Carl Wilson
@carlzoilus.bsky.social
Music critic for Slate, freelance writer/editor/etc in Toronto (and available for work!), author of Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, founding associate of Trampoline Hall.
Reposted by Carl Wilson
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Jimmy Cliff's writing & performance hit somewhere for me beyond even Marley - the Sam Cooke of reggae in his range and seductions. The Harder They Come ST is the motherlode, but incredible that he also wrote one of the greatest songs about Vietnam in the sixties. RIP www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Q4...
Jimmy Cliff - Vietnam
YouTube video by RastaChaka
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Jimmy Cliff's writing & performance hit somewhere for me beyond even Marley - the Sam Cooke of reggae in his range and seductions. The Harder They Come ST is the motherlode, but incredible that he also wrote one of the greatest songs about Vietnam in the sixties. RIP www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Q4...
This is an interesting argument. It’s 80s v 90s to me. Older Gen Xers’ parents were slightly too old to have been Beatlemaniacs so we were into them and so were the cool bands (see Paisley Underground etc). We were more wary of Elvis. Younger Gen X had a different slant.
As someone who is also this guy’s age I can tell you 100% this wasn’t hard at all. The Beatles were Boomer music and they were shoved down your throat everywhere and they reeked of your parents’ nostalgia. Nobody I knew liked The Beatles.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
If you were into grunge, *everything* was your enemy.
As someone who is this guy's age I can tell you 100% that if you were into Pixies, Nirvana, 120 Minutes stuff, etc. but didn't like the Beatles you had to have worked hard to contort yourself into that special little box. Your enemy, if you absolutely needed one, was hair metal. GTFO here with this.
November 23, 2025 at 5:40 PM
This is an interesting argument. It’s 80s v 90s to me. Older Gen Xers’ parents were slightly too old to have been Beatlemaniacs so we were into them and so were the cool bands (see Paisley Underground etc). We were more wary of Elvis. Younger Gen X had a different slant.
It's hard to imagine they're not just doing this for pleasure.
November 22, 2025 at 3:30 AM
It's hard to imagine they're not just doing this for pleasure.
Reposted by Carl Wilson
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
TRUMP [after spending 5 minutes with Zohran]: surplus value, it’s a very wonderful thing, very wonderful, and they’re stealing it. Can you believe that?
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
We’re going to be looking very strongly at the bourgeoisie, what they’re up to
Read this review of that book instead: www.artnews.com/art-in-ameri...
November 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Read this review of that book instead: www.artnews.com/art-in-ameri...
Let's say this again, for the ones in the back who weren't listening: slate.com/culture/2025...
November 21, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Let's say this again, for the ones in the back who weren't listening: slate.com/culture/2025...
"AI of the Tiger"
Have the internet ruin a song:
“Tuesday’s Goon”
“Tuesday’s Goon”
Have the internet ruin a song:
“Sing me a song, you're the piano cat”
“Sing me a song, you're the piano cat”
November 21, 2025 at 3:26 AM
"AI of the Tiger"
F me with a piano roll and a teardrop tattoo.
November 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM
F me with a piano roll and a teardrop tattoo.
Later today!
Wed Nov 19, 5:30 pm ET, the Popular Music Books online series features Allison Bumstead on teen fan mags' role in early rock journalism & politics, plus Peter Richardson on how Bay Area activism fed into the advent of Rolling Stone. To join us, see here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
November 19, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Later today!
Wed Nov 19, 5:30 pm ET, the Popular Music Books online series features Allison Bumstead on teen fan mags' role in early rock journalism & politics, plus Peter Richardson on how Bay Area activism fed into the advent of Rolling Stone. To join us, see here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
November 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Wed Nov 19, 5:30 pm ET, the Popular Music Books online series features Allison Bumstead on teen fan mags' role in early rock journalism & politics, plus Peter Richardson on how Bay Area activism fed into the advent of Rolling Stone. To join us, see here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
Belated notice that if you were put off by the first episode of Pluribus because it seemed too much like familiar viral apocalypse stuff ... watch the second episode and ye shall be healed
November 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Belated notice that if you were put off by the first episode of Pluribus because it seemed too much like familiar viral apocalypse stuff ... watch the second episode and ye shall be healed
Much too young, RIP.
November 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Much too young, RIP.
Great short @newyorker.com doc on the UK "broadcast ban" on Republican voices from Northern Ireland in the 70s-80s. An often absurd parable about the perversity of censorship, w/ an apropos note that the UK govt still uses similar rationales for suppressing dissent today. youtu.be/4EG-4qhre8k?...
When a Crackdown Involving the I.R.A. Backfired, Comically | “The Ban” | The New Yorker Documentary
YouTube video by The New Yorker
youtu.be
November 15, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Great short @newyorker.com doc on the UK "broadcast ban" on Republican voices from Northern Ireland in the 70s-80s. An often absurd parable about the perversity of censorship, w/ an apropos note that the UK govt still uses similar rationales for suppressing dissent today. youtu.be/4EG-4qhre8k?...
Started watching Channel 4's #Trespasses - very good so far but it seems criminal to have a period drama about a forbidden affair, with Gillian Anderson in it, and for Gillian Anderson *not to be the one having the affair.
