Music Theory Free Listening Day

Today in class, we ended the semester by sharing favorite pieces from our iPods. Here is a summary of what we heard, along with my brief impressions of each:

"Desire Be Desire Go" by Tame Impala from the album Tame Impala
...Beatlesque pop with a thick veneer of late 60s psychedlic grunge...

"Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky from the album Friday Night Lights
...instrumental rock with lonesome, Big Sky guitars over a military snare drum...

"Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills & Nash from the album Crosby, Stills & Nash
...exquisite vocal harmonies over laid back classic rock organ and a bubbling bass groove...

"All Bodies" by Between the Buried and Me from the album Alaksa
...mid-tempo metal with gravel-pit vocals and constantly shifting meters that segue in and out of thrash like a 10-year-old with attention issues...

"Another Believer" by Rufus Wainwright from the album Meet the Robinsons
...over-the-top poppy carnival music with sunshiney vocals and suprisingly chromatic harmonies...

"Africa" by Alyce Mtwalo et al from the album Impressions of Africa
...a pastiche of traditional African vocals, balofon, and percussion woven into a dance track...

"Lost in the Supermarket" by The Clash from the album London Calling
...legendary punk band makes depressing but unabashedly mainstream music about commercialism...

"Bicycle Race" by Between the Buried and Me from the album The Anatomy Of
...a lovingly crafted cover by a progressive metal band of a typically outrageous Queen song...