"It's almost oppressive how often I meet somebody and go, 'God, I want to do something with them!'" Exploring Seattle composer Wayne Horvitz's unique vision of music as a continuous spectrum, where the boundaries between improvisation and composition disappear. Wayne Horvitz's 'One Essential Arc':

"With tickets for big-name stars at a premium, it’s a great time to be a tribute act. Artists from ‘Tina Turner’ to the Arctic Numpties take us into their bizarre lives." The Bizarre Lives of Tribute Acts:

"Guitarist Steve Cropper, who left an indelible impression on Memphis soul music as an instrumentalist, producer and songwriter at Stax Records, has died … He was 84." Steve Cropper, Legendary Guitarist for Booker T. & the MG’s, Otis Redding and the Blues Brothers, Dies at 84:

In his 1959 comedy 'Good Morning,' Ozu uncannily portrays how the promises of connection through technology often deliver isolation instead. Bill Cooper explains how the movie's themes resonate with today's techno-anxiety. The Unboxed Television — Yasujirō Ozu's Post-War Vision of Consumerism:

"Brook got his first break in 1984 when he convinced Brian Eno, then a customer in the Toronto video lab where he worked, to collaborate with him. From that meeting came another with U2’s The Edge, who would eventually use one of Brook’s inventions, the Infinite Guitar, on 'With or Without You'."

"In 1999, I interviewed Prince for TIME and he told me to leave my tape recorder off because he didn’t trust what future technology might do with unauthorized recordings of his voice. At the time, I thought Prince was being paranoid." It’s Time to Rage Against the AI Music Machine:

Today's Tonal Treat ✨ #SongOfTheDay #NowPlaying #MusicSky #TonalTreat

"At its core, the A.A.C.M. stood for a refusal to conform, a commitment to new thought, and a belief that Black experimental music deserved room and reverence." 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love the A.A.C.M. (gift link):

Not caught up yet, but started the AOTY 2025 spreadsheet last night. You won't be surprised by the early leader. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, jazz musician Ned Rothenberg discusses the conceptual framework behind his new album 'Looms & Legends,' the title representing the duality in his solo work. Don't miss the full chat on the latest episode of The Tonearm: podcast.thetonearm.com/ned-rothenbe...

A brand new, fully updated version of "Rebel Rebel," part one of the Bowie series (1963-1976), came out this year. Here's how you can get it. It's a large book, so it will look impressively bulky in Xmas wrapping: bookshop.org/p/books/rebe...

"When we just accept that what a streaming service tells us about our music taste is true, there is much that we are not remembering, learning or celebrating about the music of our years and lives." This Spotify Wrapped season, don’t outsource your love of music to AI:

Danz CM's album 'LÄRM!' abandons pop structures for tape-saturated jams inspired by the kosmische music of '70s Germany, while her Synth History project documents the pioneers and gear that made electronic music possible. Cosmic Historian — The Analog Imperative of Danz CM:

"After greeting the reggae star at a London club in May 1973, Morris was invited to join the tour – the start of a strong friendship and unrivaled photographic access." Bob Marley by Dennis Morris—in pictures:

Counterculture icon + Mondo 2000 founder R.U. Sirius reveals an album that hammers a "rusty 9-inch nail into the fontanelle of the 2025 zeitgeist" while blending punk, electronica, and digital skepticism into a reflection of our fragmented times. @rusirius.bsky.social Rhymes Against Reality:

"Cassette players and tapes, vintage Game Boys and boomboxes seem like relics of a bygone era. So why are they being snapped up, sometimes for eye-watering prices?" ‘When you use a Walkman all the memories come back’— the people still in love with old tech:

"One widely beloved and blissfully psychedelic track stands tall, symbolizing the alchemical magic of sampling’s ability to collide disparate sounds from different worlds together to create something thrillingly new: The Orb’s 'Little Fluffy Clouds'."

Australian trumpeter + sound artist Peter Knight discusses the album 'Ŋurru Wäŋa', the concept of raki behind his quintet's practice, and what he learned from his musical relationship with Wágilak song keepers Daniel and David Wilfred. Peter Knight and Hand to Earth — Drawn Together by a Thread:

"'Zamrock,' as it was later named, emerged from a moment when music became a vehicle for liberation and modern identity. A generation of musicians began blending the British + American sounds they heard on the radio—psychedelia, blues, funk—with the folk rhythms and pop hits of their own region."

There is a fifth wave of ska, beyond that which is known to rude boys

All the greatest hits at a slower speed—guaranteed. Plus some egg foo young. 1. Simple Minds - Don’t You Forget About Me 2. Will Web - Spacewalk 3. The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe 4. Vladislav Delay - Huone 5. Swans - Leaving Meaning 6. Pole - Hafen 7. Aphex Twin - #1 8. The Cars - Jacki

"[Herbie Hancock] recorded three albums of electronic funk-jazz so dazzling in both conception and execution that no one has ever got close to matching them in terms of both musicianly chutzpah and carefully organised abstract design. And funk."

Today's Tonal Treat ✨ #SongOfTheDay #NowPlaying #MusicSky #TonalTreat

"Left foot on the hi-hat pedal, right foot on the kick-drum pedal, left hand on the snare, right hand on the ride cymbal. When it starts to flow, you’re like da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man: You’re in a holy circle of equilibrium, blissfully distributed, with consciousness diffused to your extremities."

