Starbreaker and Duncan wrote already about the Music Questions Challenge found on TakenVaullt’s Blog so I decided I want to take a swing at this too. So here it goes:

What are five of your favorite albums?

In no particular order, here there are five of them, but I could definitely list 50 here and then another 50 and still wouldn’t end the list:

What are five of your favorite songs?

I could make a 300 songs list only from the albums above, so I will try to post some songs that don’t appear on those.

Favorite instrument(s)?

I don’t have a favourite instrument, as I believe that any instrument can produce wonderful music when it’s played properly, be it a guitar that gently weeps, the poise of a bass player, the energy of a drummer, or even the unpredictability of an old-school vinyl deejay.

What song or album are you currently listening to?

For a couple of days I’m in the live music vibe, so I’ve been sifting for a while through some Glastonbury lives, and I’m stuck on this for a couple of replays: Rick Astley with Blossoms - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Glastonbury 2023). There are many huge festivals there, but Glasto definitely has its buzz. Love this live rendition of The Smith’s masterpiece.

Edit: By the time I finished this article, I got to The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die.

Do you listen to the radio? If so, how often?

I do like the radio vibes and I was doing an internship in a local radio station when I was in high school, a road that set me up on the journalism path, one that I stopped following early. I love the radio, and I love listening to it, but unfortunately I do it mostly in the car, or when some friends’ bands are being invited to some shows.

How often do you listen to music?

Oh, that’s an easy one. All day, every day. Even when sleeping, eating, gaming, or going to the toilet. Music is my comfort zone, I sometimes use it to make the time pass more rapidly, like a few weeks ago when I was bedridden to a hospital bed for a week. The only time I don’t listen to music is when I watch a movie or a TV show, that I promptly post about on my site.

How often do you discover music? And how do you discover music?

I’ve seen people discovering 40-50 albums a year, that’s insane. I sometimes wish I’d spend more time discovering more music, and not be a byproduct of Youtube and/or Spotify music suggestion algorithm. But the most important and the most dear music recommendations I get, is from friends, every once in a while.

What’s a song or album that you enjoy that you wish had more recognition?

I’ve written a couple of years a series about Underrated songs, songs that had like under 100k views on Youtube and I think that’s a good answer to this question, but it features only Romanian songs.

For foreign music, I think the live version of Pablo Nouvelle - One More Chance | Live at Music Apartment is a song that everyone should listen to. Pablo Nouvelle (Fabio Friedli by his real name) on keyboards, Mario Hänni (from Hanreti) on the drums and Simon Borer (Long Tall Jefferson) on the bass guitar is such a great combination that I am sad to see not happen very often.

What’s your favorite song of all time?

It’s very hard to pick one and only one, but if I really really really have to, I think it would be Travka — Venus. Both because it’s absolutely awesome and also because I haven’t heard it live in bazillion years.

Has your taste in music evolved over the years?

They say that the older, the more you love jazz. And that’s bullshit. I don’t think that there’s evolution per se, but as long and you listen to more diverse music you get to discover things that you love more and more. Your taste gets more refined and with that, your listening experience might get more complex and hand on, like experiencing vinyl or setting up a nice hi-fi corner somewhere in your house. And that’s a good thing.

At the end, a small conclusion: to some, me included, music is life. So while appreciating the Mercurys, the deadmau5s, the Bowies and the Timo Maases, the Coldplays and the Gilmours of your favourite genres, also take your time and listen to The Unknowns and The Neverheardofs that are performing on the small stages at a very small festival. There’s an ocean of great music, both from big and small artists that is beautiful and needs to be discovered. If you know of a great song, pass it forward. If you’ve stumbled upon a great album, share it with your friends.

If you’re reading this, you’re tagged! Post on your blog, on your social media, in your school newsletter, doesn’t matter, just do it.