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Érinsaga - 1989 Jim FitzPatrick had an idea, to turn his intricate artwork inspired by the Tuatha Dé Danann into a concept album (it was the 80s). Sadly, the music doesn’t live up the art, veering from atmospheric instrumentals to bland soft rock. Keeping it for the cover. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

10cc - Sheet Music (1974) Less polished than The Original Soundtrack, this jumps all over the place: rock ‘n’ roll, music hall, calypso, funk, glam, prog. Even when it slips into parody, the melodies make it work. Beneath the stylistic games, 10cc wrote some really good tunes. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sack - You Are What You Eat (1994) Overshadowed by their better-crafted second album, “Butterfly Effect”, this debut is better than its reputation suggests. It’s more Irish in theme and definitely angrier, reminding me of the satirical fury of Cathal Coughlan/Fatima Mansions. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Anchoress - As We Once Were (2026) Catherine Anne Davies turning memory into dark, melodic and beautifully produced pop. Some of the songs blur together but generally her restrained vocals give the album an intimate, melancholy atmosphere that is perfect nighttime listening. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Mull Historical Society - In My Mind There’s a Room (2023) An ambitious concept where writers such as Irvine Welsh contribute words and Colin MacIntyre writes the songs. Melodic and beautifully crafted, though the concept can occasionally feel more contrived than spontaneous. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Autoleisureland - New Road Movie (2026) The yacht-rock sound of opener “Northern Morning” put me off immediately. Side B is better and, overall, this is a well-made pop record but the smooth production feels less inspired by the Eighties than stuck there. Not for me. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Latest shipment from @lnfg.bsky.social just arrived. That’s my weekend sorted then.

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Sack - Superweirdo (1993) White label 7” single that came with You Are What You Eat. Driving rhythm and quirky narrative follows James as he wanders the back lanes, avoiding the pubs, peaking with Saturday in Superquinn. It’s Joycean, the way it mixes humour and melancholy. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill (1988) This could have fallen into easy listening territory but instead it’s pure theatre. Lemper sounds seductive, sneering or wounded, sometimes within a few bars. The orchestral arrangements mix dance-band vulgarity & classical precision. Lovely. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Reposted by Tony

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Bantry, County Cork, photo by Emma McArdle, Irish photographer.

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Punk Rock History @punkrockhistory.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Happy Birthday to Joan Marie Larkin aka Joan Jett, punk rock inspired founding member of The Runaways and frontwoman of their band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, born on this day in 1958 of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania Photo by Janet Macoska #womenofpunk #joanjett #therunaways #punkrockhistory #otd

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 21/09/2026

I'd really like AppleTV to confirm Season 2 of Star City. In the meantime, this show is my topic for the week.

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Cypress, Mine! - Exit Trashtown (1988) A recent retrospective refers to them as the R.E.M. of Cork which is understandable but unfair. Their debut sounds more like 4 lads who have discovered their own version of guitar pop rather than a provincial band trying to copy the hits. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The Pogues - Hell’s Ditch (1990) Shane’s last studio album with the Pogues is never as consistently brilliant as “Rum, Sodomy & the Lash” & is occasionally incomprehensible. But it does have Shane so it’s also occasionally beautiful. “The Sunnyside of the Street” is essential. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Nikki Sudden, Johnny Fean & Simon Carmody - The Last Bandits in the World (1985) Three very different musicians make magic: Nikki Sudden from Swell Maps (Birmingham post-punk), Johnny Fean from Horslips (Celtic rock) & Simon Carmody from The Golden Horde (Dublin underground). #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Big Self - Stateless (1985) Bono listed Big Self’s “Don’t Turn Around” among his top ten favourite records in Rolling Stone in ‘82 and, fair play, Stateless is a Belfast post-punk masterpiece. It has the angular guitars you’d expect but also hints of reggae and magnificent sax. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The Adventures - “Feel the Raindrops” (Extended Version) (1985) Mid-80s Belfast Pop. Title track sounds like Simple Minds, chiming guitars, sweeping keyboards and Terry Sharpe’s yearning vocal.m but I also like “Tristesse En Vitesse” on the B-side, which has a bit of goth feel. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

