As another failed COP conference now sentences future generations to a hell we refuse to even imagine, now would be a great time for US arts/music writers to get creative working with climate science communications, writing on artists affected by disaster, protest music, etc. as much as we can.

A moment, please, to consider the absolute majesty of Daphne Oram's unbelievable score to this. A pitch shifted, time stretched, frequency agile glimpse of the future of music production; a liberty-taking all analogue remix of Sandy Nelson's Teen Beat realised in real time with the visuals.

November 16th I know it's a Sunday. It's no bloody excuse! One week from now get off your bum and down to The Kitchen Garden Cafe in Birmingham. www.kitchengardencafe.co.uk/event/gwenif...

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

I do commissions of cards like these. I'm assured they make for excellent gifts. #TwoMonthsToChristmas

When the drone of the massed just intonation violins you’re cranking playfully twines with the sound of vacuuming next door, creating billowing and resolving beating tones.

Life & distractions got in the way so I recently went back to the start of this. Enjoyed it a lot - I really connected with Pynchon's freewheeling, maximalist style (and his jokes) & am a sucker for a shaggy dog story. Where should I go next? Preferably one of the shorter books: maybe Inherent Vice?

"And that’s Bernhard’s genius: a spiral is the perfect style for writing self-hatred." An enjoyable piece on how Thomas Bernhard's work still resonates with readers now, and an apparent "renaissance" of his style (fair to say, comparing a book to Bernhard gets my attention). dirt.fyi/article/2025...

It’s gone so quickly from ‘boat people’ to all immigrants. So quickly from ‘I don’t mind if they come here legally and pay taxes’ to ‘actually it’s anyone foreign’. We are living in the ‘first they came for’ poem. All to give the population a scapegoat so the super rich can hoard yet more wealth.

RIP Danny Thompson. Here's a playlist featuring just some of the hundreds of songs that were graced by his bass playing. Includes Nick Drake, Pentangle, Donovan, John Martyn, Sandy Denny, Marc Bolan, David Sylvian, Kate Bush, Talk Talk, Lilac Time, Julian Cope etc ▶️ open.spotify.com/playlist/4XS...

The only thing I'd insist upon in a new Bond movie, other than it not being an origin story, is that they should have Timothy Dalton back to play M.

The appeal of Bond is that he’s cool and strange. The fascination is “how d’you learn to do the things you do?” Y’know like in the Carly Simon song. Answering that, with an origin tale, is the wrong story. Like most prequels, it’s data not story. He’s interesting because we don’t know, we guess.

I'm honestly getting really tired of being lectured about how 'health' works by utterly clueless narcissistic old men who all look like they drank from the wrong grail

Galton and Simpson hit on the perfect formula. You take two people, both of them idiots. One is (usually) slightly younger, thinks of themself as a bit of an intellectual, and has social climbing ambitions. The other is (usually) slightly older, proudly working class, and savvier.

Was going to do that "ten best sitcoms" meme, but then I remembered that about 90% of all sitcoms worth watching are just Hancock's Half Hour lightly reskinned.

so much is bad right now but the AI stuff in particular is making me insane. a desperate attempt to smother all human creative labor at an absurd cost to the planet by some of the most short-sighted, rapacious, and pathetic people who have ever lived

becoming a bit of a pet complaint at this stage but I'd love to see a study that shows that British readers actually prefer a massive chunky book, because I love a little paperback so much I can't imagine everyone else loving these huge editions

When critics complain that a piece of music “doesn't go anywhere,” where, exactly, do they want it to go? Maybe music can be interesting just hovering and vibrating and shimmering and ululating and grinding in one place? Don't they realize repetition can breed transcendence?

Pleased to say I’m going to drawing fortnightly cartoons for @faroutmagazine.co.uk on the subject of music and film (couldn’t resist one small football reference in my first one, though). faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-squire...

This week in the newsletter - what your three favourite films reveal about the story you most like to look out for, and maybe the story you most like to tell. open.substack.com/pub/joznorri...

Recent arrivals in the mail: Ian Thompson's book on the French musical underground New album by Edena Gardens CD box set of Terry Riley albums

Another year of #SupersonicFestival done. Day 2 highlights: Smote & One Leg One Eye, Death Goals and ZD Grafters. Day 3 highlights: Abdullah Miniawy, Cinder Well and a special performance of/by Funeral Folk; especially enjoyed Six Organs of Admittance and Jackie-O Motherfucker. What a festival. 🙏🤘👏

This thread is exactly how I feel about genAI. Completely turned off by it on all artistic, intellectual and moral levels. I have no interest in anything it can say or generate. It is anti-human.

