The Listening Log

A quiet space for music, speech, memory, and reflection.

Listening without algorithms. Writing without noise.

Created by writer Derek Franklin

Recent Entries

  • World Cup Log #2

    I’ve largely avoided the media frenzy surrounding England’s World Cup campaign, but finally found one outlet that makes talking about England surprisingly enjoyable.

  • World Cup Log #1

    One unexpected result was enough to make me rethink the expanded World Cup, as Cape Verde earned a memorable draw against Spain and gave football one of its first great stories of the tournament.

  • New Music Friday #2

    A wander through more new music featuring Finn Wolfhand, Debba and a growing suspicion that “pleasant enough, without being thrilling” may be the defining sound of modern pop.

  • Slow Emotion Replay

    Battling a June cold, miserable weather and post-holiday blues, while The The, Whitney Houston, The Amps and The Mothers of Invention provide the necessary medicine.

  • Miserable Monday

    Home from Brazil, back in rainy Salford with a sleeping dog in the back seat, Black Lace on the stereo and the grim reality of unread work emails looming ever closer.

  • Open Up

    A Brazilian afternoon of beer, Jason Donovan, Graham Central Station, Tom Waits and Mozart, while quietly trying not to think about work next week