Two Years of Monthly Playlists
Some thoughts on 24 editions of The Micro-Chop Monthly and Micro-Chop turning 8.
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As hard as it is for me to believe, Micro-Chop turned 8 in June. Time shrinks and expands as you get older. At 40 (and about one month away from turning 41) it feels like June 2016 was yesterday and 100 years ago all at once. It hasn’t always been easy to sustain Micro-Chop, but I’m glad I’ve kept it going through the good and tough times. I’ve learned a lot. I’m proud of what I’ve done.
Micro-Chop started as a place for me to self-publish my articles and interviews with artists and producers. The primary focus was examining a specific album, song, or entire body of work by exploring gear, personal life, and process. It still serves that purpose to an extent, but in recent years I haven’t had the same amount of time write. So I’ve had to evolve. I’ve put more energy into playlists, Twitter threads, and finding different ways to organize and share music. This gives me space to stay active and engaged in short bursts without the pressure of producing a bunch of 1,000 to 1,500-word articles, which can feel daunting and overwhelming. It also lets me connect with people in a different way, which I appreciate.
Two years ago I decided to try my hand at a monthly playlist, which I dubbed The Micro-Chop Monthly. I added songs to the playlist gradually throughout the month and shared them all, along with the album covers, on my Twitter timeline. It started as a YouTube playlist and eventually expanded to both Spotify and YouTube with the encouragement of Gary Chun, a Micro-Chop supporter who is an incredible repository of musical knowledge. If you use Spotify you must follow his account.
Gary kindly helped recreate several of the early Micro-Chop Monthly playlists on Spotify. Here is the first edition - The Micro-Chop Monthly: July 2022 playlist. You can also check it out on YouTube.
In two years of The Micro-Chop Monthly playlists, I’ve showcased over 5000 songs spanning many eras, genres, and geographic locations. In the process, I’ve learned so much about music from both the people who support Micro-Chop and my own exploration. Tweeting out album art and links creates an active back and forth where people share background information about a given album, artist, and/or song, as well as their own attachment to the music. Music is deeply personal. I’m grateful so many people have felt comfortable discussing what music means to them.
This playlisting exercise has also deepend my appreciation for the complexity and vastness of recorded music. Sadly, so much incredible music ends up sitting in obscurity and unheard by most people. Though the monthly playlists are not exclusively dedicated to obscure and lesser-known music, they’ve given me a place to share under-the-radar songs I love.
The first year and a half of Micro-Chop Monthly playlists were massive in terms of total songs - they ranged from 100 to 400-plus songs depending on the month. As I’ve broadened my playlist focus into other areas, they’ve shrunk and are well under 100 songs as of late. I also stopped sharing every song in my timeline a little while back.
I think there’s a place for both mega playlists and shorter, more digestible ones. I’m aware that expecting someone to sit with 400-plus songs on one playlist is an insane expectation. But I look at each of them as a collection of great songs that people can bookmark and go through at their own pace, even if it’s only to check out a few songs every so often.
I will continue to make a monthly playlist - hopefully for many more years. For now you have 24 to tap into and revisit. I already have an article that lists all of them that I published last year. To make access easy I’m posting the list of playlists below as well.
As always, I’d love to hear what out you think if you decide to spend time with any of the music provided below.
The Micro-Chop Monthly: July 2022 - Spotify (Gary Chun) / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: August 2022 - Spotify (Gary Chun) / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: September 2022 - YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: October 2022 - YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: November 2022 - Spotify (Gary Chun) / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: December 2022 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: January 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: February 2023 - Spotify (Gary Chun) / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: March 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: April 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: May 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: June 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: July 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: August 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: September 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: October 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: November 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: December 2023 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: January 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: February 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: March 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: April 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: May 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: June 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
The Micro-Chop Monthly: July 2024 - Spotify / YouTube
Congratulations! This inspires me to keep going; music is so beautiful in the way that we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor (writing) in the process of that labor.
Nice work, Gino! We've found a ton of gems. Cheers to the next two years!