Ian (F) Martin
@ianfmartin.bsky.social
Writer and indie music scene person, based in Tokyo. Author of Quit Your Band! Musical Notes from the Japanese Underground (Awai Books, 2016) / バンドやめようぜ！ (Ele-king books, 2017) and owner of Call And Response Records.
Feeling haunted by the album Chill Out by The KLF today.
November 13, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Feeling haunted by the album Chill Out by The KLF today.
I want to make a joke about billionaires being afraid of Joyce Carol Oates where the punchline is "Uh-oh, here she comes" but can't quite make it work, so just imagine I did a funny one, please.
November 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM
I want to make a joke about billionaires being afraid of Joyce Carol Oates where the punchline is "Uh-oh, here she comes" but can't quite make it work, so just imagine I did a funny one, please.
"Influenced by post-rock..."
OK, might be interesting...
"...shoegaze..."
Hmm, keep going...
"...and dreampop."
OK, this band are going to be inspid and suck.
OK, might be interesting...
"...shoegaze..."
Hmm, keep going...
"...and dreampop."
OK, this band are going to be inspid and suck.
November 11, 2025 at 10:08 AM
"Influenced by post-rock..."
OK, might be interesting...
"...shoegaze..."
Hmm, keep going...
"...and dreampop."
OK, this band are going to be inspid and suck.
OK, might be interesting...
"...shoegaze..."
Hmm, keep going...
"...and dreampop."
OK, this band are going to be inspid and suck.
When the reckoning over the tech industry's many crimes against humanity comes, it's very important that the people at Google responsible for the webp image format don't escape without severe punishment.
November 10, 2025 at 3:19 AM
When the reckoning over the tech industry's many crimes against humanity comes, it's very important that the people at Google responsible for the webp image format don't escape without severe punishment.
Watched The Conversation last night and all I could think about was “Could that bit of gear actually extract audio that clean from a recording that distorted, just by twiddling a knob?” It felt like the weird 2.5D photo analysis bit in Blade Runner.
November 8, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Watched The Conversation last night and all I could think about was “Could that bit of gear actually extract audio that clean from a recording that distorted, just by twiddling a knob?” It felt like the weird 2.5D photo analysis bit in Blade Runner.
Reposted by Ian (F) Martin
This has been out for almost a year now! Still got plenty of CDs left (and now shipping to the EU) so I've dropped the price.
sundrawingsounds.bandcamp.com/album/aftern...
It's a wonderful album, thanks in most part to Sea Level and their reworking of my original.
sundrawingsounds.bandcamp.com/album/aftern...
It's a wonderful album, thanks in most part to Sea Level and their reworking of my original.
Afternoons At The Library, by Sun Drawing + SEA LEVEL
10 track album
sundrawingsounds.bandcamp.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:37 AM
This has been out for almost a year now! Still got plenty of CDs left (and now shipping to the EU) so I've dropped the price.
sundrawingsounds.bandcamp.com/album/aftern...
It's a wonderful album, thanks in most part to Sea Level and their reworking of my original.
sundrawingsounds.bandcamp.com/album/aftern...
It's a wonderful album, thanks in most part to Sea Level and their reworking of my original.
Reposted by Ian (F) Martin
media.newyorker.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:44 PM
If there’s one advance in video gaming since I was a youngster that I wholeheartedly support, it’s that I can now play a graphic adventure based mainly on medieval German monks arguing about Martin Luther and the church’s sale of indulgences.
November 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
If there’s one advance in video gaming since I was a youngster that I wholeheartedly support, it’s that I can now play a graphic adventure based mainly on medieval German monks arguing about Martin Luther and the church’s sale of indulgences.
Luca Blight.
November 3, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Luca Blight.
I've achieved so many of the dreams of my youth but one still eludes me: establishing by law that "everyday" is an adjective meaning ordinary or mundane, while "every day" is an adverbial phrase meaning every day.
November 2, 2025 at 4:35 AM
I've achieved so many of the dreams of my youth but one still eludes me: establishing by law that "everyday" is an adjective meaning ordinary or mundane, while "every day" is an adverbial phrase meaning every day.
