Walk Like An Egyptian - The Puppini Sisters

Sometimes inspiration comes from unusual place - and in the case of The Puppini Sisters (who aren't actually sisters at all, but names themselves as a tribute to The Andrews Sisters) that inspiration for founder Marcella Puppini came from the movie, The Triplets of Belleville.  After seeing the movie, Puppini formed the group and they had a huge hit in the UK with their rendition of The Andrews Sisters classic, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

Happy listening!

The Puppini Sisters – Walk Like An Egyptian

Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck

My sentiments exactly. Johnny Paycheck was the stage name of Donald Eugene Lytle. He led a very colorful life, including a prison sentence for shooting someone (grazing their head, not killing them).

Happy Thursday!

Johnny Paycheck – Take This Job And Shove It

Aganju - Bebel Gilberto

Bossa Nova vocalist Bebel Gilberto (known in many circles as just Bebel) is Brazilian musical royalty. The daughter of Joao Gilberto (The Girl from Ipanema) and the singer Miucha, she grew up around a constant stream of music and concerts, recording for the first time with her mother at the age of 7.

That said, Bebel has definitely made a name for herself as her own musician; she certainly is not resting on the fame of her parents. She remains a fantastic modern example of the beautiful artistry of the genre.

Happy listening!

Bebel Gilberto – Aganju

Thriller - Michael Jackson

Just cuz.

And also because it won 8 Grammys.

Happy (almost) Halloween, and happy listening!

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon

Halloween week!  This weeks music selections are all about this special week of tricks and treats. And excess sugar.

We start with this classic by Warren Zevon. Originally released in 1978, this was one of the tracks that made the album, "Excitable Boy" extremely successful and helped Zevon become a familiar face in the music scene of the late seventies.

Zevon died of cancer back in 2003, very shortly after his release of his last album, "The Wind."  He has the distinctive honor of having won two Grammy Awards - both awarded  after his death, and both for this final album.

Warren Zevon – Werewolves Of London

Creole Love Song - Chanticleer

If you have never heard of Chanticleer... catch up, little tomato.


The San Francisco based ensemble was originally founded in 1978 by a graduate student in musicology interested in developing a group that sang music from the medieval and Renaissance periods. He used only male voices, as was the tradition in most churches during the Renaissance.To name the group, "Chanticleer" was suggested - the name of the "clear singing" rooster in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The group has morphed over the years, and has included more than 100 singers over that time.  I had a chance to hear these guys perform a little over a year ago - and it was, hands down, the best concert I have ever attended. Their repertoire has expanded beyond their renaissance and medieval roots, and now perform an incredible array of music.

If you ever have a chance to hear them, I promise you, it will be like nothing else you have ever heard.

This video is from their concert in Budapest in January of this year.

Happy listening!

The Things Our Fathers Loved - Jan DeGaetani

Jan DeGaetani was someone whose voice I heard periodically through my undergraduate music days. She was featured on several recordings on the required listening lists. What I found so incredible was how lovely her voice was while she was singing all these wacky crazy contemporary pieces. She made several recordings still admired today of contemporary work, including the recording of George Crumb's masterpiece Ancient Voices of Children and Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire.

As I researched a bit more about her, I was surprised to learn that not only was she a Julliard graduate, but her students include some of the most notable voices in music of recent years, including Dawn Upshaw, Renee Fleming, and Karen Holvik.

She passed away back in 1989 from Leukemia at the age of 56, but I find her recordings to be amazingly sensitive and timeless.  This is a recording of the Charles Ives song, "The Things Our Fathers Loved."  The text is as follows:


I think there must be a place in the soul
all made of tunes, of tunes of long ago;
I hear the organ on the Main Street corner,
Aunt Sarah humming Gospels; Summer evenings,
The village cornet band, playing in the square.
The town's Red, White and Blue,
all Red, White and Blue; Now! Hear the words
But they sing in my soul of the things our Fathers loved.


Jan DeGaetani and Gilbert Kalish – The Things Our Fathers Loved

Grace Kelly - MIKA

The artist known as MIKA is a British singer/songwriter, and until about a week ago, I had never heard of him.  My bad.

His music strikes me as a ripe electronica fusion of Imogen Heap, Prince, and Elton John. Some really fun, interesting songs populate his latest album, "The Origin of Love."

"Grace Kelly" was his breakout hit from a few years ago hitting the #1 spot in the UK.  

Happy listening!

MIKA – Grace Kelly

Symphony #3: II - Henryk Gorecki

This particular piece of music is part of a larger work (Symphony #3) which is also known a "The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." In this very unusual symphonic treatment, the composer weaves texts for a soprano soloist within the texture of an orchestra.

This movement uses as a text, an inscription on a cell wall in a Gestapo office in Zadopane, Poland during WWII:




No, Mother, do not weep,
Most chaste Queen of Heaven
Support me always.
"Zdrowas Mario." (*)
(*) "Zdrowas Mario" (Ave Maria)—the opening of the Polish prayer to the Holy Mother

Beneath this inscription is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna, and the words "18 years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944."

It is a beautiful, poigniant work.  The whole symphony is amazing.

Henryk Gorecki – Symphony No. 3: II. Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo

Try - P!nk

I have a confession to make - I have a huge crush on P!nk.  (Please don't tell her husband Carey Hart. I would like to keep my face intact.)

Born Alecia Beth Moore, the singer better known as P!nk has been a fixture in the rock/pop scene for the last decade, known for her witty wordplay, female-empowering lyrics, and plain bad-ass rock stylings. She also trained as a gymnast, and stole the 2010 Grammy's while performing a mind-blowing aerial routine while singing "Glitter In The Air."  She manages to marry drama and music in her performance and videos.

