Music
Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:
- Mason Bates: Philharmonia Fantastique (2022)
- Bebawinigi: Stupor (2022)
- Anna Meredith: Concerto for Beatboxer & Orchestra (2010)
- Ran Cap Duoi: *1 (2023)
- Kaatayra: Inpariquipe (2021)
- Alice Boman: Dream On (2020)
- Tony Ann: Emotionally Blue (2023)
- Medicine Singers: Medicine Singers (2022)
- Jeremy Blake (arr. David Bruce): “Aquamarine” (2020)
- Tuatara: Trading with the Enemy (1998)
- Squid: O Monolith (2023)
- Model/Actriz: Dogsbody (2023)
- Monika Roscher: Failure in Wonderland (2012), Witchy Activities and the Maple Death (2023)
Rediscovered or revisited, and really liked:
- Christy Doran: Black Box (2001)
- yMusic: First (2017)
- John Psathas: “Omnifex” (2006)
- Adam Hopkins: Crickets (2018)
- Serge Bringolf: Strave (1981)
- Clivage: Clivage (1977), Mixtus Orbis (1978)
- Geinoh Yamashirogumi: “Osorezan” (1976), Ecophony Rinne (1986), “Kaneda” (1988)
- Pekka Pohjola: Keesojen lehto (1977)
- Zao: Z=7L (1973)
- Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet (2006), Triangles and Circles (2015), Back to the Sunset (2018), Transparency (2020)
- Elephant9: Dodovoodoo (2008), Walk the Nile (2010), Atlantis (2012)
- Anna Meredith: Eighth Grade (2018), FIBS (2019)
- Mason Bates: Anthology of Fantastic Zoology (2016)
- Saagara: Saagara (2015), 2 (2017)
- Fly: Sky & Country (2009), Year of the Snake (2012)
- Schnellertollermeier: X (2015)
- Brandt Brauer Frick: Mr. Machine (2011)
- Allison Miller: Boom Tic Boom (2010)
- Sunwatchers: Sunwatchers (2016), Illegal Moves (2019)
- Hedvig Mollestad: Maternity Beat (2022)
- Idiot Flesh: Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death (1992)
- Estradasphere: It’s Understood (2000), Buck Fever (2001)
- Guapo: Five Suns (2004)
- Forgas Band Phenomena: Roue Libre (1997), Soleil 12 (2005), L’axe du fou (2009)
- Jaga Jazzist: A Living Room Hush (2001)
- Volapuk: Slang! (1997), Polyglot (2000), Where Is Tamashii? (2003)
- Tuatara: Breaking the Ethers (1997)
- Stars of the Lid: The Tired Sounds of… (2001)
- Hood: Cold House (2001), Outside Closer (2005)
- Sigur Ros: Ágætis byrjun (1999), () (2002), Takk… (2005), Kveikur (2013)
- Yann Tiersen: The Waltz of the Monsters (1995), Cascade Street (1996)
- Shining: In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster (2005)
Movies/TV
Ones I “really liked” (no star), or “loved” (star):
- Various, The Thick of It, season 4 (2012)
- Camp, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)
- Various, Barry, season 4 (2023) ★
- Various, Black Mirror, season 6 (2023)
- Various, Beef (2023) ★
- Various, Succession, season 4 (2023) ★
Games
From now on I’ll just list all games I played a significant amount:
- Metroid Prime Remastered: I’m glad to have first experienced this with improved graphics and a better control scheme. Overall a great game, though for some reason I found myself less tolerant of the constant backtracking and lack of fast travel in 3D compared to 2D. Or maybe I’m just getting lazier and more impatient as I get older and busier. I hope they remaster Prime 2 and 3 as well, especially since the 3D Metroids are a unique combination of FPS, platforming, and isolated exploration that I haven’t found elsewhere.
- Vampire Survivors: I found it to be very addictive, and love that I can play it with one thumb on my phone.
- Hogwarts Legacy: Incredible world-building, mostly solid gameplay, and the Hogwarts and Hogsmeade locations are very well-realized, but other locations are less interesting, and the gameplay isn’t different enough from other open world action-adventures, so I just quit playing after about 15 hours.
- Pentiment: Pretty interesting design-wise, but I stopped playing after the first act because it was too slow, too dialogue-heavy for my tastes, and it’s not really the whodunit mystery it first appears to be.
- Metroid Dread: I had a pretty good time with this one until I made it about 75% of the way in and got stuck on a boss I couldn’t beat. The world design cleverly helps you not get as lost as in other Metroid games without making it obvious it’s doing so, though in retrospect I wish it had done less of that.
- Slay the Spire: Deck-building games have never interested me, but I found this one addicting right away. Very well-designed and well-balanced.
Books
- [none]