Enda Guinan

@endaguinan

Does digital things in the third sector. Host of Let There Be Music. Expect plenty of #NowListening. ‘Joy is an act of resistance’ -Toi Derricotte, The Undertaker’s Daughter (2011) he/him Galwegian in London. linktr.ee/endaguinan

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Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 11d

To ensure the Top 40 continues to reflect genuine, active pop momentum (and be less boring) rather than algorithm defaults, chart rules need recalibration - perhaps by introducing weighting for active choice over passive background streams. 5/5

Screenshot of an Official Charts entry showing position number 20 with a pink upward-pointing triangle beneath it. The track thumbnail shows a couple dancing in silhouette against a giant glowing moon in a starry night sky. Next to the artwork, the song title "ORDINARY" is printed in bold uppercase above the artist name "ALEX WARREN". To the right, text details the song's chart stats: "LW: 23" in pink, "Peak: 1" in blue, and "Weeks: 76" in pink, followed by an information icon and a play button.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 11d

The @officialcharts.bsky.social’s Accelerated Chart Ratio (ACR) was designed to phase out lingering hits. However, passive stream volume from major editorial playlists seems to overwhelm ACR penalties, giving older tracks momentum that new releases struggle to match. 4/5

Vinyl single sleeve for Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". A black-and-white photograph of the five band members stands in the foreground against a large red and blue circular emblem. The band name "JOURNEY" is printed in bold black letters at the top and vertically along the left edge, with the track title "DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'" highlighted in red in the top right corner. The paper sleeve shows slight wear and creasing around the edges.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 11d

And I'm not being an old 'the charts are shit nowadays' git - it’s the methodology. Currently, a passive stream (e.g. a song auto-playing on some moods playlist in a gym) carries the same chart weight as an active stream (a user searching for a track). Algorithmic inertia now skews chart tenure. 3/5

CD single cover for Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten". The cover features a portrait of Natasha Bedingfield looking over her shoulder, wearing a chunky grey-and-white knit scarf and bright coral lipstick. In the background, a parasol with green and beige floral patterns is open behind her. The song title "Unwritten" and artist name "Natasha Bedingfield" are written in a rounded white font across the bottom. A light blue sticker on the right side reads: "LIMITED EDITION FEATURES LIVE VERSION OF 'WILD HORSES'". A dark maroon border on the left spine shows the tracklist, barcode, and record label logos.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 11d

A quick breakdown of this week’s Top 40: • Average tenure: 32 weeks • 50% of the chart has been listed for 20+ weeks • 42.5% of tracks predate 2026 or are legacy catalogue • Only 2 new entries (5% of the chart) That represents an unusually low rate of turnover. 2/5

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 12d

What fantastic artwork.

Album cover featuring a studio portrait of a person with short dark hair, glasses, a white high-neck top and dark jacket against a mottled blue-grey background. The band name “BUTTHOLE SURFERS” appears in large red capital letters across the top of the image.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 15d

“It gets earlier and earlier each year” etc etc Spotted in Islington public house just now. 🎅🏽

A Christmas display inside a pub features a small decorated tree, festive greenery and a large wooden “NOEL” sign on a wooden table. Behind it, bright red posters invite customers to “Book now for Christmas”, with menus and promotional leaflets arranged around the display. A rustic wooden wall, wall lights and nearby toilet doors frame the scene.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 16d

27 @whatafuckingrecord.bsky.social

Cover artwork of Scritti Politti’s Anomie & Bonhomie

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 19d

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep! NOW Yearbook 1971 is on the way. nowmusic.com/collections/...

Sleeve artwork for NOW Yearbook 1971. Words are white with reddish borders against a yellow gradient background.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 24d

Certain that Green and the Scritti crew felt the big love in the room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall this afternoon. Nice to meet @davidef.bsky.social and @dvdmccrmck.bsky.social too. 🙏🏽

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· 25d

Scritti’s Cupid & Psyche 85 ‘deluxe’ reissue/remaster is 27 in the UK @officialcharts.bsky.social Album Sales. Nice.

