PICTS: In the News!

Laid up with a nasty cold. Help arrived, just in time.

Another search for Gibson City suspect concludes unsuccessfully www.news-gazette.com/news/another...

It makes me proud to see this. @krankyltd.bsky.social plays the colored vinyl game to good purposes and not for the sake of juicing sales or to follow the crowd.

I’m keeping this one.

@lowtheband.bsky.social We’re looking forward to Sept. 20 in Urbana!

You should know that @stephenebaker.bsky.social was once in @krankyltd.bsky.social band Tomorrowland and has continued to make wonderful music.

If you ever thought of yourself as a rebel, free thinker, nonconformist, freak, or outsider; observing the audience at a Pere Ubu show quickly reminded you of what a normie you really were. What a range of individuals were in those rooms.

Repost with your favorite James Bond (wrong answers only)

@utexaspress.bsky.social is having a spring sale. Use code UTXSPRING and save 40% on “You’re with Stupid.”

People who know me know that I’m skeptical about protests. But this not the time for quibbling. HANDS OFF.

Well, this is a new one.

A perfect pairing.

Book sighting in Chicago: your Barnes & Noble over dere by your Diverseys.

Book sighting at McNally Jackson Books in NYC. Excelsior!

I saw two college students, male and female, wearing berets today and my NY Times/Atlantic think piece is ready: “Are Zoomers being Frenchified? They already want to work 30 hrs a week and like croissants.”

Chester enjoys the placement of his scratchy pad. No 2 in the series.

Chester is enjoying his giraffe blankie. #2 in a series

Jules Feiffer, 1974

Along with “Feiffer on Nixon,” hugely important to my younger self. Rest triumphant.

Chester FINALLY gets his own giraffe blankie.

Indie rock and (is ?) horror. Thanks @joedummy.bsky.social

And so this is Christmas.

Use code UTXGIFT and get 40% off You’re with Stupid from it press.utexas.edu. Now thru 1/31/25.

While in Milwaukee last weekend Brent Gutzeit very kindly shared a stack of releases. His aural and visual work skirted boundaries and pulled in collaborators. And it was good to see him.

Great to see @bencrowell.bsky.social and other chums. MKE never lets me down.

Saturday! shepherdexpress.com/music/music-...

Crucial.

It will be a Cream City Friday for me Swing by if you’re in MKE.

"The book really instilled a sense of not giving a single fuck about what anyone thought outside the four of us making the record." What can I say? Sincere thanks to @joedummy.bsky.social and Dummy. floodmagazine.com/178048/5-non...

"You're with Stupid" is now available on paperback1 Order directly from @utexaspress.bsky.social , visit your favorite independent bookstore or get one of a VERY LIMITED supply I'm selling. flingcosound.bandcamp.com/merch/bruce-... I will sign it for you.

Six Organs of Admittance, Sept. 19, Urbana IL

Eli Winter Trio, 9.12 Urbana IL

On Oct. 1 the paperback edition of my book is coming out via @utexaspress.bsky.social.

It's 2034, and you just paid $535 for a double LP by Callous Post on mint and chocolate chip-swirled vinyl.

Laughing Hyenas on one of the craziest nights of rock I've ever attended. youtu.be/V4Ve1_S46FU?...

Central Illinois Grimness.

While the spouse is away I indulge my fascination with Iron Curtain Sci/fi.

I’ll take “Unlikely Partnerships” for $200.

FACS at #cobrafest in beautiful downtown Tolono IL 7/6/24. Favoritest band.

I’m honestly glad I don’t live in Chicago today. The memories would wrap me up. I find myself thinking of a bar called Augenblick on Damen by Irving Park where Shellac played their first, “secret shows.”

My thanks to Justin for including me in this article.

Nick Brackney and Steven Baker were in Tomorrowland(#kranky, #darla #burnthair) and have reconvened as The Conversationalist. Their new music is on @bandcamp.bsky.social and comes highly recommended. Tasty electronica with some sand in the gears.

I enjoyed the movie and thought I’d reacquaint myself with the book. So I pulled it off the shelf, and look what I found…

Being a former Syracusan, I never saw/heard that connection. For me, the differentiation lies in whether you say "soda" or "pop" and how you pronounce Syracuse ("Seer-ah-cuse" or "Sare-ah-cuse."

RIP Mary Wells. Wrnlrd, who corresponded with her regularly, introduced me to the depths the music of the Shangri-Las expressed. This track was his tribute. flingcosound.bandcamp.com/track/black-...

The Pitchfork news is ominous for anyone who values ongoing coverage of a wide array of music forms and musicians. It's no coincidence the boot was aimed at a unionized, diverse editorial staff who covered a range of music by previously marginalized groups. Solidarity with all those affected.

Roxy Music's "Love is the Drug" is just a cleaned up version of Laughing Hyenas' "Love's My Only Crime."

Right up my strasse.