iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Book contract signed! More details to follow...

040

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Coyote vs Acme is a lot of fun and well worth the cinema trip.

010

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Great call to resistance from Guy Watson at #riverford.

010

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

This summer, I have read and enjoyed:

010

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Great gig at Preston Park in Brighton on Saturday. English Teacher were great, Flaming Lips were expectedly nuts. Nick Cave on great form, dusting off some rarely played oldies and brought out Kylie too.

140

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This series, from @lucytaylorpro.bsky.social and Dan Ashby, is a fascinating deep dive into the dark side of British criminality spilling into country life. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/serie...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Sounds - Buried - Available Episodes

Listen to the latest episodes of Buried on BBC Sounds.

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

There are some stunning scenes and incredible images in Nolan's Odyssey but I'm not sure it's the masterpiece everyone says it is. Hard to turn an episodic epic into a film that isn't also episodic... 🤔

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Bought this on a whim and listened to it for the first time on my Walkman on a coach from Bristol to London. Won me over right away and a lock for #5debutalbums9599. Lasting regret is I never caught them live...

030

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

what do you do once you've disbanded a brilliant band? Well, if you're Tim Finn you get together with your big brother and make a lovely little record, putting Crowded House behind you for a while. A delightful listen for #5debutalbums9599

1102

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Next up for #5debutalbums9599 is this brilliant slice of fragile melancholy from Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Not even Johnny Cash could improve on the title song.

191

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Was it really 31 years ago that Natalie Merchant released this #5debutalbums9599 contender?! Yep, but it still sounds great. Brilliantly crafted songwriting, arranging and understated playing.

0151

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

This is unlikely to make my list for #5debutalbums9599 but it's a decent enough album from Aberdeen's Geneva.

031

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

How about this for #5debutalbums9599? Listened to it on Friday. Still great.

031

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

This news story made me double take. It wasn't what I thought ...

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Anyone hoing to the Scottish Dogmatics Conference in June?

210

Reposted by Phil Thomas

Normal Island News @normalisland.co.uk · 03/04/2026

BREAKING: Iran says regime change operation in US is well underway as a string of senior officials and military chiefs resign from their roles 👀

291158300

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Had a fun time this afternoon doing some Zoom teaching about "Hope and Grace in Cormac McCarthy" to a class at #SpringArbor College in Michigan. there were some great questions about his work.

020

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Just finished this fascinating account of CCM by @drleahpayne.bsky.social. I stumbled across names that I'd forgotten and a whole world I never knew existed.

041

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Went to see #ProjectHailMary on IMAX for boy 2's 20th birthday. Thoughts: Ryan Gosling is one of only a handful of actors who could carry it off. Yes, it's too long. That karaoke scene is perfect. It's laugh-out-loud-funny. It's heart-breaking. Sandra Hüller is brilliant. 8/10 for me.

020

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Just collected the 19 yr old from uni. "You look normal," he says to me. What on earth was he expecting?

030

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

An interesting listen for #5debutalbums8589 that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Probably won't make my 5 but it's worth a spin. A sign of great things to come for Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, TOTD etc.

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Small Prophets on iPlayer is superb. Great writing, great acting, wonderfully original.

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

A contender for #5debutalbums8589 Decent Glasgow hard rock from a group out of same sort of stable as Texas

151

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Might throw my hat into this ring...

140

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

It's not everyone's cup of tea but this is an impressive contender for #5debutalbums8589, particularly given that the drummer was only 14 and the rest of them hadn't yet turned 20. The kids, eh?! 🙂

051

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

#5debutalbums8589 starts with this from Zurich's The Young Gods, a dead cert for me.

091

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

If any #JaneSiberry fans would like to be interviewed for a book I'm hoping to write about her When I Was A Boy album then please get in touch!

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

5 authors I've read at least 5 novels by: Nicola Barker Umberto Eco William Faulkner Amit Chaudhury Wendell Berry

010

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This is a contender for my #5debutalbums0509 shortlisting. Great stuff from Mike Patton and friends.

The front cover of Peeping Tom's 2006 eponymous album

151

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Looking forward to this read:

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Not sure if this counts for #5debutalbums50s60s. If so, it's definitely in my top 5. What's the referee's decision, @richards7370.bsky.social ?

