It's that time again, Bandcamp Friday - a time when the music platform waives their fee, giving 100% of profits to the artists on the platform. It started during COVID and has continued through multiple ownership hands.* As the owner of a small indie label, I would be foolish not to encourage you to go buy anything today.

While I do encourage that support, I also feel compelled to share other people's work. Maybe that's bad business on my part but there's so much great music out there, I can't claim that all of it is coming from YK. Previously I have used We Own This Town for the purposes of sharing "other people's work" but I don't want to do that anymore. YK Records is not a purely capitalistic endeavor that only promotes itself, so I don't need a secondary outlet to voice that support.

Anyway, this is all a very long winded way of saying - I made a playlist for you. It's a bunch of music available on Bandcamp that I think is worth supporting. Some of it is YK, a lot of it is NOT. If you want a track-by-track breakdown of each song, here ya go! I also suggest just playing from the top and letting it ride. It's a great listen, imo.

* Worth noting that Bandcamp has been doing this less frequently. It's a slow change but disheartening to not see them do it every month. My skepticism towards their SongTradr owners has not quieted in the last few years, hence my emotional investment in Ampwall.

There's exactly 1 billion podcasts out there*, so you may not need another thing to listen to but I found this Good One episode with Zach Galifianakis to be quite delightful. He is funny and self-deprecating as you'd expect but also quite thoughtful and instrospective.. which you may not expect. It's an hour that flies by.

* I said this as a joke and immediately realized it's likely undercounting

Awhile back, we caught Please Ask For It, a 20-minute documentary about a record store in Holly Springs, Mississippi called "Aikei Pro’s Record Shop." It's been operating since the 1960's and served as a hangout for modern blues artists like Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside (to name just a few). It is a hole in the wall down a side street of a very small town in an area of the South that continues to be drenched in racial division. It's a great documentary and I wish I could remember how I saw it - as I'd implore you to do so as well.

As luck would have it, we were down in Holly Springs this past weekend and decided to see if Aikei Pro’s Record Shop was still around. Much to our delight, it's still operating (on a Sunday!) and the 99-year old proprietor David “Fox” Caldwell talked to us at length about the history of the store, the racial disparity of Mississippi and plenty of other topics. If we didn't have to get back on the road to get home, he'd still be talking to us. A delight.

The shop itself is not really a place you'd shop at. I tried to buy a record and he refused, choosing to give me a 45 instead. It's stacks of history wall-to-wall but I believe Caldwell knows what lies underneath all the rubble.

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Go follow the film on Instagram - @pleaseaskforit - as you will not want to miss any future screenings or availability to watch it!

This one is a bit of an onslaught. It's a short documentary, a 50-minute DJ set and a brand new song, all from the band Soulwax aka 2manydjs aka DEEWEE. See? I told ya it was an onslaught. More narratively - the band Soulwax was invited to record at Abbey Road studios. Brothers David and Stephen Dewaele used all three studio spaces and recorded their full live band to capture the new song - "Perfect We Are Not." They pressed it "direct to vinyl" and played that as part of a huge DJ set that also happened inside of Abbey Road! A total banger! And if you want to see how that all came together, there's this short doc all about it.

Love the song and if 2manydj's is not a wormhole you've ever pursued before.. dive in.

The Aadam Jacobs Collection is an ongoing effort to digitize 10,000 bootlegs captured from the late 80s onward in the Chicago area thanks to the titular Aadam Jacobs. You should absolutely read the origin story before you dive into the collection.

Even if you don't consider yourself much of a "bootleg person," I think this collection is worth poking around in. The sound quality varies per show of course but everything I've heard has been quite enjoyable. Here are just a few that I've run into that you may want to listen:

• They Might Be Giants - Dec 1988, Cabaret Metro
• Nirvana - July 1989, Dreamerz
• Depeche Mode - March 1985, Aragon Ballroom
• The Replacements - Nov 1987, Riviera Theater
• Lambchop - May 1997, The Metro
• Folk Implosion - Feb 2000, Schubas Tavern
• The Faint - Oct 2000, Fireside Bowl -
• Neutral Milk Hotel - May 1997, Lounge Ax
• Mogwai - Sept 1999, Metro

That is barely the tip of the iceberg. There's plenty in there you may not recognize but it's a lifelong project form Jacobs that will continue to have new offerings for the foreseeable future. Definitely worth being aware of and keeping up with.

