What are you listening to?

[If my soul was made of stone]

Woke up with this song in my head yesterday. It has yet to budge.

[If my soul was made of stone]

I ended up going back on my initial plans not to listen to anything in light of the events of today. Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps (written in a German POW camp during WWII, based on the Book of Revelation) is scratching my existential itches nicely.

[If my soul was made of stone]

As a socialist retrofuturist peak Stereolab is a perfect summation of my interests:

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

Refreshing my knowledge of some electroacoustic classics today.

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

Hearing BRTD bash first-wave punks made listening to Cleveland's finest a bit obligatory.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Probably the best-ever string quartet by someone not named Béla Bartók.

[If my soul was made of stone]

I don't like ranking things, but when I've been compelled to make a list of my favorite albums this one has often held the top spot.

[If my soul was made of stone]

On account of hearing of Tony Allen's passing extraordinarily late.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Criminally overlooked album. Honestly might be my favorite of theirs.

[If my soul was made of stone]

For much of my life I've lived just a stone's throw from the hippie private school where these guys met and did a lot of acid together, and I thus feel a deep resonance with the sense of place that much of their best work holds. I wish I'd been more aware of them when they were in their prime.

I don't know why I'm listening to a song that's helped me through several romantic disappointments now that I'm happily in the most stable relationship of my life, but maybe it's just relishing in the bucolic spirit of it all.

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

Absolutely embarrassing, when there is so much great Italian music to listen to, although somewhat forgivable since I assume the Pope the song refers to would be none other than Pius IX.

I agree 100% that as music it’s nothing special, just vulgar 19th century noises - but it’s the message that counts. It indeed refers to none other than the Supreme Pontiff of the One True Church, the infallible Piux IX himself.

You should know though that I am listening to plenty of Arcangelo Corelli, Tomaso Albinoni, Evaristo Felice Dall’Abaco, Antonio Vivaldi, Francesco Geminiani, Pietro Locatelli, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and various others; so I am well aware of how much great Italian music there is.

When I said great Italian music I had in mind more Lucio Dalla, Lucio Battisti, Fabrizio De André, Francesco De Gregori, Edoardo Bennato, and other such people; but fair enough.

When I think of great Italian music my first thoughts are Luigi Dallapiccola, Luigi Nono, and Giacinto Scelsi.

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

It's the 30th anniversary of 'Spiderland', a cult masterpiece crafted by a bunch of 20 year old kids from Louisville.  The drums in this track are amazing

An era-defining classic, and one of the most important albums of my teenage years.

Call me a massive contrarian (because I am), but "For Dinner..." was always my favorite track. The menacing, insistent quiet reminds me of Webern or Morton Feldman at their most sinister.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Just starting to appreciate this very fascinating composer.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Pre-empting James Carville with this title.

[If my soul was made of stone]

At the end of the day, no one is really above prime-era yacht rock. However, I do not advise getting into the Twitter drama over the true definition of the term.

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

[If my soul was made of stone]

Like any good music snob I insist on confining most of my R.E.M. intake to the IRS era, but something about this tune is the perfect melancholy for where I've been as of late.