One of these will almost certainly get a box set that will be a make or break moment for the artist handlers in question. At least two I can see new vinyl pressings for, but that's it

zohran quoting and then rejecting "the era of big government is over," the line that captured the zenith of clintonian neoliberalism, is highly symbolic

Scientists believe these great albums will all turn 40 this year

Wow. Thanks to an obscure 1870s law, every 34-year-old Das Racist fan gets 30% knocked off their rent as soon as Mamdani takes the oath of office.

I've been thinking about her remarkable New Yorker essay ever since I read it. It was a brave thing to write with the far too limited time she had left.

post a perfect album from 2037 that isn't Scrobottom Layabouts, Deez 4 Finger Jabs, The Boost Goblins, or Lunar Cramden and the Solartots

Lots of people are referring to Marty Supreme as "Josh Safdie’s solo directorial debut." Not true! His solo debut was the mumblecore-era gem The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008), which began as a piece of sponcon for Kate Spade Handbags. Important Safdies history.

From the director who brought you "Licorice Pizzas"

I spent so much time this year thinking about the Boo Radleys. Over on my newsletter, I've published a long interview with Sice about Britpop memories, bickering with Alan McGee, worshipping MBV, and why he thinks Wake Up! is the worst Boos album.

"dynamic pricing" is truly one of the more sinister 21st century developments

Marty Supreme 2 will follow Marty in the '70s as he opens up his marriage, has an affair with Leonard Bernstein, and stars in several L'eggs pantyhose commercials in order to fund his increasingly unsustainable Quaaludes habit.

"Only a few hundred theaters in the country still have the capability to project a 35-millimeter film. The biggest print collections are within federal institutions ... but the commercial irrelevance of the medium has engendered a general indifference toward its care in some quarters."

People say 2025 was the year millennials got old. Not me, though. I'm still youthful and have a ton of joie de vivre. I can name multiple Sabrina Carpenter songs and have no memory of 9/11.

Post a perfect album from the '90s that isn't 4 Non Blondes, Crash Test Dummies, Deadeye Dick, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Willi One Blood, Days of the New, or Eiffel 65.

I do not want to know what home renovation horrors led both halves of the bronstein marriage to make movies about leaky holes in ceilings this year

I do find it pretty funny that Megadoc is available to watch on the Criterion Channel but Megalopolis is not.

Real people Nicolas Cage has played: 1. Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (1920s gangster) 2. Ned Hanlan (1800s sculling champ) 3. Charlie Kaufman 4. John McLoughlin (cop) 5. Charles B. McVay III (USS Indianapolis officer) 6. Gary Faulkner (Bin Laden hunter) 7. himself (sort of?) 8. St. Joseph 9. John Madden

It was a pleasure to review the great new Big Thief album for the fourth issue of ANTICS Magazine

honorable mention: Sublime's "Doin' Time"

The seasonal focus on "A Long December" is distracting us from recognizing that "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" is the '90s "Visions of Johanna"

A Discogs buyer messaged me: "hi do you have emerson lake and palmer concerts from 1977 and 1978 ROB." I wrote back: "What does ROB stand for?" He replied: "ROB MEANS ROBERT."

DISCLOSURE DAY is Spielberg's first contemporary-set film since THE BFG in 2016. Prior to that it was WAR OF THE WORLDS in 2005.

Mid-'20s movies that are set in the '50s yet full of '80s needle drops: • Queer (2024) • Marty Supreme (2025) • ???

It's profoundly sad to see the Flaming Lips reduced to this

Oscar prediction time! Looks like the Best Supporting Actor race will come down to five nominees...

MARTY SUPREME (2025): Josh Safdie is the only director on the planet who would assemble Abel Ferrara, Larry "Ratso" Sloman, and Mitchell Wenig to play sweaty greaseballs in a $60-million prestige movie and I do love him for that.

To be honest, I wanted to interview Cameron Winter's mom (author of a bestselling polyamory memoir) for the New York Mag piece, but she didn't respond to my emails.

one of the reasons Smile 2 is a really effective movie is that you can really easily imagine like half of our contemporary female pop stars in a situation where they're afflicted by a supernatural curse

Here's Yo La Tengo covering "Mrs. Robinson" with Susanna Hoffs last night

it’s so funny how my (well-meaning!!) gentile friends are like “may the menorah candles illuminate our world in this dark time” and jews are like “cool, latkes”

As an addendum to my Sunday Review, I decided to publish a long interview I did with the Boo Radleys' lead singer, Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, back in 2022:

Here's Yo La Tengo turning "Be My Baby" into a dream-pop lullaby the other night

Because if you care about securely owning a movie that you love--as opposed to "owning" it only until a license agreement over which you have no control expires without warning--you need a DVD or Blu-ray. The hardware may be yesterday; the concern is very much of this moment.

Yo La Tengo Hanukkah Season is the only time of year I almost understand what it's like to be a Phish fan.

I wrote about Geese for New York Mag's "Reasons to Love New York" issue

a fav 2025 record you may have missed iykyk avaluna.bandcamp.com/album/ava-luna

Drozd has been the musical heart of the Flaming Lips for 30 years. He's the guy who brings Wayne's wacky concepts to life and sculpts incredible albums like Zaireeka and The Soft Bulletin. Without him, the Lips are a gimmicky nostalgia vessel.

I wrote a mini-profile of Geese for the new issue of New York magazine. I love this band and am deeply unnerved by the fact that they were born in 2002.

Feels like the Flaming Lips are basically just a tribute band now.

Really very good stuff from Zach that made me want to watch all three of these movies again immediately. bsky.app/profile/zach...

Ever since I saw One Battle After Another, I've thought about what it means that this is PTA's first movie set in the present century since Punch-Drunk Love. So, I wrote an essay about One Battle After Another and Bugonia and a year of movies that grapple with the ugliness of present-day America.

the most tragic part of being an immortal vampire is helplessly watching as all the hit ragtime ditties you wrote slowly enter the public domain

Pretty unimaginably dark year for Hollywood. Started with the fires and Lynch's death, ended with Rob and Michele Reiner being murdered in their own home.

I don't think I realized what a great comic actor Rob Reiner could be until Scorsese cast him as the cantankerous dad in The Wolf of Wall Street

When Rob Reiner was on his all-time epic run at the start of his career, he had an opportunity to read a script that was looking for a production partner, and he lost his mind for it. He decided Castle Rock had to have it, no matter what.

A father and son committing an antisemitic mass shooting together is one of the more horrific things that have entered my consciousness this year.

[meeting Dick Van Dyke but getting him confused with Van Dyke Parks] I loved your work on Joanna Newsom's "Ys," sir

I have a friend who was born in 2003, which means that if he lives as long as Dick Van Dyke, he'll live to see the 22nd century.

It's probably foolish to think a 34-year-old governor will successfully translate into being a national political figure, but I still think Ella McCay would be in my top 5 for "who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden?"

[I get home to find a note on the refrigerator that says "I'm leaving and i'm taking the kids"] me: [unplugs fridge from power outlet] you're not going anywhere, you piece of shit