(i decided to cram it all together. mostly because, like many of you, i am a flawed creature with expectations that even i can crush myself with. there's a lot here... so i'll be brief. sorta. i might actually only be brief briefly, but brevity is the soul of wit, and, well... i didn't really think through how i was gonna fit that quote in, i just wanted to say it because i'd said "brief" so much already...)
okay:
TELEVISION:
Parks and Recreation
[no context]
This series revived my interest in spending any time watching television "series-es"... After completely burning out on the Office and not even being able to bring myself to finish it (not only did the last few seasons suck but they also sucked everything i used to think was funny out of the previous seasons, so now i don't even like those...........), I was nearly convinced that something that'd originally started off as an Office-like show would only make me wanna throw up. And... well, it did. It wasn't until the latter half of season 2 that the show had really started to pick up, and there began my downward spiral—I bagged the entire series in about 3 weeks. I believe it's one of the finest funny shows that graced television of all time, and so should you! Actually funny jokes, actually good characters, and actually interesting plot-lines makes this Actually The Best TV.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
This show was reallllll fun, while it lasted. And it didn't last too long, I finished it in a couple days. But most of my thoughts outside of the humor (it was p funny) can be summed up in this excellent Washington Post article by Alissa Wilkinson on the damaging fear of the End.
(True Detective Season 2)
uh, 404? page not found? please leave???
Oh, you actually want to read something about this? This... uh, "show"? Okay. Okay, I'll say something. No, please, this is what you want. This show reminded me why people like Donald Trump can successfully run for president, why cancer exists, and why sometimes, when you fart, a little poop comes out. It's because this world is broken. And because of this broken world we have to deal with this existing. I know it's not easy, but the best thing we can do, as a culture, is to forget that this ever happened.
Sense8
her dog was my fave
I really like the premise for this show! But, and I wanna be brief because it's been a while since I've seen the show and can't remember numbers correctly, I was disappointed with how it presented its various sexual relationships. I was fine with the characters, and the relationships were cool, but my major beef was with how explicit they were with certain sexual relationships as opposed to others... it's confusing. If you'd like to know more about my thoughts or whatever you can send me a message, as I fear a mere brief-blanket review on the whole thing here would only stir up trouble. Basically this: I felt like one couple's relationship seemed to consist mostly of eyecandy instead of actually portraying a balanced, healthy relationship.
Daredevil
between this and Oldboy (2003, (the Korean one), i realized i love hallway fight scenes
I don't like superhero shows, movies, comics, action figures, etc. It's just not my jam. I'm usually frustrated with the lack of attention to interesting characters, plots, dialogue, etc. But. But!!! Daredevil was great. The action was at a minimum, and when it happened it was necessary and thrilling—two things that fighting usually isn't in poorly structured narratives. I got, like, amped when he'd fight. It was Cool. I Loved it. Things I didn't love: basically Foggy and That Girl who hung around with them??? Completely useless characters. Completely. I Hate them.
Anyway, watch Daredevil, IMO.
Jessica Jones
same, tbh
I think this one is my more favorite of the two—even LESS action than Daredevil (omggggg) and even BETTER dialogue (omggggg!!!!!!!1). It doesn't help that it plays heavily on detective narrative, which is like, one, of the best, kinds, of a story, there is, so. I was hopelessly interested in it. Similar to the issue I had with Sense8, though, I wasn't really interested or convinced by the overstated sexual relationship that Jessica had with [A Character]. Portraying a female as a "strong female lead" does not necessarily mean basically giving them the sexual charisma and libido of an ox. A woman who leads in a sexual relationship is fine and cool, but the way it looked almost felt like they were going for a "look, I can do anything a MAN can do, and that's what makes me a strong female character!!" Thankfully that was the only instance that I caught a whiff of that, as Jessica continued to grow into a more convincing lead, but... yeah whatever those are wayy too many words already.
Okay, Now,:
ANIMATION:
Paprika
squad goals
AKA: baby's first Satoshi Kon film. As a big fan of Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA, Domu), I had a strong feeling that I'd really enjoy Kon. But, I, uh, wasn't expecting to like his works even more-so. Taking that same darky-cybery-punky-feely feel that Otomo had, he was able to successfully synthesize it with more of a bright pop-art, almost Murakami "superflat"-esque, style. It's hard to explain. But it's definitely worth watching. A movie about the "science" of dreaming.. should seem interesting to anyone with a creative mind.
