Well pretty much every concert on my musical horizon has been cancelled this week and while I totally understand the legitimacy of protecting our vulnerable population from COVID-19 (ps when did we stop calling it corona?) the prospect of having no live music to look forward to is something I haven't experienced in a while. Yes, I know that's a privileged position to be in. ANYWHO. I'll be turning to some of my fav musical vices in the coming weeks to fight the boredom and I'm sure a lot of you will be too so I thought I'd recommend some of my fav podcast episodes, playlists and more for you guys to access and take advantage of while we're (hopefully not) in quarantine.
PODCASTS
A good podcast can make a long day seem a whole lot shorter if you ask me. Check out some of these awesome episodes and series (some are throwbacks, some are fairly new).
1. Marc Maron's WTF Podcast has been a favourite of mine and many others for a long time. Marc has the distinct ability to help his interviewees get really vulnerable without overstepping or being disrespectful. He's open and neurotic himself, often interrupting his subjects with his own tales of trials and tribulations (which is super annoying at first but now I love it). His episodes with Neil Young, Jimmy Fallon, Jack White and John Oliver all stand out in my mind.
2. Dolly Parton's America is an amazing podcast that came out this year and looks at the way Dolly Parton's music brings all sorts of opposing groups together. It also looks at Dolly's ability to skate above the political world and questions whether that's ok. It's SO GOOD. You should listen to all the episodes.
3. Radiolab is probably the first podcast that got me really into podcasts. Check out these episodes: Songs that Cross Borders, K-poparazzi, Speedy Beet and this one that doesn't have to do with music but is so interesting.
4. More Perfect also has nothing to do with music but is a really great look inside the power of America's Supreme Court. I highly recommend anyone listen to it.
LIVE STREAM CONCERTS & UPLOADS
I'm editing this post while I'm watching The Dropkick Murphy's live stream their St. Paddy's concert and questioning why I didn't add this suggestion sooner. Seriously, go check out the social media of your fav bands and musicians. Changes are they're doing something special to stay engaged in this time of social distancing. From adding new songs to covers and full on live concerts, there are so many. Just to name a few, Neil Young will be doing fireside sessions, Brett from the Glorious Sons is uploading Isolation songs and loads of people are doing virtual concerts.
PLAYLISTS
I just wanted to remind you guys that I've built a great library of playlists that you can access on my Spotify or by checking out the playlists section of this website.
BOOKS
These books are not necessarily music-related, they're just a few of my favs. Some of fairly predictable but hopefully there a few on this list you haven't checked out.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (this is predictable but it's my favourite book and I'll never not recommend it)
- Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
- Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
- Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
- The Cider House Rules (and for that matter, pretty much any book by John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany being my fav.)
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me and Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
- Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young
- Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
- Gnarr: How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jon Gnarr
ALBUMS
Is now a time to just start dropping some of my favourite albums of all time in random order to you? Let's be honest, I'm constantly doing this anyways. Here are a bunch of albums I think you should probably check out...like any time. They aren't in any order (except the top 3 which are my favs of all time) and they aren't necessarily my favs (see previous aside), just overall amazing albums I'm loving right now.
1. Axis: Bold as Love by Jimi Hendrix
2. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
3. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac (also is it just me or do Americans use Canadian spelling style for this word?)
4. Deadbeat Graffiti by Black Pistol Fire
5. Eyelid Movies by Phantogram
6. A War on Everything by The Glorious Sons
7. Fight for Your Mind by Ben Harper
8. Into the Wild Soundtrack by Eddie Vedder
9. Always Ascending by Franz Ferdinand
10. Harvest Moon by Neil Young
11. The Sticks by Mother Mother
12. Crisis by Alexisonfire
13. Help Us Stranger by The Raconteurs
14. Blood Pressures by the Kills
Honestly this section is about to get really out of hand if I keep going. If you get through these, give me a shout and I'll recommend more.
So there you have it! Some awesome ways to kill boredom right now and pretty much anytime. Now hit me up with any of your recommendations in the comments.
Peace, love & history.