The Mystery Album

Well, the boat's been shaken a bit, but I think we need to get back to the task at hand: sailing the seas of music. But to acknowledge the great, bleak unknown storm that broods on the horizon, I thought I'd try something a little different.

This album is top-notch. Both musicians are at the top of their game, and one is a world-class virtuoso. And yet, chances are, you haven't heard of them. And I'm not going to tell you about them. In fact, I'm not even going to tell you they're names, or the name of the album. And there aren't any ID3 tags to help you either. The iTunes database won't tell you, and unless you have a very sophisticated ear, you won't be able to guess.

Which means my post won't be deterring any potential sales of the artist's music, and the artist also won't have any chance to benefit from the publicity.

And for you, o gregarious listener, it means you won't have any pre-conceived notions or expectations when you listen. Imagine a black disc arrived in the mail with the instructions: listen.

Really, just listen. Having no name, it has no collection-value, no genre-limitation, no historical background -- essentially, no conceptual attachment. Just experience it for what it is.

And enjoy it. I do.