"In an extract from his new book, co-authored with Kennedy Block, Josh MacPhee outlines the role of workers' songs and the making of records in supporting labour movements in the US …" Read an extract from Strike While the Needle Is Hot: A Discography of Workers' Revolt:

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

“'Dial-A-Poem was meant for the entire universe, never just one place or one realm,' [John Giorno] told me. To that end, a re-awakened Dial-A-Poem is now available at 1-917-994-8949 … with old and new recordings by poets, artists, musicians, and activists …" Dial-A-Poem is back:

“And these cats would be like, ‘You’re a real live drummer? Yo, that shit is crazy,’ And I was like, ‘Wait a second, I’m playing for the wrong people.’” Finding Your Sound — Makaya McCraven: tidal.com/magazine/art...

"Like poetry, songs are open to the interpretation of listeners who apply their own meanings to the lyrics. I applied that song to my own life and everything changed." Losing My Religion by REM helped me escape a doomsday cult:

"If you were to walk down East 4th Street in the late 1970s, you might come across an ethereal, white-faced character in a flamboyant costume, a spectacle among spectacles. [This was] Klaus Nomi, a striking and enterprising countertenor …" Klaus Nomi—the East Village’s Intergalactic Opera Singer:

Experimental composer Leo Chadburn's album 'Sleep in the Shadow of the Alternator' transforms his childhood memories of Coalville's mines and factories into a dreamlike narrative about the East Midlands' vanished industry. Leo Chadburn Broadcasts a Radiophonic Lullaby of Industrial Decline:

"Far from the bustle of densely populated cities like Tokyo and Yokohama, one might hear birdsong, trickling creeks and gentle rain – all environmental features Yoshimura would weave into his enveloping ambient work." Hiroshi Yoshimura, the pioneer of Japanese ambient music:

"Every note, every sound, including the cash register ringing and a patron in the crowd exhorting, 'Thank your bass player, thank your bass player'—this is one of the most alive live recordings in the entire jazz discography …" He’s an American Man:

London-based multi-instrumentalist/producer Ben Marc discusses his album 'Who Cares Wins,' realized during his time volunteering for the NHS, and how working with everyone from Sun Ra Arkestra to Σtella requires leaving ego at the door. From Jazz Roots to Hip-Hop Freedom — Ben Marc's Genre of One:

"Decades of grime and grit – plus nicotine staining – were scraped away and repairs made. Some of the work was heavy, some intricate – the largest pipe is 10 metres long, the smallest the size of a little finger." One of the UK’s largest concert instruments will sound again:

"Feldman constructed his grand compositional labyrinths out of petite, pared-back melodic cells that you’d reckon might just be enough to sustain a ringtone. The grand scale of his music sat in inverse proportion to its notes." The genius of Morton Feldman:

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

"So why then, as [Autechre] took the stage in their preferred semi-darkness, was the atmosphere cut with an unmistakable dread? Perhaps it was a suggestion hardwired into the music itself that, outside these walls, there was a vision of the future taking hold for which we weren’t entirely prepared."

The core argument of this piece, that Bowie isn't "keeping up" with his peers in streams & income, elides the fact that Bowie was never a "Forbes fixture". he had one mega-platinum success w Let's Dance. otherwise he was always 2nd tier, sales wise! www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, jazz drummer Phil Haynes discusses the inspiration behind Free Country's album 'Liberty Now!' and its dialogue with Max Roach's 'Freedom Now Suite.' Don't miss the full conversation on the latest episode of our podcast: podcast.thetonearm.com/phil-haynes-...

"Everything about music is more tactile; it's more visceral. I have a much more intuitive connection to what I'm doing in my music. The only thing that drugs and alcohol were doing for me was just blurring and dulling everything.” How making music can help in addiction recovery:

Brazilian songwriter Sessa discusses the three years of sessions in São Paulo that yielded 'Pequena Vertigem de Amor,' an album born from the submarine days of early fatherhood and the vertigo between extraordinary love and ordinary routine. Sessa Finds São Paulo's Rhythm in the Cosmic Ordinary:

"Roeg was convinced he’d found the alien lead for his new sci-fi epic, The Man Who Fell To Earth. 'I didn’t want an actor,' he later explained, 'but someone who had the possibility of being unique.'" The untold story of The Man Who Fell To Earth: www.uncut.co.uk/features/dav...

"As diasporic Latin sounds continue to become the norm in dance music, Hellotones and artists like him are keeping cumbia in the conversation, ensuring that the genre’s legacy is honored even as it evolves." Enter the Cumbiaverse:

Few contemporary chamber ensembles have maintained both the longevity and artistic integrity of Quatuor Bozzini. Based in Montreal, this string quartet has carved out a space through commitment to artistic exploration + democratic organization. Quatuor Bozzini at 25 — The Art of Collective Vision:

"A number of artists have turned in credible – and occasionally even great – covers of Beatles classics. Here are five notable Beatles covers. (And no, nothing here from the ‘70s Sgt. Pepper movie. Blecch!)" The 5 notable covers of The Beatles:

"The tall, debonair saxophonist known as the 'Sophisticated Giant' had a seemingly effortless power in his playing. And yet beneath it also lay profound sincerity; he wasn’t just one of jazz’s great, surging extemporizers …" 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Dexter Gordon (gift link):

horror movie pitch: it's like The Substance but more Americana

From his first encounter with 'Explorations' to writing liner notes for 'Haunted Heart,' the jazz historian discusses how Evans, LaFaro, and Motian transformed friction into a circular, evolutionary approach to the jazz trio format. Friction Into Diamonds — Eugene Holley Jr. on the Bill Evans Trio:

"We were working as a live band and David was recording with us. It was all very intimate. That was good, because you can hear that it’s recorded in a live room. It makes it feel real." The making of David Bowie’s final masterpiece, ★: www.uncut.co.uk/features/dav...

