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fictionalmenaremytype · 3 months

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SEASON FINALE BABY LETS GOOO!!!!!

(Percy jackson ep 8 spoilers)

I'm just gonna start by saying if Disney doesn't renue this for a second season they are stupid and will have missed out on a harry Potter level phenomenon.

- LUKE MONOLOGUE HOLYSHIT ITS GIVING GOOD KID REPRISE

- HE IS KIND OF TERRIFYING IN THAT SWORD SCENE THO

- Ares' cackle. I love him .

- Ares just threw him like hulk did loki

- annabeth having to hold Grover back is so important to me because he's wanting to help percy but Annabeth knows this fight is to the death and any interruption would just get Grover killed.

- Annabeth also knowing he needs to prove himself as the son of poseidon and discover who he is.

- "let's kick the son of poseidon into a puddle right near the sea" I now understand why Athena is battle strategy and Ares is just war.

- THAT TSUNAMI JUST PARTING FOR PERCT US ICONIC AND HE JUST RUNS AND SWOOPS AND CUTS ARES

- my only critique is that Percy never does any movements to show its his power (which ik this is accurate to the books) but it comes off a little like he's just calling on Poseidon to do stuff. I wished they had some sort of indicator that it was Percy like maybe a slight movement or having the water pull back from the puddle he fell in and into the sea.

- I did think the fight was a little quick tbh but it still worked.

- the way I screamed "close your eyes close your eyes close your eyes!" When he was about to show his true form.

- woooh Hades helm

- The cabin looks fuckung terrifying rn

- I haven't seen the end of credit scene yet but I'm predicting it's going to be Sally with Gabe's statue.

- Alecto just wanted to get tho boss his hat back!

- "please" "good luck on Olympus" I thought she was going to be nice but noooo she's still a bitch.

- Annabeth trying to stop Percy from going because they're friends now and she's worried for his safety. I love Leah she is AMAZING.

- "I'm done running from monsters" THAT LINE OMG THE WRITERS ROOM ATEEEE

- THE NECKLACE?? THE MUSIC?? "You're gonna need all the luck you can get." Is so sweet and so patronising she is perfect. Leah is Annabeth Chase she has cyclops powers and just embodies her!

- "how sure are we you couldn't explain everything in an email?" So relatable Grover so relatable.

- "I'm here to see Zeus." Lightning bolt on the table " I don't have an appointment"

- THIS SHOWS ART DEPARTMENT HOLY SHITT OLYMPUS IS STUNNING WTF

- it is so so obvious when you know abt Luke that yes trying to recruit Percy to his side.

- LUKE REALLY JUST SET ANNABETH UP TO BE THE TRAITOR THERE WHAT!

- can someone build this olympus on minecraft please I want to exploreee.

- zeus (rip Lance Reddick we miss you) just waiting on his throne is terrifying.

- The thrown room being in a thunder cloud has so much messaging behind it! It is pathetic fallacy at its finest.

- Zeus is scary. I don't like it. Literal goosebumps rn.

- "your family is a mess" you tell him Percy. Be his therapist

- WHEN HE TRIED TO STRIKE PERCY OH MY GOD POSEIDON SURRENDERING

- "your forbidden son who should've never been born" "the same as your thalia" Poseidon learnt some sass I see.

- THE GREEK IS INGENIOUS.

- "make sure I never see this one again." Well I hate to break it to you sir but you will...a lot

- "obedience doesn't come naturally to you does it?" "No...sir." "the sea does not like to be retrained." CAUSE THE SEA DOESNT LIKE TO BE RESTRAINEDDDDD

- Percy not immediately knowing Greek is such a slept upon lart of the books because they have lessons in it.

- Poseidons smile about Sally.

- "Ares is a moron." The only thing Poseidon and Athena agree on.

- Aww they finally had father son time. Its so emotional and beautiful and its made me emotional.

- the line of applause and I'm just looking for Travis and Connor.

- The hugging is a thing.

- "an accusation against clarisse." "Without proof" annabeth has a feeling!

- honestly adding Clarisse as a traitor and using that to get Percy and Luke alone makes more sense to me given that they know someone at camp stole the bolt.

- I think now is the time to say how Charlie is amazing for Luke he's so sinister when he wants to be l.

- luke making him go through the Prophecy before he reveals and percy slowly realising why Omg chills.

- the red lighting on Luke highlighting his scar.

- luke looking like he's about to cry

- "I didn't think you'd give them to Grover." "I'm here to recruit" AH

- BACKBITER CAN OPEN PORTALS NOW THIS IS A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF OVER POWERED !!!!!

- LUKE AND PERCY FIGHT LUKE AND OERCY FIGHT.

- Is that a silhouette in the background???

- " I met your dad" THE ANGER OMG

- the fight with Ares being short is made up for by this fight. Under the fireworks? In the woods? It's stunning!!!!

- PERCYS APOLOGY OMG I FELT SO BAD FOR HIM HES SCARED AND CONFUSED AND STILL TRYING TO SEE THE BEST IN LUKE.

- YES ANNABETH. THROWING HER DAGGER AT LUKE?!? I HOPE THAT KNIFE BECAUSE PART OF ANNABETHS CHARACTER BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE SO COOL. I KNEW I SAW A SILHOUTTE

- " Annabeth?" " I heard everything" I KNEW SHE HAD HER SUSPICIONS

- " He can be very very persuasive" "I'm very very stubborn"

- MR D LOVE HIM

- "Percy? That's your name?"

- I was half expecting Dionysus to do an Oprah and say " you get out and you get out"

- Annabeth saying goodbye to Thalia is so sweet

- " and then sone place called Disney World?" She's never seen a movie she's going to be so confused. "Which kind of sounds like water land but with less trying to kill you" Yeah.

- the way he smiles at her is so cute.

- "wait did I read that wrong. What am I walking into. Is there something you're supposed to do there?" "Just be a kid"

- aww Grovers searcher licence is a flower

- "but no ones ever thought to check the seas!" Nice set up Disney I see you.

- "we meet back here next year." Well you will eventually.

- THE GROUP HUG (if we get up to season 5 I expect editors to make edits of them hugging at 16 to them hugging at 12)

- The cabin and Sally <3

- "what happened?" "It's a long story."

- WHAT JUST HAPPNED OMG ANOTHET DREAM OMG KRONOS I DONT LIKE THIS HES TOO CLOSE OMG GO AWAY DONT INVITE HIM IN HES LIKE A VAMPIRE. HES SCARY SCARY SCARY.

- "no kidding kiddo it's time to wake up." So cute.

- "grandpa." "Don't call him that."

- "Don't forget to tell your mom how much you love her today." "Kronos Lord of the titans said that?" The lying and secrets has begun

- NO GABE WOOH

- THE ENDING MONOLOGUE

- HOW MUCH DID WALKER SCOVELL GROW OVER FILMING HES SO TALL NEXT TO SALLY AND THE DOOR FRAME.

- Sally divorcing gabe is much much better than her just turning him to stone because it gives the message that she now recognises her son can look after himself and now she doesn't have to protect him anymore.

- GABE ASKING THE LAWYER HOW TO PICK A LOCK IS SO FUNNY

- I really like how it's his own hate for percy and everything percy has that gets him killed rather than straight up homicide. It really sets the idea that people like that will find their own downfall (which is ironic bc this trope is commonly used in ancient Greek tragedies)

season one of percy jackson is stunning. It's a masterpiece even with the changes and whilst there was definitely some timing issues and the cut to black became annoying, it was very, very good. If it is renewed for another season, it has a lot of potential, and I will be very excited to see how they adapt The Sea of Monsters for screen.

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #annabeth chase #pjo tv show #pjo series #walker scobell #grover underwood #percy jackson season 1 finale

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izartn · 2 months

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Not giving spoilers for the manga, still reading anime canon light novels.

Maomao giving spark from girl genius vibes in ep 20. I love her so much XD that mad laugh at the idea of... A rival? A source of inspiration? Another woman who is into medicine and the sciences and who got away free from the palace? (as far as we now as of now. who knows I bet this is all politics all the way down) that admiration! I get it Maomao. Intelectual equals in your area of interest are hard to find.

Btw I can see her already dismissing the fact she woke up in Jinshi bed, attended by Suiren. But the way she irrumped into his office was soooo good. Like. She's enthused about the mistery, and probably wants to avoid it happening again (like. that was an assassination attempt!) but she very much asks directly for Jinshi to let her go see the corpse. Small steps! She knows he cares someway even if she doesn't want to think about his real identity. (she doesn't know he got her out himself in bridal carry in front of all the officials. that'd be too much info about the truth I think)

She's so brilliant solving how Suirei got out, and so happy of going back to being Gyokuyo poison tester. I'm happy for her too. Lol Lakan you'll need to wait more if you want to see your daughter!

Awww, Jinshi being 19 is kinda sad and sweet. Him going, "marriage? isn't your son my age?" at Gaoshun was great. His agreement to see what can be done to free Gaoshun and himself from that job/bet... Mmm. I wonder what's exactly going on there. Why's the brother of the Emperor going incognito as a eunuch?

Also managing the rear palace since he was 14? Ouch. You just know he had to learn fast how to respond to the propositions and manouver all the politics. He has it down perfect right now but thinking of 14 year old Jinshi... Kinda a parallel for Maomao trying her best to avoid at all cost any attention on the red light district. Gender and class privilege exists! Everything sucks anyways.

Also Jinshi youth foreshadowed by those moments Maomao was like "he looks so young". He's just like a year or two older than you Maomao! That's why he's so silly around you. All that power and repsonsability in the hands of a 19 year old. Right now heir to the throne; no wonder he wants the emperor to have a heir quickly! (sadly you're still the firstborn oof)

Anyways I'm very happy with the anime. I love the animation, the colors, the music, the charas, the way it adapts the plot (from what I know until now!)

#kusuriya no hitorigoto #the apothecary diaries #knh meta #meta #my thoughts

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trutrustories · 6 months

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Just some thoughts I have, immediately after viewing ep 6.

spoilers! oh my god, oh my god! I´m honestly relieved! Can you believe it??? I´m SO GLAD endindg didn´t ruin the show! Quite the opposite, actually! I think that with the context of this ending, they actually made season 1 much BETTER. which is like... complete surprise for me! What the hell???? I seriously didn´t expect that! AT ALL! 🤯 It was funny, It was clever, it was epic, and absolutely heartbreaking 🥺😭 Ouroboros, Casey, Timely, and Sylvie... they all survived, and can live they lives however they choose! O. B. making the sequel of his bestseller is the best thing ever! And he has friends now!!! My precious boy!!! Good for him! He deserves it! And Loki and Mobius both survived as well THANK GOD!!!! And they still remember each other! (I was prepared for much worse scenarios, to be honest.)

Anyway, I´m sucker, for bitter sweet endings. So I´m FINE. ....except I´m not.

Because It´s so fucking tragic at the same time!!! God, what a love story! (what isn´t denied is allowed, so... ) they ended it with two of them, alone. Mobius isn´t actually getting back to his boys, because they already have Don. But he didn´t want to stay at TVA because Loki is not there anymore.

Last few shots are Mobius, just standing there, watching life he can´t have and for the first time he is free to wonder around the world on his own. he´s able to WASTE HIS TIME now. And then we see right after Loki, stuck on his throne, alone. And it is implied that he was able to hear Mobius (or see him, even!) And he looks lonely, but also happy for his man!!! GOSH. I was crying like a baby. whole sequence from that scene in a theatre room right until the end! And that freaking music!!! I only have one complaint, and that being: we should see Mobius actually enjoy some JETSKI! Or even better: last shots should have been Mobius happily steering a jet ski on the open sea (wind in the hair and all) AND then Loki on his throne with a smile on his face (because he´s watching him). Last thing: there is actually so much potential, after this finale. If not for actual Marvel project, then for fanfiction writers and for imagination. They left so much room for the good stuff! 😍 For example:

Mobius struggling to addapt to normal life on a timeline. And then he somehow finds out, Loki can see him/ hear him. And he will starts talking to him. And because Loki is so alone and unable to go anywhere, this starts to be his source of fun. Something that makes him happy. And he finds way, to talk to Mobius back somehow... or

Loki will find out that he can travel to his past selfs without having to leave his throne. He stays there, but his mind can travel to his body at any point before.

I am actually mad, I have no time to write fanfics right know (but hey, my english is totally tragic and terrible, so it´s probably a good thing 😅)

Anyway. I feel sad, and also happy. And inspired and satisfied. And I´m still sobbing. All at once! It was beautiful, and I enjoyed every second of it! Can´t remember last time marvel actually managed to do that to me.

*standing ovation* I applaud to creators, actors and everyone involved. You guys did a fenomenal job! (at least that is how I see it)

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

#loki #lokius #loki spoilers #loki season 2 #mobius #mobius m mobius #loki and mobius #loki spoiler #marvel #mcu #finale #glorious purpose

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chrollohearttags · 10 months

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asked on anon first but i still wanna know how da first meeting of ej the don and j kirschtein went 🤞🏽

lmfaosvsjs and I had just saw that anon. But we all know some shit went down because Mr. EJ got a slick ass mouth and Mr. Kirschtein has an even shorter temper so that’s a lovely combination. 😭 they first met during a festival that AMG was putting on to showcase some new artists and Eren was just starting out at the time. He had only ever worked as Vivian’s pianist and mentee up until that point. But his debut single, First Degree and his EP, Living Dead Boy had blown up on the underground scene was gaining a lot of traction online so they put him in as a performer! Meanwhile, Jean’s new band, Ateiler Kiss were the headliners. He was AMG’s golden boy, earning record breaking profits so he was feeling himself a lil’ bit. Not to mention, he was sleeping with one of the top stars and next heir to the throne at the time, Mika ASH. One night, they were all backstage. EJ was talking to Armin when Jean walks up and makes a remark, basically calling Eren a glorified stage hand and baybeeeee, it was up from there!! 😭 EJ from that point never took his foot off his neck. “C’mon dude. He’s not worth it. He’s probably just joking.” “I don’t give a fuck because I’m about to have a good laugh.” He let him get up there, do his thing..even congratulated him on a good set. It wasn’t until a week later when Eren shot his second music video; poolside at the Hard Rock Cafe surrounded by beautiful women..including one of his best and oldest friends, Mikasa. Who could be spotted bent over during the line of his song, AWeekendAtBernies: “you can hate me all you want, guarantee your bitch likes me.” Winking directly into the camera, just knowing he’d be watching. Also shows him a Jean lookalike being pushed from a building. Needless to say, Mika was pissed that they had put her in the center of their little dick swinging contest and the fact that he’d insinuated they fucked. “Jean, please don’t make me laugh. That manchild? Please, I could do much better than that if I was going to cheat.”

now, every time they see each other, they on go. Staying at each other’s throats and making slick comments. “Jean, you bastard. I didn’t think it was possible but you get uglier and uglier everytime I see you.” “Says the walking jumpscare himself. I’ve seen piles of dog shit that look better.” They can’t attend one meeting together without lunging at each other so there’s always extra security in case one of them takes it too far. When (y/n) first met EJ and told him that you were dancing for Jean’s tour before, he was upset because that asshole would undoubtedly hold it over his head and brag about it. You and Mikasa even tried forcing them on a double date which led to them both throwing insults at each other. It was a mess.

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autisticlalna · 2 years

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how to watch Dominion SMP!

what's Dominion?:

Dominion SMP is a lightly modded, multi-POV lore series focused around the Origins mod! run by Legundo, who you might know for 100 Days Multiverse, most of the Dominion cast have long-running hardcore worlds and a good amount of overlap with the Deceit SMP. there's a focus on storytelling and characters first and foremost, with everyone's origin being the foundation for who they are and what they do.

i've seen it described as "Empires SMP but with origins" thanks to the entertaining characters, the frankly stunning builds, and everybody having their own storyline that intersects with others to create an engaging story. there's faction power struggles, there's musical numbers in Fixxitt's POV, there's attempted regicide, Legundo uses dark magic to commit a war crime as a comedy moment, there's possession, Sneve's made of butter... all around it's a fun time.

what's the story?:

to sum up the backstory: the land of Dominion was under threat from powerful entities and invasion from other dimensions, and so the king set out to put an end to it by slaying the dragon. he failed, died, and with the throne vacant several new players enter the scene with goals, schemes, and ideals. some want to start a business empire, some are undergoing a rite of passage, some are trying to find their lost memories, and some are just trying to find a new home.

and then a thief's crimes spiral out of control. and then something sealed in the End escapes. and then people start getting possessed. and then people start giving out IOUs they really shouldn't. and then there's an exorcism, the blood moon, and the end of the world.

normal mcyt stuff.

who to watch?:

as of Season 2, there are 16 members: Legundo (piglin merchant), Nukeri (elytrian merchant), Fixxitt 412 (inchling rogue), Taneesha (rammling explorer), SwitchBackMongo (merling merchant), Jammers (dragonborn rancher), GradyTV (enderian blacksmith), Sneve (blazeborn cleric), NotNotBrock (slime merchant), RNJoy (witch cleric), ShadowMech27 (witherborn merchant), VikingPilot (phantom cook), CodeNeon (truffle cook), Kiply (fairy beastmaster), Da Lil Red (wolf beastmaster), and It_Ryan (iron golem miner).

all of the dominos bring something fun or interesting to the table! i personally watch everyone because i'm Like That, but for somebody just getting into the series i'd recommend Legundo, Fixxitt, Nukeri, or VikingPilot. here's a pretty good post covering vibes!

season 1: (note: not everyone has full seasons) Legundo Nukeri Fixxitt Taneesha (includes season 2) SwitchBackMongo (includes season 2) Jammers (includes season 2) Grady (ep 1 / ep 2) Sneve NotNotBrock RNJoy (includes season 2) VikingPilot ShadowMech

season 2: (note: direct continuation of season 1) Legundo VikingPilot Fixxitt CodeNeon Taneesha SwitchBackMongo RNJoy Nukeri Jammers Da Lil Red Grady Sneve ShadowMech Kiply It_Ryan

tl;dr: watch dominion.

