Dec 9, 2020

2019 Year in Review: The Whole Thing

Much like my 2018 summary, let's just get this whole thing out of the way so I can catch back up to 2020 and whatever passes for reality these days.

The EPs

5. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Black Star Dancing (Sour Mash)

4. Death Cab For Cutie - The Blue EP (Atlantic)

3. Interpol - A Fine Mess (Matador)

2. The Comet is Coming - The Afterlife (Impulse!)

1. Elder - The Gold and Silver Sessions (Blues Funeral)

The Reissues/Compilations

10. Duster - Capsule Losing Contact (Numero Group)

9. Marvin Gaye - You're the Man (Universal Motown)

8. Gene Clark - No Other/No Other Sessions (4AD)

7. Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction Unit - April is the Cruelest Month (Blank Forms Editions)

6. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - The Best of Everything (Universal)

5. The Replacements - Dead Man's Pop (Rhino/Warner Bros.)

4. Michael Rother - Solo (Gronland)

3. Eric Dolphy - Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions (Resonance)

2. Frank Zappa - The Hot Rats Sessions (Zappa)

1. Prince - 1999 Super Deluxe Edition (Warner Bros.)

The Live Albums (New & Retrospective)

10. Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Vol. 29: Swing Auditorium 2/26/1977 (Rhino)

9. Holly Bowling - Live at the Old Church (self-released)

8. Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 (Rhino)

7. Jerry Garcia Band - Electric on the Eel (Round)

6. Ty Segall & Freedom Band - Deforming Lobes (Drag City)

5. Soundgarden - Live from the Artist's Den (Universal)

4. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Live at Woodstock (Fantasy)

3. Neil Young + Stray Gators - Tuscaloosa (Reprise)

2. Jimi Hendrix - Songs For Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts (Experience Hendrix)

1. Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (Legacy)

The Tracks

75. "Frost (C)" - Sunn O)))

74. "Redesigning Women" - The Highwomen

73. "Movies" - Weyes Blood

72. "Hello Sunshine" - Bruce Springsteen

71. "No Halo" - Kevin Morby

70. "Heavyweight Champion of the World" - Nilufer Yanya

69. "953" - black midi

68. "This Time Around" - Jessica Pratt

67. "Fail Safe" - William Tyler

66. "7empest" - Tool

65. "Mistakes Like Fractures" - Knocked Loose

64. "bmbmbm" - black midi

63. "Bird" - Bedouine

62. "Boiled Over"- Gatecreeper

61. "American Darkness" - Chelsea Wolfe

60. "Love is Everywhere (Beware)" - Wilco

59. "The Last Leaf" - Monolord

58. "Air BnB" - Kim Gordon

57. "Palmolive" - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib f. Pusha T & Killer Mike

56. "Got to Keep On" - The Chemical Brothers

55. "Ghosteen" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

54. "UFOF" - Big Thief

53. "Summon the Fire" - The Comet is Coming

52. "Margaritas at the Mall" - Purple Mountains

51. "Black Brick" - Deafheaven

50. "Red Bull & Hennessey" - Jenny Lewis

49. "BASQUIAT" - Jamila Woods

48. "Watermelon Sugar" - Harry Styles

47. "Stars Are the Light" - Moon Duo

46. "The Greatest" - Lana Del Rey

45. "Fools" - Drugdealer

44. "Juice" - Lizzo

43. "Earfquake" - Tyler, the Creator

42. "Girl" - Maren Morris

41. "bury a friend" - Billie Eilish

40. "Cemetery" - Brutus

39. "Seventeen" - Sharon Van Etten

38. "Lark" - Angel Olsen

37. "Hey, Ma" - Bon Iver

36. "Andromeda" - Weyes Blood

35. "Daylight Matters" - Care Le Bon

34. "Sympathy" - Vampire Weekend

33. "What Happens to People?" - Deerhunter

32. "747" - Bill Callahan

31. "In Your Head" - Nilufer Yanya

30. "Stay High" - Brittany Howard

29. "NASA" - Ariana Grande

28. "ZORA" - Jamila Woods

27. "All Mirrors" - Angel Olsen

26. "Wasted Youth" - Jenny Lewis

25. "Aeroplane" - Jessica Pratt

24. "Sad Day" - FKA Twigs

23. "Hurry On Home" - Sleater-Kinney

22. "Cattails" - Big Thief

21. "The Archer" - Taylor Swift

20. "Crimson Tide" - Destroyer

19. "People" - The 1975

18. "Harmony Hall" - Vampire Weekend

17. "I Dare You" - The Regrettes

16. "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it" - Lana Del Rey

15. "Dylan Thomas" - Better Oblivion Community Center

14. "Lover" - Taylor Swift

13. "This Land" - Gary Clark Jr.

