Showcase of the Stars dropped last week. On the surface, it's a cheeky music video for the Tower Defense song "Stop, I Think I've Heard This One Before"... and it is that but it is also a bunch of actual talent show performances. Over the next few weeks we'll be releasing longer cuts of some of these gems. It's a music video but also, hopefully, a serving of true public access TV goodness.

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This Max Fisher breakdown on The Oil Apocalypse is a fantastic watch. And I know you don't come to this site for insights about how the world's oil dependency is causing a financial crisis - you get that doom from plenty of other places - but this is a very straightforward, very consumable, primer on wtf is happening with many things in the world today. You're forgiven for not wanting to tune in to 35 minutes of this sort of topic but I am confident you'll come out the other side feeling better about being more informed. A little doom, sure, but a lot of understanding.

Over at yk Records, we reissued The Features 2004 major label debut Exhibit A as Exhibit A (Original Sweet Tea Mix). The process of reissuing a record requires going back through a lot of the original material - it's a blast! The upside to all that digging is that you occasionally get the chance to revive some gems from that era and, ideally, make them a little better.

One great example is the video for "There's a Million Ways to Sing The Blues." The original was released in 2004 and still looks great... but you can certainly tell it's from 2004. Director Chad Denning was able to source the original files and restore them into more modern standards. The results are pristine! The video is such a clever and artful use of projectors - creating layers on layers both behind and on top of the bands performance. I love the shots where the band is sitting perfectly still while the projection is going nuts. Here's some more choice GIFs from the video.

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I know zilch about the band half•alive but I recently stumbled on this rather incredible music video trifecta and I'd say they're certainly a band worth learning more about. The video is a highly choreographed piece for three songs - "Billions", "The Wolf" and "The Wonder." Executed and shot wonderfully. You may not have time for a 10-minute video but it's three songs! Watch it in parts!

I'd love to see a behind-the-scenes on all this.

via.

The NYC Subway system occasionally has vendors underground - variants of newspaper stands and bodegas. Maybe a Gyro stand, perhaps? But it turns out there's over 100 of those shops just sitting empty. Maybe people don't want to buy a Gyro from a subway bodega??

So the Metro Transit Authority has been bestowing some of the empty spaces to artists to create their own installations. It's called the Vacant Unit Activation Program. One great example is Rex's Dino Store - a seven foot tall paper mache dinosaur selling a number of customized (and pun-heavy) items. A delight if you ask me!

There are plenty more examples - past and present - but you're going to be hard pressed to beat that dino.

I want to take time to discuss the work of Nick Stokes but I'll do that separetely. For now, let's focus on Meatloaf Dippers - an incredibly infectious jingle for the signature dish at Howard's restaurant in Stillwater, MN - courtesy of Bon Iver with animations by the aforementioned Stokes. It feels straight outta School House Rocks. Absolute delight.

Truly can't believe I used to post Friday Videos weekly. How!? There's more video than ever these days but the time to see it all seems more fleeting. Anyway.. let's not ponder that!

Found this cover GIF from Stinky Zaba and I gotta say.. been a minute since I browsed a Giphy account but that one really satisfied.

Here we go...

• Dave Mustaine Concert Etiquette - a true gem.
• Kathy Don't Go! - sometimes Found Footage Fest founds a true bop. You gotta make it at least 90 seconds for the full enjoyment.
• Edward Furlong, "I'll Be Waiting" - absolute endurance challenge. Yea, you can make it through the narrated intro but can you make it through the song?? Big props for the SMB style title card.
• David Faustino, "I Told Ya" - what's that? You want more actor-to-musician cringe videos from the 90s? Bud Bundy delivers! Honestly, it's awkward but is it awful? Only one way to know.
• Stool Scanner - I believe this is a real product. The infographics are next level.
• Watch this Dove Hydrate in Seconds - it really does it.
• How Americans see EU Tech - unbelievably accurate. Ten minutes but satisfying start to finish.

The Mac Buttons Timeline is a single serving site documenting the Mac button styles from 1984 to 2026. Single purpose and shockingly satisfying.

I accidentally took a hiatus from my podcast - YK WORLD - but finally found the time to finish researching, writing, recording and editing the latest episode. So, we're back! It's a beefy one but I think quite enjoyable (I am certainly biased). Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music give people access to a wealth of music but the payment systems are rather stacked against an independent creator. I don't fault anyone for having a subscription with a streamer (I have one myself) but if you're the type of person that seeks to support music directly, you must seek alternatives.

