Texas Sun (2020)

Artists: Khruangbin, Leon Bridges

Khruangbin is a Houston-based musical trio formed in 2009. Mark Speer (guitarist) and Donald Johnson (drummer) met while playing in the same Methodist Church gospel band in 2004. They then formed Khruangbin (a Thai word meaning airplane) with bass guitarist Laura Lee in 2009 after she played with Speer on tour for electronic rock artist Yppah. Khruangbin has since produced 3 records and amassed millions of online listeners and fans.

Grammy-winner Leon Bridges, also from Texas, began performing 1950’s/60’s-style soul and R&B music in his early twenties. He sang to crowds of 5-10 people and washed dishes at small Fort-Worth venues until he was noticed by Columbia Records in 2014 for his song “Coming Home.” Bridges describes his childhood self as “isolated” and “painfully shy”; he had no musical background and had never heard soul music when he began singing – proof, he says, that “you can’t teach soul.”

Bridges and Khruangbin collaborated on “Texas Sun” to pay tribute to their home state. Bridges sings about a long road trip through the desert over Khruangbin’s “trance inducing” instrumentals; the combination is both relaxing and highly evocative of the experience it describes. The song uses elements of Spanish-style guitar and country pedal steel to create something that “sounds like Texas.”

I chose to include “Texas Sun” in my playlist because it is simultaneously simple and incredibly complex. Khruangbin, for one, is an interesting band because although their music does not fall into a specific genre, they refuse to be experimental. Lead guitarist Mark Speer is quoted as saying, “When we first started the band, we wanted to have a formula…This is what we do, and we’re not gonna try and go outside the box too much. We’re gonna explore the box we’re in…Music should never be just for the sake of being experimental. Before you even start, you have to know what you’re experimenting with first.” I find it interesting that a band can create a unique style based entirely on foundational American genres of the past (particularly R&B, soul, funk, and dub), yet not call themselves experimental. On the other hand, Leon Bridges has become an icon by popularizing a by-gone style, not by creating his own. Drawing inspiration from Sam Cooke, he filters Texas blues, gospel, and R&B into his voice, singing simple melodies that provide modern audiences with a break from the noise of hip-hop, pop, EDM, etc. I think “Texas Sun” is a particularly beautiful song because, borrowing from Mark Speer, both Khruangbin and Leon Bridges make music “inside the box”; together they produce a unique piece of music, but they do so by drawing from not-so-unique styles of American music history.

Sources: Texas Monthly; Atwood Magazine; Billboard

Pirates of the Caribbean Orchestra Suite: Parts 1 and 2 (2018)

Composed by: Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of the all-time greatest Hollywood composers, credited with fathering the integration of electronic music with traditional orchestral arrangement. Born in Germany, he got his start in the world of film music during a collaboration with Stanley Myers on the film My Beautiful Laundrette. He earned his fame in 1988-89, composing the scores for Rain Man and Driving Ms. Daisy, both of which received Oscars for Best Picture and earned him nominations for Best Original Score. Zimmer has since composed scores for countless blockbuster hits such as Gladiator, The Lion King, Mission Impossible, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean, Here I Am, and The Thin Red Line.

This Orchestra Suite, a medley of compositions from the Pirates of the Caribbean series, showcases Zimmer’s innovative techniques and industry-famous style. Zimmer’s works are somewhat comparable to Wagner’s nineteenth century “music dramas”, which include a variety of art forms that together create a complete experience. Although Zimmer does not write 16-hour romantic operas, his use of leitmotifs and his combination of voice, an enormous orchestra (especially brass), and visuals (the film itself) are reminiscent of Wagner.

For Pirates of the Caribbean, Zimmer wrote most of the melodies, including the main theme, in “two nights and one day”. Inspired by Irish sea shanties, the melodies are performed on instruments such as the accordion and include frequent ostinatos to mimic the rocking of ships at sea. He varies the tempo throughout the score to match the movement on screen, and the entire score is extremely rhythmical to facilitate choreography.

I chose this medley Orchestra Suite, rather than a single original film composition, for my playlist because it is truly an epic spectacle – one that encompasses Zimmer’s ultra-modern take on how live orchestra should look and sound. The massive scale, visual lighting effects, and (although not in this particular piece) Zimmer’s own performance on electric guitar made this “World of Hans Zimmer” event in Vienna truly incredible. The video itself also includes scenes from the film to better show what Zimmer was working with when he wrote the accompaniment.

Sources: Hans-Zimmer.com; BBC Bitesize

Vienna (1977)

Artist: Billy Joel

Billy Joel was raised in America’s “first suburb” of Levittown in Long Island, New York. His father a classical pianist, he began playing piano at the age of four and later dropped out of high school to pursue a performing career. After releasing a disappointing first album at the age of 22, Joel moved to Los Angeles and worked as a lounge pianist at The Executive Room – an experience he would later write about in his breakthrough single “Piano Man” (1973). The song’s success kickstarted his career; by 1981 he had won his first Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance as well as a People’s Choice Award for his album The Stranger which includes “Vienna.”

