Unrelated: I have a radio show: nqra.live

This is the kind of thing that if Trump himself were there, he'd say, "Yes, I would ask you to do that"

Yes payola was a corrupt practice but driving around to radio stations and delivering 45s and envelopes full of cash directly to DJs, not Program Directors, was pretty rad actually

Writing good, simple—dumb, even—lyrics is the hardest thing

Best purchase of year is easily wok. Plus it's hand-hammered so can use it for recording

Just learned of a growing new category of folks whose plight fails to evoke sympathy: "accidental landlords"

Is #CountryRockSunday really a thing? If so, long live Country Rock Sunday!

Going deep with Marvin Gaye, and it's clear that he was one of the great geniuses of the 20th century. I know this is not exactly news to most people, but I can be slow on the uptake with canonical figures

Fun to revisit this era. At least one record I played on is on this list

Calling for a pause on the synecdoche "boots on the ground." Just say "ground troops." They're people.

Legendary "Whoppers Junior" article is 25 years old

Can someone explain "Balearic" music? Not sure I get the appeal, or even what it is

Housing stock is a rich fragrant broth made from homes

Logging into X is immediately seeing a post about some new country bro named Tyler, Brody, Cody, or whatever.

Breaking in a new set of flats

Teamed up with Prairiewolf to cover George Strait & Joni for our recent Lagniappe Session at @aquariumdrunkard.com

Never noticed until now, but "Eyes of the World" has a bit of a "What's Going On" vibe going on

I don't even particularly like Stratocasters, but Jack White calling the instrument used by Jimi Hendrix and Nile Rodgers a "white boy blues guitar" is unserious

RIP Augie

Vladimir, ugh. So sick of academics being represented as super bougie when so many are the children of immigrants and/or working class

Kind of over living in the country. Being dependent on a car and paying insurance feels unsustainable. What are some affordable, walkable cities?

An instructional video classic: Gary Willis, Progressive Bassics

Spent some time last night with the shelved Albini-engineered Fugazi recordings, as one does. It’s a vibe for sure, but I get why all parties involved weren’t satisfied. Can’t quite put my finger on why it doesn’t work. Something to do with the rhythm section tempos and lack of space

Rough week. If you need me, I'll be here learning the brilliant bass lines of James Jamerson www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQnV...

Your monthly Bandcamp Friday reminder

Roger Waters' politics are perplexing: a defender of Russia & Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but also, a longtime critic of Israel and pro-Palestinian activist. Decent bassist but "Money" is overrated

"Never use a cruelty where a joke would do in its place" —Andy Cohen, Silkworm

Where are all the student protests and walkouts? Feels like US high school and college students are either pro-war and/or more apathetic than ever

Running melodic minor and altered scales is breaking my mind

Boulder, CO: Music & Recorded Sound Archivist, University of Colorado Boulder

We're being led into war by nihilistic psychopaths posing as heretical Christians

Beginning to think you can't trust right-wingers who espouse an anti-war, America first platform

I've tried with Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry so many times but nothing clicks...what am I missing?

New show up at @nqra.bsky.social, in which the case is made that country disco is Cosmic American Music

I'm not an industry analyst or conspiracy guy, but I think the Anthropic=good/Open AI=bad binary might be a ruse

Virginia (Roberts) Giuffre at Zorro Ranch #EpsteinFiles

Trummors poster spotted in the background of the pilot episode of new show It’s Not Like That…wild!

Perfect album 10/10

For several days in February, I haven't need heat. In northern New Mexico. This is bonkers.

Want

Fun fact: more 70s sitcom cast members have died here than at any other casino resort in the US.

Let’s all call Massie today and get him to switch parties. Then force Gonzalez to resign. Then get the gavel, issue some subpoenas, and impeach some motherfuckers

average person cheering for war in iran

A plea: stop posting Trump's old social media posts that predicted Obama would strike Iran. His hypocrisy, inconsistency, and constant lies are seen as virtues by his base, and are beyond widely known by the rest of us who have functional brains and eyeballs. Just stop with this. It's not a gotcha.

At this point class war and regular war are indistinguishable

Worth revisiting Walter Benjamin's epilogue to "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction": "All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war. War and war only can set a goal for mass movements on the largest scale while preserving the status-quo property system."

Latest from the Radical Elite Review (Ian Svenonius) is up on Substack. Enjoying these!