#Bittereinder

[acornerofnowhere]

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Memory Storage.

In many ways The Witcher 2 is a quantum improvement over its predecessor - better graphics, better combat, better writing, better atmosphere, better art direction, better soundtrack, better characters - but it's still funny seeing the developers visually struggle with the hard limits of what PS360-era console hardware was capable of.

Lack of memory meant that all the fancy bells-and-whistles HD texture mapping could populate an area no larger and more complex than my back garden, which meant that despite the scope of the story being substantially greater than the first game, the actual physical size of the game world is massively smaller and less intricate, with working cities reduced to provincial villages and sprawling marshlands reduced to narrow loading-screen gulleys. You have to imagine this influenced the decision to introduce way more impactful branching paths with a totally different second half depending on your choice, described by many as effectively having two RPGs in one, but that seems less the intention and more that it was the only way to extract forty hours of content from the assets they were able to create.

I much prefer my RPG experiences to be one-and-dones, I don't do replays very often at all, but the straight shot to the end of this game was so brief that I feel I need the replay to get my money's worth out of it. But there's only so much I can complain when the story is so colossally better than CD Projekt Red's last go-round, like holy shit...

I was initially wary as I found the human/non-human conflict in the first game a bit contrived and this seemed to be treading similar ground at first (not to mention the Order was so obviously evil that you'd have to be psycho to take their side over the Scoia'tael), but it quickly becomes apparent that we're dealing with a distressed gaggle of bittereinders with no hope of victory being used as pawns in a larger game, as is their Blue Stripes counterparts hunting them to whom they're just one of a number of threats to their kingdom's security. Having an Evil Witcher as the antagonist deftly justifies Geralt's involvement in this situation involving kings, sorcerers and emperors that would normally be way above his paygrade.

Still, if there is one thing I feel the game jettisons from the books (and the first game was already hanging by a thread in this regard) is the sense that you're a glorified ratcatcher of no special importance, from jump you're immediately thrust into high-level political chicanery and the low-single-figure number of contracts you pick up in each hub are so perfunctory they may as well not be there. The elevation of book!Geralt from a passive POV to an active participant whose choices massively shape the world around him is even more pronounced in the second game than it already was in the first, in a way that makes the world feel smaller even though the cast of characters is vastly expanded and a lot more interesting.

Nuances in the dialogue, voice acting and motion performance completely absent from the first game are much more evident this time around, even in spite of the technical limitations that often lead to Triss's infamous dead-eyed stares. The only significant eurojank I encountered was an ongoing issue with accessing saves where the game would crash if I interacted with them for too long - the game is weird with saves in general, there's no way to have a dedicated "save file" and it doesn't delete old autosaves so I was constantly having to go in and delete old saves manually to avoid gumming up the hard drive. It's clear the developers really really want you to go back to earlier bits of the story and do them differently, and they built the system in such a way that makes sure you're always able to do that. Only issue is that I kinda do want to move onto the next game at some point, I hear vaguely down the grapevine that that's The Good One, but okay, I'll persevere here a little longer and see what I can make out of it.

[bambilamby]

Soon, I will no longer be a teenage girl.

and before I forget what it's like to be 17, I would like to document it.

So here is a list of the artists that shaped these years:

• My Chemical Romance

• The young veins

• Marina and the diamonds

• Car seat headrest

• Françoise Hardy

• Radiohead

• Lana del rey

• Twenty one pilots

• Green day

• Mal Blum

• Mother mother

• Mitski

• Weyes blood

• Andrew bird

• Cocteau Twins

• Lucy Dacus

• Gerard Way

• Requin Chagrin

• David Bowie

• Matt Maltese

• Djo

• Fleet Foxes

• Alex Turner

• Fiona Apple

• Foo fighters

• The Cure

• Depeche mode

• The 1975

• Panic! at the disco

• Joe Dassin

• Fox academy

• Anneli van Rooyen

• boygenius

• Alex G

• Japanese Breakfast

• Father John Misty

• Dandelion Hands

•Abba

• Spoegwolf

• Van Pletzen

• Z berg

• The parlotones

• Deftones

• Rainbow kitten surprise

• Cigarettes after sex

• Pheobe bridgers

• Paramore

• Queen

• Aurora

• MGMT

• Declan McKenna

• Mazzy Star

• Big Thief

• Grimes

• Ella Fitzgerald

• Hello Mary

• Tv girl

• Ethel cain

• Vansire

• Pixies

• Princess Chelsea

• Nirvana

• Colter Wall

• Alain Souchon

• Dr Alban

• Rammstein

• Limp bizkit

• Aphex Twin

• Beach House

• Elliot smith

• Tears for fears

• ABBA

• Vashti Bunyan

• Flower Face

• Pink Floyd

• The smiths

• Morrissey

• Alvvays

• Zach Bryan

• Salvia palth

• suki waterhouse

• Koxie

• Mindless Self indulgence

• Keaton Henson

• Anvil cat

• Sticky fingers

• Terry Jacks

• Kate Bush

• Bob Marley

• UB40

• The smashing pumpkins

• Cat stevens

• Crywank

• Fleet foxes

• BB Brunes

• The cranberries

• M83

• GROUPLOVE

• Modern baseball

• Steve lacy

• Florence + the machine

• Travis Bretzer

• Etienne Daho

• Pigeon Pit

• Yellowman

• Peach pit

• St. Lucia

• Damien Rice

• Arcade fire

• Modern Talking

• Three days grace

• black box recorder

• weezer

• The strokes

• Crawlers

• Oasis

• They might be giants

• bôa

• flipturn

• bittereinder

• autoheart

• of montreal

• Vanessa paradis

• Brand new

• Keaton henson

• Tamino

Herewith, a playlist

[brookston]

Holidays 5.31

Holidays

American Copyright Day

Barter Black Day

Battle of Jutland Anniversary Day

Bicycle Race Day

Big Ben Day

Bittereinders Day (Orania, South Africa)

Brothers & Sisters Day (EU)

Covfefe Day

Flores de Mayo (Philippines)

Gawai Dayak begins (Dayaks in Indonesia, Malaysia)

Give Peace a Chance Day

Inspiring Teen Moms Day

International Amiga Day

International Blondes Day

International Enjoy a Cigar Day

International Flight Attendant Day

Johnstown Flood Anniversary Day

Jumatul Bidah (Bangladesh)

Jumat-ul Wida (India, UK)

Lady Godiva Day

London History Day (UK)

'Make My Day' Day

National Autonomous Vehicle Day

National Dam Safety Awareness Day

National Fisherfolks Day (Philippines)

National Flip Flop Day

National Foster Parent Appreciation Day

National Meditation Day

National Pik-Up Day (India)

National Smile Day

National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

National Utah Day

Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

Pal-O-Ween (from “Kevin Can F**k Himself”) [Every 31st]

Ponto Faculativo (Brazil)

Publishing, Printiong and Book Distribution Workers' Day (Ukraine)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Reconciliation Day (Australia)

Red Shirt Day of Action for AccessAbility & Inclusion (Canada)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day (Brunei)

Russian Advocates’ Day (Russia)

Save Your Hearing Day

Scouts’ Day (Vietnam)

17th Amendment Day (U.S.)

Speak In Complete Sentences Day

Take This Job and Shove It Day

Tulsa Race Massacre Anniversary Day

Web Designer Day

What You Think Upon Grows Day

White Armband Day

With All Deliberate Speed Day

World Foster Day

World Meditation Day (UK)

World No Tobacco Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Beer Judge Day

National Macaroon Day

National Matzah Brei Day

Nature Celebrations

Scilla Day (Strong restraint, Self-Control; Korean Birth Flowers)

White Stork Day (Poland)

World Parrot Day

Woundwort Day (French Republic)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

Castile-La Mancha Day (a.k.a. Dia de Castilla la Mancha; Spain)

South Africa (Union of South Africa declared, 1910; Republic of South Africa declared, 1961)

5th & Last Saturday in May

Defeat Depression Day (Canada) [Last Saturday]

Dillo Day [Last Saturday; Northwestern University]

Drone Day [Last Saturday]

Elmer Day (UK) [Last Saturday]

International Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Day [Last Saturday]

Pride in Armed Forces Day (UK) [4th Saturday]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Splurge Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

Stir-Fry Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

World Enneagram Day [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning May 31 (4th Full Week of May)

None Knnown

Festivals On or Beginning May 31, 2025

Beer City Festival (San Jose, California)

Firestone Walker Invitatiuonal Beer Festival (Paso Robles, California)

Fremont Burger & Brew Fest (Fremont, California)

Highland Renaissance Festival (Eminence, Kentucky) [thru 7.20]

Smuttynose Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Hampton, New Hampshire)

UEFA Champions League Final (Munich, Germany)

Venice International Theater Festival, a.k.a. Biennale Teatro (Venice, Italy) [thru 6.15]

Feast Days

Angela Merici (Christian; Virgin)

Basketball (Muppetism)

Camilla Battista da Varano (Christian; Saint)

Cantius and Cantianus, and Cantianilla (Christian; Sibling Martyrs)

Desecration Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Feast of the Visitation (Roman Catholic)

Genevieve of Paris (Positivist; Saint)

Grainne (Celtic Book of Days)

Hermias (Christian; Saint)

Insect Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

International No Tobacco Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Mechtildis of Edelstetten (Christian; Virgin)

Petronella (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Syaday (Discordian)

Stella Maris Day (Pagan)

This Day … Again (Shamanism)

Triple Blessing of the God Buddha (Everyday Wicca)

Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Dragon Boat Festival [5th Day of 5th Lunar Month] (a.k.a. ... 

