Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded their subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts also help!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
Each week, I try to come at this with a certain theme—or at least a nominal throughline—running through it. Sometimes that really does only go as far as “what I’ve been listening to.” There’s no deeper meaning here, no message I want people to pick up—just a snapshot of the week that was for a suburban dad living on Hoth in flyover country. Some real Occam’s Razor stuff, to be sure. And sometimes that escape or respite is just what we need—if only for a few minutes at a time.
Zooming in a bit: on Saturday, I mentioned that the Best Record of 2001 bracket would kick off soon (are you in?). There’s a couple of tracks here from records on the initial ballot (Colin Hay, The Dirtbombs, and Semisonic), a few brand-new tracks from old faves (New Pornographers, Snail Mail, Kim Gordon), and a new spin on an old favorite, with The Beaches taking on a song everyone raised on MTV will remember (h/t to Dan Pal for getting it on my radar!).
We’re also rewatching Mad Men, which led me to finally find a Decemberists song I liked. Funny how that works. Saving the best for last, we’ve also got a new one from our pal Lancelot Schaubert.
In other words, a world surrounded by sound, with tracks coming from all corners. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to? Whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. A few of you have asked whether I sequence these as an album or mixtape. The answer is always “yes.” In my head, I imagine them being played on your morning commute or road trip. I’m too old to use the word “vibes” as much as I have lately, but, well, if the shoe fits…
This week, Side A is tracks 1-14, with Side B being 15-27
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded their subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts also help!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
Last week, my wife and I decided to walk up to our local high school to watch the boys’ basketball team. As we walked in, we were met with the usual sort of mild chaos these events bring. This was made worse by the fact that the school is trying to realign the kids/parents/visitors/home sections. On paper, this makes sense—they want the student section behind the bench as a sort of sixth man. I get it. That the new layout was only sorta explained and almost totally ignored is on brand. There are, of course, much, much worse things to deal with.
As we found a place to sit, I was struck with two conflicting thoughts: 1) man, I’m glad we don’t have to deal with this anymore, and 2) how lucky we are that we still get to do this.
There was a time when that was all very much in question. In 2020, we were steeped in the world of player-parenting. I’ve noted it before, but there was a years-long stretch where my car never didn’t have a pair of cleats in it (It smelled exactly they way you’re imagining it did). Losing that sports lifeline cut deeper than a lot of the other things that vanished. Again, not the biggest thing to worry about during a global pandemic, but it sure felt like it. It felt like a dark tunnel with no way out.
Then came light. A pinpoint at first, but my first inkling that it wasn’t another oncoming train came in the form of seeing people posting clips of Wilco’s “Shot in the Arm” on their social media feeds. Help was on the way in the form of a vaccine. It was, well, the boost we needed to bounce back.
2026 is off to an equally heavy start. I don’t know how we’ll know if/when we’ve turned a corner, but seeing “creative” uses of songs from Frozen being used in Minneapolis gives me the same sort of cautious optimism I felt six years ago.
This week, that Wilco song is here. So too are brand-new tracks from Autoleisureland (former members of The Kane Gang), Odd Marshall, Girl Scout, and Memorials. Minneapolis is well represented (how could they not be?!), as are a couple of old standbys. My eyes are wide open and my shoulder very much dropped, but how lucky we are to still get to do this. Let’s work to keep it that way.
Note: Qobuz is missing a couple this week. Apple is missing Autoleisureland.Now it’s your turn.
Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to? Whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. A few of you have asked if I sequence these as if they’re an album or mixtape. The answer is always “yes.” In my head, I imagine them being played on your morning commute or road trip. I’m too old to use the word “vibes” as much as I have lately, but, well, if the shoe fits…
This week, Side A is tracks 1-13, with Side B being 14-27.
P.P.S What song defined 2025 for you?Tell me about it here. Thank you to everyone who has responded so far. Please keep ‘em comin’!
We’ve got a great host and a killer record, all set to go. All we need now is you! Here’s how to join the fun.
Album art courtesy of Reprise Records
Today we’re talking about Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, and well, how you can talk about the band with other like minded people.
Note: As some of you know, we host an album discussion (via Zoom) each month, and this month’s is on Sunday. To be clear, all credit goes to
Terry Barr who facilitates the meetings. He is also taking the reins as this month’s host.
