Aside from needing a fresh hobby to take me away from screens, one of the reasons I decided to start doing puzzles more often this year was because I was due to have a surgery that I was pretty sure would take me out for at least a couple of weeks if not a full month. As much as I enjoy video games, movies, et al, I wanted something more tactile to do during that time that didn’t require too much from me.
I had that surgery and quickly found out that there would be no puzzling until I felt well enough to sustain attention and sit upright without struggle. That took most of the expected two weeks I thought I would spend doing puzzles and games, neither of which I touched more than a few minutes in that time because I was just too exhausted. I’m just now getting back to it, a little over three weeks out, having spent more than my fair share of time watching shows and hitting my limit with screens again. I’m not 100%, but I’m finding in the past few days that the time spent on puzzles again is helping getting my brain and body back into shape where I feel more confident about doing bigger things again soon. I imagine they’ll be helping me in the next few weeks to get back to something resembling where I was pre-surgery. It hasn’t been what I thought – doing puzzles in the first weeks – but will be something that takes me from week 3 into the next month or two as I repair. So it goes. Good thing I planned ahead and got specifically autumn-specific puzzles to do.
For now, I worked on these in the mid to late summer this year.
I broke out the good camera for this one. After sorting the pieces into color families, I was struck by just how pretty this puzzle is. The gold foil and the dark blue to plum red gradients really worked for me visually. This ended up being a challenging puzzle because of the large blocks of similar colors so I was staring at it almost a full week, in the end discovering one of the pieces was missing. Boo. Alas, it was a thrift store puzzle, as many of these have been. I’m just surprised to have found it at the thrift store at all because it was one of the first puzzles on my imaginary wishlist.
Another thrift store puzzle that I almost didn’t get. What appeal do whales have to me? But something about Redina Tili’s art got me (wanting that Moss puzzle now). This puzzle ended up being pretty challenging and I had to practice patience with it as its border of colors were so similar and the fluid, organic illustrations made for a not particularly intuitive struggle.
This fully foil puzzle was 500 pieces, which is about as much as I had limit for. I learned doing this one that my home lighting makes it really difficult to differentiate colors if the puzzle is overly glossy, shiny, or fully designed with foil. But, at 500 pieces, and strong line work throughout the puzzle, I was able to get through this fairly quickly. It was a fine distraction for my anxiety.
I played a little unintentional prank on myself starting this puzzle the day before I had my surgery. Having it out, having the edge pieces done, and having the sorting started the morning of helped provide some distraction so I could deal with the brutal hunger I had mixed with the intense next-level anxiety in the hours before surgery, but coming home and staring at the puzzle I couldn’t work on for over a week was a bit annoying. Thing I couldn’t do remained lingering. I eventually decided to take the color sorted trays to my bed and slowly pick at pieces that way, which probably only cut a day off my time as I remained exhausted for another week. Ultimately this took 19 days from start to finish. Had I been entirely healthy, it wouldn’t have taken long. Nevertheless, this was another Charles Wysocki puzzle, and save for the trees – seriously, fuck those trees – it was mostly a fun experience. The colorful imaginary world created with the art hit the spot and it was a beautiful, wholly necessary distraction from myself.
RoseArt Reading Nook (My Happy Place Series) Puzzle
I needed a smaller puzzle with crisp imagery next, so I chose this 750 piece puzzle. After I got started I thought maybe I should have gone with 300 or 500 instead since I was still pretty tired and feeling crappy, but once I tackled the initial color sorting and edges and realized what made sense where, the puzzle flew by. It was just easy enough for where I was while still taking me out of my head. I also really like this art style when it comes to puzzles, plus the image itself hit home as someone who likes books, plants, and sitting under blankets. 0/100 for having a cat on my lap (get off me, I’ve got places to be) but I get the sentiment there, too. Hope to do more puzzles by this artist in the future.
What is it about mushrooms? Why? I mean, I like a bit of mushroom in food dishes, but what is it about the idea of them? Why are they appealing? Nevertheless, adding a subtle rainbow of color in a mix of mushrooms, and I got me some fresh wall out of this puzzle purchase that I’ve been looking at every day since I got it so many months ago. As I was feeling well enough to sustain attention by the time I started this, it didn’t take very long to conquer. I was amused at the end that despite how much white (well, cream) is in this puzzle, there wasn’t a single piece that was 100% white. Certain mushrooms were more of a challenge, but overall this puzzle was a quicker one once I fully sorted out the colors. I really want more Elena Essex puzzles but I imagine I’m really going to have to luck out finding one at a thrift store. Hopefully in the coming year I’ll be feeling more reliably with it and maybe I can take more trips to both my local thrift store and the further away ones and maybe, just maybe, I’ll find one.
