Reconnecting With Rock (Finally) in Late 2022

Friday is fun because it’s music day. And so, a playlist. Here for nearly the last time in 2022, I’m nearly through my late midlife crisis where I almost broke up with music for a bit…

Usually, around this time of the year, I’d be offering a Best Of – mentioning the best albums I reviewed, raving about the albums I listened to the most. But here’s the thing, I haven’t reviewed many albums at all this year. And I’ve barely hidden this at all, it’s been a sub-thread of many of my music discussions here, but I’ve been severely burnt out.

I’m not really on social media anymore, and my life is a lot better for it – but I totally get why a person would want to be connected on the many and various platforms – so maybe I’m just missing it, but I feel like, in general, there aren’t as many end of year best of lists for music. We don’t need them. We all just get our Spotify Wrapped now.

My Spotify Wrapped was, once again, shared with my son. (I’ve finally sorted him out with his own account). So I had these hilarious mismatches where “I” listened to loads of Eminem and John Carpenter, near equal amounts of Kendrick Lamar and Harold Budd.

I still play a lot of jazz, I’ll never lose interest in that – but I’ve mostly discovered “new” music through tolerating what Oscar brings up. Sometimes we can bond over an artist (Steve Lacy), sometimes I’m happy to see him branching out and I can just roll along with it when I need to (Olivia Rodrigo), and other times – of course – I’m not all that interested. And that’s all as it should be too.

But in the last few months of this year, something has changed. I’m starting to fall in love with music again, I’m starting to just enjoy all the old favourites. And this shouldn’t feel like the big thing that it is. But I am starting to understand myself in a different way. I joke that Robbie Williams cancelled me, and killed music journalism in New Zealand, and certainly killed it for me. But like most jokes, there’s an element of truth to it.

I was sunk. No income – not that there was ever much from writing about music – and no job at all for a while. The pandemic kicking in and the lockdowns, and I had my book of poems to push, The Death of Music Journalism. And though it told many stories, and some of them rather funny (I like to think), the real (overarching) story within that book was me breaking up with music writing; music informing my life the entire time of course.

So the last couple of years I’ve been hiding deep inside film scores and ambient music and classical music; jazz too as I said. But basically instrumental music, what some people might call background music. I’ve been smashing it out in the foreground though. I basically sold my entire record collection – minus a few favourites, and rearranged its focus.

Anyway, around all of this, I now see a way out. I now get to hear the music I used to love. No baggage. No trends to follow, no desperation to appear to be keeping up in any way. I’m listening to Smashing Pumpkins again as I go for a stroll, or Rage Against The Machine, a particular favourite of late has been the self-titled debut by Audioslave. It has just turned 20 years old and it sounds as monolithic as Led Zeppelin and yet as fresh as anything. I am loving it more than I think I ever did.

There’s something familiar and something new about all of this.

I’m re-energised I guess.

It’s a thrill to me. And it might not be very exciting to read about, but I’m ready to start writing about music again in new ways. Recapping old favourites, seeking out things from the past that I never got to, or circling back – and, sure, keeping an ear out (always) for something brand new, or near enough to it.

As far as annual recaps go, this one is a bit of a lazy/dodgy sidestep. But I’ll own that.

I’m feeling more energised by rock music than I have in absolutely years. Big dumb rock music is fun again. Smart, vital, engaging art-rock, a wee smattering of prog. All sorts of other genres too – but it was rock that felt the least interesting to me since about 2018.

I’m not writing a lot that you needed to know today. I am aware of that.

But I’m ready to rock again.

And I felt like sharing that.

I’d love to know what you’d like me to cover – music-wise – in 2023. Any suggestions, note them down below. Any recommendations, I’m keen to hear those as well.

And of course I have the latest edition of the Something For The Weekend playlist. I’ll leave you to your own Christmas music this year…

Happy Christmas – and we’ll talk music again here maybe one more time this year. And certainly next year…