Lage/Peterson Dylan lineup is a revelation. After sanding Lancio & Britt down to automatons, the band sounds loose and wiggly again. Every song breathing more.

my final dispatch on dylan & the dead’s 1986 shows for @raypadgett.bsky.social's newsletter, in which dylan finds a new way to get booed & i rediscover my fave paul williams passage (& an all-time fave piece of rock writing, really), hearing genius in how dylan forgets the words to "shot of love"

This nifty little device plays Dylan bootlegs. You can dial up a show by month/day/year. I’m listening to Saturday night’s ace tape right now.

As AI takes over the menial tasks interns and trainees perform, it also raises the ceiling for what they can do. This push and pull may dictate the future of apprenticeships, according to Kellogg's Luis Rayo. Read why at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/3bccf8

“Nobody wants to work anymore.” Or at least that’s what many employers claim. But businesses hoping to improve hiring should gather intelligence on competitive wages, suggests Kellogg's Ben Friedrich. Learn how at Kellogg Insight. kell.gg/8d33eb

Saluting Mikel Merino with the cookie version of him I ate last month in Spain.

Great stuff from Chris that captures what I've been scratching at today. And I always forgive his National fandom because he's from Ohio and can't help it.

Excited for this one...retrospectively feels like Deerhunter is the paragon of the weirder path not taken by indie rock at the end of the 2000s.

Harry Kane sounds like the reconstructed mummy voice.

He didn’t show up, must’ve found a better gig?

Nice to see the federal government following the outdoor music venue policy of “we don’t care if you die, just don’t do it where we’re liable.”

CHICAGO! This Friday, the Kilbourn Park 2026 Summer Concert Series kicks off for FREE from 6-8pm! Smut will headline (think The Sundays with a pop-punk twist) and Hollow Bastion are opening (twangy indie rock like Florry or Ratboys) Expect a very chill vibe: picnic blankets, leashed dogs, byob!

In April, I ventured to a part of Illinois I didn’t know existed to dig for records in a warehouse overstuffed with them.

Immortal life advice

Amazing — a dude I’ve seen play many $5 burger nights at Fitzgerald’s.

Hey, I have a book coming out on September 8. It's about The Strokes. This week, until Friday June 26, you can preorder at bn.com and get 25 percent off. Just enter preorder code ORDER25. Also: These people have already read it and liked it!

Never have I suffered such a direct hit from The Onion.

Thank you, birthright citizenship, for that goal

I guess I’ll watch the entire Canada game instead of 3 hours of US pregame show?

First I Shall Be Released since 2008 last night?

Thank you Cubs for playing such a weirdly slow 1-1 game I was able to get home from the magic show at The Vic quickly.

Hey, maybe the Hammond Bears will run out on the field to “Steve Albini’s Blues.”

My report from the opening night of Bob Dylan's Long Hot Summer tour www.mojo4music.com/articles/sto...

I have heckled TC so much about not playing the Midwest that I'm obligated to go to this.

Here's a snippet of the live debut of the Basement Tapes super-deep cut "Baby Won't You Be My Baby" I believe this marks the longest gap EVER between Dylan recording a song and playing it live. 59 years. The previous record-holder was "Outlaw Blues" (42 years).

I love Other Performing Artists

Chicago!! Presenting your Kilbourn Park 2026 Summer Concert Series lineup Smut, Tobacco City, Krill, National Photo Committee, Hollow Bastion, V.V. Lightbody, Starcharm, Radio Outernational, and more wonderful local artists playing for free! 6-8pm every Friday in July 🎨 by the lovely Chi Nwosu

The work doesn’t end when you leave the C-suite. Kellogg's Thomas O'Toole offers tips to get the most out of your next stage. kell.gg/051900

My zine about Junkshop Glam is nearing the printing stages! (I'm just waiting on my buddy to finish the cover.) If you want a FREE physical copy, send me your address in a DM!

Latest from me: At least 22 million pounds of plastic waste end up in the Great Lakes every year.⁠ ⁠Made from climate-changing fossil fuels, plastics are linked to myriad health problems. Industry executives blame consumers for the waste, using tactics borrowed from and shared with Big Tobacco.

Mickey at his narc-est.

"This is me gaming table. This is where it all happens, a new episode every week, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. We'll have some fun, y'know, but we're going to try to play for real."

DEVELOPING: Blues Hammer has withdrawn from President Trump’s America 250 celebration.

Solid bit.

That America 250 state fair lineup is going to be all photos of Mike Love in like a week.

There's a new Guided By Voices album out this week, so I decided to undertake an epic task — I ranked every member of GBV, nearly three dozen of them, from Tobin Sprout to "Smitty" and "Captain Bizarre" and wrote about their amazing/crazy/hilarious history tinyurl.com/syk6wuuv

Wrote about a new paper that confirms some of the problems with engagement-based social media algorithms but ALSO suggests a better option. All experiments run on Bluesky!

!!!

I just learned that Richard O'Brien posted his original ROCKY HORROR demos on Bandcamp, and it just sounds like a legendary lost folk punk album. Like if you told me this was actually Neutral Milk Hotel or @evangreer.bsky.social, I'd probably believe you. richardobrien.bandcamp.com/album/the-ro...

Hey, I started a site/newsletter to continue the work of my recently-cancelled column. I features a monthly (free) rundown of good experimental releases, plus a bonus (paid-sub) post on a single release from the month. Check out goodexperimentalmusic.com and thanks to everyone who encouraged this!

And also in honor of the release of MANDALORIAN AND GROGU, here is the greatest piece of unofficial Yoda merchandise (a painting that I spotted on eBay over 20 years ago!).

It's the Friday before Memorial Day, so as one does I'm sharing my recent @kellogginsight.bsky.social piece on antitrust compliance. (Just noticed it went up Wednesday.) You probably didn't know there's a new antitrust whistleblower award program. insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/in-a...

If recent Flaming Lips stories have given you the ick, there's still this album to get that orchestral-Fridmann hit (with more timely lyrics than Coyne's cat poster text).

Yes, I have also seen ten bands.

Live Bait 24 is up, some phishcrit pull quotes: 11/6/98 Melt: "one of the dancier Melts you’ll ever hear" 10/25/94 Mike's Groove: "really good, far-reaching Weekapaug" 11/22/95 Free: "mixed results at best" 11/4/98 Frankie: "revisits the elusive free-floating sensation of Lemonwheel late-night.

The age-old strategy of diversifying portfolios with international stocks has recently come under fire. But Robert Korajczyk argues diversification still works ... if investors choose wisely. kell.gg/f4df65

Another walk-off win…post nude Fredbird.