India, May 29 -- From dark rooms to deep dives, the best music finds you when you're actually listening

I wrote last time about a Pitchblack Playback deep-listening session I attended in Helsinki, and how it altered my view of an album I thought I knew intimately: Who's Next by The Who. Hooked, I attended another session a couple of weeks later. This time it was another fabulous 1971 album, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

Such sessions are among the newer routes I have found to enjoy great music and perhaps discover new sounds. I promised more, last time, on routes to new music that did not involve Spotify and other algorithmic methods. Here we go.

NTS Radio, the revered London-based online station, is one such elsewhere. Earlier this y...