iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I get their newsletter. Have contemplated subscribing. Is it worth it?

Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Think you’d enjoy: -Mandy, Indiana -Ngwaka Son Systeme -Fire-Toolz -plaaaato -Antropoceno -Kaatayra -Renato Olivares -GB -Wild Pink -Papangu -The Tubs -Formal Sppeedwear -Blind Yeo -sueter7 -Kiko Dinucci

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Some underrated mind-expanding novelists/poets- Reinaldo Arenas, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Edmond Jabès, Malcolm de Chazal, Max Blecher, Fleur Jaeggy, Joseph Ceravolo, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Fernando Pessoa, Julien Gracq, Christina Stead, Ronald Johnson, Wallace Stevens, Hilda Hilst, Carson McCullers…

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Two new old poems! These are HELLA old. Don’t even remember when they were first written, but even the old stuff deserves a home if it’s from the heart. Thanks Lalitamba for unearthing these for the world to read. 🌅

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

really enjoyed this one. this is also worth your attention 👇 will 100% make my eoty list - flee.bandcamp.com/album/candom...

flee.bandcamp.com

CANDOMBLE: SACRED RHYTHMS IN BRAZIL, by FLEE

20 track album

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Return's first half requires tons of patience and viewer participation to move toward the light. Not an easy watch. My take is Lynch gave us what we so desperately need in our culture/current moment. Hope you enjoy! Recommend the rewatch podcast 'Diane'--great in-depth analyses of every episode!

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Did this with my wife last year. Her first time and my third(?). Literally perfect.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

You listen to this KINACT record from earlier this year? Goes totally nuts. NNT opened me up to the Kinshasa music scene in general, which consistently blows my mind with every discovery. nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/kinsha...

nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com

Kinshasa in Action, by KINACT

11 track album

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Maybe my favorite label currently.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

…but I want to do what I can. If interested, please DM me. Accepting payments via Venmo/PayPal & I’ll mail the books myself. If you have a preference for which specific org to donate your money to, lmk. More info on my books are on their pages on GoodReads (www.goodreads.com/author/show/...). 🧵3/3

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

…our collaboration (myself a Jewish person & the son of an immigrant) in the spirit of rejecting empire, oppression, & disposing all nationalist myths that breed hatred & division. A few of the poems themselves are about this same feeling. I know it’s not much & organizing has more impact…🧵2/3

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Friends, for the time being, I’m making all my books pay-what-you-want & donating 100% of the funds received to humanitarian aid for Iran & Lebanon. I’ll also match the amounts with my own donations. More context… The artwork for Mystic Orchards is by an Iranian-American artist. I aways viewed… 🧵1/3

Four books displayed on a bookshelf:
Palm Lines by Jonathan Koven
Below Torrential Hill by Jonathan Koven
Mystic Orchards by Jonathan Koven
Spark Bird by Jonathan Koven, Daniel DeRock, and Julian Shendelman

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

#MWE Thx everyone who followed along. Hope you discovered something too. Big thx to other participants—hyped to listen to what y’all shared. For new folks, I’m a published author/poet. Check the 🔗 in bio if you’re so inclined. My latest—Spark Bird—is about a musician! I’m writing my next one now.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

#MWE The Raincoats - Odyshape (1981) An excellent album to end the month on, a dissonant, deconstructed post-punk affair that’s more like abstracted art-rock—with exotic instrumentation, off-kilter melodies, & a free-jazzy ethos. Kurt Cobain was apparently a huge fan. For fans of weird, good stuff!

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

#MWE Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire (1971) My introduction to this legendary soul artist, an underrated early album by her. It’s subtle yet exquisite, quietly stunning all the way through. Roberta’s interpretations triumph over the originals she covers. The intimate passion of her voice is dazzling.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

#MWE Soapkills - Enta Fen (2005) Enjoyed floating away to this dubby post-war Lebanese indie duo. Mellow, melismatic vocals sung in Arabic glide over layers of sophisticated downtempo & trip-hop beats, casting an ethereal atmosphere. It's delicate & melancholic, a lovely dreamscape to get lost in.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

#MWE Patti Smith - Horses (1975) Cited as "the first punk rock album," but it's much more than that. Adored this prophetic bridge between spoken-word poetry & music, between generations of rock, between the personal & the universal—that still resonates over 50 years later. Inspired & empowering.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Be sure to check out Akina Nakamori’s Fushigi before the month is over. All-timer.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

#MWE Jlin - Black Origami (2017) This experimental footwork album tore my face off. Brings to mind gamelan music in its total sensory overwhelm. An Afrofuturist explosion of tribal, Eastern, & industrial influence. No choice but to submit to this thunderous barrage of drums flurrying over darkness.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Highly recommend. Listening to it didn’t feel like three hours at all. It felt like it transported me to a place where time didn’t exist. Reading about her recording process made it even more special. This was a good read: mandelcabrera.com/2019/06/17/p...

