iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 27/09/2026

Top artists • 21–27 Sept 1. Motörhead 2. Stereolab 3. Kate Bush 4. T. Rex 5. Trembling Blue Stars 6. David Bowie 7. Damon & Naomi 8. deary 9. Radhika 10. R.E.M. 11. Joanna Newsom 12. The Rolling Stones 13. Lush 14. Dot Allison 15. Tacoma Radar 16. Mark Peters

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 27/09/2026

Just watched The Session Man, a documentary about Nicky Hopkins, it was so bad. This bench was more insightful!

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 04/05/2026

Top artists • 27 Apr – 3 May 1. Elis Regina 2. Sex Pistols 3. Belly 4. Nick Lowe 5. She & Him 6. The Clash 7. The Monkees 8. Yo La Tengo 9. Asobi Seksu 10. Marissa Nadler 11. Kristin Hersh 12. Whitelands 13. Low 14. No, Really 15. Mazzy Star 16. Blondie

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 27/04/2026

Top artists • 20–26 Apr 1. Steeleye Span 2. Lindi Ortega 3. The Magnetic Fields 4. Donna Regina 5. Jo Quail 6. Cowboy Junkies 7. Damon & Naomi 8. Rory Gallagher 9. Espers 10. Children of the Sün 11. Electric Light Orchestra 12. Wings 13. The Jam 14. Yvonne Elliman 15. Boney M. 16. Galaxie 500

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 14/04/2026

Top artists • 6–12 Apr 1. Wings 2. Ela Orleans 3. Sudan Archives 4. Throwing Muses 5. The Kinks 6. Paul McCartney 7. Stealing Sheep 8. The Bonzo Dog Band 9. Graham Bond Organisation 10. Whitelands 11. CMAT 12. Ballboy 13. John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 14. Saloon 15. Thee Milkshakes 16. Dean & Britta

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 06/04/2026

Top artists • 30 Mar – 5 Apr 1. Luna 2. Nanci Griffith 3. deary 4. Spiritualized 5. Cat Power 6. Dean & Britta 7. Marissa Nadler 8. McCarthy 9. R.E.M. 10. Beth Orton 11. Seefeel 12. Line et Willy 13. The Cardigans 14. Candi Staton 15. Carly Simon

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 30/03/2026

Top artists • 23–29 Mar 1. Status Quo 2. Hüsker Dü 3. Madder Rose 4. David Bowie 5. Paul Simon 6. Carly Simon 7. Kitchens of Distinction 8. The Zephyrs 9. Andrew Wasylyk 10. Damon & Naomi 11. Hanoi Rocks 12. National Park 13. Vaganza 14. T. Rex 15. deary 16. The Monkees

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 23/03/2026

Top artists • 16–22 Mar 1. Stereolab 2. Laura Cannell 3. Camera Obscura 4. Girl Ray 5. The Sugarcubes 6. Nick Drake 7. Damon & Naomi 8. Novak 9. The Temptations

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 09/03/2026

Top artists • 2–8 Mar 1. Mirah 2. Françoise Hardy 3. Portishead 4. Beth Orton 5. Dr. Feelgood 6. Damon & Naomi 7. Bobbie Gentry 8. The Shins 9. Dummy 10. Jana Horn 11. Whitelands 12. Angel Corpus Christi 13. The Zombies 14. Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 28/02/2026

A couple of my snaps of last week's splendid show in Newcastle by @whitelands.bsky.social

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 23/02/2026

Top artists • 16–22 Feb 1. Whitelands 2. Wings 3. John Parish 4. Slumber Party 5. Julianna Barwick 6. The Cords 7. Paul & Linda McCartney 8. My Robot Friend 9. Yeti Lane 10. Elaine Howley 11. The Specials 12. Carole King 13. Quickspace 14. The Seekers 15. Blondie 16. Kate Bush

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 16/02/2026

Top artists • 9–15 Feb 1. Billy Fury 2. The Primitives 3. Sharron Kraus 4. Doleful Lions 5. Björk 6. Eric Dolphy 7. Carole King 8. Robert Plant 9. Dean Wareham

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 28/01/2026

#nowplaying Sunlight Echoes by @whitelands.bsky.social on @soniccathedral.bsky.social ~ it is very sweet and poppy and a bit tangy

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 20/01/2026

#nowplaying Sans toi - Corinne Marchand et Michel Legrand

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 17/01/2026

Hillheads Park / 17th January 2026 / Northern League 1 Whitley Bay 0 Guisborough Town 2 Attendance: 366 The Bay were pretty well beaten by the team likely to be champions #whitleybayfc #guisboroughtown #northernleague

