"Hard Times could rise like smoke, seemingly slight & likely to blow away, but its shape remained tangible ... Desperados Waiting For A Train harnessed the wind, not as a force but as a companion, an acceptance." The fluid world of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. www.bernardzuel.net/post/gillian...

"The RBA noted that “strong demand enabled retailers to increase prices by more than might be expected given changes in the prices of imported consumer goods”. In a totally unrelated note, this week JB Hi-Fi announced a 7.1% lift in net profit for the half year" www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

Conflict of interest? No! The system running as designed! Why pay for influence when you can be paid for influence?

As luck would have it … #morningpop #thursdayvinyl #joanarmatrading #walkunderladders

If you want some solid ground, try me. #morningpop #thursdayvinyl #joanarmatrading #trackrecord

Buffalo nickels & musical gold from a duo who are "a repository of bits of the culture that weren’t expected to make it to the future, surely superseded by something bigger or flashier or louder or just plain new". Watching Gillian Welch & David Rawlings in awe. www.bernardzuel.net/post/gillian...

Petula Clark’s enunciation in Downtown is something to admire. That is all, you may resume your lives.

A report that Comm Bank is spending $200m on sponsoring the Olympics. My post on how isn't it weird how such things are never reported as something that will cause fees/prices to rise, but a wage increase?? Horrors!! thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

I mean normal people can go there, but yeah, high profile racists like Hanson might have a harder time

"You just think, I just want to meet someone who is a nurse & not someone networking. Which is fine, but I like how in Australia it feels real.” WindBackWednesday finds Sally Seltmann (new album on Fri) dancing in the darkness at home & away. www.bernardzuel.net/post/sally-s...

There's a new Sally Seltmann album on Friday that digs into her (art student) past so WindBackWednesday gets into the act by digging into her (more recent, musician) past. Talking career opportunities as well as career-defining songs. www.bernardzuel.net/post/sally-s...

At a surfer party with the whiskey pour and the bottle rolling, I was on the floor with my first lover. #morningpop #gillianwelch #daverawlings #timetherevelator

Post-gig high/pre-review excitement/plain old pleasure. #morningpop #wednesdayvinyl #gillianwelchanddavidrawlings #woodland

The heavy sigh of the fan seeing a long list of @aimeemann.bsky.social shows through the US next month, playing Lost In Space in full, knowing we won't see it here. It's only 17 years since her last Australian tour & some of us may cark it before she next comes, but hey, it's cool, no rush, I'm good

Boot up the boots before tonight’s show. #morningpop #gillianwelchanddavidrawlings #metrotheatresydney

Johnny, June, Shelby. #morningpop #shelbylynne #suityourself

A new playlist made just for you (yes you!) brings The Church & Deadmau5, The Replacements & Sally Seltmann, Tinariwen+Sulaf & Anna Calvi+Iggy Pop, Curtis Mayfield & Badinage, Drake & Models, Erena Terakubo & Beta Band, Aerial Maps & 11 more pearls. open.spotify.com/playlist/61t...

Toucha toucha toucha me... um, gravity rules my dude. For those keeping track of our favourite besmirched theatre figure looking for a comeback to tell his story, his 2 room tour (Canberra & Albury) is cancelled, sales for the tiny Albury theatre no better than we saw in Canberra

Before the rocket, before the crash. #morningpop #michaeljackson #offthewall

Greet the week with a new playlist & its Holly Throsby, Bonnie Prince Billy, Emma Swift & Augie March meeting Young Franco, Joe Goddard, Elkka+Sofia Kourtesis & EricB+Rakim. With some Arctic Monkeys, Secret Affair, Bush Gothic & 13 more. www.bernardzuel.net/post/left-of...

Odd house, but sure, why not? #morningpop #mondayvinyl #harrystyles #harryshouse

The new Liberal leaders are inferior in so many ways. But I’ll tell you this without hesitation. Never have have we seen such magnificent heads of hair on a leadership duo.

Lightweight Libs have Labor laughing all the way to an election www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Not me. #morningpop #sundayvinyl #severedheads #badmoodguy

A more acceptable league for the breakfast audience thankfully. #morningpop #sundayvinyl #eurythmics #sweetdreamsaremadeofthis

Fair to say not a universally approved selection in the house this morning. To wit, “human bloody league”, and it was not said with love. #morningpop #sundayvinyl #thehumanleague #dare

This is magnificent. Deeply moving. Thank you Peter Fitz and James Valentine. www.smh.com.au/national/all...