If you are even marginally online, you have seen the recent discourse about promotions company Chaotic Good Projects and their podcast episode where they own up to their tactics of manipulating TikTok and other social networks to make their campaigns look like real organic growth. This sums up their tactics nicely:

Songs are dropped into the backgrounds of videos. Live clips are shared. Sometimes, burner accounts, comments, and whole ecosystems of interactions can be fabricated out of digital cloth, stoking—and in some cases, completely manufacturing—discourse around an artist. These ginned-up interactions push the songs and the discussion about them higher up a platform’s algorithmic rankings

That's from a WIRED article called "The Fanfare Around the Band Geese Actually Was a Psyop." Meaning, they aren't really popular, the Internet was just manipulated in a way to make you think they were popular.

There has been much discourse about this. A lot if worth reading. This Maximum Exposure Inc piece has some nice insights into what Chaotic Good is doing:

What’s being shaped is not the audience directly, but the atmosphere in which the audience encounters something, the environment that determines whether it appears meaningful, relevant, or real.

The rest of the post goes into "Angry Music Fan Yells at Cloud" territory, which I find personally tiresome, but it does make some excellent insights earlier.

Of course, Garbage Day spoke on this as well and, turns out, Chaotic Good is probably not as good at all that manipulation that they claim to be so great at, especially when it comes to the band Geese.

There is a link between music streaming platforms and social content, yes, but it goes in the opposite direction. A big artist releases an album on Spotify, Spotify puts it in playlists, and that artist grows on Instagram and TikTok. It’s almost never the other way around. And this is actually true for almost every form of digital media right now.

...we know that Geese didn’t get big from TikTok. Major outlets like Rolling Stone and The New York Times were writing about them all the way back in 2021! They’ve had an extremely traditional career actually.

So, what is real? Are comments and posts and "online discourse" actually being effectively manipulated by a promotions company? Is that manipulation trickling out of social media and into real world opinion? I'd say yes to both but probably not to the degree that anyone wants you to believe.

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Coincidentally, back in early March there was an episode of Darknet Diaries called "Melody Fraud" in which the guest talks at length about how his promotions company manipulated the Internet for musicians back in the late 90s & early aughts. Maybe there's some solace in the idea that whatever manipulation tactics are happening in 2026 aren't some new aggressive behavior, it's the same ole game that's been happening for a long time.

Great episode of Major Label Debut here talking to Bill Baird of Sound Team about their experiences signing to Capital Records in the early aughts. Spoiler alert: it did not go well and Baird is not afraid to talk about it.

You can hear it on Apple, YouTube, Spreaker, anywhere you get a podcast.

If you're unfamiliar with Sound Team, you are in for a treat. I suggest starting with the major label debut in question, “Movie Monster”. I think it sounds great and I bet you'll be hooked by the time the second track ends. From there, you can go exploring their other albums and short run cassettes. You can explore Baird's vast catalog of solo work. You can find Matt Oliver's fantastic post-major label project TV Torso (named after a Sound Team song). All of it good.

The podcast episode discussion is fascinating because of Baird's honesty - he pulls no punches about bad experiences with the label, the producer and management. He also seems to recognize that a good bit of it was being an obstinate 20-something making contrarian decisions. Lots of blame to go around that makes for a very compelling chat.

Been enjoying the work of Pixelfaxing, a Javascript + pixel artist making moody images from code and composition. I'm particularly a fan of the animated pieces or those playing with light but they're all worth a gander. They're on Instagram, Threads and Gumroad.

I have mentioned before that I am subscribed to HAM Radio Weekly - a newsletter of insights from the world of HAM radio. I've never touched a HAM radio in my life but this newsletter always has something interesting to read.

For example, a recent issue linked the Save it for Parts channel video that asked the question: "Can I Overhear The Artemis II Moon Mission With Software Defined Radio?" It's 24 minutes of experimentation, DIY thinking and healthy curiosity.

If nothing else, just scrub through it and enjoy the various attempts at listening in. I can't say I understand much of the science behind the signal tracing but I was still entertained.

If you are not subscribed to Garbage Day and its companion podcast Panic World, you are missing out on the best* insights about the Internet. This tagline says it all: "how the internet warps our minds, our culture, and eventually reality." Subscribed.

The "Boomer Brain Rot Started Long Before Facebook" episode is a great discussion between host Ryan Broderick and Sam Seder (of The Majority Report) about the historical influences of Conservative media (Rush Limbaugh), the Conspiracy Theory Internet (Alex Jones) and how it resulted in our current cultural chaos (Donald Trump). You'd think that would be a suffocating and brutal conversation to listen in on but it's actually quite enlightening and entertaining.