Double Fifth Festival

Dragon Boast Festival (Taiwan)

Duan Wu Jie Festival (端午节; China)

Tano Day (South Korea)

Tuen Ng (Hong Kong, Macau)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 5 (Ren-Wu), Day 5 (Geng-Zi)

Day Pillar: Metal Rabbit

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Danger Day (危 Wei) [Auspicious]

Holidays: Dragon Boat Festival

Secular Saints Days

Svetlana Alexievich (Literature)

Alessandro Allori (Art)

Andrea Appiani (Art)

Tom Berenger (Entertainment)

John Bonham (Music)

John Connolly (Literature)

Clint Eastwood (Entertainment)

Colin Farrell (Entertainment)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Entertainment)

Jane Green (Literature)

Ellsworth Kelly (Art)

Michel Kikoine (Art)

Joe Namath (Sports)

Johnny Paycheck (Music)

Rhea Perlman (Entertainment)

Saint-John Perse (Literature)

Henriëtte Ronner-Knip (Art)

John R. Schrieffer (Science)

Brooke Shields (Entertainment)

Walter Sickert (Art)

Lea Thompson (Entertainment)

Walt Whitman (Literature)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [20 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 151 [36 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Aniara, by Karl Birger Blomdahl (Sci-Fi Opera; 1959)

The Arrival (Film; 1996)

Back to Bataan (Film; 1945)

Battle of the Barn (Scrappy Cartoon; 1932)

The Brave Little Toaster (Animated Film; 1989)

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (Novel; 1945)

Catnip Capers (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Choose Your Weppins (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

The Common Reader, by Virginia Woolf (Essays; 1925)

Daisy Bell (Fleischer Ko-Ko Song Car-Tune Cartoon; 1925)

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, by Charles Bukowski (Poetry; 1969)

A Day to Live (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

Discovery, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1979)

The Dizzy Acrobat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1943)

Dragonheart (Film; 1996)

The Easter Parade, by Richard Yates (Novel; 1976)

The Egg Hunt (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1940)

Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor (Song; 1982)

Fletch (Film; 1985)

The Foxy Terrier (Rainbow Parade Van Beuren Cartoon; 1935)

The Gnat Gets Estelle's Goat (Gaumont Kartoon Komics Cartoon; 1916)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Film; 2019)

Good Girl Gone Bad, by Rihanna (Album; 2007)

Good Omens (UK TV Series; 2019)

Got To Get You Into My Life, by The Beatles (Song; 1976)

Harvard University (School; 1650)

Helter Shelter (WB LT Cartoon; 2001)

Hot Times in Iceland (Aesop's Film Fable Cartoon; 1925)

How to Trap a Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1971)

Hy Mayer: His Magic Hand (Travelaughs Hy Mayer Cartoon; 1913)

The Jaywalker (Jolly Frolics UPA Cartoon; 1956)

Jive Talkin', by The Bee Gees (Song; 1975)

Klondike Casanova (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1946)

Ko-Ko's Conquest (Fleischer Inkwell Imps Cartoon; 1929)

Listen To What the Man Said, by Paul McCartney (Song; 1975)

Love Is a Dog from Hell Charles Bukowski (Poems; 1977)

Man in Black, by Johnny Cash (Album; 1970)

The Merry Kittens (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1935)

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1966)

Mr. Fuller Pep: He Breaks for the Beach (Powers Cartoon; 1916)

The Muppet Movie (UK Film; 1979)

My Cherie Amour, by Stevie Wonder (Song; 1969)

Now, Hare This (WB LT Cartoon; 1958)

Now You See Me (Film; 2013)

Old McDonald Had a Farm (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1945)

One of These Nights, by The Eagles (Song; 1975)

Opera Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Overload, by Arthur Haley (Novel; 1979)

Peppa Pig (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Rocketman (Film; 2019)

Seinfeld (TV Series; 1990)

Soapdish (Film; 1991)

Such Is Life in Monte Carlo (Travelaughs Hy Mayer Cartoon; 1922)

The Sum of All Fears (Film; 2002)

Survivor (Reality TV Series; 2000)

Undercover Brother (Film; 2002)

The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1972)

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, by Walter Benjamin (Essay; 1936)

Today’s Name Days

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Austria)

Krunoslava, Marija, Petronila, Vladimir (Croatia)

Kamila (Czech Republic)

Petronella (Denmark)

Elga, Helga, Helge, Helgi, Helja, Helje, Heljo, Helju, Olga, Olli (Estonia)

Helga, Helka (Finland)

Pétronille (France)

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Germany)

Eremitas, Magos (Greece)

Angéla, Petronella (Hungary)

Felice, Ferdinando, Giovanni (Italy)

Alīda, Jusma, Jusmins (Latvia)

Anelė, Angelė, Gintautas, Petronėlė, Rimvilė (Lithuania)

Pernille, Preben (Norway)

Aniela, Bożysława, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Feliks, Petronela, Petronia, Petroniusz, Teodor (Poland)

Ermie (România)

Alexandra, Faina, Julia (Russia)

Petrana, Petronela (Slovakia)

Petronila, Visitación (Spain)

Pernilla, Petronella (Sweden)

Petrina, Petronella, Petrunia (Ukraine)

Camilia, Camilla, Camille, Petra, Petronella, Pier (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Brooke Day

National Clint Day

National Lea Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 151 of 2025; 214 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 6 of Week 22 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Ren-Wu), Day 5 (Geng-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Snake 4723 (until February 17, 2026) [Ding-Chou]

Coptic: 23 Bashans 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Ash (May 25-June 3) [Day 6 of 10]

Hebrew: 4 Sivan 5785

Islamic: 3 Dhu al-Hijjah 1446

Julian: 18 May 2025

Moon: 27%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 11 Saint Paul (6th Month) [Genevieve of Paris]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 3 of 15] (thru 6.12)

Season: Spring (Day 72 of 92)

SUn Calendar: 1 Blue; Oneday [1 of 30]

Week: 4th Full Week of May

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Gemini (Day 11 of 31)

Sidereal Zodiac: Taurus (Day 17 of 32)

Schmidt Zodiac: Cetus (Day 20 of 26)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Aries (Day 18 of 39)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Aries (Day 18 of 37)

Calendar Changes

Blue (J Calendar) [Month 6 of 12]

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 5.31

Holidays

American Copyright Day

Barter Black Day

Battle of Jutland Anniversary Day

Bicycle Race Day

Big Ben Day

Bittereinders Day (Orania, South Africa)

Brothers & Sisters Day (EU)

Covfefe Day

Flores de Mayo (Philippines)

Gawai Dayak begins (Dayaks in Indonesia, Malaysia)

Give Peace a Chance Day

Inspiring Teen Moms Day

International Amiga Day

International Blondes Day

International Enjoy a Cigar Day

International Flight Attendant Day

Johnstown Flood Anniversary Day

Jumatul Bidah (Bangladesh)

Jumat-ul Wida (India, UK)

Lady Godiva Day

London History Day (UK)

'Make My Day' Day

National Autonomous Vehicle Day

National Dam Safety Awareness Day

National Fisherfolks Day (Philippines)

National Flip Flop Day

National Foster Parent Appreciation Day

National Meditation Day

National Pik-Up Day (India)

National Smile Day

National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

National Utah Day

Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

Pal-O-Ween (from “Kevin Can F**k Himself”) [Every 31st]

Ponto Faculativo (Brazil)

Publishing, Printiong and Book Distribution Workers' Day (Ukraine)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Reconciliation Day (Australia)

Red Shirt Day of Action for AccessAbility & Inclusion (Canada)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day (Brunei)

Russian Advocates’ Day (Russia)

Save Your Hearing Day

Scouts’ Day (Vietnam)

17th Amendment Day (U.S.)

Speak In Complete Sentences Day

Take This Job and Shove It Day

Tulsa Race Massacre Anniversary Day

Web Designer Day

What You Think Upon Grows Day

White Armband Day

With All Deliberate Speed Day

World Foster Day

World Meditation Day (UK)

World No Tobacco Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Beer Judge Day

National Macaroon Day

National Matzah Brei Day

Nature Celebrations

Scilla Day (Strong restraint, Self-Control; Korean Birth Flowers)

White Stork Day (Poland)

World Parrot Day

Woundwort Day (French Republic)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

Castile-La Mancha Day (a.k.a. Dia de Castilla la Mancha; Spain)

South Africa (Union of South Africa declared, 1910; Republic of South Africa declared, 1961)

5th & Last Saturday in May

Defeat Depression Day (Canada) [Last Saturday]

Dillo Day [Last Saturday; Northwestern University]

Drone Day [Last Saturday]

Elmer Day (UK) [Last Saturday]

International Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Day [Last Saturday]

Pride in Armed Forces Day (UK) [4th Saturday]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Splurge Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

Stir-Fry Saturday [Last Saturday of Each Month]

World Enneagram Day [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning May 31 (4th Full Week of May)

None Knnown

Festivals On or Beginning May 31, 2025

Beer City Festival (San Jose, California)

Firestone Walker Invitatiuonal Beer Festival (Paso Robles, California)

Fremont Burger & Brew Fest (Fremont, California)

Highland Renaissance Festival (Eminence, Kentucky) [thru 7.20]

Smuttynose Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Hampton, New Hampshire)

UEFA Champions League Final (Munich, Germany)

Venice International Theater Festival, a.k.a. Biennale Teatro (Venice, Italy) [thru 6.15]

Feast Days

Angela Merici (Christian; Virgin)

Basketball (Muppetism)

Camilla Battista da Varano (Christian; Saint)

Cantius and Cantianus, and Cantianilla (Christian; Sibling Martyrs)

Desecration Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Feast of the Visitation (Roman Catholic)

Genevieve of Paris (Positivist; Saint)

Grainne (Celtic Book of Days)

Hermias (Christian; Saint)

Insect Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

International No Tobacco Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Mechtildis of Edelstetten (Christian; Virgin)

Petronella (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Syaday (Discordian)

Stella Maris Day (Pagan)

This Day … Again (Shamanism)

Triple Blessing of the God Buddha (Everyday Wicca)

Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Dragon Boat Festival [5th Day of 5th Lunar Month] (a.k.a. ... 

Double Fifth Festival

Dragon Boast Festival (Taiwan)

Duan Wu Jie Festival (端午节; China)

Tano Day (South Korea)

Tuen Ng (Hong Kong, Macau)

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 5 (Ren-Wu), Day 5 (Geng-Zi)

Day Pillar: Metal Rabbit

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Danger Day (危 Wei) [Auspicious]

Holidays: Dragon Boat Festival

Secular Saints Days

Svetlana Alexievich (Literature)

Alessandro Allori (Art)

Andrea Appiani (Art)

Tom Berenger (Entertainment)

John Bonham (Music)

John Connolly (Literature)

Clint Eastwood (Entertainment)

Colin Farrell (Entertainment)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Entertainment)

Jane Green (Literature)

Ellsworth Kelly (Art)

Michel Kikoine (Art)

Joe Namath (Sports)

Johnny Paycheck (Music)

Rhea Perlman (Entertainment)

Saint-John Perse (Literature)

Henriëtte Ronner-Knip (Art)

John R. Schrieffer (Science)

Brooke Shields (Entertainment)

Walter Sickert (Art)

Lea Thompson (Entertainment)

Walt Whitman (Literature)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [20 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 151 [36 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Aniara, by Karl Birger Blomdahl (Sci-Fi Opera; 1959)

The Arrival (Film; 1996)

Back to Bataan (Film; 1945)

Battle of the Barn (Scrappy Cartoon; 1932)

The Brave Little Toaster (Animated Film; 1989)

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (Novel; 1945)

Catnip Capers (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Choose Your Weppins (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

The Common Reader, by Virginia Woolf (Essays; 1925)

Daisy Bell (Fleischer Ko-Ko Song Car-Tune Cartoon; 1925)

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, by Charles Bukowski (Poetry; 1969)

A Day to Live (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

Discovery, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1979)

The Dizzy Acrobat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1943)

Dragonheart (Film; 1996)

The Easter Parade, by Richard Yates (Novel; 1976)

