Chris Shoemaker

Cellist · Pianist · Programmer

Notes on music, listening, and the odd bit of code.

I’m Chris. I’ve played cello since I was seven (now in the Oakland Civic Orchestra) and piano since nine, studied computer science at Carleton, and still believe the best playlist is the one you’re about to hand to a friend.

On Music

All writing →
  1. No. 02The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross: First (sort of) impressionThirty-odd pages into Alex Ross on the twentieth century: Strauss, Mahler, and the art of the frenemy.
  2. No. 01IntroductionWhy this page exists: a cello at age three, a flat refusal to be taught, and a bootleg Planxty CD on the road to Louisville.

Listening

A rotating playlist of whatever has been on repeat lately. Currently spinning: October ’26.

Last heard“Boys in the Better Land”Fontaines D.C.

Ratings and reviews of everything else live on RateYourMusic, and every play gets logged on Last.fm.

November so far

170 plays across 99 artists

  1. LL-1000Los Leo6 plays
  2. viagr aboysViagra Boys4 plays
  3. Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, Billy the Kid & Fanfare for the Common ManAaron Copland4 plays
  4. Le PopLos Leo4 plays
  1. 01Los Leo29
  2. 02Viagra Boys13
  3. 03Gilla Band7
  4. 04Aaron Copland7
  5. 05The Stooges4

This week, years ago

  1. 2025NEU! 2 — NEU!Also Viagra Boys, Fontaines D.C. · 69 plays that week
  2. 2024Nonagon Infinity — King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardAlso Foals, Viagra Boys · 101 plays that week
  3. 2023Street Worms — Viagra BoysAlso Gilla Band, Dizzy · 165 plays that week
  4. 2022I Saw — Young FathersAlso Holy Fawn, Cold War Kids · 40 plays that week
  5. 2021Red Earth & Pouring Rain — Bear's DenAlso Mint Julep, Caspian · 26 plays that week
  6. 2020Chewing Cotton Wool — The Japanese HouseAlso Vasudeva, Daughters · 30 plays that week
Show all 11 yearsShow fewer
  1. 2019Out Of My Hands — Green River OrdinanceAlso BROCKHAMPTON, Twenty One Pilots · 124 plays that week
  2. 2018Royal Blood — Royal BloodAlso Young Fathers, The 1975 · 95 plays that week
  3. 2017Intrepid — PinegroveAlso Will Joseph Cook · 2 plays that week
  4. 2015Hard Believer — FinkAlso Passion Pit, Battles · 86 plays that week
  5. 2014The Haunted Man (Deluxe Version) — Bat for LashesAlso Buchanan, Baths · 283 plays that week

Counted from Last.fm · 66,747 plays since 2013 · synced Nov 15, 2026