So excited to say this, that the Golden Age of Rap is officially upon us! While the world of Pop continued to shift and move beneath our feet, Rap was finding several new ways to entertain the masses; from Beatboxing, to Rap Battling, the industry was just starting to realize its own potential.

Join us as we bop our heads to all that this year has to offer, hitting us with eternal Pop hits, cutting Rap bars, some down-home Country goodness, and even more early signs that Electronica is not as far away as we might have thought.

The field is getting a little bit tough to navigate, so be sure to hold a hand or two as we wade through!

Check out the Essential List here!

⁠⁠⁠

It's a truly small but mighty year in music, giving us so many paths forward in popular music. Maybe you know some of the future megastars that blasted onto the scene this year -- maybe not!

Join us for a little bit of a short episode this week, walking through all the amazing ideas that were birthed in this year, and not just from Pop music! Alternative Rock in all its shapes emerges this year as a dominant sound, and Heavy Metal continues to splinter off.

I declare the 1980s officially awake and screaming its message into our faces. What do you think it's telling us?

Let's find out together!

Three years into the 80s! We can start to see the edge of New Wave's time on top in the distance, and R&B is making a huge push into Popular culture.

1982 is a year of major transition in which the music world is asking itself how much more New Wave can give us before we've heard enough. And, in that void of curiosity, R&B explodes onto the scene, giving us some truly iconic records and artists. Finally, let's not forget that where New Wave is seeing its decline, something else is waiting in the wings to take its place!

The 1980s is really starting to wake up, and I am here to listen to what it has to say. Let's get going!

We're already two years into the 80s! The synth keyboards and electric guitar solos are really starting to take over!

1981 was such an amazingly prolific year in Punk history. There was such an explosion of new ideas taking shape this year, revealing the markers for countless sub-genres in the near future. It's any wonder that we are STILL living in this post-Punk era even in 2024.

Today, I'll be stepping us through many, many "big bang" moments in music history, so strap yourself in! 1981 ignited a TON of fires in the world of rock music!

Let's not forget about Contemporary R&B, though! Some pretty seismic shifts were made this year. I'm so excited to groove through together! As always, I walk through my trend impressions (what's moving in, out, and officially reaching the summit); my essential albums; and the atrocities of what I left off the essentials list this year. I think I'm actually learning some stuff as we move along here! I hope you are too. Let's keep rolling!

Let me be the first to welcome you to the 1980s! Yay!

1980 is such a fun year where the world of on-trend music and revivals seemed to absolutely explode! I'm so excited for us to walk this strange, dark path together.

Today, I'll be officially ushering us ever-so-gently into the 80s with its first, surprisingly-dense year. We know a little bit more than last year, but there's still a lot to learn!

As always, I walk through my trend impressions (what's moving in, out, and officially reaching the summit); my essential albums; and the devastation of what I left off the essentials list this year.

We're more confident, but does that confidence translate to wisdom? Or am I just as biased and untethered as ever? Listen and find out!

⁠Check out the Essential List here!

Check out the Big List here!

Welcome to the first year of my music listening journey - 1979!

In today's episode, I will be officially kicking this thing off and getting excited about how little I know about music as of this moment in my musical time traveling extravaganza.

Curious why I started in 1979, when there was so much great music beforehand? I guess you'll have to listen and find out!

As always, I'll also walk through my interpretations of trends moving in, moving out, and rooting themselves in this year; my essential albums and why; and albums conspicuously left off my essential list and why.

Come get passionate about all my biased opinions!

Check out my Essential List for this year here!

Hi! It's good to see you. Welcome to the thing before the thing!

In Episode 0, I walk through the history of my music project, my personal history with music listening that led me to the inevitable project, some thoughts on what I've learned so far (to include a lengthy history of how musical trends work), and what you can expect going forward.

Join me for some light rambling and only a touch of my highly biased opinions.