No Expectations 059: Next Time Around

Where you can find great, independent music writing right now. Plus, the 2024 playlist.

Photo by Debora Pilati on Unsplash

No Expectations hits inboxes on Thursdays at 9am cst. Mailbag email: Noexpectationsnewsletter@gmail.com. (Please, no PR pitches). Personal email: joshhowardterry@gmail.com. (Pitches, paid work, and job offers welcome). 

Headline song: Liam Kazar, “Next Time Around” 

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Favorite Tracks of 2024 (So Far)
(Spotify // Apple Music) 

Every year since 2013, I’ve compiled, regularly updated, and published a playlist of my favorite songs. It’s mostly a diary to remember what I dug and the practice of remembering to consistently add stuff to it has kept me on top of new releases. Things can get lost in the shuffle, especially with streaming, so it’s nice to have a spot to store every standout track you hear. It’s also nice that people who read my writing like to follow along. 

So far in 2024, I’ve been surprisingly good about staying current. Considering how much Grateful Dead I listen to and that we’re only midway through February, I’m shocked the most recent playlist already has 60+ brand new songs on there. If you keep up with the weekly playlists on No Expectations, you’ll recognize quite a few tunes in this playlist already. Still, if you’re into following it, there are links on Spotify and Apple Music. (While I now prefer Apple Music for its sound quality, Spotify might be updated more frequently). 

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The No Expectations Blogroll 

Whenever I write about music journalism as a whole in this newsletter, it’s usually about how the industry is collapsing and how the traditional career pathways are dwindling to the point of impossibility. While true, that kind of piece is always a bummer and it usually glosses over the fact that there’s never been more outlets for great, passionate, and independent writing about music than right now. Though few are making a living out of it, there’s a massive ecosystem of people thoughtfully engaging with music through newsletters, blogs, and personal websites entirely out of love. While reader-supported platforms can’t replace budgets for actual journalism at this current moment, they’re worth championing as publications fold and money for writers disappears elsewhere. 

In the aughts and up to the early 2010s, the main way I discovered new music was through mp3 blogs. I had a roster of over a dozen sites and each week, I’d click and listen to whatever they’d recommend. While a few of them morphed into full-fledged publications like Stereogum and Aquarium Drunkard, more were labors of love that no longer exist. I still read criticism and journalism then but I trawled through the archives of these mp3 blogs to hone my taste and find things I liked. Most of them had a recommended reading section called a blogroll that linked to like-minded sites. If you found a cool song on Muzzle of Bees, Fuel Friends, Fluxblog, or I Guess I’m Floating, you could be sent to a totally different site that was also in your wheelhouse  Those places were all incredibly formative. More than that, they felt collaborative and alive. 

The good news is I’m seeing Blogroll Culture come back with full force. Thanks to the poor prospects for traditional art criticism, dozens of great sites are popping up out of necessity. These publications also link to their peers who are also doing great work. In that spirit, I want to highlight some great newsletters, blogs, and websites that I read regularly. While there are stellar independent publications/blogs like Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard, Passion of the Weiss, No Bells, Tone Glow, The Alternative, Nina Protocol, Post-Trash, Swim Into Sound, and more that feature either staffed writers or a roster of talented contributors, this list focuses on mostly places run by a sole writer (or two). 

This list isn’t exhaustive—I know that I am forgetting essential folks here. I’m purposely excluding artist-driven music newsletters for space and journalism reasons. All newsletters and websites are linked at the top of the blurb.

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An Earful

Jeremy Shatan is one of the most voracious listeners I’ve ever encountered on Substack. He’s an absolute joy to talk to about tunes and he has unassailable taste. A New York City lifer who’s played in bands and now runs the mainstay blog An Earful, Shatan’s kept his fire for music burning for longer than I’ve been alive. He also helped shoot the cover for Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, which is pretty sick. 