For now, spooky season is upon us, and if there’s another one of these puzzle posts, I’m fairly certain it’ll have some ghosts, witches, or pumpkins in it.
I’ve knocked off several cheap and thrift store puzzles in the past few months. I took some chances and literally paid the price on a few of these, but I’m still learning what sort of puzzle images, brands, number of pieces, and quality work well for me, and overall it’s been worth the learning.
A few puzzles into this post I finally got a proper surface (not packaging cardboard on the floor) to do puzzles bigger than 500 pieces, and about a month ago I serendipitously happened to visit the garbage area where I live to find someone had dropped off an old Ikea table that – after I cleaned it – I can now use for smaller 1000 piece puzzles if I wish. Pretty crazy how I was thinking out loud about that in the last puzzle post and I ended up with both solutions. Seems to me the universe appreciates my lowered anxiety at this time thanks to staring at screens less.
Onto the puzzles I did earlier this summer.
Buffalo London Rain Puzzle from the “Cities in Color” Series
I’m not a fan of the semi-realistic digital art style common with puzzles lately, but I paid a measly $3.99 for this and it ended up being a fairly enjoyable experience. At 750 pieces it wasn’t terribly challenging, but the art style took a while to decipher what went where once I’d conquered some obvious parts. This had a lot of similar colors in it. I don’t see too many copies of this online now as it’s an older puzzle, so pardon the overpriced Walmart link.
Well, we have to learn somehow. I had an inkling this was an AI image, but I couldn’t let the cheap price go and decided to give it a chance. Much of the image was clear, if dark, but logic broke down at the attempt of lettering on the books that gave away that it was definitely AI made. I ended up spending less time than perhaps I might have as I eventually ended up using the back letters of the pieces to help me make sure the pieces were at least in the right quadrant as some of the leafy parts were painful. Note to self: stick to recognizable brands.
Gorgeous puzzle, but the color family has a target audience of younger people, and with that I might have expected missing pieces if I hadn’t lucked out with the thrift store puzzles already. Three pieces just gone, and of course that led to some confusion while I was putting the puzzle together. Similarly, the puzzle had lint and a scent akin to having been in a kid’s hands and placed on a gross carpeted floor, so I was washing my hands a lot working on this one. Otherwise, this puzzle, despite it’s clear color zones, was a challenge. It wasn’t difficult at all since I could easily tell the general area where something worked, but it still took some real thought.
I didn’t pay full price for this one, but I bought it new since it came with a lunchbox tin and I’m a sucker for pretty bags and boxes. As with the movie poster, there are whole zones of single colors, which made this puzzle a pain in the ass to finish. The unusual puzzle shapes made it extra interesting, at least.
Pretty sure this was another AI puzzle, with similar letters on the back, so I ended up doing a lot of sorting based on those letters rather than focusing primarily on the image itself. The design is more cohesive and attractive, at least, but of course it’s nowhere to be found online. In any case, I got through this one a day or two faster than most because of the quadrant sorting I did.
This puzzle kicked my ass. To say it was a challenge is an understatement. I ended up leaving the brand lettering to do last, thinking that would be the hardest part because of how many times those words show up in the puzzle, but it was the texture of the sprinkles and frosting that got me. Since I had finished the Mystic Maze puzzle I hadn’t yet spent a full week on a puzzle, but I spent over a week on this one tediously trying to sort out which sprinkles went where.
I needed a breezy choice after the previous puzzle, so I chose a 500 piece puzzle. I think any larger piece amount would have made this puzzle tedious, but at 500 it was fairly easy to sort out the subtle color and texture shifts of the sand and water. This was my first Blanc puzzle – my local store couldn’t get enough of them last year and it had been heavily discounted – and it was an interesting change of piece shapes with a slightly bulkier feel.
My first Charles Wysocki image and it won’t be my last. This puzzle was challenging – fuck them trees, yo – but hit that sweet spot of still being fun every time I sat down to work on it. Despite some blocks of similar colors and textures, the image was crisp enough to decipher where something belonged with minimal issue. Still can’t believe I only paid $4 for this and not a single piece was missing.
Another challenging one I paid next to nothing for. I was able to sort out sections of items but it took some time to figure out exactly what went where. I thought the sky and moon of this one were going to be difficult, but it ended up being the first thing I finished as the rest of the image was proving difficult. I was going back and forth between sections slowly finding a place for a single piece at a time after I conquered the obvious spots. I think about this time I learned 1000 piece puzzles really need to be properly sorted out, too.
