James

10/10. Everything I wanted it to be but didn’t dare hope for. Imperfect perfection like the best entries in the series. Stone cold serious and completely off the wall, often at the same time. To say I am thrilled would be a wild understatement. #CrystalLake

#MusicSky #NowListening #FirstListen Art d’Ecco - Scheele’s Green Happy new Art d’Ecco Album Day to those who celebrate.

#MusicSky #NowListening W. H. Lung - Where Will You Go? New and possibly final single from one of today’s greatest bands; if this really is the end, what a high to go out on. 💚 whlung.bandcamp.com/album/where-...

TUUUUUUUUNE.

#BookSky @paultremblay.bsky.social - Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep I could have done without the needless ‘Mannequin’ slander, but otherwise I had a great time with this one.

#MusicSky #NowListening #FirstListen Imperial Teen - All Over You Pleasantly surprised to find the new Imperial Teen waiting for me when I got home from work; pairing a first listen with a glass of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

#MusicSky Finally a new Sugababes album announcement…I do wish they’d kept the art style of the trio of preview singles, this looks a bit like a Deutsche-Grammophone bargain release. Clearly it won’t stop me from pre-ordering my first album of 2027. sugababes.tmstor.es/product/d2c-...

#BookSky #CatSky When you’ve had a rough few weeks and a couple of your favorite authors have new books out, it’s time for some retail therapy…Dusty approves of my choices from @bookculture.com

#MusicSky #NowListening The Frogs - It’s Only Right and Natural (Fully Extended Edition) Didn’t realize Jimmy had put this out digitally last year, a celebration of one of my favorite albums; the live stuff is particularly incredible, especially the thrashed up “Hot Cock Annie”.

I’m still sad we never got a SDE of this one.

#NowListening #MusicSky Velocity Girl - 1989-1992 Fantastic new collection of pre-‘Copacetic’ singles for a Tuesday morning.

#MusicSky The Frogs - My Daughter the Broad 30th Anniversary Edition She’s a real beaut, and my new favorite shirt. “Spare me some cock, brother!”

One of my top Depeche Mode singles and the GusGus mix is (obviously) a huge favorite. youtu.be/WO8Zavxdvhc

I REALLY DON’T LIKE LOBSTER! 💛

#MusicSky #NowListening #FirstListen Nervous Verbs - Moments of Riot Fantastically named project from Mike Montgomery of R. Ring/Breeders tour tech fame; impossibly fragile and delicate acoustic based indie, really lovely stuff. (And apparently a Deal sister or two make a guest appearance.)

JAAAAAAAAAAM. (‘Batman’ is a Top 5 Prince LP for me and I will not be taking questions at this time.)

It is absolutely misguided garbage but it is brilliant misguided garbage and one of the finest examples of Public Popstar Mental Breakdown; I have nothing but absolute love and respect for this and its monstrosity of a parent album. (20 years seems as insane as this single, though.)

🖤

#MusicSky Today is a great day for reissues; the live set on the (long overdue) B-52’s set is incredible…I just wish the physical release didn’t have such obnoxious formatting.

..any opportunity to bang on about how much I fucking love the second Whale record and its associated singles; one day, the world at large will recognize how wonderful it is.

The LFO remix is a dream and made me long for a Mark Bell-produced SFA album that obviously never happened. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNur...

New Art D’Ecco album ‘Scheele’s Green’ was announced this morning for late October with the preview track “The Death of Indie” being more glammed up indie than the smoky New Romanticism of last year’s ‘Serene Demon’ but just as captivating. #MusicSky artdecco.bandcamp.com/album/scheel...

Underrated jam alert.

Pet Smart on point with their cat toys this Spooky Season and Dusty approves. (I’m generally anti-Halloween shopping in August but every day is Friday the 13th in this house.) #CatsofBlueSky

Happy New Imperial Teen Song Day to all who celebrate; new album in October HYPE. @jaredcollier.bsky.social have you heard yet? #musicsky

I’ve listened to this a couple of times since last night and it’s really a wonderful LP; very art rock/New Romantic/crooner coded but also very much its own thing.