The latest album, The Truth About Love, is more great music.  "Try" is one of the few songs she did not write herself, and the video is hypnotic, beautiful, disturbing, and powerful. What I think I like most about P!nk is that she is a musical artist with an emphasis on ART.  She creates music with subject matter that elicits an emotional and intellectual response from the listener (and in this video, the viewer.)

Somebody - Jukebox The Ghost

(After a month-long hiatus to handle a number of life changes, I am happy to re-fix my gaze to SongSupper. Did you miss me?)

Jukebox The Ghost is a now-NYC based three-piece band (recently relocating from Philadelphia). They have just released their third album, Safe Travels.  They have also released the accompanying commentary explaining a bit of background on the songs, which is now becoming more commonplace in the era of digital music launches.  They show a remarkable depth of thought in their songs, reflected in the unusual juxtaposition of lyrics and music.

Happy Listening!

Jukebox The Ghost – Somebody

From This Moment - Shania Twain

Generally speaking, I like Shania Twain. She is a remarkable musician and artist, and a lovely lady, and she knows how to ride horses while singing duets with Lionel Richie.

As wedding songs go, this is the one I have performed more frequently than any other.  It is also one of the most codependent songs ever.  (EVER.)

I live only for your happiness,
and for your love I'd give my last breath...
My dreams came true because of you...
There is nothing I wouldn't give...
Your the reason I believe in love...
All we need is just the two of us...

Mix in the three ascending key changes and you have the makings of the music for a Lifetime Television movie, complete with tissues.

Happy listening!

Shania Twain – From This Moment On

I Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Ingrid Michaelson

More wedding music!

There are a big handful of excellent songwriters, an array of wonderful and talented singers, and a number of gifted poets; only very, very rarely do you find someone who is all three of these things. In my opinion, Ingrid Michaelson is one of those rare few.

What she does with this very classic song is something completely different, yet so much the same; she makes beautiful music by making the song completely her own, and treating it as if she was the first and last person to ever sing it. And if she were, many of us would die happy and satisfied that it couldn't be done better than this.

Happy listening!

Ingrid Michaelson – Can't Help Falling In Love (Recorded Live at Daytrotter)

Grow Old With Me - Mary Chapin Carpenter

So I am searching for wedding music for an upcoming matrimony, and I thought this would be a great theme - wedding music!

This is actually a really lovely song, great text, and lovely sentiment. (Although it could get cheesy pretty quickly...)

Carpenter was one of a handful of folk artists that emerged in the 80's, and is one of the very few that achieved some level of recognition. Still active as a songwriter and performer, she released her latest album "Ashes and Roses" earlier this year.

Happy listening!

Mary Chapin Carpenter – Grow Old With Me

Ornithology - Charlie Parker

I was introduced to jazz (REALLY introduced) by a college friend who was an amazing saxophonist. She would share these wonderful,  tragic stories about jazz legends and would let me listen to recordings of their playing.

One of these musicians was Charlie Parker, a musician known for his influence in shaping Bebop, a rattling heroin addiction, and his skill at the sax. (An avid student of classical music, Parker was also a fan of Igor Stravinsky.)

Happy listening!

Charlie Parker – Ornithology (Live - Storyville)

Let's Have a Kiki - Scissor Sisters

I had not, at this point last year, developed a deep love for the Scissor Sisters, I had listened to them occasionally over the years and have watched them from afar. For some reason, I just hadn't been able to get excited about them, even though many of my friends adored this NYC-based glam rock band.

But then their last album, Magic Hour, came out and I finally got it. As a professor was fond of reminding me, "Never overlook the obvious." This is music that reminds me of Elton John and the Bee Gees - music that just makes you feel like dancin'...

Happy listening!

Scissor Sisters – Let's Have A Kiki

Forgiveness - The Local Strangers

Thanks to a share by a friend of mine, I got to hear/see this Youtube video by the Seattle-based alt-Americana ensemble, Local Strangers. This was a great rendition of Patti Griffin's "Forgiveness" that they recorded amidst the Redwoods of California while touring the West Coast.

While studio recording can artfully craft sound into a flawless product, this video reminds us that live music making is uniquely experiential.

Enjoy this.  I sure did.

Stuck in Sheboygan - Caitlin Glennon

As a bonus track to the recent geography-inspired theme, I am featuring a song about my hometown, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Caitlin Glennon lives in the Bay area and has just released her first full-length album, "Heard Learned Truths." The album is a great blend of catchy tunes and great lyrics, and she captures the essence of Sheboygan - by what it doesn't have - extremely well.

(But I must clarify, while there are no tapas bars, there is indeed at least one microbrew.)

Happy listening!

Caitlin Glennon – Stuck in Sheboygan

Song of Wyoming - Chris LeDoux

So with this last song, we have visited all 50 states.  A lovely, fitting end to about 12 weeks of songs.

Happy listening!

Chris LeDoux – Song Of Wyoming

Oh, Wisconsin - Locksley

#49 is an homage to the state of my origin. Hooray!

Locksley is an indie power pop band from Madison. They are self-released on their own Feature Records label and claim that their songwriting is "heavily influenced by early British Invasion bands with an instrumental style based more on early American punk bands and modern garage rock groups. The band describe their sound as doo-wop punk." (from Wikipedia. So it must be true.)

Anyway, this song is just wicked fun.

Happy listening!

Locksley – Oh, Wisconsin!