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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 years ago

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for the quiet night in ask: how did Grima make his way into your heart? And why do you ship him with Eomer? I've been meaning to inquire about this for long hehe (also I love your theme! think this is the first time I see it)

I am so sorry, you’re getting an ESSAY.

I’ve been wanting to talk about my Grima feels FOR SO LONG.

HE SNAKED HIS WAY INTO MY HEART.

Um, tl;dr I have a soft spot for the bad guys who clearly have a complicated history with those they are opposing and I think Eomer/Grima have a fun opposites-attract dynamic and I love a good redemption story.

I don’t touch on literacy and Grima in this because that’s strictly the films and it’s worthy of it’s own post entirely.

I’m trying to think best how to break this all out, because it gets a bit long and rambly. I’m using both book and films for this, as a note. Since I tend to mash up different aspects of those Grima’s in my head, give the guy some eyebrows, and call it a day.

So, first off, his history. Now, we don’t really have anything to go on in canon here. All we know, in both book and film, is that Grima “was once a man of Rohan” (ROTK). In the book, Gandalf says: “This here, is a snake. To slay it [Grima] would be just. But it was not always as it is now. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion.”

Grima evidently has served Rohan for some years at this point. We know that Theoden’s enchantment/possession began three years prior to TTT. In the books there is no possession. Theoden’s enchantment relies on the powers of words and their suggestions. Something Tolkien was well aware of carrying great weight and import in Anglo-Saxon culture. You tell a man he is old and infirm, he will become old and infirm.

I understand why Jackson went the possession route - explaining Anglo-Saxon engagement with galdorcraeft/witchcraft and the power of words etc. and how that influenced the development of Rohan in the span of like 7 minutes of screen time wasn’t happening. Possession works for the same purpose, but in a language the modern audience is familiar with - especially in visual mediums. Grima is circa 40 when TTT happens, same age as Boromir for reference. So, let’s say he’s been an advisor for 10/12 years at this point. He has therefore been a good servant of the king longer than he’s been a traitor.

Hence, the outreach. And, in Brad Dourif’s wonderful acting, Grima’s clear desire to go home to his king. In the book it’s more subtle. Grima chucks the palantir out the window at Orthanc and it’s stated that he wasn’t sure who he was aiming for, Saruman or Gandalf, because he couldn’t decide who he hated more.

Honestly? Legit. I would also hate the guy who reduced me to “it” pronouns. But maybe that’s my gender identity stuff playing up ;)

(Granted, in the full quote Gandalf reverts back to “he”, for context. And I’ve said this before, in another post, that it makes sense for Gandalf and as a writer, I agree with Tolkien’s decisions for that scene.)

Now, for some speculation. Not that I haven’t spilled a tonne already. MORE SPECULATION. This time bringing you long term effects of bullying and never having loving relationships modelled for you! Because LOTR, at the end of the day, is all about trauma and how maybe not to deal with it.

So - motives.

We know Saruman’s motives. Indeed, he tells them to us in FOTRK: “[to] have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see” and to achieve “the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends.”

Great. Super straight forward. And from the man’s own mouth.

Grima’s though, always come to us second hand. In the books it’s Gandalf telling us (Gandalf can mind read, so yes, maybe he is accurate). In the films, it’s Eomer guestimating.

But Grima never actually tells us, himself, what his motives are.

(a quick aside: if some dude is shoving me up against a pole and threatening me, and I hear someone walking by, of course I’m going to look over at them and it by no means indicates my desire to shag that person. Now, of course, we know from other scenes this is the case. I’m just saying. It’s natural to look over at the person walking by while you’re being jumped by the Third Marshal of the Mark who is twice your size. anyway.)

So what are his driving forces for treason? What made him go to this point of no return then keep going even when people offered him a way back.

It is important to note that his treason required him to forswear his oath to his liege lord. I don’t know how to convey what a big deal that would have been, in modern terms. But it would have been huge. Forswearing/reneging on oaths was a massive cultural taboo in Anglo-saxon [AS] England (and general, early medieval Europe).

And, as Rohan is based on AS England (I forget if Tolkien was cagey about this. He was sometimes a dumb shit and coy about things so was like “noooo it’s not STRICTLY AS England….but it’s clearly AS England with more horses and a light dusting of vikings and the Danelaw”), we can assume it carried as much weight for them as it did for the historical people.

(Indeed, it’s implied, if not directly stated, in the text what a big deal oath breaking is. Don’t say “oath breaking” too loud or the Silmarillion fandom will come out of the woodwork)

The big takeaway: BIG DEAL TO FORSWEAR YOUR OATH.

And he did it! Which is why I don’t buy the “it was because of Eowyn and like some nice jewels.” You don’t betray your country, you don’t forswear your oath to your king, simply because you’re hot on the king’s niece and Saruman might give you a raise.

And, as a liege man to Theoden, he was part of Theoden’s household so would have eaten, worked with, lived with everyone else in the household (Eomer, until he becomes Third Marshal; Eowyn; Hama; Theoden’s guards etc.)

So, you live with these people, eat with them, drink with them, spend all your time with them, for circa 10 years then you do a bunk and betray them? Something happened. I suspect it was years and years of things happening.

Overall, I think it to be a combination of things. As is usually the case for these sorts of crimes. In this case, a nice mix of fear, desperation, greed, resentment, anger and desire.

Fear/Desperation: So, to Grima’s mind the world is ending. Why wouldn’t he think this? Hell, even the Wisest and the Fairest (i.e. wizards & elves) think it’s ending. Why wouldn’t this poor bloke from some small country nearby to Mordor not think it an existential threat to an unimaginable degree?

