Music

Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:

• Metropole Orkest & Leo Pellegrino: “Brass House / Moanin’ / Better Git It In Your Soul” (2017)
• Emmet Cohen / Bruce Harris / Patrick Bartley: Live From Emmet’s Place Vol. 52 (2021)
• Spiritualized: Everything Was Beautiful (2022)
• Sault: Air (2022)
• Arcade Fire: We (2022)
• Congotronics International: Where’s the One? (2022)
• The Smile: A Light for Attracting Attention (2022)
• Amorphous Androgynous: The Isness (2002)
• Transglobal Underground: Rejoice, Rejoice (1998)
• Mark Pistel: “Colorful World” (1997)
• Joe Rainey: Niineta (2022)
• Loop Guru: Moksha: Peel To Reveal (1996), Loopus Interruptus (2001), Bathtime with Loop Guru (2003)
• Directions: “Echoes (Continental Drift Version)” (1997)
• William Parker: Mayan Space Station (2021)
• Embryo: Auf Auf (2021)
• Eclectic Maybe Band: Reflection in a Moebius Ring Mirror (2019), Again Alors? (2022)
• Gnome: King (2022)
• Poliça: “Alive” (2022)
• Snarky Puppy: “Trinity” (2022)
• Miroslav Vitous: Universal Syncopations (2003)
• Vivaldi / Max Richter: The New Four Seasons (2022) ¹

Rediscovered or revisited, and really liked:

• Porcupine Tree: “Blackest Eyes” (2002)
• Ride: “Seagull” (1990)
• Spiritualized: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997), Let It Come Down (2001)
• Miranda Sex Garden: Suspiria (1994), Carnival of Souls (2000)
• Bark Psychosis: “Scum” (1992), Hex (1994), Codename: Dustsucker (2004)
• Ghost: Lama Rabi Rabi (1996), Hypnotic Underworld (2004)
• Califone: Califone [1998] (1998), Califone [2000] (2000), Roomsound (2001), Heron King Blues (2004)
• Man or Astro-Man?: Is It… Man or Astro-Man? (1993), Destroy All Astromen! (1994), Project Infinity (1995), Experiment Zero (1996)
• Pell Mell: Interstate (1995)
• The Mermen: A Glorious Lethal Euphoria (1995), “Curve” (1996), The Amazing California Health and Happiness Road Show (2000), In God We Trust (2009)
• The Moles: “Breathe Me In” (1991), “Minor Royal March” (1994)
• Elliott Smith: Elliott Smith (1995), Either/Or (1997), XO (1998)
• Jeff Buckley: Grace (1994)
• The Magnetic Fields: Holiday (1994), The Charm of the Highway Strip (1994), Get Lost (1995), 69 Love Songs (1999)
• Bruce Hornsby: Absolute Zero (2019)
• Beck: Mellow Gold (1994), Odelay (1996)
• Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine (1989), The Downward Spiral (1994), The Fragile (1999)
• Milk Cult: “Psychoanalytwist” and “Bow Kiness Static” (1994), Project M-13 (2000)
• New Wet Kojak: Nasty International (1997)
• Towering Inferno: Kaddish (1993)
• Babyland: You Suck Crap (1992)
• Alec Empire: “God Told Me How to Kiss” (1996)
• Curse of the Golden Vampire: The Curse of the Golden Vampire (1998)
• Red House Painters: “Down Colorful Hill” (1992)
• Low: I Could Live in Hope (1994), Secret Name (1999), Things We Lost in the Fire (2001), Trust (2002), The Great Destroyer (2005), Drums and Guns (2007), C’mon (2011), The Invisible Way (2013), “White Horses” (2021)
• Mazzy Star: “Fade Into You” (1993)
• The Stone Roses: Second Coming (1994)
• Ace of Base: “Beautiful Life” (1995)
• President’s Breakfast: President’s Breakfast (1989), Doo Process (1995), III C (2002)
• Scanner: “Lithia Water” (1999)
• Banco de Gaia: “Last Train to Lhasa” (1995)
• Woob: “On Earth” (1994)
• The Future Sound of London: Dead Cities (1996)
• Aphex Twin: Syro (2014)
• Moby: “Go” (1991), “Unloved Symphony” (1993), “Anthem” (1995), Play (1999), 18 (2002), “The Violent Bear It Away” and “Lacrimae” (2011)
• Transglobal Underground: Dream of 100 Nations (1993), International Times (1994), Psychic Karaoke (1996)
• Loop Guru: Duniya (1994), Amrita (1995), Loop Bites Dog (1997)
• Paul Haslinger: Future Primitive (1994), World Without Rules (1996)
• µ-Ziq: In Pine Effect (1995), Lunatic Harness (1997)
• The Prodigy: The Fat of the Land (1997)
• Underworld: Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)
• Fatboy Slim: Better Living Through Chemistry (1994), You’ve Come a Long Way Baby (1998)
• Daft Punk: “Da Funk” and “Alive” (1997), Discovery (2001), “Get Lucky” and “Contact” (2013)
• Massive Attack: Blue Lines (1991), Mezzanine (1998), 100th Window (2003)
• Portishead: Dummy (1994), Portishead (1997), Third (2008)
• Modry Efekt: Svitanie (1977)
• Miroslav Vitous: Infinite Search (1970)
• Jazz Q: “Coniunctio I” (1970)
• Wagon Christ: Tally Ho! (1998)
• Luke Vibert: Big Soup (1997)
• Autechre: Tri Repetae (1995), Anvil Vapre (1995), Chiastic Slide (1997), Envane (1997), “Yeesland” and “Pencha” (1997), “Maphive 6.1” (1999)
• Hole: “Celebrity Skin” (1998)
• Sleater-Kinney: “The Fox” (2005)
• Babes in Toyland: “Bruise Violet” and “Right Now” and “Bluebell” (1992)
• Sugarsmack: “Hey Buddy Boy” (1993)
• The La’s: “There She Goes” (1990)
• Pulp: “Common People” (1995)
• Blur: “Parklife” (1994)
• Stereolab: Super 45 (1991), Super-Electric (1991), Peng! (1992), Low Fi (1992), The Groop Played Space Age Batchelor Pad Music (1993), Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements (1993), Mars Audiac Quintet (1994), Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996), Fluorescences (1996), Dots and Loops (1997), Simple Headphone Mind (1997), Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night (1999), Sound-Dust (2001), Instant 0 in the Universe (2003)
• Ylvis: “What Does the Fox Say?” (2013)
• Saint Etienne: Tiger Bay (1994)
• State of Grace: Jamboreebop (1996)
• Tindersticks: Tindersticks [1993] (1993)

Movies/TV

Ones I “really liked” (no star), or “loved” (star):

• Various, Severance, season 1 (2022) ★
• Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley (2021)
• Various, Russian Doll, season 2 (2022)
• Various, Eastbound & Down, season 1 (2009) ★
• Various, Eastbound & Down, season 2 (2010) ★
• Barry Jenkins, The Underground Railroad (2021)
• Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza (2021) ★
• Various, Invincible, season 1 (2021)
• Various, The Boys, season 1 (2019)
• Various, The Boys, season 2 (2020)
• Various, Barry, season 3 (2022) ★
• Trier, The Worst Person in the World (2021) ★

Games

Ones I “liked” or “really liked” (no star), or “loved” (star):

• ★ Elden Ring: Plausibly the best video game of all time, and now (I think?) the game I’ve played for the most hours. Far more accessible to new players than previous FromSoftware games.

Books

• Don’t Trust Your Gut by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Pretty good, though doesn’t do enough to emphasize the tentativeness of findings from non-RCT studies or other studies with major design weaknesses.

Footnotes:

1. I really enjoy this, but did we really need another Richter “recomposition” of this exact piece before Richter has provided the same treatment to other beloved works? Could he next recompose Beethoven’s 9th or Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring or something else?[↩]