Alex Reed
@salexanderreed.bsky.social
author of Assimilate + books on TMBG + Laurie Anderson
professor @ Ithaca College / NYU / U. Florida / William & Mary
singer of the band Seeming
ex-ThouShaltNot
aesthete and ethicist of the gothic
makes awful jokes
https://linktr.ee/salexanderreed
professor @ Ithaca College / NYU / U. Florida / William & Mary
singer of the band Seeming
ex-ThouShaltNot
aesthete and ethicist of the gothic
makes awful jokes
https://linktr.ee/salexanderreed
What are your favorite experimental-format music reviews?
I'm trying to show students a wide range of ways to write about music. (I've already got the 0.0 Jet one, thx.)
I'm trying to show students a wide range of ways to write about music. (I've already got the 0.0 Jet one, thx.)
November 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
What are your favorite experimental-format music reviews?
I'm trying to show students a wide range of ways to write about music. (I've already got the 0.0 Jet one, thx.)
I'm trying to show students a wide range of ways to write about music. (I've already got the 0.0 Jet one, thx.)
Reposted by Alex Reed
A Failure of Imagination — the new single
• bandcamp = seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
• streaming = open.spotify.com/track/0j7GpZ...
• youtube = www.youtube.com/watch?v=5COf...
• bandcamp = seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
• streaming = open.spotify.com/track/0j7GpZ...
• youtube = www.youtube.com/watch?v=5COf...
November 14, 2025 at 5:19 AM
A Failure of Imagination — the new single
• bandcamp = seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
• streaming = open.spotify.com/track/0j7GpZ...
• youtube = www.youtube.com/watch?v=5COf...
• bandcamp = seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
• streaming = open.spotify.com/track/0j7GpZ...
• youtube = www.youtube.com/watch?v=5COf...
Reposted by Alex Reed
I don’t know enough about musicology to know why Assassin’s Lovesong immediately evoked such an ageless “end of an Irish wake” feeling for me, but I’m currently sending it to every fiddle player I know.
(“Assassin’s Lovesong” is, by tying anti-state action with earnest love, the underbelly to the statist faux-affection in “I Love You Citizen.”)
October 31, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I don’t know enough about musicology to know why Assassin’s Lovesong immediately evoked such an ageless “end of an Irish wake” feeling for me, but I’m currently sending it to every fiddle player I know.
(“Assassin’s Lovesong” is, by tying anti-state action with earnest love, the underbelly to the statist faux-affection in “I Love You Citizen.”)
October 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
(“Assassin’s Lovesong” is, by tying anti-state action with earnest love, the underbelly to the statist faux-affection in “I Love You Citizen.”)
Video premiere in 8 minutes at www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Rq...
Seeming: Assassin's Lovesong
YouTube video by Seeming
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Video premiere in 8 minutes at www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Rq...
"I have done what must be done."
Seeming: Assassin's Lovesong
a new single
open.spotify.com/track/21Du6p...
Seeming: Assassin's Lovesong
a new single
open.spotify.com/track/21Du6p...
Assassin's Lovesong
open.spotify.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:05 AM
"I have done what must be done."
Seeming: Assassin's Lovesong
a new single
open.spotify.com/track/21Du6p...
Seeming: Assassin's Lovesong
a new single
open.spotify.com/track/21Du6p...
I’ll be playing a very short and very weird noise set tomorrow in Rochester at the (free!) Avant-Garde-a-Clue fest (75 Stutson).
7:15, but sure to get there in time to catch the legendary If Bwana (Al Margolis) at 6:30.
7:15, but sure to get there in time to catch the legendary If Bwana (Al Margolis) at 6:30.
October 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I’ll be playing a very short and very weird noise set tomorrow in Rochester at the (free!) Avant-Garde-a-Clue fest (75 Stutson).
7:15, but sure to get there in time to catch the legendary If Bwana (Al Margolis) at 6:30.
7:15, but sure to get there in time to catch the legendary If Bwana (Al Margolis) at 6:30.
Go cause good trouble. Stay safe.
October 18, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Go cause good trouble. Stay safe.
I made a little toy for exploring and mixing mathematically possible backbeat rhythms!