12. "All My Happiness is Gone" - Purple Mountains

11. "Crowded Table" - The Highwomen

10. "Want You In My Room" - Carly Rae Jepsen

9. "Summer Girl" - Haim

8. "Truth Hurts" - Lizzo

7. "Highwomen" - The Highwomen

6. "Cellophane" - FKA Twigs

5. "Dawn Chorus" - Thom Yorke

4. "Old Town Road (Remix)" - Lil Nas X f. Billy Ray Cyrus

3. "bad guy" - Billie Eilish

2. "Not" - Big Thief

1. "Snow is Falling in Manhattan" - Purple Mountains

The Albums

75. Nilufer Yanya - Miss Universe (ATO)

74. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (Sargent House)

73. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (Dead Oceans)

72. The Comet is Coming - Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery (Impulse!)

71. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars (Columbia)

70. Coffins - Beyond the Circular Demise (Relapse)

69. These New Puritans - Inside the Rose (Infectious)

68. Thom Yorke - Anima (XL)

67. Mayhem - Daemon (Century Media)

66. Gatecreeper - Deserted (Relapse)

65. Prana Crafter / Tarotplane - Symbiose (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

64. Garcia Peoples - Natural Facts (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

63. Bill Orcutt - Odds Against Tomorrow (Palilalia)

62. Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka (Polydor)

61. Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance (20 Buck Spin)

60. The Highwomen - The Highwomen (Elektra)

59. Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings (20 Buck Spin)

58. GospelbeacH - Let It Burn (Alive)

57. The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South of Reality (ATO)

56. Pharaoh Overlord - 6 (Ektro)

55. Miranda Lambert - Wildcard (Sony)

54. Blackwater Holylight - Veils of Winter (RidingEasy)

53. Inter Arma - Sulphur English (Relapse)

52. Wilco - Ode to Joy (dBpm)

51. Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light (Dark Descent)

50. Sunwatchers - Illegal Moves (Trouble in Mind)

49. Hiss Golden Messenger - Terms of Surrender (Merge)

48. Taylor Swift - Lover (Republic)

47. Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Drag City)

46. black midi - Schlagenheim (Rough Trade)

45. Vastum - Orificial Purge (20 Buck Spin)

44. Abigail Williams - Walk Beyond the Dark (Blood)

43. Kim Gordon - No Home Record (Matador)

42. Modern Nature - How to Live (Bella Union)

41. Tool - Fear Inoculum (RCA)

40. DIIV - Deceiver (Captured Tracks_

39. Immortal Bird - Thrive On Neglect (20 Buck Spin)

38. Ecstatic Vision - For the Masses (Heavy Psych Sounds)

37. De Lorians - De Lorians (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

36. Mdou Moctar - Ilana: The Creator (Sahel)

35. Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle (International Anthem)

34. John Coltrane - Blue World (Impulse!)

33. Wet Tuna - Water Weird (Three Lobed)

32. Cochema - All My Relations (Daptone)

31. Kendra Amelie - Intuition (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

30. Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy! (Jagjaguwar)

29. Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts (Southern Lord)

28. 75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real (tak:til)

27. Dire Wolves - Grow Towards the Light (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

26. Osees - Face Stabber (Castle Face)

25. Fly Pan Am - C'est ca (Constellation)

24. Brittany Howard - Jaime (ATO)

23. One Eleven Heavy - Desire Path (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

22. Possible Humans - Everybody Split (Trouble in Mind)

21. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! (Interscope)

20. Billy Strings - HOME (Rounder)

19. Matt Valentine - Preserves (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

18. Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise (International Anthem)

17. Sunn O))) - Life Metal (Southern Lord)

16. Keiji Haino & SUMAC - Even for Just the Briefest Moment... (Trost)

15. clipping. - There Existed an Addition to Blood (Sub Pop)

