Author: Grey

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Playlist

Playlist of the Month: August 2023

It’s been a good summer, but as of this morning fall has hit, and with a vengeance; a beautiful rainy day, really livened up my Pacific Northwesterner spirits.

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single

Kahan (Last Year) [feat. Kodak Black] – Fred again.. on Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021)

gatsby – Daniel Leggs on gatsby – Single

TRAP PHONE – BERWYN on TRAP PHONE – Single

Crumble – Thomas LaVine on Crumble – Single

Feeling Whitney – Post Malone on Stoney (Deluxe)

crutches – Daniel Leggs on runaway

Mike (desert island duvet) – Fred again.., The Streets & Dermot Kennedy on Mike (desert island duvet) – Single

Wisdom, Justice, And Love – Linkin Park on A Thousand Suns

Talk It Over – Elderbrook & Vintage Culture on Little Love

If You Want Somebody – Elderbrook on Little Love

If It’s Time – Hayden Calnin on If It’s Time – Single

More the Victim – LINKIN PARK on Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition

Sirens – Sultan + Shepard on Forever, Now

Oslo – Yoste on Oslo – Single

Acoustic – Billy Raffoul on 1975 – EP

Nobody’s Nobody – The NGHBRS, Pete Shade & Riesling on Nobody’s Nobody – Single

Threads – Thorin Loeks on Threads – Single

White Ferrari – Isak Danielson & Alba August on White Ferrari – Single

This Isn’t Helping (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Drive You Home – Billy Raffoul on Drive You Home – Single

Eat The Acid – Kesha on Gag Order

I Don’t Want To Lie – Yoste & Vandelux on I Don’t Want To Lie – Single

Hate Me Harder – Kesha on Gag Order

My Rajneesh – Sufjan Stevens on America – EP

Stand in Tall Ovation – Portair on Stand in Tall Ovation – Single

All of Us – SYML on All of Us – Single

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Sprinter – Central Cee & Dave on Sprinter – Single

Titanic – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful

Mourning – Post Malone on AUSTIN

Lazy – Elliot Moss on Lazy – Single

14 – Water From Your Eyes on Everyone’s Crushed

Hideaway – Kiesza on Sound of a Woman

Dial Drunk – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Stay Here – Yoste on Stay Here – Single

My Old Man – Billy Raffoul on My Old Man – Single

Free – Kidswaste on Free – Single

Heartbeat – Haux on Something to Remember – EP

Buzzcut Season – Lorde on Pure Heroine

Shake – Yoke Lore on Toward a Never Ending New Beginning

Little Bit of This (feat. Vince Staples) – Good Times Ahead on Good Times Ahead

Beautiful Life – Emmit Fenn on Beautiful Life – Single

Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Sea Shanty Medley – Home Free on Sea Shanty Medley – Single

the banker – Daniel Leggs on the banker – Single

Bad Dancer – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP

Fairlies – Grian Chatten on Chaos For The Fly

L.A. (‭+1.818.643.6885‬) – will hyde, tiffi & dress on L.A. (‭+1.818.643.6885‬) – Single

Poseidon – gavn! on Poseidon – Single

Gone For Good – Ashley Singh on Waiting For The Blue – EP

Healing – Fakear on Healing – Single

Rush – Troye Sivan on Something To Give Each Other

Oliveira Dos Cen Años – C. Tangana on Oliveira Dos Cen Años – Single

Chemicals – Forester on Chemicals – Single

Beelining – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Into the Night – Thorin Loeks on Into the Night – Single

You’re Gonna Go Far – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

J’VEUX D’LA TENDRESSE (MJF Spotlight Session) – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE (EXTENDED EDITION)

Mysoul – Shallou on Mysoul – Single

It Hurts to Love – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP

ALL LIGHT – United Freedom Collective on ALL LIGHT – Single

I’ll Wait – Petey on USA

Coastline (Adam Hinden Remix) – Hollow Coves on Reimagined, Vol. 1 – EP

What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Billie Eilish on What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Single1

Ten Billion People – Explosions In the Sky on End

Magic – Elliot Moss on Magic – Single

Where Did You Go – HAEVN on Where Did You Go – Single

Winona – Yoke Lore on Toward a Never Ending New Beginning

Don’t – Yoste on Don’t – Single

Khmerica – No-No Boy on 19752

Movement – TWO LANES on Duality

how are you now – gavn! on how are you now – Single

NOW I DON’T NEED YOUR LOVE (MJF Spotlight Session) – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE (EXTENDED EDITION)

Is This Love – Keanler & Luvless on Is This Love – Single

Jericho – Iniko on Jericho – Single3

The Roads – Jonah Kagen on The Roads – Single

Pretty Little Thing (feat. Jonas Rathsman & Francis Novotny) – Modern Tales on Stars Align (feat. Jonas Rathsman & Francis Novotny)

Hoo Art ‘n Hevan – Moko on Two46 – Single

Voicenote 2 (LMTBTA) – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful

Guest Room (feat. S.Carey) – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

We Lost Sight of the Shoreline – Hayden Calnin on We Lost Sight of the Shoreline – Single

In My Arms – Billy Raffoul on In My Arms – Single

Black & Thunder – The Paper Kites on At the Roadhouse

Hold Me – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP

Lost Boys – Belle Mt. on Lost Boys – Single

Millenium – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Chasing Birds – Arliston on How In Heaven – EP

Feel Again – Braaheim on Feel Again – Single

Jaws – By The Coast on Jaws – Single

El suïcidi i el cant – Tarta Relena on Fiat Lux

Paul Revere – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Easy Money – ODESZA & Yellow House on Flaws in Our Design – EP