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Anxiety Shark

Toronto-based writer Niko Stratis tackles the intersection of music and memory better than anyone. Her personal reflections on how songs have impacted her life through sobriety, personal resilience, and moments of revelation is always powerful. She’s also working on a book called The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, “an essay collection that is memoir & a deep dive into what exactly dad rock is.” 

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Beauty Blew a Fuse

There are few writers I admire more than Mark Richardson, who’s currently the pop and rock critic for the Wall Street Journal and also served as editor-in-chief of Pitchfork throughout the 2010s. He’s a fellow Michigander who writes with a deep perceptiveness and thoughtfulness that practically floats off the page. I’m so happy he started a Substack last year. 

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Cabbages

Few writers are as encyclopedic and knowledgeable about hip-hop as Gary Suarez. While his diligent freelance writing was a guiding light for me trying to land pitches and think up story ideas, it’s his work on his own with Cabbages that’s been truly impressive. A newsletter and a podcast, it’s great for any hip-hop fan who wants to dig a little deeper. 

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Cities: Backlines

Pennsylvania’s Devon Chodzin is one of my favorite people to follow online. Though he’s a city planner by trade, his music writing is consistently first-rate. I loved his deep dive into the enduring popularity of salvia palth for Paste and read his newsletter Cities: Backlines whenever it publishes. 

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Constellations 

From 2016 to 2023, Marissa Lorusso had a spectacular run as an editor for NPR Music and since then she’s been killing it as a freelance writer at places like Pitchfork, The Creative Independent, and more. I’m in awe of how she can distill a song into its purest and most immediate parts. Her newsletter Constellations is always such a treat. 

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The Culture Journalist

I worked with Emilie Friedlander and Andrea Dominick at VICE. They’ve both edited my work and were incredibly thoughtful coworkers who made each piece better. Together, the two run the Culture Journalist–a newsletter and podcast concerned with the future of media and art criticism in ways that go deeper than most. 

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Deep Voices

Towards the end of my run at VICE, Matthew Schnipper edited several of my pieces including the Moontype Noisey Next which still stands as a personal alltimer. He was great and I check his Substack Deep Voices for stellar playlists that always expand my tastes and turn me on to musicians making ambient and avant-garde tunes. 

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Don’t Rock The Inbox

This is probably my favorite music newsletter on Substack. In just a year, Natalie Weiner and Marissa Moss made the most essential and smart outlet for country music. They truly filled a needed void for insightful, grounded, and righteous criticism of a genre that needs it. Because it’s two folks running the show, a paid subscription is still a steal at $8 a month. 

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Doom and Gloom From The Tomb

Aquarium Drunkard contributor and musician  Tyler Wilcox has impeccable taste and on Doom and Gloom From The Tomb, he compiles bootlegs, rarities, and crate-digging finds for the heads. It’s a lively and surprising source for music history but his current recommendations are always on point too. 

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Eli Enis

For genre-specific deep dives and impossibly detailed essays, there aren’t many doing it better than Eli Enis. His series on shoegaze for Stereogum is one of the best pieces of music journalism of the past few years and you can find similarly impressive missives on his personal site. An Endless Scroll cohost along with Miranda Reinert, Eric Bennett, and Michael Brooks, it’s been such a joy to follow Enis’ career both in writing and on podcasts. 

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Flagging Down the Double E’s

Bob Dylan is my favorite songwriter of all time and Ray Padgett is one of the best writers on the beat. His newsletter tackles Dylan’s concert history, the Neverending Tour, and the musicians he toured with. It’s a vital resource for true fans. 

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Fluxblog

Fluxblog was one of the first blogs I ever read regularly and Matthew Perpetua is still doing the Lord’s work. By my count, no one is better at crafting a hyperspecific playlist that can either capture a year, a subgenre, or a mood. It’s astounding to see decades of dogged archiving and scene-specific documenting in this blog. 

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Former Clarity

For over a decade, David Anthony has been one of my good buds and one of my favorite writers. He was the intern at The A.V. Club right before I was and we’ve stayed close since then. His advice and friendship over the years kept me writing and while our tastes could not be more different, he’s turned me on to so many great bands in punk, hardcore, and metal. 

