Threads and Tangents Music Hour

Threads and Tangents 3/26/24 - Baseball

In celebration of the Mariners opener later this week, tonight’s musical thread is Baseball. We'll hear from: The Baseball Project, Dan Bern with Common Rotation, Craig Bickhardt, Chuck Brodsky, Greg Brown, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, Harvey Hindermeyer, Danielle Miraglia, Willy Porter, Mabel Scott, Todd Snider, Chris Thile, and Don White.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/19/24 - Songs from a Friend

This week's musical thread is Songs from a Friend.  I tried out this thread last year, with a friend that I’d known since we were teenagers, and it generated a great playlist. This time around the friend is someone that I didn’t meet until about 20 years ago. Over those years we’ve gone to many of the same shows, and we’ve discovered that prior to meeting, as far back as our late teens, we were at some of the same shows.   We'll hear music from: Big Boy Little Band, Eva Cassidy, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, Dave Chappell, Donna the Buffalo, Family, John Hammond, Patty Larkin, Mothers of Invention, Chris Smither, and The Spellcasters.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/12/24 - 1974

This week's musical thread is 1974.  We’ll take a look at that year in musical history from as many angles as possible.   We'll hear music from: Pat Burton, Stanley Clarke, Vassar Clements, Brian Eno, Al Green, Jorma Kaukonen, Leo Kottke, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Taj Mahal, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, and Richard & Linda Thompson.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 3/5/24 - Music from Wes Anderson Movies

This week's musical thread is Wes Anderson movies. The upcoming Academy Awards got me thinking about movie soundtracks, and since Anderson includes so many great songs in his movies, this was an easy call.Anderson is a divisive director.  Many of us really connect with his idiosyncratic style, while others just don’t get it.  But wherever you land on that spectrum, you can’t deny how masterfully he uses music in his films.  In tonight’s show we’ll get a sense of his uncanny ability for finding just the right song for just the right moment.   We'll hear music from: The Beach Boys, David Bowie, The Faces, Françoise Hardy, Seu Jorge, The Kinks, Love, Yves Montand, Nico, The Ramones, The Rolling Stones, Peter Sarstedt, Elliott Smith, The Stooges, and West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 2/27/24 - John Fahey & American Primitive Guitar

This week's musical thread is John Fahey and American Primitive Guitar. It’s pretty rare to be able to pinpoint a genre’s founder and its beginning. In the case of American Primitive Guitar, it’s John Fahey and his 1959 Blind Joe Death album. The style draws inspiration from blues artists of the 20's, dissonant 20th century classical music, and the Indian raga tradition. If John was still alive, the 28th would have been his 85th birthday.  This week's show will be an introduction to American Primitive Guitar. We'll hear music from: John Fahey; John's early influences: Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys, Etta Baker, and Bukka White; John's Takoma Records peers: Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, and Rick Ruskin; and, American Primitive Guitar's next waves: Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Marisa Anderson, Daniel Bachman, Yasmin Williams, and Gwenifer Raymond.
Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 2/20/24 - Your Roots Are Showing

This week's musical thread is showcase bands from this year’s Your Roots Are Showing Folk Conference. Held in Dundalk Ireland, the conference celebrates the rich tapestry of folk music and traditions from around the world. Now in their second year, Your Roots Are Showing brings together artists, musicians, scholars, and fans to explore and share the diverse cultural expressions that make up folk music.   We'll hear music from: Shaun Ferguson, Gráinne Hunt, The Jeremiahs, Medusa, Conor Mallon, Niall McCabe, Irish Mythen, Rum Ragged, Steafan & Saskia, Tamar Ilana & Ventanas, Steve Wallis, and Wör. For more information about the conference and the performers, check out https://www.showingroots.com/  Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 2/13/24 - Mardi Gras

This week's musical thread is Mardi Gras. On last year’s Mardi Gras show, I stuck mostly with the classics. This year I’m mixing it up a bit, with different versions of some of those classics, plus music from southern Louisiana.  It’s a nice mix.   We'll hear music from: the Balfa Brothers, Marcia Ball, Buckwheat Zydeco, Big Al Carson, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Sugar Boy Crawford and The Cane Cutters, Dr. John, Galactic, Leyla McCalla, Professor Longhair, Rebirth Brass Band, and the subdudes. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 2/6/24 - Down Home Music on Arhoolie Records

This week's musical thread is Arhoolie Records. The founder of Arhoolie, Chris Strachwitz, captured the best “down home music” the world had to offer.  He was at the forefront of nearly all the roots revivals over the last 60 years including blues, zydeco, Cajun, and Tejano music.  His work documenting traditional music helped introduce the nation to our diverse musical heritage.  We'll hear music from: Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Grupo Mono Blanco, Aziz Herawi, Flaco Jimenez, Klezmorim, Mance Lipscomb, Maddox Brothers and Rose, Mississippi Fred McDowell, ReBirth Brass Band, Savoy Family Band, Big Mama Thornton, and Katie Webster. Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org

Threads and Tangents 1/23/24 - Psychedelic Music from ’69 to ’71

After last week’s show featuring the Wrecking Crew, and all of the pop music that went along with that, I needed a change of pace this week.  Back when the Wrecking Crew’s pop songs were all over the AM dial, especially right around 1970, late-night FM stations were playing something completely different.  The antecedent for this music may have been blues, jazz, or even Eastern music but these musicians shaped it into a psychedelic sound.  Everything that I’ll play tonight was released between 1969 and 1971, and are all personal favorites.
We'll hear music from: Amon Düül II, Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dr. John, Grateful Dead, Hawkwind, King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Pink Floyd.

Threads and Tangents 1/16/24 - Wrecking Crew

This week's musical thread is the Wrecking Crew, a collective of Los Angeles session musicians who played on thousands of studio recordings in the 60s and 70s, including several hundred Top 40 hits.We'll hear music from: the 5th Dimension, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Canned Heat, Sam Cooke, The Crystals (really The Blossoms), Johnny Mandel & The Mash, The Mamas & The Papas, Scott McKenzie, Harry Nilsson, The Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, Nancy Sinatra, Mason Williams, and Frank Zappa(!). Anything on your mind? Email me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org