I took the picture above in our front yard this morning. Overnight, we got the ‘great ice storm of 2013,’ 12 hours of freezing rain. It downed tree limbs and whole trees, took down power lines, destroyed cars and eavestroughs and roofs. We were […]
Archive | Music
I’m passionate about music, and this is where I post about it.
Listening to: Freshlyground
One of the things I miss most about South Africa is the music. It’s not that I can’t find South African music here in Canada (or order it online via Amazon). No, it’s more the pervasive musicality of the place: music is everywhere, and […]
Best new music of 2012 – Classical
It’s now February, so obviously this post comes a bit later than I had originally anticipated. I will not bore you with the usual excuses, but I did discover something interesting after I posted my yearly summary of the best non-classical music: over the […]
Best new music of 2012 – Rock, jazz, country, world, etc.
My listening habits this past year have continued to shift in a decidedly classical direction. Other things—particularly rock—quickly feel like unwelcome distractions now, giving me a kind of ‘instant listening fatigue.’ It’s never just one thing, but often boils down to the combination of […]
Managing iTunes metadata for classical music
Warning: This post is extremely nerdy and detailed. If you don’t really care about classical music, iTunes—or metadata, for that matter—you may lose interest rather quickly. Feel free to look around and see if something less navel-gazing catches your eye. Getting your metadata right […]
Listening to: Heritage Blues Orchestra, And Still I Rise
A surprising and delightful accomplishment: Heritage Blues Orchestra wields the full potential power of the modern blues arsenal but has the taste and restraint to deliver a varied album full of genuine dynamics, subtlety and intelligence. What often ails contemporary releases in the ‘blues’ […]
Where to buy classical music downloads (Updated)
I first wrote about this topic in 2010. A number of additional download stores specializing in classical music have come online since (or maybe they were online back then already and I’ve only discovered them now?), so I thought I’d provide an update. As […]
Best new music of 2011
Thought I’d get an early handle on my best-of-the-year list this time around. I’ve blogged surprisingly little about music in 2011. That doesn’t mean that I listened any less, or less attentively. In fact, audio-wise, it was just this past year that I finally […]
