Martin Douglas
@douglasmartini.bsky.social
First paid subscriber-exclusive post on Trick Bag is up today! I wrote about Horsegirl's first two albums—as well as the nature of expectation and "hype" when it comes to precocious young bands.
trickbag.substack.com/p/how-horseg...
trickbag.substack.com/p/how-horseg...
How Horsegirl Traded Vibes for Growth
The NYC-via-Chicago trio's first two albums mark a huge shift in the young band's trajectory
trickbag.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:09 PM
First paid subscriber-exclusive post on Trick Bag is up today! I wrote about Horsegirl's first two albums—as well as the nature of expectation and "hype" when it comes to precocious young bands.
trickbag.substack.com/p/how-horseg...
trickbag.substack.com/p/how-horseg...
You might think it's a coincidence that the new Roc Marciano album leads off with a song called "Trick Bag." I call it cosmic intervention.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4Z...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4Z...
Roc Marciano - Trick Bag (Visualizer)
YouTube video by RocMarcianoVEVO
www.youtube.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:06 PM
You might think it's a coincidence that the new Roc Marciano album leads off with a song called "Trick Bag." I call it cosmic intervention.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4Z...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4Z...
Reposted by Martin Douglas
The Best Rock Records of 2025
Featuring Added Dimensions, Sharp Pins, Artificial Go, Eraser, Fugitive Bubble, Galore, good flying birds, Orcutt Shelley Miller, MARAUDER, Josie, and more.
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes returns.
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d... @douglasmartini.bsky.social
Featuring Added Dimensions, Sharp Pins, Artificial Go, Eraser, Fugitive Bubble, Galore, good flying birds, Orcutt Shelley Miller, MARAUDER, Josie, and more.
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes returns.
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d... @douglasmartini.bsky.social
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes: The Best Rock Records of 2025 | Passion of the Weiss
Serving up the greatest underground rock music of the year.
www.passionweiss.com
January 15, 2026 at 6:31 PM
The Best Rock Records of 2025
Featuring Added Dimensions, Sharp Pins, Artificial Go, Eraser, Fugitive Bubble, Galore, good flying birds, Orcutt Shelley Miller, MARAUDER, Josie, and more.
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes returns.
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d... @douglasmartini.bsky.social
Featuring Added Dimensions, Sharp Pins, Artificial Go, Eraser, Fugitive Bubble, Galore, good flying birds, Orcutt Shelley Miller, MARAUDER, Josie, and more.
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes returns.
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d... @douglasmartini.bsky.social
These 2016 memes are real wild. It is unsettling to know that at least a third of the professional/music scene peers and pals I have were teenagers 10 years ago haha.
January 16, 2026 at 1:36 AM
These 2016 memes are real wild. It is unsettling to know that at least a third of the professional/music scene peers and pals I have were teenagers 10 years ago haha.
DMDS Best of '25 is up. Had an awesome time making this (last?) year's list. The best guitar records to come out of the underground (unless they were written about elsewhere lol).
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d...
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d...
Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes: The Best Rock Records of 2025 | Passion of the Weiss
Serving up the greatest underground rock music of the year.
www.passionweiss.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:58 PM
DMDS Best of '25 is up. Had an awesome time making this (last?) year's list. The best guitar records to come out of the underground (unless they were written about elsewhere lol).
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d...
www.passionweiss.com/2026/01/14/d...
New year, new column, same me. "Songs the Lord Taught Us" is a way for me to scratch my itch to do more personal writing.
trickbag.substack.com/p/songs-the-...
trickbag.substack.com/p/songs-the-...
Songs the Lord Taught Us #1: Moments of 2025
Martin Douglas's personal essay series begins with new beginnings and tough endings
trickbag.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:38 PM
New year, new column, same me. "Songs the Lord Taught Us" is a way for me to scratch my itch to do more personal writing.
trickbag.substack.com/p/songs-the-...
trickbag.substack.com/p/songs-the-...
Seattle Times Critics Poll 2025 just dropped. Here's my ballot.
December 27, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Seattle Times Critics Poll 2025 just dropped. Here's my ballot.
A context-free quote from one of the works listed in this Best of '25 Mail Bag: "I'm in the coffin but I'm still coughin'."
open.substack.com/pub/trickbag...
open.substack.com/pub/trickbag...
The Trick Bag Mail Order #002: A Parting Shot for 2025
Martin Douglas bids good fucking riddance to 2025
open.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:03 AM
A context-free quote from one of the works listed in this Best of '25 Mail Bag: "I'm in the coffin but I'm still coughin'."
open.substack.com/pub/trickbag...
open.substack.com/pub/trickbag...