My latest newsletter: Revisiting David Bowie's final album Blackstar on the tenth anniversary of its release

"I feel more like a medium. A craftsman builds something out of nothing. And I think I receive things that are already built, and make sure the reception is accurate." Singer-songwriter Bill Callahan interviewed:

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

An excellently constructed BBC radio documentary from ten years ago that creates a biography of David Bowie using his own words taken from various interviews:

Jazz drummer Phil Haynes's string band Free Country reconvened after a decade to record, but hours before the first session, trumpeter Herb Robertson died, and the 2024 election delivered its verdict—the double album 'Liberty Now!' carries both griefs. #JazzSky The Sound of Political Urgency:

"The concert is dubbed Three Violas, but Anderson is unlikely to pick up a bow. 'They said, ‘Do you want to play her violin?’ and I was like, ‘No, no, no. That would be for me, I don’t know, kind of sacrilege,' Laurie begins." Laurie Anderson Is Not Linear:

by the looks of it the Broadway version apparently

"What must it be like to work with one of the icons of the music world? On a record that would become a masterstroke farewell, no less? Donny McCaslin has been asked versions of this question countless times since Blackstar landed back in January 2016." Donny McCaslin on Bowie’s final chapter:

"Between 2022 and 2023, I saw so many Nirvana shirts on so many different kinds of people that I had to start engaging with them to see what happened. Could all of these people actually be Nirvana fans? If not, who was dressing them?" Encounters With Nirvana Shirts:

Isaac Sherman's debut 'A Pasture, Its Limits' spans years and cities, built from hardware synthesizers, gibberish vocals, and a belief that "the humanness comes through music when you strip away all the glitz." A Tale of Two Cities — Isaac Sherman's Handcrafted Electronics:

"'I have always been drawn to the Bill Burroughs of this world, who produce a vocabulary that is not necessarily a personal one, but something that is made up of ciphers and signifiers which are regurgitated, reformed, and re-accumulated,' said David Bowie …"

"I didn’t simply illustrate the lyrics – my painting was more metaphysical. I depicted Fela breaking out of jail, in a celebratory stance, chains broken, the victory sign painted on the wall of Kalakuta because he’d triumphed over the evil police. When Fela saw it, again he said: ‘Wow. Goddammit.’"

Sam Sarty + Gilad Carroll of Living Hour discuss their Winnipeg roots, the making of 'Internal Drone Infinity', and how the band transforms isolation and distance into thoughtful dream pop that leaves space for memory and the quiet work of getting better. Living Hour and the Perimeter of Yearning:

"Great Grandpa writes lullabies for the restless. The indie rock band's thoughtful intensity remains intact at the Tiny Desk, just at a quieter volume." Great Grandpa — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2026/01/07/g...

"Someone told me that the record was done by June. He had a play done, recorded and did singing overdubs for months, made two videos. I don’t know where he found the strength. It never looked to us like he was sick. He was just coming in and singing his ass off. It’s incredible to me."

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

"The more you think about it, the more you can hear the dark subconscious creeping into even the jubilant first section of 'Upside Down.' 'Upside down/Boy you turn me/Inside out/And round and round' could be an expression of overwhelming love. But doesn’t it also sound like profound confusion?"

In this excerpt from our latest podcast episode, jazz drummer Phil Haynes reflects on how he learned to contextualize sounds in music and gained his passion for elevating the art of percussion. #JazzSky Listen to the full conversation on The Tonearm Podcast: podcast.thetonearm.com/phil-haynes-...

Cellist Kirin McElwain's exploratory album 'Youth' turns toward crystalline feedback, chaotic oscillators, and intentionally harsh tones to express the feelings of desire and shame occupying the same cognitive space. Kirin McElwain and the Beautiful Harshness of 'Youth':

"The original model for this rock-on-paper reflection of one person’s passion was the stapled, mimeographed ‘zine, which began thriving in the punk rock 1970s. That’s how The Big Takeover started in 1980 …" The Big Takeover Turns 45:

"I would blast Sinéad O’Connor’s music in my bedroom. Her voice was a shudder, her songs evocative enough to lend a cinematic vastness to my sadness, resonating long past the age of crossed wires and slammed doors." Universal Mother: granta.com/universal-mo...

By embracing the role of hip-hop's "biggest hater," Kendrick Lamar exposes the paradoxical joy we find in our pettiest grievances, transforming a diss track into a meditation on human nature. The Pleasure of Pettiness — What Kendrick Lamar Knows About Hate:

"You’re battling rising costs to source enough essentials for a small city and always competing for the best acts. So why would anyone run a festival? We speak to those behind Green Man, Parklife and Krankenhaus to find out." Inside the stressful life of a festival organiser:

KOMARA, the progressive trio of Pat Mastelotto, David Kollar, and Paolo Raineri, constructed their second album from a rejected mafia film score. The result trades their debut's density for space and accessibility. A Monster With Three Heads — KOMARA Battles Expectations: