New mission - to make Laura Nyro's ‘Japanese Restuarant Song’ go as viral as that song in Japanese about a restaurant that accompanies most food shorts on YouTube.

When writing about Laura Nyro, you gotta try to reach her intensity. I wrote this paragraph as if I was in a trance. It's also a tribute to the great Frank Deford and his 1999 profile of Bill Russell as are the two paragraphs that precede it. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-laura-...

That Chi Coltrane recording is great and you can feel the influence of Laura Nyro on it.

For the past month, I have been immersing myself in the music of Laura Nyro and writing an essay that tries to explain why she was--make that, is--unforgettable. Here is the first part of the essay. Read here: www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-laura-...

For the past month, I have been immersing myself in the music of Laura Nyro and writing an essay that tries to explain why she was--make that, is--unforgettable. Here is the first part of the essay. Read here: www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-laura-...

Something for my fellow #LauraNyro fanatics.

The Laura Nyro Experience (Part One) The beginning of a three-part essay

New for me - for the past month, I have been immersing myself in the music of Laura Nyro and writing an essay that tries to explain why she was--make that, is--unforgettable. Here is the first part of the essay. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/the-laura-...

Rolling Stone recently asked does anyone remember #LauraNyro? For those who know and love her and her music, how can one ever forget her? The first of a three-part essay for my newsletter on Laura Nyro drops this Friday. Click the link in my bio to subscribe.

Diplo: “ You're not gonna win. There's no fighting AI. You have to just work your best to be the best at it right now. You're wasting your time. You're just wasting a year of being like, ‘Eh,’ because everybody else is gonna just use it and not give a fuck of what you think.”

The inevitability argument is so infuriating, particularly when it’s an artist making it.

Even if Diplo turns out to be right — and there’s no way to know in advance whether he is — what self-respecting artist wouldn’t want to go down swinging rather than accept that slop will ultimately prevail?

My favourite female artist and singer-songwriter - there is so much to discover.

No one forgets it after hearing it but there's so much more to discover.

Welcome to the club! Her recording with Labelle of 'The Bells' is as good an introduction to Laura Nyro as any I can think of. A stunning recording.

Rolling Stone recently asked does anyone remember #LauraNyro? For those who know and love her and her music, how can one ever forget her? The first of a three-part essay for my newsletter on Laura Nyro drops this Friday. Click the link in my bio to subscribe.

Vital Records #19: New York Three records from the city that never sleeps

Last fall while I was in New York, I spent a morning filming myself walking and talking about three albums that radiate everything I love about the city. Come join me for the stroll. vinylroom.substack.com/p/vital-reco...

Eight New Albums to Dig Into The second installment of Listening Sessions' ongoing new-music recommendations for 2026

New from me - my latest installment in my series of essays on new and upcoming albums. This time, I find eight new goodies that I think you will love. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/eight-new-...

ICYMI - I recently wrote about the beautiful album Roberta Flack and Donny Hathway recorded together in 1971. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/roberta-fl...

It's a good visit to the local thrift store when they got some prime Anne Murray in stock.

I was lucky to find a copy of David Ackles’ debut a few weeks ago. What a stunning, often-gothic, album. A thrilling discovery!

New from me - I wrote about one of the great, wide-ranging duets albums - Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's jaw-dropping 1972 collaboration of simpatico. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/roberta-fl...

Maybe the best of the albums Donald Byrd made with Pepper Adams and just (I think) Herbie Hancock's third session, already playing at a rarefied level, deeply lyrical and playing such interesting chords, all of 21 here. #nowplaying #np #jazz

A Love Letter to the Humble Cassette The young kids are discovering the iPod. This older kid is rediscovering cassettes.

ICYMI - I wrote a little bit about the joys of re-discovering cassettes. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/a-love-let...

Not going lie - the creativity and inspiration tank is pretty low right now. Looking to Miles & Gil to help get it back to full (or at least close enough to full). #nowplaying #np #jazz

Shel Silverstein was an artist of extremes and of deep feeling. The Silverstein I loved as a kid in ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and ‘A Light in the Attic’ is here even if the subject matter is, ahem, decidedly different. #nowspinning #np #vinyl

A Love Letter to the Humble Cassette The young kids are discovering the iPod. This older kid is rediscovering cassettes.

New from me - The young kids are discovering the iPod. This older kid is rediscovering cassettes. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/a-love-let...

Look what greeted me on the doorstop this morning.

A salute to Country Joe McDonald - this is the mono reissue of the Fish's debut, 'Electric Music for the Mind and Soul.' #nowspinning #np #vinyl

Most of Hugh Masekela's sixties albums are newly available for streaming (at least in Canada). They are fascinating documents of the counterculture's embrace of jazz. This date from the Whisky-a-Go-Go is especially good. #nowspinning #np #vinyl #jazz

Let Chicago Work on You The auspicious introduction to horn-rock's ultimate band

ICYMI - I recently wrote about ‘Chicago Transit Authority,’ the explosive debut of Chicago on record. A double LP that still retains a punch, a bite and a glorious, exploratory vision of pop music augmented by horns. www.listeningsessions.ca/p/let-chicag...

One of the most electrifying recordings Leonard Bernstein ever made. He elicitis a sublimity and majesty to Copland's ‘Rodeo’ that no one else could, pushing the New York Philharmonic to another plane of expression. #nowspinning #np #vinyl #classicalmusic

Found a sealed copy of this Joe South album while thrifting last Friday - cracked it open and giving it a listen. #nowspinning #np #vinyl