What are some big/representative amapiano/3step mixes that are worth seeking out? I always feel like this music isn't best heard on YouTube or via 30-hour playlists, I want to hear it in the hands of a DJ who knows what they're doing. Preponderance of big/obvious tunes positively encouraged

Went to see The Drama last night, deeply deeply rancid and highly enjoyable

Here's your moment of zen: A "holy" cat named Coco stands at the entrance of a church in Mexico, seemingly blessing everyone who walks in 🐱

I suspect this new Avalon Emerson album will be very much a consensus pick by December but right now it feels as fresh and crisp as a newly minted spring

I don't know if it's just *gestures vaguely around* but I expected to listen to the Mandy Indiana record once in a generally appreciative way and then never again, but instead I'm finding it incredibly addictive

I'm reading a history of electronic music that is accusing acid house era Britain of paying insufficient attention to black American producers, which is fine except the book also devotes more attention to Keith Allen than Frankie Knuckles. (In the latter case, none at all)

Is 'She's Lost Control' the first recorded incidence of putting a donk on it?

To whom do I report this algorithmic hate crime?

Very excited to play this Great American Novel card game as designed by @vincennes.bsky.social as a birthday present

Watched Sinners last night and mostly enjoyed it. As a horror film it's OK, lacks a bit of tension. As a piece of music criticism it beats anything I read last year.

Just about to follow a recipe that calls for 16 long green chillis and 14 cloves of garlic. Pray for me.

Stamford Bridge transfer policy now entirely potato-based

Listening to a record where a credible producer on the fringes of pop has roped in a songwriter of enormous streaming megahits. Everyone concerned sounds bored and dead-eyed and miles from bringing their A-game. Like, what exactly is the point of these collaborations?

If you know of any writers who can get to southeast London and are looking for a supportive writing community please boost!

Is there an album that says '11am on New Year's Day' better Spirit of Eden? Very much looking for that 'crawling hungover through the wreckage of the previous decade' sound

Here's the kind of storage pro-tip you only get at this kind of year, but the box containing a puff pastry roll fits perfectly in the ridge between two big Toblerones

On the post-Christmas train back from Fife to London. It's mostly empty and arrived on time. I don't understand what is happening. Is this really just the difference between leaving on the 28th vs the 27th?

Is there a word for the weird mix of satisfaction and annoyance you get when a beloved album you'd previously assumed was a niche personal taste thing starts appearing near the top of end-of-year lists?

I really dislike 'Relationships' by Haim, one of those songs that reminds you why show-don't-tell is as important in lyrics as it is in fiction

Very timely but there is a woman in this cafe currently 'explaining' Primal Scream to some obviously disinterested people at the next table

BRB going to see Adrian Dunbar's free jazz version of The Waste Land for the second time

Staying in a hotel where the breakfast buffet contains a bottle of vodka and the fixings for a Bloody Mary. Is this a normal thing now?

Went to see One Battle After Another and yes it's brilliant and the hype is justified and DiCaprio is actually good in it, but also - Chase Infiniti is a more Pynchonesque name than that of any of the actual characters

Very much not a day to go outside so we are attempting to listen to the entirety of that 6hr Harvey and Weatherall mix in one sitting. Should take us right from coffee through to dinner

Commencing a simultaneous couple's readthrough of Gravity's Rainbow. Me for the first time in 25 years, her for the first time full stop. What could possibly go wrong?

The Brentford manager has huge SWP energy in that outfit

I know people disparage session musicians but just imagine having played on Spirit of Eden, Hounds of Love, The Dreaming, Basket of Light, Solid Air, One World, Secrets of the Beehive and the Thunderbirds theme tune. Danny Thompson had one of the greatest CVs in music, RIP

Yes m8

There's an old woman sitting on a riverfront bench in Greenwich, blasting Could You Be Loved and getting random passers by to dance with her. This unexpected summer's evening is a vibe

Dudes on the Greenwich Park bandstand playing Keep On Rocking In The Free World. It's a good day

Mundane activities that take on an unexpectedly terrifying turn: barber asking you "do you support Russia or Ukraine?". I pretended not to have heard him properly and said "Spurs". Then declined the wet shave.

London achievement unlocked - finally swam in a pond on Hampstead Heath. Feel like an idiot for not having done it years ago

FFS I've been in the kitchen for three minutes

Is there a Greek/Shakespearean tragedy in which a leader slavishly follows public opinion only to consistently find himself on the wrong side of it?

This is awful news, this guy has given me more amazing nights than I can remember (quite literally), and an unbelievably lovely person as well. bsky.app/profile/mixm...

Would strongly recommend hearing this record for the first time while reaching the top of a hill in this weather: open.spotify.com/track/4wKbwW...

Yes I know The Discourse is happening but sadly in this case the artist's name is actually indicative of the general standard of wordplay

I know he's had some health problems of late but if Ian McKellen didn't take the opportunity to walk through the Stone Circle at 5am in some crazy robes and carrying a staff then he's wasted his trip to Glastonbury. People would freak the hell out.

It's possible that, on a day like this, there is no better way to cross London than looking west on the boat from Battersea to Greenwich (soft rock soundtrack optional but highly recommended)

"Over the past few years, to the traditional sounds of an English summer - the drone of lawnmowers, the smack of leather on willow, the chirrup of stolen Lime bikes - has been added a new noise..."

The simple joy of sharing some cans at the top of a hill on a midsummer evening. Should really go to Hilly Fields more often

Our train just went above the route of the Naked Bike Ride. Some of those people clearly had clothes on, the pervs

This remains an unimpeachable banger: youtu.be/Zd16mB1hE0w?...

Things that do not feel normal in London, spotting a turtle paddling around in Regents Canal

Pre-dinner drinks last night in a randomly chosen corner bar in Hackney, a diverse group of drinkers challenging everyone in the bar to the world's most raucous Connect 4 tournament, buying shots for everyone in the bar as a forfeit. This should happen all the time in London and never does.

Whoever gave These New Puritans access to a gigantic cathedral organ has done the world a valuable service

Bold prediction: "it's because they're called Smerz" is the new "it's because they're called Spoon"

That was the worst game of football I've ever seen but I don't care right now

Play the Vengaboys so they can sing the Mateta song

Great as this final is, nothing's going to top two members of the medical staff squaring up