There's no way I can keep up with (or share) the firehose of tech news but I'd be remiss if I did not mention Midjourney Medical - a new division from Midjourney that aims to introduce a new body scanning device that will replace / compete with MRI's.

Yes, the company that generates AI images and videos has started a new division to create immersive medical devices. I was sure it was a joke after reading the announcement. A clever way to showcase their next generation of models? But then I found a press release from their hardware partner talking about the agreement they signed to leverage "semiconductor-based ultrasound devices." The device is very real. I was also struck by this quote from Joseph DeVivo from the semi-conductor partner, Butterfly:

"After nearly 35 years working in healthcare, it's clear to me that our U.S. healthcare system is still primarily designed to treat illness, not prevent it. The future of health starts with awareness: understanding your body earlier and tracking how it responds to factors like diet, exercise, and behavior. Midjourney has unveiled an extraordinary whole-body scanner — no radiation, no magnetic risk, low cost, and accessible — with about half a million sensors scanning simultaneously and over two petaflops of processing power. Designed for weekly use, this is the next generation of AI on device. A continuous window into your health… because the earlier you can see what's changing, the sooner you can do something about it."

On paper, an inarguable standpoint to take! The US healthcare industry is broken in a bunch of ways! Our entire US culture is not really shaped to be health conscious in this way. Maybe there's promise here? Conceptually, it's an interesting stance.

Practically speaking, my skepticism is at full boil. It's an AI company that likely stole all its training data now adding a medical division. I am sure there is overlap in the tech but it's a long road before you convince me to step into one of their spa / MRI machines. Their device deep dive blog post didn't really quell my fears either.. they don't even cover the basic question of why Midjourney is the company you would trust with your privacy, your body and (one day) your health insights.

Look, spin off companies happen! Flickr was spun off from a multiplayer game called Game Neverending. Slack was spun off from... a multiplayer online game called Glitch. Twitter was originally a podcasting directory. It's not impossible that Midjourney could pivot or expand into medical but it certainly feels wild to imagine the new association.

I know one person that works at the new medical division and they are smart, hardworking and not treating any part of the undertaking with folly. I am intrigued to say the least and will be keeping an eye out as it develops.

I posted about this in Friday videos but it really bears repeating - this Dev Lemons song and video for "Maybe I'm the Reason instantly hit heavy rotation. The track is a blend of ethereal and melancholy pop that unfurls into a big wall of fuzzy guitars. Delightful.

The video is lo-fi as hell, combining vaporwave, glitch, videogame and a twinge of unexpected horror. I absolutely love the turn and I think you will too. Repeatedly.

I wish my setup for gaming from a laptop was even slightly together because I'd be putting in serious time with Moss Moss. It's a platformer / Metroidvania with an excellent lo-fi aesthetic and just the right balance of puzzles to exploring. I know this because I've watched playthroughs.. which just makes me yearn to play it more myself!

The concept here is unbelievably simple - a tiled background GIF paired with a transparent subject GIF, randomly chosen and recycling forever. The curation on the source material is top notch. You'll see repeats but every pairing is incredibly satisfying. Enjoy cachemonet.

In a world of TikTok, Instagram Reels,YouTube Shorts and every other "pivot to video" platform out there - I don't think you really need a collection of videos to distract you on a Friday. But, then again, who doesn't need a random slice of absurd happiness simply for the sake of absurd happiness? Let's go!

• The Strangest 1970s Public Information Film of All - you do not know where this is going. I promise.
• Bob's Burgers "Transmission" - an excellent Joy Division cover. Watch like 30 seconds, that's plenty.
• Puerto Rican Michael Jackson - I love MontessoriBoy. This one is particularly stupid but that's the charm.
• Robot Falls During "Billie Jean" Dance -Truthfully, a pretty stellar recovery but I lost it the first few times I watched.
• Breaking Bad but his HAT grows proportionally to his ego - just like the title says but it really delivers.
• Dev Lemons - Maybe I'm The Reason - new-to-me artist bringing the goods with this video. The first 1:40 is a delight but the turn is the real treat.
• The Room Returns - The original version of The Room cost $6 million dollars and months to film. What if it was done by professional actors with no budget, all green screen, no rehearsal and only teleprompters? Better? Worse? If you live in LA, you can find out next week.

A few months ago, Talking with Hands sent me a demo for a song titled "Hot Shit." It was a big riff, noisey, number that was like an autobiographical takedown - a nod to his past self being a "hot shit."

Around the same time, Mac Burrus of Telefone sent me a demo of a song he was working on called "Bullshit" - a takedown of some unknown source that was full of shit.

Two songs. Two shits. It seemed reasonable to suggest that we combine powers and release them together as The Shit split EP! So.. we did! Both artists fleshed out their songs to their proper final forms and each added additional tracks. So, the actual split EP is four songs - sandwiched in "shit" songs but providing plenty of real sustenance. Get Some Magazine reviewed the split and had many, very, nice things to say! Most notably: "Talking With Hands and Telefone are able to create some serious magic."

Obviously I'm biased but I'm happy with how it turned out. It's streaming on all the things and you can support it on Ampwall and Bandcamp.