Stabat mater – Tarta Relena on Fiat Lux4

Trust – Massane on By The River

Thinking About You – Forester on Thinking About You – Single

Steadfast (feat. Gordi) – S. Carey & John Raymond on Shadowlands

Mine – Bendo & lacey on Mine – Single

Memory Card – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Listen – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

La leçon particulière – Lavern & Francis Lai on La leçon particulière – Single

No Time Like Now (Yoste Remix) – ILLENIUM on Awake (Remixes)

IOU (feat. Lizzy Land) – EMBRZ on In Our Own Way

Enough – Vide on Enough – Single

No Complaints – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Bags Theme – Petey on USA

Something About You – Betcha on Something About You – Single

Blame The Moon – Hazlett on Blame The Moon – Single

Something Real – Post Malone on AUSTIN (Bonus)

Turn On The Lights again.. (feat. Future) – Fred again.. & Swedish House Mafia on USB

It’s raining outside – EMBRZ on In Our Own Way5

Francesca – Hozier on Unreal Unearth

Tell a Lie – Ed Prosek on Tell a Lie – Single

An Arrow In The Wall – Death Cab for Cutie on An Arrow In The Wall – Single

For My Help (Rework) – Hayden Calnin on Of Collingwood (Reworks) – Single6

Son of Nyx – Hozier on Unreal Unearth

Kaonashi – Yoste on Kaonashi – Single

So You Are Tired – Sufjan Stevens on Javelin

One More Song (feat. Jonas Rathsman & Francis Novotny) – Modern Tales on Stars Align (feat. Jonas Rathsman & Francis Novotny)

Tide – The Antlers on Tide – EP

Undone – ODESZA & Yellow House on Flaws in Our Design – EP

Abstract (Psychopomp) – Hozier on Unreal Unearth

All Of The People – Grian Chatten on Chaos For The Fly7

Ephemera – Vallis Alps on Cleave

Imperayritz de la ciutat joyosa – Tarta Relena on Fiat Lux

Enough to Believe – Bob Moses on Battle Lines

Lunatic – Alter. on ALTERX01 (Mixtape)

First Light – Hozier on Unreal Unearth

777 – Betcha on Placebo

Tuesday Afternoon – Wilfred on Where the Wild Ones Grow

Caution Cares (Rework) – Hayden Calnin on Of Collingwood (Reworks) – Single

Calm Down – Betcha on Placebo

How I Fell – Elliot Moss on How I Fell – Single8

I Smoked Away My Brain (I’m God x Demons Mashup) [feat. Imogen Heap & Clams Casino] – A$AP Rocky on I Smoked Away My Brain (I’m God x Demons Mashup) [feat. Imogen Heap & Clams Casino] – Single9

  1. Have you seen Barbie yet? Go see Barbie. ↩
  2. “Some kids move because their parents take new jobs/Some kids move ‘cause of napalm” ↩
  3. My sister sent me this one! I don’t have anything coherent to say about it, but it brings me joy when she finds a song that I like. ↩
  4. This whole album is strange and wonderful and I love it. ↩
  5. It’s the melody line from Neil Diamond’s Shilo, which makes this just sorta weird to listen to. ↩
  6. I’m delighted by this, because for all that I’ve continued to enjoy Hayden Calnin, this is the first thing that feels like it’s catching me as much as Fuck Collingwood did. ↩
  7. I don’t know what the vibe in this track is, but I’m here for it. ↩
  8. A nice little jazzy bit at the end; I’ve really been enjoying Elliot Moss lately. ↩
  9. Imogen Heap is so very sampleable. ↩
Categories
Review

“Plutopia”

Kate Brown

I’ve always had an interest in the technological arms race of the Cold War, which fits right alongside my interest in infrastructure. And, as with every other aspect of technological arms race, the nuclear technology race was ridiculous; where it differs is in the degree. Cyborg cat to spy on the other side? Ridiculous. Space race? Very cool, some actually good civilian uses, conceptually ridiculous if you didn’t grow up knowing it’s possible to put stuff in orbit.

Deliberately creating tons upon tons of one of the most toxic substances known to mankind, and in the process creating other incredibly toxic substances in amounts that render massive areas uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years? That’s not just ridiculous, that is obscene.

Plutopia focuses on that—the two cities, Richland, Washington, and Ozersk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, that were built around the production of plutonium. And boy howdy, does nobody look good in this story; the similarities in mistakes made would be comic, if it wasn’t a tragedy that’s going to be screwing over our great^100-grandchildren. In addition to just about everyone involved from the time the cities were founded onward.

Two anecdotes stand out in my mind. First, in what reminds me of the Uber business model, a fun fact: the third-worst radiological disaster in human history officially listed zero casualties from the cleanup. Pause for effect. Because the USSR only tracked the health outcomes of paid employees working on the cleanup, which effectively meant they were only worrying about the people managing the people doing the cleanup work. Hey, careful handing out those orders, pal, you don’t want to get any of the radioactive waste on yourself!1

Second one, which immediately feels like fodder for HBO to do a second season of Chernobyl:

A week after the explosion, radiologists followed the cloud to the downwind villages, where they found people living normally, children playing barefoot. They measured the ground, farm tools, animals, and people. The levels of radioactivity were astonishingly high. S. F. Osotin, a monitor, remembered that a colleague went up to the children and held up his Geiger counter. He said, “I can tell with this instrument exactly how much porridge you had for breakfast.” The children happily stuck out their bellies, which ticked at forty to fifty microroentgens a second. The technicians stepped back, shocked. The kids had become radioactive sources.