A music chart entry snippet showing the album Cupid & Psyche '85 by Scritti Politti at position number 27. The entry features a small thumbnail of the album artwork, the bold position number with a pink "RE" label underneath it, and the text "LW: RE" on the bottom right, indicating a chart re-entry.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 11

Remastered Scritti always welcome - and this sounds ace (first time for the 2022 remasters on physical). Good to have the extra tracks on disc 2 (and a handsome gatefold too). Sadly, the same liner notes as the 2021 reissue: the enjoyable, if a little slight, interview with Green and David Gamson.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 10

If you like your soul laced with generous amounts of spacey steel pedal, you may enjoy Leon Bridges's Leon (2024). #NowListening #Vinyl

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 8

Sounding pretty much perfect in this sunny weather. @willstratton.bsky.social’s Rosewood Almanac from 2017. Beautiful pressing on @bellaunion.bsky.social too… #NowListening

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 8

Xmas gifts? Ffs… *unsubscribes from UK.RareVinyl.com*

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 4

Sadiq Khan, London Mayor, @london.gov.uk looking cool AF at London #Pride today… Pride in London – in pictures www.theguardian.com/world/galler...

A large group of people pose together at London Pride. In the centre, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, wearing sunglasses and a white England football shirt, applauds while smiling. Around him are people of different ages, ethnicities and gender expressions wearing colourful clothing, Pride-themed outfits and sunglasses. A large Progress Pride flag waves overhead, with smaller rainbow flags and placards visible behind the group, including one reading “Many Voices One Front”. In the foreground, one participant holds a rainbow fan reading “Love Is Love”. The atmosphere is celebratory and inclusive.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 4

Happy #Pride, London! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ And yes there is a NOW compilation to celebrate. From 2022, this is surely one of the frothiest, giddiest collections ever made.

Back cover of the four-CD compilation NOW That’s What I Call Pride, listing 85 tracks across four discs.

CD One focuses on LGBTQ+ icons and empowerment anthems including Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Cher, Eurythmics, Gloria Gaynor, Whitney Houston, RuPaul, Robyn, Katy Perry, Céline Dion, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Kelly Clarkson and Madonna.

CD Two features contemporary pop from Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Years & Years, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Christine and the Queens, Fletcher & Hayley Kiyoko, Kim Petras, Calvin Harris & Sam Smith, Joel Corry featuring MNEK, Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, Tegan and Sara, Tate McRae, Janelle Monáe, Ariana Grande, Rita Ora, Little Mix, George Ezra, Shawn Mendes and Sam Smith & Normani.

CD Three highlights dancefloor classics and LGBTQ+ favourites including George Michael, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Marc Almond, The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Dead or Alive, Divine, Hazell Dean, Bananarama, Liza Minnelli, Gloria Gaynor, Evelyn Thomas, Patrick Cowley featuring Sylvester, Boys Town Gang, The Weather Girls, Miguel Brown, Grace Jones and Man 2 Man.

CD Four rounds out the collection with Queen, Dolly Parton, ABBA, Steps, Gina G, Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Chic, Sister Sledge, Sheila B. Devotion, Baccara, Village People, Chaka Khan, Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, Carly Rae Jepsen, Leona Lewis, La Roux, Scissor Sisters, CeCe Peniston and Ultra Naté. Sony Music and EMI logos appear at the bottom.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jul 3

1. Portishead - Dummy (5pts) 2. ABC - The Lexicon of Love 3. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing 4. Björk - Debut 5. The Orb - Adventures… (1pt) #5DebutAlbumsSF1

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 28

‘Watchable biopic’ Köln 75 is a very good reason to listen to that extraordinary performance by Keith Jarrett one more time. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ju...

A black vinyl record plays on a turntable, with the tonearm resting on the disc. Behind it, the album sleeve for Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert is propped up, showing a blurred black-and-white photo of Jarrett at the piano. A speaker sits to the right near a window, giving the scene a quiet home-listening feel.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 28

No new entries to the UK Top 40 this week and a number-one track that kicks off a second YEAR on the chart by going back to number 1 for a FOURTH time. Streaming is a reality, but @officialcharts.bsky.social really need to tweak the algorithm to speed things up.

