Having completed the 5.4 million mile journey around the sun for the 29th time, it's time again to commemorate the occasion with a playlist/time capsule. What did I dig this year?

Top of the list is more recent discoveries, like the creepy sounds of Billie Eilish, and bizarre, interstellar, pseudo-religious hodgepodge by N.A.S.A. featuring David Byrne. Not all the songs are the most accessible; my friends have already declared the Belbury Poly songs "annoying." Probably are, but I love 'em. Then we come to That 1 Guy. Probably in my top 5 favorite musicians. He plays on this cumbersome looking, electric slap base, which I think he built out of metal pipes. It makes weird sounds, which he uses in weird songs that are mostly about food from what I can tell. Of course, there's gotta be some Gorrillaz on the list. The Kendrick and Kanye are probably the biggest outliers (dare I say mainstream?). This was the year I discovered Dissect, and listened to the first 2 seasons, which profile each of the artists two albums. The show is a terrific deep dive.

Lastly, this been a big year for Saxophone, which I started learning at a school a year and a half ago. I played Pick Up the Pieces, Pink Panther, and Bohemian Rhapsody in this years all-school recital alongside a group of high school students (who were much better than I was.) If these annual playlists are any indicator, music is an important part of my life, and learning new skills, technique, and theory of an instrument has been both gratifying and deepened my appreciation for music generally.