the act of just being [t]here
@theactofjustbeingthere.ca
Part music criticism, part nostalgic over-analysis, and deeply unnecessary to all but a niche audience of one (me).
https://www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/
https://www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/
When words fail, Vivek Shraya sings. On New Models, the multi-hyphenate artist lets language fall away, and feelings take the lead.
“Breaking Our Pattern”
When words fail, Vivek Shraya sings. On New Models, the multi-hyphenate artist lets language fall away, and feelings take the lead.
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:32 PM
When words fail, Vivek Shraya sings. On New Models, the multi-hyphenate artist lets language fall away, and feelings take the lead.
Funny how the 1980s anxiety and angst of Tears For Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair feel uncomfortably familiar for a forty-year-old album.
Letting out all my thoughts on THE quintessential album of the 80s.
#tearsforfears
#songsfromthebigchair
Letting out all my thoughts on THE quintessential album of the 80s.
#tearsforfears
#songsfromthebigchair
“Listen”
Funny how the 1980s anxiety and angst of Tears For Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair feel uncomfortably familiar for a forty-year-old album.
open.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Funny how the 1980s anxiety and angst of Tears For Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair feel uncomfortably familiar for a forty-year-old album.
Letting out all my thoughts on THE quintessential album of the 80s.
#tearsforfears
#songsfromthebigchair
Letting out all my thoughts on THE quintessential album of the 80s.
#tearsforfears
#songsfromthebigchair
Rec Centre’s Squash and @nationoflanguage.bsky.social's Dance Called Memory trace echoes of the past without getting lost in them.
“In Another Life”
Rec Centre’s Squash and Nation of Language’s Dance Called Memory trace echoes of the past without getting lost in them.
open.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Rec Centre’s Squash and @nationoflanguage.bsky.social's Dance Called Memory trace echoes of the past without getting lost in them.
I wonder what the stats are on the number of people who changed their social media statuses to “afflicted by a terminal uniqueness” today?
#eldestdaughter
#theLifeOfAShowgirl
#eldestdaughter
#theLifeOfAShowgirl
October 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I wonder what the stats are on the number of people who changed their social media statuses to “afflicted by a terminal uniqueness” today?
#eldestdaughter
#theLifeOfAShowgirl
#eldestdaughter
#theLifeOfAShowgirl
The first stop of a reverse reflection on the music of @bobpetesarah.bsky.social / Saint Etienne is 2025’s International, their latest—and last ever—album as a band.
“The Last Time”
The first stop of a reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne is 2025’s International, their latest—and last ever—album as a band.
open.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
The first stop of a reverse reflection on the music of @bobpetesarah.bsky.social / Saint Etienne is 2025’s International, their latest—and last ever—album as a band.
Cleared for takeoff.
Air Etienne: INTNL → ALPHA, a reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne @bobpetesarah.bsky.social from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991) is now boarding.
[credit: Rob Baker Ashton]
Air Etienne: INTNL → ALPHA, a reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne @bobpetesarah.bsky.social from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991) is now boarding.
[credit: Rob Baker Ashton]
Air Etienne: Now Boarding
A reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne, from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991)
open.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Cleared for takeoff.
Air Etienne: INTNL → ALPHA, a reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne @bobpetesarah.bsky.social from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991) is now boarding.
[credit: Rob Baker Ashton]
Air Etienne: INTNL → ALPHA, a reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne @bobpetesarah.bsky.social from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991) is now boarding.
[credit: Rob Baker Ashton]
Two albums, two very different moods, one post. Sweat it out with Hidden Cameras' Bronto, then drift away with Winter's Adult Romantix.
“How do you love?”
2 IN 1: The Hidden Cameras, Winter
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Two albums, two very different moods, one post. Sweat it out with Hidden Cameras' Bronto, then drift away with Winter's Adult Romantix.
Dan Gorman @yckmd.bsky.social of the Discover Tab invited me to share five Canadian crate-digging-worthy records from @raespoon.bsky.social @purelava.bsky.social #VivekShraya #Devours, and #LittleKid.
Digging for Something with Jim Di Gioia of the act of just being [t]here
Overlooked, underrated, over-hated or regionally specific gems.
open.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Dan Gorman @yckmd.bsky.social of the Discover Tab invited me to share five Canadian crate-digging-worthy records from @raespoon.bsky.social @purelava.bsky.social #VivekShraya #Devours, and #LittleKid.
Antidepressants is alive with urgency, proof that @suedehq.bsky.social aren’t anywhere near taking their last breath. Read the final installment in a retro-flection series that has come full circle from past to present.
“Life is Endless, Life is a Moment”
suede: a retro-flection, POSTLUDE, Antidepressants (and a playlist)
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Antidepressants is alive with urgency, proof that @suedehq.bsky.social aren’t anywhere near taking their last breath. Read the final installment in a retro-flection series that has come full circle from past to present.