14. Lightning Bolt - Sonic Citadel (Thrill Jockey)

13. Chris Forsyth - All Time Present (No Quarter)

12. Opeth - In cauda venenum (Nuclear Blast)

11. Thurston Moore - Spirit Counsel (Ecstatic Peace)

10. Damon Locks-Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds (International Anthem)

9. FKA Twigs - Magdalene (Young Turks)

8. Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent)

7. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen (Bad Seed)

6. White Ward - Love Exchange Failure (Debemur Morti)

5. Big Thief - Two Hands (4AD)

4. Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis (Svart)

3. Baroness - Gold & Grey (Abraxan Hymns)

2. Garcia Peoples - One Step Behind (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

1. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (Drag City)

2018 Year in Review: The Whole Thing

 Given  that I have somehow managed to fall, quite literally, YEARS behind in my Year In Review summaries, I'm going to try and catch up in a relatively quick and informal manner for 2018 and 2019. Just the lists, without any fancy links, write-ups or images. Sorry, but I'd rather just move forward than keep spinning my wheels. With that in mind, let's start with the year that was 2018.

The EPs:

10. The Decemberists - Traveling On (Capitol)

9. Dungen & Woods - Myths 003 (Mexican Summer)

8. Follakzoid & J. Spaceman - London Sessions (Sacred Bones)

7. Long Hots - Monday Night Raw (self-released)

6. Dead Now - Dead Now (Brutal Panda)

5. All Them Witches - Lost & Found (New West)

4. Iron and Wine - Weed Garden (Sub Pop)

3. Wand - Perfume (Drag City)

2. Aphex Twin - Collapse (Warp)

1. Protomartyr - Consolation (Domino)

The Reissues/Compilations

10. The Flaming Lips - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Warner Bros.)

9. Roxy Music - Roxy Music (Reprise)

8. Bob Seger & The Last Heard - Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-67 (ABKCO)

7. Entourage - Ceremony of Dreams: Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972-77 (Tompkins Square)

6. Holger Czukay - Cinema (Gronland)

5. Hiss Golden Messenger - Devotion: Songs About Rivers and Spirits and Children (Merge)

4. Bitchin' Bajas - Rebajas (Drag City)

3. Tom Petty - An American Treasure (Reprise)

2. The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) [50th Anniversary] (Apple)

1. Art Ensemble of Chicago - Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (ECM)

The Live Albums (New & Retrospective)

10. Haken - L-1VE (InsideOut)

9. Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Vol. 25: Broome County Arena 11/6/1977 (Rhino)

8. Steven Wilson - Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (Eagle)

7. Opeth - Garden of the Titans: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater (Nuclear Blast)

6. Phish - The Baker's Dozen: Live at Madison Square Garden (JEMP)

5. John Renbourn - Live in Kyoto 1978 (Drag City)

4. Ghost - Ceremony & Devotion (Loma Vista)

3. Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Legacy)

2. Neil Young - Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live (Reprise)

1. Grateful Dead - Pacific Northwest '73-'74: The Complete Recordings (Rhino)

The Tracks

75. "I Shall Love 2" - Julia Holter

74. "Mainland" - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

73. "Need a Little Time" - Courtney Barnett

72. "Once In My Life" - The Decemberists

71. "The Bug Collector" - Haley Heynderickx

70. "Lightning Strike" - Judas Priest

69. "I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)" - The 1975

68. "Hangout at the Gallows" - Father John Misty

67. "T69 Collapse" - Aphex Twin

66. "Rats" - Ghost B.C.

65. "Delicate" - Taylor Swift

64. "Gold Rush" - Death Cab for Cutie

63. "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)" - The 1975

62. "Survive Sunrise" - ASG

61. "Always Trying to Work It Out" - Low

60. "Lemon Glow" - Beach House

59. "Lifetime" - Yves Tumor

58. "Mona Lisa" - Lil Wayne f. Kendrick Lamar

57. "A Perfect Miracle" - Spiritualized

56. "Heat Wave" - Snail Mail

55. "Suspirium" - Thom Yorke

54. "Canary Yellow" - Deafheaven

53. "I Know What It's Like" - Jeff Tweedy

52. "Middle America" - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

51. "Four Out of Five" - Arctic Monkeys

50. "Loading Zones" - Kurt Vile

49. "APESHIT" - The Carters

48. "No Tears Left to Cry" - Ariana Grande

47. "The Middle" - Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey

46. "Electric Messiah" - High On Fire

45. "Shades of Blue" - Yo La Tengo

44. "Talking Straight" - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

43. "Broken Halos" - Chris Stapleton

42. "Show Us the Way" - Kamasi Washington

41. "This is America" - Childish Gambino

40. "Satan in the Wait" - Daughters

39. "How Simple" - Hop Along

38. "Last Lion of Albion" - Neko Case

37. "Giza Butler" - Sleep

36. "Noid" - Yves Tumor

35. "Stranger Tonight" - Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats

34. "My Queen is Harriet Tubman" - Sons of Kemet

33. "King's Dead" - Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake

32. "Thank U Next" - Ariana Grande

31. "Condemned to the Gallows" - Between the Buried and Me

30. "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

29. "Backasswards" - Kurt Vile

28. "High Hopes" - Panic! at the Disco

27. "Leave It Alone" - Amanda Shires

26. "Slow Burn" - Kacey Musgraves

25. "New Light" - John Mayer

24. "Wide Awake" - Parquet Courts

23. "The Station" - Oneohtrix Point Never

22. "Ablaze" - YOB

21. "Night Shift" - Lucy Dacus

20. "Fists of Fury" - Kamasi Washington

19. "Short Court Style" - Natalie Prass

18. "I Like It" - Cardi B, J Balvin & Bad Bunny

17. "Gorgeous" - Taylor Swift

16. "Show Your Troubles Out" - Garcia Peoples

15. "Venice Bitch" - Lana Del Rey

14. "G.T.F.O." - Mariah Carey

13. "Dance Macabre" - Ghost B.C.

12. "Love It If We Made It" - The 1975

11. "Stir Fry" - Migos

10. "Pristine" - Snail Mail

9. "you should see me in a crown" - Billie Eilish

8. "Got My Name Changed Back" - Pistol Annies

7. "Space Cowboy" - Kacey Musgraves

6. "Party For One" - Carly Rae Jepsen

5. "High Horse" - Kacey Musgraves

4. "All the Stars" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA

3. "New Year's Day" - Taylor Swift

2. "Make Me Feel" - Janelle Monae

1. "Mariners Apartment Complex" - Lana Del Rey

The Albums

75. Blackwater Holylight - Blackwater Holylight (RidingEasy)

74. Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods (Nuclear Blast)

73. KEN Mode - Loved (Season of Mist)

72. Hissing - Permanent Destitution (Profound Lore)

71. Nothing - Dance on the Blacktop (Relapse)

70. Wrekmeister Harmonies - The Alone Rush (Thrill Jockey)

69. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Overload (Brainfeeder)

68. Crippled Black Phoenix - Great Escape (Season of Mist)

67. Ghost B.C. - Prequelle (Loma Vista)

66. Green Druid - Ashen Blood (Earache)

65. Black Salvation - Uncertainty is Bliss (Relapse)

64. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (Anti)

63. Lucy Dacus - Historian (Matador)

62. Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams (Merge)

61. Johann Johannsson - Mandy OST (Lakeshore/Invada)

60. Thom Yorke - Suspiria (XL)

59. J Mascis - Elastic Days (Sub Pop)

58. Alastor - Slave to the Grave (RidingEasy)

57. Windhand - Eternal Return (Relapse)

56. Nathan Salsburg - Third (No Quarter)

55. Wooden Shjips - V (Thrill Jockey)

54. King Buffalo - Longing to be the Mountain (Stickman)

53. High On Fire - Electric Messiah (E1)

52. Nathan Bowles - Plainly Mistaken (Paradise of Bachelors)

51. Cavern of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade (Duophonic)

50. Pharaoh Overlord - Zero (Ektro)

49. Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance (Dead Oceans)

48. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (Dirty Hit/Polydor)

47. Khemmis - Desolation (20 Buck Spin)

46. All Them Witches - ATW (New West)

45. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum)

44. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In (Matador)

43. Datashock - Krauter der Provinz (Bureau B)

42. Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore - Ghost Forests (Three Lobed)

41. The Ocean Collective - Phanerozoic I: Paleozoic (Metal Blade)

40. Witch Mountain - Witch Mountain (Svart)

39. Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want (Ipecac)

