No Limit On The Words 013

Some recommended reading

First thing’s first - my interview with three of the members of Most Precious Blood regarding the 20th anniversary of their second album, Our Lady of Annihilation is finally up at Lambgoat.com (here). This ended up being a way bigger project than I anticipated—mainly due to scheduling issues. Guitarist, founding member and main songwriter Justin Brannan is a NYC councilman (recently re-elected!) and has a brutal schedule, but we got it done and I think it’s pretty damn cool. So check that one out.

Now onto this week’s Substack.

You’re reading this. Chances are that you read other things. I also read other things. I wanted to share with you all some of the things that I have been enjoying.

(This is also inspired by an upcoming article I have with New Noise Magazine — you’ll see)

Up first is the Substack from Rennie Resmini (vocalist of the almighty Starkweather). The selling point here is that Rennie has incredible taste. He is also tuned into a world of underground extreme music from around the globe that is extremely creative, innovative and challenging. In his Substack he briefly outlines some recent discoveries and releases, and sometimes some older favorites as well. I’m not sure he has a set schedule on when these come out, but every few weeks I get pretty excited when an email from him comes through, because I know that even though I won’t dig it all, there’s plenty of stuff in his newsletter that I’m going to want to check out.

Another Substack I have been enjoying comes from the people at Secretly Canadian Records who have compiling a collection of all things Jason Molina. Old photos, press mentions and updates on the continuing musical ventures of Molina’s former bandmates all get space here, but the big bonus is the release of archival material. Molina left behind a massive amount of demo tapes and other such things, and the people behind Static & Distance have been pulling out the gems and sharing them.

Another Substack I have been into for a while now is Burning Ambulance, which is also a record label/independent music website. Founder Phil Freeman also writes for other various publications. In the newsletter he takes on mostly things related to the jazz and experimental music world, and sometimes metal too. If you’re into some of the links I’ve shared from artists like Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann or Charles Gayle, this is certainly one for you.

For a bonus round, here is a book I have been enjoying: Birth of the Cool: Beat Bebop, and the American Avant-Garde by Lewis MacAdams. I picked this up at the very cool Yellow Lab Vintage & Books in Troy, NY (for all the Capital Region readers). It follows the thread of innovation and creativity that connects people like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis with Jackson Pollock, John Cassavetes, Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan and whole slew of other artists and musicians that exemplify “cool.” Highly recommended.