As the kids say, some news: www.thelastcriticfilm.com

It's dark. It's cold. It's Thanksgiving. Now more than ever you need a laugh.

Christgau captured the magic of Todd Snider well. RIP, Todd.

My sister liked the Springsteen movie. I didn't. Life goes on. But the thing from that movie I simply can't shake: Why is a John Lennon biography from 1988 on the bookshelf of Jon Landau's office in 1982?

Over at Billboard, I wrote about five new comedy specials, including Beth Spelling's insanely great "The Landlord Special," which will take up less than 30 minutes of your life and enrich it greatly. www.billboard.com/lists/best-c...

Hell yeah

If you need a laugh right now (and who among us doesn't?) wrote about funny people for ‪@billboard.com‬. www.billboard.com/lists/music-...

Saw @gangoffour.bsky.social last night with @rxgau.bsky.social and @audiation.bsky.social, and one of us wrote about it. (It was not me.) robertchristgau.substack.com/p/gang-of-tw...

This project has been bubbling for the last two years. Excited to see it out in the world at last. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Published June 1978 in "The Village Voice," the David Johansen piece “Kid Patriarch Makes His Move” is just about as close as I’ve ever come to writing one of those formulaic staples of arts journalism, a celebrity profile. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lo...

For years now, there's only been one really reliably apt Grammy Awards category, and naturally it's got nothing to do with recordings. It's Best Music Film, and I looked at all five of this year's noms for Observer. Thanks to @joelevy.bsky.social for making it happen. observer.com/2025/01/one-...

In which I try to explain to normal people why I'm obsessed with professional wrestling, and why Netflix spent $6B on WWE. observer.com/2025/01/netf...

RIP Jimmy, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy . . .

My all-media Top 10 of the year is now up. open.substack.com/pub/michaela...

White Flower by Agnes Martin, 1960 https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137332

Current mood

He likes to scratch.

I mean all the data these fuckers have scraped off me for the last 15 years and they really think I’m gonna stand here saying “YOLO tango” into my watch.

FFS . . .

Brooklyn drill trio 41's latest single turns the Chill Guy meme and Gia Margaret's "Hinoki Wood" into a dissociative bop for the ages. Seriously--It's a vibe

PSA for anyone who might want it: the Sign O’ the Times 8CD/DVD box set from 2020—maybe the best posthumous Prince release yet—is on sale through his official store today only for $50 (originally priced around $160) store.prince.com/product/5QCD...

Great pod from the great Jenny Eliscu talking with the artists behind one this year's greatest albums. jennylsq.com/2024/12/05/b...

Spanx, but for uncertainty about the future

Late last night, I was seized by the impulse to tell you what’s so exciting about the new lead single by the Sullivan Fortner Trio. It sort of boils down to six notes in sequence, along a B-flat blues scale. But it’s so much more.

Looks like they failed the test . . .

"I've never kissed a bear. I've never kissed a goon. But I can shake a chicken in the middle of the room." www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3V...

One of the 2024 releases I’ve listened to most this fall and am listening to again right now on this cold Sunday morning.

A dispatch by RJ Smith from the @wussymusic.bsky.social album release show last week: "Nobody was bigger in Cincinnati that night; when they tore into opener 'Airborne,' the response could not have been bigger for anyone playing in the entire state." robertchristgau.substack.com/p/live-from-...

"I started crying in the middle of their Prince cover, 'Controversy.' 'Some people wanna die so they can be free.' Attempting Prince requires a fair amount of mettle but it’s a perfect song for Weiner because he inhabits the lyrics and it makes sense, it feels exactly right." Great piece.