38. Prince - Piano and a Microphone 1983 (NPG/Warner Bros.)

37. Traden - Traden (Subliminal Sounds)

36. Tomb Mold - Manner of Infinite Forms (20 Buck Spin)

35. Gnod - Chapel Perilous (Rocket Recordings)

34. One Eleven Heavy - Everything's Better (self-released)

33. Beak> - >>> (Temporary Residence)

32. Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel (RCA Nashville)

31. SUMAC - Love in Shadow (Thrill Jockey)

30. Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On (Matador)

29. Oh Sees - Smote Reverser (Castle Face)

28. Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan)

27. Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band - Sira Be Kala (Sublime Frequencies)

26. Daniel Bachman - The Morning Star (Three Lobed)

25. Keiji Haino & SUMAC - American Dollar Bill (Thrill Jockey)

24. Ryley Walker - The Lillywhite Sessions (Dead Oceans)

23. The Necks - Body (Northern Spy)

22. Kikagaku Moyo - Masana Temples (Guruguru Brain)

21. Cave - Allways (Drag City)

20. Evoken - Hypnagogia (Profound Lore)

19. Low - Double Negative (Sub Pop)

18. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour (MCA Nashville)

17. Thou - Magus (Sacred Bones)

16. Hookworms - Microshift (Domino)

15. Garcia Peoples - Cosmic Cash (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)

14. Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love (Warp)

13. Ty Segall & Freedom Band - Freedom's Goblin (Drag City)

12. Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings (International Anthem)

11. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland (Rise Above)

10. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (Wondaland/Bad Boy)

9. Oneida - Romance (Joyful Noise)

8. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile (Impulse!)

7. Sunwatchers - II (Trouble in Mind)

6. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs (Sub Pop)

5. Sleep - The Sciences (Third Man)

4. Mind Over Mirrors - Bellowing Sun (Paradise of Bachelors)

3. John Coltrane - Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)

2. YOB - Our Raw Heart (Relapse)

1. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)

Oct 21, 2020

COVID life #1

 As I sit at my office desk, listening to a light rain fall and watching the haze developing around the obnoxiously bright alley light directly in my line of vision, I am mentally preparing myself for what promises to be a long, uneventful winter. With the numbers in our state tracking precipitously upwards and stronger restrictions once again looming, the reality of a COVID winter is ever so slowly beginning to set in. It could be worse, as always. We both remain gainfully employed and as difficult as balancing a full-time job with parenting and assisting with remote leaning can be, endless grateful for the unexpected time to watch our son grow every single day. That said, it's worth acknowledging the ways in which the immediate future feels gloomy. One of the balms has been weekend treks through various local nature preserves and walking trails, obviously to be a distant memory when the Chicago winter kicks in with full force. It's a good reminder of the necessity of taking stock of that which one has already to hand and finding ways to appreciate it all anew. What that means and how that looks is ever evolving. We'd all love to pretend that the extra time at home has allowed us all to indulge those long dormant hobbies and develop, no, master, those previously latent talents. But no, making it through the day with psyches intact and sanity still clutched, no matter how tenuously, is the highest we can hope for on the best of them. While I can sit here and wish for a vaccine, or more robust testing, or better yet, a nudge towards normalcy, whatever that may mean, it feels all too futile, as far out of my hands as all of these things are. For now, I'll listen to the rain growing more steady, watch the distant lightning flash and remember those things today that would have been unimaginable on an average Wednesday workday a year ago - the smell of a fresh pot of French press, my son leaning into me for a half-hearted hug during one of the breaks between his Zoom lessons and the commute home consisting of a walk from the dining room where my work laptop is set up to the chair in our sunroom where a book awaits. May we all find and savor these moments of peace in the months to come. 

Oct 20, 2020

Recently Enjoying

While I continue shaking out how I want things to evolve in this long dormant bit of digital real estate, I thought I might fill the time by passing along a list of some things I've recently been enjoying. Or at least those things that have served as momentary distractions from the unending horror show that has filled even the margins of 2020.

Albums

Low - Long Division (1995) / The Curtain Hits the Cast (1996) / Secret Name (1999)
Not new to everyone, but I didn't really start following Low's career until after they had signed with Sub Pop around the middle of last decade. I since went back to check out their highly regarded final two Kranky releases (Things We Lost in the Fire, Trust), but I'd always neglected the earlier part of the career. The Curtain Hits the Cast was the big revelation for me, epitomizing the trio's starkly beautiful slowcore roots.

