Continuing the work from January.

A new flavor of Listen/Here: this is a snapshot of what I actually listened to in February, 2026. Source data is my MediaMonkey library; links go to Bandcamp where the album is in my collection, otherwise to song.link for cross-platform listening pleasure.

By the Numbers

1,492 plays across 1,183 unique tracks by 770 distinct artists — about 9% above a typical month over the past year. About 140 hours of music (8392 minutes). Busiest day was February 15th with 129 plays.

Deep Dives

Artists whose presence in the rotation jumped well above their norm. Usually, there’s a reason.

Donny Hathaway

20 plays across 11 tracks — well above usual

M said to me, hey, do we have Jealous Guy by Donny Hathaway? This was the result–filling in a clear gap in the collection. I am struck by how similar Hathaway’s voice is to Stevie Wonder in tone and range and, often, phrasing.

This was also the gateway to what I assume will hit Deep Dive in March: Roberta Flack looms.

Top Artists

Art Tatum continues to dominate, after the Deep Dive from January.

1. Art Tatum · 36 plays across 24 tracks (2nd time in top 10)
2. Mogwai · 29 plays across 25 tracks (2nd time in top 10)
3. Donny Hathaway · 20 plays across 11 tracks
4. Iron & Wine · 17 plays across 17 tracks (2nd time in top 10)
5. Branford Marsalis Quartet · 13 plays across 6 tracks
6. Jake Xerxes Fussell & James Elkington · 13 plays across 5 tracks
7. Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson & Jon Christensen · 12 plays across 6 tracks
8. Sigur Rós · 11 plays across 10 tracks
9. De La Soul · 11 plays across 7 tracks
10. Webber / Morris Big Band · 10 plays across 5 tracks

Top Albums

Two things jump out at me. First, For the Birds is a wonderfully bizarre compilation–over 200 tracks from a massive array of artists, including spoken word. For such a project, shockingly decent.

Branford Marsalis came to town in February on his Belonging tour, so we spent time with both his new album, and Keith Jarrett‘s original. Such good music on both. Jarrett got shit for his at the time–what was he doing going to Europe and playing with those musicians and who the hell is Jan Gabarek–type stuff–but the album survived, and it’s eventual acclaim remains well deserved. That Marsalis could recreate it in a way that feels new, original, and his is quite an achievement.

Top Tracks

1. War — Beetles In the Bog (The World Is a Ghetto (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition)) · 6 plays
2. Esy Tadesse — Shinbra (Ahadu) · 5 plays
3. Makaya McCraven & Jeff Parker — Dark Parks (Hidden Out!) · 5 plays
4. Fabiano do Nascimento & Paulo Santos Uakti — Tranquilo (Cavejaz) · 5 plays
5. Jake Xerxes Fussell & James Elkington — A Cowboy Without Cows (Rebuilding) · 5 plays
6. Nathaniel Cross — Goodbye For Now (Two Syllables Volume Twenty Two) · 5 plays

+ 15 more tracks at 4 plays

First Encounters

Artists whose first-ever play in the library happened this month.

David Moore is half of Bing & Ruth, and the album is great, but the real breakout here is Gwenifer Raymond, a Welsh solo guitarist who is mind-blowingly good. Deep in the Eli Winter, Chuck Johnson, what some call “American Primitive” steets.

• David Moore · 8 plays across 4 tracks · from Graze the Bell
• Gwenifer Raymond · 6 plays across 3 tracks · from Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark
• Allysha Joy · 4 plays across 1 track · from Two Syllables Volume Twenty Two
• Angine de Poitrine · 4 plays across 1 track · from KEXP Live Performances Podcast
• Madala Kunene & Sibusile Xaba · 4 plays across 1 track · from kwaNTU

Anywhere, Anytime

5 of my 5★ tracks surfaced this month. Five whose previous play was furthest back:

Last heard February 2024

• In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time — Miles Davis (In a Silent Way). How the hell had I gone a decade without this playing? Sad.

Last heard April 2024

• Cody — Mogwai (Government Commissions (BBC Sessions 1996-2003)). Perhaps Mogwai’s best song. If you know me, you know that’ saying something.

Last heard December 2024

• Into My Arms — Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (The Boatman’s Call). Still makes me cry.
• End Of The Party — The English Beat (Special Beat Service)
• Wicked Game — Chris Isaak (Heart Shaped World)

From the Vault

Tracks I hadn’t reached for in over a year, returning this month. These all were last played in 2014.

• Dream On — Border Crossing & Knati P (Two Syllables Volume Eight)
• Home — No News For Tomorrow (Lights and Air, Post-rock PL compilation vol. 1)
• Atom 15 — Håkon Storm (Fosfor)
• @ World Cafe — Cheyenne Mize (NPR Topics: Studio Sessions)
• Evening On The Ground (Lilith’s Song) — Iron & Wine (Live)
• Onside — Alex Hart (OK! Good Records: SXSW Sampler 2014)
• Beauty and Family — Iron & Wine (Unknown Early Sessions)
• It’s the Same Old Song — Iron & Wine (Unknown Early Sessions)
• Dilla Plugged In — De La Soul (Smell The DA.I.S.Y.)
• D.I.Y. — Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 2)

Coda

The work with Claude continues–next is to refine the way links are generated, and to create a UI for the work itself, most likely a MediaMonkey plugin, but we’ll see.