Playlist: Music Station Picks for September '10
Compiled By: PRX Curators
Here are September picks for music stations from PRX Music Format Curator David Srebnik, producer of Virtuoso Voices and Classical Music Format Manager for Sirius-XM Satellite Radio in Washington, D.C.
Find out what David listens for in music programming.
Show full descriptionGems of Bluegrass # 1036 The Beatles and Bluegrass
From Philip Nusbaum | 09:01
"We all live in a Yeller Submarine" — and other tales of successful meetings and mash ups with the Beatles and bluegrass.
Fascinating, fun and beautiful...here, there and everywhere.
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For a really long time, Bluegrass groups have covered country and pop songs. And there has been a steady stream of covers of the Beatles, the pop group with the greatest stature about a generation ago. Why? On our Gem of Bluegrass, Lyle Lofgren, Adam Granger and Phil Nusbaum attempt to answer that question.
Fonotopia Episode #1: Vocal Virtuosi
From Fonotopia Radio | Part of the Fonotopia with Ian Nagoski series | 59:00
This is the 78 party where you want to receive an invitation.
From Fonotobia, the weekly program and series from WYPR, Ian Nagoski takes us meaningfully deep into his collection of 78s. This show offers exotic and unusual vocal stylings from India, Switzerland, East Texas and "South" New Jersey.
Scratchy sounds are not the point, and not a distraction here -- this is a deeply rich hour of music and compelling storytelling, presented by a music collector who has not gathered any collector-nerd moss along the way.
That being said, one person's rich and exotic music is another person's un-listenable music. Some of it I found difficult to hear, but the overall content and presentation are well done and definitely worth an audition.
Solid hosting, story telling and historical context supports the music.
For all the things this program is, and thankfully is not, Fonotopia has enormous potential to fit within your weekly or monthly documentary slot.
Other programs from the Fonotopia Series, including Music of the Ottoman Empire and early Southern Gospel Music, can be found here.
- Playing
- Fonotopia Episode #1: Vocal Virtuosi
- From
- Fonotopia Radio
In this first episode of Fonotopia, musicologist Ian Nagoski raids his 78 r.p.m. collection to find the most moving vocal performances from all over the world. Greek rembetika legend Dalgas, Jimmie Rodgers singing his despair through the TB-generated holes in his lungs, Egyptian icon Oum Kalsoum singing one of the songs that inspired a million people to attend her funeral, Romanian-born cantor Shalom Katz lamenting the dead of Auschwitz in 1946...just tons of great singing in this hour. Tons.
Sergio Mendes: Bom Tempo
From Joyride Media | 59:00
More nice work from Joyride Media, right from the start, with a suave portrait at a suave-original: Sergio Mendes.
Your listeners will hear his story, his influences and some remixes of his classic hits. They'll also come away with the sense that this is a musician who has effortlessly flowed with the times and trends, and placed his authentic voice in each.
For AAA, eclectic music format stations and stations playing Latin dance music; also worth an audition at news/music stations to see if it fits comfortably into your station's musical boundaries.
- Playing
- Sergio Mendes: Bom Tempo
- From
- Joyride Media
Shaken, Not Stirred 10-32
From All Classical Public Media | Part of the The Score with Edmund Stone series | 59:01
While the debate as to who's the best James Bond of all time rages on (well actually there is no debate...), most agree about the uniform greatness of the Bond music, from the signature blasts of high brass and low guitar gyrations to the classic Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger" and Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die."
Host Edmund Stone plays the range of Bond movie music, including the lesser known, even touching cues representing the softer sides of 007. There were certain expectations for the Bond music template, and those notes of relevance are included as well.
James Bond movies are what they are, but the music is near universal, so I'm confident this show can fit within a variety of formats.
- Playing
- Shaken, Not Stirred 10-32
- From
- All Classical Public Media
This week on The Score – Shaken, Not Stirred – James Bond and the longest movie franchise ever. For almost fifty years and 22 movies we have thrilled to James Bond, not forgetting those amazing scores and theme songs. From Dr. No and Goldfinger to The Spy Who Loved Me and Casino Royale, 007 awaits this week on The Score with Edmund Stone.
Scoundrels & Villains
From Janean Jorgensen | Part of the Broadway Matinee - Songs from the Stage & Screen series | 59:00
Janean Jorgenson and her musical theater program series, "Matinee," are back with several new programs including Scoundrels & Villains.
Broadway has saved some of its best music and character studies for its bad guys and its not-so-nice women. Listeners will hear a mixture of evil eye treatment from Broadway's main street, including "Camelot," "the Fantasticks," "Guys and Dolls," "Annie," "Oklahoma" and "Anything Goes." Recently-made standards, "Chicago" and "The Producers," and a few lesser known shows are also included.
Many of the songs were new to me; they don't seem to have entered the main stream in terms of familiarity. (One of the prices you pay for being bad on Broadway.) Still, the tunes are enjoyable and often a kick.
Also new from the in the Matinee series, Married ("songs of the joyful side of married life"), and I Love to Cry at Weddings ("ceremonies on stage may give some inspiration to current couples").
- Playing
- Scoundrels & Villains
- From
- Janean Jorgensen
Some of the bad guys and bad girls we love to boo, or even cheer for.
Piano Red - Dr. Feelgood: The Music Makes You Feel Good
From Philip Graitcer | 04:01
Nice work from Philip Graitcer introducing us to the not-so-well-known Barrel House bluesman, Piano Red, a musical doctor of sorts whose rollicking keyboard music was known for making people feel good.
The story of Dr. Feelgood (4:01) will fit in your local jazz shift, as a feature within your arts magazine program and as companion piece for a local music or musician feature.
If you lived in Atlanta or were going to college anywhere along the east coast in the 1950s and 60s, you probably heard Piano Red. Red - also known as Dr. Feelgood and the Interns. Piano Red played a rollicking kind of piano that had you tapping your feet as soon as the music started. Red died 25 years ago, and his style of music was lost. Now, a new CD is bringing his barrel house blues back to a new generation of partyers.