No one:
Me: Why, yes! I do have 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's Sci_Fi Lullabies Vol. 2!
Me: Why, yes! I do have 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's Sci_Fi Lullabies Vol. 2!
Re-Introducing the B-Sides: 10 Best from Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2
Suede: a retro-flection, FOURTH INTERMISSION
open.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:32 PM
No one:
Me: Why, yes! I do have 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's Sci_Fi Lullabies Vol. 2!
Me: Why, yes! I do have 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's Sci_Fi Lullabies Vol. 2!
@thetragicallyhip.bsky.social has long carried a complicated weight in Canadian culture: symbols of pride and place, yet often embraced in ways that skim the surface of their music’s depth. There’s still so much more to unpack in what their songs say about who we are, and who we pretend to be.
“To Boldly Clap in a Room Full of Nothing”
What the Tragically Hip tells so-called Canadians about who they are and what they pretend to be.
open.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 1:32 PM
@thetragicallyhip.bsky.social has long carried a complicated weight in Canadian culture: symbols of pride and place, yet often embraced in ways that skim the surface of their music’s depth. There’s still so much more to unpack in what their songs say about who we are, and who we pretend to be.
Summer’s almost over, pumpkin spice is plotting world domination, and I’m not ready. Good thing these four new albums from Hand Habits, TOPS, Water From Your Eyes, and Kathleen Edwards are all kinds of blue (the sleeves) and none of them are blue (the music).
“Bluebird[s] of Happiness”
4x4 with Hand Habits, TOPS, Kathleen Edwards, and Water From Your Eyes
open.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Summer’s almost over, pumpkin spice is plotting world domination, and I’m not ready. Good thing these four new albums from Hand Habits, TOPS, Water From Your Eyes, and Kathleen Edwards are all kinds of blue (the sleeves) and none of them are blue (the music).
With 2022’s Autofiction, @suedehq.bsky.social proved that old geezers can still be punk into their pensioners’ era. Restless, urgent, and unexpectedly intimate, it's an album that punk has no best-before date. The penultimate act in my retro-flection revisit is now live.
Autofiction
suede: a retro-flection, ACT NINE
open.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
With 2022’s Autofiction, @suedehq.bsky.social proved that old geezers can still be punk into their pensioners’ era. Restless, urgent, and unexpectedly intimate, it's an album that punk has no best-before date. The penultimate act in my retro-flection revisit is now live.
What in heavens name is a Labubu?
August 22, 2025 at 10:05 PM
What in heavens name is a Labubu?
Includes my favourite New Pornographers song of all time: “The Bleeding Heart Show.” Classic album.
The New Pornographers' power-pop motherlode 'Twin Cinema' turns 20 tomorrow. A look back:
The New Pornographers' 'Twin Cinema' Turns 20
Carl Newman was on an unstoppable tear — an all-time NBA Jam “HE’S ON FIRE” power-pop onslaught. His band the New Pornographers had exploded out of Vancouver with their high-powered, ultra-catchy 2000...
www.stereogum.com
August 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Includes my favourite New Pornographers song of all time: “The Bleeding Heart Show.” Classic album.
You wanna talk shoegaze? Come at me. But @nojoy.bsky.social’s Bugland is more than just shoegazey, it’s its own living, breathing world.
[ @handdrawndracula.bsky.social / @soniccathedral.bsky.social ]
[ @handdrawndracula.bsky.social / @soniccathedral.bsky.social ]
“I Hate That I Forget What You Look Like”
No Joy, Bugland
open.substack.com
August 21, 2025 at 1:20 PM
You wanna talk shoegaze? Come at me. But @nojoy.bsky.social’s Bugland is more than just shoegazey, it’s its own living, breathing world.
[ @handdrawndracula.bsky.social / @soniccathedral.bsky.social ]
[ @handdrawndracula.bsky.social / @soniccathedral.bsky.social ]
Thanks to everyone who has supported my recent Substack launch.
There is now a dedicated instagram account set up for @theactofjustbeingthere where I will be sharing all future posts.
Please follow me there:
www.instagram.com/theactofjust...
There is now a dedicated instagram account set up for @theactofjustbeingthere where I will be sharing all future posts.
Please follow me there:
www.instagram.com/theactofjust...
August 20, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Thanks to everyone who has supported my recent Substack launch.
There is now a dedicated instagram account set up for @theactofjustbeingthere where I will be sharing all future posts.
Please follow me there:
www.instagram.com/theactofjust...
There is now a dedicated instagram account set up for @theactofjustbeingthere where I will be sharing all future posts.
Please follow me there:
www.instagram.com/theactofjust...
