What’s this, then?
Nicksy Once Monthly is, well, a newsletter—supposedly about music, but also about the things that it soundtracks.
I wanted to write about music without being bound by the news cycle, the release calendar and whatever the most rabid of fanatics online want you to say. And besides, in most cases you start liking a song after you’ve let it sit for a while, or when you hear it in the right place at the right time. That’s what happens to me most of the time, after all.
So, just once a month?
In theory, but in practice, not really.
On the second Friday of every month, I release an hour-long playlist of songs—new releases, hidden gems, overlooked stuff—as well a few thoughts about how they got there, and whatever else is bouncing off my head at the time. It will border on personal journal territory, which I know isn’t everybody’s thing, but it is what it is.
On the fourth Friday of most months, I release an installment of my Plaka Notes series, which spotlights a new release from Philippine musicians. It’s an album review, but also, it isn’t.
There may be times when I send out a third, or even a fourth, email in a month, with song spotlights, pop culture deep dives—not necessarily music-related, I must add—or another one of my Hyperfocus essays.
And you are?
I am Niko Batallones, based in the Philippines, and I write a fair amount.
For the purposes of this newsletter, I ran the earthings! music blog from 2012 to 2019. It was a writing experiment slash hobby that ended up being much bigger than anyone imagined.
I listen to a lot of things. I still update my Last.fm account, and you can see most of what I play at any given time there. I play my music like I’m running a radio station, which is both fun and sad at the same time, I guess.
Well, that sounds nice.
Then why not subscribe? Hit the button below and you will start receiving my latest entries straight to your email. You’ll also get access to my full archive and take part in whatever else I think would be fun to do here.
Got a song recommendation? Drop me a line at nicksyoncemonthly@gmail.com, or get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Threads.
View my archive of past playlists and essays here.
Nicksy Once Monthly is dedicated to the memory of Anna Esguerra.
No matter who’s on your live music bucket list, please, please, please do not say you’ll sell your kidney for concert tickets.