Welcome to the Space Show
maybe just watch this is you like anthropomorphic dogs?? (just don't tell me)
Yeah, definitely very much "superflat". Much more light-hearted than Paprika, it reminded me incredibly of Summer Wars. A fantastic universe filled to the brim with unbelievable sights and creatures. Perfect movie to entertain kids, absolutely mesmerizing for everyone else.
When Marnie Was There
ghibli forest scene: ✓
A laid back film about conquering anxiety that seems made for my generation. Not my favorite Ghibli, but I Sure As Hell Cried. A great feature-length animation for Ghibli to book-end its involvement with film (at least, for the time being..). Princess Kaguya
who doesn't love a pig
I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my head because of all the water pushing out from behind them. Watch it. Now.
I only watched, like, two worth mentioning. So here they are:
ANIME (series): Future Boy Conan
check out baby asbel! i mean.. pazu... i mean!! prince ashitaka??
One of the first projects that Hayao Miyazaki took on in the animation world, Future Boy Conan was incredible. It was definitely different from what I'm used to (much faster, flashier anime), but it still had that primordial promise of what would become Miyazaki's wholesome innocence, inhabiting all his creations. More or less, it would go on to inspire countless other projects he would work on, as well as (unconfirmed but totally noticeable to anyone who played it and knew better) the Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. It's basically Wind Waker to the T. Wind Waker is basically just fan fic. That's all it is, and I'm fine with that.
One Punch Man
ok
One of the funniest anime series I've ever watched. Playing off the tropes of action anime and littered with homages to a host of other genres, One Punch Man is a delightful alternative to Actually Watching Anything Else. If you, like me, have waded through the vast amount of anime that exists out there, you'll know for sure that about 90% of it is absolute garbage (just like with most mediums). One Punch Man is like a sweet reward for those of us who've been burned by all manner of Bad Anime, an incredible satire, and is thus enjoyed best by us, the lowly and spurned. But, even if you haven't, you can still enjoy the spry character of Saitama as he navigates through a Definitely Anime World, bringing attention to all the ridiculous things we've maybe become callous to in our beleaguered wanderings, looking for the next Cowboy Bebop, or, whatever.
I hereby crown it my favorite animation of the year, btw. Hopefully next year you can read about my thoughts on the (apparently incredible) manga (and WEBCOMIC!!) it's all based on.
Okay, you've waited long enough. "Games, Zach!!!! I'm a nerd, feed me!!!" you've probably cried during my discussion about music and movies. "I need to eat games,,, to live!!" Well. Here's this year's top five in no particular order. But you'll kinda get the idea of which one I liked most. Majora's Mask 3D
"don't forget to like and subscribe"
I want you to think back to that one time that you had to put butter in a hot pan. We've all done it, each with our own reasons that brought us there. For some of us it was a choice that we willingly made, we chose to put the butter in the pan. For others it was a matter of life and death—putting the butter in the hot pan was our way of paving a greasy path to avoid starvation. But everyone, for good or bad, has put butter into a hot pan, and we all know what happens when we do that: it dances its mesmerizingly tragic dance. We watch it slide hither and tither as its congealed fats and salts and... yellow stuffs begin to shimmer and seep. Like the forlorn song of a dying swan, the butter's beautiful dance precedes only one outcome: its eventual death.
Playing Majora's Mask 3D for the 3DS was a lot like this, for me, personally. A very beautiful stick of butter that I watched melt for like the 10 hours I sunk in, and then.. it was gone. With nothing to sauté in the hot butter juice, I ended up not finishing the game. It was far and away one of the prettiest games I played all year (any game that's effectively able to dazzle me with its use of purple is game of the year material), but playing a game I'd already played plenty of times as a middle schooler was not necessarily high on my gaming priorities for this year. Majora is a fave of mine, doing things no other Zelda does (like spitting in your face), so maybe in 2016 I'll be able to justify it.
Q: snake, what is best in life?
SNAKE: it's dogs, dogs are.
SNAKE: dogs.
