bradluen
bradluen.bsky.social
bradluen
@bradluen.bsky.social
Pinned
Jazzwrld/Thukuthela's Swiftian run, Jubal Lee Young's four-word KJV, Wednesday's Southern Gothic podcast audition, SilkMoney making me fail my Mavis Beacon, plus progressive thrash, the least Latin name in Latin jazz, and #tetas in this month's Semipop Life:
bradluen.substack.com/p/semipop-li...
Semipop Life: Step step step, brothers
Jazzwrld & Thukuthela, Jubal Lee Young, Wednesday, Fieldwork, and more!
bradluen.substack.com
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

50. Gonora Sounds: "Go Bhora"
Zimbabwe 2022

Indulgent pick to finish: a blind street guitarist and his percussion prodigy son cheer the local football team with irrepressible exuberance. Still don't know why "Walker Texas Ranger" comes up tho.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfzO...
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

49. Taylor Swift: "Betty"

I tried to keep the century’s greatest singer-songwriter* off my list until I asked why I should keep the century’s greatest singer-songwriter off my list

*though wow is she better when she's not writing about herself

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TAP...
November 24, 2025 at 12:07 AM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

48. Miya Folick: "Fist"
USA 2025

I'm still a month away from the "yell-sing along and see how that makes me feel" stage of year-end listmaking, but songs that make me punch myself in the face and/or collapse in tears tend to rise quickly

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNqM...
November 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

47. The Beths: "Expert in a Dying Field"
New Zealand 2022

Tactical concession: "Silence Is Golden" is my fave (it's fast!) but let's try to get NZ on to the parade outside of duets with short (of stature or of temper) stars from other islands

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KAC...
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Tsuru bringing the spirit of Creem to Girl Meets Rock!
November 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

46. Dlala Thukzin, Funky Qla, Zee Nxumalo: "Ama Gear"
South Africa 2024

Thukzin's my man; I have this on a par with "iPlan" but this one has a vote already (plus it gets Zee N. onto my list.) Last year's great album Finally Famous Too omits it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObhU...
November 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
(content warning: American politics)

this is clever and important and you should read it carefully if, unfortunately, you argue about US politics on the Internet

however:
November 21, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Why I am not a (vulgar) Bayesian
I think a first-pass formal or empirical or quantitative take on something is valuable as a starting point for further formal or empirical or quantitative work, but isn't already a better guide to action than your best personal judgment
November 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

45. Bree Runway & Baby Tate: "Damn Daniel"
UK/USA 2020

Keisha might say this is the Anglosphere's best example of cross-class feminist solidarity of its time. Bree and Baby Tate might respond "say that shit, better watch your back."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBM...
November 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Probably the only 1970 music year recap to quote Tony Benn, unless one of the Mekons has written one
NEW!! 5000 words on rock cracking, Frankenstein festivals, 4-D geometry, Detroit's peak year, reggae's roots, riverboat gospel, folk fission, pud rock, teenage riots, self-titled debuts, one-and-done bands, Ted Nugent gender switches, getting back to 1957 or '65, and my 150 favorite albums of 1970.
150 Best Albums of 1970
It sure seems like a lot of people paying close attention to rock music in 1970 thought it was falling apart — or at very least, cracking in half.
chuckeddy.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

44. Tom Zé: "Metro Guide"
Brazil 2022

Am I really blowing a late-round pick and an Ice Spice strike on
an octogenarian reciting emergency service phone numbers? Ten words: seven one eight nine nine nine double five double five.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd7a...
November 19, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Me, 1 am: Alright, time to write up how to do the election swing map in R that I assigned my class, surely the MIT Election Lab data is nice and clean

Me, 4 am: WHY DOES VIRGINIA SOMETIMES HAVE A BEDFORD AND A BEDFORD CITY AND WHY IS THERE SOMETIMES ONLY A BEDFORD
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 AM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