Taken from behind the goal. Players from both sides are lining up on the edge of the eighteen yard box waiting for a free kick to be taken. The floodlights are on and the stand behind proudly announces "Whitley Bay Football Club"

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 16/01/2026

It seems the ghost of the long, long, gone Whitley Bay bandstand appeared in the frost this morning. Apparently demolished ~80 years ago! #WhitleyBay #Bandstand #BandstandsOfBluesky

083 8

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 01/01/2026

Whitley Bay / 1st January 2026 / watching nature's fireworks #whitleybay #newyearsday #waves #runaway

122 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 01/01/2026

Top artists • 2025 • the usual suspects 1. Galaxie 500 2. The Beatles 3. Luna 4. Motörhead 5. Dean & Britta 6. Fairport Convention 7. Stereolab 8. Dean Wareham 9. Damon & Naomi 10. Kate Bush 11. Hawkwind 12. Yo La Tengo 13. T. Rex 14. Françoise Hardy 15. Simon & Garfunkel 16. Shonen Knife

100 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 03/12/2025

I only watched this because of a poster that turned up on the wall of The Tyne Theatre as we were stripping off some wallpaper ~ sort of wish I'd picked one of the other films! www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/ongoing-inve...

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 01/02/2025

I was helping out on a tour of the wonderful Tyne Theatre and Opera House this morning ~ this is my favourite view. I'm not the sort of person who's ever likely to be on a stage, so I can pretend (although … I'm at the back, in the chorus line!) www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/theatre-tours/

Looking from the back of the stage or towards the empty auditorium of The Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

021 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 14/01/2025

… and here's a picture of my granny liking being beside the seaside in the 1930s

Black and white photo of a young woman in her swimming costume with a towel around her, posing at the seaside

130 3

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 03/01/2025

The Marx Brothers first film arrives in Newcastle in February 1930 "Their comedy is of such an eccentric 'quick-fire' type that when they appeared before English audiences their new note of burlesque humour was almost irresistible"

Newspaper clipping publicising The Marx Brothers "The Cocoanuts" when it arrived to be screened at The Stoll Picture House in Newcastle in February of 1929

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 01/01/2025

We've had so much food in the house, we've only just got around to eating the Christmas pud! Here with some homemade custard #Christmas #ChristmasPudding

There dishes, the top one has two thirds of a Christmas pudding on it. The other two have the other third shared between them and are covered in custard

030 3

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 01/01/2025

#LetsDoIt25 unranked Day 1 / song 1 Deanna Durbin - It’s Raining Sunbeams (from the 1937 film One Hundred Men and a Girl) Day 1 / song 2 Allan Jones - The Donkey Serenade (from the 1937 film The Firefly) An explanation, and links to the songs can be found here: www.grange85.co.uk/swirling/202...

An autographed photo of Deanna Durbin is propped into a photo frame. The frame holds a picture of Galaxie 500. To the left another frame has a postcard promoting a film called 'Never Be a Punching Bag For Nobody'

0130 13

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 31/12/2024

If you see this, post a concert picture you took this year Raven @ Trillians, Newcastle 15th February … rather than all the usual indie nonsense I go and see ~ bring in the North East has had me being sixteen again! #raven #heavymetal #nwobhm

Heavy metal band on stage, bassist on the left and guitarist on the right are both throwing fantastic rock shapes. Behind the front is a banner that reads Trillians

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 27/12/2024

A bit of goalmouth action at the scrappy Whitley Bay vs West Allotment Celtic boxing day match. It ended with a 96th minute equaliser for West Allotment and earned them a deserved point #nonleaguefootball #whitleybayfc #westallotmentceltic #northernleague

Goalmouth action, the keeper in orange looks on while his defenders, in green, and the opposition, in blue/white stripes, do battle - there is no sign of an actual ball!?

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 13/12/2024

Just dug out my CD of 69 Love Songs ~ and listening to it (as I'm inclined to do) with David's wonderful "69 Love Songs Information" wiki which had gone AWOL but luckily still exists in the Wayback Machine #NowPlaying #TheMagneticFields #69LoveSongs web.archive.org/web/20160531...

The CD car of The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs is open across my lap. The booklet is also visible

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 11/12/2024

My #AdventCalendar sketch for our art group day 11 is a copy of #RonaldSearle from the titles of the fab 1970 Scrooge film musical #sketch #scrooge #ILikeLife

050 5

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 11/12/2024

Not many years have gone by in the last 35 that I haven't seen Galaxie 500, or an ex-member of Galaxie 500, on a stage, but 2024 has been one of those years ... although I did have an ex-member of Galaxie 500 come and visit me at work this year :) #deanwareham #brittaphillips #thenationalarchives

Two stars and a nobody are posing outside a brutalist building, the star on the left is carrying a yellow bag. The stars have sunglasses on... like stars should! An umbrella on the left shows that the brutalist building is The National Archives in West London.