#leo.txt #dominion smp #mcyt #dominion

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thehandymen · 1 year

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i think today’s ep was a really great example of how although canute may not possess crazy physical abilities like many of the characters in vinland saga, he is definitely one of the most emotionally intelligent, and therefore one of the most politically skilled. while sparring with wulf he calls him out on his crush on princess estrid, which causes wulf to get distracted and canute achieve a rare victory. we don’t know exactly how long canute & co have been in england at this point, but it can be assumed that once canute picked up on wulf’s feelings for his younger sister, he filed the info away to conveniently use later, which is exactly what he does when olmar, son of wealthy landowner ketil, makes an absolute fool of himself. canute’s already been thinking about requisitioning some land, and then an easily manipulated idiot with the right connections shows up on his doorstep, and that’s that.

but what was REALLY interesting was the choice of music in the final scene. if i’m not mistaken, it’s askeladd’s theme that plays as canute discusses using olmar with wulf and gunnar. we all know the huge role that askeladd had in canute’s ascent to power, and how his actions continue to both haunt and influence canute even years later. until now, askeladd is probably the most physically and politically strong character we’ve encountered in vinland saga. he was a man with a plan from the beginning, and he made the ultimate sacrifice to put canute on the throne. playing his theme at the end of an episode where we see canute striving to become a better warrior and scheming his way up the ladder says a lot

#'vinland saga s2 is boring' could NOT be me #i love a battle shounen as much as the next guy #but vinland saga is not that #and i am so glad #i'm actually really enjoying this season!! farming aside #the political intrigue and character development is soooo good #i may have to start the manga soon #vinland saga #askeladd #canute #thorfinn #vinland saga s2 #vinland saga season 2 #anime #manga

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viviskz · 2 months

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✦ ִ 🐳 ⁔⁔ ۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ skzcode ep.1

[X] - editors comments

▶ ₊˚.༄ OUTFIT

▶ ₊˚.༄ INTRO

There were 9 families in the Kingdom of Stray Kids. Christark Greyleeknow Seortell Vivarryn Targarhyun Hanratheon Felly Minnister And Irell but only one of them can occupy the throne

the battle amongst the families will unfold on a snow field

Who will be seated on the throne?

The group is stood on a snow hill, holding flags of their respective skzoos, talking about who will be the king "Who makes noise in front of the King?" Changbin yells as the camera cuts to Hyunjin sitting on the throne, looking tired. [The thrones already taken] "Your disrespect will never be forgotten!" Vivian shouts. The members explode into chaos, yelling at each other about disrespect.

▶ ₊˚.༄ 1ST QUEST ; PHYSICAL STRENGTH

Changbin grabs the flag, running down the hill Untill a snow ball hits him directly in the head, knocking him over [Bullseye] "Sorry!" Vivian shouts from down the hill, falling to her knees and bowing [An apolgetic tiger]

I.n runs to the circle, shoving Hyunjin as he attempts to get the flag down, then Han slides in [3rd tackle] Vivian runs over, jumping on top of I.n [4th tackle]

Vivian slowly walks to the start line, pouting about having to do cardio, the editors add sad music in the background [*Sobbing*] Vivian bolts up the hill, nearly falling twice, and the members move to block the flag spot Vivian dodges snowballs and Chan, who runs towards her at full speed, and drops to the ground, shoving Han out of the way to put the flag down [Vivarynn Tiger 26.52 sec] "Thats too fast!" Changbin yells

Felix runs up the hill, and I.n immediately lays down on the circle, then Vivian piles on top of him [Pancake]

"To pledge alegence to the king, you need to kneel on one knee." Hyunjin and Minho immedietly sit down, and Vivian flops on the ground on her back [Splat]

▶ ₊˚.༄ 2ND QUEST ; SLED WITH WATER

Han starts doing pushups, only to be shut down by I.n "Don't do anything you don't do usually", Han stares, shocked I.n would say that "I do 250 push-ups even on holidays!" Vivian makes a face and says, "Hannie don't lie to stay!" Han wips around to stare at her, yelling back, "Hey! I'm not lying!"

Vivian sits on the sled, and pours out a little bit of the water She goes down the hill, and uses her feet to steer the sled away from the bumps [Genius] Vivian is smiling and laughing as she sleds, having the time of her life "How is she doing so well?" Seungmin asks and the sled slows to a stop [Vivian: 1.4 liters]

▶ ₊˚.༄ 3RD QUEST ; SWORDSMANSHIP

Vivian stands up, grabbing the sword "The first player, Vivarryn!" Vivian take the sword out and spins it, causing the rest of the members to yell "and the next player, uh.. Targarhyun!" [The king with a very hard name] The two start out with a slow motion duel, spinning around a swinging their swords [Anime battle] The game starts and Vivian finishes her spins before Hyunjin, running to grab the sword [Speed] Vivian rushes and falls near the sled, swinging the sword at the balloon, and breaks it first try "How?!" Hyunjin shouts, pouting about his loss as the other members laugh

Lee know and Vivian stand opposite eachother, glaring while holding their swords The intro battle is a slow motion fight, making sounds like they were fighting with lightsabers [Wrong type of sword fight] "We're not in Star Wars! Stop!" Hyunjin yells, making the other members start to join in When the game starts the two spin fast, both quickly rushing to grab the swords Vivian swiftly kicks Lee knows sword to the side, rushing to the sled [Cheater] "Hey!" Lee know yells, running after the discarded sword Vivian stumbles to the sled, stabing the ballon 3 times before in breaks [Winner]

I.n and Vivian start the game off by taping their swords together, making clanging sounds The game starts and I.n finishes spinning first, running for the sled Vivian desperatly sprints to the other sled, its a race of who can pop the balloon first [Stress] Vivian's ballon pops a second before I.n's, so she advances to the final round [Vivians flawless victory]

Felix unsheaths the sword, opening and closing it quckly Vivian pretends to collapse onto the ground, holding her chest [The king wins!] The game starts with Vivian and Felix spinning, then both running at the same time for the swords, Felix gets to the sled first, but accidentally sends the balloon flying [Ashamed] Vivian pops the balloon, making her the Queen

The camera cuts to Vivian sitting on the throne, as Changbin brings Felix over "Your highness I bring the traitor!" Felix sits on the ground, fake crying as the rest of the members laugh Vivian stares for a moment, then yells, "Off with his head!" [A cruel queen]

The video ends off with the boys chanting, "So gracious your highness!"

#stray kids 9th member #stray kids #skz 9th member #kpop added member #kpop

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death-himself · 3 months

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ok season finale thoughts

THANK GOD they put in Luke training Percy, honestly that's a change I really like. The medium of film allows you to do flashbacks like that, and that's a really good change. they had me worried but thank god

I started checking how long things were for this episode to determine how I felt about pacing, the Ares fight was roughly 6 minutes long. For a 40 minute episode I think that's decent, but I still wish it were longer

the entire fight I thought they were on the beach in CA, so I was very confused when the Montauk cabin was there until later in the ep T-T

thinking about it though, the pearls teleporting them to Montauk is a nice change, especially since this Poseidon explicitly cares more about Sally

why were annabeth and grover trying to argue to keep the bolt?? that just...did I misread that scene what the fuck why

I guess it was just because they were worried about percy dying but like, it felt weird

that first shot of olympus, just incredible, loved that

the throne room...kind of underwhelming

BUT i paused for like 5 minutes counting the thrones, there are 11 and then a HEARTH FOR HESTIA I CANT I LOVE THAT

hestia gives away her throne to dionysus, so it doesn't make much sense, but since dionysus is at camp most of the time I think that works. plus I just love hestia so no complaints about that

Zeus is the first god to actually feel like a god, wish Hades also felt that way, but loved Zeus

rest in peace Lance Reddick, he was perfect in my opinion, I think it'll be hard to top him

the switch to Ancient Greek was cool, also really appreciated that they used the proper pronunciation of the gods' names (at least I think it's the proper pronunciation)

the throne room scene felt very similar to the book, so I'm pretty happy with it

they changed annabeth's hairstyle the second she got to camp lol

the aphrodite and athena cabins saw her come back alive and was like "awright time for a makeover" she was there for like 20 minutes max

I know a lot of people have been talking about how dark the show is, but as someone who hasn't been having that problem, the fireworks made those shots look so cool

I really hope people having that problem are also able to see in that scene, because the lighting is just so nice

AND THEY DID THE FUCKIN THING AGAIN Percy figuring out Luke so quickly, I got so mad, can this kid be tricked once

ok, how I would've done that scene so it's still somewhat the same but more interesting: they start going over the lines in the prophecy, they reach the betrayal line, queue a slow look of realization from Percy, swelling dramatic music, then maybe have Luke realize Percy's figuring it out and he trips Percy to the ground and pull out the scorpion

fuck the tell don't show thing they're doing, Percy didn't have to outright say, "o you stole the bolt" WALKER'S A GREAT ACTOR have him have that look of realization with the audience, he's shown he has the acting skills to pull that off really damn well

anyway Luke's "I'm here to recruit line" was my favorite part of that scene, that line felt scary

and I know they were probably going for a parallel of them training in the woods earlier vs actually fighting each other, but that didn't really feel necessary to be honest, we didn't really need that fight scene

and Annabeth revealing herself and Luke visibly panicking, I liked that too

this scene had a lot of cool things, but the way we got to that was disappointing

dionysus straight up not realizing percy's name wasn't peter wasn't funny to me at first, but now I'm realizing he was probably trolling so I can get behind that scene lol

that man definitely knew percy's real name and has always been actively choosing not to use it

they changed Annabeth's hair again, I'm in love. so ready for her to have a different hairstyle every season

that dream sequence felt a little unnecessary and it confused me a bit, but I'm alright with it

sally writing down everything kronos is saying in his dreams, love that

how they killed off gabe is exactly how I was expecting them to after watching the first couple episodes. and him wanting to pick the lock after Sally changed them makes him even worse. Having him try to do that along with looking through a package not addressed to him, PLUS him not even living there anymore. All that shittiness put right before him turning to stone definitely made it feel deserved

I came away from this episode not entirely satisfied, but content. This episode felt the most book-accurate to me, both events-wise and tonally. And I think that's because the chapters it's based off are the most serious in the book, so with the new tone the show's taking, it fits right in

I'm gonna make another post about my thoughts on the season overall, but I think I'm gonna rewatch the whole thing first

#pjo #pjo spoilers #pjo disney+#pjo disney+ spoilers #percy jackson #percy jackson spoilers

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happymetalgirl · 10 months

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Ghost - Impera

I should have done this months ago. I mean this album is over a year old now, but better late than never. I don't really feel a need to get too deep into the details on this album; it's been out for 15 months and has been discussed extensively. It feels weird to be writing about an album this late in the game. This isn't meant to relitigate old discourse about it that's basically finished at this point, I basically just want to add my two cents about why I feel the way I do about it and why I still want to talk about it. But anyway...

It was no accident that Impera, came at the end of the longest gap between full-length releases for the Ghost, specifically well after the COVID-19 pandemic took its stranglehold off live music. The band was on a holistically upward trajectory for the past decade, bigger sales, bigger sound, and, critically, bigger crowds. 2015's grand Meliora was already such a practically unrecognizable size-up from the spooky retro rock of their debut just 5 years earlier, and the band made their aspirations clear with each release LP and EP afterwards. Popestar introduced for the first time in the band's self-aware campy lore a new frontman not tethered to the mic stand by the excessive garments of the satanic pope, but rather youthful, limber, and lively, more mobile and able to herd and rally the band's increasingly larger crowds. And the subsequent full-length, Prequelle, committed to this new turn fully. If you thought Opus Eponymous was too silly and over-the-top, then you weren't prepared for the full-on arena rock parade that was Prequelle. Prequelle was and still is the campiest album Ghost has ever released. The band was fully aware, and it was on purpose. Soaring group choruses, lighter-waving power ballads, swinging dance numbers, sax solos. Ghost were making a B-line for the arenas, with the big songs to handle the crowds of those magnitudes. And it worked; it worked because Ghost's songwriting masterminds put in the work.

Pop songwriting is both easy and hard. The tried and true format is and simpler is usually better. It's not rocket science. The challenge, however, is not just writing a pop song, it's writing a great pop song. And Ghost applied a perfectionist approach to chiseling out killer hooks and sing-along melodies from the brilliantly simple fun arena rock anthems of Prequelle, and the results spoke for themselves. And then 2 years later it all stopped.

It stopped for everyone. And going off their consistent release schedule up to that point, Ghost probably would have had the follow-up to Prequelle out a year earlier, but there was no way they were going to put out an album in the height of the pandemic because Impera was absolutely made for the stadiums. When the touring industry rebooted and Impera dropped a year later though, it was clear that Ghost had made the most of their indoor time.

A natural continuation from and combination of the previous two albums, Impera harnessed the grandeur and bombast of Meliora and the infectious campy fun of Prequelle into the most arena-ready batch of songs the band has ever put forward. I got the sense that this album completely achieved Ghost's artistic goal that they've been building toward for the past 10+ years, and by the end of the year, with my numerous replays of it, I couldn't help but concede that Ghost had outdone themselves. Impera is their best work. Ironic that the band reaching a new summit would be with an album about the precarious rise and fall of empires.

Hard to say now if that theme foreshadows a fall from grace for Ghost, obviously I hope not. For as much as they play into their gimmicky image, Ghost are not in danger of losing their throne due to fans tiring of their goofy novelty. No, the image is the icing on top of the solid compositional foundation and not the other way around. It will take actual creative fatigue, a major misstep, or series of missteps to derail the Ghost train. Not to say a band nosediving from their peak isn't a tale at least as old as Metallica, but maybe that's why Ghost picked the theme for their magnum opus, to remind themselves to not go the way of the Roman empire, or Coldplay. And hey, it's not like anyone would say no to the job security of a career like Metallica's or Coldplay's either, however undeserved it may be. But more likely is that the lyrical content was inspired by the present moment. I don't think anyone would argue against the current times being historic to say the least.

I won't get into it too deeply because it's really not that complicated, but also I could spend a gratuitous amount of time going into every detail of why each song is so great. Impera really is the sum of a great many little details that show how much time and care was put into making every song complete on its own and within the context of the rest of the album. The whole album is a cohesive, fun, glorious exhibition of everything Ghost, and they made that clear from the soaring high note that Tobias Forge opens "Kaisarion" with. And like Prequelle, Impera runs the gamut of chugging metallic heaviness like on "Watcher in the Sky" to the soulful ballads and power ballads of "Darkness at the Heart of My Love" and "Respite on the Spitalfields", following a similar flow to the previous album that works as well here. Also, Prequelle may be the campiest album Ghost has ever released, but "Twenties" is definitely the most over-the-top cheesiest campiest theatrical-ist song the band has ever made, too cheesy for some fans even. Personally, I'm here for it, and I can't imagine being surprised by it either; I mean it's Ghost, a cartoonish horn section over chugging heavy metal grooves and comic book villain vocals isn't that giant of a step up from the corniness of "Kiss the Go-Goat", "Ghuleh / Zombie Queen", "Rats", or "Dance Macabre". The other singles, the marching "Hunter's Moon" and the snare-driven rhythmic "Call Me Little Sunshine", are also textbook arena rockers, and I personally love the throwback to the more retro staccato keyboard motifs of Opus Eponymous on "Griftwood".

I played the shit out of Impera all of last summer and I'll probably play it again this summer, it's that fun. Like I said, Ghost have topped themselves, and every band that reaches what feels like their likely peak has that existential crisis of where to go from there if the only way to go is down. A lot of bands, either due to the pressure of future expectations or not knowing what to do next, make a big leap of faith into the unknown. Or they try in vain to replicate the lightning in the bottle that propelled them to the top over the course of the rest of their comparatively stale career. Ghost may not have anywhere higher to climb on the mountain they've chosen to ascend, but I think they can maintain a longevity at this elite level if they maintain the focus on meticulous song-writing while ensuring not to fall into the trap of formulaicness. Like I said, Ghost is not built on the satanic pope outfits or the Papa Emeritus lore or on the anonymity they started with that the lawsuit from former members eliminated. Ghost is built on the song-craft, and that doesn't wear out. The question now is, will Ghost wear out or get lazy, or do they have the stamina to keep up this level of attention-to-detail and dominate another decade? I certainly hope they can muster the latter. Here's to another decade of Ghost, in the twenties!!!

Also yes, this was my favorite album of the year last year.

It kind of sucks to say that another band's bad album is partially what lit the fire under my ass to write this because it kind of implicitly takes away from the excellent work Ghost does, but a big part of why I'm writing this now is indeed because of the band that all the big online magazines that shill for major labels are hailing as the next Ghost this year: Sleep Token.

I already made my gripes with that band's latest album known in detail in a previous post about that album, but in short, I really don't like the push I've been seeing from a lot publications for this groveling adoption of the most fleeting of pop trends into metal in what feels like desperation for broader cultural prominence. There's nothing "innovative" or "forward-thinking" or "more mature" about whoring out to the whim of trends calculated to appeal to the lowest common denominator in a bid for a shortcut to relevance. I don't mind when bands incorporate pop elements into their sound to spice it up or even writing a more straight-up pop song; like I said, pop songwriting is a challenging art, and that's part of what Ghost does so well, and what many bands who metalheads probably don't consider "pop" at all also do. What I do mind is when bands like Bad Omens or Bring Me the Horizon or Wage War try their hand at the kind of mind-numbing, middling bullshit that Maroon 5 and Charlie Puth feed to inattentive half-listeners in grocery stores. It's even more offensive when these bands know they can do better, and Sleep Token is the worst offender as of late in this department. Sleep Token is the lazy, unsustainable shortcut via the hollow gimmick of referential pop trend-hopping within metal presented as "genre-bending" to broader relevance that Ghost, by contrast, have earned through tireless improvement of pop songcraft over the past decade.

