Burning Ambulance (website/newsletter/record label)
@burningambulance.bsky.social
All posts by Phil Freeman, co-founder/co-owner (and author of IN THE BREWING LUMINOUS: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CECIL TAYLOR). When in doubt, assume I'm kidding. I'll have forgotten whatever we were arguing about by tomorrow.
Those are Iggy's real teeth in this video, not a horror movie prop. (They have since been replaced, but holy hell.)
this one goes out to Bovino youtu.be/dnI6A_YUoDc?...
Iggy Pop - Five Foot One (Official Video)
YouTube video by IggyPopOnVEVO
youtu.be
January 27, 2026 at 4:11 AM
Those are Iggy's real teeth in this video, not a horror movie prop. (They have since been replaced, but holy hell.)
Lotta musicians slipping out the side door today; I'm seeing reports that saxophonist Carlos Ward (BT Express, also played with Cecil Taylor) and pianist Richie Beirach have both passed.
January 26, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Lotta musicians slipping out the side door today; I'm seeing reports that saxophonist Carlos Ward (BT Express, also played with Cecil Taylor) and pianist Richie Beirach have both passed.
The first four Fabulous Thunderbirds albums (newly reissued) are all good to great blues records, but their covers are across-the-board horrific.
1) Local wrestling poster!
2) Imitation B-52's!
3) Holding cell group portrait!
4) Last known photo before the horrific car accident!
1) Local wrestling poster!
2) Imitation B-52's!
3) Holding cell group portrait!
4) Last known photo before the horrific car accident!
January 26, 2026 at 11:00 PM
The first four Fabulous Thunderbirds albums (newly reissued) are all good to great blues records, but their covers are across-the-board horrific.
1) Local wrestling poster!
2) Imitation B-52's!
3) Holding cell group portrait!
4) Last known photo before the horrific car accident!
1) Local wrestling poster!
2) Imitation B-52's!
3) Holding cell group portrait!
4) Last known photo before the horrific car accident!
A great interview with Sly Dunbar:
online.berklee.edu/takenote/sly...
online.berklee.edu/takenote/sly...
Sly and Robbie Drummer Sly Dunbar on Revolutionizing Reggae Drums
Sly Dunbar has likely drummed on a million songs. It all began shortly after he teamed up with Robbie Shakespeare as the rhythm section for Peter Tosh.
online.berklee.edu
January 26, 2026 at 8:31 PM
A great interview with Sly Dunbar:
online.berklee.edu/takenote/sly...
online.berklee.edu/takenote/sly...
This is a great interview with director Jesse V. Johnson, and now I want to see this movie.
oldnew.substack.com/p/thieves-hi...
oldnew.substack.com/p/thieves-hi...
Thieves Highway: An Interview with Director Jesse V. Johnson
Talking to the king of DTV action movies
oldnew.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 8:00 PM
This is a great interview with director Jesse V. Johnson, and now I want to see this movie.
oldnew.substack.com/p/thieves-hi...
oldnew.substack.com/p/thieves-hi...
I reviewed a 2021 Sly & Robbie album, Red Hills Road, that's well worth hearing; that piece mentions Nordub and 500-PUSH-UP, their collaborations with Nils Petter Molvaer and Vladislav Delay, which are also great.
burningambulance.com/2021/01/19/s...
burningambulance.com/2021/01/19/s...
Sly & Robbie
Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare are one of the most prolific and widely recorded rhythm sections in music history. For over 40 years, they’ve been heard on records by virtua…
burningambulance.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:12 PM
I reviewed a 2021 Sly & Robbie album, Red Hills Road, that's well worth hearing; that piece mentions Nordub and 500-PUSH-UP, their collaborations with Nils Petter Molvaer and Vladislav Delay, which are also great.
burningambulance.com/2021/01/19/s...
burningambulance.com/2021/01/19/s...
Given how thoroughly they were shut out of classic rock consideration for decades, it's bitterly funny to see an obituary for Billy "Bass" Nelson of Funkadelic on Ultimate Classic Rock:
ultimateclassicrock.com/billy-bass-p...
ultimateclassicrock.com/billy-bass-p...
Founding Parliament-Funkadelic Bassist Billy Bass Dead at 74
In addition to performing on the group's first three groundbreaking albums, he reportedly gave Funkadelic its name.
ultimateclassicrock.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Given how thoroughly they were shut out of classic rock consideration for decades, it's bitterly funny to see an obituary for Billy "Bass" Nelson of Funkadelic on Ultimate Classic Rock:
ultimateclassicrock.com/billy-bass-p...
ultimateclassicrock.com/billy-bass-p...
It Happened To Me (not with Bad Bunny, though)
you watch a couple bad bunny videos and suddenly youtube starts showing you bank commercials en espanol
January 26, 2026 at 3:28 PM
It Happened To Me (not with Bad Bunny, though)
Tonight's episode of INDUSTRY had at least three gasp-out-loud moments. This show is disgusting, and the best thing on TV.
January 26, 2026 at 3:40 AM
Tonight's episode of INDUSTRY had at least three gasp-out-loud moments. This show is disgusting, and the best thing on TV.
