Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Abi Bliss

@abibliss.bsky.social

250 followers 370 following 29 posts

Usually here with my @comanewmusic.bsky.social and @yswn.bsky.social faces on, but here as me too. I'm the b&w furry one in the pic, obvs. (she/her)

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · 14d

This'll be fun, and if it isn't, you can come heckle me on the correct pronunciation of Tago Mago, or something...

The Book Corner @bookcornerhx.bsky.social · 14d

Fantastic review for @elizabethalker.bsky.social book EVERYTHING WE DO IS MUSIC, out with @faberbooks.bsky.social

We cannot wait for our event with Elizabeth and @abibliss.bsky.social in Halifax, Sat 11th Oct at The Grayston Unity.

Tickets: www.seetickets.com/event/elizab...

1 2

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · 14d

This'll be fun, and if it isn't, you can come heckle me on the correct pronunciation of Tago Mago, or something...

The Book Corner @bookcornerhx.bsky.social · 14d

1 2

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Sep 8

Slightly diminish a book

Spanner of the Gods

Barberskum Med Duft’s Blues Fermentation feat DJ Meh @jjstannard.bsky.social · Sep 8

Slightly diminish a book

A Hobbit

Michael Molcher @molcher.bsky.social · Sep 8

Slightly diminish a book

The French Ensign's Woman

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Aug 29

Just been on the A646 through Calderdale and there were some feeble attempts on the boarded-up windows of an ex-pub there.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Aug 28

Not to get too LinkedIn on here, but I have some spare freelance capacity this autumn so DM me if you're looking to hire a music writer, copywriter (certified actual human), editor, comms person or ultra-nerdy proofreader. Newsletters, festival brochures, hacking down words to fit, whatever!

6 9

Reposted by Abi Bliss

Jake Blanchard @jakeblanchard.bsky.social · Aug 20

Just added 12 paintings to my Big Cartel-
jakeblanchard.bigcartel.com
£40-£60 each.

I’ve been unable to work the last few weeks due to a wrist injury and my usual chronic pain situation so any support is greatly appreciated!

#paintings #artwork #acrylic #psychedelic #nature #illustration #posca

3 12

Reposted by Abi Bliss

Derek Walmsley @derekwalmsley.bsky.social · Aug 12

Oh! New Wire arrived while I was on holiday. There’s a fantastic @abibliss.bsky.social interview with the two remaining Cabs unknotting much of their history plus I was psyched to talk to members of Black Audio Film Collective about their industrial relations

Front cover of September issue of The Wire with Cabaret Voltaire on the cover

Article on the Black industrialism of Black Audio Film Collective and their relationship with the music and ethos of the Cabs

1 2 17

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Aug 5

Dream interview chatting to Cabaret Voltaire and looking forward to reading all the other essays on them too!

The Wire Magazine @thewiremagazine.bsky.social · Aug 5

The Wire 499 is out now!

Featuring a 10-page Cabaret Voltaire special, plus DJ Haram's Invisible Jukebox, Earshot, Moreskinsound, SANAM, Michael Hurley, Chris Burn, 40 pages of reviews and more.

Copies are available to buy from our webshop now, & on newsstands from 7 Aug:
www.thewire.co.uk/shop/

3 14 52

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Jun 21

Nice day to walk 369 steps up the world's (allegedly) tallest folly, the 'Tower of Spite' product of some impressively expensive Victorian landowner beef: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wainhou...
Thanks to Visit Calderdale volunteers for opening it all up!

Wainhouse tower, a tall Victorian stone chimney with an ornate top.

My partner and I looking rather warm at the top of the tower. Behind is a stone balustrade and a view out across Halifax.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Jun 7

I'm playing in this tomorrow but don't let that put you off!

Contemporary Music for All @comanewmusic.bsky.social · Jun 7

📢Are we ready to MARCH? YES!
🪣Are we telling you what the bucket of gravel is for? NO!
🎵Will you have to come and see it tomorrow to experience two high-energy, high-emotion performances at the @bradford2025.co.uk New Music Biennial festival? YES!!
🎟️Free tickets here: bradford2025.co.uk/event/march/

Photo of a woman with a megaphone standing in front of an ensemble

Photo of an ensemble rehearsing in a school hall.

Photo of two people holding the handles of a large purple bucket of gravel.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Jun 4

Really enjoyed talking to Crystabel Efemena Riley for this about the spaces we find, make and lose, and the shared languages of free improvisation and makeup:

The Wire Magazine @thewiremagazine.bsky.social · Jun 3

The Wire 497 is out now!

Our brand new issue features Haruomi Hosono on the cover, plus Bromp Treb, Christer Bothén, Crystabel Efemena Riley, Blackhaine, DJ Scotch Egg's Invisible Jukebox, plus 40 pages of reviews and much more.

