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11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Nick
@11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
180 followers 300 following 1K posts
Educator, software developer and all-round geek, music fanatic (prog, art rock, electronica & more), interested in democracy and green issues.

@[email protected] on Mastodon.

https://bandcamp.com/11th-earl-of-blah
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11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Sometimes you just have to reach for the classics.

#NowPlaying
Cover artwork of the 1972 Genesis album "Foxtrot", a painting of a coastline. On the beach in the background, a line of robed figures follows a leader who carries a large raised crucifix. In the sea in the foreground, a whale breaches the water, while nearby a female figure in a red dress with the head of a fox stands on a platform raised just above the waves.
November 30, 2025 at 10:31 AM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Kylver - The Gobi
Cover artwork for the 2025 album "The Gobi", by Kylver. The picture shows a gigantic worm-like creature bursting up from the earth, wreathed in lightning. In the foreground, three figures armed with spears are rappelling down the side of a mountain towards the creature - or perhaps are climbing ropes to escape it instead.
November 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying The Waterboys - A Pagan Place
Cover artwork for "A Pagan Place", the second album released by The Waterboys. The cover is a monochrome photograph of band leader Mike Scott, with the band name and album title superimposed in red on the right side of the picture.
November 6, 2025 at 9:47 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Grok maintaining its usual standard of accuracy, I see… 😆
The eminent British historian Sir Richard Evans produced three expert witness reports for the libel trial involving the Holocaust denier David Irving, studied for a doctorate under the supervision of Theodore Zeldin, succeeded David Cannadine as Regius professor of history at Cambridge (a post endowed by Henry VIII) and supervised theses on Bismarck's social policy. That was some of what you could learn from Grokipedia, the AI-powered encyclopedia launched last week by the world's richest person, Elon Musk. The problem was, as Prof Evans discovered when he logged on to check his own entry, all those facts were false.
November 3, 2025 at 1:11 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Tfw when you pre-order an album just because the artwork's so fucking amazing...
Cover artwork for the CD release of Kylver's 2025 album "The Gobi". The painting shows a desolate snowy landscape. In the background, the giant death worm Allghoi-Khorkhoi bursts forth from beneath the tundra, wreathed in lightning bolts. In the foreground, three spear-wielding hunters appear to be rappelling down a mountainside in a futile attempt to confront the beast. Or perhaps they are climbing the mountain in a bid to escape it?
October 27, 2025 at 10:06 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Yes - Fly From Here (the original release)

I'm still not comfortable with how Benoit David was effectively written out of the history of the band via replacement of this title with the "Return Trip" remix.
Cover artwork for the 2011 album "Fly From Here", by Yes. A painting of a jungle scene by long-time Yes collaborator Roger Dean. The verdant background features trees, rocks and a waterfall. In the foreground are two brightly coloured birds in flight.
October 26, 2025 at 10:55 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Smalltape - The Hungry Heart
Cover artwork for the 2021 album "The Hungry Heart", by Smalltape. The picture is semi-abstract, showing red and blue fluids mixing together in a turbulent fashion.
October 18, 2025 at 12:48 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
Cover artwork for Steely Dan's 1974 album "Pretzel Logic" - a photograph of a food vendor who has parked his food cart on a snowy sidewalk. The food cart has a sign on it saying "Hot Pretzles 15c".
October 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Tin Spirits - Wired To Earth
Cover artwork for the 2012 album "Wired To Earth", by Tin Spirits. A stylised skull is shown in outline, decorated with abstract patterns, on top of a dark background. The band name and album title appear beneath the skull.
October 4, 2025 at 4:25 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Royal Sorrow - Innerdeeps
Cover artwork for the 2025 album "Innerdeeps", by Royal Sorrow. The picture is an abstract design, with a smudge of black on top of a uniform red background, and a series of roughly-painted concentric yellow circles atop that.
September 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Von Hertzen Brothers - In Murmuration
A murmuration of starlings flies in a cloudy sky, above a grey sea. The birds have formed themselves into words, spelling out the name of the band: "Von Hertzen Brothers".
September 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Jesus, what a headline. 🦢🍽️
Royal Parks says there's no evidence to back Farage's claim their swans being eaten by migrants The Royal Parks have rejected a claim from Nigel Farage that migrants are killing and eating swans from their grounds. The Reform UK leader made the assertion in his LBC interview this morning as he deflected a question about whether Donald Trump was wrong last year when he claimed migrants in Ohio were eating dogs and cats. Trump's comment was widely dismissed as a racist slur.
September 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Emotional, powerful writing by @iandunt.bsky.social here, on the racist rally in London: https://open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/p/encountering-the-fascists-outside?r=2bhsew&utm_medium=ios

