My next album has features from Black Thought, Ransom, Bruiser Wolf and more with production from Havoc, Conductor Williams, Mathematics, Nottz, Chuck Strangers, Dj Design, playa haze and more. First single out NOW

My first piece for @NewYorker is out today! As Xi Jinping lands in DC to start his state visit, you'll hear a lot about the US-China AI race. I'd like to tell a complementary AI story. This past May, a few days after Trump visited Beijing, I went to the town people call China's vibe-coding capital, Liangzhu. There, you learn that China's AI scene is not monolithic. It's also full of contrarians, cool vibe coders, spiritual seekers, and people who love AI but refuse to join the 996 grind. Liangzhu is on the edge of Hangzhou. I hung out with a group of anti-mainstream builders who use AI to make whimsical apps for fortune-telling, mental well-being, and creativity. Some of them run their lives entirely by bazi astrology (their founder almost became a Taoist monk). They meet on "Crazy Thursday" to vibe-code together. Rent is cheap, so they can get a bigger place with a living room to have friends over (unthinkable in Beijing or Shenzhen). In Liangzhu, they want to use AI to forge their own future. It’s a ground-level story—less about model capabilities, hyperscalers, or AI policy, and more about how people in China are using AI, and the human stories behind it.

While others use AI, I hired Academy Award®–Nominated Animator Bill Plympton

While driving around the hometown he famously dubbed T-Dot, @KardinalO peered through chunky square sunglasses and answered my questions via video call for the @exclaimdotca Questionnaire exclaim.ca/music/article/kar…

"There's just something special about taking my Martin D-28 and strumming an E chord. It's like summoning the spirit of Hank Williams, and a certain beautiful world-weariness" @beck told me about his folky, haunting new LP Ride Lonesome for @exclaimdotca exclaim.ca/music/article/bec…

Mark Carney: "We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so no one, no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law."

Canadians waking up this morning

“How’s this, then? Ed Sheeran, beloved by all, left without an opening band at present. Enter you two.” “What if we want a free Palestine, Murray?” “I reckon you’ll get lots of things for free when you’re proper rockstars. This might be your ticket.”

I’m dropping an album on September 25th. It’s called Bread & Butter. I worked on it for 3 years. Thank you for reading this.

Human hand is inherently cooler because it has flaws. Nothing fascinating about fauxtopias or perfection. @Liv_Boeree, you think ai will eventually make a cooler #TaxiDriver poster than this?

“They’ll call me grumpy Joe, because I’m the intense guy, who needs his coffee in the morning, and doesn’t sleep well,” @ZahnMcClarnon says about shooting season 4 of the acclaimed @AMC_TV crime saga @DarkWinds_AMC during our @Under_Radar_Mag q&a undertheradarmag.com/intervi…

Café in a cave, SW China’s Guiyang.

For those who are not fluent, this is how you say "fuck that guy" in Canadian

Erykah Badu had some words to share about DRAM—someone she considers a "very good friend” and who’s featured on "Valentine," off Badu and Alchemist's new album, ‘Before The World Blows.’⁠ ⁠ In a new interview on @applemusic's The Ebro Show, @fatbellybella shared, "He's my brother, he's my collaborator…he's savant; he's magical, and has always been that way."⁠ ⁠ She also mentioned that the two have a project together and have made a ton of music, though there's no release plan yet. Their first collaboration was "WiFi," from @DRAMsaid's 2016 debut, followed by "'93 Acura Vigor" in 2021.⁠

Fake Yo La Tengo album cover season is approaching.

this is like if they put the ending of TAR at the beginning of TAR

Apollo Brown & Skyzoo "No Discounts"  The new single available on DSPs NOW (link below) From the upcoming joint LP "Luxury Tax", fully produced by @apollobrown.  Album in stores and online Sept. 25th on FGR Inc/Escapism Recordings #LuxuryTax 💰 ffm.to/nodiscounts

I used to be so funny

We'll never see another Dolly Parton: unanimously beloved by teens & geriatrics, country obsessives & twang atheists, rural evangelists & bohemian cynics. Blessed w/ the emotional depth, charm & songwriting gift to induce tears, laughs & joy. The last American we could agree on.

The @mountain_goats John Darnielle had me singing Pearl Jam, quoted everyone from Steve Albini to Percy Shelley off the cuff, and recalled the odd open mic show that started his one-of-a-kind career during our @Under_Radar_Mag Q&A undertheradarmag.com/intervi…