mandelcabrera.com

Precarious Sound, Precarious Being: Eliane Radigue’s Feedback Works

Feedback emerges within a zone of sonic precarity, intensifying into the intolerable on its hither side. As anyone who’s used a microphone knows, the most obvious factor in determining this zone is…

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

#MWE Éliane Radigue - Trilogie De La Mort (1994) Dedicating the rest of today to this French ambient pioneer who passed away yesterday. Inspired by her son's death & Tibetan Buddhism, this monument of precisely-arranged drone massaged my brain & provided a spiritual medicine of the infinitesimal.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

#MWE Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968) Unsure if I'll ever be a Deadhead but I enjoyed this grandiose psychedelic swirl of an album. More my vibe than American Beauty which struck me as merely pleasant. Awash in kaleidoscopic acid-fueled jams & humming feedback, it's kind of a cosmic gumbo 😉

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Litto Nebbia- Bazar de los Milagros Arrange- Their Bodies in a Fog How to Dress Well- I Am Toward You Lizzy Mercier Descloux- Mambo Nassau Ferkat Al Ard- Oghneya The Appleseed Cast- Illumination Ritual Sonya Spence- In the Dark Jonsi & Alex- Riceboy Sleeps Ziad Rahbani- Houdou Nisbi Gal Costa- S/T

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Wow that is sick! Was it in Japan?

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

glad you enjoyed! also check Litto Nebbia if you're want more stuff like this. I love these by him (he's had a v prolific career) Bazar de los Milagros Creer Muerte en la Catedral Fuera del Cielo 1981 En Brasil Aqui y Ahora Despertemos en América Canciones para perdedores Toda Canción Será Plegaria

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

#MWE Debutaca - S/T (1991) This Uraguayan group has 23 monthly listeners & hardly any info online about them. That's how you know it's great. Sophisticated arrangements pull from candombe, tango, & murga, while approaching a frenzied jazz-fusion tinged with electronics. A unique, rewarding listen.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

#MWE Enya - Watermark (1988) Enya has unfortunately become somewhat of a punchline due to media oversaturation & a general skepticism to spiritual/new age music. But if you can overcome that bias, this is a blissful work of Celtic art whose influence is felt everywhere. Oceanic, hymnal, heavenly.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

#MWE Otim Alpha - Gulu City Anthems (2017) A burst of joyous celebration from Ugandan “rapper” Otim Alpha (not really rap, but there’s a likeness). His sound is “electro acholi,” blending East African traditional wedding music & electronic dance. Listened while running yesterday & it kept me hyped!

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

#MWE Rayuela - S/T (1978) Exactly what I was hoping for. Each time I listen to 70-80s Argentine prog, I'm further convinced it's the best genre. Autumnal, energetic gusts of keyboards swim alongside sax, flutes, & dreamy jazz-fusion guitar with soulful Spanish vocals. Enchanting, romantic, perfect.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Yeah, it’s softboy shit. Garfunkel held back everything potentially good about them. Now check out Paul Simon’s Graceland and/or Rhythm of the Saints and have your mind blown.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

#MWE I Promised the World - S/T (2026) Throwing a bone to the ex-scene kids. Somehow this still scratches an itch for me. Unreal how these guys are a time machine to Myspace era post-hardcore/screamo: breakdowns, blast beats, soaring guitars & all. They pull it off. RIYL: Saosin, Underoath, Chiodos

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Reposted by Jonathan Koven

David Hutcheon @hutchie.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The Analog Africa label has spent 20 years bringing us African scream contests, cosmic sounds of Cape Verde, Brazilian western soundtracks and Beninese vodou, now @mojomagazine.bsky.social wants to know your pick of their releases. Hit me with the what and the why and let's make this definitive.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

I listen to everything they put out. Truly impeccable label that consistently delivers. I think Mambo Loco is an underrated one--and in general the offbeat latin stuff hits the spot for me. Really enjoy the Somalian releases too. But I think Hallelujah Chicken Run Band reigns supreme.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

#MWE Elin Kåven - Jikņon Musihkka (2009) A self-described "Arctic folk pop" debut from indigenous Sámi songwriter, blending the modern & archaic into mystical soundscapes. Enjoyed these richly layered, meditative songs that transported me to the glacial heights of Norway. RIYL: a poppier Sigur Rós.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

excited to receive this and read it in print!!

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

#MWE Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii (1989) A dose of intimate, ethereal elegance from Senegal. The cyclical guitar & Afro-Islamic vocals mesmerize, evoking a nocturnal tone that left me thinking of sorrows across the world. A meditative listen if you allow yourself to sink into its beauty.

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Jonathan Koven @jonathankoven.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

#MWE James Brown - The Payback (1973) Everyone drop what you’re doing and listen to this! If someone told me this was the greatest album ever recorded, I wouldn’t bat an eye. This timeless, landmark funk/soul thrill-ride sounds like JB meets Fela Kuti, while laying the foundations for gangsta rap 🔥

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