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Futurism Restated

For electronic and experimental music, no one writes about the genres with such grace and care than Philip Sherburne. We’ve only met a handful of times at Pitchfork Music Festival but he’s always been lovely. His newsletter Futurism Restated has swiftly become one of the most peerless Substacks. He updates it regularly and each edition is can’t miss culture writing. 

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Hear Hear

Adam Offitzer is one of music writing’s finest curators. Few people are such an avid reader and listener. His newsletter Hear Hear is remarkable as both a source for musical discovery and as an outlet to find other like-minded writers doing similar work. 

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Herb Sundays

Sam Valenti, who founded the acclaimed indie label Ghostly International, runs a weekly playlist series called Herb Sundays. For each installment, Valenti enlists one interesting person to compile a playlist. The mixes are as illuminating and eclectic as his guests. Throughout the newsletter, he manages to synthesize his guest’s career, their picks, and music news with lively prose.

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Hugo Reyes

If you live in Chicago and are curious about the histories of local micro scenes in hardcore, punk, and emo, Hugo Reyes has been doggedly archiving and writing about them. His attention to detail and a true head’s care for remembering defunct acts, venues, and albums are so important. Every city needs a Hugo. 

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I Enjoy Music

Molly Mary O’Brien runs two websites. There’s wideranging and expansive music blog (not a newsletter) I Enjoy Music where she interviews musicians and creatives as well as writes her thoughts on tunes she likes and talks about current trends. There’s also The Molly Zone, which is a newsletter (not a blog) that’s also focused on music. They’re both great and a ton of fun. She’s a curious thinker and a stellar interviewer. 

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Inbox Infinity

Music journalists get a lot of emails. It’s part of the gig but it often feels impossible to get to every pitch in your inbox. Patrick Lyons decided to start a newsletter that documents and reviews what publicists and bands send him for consideration. It’s a noble pursuit and he nails it every time. While his reviews are great, his essays are the true highlight: a whipsmart, funny, and inventive writer.  

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Last Donut of the Night

Last Donut of the Night from Larry Fitzmaurice was one of the first music newsletters that served as a north star and proof of concept for other writers to start their own. He’s a great interviewer whose chats with indie stars from the aughts, 2010s, and now are always entertaining. You can get a sense of his taste through his Baker’s Dozen track reviews too. He’s also been my editor before at VICE—big Larry fan here. 

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Medium Rotation

As a Neil Young head, I check Patrick Hosken’s Weekly Neil series on his newsletter Medium Rotation whenever I can. When he’s not doing deep dives into Neil, he’s writing enthusiastically about 2000s and 2010s indie. A lovely Twitter follow too. 

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New Commute

New Commute is run by the North Carolina-based curator and writer David Walker, who has unmatched taste. No other year-end list had as much overlap with my own as his. Go for the track blurbs and stay for the killer playlists, updated weekly. 

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On Repeat By Kevin Alexander

This newsletter is the nicest place on the internet. You can palpably feel Kevin’s passion for music with each sentence, especially when he writes about New Order, but the real joy comes from a lively and vibrant comment section. On Repeat distills what writing about music is all about: a community. 

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Our Band Could Be Your Wife

If Grace Robins-Somervile reviews an album, chances are it’s going to be the definitive take on an LP. While we share a decent amount of taste in indie rock, it’s her prose that really draws me to her work: it’s funny, evocative, and emotionally potent no matter the topic. She lived in Chicago last summer and it was always nice to run into her at a gig. 

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Phish Essays

Reading Rob Mitchum’s work for Pitchfork was incredibly formative for me and his impact on my tastes is still pretty felt over a decade later. My massive Grateful Dead kick of the past year was nurtured by his podcast with Steven Hyden 36 From The Vault. In October, he was kind enough to take me to my first Phish show in October, which I wrote about here. His newsletter Phish Essays documents and reviews every Phish show on its 25th anniversary. An unbelievable project that is consistently outstanding and informative for neophytes like myself and diehard wooks. 