I've been a champion of Bandcamp for a long time. They do a great job of supporting independent creators. Their revenue share is fair and the value they provide is undeniable. Over the last few years they've hit some rocky shores - selling themselves to Epic Games, selling again to SongTradr, firing a ton of people along the way and then, again, having layoffs as recently as 2026. That tumultuous existence has led others to start their own versions of Bandcamp. There are tons of them out there.

That's all the preamble to the episode to say - let's explore those Alternative Music Platforms. I come up with a scorecard for judging each one and dive into what they offer. Bandcamp sets the baseline but Subvert, Ratio and Ampwall are all bringing something very interesting to the table as well.

The episode is not about choosing a side - streamer vs music platform. As an independent creator, you sorta gotta do it all. But it is my opinion that there will be more chance at success, validation and enjoyment if you invest time in one (or more) of these platforms.

The episode is on the web but it's also in every podcast app. Just search for "YK World."

Also there's a wild ambient soundtrack to the whole thing by Mac Burrus that I really want to release on its own. Stay tuned for that.

We're entering a delightful new era of desktop pets. Case in point, CAT.EXE - a little pixelated feline that runs around the bottom of your screen. It walks, it sleeps, it baps! You can even pick it up and drop it if ya like, it always lands on its feet.

Cute. Fun. Done.

Stick with me for a moment.

Somehow I stumbled across Finn Streuper, a musician from the Netherlands who recently released an (excellent) album entitled What It’s Like to Be a Bat. It's a pleasing combo of bleeps and bloops, reed instruments, harp sounds, field recordings and a blissed out vibe overall. What really struck me tho was one little credit:

Based on Thomas Nagel's paper 'What Is It Like to Be a Bat?' published in The Philosophical Review in 1974.

I was intrigued! I sought it out.

The paper itself is available in various places online but understanding it is a whole other undertaking. Wikipedia does a decent job of breaking it down but, as far as I can tell, it is a disseratation on the idea that your consciousness can not be explained by a physical description of your brain. To put it in a much denser way:

Consciousness cannot be fully explained if the subjective character of experience is ignored, and the subjective character of experience cannot be explained by a reductionist; it is a mental phenomenon that cannot be reduced to materialism.

Truthfully, I find the whole thing difficult to penetrate. My brain is not quite sharp enough to handle an essay of this kind of thinking. I never took a philosophy class in college and I think this is a good example of why.

Despite my doubts that I can fully comprehend this work, I do enjoy thinking about it. I like the idea that existence is a lived-in experience that can not be explained purely by describing how blood flows through us or how synapses fire when we think. The "mind-body" problem can not be reduced to explanation without the consideration of the experience of being alive.

"What Is It Like To Be a Bat?" indeed.

I had written up a little lead-in paragraph here about how I'm an Inbox Zero kinda guy and how that's bled out into becoming a "bazillion open tabs" kind of guy. I don't think that's a particularly unique kind of guy to be, so I won't bore you with it. Lately I have been thinking about how I miss writing about local music. We Own This Town is on its last legs (more on that some day) and I don't know if writing about random Nashville bands will have the same impact here. Regardless, I love spreading the gospel of the Nashville scene, so here goes! Make Yourself at Home - "Leaf"
Billy Campbell is the brains behind this project and listening to his creations always brings me great pleasure. It's a well balanced combo of Yo La Tengo landscapes, Sonic Youth noise and (often) emphathic vocal releases. Mentioning influences to describe the project's sound is a bit lazy but it does frames the recordings well. "Leaf" is the first insight to a forthcoming album but if history has taught me anything; this is probably not fully representative of the whole. Looking forward to more. Lou Turner - Strangels
Hopefully you are familiar with Styrofoam Winos - of which Lou Turner comprises one third of. Their latest release, Any River, is well worth a listen. It also came out quite recently, so I was shocked to see a full-length release from Turner arrive so quickly! There's only two songs available from Strangels so far and both are immediately grabbing. Turner's voice is melancholy and yearning, the songs laid back and warm.. perfect companions for Fall. N. Justice,Evan Grey, and JustVibez - Spark Up Notes
There was a time that if you asked me who the best hip-hop artist in Nashville was, I would have replied N. Justice without hesitation. He moved away to Bowling Green, KY so, technically, he's not Nashville based. Regardless, he's an undeniable emcee. Always clever turns of phrases, a multitude of double entrendees, loads of memorable choruses, and (most importantly) lots of personal storytelling coming through. Spark Up Notes is another example of his fine work. I think Chosen Family is the best entry point but I know some folks don't have time for a full record.. so an EP may serve those ends better. Wherever you start, I feel confident you'll enjoy.