43. Billlie: "Ring X Ring"
South Korea 2021

Like many SUPER-MAXIMALIST works, it feels slightly wrong, but trying to figure what's a bit off is part of the pleasure. Obviously the sheer size of the chorus is the bigger pleasure though.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9jh...
November 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

42. CMAT: "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station"
Ireland 2025

"My Singapore-style fried rice:
Put ½ a tablespoon of olive oil into the hot pan"

yeah I'm gonna stop you there, Jamie

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWg...
November 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by bradluen
Well, this is unprecedented. Thank you Joey for listening to and writing about every song I have ever written. Love the ranking, some curveballs in the top ten. Very flattering indeed, thank you.
Every song by Elizabeth Morris of @allodarlin.bsky.social, ranked! After four months of work (!!!), my next huge feature is about a band you maybe haven't heard of that might end up being everything to you: joeydaniewicz.com/2025/11/17/m...
All 69 Songs by Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’, Ranked
It’s easy to see where things begin; it is harder to see where they end.
joeydaniewicz.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by bradluen
Every song by Elizabeth Morris of @allodarlin.bsky.social, ranked! After four months of work (!!!), my next huge feature is about a band you maybe haven't heard of that might end up being everything to you: joeydaniewicz.com/2025/11/17/m...
All 69 Songs by Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin’, Ranked
It’s easy to see where things begin; it is harder to see where they end.
joeydaniewicz.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:49 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

41. Wet Leg: "Chaise Longue"
UK 2021

alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong alldaylong

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd9j...
November 16, 2025 at 6:05 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

40. Corook: "They!"
USA 2025

Look, I'm not saying that Corook being the only artist to get two of my top 50 means I think they've had a musically better decade than, say, K. Lamar or B. Eilish (who got none.) They're probably on a par at best

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoTG...
November 15, 2025 at 8:25 PM
RIP Todd Snider. Most effortlessly funny musician I ever saw, but he could also play a train song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8eR...
Play a Train Song
YouTube video by Todd Snider - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:11 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

39. Dj Kawest, T-Gui, T-Will: "Konpa Paradise 2"
France/Guadeloupe/Martinique 2024

The most audacious opening ten seconds of any song this decade. Seconds fifteen to twenty-five, when the keyboard part fully vests, are nearly as good.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWIe...
November 14, 2025 at 7:51 PM
New ongoing thread that'll unfurl over the next couple of weeks, will try not to make it all Aretha/Otis
Favorite '60s soul/R&B/blues albums, a thread:

Howlin' Wolf (1962)

How do you follow perhaps the GOAT blues LP? With your SEXFUNK record obvs. Wolf/Dixon/Sumlin etc. spin tales of fluids being drunk by the spoonful, modest-sized cocks causing ruckuses, back doors well you see where this is going.
Spoonful
YouTube video by Howlin' Wolf - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Favorite '60s soul/R&B/blues albums, a thread:

Howlin' Wolf (1962)

How do you follow perhaps the GOAT blues LP? With your SEXFUNK record obvs. Wolf/Dixon/Sumlin etc. spin tales of fluids being drunk by the spoonful, modest-sized cocks causing ruckuses, back doors well you see where this is going.
Spoonful
YouTube video by Howlin' Wolf - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:38 AM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

38. Rosé & Bruno Mars: "Apt."
South Korea/USA/technically NZ 2024

For a year I've been puzzling over whether "apateuapateu" is five syllables or six. Currently I think it's five and a third, so I hope they didn't overpay "Mickey"'s writers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8WE...
November 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
This was my clear number one, never heard it before the poll and now I wonder if it's the great Nigerian pop song of its era (pace King Sunny)
November 12, 2025 at 7:22 PM
#TheTwen2ie5 ranked:

37. Duke Deuce, Lil Yachty, Turnt Lil Thadd: "Crunk Ain't Dead Mob"
USA 2020

Things I wish there'd been more of in 2020s rap: crunk; unison chanting; finding solidarity in survival; spelling things; jumping around in shopping mall food courts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_cB...
November 12, 2025 at 7:17 PM