I’ve done several more puzzles since Rendezvous, but I wanted to give a relatively brief update before what’s probably going to look like a tonal shift by the time I update about the next batch. Much of this batch was about experimenting with cheap puzzles, seeing what sort of images might appeal, and getting a sense of what works for me before I start paying more than $5 for puzzles I don’t intend on keeping. I’ll undoubtedly end up doing more sketchy thrift store puzzles, but from here I know I want images that appeal to me aesthetically and brands with history.
Currently looking forward to doing more Magic Puzzle Company puzzles and checking out some Aimee Stewart retro art puzzles, but the season beckons spooky and autumnal images and some of those will likely be first in line. Might even read something spoopy and burn some spicy candles to match.
Unlike this time last summer, I haven’t been watching a slew of horror movies. Instead, I picked up a puzzle habit, started a new music blog, and have been working on small things to prepare for anywhere from a week (everyday life) to a month (big, effortful things) of recovering from surgery. I imagine I’ll be watching a lot more, if mainly TV, for the next couple of weeks. But I’ve been watching movies at a rate similar to the old low hum times these past few months, and that’s added up, so it’s time for some mini reviews here & now.
Good Boy/Heel Can’t argue with the idea of leashed men, but this felt a little too toxic family unit slash culty for me, and seems to me cruel patriarchy still won out in the end. Reminded me of People Under The Stairs meets Clockwork Orange. Fairly unique otherwise, so worth seeing if you’re bored of the usual.
Honey Bunch Went in blind besides its poster art & genre and that was a good move. Interesting 70s style & approach. Wasn’t as gross as I expected. The mystery part took time to unravel and wasn’t predictable, but eventually reminded me of stranglehold-level “for your own good” people so I’m on team 3.
Forbidden Fruits A bit disjointed but a welcome kind of weird. Took from whole swaths of female-led movies like The Craft and Mean Girls (and many more). Despite its character, I’m not certain it had the same kind of punch, though a younger person might have been more sparkled by it.
Keeper DRUGS. Not good, not bad, just DRUGS. It does different things but felt somewhere along the lines of Men with the same kind of setting, WTF vibes, and weird-ass visual effects.
The Threesome This was a tenuous choice as I don’t normally watch romcoms but I figured what the heck with that provocative title. The story and type of storytelling still just wasn’t my cup of tea. Remember to use protection, kids!
Send Help Interesting to see Rachel McAdams in a thriller/horror, and it’s fun to see Survivor referenced in a movie, but it had some close familiarity with another stranded on an island movie I’ve seen recently even with the tonal changes.
Obsession Watched just before Jupiter exactly squared my Scorpio Moon, which feels apt given its plot. I had to sit with this one a bit to fully process it as day-of I was just bummed out. I’m finding it interesting how the topic of “nice guys” is returning to public consciousness like it was in my 20s.
Independence Day (rewatched) 90s American narcissism on full display. The big disaster scene got me thinking that this wouldn’t have been made after 2001, then wondering if it was inspirational for what ensued in 2001 and the subsequent yeehaw reaction. Thinking about how this movie is 30(!!) years old now gave me a case of existential horror. What happened to all that hope? Part of it, I’m sure, was that I was 14 in 1996. The other part is the expectation of progress. Computers, tech, the internet, space discovery, medicine, science generally all seemed to be pushing forward into Star Trek territory. I thought of the world getting smaller and better, of people having more access to knowledge and each other, and I thought of a world free of, say, homophobia, poverty, racism. Certainly more good was coming. What a joke the 90s played on the perception of a glittering future.
Boogie Nights I loaded up the watchlist, scrolled to the 90s with intent to cleanse me of the ID4 existential crisis, and this was among the titles. It was very effective. Comedic timing was 10/10. Use of music was great. I have the coordination of a newborn giraffe, but now I want roller skates.
Backrooms Imagine the kids doing the scientology speedruns doing speedruns through the backrooms. I like original movies. It was okay. Had a nice laugh at the Creep actor showing up given that guy is the personification of the backrooms. I also randomly thought of The Morning Show beforehand, so, neat. A few weeks later I’m finding this movie more endearing than when I first watched it.
