New CDs added – November 2020

New CDs for November 2020

Orchestral, Concertos and Chamber Music

Black Violin – Stereotypes
Black Violin – Take The Stairs
Tania Leon – Indigena

Tania Leon - Indigena

Anders Miolin – Timeless Odyssey
Du Yun – Dinosaur Scar
Various Artists – Legacy: Violin Music of African-American Composers

Black Violin - Stereotypes

Opera, Opera Excerpts, Choral Music and Art Songs

Du Yun – Angel’s Bone

Du Yun - Angel's Bone

Popular Music

Mary Stafford & Edith Wilson – “Ain’t Gonna Settle Down”: The Pioneering Blues of Mary Stafford & Edith Wilson

Mary Stafford & Edith Wilson - Ain't Gonna Settle Down

Various Artists – Masters of the Clarinet
Various artists – Make More Noise!: Women in Independent UK Music 1977-1987

Make More Noise!

Arachnophonia: The Black Keys “Brothers”

Editor’s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student worker Abby (class of 2021) and features The Black Keys’ 2010 album Brothers. Thanks, Abby!

The Black Keys

Brothers

The Black Keys - Brothers album cover

The Black Keys have always been one of those bands where I couldn’t name a single one of their songs off the top of my head, yet I know all the words to nearly every one I hear. Looking back, they very well could’ve been considered my favorite band for how often I listened to their music and how much I liked it.

I can’t say exactly why I never committed titles to memory; it certainly wasn’t because they were forgettable songs. Rather, I think it was the sheer fact that, at the height of their popularity, their music was so genre-defining and omnipresent that I only needed to hum the melody or say a few lines from the chorus, and anyone would know what song I was referring to. Take the song “Tighten Up” for instance. If you don’t recognize it from the title, listen to the first few bars of the track and wait for the instant hit of nostalgia.

The Black Keys

The group consists of two friends from Akron, Ohio: Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums. They started the band in 2001, and like all good grassroots garage bands, dropped out of college to pursue their bluesy-rock sound and slowly built an underground fan base through extensive touring, frequent album releases, and music festival appearances until their commercial breakthrough in 2010. This album, Brothers, catapulted them from garage indie band to one of the most popular and famous bands in their genre and winning them three Grammy Awards in the process.

For me, they defined a pivotal era in my music history. Being a child who grew up on her dad’s CD collection of alternative rock albums from the 70s and 80s, The Black Keys were one of the first bands that I discovered all on my own and shaped what I would listen to from then on. They drove me to find other music like theirs: the type of music that couldn’t have been written at any other time, yet still feels timeless.

The Black Keys - Brothers back cover

Arachnophonia: John Mayer “Born and Raised”

Editor’s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student worker Elias (class of 2021) and features John Mayer’s 2012 studio album Born and Raised. Thanks, Elias!

John Mayer

Born and Raised

John Mayer - Born and Raised

John Mayer, the egotistical, narcissistic, prodigious, reformed paradox of a musician is by far my favorite artist of all time. When people think of John Mayer, they typically think of him for one of two things: his iconic love songs or TMZ headlines articulating exactly how he broke Katy Perry’s/Taylor Swift’s/Kim Kardashian’s/Jennifer Anniston’s heart. Either way, I rarely see people appreciating his musical talent or his raw songwriting genius. There’s a reason Eric Clapton calls him a “master” guitarist. And for me, there’s no better example of this mastery than on his fifth studio album, Born and Raised.

You wouldn’t guess it at first, Mayer often speaks in interviews about how his favorite type of music to write is blues. You get hints of this on sprinkled across his other hit albums, but Born and Raised is his real tribute to this passion. From first looking at the album art, it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary album from hit-machine John. There’s no photo of Mayer trying to seem like he doesn’t know his picture is being taken, and no angsty black and white filter over the whole image. No, Born and Raised sports old-fashioned text intertwined with clockwork, adorned with phrases such as “Music by John Mayer” and “Stereo Recorded Sound.” No glitz or glam, no profile shots algorithmically calculated to get girls to pick up the tape. Just the title, and a little style to set the tone.

ohn-Mayer-Born-and-Raised

Now, the music. The tracks on this album are slow, gentle folk songs, with a Mayeresque vibe to them. It opens with “Queen of California,” as Mayer immediately flexes his technical muscles with a flowing, articulated, methodical guitar riff cover almost the entire length of the song. It almost sounds like “Why Georgia” at first, but the album’s themes sink in after a spell. A gentle, clean electric guitar accents the track with smooth bends which work alongside Mayer’s voice to keep you interested.

Another highlight of the album comes with the fifth track, “Something Like Olivia.” If you’re still questioning Mayer’s prowess on the guitar, just watch the music video on YouTube. The fact that he can keep this riff going effortlessly whilst singing is beyond me, and the studio version certainly displays his mastery well. The lyrics are repetitive yet meaningful, and the chorus is easy to sing along to. “Something Like Olivia” is about a girl, but it’s not a love song. It’s a jam.

