#the podcast is also just really good so check out other eps too!

[parttimesarah]

IT’S FINALLY AVAILABLE IN PODCAST FORM!!

[dear-kumari]

Okay, topical Malevolent ep 44 reaction. Based on the wiki, it looks like the characters' choices to not return to the windmill and to get the witch's body were made by voting patrons, which further convinces me that the votes don't improve or even significantly change the story most of the time. Whenever Jorthur (yes, Jorthur) make a Patreon decision they usually have to justify it in-universe with a little debate, and besides just being kinda tedious, the justification often doesn't line up with the story's action. The patrons understandably wanted to explore the hallways over the windmill, which was justified in-universe by saying Arthur was too weak and injured to climb back there. But then the only interesting loot on offer is a piece of the witch, and once they chose that there's suddenly a big pool in the way and the world's most stabbed man suddenly has incredible lung capacity (I checked, he's underwater for 3:20 minutes and is yelling as they're launched out) and can swim with a metal breastplate on and cut through limbs once he's down there. He even conveniently brought all his shit with him despite the potential for water damage, so they didn't lose their inventory by being unexpectedly spat out. (John doesn't even sound like he's all that worried about him drowning either lol, though that's a separate issue of him being a slow horror podcast narrator first and an active character second.)

I understand why you would gamify a story loosely based on a role-playing campaign, but as someone who already doesn't get the appeal of listening to other people play TTRPGs, I struggle to imagine what the patrons get out of this (besides financially supporting a show they like, obvi). It's not really like a role-playing game because you don't control everything the protagonists do or have the context you need to make the best decisions (in this case, the characters know they dumped the witch in a deep pool, but the patrons probably didn't), nor is it really like a choose-your-own-adventure story because you don't get to try the alternate paths and everything will lead back to the author's planned narrative anyway. It's good for the story but presumably not much fun for the players that the author has an outline and an ending set in stone iirc.

Since someone could see this and go "well here's when the voting really worked for me," I did want to be fair and find an instance where the voting mechanism (probably) led to a good story choice. I like that the seemingly innocuous choice to ring the doorbell in ep 33 leads Arthur to realize that he fucked up several episodes prior by leaving his name at the hotel. That was a nice reveal, and maybe the lack of context actually made the vote more fun. It would have been revealed either way by Daniel being shot at the door, but ig Arthur stopping him before he opened it saved his life or something, idk. It feels pointless to speculate on when we're never going to see what happens if he knocks. Ultimately the difference between that and ep 44 to me, a non-patron, is just that Arthur fucking up by trying to be smart and realizing it at the last second is a good story beat, one with a clear line between cause and effect. Jorthur faffing about in the halls when they apparently could've just left through the windmill and then diving with armor on to mutilate a woman's corpse because the author is on a birth imagery kick is not.

Uhh other thoughts, I guess I am pretty glad they're finally out of the weird yonic caverns, even if I can tell that Jorthur entering civilization will lead to more ~historical liberties~ that will cause me actual pain. The voice acting is great as always. I like Yorick. I don't like that we're getting more dad!Arthur moments because come on. Also personally I would not have named the cute owl sidekick after the heavily implied CSA victim with no voice or agency from Oscar's grimdark edgyboy backstory, but that's just me

[incomingalbatross]

Finished my first week (I don't go in on Fridays) of Commute Listening! (Plus a day technically because I did have to go in last Saturday.)

Here's the summary of the undertaking so far...and of just how much car/public transit time I've logged:

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 My beloveds--the only classical music that IS for sure on my faves list, because in the period when I had a CD player in my bedroom and about three CDs, these were two of them. Still not sure how well I could identify them, but I recognized them once they started playing and greatly enjoyed them.

Artifexian podcast ep 1. Interesting! All about worldbuilding. Just far enough removed from my own interests (yes I love fantasy, no I don't enjoy worldbuilding, it took me years to process that) that I can listen as, like, a spectator, but also listening to two people who do love worldbuilding makes me feel more positive about it. Like the energy.

Several Masses by Haydn (St. Cecilia, Mass in B flat, Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin). Beautiful, obviously, but... did not grab me. Might just be that Masses and commuting are not the right combination. Might be my chant-inclined mind going "you're drawing out the words too much." Idk.

Art of Manliness ep 1, about Easy Company. INteresting and informative—a window into a subject I wouldn't have sought out on my own.

Out Alive ep 1. About a skier buried in an avalanche! Again, not something I would have sought out myself, but hearing the skier and the other people involved talk about the impact of a crisis situation and near-death experience, without any polish or dramatization... oof. Really interesting.

Reply All Billed as a "podcast about the internet," the first ep was about a social situation enabled by the internet. Also interesting as a window into someone else's personal experience that I don't think you'd quite get in any other medium than this unpolished interview format. This time about relationships instead of death, though.

In the Wind (album) by Peter, Paul and Mary. Branching aside from classical for some folk, since I was in the headspace for something between podcasts and instrumentals. Good! I recognized several of the songs but definitely not all. They also reminded me of several other country and folk artists I could listen to if I want to keep going down that road, in addition to listening to more of their work.

Vivaldi Concertos for Diverse Instruments GOOD. I loved these! They got stuck in my head afterward! Definitely want to try more Vivaldi. Also reinforcing my theory that any kind of music is good music if it involves violins going wild.

Mozart Violin Concertos 3-5 ALSO very very good. And I think I could hear the cleaner/plainer sound of Mozart as opposed to the baroque I'd just been listening to.

My Writing Sucks podcast ep 1, in which an author lovingly roasts her 14-year-old self's writing. Very fun. Endearing. Kinda makes me want to pull out my oldest, worst writing and approach it from an outside perspective, which I think would be Growth if my fragile ego could actually follow through on that. :P Maybe after a few more episodes of this.

Pints With Aquinas episode 1. This is an introductory episode giving background on Aquinas, as opposed to later episodes which will have more actual theology. Already good, though. Little harder for me to stay focused than some of the more fun ones, but I'll be coming back.

Classics for Kids Short and educational segment about classical music. Definitely told me things I don't know! A little short and a little flat in delivery for my needs, but good stuff.

Stuff You Missed in History Class ep 1. Interesting, but same issue as the above—it was just short. I need to check if episode length varies, and if they're all short I might load up six or so at once to give it a better trial. It was interesting but I couldn't get much flavor from one segment.

In conclusion, this project is definitely a success so far. I've been enjoying my commutes even when there's traffic, and I feel like I'm taking in things that I enjoy and are constructive in some way! It's fun for me. And I have a bunch of podcasts in store for next week that I haven't even touched yet.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: June 2023

Summer months here we go! Just wrapped up my time with Zelda so I foresee more reading and tv in my future again. In the meantime, here’s how I spent June!

……….FILM……….

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Saw it twice and the first time was very nearly too much to take in. The second viewing was far less overwhelming and still a joy. While it didn’t feel like a complete story following Miles, at least there’s some satisfying conclusion with Gwen. I’m glad part 2 comes out in less than a year. 

Ali Wong: Baby Cobra (2016) Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood or maybe going with one of her older specials wasn’t the right call but I wasn’t really feeling it. I can see hints of overlapping themes that pop up in BEEF (which I loved and why I wanted to watch one of her specials) but that was more interesting than it was funny. Still gonna check out her other specials.

Goldeneye (1995) I have more memories playing the game than watching the movie but still a big fan of this flick. Really great characters and locales and I forgot just how comedic it is. So many one-liners! Always feels a little long at the end but worth it to see Boris’ death scene.