November 15, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Started watching Channel 4's #Trespasses - very good so far but it seems criminal to have a period drama about a forbidden affair, with Gillian Anderson in it, and for Gillian Anderson *not to be the one having the affair.
Congrats @stereogum.com on the relaunch! Chilling line from @scottgum.bsky.social's intro: "Google's pivot to AI search has cut our ad revenue by 70%. Facebook and X's deprioritization of links hurt too, but I can't downplay the brutal impact of AI Overview." Please support music writing, folks.
November 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Congrats @stereogum.com on the relaunch! Chilling line from @scottgum.bsky.social's intro: "Google's pivot to AI search has cut our ad revenue by 70%. Facebook and X's deprioritization of links hurt too, but I can't downplay the brutal impact of AI Overview." Please support music writing, folks.
My Toronto show listings for Nov-Dec are up now in my Substack. (Along with a short list of top picks, which I'll put in the replies.) carlwilson.substack.com/p/lust-for-l...
Lust for Live, Nov-Dec
Selected shows for the final weeks of 2025
carlwilson.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:42 PM
My Toronto show listings for Nov-Dec are up now in my Substack. (Along with a short list of top picks, which I'll put in the replies.) carlwilson.substack.com/p/lust-for-l...
As part of Hilobrow's "Skank Your Enthusiasm" series on ska, I wrote a short piece about my conflicted history with the genre's post-punk revival waves, via Madness's 1979 signature cover of Prince Buster's 1964 "One Step Beyond." www.hilobrow.com/2025/11/04/s...
November 5, 2025 at 7:34 PM
As part of Hilobrow's "Skank Your Enthusiasm" series on ska, I wrote a short piece about my conflicted history with the genre's post-punk revival waves, via Madness's 1979 signature cover of Prince Buster's 1964 "One Step Beyond." www.hilobrow.com/2025/11/04/s...
Reminder - today at 5:30 eastern!
LIVING THROUGH HISTORY: Wed Nov 5, 5:30 pm ET in the Popular Music Books series, blues harpist Jerry Portnoy (Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton) & label exec Dan Beck (Michael Jackson) discuss their new memoirs w/ Lauren Onkey (GWU, NPR). Come! Bring your questions! iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
November 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reminder - today at 5:30 eastern!
LIVING THROUGH HISTORY: Wed Nov 5, 5:30 pm ET in the Popular Music Books series, blues harpist Jerry Portnoy (Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton) & label exec Dan Beck (Michael Jackson) discuss their new memoirs w/ Lauren Onkey (GWU, NPR). Come! Bring your questions! iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
November 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
LIVING THROUGH HISTORY: Wed Nov 5, 5:30 pm ET in the Popular Music Books series, blues harpist Jerry Portnoy (Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton) & label exec Dan Beck (Michael Jackson) discuss their new memoirs w/ Lauren Onkey (GWU, NPR). Come! Bring your questions! iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...
You guys following this? What a game! Hancock out there setting records for most cosmic jazz batted in!
just saw Herbie Hancock at the Strathmore. played almost exclusively progressive jazz, went ~1 hour over time, much of the overage stemming from a nearly 40m lecture on evolution, compassion, & futurism done entirely via vocoder, and saved almost all the accessible fusion for post-lecture. the GOAT!
November 2, 2025 at 3:24 AM
You guys following this? What a game! Hancock out there setting records for most cosmic jazz batted in!
Reposted by Carl Wilson
geddy lee claps for the blue jays in 7/4 time
November 2, 2025 at 1:55 AM
geddy lee claps for the blue jays in 7/4 time
The new Crutchfield sisters project, Snocaps, might be the most hit-you-in-your-90s-feelings record I've ever heard. I wanted to start crying 30 seconds in and I don't even know what this song is about.
November 1, 2025 at 9:15 PM
The new Crutchfield sisters project, Snocaps, might be the most hit-you-in-your-90s-feelings record I've ever heard. I wanted to start crying 30 seconds in and I don't even know what this song is about.
This isn’t just a horrible but policy neutral “civil war” now, if it ever was - there are international sponsors and suppliers who should be pressured and censured by the rest of the world.
A horrific mass murder is unfolding in Sudan, where no one can see it. The RSF are murdering civilians in El Fasher, having finally defeated the Sudanese army forces holding out in the city. The BBC has managed to speak to some who escaped
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fC...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fC...
Sudanese survivors of el-Fasher siege tell the BBC about RSF brutality | BBC News
YouTube video by BBC News
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:23 PM
This isn’t just a horrible but policy neutral “civil war” now, if it ever was - there are international sponsors and suppliers who should be pressured and censured by the rest of the world.
This week's "Portrait Mode" series at @slate.com squares off w/ the oft-cursed biopic genre, incl me on the Springsteen movie (which Dana @thehighsign.bsky.social links below) and her fine piece on Linklater's new Godard and Rodgers films. The whole thing is here: slate.com/tag/portrait...
October 31, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This week's "Portrait Mode" series at @slate.com squares off w/ the oft-cursed biopic genre, incl me on the Springsteen movie (which Dana @thehighsign.bsky.social links below) and her fine piece on Linklater's new Godard and Rodgers films. The whole thing is here: slate.com/tag/portrait...