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Quinn’s Newsletter

Ex-Pitchfork writer Quinn Moreland has always been a must-read. Her profiles with artists like Alex G and Indigo De Souza were always some of the best interviews that site ever published. Her newsletter is intimate, inviting, and diaristic but always worthwhile. I especially loved her send-off to the now defunct alltimer band Palm from last year. 

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Record Store

Amaya Lim’s newsletter is a wonderful source for thoughtful playlists and I love the way she gets introspective about the music that mattered most in her life. She’s also doing interviews on the Substack now and her chat with Eliza McLamb was really good. I also owe her a lot on this platform: Lim was one of the first writers to recommend No Expectations and to date, she’s driven over a hundred subscribers to the site. (Only ‘Friend of the Substack’ Kevin Morby is responsible for more). 

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Reply Alt

America’s premier punk journalist is Dan Ozzi, who was once my editor at Noisey (RIP). He came up with my favorite music interview series Rank Your Records and is now writing successful music books like Sellout, which chronicles the major label rush to sign punk and emo bands like Green Day and Thursday. His newsletter features interviews, book recommendations, and zines. He’s the best. 

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Rosy Overdrive

If you’re looking for underground indie rock, Rosy Overdrive is an excellent source. As far as I know, RO is one person but it feels like a full-fledged site with contributors ala The Alternative or Post-Trash. It’s comprehensive, prolific, and always has the finger on the pulse of the genre.  Kudos to Rosy Overdrive for hyping up the Lily Seabird record from this year. 

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SCARY COOL SAD GOODBYE

Music journalists aren’t cool but Meaghan Garvey is the coolest. There’s no one I’d rather read a cover story profile than this Chicago-based genius. Her prose is sparkling, funny, and relentlessly perceptive. SCSG is always a must-read, especially when she writes about her freewheeling travels and adventures into old weird American dive bars and small-town haunts. 

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Something On

Ian Cohen is one of the best music critics of this century. His reviews can be funny and acerbic but they’re done with such undeniable care it’s impressive even if you wholeheartedly disagree. A longtime friend and confidant about music journalism, I’m so happy he restarted his newsletter this year. I linked to his piece about Pitchfork this month and I can’t wait to follow him there more. 

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Step One of a Plan

This list is alphabetical but it turns out I’m saving one of the best for last. Miranda Reinert is one of the most talented writers of the past few years who proved that you can make an impact totally on your own. An Endless Scroll co-host and an enterprising zine-maker who is starting a publication I can’t wait for, Step One of a Plan is the best place for music essays on the internet. 

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What I listened to: 

No Expectations 059 Playlist: Spotify // Apple Music

 

1. Group Listening, “Frogs” 
2. Amen Dunes, “Purple Land” 
3. lake j, “My Own Mess” 
4. Owen, “Beaucoup”
5. Babehoven, “Birdseye” 
6. Plum, “With You” 
7. Jon McKiel, “Hex” 
8. Erika de Casier, They Hate Change, “ice” 
9. Alena Spanger, “Difficult People” 
10. Kora Puckett, “Far as I Can Tell” 
11. Darryl Rahn, Free Range, “Company” 
12. Blue Ranger, “Step Line” 
13. Jimmy Montague, “No Exit” 
14. Eric Slick, “Lose Our Minds” 
15. Liam Kazar, “Next Time Around” 

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Gig report: Villagerrr, Lily Seabird, Burr Oak at Gman Tavern (2/10) 

Two of the bands I’m most excited about played my first favorite bar over the weekend. It was a great crowd and a perfect night. Burr Oak were a great first of three too. I’m in awe of Villagerrr and Lily Seabird as live performers. My heart couldn’t be more full to meet so many readers at the gig. Show of the year. Please listen to Seabird’s new LP Alas, and preorder the forthcoming Villagerrr LP Tear Your Heart Out. Thanks for making it out. 

