I somehow had the brain power enough a couple of months ago to connect all my music devices to a thing that lets you chart your listening habits and spits out a pretty graphic when you ask. It’s really cool. You can read about the set up here. Do not ask me for help, I seated-of-the-pants’d it. You need Last.fm and a lot of patience to let your data collect.

So this is a map of my listening on Spotify and my iOS Music app for February, March, and April. I think it’s pretty interesting to see what remained steady, increased, popped in and left, and what is absent.

February was a “normal” month. On any given week my main playlists on Spotify are a collection of Mary Chapin stuff and a MUNA playlist, and then I spin through my “liked songs” quite a bit, which is just a mishmash of things Spotify throws at me.

Then the Real 2020, aka Year of Hell, began in March, and some stuff shifted. First, The Dixie Chicks put out the absolute banger “Gaslighter,” and that whole wave in March is that ONE song. Not ashamed. I had to practice it a lot the day it came out to sing it with Libby Koch at Threadgill’s, so that probably accounts for at least 30 spins. We pulled it off gloriously, I think.

I was learning an Adam Carroll song to play at a showcase that was then canceled due to the virus, but it reminded me how much I love his Live At Flipnotics album. The Zara Larsson boost is one song that I put in my Liked Songs list that I just kept repeating. Not sure what’s up with that.

I made a Donovan Woods playlist in March and spun it a lot. He’s great, check him the heck out.

I distinctly remember not wanting to listen to The Swift hardly at all in March? Not sure what’s up with that. Something in all this tells me what my brain gravitates to in times of stress versus times of…not stress. Taylor must occupy the space in my brain reserved for more carefree, joyful times? Huh. Taylor pops back in for April so it’s all slowly looking up, a little, somehow.

In April you see a big MCC boost not only because I find her music to be like swaddling in a beautiful cozy blanket in a stressful time, but I also made a playlist full of songs to jam to while I work on electric guitar stuff, so that’s a huge bump. Yay guitar scales!

MUNA’s About U album made a huge resurgence in April. The only place I drove was over to my Quarantine buddies’ house, but each night coming home on the nearly empty streets, I would blast Around U or Winterbreak or I Know A Place and it fit the mood perfectly. I love mood albums.

Fiona Apple’s “Fetch the Boltcutters” dropped in April and heck yeah, what an album. Highly recommended.

So…my science project is coming along nicely and we’ll keep tracking. Mostly we will probably see just how little my variations are? I have my favorites and they tend to stay there. But the micro-trends will be interesting as the year goes on!