I assembled some thoughts + playlists re: new music you should hear — but given the nature of pop music discourse, probably haven't. BTW, Yasmine Hamdan has made one of the most beautiful and potent albums of the year.

From alum Will Hermes, author of Lou Reed: The King of New York!

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT. The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

SUPER excited to do an event upstate NY at The Golden Notebook @thegoldennotebooks.bsky.social with my friend and esteemed author of the Lou Reed biography, @willhermes.bsky.social for the Paperback release!!! Please come!! Tell your friends!!

A lot of new music for your weekend. Norah Jones w/ El Michels Affair. A shoegaze Coldplay cover. Meklit. Jay Som. Wednesday. Cécile McLorin Salvant. Nick Drake en Français.

I’m still wrapping my head around the new Geese album, and still loving the new Juana Molina single. Some new music to fuel your weekend.

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT. The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

Lots to read, listen to, and scream at the heavens about in my latest Substack. Remember to just breathe.

I was proud of this one. #Afrobeats #Juju

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing space with so many lovely humans at Reykjavik Pride. It was affirming to be in a place where basically the entire city turned up to celebrate queer joy. Let’s keep creating more spaces like this where LGBTQ+ people can flourish with love instead of hostility.

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

A century of Brazilian music: 100 fundamental songs, by O Globo Top 5: 1. Asa Branca – Luiz Gonzaga e Humberto Teixeira 2. Carinhoso – Pixinguinha e João de Barro 3. Águas de Março – Tom Jobim 4. Construção – Chico Buarque 5. O Mundo é um Moinho – Cartola paraibaon.com.br/2025/08/01/u...

A new music streaming playlist, w/ notes. Sweet escapism, but not entirely. New songs, but not entirely (ie, those deep cuts from s4 of The Bear)

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

RIP the Prince of Darkness. Glad he got his last licks in earlier this month.

The music supervision on Lena Dunham’s new series is brilliant (Cate Le Bon, Funkadelic etc.) Some thoughts, plus new music by Kim Deal, Jesse Welles, ANOHNI + a couple tasty covers on my Substack this week.

Photo by @willhermes.bsky.social. The Statue of Liberty is a fascinating thing, still.

"Come senators congressmen/ Please heed the call/ Don't stand in the doorway/ Don't block up the hall..."

Hey thanks, homies 🥰

A new David Byrne single. A new Margo Price single. That excellent Hotline TNT album. The science of cowbells. And other worthwhile distractions.

My first round of notes on the Springsteen vault dump.

As the E Street tour continues through Europe, here's a recap in advance of the 7-LP "Lost Albums" set — a pretty amazing vault-flush with 35+ years worth of outtakes that arrives at the end of this month.

fantastic & detailed "crazy rhythms" breakdown with million & mercer. even better, with a transcript. love that they were committed fans of the stooges & the new york dolls (& the modern lovers, of course). this refers to the show that opens @willhermes.bsky.social's "love goes to buildings..."

And in other news: this new Saoirse Ronan Talking Heads video, directed by Mike Mills, makes me feel seen.

Were Pavement the best rock band of the 90s? Either way, this beautifully weird new film about them — which opens today all over — might make you reconsider the question.

The Uncle Floyd show's musical legacy- PSF article by cast member & music booker David Burd aka Artie Delmar, including stories about David Johansen, Squeeze, the Bongos, the Ramones, Smithereens & more www.furious.com/perfect/uncl... #indiemusic #newjersey #comedy #television #cabletv

My favorite music writing mixes heart, deep knowledge,and clear critical vision. Here’s some recent stories (plus soundtracks) that do all that w/chips.

I wrote about Fiona Apple’s important new single “Pretrial,” her cover of “Heart of Gold,” Neil Young’s “Ohio,” the 55th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, and the need for more protest songs — literally and figuratively.

Tomorrow I'm teaching an online writing class. If you post to socials about music, are a writer interested in it, or just love reading about it, you'll dig this. Spiel + registration info below. Thanks to the good folks at My Five Things, fans of my Lou Reed book who offered to host this class.

A 70+ song new music playlist stream (Apple Music/YouTube Music/Spotify) w/ Bon Iver, Barker, Obongjayar, Mary Halvorson, "lost" Nick Drake and Bruce Springsteen tapes, fine covers by Kacey & Fiona Apple — and for Sunday, a Stereolab crossword puzzle. Great new music from them, too.

Charli XCX afterparty last night at Barclays Center 🥳 🎈

Today, we're officially leaving Twitter, along with our friends @literaryhub.bsky.social. We're happy to be here on Bluesky, but we hope you'll also connect with us the “old-fashioned” way: by getting our emails and going to our site! Read the full statement from Halimah Marcus: buff.ly/4aNcHae

Enjoyed @willhermes.bsky.social's thoughtful piece about the perpetually misunderstood Phish and their snub by the Rock Hall www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

I mean, seriously. As much if not more than literally any band on the planet, these dudes deserve to be up in that joint. And I’m barely a legitimate Phish fan. I make my case below.

Earwormy indie-rock, sung in English + Japanese, built on pirouetting jazz + bossa nova guitar riffs w/the occasional grunge outburst. Mei Semones is something else. Her excellent debut LP comes out this Friday; I jumped on a Zoom w/ her and got the story.

Last night I saw one of the world’s great guitarists, Vieux Farka Touré, son of the late Ali Farka Touré, who is touring the US. And I wrote about a potent new single by Seun Kuti, son of Fela Kuti. Kids are keeping it lit.🔥🙏🏽

That Nick Cave show Thursday in Brooklyn was some kinda faith healing session. Remarkable.

On my Substack: a glimpse of a standout 2025 album — a gorgeous duet by one singer-songwriter, pre- and post-transition. Too bad American anti-trans policies make it impossible for them to perform here live.

What started as my shoutout of a great new single somehow became a short history of spoken-word pop w/ a 30+ song playlist.

Sad to hear about Michael Hurley's passing — He was a real American original. Thanks for this lovely remembrance, Will! @willhermes.bsky.social

I'm not on twitter anymore, but this tweet from 2 years ago is sadly more accurate than ever

I made a 4+ hour new music mixtape for spring. Enjoy.

This playlist by the post-punk hero leans hard into lush soul and bossa-nova tracks — good for taking the edge off our doomscrolling.

I’ve been listening to this song for days, and still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it.

Listening to the heavenly reissue of Ida’s “Will You Find Me” - it’s wonderful autumnal music. @willhermes.bsky.social recently did a great interview as well: open.substack.com/pub/newmusic...

Had a heartening chat w/ Liz and Dan about community-building, torch-passing, the Woodstock scene, Levon Helm, and the 25th anniversary box set reissue of an album I love deeply.