Record Reconstructor

This week: Hot Chocolate, Sufjan Stevens, Seth Lakeman, Creed, Spacehog, and a strange thing. Happy Easter everyone.  In about two hours I am going to be heading out to play boardgames all afternoon and evening, so I am slipping this one in under the wire while I have a little time.  The good news is, because the R.E.M. post was so comprehensive, and I managed to sneak in my second post of the week, I only have a few more albums to sweep up here, and maybe a little space to show off the Record Reconstructor Mystery  for you all to ponder. Let's cover the musical side first. Look, for the sake of my own mental balance more than anything I've been trying to dip in and out of ongoing news nonsense without leading me to some kind of anxiety spiral.  It's an exercise a little like dipping your toe into glowing magma every so often to see if its cooled down enough for you to stand in yet (it never has, and it hurts every time), but I'm managing to keep roughly abreast of w...

Dashboard! People who have been reading this blog in sequence might have noticed a certain level of reluctance for me to engage with the music streaming services which ultimately are powering this entire project;  obviously, I would much rather the musical artists I love get paid well for their artistic contributions instead of what modern distribution allows them.  Gone are the days when musical acts toured in order to promote the album, sales of which was the primary revenue stream for them and their label (and in fact, many tours lost money).  Now, where getting 30,000 plays on Spotify pays less to an artist than a single sale of a £30 vinyl from their direct storefront, live music tours, and their associated merchandise have become the primary source of income for anyone trying to really make a living as a professional musician. Also, if you've been paying attention, you will be aware there were long sections of my life when I have been very financially disadvantaged;...