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Five Spotify Playlists Ive Been Loving

As usual, Im about six-thousand years behind everyone else when it comes to new sites to use. For those of you like me who live under a rock, Spotify is a platform for legally streaming music on your PC, phone, or tablet. You can use Spotify for free with some limitations and ads or you can pay a monthly subscription fee and get it ads-free. I was able to get three months of premium which is ads-free for under a dollar so I figured Id make the most of it and Ive been discovering a lot of new music lately.


Gothic Splendor by Record Club - 52 songs, 4 hrs 17 min

"Take a walk on the dark side of new wave, synth pop, post punk and dark wave. Classics from Siouxsie, Joy Division and The Cure alongside more recent gems from The Horrors, White Lies and more." This could also be called quintessential Goth tracks. Not sure where to start with Goth music? This is a good first bet.

Southern Gothic by Spotify - 98 songs, 5 hr 54 min

"Deep, dark, dramatic. Roots rock, folk, and americana -- with a gothic soul." This playlist combines my love of folky music with my love of darker sounds and themes and introduced me to a bunch of new artists, its what I turn on when Im lounging and dont want anything too up-beat.

OccultRock.Com by Richie Katz - 274 songs, 23 hr 30 min

Its hard to describe this playlist and there isnt a description on it besides mentioning that its the playlist for OccultRock.Com, but the music is a mix of every kind of metal with a darker, mystical bent and theres a fair number of bands Ive never heard of with more added regularly.

Middle School Alternative by Bronson Kimball - 157 songs, 9 hr 20 min

Ready to take a walk down memory lane? Like many now-Goths I had a phase of listening to a lot of... angsty alternative rock during my early teen years and this playlist has it all with a variety of bands you might recall (or still be fond of, no judgement.

Dark Cabaret by Dondunken - 175 songs, 9 hr 28 min

This playlist has been a lot of fun. Cabaret music in general is playful, a little sexy, and a bit silly, and this dark twist on it makes for a very light-hearted station that appeals to the dark at heart. There are a few old favorites on there, like Voltaire, Rasputina, and Tom Waits, but its mostly all new to me.

What music have you all been loving lately?

Available link for download

First new bike Ive wanted in a while

Ive been very very happy with my Iron Horse Azure. Two keys to making it work properly that Ive discovered are
1) light wheels
2) middle ring

My climbing has improved dramatically ever since I made a conscious decision to stay in the middle ring as long as possible. The rear just hooks up and stays solid. My pedaling style has changed a lot during climbing steeper grades but it all seems to work well together and Ive clearing things and climbing pitches that I havent in a long time.

So for the past several years, I havent felt any desire for a new bike. Well I always want a new custom steel frame of one kind of another, but I havent felt the desire to scour the forums and google may way to a slow death with regards to new suspension frames.

Until I came across this. My man DW Link has moved his licensing over to Turner. This Flux looks like sweet little XC package. The Pivot bikes that came out last year didnt catch my attention, but this one does. Then I can be part of the Flux zealots. Man Ive never seen a group of people who love their bikes like those.

Bad thing to be trolling the forums and mtb web pages again. Bad thing to spend more time googling than actually accomplishing anything.

**** but at more than $2k for a frame you gotta be kidding me ****. After selling off parts I got my Azure for under $400 for frame/shock. Upgraded shock for another $100. I dont think its going to be that much better!!!

Available link for download