Berlin-based composer + sound engineer Bridget Ferrill's album 'Domschatzkammer' refracts instruments through each other, slows a Bach chorale beyond recognition, and transforms the harp into an emotional outlet bent by catastrophe. The Flesh of Sound — Bridget Ferrill Finds Beauty in the Tension:

absolutely tickled to see JJJJJerome come up on my feed

"Another kind of ignorance was at play, too … The art, complexity, and genius of sound design, which I had scarcely considered beyond animation. An entire world we’d been subject to and yet I had not consciously realised was there." Listening to the Sound of Movies about Sound:

In this excerpt from the new episode of our podcast, Ned Rothenberg discusses his history with the band Fall Mountain, his first solo ventures in New York, and the influence of mentors like Evan Parker. Tune in to the full conversation on The Tonearm Podcast: podcast.thetonearm.com/ned-rothenbe...

"One of the most high-profile clients has been Tom Waits, a musician who remains very loyal to his Beat influences. These were often evident in a magnificent body of work recorded by the man at Prairie Sun itself." Interview with Prairie Sun Recording's Mark 'Mooka' Rennick:

"Musician Johnny Marr (The Smiths) discusses doing the work, the spirituality of craft, and not getting hung up on outcomes." Johnny Marr on Enjoying the Process No Matter the Outcome:

British composer Jamie Hamilton discusses his collaboration with Phaedra Ensemble to turn internet-age mythology about an unexplained global drone into a "darkly humorous fever-dream" about collective hallucination. Lost in the Hum — 'Versionland' and the Edge of Perception:

"The fabled Billie Holiday takes slow steps into the spotlight, walking like a dreamer over a carpet of eggshells. Before the microphone, as the celebrated voice lifts and pours, she is alive again, as though all the long, long road leads always and only to this moment in the lights."

“If you want them to stay longer than planned, you have to be someone that they are entertained by and that they feel like they’re making work with you. Any really good photographer, you’re also in part like a psychiatrist.” Lynn Goldsmith on Photographing Rock’s Golden Era:

Oregon-based emcee LXOR's album 'Shadows 2: The End We Cannot Understand' marks a departure from occult histories and ancient grimoires, turning toward depression, grief, and the intergenerational pain of being a Black man in America. Farmer, Activist, Emcee — LXOR's Alchemy of Personal Reckoning:

Tremendous admiration & respect for @andrewhickey.500songs.com's "The History of Rock Music in 500 Songs," but I don't listen to podcasts much. He just dropped an 80+ minute bonus episode about Lee Perry, so I subscribed. It is the best podcast I have ever heard. www.patreon.com/posts/500-so...

"To achieve mesmerizing and ethereal tunes like 'Tape Bowing Ensemble,' the group attaches bows to the analog tape wound around a reel, and they’ve been known to strum the tape like a guitar, tap suspended lengths with drumsticks, or spin reels like DJ turntables." Meet Open Reel Ensemble:

"The band named themselves Japan, having 'no idea what it meant other than a place far away.' Initially influenced by avant-glam such as Roxy Music and the more artful side of American punk, they made slow but determined progress in the London punk scene, for which they felt little affinity."

Today's Tonal Treat ✨ #SongOfTheDay #NowPlaying #MusicSky #TonalTreat

"For 15 years, he has been at the forefront of an obscure but vital industrywide effort to save old tapes — for which he employs an assortment of handmade tools and Rube Goldberg-worthy machines in a cramped workshop." The ‘Race Against Time’ to Save Music Legends’ Decaying Tapes (gift link):

On 'Vesper Sparrow,' JJJJJerome Ellis transforms involuntary speech into musical structure, returns to childhood hymns outside the church, and experiments with granular synthesis as well as sound environments designed for slower listening. Words Suspended — JJJJJerome Ellis and the Sacred Pause:

"When we learned he wanted to have more than a dozen performers at the Tiny Desk, playing everything from cello, saxophone and marimba to a Brazilian timbau and zabumba, we weren't sure we'd be able to fit it all in." David Byrne — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...

Today, multi-instrumentalist and composer Ned Rothenberg joins The Tonearm Podcast to discuss his first solo album in 13 years, 'Looms and Legends.' Rothenberg explores his development of a personal musical language across alto saxophone, clarinets, and shakuhachi flute … #jazzsky

"The bass chose me to be honest. I didn’t have any real career plan, I just loved the bass and loved to lose myself in it. I soon became intrigued that money could be made by playing music. It still astounds me that I make my living doing this." Jah Wobble shares his likes, loves and loathes:

"[SUSS's Bob] Holmes discussed ambient country further, describing the genre as 'sustained instrumentation meant to evoke certain feelings.' Holmes believes ambient country is the meeting point between Pink Floyd’s psychedelia and the darker moments of The Velvet Underground."

One of hip-hop's most cerebral artists grapples with the nature of morality. Parsing Lamar's lyrics reveals a complex philosophical system where earthly existence traps us in perpetual error while salvation waits in the beyond. All Earthly Doings Are Wrongdoings — Kendrick Lamar and Error Theory:

"The lyrics are a one-sided conversation, like a prayer to God. I wanted it to be like a Greek chorus – not just one voice – so I used a vocoder." How Laurie Anderson made the experimental classic O Superman:

"There's a reason that producer and fan Nigel Godrich once put up an inspirational sign in the studio while working with Radiohead that read: 'What would Trevor Horn do?'" Trevor Horn on the pioneering synth that defined the sound of Welcome to the Pleasuredome:

British-American songwriter Hirons discusses her debut record 'Future Perfect', how years of bedroom recording became a lifeline during a draining day job, and why she measures music by emotional resonance rather than technical perfection. Listening from the Heart — Hirons' Emotional Portfolio:

"The 27 November edition of The Wire’s weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra included music by Ipek Gorgun, Leslie Keffer, Anna Schnabel, Laibach, Hamid Drake & Pat Thomas and more …" Chris Bohn presents Adventures In Sound And Music: