Dave Purcell

Albini Sessions (Benefit for Letters Charity), by Fugazi 12 track album

Christmas comes early (or late): Fugazi released the Albini sessions for In On The Killtaker today! Via @bandcamp.com.

fugazi.bandcamp.com/album/albini...

How a New Yorker Put Poetry on the London Underground

Such a lovely story.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/b...

Loop Loop is an award-winning animated short featuring a society where people live a perfectly looping existence, all in rhythm. Then one day…

A thoughtful critique of modern life set to a 120 bpm pulse. h//t @kottke.org.

Loop kottke.org/26/02/loop

Joe Ely’s Final Act For decades, the charismatic singer-songwriter Joe Ely made music that sounded like all of Texas. In the months before his death, everything got very quiet.

A beautiful tribute to Joe Ely.
www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

Joe Ely, Texas-Born Troubadour of the Open Road, Dies at 78

Sad to learn that we've lost the great Joe Ely.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/o...

How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life (Gift Article) This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.

The loveliest story I've read in a long while.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

You Am I Live at the 2025 ARIA Awards YouTube video by ARIA

Still the best rock band on the planet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zrt...

Very cool!

50 years later, Edmund Fitzgerald sinking leaves lasting effects on families, forecasting On Nov. 1 in Washburn, a memorial dedication ceremony was held for the 29 crew members who lost their lives aboard the Fitz just ahead of the 50th anniversary of its sinking.

(3/3) www.wpr.org/news/the-sin...

Edmund Fitzgerald’s Dream: The Milwaukee Connection to the Great Lakes’ Most Legendary Shipwreck Before it met its demise 50 years ago, the ore freighter commissioned by Northwestern Mutual was the rock star of Great Lakes shipping.

(2/3) www.milwaukeemag.com/edmund-fitzg...

Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (Official Audio) YouTube video by Gordon Lightfoot

Today is the 50th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. This was an unrehearsed first take in the studio! They tried other takes but they didn't match the magic of the first one. Here are a couple articles on the history of the ship and the wreck. (1/3)
youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?...

Ooh, I'd forgotten about his solo record. Thanks for the reminder!

Sounds like amazing -- thanks for the tip (and the earworm)!

Most Americans Who Rely on Obamacare Live in Republican Areas (Gift Article) Millions of Americans depend on Obamacare. Here's where they live.

Of course.

NYT: Most Americans Who Rely on Obamacare Live in Republican Areas

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Oh So Near: The Cars’ Deep (and Deeply Underrated) Influence on the Future of Music A new biography on the New Wave crew underlines their unsung importance—everyone from the Strokes to the Killers to Nirvana took lessons out of Ric Ocasek’s playbook. So why are the Cars rarely mentio...

Good retrospective look at The Cars, inspired by a new book on the band by Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom.

www.theringer.com/2025/10/01/m...

The natural clocks that can pinpoint someone's time of death When something dies, a telltale radioactive signal ticks like a natural clock. Discovering it helped us solve all sorts of natural mysteries.

Science is cool. The BBC explains carbon-14 dating.
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Episode 298: Sam Fender "People Watching"LISTEN: APPLE · SPOTIFY · AMAZON · OTHER APPSSam Fender is a singer and songwriter from the town of North Shields in England. He won the Brit Award for Best Rock/

Really lovely episode of Song Exploder about my favorite song of the year. Sam seems like such a good dude.
songexploder.net/sam-fender

What Was Behind David Bowie’s Genius? His Archive Holds the Answers. (Gift Article) The David Bowie Center in London is a new home for the singer’s 90,000-item archive. It holds the key to the pop star’s dramatic reinventions.

In these dark, stupid times, it felt good to spend a few minutes in Bowie's head.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Cereal Box Records Sound Horrible. They Still Look Incredible.

Fun NYT article on cereal box records. I know I had some when I was very young, but I don't remember the specifics. Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/a...

10 Entrances to Hell You Can Actually Visit Has someone told you to “go to hell?” If so, let us direct you to these potential portals to the underworld.

Surprisingly, "Middle Management" did not make the list.

www.mentalfloss.com/geography/wa...

The Tragically Hip: Fully Completely Read Alex Robert Ross’ review of the album.

The Sunday Review from @pitchfork.com takes on The Tragically Hip's brilliant Fully Completely. That's the record where I learned about the Hip thanks to American college radio airplay. The relationship between band and country is amazing.
pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

What Nine Inch Nails and Michael Bublé Share: Josh Freese’s Drumming

Give the drummer some! It's nice to see a feature on the great Josh Freese. I was fortunate to see him with Devo in 2008 and he was incredible. Gift NYT link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/a...

CUFF.Docs 2024 Trailer: DEVO YouTube video by Calgary Underground Film Festival

The new Devo documentary on Netflix is great. I was a fan early on, and learned more about them while living in Akron and working at Kent State, and I still learned a lot from this. They were ahead of the curve in so many ways. Well worth your time.
youtu.be/4GxetgNVFLE?...

Kathleen Edwards “Billionaire” Canadian Americana maven continues her impeccable ‘comeback’, with added Isbell. Listening to the powerful and joyous declaration that is “Billionaire” it is almost impossible to believ…

The new Kathleen Edwards record is fantastic, a strong contender for my album of the year. Co-produced by Jason Isbell and backed by his 400 Unit. I'm so glad she came back. Here's @americanauk.bsky.social's take.
americana-uk.com/kathleen-edw...

Love this, thanks for sharing. Her new record is good. She is somehow underrated -- she doesn't have a weak record in her discography.

Kosmische Kid: The Celestial Soundscape Of John Was Trying To Contact Aliens | The Quietus Homepage photograph courtesy of John Shepherd “Imagine if we left behind the strife of Earth, reached Mars and built discotheques there, dancing our nights away in a state of cartoon perfection”, wrot...

I learned about it from an article in @thequietus.com. In the story, there's a link to a brief YouTube clip if you don't have Netflix.
thequietus.com/interviews/j...

Watch John Was Trying to Contact Aliens | Netflix Official Site A rural electronics whiz broadcasts radio signals into space and monitors for signs of aliens, but makes a more important connection here on Earth.

John Was Trying To Contact Aliens is a terrific 16-minute documentary about a man who built a massive tech hub at his grandparents' house in rural Michigan + spent 30+ years trying to contact aliens, including nightly live DJ broadcasts of Krautrock, Afrobeat, + jazz.
www.netflix.com/title/81252991

The latest threat from the rise of Chinese manufacturing MIT economist David Autor first documented the loss of millions of jobs to Chinese imports a decade ago. Now he sees an even more serious danger if the US loses the race for advanced manufacturing.

An important read that dovetails with Thomas Friedman's recent appearance on the Ezra Klein show + other pieces on the speed and innovation of next-gen manufacturing in China.

www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/07/1...

National Weather Service cuts degrade accuracy of Wisconsin forecasts, meteorologists say Meteorologists say that fewer weather balloon launches means less accurate forecast data, which is especially hazardous during storm season.

Excellent story from Wisconsin Public Radio with example of how the current administration's funding cuts are degrading the accuracy and availability of weather forecasts.

www.wpr.org/news/nationa...

Matthew Sweet- Girlfriend on the Dennis Miller Show 1992 YouTube video by ZMansAlabasterCharms

Going down a Robert Quine rabbit hole tonight + remembered this clip of his incendiary playing on Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" on the Dennis Miller Show, 1992. Holy smokes.

youtu.be/Rzl3AB5tw-w?...