Tom Nelthorpe
@nelthorpe.bsky.social
Country stuff. Infrastructure finance stuff. Some metal
Monster Fun from Rob
Absolute banger of a long read from @bondhack.ft.com, ostensibly about Epstein, but ends up solving the qn on who triggered the GFC.
(No spoilers, but you have heard of the actual person.)
Where else but @alphaville.ft.com.
www.ft.com/content/6901...
(No spoilers, but you have heard of the actual person.)
Where else but @alphaville.ft.com.
www.ft.com/content/6901...
No, Jeffrey Epstein didn’t trigger the 2008 subprime meltdown
A Bear Stearns mystery solved
www.ft.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Monster Fun from Rob
Sorry I'm being unnecessarily catty here, because Beaumont is actually doing something about the greys, and larch was introduced to the British Isles before the cut off for ancient woodland. It's also productive and useful. But greys absolutely LOVE nesting in larch.
February 8, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Sorry I'm being unnecessarily catty here, because Beaumont is actually doing something about the greys, and larch was introduced to the British Isles before the cut off for ancient woodland. It's also productive and useful. But greys absolutely LOVE nesting in larch.
"Most of all, Beaumont says it is important to preserve habitat for red squirrels: “They love the ancient woodland, which has all the things they like to eat, like hazel and larch.”" Larch, that famous indicator of ancient broadleaved native woodland...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘On a knife edge’: can England’s red squirrel population be saved?
Government plans to protect species by increasing woodland and removing greys, but campaigners say it needs to go further
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:10 PM
"Most of all, Beaumont says it is important to preserve habitat for red squirrels: “They love the ancient woodland, which has all the things they like to eat, like hazel and larch.”" Larch, that famous indicator of ancient broadleaved native woodland...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Two possible answers: 1) the European doom/pych/stoner market is much deeper than we think 2) I once frequented a record fair in The Dome in Doncaster where one of the stalls was selling a lot of mint HPS vinyl for really quite cheap.
February 6, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Two possible answers: 1) the European doom/pych/stoner market is much deeper than we think 2) I once frequented a record fair in The Dome in Doncaster where one of the stalls was selling a lot of mint HPS vinyl for really quite cheap.
They already doing.... quite well in this area. You could probably, and this is assuming you are comfortable that the market is not overbuilt, just give your current guys more money? www.japantimes.co.jp/business/202...
MUFG eyes piece of AI boom with hiring for data center financing
Financing AI initiatives is becoming a lucrative business for banks worldwide.
www.japantimes.co.jp
February 6, 2026 at 10:20 AM
They already doing.... quite well in this area. You could probably, and this is assuming you are comfortable that the market is not overbuilt, just give your current guys more money? www.japantimes.co.jp/business/202...
I was about to say that Christgau is smiling down from heaven, but fortunately I checked and he still walks among us.
February 6, 2026 at 10:15 AM
I was about to say that Christgau is smiling down from heaven, but fortunately I checked and he still walks among us.
