The Malcontent, now Bluer and More Sky-ish

Nick Drake: The Making of Five Leaves Left - Spectrum Culture It was the beginning of Drake’s journey rather than its unfortunate end, an experience this reissue aims to recreate for modern listeners.

For @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I wrote about the latest Nick Drake archival release and how it asks us to reconsider the narrative of Drake as a Tortured Artist: spectrumculture.com/2025/08/03/n...

The new album from @hlllyh.bsky.social (formerly the Mae Shi) is, indeed, quite good.

Fun bad: Gotti
Cynical bad: Either The Rise of Skywalker or Dear Evan Hansen

Bruce Springsteen: Tracks II: The Lost Albums - Spectrum Culture Tracks II feels like a monument to the wild ideas that the Boss came so close to seeing all the way through.

"Tracks II: The Lost Albums" explores the Boss's Sliding Doors moments.
spectrumculture.com/2025/07/17/b...

Holy Hell! The Sunset Tree Turns 20 - Spectrum Culture This is a monumental album that deftly displays the scope of Darnielle’s literary abilities and ambitions, and it remains essential listening.

I also wrote about my favorite Mountain Goats record, which is still one of the most emotionally devastating pieces of music I've ever heard. It's also 20 years old. Time comes for all of us. Read about it at @spectrumculture.bsky.social: spectrumculture.com/2025/07/16/h...

Bruce Springsteen: Tracks II: The Lost Albums - Spectrum Culture Tracks II feels like a monument to the wild ideas that the Boss came so close to seeing all the way through.

For @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I wrote about Bruce Springsteen's box set of seven (!) lost albums that all offer perspectives on different paths his career could have taken. Justice for the Streets of Philadelphia album: spectrumculture.com/2025/07/17/b...

Discography: The Cure: Wish - Spectrum Culture Smith pulls the listener back and forth all through Wish in a way that can be jarring, and as an introduction to the Cure (which this may have been for a whole host of listeners), it doesn’t come toge...

Also in @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I went deep on Wish, the Cure's most successful album and one of their most fascinating, even though it isn't a stone classic on the level of Disintegration or Pornography. In fact, that's probably what makes it interesting: spectrumculture.com/2025/06/26/d...

For @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I wrote about Hotline TNT's latest, a wonderful piece of fuzz-pop that picks up where Teenage Fanclub left off on Bandwagonesque. Brilliant album.

Hotline TNT: Raspberry Moon - Spectrum Culture By opening up the recording process to accommodate more people and more ideas, Hotline TNT embrace a different side of themselves on Raspberry Moon, one that feels warmer and more open-hearted while s...

WE RECOMMEND: Hotline TNT: Raspberry Moon

"Hotline TNT embrace a different side of themselves on Raspberry Moon, one that feels warmer and more open-hearted while still retaining the fuzz and noise that made their early albums so bracing."

The Subway Is Not Scary Fear of the subway is a mark of low moral character.

Fear of the New York City subway is a mark of low moral character.
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-subway...

Stereolab: Instant Holograms on Metal Film - Spectrum Culture Instant Holograms on Metal Film has a legacy to grapple with, but Stereolab engage with that heritage in a way that is respectful without being deferential.

WE RECOMMEND: Stereolab: Instant Holograms on Metal Film

"Instant Holograms on Metal Film has a legacy to grapple with, but Stereolab engage with that heritage in a way that is respectful without being deferential."

Stereolab: Instant Holograms on Metal Film - Spectrum Culture Instant Holograms on Metal Film has a legacy to grapple with, but Stereolab engage with that heritage in a way that is respectful without being deferential.

For @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I wrote about Stereolab's return and how it isn't so much triumphant as it is a subtle shift to address the current landscape: spectrumculture.com/2025/05/27/s...

Rediscover: Swirlies: They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons - Spectrum Culture A chaotic, innovative and star-crossed album from American shoegaze pioneers ranks among the best of the 1990s.

