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Most people depend on wi-fi to get data from one device to another in their home. This is the case for music and video, and having good wi-fi ensures that you can enjoy your home media without any glitches. Show notes: Kirk's review of the NetGear Orbi Wi-Fi SweetSpots AirPort (Wikipedia); look for the photo of the first AirPort base station NetGear Orbi outdoor unit Our next tracks: Iron & Wine: Around the Well The Greatest! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Continuing our reunion tour, we welcome back our friend Andy Doe to talk about algorithms; how they work, and how they affect music listening. Guest: Andy Doe Proper Discord Show notes: Algorithm: "a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations" (Wikipedia) Music Genome Project (Wikipedia) Preparing for the Post-Album Music Industry The Toubon Law requiring a quote of French content on TV and radio France reduces legal quota on number of French songs DJs are forced to play (2016) Our next tracks: Brad Mehldau Trio: Seymour Reads the Constitution! KO KO MO: Technicolor Life If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

The band is back together, and we explain our new approach to the podcast. We then discuss how music may change as more people use voice assistants to request what they want to hear. And, of course, we present our own next tracks. Show notes: Voice Assistants Will Impoverish Music 36% of Americans now own smart speakers. Here’s what that means for musicians. Charles Ives: Concord Sonata, Marc-André Hamelin Fans buy the 'wrong' Stephen King book Bob Weir: Ace Our next tracks: Grateful Dead: Playing in the Band, 5/21/74 (on Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe It If You Need It) Blondie: Parallel Lines If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

It's been a long, strange trip, and it's time to get truckin' on. Show notes: Doug's website Kirk's website Thanks for helping make this a wonderful adventure. See you all again somewhere.Support The Next Track

Music discovery has changed a lot, and as the new year rolls in, it's time to look back at 2018 and the music that we have discovered. Show notes: Greta Van Fleet: From the Fires Episode #119 - Caoilfhionn Rose on Gigging, Busking, Recording, and Releasing Her First Album Small Faces: Small Faces Episode #114 - Theo Travis on His New Travis & Fripp Apps Episode #115 - App Developer Peter Chilvers on the New Travis & Fripp Apps Travis & Fripp: Between the Silence Robert Fripp Soundscapes: World Financial Centre New York United States Steppenwolf: For Ladies Only The Poems of T.S. Eliot Read by Jeremy Irons John Lee Hooker & Canned Heat: Hooker 'n' Heat Episode #121 - Roie Avin on Modern Prog Rock Masterpieces Thank You Scientist: Stranger Heads Prevail Episode #46 – Percussionist Colin Currie on Performing and Recording Steve Reich’s Drumming Steve Reich: Pulse Quartet Lew Lewis: Save the Wail Brian Eno: Music for Installations If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Apple has killed off its second attempt at a "music social network," Connect, which was part of Apple Music. We ponder what it would take to create a useful music social network. Show notes: Discogs iTunes Features That Have Been Retired Episode #60 – Geoff Edgers on the Slow Death of the Electric Guitar The Classical Music Recordings Discussion Group (Facebook) How to Share Your Listening History in Apple Music Doug's profile on Apple Music Kirk's profile on Apple Music Our next tracks: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; two-disc CD Steppenwolf: All Time Greatest Hits If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

We look at some possible future scenarios about iTunes, in part because a recent change that Apple has made. Show notes: Episode #104 - The Future of iTunes Why iTunes Isn’t Bloated Mojave Update Updates iTunes Apple Support page, "Update to the latest version of iTunes" Steve McGuire maintains a list of recent stand-alone iTunes installers at Apple Support Episode #122 - What if Apple Does Stop Selling Downloads? Our next tracks: Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix); two-disc CD "Compared to What" Les McCann & Eddie Harris: Swiss Movement; Eddie Harris: The Electrifying Eddie Harris If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Doug and Kirk make a list, and check it twice, presenting some ideas for music-related Christmas gifts. Show notes: Episode #130 - Desert Island Discs, Part 1 Episode #133 - Desert Island Discs, Part 2 Angle plugs Banana plugs TwelveSouth BackPack for iMac iTunes gift cards for Apple Music Technics SL-1210 MK2 turntable IsoAcoustics speaker stands Behringer U-Phono UFO202 Audiophile USB/Audio Interface with Built-in Phono Preamp Bach 333 Mozart 225 Bach 333: Amazon.com, $523: Amazon UK: £400, Amazon FR, €384 Bloom: 10 Worlds Sonos One Apple HomePod Compared to Sonos One Sony CDP-CX355 Mega Storage Compact Disc 300 CD Changer Player If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Chris Connaker, of the Computer Audiophile website, joins us to discuss downsizing audio systems. You really can get good sound with a minimal setup these days, and Chris explains how. Guest: Computer Audiophile Superphonica Show notes: Sonos Beam Focal Chorus 705 speakers Sonos Playbar Sonos One Chris Connaker's HomePod review Apple HomePod Compared to Sonos One Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream, 8/27/72, Veneta, OR Sonos Sub The Definitive Dynaudio Music 1, 3, 5, 7 Speaker Review Devialet Phantom Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Aurender S5W Tivoli Audio Pal Naim Mu-so Our next tracks: Planet Earth II & Blue Planet II (4K Blu-Ray) Joni Mitchell: Shadows and Light 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

Doug and Kirk have made lists of their ten desert island discs, and, in part one of a two-part series, we hear Doug's picks. Check out Episode #130 - Desert Island Discs, Part 1 to hear Kirk's picks. Show notes: Doug's ten desert island discs (links to Apple Music, except for Exposure which isn't streamable): The Clash: London Calling The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya Yas Out! Humble Pie: Performance Rockin' the Fillmore Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Fats Waller: Greatest Hits JS Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos Fatboy Slim: You've Come a Long Way Baby Frank Zappa: Hot Rats Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) Robert Fripp: Exposure We also mentioned Peter Gabriel performing Here Comes the Flood from the 1979 Kate Bush Christmas Special (via YouTube). If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track