Finally, we have the title track. “Born and Raised” is deservingly named after the album (or… vice versa?), as the simple chord progression leaves Mayer’s voice at the forefront. A harmonica finishes out each chorus in lieu of a guitar solo, an ode to the unique blues/country rock theme of this album. Lyrically, “Born and Raised” is a strong track, telling the story of how he feels that life has passed him by, and how he no longer feels like he has dreams to work towards: “I still have dreams, they’re not the same/They don’t fly as high as they used to/I saw my friend, he’s in my head/And he said, ‘You don’t remember me do you?’”

As a whole, Born and Raised is a break from Mayer’s routine, and it feels like the first album he made more for himself than for the public. It’s not a collection of hits, and it’s not a collection of his best guitar playing. It’s a collection of jams, and though he would continue his adventure into Americana with his next album, Paradise Valley, it was a testament to the kind of music Mayer wanted to make. If nothing else, it’s a collection of good songs, and an album I think everyone should listen to.

New CDs added in January!

New CDs for January 2017

Blues

Alan Lomax – Parchman Farm: Photographs and Field Recordings: 1947-1959

John Adams - Scheherazade.2

Classical

John Adams – Scheherazade.2
Franz Berwald – 4 Symphonies
Johannes Brahms – Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, Waltzes, Op. 39
Bartolomeo Campagnoli – Six String Quartets

Campagnoli - Six String Quatets

Electronic Music

Mason Bates – Works for Orchestra

Mason Bates - Works for Orchestra

Jazz

Andy Gonzalez –Entre Colegas
Bob Mintzer – All L.A. Band
Ted Nash Big Band – Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom

Bob Mintzer - All L.A. Band

Musical Theatre

Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – Bright Star: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Bright Star

Opera

Jennifer Higdon – Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain

Vocal Music

Christian Gerhaher – Ferne Geliebte
Christian Gerhaher – Mahler Lieder
Christian Gerhaher – Franz Schubert: Die schone Mullerin
Craig Hella Johnson – Considering Matthew Shepard
Anna Netrebko – Verismo

Anna Netrebko - Verismo

World Music

Anoushka Shankar – Land of Gold

Anoushka Shankar - Land of Gold

New CDs added in November/December!

New CDs for November & December 2016

Avant Garde Music

Rhys Chatham – Pythagorean Dream for Guitar, Flutes & Trumpet

Rhys Chatham - Pythagorean Dream

Blues

Pinetop Perkins – After Hours
Pinetop Perkins – Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie
Pinetop Perkins – Portrait of a Delta Bluesman

Pinetop Perkins - Portrait of a Delta Bluesman

Choral Music

Tonu Korvits – Mirror

Tonu Korvits - Mirror

Classical

Michael Daugherty – Tales of Hemingway
Henri Dutilleux – The Centenary Edition
Eighth Blackbird – Hand Eye

Eighth Blackbird - Hand Eye

Ieuan Jones – Schubert by Ieuan Jones, Harp
Hugo Kauder – Rediscovering Hugo Cauder
Steve Reich – Double Sextet / Radio Rewrite
The Russian Guitar Quartet = A Tribute to the Mighty Handful

Russian Guitar Quartet - A Tribute to the Mighty Handful

Jazz

Melissa Aldana – Back Home
Ron Carter Quartet & Vitoria Maldonado – Brasil L.I.K.E.
Snarky Puppy – Culcha Vulcha

Melissa Aldana - Back Home

Pop/Rock/R&B

Rhys Chatham – Harmonie du soir
The Julie Ruin – Hit Reset

The Julie Ruin - Hit Reset

Madness – Madness 7
Madness – One Step Beyond …

Madness 7

Vocal Music

Lawrence Brownlee – Allgro io son: Bel Canto Arias
Dialogos / Kantaduri – Dalmatica: Chants of the Adriatic

Allegro io son

World Music

Ralph Samuelson – The Universal Flute

Ralph Samuelson - The Universal Flute

Spider Sounds: Eva Cassidy “Songbird”

Editor’s Note: “Spider Sounds” invites members of the University of Richmond community to share their thoughts about items in the Parsons Music Library’s collection. The links included will take you to the library catalog record for the item in question, or to additional relevant information.
Today’s installment of “Spider Sounds” comes courtesy of Music Library Student worker, Emily (class of 2017) and features a compilation of songs by the late Eva Cassidy. Thanks for contributing to Spider Sounds, Emily!

Eva Cassidy

Songbird

Songbird - Eva Cassidy

I picked the album “Songbird,” by Eva Cassidy. This is one of my favorite albums, because it
can find its way into almost any occasion, and makes you smile–and sometimes makes you cry. My mom would always listen to it in the car, and I’ve found it complements studying and cooking time, or can be a good refuge if you are stressed and need to zone out.