In a 2-beat 16th-note grid with kick/snare/hat, there are 1,458 combinations. And in combination, there are 2,125,764 ways to fill in a 4/4. Enjoy playing ALL of them here:
salexanderreed.com/backbeats
In a 2-beat 16th-note grid with kick/snare/hat, there are 1,458 combinations. And in combination, there are 2,125,764 ways to fill in a 4/4. Enjoy playing ALL of them here:
salexanderreed.com/backbeats
Backbeats — 1458 Possible Rhythms — ⠀
salexanderreed.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I made a little toy for exploring and mixing mathematically possible backbeat rhythms!
In a 2-beat 16th-note grid with kick/snare/hat, there are 1,458 combinations. And in combination, there are 2,125,764 ways to fill in a 4/4. Enjoy playing ALL of them here:
salexanderreed.com/backbeats
In a 2-beat 16th-note grid with kick/snare/hat, there are 1,458 combinations. And in combination, there are 2,125,764 ways to fill in a 4/4. Enjoy playing ALL of them here:
salexanderreed.com/backbeats
Reposted by Alex Reed
THE WORLD
album cover by Dragan Bibin
out Dec. 5 on Artoffact Records
pre-order it NOW at Bandcamp
Teaser single "Zebra Tramples Horse Trainer" is out TONIGHT.
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
album cover by Dragan Bibin
out Dec. 5 on Artoffact Records
pre-order it NOW at Bandcamp
Teaser single "Zebra Tramples Horse Trainer" is out TONIGHT.
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
October 3, 2025 at 4:01 AM
THE WORLD
album cover by Dragan Bibin
out Dec. 5 on Artoffact Records
pre-order it NOW at Bandcamp
Teaser single "Zebra Tramples Horse Trainer" is out TONIGHT.
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
album cover by Dragan Bibin
out Dec. 5 on Artoffact Records
pre-order it NOW at Bandcamp
Teaser single "Zebra Tramples Horse Trainer" is out TONIGHT.
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/the-wo...
Reposted by Alex Reed
“Fascism” isn’t a slur for politics we don’t like. It’s a precise word with precise meaning. And in the face of what’s happening right now in America, it’s the most honest one we have.
I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵
I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵
September 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
“Fascism” isn’t a slur for politics we don’t like. It’s a precise word with precise meaning. And in the face of what’s happening right now in America, it’s the most honest one we have.
I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵
I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can. 🧵
Reposted by Alex Reed
I hear the President has decreed that it is possibly a crime to refer to Americans as "fascists," but "fascism" is a word that has a relatively clear meaning that's worth understanding. Here's how an official publication of the US Army defined "fascism" in 1945.
The central point is that when fascism came to America it wouldn't call itself that, nor would it be wearing a swastika. It would call itself "patriotic" and "100% American."
September 26, 2025 at 3:53 AM
I hear the President has decreed that it is possibly a crime to refer to Americans as "fascists," but "fascism" is a word that has a relatively clear meaning that's worth understanding. Here's how an official publication of the US Army defined "fascism" in 1945.
Reposted by Alex Reed
According to data from Ice, we passed a significant milestone. Immigrants with no criminal record now make up the largest group arrested and booked into detention by Ice.
Immigrants with no criminal record now largest group in Ice detention
Government data shows 16,523 people with no record, versus 15,725 with a record and 13,767 with pending charges
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:05 PM
According to data from Ice, we passed a significant milestone. Immigrants with no criminal record now make up the largest group arrested and booked into detention by Ice.
Tonight at 9 in #Ithaca I’m playing Naked Noise 12 (which involves—to be clear—no nakedness). I’ll be one of 18 musicians performing a two-hour improvisation. Psychedelic, immersive, ritualistic.
September 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Tonight at 9 in #Ithaca I’m playing Naked Noise 12 (which involves—to be clear—no nakedness). I’ll be one of 18 musicians performing a two-hour improvisation. Psychedelic, immersive, ritualistic.
With Robert Redford having passed, I beg you all to watch Sneakers (1992), one of the most prescient movies in recent decades, and certainly the best hacker film ever made.
Also it's very funny.
Also it's very funny.
September 16, 2025 at 12:42 PM
With Robert Redford having passed, I beg you all to watch Sneakers (1992), one of the most prescient movies in recent decades, and certainly the best hacker film ever made.
Also it's very funny.
Also it's very funny.
Reposted by Alex Reed
These are right-wing terror events I covered just from 2017 to 2023. It's not even close to comprehensive. The government's trying to erase this history.