Here's a goodie that didn't make the Mail Bag: For my final KEXP interview, I had the unreal pleasure of getting to speak to Gina Birch—artist and founding member of the Raincoats(!!!).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkk...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkk...
The Raincoats’ Gina Birch on Career and Solo Album, Trouble
YouTube video by KEXP Podcasts
www.youtube.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Here's a goodie that didn't make the Mail Bag: For my final KEXP interview, I had the unreal pleasure of getting to speak to Gina Birch—artist and founding member of the Raincoats(!!!).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkk...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkk...
Hahaha I really enjoyed talking to @janehu.bsky.social and @samjleeds.bsky.social about local music and weed culture from the perspective of the most maligned generation.
On today's episode, @douglasmartini.bsky.social joins @samjleeds.bsky.social and @janehu.bsky.social to discuss the state of venues in Seattle, recommend our favorite local bands, and reminisce about 2000s millennial weed culture: megaphone.link/CC6012986380
Do Millennials Run Seattle? Plus, 2025’s Best Local Bands and Weed Reclassification by City Cast Seattle
megaphone.link
December 22, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Hahaha I really enjoyed talking to @janehu.bsky.social and @samjleeds.bsky.social about local music and weed culture from the perspective of the most maligned generation.
Reposted by Martin Douglas
This episode was such a blast to record. Shout out to @douglasmartini.bsky.social for sharing a wealth of great music. We created a companion playlist of all our favorite tracks from local bands. Give it a listen! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
December 22, 2025 at 10:11 PM
This episode was such a blast to record. Shout out to @douglasmartini.bsky.social for sharing a wealth of great music. We created a companion playlist of all our favorite tracks from local bands. Give it a listen! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Had a ball making this list for my friends at @mergerecords.bsky.social!
mergerecords.com/about/2025eoty
mergerecords.com/about/2025eoty
December 22, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Had a ball making this list for my friends at @mergerecords.bsky.social!
mergerecords.com/about/2025eoty
mergerecords.com/about/2025eoty
Contributed to @see-saw.fun's Best of 2025 physical newsletter! Find out what a group of heavy hitters in the punk and rock 'n roll scene thought were the year's greatest albums!
see-sawdotfun.bandcamp.com/merch/see-sa...
see-sawdotfun.bandcamp.com/merch/see-sa...
see/saw's top 54 punk & rock'n'roll records of 2025 from see/saw
see/saw's top 54 punk & rock'n'roll records of 2025 from see/saw
see-sawdotfun.bandcamp.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Contributed to @see-saw.fun's Best of 2025 physical newsletter! Find out what a group of heavy hitters in the punk and rock 'n roll scene thought were the year's greatest albums!
see-sawdotfun.bandcamp.com/merch/see-sa...
see-sawdotfun.bandcamp.com/merch/see-sa...
Reposted by Martin Douglas
FEAR & LOATHING IN CHARM CITY :: BEST OF 2025
Wrote about my five top albums of the year--the most necessary, the dimension of the present:
Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals
DJ Haram
Sunmundi x Sasco
billy woods
Gabe 'Nandez x Preservation
open.substack.com/pub/elmattic...
Wrote about my five top albums of the year--the most necessary, the dimension of the present:
Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals
DJ Haram
Sunmundi x Sasco
billy woods
Gabe 'Nandez x Preservation
open.substack.com/pub/elmattic...
Fear & Loathing in Charm City :: Best of 2025
Top 5 for the year: Ennals x Infinity Knives, DJ Haram, Sasco x Sunmundi, billy woods and Gabe 'Nandez x Preservation.
open.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
FEAR & LOATHING IN CHARM CITY :: BEST OF 2025
Wrote about my five top albums of the year--the most necessary, the dimension of the present:
Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals
DJ Haram
Sunmundi x Sasco
billy woods
Gabe 'Nandez x Preservation
open.substack.com/pub/elmattic...
Wrote about my five top albums of the year--the most necessary, the dimension of the present:
Infinity Knives x Brian Ennals
DJ Haram
Sunmundi x Sasco
billy woods
Gabe 'Nandez x Preservation
open.substack.com/pub/elmattic...
Play It Strange, a Substack newsletter about the heyday of the SF weirdo rock/punk/DIY scene (one of my current favorites), quoted me from an old article about seeing one of my favorite live bands in the world—Thee Oh Sees.
sanfranciscopsycherock.substack.com/p/16-thee-oh...
sanfranciscopsycherock.substack.com/p/16-thee-oh...
