Day: September 18, 2020

The more we all make a point of sleeping in, the more personal space that gives everyone else who’s awake. It’s unworkable, of course. No one works together on important things, but technically all you’d need do to help cool the world down emotionally is encourage everyone to stay asleep longer than they normally do.

  1. Radiohead – OK Computer (1997) [Art Rock]
  2. Radiohead – Kid A (2000) [Art Rock]
  3. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) [Art Rock]
  4. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975) [Art Rock]
  5. King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969) [Progressive Rock]
  6. The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) [Art Rock]
  7. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991) [Shoegaze]
  8. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) [Conscious Hip Hop]
  9. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007) [Art Rock]
  10. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1966) [Baroque Pop]
  11. Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998) [Indie Folk]
  12. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) [Pop Rap]
  13. Godspeed You ! Black Emperor – Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! (2000) [Post-Rock]
  14. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, mAAd city (2012) [Conscious Hip Hop]
  15. The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969) [Rock]
  16. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (1959) [Modal Jazz]
  17. Talking Heads – Remain In Light (1980) [New Wave]
  18. Black Sabbath – Paranoid (1970) [Doom Metal]
  19. Madvillain – Madvillainy (2004) [Abstract Hip Hop]
  20. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979) [Post-Punk]
  21. Pink Floyd – Animals (1977) [Art Rock]
  22. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972) [Glam Rock]
  23. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971) [Hard Rock]
  24. Pixies – Doolittle (1989) [Indie Rock]
  25. The Beatles – Revolver (1966) [Rock]
  26. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme (1965) [Avant-Garde Jazz]
  27. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986) [Jangle Pop]
  28. Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972) [Folk]
  29. Nas – Illmatic (1994) [East Coast Hip Hop]
  30. David Bowie – Low (1977) [Art Rock]
  31. Nirvana – Nevermind (1991) [Grunge]
  32. Slint – Spiderland (1991) [Post-Rock]
  33. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) [East Coast Hip Hop]
  34. The Doors – The Doors (1967) [Psychedelic Rock]
  35. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) [Psychedelic Rock]
  36. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004) [Indie Rock]
  37. King Crimson – Red (1974) [Progressive Rock]
  38. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965) [Folk Rock]
  39. The Cure – Disintegration (1989) [Darkwave]
  40. Radiohead – The Bends (1995) [Alternative Rock]
  41. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – F♯A♯∞ (1997) [Post-Rock]
  42. Television – Marquee Moon (1977) [Art Rock]
  43. Mingus – The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963) [Avant-Garde Jazz]
  44. The Beatles – The Beatles (1968) [Rock]
  45. Joy Division – Closer (1980) [Post-Punk]
  46. Sigur Rós – Ágætis byrjun (1999) [Post-Rock]
  47. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996) [Plunderphonics]
  48. Metallica – Master Of Puppets (1986) [Thrash Metal]
  49. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988) [Noise Rock]
  50. Metallica – Ride The Lightning (1984) [Thrash Metal]
  51. Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (1971) [Doom Metal]
  52. Slowdive – Souvlaki (1993) [Shoegaze]
  53. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005) [Chamber Pop]
  54. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991) [Jazz Rap]
  55. Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992) [Ambient Techno]
  56. Björk – Homogenic (1997) [Art Pop]
  57. The Clash – London Calling (1979) [Post-Punk]
  58. Nirvana – In Utero (1993) [Grunge]
  59. Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004) [Pop Rap]
  60. Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde (1966) [Folk Rock]
  61. Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition (2016) [Experimental Hip Hop]
  62. Miles Davis – In A Silent Way (1969) [Fusion]
  63. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced (1967) [Psychedelic Rock]
  64. Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (1970) [Fusion]
  65. David Bowie – Blackstar (2016) [Art Rock]
  66. Portishead – Dummy (1994) [Trip Hop]
  67. Death Grips – The Money Store (2012) [Industrial Hip Hop]
  68. Yes – Close To The Edge (1972) [Progressive Rock]
  69. Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love (1985) [Art Pop]
  70. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin I (1969) [Hard Rock]
  71. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970) [Doom Metal]
  72. Talk Talk – Laughing Stock (1991) [Post-Rock]
  73. Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks (1975) [Folk Rock]
  74. Can – Tago Mago (1971) [Krautrock]
  75. The Beatles – Rubber Soul (1965) [Rock]
  76. David Bowie – Station To Station (1976) [Art Rock]
  77. Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971) [Art Rock]
  78. Radiohead – Amnesiac (2001) [Art Rock]
  79. Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967) [Singer/Songwriter]
  80. Björk – Vespertine (2001) [Art Pop]
  81. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1968) [Psychedelic Rock]
  82. Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden (1988) [Post-Rock]
  83. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (1969) [Hard Rock]
  84. The Velvet Underground – White Light / White Heat (1968) [Proto-Punk]
  85. Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (1969) [Jazz Rock]
  86. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985) [Singer/Songwriter]
  87. Fishmans – Long Season (1996) [Dream Pop]
  88. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (2002) [Post-Punk Revival]
  89. The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2 (2001) [Indie Folk]
  90. Neil Young – After The Gold Rush (1970) [Folk Rock]
  91. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971) [Soul]
  92. Can – Future Days (1973) [Krautrock]
  93. Kanye West – Late Registration (2005) [Pop Rap]
  94. Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind (1996) [Post-Rock]
  95. Genius/GZA – Liquid Swords (1995) [East Coast Hip Hop]
  96. Elliott Smith – Either / Or (1997) [Singer/Songwriter]
  97. David Bowie – Hunky Dory (1971) [Glam Rock]
  98. Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988) [Indie Rock]
  99. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965) [Folk Rock]
  100. The Stooges – Fun House (1970) [Proto-Punk]

