Admit it. You wish you were as cool as your professors. You spend lecture trying to emulate their mannerisms and habits. But while you may not be able to pull off a dress as well as English professor Stephen L. Burt ’94, sharing his taste in music is a start. Below, FM gets the lowdown on what a few professors are singing in the shower these days...
Andrew G. Clarke, Professor of Music:
“Do Re Mi” from “The Sound of Music”
“It’s embarrassing, but as a music professor, I’ve never actually seen ‘The Sound of Music’ all the way through. My 6-year-old daughter currently sees herself as a mini Julie Andrews, so we’ve been having fun with this song at dinner time.”
“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
“God, I love this song. I listen to it in the car home from work to chill out.”
“Didn’t It Rain” by Mahalia Jackson
“This song is like a narcotic. If I listen to it, I can’t sit still. This piece has so much momen- tum, resiliency, and joy. It leaves me breathless.”
“Long Time Traveller” by The Wailin’ Jennys
“I love bluegrass and American folk music, and this song speaks to a lot of the music that my grandparents loved. Leisurely, I prefer not to listen to music I’m working on for work. It’s nice to listen to music and not have to think about it or analyze or critique it.”
“Frog’s Eye” by Evan Ziporyn
“I set my alarm to this. It gets me out of my morning fog. It’s a classical and also modern contemporary work by a composer working at MIT.”
Daniel T. Gilbert, Professor of Psychology:
“Cardboard Castles” by Dengue Fever
“I love this Cambodian psychedelic rock group because they just don’t sound like anyone else.”
“For Bunita Marcus” by Morton Feldman
“A 75 minute long solo piano piece with more silence than notes, but still, it will take you to another world if you let it.”
“Sometimes I Sit and Think, and SometimesI Just Sit” by Courtney Barnett
“Best new artist of 2015, so far. This Aussie rocker is strange in all the right ways.”
“Angels” by Joe Henry
“Madonna’s brother-in-law was always far more talented than she was. Brilliant singer-songwriter-producer whose lyrics rival [Bob] Dylan’s. How can he not be more famous?”
“Paranoid Android” by Brad Mehldau
“Only Mehldau could pull off a jazz version of a Radiohead classic.”
Stephen L. Burt ’94, Professor of English
“Half Heart Necklace” by Allo Darlin’
“Allo Darlin’ is the greatest present day pop indie band.”
“Walking Wounded” by Everything but the Girl
“Pop electronica is a great genre right now, and it all comes from this album.”
“The Real Sheila” by Game Theory
“This song was just reissued after it was unavailable for a long time. Game Theory is my favorite American band, and I’ve written about them at excruciating length.”
“(Us and All) Our Friends Are So Messed Up” by The Pagans
“This song signifies the end of punk rock, and I’m a big Ohio punk rock fan.”
“String Quartet,” composed by Maurice Ravel
“This piece is beautiful and has pop virtues. You never know where it’s going next. It doesn’t sound like elevator music. Indie pop is the thing I care about the most, but I try to care about other kinds of music: composed, outside of developed world, and loud annoying music.”
