Angelica Frey
@angelicafrey.bsky.social
Writer for hire: design (digital+physical) visual culture, music, and fashion when needed.
www.angelicafrey.com
www.angelicafrey.com
I’ve been freelancing long enough to have cycled through multiple writers’ groups over the years.
I keep seeing freelance business coaches hijacking advice threads to pitch themselves whenever someone posts about a problem or asks for help. I am NOT anti-coaching. I used coaches myself.
I keep seeing freelance business coaches hijacking advice threads to pitch themselves whenever someone posts about a problem or asks for help. I am NOT anti-coaching. I used coaches myself.
December 22, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I’ve been freelancing long enough to have cycled through multiple writers’ groups over the years.
I keep seeing freelance business coaches hijacking advice threads to pitch themselves whenever someone posts about a problem or asks for help. I am NOT anti-coaching. I used coaches myself.
I keep seeing freelance business coaches hijacking advice threads to pitch themselves whenever someone posts about a problem or asks for help. I am NOT anti-coaching. I used coaches myself.
What I learned this year: constantly reacting to “the discourse” was hollowing out my writing. Stepping back from hot takes gave me space to think, notice, and actually enjoy my work again. In 2025 I opted out of the hot-take economy.
December 8, 2025 at 3:03 PM
What I learned this year: constantly reacting to “the discourse” was hollowing out my writing. Stepping back from hot takes gave me space to think, notice, and actually enjoy my work again. In 2025 I opted out of the hot-take economy.
All my big projects are wrapped, and while I hope some will trickle down before the end of the year, does it mean I have to resume posting to afford the DIGNITY OF WORK?
November 14, 2025 at 10:49 PM
All my big projects are wrapped, and while I hope some will trickle down before the end of the year, does it mean I have to resume posting to afford the DIGNITY OF WORK?
I’ve been swamped with my day-job assignments but I am eager to pitch some weird features for Q4 and revive Italian Disco Stories. tips?
September 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I’ve been swamped with my day-job assignments but I am eager to pitch some weird features for Q4 and revive Italian Disco Stories. tips?
Reposted by Angelica Frey
What does it mean for a character to evolve without losing what made them beloved? Proud to have shared my perspective on Mario in "It’s Nice That" for his 40-year anniversary!
Thanks to @angelicafrey.bsky.social for having me.
Read:
www.itsnicethat.com/features/nin...
Thanks to @angelicafrey.bsky.social for having me.
Read:
www.itsnicethat.com/features/nin...
“It’s-a-me!” Celebrating the craft-first approach of Mario, 40 years young
Over four decades, and with a plot that might, at first, ring simplistic and repetitive, Mario has endured. We dig into how Nintendo’s dedication to design and experience has kept the franchise fresh ...
www.itsnicethat.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:59 PM
What does it mean for a character to evolve without losing what made them beloved? Proud to have shared my perspective on Mario in "It’s Nice That" for his 40-year anniversary!
Thanks to @angelicafrey.bsky.social for having me.
Read:
www.itsnicethat.com/features/nin...
Thanks to @angelicafrey.bsky.social for having me.
Read:
www.itsnicethat.com/features/nin...
Reposted by Angelica Frey
"A witches’ sabbath."
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @angelicafrey.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @angelicafrey.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
The Literary Inspirations for Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique - JSTOR Daily
The creative works on which Hector Berlioz drew when writing his macabre and revolutionary symphony were fantastic indeed.
daily.jstor.org
April 28, 2025 at 2:29 PM
"A witches’ sabbath."
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @angelicafrey.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @angelicafrey.bsky.social!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
Given the news cycle, do what Hector Berlioz did and start imagining yourself as an artist indulging in an opium-fueled reverie, which culminates into his imagining his own death and being the centerpiece of a witches' sabbath! @jstordaily.bsky.social
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
The Literary Inspirations for Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique - JSTOR Daily
The creative works on which Hector Berlioz drew when writing his macabre and revolutionary symphony were fantastic indeed.
daily.jstor.org
April 9, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Given the news cycle, do what Hector Berlioz did and start imagining yourself as an artist indulging in an opium-fueled reverie, which culminates into his imagining his own death and being the centerpiece of a witches' sabbath! @jstordaily.bsky.social
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
daily.jstor.org/the-literary...
Reposted by Angelica Frey
Explore a Digitized Edition of the Voynich Manuscript, “the World’s Most Mysterious Book”
Explore a Digitized Edition of the Voynich Manuscript, “the World’s Most Mysterious Book”
A 600-year-old manuscript—written in a script no one has ever decoded, filled with cryptic illustrations, its origins remaining to this day a mystery…. It’s not as satisfying a plot, say, of a Nationa...
www.openculture.com
January 30, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Explore a Digitized Edition of the Voynich Manuscript, “the World’s Most Mysterious Book”
How do you write about things that touch on RW culture without making it seem like you're dogwhistling? I think one ought to document its main tenets, but based on what I read in the wild, people seem to get a kick out of it.