As you’ll see below, these are low-key affairs; all are welcome! If you want to share some thoughts, that’s awesome. Wanna just sit back & listen? That’s cool, too.
Either way, it’d be better with you there.
KA —
It’s that time again; it’s time for our monthly album discussion!
One of our core tenets is sharing music. That obviously involves writing about it, but also talking about it together. We do that monthly here.
Today, January 18th, is that day.
Below is my boilerplate explanation of these discussions and the value you’ll get from joining us. Under that are both the record being discussed and the meeting login details.
Don’t know the record? Doesn’t matter.
Not comfortable speaking in public? Me either. And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Heck, you don’t even have to turn your camera on. It’s a safe space, but you control what you share.
Ultimately, you’re part of the community; we want you to be a part of this, too.
So check out the “rules” below, and then plan to dial in.
What is this?
For new readers (hi everyone!), we host an online discussion every month.
Here’s how it works:
A writer (more on that in a second) picks a record to discuss and writes a brief piece about their choice and the meeting details.
At the meeting, they discuss why they picked it, offer a bit of a backstory/context, and whatever else they’d like to share.
Everyone else on the call can share their own “hot take,” related story, or anything else you think is relevant.
At the end of the meeting, the next month’s writer volunteers (or is chosen), and the process repeats itself.
NOTE FOR INTROVERTS: If you’d prefer to sit in and listen, that is 110% okay. Keep your video off…stay muted…it’s up to you. It’s a safe place; you can participate as much/as little as you’d like.
Press enter or click to view image in full size
This month’s host:
This month’s host is longtime member of The Riff community
Terry Barr. Terry has been a pillar of this community since almost Day 1, and being able to still get a “first look” at his writing is one of the perks of my job here as editor. His work has been published in multiple journals and magazines. He’s also written (at least) four fantastic books.
Cool! So, what are we talking about?
Terry has chosen Everybody Knows This is Nowhere by Neil Young.
Maybe the singer/songwriter/rock savant who captures the lonely and the wandering best is my longtime, personal rock god, Neil Young. Anyone who’s read me for these years knows that in my “everywhere” no other artists have hit me as hard as Young has, so much so that whenever I put one of his earliest albums on the turntable, I see everything of the first time I ever heard it clearly, again, and maybe more clearly now.
That many of us don’t always understand what he’s writing and singing about doesn’t matter. My favorite novels, while I’ve studied them so hard that I do get their meaning or at least some of it, are the initially inscrutable ones. What do you or I really think Faulkner “means” in Absalom, Absalom! or Zadie Smith in White Teeth?
Sometimes I hope that we never quite find the meaning because then we might quit reading or listening, or we might cease to wonder exactly what or who a “cowgirl in the sand” is.
Musical adventure, exploring new sounds, and sharing great music with great people make these discussions a joy.
Join us and see for yourself.
Listen:
Neil Young | Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
(Click the record to listen on your platform of choice)
Some thoughts on The Grateful Dead, grateful Ducks, and one’s shifting musical tastes.
If you want to know what my dad was like, imaginethe Halt and Catch Fire cast member of your choosing towards the end of the series (okay, maybe not Boz). Clean cut. Rarely without a suit and (at one point) a pair of matching Audis in the driveway.
If you want to imagine what my uncle is like, picture the opposite. He was—and is—the prototypical Deadhead. Followed them on the road, had a VW bus, and even made a living designing/selling T-shirts.
If you want an idea of how obnoxious I could be in the mid-90s, just know that I had a “Thank You, Journey” sticker on my car. These, of course, were in response to the legions of “Thank You, Jerry” stickers that everyone had following Jerry Garcia’s death. That marked the end of an era for many people, but I honestly couldn’t be bothered. Sure, I understood the cultural ramifications, but this was a band I only knew of from afar… and from punchlines. It wasn’t for me… yet.
That we lost Bob Weir this week won’t be news to anyone here. I noted a few days ago that it was frankly refreshing to see my TL flooded with remembrances from all corners. I don’t know what it says about 2026 that mourning was a nice change, but here we are.
A lot of people also shared their experiences of the Dead, and of Weir. Almost without exception, those people have more ground to talk than I do. Nevertheless. Here’s a great example. Here’s another. And one more for good measure.
