Abacab (1981)
Last heard Aug 16, 2026
· 2 listens
Bought in Chattanooga to hear what Padgham did at The Farm. Sold three weeks later.
Notes
Dire Straits (1978)
Last heard Aug 16, 2026
· 2 listens
I heard “Sultans of Swing” on a playlist this morning, and had to listen to Dire Straits’ entire debut album.
Kamakiriad (1993)
Last heard Aug 15, 2026
Fagen’s road-trip concept record, heard properly for the first time — and maybe better than The Nightfly.
Waltz for Debby (1962)
Last heard Jul 27, 2026
Purple 180g, the new stylus, and one of the great live recordings.
Feels So Good (1977)
Last heard Jul 24, 2026
· 5 listens
Chuck Mangione just died, so there’s nothing else to do but listen to Feels So Good.
Gettin' to It (1995)
Last heard Jul 21, 2026
Diverse, a lot of fun, and probably my favourite McBride.
Blue Train (1958)
Last heard Jul 21, 2026
· 2 listens
An old classic from a young John Coltrane hits differently now that I’m old.
Coverdale/Page (1993)
Last heard Jul 17, 2026
Kip said it was actually quite good. One song was.
Selling England by the Pound (1973)
Last heard Jul 17, 2026
The most expensive record in the Daddy Kool haul and the worst-sounding thing on the shelf.
The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)
Last heard Jul 16, 2026
Came to it backwards, by way of Nothing Like the Sun, and the opener is still the weakest thing on it.
Outrider (1988)
Last heard Jul 15, 2026
Side B is what this record is about — Page and Farlowe, gritty and dirty.
i/o (2023)
Last heard Jul 1, 2026
A brand new record with a scratch on side A, audible every revolution.
Pretzel Logic (1974)
Last heard Jul 1, 2026
A tired pressing of a great record, and the problem of telling 1974 from forty years of somebody else’s stylus.
Songs from the Wood (1977)
Last heard Jun 30, 2026
The front end of the folk-rock trilogy, and the better-sounding record of the two.
Heavy Horses (1978)
Last heard Jun 29, 2026
The middle of Tull’s folk-rock trilogy, and an impressionistic broad brush of a record.
Rickie Lee Jones (1979)
Last heard Jun 29, 2026
· 3 listens
Some thoughts about Rickie Lee Jones’ eponymous debut. Someone tell me why it took me so long to discover this album.
Frontiers (1983)
Last heard Jun 25, 2026
A no-skip first side, gauzy engineering, and eighties drums that deserved better microphones.
A Farewell to Kings (1977)
Last heard Jun 24, 2026
Dull until you turn it up, and then Cygnus X-1.
Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits
Last heard Jun 18, 2026
A Christmas gift, and an argument for the album as texture rather than playlist.
Cornerstone (1979)
Last heard Jun 17, 2026
Styx as glam, and the Broadway impulse starting to show.
New Gear, New Ears
Last heard Mar 22, 2026
A month of listening through new ears — new amps, new discoveries, and a few surprises.
Red Clay (1970)
Last heard Feb 10, 2026
My winter playlist has finally come to an end with Freddy Hubbard’s 1970 offering.
“Sultans of Swing”
Last heard Feb 3, 2026
Dire Strait’s “Sultans of Swing” is a working-class song about passion and tragedy.
Kind of Blue (1959)
Last heard Jan 24, 2026
Miles Davis’ 1959 album has a reputation. One that is earned.
“Been Undone”
Last heard Jan 17, 2026
Peter Gabriel releases the first song in his new lunar cycle.
Back at the Chicken Shack (1963)
Last heard Jan 15, 2026
Man, this is some pretty cool jazz from 1963. Jimmy Smith shows us how the Hammond organ is played.
Idle Moments (1965)
Last heard Jan 7, 2026
Grant Green offers a lovely idle from 1965.
This Was (1968)
Last heard Dec 26, 2025
Mick Abrahams died, so I figured it would be a good time to revisit his only contribution to Jethro Tull.