YouTube decided I needed to watch a multi-hour playthrough of Jeb's Legend of Zelda, a free to download fan remake of the original game with many improvements and additions (some being incredibly absurd).

I don't know why these sorts of projects are so interesting and soothing to my brain but I can't help but respect the craftsmanship! If you find yourself tempted by an extra-long playthrough..go ahead and treat yourself.

There is no shortage of hot takes and outlandish claims about the future of AI. It can be exhausting but it's also a topic that really can't be ignored. Here's a few reads in the AI orbit that I've encountered recently that I found worthwhile.

• OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda - TLDR: OpenAI says one thing but actively does the opposite. IMO, cancel your ChatGPT account stat.
• Ben Wolfe, What AI Needs - it's a Threads post (which is generally incendiary) but it's a nice rundown on how AI could work better for us all. Articulated well, particularly the part about pattern machine vs thinking; def not the same.
• Tips for Designers on Making it Through 2026 to the Other Side -from Mike Davidson, Microsoft Design Executive. A blog post that posits we're all "Assemblers" now - a sentiment I have heard a number of different places with different verbage (I've heard "We're all Engineers now"). It gets into how to be a good Design candidate in an AI world but there's plenty of gems sprinkled in there even if that does not apply to you in any way.
• husk.irl abusing AI - this is from the latest Garbage Day so I assume you've seen it but at this moment in time, AI can not spell or perform simple tasks. At this moment.
• Introducing Solarium - Mark Wunsch walks through making his own eReader. This supports an idea that I've been hearing more often recently - software will be personal in the future. Given the pace and expertise of AI-assisted development, why couldn't you have apps that do exactly what you want without having to put up with annoying UI/UX? Yes, there will be API restrictions and boundaries that halt some projects but I really enjoy this idea of making exactly what you want.

This ROM hack of Super Mario Bros - officially called Play It By Trust (Sky Blue Super Mario Bros.) - is impossible to play unless you are intimately familiar with the game. Every single pixel has been changed to the same shade of sky blue - meaning you can't see anything. I've seen YouTubers play blindfolded, so maybe there is someone out that that could play this and actually make good progress? Even if it's a fools errand, it's fun to try.

The best part of this hack is the thought behind it..

The game is specifically an homage/reference/exploration of Yoko Ono’s classic work “Play It By Trust (White Chess Set) (1966)” which is a chess set in which all the pieces are white, with the core idea being that if you play with someone you will inevitably lose track of which pieces are yours and which are theirs, and then “there’s a moment when you feel like it really doesn’t matter which pieces are yours or the opponent’s.” There’s a really great discussion from Ono herself (I think) on the page linked above.

What parallels are there between this project and Ono's? Any? I'm not really sure there are but I like that a silly hack about Mario Bros led me to a thoughtful art piece from a controversial figure about a topic that is as timely now as it was then.

I vaguely recall Razor1911 from their shortened handle RZR; a warez and demo group that leaked a lot of software from 1986 to.. now? They seem to still be active in some capacity, despite at least one of the members being convicted to prison time.

Regardless, this Dubmood music video serves as a tribute to 40 years of the group. It's an onslaught of vintage computer references, ASCII art and visual delights for anyone that thinks fondly about modem dialup sounds. There's a moment about 4 and a half minutes in that really struck me - truly delightful.

Don't let that 10 minute runtime scare you, it's really only about 6 minutes and it's gripping the whole time.

And once you're done with that, watch this video I made that has similar vibes! Yes that is a selfish plug but it's my site and I'm allowed.

A few weeks back I was browsing the bootleg archives of TheFeatures.live and ran across this show from 2000 where the band played the song "God Save Rock n' Roll." This was before they were signed to Universal, before they had released their EP The Beginning but were strongly established as a fan favorite. You can hear the crowd singing along with every word.

Eventually the band did release The Beginning, which caught the ear of Universal and got them signed. In 2003, they headed down to Oxford, MS to make their major label debut with producers Mike McCarthy (Spoon) and Craig Krampf. They recorded 17 songs during that month of sessions. Together, they mixed the record and turned it over to the label - including a proper version of "God Save Rock n' Roll."

