changes

Toro y Moi’s music is just endlessly listenable to me, almost no matter what does, though it often takes me a minute to come around to whatever his latest flavor is. This album is no exception.

I love how he seems so chill but takes on ambitious challenges and manages things that it seems like shouldn’t work for him: successfully trying on various genres, the maturing of his vocals, and in this album’s case a fair amount of rapping and some successful pop moves, among other things.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Hole Erth

At first, it made me miss Craft Spells. (Whatever happened to Craft Spells btw?) Then I wanted to be listening to BLACKSTARKIDS, or the new Toro album, or I’m not sure what else.

But by the halfway point I had finally accepted this for what it was and not what I expected or wanted it to be, and I realized it was pretty nice.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: EKKSTACY

Very nice. One from last year I never spent much time with, but a track came up on shuffle and I immediately wanted to hear the whole album.

Vibe is almost like getting another Radiohead album (think A Moon Shaped Pool) but without Thom’s intensity and occasional caterwaul. Not that there’s anything wrong wIth Thom, its just, to get caught in one of these beautiful instrumentals, almost expecting that voice to jump in at any moment, followed by the absence of it, and Rani’s voice instead, is a kind of relief and a blessing, you know? Like the plans you were anxious about were just cancelled, and now you can just read a book or play a video game or listen to this music or whatever and not have to deal with going out.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Ghosts

This wasn’t quite what I was hoping for after the first track I heard, but it is nice.

I need to stop this “hoping” and “expectations” nonsense and just accept what is offered for what it is. If something doesn’t meet my imagined hopes and expectations, maybe what that means is that I should get off my butt and create the thing I’m imagining…

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Rose Main Reading Room

For murky reasons I don’t understand, “Last Nite” has been in my head for days and nights now. The other morning, with the song in my head yet again, before walking out the door I scanned my shelves and pulled this actual decades-old-CD in its jewel case and took it to my car and slid it into my car’s actual CD player, and I’ve been listening to it on loop whenever I am driving ever since.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Is This It

Listened to this twice and I zoned out for the last few tracks both times. I don’t think I’m going to be replaying this as obsessively as I did PAINLESS.¹ But maybe, if for no other reason than to figure out what I actually think about this album or if I can come to like it as much as her old stuff. Or if I add it to a playlist of her whole discography and start shuffling…

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: My Method Actor

Possibly could be listening to this one obsessively, remains to be seen. Loved the unusual, diverse productions on some of these tracks, retro but fresh sounding: some seemingly lovers rock type stuff, some 80s electro Afropop-type stuff, etc. Feels almost like listening to some nuggets comp or some DJ on community radio with impeccable taste for old international grooves. Don’t know the story yet on if this is her own production work or if she collaborated with someone on this, but I guess I’ll look into it.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Pointy Heights

What happens next?

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DATE : 2024-09-11

This book is at least as fun to think about when I can’t be reading it as it is to actually read it.

I guess what I’m saying is the world and the ideas and pretty much everything is very appealing, but I’m not desperate to rip through it to find out what happens. Vibes.

DATE : 2024-09-07

Put this aside for a little while but now I’m back to reading it actively.

DATE : 2024-08-21

Looking at Robin Sloan’s latest newsletter today inspired me to finally start reading his book over any and all other possible choices…such as reading any number of other books I’ve started or meant to start soon, re-watching Dune and Dune, Part 2 because for some reason I can’t get them out of my head, playing any number of video games, or continuing to putter around in my email, the News app, etc.

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Standalone post link: Reading Log: Moonbound

(Not sure when we actualBelated reading log update on 2024-12-31.)

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DATE : 2024-09-18

“We’re just following orders!”

Those last words hung in the air for a while.

“You are just following orders, said Roz at last. “In a way, you humans are more robotic than I am.”

Wow, this actually goes pretty hard for a kids book. Then on the next page she spirals, learning the destructive mining is all for building robots like her. And then it’s like the orca yacht attacks but at oceanic industrial scale.

Can humans and animals and robots all get along and save the oceans? We’ll have to see…

DATE : 2024-08-29

Reading with my son, finishing out the trilogy.

Actually, I have no idea if it is a trilogy or if it is going to keep going even after this one.

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Standalone post link: Reading Log: The Wild Robot Protects

Listed genre as: nature noise folk rock

I’m trying to get organized and be more deliberate about doing the things I actually want to do, so among other things I put down “Start listening to music again” for Today in my Reminders app, and then I finally listened to this album while putting away laundry and stuff.

This is maybe going to be my favorite album of the year?
I’m known to myself as impressionable when it comes to new music and art, but I think this is maybe the album I most need right now. I want to dig into the lyrics. I kind of want to buy the book.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Night Palace