Reflections while being serenaded by a playlist of [artists redacted] at the garden store just now: For 30 years we’ve had a strain of indie rock that sounds like Neil Young fronting an incompetent high school orchestra, and the verdict of history, when it comes, will be merciless and unforgiving.

My latest is here! Perhaps you’ll find something nice but esoteric to listen to this long stupid weekend. motherslug.substack.com/p/032-eight-...

Down the front for Water Damage, who were even better than I'd expected. 45 minutes of relentless, pulverising drone, at immense volume. 🤘 Will be difficult to top that this weekend. #SupersonicFestival

I recently wrote a piece about Nathan Barley, which ended up being more about Galton and Simpson's film The Rebel. One aspect of the film - the art itself - particularly intrigued me... worldoftelly.beehiiv.com/p/nathan-bar...

Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it

Inspired by Ana, I've finally taken the plunge & started reading my first Pynchon. Dove in while bench-sitting in a park in Antwerp, waiting for @stephthorpe.bsky.social to finish her run. Followed by picnic, gallery, wine, lots of fries & good beer. Really enjoying the book, and Belgium, so far. 🙏😎

Birmingham folks: Hundreds of Beavers is back on the big screen in November. My favourite film of the decade and easily one of the most entertaining films I've ever watched. Not to be missed! 🦫 mockingbirdcinema.com/MockingbirdC...

Finished a new Capsule Garden yesterday while distracting myself from my kid's first day in middle school. New jams from Plume Girl, Stefan Christoff & Daniela Solís, Anthony Vine, Omid Dolatkhah, Richard Youngs, M. Cocoloas, Lagoss & Abagwagwa, Luiz Ser Eu, Tam Lin, & Secret Places of the Lion.

We're taking the rest of August off from the radio show. When we return, archives of all new episodes of The Trailhead will be available only to paying subscribers to my Substack. Until Sept. 1, annual subscriptions are 50% off. ambientaudiophile.substack.com

"Trans people existing does literally nothing negative to your lives you crybaby wimps. Your life is getting harder and costlier because of the oligarchs, not trans people" Sticker spotted in Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA

London folks, I recommend going to this tonight if you're around. They put on a great show at Centrala in Birmingham on Tuesday night - they have a mesmerising, manic energy which sounds great on record but also makes so much more sense when witnessing them on stage. Don't miss out.

Mass Art Inc.: Philip Orenstein, Terry Riley and the Birth of Minimalism Now archived @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Great to see Brighde Chaimbeul featured @newyorker.com but the framing of the headline erases all the fine artists who’ve been bringing the pipes into the avant-garde over the past few decades, from Julia Wolfe to Paul Dunmall, Matthew Welch to Yoshi Wada. daily.bandcamp.com/lists/experi...

YEP

Every. Single. Story. about women not using AI as much as men portray it as bad for their future career prospects (without a shred of evidence) and a result of women being fearful little ladies rather than looking at AI's output and saying "this sucks, it's not going to help me."

🎵 NOW, IN DARKNESS, WORLD STOPS TURNING, ASHES WHERE THEIR BODIES BURNING! NO MORE WAR PIGS HAVE THE POWER! HAND OF GOD HAS STRUCK THE HOUR! 🎵

The Persuaders! is up on ITV's YouTube channel... youtu.be/Ca8LhyS9kEg

Re-posting the short film I made for Almanac Behind, thanks for Wire mag for hosting this. I take a lot of inspiration from Octavia Butler's work in integrating historical/scientific material into my own stuff. We knew years ago what was going to happen with climate, I just try to put it to music.

A new book from @benmoor.bsky.social is always cause for celebration, so today is a good post day. Ben's books - and shows - are funny & cerebral, warm & moving, with wonderful turns of phrase & jokes. A must-see if you're heading to the Edinburgh Fringe next month, and a must-read if you're not.

I'm doing the Camden Fringe on 28-30 July. (6.30pm, Aces and Eights, Tufnell Park). It's a show about my great-grandfather, Cyril (aka "The Bard of Gower") and is a work-in-progress - but some of Cyril's stuff is 80+ years old, so I'm calling those bits "run-in". camdenfringe.com/events/garet...

This took forever, but I am very glad to be able to write this morning that the entire run of Arthur magazine (2002-2008, 2012-13) is finally available online as single issue PDFs. Every page of every issue, either scanned or from the original digital files. FREE. arthurmag.com/read-the-mag...

Well if you don't want people chanting death to you then simply do not be doing genocide crimes, I think it is very simple really

To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

‘Save The Waves’ is available now! Grab your copy of the limited cassette or the digital to support public media 🛟 seawindofbattery.bandcamp.com/album/save-t...