Music

I stumbled upon an old playlist that I made on iTunes/Apple Music. It used to be my go-to playlist on Fridays, a way to celebrate the end of a work week by invoking memories of days of my childhood — when I didn’t work in an office.

This playlist was made in 2019, but I noticed the songs in it were released no sooner than 2013. We’re talking The Supremes and Marvin Gaye; Gin Blossoms and Beck; The Killers and Franz Ferdinand; The Alabama Shakes and… The Alabama Shakes.

I even have The Kaiser Chiefs on there… who the hell remembers those guys??

It occurred to me that it had been a long time since I bothered to listen, and enjoy, new music. Have I really become an old fuddy duddy?

I think part of it is because I’m more receptive to conversation than music. Lyrics are harder to understand than talking for me, at least when it’s covered by a loud melody. And my understanding is that melody has gotten more distorted over the years thanks to the SoundCloud generation.

WOW! I DO sound old!

So, I spent less time listening to radio once podcasts became a thing. Even the morning radio show I loved (Kevin & BEAN!!) released their own podcast, so why would I bother turning up the dial in my car? Especially when it took three or so full turns to change the volume by one measly level.

I resolved myself to listen to the radio function of Apple Music and have the algorithm curate new music for me.

Ironic that a streaming service calls it the radio function, given that streaming is what probably killed the radio industry (once again, Old Man Alert).

Anyway, I started to do this while I was at work, but I immediately switched to a jazz station — I was worried I might be playing some NSFW tracks while at, you know, W.

I’ll just listen to the station in my car on the way home. Hopefully, I’ll find a new artist that I will like.