Steel Wagstaff

Trying to do good things for good reasons

Category: What I’m Listening To

100 Tracks [Best of November 2013]

Here are 100 tracks that I listened to and enjoyed in November 2013. I was into a lot of mellow, acoustic guitar music this month–lots of John Fahey and the Derek Trucks Band–things like that. I remember really enjoying Beth Orton’s Sugaring Season and Mason Jennings’ Always Been records, listening to a lot of Richard…

February 20, 2014
200 Track Supermix [Best of October 2013]

October was a good music month for me, and as evidence, I submit the following: 200 of my favorite songs from that month. Stuff I was really into in October: Advance Base (I totally fell in love with his A Shut In’s Prayer record), Tom Brosseau, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Matthew E. White’s…

February 13, 2014
55 Tracks [Best of September 2013]

In September I remember listening to a few artists and albums pretty heavily: Ghostpoet’s Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, Frazey Ford’s Obadiah, Eleanor Friedberger’s Personal Record, Baths’ Obsidian, Nathaniel Rateliff’s Falling Faster Than You Can Run, Mika’s The Origin of Love, Efterklang’s Magic Chairs, The Duckworth Lewis Method’s cricket concept album Sticky Wickets, J…

February 6, 2014
75 More Songs [Best of August 2013]

Here are some songs I listened to and liked in August 2013. Heavy on Alexi Murdoch, Al Green, Emmy the Great, Guy Clark, Fiona Apple, The Lone Bellow, Sea Wolf, and Townes Van Zandt. Weird month–must have been because I was turning 31? In any case, Enjoy!

January 30, 2014
75 Tracks [Best of July 2013]

75 songs I listened to and liked in July 2013. It was the middle of the summer, and this list now sounds surprisingly heavy with a few artists I was very, very into that month: Johnny Flynn, DM Stith, Patrick Watson, Typhoon, and Simone White, among others. Hope you enjoy these summerish sounds.

January 23, 2014
150 Tracks [Best of June 2013]

This is a bigger mix: 150 songs I listened to and liked in June 2013. Heavy on female singer-songwriters, I notice in hindsight. Tried not to put more than 3-4 songs from the same album in here, or half a dozen by the same artist. I remember being really into Blue Sky Black Death, Angel…

January 16, 2014
50 Tracks [Best of May 2013]

April had 100 tracks, and May had but 50. More time out of doors, perhaps? All the same, there are some lovelies in here. Fair amount of Bob Dylan, Sharon Van Etten, and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Enjoy.

January 9, 2014
100 Tracks [Best of April 2013]

Here are the 100 songs that I listened to and liked in April 2013. Pretty gentle, slightly sad music for the most part, I’d say. It was a good month. A lot of Clem Snide, Low, Keaton Henson, Mountain Man, and Emily Wells, with a fair amount of Sharon Van Etten and Ólöf Arnalds thrown…

January 2, 2014
24-Hour MEGA MIX [Best of March 2013]

I listened to (and liked) a ton of music in March 2013, apparently. Turns out I’ve got a playlist of almost 24 hours of starred songs from that month, which makes it a perfect end of year-New Year’s mix. Going back through this playlist was an absolute (and often surprising) joy. It’s a pretty eclectic…

December 25, 2013
Best of 2013 & 2012 [TUMBLR]

As the year ends, it offers all kinds of opportunities for reflection. For me, the year generally feels like a ceaseless whirlwind, mostly enjoyable, but very fast-paced, and without natural break points or times built-in reflection and gathering. Because these times aren’t built in to my life, and I haven’t been very good about establishing…

December 18, 2013
Spotify Series: Starred Songs, January-February 2013

This is the second of the starred song Spotify playlists that I’m sharing each week. These are all the songs that I starred in January and February of 2013 (the first two months of my current job!). 74 playable tracks (lasting about 4 and a half hours). Listening back through it, I’m feeling pretty happy…

December 11, 2013
Spotify Series: Starred Songs, Year 1

It’s been almost a year since I stopped doing the radio show (how time flies!). I miss it–the weekly scramble to develop a compelling theme, pull together a play list, get my songs and files in order, set up the segways and get on the air. Being on the radio was a blast, and Pete…

December 4, 2013
The Memory Collector Project: Post 1

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to tame the archive of my life. I’ve been something of a collector over the years, accumulating all kinds of things (papers, notes, writing, letters, books, music (especially records), baseball cards, coins, etc.). Most of them I never use, but keep in closets, only pulling out…

May 8, 2013
Show On Hold

I’m sad to report that Steel’s Magnolias is finished–or at the very least on hiatus. I’ve accepted a full time job, and don’t have the time to put together and host a radio show each week while holding down work, life, and dissertation duties. I hope to come back from time to time with special…

January 27, 2013
Show 21: Holiday Music

This was the last show of 2012, so I focused the two hours on Holiday music–mostly a collection of Christmas themed songs. Lots of magnolias in this show Spotify didn’t offer access to, so check out the full show if you don’t want to miss anything.

December 13, 2012
Show 20: Thanksgiving!

We came back on the week after Thanksgiving with a sweet little show on Thanksgiving, gratitude, and expressing feelings of appreciation. Part 1: Part 2:

November 29, 2012
Show 19: Tumblrweeds at Year’s End

This week we finished up recapping the year in my Tumblr’d music with a fun, eclectic show. http://open.spotify.com/user/steelwagstaff/playlist/6AAzVsJUwKvPymygw1AX88

November 15, 2012
Show 18: Still Tumbrling After All These Years

Continued the theme from the week previous, playing songs I’d posted to my Tumblr blog over the previous year. One of my favorite shows so far.

November 8, 2012
Show 17: Tumblring Through the Year

In honor of the 1st anniversary of my tumblr blog, I dedicated the show to digging back through the archive of all the music I posted to that blog over the past year musical posts. More to come next week. Enjoy!

November 1, 2012
Show 16: The Colors of the Rainbow: Blue

There are some colors that just demand to be treated and loved on their own. Musically, blue is one of those colors. We didn’t even touch the blues (future show alert), and even left out Miles Davis, but still strung together a pretty compelling hour of music.

October 25, 2012