Books

Mark Rushton’s Abundant Spare Time is a compilation of his weekly Substack Posts from 2025, which mostly discuss his work as a musical composer, visual artist, tech observer, and societal critic.

The paperback edition (272 pages) can be purchased on Amazon.  It's also available as an eBook and on Kindle Unlimited (207 pages).

Each week, Rushton writes about music that enters his world through identification in the Shazam app, recommendations from Qobuz, or past favorites. It’s not just one genre, but most: rock, classical, indie, electronic, country, pop, jazz, metal, avant-garde, and rap + hip hop.

One story arc in 2025 was Rushton’s multi-year quest to find a studio space outside of his home. Another was his ability to do a live “show”, or more of a DJ set, at a new space in Des Moines.

Other topics discussed: buying clearance clothes vs thrifting, using and abusing the word robots, dishing out a heap of tech skepticism, championing “older” tech like old Sony Digital Walkman devices, the Elmo document camera, a 20 year old NEC visual projector, buying a Tashiogoto instrument from Japan, making zines, burning CDs, explaining how libraries pay royalties to musicians, stories about working in radio in high school and college, and championing a physical media store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

It's in a sort-of “diary” format, not unlike Brian Eno’s “A Year with Swollen Appendices”. It’s the kind of book you can pick up, turn to any page, and start reading.

Another matter discussed throughout the year are the “word robots” (aka “AI”). While used for research, Rushton maintains a healthy skepticism about the perceived “value”. Rushton also uses the phrase “Pointless Releases” to describe tech’s obsession with endless updates.

Throughout 2025, Rushton released new music: January’s “Stop Updating”, filled with lengthy syncopated beats and ambient process. July’s “Rehearsals for the Annex”, a free “ambient megamix” on Bandcamp. August’s “Pianos in the Fields of Color” as Calmer Feeling, a collaboration with Jon Eric Copeland. And September’s “Omniessence”, an album of Omnichord + electronics tracks, which Rushton had made into a vinyl picture disc via Kunaki.

Rushton also released two singles of electronically processed chimes as the band Meditative Drift, “Vibrations” is an album of desolate hum and processed lap steel by Vibrating Wires. Two albums of tabla + tampura + electronic processing as Tanpura Express (“Moon Salag Valari” and “Imperial Psychedelic”). A drone album as Saag Paneer (“Shakara”). A beats single (“Ghost Belvedere”) and vintage drum machine album (“Breaks Haze”) as Rushton. And a “Wellness and Mindfulness” album of lengthy ambient instrumentals by Aleodeology.

This is Mark Rushton’s first book.