Alors, c'est tout. I am off to watch a play in London about SPIES. Super pumped. Stay dry y'all. /16
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Alors, c'est tout. I am off to watch a play in London about SPIES. Super pumped. Stay dry y'all. /16
They might end up like Deafheaven, and that is not a horrible place to be, in my opinion. Let's see where Atomicult goes. /15
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
They might end up like Deafheaven, and that is not a horrible place to be, in my opinion. Let's see where Atomicult goes. /15
I think this growth is good, and find it hard to get angry at bands for Going Clean. I mean I am not sure if Coffins could continue with clean vocals, but quite a few bands could. And I think Slomatics were set up, style-wise, to go there. /14
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
I think this growth is good, and find it hard to get angry at bands for Going Clean. I mean I am not sure if Coffins could continue with clean vocals, but quite a few bands could. And I think Slomatics were set up, style-wise, to go there. /14
Anyway, I was listening to their last record, "Strontium Fields" in the car on the way back from Doncaster the other night, and I don't think I had appreciated just how clean and melodic they were becoming. www.discogs.com/release/2818... /13
Slomatics - Strontium Fields
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2023 Vinyl release of "Strontium Fields" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Anyway, I was listening to their last record, "Strontium Fields" in the car on the way back from Doncaster the other night, and I don't think I had appreciated just how clean and melodic they were becoming. www.discogs.com/release/2818... /13
But it was possible to do the next best thing before acquiring, on download and vinyl, Slomatics' "Atomicult", which has probably the least fetching cover on a Slomatics record ever (this is, I think, deliberate)/ slomatics.bandcamp.com/album/atomic... /12
Atomicult, by Slomatics
10 track album
slomatics.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
But it was possible to do the next best thing before acquiring, on download and vinyl, Slomatics' "Atomicult", which has probably the least fetching cover on a Slomatics record ever (this is, I think, deliberate)/ slomatics.bandcamp.com/album/atomic... /12
I have slightly backtracked on my promise to listen to records on Tidal before buying them. With the exception of "Paralyzed" and "Biokinetics". It was not as fun without the danger attached to acquiring a potential dud. /11
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
I have slightly backtracked on my promise to listen to records on Tidal before buying them. With the exception of "Paralyzed" and "Biokinetics". It was not as fun without the danger attached to acquiring a potential dud. /11
It topped the @jjkoczan.bsky.social year-end list for 2025. It is unusual that I have only two records in his top ten (and the other one, Temple Fang's "Lifted From the Wind" is still growing on me). But I guess I got a little more bleepy in 2025. theobelisk.net/obelisk/2025... /10
The Obelisk Presents: THE BEST OF 2025 -- Year in Review
[PLEASE NOTE: These are not the results of the year-end poll, which ends in January. If you haven’t contributed your picks yet, please do so here.] — Terrible year, good music. Not the first time that...
theobelisk.net
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
It topped the @jjkoczan.bsky.social year-end list for 2025. It is unusual that I have only two records in his top ten (and the other one, Temple Fang's "Lifted From the Wind" is still growing on me). But I guess I got a little more bleepy in 2025. theobelisk.net/obelisk/2025... /10
Penultimately, we have Howling Giant's "Crucible & Ruin", beloved of another writer I follow with very good ears. This is probably, marginally, going to be the most head-down stoner rock. howlinggiant.bandcamp.com/album/crucib... /11
Crucible & Ruin, by Howling Giant
10 track album
howlinggiant.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Penultimately, we have Howling Giant's "Crucible & Ruin", beloved of another writer I follow with very good ears. This is probably, marginally, going to be the most head-down stoner rock. howlinggiant.bandcamp.com/album/crucib... /11
Which is why it is quite helpful to have @spinal-bap.bsky.social pick the best ones in his Quietus column. "it’s a bit like ISIS meets Earthless" is the sort of helpful snappy description of Lord Elephant that allows me to make high-pressure Bandcamp download decisions. /10
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Which is why it is quite helpful to have @spinal-bap.bsky.social pick the best ones in his Quietus column. "it’s a bit like ISIS meets Earthless" is the sort of helpful snappy description of Lord Elephant that allows me to make high-pressure Bandcamp download decisions. /10
You end up doing slightly rash things like gazing admiringly at a release by a band called "Monsternaut", thinking you like the name and the cover art but suspecting it might let you down (I am still pondering this - good t-shirt?) heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/monste... /9
MONSTERNAUT - Approaching Doom, by HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records
10 track album
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
You end up doing slightly rash things like gazing admiringly at a release by a band called "Monsternaut", thinking you like the name and the cover art but suspecting it might let you down (I am still pondering this - good t-shirt?) heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/monste... /9
