Crypto billionaire Larsen -- who is currently spending tens of millions of dollars to prop up moderate candidates in California, fight labor unions, defeat the state billionaires tax and San Francisco's own overpaid CEO tax -- is still one of the Civic Joy Fund's biggest benefactors. This is reflected on the organization's own "funders" page, which lists cute categories for these very wealthy people, like "Disco Queens," "Street Sparklers," and "Joy Makers." [...]

In February, at the "Music Industry Summit" -- the conclusion to San Francisco Music Week, another Lurie project -- I watched as the mayor strode to the stage at the Swedish American Music Hall. There, before an audience of struggling artists, engineers, and small venue staff, he triumphantly reported that the last summer of concerts in Golden Gate Park resulted in "$150 million worth of economic impact," and that, according to new data, "our independent music venues generate $1.4 billion in economic impact annually."

Lurie paused for applause. "That's because of all of you in this room."

We clapped dutifully, but the people in that room did not need to be reassured that they had contributed to $1.4 billion in "economic impact." They would have preferred to hear that any of their favorite clubs might exist next year. The people in that room could use health insurance -- and they might be able to afford it if Lurie's billionaire buddies were taxed appropriately; say, with a one-time 5% excise tax on net worth exceeding $1 billion to save Medi-Cal.

But hey, that sentiment doesn't make for great social media content.

Indeed, the dissonance between Lurie's spirit-squad act around cultural events and the material struggles of the people actually making the culture is, at times, ear-splitting. One gets the sense he is physically unable to hear it.

"Those of us on the ground who work in [music] know that it has never been more difficult to be here, and try and provide the city with the core thing it is known for historically, which is free-thinking progressive ideologies and good art," says Austin Waz, frontman of the band Analog Dog and a booker at Kilowatt. "We see the incredible amount of venues going out of business, people losing their jobs left and right. We have an absolute crisis."

It's frustrating, he says, to see the large-scale parties into which the Civic Joy Fund pours resources. "It's one day, and they put $100,000, $200,000 into these things, and it's like -- you could have saved an entire community with that. You could have created the conditions that would allow a venue to flourish for years," says Waz. "You're not thinking about how to develop or support artists who come from the city ... it's a slap in the face to put up some [barricades] in the street and say, 'Look how wonderful this all is.'" [...]

"I'm hearing artists rightfully starting to question, like, 'Ultimately, who is this for?'" says Guest of the block parties. "Is it for the public, or is it to set up this area as being worthy of real estate investment? Because if the point of it is to cater towards visitors ... it's really not about supporting art or artists at all."

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2026/04/joy-which-they-have-rebranded-as-economic-impact/feed/ 5 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/04/jwz-mixtape-258/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/04/jwz-mixtape-258/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:42:08 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk5-

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 258.

Because of the recent unpleasantness, here's a mixtape of songs about nuclear war!

This idea popped into my head while I was standing at the bar last night and I thought, "Yeah, I probably have enough videos for that" and started writing down song names... 10 minutes later I had more than 2 hours worth.

Oh yeah, and I had to find an alternate upload of the Two Tribes video because the official one is marked "inappropriate for some users, sign in to confirm your age." "Based on community guidelines." That video played hourly on MTV from like 1984 through 1988. I hate you, Milkman Youtube.

Ad name: DNA Lounge Bruno Mars Party
Your ad wasn't approved for the following reasons:
Reason: Your ad contains only music.
Recommendation: Submit a new ad with a clear voiceover that explains what's being advertised.

Do you want TikTok AI Voice? Because this is how you get TikTok AI Voice.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/internet-advertising-is-going-great/feed/ 17 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/official-video-full-hd-remastered/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/official-video-full-hd-remastered/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:51:30 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk5U Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine, Let Forever Be, etc.) made a great video for Kylie Minogue's Come Into My World. I guess he has mortgage payments to make because he just remade it as a commercial for a purse but that's neither here nor there. What I'm here to complain about is that the official Kylie Minogue YouTube channel (1.5M subscribers) has the "Official video" (45M views) "Full HD, Remastered".

Now, I'm old enough to remember when "remastered" meant "we re-scanned the 35mm negative". Let's take a look at the upper left quadrant of the first 15 seconds of that video at half speed. On the left: a 702x576 rip I made of the video in 2003 from the SD DVD release, Directors Series Volume 3: The Work of Michel Gondry; on the right, the 1392x1062 "Official Full HD Remaster".

