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Mark J Wray

@markjwray.com

211 followers 139 following 1.6K posts

Writes about music and sometimes other stuff at markjwray.com He/him

Posts Replies Media

Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 03/09/2026

There are good and bad things about my job, but being able to occasionally go look at a heron on my break is definitely one of the good things.

A heron, standing on a small platform on a pond. The heron is also reflected in the pond, as are some plants and part of a nearby building

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 22/08/2026

Cat Stevens first draft of ‘Father & Son’

A graphic of a Butterfly life cycle, with 3 stages, ‘find a mate’, ‘lay eggs’ and ‘hatch into caterpillars’

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 22/08/2026

Maybe the stupidest Guardian question yet.

Guardian headline “Ice Cream - does it have a future in the age of wellness fads?” with a picture of an ice cream splatted on the floor

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 17/08/2026

Can’t move, cat on lap

A very floofy black and white tuxedo cat, fast asleep with his face squished against a sofa cushion, lying on a man’s lap as he rests his feet on a coffee table

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 12/06/2026

Football bantz happening in the group chat

A WhatsApp screenshot reading “I strongly feel that all major tournaments should have 2^n teams, where n is a positive integer”

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 30/05/2026

The username of the person I’m playing Chess against online has me asking a lot of questions already answered by the username.

A chess.com screenshot of a user with the username ‘notrasicst’

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 29/05/2026

A record player, amp and speakers in front of a Kallax full of records and music books

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 23/05/2026

Because waiting until the 22nd Century would take ages?

A poster, on a bin, saying “Why you should be a socialist in the 21st Century”

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 02/05/2026

Better than perfection presumably required for 10/10

A screenshot from the Guardian ‘Blind Dates’ column, reading as follows.

If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be?

Nothing. It was perfect

Marks out of 10?

9

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 15/04/2026

By the way, have you read this? Not exactly what you’re looking for, but does cover some of that ground

The cover of the book ‘The Secret Public’ by Jon Savage

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 09/04/2026

She’s changed a lot since All Saints split up

A picture of the Lewis chess pieces, with a Polish caption reading ‘Szachy Lewis’

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 20/02/2026

Good job they’ve added those reader scores

A screenshot showing an album review from Pitchfork, with a Pitchfork score of 7.4, and a reader score also of 7.4, underlining the pointlessness of the exercise and, indeed, life.

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 20/02/2026

A screenshot from Pitchfork of an album with a Pitchfork score of 7.4, and a reader score also of 7.4, underlining the futility of the exercise, and indeed life.

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 07/02/2026

My ballot:

My 12 track ballot for the People's Pop Poll 2025 as follows:

15 POINTS: PINKPANTHERESS - "Illegal"
12 Points: WATER FROM YOUR EYES - "Playing Classics"
10 Points: CMAT - "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station"
9 Points: NINAJIRACHI - "Fuck My Computer"
8 Points: LILY ALLEN - "Pussy Palace"
7 Points: BADGER &c - "Canva (How?)"
6 Points: ALE HOP & TITI BAKORA - "Una Cumbia En Kinshasa"
5 Points: KATE NASH - "GERM"
4 Points: CAIN CULTO ft XIUHTEXCATL - "Basta Ya!"
3 Points: ROSALIA - "Divinize"
2 Points: TSHEGUE - "Plus De Place Nulle Part"
1 Points: EMMA NOLDE - "Independente"

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 07/02/2026

Badge saying “Sometimes if you want something to exist you have to make it yourself” from the charity Arts Emergency

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 02/02/2026

I mean, it doesn't sound like something Sufjan Stevens would do, but I guess Nicki knows best

A Tweet from Nicki Minaj stating "Your favourite artist has been practicing rituals in a satanic cult where they take babies from other countries & mutilate & kill them as a form of blood sacrifice to their God. You see, when your master is satan, you must constantly shed blood. However the jig is up" alongside a pictire of chucky drinking what looks like an olive martini

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 17/12/2025

Really gets you in the Christmas spirit

A Santa hat on the pavement, trampled and covered in dirt and wet leaves

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 28/10/2025

What fresh hell is this?

A poster for Alex James’ Britpop Classical concert at Halifax Piece Hall

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 07/09/2025

Surprised he’d not thought of that before

Screenshot from the Guardian website of an article with the headline ‘Senior Labour figures tell Keir Starmer to stop making mistakes’

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 30/07/2025

A sad day when Adrian Chiles isn’t the worst column in the Guardian opinion section

Two headlines from the Guardian, one from Wes Streeting threatening to go to war with doctors, the other from Adrian Chiles, complaining about umbrellas

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 22/07/2025

The one Ozzfest I attended, back in 1998, was quite a show. RIP Ozzy

Poster for the 1998 Ozzfest at Milton Keynes, featuring Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Foo Fighters, Korn, Pantera and more

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 09/07/2025

I always like it in the snow

Statue ‘The Dreamer’ of a levitating woman, in a courtyard at the University of Leeds, covered in snow

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 21/06/2025

If you see this, post an image you saved because it makes you laugh

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 14/06/2025

Both the title and cover art of this book lead me to believe it was created by a disgruntled Oasis fan.

The cover of a book entitled “It’s Easy To Play Blur” illustrated with an unconvincing and slightly disturbing drawing of that band.

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 07/05/2025

She does look a lot like him to be fair

A screenshot of The Guardian with the headline “Woman wins £30,000 compensation for being compared to Darth Vader”, accompanied by a photograph of Darth Vader

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 18/03/2025

Disco slinky

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 22/01/2025

Should read “We can’t have a functioning democracy, because our opponents are evil”

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 13/01/2025

Surprisingly picturesque at my train station this morning, almost made the trudge through ice in the dark worth it.

A small train station, tracks and platform covered in snow and ice, with a spectacular sunrise behind the trees in the background

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 17/12/2024

The morning commute looking a bit more spectacular than usual

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 13/12/2024

Just in case anyone thinks that it’s only in more recent years that Morrissey made it clear he’s a terrible person

Extended Morrissey quote from 1986 in which he states amongst other thing that Reggae is the most racist music in the world, and to get on Top of the Pops you have to be black

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Mark J Wray @markjwray.com · 16/09/2024

Post a perfect album from when you were 21. Lot of great records that year, but have to go with Low - Things We Lost In The Fire

The album cover of Low’s Things We Lost In The Fire. The image is a map of the moon I think

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