Lamp, broken circa 1988

My semester is over so this will be the last one I had to write in a notebook for. Which means the next few listens will be the off-the-cuff style from last year. Yay! I’m excited for you too! "You Won't Get What You Want" by Daughters "Vile Luxury" by Imperial Triumphant "II: Sojourn" by Wytch Hazel "Tell Me How You Really Feel" by Courtney Barnett "The Sciences" by Sleep "Ruby" by Macy Gray I have a family tradition. I drive up with my older brother to our family's christmas stuff, and I burn a big long playlist to listen to so he can catch up on what’s come out in the last year and see what he wants to check out on his own time. This is how we discovered Courtney Barnett, listening to and laughing with Avant Gardener on that mountain route (“The paramedic thinks I’m clever because I play guitar / I think she’s clever because she stops people dying” is still an amazing lyric). I loved the first two records, but as I stated last year, I don’t fuck with anyone that fucks with Kurt Vile, so I was planning on missing this one. Now to be fair, I was also planning on missing At The Drive-In last year and that turned out great. So maybe this’ll turn out great!

lol y'all have weak stomachs. all these covers have most of the same notes in them still. Get on Bono's level. Or don't. Please don't. The closest is the Ska Crazy Train.

Inspired by a friend assaulting me with this fucking thing today. Give me what you've got.

This is a reminder that at the outset of this, I did not guarantee I am going to write positive things about these albums. I still appreciate you all submitting albums anyways. 1. "You Won't Get What You Want" by Daughters 2. "Vile Luxury" by Imperial Triumphant 3. "II: Sojourn" by Wytch Hazel 4. "The Sciences" by Sleep 5. "Ruby" by Macy Gray I vaguely remember when Macy Gray hit. There was a lot of to-do about her voice and I never thought it was worth carrying on about. It’s like the same kind of grainy as D’Angelo, just with a higher timbre. As I’m writing this, I’m relistening to “I Try” to refresh myself. I hope this is giving you an idea of how often I’ve thought about Macy Gray since the turn of the century. So how did the album go?

Hi! Haven't forgotten about this! Finals this week! See you like thursday/friday! EDIT: also if you want me to listen to one of those records zakk you're going to have to pick one, I'm not listening to three for anyone else y'know?

I love this. Nothing makes me happier than tech companies announcing they're about to Sideshow Bob themselves to death. It's like they completely forgot that the reason they got their userbase was because LiveJournal banned "adult content." By the way, the actual paragraph of what they're going to be going after is a hoot. Here: "Don't upload images, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples —this includes content that is so photorealistic that it could be mistaken for featuring real-life humans (nice try, though). Certain types of artistic, educational, newsworthy, or political content featuring nudity are fine. Don’t upload any content, including images, videos, GIFs, or illustrations, that depicts sex acts." Top three things I love about this: 1) Their shitty fucking attitude. "ALL YOU REALIST PAINTERS PAINTING TITTIES ARE REAL WISE GUYS, EH?! I SEE YOUZE" 2) "female-presenting nipples." Because nipples are to breasts as Fats is to James Brown's Live At the Apollo. 3) "newsworthy or political content featuring nudity." So doxing, basically. Consensual porn bad, private photos stolen off of iCloud good. Got it.

CRUSADER OF CENTY [3] So I saw this in some article that was like "Sega Zelda-likes you haven't played!" that I think might have been on HG101? Regardless, it was the one game on that list I hadn't heard of. I know why. It's, like, fine? But the idea that someone would be screaming about this as like a fantastic Zelda-like is a little confusing. I'll probably keep playing it. HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER ON SWITCH [4] would it be unfair to call this my game of the year because fuckin hell I still love this damn game ICONOCLASTS [3] I bought this a week before I learned it was going to be free on PS4 next month. That's the only thing that keeps it from a 4. It is a very good metroid from the creators of Noitu Love, so it basically looks and plays like a sketch of "Video Games Of The Future" circa 1991. This is not a bad thing. It's very fun, it's got a really interesting world that is maybe at points a little too anime for my taste, and the action feels great. I'll finish it. I wish I had waited literally a week to start it.

My first impression of the Earl record is that it makes me extremely uncomfortable to think of all the people that are going to call it revolutionary and trailblazing like this isn't the path milo/scallops hotel has been journeying down for years. if you fuck with the Earl record, I beseech you, go listen to milo's output this year- sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face, Nostrum Grocers, and budding ornothologists are tired of weary analogies. You'll like them.

