Evan Rytlewski
@evanryt.bsky.social
Writer. Contributor: Pitchfork. Alum: Radio Milwaukee, WMSE, Shepherd Express. Bylines: NPR, The AV Club, Washington Post, Spin, Stereogum, Paste.
Pretty close to my feelings on this band/album. I really believe Pinegrove was set to be a generational band.
Did my best to explain why Pinegrove meant so much to me back then and everything that happened to complicate those feelings
Pinegrove's 'Cardinal' Turns 10
Pinegrove felt like the future — like my future, like our future. It wasn’t on the scale of the current Geese-mania, but a decade ago, a palpable excitement was building behind the Montclair, NJ group...
stereogum.com
February 12, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Pretty close to my feelings on this band/album. I really believe Pinegrove was set to be a generational band.
So far it feels like what I'd classify as an annoying winter. Too many nuisance snows, too many cold days. But not the same as the punishing snowfall totals and brutal sustained bitterness we used to experience regularly like a decade+ ago
This is a index that highlights us being at the bare minimum of what's deemed a SEVERE winter for MKE.
It's tough to quantify, but it uses snowfall days, depth, days of bitter cold and compounds it to an index.
You can see a classic La Nina winter pattern when you look at the nation. #wiwx
It's tough to quantify, but it uses snowfall days, depth, days of bitter cold and compounds it to an index.
You can see a classic La Nina winter pattern when you look at the nation. #wiwx
February 12, 2026 at 4:42 PM
So far it feels like what I'd classify as an annoying winter. Too many nuisance snows, too many cold days. But not the same as the punishing snowfall totals and brutal sustained bitterness we used to experience regularly like a decade+ ago
[I like it but] It reminds me of when Sun Kil Moon dropped Benji and everybody was like "this is new and exciting!" and then he dropped another one and we were like "oh... how much of this did we sign up for?" youtu.be/941PIQ3yr8M?...
Kim Gordon - "DIRTY TECH" (Official Video)
YouTube video by Kim Gordon
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 2:33 PM
[I like it but] It reminds me of when Sun Kil Moon dropped Benji and everybody was like "this is new and exciting!" and then he dropped another one and we were like "oh... how much of this did we sign up for?" youtu.be/941PIQ3yr8M?...
Super Bowl Halftime shows since 2000 ranked
February 11, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Super Bowl Halftime shows since 2000 ranked
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
hotels should pay a j dilla tax. for all that derivative lobby music. the tax revenue buys an mpc for every kid who wants one
February 9, 2026 at 2:47 PM
hotels should pay a j dilla tax. for all that derivative lobby music. the tax revenue buys an mpc for every kid who wants one
Genuinely curious how conservatives are going to square what their podcasters warned them to expect from Bad Bunny with the extremely wholesome, genial, patriotic joy fest they just witnessed.
February 9, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Genuinely curious how conservatives are going to square what their podcasters warned them to expect from Bad Bunny with the extremely wholesome, genial, patriotic joy fest they just witnessed.
Probably the most technically impressive staging ever for a half time show?
February 9, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Probably the most technically impressive staging ever for a half time show?
A reminder thar you can mute the commercials and watch this 414 Video Spotlight playlist instead www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
414 Video Spotlight - YouTube
www.youtube.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:45 PM
A reminder thar you can mute the commercials and watch this 414 Video Spotlight playlist instead www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
The best
February 8, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The best
For me a lot of Xaviersobased songs open on a note of “hmmm, I don’t know about that,” then morph and Trojan Horse their way into “oh fuck yeah” territory, often just within a minute or so. And hearing him pull that off 9, 10, 11 times in a row is a special kind of delirium
February 8, 2026 at 7:43 PM
For me a lot of Xaviersobased songs open on a note of “hmmm, I don’t know about that,” then morph and Trojan Horse their way into “oh fuck yeah” territory, often just within a minute or so. And hearing him pull that off 9, 10, 11 times in a row is a special kind of delirium
Harder to think of many bands that have grinded harder for their first BNM. You really love to see it.
February 6, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Harder to think of many bands that have grinded harder for their first BNM. You really love to see it.
My mentions today (I’m here for it though)
February 6, 2026 at 1:16 AM
My mentions today (I’m here for it though)
A lovely defense of Green
it's the only one that doesn't for me! the storytelling is in such a beautiful place on that record, and it bridges the often opaque earlier records with the literalism of the later ones (before it got opaque again). lots of all-timers across the early records obvs, but they wear me out
February 6, 2026 at 1:11 AM
A lovely defense of Green
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
i'm not sure how much of this is just nostalgia or what have you, but i truly feel that kids today are missing out by not getting to have this kind of experience
(the same way that i am missing out on some ineffably wonderful things they experience, i am sure)
(the same way that i am missing out on some ineffably wonderful things they experience, i am sure)
I think about this all the time. All the weird albums I bonded with deeply because it was the one that was on sale or cheap in a used bin or the only one Best Buy had.
People forget that if you were broke pre-streaming you had to pick and choose. So many bands that didn’t get much airplay that you wanted to hear, sometimes you just picked randomly and it was a weaker album.
February 6, 2026 at 1:01 AM
i'm not sure how much of this is just nostalgia or what have you, but i truly feel that kids today are missing out by not getting to have this kind of experience
(the same way that i am missing out on some ineffably wonderful things they experience, i am sure)
(the same way that i am missing out on some ineffably wonderful things they experience, i am sure)
I think about this all the time. All the weird albums I bonded with deeply because it was the one that was on sale or cheap in a used bin or the only one Best Buy had.
