Previous lists: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
The totals:
20 books (-20 from last year)
579 albums (+49)
14 live acts (+3)
64 movies (-5)
50 TV Series (-5).
All right, hello, how are you. Media wrap-up post. Here is the entire list of media consumed in 2023. I spared you all and did not email you that to your inbox.
Some best-ofs, highlights, etc.
Thoughts
Deeply disappointed in my book reading speed. It’s just hard with Jane and school (no more reading before bed) and no travel time to read. I would like to fix this but I don’t see it happening for a bit.
Man I listen to a lot of music.
I have so many of this year’s movies to get through still. Working on it.
Lotta disappointing albums from bands I loved this year. Thank you Slowdive, Amanset, Drop Nineteens and Yo La Tengo for making awesome albums this year.
Music
I listened to 579 albums this year. Ish. I cannot be bothered to scan through that list and count again, and Jane is blaring Duolingo next to me while digging her foot into me as a sign of affection and work is already Slacking me even though it is eaaarly. So… 579 albums. In scanning the list right now, I thought, in equal measure “I have no recollection of ever listening to that album” and “oh my god that’s right that album ruled.” I will try and pick 50 or so here as my best of, and star/bold the top 5 or so. Also there is a playlist of all my favorite tracks from the here. It is about 1,900 tracks:
(In order I listened to them not ranked):
Automatic - “Excess,”
Rachika Nayar - “Heaven Come Crashing,”
The Smile - “Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival
Young Fathers - "Rice,”*
Blush Response & Warm - “Blush Response & Warm,”
The Dream Eaters - “Disposable Music: Songs from the Dream Eating Freakshow,”
Yo La Tengo - “This Stupid World,”
Uboa - "The Origin of My Depression,"
Caroline Polacheck - "Desire, I Want to Turn Into You,"
Mariee Sioux - “Faces in the Rocks,”
Laraaji - “Segue to Infinity,”
Shame - “Food for Worms”
Boris - “Fade,”
Asunojokei - “Island,”
Avalon Emerson - "& The Charm,"
Gracie Adams - “minor,”
Everything but the Girl - “Fuse,”
Sadness // Abriction - “sadness // abriction,”
Tombstones In Their Eyes - “Sea of Sorrow,”
Paul Simon - "Seven Psalms,"
Vyva Melinkolya & Midwife - “Orbweaving,”
Algiers - “Shook,”
Galcher Lustwerk - “LUSTWERK II,”
Anohni and the Johnsons - "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross,*
Sigur Ros - "ÁTTA,"
Blondshell - "Blondshell," (same day, those two, that was a good day)
Blur - "The Balled of Darren,"
Six Organs of Admittance - "Burning the Threshold,"
Sonic Youth - "Live Brooklyn 2011,"
Carly Rae Jepsen - "The Loveliest Time,"
Slowdive - “Everything is Alive,”
Olivia Rodrigo - "Guts,"
Cindy Wilson - “Realms,”
Pia Fraus - “Evening Colours,”
The Cult - “Under the Midnight Sun,”
Mary Lattimore - “Hotel Arkada,”
Squirrel Flower - “Tomorrow’s Fire,”
American Analog Set - “For Forever,”*
Drop Nineteens - “Hard Light,”*
Les Big Byrd - “They Worshipped Cats,”
AR Kane - “Up Home,”
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter - “SAVED!”
Ragana - “Desolation’s Flower,”
I guess this means my top 6 were Young Fathers, The Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, Slowdive, American Analog Set, Drop Nineteens and Cindy Wilson. I am good with this. If I had to add one more it would be the Sadness/Abriction collab.
Live Shows
I mean, I beat the six whole shows I went to in 2022, but not by much. Is it age? Feet? Pandemic? How quickly things sell out? How much they cost? Parenthood? Depression? All of the above? All of the above.
