Quick links: Middle Ages cat names, Turkish Funk, Java price increases…
A couple of quick links today for your enjoyment: I’ve written about my cats and their many nicknames. But have you ever wondered what people named their cats in the middle ages? Apparently Open Culture has given this some thought. My question is… what have my cats named me?...
“Con Todo El Mundo” – Khruangbin
Took a little detour on revisiting my top 100 albums but we’re back with Con Todo El Mundo by Khruangbin. It’s easy to see why this album didn’t make the cut in 2016: It wasn’t released until 2018. I think I stumbled on Khruangbin via an NPR Tiny Desk...
Macroblank: plundered vaporwave instrumentals to work or relax to
Music tip for your Saturday, if you’re looking for something that will slide into the background and give you a bit of a groove, check out Macroblank on Bandcamp....
Coming soon: Instrumental album from Robyn Hitchcock
The past few years I’ve been seeking out more and more instrumental music. Khruangbin, The Comet is Coming, Material, Pharoah Sanders… but I wasn’t expecting to add Robyn Hitchcock to that list! Robyn has released a few instrumental tracks in the past. I Often Dream of Trains is bookended...
Listen to this: Steve Lawson “Episode 50: A New Hope”
Fresh new music for the first week of the new year, Steve Lawson’s Episode 50: A New Hope is two epic-length tracks of introspective goodness. I’ll turn the floor over to Steve to describe the release: Turning 50 after 5 months of chemo to try and get rid of...
Perfect year-end music: Zoë Keating’s Into The Trees
Today was my last work day of 2022. While I was doing some writing I put Into The Trees on for a little focus music. Once again, I was struck by just how beautiful this album is, especially track #2 “Escape Artist.”...
Last Bandcamp Friday of 2022! Eliza Rickman, Mdou Moctar, Asian Dub Foundation
It’s the last Bandcamp Friday of the year, which means Bandcamp forgoes its cut and artists get the entire price (minus some processing fees). Not sure what to get? Check these out! Access Denied by Asian Dub Foundation The band describes this album thusly: “Access Denied is an avalanche...
Listen to these: Steve Lawson, Etran de L’Air, Brian Jackson & Automatic
The past few months have been a little less productive in terms of finding new music, but there’ve been a few gems I’ve been wanting to blog about. Steve Lawson is a prolific solo bassist out of the UK who has an enormous back catalog on Bandcamp. I picked...
Instrumental throwdown: Check these out
A question popped up yesterday on Ask Metafilter for recommendations of instrumental rock, pop, electro, whatever “just no vocals” from the past 5 years. Highly recommend checking out the entire thread, but I thought I’d post my own responses here for posterity....
Saturday sounds: Nightmares on Wax, Buckethead
Two discs from the back catalog to talk about today, In a Space Outta Sound by Nightmares on Wax and Forgotten Library from Buckethead. In a Space Outta Sound (2006) by Nightmares on Wax (★★★) The entire album is a fantastic trip, but “I Am You” is a must-listen...