BenW
@s-w-s-l.bsky.social
200 followers 310 following 1.2K posts
Sound and fury signifying nothing
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s-w-s-l.bsky.social
I'd not heard of this book but can certainly imagine it's a good read!
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
'This kind of cross between a northern, working-class Divine and Margarita Pracatan': meet the late (and very remarkable) singer/performer Avril A silentwordsspeakloudest.blogspot.com/2025/10/this...
Reposted by BenW
joannechocolat.bsky.social
The reason the Right are so invested in the myth that the arts have no value isn’t because the arts don’t generate wealth (they do); it’s that studying the arts teaches people to imagine better ways of judging the value of an idea than by counting how much money it makes…
Reposted by BenW
bertrom.bsky.social
Colin Jones was once described as ‘The George Orwell of British Photography.

He began his career as a dancer with The Royal Ballet, before buying his first camera in Japan whilst running an errand for Margot Fonteyn and then never looked back.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Trying to think of the most autumnal YLT album - Fade? Or just Autumn Sweater on a loop? 😂
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Sadly, I think a lot of it comes down to people wanting to be spoonfed what they already know they like rather than taking a punt on something new/different.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Mad, and also infuriating. I don't understand how so many people can be reluctant to go to gigs generally yet don't think twice about parting with daft sums of money for the stadium acts.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Cheers for the share -not sure I'd ever seen the alternative US cover of Is This It before!
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
I certainly thought that when I saw them at Leeds. Julian didn't look remotely interested.
Reposted by BenW
tobyontv.bsky.social
if you’ve ever watched the apprentice, that’s the world without arts or humanities degrees
Reposted by BenW
tupped.bsky.social
Just to be clear, an English degree - learning to critically assess texts - is actually one of the most dangerous for people such as Badenoch.

An educated population, able to bring hundreds of years of context to statements in a dawning age of AI slop and attention-seeking dishonesty is also vital.
bearlypolitics.co.uk
So, the plan is to cut English, the arts, and sociology - the degrees that actually study culture - while on another part of your platform claiming to “defend” British culture.

It’s performance nationalism with a reading age of seven.
Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English
The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
But could he have seen Bouncer's dream?
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Big day for fans on late-00s indie-rock on Friday: the new Besnard Lakes and Antlers albums are both stunners. The former euphoric, the latter bleak as fuck. m.youtube.com/watch?v=PvZA...
The Antlers - Something In The Air (Official Visualiser)
YouTube video by The Antlers
m.youtube.com
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
👍 Went to a gig in London at the weekend and was fully intending to do a DW-style Geordie on Tour outside-venue photo post, but then totally forgot. 🤦 Enjoy!
Reposted by BenW
eamonn-forde.bsky.social
This is not just about me or my book. This is about respecting and valuing actual journalism. Our ideas, our contacts, our ethics, our reputations, our hard work – that’s how stories like those in my book first come to light. If you don’t respect or value any of that, what do you respect and value?
eamonn-forde.bsky.social
A post about Novel Audio, Chris Atkins and their podcast on EMI and Terra Firma.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Nice. I wrote a several-thousand-word-long chapter on that song for a book that never happened. Still hoping there might be some way of getting it out in the world.
Reposted by BenW
groomb.bsky.social
Teenage life, above Shaw, Lancashire, 1957, photo by Bert Hardy.
Reposted by BenW
desdelboy.bsky.social
Photographer Josef Koudelka Scotland, 1977.
Reposted by BenW
craighamilton.bsky.social
I like how the artwork for this Oh Lord Ashcroft LP shows people literally walking towards certain death in the sea when faced with the prospect of staying on the beach with himself and his acoustic.
thequietus.com
'Richard Ashcroft is as much the Scott Walker of Britpop as David Baddiel is the Spike Milligan of comedy is the new rock ‘n’ roll. You’d think someone who is a million different people from one day to the next would have more than a couple of ideas'

#RichardAshcroft - Lovin’ You

buff.ly/2CS4vm8
Richard Ashcroft - Lovin’ You album cover. Photograph of a beach at sunset with Ashcroft silhouetted in the foreground with his arm and guitar raised aloft.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Feel your pain - I did it hoovering last year. Every day a new cruel indignity, it seems.
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
🤬 Who's that, Glenn?
Reposted by BenW
s-w-s-l.bsky.social
Incredibly varied bill, with special mention due to Zewditu Yohannis and Mamush Zenebe's joyous Ethiopian dance music. Even an audience of repressed white Wire readers were motivated to movement.