Classical Music

Kronos Quartet performs Philip Glass

Essential listening. Love everything about this album.

Calming Ragas

I’m so glad you asked. These were all things that helped me emerge from a funk. I hope they help you! 1. Calming ragas + incense in the morning. 2. Processing while listening to live classical or ambient music. LA’s Living Earth series has some of the best programming for this. Tree People is also a great spot for having a deep think in a quiet space around other ppl. I’m often restored by being in public places where there’s a shared appreciation of something else. 3. Prepping your coffee the night before. This is like a little gift to yourself when you wake up and simply press a button. 4. Doing the dishes in your sink. A clean kitchen is helpful when you’re facing a new day while in a funk. 5. Eating very spicy food. Time to get some Sichuan in the SGV. Shock the senses. 6. Getting in water like @Evan McAvenia said! Some laps at the Rosebowl could be a nice alt. 7. Walking up a very steep hill. 8. Taking one Advil PM before bed. My doctor friend always says “all the tools you need are inside you.” Your body and mind are very good at processing hard emotions and recovering, so set them up for success: stay hydrated and ensure good sleep. 9. Drive to the west side! It’s shocking how driving across town is like taking a field trip to a different city. I’d wake up early and get breakfast at Gjusta before the crowds arrive. 10. Going out to lunch and wearing a nice outfit. And finally, remembering that this too shall pass.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

emotionally unavailable child prodigy with daddy issues, a fear of intimacy and a desperate need for validation— total diva!

David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, 1978

Family listen: Highly recommend David Bowie narrating Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with the Philadelphia Orchestra, from 1978. My kids actually request to listen to this on a regular basis!

Recomposed by Max Richter

You’ve never heard the Four Seasons quite like this. Beautiful.

Playing The Piano (Ryuichi Sakamoto)

i mean

The Reverent Calm Of Nuns Singing Gregorian Chants

Play this while you're hacking up and you will surely experience your medical emergency as a spiritual cleansing.

Philip Glass: Aguas da Amazonia - Album by Uakti

The Dharma at Big Sur - John Adams

The Rite of Spring

What I think of when I think of “music about spring.” Stravinsky was one of the best to ever do it. (Kind of insane that Disney did a whole 22 minute Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia. Good for them.)

In A Landscape by Max Richter

This album came out in 2024. I am so lucky to have seen Max Richter perform this album live a few months ago. Each piece more moving than the other. A soul wrenching work of art.

Steve Reich - “Different Trains” for Papers

Fav Steve Reich track “Different Trains” on this pivotal Japanese short. Technically a needle drop, not score, but damn it fits so good! Yoshinao Satoh and Steve Reich doing fast stuff FTW

Harmonielehre - John Adams

Twenty years after first hearing this piece and falling in love with it, I ran into John Adams at a market in Oakland. I was so starstruck I could hardly find my voice.

Daisy, Piano Version, by Charlie Martin

I have been listening to this every day. It makes me really happy and also makes me feel like I want to cry. Like I'm mourning a version of my past but I'm hopeful for what could be.

Debussy - Rêverie

Marc-Antoine Perrio - Argile

Pretty stunning chamber arrangements that have prettier Ligeti vibes. Very curious how / where this was recorded bc it sounds just like an orchestra pit. Kudos to the composer and the players. Really impressed. Should be music for a film, but isn’t yet so here you go.

They Will Shade Us With Their Wings by Max Richter

This song destroys me every time I hear it, from the first note to the last. If you love instrumental and/or classical music you must hear this piece.

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I & II, BWV 846-893

Bach is the only music I can listen to while working. This is a great album.

floe

happy sunday

Eric André conducting a chamber ensemble of conservatory students

This was awesome. They played Ligeti and Morricone, Eric admitted to having no idea how to conduct and chugged a tall can of Modelo on stage. Idk man it’s 2026 why not? Thanks Eric and stones throw for the 🎟️

The Summer Portraits /// Ludovico Einaudi

“For Einaudi, music and memory are closely linked—his titles often recall a specific time or place, or a feeling. The opening track, ‘Rose Bay,’ is based on a sequence of chords that came to him when he was at the Sydney Opera House, waiting in the dressing room before going on stage to perform.”

Zia Mohiuddin Dagar & Zia Fariduddin Dagar - Dhrupad - Raga Malkauns

La Cigarra by Lola Beltrán

you don't need to speak the language to be spiritually moved by Spanish opera

Maurice Jarre - The Man Who Would Be King

My fav Maurice Jarre. Really unique orchestrations. One of those great symphonic scores that feels thin, yet moves to expertly. Long before the days of Zimmer-style VSTmaxxing. Jarre, great French film composer in the mix with Pierre Boulez etc. Wanna see the movie!