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What I watched: 

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

If you read my “favorite movies of 2023” list from last week, it’s probably pretty clear that my preferred film genre is “slow and patient movies with a lot of talking where not a ton happens.” I decided to do a total 180 and rewatch every Mission Impossible film. Compared to most big blockbuster action franchises, the MI series is a total blast that rarely feels like mainstream slop. The action set pieces are inventive and jaw-dropping, the scripts are usually a little bit clever and when it relies on humor it’s often more funny than “wait, that just happened” dialogue cliches that you could imagine someone like Ryan Reynolds relishing. The latest installment Dead Reckoning is not the best (the first film plus Ghost Protocol through Fallout are better) but it’s a ton of fun.

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What I read: 

The ‘Spontaneous Power’ of Damo Suzuki (by Joshua Minsoo Kim, Rolling Stone) 

Suzuki, who died on Feb. 9 at the age of 74, lived fearlessly in pursuit of such musical magic. To mythologize him is to discredit the steadfast life he led to create it. Born in 1950 in the small Japanese coastal town of Ōiso, Suzuki spent his adolescence uninterested in academic study, and was instead taken by the arts. He started two clubs at his school — one for general music lovers, and one for fans of the Kinks. Even as a teenager, he knew he was different from his peers and longed to leave Japan. “If you wish to find the truth,” he explained in his 2019 book, I Am Damo Suzuki, “you must break from tradition.”

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Kali Malone Studied Farming. Fate Brought Her to Avant-Garde Music. (by Philip Sherburne, New York Times) 

Malone’s fondness for drones hardly makes her a one-note composer. Before her 2019 breakout album, The Sacrificial Code — nearly two hours of minimalist, minutely textured organ studies — she was part of a shoegaze trio, conducted an ensemble playing the work of the “deep listening” pioneer Pauline Oliveros, and recorded strings and gongs in a decommissioned nuclear reactor. She flexed her compositional muscles on “Living Torch,” an electroacoustic work created for the Acousmonium, a multichannel setup developed in the 1970s at Groupe de Recherche Musicales, or GRM, in Paris.

“There is something both spiritual and almost tactile in the way that she creates music,” François J. Bonnet, director of GRM, said in an email. “She charts her own personal and inspired path — a path influenced by almost nothing, and not the product of cultural trends or zeitgeist.”

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The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar: 

Thursday, Feb. 15: Indigo De Souza, Mia Joy at Thalia Hall. Tickets. 

Thursday, Feb. 15: Junegrass, SPVD, DJ Glu at Empty Bottle. Tickets. 

Thursday, Feb. 15: André 3000 at Garfield Park Conservatory. Sold out. 

Thursday, Feb. 15: Lawrence Tome, Dogcatcher at Carol’s Pub. Tickets. 

Thursday, Feb. 15: Laura Jane Grace, Sincere Engineer, Calicoco at Sleeping Village. Tickets. 

Friday, Feb. 16: Laura Jane Grace, Sincere Engineer, Calicoco at Sleeping Village. Tickets. 

Friday, Feb. 16: Indigo De Souza, Truth Club at Thalia Hall. Tickets. 

Friday, Feb. 16: Joey Nebulous, Moontype at Empty Bottle. Tickets. 

Friday, Feb. 16: Tkay Maidza, Gayun Cannon at Lincoln Hall. Tickets. 

Saturday, Feb. 17: Varsity, No Star at Schubas. Sold Out. 

Saturday, Feb. 17: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico at Cobra Lounge. Tickets. 

Saturday, Feb. 17: Parker Millsap, Caleb Caudle at Old Town School of Folk. Tickets. 

Saturday, Feb. 17: Jane Remover, Quannic at Subterranean. Sold out. 

Sunday, Feb. 18: Squid, Water From Your Eyes at Thalia Hall. Tickets.