Pay special attention to the text on the white sign at about 8 seconds in. Full-screen it for the true zalgo-level, AI-upscale, edge-detect horrorshow.

This is why I have trust issues. Kylie.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/official-video-full-hd-remastered/feed/ 36 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/today-in-acab-afroman-defeats-officer-lemon-pound-cake/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/today-in-acab-afroman-defeats-officer-lemon-pound-cake/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:26:19 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk4o Afroman found not liable in bizarre Ohio defamation case

Afroman did not defame Ohio cops in a satirical music video that featured footage of them fruitlessly raiding the rapper's house, a jury found on Wednesday. [...]

The hip hop star wrote the satirical song "Lemon Pound Cake" and made a music video with real footage of the raid taken from his home surveillance cameras to raise money for property damage caused during the search, he has said.

Seven cops with the sheriff's office then sued him in March 2023, alleging the music video defamed them, invaded their constitutional privacy, and was an intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The video features footage of the cops busting down his door, and of one officer eyeing his "mama's lemon poundcake" with his gun drawn. [...]

An attorney for the police, meanwhile, demanded a total of $3.9 million in damages -- divided among the seven officers involved.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/today-in-acab-afroman-defeats-officer-lemon-pound-cake/feed/ 27 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/ai-protest-music-is-a-thing-now/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/03/ai-protest-music-is-a-thing-now/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2026 19:41:09 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk4W DNA Lounge, a room full of people chanted "No AI" along with Anton Corazza's song of the same name. The kids might be alright!

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2026/02/tear-us-a-heart/feed/ 2 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/02/jwz-mixtape-257/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2026/02/jwz-mixtape-257/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:23:41 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk3T

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 257.

I finally got to see them live in 1998 opening for Tricky on the Angels with Dirty Faces tour at The Fillmore, and they killed it, and then I saw them again headlining the following night at Bimbo's, and nobody came, and they were clearly angry about that and kinda jerky. I forgave them and loved them anyway.

Eye 842. Eye 842.

In only vague and fickle order of favoriteness:

• Emika - Vega & Frames
• Ela Minus - Acts of Rebellion & Día
• Marie Davidson - City of Clowns
• Lou Hayter - Unfamiliar Skin
• Vanbot - How Could I Prepare For This
• The Knocks & Dragonette - Revelation
• Garbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
• Scratch Massive - Nox Anima
• Screensaver - Three Lens Approach
• Black Honey - Soak
• Witch Fever - Congregation
• Pudéndüm - Øne
• Zanias - Cataclysm
• Chloe Qisha - Chloe Qisha & Modern Romance
• Au/Ra - Soundtrack to an Existential Crisis
• Wet Leg - Moisturizer
• Gloomy June - Gloomy June
• Lydia Night - Parody of Pleasure
• Scowl - Are We All Angels
• Shriekback - Monument
• Vowws - I'll Fill Your House With an Army
• Just Mustard - We Were Just Here
• Al1ce - As Above, So Below
• Catherine Moan - Chain-Reaction
• Causeway - Anywhere
• Llynks - Time Reborn
• Bootblacks - Paradise
• Immortal Girlfriend - Sojourner
• Ovrgrwn - Chasing The Good Dreams
• Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky
• Sally Shapiro - Ready to Live a Lie
• Vague Lanes - Divergence And Declaration
• Winona Fighter - My Apologies to the Chef
• Guerilla Toss - You're Weird Now
• Magic Wands - Cascades
• Rocket - R is for Rocket
• Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out
• Die Spitz - Something To Consume

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 256 -- a nice round number.

Previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/2025-music-wrap-up-and-mixtape-256/feed/ 12 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/unknown-xmas/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/unknown-xmas/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:57:11 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk02

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/unknown-xmas/feed/ 12 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/updates/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/updates/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:01:51 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/yk0y four of my apps because of an update to the updater and it's turtles all the way down.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/updates/feed/ 4 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/los-campesinos-on-streaming/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/los-campesinos-on-streaming/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2025 20:53:24 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykyI "It being Streaming Stat Season, I thought now would be a good time to offer a detailed breakdown of how much money we make from our music being streamed."

There are many reasons, unrelated to artist reimbursement, why Spotify is the dirt worst of the streaming platforms. I trust by now you are aware of these.