The label made some changes to the track listing, got the band to re-record some things and even had a new mix done. It's not unusual major label behavior and it was intended to be helpful; to give the band the best shot at breaking through to an audience. The band eventually released that album, entitled Exhibit A, in 2004. It launched their career and gained them much a bigger fanbase than the tiny capacity crowd back in 2000. But that recording of "God Save Rock n' Roll" was never released.

Until now. After twenty-six years as a fan favorite, "God Save Rock n' Roll" is available as part of a reissue aptly entitled Exhibit A (Original Sweet Tea Mix). This twenty-seven track collection is exactly what it sounds like, the original mixes that the band and the producers created back in 2003 (bundled with a ton of demos, including a demo for "God Save Rock n' Roll." We liked it so much, we're releasing it twice!). This is their sonic vision of what the major label debut would have sounded like, sourced directly from McCarthy's mixes.

The album is available in my shop, on Bandcamp and on Ampwall. It will be streaming Friday, Apr 10.

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This is already a massive post so I will refrain from adding too much else but I have been working on this for two and a half years. Not all day, every day, but steadily for years. I am overjoyed that it actually exists and is available for others to enjoy. I hope you'll partake.

Ryan Norris makes music as Coupler and has released a number of records with the likes of Third Man Records and my own yk Records. He's also been in The Privates, forrest bride, Hands Off Cuba, HeCTA, Lambchop and tons more. He's also the first person who ever introduced me to Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies and remains one of the people I find the most fascinating to hear talk about music. I actually recorded a chat with him not too long ago and still think about it often.

But that's all to say, he has a wealth of creative experience and I am, personally, a fan of how he expresses it. He recently posted this excellent piece about the art of editing - This, Not That. (or Editing as a Creative Act): A Provocation.

This "provocation" weaves through the idea of creation as reduction. It has a style and a cadence that is uniquely Norris. I actually recommend listening to the "Article voiceover" option, that he reads himself. I could pull quote many bits of it but I'll leave with this one:

The illusion great works present is of a springing forth fully-formed, inevitable, devoid of the messiness of this-not-that-ing. Unfinished works appear somehow different, yet in certain ways similar; pure, unaltered, primal, fundamental, brutal, prior to the edit. They pose versions of the same question; are they form without void, absent the negotiation of this-ing and that-ing? Were they never dipped into the muck?

I am a subscriber to the Poprock Record list - a regular dispatch of musical treats. Recently, they mentioned the Japanese surf rock band The Routes and their Joy Division cover album Surfin' Pleasures. Granted, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in a surf rock style doesn't carry quite the same melancholy burden that the original does but that's not the point! Every track on here is extremely well executed and somehow manages to fuse the two styles together extremely well. And that cover art is pretty brilliant.

Every year during the Tennessee Williams Festival, a contest is held in honor of A Streetcar Named Desire. This contest involves people recreating that scene where Stanley Kowalski screams for his wife Stella's forgiveness. The results are fantastic.

Stanley Kowalski is an despicable character but take a moment to browse the YouTube results for a bit of silly goodness. There's so many great results.

Earlier this year I quit Spotify. There's plenty of streaming service providers in the world and I'm happy to not be a daily active user on that one.

However, one thing Spotify had that I really enjoyed was a embeddable player. This let me get the playlists I'd made on Spotify out into the world - like on my old music page. It wasn't super fancy but it was sleek enough. Unfortunately, the same can not be said of YouTube Music embeds. The embeds they offer are undeniably awful - it's just a YouTube playlist with a drawer. The drawer isn't even open to let you see that more than one track exists!

Fortunately, there are a lot of APIs to let you interact with YouTube. Why not whip up a little interface to fetch a playlist and make it look nicer? That's exactly what YewTube is. A nicer looking YouTube Music embed!

The name is absurd (thanks jms) and the URL is insane but I am happy with the functionality. Just go here, paste in a YouTube Music Playlist* and you should get back something relatively nice looking! If not, please contact me on Bluesky and let me know what happened.

* to my surprise, this actually works for almost any playlist on YouTube. So, go nuts!

The other morning I got tagged on Instagram by an account I'd not heard of. They doodled me and it was on the main grid! WTF?!?

Turns out, the account was MUGZ Coffee, a NY based coffee roaster from designer, illustrator, typographer, artist Jason Powers. The doodle was part of a morning routine, just like the coffee.

Turns out Jason had also emailed me a heads up about the doodle and the coffee, I just hadn't seen it yet. Honestly tho, it was a delightful treat to see my little visage. I've got a bag of coffee on the way to me now. Maybe snag one for yourself.