iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Something went wrong at the CHARLI XCX concert last week and then everything went right thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/glitched-a...

thefutureisourstomake.substack.com

Glitched and screaming

In praise of Charli XCX’s malfunctioning imperial phase.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

One of the coolest things you can do in the D.C. streets is be listening to a Fugazi song when you drive through a tunnel

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

You need to read my newsletter if you want to party with JJ thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/jjs-rsvp

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Here’s my month-long review of CHARLI XCX’s “Music, Fashion, Film” thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/im-really-...

thefutureisourstomake.substack.com

I’m really hurting my neck

Thirty days of listening to Charli XCX’s ‘Music, Fashion, Film.’

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I actually don’t think it’s nice that everyone’s talking about her good deeds more than her music I wish more publications employed music journalists and critics Despite all the great writing this week, we can still see how much we’re missing right now

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

A good look no matter what anyone says

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My favorite DOLLY PARTON song makes me feel like her big pop crossover was actually a bigger step toward improving the world we share thefutureisourstomake.substack.com/p/just-when-...

thefutureisourstomake.substack.com

Just when I’ve begun to get myself together

Listening for the essence of Dolly Parton in a song she didn’t write.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Friends, which search engines do you recommend now that Google entirely sucks?

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Today, I’m launching a quarterly review of the BEST NEW FANZINES Submit yours for next time to THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE / P.O. Box 60182 / Washington D.C. 20039 Meantime, make a fanzine, read a fanzine, encounter a fanzine here: open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

'It's always been someone's apocalypse'

THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE's quarterly review of significant fanzines.

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Reposted by Chris Richards

Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 06/08/2026

BrooklynVegan, Alt Press, et al being unceremoniously shut down by a company owned by the guys from Good Charlotte that’s also owned by Live Nation is a plot that would happen in a direct to video sequel to Richie Rich.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

That’s a symptom I can’t help with but I love you always

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Beautiful Sunday morning music for you on THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE courtesy of the dollar bin at Princeton Record Exchange/destiny open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

I found infinity in the dollar bin

A recording to listen to on Sunday, August 2, 2026.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Proof of listening, proof of life — I just reviewed 102 recordings for THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE. Read it for free / tell a friend open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

Any number of quantum positions

THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE’s quarterly review of significant recordings.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

A quick review of the most widely-experienced musical performance in human history open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

Halftime hacks

A beginner’s guide to organizing the biggest musical performance in human history.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Seasonal thoughts on how THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS sounds as new as life year round Sunday posts on THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE are for paid subscribers, but today’s is free If you subscribe — or if you’re considering — thank you for your generosity + excellence open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

Summertime in the permanent present tense

A recording to listen to on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I love writing THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE and I have some exciting things lined up for August and Sept and beyond I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to everyone who’s already checked it out and/or subscribed We continue ! ! thefutureisourstomake.substack.com

thefutureisourstomake.substack.com

Chris Richards | Substack

Music reccos/rants/prayers/curses by your critic and co-listener. Click to read Chris Richards, a Substack with thousands of subscribers.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

This shout out from @alanzilberman.bsky.social in the Washington City Paper’s Best of D.C. issue means a ton and then some washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7887...

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Cleaning out the basement today and found this a day late

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Massive hell yes to this. Natalie is the greatest

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Ha! Thank you. Signed, the other Chris Richards

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

As zeitgeisty pop songs go, I feel like ELLA LANGLEY’s “Choosin’ Texas” has grown massive enough to contain the vast unknowability of Texas itself — and I wrote about it for @notus.com www.notus.org/this-hugely-...

notus.org

“Choosin’ Texas” isn't about the future of democracy. Unless you want to hear it that way.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

What this review of Patti Smith’s “Bread of Angels” for the Times Literary Supplement doesn’t mention is that I loved the book so much, I bought a copy for my dad for his birthday www.the-tls.com/lives/autobi...

the-tls.com

Just grown-ups

In her succinct volume on the creative process, Devotion (2017), the rock poet and memoirist Patti Smith made her greatest ambition plain. She wanted to

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I’m so honored by this recognition. I’m also looking for work! The Washington Post laid me off earlier this year. Deep thanks to the SFJ for elevating arts criticism in this tumultuous moment. Deep thanks to everyone for reading my stuff and spreading the word.

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Amazing to be a part of POW MAG this week of all weeks. Read and subscribe and read! substack.com/@powmag

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

G O O D M O R N I N G open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Happy 20! Thank you for the kind words here 🙏🏻🎵

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Honored to be on this list ! ! Deepest gratitude to Of Note With so much flux in music criticism right now, I’m a writer who appreciates every reader and a reader who appreciates every writer

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Took a walk through reality with LIFTED and got schooled on the Altmansound, the Tuscany-Canterbury Drone, Sun Ra jamming on “Dumbo,” the duo’s new album “Movie,” and more open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

Screen off

A walking interview with Matt Papich and Andrew Field-Pickering of Lifted.

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Reposted by Chris Richards

Gabe Meline @gmeline.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Love this short reflection of Rollins / an incidental anecdote that says much more than it lets on. "There’s very little experience behind a childhood crush. It’s almost entirely a thing of intuition, of wonder — a decision that’s somehow been made for you."

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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

When I walk the streets of my (neighboring) hometown of Annapolis, Maryland, I like to imagine a young SONNY ROLLINS in love open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

open.substack.com

Sonny’s crush

Brief thoughts on the childhood memories of a saxophone colossus.

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Reposted by Chris Richards

Jeff Weiss @passionweiss.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

An interview with Jeff Parker about his storied residency at ETA, his experience collaborating with Flea, music’s unknowable ability to change the mood of a room, the influence of Wayne Shorter, and his latest, "Happy Today." By the great @chrisrichards.bsky.social www.powmag.net/p/jeff-parke...