I was tagged by @Annie (read hers next) to answer this musical blog challenge.
Speaking as both a (largely wildly ‘unsuccessful’) musician and a corporate strategic consultant type, the conclusion I’ve come to of late is that the music industry can only ethically exist if it de-emphasises product/content/output as a …
2026 Update: I have retired my music blog for both issues of cost and interest.
Since 2023, I’ve been writing micro album reviews. These are mostly for myself to remember albums I’ve enjoyed but I realize other people might find them useful for finding new music. I will be adding more as I listen.
I added three new albums to my music of summer 2024 playlist but, sadly, something has broken the RSS display on my site. Hopefully I can find and fix the error soon.
A “user-centered” approach to design has been replaced by what [Jarrett Fuller] has taken to calling a “corporation-centered” approach. Rather than optimizing for the user’s experience, it optimizes for the extraction of profit. If Spotify succeeds at turning us all into passive listeners, then it doesn’t really matter which content the platform licenses. As Fuller put it, “It’s about ‘How do you get through as much music as you can so you keep paying for it?’" -Why I Finally Quit Spotify
Quitting Spotify has been a huge improvement to my music listening.
My spring music recommendations may be late but I already have three albums on it.
My wife surprised me with an amazing concert of one of my favorite bands, Djangophonique (Link), at the Detroit Institute of Art.
I just discovered Paramore’s cover of Burning Down the House, which is apparently the leading track of Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, a song-for-song tribute to the original 1984 album and concert film. I can’t wait to hear more of this project.
Starting the new year with a fresh take on the shoegaze genre. Really loving this whole album. Alvvays - Blue Rev
Exploring new music was a lot easier when I was young and stupid. My brain, a hormone flooded blank slate, followed whatever musical paths the songs I was listening to lead me down. Now I’m older (only slightly less stupid) and I’ve …
Even Spotify Wrapped admits my Album Whale lists more accurately show my music listening this year.
❄️ I know that it’s technically not winter until 22 more days but, with snow on the ground, I started my new list of Albums for Winter 2023-24 anyway.
The family was lucky enough to grab tickets to a feast of knock-your-socks-off jazz last night at the Plymouth Penn theater. Dichi kicked us off with a bang before Cabare Boreale came and stole our hearts. Finally, Chris Plum brought the house down.
Whiteout Conditions - The New Pornographers
Neko Case and Kathryn Calder singing in harmony is my ASMR.
Summer is only a few days gone and I already have three albums in my Autumn 2023 music recommendations list. As the temperatures go down, my productivity goes up.
An intense explosion of joy escaping from gritted teeth. This is for you who turned down drugs at the music festival to be fully bombarded by the sounds the band played just for you and you will go home having met a part of you that you didn’t know existed before that day. Listen
The Pool by Jazzanova
Sampling, hybrid grooves, guest singers, etc. This is one of those bands that I can’t believe I’ve never heard until now. Thankfully, that means I have their whole back catalog to dive into and this album was a great start. Track recommendation: Everything I Wanted
I’ve finally been home long enough to add an album into my Summer album recommendations. This one got a lot of play on the family vacation.
More album recommendations can be found in my winter and spring lists.
I’ve been making seasonal music recommendations as a way to highlight good albums and encourage my own musical exploration. Only 8 more days left to check out spring before I start the summer list.