Dada Strain
banner
dadastrain.bsky.social
Dada Strain
@dadastrain.bsky.social
Rhythm Improvisation Community (#BklynSounds)
Founded by Piotr Orlov in 2021 to build new institutions from 2020 visions,

https://dadastrain.substack.com/
Pinned
Turn the Volume UP!!!!
Reposted by Dada Strain
The vast majority of what’s happening is communal self-defense. It’s not an about agitating or escalating. The whistles, the honking, the yelling — these are efforts by people to warn and protect their neighbors. 2/3
January 18, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
You know, many of us said the post 9/11 War on Terror measures were Orwellian bullshit at the time, from DHS to ICE. The Patriot Act was chilling as well.

Some of us objected vociferously. Perhaps we didn't have the mics or the power, but we remember 2001-2005 as a terrible time in this country.
January 18, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
Snow is falling in Manhattan
In a slow diagonal fashion
On the Sabbath, as it happens
Snow is falling in Manhattan
If it looks like it might be a bad one
The good caretaker springs to action
Salts the stoop and scoops the cat in
Tests an icy patch for traction
January 17, 2026 at 8:28 AM
New Bklyn Sounds + Details on Peter Shapiro's Homegoing
Bklyn Sounds 1/15/2025—1/20/2025
This week's events include Ryan Sawyer Shaker Ensemble / Takuya Nakamura Cosmic Jungle / Adelyn Strei / "Love From the Sun" / New Ear Festival / Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore / and much more
dadastrain.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Bklyn Live Music PSA! Dada Strain returns to our favorite NYC arts loft, Light & Sound Design Studios in Greenpoint, for another 'Dada Strain @ L&SD,' on Saturday, January 24th at 7p.
Dada Strain @ L&SD, Saturday, January 24th: Bex Burch & Che Chen + Shara Lunon + siiiso
INVITE: The rhythm-improvisation-community bi-monthly returns to the private Greenpoint loft with another triple-bill of deep listening and body movement music
dadastrain.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Bklyn Sounds 1/8/2026—1/13/2026 | Dada Strain Guide to the WJF Marathons (and Talks)
Bklyn Sounds 1/8/2026—1/13/2026 | Dada Strain Guide to the WJF Marathons (and Talks)
This week's events include Winter Jazzfest / Kris Davis' Pyroclastic Records Festival / 35.5 Years of Giant Step / Duane Harriott / Tomeka Reid Quartet + Hemphill Stringtet / and more
open.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:37 AM
NYC LIVE PSA! Presenting the third annual Dada Strain @ WJF show, starring friends, homeys and beloved colleagues, Sat 1/10. Details + discount code at the link. dadastrain.substack.com/p/dada-strai...
Dada Strain at Winter Jazzfest, Saturday, January 10th @ Union Pool, Williamsburg
INVITE: Live sets by Joy Guidry, Xenia Rubinos, Bex Burch & Friends, and Amirtha Kidambi's Elder Ones + DJing all night long by DJ Monk-One
dadastrain.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
It's never too late to start wearing a mask.

It's never too late to stop using Chat GPT.

It's never too late to start supporting your community.

It's never too late to do better.
January 6, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Friday Morning Radio PSA! Happy New Year! I am back on @thelotradio.com tomorrow with Dada Strain's annual NYC Winter Jazzfest episode of the radio program, featuring special guest Amirtha Kidambi of Elder Ones, playing the Dada Strain NYCWJF show at Union Pool, Sat 1/10/26.
www.thelotradio.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:51 AM
AMAZING! Kudos to Toby Morton for this incredible bit...
www.trumpkennedycenter.org
HOME | Trump Kennedy Center
www.trumpkennedycenter.org
December 31, 2025 at 3:11 AM
New Bklyn Sounds 12/26/2025—12/30/2025 + 12/31/2025—1/6/2026 // No paywall this week + public service announcements for community assistance.
dadastrain.substack.com/p/bklyn-soun...
Bklyn Sounds 12/26/2025—12/30/2025 + Bklyn Sounds 12/31/2025—1/6/2026
Two weeks of events include Theo Parrish / DCB Day: A Celebration of David Berman's Music / Innov Gnawa / Ali's + Miss Alicia's Birthday Jammy Jam / "What to do on New Year's Eve" / much more
dadastrain.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Dada Strain
So many folks who’ve shaped music died this year. This is a great comprehensive retrospective that’s also missing Chicago music folks such as Ron Carrol and Keith Nunnally from J.M. Silk. I wrote a few obits of more marginal local musical figures I’ll thread below.
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 26d
D'Angelo. Brian Wilson. Sly Stone. We lost these greats and so many more in 2025 — singers, producers, conductors and writers whose departures gave us a pang of loss, but whose art still lifts us up. n.pr/3YIJurW
In Memoriam 2025: The Musicians We Lost
D'Angelo. Brian Wilson. Sly Stone. We lost these greats and so many more in 2025 — singers, producers, conductors and writers whose departures gave us a pang of loss, but whose art still lifts us up.
n.pr
December 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
First Light starts now on East Village Radio. Tune in for two hours of bliss :)

