Playlist
Today saw the end of 2025...
Another year of unbelievable stupidity on the part of mankind...
So it goes...
Which was exactly what I wrote on my entry for New Year's Eve last year...
Because it remains apt...
Here, a picture a day...
Another good year in our own little world whilst, in the wider world, things continued to go to absolute fuck...
Anyway, up and releasing the final LP of the year...
By close of play, its sales had pushed me into my best ever quarter, sales wise , the year as a whole having already surpassed expectations re turnover, nos of sales, nos of downloads, nos of streams and, indeed, average sale...
Outside, it was frosty...
We did the dishes and did not partake of breakfast...
Instead, just before 10, we set off for North Berwick...
And arrived around 45 minutes later...
Quite a few of the cafes were shut today and others were full but, eventually, we found a space at a wee place whose name, sadly, escapes me and which isn't yet on maps, given its apparent newness...
Excellent coffee...
...and we each opted for the "small" breakfast of five elements of our own choosing...
Then, out into the bright coldness for a constitutional...
The tide was in...
We moved through to the putting greens before getting along to "the rock"...
...but here it is in the foreground...
There are some lovely houses in North Berwick...
Into the high St and a new bag for Anne at Why Not - a birthday gift for the end of next month...
Then, while Anne secured peppers and coriander re tomorrow's tea, I popped into the various chazzas, hitting paydirt at the BHF (see below)...
Then, back towards the car, stopping off at the Reuse Scotland shop...
...where I picked this up for £2...
To the car...
...and the drive home, taking slightly longer as we drove through the disappointing Fenton Barns place...
Home for ripping and listening...
This the final haul of 2025 - outlay, £8...
These for 33p each...
These for £1 each...
...and this for £2...
...and the aforementioned book...
As the year drew to a close, a takeaway ordered and collected from the Bay Leaf...
Despite these platefuls, we still had 6 pakora left over for tomorrow at lunchtime...
...along with some of this curry, rice and naan...
Delicious...
An episode of "University Challenge" scoring 210...
Then, three episodes of "Bones" and it was midnight...
...we switched over briefly for the fireworks...
Then, leaving this, to bed just after midnight with "Billion Dollar Babies" in the cans...
As mentioned above, 2025 was my most successful year yet in terms of numbers of sales, numbers of downloads and numbers of streams...
2025 Versus 2024
Turnover up 74% - last year was down 9%
Nos of sales up 49% - last year was up 31%
Downloads up 162% - last year was up 41%
Streams up 41% - last year was up 10%
And, as a further boost to moral, after a number of years of falling average turnover per sale, this year it's up 17% - people are paying more for my music!
Bottom line, best year since joining Bandcamp in 2013...
But, of course, Mr Fripp's advice still stands - "if you want to be a musician, be a plumber..."
This is, of course, compounded by me, in that, here are my Top 20 LPs of 2025, only 2 of which I shelled out for (I did, however, buy almost 600 CDs this year, just not any that were going to cost me £15-£20, when I can download those to my hard drives for free)...
My favourite five were:-
1 The Alice Cooper Group/The Revenge of Alice Cooper
2 Rheostatics/The Great Lakes Suite
3 Sparks/MAD!
4 Krokofant/6
5 BRUIT</The Age Of Ephemerality
As far as CBQ is concerned, if you want to "go with the flow" if investigating on Bandcamp here are 4 2025 "charts"...
20 Top Earning LPs
20 Most Bought LPs
20 Most Downloaded LPs
20 Most Streamed Tracks
Everything is free to stream/name our price to download (mostly with loads of bonuses)
Fill your boots
20 Top Earning LPs 2025
20 Most Bought LPs 2025
20 Most Downloaded LPs 2025
20 Most Streamed Tracks 2025
Now for 2026...
Highlight of the Day: Achieving my top earning quarter since starting on Bandcamp - and my best year to date on all metrics...
Today's New Music:
