Repaired
When we last left our hero, we had a broken neck joint and a splintered heel cap. I’m happy to report the surgery was successful and the patient has fully recovered. Ah, but friends, there is even more to this adventure.
Blog
This is where I tell you what I really think. This website doesn’t support comments by design, that is what your blog is for!
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Best Albums of 2019
Alright, now that the Grammy Awards have all been passed out, let’s have a little reprieve, shall we? Each of the 15 albums in this list made a deep impression on me this year. Why 15? Because there were 15 of them. Here they are in alphabetical order.
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Top Music of 2019
This data is taken from my last.fm account, and mostly reflects my private listening at work. This may more accurately reflect my personal preferences, though, as it is what I chose to listen to without being influenced by other people. My taste in metal seems to be getting more extreme.
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I Joined Another Band
Well, I recently got myself joined up with another bluegrass band. I’m not really one to go joining bands all willy nilly. I have a good track record of sticking around in bands for a long time, so it’s important to me that everyone is easy-going, but takes professionalism as seriously as I do. And of course they need to be, you know, good. The folks in Red Dog Ash check those boxes for me.
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New Music Tuesday: Tim Bluhm, Sorta Surviving draft
Tim Bluhm is probably the closest thing we have to a “father of country music” in Northern California. I know. It’s weird to give that title to someone so young (not to mention someone arguably better known in rock music circles), but if you think about the history of country music in California, practically all of it was written in the southern portion of the state. As far as Northern California is concerned, there has never been a country artist so thoroughly rooted—lyrically and geographically—in the better half of our state than Bluhm.
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Best Albums of 2018
I know I’m a little late to the game with my album picks this year, but 2018 was just so rich with amazing new music that I couldn’t just poop this out all willy nilly. Unlike other folks with their best album lists, I believe in waiting a few weeks after the new year to let all the late releases settle in with me. And it’s a good thing I did, as a few late December releases made my list!
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Top Music of 2018
As with last year, this largely reflects my music listening at work. These lists tend to be more metal-heavy as this is where I do most of my headphone listening.
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New Music Tuesday: Coulter Wall, Songs of the Plains draft
Saskatchewan has a rich, long history of amazing music. For every Carter Family and Robert Johnson, there is a
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New Music Tuesday: Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis, Wild!, Wild!, Wild!
I don’t know if there is anyone Robbie Fulks doesn’t sound amazing with, but Linda Gail Lewis isn’t it either.
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New Music Tuesday: Daniel Romano, HUMAN TOUCH and NERVELESS
How about we break out of the new release holiday slump with a new Daniel Romano record! No? How about two!
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My Favorite Albums of 2017
As has been my tradition for the past few years, I’ve shared with you my most listened-to music. This year, however; I also wanted to share the music I was most excited about—the music that gets lost in the data when you don’t adjust for Misophonia, or listening to music with friends, or just life and music happening around you in general.
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Top Music of 2017
Misophonia is king as I discover the soothing powers of north-western grindcore, and new records by Daniel Romano and Thy Art Is Murder make an impression.
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New Music Tuesday: Dylan Earl, New Country to Be
I’ve had a deep and powerful longing for more than two years, but the full-length Dylan Earl record is finally here!
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New Music Tuesday: The Brother Brothers, Tugboats E.P.
It’s been a while, but damn, have you heard these guys!? I couldn’t let this one float past without calling it out.
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New Music Tuesday: Daniel Romano, Modern Pressure draft
Another record, another best album of his career. Danial Romano is an unstoppable machine of impeccable taste, creativity and musicianship.
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Mixed Up Track Names for Welcome to My World by Dick Curless
Dick Curless, the “Baron of Country Music,” is a newly-discovered favorite singer of mine. I think he would be bummed that the track names on his release Welcome to My World are mixed up on all the digital music services.
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My Favorite Albums
Prompted by yet another Reddit hole of favorite album threads, I realized I need to catalog the albums that mean the most to me, or were a huge influence on me at some point in my life. Here they are in no particular order (with affiliate Apple Music/iTunes or Bandcamp links when possible).
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Top Music of 2016
As you may already know, I have been scrobbling all of my music plays to Last.fm for the past 10 years. This year, Last.fm has a new report called Last.year that does all my homework for me! I have still recorded the usual stats below for future proofing.
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Curse of the Clicky
I have been on a quest for the perfect double bass preamp for years. There are a lot of options, but almost nothing properly suited for a slap player who wants a clicky but doesn’t want to strap a giant metal box to their tailpiece or their waist.
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New Music Tuesday: Luke Bell, Luke Bell.
Excellent from songwriting to production. Two seconds after hitting play, not only did I instantly fall in love with the first track, “Sometimes,” I felt like it had been a favorite for years. That’s pretty much how this whole album plays.
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New Music Tuesday: Daniel Romano, Mosey
About half of a year ago, Kristyn and I went to see Daniel Romano in San Francisco in support of his latest record, If I’ve Only One Time Askin’, of which he played only slightly more than zero tracks. Nearly everything he did was new material. Only one of those songs appears on Mosey, essentially making this his third volume of music since 2015.
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New Music Tuesday: Laura Jean Anderson, Righteous Girl
What if Neko Case joined the Alabama Shakes? Well, you might end up with something a little like this.
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New Music Tuesday: Michael Daves, Orchids and Violence
The long-awaited “Twins Album” is finally here. And it’s really fucking good.
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I’d Be Astonished If I Were Amused
In which I also played bass some ukulele, and sang some harmonies. This was my first time recording music in many years. Many. As in, before people really used computers to do it at home. This was released last September, so I thought it was about time I mentioned it here.
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New Music Tuesday: Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Coulda Shoulda Woulda
Confession: I haven’t been following Holly Golightly since Thee Headcoatees disbanded in the late 90s. This was a grave error on my part. Coulda Shoulda Woulda is the eighth release by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs. I have some serious catching up to do, and that’s just what I’ve been doing the past few days.