Grima is sat here in Rohan looking at Mordor going "oh fuck" then who are the leaders left? Denethor (slightly bonkers) and Theoden (past his prime and lacklustre, like his father and grandfather).

This is not a man with a strong moral fiber. Or...any moral fiber, let’s be real. He does not have the fortitude to stick it out through hopeless situations. And it would have been hopeless to his eyes. And those around him (see: Eomer’s do not trust to hope… Sure Saruman was a problem, but he wasn’t just talking about the white wizard).

Gandalf’s plan, which none of these people were ever wholly aware of, was a goddamn Hail Mary pass and it worked. Barely, but it did. NO ONE had reason to believe it would, though. And those are people in the know. Not someone like Grima who has no fucking clue what Gandalf et al is up to. He sees Gandalf then like … Nazgul torture him on the planes of Rohan (Unfinished Tales). He sees Gandalf then bad things happen.

Lathspell indeed.

Greed & Desire: I don’t think I need to go into these ones too much. They’re pretty self explanatory. Grima and Black Phillip hung out and the goat asked Grima if he wanted to live deliciously and Grima, like any normal person, said: um, yes please? Also, Eowyn was around being badass, beautiful and untouchable.

Resentment/Anger: Alright, more probing in the dark. I suspect, for one reason or another (and these reasons would vary depending if you’re looking at books or movies), he was someone who was always treated as other/differently, teased, picked on, isolated, overlooked, doesn’t measure up to Rohan’s military ideal of masculinity. All of which creates an underlying resentment issue.

And nothing festers quite like resentment.

On top of that, I also suspect he was always told he was a snake/untrustworthy/not worthy etc. and if you're told something enough, and you don't have anything or anyone else telling you the opposite, there is a strong chance you become that thing.

It's a chicken and egg: the face you wear to the world tells the world how to treat you; the world tells you what you are and that is how you shape your face.

THEN you add in Saruman. Who is clearly, in the text, abusive. Which, if there were any inferiority/bullied etc. issues that are informing Grima’s actions, Saruman is just going to amplify it.

“You are a traitor because you’re a snake, and you’re a snake because you’re spineless, weak, nothing more than a creature that crawls on its stomach on the ground. Snakes are bad, evil things. Which is all you’ve ever been. Barely deserving of the good treatment I give you etc.” <-- all of which is basically a summary of what Saruman has been saying to him for a few years at this point (in the book, it’s only tangentially implied in the movies).

So Grima sort of morphed himself into what he believed himself to be, fuelled by that perversity resentment causes: Oh you think I’m a snake? I’ll be the best goddamn most poisonous snake you ever did see. Just watch me.

He is trapped in this situation. A hutch to trammel some wild thing in.

Which leads me to an interesting point that I think gets lost sometimes: Narratively, he and Eowyn are similar in what they are experiencing. Isolation, being overlooked, misunderstood/misrepresented, don't fit into societal roles and expectations etc. They just go in very different directions in how they respond to it.

I think that's why, in the film, it was smart to have her give pause and listen to him because what he's saying resonates. He is, in some ways, speaking as much for himself as her. But then, of course, he's also just trying to shit disturb and make mischief so of course, at the end of the day, any sympathy he is attempting to convey is laced with poison.

I do wonder, too, if he's the first person to see her fear and her frustrations and acknowledges them out loud. Which is powerful. To have someone see you. Damn shame it's Grima. Still, Eowyn (in the film) paused and listened for a reason.

A brief aside on my idle, ill founded thoughts on gender and Rohan:

One of the reasons I think Eowyn and Grima go in diverging directions, is that Eowyn is performing masculinity, in her society's accepted interpretation of it. Masculinity, in Middle Earth, is clearly the norm. And in Rohan, it’s a very particular iteration of military-focused masculinity that is idealized (you can bet, men who killed like 10 orcs were awarded places in court above Grima who served as advisor for like ten years but hasn’t killed an orc ever).

Eowyn’s desire to live/perform this more masculine ideal caters to the subconscious thing of “Masculinity is Natural Neutral Ideal” so of course you would want to be more like A Man. Whereas Grima is the opposite, not performing masculinity according to Rohan's accepted view of it.

And gods, in Anglo-Saxon culture (therefore, Rohan’s, most likely. I see no evidence to the contrary) is that a difficult position to find yourself in. Back in AS England, being called argr, unmanly, or to be accused of ergri, unmanliness, was one of the worst insults you could throw at a man (indeed, some laws said you could kill a man in retaliation for calling you such things). I would bet my shirt that people used such insults about Grima in this world. Which is all kinds of messed up.

Now, my interest in him is my general love for a good redemption arc for the most hopeless of characters. It’s why I struggle to call Boromir’s arc, when he’s written as living, a redemption arc. Because I don’t know he has much to redeem himself for. In his own mind, sure, yes, but externally? Not in my view, at least. He has things he’s done wrong and needs to make amends for. But that’s different from redemption.

Grima, on the other hand, is one whose walk-back from evil would be a full on redemption arc. And I like it because he’s not nice, he’s not pleasant. He will never be nice or pleasant or cheerful. But learning how to love and be a good person doesn’t require niceness.

Saruman could be plenty nice. Sauron could be plenty nice. Look what they turned out to be.

