Wider Melodies

Yazmin Lacey is a singer-songwriter who knows something about coming into her own. She came to music late, she says – “It's never late, but late in the perspective of that I'm doing it now,” – almost as if by fate. And throughout her time in the music scene, the 33-year-old has used her music as an exercise in capturing those moments and putting them into song, as if a snapshot of the intimate parts of her own life.

There seem to be few subjects that do not interest my friend Tobias Lindstad. He is well-versed in literature, art, and philosophy, he throws himself into debates with an open mind and has kept his fascination for the mysteries of the universe. Above all, he displays a nearly all-encompassing appetite for good music in the most diverse genres. He never stops finding inspiration in classical and modern chamber music, in cool jazz and free-form improvisation, in avantgarde rock, in folk music, and in subtle pop melodies; really, he finds inspiration in all kinds of beautiful, strange, challenging and/or alluring music.

STARIFIED is a hard-hitting, groove-driven power trio from Moscow who worship at the altar of powerful riffs, stirring melodies and a raw and dirty garage sound. The band claim influences as wide as Jack White, Led Zeppelin and Foo Fighters, and proudly present the end to end rock of new album "Fat Hits."

More often than not, the most affecting and inspiring music is borne from the emotional impact derived from the most unfortunate of circumstance. The sounds crafted by the L.A. based band known as The Dales are no exception. Their debut album Marie was named for and inspired by Dales’ bass player Kyle Vanes' girlfriend who lost her battle to breast cancer in 2015.

Margo Guryan Died in 2021. Her Music Keeps Getting Rediscovered. “Words and Music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little-known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. In the late summer of 1970, Elton John arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for his debut U.S. shows and was greeted by another wildly talented piano-playing singer-songwriter: Margo Guryan. Her husband, David Rosner, worked for the company that signed John, and together they helped him get sorted in the run-up to his legendary performances at the Troubadour, kicking off a long, spectacular career. Guryan’s career proved less of a spectacle. After modest success as a jazz-pop songwriter, she recorded one album of her own, with Rosner’s encouragement. “Take a Picture” was alive with dazzling melodies, lyrical wit, strikingly intimate vocals and marvelously florid arrangements — a small masterpiece of the microgenre known as sunshine pop. But Guryan was a reluctant performer who refused to tour, and her album, released in 1968, was a commercial flop, after her label barely promoted it. And yet, in a unique twist on a familiar story, the 11 songs of “Take a Picture” became a shared secret around the world; pirate pressings overseas earned her the sobriquet “The Soft Pop Queen of Japan.” In 2000 the LP was officially reissued, followed by others collecting her demo recordings — lean performances that could pass for 21st-century indie-pop.

The Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) was first to bring to wider notice the works that open this set, J.S. Bach’s solo cello suites. Thereafter we hear his celebrated partnership with Horszowski in Beethoven and the groundbreaking piano trio formed with Thibaud and Cortot in Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn. From the symphonic repertoire come the concertos by Dvořák (with George Szell) and Elgar (Adrian Boult). Finally, an enchanting disc of encores and – with Casals’s own street-band or cobla – seven examples of the sardana, the national dance of the great artist’s beloved homeland.

Acclaimed indie band from Seattle with an earthy, harmony-rich sound influenced by American country-rock and British folk-rock. Collection includes: 'Sun Giant' (2008) EP, 'Fleet Foxes' (2008), and 'Helplessness Blues' (2011).

Sight Reading Made Easy: Sight Reading 1 - VI