The Cure and Twilight Sad at Merriweather Post Pavillion
The Church at Cat’s Cradle
Neptune and Dark Crystals at Cat’s Cradle
DJ Jazzy Jeff at Highline Ballroom
Sisters of Mercy at The Fillmore, Silver Springs
Samia and Ralfie Kent at Cat’s Cradle
Yo La Tengo at Cat’s Cradle
High Vis at Cat’s Cradle
Aaron and the Lord at Lizard Lounge
Peter Gabriel at whatever the Boston Garden is called now
Godflesh at the Middle East Down
Books
Research papers and government documents are included if they are over 100 pages. I include comic books if the typewritten text totals over 100 pages (I use a draft Sandmanscript published in the back of a Sandman anthology as a comic-page-to-typewritten-page conversion metric). I aim for 52 books a year — one a week. Didn’t make it this year. Books recommended for the layperson are bolded.
Here is my Goodreads profile, if you’d like to follow along next year.
A Short History of Financial Euphoria by JK Galbraith
The White Wall: How Big Finance Bankrupts Black America by Emily Flitter
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
The Phoenix Economy by Felix Salmon
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
The Doomsday Book by Connie WIllis
NASCLA Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management: North Carolina, General Contractors, 8th edition
The Great CEO within: The Tactical Guide to Company Building by Matt Mochary
Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union by Richard Kreitner
Rememberings by Sinead O'Connor
Anaïs Nin A Sea of Lies by Leoni Bischoff
A-Side: Are Your Dreams at Night 1985 Sizes too Big by Graham Holliday
Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral by Ben Smith
Junkyard Planet by Adam Minter
Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz
Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein
Assorted States Attorneys General v Meta
Movies
Movies with an asterisk are recommended. Movies listed here are only movies I saw for the first time, new or old. In addition I re-watched about 20 or so, listed in the master list below. Recommended films are bolded. The Dagger † are films I saw in the theater. All zero of them.
Because I see most of the “best of” the year films in January, I’ll save my Best-of film list till right before the Oscars.
Don’t Worry Darling
Sr.
Pale Blue Eye
RRR
EO
All Quiet on the Western Front
Black Panther Wakanda Forever
Babylon
Jung_e
Somebody I Used to Know
Marc Maron From Bleak to Dark
Puss in Boots The Last Wish
Cocaine Bear
Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves
Jupiter 3
John Mulaney Baby J
The Little Mermaid (Original)
Ant Man Quantumania
Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3
John Wick Chapter 3
Asteroid City
Turn Every Page
Oppenheimer
Pretty Problems
The Flash
They Cloned Tyrone
65
Police Story
Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour
Fast X
Wham!
Three Thousand Years of Longing
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Barbie
Bottoms
Joy Ride
Spiderman Across the Spiderverse
Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One
The Killer
Circling the Square: The Hipgnosis Story
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool
Marc Maron from Bleak to Dark
X
Leave the World Behind
Killers of the Flower Moon
Lord of the Rings extended trilogy (re-watch)
The Creator
Rebel Moon Part One something or other
TV:
The below are shows I completed at least a seasons’ worth. Recommended are Bolded.
Slow Horses
Star Wars Bad Batch
Bad Sisters
Willow
His Dark Materials
The Last of Us
Letterkenny
Witcher Blood Origin
Legend of Vox Machina
Poker Face
Saturday Night Live
Star Wars Visions
Great British Bake Off: The Professionals
Wolf Pack
Star Trek Picard
The Mandalorian
Great Pottery Throwdown
Task Master
Search Party
Succession
Three-Body
Mrs Davis
Ted Lasso
Bupkis
The Idol
Silo
Star Trek Strange New Worlds
Junior Bake Off
The Witcher
The Bear
What We Do in the Shadows
Foundation
Drops of God
Futurama
Shrinking
Good Omens
Only Murders in the Building
Twisted Metal
The Afterparty
Ahsoka
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake
Wheel of Time
Star Trek Lower Decks
Telemarketers
Great British Bake Off
Our Flag Means Death
Loki
Rick and Morty
Scavenger’s Reign
Dr Who
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
The Crown
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.