The Next Track

By Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearnTechnology Music

The Next Track episodes

April 23, 2025Episode #306: Displacement and the Long Tail
Wired editor Chris Anderson came up with the idea of "the long tail" in 2004, suggesting that older books, music, and other creative works would continue to sell in small amounts, making enough money over time for these creators to survive. He was wrong. Very wrong.
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‌Show notes:
Chris Anderson, The Long Tail (Wired)
Darkside at Coachella (unfortunately, the full video is no longer available; here's one song that's on YouTube)
Very Seldom Casual, on uncertain.fm
Our next tracks:
Yasunori Imamura: J.S. Bach: Cello Suites, Vol. 2
Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years
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31 min
April 09, 2025Episode #305: Timo Andres on Steve Reich's Collected Works
Composer and pianist Timo Andres wrote extensive listening notes for the new box set of Steve Reich's Collected Works. We talk with him about this composer whose work over the past five decades has been incredibly influential.
"I went everyone to listen to music in a more abstract way."
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Timo Andres
Timo Andres on The Next Track
Steve Reich: Collected Works
Will Hermes
Our next tracks:
Grateful Dead: Reckoning
Ron Wood: I've Got My Own Album To Do
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Special Guest: Timo Andres.
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38 min
March 26, 2025Episode #304: Box Sets
The Grateful Dead released a big box set that Kirk will not buy, leading Doug and Kirk to discuss box sets of CDs.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Enjoying The Ride, Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead Complete Europe ’72 Box Set
New Live Release from Yes: Progeny, Seven Concerts from 1972
Why Box Sets Are Stuck in the Past
Vinyl and packaging manufacturer, Key Production Group, reveals its predictions for vinyl and physical music releases in 2025
Steve Reich: Collected Works
Our next tracks:
J.S. Bach: The Art of Fugue — Phantasm Viol Consort
Mose Allison: The Best of Mose Allison
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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30 min
March 12, 2025Episode #303: What Is Our Dream Home Audio Setup?
We muse on our dream home audio setups, the enshittification of streaming TV, and Doug explains how he has music in his bathroom.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Ruark 100 series
Towards Zero
Episode #48 – Musician Dave Harrington of DARKSIDE and the Dave Harrington Group on Music Between Genres
Our next tracks:
Darkside: Nothing
David Johansen: David Johansen
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30 min
February 26, 2025Episode #302: Rant about Apple's Music App
We rant about compilations in Apple's music app, and some other annoyances.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Doug's AppleScripts
Take Control of Apple Media Apps
Very Seldom Casual: UncertainFM
Apple Music Classical (Mostly) Plays the Right Chords - TidBITS
Our next tracks:
Bears Sonic Journals: Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, Before We Were Them
Spirit: Clear
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30 min
February 12, 2025Episode #301: The Freddy Mercurization of Dylan
The recent movie about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, has led many people to "discover" Bob Dylan's music.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Don’t look back: after decades of apathy, A Complete Unknown has turned me into a Dylan nut
Elijah Wald: Dylan Goes Electric
Episode #20 – You Think You Know about the Blues? Eliah Wald on the History of the Blues
Our next tracks:
Allman Brothers: Live at the Fillmore East
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisted
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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24 min
January 29, 2025Episode #300: Billions and Obscura
We look at Spotify's Billions Club, and discuss how some people are trying to discover the must unplayed music.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
No Dylan but loads of Coldplay! What the songs with a billion streams on Spotify tell us about music taste today
Vintage Obscura
Lefsetz Letter: Apple Music’s Per Stream Payment
Our next tracks:
Morton Feldman: Two Pianos and other pieces, 1953-1969
Steel Pulse: Tribute to the Martyrs
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29 min
January 15, 2025Episode #299: The Normalization of Apple's Media App; Songs in Movies
With the release of Kirk's new book, Take Control of Apple Media Apps, we discuss how Apple has normalized their media apps and, perhaps, finally made them easier to use. We also discus the use of songs in movies.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Take Control of Apple Media Apps
Obsidian
Casino
Megalopolis
Oppenheimer
Wonder Boys
Our next tracks:
Dance Craze
Andy Pratt: Andy Pratt
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32 min
December 31, 2024Episode #298: Fake Music
Streaming services - mostly, but not only, Spotify - are filling their playlists with fake music.
"If everyone is a content creator, who's left to be the audience?"
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Take Control of Apple Media Apps
The Ghosts in the Machine, Liz Pelly
Max Richter: Sleep
Our next tracks:
Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band: Almost Acoustic
Pixies: The Night the Zombies Came
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
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31 min
December 18, 2024Episode #297: 1984
1984 wasn't like 1984.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
‌Show notes:
Episode #235 - 1973
Episode #79 – 1977
Episode #98 - 1981
1984: The Year Pop Stardom Got Supersized
Synth Britannia
Our next tracks:
Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach
Guadalcanal Diary: Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.
Support The Next Track
30 min

About The Next Track

From the publisher's feed

Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.