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“Gangs”Do Nothing

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

October so far

292 plays across 127 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. 2025Aspect — Seventeen Years Old and Berlin WallAlso Swans, Glenn Branca · 35 plays that week
  2. 2024In Rainbows — RadioheadAlso MILK., The Teenagers · 143 plays that week
  3. 2023Holding Hands With Jamie — Gilla BandAlso The Cure, Soft Blue Shimmer · 148 plays that week
  4. 2022Dimensional Bleed — Holy FawnAlso Magdalena Bay, Porter Robinson · 120 plays that week
  5. 2021I Let It In And It Took Everything — LoatheAlso Sleep Token, Bear's Den · 72 plays that week
  6. 2020Use Your Time Wisely — Strange NamesAlso The Pogues, Fink · 82 plays that week
Show all 12 yearsShow fewer
  1. 2019Immunity — ClairoAlso The 1975, JPEGMAFIA · 96 plays that week
  2. 2018Loveless — my bloody valentineAlso Joji, The National · 133 plays that week
  3. 2017The Epic — Kamasi WashingtonAlso BROCKHAMPTON, Until the Ribbon Breaks · 38 plays that week
  4. 2016Arvo Pärt: Portrait — Arvo PärtAlso Francis and the Lights, Phoenix · 101 plays that week
  5. 2015The Winter of Mixed Drinks — Frightened RabbitAlso Fink, Julien Baker · 120 plays that week
  6. 2014Cerulean — BathsAlso Buchanan, SOHN · 370 plays that week

Counted from Last.fm · 66,575 plays since 2013 · synced Oct 31, 2026