- It occurred to me this morning I did not listen to any music when writing yesterday’s odd, perhaps demoralizing List.
- Remedying that today.
- Hit play on my “Liked Songs” in Spotify.
- Just after clicking the shuffle button.
- Obviously.
- First up, Machine Head’s cover of Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name.”
- Fantastic cover.
- Metal that shit up.
- Maiden’s never struck me as a metal band, really.
- I’m not sure what they are.
- Iron Maiden, I guess?
- No one sounds like them.
- Almost all their songs contain a narrative, which is cool because I’m not sure a lot of modern music does?
- (I have nothing to support that claim.)
- Btw, the denizens of the Discord made up a new word this morning: buttcry.
- Which was supposed to be “buttery.”
- “This is what it sounds like when buttcry.”
- Anyway.
- Iron Maiden.
- I did not listen to them at all for like four years after going to their Tulsa show at the BOK.
- For one, at the time, I thought they were too loud (when really, it was my faulty ears).
- For another, they played mostly new stuff, which I thought sucked.
- I wanted to hear the hits.
- Lately, however, lots of Maiden in the rotation.
- I have been playing Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Number of the Beast (albums) during gaming sessions.
- I know, I know.
- If you don’t like Maiden, you dgaf.
- Got it.
- We watched the first two episodes of Dept. Q on Netflix.
- “By the guy who did The Queen’s Gambit.”
- Sold.
- Dept. Q is good stuff.
- Like it a lot so far.
- Again, character’s the thing.
- It’s full of good ones.
- And it’s gorgeous.
- Music interlude: NP – “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo,” Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- And then because I typed some other stuff first: (cover) “Where is My Mind,” Maxence Cyrin
- “Got the Time,” Anthrax (also a cover, but I can’t remember the originating band’s name)
- Damn, I love that song.
- Was released my senior year of high school.
- I remember trying to get the people in the car to listen to it on our way back from a student council thing in Edmond.
- “No such thing as tomorrooooowwww …”
- I write about music all the time.
- I can’t live without it.
- That guitar thing I mentioned a couple weeks ago.
- Bucket list skills.
- Gonna do that.
- Hell, James was over here Friday night doodling around on the Fender we got the kid a couple years ago and I had to stifle a bit of jealousy.
- What is it that keeps us from doing the things we’re interested in?
- That we want to do?
- Goddamn phone.
- It’s not just that, however.
- Not the phone at all, really.
- All our speedbumps are internal.
- NP: Moby, “Flower.”
- Man, that Moby album had a shitload of good songs on it.
- They’re still good, btw.
- Might want to revisit that one.
- (Having an a.d.d. kinda day.)
- What I was saying is Music has a monumental impact on my mood.
- Would you rather go blind or deaf?
- Oof.
- Neither.
- NP: Spiritbox, “Circle with Me.”
- (Nice bassline in this song.)
- (Actually, this song is cool af.)
- I’m not trying to convert anyone.
- If you’re not into metal by now …
- You do you, man.
- In this world of “influencers …”
- I got my first-ever writing gig back in college as a columnist for the O’Colly.
- No joke, I wanted to be Dave Barry.
- That led me into journalism and creative writing as degrees.
- “Wait. I can do this for a living?”
- (Yeah, kinda. You gonna be po’, kid, but yes, technically, you can write for a living.)
- My question now … what’s a modern-day columnist?
- Are they the “influencers?”
- These lists are columns.
- Format is jacked, but … your attention spans have been abbreviated. Amputated?
- And I’m bludgeoning you with music today.
- Books tomorrow.
- Streaming shows and movies.
- NP: Killswitch Engage, “My Curse.”
- (Brother can SING.)
- Does GenX give af about influencers?
- I ask for market research purposes.
- (Coming soon to an Internet near you.)
- For real though.
- Who do you read/listen to (not music) and why?
- (I have no one I follow consistently.)
- (I’m not exaggerating when I beat the “no heroes” drum.)
- Okay, the riff is the thing.
- I love a great metal riff.
- LOVE IT.
- Sure, it has to have good around it.
- Great bass. Great drumming.
- But something about that metal guitar sound …
- Better than a pocket full of sunshine, I tell you.
- Also, it’s not just about the riffs. Or Metal.
- Beautiful solos.
- Like the last one in Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” or the last one in Maiden’s “Wasted Years,” (which is one of my favorite songs ever, btw. Holy shit, so good.)
- NP: Anthrax, “Intro to Reality,” which is an instrumental.
- I’m typing on the couch listening to this song, bobbing my head, feeling … happy and satisfied.
- Sure, the specter of work looms, but the tunes and typing are keeping it at bay.
- NP: NIN, “Eraser (Denial: Realization)”
- Here comes the riff …
- I’m not apologizing for the weirdness of the list.
- It’s a playlist ride-a-long.
- Music: keeping the outside world, and the nonsense in my head (literally and figuratively), away.
- NP: Pixies, “Where is My Mind.”
- Great place to stop.
- I’ll see you tomorrow.
- Do not go gentle.
Recalibration Ride-A-Long
skepticlysm 
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