This and That

This isn’t going to be a COVID post, except to say that I’ve found this to be an odd time, creatively. I have a few longer posts on the go, but motivation to post new stuff hasn’t been high. We think we have all of this time on our hands and we seem to still fill our days with things, but not necessarily the things we might have thought. I have three posts started and have had since the spring, but I’ve been weirdly unmotivated to get though them. In order to try to get the thought processes flowing again, I’ve decided not to worry about limiting myself to long, in-depth posts. This blog is about things that I like that are related to music, so I’m going to do that. Sometimes, as with this post, it’ll just be me sharing something that I’ve found, other times it will be the longer more in-depth stuff.

Today, I have two interesting things that have come along this past month or so. One of them is courtesy of NPR and it’s related to all of the civil unrest we’ve experienced this year (and continue to experience). They’ve created a list that is an homage to an album by Avant-Garde Jazz musician Max Roach, entitled We Insist! That album was inspired by the Emancipation Proclamation and growing African independence movements. NPR’s We Insist is a blog post that highlights songs that artists released this summer , inspired by, or overtly protesting, the injustices that were highlighted once again this year. The post is continuing to be updated as new songs and albums are released.

There is a huge variety of artists, many of whom you may not normally have in your favourites list, but I encourage you to read about the songs and artists and give a few a try.

https://www.npr.org/898709145/we-insist-a-timeline-of-protest-music-in-2020

The other thing that I’d like to highlight, is the update for 2020 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 500 Albums of All Time. They started this list in 2003 and ever year they seek input from artists, producers, critics and other industry figures. This isn’t a list created by a bunch of magazine writers. It’s immense and covers an incredibly broad spectrum of styles and artists. The usual albums are there, but every year it changes a little. Unlike NPR’s list, there are going to be albums on here that are your favourites but again, I encourage you to listen to one or two samples that you might not normally try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/

Enjoy!