10cc - The Original Soundtrack (1975) Opening track “Une Nuit à Paris” is 9 minutes of glorious rock opera, beating “Bohemian Rhapsody” by 8 months. Then comes “I’m Not in Love”, one of the great studio recordings of the 70s. Side 2 is less astonishing but still weirdly fun. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager (1981) Well, this was a surprise. A long time off their peak so expected little from this bargain box find but it pulls off the trick of sounding unmistakably like the Moody Blues while still completely at home in 1981. Classy second act. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The Railway Children - Reunion Wilderness (1987) Overlooked jangle-pop album, somewhere between The Smiths and early Aztec Camera. Not quite a lost masterpiece, the songs can blend together, but still a wistful, quietly beautiful debut that deserves to be much better known. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Fontaines D.C. - A Hero’s Death (2020) Not as instantly lovable as Dogrel. Where the debut sounded like inner city Dublin, this is more inward looking, claustrophobic and uneasy. I admire the determination not to repeat themselves but song-for-song this is their weakest album. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel (2019) “Dogrel” sounds unmistakably like Dublin. Grian Chatten keeps his accent but, more importantly, he keeps his lyrics rooted in the real city and its problems. Amazingly for a debut, it captures a band and their city with astonishing confidence. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The Fountainhead - So Good Now (1986) A terrific live EP which shows that The Fountainhead could turn their brand of new-wave pop into convincing live rock. “Sometimes” benefits most from the format, stretching out into a more dramatic version than that on “The Burning Touch”. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I told myself I had enough but a trip to mostlyvinylmicky.com in Glasgow was too much temptation to bear. On the plus side, another perfect square with discovers.antisound.net.

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Early Door in Carlisle - The Housemartins (1985) The original lineup of Paul Heaton, Stan Cullimore, Ted Key and Hugh Whitaker, recorded at the Stars & Stripes in Carlisle months before the deceptively cheerful harmonies of “London 0 Hull 4” brought them to national attention. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The Replacements - Tim (1985) The other Minneapolis sound. Their apparently careless style was nothing like Prince’s polished jewels but Paul Westerberg wrote vulnerable, sharply melodic songs about loneliness, failure and thwarted ambition and they should have been huge. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The Wild Flowers - Dust (1987) A strong second album that combines the nervous rhythms of post-punk with the ringing guitars that would come to define the emerging indie sound. They shifted focus to the US and fell between the twin stools of college rock and UK indie scenes. #nowspinning #vinylb

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (2011) A meditation on England, nationalism and the horror of war, particularly the First World War and Gallipoli. But instead of sombre music, Harvey uses strangely jaunty arrangements which make the graphic battlefield imagery doubly disturbing. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English (1979) A startling reinvention by the fragile singer of “As Tears Go By.” New wave inspired production creates a tense, propulsive energy, while her ravaged voice adds experience and menace, making even the quieter songs feel dangerous. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture & Morality (1981) There should be no debate about this one. A commercial hit, it demonstrated that electronic music could be strange, ambitious & emotionally powerful while still reaching a mass audience. OMD’s essential album. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

OMD - Dazzle Ships (1983) A commercial flop, but time has been kind to OMD’s experiment with musique concrète. The shortwave-radio & speaking clocks clips feel like listening in on intercepted transmissions from early-80s Europe & tracks like “Telegraph” are undeniably catchy. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The Kinks - Kinda Kinks (1965) Another difficult second album, rushed out a mere 5 months after their debut and it shows. Padded with routine covers and the production is basic. That said, “Tired of Waiting for You” is the standout and hints at the greatness that was to come. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The Cars - Candy-O (1979) The follow-up doesn’t quite match the debut’s concentration of outstanding songs, but that was always an impossible mission. It’s a strong second album, full of the sharp hooks, cool synths and slightly skewed pop that make The Cars so distinctive. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Into Paradise - Burns My Skin (1990) Still rooted in post-punk but showing signs of the bigger sound that would emerge on “Churchtown”. David Long’s vocal has a strained quality that suits the song, while the ringing guitar creates an anxious, almost claustrophobic atmosphere. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Kate Bush - Lionheart (1978) The stereotypical difficult second album. Released only nine months after “The Kick Inside”, it feels like more of the same rather than a step forward. But judged on its own terms, it’s a much better and stranger record than its reputation suggests. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Kate Bush - The Dreaming (1982) Bush took complete production control and pushed the studio to the limit. Fairlight samples, violent percussion, manipulated voices and abrupt shifts make the record feel slightly unhinged but strong melodies break through almost despite her. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Engine Alley - Switch (1993) Sounds like a lost 70s glam pop artist fast forwarded to the 90s. The EP came out in two flavours; this one pairs “Switch” with “Photo Lens”, “Ballad of a Sinking Star” & “Beautiful”. The band never found an audience outside Ireland but still gigs. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