I speculated at the end of my post that this fawning over Sleep Token might come from an anxiety over metal as a genre not having anything left to offer broader culture. And I think the short-term focus inherent within capitalism that all these publications (which are basically marketing wings of labels) are beholden to is what makes the possibility of a drought so scary for them. The driving forces behind Loudwire and Metal Injection don't exactly permit the patience for what is likely just a natural lull in creativity, because to them that's a loss in productivity, and that's next to sacrilege. I also speculated on my own anxiety about metal as a genre running out of steam, but taking a step back and looking at the broader history of any genre existing longer than 10 years, there are waves, peaks and valleys, times of plenty and times of want, drop-offs and revivals. It's the circle of life, and we've seen it with metal already, and with subgenres within metal. And also, if the time is near for when metal bottoms out in a way it doesn't come back from and effectively "dies" (as much as any genre in the internet age can die), so what? If metal dies, it will not go into the ground with any unused potential, it will be because the very active and passionate community will have completed music, gotten all the achievements, and exhausted everything possible to with the genre except retread old ground. But I know that it won't be brought back or kept from the brink by bands writing songs for car insurance commercials.

This got a little tangential at the end here, but I think it's worth distinguishing (since so many people draw parallels between them lately) the genuine pop appeal of Ghost that Impera embodies so excellently and the cynical pop appeal of Sleep Token. Leaving aside the riveting discourse about whether Ghost qualify as a "metal band" or not, they unquestionably represent the genre to the unfamiliar, and I don't think metal needs the kind of submissive pop crossover appeal of Sleep Token when it has the emphatic pop crossover appeal of Ghost at their creative peak.

Anyway, Impera is a masterpiece, thank you Ghost!

9/10: AOTY 2022

#Ghost #Impera #new album #album review #metal #heavy metal #hard rock #arena rock #AOTY #AOTY 2022

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metalhead-brainrot · 4 months

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[Album of the day] World Eaters - Demo MK-1

Guelph, ON // 2020

[Genres] death metal, war metal

[Themes] In the grim darkness of the far future, there are only riffs...

[FFO] Warhammer 40K*, Bolt Thrower, Chainsword

[Thoughts] You can't traverse the waters of death metal for very long without encountering Warhammer 40K in some form, and I'll confess I count myself a fan.** But you don't need to be a capital-G Gamer to appreciate this ripping demo, a solo project from multi-instrumentalist David Gupta. World Eaters's riffs are as violent as its namesake***, guaranteed to have you itching for the mosh pit. The first two tracks, "Devour" and "Baneblade," will pummel you with energetic rhythm, an auditory siege culminating in the death/doom hellscape of "The Warp" (my very favorite World Eaters song to date).

I picked this demo because I think it's rock-solid, but I'd like to talk about World Eaters's other releases as well. Grinding Advance (2021) is their second EP, doubling down on everything in Demo MK-1. "Armoured Spearhead (Hellhammer)" is six minutes of unbridled energy; "Expedition / Tomb World" is nearly nine minutes, the latter half containing clarinet-infused Nile worship;**** there's even a cover of "Running Up That Hill."

World Eaters's new split, Mothman and the Thunderbirds vs World Eaters, adds two new great tracks to the WE catalogue. It's also the first release without drum programming; joining as the second permanent member, Winter Stomp***** adds ass-kicking blast beats to the bands repertoire. I'm very excited to see more future releases with her style.

Now that Winter Stomp has pledged her gory chainaxe to the sonic blitzkrieg of the World Eaters, the duo have been able to play live. Living outside Ontario I can't say I've been to one of their concerts, but I bet they split skulls; if you live near Guelph, check them out.

Also, I would be remiss for not mentioning that World Eaters has always been very charitable with the profits from their music, leading several donation campaigns for Guelph Pride, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit local to World Eaters's hometown. Winter Stomp has also designed and printed some booty short merch reading, "Be Gay Do Heresy," which tempt me every Bandcamp Friday.******

Thanks for reading the long post today. Keep on killing, maiming, and burning.

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* If you're unfamiliar, Warhammer 40K is a popular tabletop strategy game played with painted miniatures and rolling dice. It's popular with metalheads because the lore is so metal. Indulge me in a quick tl;dr.

It's the 41st century, and the Imperium of Man has spread through the Galaxy under the tutelage of the God Emperor. Though once great, the empire was split 10,000 years prior due to infighting from his übermensch sons, the Primarchs. Now the empire is spread thin across too many star systems, losing the fight against three main threats: the Xenos (other alien civilizations), the Heretics (those who question the authority of a fascist theocracy), and Chaos itself (arcane beings from the Warp, the non-space between wormholes).

The God Emperor sits as a corpse upon his throne on Terra, every ounce of his psychic abilities maintaining the Astronomican, a beacon guiding spaceships throughout the Warp. Every day an increasing number of psychics are sacrificed to fuel his powers, for if the beacon fails, the Imperium collapses and humanity falls.

There are no good guys, and there is no hope. For in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

** Never actually played anything Games Workshop except Necromunda, though I've read a fair few novels. I prefer wargames that won't bleed me for money and bury me in rules, so I mainly play Mantic Games's Kings of War and Firefight. One book for all the rules and force lists at a fraction of the price.

*** The World Eaters are a faction of heretical Space Marines worshipping one of the four Chaos Gods: Khorne, the Blood God, who sits upon a throne made from the skulls of those slain in battle. They are also my favorite faction; he kind of has a Conan-esque backstory of fighting in gladiatorial slave pits. And we all know how much metalheads like Conan.

**** The Egyptian musical themes are themselves referential to the content of the song: Tomb Worlds are the hidden domains of the Necrons, a xenos race that conquered the Galaxy aeons before humanity even gazed at the stars. Annoyed by the emergence of other upstart civilizations, the Dynasties of the Infinite Empire transferred their consciousnesses into mechanical bodies, intending to slumber in hidden tombs until the juvenile races extinguished themselves.

But occasionally something wakes the soulless early, by delving too deep in ancient ruins or experimenting with ancient and unknown tech. And what they find is always ruthless extermination, for the destruction of a Necron's artificial body does not kill a mind capable respawning eternally into an army's worth of mechanical warriors.

***** She's apparently from the Netherlands. Neat.

****** I already have one of their patches on my metal jacket. Very stylish.

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[From the band/label]

Thought for the day: A coward always seeks compromise.

David Gupta: Guitars, Bass, Vocals, Drum Programming Psychic screams from the Immaterium are: Adam Ujhelyi (Teleportise, Hellbreather) Justin Krawczyk (Frank Reynolds, BatBoy) Derek Prince-Cox (Wakeless, Yuzun, ex-Arise and Ruin) Stuart Charlton (First World Famine, Inverted Serpent) Nik Wever (ex-The Story Of..., Time the Destroyer) Recorded, Mixed and, "Mastered" by David Gupta at Doyle House. World Eaters logo and Demo MK-1 artwork by Meytheus Rexy, @meytheusrexy_art

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jgthirlwell · 1 year

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2022 Year In Review

This year once again I invited some friends and colleagues to reflect on 2022

JG Thirlwell

Composer Foetus Xordox Manorexia Steroid Maximus Venture Bros Archer www.foetus.org

2022 was a marathon year. I took on too much work, but somehow got through it. It challenged me. I played some excellent shows in Woodstock, Los Angeles, Orlando and NYC. Reconnected with Soft Cell at the Beacon. Reconnected with Sarah Lipstate. Wrote a ton of new music for Archer and a Venture Bros movie. Taught a class on film scoring at the New School. I still woke up 5am in a panic on too many occasions. And I saw some great concerts.It was difficult to whittle down this list but here are a lot of albums I enjoyed in 2022, in no particular order.