Screenshot from the Official Singles Chart website showing “Rein Me In” by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at number 1. The page lists its chart facts: peak position 1, label Polydor, first chart date 26/06/2025 and 54 weeks on the chart. A “Weeks on chart” panel shows 14 weeks at number 1, 36 weeks in the Top 10, 52 weeks in the Top 20, 53 weeks in the Top 40 and Top 75, and 54 weeks in the Top 100. Below, a chart run grid shows the song’s weekly positions from 26/06/2025 to 02/07/2026, with number 1 positions highlighted.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 27

Breaking my self-imposed rule about not sharing negative reviews only because Alexis Petredis' review of Myles Smith's album is very funny. You don't get this with AI copy. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

Screengrab of paragraph from review that reads: "And from Ed Sheeran he takes pretty much everything else, up to and including some of the themes of his songs. Much in the style of The A Team, Mary’s Song depicts a drug-addicted but good-hearted sex worker (despite her travails, the listener is assured, “she sings her song and it goes like do-do-do-do”). Dublin Lights, meanwhile, is a frightful bit of faux-Irish fiddle-de-dee about meeting an attractive young lady in the titular city – uillean pipes, “one more Guinness and kiss so sweet” etc – that you would compare to Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl were it not for the fact that it makes Galway Girl sound as edgy and feral as the Pogues in the era when Spider Stacy used to keep time on stage by repeatedly smashing himself over the head with a metal beer tray. It turns out to have been co-written by Ed Sheeran, information it’s a bit hard to know what to do with. It’s like going to see the Bootleg Beatles and discovering Paul McCartney’s taking the tickets."

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 26

This album kinda floated past me on release, but in this weather, it starts to make sense. Khruangbin's Hasta El Cielo (2019) (the dub version of Con Todo El Mundo) #NowPlaying #Vinyl

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 22

For some reason, seeing Shania Twain flanked by Angine de Poitrine makes me very happy. Story: stereogum.com/2502963/angi...

A woman in a black outfit sits between two seated performers wearing black and white polka dot costumes with gold triangular details and masked headpieces

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 21

‘I keep my eyes wide open all the time … I find it very, very easy to be true…’ He was constantly singing bits from I Walk The Line while driving, having dinner, any time really. It is a belter though.

Album artwork for Johnny Cash: The Legend. A complication by Sun Records from 1970.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 18

First record I bought with my own dosh. Awww!

7” Copy of Happy Talk by Captain Sensible

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 10

Back from the Paul McCartney playback/interview event at the Roundhouse. He’s an affable interviewee (even if, despite Rob Brydon’s efforts, he gives little away). It was a delight to see him singing to the tracks, conducting the music. He is a proper legend. No photography allowed. So I didn’t.

Out-of-focus photo taken inside the Roundhouse. Red stage lighting, blurred audience and light trails obscure most details of the performance.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 10

As these two share a 41st birthday today, the law requires that they be played, perhaps more than once. #vinyl

A hand holds a Scritti Politti Cupid & Psyche 85 vinyl sleeve in front of a Prefab Sprout Steve McQueen record sleeve, with vertical wooden panelling in the background.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 9

Not entirely sure what has inspired this sudden papering of an EC1 side street nearby with internet-era hip-hop nostalgia. Some filming perhaps, but no crew around. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #London

Large outdoor wall mural covered with a collage of hip-hop and R&B album covers, artist photos, social media screenshots and cultural references. Recognisable albums by artists including OutKast, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, DMX and The Fugees are arranged across a black-painted wall beneath leafy trees. A pavement and roadside parking signs run along the foreground.

Street-side view of a large mural celebrating hip-hop culture, featuring album artwork, photographs and internet memes linked to artists such as Nas, OutKast, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, The Fugees and Wu-Tang Clan. Two parked cars sit in front of the wall, with mature trees overhead and a city building visible in the background.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· Jun 1

Always loved the dreamy artwork from the Jordan era. Sleeve design was by Andrew Biscomb and Peter Barrett. Art direction and artwork, including model making, were by Gerry Judah, assisted by Richard Walker. #PrefabSprout #ArtistFave15

Close-up of a record playing on a turntable, with the sleeve for Prefab Sprout’s Looking for Atlantis blurred in the background.

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· May 31

Arsenal fans meet content creators. The normally very sensible Old Street has lost its mind this evening. And it’s rather delightful. #Arsenal

Enda Guinan@endaguinan· May 31

Some kind of football thing happened I think. #Islington