For most of my life, the Dead were a band I experienced secondhand. My uncle playing them in the hopes that this might finally be the time they land with me at home. Friends playing them as we all crammed into someone’s VW and made our way to the coast or Mt. Hood. Grainy Super 8 footage on TV shows. Once, when I was about 10, I tagged along on one of my dad’s business trips. On a rural highway somewhere on the Atlantic seaboard, we passed a car, and he nodded his head toward it, deadpanning, “Those’re Dead Heads.” Strange the way that sort of thing sticks with you. But yeah, not a lot of story to stick to the ribs here.
The next step was part of the glorious rite of passage for most Gen X kids—Columbia House. And one of those 12 free was ’87’s In the Dark. “Touch of Grey?” An all-timer. “Hell in a Bucket?” Not bad! “West L.A. Fadeaway,” same. You’d have never gotten me to admit it back then, but that slinky groove was fantastic. The rest I couldn’t describe if my life depended on it.
Within a year or two, my divorce from pop radio was finalized, and I cannonballed into the world of college radio. The Grateful Dead? Are you kidding me? Hard pass. Even if I was into ’em on principle, their brand of blues and Americana wasn’t in my wheelhouse…Yet. It was a nonstarter. The whole thing just seemed like a caricature. When I would see flashes of normalcy—Weir wearing Vaurnets or drummer Bill Kreutzmann wearing a sports jersey—these felt more like cracks in the fourth wall than anything else. If you want an idea of how my brain works, that last sentence is a good indicator.
It didn’t help that my high school was divided by sonic tribal identity, with very little crossover. Oil and water for sure. There were the occasional exceptions—turns out the possibility of getting high works great as an emulsifier—but by and large those red lines held. People super into the Dead were not the same people I was seeing at hardcore shows.
Flash forward a few years, and I find myself listening… and it’s not terrible? I never got to see the band play live, but they sure sound good at full blast as you’re barreling across the Mojave Desert, that much I can tell you. Maybe that’s all it took, but I was in. I can’t claim any sort of Deadhead status (or whatever). The best I can claim is a sort of fellow traveler status, and that’s probably good enough.
The records all grew on me. Distilled down, a lot of them work great as pop songs. I don’t mean that as a “hot take,” but it’s hard to ignore when viewed through a structural lens. Chris’s point above is well taken (and I love the typo- was it intentional? The internet never tells). They don’t ramble off into Neverland. There’s no 15-minute walkabouts—those were saved for the stadiums. Speaking of which, in my world, the live shows went from fodder for inside jokes between friends to half-serious conversations about the pros/cons of various shows.
When we’d get a loaner car with Sirius, I’d find myself turning the dial to channel 23 more often than not. Eighteen-year-old me wouldn’t have recognized that sentence. At all.
In 2026, we’re longing for community and IRL experiences. Dead Heads have been doing that for decades. No blue screens, and the only “content” being created was via a tape recorder.
Last October, I got to go home and see my beloved Oregon Ducks play. I was excited to see my family and be back in Autzen (it never rains there, you see). The promo tie-in was Dead-themed. Anytime I go home, it’s good for 10 points off my blood pressure, but being in the stands with my kids and family made it even more so. As they played various tracks, I thought, “This rules.” That’s absolutely something 18-year-old me would’ve recognized.
As “Althea” rang out, somebody mentioned it being their favorite, and I thought about what mine might be. “Althea’s” there, I ‘spose. “Friend of the Devil,” too. My lunchbox has a Shakedown Man sticker. “Touch of Grey” makes a good case. I know that’ll raise some hackles. “West L.A. Fadeaway” as well. No deep-cut picks this time—I still don’t know any.
Speaking of the team, I was wearing my “Grateful Ducks” sweatshirt when their season came to an inglorious end last Friday. My usual lucky shirt, too. But even that wasn’t enough to stop the mighty IU. I wonder what the Dead think of such things? Maybe at this point there’s nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.
The next day on Bluesky, someone mentioned hearing the band during the Rams game, and that was how they learned of Weir’s passing. Reading their post was how I learned. The song? “West L.A. Fadeaway,” of course…
Members of the band stop by to discuss their latest record and what’s next.
Photo: Katy McElroy
Good morning!
We’re in for a treat today! Members of Winged Wheel—one of my fave discoveries of the last few years stop by to chat.