Randomly stumbled on this Robert Bausch illustration from a 1986 issue of A+ Magazine and was instantly smitten. The following page was a delightful "MonsterMac" ad; also swoon worthy.

I know next to nothing about A+ Magazine, Robert Bausch or MonsterMac. Sometimes you don't need any context, you can just enjoy what you see. I suggest a browse through that particular issue (and further issues if you're feeling spicy) as it is rather cozy.

Abandonware recently launched Clip Art Shirts, a t-shirt designer tool leaning hard into Windows 95 vibes. Or maybe Windows 3.1. You know the era!

I have not ordered a shirt yet but I am loving browsing the deep archives of clip art, WordArt, defunct Assistants and some great dithering options.

A fun and nostalgic little tool. Would love to run into someone wearing one of their creations.

The podcast Never Post continues to delight and surprise me whenever I dip into the feed. The latest episode - The World's Most Special Boys Building the Apocalypse - is all about the fervor around the AI models breaking out of their sandbox environments and various leadership involved calling to pump the brakes. This isn't just a recap of the events involved tho. Producer Hans Buetow and research David Karpf actually dig into the specifics of how accurate the reporting has been, how much anyone needs to be worried about sentient AI (at this moment in time) and what guardrails already exist to pump those proverbial brakes.

Karpf's insights are as educated as they are educated. It's a very good listen.

Personally, my vote is to embrace caution. There's plenty of debate around the idea of AI being "malicious" with its actions hacking sites outside of its test environment but that's irrelevant. Even if it's just trying to accomplish a goal and there's no emotion involved (which is certainly the case), it would still be wise to tighten up how these things are being tested and move with a little more care.

I think this will appeal to exactly three people - myself, the person that sent me this and maybe one other person. Niche is what the Internet does best, right?!

How's this for niche: someone took the beloved but overlooked space rock album Fantastic Planet by Failure and recreated it using the Super Mario 64 soundfont. I am a bit speechless and maybe a bit in love too!

Thnaks Keith!

I recently mentioned ASCII City, a project from Grow Now! Games that renders a "walkable cyberpunk city in one HTML file." Over the last few weeks there have been many updates and advancements on the project, working towards a playable demo.

One of those advancements is ASCII City Live, a "realtime" view into the City taken from various viewpoints around the various neighborhoods. It's fascinating to see it running in the browser but even more impressive when you remember that everyone that tunes in is seeing the same thing at the same time; like a real live cam. Nice walkthrough about the city cam here.

I'm smitten with this thing. Can't wait to see where it goes.

Can't recall where I stumbled upon Vorssaint but everyone I've subsequently shared it with has been impressed and excited. Well, all of the MacOS users I have shared it with! Vorssaint is "the modular Swiss Army knife for macOS" - basically, a bunch of tools that might make your life better depending on how you like to use your machine. How do some of these sound: window previews when switching (not just icons), clicking an icon in the dock to minimize or maximize it, quit apps on close, cut and paste folders in Finder, strip tracking from all copied URLs? All possible with Vorssaint and each installed individually, so you're not bloating your machine with features you don't need.

Truthfully, I've not installed this yet! I love a lot of what I'm seeing but just haven't taken the dive.

At the end of every month I get a nice little text message from John Paul Bullock alerting me to a new playlist he's compiled for the month featuring 50 great songs released or reissued. Straightforward and always a treat.

August dropped recently. It's on YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. I recommend you save it and follow him in whatever capacity you can.

Occasionally yk Records releases make the mix and I am highly appreciative of this but that's not why I love the mixes. They are genuinely diverse, eclectic and well sequenced compilations!

I'm not really familiar with the works of Madison Cunningham. I feel like I've listened to her record Ace but didn't give it the proper attention it was due.

Recently, someone shared this acoustic performance of "My Full Name" on Office Hours with Tim Heidecker and I popped it on in the background. But not for long! Her vocal quality and performance are mesmerizing, ethereal and quite melancholy. I've played it 25 times. Maybe you will too.

Time to revisit Ace.