I've been there, trust me : www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
I've been there, trust me : www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
2024 was the year of the 'Chad'
From protein bar packing to jawline gum, alpha male aesthetics ruled 2024.
www.fastcompany.com
January 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
How do you write about things that touch on RW culture without making it seem like you're dogwhistling? I think one ought to document its main tenets, but based on what I read in the wild, people seem to get a kick out of it.
I've been there, trust me : www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
I've been there, trust me : www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
I co-write one of the best music newsletters which repeatedly gets endorsed....and copied).
Our latest instalment is on the 1986 Italo concept album "The Legend," a bizarre work mixing synths, 4/4 and Arthurian legends.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/valerie-do...
Our latest instalment is on the 1986 Italo concept album "The Legend," a bizarre work mixing synths, 4/4 and Arthurian legends.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/valerie-do...
Valerie Dore's "The Legend"
Valerie Dore’s 1986 album The Legend, which tackles the Matter of Britain, aka Camelot aka Arthurian legends with typical Italo arrangements and instrumentations.
www.italiandiscostories.com
January 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I co-write one of the best music newsletters which repeatedly gets endorsed....and copied).
Our latest instalment is on the 1986 Italo concept album "The Legend," a bizarre work mixing synths, 4/4 and Arthurian legends.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/valerie-do...
Our latest instalment is on the 1986 Italo concept album "The Legend," a bizarre work mixing synths, 4/4 and Arthurian legends.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/valerie-do...
Should I get into ACOTAR? Wrong Answers Only
January 29, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Should I get into ACOTAR? Wrong Answers Only
Who are you trying to mog/one-up when you say you want to "define taste"? There's dozens, no, thousands of these publications
January 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Who are you trying to mog/one-up when you say you want to "define taste"? There's dozens, no, thousands of these publications
I am on @jstordaily.bsky.social again with a sweet little featurette on why video games just love inserting operatic interludes here and there. It uses Tim Summers's "Opera Scenes in Video Games: Hitmen, Divas and Wagner’s Werewolves" as a basis.
daily.jstor.org/why-are-vide...
daily.jstor.org/why-are-vide...
Why Are Video Games So Fond of Opera? - JSTOR Daily
Video games have a long history of using musical excerpts from opera and classical music, but some creators take the in-game operatic sequence even further.
daily.jstor.org
January 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I am on @jstordaily.bsky.social again with a sweet little featurette on why video games just love inserting operatic interludes here and there. It uses Tim Summers's "Opera Scenes in Video Games: Hitmen, Divas and Wagner’s Werewolves" as a basis.
daily.jstor.org/why-are-vide...
daily.jstor.org/why-are-vide...
I can't believe David Lynch is dead! The way he used music in his movies is something nobody could ever achieve, let alone replicate.
Tangentially related, my profile of Rebekah del Rio for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/music/2022/j...
Tangentially related, my profile of Rebekah del Rio for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/music/2022/j...
‘My voice lends itself to sadness – I carry a lot of grief’: Rebekah Del Rio, David Lynch’s musical muse
Before she met Lynch, Del Rio’s only hit was in the Netherlands. But her sorrowful singing in Mulholland Drive changed everything. She talks about the death of her son, being homeless and overcoming l...
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I can't believe David Lynch is dead! The way he used music in his movies is something nobody could ever achieve, let alone replicate.
Tangentially related, my profile of Rebekah del Rio for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/music/2022/j...
Tangentially related, my profile of Rebekah del Rio for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/music/2022/j...
I'm on @jstordaily.bsky.social w/a feature on Henry Cowell.
"I had never deliberately concerned myself with developing a distinctive personal style but only with the excitement and pleasure of writing music as beautifully, as warmly, and as interestingly as I can."
daily.jstor.org/henry-cowell...
"I had never deliberately concerned myself with developing a distinctive personal style but only with the excitement and pleasure of writing music as beautifully, as warmly, and as interestingly as I can."
daily.jstor.org/henry-cowell...
Henry Cowell’s One True Desire - JSTOR Daily
To “live in the whole world of music” was all the influential, experimental composer wanted—and did, even while imprisoned at San Quentin.
daily.jstor.org
January 15, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I'm on @jstordaily.bsky.social w/a feature on Henry Cowell.
"I had never deliberately concerned myself with developing a distinctive personal style but only with the excitement and pleasure of writing music as beautifully, as warmly, and as interestingly as I can."
daily.jstor.org/henry-cowell...
"I had never deliberately concerned myself with developing a distinctive personal style but only with the excitement and pleasure of writing music as beautifully, as warmly, and as interestingly as I can."
daily.jstor.org/henry-cowell...
Reposted by Angelica Frey
Hand-Drawn Game Guides: Mega Man goes live in a few minutes. I really hope you like what we're doing here. I'm grateful to be able to give this another honest shot and see this project through. Thanks so much for the support. (KS link on the next post)
January 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Hand-Drawn Game Guides: Mega Man goes live in a few minutes. I really hope you like what we're doing here. I'm grateful to be able to give this another honest shot and see this project through. Thanks so much for the support. (KS link on the next post)
Also, if you're an editor and like this type of stories, which are, actually, about Europop and pop culture but not from the usual trite POV, please do reach out. I am always eager to write more!
