About

The Baying of Kazak is a one-person new music blog started with two primary ideas in mind. Most of all, I wanted to create a space where I could provide easy access to the best new music that I encounter to as many people as possible. As the years have passed, I’ve found myself having to dedicate more and more time searching a vast array of different outlets in order to find even a fraction of the great music being released both inside “the mainstream” and outside of it. That’s not a complaint (I have honed my methods over the years and I enjoy the process), but it struck me that very few souls have the privilege of all that time to invest in this search. It seemed unfair to me that so much great new music would never reach the ears of listeners that might have their lives changed by it. This site, then, is an attempt to make at least some redress, however small, to that situation by collecting all the great sounds I uncover in one place so that others can experience them without needing to dedicate hours in far corners of the internet.

The second idea, which in some ways stemmed directly from the first, was to focus exclusively on positive recommendations of songs and records. If it’s so difficult to hear even a fraction of the wonderful new tracks and albums being released every week, filling up the outlets where people flock to find new music with as much (if not more) negative coverage surely exacerbates the issue to some degree. I’m not inherently against constructive or even brutal criticism of music – it has very important uses. It can make us aware of problematic elements of records that we might not have noticed ourselves. Equally it can certainly act as a much-needed counterweight to avalanches of paid-for publicity about lazy releases that labels want to make a tidy profit out of. But others already do a far better job of that than I ever could. But above all, if I don’t think a piece of music is good, I don’t want to take up more of your time explaining why I think you should avoid something which you may end up loving.

The only common thread, then, between the songs and albums featured on this site is that I think they’re worth your time. Any artist can be included, no matter how popular or obscure, no matter how dreadful their previous work up until this point. Similarly, music from any genre is eligible (though, like any other person on this planet, I have predispositions towards certain genres which will surely result in a heavier volume of recommendations relative to others). If I think they’re great, they’ll be on here.

I’m forever grateful to the outlets that have turned me on to life-changing music that I would probaly have never found otherwise. My hope with The Baying of Kazak is that anyone visiting could find at least one track or album here that they’ll cherish forever (though preferably more than that!).

It’s extremely kind that you’re still reading this, but I’d rather that you use this time to explore the music listed than read about me! If you’re unsure where to start, our tracks of the last month is a great bet.

Jamie