This site benefits/suffers/both from consisting of posts about a wide range of topics, all linked under the amorphous heading “data-driven storytelling.”
In an attempt to impose some coherent structure, I am organizing related posts both chronologically and thematically.
While I have told many stories from my life (and those of my ancestors), I rarely discuss my personal tastes (with exceptions here and here and, to a lesser extent, here).
This includes my taste in music (other than what is written on my About Me page).
In fact, it usually takes the death of a musician I admire for me to write about music, as I did with…
- Walter Becker (of Steely Dan)
- Pat DiNizio (of The Smithereens)
- Pete Shelley (originally of The Buzzcocks)
- Ric Ocasek (and Ben Orr) of The Cars
In every case, I was describing my tastes within the context of a larger story.
As I did with two post about The Beatles: why I thought I hated them, and how I came to love them.
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One reason I rarely write about my tastes in music is that on March 24, 2018, I pretty much said everything I need to say about them. Inspired by giant wall charts detailing the 2004 and 2007 Boston Red Sox seasons—superior examples of what I call “data art,” I created a graphic that displayed—in technicolor splendor—all 9,500+ tracks on my classic fly-wheel iPod by year, artist and genre.
What I intended to be a quick overview of the chart’s highlights became an epic, 4,300+ word journey through dozens of my favorite musical artists, more or less chronologically by genre.
It remains one of the best posts I have ever written–certainly the most comprehensive.
Well, until that time I constructed the soundtrack for my Interrogating Memory book.
And I was inspired to turn these Thanksgiving playlists into “surrealist epic poems”:
Meanwhile, in June 2021, I finally began to explore how I rank my favorite music.
Until next time…please stay safe and healthy! And if you like what you read here, please consider making a small donation here. Thank you!
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