The Amityville Horror 1979 I was expecting discomfort from having seen It’s About Time and the 2005 remake, and yep! But the pace was tough on the soul and the ending felt anticlimactic. Just, ok? AND?? No wonder there have been so many sequels. I did tarot beforehand and one of my questions was if any animals die in the movie. I got 4 of wands, 10 of cups, 4 of swords. The last big scene is a pet getting rescued from the house (and they’re all so happy). Weird that I thought to ask since I don’t remember the remake at all.
Iron Lung I haven’t played Iron Lung, but in part of the game Myst you navigate through a series of underground tunnels within a vessel. That was this movie, except add blood ocean, psychedelic confusion, and needless displays of Man Anger. Was irritatingly slow and probably an hour too long.
Disclosure Day Young me would have been annoyed at this movie for similar reasons as when I saw Contact originally, but old me didn’t mind. Liked the pre-90s former Hollywood stylistic approach and choices (why was I reminded of Indiana Jones movies?). Some predictability but it gives room to insert oneself, which is what sci fi does well: Hyoo-maans.
Nightborn It’s been a long time since I saw Little Otik, but it was hard not to be reminded of it here. Generally insane, uncomfortable horror movie with a sprinkle of body horror. A good portion of it made me regretful that I had ears today given the long period of screaming infant.
Colony (KO) Zombie horror Sense8. It has a fresh take, but it relies on a ton of tropes to speed up the plot. It’s watchable if you like zombie horror.
Soulm8te Essentially if the Terminator started as a sex bot. Plenty of movies cover the subgenre of computers becoming sentient, but it was watchable, and the actress who plays the robot takes a lower-mid level movie up a notch.
I don’t know what state of mind I’m going to be in in a few days, so no movie watching promises today. I know I want to see The Odyssey, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and have a soft plan to catch up on House of the Dragon, Interview With The Vampire, and Silo. My brain keeps telling me to rewatch Star Trek, especially since I missed episodes from The Original Series when I started that project originally (stupid Netflix), but that’s a huge time commitment.
I broke out the tarot deck and asked questions in advance of watching Backrooms. Spoilers ahead. (Seriously, if you haven’t seen the movie and ever plan to, stop reading.)
Some of the notes I took didn’t make sense at the exact moment but were clarified through watching the full scene and context, which I’ve since edited, hence the brevity.
What’s going on on screen at 5:01? king of cups, king of pentacles, devil guy breathing while walking through a corridor that goes from realistic to surrealistic
I’m not sure the cards really answered my question beyond the devil card showing that he was stuck.
What’s the first thing said in words after 9:20? judgment, temperance, emperor therapist asked him if “anyone deserves to be alone”… it was a question and it was to a boss
I assumed she was talking to a boss because of the emperor card (and maybe the nature of movies) and I was right. I’ve seen a few cards come out as posed questions before, and one or both of the first two cards have been questions. Maybe temperance is the therapist or the tone?
What’s happening at 19:00? chariot, empress, queen of wands therapist is watching tv on couch, “it’s never too late to forge a new path” on infomercial/commercial
This one made me breathe hard. The TV was telling her to stop VHS & chilling and go do the things.
What’s the first sound/noise at/after 28:14? 7 of cups popped out, then: wheel, page of wands, judgment took a while of ambient wind tunnel-wailing sounds but eventually sounded like a radio playing chinese people talking? many more languages continue. then finally he calls out “hello?”
The cards are like “surprise, bitch! exploration awaits!” with the first two cards I actually pulled, and judgment is his confused question into the ether. 7 of Cups popping out before I finished shuffling is a laugh with the multiple languages/people’s voices being so many options to choose from. The recording is from the “hi, we are the people of earth” thing thrown out into space some decades ago.
What’s visually happening at 45:22? temperance, 5 of cups, hermit (note in advance: someone waiting/standing still alone) standing still at a mirror testing a camera to begin recording… not alone but visually alone, doesn’t want to be there
Yep. Nailed it. The scene was about waiting for someone and the exact moment was a guy visually alone. The 5 of cups card was his frustrated reluctance.
How do I feel about what’s happening on screen at 59 mins 59 seconds? lovers, ace of swords, knight of swords (note in advance: make a choice to protect yourself, idiot… choose thinking harder) …seriously?? mom had just told daughter to avoid the window (girl was curious) because it’s too ‘outside’ outside.
The cards described the scene, not how I felt. I’ve had ace of swords come up for folks looking out windows before and I described it as “hey, what’s going on over there? I should find out!” and that’s exactly what was going down in the scene until she’s told to get away from the window. Mom was literally telling her to protect herself (knight of swords).