@suedehq.bsky.social’s The Blue Hour felt like a duty to write about more than a joy, but even still, their late-career ambition proves hard to ignore and reminded me why taking risks always wins over playing it safe.
#suede #mysuedestory #thebluehour
#suede #mysuedestory #thebluehour
The Blue Hour
suede: a retro-flection, ACT EIGHT
open.substack.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:36 PM
@suedehq.bsky.social’s The Blue Hour felt like a duty to write about more than a joy, but even still, their late-career ambition proves hard to ignore and reminded me why taking risks always wins over playing it safe.
#suede #mysuedestory #thebluehour
#suede #mysuedestory #thebluehour
In 2016, @suedehq.bsky.social released Night Thoughts, a richly orchestrated, late-career album that’s as cohesive as it is ambitious. The latest entry in the retro-flection series revisits its place in their story.
#suede #mysuedestory #nightthoughts
#suede #mysuedestory #nightthoughts
Night Thoughts
suede: a retro-flection, ACT SEVEN
open.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 1:32 PM
In 2016, @suedehq.bsky.social released Night Thoughts, a richly orchestrated, late-career album that’s as cohesive as it is ambitious. The latest entry in the retro-flection series revisits its place in their story.
#suede #mysuedestory #nightthoughts
#suede #mysuedestory #nightthoughts
🎧 the act of just streaming here 🎧
Yes, it’s a playlist. No, it’s not radical. A lightly haunted jukebox. Some new. Some old. Some weird little in-betweens. The Hidden Cameras, Saint Etienne, Vivek Shraya, Nation of Language + more.
open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...
Yes, it’s a playlist. No, it’s not radical. A lightly haunted jukebox. Some new. Some old. Some weird little in-betweens. The Hidden Cameras, Saint Etienne, Vivek Shraya, Nation of Language + more.
open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...
August 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
🎧 the act of just streaming here 🎧
Yes, it’s a playlist. No, it’s not radical. A lightly haunted jukebox. Some new. Some old. Some weird little in-betweens. The Hidden Cameras, Saint Etienne, Vivek Shraya, Nation of Language + more.
open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...
Yes, it’s a playlist. No, it’s not radical. A lightly haunted jukebox. Some new. Some old. Some weird little in-betweens. The Hidden Cameras, Saint Etienne, Vivek Shraya, Nation of Language + more.
open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...
Bloodsports reconnected @suedehq.bsky.social with the essence that made them vital in the first place. Their 2013 return is a confident, tightly focused album that feels like a reset.
#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports
#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports
Bloodsports
suede: a retro-flection, ACT SIX
open.substack.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Bloodsports reconnected @suedehq.bsky.social with the essence that made them vital in the first place. Their 2013 return is a confident, tightly focused album that feels like a reset.
#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports
#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports
Congrats to King @vishkhanna.bsky.social on the 1000th episode of Kreative Kontrol! Much deserved love to a national treasure!
A Thousand Episodes Deep, Vish Khanna Is Still In Kontrol
Ian MacKaye, U.S. Girls, and Cadence Weapon discuss Khanna and 'Kreative Kontrol,' his essential interview podcast.
www.stereogum.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Congrats to King @vishkhanna.bsky.social on the 1000th episode of Kreative Kontrol! Much deserved love to a national treasure!
Duality is not just the theme of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti’s Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter; it shapes the whole record, looping Dan Colussi’s detached delivery with the intimacy of his arrangements, highlighting the absurdity and precision of it all.
“Do You Ever Think?”
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter
open.substack.com
July 31, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Duality is not just the theme of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti’s Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter; it shapes the whole record, looping Dan Colussi’s detached delivery with the intimacy of his arrangements, highlighting the absurdity and precision of it all.
Kinetic. Volatile. Unstable. Noble.
Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off album from former @suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler, that quietly did everything it needed to.
Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off album from former @suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler, that quietly did everything it needed to.
The Tears, Here Come the Tears
suede: a retro-flection, THIRD INTERMISSION
open.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Kinetic. Volatile. Unstable. Noble.
Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off album from former @suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler, that quietly did everything it needed to.
Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off album from former @suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler, that quietly did everything it needed to.
Big voice. Big heart. Big neon cowgirl energy.
@tamineilson.bsky.social’s latest album is born from grit, grace, and a little bit of neon magic.
Get your glow on.
@tamineilson.bsky.social’s latest album is born from grit, grace, and a little bit of neon magic.
Get your glow on.
“Borrow My Boots”
Tami Neilson, Neon Cowgirl
open.substack.com
July 24, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Big voice. Big heart. Big neon cowgirl energy.
@tamineilson.bsky.social’s latest album is born from grit, grace, and a little bit of neon magic.
Get your glow on.
@tamineilson.bsky.social’s latest album is born from grit, grace, and a little bit of neon magic.
Get your glow on.