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The Bad Penny’s Top 10 Music Books of 2025

Posted in Features, Lists, What You Readin' For? with tags Die Kreuzen, Elvis Presley, Faith No More, Joni Mitchell, Neko Case, Ozzy Osbourne, Patti Smith, Paul McCartney, Randy Blythe, Roddy Bottum on 11/19/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Most music fans can’t read music. But they can read about music – the larger-than-life personalities, the history of various genres, the often-times truth-is-stranger-than-fiction dynamics that keep one of the entertainment industry’s least profitable yet universally beloved pillars standing.

For the first time ever, The Bad Penny shares what we consider to be the most essential nonfiction books about music that came out in a year during which citizens across the country tolerated book bans and censorship in Authoritarian America. Mark these words: What happened this year and is still happening in libraries and schools in the U.S. will go down as one of the most shameful “chapters” in this country’s history.

Read whatever books you want to read, and enjoy doing so, because in this unpredictable hellscape, who knows what rights we might lose next.

1. Patti Smith – Bread of Angels: A Memoir (McNally Jackson)

Buy here.

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10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads: Smirk, Miracle Blood, Jute Gyte, Rat Champion, Iodine Sampler

Posted in Lists, MP3s with tags Charlie Nieland, Count Your Lucky Stars, In Lieu, Iodine Recordings, Jute Gyte, Miracle Blood, Rat Champion, Smirk, Something Is Waiting, Twilight Sad on 11/14/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Strapped for cash but hungry for great music? You won’t have much luck camping out at the grocery store these days; Bandcamp is a way better destination. Here’s a rundown of 10 rad releases, about half of them newly released, that The Bad Penny recently came across on Bandcamp.

(Note: If you do have some green to spare, please show your thanks to these deserving artists and labels.)

1. Smirk’s “Domestic Dog” b/w “Manhunt In Paradise”

Connecticut punk prince Smirk greased the wheels for a swing of spring dates last year with this single, which Industry Standards just put out today in the form of a 7-inch. The still-free digital version tops our list of gratis Bandcamp releases because the humble artiste donated all proceeds from sales of it to HEAL Palestine.

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Bad Penny Post #1,000: Your Top 10 Favorite Reads Thus Far

Posted in Lists, News, Polls with tags Bad Penny, Brian Bell, Cheap Trick, Guided by Voices, Mark Lanegan, Patti Smith, Rhett Miller, Rivers Cuomo, Superchunk, Weezer on 11/13/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The proverbial “they” said it couldn’t be done, but with these words, The Bad Penny has reached its thousandth post since launching way back in 1862 (the same year rock ‘n’ roll was invented!). In celebration of what is still a smaller number than the grand total of songs released by Guided by Voices (no, we didn’t do the math, but are you gonna challenge that assumption?), here are the top 10 most popular posts in the modest history of this website:

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Mastodon Guitarist Brent Hinds’ Top 10 Freakouts

Posted in Lists, Videos with tags Brent Hinds, Mastodon on 11/10/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

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Best New Music Vidoes (October 2025): Imogen Heap, Slowthrust, Rattboys, Matt Pond PA

Posted in Lists, Videos with tags Black Cross Hotel, Das Kope, EVRO, Geologist, Imogen Heap, Infinity Dream, PinkPantheress, Ratboys, Slowthrust on 11/09/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

1. Imogen Heap‘s “I AM __.”

2. Slowthrust‘s “Midnight Slay”

3. Infinity Dream‘s “Lost Embrace”

4. Ratboys‘ “Light Night Mountains All That”

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Favorite Films: Heavy Heavy Low Low Vocalist Lists His Favorite Flicks as Halloween Creeps Closer

Posted in Favorite Films, Interviews, Lists, Reviews with tags An American Werewolf in London, David Lynch, Halloween, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Night of the Living Dead, No Country for Old Men, Robbie Smith, The Coen Brothers on 10/25/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

It’s not uncommon for an actor to form or join a band – after all, it takes a certain gene to drive a person to be at the center of attention as much as they possibly can. But this past summer, when we caught up with vocalist Robbie Smith of sasscore squad Heavy Heavy Low Low, we learned that the inverse isn’t necessarily as common.

