I’ve got the petal to the medal finishing up the season finale of Strong Songs, preparing for our Triple Click Portland show next month, and just generally trying to feel ahead of the curve instead of behind the 8-ball. But there’s still plenty of stuff to newsletter about.
First order of business: Drumroll please…
New Music For Sale!
After a very long time between updates (understatement), I have added a couple new things to my Bandcamp page. Each album/EP/whatever you want to call it is comprised of songs you’ve probably already heard, but it still feels good to actually put that music somewhere where people can actually buy it. Those two collections are:
Music for Podcasting - A collection of podcast themes I’ve written over the last several years. It’s got themes for all of my shows, along with a few that I wrote for other folks.
Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread (Original Soundtrack) - At the start of 2025 I finished work on the score for the tabletop RPG Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread. It was a really interesting and rewarding project. Anyone who bought the game can stream the album for free online, but it’s actually pretty good music for any tabletop session—there’s battle music, town music, exploration music, and so on.
I also plan to release more music—like, albums or EPs of new songs—at some point in the near future. The nearER future, at least. I’m getting there. If I can just get all this other stuff done, first.
Even Though My Life Before Was Tragic
The newest episode of Strong Songs is about “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by The Police. After The Police won the Season Seven voting bracket, it was hard to decide which of their songs to do an episode on. In the end, I went with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," because while it's an atypical Police song in a lot of ways, it's also a great song with an interesting story behind it.
The episode really came together, in my opinion. I had a great time with the re-creations, and allowed myself to get more creative with the finale than I had been expecting to going in. (Or should that be indulgent? Let's go with creative.) I even got to record a solo on my Roland wind-synth, which plays like an electronic saxophone but looks like a small vacuum cleaner.
As so often happens with songs I focus on for the show, I have a much greater appreciation for “Every Little Thing” now than I had going in. I also have a whole new perspective on The Police as a band. I do hope some of you go on a listening spree and work through their whole catalogue after you finish listening. Five albums over five(ish) years - not as big as you might think!
I hope you all enjoy the episode. Thanks as always for listening. And hey, We'll be doing another bracket for Season Eight in the downtime after the S7 finale (which is coming up soon!) so go join the Patreon to be eligible to vote in that. Season Eight is going to be a bit different from pervious seasons in a way that will make the voting extra spicy.
Summer Book Recommendations
I thought I’d shout out some good fiction I’ve read over the past six months or so, in case any of you might be looking for some summer reading. In no particular order:
Taffy Brodesser-Ackner, Long Island Compromise (2024) - An incredibly funny and profane riff on the classic dysfunctional family parable, told in a beguiling, ambiguously plural narrative voice.
Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor’s Soul (2012) - Easily one of my favorites among the books of his I’ve read, and also the shortest. I’d summarize it as “Dave, but with magic” - a well-structured exploration of the meaning of art, built atop a typically clever Sandersonian magic system.
Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries (2017-2023) - I tore through these books over the winter, and I recommend reading them before you watch the Apple TV+ show. It’s fine, but no TV show could replicate the elliptical nuance afforded by the books’ first-person narration.
Rachel Khong, Real Americans (2024) - This book hit me harder than I expected, particularly the final few chapters. A beautiful and often very funny story of family, cultural memory, and generational legacy.
Percival Everett, James (2024) - When I saw the title and heard the premise—Huckleberry Finn, written from Jim’s perspective—I knew this book would be good. And it is! I just finished it yesterday, so I’m still processing. But it’s really good.
Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair (2001) - My friend Ryan recommended this one, and I’m so glad he did. I can’t even begin to summarize it, but it’s great if you like books and are in the mood for something very different. Fforde’s writing is often (understandably) compared with Douglas Adams, but his characters have the heart, grit, and political convictions to be more merely avatars through which to explore a fantastical world.
Mick Herron, The Slough House Books (2010 - 2022) - I started with the show, and will never be able to see Jackson Lamb as anyone but Gary Oldman. That’s okay, it’s an undeniable performance, and it did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the books. I’ve read all of them up to this year’s Clown Town, and I can’t wait for the show to catch up with me.
Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword (2024) - I loved Grossman’s The Magicians, a trilogy that I’m always surprised to find so few of my friends have read. If that’s you, go read The Magicians, and read all three books, since they get better as they go. The Bright Sword, a sharp-edged reimagining of Arthurian legend, hits many of the same notes of despair, ennui, and catharsis, but all in one book.
Onward
That’ll do it for now. As usual, you can find me on Bluesky and Instagram, which are not spelled BlueSky and InstaGram, though they probably should be. Also the “petal to the medal” thing in the lede was intentional, and I hope no one emails me about it.
I’ll leave you with this pic of Appa, who has taken to lying just outside the door to my studio and staring at me, waiting for me to feed her. She knows dinnertime isn’t for another hour, but ask her if that should make a difference?
Take care, and keep listening -
~KH
6/21/2025