Robert Christgau
@rxgau.bsky.social
Rock critic since 1967, ain't stopping now. Consumer Guide reborn at robertchristgau.substack.com.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Have felt, since I read this piece in its moment that Christgau shares below, that he was the critic who really understood Todd Snider. (Or maybe it was just that I felt the same ways... )
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Have felt, since I read this piece in its moment that Christgau shares below, that he was the critic who really understood Todd Snider. (Or maybe it was just that I felt the same ways... )
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A major writer of enduring consequence. I read last week that he was too sick to be on the road and too broke to be off it. Awful people indulge themselves in despicable rationalizations about life choices and lost highways, but it's murder most foul. I don't think I can take this business anymore.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:58 PM
A major writer of enduring consequence. I read last week that he was too sick to be on the road and too broke to be off it. Awful people indulge themselves in despicable rationalizations about life choices and lost highways, but it's murder most foul. I don't think I can take this business anymore.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Christgau captured the magic of Todd Snider well. RIP, Todd.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Christgau captured the magic of Todd Snider well. RIP, Todd.
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A great read on the late (I still can't believe it) Todd Snider.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
A great read on the late (I still can't believe it) Todd Snider.
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Robert Christgau: Preaching Agnosticism (with Laugh Lines)
www.robertchristgau.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I'm very sorry to report that the great alt-country singer-songwriter Todd Snider has died at 59 of undiagnosed walking pneumonia. I stick by what I wrote about him in 2012. www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bn/2012-0... Here's Rolling Stone's coverage. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: November, 2025
Shameless beauty track after track, an inspirational Afropop surprise, mood pieces suitable for the despondent historical moment, and a country album that fights the blues with more blues.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: November, 2025
Shameless beauty track after track, an inspirational Afropop surprise, mood pieces suitable for the despondent historical moment, and a country album that fights the blues with more blues.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The November Consumer Guide now up on my Substack addresses this despondent political moment directly only once but I may cheer you up in otherways robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
At Home With Peggy Seeger
From her first solo album in 1955 at 19 to her Last Farewell tour earlier this year at 90, Peggy Seeger has sung with effervescence, power, and a feminist edge.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Good piece, part 1 about politics books I've not read and part 2 about music films I have.
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Good piece, part 1 about politics books I've not read and part 2 about music films I have.
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Tom Smucker – First of the Month
www.firstofthemonth.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Union man Tom Smucker, my friend for 57 years and upstairs neighbor for pushing 50, read a lot of books about the 2024 election and then wrote 4000 words about them. A politically savvy overview you shouldn't skip. And he melded some music in there too. www.firstofthemonth.org/author/tom-s...
Paging through the Times as I downed some coffee, I glanced casually at Penelope Green's obit of Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva, who just died at 100. Couldn't stop reading. Researched mostly in secondary sources, it proved an absolutely devastating reflection on the perversions of fame.
Maria Riva, Dietrich Daughter Who Demystified the Legend, Dies at 100
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Paging through the Times as I downed some coffee, I glanced casually at Penelope Green's obit of Marlene Dietrich's daughter Maria Riva, who just died at 100. Couldn't stop reading. Researched mostly in secondary sources, it proved an absolutely devastating reflection on the perversions of fame.
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
At Home With Peggy Seeger
From her first solo album in 1955 at 19 to her Last Farewell tour earlier this year at 90, Peggy Seeger has sung with effervescence, power, and a feminist edge.
robertchristgau.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:15 PM
A well-timed way for someone of my religious beliefs to celebrate Mahmdani Day was provided by my sister Georgia, who devoted a UK sojourn to a portrait of Pete Seeger's younger sister Peggy in a nation where socialism is at least respectable. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/at-home-wi...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
A Compelling Document of Sheer Goodness
'Famous Last Words: Dr.Jane Goodall' (2025)
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
Even scarier (I hope) than Trump's third-term dreams, ProPublica (via TPM) outlines how the North Carolina Supreme Court has been rejiggered to turn it sharply right, with special attention to those uppity nonwhite voters. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biblica...
‘Biblical Justice’: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
This post first appeared at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Even scarier (I hope) than Trump's third-term dreams, ProPublica (via TPM) outlines how the North Carolina Supreme Court has been rejiggered to turn it sharply right, with special attention to those uppity nonwhite voters. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/biblica...
I'm not webwise enough to follow or fully comprehend the ins and outs of online election trolling. But this Marcy Wheeler piece on rightwing information distortion posted by Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo is recommended to those capable of fully grasping it talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/witho...
