{"id":68159,"date":"2020-07-30T18:47:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T22:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=68159"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:21","slug":"lesser-known-songs-summer-playlist","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/lesser-known-songs-summer-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"These Lesser-Known Songs Deserve to be on your Summer Playlist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n These Lesser-Known Songs Deserve to be on your Summer Playlist\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Tired of all the news about COVID-19? Why not take your ears on holiday with a summer listening playlist, assembled by music faculty from Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re tired of the old playlists yet are likewise dissatisfied with sound-alikes suggested by YouTube and Spotify, we\u2019ve curated some \u201chidden gems\u201d \u2014 lesser-known music that in our estimation deserves more attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our selections represent a variety of genres, often cutting across traditional boundaries, however all of them are worthy of further listening for their musicality as well as for what they say and mean. Many factors contribute to how we can think about \u201chidden gems,\u201d but here are three: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

  1. The sheer availability of music. It\u2019s true that the quantity of available music is greater than ever before. At the same time, the percentage of available music known by the greater public has always been quite small. (To the people of Italy, Beethoven was a \u201chidden gem\u201d in his day). <\/p>
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n


  2. Exclusionary practices of the music industry, which have meant that contributions by women and Black, Indigenous or racialized composers, among others, have been marginalized.<\/p>
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n


  3. Serendipity. For example, a talented composer or songwriter may die or disappear after a promising start to their career, like Guillaume Lekeu<\/a> or Jill Janus<\/a>.<\/p>
    <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Join us on a voyage of discovery!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Made-in-Canada up-tempo bebop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Kevin
    \n \u2018The Romance of Improvisation in Canada: The Genius of Eldon Rathburn\u2019 features Kevin Turcotte on trumpet. (Flickr\/Matt Jiggins)<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>
    \n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    If you like mid-century up-tempo bebop in the Miles Davis or Charlie Parker vein, you should listen to \u201cThe Romance of Improvisation in Canada<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s the title track from a recent album<\/a> featuring arrangements of jazz-inspired film music by Canadian composer Eldon Rathburn<\/a> (1916-2008). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rathburn wrote more than 250 film scores, most of them during a 30-year career as a staff composer for the National Film Board<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Arguably Canada\u2019s most prolific composer of film music, Rathburn was a musical polyglot. He experimented with a wide range of styles and showed diverse influences ranging from classical, country, blues, electronic, avant-garde, church and dance music, to popular music and jazz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n