Theme Nights
If you ask me, some of the music night themes that are available for random selection at our music listening gatherings are so compelling and potentially vast that they may warrant an entire night dedicated solely to their aural progeny. Quickly coming to mind are “Covers” and “Guitars”. Any other suggestions? Perhaps not in lieu of but rather in addition to the typical first Saturday event…
Another idea that has been tossed about is for “Album Night”, wherein a single (maybe two?) recording is played in its entirety and the relative merits / likes / dislikes are discussed. Could be treated like a book club, where everyone knows what the record will be and can listen to it beforehand if they wanna feel “informed” during the official en-hearance. I had discussed this with John S., and the context we thought made sense was: Rather than choose an album that pretty much everyone knows and agrees is super bitchin’, someone suggests an album that maybe some or most of the regular music night attendees are not that familiar with (or maybe not at all familiar with); one that the Suggester thinks is especially worthy of universal acclaim, acclaim which maybe the album has not really received from the sort of music cognoscenti at large (whoever that might be!). Two discs on the table (so to speak) are “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” (1995) by Sparklehorse, and “In The Aeroplane Over the Sea” (1998) by Neutral Milk Hotel. I would also make a strong case for Love Battery’s 1992 release “Dayglo”, an unbelievably great rock record that I think stands up to just about anything from that era.
visceraudio 
I want a doppleganger theme–songs by different artists that sound the same in some way. Similarity could be based on anything: chord structure, lyrical content, production aesthetic, whatever. I’m not talking about covers.
The Album Night idea is intriguing but also a little scary. I know you don’t want to spend an hour listening to Bruce Springsteen. 😉
Yes indeed, that sounds like a great idea. We have a theme in the box sorta like that – I think it says “connect to the previous song”.
As far as Album Night, I think it would be designed to steer clear of “conversion” or “convincing”. More just about exposure to something that maybe others aren’t so familiar with. It would require buy-in from any who plan to attend, i.e. “yeah, I’d be willing to spend the evening listening to that album…”
when an album night is chosen… whoever is in attendance can draw straws and the winner gets a long play!