It’s early December and Spotify is detailing my listening preferences with their “wrapped” summary for year 2020. It’s one of the reasons I actually prefer Spotify over Apple Music–these types of annual statistical summaries as well as what I believe to be superior playlist curation.
So this year my most listened to artist was Tom Misch. I was not surprised, given his latest album What Kinda Music (2020) definitely grew on me this past year. At its essence, What Kinda Music is a jazz album. Tom Misch is a master guitarist and Yussef Dayes, an expert percussionist. This was a collaborative album that served to increase Yussef’s notoriety and further Tom’s already established popularity.
Tom was introduced to me via the likely avenue of NPR’s Tiny Desk series. Between this series and the COLORS series, I have been introduced to a number of talented musicians.
I was simply enamored with this show, and honestly, I still am. I’m also tickled by the Youtube comments regarding his choice of athletic apparel for the show…
When I heard this concert, I followed up on his recently released Geography (2018) album as well as his two previously released mixtapes Beat Tape 1 (2014) and Beat Tape 2 (2015). All three albums are spectacular, to the point that I hungered for even more of his records. I continued to find his EP releases Out to Sea (2014), Reverie (2016) and 5 Day Mischon (2017). I noticed that he has become more popular in the past several years and I hope to hear even more of his releases.
This past 2020 I came back to Geography many times. I also delved into What Kinda Music and discovered fourth single “Nightrider” to be the perfect vibe for night drives.
To expand upon the impact of Tom Misch, he inadvertently introduced me to more artists simply through association. I learned of Loyle Carner and Jordan Rakei through Tom Misch collaborations. I began following both artists briefly. I did not get too deep into Loyle Carner’s library, but I did dive considerably into Jordan Rakei’s music. Jordan Rakei is actually number 2 in my top 5 artists of 2020 according to Spotify’s “wrapped” this year. I intend to dedicate an entire blog to his impact as opposed to further detailing here.
I had an opportunity prior to the Coronavirus madness to see Tom live in Atlanta but I missed it. He performed there in October of 2018. Since he is international (London-based) this was quite an opportunity squandered. Perhaps another opportunity will present in the future?