Before running all of these tests, I actually did this the old-fashioned way. With pencil and paper and thinking. This entire project was inspired by putting Blonde on an 8-track and from experience, I can tell you this is a hard problem. The trouble is, I can’t tell you how I did it. There’s some human heuristic I used, definitely not an algorithm, and I can’t write it down. This seems to be what humans in 1977 who gave a damn did too. This is not what the dude making the Sublime 8-track did.

So I can’t tell you how to do this without testing all possible permutations, but human intuition can get pretty close. This sort of thing has shown up in other fields, like Foldit, an online ‘let humans perfect protein folding’ game. Classical computer algorithms can only get so close, and humans watching these classical algorithms got frustrated when they saw a solution the computer didn’t. Humans can see stuff that classical algorithms can’t. And now there’s a dozen Nature publications to prove it.

But now we have LLMs. They’re also a black box, and if you throw enough tokens and context at them, they’ll out-perform humans. They won’t be able to tell you how they did it, either.

This isn’t a victory for humans over algorithms or LLMs over humans, or anything like that. It’s just a fact that a dead and derided music format left behind a benchmark where human intuition beat classical methods that wouldn’t be in a textbook for a decade after the work was done. And half a lifetime later, LLMs would outperform humans for reasons we can’t really inspect.

So that’s something.

This was such a cool experiment and a fascinating head-to-head comparison of LLMs vs. human in the esoteric domain of "8-track music production".

I jumped head first into the punk/metal pool this month. Here's what's been bumping on repeat for me lately:

Less Than Jake - Anthem

I remember a friend of mine (whose birthday is today, ironically) playing this album in his basement on repeat as we tried to 100% Super Mario 64. Good, clean ska fun. Most of the albums on this list contain songs that I haven’t really listened to, but while chopping up the tree in the back yard these last couple weeks, I’ve had time to immerse myself. And I gotta say, listening to the lyrics of “She’s Gonna Break Soon,” I found myself with a literal lol.

Neck Deep - Life’s Not Out to Get You

I was working out of a Starbucks near my parents house this week and listened to this album the entire day while coding. I reached out to them in the morning to see if they wanted to grab lunch, and sure enough, an hour later, we were at Snuffy’s Malt Shop where my dad peer pressured me into eating a malt. The album whales too.

Mumford and Sons - Prizefighter

My Current Vibes playlist contains albums for every mood, and this album fills the mood for “Sunday morning.” There are a couple of songs that hit right when I need them: Alleycat asks: “’Is this all there is?’ What do you mean, is this not enough for you?” Clover reminds me to “slow down.” Cannot wait to see them again this summer!

The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation

I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral came across KTIM while I was cleaning out my garage¹, and I fell over myself to add this album to current vibes. It turns out that particular song combines elements from several other songs on the album. I dunno, I used to dog on myself for enjoying emo, but 38 year old Tim ain’t got time to dog on hisself anymore. I’m in my emo era.

Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance

I played an unreal amount of Madden ’04 as a kid, and that’s how I discovered Thrice. I think this album is classified as “post-hardcore”, but there’s hints of emo and pop-punk in there as well. So many of these songs bring me back to high school.

System of a Down - Toxicity

Again, brings me right back to high school. We’re working towards converting the garage into a music zone; as soon as that’s good to go, I’m gonna fill it with a drum kit and play this album front to back. Terribly, but enthusiastically.

The Rezillos - Can’t Stand the Rezillos

If I had to pick a number one album right now, it’s this one. Still makes me chuckle thinking about discovering this one from a “What’s in your Bag” segment at Amoeba Records with Tony Hawk. My favorite song right now is ​(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures​, which makes me think of my wife every time I hear it.

Pynch - Howling at a Concrete Moon

Another one that’s been on the Current Vibes rotation for a couple years now. 2009 is how I discovered this band, but there’s really not a bad song on this album. Some of these albums are useful for processing how depressing our world can be, and Pynch has a natural ability to write lyrics that speak to finding your way in spite of the hardship. Put another way: listening to this album makes me feel less lonely.

Pynch - Beautiful Noise

This album is less cynical than its predecessor Howling at a Concrete Moon while maintaining the relatable storytelling. I get Post-Punk / New-Wave stuck in my head a lot.

New Found Flory - Listen Up!

