alex tobin 🍩
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alextobin.nl
alex tobin 🍩
@alextobin.nl
pumping irony 🧠 in the Dutch lowlands

scribblings for @aquariumdrunkard.com

always looking for books + music to review

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www.alextobin.nl
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“These tracks behave less like songs and more like weather systems – shifting, gathering, dissolving.”

The lovely people at @aquariumdrunkard.com asked the almost impossible: some thoughts on Talk Talk’s seminal albums ‘Spirit of Eden’ and ‘Laughing Stock,’ two records that mean very much to me.
The Quiet Revolution: Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock - Aquarium Drunkard
Some records feel impossible to write about. Not because they lack substance, but because they possess too much of it: too much quiet, too much space, too much mystery. They resist language the way wa...
aquariumdrunkard.com
Reposted by alex tobin 🍩
Haunting festive presence.
December 27, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by alex tobin 🍩
Wtf!
December 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Not too shabby, @backlisted.bsky.social!
7 Podcasts for Bookworms
www.nytimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Anyone Can Wordle.
Stephen Sondheim, Puzzle Maestro
For the late Broadway composer, crafting crosswords and treasure hunts was as thrilling as writing musicals.
www.newyorker.com
December 27, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by alex tobin 🍩
“We must stop eating!” cried Toad as he ate another.
December 27, 2025 at 5:37 AM
By no means a novel question, but… any good podcast recommendations? Things that entertain or make you think,
BBC content also welcome. Many thanks! 🙇🏻‍♂️
December 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Not quite sure how I feel having a cheese “named” after me. 🤔
December 18, 2025 at 12:14 PM
This one's for @iammilliam.bsky.social.
Tchotchkes, by Tchotchke & The Lemon Twigs
track by Tchotchke & The Lemon Twigs
thelemontwigs.bandcamp.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The latest installment of one of my favorite AD regulars, courtesy of Eric Hehr (currently on a mean tear!).
Gene Ammons :: Nice an’ Cool (1961)

aquariumdrunkard.com/2025/12/16/g...

Midnite jazz. Nice ‘an Cool is nothing if not a “mood album,” the overall unity of the quartet eclipsing any one section of the arrangement.
December 16, 2025 at 6:14 PM
🎄
December 16, 2025 at 5:23 AM
One of the best delivers his most wide-ranging overview yet. ✨ ✨
December 15, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Head down today to start working on a long-form piece about two of my all-time favourite LPs for @aquariumdrunkard.com. I may be a while. 🤿

Above the noise, behind the glare
I know you're listening out there somewhere
December 15, 2025 at 9:44 AM
US Army basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. The drill sergeants told us we could go to see a movie or pick up garbage and do push-ups all afternoon. Cue a theater full of buzz-cut and homesick young men all crying their eyes out at the not-so-great… The Bodyguard!
December 13, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Had I not been asked to write my recent Talk Talk feature, ‘Hats’ would surely have hovered at the top of my list. Luckily, Eric Hehr is again at his best here (for @aquariumdrunkard.com).
The Blue Nile :: Hats - Aquarium Drunkard
The Blue Nile’s Hats is filled with lovesick people and nocturnal places, existing in a perpetual state of starless nights and slanted rainfall. The album evokes a liminal metropolis bathed in the amb...
aquariumdrunkard.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Dive in and discover…
Aquarium Drunkard :: Year In Review 2025

aquariumdrunkard.com/2025/12/08/a...

Looking back to look ahead. Our list arrives in the spirit of sharing, and we’re back with our annual Year In Review. As always the following is unranked and unruly. Let it blurb.
December 8, 2025 at 5:27 PM
The grabbing hands grab all they can.
December 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM
A small encore…
Talk Talk - I Believe in You (Official Video) [HD Upgrade]
YouTube video by Talk Talk band
youtu.be
December 2, 2025 at 4:47 PM
… in which @tylerwilcox.bsky.social again reliably guides us through some wonderful (and occasionally weird) treasures to be found on @bandcamp.com. So much to discover here.
Bandcamping :: Winter 2025

aquariumdrunkard.com/2025/12/01/b...

Hark, the snow is falling! At least in some places of the world it is. As winter descends, we’ve got some recent/recommended records to soundtrack the chillier months. Fill up your cart for the latest Bandcamp Friday on Dec 5
December 2, 2025 at 6:54 AM
🌱
The Quiet Revolution: Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock

aquariumdrunkard.com/2025/11/28/t...

Some records feel impossible to write about... they resist language the way water resists a net.
November 28, 2025 at 10:12 PM
“These tracks behave less like songs and more like weather systems – shifting, gathering, dissolving.”

The lovely people at @aquariumdrunkard.com asked the almost impossible: some thoughts on Talk Talk’s seminal albums ‘Spirit of Eden’ and ‘Laughing Stock,’ two records that mean very much to me.
The Quiet Revolution: Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock - Aquarium Drunkard
Some records feel impossible to write about. Not because they lack substance, but because they possess too much of it: too much quiet, too much space, too much mystery. They resist language the way wa...
aquariumdrunkard.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
RIP Jimmy Cliff
November 24, 2025 at 12:15 PM
This is rather lovely.
How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life
This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by alex tobin 🍩
Self-Portrait with Cod's Head 1940
https://botfrens.com/collections/90/contents/25877
November 9, 2025 at 1:42 PM