And in my writing, I do hope I’m treading that line between creating an understanding of who Grima is without Kylo-Ren-ing him. Or, woobiefying him, as the old parlance was. That’s the line I’m really aiming for. I want people to not hate him. I want them to understand him. Oh, still condemn him, still judge him, disagree with him, acknowledge and know he did bad things and isn’t a nice person. But the end game is to add some understanding and nuance.

Shades of grey.

Also I’m a sucker for challenging redemptions.

Why Eomer/Grima?

Because I am an agent of chaos.

More seriously, I was never overly taken with the Grima/Eowyn approach, personally, which is obviously popular (um...within the Grima world), and closer to canon. There are some beautifully written fics and art out there for the two of them, so if you’re into that. The creators in that nook of fandom are top notch.

I always liked the drastic opposite of Grima and Eomer. As I noted above, Grima and Eowyn are two sides of the same coin. Both bitter and resentful and trapped. And that’s a lot of fun to play with, and i get it. But for me, I love a good strong contrast of personalities in my pairings. (If that uh … isn’t readily apparent.)

I think both Eomer and Grima would have a lot to teach each other and in some really interesting ways that neither would expect. I can see both getting under each other’s skin in that way where you’re sort of always thinking about them.

Grima is also someone who has had very little love in his life (I suspect he wants it, he just doesn’t know how to give or receive it). Eomer is someone who has lost a lot of people (parents, quasi-uncle for a few years there. I think it’s why he’s so controlling over Eowyn. Didn’t want to lose her). And I think there’s something in there where they could help each other grow. But I’m a sucker for some beauty to be there, in the end. Some hope.

Mostly, though, I think it boils down to their dynamic and the angst potential. Eomer is this brash, forthright, fiery third marshal of the mark who may or may not think things through. Big of heart, dumb of ass. Then there’s Grima who is quiet and reserved, cynical, critical, always has a plan or five, gets by via his wits etc. Lots of fun potential there.

#LOTR #lord of the rings #the lord of the rings #grima wormtongue #rohan #eorlingas #LOTR meta #ask #reply #eomer

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zaphmann · 7 years ago

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mtraki · 6 years ago

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Cor Week Day 3

Day 3: “Training Crownsguard”

“Thirty seconds to contact.” Orvo heard his instructor, Migo, murmur to their brother-flight instructor, Kabrus, from his vantage in the two-row formation where they’d been waiting for approximately four minutes already. Anticipation was eating up his belly (though it could also be a desire for lunch) and he knew the same was true of instructors and trainees alike. It didn’t matter that this had already happened before, it still didn’t fail to boil through their adrenaline.

And this time, there was an additional reason to keep sharp.

The gymnasium door latch made a loud clang before swinging open, followed by the long booted strides of the Crownsguard Marshal, Cor Leonis, himself.

“Why aren’t these cadets training?” He demanded quietly, eyes taking in the two lines of dingy white fatigues and tense faces schooling themselves from excitement into attention.

“We thought it’d be easier for them to be ready for you, Marshal.” Kabrus shrugged lazily, attempting to cover for the tic in his jaw that indicated his increased anxiety.

“It’s not their concern to be ‘ready’ for me. It’s not me they have to worry about.” Then he paused, both in stride and in thought, hands folding under his arms as they crossed, “... Yet, anyway.”

Both instructors gave each other wry looks, as if sharing a private joke, “Well, they’re ready for you anyhow, sir.”

“We’ll see.”

Two words and Orvo’s pulse was racing. There was something so exciting about training directly under the Marshal. He was an exacting instructor, uncompromising in his standards--much like the instructors he in turn entrusted with their full-time training-- but knowing he was the Crownsguard Marshal, the Immortal, in the flesh, divulging his tactics and experience filled him with a measure of pride rarely experienced elsewhere.

What must it be like to live with such legendary excellence? The trainee risked the glance down the row toward the small, slim female with dark eyes-- the newest recruit in the flights. Trammel. A bunch of weird rumors had come out about her, most of them casting her in a bad light, but then it also came out that she was living with, sleeping with, or somehow otherwise scandalously connected to the Marshal, and that was why she’d made it through entry into training. Everybody had more or less written her off, after that, relegating her to derision and rumor-mongering. Marshal’s Pet.

Training under the Marshal was always one of the most exciting times of the year. This time, though, Orvo knew that just like him, everybody was that much more keen on figuring out whether or not the rumors were true. He could see Trammel blushing under everyone’s furtive scrutiny. Or was it something else?

“We’ll be doing a point-defense exercise in close quarters against multiple assailants.” The Marshal spoke again, his voice projected to reach every corner of the room without raising it and tearing Orvo’s attention off his fellow trainee, “Someone not on my payroll tell me why this is important.”

Orvo’s hand shot into the air, as did several others’, including Trammel’s.

“Ericks.”

“Sir!” Orvo’s blond friend replied instantly as everyone’s hand fell, “Point-defense is the primary strategy of maintaining control of an indoor environment. Close quarters fighting mitigates the danger of harming allies, civilians, or damaging valuable Lucian assets in confined spaces, and most attacks will probably not be conducted one-on-one.”

The Marshal’s arms remained folded, eyes fixed on the trainee as he spoke, “Right. Let’s go upstairs.”

“Sir?” Ericks queried uneasily.

“Upstairs? Marshal?” Orvo had never heard his instructor sound so confused and uncertain before, “... Are we cleared for that?”

It was a dumb question and everyone knew it the moment he spoke it. Cor was the Marshal of the Crownsguard, the head of Citadel security, second only to Lord Amicitia, Shield of the King, himself. Who was going to stop him if he wanted to teach his lessons upstairs in the tangling corridors and office spaces?

