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 there.
Joshua Chuquimia Crampton – 4 (2021)
Donato Dozzy – K (2010)
Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas – III (2020)
Nathan Salsburg – Landwerk No. 2 (2020)
Nobukazu Takemura – Hoshi no Koe (2001)
Nobukazu Takemura – Scope (1999)
Florian T M Zeisig – Music for Parents (2021)
ENJOYED
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (2020) review
Bad Bunny – Y.H.L.Q.M.D.L.G. (2020)
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie – Another Flower (2020)
Tego Calderon – El Enemy de Los Guasíbiri (2004)
Coil – Musick to Play in the Dark (1999)
Sarah Davachi – Laurus (2020)
Ted Greene – Solo Guitar (1977)
Sam Harris – Solo (2021)
Heavenchord – See the Light (2016)
John Carroll Kirby – Conflict (2020)
John Carroll Kirby – Tuscany (2018)
Magma – Üdü wüdü (1974)
Theo Parrish – Wuddaji (2020)
Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You (2020)
Sunday Service – Emmanuel (2020)
WAS OK
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (2020)
Ivy Queen – Diva (2003)
Paul McCartney – McCartney III (2020)
Suso Saiz & Suzanne Kraft – Between No Things (2020)
Nathan Salsburg – Landwerk (2020)
Emily A. Sprague – Hill, Flower, Fog (2020)
Stalker – Empire (2003)
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MOVIES I WATCHED IN 2020 FOR THE FIRST TIME. I don’t watch a lot of movies. I usually watch them with people, but I was around few of those this year and thus consumed even fewer movies than usual. A monthly film guide wouldn’t do much good, but at the end of the year I’m going to make it a routine to list the movies I did watch, starting with this one.
LOVED
A Quiet Place (2018)
The Exorcist (1973)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Poltergeist (1982)
Shadows & Light (1980)
Uncut Gems (2019)
Underwater (2020)
ENJOYED
Bad Education (2019)
Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (2020)
Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
Cat People (1942)
Chinatown (1974)
First Cow (2019)
Knives Out (2019)
Little Women (2019)
Magnolia (2001)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Your Name (2016)
WAS OK
David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020)
Gone with the Wind (1939). What a shame those shots are attached to that movie.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
The Midnight Sky (2020)
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010)
Roy Cohn: Coward. Bully. Victim (2020)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Sweet Dreams (1985)
DIDN’T LIKE
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Get On Up (2013)
Holy Mountain (1973)
Nothing but Trouble (1991)
The Old Guard (2020)
Poltergeist 2: The Other Side (1986)
The Invisible Man (2020)
Suicide Squad (2016)
