Songs I love Right Now | May 2026

Weird blues, weird reggae, Welsh driving music, Chinese indie rock, Zimbabwe dry guitar, more variations on Old Paint, Guinean guitar, Samoan choir music, Indonesian retro soul music, Canadian reggae.

I particularly like track #2 on the playlist — Choir of Western Samoa Teachers' Training College. Also: the cascading melodies of Cris Williamson's Waterfall. The piano introduction of Morby's Oh My God is minimal and perfect.

Thumbnail artist: Harald Sohlberg, Norway.

Shame on Netflix • Chicken Fried Steak • Chocolate Controversy • Perceptual Ripening • Contagious Laughter • Melbourne Zeitgeist • Trombones

Chicken Fried Steak is not chicken, nor is it steak, as commonly recognized. If you are visiting an American diner, you are likely to find this distinctive dish. Order it. It’s a lightly breaded beefsteak cutlet fried on a flat-top grill. Similar to schnitzel in many ways. The

A Dignified Lake • Trail Running with Kids • Cheese curds and Whitefish Dip • Freshwater Cliff Jumping • Sheboygan is Extremely Underrated • Cleanest Gas Station Ever • Lucky Strike Cigarettes

The world’s largest body of fresh water (by surface area) flanks the shores of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (affectionately known as the “U.P.” in the local vernacular). Due to the extreme northern latitude, the water shimmers from the sun’s sharply angled raking light. The lake is magnificent,

Questionable Bloodletting • Learning highlife guitar • Ketchup etymology • Designer Dreams • Brazilian Hand Lettering • Epic Knowledge Transfer • Paul McCartney’s Sweater Vest

Dream engineers, you have my attention. This start up (Dust Systems) is hacking your dreams with the intention of improving your life. Here’s a page about their work designing dreams for creative joy. One staff person is listed as a “Anesthesia Dreaming Pioneer.” Notably, you can try this yourself.

James Bond and Chicago • This is Really Bad • World’s Best Runner and God • Radical Bench Activism • Furniture Liquidators • Brazilian Gospel

James Bond and Chicago. In the late 1950s, author Ian Fleming traveled the world and compiled his notes into a book called, Thrilling Cities. As an outsider's take on Chicago, and the States more generally, I found some of his passages to be revealing of the time. The

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Shame on Netflix • Chicken Fried Steak • Chocolate Controversy • Perceptual Ripening • Contagious Laughter • Melbourne Zeitgeist • Trombones

A Dignified Lake • Trail Running with Kids • Cheese curds and Whitefish Dip • Freshwater Cliff Jumping • Sheboygan is Extremely Underrated • Cleanest Gas Station Ever • Lucky Strike Cigarettes

Questionable Bloodletting • Learning highlife guitar • Ketchup etymology • Designer Dreams • Brazilian Hand Lettering • Epic Knowledge Transfer • Paul McCartney’s Sweater Vest

James Bond and Chicago • This is Really Bad • World’s Best Runner and God • Radical Bench Activism • Furniture Liquidators • Brazilian Gospel