The pitch: An “experimental super-band” comprised of Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Circuit des Yeux), Cory Plump (Spray Paint, co-owner of the dream venue Tubby’s), Matthew J. Rolin (solo guitar wizard and half of the Powers/Rolin Duo), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Lonnie Slack (Water Damage), and Fred Thomas (Idle Ray, Tyvek), Winged Wheel is a creatively and geographically scattered collective, with each player living in a different city and bringing their own unique element to the group’s interpersonal alchemy.
The first record (2022’s No Island) was a product of file trading, with each band member living in a different city and sending in their own part to be assembled later. The result: a record they describe as “accidentally really good” (my take: yes), with its high-voltage kosmische-meets-jam-band vibes. 2024’s Big Hotel was one of my sleeper picks for AOTY, with “Sleeptraining” easily one of my most-played tracks.
When I first heard a new record was inbound, I was excited. As each single rolled out, that excitement only grew. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to be obnoxious about it, but also wondered whether the record would live up to whatever bar I’d set in my head. Spoiler: it totally does. In last week’s Sound Advice column, I wrote “[where] intensity is still very much there, with layers of synths, walls of noise, and unfamiliar sounds. The band has mentioned trying to balance excitement and tension, and it shows. Things move a little slower here, and the hits come a little harder.”
I ended that piece by noting Desert So Green“is yet another evolution from a collective that has made that their stock-in-trade. It’s not always the easiest listen, but for those who make the effort, the payoff is enormous.”
Having listened to it a bunch since then, I’d only double down on that assessment.
I recently had a chance to chat with band members Fred Thomas and Matthew Rolin via email. In our wide-ranging discussion, we talked about the band’s origin story, the record, and what’s coming next. Our chat has only been lightly edited for grammar and flow.
KA—
Congrats on the new record! Can you walk us through the backstory of how this project came together?
Fred Thomas: It’s been a very unusual path! The easiest way to explain the band is as a series of unexpected outcomes. It started as a remote recording project when everyone was locked down heavy in 2020, and that unexpectedly resulted in a really interesting first album, 2022’s No Island. When shows started happening again, Cory asked Steve if he’d want to sit in with us. He said he’d be down, which was unexpected, and we all got together in person to record the jams and ideas that became 2024’s Big Hotel. I think after that recording session, none of us really expected to play live, but we quickly started touring and operating like a traditional band, even though we all live in different places and come together around the conceptual entity of Winged Wheel.
Big Hotel was the on-ramp for many people. What should they expect this time around?
FT: The only goal we had for making the new record was that it be completely different than the last. Where Big Hotel was cauterized together from hours of jams and searching, Desert So Green was collectively designed in the studio, with structure and composition playing a much larger role. It’s still the result of searching, but there’s a lot more group intention here.
Matthew Rolin: If Big Hotel was the on-ramp, then I would say Desert So Green is reaching a foreign, yet familiar, place. You’re not sure if you are close to the destination yet, but you’ve just stumbled across something that is interesting enough to stop and check out.
Desert So Green is described as an album that spends its duration struggling to balance a scale with excitement on one side and anxious tension on the other. Say more, please.
FT: Listening to the album, it might be difficult to pin down exactly how it makes you feel at any given moment. There are pretty parts, but they’re always a little bit shaky. There’s sections of peaceful drone, but fried undercurrents are always there, too. Nothing fully resolves, and it’s almost like the songs stubbornly don’t allow themselves to be just punky rippers or meditative zoners, or anything singular. Whatever dominant energy is present, its agitated foil is always nearby.
MR: That’s life (mine at least). As far as how it relates to the music, I take it as this ever-present undercurrent that gets under your skin. Even the prettiest songs on the album have some of what I’m talking about. Sometimes it’s drones, sometimes it’s sharp, unfamiliar noises, but they are always there to add to the song and maybe mess a little with expectations.
I can hear a few different artists that might’ve been an influence, and everyone here has an impressive CV. That said, were there any specific bands informing the sound?
FT: We’re all huge music listeners and absorbers, so specific influences would be next to impossible to list. That said, while we were making the record, we all noticed there were some accidental similarities to Slint’s Spiderland here and there. That wasn’t so much an intentional homage as something that showed up once the dust settled and was interesting to observe.
MR: Like what Fred said, we all listen to probably too much music, so it’s impossible to pin it even on a dozen bands/artists. That being said, this time I found our CAN-style approach to recording to be tightened up. For Big Hotel, we just hit record and let it rip. This time, various members contributed demos and ideas beforehand, so we had a skeleton to fill out while in the studio.