The idea for “Vienna” came to Joel quickly, in what he called “a Promethean moment”. On The Howard Stern Show in 2010, Joel explained: “It was an observation that you have your whole life to live…We tend to put older people away, and it’s all about young people. Well, wait a minute, why do I have this whole lifespan? What’s the point of it? Some people will get there sooner, and some people will get there later. Slow down, you’re going to be fine. No matter what you do, be good at it, and whenever you get there, you get there.” The comment stemmed from an experience Joel had as a child visiting his father in Vienna, Austria. After seeing an old woman sweeping the streets, he told his father it was an awful thing to see. To this his father replied, “…She’s being useful and she’s doing a service that benefits everyone. She’s not just sitting at home wasting away, and she’s got dignity.” Joel’s song “Vienna” expresses his realization that American culture tends to strip the elderly of their purpose and worth – casting them aside and instead focusing solely on the next generation.

I’ve included “Vienna” in my playlist because in this particular song, Billy Joel plays both the speaker and the subject. One could argue the song is a commentary on American culture, but it undoubtedly has its roots in Joel’s own life experience. Joel himself performed and recorded original songs for many years before he began to see the fruits of his labor. You might say he is singing to his former self, determined to be a rock star in his twenties yet not making progress. I find the song to be both inspiring and sad – a true rock classic.

Sources: Biography.com; Songfacts.com

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in E Flat Major (1842)

Composed by: Frédéric Chopin

Possibly Poland’s greatest composer ever, Frédéric Chopin was born in 1810 and began performing at the age of 8. By 22 he had performed all over Europe and eventually settled in Paris where he became acquainted with such composers as Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt. He found employment as a recitalist and teacher and composed his most famous nocturne character pieces, scherzos, and sonatas. Chopin is credited with originating the modern piano style. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.

Chopin wrote this nocturne based completely off of a single theme, which is, as Zdzisław Jachimecki describes, “altered through the continual surges and ebbs of ethereal ornaments and figurations.” He further describes the topos of the piece as evoking “delicate thoughts that delight us with their sweetness and charm.” We know that the “surges and ebbs” that Jachimecki speaks of are precisely what Chopin intended to create “flow” in his music.  Władysław Żeleński, a student of Chopin, wrote in 1899 that “Chopin was always enamoured of flowing song, and we know that Italian song was always his ideal.”

I chose this piece for my playlist because I once attempted to learn to play it, and I can therefore attest to the refined technical ability that a virtuoso Chopin piece requires. This piece is Chopin’s most popular among both amateur pianists and experts alike because its peaceful melody is paired with “deep harmony and highly original rhythms” (Żeleński). Put simply, I love the way it sounds.

Sources: The Fryderyk Chopin Institute; Forney, Dell’Antonio “The Enjoyment of Music”; Biography.com

Whitehouse Road (2016)

Artist: Tyler Childers

29-year-old Tyler Childers was born and raised in Lawrence County, Kentucky. His father worked in the coal industry, his mother as a nurse. He began performing bluegrass music at the age of 15 as a way to remember his late grandfather. Ten years later he released his first hit album, Purgatory. Childers performs music as a way to reach his lifelong goal: building a home for his wife and starting a family. His listeners view him as a story-teller; he writes simple tunes with lyrics that paint an authentic picture of the rural Kentucky lifestyle. He even called his newest album, Country Squire, a “working man’s country album” – one that “captures a relentless work ethic, a happy marriage, and a sly sense of humor”.

Childers paints a chilling picture with his song “Whitehouse Road”; similar to the theme of many of the songs on Purgatory, it is a window into the lives of many living in the Appalachia region. “Whitehouse Road” is about the substance abuse epidemic and poverty in this region. Childers strums the same three catchy bluegrass chords and sings about earning a hard living, dealing with drug addiction, and trying to stay alive.

My playlist would not be complete without a country song. I chose “Whitehouse Road” because Tyler Childers stands out amongst other popular country artists in 2020. Rolling Stone writer Marissa Moss calls him the “voice of Appalachia” because his songs “separate stereotype from truth.” Childers was in high school when Diane Sawyer showed up in his town to film a segment for 20/20 about Appalachia. They were handing out free Mountain Dews to kids so they could get more shots of them drinking it, exploiting the worst stereotypes of the people Childers lived with, specifically “Mountain Dew Mouth” (tooth decay). Childers didn’t like how the media chalked up his people to look like “sugar-swigging robots”, so he started writing songs to tell stories about what life was really like for many blue-collar Americans; those that were “struggling to raise a family and put food on the table with one foot in the coal mine and one in the grave”. I think what draws audiences to Childers over “modern country” artists is the honesty and realness of his music. I like “Whitehouse Road” because it’s a story set to music. Rather than writing 10 different love songs and calling it an album, Childers sings about “what he knows and sees” (Moss).

Sources: Genius; tylerchildersmusic.com; Rolling Stone