It usually bothers me when bands do what I’m doing right now: Return after retiring. When LCD Soundsystem had the gigantic goodbye gig at Madison Square Garden in 2011 (accompanied by several more gigs at smaller venues in NYC), and then returned a few years later, I was admittedly a bit pissed off.
Who were they to leave with such fanfare — and such emotional and financial commitment from fans — only to return and just keep doing their thing, almost as if nothing happened? More appropriately, who am I to do this? Well, luckily, I’m not so egotistical as to think I’m in the same category as LCD. Also, I technically only said I was putting this site on an “indefinite hiatus.” I didn’t end it with any big celebrations or elaborate coverage strategies, like I did for past Vehlinggo milestones. It was a bit anticlimactic, actually.
Perhaps I’m actually just acting more in line with some of the artists I’ve interviewed in the past about their retirement, only for them to return with varying levels of ceremony. Really, though, I think it was just that after nearly a decade of being always on with the writing, podcasting, events, label, mixes, and extracurricular liner notes and obi strips, I probably just needed a break. Look at me: always with the dramatics.
Anyway, I’m going to start updating this site again — even as I continue to work on the longer-tail Vehlinggo-branded projects. I miss writing about music I enjoy and helping to promote it to you folks. (For example, the new stuff from 3/4 of former Chromatics; Anoraak’s upcoming (and long-awaited) LP on Chromeo’s label; and oh, that fucking Sinners score, amirite?) That said, I’m going to approach things a little differently for this chapter. I’m eschewing a lot of the elaborate forays mentioned above and will just focus on occasional writing about good music, as I did when this publication began in 2014 and before things hit overdrive during the damn-fine 2018-2020 peak.
So, I guess what I’m saying is I’m back and this site is back. We’re both older and a bit more world-weary, but the hunger for good music is everlasting. I hope you’ll ride with me on this new adventure, even if I’m not entirely sure what the itinerary looks like.
BTW, I don’t use Twitter/X anymore, for obvious reasons. So hit me up on BlueSky — either my personal account or the Vehlinggo one.
(Also, RIP David Lynch. What a substantial loss for us all.)
