Just rambling about some music and books I’ve been exposed to in 2024. I did a similar thing in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Records

Quaranta - Danny Brown

The album felt fairly old too me; quite slow, fairly monotonous and certainly dark.

Only For Dolphins - Action Bronson

A very easy listen I came back to when hosting people. Sergio is a true earworm.

Sour Soul - BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah

I think this is my favourite BADBADNOTGOOD album. It doesn’t feel as excessively playful, more authentic than other works of theirs to me. More necessity, less luxury.

FABRICLIVE 59 - Four Tet

Cutting through the chase with honesty; no show, no filler. Great stuff.

Space Heavy - King Krule

The blunt sound of the bass on ‘Flimsier’ and ‘If Only It Was Warmth’ hit home. Unfortunately I haven’t perceived the album as really coherent so far. Maybe some more patience on my end is all it needs. Overall I find that the composure King Krule demonstrates more recently suits him very well. At the same time I do miss his rougher singing of the past, though.

The Sunset Violent - Mount Kimbie

It feels as though I had been listening to ‘Empty and Silent’ for decades.

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

I chuckled more than once and thought that some of the lyrics were fairly witty in a simple, unpretentious way. I don’t get how ‘Never Had No One Ever’ has the second-least streams of this album on YouTube music.

Vol. 4 - Black Sabbath

This album didn’t feel very ‘produced’; the arrangements felt quite improvised and suprising; the mix was surprisingly bimodal with very high and low frequencies. I actually mistook the bass guitar for a guitar! I can totally picture how a 14 year old – lying on a narrow bed, staring at the ceiling – is massively impacted and moved by songs like ‘Snowblind’ and ‘Under the Sun’.

Romance - Fontaines DC

I have been disappointed by this album. Previous Fontaines DC albums struck me with vicious energy; something that can’t be taken away from them even if they’re not shining the brightest musically. This album seems to go down a different road, a road of esthetics and swagger. In and by itself this is surely fair enough. Yet, I find that they don’t pull off this approach too well – expect for the amazing ‘Starbuster’.

Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes

How has this album not shown up on my radar any sooner? I think this is what my 17 year old self would’ve called ‘real music’.

Toxicity - System of a Down

Either this album has aged very well or I am somehow still stuck in my teens.

I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU - JPEGMAFIA

While I admire JPEGMAFIA’s courage and determination, I haven’t gotten to truly liking this album. I keep coming back to individual songs but that’s about it.

Books

Manorism - Sode, Yomi

Harmless and unremarkable.

Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking - David Bayles

Somehow this book felt very ‘American’ to me. I think I expected something a little more insightful; I don’t know why I expected that, though.

Conversations with Friends - Sally Rooney

Reading this I felt as though I was indulging in a guilty pleasure. Most certainly very captivating.

The Agony and The Ecstasy - Irvine Stone

This is a large book and it demanded quite a bit of patience on my as well as the book’s end to get us through this. I definitely learned about scuplture, art history and the church. What struck me most, though, was how Michelangelo was portrayed as a pawn, effortlessly moved around by the powerful. I perceived the writing as though his dedication and superiority made him an important asset, but stripped him of all powers and self-determination.

Dried-Up in meetings & other short stories - Mir Jalal

Refreshingly simple; at times beautifully absurd, at times a little bland to read.

Women - Charles Bukowski

I thought that the noise of promiscuity and drinking and ruthlesness made the few, somewhat serene moments of virtue (or rather absence of vices?) quite powerful; they struck me.

Girl with Curious Hair - David Foster Wallace

I read some of these short stories for vibes only; some for learning new words. Yet, other stories, such as the one on LBJ, captivated me, made me fall for suspense (I find it hard to believe that such an avant-garde/experimental/edgy book at times relies on good old suspense). This is probably the most daring, the most left-field book I’ve read.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace

These short stories had everything. Lots of intricate and complex narrative structure, filled with beautifully flowing use of language. But don’t accuse DFW of intellectual masturbation too soon; I find that he left space for the visceral and baked quite a bit of humanly simple (simply humane?), emotive, touching themes into this collection. Hell, there was even some suspense.

De Mann, deen ëmmer laacht - Joseph Kayser

I really enjoyed diving into this parallel world of local public administration.

Briefe an einen jungen Dichter - Rainer Maria Rilke

1/5 excuses as to why the responses are late, 1/5 excuses as to why the responses are spare, 1/5 incredible nuggets of wisdom, 2/5 above my pay grade.