Ethan Hein
@ethanhein.bsky.social
I teach music and write about it http://www.ethanhein.com/
Pinned
Uncharted Territory, The Number Ones, 500 Songs, and a different 500 songs
How should we tell the story of pop music?
ethanhein.substack.com
I compare four efforts to systematically study Anglo-American pop: Uncharted Territory by Chris Dalla Riva, The Number Ones by Tom Breihan, A History of Rock in 500 Songs by @andrewhickey.500songs.com, and a corpus analysis of rock by a bunch of musicologists ethanhein.substack.com/p/uncharted-...
Reposted by Ethan Hein
republicans believe poor people deserve to suffer because they're lazy and weak, whereas the democrats have a much lengthier explanation
November 15, 2025 at 10:34 AM
republicans believe poor people deserve to suffer because they're lazy and weak, whereas the democrats have a much lengthier explanation
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Is it ‘My wife and I’ or ‘Me and my wife’? Anyway, we just robbed a liquor store
November 15, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Is it ‘My wife and I’ or ‘Me and my wife’? Anyway, we just robbed a liquor store
Reposted by Ethan Hein
I think medieval beekeeper outfits could be the strongest look in the entire history of fashion.
November 15, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I think medieval beekeeper outfits could be the strongest look in the entire history of fashion.
If you gave me a billion guesses who Charli XCX was going to work with next I wouldn't have guessed John Cale, and you know what, it's delightful
November 15, 2025 at 10:01 PM
If you gave me a billion guesses who Charli XCX was going to work with next I wouldn't have guessed John Cale, and you know what, it's delightful
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Some of y'all won't even wear masks during a literal pandemic, or cough into your elbow, or even wash yo damn hands after you pee; how you gonna distribute food & medicine & help mitigate virulent illness in a hermetically sealed containment space? How you gonna help fix a busted low-gravity toilet?
Thinking on social science, humanities, & space: Reading Babylon's Ashes (expanse book 6) and y'know it is truly wild of some people to think they'd survive in a space exploration situation when they won't even do the bare minimum to protect themselves & others here on earth. Just… astounding stuff…
You know how in SFF shows about The Future™ they always have shit like 10 year olds doing linear algebra or whatever? I want to see that but for them reading advanced social science and humanities texts.
August 20, 2024 at 2:28 AM
Some of y'all won't even wear masks during a literal pandemic, or cough into your elbow, or even wash yo damn hands after you pee; how you gonna distribute food & medicine & help mitigate virulent illness in a hermetically sealed containment space? How you gonna help fix a busted low-gravity toilet?
I am getting to hear some Prokofiev (both Sergei and Gabriel) and some orchestra-enhanced free improv by SlowMob. Not a dull evening.
My new friend @oscar-rodrigues.bsky.social took me on a tour of Porto's wildly futuristic Casa de Música and if you are in Porto, you definitely want to go check it out. I mean, go to a concert or a workshop but also just enjoy the building
November 15, 2025 at 7:32 PM
I am getting to hear some Prokofiev (both Sergei and Gabriel) and some orchestra-enhanced free improv by SlowMob. Not a dull evening.
The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas which makes sense because it's a kool haas
My new friend @oscar-rodrigues.bsky.social took me on a tour of Porto's wildly futuristic Casa de Música and if you are in Porto, you definitely want to go check it out. I mean, go to a concert or a workshop but also just enjoy the building
November 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas which makes sense because it's a kool haas
My new friend @oscar-rodrigues.bsky.social took me on a tour of Porto's wildly futuristic Casa de Música and if you are in Porto, you definitely want to go check it out. I mean, go to a concert or a workshop but also just enjoy the building
November 15, 2025 at 6:24 PM
My new friend @oscar-rodrigues.bsky.social took me on a tour of Porto's wildly futuristic Casa de Música and if you are in Porto, you definitely want to go check it out. I mean, go to a concert or a workshop but also just enjoy the building
Reposted by Ethan Hein
An issue I have with well-intentioned classical music folks trying to bring pop examples into pedagogy: choosing the corniest and most boring pop songs as examples.
November 15, 2025 at 12:42 PM
An issue I have with well-intentioned classical music folks trying to bring pop examples into pedagogy: choosing the corniest and most boring pop songs as examples.
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Climate not-fun fact: the line from current level emissions to a reasonable chance of 1.5C is basically perpendicular to x axis. In other words, it means impossibility
November 15, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Climate not-fun fact: the line from current level emissions to a reasonable chance of 1.5C is basically perpendicular to x axis. In other words, it means impossibility
It would be good if this was true because every European I'm meeting says that their country has their own Trump and they are very stressed about it
November 15, 2025 at 11:20 AM
It would be good if this was true because every European I'm meeting says that their country has their own Trump and they are very stressed about it
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Predictable but still amazing to watch people who spent literally years accusing every librarian, teacher, and trans person they could find of sexually grooming children suddenly throw themselves in with "actually it's ephebophilia"
Megyn Kelly: "I know somebody very close to this case…Jeffrey Epstein, in this person's view, was not a pedophile…He was into the barely legal type, like he liked 15 year old girls…He wasn't into like 8 year olds…There's a difference between a 15 year old and a 5 year old."
