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Unspun Heroes®

@unspunheroes.com
1.4K followers 382 following 3.9K posts

An independent not-for-profit record label in the UK. Music deserving of wider attention. Reissued for the first time on vinyl in small batches. With love. Posts by Simon. bio.site/unspunheroes

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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 9h
Talking of @petepaphides.bsky.social earlier, I’d say this is right up his street. I’ve also heard a rumour that Neil, whose single this is, actually used to have his fish & chips from the Paphides chippie. Hope to hear it on the #sohoradio show soon, maybe?
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 11h
Also had a wry smile about the “militant feyness of Sarah Records” and many other touches that Pete writes. I had no idea The Lightning Seeds were named after a misheard lyric (Prince) or that Pure nearly didn’t make it, for example. Anyway, go read Pete’s words. They’re much better than mine.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 11h
Of particular note is the thing Pete says about cross referencing producers and studios and so on. Sleeves notes were a listener’s only way to find out in those days. I miss that, which is why I get song notes written for every Unspun release.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 11h
Feeling a bit ‘meh’ today so catching up on some reading. Nestled in my inbox was this gem by @petepaphides.bsky.social about Ian Broudie. Pete reissued Ian’s solo record and it remains one of my fave releases. Anyway, lots in here that chimes with me: www.patreon.com/NeedleMythol...
patreon.com
“I think all my songs are about being scared of change.” How one song explained Ian Broudie’s past and predicted his future. | Pete Paphides
Because it was Top of the Pops, I know the exact date I first heard one of Ian Broudie’s songs. Not only do I know the date, but I remember
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
Next release is coming, and it’s a beauty. Dan makes ambient techno now, but two decades ago he made music to rival John Martyn and Nick Drake. As with every Unspun release, it’s a vinyl debut for this album. You won’t be disappointed.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
I’m *obsessed* with watching Alexandra repair stuff on Instagram. I have no interest in mending stuff myself because I’m useless with stuff like that (and live with someone who sews) but I am in awe of her talents.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
If you’re into knitwear and repair, and also want music to knit and/or repair to, Alexandra Brink (and friends, via @wiaiwya.bsky.social) have you covered this #BandcampFriday - alexandrabrinck.bandcamp.com/album/bushel... Love that this kind of thing exists.
alexandrabrinck.bandcamp.com
bushelling, by various artists
20 track album
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Reposted by Unspun Heroes®
Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
Dan Arborise performing ‘You’ll All Get What’s Coming To You’, taken from Of Tide & Trail, out on vinyl for the first time ever on Unspun Heroes. Order via Bandcamp today: unspunheroes.bandcamp.com/album/of-tid...
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
The album comes with extensive song notes by Dan. These have been written specially for the vinyl release. Here are the notes for the second song on the album, You’ll All Get What’s Coming To You. Available and shipping next week: unspunheroes.bandcamp.com/album/of-tid...
Song notes from Dan Arborise that ship as part of the vinyl release for Of Tide & Trail. They read: 

I also knew I wanted to follow the first track with another banger. I was working hard on an aggressive finger picking style which could create a big sound and carry a whole track basically on its own, especially for gigs. 

Again the guitar style is very much inspired by ‘Seven Black Roses’, with a tight percussive off beat bass, and very strong finger picking. This style of playing was quite demanding and I used to have to practice hard for at least two weeks before gigs to get the strength and stamina up to make it through a show! 

Tuning wise, I used a variant of my main tuning which I had purloined from John Martyn and Dick Gaughan. A lot of my writing came from putting the guitar in a tuning, sticking on a capo and then a song would flow from that. It meant at shows I was retuning before each song! I became pretty fast at morphing between them.Remainder of the song notes for You’ll All Get What’s Coming To You. They read:

Everyone always asks me what the song is about! Haha, well actually it came about after a frustrating phone call with a bank or some such, where I was given no leeway – and I was in despair that people give their power and sovereignty all too easily for the promise of an easy buck. I know the world is a complex place and we all need to earn to survive, but surely morals, ethics and principles that prioritise the wellbeing of each other as brothers and sisters need to come first? 

So it’s a bit of a vent and also a muse on karma and perhaps we all need to be careful what we call in and wish for.

