a smooth, seductive way that you almost feel like being crazy with him. Maybe I'm crazy...
• The Doors: Riders on the Storm This song evokes open space, with the long instrumental breaks, even drum beat and ambient "rain" sounds. The lyrics have an alienated quality which functions surprisingly well with Morrison's non-chalant delivery. If he's been left out in the rain, he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get inside.
• Peter Frampton: Do you feel like we do The alien quality of the talkbox on Frampton's guitar is very modernistic - taking what is familiar (human voice, guitar), and making it unfamiliar by mixing these two elements together.  "Do you feel like we do" begins with an upbeat section which seems only vaguely related to the "chill" part of the song (starting around the 4 minute mark). The talkbox appears at 7:23 and thrills the crowd.
• Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight I'm not sure what Collins sees coming, but the atmosphere is expectant, dark, and as spacious as that of "Riders on the Storm."
• CCR: I Heard It Through the Grapevine Quite different from the music of the California Raisins commercial (Marvin Gaye, Claymation-style), CCR's remix of this song has a cold, cool take on jealousy. In common with the other songs in this list, the mode is vaguely minor (the original leans more towards major mode Motown with blue notes) with steady drums and dark, bass-heavy atmosphere. This track is amazingly long for radio airplay at just over 11 minutes, with the band mulling over the melody and bass riff between vocal episodes.

Father's Day in American music

http://new.headlinecountry.net/?p=186
An excellent Father's Day spotlight on country music tributes to our fathers, always with us. Thanks Tom Roland for the list!

This post dedicated to the memories of my dad, a Father's Day baby who would be 72 today, and another dad I remember fondly, the dad of 4 of my oldest friends. Here are two songs that remind me of them.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning, from the film featuring Gordon MacRae. Years ago, my dad sang Curley in a local production of Oklahoma!. This was for years afterward his signature song, and his voice was still beautiful into his 60s.
I Believe, by Diamond Rio. This song appeared on the radio shortly after my friends' dad Keith was diagnosed with cancer. I may not "believe in ghosts" like the lyrics, but the song still makes me cry.