Unspun Heroes®

@unspunheroes.com

1359 Followers 371 Following

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. https://bio.site/unspunheroes

A screenshot of the overview on a search conducted on Duck Duck Go about the footballer, Kevin Keegan. It pulls info from his Wikipedia page, which has clearly been tampered with. His nickname 'King Kev' was doctored by a rogue Wikipedia 'editor' to read Cumbum.
12 sliding puzzles, each one had an album cover on it, including Oasis, Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Prince, and Phil Collins.
A screenshot of the address bar in a browser that shows the word 'jailed' after the main domain address for Mixcloud. This is because the website assumes I am a bot.
A woman who looks posh is holding a can of Heineken. This is a still from a UK TV advert where a posh woman couldn’t say “The water in Majorca don’t taste like what it outghta” until she sips from a can of Heineken beer, which ‘refreshes the parts other beer cannot reach”.
A scene across a chalk meadow. There is long grass with white flowers dotted through it. A line of trees runs through the middle. And in a beautiful blue sky are clouds that looks as if they’ve been painted with a broad brush in quick strokes, leaving feathery white paint streaks behind.
A cartoon that shows thousands of books on shelves that curve horizontally. A ladder reaches up several storeys. The caption reads: There’s no such thing as too many books. The print is numbered 101/500. The artist is Ralph Lazer.
A zine with a black and white cover featuring a linocut design by Ruth Joyce. The title, ‘Pond Life’ features prominently in the centre of the cover. The subtitle, A Carshalton Fanzine is written a long the bottom of the page.
Atop a cast iron radiator sits a stack of six paperback books. From top to bottom they are: - On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia - Bullfight by Yasushi Inoue - Days of Light by Megan Hunter - Parade by Rachel Cusk - Benbecula by Graeme McCrae Burnet - Grief Is A Thing With Feathers by Max Porter These will be added to the huge pile of books I’ve got to read.
A screenshot of a theme selection from the app, Slack, which purports to help you 'Celebrate the music of Miles Davis' through six possible colour schemes: Kind of Blue, Funky Fresh, Jazz Club, Electric Fusion, Brassy, and Sunglasses Inside. Kind of Blue is, well, kind of blue, whereas Funky Fresh is a purple to green gradient thing; Jazz Club is a gradient of dark red shifting to darker maroon, while Electric Fusion is a light green; Brassy is sort of yellow/gold in colour with a nod to Bet Lynch's leopard skin tops, and Sunglasses Inside is a deep, dark purple, the colour of an eye that has been bruised by tripping over in a dark club because you're wearing sunglasses inside.
Cover art for The Lightswitch by Jo Mango. It features a sculpture made by Deniz Uster of a chair on its side and a small house and rocks atop it. The house has a light on. A pink obi strip with Jo’s name and the album title are shown on the left of the sleeve. The hand holding it also has a postcard under the thumb which reads: “Dear Simon, Thanks so much for listening and for supporting artists by buying direct. I really hope you enjoy The Lightswitch, Love Jo xxx”
A yellow hand-cut and handmade card sleeve with the name James Varda in black foil on the left. On the right hand flap that closes the outer sleeve is the black foil of the album’s name, Chance & Time.
A black pug looks into the distance. Behind it is a big tree. The sky is mostly blue with some clouds. The grass is a lush green colour.
A hand holds a vinyl album featuring a black and white cover image of a boy surfing in the ocean, with a second surfer visible in the background. The band’s name, "The Rapture", is prominently shown as white text on a black hype sticker, along with the title of the album, "In the Grace of Your Love". Released in 2011, it’s damn hard to find on vinyl in the UK and the album deals with themes of grief and loss. The music is danceable guitar band with electronica leanings. Most people hated it when it came out, if I recall correctly. They preferred the old version of the band from 2005 with a different singer and a much brighter sound. I like both.
Abstract artwork featuring bold strokes of red, black, and white on a textured yellow background. A hand is visible holding the art vinyl record sleeve of Tinned Meat’s second album, Kilter.
A hand holds a light blue book titled "The Ice Palace" by Robert Swindells. The cover features a blue illustration of a wizened figure in white and several wolves in an orange wash, along with the publisher's name, Antelope Books, at the bottom.
