Liam Inscoe-Jones
@liaminscoejones.bsky.social
songs in the key of mp3 out now 🇵🇸
*sigh* it doesn’t have to be poptimism or nostalgic rockism for the rest of time. there is a third way…
Jacobin@jacobinmag.bsky.social · 3mo agoFaced with declining market share and poptimist contempt, rock music once seemed bound for the dustbin of history. But an industry crisis and a moribund liberal political establishment are driving a rediscovery of rock’s potential.
I have a very long thing to say about this and why it's got bad that will quite soon be a blog post, but luckily for you I have to go do family stuff so can't go properly into now - but it is related to what I said in this book review, re failure to understand 21st c cultural abundance...
Liam Inscoe-Jones@liaminscoejones.bsky.social · last yr.Flattered to have some very kind words appear about my book in issue 497 of @thewiremagazine.bsky.social @joemuggs.bsky.social thank you 🙏
this nails a persistent frustration of mine. also, writers are often just poorly versed in the history of the artists they revere… critics talk about “the next Brian Wilson”… Brian Wilson was reviled for the vast majority of his career and his creative peak was the beginning of a commercial decline
UK Prime Minister@joemuggs.bsky.social · 6mo agoI went off on a bit of a tangent here, but very much related to @liaminscoejones.bsky.social's writing on "the streaming age", I had a realisation of how shockingly out of touch mainstream criticism is with the speed of movement in modern pop culture. In less than a decade EVERYTHING has changed.
Trump’s Board of Peace logo is basically the UN logo, except dipped in gold and edited so the world only includes America.
My book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS details how we got to the music landscape Liam Inscoe-Jones explores in his own brilliant new book Songs In The Key Of MP3. Liam uses five groundbreaking icons (Dev, twigs, 0PN, Earl, SOPHIE) to trace connections in the genre-fluid 2010s. I was thrilled to chat with him:
How The Internet Helped Indie Go Pop: Chris DeVille and Liam Inscoe-Jones in Conversation
YouTube video by Liam Inscoe-Jones
youtu.be
I didn’t think it would be easy, but it can’t be overstated how much of an uphill battle it’s been to get old institutions - many of whom who treat music writing as the medium itself ended in 1999 - to engage with a book about the music of today. Nonetheless, we keep moving onward ⚡️
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today. This could be you.
Christmas haul at FRBH Towers with @liaminscoejones.bsky.social @danhancox.bsky.social and this hot new band Finitribe
A final shoutout of my book for last-minute shoppers… It’s ideal for any music fan this christmas and remains the only major book to dive deep into music post-2010, from Earl Sweatshirt to FKA twigs, from SOPHIE to Oneohtrix Point Never, from Charli XCX to Danny Brown. Link below to grab a copy x
pretty much done for 2025! This year I released a book, gave a talk at one of the best festivals in the world and published interviews with Caroline Polachek Daniel Lopatin Nicolas Jaar Josh Safdie Stella Donnelly Perfume Genius Richard Russell Sudan Archives Annahstasia Excited for ‘26
Album of the year! Me for @theartsdesk.bsky.social - also with some further thoughts on @liaminscoejones.bsky.social's ideas about streaming age musicians, on the rude health of the We Out Here generation, and Soft Music for Hard Times. www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/jo... @brownswood.bsky.social
Yeah exactly this, and it's just this that @naomialderman.bsky.social nails down here: the skills of taste, discernment and historian-like research will not be erased by AI, they will be MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.
preparing for the working world in the age of AI
or: seven things to tell your kids when they ask what they should study now, or what the point of studying is
naomialderman.substack.com
Liam Inscoe-Jones@liaminscoejones.bsky.social · 8mo agothe age of abundance and the rising tide of machine generated slop which will be indistinguishable from generic music but unable to hold a candle to the innovations to real artists all emphasise the need for a healthy critical ecosystem, and argue for the critic as curator first and foremost
Wrote about Perfume Genius and Makaya McCraven for the good people over at The Line Of Best Fit. Their number one is absolutely undeniable too
THE LINE of BEST FIT@thelineofbestfit.com · 8mo agoFrom Simz to Silvana Estrada, Addison Rae to Saya Gray, and Samia to Die Spitz, here is our definitive ranking of 2025's best records (+ win a massive bumper vinyl package of the best of them in our amazing end-of-year giveaway).
