Tag: (un)focused definition

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 81: Sanity Check

I’m burning myself out. I think the stress of work, my only child being away in college and the attendant stress with that, along with the self-imposed commitment to get a 2025 review in every day was just too much this time, and I found myself not enjoying the process like I did last year. These next few days the plan is just to relax and let the music just be music, not a box to check off or a pile in my office to shrink. So I’m going to move a little slower, a little more deliberately. I don’t want to one of those people who want to write but all they ever write about is the fact that they’re not writing; I’m doing this for myself, and I find the best way through is just to keep writing. Which hey: I just did.

This week is a very random suite of stuff that’s ben keeping my head and heart afloat this week.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 80: The Luxury of Time

…is something I can’t see to find. Funeral this morning, birthday this afternoon, four-hour drive upstate to pick up my son from college tonight. So we’re using conditional logic this week: I went to my music library and filtered all the songs with the word “time” in them. Then based on that created this week’s playlist.

Which is below.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 79: Listin’…

Hello. I’m knee deep in building out lists for end year and have – at age 52 – a pajama party I have to go to tonight. So lots to prepare (my wife is insisting the dirty sweats and John Coltrane hoodie I slept in will NOT suffice for a social event) which means this is another quick playlist while I get stuff ready, build more lists, and figure out next week’s queue of 2025 releases to get in here. It’s not necessarily end of year contenders, although they MIGHT be included (I won’t say); they’re also not necessarily new stuff that’s come in the door recently (although there most certainly will be those as well), and I think that’s a large enough word count for an introduction, so let’s do this.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 78: The Thankful Aftermath

I’m exhausted, tuckered out from lack of sleep, work stress, having my son home, and getting through the Thanksgiving family madness. I’m also back to writing regularly, and ready to go once again for the daily new release catch-up that I started last December. So think of today’s playlist as a laid back, “get ‘er done” one, though I will always stand behind the music selected. I got a fresh pot of coffee and a (for now) empty/asleep house, so let’s get to it.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 77: Dumb Fun

Sometimes you want to fall into the depths of a great song or album, stretching your senses around and in between the notes, feeling the rhythm shifts and tempo changes. Sometimes you want to dig into the marrow of lyrics, searching for analogues to your life and experiences. Sometimes, though, you just want some DUMB FUN. That’s this playlist: dumb, mindless fun for my soul. Note that my definition of DUMB FUN may differ from yours…and that’s perfectly okay. Let’s get it.

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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 76: The End (Of year) Approaches

I can’t speak for everyone, but when it comes to this metal fan, the end of year season begins with Decibel Magazine’s annual “Beat ’em at their own game” posting (sans commentary) of their Top 40 of the Year. This year’s list was just released, and there are the usual biases and prejudices along with a handful of surprises. But guess what? That’s true of every list, and while I’ll admit I do look to see where my own tentative picks have landed (or been omitted entirely), I mainly use it to fill gaps in my listening and re-evaluate albums I may have glossed over. So this week’s playlist is a cursory listen and evaluation of those gaps and glosses, with a little reaction summary.

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