Lesson Hear
Wednesday May 22nd, 2019 with Bruce Walton
Bruce is back all the way from the Comox Valley

Five songs by five artists, seven songs by two artists, and six songs by one band (whose members most certainly count as artists).

Mulatu Astatke (b. 1943, Ethiopia) was sent as a young man to study aeronautical engineering in Wales. Fortunately, his teachers recognized his musical talent and encourage him in that direction. He studied and played in London and New York in the mid-60's; then returned to Ethiopia later in the decade, where he introduced western music to a country that had never been colonized (apart from some aggro from Mussolini in the prelude to WW II), and had therefore been culturally isolated.

Shagu (NYC, 1964)
Mulatu Astatke - New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio-Jazz, 1965-1975

Nu Nu
Avishai Cohen - Continuo (2006)

Japan
Pharoah Sanders - Tauhid (1966)

Afro Wiggle
John Handy - Hard Work (1976)

Sun Dance
Charles Lloyd Quintet - Nirvana (1965)

My Eyes Don't Lie
Mendelson Joe - Fragile Man (1984)

The next track was prescient. Written at the latest in 1995, when the web was about 2 years old, and smartphones/social media not yet invented, it seems to refer to our contemporary digital environment ("virtual whatever"), smartphones and their mass appeal ("heaven in your hands, and everybody wants one"/"to these appliances I'm tethered"), and social media ( "I don't know who these other people are, but they say we're all in this together").

Mono-Culture Row
Joe Hall & the Screaming Vegetables - Fresh Outta Rehab (1995)

Far Out To Lunch
Mendelson Joe - Not Homogenized (1979)

Hans Joachim Boenke was Joe Hall's birth name. He was born in Germany in 1947, so the very funny "Eva B." was perhaps an attempt to come to terms with his heritage. Or maybe just a song, from an irrepressibly zany writer and performer. (Eva Braun was Hitler's mistress, for the history-challenged)

Eva B.
Joe Hall - H. J. Boenke (1976)

The Canada Song
Mendelson Joe - Mr. Middle of the Road (1972)

Nos Hablos Telephonos
Joe Hall & The Continental Drift - On the Avenue (1978)

Rock 'n' Roll
Mendelson Joe - Mr. Middle of the Road

Danelectro 2
Yo La Tengo - Danelectro (ep, 2000)

Lost In Bessemer
Yo La Tengo - New Wave Hot Dogs (1987)

Living In The Country
Yo La Tengo - Ride The Tiger (1985)

Yo La Tengo has done many covers over the years - the next track is a cover of the Ramones' debut 1976 single.

Blitzkrieg Bop
Yo La Tengo - Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo (1996; rec. 1988-95)

Esportes Casual
Yo La Tengo - There's A Riot Going On (2018)

The Evil That Men Do
Yo La Tengo - President Yo La Tengo (1989)

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