The Egg Hunt (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1940)

Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor (Song; 1982)

Fletch (Film; 1985)

The Foxy Terrier (Rainbow Parade Van Beuren Cartoon; 1935)

The Gnat Gets Estelle's Goat (Gaumont Kartoon Komics Cartoon; 1916)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Film; 2019)

Good Girl Gone Bad, by Rihanna (Album; 2007)

Good Omens (UK TV Series; 2019)

Got To Get You Into My Life, by The Beatles (Song; 1976)

Harvard University (School; 1650)

Helter Shelter (WB LT Cartoon; 2001)

Hot Times in Iceland (Aesop's Film Fable Cartoon; 1925)

How to Trap a Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1971)

Hy Mayer: His Magic Hand (Travelaughs Hy Mayer Cartoon; 1913)

The Jaywalker (Jolly Frolics UPA Cartoon; 1956)

Jive Talkin', by The Bee Gees (Song; 1975)

Klondike Casanova (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1946)

Ko-Ko's Conquest (Fleischer Inkwell Imps Cartoon; 1929)

Listen To What the Man Said, by Paul McCartney (Song; 1975)

Love Is a Dog from Hell Charles Bukowski (Poems; 1977)

Man in Black, by Johnny Cash (Album; 1970)

The Merry Kittens (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1935)

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1966)

Mr. Fuller Pep: He Breaks for the Beach (Powers Cartoon; 1916)

The Muppet Movie (UK Film; 1979)

My Cherie Amour, by Stevie Wonder (Song; 1969)

Now, Hare This (WB LT Cartoon; 1958)

Now You See Me (Film; 2013)

Old McDonald Had a Farm (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1945)

One of These Nights, by The Eagles (Song; 1975)

Opera Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Overload, by Arthur Haley (Novel; 1979)

Peppa Pig (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Rocketman (Film; 2019)

Seinfeld (TV Series; 1990)

Soapdish (Film; 1991)

Such Is Life in Monte Carlo (Travelaughs Hy Mayer Cartoon; 1922)

The Sum of All Fears (Film; 2002)

Survivor (Reality TV Series; 2000)

Undercover Brother (Film; 2002)

The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1972)

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, by Walter Benjamin (Essay; 1936)

Today’s Name Days

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Austria)

Krunoslava, Marija, Petronila, Vladimir (Croatia)

Kamila (Czech Republic)

Petronella (Denmark)

Elga, Helga, Helge, Helgi, Helja, Helje, Heljo, Helju, Olga, Olli (Estonia)

Helga, Helka (Finland)

Pétronille (France)

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Germany)

Eremitas, Magos (Greece)

Angéla, Petronella (Hungary)

Felice, Ferdinando, Giovanni (Italy)

Alīda, Jusma, Jusmins (Latvia)

Anelė, Angelė, Gintautas, Petronėlė, Rimvilė (Lithuania)

Pernille, Preben (Norway)

Aniela, Bożysława, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Feliks, Petronela, Petronia, Petroniusz, Teodor (Poland)

Ermie (România)

Alexandra, Faina, Julia (Russia)

Petrana, Petronela (Slovakia)

Petronila, Visitación (Spain)

Pernilla, Petronella (Sweden)

Petrina, Petronella, Petrunia (Ukraine)

Camilia, Camilla, Camille, Petra, Petronella, Pier (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Brooke Day

National Clint Day

National Lea Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 151 of 2025; 214 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 6 of Week 22 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Ren-Wu), Day 5 (Geng-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Snake 4723 (until February 17, 2026) [Ding-Chou]

Coptic: 23 Bashans 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Ash (May 25-June 3) [Day 6 of 10]

Hebrew: 4 Sivan 5785

Islamic: 3 Dhu al-Hijjah 1446

Julian: 18 May 2025

Moon: 27%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 11 Saint Paul (6th Month) [Genevieve of Paris]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 3 of 15] (thru 6.12)

Season: Spring (Day 72 of 92)

SUn Calendar: 1 Blue; Oneday [1 of 30]

Week: 4th Full Week of May

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Gemini (Day 11 of 31)

Sidereal Zodiac: Taurus (Day 17 of 32)

Schmidt Zodiac: Cetus (Day 20 of 26)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Aries (Day 18 of 39)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Aries (Day 18 of 37)

Calendar Changes

Blue (J Calendar) [Month 6 of 12]

[ricardopeach]

Queer Stalwarts

knaap.substack.com

In South African gay language (Gail or moffietaal), moffie=queer

The visual companion piece is by Theo Sonnekus, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture at the University of Johannesburg

https://www.tandfonline.com/.../10.../00918369.2023.2221761

[runningwolf]

Remember this? My 2 cents on Mieliepop 2014 https://bit.ly/3dOlMml

[beatsforbrothels]

Daedelus - Trifling

[burlveneer-music]

Daedelus - The Bittereinders - conclusion of his End of Empire trilogy

Legit pioneer, standard bearer for experimental electronics, and newly minted faculty at Berklee College of Music, Daedelus (aka Alfred Darlington) returns on Brainfeeder with a new album titled “The Bittereinders” sounding of ancient requiem with evocations of Township Jazz, but still modern electronic music by way of drone, pipe organ wheezing and incessant beats.

“The Bittereinders” brings Daedelus’ “End of Empire” trilogy on Brainfeeder to a close, following 2010’s “Righteous Fists of Harmony” inspired by The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) and 2014’s “The Light Brigade” that recalled the Crimean War of 1853-56. The culmination of the series, “The Bittereinders” dives into the final 3 year conflict from the Victorian era that was perhaps its most brutal. The Second Boer War is recounted as fought between the British and formerly Dutch Z.A.R. and Free Orange People and ended by treaty in 1902. What is not made clear in the ‘counting is the thousands of Black and Brown people were caught in the colonial crossfire of Empire's endless appetite. This is the conflict that coined modern use of the term “concentration camp” and brought new bloody levels of guerrilla warfare. Just as in “Righteous Fists of Harmony” and “The Light Brigade”, Daedelus has taken liberty in using modern sound sources against a backdrop of mystic overtones.

“From the belief that contemporary events are too difficult to address,” Alfred explains. “I’ve reached back into history to relate some of what is largely forgotten to directly look into the ravages which continue to echo. All records fuse unrelenting repetition of lyric and forms, evocative noise and reaching melodies.”

Recorded at Brainfeeder label mate Jameszoo’s Willem Twee Studios in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands - an exceptional analogue electronic sound and music workspace - and Red Bull Studios in Cape Town, South Africa. “The Bittereinders” features Lee Thomson (trumpet on ‘The Irreconcilables’, in a nod to the Township Jazz tradition); Mikhaela Faye Kruger (vocals on ‘Sold As’ and ‘Veldt’); Shane Cooper (bass on ‘Du Sud’ with American Amir Yaghmai providing ghost vocals as a connection to the previous LPs).

[wellamarke]

ULTIMATE PLAYLIST: 2016 EDITION

Woops, it got to be March without me posting these. Here’s a little thing I’ve been doing since 2010, where I make a playlist of my favourite songs from the year. The 2016 list is very Lenka/Ingrid Michaelson heavy, for various reasons (but a big one being that Ingrid’s newest album ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense.’ is one of my favourite albums of all time. The entire record features on this list - that’s never happened before.)

Putting the track listing under a cut because I tend to ramble on!

1. Blue Skies - Lenka “It's gonna be blue skies for you and I, we'll step out of the shadows and walk into the light” In some ways this song doesn’t feel very Lenka-y, being a little bit techno-y with echoes and such, but in all the ways that matter it’s a classic piece of Lenka goodness, uplifting and cutely cutely cute. 

2. Somewhere Out There - Danny Pudi and Donald Glover “And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!” So, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time you probably know that I became utter trash for the show Community this year (like, we’re talking, top 2 TV shows of all time level of trash, I love it so much, I don’t know how or why I lived before it) and especially Troy and Abed and their friendship. They sing this song as a duet to their rat in season 1 episode 10, aka the episode where my soul was finally consumed into Community hell never to return. The whole end section of that episode is a true gift, and it’s overlaid with this song. Which then becomes HORRIFICALLY APPROPRIATE for the two characters later in the show, leading to me just wanting to cry and/or die every time I hear it. So y’know. Top quality stuff. 

3. Another Life - Ingrid Michaelson “It's in the galaxies and all the history books - I think we shared another life, don't you?” A beautiful song to start off the torrential downpour of tracks from this album (I’m not joking, every multiple of 3 on this list is from ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense’. This is serious obsessive business.) 

4. Get Together - Lenka  “Now we're all together and I hope it lasts forever, got my people here tonight” Listen, show me a song that somehow alludes to a group of friends who love each other, and I’ll show you my new favourite song. I can’t. Get. Enough. (If you were wondering what appeals to me about the aforementioned Community, I’ll, er, give you 3 guesses?) 

5. Ampersand - Bittereinder  “Daar’s iets primitief in ’n stem en ’n beat, dis die eerste musiek, dis die voete om ’n vuur” I think this is the first year that Afrikaans has made it as the only extra language (not an Italian track in sight, woops) and this is prooobably the first song that’s ever got on one of these lists that could properly be called a rap, haha. I don’t know what it is about Bittereinder...I don’t usually like anything like this....but... it’s Bittereinder. They own me. 

6. Celebrate - Ingrid Michaelson “This is my throwback song, it’s just like the ones, the ones that we used to know” My my, is this a nostalgia song? Welcome to my favourite songs ever, you rose-tinted bag o’ wistful feelings! 

7. No Harm Tonight - Lenka  “Nothing will harm you tonight, all of your darkness will turn into light”  This song is sooooo beautiful, lyrically and musically and gaaaaah, it’s just so adorable. In a year when I have become even less emotionally demonstrative than ever (I know, but yeah apparently there was room to go further) I have compensated by collecting some of the mushiest songs going. Ya gotta reroute it to somewhere, I guess.

8. Toe Vind Ek Jou - Francois Van Coke (with Karen Zoid) “Ek het genoeg gegee, ek het genoeg geskree, ek het lankal terug geleer, maar nog steeds het ek probeer” AAAAH this song maaan. So good. If you’ve ever read one of these lists or just in general seen me talking about music, you may know I have a bIG weakness for duets, and particularly male/female duets, so, with the added bonus of it being Francois, this was always going to be a winner for me. Such a good song UGH. 

9. Drink You Gone - Ingrid Michaelson “Like a sinking ship while the band plays on, when I dream you're there, I can't even sleep you gone” This song is honestly so painful. Aaah the emotion in the chorus is just, that shouldn’t be allowed in mp3 format. No, Ingrid, stop. (By which I mean never stop.) A deliberate misinterpretation of this song makes it an EXCELLENT and DEVASTATING Karen/Pete song (Humans ship of sadness). She can’t drink him gone, she can’t smoke him out... she can’t eat away the way that he ate her heart out.... because she’s a robot... ha .... geddit.

