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Justin Steiner's avatar

Thanks for reminding me to go back to that Prism Shores album. Also, lots of good stuff on your list!

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Brian Kobil's avatar

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

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David VanBronkhorst's avatar

Music-wise: I can't say I'm into the alt/country sounds that are having their moment in indie now, but I find Fust's slice of life story telling engaging, especially Gateleg. Wishy has been a very comfortable sound for me since your 777 review and this EP is all goodness. I really wanted to see them with Momma (one of my top 2025 albums so far) at the Atlantis but was sold out. The rest are new to me; Chime Oblivion and Prism Shores are marked for further listening.

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3Albums6OldGuys's avatar

I was lucky enough to see Momma off of their last album at Songbyrd a couple of years ago. The new one came and went for me; will have to give it another listen.

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Brian Kobil's avatar

I was also unable to catch that Atlantis show. I’m pleased that there are a lot of bands playing genres that are right in my wheelhouse - alt-country, power pop, jangle, garage. I’m enjoying it while it lasts. I was less thrilled in the early 2010s when too many indie bands were trying to sound like Real Estate trying to emulate Pet Sounds (RIP, Brian Wilson).

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David VanBronkhorst's avatar

Thanks for the playlist, and happy father's day to those 6OGs who observe. What do you think about the idea of Spotify removing monthly listener data for bands and artists? For some reason when I come across a new band i like to know how big of a phenomenon it is. But I guess it might be a bit of an equalizer for little known acts .... are there really people who won't listen to something because it has low numbers?

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Brian Kobil's avatar

Glad you liked it. And yes, happy Father’s Day to all who observe. As for the Spotify thing, I’m not sure. Me personally, I don’t really notice the monthly listener count. I don’t use Spotify as a music discovery tool. For that I usually opt for Bandcamp or other writers/podcasts. But maybe young people do? But even so, I doubt removing the listener count would change much. Doing that wouldn’t make anyone think that, for example, MJ Lenderman is as big as Charli XCX. Plus we’ve always had Billboard charts and Top 40 playlists. I’m sure someone who understands how algorithms work would have a smarter answer to this than me. But my gut feeling is that it’s window dressing.

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David VanBronkhorst's avatar

Maybe for me it's just one small piece of info I can get about a band, without having to switch tabs LOL. I also love reading their descriptions and back stories that Spotify provides. But it would be a fun podcast idea .... listen to a random song, analyze the music and try to guess how many listeners the band has.

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Brian Kobil's avatar

These days, I’m sure you could somehow work in a DraftKings betting line on the monthly listeners.

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David VanBronkhorst's avatar

Oooh you're on to something!

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