Encanto (2021) Late to seeing this and really great! Beautiful and personal and peak musical songs where characters basically ONLY share their personality through song.

……….TELEVISION……….

Ted Lasso (Episode 3.11 to 3.12) I was really dragging my feet about finishing the series as I found season 3 wasn’t as consistently enjoyable to watch. But those last two eps really stuck the landing. Some beats were expected, some were welcome surprises, and there were so many callbacks that were naturally woven in that I was really impressed. Some of the best from the season (and on par with the rest of the series) and I’m really glad I finished it.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Do "gun buybacks" work? by Vox A really succinct breakdown of how the US can do better, and an honest look at why this needs to be a part of a more complex plan. VIDEO

Agnostic TTRPG Prep Method by Map Crow Really fun way to use all the books that you’re not currently using! Watch the vid and then if you like the process you can pick up the bundle HERE (not affiliated, just a fan). VIDEO

The Station Toronto Needs by RMTransit Hey I’m a big fan of trains and I just found this channel. This was my first introduction to them but I’m keen to watch more. More trains! VIDEO

How Editing Creates Comedies That Make You Cry... by The Editing Podcast Another channel I recently came across and I’m keen to watch more. I know very little about editing but am keen to learn more.  VIDEO

……….READING……….

Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (Page 7 of 285) Clearly I’ve only just started this (thanks to me dragging my feet on The Righteous Mind) but really excited to dig deeper. The prologue is the original essay that inspired the book and that alone already has so much in it! A really great primer and I wasn’t expecting it to lay a lot of the blame at capitalism’s feet so I think it’s gonna be a great read. 

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Complete) The first time I read this (at a time when the COVID-19 vaccine was just coming out and folks were choosing not to get it) the book really helped me understand the reasoning behind other people’s choices. For that it was really helpful. This time around, with more time and more political moves behind us, I find it glaringly obvious just how out of touch (or conservative-leaning) this book is. There’s a whole section about how the free market and capitalism is good for healthcare. Wild stuff. If you want more in-depth reviews explaining why this didn’t sit right with me this time around, I found Storygraph had a lot of great write-ups (also Storygraph is great if you want an alternative to the amazon-owned Goodreads).

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 12 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Listen I sing this series’ praises every time I read a volume and this is no different. Somehow the story, setting, and characters grow while still remaining connected to the main theme of “what if we ate the monsters we fought in an RPG?” It’s truly top-tier and I can’t stress enough that if you like charming, funny, expertly-illustrated comics, you should try out this series.

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Elizabeth Dismang (Complete) Really fun read. Old Hollywood murder mystery with a lot of really nuanced characters. The resolution felt a little abrupt and unsatisfying, but without giving anything away I think it was appropriate. I’m also not sure if it was a stylistic choice but all of the women have different shadows than the men. It feels like they’re living in two different worlds but maybe that’s intentional? Still really great.

……….AUDIO……….

PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation by King Gizzard (2023) Loved King Giz’s first foray into metal and this continues that trend. I may not love everything that they do, but I love that they do everything that they do.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday Crew is currently up against a young dragon (Dragonette) plaguing a mine (recap HERE) while the Mof1 Crew is divided across Munchkin District and each dealing with their own small crisis. They say never split the party but I think the trouble gets way more interesting when you do.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo) Finally moving on from this after countless hours spent in this world and it’s all bittersweet. Loved the familiar stuff, loved the new stuff, and loved the overall arc of the game. Hopefully the next game in the series goes back to something smaller and focused.

And that’s it. See you in July!

[ah0yh0y]

tagged by @ribcagelikepiano for the get to know you game!! thx friend !!!!!

questions: last song you listened to, currently watching, currently reading, current obsession

last song: Come Hang Out by AJR off the top of my head by my tabs say Providence by Poor Mans Poison . Come Hang Out feels so nostalgic to me even if i only listened to it recently reminds me of a graduation song (it came out 5 yrs ago so it makes sense. I just really love Poor Mans Poison's vibes generally great fuel for daydream and also matches well with the feeling of revolution (and seeing everything collapse i guess.) (ish) mentally listening to Your Love is All I Need by Sami Yusuf tho at all times lately, probs because i have been trying to wean myself off listening to music for like the 50th time. (its slow going but IM GONNA TRY inshaallah ill be able to do it) (he also took the old nasheed music video off his channel? sad its so good)

currently watching: does d20 mentopolis count? only watched one ep but its good. i havent watched anything regularly besides like school vids for a bit. tried watching the dragon prince s5 when it came out but buffering (the video player i mean) and dissatisfaction at the pacing and characterization kinda stopped me. ill back on it at the end of the yr when everything is settled. if we are talking about podcasts started relistening to wolf 359 and keeping up with the greater gatsby (the latter has SUBLIME noir vibes as it is a noir i bloody love shipwreck's work it scratches that itch in my brain so well) . i may have seen spoilers for wolf 359 so i am anxiously waiting to see if i am proved wrong but im on s4 so its soon prepare for a barrage of reblogs for it. watched s4 of malory towers it was very nice i cant wait for s5 - the pantomime hopefully we get new members for the older years next season i miss the larger cast

currently reading: not much really. fanfic alot. i guess. caught up to the end of the To Make a Legend series on ao3 (pjo) and other fics for a couple of other fandoms (in one false move by Kalidium is really good if your into murder most unladylike - spoilers for A Spoonful of Murder though) also been reading barbie 2023 fanfic? was bored and started hunting for good ones (slim picking at the moments but if you want character study and grief and some bloody good writing def read something in me in you by telm_393 i cant explain it its that good) also reread My Memories Came Back in the Form of Someone Else by Lucy_Luna yes its that really good spiderverse fanfic do check it out

BESIDES THAT THO in terms of actual books. have the audiobook saved for The Valley and The Flood so gonna listen to that later. Have to read The Hate Race for class (not my fave but i need for analysis ive read it like 3 times but I STILL DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING) .

started rereading The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes a couple of weeks ago ahead of the movie coming out at the end of this year but never got the chance to finish it so ill have to get on that too.

also dracula ive been reading as well but more on that the next section.

current obsession: re:dracula is the first that comes to mind im so bloody invested in jonathan's wellbeing and his relationship wiht mina and the whole story its insane . i should read more older books its good . re;dracula DOES SUCH A GOOD JOB AT SUCKING YOU INTO THE STORY THE VOICE ACTORS REALLY MADE IT FOR ME i just cant with ti it makes me so bloody happy!! Renfield's voice actor is a standout for me everytime he's there i just have to pause and stare at a wall. also jonathan's actor as well hes SO GOOD i was geniunly worried about jonathan not sending me voicemails into my phone i was THAT endeared to him

besides that PLAY IT BY EAR the musical improv show by dropout is also a obsession of mine i cannot with their talent. the MUSIC so good i want to play it all the bloody time . i am in absolute awe in the performers ability to create a story and TIE IT ALL TOGHETER SO WELL like every piece of information is used whether you expect it or not . DN THE BAND OH GOD I DONT KNOW HOW THEY SO IT THE MUSIC IS SO FUN AND CREATIVE AND FITS THE MOOD AND MADE UP ON THE SPOT???!!! HOW I DONT KNOW (if u ask me who my favourite guest star is at the moment its ross byant hes an absolute delight whenever he is on a d20 show- the improvised shakespear episode blew my mind)

anway THIS SI LONGGGGGGGG soz

no pressure tags: @filmloser04 @mistichallow @charlies-a-thief

@literallymahir @quotidian-oblivion @monochrome-anomaly @suksiili @miseria-fortes-viros and anyone else that wants to join!!!! (you dont have to do a brain dump like me i always go overboard)