Four red phone boxes against the Victorian railings of Smithfield Market.
Bald old man walking down a woodland path. He is looking away from the camera, probably because he’s senile or attempting to look ‘cool’, wearing a black t-shirt with the Unspun Heroes logo printed on it.
A QR code that has an amorphos circle-like blob with white, red, pink, blue and purple swirling within it. Beneath this are the words 24:1900 MUSIC FESTIVAL, which translates to the time of day the music festival takes place and the time period over which it runs - 24 hours schedule with bands playing at 7pm in their time zone. Scanning the QR code links you to the Crowdfunder set up by the team behind it.
A screenshot of a portion of a Bandcamp page showing a red heart emoji and the text that says "You own this" next to it. To the right of this is more text which says "Buy again" in case you want to pay money for something already own. Below the red heart emoji is more text that says "Send as Gift" so you can buy it for someone else. That's nice thing to do. What I want to know is who decided to use a weird mix of sentence and title case for these labels? My brain hurts looking at it. Answers to this question on a postcard to: Unspun HQ... I'm kidding, you can email me if you really want to and have the answer.
A photo from the left-hand side of Union Chapel church in Islington. You can see a stage that has violins and guitars and a speaker stack all facing forward. People are seated with one solitary woman sat in front of me. In the background are the arches of the church and some other aspects of the interior. The photo is in back and white as I had some setting on my phone and didn’t notice until the shot had been taken.
Metal shutters outside shopfronts. Above these is positioned a sign for Rabbit, an early location-specific telecoms network in the UK. The light blue coloured letter R is inverted to make it look like a rabbit. A red dot makes an eye.
A smiley black pug pokes out her tongue in excitement. Being on a train is fun!
A hand holds three paperback books by Robert Rankin, which comprise the first three books of the Brentford Trilogy. They are, in order, The Antipope, The Brentford Triangle, and East of Ealing. The cover of The Antipope proclaims that it is the first book in the now legendary BRENTFORD TRILOGY, while the cover of The Brentford Triangle states it’s the second book in the now legendary BRENTFORD TRILOGY. You can probably sense a theme here. The books are secondhand, because that’s the joy of books. Can’t do that with a shitty Kindle made by a billionaire twat who also builds rockets that look like a penis and writes editorials for his newspaper, The Washington Post, that make him sound like a thin-skinned crybaby.
A hand is holding an album cover titled "Help the Witch," featuring a black and white linocut illustration of a tree that also looks like a person with their hands in the air (like they just don’t care) against a swirling sky. The text (which is flashy gold foil, btw - classy!) indicates it's a concept album based on a book by Tom Cox. That book is Help The Witch, btw.
A blue screen print on a white piece of quality paper. It’s held up by two bulldog clips at the top. The print itself shows a vinyl record being pulled from its sleeve by an invisible hand. The sleeve has writing on that says “I FUCKING LOVE RECORDS”. It’s by Mr. Bingo, a sweary art talent whom I happen to think is a damn fine human, and a funny one. He’s selling these at the Indie Label Market in London on 9 May, 2026. He may well put any left on his website. I don’t know. I’m not his agent.
A serene landscape painting featuring a tranquil river at sunset, with vibrant pink, orange, and purple skies. Silhouetted trees line the riverbanks, and a rustic cabin is visible on the right, reflecting in the water. The text "Rose Gold is in the top right/hand corner, which is the title of the debut album by Beau Aksew.
Midnight Man by Davy Graham. A man with an astonishing ‘tache is playing an acoustic guitar while a woman looks up at him. There is a lit candle and a wine bottle with candle wax that’s run down it in the foreground, just out of focus. The music is bluesy and a bit of 60’s pop vibe now and again. Released on Decca.
