RIP Maha, this is Orkos from 1979, her only album which was reissued by Habibi Funk in 2022
Mark J Wray
@markjwray.com
Writes about music and sometimes other stuff at markjwray.com He/him
In many ways it could be regarded as the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper".
WHAT A FUCKING RECORD@whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social · 17h ago60
25 years ago today I went to the Dance Valley festival near Amsterdam, an event so badly organised it has a 'Controversy' section on its Wikipedia page (not Fyre Festival levels though) It features in this piece I enjoyed writing a few years back, on the 5 most joyless trudges of my life.
The 5 most joyless trudges of my life
Exactly what the title suggests
markjwray.com
He’s not that smart, I knew how to use the toilet before I went to college www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
The pet I’ll never forget: Karl, the tabby who went to college and learned to use a toilet
He could seem judgmental, even moody. But the whole neighbourhood mourned when this remarkable moggy went to meet his maker
theguardian.com
“Thanks to an overabundance of time alone with my laptop and a growing pile of responsibilities that I wanted to push off, I found myself fixated on these photos recently.” Who among us 🤣🤣🤣 But seriously, this is ridiculously charming.
ryan cooper@ryanlcooper.com · 3d agothis owns www.inverse.com/input/cultur...
On one hand, I really would like to see Elastica live, their debut was the best album of the Britpop era, and I never saw them first time round. On the other, it always felt like they did the right thing by stepping away, so not sure a reunion (if that is what it turns out to be) is right for them
Jazz is an entire genre that I hated (or at least proclaimed that I hated) as a teenager and now love a great deal (although even now have barely begun exploring it)
Dave Moore@otherdavemoore.com · 4d agoHot takes are annoying, tell me a strong opinion you had about music at some point in your life that changed
Having even a little break from this place was quite useful in terms of clarifying who I do and don’t want to keep following, and what I want to see more (music) and less (US politics) in my feed
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 50 Fischerspooner Emerge USA 2001 Rank - 1 (12pt bonus) If anyone wants to say Amerie or Missy or Britney are better, I won’t argue too much, but Emerge is the 2000s for me, and no song bought me more joy. youtu.be/M4uSTdJo4zk?...
Fischerspooner - Emerge
YouTube video by FischerspoonerVEVO
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 49 Missy Elliott Get Ur Freak On USA 2001 Rank - 2 (11 pt bonus) Was light years ahead of the competition when I first heard it on the radio 25 years ago, and still is today. Whilst I picked one song ahead of it on this list, it would be a worthy winner of the whole thing.
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 49 Missy Elliott Get Ur Freak On USA 2001 Rank - 2 (11 pt bonus) Was light years ahead of the competition when I first heard it on the radio 25 years ago, and still is today. Whilst I picked one song ahead of it on this list, it would be a worthy winner of the whole thing.
Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On [Official Music Video]
YouTube video by Missy Elliott
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 48 Peaches Fuck The Pain Away Canada 2000 Rank - 3 (11 point bonus) Started this process unsure if this would make my 50 at all (as one of my 3 non-singles), but listening back to it was reminded just how raw and brilliant it is. youtu.be/3cV6pnvCVM4?...
Off BlueSky for a bit while on holiday. Only popping in daily to finish my #TheN0ughtie5 posting
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 48 Peaches Fuck The Pain Away Canada 2000 Rank - 3 (11 point bonus) Started this process unsure if this would make my 50 at all (as one of my 3 non-singles), but listening back to it was reminded just how raw and brilliant it is. youtu.be/3cV6pnvCVM4?...
Peaches - F*** The Pain Away
YouTube video by XL Recordings
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 47 LFO Freak UK 2003 Rank - 4 (11 point bonus) This is going to make you freak it says, and you know what? He’s not wrong. After years of silence LFO can out of nowhere with this absolute techno banger. Nothing like it before or since. youtu.be/HgMcNXxtY-4?...
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 47 LFO Freak UK 2003 Rank - 4 (11 point bonus) This is going to make you freak it says, and you know what? He’s not wrong. After years of silence LFO can out of nowhere with this absolute techno banger. Nothing like it before or since. youtu.be/HgMcNXxtY-4?...
LFO - Freak (Official Music Video) 1080p HD
YouTube video by AphexAcid
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 46 DJ Mujava Township Funk South Africa 2008 Rank - 5 (11 point bonus) Fresh from the quarter finals of the Pop World Cup, this all time banger would be a good place to send one of your 50 HMs if you have any going spare. youtu.be/_l1bjtjzZFo?...
Please sign if you're in Leeds or Yorkshire.
Lisa Holdsworth@lisaholdsworth.bsky.social · 2w agoMicrosoft is planning to build three massive AI data centres in Leeds. It’ll drain thousands of litres of water from the River Aire and become the city's biggest carbon emitter. We can still stop the council's sign-off, but we need more voices. Add your name: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/pr...
