Games

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

• Dark Souls ★
  • The first “soulslike” I’ve played. It has its flaws, and it’s not as relentlessly fun as (say) Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey, but I found it pretty awe-inspiring, and I can see why it has been so influential. I’m tempted to write at length about what’s so great about Dark Souls, but of course that’s been done hundreds of times since its release in 2011, so if you’re curious I’ll just point you to these four video essays. Dark Souls isn’t the very best video game experience I’ve had, ¹ but it is probably the one that feels most profound.
• Guacamelee!
• Guacamelee! 2
• Diablo III
• Hollow Knight ★
  • One of the best Metroidvanias.

Music

This time I made a Spotify playlist for everything below (that’s on Spotify).

Music I most enjoyed discovering this quarter:

• Katia Lebeque & others: Moondog (2018)
• Glaxo Babies: Nine Months to the Disco (1980)
• Kev Hopper: Whispering Foils (2000)
• Julia Holter: Aviary (2018)
• Home and Garden: History and Geography (1984)
• Tripod Jimmie: Long Walk off a Short Pier (1982)
• Makaya McCraven: Universal Beings (2018)
• Chino Amobi: Anya’s Garden (2015)
• Swollen Monkeys: After the Birth of the Cool (1981)
• Tuxedomoon: Bardo Hotel (2005), Vapour Trails (2007)
• Michael Formanek: Time Like This (2018)
• Wayne Horvitz: The Snowghost Sessions (2018)
• Jason Moran: Looks of a Lot (2018)
• Pluto: Shoehorse Emerging (1995)
• Jean-Michel Blais: Dans ma main (2018)
• Blake Mills: Look (2018)
• Various: Pop Ambient 2019 (2018)
• Sunwatchers: 3 Characters (2018)
• Jacob Collier: Djesse (Vol. 1) (2018)
• Lora Logic: Pedigree Charm (1982)
• Killing Joke: Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions (1990)
• Various: “The biggest shred collab song in the world II” (2018)
• Michael Vincent Waller: Trajectories (2017)

Had completely forgotten about, now rediscovered and really liked:

• The Birthday Party: Prayers on Fire (1981), Junkyard (1982), The Bad Seed (1983), Mutiny! (1983)
• Rip Rig + Panic: God (1981), I Am Cold (1982)
• Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (1978), New Picnic Time (1979), The Art of Walking (1980), Song of the Bailing Man (1982), The Tenement Year (1988)
• David Thomas: More Places Forever (1985), Monster Walks the Winter Lake (1986), Erewhon (1996), Mirror Man (1999)
• Devo: Duty Now for the Future (1979)
• The Residents: Duck Stab / Buster & Glen (1978), Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? (1984)
• Tuxedomoon: No Tears (1978), Scream with a View (1979), Half Mute (1980), Desire (1981), Suite en Sous-sol (1982), Holy Wars (1985), Ship of Fools (1986)
• Zoogz Rift: Idiots on the Minature Golf Course (1979)
• Club Foot Orchestra: Wild Beasts (1986)
• Rhythm & Noise: Contents Under Notice (1984)
• Suicide: Alan Vega · Martin Rev (1980)
• The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms (1980)
• The Fleshtones: Roman Gods (1982)
• The Raybeats: Guitar Beat (1981)
• Jody Harris & Robert Quine: Escape (1981)
• Ultravox: Ultravox! (1977), Ha! Ha! Ha! (1977), Systems of Romance (1978)
• Liquid Liquid: Liquid Liquid (1981), Successive Reflexes (1981), Optimo (1983)
• James Chance: Buy Contortions (1979)
• Love of Life Orchestra: Extended Niceties (1980)
• Bauhaus: In the Flat Field (1980), Mask (1981)
• Sisters of Mercy: “Temple of Love” (1983), “This Corrosion” (1987)
• Virgin Prunes: If I Die, I Die (1982)
• In the Nursery: When Cherished Dreams Come True (1983), Sonority (1985), Temper (1985) [wow!], Twins (1986), Trinity (1987), Koda (1988), L’esprit (1990), Sense (1991)
• The Cassandra Complex: Cyberpunx (1990)
• The Flesh Eaters: A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die (1981)
• Black Tape for a Blue Girl: A Chaos of Desire (1991), As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire (1999)

Why so many re-discoveries this quarter? I’m listening through the history of rock music again and constructing this playlist along the way. Many great albums aren’t listed above because I hadn’t forgotten about them.

Movies/TV

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

• Jenkins: Private Life (2018)
• Ricciardi & Demos: Making a Murderer, season 2 (2018)
• Soderbergh: Unsane (2018)
• Israel: Keep the Change (2017)
• Various: Better Call Saul, season 4 (2018) ★
• Lanthimos: The Favourite (2018) ★

Books

• [none]

Old favorites

Discovered long ago…

• Book: Ending Medical Reversal by Vinay Prasad & Adam Cifu
• Music: “Nose-List Song” by Michael Nyman
• Movie/TV: Bicycle Thieves by Vittorio De Sica
• Game: Homeworld by Relic Entertainment

Footnotes:

1. That honor might go to SMB3, Homeworld, or Breath of the Wild.[↩]