Friends, for the time being, I’m making all my books pay-what-you-want & donating 100% of the funds received to humanitarian aid for Iran & Lebanon. I’ll also match the amounts with my own donations. More context… The artwork for Mystic Orchards is by an Iranian-American artist. I aways viewed… 🧵1/3

The Analog Africa label has spent 20 years bringing us African scream contests, cosmic sounds of Cape Verde, Brazilian western soundtracks and Beninese vodou, now @mojomagazine.bsky.social wants to know your pick of their releases. Hit me with the what and the why and let's make this definitive.

Keep in mind, as #MWE coincides with Black History Month, please be sure to include albums by Black artists in your picks. That has always been one of the exercise's core tenets, and I promise you will find some new favorites in doing so.

Anyone who still needs albums to listen to this month for #MWE (music writers exercise), check my sprawling list of recs. For those seeking out international music across the decades—ALL genres represented.

#MWE Album 1 Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990) A triumphant, openhearted plea for justice. Silence and space breathe alongside textured art-pop and folk elegies. O'Connor's voice is a healing balm, mourning a corrupt world. Feels a bit like a blend of Mazzy Star and Sade.

Hi there, skyfam. I’ve been lurking here this whole time, but now it’s my time to shine. February is #MWE (Music Writers Exercise) and I’ll be listening to a ton of good stuff and posting reviews here and IG again. Will be starting early so keep an eye out!

This is a welcoming account. 🏳️‍⚧️

RIP D'Angelo, the greatest singer since Marvin departed. Who took the grit & attitude of hip-hop & alchemized it into angelic voodoo. He condensed the human condition - sex, suffering, addiction, love, oppression - into pure transcendence. A comet emitting blinding light & soul.

Hey Skyfam. It’s my birthday and there’s nothing I would love more than selling a few of my books today. I have four, so take your pick! You can get them here: linktr.ee/jonathankoven

Invisible - El Anillo del Capitan Beto [Argentina, Rock/Psych](1976) https://redd.it/2khysw https://youtu.be/kUMCncTnOMY

Write for your worst reader. But to upset them.

tbh bluesky has exactly the same problem as twitter — needs more people committed to the shortform poetic arts; to wielding the platform to catalyze meaningful work & prosocial ends; to uplifting and multiplying the positive forces of others…

I feel like most of my followers know this but because I see a lot of cis folks who have a specific blind spot for it: This includes the theme park. I don't care if you want Butterbeer or want to get a wand or are already there so why not just walk in. It's all Her. Everything with the name is Her.

Thrilled this piece found a home! Check out our collaborative poem, as inspired by Guglielmo Alberto Nacci’s beautiful, obscure painting below ⬇️

Hi new followers! Just a quick intro: I’m a writer based in Philly with four books out right now, two poetry books and two literary fiction novels. Grab a copy of one of them here: linktr.ee/jonathankoven! Currently working on a big fiction project with multiple timelines and POVs 📚

Honored to have this new duplex poem included in the ‘24 Featured Poets Anthology by @moonstonearts.bsky.social! This is my first piece to be published (outside of a collection) after almost two years 🥰

It’s been so hard to feel motivated to write lately. Asking my fellow poets and authors here… What’s keeping you going? How do you beat the fatigue?

Your monthly reminder: Keep writing. When no one cares, persist. When things appear to be crumbling, keep at it. When it's difficult, push through. When you feel alone, listen to the stories in your blood. Just write. The world needs your stories.

No Lynch tribute is extremely disappointing.

¡ Today’s Album ! Litto Nebbia - Bazar de los Milagros (1976) Soaring synth solos, magical modulations, impassioned vox—an immersive, enchanting joyride drifting from Earth to space. Intro to “Bituca” hits me in my soul! Glad I listened to the bonus version. I fear the Discogs grail. #MWE Day 27

#MWE day 21 Woo - When The Past Arrives filial duo reenters an ambient dreamscape left off in ‘81 as if time traveling. dual guitars glisten. arpeggiators gurgle, syndrums pop and tick, cloudcap synths hover. the structures still play between apprehension and ease, the payoffs soar even higher.

#MWE Day 25: Delicate skeletons of techno/(micro)house structured around ambient waves. Percussion is barely there, but those plinks and faint pulses etch something closer to grooves. Recalls Voight, but the texture is harsher but always carefully crafted in artisanal, aqueous shapes.

As I read George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, I’m so glad that books like this exist, where sentences wind and turn and sing and change before your eyes. A single sentence holds so, so much. Always wish for more books today to spare room for sentences to dance and breathe. It’s how I wish my books to be.