“Fall out,” Cor said instead of answering, “Elevator to your left, floor 83.”

The trainees dispersed in the orderly fashion that had been ingrained into them for the last several months. Orvo lingered, however, letting his murmuring peers flow around him like a great boulder in a rushing stream. He was a big guy already, and was only getting bigger, and could easily see over most everyone’s head. Trammel lingered as well. Cor ignored her, walking past her without a glance and crossed to Migo, where he momentarily placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I thought you were ready for me,” He said wryly.

“My mistake, Marshal,” The instructor sighed, “I’ll remember for the future that you get off on barely-organized chaos.”

“Train for the fight, not the exam.”

“I know, I know.”

The corner of Floor 83 where all thirty-two of them gathered featured a small break room, a store room, and the emergency stairwell. The Marshal organized the scenario for each trainee to defend access to the stairwell in close quarters from multiple attackers coming from either down the hall or the break room (which they did not see the set up of, as they were sent downstairs and called back up). The attackers included a random number of students and the two instructors, and an assortment of training weapons, so that the defender could not prepare for any particular arrangement, even after watching previous trainees attempt the exercise. The goal was to control the space after engagement for seven minutes, as that was the absolute soonest another Crownsguard could be guaranteed to offer support, or otherwise nullify the threat of the assailants-- such as apprehending or ‘killing’ them. The usual safety ground rules were in place-- well the Marshal’s usual safety ground rules-- so no blows to the head, neck, or spine, but otherwise strikes would not be pulled, as their training weapons were specifically designed to protect against lasting physical damage while at the same time dishing out all the punishment for failing to protect oneself. Stairs fighting was strictly prohibited-- as that was another lesson and exercise altogether-- and the windows were to be avoided like they were made of the most precious material on the Star, and one touch would shatter them.

The trainees drew lots for turn order. Orvo was nineteenth.

Paetro, in that smarmy, ass-kissing way he always had with the instructors, said, “Marshal, sir, will you be demonstrating first?”

Admittedly, every trainee gathered probably wanted to see Cor the Immortal in action, but none of them had the self-satisfied, over-inflated sense of importance to ask.

Blinking, the Marshal gave the curly-haired young man a long, long look, “You want a demonstration?”

“I think we’d all like to see how it’s done, sir.” Paetro insisted with an insufferable smile.

“Alright,” Cor said, “I’ll go downstairs and come back up. I want you and your most trusted friends to try and take this position from me.”

“M-m-me?”

“You wanted a demonstration. You’ll have the best seat in the house.” With that, the Marshal turned and headed down the stairs. There wasn’t room for argument, no matter how sickly pale green the trainee’s face turned.

“Pick his pet,” Someone muttered just loud enough to be heard in the corridor, “He’s not gonna hit her… But I wouldn’t mind if he does…”

“He won’t.”

They were wrong. Paetro selected two of his most competent flunkees and also Trammel, whom he treated with contempt perhaps more than any other trainee. The Marshal returned up the stairs, and after a rather harsh, “Well?” the four trainees moved forward. Pulling a worn, old training weapon from the aether in a flash of magic, the Marshal proceeded to smash them into the walls and floor. Each individual engagement was punctuated by a sharp instruction on how to improve their attack technique.

“Swinging wildly opens you here.”

“Watch your opponents trunk, not their hands.”

“Do not hesitate!”

“You’re off-balance. Always know where you feet are.”

He did not spare the young woman he was supposedly favoring. In fact, if Orvo had to be honest, he was probably the least considerate of her of the four.

After seven minutes, Cor called for a stand down, and the aggressor trainees pulled themselves slowly off the floor, nursing sizeable bruises (though Orvo was sure the Marshal did pull his strikes a great deal, despite his rules for the exercise) and returned to the line. Cor looked completely unflustered and dismissed the training sword and folded his hands in front of him.

“Now you have an idea of the goal. Let’s get started.”

(Edit: Now with better formatting! I’m so sorry everyone; I hate how mobile tumblr eats format changes D: )

#corleonisweek #ffxv cor #ffxv crownsguard #training #cor leonis

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jgthirlwell · 3 years ago

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2021 Year In Review

This year once again I invited some friends and colleagues to reflect on 2021

JG Thirlwell

Composer  Foetus Xordox Manorexia Steroid Maximus Venture Bros Archer

Here are a lot of albums I enjoyed in 2021, in no particular order.