Phantom Pain is one of the few games in the last few years that I've actively thought about when I wasn't playing it (2015 gave me a couple of games that did that, incidentally). Sitting in my car on a break from work or spacing out on the couch, I would often find myself thinking of different ways to successfully invade enemy territories, or figure out ways to trap would-be comrades. With the level of detail and interactive design (and one of the most complicated-yet-totally-works-after-you-play-it-enough control setups ever), there's really no limit to what you're capable of doing. One time I air-lifted a car into an assault chopper with a weird balloon. One time I made my horse defecate on a road, which caused a jeep full of missile-toting jerks to slide and crash into a wall. One time I told my dog to run up to this dude and electrocute him with this rad electric knife. One time I threw a grenade from an impossible angle and had my sniper-buddy shoot the thing into a tent filled with bad men. I painted my helicopter purple. I listened to "Take On Me" while I jumped out of a careening jeep with four C-4 packs strapped to the front of it as it entered an enemy prison where a group of guys were mobilizing to look for me because one of their snipers had seen me and told someone and promptly fell asleep right after because of a choice sleeping dart I shot into his shoulder and they were offended and ready to kill me but before they knew it I had already won.........
It's the perfection of the series, in my totally correct opinion, and it's great because p much anyone can play if they want to but have never played the previous games. "5" is a pretty intimidating number to feel like you're coming in on, but the game certainly won't punish you for it at all. If you want to know more, there's no end to your growing cassette tape collection (the game takes place in 1984, even though some of the tech is years beyond our own) that allows you to catch up on any details you might wanna know more about. Or any music from the 80's you might have missed out on.
But more than that, it's just a fun game to play. With no set-in-stone ways to go about the missions, you can decide to play differently each time (and benefit from doing that, as enemies will learn your patterns), maybe blowing everything up, or sneaking in and out without leaving a trace behind. This and Undertale are tied for my Games of 2015, as both covered an incredible spectrum of what the Video Game has become and what it's capable of. I highly recommend it.
[turns away from this image] oh, hi
[turns back to this image] oh, yes
I bet you weren't expecting to hear about this game for the umpteenth time, huh. Well. Look at my blog title....... (ump.... teen..th) haha, jokes on you. I'll be brief because I like the game too much to ruin it for possible converts and you might also be sick of hearing/seeing so much about it on the internet due to its overnight success and larrrrggeee fandom.
It's my favorite game of 2015 and is currently at the top of my list, "Favorite Games of Zach Mendelson's Puny Life". It's a real list, and it is hidden in my heart, where it shall remain until the sun blows up and brings us our Final Peace.
Undertale is a game that watches you play it and will let you know frequently that it knows what/why you're doing whatever it is. I sincerely believe that this is the largest step we've taken towards treating the medium of "games" as "art", an age-old discussion that I'm quite frankly sick of because of what so many people will claim is art, or rather settle for, in order to justify something they feel otherwise embarrassed about with people unfamiliar/uninterested with the medium. Games have a hellllll of a long way to go before we can start really thinking of the entire medium that way, but there are a handful of games I'd argue that have taken these revolutionary steps towards whatever That is.
Undertale is one of them. And you should play it. If anything I've said has interested you, please let me know! I have a couple copies of the game I've purchased for evangelistic purposes and would love to just straight up give it to you, so long as you promise to play it honestly to the end. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
i can't really explain it. just watch this and you'll get the idea.
Monster Hunter 4 was the other game I fantasized most about this year (the first chunk of it, at least). Apparently set in some other dimension in the future where society has collapsed and we've reverted back to hunter-gatherer stuff, you take the role of a hunter (or gatherer! there's lots of that) who wants to get to the bottom of this weird thing that's ......
Okay the story's great but that's not what's cool about MonHun. It's the game. The game is... it's really cool. Imagine a game where you hunt gigantic dinosaurs and you look for tell-tale clues to lead you to them on these big maps and when you find them you have to basically figure out how you're going to kill this thing that's like 20 times bigger than you and dead-set on eating you alive. The delight from the game comes from planning the Hunt. You spend most of your time organizing and crafting items, weapons, and armor from different creatures you've hunted or from the resources you've gathered in the field. That gigantic tooth on that One Thing makes for a reallllly cool lance, for example. Or the shell from that gigantic beetle that basically impaled you 100 times makes for a really cool helmet/breastplate combo. Every item matters in this game, and learning how to best use them is part of the experience. Now imagine doing all this with a friend. Or two. Or three!! (wowwww) The joy of the multiplayer hunting is what kept me going for a majority of my play-through.