I want to make it very clear that I am not criticising anyone for using streaming platforms. Everyone streams, living is hell and we all love music. [...]

As you can see, the vast majority of people who streamed All Hell did so using Spotify. Unfortunately, of the major streaming platforms, Spotify pays significantly less per stream than anywhere else.

If everyone who streamed All Hell on Spotify had done so using Tidal instead, we would have received an extra £31,847.38, which would double the amount we made from streaming of the album in this time period. Or if everyone used Apple Music it would have been £12,331 more.

Relatedly, today is Bandcamp Friday when 100% of your money goes to the artists.

"But what do you use, jwz?" none of you are asking. I'm glad you asked! I do not use any streaming platforms. I purchase music as files that then live on my computers and computer-like devices that are backed up on hard drives that I own. I listen to them with headphones that have analog cables.

When at all possible, I purchase music from Bandcamp, because of all the options available, that is the one where the artists make the most money.

When an album is not available on Bandcamp (as often happens with bands signed to major labels who contractually prohibit the bands from making their music available on Bandcamp) I have been using Qobuz, which seems to be the least-bad second option at this time. The files are high quality and DRM-free.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/12/los-campesinos-on-streaming/feed/ 45 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/11/the-algorithm-failed-music/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/11/the-algorithm-failed-music/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2025 21:35:56 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykxT Music recommendation algorithms were supposed to help us cut through the noise, but they just served us up slop.

Spotify leadership didn't see themselves as a music company, but as a time filler. The employee explained that, "the vast majority of music listeners, they're not really interested in listening to music per se. They just need a soundtrack to a moment in their day."

Simply providing a soundtrack to your day might seem innocent enough, but it informs how Spotify's algorithm works. Its goal isn't to help you discover new music, its goal is simply to keep you listening for as long as possible. It serves up the safest songs possible to keep you from pressing stop. [...]

Artists, especially new ones trying to break through, actually started changing how they composed to play better in the algorithmically driven streaming era. Songs got shorter, albums got longer, and intros went away. The hook got pushed to the front of the song to try to grab listeners' attention immediately, and things like guitar solos all but disappeared from pop music. The palette of sounds artists pulled from got smaller, arrangements became more simplified, pop music flattened. [...]

It found that while new music discovery is traditionally associated with youth, "16-24-year-olds are less likely than 25-34-year-olds to have discovered an artist they love in the last year." Gen Z might hear a song they like on TikTok, but they rarely investigate beyond that to listen to more music from the artist.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/11/the-algorithm-failed-music/feed/ 50 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/10/13257737/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/10/13257737/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2025 20:33:14 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykwJ "What time is love?" Because I feel like "I wanna see you sweat" is just a deflection.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/10/13257737/feed/ 16 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/10/jwz-mixtape-255/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/10/jwz-mixtape-255/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:45:12 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykwF

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 255.

Or you can call it 0xFF if you're nerdy.

Last night we did a screening of The Lost Boys, and it was epic. Amongst all of our Cyberdeliae, this was the one with the rowdiest audience: lots of screaming and singing along. Excellent costume contest entries, too.

For this one I did something a little different from the others: instead of DJ music over abstract visuals, I filled the pre-roll and intermission with music videos featuring VAMPIRES. I only needed 30 and 20 minutes respectively, but I immediately had way more than that, in fact, more than enough for a mixtape.

It has only been two weeks since the previous mixtape, but hey, why not.

So, in the immortal words of The Kurgan, "Happy Halloween, Ladies!"

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 254.

For example:

# yt-dlp 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2vCpT1H7u0' # ffmpeg -I *c2vCpT1H7u0* -acodec pcm_s16le -ar 44100 test.wav # lame --replaygain-accurate -f test.wav /dev/null 2>&1 | grep ReplayGain ReplayGain: +6.2dB # lame --replaygain-fast -f test.wav /dev/null 2>&1 | grep ReplayGain ReplayGain: +6.2dB # lame --replaygain-fast -v -f test.wav /dev/null 2>&1 | grep ReplayGain ReplayGain: +5.8dB # ffmpeg -i test.wav -af volumedetect -f null /dev/null 2>&1 | grep _volume: [Parsed_volumedetect_0 @ 0x600001078000] mean_volume: -25.3 dB [Parsed_volumedetect_0 @ 0x600001078000] max_volume: -8.8 dB # ffmpeg -i test.wav -af ebur128 -f null /dev/null 2>&1 | grep I: | tail -1 I: -22.7 LUFS 

