Episode 94

Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck, with your host, Mark Bradbourne.

What’s up, friends? Welcome back to yet another episode of Songs That Don’t Suck. I am Mark, and every week I am here listening to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs, most of which are not worth your time, which is why I put in mine to find the best of the best among the hundreds of thousands of songs that are released every week, just to find a few to refresh your playlists. Why? Because I love you. And before we get into the new music, I got a couple of things I want to shine a light on– a quick update and a concert review.

The update is, a couple of episodes ago, I talked about the decline of vinyl sales. But it turns out that might be a load of crap. Billboard, who initially reported the sales drop, has quietly removed that section of the report. Why, do you ask? Because vinyl sales are actually up. Apparently, there’s a problem in Lumiate’s new tracking method, which is who Billboard based their reporting off of, off of Lumiate’s data. I talk about Lumiate’s data a lot, so I am familiar with this company. And apparently, before this year, Lumiate used to do this sampling method to estimate vinyl sales. They took data from a select group of independent retailers and then used it to represent the broader market. It happens in statistics all the time. But they decided to change that to be more accurate by tracking actual sales reports from stores instead. This sounds great in theory. If you can get the actual numbers, fantastic. But the change created some real problems for small record stores. The new system required stores to format and submit their sales data in a very specific way that fed right into Luminate’s database. Now, for independent retailers, this means a lot of extra work that they’re not equipped to handle, both in terms of technical expertise and the staff time and availability to do it. So Luminate is trying to figure out how to correct this so they can get an accurate picture of the reporting. They’re looking at partnering with some other companies that do retail sales tracking. So we’re gonna stay tuned and see what happens.

And now for something completely different.

Now, I have mentioned in the past that I listen to and enjoy a very wide variety of music. And this week’s concert review is actually more of a concerto review. This week, I finally went to Severance Hall here in Cleveland, Ohio and saw one of the greatest orchestras on the planet, the Cleveland Orchestra. Having lived in Northeast Ohio since 1993, it blows my mind that I have not to this date seen the Cleveland Orchestra, but I corrected that. And when I say that they’re one of the greatest orchestras on the planet, I’m not blowing hometown smoke here. It is a well-known fact. They are known as part of the Big Five, which is the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Those are the Big Five. Now, granted, there is an East Coast bias on this. That Big Five moniker is a bit of a dated term. It started back when recorded music started to be a thing. And those were the big orchestras that were getting recorded. But honestly, in the most recent ranking that I could find, Cleveland Orchestra is ranked number seven globally. Now, when someone says classical music or orchestral music, what comes to mind? Probably names like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, the monster composers, right? But there’s actually seven eras of classical music, like there are eras in rock and roll.

You have the medieval era, which was 500 to 1400, very monophonic, Gregorian chant kind of stuff.

The Renaissance, which was 1400 to 1600, you started to get polyphony, some acapella vocal music, kind of like the next step of the Gregorian chants. You got started to get modal harmonies.

Moving on from there, we got into the Baroque period, which is where we start to get like the modern day picture of classical music, right? A lot of ornamentation, where musicians were adding embellishments to melodies. A lot of contrast, dynamically. We saw the emergence of opera and more instrumental forms like concertos, sonatas, and suites. This is where Johann Sebastian Bach was composing, as well as Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.

Moving on into the classical era, 1750 to 1820, very strong emphasis on clear structure and symmetrical phrasing. We started to see symphony and string quartet development. A lot of public concerts started happening, ’cause a lot of it was in the courts of the rich and famous, if you will. This is where we got Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, some of the early works. And his early works were transitioning into romanticism.

So the next period is the Romantic Period, 1820 to 1900s. Emotional expression, a lot of it. Deep emotion and individualism in the emphasis of the music. Much larger orchestra than new instruments that added a lot of color. We started to see programmed music, where it started to tell a story and depict scenes. We had composers like Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, and Brahms.

Moving on, we then hit the 20th century and modern era. That’s 1900 to 2000. So it started to get very diverse, complex rhythms and harmonies. You started to see the incorporation of electric instruments. There was some minimalist things happening. We started to see exposure to non-Western traditions, which was kind of cool. Composers include Stravinsky and John Cage, who was really experimental.

And then we get into the contemporary, 2000 to present day. A lot of cross genre fusion, a lot of technology and multimedia. Composers, John Adams, Philip Glass, and Tan Dun.

Now, I enjoy music mostly from the later areas, with a few exceptions. Pieces like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which was back in the late 1700s. Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, late 1800s. Devorak’s Symphony for the New World, and Gustav Holtz’s Planets, both from the early 1900s, all counted among my favorites. But lately I’ve been drawn to more modern composers since I was part of a project last year that was commissioning the creation of a piece.

Now, the latest performance of the Cleveland Orchestra really piqued my interest because it was Tan Dun. Tan Dun would be in attendance as the guest conductor for the evening, which was awesome. And then on top of that, on this particular evening, it featured one of his pieces called The Water Concerto. This is a 30 minute piece featuring percussion, first chair, Mark Demolicus, who plays and interacts with two large acrylic bowls filled with water and lit from the bottom. During the piece, Mark would use his hands to basically play with the water, submerge different instruments into it, as well as kind of float things on top of it and play those objects. It was truly a fascinating piece to watch as a percussionist myself, and it was truly an epic performance. Accompanying Mark were two other percussionists with their own acrylic bowls and an array of implements, as well as this full orchestra. The fascinating part around modern composers is they have a real lack of fear, and they have full-on creativity in their compositions. The water bowls aside, there were violins and violas and cellos doing this odd strumming pattern and then slapping their instruments, which you don’t slap a thousand dollar violin very often. So it was a bit of a shock when I saw it, and just it added this really cool percussive texture. There were brass musicians pulling their mouthpieces and buzzing through them as a way to produce like birdlike sounds. And the piece was constructed in such a way that it achieved this natural phasing through the concert hall, and it rippled through the orchestra and the audience. It was truly unreal to witness and listen to. The entire performance, the entire night was amazing, and they truly are one of the best orchestras in the world, and Severance Hall is magnificent.