One Flight Up (1964)
Last heard Dec 20, 2025
A little more Dexter Gordon, as composer and band leader.
Page One (1963)
Last heard Dec 19, 2025
A little more Joe Henderson, as composer and band leader.
Song for My Father (1965)
Last heard Dec 14, 2025
My second constellation album: Cannonball Adderley’s 1958 stunner, with help from Miles Davis.
Moanin’ (1958)
Last heard Dec 7, 2025
My second constellation album: Cannonball Adderley’s 1958 stunner, with help from Miles Davis.
Somethin’ Else (1958)
Last heard Dec 6, 2025
My second constellation album: Cannonball Adderley’s 1958 stunner, with help from Miles Davis.
The Sidewinder (1964) Redux
Last heard Dec 2, 2025
Lee Morgan’s 1964 hit album revisited.
Hard Bop Constellations
Last heard Dec 1, 2025
A playlist of hard bop classics are on the queue for December. Some I’m revisiting, but others will be new to me.
Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Last heard Nov 30, 2025
Floyd hits differently on a good system. Tonight’s listen to their 1973 masterpiece proved this is the case.
“True Companion”
Last heard Nov 27, 2025
Donald Fagen’s “True Companion” blends early-’80s sci-fi melancholy with the ancient pulse of Homer.
Music Discovery (August, 2025)
Last heard Aug 30, 2025
A playlist of hard bop classics are on the queue for December. Some I’m revisiting, but others will be new to me.
Houses of the Holy (1973)
Last heard Aug 25, 2025
Some notes on Zeppelin’s fifth studio release in 1973: a hell of a record, even if the recording quality is inconsistent.
Journey in Satchidananda (1971)
Last heard Aug 23, 2025
Alice Coltrane helped celebrate my system upgrade: good-bye to the problematic Gold Note, hello, PS Audio.
Moving Pictures (1981)
Last heard Aug 18, 2025
To deviate from the norm: some notes on Rush’s 1981 masterpiece—a staple of my life’s soundtrack since its release.
Led Zeppelin II (1969)
Last heard Aug 15, 2025
Some notes on Led Zeppelin’s second offering—one of the best!
Aqualung (1971)
Last heard Aug 8, 2025
Listening to a classic album from Jethro Tull.
Gaucho (1980)
Last heard Aug 4, 2025
Some listening notes on one of my favorites from Steely Dan.
Blow by Blow (1975)
Last heard Aug 2, 2025
Some notes on Jeff Beck’s 1975 stunner of a rock-fusion release.
Emotion & Commotion (2010)
Last heard Aug 2, 2025
Another Jeff Beck spin, this time a later album.
The Nightfly (1982)
Last heard Jul 31, 2025
A true Fagen classic from the ’80s and his first solo album.
Beggars Banquet (1968)
Last heard Jul 27, 2025
My first ever Stones listen.
The Sidewinder (1964)
Last heard Jul 23, 2025
Listening notes on Lee Morgan’s 1964 hit album—man, what a record.
Face Value (1981)
Last heard Jul 22, 2025
Listening notes on a long-time favorite from Phil Collins: his initial solo album is a stunner.
Joshua Judges Ruth (1992)
Last heard Jul 21, 2025
Some notes on my favorite album from Lyle Lovett. Give it a shot: it’ll make you feel good.
Nostalgia Trip
Last heard May 9, 2025
A musical journey back to the ’70s and beyond.
“Crash”
Last heard Mar 20, 2025
David Byrne channels J. G. Ballard in 1994.
Mid-March Playlist
Last heard Mar 14, 2025
My listening notes for Friday, March 14, 2025.
Closing February
Last heard Feb 28, 2025
Audio journal and playlist for the end of February, 2025.
“Earthshine”
Last heard Nov 30, 2002
Peart’s lyrics in this song are rich, reflecting the many faces of inspiration in our lives.