For anyone new to Winged Wheel, what’s the one thing you hope they walk away with?
FT: Each of our three records so far has had wildly different tonalities and sound worlds while remaining somewhat connected to a blurry type of grand vision. Desert So Green is the most restrained and layered Winged Wheel album yet, so it would be great if listeners could tune into some of the deeper waves and movement that happened in the recording this time around.
MR: I hope they can see how amazed we all are that this band even exists. We are all playing music that I don’t think anyone in the band would come up with alone. A true collaboration!
By the time people read this, you will be touring Europe. Besides Big Ears at the end of March, are there any plans for stateside shows?
FT: Things keep on coming up unexpectedly, so it’s very likely there will be more on the books soon. As of this moment, however, nothing is planned past Big Ears.
Last one, just for fun; I bump into you as you walk out of the record store. What records are you carrying?
FT: Each member of the band would be carrying a completely different selection, and it wouldn’t make even a shred of sense to anyone outside of the Winged Wheel bubble. There’d be some Cumbia records, some Bakersfield-style country, a Beatles rarities box set, some microtonal organ music, and probably a Velvet Underground bootleg as well.
MR: As someone who just moved several times in the last few years… I am carrying the money I just got from selling my entirely too large and too heavy record collection and walking straight to the chiropractor.
Listen:
Winged Wheel | Desert So Green (2026)
Right-click the record to listen via Bandcamp.
Desert so Green is out now via 12XU. You can grab your copy here.
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded their subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts also help!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
I’ve mentioned it before, but before my knee decided to commit harakiri (0/10, do not recommend), I played pickup soccer every week at a local gym. Every January, the parking lot would get exponentially more crowded for a few weeks as the “new year, new me” crowd resolved to “do something,” only to lose faith, interest, whatever, a few weeks later. It went on long enough that we started betting informally on the over/under for how long it would take to get a good parking spot again. And to reiterate, we never bet on anyone specific—they could’ve easily been one of us (and occasionally were).
All of this is a long way around to say that there won’t be a sonic version of “new year, new me” here; I like what I like and am a creature of habit (exhibit A: track 10). But one of my habits is finding new music, so there’s that (exhibit B: tracks 21–22). I enjoyed Miki Berenyi’s Tripla but hadn’t really done a close listen since I reviewed it. I checked it out again and found a new appreciation for it.
This week, there are a few other faves from 2025 back in the mix. What’s the over/under on when AOTY season ends? A few new-to-me records are here, and of course a bunch of old favorites. My world looked like Hoth for a minute, and going back to/through those records is my version of hygge. We went out for an early dinner on NYE, and tracks 8–11 were heard at our fave pizza place (resolution: go there more). And we were overdue for a two-for from Trent Reznor & co.
Turnstile is a band that seemingly on everyone’s list except mine. Did I miss the boat? Sure looks like it. Might be one of those records I left on the table. I’ll resolve to find out…
KA–
P.S. A few of you have asked if I sequence these as if they’re an album or mixtape. The answer is always “yes.” In my head, I imagine them being played on your morning commute or road trip. I’m too old to use the word “vibes” as much as I have lately, but, well, if the shoe fits…
This week, side A is tracks 1-13, with Side B being 14-28.
Some thoughts on community, curation, and why indie writing matters more than ever
My dad’s last job was in what we would today call “IT.” For a while, he was on the hardware side, and our garage was full of boxes from long-lost brands like Leading Edge. While on the software side, we got to see games that today seem primitive, but back then seemed revolutionary.
LOGO? Sure, laugh now, but man, that turtle was f’ing something. Ditto the original Oregon Trail game—who knew dying of dysentery could be fun? For a minute, we had an Apple IIe. This also coincided exactly with how long I was cool at school. I’m sure it was a coincidence. His final project before he passed was a program that pulled together your frequent flier miles, applied each airline’s award rules, and showed how close you were to any given redemption—so you could book your next trip with whatever carrier made the most sense. Today, we’d call that an app, and probably one you’d learn to build in a 200-level class.
That idea—aggregating value across fragmented systems so people can make better choices—has stayed with me. Because in a small, non-technical way, that’s what this project is trying to do too.
It’s a miracle, this internet. For as much as words like doomscrolling and digital decay have now become regular parts of the discourse, nothing else has done more to slip the surly bonds of geography and let people find one another around shared interests, values, and obsessions. Yes, it’s often weaponized, but it’s just as frequently used as a force for good—whether that’s organizing pro-democracy rallies or yapping about records. All of it would look like science fiction to people just a few short years ago.
