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Being Fed without the Feed: Music News, Social Media, and a Call for a New Infrastructure

It finally happened. Right before the holidays, I cut the last cord connecting me to any major social media platform by deactivating my Instagram. I’ve been gradually severing my ties […]

January 21, 2026

Furniture Music, Interior Decorating, and the Disappearance of Music’s Physical Presence

One of my little hobbies when I am out collecting at a bookstore or antique mall is picking up vintage books on interior decorating and design. I’ve long been fascinated […]

January 8, 2026

The Uncanny as the Norm on Oneohtrix Point Never’s ‘Tranquilizer’

There are few musicians whose work beguiles me the way Oneohtrix Point Never’s does — it’s music that places me in suspended animation between the past and the present, hovering […]

December 12, 2025

Brazenly Background: Steve Gunn’s ‘Music for Writers’ and the Radical Possibilities for Intentional Functional Music

Written while listening to John Renbourn’s The Lady and the Unicorn (1970) While skimming recent Wire reviews, I stumbled upon Steve Gunn’s new release, Music for Writers. I instantly gravitated […]

November 26, 2025

Songs to Ignite: Eccentricity, Religious Music, and How We React to the Work of Sister Irene O’Connor

In a couple weeks, Freedom to Spend will reissue Fire of God’s Love, the offbeat, psych-religious release by Australian nun, Sister Irene O’Connor, available for the first time on vinyl […]

November 4, 2025

The Cathedral Paradox: JJJJJerome Ellis and Sarah Davachi at Talk Low Festival 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio

Last time on the blog, I wrote about my experience hearing Chris Corsano at Cincinnati’s Talk Low Festival, the second annual experimental music festival in the city featuring local and […]

October 22, 2025

Percussive Entropy: Chris Corsano at Talk Low Festival 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio

Talk Low Festival celebrated its second year as a premier experimental music festival in Cincinnati, drawing together the avant-garde from near and far. Before one of the performances I attended, […]

October 7, 2025

A Sign of Things to Come: A Conversation with Cincinnati’s Rob Mohan

About a year ago, I met up with Cincinnati-based acoustic guitarist Rob Mohan for a chat. Mohan and I have crossed paths in the local scene at various points, and […]

October 2, 2025

The Record Listening Muscle: Turning Discogs’ Dis/Connect Day Into Weeks, Months, and Years

Last week, Discogs announced an initiative called, “Dis/Connect,” a global day on October 18th that encourages distance from one’s digital devices, especially from music streaming, in order to embrace physical […]

September 22, 2025