important, or personally appealing releases that—apart from any more concrete rating or thoughts—hold some special position of admiration, merit, or something vaguely in-between that i'd like to highlight.
to hell with it
PinkPantheress
there's something just a bit hopeless in it, past slighting melancholy of relationship/breakup longing; her words ring greater than her (fitting) inflection lets on, and the 'singular' method of conveying it is enchantingly keyed in for its size.
'25 may 30
We're All Going to the World's Fair
dir. by Jane Schoenbrun
without acting like it will go much of anywhere—liminal ploys instead of concrete actions—it mirrors exactly what this kind of life feels like, what it means to find and lose yourself and others, and how much it matters if it meant your entire world for not but a moment... that moment was everything, until it wasn't.
'25 may 23
Ponyo
dir. by Hayao Miyazaki
one of miyazaki's simplest and least critically engaging, but it sticks out most in its ability to charm, to create a single narrative that never seems to end, to stretch to the ends of what makes us tick, and what forms us as groups, as families, as communities, as hopeful ties reach beyond anything we could ever ascribe aloud.
'25 may 22
Mezzanine
Massive Attack
like few other albums, this scrapes and digs into a pit so completely ruinous, while being strikingly unfettered, without ever becoming performative; there's doubtless a lot of heart, but it's buried under an imposing amount of dust, debris, and shells of protective, standoffish charm.
'25 apr 14
PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
one of the best metal excursions this decade; its little intricacies and evolving branches, the ways in which it sparks and cycles and provokes its messages in a fluid arc, are viciously electrifying.
'25 apr 9
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