𝐣𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐢 𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐢𝐚

The Blue Hour suede: a retro-flection, ACT EIGHT

@suedehq.bsky.social’s The Blue Hour felt like a duty to write about more than a joy, but even still, their late-career ambition proves hard to ignore and reminded me why taking risks always wins over playing it safe.

#suede #mysuedestory #thebluehour

Night Thoughts suede: a retro-flection, ACT SEVEN

In 2016, @suedehq.bsky.social released Night Thoughts, a richly orchestrated, late-career album that’s as cohesive as it is ambitious. The latest entry in the retro-flection series revisits its place in their story.

#suede #mysuedestory #nightthoughts

My Bluesky posting game sucks ass.

Bloodsports reconnected @suedehq.bsky.social with the essence that made them vital in the first place. Their 2013 return is a confident, tightly focused album that feels like a reset.

#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports

🎧 the act of just streaming here 🎧

Yes, it’s a playlist. No, it’s not radical. A lightly haunted jukebox. Some new. Some old. Some weird little in-betweens. The Hidden Cameras, Saint Etienne, Vivek Shraya, Nation of Language + more.
open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...

Bloodsports suede: a retro-flection, ACT SIX

Bloodsports reconnected @suedehq.bsky.social with the essence that made them vital in the first place. Their 2013 return is a confident, tightly focused album that feels like a reset.

#suede #mysuedestory #bloodsports

A Thousand Episodes Deep, Vish Khanna Is Still In Kontrol Ian MacKaye, U.S. Girls, and Cadence Weapon discuss Khanna and 'Kreative Kontrol,' his essential interview podcast.

Congrats to King @vishkhanna.bsky.social on the 1000th episode of Kreative Kontrol! Much deserved love to a national treasure!

“Do You Ever Think?” Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter

Duality is not just the theme of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti’s Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter; it shapes the whole record, looping Dan Colussi’s detached delivery with the intimacy of his arrangements, highlighting the absurdity and precision of it all.

🧵 suede: a retro-flection.
Third Intermission: The Tears, Here Come The Tears

Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off from former
@suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler that quietly did everything it needed to.

open.substack.com/pub/jimdigio...

#mysuedestory

The Tears, Here Come the Tears suede: a retro-flection, THIRD INTERMISSION

Kinetic. Volatile. Unstable. Noble.
Revisiting Here Come the Tears, the one-off album from former @suedehq.bsky.social collaborators Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler, that quietly did everything it needed to.

“Borrow My Boots” Tami Neilson, Neon Cowgirl

Big voice. Big heart. Big neon cowgirl energy.
@tamineilson.bsky.social’s latest album is born from grit, grace, and a little bit of neon magic.

Get your glow on.

the act of just being [t]here | Jim Di Gioia | Substack What I'm trying to say... Click to read the act of just being [t]here, by Jim Di Gioia, a Substack publication. Launched 3 months ago.

On my Substack, I have been working through the @suedehq.bsky.social back catalogue for a "retro-flection" series that (if all goes well) will culminate in a review of Antidepressants on Sept 9:

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/t/suede-a-re...

#mysuedestory

#MySuedeStory

🧵 suede: a retro-flection.
Act Five: A New Morning

Not every album deserves a second chance. But sometimes, revisiting one reveals more than you expect. A New Morning was @suedehq.bsky.social's lowest point—and mine, as a fan.

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/a-new-morn...

#suede #anewmorning

🧵 suede: a retro-flection.
Act Four: Head Music

Synths, spirals, and self-destruction. @suedehq.bsky.social's Head Music is the sound of a band unravelling—and somehow still making it to the other side.

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/head-music

#suede #headmusic

A New Morning Suede, then and there: ACT FIVE

Not every album deserves a second chance. But sometimes, revisiting one reveals more than you expect.

A New Morning was @suedehq.bsky.social's lowest point—and mine, as a fan. Revisiting it over 20 years later gave me something I didn’t anticipate.

#suede #anewmorning #thisisalow

Sounds awesome!

“Art of Survival” Quinton Barnes, Black Noise

Quinton Barnes doesn’t play by the rules—and refuses to be silenced by the rulers. Dense, dissonant, and devastatingly honest, Black Noise (@wtetn.bsky.social) is a 33-minute reckoning. Messy. Brilliant. Necessary.

Head Music Suede, then and there: ACT FOUR

Synths, spirals, and self-destruction. @suedehq.bsky.social's Head Music is the sound of a band unravelling—and somehow still making it to the other side.

My deep dive into one of their most divisive albums is now up.
#suede #headmusic

Officially rebranding this series as suede: a retro-flection from here on.

“Look What You Did” Ribbon Skirt, Bite Down

This isn’t a rebrand. It’s a reckoning. Bite Down, the debut from Ribbon Skirt, is a post-punk exorcism of expectations. I wrote about identity, reinvention, and the power of being hard to ignore.

#ribbonskirt #bitedown

🧵 suede: then and there.
Second Intermission: Introducing the B-Sides: 10 Best from Sci-Fi Lullabies

My 10 favourites from @suedehq.bsky.social's 1997 compilation, Sci-Fi Lullabies. What's yours?

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/introducing-the-b-sides-10-best-from

#suede #scifilullabies #bsides

🧵 suede: then and there.
Act Three: Coming Up

In 1994, every music journalist was busy figuring out which up-and-coming band would claim @suedehq.bsky.social’s throne. No one expected it would be Suede themselves.

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/coming-up

#suede #comingup

🧵 suede: then and there.
First Intermission: The Best of Bernard Butler Post-Suede

A break from my retro-flections on @suedehq.bsky.social for some of Bernard Butler's best work post Suede.

Did your favourite make the list?
www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/the-best-of-bernard-butler-post-suede

🧵 suede: then and there.
Act Two: Dog Man Star

Chaotic and out of step with its time, Dog Man Star is @suedehq.bsky.social at their most ambitious and combustible.

When a band makes a masterpiece from the wreckage of a break-up > www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/dog-man-star

#suede #dogmanstar

🧵 suede: then and there.
Act One: Suede
All drama and defiance, @suedehq.bsky.social's debut strutted in like it owned the place—because it did.

I wrote about the album’s impact (culturally and on me personally), then and now > www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/suede

#suede

🧵 suede: then and there.

Prelude: “My Insatiable One”
@suedehq.bsky.social’s B-side masterpiece is all attitude, ambiguity, and artful arrogance. “The Drowners” may have been the debut, but “My Insatiable One” is the one that lit the match.

www.theactofjustbeingthere.ca/p/my-insatiable-one

🧵 suede: then and there.

A retrospective reflection on the @suedehq.bsky.social catalogue and my relationship to their music in one prelude, nine acts, and four intermissions. ⬇

#suede

Introducing the B-Sides: 10 Best from Sci-Fi Lullabies Suede: then and there, SECOND INTERMISSION

. @suedehq.bsky.social B-sides are not just fillers. They are fully realized songs that often rivalled or even surpassed their A-side counterparts. These are my 10 favourites from the 1997 compilation, Sci-Fi Lullabies.

What's your favourite Suede B-side?

#suede #scifilullabies

the act of just being [t]here | Jim Di Gioia | Substack What I'm trying to say... Click to read the act of just being [t]here, by Jim Di Gioia, a Substack publication. Launched 2 months ago.

You do know I have a Substack now, right? It would be swell if all you out there would subscribe.