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Music

My year in music marked a big return to mostly well-known albums and songs. Listening, and relistening to many of my favorites from 2021 and before. I’ve been reflecting on why this is. It might be sign of my getting older? Perhaps I’m listening to new music in Spotify and I don’t know actually what I’m listening to? (Algorithms, etc).

Whatever the reasons, my “Top 10 Songs” for 2022 as tracked by spotify only contains one song released in 2022! (Wild by Spoon). When I read Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2022, I honestly could say I knew only one of the top 10 albums.

Ah, but what does it really matter if the music is new? Great music is great music and here are a few things I really enjoyed this past year:

Concerts

We went to several great concerts this year. It was great to be hearing live music again.

Plains concert at First Avenue, November 18, 2022

Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Jess Williamson crushed this concert, playing some of their solo stuff, their songs as Plains and a few covers as well. Concert Review

The War on Drugs concert at The Palace February 16, 2022

I Don’t Live Here Anymore was one of my favorite albums over the past two years by far. This concert, coming out of the COVID lockdowns was just a happy, joyous, overwhelming moment. We grooved out hard and then got super tired and had to head home. We didn’t quite have our concert legs under us as of yet. Set List

Mt. Joy concert at Stubb’s in Austin – November 5, 2022

To celebrate our 20th and 21st wedding anniversaries (COVID put a damper on #20) – we headed down to Austin for the weekend. First time there! Mt. Joy is a new to me band this past year (the influences of a teenage daughter!) and this show, the last night of their tour, was a gem. Outdoors, ethusiastic crowd, really nice Texans, good food.

Jason Isbell at First Avenue September 24, 2022

This concert was amazing. The band was so fired up and the crowd was electric. It was a gift to have the opportunity to go to this show on the night that they received their star.

There were several other fun and amazing concerts this past year: The Wild Hearts Tour at Surly Festival Field. The National at Surly Festival Field. Golden Smog at First Avenue. Ryan Adams at Austin City Limits. The Elovaters at the Ford Amphitheater in Vail, CO (an especially beautiful setting).

I love live music.

Albums

Despite the spotify Top 10 songs not being a lot of new stuff – I did love a bunch of new albums from the past year:

Gemini Rights by Steve Lacy Honestly, I’m intimidated by this album. I can’t write intelligently about it. There is so much happening. I keep listening to it. He is clearly a genius.

Wet Leg by Wet Leg This debut album was super fun. Bummed I missed the concert at First Ave.

Every Shade of Blue by The Head and the Heart I loved their first album and “Virginia” was a constant fixture on our family playists.

Palomino by First Aid Kit I’ve been a fan of their since their first album – it seems like everyone else caught on in town here because tickets were impossible to get.

Lavender Days by Caamp #daughterinfluences This album connects through time for me… I can envision myself, freshman year in college, just completely jamming out to this one.

Cruel Country by Wilco Of all the Wilco albums, I would not say this one is my favorite, but the esteem with which I hold Jeff Tweedy and the rest of Wilco continues to grow. It makes me happy knowing they’re out there making music.

A few other Music favorites:

Okay, I’m an unabashed Taylor Swift fan now. She is on heavy rotation in our house.

I also love the new Blends feature in Spotify. It’s been great connecting with my family and friends over shared favorites and discovering new songs.

Do you get goosebumps when you listen to music? I was surprised to learn that this doesn’t happen to everyone! (~50% of people?) The song Phoenix by Big Red Machine gets me every time. Right at the beginning, and then as soon as Justin Vernon’s voice comes in at the refrain.

There’s more, to be sure. Despite not listening to a lot of new music this past year, I listened to a ton of music. Looking forward to more great music in 2023.

**Recently read**
– A World Without Email by Cal Newport
– Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
– Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

**Currently Reading**
– The Every by Dave Eggers
– Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
– Two Old Men and a Baby by Hendrik Groen
– The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
РA Philosophy of Walking by Fr̩d̩ric Gros

**In the stack**
– Deep Work by Cal Newport
– Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
– untangled by Lisa Damour
– The Great Mental Models vol. 2 and 3
– The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
– The Odyssey by Homer / Emily Wilson translation
– Think Again by Adam Grant

One common thread of these recent books is the impact of technology and science on society. (Well, maybe not *The Remains of the Day* I’m not too far into it thus far to know.)

I’ve recently done a major cleanup of some old computers I had, but then quickly went down a bit of a classic rabbit hole again. I wonder a lot about being more intentional about when and where I use technology, social media, etc.

Anyways, would love to hear from you if you’ve read any of these or have recommendations!

Followup to my previous lament. This is a really interesting and nerdy post: I Decoded the Spotify Recommendation Algorithm. Here’s What I Found

I’ve been spending some time cleaning up all my old junk in the house. Old papers, boxes. Shoes that are worn out, clothes I no longer wear, etc.

As you might imagine, I have a lot of old technology lying around as well. Old computers, chargers, cables. (Just in case I need them!) The pack-rat genes run strong in my family. I really have to take a moment with each thing before put it in my tech recycling bag.

I have several old iPods laying around. Most of which, I found, no longer worked. The battery won’t take a charge, or the hard drive (when pressed up against my ear) goes, “click, click, click” when it tries to boot up.

But one still did fire up. A 30GB iPod from around 2006. I had loaded music onto it a several years ago, before I finally signed up for Spotify, and then Apple Music (and then back to Spotify).

I’ve been trying to put my finger on this feeling for a while. What is special about this collection of music? Why does having all of the millions of tracks available to you on Spotify somehow feel less special.

This article from back in 2016 pretty much nails it – An Ode to the iPod Classic – I guess the author would put me into the music nerd category. I still love kicking back and listening to an album straight through. Call me old fashion, but as much as I enjoy Infinite Indie Folk on Spotify – I probably couldn’t name a single track off the top of my head.

But for the meantime, I’m planning to pass along this working iPod to someone who I know will appreciate it.

Well, that’s a bummer…

Rock the Garden 2021 won’t happen; SPCO cancels the rest of its 2020-21 season:

COVID has taken its first punch at summer in the Cities 2021, knocking Rock the Garden into summer 2022. The Walker Art Center, co-sponsor with The Current, issued a statement this morning saying, in part: “Due to uncertainties around planning for a large-scale outside event next summer, the Walker and The Current will not present Rock the Garden in 2021. After thoughtful consideration of how Rock the Garden could be coordinated and held in the time of COVID-19, the two organizations determined that the event in its current form could not be done in a way that would guarantee the safety of community members and artists.”

Hey folks,

Long time no post.

Must Read

I’ve told a lot of people this in person, and in emails, but the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a must read. One of the benefits of working in a school is getting amazing book recommendations from my colleagues. I also had the great opportunity to see Mr. Stevenson speak at the NAIS conference a couple of years ago. He is the director of the Equal Justice Initiative which defends people who are on death row. It will challenge you and ask you to take notice of the broken system of criminal justice in this country.

Must See

In the same vein, as part of our Administrative SEED group at school, we watched the documentary 13th, available on Netflix. It refers to the clause in 13th amendment banning slavery except in the case of criminals. The movie dissects the prison-industrial complex with precision. Highly recommended.

here’s a nice little concert while you sip your coffee on this fine morning…