What’s visually happening at 1hr 13 mins? moon, 9 of pentacles, sun mom being wheeled away, having a bad hallucination/nightmare, is currently IRL unconscious, becoming aware of the nonsenseland
I’m not sure about 9 of pentacles exactly, but moon-sun was her becoming aware of the weird.
What’s going on at 1hr 24 mins? king of wands, 6 of wands, lovers therapist yells at him. he’s having a meltdown about his wife/life. she tells him how it is.
I think she was the king of wands here, not him. His ego was on display and she wands-esque told him what’s what. Lovers would be the conversation itself, but he specifically wanted to roleplay her as his wife.
What’s the first thing said or spoken at/after 1:35:12? temperance, 6 of wands, 8 of swords at the exact time she was in a really narrow hall/corridor walking sideways trying to escape the backrooms… next words were “are you okay?” and “who the fuck is that??” and being stopped by regular people
Wild how many of the random-ass times I chose were key pivotal moments. Her being stuck between the Backrooms and wherever she goes from there, and also stuck between the creature and real people, is very interesting with the 8 of swords.
Is the main protagonist of the movie a fucking idiot? page of cups, 7 of swords, ace of wands (note in advance: they’re “guns a blazing” and think they can charm their way out of situations) kind of, yes. drunk guy trying to out-strategize and go ham into the dark
What horror protagonist isn’t an idiot? But I had to ask out of curiosity of what an idiot could look like in tarot form. Welp.
That was a fun experiment. I haven’t watched a movie using tarot in a good while and I figured since there would likely be shaky cam and I already had a headache, I would need to take a lot of eye breaks anyway, so what better excuse than to use my miserable experiences as a time to play.
Since this is my first tarot post here, have some background: I’ve been curious or interested in paranormal, psychic, and weird content since I was a little kid but my atheism and ye olde scientific method has kept these things in the “that’s nice, dear” pile. Sometime around 2021 I decided to at least learn how to read tarot cards, and around 2024 I began experimenting with more detailed and complex questions as I found more understanding with specific cards. I’m not a complete novice anymore but I still feel like I just started, and each time I do experimental questions with immediate answers like this I feel like I get a better sense of what cards could mean and how tarot could be used. I still don’t know if it’s not just a matter of human pattern-finding and need to fill in the blanks, but it’s at least occasionally interesting.
It’s once again time for a big music update. There are 20 videos loaded in this post so apologies in advance if your internet sucks.
A few months ago my computer issues became serious enough that I culled my entire collection of on-computer music to 7 artists and a few new albums. It lasted like that for about two months before I finally added new things again.
One of those artists was Oranssi Pazuzu. They had my favorite album of 2020 and I haven’t meaningfully stopped listening to them since, with 2024’s Muuntautuja providing a boost where I might have naturally waned from their sound.
This Spring I saw them live, and nope, that didn’t help. The singular moment of “Valotus” where the song breaks and returns with next-level intensity performed live got me in the soul. The songs felt different presented more like a sound blanket as opposed to the detail you can hear with the album, but the gleeful little “teehee!” as I recognized that song live meeting their no frills on-stage truth struck me as pretty remarkable, and I’ve been sitting on the thought since.
At the same show I realized I’d skipped past a 17+ minute song of theirs, no doubt because of that runtime. So now I’m listening to “Vasemman Kaden Hierarkia” a lot to make up for it. Probably the next move is to backtrack over their older discography, but I’ll get there when I get there.
In the interim, they played some songs for KEXP, and welp. There goes six years of peace in my relative solitude and further confirmation to keep going. If this is your first time listening to them and your attention span is under 10 minutes, the third song they played is where to start.
All Them Witches had my second favorite album from 2020, and they returned this year with House of Mirrors. They, too, just did a KEXP session, focused mainly on the new songs.
Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to their new album a lot. I wasn’t too certain about it at first and thought I’d stick to the prior single songs that had hit the internet already, but it’s been an album to turn on at track one and leave be until it’s over and suddenly I’m listening to Genghis Tron now for some reason – oh, right, because they were the next band in line.
Who knows if I’ll end up writing a year-end list, so I might as well do the typing here and now: this is somewhere in that as-yet imaginary shortlist. Kind of funny that I’ve been switching back and forth between heavy blues-based stoner rock with acoustic sensibilities at the same time as glass-shattering apocalyptic meltdowns, but I’ve always been one for contrasts and variety. All the same, ATW is clearly good at that songwriting thing. Love the depth of warmth in their sound, even with the sad tone of the lyrics.
