Alex Holland
@alexlotl.bsky.social
Mostly posting about music, retro games, cats and poached eggs. He/him.
It’s been a Walker Week - lots of Walker Brothers earlier after a forum thread on mono mixes sent me down a rabbit hole. Now onto Scott’s solo albums proper, from these 1992 Fontana discs (stereo - no CD of mono).
I always see his 60s solo work as two pairs - Scott 1 & 2 and Scott 3 & 4.
#cdFriday
I always see his 60s solo work as two pairs - Scott 1 & 2 and Scott 3 & 4.
#cdFriday
November 28, 2025 at 10:54 AM
It’s been a Walker Week - lots of Walker Brothers earlier after a forum thread on mono mixes sent me down a rabbit hole. Now onto Scott’s solo albums proper, from these 1992 Fontana discs (stereo - no CD of mono).
I always see his 60s solo work as two pairs - Scott 1 & 2 and Scott 3 & 4.
#cdFriday
I always see his 60s solo work as two pairs - Scott 1 & 2 and Scott 3 & 4.
#cdFriday
Me, after discovering a podcast devoted to comparing the mono and stereo mixes of 1960s albums.
November 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Me, after discovering a podcast devoted to comparing the mono and stereo mixes of 1960s albums.
One week in. Using it for 1hr every week day, distance about 50cm. I think it is helping, mood and energy definitely improved.
While I’m relieved that it’s working, I’m also slightly disappointed in my animal brain for being fooled by this simple trick. It’s not the sun, you fool, it’s just a lamp!
While I’m relieved that it’s working, I’m also slightly disappointed in my animal brain for being fooled by this simple trick. It’s not the sun, you fool, it’s just a lamp!
November 25, 2025 at 9:19 AM
One week in. Using it for 1hr every week day, distance about 50cm. I think it is helping, mood and energy definitely improved.
While I’m relieved that it’s working, I’m also slightly disappointed in my animal brain for being fooled by this simple trick. It’s not the sun, you fool, it’s just a lamp!
While I’m relieved that it’s working, I’m also slightly disappointed in my animal brain for being fooled by this simple trick. It’s not the sun, you fool, it’s just a lamp!
Cats: mammals, or glitchy AI hallucinations?
I imagine this is kind of like what happens inside the chrysalis during metamorphosis.
I imagine this is kind of like what happens inside the chrysalis during metamorphosis.
November 21, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Cats: mammals, or glitchy AI hallucinations?
I imagine this is kind of like what happens inside the chrysalis during metamorphosis.
I imagine this is kind of like what happens inside the chrysalis during metamorphosis.
Spinning my imperial-era Roses discs in memory of Mani. I bought the debut from Woolies when I was 15, and learnt to play She Bangs The Drums on the bass, badly.
One for the spotters, this is the first UK CD of the debut, with a white rear inlay and no barcode. A lucky £1 car boot find!
#cdFriday
One for the spotters, this is the first UK CD of the debut, with a white rear inlay and no barcode. A lucky £1 car boot find!
#cdFriday
November 21, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Spinning my imperial-era Roses discs in memory of Mani. I bought the debut from Woolies when I was 15, and learnt to play She Bangs The Drums on the bass, badly.
One for the spotters, this is the first UK CD of the debut, with a white rear inlay and no barcode. A lucky £1 car boot find!
#cdFriday
One for the spotters, this is the first UK CD of the debut, with a white rear inlay and no barcode. A lucky £1 car boot find!
#cdFriday
Tons of albums - as someone who would normally be interested in an artist of his profile, I find his prolificity puts me right off.
I have no idea where to start, and part of me really doesn’t want to run the risk of liking his music and ending up chasing down more than a hundred albums.
I have no idea where to start, and part of me really doesn’t want to run the risk of liking his music and ending up chasing down more than a hundred albums.
November 19, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Tons of albums - as someone who would normally be interested in an artist of his profile, I find his prolificity puts me right off.
I have no idea where to start, and part of me really doesn’t want to run the risk of liking his music and ending up chasing down more than a hundred albums.
I have no idea where to start, and part of me really doesn’t want to run the risk of liking his music and ending up chasing down more than a hundred albums.
Me turning my new SAD lamp on for the first time. Hopefully I will soon be a new kind of man.
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Me turning my new SAD lamp on for the first time. Hopefully I will soon be a new kind of man.
There’s a BBC Sub-Editor going to bed happy tonight. Sometimes the stars just align.
November 17, 2025 at 11:21 PM
There’s a BBC Sub-Editor going to bed happy tonight. Sometimes the stars just align.
A Hard Day's Night on Bluesky.
(Turns out that a few of the original photos also fit the brief, Paul in particular doing great work here.)
(Turns out that a few of the original photos also fit the brief, Paul in particular doing great work here.)
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
A Hard Day's Night on Bluesky.