270

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

#5debutalbums50s60s This is a fantastic record. Shame it's so little known

2161

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Lovely exhibition of 100 Makers in Japan House, London

010

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Had a great time at the #WesAnderson exhibition at London Design Museum

110

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Don't think I've seen this by One Dove in the #5debutalbums9094 posts. It's a lovely little album produced by Andy Weatherall and Stephen Hague. Well worth a nostalgic listen

Morning Dove White, the 1993 album by One Dove

2192

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

3 shoegaze contenders for #5debutalbums9094. Moose didn't match the promise of the Cool Breeze and Reprise EPs, imho. Chapterhouse don't quite do it for me. But the Ride album is nothing short of brilliant. Shoegaze was a great scene!

240

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Just finished the David Bowie: The Final Act documentary on Channel 4. Seemed a good day to watch it. Recommended.

000

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Two admittedly obscure selections for #5debutalbums9094 from the UK Christian scene. If you went to Greenbelt in the early 90s or read Cross Rhythms magazine, then you might have come across these: Tribe of Dan: sort of Grebo blues Billy Penn's Brother: acoustic protest with a very sharp edge. Great

The cover of "Shook Up, Shook Up" he debut album from Tribe of Dan.

The cover of the cassette-only album by Nilly Penn's Brother, titled Power Blocs/Mustard Seeds

031

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Three contenders for #5debutalbums9094 bought on the basis of a good review in Kerrang! or Metal Hammer. Infectious Grooves shows why Robert Trujillo is wasted in Metallica. Features Ozzy, & Steven Perkins from Jane's Addiction. Stevie Salas is decent Glam-lite Warrior Soul: humourless but angry!

110

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Next up for #5debutalbums9094 are these two. Michael Franti leaves the industrial sound of the Disposable Heroes for a gentler vibe (apart from Vernon Reid's guitar solo on the last track) with Spearhead. Arrested Development rap about homelessness, social justice and peace.

040

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Two more contenders for #5debutalbums9094. Both solo projects from established singers & both quite frighteningly beautiful. Mark Lanegan ropes in mates from Nirvana & Dinosaur Jr, while Kristin Hersh pulls in Michael Stipe. Hard to choose between these two.

The front cover of Kristin Hersh's 1994 album Hips and Makers

The cover of Mark Lanegan's 1990 solo album The Winding Sheet

171

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

These two 4AD albums by Belly and The Breeders are both brilliant. For my money, Star is a more fully formed debut than Pod and is likely to nudge in to my #5debutalbums9094 list.

1100

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

A great run of three #5debutalbums9094 from Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament on just two years. Mother Love Bone's Apple was good, but Ten and Temple of the Dog are faultless. For my money, TOTD is a shade ahead of PJ. Such a fertile period!

The cover of Mother Love Bone's debut album, Apple

141

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

First up for #5debutalbums9094 is this from Hole. Fierce, furious and better than so much else

1141

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

My number 1 fiction & non-fiction books read in 202: Fiction Rumer Godden - In This House of Brede A successful business woman enters a convent. Sounds dull but isn't; this treasure of a novel is wonderfully illuminating and reorienting. #booksky

The front cover of Rumer Godden's beautiful novel, In This House of Brede, the best fiction book I read this year.

130

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I sat next to Massive Attack's Daddy G in a juice bar. I walked past Henry Rollins when I was going to the loo. He's really quite short

020

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Top 7 reads of 2025 Non-Fiction, numbers 4 to 2 4 Robert Farrar Capon - The Supper of the Lamb Theology, cooking & knife care 3 John Lewis-Stempel - England: A Natural History Beautiful British landscape 2 @chloedalton.bsky.social - Raising Hare Moving memoir of wildness, love & hope #booksky

The front cover of Robert Farrar Capon's classic, The Supper of the Lamb

Front cover of John Lewis-Stempel's magnificent England: A Natural History

the cover of Chloe Dalton's moving memoir, Raising Hare

220

Phil Thomas @philthomas.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

OK #booksky, my year in reading: 82 books read. The top 7 fiction & non-fiction books read in 2025: Fiction 7. Richard Ayoade - The Unfinished Harauld Hughes Clever, funny, original 6. Daniel Kehlmann - Fame A tiny bit more so... 5. Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead Brilliant

The front cover of Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead, my #5 fiction book read this year.

The front cover of Daniel Kehlmann's Fame, my #6 fiction book read this year.

The front cover of Richard Ayoade's The Unfinished Harauld Hughes, my #7 fiction book read this year.

130