Music I Liked – Sofi Tukker, Thunderpussy, Pärt, Gluck

Women dominated my music last week, but the sounds were all over the place. The music swung between the cheeky and sublime. But whether I was listening to Sofi Tukker, Thunderpussy, Arvo Pärt or Christoph Gluck, it was all good music.

Sofi Tukker

Recently my husband was listening to KEXP and the DJ mentioned Sofi Tukker. He realized that was the third or fourth time he’d heard a DJ reference the band, but he hadn’t heard the music. This time, everyone in booth chimed in about how awesome Sofi Tukker is. But they still didn’t play any of their music. So that night he came home and found them on Google Play. We listened to the whole Treehouse album that night, and immediately realized why KEXP never played Sofi Tukker. But the reason is not bad music, and we’ve listened to Sofi Tukker most nights since.

Will Adam Rippon please use this song for a program?

Here’s another one because these guys are on par with Red Fang for killer videos.

Thunderpussy

Speaking of cheeky, how is it possible that Thunderpussy just released their first album last week?! They were already on high rotation on KEXP before they kicked my ass at the Macefield Festival in 2015, and they’ve never dropped off the radar since. But I guess they’ve been too busy rocking to record – until now. About fucking time Thunderpussy.

It’s a great album, but Thunderpussy is a band that must be seen to be believed, so here’s a live video.

And here’s another one because everybody needs more ‘Pussy.

Arvo Pärt

The music of Arvo Pärt is frequently used to accompany ballet, and I usually put up with it. He kind of takes “spare” a little too far for my maximalist taste, and the result is kind of clinical. But last week at Pacific Northwest I saw James Moore and Rachel Foster dance the “After the Rain” pas de deux with music from Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel and it broke my heart.

The slow piano reminded me of Sigur Ros’ Fjögur píanó, but where that piece circled endlessly, binding you with fine wires that cut into the skin, this one feels healing. It’s the slow, bruised movements of someone who broke free of Fjögur píanó‘s trap.

Here’s Sigur Ros for comparison.

Christoph Gluck

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Gluck before. But I will now. Yesterday I saw O+E, Seattle Opera’s chamber performance of Gluck’s classic Orpheus and Eurydice. I’ll be writing more on that later. The music sounded like something you’d hear during the opening credits of a period drama. A woman in hoop skirts stands beside a piano singing as the camera pans over lavish interiors and stars’ names scroll onscreen.

There is no audio of this production online yet. The Soundcloud embedded below is in French and Orpheus is sung by a tenor. I think it still conveys the beauty of this piece of music. The version I heard live was in English, and for once, the lyrics to opera did not detract from the experience. What poetry! Also, Seattle Opera’s performance was all female (except the chorus) so Orpheus was a mezzo and Eurydice the most golden of sopranos and yeah, actually this Soundcloud file doesn’t even begin to convey the aching beauty of this opera.