Unlike movies, which have made me optimistic this year, music may never been worse or more out of touch. As I say in Post Bohemia, there is social and there is alt-social. Soundcloud, Substackers like antiart , newsletters like Perfectly Imperfect are leading a countercultural charge. As one TikToker said, algorithms are declining (Velvet Sundown might well be the nadir) and tastemakers are rising.

That’s the hope anyway. Also please subscribe to Incognita.