Vox

I like classical music, so why don't I listen to Vox more than I do? Vox plays a lot of opera and I would rather watch opera. Also most operas tend to be long and when I sit down to listen to a piece of music I want to listen to the entire selection. Often I don't have the time for a full opera.

Take me to the lieder!
I would really like a chamber music channel added to the Classical neighborhood. A channel that plays a variety of instrumental chamber music in addition to vocal chamber music would be fantastic.

Vox, opera / classical voices
My previous experience with channel: little to none.

Heard on Vox:
Mass No. 4 in C, Shubert; Six Hymns for Two, Rheinberger; Orchestral Intro, M. Bruch; Die Schoene Mullerin, Schubert; Tribute to Foste, P. Grainger; Neue Liebesliebe, Brahms; Le Reveil De La, Maurice Ravel; Call of the Cham, John Williams; America the Beautiful, Daniel Rodriguez; Bring Him Home, Daniel Rodriguez; Battle Hymn of the Republic, Howe; Der Corregidor, Wolf; Spanish Songbook, Hugo Wolf; Wayfarer Songs, Gustav Mahler; Rienzi, Richard Wagner.

Time spent listening: several hours.

Tomorrow:
No channels are scheduled for Sunday's. I will review the past week and look forward to next week. Also Sunday Spot Light.

The Joint

"Me only have one ambition, y' know. I only have one thing
I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together
- black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all." Bob Marley

I like this channel a lot. Reggae is a nice mellow style of music to relax to. However dancehall and dub, which the Joint occasionally plays, is not my mug of Red Stripe. Overall though, a wonderful channel.

The Joint, reggae, XM 101
My previous experience with channel: it's a preset that I listen too often.

Heard on The Joint:
"Bandits", Luciano; "Sweet Freedom", Culture; "Politruc", Alpha Blondy; "Global Talk", Apache Indian; "Fatty Fatty", Heptones; "Revolution", Bob Marley; "Ratsaman Chant", Ernst Ranglin; "Botanical Roots", Black Uhuru; "To The Foundatin", Dennis Brown; "Western Region", Jah Cure; "Girlie Girlie", Sophia George; "They Can't Stop Me", Johnny Clark; "Row Jimmy", Judy Mowatt; "Murder Dem", Ninja Man; "Come Back Darling", Johnny Osbourne; "I'd Die Without You", Wayne Wonder; "(Here Comes the) Rain Again", Crissy D; "More Than I Can Say", Ras Shiloh; "Saturday Night", Christine; "Not About Romance", Inner Circle; "My Heart is Gone", Horace Andy; "Dreams Come True", Elan.

Time spent listening: about 90 minutes, evening.

Related link: Official Bob Marley web site

Tomorrow: Vox, opera / classical voices

Bluegrass Junction

A little bluegrass goes a long way with me. The monotonous arpeggios just get to me after awhile, especially if there are two or more going on at the same time. At that point it becomes sound and fury signifying nothing, kind of like fugues. And you know how I feel about fugues (I don't like them).

Bluegrass Junction, From Bluegrass to Newgrass, XM 14
My previous experience with channel: I tune in now and then (mostly then).

Heard on Bluegrass Junction:
"Avocado Shakedown", Strungover!; "Two Highways", Alison Krauss; "The Whup of Love", Andy Statman; "Thank God", Doyle Lawson; "Little Maggie", Ralph Stanley; "Wreck on the Highway", Tennessee Mafia; "The Ground is Le", Blue Highway; "Bluegrass Special", Third Time Out; "Freeborn Man", Jimmy Martin; "Mystery Train", the Rarely Herd; "I Feel Fine", Charles River Va; "I Know Where Love", Kenny & Amanda; "When You Come Back", Nickel Creek at XM; "Early Morning Rain", Tony Rice; "Left Over Biscuit", Lost & Found; "Heartbreak Insurance", Doyle Lawson; "Life or Love", Jimmy Bowen; "Shuckin' the Cor", Flatt & Scruggs; "Black River", Steep Caynon Ran.

Time spent listening: a little over an hour.

Tomorrow: The Joint, reggae, XM 101

Aguila

To my untrained ear much of this music sounded like polka music with Spanish singing - not that there's anything wrong with that. This channel is fun and lively despite not being able to understand the lyrics. However, unfortunately the language barrier will probably keep me from listening in the future.

Aguila, Regional Mexican, XM 92
My previous experience with channel: none.

Heard on Aguila:
"Techno Cumbia", Selena; "Los Ahijados Del", Banda Movil; "No Quiere Comigo", Banda Arkangel; "Pacas De a Mil", La Revolucion D; "Prietita Nomas N", Ruben Ramos; "I Like the Live", El Gran Silencio; "Te Vas Amor", El Coyote; "Como Piedras", El Cartel De Nue; "Me dicen el tira", Ezequiel Pena; "Greitenme Piedra", Cuco Sanchez; "Que Triste Es Mi", Mazz; "Mi Premer Amor", Emilio; "Ni La Vida Es Mi", Los Tiranos Del; "El Final de Mi V", Los Pumas de Jal; "Que Amarren A", Joan Sebastian; "El Descalzo", Chris Sandoval; "Valentin De La S", Ana Babriel; "Rosas de Amor", Industria del Am; "Cantarle A Ella", Bobby Pulido.