(Turns out that a few of the original photos also fit the brief, Paul in particular doing great work here.)
(Turns out that a few of the original photos also fit the brief, Paul in particular doing great work here.)
Freshly arrived from eBay, a frankly terrifying amount of Big Star’s Third.
I basically bought this for the third disc, which is the urtext for final masters of this endlessly resequenced argument of an album.
Now to spend a few weeks trying out different track listings!
#cdFriday
I basically bought this for the third disc, which is the urtext for final masters of this endlessly resequenced argument of an album.
Now to spend a few weeks trying out different track listings!
#cdFriday
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Freshly arrived from eBay, a frankly terrifying amount of Big Star’s Third.
I basically bought this for the third disc, which is the urtext for final masters of this endlessly resequenced argument of an album.
Now to spend a few weeks trying out different track listings!
#cdFriday
I basically bought this for the third disc, which is the urtext for final masters of this endlessly resequenced argument of an album.
Now to spend a few weeks trying out different track listings!
#cdFriday
This just got RTed onto my feed. By chance, yesterday I watched a Sweet Baboo music video from 10 years ago and was struck by the beetle art on the wall. I'm guessing it's one of yours?
(I love the origami purses, BTW - might pickup a few of those for Christmas)
(I love the origami purses, BTW - might pickup a few of those for Christmas)
November 13, 2025 at 1:21 PM
This just got RTed onto my feed. By chance, yesterday I watched a Sweet Baboo music video from 10 years ago and was struck by the beetle art on the wall. I'm guessing it's one of yours?
(I love the origami purses, BTW - might pickup a few of those for Christmas)
(I love the origami purses, BTW - might pickup a few of those for Christmas)
Coco luxuriating on the same rug that she tries to scratch to ribbons whenever we’re not looking.
No jury would convict.
No jury would convict.
November 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Coco luxuriating on the same rug that she tries to scratch to ribbons whenever we’re not looking.
No jury would convict.
No jury would convict.
Watching a DVD on my laptop like it’s 2004. Or possibly 1874.
November 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Watching a DVD on my laptop like it’s 2004. Or possibly 1874.
Something about the gloomy skies put me in the mood for Wheels of Fire this morning. This is the old WG Polydor disc, processed in Audacity to remove the awful CSG encoding and align the channels. The difference is incredible, especially on headphones.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
#cdFriday
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
#cdFriday
November 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Something about the gloomy skies put me in the mood for Wheels of Fire this morning. This is the old WG Polydor disc, processed in Audacity to remove the awful CSG encoding and align the channels. The difference is incredible, especially on headphones.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
#cdFriday
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
#cdFriday
Someone is a bit dozy after her annual vaccine jabs.
November 6, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Someone is a bit dozy after her annual vaccine jabs.
New jeans ritual. Reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson twenty years ago made me properly understand that *I* own my clothes, and I can just remove any branding or labels that bother me. I do stop short of sanding down the rivets, though!
November 2, 2025 at 10:56 AM
New jeans ritual. Reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson twenty years ago made me properly understand that *I* own my clothes, and I can just remove any branding or labels that bother me. I do stop short of sanding down the rivets, though!
A few spun today. Tim Hardin in the afternoon - this cheap ‘94 set gets you Tim Hardin 1, 2 & 4, plus some bits, all well mastered.
For a rainy Halloween evening, Climate of Hunter by Scott Walker. A big Hardin fan who borrowed his album naming scheme, and covered a few of his tracks.
#cdFriday
For a rainy Halloween evening, Climate of Hunter by Scott Walker. A big Hardin fan who borrowed his album naming scheme, and covered a few of his tracks.
#cdFriday
October 31, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A few spun today. Tim Hardin in the afternoon - this cheap ‘94 set gets you Tim Hardin 1, 2 & 4, plus some bits, all well mastered.
For a rainy Halloween evening, Climate of Hunter by Scott Walker. A big Hardin fan who borrowed his album naming scheme, and covered a few of his tracks.
#cdFriday
For a rainy Halloween evening, Climate of Hunter by Scott Walker. A big Hardin fan who borrowed his album naming scheme, and covered a few of his tracks.
#cdFriday
Well I, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 met a traveller,
From an antique land,
Who said, in the desert
Vast trunkless legs do staaaaaand!
The plaque says Ozyman-ian-ian-dias
Out in the lonely sands.
“Oh look”, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 “on my works,
Ye mighty and despair”
While his shattered visage,
Up at the Sky does staaaaare…
From an antique land,
Who said, in the desert
Vast trunkless legs do staaaaaand!
The plaque says Ozyman-ian-ian-dias
Out in the lonely sands.
“Oh look”, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 “on my works,
Ye mighty and despair”
While his shattered visage,
Up at the Sky does staaaaare…
October 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Well I, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 met a traveller,
From an antique land,
Who said, in the desert
Vast trunkless legs do staaaaaand!