I meant to type about specific songs when I started that paragraph but I don’t know where to start, and now I think maybe that top-whatever list is going to be necessary so I have more time to sort out what’s what and get it all out in words.
Since I just typed about Genghis Tron, I suppose they’re next. Really liked “I Am All“, especially the visual and superficial familiarity to Nine Inch Nails. Getting past that song has been a struggle. It may very well be that I need to return to this in a more centered headspace, when I’ve got 30-40 minutes of attention span queued up to wander through the album without distractions. Or maybe I quit and move on and allow its songs to shuffle back to me.
Same goes for Slift. The want is there but my brain takes a vacation after a few minutes and I can’t force it back. I liked “A Storm of Wings” enough on contact that, again, I think it’s a matter of finding the headspace.
Converge‘s second album this year hasn’t been given enough time, either. It’s coming. I’m still playing the first one. It’s become one of those things where I thought I was going to attention-span myself off somewhere else when it didn’t immediately work for me one song at a time and instead I’m listening to it in full or in sections. That seems to be waning so the second album should get its time soon.
Witchcraft technically released two albums recently, and after Sinner’s Child settled in, I’ve since returned to Idag. Not sure what’s being said in the Swedish songs, but musically they’re hitting the spot in a way they haven’t for almost 20 years. Maybe it’s the partial return to the fuzzy low-fi sound they originally had? I’m not in the mood for analyzing if that’s true or not. In any case, we all know I like certain shades of doom seeing as how I haven’t shut the fuck up about it these past two decades, so, it stands to reason I’d get stuck here.
I made a joke about this year actually being 2006, and the universe delivered a Placebo remake album at me for its 30th anniversary. Maybe that’s 4-5 years late for my listening habits and ten from relevance, but yeah. So many old things returning these days.
I heard Placebo for the first time sometime around later 1999 after an internet friend briefly had the username “nancy boy” and I asked why. His enthusiasm infected a mutual friend who threw “My Sweet Prince” and a remix of “Every You Every Me” at me. I was not one for the gentleness of the first song, and I was annoyed with trance/rave/dance kids who lacked in the social depth and book intelligence department, so those weren’t the best choices. Another year or so later I returned and went ham on their discography. Spring 2002 was all Placebo all the time. Then they released Sleeping With Ghosts in 2003, and yes, I relate. Turns out I’m actually a sap and I was just being 17 at 17.
What I remember about listening to the first Placebo album songs is thinking about it in the same headspace as Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the Eddie Izzard stand-up special. There’s a specific idea that comes from “Nancy Boy” of lusting after the next person or substance trying to fill a void that can’t be filled, but I twisted the title and some of the lyrics and thought of the many ways I didn’t carefully adhere to gender myself and got treated like a pretentious asshole or a secretive bitch because I didn’t want to play that game. What do you mean you don’t have a crush, every girl has a crush, boys are all of everything ever, bow down your head and pick an adequately peacocking masculine ego to subserviate yourself to ASAP. And then when I fucked up and picked someone who was invisible or feminine: NO NOT LIKE THAT, all your choices must be screened and tediously controlled because the aim is We Are All Only Wife. You Can Never Choose Yourself Here. And so I spent more time around people who I’d think would have naturally understood because they were sexually adventurous or socially open on the surface, only for them to pull similar culty bullshit in persistent fear of individuality. It’s not exactly what the song is about, but in 1996 (or 2002) a guy wearing makeup was a big deal and it’s where the brain went.
I sometimes take surveys for money, nevermind everyday forms, and those things nearly always ask for your gender. So many times I’ve seen the options listed as “Woman, Man” and my immediate inclination is to want to find the “Modern Monkey” and “Just Another Happy Junkie” options. They’re never there. What kind of fucking survey is this? It’s wild how much that one song has infected my thoughts. What kind of mood is it? Alcoholic. You’d think I agreed with the sentiment and would have started up a pill habit or something by now, but nope. Just words, forever at the ready to be like “HEY YOU HAVEN’T LISTENED TO NANCY BOY THIS WEEK.”
Did they need to release versions of their old songs? Probably not, musically speaking. But it drums up hype about their 30+ year history and gets new people listening to them, so, I suppose it’s effective. Certainly got me typing paragraphs when it could have been just one. It also could have been tenmore.
