Category: Music

  • Spotify this week

    Each week the blog is matched with a playlist of audio pieces that reflect the content of the articles. To listen to the playlist head over to the app or Spotify online and search for “Music to read a blog by” or click on the player above. Paying subscribers will hear all the tracks uninterrupted,…

  • The music of hope

    A concert in the United States has defeated negativity and brought retired musicians and young up-and-coming performers together to celebrate diversity and inclusion. Read a story that could have turned out disastrously but instead became a triumph, as you can see on YouTube (above)

  • Holi 2025

    This week was the annual Hindu celebration of colour in India: Holi. The festival rejoices in the return of Spring to the north and brings people together to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, life over death, and happiness over sadness. You can read more about Holi here and, if you happen to have…

  • What’s on the playlist

    This week the tracks on the playlist feature…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    As usual, this week there is a soundtrack to go with the blog and readers can listen to it by clicking the player above or by searching for the playlist on Spotify. The tracks are related in some way to the entries on the blog, although it might not be obvious what the relationship is.…

  • What is on the playlist

    This week the playlist has been curated with:

  • This week’s playlist

    Each week a playlist of music and sound is curated to go along with the blog entries. Each of the tracks has something to do with the blog although sometimes the connections might be obscure! To listen you can either click on the player above or head over to Spotify online or via app where…

  • What’s on the playlist?

    This week’s Spotify tracks are: Aboriginal Lullaby by Basque Brandt and Maryasque together make Basque, a New York duo that formed in the 1990s. This song appears to be a version of Inanay, the song performed by Tiddas in the YouTube short on this link. Blue Gums Calling Me Back Home by Roger Knox This…

  • The Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist of audio is curated on Spotify. The playlist reflects the items on the blog, although sometimes the link may be somewhat obscure! To listen click on the player above or search for “Music to read a blog by” in the Spotfy app or website. If you are pay for a subscription…

  • Of Corvids

    There are no native crows, magpies or other corvids in New Zealand Aotearoa. Long ago there were ravens in the country but nowadays the only crows that are seen are rooks, introduced by that most New Zealand of organisations: the Acclimitisation Societies. The New Zealand magpie is actually nothing of the sort. It is not…