This time of year is flooded with lookbacks and lists, but if you’ll indulge me for a second, I wanted to take one last glance before we start looking ahead this Saturday.
This community continues to grow in new and exciting ways. Its success is due to readers like you. Thank you for making it what it is. Thank you for sharing it on social media and with your friends and family. If you’re sharing it with your enemies, well, thanks for that, too.
Whether you’ve been here since Day 1, just recently showed up, or this is the first post of mine you’ve ever read, I’m glad you’re here. And if you’re up at 7 AM on New Year’s Day? More power to you!
Some red meat for the data wonks:
Because of your recommendations, On Repeat Records is read in 48 states (2024 resolution: get North Dakota and Wyoming on board; 2025 resolution: try again; 2026: third time’s a charm?!) and 71 countries worldwide. There are a lot more of us here than there were a year ago at this time, but the vibe still seems to be “the coolest dinner party you’ve ever been to.” One 2026 goal: keep that goin’. These missives land in inboxes as close as literally just down the block and as far away as New Zealand. That never ceases to amaze me and is incredibly humbling.
The numbers are interesting and prove there is an appetite for sharing the music we love with people, subverting algorithms, and supporting indie music journalism. Metrics are fun to discuss, but wouldn’t mean much without engagement.
The conversations—especially the ones in the comment sections that go far off into the weeds—are a highlight of every week. Same with the stories you share directly with me. I appreciate the feedback and love hearing the role certain records have played in your life. I read every one and try to respond as quickly as possible. That door is always open. Please use it.
This was also the year that I finally got hit with a few “stick to music” responses and performative unsubscribes. So be it. It’s a reminder that there are people on both sides of the glass. Most folks are here for hot takes on cool records, but once in a while, there will be a wildcard essay from a middle-aged guy trying to make sense of the world around him (spoiler: that guy is me).
Rather than list everything month by month, here are a few moments that felt representative of the year:
We took a rocket into space and got a chance to chat with Gelli Haha, among others.
Cool people doing cool shit? Yes please! This place is bursting with incredible talent. And I’m 110% here for it. This list barely scratches the surface. We’ll be doubling down on that in ’26.
Through it all, the throughline was community.
We don’t do ads or sponsored content here. There is no media team or marketing, either. It’s just Gizmo and me spreading the word about good records (and warning you away from bad ones).
That only works because of reader support. Paid supporters have full access to the entire archive, but more importantly, that revenue is the jet fuel that keeps this project in the air. Your support, shares, and recommendations all make an immediate, positive impact and keep this place independent.
I also want to again thank every guest writer, collaborator, and co-conspirator from the past year. If you recognize yourself in that sentence, thank you for trusting me with your work. And to the few of you I got to meet in real life, know that those moments were genuine high points of the year. More of that in ’26, please!
We’ve talked about a lot of records and covered a lot of ground. I hope you’ve found a new favorite or two, and a new favorite spot on the internet. Life’s better with records in it and people to share ’em with.
2025 was a meaningful year for On Repeat Records, and 2026 is already looking bright. Thanks for being a part of it.
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded their subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts also help!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
Welcome to dead week, everyone! The liminal space where nothing really happens unless you’re in the resolution business, in which case it’s peak season. Maybe you have 1–2? I don’t, other than the boringly boilerplate ones like “eat better,” and “listen to more records.” The smart money says I’ll go 1-for-2. You can probably guess which is which. Later this week we’ll take a look both back at the decade that was 2025, and forward to 2026. In the meantime, here’s some tracks that have been in heavy rotation here at the house. Hopefully these’ll sound good on the trail or treadmill.
I was having a discussion with a friend about bands that often get lost in the discussion when talking about any given scene, and that led me down a Cabaret Voltaire rabbit hole (yes, they’re from Sheffield, yes I’m counting it as Manchester). There was also a lot of album playing over the last few days, and that’s reflected in some deeper cuts throughout the list. I feel like I missed the boat on J Brekkie this year. For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) never really landed with me, yet every time I hear a track off the record, it’s my new favorite. Guess that’s how it goes sometimes.
