I'm an Eastern European leftie whose peasant ancestors (not all of them, obviously) suffered through famine, unspeakable state-sanctioned violence and extended prison terms during Stalinism and through decades of opression afterwards. The intergenerational trauma is something we're all still struggling with. I cannot bear to hear the "Well, you need to break some eggs in order to make omelette"-type of negationist twaddle and I'm reminded daily of how the authoritarian postwar regimes have made it damn near impossible to resurrect the Left in the region. Don't just fuck tankies, feed them rancid cum only.

Dunno where you stand on all things Apple, but Apple Music is truly stable and has Hi-Fi (lossless). Works on both iOS and Android. Queuing and other specifics might irk you at first - just bear in mind it's different from Spotify in that it favours albums over playlists and algo-generated content. TIDAL's fine and the sound quality rumours you've heard are all true, but still has a bit of ironing out to do. Deezer used to be great, but now it's expensive AF. Just export your library through tunemymusic.com or soundiiz.com first and feel free to explore whatever tickles your fancy.

No matter how many films and TV series use this song or how many people cover it, it'll never be anything less than stunning and seductive.

Almost all of Swans' and Radiohead's output plays chess with my brains, but Sonic Youth's Diamond Sea manages to ask more and more questions with every listen (and there have been quite a few).

I got plenty of gripes with Signal (acting like a de facto proprietary app, backing up horrendously difficult, gimping the Android options in order to get to "feature parity" with the less developed iOS app, serious UI/UX missteps - the bubbles colouring debacle, no AMOLED mode etc.). Having said that, I let everybody know it IS my main messaging app - if they want to reach me, that's where I'll be. I do still use WhatsApp (barf!) and Slack, but exclusively for work-related stuff and I force close them the minute I walk out the office (if something blows up, a good, old-fashioned call will do). People who really want to keep in touch will eventually use an encrypted app, even if begrudgingly.

Swans, Celebrity Lifestyle. Downright addictive.

One of the greatest covers in history, by LCD Soundsystem.

Beat me to it 😂! Essential song.

Great album front to back, but the final two tracks, Blackpool Illuminations especially, cap it off masterfully. Early AOTY contender for me, closely followed by Nadine Shah's Filthy Underneath.

Can't help you there, I fear, I'm an Eastern European. Could it have been "Love spreads", maybe?

I got a pair of mid-range Sennheisers and the difference in quality is noticeable. Could never go back to tin can sound.

I am so, sooo lucky to have been a teenager when this was playing on mainstream channels. Still one of the most criminally underrated bands in history, though.

As vital and important now as it was back then, if not (sadly) even more.

I rarely start playing it without going all the way through. It's almost 2 o'clock in the morning in my country and I had to get my headphones on, my neighbours would kill me otherwise 🙃.

It's choppy yet propulsive, groovy but dark. I love it, certainly among the better releases today.

I was truly glad to hear it during "American Honey" and it was cleverly used there. As far as covers go, this is by far my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oabGb_HiHfs .

Each and every single they've released so far has been an absolute banger. If the album maintains this standard, I think it could be a serious contender for AOTY.

I guess this makes me ancient, but here goes nothing: Blondie, Hangin' on the telephone .

Shaping up to be a great album so far. "The Slab" is a masterpiece of pacing and atmospherics.

This track and "I wanna be adored" burned my teenager neurons in ways I could've never dreamed possible. I consider myself truly lucky to have stumbled upon them at 16.

Glorious track, wish it went for about 10-12 minutes more, hyped AF for the album.

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuxUH4vj-9gYc2yIU3CusOaDiijVFiQxI Does this work?

No sweat!

I bet!

Try this: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Bi26N3mYPsXvFwGV9nAL0?si=ay8XzF4XT2eHyqc1vignXg . Or this: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuxUH4vj-9gYc2yIU3CusOaDiijVFiQxI .

Sheffield: Sex City, by Pulp