There's also two great music videos - "ESP" and the aforementioned "Hot Shit" but more on both of those later...

I mentioned this in 2004 and 2005, so it seems appropriate to mention again in 2006. These Autolux Demos are now available on streaming platforms (and vinyl).

I remember getting these original demos back in 2001 / 2002 and playing them ad nauseam. If we're being honest, I've played them ad nauseam for the past 25 years. I love the "proper" recordings of Autolux as well but these demos are burrowed into my brain something fierce. That said, I recommend you let them burrow into your brain as well.

Well, this is frustrating but there's a new TV series called New Zealand Spy and there seem to be approximately four clips of it on YouTube; all shorts, none in fullsize. I know we live in an era of deprecated attention spans but lemme have a 16:9 video, please!

I digress! The point here is that Paul Williams - comedian and musician (I hope you know this video) has launched a new show called New Zealand Spy and it features a staggering amount of NZ, Australian and British comics - Rose Matafeo, Bret McKenzie, Joe Thomas, Claudia O'Doherty, Tim Key, Sam Campbell, Abby Howells and so many more. Of course it's also worth nothing that it is genuinely funny. Anyone that's a fan of Naked Gun, absurdist comedy or just something slightly goofy is going to have a blast.

I've no idea how you watch it but maybe you have a friend with a PLEX, or maybe you know someone at Hulu that can get it properly licensed for US audiences. It's excellent. Make sure you watch all these.

I swung by the new Nashville gallery Ziehersmith to catch the Archetypos show. One of the artists showing was Daniel Mandelbaum, a New Jersey, New York, Nashville, Memphis artist offering up some fantastic sculpture pieces.

I'm particularly smitten with this tired Mercury bust. When you're moving as fast as Mercury, you're bound to get exhausted. There's several sculptures in this latest show (and in his online gallery) that are both impressively crafted and genuinely delightful.

Go follow @danmandelbaum and enjoy those delights.

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Kagi Small Web is a simple redirect tool to somewhere random on the Internet. You hit that web address - kagi.com/smallweb - and you end up somewhere random. Maybe it's a miniature train enthusiast blog, or a Commodore64 IDE for Mac, or maybe it's Pride Flag Planet Cross-Stitch Pattern Generator.. words I never thought I'd see strung together but am overjoyed to discover.

Kagi Small Web is an open source reminder that the web is plenty weird and interesting, despite the reports that social media is making the Internet homogenized. Social Media is not the Internet and there's a lot of goodness to enjoy outside of it. Go find it with Small Web!

Les Ailes + My Friend Alan- 5 Songs
A few years ago, I stumbled on the work of Les Ailes, a (then) Nashville based artist that had just finished recording her debut record Tennessee with Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of Dead). I think "Lately" was my first exposure to her work and the vocal performance has stuck with me ever since. Over the years since, her work has continued to be compelling and evolving (spend some time with her second LP, Lou Heron).

Given that evolution, I should not have been surprised by the somewhat transformative vibe of the new collaborative EP with My Friend Alan entitled 5 SONGS. Many of the tracks on the release showcase Les Ailes unique vocals within dancier arrangements; sometimes synth laden, sometimes accompanied by a wailing sax, sometimes in a hynpnotic chant but always in a new and compelling way.

I urge you to take the catalog deep dive with Les Ailes, starting with the first record back in 2021, listening through all of the various singles, and the second album from 2025. All that and this new EP make for a rather rewarding dose of time well spent.

I receive a pretty decent amount of marketing emails every month about new music releases. Many of them are not up my alley but, occasionally, you encounter something that is entirely unknown and quite the refreshing listen. Texas based indie musician Mitts is an excellent example of that phenomena.

More or Less is the undertakings debut record. Produced in part with the help of Bill Baird and Dillon Ocon, the record offers up a handful of absolute bangers, thoughtful introspections and one ode to an enchilada. The whole album is a good listen but the bookends - "Baby Brother" and "Here Everything's Better" - have a specific blend of indie rock, country croon and stumble-y pace that really showcases the project's strengths.

Record Store Day is typically a big deal here in Nashville. The last few years, the folks at Vinyl Tap have put on an all-day festival of performances, making for a giant celebration of all sorts of music to be enjoyed by all, even if you aren't looking to wait in line to buy some exclusive RSD drop.

During the 2026 activities, I watched as Ultrafrog setup on the small interior stage. A full drum kit emerged along with a bass rig, guitar amps, a synth, a table full of pedals, vocal mic, a xylophone, a bongo set, another keyboard and more wires interconnecting equipment than I could keep track of. It's a massive amount of stuff but once the group started playing, it was clear they were in full control of the hordes in front of them.

At its core, Ultrafrog is J. Childers and Brian Kotzur, two musicians well known from the Nashville music scene. They are crafting "Sonic Journeys through Percussion & Electronics," sprawling soundscapes that do an excellent job of creating a mesmerizing atmosphere. They collaborate with other talented Nashville folks as well - including Annie Williams improvising vocals as heard on UF04 (and William Tyler / Grant Gustafson on UF06).