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (28 May-3 Jun 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰Where You Are (lemonoclefox) - 45K, modern no powers stucky - a sort of 'Falling Inn Love' AU [reread]

🥰Waking Up Slow (odetteandodile) - 44K, shrunkyclunks - single dad Bucky, living in a isolated lighthouse in Canada, finds an amesiac, just thawed Steve Rogers washed up on his beach… [reread]

🥰👂‍Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes #1) (Travis Baldree, author & narrator) - delightful, warm fantasy about retired orc barbarian Viv deciding to open a coffee shop and the found family she accrues along the way - when i started listening to this i was like, whoa this author is a really good narrator and it turns out that's his other profession.😆so yeah, excellent audiobook

🥰Pages To Fill (Legends & Lattes #0.5) (Travis Baldree) - prequel short story (also included after the main text of L&L published book)

🥰Calico Skies (musette22, author; britbrit99, artist) - 52K, shrunkyclunks - super hot carpenter Bucky, demisexual steve [reread]

😊So Alive (GottaSaveBucky (Cosmic_Entity_1of4)) - 109K, stucky no powers modern AU - bookstore mgr baby bucky, comics writer/publisher daddy steve - very schmoopy, a tiny bit silly & OTT, good smut; a bit of copaganda for plot reasons (i.e. the cops are friendly and on their side) but still enjoyable

😊At Last (Caedmon) - 69K, BlackBonnet modern AU, wedding planner Stede+caterer/bar owner Ed

💖💖 +262K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Slide To Answer series (relenafanel) - MCU: stucky, 13K - very funny & cute modern wrong number AU [reread]

I Wanna Kiss You (But I Want it too Much) (xiaq) - Stranger Things: steddie, 13K - loved this! - all outsider POV, especially loved Wayne's OC boyfriend

wanna have fun (and be in love with you) (CoraRochester) - MCU: stucky+thor, 15K - modern no powers AU, established stucky adding thor - very, very hot [reread]

some of them want to use you (some of them want to get used by you) (voxofthevoid) - MCU: stucky+thor, 14K - mer!bucky/hydra!steve, A++ quality hot tentacle sex [reread]

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Um, Actually - s3, e8-12

Ted Lasso - s3, e12

TJ Alexander | Chef's Choice (in conversation with Cat Sebastian)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tick Collection

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - Trusting Ted Lasso to Stick the Landing (with Alex McDaniel)

Re: Dracula - Bonus 2: Victorian Class and Gender

⭐The Soundtrack Show - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial - the Music (Parts I-III)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Woman with the Handbag

Shedunnit - The Villa Murder

Re: Dracula - May 31: New Scheme of Villainy

⭐Vibe Check - Dear Prudence with Sam, Saeed, and Zach

ICYMI Plus - The Only People Who Made Money From Tumblr

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Koutammakou

Ologies with Alie Ward - Black American Magirology (FOOD, RACE & CULTURE) with Psyche Williams-Forson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Tonopah Mining Camp

⭐99% Invisible #415 - Goodnight Nobody [rebroadcast]

Welcome to Night Vale #229 - The Accused

Song Exploder - Feist "In Lightning"

Richmond Til We Die: A Ted Lasso Podcast - KG • Paul on Ted Lasso

Into It - What Was 'Succession' Really About? And Is 'Ted Lasso' Over or Not?

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - OK, Lamp!

Switched on Pop - Listening 2 Daft Punk: Human After All / Alive 2007

Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein - James Lance

Off Menu - Ep 194: Tim Minchin

ICYMI Plus - Meet NPR’s TikTok Boy

⭐You're Dead To Me - Medieval Irish Folklore (Live)

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Tina Turner

Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John [Juliana Hatfield]

Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police [Juliana Hatfield]

Xanadu (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Presenting Olivia Newton-John

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Southern Culture on the Skids

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult

Homework [Daft Punk] {1997}

Discovery [Daft Punk] {2001}

Human After All [Daft Punk] {2005}

[jlf23tumble]

Hello Jen~ Really love the American Ivy Podcast (thanks also anon that sends this rec) it's sooooooooooooooooooooooo interesting and the voice was so soothing yet intimidating as well (just like Louis' lmao) anyways do you know any other great podcasts I should listen to? Might leave #this fandom for a while after seeing the most bland and stereotypical "babygirliest" thread, my god, I need to bleach my eyes and slap a gender studies book on the big blogs here. I cannot-

btw thank you for the podcasts rec in advance :)

I need to bleach my eyes! REAL! Anyway, I definitely have some podcasts I'd recommend, assuming you haven't checked 'em out yet:

Seasons 1 and 2 of Articles of Interest (American Ivy is actually season 3, but godDAMN Avery covers some good ground on the earlier ones, too, like pockets and kid clothes and those French dolls I'm obsessed with)

Table Manners, with Jessie and Lenny (I usually pick and choose based on who's the guest, but both Paul Hollywood and Rina Sawayama are good ones to start with, if you want a taste)

Every Single Album with Nora and Nathan (they've branched beyond Taylor to cover Adele, One Direction, etc., but their love for Taylor, their knowledge/wit, unrivaled)

Celebrity Memoir Book Club with Claire and Ashley (another one where it pays to pick the celeb you want covered, but the tear down they did on Matthew Perry's book, OUTSTANDING...I'd also rec fast-forwarding through the first 5 minutes or so of each ep unless you want to hear about their weekends, I just wanna get to the book)

Grounded with Louis Theroux with, uh, Louis (doesn't have enough episodes, give me more! But the ones that are there are great!)

What I Will Say with Cam (serves up some oft-times unhinged Gaylor, but Cam is ever-calm and cool)

Still on my list to listen to (after I catch up with the latest installments above) = Tagline (rec'd by Avery), Fair Game (love Leah and Mike and their pursuit of Scientology), FluentlyForward (rec'd by lots of people)...I'm a bit meh on Music Now and Popcast and the Ringer and 99% Invisible and the 60 Songs That Defined the 90s or whatever because of my love/hate relationship with the various hosts, but I like the subjects covered, so they're on the fringe of my listen list, like, if I get desperate, I might give an ep a listen. If you have any recs, send 'em along!

[bugtransport]

rtom posting ↓

oh my god first off do NOT ever look up a podcast. people on reddit are fucking #posting. i have never in my life seen so much discourse about whether people should or should not say dice rolls in a podcast. do you know how many other options are out there

anyway i started rtom: nethermurk and dare i say we are so fucking back? post-taylor i feel like this is one of the first times they've really had their feet on the ground in cordelia. i have no idea what went on there and i will not speculate but god i HATE when people who make things won't just let people post on their own social media that they like something without popping in to say hi. i think there's a fine line between interacting with your audience and [checks notes] popping into a salt thread on reddit to be like "wow i wish i didn't read this today :(" and taylor was certainly the latter. i did check his twitter and noticed that he apparently wiped a good portion of his tweets from existence so maybe he realized that what he was doing was unhealthy. in any case whether that had anything to do with why he left the show and they had to go through a network switch i will never know but i can sure wonder about it. truly seemed like a guy who took too much on and didn't know what to do when he got overwhelmed with it all.