10. Joni Was Right - Marit Larsen  “Time just sent me off to bed, love was just a word we said, I thought someone would always keep me safe” For obvious title-based reasons, I would have loved this song even if it was three hours of a duck trying to play a harmonica, but as it turns out, it’s my favourite kind of nostalgia-laden, bittersweet lyric and it’s so, so beautiful. Like, Marit Larsen didn’t even have to try to win me here but she still brought this masterpiece. Amazing. (More on the ridiculous levels of coincidence surrounding this album later in the list.) 

11. Grow - Frances  “You know I'm here holding on, tying up your loose ends and your drifting esteem” I can’t remember how I came across this song now... was it a fanvid for something?... but I’m glad I did, because it’s beautiful. You know how my writing is so often in a kind of wannabe hurt/comfort genre? Yeah, my music isn’t all that different. Supportive friendship is such a great concept! The application is... ew.... but the theory’s great. 

12. Hell No - Ingrid Michaelson  “Stop crying, stop crawling, can’t you see that I have stopped falling?” This sooooong has the kind of attitude I strive for, I LOVE it. As much as it’s a rage anthem, it has a positive message about self-reliance and is SO FUN TO SING. That’s an important ingredient for me. (Also, there are lines in it - like the ones quoted - that are scary relatable.) 

13. Roll With the Punches - Lenka “When life tries to knock all the wind out of you, you've got to roll, roll, roll with the punches” Now THIS is the Lenka I have known and loved for so long - she made my first Ultimate Playlist and she’ll probably make my last. But for so long I had only ever heard ‘The Show’, the album I was obsessed with in 2010. This year I discovered, like, 3 other Lenka albums, which was a joy, and this song....SO FUN. SO CUTE. SO SINGABLE. SO LENKA. I can’t say enough good things about it. 

14. Fools - Lauren Aquilina  “I don't want you to go but I want you so, so tell me what we choose” I kind of wish this song had come to me earlier, because it really caught me on the very tail end of its relevance to my life, but then, these things often do. I like having a concise way to look back on things, though, so this works just as well in hindsight as it might have in realtime :D 

15. I Remember Her - Ingrid Michaelson  “Things they fade, things turn to grey. As much as I try to save them, they turn to grey.” Just. I cannot. This song is sooo sad. It might be the saddest one ever to make it to one of these lists, unless I had ‘Song for Josh’ last year, which I think I did, so call it the joint saddest. I mean I guess both subjectively and objectively 2016 was a pretty sad year, so it makes sense. Damn it, Ingrid!

16. Kwaad Naas - Bittereinder “I grew up in the Moot, but my Afrikaans is limited to net ‘n paar woorde” Another awesome bilingual raptastic track from Bittereinder, my loves. This lyric especially illustrates why I love it so much, for I too communicate sometimes in a mixture of Afrikaans and English (usually when trying to Afrikaans and forgetting half the words. Dis ‘n curse, ek kan nie help dit.) 

17. Sad Song - Lenka “Everyone's compelled to look into the mirror when they're crying, but just because your tears are pretty doesn't mean they'll get you by” Oh Lenka, you sound so happy but you talk so wise. I love this song so much, it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be deep when you hear the general sound of it, but then it is. That’s kinda Lenka’s thing, I guess. The chorus especially is IMMENSELY singable. 

18. Light Me Up - Ingrid Michaelson “Well you’re not what I was looking for, but your arms were open at my door” There are a whole bunch of repetitive lyrics towards the end but my oh my, what a beautiful sound. Just gorgeous. 

19. Morgan, I Might - Marit Larsen “I might have been guilty of thinking one day I'd find myself waking up with you.” Listen, Marit Larsen has always had a timeshare on my brain. I just accept that now. That’s the only way it makes sense that she can write things so exactly right. But she used to be subtle with it, you know? She used to leave the names out, so that I could sleep at night able to tell myself that it might just be a coincidence, that she can’t have actually stolen my diary. But this year? All of that went out of the window. She wrote the sequel to the first song that ever made me go, “damn, somebody gets it”, she splashed that name all over this song, and then she splashed my name all over the album title. Honestly, woman, was it so hard leaving room for reasonable doubt? (At least she had the decency to get the timing a little off, because this isn’t how this is anymore, but it so, so, so was.) 

20. Mr Brightside - The Killers “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, turning through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis” This song is such a classic but it became much more meaningful to me this past year, mainly because it featured on our group’s roadtrip playlist for Scotland in May, and...yeah, it’s just a #quality song and finally its time has come.  21. Miss America - Ingrid Michaelson  “I am the one who is always singing, louder than the rest, louder than the others” Songs that mention singing are the best songs, okay? I don’t make the rules. However, I wish I could get out of the habit of singing ‘I wanna be Miss America’ instead of the actual lyric, which is ‘I’ll never be Miss America’. I mean, there’s basically no way to get the song’s ethos more wrong. Shame on my tongue’s faulty muscle memory. 

22. When It Comes to Us - Frances (& Ritual) “You and I, we're one too many worlds apart, it really shouldn't work, but it does” Oh what have we here? It’s another male/female duet. Which is a shame, really, because if it was a female/female duet, it would be a really great Nistrid song. But anyway. Beautiful track with beautiful words, yes please stay with me forever thank you.

23. The End of the World - Lenka  “At the end of the world, we will kiss for the last time, and we won't feel the earth collapse into a mess of flood and fire” Listen up, The 100 and other angst-fest post-apocalyptic nightmare shows. This is how you do this. Cheesy and cute and with lots of “aahhh-aahhs”. Get on it. (No, but this song is adorable, truly.) 

24. Old Days - Ingrid Michaelson “Heaven help the ones who fly away, heaven help the ones who have to stay and place the blame” Honestlyyyy, what a haunting and beautiful song. All of the lyrics are just so... atmospheric? Like, in an almost eery way but still so pleasing to listen to. I dunno what it is, but this is a damn fine song from my main girl Ingrid. 

25. Quicksand - Tom Chaplin “Love's gonna leave you broken, time's gonna work you over; you get up, you get up, you keep rolling on” Awww, it’s Keane’s voice but without the rest of Keane! I love this guy, what a pro. Considering that a massive part of my early music life was taken up by Keane, I really haven’t grown out of my love for his voice. Aaanyway. This is actually thematically quite similar to Roll With the Punches. Was it really that hard of a year?! Ha. 

26. Unique - Lenka “No, I don't really make sense, but I know that you know what I mean” Hehe, such a cute song. I want to be Lenka if I grow up.

27. Still the One - Ingrid Michaelson  "We dance in the living room, and we dance to the beating of our blood” Aaaah this song is so great, so singable. This was one of the first ones I fell for before hurtling deep into the abyss of adoration for this album. 

28. No - Marit Larsen “You could give up, I won’t give in, ‘cause where you end is where I begin.” Another beauty from my girl Marit. A little lighter on the coincidences in this one, thank goodness, because I don’t know if I could take another hit, but still solid gold. 

29. We Are Powerful - Lenka “We fell in love on the same dark night, when the moon was high and the stars were bright” Another adorable song, another catchy, catchy tune. Lenka, my love, never stop with your beautifully singable tunes. (When I say singable, I mean both fun to sing and not vocally challenging enough to make me have to swap octaves halfway or sit out the middle 8 because the tune is too crazy. Aka the best kind of music.)  

30. Whole Lot of Heart - Ingrid Michaelson  “I said, "Let's rule this kingdom now, let's live and love and tear it down, to build it up"” Well, when I listen to this playlist in order, I will fittingly be left with the achingly catchy notes of this last Ingrid track in my head once it’s over. By faaar the catchiest of the bunch, this kind of addictive pulsating sound I can’t get enough of. I think this is might be my favourite from IDHTMS, but that changes regularly, so I won’t commit. Suffice to say it’s a fitting song for the end spot, down to the very last ebbing notes. 

.....

Well, that’s it!

I haven’t done the math for every year, but I think this is the most female my playlist has ever been. Only 1/5 of the songs have male lead vocals, compared to the copious amounts of Frank Turner etc that have dominated previous years. GIRL POWER! 

If you’ve actually read this post, I applaud you, and I also worry about your apportioning of time. What should you have been doing instead?!

As always, if you make your own one of these lists, please tag me for the sake of my ego and to give me new songs to listen to, because if we’ve learnt one thing from 2016′s list, it’s that I could do with some variety! ;D 

[reckonslepoisson]

The Bittereinders, Daedelus (2019)

Bits of Daedelus’ latest sound like the could be from Radiohead’s ‘Daydreaming’ (‘Trifling) or abstracts from orchestral pieces (‘The Irreconcilables’). Largely ambient- and drone-focused, occasionally with added chamber music (‘Sold As’), The Bittereinders spans a number of styles without overreaching and makes for pleasant ambient listening, if not leaving much to chew on long-term.

Pick: ‘Trifling’

[jgthirlwell]

2020 Year In Review

This year once again I invited some friends and colleagues to reflect on 2020

JG Thirlwell

Composer

Foetus Xordox Manorexia Steroid Maximus Venture Bros Archer

www.foetus.org

2020 was a troubling and disturbing year. I created a lot of music and experienced a lot of nights waking at 5am in a panic. I deeply missed the sacred experience of being able to see live music. In its absence of that I listened to a lot of music. It was difficult to whittle down this list but here are a lot of albums I enjoyed in 2020, in no particular order.

