iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I sat in the balcony once and then again orchestra center like row 12. If you can swing it, better seats are worth it.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If possible, like 15 rows back in the center is where you want to be.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Yeah I'd say so. Couple scenes in there that will stay with you.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Saw it in Boston. It's incredible.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

More like from boy to boots, getting them on that is

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Lamnth season 4 starts on October 15th with three premieres written by our friends from the avant garde metal scene: Toby Driver of Kayo Dot, Adam Kalmbach from Jute Gyte, and Charlie Looker from Extra Life. Free to attend but please reserve a ticket if you wanna come. www.lamnth.com/events

Poster for Lamnth's season opener, designed by Zuzana Machova

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

If you have the chance to see Iron Maiden on their current tour, go.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

theonion.com/humanity-sti...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It was an amazing show. All of Mandylion plus at least one song from every other album Anneke did with The Gathering. Too bad their only US show is in Atlanta. Rene Rutten has another band called Habitants that also includes one of the singers from The West Pole. Very worth checking out.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I went to Nijmegen last year to see the Mandylion reunion show. It was unreal.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Undergrad poetry professor got fed up with the class because we kept writing poems about Stryper.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Title track is one of my karaoke go-tos.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This was insanely good. It's in Boston for three more nights and then goes to Broadway. Go see it if you can!

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

British post-hardcore legends Svalbard played what was billed as their first and last show in North America tonight in Toronto. Truly going out on top and on their own terms. A huge privilege to be in attendance 🫡.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Here's the thing: sometimes we do park the car in Harvard Yard.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

All I want to do All I want to do All I want to do is praise Him

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Reposted by Nick Tolle

kottke.org @kottke.org · 13/04/2026

Hey, look at Substack promoting Andrew Tate as the #1 new bestseller. The company's amoral leadership & backers will platform anyone, even ludicrously toxic rapists & human traffickers.

a screenshot of the "New Bestsellers" list from Substack, with Andrew Tate in the #1 position

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

We all can grow and we all can learn.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

STOP letting an ALGORITHM dictate what you listen to and START letting ME dictate what you listen to music.apple.com/us/playlist/...

music.apple.com

Winter 2026 by Nicholas Tolle on Apple Music

Playlist · 10 Songs

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

You hear about the time that Mr Bungle played in Vancouver where Loverboy is from and they opened and closed the show with Working for the Weekend and also played Working for the Weekend in the middle of the set? www.setlist.fm/setlist/mr-b...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

🎵🤶🏻🎄🤶🏻What happened to that pig from Black Mirror🤶🏻🎄🤶🏻🎵

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Engine of Hell was the best album of 2021 by a mile. Can't wait for the next chapter.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I asked and here's what they said: "As a non-bookstore affiliate, any order affiliated with Spotify will give the regular 10% -- the same as all other non-bookstore affiliates. Bookstore affiliates will continue to collect 30%."

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Boutique UK streaming service Cantilever is now available in the USA. Signed up last night and loved the first thing I heard on it. Give it a go if you're sick of all the bullshit that comes with Spotify. www.cantilever-music.com

cantilever-music.com

Cantilever

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Oh damn the dude from U Talkin' U2 to Me?

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Reposted by Nick Tolle

Peretsky @peretsky.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

There’s nothing more harmful to your scene than skipping the set of your billmates. resist the urge to smoke/drink your way through their set, wait 25 minutes regardless of whether or not they’re your favorite band. This isn’t a high school clique and you need to grow out of this line of thinking.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

As good as the studio album is, the piece became fully realized live, stretched to 90 minutes, allowed to breathe and expand. Hopefully a live album of this comes out but in any event this'll do. Their best work since Amputechture (2006). themarsvoltaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/lucro-...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

1. The Mars Volta - Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio TMV played 51 live shows this year and every single one of them was this album start to finish, nothing else, even as the opening act on an arena tour before the album was released. They feel strongly about the material and rightfully so...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

2. Anna von Hausswolff - Iconoclasts A staggering and overwhelming listen from beginning to end. Even though she's been doing great work for years, I was blown away by the massive leap forward she made with this record. annavonhausswolff.bandcamp.com/album/iconoc...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

3. Cardiacs - LSD Tim Smith, the mastermind behind Cardiacs, was incapacitated for years before he died in 2020. He got some work done on this record before his illness, and it was completed by his friends and bandmates in the years since his death. alphabet-business-concern.bandcamp.com/album/lsd

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

4. Jane Paknia - Millions of Years of Longing I'm not exactly a tastemaker here but I don't understand why this album didn't find a bigger audience. Also my only fave this year that was not released on vinyl so forgive the bad video and click the link below. janepaknia.bandcamp.com/album/millio...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

5. @twiabp.bsky.social - Dreams of Being Dust In a less dystopian world they'd have gone full prog like they were hinting at with Illusory Walls, but here we are. Lean, angry, and powerful. More albums should reference Event Horizon (1997) imo. theworldis.bandcamp.com/album/dreams...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

6. Deftones - private music 30 years since their debut album and they're at the top of their game. The only band I saw at Ozzfest '99 that's gotten better since then. Not on Bandcamp but here's where I got mine. tinyurl.com/2ucwnr9h

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

7. Kayo Dot - Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason I don't think Kayo Dot is going to win over any new fans with what's probably the most difficult and impenetrable album of the year, but hats off to Toby for continually reinventing what this band sounds like. America's answer to Ulver.

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

8. Messa - The Spin Italian doom metal. Of all the bands currently working, I think they're the ones most clearly carrying on the vibe of classic Black Sabbath. Saw them live in Denmark a few years back and they all exude that kind of old school charisma. messa.bandcamp.com/album/the-spin

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

9. Pool Kids - Easier Said Than Done Proggy emo from Florida. I was obsessed with their s/t in 2022 and the follow-up here is equally solid. poolkidsband.bandcamp.com/album/easier...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

10. Boneflower - Reveries Incredible post-hardcore from Madrid. boneflower.bandcamp.com/album/reveri...

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Nick Tolle @nicktolle.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

It's time for the end-of-the-year list that no one has been waiting for: my top ten albums of 2025. Did things the right way this time and bought them all on vinyl. Fuck streaming in general and Spotify in particular. First up:

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