not necessarily the biggest selling, but the most creative and interesting music of 2016...

david bowie's last bow..."i'm the great i-am...i'm a black star."

shearwater, from austin, tx, plays an undefinable style of creativity.

claypool lennon delium is one of the surprising yet perfect collaborations...

beck goes to the edge of electronic r&b; david crosby releases a beautiful new song, the band quilt flashes the senses with a new sound and harmonies, the most solid cd of the year by the red hot chili peppers, and a dancing singalong by tiggs da author, "run"...

this week is a fun idea i got from someone's facebook post. It was a link to an a-cappella performance of david bowie and freddie mercury (well, not technically a-cappella, but just the isolated vocal tracks) singing "under pressure." It sounds like another (more silent, mysterious) song.

so, of course, i was suddenly inspired (as is my wont every week) like a lightning bolt of what (in my tired years) passes for creativity, and i put an entire hour show together featuring only naked vocal tracks.

you're gonna hear the amazing textures of voices like the supremes, marvin gaye, the beach boys, and especially freddie mercury and queen.

can the music of 1983 really be 30 years old? i don't see how that's possible, but i'll assume the math doesn't lie. this week i'll play some of the most interesting sounds from 1983, featuring david bowie and stevie ray vaughan (pictured). 

bowie famously "discovered" stevie, and stevie, dubious and stoned on coke for most of the album, helped make "let's dance" a classic. i'll play 3 tracks from that cd, and a beautiful fender slow blues by stevie ray, released later that year.

then i'll play some difficult to categorize (classical? jazz? progressive? fusion?) tunes by yes, frank zappa with the london symphony, and dutch guitarist, jan akkerman.

here are the songs: 1983