Without Online Trolls, There Would Be No Donald Trump
On July 8, something happened to Donald Trump that I’ve not seen...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I'm not webwise enough to follow or fully comprehend the ins and outs of online election trolling. But this Marcy Wheeler piece on rightwing information distortion posted by Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo is recommended to those capable of fully grasping it talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/witho...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
🚨Officer Michael Fanone keeping it short and sweet. ✊🏼
October 16, 2025 at 6:59 PM
🚨Officer Michael Fanone keeping it short and sweet. ✊🏼
I watch Lawrence O'Donnell a lot, but his first 20 minutes tonight was breathtaking: an out-and-out attack not just on Trump but on the media he manipulates INCLUDING NOT JUST CNN BUT MSNBC ITSELF. Carola's under the weather and I'm a tech doofus. But if anybody's taped it let me know.
October 28, 2025 at 2:31 AM
I watch Lawrence O'Donnell a lot, but his first 20 minutes tonight was breathtaking: an out-and-out attack not just on Trump but on the media he manipulates INCLUDING NOT JUST CNN BUT MSNBC ITSELF. Carola's under the weather and I'm a tech doofus. But if anybody's taped it let me know.
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
A Compelling Document of Sheer Goodness
'Famous Last Words: Dr.Jane Goodall' (2025)
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Having chosen to watch a documentary to help my wife and I go to sleep a week or so ago, I ended up so moved and impressed that I felt compelled to spread the news about the late anthropologist Jane Goodall's "famous last words."
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/a-compelli...
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo asked his readers to send him No Kings Day photos. Lighten your spirits for a few minutes by checking them out. However temporarily, we do still have a sense of humor. talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/phot...
Photos: ‘No Kings’ Anti-Trump Protests See Massive Turnout Across the Country
An estimated 7 million people turned out Saturday at more than 2,700...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo asked his readers to send him No Kings Day photos. Lighten your spirits for a few minutes by checking them out. However temporarily, we do still have a sense of humor. talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/phot...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
Sixty years of great music, the statistically decisive rise of the CD, francais vs. anglais, grading A-to-E, Gratitude, and Geese inspire me to fill out the October 2025 edition of Xgau Sez in my Substack whosawhatsis And It Don't Stop
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
Xgau Sez: October, 2025
Let us praise first-rate collections of first-rate songs but let us skip the twenty-four albums awarded some variation of the E grade. Also: albums vs. songs, Mary J. Blige, Geese, and chansons.
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Sixty years of great music, the statistically decisive rise of the CD, francais vs. anglais, grading A-to-E, Gratitude, and Geese inspire me to fill out the October 2025 edition of Xgau Sez in my Substack whosawhatsis And It Don't Stop
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
Sixty years of great music, the statistically decisive rise of the CD, francais vs. anglais, grading A-to-E, Gratitude, and Geese inspire me to fill out the October 2025 edition of Xgau Sez in my Substack whosawhatsis And It Don't Stop
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
Xgau Sez: October, 2025
Let us praise first-rate collections of first-rate songs but let us skip the twenty-four albums awarded some variation of the E grade. Also: albums vs. songs, Mary J. Blige, Geese, and chansons.
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Sixty years of great music, the statistically decisive rise of the CD, francais vs. anglais, grading A-to-E, Gratitude, and Geese inspire me to fill out the October 2025 edition of Xgau Sez in my Substack whosawhatsis And It Don't Stop
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
robertchristgau.substack.com/p/xgau-sez-o...
Reposted by Robert Christgau
The October Consumer Guide is more about love than about the onslaught of fascism, which I wish I could tell you bodes well for a loving future. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: October, 2025
Nearly half an hour of covers that qualify as beautiful, a remarkably warm and rich love album, facing down this grim moment with perky bad-assness, and amorous vulnerability intensified by a croak.
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The October Consumer Guide is more about love than about the onslaught of fascism, which I wish I could tell you bodes well for a loving future. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
The October Consumer Guide is more about love than about the onslaught of fascism, which I wish I could tell you bodes well for a loving future. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
Consumer Guide: October, 2025
Nearly half an hour of covers that qualify as beautiful, a remarkably warm and rich love album, facing down this grim moment with perky bad-assness, and amorous vulnerability intensified by a croak.
robertchristgau.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The October Consumer Guide is more about love than about the onslaught of fascism, which I wish I could tell you bodes well for a loving future. robertchristgau.substack.com/p/consumer-g...
September 26, 2025 at 5:34 PM