16. Thee Oh Sees’ In the Master’s Bedroom and the Live Experience: 2008
Putting on searing live shows that guarantees your own legend
sanfranciscopsycherock.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Play It Strange, a Substack newsletter about the heyday of the SF weirdo rock/punk/DIY scene (one of my current favorites), quoted me from an old article about seeing one of my favorite live bands in the world—Thee Oh Sees.
sanfranciscopsycherock.substack.com/p/16-thee-oh...
sanfranciscopsycherock.substack.com/p/16-thee-oh...
Throwaway Style: Thank You This Has Been a Very Fun Experience
www.kexp.org
December 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"If you need circumstances to be ideal to try, maybe you just suck." —Jon Moxley
December 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
"If you need circumstances to be ideal to try, maybe you just suck." —Jon Moxley
Reposted by Martin Douglas
The only groups who could touch the MGs were Funkadelic, The Meters, and The JBs. That’s the entire list. A transformative guitarist in a revolutionary group.
Steve Cropper, who co-wrote classics including "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" and "In the Midnight Hour" during his years playing guitar at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis, has died. He was 84. n.pr/48zf0gD
Steve Cropper, guitarist and member of Stax Records' Booker T and the M.G.'s, dies
Steve Cropper, who co-wrote classics including "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" and "In the Midnight Hour" during his years playing guitar at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis, has died. He was 84.
n.pr
December 4, 2025 at 4:18 AM
The only groups who could touch the MGs were Funkadelic, The Meters, and The JBs. That’s the entire list. A transformative guitarist in a revolutionary group.
For my friends at @bandcamp.com, I wrote about the best John Dwyer album of 2025.
daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2025...
daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2025...
The Best Albums of 2025: Day 1, A–L
Day one of our three-day look at the year’s best records.
daily.bandcamp.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
For my friends at @bandcamp.com, I wrote about the best John Dwyer album of 2025.
daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2025...
daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2025...
Reposted by Martin Douglas
Birthday Happiness to Jimi Hendrix, born November 27, 1942. Here he is onstage backing The Ronettes:
November 27, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Birthday Happiness to Jimi Hendrix, born November 27, 1942. Here he is onstage backing The Ronettes:
The best, most nuanced opinions I've read about this movie (that I really enjoyed). By far.
Finally. My big 2800 word essay about One Battle After Another and its black women characters is live. www.vulture.com/article/blac...
Black Actresses Are Carrying One Battle After Another
Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Regina Hall propel the film’s most conflicted ideas, for better and worse.
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:43 AM
The best, most nuanced opinions I've read about this movie (that I really enjoyed). By far.
Wrote about Etran de L'Air and whatever the opposite of ancestral weight is. (Ancestral levity? Ancestral lightness?)
trickbag.substack.com/p/from-the-a...
trickbag.substack.com/p/from-the-a...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: On Etran De L'Aïr and Lifted Ancestral Weight
An unreleased personal essay inspired by the guitar heroes of Niger
trickbag.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Wrote about Etran de L'Air and whatever the opposite of ancestral weight is. (Ancestral levity? Ancestral lightness?)
trickbag.substack.com/p/from-the-a...
trickbag.substack.com/p/from-the-a...
Turns out sunshine and Prozac really helps with depression! Who knew?
November 17, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Turns out sunshine and Prozac really helps with depression! Who knew?
Reposted by Martin Douglas
I'm seeing people wonder why ICE is going after Charlotte.
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
“When the 8 African American sheriffs took over the largest counties in North Carolina, it became a threat to the good ol’ boy system,” says the sheriff of Charlotte. These new sheriffs broke ties with ICE.
But GOP lawmakers cracked down this week, overbidding the governor’s veto to adopt this law:
But GOP lawmakers cracked down this week, overbidding the governor’s veto to adopt this law:
North Carolina GOP Is Cracking Down on the Black Sheriffs Who Stood Up to ICE
Boosted by new supermajorities, Republicans are closing in on legislation to mandate more collaboration with ICE and preempt local policies hard-won by immigrants’ rights advocates.
boltsmag.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I'm seeing people wonder why ICE is going after Charlotte.
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018.
We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:
If Aaron Judge winning American League MVP over Cal Raleigh isn't a clear indicator of sweeping market bias (not just in sports but everywhere), I don't know what is.
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 PM
If Aaron Judge winning American League MVP over Cal Raleigh isn't a clear indicator of sweeping market bias (not just in sports but everywhere), I don't know what is.