Listening Parties

The last two weeks I've been privelaged enough to be invited to two listening parties. One of them was dedicated "We Gotta Groove" a Beach Boys box set release containing many unreleased tracks from the mid 70s. Another was a "bring your own record" night at another friend's place.

All too often someone at a party puts on a spotify "vibes" playlist and it sucks, having actual intention behind the music is becoming rarer, but it gives a chance for someone to bring something totally new 

At the beach boys listening party i got terribly crossfaded after drinking several beers and smoking several blunts, but my favorite new Beach Boys song I heard was New England Waltz. This sounds like the credits of a dreary 70's tv show. Actually, my favorite favorite new song from the release is Life Is For The Living. I sing it all the time now. It has defused a bunch of my intrusive thoughts. Like "What is the meaning of life?" instantly transitions to the opening lines of the song. It's jaunty and sarcastic. It's also something I bust out at Karaoke nights, someone made a karaoke version on youtube! 

At the other listening party the next week Lene Lovich's Stateless got put on at some point which was a big hit. Going to have to listen to some of that later. Also Anthony Braxton's Six Compositions - a frentic jazz album. Someone had a framed copy of Anthony WK's "I Get Wet" and busted it out of the frame to play, and honestly the songs on that album are the really good uplifting shit you need to hear in 2026. 

If you get the chance, host a listening party! You don't even need a good stereo. But I do think that you need physical media of some kind. It's not as fun to load a playlist onto youtube - it feels more meaningful to handle physical objects and have a mechanism in the room produce the sounds.