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andy catlin

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Music + Memory: A Personal Photography Project

Music, words and photos are important things in my life. This ongoing project is a way of trying to show the special memories that  specific music has for me and talking a little bit about them. I'll also try to make a photo that captures some of what they make me feel.


Latest Instagram Posts from @andycatlincom

Fab day taking photos with some of my favourite folk from @wearecyclinguk who were showcasing some of their great partnership work taking place in Glasgow (which obviously involved going on some bike rides for 'research' 😀)
Festival season off to a flying start at @edfoodfest with cracking show from @elizacarthh and band showcasing some stunning material from their next album 👏👏👏
Always loved Andy Goldsworthy's combination of the practical and the profound and it was a treat hearing him talk today @nationalgalleriesscot about the five years of development behind his 'Fifty Years' exhibition which has just opened at @royal_sco
Some of @edinburghzoo residents regretting their evolutionary wardrobe choices in the Scottish sunshine with dreams of Factor 50 for the Sloth Bear, Pallas's Cat, Crowned Lemur and Scottish Wildcat.
Great morning taking photos of Dr Brendon Ferrier at @edinburghnapier and learning about their work with the @lostshore Surf Lab 🏄
Wild afternoon on River Usk watching frisky Beautiful Demoiselles making baby Beautiful Demoiselles with epic aerial battles and strong yoga postures 😯
Real estate showdown with 7-spot ladybird vs flesh fly (with props to @ash_whiffin for I.D. 👏)
Quality night of top class songwriting from @hannahjuanita_thehardliner + @the_mosewilson + @elsiemacdonaldmusic at @sneakypetesclub 👏 Photo album > https://andycatlin.myportfolio.com/hannah-juanita-elsie-macdonald-14-july-2025
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#edi
Sublime concert tonight from @prisma_mexico + @surfacepressure with @other_lands_ at @thevoodoorooms celebrating the release of their beautiful new album 'Songs for the Mist Forest’ on @blackford_hill_audio 👏👏👏
Joyful week documenting @edinburghnapier graduations with a perfect mix of happy faces, family support and not-so-Scottish sunshine 😎
Dreich day didn't dampen the 50th Anniversary celebrations at @nationalmuseumsscotland National Museum of Flight with the Kite Club of Scotland bringing the aerial colours 🌈
Only do wedding photography for pals and it was 100% joy being around to document Michelle & Cristian's big bilingual day ❤️ (with bonus points for using my coo whispering skills to lure this young 'un into the party)
Grateful to the team from the Future Leaders Fellowship Development Network for letting me try to turn their group photo into album art 😀
Another excellent Book(ish) event at @nationalgalleriesscot with Tessa Ewart from Collections & Research team introducing up-close experiences including Dali's cheeky 'Invisible Straight from Nature', Douglas' gorgeous 'Within the Bloom', Cadell'
More photography fun today at the @nationalmuseumsscotland National Museum of Flight documenting the Mckinney family's visit with the team from @goeastlothian ✈️
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#eastlothian #scotland #flight #nationalmuseumofflight #museum #nationalmu
Impassioned and articulate Music and Words from the Trans Imaginary from @cn.lester tonight at @edinburghuniversity with support from @lighthousebks 👏🏳️‍⚧️👏 Photo album > https://andycatlin.myportfolio.com/cn-lester-25-june-2025
Ace start to the working week documenting @dunedinconsortscot learning and participation work in primary schools 👏 Find out more at https://www.dunedin-consort.org.uk/learning-and-participation/schools-workshops/
How Friday Ends: second resistance lesson of the day with @strangetownco and their performance of Eleanor McMahon's "The Stars and After" at @traversetheatre which serendipitously echoed @garyyounge earlier talk with the play showing young

Bob Mould - Workbook

October 06, 2015

WHAT Bob Mould - Work Book
WHEN Kensington Park, London - 1989
I remember sitting in the dappled sunshine under a tree in Kensington Park, London, and hearing ‘Workbook’ for the first time. As his first post-Hüsker Dü work, there was a lot riding on it.
The opening lines:
“Wishing well runs wet and dry
I wish for things i never had
Surrounds and wells up in my eyes
The screaming voice, it lies” (Wishing Well)

After that, it only gets more traumatic. “Workbook” is an austere and frequently desperate record fuelled by deceit, bitterness and life changing events. It’s an emotional dry heave that wrestles for catharsis but more often comes off as a pitch-black exorcism. Acoustic guitars just shouldn’t sound this… caustic.  

“Feeling so abused, well, sometimes
Life can be so cruel” (Lonely Afternoon)

After the images of ‘Big Bob’ that existed during Hüsker Dü’s lifetime, it was a real shock seeing the portrait on the back of the album (which is why I’ve included in this post). In retrospect, it’s a pretty clear warning shot of the singular, near-monastic journey he’d engaged in. Physically and materially stripped back, he sits alone in a bare room. He looks like he’s joined a cult or had a breakdown. Maybe both. The portrait is an unflinching, honest and uncomfortable as the album. He's stripped everything back to the bone and offers up what's left.

And in 2014, pretty much 25 years to the day I first heard it, I sat under the same tree in Kensington Park and listened to the anniversary edition. Time hasn’t reduced its pain or power.

“Oh well, I get disillusioned with it all
Just throw my hands up to the sky and say
Oh Lord, what happened? What happened
To make things run this way?” (Brasilia Crossed With Trenton) 

Tags: Bob Mould, Workbook, Hüsker Dü
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