as for the show. i REALLY like the dual dm setup they have going on so far. one of my only qualms with the show is that chris tends to be fairly quiet when playing a character BUT HE ALSO HAS REALLY GOOD IDEAS so whenever he gets a focus it really shines. having him dm is super fun and i like that branson also gets to do npc voices. it's cool having the two of them go back and forth. never thought of that as something that could work. i'm only like an ep and a half in but i can also say that i think everyone made characters that really fit the kind of character it seems like they like to play. i have a horror story that i'm not going to tell about one i heard because it's a little mean but people can pick a character that's a bit out of their comfort zone and it is not always a pleasant experience to listen to. i like that there are already preestablished relationships bt characters that are with different players than the ones they've had before; i think that the draw of actual play podcasts is finding a group of people who play in a way that comes off as comfortable and familiar with each other and that does it for me

piss harbor felt like it was just killing time and having fun while waiting for things to settle down before they could actually make something story driven again and i feel like whatever was hashed out behind the scenes there is gonna make me wanna keep up for a while here. rudesday is back baby

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

re: trusty hogs: the sam campbell ep is also rly good, and as for the nish kumar ones i'd recommend the second one more than the first, not that the first isn't good, just that the second is one of my favorite podcast episodes of anything ever. the recent hannah gadsby and rhys nicholson eps are also great. the desiree burch one isn't particularly funny, but she is so smart and says a lot of really insightful things i think

Cool, thanks, I'll check that out! Desiree Burch is always brilliant on podcasts; I think on pure measuring of intelligence - by whatever measure intelligence can be reasonably measured, which is probably a very problematic thing to try to measure, but however that works - she has to be one of the smartest comedians out there. She's very funny when she tries to be, but she's intelligent and insightful all the time.

Anyway, I digress, thanks for the recommendations! I'll keep those in mind. Incidentally, to other people, this is the time to recommend me things. I frequently get messages while I'm in the middle of listening to some other long-running thing, telling me I should check out something else, and I don't do it because I cannot listen to anything else until I've finished every little bit of my current long-running audio thing. 2024 has been mostly taken up with that stuff so far, first the Robins + James radio/misc. John Robins stuff, and then the collected works of Peacock & Gamble.

I finished those before I went to the UK, and am now deliberately not starting anything new for a little bit, as I catch up on the streams and other Edinburgh shows, things like that. But I still need stuff to listen to on my work commutes/breaks. Last week I listened to most of Paul F. Thompkins stand-up albums, that was fun. Next week I'll finish those and I've got that Delightful Sausage radio thing, and a few episodes of this podcast now. Any other short audio thing that people think I should check out, let me know now, before I end up too buried in some months-long project to pay attention to anything else.

Will not listen to people talk about: food, anything magic or supernatural (unless purely fictional, let me know if any good comedians have a podcast about fantasy novels), movies. It really shut down that Peacock & Gamble stuff at the end of the double act, I'm not following whether either of them went (not quite true as there's a good chance the next thing I get into is Ian Boldsworth's solo radio stuff, but I'll leave a bit of time first, also I still have to get to Pappy's Flatshare thing eventually).

[newmusickarl]

New Year, New Music - Welcome to 2024!

2024 is here and we have been spoilt with an avalanche of great new albums and tracks already in January. From early Album of the Year shouts to month-defining grooves, as ever I’ve tried to cover as much as possible.

Of course, some of the month’s biggest releases will be covered in the upcoming new episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast. For those new here, this is where I take a seat alongside 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt and Check This Out’s Kiley Larsen to review five high profile album releases from the past month in music, and ultimately name one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For our first episode of 2024, the five albums we will be discussing are:

Sadness Sets Me Free by Gruff Rhys (poll winner, thanks for voting!)

Big Sigh by Marika Hackman

MADRA by NewDad

Wall of Eyes by The Smile

Three Bells by Ty Segall

If you want to listen to this or any previous episodes on Spotify simply click the link below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram and Twitter for more news and polls relating to the podcast, along with other great content like film reviews, sports articles and more.

Listen to the 2023 Album of the Year special episode here

Album & EP Recommendations

Prelude To Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party

Hype. Hype. Hype.

It’s funny, in recent memory anything that has been overhyped musically hasn’t really landed with me. Rock duo Wet Leg were being billed as a revelation and the best thing since sliced bread, but what I found was a very average band making, to me, overly repetitive music. Supergroup trio Boygenius were then one of my most anticipated records of last year, going on to receive universal acclaim as the best album of 2023. Sadly, I thought it was a good rather than great album and, in the end, it didn’t even make my Top 50 for the year. It seems over-expectation can be a curse and if there’s one band carrying that with them right now, it’s London-based quintet The Last Dinner Party.

In just three years, The Last Dinner Party have gone from forming to being signed to Island Records, to then playing talk shows around the globe and winning both the Brits Rising Star award and the BBC’s Sound of 2024 poll. Such is their meteoric rise to fame, there is constant talk of them being an “industry plant” – which of course is all absolute rubbish. But this type of extreme hype, scrutiny and expectation would be too much for any band right now to live up to – except The Last Dinner Party.

The singles in the build-up to this, the release of their debut album Prelude to Ecstasy, made it obviously clear that The Last Dinner Party were well worthy of all the attention they were receiving. Art-rock and baroque pop bangers packed with jaw-dropping vocals, scintillating guitar riffs, poetic lyrics rooted in feminism and, of course, their own captivating energy. So, I went into this album expecting greatness and I’m incredibly pleased to say, that is exactly what I found. Make no bones about it – Prelude To Ecstasy is a generational debut album that is truly exceptional in every way.

From the moment the grand orchestration of the opening title track greets your ears, you are pulled into Last Dinner Party’s stylish, richly-textured world. Burn Alive then cranks things up several gears, with singles Caesar on a TV Screen and On Your Side also carrying the momentum. Beautiful Boy is then a real standout, a gorgeous ballad about male privilege split into two parts that closes out a strong first half.

But as the album title would suggest, the first half is merely the build towards the triumphant grand finale and the stretch of six songs that make up the second half is a truly glorious crescendo. From the dramatic transition from Gjuha into Sinner, the towering guitars of Portrait of a Dead Girl and then the fist-in-the-air elation of the anthemic Nothing Matters, it pushes the album into masterclass territory. Closing track Mirror then brings everything full circle, pulling together all the elements that have made the previous 11 tracks so utterly engaging and life-affirming.

This debut from The Last Dinner Party really feels like a moment for British music, with the only thing I feel it is akin to is that of the Arctic Monkeys some 20 years ago, or Oasis another decade before that. Like it or not, The Last Dinner Party are the future of British rock music and they’ve made one hell of a statement as to why they are the chosen ones. So, stop with the industry plant nonsense and just give them and this album all the praise in the world – they deserve it.

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Saviors by Green Day

Let me start by saying that pop-punk legends Green Day were one of my first musical loves. As a teenager I discovered them through their “Best of” compilation International Superhits, before then diving through the rest of their catalogue. Then when their political rock opera American Idiot came out, that changed everything – to my teenage self along with my close groups of friends, it was a lightning bolt. So much so, our parents hired a van to take us down to Milton Keynes Bowl to see them in the Summer of 2005 – my first ever live show and still to this day, one of the best.

Sadly though like all first loves, Green Day kind of came and went. Follow-up album 21st Century Breakdown had its moments but ultimately didn’t hit quite like its predecessor and by the time triple album ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tre! dropped, I was over them altogether. However, I have still kept tabs on them since, dipping into each new record as it has come along but not getting particularly moved by what I have found. But when I read some reviews for Saviors and the record being described as “a return to form” and “their best since American Idiot”, I had to dive in to see if this was true. Whilst by no means on the level of their earlier work, I’m pleased to say that both those statements were indeed true.