But what's most fun is the battling itself. No two Big Things are the same, and all of the monsters fight very differently from one another. One of them is blind, using sound to both sense where you are and attack. Another is a weird shark frog..... it's weird. And then there's more traditional enemies like Big Frickin Dragons, who take to the skies and dive-bomb you with flames and big sharp teeth and stuff.
It's loads of fun. It's portable, and it's usually on sale. Check it out if you have a 3DS. Or don't. You have the choice to do the wrong thing.
once more into the fray,
into the last good fight you'll ever know,
to live and die in this ink,
to live and die in this ink.
And here's the best multiplayer game of 2015, and, possibly, ever. With a metric ton of charm and a world literally oozing with creativity, this is probably Nintendo's greatest IP since Mario (shots intentionally fired). Basically: it's squid-kids with super-soakers trying to lay down as much colorful ink on the map within a time limit to secure victory. There are many more game modes too, some of which debuted months after the game's launch for free (a very clever way to keep people interested/playing), including an explosive capture the flag, king of the hill, and... like, imagine king of the hill but the hill moves and you have to take it to the opposite team's base........ hard to explain, but that one's the best by far. [clenches fist and stares at the rainmaker...]
Light on story, heavy on fun gameplay (as Nintendo is known to do), Splatoon is far and away one of the most enjoyable, frenetic multiplayer experiences you'll ever have. With its only flaw being the lack of local multiplayer (unless you've got a bunch of Wii U's and TV's lying around....), you'll be hard-pressed to find anything else to fault it with. Simple in its execution, expansive in its playability, unforgettable to those who pick it up.
Stay fresh.
~ ~ ~
Honorable Mentions (there's a lot here, basically because i'm an awful hikikomori [sly smile] nerd):
Persona 4 Golden - i want to finish this game soooo badly. but. it's a jrpg. and i've got like 6 different jrpgs on my plate right now. i'm 7/10's of the way through, i promise. just... give me.... more time.....!! Trails in the Sky - i couldn't finish in time for 2016, so i'm planning on merging a review of it with SC for next year's list. i loooove the localization though--probably the best thing about it. Witcher 3 - my open-world game of the year... if my harddrive hadn't wiped my 40 hours of progress. maybe i'll get around to it again... or watch a friend or my children play it when i'm like 78 and have time. Pokemon Trading Card Game - has the potential be the best rpg in the world. Monument Valley - best mobile phone game i've ever ever played. highly recommend. v short. Fallout 4 - it was great for the first 6 hours when i was terrified of everything, and then i got better weapons, and... it got really boring. Yo-kai Watch - a very good game! i enjoyed it more than i've enjoyed the last few pokemon games, but... it was too short, and pretty light on rpg mechanics, so i wouldn't mind playing a more complicated version of it some time in the future. Story of Seasons - this is only here because i spent the most time behind MGSV playing this (roughly 50 hours) and i'm scared of what will happen if/when i load it up again... farming simulators have always been a sort of stumbling block for me. Xenoblade Chronicles X - if i had more time this probably would have been up there. Danganronpa - the best M-Rated Phoenix Wright game i've ever played
do it do it [hits desk with fists] do i t doitd o i t do i t!
I must iterate here, at the beginning of my splurging about Oldboy, that I'm only forever going to speak positively about it's original Korean adaptation from 2003 and act like that xenophobic modern American-atrocity never happened.
Okay, sweet. Yeah, this movie rocks. As you might have learned about me, through casual conversation, in-depth conversation, idling conversation, workplace banter, obsessive text-messages, weird phone backgrounds, scary voicemails, I'm a really big fan of The Count of Monte Cristo. In my opinion, the original novel is probably the best revenge narrative we'll ever have--the Form of Revenge, I'll even say. I'll die for that, that's something I'd die for, yup. But... in the year of our lord 2015 I had some serious stumblings when, from a close friend's advice, I watched Oldboy (2003) (the Korean one) (not the American one) (the good one) (the Actual Film) (not that masturbatory action flick, the american one) (I don't like that one (the American one)). A terrifying tale about [Stuff That Would Spoil The Whole Movie], you are thoroughly engaged like........ the whole time. The cinematography is great (yeah, I know what cinematopgraohghtu is..), use of color off the chartsssss, and the music with its synthy absurdity only helps to plug you into the spiralling insanity.