I wanted to have 5000 subscribers to the BA newsletter before I brought it back on February 3 and we just got there. You should subscribe too!
burningambulance.substack.com
burningambulance.substack.com
Burning Ambulance | Substack
Essays and interviews, mostly about music. Also a record label. Click to read Burning Ambulance, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
burningambulance.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 10:11 PM
I wanted to have 5000 subscribers to the BA newsletter before I brought it back on February 3 and we just got there. You should subscribe too!
burningambulance.substack.com
burningambulance.substack.com
I find it weird that Atlantic Records has done so little to exploit Charles Lloyd's 1960s catalog. He made 8 albums for them between 1966 and 1971, one of which went platinum. Where's the box set? Deluxe reissues? Any acknowledgement at all?
January 25, 2026 at 8:57 PM
I find it weird that Atlantic Records has done so little to exploit Charles Lloyd's 1960s catalog. He made 8 albums for them between 1966 and 1971, one of which went platinum. Where's the box set? Deluxe reissues? Any acknowledgement at all?
Sunday morning music.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoyp...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoyp...
Blood Gonna Run
YouTube video by Linval Thompson - Topic
www.youtube.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Sunday morning music.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoyp...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoyp...
Anybody who goes after Ted Gioia, an absolute pudding-brain with a dispiritingly large audience, has my attention. This conversation did that, AND made me want to hit the nearest bookstore ASAP.
thebooktender.substack.com/p/the-day-pu...
thebooktender.substack.com/p/the-day-pu...
If Publishing Lost Its Soul, This Isn't Why
A claim in search of evidence. We fixed it for you.
thebooktender.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Anybody who goes after Ted Gioia, an absolute pudding-brain with a dispiritingly large audience, has my attention. This conversation did that, AND made me want to hit the nearest bookstore ASAP.
thebooktender.substack.com/p/the-day-pu...
thebooktender.substack.com/p/the-day-pu...
Tonight's movie: Baby Face, a blackly hilarious 1933 "romance" starring Barbara Stanwyck as a Nietzsche-reading grifter (no, really) who sleeps her way to the top of a bank, only to give it all up for love in a thoroughly unconvincing ending. It's on HBO Max.
January 25, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Tonight's movie: Baby Face, a blackly hilarious 1933 "romance" starring Barbara Stanwyck as a Nietzsche-reading grifter (no, really) who sleeps her way to the top of a bank, only to give it all up for love in a thoroughly unconvincing ending. It's on HBO Max.
Saw this two-year-old video for the first time today; hadn't heard from Ivy Queen in years. iLe - Algo Bonito (feat. Ivy Queen).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglg...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglg...
iLe, Ivy Queen - ALGO BONITO (Official Video)
YouTube video by ileVEVO
www.youtube.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Saw this two-year-old video for the first time today; hadn't heard from Ivy Queen in years. iLe - Algo Bonito (feat. Ivy Queen).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglg...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cglg...
Reposted by Burning Ambulance (website/newsletter/record label)
Only 9 subscribers away from 5000! Sign up today - our 5000th subscriber will get a prize!
burningambulance.substack.com
burningambulance.substack.com
Burning Ambulance | Substack
Essays and interviews, mostly about music. Also a record label. Click to read Burning Ambulance, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
burningambulance.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Only 9 subscribers away from 5000! Sign up today - our 5000th subscriber will get a prize!
burningambulance.substack.com
burningambulance.substack.com
HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET is on Tubi.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
January 24, 2026 at 2:13 AM
HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET is on Tubi.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Today in commercially disappointing biopic news: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE is now on Hulu and THE SMASHING MACHINE is now on HBO Max.
January 23, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Today in commercially disappointing biopic news: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE is now on Hulu and THE SMASHING MACHINE is now on HBO Max.
Reposted by Burning Ambulance (website/newsletter/record label)
Got a PR email today that used (coined?) the term "bootgaze" and I am unsure whether to laugh or vomit.
January 23, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Got a PR email today that used (coined?) the term "bootgaze" and I am unsure whether to laugh or vomit.
The news of Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz's death has me revisiting their catalog, and the seven studio albums (and two live albums) they released between 1975 and 1985 are *incredibly* strong, some of the best hard rock/metal of that era. A genuinely great band, too overlooked these days.
January 23, 2026 at 6:57 PM
The news of Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz's death has me revisiting their catalog, and the seven studio albums (and two live albums) they released between 1975 and 1985 are *incredibly* strong, some of the best hard rock/metal of that era. A genuinely great band, too overlooked these days.
Reposted by Burning Ambulance (website/newsletter/record label)
“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” — Carl Jung
January 23, 2026 at 5:26 PM
“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” — Carl Jung
Remember how in the 90s you'd order CDs from Japan that you couldn't get anywhere else, and they would take like a month to arrive? Yeah, it's still like that. Just got confirmation that an order I placed on January 4 has shipped.
January 23, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Remember how in the 90s you'd order CDs from Japan that you couldn't get anywhere else, and they would take like a month to arrive? Yeah, it's still like that. Just got confirmation that an order I placed on January 4 has shipped.
Cecil Taylor's final live performance, at the Whitney Museum on April 23, 2016, is being released on CD by Fundacja Sluchaj. I was there, and wrote one of the two liner-note essays.
sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/words-...
sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/words-...
January 23, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Cecil Taylor's final live performance, at the Whitney Museum on April 23, 2016, is being released on CD by Fundacja Sluchaj. I was there, and wrote one of the two liner-note essays.
sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/words-...
sluchaj.bandcamp.com/album/words-...