If you live in Cleveland and you have never been, or if you’re visiting Cleveland, you need to go experience the orchestra in the hall in all its glory. I look forward to my next visit with the Cleveland Orchestra. All right, how about some new music? More in tune with what we’re used to on the podcast, shall we? Let’s get into them.

The first song this week is “BrainDeaf” from Taipei Houston. Now Taipei Houston are a two-piece band. There is a third member, but there are primarily just the two main members, Miles and Lane Ulrich. Name sounds familiar. I did some Googling. They are Lars Ulrich’s sons. Now I always find it fascinating to hear the offspring of global rock stars. There are moments in this song that remind me of Muse, which is obviously not close to Metallica, so it’s kind of cool to see them kind of carving their own way. It’s probably the mix of fuzzy bass, guitars, and processed vocals that get me there, but Taipei Houston feels a little more accessible to what I would consider a more mainstream artist. Not to say Muse isn’t, but it’s only their more recent releases that fall into that zone, in my opinion. Albums like “Absolution” went a little harder than albums like “The Resistance.” Anyway, “BrainDeaf” is very in your face from start to finish. It’s a song you honestly can’t help but move to when you hear it. Chorus, super catchy. And this is their latest single. And I enjoyed this so much that I actually went a little bit deeper into their catalog ’cause their previous release was 2022. Full album called “Once Bit Never Bored.” And it’s a little more raw than “BrainDeaf,” which I appreciated, but it’s fantastic and very much in the same vein. That album feels more like “The White Stripes,” you know, that whole duo thing. There’s just a lot of energy and power in that. So anyway, give a listen to “Brain Deaf” and then go check out the rest of their stuff as well.

The second song this week is “Later” from “Gift.” You know, when you hear a song and it kind of transports you back to another song that scratches the exact same itch? I was never a huge fan of the Smiths or Morrissey in general, but “How Soon Is Now” is one of those songs that I love and later from “Gift” reminds me a ton of that song on the feeling that it produces when you hear it. It’s probably the mix of electronica and pop sensibility that does it. This track marries a very smooth rhythm track with bass textured keys and a bass synth. And it has these really airy dreamy vocals floating on top of all of it. It’s honestly a great track to add to any chill playlist that you might have. So here, check out a little bit of “Later” from “Gift.”

The third song this week is “Compulsion” from “Stop.Drop.Rewind.” Part progressive rock, part power pop, part jazz, part fusion, and maybe a little bit of math rock for good measure. Honestly, whatever the equation is, it is definitely a unique mix of genres on almost opposite ends of the spectrum when you think about it. This is a three piece from the Midwest, and it’s an interesting puzzle to say the least. There are moments that as you’re listening to this, you can’t find the beat, and then it’s followed by moments where you can’t help but bob your head. And then for good measure, there’s this ripping saxophone solo towards the end, and then it comes right back into the main meat of the song. If you like to be challenged in what you’re listening to, “Stop.Drop.Rewind” might be a band that you need to start paying attention to. Here is a taste of compulsion.

The fourth song this week is “Brother” from Flycatcher. This track, it took me a minute to get to this point, but it gives me a very definitive ever clear vibe. But it’s coupled with these other moments of grunge, which kind of pulled me away from that. It’s got a great overall feel. I love the verse work from the drummer. There’s moments in the lyrics where he just simply drops out and plays the offbeat of the rhythm on the rim of the drum. And it creates this really cool space that allows the verse to almost reset in a way. Think of it as a punctuation to start the next thought. The lead and rhythm guitar parts in the chorus are fantastic. I love the way that they play together. And the song overall has this really cool emotional ride throughout it. It’s not like sometimes when I’m listening to new stuff, it’s just like we’re going to play at 11 the whole time and you’re not gonna get a break until the end of the song in two and a half minutes. But Flycatcher plays with the dynamics and it creates this really cool intimacy, which honestly, it’s nice to hear. So here’s a bit of Brother from Flycatcher.

And that, my friends, is it for this week. Hey, to plug another podcast, I have been working with the Rock and Roll Autopsy podcast all year doing this entire series called Did Cleveland Kill Rock and Roll? And we finished it just this week. So if you haven’t been listening to Rock and Roll Autopsy, go check out that podcast. It’s a lot of fun, especially if you’re a Gen Xer ’cause you’ll know all the songs that they’re talking about. The Cleveland series was a lot of fun. I was really glad to be included in that. So go now and check out Rock and Roll Autopsy. Now, as always, you can follow me on social media. I’m on all the things, Instagram, threads, Facebook, TikTok, and X. The website gets you links to all the songs that I’ve talked about today. If you go to songsthatdon’tsuck.net, you will find it there. Also, you will find a place to send me feedback and recommendations, as well as a spot to sign up for our newsletter that we’ll be launching in the next year. What’s gonna be in the newsletter? I’m not sure yet. One of my ideas is to share with you the unofficial bootlegs that sometimes I record at shows. So if you’re into that kind of thing, sign up, it’s gonna be free, and I’m not gonna spam the ever-living hell outta ya. So you’ve got that going for you. Anyway, thanks for listening as always. Really, really appreciate you spending some time with me. And as always, go out and support these artists. – Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.