Tyondai Braxton Telekinesis (Nonesuch) Zeal & Ardor Zeal & Ardor (MVKA) Papangu Holoceno (Bandcamp) Extra Life Secular Works Vol 2 (Bandcamp) Carl Stone Wat Dong Moon Lek (Unseen Worlds) / Gall Tones (Unseen Worlds) / We Jazz Reworks Vol 2 (We Jazz Records) Louis Cole Quality Over Opinion (Brainfeeder) Ben Frost 1899 OST (Invada Records) Loraine James Building Something Beautiful For Me (Phantom Limb) Persher Man With The Magic Soap (Thrill Jockey) Anna Meredith Bumps Per Minute (Moshi Moshi) Sault Air (Forever Living Originals) The Smile A Light For Attracting Attention (XL) Shamblemaths Shamblemaths 2 (Apollon Prog) Julia Wolfe Oxygen (Cantelope) Heiner Schmitz’s Symprophonicum Sins & Blessings (Big Band Records) Burial Antidawn EP / Streetlands EP (Hyperdub) Gotho Mindbowling (Controcanti Produzioni) Oliver Coates The Stranger OST Gilla Band Most Normal (Rough Trade Records Ltd) Blanck Mass Ted K OST (Sacred Bones) Arcade Fire WE (Interscope) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cool It Down (Secretly) Catarine Barbieri Spirit Exit (light-years) Felicia Atkinson Image Language (Shelter Press) Netherlands Kali Corvette (Three One G) Kemper Norton estrenyon (Zona Watusa) Elysian Fields Once Beautiful Twice Removed (Ojet) Simon Hanes Hurricane Salad Two Fingers Red Bass DJ Mix 22 (NoMark) Backxwash His Happiness Shall Come…(Ugly Hag) Bob Vylan The Price of Life (Ghost Theater) John Elmquist’s Hard Art Groop Stars and Bells / Zero Rest Mass / Trip Up reissues (Bandcamp) Dan Deacon Hustle OST (Netflix Music) Bent Knee Frosting (TTTH) Boris Heavy Rocks 2022 (Relapse) Wet Leg Wet Leg (Domino) Author and Punisher Kruller (Relapse)

Honorable mentions Hudson Mohawke Cry Sugar / Rival Consoles Now is / Haunted Horses The Worst Has Finally Happened / Sirom The Liquified Throne of Simplicity (Tak:Til)/ Meshuggah Immutable / Ani Klang Ani Klang / Pimpon Pozdrawiam (Pointless Geometry)

Shows

The Smile at Kings Theater Julia Wolfe Steel Hammer Carnegie Hall The Protomen LPR Tristan Perich St Thomas ChurchSparks Town Hall Anna Meredith Elsewhere Lingua Ignota LPR Royal Blood Terminal 5 Kraftwerk Radio City Hiro Kone Pioneer Works RATM / RTJ MSG Matmos LPR Rammstein MetLife Stadium Yeah Yeah Yeahs Forest Hills Stadium Melvins Irving Plaza Roxy Music MSG Sean Lennon Stone Elysian Fields The Owl The Comet Is Coming Bowery Ballroom Child Abuse TV Eye Fennesz Pioneer Works Helm Elsewhere

Film / TV

The Stranger All Quiet In The Western Front Dont Worry Darling Moonage Daydream The Velvet Underground Elvis Men Northman Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent White Lotus

Books

I read a ton of memoirs this year. Standouts were

Kid Congo Powers Some New Kind Of Kick Danny Sugerman Wonderland Ave

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Kemper Norton

LISTENING

My favourite album of the year was the dayglo psychedelic joy of Panda Bear/ Sonic Boom’s Reset , with honourable mentions for the amazing Aethiopes by billy woods and Alison Cotton’s beautiful The Portrait You Painted of Me. Also, must mention the massive , varied and crucial Rental Yields compilations on Front and Follow /Gated Canal Community in aid of homeless charities in the UK.

GIGS

Didn’t get out much this year but live events I loved this year here in Brighton, UK included the blasted joy of deafkids at The Hope, the final gig of the mighty Slum of Legs at The Green Door Store, and playing alongside Alexander Tucker’s Microcorps and Opal X at The Wire’s 40th anniversary shows at The Rosehill as part of the reanimated Outer Church.

In terms of radio, as well as Elizabeth Alker’s essential breakfast and Unclassified shows on Radio 3 there were loads of great shows on the fantastic Repeater Radio ( many previously on the mighty Neon Hospice) including Afternoon Delight by Ix Tab and the best of Eastern Europe showcased on Slav to the Rhythm by Catherine and Iris.

READING

Apart from the works of nonconformist Cornish poet Jack Clemo and American novelist Pete Dexter ( Deadwood and Paris, Trout ), new discoveries were thin on the ground this year. I read and reread a lot of old favourites ( Ray Bradbury, Cormac McCarthy, Pat Barker , Elmore Leonard ) and finally fell in love with Jane Austen.

WATCHING

My film and TV viewing in 2022 was largely informed / enforced by my 5 year old daughter, and the essential texts we rewatched repeatedly were the lively and proactive Gaby’s Dollhouse, multi-species global explorers the Octonauts , surreal UK gem Sarah and Duck and of course, the inspirational Aussie masterpiece Bluey. I did manage to catch a few films either new or new to me in 2022…

Wake in Fright ( 1971) : another Australian key text ( although less adorable than Bluey ). The horrors of closed environments, toxic masculinity and continuous drinking.

Enys Men (2022) : Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin’s spooky and minimalistic follow-up to his incredible Bait (2019) , a wonderful drama of local economic realities and identities. Would love to score one of his films but unfortunately he does an excellent job of this himself.

Stalker (1979) : As good as everyone said it would be.

EATING

Chorizo with honey Chinese black fungus

DRINKING

Everything by Burning Sky brewery ( Sussex, UK)

CREATING

I managed to churn out two tape releases in 2022 in between all the watching, listening, eating, drinking etc.

Estrenyon was released on tape and download with the Barcelona label zonawatusa and was inspired by historical UFO sightings throughout Cornwall from 1888 to 2021. Rife is the story of a Sussex Spring day and was released via Woodford Halse, who have released loads of great electronic and folky music by the likes of Xylitol and Sairie. On top of that , our first volume of download-only pay-what-you-like winter tunes Montol Melodies is available on our bandcamp until the traditional English old ‘ twelfth night ‘ ( January 12 2023).

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Lee Ranaldo

2022 LIST

I’m terrible at lists like this, and usually don’t keep track towards such a year-end summary. Pardon the self-focus, this is my year-in-review accounting, mostly just remembering to myself.

August in Vienna Leah and I spent the month of August in Vienna, creating a public artwork, sound+image, called Fermata. I discovered the world of small-body, near century-old, German + Austrian guitars. I wrote the main melodic material one one of these tiny, wonderful instruments,. At one point we had 3 of them in the apartment down in the MuseumQuartier. A whole new world of sound to explore. Side trips to Berlin and Prague. (https://tonspur.at/soundworks/lee-ranaldo-leah-singer/?lang=en) Exhibitions in Berlin and Eupen, Chile Media Arts Biennial, Covid Flowers online Exhibitions of my Black Noise record print editions in Berlin, Lost Highway road drawings in Belgium, and watercolor covid-flowers online. In Chile Leah and I created an outdoor sound/art work, Do You Read Me?, in a field of trees surrounding an observatory above Santiago. Sounds were generated from signals collected from deep space by another observatory in the Atacama desert. A sound displacement work.

Medicine Singers in Brasilia, Montreal, NYC Had fruitful wanderings this year with Yonatan Gat, working with indigineous players from the USA, Brasil and Canada. Recording sessions in Montreal at fabulous Hotel2Tango studio, and in a splendid house set on the edge of the city in Brasilia, one of my favorite places. Happy to have been invited along for this most interesting ride.

Touring resumes Mostly in Europe, mostly quite wonderful. After 2 years at home it felt good to stand up in front of audiences again. Lots of solo acoustic shows playing In Virus Times and singing songs, but also interesting collaborations with Yuri Landman; My Cat Is An Alien, Jean-Marc Montera and Sophie Gonthier, and a special ‘Velvets Suite’ with French legend Pascal Comelade in Banyoles, Spain. Also the beginnings of a new collaboration with Chicago guitarist Michael Vallera, in a great new space in NYC for experimental music, 411 Kent (aka Shift). Leah and I premiered the new version of our Contre Jour performance with suspended guitar and films, in A Coruna, Spain and at the Three-Lobed Fest in Durham, North Carolina – which was an amazing three days of music. Also a short NorthEast tour with Jeff Parker in May.

London/Paris/Leah/ Catpower My touring year ended with a month split between Europe and the UK. A friend-lent apartment in Paris as base, with shows and lectures in Nantes, and Brittany. Five shows in the UK, the most I’ve played in some time there, including a free-ranging set with the Pop Group’s Mark Stewart and an eclectic band. Wild night! Leah flew over to celebrate her birthday, with CatPower at Royal Albert Hall (first time there for us both) recreating Bob Dylan’s legendary show there – both acoustic and electric sets – from 1966. What a great night, and our time together, in London, Paris and Brittany, was splendid.

Hurricane Transcriptions This year I played solo keyboard shows for the first time ever – the solo-for-Fender-Rhodes performance of my Hurricane Sandy Transcriptions, first at Karma Gallery in NYC, accompanied by films from LA Artist Mungo Thomson, and also at a Xenakis celebration in Vienna and at the opening of my exhibition of Lost Highway drawings, ‘The Road Is Like The River, Constantly Changing Yet Ever The Same’ – at IKOB Museum in Eupen, Belgium. (ikob.be)

Circuit des Yeux at Green-Wood Cemetery I think my favorite gig of the year was Circuit des Yeux in Green-Wood Cemetery on a rainy night in June. The weather threatened the show all evening, which made this incredible performance – just Haley and Whitney Johnson (Matchess). Just a magical, powerful night.