November 13, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Predictable but still amazing to watch people who spent literally years accusing every librarian, teacher, and trans person they could find of sexually grooming children suddenly throw themselves in with "actually it's ephebophilia"
I haven't spent this much time around European classical musicians and educators. They are different from their American counterparts! They don't radiate anxiety! They dress stylishly and have this general air of self-assurance.
November 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I haven't spent this much time around European classical musicians and educators. They are different from their American counterparts! They don't radiate anxiety! They dress stylishly and have this general air of self-assurance.
It has been fun hanging out with a bunch of classical musicologists and conservatory teachers. At dinner I ventured a comment about being just intonation pilled and everybody else was like, oh hell yeah, equal temperament is some bull
November 15, 2025 at 10:41 AM
It has been fun hanging out with a bunch of classical musicologists and conservatory teachers. At dinner I ventured a comment about being just intonation pilled and everybody else was like, oh hell yeah, equal temperament is some bull
Oh no a guy at this talk has more of a comment than a question
November 15, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Oh no a guy at this talk has more of a comment than a question
Listening to a talk about film scores with a lot of Hans Zimmer examples, and that guy is fascinatingly boring. Like, everything sounds good, and nothing sticks with me for more than ten seconds after it's over. He's like an LLM trained on the classical canon.
November 15, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Listening to a talk about film scores with a lot of Hans Zimmer examples, and that guy is fascinatingly boring. Like, everything sounds good, and nothing sticks with me for more than ten seconds after it's over. He's like an LLM trained on the classical canon.
Has Mavis Staples ever recorded with pedal steel before? Because it sounds incredible mavisstaples.bandcamp.com/track/sad-an...
Sad And Beautiful World, by Mavis Staples
from the album Sad And Beautiful World
mavisstaples.bandcamp.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Has Mavis Staples ever recorded with pedal steel before? Because it sounds incredible mavisstaples.bandcamp.com/track/sad-an...
It's been said many times but I'll say it again: Europeans recognize Zohran for what he is, a normie center-leftist
Everybody is horrified about the US government, of course, though everybody has their own resurgent right wing white supremacist party to deal with. On other other hand, many people here know about Zohran and are excited about him.
November 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
It's been said many times but I'll say it again: Europeans recognize Zohran for what he is, a normie center-leftist
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Absolutely bizarre that these people willingly chose to pass up the pleasures of being rich in Kokomo, Indiana
No one leaving New York City because of Mamdani, say two top real estate CEOs
No one leaving New York City because of Mamdani, say two top real estate CEOs
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's democratic socialist views spark fears companies and capital will flee, but top real estate CEOs say it's not true.
cnb.cx
November 14, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Absolutely bizarre that these people willingly chose to pass up the pleasures of being rich in Kokomo, Indiana
So I am having an interesting week because I'm attending Autumn School at The Escola Superior de Educação in Porto, Portugal. It's somewhere between a seminar and a conference for music educators (and music ed students.) I am the only American here, and the only pop music guy.
November 14, 2025 at 4:08 PM
So I am having an interesting week because I'm attending Autumn School at The Escola Superior de Educação in Porto, Portugal. It's somewhere between a seminar and a conference for music educators (and music ed students.) I am the only American here, and the only pop music guy.
One of my hosts here in Portugal emigrated here from Ireland, and Portuguese spoken with an Irish accent is a whole vibe
November 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
One of my hosts here in Portugal emigrated here from Ireland, and Portuguese spoken with an Irish accent is a whole vibe
Reposted by Ethan Hein
Almost like economists have been saying that you need a functional state with limited number of chaotic events to have a functioning business economy, and that the tumult doesn't make the tax breaks worth it.
Fun thing: if you hate the Trump tariffs, you're going to hate climate change even more.
Fun thing: if you hate the Trump tariffs, you're going to hate climate change even more.
YELLEN: “.. businesses feel paralyzed by the uncertainty about policies that represent the strong but really personal whims of a single individual.”
@bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
@bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Almost like economists have been saying that you need a functional state with limited number of chaotic events to have a functioning business economy, and that the tumult doesn't make the tax breaks worth it.
Fun thing: if you hate the Trump tariffs, you're going to hate climate change even more.
Fun thing: if you hate the Trump tariffs, you're going to hate climate change even more.
Enjoying my typical Portuguese lunch of codfish, pickles, strong espresso and a cigarette
November 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Enjoying my typical Portuguese lunch of codfish, pickles, strong espresso and a cigarette
They can put Bill Clinton under the jail for all I care
"What if one of YOUR favorite politicians/celebrities/etc is on the list?" Did you all not notice how quickly we dropped Neil Gaiman when we found out about the things he did? Do you know how beloved that guy used to be and how loathed he is now? I think that right there should answer your question.
November 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
They can put Bill Clinton under the jail for all I care