Music – Splendid Isolation

You probably know the feeling — you’re in the mood to watch a movie, so you open up Netflix. The next thing you know, two hours have passed, and you still haven’t decided what to watch. Even when I go on a streaming platform, knowing what I’m looking for, it’s easy to get distracted by a homepage flooded with endless recommendations. Eventually, it starts to feel overwhelming and all that content just blurs together into one giant, forgettable backlog.

That’s why I’ve started buying CDs and DVDs again. I recently revived some old PC setups, so I thought it was time to try taking a similar trip back in time with my music and movies. What started as a passing interest in physical media ended up highlighting everything I’m missing out on with streaming.

And the rest, as they say, was history. It’s a lovely story, so haste ye thither and peruse the thing in its entirety.

Longtime Readers will know full well that I’ve never stopped doing that. I’ve always had a large collection of DVDs and CDs on hand, precisely for the reasons stated in the article. Only the recent move by media companies [spit] towards sunsetting access and availability — not to mention editing the original releases into something… well, less — has reaffirmed my preference toward ownership over subscription.

So to all those — Olde Pharttes, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, whatever — who decide to make a similar lifestyle decision: welcome to the club.

It’s a decision you will never regret.

Unsung Heroes: John Lodge

October 11, 2025 Kim du Toit Music

I see with great sadness that Moody Blues bassist John Lodge died a couple of days ago, and although I know that the passing of boyhood heroes is pretty much a daily occurrence now that I’ve reached my own senior years, this one still hurt.

Lodge was one of those musicians whom few people noticed — attention focused mostly on lead singer Justin Haywood and occasionally on multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas — but if you ask any bassist what he thought of Lodge’s contribution to the Moody Blues, all you’ll get is praise. His playing was rock solid, either complex or simple as the song required, and he never tried to overpower the music with his undoubted virtuosity. Oh, and he was an excellent singer as well, either as the lead or in his tuneful harmonies.

Just listen to how the bass drives this classic Moodies song (written mostly by Lodge himself). And note that Lodge is not just playing the bass, but singing at the same time. You know: back when the musicians played their own music and didn’t have to rely on Autotune.

I think I’ll go and listen to a Moody Blues album or two. My favorites: On the Threshold of a Dream and In Search of the Lost Chord.

And I think I’ll make a series of this thread. Yeah, it’ll be somewhat tilted towards bassists and drummers, because I was once a bassist, part of the band’s rhythm unit. Sue me.