Robert Christgau
@rxgau.bsky.social
Rock critic since 1967, ain't stopping now. Consumer Guide reborn at robertchristgau.substack.com.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
FKA Twigs vs. Madonna, Phish as feh, hail to Joe Boyd, editing classical, and wanking is better than nothing in the Xmas 2025 Xgau Sez robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-d...
Xgau Sez: December, 2025
Favorite instruments, Xgau at the radar station, classical colleagues, Phish still fishy, heavy reading, and wanker's delight.
robertchristgau.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
FKA Twigs vs. Madonna, Phish as feh, hail to Joe Boyd, editing classical, and wanking is better than nothing in the Xmas 2025 Xgau Sez robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-d...
FKA Twigs vs. Madonna, Phish as feh, hail to Joe Boyd, editing classical, and wanking is better than nothing in the Xmas 2025 Xgau Sez robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-d...
Xgau Sez: December, 2025
Favorite instruments, Xgau at the radar station, classical colleagues, Phish still fishy, heavy reading, and wanker's delight.
robertchristgau.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
FKA Twigs vs. Madonna, Phish as feh, hail to Joe Boyd, editing classical, and wanking is better than nothing in the Xmas 2025 Xgau Sez robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-d...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
I admit it—the big kahuna in the Xmas 2025 edition of the Consumer Guide came out circa 1990. So don't put off a quick read.
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: December, 2025
Detailed and complicated songs of martial strife, super rhyming over a panopoly of speedy beats, an A+ Thelonius Monk compilation, and an ancient Ugandan instrument provides brand new kicks.
robertchristgau.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I admit it—the big kahuna in the Xmas 2025 edition of the Consumer Guide came out circa 1990. So don't put off a quick read.
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Several readers have written wondering how they might perhaps obtain the new Moby Grape album I just Consumer Guided with the band's Facebook page I recommended insufficient. I hope Alice Langdon, who suggested this path, won't mind if I provide her email address: [email protected]
December 11, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Several readers have written wondering how they might perhaps obtain the new Moby Grape album I just Consumer Guided with the band's Facebook page I recommended insufficient. I hope Alice Langdon, who suggested this path, won't mind if I provide her email address: [email protected]
I admit it—the big kahuna in the Xmas 2025 edition of the Consumer Guide came out circa 1990. So don't put off a quick read.
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: December, 2025
Detailed and complicated songs of martial strife, super rhyming over a panopoly of speedy beats, an A+ Thelonius Monk compilation, and an ancient Ugandan instrument provides brand new kicks.
robertchristgau.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I admit it—the big kahuna in the Xmas 2025 edition of the Consumer Guide came out circa 1990. So don't put off a quick read.
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A curious Christgau, a futile cassette dig, live versus recorded, tuneful versus melodic, remembering Pulnoc, and the lineaments of delight are all addressed in the Thanksgiving edition of Xgau Sez at my irrepressible Substack And It Don't Stop. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-n...
Xgau Sez: November, 2025
What's in a name, live vs. recorded, tuneful vs. melodic, Pulnoc at P.S. 122, a lost Clash cassette, and a half-century-plus of delightful rhetoric.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
A curious Christgau, a futile cassette dig, live versus recorded, tuneful versus melodic, remembering Pulnoc, and the lineaments of delight are all addressed in the Thanksgiving edition of Xgau Sez at my irrepressible Substack And It Don't Stop. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-n...
A curious Christgau, a futile cassette dig, live versus recorded, tuneful versus melodic, remembering Pulnoc, and the lineaments of delight are all addressed in the Thanksgiving edition of Xgau Sez at my irrepressible Substack And It Don't Stop. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-n...
Xgau Sez: November, 2025
What's in a name, live vs. recorded, tuneful vs. melodic, Pulnoc at P.S. 122, a lost Clash cassette, and a half-century-plus of delightful rhetoric.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
A curious Christgau, a futile cassette dig, live versus recorded, tuneful versus melodic, remembering Pulnoc, and the lineaments of delight are all addressed in the Thanksgiving edition of Xgau Sez at my irrepressible Substack And It Don't Stop. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-n...