Low Hey What (Sub Pop) Amon Tobin How Do You Live (NoMark) Caterina Barbieri Fantas Variations (Edition Mego) Michael Gordon and Cello Octet Amsterdam 8 (Canteloupe) Gazelle Twin and NYX Deep England (NYX Collective Records) / Gazelle Twin Welcome to the Blumhouse Nocturne OST (Lakeshore) Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders Promises (Luaka Bop) Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble NOW (International Anthem) Murmuüre Murmuüre (Bandcamp) Le Silo 3.27830 (Disc Union) Black Midi Cavalcade (Rough Trade) Red Fang Arrows (Relapse) Gojira Fortitude (Roadrunner) Royal Blood Typhoons (Warners) Alarmist Sequesterer (Small Pond) Melvins Working With God (Ipecac) Danny Elfman Big Mess (ANTI) Gaspard Auge Escapades (Because Music) Noveller Aphantasia (Bandcamp) Cheap Trick Another World (BMG) clipping Visions Of Bodies Being Burned (SubPop) The Bug Fire (Ninja Tune) Pan Daijing Jade (Pan) Blanck Mass Calm With Horses OST (Invada)/ In Ferneaux (Sacred Bones) Converge and Chelsea Wolfe Bloodmoon I (Epitaph) Hiro Kone Silvercoat The Throng (Dais) Space Afrika Honest Labor (Dais) Rob Aiki Aubrey Lowe Candyman OST (Sacred Bones) Andrew WK God Is Partying (Napalm) Jonny Greenwood The Power Of The Dog OST (Invada) The Fraternal Order of the All The Fraternal Order of the All (YouTube) Giant Claw Mirror Guide (Orange Milk) Sourdure De Mort Viva (Les Disques du Festival Permanent) Manchester Orchestra The Million Masks of God (Lomo Vista) Teho Teardo Elipses dans l'Harmonie (Specula) Idles Crawler (Partisan) Suryummy Polynators (Constellation Tatsu) The Armed Ultrapop (Sargent House) VoidDweller Employee (Bandcamp) Daniel Davies Spies (Sacred Bones) Muqata’a Kamil Manqus (Hundebiss Records) Sparks Annette OST (Milan) Caleb Landry Jones Gadzooks Vol 1 (Sacred Bones) Lana Del Rey Blue Banisters (Polydor) Zombi Liquid Crystal EP (Relapse) Ursula Sereghy OK Box (Gin and Platonic) Helm Axis (Dais) Squid Bright Green Field (Warp) Kyoka Is (Is superpowered) (Raster) Bryce Dessner / Ensemble Resonanz Tenebre (Resonanz Raum) All Traps On Earth A Drop of Light (AMS Records) Kemper Norton Troillia (Bandcamp) Real Loud Real Loud (New Focus)

Film and TV

Year of the Dog Bacurau Zola The French Dispatch Pen 15

Live performances

Didn't see too many this year but standouts were Tredici Bacci (three times) Idles Human Impact Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe King Crimson LustSickPuppy Lydia Lunch Tyshawn Sorey

Books

I read a ton of memoirs this year. Standouts were Mark Lanegan Sing Backwards and Weep Duncan Hannah Twentieth Century Boy Bruce Springsteen Born To Run Edward Norton Permanent Record John Lurie The History Of Bones David Crosby Long Time Gone Wayne Kramer The Hard Stuff

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Thurston Moore

Thirty killer recordings I had the pleasure to come across in 2021, all new performances from a galaxy of inspired lights. Keep on shinin’, friends! ---Thurston Moore / Sonic Life

1. Seafoam Walls - XVI (Daydream Library LP) 2. Xopher Davidson - Lux Perpetua (Daydream Library LP) 3. Wobbly - Popular Monitress (Hausu Mountain cassette) 4. Farida Amadou & Pavel Tchikov - Mal De Terre (Trouble In Mind cassette) 5. Luke Stewart - Works For Electric Bass Guitar (Triptickstapes cassette) 6. Ana da Silva & DJ Mooncup - Shouting Out Loud (Noods Radio cassette) 7. Joseph Nechvatal - Selected Sound Works (1981-2021) (Pentiments cassette) 8. Wharton Tiers - Wharton's Expanding Jazz Band (self released digital) 9. Moor Mother - Circuit City (Black Quantum Futurism LP w/ Playbill) 10. Michael R. Bernstein - Blind In Sight (self released cassette) 11. Marshall Trammell & Aaron Turner - Experimental Love I & II (Sige cassette) 12. Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem 2XLP) 13. Twig Harper - Classical Electronics (Radical Documents cassette) 14. Ava Mendoza - New Spells (Relative Pitch cassette) 15. Michael Morley - Electric Guitar (Radical Documents cassette) 16. Gerald Cleaver - Griots - (Positive Elevation LP) 17. Title TK - Metallic TK (self released cassette) 18. Sophie Cooper - Goodbye Gemini (Borley Rectory cassette) 19. Co-ed - s/t (Sludgepeople cassette) 20. Gergesenes - Exorcism of the Gerasene Demoniac (Banner Of Blood cassette) 21. Orphan Fairytale - Titania Moon (Ultra Eczema LP) 22. Joe Morris & Damon Smith - Gusts Against Particles (Open Systems LP) 23. The Bohman Brothers - In Their 70s (Fort Evil Fruit cassette) 24. Natalie Beridze - Mapping Debris (Monika Enterprise cassette) 25. Tasos Stamou & Alan Wilkinson - Whenever (Ikuisuus cassette) 26. Irons - Unto The Kingdom (self released digital) 27. Alan Braufman & Cooper-Moore - Live at WKCR May 22, 1972 (Valley Of Search 12”) 28. Nihilist Spasm Band - Nothing Is Hard To Do (But We Try) (We Are Busy Bodies 7”) 29. Gaahls WYRD - The Humming Mountain (Season Of Mist 10”) 30. White People Killed Them - (Sige LP)

