Great to see so many people enjoying a swim from Breakwater Beach in beautiful #Brixham this morning (before the rain came I ) - water and air still quite warm (well comparatively), aside from the wind. Yes, I did join them!

A is for Andover #Parkrun today - adding to my A303 collection en route to Devon.

There was a stiff breeze across The Stray for Harrogate #parkrun - but the rain stopped just before 9am and the sun unexpectedly came out and I saw a rainbow. I’m blaming the mud for my very poor time this week.

Really pleased I made it to @leedsmuseums.bsky.social for the Music Leeds Us exhibition today - in which me and my old fanzines feature a tiny bit. A really nice trip down memory lane with lots of old gig tickets, posters and exhibits reminding me of my early gigs in the mid-late ‘80s.

So great to see @prolapseband.bsky.social (pictured here in all the colours) in London last night - highly recommended if you get a chance to catch one of the remaining dates on this tour.

Sun came out, rain held off and the autumn colours were fabulous on the Basingstoke Canal this afternoon (pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month).

Really lovely evening seeing @darrenhayman.bsky.social playing his Ship’s Piano album (on a ship, on a piano) in Canary Wharf tonight. I’d forgotten what a beautiful record it is.

Finally made the 3-mile bike ride each way over to Richmond Old Deer Park #Parkrun this morning - and it’s as friendly as everyone says. Great way to start the weekend, as ever!

It’s been a nice autumn day out on the #LondonLoop and Hogsmill River Walk from Ewell to Kingston today.

And this is great news too. New songs have been sounding amazing live (as have the old ones, obviously).

Oh yes!

Looking forward to seeing this Leeds music exhibition - in which I / my old fanzines feature in a very minor way - when I’m “back home” in Yorkshire in a couple of weeks. My early gigs / fanzine interviews etc in the mid-80s were largely in Leeds. museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/music-leeds-...

Nice to see the much-missed Ruth Miller of Po! fame getting an acknowledgement in this: www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

These waking tours look really great: A walking tour of the real Handsworth www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

Lovely little swim from a tiny secluded beach on Miyajima Island near Hiroshima yesterday. Very warm here still.

Such good fun DJing and meeting a tonne of lovely people at the super-nice Anorak Days club in Osaka last night. Hooray for the international indiepop underground!

Should anyone happen to be in Osaka tonight, it’s the Anorak Days indie club night with the doubtless excellent “regular” club DJs and, err, me doing a couple of guest DJ slots. Looking forward to it!

Great to kick off the weekend here in Osaka with @walking-class-hero.bsky.social at the super-friendly Tsurumi Ryokuchi #parkrun - huge thanks to all the lovely volunteers for making it such a great event - and to the rain for not being quite as full-on as forecast. I even managed to run quite well!

Two Shinkansen trains almost nose to nose at Tokyo station. I last went on one of these in 1992 on your with Heavenly @heavenlyamelia.bsky.social @skepwax.bsky.social Hoping to see Mount Fuji out of the window (as we did last time).

Shibuya Crossing Tokyo on a Monday lunchtime.

We really struggle to get tickets for @banquetrecords.com events these days - so it was especially lovely to see #TheDivineComedy at Circuit tonight. Hurray!

This absolute beauty was reissued a couple of weeks ago and is still very much available in all good record shops etc. - still sounds amazing 36 years on from initial release.

Two consecutive late nights of gigs and too much beer aren’t the best training for #Parkrun - but wonderful Whitstable this morning coincided perfectly with a break in the rain, and the sun came out, and it was brilliant. 3rd week in a row of not braving a swim after a seaside Parkrun though.

Really special to be at #RamsgateMusicHall last night for the very magical first ever @brianbilston.bsky.social and the Catenary Wires show - what a fabulous lovely evening with lots of great company that was. Check out tickets for upcoming tour if haven’t already.

Thanks to @needlemythology.bsky.social and @kensweeney.bsky.social for giving me and @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social copies of the beautiful reissue of Brian’s Understand. I live handily near one of @needlemythology.bsky.social though on the wrong side of the river, so paddled over to pick them up.