I'll be threading some thoughts here.

If you don't care to follow just tap the three dots and "Mute thread"

eastvillageradio.com/first-light-...
East Village Radio (EVR)
East Village Radio (EVR) Internet radio station
eastvillageradio.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
saw plenty of fun shows at music hall, & it was a fine venue, but more fondly recalling it as north six before it was gutted & turned into a bowery semi-clone that felt like a generic template for a chain (especially in contrast to the other venues in the neighborhood at the time it opened).
December 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Having worked with Chris Anderson a bit at Victory Journal, he is a Real One! Proud to know him for that exchange alone!
The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story.

Holy. Shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...
December 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
New Dada Merch| A limited-edition t-shirt for the holidays, inspired by NYC's Mayor-elect, with proceeds going to local food-accessibility, trans culture and youth musicking organizations. Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones, whichever/however you celebrate.
"TURN THE VOLUME UP!" Tees
MERCH: A limited-edition Dada Strain shirt for the holidays, inspired by NYC's Mayor-elect, with proceeds going to local food-accessibility, trans culture and youth musicking organizations
dadastrain.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
My favorite tyrant joke: a man comes every day and peers at the front page of the newspaper without buying it.

The newspaper vendor says, "what are you looking for?"
"An obituary."
"Obituaries aren't on the front page."
"This one will be."
December 16, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Today in alternative timelines: say what you want of Al Gore (and feel free to sh*t on the heinous running mate), but he recognized climate change as a priority three decades ago...
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 12, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Dada Strain
there is a certain condescension in the idea that “racism should be publicly unacceptable and come with consequences” is an attack on the “working class.”
December 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
New Bklyn Sounds 12/11/2025—12/16/2025 + 'Heavy Florals presents Dada Strain Holiday Mixer & Coat Drive'
dadastrain.substack.com/p/bklyn-soun...
Bklyn Sounds 12/11/2025—12/16/2025 + 'Heavy Florals pres. Dada Strain Holiday Mixer & Coat Drive'
This week's events include Laura Cocks/Rafiq Bhatia/Shara Lunon/Tim Angulo Quartet + Nappy Nina / SML / Together Again: musclecars-Toribio-Love Injection / 'Unsilent Night' / 'Soul Connection' / more
dadastrain.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:11 PM
New Dada Read | Ed Gillett's "Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain' (2023) - The best book I’ve read about dancing, the importance of dance music, its values and its social history since Emma Warren’s essential 'Dance Your Way Home.' Heavy #RootsOfDadaStrain energy. [h/t Eddi]
December 10, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Dada Strain
I had the good fortune of being in the room for this conversation between the brilliant Hanif Abdurraqib and my equally brilliant colleague Prof Matthew D. Morrison.

Could not recommend it more highly. Just a stunning conversation. Watch it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7L...
Hanif Abdurraqib at Stanford | On Art, Survival, and the Heart’s Work
YouTube video by Stanford Arts
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Brittany is a an excellent music writer and reporter. May be too "pop" for many DS subs, but if you're gonna read an informed writer/listener on pop, make it her.
i'm available for freelance work, bio writing, consulting, anything! for now going to start writing a newsletter over on substack

best way to support me right now is to subscribe!

brittanyspanos.substack.com
BRIT POP | brittany spanos | Substack
a music & pop culture newsletter by brittany spanos. Click to read BRIT POP, by brittany spanos, a Substack publication. Launched 3 years ago.
brittanyspanos.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Music + advocacy go hand in hand"
Yesterday, I held a music festival in my district to register voters and speak directly to young people who don’t usually attend political events. 4,500 tickets. Music + advocacy go hand in hand. Madsoul Festival 2025 was a success.
December 8, 2025 at 2:25 AM