Get it here: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/497

Reposted by Abi Bliss

Yorkshire Sound Women Network @yswn.bsky.social · May 30

TOMORROW! Our @oramawards.bsky.social X YSWN event at Gut Level in Sheffield with @loubarnell.bsky.social performing her live dreamscape GINKO, tape loops from Helen Papaioannou, modular synth from @artistschild.bsky.social and ethereal alt-pop from Cherry Seraph.
Tickets: ra.co/events/2155976 🧵1/2

Poster for Oram Awards x YSWN event showing a red-tinted photo of a mini-Oramics machine on a purple-blue background. Text says: 31 May 2025, 5-10pm, Oram Awards x YSWN Changing Gear. Oram Awards and Yorkshire Sound Women Network team up for an evening at Gut Level.
Workshop: Mini-Oramics Machine with Tom Richards
Changing Gear Live: Helen Papaioannou, Cherry Seraph, Artists' Child
Oram Awards Live: Lou Barnell

1 1 2

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · May 28

In truth, they all look a bit too optimistic to be waiting for a TPE service...

1 3

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · May 28

Venus in Fur Fabrics
First We Take The Manhattan Bus
Trans-Pennine Express
Nick The Paint Stripper

1 4

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · May 23

Would very much recommend a digital subscription if you don't have a creaking loft like me. 40+ years' worth of searchable issues and your roof beams will remain intact...

The Wire Magazine @thewiremagazine.bsky.social · May 23

An urgent message from The Wire magazine

Running an independent music magazine is becoming increasingly difficult. We need your support

www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/e...

An urgent message from The Wire magazine - The Wire

Running an independent music magazine is becoming increasingly difficult. We need your support

www.thewire.co.uk

1 7 16

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · May 9

Looking forward to chatting with @elizabethalker.bsky.social about her new book and all things music when this comes around!

The Book Corner @bookcornerhx.bsky.social · May 9

It's here.

TOWN, our grassroots festival with The Grayston Unity, is back in October 2025.

all tickets & info on our websites:

bookcornerhalifax.com/town/
thegraystonunity.co.uk/whats-on/

2 7

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Apr 28

The observer.co.uk/timeline page is like being menaced by captchas.

A history of The Observer

Independent journalism | News, culture & style | Investigations, analysis, features, ideas, recipes, newsletters & podcasts that make sense of the world

observer.co.uk

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Apr 27

So did mine! Nestled between the Homepride book and The Bean Book, inevitably.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Apr 27

True, but I've carried my copy of this around long after the bedsit days and it's served me well...
...However, I have never yet ventured into the chapter on budget dieting, as that's a whole new level of cabbage-salad grimness.

Cover of 'The Pauper's Cookbook' featuring a very '70s brown-tinged photo of a pork and bean stew in an earthenware pot.

1 1

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Apr 21

Drove past some horrible billboard ads for it today, too - one with a transphobic line about "men muscling in on women's sports" and its neighbour with some 'can't even say you're proud of your country' style nonsense. Weirdly non-Telegraph-buying (but possibly Reform-voting) area of Huddersfield.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Apr 6

Post a photo of yourself from a different era:
1) Home painted Op Art and a black velvet Desiderata poster (top right)... it's June 1980, but still 1973 somehow.
2) Chesil Beach, later in summer 1980, jacket handed down from sometime in the '70s.

Abi as a toddler sitting on a pile of 1970s fabric cushions, playing with a plastic doll. Behind her, a white wall has been painted with an Op Art style circular stripy design.

Toddler Abi lying on large grey and brown rounded pebbles on Chesil Beach, grimacing with her eyes shut, wearing blue jeans, red wellies and a beige sheepskin jacket with wooden toggles.

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Feb 25

I bought my partner a set of the Sorcery! books for Xmas and made a point of trawling eBay for the Penguin/Puffin editions with all the John Blanche illustrations rather than the terrible newer versions.

1 2

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Feb 25

So much better! The Gollancz one has strong 'Not a question, more of a comment'-guy vibes.

2 3

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Feb 25

What about this trio of real charmers threatening me with a good time?

Gollancz editions of The Lathe of Heaven and The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin and Dhalgren by Samuel R Delany, all featuring illustrations of gloomy, grimacing men on the cover and little idea of what the books are about.

2 3

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Feb 19

Yep, I felt quite reassured when I looked into my family tree and found generations of sturdy, dumpy Kentish peasants* who often lived into their 80s and 90s (as did my maternal gran, who was 5' tall and similar round).
*And one French cork-grower

1 1

Abi Bliss @abibliss.bsky.social · Feb 18

I've been painting the kitchen ceiling with this as motivation today - same era, and absolutely on fire: soundcloud.com/rem-official...

SoundCloud - Hear the world’s sounds

Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio

soundcloud.com

1 1 2