Day 25 Jorge Ben Jor - Jorge Ben A very wonderful time. Another beautiful Brazilian record that's just pure joy to listen to. The guitar work is excellent, he has a fantastic voice and while I cannot understand the words it feels like a pure album #mwe

Day 25: Like a piano being plucked beneath a winter forest canopy, it feels like Ashikawa pulled the melodies straight from the air. Peaceful and gorgeous, the ambient textures of 'Still Way' have one foot in the distant past and the other keeping one firmly planted in the ever-changing moment. #MWE

#20. Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim - Elis & Tom (1974) Different than I was expecting. Less samba and more orchestrated balladry, but she’s got the voice for it and Jobim’s work is always sophisticated and exquisitely tasteful. Plus “Águas de março” is always welcome. An easy win. #MWE

I've been aware of The American Analog Set for years but never spent much time checking them. Lots of lo-fi layering that's too experimental for pop but expands outside the generic indie rock that got popular after they broke up. Maybe ahead of their time? #MWE open.spotify.com/album/1l1uLr...

#MWE 2/12 Ray Barretto, Acid (1968): His first Fania record is a classic for good reason: this is some hot-ass music. Like much boogaloo (and its child salsa), it’s incessant percussion, incredible trumpet riffs & not-alot lyrics, perfect for dancing. & his congas! This band is *so* well-oiled.

#MWE Day 12 Chanel Beads draws inspiration from dreamy experimental drone and tries to combine it with a bit of pop and rock. At just 27 minutes, it feels over before the record establishes solid footing. Feels more like a proof of concept and a promise of more to come.

Day 12: Surprised it took me this long to hear Method Man's debut. No surprise I loved the dusty, dark production from RZA. Wild hearing the original "All I Need" before Mary J jumped on it. Meth always hits for me as a rapper but while Tical is great, I still like Wu's 95 records better. #MWE

Ethel Cain - Perverts [2025] #mwe Brilliant record. Really epic scale. Drone, ambient, experimental, post-rock. Personal but not limited to one pov. Vastness but w/ sincere and earnest vox, no gap b/w performance and emotion. Plenty space b/w sonic locations tho, no fast traveling here.

#MWE day 1 (it’s day 8 but whatever The worst part of #MWE is revealing your shameful blind spots. This hits all the points of a classic soul album - huge voice, harmonies, raw emotion and groove - and then added hip hop to reinvent the whole genre.

A classic.

Need a coffee/smoke break from the doom & gloom of politics on this app? Try clicking the #MWE hashtag and check out which albums people are listening to for the first time.

#MWE Day 6 Simply put, one of the prettiest albums I’ve ever heard. Enamored with her voice and the way she creates a choir effect by layering it on several songs. Love the wind and string arrangements and the Baroque melodies at play here, which all support such sharp songwriting. Just incredible.

🔥

#MWE Day 1 Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana (2013) Fantastic indie rock with crunchy 90’s inspired riffs, reaching into grunge & math-rock territory at times. Bombastic drums, dark witty lyrics with a great vocalist… Whole thing rules. A bit embarrassed I’ve never heard this before.

Day 1 Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai Stunning album here. It certainly doesn't stay in one lane, and has overall a very cinematic feel. The opener quite spacy despite being largely acoustic. Even with ALOT going on instrumentally it was too much, in fact it was perfectly put together. #MWE

Day 1: Transcendent, ecstatic explorations of electronic synthesis that diverge from then-contemporary pop’s keyboard abuse, bolstered by a singular voice that not infrequently bursts through the shimmer with enlightenment to share. #MWE

#MWE Looking forward to tomorrow! I have extra because I’m sure I’ll double-up some days. I’ll try to go in order but I’ll probably skip around a bit.

Friends, I’m gonna try to post here more. Soon, I'm participating in February’s Music Writers Exercise—listening to one full album I’ve never heard every day next month and sharing my reactions tagged with #MWE. Anyone have any album recs for me, something I’d enjoy and haven’t heard? Any genre!

Hi friends 👋. Yes, I’m on this app, though I honestly doubt I’ll use it frequently enough to have good reason to be here. Just making my presence known while folks shift over their social media. Mainly on IG, so please find me there!

Mystic Orchards came out last week! Order your copy at kelsaybooks.com/products/mys...! ✨

Last blurb to share! Dearest thanks to literary giant Joseph Fasano for the praise. Honored to have his support! 🥰 MYSTIC ORCHARDS is out NOW! Order your copy at kelsaybooks.com/products/mys... ✨

TOMORROW!!! 🤩

Mystic Orchards comes out in JUST TWO DAYS!!! (10/13)

More blurbz 😎

Awesome blurb from the talented @adamg.bsky.social!!! Let’s gooooo!!! 🔥