I don’t listen to podcasts very often, but one that I do subscribe to is Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast all about “the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.” Host Dallas Taylor often asks his guests the same question: What is your favorite sound? It’s a great question to ponder: what sound […]
music
Rhythm, Compatibility, and Riley’s In C

Have you ever noticed that when we talk about people we really love being around, it’s easy to speak of our connection in rhythmic terms? “We’re on the same wavelength.”“It’s like they’re tuned to the same frequency as me.”“She and I vibe so well together!”“He and I, we just click.”“We’re so in sync!” There are […]
Reflections: About last night…

Last night, I attended a live performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 for full orchestra. In practically any other year, that sentence would be relatively unremarkable. I often attend symphony concerts, and I love Mahler. But in 2021? I feel like that sentence needs to be rewritten as: LAST NIGHT, I attended a LIVE PERFORMANCE […]
Review: Taylors of Harrogate Tim Peaks Coffee (Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England)

People from all walks of life are fond of their caffeinated beverages, but I feel like the most creatively inclined people I know have a disproportionate level of interest in the quality of their coffee and tea. Perhaps it’s an occupational hazard (work that’s rife with attention to detail!), perhaps musicians and artists are just […]
Review: Sub Pop Black Vinyl Blend (Seattle, Washington)

On my way home from Vancouver, my Last Port of Call was the SeaTac airport. It seems I Keep Coming Back to the Sub Pop store that’s in the airport (I’ve browsed their wares on at least two other occasions), but with a nearly 4-hour layover, it was the perfect way for me to spend […]
Pitchfork Midwinter and “the sky of timelessness”

Upon arriving in Chicago earlier this month, I got a text from my good friend Debbie, breezily instructing me to “have an amazing time!!!!!!!” Just 36 hours later, my head was swimming with everything I had seen and heard, and I will always think of the words “amazing time” differently going forward. It was my […]
Thoughts on Ride’s “Pulsar”

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about Ride’s new single “Pulsar” since its surprise release last week. (Via Google) pul·sar <ˈpəlˌsär/> noun: ASTRONOMY a celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to one thousand pulses per second. […]
A message for my fellow gig-travelers

Do people think it’s weird that you travel, sometimes great distances, to see live concerts? Do you derisively get called a fanboy or fangirl? I sometimes get a reaction akin to, “I can’t believe you’d fly/drive all that way just for a concert!” Once, I got that statement while sitting on a plane with a […]
Reflections: Ride, Terminal 5 (New York City), June 4, 2015

January 2016 This is not a review, as I am not a rock critic. Even if I was one, there is no way that I could be objective about this particular concert, or about this particular band. Since discovering Ride’s music in 1992, my mental image of them had developed almost exclusively through their recordings; I […]
“…listen to the colour of your dream…”

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of being an extra with the Dallas Symphony in their collaboration with Classical Mystery Tour, a Beatles cover band that performs with symphony orchestras around the U. S. I have played this gig before with other orchestras, probably 4 or 5 times, so it would have been easy […]