That dead period, three hours before I need to go to the venue, when I've already prepared all the merch, the labels for things, the timetable posters, reservations list, done everything I can do to be ready for the event, and now I have nothing to do but at the same time can't relax in any way.
November 2, 2025 at 4:07 AM
That dead period, three hours before I need to go to the venue, when I've already prepared all the merch, the labels for things, the timetable posters, reservations list, done everything I can do to be ready for the event, and now I have nothing to do but at the same time can't relax in any way.
Reposted by Ian (F) Martin
Relieved that Halloween, the worst holiday, is over for another year and that it's now Christmas.
November 1, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Relieved that Halloween, the worst holiday, is over for another year and that it's now Christmas.
Reposted by Ian (F) Martin
it’s sort of hard now to explain how *miraculous* the sample-based DI records sounded in the early 90s. nobody except maybe the young gods really figured out how to use the technology to its fullest in a band context — but DI were melodic and generous. they made pop music.
October 31, 2025 at 9:48 PM
it’s sort of hard now to explain how *miraculous* the sample-based DI records sounded in the early 90s. nobody except maybe the young gods really figured out how to use the technology to its fullest in a band context — but DI were melodic and generous. they made pop music.
Post a solid 7/10 album from the 90s that isn't by like Gene or Marion or something.
October 31, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Post a solid 7/10 album from the 90s that isn't by like Gene or Marion or something.
Disappointed in myself for not knowing already that the London Boys' debut album was called The Twelve Commandments of Dance.
October 31, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Disappointed in myself for not knowing already that the London Boys' debut album was called The Twelve Commandments of Dance.
Otoboke Beaver just supported Oasis at the Tokyo Dome. You're not allowed to talk about them like they're some weird, cool underground Japanese thing anymore.
October 30, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Otoboke Beaver just supported Oasis at the Tokyo Dome. You're not allowed to talk about them like they're some weird, cool underground Japanese thing anymore.
Putting a can in a correctly sized hole is a thing of beauty. The space for two such cans is something greater: wonder, perhaps.
October 27, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Putting a can in a correctly sized hole is a thing of beauty. The space for two such cans is something greater: wonder, perhaps.
There’s a lot of nonsense being talked at the moment about that “six-seven” thing the kids are doing, but I for one am delighted that 90s Nottingham indie rockers Six By Seven are getting this love from the next generation.
October 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
There’s a lot of nonsense being talked at the moment about that “six-seven” thing the kids are doing, but I for one am delighted that 90s Nottingham indie rockers Six By Seven are getting this love from the next generation.
"Please teach me about The Pet Shop Boys" is a phrase every man of a certain age and taste profile loves to hear from a woman.
October 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
"Please teach me about The Pet Shop Boys" is a phrase every man of a certain age and taste profile loves to hear from a woman.
Amid all the fully justified Soft Cell love, it’s good to remember that Dave Ball also made this banger: youtu.be/lS8IbJqdLno?...
THE GRID - SWAMP THING
YouTube video by ACEQUETEVI
youtu.be
October 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Amid all the fully justified Soft Cell love, it’s good to remember that Dave Ball also made this banger: youtu.be/lS8IbJqdLno?...
It’s not on YouTube for obvious reasons, so just go and dig out the real video for Sex Dwarf on your own and celebrate the future that could have been.
October 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
It’s not on YouTube for obvious reasons, so just go and dig out the real video for Sex Dwarf on your own and celebrate the future that could have been.
Walk into a record shop to introduce some cassettes and there’s this lovely music on in the background. Halfway through my pitch I have to stop and say “Is this The Mountain Goats?” The owner gives me a big double thumbs-up and a smile that lights the room. Also takes 3 tapes on consignment.
October 23, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Walk into a record shop to introduce some cassettes and there’s this lovely music on in the background. Halfway through my pitch I have to stop and say “Is this The Mountain Goats?” The owner gives me a big double thumbs-up and a smile that lights the room. Also takes 3 tapes on consignment.
Any time you find yourself wanting to say “overly”, consider just saying “too”.
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Any time you find yourself wanting to say “overly”, consider just saying “too”.