Back in 2018 I wrote my life story told through the medium of World Cups, with the idea of updating it every 4 years. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, although it has seemed increasingly less fun every 4 years since. In any case, here is the 2026 update for Canada/USA/Mexico:
My life in World Cups
My life stpry, told through the medium of World Cups
markjwray.com
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 46 DJ Mujava Township Funk South Africa 2008 Rank - 5 (11 point bonus) Fresh from the quarter finals of the Pop World Cup, this all time banger would be a good place to send one of your 50 HMs if you have any going spare. youtu.be/_l1bjtjzZFo?...
Dj Mujava - Township Funk
YouTube video by Indre P.
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 45 Life Without Buildings The Leanover UK 2000 Rank - 6 My favourite song of the 2000s with guitar in it, as it turns out, although very different from the indie-rock I was listening to at the start of that decade. I didn’t discover this band until a little later on, and…
Andy Burnham should prove he understands his supporters by declaring an amnesty on outstanding Britannia Music Club bills.
The latest in my 'Every Album I Love' series, on Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender, and whether or not a great album needs to be something more than just a collection of songs. markjwray.com/2026/07/19/e...
Every Album I Love – 12. Joanna Newsom : The Milk-Eyed Mender
The 11th in my ‘Every Album I Love’ series, on Joanna Newsom’s ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender’ and whether an album has to be more than just a collection of songs.
markjwray.com
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 45 Life Without Buildings The Leanover UK 2000 Rank - 6 My favourite song of the 2000s with guitar in it, as it turns out, although very different from the indie-rock I was listening to at the start of that decade. I didn’t discover this band until a little later on, and…
The Leanover
YouTube video by Life Without Buildings - Topic
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 2w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 44 The Knife Heartbeats Sweden 2002 Rank - 7 There are few songs I listen to more regularly than this, even quarter of a century (almost) on youtu.be/pPD8Ja64mRU?...
Tired: Just being an instrumental figure in Jazz Age Paris Wired: Being an instrumental figure in Jazz Age Paris AND a highly decorated WW2 Resistance Hero & Spy Inspired: Being an instrumental figure in Jazz Age Paris AND the US Civil Rights Movement AND a highly decorated WW2 Resistance Hero & Spy
This has always been my favourite joke from the show
Daniel Carpenter@dancarpenter.bsky.social · 3mo agoRewatching 30 Rock and I think this is still possibly one of the best constructed jokes in anything, ever.
The latest in my 'Every Album I Love' series, on Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender, and whether or not a great album needs to be something more than just a collection of songs. markjwray.com/2026/07/19/e...
Every Album I Love – 12. Joanna Newsom : The Milk-Eyed Mender
The 11th in my ‘Every Album I Love’ series, on Joanna Newsom’s ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender’ and whether an album has to be more than just a collection of songs.
markjwray.com
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 44 The Knife Heartbeats Sweden 2002 Rank - 7 There are few songs I listen to more regularly than this, even quarter of a century (almost) on youtu.be/pPD8Ja64mRU?...
The Knife - Heartbeats (Official Video)
YouTube video by The Knife
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 3w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 43 The White Stripes Fell In Love With A Girl USA 2002 Rank - 8 Not a huge amount of the indie guitar rock I was listening to through the 2000s has survived to make my list, but this is a near perfect record. A giddy rush cramming more joy into 2 minutes than most bands…
Godspeed and farewell to Jennifer Finch of L7. A true punk rock force and legend on bass. Thank you for the riffs and the attitude. #RIPJenniferFinch
Jennifer Finch, L7 Bassist, Dead at 59
Jennifer Finch, the longtime bassist for influential rock group L7, has died at age 59.
rollingstone.com
I do take it quite seriously when people imply my words are part of a wider culture of abusive practices towards marginalised people, because that is a *wildly* expansive reach from what I actually said and disregards my own shit which none of the people yelling bothered to check first.
you can be vigorously ‘anti-car’ and still have to have a car in exactly the same way that you still have to live under capitalism as an anti-capitalist. if you simply like cars and car culture and the way places are organised to force you to need a car then you can just say that!
Romeo Kokriatski@vagrantjourno.bsky.social · 3w agoHonestly with a 9mo without a car, it'd be a logistical nightmare just to make it to his checkups. I feel like a lot of anti-car stuff comes from people who don't have kids tbh
#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 43 The White Stripes Fell In Love With A Girl USA 2002 Rank - 8 Not a huge amount of the indie guitar rock I was listening to through the 2000s has survived to make my list, but this is a near perfect record. A giddy rush cramming more joy into 2 minutes than most bands…
The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by The White Stripes
youtu.be
Mark J Wray@markjwray.com · 3w ago#TheN0ughtie5 - Day 42 Britney Spears Toxic USA 2003 Rank - 9 She has 2 tracks in my 50, 1 in my HMs, and another that narrowly missed. Best singles act of the decade? Quite possibly. Despite a touch of over familiarity possibly preventing it being even higher, this remains my favourite