131 3

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 09/12/2024

I always wondered how much Kurt Ralske liked her... she never held back with this slap in the (Snub) Special One video - and he does look bemused/pissed off a bit afterwards! www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn6a...

010 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 16/11/2024

I know, I know, but ffs stop making things less useful than they already are - Instagram was always crap for finding things but from 13th December it'll be worse ...

Screen grab of dialog box that reads

"Following hashtags won't be possible soon

On December 13, hashtags you follow will no longer be visible in your feed and you won't be able to follow more of them."

And an OK button

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 10/11/2024

I was lucky enough to go up the tower of the Newcastle Civic Centre and see the view and watch the carillon being played.

Looking up at a copper green tower lantern, there are sculptures of horses around the edge

Wide angle view of a cityscape taken from high. At the bottom of a circular, copper green roof, the sun is trying to break through some ominous looking clouds

A man is posting a carillon, it has wooden paddles for keys, and wires rising up from the back of it

021 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 09/11/2024

Tonight, the Tygers of Pan Tang are playing their first hometown gig in years. In this blog post I promised I'd be here when they did... so I am Things I Knew about the North East #01 - The Tygers of Pan Tang and Whitley Bay www.grange85.co.uk/swirling/202...

070 7

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 05/11/2024

A fantastic evening with Mercury Rev in Newcastle. I think it's the first time I've seen them in a stand-up venue for a few years and rock sounds best standing up!

Mercury Rev, a seven piece band, in stage with dry ice around them, and bathed in red light

Johnathan and Grasshopper on stage, both his guitars and are bathed in blue light

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 11/10/2024

The Northern Lights were in my eyes... last night in Whitley Bay

Seaside promenade at night. A number of people in the foreground are looking at the sky above the sea, which is filled with red and green light from the Aurora Borealis

030 3

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 10/10/2024

Sadly he died at just 34 in a car crash in Liverpool - here's his grave in a cemetery in Chsiwick

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 10/10/2024

Here's Bonar Colleano with Earl Cameron in the fantastic Pool of London (1951)

110 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 08/10/2024

#UnCoolTwo50 Day 8: Pale Saints - Barging Into The Presence of God EP (1989) ... particularly "The Sight of You" www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiSK...

Record sleeve propped at the back of a record deck - the sleeve reads "pale saints" - on the deck the record is spinning.

1230 23

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 23/09/2024

"The most sensational and impressive picture that has yet been seen in Newcastle" ... and probably since!!

000 0

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 23/09/2024

In the first week of October 1927 - Metropolis at The Queen's Hall, Newcastle "An ultra-modern film spectacle!" ... still! #film #silentfilm #metropolis #fritzlang #theavonharbou

100 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 22/05/2024

... so this year, Fourth of July is not _just_ Galaxie 500 day - but, hopefully something better, disposing of the utter shower we've had fucking things up for far too long... www.fullofwishes.co.uk/2014/07/04/f...

Record sleeve. Reads "Galaxie 500 Fourth of July", the sleeve shows a black and white picture of a wall under a cloudy sky. There is a sticker that reads "HMV Price £3.49".

001 1

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 11/05/2024

Oh, just to add to the #aurora mania here are a few snaps from Whitley Bay last night, others did better...

Silhouette of a figure leaving in railings at night with the aurora birthdays give a glorious display of colour behind

Night view of a beach the shit is full of aurora colour, the beach has a shadow of a person watching it

Aurora in the sky above the sea at Whitley Bay

Aurora in the sky above the sea at Whitley Bay ~ on the beach a couple are watching

020 2

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 11/05/2024

I assume I'm not alone in thinking of this lot every time someone posts The Spinners for #LET5D0IT?

Album cover showing the four members of The Spinners, all in matching blue cardies, two have guitars

2100 10

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 20/04/2024

I mean really, can anyone have designed a sleeve so awful for an album with still many masterpieces on it!? #LET5D0IT

Record sleeve with a photo of a couple embracing in front of an evening skyline. The text reads "The Temptations - Greatest Hits. 16 classic hits"

070 7

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 06/04/2024

Day 6: That'll Be The Day - The Crickets (1957) #LET5D0IT www.grange85.co.uk/swirling/202...

0270 27

Andy Aldridge @grange85.co.uk · 18/03/2024

60 albums 1966 - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul ❤️ sleeve notes ~ "Soul is not something that can be feigned - you either have it or you don’t. Otis Redding has it, to a degree almost unrivalled by any other young singer in sight. www.grange85.co.uk/swirling/202...

100 1