super cool & varied compilation of 1950s zambian pop star alick nkhata. dance tunes, fresh acoustic guitar moves, english-language songs, & (always welcome) some excellent southern african C&W. https://mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/album/radio-lusaka

i'm predictably loving the cleaned-up woody guthrie demos from the early 1950s, some of his most modern incursions, but every single piece of coverage i've seen ignores that guthrie had just written an actual top 10 hit & his publisher intended to pitch these to pop stars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGwFNiV1vao&list=PLRKtw9iPiWM_TrzBIBYPD5Mcn05Oecfr6 #folk #pop

further down the SML rabbit hole, a march 2020 live set by drummer booker stardrum & synthesist jeremiah chiu with surrealist-guitarist dustin wong, floating from dream to dream & drawing out unexpected colors/peaks/shapes. https://youtu.be/dq-DbhV9k4I #jazz

came across some great pro videos (with pro audio) of jim o'rourke playing with the full "insignificance" era band, which are dated (march 25, 2000) but no venue listed. guessing it's chicago, can anybody tell? tried & failed at some newspaper searches. UPDATE: it's aoyoma cay in tokyo. https://youtu.be/OR7szKcx4lM

to amend what i posted yesterday: tracks 1-5 are a gorgeous duo of nico on harmonium/vocals & @SunRaUniverse's john gilmore on sax in #nyc on 9/27/80. cheetah chrome shows up after, to mixed results. https://ijwthstd.blogspot.com/2025/09/nico-nyc-1980-09-26.html
gilmore is also on this bumpier 9/27 set, though less audible: https://ijwthstd.blogspot.com/2025/09/nico-nyc-1980-09-27.html
(and there's seemingly a max's tape with this combo from 11/80, too.)