Genius 0: hello world, etc.
Introduction & Goals for the year
I want to try something new for 2024.. I want to write about music from the perspective both as a listener & as a musician. Particularly, I’d like to write about new music being released, live shows that I attend (as an audience member), and gear/recording/performance techniques. I’ve been debating starting this type of blog for a long time and I’m feeling especially inspired that 2024 is the year to give it an honest shot.
Quick about me: I’m a musician based in NYC (by way of PDX, by way of Washington DC) who focuses largely on experimental music, with a wide net listening habit. My favorite genres are 90s/00s post-hardcore & math rock, ambient/glitchy electronic, and free jazz — but I also listen to a lot of indie rock, hip hop, metal/grind/hardcore/harsh noise, worldwide music genres, etc. I typically listen to about 60-80 albums a month. According to my end-of-year stats (courtesy of Albums The App), I listened to 785 unique albums in 2023. Of those 785, 509 were albums that I was listening to for the very first time. Feel free to follow my listening in real time via the last.fm account I created when I was in high school, abandoned when I turned 25 and picked back up a couple years ago.
As a musician, I have played in too many bands, but here is a list of bandcamp links to recordings I have been involved in:
Atlas At Last (post-hardcore from Washington DC — bass/vocals)
Oh No Oh No (jazz-informed weirdo stuff in Portland, OR — everything but drums)
Nervous Energy (noisy electronic experiments wherever I live)
Clavel (screamo/chaotic hardcore from Portland, OR)
100% Enemy (noisy free experiments & industrial in NYC)
Plus, I have been involved with Fear Not Ourselves Alone and a new singer/songwriter project that I will post more about later
My goal is that on the 1st of every month, I will publish a newsletter with the following sections as a guideline
Scene report: shows I attended this month, what I’m looking forward to (mostly NYC area for now)
Capitalism: Any of my purchases this month (bandcamp, record stores, instrument shops)
What’s New: Upcoming and recent releases that I’m checking out
Replay: Releases from the recent and distant past that I am listening to and inspired to write about
Garbage corner: space for me to write about music equipment, technique, the recording process, touring, etc.
On February 1, I’ll be publishing a first issue with my thoughts on 2023 and January. Happy hunting out there, brainiacs.