iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

New guide now up on Soundtrack The Page: Season of the Witch, the definitive guide to Goth by Cathi Unsworth. If Siouxsie, Nick Cave, Sisters of Mercy and more are your thing, this is full of gems. Dive in! soundtrackthepage.com/goth/index.h...

soundtrackthepage.com

Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth — Cathi Unsworth — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth by Cathi Unsworth — every record the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Oh and the artist index has also been updated to include all references within Ears To The Ground as well: soundtrackthepage.com/artists.html

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Latest guide now up on Soundtrack The Page: "Ears To The Ground" by Ben Murphy. An incredible trip through field recording and electronic music. Take a look: soundtrackthepage.com/ears/index.h...

soundtrackthepage.com

Ears to the Ground — Ben Murphy — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Ben Murphy's Ears to the Ground: every record the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Latest update to Soundtrack The Page: a fully searchable artist index. Search an artist name and see all the places they crop up across all the guides: soundtrackthepage.com/artists.html

soundtrackthepage.com

Artists — Soundtrack The Page

Every artist named across the listening guides, and the chapters that name them. Search by act to see each book that reaches for them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Glad you're enjoying them! Plenty more to come, too 👍🏻

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Another guide has gone up on Soundtrack the Page: Michael Azzerad's mighty "Our Band Could Be Your Life". One of my favourite music books, almost worth the asking price for the Butthole Surfers chapter alone. Dive in!! soundtrackthepage.com/ourband/inde...

soundtrackthepage.com

Our Band Could Be Your Life — Michael Azerrad — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life: every record the book names, band by band, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Latest Network Notes just went up, looking at how labels and artists are starting to panic as socials demonstrably deliver less back. Personally, I think it's a good development. Read on below to learn why... open.substack.com/pub/networkn...

open.substack.com

🔵 Social’s value is plummeting and everyone’s panicking

A reason to be scared? Not really - and here’s why...

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

ICYMI the 17th Guide went up on Soundtrack the Page this weekend: Dan Charnas' "The Big Payback": soundtrackthepage.com/bigpayback/i... If that's not your bag, there's 16 other guides covering all manner of AMAZING books. Dive in below!

soundtrackthepage.com

The Big Payback — Dan Charnas — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Dan Charnas's The Big Payback: every record the book names, side by side, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Another guide is now up on Soundtrack The Page - this time, Dan Charnas's incredible "The Big Payback". 360 songs in total, all of which are stone cold classics. Dive in! soundtrackthepage.com/bigpayback/i...

soundtrackthepage.com

The Big Payback — Dan Charnas — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Dan Charnas's The Big Payback: every record the book names, side by side, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

ALSO - this one effing SLAPPED as well, heheh: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLna... Even if now it literally sounds like someone is playing it down your phone 😂

youtube.com

Ed Rush - Bludclot Artattack

YouTube video by ShadowyFigure83

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Also this took me back to this absolute fucking banger - www.youtube.com/watch?v=THCj...

youtube.com

4 Hero - Mr Kirk's Nightmare

YouTube video by Monsunamii

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A new Guide just went live on Soundtrack The Page: Martin James's incredible "State of Bass" book, covering the history of jungle and drum n' bass, tracing right back to the hardcore days and more. Too many deep cuts in there. Dive in! soundtrackthepage.com/statebass/in...

soundtrackthepage.com

State of Bass — Martin James — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Martin James's State of Bass: every record the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Cheers Chapstick! Hope you're good!!

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

With both Miro & Airtable being the latest SaaS businesses to sell for far less than they were once valued at, I wrote a few thoughts about how this might have a knock-on effect with the music industry & the tech platforms and startups that live within it: open.substack.com/pub/networkn...

open.substack.com

🔵 The great tech selloff has begun. What does this mean for music?

A.I.’s impact is starting to be felt across SaaS businesses...

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The latest ones being the Dr Carlson Albion albums that Dylan Carlson of Earth made. Somehow (don't ask) I had totally missed that when reading it all the other times. Which, the more I think about it, doesn't reflect well on me 😆

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Truly one of my favourite books about music. It would be too easy to view this as a book about metal or something. It isn't. It's about what's heavy, and as the book goes on to illustrate, that takes on many forms, in many genres. I re-read it annually and STILL find new discoveries in there. 🤗

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Alongside Monolithic Undertow it remains my favourite music book of the last ten years! Just re-read it a few weeks back and loved it even more that time around. So much so that I made a listening guide to accompany it: soundtrackthepage.com/electric/ind...

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Another new guide up on Soundtrack The Page - this time, @questlove.bsky.social's amazing “Music Is History”. 797 works are detailed, chapter by chapter. Dive in! Oh and remember: there’s now a mailing list so you can be notified as soon as new guides go up. soundtrackthepage.com/musicishisto...

soundtrackthepage.com

Music Is History — Questlove — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Questlove's Music Is History: every record the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

And here's to the next 18 years. Without The Quietus we would be sooooo much worse off. tQ is like the ravens in the Tower: if that bugger vanishes, we're all doomed, heheh...

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

So, SOOO many incredible gems to get stuck into here! Dive in below… Oh, and remember there’s now a mailing list so you can get automatically notified when new guides go up, too. Enjoy!