I’m so glad these boys are still rocking as hard as they were back in high school. The lyrics in this album are chock full of uplifting messages (​Laugh It Off​ reminds us to not take life so seriously, You Got This is self evident, 100% reminds me of the ‘Do The Thing’ theme of this summer).

Kisses - The Heart of the Nightlife

I burned this album to a CD-R back in college and listened to it constantly. It was another one that came across KTIM and it’s filled in the spot for “music to groove to while doing housework”.

I Prevail - Lifelines

I got to see my nephew play baseball last weekend. These 10/11 year olds have ​walk up music​. Can you believe that? The high school one town over just got a jumbotron. Freaking wild. Anyway, someone’s walkup song was Chaos and I had to Shazam it. This album reminds me of ​Hybrid Theory​: a genre-blurring record with screaming and melody, metal and electronic. I guess it’s “metalcore”.

The Cords - The Cords

Music that sounds upbeat and positive with depressing and hopeless lyrics is extremely compelling to me. I know I’ve said this about this album in the past, but I was hooked on this jangle pop album from the first 8 bars. October is my current favorite jam (“It’s not that it’s gone, it’s just not the same as it was” hits hard).

Cheekface - It’s Sorted

Similar to Pynch, I listen to this album and feel less lonely. ​Popular 2’​s observations about everyone being the unwitting stars of several Ring camera movies makes me snort laugh every time I think about it. I also frequently get I Am Continuing to Do my Thing stuck in my head. Excited to see these guys in October!

blink-182 - ONE MORE TIME...

Everything I wrote about New Found Glory’s new album applies to this one. ANTHEM PART 3 continues to be the theme for 2026.

The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie

Everything I wrote about The Cords and Pynch applies to this gang as well. I saw them perform around my birthday last year, and I still often think about how the backing vocals aren’t actually Elizabeth, but rather the boys singing falsetto. If I were going to be in a band, I’d want to be a drummer for a band like this. Or The Rezillos. Or Cheekface. Or The Cords. Or System of a Down. Maybe blink, if I practice a lot.

If any of these albums or descriptions remind you of other albums, shoot them my way!

Well gang, I think we can call it a day. Nothing's gonna top this.

This profile on the Fire in the Mountains Festival is a must-read.

I’ve been sinking deeper into a rabbit hole of punk, but this article made me want to move laterally toward exploring metal.

Tangentally related: I was browsing Apple Music the other day and saw they remastered Dethklok’s original album.

Tracking every single song I listen to seems to be a habit I built a long time ago and can't seem to shake.¹ My tracking tool of choice continues to be last.fm.

I recently stumbled across this site that downloads your entire history of tracks and presents the data with some seriously fun charts and graphs.

You can look at mine if you aren't a last.fm user yourself. I could stare at the race chart all day.

And tonight, the category is: covers that go hard.

These madlads are back in the kitchen throwing down hard to perhaps my favorite System song.

How dare they. How dare they.

My daughter is gonna go nuts for that alto sax solo.

Of course that song won a Grammy this year.

From that first strum in Tema de Guile, I was hooked.

Edit:

I woke up this morning and the algorithm delivered me more SFII content, this time in the form of Japanese jazz fusion.

I have loved listening to Giant Steps since college, but never knew why so many musically-literate people love this album. I just liked it because it sounds good.

This is the first video that explained the circle of fifths in a way that made me want to learn more about music theory.

Around the beginning of every month, I try to journal about the albums I've been bumping on repeat recently.

Instead of keeping that locked up in my journal, why not post about it here?

If you're looking for something new to listen to, here's what I would recommend right now¹:

The Rezillos - Can’t Stand the Rezillos

Probably a top 5 favorite album at the moment, been on the list for a while, it's so great. It's great British punk/new wave.

The B-52s - Time Capsule

Heh, I threw this greatest hits album on as a lark, and I couldn't believe it. Turns out I'm a B-52s fan? They remind me of A Flock of Seagulls and The Rezillos; a bit new wave-y/punk-y in their early years, eventually landing on a delightful early 90s alternative rock sound. They've also got some of the weirdest lyrics and riffs I've ever heard ("Where's my umbrella? Where's my umbrella?").

System of a Down - Toxicity

I’ve been jonesing for some music to be angry at authority with, and this fits the bill.

Nirvana - Nirvana

I came across a last.fm stats website the other day and played with the race chart for a solid 15 minutes. Watching Nirvana climb the charts as it approached current time made me so happy. I love this band. It’s okay to like basic things, right?

