

The Next Track
Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn
Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn discuss music and musicians, and how we listen to music, whether it be analog or digital, downloaded or streamed, audio, or video.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 7, 2022 • 31min
Episode #244: Too Many Songs, Not Enough Hits
Record labels no longer have control of which songs become popular, and, as a recent article in Billboard says, there are too many songs and not enough hits. (Yes, we recorded this back in October.)
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Show notes:
Too Many Songs, Not Enough Hits: Pop Music Is Struggling to Create New Stars
Bob Lefsetz, The Billboard Article
Brian Eno, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE Blu-Ray audio
Robert Fripp - Celebrity Video Messages
King Crimson 1000 Club
Objective and Subjective Review Of My 7.1.4 Immersive Audiophile System (Chris Connaker's listening room)
Our next tracks:
Brian Eno: FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
Christine McVie: The Legendary Christine Perfect Album
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Nov 23, 2022 • 27min
Episode #243: Are Singles Dead?
Do charts of the top singles make sense any more?
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Show notes:
Episode #1 – Songs to Albums to Songs
The UK Singles Chart is 70. Is it time for it to retire?
Top of the Pops
Official Charts
The Hacienda: The Club That Shook Britain
List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones
Burning Shed
Our next tracks:
Be Bop Deluxe: Live in the Air Age
The Buzzcocks: Sonics in the Soul
Nikki Lane: Denim & Diamonds
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Nov 9, 2022 • 31min
Episode #242: How to Break the Ice for Podcasts
Doug and Kirk discuss some new gear for working with audio, immersive audio, and Zoom.
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Show notes:
Loupedeck Live
Loupdeck CT
Griffin PowerMate
Hindenburg
Focusrite Vocaster Two
Descript
Monogram
Sonos Arc
Sonos One
Brian Eno: Reflection (It's not 77 Million; it's the simple generative images that are in the iOS app.)
Brian Eno, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE Blu-Ray audio
Our next tracks:
[The Grid & Robert Fripp: Leviathan](https://amzn.to/3MmpCUF)
Budgie: Squawk
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Oct 12, 2022 • 38min
Episode #241: Geoff Edgers on Searching for the Perfect Sound
In a long Washington Post article, Geoff Edgers goes in search of perfect sounding vinyl records.
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Show notes:
The Search for the Perfect Sound
Better Records
The Electric Recording Company
Craft Recordings
Intervention Records
Plangent Process
Our next tracks:
The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night
Herbie Hancock: Future Shock
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Sep 28, 2022 • 27min
Episode #240: There's No Old Music Anymore
Music no longer sounds like it comes from a specific time. Old music sounds new these days.
Music no longer sounds like it comes from a specific time. Old music sounds new these days.
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Show notes:
Running Up That Hill
Episode #201 - Kurt Andersen on Why Music Hasn't Changed in Decades
Our next tracks:
Lou Reed: I`m So Free: The 1971 RCA Demos
Steel Pulse: Tribute to the Martyrs
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Sep 14, 2022 • 42min
Episode #239 - Immersive Music
Is it time for a new audio revolution? Immersive music may be the next big thing. Chris Connaker joins us to tell us about his 7.1.4 audio system.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Support The Next Track.
Guest: Chris Connaker
Show notes:
Chris Connaker's articles on immersive audio
Episodes with Chris Connaker
Episode #214 - Chris Connaker on Music with Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio
MoFi on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums
Our next tracks:
The Capture
Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Special Guest: Chris Connaker.Support The Next Track

Jul 20, 2022 • 41sec
The Summer Interregnum
We've decided to take rest of the summer off, and we'll be back in September. Enjoy your summer (or your winter, if you're down under).Support The Next Track

Jul 6, 2022 • 31min
Episode #238 - The Fade
Why do some songs fade out when they end? The brass band in the gazebo in the public park never faded out their songs.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Support The Next Track.
Show notes:
Fade (audio engineering)
A Little Bit Softer Now, a Little Bit Softer Now… The sad, gradual decline of the fade-out in popular music.
Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 45, "Farewell" - Finale
Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa
Steve Reich: Tehillim
What Ever Happened To The Pop Song Fade-Out?
Episode #48 – Musician Dave Harrington of DARKSIDE and the Dave Harrington Group on Music Between Genres
Taper's Choice on archive.org
Our next tracks:
Taper's Choice
Paul Leary: The History of Dogs, Revisited
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Jun 20, 2022 • 42min
Episode #237 - Sid Smith on Robert Fripp's Exposures
King Crimson scribe Sid Smith joins us to talk about the new Robert Fripp box set, Exposures, which covers Fripp's years in New York City, from 1977 to 1983, around his Exposure album and his Frippertronics.
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Support The Next Track.
Show notes:
Sid Smith: In the Court of Crimson King
Exposures
Exposures 2-disc version
Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Guitarists
Our next tracks:
No next track picks this episode; the entire box set, or the 2-disc version, will keep you going for a while.
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Special Guest: Sid Smith.Support The Next Track

Jun 1, 2022 • 28min
Episode #236 - Update on Apple's Media Apps
We haven't discussed Apple's media apps for some time, so we decided to take a look at what has changed, and what hasn't, and what probably never will. And we discuss audiophile nostalgia.
"I think we're post digital."
Help support The Next Track by making regular donations via Patreon. We're ad-free and self-sustaining so your support is what keeps us going. Thanks!
Support The Next Track.
Show notes:
I decided to not include the screenshot.
KEF LSX Wireless Music System
The ugly truth behind hi-fi's growing infatuation with nostalgia
KEF Q350 Bookshelf Speakers
Take Control of macOS Media Apps (Kirk's book)
Primephonic
Our next tracks:
Robert Fripp: Exposures
Bonnie Raitt: Green Light
If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track