Hi All:
First of all, we are safe in what has to be the most devastating fire I’ve experienced in Los Angeles. While my friends are also safe, some of them have lost their homes, which is breaking my heart over and over again.
We’ve offered up our place and if you have space or know of a no-hassle rental, let me know, I’ll put the word out.
Thank you to those of you who texted to check on us. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
FLOOD Magazine put out an excellent newsletter today with resources and ways to help with the Los Angeles Fires and the people affected by them. You can access that here. And if you’d rather not continue scrolling this newsletter to “business as usual,” I completely understand.
Stay safe everyone,
Lily
The first episode of the SIXTH year of the Pictures of Lily Podcast (Vintage Edition) is my 1995 interview with Ian McCulloch and Will Sargeant, best known as the core figures of Echo and the Bunnymen. This interview, which happened in-person was at the time of their Electrafixion project. Of all the Vintage Edition interviews, this one is easily the most embarrassing for me to hear. I wanted to rip my ears off when I first went through it and again after Laurence gave me the final version. These guys were good sports to deal with my nonsense, an 18-minute listen.
SPIN put together a list of “The 25 Most Influential People in Music In 2025” and Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi landed in the number one spot. I had the honor of writing that entry and unbelievably also got a couple of quotes from Toomaj via one of his cousins.
These sentences of mine were edited out but they are what I feel the strongest about:
”Toomaj’s fearless words, either in poetry or prose, persist in speaking truth in the face of tyranny. His real power is the unwavering bravery with which he continually sets off disquieting alarm in the Islamic Republic, and the hope he keeps evergreen in the hearts of Iranians.”
Check the whole list out here.
For Under the Radar’s “Top 100 Albums of 2024” I contributed write-ups on Fontaines D.C., The Waeve, Yard Act, Maya Hawke, Mdou Moctar, Michael Kiwanuka (the subject of Episode 34 of the Pictures of Lily Podcast), Beth Gibbons (the subject of Episode 85 of the Pictures of Lily Podcast (Vintage Edition), Hinds, KNEECAP and Primal Scream.
This was a fun list FLOOD Magazine put together of “The Best Return Albums of 2024” to which I contributed Gossip’s Real Power and The The’s Ensoulment.
I watched a lot of music documentary films and series in 2024 and came to one conclusion: "...there is a positive correlation between the number of music documentaries released and how many of them aren’t worth pressing play on."
For Under the Radar, I did a mid-year list of “Seven Music Documentary Films and Series From 2024 to Watch (and Three to Skip)” and I just did a year-end list of “Seven Music Documentary Films and Series From the Second Half of 2024 to Watch (and Three To Skip).”
There were a lot of writing highlights for me in 2024, a number of which came via SPIN. I collected a few of them in this Instagram post. In the end-of-year print issue of SPIN, I have a feature on Mötley Crüe, with whom I am pictured above. Grab your copy here.
In addition to SPIN, I also had some memorable writing moments courtesy of Los Angeles Magazine, FLOOD Magazine, The Recording Academy (Moby and Howard Benson), Mix Magazine, Under the Radar Magazine, The Rooted Journal and Fine Art Globe, which I talk about in this Instagram post.
I am happy to report that I am back to cataloging my archives and scanning classic pieces from my three-decade-plus archives. Access to the whole thing is available to the paid tier of this newsletter, the proceeds of which to go support the always free Pictures of Lily Podcast, a labor of love of there ever was one. TIA!
Wow I was at that Electrafixion gig in L.A. with my bestie Nancy who died in 2015.