“[Singing] was sensuous, a pure pleasure, which didn’t take anything away from the emotions being expressed…Music can do that; you can enjoy singing about something sad.” – David Byrne, ‘How […]
Albums I Should Have Listened To Already: ‘Noise Addiction’ by Pure Hell
“Pure Hell went wild on their equipment, and they predated hardcore with their fast attack and assault method on instruments…they enjoyed who they were and what they created…” – Reaghan […]
The Annual Shipwrecked Sailor NBA Column
“Darwin did not change the islands, but only people’s opinion of them. That is how important mere opinion used to be, back in the era of great big brains.” – […]
11 Poetry Collections By Black Authors That You Should Read
“How are you going to force white critics to learn enough about us? Most of them have no interest in us or in our work. So how are you going […]
Albums I Should Have Listened To Already: ‘Throb Throb’ by Naked Raygun
“It’s good for the economy / only in America / making cancer every day / only in America” – Naked Raygun, “Only In America” Welcome to “Albums I Should Have […]
What Punk Rock Means (To Me Anyway)
“Punk often desired to convey a message or tell a story, like folk and blues.” – George Hurchalla, ‘Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1989’ Everyone wants to change the world, but […]
A Permanent State Of Rebellion
“[the band Death] created their own mythology and their own rules, rebelling against what the world (and the neighborhood) told them was acceptable for a band of Black men to […]
12 (Or So) Books I’m Stoked To Read In 2026
“Bro, you ain’t the only one who picks up the newspaper, knows where the library is, likes the big humbug in Beowulf, moving out on Grendel and whatnot, or fighting […]
Three Things I’m Excited For in 2026
“So much for comedy. So much for supposedly serious stuff.” – Kurt Vonnegut, ‘Galápagos’ Programming Note: there will be a Friday Links this Friday—gotta read Midwinter’s Day to end the […]
Ways My Thinking Changed In 2025
“In the long run, the survivors would still have been not the most ferocious strugglers but the most efficient fisherfolk.” – Kurt Vonnegut, ‘Galápagos’ As someone who likes the idea […]