“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.

When words fail, Vivek Shraya sings. On New Models, the multi-hyphenate artist lets language fall away, and feelings take the lead.

“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.

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

“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.

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

“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.

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.

Air Etienne: Now Boarding A reverse reflection on the music of Saint Etienne, from International (2025) to Foxbase Alpha (1991)

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]

“How do you love?” 2 IN 1: The Hidden Cameras, Winter

Two albums, two very different moods, one post. Sweat it out with Hidden Cameras' Bronto, then drift away with Winter's Adult Romantix.

Digging for Something with Jim Di Gioia of the act of just being [t]here Overlooked, underrated, over-hated or regionally specific gems.

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.

And be sure to scroll to the end to follow the *suede list* playlist on Apple Music and Tidal.

“Life is Endless, Life is a Moment” suede: a retro-flection, POSTLUDE, Antidepressants (and a playlist)

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.

This is the last Intermission in the suede: a retro-flection series. Tomorrow, the band releases Antidepressants, and I will share my thoughts as a postlude review for the whole series next Tuesday.

Re-Introducing the B-Sides: 10 Best from Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2 Suede: a retro-flection, FOURTH INTERMISSION

No one:
Me: Why, yes! I do have 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's Sci_Fi Lullabies Vol. 2!

“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.

@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.

“Bluebird[s] of Happiness” 4x4 with Hand Habits, TOPS, Kathleen Edwards, and Water From Your Eyes

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).

Autofiction suede: a retro-flection, ACT NINE

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?

Includes my favourite New Pornographers song of all time: “The Bleeding Heart Show.” Classic album.

“I Hate That I Forget What You Look Like” No Joy, Bugland

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 ]

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...

The Blue Hour suede: a retro-flection, ACT EIGHT

@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

Night Thoughts suede: a retro-flection, ACT SEVEN

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

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

🎧 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...

Bloodsports suede: a retro-flection, ACT SIX

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

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.

Congrats to King @vishkhanna.bsky.social on the 1000th episode of Kreative Kontrol! Much deserved love to a national treasure!

“Do You Ever Think?” Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter

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.

🧵 suede: a retro-flection.
Third Intermission: The Tears, Here Come The Tears

Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off from former
@suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler that quietly did everything it needed to.

open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...

#mysuedestory

The Tears, Here Come the Tears suede: a retro-flection, THIRD INTERMISSION

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.

“Borrow My Boots” Tami Neilson, Neon Cowgirl

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.

the act of just being [t]here | Jim Di Gioia | Substack What I'm trying to say... Click to read the act of just being [t]here, by Jim Di Gioia, a Substack publication. Launched 3 months ago.

On my Substack, I have been working through the @suedehq.bsky.social back catalogue for a "retro-flection" series that (if all goes well) will culminate in a review of Antidepressants on Sept 9:

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/t/suede-a-re...

#mysuedestory