“Monie in the Middle” might stick out here, but is one that pops into my head every now and again and stays for a few days. The Big Audio Dynamite and Let’s Active tracks are old favorites from new (to me) records picked up last week at a benefit event for our local LW FM station, WVMO. “Stimulation” is an older track from a new (to me) band, Preoccupations. Tbh, I think they would’ve fit right in on a bill with some of the Manchester bands of old.
We spent a lot of time with Kitchens of Distinction as part of the “Best Record of 1989” bracket challenge. This one’s from ‘91, and the next bracket is for ‘01, which is a bit of a blind spot for me. Maybe that should be my resolution? We can workshop it. In the meantime, Milwaukee’s represented here with Collections of Colonies of Bees. Spotlighting more Wisco bands is definitely on order for the new year, as is finding more new-to-me stuff like Air Miami.
KA–
P.S. A few of you have asked if I sequence these as if they’re an album or mixtape. The answer is always “yes.” In my head, I imagine them being played on your morning commute or road trip. I’m too old to use the word “vibes” as much as I have lately, but, well, if the shoe fits…
This week, side A is tracks 1-16, with Side B being 17-27.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or tickets to shows for Christmas/Hanukkah/ Boxing Day? Do you make any end-of-year lists or resolutions? If so, please share below!
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing, and the playlist below is some of what’s been in heavy rotation for me.
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One of my biggest holiday wishes for everyone is that you get a day (or 2-3) to do…well, whatever you want. Maybe that means letting the sun wake you up instead of a shrieking alarm clock. Perhaps it means declaring email bankruptcy and going nuclear on your inbox. There’s probably some coffee in there, too. I was on vacation this past week and got to enjoy several of those things. I also chipped away at my TBR pile and spun a lot of records.
It’s strange; when people hear that I work for an airline, the default assumption is that we’re always jetting off to somewhere exotic. I have plenty of ink on my passport, but the truth is that sometimes I just want to do a dry run on what retirement might look like. In other words, the other side of Madison was the farthest I ventured.
Music-wise, this list reflects hanging around the house. There’s a reason this week’s is a bit longer (and eclectic) than usual- plenty of free time and sub-zero temps mean plenty of time in front of the sound machine. There’s also a couple of best of 2025 tracks back in the mix. Last week, I mentioned hitting a wall and needing some space from the records I’d been gorging on ahead of AOTY season. That was short-lived, and I got back to enjoying them. Plenty of post-punk too. Some things never change, I guess. And there’s some New Order on here, because of course there is.
Looking over the list, I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard a few of them. “Coldsweat” sounded as good a few days ago as it did when my friend Kendra pushed a copy of Life’s Too Good in my hand a few lifetimes ago and told me I needed to hear it. I wonder if those memories would have been as strong had the algorithm fed ‘em? I doubt it. Ironically, it was my employer that tipped me off to J-Boy; I first heard it while listening to IFE on a flight as we rocketed out of Portland.
I hope you find a few new faves here and that everything on your list shows up under your tree.
KA–
P.S. A few of you have asked if I sequence these as if they’re an album or mixtape. The answer is always “yes.” In my head, I imagine them being played on your morning commute or road trip. I’m too old to use the word “vibes” as much as I have lately, but, well, if the shoe fits…Side A is tracks 1-17, with Side B being 18-35.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or shows you’re hoping will be under the tree? Do you make any end-of-year lists? If so, please share below!?
What happens when a music critic, two poets, a Nashville transplant, and a former Migos labelmate all come together?
Photo courtesy of CPR
Good morning!
We’re in for a treat today; NYC-based Crisis Public relations stops by to talk about their new EP, how they got here, and what’s coming next.
The pitch: A self described “NYC-based firm consisting of a former Migos labelmate, a pseudonymous music critic, two sister-poets, and a Nashville-to-Brooklyn transplant” get together and make an EP that bends the definition of pop and all it’s variants. It might read like the set up to a hipster version of a dad joke, but is quite the opposite. Part experimental, part hyperpop, part screed against the hellscape we find ourselves in, Life Rights is quite a ride.
My on ramp to the band first came this past fall when I was turned on to their “Out the Window” single, which we had a chance to feature on playlist 316. This past week, they released an EP, Life Rights, which is fantastic.
Trying to define the band’s sound has proved tricky for me. I know my way around a keyboard, but with each track, my list of possible influences and reference points would shift. That makes for tough review writing, but an awesome listening experience, and I wondered if it was by design. This is after all a group that set out to challenge assumptions and the status quo.
