Hello, I’m Joshua Minsoo Kim. I’m a culture writer whose writing about music and film can be found at Pitchfork, The Wire, NPR, the Chicago Reader, Cinema Scope, and Mubi’s Notebook. I’m the founder and editor-in-chief of Tone Glow. I’m currently writing a book about music, sound, and silence in avant-garde film for Repeater Books. I’m also a high school science teacher in the Chicagoland area.

Contact: Email | Twitter | Instagram | Letterboxd



Photo by Roberto Rodriguez

Current Album Recommendations (last updated 4/9/24)

  • Adilia Castillo con Los Araucanos - La Doña (Producciones Gema, 1959)
  • Tampa Red - Don't Jive Me (Prestige Bluesville, 1962)
  • Dottie West - I'll Help You Forget Her (RCA, 1967)
  • Monguito Santamaría - Hey Sister (Fania, 1969)
  • Sven-Åke Johansson - Schlingerland / Dynamische Schwingungen (FMP, 1972)
  • Миртемир - Лирика Миртемира (Melodiya, 1981)**
  • Invisible College - The Luxury of Horns (Rash (DECISIONS), 1982)
  • January Christy - Melayang (PRO-SOUND, 1986)
  • Gérard Lockel - Gwo Ka Modènn (A.D.G.K.M., 1988)
  • Jones Very - Trains of Thought (Jade Tree, 1991)
  • H.A.W.K. - Under H.A.W.K.’s Wings (Dead End, 2000)
  • Pat Thomas - Plays the Duke (New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings, 2022)

**Discogs and RYM have different artists listed for this record, and I can’t really find any information about this LP online. The former lists the famous poet Mirtemir while the latter lists Камилов Дадабаева, whose name I don’t see credited on the record anywhere (or on the one from 1989). The YouTube upload, according to the tracklist and catalogue number, refer to the 1981 album listed on Discogs but... uses the wrong cover art and title? Would appreciate any insight here.

Click here for previous album recommendations.
Tone Glow is an independent publication that I started as a blog in 2015. In December 2019 it moved to Substack, where it has featured over 100 interviews and countless reviews from dozens of different writers. The website will forever remain free and without ads, determined to provide the best coverage of experimental music, film, and more. All writers are paid out of principle from the money I make as a schoolteacher, as well as with support from donators via Ko-Fi and Patreon.

Tone Glow’s interviews are exclusively presented as longform Q&As, and are born out of a desire to see extensive conversations that provide insight into an artist’s life, practice, and work. My goal is to understand the artist as a person first, and to allow the stories they share to inform an understanding of their art.

Tone Glow also regularly features a “Writers Panel,” which finds multiple writers reviewing the same album. This decision was inspired by the pop music blog The Singles Jukebox, which I write for and edit. This format is used to encourage writers to think and write about music that is typically out of their wheelhouse, and for writers to be comfortable with approaching all arts writing from their unique vantage point.


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 Recent Musician Interviews for Tone Glow



Recent Filmmaker Interviews for Tone Glow



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