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Tom Recchion

LAFMS

Best of 2021

Music Elephant9 - Arrival Of the New Elders and their whole catalog (Rune Gramophone) Gentle Fire — Explorations (1970 - 1973) (Paradigm Discs PD 35) Allen Ravenstine - Shore Leave & Electron Music (Wave Shaper Media WSM 05.6) Allen Ravenstine - Nautilus & Rue Du Poisson Noir (Wave Shaper Media WSM 07.8) Joni Mitchell - Archive Vol 1 & 2 -plus the whole initiative (I’m waiting on the vinyl for #2) (Rhino) Needlepoint - Walking Up That Valley and their whole catalog David Toop and Ryuichi Sakamoto LIVE (ThirtyThree ThirtyThree Records TTTT0070) David Toop, Akio Suzuki & Lawrence English - “Breathing Spirit Forms” (Room 140 RM4171) Doris Wishman - “The Best Of…” (Modern Harmonic MH-8236) Something Weird Spook Show Spectaular A-Go-Go (Modern Harmonic MH-8205) Psychedelic Sex Kicks -soundtrack (Modern Harmonic MH-8223) CAN - the 2 LIVE albums (MUTE/SPOON) Evind Aarset/Jan Bang - Dream Logic - “Surrender” in particular 2012 (ECM) Thomas Stronon - Mercurial Balm (ECM) Smegma - Name Of the Frame (Molokoplus Records Plus 135) Jefferson Airplane - Acid, Incense and Balloons (RCA 194398442617-RSD) Jimi Hendrix Experience - :Paris 67 (Dagger Records 19439893031) LAFMS - Los Angeles Free Music Society VOD box (Vinyl On Demand VOD171)

Music Rediscoveries/Reappraisals/New Appreciations John Lennon Plastic Ono Band The entire Jefferson Airplane catalog Radu Malfatti/Stephan Wittwer - Und? (FMP 0470)

Viewings Succession (HBO) Get Back (Disney+) P.S. Burn This Letter Please (Kanopy) Plan 9 From Outer Space (b/w & colorized) Anytime day or night The Mandalorian (Disney+) The White Lotus (HBO) Blown-Away (Netflix) The Great British Pottery Throw-down (HBO Max) What We Do In The Shadows (EFX) Velvet Underground the Todd Haynes doc (AppleTV) Jorma Kaukonen Quarantine Concerts from Fur Peace Ranch with on occasion Hot Tuna. Streaming performances every Saturday night. For Free. Stunning and so generous. (YouTube)

Books Joe Potts - “Daily Planet” Hesse Press Butte Free Music Society “Sputterring and Distorted/A Reluctant History Of the BUFMS/Butte County Free Music Society/ Encyclopedia Spastica by Fen Addison with S. Glass That's How Strong My Love Is by David Loehr Organic Music Societies by Lawrence Kumpf Along Comes The Association by Russ Giguere Canyon Of Dreams by Harvey Kubernik The World’s Worst: A Guide To the Portsmouth Sinfonia by Christopher M. Reeves, Aaron Walker, et al. The Lyrics of Syd Barrett by Rob Chapman A New Day Yesterday by Mike Barnes Side By Side by Robert Wyatt & Alfie Benge When Can I Fly/The Sleepers, Tuxedo Moon & Beyond by Michael Belfer Creatures of the Night That We Loved So Well/ TV Horror Hosts of Southern California by James M Fetters The Art of John Schroeder - Private Press Bruce Houston - An Exceptional Artist with an Odd Sense Of Humor - Private Press Bruce Houston - Hospital Drawings - Private Press

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Tim Parkinson

Composer

BOOKS Helen Marten - The Boiled In Between Polly Barton - Fifty Sounds The poetry of Jeff Hilson 3 volumes of Picasso biography by John Richardson James Castle: Memory Palace by John Beardsley

MUSIC Minds in Flux by George Lewis Xanadu by Mildred Couper String Quartet No.5 by Matteo Fargion Natural World by Laurence Crane The amazing live performance by Siwan Rhys and Mark Knoop of Çoğluotobüsişletmesi by Clarence Barlow Gated - Alex Ward (Discus) Electric music - John White (ANTS) Pain Olympics - Crack Cloud (Meat Machine) gwneud a gwneud eto/do and do again - Angharad Davies (all that dust) The Boring Music Show (keithfem.com)

TV/FILM P’tit Quinquin In Between Portrait of a Lady on Fire Vivarium Parasite Roma Bacarau Capernaum

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Felix Kubin

Composer

Some wonderful (re-)encounters and sad farewells.

Francoise Cactus (1964 - 2021) The queen of the Berlin underground. A real anarchist and a very dear friend who died much too young.

Peter Rehberg (1968 - 2021) A great personality with a true passion for independent, experimental music and a cutting sense of humour. His brilliant mind will be missed.

Alvin Lucier (1931 - 2021) One of the most important encounters of my life. I interviewed him in 2004 in New York for my radio play „Paralektronoia“. His idea to focus on the room reflections instead of the original sound source changed my view on music profoundly.

Bernd Schurer Suisse Klangkünstler, psycho-acoustician and film composer who I met 20 years ago. One of the last romanticists who has always lived his life to the extreme.

Victoria Keddie A brilliant video artist, musician, telescopist and curator with a glint of flamboyance in her eye.

Matt Wand Genius quick-change artist, transformer and plunderphonic confusionist. A collaborator of things unreal.

Lucrecia Dalt A sculptor of romantic electronic songs on the edge of the unorganic. Our messenger of alien night life. Outlandish, poetic and courageous.

Doug Shipton Doug, half of Finders Keepers Records and half a cypress tree. His friendship is a constant breeze of fresh air in my mental locker.

Booty Carrell One of my oldest friends. A fantastic (radio) DJ and archaeologist of the obscure paths of world music. Also a great supporter of young musicians. I need to visit him soon.

Knut Aufermann & Sarah Washington The most inventive and (in the best possible sense) megalomaniac radio artists and curators I know. Close friends and wine enthusiasts, too.

Lucile Desamory A supernatural film maker, performer, martial arts fighter and telepathic friend.

Marie Losier My dear Marie! A brilliant film artist who breaks all the rules with a thunderous laughter.