Godard’s King Lear In late August I committed to introduce Jean-Luc Godard’s King Lear, which I’d never seen, at TriBeCa’s Roxy Cinema, which has been doing terrific programs organized by Illyse Singer. I love Godard’s films, they are an important touchstone for me, and I took this as an opportunity to discover both the film and Shakespeare’s play; my Shakespeare knowledge is terrible, so I boned up on the play. Four days before the screening, the great master died, which cast the whole night in a new light. The film has been described by Richard Brody of the NY’er as ‘one of the best films of all time’ – wow. Burgess Meredith, Molly Ringwald, Norman Mailer, Julie Delpy, Leos Carax, and Godard himself center-stage and the plugged/unplugged oracle Professor Pluggy. What a film. As usual with a Godard film: what a sound mix!. See it in 35mm.

Broken Circle / Spiral Hill I have had a long fascination with the work of Robert Smithson, since discovering the book of his writings in the 70s. In the early 80s on the first few SY tours, I ‘coaxed’ the band into visiting one of his 3 still existing artworks – Broken Circle/Spiral Hill – in the countryside of northern Holland. Back then it was like a treasure hunt trying to find it, in the dark, late on the way to Club Vera in Groningen. In 2020 I visited it for a third time w friend Carlos, in the week before the world shut down. It had been totally restored and ready for it’s moment – just at it’s 50-year mark. In 2022 the site-an old, long-unused quarry – was opened to the public for the first time in ages, across 8 weekends. This year I narrated a podcast for the Holt/Smithson Foundation and the Netherland’s Land Art Contemporary, about Smithson and the work, which went live in November. (brokencircle.nl)

Birdsong Project I worked on this project, as both producer and performer, to raise money to benefit the Audobon Society for the preservation of avian habitats. Over 200 musicians contributed to this 20-LP set, as well as writers, poets and artists. Uplifting and surprising. (https://www.audubon.org/birdsong-project)

James Jackson Toth In the early 2000s I produced an album – James and the Quiet – with Mr. Wooden Wand, who’s music I love. This year a group of friends organized a birthday tribute to James, with 33 of us recording versions of songs from his vast catalog. I recorded ‘Wired to the Sky’, a favorite from the album we made together, recorded in our Viennese apartment in August, which closes this Birthday Blues collection. (https://aquariumdrunkard.com/category/jamesjackson-toth/)

Some Music/Art/Books etc:

Lou Reed – Words + Music, 1971 RCA Demos David Bowie – Divine Symmetry Catherine Christer Hennix – Selected Early Keyboard Works (https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/selected-early-keyboard-works) Plus Instruments, Februari-April ’81 (first record I was ever on) on Domani Records, NYC. In/Out/In, Sonic Youth. So cool to see this release welcomed so warmly! Cecilia Vicuña, Tate Modern Turbine Hall Venus of Willendorf, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna Matisse: The Red Studio, Museum of Modern Art, NYC Claude Monet – Joan Mitchell, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Marco Fusinato, Desastres, Venice Biennale Family Affair, a 20-minute short film included in the Criterion Collection edition of Josh & Benny Safdie’s 2009 Daddy Longlegs, outlining our two families intertwined involvement in the making of the film. The most glorious home movie ever. The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry Feeling, Clinton Heylin. First of a 2-part bio of the (other) Bard, making first use of all the new material out from Tulsa’s Bob Dylan Center archive. Loved: Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep mini series. He’d used SY’s ‘Tunic’ in his original 1995 film, and we became friends and occasional collaborators. The new limited series mines the story anew, meta-mixing in his 1995 film and Louis Feuillade’s 1915 original, Les Vampires. The most contemporary piece of ‘television’ I’ve seen in ages, just wonderful, with fantastic cast including a spot-on stand-in portrayal by Vincent Macaigne as the director, Alicia Vikander as Irma Vep, and Lars Eidinger as Gottfried. Also Devon Ross, Carrie Brownstein, many other great performances. Loved it. Still watching: Westworld, Handmaid’s Tale. Hal Willner Memorial, St. Anne’s, April. Miss Hal all the time…

---LR, Winnipeg, December 2022

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Brian Chase

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Brian chose to write about one album that impacted him in 2022

This write-up is in no way meant to be a formal review - I don’t deem myself qualified for that task here - rather, this is meant to share personal enthusiasm and bring an album to light - like, "Have you heard this, it's really really amazing and inspiring and why isn't there more talking about it, and…" As a musician working within a greater community, I am acutely aware of the creative drive to continually uncover new modes, methodologies, practices etc. of expressing our chosen art form - each performance and each album serving as an instance of discovery and offering new perspectives on old conundrums. Whether the genre is rock, jazz, noise, free-improvisation, modern classical etc. the relationship of discourse and dialogue is still the same. At the forefront of this dialogue is John Zorn, as he has been for decades, and a major contribution to the conversation is the 2022 album Incerto - Existentialism, Psychoanalysis, and the Uncertainty Principle. Here, Zorn is the composer and the performing ensemble consists of some of Zorn's tightest in recent years: Brian Marsella on piano, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass and Ches Smith on drums. As Zorn says in the liner notes, "Incerto is about possibilities, probabilities, inevitabilities and improbabilities." Formal logic for musical structure is considerably expanded with these compositions and never before have I heard such new forms for improvisation. In these pieces, unexpected juxtapositions and superimpositions abound, as foremost examples of its many distinct features. The syntax of this music is beyond the scope of any previous way that I've conceived of music existing. Not only are harmonic and rhythmic conventions regularly reconstructed - often replaced with adjacent compliments and aggressive contradictions - but entire paradigms of improvisatory behavior are game as well. Shifts in genre/mood/tempo/texture/harmonic character/melodic personality place the improvisor in varying contexts - often in a short amount of time - and each context requires its own set of responses. The whole scope of musical history+trends+possibilities takes on a dynamic relational co-existence, in ways that I've never previously heard or thought possible - like when angular atonal lead lines enter on top of a serene ostinato, or impressionistic chords alternate between stillness and motion, or genre styles and idiomatic references collide, or gravelly density and noise build tension culminating into a placid release. Plus, so much of the composed material is really just so cool. Paramount to it all is the music’s immense depth of feeling. The moods on this album are evocative, romantic and ecstatic as much as they are revolutionary, kaleidoscopic and mystifying. As the music winds through its structural twists and turns, the key that holds it all together is sincerity of spirit - the performance of this music, as well as listening to it, is a literal experience. And within each singular track is the remarkable performance of the individual musicians themselves - each a respective master at the craft. Additionally, the album as a collective whole, being comprised of eleven very different tracks, functions as a macro-structure in itself which expands on the themes present in each individual track. So many new modes of music making are presented here - integrating them into current music making will take a while as more people discover its brilliance and begin to absorb the concepts and ideas it conveys. It is uniquely Zorn and there for us musicians to process and in turn produce that which is uniquely ours. Incerto is a gem in the conversation - we can listen and run with it how we like - but we have to hear it first.

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David T. Little

composer www.davidtlittle.com

MUSIC (new, revisited, & in rotation)

Vile Creature – Glory! Glory! Apathy Took Helm! Burning Witch – Crippled Lucifer tryphème – Aluminia Louis Cole – Quality Over Opinion KANGA – You and I Will Never Die DELANILA – Overloaded Amyl & the Sniffers – Comfort To Me Kae Tempest – Let Them Eat Chaos Graindelavoix & Björn Schmelzer – Josquin, the Undead: Laments, Deplorations & Dances of Death Run The Jewels – 1, 2, 3, 4 The Cure – Disintegration, Wish, Show, Pornography Tenderheart Bitches – High Kicks George Walker – Piano Sonatas (Steven Beck) Rammstein – Herzeleid, Mutter, Sehnsucht, Untitled (in heavy rotation after the MetLife Stadium show) Living Colour – Vivid Utah Phillips – We Have Fed You All For A Thousand Years Tom Morello – Hold The Line (track, feat. grandson) ACRONYM – Oddities & Trifles: the Very Peculiar Instrumental Music of Giovanni Valentini Late Stravinsky (various) Son Lux – Everything Everywhere All At Once (ost) Harrison Birtwistle – The Moth Requiem Christopher Tin – The Lost Birds Karim Sulayman, Apollo’s Fire – Songs of Orpheus Hermann Nitsch – Symphony No. 9 “The Egyptian” Jay Wadley – Swan Song (ost) Herem – Pulsa diNura Danny Elfman – Big Mess / Bigger. Messier. (Deluxe.) Scott Walker – The Drift

FILMS & SERIES (new & rewatched) Hellraiser (Clive Barker) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman) Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shin'ya Tsukamoto) Private Life (Tamara Jenkins) Double Take (Johan Grimonprez) After Life (Ricky Gervais) One Big Bag (Every Ocean Hughes) The Village Detective (Bill Morrison) Polia & Blastema (E. Elias Merhige) Sibyl (William Kentridge)

The Copper Queen (Crystal Manich) Wishes (Amy Jenkins) The Once and Future Smash (Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein) End Zone 2 (August Kane) All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger) Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniels) Russian Doll (multiple directors) Piggy (short) (Carlota Pereda) The Mitchells vs. The Machines (Michael Rianda & Jeff Rowe) WHAT DID JACK DO? (David Lynch) The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion) Pig (Michael Sarnoski) The Green Knight (David Lowery) The Northman (Robert Eggers) Muriel’s Wedding (P.J. Hogan) BoJack Horseman (multiple directors) Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick)

