Here's a summary of the Substack posts I've published since the start of the year, with links to each. 1. The Whole Blessed Thing. An essay about the lessons we learn from songs, inspired by a lyric from a Robbie Fulks song: 'If you've ever heard Hank Williams sing / Then you know the whole… Continue reading Songs and Objects 01.2025-03.2025
Tag: music
2024 in review
My year-end review of music is available on my Songs and Objects Substack site. At the end of the post is a link to a 100-track playlist of 2024 tracks; I've also embedded this below. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wWeMzPM0yELFavKzK0t8u Other recent posts on Songs and Objects include: 1. My Life at Thirty. A reflection on the anniversary of… Continue reading 2024 in review
Songs and Objects: A Taster Menu
A Year of Songs and Objects Songs and Objects, the newsletter I publish via Substack, is one year old. I sent my first tentative post out on 10 November 2023 with two goals in mind. The first was to share a lifetime’s reflection on songs and the role they play in people’s lives through a… Continue reading Songs and Objects: A Taster Menu
My review of “Hard Rain: Bob Dylan, Oral Cultures, and the Meaning of History”
My review of Alessandro Portelli's 2022 book Hard Rain: Bob Dylan, Oral Cultures, and the Meaning of History has now been published on the website of Oral History journal. This brilliant book takes the form of a set of responses to the 1962 song ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, mixing these with narratives about the… Continue reading My review of “Hard Rain: Bob Dylan, Oral Cultures, and the Meaning of History”
Songs and Objects: June and July 2024
I published four posts on my Songs and Objects Substack in June and July. I summarise each below. Sixteen Song Moments. I write about some of my favourite in-song sounds, moments that jump out of a song and grab me. Willie Nelson's Hands. I use a photograph of the country legend's hands and guitar to… Continue reading Songs and Objects: June and July 2024
Songs and Objects: May 2024
I published four posts on my Songs and Objects Substack in May. I summarise each below. Geordie: A Song Itinerary. I follow the routes of an old English ballad that, at various points from the mid-20th century onward, has been recorded as early music, art song, folk-rock, metal, Italian canzone, Italian EDM and more. Evidence.… Continue reading Songs and Objects: May 2024
Songs and Objects: A March Summary
A summary of essays on my Songs and Objects Substack that appeared in March 2024, plus one planned for March but posted in early April because having time off is nice. 1. Epiphany and What Came After: Remembering Townes Van Zandt. This was the first of two posts to remember Townes Van Zandt in the… Continue reading Songs and Objects: A March Summary
Recent posts on Songs and Objects
I've been continuing to publish weekly posts to the Songs and Objects Substack. Posts since the start of this year cover topics such as seasonal songs (with a focus on January and the turning of the year), a three-parter on the songs of Mary Chapin Carpenter, a piece of life writing that maps songs on… Continue reading Recent posts on Songs and Objects
Recent posts on Songs and Objects
There are new posts available on my Songs and Objects Substack, including reflections on Grandaddy's classic Sophtware Slump album, a set of observations prompted by the recent release of Richard Dawson's The Ruby Cord Live film and a three-part analysis of the musicality of lists which previously appeared as a podcast episode, now been revised… Continue reading Recent posts on Songs and Objects
Songs and Objects now on Substack
I've recently launched a Substack newslwetter and website to share work in progress on my 'Songs and Objects' project. Posts so far have covered the song 'These Foolish Things', Cat Power's recreation of a classic Bob Dylan concert and thoughts about the afterlives of Dolly Parton's classic 'Jolene'. Some of the material (for example, the… Continue reading Songs and Objects now on Substack
Late Voice 