Sven-Åke Johansson A genius performing artist who - at the age of 78 - constantly amazes with inventive, bizarre and cheeky ways of playing his "exploded drum set".

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Teho Teardo

Composer

I dreamt the pandemic would have stopped us all being able to learn. Like a fracture, a refusal to absorb anything further. We didn’t understand it was happening. Unconsciously I guess I’ve been looking for answers in books, films, music. More than ever. Here’s something I think I’ve found:

3 books Claire Keegan - Small things like these Max Porter - The death of Francis Bacon Ernesto De Martino - La fine del mondo

3 music books John Lurie - The History of Bones Gilbert Rouget - La musique et la transe. Esquisse d’une théorie générale des relations de la musique et de la possession Eliane Radigue - Intermediary spaces

3 books I gave as presents Carlo Ginzburg - I Benandanti Chandra Candiani - Questo immenso non sapere Graham Duff - Foreground Music

3 books given to me Claire Keegan - Foster Kae Tempest - On connection Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing - The mushroom at the end of the world

3 albums Lump - Animal Masma Dream World - Play at Night Richard Skelton - Four Workings

3 albums I gave as presents Matt Sweeney & Bonnie Prince Billy - Superwolves Giancarlo Toniutti - Batlahatli David Shea - The Art of Memory

3 albums given to me Luigi Maramotti - Knot Music Xordox - Omniverse Massimo Toniutti - Il museo selvatico (reprint)

3 songs I wish I had written Pino Daniele - Appocundria (Because of my reoccurring dream in which I call a friend in Napoli pretending to speak neapolitan) Robbie Basho - Blue Crystal Fire The Ghost of Sauris (I suppose I wrote it, but I dreamt it was written by someone else, since I couldn’t fine anyone who has written it I guess it came to me as a dream, but I keep thinking it belongs to someone else)

3 songs discovered by chance using Shazam Charlie Megira - The Coochimama Swingers (bookstore in Brooklyn) Lee Scratch Perry - Having a Party (record store in Roma) Blake Mills - Vanishing Twin (taylor in Roma)

3 films L’isola di Arturo (Damiano Damiani) The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion) Todo Modo (Elio Petri)

3 albums I’ve just picked up from a shelf using a random numeric generator Vivenza - Réalités Servomécaniques P16D4 & Swimming Behaviour of the Human Infant - Nicht Niemand Nirgends Nie! Steroid Maximus - Quilombo

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MV Carbon

Composer / Perfromer

2020-2021 Abounding Sound

impaired data declares achievement sensitive souls drown in bereavement maskless spew infiltrates dew hope maneuvers the residue spike proteins, vaccines gouge our arm hinting we are far from harm delusions dissolve contemplation assumptions contaminate the population social media distorts our sense with vapid poses of self pretense grotesque beauty smears the screens comparing bodies, achievements, dreams deep fakes intimidate misinformation procures high rates speculations bubble on exposed lips supply chains coagulate with skewed ships consumerism blasts junk into space the wheezing earth melts in place landscapes rise like a tainted lung repulsions leech onto songs unsung games of stillness heal stress friendships seek more realness constrained voices contend to shout compassion eradicates fear and doubt rhyme rhythm music meaning dancing kissing crying gleaming abounding sound inspired together shifts life altogether

-MV Carbon

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Steve Moore

composer, Zombi

2021

I don’t know too many people who can honestly say they had a great year. I certainly can’t, but here are some things that helped get me through this mess.

Psycho Goreman It’s funny, violent, gory and even heartwarming at times. Great practical effects and creature design, and the cast was incredible - especially Mimi. Fantastic film, highly recommended.

Marvel’s What If… Full disclosure, most of what I watched this year was with my kids, so that skews things a bit. But having been a fan of the “What If…” comics series as a teen in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I truly appreciated the work they put in on this one. Some episodes are better than others, but the season finale pulls it all together in an incredibly satisfying way. And fun for the whole family!

Keith Mansfield - KPM ‘Vivid Underscores’ This album was originally released in ’77, but it just received a well-deserved reissue from Be With records. Library music is absolutely my jam, and this has been on my want list for years. Evocative underscores that will make your life feel way more exciting. I like to listen to it while cleaning, or driving.

Night Lunch - “House Full of Shit” I don’t know anything about this band and have not heard any of their albums, but a friend hipped me to this tune and it’s incredible. Definitely watch the video.

Pino Palladino + Blake Mills - “Ekuté” My favorite 5 and a half minutes of music released this year. I’ve been a fan of Pino since Paul Young covered Hall & Oates’ “Every Time You Go Away” back in ’85, and I love watching him mature and grow as a musician. The entire album, ‘Notes With Attachments,’ is incredible, but this song really does it for me. I’m a big fan of 70’s West African music and these dudes really nail the groove, and add their own special touch.

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John King

Composer

My 2021 Highlights:

music - (in no particular order)

Future Faith - Lime Rickey International

Dirge - Joanna Mattrey

Work for Upright Bass and Amplifier vol.1 (vol.2 releases 2022)- Luke Stewart

That Was Then, This Is Now - Christina Wheeler

Afrofuturism - Michael Wimberly

Migration of Silence Into and Out of The Tone World – [Volumes 1–10] - William Parker

Wild At Heart - Pauline Kim Harris; Chaconne Project

Cairns - Gelsey Bell

Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis - Matana Roberts (released 2019, acquired 2021)

i was gifted by a friend the complete live Hendrix/Band of Gypsys at Fillmore East 1969-1970 - "Songs for Groovy Children” - spent a good part of Jan/Feb 2021 with my guitar tuned down a half-step, playing along with, re-learning the tunes, licks, solos from this amazing set of 8 LP’s

Before going into live in-person recording sessions in the fall 2021, I re-discovered and also played along with the tunes/energies of: Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman

Black Unity Trio - Al-Fatihah

Julius Hemphill - Dogon A.D.

movies - The Present - Farah Nablusi (BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated) a beautiful 20min long film, which captures the brutal, unjust inhumanity of Apartheid Israel through the reality of what a Palestinian family must go through following “a day in their life”. A MUST SEE FILM.