If like me Green Day are prone to give you a nostalgia hit, then there will be plenty to enjoy with Saviors. The opening run of songs is particularly good fun, with opener The American Dream Is Killing Me playing out like a lost cut from American Idiot before Look Ma, No Brains! delivers a rip-roaring slice of punk. The next group of tracks are then the best on the whole record, from the angsty waltz of Bobby Sox to the rifftastic One Eyed Bastard, through to the melancholic rock of Dilemma and the nostalgia-soaked sounds of 1981. Honestly, I’m as surprised as you that Green Day could sound this good in 2024.

That said, at 15 tracks long the album does lose a bit of momentum around the midway mark, with the trio continuing to walk well-trodden ground but to less effect. However, they do pull it back somewhat in the final stretch, with the short, sharp and punchy Living in the ‘20s, the anthemic title track and the bluesy Fancy Sauce.

By no means perfect, it’s still great to hear Green Day deliver a solid effort again after all this time. With plenty of enjoyable moments, lots of fun riffs and a warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, this was January’s big surprise package for me, and one I was happy to receive.

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Letter To Self by Sprints

What was it I was saying earlier about hype?

One of the most talked about albums of the month, you couldn’t escape the buzz around this debut from Dublin-based, garage-punk outfit Sprints. With near universal acclaim and more than a few “early Album of the Year contender” shouts from the music press, I went into this one with a heap of expectation. Like a lot of records hyped up to the moon over the last few years, it was another that left me lukewarm on the first couple of plays. However, with the expectation then removed, I eventually started to see this Sprints record for what it is – a decent, albeit not groundbreaking, debut from a promising young band.

Everything that’s great about Sprints is served up in opening track Ticking, with Karla Chubb’s angsty howls and ominous guitar play the quartet’s driving force. From there it is pretty much more of the same with the band propelled by a relentless energy that lands their songs somewhere between The Mysterines and their Irish compatriots in Fontaines D.C. and The Murder Capital. However, when they breakaway from their core sound that’s where the highlights come for me, such as the whirring acoustic strums of Shaking Their Hands and the poetic rhythms of Literary Mind.

With a frantic pace and a runtime of just over 30 minutes, it’s a record that is over before you know it and, given time, leaves you wanting to return back to hear it again. An album I’m sure will hit hard in a live setting, whilst I don’t love this record like I know some fans and critics do, it has left me keen to see where the quartet go next.

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Iechyd Da by Bill Ryder Jones

Another record that hasn’t been short on praise this month has been the fifth solo album from Bill Ryder-Jones. Like his previous work, this is another album that leaves me slightly conflicted, as there are indeed moments of outstanding beauty scattered within, but there are also moments which can tend to drag. That said, whilst it hasn’t completely won me over, I can more than see why many have been fully captured by it, with beautiful songs like the string-tinged If Tomorrow Starts Without Me, the soaring slow march of This Can’t Go On and the radiant majesty of Thankfully for Anthony.

At times a towering work of genius and at others simply stuck in the mud, the positives ultimately outweigh the negatives and when Iechyd Da hits, it hits harder than anything released this year thus far.

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American Dream by 21 Savage

Enjoyable rap records have sadly become a bit of rarity in recent years, but thankfully January has already gifted me two that I have had fun spinning. First-up is the third album from British-American rapper 21 Savage, who has delivered a captivating new autobiographical project that coincides with an upcoming biopic starring Donald Glover and Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin. With guest appearances from the likes of Doja Cat, Travis Scott and Metro Boomin, Savage tells his tale as only he can, with honesty and clarity. There’s plenty of highlights too such as The Shining-inspired single redrum, the ominous strum of trap-groove pop ur shit and soulful closing track dark days.

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All Is Yellow by Lyrical Lemonade

A project that has been met with a universal shrug of “meh” by music critics, this compilation from Cole Bennett, director and founder of Lyrical Lemonade, I actually found to be quite fun. With a superstar guestlist including Eminem, Kid Cudi, Dave, Denzel Curry, Jack Harlow and more, it’s not a groundbreaking hip-hop project by any means, but it is an enjoyable listen on an entirely superficial level. Highlights include the dreamy and melodic Gus Dapperton, Lil Yachty & Joey Bada$$ collaboration Fallout and the Blink-182 sampling Hello There. This album won’t shake you to your core but if you simply want a non-taxing hip-hop record, you can do much worse than this one.  

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People Who Aren’t There Anymore by Future Islands

One of my most anticipated records of the year thus far, Baltimore synth-pop outfit Future Islands served up their incredible seventh studio album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore, and I’m pleased to say it delivered on its early promise. Playing out almost like a greatest hits record at times, the more I spin it the more I think its quickly becoming my favourite record of theirs – which given their discography is saying something! Here’s what I said in my review for Clash:

“Whilst ‘People Who Aren’t There Anymore’ ultimately isn’t an album that breaks the Future Islands mould, it’s hard to hold that against them. This is their sound, and they prove here they can still do it better than any of their peers. And whilst the sonic evolution from their previous work may only be subtle shifts, the biggest change comes with the band leaning on personal stories this time around rather than more observational lyricism. Most importantly though Future Islands’ fans will find plenty to love with this album, with some of the songs here already instant favourites and others feeling like some of the best, most fully realised of their career thus far.”

Read my full review for Clash Magazine here

Listen to the album here

Birth of Omni by Birthmark

Quite fittingly, my first review of 2024 was a new project from one of the artists who made the standout record of my 2023. Indeed, the last time I was sat writing about Nate Kinsella’s musical output was only last month - when I was naming his album Lies, created alongside his cousin and American Football bandmate, Mike Kinsella, my Album of the Year for 2023.

Now back with his fifth solo album under his Birthmark guise, Nate has delivered yet another sonically adventurous record - one that primarily explores and reflects on his journey into fatherhood. Here’s what I said in my review for 5-9:

“Much like his recent work as LIES, Birth of Omni is a playful yet challenging listen - one that requires attention and patience in order for its full splendour to be revealed. But granted time, you may just find yourself mesmerised by Nate’s kaleidoscopic world, where his vocals frequently shapeshift from the demonic to the divine thanks to some trippy vocal distortion…

…You do get the impression that the primary audience for this album is Nate himself, which will no doubt turn off some listeners. But to any parents out there who may find themselves in Nate’s shoes, sharing some of the emotions he presents here, or indeed anyone simply interested in hearing him relay his parental journey in his own uniquely artistic way, you will find your patience greatly rewarded.”

Read my full review for 5-9 here

Listen to the album here

The King of Misery by Daudi Matsiko

As someone who sees himself as a champion for the thriving Nottingham music scene, I felt slightly embarrassed that British-Ugandan folk artist Daudi Matsiko was able to fly under my radar for so long. However, there is no escaping the understated beauty of his incredible debut The King of Misery, with LeftLion Music editor Gemma Cockrell summing it up perfectly in her review for 5-9:

“With the threat of AI taking over the music industry seeming more real as time goes on, The King Of Misery is as human as music gets. When listening to the album, you can imagine Matsiko recording each of these instruments and layering them with one another in a way that only a human being could achieve, and the emotion within his lyrics and delivery is something that no machine or robot could ever mimic or impersonate effectively.

The sadness, the despair, the hopelessness, the guilt; but also, the joy, the beauty, the gratitude and the hope, as it gradually begins to outweigh the darkness: The King Of Misery is a celebration of everything that it means to be human.”

