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“Tommy Gun”Los Leo

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

October

294 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. 2025AudioLust & HigherLove — SG LewisAlso CHRYSTAL & NOTION, Wavedash · 53 plays that week
  2. 2024Reality Check (North American Edition) — The TeenagersAlso MILK., Glare · 154 plays that week
  3. 2023Seventeen Seconds — The CureAlso Gilla Band, Smut · 167 plays that week
  4. 2022Mercurial World — Magdalena BayAlso Holy Fawn, Porter Robinson · 141 plays that week
  5. 2021I Let It In And It Took Everything — LoatheAlso Bon Iver, Holy Fawn · 55 plays that week
  6. 2020Use Your Time Wisely — Strange NamesAlso The Pogues, The 1975 · 94 plays that week
Show all 12 yearsShow fewer
  1. 2019i,i — Bon IverAlso Cherry Pools, The 1975 · 112 plays that week
  2. 2018FM! — Vince StaplesAlso The National, Turnover · 112 plays that week
  3. 2017The Epic — Kamasi WashingtonAlso Until the Ribbon Breaks, Big Shaq · 25 plays that week
  4. 2016My Hands — AyerAlso Draper, The Japanese House · 86 plays that week
  5. 2015The Winter of Mixed Drinks — Frightened RabbitAlso Bloc Party, Grimes · 82 plays that week
  6. 2014Cerulean — BathsAlso Buchanan, The 1975 · 275 plays that week

Counted from Last.fm · 66,633 plays since 2013 · synced Nov 4, 2026