An album cover features a close-up of water lily leaves with reflections of a building in the background. The album is by "The Reds, Pinks & Purples” and titled “Acknowledge Kindness," and is presented in a green frame with a descriptive sticker that reads: “The Reds, Pinks & Purples Acknowledge Kindness Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks And Purples' distinctive brand of emotional pop, this is music built for the quiet hours and the restless mind. Evolving naturally from the heavier, melancholic indie rock of previous releases, here the mood feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes that resemble the bittersweet sorrow of The Cure, or the tenderly gloomy transcendence of California by American Music Club. Glenn Donaldson's ongoing world-building in songs and images is both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original. "The bitter tunefulness of the Smiths and the Go-Betweens" THE NY TIMES LIMITED DARK CLOUD LAKE VINYL EDITION <Fire Records logo, which is the word FIRE inside a diamond shape>
A man in a large check beige shirt sits in a yellow rowing boat, the oars of which are out of the water and facing the rear of the boat. I mean, he’s probably busy but this boat needs some repairs, certainly a paint refresh. It’ll rot out in a year or two, I’d say. Behind him are a set of steps going up to a clapperboard house. On the veranda of the house sits a woman with dark hair. She’s in what looks like a camping chair. Moss covers the house roof. The grass needs a quick mow. There is a plant in a concrete plot. It looks dead. Yes, this is a very 1970’s album cover photo. In white text along the top edge of the sleeve is the artist’s name, David Ackles, and the title of the album, American Gothic.
The image features the cover of an album titled "Back in the D.H.S.S." by Half Man Half Biscuit. The design includes a playful, cartoonish illustration of a car as an exploded diagram with pink tones, showcasing various objects like wheels, a speaker, and tools.
A vinyl record sleeve with a black and white photo of a woman with wet hair cleaning her nails with a nail brush. She has rings on her fingers. Behind in to the left is what looks like a shelf. The image has grey circles over the top. Vertically up the left-hand side is the band’s name, Shapes Like People. In the right-hand lower corner is the album title, Ticking Haze. This is the first album by the band, which comprises jangly indie music. It’s highly recommended.
A hand hold a piece of DYMO tape that says POP in front of a yellow vinyl record sleeve. The sleeve has the band name THE EXPERIMENTAL POP BAND spelled out in DYMO tape-style lettering, of which two pieces of actual DYMO are attached. There is a fabric bag placed on the sleeve that has a care label attached and a download code card inside. In pink letters along the bottom, half the album title is shown, which is The Tracksuit Trilogy.
Simon from Unspun Heroes is holding an album cover featuring abstract reflections on water. The title "Bank Arcades" and the artist's name "Andrew Rumsey" are displayed in the top right corner. The overall color scheme is a blend of blues and greens.
Worthing beach, on the south coast of the UK. The tide is coming in. There are groynes and a small jetty or pier on the right of the picture. The sky is grey. There is fog in the distance. The beach is shingle. It’s cold and windy. Trust me, I was there.
A promotional poster for a record fair featuring a vintage record player. It announces the event on March 7th at Cryer Arts Centre in Carshalton, from 11 AM to 5 PM. The event will showcase vinyl, CDs, memorabilia and more.
The images show a text field for asking for entry of an amount of Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) which is then converted to British Pounds (GBP). The amount of ZWD is 5,500 which amounts to 11.29 GBP.
An elderly man (allegedly called Andy) is closely examining a small green model vehicle using a magnifying visor. He is seated at a table, focusing intently on the model. Bless him.
A torch shines through a stencil on to a tiled floor. The stencil is an eye mask and above it is the word ‘UNSPUN’ and below it is the word ‘HEROES’.
An image showing the reversed logos of Unspun Heroes. At the top is the 'standard' logo that's used everywhere; beneath it is the logo that's typically used for merch uses or when I want to be bit less formal (i.e. daft) with my use of branding.
Album cover for "Miracle" by Francis Lung, featuring a man with long hair dressed in a white blazer with red and blue embroidery. He is standing against a neutral backdrop with foliage in the background.
Three Bandcamp codes for an unknown album. They are placed on a copy of In The April Sun, a zine by the band Assistant.