Read Gemma’s full review for 5-9 here

Listen to the album here

Also worth checking out: How To Disappear by Casey, Little Rope by Sleater-Kinney, Everybody Can’t Go by Benny The Butcher, Plastic Death by Glass Beach

Tracks of the Month

Kool-Aid by Bring Me The Horizon

The biggest musical moment for me this month, and I’m sure lots of other music fans across the UK, was catching Yorkshire metal heroes Bring Me The Horizon on their massive arena tour.

A true spectacle from start to finish, it was a show filled with huge anthems and top tier production that combined to make for one of the best arena gigs I’ve ever seen. But just prior to that, Bring Me released their first new music since the shock exit of band composer, Jordan Fish. The good news is Kool-Aid is as great as anything they’ve released in recent memory, hopefully signifying that the band will continue to be just fine without him going forward.

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Just Another Rainbow by Liam Gallagher & John Squire

A collaboration made in 90s Madchester dreams. Legends Liam Gallagher and John Squire have announced they will be releasing a self-titled album as a duo on the 1st March and its sent indie-heads both young and old into a frenzy. Hearing the first track its easy to see why, with Liam Gallagher’s signature vocals sounding just blissful against Squire’s psychedelic guitar passages, with the latter fully stealing the show on this first taste of the new project.

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One Night/All Night by Justice & Tame Impala

Another huge collaboration, electronic icons Justice returned this month with news that their new album Hyperdrama will be dropping at the end of April, ahead of some huge festival appearances this summer. If that wasn’t big enough, the first taste of the new album features none other than Tame Impala, with Kevin Parker’s vocals lifting the track into a hazy cloud of paradise.

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Hunger Games by Bob Vylan

Expectations for grime-punk duo Bob Vylan’s forthcoming third album, Humble as the Sun, are only growing with each new single. With the first part of their latest release Hunger Games dealing with the current the economic crisis, before a self-worth affirming spoken word passage during the song’s outro, it’s starting to look like Bobby and Bobbie might just be about to drop their best record yet.

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Gift Horse by IDLES

Another punk outfit looking similarly set up to release their best album yet, IDLES release the highly anticipated TANGK in just a few weeks, which frontman Joe Talbot has described as their “Love” record. Latest single Gift Horse is yet another belter, with its clanging guitar riffs and Joe’s primal cries of “LOOK AT HIM GOOOOO!”

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We Make Hits by Yard Act

When post-punkers Yard Act released electronic epic The Trench Coat Museum last year, it looked like a change in direction may be on the cards. However, with news that the song wouldn’t feature on upcoming album Where’s My Utopia and the singles from that record sounding more in line with their traditional sound, these feelings were quickly dashed. It seems though that this may have been premature and some experimentation may still be on the cards, as We Make Hits is a left curve that’s also a catchy and joyous ode to friendship.

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The End of the Contender by Everything Everything

A band seemingly in the best creative patch of their already stellar career, Manchester indie-outfit Everything Everything are busy prepping for the release of their seventh studio album Mountainhead, which will be their third in four years. Now latest single The End of the Contender might just be the most hook-laden track from the record thus far, flush with infectious melodies and shimmering synths.

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Angel Face by Oscar & The Wolf

When Belgian pop sensation Max Colombie shared photos of his bruised and scarred face on Instagram, concern from his fanbase instantly arose. However, Max would later reveal that he was simply ready to share details of the darkest period of his life, channelling it into new single – Angel Face. A glistening, instantly catchy pop anthem, it’s a tale of sadness and heartbreak that just about overcomes its overwhelming production. Here’s hoping we get an acoustic version of the song too in the near future.

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Losing My Grip by Enter Shikari & Fever 333

With their massive arena tour kicking off later this week, genre-defying metal outfit Enter Shikari have dropped their latest banger to give themselves a further setlist headache. Featuring Fever 333 who will support them on the upcoming tour, it features a filthy Prodigy-esque beat whilst frontman Rou Reynolds takes no prisoners as he screams “I THINK I’M LOSING MY GRIP” alongside Fever 333’s Jason Aalon Butler.

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Burning Down The House by Paramore

Finishing this month’s roundup with a trio of exceptional covers, with the first one seeing Paramore take-on Talking Heads’ classic Burning Down The House, staying faithful whilst also putting their own slight spin on the track. Taken from a forthcoming tribute album to Stop Making Sense to mark its 40th anniversary, the project will also feature the likes of The National, Blondshell, Miley Cyrus and Lorde. Looking forward to hearing more from this one!

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Staying Alive (Chris’ Version) by Christine & The Queens

Technically released very late last year, I’m including it here as its too good to not include. Art-pop visionary Christine & The Queens has released his completely unique take on the Bee-Gees classic, transforming it into a trippy, swaggering electro-pop banger.

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Kiss Me by Matt Maltese

Having released one of my favourite records of last year, English singer-songwriter Matt Maltese is now getting ready to release his own covers album, with Kiss Me the first taste of the project. His take on the Sixpence None the Richer track, his smooth vocal tones and lounge-style arrangement suit the song’s mood perfectly.

Listen here

Also worth checking out: Predator by YONAKA, Off With Her Tits by Allie X, Loved by Four Tet, Is This Love by James, Gleams by George FitzGerald, Stay Cool by James Vincent McMorrow, Pearl by Walt Disco, No One by Express Office Portico

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2024 tracks through my Best of 2024 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.

Add the Best of 2024 playlist to your library here

Listen back to my Best of 2023 playlist:

On Spotify here

On Apple Music here

[rrxnjun]

ohh nooo that sounds like a heartbreak for my minecraft obsessed self!! yeahhh i heard a lot of not so good news about the sidemen or more so about ksi but some of the clips i saw from them on tiktok were very funny!! yes i meant that podcast!!! i literally listened to so much podcasts in quarantine that i can't listen to any now tbh💀 and i might check out the memelous videos later when i have time cuz that sounds funny af

aespa is just so good so i'm glad u stan them!! but that is kind of life changing to hear they are the girl version of nct i'm just :o never would have thought of that :o

DONT WORRY LISTEN TO WHENEVER U WANT TO LIKE I SAID THE SONGS WILL WAIT FOR U and also it's just better to listen to when u are in the mood iguess so actually just take ur time💕💕

oh my totally same tbh!!! and like teen beach movie is still one of my fav movies and i feel like that says a lot about me xd every time it played on disney chanel i was just seated and also the songs still slap so much!!! tbh i was kind of a big r5 girlie but im happy that ross and his brother are doing the driver era cuz they just fit my music taste so much better now!!! ahhh i really liked the lyrics for wish me luck!!! THAT IS SUCH A CUTE NICKNAME WHATTHEHECKKK but that is actually ur song then like properly UR SONG :oo (that sounds like a fun dream and just such a better solution!!)

i was partially scared from that and also just getting ur music taste wrong and u absolutely hating them xd but i'm very glad u enjoyed them🥳🥹 as u should shit posting in ur own language is just so fun sometimes!! well the only thing that matters is that u like them tbh!! and i listened to them and my fav was definitely my by yael i even added it to my liked songs!!! i really liked that one!! and i also liked the other ones as well!! my second fav would probably be the valeriya one!!! and like the punk rock songs just felt so nostalgic even though i heard them for the first time ever i really liked them as well!!!!! I will be visiting Bratislava!! u know u might have heard of it before /j

i deff understand!! i think my brain just stopped working when i saw those pics!! THAT IS SUCH A FUNNY TITLE!! and i'm very excited about reading more simp stories😌(liebestraum anon💕)

and yes i'm sorry to anybody's dash these get on!! and for the person who said the convos are cute thank u that u don't mind!!💘💖💓

i honestly dont know whats going on w ksi recently but i used to like some of his music too so my music taste is honestly kind of questionable.... me and podcasts arent friends i just. i dont get the appeal😭😭😭 and let me know if u do!! his vids where they watch the ancient aliens are my comfort videos i always laugh so much at them

i listened to the songs on my way to uni yesterday!!!! i rrally really liked them and added them to my playlist hihi my fav was definitely you're here that's the thing 🤭

