Rolling Best Music Writing Thread

OK, we've got a long-running, thriving thread for the worst music writing, so I'd like one for the best. What are some of the best pieces you've read recently? Interviews, features, reviews, thinkpieces, whatever.

I hate Sleater-Kinney's music, but this article is really interesting, as much for what it doesn't explicitly say as what it does.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/28/sleater-kinney-the-center-wont-hold-interview

I had no idea the drummer who just quit was almost a full decade older than the rest of the band. I feel like that could have been a factor in her decision to leave, one that hasn't been considered in depth by the press. Anyway, it's a really good piece all around.

It’s nice to see the fact acknowledged in the final sentence of this paragraph (there’s often so much myth-making around what it means to be in a band):

The group abandoned their original plan to work with multiple producers after their trial week with Clark in Los Angeles really took off. After that, Weiss didn’t return until the last two days of recording. She was busy, Brownstein laments in Portland. (Weiss works as a film and TV location manager, a career that started on Brownstein’s Portlandia.) There is a personal cost of being in a band, especially when each member has a very different economic reality: Brownstein a celebrity, Tucker a working mum, Weiss developing a new career.

Remember when the careers of all three members of bands Sleater-Kinney might have simply fallen under the category of "musician?" Thanks, Spotify!

tucker's had a day job since at least 2005, which is long before spotify came to the us.

indie musicians have had day jobs since time immemorial

Remember when the careers of all three members of bands Sleater-Kinney might have simply fallen under the category of "musician?"

I seriously doubt that they ever made a living from their music.

the unfortunate thing about s-k (and i guess the music industry in general) is that they're popular now, instead of in 1997. if they had the fame/attention they have now back then, they probably could've sold a bunch of records and had a nice nest egg.

I also don’t think Spotify is to blame for Portlandia’s success...

I hate Sleater-Kinney's music

Were this the entirety of the review of the new album, I would nominate it for Best Music Writing of All-Time based on honesty, efficiency, and humor.

also, unlike most music writing, it is focused on the music

It's easier said than done.

Another thing I would nominate, more genuinely, is the Last Plane to Jakarta thing about "Mission Viejo" by Lifter Puller from 2001. Probably one of the more affecting music-focused pieces I've ever read. It made me listen to the song many times, and I was happy to get to do so, because it's a great song that I wouldn't have otherwise heard if I hadn't read it. So, nice job, whoever did Last Plane to Jakarta.