Overall, this book fascinated me. And horrified me! But I grew up downstream of Hanford, and this is apparently just the world we live in now, so what else can you do? Better to be informed, I suppose. Check it out.2

  1. Don’t get all patriotic about this, my fellow Americans—the Hanford site did the same thing in their statistics, as well as a repeated trend of calling anything other than “died of their skin melting off” or “died of a thyroid full of radiation” a death not caused by radiation. Grew up drinking from the aquifer that the high level waste pond was seeping into, got cancer of the everything at 20? Unrelated, we assure you. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Dark Horse”

Craig Johnson

I’ve never been a big fan of westerns – nothing against them, really, just never got into the genre. Closest I’ve been is Westworld, which means it took a more-than-healthy dose of science fiction added on to catch my eye.

In this case, there was no such science fiction addition; knowing as little about the genre as I actually do, I suppose it’s possible that making it a mystery counts as some amount of genre crossover?

I did quite enjoy it, though. Looking at the cover now, I see that this is the fifth book in the series, but for most of the book I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything by having skipped the first four. There’s a few references to past events here and there, and likely I would’ve known many of the characters a bit better, but Johnson did a good job of covering who everyone is as the book went that I didn’t feel left behind.

It was actually a pretty fun mystery to read, as well—having just come off a “my brain is full of COVID” Scooby Doo binge, it sure did a better job at keeping me guessing than Scooby manages. I didn’t figure out what was going on in this book until the book told me, but it’s because I wasn’t pulling at all the strings—I feel like if I’d been taking notes on the right things, I would’ve been able to solve the mystery a bit earlier.1

All in all, I had fun reading this! A nice little mystery, the protagonist is surprisingly fun given that he’s trying to be a grumpy old coot most of the time, and it does a good enough job conveying the setting that I feel like I’ve got dust on my skin. Check it out.2

  1. That doesn’t tend to be the case with Scooby-Doo, or at least not the “and Guess Who” iteration, where Velma finds a clue, shares with nobody, and builds the whole case around what we, the audience, never got to see. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Bluebeard”

Kurt Vonnegut

There’s a lot of this that feels like a parody, but if it’s a parody, I don’t know of what. Of art that tries to take itself too seriously? Of humanity that tries to take itself too seriously? That feels more like it.

It took me a while to get into this. The only other Vonnegut I’ve read was Cat’s Cradle which, I have to admit, I hated. Turns out that someone who spends a disproportionate amount of time worrying about existential threats doesn’t enjoy fiction that adds a new one.

Once I got started, though, I was mostly good; I’d call this book “barely fictional,” in that the setting is absolutely historically accurate, the only real liberty taken with actual history being the introduction of a couple new characters into the abstract impressionist movement, and done in such a way that doesn’t have much of an impact. I did, for a while, fall out of the book again—there’s a section near the middle where the protagonist’s trust is betrayed in a way that I found painful to even contemplate. Which, hey, makes this an effective piece of art!

In light of that, I feel honestly a little annoyed with how well the end of the book delivers. I was so prepared to be unhappy with the end of the book, but no, it was great. I guess there’s a reason Vonnegut is one of The Greats, or whatever.

So hey, check it out.1 I really have no idea what else to put as the call to action here; things in this ‘literary’ genre always tend to hit me that way.

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Tales from the Loop”

Simon Stålenhag

Two coffee-table-book reviews in a row!

This was a fascinating read; I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in, and it turned out to be a really lovely work of science fiction. In short, this is a coffee table book from a different timeline, one where WWII research invented some kind of magnetic chicanery that lets battleships fly. It’s all centered around a small town in Sweden, something of a company town for the largest particle accelerator ever built.

And I really love that concept. It’s not a science fiction novel, it’s not particularly interested in telling the big story. It’s a coffee table book, an art series by someone who grew up in a place, telling their own story and explaining their paintings. It just happens that the place they grew up was at the center of a lot of weird stuff.

Stålenenhag’s art style works really well for this; something about it feels like concept art that comes out of film and video game studios. That air of mystery, of cinematic effect, and the fact that it’s not a fully fleshed-out story about every last aspect of these things makes it so much more interesting. There’s a lot more room for you to come up with your own explanations.

I almost wish the cover was subtler; it’d be fun to make a version of this that’d blend in, and watch people flip through it and slowly realize “hang on…”

This is a fun read, full of beautiful paintings. Check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: July 2023

This month I had the thought “I’m amazed at how fast the Summer Vibes popped up in this playlist,” which was then followed by thinking “I wonder how hard it’d be to do some data analysis on my playlists and see how seasonal certain things are…”

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single

Kahan (Last Year) [feat. Kodak Black] – Fred again.. on Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021)

gatsby – Daniel Leggs on gatsby – Single

TRAP PHONE – BERWYN on TRAP PHONE – Single

Crumble – Thomas LaVine on Crumble – Single

Feeling Whitney – Post Malone on Stoney (Deluxe)

crutches – Daniel Leggs on runaway

Mike (desert island duvet) – Fred again.., The Streets & Dermot Kennedy on Mike (desert island duvet) – Single

F**k Your Sorrys (feat. Cal Trask) – StayLoose on F**k Your Sorrys (feat. Cal Trask) – Single