Le Grand Sbam Furvent (Dur Et Doux) John Elmquist’s HardArt Group I Own an Ion (900 Nurses) Roly Porter Kistvaen (Subtext) Liturgy Origin Of The Alimonies (YLYLCYN) Clark Kiri Variations (Throttle) Dai Kaht Dai Kaht I & II (Soleil Zeuhl) Chromb Le livre des merveilles (Dur Et Doux) Horse Lords The Common Task (Northern Spy) Ecker & Meultzer Carbon (Subtext) Insane Warrior Tendrils (RJ’s Electrical Connections) Jeff Parker Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem) Jacob Kirkegaard Opus Mors (Topos) Tristan Perich Drift Multiply (Nonesuch) Bec Plexus Sticklip (New Amsterdam) Vak Budo (Soleil Zeuhl) Merlin Nova BOO! (Bandcamp) The The Muscle OST (Cineola) Zombi 2020 (Relapse) Regis Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss (Downwards) Rival Consoles Articulation (Erased Tapes) Sarah Davachi Cantus, Descant (L.A.T.E.) Sufjan Stevens The Ascension (Asthmatic Kitty) Idles Ultra Mono (Partisan) Daedelus The Bittereindeers (Brainfeeder) Boris No (Bandcamp) Aksak Maboul Figures / Un peu de l’ame des bandits / Onze Danses Pour Cobattre La Migraine (Crammed) Noveller Arrow (Ba Da Bing) Felicia Atkinson Everything Evaporate (Shelter Press) Ital Tek Dream Boundary (Planet Mu) Author and Punisher Beastland (Relapse) Sparks A Steady Drip Drip Drip (BMG) Corima Amatarasu (Soleil Zeuhl) Code Orange Underneath (Roadrunner) Deerhoof Future Teenage Cave Artists /Silly Symphonies / To Be Surrounded../ Love Lore(Joyful Noise) Sote Moscels (Opal Tapes) Run The Jewels RTJ4 (Jewel Runners) Oranssi Pazuzu Mestarin Kynsi (Nuclear Blast) Master Boot Record Floppy Disk Overdrive (Metal Blade) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith The Mosaic Of Transformation (Ghostly International) / Ears (Western Vinyl) Michael Gordon Acquanetta (Cantelope) Neom Arkana Temporis (Soleil Zeuhl) Rian Treanor Ataxia / File Under UK Metaplasm (Planet Mu) Helm Saturnalia (Alter) Ivvvo doG (Halcyon Veil) Robert Normandeau Figures (Empreintes Digitales) Ben Vida Reducing The Tempo To Zero (Shelter Press) Beatrice Dillon Workaround (Pan) Dan Deacon Mystic Familiar (Domino) Sea Oleena Weaving A Basket (Higher Plain Music) Elysian Fields Transience Of Life (Ojet) Rhapsody Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret (Magic Circle) Duma Duma (Nyege Nyege) Ulla Strauss Tumbling Towards a Wall / Seed (Bandcamp)

Honorable mentions Carl Stone Stolen Car (Unseen Worlds)  Nazar Guerilla (Hyperdub) Iwo Zaluski with the Children of Park Lane Primary School, Wembley The Remarkable Earth Making Machine (Trunk) Nahash Flowers Of The Revolution (SVBKVLT) Cindy Lee Whats Tonight To Eternity (Bandcamp) Insect Ark The Vanishing (Profound Lore) 33EMYBW Arthropods (SVBKVLT) Declan McKenna Zeroes (Tomplicated) Layma Azur Zeii (Bandcamp)

FILM TV Succession ZeroZeroZero Escape at Dannemora 1917 Small Axe : Five films by Steve McQueen Pirhanas Monos The Hater Better Call Saul

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Drew Daniel

Matmos, The Soft Pink Truth

an alphabet of 2020 recordings

Arca “KiCk i” BFTT “Intrusive / Obtrusive” clipping. “Visions of Bodies Being Burned” Duma “Duma” Eilbacher, Max “Metabolist Meter (Foster, Cottin, Caetani and a Fly)” Forbidden Colors “La Yeguada” GILA “Energy Demonstration” HiedraH Club de Baile “Bichote-K Bailable Vol. 2” Ian Power “Maintenance Hums” Jeff Carey “Index[off]” Kassel Jaeger “Meith” Laurie Anderson “Songs From the Bardo” Mukqs “Water Levels” Negativland “The World Will Decide” O’Rourke, Jim “Shutting Down Here” Perlesvaus “These Things Below with Those Above” Quicksails “Blue Rise” Rian Treanor “File Under UK Metaplasm” Slikback “///” Terminal Nation “Holocene Extinction” Ulcerate “Stare Into Death and Be Still” Various Artists “HAUS of ALTR” William Tyler “New Vanitas” Xyla “Ways” Y A S H A “Summations” :zoviet-france: “Châsse 2ᵉ”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sarah Lipstate  (Noveller)

With all live performances canceled, this was truly the year of demo videos and home studio recording for me. These are 10 pieces of gear that came out in 2020 that helped keep me feeling creative and inspired during lockdown. In no particular order:

EHX Oceans 12 Dual Stereo Reverb - The Oceans 12 ticks all the boxes for what I’m looking for in a great soundscaping reverb. I used the Shimmer and Reverse algorithms in conjunction a lot when I was composing music for a film score.

Chase Bliss Audio Blooper - While I don’t actually own a Blooper, I had the pleasure of borrowing one from Mike of Baranik Guitars after NAMM this year. He made an incredible Blooper-inspired guitar and I was completely charmed by them both. Chase Bliss always delivers pedals that push me creatively and the Blooper truly hits the mark.

Cooper FX Arcades - I love everything Cooper FX has released to-date so the opportunity to access those sounds in one pedal via plug-in cartridges is just awesome.

SolidGoldFX NU-33 - I was asked to do a demo of this pedal for its release and ended up being really charmed by this box’s approach to lo-fi nostalgia. I’ve used it a lot for film scoring and highly recommend adding it to your collection.

Demedash Effects T-120 DLX V2 - I LOVE a good tape echo and the T-120 Deluxe V2 ranks up there with the best I’ve tried. This pedal made its way to me this Christmas and I look forward to making some beautiful sounds with it in the new year.

Hologram Electronics Microcosm - The Microcosm is one of those pedals where you should fully read the manual before diving in but once you put in that initial effort you’ve got a massively powerful tool on your hands. It does glitch like no other. Definitely worth the homework

Azzam Bells MP019 - I discovered this unique instrument through a post on Reverb’s IG page and immediately looked it up and ordered one. These experimental percussion instruments are hand-made in Italy and they’re as beautiful visually as they are sonically. I used it for bowed cymbal and daxophone sounds on a film score and it was absolutely haunting.

Echopark Dual Harmonic Boost 2 - I love the control you have over dialing in the perfect amount of grit with these dual boost circuits. I use it a lot as a textural tool when I’m laying down drones or bringing in big distorted swells. It’s one of the most versatile overdrives in my collection and I love that.

Fender Parallel Universe Series Volume II Maverick Dorado - I was smitten with the Maverick Dorado when I first saw it at NAMM. It has a lot of the specs that I look for in a guitar and the body shape with the Mystic Pine finish just blew me away. I hope that I get to use it live soon.

Polyeffects Beebo - The Beebo is one of those pedals that I genuinely feel is smarter than I am. It’s like an entire computer in one small touchscreen box. I can’t claim to have mastered using it yet but the sounds that I have managed to get out of it so far have been brilliant. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this box in 2021

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HELM 2020 REVIEW

Let's get the bad stuff out the way first, 2020 was undoubtedly an awful year. I'm still not sure how to really respond to seeing a global pandemic bring the capital to its knees and everything I love and hold dear to a grinding halt. Our government fucked it's response, putting profit before people and killing tens of thousands. The Labour Party descended into farce with the newly elected leader Sir Keith revealing himself as a bland centrist with no opposition or ideas. On a personal level it sucked not being able to travel or see my friends in different parts of the world - or even the same country - who I am starting to miss a lot. However, I was fortunate enough to get through the year with my sanity intact. Music, art and culture once again being my main positive. I think I listened to more music than I have in any year ever. I read more books than I have done since I was a teenager probably. I also re-discovered the joys of walking long distances and am extremely thankful for living near a lot of incredible green spaces: Epping Forest, Walthamstow Wetlands, Walthamstow Marshes, Wanstead Park, Wanstead Flats...

Music. My favourite albums of the year.

Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi Wetware - Flail Raspberry Bulbs - Before The Age Of Mirrors Necrot - Mortal Rope Sect - The Great Flood Private World - Aleph Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never Pyrrhon - Abcess Time CS+Kreme - Snoopy Speaker Music - Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry Drew McDowall - Agalma Regis - Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss Nazar - Guerilla Zoviet France - Russian Heterodoxical Songs (and all the ZF reissues!!) Triple Negative - God Bless the Death Drive Permission - Organised People Suffer Actress - Karma & Desire Acolytes - Stress II The Gerogerigegege - >(decrescendo) Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills Flora Yin-Wong - Holy Palm Eiko Ishibashi - Hyakki Yagyo The The - See Without Being Seen Prurient - Casablanca Flamethrower Henning Christiansen - L’essere Umano Errabando La Voce Errabando Subdued - Over The Hills And Far Away Rian Treanor - File Under UK Metaplasm Komare - The Sense Of Hearing Shredded Nerve - Acts Of Betrayal Jesu - Terminus Autechre - SIGN Hey Colossus - Dances / Curses Sparkle Division - To Feel Embraced Mark Harwood - A Perfect Punctual Paradise Under My Own Name Still House Plants - Fast Edit The Bug & Dis Fig - In Blue Kommand - Terrorscape Haus Arafna - Asche Khthoniik Cerviiks - Æequiizoiikum Worm - Gloomlord Kraus - A Golden Brain Faceless Burial - Speciation

A shout-out to Jon Abby's AMPLIFY series on Bandcamp / Facebook, which I contributed a new piece of music to.

A shout out to the labels where most of the music I listened to seemed to come from:

The Trilogy Tapes Iron Bonehead Penultimate Press Dais La Vida Es Un Mus

Gigs. Despite live music being destroyed in 2020 I still saw a few unforgettable performances at the beginning of the year.

Graham Lambkin @ The ICA, London Puce Mary / JFK @ The Glove That Fits, London Demilich @ Finnfest, The Garage, London Container / PC World / National Unrest @ Venue MOT, London S.H.I.T / Asid / Chubby & The Gang @ Static Shock Festival, ExFed, London

Books I enjoyed. Most not published this year, but all read in 2020.

Joe Kennedy - Authentocrats David Balzer - Curationism Tom Mills - BBC: The Myth Of A Public Service Simon Morris - Consumer Guide: Special Edition Luke Turner - Out Of The Woods Various - Bad News For Labour Mike Wendling - Alt-Right Baited Area issues 1 & 2.

Film. Three good films I saw this year which I hadn't before.

Suspiria (Remake) Midsommar Cannibal Holocaust

Podcasts. I listened to a lot of these whilst walking.

We Don't Talk About The Weather Novara Media Tysky Sour & Novara FM Grounded with Louis Theroux System of Systems Red Scare loveline episodes Suite 212 NOISEXTRA Social Discipline CONTAIN

TV.

Didn't watch a huge amount and what I did was mostly trash. For some reason I rewatched both series' of This Life, a British drama from the late 90's about a group of young professionals house sharing and navigating their careers. Very cringey and has aged terribly, but it was perversely fascinating to revisit something from that time in the age of the pandemic. Following on from this I binge watched the entire series of Industry which was entertaining enough. A programme about a bunch of horny bankers with what felt like a confused ideology behind it. It seemed stuck between trying to criticise and glorify the culture around the industry, but also protect the industry itself from outside criticism by portraying anyone who may oppose as an insufferable wanker. Currently halfway through Succession which is OK. The Murdoch documentaries on the BBC were excellent and a rare respite from their descent into client journalism.

Thanks to anyone who listened to my music this year also. Best wishes to you all for 2021.

Luke Younger

http://hhelmm.com | http://alter.bandcamp.com

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Elliott Sharp

composer

1. My Nr. 1 lesson: patience. Whether it's bouncing through 30 seconds of severe turbulence at 39000 feet or slogging through 30 minutes of a interminable piece of concert music, one attribute I've tried to develop is the ability to see past the discrete and awaited ending, the exact framing of the immediate process, but put it into the context of a larger time frame. I've found that this year more than all others has demanded it. Breathing helps...

2. Books: revisiting old favorites from the realm of Thomas Pynchon and Philip K. Dick (both especially relevant), digging into John Lomax's portrait of Jelly Roll Morton, the works of Colson Whitehead, random things off of the shelf…

3. Composing: with touring off the table, I focused on that which needed to be written, some requested and commissioned, some spontaneously springing forth. Composing requires that one open the windows wide to the world, which at this moment brought in grief, terror, uncertainty, anxiety, visions of plague and pestilence and incipient fascism. Okay, now shut the window and get to work! How to process, translate, transform? The work can be a comfortable and obsessive cocoon once one learns to handle the radioactive materials and put them into the creativity reactor.

4. Beans! We have long been a fan in our house of the wide world of legumes but this year brought two stars to the front: the black bean and the red lentil. The black bean commands the lofty peaks but the seemingly infinite variations of dal surround it. Ginger, garlic, turmeric, smoked paprika, cayenne, onions, and olive oil form the basis then imagination builds.

5. Online teaching substituted for my canceled conduction of workshops in the Pyrenees Mountains of France. Between the participants and myself, we built a temporary but very congenial space online to share concepts and music. In addition, private lessons brought conversation and music with new friends in Germany, Italy, California, Australia, Illinois, Denmark, Pennsylvania, Spain, Florida, Brazil.

6. What started out as "stress baking" (before I even had heard of the term) soon became a frequent practice that yielded very edible results. The twins preferred the sweeter forays into banana bread and chocolate cake. I tried to find a balance between tried-and-true techniques and experiments in texture and taste with yeasted pumpernickels, multi-grains, and seed breads.

7. While not the same as performing 'live ', online gigs proved that it was possible to generate a surprising amount of adrenaline even without the pheromonal handshaking of a room filled with receptive ears. As a corollary, online recording collaborations with friends worldwide proved to be inspiring and a suitable substrate for sonic experimentation, exploration of new instruments, tunings, effects programming, structures. In these realms, shout-outs to Helene Breschand, Mike Cooper, Henry Kaiser, Tracie Morris, Mikel Banks, Dougie Bowne, Payton McDonald, Billy Martin, Colin Stetson, Jim O'Rourke, Scott Amendola, Roberto Zorzi, Jason Hoopes, Eric Mingus, Melanie Dyer, Dave Hofstra, Don McKenzie, Sergio Sorrentino, Veniero Rizzardi, Taylor Ho Bynum, Scott Fields, Bachir Attar, Karl Bruckmaier, Robbie Lee, Matthew Evan Taylor, Matteo Liberatore, Al Kaatz, David Barratt, Jessica Hallock, Kolin Zeinikov, Robbie Lee, Jeremy Nesse, James Ilgenfritz, Sergio Armaroli, Steve Piccolo, Sandy Ewen, David Weinstein, Jim Whittemore, Chris Vine, Werner Puntigam, William Schimmel.

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Daniel O’Sullivan

(Grumbling Fur, Guapo, Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses, Ulver, Sunn O))), Æthenor, Laniakea, Miracle, Mothlite, and This Is Not This Heat.)

Music Richard Youngs - Ein Klein Nein Alabaster DePlume - Instrumentals Hildegard von Bingen - O Nobilissima Viriditas Francisco de Penalosa - Missa Ave Maria Peregrina Carlo Gesualdo - Responsoria 1611 Dirty Projectors - Five EPs Sonic Boom - All Things Being Equal Brother Peter Broderick - Blackberry Richard Horowitz - Eros Of Arabia Duncan Trussell Family Hour Cocteau Twins in the bath

Books/comics Alexander Tucker - Entity Reunion II Derek Jarman - Chroma Stephen Harrod Buhner - Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm The Penguin Book Of Irish Poetry - edited by Patrick Crotty The Gospel Of Ramakrishna - translated by Swami Nikhilananda Lucretius - De Rerum Natura Plotinus - Enneads Ram Dass - Grist For The Mill Lisa Brown - Phantom Twin

Other Fasting / meditation / macrodosing Walks in freshly coppiced woodland (for the smell mainly). Plants / Foraging / Growing Traditional ferments Douglas Sirk movies Mandolorian Writing songs on the piano Rediscovery of Kenneth Graham via my kids

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Karl O’Connor (Regis)

01.Wolfgang Press - Unremembered, Remembered 02. Klara Lewis - Ingrid Live at Fylkingen 03. Jesu - Terminus 04. Dave Ball - Leeds Poly Demos 1979 05. Edwin Pouncey - Rated Sav X (the Savage Pencil Skratchbook) 06. The Bug - In Blue 07. New Order - Power,Corruption and Lies ( Writing Sessions  ) 08. JG Thirlwell and Simon Steensland - Oscillospira 09. FM Einheit and Andreas Ammer - Hammerschlag 10. Thurston Moore - By The Fire 11. Body Stuff - Body Stuff 3 12. Ann M Hogan - Honeysuckle Burials 13. Rob Halford - Confess (Autobiography)

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Caleb Braaten (Sacred Bones Records)

Shirley Collins Hearts Ease Dehd Flowers Of Devotion Duma Duma Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways Green-House Six Songs for Invisible Gardens John Jeffery Passage Drew McDowall Agalma Sweeping Promises Hunger For a Way Out Colter Wall Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs Woods Strange to Explain

My Favorite 90’s Nostalgia Movie Rewatches

Colors Ghost Dog Menace II Society The Player Rounders Safe Starship Troopers Trees Lounge Vampires Waiting For Guffman

Most Culturally Bankrupt Year : 1997

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Charlie Looker

(composer, Psalm Zero, Extra Life, Seaven Teares)

Ten Things That Didn’t Happen in 2020

1.  I didn’t write a ton of new music. Don’t get me wrong, I wrote some. I always do. But mostly I focused on my new YouTube channel, essays, and on getting old recordings released. I haven’t even been working a day-job so I thought I was going to write my next Ring Cycle, but I really didn’t find Covid inspiring.

2.  Trump wasn’t re-elected. Cool.

3. I didn’t lose anyone to Covid. I am, of course, profoundly grateful for this. But I feel pretty embarrassed remembering group-texting ten friends in March, “We are all going to see a loved one die. Every single one of us. Don’t kid yourselves”. I can get hysterical, and that was somewhat irresponsible of me.

4.  No revolution happened. I don’t mean to be smug or cynical, or to belittle anyone’s participation in the protests. But, as far as I can tell, nothing happened in 2020 that promises to reduce police brutality or human suffering of any kind. We’ll see. That burning Minneapolis police station was exciting to watch at the time, if only on an aesthetic level.

5.  I have a stack of unread books I bought this year, just staring at me, with nary a crease among them. These include:

Adorno and Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment (looks amazing, but I haven’t touched it) Marx, Grundrisse (it’s 1000 pages for fuck’s sake. Amazon also accidentally sent me two copies, and its double presence in the stack is just comical) Reza Negarestani, Intelligence and Spirit (the first 15 pages blew my mind, then my mind blew it off)

6.  I didn’t settle into living in LA. I moved here six months before Covid and I was just starting to cultivate some friendships and play shows. This was quashed and I still feel like I still live in New York. I still barely know the layout of the city here.

7.  No brand-new buzzy musical artists burst onto the scene, that I can recall. No new hyped micro-genre of the moment. There was just no way for there to be a hot new trend. I’d say that was refreshing, but it wasn’t.

8.  Tyson’s return was not awesome. Two minute rounds, ended in a draw. I’ve been getting way into boxing this past year. This fight was a bummer. I’m looking forward to Mayweather vs Logan Paul (LOL) because we know it’s comedy ahead of time.

9.  For three weeks in July, I didn’t do a single thing other than watch street fight compilations on YouTube and Worldstar. That’s just grim.

10.  There were no school shootings in March. Apparently, this was the first March with no school shootings since 2002. Not a single 7th grader got a hand job in March either. I cannot begin to imagine what it’s like to be a kid now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Chuck Bettis

https://chuckbettis.com

Other People's Music released this year:

Coil "Musick to Play in the Dark" (Dais)

Duma "s/t" (Nyege Nyege Tapes) Twig Harper "External Boundless Prison/ in 4 parts EP" (self-release) I.P.Y. (Ikue Mori, Phew, YoshimiO) "I.P.Y." (Tzadik) Kill Alters "A2B2 Live Stream 11/13/2020" (self-release) Krallice "Mass Cathexis" (self-release) Lust$ickPuppy "Cosmic Brownie" (self-release) Doug McKechnie "San Francisco Moog: 1968-72" (VG+ Records) Merlin Nova "Boo!" (self-release) Omrb "Milandthriust, The Graths of Mersh" (self-release) Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda "gi n ga" (self-release) Yoth Iria "Under His Sway" (Repulsive Echo) Wetware "Flail" (Dais)

My own music released this year:

collaborations

Chatter Blip "Microcosmopolitan" (Contour Editions) Matmos "The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form" (Thrill Jockey) Reverse Bullets  "Dreampop Dsyphoria" (self-release) Snake Union "live at Roulette" (self-release) Snake Union w/ Hisham Bharoocha, Bonnie Jones, Heejin Jang, Matthew Regula "Three Arrows" (Rat Route) Thomas Dimuzio "Balance" (Gench Music) YoshimiO & Chuck Bettis  "Live at the Stone" (Living Myth)

solo Chuck Bettis "Arc of Enlghtenment"  (Living Myth) Chuck Bettis "Motion Parallax"  (Living Myth)

compilation Various Artist "Polished Turds Vol.1" (Granpa)

Music Books read this year

"Intermediary Spaces" by Eliane Radigue/Julia Eckhardt (Umland) "Ennio Morricone In His Own Words" by Ennio Morricone/Alessandro De Rosa (Oxford University Press) "Free Jazz In Japan: A Personal History" by Soejima Teruto (Public Bath Press) "Rumors of Noizu: Hijokaidan and the Road to 2nd Damascus" by Kato David Hopkins (Public Bath Press)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Maya Hardinge

(musician / artist)

list of things i liked this year

first ever solo road trip through new mexico and Texas right before lockdown experiencing manhattan with no cars on the road . having a car to escape in to nature. (which i craved so much) walks and bike rides with friends… FRIENDS! The web site ‘workaway’ that helped me feel that there were options for escape. playing games weekly on zoom during lock down teaching yoga weekly on zoom. Witnessing and being part of the BLM protests. witnessing and being part of the demise of T sitting on my couch at 6am drinking a cup of tea, appreciating my apt. making time to meditate. halloween without tourists .

some music I’ve bought and/or enjoyed this year Elvis Perkins-Black Coat Daughter Patricia Kokett -Soi soi Henning Christiansen - OP201 Bryce Hackford- Safe Svitlana Nianio and Oleksander - Snayesh yak? rozkazhy Brannten schnure - Sommer im Pfirsichhain Killing Joke - Nighttime David Shea - Tower of mirrors Shakey - Shakey Woodford halse tapes Coil - Musick to play in the dark

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BJ Nilsen

sound artist / composer

Work 2020

Despite Covid 19 lots of things actually did happen.