NO BECAUSE YOU GET IT!!! i wantrd to watch the chilling adventures of sabrina bc i wanted to consume as much ross content as i could but...i heard its bad and the first ep didnt really vibe w me so i didnt continue on w it 😭😭 i did watch my friend dahmer bc of him tho lmao. omg recommend some r5 songs i need to get into them more bc i still to this day have loud, smile, want you bad and pass me by in my playlist (pass me by changed me as a human being when i saw the mv as a 10 year old)

AAH i get u i get u!! but i definitely enjoyed the songs and ive been listening to them a lot lately! My by yael is such a good song especially when it plays in the club 😩😩 HAHA im glad u didnt hate them!! i definitely have a weird love/hate relationship w slovak songs because i tend to dislike the lyrics and also there arent many artists which genre would fit my vibe i think (or at least i dont know of any). the punk rock songs u said sound nostalgic 😭😭😭😭are actally kinda old😭😭😭so maybe thats why😭

omg bratislava wOAH /j 😭😭 hope u like the city!! i really like the historical centre, altho ive been there only like 3 times 😋

[safflowerseason]

yeah the pod was such a letdown and i had such high hopes for it but only reminiscing abt how much fun u used to have with your co-workers in the early aughts is not that compelling lol. not that i didn't enjoy some of the stories that peter gallagher or the actress that plays kirsten or adam brody (who btw was in one of the most underrated tv shows of this year in fleishman is in trouble) said. but those were the only 3 eps i managed to listen to in full and it's mostly bc kirsten is my favorite character probably and peter and a brody are sort of the only actors who starred in other stuff i enjoyed

the oc s1 had such a huge cultural impact and it's so weird to me that they didn't have a culture writer like alan sepinwall or some other pop culture writer on the pod!

anyway, hoping that mischa is fine right now and that she found closure and everything! and yeah the marissa discourse is one of the few things i remember fondly re: summer 2020

so the pod did actually have Alan Sepinwall on (I only know this because I followed the pod's insta for a bit even after I stopped listening), to talk about The OC and its cultural impact. I didn't listen to the episode but I remember from the promo that Melinda Clarke asked him why he left the show off one of his lists of the best shows ever or the best shows of the twenty-first century (some list like that). I really like Alan's writing and would have liked to hear his take on The OC, but by that point that I had checked out.

I *loved* Kelly Rowan's episode, she is an icon to me, and Peter Gallagher's, and I also heard Chris Carmack's episode was good too. He always seemed like a solid guy to me. And Adam Brody's episode was fascinating (and yes, he was great in Fleishman is in Trouble). I do think it's a shame they are putting the pod behind a paywall now, in spite of my less-than-positive opinion of it. It was just so clear in the show's run that there wasn't going to be any real analysis of the show, just the hosts echoing bland talking points. At the risk of repeating myself the Drama Queens OTH podcast is just so superior in every way, *the* model for how to approach a rewatch for an early-mid-00's show. oh well - at least we'll always have the marissa discourse.

[michameinmicha]

when you find character pinterest boards by someone who just so absolutely gets it? someone who fucking understands the characters in a way you completely agree with? amazing <3

[serpent-of-the-silver-plumes]

would you mind talking more about bart and unreliable narration? I always hear people say unreliable narration but I've never seen any concrete examples from media I actually consume so I'd love your thoughts

Oh absolutely!! I actually wrote a thing about this a while back but then went 'this is not well written' and it got buried in my drafts, so I’m glad to have an excuse to pull that up and rewrite it. (Also sorry, this got really long.)

Basically, at one point I was listening to a podcast (Be the Serpent, ep 4), and they categorize different kinds of unreliable narrators into three types: the narrator who knows they are lying to you, the narrator who is lying to themself (and therefore you), and the narrator who is lying because they are missing some key information. I would argue that the three main pov characters of the Bartimaeus Trilogy each represent a different type of these unreliable narrators.

Going in backwards order, Kitty is the narrator who lies because she is missing some key information, at least until the third book. As a commoner, even one who is part of a resistance movement, her knowledge of magic is extremely limited and biased. Were we to go off of her point of view alone, we would get an inaccurate view of this world and the power dynamics that exist within it: that magicians are somehow special in holding magic and that they have evil demons who work alongside them in shared mischief/hunger for power/whatever.

However, because the books include other points of view, the full impact of that unreliability is not realized.

Similarly, Nathaniel lies to himself, especially in the later books. He ignores how much he personally contributes to upholding a system that depends on the oppression and slavery of other sentient beings, and squashes down the last traces of his moral compass. I don’t think he ever really questions the system of government or if it should be there and work the way it does.

To some extent, we do see through his unreliability as well, because Bartimaeus is around to keep a check on him and tell the reader that no, the magicians and their imperialism are bad, that spirits have very good reason to hate humans, and give us other world building details that contradict what Nathaniel believes.

But some of it is about what is going on inside Nathaniel’s own head, so there is also a lot that can’t be fully seen by an outside perspective that has to be assumed by the reader. Like he will deny the sentimental feelings he has towards Ms. Underwood and the guilt he had over Kitty’s supposed death and the fact that he even remotely cares about Bartimaeus, but actions speak louder than words.

Because both of these characters’ unreliability stem from a lack of understanding, having other perspectives in the book in some ways cancels out their unreliability, and actually ties their unreliability more to their character development than as a plot/narration device. Kitty grows more reliable throughout the series while Nathaniel gets less so until the end. This doesn’t make that unreliability useless though, especially in a series aimed for children. By getting each character’s point of view, we can see where they are coming from and how the knowledge and views they have affect the way they act, but there is also someone else to point out how they are wrong, to make you question how true what each individual says is.

Bartimaeus is entirely different from the first two characters. His narration is told in first person, unlike Nathaniel and Kitty’s third person. He talks directly to the reader and goes off on tangential footnotes that are not necessarily part of the events currently happening in the story. Because of this narration style, he also has the power to lie more directly to the reader than any of the other characters.

Given his life, it is understandable how he has gotten into the habit of lying. Every moment of his existence on Earth is spent under the power of someone else, so he lies in order to protect himself. There are some instances where he lies to his masters in order to escape punishment or to lead them into danger so he can be set free, but he also lies about his feelings because he cannot afford to be emotionally vulnerable.

For the most part, I think it can be assumed that the dialogue and most actions that happen in his pov chapters are told as they are, since much of that lines up with what goes on in the other characters’ perspectives, and also there are at least a few things that show him in a less-than-flattering light that he would probably leave out or change if he could. Instead, the lies he tells are largely about his past and his emotions, often done through exaggeration or omission, and cannot be collaborated by others.

When lying about his past, Bartimaeus frequently exaggerates his prestige and role in history. In Ptolemy’s Gate, Bartimaeus says that he talked to King Solomon about Faquarl’s tendency to brag about his historical importance. Even beyond the obvious irony, in the prequel we see Bartimaeus’s time at Solomon’s court, and while it isn’t technically impossible for him to have talked to Solomon about Faquarl, the timing and circumstances make it extremely unlikely. Although his other stories cannot be proven or disproven with what we know, this instance and his general tendency to brag outrageously makes it very likely that Bartimaeus at the very least embellishes.