When @mattleone.bsky.social announced @polygon.com was putting together a localization package, I jumped right in! I interviewed Giorgio Vanni and Max Longhi about the way they combined the four-to-the-floor beat (cassa in quattro in Italian) and anime whimsy.
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
The original Pokémon anime had unique theme songs in Italy — and they’re Eurodance bangers
How did Pikachu conquer the dance floor?
www.polygon.com
January 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Also, if you're an editor and like this type of stories, which are, actually, about Europop and pop culture but not from the usual trite POV, please do reach out. I am always eager to write more!
When @mattleone.bsky.social announced @polygon.com was putting together a localization package, I jumped right in! I interviewed Giorgio Vanni and Max Longhi about the way they combined the four-to-the-floor beat (cassa in quattro in Italian) and anime whimsy.
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
The original Pokémon anime had unique theme songs in Italy — and they’re Eurodance bangers
How did Pikachu conquer the dance floor?
www.polygon.com
January 14, 2025 at 7:03 PM
When @mattleone.bsky.social announced @polygon.com was putting together a localization package, I jumped right in! I interviewed Giorgio Vanni and Max Longhi about the way they combined the four-to-the-floor beat (cassa in quattro in Italian) and anime whimsy.
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
Reposted by Angelica Frey
Day two stories! www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
The original Pokémon anime had unique theme songs in Italy — and they’re Eurodance bangers
How did Pikachu conquer the dance floor?
www.polygon.com
January 14, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Day two stories! www.polygon.com/pokemon/4926...
Reposted by Angelica Frey
January 14, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Think the "Chad" meme is a relic of internet history? Think again.
Brands brought the Megachad to life in 2024—and Fast Company is here to tell you how and why
www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
Brands brought the Megachad to life in 2024—and Fast Company is here to tell you how and why
www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
2024 was the year of the 'Chad'
From protein bar packing to jawline gum, alpha male aesthetics ruled 2024.
www.fastcompany.com
December 23, 2024 at 4:54 PM
Think the "Chad" meme is a relic of internet history? Think again.
Brands brought the Megachad to life in 2024—and Fast Company is here to tell you how and why
www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
Brands brought the Megachad to life in 2024—and Fast Company is here to tell you how and why
www.fastcompany.com/91249481/202...
Christmas pop songs outside the Anglosphere? Yes please! Here are the ones we chose for The Guardian (alas the limit was 14 entries!)
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...
Move over, Mariah! The cheesiest, weepiest, silliest, booziest European Christmas bangers
Bye Bye Bing and Brenda! Bonjour Janek and Piramis! Here’s our guide to the foreign festive anthems that get the whole continent schmoozing under the mistletoe. Warning: this article contains accordio...
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2024 at 1:13 PM
Christmas pop songs outside the Anglosphere? Yes please! Here are the ones we chose for The Guardian (alas the limit was 14 entries!)
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...
Wicked; Megalopolis; Poor Things
WELCOME BACK STEAMPUNK <3
WELCOME BACK STEAMPUNK <3
November 25, 2024 at 7:42 PM
Wicked; Megalopolis; Poor Things
WELCOME BACK STEAMPUNK <3
WELCOME BACK STEAMPUNK <3
It's the Year of the Lord 1978, and anime series are being pitched to Italian network TV. How do you make them more palatable? Well, you write a bespoke opening theme because the original was, back then, deemed too "weird" for the Italian auditory palate.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/italian-an...
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/italian-an...
Italian Disco Anime: When Robots Danced to the 4/4 Beat
The early Italian localizations of anime themes were all about disco and cosmic sounds
www.italiandiscostories.com
November 19, 2024 at 8:25 PM
It's the Year of the Lord 1978, and anime series are being pitched to Italian network TV. How do you make them more palatable? Well, you write a bespoke opening theme because the original was, back then, deemed too "weird" for the Italian auditory palate.
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/italian-an...
www.italiandiscostories.com/p/italian-an...
Are you following my newsletter with Giuseppe "Disco Bambino" Savoni? We're the only editorial project on Italian and Italo Disco; 2,200 followers strong.
www.italiandiscostories.com
www.italiandiscostories.com
Italian Disco Stories | Disco Bambino & Angelica Frey | Substack
Italian Disco Stories spotlights the makers, the artists, and the performers who made Italian Disco a worldwide, genre-defining phenomenon. Click to read Italian Disco Stories, a Substack publication ...
www.italiandiscostories.com
November 19, 2024 at 8:24 PM
Are you following my newsletter with Giuseppe "Disco Bambino" Savoni? We're the only editorial project on Italian and Italo Disco; 2,200 followers strong.
www.italiandiscostories.com
www.italiandiscostories.com