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: Bluegrass Junction, From Bluegrass to Newgrass, XM 14

Bluesville

"All God's children get the blues."

Bluesville (Exit 74 on the XM Highway) is a weekend standard for me. Friday afternoon is the request show, Saturday night is the hard blues show and Sunday morning is the acoustic show. I don't listen to all three shows every weekend but I usually listen to at least one of them (usually the Sunday morning show).

Bluesville plays all shades of the blues: old, new, Mississippi delta and Chicago. Just about every form of popular music today can trace part of it's roots back to the blues. So whether you like rock, jazz, soul, country or rhythm & blues you should check out Bluesville; you'll probably like what you hear.

Bluesville, blues, XM 74
My previous experience with channel: it's been a preset since I got XM in January 2003.

Heard on Bluesville:
"I'm In the Mood", John Lee Hooker; "At Last", Etta James; "Blame It on the Devil", Frank Morey; "Suffering with the Blues", Tad Robinson; "Trouble Blues", Charles Brown; "Right Time", Nappy Brown; "Bye Bye Baby", Lil' Buck Sinega; "Keep On Loving Me", Otis Rush; "Take My Chances", David Jacobs-Str; "Tom Rushen Blues", Alvin Youngblood; "Lovin' My Baby", Eric Bibb; "He's a Jelly Roll", Lonnie Johnson; "Ninety Nine", Bobby Rush; "Ain't That Cold", Joe Louis Walker; "Mystery Train", Parker/cotton/ha; "I Just Want to Make Love", Muddy Waters; "Drinking Gourd", Bill Sheffield; "Wasn't that Enough", Janiva Magness; "I Cover the Water", John Lee Hooker; "I Saw It Coming", Smokin' Joe Kube; "Dog Days of August", Cephas/ Wiggins; "Such A Much", Dr. John/Nelson.

Time spent listening: 1 to 2 hours

Tomorrow: Aguila, Regional Mexican, XM 92

Hear Music

This is the very first day for this channel, so I wasn't sure what to expect. All I knew about Hear Music was that it's from Starbucks (yes, the coffee company). I started listening shortly after midnight and I'm impressed with it. By noon, Hear Music had earned itself a preset on my SkyFi. It has a lot of potential.

Hear Music plays a mellow mix of rock, jazz, rhythem & blues and soul. I like that it plays blocks of the varoius styles of music and even has song sets chosen by artists. Today I heard songs selected by Elvis Costello and Tony Bennet, to name but a few.

On the downside, Hear Music needs more variety. In one ninty minute stretch today, I heard four Elvis Costello songs. Ray Charles gets a lot of air play too. And I must have heard R.E.M.'s new song "Leaving New York" at least three times. I like all of these artists but if I'm going to listen to Hear Music regularly then the playlist must be deeper than this.

Hear Music, the Voice of Music at Starbucks, XM 75
My previous experience with channel: today's its first day! I've already made it a preset.

Heard on Hear Music:
"Just One More", George Jones; "Solitude", Duke Ellington; "How Insensitive", Frank Sinatra; "Here We Go Again", Charles/Jones; "You Make It Look", Flatlanders; "I've Been Loving You", Otis Redding; "Get Yourself Another", Sam Cooke; "Front Line", Stevie Wonder; "Who Discovered America", Ozomatli; "Crazy", Javier; "Desire", Talk Talk; "Unchained Melody", Willie Nelson; "If I Laugh", Cat Stevens; "Hello Stranger", Queen Latifah; "Over the Rainbow", Charles/Mathis; "Jigsaw", Amelia; "Tony & Maria", Los Lobos; "Part of the Proc", Moorcheeba; "Metal Firecracker", Lucinda Williams; "Leaving New York", R.E.M.

Time spent listening: 3 to 4 hours.

Tomorrow: Bluesville, blues, XM 74

Reflection and Projection

This past week's channels I rank as follows:
1. Deep Tracks
2. Real Jazz
3. Hank's Place
4. Chrome
5. the Torch
6. the Move

Sunday Spotlight is canceled this week. It will return next week.

Next Week:
Mon., Hear Music, the Voice of Music at Starbucks, XM 75
Tue., Bluesville, blues, XM 74
Wed., Aguila, Regional Mexican, XM 92
Thu., Bluegrass Junction, From Bluegrass to Newgrass, XM 14
Fri., The Joint, reggae, XM 101
Sat., Vox, opera & the Magic of the Human Voice, XM 112

This week looks interesting. I'm looking forward to it.