From the charts at Rate Your Music.

, broadcasting from the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, from the most northern settlement in the world, the town of Longyearbyen. (“Spinning the 78’s from 77° latitude.”) To pick the feed up, there are various Android and iOS apps, and most of them have corresponding websites. I use Radio Garden, both on the PC and on the Android tablet. There is also TuneIn, myTuner, and the Simple Radio app.

Cal Lockwood (not his real name) is the host, and, as he must sleep, his bits are understandably recorded. Apparently no one on Svalbard has ever seen him. He’s a mythical local character. AM 1270 is the cheery vibe of ballroom music, big band jazz, old standards, etc, echoing through the isolated wastes near the North Pole. Who knows how many people keep warm and cozy up there to Cal’s station. It’s what I listen to when I sleep.

Named as such because I have a perfect right to give my own theory — which is actually not a theory — the silliest name I can think of. So … named as such for the armadillo at the beginning of Tod Browning’s 1931 version of Dracula, with Bela Lugosi. And because I attached the wrong name to it. I’ve consistently conflated those two all of my life, because I only remember them as being at the beginning of the dictionary. (Also, because there’s a third word — “ant-eater” — also sitting near the front of the book.)

My method is, you can sum up a situation with something much better than a pro’s and con’s. Consider each variable/factor and number it between -3 and +3. Zero is neither good nor bad, as you’d expect, etc. Then you add it up. That’s it.

For example. I once wanted to ask this one woman out. Here’s that dilemma examined according to the Dracula Had An Aardvark Theory.

  • Successful risk builds character [+2]
  • A negative outcome would be humiliating [-2]
  • The hope of dating [+1]
  • Recklessness spurred by attraction [+2]
  • A history of social anxiety and awkwardness [-2]
  • The likelihood of the outcome [-2]
  • Asking out a woman in her workplace [-3]

So that’s -4. They’re just relative gradations, but man, negative four is way inadvisable. Doing a pro’s and con’s would yield four negatives and three positives, which would add up to a -1. Still the same advice, but not as clear-cut.