Movements - Feel Something

This came across shuffle the other day and it scratched my recent itch for emo music.

Emapea - Dreaming Zone

Still the GOAT for helping me get into flow. Sort of lo-fi, but also sort of jazzy instrumental?

The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field

Another top 5 favorite album, slotting into the spot that at one point in my life was dominated by Rilo Kiley. It's smart and emotionally-rich indie rock.

Pynch - Howling at a Concrete Moon

Also a top 5 album. Whenever I'm feeling lonely, this album puts its arm around my shoulder and tells me it's gonna be alright.

NewJeans - Get Up

More music to get into flow. A great backing track when cleaning the house.

Blink-182 - One More Time

Sometimes, you need some pop punk, man. Anthem Pt. 3 is my anthem for 2026.

Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me On Your Mind / See You Free

Another top 5 album. I learned this week that Anais wrote Hadestown, and I also learned our local high school is performing it in the spring. I can't begin to express how pumped this makes me.

The Linda Lindas - No Obligation

Moar good punk. Makes me so happy to hear such excellent music from the youths.

Kupla - Dragonfly

I’m not 100% sold on this one, but I do like having it come across shuffle when I'm working. If anyone has any recommendations for lo-fi artists, I’m all ears.

Mumford & Sons - Rushmere

When we went to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children this past week, Shan threw on Mumford & Sons’ essential tracks, and both of the kids said they loved this band. That really made our week. We also got tickets to see them in the summer, which means my wife gets to see her favorite band twice in a single year!

The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie

New albums from bands I love always worry me because it takes me multiple listens to get used to them doing new stuff. I’m officially past that phase with this album; it’s incredible and perhaps even better than Expert in a Dying Field.

The Cords - The Cords

Within the first 15 seconds of hearing this album, I bought it on Bandcamp. Totally brings me to happy times around my college years. It’s an instant jangly indie rock classic.

Pynch - Beautiful Noise

Much like Straight Line Was A Lie, there was a moment this past month where this Pynch album finally clicked for me. I still prefer Howling at a Concrete Moon, but I am sold. I dig this album.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - February 2026 Double A Side

I came across this two-track release and felt like Ted Leo was speaking directly to me at the moment, so I picked this one up from Bandcamp as well. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from him in the coming year.

Mumford & Sons - Prizefighter

Still need to bump this a bit more, but there are several songs on here that the kids absolutely love, which makes me happy that we’ve got an album we all agree on that isn’t by Huntrix.

New Found Glory - Listen Up!

Brand new release from these dudes. You know what? They still slap.

Oh, and in case anyone's curious: I'm still working on Lunara. I tried building a custom crossfade engine to replicate how songs transition in Plexamp, and it's causing way more issues than I anticipated.

But on the plus side, I didn't write any of this damn code so I am totally on board with having multiple conversations with Claude to get it whipped into shape for me.

My favorite feature that I added since I last posted is a digital gardening assistant. From any album or artist, I can tap a "🌱" button and it pops up a new screen. On this screen, I can type in a quick description or tap a button with preset actions ("Delete", "Fix album art", etc.). This information, along with the album and artist, get sent up to an admin section that I can use to prune my library when I'm back at my laptop.

I've got two Bandcamp habits that I've adopted this past year which bring me so much joy that I wanted to share them here.

First, whenever I come across a pre-order for a band I love, I buy it right away. What happens is that I inevitably forget about it until I get the "your purchase is ready for download" email. It's like giving a gift to myself.

Second, whenever I come across an album I want to buy, I leave a reminder for it in a separate list on my reminders app. Once Bandcamp Friday comes along, I go through that list and buy them all.

It's an easy way to make sure these artists that I dig end up with a more reasonable share of the money they deserve.

Anyway, here's the gems I picked up yesterday:

Work Wife – Parade

RIYL: alvvays, smart melodic indie pop

Samiam – Astray

RIYL: early 2000s melodic punk, emo

Sessa – Pequena Vertigem de Amor

RIYL: modern tropicália, samba-jazz, cosmic soul, brazilian indie (you probably haven't heard anything quite like this, it's dope)

Kupla – Dragonfly

RIYL: emapea, lo-fi hip-hop, chillhop, downtempo, mellow beats

Lofi Girl – Christmas 2025

RIYL: lo-fi hip-hop, ambient, chillhop, holiday-themed mellow beats

I remember finding a ton of inspiration (and incredible music, of course) from this collection last year. The artistry on display is exquisite.