Though, what I liked most about this film was how much it appealed to me as a creator—this is the sort of movie that I really would hope you'd watch and go, "haha... zach's pretty messed up, but this is totally something that he'd like/want to make". It's currently on Netflix and I sincerely hope you check it out after my vague fangirling, but this is one of those movies that really begs you to know absolutely nothing going in for you to fully enjoy it. It's a risky tale to tell (thus the weird/awful/terrible/[vomit noises] American adaptation that sought to downplay the absurdity in favor of action-porn), but I think it's a beautiful gem that you've probably never seen anything like before (unless you've forced yourself to sit through I Come with the Rain, in which case... man why did you do that).
bestttt best best bebstbs tbs tbe tbs tbe sbte character, for sure
Who would have thought that my favorite Sergio Leone spaghetti western would be one without Clint Eastwood? About 7 years ago I sat down to watch this and turned it off after like 20 minutes when I didn't see Clint (thinking it was For A Few Dollars More), and turned on For A Few Dollars More. Which, was, a tragic mistake,,,
Don't get me wrong, the Man With No Name trilogy is fun and great and good, but it's nothing compared to Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in the West. That's great, good, wonderful, superb. Characters, sets, plot, dialogue, lack of dialogue... the best part of this movie, in truth, is whenever there's nothing to be said. Such care went into every shot, every line, every crescendo, and it all shows. Similar to Kurosawa's method of having actors pick a gesticulation for the audience to identify them by, Leone is able to masterfully do the same, though obviously more subtly. This isn't kabuki.
I would loooove to see film return to long-form storytelling again, but I think we've phased that out for the convenience of the "television series" and Netflix binging (which, to be fair, isn't evil, and is, in fact, p great, if you do so with good stuff (stay tuned for my television post)). We can easily stop and walk away, allowing us to eventually sink in more than a few hours for a usually 8/10 storyline, making it seem a better alternative to planting yourself for several hours in this high velocity culture. But I'm probably only one of a few that would love to abscond with the silver screen for several hours. If you're like me, or wanna feel what it's like to fall in love with Film, check this out.
Also: there's an incredible Morricone soundtrack, which should be justification enough.
bae: come over
me: i'm busy allocating this kingdom amongst my sons
bae: my parents aren't home
me: [just throws my kingdom to my sons]
I watched a loooot of Kurosawa in 2015. I know I'm really late to the party, but you'll thank me for sparing your more blubbering about Seven Samurai. That one's nice, sure. But have you seen his other stuff??
"Ran" is great. It's based on King Lear, a Shakespeare I never had the pleasure to read, which made for a pretty thrilling movie. If you know the story of King Lear, then yeah, it's pretty much that set in the Sengoku era. And if you're like "zach..... i've already read that.......... and if it's not a straight-exact-adaptation, why would i wanna watch" and that's when i say "man it looks incredible". That opening is in my top 3 film openings of alllll time. Check this out. Tell me you're not like "WHAT! GRASS????" after watching this.
What's most interesting to me about this Kurosawa film compared to the other works I'd seen is its use of color. The picture I picked for the post is a pretty good example, if I do say so myself (I do). Primary colors (each representing one of his sons) are bold and defined by obvious shapes, while Ichimongi's white clothing causes him, by contrast, to remain set apart from the rest of the scenes (usually dark, covered in smoke, soot, shadow, etc.).
I worry about treading too far into plot discussion since I know people who like Kurosawa and Shakespeare and I would only create a torrent for myself to get beat up in, but suffice it to say: it good. It's also a really long movie, so, set some time aside for one of the better reimaginings of Shakespeare you'll ever see. Probably. Idk.
i wanna make a joke real bad but this part is too sad, so instead i'll say an unrelated joke: donald trump
Alright. This one was hard. I wanted to put it up higher on my list, but it wasn't for any legitimate reason. The reason it's here at all is because of the severe visceral effect it had on me when I watched it. This is probably one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.
