@burningambulance
All posts by Phil Freeman, co-founder/co-owner (and author of IN THE BREWING LUMINOUS: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CECIL TAYLOR). When in doubt, assume I'm kidding. I'll have forgotten whatever we were arguing about by tomorrow.
Life is short, and today's newsletter is filled with stuff. Like a link to an article I wrote for the Metropolitan Review, a link to watch me talk about Cecil Taylor tonight at 7PM ET, a link to buy 20 newly reissued Leo Records titles, and more.
burningambulance.substack.com/p/links-n-st...
14 CDs held in an invisible hand
Hey, guess what? Weβre preparing two new CDs for release later this spring! And you purchasing copies of our awesome back catalog of releases will help defray the costs of manufacturing the new ones! So head to Bandcamp and grab some music today!
burningambulancemusic.bandcamp.com
Today in "words mean things": I just saw an email subject line that includes the words "Groundbreaking AI-Generated Documentary".
If it's AI-generated IT'S NOT A DOCUMENTARY. IT'S ANIMATION. IT'S A CARTOON.
What albums have you listened to so many times that you have them memorized and can basically "play them back" in your head?
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
New Order - Substance (cassette; equivalent to CD 1)
Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
Van Halen - s/t
MotΓΆrhead - No Remorse
Got 20 new titles up on the Leo Records Bandcamp page for this Bandcamp Friday, including 4 by Eugene Chadbourne, 2 by bassist Dominic Duval, and a wild live set by the Italian Instabile Orchestra!
leorecords.bandcamp.com/music
Shoulda called it the Tucker Marshall Band.
I don't think I've ever seen a picture of Lydia Lunch smiling before today.
This is good stuff. Reminds me of Brutal Truth.
This line - "We are witnessing the death of the 'Mass Audience' and the birth of the 'Micro-Community.'" - from a piece about "the death of streaming" lines up with what I've been saying for at least a decade:
Every artist is a cult artist. Only the size of their cults differ.
I wrote a review of Paul Elie's book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s for the Metropolitan Review. Check it out, won't you?
www.metropolitanreview.org/p/gotta-serv...
SEPTIC TANKS PUMPED SWIMMING POOLS FILLED NOT SAME TRUCK
Appreciate the clarity
Once again I commend to you my philosophy of NUPO when it comes to black metal:
Nazis
Until
Proven
Otherwise
3/3
"[This shitty record has] courage, audacity, and that avant-garde spirit long thought lost by a scene that proclaims itself extreme, yet often merely conforms downward to a musical sensibility increasingly manipulated by simplifying technologies and multicultural imperialisms, enemies of man."
2/3
Today in "Oh good, we're still doing this shit":
"[Six fashy black metal bands] unite their forces in an extreme act of defiance against the stagnation of a declining Western world, joining their efforts under the immortal image of Prometheus, the titan of reflective rebellion."
1/3
I think I need to re-read Hubert Selby Jr.'s THE DEMON. Good thing there's a signed hardcover copy here in the house...
My first book was published on 9/11.
Protrusion - The Last Suppuration album cover
Evening listening: Protrusion, The Last Suppuration. VERY old-school sounding death metal of the slow-crawl school, with an album title so dumb it's almost Deicide-worthy.
The reunion-era Godflesh material - starting with the Decline & Fall EP in 2014 - has been SO strong. Got high hopes for those final two albums.
β’ Book clubs that meet at Buffalo Wild Wings
β’ Books with scented bindings that smell like burning leather
β’ Books about, like, war and stuff
Honestly, it's like the publishing industry's not even trying!
Immolation - Descent album cover: a scared-looking person (possibly an angel?) being consumed by lava
The big question: Do I get any work done today, or do I just sit here listening to the new Immolation album over and over, pausing only for meals?
Paul Elie, The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s
My review of Paul Elie's The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s will be running in the Metropolitan Review tomorrow. He wrote about Bono, Bruce Springsteen, SinΓ©ad O'Connor and Madonna; I say, Yeah, but what about Diamanda GalΓ‘s and Swans?
Curved pipes sticking out of concrete
This shot required two attempts on different days. The shadows are exactly what I was looking for.
Watched The Secret Agent β what an amazing movie about memory. Not only the collective memory of a particular time but the idea that forgotten memories also influence our lives.
My local pharmacy (an independent shop, not a Walgreen's or CVS) keeps a list behind the counter of conditions you can say you have β that's exactly how it was described to me last year β to qualify for the vaccine.
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
For Volume One, the Monk Estate is partnering with Optimo, a premier luxury hat company, launching the release of its second Icon Series hat, created in honor of the visionary pianist. Titled The Monk, this marks only the second Icon Series release from Optimo. (The first was a specification-accurate reproduction of the personal hat style worn by world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.) ο»ΏFor The Monk edition, only 88 hats will be producedβreferencing the 88 keys of the piano. Each hat will be individually numbered and offered in three colors: Black, Smoke, and βRound Midnight Grey, a custom color developed for this release. The design is based on the hats Monk wore in the 1960s, closely associated with the visual identity of modern jazz and Black Ivy style. Each hat includes the first pressing of the recording, produced in a special edition color and signed by Thelonious Sphere Monk III and Optimo founder Graham Thompson.
Text from a PR email about an upcoming Thelonious Monk live album that actually sounds worth hearing. But I don't think I need a limited edition hat to go with it.
Today's newsletter includes a review of the new Rob Zombie album, plus four good albums by people who are not Rob Zombie.
burningambulance.substack.com/p/five-metal...
The cover of The Wire's April 2026 issue with a photo of Wendy Eisenberg
The new issue of @thewiremagazine.bsky.social is out! I wrote the Jazz & Improv column and reviewed new albums by Tangerine Dream, the Melvins & Napalm Death, Witness Wounds, and the super deluxe reissue of Frank Zappa's Bongo Fury...
THE SECRET AGENT is on Hulu now and wow, that was one of the most interesting movies I've seen in a while.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ufr...
Yeah, he was a complete corrupt POS as interior secretary, and he's been a corrupt POS as a House member. This guy's running for his seat, and seems OK:
samformontana.com/policies/
Naked Lunch soundtrack CD
I saw it in a theater and I'll never forget the sound of Ornette Coleman's sax floating through the room over the opening credits. I wasn't even listening to Coleman's music yet back then and it was absolutely unearthly/mind-warping. I own the soundtrack CD - it's fantastic.