Can't Get Much Higher – Details, episodes & analysis

Earlier this year, I spoke with Paula Toledo about her whirlwind 15 minutes of fame. Toledo made music in the 2000s that never got too big, and then moved on with her life. The problem? Nobody on the internet could move on. Unbeknownst to Toledo, people online had accidentally stumbled upon her songs and had spent a decade trying to find her.

Catherine Sinow, a frequent contributor to this newsletter, first told me about the Paula Toledo saga while working on a different story about how Jessica Simpson released 500 versions of her song “A Public Affair”. Toledo was just the tip of the iceberg, though. This week Sinow brings another story about how people online have been searching and finding lost songs at a quicker rate than ever before.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify.

Since today is Independence Day in the United States, I decided to explore why "The Star-Spangled Banner" is as American as the tomato is Italian. As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

The other day a friend of mine asked me if I liked being a music critic. “Music critic?” I asked. “I’m not a music critic.” And I really meant that. Yes, I write about music. Yes, I give you my opinion on certain things. Yes, I recommend songs that I enjoy. But I don’t think I’m a critic in the same way that or Jessica Hopper or or are critics. I don’t think I’m giving you deep insight into particular pieces of music. I mostly write about trends.

Nevertheless, I love music criticism. So, when I came across a huge database of reviews from the last two decades, I knew I had to start crunching some numbers. As always, this newsletter is also available as a podcast. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or click play at the top of this page.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

I feel like recent music news is often bad news. And I’m a contributor to that. Just last week I wrote a long piece about problems in the music industry that don’t get enough attention. But tomorrow is my 29th birthday. In celebration, I wanted to talk about some great things that are happening.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

I think the adage “Never meet your heroes” is generally good advice. I can’t say for sure, though. I haven’t met many of mine. Except one time. When I was in high school, I had a chance run-in with my greatest musical hero. It made me think that maybe some of our heroes are worth meeting.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

I've got a new song out today. It's called "Late Nite Kicks". In today's podcast, I give you an inside scoop of how my creative process works as we walk through how the song came to be. Listen to "Late Nite Kicks" wherever you stream music.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

Over the last few weeks, there has been an explosive beef between hip-hop stalwarts Drake and Kendrick Lamar. What started out as a standard tit-for-tat has devolved into a volleying of nuclear bombs, accusations of predatory behavior, domestic violence, and absentee parenting flying with abandon. If you want a summary of a situation that is starting to require way too much time to follow, I recommend these pieces from Stereogum and Pitchfork. Nevertheless, this back-and-forth got me thinking about how hip-hop diss tracks are really part of a larger, less defamatory tradition.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here. If you want to here songs and their answer songs, check out this playlist that I made on Spotify.

One of my favorite newsletters is Dan Epstein's Jagged Time Lapse. In each edition, Epstein captures how music intersects with our lives in unexpected ways, how it can send us hurtling through space and time, how it can be both magical and mundane. This week, Epstein brings one of his stories to Can't Get Much Higher. If you enjoy it, make sure you subscribe to Jagged Time Lapse.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

Beyoncé announcing the lead single to her latest album Cowboy Carter in a Verizon commercial during the Super Bowl reminded me of how intertwined music and commerce have become and how selling out isn’t an idea anymore. This week we try to figure out what happened to selling out.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

In 2023, only 36% of recorded music revenues in Japan came from streaming. 55% came from physical sales, the large majority of which was from CDs. This week we explore why CDs remain so popular in Japan.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.