For anyone that's seen a movie with me, they know I'm a crier. I cry at like any sign of intimacy or innocence or anything Good, so you're probably going "of course you cried, you crier, you baby man, you glorified sprinkler head". At several points in the movie I had spilled over, feeling incredible sadness for this tortured character, but the ending caused me to do those dry heave things and my eyes hurt throughout the next day because of how much crying I did. This is that sort of movie that you can probably use to test people to see if they're actual human beings with actual feelings or not, it's that bad. A surefire litmus—if you watch this with a friend who doesn't cry during the bathroom scene (or at least kinda gets freaked out), then they are probably a demon sent to tempt and eventually devour you.
Watch The Elephant Man, but do it with a box of tissues, please.
I resolved that I wouldn't write about Star Wars because everyone (myself included) is probably sick of seeing it all over the place. So I decided instead to talk about the movie that was responsible for the creation of R2-D2 and C-3PO. It's...... a Kurosawa film [gasp].
That knuckle-headed, dragged-along-for-the-ride humor is the centerpiece of this film with Tahei and Matashichi, two lowly peasants who find themselves caught up in a civil war of sorts between two tribes. Princess Leia is there, sure, and Toshiro Mifune (Lucas' original target for Darth Vader/Obi Wan) is there too. All your Star War is there. But, thankfully, this story doesn't take three films to tell.
What made this Kurosawa film so much more enjoyable to me than others that I watched was how the characters developed and played off of one another. The loyalty of Mifune's character to the princess and the dead-beats that follow him make for a pretty wholesome adventure movie, filled with its share of hijinks and moments of awe (the battle scene and honorable death come to mind). It might not be the most exciting to some, but I sure as heck had a good time with it. And, though I'm loathe to mention it any more, if you're really interested in checking out what inspired George Lucas when drafting the original Star Wars trilogy, you'll notice a lot of little things that went into the series from this film.
~ ~ ~
Some Honorable Mentions:
MAD MAX - this was the first film i ever went to see in the theater all by myself. it only took me until i was 23 to experience how cool that feeling was. and it was a great movie to do that with. WAKING NED DEVINE - an irish black comedy that is just really really really good.' YOJIMBO - i don't need to talk about kurosawa anymore NORTH BY NORTHWEST - this was a really good hitchcock film, and i recommend it if you wanna know more behind kanye west's nomenclature methods. JURRASIC WORLD - i want to be a dinosaur
Welcome! As I'm writing this it's like, two days, before my blog-post-extravaganza, and I'm stress-eating and drinking, a, lot, of,, coffeee,,, so bear with me as I work through my Innermost Feelings to bring You, the Reader, my Humble Suggestions and Correct Opinions on Things. As I mentioned in the big ol' post that'll probably show up below this one when this is published, I'm gonna write in a specific order that takes advantage of your attention span. The best way I can think to share my thoughts with you is to share my most Malformed and Probably Least Knowledgable Area of Entertainment first, before all the other topics that I know muuuch more about, to familiarize you with my vernacular, my wit, my handsome blog interface (it's green!! (!!??!!??!!??)), and... well, really, just to get my creative juices flowing by trying to think well on a subject that just largely evades me in general: music.
Alright, let's start this thing. Music is the thing I know how to write well about the least, so, please, don't excuse my unceremonious nature when talking about these tunes—but also don't say anything negative because I refuse to listen to anyone who would say I'm wrong or snobby, for I know very well that I'm usually both of those.
In no particular order, but with obvious bias written in appropriate entries, here're the things I enjoyed listening to the most this year, 2015:
ABSOLUTELY NUMBER 1: Alive! At the Village Gate 1962 - Coleman Hawkins
Yeah this was probably one of the best things I listened to this year that I think would be the most generally appropriate thing to share with you, the Reader. Jazz is pretty cool sometimes, and Coleman Hawkins is probably even just as cool.
Real talk: this is basically a big ol' cover album (though, how much of jazz and bebop wasn't? (rhetorical—I don't actually know, please don't tell me though)). With some old spirituals (Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho is probably the absolutely number 1 best song on the album, jsyk) and other popular numbers from around that... decade or so, like Mack the Knife and Bean and the Boys (those are nice, you'd recognize them, probably, I swear!), this live album is a collection of Really Good Stuff that you should Listen To. This is the kind of warm music you'd listen to in a cafe or bar that had a lot of wooden furniture and yellow lights. The chair's soft and you're just whiling away your time, listening to this, maybe tapping your foot and thinking. Or something. That's what this sounds like.
