This was so much fun to co-host / be a part of. There was so much incredible music being made in Nashville in the 1980s that was—gasp—not country. @yewknee did an amazing job curating a selection of that. I just represented @NDemystified and jabbered. https://t.co/aKBqcPTbok

The podcast Nashville Demystified has been doing a 10-part series looking at Nashville in the 1980s. It's a really fascinating series that covers how different the landscape of the city was during that time (including, but not limited to, an anecdote about a US Congressman named Bill Boner going undercover to learn about the homeless population with the pseudonym Hoot Jackson - no joke).

Inspired by this series, I decided to do some research on what the Nashville Music Scene was like during that decade. After much googling and cross referencing and sampling of songs, I came up with this episode of WOTT Music. Nashville Demystified host Alex Steed joined me for the recording as we listen to 9 songs of New Wave, Punk and Glorious Saxophone. We had a blast and I think the music is phenomenal.

It is wild to me to imagine any band during that era to have the resources to record, mix, master, produce artwork and distribute music on any scale. Several of these bands only produced 2-4 songs in total, an understandable limitation given how much harder it was to make music at that time.

Give it a listen and consider subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, etc. We have fun.

For the love of god UNMUTE THIS https://t.co/MA48mit8MX

For reasons beyond my comprehension, my day job is requiring me to format my computer today and start fresh. Something to do with policy installations and remote wiping and a bunch of other stuff that generally furrows my brow but also not something I can make even the smallest debate about. Wish me luck, formatting is the worst.

I've been doing better about not posting about every single We Own This Town podcast that is released but if you haven't heard the latest Hott Minute, Nashville Demystified and TNDP episodes, you're doing yourself a disservice.

On to the, much needed, distractions!

• New Wave Nashville - in 1983, local news Channel 4 ran a four-part series about New Wave music coming to Nashville. It's... well intentioned. It's also filled with VHS imagery like the above GIF where Nashville New Wavers are really strutting their stuff.
• The Strokes - At The Door - while not as upbeat and immediately grabbing as their other single, I was really impressed with this video. Multiple storylines across with a fantastic animation style. Loved it.
• He-Man & She-Ra Fan Game - look, I don't care about He-Man. I'm 41 years old and my nostalgia only runs so deep. However, this is a fan made game. I'm just sort of blown away this is possible.
• Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Star Trek Deepfake - burying the lede this week, this is unbelievable.
• Dog Thing - yep, still love stupid videos and would be on board for 10 hours of this.
• A cat thinks long before hitting a dog - the anticipation is perfection.

@entrauge Why are we building computers susceptible to advertising

My buddy Brandon Spencer has had a long standing radio show called Nashville Mixtapes that regularly plays a phenomenal mix of songs across a wide number of genres. You know, like a mixtape. He took a break over the last six months but has returned! A few points to consider when determining if you care about this news or not:

• He now has a co-host in the form of Cody Newman, a delightful individual and widely varied music fan himself.
• The shows are available as an broadcast archive or as music only if that's your preference.
• The show is live every Saturday at 11am Central, so you can simply tune in at WXNAfm.org during your mornings.

Been a fan of this show for a long time and I'm real happy to see it return. Let's hope it sticks around for a bit.

Based on a topic which has popped up in a couple episodes, I’ve been working on a playlist of country songs by non-country artists. This includes spoof albums (Ween, Jonathan Richman) and songs that just sound country (Baby Got Going by Liz Phair) https://t.co/w4vJC0KCEc

I'm still mad about this! Support @NashvilleScene and @EastNashvillian, publications that actually pay their writers and photographers.

This 18th-century horse was named Pot-8-Os (pronounced “Potatoes”). But reportedly a stable boy thought it meant “Pot” followed by 8 O’s. Potoooooooo. Lol. https://t.co/WZ4C9s4L6j

I tried the new AR Piano iphone app a dozen times but could never get it to line up with my piano keys, but who cares, because the piano player has TEETH, EYEBALLS, AND A TONGUE https://t.co/ySmOXYny8b

I've been absolutely drowning in email lately. I think I did it to myself but overwhelmed is not quite the word for it. If you're waiting on a reply from me, hold tight.

That said, instead of replying to those emails I'll compile a list of distracting and enjoyable videos for you. So, here you are:

• Squeeze - I posted this previously but it requires multiple viewings.
• A24 - The Green Knight Trailer - very few studios doing horror period pieces. Intrigued.
• Is Stephen Merchant a Living Landmark? - I've been watching an awful lot of Would I Lie To You?, a British gameshow where the panel members tell a story and the competition tries to determine if it's legit or not. This is a fine example of why I'm so entertained.
• Billie Eilish ft. OwlKitty - this is done remarkably well and, honestly, improves the video 300%.
• Obamium - oh, you know, just one of those videos.
• The night Tom Noddy forever changed the world of bubble entertainment: January 5 1983 - Bubble Magic on TV for nearly ten minutes. Surprisingly enjoyable. Forever changed.

From Slovenia to Poland and many points beyond, Jason Gardner makes portraits of attendees at various Carnaval celebrations and they are phenomenal. The selections above are a small smattering of the offerings but, hopefully, more than enough to entice a deeper dive into the full gallery. The creativity in these outfits is a mind-boggling combination of DIY folk, absolute beauty and nightmare fuel. I love it. See more on his website or Instagram, @visualanthropology1.

via @feastandfolly & @blackcatbelle.

Reminder: Read this in full

Whenever I'm at a Flea Market or Antique Store of some sort I keep my eye out for old LIFE Magazines, LOOK Magazine or New York Magazines - publications of that ilk tend to have wildly inspiring typography, wonderful photography and even some interesting articles. They also can serve as a nice repository of art to use in new projects, if you're willing to push that copyright boundary a little bit (let's be honest, it happens a lot).

Google Books has a massive archive of LIFE magazines, scanned in and ready for your perusal. It's not quite as fun as digging through a random crate at a Flea Market but there's no lack of inspiration to be found.

You can go all the way back to 1935 or as recent as Dec 1972.

Through some accidental happenstance, I ended up on the mailing list of the label Blues Funeral - a small indie mostly known for releasing stoner rock (their term, not mine). They recently sent out an update about the forthcoming release of Refractions, the first new album from Lowrider in some 20 years. I don't have any personal history with the band or their prior work but I'm liking what I'm hearing. If you, like me, enjoy a bit of Kyuss / early QOTSA or something more modern like The Sword; let this please your ears.

Loving this little dive into pulp art from a treasure trove of Mexican comic books and magazines from the fifties, sixties and seventies. Of course they come with a slightly unfortunate back story (See below) but the work itself is phenomenal.

These artists produced work for Mexican comic books and pulp magazines during the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Unfortunately, most were treated like casual labourers, hired on a daily or weekly basis. They painted with tempera on wood or cardboard. It was cheap and fast. The demand for their work was high. During the mid-1970s, an estimated 56-million comic books were produced every month in Mexico. The population of Mexico at that time was 65-million.

HT mkshphrd.

Adam Sandler’s outrageous and memorable acceptance speech for Best Male Lead at the Independent Film Spirit Awards (1/2) https://t.co/0osA87uQJ4

Taika Waititi jokes about what writers should be asking for in the next round of talks with producers: “Apple needs to fix those keyboards. They are impossible to write on. They’ve gotten worse. It makes me want to go back to PCs” #Oscars https://t.co/vlFTSjCfZm

I fell asleep because the #Oscars are long, who won best product placement soft drink? https://t.co/Vx31MuNtre

You can’t convince me that Randy Newman and Elton John are different people at this point