Time for an era of weird

Today is:

Mister Rogers' birthday ✅
Big Bird's birthday ✅
The first day of spring ✅

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Sun O))) by Sunn O)))), album cover

What an astonishing review Andrew Male's written for the new Sunn 0))) album in @mojomagazine.bsky.social. Can't imagine anyone reading and not feeling compelled to hear the album at least once. {I played a track in the car on my way to work, my first Sunn O))) - woaaah!! }

@subpop.bsky.social

Acadia National Park breaks visit record for 2nd month in a row Acadia had a record number of nearly 843,000 visits last month, according to data from the National Park Service published on Friday.

As Bar Harbor and nearby towns try to adjust to ever-increasing tourist traffic, the number of monthly visits to Acadia National Park has topped 800,000 for the first time ever.

Ozzy Osbourne, the people’s Prince of Darkness, took heavy metal into the light Having escaped a life of drudgery in Birmingham, Ozzy became the rare rock frontman you could relate to – and then, against the odds, a national treasure

Ozzy Osbourne, the people’s Prince of Darkness, took heavy metal into the light

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Doc At The Radar Station album cover. A painting by Don Van Vliet.

"People might think of their music as quite difficult or atonal, but I just think it’s really, really beautiful. Very melodic, full of tunes and incredible rhythms."

Jack Barnett of #TheseNewPuritans on Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Doc At The Radar Station

buff.ly/PErdO9v

#JulydedByVoices • Share one GBV/adjacent song per day during July • Guided By Voices, side projects, solo all welcome • Feel free to write about your choices! • Post whenever it's day where you are! The club is open...JULY 1ST 2025

Less a #MusicChallenge than a 'music thing', but please join me in helping turn Bluesky nicely GBV-y during July with #JulydedByVoices!

Feel free to pick from their countless million-selling chart-toppers, or perhaps dig out something a bit deep cuttier with a weird title - there must be a few...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

In the past two years, with surprisingly little notice, renewable energy has suddenly become the obvious, mainstream, cost-efficient choice around the world.

Wilderness of False Flowers_1976 | Les Rallizes Dénudés Wilderness of False Flowers_1976 | 裸のラリーズ Les Rallizes Dénudés Official Site.

Counterpoint: now listening to an anarchic and human (always live) new-to-me version of “Wilderness of False Flowers” www.lesrallizesdenudes-official.com/en/informati...

I’m worried about @ibogost.bsky.social and also he’s not wrong. see also @lizpelly.bsky.social’s _Mood Machine_

Kids today! But the kids are all 37

What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing? The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education.

An arguably important read for anyone even adjacent to higher ed academics at the moment. @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

while carry the zero is their *best* song, my favorite is car

Maine's new ticketing transparency law could be a model for others, music industry advocates say The law will impose a 10% price cap on tickets that are resold for events at a Maine venue.

Great news from the Pine Tree state: www.mainepublic.org/business-and...

In the 1980s scratch-and-sniff stickers were a technology of equal interest, and with a seemingly equally unbounded future, as computers.

Probably something off Earth 2 or The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull

Portland’s State Theatre building for sale The owners of the Congress Street landmark, which houses about 120 tenants, say the theater has several years left on its lease and they'd like to see it operating there well into the future.

The owners of the Congress Street building say the theater has several years left on its lease and they'd like to see it operating there well into the future.

How different is what accomplished historian Steven Johnson is described as doing in this piece from what this Twitter troll (below) describes? What are the affordances we give different people when they utilize this technology? www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...

How I find and listen to music in 2025:

bryanalexander.org/podcasts/how...

Music Is Too Important To Be Left To The Marketplace A Conversation with Liz Pelly

“So it was like, okay, how can we figure out a way to capitalize on these user habits while also making the major labels happy? Which is not the same thing as figuring out [how to] use technology to make it easier for people to support artists,… the people whose work they are listening to.”

Music Is Too Important To Be Left To The Marketplace A Conversation with Liz Pelly

On Dada Drummer Almanach, a conversation with Liz Pelly @lizpelly.bsky.social dadadrummer.substack.com/p/music-is-t...

Join us Sunday at Space in Portland ME

it's not that subcultures don't exist, it's that their definitions have changed. the kids want hip-hop, noise, and breakcore all on a single bill and the DJ is going to play nu-metal in between sets and it will be socially cohesive if you can get off your high horse.

When I talk about the appeal of gravel riding in my area, this is something I always mention. There are so many incredible places in my area that you will never see from a car. I think people feel differently about our open spaces when they see how interconnected they are via bike.

The very best thing about having one of those big CD binders back in the day is that you could just give it to someone to look through like “here is my whole personality for you to browse”

Happy release day to 'Dan's Boogie' by Destroyer! 🎉

Stream wherever you get your music, or pick up a physical copy in the Merge store today!

Find it all (including a CD/LP superbundle that includes a unique signed print) at the link in our bio ✨

Spiderland by Slint (LP).

Now playing: Spiderland. 34 years old today. 🕷

slint.bandcamp.com/album/spider...

The Velvet Underground self-titled album cover. The band sat on a white couch

"This is my favorite Velvet Underground record. I can listen and see myself lying on my bed when I’m a teenager and experiencing heartbreaks for the first time."

Tyler Hyde of Black Country, New Road on #TheVelvetUnderground - The Velvet Underground

buff.ly/BWde8FM

I don’t know how today went. I’m not even supposed to comment on it. I was busy. Today I produced a Tiny Desk, talked to students interested in the music industry, edited a script and attended a taping. I do the work. I want to do the work.

Breathe, right?