We’re interested in persona, we’re interested in production, we’re interested in obscurity—all things that might scan as “less authentic.” But “Crisis Public Relations” and “Life Rights” are phrases that read as clinical, but the component words are all quite meaningful.
I recently had a chance to chat with the band via email. In our wide-ranging discussion, we talked about the band’s origin story, the record, and what’s coming next. Our chat has only been lightly edited for grammar and flow.
KA—
Congrats on the new record! Can you walk us through the backstory of how this project came together?
Three of us—Reggie, who sings and plays guitar, Isa, who sings and produces the songs, and Meg, who also sings, plays guitar and writes lyrics—moved into a house together during the COVID pandemic. We started jamming most Sundays, gradually inviting friends, including Meg’s sister Eleanor and John, who now plays bass, to join. In 2023, the project started really coming together, and then in 2024, we met Noah, who plays drums, through mutual friends.
On your website, you describe the band as “a new NYC-based firm consisting of a former Migos labelmate, a pseudonymous music critic, two sister-poets, and a Nashville-to-Brooklyn transplant.” Say more, please.
You forgot the food content creator, Noah! It does what it says on the tin. That’s all literally true. Isa was signed to a 360 record deal when they were 18 years old, Reggie is not who he says he is, Meg and Eleanor are sisters and published poets, and John was performing as a folk singer-songwriter in Nashville for several years before he moved back to the East Coast.
Photo courtesy of CPR
How is this EP different from previous outings, or to be more specific, work band members previously released?
This project has aspects of each of our styles, but it comes together into something new. For instance, this music is still really lyric-focused, but compared to, say, John’s solo music, it’s much freer from traditional narrative and song structures.
I can hear a few different artists that might’ve been an influence. Were there any specific bands that informed the sound on Life Rights?
Our inspirations are pretty varied; CPR is made up of a lot of members with different tastes. “You’ll Be Fine” was definitely influenced by the Jamaican diasporic sounds on labels like Trojan Records, and also the RnB-gone-reggae sounds of ‘90s and ‘00s radio. And the ending of the song breaks down into an almost Pinegrove like acoustic indie rock thing, which breaks down into pure ambient noise.
NYC is obviously a massive scene, but what’s your orbit like? What other bands are in it? How (relatively) close-knit are you all?
In our non-CPR lives, we all have various different scenes we travel in—Reggie writes a lot about all kinds of different scenes, and John works at a conservatory. Noah collabs with indie musicians. It’s TBD what the CPR scene is, but we loved performing with Sister, and Jude Johns recently, and we always make a point to see acts like Asher White and Grumpy.
For anyone new to CPR, what’s the one thing you hope they walk away with?
Sometimes, it feels like social media algorithms put pressure on musicians to manufacture “authenticity” to compete for attention, to grab people with the most intensity possible. So a lot of tears, a lot of “here’s a song about the time I saw my dad run over my dog.” Some people really make that work, to be clear. But we’re interested in persona, we’re interested in production, we’re interested in obscurity—all things that might scan as “less authentic.” But “Crisis Public Relations” and “Life Rights” are phrases that read as clinical, but the component words are all quite meaningful. Similarly, we hope that people see that these glossy songs were all made with care.
What’s next for the band? What’s 2026 look like? Back in the studio? On the road?
We’ve talked about doing a couple weekenders in other cities in the northeast, but mainly we want to be making a lot more music. We want to rent out a practice space and dial in the CPR sound. Noah played on the last two songs on the EP, “You’ll Be Fine” and “The Subletter.” Production is a huge part of our sound, so the next step is finding our groove in the room and working that into our records. In 2026, we’re also looking for someone who can reprogram a printer to print sheets of music so we can incorporate that into the show… so if that’s you, please message us.
Last one, just for fun; I bump into you as you walk out of the record store. What records are you carrying?
Reggie is probably carrying something from Mississippi Records. Isa bought 15 unfindable-online $1 records in the hopes of finding sample gold. John’s probably holding some sensitive folk record about, like, the light through the leaves or whatever. Meg’s holding the collected works of Eileen Myles. Noah’s carrying a world-class sandwich he personally made.
Listen:
Crisis Public Relations | Life Rights (2025)
Right-click the record to listen via Bandcamp.
Life Rights is out now. You can grab your copy here.
Thank you to CPR for their time, and thank you for being here.
Kevin Sent 
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