Or a glimpse into post-entertainment society (it's not pretty)

I came. I saw. I ate beignets.

A singing army can't be defeated

Stand and sing

Also: Reviews of new releases by U2 (surprisingly good!) and Mitski (unsurprisingly good!)

A band goes to Nashville, fights drug addiction, and makes two masterful records

thinking of you

Watch now | A cup of tea Anish Kapoor and the Mystical Garden

The range of emotion that this album drew out of me really needs to be studied...

First: Love and Gratitude

And A Meditation On The Truth Of Connection

I listened to all 27 discs and pulled out the highlights

1976-05-11, Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, TX

HERE TIS!

Look Different in Vermont

Stuck in a system that only benefits a select few, the music community is struggling to even imagine viable alternatives.

Music discourse is focused less and less on actual music, plus a round-up of the latest electronic music news and a fresh bundle of recommended new releases.

Birth stories, ambivalence-maxing and the the perfect excuse for being unambitious

If you’re not already aware of this Oscar-worthy clip from 90’s morning television, let it serve as a reminder that, in an age in which musicians are held at the neck by the clammy hand of social media promotion, indiscriminately folded into the sinister conglomerate of “content creation”, we may be missing out on some of the most supremely gifted artists of this generation.

A recording from ORANGE FADES TO GRAY's live video

A recording from ORANGE FADES TO GRAY's live video

A takeaway from the DNC

Come down, my little darlings

demos iii, post 01

Viral song of the summer goes unnoticed by overwhelming majority of the world

Paid subscribers only, because I enjoy irony

Paid subscribers only

Breaking down Taylor Swift's new Antonoff-less album one song at a time.

52 songs hand-selected by yours truly and 400 words on Charli's "Rock Music" single.

This is the kind of man you should stay far away from.

to all the half-assed mothers

so far it doesn't hurt

Color Me Orange

Unpacking my 16 favorite LPs of the year—plus 30 more exceptionally good ones.

The TraTraTrax cofounder’s latest album taps collaborative energy and regenerative potential.

The first records I bought are still magical

Recorded by the tenor saxophonist for Denmark's SteepleChase label, the ablum is back on vinyl

Hello, from the other side

A post from the garden!

I am posting this because people have asked me to. Emily Rose Marcus was born on December 10, 1969, in Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. It was a forceps delivery, and she came out with bruises on her face, yet she lived her life as a woman who prized beauty—in fashion, her own sense of style, furniture, art. Following her beloved uncle Dr. William E. Bernstein, she chose a death with dignity, and died on January 31, 2023, in her apartment in Oakland, where she had lived since 2007, after more than two years fighting against a terminal diagnosis of appendiceal cancer she had received in September 2020. Our hearts are broken.

Hospital diary

Thanks to everyone who joined me live on Friday, that was a lotta fun!

Happy Mother's Day!

For improvised music, an inspired and inspiring year.

Mike Reed's Chicago Inspirations, and a Jazz Day to remember

Listen to Roger Nichols's long-awaited "Second Arrangement" cassette

Hundreds of recently discovered images from the 1970s offer an intimate look at Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in the studio.

My first 24 hours

Thoughts on Bruce Springsteen and his recent tour stop in LA