Wisdom, Justice, And Love – Linkin Park on A Thousand Suns

Baby again.. – Fred again.., Skrillex & Four Tet on Baby again.. – Single

Talk It Over – Elderbrook & Vintage Culture on Little Love

If You Want Somebody – Elderbrook on Little Love

If It’s Time – Hayden Calnin on If It’s Time – Single

More the Victim – LINKIN PARK on Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition

Sirens – Sultan + Shepard on Forever, Now

Oslo – Yoste on Oslo – Single

99 – Elliot Moss on Boomerang

Acoustic – Billy Raffoul on 1975 – EP

Once Upon a Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Nobody’s Nobody – The NGHBRS, Pete Shade & Riesling on Nobody’s Nobody – Single

Threads – Thorin Loeks on Threads – Single

White Ferrari – Isak Danielson & Alba August on White Ferrari – Single

This Isn’t Helping (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Come On Home – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

Secret – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

LYTD (Vocoder Tests) – Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams on Random Access Memories (10th Anniversary Edition)

Drive You Home – Billy Raffoul on Drive You Home – Single

Eat The Acid – Kesha on Gag Order

I Don’t Want To Lie – Yoste & Vandelux on I Don’t Want To Lie – Single

Hate Me Harder – Kesha on Gag Order

My Rajneesh – Sufjan Stevens on America – EP

Can’t Be By Myself (feat. Novo Amor & Squirrel Flower) – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Stand in Tall Ovation – Portair on Stand in Tall Ovation – Single

None Of Us Have But A Little While – Lonnie Holley & Sharon Van Etten on Oh Me Oh My

Follow – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

All of Us – SYML on All of Us – Single

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Sprinter – Central Cee & Dave on Sprinter – Single

Titanic – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful

Mourning – Post Malone on AUSTIN

Lazy – Elliot Moss on Lazy – Single

14 – Water From Your Eyes on Everyone’s Crushed

MASCULINITY (MJF Spotlight Session) – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE (EXTENDED EDITION)

This Love – Harrison Storm on Wonder, Won’t You?

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kiesza & Sugar Jesus on Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Single

Hideaway – Kiesza on Sound of a Woman

Dial Drunk – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Stay Here – Yoste on Stay Here – Single

My Old Man – Billy Raffoul on My Old Man – Single

Free – Kidswaste on Free – Single

Heartbeat – Haux on Something to Remember – EP

Kusanagi – ODESZA on In Return

Buzzcut Season – Lorde on Pure Heroine

Smile Song (feat. Bedroom) – Rusty Santos on Smile Song (feat. Bedroom) – Single

MORE OR LESS – Jordy on MORE OR LESS – Single

All the Fires You Start – Jack in Water on All the Fires You Start – Single

Shake – Yoke Lore on Toward a Never Ending New Beginning1

In The Summer – HOKO on In The Summer – Single

Little Bit of This (feat. Vince Staples) – Good Times Ahead on Good Times Ahead

My Sweet Lord – Troye Sivan on The Idol Episode 5 Part 2 (Music from the HBO Original Series) – EP

Beautiful Life – Emmit Fenn on Beautiful Life – Single

Paradise – Braaheim on Paradise – Single

Call Your Mom – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)2

The Place to Start (feat. Joshua Keogh) – Portair on The Place to Start (feat. Joshua Keogh) – Single

Sea Shanty Medley – Home Free on Sea Shanty Medley – Single3

the banker – Daniel Leggs on the banker – Single

Calling (feat. Aaron Parks) – S. Carey & John Raymond on Calling (feat. Aaron Parks) – Single

Happy (Live Acoustic From Space) – Kesha on Gag Order (Live Acoustic EP From Space)

Only Love Can Save Us Now (Live Acoustic From Space) – Kesha on Gag Order (Live Acoustic EP From Space)

Bad Dancer – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP4

Fairlies – Grian Chatten on Chaos For The Fly5

Starstruck – Santigold on Santigold

Making Time x Cycles – Sultan + Shepard, Le Youth & Julia Church on Making Time x Cycles

Sitting In Fire – MASN on Sitting In Fire – Single

L.A. (‭+1.818.643.6885‬) – will hyde, tiffi & dress on L.A. (‭+1.818.643.6885‬) – Single

Good Life – Good Life & Elderbrook on Good Life – Single

Poseidon – gavn! on Poseidon – Single

Barley – Water From Your Eyes on Everyone’s Crushed

You Don’t Ignore (Too Late) – Petit Biscuit on You Don’t Ignore (Too Late) – Single

Gone For Good – Ashley Singh on Waiting For The Blue – EP

Healing – Fakear on Healing – Single

One More Day – Joshua Hyslop on One More Day – Single

Heavier – ODESZA & Yellow House on Flaws in Our Design – EP

Overready – Zakhar on Overready – Single

Older – Betcha on Older – Single

Don’t Forget Your Neighborhood – The Avalanches & Cola Boyy on Don’t Forget Your Neighborhood – Single

Rush – Troye Sivan on Something To Give Each Other6

Oliveira Dos Cen Años – C. Tangana on Oliveira Dos Cen Años – Single7

Chemicals – Forester on Chemicals – Single

Beelining – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Into the Night – Thorin Loeks on Into the Night – Single

You’re Gonna Go Far – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

J’VEUX D’LA TENDRESSE (MJF Spotlight Session) – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE (EXTENDED EDITION)

