Trent still out there killing it.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music.

Here is the 2024 edition of my yearly Spotify playlist.

You can also check out my previous editions.

And here is my Last.fm listening report for the year.

🔗 ∙ Tagged in Music, Recommendations.

One feature Apple Music has that Spotify doesn’t is Smart Playlists. They are handy for honing in on favourite tracks for specific artists or genres.

I knocked up this smart playlist that I shuffle to unearth underappreciated tracks in my library.

It’s been throwing up some good gear.

🔗 ∙ Tagged in Music, Software.

I’m working on reading more photography books.

So, yesterday, I grabbed Colin Greenwood’s How to Disappear while I was out and about¹.

Colin gets some great candids of the recording and touring experience.

His collection of photos is another ode to the power of a plastic Yashica T4.

🔗 ∙ Tagged in Books, Music, Photography.

I’ve used this a few times now and it’s pretty ace.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music, Productivity.

Six hours of SG lore for all you Knights of the Soundtable.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music.

I make a new Spotify playlist at the beginning of every year, and I keep adding songs I enjoy throughout the year.

Now that it’s September the 2023 edition is nice and ripe.

You can also listen to the 2022, 2021, and 2020 editions.

🔗 ∙ Tagged in Music, Recommendations.

Rick Beato is building an archive of interviews with some legendary musicians.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music.

I’d listen to either of these blokes read the phone book.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Creativity, Music.

They go deep and I’m here for it.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Creativity, Health, Music.

the most canonical paths across the shared surface of the world’s music, starting at the point of some particular artist and going…outward, every other direction at once.

I’ve enjoyed the playlists generated by this so far.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Data, Music.

Butch talking through his recording process on Smashing Pumpkins albums and Nirvana’s Nevermind.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music.

Ian Leslie:

Paul McCartney has been writing and performing music more or less continuously since 1956. That’s sixty-four years.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music.

I still like listening to albums and sometimes want Spotify to play a random album from a playlist of albums I’ve created.

I couldn’t find anything out there that does this so I wrote myself a script to handle it instead.

Here’s a rundown if you want to use it.

First up, you’ll need a playlist with at least one track from each of the albums you want to choose from (here’s mine). Grab the ID of your playlist¹, and your username and add them into the script below.

Then, you’ll need to create an app in Spotify and get your client ID and secret, add them to the script below, so you can authorise the script.

Finally, run gem install rspotify in your default ruby² and you should be off to the races.

Run the script with Spotify desktop app installed and it’ll open up a random album for you to press that sweet, sweet play button on ⏯.

I run the script from an Alfred workflow so I’ve got it close at hand.

Enjoy 🎷🎶

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
#/ Usage: open-random-album
#/ Open a random album in Spotify.
#/

require "rspotify"

class RandomAlbum
  CLIENT_ID = "YOUR CLIENT ID"
  CLIENT_SECRET = "YOUR CLIENT SECRET"
  USERNAME = "YOUR USERNAME"
  PLAYLIST_ID = "YOUR PLAYLIST'S ID"

  def self.fetch
    RSpotify.authenticate(CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET)
    new.fetch
  end

  # Grab the albums from a playlist and choose one at random
  def fetch
    playlist = RSpotify::Playlist.find(USERNAME, PLAYLIST_ID)
    albums_in_playlist(playlist).sample
  end

  private

  def tracks_in_playlist(playlist)
    limit = 100
    offset = 0

    [].tap do |result|
      loop do
        tracks = playlist.tracks(limit: limit, offset: offset)

        break if tracks.empty?

        result.concat(tracks)
        offset += limit
      end
    end
  end

  def albums_in_playlist(playlist)
    tracks = tracks_in_playlist(playlist)
    tracks.reduce({}) do |acc, track|
      acc[track.album.id] = track.album
      acc
    end.values
  end
end

album = RandomAlbum.fetch

puts "Opening '#{album.name}' in Spotify"
system "open #{album.uri}"

🔗 ∙ Tagged in Automation, Music, Tools.

A look behind the curtain with Nick Cave.

↬ ∙ Tagged in Music, Writing.