I really like Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and feel like I need to link it here and be done talking about this album, though, because, I can't really.... accurately talk about music. And there's more music to talk about..!!
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, and He Did a P Good Job If It Sounded Anything like This When He Did It
ACTUALLY, THIS IS MY #1 BUT I WANTED TO SOFTEN YOU UP: Happy End (はっぴえんど)
I chose the entire band's discography for this, but it's not cheating, because I make up my own rules on my own blog that I update once a year-ish. So, yeah. Happy End was a band that was around for a couple years after 1969 who made a couple albums and then fell apart, largely in part to their disillusionment with America—they were, as a lot of young Japanese fellas during the time, kinda enamored with western culture. As their success grew they were recognized by some higher-ups in America and offered a shot to make an album with a record company... Things didn't really pan out and because they didn't speak much english they were taken advantage of and yeah, they broke up and broke hearts across Japan with their wholly unique (at the time) sound.
I read that in a blog post I can no longer find earlier in the year, so I paraphrased and got most of it right. But that's not why I'm telling you to listen to them! I just wanted to prove that they were real, maybe to you.. maybe to myself.
Anyway, if you were the type that found yourself listening to J-Rock and J-Pop like ME in middle school/high school/dark moments in your college career/etc. (I FREELY ADMIT IT), but find yourself wanting to hear something a little more folksy because you're in your mid-twenties and That's A Thing Right Now, you might like these guys. If we're Facebook Official Friends then you'd probably seen me post numerous times about them when I first discovered them, but you should really check em out if you haven't.
I have a suggestion for listening to them: burn some on a CD, get in your car, make sure it's like 90 something degrees that day, and drive around with the windows down. This is that Summer Music, that Sweet Lovin' You Need, that Pick-Me-Up-Why-Don't-You we all inevitably need in this collapsing economy. American Culture won't last very much longer, and soon all will rust and things that you thought used to mean so much to you will pale in the cold light of the Trump-Clump-Cult's all-consuming empire, but... you'll always have catchy tunes like this until the Electromagnetic Pulse that'll kickstart the second stone age pops.
tell me why this doesn't sound like some summer day in your misspent youth, i want you to tell me to my face
#8 In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
This was my eighth fave album this year.
I wasn't really into rock and stuff in 6th-7th grade when everyone was buying their black Dickies jackets and covering them with patches from bands like "Poison" and "ACDC" and "Gunmetal Sex Roses" (the latter of which should totally be a band), but I'll always remember that that happened. Do you guys still have those jackets?? They probably still fit, they were HUGE. No, instead, I got a patch of a hyper-realistic mushroom and tried to put it on my backpack because I like the Mario Brothers and was a Huge Nerd.
Anyway, I thought this album would remind me of those days, in a way—a lot of kids listening to music with mature subject matter we all pretended to understand, like girls, drugs, different roads you could take in Hell, uh... sex?? I think I got it all. But it didn't, thank goodness.
Instead, it felt like listening to some weird medieval fan fiction set to music. I was reading a lot of Chaucer at the time (ann appropriately-timed humble brag) and could only imagine lowly bards with skull-caps singing these songs. Imagine my horror when I saw that they all actually are very hairy men. Maybe don't click that, though, if you want to have the same vision I did while listening to their (very difficult to secure outside of a physical CD) albums. I've only listened to the one, but it was really wonderful. It's also really moody too, which is probably why everyone in 6th grade loved it. I'd post a song right here, but, the band's really touchy with internet (which I feel only helps to play towards my head-canon of them being a group of luddites cast back in time to play music for a ruddy king whose heart is cold and dead), so, here's that picture I was talking about earlier. I'll link it again. Please don't lookatit, though.
THE BEST: 1967-1975 - Prokofiev - Piano Concerto 3, Ravel - Piano Concerto in G, Gaspard de la nuit (Martha Argerich, Claudio Abbado)
To summon more memories from my Formative Years (just 6th grade, my catalyst and crucible), when I was sad or writing (usually those coincided) I would lock myself in the bathroom as this was the only place in the whole house I could get absolute darkness in the middle of the day. I would take out my Handy-Dandy Walkman and turn the volume waaaaay up and listen to, on repeat, the Manfred Symphony by Tchaikovski, because, that's who I was back then.
