As a kid in the 80s you had Magic, Jordan, and Michael Jackson vying for the MJ title.
28.02.2026 18:45 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0As a kid in the 80s you had Magic, Jordan, and Michael Jackson vying for the MJ title.
28.02.2026 18:45 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I'm home sick today, so I'm sharing one of my favorite interviews ever on Substack. No subscription required.
Bill Holt, who is responsible for recording one of the most brilliant outsider psych records of all time, talks about his life and music.
Today on Substack for paid subscribers only: A mix tape culled *almost* exclusively from undocumented (read: no Discogs or eBay sales) 45s. Some highs. Some lows. Something for everyone? Probably not.
12.02.2026 17:42 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
In addition to Happiness (filmed in my hometown, partially on my best friend's street!)...
Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit (1993)
Ghost Dad (1990)
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988 yes I was 5 years old, yes it led a fight between my parents)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Starting work on February’s mix tape, which will be comprised entirely of songs appearing on 45s that have never sold via Discogs or eBay. Some even have ZERO Google results. Is it an incredible, unknown bop? Is it a so-bad-it’s-good flop? Stay tuned… oh, and consider a subscription?
10.02.2026 03:58 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
AQ's list #127 introduced me to CASE STUDIES IN BIOENTROPY by Infidel?/Castro!
"Dark rumbling drones & endlessly sustaining horror movie upper register skree underpin mumbled dialogue, panicked arguments whispered in a dark alleys, & computer voices offering plot exposition and ominous warnings..."
Another hit from list #126 (November 2001): Richard Lainhart's TEN THOUSAND SHADES OF BLUE.
"Monochromatic dronescapes built from multi-tracked & processed bowed tam-tams, bowed Japanese temple bells, voices, bowed & struck vibraphones, and a realtime interactive computer music system."
Further down list #126 is Chessie's "Overnight." RIYL Boards of Canada & Four Tet.
AQ says: "...it may be incorrect to classify this music as purely electronic as it ranks up there with the shoegazer dreaminess of My Bloody Valentine and Hood, or more recently, Fennesz and Stephan Mathieu."
AQ's record for the Week for 11/30/01 (List #126) was "In Moll" by avant-minimalist electronic artist Markus Guentner. RIYL Jasper TX, Aidan Baker, or Mystery Sea CDrs.
"...a sort of dreamy melancholy that manages to be both wistful and hopeful, lonely and warm." Dig in.
Beulah’s The Coast is Never Clear barely beat out Low and AmAnSet on my list. Nice work!
18.01.2026 01:32 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A free Substack post for all subscribers: My attempt at listening to every recommendation made by old Aquarius Records mail-order emails continues. These are the best discoveries I made in 2025:
swanfungus.substack.com/p/did-you-sh...
AQ's Record Of The Week for 10/19/01 (List #123) was "Awake Like Sleep" by Greg Weeks. I haven't heard it until today.
"A sort of lilting chamber folk with electro-baroque flourishes."
At that time I was a month into my senior year of high school. I was probably only listening to Weezer. Sorry!
The cover letter sent along with the rider, which expresses consternation over Kool Keith's specific asks for hard alcohol and condoms. Also, concern as to whether or not the chicken wings might be used as projectiles during the show.
The rider itself. Sprinkled among the more normal asks (Coca Cola, Orange Juice, fruit and vegetable trays) are requests for Hennessy Cognac, Absolut Vodka, Moet champagne, a box of Trojan Magnum condoms, and the kind of absurd ask that one each of 50 fried chicken wings, 50 juice boxes, and 50 wetnaps be pre-packaged by someone on site into 50 individual sandwich bags. Oh, Keith...
No matter how hard you party this New Year's Eve, you probably won't cause as big a stir as Kool Keith when he submitted his rider for his tour dates with Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2000.
- No skimping on the booze or condoms.
- Please package 1 chicken wing, 1 juice box & 1 wetnap per sandwich bag.
New Substack Mix Tape for paid subscribers only. Looking forward to expanding the format next year.
31.12.2025 16:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Played Wine Cellar for the first time last night on your recommendation. It was easy and fun, definitely going to fit nicely in our game night rotation. Thank you!
26.12.2025 18:08 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
New! A quick post on Substack in which I share some stats on all the movies I watched in 2025. Make sure you follow along on Letterboxd in 2026 for thought-provoking reviews such as, "A real pleasure." (Stroszek, 1977)
24.12.2025 17:37 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I asked Google Gemini “Can you create an infographic for all of the nba championship winners from 1986-2025 displaying cities and team names for each champ?” And this was the result.
I specifically asked for cities and team names for the nba champs and, well, it didn’t want to.
17.12.2025 05:32 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
It's here! It's here!
For paid Substack subscribers only!
Swan Fungus' Top 50 Albums of 2025
Fellow #LFGM disciples, it's never been more over than it is right now.
10.12.2025 18:14 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
Thinking about where the Shearling record will land on my Top Albums list, I keep going back to this set and moving it further up the list. Alex has taken the mantle from Michael Gira as weirdest, most cryptic noisemaker around and run so far ahead of the pack no one else can dream of catching him.
09.12.2025 21:05 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Well this just makes the sting feel more sting-ier.
09.12.2025 18:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Sad trumpet noise. 🎺
09.12.2025 17:44 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Stay tuned for my list TFS is gonna be ranked pretty high!
05.12.2025 02:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
New post for paid Substack subscribers (with a free preview for everyone else).
A month of Year-End lists begins with honorable mentions from my upcoming Top 50 Albums list.
Stay tuned.
New free Substack post! A long weekend in Mexico City.
I came, I saw, I ate a lot and then drank a lot -- then ate more and then drank more. Very gluttonous. Very fun.
From list #120 (31st of August, 2001): Scott Tuma - Hard Again
"Take a little John Fahey, Jim O'Rourke's Bad Timing, Souled American, maybe some space-y Brian Eno, play it back on a ancient tape machine, and listen to these understated and completely gorgeous guitarscapes..."
Let me know if they project my visage covered in whipped cream at any point during the show.
15.11.2025 04:25 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
New on Substack, a mix tape for paid subscribers only.
What do Tori Amos, Afghan Whigs, The Cardigans, and Thou have in common?
Subscribe to find out.
Every bit of press this receives makes me happy and sad in equal measure.
And, also, shout out to baseball. Some of my favorite arguments with Steve were about dumb baseball minutiae. Mounting side bets that were never collected. Declarative statements of crap or not crap. It really is the best.