For @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I went long on the second Swirlies album, a still-underappreciated gem of '90s underground rock: spectrumculture.com/2025/05/19/r...

Friendly reminder for my fellow NYers that, on top of being a sex pest and a monstrous human being, Andrew Cuomo is either a bigot or comfortable with bigotry (which is the same thing). Don't vote for this clown.

Can you, really?

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah kept it to under 2. Then again, one can only clap ones hands for so long.

Photo of Richie Tenenbaum mid-meltdown in 'The Royal Tenenbaums'. He has taken off both shoes and one of his socks, and he appears to be crying.

Live footage of Arsenal Football Club today:

Bob Mould: Here We Go Crazy - Spectrum Culture Bob Mould’s latest album finds him turning back towards the personal with the same intensity that we’ve come to expect.

Finally, in honor of going to see Bob Mould this weekend, I'm sharing my review of his latest. It's a Bob Mould album; it gives you what you would expect: spectrumculture.com/2025/03/06/b...

Destroyer: Dan's Boogie - Spectrum Culture With Dan’s Boogie, Bejar’s attention turns to the form and shape of his songs as he dabbles with a more improvised method of performing while also retaining the urgency and wit that has always defined...

There's a new Destroyer album out, as well, which I found to be delightfully strange in all the ways that Dan Bejar is delightfully strange: spectrumculture.com/2025/03/31/d...

Japanese Breakfast: Album For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) - Spectrum Culture For Melancholy Brunettes is a surprising shift from Michelle Zauner’s Japanese Breakfast, but once the shock wears off, you’re left with something truly beautiful.

Japanese Breakfast put out a new album, too! Unlike other, more insecure music critics, I thought it was great! You have to sit with it, but it's worth it: spectrumculture.com/2025/03/23/j...

Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz - Spectrum Culture The prospect of a Tunde Adebimpe solo album seemed unlikely until the moment it appeared, and its presence as the latest project of a restless creative spirit is, in its own way, quite comforting.

I also wrote about Tunde Adebimpe's solo record, which both scratches that TVoTR itch and does other things entirely: spectrumculture.com/2025/04/23/t...

Model/Actriz: Pirouette - Spectrum Culture If Model/Actriz's stunning debut Dogsbody reveled in starkness and noise, Pirouette pivots in a different direction towards clarity and groove.

I have new writing stuff! First, I wrote about the great new Model/Actriz album for @spectrumculture.bsky.social: spectrumculture.com/2025/05/01/m...

Doing sick flip tricks on my skateboard.

If you see someone in public who’s making content, it is your duty as a New Yorker to ruin the take. City’s gotta start pushing back.

Discography: Brian Eno: High Life - Spectrum Culture Eno’s second collaboration with Underworld’s Karl Hyde is packed with ideas, backward glances and guitars.

My latest for @spectrumculture.bsky.social is on Brian Eno and Karl Hyde's 'High Life,' which is for my money the best Eno album in decades: spectrumculture.com/2025/02/20/d...

Philadelphia will burn this night (positive connotations)

Why not?

Holy Hell! I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning Turns 20 - Spectrum Culture Twenty years after its release, the raw, unfiltered emotions of Conor Oberst leave us with a sense of youthful self-seriousness that permeates the album in a way that becomes difficult to listen to wi...

Also in @spectrumculture.bsky.social, I wrote about Bright Eyes' most critically acclaimed album. I didn't get it in 2005, and I still don't really get it now: spectrumculture.com/2025/02/05/h...

Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory: Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory - Spectrum Culture Van Etten changed things up, eschewing her identity as a singer/songwriter and forming a new band, the Attachment Theory, to infuse her songs with a new life and perspective.

We have the first really good new album of 2025: Sharon Van Etten's latest with her new band, the Attachment Theory, which I reviewed for @spectrumculture.bsky.social: spectrumculture.com/2025/02/06/s...

Agent of chaos. Love to see it.