I distinctly remember writing this sitting upstairs in the Shippon, which was a converted (ish) barn which we lived in at the time on a farm near Ilfracombe. It was where our daughter Aylen was born! I was sitting in an armchair in the corner – somewhere I have a photo of Aylen sitting on my lap playing the guitar, too!
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
Dan Arborise performing ‘You’ll All Get What’s Coming To You’, taken from Of Tide & Trail, out on vinyl for the first time ever on Unspun Heroes. Order via Bandcamp today: unspunheroes.bandcamp.com/album/of-tid...
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
Listening to Post Script for #FaIIFriday and, well, it’s not that bad. Probably not an album I’d buy. It’s more MES on a collab than a record by his band. Still, there are some great moments among the cash-in.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 02/10/2026
Happy Bandcamp Friday
static.klipy.com
Golden Gate Fields Horse Race: And They're Off! Says the caption.
Alt: Golden Gate Fields Horse Race: And They're Off! Says the caption.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 01/10/2026
Not quite. Was on a video call and someone said something was a shield, and I responded with “you cannot harm me, my wings are like a shield of steel” and, well, absolute tumbleweeds.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 01/10/2026
Loved Mighty Mouse! Not as much as Batfink, though. I mentioned Tony Hart the other day in a work context and the blank looks made me feel a bit sad.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 01/10/2026
Jelly Babies are part of your five a day, right?
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 01/10/2026
He looks a bit like Beck in that photo. Or rather Beck clearly styled himself on Riffy Cliffy when he first started.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 01/10/2026
You’ll always meet good people in record shops or book stores. Always. I can’t say the same for shoe shops or hardware stores. Unfortunately you’ll also find insufferable bores who insist the 80s was a decade with no good music, or that graphic novels aren’t real writing.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 30/09/2026
No idea who David is/was, but I had my first ever listen to Nic Jones today thanks to a chat with @bezza.bsky.social (this is his copy in the photo). David’s loss was my gain. And Tom’s, if I give it back 🤪
Nic Jones holds an acoustic guitar and looks up towards the camera. Nic is wearing a white shirt. You can’t see the neck of the guitar hut I reckon he’s fingering a B7 chord out of shot. Maybe a C#m barre? He has signed the album for someone called David. Seems David wasn’t that impressed because it got sold. Or maybe David passed away? All of this is incidental to the image, btw. Oh, the name of the artist, Nic Jones is written in the top left corner. Opposite is the album’s name, Penguin Eggs.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 30/09/2026
Jude’s words are absolutely beautiful. Really, they are. She captured the spirit of the music in a way that is magical. Her writing deserved to be on the outside and, well, those who dislike/hate obi strips now have a reason to keep one. It’ll fit inside the sleeve like a thin insert.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 30/09/2026
Finally getting around to doing the numbering. Eagle-eyed people will notice that the obi is the opposite to how I normally do it. This is because the sleeve notes are printed on it (thanks @juderogers.bsky.social) and it’ll sit on the right-hand side. It’s smaller so it fits inside the sleeve.
A silver grey card has the words Limited Edition and underneath the numbers 14 (handwritten in pen) and /250 in print. This is a detail of an obi strip that sits on the edge of an album, in this case the right-hand side of the sleeve so that the liner notes printed on it are readable in a Western style of left to right.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 30/09/2026
Life advice. Would also add: read books.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 29/09/2026
I think this is a band that gets better with every album. Currently playing this and it’s Fucking Brilliant with a capital F and B.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 29/09/2026
Records got pressed today. Can’t wait to see what they look like.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 29/09/2026
The day job (if you want to call it that) has been keeping me busy. I did listen to great music while I was 'staring out the window' including the latest @glenndonaldson.bsky.social (loved it) and the new Storefront Church album (also great). And I played the Come debut on vinyl, very loud. Again.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 29/09/2026
BC Friday = Bandcamp Friday. I was just saving characters. And that's very generous of you, and very much appreciated.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 29/09/2026
You're definitely not being thick, it's just I don't have the rights to the digital so it only shows up on the merch page of Bandcamp: unspunheroes.bandcamp.com/album/of-tid... It's the last BC Friday this week, so if you can wait for that I'd appreciate it. However, a sale is a sale!
unspunheroes.bandcamp.com
Of Tide And Trail, by Dan Arborise
0 track album
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
And finally (I mean, I could post for years) it’s a poster archive. So much lovely stuff: www.instagram.com/thisisaposte...
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
And someone I know well, he does book covers and cool art stuff, it’s Daniel BG: www.instagram.com/gray
instagram.com
Instagram
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
I follow loads of artists too. Which I how I learned about @matpringle.bsky.social years before I commissioned him. Physically making stuff is cool. Kyle Bean is another brilliant maker: www.instagram.com/kylejbean
instagram.com
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