In Feburary I visited the only active nuclear plant in The Nederlands as part of my "Expanded Field Recording” project together with SML. In March revisited the Acousmonium at the Elevate Festival in Graz with an additional trip deep inside the Schlossberg recording old mining trains. In March and April I did two daily recording projects “Pending and Auditory Scenes” - both of Amsterdam during lockdown. In May did my first Zoom field recording workshop with the CAMP project. In June & July  two research trips in Waldviertel, Austria with Franz Pomassl. In August recorded bells and organs in 10 different churches around Amsterdam for Jacob Lekkerkerker. In September recorded Kali Malone at the Orgelpark in Amsterdam. Performed at Heart of Noise Festival in Innsbruck and A4 in Bratislava. Also went ice-skating for first time in 20? Years. In November and December I travelled to Jeju island to record field recordings for a project by Femke Herregraven for the Gwangju Biennale, commissioned for 2021. Did lots of gardening, released two tapes “Call it Philips, Eindoven” and “Zomer 2020” with Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson. NOW! Looking forward to 2021.

http://bjnilsen.info https://soundcloud.com/bjnilsen/sets/auditory-scenes-amsterdam

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vicki Bennett

(People Like Us)

Negativland - True False https://negativland.com/products/truefalse-cd (this came out last year but is so THIS year) Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/rough-and-rowdy-ways/ The Soft Pink Truth - We from Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase https://thesoftpinktruth.bandcamp.com/album/shall-we-go-on-sinning-so-that-grace-may-increase Carl Stone - Stolen Car https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/stolen-car Porest - Sedimental Gurney https://porest.bandcamp.com/album/sedimental-gurney Matmos - The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises in Group Form https://matmos.bandcamp.com/album/the-consuming-flame-open-exercises-in-group-form Domenique Dumont - Miniatures De Auto Rhythm https://antinoterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/atn044-domenique-dumont-miniatures-de-auto-rhythm The The - See Without Being Seen https://www.thethe.com/product/see-without-being-seen-cd/ Ciggy de la Noche - Hold Tight HMRC https://soundcloud.com/ciggydelanoche/hold-tight-hmrc Neil Cicierega - Mouth Dreams http://www.neilcic.com/mouthdreams/

and my details: http://peoplelikeus.org/ https://peoplelikeus-vickibennett.bandcamp.com/ pic: http://peoplelikeus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Welcome-Abroad-promo3-2-scaled.jpg

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DJ Food

Music - Type 303 - Sticky Disco / Analogue Acidbath 7" (45 Live) The British Space Group - The Ley of the Land CD (Wyrd Britain) Squarepusher - Be Up A Hello LP / Warp 10 NTS mix (Warp) dgoHn - Undesignated Proximate (Modern Love) LF58 - Alterazione LP (Astral Industries) Robert Fripp - Music For Quiet Moments series (DGM) Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (BMG) Simf Onyx - Magenta Skyline / The Unresolved 7" (Delights) Luke Vibert - Modern Rave LP (Hypercolour) JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira (Ipecac) Aural Design - Looking & Seeing 7" / DL (Russian Library) Luke Vibert - Rave Hop (Hypercolour) Clipping. with Christopher Fleeger - Double Live (Sub Pop) APAT - Terry Riley's 'In C' performed on Modular Synthesizer (YouTube) Field Lines Cartographer - The Spectral Isle LP (Castles In Space) Jane Weaver - The Revolution of Super Visions single (Fire Records) King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G. LP (Flightless) Humanoid - Hed-Set - forthcoming on (De:tuned)

Film / TV - Inside No.9 (BBC) What We Do In The Shadows Season 2 (Netflix) Tales From The Loop (Amazon) Keith Haring - Street Art Boy (BBC) John Was Trying To Contact Aliens (Netflix) The Social Dilemma (Netflix) The Mandalorian (Season 2) (Disney+) Long Hot Summers - The Style Council documentary (Sky Arts) Zappa (Alex Winter)

Books / Comics / Magazines Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell (Profile books) The Often Wrong - Farel Dalrymple (Image Comics) Edwin Pouncey - Rated SavX (Strange Attractor Press) Jeffrey Lewis - Fuff (all issues - really late to the party on this one) Rian Hughes - XX - A Novel, Graphic (Picador) Cosey Fanni Tutti - Art, Sex, Music (Faber) Caza - Kris Kool (Passenger Press) Dan Lish - Egostrip Vol.1 Electronic Sound magazine Decorum - Jonathan Hickman & Mike Huddleston (Image) John Higgs - Stranger Than We Can Imagine Simon Halfon - Cover To Cover (Nemperor)

Very few exhibitions or shows this year for obvious reasons

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[brookston]

Holidays 5.31

Holidays

American Copyright Day

Barter Black Day

Battle of Jutland Anniversary Day

Bicycle Race Day

Big Ben Day

Bittereinders Day (Orania, South Africa)

Brothers & Sisters Day (EU)

Castile-La Mancha Day (a.k.a. Dia de Castilla la Mancha; Spain)

Covfefe Day

Flores de Mayo (Philippines)

Gawai Dayak begins (Dayaks in Indonesia, Malaysia)

Inspiring Teen Moms Day

International Blondes Day

International Enjoy a Cigar Day

International Flight Attendant Day

Jumatul Bidah (Bangladesh)

Jumat-ul Wida (India, UK)

Lady Godiva Day

London History Day (UK)

“Make My Day” Day

National Autonomous Vehicle Day

National Dam Safety Awareness Day

National Fisherfolks Day (Philippines)

National Flip Flop Day

National Foster Parent Appreciation Day

National Meditation Day

National Pik-Up Day (India)

National Smile Day

National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

National Utah Day

Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

Ponto Faculativo (Brazil)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Reconciliation Day (Australia)

Red Shirt Day of Action for AccessAbility & Inclusion (Canada)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day (Brunei)

Russian Advocates’ Day (Russia)

Save Your Hearing Day

Scouts’ Day (Vietnam)

Speak In Complete Sentences Day

Take This Job and Shove It Day

Tulsa Race Massacre Anniversary Day

Web Designer Day

What You Think Upon Grows Day

White Armband Day

White Stork Day (Poland)

World Foster Day

World Meditation Day (UK)

World No Tobacco Day (UN)

World Parrot Day

Woundwort Day (French Republic)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Beer Judge Day

National Macaroon Day

National Matzah Brei Day

Independence & Related Days

Castilla-La Mancha Day (Spain)

South Africa (Union of South Africa declared, 1910; Republic of South Africa declared, 1961)

5th & Last Friday in May

Bake Challah Day [Last Friday]

Bermuda Day [Last Friday]

European Neighbours’ Day [Last Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival begins [Last Friday, thru Sunday]

National Heat Awareness Day [Last Friday]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day (Western Australia) [Last Friday]

Trader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Day [Last Friday]

Festivals Beginning May 31, 2024

Cincinnati Fringe Festival [Cincy Fringe] (Cincinnati, Ohio) [thru 6.15]

Dairyfest (Marshfield, Wisconsin) [thru 6.1]

Docudays UA International Human Rights Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 6.9]

Fredericksburg's Dairy Day (Fredericksburg, Iowa) [thru 6.3]

Georgia Blueberry Festival (Alma, Georgia) [thru 6.1]

Georgia Peach Festival (Byron & Fort Valley, Georgia) [thru 6.1 & 6.8]

Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week (Palm Springs, California) [thru 6.9]

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival (Little Chute, Wisconsin) [thru 6.2]

Harvard Milk Days (Harvard, Illinois) [thru 6.1]

Hertug Hans Festival (Haderslev, Denmark) [thru 6.1]

June Dairy Days (West Salem, Wisconsin) [thru 6.2]

Lincoln Park Greek Fest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 6.2]

Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off (Monroe, Louisiana)

Mike The Headless Chicken Festival (Fruita, Colorado) [thru 6.1]

Philly Beer Week (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) [thru 6.9]

Pine Island Cheese Festival (Pine Island, Minnesota) [thru 6.2]

Robin in the Hood Festival (Elmira, Canada) [thru 6.1]

San Joaquin County Fair (Stockton, California) [thru 6.2]

Smokin' In Steele BBQ and Blues Festival (Owatonna, Minnesota) [thru 6.1]

Taste Addison (Addison, Texas) [thru 6.2]

Taste of Omaha (Omaha, Nebraska) [thru 6.2]

Tomato Fest Week (Jacksonville, Texas) [thru 6.8]

Feast Days

Alessandro Allori (Artology)

Andrea Appiani (Artology)

Angela Merici (Christian; Virgin)

Basketball (Muppetism)

Camilla Battista da Varano (Christian; Saint)

Cantius and Cantianus, and Cantianilla (Christian; Sibling Martyrs)

Desecration Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Ellsworth Kelly (Artology)

Feast of the Visitation (Roman Catholic)

Genevieve of Paris (Positivist; Saint)

Grainne (Celtic Book of Days)

Hermias (Christian; Saint)

Insect Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

International No Tobacco Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Mechtildis of Edelstetten (Christian; Virgin)

Michel Kikoine (Artology)

Petronella (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Saint-John Perse (Writerism)

Syaday (Discordian)

Stella Maris Day (Pagan)

This Day … Again (Shamanism)

Triple Blessing of the God Buddha (Everyday Wicca)

Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)

Walter Sickert (Artology)

Walt Whitman (Writerism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [20 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 151 [36 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Aniara, by Karl Birger Blomdahl (Sci-Fi Opera; 1959)

Back to Bataan (Film; 1945)

The Brave Little Toaster (Animated Film; 1989)

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (Novel; 1945)

Catnip Capers (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Choose Your Weppins (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

The Common Reader, by Virginia Woolf (Essays; 1925)

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, by Charles Bukowski (Poetry; 1969)

A Day to Live (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

Discovery, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1979)

The Dizzy Acrobat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1943)

Dragonheart (Film; 1996)

The Easter Parade, by Richard Yates (Novel; 1976)

The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1972)

Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor (Song; 1982)

Fletch (Film; 1985)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Film; 2019)

Good Girl Gone Bad, by Rihanna (Album; 2007)

Good Omens (UK TV Series; 2019)

Got To Get You Into My Life, by The Beatles (Song; 1976)

How to Trap a Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1971)

Klondike Casanova (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1946)

Love Is a Dog from Hell Charles Bukowski (Poems; 1977)