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Afternoon everyone - a new guide has gone up on Soundtrack The Page: Lloyd Bradley’s amazing “Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King”. This one is a monster: 786 works detailed across 23 chapters in four parts. soundtrackthepage.com/bassculture/...

soundtrackthepage.com

Bass Culture — Lloyd Bradley — Soundtrack The Page

A listening guide to Lloyd Bradley's Bass Culture: every record and song the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Definitely! I'm still focusing on STP for now but yes, making an equivalent for film is doable!

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Reposted by Darren Hemmings

Stephan Kunze @www.zensounds.de · 11/08/2026

Great non-profit site created by @mrtrick.bsky.social – provides companion guides to music books, listing every song/album mentioned, in the order of appearance in the book. The page on David Toop's Ocean of Sound is my favourite so far. www.soundtrackthepage.com/ocean/index....

soundtrackthepage.com

Ocean of Sound — David Toop — Soundtrack The Page

Every record David Toop names in Ocean of Sound, chapter by chapter, in the order he names them, plus his full discography.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

As rumours continue that a well-known indie is potentially heading for a sale to a major, I wrote a few thoughts on indie sales in general, and how we're going to see more and more of it. Read on below...

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Is a legendary, globally-known indie about to sell up to a major?

Rumours abound... but there's a point here most are missing

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

I wrote a few thoughts about how we now need action more than just words if we are to prevent the majors swallowing the music industry whole. But there are companies out there bringing options, and so there are options. It's not all bad, I promise!! Read on below...

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Want to take on the majors? Stop talking, start acting.

The only way to take on the majors is by out-manoeuvering them - and some companies are starting that fight.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I wrote a few words about how the Universal/Downtown situation is getting personal, but that it really misses one pretty fundamental point. Read on below!

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Universal/Downtown gets personal, but it all misses the point

Irrespective of who wins, nobody is working to raise the value of music itself

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

This didn't come as a shock; more of an "I knew it!" kind of sentiment, but hats off to London Centric for confirming what I think Londoners sensed was the case.

open.substack.com

The real 5G conspiracy: How Londoners are being lied to about their phone signal

Plus: We reveal how much the capital's councils actually make from festivals in their parks.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Inspired by a JonWayne video I watched, I wrote a few words about how we in the music industry might be focusing on the wrong places to build audiences that might actually drive sales and revenue. Dive in below...

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Reviewing the "time spent to money earned" ratio for artists

Is time being spent in all the wrong places?

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

That, my friends, is how to write brilliantly. Zachary Lipez, take a bow! 🙌🏻👏🏻

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

"Teenagers – a recently invented term for a class that had previously been a source of cheap farm labour, whose numbers were determined by luck, vermin, and a Papal workaround known as the rhythm method – were, all of a sudden, the judge, jury, and executioners of culture."

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

"Once upon a time, during what was not so much a “golden age” as an ejaculatory age of denim and leather (and occasionally lace), there was no higher human aspiration than to “rock”."

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

A rare exclusive today, detailing how NTS has taken out a loan with Universal that, if defaulted on, will see the major taking ownership of the entire NTS business: properties, IP, the lot. Not a great development for the indie music landscape.

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Exclusive: Universal tightens its grip around NTS Radio

Another grim development in the indie landscape

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I wrote a few thoughts about how I feel Universal is, if anything, battling to remain relevant amid changing times and a fundamental shift in where the power sits in the music space - that is, solely with the artists. More below…👇🏻

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Universal isn't winning. It's panicking.

Don't believe the hype: the biggest major is far from sitting pretty

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Here's a sentence I never saw myself typing today: that new Hawkwind album is magnificent. Absolutely loving it. album.link/gb/i/1799083...

album.link

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I'd imagine at some point that all has to break though. The money isn't endless - especially now that the world economy is getting hauled over the coals. Something will give there.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Yeah, and that's the real issue for me. It's doing good things! But it's been sold as some kind of all-pervading thing that should be in every corner of our lives, and that's just nonsense. It reveals the trenchant greed of Big Tech.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Yep, but I don't see them as wholly negative either. Hence my point in my piece really; they do a load of harm, but they also do have some positive uses. Much like computers. I don't really buy into that view that they're unilaterally bad. They're just being wildly overstated and forced on us all.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I feel like there's a bunch of leaps there but I get what you're saying. I mean, if you post AI shite day in day out for clout on here then... you're wasting a lot of good life 😆 But I don't think it's as b&w as "using AI is bad". But I don't think that's what you're saying?

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

What's the "agree to disagree" on that? I wouldn't disagree with that at all, LOL

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I wrote a few words about the music industry and AI. And whilst I think some people would rather stick a fork in their eye than read another post about AI, I'd argue that this piece is recognising that, and calling for a bit of calm amid the constant doom-mongering. Read on below...

networknotes.motiveunknown.com

🔵 Finding calm amid the AI insanity

Why this might not prove as bad as people think...

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

These people sound like AWESOME fun to be around. Proper "tell me you fall for every TikTok trend going without actually saying so" vibes. Anyways, BRB: just off o 'biohack' myself into relaxation with 4 pints of Moretti. #OKthanks

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

There needs to be some kind of "saw them at the Underworld in '92 and they were just OK" bot to respond to posts like this.

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

I've heard that people have almost gone blind if they get sap in the eye. Gardening: more dangerous than you think 😆

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Darren Hemmings @mrtrick.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Entirely tangential but this is reminding me of gardening and getting sap from Euphorbia on my skin. Didn't realise it totally kills the skin's ability to deadly with UV, causing blistering in the areas where it touched you (and which then see UV on them). Nasty plant!

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