September 15, 2025 at 8:15 PM
These are right-wing terror events I covered just from 2017 to 2023. It's not even close to comprehensive. The government's trying to erase this history.
Don't let anyone relitigate the possibility of a better world. It is not up for debate. Don't let them drag your technicolor heart into their monochrome hell of greed and resentment.
September 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Don't let anyone relitigate the possibility of a better world. It is not up for debate. Don't let them drag your technicolor heart into their monochrome hell of greed and resentment.
Reposted by Alex Reed
BREAKING: By an apparent 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court halts an injunction that had prevented immigration agents from racially profiling Latinos in central California.
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the decision is "unconscionably irreconcilable with our nation's constitutional guarantees."
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the decision is "unconscionably irreconcilable with our nation's constitutional guarantees."
September 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
BREAKING: By an apparent 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court halts an injunction that had prevented immigration agents from racially profiling Latinos in central California.
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the decision is "unconscionably irreconcilable with our nation's constitutional guarantees."
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the decision is "unconscionably irreconcilable with our nation's constitutional guarantees."
Reposted by Alex Reed
my band's new single
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
Tomorrow Place, by Seeming
3 track album
seeming.bandcamp.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
my band's new single
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
my band's new single
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
Tomorrow Place, by Seeming
3 track album
seeming.bandcamp.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
my band's new single
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
heavy sad synthpop
b-side is a banger in Spanish
seeming.bandcamp.com/album/tomorr...
Reposted by Alex Reed
There is no route out of fascism that involves sacrificing the vulnerable. All that does is tell the fascists that we're willing to turn on each other for the illusion of safety.
A lot of political influencers within the Atlantic/NYT orbit are very, very eager to sell us on the lie that we can get out of fascism by sacrificing trans people.
They will beat that drum even louder as the right weaponizes this tragedy.
They are liars now & they will be liars in the coming days.
They will beat that drum even louder as the right weaponizes this tragedy.
They are liars now & they will be liars in the coming days.
August 28, 2025 at 8:54 PM
There is no route out of fascism that involves sacrificing the vulnerable. All that does is tell the fascists that we're willing to turn on each other for the illusion of safety.
Since @seantcollins.com was asking about ridiculous things we've dreamt, here's a greeting card I was handed a few years ago in a dream.
August 27, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Since @seantcollins.com was asking about ridiculous things we've dreamt, here's a greeting card I was handed a few years ago in a dream.
Reposted by Alex Reed
Opinion | Fiscal challenges are real. but the attack on the humanities comes down to something much deeper. chroni.cl/3JD7MiG
They’re Killing the Humanities On Purpose
The crisis is not one of resources but of values.
chroni.cl
August 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Opinion | Fiscal challenges are real. but the attack on the humanities comes down to something much deeper. chroni.cl/3JD7MiG
RIP Tom Lehrer, one of the absolute greats, and the only songwriter of note ever to put his catalogue willfully into the public domain.
This was my first favorite of his:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytG...
This was my first favorite of his:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytG...
Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango
YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel
www.youtube.com
July 27, 2025 at 6:07 PM
RIP Tom Lehrer, one of the absolute greats, and the only songwriter of note ever to put his catalogue willfully into the public domain.
This was my first favorite of his:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytG...
This was my first favorite of his:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytG...
Reposted by Alex Reed
Marcel Proust whips out a Black & Decker drill and lobotomizes you on the dancefloor. This is Requiem Mash II, a stew of late twentieth-century subculture and tomfoolery. I made it for you. 124 songs in under 38 minutes.
Featuring "Scatman Will Tear Us Apart."
alexreed.bandcamp.com/album/requie...
Featuring "Scatman Will Tear Us Apart."
alexreed.bandcamp.com/album/requie...
Requiem Mash II, by DJ Doktorvox
1 track album
alexreed.bandcamp.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Marcel Proust whips out a Black & Decker drill and lobotomizes you on the dancefloor. This is Requiem Mash II, a stew of late twentieth-century subculture and tomfoolery. I made it for you. 124 songs in under 38 minutes.
Featuring "Scatman Will Tear Us Apart."
alexreed.bandcamp.com/album/requie...
Featuring "Scatman Will Tear Us Apart."
alexreed.bandcamp.com/album/requie...