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” - Ahmir “Qwestlove” Thompson more than a live concert film, this is about an era, the time of a “before/after” moment in culture and society. I hope Qwestlove makes a director’s cut that in 24 hours long, with ALL the live concert footage.

books - Against The Loveless World - Susan Abulhawa

You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat

The Little Edges (pub. 2015, acquired 2021) - Fred Moten

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Jason Berry

Nubdug Ensemble / Vacuum Tree Head

Favorite musical releases of the past year-or-so:

G Calvin Weston - Hydrogen 77 Frank Zappa - 200 Motels (50th Anniversary Box Set) Jair-Rohm Parker Wells / Robert Musso / G Calvin Weston - Wells Musso Weston Prince - Sign 'O' the Times (Box Set) The Galaxy Electric - Tomorrow Was Better Yesterday The Splatter Trio with Steve Benson - It's a Stool Pigeon Universe (book + CD package) Headboggle - Digital Digital Analog Pat Metheny - Side Eye NYC Pas Musique - Psychedelic Talismans Chris Potter Circuits Trio - Sunrise Reprise Dax Pierson - Nerve Bumps Stereolab - Electrically Possessed (Switched On Vol. 4) Pino Palladino and Blake Mills - Notes With Attachments Chansons du Crépuscule (Elliott Sharp + Hélene Breschand) - Aube Henry Threadgill Zooid - Poof Amanda Chaudhary - Meow Meow Band Xordox - Omniverse Interstellar Grains - Cubed

Recent reading, maybe not all were published this past year: Joy Harjo - Poet Warrior: A Memoir Malcolm Gladwell - Talking to Strangers Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens Colson Whitehead - Harlem Shuffle Elliott Sharp - IrRational Music Jim Woodring - And Now, Sir - Is This Your Missing Gonad?

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DJ Food

Music: Snow Palms - Land Waves LP (Village Green) Robert Fripp - Music for Quiet Moments (DGM) DJ Format - Devil's Workshop LP Trevor Jackson - Underdog 1993-1998 radio mix (NTS) CAVS - CAVS 12" (PHC) The Nevermen - Treat 'Em Right (Boards of Canada remix) DL (Lex) Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou LP (Fire Records) Jay Glass Dubs - Jungle Shuffle 12" (The Wormhole) Brian Eno - The Lighthouse (Sonos HD) Regal Worm - The Hideous Goblink LP (Quatermass) Ternion Sound - Dovetail (Kursa remix) 12” (Next Level)

Podcasts: Martyn Ware - Electronically Yours Ed Piskor / Jim Rugg - Cartoonist Kayfabe (YouTube) Stephen Coates - The Bureau of Lost Culture We Buy Records (Apple podcasts) Matt Black - Pirate TV (Twitch/FB/YouTube)

Gigs / Events: Vanishing Twin - Pensiero Magico live stream Jan 20th Alice In Wonderland @ The V&A Museum, London Savage Pencil @ OrbitalSpace, London The Light Surgeons 'Atemporal' @ Iklectik, London The The's Comeback Special premier @ Troxy Cinema, London Jonny Trunk's Groovy Record Fayre @ Mildmay Club, London People Like Us - Gone, Gone Beyond @The Pit Theatre, Barbican, London Anicka Yi - Aerobes @ Tate Modern, London

Design / Packaging: Hattie Cooke - The Sleepers LP (Spun Out of Control) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - live bootlegs series LP (Fuzz Club) Une - Spomenik LP (Spun Out Of Control) Cos - Mix LP (Finders Keepers) The Third Man Records shop in Soho, London Pepe Deluxe - The Phantom Cabinet vol.1 LP (Catskills) The Zen Delay (Ninja Tune / Erica Synths) Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra - Stylophonika (Spun Out Of Control) Brian Eno's turntable

Books / Magazines / Comics: Rain Like Hammers - Brandon Graham (Image) Bedroom Beats & B-Sides - Laurent Fintoni (Velocity Press) Decorum - Jonathan Hickman & Mike Huddleston (Image) Ultramega - James Harren (Skybound/Image) Anatomie Narrative - Samplerman The Black Locomotive - Rian Hughes (Picador) Kane & Able - Shaky Kane & Krent Able (Image) Tales To Enlighten - Matt King & James Edward Clark (Kickstarter) The Out - Dan Abnett & Mark Harrison (2000AD) 99 Balls Pond Road - Julie Drower (Scrudge Books)

Film /TV: Bathtubs Over Broadway (Netflix) Wandavision (Disney+) Sisters With Transistors - Lisa Rovener (BFI) What We Do In The Shadows Season 3 (BBC2) Martha: A Picture Story (Projector Films) Records - Alan Zweig (TVO) Big Mouth (Adult Swim)

#year end list #Best of 2021 #playlist #jg thirlwell #Thurston Moore #DJ Food #Jason Berry #John King #Steve Moore #zombi #MV Carbon #teho teardo #tom recchion #felix kubin #tim parkinson #LAFMS #foetus #manorexia #xordox

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