As per usual, I've written up my Top 50 Albums of the Year, with a long playlist of awesome songs included. Give it a read / listen if you're so inclined. Not sure what I would do with myself if not for music! medium.com/commodorejon...

Wrote some stuff about an artist that’s never taken a break from being an artist. Danny Brown consistently shows us what it means to create without fear and embrace humanity, and his newest is no exception. Give it a read if so inclined!

Assata Shakur died on September 25th, and a movie about a Black revolutionary who kills an armed agent of the state and has to flee the country and abandon her daughter was released on September 26th. Fate has a sense of humor sometimes.

Hogan tried to kick out of cardiac arrest, Death said that doesn’t work for me brother

Today is the 20th birthday of an all-time favorite: Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. Thoughts on a modern classic, and what it can mean to us today on a 4th of July that feels less worthwhile than ever. merrygoroundmagazine.com/illinois-at-...

Twenty years after its release, and on July 4th no less, Sufjan Stevens' ILLINOIS feels like a hopeful piece of fiction. The America in these songs isn’t the one we live in today, but through community and solidarity, we can make it into something better.

I keep seeing Block Club stories like "Ukrainian Village Residents Want Satellite Police Station, Mayor's Office Makes No Promises" and I'd just like to know how I can express to a reporter that I absolutely do not want another police station near my home.

Since finding myself incapable of listening to anything other than Bob Dylan for the last two months, I figured my only recourse was to get all of my thoughts out of my head and into writing. Enter the thunderdome with me, if you dare. commodorejones64.medium.com/every-bob-dy...

It's done! My 50 favorite albums of 2024 are here for your perusing pleasure, with playlist and more in tow. Give it a look, I hope you see some of your own favorites and maybe find something new you'll love. Happy new year! medium.com/commodorejon...

An honor to be able to ramble a little bit on the #1 pick for MGRM this year, along with several other awesome releases. Check it out!

As a little AOTY list preview here's a dozen of my favorite individual moments in songs from 2024, in no particular order. Highly recommend listening to the whole song to hear these in context!

All of these are terrible other than the one that basically just cleans up the current design. The seal of Illinois is iconic and has a ton of historical value, why replace it with some generic rendition of 21 stars?

Not including any December release latecomers my AOTY "shortlist" officially comes in at 135 albums. Time to get to work!

Kendrick album staggeringly good. Every publication just cancelled their scheduled Dec 1 AOTY list post. Tear it up and start over.

Reached a brand new lifetime peak chess rating today @fettywap where you at

No shade whatsoever towards Andre but I feel like I'm being punked by the Grammy's nominating New Blue Sun for AOTY. Grammy voters are not listening to that shit, why even bother to pretend to care about it? Who are they trying to impress? Who are they even pandering to?

Enjoying watching the conservative brain trust on the other site cry foul about the mayor’s proposed property tax increase and insist that they should do layoffs instead, because you know they don’t realize that the layoffs in question would be mostly cops

Officially deleted Twitter off my phone so probably more posts coming here soon. Gonna try to find more people I know but happy to follow back whoever seems cool. Anyway here’s some recent cat photos.

Howdy friends, here's my annual roundup of my top albums of the year! I think there's something in here for everyone, so check it out if you're looking for something new or just want to see if your favorites were my favorites too.

Chicago shit that needs to die in 2024: >"tavern style" / being weirdly insecure about deep dish >Melissa Conyears-Ervin's political ambitions >People stopping at red lights at Damen and Lake >15-minute Blue Line lead times during rush hour >Jerry Reinsdorf

Don’t let the White Sox race to 100 losses or the hilariously awful Bears distract you from the truly generational choke job the Cubs have put on over the last 3 weeks.

Oft-overlooked aspect of going to the second game of a doubleheader - they been cookin those onions for hours already

People seemed to appreciate the catsitting photos yesterday, so here’s a couple pictures of my own actual cat. His name is Lefty, and he is deeply untrustworthy.

I’ve been overthinking what my first post on this platform should be so here’s a photo of the two cats I’m looking after for a couple weeks while my neighbors are away. Their names are Mac and Cheese.