*lap steel intensifies*

Glass houses dept.: "it typified in my eyes just how boring a 12-bar blues can be if you play it for 20 minutes": Robert Plant, on a CSNY performance of 'Down by the River,' Feb 1970

The Reader’s Best of Chicago issue is out today, I wrote 10 percent of the critic’s picks, which I’ll thread below. But first, here’s all the editorial contributions to the music and nightlife section chicagoreader.com/best-of-chic...

The consequences of war are devastating. In a study of 135 wars across 115 countries from 1946 to­ 2023, Prof. Efraim Benmelech found that war, on average, led to a decline in real GDP by about 13 percent. Learn more at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/e6a419

The Cardinals apparently have a relief pitcher named Blewett, file that away for your baseball humor needs.

velvet underground researchers have apparently confirmed that this audio from a random youtube user is genuinely the long-lost july '67 performance from upbeat, a cleveland teen tv show, doing the unreleased "guess i'm falling in love" complete with screaming girls. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU2U...

Wrote about former Northwestern engineering school dean Julio Ottino's advice on merging art and science, for @kellogginsight.bsky.social insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/reci...

“We’re Trying to Save Your Ass!” Sun Ra / Nuclear War Mega Mix (1982-1988) 🚨FIVE HOURS OF NOTHING BUT NUCLEAR WAR!🚨 Now archived @wfmu.bsky.social STREAM ▶️ wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Can't tell if this new Callahan is great or if it's just 60 degrees outside. Very dangerous time of year.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

We're doing baseball positivity in 2026.

Beautiful piece by Adam Waytz about the value of awe and "I don't know" to fight the disenchanting experience of AI.

On days when major albums are released, people use music streaming services on their smartphone 40% more, and U.S. traffic fatalities increase by 15% www.nber.org/papers/w3486...

We tend to associate the word “negotiate” with salary and home buying—but for Kellogg’s Leigh Thompson, the list should be much longer. On an episode of “Ask Insight,” Thompson demonstrates how to negotiate solutions in tricky situations. #KelloggLeader kell.gg/10d8df

I think about this bit almost every day.

Delightful setlist from the Furnaces last night, all medleys except for "Evergreen," which sounded amazing played straight by comparison. And a new song debut!

snow day news drop: last week, i turned in a draft of the book i've been working on for the past 6 years! right now, it's called "the invisible hit parade: a taper's history of music" & will be out in 2027 from da capo/hachette. much more to come, obviously!

New Messthetics! After seeing them last year, Anthony Pirog immediately became one of my new favorite guitarists.

Professor Sébastien Martin's experience deploying AI in his classroom shows how domain knowledge and experimentation can lead to true breakthroughs. Learn how at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/0adcd5

More jamband fan problems: When I log live shows on my listening diary, I use the format "City, State Date". I'm listening to one of the MMW Jam Cruise sets. What location is Jam Cruise? International Waters?

I'd like to recommend an interesting jam by an up-and-coming band but it unfortunately happens 20 minutes into a Train cover?

Got distracted by all the interesting writing about the new Beach Boys box set and forgot Love You is one of the worst albums I've ever heard.

Good call, sick track:

Guess who's back?

Happy to be back doing one of my favorite things: Talking about Grateful Dead live albums that have "Picks" in the title with my best pal Rob Mitchum. tinyurl.com/52m65emf

Guess who's back?

This is absolutely going to kill the SEO of my Widespread Panic/Can cover band.

R.E.M. Live at Circle Pavilion - University of Illinois at Chicago 1987-11-04 https://archive.org/details/ajc02667_rem1987-11-04.aud

Drove the long way home so I could listen to the rest of Hearts of Oak. What an album.

For your Bandcamp Friday consideration. CD limited yo 200 copies. Will not last long. DLs are forever. chrisforsyth1.bandcamp.com/album/both-and

"Don’t ask a bot what to think, ask a bot how to think.” – Kellogg's Brian Uzzi, on how to avoid short-circuiting the brainstorming process. Learn more in Uzzi's full discussion on AI and creativity at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/0ae87c #KelloggLeader

I will introduce a RARE 35mm screening of the Bob Dylan/Larry Charles film MASKED AND ANONYMOUS on 35mm at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social on March 3, then sign and sell copies of my book BOB DYLAN AS FILMMAKER in the lounge afterwards. Chicago Dylanheads come thru! musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-ev...

Holy crap, they Grayfolded The Diamond Sea?!?

Tfw it’s a slow FOTD

The entire cities of Amsterdam (red), Paris (blue), and Barcelona (purple) can fit inside Chicago. All borders use the same geographic scale (1:175000). The European cities have been rotated and/or flipped, but not resized.

omg, @sartorialpsychic.bsky.social of the deadhead style archive not only found someone with an original keith haring grateful dead shirt from '77 but turned up another piece of keith haring dead art & the story behind it. (more at the link & also in "heads"!) www.instagram.com/p/DUHjArljC9_

I'd like to meet the other person who named SML as "Best Jammy Non-Phish Artist" in @guyforget.bengreenfield.com's poll, but I suspect it was just Ben himself.

The way I presented that link might make it look like I'm the one who wrote it (sorry); in fact, it's by Vinnie Sperrazza, who is just about to begin serializing on his newsletter a history of drumming. Excited for it! vinniesperrazza.substack.com/p/chapter-on...

Postdoc openings at Kellogg/Northwestern! Review begins Feb 15 (rolling until filled). Apply / details: www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-re...

🚨 Phish Fan Survey 🚨 I’m conducting a survey of Phish fans, covering everything from your favorite jam of 2025 to most-desired bustouts and beyond. Please participate and share in your group chats, Facebook groups and wherever else you nerd out about Phish. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year. That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027. A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications. A short 🧵

“If there is a middle ground between Cluster & Eno, Terry Riley’s Shri Camel, and Yo La Tengo’s There’s a Riot Going On, it’s somewhere nearby.“ Coming in March c/o @intlanthem.bsky.social.

recorded 60 years ago today in New York, with Michael Bloomfield & most of The Band. one of the most frustrating studio breakdowns ever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhpz...

If I ever post about a comment left on one of my Pitchfork reviews, please zap me with a cattle prod.

"Creativity takes preparation, persistence, and vulnerability. Luckily, Kellogg faculty have research and insights into ways to inspire creativity, collaboration, and innovation in yourself and your team. Read more at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/5e8436

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “The popularity of ‘Heated Rivalry,’ it seems, is a welcome burst of enthusiasm for gay life in a new era of anti-gay prejudice,” write the social scientists Tessa Charlesworth and Eli Finkel.

my dad on bob weir

I've always been fascinated by what makes music swing. It's kind of an elusive thing, but sometimes one can better understand something by observing its absence. This robot playing John Coltrane's solo on "Giant Steps" is a case in point.

1916 Chicago Examiner headline