Mysoul – Shallou on Mysoul – Single

Long Lost Lover – Chance Peña on Lovers to Strangers – EP

It Hurts to Love – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP

K-POP – Travis Scott, Bad Bunny & The Weeknd on K-POP – Single

Pieces – Joshua Hyslop on Pieces – Single

ALL LIGHT – United Freedom Collective on ALL LIGHT – Single

I’ll Wait – Petey on USA

Coastline (Adam Hinden Remix) – Hollow Coves on Reimagined, Vol. 1 – EP

Did I Luv U – Friends & I on Did I Luv U – Single

Last Time Every Time Forever – Grian Chatten on Chaos For The Fly

What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Billie Eilish on What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Single8

Ten Billion People – Explosions In the Sky on End9

How You Like Me Now? (Raffertie Remix) – The Heavy on How You Like Me Now? – Single

Magic – Elliot Moss on Magic – Single

Where Did You Go – HAEVN on Where Did You Go – Single

When We First Met – Emmit Fenn on When We First Met – EP

Heat of the Summer – Betcha on Heat of the Summer – Single

Winona – Yoke Lore on Toward a Never Ending New Beginning

Alright – Gert Taberner on Alright – Single

Fall – St. Lundi on Fall – Single

Better Days (feat. King Garbage) – Holiday87 & The Knocks on Better Days (feat. King Garbage) – Single

Haunted – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful

Encerrada (feat. Y La Bamba) – Reyna Tropical on Encerrada – Single (feat. Y La Bamba) – Single

Lovers to Strangers – Chance Peña on Lovers to Strangers – EP

Dolly Zoom – Elliot Moss on Boomerang10

Don’t – Yoste on Don’t – Single11

  1. This is the one that made me realize there’s Summer Vibes happening in this playlist. Yoke Lore just sounds like summer. ↩
  2. Honestly, one of my favorite additions this month, and I really couldn’t tell you why. ↩
  3. I don’t miss being in an a cappella group, you miss being in an a cappella group ↩
  4. Very sing-along-able ↩
  5. Does way too good a job sounding like classic UK rock for a song that came out this year. ↩
  6. Watched the music video for this and thought “wow, Troye Sivan grew up and got horny.” ↩
  7. A different vibe than the last time I was listening to C. Tangana, but I’m here for it. ↩
  8. Barbie is a very good movie and you should go see it. If you’re mad about how Ken was portrayed: congratulations, that was the point! ↩
  9. They’ve got a concert coming up here soon, I’m excited! ↩
  10. This is one of the only albums that I occasionally just decide to listen to all the way through. ↩
  11. Yoste, breaking my rule that “everything has to go through the normal process,” and instead skipping straight to being in the playlist on the first listen. ↩
Categories
Review

“The Art of the National Parks”

Fifty-Nine Parks

This is my first coffee table book, and I’m quite happy with it as a representative of the genre. I’ve been a fan of the Fifty-Nine Parks series for a while—I believe, in my apartment, there’s now one of every product in their line-up.1 It’s just a really beautiful art series, inspired by one of the most incredible things the United States has ever done.2 There’s also a definite influence from the old Works Progress Administration posters, at least spiritually so, and that’s another style that I absolutely love.3

Beyond just being a beautiful objet d’art, the book is also a great way to get an overview of what all those national parks are. I may well wind up using this thing as a reference tome, especially as I contemplate visiting some of these parks.

I really highly recommend the whole 59 Parks project. As I’m writing this, their print shop is closed for a few months yet, but their partners for various non-poster items are still selling various things.4

  1. Well, every product family, I don’t have every single poster. I’ve got posters, notebooks, and this book, and gave my roommate their board game at one point. ↩
  2. Citation: search r/AskReddit for any of the monthly “non-Americans: what’s one thing America does right?” threads. The national parks are always mentioned. ↩
  3. Citation: 9 out of the 11 posters in my apartment are in that “inspired by the WPA” style. ↩
  4. And, I can add, restocking—some of the Field Notes sets were sold out for a while, but they’ve since reappeared. I’m glad that Field Notes isn’t being strict with their definition of “Limited Edition”, or I’d’ve been very sad that I missed my chance to get the whole collection. ↩
Categories
Review

“Irons in the Fire”

John McPhee

The human experience is fractal; everything you might be interested in, there’s an entire subcommunity somewhere of people who share that interest, and have explored it in great detail.1 McPhee has a talent for finding one of these fractal subcommunities, finding the right people in it to talk to, and then writing about his experience of exploring it in such a way that he can bring the reader along for the learning experience.

There’s a couple of that type of story in this book. The titular piece, Irons in the Fire, is about the cattle industry in Nevada—cattle branding, brand inspectors, rustlers, and ranchers. The kind of world that I’ve thought about approximately never, and wound up reading through in fascination. There’s also The Gravel Page, which reappears somewhat in Travels of the Rock, that’s all about forensic geology, and some of the ways that’s been used. The latter part of The Gravel Page feels like the spec script for an HBO special.

Then there’s Duty of Care, which has that same “this is a whole community I’d never even thought about” aspect, but really gets into environmentalism, too. Consider the tire: petroleum-based, worn down somewhat by use, but once discarded… where does it go? How can you recycle that?

Release reminded me of being in design school, contemplating the importance of accessibility technology. Absolutely dated in terms of the technology now available, of course, but these personal stories of how impactful they are are a great reminder.

Lastly in my review, though not in the order of the book, In Virgin Forest talks about old-growth forest, and how shamefully little of it there is left in the US.

