Music has been, and will continue to be, the single thing in this world that excites me more than anything. Whether it's playing music with the people I care about, sharing music with new and old friends, or looking for records in each place I visit, these experiences enrich my life. One of the most exciting and intimate feelings to me is growing alongside an album or artist's work. I find that songs and albums forever hold an association with certain people and memories, and when I revisit these bodies of work, I'm unearthing old experiences and sentiments from a previous time. There are very few things that feel as special and unique to me as having a body of work take on its own meaning. Understanding that a piece of art can forever be tethered to your own lived experiences is what motivates me to continue finding new music and is likely the reason that it becomes the focus of many of my conversations. I decided to name this site Anderson Hall in memory of my freshman dorm, which acted as a space for me and my friends to share and explore new music together.

Here on Anderson Hall, I will be writing about the albums that hold immense value to me and the people and places I think about when I listen to that album or artist. I understand that my personal experiences and memories are only of value to me, but I'm hoping that by providing a list of the music I love, I will be offering a resource that allows others to discover new music that can take on its own meaning for them. I will also provide some of the resources I use to find new music outside of the algorithm.

For now, my focus will be on albums, largely due to the fact that a whole album is my favorite way to listen to music! Especially in the eras pre-streaming, designing an album is an art in itself. In vinyl, for example, an LP can originally hold only around 25 minutes per side, meaning that the artist has to carefully plan the ideal organization of songs while keeping time constraints in mind. I have often thought of albums versus single songs as being comparable to seeing a single piece of an artist's work in a museum compared to seeing a collection of their works from a specific era. When you see the entire collection, the work conveys a larger story and holds a deeper meaning than any single piece. With this in mind, I do intend on eventually including single songs and playlists, as I am a digital man living in a digital world!

Your Pal,

Samuel Armstrong :-)