Was planning to swim after the lovely Teignmouth Promenade #parkrun today - but it was windy enough for seaspray to cool us as we ran in one section, so I’ll have a swim at Breakwater in Brixham later. Lovely way to kick off the weekend as ever.

Preorder LIGHTNING IN A TWILIGHT HOUR "There's More To Life Than Crooks" 12" Maxi-Single [Limited Edition of 300 copies · Black Vinyl] Release date: *5-9-2025* elefant.com/en

Snuck out just in time for Bandcamp Friday. Really lovely stuff 👇 blueboy.bandcamp.com/album/a-life...

This should be on everyone’s turntable. Yet more great songwriting from Bobby Wratten elefant.com/en/video_ope...

And this is out tomorrow- what an absolute treat!

Oh yes!

My pleasure! One for @peterstone.bsky.social

We would have loved to have released this on #SarahRecords but sadly it was not to be. So great that it’s been reissued - it truly is a lost classic.

Long weekend in Blackpool for the Country Music Festival and #Parkrun in the lovely Stanley Park with @walking-class-hero.bsky.social. The sea isn’t looking too inviting for a dip so far though.

30 years ago today, me & Matt @unchartered threw away the thing that had pretty much consumed our whole adult lives - which was also our livelihoods - & threw a big party to say a noisy, slightly chaotic, somewhat drunken goodbye to our wonderful record label, Sarah.

We're celebrating 10,000 Slow Ways routes with this stunning and electric mapping of our network by @urbangood.bsky.social. The full map shows 5,790 routes rated 3+. A massive congratulations and thanks to all of our volunteers. See the map in full here buildstories.slowways.org/celebrating-...

I was planning to go to the Autocamper and Chime School London gig tonight, but not feeling too clever. If anyone wants my ticket, please holler - I’m sure it will be a great night!

Another lovely evening with the @skepwax.bsky.social family - so lovely to see Lightheaded and, of course, the absolutely wonderful Heavenly. What a week!

Here’s the fabulous swag I was lucky enough to be given last night - #TheOrchids Lyceum reissue is out soon and @precrecs.bsky.social can confirm when the #Blueboy live album is out. Hurray for both.

Needed to have an early night to keep up my stamina for night 3 of the @skepwax.bsky.social extravaganza tomorrow - but what an absolute delight to see The Orchids and Would-Be-Goods before my phone’s bedtime reminder chirruped.

Lovely evening with @skepwax.bsky.social seeing Jeanines and Sassyhiya in some lovely company. & here’s to more more of the same as the weekend progresses!

Excellent evening stroll with @walking-class-hero.bsky.social from Vauxhall to Sloane Square this evening.

We made a small detour to the amazing @englishheritage.bsky.social Waylands Smithy on our walk on The Ridgeway @nationaltrailsuk.bsky.social on Sunday. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before.

I need to get myself a copy of this sharpish!

Lovely #TheLeas #Parkrun on the prom at Minster on the Isle of Sheppey today with @walking-class-hero.bsky.social - and a swim in the sea after for me, although it was very far away because I hadn’t even considered the tide.

Sunset from Queenborough, Sheppey last night, after pizza and a pint or two in the local microbeer pub, was pretty stunning.

Check them out if you’ve not heard them - on @damagedgoodsrecs.bsky.social and very lovely!

Lovely - but hot - walk today on the #LondonLoop from Uxbridge to Harefield West with @walking-class-hero.bsky.social

Spent a fair amount of time in the car this last week (very unusually) - and in some excellent @spinoutnuggets.bsky.social company @lovejoy-official.bsky.social @jetstreampony.bsky.social

Stopped off for #Cranbrook #Parkrun (& breakfast) with my nephew on the way back from Brixham this morning and appropriately enough completed the Parkrun Pirates Challenge (7Cs and an R) in the process - conveniently distracting myself from my super-slow performance.