Blue Oyster Cult - The Symbol Remains (2020)
The long running cult classic returns for their first new studio album in nearly two decades and, honestly, it has no right to be as good as it is. Long time BOC fans will instantly find something to love, with all of the band's trademarks in full supply - horror and sci-fi derived lyrics aided by notable authors, killer hooks and blistering guitar playing. They even make a song called "Florida Man", a twisted tale in the vein of Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" and Jim Carroll's "People Who Died" that ties the titular screw-up from our daily news reports to the curse of the conquistadors, work, and exceptionally well at that. Such a conceit would fall flat as gimmickry in lesser hands, it's a testament to these lifers that it works so well here. And it's only one of the half dozen or more truly great songs on this record.

Books

Machineries of Empire Trilogy (Ninefox Gambit / Raven Stratagem / Revenant Gun) - Yoon Ha Lee
This is a sci-fi trilogy that drops you, in a rather disorienting manner, into the middle of a universe filled with maneuvering political factions, heretics and space battle controlled by belief in the calendar imposed on them by leaders and math, lots and lots of math. It's dizzying, to start, but Yoon Ha Lee compels you forward with exceptional set-pieces, epic battles and intrigue, all while very slowly unveiling the world they have built to fill in the pieces you didn't have from the start. It is gripping and, quite rarely for a sci-fi series, it sticks the landing in spectacular fashion, tying up the loose ends in a most satisfying and consistent way. I cannot recommend this series highly enough and I can't wait to see where Yoon Ha Lee's imagination goes next.

Televsion

Lovecraft Country (HBO)
I was a big fan of Matt Ruff's novel when I read it a few years ago, so I was ecstatic to see that it was picked up to become a series on HBO. I've also really enjoyed the work I've read by H.P. Lovecraft, though acknowledging that his massive talent in crafting deeply unsettling work is balanced out by his horrific views on race, so it was a thrill to see Ruff twist the two threads into the highly original story of Atticus Turner and his family. The series ups the ante in spectacular fashion, expanding on Ruff's stories in fascinating and horrifying new ways while striking a balance between a horror anthology series that tackles different themes (the haunted house episode, the demonic possession episode, the time travel episode, etc) while weaving together an even more satisfying overarching story. The acting is superb throughout, especially Jonathan Majors' Atticus, Aunjanue Ellis' Hippolyta and Michael K. Williams' Montrose. I'm not sure I will ever completely expunge the horrifying image of Diana's pursuers in Episode 8.

Succession (HBO)
We were rather late to this one but in a way I'm really glad, since it allowed us to binge both seasons rather quickly instead of having to wait a week for each new episode. There's been a lot of digital ink spilled already about how great this is and I'm not sure I have anything of significance to add, other than to add another voice in the chorus confirming that it really is as good as you've been hearing. Individually and collectively, the entire Logan clan is as despicable and disgusting as you might expect a bunch loosely based on the Murdoch clan may be, but this is never less gripping for them being so. Kieran Culkin is a revelation as Roman Roy and Brian Cox is never less than wonderful, but it's the ensemble that makes this a show worth watching. 

Oct 14, 2020

Checking In

 I can assure you that I never intended this blog to fall into such a state of disrepair and abandonment that it became nothing more than a dumping ground for my increasingly late year end wrap ups, but that is apparently what has happened. Believe me, dear hypothetical reader, I'm as disappointed about that as you are. While I'm not naive enough to think this is the time for a grand declaration of renewed promises to fill this daily with scintillating new content, I do want to put an intention into the universe that I will return to more regular posting - if for no better reason to give myself a creative outlet and to goose myself towards working on the craft of writing. 

I probably will get my best of 2018 and 2019 lists up at some point, but in massively diminished form, likely just a list without any meta commentary, video links or images. Those are all nice but I fear providing them all for the backlog of two years feels like so much more busy work on my plate. I'm much more interested in getting the actual contents of the lists up for posterity's sake.

There are no grand plans for what I will do in this space, no overarching project or themes, but there are multiple things floating through my head that I would like to expand on over time. Again, if for nothing more than getting back into the process of writing and sharpening my skills on that front. 

For now, however many people may even bother to check back in here, I hope you are holding up as well as possible in the year of 2020 and I hope to continue filling this space with interesting thoughts and ideas very soon.