November 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Robert Christgau
The outpouring of mourning for the great and hilarious "alt-country" genius Todd Snider seemed an excellent reason to devote this month's Big Lookback to a Barnes & Noble Review appreciation I wrote about Snider more than a decade ago. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lo...
The Big Lookback: Todd Snider
"Preaching Agnosticism (With Laugh Lines)," from "The Barnes & Noble Review," April 30, 2012
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The outpouring of mourning for the great and hilarious "alt-country" genius Todd Snider seemed an excellent reason to devote this month's Big Lookback to a Barnes & Noble Review appreciation I wrote about Snider more than a decade ago. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lo...
The outpouring of mourning for the great and hilarious "alt-country" genius Todd Snider seemed an excellent reason to devote this month's Big Lookback to a Barnes & Noble Review appreciation I wrote about Snider more than a decade ago. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lo...
The Big Lookback: Todd Snider
"Preaching Agnosticism (With Laugh Lines)," from "The Barnes & Noble Review," April 30, 2012
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The outpouring of mourning for the great and hilarious "alt-country" genius Todd Snider seemed an excellent reason to devote this month's Big Lookback to a Barnes & Noble Review appreciation I wrote about Snider more than a decade ago. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lo...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Have felt, since I read this piece in its moment that Christgau shares below, that he was the critic who really understood Todd Snider. (Or maybe it was just that I felt the same ways... )
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Have felt, since I read this piece in its moment that Christgau shares below, that he was the critic who really understood Todd Snider. (Or maybe it was just that I felt the same ways... )
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A major writer of enduring consequence. I read last week that he was too sick to be on the road and too broke to be off it. Awful people indulge themselves in despicable rationalizations about life choices and lost highways, but it's murder most foul. I don't think I can take this business anymore.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:58 PM
A major writer of enduring consequence. I read last week that he was too sick to be on the road and too broke to be off it. Awful people indulge themselves in despicable rationalizations about life choices and lost highways, but it's murder most foul. I don't think I can take this business anymore.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Christgau captured the magic of Todd Snider well. RIP, Todd.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Christgau captured the magic of Todd Snider well. RIP, Todd.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A great read on the late (I still can't believe it) Todd Snider.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
A great read on the late (I still can't believe it) Todd Snider.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: November, 2025
Shameless beauty track after track, an inspirational Afropop surprise, mood pieces suitable for the despondent historical moment, and a country album that fights the blues with more blues.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: November, 2025
Shameless beauty track after track, an inspirational Afropop surprise, mood pieces suitable for the despondent historical moment, and a country album that fights the blues with more blues.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
At Home With Peggy Seeger
From her first solo album in 1955 at 19 to her Last Farewell tour earlier this year at 90, Peggy Seeger has sung with effervescence, power, and a feminist edge.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Good piece, part 1 about politics books I've not read and part 2 about music films I have.
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Good piece, part 1 about politics books I've not read and part 2 about music films I have.
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Paging through the Times as I downed some coffee, I glanced casually at Penelope Green's obit of Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva, who just died at 100. Couldn't stop reading. Researched mostly in secondary sources, it proved an absolutely devastating reflection on the perversions of fame.
Maria Riva, Dietrich Daughter Who Demystified the Legend, Dies at 100
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Paging through the Times as I downed some coffee, I glanced casually at Penelope Green's obit of Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva, who just died at 100. Couldn't stop reading. Researched mostly in secondary sources, it proved an absolutely devastating reflection on the perversions of fame.
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
At Home With Peggy Seeger
From her first solo album in 1955 at 19 to her Last Farewell tour earlier this year at 90, Peggy Seeger has sung with effervescence, power, and a feminist edge.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
A Compelling Document of Sheer Goodness
'Famous Last Words: Dr.Jane Goodall' (2025)
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
Even scarier (I hope) than Trump's third-term dreams, ProPublica (via TPM) outlines how the North Carolina Supreme Court has been rejiggered to turn it sharply right, with special attention to those uppity nonwhite voters. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biblica...
‘Biblical Justice’: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
This post first appeared at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Even scarier (I hope) than Trump's third-term dreams, ProPublica (via TPM) outlines how the North Carolina Supreme Court has been rejiggered to turn it sharply right, with special attention to those uppity nonwhite voters. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biblica...