Category: Recommendations

  • Is Pop Culture Worse Than Ever? by Plain English

    Is Pop Culture Worse Than Ever? by Plain English

    Derek Thompson interviews Spencer Kornhaber about his recent article in The Atlantic titled, “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” This interview is a nice summary to what is a long, paywalled article. I think Kornhaber’s analysis of our current cultural moment is spot on. Even in my short time on this planet, trying to be an artist today feels different than it used to, like it’s a post-apocalyptic world: dark, starving, trying to survive on scraps. It’s pretty bleak, honestly, but the two of them do a good job finding some positives in the mix too.

  • Black Swan (2010)

    Black Swan (2010)

    I’ve been working my way slowly through Darren Aronofsky’s films. This is the third I’ve watched, Pi and Requiem for a Dream being the other two.

    Its depiction of the experience of high-pressure performance and hierarchical dynamics between performers and their directors is raw and exquisite. Having experienced a taste of this in my own career, I felt deeply connected to this story. But I think it also serves as a commentary on the parts of society that demand machine-like perfection and productivity at the cost of humanity and healthy relationships. I think we can all relate to that.

    As the film progresses, Aronofsky begins to abandon realism and distort reality so that we can see and feel exactly what the protagonist, Nina, does. I’ve been loving that style of film making recently. It’s what I loved about Poor Things. I think Aronofsky does it brilliantly in this film and I think Natalie Portman deserved her Oscar for this performance.

  • Jesus Molina, Mohini Dey, and Roni Kaspi at NAMM

    Jesus Molina, Mohini Dey, and Roni Kaspi at NAMM

    I have studied music all my life and despite watching this video many times, it still seems like magic to me. I have no idea what they’re doing, let alone how. I stand in awe.

    And I love their shared smile at 4:23. They know they made magic.

  • Never Let Me Go (2010)

    Never Let Me Go (2010)

    A re-watch for me. Love this film. One of my favorites. I love how understated everything is: the acting, the cinematography, the colors, the score, the story. It makes the last line of the film hit with powerful force. (I won’t share it here so I don’t spoil it – it’s worth watching).

    I think the score is perfect. Rachel Portman was the best choice for this film. Her tender, non-flashy style was just what was needed and she made the correct choice in every scene.

  • Jane (2017)

    Jane (2017)

    A documentary of the life and work of Jane Goodall, the woman who lived with Chimpanzees in order to understand them (and us) better. I watched this doc with my son. He was glued the whole time, as was I. Extraordinary woman, extraordinary life. I’m always amazed at people who do extreme things not for the acclaim or even probability of success but for the pure passion of it. Those are the world-changers. Free to watch on YouTube:

  • What is music streaming fraud and how rampant is it? by BBC World Service

    What is music streaming fraud and how rampant is it? by BBC World Service

    It’s no secret that the way streaming is set up is fundamentally flawed. It robs artists to pay shareholders (i.e. legacy labels), it incentivizes the production of crap, and it creates a shallow and deeply unsatisfying listening experience for users. When you add in how easy it is to fraud the system, how devastatingly rampant such fraud is, and how legitimate artists are getting swept up in the dragnet with no recourse (my time is coming), the picture is very bleak.

    And what’s worse than all of this (and not reported in this video), is that Spotify itself is engaging in this same fraudulent activity, only it’s not fraud because it’s their platform. But real artists are still paying the price.

  • The Hans Zimmer Interview by Rick Beato

    The Hans Zimmer Interview by Rick Beato

    Rick Beato interviewed Hans Zimmer. Need I say more?

  • The Felted Piano by Resonance

    The Felted Piano by Resonance

    One of my favorite composers, Keith Kenniff, aka Goldmund, wrote an article about how to record great felt piano sounds. Super practical.

    The Felted Piano by Resonance

    The allure…and the curse

    Read on Substack
  • My Top 9 Books of the Year So Far

    My Top 9 Books of the Year So Far

    A book-reading Substack I follow recently asked what we’ve been reading this first quarter of the year. I was kind of blown away at how many I’ve read so far. A few duds, but a lot of really good ones too. Here are the top 9 of the year so far (in no particular order):

    • Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon – art, business
    • Beartown Trilogy by Fredrik Backman (partial re-read) – literary fiction
    • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (re-read) – art, philosophy
    • Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays – Buddhism
    • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – true fiction
    • The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris – philosophy/religion
    • Jazz by Toni Morrison – literary fiction
    • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – scifi, dystopian
    • The Way of Zen by Alan Watts – Buddhism

    Let me know in the comments what you’ve read so far this year. And if you have any recommendations for what I read next.

  • Dazzling Light by Ensemble Altera

    Dazzling Light by Ensemble Altera

    Chamber Choir