Eva Cassidy

Rather meditative and nostalgic, the tone set by the album is reflective of its publication. It was compiled two years after Cassidy’s death, in her memory. Many of the songs are from live concerts, and her introductions have been maintained, to give the listener not only a feel for the song they are about to hear, but for the character and spirit of the singer. Many of the numbers are recognizable, others more obscure, but for all, the experience will pull at a listener’s heart.

Spider Sounds

New CDs added in April!

New CDs for April 2016

Classical

Johannes Brahms – Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano
Karen Gottlieb – Music For Harp
Mitchell Lurie – Mitchell Lurie, Clarinet

Mitchell Lurie, Clarinet

Mozart/Beethoven – Quintets for Piano & Winds
Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach – Genius – Music of Johann Sebastian Bach & Antonio Vivaldi

Quintets for Piano & Winds

Pop/Rock/R&B

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn – Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn
Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise
Tamar Braxton – Calling All Lovers

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn

Death Cab For Cutie – Kintsugi
Aretha Franklin – Aretha Sings The Blues
Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free

Aretha Sings The Blues

Jazz

Karrin Allyson – Many A New Day
Louis Armstrong – Blow Satchmo Blow
The Bad Plus – The Bad Plus Joshua Redman
The Bad Plus – The Rite Of Spring

The Bad Plus - The Rite of Spring

Terence Blanchard – Breathless
Michael Dease – Decisions
Chris Dingman – The Subliminal and the Sublime
Gil Evans Project – Lines Of Color

Michael Dease - Decisions

John Fedchock – Like It Is
Marshall Gilkes – Ko¨ln
Scott Hamilton & Jeff Hamilton Trio – Live In Bern
Lionel Hampton – 50th Anniversary Concert – Live at Carnegie Hall

Lionel Hampton - Live at Carnegie Hall

Tommy Igoe and the Birdland Big Band – Eleven
Joe Magnarelli – Three On Two
Matt Ulery’s Loom – Music Box Ballerina
Matt Ulery’s Loom – Wake An Echo

Matt Ulery's Loom - Music Box Ballerina

Marcus Miller – Afrodeezia
Sun Ra and his Arkestra – In The Orbit Of Ra
Matt Ulery – By A Little Light
Matt Ulery – In The Ivory
Matt Ulery – Themes And Scenes

Sun Ra - In the Orbit of Ra

World Music

Andy Lau – Love: Special Edition
Amira Medunjanin – Silk & Stone

Amira Medunjanin - Silk & Stone

Electronic Music

Qluster – Tasten
Jane Rigler – Rarefactions: Compositions via Improvisations
Madeleine Shapiro – Sounds Nature: Works for Cello and Electronics

Jane Rigler - Rarefactions

New CDs added in March!

New CDs for March 2016

Classical

Helene Grimaud – Water

Helene Grimaud - Water

Opera

Giuseppe Verdi – Attila
Giuseppe Verdi – Oberto

Verdi - Oberto

Verdi - Attila

Pop/Rock/R&B

David Bowie – Blackstar

David Bowie - Blackstar

Jazz

Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest – Sylva

Snarky Puppy - Sylva

Blues

Buddy Guy – Born To Play Guitar

Buddy Guy - Born To Play Guitar

New CDs added in November!

New CDs for November 2015

Classical

Eighth Blackbird – Filament
Antonio Vivaldi – Complete Viola D’Amore Concertos
Franz Schubert – The Unauthorised Piano Duos
Pablo Villegas – Americano
Kontras Quartet – Origins

Eighth Blackbird - Filament

Pablo Villegas - Americano

Vivaldi - Complete Viola D'Amore Concertos

Early Music

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir – Music From The Peterhouse Partbooks, Vol. 4

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir

Vocal/Opera

Joyce DiDonato & Antonio Pappano – Joyce & Tony: Live At Wigmore Hall

Joyce & Tony:  Live at Wigmore Hall

Musicals

Lin-Manuel Miranda – Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording

Hamilton Cast Recording

Pop/Rock/Country/Blues

Juan Diego Florez – Sentimiento Latino
Shemekia Copeland – Talking To Strangers
Shemekia Copeland – Outskirts of Love
Janelle Monae – The Archandroid
Janelle Monae – Metropolis: The Chase Suite

Sentimiento Latino

Metropolis

Outskirts of Love

Jazz

John Scofield – Past Present
Sun Ra – Four Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles
Sun Ra – Soundtrack to the Film Space Is The Place
Kenny Clarke – Kind of Clarke
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Irvin Mayfield & The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra – Dee Dee’s Feathers

Dee Dee's Feathers

Sun Ra - Space Is The Place