Speaking of 30 years ago, you know what I forgot to talk about last time I did one of these mass-music posts? KARP. I was abusing “Spelling Trouble” a few months ago. Guess it’s to fill in the gap where the Big Business could be but mysteriously isn’t. Well, it’s not a mystery that one of them has seemed busy with High on Fire, but they haven’t released new music in a good long while now and one wonders what the hell. In the interim, all the music Big Biz and KARP released still exists, and why not go through another phase with it all? Why not go watch that KARP documentary for the first time since it originally came out? No. We must have limits. Novelty awaits.
And speaking of killing all the redneck pricks, Buzzard just released an EP the other day called Hillbilly Fuckery. It’s prescient to the current US situation but my mind goes right to high school, of nicknaming my city Hickville because of the one-eye-closed middle class conservative vibes I got mixed with the “yeehaw, look at mah truck” from the cowboy hat-wearing turds that peppered the school parking lot. Teenage me would have loved this song, all those “what the fuck” clips included. I understand the guy from Buzzard had a wake-up moment and you can read it in the lyrics of the title song. I could argue acting like a fucking dumbass idiot is what being young is all about, but the issue is really that a lot of these people never fully grow up and become public cartoon characters pushed as sensible, empathetic, intelligent people when they’re emotionally somewhere around 1st grade and agents of needless chaos for their exhausted guardians. Can’t wait for that obituary.
You want more actual novelty? I was listening to Pixel Grip a lot a month or two ago. For a minute there I thought “Stamina” was going to be it for me, but I ended up replaying “Insignificant” like it was my job. It’s not the most fair comparison, but if you like “Closer”-era Nine Inch Nails, you’ll get something out of them. Their gothy vampyric aesthetic reminds me of watching True Blood. I went back and gave their 2019 album a skim-through and it’s more poppy.
While jogging my memory for bands Pixel Grip might be related to, Combichrist popped up as far as their current aesthetic. Sonically, don’t know about that, but certainly the leathery goth makes abrasive electronic music idea. That band has returned with “Only Here For A Good Time“. It sounds like earlier Combichrist for sure.
How’s about another KEXP-found band: Gurriers. The first song of their set, “Des Goblin”, goodness. Way to remind me that good music just keeps happening. The first comparable band that comes to mind is Idles but my actual first thought is how they might have fit on Eolian Empire back when that existed. Either way, attention grabbed.
I already mentioned “Peaches” at the last big update, and since then Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol has released an EP, The Disappearing Man. “Bough Down” is reminding me of Weezer… which seems to be happening a lot this past year or so. Something in the air. They acknowledged the idea in the EP text, in any case.
That thought got me thinking of “Buddy Holly” and how I have 50s rock revival on my 2026 bingo card. So far no dice. Maybe I’m a few years too early. Maybe.. I’m, I dunno, five years… ahead… of mytime…? 🙁 Anyway, actual Weezer totally released a new song in advance of their upcoming album, too. Weirdly, they nearly put it out on my birthday.
I am required, because I have called them Doom Weezer, to talk about Slomosa now. Here’s yet another recent KEXP performance vid:
They also did Silver Cord Studio, released a month earlier. I mused at the time that even if I had never followed the bunny trail from one band to the next where I ended up listening to stoner rock then doom by habit, I would have found it anyway through Gojira promoting Slomosa here.
And while we’re following trails, Gojira put out their own Silver Cord video, and I’ll be, it’s like those songs were just written for how effective they come across on this video. Way to take me back to listening to these songs for the first time. If you have even the slightest inkling that you could enjoy progressive metal, watch this. It’s 20 minutes of your life, and I believe in you. Maybe at this point Gojira doesn’t need new fans given they have literal flying whale budget now, but I’d be a jerk for not sharing something this true-to-definition awesome. Protect these hippies at all costs.
I’m going to guess you need a light breather after that, so have another KEXP find: Gelli Haha. The whole performance hit me right in the whimsy, but the second song “Spit” took the cake for me. With all that careful choreography and the overall fantastical parachute day meets kids birthday party aesthetic that also comes across in their music videos, I’m curious to find out where they’re going to go from here.
Too much whimsy but not enough sparkle? How about Lady Gaga and Doechii honoring RuPaul? You better werk. What horrors I live that none of the comments on this video mention RuPaul as source material. These kids. My lawn.
Alright, let’s acknowledge it.
Sleep – or, really, Al – surprised us all a few weeks ago with a confusing continuation of their name via “Have Spacesuit Will Travel“. One hopes it’s an early release for something that sounds like, I dunno, Sleep. I also wonder why this as opposed to finally putting out new OM. Is it because the fanboys gravitate to $leep more? The lyrics? Did something happen with future presidential candidate Matt Pike? Whatever the case, it happened, and I guess now we have a tour coming, and I’m confused.