Sure, he enjoys fronting the band from San Jose, California, and writing and recording their songs – which are so unhinged and berserk that even Guantanamo Bay couldn’t restrain or temper them. Nonetheless, Smith also enjoys stepping away from the physical intensity of the band’s concerts to focus on an artistic endeavor he may value even more than crafting music: filmmaking.

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From the Vault: Dr. Know (Bad Brains) and Brandon Cruz’s Guide To DIY Touring

Posted in Interviews, Lists, Sound Off with tags Bad Brains, Brandon Cruz, Dead Kennedys, Dr. Know on 10/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

[This article was originally published on IndiePit in 2010.]

Punks don’t make the likeliest businessmen, for obvious reasons. Capitalism and punk aren’t exactly synonymous – in fact, by definition, they’re more or less contradictory.

But funny things happen in a time of crisis.

These days, more bands are taking more matters into their own hands, whether it be issuing their own material (like Clutch), producing their own records and/or shooting their own videos. But while this trend has mostly arisen out of necessity – the mother of invention, as the saying goes – self-empowerment has historically been a brass ring of sorts for bands adamant about maintaining control over their artistic output. Now they’re managing to find an opportunity in crisis: complete creative control.

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On Tyranny: As No Kings Rallies Near, Here Are Music’s Top 20 ‘Kings,’ From B.B. to Gizzard

Posted in Features, Lists, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Acid King, authoritarianism, Donald Trump, fascism, King Buffalo, King Buzzo, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, King Princess, King Woman, No Kings on 10/16/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The second and potentially attendance record-shattering No Kings protests are rapidly arriving in less than 48 hours at an estimated 2,500 cities across the U.S., intended to demonstrate that Americans are more opposed to the Trump regime than ever before. For no real reason other than giddiness, we decided to express our excitement in utterly esoteric fashion by ranking the 20 best musicians and bands with “King” in their name.

Here goes:

(Note: Musicians nicknamed the “King” of a certain music genre are disqualified. And no, we didn’t forget Kings of Leon. They suck.)

1. Nat King Cole

2. B.B. King

3. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

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8 Great Psych LPs From Summer 2025 by SWRM, Zabus, Spaceface, Insomniac

Posted in Album Reviews, Lists, Reviews with tags Go Kurosawa, Insomniac, Late Again, Nate Smith, Orsak:Oslo, Spaceface, SWRM, Zabus on 10/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Albums by SWRM, Zabus, Spaceface, Insomniac, Go Kurosawa, Late Again, Nate Smith and Orsak:Oslo made the cut on my list of great, overlooked psychedelic albums released in summer 2025, in my first quarterly column on the genre for Treble.

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On Tyranny: Donald Trump Is More Insane Than the Craziest Musicians Ever, From Elvis to Kanye

Posted in Essays, Features, Lists, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags Captain Beefheart, Daniel Johnston, Donald Trump, Elvis, GG Allin, Kanye West, Keith Moon, Lil Wayne, Roky Erickson, Syd Barrett on 10/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Consider the following:

1. Michael “Pras” Michel, one-third of the Fugees, was convicted in April 2023 on 10 counts related to falsifying business records. Donald Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

2. Syd Barrett, guitarist and co-founder of Pink Floyd, allegedly took LSD every morning and locked his girlfriend in a room for three days. Donald is allegedly sending individuals who may or may not be documented U.S. citizens to gulags in El Salvador and is publicly urging Americans to not take Tylenol.

3. Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, admitted to accidentally running over his friend and bodyguard with his car. Moon, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the incident, publicly apologized for the tragedy. Donald Trump proudly and remorselessly declared that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”

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