I love a John McPhee book. I’ve got a pile of ‘em to read still, and I’m trying to space them out so I don’t wind up writing a whole series of reviews just on one author. It’s a real effort of will, I tell you. Having said all that, what am I gonna do, not recommend it? Of course not. Check out the book, it’s a cool introduction to several new areas of the fractal human experience.2

  1. For example, how much time do you spend thinking about the keyboard you use to type on? Personally, I put very little thought into it the vast majority of the time. I know some people, however, who are into keyboards, and have entire collections of keyboards, frequently build custom keyboards themselves, and have strong opinions about the visual design of keycaps and which type of spring mechanism to use. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Flash Fire”

TJ Klune

I mentioned in my review of the first book that opening with a salvo of self-insert fanfic is a powerful way to begin a book, and apparently the author agreed, because this one opens with a full-on broadside. And out of that cringe frying pan, and into the awkward fire of a teenager being caught, mid-makeout-session, by his dad. Oof.

Nick, the protagonist, remains categorically the best take on a teenager I’ve ever read. No other superhero media captures quite the degree of astonishingly bad decision-making provided by the average 16-year-old boy. Peter Parker has his one dramatic character moment early in every reboot, and then after that he’s a mature adult? I’m gonna need a story arc explaining that along with the walking on the ceiling, the spider bite also magically fixed the mess of hormones that is Being A Teen, because I refuse to believe how stupid he isn’t most of the time. Nick, though? Nick is an ongoing disaster, and it’s hilarious. I had to put the book down just to laugh, multiple times.

It helps that he’s got a good support network, because just about every character that’s there is wonderful. His friends are just as hilarious, the parents—and, good lord, I’m suddenly feeling my age as I write this—are very relatable as they roast their kids for the aforementioned very bad decision-making skills, and there’s a few new characters that show up partway through that make it just that much more fun.

I picked this up within a week of finishing the last one, which I highly recommended, and I’m gonna highly recommend this one too. My biggest complaint is that it’s the second of three books, and the story arc has a distinctive Empire Strikes Back feel of “oh, this isn’t getting wrapped up well by the end of the book, is it” throughout. But then, I picked up the third book at the same time I was grabbing the second, so it turns out I’m pretty well-prepared for that.1

I loved this book as much as I did the first one. Obviously, start with the first book, but, y’know, go ahead and grab the second too.2

  1. That isn’t the only parallel to cinema that’s present in the meta-level; the book also has a post-credits sting that hit me like a truck, in the same way that some of the Marvel end-credits scenes just locked me in for watching the next one in the franchise. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
Categories
Review

“Byzantium: The Early Centuries”

John Julius Norwich

I’ve realized recently that there’s a whole lot of history that I know basically nothing about. Prior to reading this book, the extent of my knowledge of the Byzantine Empire was “I think it used to be the Roman Empire, and then when the Roman Empire collapsed, part of it stuck around for a while? And then in the last century they renamed Constantinople to Istanbul,” and then after that some confused muttering that reveals I wasn’t even clear on the distinction between the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

Anyhow, someone mentioned that they were reading this series, and I thought I’d check it out. I’m certainly not a historian, but I can at least be a little better-informed than I’d been previously! Though, honestly, despite this being the first of the trilogy, I feel like I started much too late in the story. Turns out that the successor state to the Roman Empire requires a lot of context on how the Roman Empire works that I, unsurprisingly, also don’t have! So at some point I suppose I’ll go in search of a similar high-level overview of Roman history, backfill more of my knowledge.

Frankly, I don’t expect to retain much of the detail here. This is a few hundred pages covering hundreds of years of history; you can’t get a detailed overview at that density, and thanks to the inability of royalty to have unique names, it’s all a horrific muddle to try to keep track of regardless. I’m fairly certain there was an entire dynasty who never named a child anything that wasn’t a variation of “Justinian” or “Constantine,” and that just seems like a great way to give a kid a complex.

Still, I’ve got a bit more high-level overview, which is what I wanted going in. At some point, I’ll dive back in and pick up the second of the trilogy, but at least for the moment, I think I need to give my brain a break and go read something with a lot fewer facts… and a lot fewer horrific slaughters. I don’t recommend against this book, but… maybe see if your local library has a copy, rather than trying to buy it.

Categories
Playlist

Playlist of the Month: June 2023

Happy Pride, everyone! Take a moment to contact your representatives about the fact that the Supreme Court ended Pride Month by legalizing discrimination!

How It Was – Yoste on A Few Brief Moments – EP

twentyfive – Yoste on twentyfive – Single

Save Me – Majik on It’s Alright / Save Me – Single

Friends – Yoste on Friends – Single

Kahan (Last Year) [feat. Kodak Black] – Fred again.. on Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021)

gatsby – Daniel Leggs on gatsby – Single

TRAP PHONE – BERWYN on TRAP PHONE – Single

White Iverson – Post Malone on Stoney (Deluxe)

Crumble – Thomas LaVine on Crumble – Single

Escape – Enrique Iglesias on Escape

Feeling Whitney – Post Malone on Stoney (Deluxe)

crutches – Daniel Leggs on runaway

Mike (desert island duvet) – Fred again.., The Streets & Dermot Kennedy on Mike (desert island duvet) – Single

F**k Your Sorrys (feat. Cal Trask) – StayLoose on F**k Your Sorrys (feat. Cal Trask) – Single

Wisdom, Justice, And Love – Linkin Park on A Thousand Suns

Baby again.. – Fred again.., Skrillex & Four Tet on Baby again.. – Single

Talk It Over – Elderbrook & Vintage Culture on Little Love

If You Want Somebody – Elderbrook on Little Love

If It’s Time – Hayden Calnin on If It’s Time – Single

More the Victim – LINKIN PARK on Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition

Sirens – Sultan + Shepard on Forever, Now

Oslo – Yoste on Oslo – Single

Butterflies – Charles Fauna on Butterflies – Single

Magic – Hayden Calnin on A Turning of the Tide: Side A – EP

99 – Elliot Moss on Boomerang

MASCULINITY – LUCKY LOVE on MASCULINITY – Single

You Can Think Of Him – Ashley Singh on You Can Think Of Him – Single

Nothing – cowboyy on Epic the Movie – EP

September Sun – Sol Rising & Koala Karlous on Gratitude

Superman (It’s Not Easy) – Five for Fighting on America Town

Acoustic – Billy Raffoul on 1975 – EP

Lucky Ones – Don Diablo on Lucky Ones – Single

Once Upon a Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Nobody’s Nobody – The NGHBRS, Pete Shade & Riesling on Nobody’s Nobody – Single

Friends – Emmit Fenn on Friends – Single

Threads – Thorin Loeks on Threads – Single

White Ferrari – Isak Danielson & Alba August on White Ferrari – Single

Paspatou – Parra for Cuva on Paspatou

This Isn’t Helping (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Audi – RIZ LA VIE on Haven

Spider – Kai Bosch on Spider – EP

A Sound in the Darkness – H. Kenneth on This Is a Journal

Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Come On Home – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

Ghosts – Fakear & Dana Williams on Talisman

Secret – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

I Saw You – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

Eucalyptus – The National on First Two Pages of Frankenstein

LYTD (Vocoder Tests) – Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams on Random Access Memories (10th Anniversary Edition)

LOVE – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE – EP

Drive You Home – Billy Raffoul on Drive You Home – Single

Sweet Affection – Ashley Singh on Sweet Affection – Single

i still love u. (‭+1.818.643.6885‬) – will hyde on i still love u. (‭+1.818.643.6885) – Single

Fine Line – Kesha on Gag Order

Eat The Acid – Kesha on Gag Order

LOVA – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE – EP

I Don’t Want To Lie – Yoste & Vandelux on I Don’t Want To Lie – Single

Hate Me Harder – Kesha on Gag Order

All I Need Is You – Kesha on Gag Order

Only Love Can Save Us Now – Kesha on Gag Order

My Rajneesh – Sufjan Stevens on America – EP

Can’t Be By Myself (feat. Novo Amor & Squirrel Flower) – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Stand in Tall Ovation – Portair on Stand in Tall Ovation – Single

None Of Us Have But A Little While – Lonnie Holley & Sharon Van Etten on Oh Me Oh My

Follow – Brian Eno & Fred again.. on Secret Life

exile (feat. Bon Iver) – Taylor Swift on folklore

All of Us – SYML on All of Us – Single

Cry (feat. Yoste) [Yoste Remix] – Gryffin & John Martin on Cry (Remixes) – Single1

Miles – Mitch Made on Miles – Single

My Jeans – Kai Bosch on Spider – EP

13 – Jolé on Let Go – EP

So Long – Shallou & Origami Human on There’s Another Life 4 U / So Long – Single

Hallelujah Anyway – Luke Sital-Singh on Hallelujah Anyway – Single

Sprinter – Central Cee & Dave on Sprinter – Single2

Go-Getter – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

18 – Jonah Kagen on 18 – Single

I Do – PLÜM on I Do – Single

Titanic – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful3

Mourning – Post Malone on AUSTIN

Trippin – Betcha on Trippin – Single

Lazy – Elliot Moss on Lazy – Single4

Say Yes To Heaven – Lana Del Rey on Say Yes To Heaven – Single

Move On – Jenny Kern on Move On – Single

This World Couldn’t See Us – Nabihah Iqbal on DREAMER

I Still Miss You – Slopes on Bad Dancer – EP

The World Is Still Beautiful – Michael Benjamin on The World Is Still Beautiful

Even When I Don’t – Emmit Fenn on When We First Met – EP

Move – Aisha Badru on Learning to Love Again – EP

14 – Water From Your Eyes on Everyone’s Crushed5

MASCULINITY (MJF Spotlight Session) – LUCKY LOVE on TENDRESSE (EXTENDED EDITION)

This Love – Harrison Storm on Wonder, Won’t You?

Elenore (Abgt531) – Sultan + Shepard & Andrew Belle on Group Therapy 531

I’ll Wait – Jack in Water on I’ll Wait – Single

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kiesza & Sugar Jesus on Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Single

Hideaway – Kiesza on Sound of a Woman6

Ships – Phillip LaRue on Ships – Single

Dial Drunk – Noah Kahan on Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)

Stay Here – Yoste on Stay Here – Single

Goodbye – Atli on Epilogue Of Something Beautiful

My Old Man – Billy Raffoul on My Old Man – Single

Goldenrod (feat. Baileyrp) – Lowswimmer on Red Eye Effect

Fake Plastic Trees – Luke Sital-Singh on Strange Weather – EP

  1. Yoste continues to kill it ↩
  2. This track is hilarious. “She can’t be a gold-digger, she dated you!” ↩
  3. Reminds me a lot of Thousand Eyes by Of Monsters and Men. ↩
  4. One of my favorite additions. “If I stand this way, maybe I can make myself look thinner” keeps sticking in my brain. ↩
  5. This track is so weird and I love it ↩
  6. Excellent music video, for the record. ↩
Categories
Review

“Crimson Son”

Russ Linton

This was an interesting midpoint between “superhero novel about the superhero” and “superhero novel about someone completely unrelated to the superheroes.” (The latter is, honestly, pretty rare, and I think there’s more room for it to be explored as a concept. Agents of SHIELD is also somewhat on this line.) Spencer, the protagonist, certainly isn’t a superhero, being entirely powerless, but he’s also not not involved. His dad is the Superman archetype, and Spencer, being the obvious weak point, is… trapped in a secret bunker somewhere in the Arctic Circle.