As little side story, in December I did a quick tarot thing for the year 2026. I used my own self-created deck (which is just song lyrics) to describe select periods of time. For the time that I saw Oranssi Pazuzu I got one of their songs, and for the summer of 2026 I got “the pterodactyl flies again”. I never would have thought Sleep would have come up this year, so it feels somewhat remarkable that I got those two bands in a row like that. Fall is a Tool song, so… guess we’ll see.
Chat Pile has returned to wail into the abyss about the terror of living in Oklahoma again.
The lyrics of the song immediately made me think of I Saw The TV Glow then the reported transgender experience prior to coming out. I don’t think the video itself scratches the same itch, but certainly anyone wearing a costume in public to get through the day will relate.
Best new cover art of 2026? Mr Bison (click the link to see it, I haven’t figured out Bandcamp embeds yet). And way to take me back to psychedelic stoner rock and remind me, for all these paths and side quests, I still have a home base. Here’s new song “Cosmic Tide”:
Also familiars, Steak released “Cometh” and “Luxury Junk” recently, both in advance of a not-yet-released album. Easy to guess that’s what I’ll be doing presumably this fall.
Speaking of autumnal stonering, King Buffalo threatened with a potential release near October? Halloween? One of those. For anyone who reads this and doesn’t know any better, that’s a fun way of saying I’ll probably be listening to King Buffalo 24/7 again in 2027. I wish to be Excite but right now my forefinger hurts from typing up this post for the last three days and I have big life stuff coming up between now and then. But I will be quite Excite then, I will.
Russian Circles has returned! I never would have guessed when I first heard them back in 2007 that they’d ever doooooooom this hard. Just straight up, fuck you, dad!I’ve been to your house and I’ll fucking punch you in the face! Ha ha, the title. I take it it’s ironic. But yeah. When did they get so dark and heavy? I would ask why, but we already know. Perhaps another possible reason for that title, empath-izing with shitty shitness coming from the powers that be. … It’s so good, I’m going to listen to it twice. Love you, RC.
Is this a good spot for Beastie Boys? The “fuck you, dad” vibe was strong with them in the 80s. I ended up watching “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” the other day (thanks, Heardle!). I can’t remember the last time, but I’m sure I was still young enough when it happened that the Beastie Boys came across like adults I needed to be afraid of. Now it’s like, aww, they so cute. The humor in this video must have been fantastic at the time (also now, but especially at the time). 100% reminds me of something Whitey McConnaughy might have made since “Prehistoric Dog“. Totally makes sense now with the constant plays of “Sabotage” annoying the shit out of me as a kid/teen.
Another one from the 80s that Heardle reminded me to listen to: Spaceman 3 – “Losing Touch With My Mind“. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it before or not, but it has a familiarity to it. For my history, I think of Monster Magnet going off the deep end.
Backtracking to the last music post, I’ve already mentioned the NIN + Boys Noize album, and from that I learned that “Memorabilia” was actually a Soft Cell cover. I don’t know how I managed a blind spot this bad, but so it goes. Naturally, the original song rules just as much as the covers. Got me thinking a lot about beauty and fashion changing throughout time because I would never imagine someone with that hat with a surname Ecstasy.
Charli XCX pouring water over a white shirt, though? That I’d have imagined.
The comments on this video are hilarious. “that’s what ovulation feels like” killed me. IS THAT A PORN?! This would be a good spot to type fifteen paragraphs about sexuality and social expectations that come from the perception of sexuality (or lack thereof) but today is not the day. I’ll just say, I get it.
She mentions shopping at a store I’ve never heard of, “APC”, and this feels like the right time to talk about friggin’ APC. Have I musically moved on from A Perfect Circle yet? Don’t know, but I saved the link long enough to post it here, so I guess maybe not.
Well holy shit, I just saw Tricky uploaded something about two weeks ago. The dual vocals in the beginning are a bit creepy but it’s an easy song. New album in a few days? Will do.
I have other things sitting in queue, but I will end here: fucking riot grrrl is returning! I don’t think I’ve been so happy to be screeched at by someone doing a mean Kathleen Hanna impression. Yes please, let us do electroclash again. Fashion Tips:
Not yet released and next on my menu: the new REZN comes out in about ten days, Graveyard is releasing music later this year, and Stabbing Westward has remade Wither Blister Burn + Peel for its 30th anniversary. Hope there’s some fun sarcastic commentary about being a mopey youth thrown in there.