The plaque says Ozyman-ian-ian-dias
Out in the lonely sands.
“Oh look”, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 “on my works,
Ye mighty and despair”
While his shattered visage,
Up at the Sky does staaaaare…
From an antique land,
Who said, in the desert
Vast trunkless legs do staaaaaand!
The plaque says Ozyman-ian-ian-dias
Out in the lonely sands.
“Oh look”, 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 “on my works,
Ye mighty and despair”
While his shattered visage,
Up at the Sky does staaaaare…
Two new pickups for #cdFriday. I have a nice routine when working in the office of hitting up Oxfam Books for some randomised post-lunch listening.
Very surprised to find some Deerhoof! Getz/Gilberto is the old WG CD, nice warm analogue sound.
Very surprised to find some Deerhoof! Getz/Gilberto is the old WG CD, nice warm analogue sound.
October 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Two new pickups for #cdFriday. I have a nice routine when working in the office of hitting up Oxfam Books for some randomised post-lunch listening.
Very surprised to find some Deerhoof! Getz/Gilberto is the old WG CD, nice warm analogue sound.
Very surprised to find some Deerhoof! Getz/Gilberto is the old WG CD, nice warm analogue sound.
I’d swear these two are related.
October 18, 2025 at 6:28 PM
I’d swear these two are related.
I saw Cate Le Bon play live in York on Tuesday, and picked up her latest album from the merch table.
It’s cracker, and the live show was nothing short of incredible. A real culmination of everything she’s been doing from Reward onwards.
Are there any other seven album runs this good?
#cdFriday
It’s cracker, and the live show was nothing short of incredible. A real culmination of everything she’s been doing from Reward onwards.
Are there any other seven album runs this good?
#cdFriday
October 17, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I saw Cate Le Bon play live in York on Tuesday, and picked up her latest album from the merch table.
It’s cracker, and the live show was nothing short of incredible. A real culmination of everything she’s been doing from Reward onwards.
Are there any other seven album runs this good?
#cdFriday
It’s cracker, and the live show was nothing short of incredible. A real culmination of everything she’s been doing from Reward onwards.
Are there any other seven album runs this good?
#cdFriday
With the nights drawing in, I’ve started playing Lemmings again, this time Oh No, More Lemmings.
Just cleared Tame difficulty (the first 20 levels), which was an utter waste of time. All trivial with no threats or falls, and with 20 of every skill. Mostly just bashing, didn’t lose a single Lem.
Just cleared Tame difficulty (the first 20 levels), which was an utter waste of time. All trivial with no threats or falls, and with 20 of every skill. Mostly just bashing, didn’t lose a single Lem.
October 12, 2025 at 7:18 PM
With the nights drawing in, I’ve started playing Lemmings again, this time Oh No, More Lemmings.
Just cleared Tame difficulty (the first 20 levels), which was an utter waste of time. All trivial with no threats or falls, and with 20 of every skill. Mostly just bashing, didn’t lose a single Lem.
Just cleared Tame difficulty (the first 20 levels), which was an utter waste of time. All trivial with no threats or falls, and with 20 of every skill. Mostly just bashing, didn’t lose a single Lem.
In terms of currently playing, as the old rhyme goes, “Something old, something new, something to play on the loo”.
Recent completions (and ratings) include River City Girls (8), Donut County (6), Gris (7), Lara Croft Go (8) and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (9).
Recent completions (and ratings) include River City Girls (8), Donut County (6), Gris (7), Lara Croft Go (8) and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (9).
October 11, 2025 at 9:18 AM
In terms of currently playing, as the old rhyme goes, “Something old, something new, something to play on the loo”.
Recent completions (and ratings) include River City Girls (8), Donut County (6), Gris (7), Lara Croft Go (8) and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (9).
Recent completions (and ratings) include River City Girls (8), Donut County (6), Gris (7), Lara Croft Go (8) and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (9).
TBH, you'll probably have a better time if you use ScummVM rather than the Steam executable. Instructions here: wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Th...
ScummVM also supports RetroArch shaders now, so as well as vanilla pixels you can (optionally) use some very decent CRT emulation.
ScummVM also supports RetroArch shaders now, so as well as vanilla pixels you can (optionally) use some very decent CRT emulation.
October 11, 2025 at 8:39 AM
TBH, you'll probably have a better time if you use ScummVM rather than the Steam executable. Instructions here: wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Th...
ScummVM also supports RetroArch shaders now, so as well as vanilla pixels you can (optionally) use some very decent CRT emulation.
ScummVM also supports RetroArch shaders now, so as well as vanilla pixels you can (optionally) use some very decent CRT emulation.
The 1994 Rolling Stones CD reissues had this after the band name on the spines. Awful.
October 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
The 1994 Rolling Stones CD reissues had this after the band name on the spines. Awful.