Man in Black, by Johnny Cash (Album; 1970)

The Merry Kittens (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1935)

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1966)

The Muppet Movie (UK Film; 1979)

Now, Hare This (WB LT Cartoon; 1958)

Now You See Me (Film; 2013)

Opera Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Overload, by Arthur Haley (Novel; 1979)

Peppa Pig (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Rocketman (Film; 2019)

Soapdish (Film; 1991)

The Sum of All Fears (Film; 2002)

Undercover Brother (Film; 2002)

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, by Walter Benjamin (Essay; 1936)

Today’s Name Days

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Austria)

Krunoslava, Marija, Petronila, Vladimir (Croatia)

Kamila (Czech Republic)

Petronella (Denmark)

Elga, Helga, Helge, Helgi, Helja, Helje, Heljo, Helju, Olga, Olli (Estonia)

Helga, Helka (Finland)

Pétronille (France)

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Germany)

Eremitas, Magos (Greece)

Angéla, Petronella (Hungary)

Felice, Ferdinando, Giovanni (Italy)

Alīda, Jusma, Jusmins (Latvia)

Anelė, Angelė, Gintautas, Petronėlė, Rimvilė (Lithuania)

Pernille, Preben (Norway)

Aniela, Bożysława, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Feliks, Petronela, Petronia, Petroniusz, Teodor (Poland)

Ermie (România)

Alexandra, Faina, Julia (Russia)

Petrana, Petronela (Slovakia)

Petronila, Visitación (Spain)

Pernilla, Petronella (Sweden)

Petrina, Petronella, Petrunia (Ukraine)

Camilia, Camilla, Camille, Petra, Petronella, Pier (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 152 of 2024; 214 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 22 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 20 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 24 (Yi-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 23 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 23 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 2 Blue; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 18 May 2024

Moon: 40%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 11 St. Paul (6th Month) [Genevieve of Paris]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 74 of 92)

Week: Last Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 11 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 5.31

Holidays

American Copyright Day

Barter Black Day

Battle of Jutland Anniversary Day

Bicycle Race Day

Big Ben Day

Bittereinders Day (Orania, South Africa)

Brothers & Sisters Day (EU)

Castile-La Mancha Day (a.k.a. Dia de Castilla la Mancha; Spain)

Covfefe Day

Flores de Mayo (Philippines)

Gawai Dayak begins (Dayaks in Indonesia, Malaysia)

Inspiring Teen Moms Day

International Blondes Day

International Enjoy a Cigar Day

International Flight Attendant Day

Jumatul Bidah (Bangladesh)

Jumat-ul Wida (India, UK)

Lady Godiva Day

London History Day (UK)

“Make My Day” Day

National Autonomous Vehicle Day

National Dam Safety Awareness Day

National Fisherfolks Day (Philippines)

National Flip Flop Day

National Foster Parent Appreciation Day

National Meditation Day

National Pik-Up Day (India)

National Smile Day

National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

National Utah Day

Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day

Ponto Faculativo (Brazil)

Rabbit Rabbit Day [Last Day of Every Month]

Reconciliation Day (Australia)

Red Shirt Day of Action for AccessAbility & Inclusion (Canada)

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day (Brunei)

Russian Advocates’ Day (Russia)

Save Your Hearing Day

Scouts’ Day (Vietnam)

Speak In Complete Sentences Day

Take This Job and Shove It Day

Tulsa Race Massacre Anniversary Day

Web Designer Day

What You Think Upon Grows Day

White Armband Day

White Stork Day (Poland)

World Foster Day

World Meditation Day (UK)

World No Tobacco Day (UN)

World Parrot Day

Woundwort Day (French Republic)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Beer Judge Day

National Macaroon Day

National Matzah Brei Day

Independence & Related Days

Castilla-La Mancha Day (Spain)

South Africa (Union of South Africa declared, 1910; Republic of South Africa declared, 1961)

5th & Last Friday in May

Bake Challah Day [Last Friday]

Bermuda Day [Last Friday]

European Neighbours’ Day [Last Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival begins [Last Friday, thru Sunday]

National Heat Awareness Day [Last Friday]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day (Western Australia) [Last Friday]

Trader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Day [Last Friday]

Festivals Beginning May 31, 2024

Cincinnati Fringe Festival [Cincy Fringe] (Cincinnati, Ohio) [thru 6.15]

Dairyfest (Marshfield, Wisconsin) [thru 6.1]

Docudays UA International Human Rights Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 6.9]

Fredericksburg's Dairy Day (Fredericksburg, Iowa) [thru 6.3]

Georgia Blueberry Festival (Alma, Georgia) [thru 6.1]

Georgia Peach Festival (Byron & Fort Valley, Georgia) [thru 6.1 & 6.8]

Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week (Palm Springs, California) [thru 6.9]

Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival (Little Chute, Wisconsin) [thru 6.2]

Harvard Milk Days (Harvard, Illinois) [thru 6.1]

Hertug Hans Festival (Haderslev, Denmark) [thru 6.1]

June Dairy Days (West Salem, Wisconsin) [thru 6.2]

Lincoln Park Greek Fest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 6.2]

Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off (Monroe, Louisiana)

Mike The Headless Chicken Festival (Fruita, Colorado) [thru 6.1]

Philly Beer Week (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) [thru 6.9]

Pine Island Cheese Festival (Pine Island, Minnesota) [thru 6.2]

Robin in the Hood Festival (Elmira, Canada) [thru 6.1]

San Joaquin County Fair (Stockton, California) [thru 6.2]

Smokin' In Steele BBQ and Blues Festival (Owatonna, Minnesota) [thru 6.1]

Taste Addison (Addison, Texas) [thru 6.2]

Taste of Omaha (Omaha, Nebraska) [thru 6.2]

Tomato Fest Week (Jacksonville, Texas) [thru 6.8]

Feast Days

Alessandro Allori (Artology)

Andrea Appiani (Artology)

Angela Merici (Christian; Virgin)

Basketball (Muppetism)

Camilla Battista da Varano (Christian; Saint)

Cantius and Cantianus, and Cantianilla (Christian; Sibling Martyrs)

Desecration Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Ellsworth Kelly (Artology)

Feast of the Visitation (Roman Catholic)

Genevieve of Paris (Positivist; Saint)

Grainne (Celtic Book of Days)

Hermias (Christian; Saint)

Insect Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

International No Tobacco Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Mechtildis of Edelstetten (Christian; Virgin)

Michel Kikoine (Artology)

Petronella (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Saint-John Perse (Writerism)

Syaday (Discordian)

Stella Maris Day (Pagan)

This Day … Again (Shamanism)

Triple Blessing of the God Buddha (Everyday Wicca)

Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)

Walter Sickert (Artology)

Walt Whitman (Writerism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [20 of 53]

Prime Number Day: 151 [36 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Aniara, by Karl Birger Blomdahl (Sci-Fi Opera; 1959)

Back to Bataan (Film; 1945)

The Brave Little Toaster (Animated Film; 1989)

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (Novel; 1945)

Catnip Capers (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Choose Your Weppins (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

The Common Reader, by Virginia Woolf (Essays; 1925)

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, by Charles Bukowski (Poetry; 1969)

A Day to Live (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

Discovery, by Electric Light Orchestra (Album; 1979)

The Dizzy Acrobat (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1943)

Dragonheart (Film; 1996)

The Easter Parade, by Richard Yates (Novel; 1976)

The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Novel; 1972)

Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor (Song; 1982)

Fletch (Film; 1985)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Film; 2019)

Good Girl Gone Bad, by Rihanna (Album; 2007)

Good Omens (UK TV Series; 2019)

Got To Get You Into My Life, by The Beatles (Song; 1976)

How to Trap a Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1971)

Klondike Casanova (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1946)

Love Is a Dog from Hell Charles Bukowski (Poems; 1977)

Man in Black, by Johnny Cash (Album; 1970)

The Merry Kittens (Rainbow Parade Cartoon; 1935)

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1966)

The Muppet Movie (UK Film; 1979)

Now, Hare This (WB LT Cartoon; 1958)

Now You See Me (Film; 2013)

Opera Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Overload, by Arthur Haley (Novel; 1979)

Peppa Pig (Animated TV Series; 2004)

Rocketman (Film; 2019)

Soapdish (Film; 1991)

The Sum of All Fears (Film; 2002)

Undercover Brother (Film; 2002)

The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, by Walter Benjamin (Essay; 1936)

Today’s Name Days

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Austria)

Krunoslava, Marija, Petronila, Vladimir (Croatia)

Kamila (Czech Republic)

Petronella (Denmark)

Elga, Helga, Helge, Helgi, Helja, Helje, Heljo, Helju, Olga, Olli (Estonia)

Helga, Helka (Finland)

Pétronille (France)

Helma, Mechthild, Petra (Germany)

Eremitas, Magos (Greece)

Angéla, Petronella (Hungary)

Felice, Ferdinando, Giovanni (Italy)

Alīda, Jusma, Jusmins (Latvia)

Anelė, Angelė, Gintautas, Petronėlė, Rimvilė (Lithuania)

Pernille, Preben (Norway)

Aniela, Bożysława, Ernesta, Ernestyna, Feliks, Petronela, Petronia, Petroniusz, Teodor (Poland)

Ermie (România)

Alexandra, Faina, Julia (Russia)

Petrana, Petronela (Slovakia)

Petronila, Visitación (Spain)

Pernilla, Petronella (Sweden)

Petrina, Petronella, Petrunia (Ukraine)

Camilia, Camilla, Camille, Petra, Petronella, Pier (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 152 of 2024; 214 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of week 22 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 20 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 24 (Yi-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 23 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 23 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 2 Blue; Twosday [2 of 30]

Julian: 18 May 2024

Moon: 40%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 11 St. Paul (6th Month) [Genevieve of Paris]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 74 of 92)

Week: Last Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 11 of 31)

[runningwolf]

Remember this? Bittereinder is back on your "Skerm" https://bit.ly/2Pq1ua4

[davidp4141]

Okay, okay, okay Hier’s die ding: "Ek hou van sing" As ek iets anders sê’s ek oneerlik As my tong en longe nooit kon sing sou ek wees soos ‘n wolk sonder weerlig Vrees niet waar weerklinkt het lied, slechte mensen zingen niet Vrees niet waar weerklinkt het lied, slechte mensen zingen niet Slegte mense sing nie, hulle grom in hulle baarde in Maar goeie mense laat waai met die deuntjie waarom die aarde spin Ek vind waarde in die harmonie van hoe ons almal saam klink Plus ‘n stem wat altyd alleen sing is eintlik nogal gevaarlik Onthou jou openbarings en deel dit met die mense om jou Skryf jou drome neer, dis belangrik om te weet hoe alles ontvou Mens bou tog ‘n legkaart met meer as een stukkie, of hoe?

‘Slechte Mensen’ by Bittereinder