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Dec

31

2020

Monthly listening, December 2020––plus all the movies I watched this year for the first time

Above: Nobukazu Takemura, the Japanese composer behind two of the albums I enjoyed most this month. LOVED 2 8 1 4 – Voyage/Embrace (2020) Bohren & der Club of Gore – Midnight Radio (1995). I’ve fallen asleep to this album many times in the last few years, but never have I sat down and listened to its two-and-a-half-hour entirety. It’s equally enjoyable both ways, and being conscious doesn’t necessarily reward this dark-jazz marvel from 1995, built around sparse plumes of bass and piano and a hi-hat tick that doesn’t keep the beat so much as remind us the music is…

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Dec

30

2020

Best albums of 2020

Joshua Chuquimia Crampton – The Heart’s Wash Adrianne Lenker – Songs/Instrumentals Beatrice Dillon – Workaround Shinichi Atobe – Yes Florian T M Zeisig – Coatcheck Mike Cooper – Playing With Water The Necks – Three Chuquimamani-Condori – 3 Demos Sarah Davachi – Gathers Space Afrika – hybtwibt? Bill Callahan – Gold Record Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas – III King Krule – Man Alive! Ana Roxanne – Because of a Flower The Soft Pink Truth – Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? / Am I Free To Go? DJ Python – Mas Amable Julianna Barwick – Healing…

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Dec

01

2020

Monthly listening, November 2020

Above: Bruce Springsteen in Oslo, 2016. Photo by Stian Schløsser Møller. BLEW MY MIND Magma – Attahk (1977) LOVED Mike Cooper – Playing With Water (2020) review Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion (1985) Ariana Grande – Positions (2020) review Portishead – Dummy (1994) Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973) ENJOYED Teno Afrika – Amapiano Selections (2020) Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini – Illusion of Time (2020) Brothertiger – Fundamentals, Vol. 1 (2020) Loren Connors – Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Improvisations, Vol. 1 (1979) Field Works – Ultrasound (2020) Leandro Fresco & Rafael Anton Irisarri – Una Presencia En La Brisa (2020)…

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Nov

01

2020

Monthly listening, October 2020

Pictured: William Basinski at the Empty Bottle in Chicago For several years now, I’ve been posting monthly roundups of the music I’ve been listening to to my Facebook account. I’ve had a few friends tell me they’ve found new music through these posts, and by posting them publicly on my site I hope to bring my new discoveries to a broader audience. This is a complete list of albums I listened to the first time this month. A note for anyone coming here for scathing takedowns of terrible music: you will rarely see anything in the “Disliked” category, and if…

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Sep

30

2020

Monthly listening, September 2020

Pictured: Harry Nilsson in the 1974 musical Son of Dracula. That’s Nilsson doing the Dracula thing; to his right is Ringo Starr, as Merlin. For several years now, I’ve been posting monthly roundups of the music I’ve been listening to to my Facebook account. I’ve had a few friends tell me they’ve found new music through these posts, and by posting them publicly on my site I hope to bring my new discoveries to a broader audience. This is a complete list of albums I listened to the first time this month. A note for anyone coming here for scathing takedowns…

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Aug

31

2020

Monthly listening, August 2020

Pictured: Mouse on Mars For several years now, I’ve been posting monthly roundups of the music I’ve been listening to to my Facebook account. I’ve had a few friends tell me they’ve found new music through these posts, and by posting them publicly on my site I hope to bring my new discoveries to a broader audience. This is a complete list of albums I listened to the first time this month. A note for anyone coming here for scathing takedowns of terrible music: you will rarely see anything in the “Disliked” category, and if you do, it’ll be something…

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Jul

04

2020

I’ve been dancing my whole life

2019 was the year a lot of people accepted the world was going to end, but in retrospect, it feels as optimistic as the Obama era. Take a moment if you will, fellow Americans, to remember pop music as it stood pre-COVID: Roddy Ricch, Billie Eilish, Norman Fucking Rockwell, Thank U, Next, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, that Jonas Brothers song pop radio pushed to pretend Lil Nas X didn’t exist, Post Malone (who’s hopefully doing better now that he’s not touring). And, of course, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I. I thought “Dance Monkey” was one of the most annoying…

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Aug

05

2019

What more do you want when the kids run the restaurant?

That Louise Belcher wants to turn the restaurant into a casino is the funniest thing in “The Kids Run The Restaurant,” the 20th episode of the third season of Bob’s Burgers. That might seem odd to anyone who hasn’t familiarized themselves with the show, but the best comedy on Loren Bouchard’s animated sitcom comes once we’ve internalized the characters and understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it in any given situation. In this case, Bob’s cut his hand and Linda’s driving him to the hospital, leaving the restaurant closed. The kids get mischievous and decide to reopen it…

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Jun

26

2019

Thoughts on “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (mild spoilers)

– King Ghidorah was the best thing in the movie. I loved the icky head regeneration, I loved the way the heads slither unwholesomely and rear up almost orgasmically whenever it’s about to attack, and I loved how big it is. – I did think, though, that they could’ve taken more of a Jaws approach to it. I understand they’re hesitant because of the backlash to the 2014 Godzilla, and I didn’t have a problem with the other monsters being introduced five minutes in, but Ghidorah is really supposed to be the monster to end all monsters and he was……

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May

09

2019

Review: Prince, “Piano & a Microphone 1983”

This review was originally published on the website of Solace, a clothing brand and culture site that’s since folded, in October of last year. This is not meant to represent my current feelings on the album. I disagree with some of the statements I made here. “Cold Coffee & Cocaine” has grown on me a lot, and I’m not entirely sure the record was released for the reasons I posited in my opening paragraph. I’ve also noticed so, so much more in the dozen or so times I’ve heard the album since writing this review. A more comprehensive review will appear in my…

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