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!

I don't know how I encountered it but I somehow stumbled upon BEST OF LUCK, an EP from Seattle band DANG. It's a fascinating listen, with some stellar art. Turns out the project is the pseudonym of illustrator, animator, designer and all around compelling fun guy, Alex Benson. Cruise on over to that website, watch the design reel, dive into the illustrations but, really, just enjoy the whole vibe of the site. Don't let anyone tell you the web isn't alive and delightful.

Several years ago I pondered what Blippo+ might be. At the time, it was a yet-to-be-announced project from Panic for the Playdate. In the years since, it's clear what Blippo+ is... sort of!

If you've never watched the proper trailer, I suggest you do so now. Maybe even make the effort to do so inside the context of the official site, which is quite nice. If it didn't click, Blippo+ is a series of TV stations. Not on demand content, just streaming content that you can tune into. Funny that in 2026, linear programming is novel and interesting.

But it's clearly not just any ole content. Tho I've never watched a frame of any of the shows, I am fascinated by what they've put together. I watched this behind the scenes mini-doc about the project and am completely fascinated by it. The creators describe it as "a TV station beaming into Earth for the time being," "a rip in the time-space continuum", "a six hour science fiction movie disguised as a television network, disguised as a video game." I've been sleeping on getting Blippo+ into my life but I think it's high time I change that.

If you're familiar with Makeup and Vanity Set and familiar with a certain very popular show on Netflix, you can probably put the pieces together here. The latest release from MAVS is entitled i made these songs for the final season of that huge streaming series but they didn't use any of them., a pretty straightforward explanation of the history of these songs. Their loss is our gain. In a world where these songs were used for that particular series, it's unlikely they would have ever been released in this way. That said, I am sure it is frustrating to make work - especially good, appropriate work - and not see it reach its destination.

Congrats to MAVS for even being considered and for making such an enjoyable batch of songs. When you're done with that, go enjoy "Bomberstage" - done with his Sferro collab project, WAVEFINDER.

Ran across an interesting film called Dying to Live Now doing some fundraising. The documentary is setting out to tell the story of RamDev Dale Borglum, an SF resident that's head of the Living/Dying Project, an organization that helps people navigate the difficulties of facing death and discussing death.

I am sure my summary here won't do it justice, so please watch the trailer. There's a moment about 2 minutes in, clipped from the Duncan Trussell Family Hour where Borglum seems to summarize his philosophy on death quite succintly; a respectable and meaningful take on it.

The fundraising project also notes that if 100 new backers join by May 22nd, they'll get a $5K matching sponsorship.. so that's double reasons to consider backing it. Great topic and a bit more assurance that it'll actually come to fruition.

I'm a big fan of the Poprock Record blog. Author Dennis Pilon regularly posts about new music, old favorites and the occasional special essay. The latest post is in the latter category, a musing called A Man Called E returns. In it, he pontificates the work of Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, aka the guy behind the band Eels.

For a good chunk of time, I was a diehard Eels fan. I loved the pre-Eels work - aka A Man Called E and Broken Toy Shop - but really loved the early Dreamworks records. I stand by the opinion that Electro-Shock Blues is one of the most crushing and, yet, optimstic records around.

Anyway, all this is to say that Poprock Record put together a great list of songs from Eels that sound like the early works as E. But there was no actual playlist! I'm here to solve that. Enjoy A Man Called E Returns.

I recently received beta access to BANDBAND.TV; a new "human-curated music video network." I am quite impressed with the undertaking! It's an immersive experience that can be enjoyed ambiently or if you wanna dive in more. I won't go as far as to say its what MTV should have evolved into it but it certainly seems like it's getting into that realm. I'm excited to see future iterations on the project.

Oh, and the curation is great! That's really the most important part! Tons of really superb videos. Go apply for your own beta access to see for yourself.

Been enjoying a deep dive through the work of Manuel Cetina. It's a nice combination of glitch, 90s interfaces, Manga, and American Traditional. It's a real mish mash of influences and it works very well. The animated pieces take things up a notch but all of the glitched illustrations are perfectly up my alley. Love it!

I have an inordinate amount of Open Tabs (not to be confused with Today in Tabs). I have every intention of spending time with these tabs but my good intentions often fall flat. So, why not let them free by sharing them with you! Maybe they'll become neglected open tabs in your browser? This is me paying it forward.

• Jack Dorsey: Every Company Can Now Be a Mini-AGI - an hour long chat with ex-Twitter CEO and safety-pin earring technologist, Jack Dorsey. I do not put this man on a pedestal by any means but I am curiously intrigued to listen to this. It will now linger in my "Watch Later" queue.
• Jimmy Iovine on building Interscope Records & Beats by Dre - a two hour interview with the infamous music industry figurehead. His resume is undeniable but.. is he an asshole? Is he insightful? Both? I've watch maybe 15 minutes of this and have enjoyed but just haven't made time for the rest. Maybe you will!
• Scientists Discover Pee Planet - I'd love to read more about this ammonia ridden atmosphere. Also, if I ever start a band I claim Piss Planet as album title.
• Touch Glass: A Declaration to Remain in Cyberspace - a very interesting manifesto that positions that the Internet isn't as bad as they're making it out to be. Would like to learn more about this movement but, for now, I'm satisfied with the phrase "Touch Glass."

You are undoubtedly familiar with some amount of Horror Movie Hosts. Specifically, Elvira and The CryptKeeper seem like ubiquitous characters in pop culture. Joe Bob Briggs is probably the more well known contemporary host but he's not enough of a character for my taste.

Beyond those three, there are tons of these hosts! Dr. Lucifur, Sir Cecil Creape, Humphrey the Hunchback, Dr. Gangrene and many more. Most are probably not known to you but all those I just listed all hail from Nashville from the last 60 years. Dr. Gangrene himself wrote a book called Master of Terrormonies that captures the history of these ghouls from 1957 to modern times. We got our copy the other day and I'm excited to dive in.

Along I-65S at the border of Tennessee and Alabama, there was a Gentleman's Club right off Exit 6. It was next to a motel and a gas station. No town nearby. No civilization. Literally a corn field across the street. I never stepped foot inside but I will never forget it. The name? "Boobie Bungalow."

Thanks to the power of Google Maps time rewinding, you can see the establishment right here. Spin that camera around, it's unbelievably desolate.

As I was trying to find out more info about the place, I stumbled on this Bandcamp song paying tribute to it. Honestly, perfect song: I also ran across this Heather Hopkins piece about working at the place for a short stint - "Stripping away my naiveté at the Bungalow Club. As you might have guessed, the gentleman's club off the interstate in the middle of nowhere was not always a pleasant place. Hopkins piece is quite entertaining and enjoyable tho - well worth the read.

The club is gone now. Google Maps shows barely a husk of the prior establishment. I'm sure that's for the best.

But still.. helluva name.

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.