BOOKS (some) Body Horror - Anne Elizabeth Moore Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf a ghost in the throat - Doireann Ní Ghríofa Cleanness – Garth Greenwell A Saint from Texas – Edmund White Out Loud – Mark Morris The Gastronomical Me – M.F.K. Fisher Agamemnon – Aeschylus (trans. Robert Fagles)

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Jonnine

HTRK

2022 good vibes - Hackedepicciotto tour photos such #couplegoals, kicking off the HTRK tour in Atlanta was exhilarating! Big hangs with my overseas buds Nathan Corbin and Yasmina Dexter, writing new songs with Nigel and keeping THE dream alive, my puppy Pali growing up into mumma’s good boy, instagram follows @the.holistic.psychologist (self healing) @cracked.bolos (cakes), DJ Sundae, Amir Shoat, ‘Crush’ by Richard Siken (borrow from Nigel) writing bonkers dreams down again, Jonathan Richmond lyrics, tik tok #stayathomegirlfriend, jamming with Brother May in London and playing cafe OTO, second season Euphoria, White Lotus, Heartbreak High, rewatching Curb, Julia Fox’s eye makeup tutorial, films The Weekend and 45 Years by director Andrew Haigh, Charlotte Rampling interviews, fam long drives with Conrad and Pali finding songs for NTS <3 <3 Conrad got me into the Kinks!

Some music i liked Actress — Dummy Corporation (Ninja Tune) Autumn Fair - Autumn Fair DALE CORNISH — Traditional Music of South London (The Death Of Rave) Delphine Dora — A Stream Of Consciousness II (for piano solo) Coby Sey — Conduit (AD 93) CS + Kreme — Orange (The Trilogy Tapes) Harry Howard - Slight Pavilions Various / Kashual Plastik — Field of Progress Jonathan Richman - Jonathan Goes Country Julia Reidy - World in World Kitchen Cynics — Strange Acrobats Liz Durette - A Christmas Gift To You Malvern Brume — Body Traffic (MAL) Taylor E. Burch — The Best of Taylor E. Burch (Downwards) The Incredible String Band — Wee Tam and the Big Huge The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society Thomas Bush — Preludes Warm Currency — Returns (Horn Of Plenty)

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Lawrence English

(Room 40 Records)

This year was the first time I had travelled internationally since 2019. The thing I realised I've truly missed is seeing people. The opportunity to share ideas, to be curious with others and to just be in the world was, well, magical. I think if anything the past few years has reminded me (us?) not to take things for granted…especially each other. This year was also the first time I returned to making solo electronic works. It had been about six years since I had completed Cruel Optimism and, if I am honest, I wasn’t sure if I still had an appetite for making solo electronic works. Approach however proved, to me at least, I can still derive great pleasure from working alone. Unexpectedly, I found the whole process of the album very satisfying, like it was new all over again, not something I always feel.

There’s been a tonne of great input into the system this year. Ergo Proxy totally got me thinking. I was late to the party, but it was a party I am glad I did make it to. Puce Mary made some tapes back in April, both of them were totally ace, filled with an acute sense of heaviness. I very much enjoyed Boy Harsher’s work this year too, outside my usual orbit in some ways, but they are really onto something of late. I caught up with my old and dear friend Kate Crawford, and had a chance to read over he excellent Atlas Of AI book, she is a tower of radiance. Annea Lockwood’s, work occupied a great deal of my thoughts this year, realising her Piano Transplants all at once was quite simply a delight. Adam Curtis’s TraumaZone left an indelible mark in more ways than one. I returned to Vancouver to photograph the crows that started off my homage to Masahisa Fukase, perhaps that tract of work is done? Oh and thanks to a dinner with Atsuo from Boris, and the encouragement of my small humans, we all started down the pathway of the epic saga of Gundam too. I missed that when I was younger, so it’s a long road to catch up on….but I started.

Oh and on a purely personal note I was able to commission a shikishi from Yoshihisa Tagami. Seriously, my 12 year old self was reborn when it arrived. The world is so much bigger, and smaller, than that little human could ever have imagined!

Love to you all and here’s hoping 2023 is full of curious surprises and wonder.

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John Tottenham

author

A LISTLESS LIST

Best Books: Woodcutters Concrete Extinction| Wittgenstein’s Nephew Old Masters

Thomas Bernhard

A Father and his Fate More Women than Men Manservant and Maidservant A Family and a Fortune - Ivy Compton Burnett Hawkwind: Days of the Underground - Joe Banks

Best Songs: Eunice Collins – At the Hotel Gloria Barnes - Old Before My Time Sonia Ross - Every Now and Then Rozetta Johnson - A Woman’s Way Debbie Taylor - I Don’t Wanna Leave You Denise LaSalle - Trapped by a Thing Called Love Barbara Stant - Unsatisfied Woman Ann Alford - If It Ain’t One Thing Big Martha - Your Magic Touch Helene Smith - Sure Thing Best Shows By Octogenarians And Nonagenarians:

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – Zebulon, LA / Bob Dylan - Pantages, LA / Marshall Allen (Arkestra) - Zebulon, LA / Swamp Dogg - Teragram, LA / Doug Kershaw - Zebulon, LA / Sonny Green - Barnyard & La Louisianne, LA / Tommy McClain - Stowaway, LA

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Brian Carpenter

Composer / Ghost Train Orchestra

My favorite recordings of 2022, in no particular order…also the most frequently played albums on my long-running radio show Free Association on WZBC in Boston. As I'm writing this I'm reminded that a lot of great records came out of bands from South London this year, across genres.

The Comet is Coming - CODE Caroline - caroline Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork William Orbit - The Painter Akusmi - Fleeting Future

Electric Youth, David Sylvian, et al - A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto - To the Moon and Back Portico Quartet - Next Stop The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention Zola Jesus - Into the Wild Mary Lattimore and Paul Sukeena - West Kensington Lucrecia Dalt - Ay! Bjork - Fossora Tindersticks - Stars at Noon Original Soundtrack Kamikaze Palm Tree - The Hit Bitchin Bajas - Bajascillators Bill Callahan - YTILAER Thurston Moore - Screen Time Bill Orcutt - Music for Four Guitars Horse Lords - Comradely Objects Curha - Curha III

Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong Aldous Harding - Warm Chris Weyes Blood - Hearts Aglow Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You Oneida - Success Brandon Seabrook - In the Swarm Jacob Garchik - Assembly Oren Ambarchi - Shebang The Lord and Petra Haden - Devotional Roedelius & Tim Story - 4 Hands Brian Eno - Foreverandevernomore Steve Reich - Runner Moor Mother - Jazz Codes Makaya McCraven - Dream Another Sun Ra Arkestra - Living Sky Danger Mouse and Black Thought - Identical Deaths A Far Cry - The Blue Hour Nils Frahm - Music for Animals Mary Halvorson - Amaryllis Kronos Quartet, Van-Anh Vanessa Vo, Rinde Eckert - My Lai Attacca Quartet - Caroline Shaw: Evergreen

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DJ Food

Music: Clocolan - Empathy Alpha LP (Redpan) Brian Eno - The Lighthouse (Sonos HD) King Gizzard &The Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum LP (Flightless) Twilight Sequence - Trees in General: and the Larch 12" (Castles In Space) WTCHCRFT - Drugs Here 12" (Balkan Vinyl) Ghost Power - Ghost Power LP (Duophonic Super 45s) Dexorcist - Night Watch 12" (Yellow Machines) The Advisory Circle - Full Circle LP (Ghost Box) Fenella - The Metallic Index (Fire Records) S'Express & Daddy Squad - Music 4 The Mind (DL)

Podcasts: The Bureau of Lost Culture We Buy Records Oh God, What Now?

Gigs / Events: The Orb play U.F.Orb @ The Fox & Firkin, London Staying in a restored Futuro House, Somerset Fogfest @ Iklectik, London Funki Porcini's Lasarium @ Iklectik, London The Trunk Groovy Record Fayre @ Mildmay Club, London

Books / Comics: 99 Balls Pond Road - Jill Drower (Scrudge Books) Radio Spaceman - Mike Mignola & Greg Hinkle (Dark Horse) A-Z of Record Shop Bags - Jonny Trunk (Fuel) Mud Sharks - Dave Barbarossa Good Pop, Bad Pop - Jarvis Cocker (Vintage) House Music - Andy Votel (The Modernist) Defying Gravity - Jordan Mooney w. Cathi Unsworth 69 Exhibition Road - Dorothy Max Prior (Strange Attractor) Judge Dredd - Mike McMahon (Apex Edition) It's Lonely At The Centre Of The Universe - Zoe Thorogood (Image Comics) The Black Locomotive - Rian Hughes (Picador)

Films: Get Back (Disney+) Who Killed The KLF? (Chris Atkins) In The Court of the Crimson King (Toby Aimes)

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