Heavy Psych Sounds' takeover of the heavy underground is all but complete. It is just being held back by a) its habit of slapping its name all over its bands' releases' metadata (OK this might be just me) and b) it being quite hard to tell some of its new signings apart sonically /8
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Heavy Psych Sounds' takeover of the heavy underground is all but complete. It is just being held back by a) its habit of slapping its name all over its bands' releases' metadata (OK this might be just me) and b) it being quite hard to tell some of its new signings apart sonically /8
Then it's Lord Elephant, with "Ultra Soul". This is a mix of doom, blues and sludge, and is the band's second album, they are from Italy, and the cover art is quite handsome. heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lord-e... /7
LORD ELEPHANT - Ultra Soul, by HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records
7 track album
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Then it's Lord Elephant, with "Ultra Soul". This is a mix of doom, blues and sludge, and is the band's second album, they are from Italy, and the cover art is quite handsome. heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lord-e... /7
Next up it's "Mother, Give Your Children Sanity"
by Codex Serafini. Psych-punk from the West Country, and probably the least meat and potatoes stoner of the lot. Discovered via Facebook of all places. Potentially silly, just in... different directions. codexserafini.bandcamp.com/album/mother... /6
by Codex Serafini. Psych-punk from the West Country, and probably the least meat and potatoes stoner of the lot. Discovered via Facebook of all places. Potentially silly, just in... different directions. codexserafini.bandcamp.com/album/mother... /6
Mother, Give Your Children Sanity, by CODEX SERAFINI
6 track album
codexserafini.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Next up it's "Mother, Give Your Children Sanity"
by Codex Serafini. Psych-punk from the West Country, and probably the least meat and potatoes stoner of the lot. Discovered via Facebook of all places. Potentially silly, just in... different directions. codexserafini.bandcamp.com/album/mother... /6
by Codex Serafini. Psych-punk from the West Country, and probably the least meat and potatoes stoner of the lot. Discovered via Facebook of all places. Potentially silly, just in... different directions. codexserafini.bandcamp.com/album/mother... /6
So, in no particular order, we first have "Paralyzed" by Paralyzed. And yes, the first song on the album is not only called "Paralyzed", but is very good. So, fair to say this lot like Black Sabbath. Though the vocals are more Samsara Blues Experiment. paralyzedband.bandcamp.com/album/paraly... /5
Paralyzed, by PARALYZED
10 track album
paralyzedband.bandcamp.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
So, in no particular order, we first have "Paralyzed" by Paralyzed. And yes, the first song on the album is not only called "Paralyzed", but is very good. So, fair to say this lot like Black Sabbath. Though the vocals are more Samsara Blues Experiment. paralyzedband.bandcamp.com/album/paraly... /5
I am now down to a grand total of four items on my Bandcamp wishlist, which is the lowest level it has been in a while. None of those is very clever either. /4
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
I am now down to a grand total of four items on my Bandcamp wishlist, which is the lowest level it has been in a while. None of those is very clever either. /4
In my defence, my sole physical acquisition this month was Porter Ricks' "Biokinetics" repress. Which is very amiable but not too somnolent dub techno. So you can listen to it and fall asleep to it. And it has REALLY GOOD bass. www.discogs.com/release/1925... /3
Porter Ricks - Biokinetics
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2021 Vinyl release of "Biokinetics" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
In my defence, my sole physical acquisition this month was Porter Ricks' "Biokinetics" repress. Which is very amiable but not too somnolent dub techno. So you can listen to it and fall asleep to it. And it has REALLY GOOD bass. www.discogs.com/release/1925... /3
Five tasty slabs of uncomplicated psych/stoner rock. It's as if all of humanity's, not mention my, musical evolution never happened. I regret nothing. It's too cold for clever music. /2
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Five tasty slabs of uncomplicated psych/stoner rock. It's as if all of humanity's, not mention my, musical evolution never happened. I regret nothing. It's too cold for clever music. /2
OK, 45 minutes into Bandcamp Friday and we have already finished our cooking (by which I mean splurging). isitbandcampfriday.com /1
Is it Bandcamp Friday?
Is it?
isitbandcampfriday.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
OK, 45 minutes into Bandcamp Friday and we have already finished our cooking (by which I mean splurging). isitbandcampfriday.com /1
‘Suddenly, if you lived in, say, the suburbs of Lincoln, you went from having a choice of five independent restaurants of variable quality and a Wimpy to ten pretty good chains, one independent left and the Wimpy was gone.’ ACCURATE. www.the-fence.com/whining-and-...
Whining and Dining
Sometimes, everything must change so that things can stay the same. Since it opened in 1889, Sweetings has been serving fish lunches smack-bang in the middle of London’s Square Mile, closing by 3pm on...
www.the-fence.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:14 PM
‘Suddenly, if you lived in, say, the suburbs of Lincoln, you went from having a choice of five independent restaurants of variable quality and a Wimpy to ten pretty good chains, one independent left and the Wimpy was gone.’ ACCURATE. www.the-fence.com/whining-and-...