However, despite being super showy about his past, Bartimaeus doesn’t actually include much important information. He very rarely talks about his great feats as a thief or assassin or anything else. When he lists his accomplishments, he describes building walls and talking to important historical figures. There’s a post somewhere (if I find it, I’ll link it) that explains this as being a way for Bartimaeus to try to take control of his reputation and therefore his life; by associating with safer jobs, he is less likely to be summoned for very dangerous and morally reprehensible jobs.

He does generally try to portray himself as clever and collected and just generally more cool than he actually is. There’s a moment at the end of the first book where he describes himself as trying to calm Nathaniel who is freaking out, and then the next chapter is from Nathaniel’s pov which describes him as being the calmer one while Bartimaeus is a fly anxiously buzzing around.

I don’t remember the exact line, but in the second book there’s an exchange that goes something like this:

“____” I said calmly.

“Stop your whimpering,” Kitty said.

The way Bartimaeus portrays himself is straight up contradicted by the more factual account of the words and actions of someone else. And presumably there are plenty of other times that we do not see contradictory evidence where Bartimaeus straight up lies about how he is reacting to something.

But one of Bartimaeus’s most unreliable points centers around humans. Throughout the books, he constantly talks about the ways he has killed and would like to kill his masters, if given the opportunity. Nathaniel is an exception, one that Bartimaeus does admit to the reader, but even in the third book when he talks the most about how he would kill Nathaniel or even join a demon rebellion if Faquarl offered right then and there, Bartimaeus does not actually follow through on these threats when he gets the chance. Despite all of his talk about how much he hates humans, Bartimaeus has as much of a positive relationship he can have with as many humans possible, given the circumstances.

A lot of his unreliability centers around Ptolemy, which is what some of Bartimaeus’s biggest lies of omission are about. In the first book, we do get the sense that Bartimaeus has a soft spot for at least some humans. His excuses of saving and looking after Nathaniel in order to avoid Indefinite Confinement, while likely not entirely false, do fall a bit flat. We even get a mention of “a boy I had known once before, someone I had loved.” Although this is not explicitly connected to Ptolemy at this point, mentions of brown skin and the Nile make a pretty obvious connection to Ptolemy, especially as Bartimaeus describes taking on Ptolemy’s form several times later on. There is a less obvious hint too, “I sat on the ground, cross-legged, the way Ptolemy used to do.” Even without knowing much about what kind of relationship Bartimaeus had with Ptolemy, that kind of detail shows ‘a devotion to detail that could only come with genuine affection, or perhaps even love.’

It isn’t until the third book until we learn anything substantial about his relationship with Ptolemy, and even then he doesn’t tell the whole story. The fandom jokes about how Bartimaeus just casually mentions in a foot note that he prefers a lioness form because the manes are annoying, and it’s not until the flashback that you find out that the mane is part of what got Ptolemy killed. And even with the flashbacks, you still never see the time that Ptolemy visited the Other Place.

There are a lot of posts on this site that talk about how Bartimaeus absolutely was idealizing Ptolemy, and how there’s some evidence that he isn’t the perfectly sweet never-did-anything-wrong innocent child that Bartimaeus describes him as (notably that part where he was vaguely annoyed that people kept coming to him to ask for help and interrupted his research). Not that Ptolemy secretly sucks or anything, but it’s really easy to let nostalgia skip over the less dramatic details of Ptolemy being an actual human being with flaws.

In summary, I would argue that all of the trilogy protagonists are unreliable narrators to varying extents, and Jonathan Stroud is a genius for how he manages to make it all work.

[drunkkenobi]

Spreadsheet gremlin here! Wanted to do a check-in now that AYS is nearly over and before we get into the end of Watcher’s second year(!)

I didn’t make a post during PH’s fourth season so I wanted to show those numbers. Emu War hit a million fairly quickly and it looks like the smallpox episode won’t be far behind. TBH, I expected the finale to do a bit better, but it also had the disadvantage of being released two days later than planned. It’s still doing quite well, of course, but I’ll always wonder how it would have done had it been able to be released on time.

At some point, I’m going to do some Math(tm) and figure out what Watcher’s best show is, based on average viewcounts, but I’m pretty sure it is PH. It does gain the best when it’s in between seasons, compared to other shows.

Dish Granted finally calmed down its meteoric rise in late September. Simu’s ep is comfortably at 2.3 million and Matt Stonie’s episode already hit a million too. For half of the season to hit a million that quickly is very impressive. 

AYS this year is pretty consistent to how it was in the spring, albeit slightly down. (very slightly) AYS is the one Watcher show that old episodes seem to only get watched when a new season is airing. Old episode that gain 5-8k a week when it’s not airing suddenly jump up into the 20k+ gains when it is.

The best episode is the Russian Sleep Experiment, similar to how the best from the spring season was Smile Dog. The famous creepypasta names pick up a bit better than others. 

One thing that I’m sure helps Watcher on the AYS side this season is that every episode has been sponsored. Do I know how sponsorships work? Sure don’t! But happy for them regardless. 

Unsolved airing right now doesn’t seem to affect Watcher one way or the other, that I can tell. (I’ll have an Unsolved spreadsheet post after the finale, fyi!)

As for what’s next...I’m very intrigued! We know TMS is coming, although I’m not sure if it will start next week or if they’ll hold it for December and air something else for the next two weeks. Or maybe it will start and then we’ll get some holiday specials in December again. I assume not a PH (RIP Professor), but maybe AYS or Top 5. Probably not DG either, because Steven has been busy filming Worth It, but I would love to see it. (someone grant Steven’s dish for the holidays!) But once we get to January, I really have no idea! Top 5 seems likely to me, although the last season didn’t really pop off very well. Maybe being filmed in person will help? (sidenote: I think Top 5 should be turned into a podcast but that’s just me). What I want more than anything is some good ol’ Weird and/or Wonderful World. I know filming with strangers is still a bit iffy right now, but it’s not impossible. Please Watcher, give me us this.

[twopoppies]

That message about Busy Phillips and Birdie attending Harry’s concert was so nice to read! It sounds like they had a great time and really appreciated Harry. Thanks to the anon who shared that story. I’ve really enjoyed Busy as a celebrity when she was hosting her own talk show, so it’s nice to see her praise Harry and treat him respectfully. I’m pretty sure she has been acting and dealing with sexual harassment in the entertainment industry since she was a teen or very young adult 🙁 So because of that, I doubt she would make rude, sexual comments about Harry or other celebrities.

I’ve heard Busy say that Birdie is out as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. So I bet they both recognize parts of Harry’s statements about gender, and the way he explores gender in his art.

Gina, since you’re also a fan of Bowen Yang, I want to recommend the episode of his podcast (Las Culturistas) where Busy is the guest and she promotes her latest tv show, Girls 5 Eva. She talked a lot about Birdie their journey to come out, and what she has learned from Birdie about gender and feminism. I was just really impressed by Busy’s dedication as a parent. I got the impression from that conversation that she was trying to do everything she could to support Birdie and give them a safe school environment. I still hear too many stories about unsupportive parents. It’s great to hear from someone who loves and accepts their kid wholeheartedly.

Hi honey. Yes, everything I’ve seen from her where she talks about Birdie, or about parenting, really impresses me. She seems like a really good mom.

And thank you for the Bowen Yang recommendation! I’ll definitely check it out.

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