Miley's weird...but "Jolene" isn't

She can sing pretty well when she isn't being intentionally provocative (read: weird)...

A Gray Day

You could do a lot worse than to listen to this David Gray acoustic playlist on YouTube today.

2015's first half lists

One of my great musical struggles is finding new music. It's easy to buy the new Wilco, Richard Thompson, Ryan Adams, Avett Brothers, and a few others, but it's not going to help me expand my musical horizons.

Thankfully, NPR is helping me out. I particularly recommend the Songs we love 2015 (so far) link. It's a whole bunch of playlists

• NPR Music's 25 favorite albums of 2015 (so far)
• Your favorite musical discoveries of 2015 (so far)
• Here's the best music of 2015 (so far), and the best of what's to come
• Songs we love 2015 (so far)

Kanye...smh...smdh...

There are so many things to say about Kanye and particularly about his performance at Glasontbury from this past week.

We have to remember that his voice is actually awful, as the above video shows us. He can't sing. He can't carry a tune in a bucket without electronic assistance.

His electronic voice, however, is fascinating and musical, and this, I think, has to be viewed as an instrument in his case. Most trumpet players I know can't make trumpet sounds without the assistance of their instrument, and Kanye can't make musical noises without his electronic assistance.



He's also a fascinating showman. His set, the gigantic rig of white spotlights, must have been gorgeous for the crowd, and it makes for brilliant television, providing gorgeous silhouettes of a solo black man stalking an empty stage in front of the spotlights.



But I would imagine that watching a single person stalk an empty stage under lights too bright to stare directly into would've made for awful watching from anything but the most close-to-the-stage fans.

Oh, and Kanye brings out the dumbest in people...



I will forever say that I think Kanye's public persona is as obnoxious as it comes, but he produces some outstanding music.

He is probably a pretty intelligent man - building a public persona that has made him rich beyond any level I could ever imagine.

I wish I could somehow listen to his music without knowing anything about him, but that seems to be impossible.

A California song...or forty

Going to California with a Song in my Heart from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

I still need to add a couple of songs to the California playlist, but otherwise, it's pretty solidly put together.

Enjoy it.

Once More With Feeling, finally

I'm working my way through the full series of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (wonder if there really should be a colon in there or not) on Netflix. I watched most of the first five seasons when it was on the WB but lost track of the series when it moved to UPN for the last two seasons.

That meant I didn't get a chance to see "Once More With Feeling", the nearly-all-musical episode in season six. Turns out it's pretty spectacular. Who knew?

Happy birthday to me

This has absolutely nothing to do with today being my fortieth birthday, but it entertains the heck out of me, anyway.

Viva Vegas music

Welcome to Lost Wages from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

Let's listen to some music in honor of our recent trip to Las Vegas.

And the first shall be last.fm

I've been hanging with Last.fm for about fifteen months now (since January 2014.) I'm not doing it because of the ability to listen to music via last.fm. I'm happy with iTunes and the occasional Spotify playlist. I'm hanging with last because a former student of mine suggested using its Scrobbling feature to track my musical listening habits.

Here's what I've seen after a year and a quarter...

From www.lastchart.com...

From last.fm's playground...

From My Music Habits...

From nicholast.fm, though those are only from 2014...I can't find a way to combine 2014 and 2015 on that service.

The keystone was dropped into place.

1965 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

The Gateway Arch was completed in 1965.

I love the Gateway Arch.

You have the right to remain entertained.

1966 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Miranda v Arizona in 1966. There was a time when our rights were being expanded. Nice times, I'm sure.

Free Cassius

1967 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

In 1967, Cassius Marsellus Clay was convicted of evading the draft. The conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1971.

American Pie was about 1968

1968 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

In 1968, the world lost a number of great people. In 1971, Don McLean wrote about some of them. In 2015, I made a playlist of songs from 1968.

And now we're working our way back through time

1969 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

We start with the music of 1969, and we'll go backwards from there.

That wraps up the 1970s.

1970 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

And now we shall never speak of the music of the 1970s again. In a week and a few days, I'll start a tag for the 1960s.

I'm sure something important happened in 1971.

1971 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

But this really isn't about the historical events of 1971. This is about the music, the feeling, the flow.

The Olympics were in Munich in 1972.

1972 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

There was happiness, and there was sadness at the 1972 summer Olympics. The music of 1972 was more universally happy.

Back and back now

1973 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

Stepping backwards in time...1973 it is...

I wasn't born yet.

1974 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

And now we start counting backwards from the year of my birth. 1974, you're up.

And done...for now...

2014 from PHSChemGuy on 8tracks Radio.

And we're up to 2014 now. That's the last year as we march forward.

In a couple of weeks, we'll start counting backwards with 1974.