WATCH — @gomez.house.gov interviews Rep. @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social : “I think 🇺🇸 has been lied to about who these people are in ICE detention. That stereotype has so consumed what we think of immigrants that we’ll put a 5-year-old kid who’s done nothing wrong in prison.”

Too easy? Not really. #morningpop #saturdayvinyl #paulchambers #cannonballadderley #easeit

trois en jeu. #morningpop #mingusthree #trio #charlesmingus #hamptonhawes #dannierichmond

Saturday read (& listen) #4. The playlist to reshape your weekend has double The Monkees & singular Curtis Mayfield with The Anchoress & Emily Scott Robinson; Bruce Springsteen, Cut Worms, The Clouds & A$AP Rocky with Stevie Jackson, Public Enemy, Sault & Dusty +more open.spotify.com/playlist/1r7...

Saturday read #3. When it's pitiful & frustrating on screens, pages, streets & stages we need some comforting & some inspiring. Turns out that's exactly what the new Miss Jill Scott album was made for. www.bernardzuel.net/post/jill-sc...

Saturday read #2. When you know you're supposed to be on the bandwagon, when you can see why everyone else might be, but you're wondering if you missed that wagon ... by that much. What Comes To Mind springs from R. Clapton & R. Birdman to are you coming? www.bernardzuel.net/post/what-co...

Saturday read #1. Watching @marenmorris.bsky.social crossing the borders between pop country, roots & country pop - yes, she's real; yes, they exist - with an unexpected disco moment & a still tender breakup moment (or two). www.bernardzuel.net/post/maren-m...

Couldn't lead this party; can leave a mark. Former Liberal Party Leader Malcolm Turnbull on new opposition leader Angus Taylor: “He’s the best qualified idiot they’ve ever met.”

She didn't choose it but she can help repair it, or at the very least make it survivable. A new Jill Scott album is made for these times, thank god for "a full-spectrum woman not a Mar-a-Lago-faced mouthpiece." www.bernardzuel.net/post/jill-sc...

At least 2 Liberal leaders found Jane Hume neither trustworthy nor competent so naturally she's the new deputy. That said, if trustworthiness & competence was relevant Angus Taylor wouldn't be allowed to hold open the shadow cabinet door (& Richard Marles would be streetsweeping).

The coalition/throupolition would need to win 20 seats at the next election to be competitive, 28 to take government. Why is anyone pretending this leadership change will change anything?

Come on now cookie, let’s listen to Jill sing. #morningpop #jillscott #woman

“It brings none of us any joy to challenge Sussan. She has tried her very best. She has a very long & successful political career. As I say this [are] very difficult times, & I really did feel for her yesterday" Sarah Henderson inching closer every year to sounding warm blooded.

Angus? Really? Who’s gonna save me? #morningpop #fridayvinyl #midnightoil #blueskymining

How is the air up there? Bangles early doors. #morningpop #fridayvinyl #bangles #thanksjohn

Risking retribution for linking one of the most destructive forces in modern Australia to one of the most constructive ones in modern music, a review of the new album from the sublime Jill Scott finds soul music for the soul is just what we needed. www.bernardzuel.net/post/jill-sc...

Like the seat fillers at Grammys/Oscars who make sure no spot is empty while its holder pisses on/off, Ted O'Brien has been a hero in recent times for middle-aged middling white men aspiring to mediocrity. Thank god that the real thing, Angus Taylor, is back in the seat. Winner! Now we all win.

James Paterson's missing t was never being used for teamplayer.

For those wondering, the somewhat problematic theatre star whose live & intimate show's modest sales we checked (1 & 2) last week has had a big turnaround. Ticket sales have doubled since then! It's happening people. (NB for newcomers: the $65 is what you have to pay, not what you get to attend.)

She's working on a new album - yes, at last! - of her songs but as gift-before-purchase Holly Throsby has thrown us a cover of Alex G's Cross The Sea. It is quite lovely. open.spotify.com/track/1rEt6u...

Shiiiiiiit. Oh, wait. First thought was they really don't care about the deadbeat dads core audience for Kid Rock & Trump. Second thought, ha! like any of them have passports or have ever thought of going anywhere more foreign than Miama. As you were.

When Satan takes a holiday. #morningpop #thursdayvinyl #dukeellington #balmasque

What a hothouse of talent. Get them a limousine indeed! #morningpop #thursdayvinyl #thecrocodiles #tears