The Next Track

The Summer Interregnum

July 20th, 2022  |  41 secs

We've decided to take rest of the summer off, and we'll be back in September. Enjoy your summer (or your winter, if you're down under).

Episode #238 - The Fade

July 6th, 2022  |  31 mins 4 secs

Why do some songs fade out when they end? The brass band in the gazebo in the public park never faded out their songs.

Episode #237 - Sid Smith on Robert Fripp's Exposures

June 20th, 2022  |  41 mins 33 secs

King Crimson scribe Sid Smith joins us to talk about the new Robert Fripp box set, Exposures, which covers Fripp's years in New York City, from 1977 to 1983, around his Exposure album and his Frippertronics.

Episode #236 - Update on Apple's Media Apps

June 1st, 2022  |  28 mins 26 secs

We haven't discussed Apple's media apps for some time, so we decided to take a look at what has changed, and what hasn't, and what probably never will. And we discuss audiophile nostalgia.

"I think we're post digital."

Episode #235 - 1973

May 23rd, 2022  |  31 mins 21 secs

Doug has a theory: in 1973 there was a schism in popular music.

Episode #234 - Musical Nostalgia

May 4th, 2022  |  28 mins 37 secs

Doug bought a turntable, and we discuss musical nostalgia.

Episode #233 - The End of the Sixties

April 20th, 2022  |  28 mins 40 secs

No album better marks the transition from the sixties from the seventies than the Rolling Stones' Let it Bleed.

Episode #232 - How People Listen to Music Today

April 6th, 2022  |  36 mins 46 secs

Doug and Kirk take a look at how people listen to music today, with lots of statistics.

Episode #231 - 60 Years

March 23rd, 2022  |  23 mins 21 secs

A rock band is embarking an a tour to celebrate 60 years of music making. That's a long time.

Episode #230 - I was born a ramblin' man...

March 9th, 2022  |  31 mins 36 secs

Doug and Kirk don't know what to talk about for this episode, so they ramble about the smart home, audio gear, music, and more.

Episode #229 - London Calling

February 23rd, 2022  |  25 mins 57 secs

Some say the Clash's London Calling is the best rock album of all time.

Episode 228: [bleep] Spotify

February 9th, 2022  |  32 mins 57 secs

Spotify is getting some flack for hosting an exclusive audio program with someone who spreads covid misinformation, and a number of musicians, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, have pulled their music from the service. And streaming still doesn't pay well; music streaming services should raise their prices to be able to pay more.

Episode #227 - The Crutch Interregnum

January 19th, 2022  |  36 mins 25 secs

One of Doug's favorite words is "interregnum," and he uses it here to describe the transitional period when record companies lost control of their product.

Episode #226 - Annik Lafarge on Chasing Chopin

January 5th, 2022  |  38 mins 36 secs

Annik Lafarge has written a fascinating book about Chopin's well-known 2nd piano sonata (the one with the funeral march), discussing not just the music, but also the social and cultural context of the time.

Episode #225 - ABBA's Failure

December 22nd, 2021  |  30 mins 2 secs

Neither Doug nor Kirk cares about ABBA very much, but we were interested by a letter from music industry insider Bob Lefsetz about "ABBA's Failure in the Marketplace." Did ABBA really fail? Has Bob Lefsetz missed a few elements in the ABBA story?

Episode #224 - Our Christmas Gift Guide

December 8th, 2021  |  48 mins 4 secs

We don't do a Christmas gift guide every year, but we decided we'd select some trinkets and tchotchkes that we'd recommend as gifts this year. Our only constraint was that we don't choose music.