#MusicSky #NowListening Yard Act - You’re Gonna Need A Little Music @dinkededition.bsky.social of the new @yardact.bsky.social arrived today from @waxandbeans.bsky.social so time to go in for a first listen.

#MusicSky 2026 keeps delivering with the reissues with a LONG overdue repress of The Frogs’ absolute classic ‘My Daughter The Broad’ plus 8 more from the Made-Up Songs vault. 💜💜 thefrogs1.bandcamp.com/album/my-dau...

#My5FaveAlbumsSoFar #MusicChallenge Kind of a slow first half of the year for me new music wise but what I’ve heard I’ve loved lots. 1 feeble little horse - Bitknot 2 Lines of Silence - Lines in Opposition! 3 The Early Years - Modern Moonlight 4 Cancer House - The Moth 5 CS Cleaners - What’s This?

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 2 Insects The sound of a mental break: the frantic percussion and cutting guitars of the verses give way to the ecstasy of breaking free of restraint and letting it all out in the chorus. Insects make me make me want to dance! youtu.be/cTzItOizzlE

They came from Planet Claire to take my top vote for #5DebutAlbumsSF2 … and if they make it through, my choice for the whole shebang.

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 3 Wild Sex (In The Working Class) Danny Elfman uncharacteristically horny on main, and it’s fucking fantastic. I work so hard thinking of you… youtu.be/ysa7myYXm8k

#NowListening #MusicSky fat dog - Cancel Me (I’m Tired) New fat dog single is about as 2026 as you can get with an absolutely MASSIVE key change at the end. Title track to LP2 out in October, they seem to have embraced the dance side of their sound more this time out. youtu.be/JZFBMdQLPyM

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 4 Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself) Lyrically incredibly dark & sadly still very relevant today. Hey little girl, won’t you come this way? Won’t you let me buy you candy or perhaps a chocolate shake or perhaps some nice cocaine… youtu.be/5PMjsY1MACU

#NowListening #MusicSky #5DebutAlbumsSF2 Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More In 30-40 years this will be held in the same high regard as the behemoths it’s up against in this challenge (some of us do already)…get on board now and save trouble later.

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 5 Whole Day Off A wonderful slice of surreal pop; points the way to the type of film work Danny would end up doing. Maybe it’s just a bad dream and I’ll wake up soon but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky… youtu.be/hSgt9F37T5k

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 6 Grey Matter Album opener starts us as we mean to go on; probably my favorite at a young age, I was surprised to place it so low. There’s nothing inside your head… youtu.be/ibZdil-Kbjw

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 7 Private Life When you’re not even safe inside your own head, where do you go? An incredibly underrated single. This is my private life, come and get me out of here. youtu.be/yuxss1kBQWw

#ArtisrFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 8 Why’d We Come A companion song to the title track that precedes it, it takes a good look at human technological evolution and asks: why? It didn’t have to end up like this… youtu.be/9Jbk4TwjZ_Y

I’ve been listening to this a lot over the past couple of days based on the Norman Stamp of Approval and it is absolutely wonderful; copy pre-ordered.

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 9 Running on a Treadmill Musically made up of multiple small parts repeated in a way that could go on forever, neat trick. I know what’s on your mind but it’s not what you think it is… youtu.be/rJvC_4cwtlQ

#MusicSky #NowListening #BestSongHeardToday The Wolfgang Press - Speakers Don’t Speak Very very good new single, the revival of The Wolfgang Press has been one of my favorite of recent years. New album ‘Asylum Variations’ out in September. youtu.be/_rXO2Hu8aj4

#ArtistFaveLP Oingo Boingo - Nothing To Fear 10 Islands Something has to be in 10th and sadly it’s the penultimate track on the album for me. It’s wonderful but it just doesn’t do it for me as much as the other 9. (I’ve really shot myself in the foot picking this LP…) youtu.be/B6WuARZRmCQ

There’s nothing to fear it’s just another round of #ArtistFaveLP , this time featuring one of my very first (and still very favorite) LPs.

“Doe” opener! Three new songs! “Off You”, aka five of the most brokenly gorgeous minutes in pop music! “Cannonball” as the encore closer! What a fucking night. www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-...