ReCOWmendations: November 2023
4 Superb Substack newsletters by musicians sharing their original songs (and art)
I’m beyond grateful to be a part of an ever-expanding, supportive community of writers here at Substack. This includes writers of all stripes, not just those focusing on music.
When I wrote recently about my struggles with anxiety and overwhelm, the response was, well, overwhelming. In a good way.
In fact, I think my ability and inspiration to continue writing more Earworms and Song Loops posts these past two months was due largely to the kindness of strangers. The kindness of friends. The kindness.
When I attend a yoga class or a group meditation session, we are often instructed to choose an intention. Something that we’d like to manifest, which our practice can help emit throughout our day or week. One intention I turn to on the regular is Kind Attention.
This is aimed both inward and outward. My inner voice can be super critical and mean, so consciously sending kindness to it keeps it quiet and confused. Then, I am better able to express my kind attention outward.
Which is what I am doing for this latest ReCOWmendations post.
For those newer to EW&SL, the COW in ReCOWmendations stands for Community of Wormheads. I used to call my readership COWs, but apparently, some people don’t like being called a COW. So I found a way to keep the acronym by adding to to my monthly recommendations posts!
For November, I am recommending 4 Substack newsletters written by musicians who graciously share compositions, new and old, with their readers/listeners. And not just music, but videos, photography, drawings, and other expressions of their artistic talents.
I could have picked 20; that’s how robust Substack is as a place for new music and art discovery. Instead, I’m featuring a manageable four. I’ve included links to their music, plus playable bits (YouTube/Bandcamp), here in the body of the text, so hopefully, one of them works for you.
There are musicians whose Substacks I follow — such as Neko Case (New Pornographers, solo) and Colin Meloy (of Decemberists) — who are firmly established in the public sphere. They have thousands of subscribers and put most of their new and unreleased recordings behind a paywall.
These aren’t the folks I want to talk about here. They are elitist snobs. Just kidding. They are kind, shiny, happy people. But they don’t need my help.
The 4 featured artists below might not be household names (yet), but I hope this small gesture might expand their reach to a few more households.
Like the other featured artists here, music is just one medium of expression for Nolan. He is also a photographer, filmmaker, and an avid coffee drinker. (Yes, that is a medium of expression!)
His Substack is Of Sound and Fury, also listed as the grassy knoll music. This is where he shares unique playlists (usually structured around a theme), his photography, and other musings and treasures from his archive of cool stuff.
He’s got an extensive bio, which you can read more about here.
His compositions have appeared in television, film, and video games. Highlights include the Netflix series Bobby Kennedy for President (series theme song), Legion, Incorporated, The Mod Squad, and Roswell.
You can’t go wrong with any of The Grassy Knoll’s music, but if I had to narrow it to one, I’d choose “The Kids Want a Little Action.”
“I really like this track. It features Vernon Reid (guitar), Jesse Dayton (guitar), and Brad Houser (sax).
The funny thing about this piece is their parts were tracked to a different song. I did a cover of PIL's Poptones, but it was a massive trainwreck, so I cut up their takes and created this track.” - Nolan Green
The Grassy Knoll’s music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Bandcamp, YouTube, and more.
A short Miter bio from the man himself:
is the solo recording project of Ryan Stubbs, a Denver-based artist. After playing in bands for a long time, with some minor successes here and there, Ryan turned more pointedly toward writing, recording, producing, and releasing his own music. The first Miter record, Wings of the Faith, was released in 2016 as a one-off experiment and learning experience in home recording.The Miter moniker was revived for 2022’s synth-heavy Shelled and retained for Miter’s primary music release and distribution vehicle, the Substack publication: Washed Memoir in Real Time.
Ryan releases one original, fully produced Miter song per month via Substack and has become somewhat evangelical about Substack--and the subscription model--as a positive course for musicians at all levels. After releasing tracks on Substack, Ryan releases Miter material on Bandcamp and all streaming services. This playlist includes all Miter tracks released in 2023 so far.
How would I describe Miter Music? It’s hard to pigeonhole. But as a professional pigeonholer, I’ll try. Imagine if Bruce Springsteen was a shy, nerdy kid in the ‘90s fronting a lo-fi industrial band, and that band was himself. Then, add a love for odd percussion, synths, layered guitars, and spoken word storytelling, and you are about 40 percent of the way there.
A favorite track of mine would have to be “Revelry.” There’s an off-kilter urgency in this song that hits deep. Especially lyrically: I want to battle thee/Incessantly/Dramatically/Don’t try to settle me/With atrophy and archery/I want a Revelry.
Ryan is a bit of a Renaissance man. In addition to Miter, he has started an artists’ collective, Labelabel.
A longer, manifesto-length breakdown can be found here, but in short, to use Ryan’s words, Labelabel is primarily about forming a trust-based, supportive, nonhierarchical artist collective without any obligations or expectations.
