I first became aware of Brian Setzer when he played Eddie Cochran and covered “Summertime Blues” in the 1987 sleeper hit La Bamba. This was pretty inspired casting – most of the big-name musicians in the movie were played by … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Brian Setzer – Rock ’til You Pop

I’m starting this Spotlight with the best tracks first. If you listen to nothing else today, listen to these two songs. http://www.dailymotion.com/… Those are the first and second tracks off of Supermodified, Amon Tobin’s fourth major studio LP, which came out … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Amon Tobin – Orphan Black, Splinter Cell, and Brazilian Jazz

You might not expect that an optometrist who taught himself modern recording techniques would win a Grammy Trustees Award (i.e., the recording academy’s lifetime achievement honor). But then again, never be surprised by anything you read in an Artist Spotlight. Continue reading Artist Spotlight — Rudy Van Gelder, Jazz’s Most Important Optometrist

I primarily know RJD2 as a DJ/producer who creates R&B/soul-inflected soundscapes from obscure samples, reflecting and refracting their original sources to make music that never existed before simultaneously sound like a reverent homage. But I say “primarily,” because I don’t … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: RJD2 – ’70s Soul, Underground Hip Hop, and Don Draper

Jerry Goldsmith was, in my mind, the quintessential film composer. He might not have been The Best Ever, and feel free to rage about that question in the comments, but he was certainly among the most dependable. His scores often … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Jerry Goldsmith

What the hell is a Mannheim Steamroller? We’ll get to this band’s punny denotative meaning, but I can tell you right now what it connotes. It’s a faceless synthesizer juggernaut that turns Christmas carols into ’80s New Age ear-blasters, and … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Mannheim Steamroller

Vince Guaraldi was a jazz pianist and composer whom you probably never would have heard of were it not for the Coca-Cola company. Thanks to them, Guaraldi wrote music you’ll never forget and helped create the smooth jazz subgenre. But … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Vince Guaraldi

Band Aid was a trendsetting charity supergroup, which created the idea of getting superstar musicians together for a one-off recording to raise funds for a charitable cause. Its first incarnation came in 1984, with the hit song “Do They Know … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Band Aid

I’m sorry … did you say Winger? As in, the worst hair-metal stereotype to crawl out of the ’80s, that Winger? The band whose front man appeared on the cover of Playgirl, that Winger? The one whose biggest hit was a … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Winger

Is the best folk act in America a pair of teenage Swedish sisters? That’s a trick question, because the girls of First Aid Kit don’t live in America, and by now they’re both in their 20s. But if you saw … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: First Aid Kit

I admit it: I own a theremin. I assembled it from a kit that my brother and I bought online in the mid-90s, long before every dork who never got laid was posting theremin interpretations of the Super Mario Bros. theme … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Clara Rockmore – Progenitrix of a Thousand Theremin Nerdgasms

I’ve always thought of Ladytron as rainy-day music. Not as in, you stay inside and curl up on your sofa with a blanket, a novel, and a warm cup of tea. More like, it’s raining but you’re out in the … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Ladytron

Sometimes you have to remind yourself, listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela, that you’re only hearing two guitarists. Not a drummer, not an 808, not a bunch of samples. Not a hurricane, though you might be forgiven for thinking that. Here’s … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Rodrigo y Gabriela

Let’s start where I started with Mirah. If you can, I’d like you to put headphones on for this track, so you can hear everything — every intake of breath, every vibration of the string quartet, even the slow decay … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Mirah

Martin Denny could be described a lot of ways. An ethnomusicological pastiche artist. An embarrassing cultural imperialist. The logical conclusion of “tiki culture.” A watered-down jazz performer. A creator of overcooked elevator music. The soundtrack to every Shag print ever … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Martin Denny – Jimmy Buffett for the Mad Men Set

One rainy night in 1994, I went with my saxophone teacher to Tower Records and bought two CDs: Don’t Try This at Home, by Michael Brecker, who I covered in my last Artist Spotlight ; and Blue Train, by John Coltrane. At the time, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: John Coltrane

Michael Brecker was the Great Jazz Saxophonist of the 1990s and 2000s. (Sorry, Branford.) His stylistic and harmonic innovations have been studied by musicians for years, and the Internet is full of videos demonstrating how to replicate his sound, or … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Michael Brecker

Below is a collection of phrases used by reviewers to describe Eleni Mandell and her music: “quirky Los Angeles torch singer” New Yorker, 3-5-09 “exudes a nocturnal, beat-poet, wry, avant-garde veneer” – AllMusic, 2002 “mellifluous chanteuse voice” – American Songwriter, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Eleni Mandell

On July 14, 2016, the people spoke. I asked for a terrible musical act to feature, and they chose Soulja Boy, aka Soulja Boy Tell ’Em. Eltneg recommended him “or any other mid-2000s ringtone rapper,” and Artist Spotlight series manager … Continue reading Terrible Artist Spotlight: Soulja Boy (By Request)