Frank M. Anderson's Writing

Tag: Music

  • Breaking Through the Bubble: The Strange Mercy of the Algorithm

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    I don’t trust the algorithm.Not really. But I’ll admit this much: it’s doing a better job of feeding me music I love than most of the avenues real life offers right now. Everyone is in their own bubble these days—tuned into their curated feeds, their scene, their streaming loops—and it takes a lot for something…

  • Francis FM: The Longform Broadcast

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    Curated by Francis Anderson This isn’t a playlist—it’s a broadcast. A rotating, living archive of whatever’s hitting hard right now, spanning decades, genres, and moods. Built like a radio station without commercials, it’s a setlist for life’s shifts and stumbles. I listen to music differently from most. No Spotify, just an Apple Music account or…

  • Shadow Song — A New Arrival in the Music Hub

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    I just uploaded what might be my most musically aware piece yet — an instrumental called Shadow Song. I started it the way I usually don’t — with the drums. That steady pulse became the road the rest of the track travels on. From there, the bass came in low and rumbly, giving the piece…

  • Saying the Word -Suicide- (A Braid with Ren)

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    Content Warning: This chapter speaks plainly about suicide, addiction, depression, and male mental health. I won’t describe methods. If you’re in crisis in the U.S., call or text 988. This is a companion piece to On Suicide- https://fulcrumandaxis.com/2025/05/19/on-suicide/ I didn’t find Ren by wandering a record store; he found me through the machine. “Hi Ren”…

  • Where I Am Now

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    Lately, I’ve been combing through my old lyrics while updating my Music Hub — pulling out lines from the Incarrion era and holding them up against where I am now. What started as a simple archival project quickly turned into something else: a mirror. The more I compared the songs to my current writing, the…

  • Father of Peace, AI Bands, and How I’d Run a Band in 2025

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    A while back, an AI-generated band got big. Big enough that most people didn’t even realize it wasn’t “real.” That fact alone still rattles me — not because I’m against AI in music (I’m not), but because it proved how easily process can be hidden. Some artists will quietly use AI and never admit it.…

  • The Music Hub Is Live

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    I’ve always kept my music scattered — some on SoundCloud, some buried in old hard drives, and too many sitting unheard because they never felt “finished” enough.Today, I’m fixing that. I’ve put together a Music Hub where you can hear the full range of what I’ve been working on, past and present. That means: Some…

  • Ozzy, Crowley, and My Writing

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    Aleister Crowley is one of those names that pops up in unexpected places—history books, occult manuals, heavy metal lyrics, even my own novel Unto a Golden Dawn. But why? What is it about this controversial figure that keeps him haunting stories, music, and imaginations? The Boy Who Became “The Beast” To understand Crowley, you have…

  • Supporting Priest, Surviving the System, and Building Something Real

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    Supporting Priest, Surviving the System, and Building Something Real I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how artists get paid. Not just big names—but the working artists. The ones making music that hits your soul in the middle of the night. The ones building weird, cinematic, honest art without a label, just hoping someone out…

  • Kevin Bacon, Cancel Culture, and the Death of Slow Art.

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    There was a time—not that long ago—when culture felt shared. When MTV didn’t just show music videos; it shaped the moment. We all tuned in. We all talked about it the next day. It didn’t matter if it was weird, slick, political, or raw—it meant something because we experienced it together. Now we scroll past…

  • The Beauty in the Dark

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    Listening to Dax Riggs. Living with depression. Creating something from the wreckage. I’ve been immersing myself in Dax Riggs’ latest album, 7 Songs for Spiders. His music is sludgy, sexy, and unapologetically dark. It’s not just heavy—it’s beautifully heavy. Like molasses running through rusted wires. Like grief that’s learned how to dance. I keep coming…

  • The Sound That Opens the Veil

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    On Music, Memory, and the Sacred Noise of Now Music has always been more than background for me. It’s a portal. A key. A second pulse. Sometimes it carries me forward when writing feels impossible. Other times, it drags me back—into memory, emotion, and everything I’ve been trying not to feel. And every once in…

  • The Empire, Nevada Playlist

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    When I started forming the idea for this novel, I wanted to find music that set the tone I wanted for the book. I was looking for songs that had a lithe quality, but with a hint of darkness around their borders. I worked on finding the right combination for a few hours, and have…