Music

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Wait what? Even millennials don’t like algorithms 

I read a summary of a research report that was somewhat shocking in its conclusions. Millennials, aka 25-34-year-olds who grew up amid the transition from physical music to streaming, surprisingly, spend the least time streaming music of any segment under 45, this report by MIDIA Research notes. I would be the first one to admit, … Continue reading Wait what? Even millennials don’t like algorithms 

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I fell asleep quite early last evening, and not surprisingly. I woke up at an ungodly hour. And that’s when I found out the sad news. Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India, has died. While most in the west are familiar with the classical genius of late Pandit Ravi Shankar, for Indians of rank & … Continue reading Lata Mangeshkar, RIP

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Nitin Sawhney

For a long time, Nitin Sawhney has occupied a prime slot on my very short bucket list of people to interview. I first encountered his music in the early 1990s, and to a great extent, he has provided the soundtrack to my adult life. Perhaps that was inevitable. After all, we are part of the … Continue reading Nitin Sawhney

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I am enjoying this forthcoming track, The Sound of Someone Leaving (with Aaron Martin) by Phil Tomsett, a UK-based musician who is known for his organic sounding, lush and layered soundscapes. “Absence is powerful. When someone isn’t there anymore, the empty space is charged with emotional power. As if the act of vanishing leaves behind … Continue reading The Sound of Someone Leaving

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Why we need to rethink how to support music (and creativity)

A recent random email turned me on to the work by Berlin-based pianist and ambient music impresario Nils Frahm. Through him, I stumbled upon Anne Muller, a cellist with highly minimal compositions. I ended up listening to both of their work on YouTube Music (which comes free with my ad-less premium YouTube subscription.)  Frahm’s work … Continue reading Why we need to rethink how to support music (and creativity)

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Music helps make memories

I don’t know why, but I like cold, desolate places. I like snow, ice and learning how humans survive in these tundra-like conditions. And that is why I was watching The Last Trapper, a documentary about a Canadian trapper called Norman Winther. It is an okay film — landscapes are hauntingly beautiful, the rest of it is meh. I hate killing of animals.

So maybe that is why I won’t move to Alaska or some such place. But I still love the mountains and the snow. The film had a great soundtrack though. One of the songs — By The Rivers Dark by Leonard Cohen. It is not even in the top ten songs of Cohen. Not even in the top twenty. But it was a song that got me back to listening to Cohen. I went to Spotify, looked up the song, created a playlist and before you know it, I was heading down the memory lane.  Continue reading “Music helps make memories”