A Gmail error message suggesting a weekly newsletter I subscribe to is trying to gather information about me. Says it’s suspicious, this email. It isn’t. I mean, this is a service that constantly allows an obvious spam email through about a cloud service being full and my payment being ignored. And they use ai for this. Fucking useless idiots who degraded their own product and reduced trust like the MAGA techbros they are. Wankers. Subscribe to Matt’s newsletter. It’s safe and far better than most other emails you’re likely receiving. Unless the emails are from me, in which case mine are more important than Matt’s. Hierarchy matters. What, you’re still reading this text? Contact me for 10% off a sale.
A photo of Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science. He’s wearing a white shirt open at the collar and clearly needs to brush his hair which looks like classic ‘bed hair’.
The image features a colourful album cover which has the band’s name at the top: "Mind Funk." It displays abstract, fluid shapes in vibrant orange against a dark blue background, with celestial elements like stars and planets. Alongside the stylized title at the top it also has drop shadows to prove it was designed in the 1990s.
A section in a record shop named Lads And Dads which has The Verve’s Urban Hymns album at the front. You just know it’s for the football shirt wearing Radio X listeners. Lovely as some of them are, this is not a section I would look through.
The cover of Faith Over Reason’s eponymous EP, featuring a monochromatic illustration of a rearing horse rising from black smokey clouds , set against a gradient blue background. The title "faith over reason" is handwritten in the top right corner.
Mastodon post that reads: Daughter just came home to tell me the teachers at school tried to confiscate her vape but they couldn't because it's actually a kazoo. "I made a kazoo noise at them and I could see them dying on the inside so I made a sad kazoo noise instead. I don't think it helped." The grin on her face.
An album cover for "You Had A Kind Face" by Butcher Boy. It features a sepia-toned photograph of a cityscape at night, with buildings and street lights. A person’s hand is holding the album in front of a neutral background.
An image of a crowd scene in a Lord of the Rings TV adaptation. Overlaid on the image is a grid. Column are marked ABCD and the rows are marked 1-5. The idea is similar to Spot The Ball competitions.
Image features a calendar page for December 2025, showcasing two men with distinct hairstyles - one wears a blonde wig and the other has dark, wavy hair. The text reads "WHAM! MAKE IT BIG" prominently at the top. The men are not George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley.
An illustrated lunar calendar for 2026 featuring vibrant colors and whimsical designs. Central elements include a figure in a blue frame, a stone tower with flames, and icons representing lunar phases and events like eclipses and super moons. The layout includes dates marked and is titled “Constant Follower’s 2026 lunar calendar”.
A selection of various singles released on Sarah Records including Heavenly, Blueboy and Another Sunny Day.
Part of the cover of a CD digipak. The image shows a man with dreadlocks walking on some craggy rocks. The sea is in the background. There are clouds in the sky.
The image features the album cover for "Come to My Garden" by Minnie Riperton. It depicts her standing in a garden setting, wearing a white dress with a distinctive design. The background includes neatly trimmed hedges and flowering plants, creating a serene environment.
An image of the 90 day men ‘beta wave’ vinyl which shows the green as having a wave effect running through it.
Damage to a brand new album only visible once the shrink wrap is removed.
Me holding my copy of the reissued 90 day men album, (Is (It) Is) Critical Band. It shows the band, made up of four men wearing typical indie band apparel, and their band name in sans serif type. There’s a hype sticker with blurb that reads: NUMERO 927 90 DAY MEN (It (Is) lt) Critical Band + 25th Anniversary Edition Atmospheric post-rock from turn of the century Chicago. 90 Day Men's debut for Southern Records surfs no wave's spiky shorelines for eight hypnotizing tracks. This expanded 25th anniversary edition includes an unreleased album tracked at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio, with notes from engineer Greg Norman and a fresh Heba Kadn master. Let's meet at Jinx. BETA WAVE VINYL REMEMBER Turn your computer off before midnight on 12/31/99.
A person in a red athletic outfit is leaping while holding a javelin against a scenic background with hills and a partly cloudy sky. The band name and album title “Fufanu”, “Sports” is displayed at the bottom in white text.
A shrub has been covered with a white material and tied a third of the way down from the top, such that it looks like two stacks of snow atop one another. It’s in a garden covered in grey slate pieces and weeds.
A paper envelope that contains a nickel plated stamper of the first Unspun Heroes pressing, James Varda’s Chance And Time.