A Birdwatching Playlist

A birdwatching playlist, new music from Bonny Doon, interviews with Lynne Tillman & A.C. Newman, and more

May 08, 2023

This week I’ve moved my writing office to the backyard. Spring has finally turned warmer and brighter. The patio set has been dusted off, the outdoor bubble put away, and the yard’s fall and winter detritus cleaned up.

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I love the quiet and the peaceful oasis the space offers from New York City’s everyday hectic pace. Being around the flowers, herbs, and vegetables. But mostly I love glancing up from my laptop or book to watch the birds.

The birdcalls bathe me in a natural soundcape. A soundtrack perfect for working on whatever project is in front of me, and perfect for connecting me to something bigger than myself.

Enjoy the playlist of songs about birds (and a couple that use birds as metaphors). Do you have a favorite song about a bird?

A Birdwatching Playlist:

A.M. Homes’ fictional interview between Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger
NYLON’s profile of the band Wednesday
Wednesday’s past albums had a cult-like following but this one is propelling them far higher than before. It’s also just staggeringly good — a rollicking, dynamic journey across 10 songs that span from ‘90s shoegaze to glistening indie rock to country twang, all punctuated by Hartzman’s voice that’s simultaneously gruff enough to bulldoze a feeling and light enough to crystalize it.
Lynne Tillman’s interview with Granta
In a sense we are always haunted by our past and what psychoanalysis is, for me, is not about cure but about understanding those ghosts.
Pitchfork’s guide to this year’s summer music festivals
A new essay by Rafael Frumkin
The band Mandy, Indiana profiled
On their debut album I’ve Seen A Way, Mandy, Indiana explore political disillusionment through a bricolage of noise, post punk and electronic dance music. Led by Valentine Caulfield’s expressive vocals in her native French, the album places far-ranging textures, genre signifiers and recording environments – including a cave and a shopping centre – in constant, dramatic contrast with each other. “This is an album where heads butt and things clash,” explains guitarist and producer Scott Fair. “Some things were recorded on high end gear, and others on phones – it’s supposed to be nasty, and to not work.”
New poetry by Wayne Koestenbaum
New music from Bonny Doon
An excerpt from Janika Oza’s debut novel A History of Burning
A reconsideration of Regina Spektor’s Soviet Kitsch album on its 20th anniversary
Fluxblog’s interview with A.C. Newman of the New Pornographers
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