William - Emperor of Ice Cream (1994) Might have become one of the great Cork guitar bands of the 1990s. The noise and energy of post-punk but adding a strong melodic instinct. Then Britpop happened and Sony pulled the plug before their planned album was completed. So it goes. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Les Enfants – “Slip Away” (1985) 1985 saw Irish post-punk turn into sophisticated pop. Exhibit A: Ronan O’Hanlon’s ringing guitar, a strong bass line & a big, yearning chorus. They should have been huge. Instead, they signed a six album deal, were dropped after one. So it goes. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Amyl & the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness (2024) Amy Taylor uses her signature brand of snarling Australian pub-punk to mediate on success and tell the haters where to go. This time with bigger melodies, slower songs and even a bit of saxophone. Their most varied album yet. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

That Petrol Emotion – Chemicrazy (1990) Keeps the hooks from “Babble” but sands down the edges a bit. The guitar sound is cleaner, closer to the alternative rock that was gathering pace in America. They were slightly ahead of the curve though and Virgin dropped them. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Good Morning Britain - Aztec Camera with Mick Jones (1990) Roddy Frame temporarily abandoned Aztec Camera’s romantic introspection to record a state-of-the-nation protest that sounded so much like BAD he joked to Jones that he would either want to sing on it or sue him. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra - Waltz Darling (1989) An absolute sugar-rush of funk, hip-hop, orchestral strings and dance-pop that combines expensive studio sheen with gleeful bad taste. It shouldn’t work, but its very excess makes it the essence of the Eighties. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Delorentos - True Surrender (2018) Apparently, the band scrapped an entire album because it sounded too much like what they’d done before. I don’t know their previous stuff but, on its own merits, this is well-made pop that sounds like several other bands. Mission Accomplished? #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection (1970) Two young Englishmen making an album about an imagined America of Civil War ghosts, frontier towns & gunslingers could easily have lapsed into cosplay. Instead, Taupin’s lyrics and Elton John’s music make that world vivid & convincing. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The B-52’s - Whammy! (1983) Very synthetic album, in the sense that the drum machines and keyboards pin it firmly to the early Eighties. The lyrics and vocals are unmistakably B-52’s so it’s still quirky and fun but has dated more noticeably than their earlier records. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie (1989) CvB’s most complete album. It still has that cowpunk twang, but the arrangements are darker and more atmospheric. I love hearing a favourite band come into its own, finally delivering the performance you always knew they had in them. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Seamus Fogarty - Ships (2026) Recommended by the good folks at Union Music in Lewes. Tin whistle rubbing against synths, traditional melodies drifting into pulsing rhythms. Imagine Microdisney as folk - shades of Coughlan’s wry observations and O’Hagan’s swooping arrangements. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The Golden Horde & Robert Anton Wilson - The Chocolate Biscuit Conspiracy (1985) One of the stranger things to come out of 1980s Irish indie: The Golden Horde collaborated with American counterculture writer Robert Anton Wilson to make a surf-rock album. It’s surprisingly good. #nowspinning #vinyl

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Tony @tonylarkin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

John Hiatt - Warming up the Ice Age (1985) Some well written songs trapped in a production style that has dated badly. Eighties sheen can have a certain charm, but it does these songs no favours. Coming to this from “Bring the Family” or “Slow Turning”, the difference is stark. #nowspinning #vinyl

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