The sheer volume of equipment at their shows is the result of knowing what tools are needed to create that mesmerizing and immersive atmosphere. They may not need a bongo set but when they put it to use, you'll appreciate that it's there. The attention to detail and texture is surely a pain for them to manuever but, as a listener, the results are worth it.

What if your weather report was expressed to you simply by showing you a mood-appropriate Rothko painting? That's the idea behind Current Rothko, a weather app from Joonas Virtanen. It's a simple but elegantly beautiful concept. I prefer it to my Apple weather app that's for damn sure.

For longtime readers, Jeremy Fetzer's name is likely immediately familiar from his work as one half of Steelism. That project has been in quiet hibernation for some time but both individual members remain highly active (and participate in each other's work). All that to say, you may know his name already and, if so, you know Fetzer's body of work is quite pleasing.

The record comes with a perfect introduction from Fetzer himself:

An Evening At The Fetzicon Lounge - the creation of my own soundtrack to a 1970s, vaguely European, B-movie. For one of those films where it appears that more time, energy, and resources were put into the soundtrack than the movie itself. Perhaps the film was just an excuse to make the music?

It's a record that evokes 70's movie soundtracks and psychedelic dance parties. The kind of music you imagine oozing through the speakers of your favorite bar, creating an atmosphere of high-flying optimism. This is one you put on your turntable and someone cranes their neck to desperately inquire.. What is this?

Fetzer's always been capable of setting a mood and An Evening At The Fetzicon Lounge is a great example of that. You're traveling through a specific style and genre but there's never a feeling that this is a by-the-numbers exercise. This is clearly born from an appreciation of the soundtracks and listening rooms that came before it, with his own special flair added to the recipie. It's an evening I look forward to having.

Some time ago I stumbled across the madebit record An Alien Among Us. It's a collection of synth-y dance party tunes that strikes a balance between upbeat melancholy and unfurling wild rave (see: "A Sound is Born (Evolution of Self)"). With the new track "blue screen," the vibes are similar with a slight shift in the production, often reminding me of the coy style of Crumb. This seems to be an artist finding their footing on their own (the track notes its the first time they've mixed and mastered their own work) and I'm excited to see where things progress for them.

Thad Kopec may not be a name you've heard but it is absolutely a name you should know. His list of credits as a producer, writer, arranger, engineer, whathaveyou appears across a variety of music that should be investigated and enjoyed. His body of work under his own name is criminally underrated. In 2024, he paused releasing music under his own name and pivoted to the moniker Fealty, a new name that would allow him the freedom to explore different styles and sounds without the expectations of his previous work. The 2025 Fealty EP has all the high quality production of a Kopec undertaking but different instrumentation and a somewhat darker vibe. Once you're done with that, listen to the latest singles and also give a follow to Omnipleasant, a separate Kopec undertaking. Man of many talents, many projects.

Over the years writing for We Own This Town I became familiar with a lot of Nashville hip-hop. As a city, Nashville isn't exactly associated with any musicality outside of Country or Singer Songwriters. Memphis? Sure. Atlanta? New Orleans? Absolutely known for distinctive hip-hop styles. Not so much Nashville. But there's a healthy amount of talent here, albeit not a particular sound.

Qualls album The Gray Area is a solid example of Nashville hip-hop - great production, engaging flows and personal storytelling. All genres benefit from that last bit but you don't always hear it hip-hop.. Qualls lets it flow and it really works. Start with "HARDBODY" (featuring Chuck Indigo, one of many great features on the record). I'd be remiss if I did not point out that the last thee tracks of the record take on a different vibe from the rest and it's a very compelling coda.

I have never played a Halo game. I am familiar with the primary character because I live in the (nerdy) world but that's the extent of my familiarity. So, when I recently learned about I Love Bees, I was quite entertained. Apparently, way back in 2004, when Halo 2 was gearing up to be released, Microsoft launched an extensive Alternate Reality Game to promote it. This involved players receiving literal bottles of honey with secret messages inside, fake hacked websites, and a ton of players traveling to random pay phones to interact with characters from the story. This DEEP CUTS episode does a nice job of walking through the details of it all. If you only have 2 minutes of brain space for this topic, watch this instead.

Alternate Reality Games maybe seem less exciting in 2026 because we have YouTube, social media and hyper online personalities that will unravel any little idea as quickly as possible. But in 2004, pre-Youtube, this was not the case. Looking through Wikipedia, the I Love Bees phenomena is one of the earlier examples of using the Internet in this way (at least, to that scale and for marketing purposes.. I suspect there were a number of previous examples not funded by Microsoft).

Back in 2018, I started helping to produce a podcast called Hott Minute - conceptually a show that is "two smart women discuss who is hot, and why." In reality, hosts Jamie Bradley and Ashley Spurgeon just discuss whatever they'd like and make it fantastic. It ran for a few years and then fell off at the end of 2020 (it happens). After a short five year hiatus, they've returned with a new episode. I don't think the show is back regularly but a bonus 90 minute episode is a bonus 90 minute episode!

The two discuss NASCAR; a topic that I have had zero interest in historically but was quite amused with for the full duration of the episode. I suggest tuning in here and enjoying the accompanying gallery but it's available on all your standard podcast platforms. Wherever you like!