"We had just sprayed the crowd with gallons of alien cum and everyone was whipped into a frenzy. We cut to the Analingus Cam and a few couples were going at it, having a fun time slurping a butt, and having their butt slurped. Then we cut to this one couple and the entire mood changed," said Blöthar the Berserker. "There he was, tongue so deep inside her that I'm pretty sure he was licking the back of her eyeballs. That's when he realized the camera was on him. He dove off screen and I said something like 'Nobody licks their wife's asshole that clean, he's either having an affair or he's a scumdog whose appetite for ass knows no bounds.' The clip really took off, my grandmother High Priestess Ejaculah even shared it on Facebook." [...]

"I want to apologize to my wife, my children, my entire family, and the employees at Golaxiar who trust me. I had a major lapse in judgement. I was trying to enjoy a private moment with a work colleague, and things went too far," said Baines. "But what does this say about our society? Where two consenting adults cannot even enjoy mutual anal satisfaction without it being broadcast across a Jumbotron and plastered on social media. We should all be ashamed. This is a societal problem, GWAR shows should be a safe space for ass eating, and this is making a mockery of a beautiful sexual act."

At press time,Tech CEOs began forwarding a new memo with best practices on how to properly cheat on your wife without ever getting caught.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/gwar-concert-goes-viral-after-ceo-of-tech-start-up-caught-having-affair-on-analingus-cam/feed/ 6 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/jwz-mixtape-253/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/jwz-mixtape-253/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:28:46 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykrh

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 253.

It turns out you can just pay people to do things.

I found a voice actor and hired them with the task of "Reading this very dry technical document in the most over-the-top sarcastic, passive-aggressive, condescending way possible. Like, if you think it's too much, take that feeling, ignore it, and crank things up one more notch."

Previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/07/you-must-listen-to-rfc-2119/feed/ 57 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/06/jwz-mixtape-252/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/06/jwz-mixtape-252/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:17:19 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykon

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 252.

Previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/05/13257203/feed/ 4 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/05/lunchtime-poll-2/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/05/lunchtime-poll-2/#comments Sat, 03 May 2025 21:30:50 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykm-

1. Pittbull
2. The LMFAO guy
3. Post Malone

Corrections?

This post brought to you by the visuals at our various "Y2K"-themed parties.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/05/lunchtime-poll-2/feed/ 11 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/04/i-heard-they-burning-teslas-downtown/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/04/i-heard-they-burning-teslas-downtown/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2025 21:32:18 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykmK ]]> Spoek Mathambo:

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/04/i-heard-they-burning-teslas-downtown/feed/ 2 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/04/rip-dave-allen/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/04/rip-dave-allen/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2025 01:10:01 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykl2 Gang of Four and Shriekback. I met him once, about a decade ago. He endured my embarrassing fanboying with grace.

"According to Burnham, Allen passed away at home with his family after enduring the early-onset of mixed dementia for some years."

Guitarist Andy Gill died of COVID in 2020, so now they are Gang of Two.

There is not a lot of decent video of Allen's era of the band, but watch these. And if you are not already well familiar with their albums Entertainment! and Sold Gold, rectify that.

Then came Shriekback, where early videos are also thin on the ground. If you've heard of them at all, you probably think they only have the one song, Nemesis, and while that's fantastic, Allen co-wrote their first five albums, of which they have just released the eighteenth! (Which I guess isn't quite out yet? I got the fundraiser version.) Moving on:

Post Shriekback, he started his own label and was a member of and produced several of the bands. Low Pop Suicide was great, too:

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 251.

"Although not being something I'd want to replicate, it was actually an educational experience," Gibbs concluded. "I'm kind of proud of myself for being thrown out of America at the age of 67, now knowing that my relationship with that country is over for the foreseeable future."

Previously.]]> https://cdn.jwz.org/blog/2025/03/uk-subs-denied-entry-into-us/feed/ 21 https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/02/jwz-mixtape-250/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/02/jwz-mixtape-250/#comments Thu, 27 Feb 2025 01:29:45 +0000 https://jwz.org/b/ykik

Please enjoy jwz mixtape 250, the quarter-thousandth.