And rural houses in the US. There are loads of these but I follow this one: www.instagram.com/rural_houses
instagram.com
Instagram
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
I also mentioned an account of French typography/shop fronts but turns out it’s actually in Madrid: www.instagram.com/freehandmadrid
instagram.com
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
At the weekend, I was chatting to Tim (@webuyrecords.bsky.social) about lovely Instagram accounts after we started talking about WH Smith paper bags. First up could only be @presentcorrect.bsky.social who are, as you see, also on here. The insta steals the show for me, though.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
Been on a day trip. Did manage to pop into @spinsounds.bsky.social in Dorking briefly to swap T-shirts with @sonichole.bsky.social (that sounds weird, but trust me it’s not!) They fed my dog a treat and she was very happy. I managed to avoid buying records because I was on a mission elsewhere.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 28/09/2026
Morning
static.klipy.com
Cartoon Cat Confused, Scratches Head
Alt: Cartoon cat, Tom, taping his eyes open and the tape failing to hold them up.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 27/09/2026
No Steve, they *are* the lizard dinosaurs. They just aren’t wearing their human skin! 🤪
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 26/09/2026
On the way home I dropped in to a beautiful café cum record shop called Dark Circles. Loads of jazz and soul, plenty of hip hop too. Mostly new but a good chunk of preloved. A wonderful vibe in there. Grabbed a slice of Misch/Dayes.
A copy of a vinyl record is propped up on a yellow Formica table against a fabric bag and cream wall. The album is What Kinda Music by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes. The cover shows water and mountains with a red sky behind it and yellow circles that look like reflections. There’s an also a Parental Advisory sticker, because it says FUCK somewhere on a song here and there. Bollocks to those kinds of parents and their fucking advice.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 26/09/2026
Isn’t it?! Doubt this will leave my ‘play next’ pile.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 26/09/2026
I also grabbed a copy of Come’s debut from Tough Love St Leonard’s. This is such a great album and Fire Records seem to have done a great job of the reissue.
A copy of the reissued debut album from Boston band Come. Mostly you can see a reflection of a person holding a phone up. Sorry about that.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 26/09/2026
Wrote about The Muslims/The Soft Pack a while back - unspunheroes.com/2024/04/12/t... - and today I picked up their debut album. I think it my Magic Roundabout record bag that finds the gems. Thanks to Tim @wowandflutter.bsky.social
A tote bag made from fabric that has characters from the children’s TV show, The Magic Roundabout. Made by Jennifer Jayne Vintage (on the Insta).A copy of The Muslims debut album before they changed their name to The Soft Pack. Shown on a yellow Formica table propped up against the fabric bag and a cream-coloured wall.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 26/09/2026
Worn by a man. In his late 50s, maybe older. I showed Tim @wowandflutter.bsky.social and he had no words either.
A slightly overweight older man is wearing the world’s most hideous t-shirt. It depicts a six-pack stomach with a woman’s hands going down the front. There is also a red striped tie. It’s what you get if you type ‘grim’ and ‘the ick’ into Amazon.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
I’ve walked past the Billy Vee store in Lewisham many times. No idea if they take stuff in, though. Plenty of Linn and Rega turntables on show. Might be worth contacting them. Apologies if it’s useless info.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Really enjoying the latest from @gentlehen.bsky.social. Same catchy tunes as ever, but a little more REM in the jangle on this one which adds a smidge of melancholy here and there. Anyway, it's out today: gentlehen.bandcamp.com/album/wink
gentlehen.bandcamp.com
Wink, by Gentle Hen
12 track album
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Had no idea it was on vinyl. I remember downloading it at work back in the day, probably from a messageboard somewhere. Surprised to see it's available on the 'Cogs.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
There are days when I really get upset about emails people send me. I really don't understand why people do this. He's probably got an employer, so I'd send them a quick message about their employee's conduct online.
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Well, I haven't actually heard it yet... but the anticipation is building nicely 😍
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Got me a lathe cut pre-ordered too. Looking forward to hearing your songs on vinyl at last!
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Always a good day when @shopfiresmusic.bsky.social has new music out. Limited lathe cut singles available too. Just gone live on @yyzrecords.bsky.social - yyzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/undera...
yyzrecords.bandcamp.com
Underachievers / Cuts & Grazes, by SHOPFIRES
2 track album
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 25/09/2026
Morning
static.klipy.com
Harry Styles Slay
Alt: Origjnal alt text read: Harry Styles Slay. Who am I to argue with that?
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 24/09/2026
Yeah, let’s DM as I’ll have something going to Henry and would be happy to work out how to combine things to save on fees!
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Unspun Heroes® @unspunheroes.com · 24/09/2026
Realising it may well be @goodbyewudaokou.bsky.social who does the shipping… still willing (and hopeful I’ll snag a copy myself tomorrow morning, too)
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