Tomo Nakayama makes, if anything, deeper sense to me 16 years after I discovered him in the wake of 9/11. His music was calming folks—although I understand that isn’t his primary intention—in the shadow of 9/11, Election Day, or whatever confines us within the famous Hoodie of Dread. He’s still sensible, still tuneful, understated, urging us to look at the sky, the moon, nature, and commonplace things, commonplace feelings, even. A good friend of mine got Siri to say, “You should be satisfied with what you have,” and has no idea how he got Siri to say that. Tomo knows of what he sings, telling us to at least consider satisfaction with what we have. And then build from there. by Todd Hamm