The goals here are simple: We’ll remake the industry by decentralizing power and building non-hierarchical structures where everyone thrives. We will create an audience of ourselves and our fans because we are so numerous, and our millions of Marshall stacks and speaker systems are so loud that they cannot be ignored. - Ryan
One way this collective has manifested is in the form of a video salon. Salon du Monde, Fremont. Again, difficult to describe, but Ryan compares it to MTV’s 120 Minutes. I would say it reminds me of the experimental video performance art I watched in the late ‘80s in college. With a dash of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! To watch the first episode of the Salon, click in the box below.
I don’t remember how I’ve encountered most of the artists I enjoy on Substack. It’s a miracle if I can remember where I put my car keys. I want to say that my introduction to Britta was when she left a super nice comment on one of my posts. Which naturally led me to look into who this person named after my favorite water filter was.
What I discovered was an unfiltered kaleidoscope of creativity. Using the name Riffindots, Britta not only posts music on her Substack (
), she also shares amazing drawing, painting, and collagery. It was her collage work that wowed me before I ever heard her original music.This is not the first time I’ve featured Britta/Riffindots on the Earworms and Song Loops pages. Her Halloween classic, “Spiders on the Dance Floor,” led to the discovery of Earspiders™, an entomological variant of the Earworm. You can read that first piece by clicking the box below.
Britta shared with me a short bio, but I find that her Spotify profile (with some additions by me) describes her music even better:
Singer/songwriter Britta Pejic’s career has spanned over two decades (edit: maybe three decades now?). She finds inspiration in the grand gestures of nature but equally in the mundane. She spins wildly epic tales (giant onions, America folding in half, dancefloor-filling spiders) that are set to colorful psychedelic and textural rock and pop. It’s been labeled as ear candy (*ear-spiders!*), with codas sung in French, chants sung in Latin, and measures counted in Basque!
Here’s some more of her bio:
Britta began playing guitar at age 10. She tried to play in bands as a teen. This became more of a reality in her twenties (Austin). Then she became a solo artist with a group in her thirties (Portland) when she recorded her first album, Backyards That Weren’t There Before. She continued as a SOLO solo recording artist in her forties (Hendaye, France) when she recorded her second album, Latitude Bera.
Overseas, she diffused her anxiety by positing questions and incorporating wordplay in much of her art. To help her memorize impossible vocabulary words, she made psychedelic study cards for the Basque language class she took in the town of St. Jean de Luz. She now teaches French to adults in the Boston area.
She is learning piano. Please go to riffindots.com for more color and more planes besides vertical and horizontal. (Yes, her art is fantastic!)
A taste of her non-spidery music can be found on Spotify and Bandcamp. A favorite of mine is “Spring Roll Skin.”
Here’s how Peter describes the steps involved in the creation of his music and visuals:
Come across a topic in everyday life (outer space, book covers, elephants, playing pool, spiders, whatever!)
Choose a work of art that represents it
Research
Do my kooky abstract geometric-looking reduction of the work of art... I really try to get at the essence of what that piece of art is to me, and I really need to kind of strip away everything to figure it out.
write/record/mix/master the music
make the video
write the post, make the bumpers, collect the links, etc
I’m exhausted just reading that list. Exhausted and inspired. Polyester City is a unique urban experience; even the most descriptive write-up would pale when compared to the real thing.
Really, any of his works — what Peter calls “episodes” — would suffice, so I’ll recommend a recent piece, Episode 31, “Woman With a Birdcage.”
Because of the multi-media nature of Peter’s work, it’s a challenge to give it justice here, so click the hyperlink above for the full experience! The YouTube clip below gives a taste, combining his music and geometric art.
Peter goes into more detail about his process and his background on the about page of his Substack. It’s super fascinating. Once you check out the episodes, you might find yourself caught in a web of polyester, realizing several hours have passed. Could I be talking from experience?
Peter’s Bandcamp and YouTube channel are the main places people can check out his stuff outside of Substack. He can also be found on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Music as well.
As I said before, there are many talented, inspiring artists and musicians posting their work (usually for free) on Substack.
None of them are making a living at it; they do it, like most artists, because they are compelled to do so. To not would be like not using a limb.
I hope you will take the time to click on the links above and check out their amazing music and art.
I wanted to add a few other artists to this list, but the post is already quite long. I’ll try and include a couple of other reCOWmended artists I discovered on Substack in the comments section.
Do you have a favorite musician who deserves more attention? I’m focusing on Substack artists here, but it doesn’t have to be limited to that. Leave your picks in the comments and include any pertinent links.
Totally cool to suggest yourself too!
I’m sure Nolan, Ryan, Britta, and Peter would love to hear what you think of their work (unless you don’t like it; then keep that to yourself!😀).
Thanks for reading and for supporting musicians, artists, writers, and creators.
Steve
This is my favorite of Nolan's many fantastic tracks. Reminds me of Meat beat Manifesto in all the best ways:
https://thegrassyknoll.bandcamp.com/track/culture-of-complaint-demo
My other recommendation to add to your list is Fog Chaser. He posts an original track 1x monthly, and pairs it with some photography, a poem, or both.
I needed this post today. Started much needed paying work jobs which I’m super into and my anxiety is telling me I won’t be able to write as much and how can I do this?