The Shark introduces artists whose prolificness, talent, creativity, and trajectory stand out among the rest, reason why he call them "Gods in Music."

The Shark ranks the tip of the iceberg of his colossal library (100,00+ songs) while unveiling top-notch and under-the-radar recommendations.

With Understanding Comes Appreciation In the years following his death in 1945, Anton Webern’s works became the Rosetta Stone of post-war Serial composers. One of his big champions was conductor Robert Craft, under whose direction Columbia Masterworks recorded Webern’s complete works between 1954 and 1956. Marni Nixon of Hollywood “ghost singer” fame brings pinpointed agility and spot-on intonation to the songs, supported by Schoenberg scholar Leonard Stein’s brilliant handli

With Understanding Comes Appreciation Composed for nine instruments (2x pianos, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, tam-tam and xylophone), Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion certainly packs a punch. Written in 1937 and premiered in 1938 by Bartók and his second wife Ditta on piano and percussionists Fritz Schiesser and Philipp Rühig, the sonata was received very well by critics and audiences. The piece received its US premiere in 1940, with Di

With Understanding Comes Appreciation The composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein said of one passage, "That page is sixty years old, but it's never been topped for sophisticated handling of primitive rhythms...", and of the work as a whole, "...it's also got the best dissonances anyone ever thought up, and the best asymmetries and polytonalities and polyrhythms and whatever else you care to name." Oks, first things first specially for the sake of new comers. The Rite of Spr

With Understanding Comes Appreciation What is sound? Think about all the different possible sounds heard throughout the day. Cars passing by, the chattering of people talking, keys jingling in your pocket, music playing in the grocery store, the microwave humming, the list goes on and on. Whether we are aware of them or not, we are constantly hearing sounds happening all around us. Now, let’s change gears for just a moment as I pose another question. What is time? Time is an

With Understanding Comes Appreciation Mr. Edgard Varèse 188 Sullivan St. New York, New York Dear Sir: Perhaps you might remember me from my stupid phone call last January, if not, my name again is Frank Zappa Jr. I am 16 years old... that might explain partly my disturbing you last winter. The reason for my letter at this time is that I am visiting relatives in Baltimore and as long as I am on the East Coast I hope I can get to see you. It might seem strange but ever since I

With Understanding Comes Appreciation Some of the words that arguably describe better this gem might be elegant, sophisticated, intimate, melancholic, spiritual, playful, desert, warm, and mysterious, which also sports majestically chamber jazz, avant-garde classical music, klezmer and modern composition. For a man who's arguably got 90% of his reputation (at this point, in 1996) through making noisy, abrasive, inaccessible, and chaotic music, this masterpiece is quite the op