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“pretender”Jane Remover

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

October

293 plays across 128 artists

  1. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an ExhibitionModest Mussorgsky33 plays
  2. PugnelloGilla Band28 plays
  3. In Search Of...N*E*R*D17 plays
  4. Audit In ProgressHot Snakes12 plays
  1. 01Modest Mussorgsky33
  2. 02Gilla Band30
  3. 03N*E*R*D17
  4. 04Hot Snakes12
  5. 05Torche8

This week, years ago

  1. 2025Filth (Deluxe Edition) — SwansAlso Japandroids, Viagra Boys · 38 plays that week
  2. 2024In Rainbows — RadioheadAlso MILK., The Teenagers · 156 plays that week
  3. 2023Holding Hands With Jamie — Gilla BandAlso The Cure, Soft Blue Shimmer · 163 plays that week
  4. 2022Dimensional Bleed — Holy FawnAlso Magdalena Bay, Boards of Canada · 145 plays that week
  5. 2021I Let It In And It Took Everything — LoatheAlso Bear's Den, Baby Keem · 40 plays that week
  6. 2020Use Your Time Wisely — Strange NamesAlso The Pogues, Fink · 91 plays that week
Show all 12 yearsShow fewer
  1. 2019Immunity — ClairoAlso Bon Iver, Kanye West · 159 plays that week
  2. 2018BALLADS 1 — JojiAlso The National, Pinegrove · 135 plays that week
  3. 2017The Epic — Kamasi WashingtonAlso Until the Ribbon Breaks, Big Shaq · 36 plays that week
  4. 2016Hard Believer — FinkAlso X Ambassadors, Francis and the Lights · 102 plays that week
  5. 2015The Winter of Mixed Drinks — Frightened RabbitAlso Fink, Julien Baker · 104 plays that week
  6. 2014Cerulean — BathsAlso SOHN, Buchanan · 347 plays that week

Counted from Last.fm · 66,576 plays since 2013 · synced Nov 1, 2026