People forget that if you were broke pre-streaming you had to pick and choose. So many bands that didn’t get much airplay that you wanted to hear, sometimes you just picked randomly and it was a weaker album.
February 6, 2026 at 12:59 AM
I think about this all the time. All the weird albums I bonded with deeply because it was the one that was on sale or cheap in a used bin or the only one Best Buy had.
For those wondering why Combat Rock was Cobain's favorite Clash album (which I was), Azerrad is spitting gold over on the other site.
February 5, 2026 at 11:21 PM
For those wondering why Combat Rock was Cobain's favorite Clash album (which I was), Azerrad is spitting gold over on the other site.
Azerrad weighed in on this!
February 5, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Azerrad weighed in on this!
In his journals, Kurt Cobain listed his 50 favorite albums. His taste? Immaculate. But there's one glaringly odd pick.
The lone Nirvana album is... Green? R.E.M.'s very uneven 1988 LP, objectively the most disappointing record they'd put out to date. Why?
I have three theories
The lone Nirvana album is... Green? R.E.M.'s very uneven 1988 LP, objectively the most disappointing record they'd put out to date. Why?
I have three theories
February 5, 2026 at 3:12 PM
In his journals, Kurt Cobain listed his 50 favorite albums. His taste? Immaculate. But there's one glaringly odd pick.
The lone Nirvana album is... Green? R.E.M.'s very uneven 1988 LP, objectively the most disappointing record they'd put out to date. Why?
I have three theories
The lone Nirvana album is... Green? R.E.M.'s very uneven 1988 LP, objectively the most disappointing record they'd put out to date. Why?
I have three theories
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
Graceless pivot to survival: I’m launching
THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE
A music newsletter of reccos, rants, illumination, shade, endangered forms (concert/album reviews, human interviews), formless dangers (trash talk, love lore, bespoke illos) — an expansion of my work as your critic + co-listener
THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE
A music newsletter of reccos, rants, illumination, shade, endangered forms (concert/album reviews, human interviews), formless dangers (trash talk, love lore, bespoke illos) — an expansion of my work as your critic + co-listener
February 4, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Graceless pivot to survival: I’m launching
THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE
A music newsletter of reccos, rants, illumination, shade, endangered forms (concert/album reviews, human interviews), formless dangers (trash talk, love lore, bespoke illos) — an expansion of my work as your critic + co-listener
THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE
A music newsletter of reccos, rants, illumination, shade, endangered forms (concert/album reviews, human interviews), formless dangers (trash talk, love lore, bespoke illos) — an expansion of my work as your critic + co-listener
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
I’ve been laid off by The Washington Post
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
February 4, 2026 at 6:39 PM
I’ve been laid off by The Washington Post
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
this is the reason i left too. maybe a few hundred people would pay for a newsletter about niche music, but that’s an enormous amount of work for not enough money to pay my bills. kudos to those who do it regardless but personally i could not
sooo many people told me to start a newsletter after my last staff journo job but it is not that easy and wouldn't pay my rent! i *loved* writing about television/culture but the only way to consistently pay my rent was to take a job in a different industry.
February 4, 2026 at 3:12 PM
this is the reason i left too. maybe a few hundred people would pay for a newsletter about niche music, but that’s an enormous amount of work for not enough money to pay my bills. kudos to those who do it regardless but personally i could not
A little late in the album cycle for a video but still an absolutely massive track youtu.be/heXjjQLnKuc?...
Great Grandpa - Doom (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by GreatGrandpaVEVO
youtu.be
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 PM
A little late in the album cycle for a video but still an absolutely massive track youtu.be/heXjjQLnKuc?...
let's gooooo www.thefader.com/2026/02/03/x...
Cover Story: xaviersobased
In a new FADER cover story and rare interview, xaviersobased talks his new album 'Xavier,' popularizing jerk rap, his music becoming a meme, and more.
www.thefader.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:31 PM
let's gooooo www.thefader.com/2026/02/03/x...
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
Xaviersobased - Big Ben (ft Zaytoven)
January 31, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Xaviersobased - Big Ben (ft Zaytoven)
Reposted by Evan Rytlewski
Come for my Grammy snark, stay for the love I bestow upon the Valencia-via-Montreal bedroom pop artist Rat Penat, sister folk duo Sibyl and Polish composer Szymon Wójcik.
I'm on All Songs Considered today with my pal @robinpr.bsky.social @npr.org
www.npr.org/2026/02/03/n...
I'm on All Songs Considered today with my pal @robinpr.bsky.social @npr.org
www.npr.org/2026/02/03/n...
Beck, Asher White, Friko and more of the week’s best new songs : All Songs Considered
The Beck rarity “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” has officially hit streaming services and we can’t get enough of it. We’ve also got new (not-yet-announced) projects from Friko and Asher White, a wi...
www.npr.org
February 3, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Come for my Grammy snark, stay for the love I bestow upon the Valencia-via-Montreal bedroom pop artist Rat Penat, sister folk duo Sibyl and Polish composer Szymon Wójcik.
I'm on All Songs Considered today with my pal @robinpr.bsky.social @npr.org
www.npr.org/2026/02/03/n...
I'm on All Songs Considered today with my pal @robinpr.bsky.social @npr.org
www.npr.org/2026/02/03/n...