In the dark I would be able to sculpt incredible landscapes and plot-arcs according to the music I was listening to, and Manfred served me well for many years. It's still one of my favorite pieces of music to listen to while trying to be creative or sort through difficult thoughts (I also couple it with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 when I need some ~spice~). You can thank Geneon's Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, a cyber-punk anime with a much healthier dose of Boy-Love than I initially noticed, for these classical piece recommendations, as that was like my Bread and Butter. A moody space anime based on my favorite novel of all time??? sign ggn;krme e upp (don't click that link around children, please. let them grow in heathy environments before you expose them to potentially harmful, degenerative memes.)
Anyway, all that being said, I believe I've found the next most important album for my Life (as I'll be digesting this album for the rest of it). Claudia Abbado and Martha Argerich, the latter a mystery to me and the former quite popular on the classical station I listen to on my way to/from work daily (KUSC, 91.5 FM, etc.), work together to perform works from Prokofiev and Ravel in a way wholly ethereal. If I had time/enough sanity to justify sealing myself in a completely pitch-black room, I'd run headlong in with this massive collection. The first 30 minutes alone have enough swell and passion to completely Mess You Up.
I want to grow old with this album.
we live in an era where you can just listen to this whoooole performance for free, please abuse this
BEST FEEL GOOD MUSIC FOR WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL YOUR BEST/GOOD - Katamari Damacy Original Soundtrack
"Oh no... a video game so und tr a ck . . . zach i, gotta, go ,,,,"
It's okay, you can leave. I'll sit here and wait for you to come back. I'll stick around and talk to everyone else who stayed about this really great Japanese album.
"haha...!! it's japanese, huh??..... [sweating] zach i forgot to eat lunch and my hypo's acting up rn, so, lol, i'll brb???? i'll be back before you finish talking about this ... uh anime??? right?
??????"
.... .. . . ... . . . .
For those of you who stayed, let's talk about How Good This Album Is. Prior to this album, it was extremely rare for games to have as much lyrical work as this one did—especially not music that was so bizarre. Never before, I CLAIM, WILLING TO DIE HERE ON THIS HILL, has a game soundtrack so brilliantly complimented the game itself. You've got your dub-stepping call of duties, your "wah wah wah"-ing mario games now, and you've even got that lurid jpop shrieking through garbled neon menus in all your anime games nowadays, but Lord Knows we'll probably never have something as charming and wholesome as Katamari Damacy ever again.
The game itself focuses on you creating new stars and planets after your irresponsible father, the King of Cosmos, sambas through the galaxy and destroys most of them besides Earth. You are sent to Earth to collect all its excess (a big talk on materialism in our culture I will omit because Your Ears Will Burn) and crumple them together to make new Space Stuff.
That plot should make you like all hot and bothered, now imagine having the perfect soundtrack to accompany you while you set about restoring the universe, all the while being cajoled by your father. Yes! It does exist. And it's incredible. The album can stand very well on its own, too, otherwise I probably wouldn't be evangelizing here right now. Through many rough spots in college and times since then where I've felt the cold grip of [insert any number of discussions on the presidential election, syrian refugees, the police, my career, what i want to eat for lunch, etc., here], I've turned to this album to bring myself cheer. Its upbeat pace and incredible (!!!!!!) instrumental accompaniment is enough to pick you up off your feet and get you back on track for... whatever your track is leading to, I guess!!
Like all the other pieces I wrote about, I'm not very good at explaining the finer details, so suffice it to say: you should definitely check some of these out (my faves being Katamari on the Rocks, Que Sera Sera, and Gin & Tonic & Red Red Roses).
you could be better, this is your chance
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Some Honorable Mentions (mostly video game ost's because i knew i wouldn't be able to keep you interested that long in my already weird selection):
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane - i would try if i could write about music better. def check it out, tho. Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color) OST - woof. WOOF. [hoot and hollers loudly] UNDERTALE OST - Toby Fox - i'm gonna write a lot about this game so i'll save you the hassle of skipping past more writing about the best game of 2015 Trigun OST - Tsuneo Imahori - my theme song collection
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Anyway, that really concludes what I've got to say about Music I listened to in 2015. Join me tomorrow for a thrilling discussion on Video Games! A thing you might be embarrassed about, but join me in embarrassing myself! People like that.
