0.1.1 - Hey mister DJ, put that record on
The variables are so wild on both sides of that request that it's hard even for me to write a coherent introduction for this post. Is the question-asker saying "I don't care what we listen to, dealers choice, go nuts"? Or are they being polite - perhaps they are visiting someone, or they have a guest who they don't feel confident they could pick out something appropriate on their own? Is the question an "OK, lets see how well you think you know me." test - I've certainly had relationships where that has been the case, on both sides. Or is the question "I'm always looking for new music recommendations, and I trust and respect your music taste/am open to anything, play me something you think I should know but I don't."?
This ambiguity is why I know people who freeze up when they are asked this question. Not me, I might add - you don't ever have to ask me twice to expose you to whatever music I think is cool, and my bulletproof confidence in my own opinions means I'll never be offended if I get it wildly wrong. But when faced with this request, a combination of your musical confidence, what you think they want and how well you know them can range from someone politely sitting through multiple twelve minute TOOL songs while you explain how great the polyrhythmic drumming is, to someone stopping what you are doing to start adding bands to their own playlists for future consumption.
Of course, one of the other costs of our recent switch to an all digital, all searchable form of music consumption is the loss of the library effect; some people hate being asked to put an album on because the depth of choice is too great, and so paradoxically they've just ended up listening to the same four or five albums again and again ,because there's no chance to run your finger down the spines of your display case of CDs or vinyl and pick out something that catches your eye. Catherine in particular suffers from this, if we are driving somewhere and I ask her to pick an album to listen to, that could be a good ten minute consideration and consultation period before we even get close to a decision; my decisiveness and mental back-catalogue of bands and genres we both enjoy tends to deliver faster results.
Interesting, you say, but what does this have to do with anything?
Well, this weekend I'd diarised spending an unspecified amount of time playing a tabletop game with my friend Matt; and because I'd committed to this project and wanted to make sure I was using my listening time effectively, I asked him whether we could - instead of listening to the playlist melange of songs that had formed the background music when we had hung out previously - listen instead to some albums. Now, was I expecting us to be playing this game for seven full hours? No, I was not, but it turned out to be an excellent use of that time not only because I hadn't seen Matt for a while and he's a pleasure to hang out with, not only because we played a competitive back-and-forth Malifaux game which I ultimately won, but because Matt brought a whole selection of albums. And while the secret edge-case option for someone's motive to to ask you to put an (several, in this case) album on for them is "so they can listen to a thousand albums in a year to defeat their nemesis Ian Wang", Matt generously (and correctly) interpreted the request as an opportunity to expose me to some records I might like, but had not heard before.
Now, in all honesty, trying to juggle the intricacies of the game we were playing while also paying attention to the music that was playing was a challenge, and as we got deeper into the game, the less attention I ended up playing to what was happening musically in the background. But what it did give me is a long list of new albums to find time to go back and revisit with the proper attention and care. I particularly enjoyed Shadowglow by flipturn to the point of checking the bands bio on Wikipedia and learning to my delight that they have a second album due in January of this year, which is very exciting and gives me an opportunity to listen to some brand new music in the next couple of weeks. Neko Case I knew already as I'd become a fan of The New Pornographers through a song of theirs in the Rock Band videogame which I really liked (a franchise which, along with its cousin Guitar Hero, have introduced me to a lot of bands I had not previously heard of); 3 Rounds and a Sound by Blind Pilot gave me very Badly Drawn Boy vibes (which is not a bad thing) and I've already added We Are The Tide to my queue to listen to later on this year.
Both Olivia Dean and Ray BLK exposed me to a modern soul music scene which I don't think I would have thought to seek out for myself, but found myself genuinely enjoying. Is 2025 the year of modern soul music for me? Well, no, its the year of everything music, but maybe a week of modern soul at some point.
Believe it or not, this requires intense concentration.
At this point I can only offer my apologise to Yours Conditionally, Twentytwo in Blue, and I Learned The Hard Way; by then we were 4 hours into our game and my focus on my tiny band of shady casino employees and Matt's gang of fascist cops meant that all I can tell you is that I was present, they played, and I heard them with my ears without really accepting them into my mind or heart. I will return to you, albums of 2025, with a better chance to appreciate what I have to offer, I am sure.
In other news, since I realised I hadn't said this yet and the fictional readers of this who are not already being bombarded by me putting these thoughts on there, you can follow my listening queue live or ask me for music recommendations or anything else on the social media platform Bluesky, where I am @nottopgearrh.swifties.social should you wish to find me.