I appreciate your willingness to still participate. I might open it up to that if I come short of ten recommendations, and in honor of your suggestion I'll give you a second crack at it. I listened to Macy Gray today, but I haven't written it up yet. Probably wont until friday at the earliest. @Casey You're up next, do you still want to go with Courtney Barnett?

since everyone else is going to yell all the big budget stuff here's an indie foursome you should look into. Some of these also came out on PS3, but it sounds like you missed them there so it's worth seeing them regardless. Journey- Immense, meditative and touching. Spelunky- The kind of game you could play for a thousand hours and still see new situations in, and the father of the new wave of run-based games. Rocket League- The best sports game of the last decade. Hyper Light Drifter- Moody synthy Action Zelda (and probably my favorite game of the generation, check out its completely amazing trailer here) EDIT: Y'ALL BETTER SAY BLOODBORNE ON EVERY ONE OF THOSE LISTS BTW

lol surprise, you started with like The 2nd Most Complicated Weapon. If you're going for just raw thudding damage, the Hammer is like upper end of damage dealing but there's a pretty deep learning curve because the swings are so slow. You gotta learn your spots and the monster's moves to be really great with the hammer. If you want something big and bladed you might want to consider the Great Sword or Switch Axe (do not mistake with the Charge Blade, the #1 Most Complicated Weapon). Long Sword is also popular and good if you're way into Zatoichi movies. I personally use the least popular weapon in the game- the Hunting Horn- but I think it's a blast to use. Basically your swings play notes on a four note staff, and combinations of notes can become songs, and when you play those songs you get like buffs and resistances and stuff.

just curious, what weapon are you using

Hi! So I've played Fire Pro Wrestling World for something like 10,000 hours in my life? I basically play Fire Pro instead of watching TV or Movies and have since before high school. So I'd like to think that making wrestlers is a thing I'm good at, and that I have an amount of knowledge that people could find useful. So, I've started making a Wrassler Makin' guide, and I figured this place might appreciate it. The short way of explaining it is that this isn't a How To guide as much as it is a Why guide.

Turns out this update is out on Thanksgiving, so that's cool

Hey look more No Man's Sky

A polite reminder that you can still suggest records for this! It'll close on New Year's Day so just keep ‘em coming. 1. "You Won't Get What You Want" by Daughters 2. "Vile Luxury" by Imperial Triumphant 3. "II: Sojourn" by Wytch Hazel 4. "The Sciences" by Sleep I’m really, really biased. I’ve been trying to make these reviews come out one a week, and when Daughters got added to the list it was like an act of supreme will to not just listen to it first, write the review, and then post it later like “OF COURSE I LISTENED TO THEM IN ORDER LOL.” I love Daughters. I loved Hell Songs and the self-titled. Daughters back then is exactly the example of a band being in a genre but not being beholden to all these old traditions and openly questioning what makes heavy guitar music heavy. It’s not just a few pedals and decibels. At the same time, they’ve straight up called their new album “You Won’t Get What You Want” and the only single I’ve heard is a long, arena-rock-ish variant of their particular style of noise rock. So maybe I’m not ready for the Long Daughters Record of 2018. Here we go!

1. “Vile Luxury” by Imperial Triumphant 2. "II: Sojourn" by Wytch Hazel 3. “The Sciences” by Sleep I, probably unsurprisingly, know nothing about Wytch Hazel. I did not think I should google them because of that band name and a similar theory re: Imperial Triumphant, where I was afraid that what I would find would bias me. I know Curt said they’re Thin Lizzy-esque. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a Thin Lizzy song, or at least known as it was happening that it was a song by Thin Lizzy. So we’ve got our expectations set? Good. I’m at home for this one so no Bus Note Transcription.

For a tiny example, the first enemy in the Forest of the Fallen Giants in Scholar of the First Sin is now an Ogre. You know, this guy?

So it's worth noting that Scholar of the First Sin is a re-release designed with purposefully harder enemy encounters for the entire length of the game. It was the version put out a year later that's was also the PS4/Xbone HD Remaster version. So base, launch Dark Souls 2 and Scholar Of The First Sin are VERY different experiences, and if the first time you've come to the game is through Scholar, yeah, it's brutal and unfair and poorly made, because it's made for people that already know DS2 front to back. that thing about the boss design being bogus holds between versions tho

just thought I'd pop in and say I crossed 600 hours played yesterday thanks bye ("how," you may ask. well, instead of watching TV or movies I play Fire Pro.)

before I start, in Rainbow Six Siege terminology, to perform an Ace is to kill every member of the opposing team in one round without dying. It is a hard and uncommon act. Now. I JUST GOT MY SECOND ACE THIS WEEK FUCK WITH ME

I've been listening to this EP a bunch and I'm super conflicted about it- it's like Extreme Craftsmanship, both on flows and beats, but there's some stuff content wise I don't agree with. That said, this song is a jam.

1. “Vile Luxury” by Imperial Triumphant 2. “The Sciences” by Sleep I went into this knowing nothing about Imperial Triumphant whatsoever. I didn’t choose to look them up, because I saw that their name was the way it was, that the album was named what it was, that the tracks were named what they were, and that the cover art was what it was. I figured any additional information would further bias me towards disliking it, and so I chose to just press play without reading anything else. I made a lot of notes about this album, so get ready for a long read.

lol i didn't say that but go off