This past week I got a chance to sit down and talk music with Professor Zoe Kontes, Classicist and founding member/bassist of Kenyon’s now-defunct, all-professor cover band O! The Humanities. The task I laid out before her was not to simply choose five of her favorite albums, but five albums that have special sentimental value, five albums that represent a specific time in her life and that bring her back to that time with each listen.

Before she locked herself away in the hills of Ohio, Kontes led a very exciting life in the vibrant music scene in Durham, North Carolina while teaching at Duke University. Durham is the home of Merge Records and Kontes was lucky enough to live in the area during a pivotal time for the label. The rest, I will leave up to her.

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