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ian

@ismathers.bsky.social

1K followers 690 following 7.3K posts

he/him mathers totonto

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · Jan 1

Ripping this off from many (directly from @tomewing.bsky.social): in 2025, I play to a new-to-me record a day. Partly to prevent year-end listening being so clogged (AGAIN), partly just because I keep finding myself going "I should play more records" and doing nothing about it. Thread to follow.

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1h

and now another match where i want to vote for all four! what the hell!

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1h

after two matches in a row where i'm frustrated i can't vote for all four, this one is kind of a letdown.

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 6h

"Street Dance" is a GB for me, but "Pass the Dutchie" was nearly on my ballot....

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 6h

TOM WHAT DID YOU DO

there's no way the randomizer alone can account for this group of death

(there is, that's the way randomization works, but still i'm steaming at this)

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 6h

"Yah Mo B There" (a title that always makes me laugh a little bit) vs "Sucker MCs" is such a brutal apples/oranges choice I almost can't believe they came out the same year. Voting for a song I largely love for Michael McDonald's sweet voice feels, err, counter to the spirit of the poll though.

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 6h

and now i absolutely can't think of the other one!

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 6h

Frankie/Maze and Kool/Gang are fairly close to tied here, but the latter's video is so charming I think it earns tie breaker status. Might be back for the bonus though....

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 7h

great song, also did not notice that at all back then lol

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 7h

October 10: Bing & Ruth - Tomorrow Was the Golden Age (2014)

Very busy morning at work and needed something soothing to put on while I tried to get some things done. This 'worked' (I got the things done) but more importantly it lives up the hype that got me to put it on my list in the first place.

Tomorrow Was The Golden Age, by Bing & Ruth

9 track album

bingruth.bandcamp.com

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 7h

October 9: Liquid Mike - Hell Is an Airport (2025)

Hell yeah more Liquid Mike! Didn't hook me quite as hard on first listen as Paul Bunyan's Slingshot did, but that album is pretty much perfect so even if this is 'merely' excellent I'll take it.

Hell is an Airport, by Liquid Mike

14 track album

liquidmike.bandcamp.com

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 7h

October 8: Unit 4+2 - 1st Album (1965)

Something around my apartment reminded me of "Concrete and Clay" (which, yes, I originally heard via Rushmore) and I thought, why not see if the album is a hidden gem? It isn't. A disgraceful "La Bamba" and more Christian songs than expected.

Unit 4 + 2 Performs 'Concrete And Clay' at The Barbican | British Pathé

YouTube video by British Pathé

www.youtube.com

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 14h

thank you, good point

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 23h

it's not often i get to say "well, it's no 'party all the time'," but here we are.

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 23h

fuck, group of death. Bebey, i think? unless i change my mind again. bonus probably coming from here too

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 23h

definitely heard the very beginning of the Samantha Rose track before (the Avalanches maybe?); extremely strong group, but "Highlife" pretty much smacked me upside the head

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 23h

going to vote for Lori Vambe while I still can, damn

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

....how the fuck did i never notice that the "Men in Black" song is interpolating "Forget Me Nots"? as good as it and the othe two are, though, "Electric Avenue" was on my ballot for a reason (this is fertile bonus ground though)

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

great group, but "Bam Bam" ought to run away with it

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

when does this one close? it's about to be Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so anything that closes before about Tuesday I need to make sure I finish before I travel

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

online? i wonder if my adblocker is the reason i haven't seen that yet

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

"The general consensus is, ‘How dare you go to that place and make those oppressed people laugh'" is such a disingenuous way to frame it, and i don't think he's stupid enough to think those were the actual criticisms

ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

the older I get the more I find myself offended by video ads (on tv, before movies, wherever). all of them. print ads (etc) just don't bug me as much.

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

we are all your neighbour

Reposted by ian

Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 1d

has anyone lost a rap battle as thoroughly as drake www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Drake lost the rap battle with Kendrick Lamar, judge rules

Judge Jeannette A. Vargas dismissed Drake’s defamation claim against Kendrick Lamar for “Not Like Us,” a song that “contains lyrics explicitly accusing Drake of being a pedophile, set to a catchy beat...

www.theverge.com

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ian @ismathers.bsky.social · 1d

Today someone bumped into some bottles on a shelf in my apartment and I'd swear the sound they made was the opening to "concrete and clay"