the age of abundance and the rising tide of machine generated slop which will be indistinguishable from generic music but unable to hold a candle to the innovations to real artists all emphasise the need for a healthy critical ecosystem, and argue for the critic as curator first and foremost
UK Prime Minister@joemuggs.bsky.social · 8mo agoI actually feel like one of the stories of this year is that we've finally come face to face with this question of mass abundance - should've done 26 years ago (if we take Napster as the starting point of this era) but better late than never eh. @liaminscoejones.bsky.social's book, as I keep saying
Video shows Israeli forces shooting Palestinians dead moments after surrender
Video shows Israeli forces shooting Palestinians dead moments after surrender
Far-right minister defends killing of two men in Jenin, saying ‘terrorists must die’ Video of an Israeli military raid in Jenin shows soldiers summarily executing two Palestinians they had detained seconds earlier. The shooting on Thursday evening, which was also witnessed by journalists close to the scene, is under justice ministry review, but has already been defended by Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared: “terrorists must die”. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
Thank you @resident-music.com for selecting 168 SONGS OF HATRED AND FAILURE by @keithcameron2.bsky.social as your #1 book of the year! And for choosing @danielrachel.bsky.social, @audreyjgolden.bsky.social, @liaminscoejones.bsky.social, @reversediorama.bsky.social + Budgie on the best of 2025 list 🙏
I reviewed the new twigs
The Quietus@thequietus.com · 9mo ago'Made mostly in a rush of creativity in the months since the album she released at the start of the year, EUSEXUA Afterglow contains the most simple music of twigs’ career, continuing her newfound infatuation with European rave' #FKAtwigs - EUSEXUA Afterglow buff.ly/JgH5AMq
I reviewed the new OPN for tQ
The Quietus@thequietus.com · 9mo ago'The new album from Oneohtrix Point Never asks the question: what to do with the music that will be, inevitably, one day lost? Sifting through the sands of long-forgotten 90s sample packs, has Daniel Lopatin struck ghostly yet ecstatic gold?' #OneohtrixPointNever - Tranquilizer buff.ly/Wjl3qy3
Really loved putting this together with Chal, a true legend of the game
Tribune@tribunemagazine.bsky.social · 9mo agoIn our atomised, fragmented society, newness in pop music can be increasingly hard to uncover. Tribune invited Chal Ravens to discuss the rate of innovation — and the cultural position of music in the 2020s — with fellow music journalist @liaminscoejones.bsky.social tribunemag.co.uk/2025/08/afte...
In our atomised, fragmented society, newness in pop music can be increasingly hard to uncover. Tribune invited Chal Ravens to discuss the rate of innovation — and the cultural position of music in the 2020s — with fellow music journalist @liaminscoejones.bsky.social tribunemag.co.uk/2025/08/afte...
Has Pop Music Finally Eaten Itself?
In our atomised, fragmented society, newness in pop music can be increasingly hard to uncover. Tribune invited Chal Ravens to discuss the rate of innovation — and the cultural position of music in the...
tribunemag.co.uk
For the last month I’ve been listening to little else but the new Danny Brown and Armand Hammer albums. With the albums finally dropping tomorrow, I went long with some thoughts over on my Substack open.substack.com/pub/thesixth...
I wrote about the new Armand Hammer for The Quietus, clocking up dangerous numbers without a miss now
The Quietus@thequietus.com · 9mo agoOn their seventh stellar album in a row, the unbeatable duo of Elucid and Billy Woods find space for small, everyday joys amongst the horror of contemporary geopolitics. Mercy by #ArmandHammer and The Alchemist is tQ's Album of the Week buff.ly/JJNZ1le
Almost every acclaimed music book, year after year, is about the music of the 20th century, often about the *same* music from it. A quarter of the way into the 21st century, it’s getting a little concerning…
Jon is doing god’s work, beautifully written and this album is insane
Jon Buckland@pacificbeliefs.bsky.social · 10mo agoTo help work through the grief of losing her father, @annahogberg.bsky.social got her old ensemble back together for a sonic trip across mountain and sea. My review for @thequietus.com: thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
This time next weeks Jacqueline Crooks - women’s prize shortlisted author of the phenomenal Fire Rush - and I will be in conversation at the legendary radical bookshop Housmans, talking music and literary writing… if you’re near kings cross, come through! www.eventbrite.com/e/liam-insco...
Liam Inscoe-Jones & Jacqueline Crooks in Conversation at Housmans
Join Liam Inscoe-Jones and Jacqueline Crooks in Conversation at the legendary Housmans Bookshop on October 28th, 7.30pm
eventbrite.com
I reviewed the new Rochelle Jordan
The Quietus@thequietus.com · 10mo ago'This is unabashedly retro-stuff, cut from the same silken cloth as Timbaland and Noah Shebib. But that’s no bad thing. Rochelle makes the sound her own, effortlessly. Some music is just cool, plain and simple.' #RochelleJordan - Through The Wall buff.ly/JGb6iCI
The path forward begins in the workplace. We must advocate for a society built around collective strength, industrial cooperation, and democratic control. Read Eddie Dempsey on unions.
Reversing the Decline of Union Power
Neoliberalism and postmodernism have torn apart the social fabric that once held us together. But in rebuilding the strength of labour and the organised society, we can be unified, empowered, and…
tribunemag.co.uk
