Hello friends.
A special shoutout to any of you who live in places that don’t adhere to daylight savings time. I salute you and am envious of your temporal stability.
Here are five things I am digging this week. Do you have ideas for the Friday 5? What topics/articles/books/songs/artists have captured your attention lately? I’m always searching for little gems to pass along, but alas…the internet is a big place. Reply to this email and let me know!
What I’m Listening To
Safe Passages, a trance-inducing record from guitarist, Gitkin. The link is for a review from Medium, and here’s a quote: “On Safe Passage, he extends his sonic scope, adding tasty melodies influenced by Greek and Middle Eastern genres, along with Peruvian Chicha and Tuareg Saharan guitar elements, all buffed by surf-rock bite. This unique blend of sounds escapes the realm of trickery by amalgamating the various textures of gutsy blues with low-slung funk-lite energy, resulting in tasty, innovative soundscapes both captivating and mesmerizing.”
What I’m Reading
My friend, Paul, loaned me a book a couple years ago called Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport). I read it pre-pandemic and it really resonated with me. I made some screen-related adjustments that really did improve my quality of life. Then, when we went into lockdown and became increasingly reliant on screens for social and business connections, I fell into habits that controlled more and more of my attention. Paul moved out of San Francisco during the lockdown; however, to my delight, he’s moving back in a couple weeks. I’ll have an opportunity to return his book, but first I need to do a quick re-read and see what habits I can improve.
While My Bass Gently Weeps
I didn’t know it was a mystery: The Mystery Bass of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. While it’s an interesting question, I was more excited by hearing the isolated tracks and story of how the song came to be. It’s worth a look.
Science and Music
What do you think about this? How an AI finished Beethoven’s last symphony and what that means for the future of music.
A Dose of Zappa
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” ― Frank Zappa
Have a great weekend!
Matt