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Robert Rackley

Mere Christian, aspiring minimalist, inveterate notetaker, budget audiophile and paper airplane mechanic. Self-publishing since 1994.

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The Spotify Problem

Brandon Lucas Green writes about Spotify from an indie musician’s perspective and his piece contains some useful insights. Green points out that the service is a much better value proposition for musicians who are already popular and on major labels. Artists living in a late-stage capitalist society (ie. basically

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Analogue Grand Diary

Maybe it’s a bit early to be making New Year’s resolutions. Though this used to be a popular practice, many now don’t even believe in setting stretch goals just because the calendar changes. I confess that I have waxed and waned in my observance of making annual

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The Man Who Would Be King

One of my all-time favorite films is John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King. I was first introduced to the movie adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling short story from 1888 by my English teacher in my senior year of high school. Kipling’s novel encapsulates some of the

The Man Who Would Be King
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Post Dreams

Not too long ago, I posted about a shoegaze cover of a music charts staple from decades ago and, well, I was sorely tempted to do it again.  I came across a YouTube channel for a service called Musora which bills itself as “the ultimate music lessons experience.” Musora offers

Post Dreams
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Like A Virgin

Madonna’s most well-known album, Like A Virgin just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Like A Virgin was the first record I owned, given to me by my parents for my 9th birthday. The subject might have been a bit mature for me at that age, but it hardly mattered because

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Non-standard Sunflower

The election is, whether mercifully or unmercifully, in the rearview mirror. Like some others, I want to turn my attention away from the day’s news, so closely coupled as it is with political events. Before I read about Kid Rock being appointed ambassador to the U.N., I mean

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On Dark Horses

A conversation with a colleague led me to a surprising musical discovery.

On Dark Horses
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The More Things Change

What are we to make of claims that we are part of a civilization in collapse?

The More Things Change
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Yvette Young - Always

Upon discovering the new single from Yvette Young (via Instagram of all places), I was immediately reminded of Sophie And Peter Johnson. The breezy sophistipop certainly merits easy comparisons. Then I realized that Young did vocals for Brothertiger’s mesmerizing cover of Sophie and Peter Johnson’s “Torn Open.” Young

Yvette Young - Always
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Selling It

Though I’ve been experimenting with different blogging platforms lately (even some of the infernal static site generators), I think I’ve pretty much settled on using Ghost. Not that I’m blogging much lately, mostly due to the lack of mental capacity after I’ve done all the knowledge