Category: Jerry Goldsmith

Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part III

In June and September of 2021, I wrote the first two essays in a series on the evolution of the methods I use to rank my favorite tracks (a term I prefer to “songs”). These essays presented the history of the 309 individual “mix” cassettes, videocassettes and CDs I constructed between August 1981 and August … Continue reading Measuring the Unmeasurable: Ranking One’s Favorite Music, Part III →

Matt Berger Data collection, Depression, Duke Ellington, Epistemology, Genesis, Gordon Lightfoot, Jazz, Jerry Goldsmith, L.A. Confidential, Measurement, Miles Davis, Music, My life, New Wave, Rupert Holmes, Stan Ridgway, Statistical reasonsing, The Smiths, The Waterboys 3 Comments March 31, 2022March 31, 2022 12 Minutes

Crafting the “Soundtrack” to my Interrogating Memory book

In 2005, Rupert Holmes published his second novel, a murder mystery called Swing. Being, well, Rupert Holmes, he also wrote and recorded an accompanying seven-track CD of swing-inflected music; both are well worth finding. The combination, meanwhile, led him to quip, “I’ve been singing songs from my new book.” In the past month, I received … Continue reading Crafting the “Soundtrack” to my Interrogating Memory book →