pretty awesome that over the past four days i've seen three very different, yet all utterly fantastic shows: romeo santos & prince royce; heavenly, and RAYE.

Financialization is a Psyop Sound, Art, Vegetables

Must Read | Damon Krukowski’s short essay is not a pro-/anti-Geese jeremiad, or payola history lesson. It points to something floating around my brain since around 2017-18, the initial recognition that all platforming of creative monetization may be, essentially, built on fake data - on lies.

So you're telling me the vouchers didn't actually expand access to private schools, but instead helped line the pockets of these schools? I'm shocked.

Ruth Garbus- I Think I'm Ready Now (official visualizer) YouTube video by Orindal Records

Profound is the title of Brattleboro, VT singer-songwriter Ruth Garbus' third studio album for Orindal Records. It's out on June 12.

Listen to the album's opening song, the gentle and magical yet avant-garde "I Think I'm Ready Now."

youtu.be/2UoursdOrSU?...

I have never put a scalpel to human flesh but I sure as hell have swaddled a newborn and tearfully swayed while muttering assurances I can’t possibly guarantee

Love this story from Craig Robertson's Chris Knox bio about how an Auckland punk band learned to play "Anarchy in the UK" by taping the short bits that aired in a news segment off of the TV and just playing those parts. (Try to explain this to a young person today haha)

Basically it's Christopher Tolkien's world now and we all have to live in it

Mamdani's "childhood heroes, including the indie-rap group Das Racist," whomst I heard for the first time the year I started dating my husband???? As an adult man???? With years of work and independent life behind me???????

The sound you hear now is me gently opening my coffin lid and surrendering to the chill embrace of the grave

Stephanie Burt | Twee as Fuck The music that showed me who I wanted to be, what I wanted from life, was the music that came out on Sarah Records. The...

Sometimes I can't believe I get to write about my favorite stuff @lrb.co.uk but sometimes I do get to write about it. For example, the new one from @heavenlyamelia.bsky.social @skepwax.bsky.social I'm seeing them Friday! www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ap...

Huh! From March 2021, when Live Nation's stock was at all-time high despite Covid shutdowns:
pitchfork.com/thepitch/why...

There's a bizarre GOP talking point that Sand would turn Iowa into Minnesota or California.

California's GDP is the largest in the country, over 20x the size of Iowa's. Even Minnesota's economy is 2.5x larger than ours. I don't think he can turn us into either state, but what a *gift* if he could!

hearing this interview, and not hearing that kind of follow-up question, was a rough start to my allergy-laden morning

Steve Albini's Closet | Explore Unique Finds Discover rare items handpicked from Steve Albini's Closet. Join our community for updates on new arrivals.

down to the last active weeks selling Steve Albini's rec, bks, posters, etc. 1 year. preceded by 3 months of organizing. an interesting, all-consuming way to spend 15 months. there's still lotsa great/oddball stuff left & an auction for nirvana's gold disc. check it out
www.stevealbiniscloset.com

xBk even, sorry

The rock band Skorts performs in Des Moines

The rock band Skorts performs in Des Moines

Thanks to the band Skorts and the local venue Xbk Live!

It's been pretty fun digging through the Aadam Jacobs archive and finding SLR bands.
this Allo Darlin' set is here:
archive.org/details/ajc0...

and it rules.

have had to overrule otherwise-strong editors on this, don't tell me we've lost

i know this is a joke but I'd love to see this happen for @ganserband.bsky.social

My friends @hearingthingsco.bsky.social use Ghost

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

@raygunsite.com Dan is right unfortunately! I am not perfect about any of this but Substack seems so avoidable, and this problem has been pretty well documented for years. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f... www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... I'll be at Xbk Live tonight if you're out/about in DSM!

RAYGUN Exciting news. we're changing newsletter platforms! GARY You don't need to do anything, emails will still arrive.. NITRO We're moving our email list over to Substack at the end of this month!

And this is super-disappointing. I love @raygunsite.com! I own multiple "America Needs Journalist" merch items! And yet they are teaming up with Substack, where journalism is in short supply and indeed the place that's helping to strangle it.

ok that said, that was one interesting thing about writing negative reviews in the blog era, sometimes the bands did well anyway but often they turned out not to have committed fans. (of course sometimes the bands that got positive reviews didn't end up having committed fans either!)

anyway a bill that makes me wish I was in Seattle

"Bluesky needs more music discourse" *monkey's paw curls*

I am at the Laraaji show. He performed four fake-out encores — and at the end of the last one, someone dropped their phone, then everyone burst out laughing, then Laraaji said “the sound tapestry is completed,” and then he got a standing ovation. Then he came back for a fifth encore

Hungarians voting for a prime minister called Magyar 🤝 French voting for a president called Francois

So just catching up here but it seems like the news today is that JD Vance’s day-long negotiations to stop the Heaven 17 revival from happening in Hungary have failed?

Listen to "Brimful of Asha" in her honor please

Opinion | Beware conservatives promoting “intellectual freedom” Victor Ray: This conservative lie about schools like mine is furthering authoritarianism

Making tenure count, for MSNOW I wrote about my employer, The University of Iowa, creating a center for intellectual freedom. It's a reactionary project built on decades of conservative propaganda about higher ed.