The backstory of that bunker made me very happy, though—it’s not just “random bunker because Cold War,” it’s specifically explained later in the book that it was part of a network of those bunkers built by the Soviet Union… because in this world, as best as I can tell, the entire realm of “nuclear” just never happened. World War II ended with a strike team of superhumans; Chernobyl was a superhuman run amuck; the Cold War weapons race was both sides developing more and more superhumans.

Which is just a delightful twist. “They invented superheroes during World War II, but nothing else changed”? Tired. “They invented superheroes during World War II, and now all sorts of major historical events went differently because The Ultimate Weapon is now a superhero instead of a nuke”? Wired.1

And, really, the book just builds on that. The title works really well—the whole book, really, is about the legacy of that Cold War weapons development. Not just that there’s other supers out there, but that the governments had some programs officially trying to wind down the whole arms race… and that they weren’t entirely honest about how it all went.

It’s a really interesting take on the genre that I’ve read a whole lot of, and I quite enjoyed it. Definitely worth a read.2

  1. I think my favorite one of these was that, in this universe, there were no planes on 9/11; instead, there was a superhuman fielded by a terrorist organization, created using leaked Cold War superhuman tech. ↩
  2. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
Categories
Review

“Greylady”

Peter Morwood

I went into this expecting it to feel more like a Diane Duane novel, which entirely wasn’t the case. (For context, they’re married—that wasn’t an entirely random thought to have.) Instead, it felt like a storyteller; the plot didn’t quite line up in the way I expect from a novel, but I think it works fairly well as a story being told to a great hall full of revelers.

There’s a couple odd spots, still—near the beginning, a couple chapters from a different character’s perspective, and I kept expecting to go back to them, but they never reappeared. And, towards the end, a skip forward in time that feels like it’s glossing over a lot of things that happened. This is listed as “Book 1” in the series, but I feel like, in the interest of closure, the last chapter was actually borrowed from the end of Book 2 instead.

Those issues aside, I quite enjoyed the book. The prose flows in a way that, again, feels like a story teller in a way; there’s a rhythm to it throughout. I’m still a bit unclear on the system of magic—there’s a distinction between sorcerers and wizards, but I still couldn’t tell you which was which—but that feels like just a mixing of words, and the actual system feels reasonably clear.1 And I appreciated that, while it doesn’t wrap up every thread, and actually specifically starts up some new ones at the end, it still came with enough of a sense of closure on the story that it felt complete. It’s the start of a series, but I don’t feel cheated out of anything by having only read the first one so far.

All in all, this was a good read, and a fairly approachable fantasy novel. Give it a read.2

  1. Which, again, very different from Duane’s works—in here, it’s clearly a ‘soft magic’ system, whereas the Young Wizards series has a fairly hard magic system, with very clear rules and functionality… that can still occasionally bend for the betterment of the plot. But then, in-universe, that kind of thing still makes sense, because the reader isn’t the only outside force looking in, and the others are able to influence things more directly. ↩
  2. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
Categories
Review

“The House on Mango Street”

Sandra Cisneros

“I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much.”

I think I’ve read this before, many years ago. It feels like the kind of book that was assigned in school, tied up in analysis and the attempt to make a child understand things that they can’t understand until they’ve understood the world a bit more. I’m certain that I didn’t appreciate it then; I’m not sure that I appreciate it now. Not really, not the way it feels like it deserves to be appreciated.

But more of it made sense this time than it did last time. Maybe I’ll come back and read it again in another ten years, and maybe then more of the book will fit into the spaces in my head.

Categories
Review

“Extraordinaries”

TJ Klune

Starting with an excerpt from the egregious self-insert fanfic that your protagonist is writing sure is a powerful opening. Imagine getting hit by a fully-loaded semi truck, carrying exclusively cringe. A bold statement, which nearly got me to put the book back down again; my high school experience was bad enough on its own, and I’ve never felt the need to relive it while adding extra awkwardness.

That said, I managed to convince myself to power through, and I’m glad I did. I have to give bonus points to whoever picked the tagline on the cover—“Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra.”—because it really explains what the protagonist is like. He’s extra. He’s also the most authentically high school character I’ve read in a while, because oh my god is he an idiot. Most of the plot of the book is “him failing to notice very obvious things, and coming up with incredibly stupid plans.”

What makes the book is his friends. Gibby is positively delightful—she spends most of the book, fully in the know on everyone’s secrets, and mostly using that to laugh at everyone instead of actually helping. A quote:

“Yes,” Gibby breathed. “Yes to this. Yes to all of it. Oh my god, yes. This is so stupid. I can’t wait. White people are freaky.”

She’s living her best life.

The other thing that kept me interested in the book was that I couldn’t quite figure out all the secret identities. There’s just enough twisting to keep you wondering up until the book decides it’s time for you to know, and while it was fun to sit there in the knowledge of how well I’d narrowed down the pool of options while Nick—the protagonist—hadn’t actually figured out there was a pool of options, it was also fun to be unsure.

I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It took me a bit to get into it, because wow is the poorly-written fanfic at the start a tough sell, but once it got its hooks in I couldn’t put it down. Give it a read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