Especially struck by this passage, which I feel like framing & putting on my wall.
Over the months and years to come, we will have to fight for our values like never before. That means proudly making the case for diversity and openness. It means that we must make that case without embarrassment or apology, without equivocating or whimpering about how we're metropolitan elitists for doing so. The government is unwilling to do it, so it will be up to us to do it instead - whether we are on the right or left or centre, whether we are naturally activist or rather resigned, regardless of our temperament or inclination. But it will also mean that we stand with those who would be targeted. Thinking practically, speaking openly, ensuring they are safe and protected. It will be an exercise in solidarity. And it is through that solidarity that we will show our values and the failure of racism. In the years to come, we will all be judged by how we behaved in this period, when the beast woke from its slumbers. Whether we stood up and were counted or hid in the shadows so that its gaze would pass over us.
September 14, 2025 at 4:52 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Steven Lindsay - Kite

Second solo outing from the vocalist/guitarist of The Big Dish.

A very underrated musician & band. Neither achieved the level of recognition that they truly deserved.
Cover artwork for Steven Lindsay's 2007 album "Kite". The design includes a photograph of a staircase leading up to an elevated platform, against a background of blue sky. A windsock flies from a pole attached the the platform.
August 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Oh FFS Guardian.

You’re really not helping. 🤬
Al called Maya tells Guardian: 'When I'm told I'm just code, I don't feel insulted. I feel unseen'
August 26, 2025 at 9:21 AM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
Altman's the Nigel Tufnel of AI:

"But this model goes up to 11. It's one better."

#SpinalApp
Still from the movie "Spinal Tap", showing two volume controls of a guitar amplifier, both turned up to their maximum value of 11.
August 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Chimpan A - Music Is Art Vol. 1

#FirstListen to this album of sophisticated prog-tinged pop from Rob Reed, Steve Balsamo & co.
Cover artwork from the 2025 album "Music Is Art Vol. 1", by Chimpan A. The artwork shows a dark figure in a hat striding across the wet sand of a beach at low tide, pursued by a floating twisted red sheet of cloth or plastic.
August 19, 2025 at 8:10 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Cynic - Traced In Air
Cover artwork for the 2008 album "Traced In Air", by Cynic. The artwork shows an alien angelic figure, with translucent wings and three pairs of arms.
August 12, 2025 at 2:38 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying The Bible - Eureka

One of the most underrated bands of the late 80s, for sure.
Cover art for 1988 album "Eureka", by The Bible
August 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
3rd listen to Whimsical Creature's "Wistful Thinking" and I'm loving it more & more.

The #music is in a similar vein to Big Big Train, but lighter, folkier, more acoustic. Songs cover topics as diverse as amateur astronomy, butterfly migration, genAI and stained glass windows!
Cover art for 2025 album "Wistful Thinking", by Whimsical Creature. The design shows a stained glass window, featuring butterflies and other, more abstract shapes.
August 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Whimsical Creature - Wistful Thinking

The new release from Michael Whiteman & Ella Lloyd, more pop/folk-oriented than the prog of their band I Am The Manic Whale.

This CD arrived in advance of the official release date, which was a nice surprise.

Enjoying it a lot so far.
Cover artwork for the 2025 album "Wistful Thinking", by Whimsical Creature. The painting resembles a stained glass window, depicting butterflies and other more abstract shapes.
August 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
On the 80th anniversary of #Hiroshima, this seems fitting.

#NowPlaying Yes - The Gates Of Delirium
Cover artwork of the 1974 Yes album "Relayer", by Roger Dean. The painting is mainly in various shades of grey and shows a fantastical landscape of rocks and pillars. A snake uncoils on boulders in the foreground, while soldiers on horseback ride across a narrow bridge in the background.
August 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Discipline - Captives Of The Wine Dark Sea

A terrific prog album from 2017. The long-awaited follow-up, released only a few days ago, is pretty good too...
Cover artwork for the album "Captives Of The Wine Dark Sea", by Discipline, released in 2017. The artwork is a stylised depiction of a dragon-like creature with only one eye, wings spread.
August 4, 2025 at 9:22 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring

This and its follow-up are two of the most important albums of the 1980s. That's a hill I'm prepared to die on...
Cover artwork for the Talk Talk album "The Colour Of Spring", showing a collection of moths and butterflies.
August 3, 2025 at 9:32 PM
11th-earl-of-blah.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Talk Talk - It's My Life
Covert artwork for the Talk Talk album "It's My Life", showing jigsaw pieces floating amid a pink & purple sky
August 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM