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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 37m

All of the above, I'd imagine.

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 38m

I assembled some thoughts + playlists re: new music you should hear — but given the nature of pop music discourse, probably haven't. BTW, Yasmine Hamdan has made one of the most beautiful and potent albums of the year.

Singing the unspoken

New music (& film) from Lebanon and beyond, with playlists. Yasmine Hamdan. Sanam. Snakeskin. DJ Haram. Guedra Guedra. Mulatu Astatke.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Will Hermes

UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 2d

From alum Will Hermes, author of Lou Reed: The King of New York!

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 14d

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

Writing a Life Story - Five Things I've Learned

Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history. When I was wri...

myfivethings.com

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Reposted by Will Hermes

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 14d

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

Writing a Life Story - Five Things I've Learned

Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history. When I was wri...

myfivethings.com

3 3

Reposted by Will Hermes

Tricia Romano @tromano.bsky.social · 3d

SUPER excited to do an event upstate NY at The Golden Notebook @thegoldennotebooks.bsky.social with my friend and esteemed author of the Lou Reed biography, @willhermes.bsky.social for the Paperback release!!! Please come!! Tell your friends!!

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 2d

Can’t wait to get into with you, Tricia. Such an outstanding book — congratulations!

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 5d

A lot of new music for your weekend. Norah Jones w/ El Michels Affair. A shoegaze Coldplay cover. Meklit. Jay Som. Wednesday. Cécile McLorin Salvant. Nick Drake en Français.

60+ songs for October

A 4-hour new music playlist. Freak Slug. Norah Jones w/ El Michels Affair. Banks. Wednesday. Meklit. Cécile McLorin Salvant. A sweet shoegaze Coldplay cover.

open.substack.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 13d

I’m still wrapping my head around the new Geese album, and still loving the new Juana Molina single. Some new music to fuel your weekend.

Weekend links: Geese, Juana Molina...

Joan Shelley, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and other notable jams.

open.substack.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · 14d

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

Writing a Life Story - Five Things I've Learned

Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history. When I was wri...

myfivethings.com

3 3

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Sep 2

Nice one, Bill, thx for the shout! Haynes’ love letter to ‘60s NYC art film as much as to the Velvets, really, & he leaned hard in to the aesthetics. Kinda brilliant.

https://thanks.it’s

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 24

Lucky man! Raw power x2.

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 24

Lots to read, listen to, and scream at the heavens about in my latest Substack. Remember to just breathe.

Musician op-eds. AI country. Rocky Horror. Patti Smith. Maxwell's. Belle & Sebastian. Bagpipes.

Documentaries on "The Rocky Horror Show" and the Hoboken indie-rock mecca Maxwell's. Patti Smith's "Horses" turns 50. New music from Scotland and Ireland. Dirty AI country. Musician op-eds.

open.substack.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 21

I was proud of this one. #Afrobeats #Juju

Pitchfork @pitchfork.com · Aug 6

Revisit our Sunday Review of a Perfect 10 international breakthrough

King Sunny Adé: Juju Music

Read Will Hermes’ review of the album.

pitchfork.com

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Reposted by Will Hermes

Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · Aug 16

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing space with so many lovely humans at Reykjavik Pride. It was affirming to be in a place where basically the entire city turned up to celebrate queer joy. Let’s keep creating more spaces like this where LGBTQ+ people can flourish with love instead of hostility.

Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · Aug 9

So basically all of Iceland turned up for Pride in Reykjavik.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇮🇸

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Reposted by Will Hermes

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 8

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

NYC summer, 50 years ago

Summer '75. Discos. Quaaludes. The "CBGB Rock Festival." Bob Marley at Central Park. Springsteen's "Born to Run." Joe Bataan's "Afrofilipino." Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians."

open.substack.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 8

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

NYC summer, 50 years ago

Summer '75. Discos. Quaaludes. The "CBGB Rock Festival." Bob Marley at Central Park. Springsteen's "Born to Run." Joe Bataan's "Afrofilipino." Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians."

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Will Hermes

jeff @jazyjef.bsky.social · Aug 1

A century of Brazilian music: 100 fundamental songs, by O Globo

Top 5:

1. Asa Branca – Luiz Gonzaga e Humberto Teixeira

2. Carinhoso – Pixinguinha e João de Barro

3. Águas de Março – Tom Jobim

4. Construção – Chico Buarque

5. O Mundo é um Moinho – Cartola

paraibaon.com.br/2025/08/01/u...

Um século de música brasileira: as 100 canções fundamentais segundo O Globo

Na esteira das comemorações pelos seus 100 anos, o jornal O Globo reuniu especialistas, músicos, pesquisadores e jornalistas para uma

paraibaon.com.br

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Aug 1

A new music streaming playlist, w/ notes. Sweet escapism, but not entirely. New songs, but not entirely (ie, those deep cuts from s4 of The Bear)

100 new songs: an August mixtape

Legit rock'n'roll. Wistful club jams. Singer-songwriters who really write. Deep cuts reborn on "The Bear."

open.substack.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 27

thanks Rod!

Reposted by Will Hermes

Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 23

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

Nick Drake, Long a Folk Mystery, Is (Partly) Revealed

www.nytimes.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 23

Yes, yes, yes & yes.

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 23

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

Nick Drake, Long a Folk Mystery, Is (Partly) Revealed

www.nytimes.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 23

Fair… I’m thinking “Meeting Across the River,” the Gaslight audition, the early Max’s Kansas City & Bottom Line gigs, the Lou Reed and Patti Smith collabs — arguably aspirational too, but very baked into his early persona.

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 22

RIP the Prince of Darkness. Glad he got his last licks in earlier this month.

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and icon of British heavy metal, dies aged 76

The singer, who later became famous on reality TV show The Osbournes, dies less than three weeks after retirement concert

www.theguardian.com

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Will Hermes @willhermes.bsky.social · Jul 21

lol the internet never forgets. I stand by it, exceptions notwithstanding — an aesthetic worldview w/ some NYC vs. LI class resentment baked in. (Bruce was more NYC even being from NJ)

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