Wednesday, December 4, 2019

They Came From a Communist Planet: A Joint Game Review


This is the second installment in an ongoing series of video game writing from myself and Brandon C. Hovey. In this installment, we discuss Colestia's They Came From a Communist Planet. This time, Brandon will lead us off.

Brandon’s Review
This game can be examined in two connected, yet altogether different components. My bifurcation: a walking simulator introduction and the developer’s imagination of a riot within a built up (urban) area. I will not discuss the story as I want you to play this game yourself. And frankly, I can say despite being a Republican politician I can tell you that the feeling of hopelessness in the hiring process is quite real. Algorithms have too much say in hiring process—human resources managers need to be more human in hiring. The opening walking simulator really gives the player a feeling of hopelessness as food and utilities are depleted. Life is going downhill. And thus, we enter the second segment.

This is a simulated riot. The police or internal troops (they’re not identified) are in full riot gear. We can see a riot shield wall that depicts a cordon. We can see armored cars that resemble Lenco BearCats, and they have water cannons. The communist aliens aid you by providing instructions on how to be a better rioter. They teach you how to make Molotovs and they also give you a gas mask as the riot control personnel are using CS (tear) gas. You unlock more by destruction of property. After all this is a riot.

My number one qualm/critique with the game is the riot control personnel only respond to the riot passively. Yes, they use water cannons, yes they use tear gas, but they never attempt to quash the riot via pepperball, rubber bullets, and never once do the phalanx of riot shield equipped personnel advance on the rioters to quash the riot. Regardless, the game is quite interesting!

Austin’s Review
“It is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism.” – Jameson or Zizek, but often ascribed to Mark Fisher

In Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, the above quote hangs heavy. Indeed, I could quote most of the text from that book in this review, and it would feel painfully relevant. For now, I’ll just recommend the book heartily if the themes of this game speak to you and share the definition of capitalist realism: “the widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it.”

What imaginable alternative is there to late-stage capitalism? Well, in Colestia’s They Came from a Communist Planet, this question is answered by the titular “they” – a species of insectoid aliens that have come to foment revolution in a nameless city. The Story Mode of the game begins with the protagonist wandering around their apartment as bills, plates, and rejection letters pile up. A hugely memorable musical swell accompanies a red light beam piercing through their window as they lay awake sleepless. They are taken up into a UFO and given comforting, yet revolutionary, advice about why things are the way they are and how this isn’t the only way to live.

From here, game-play moves into a (somewhat subdued) riot simulator. There is some excitement as repeated abductions invest you with more skills and gear (e.g., Molotov cocktail throwing, a gas mask). There is no way to be killed in the riots, but, as this is a “socialist parable” rather than a traditional video game, this is just as well. The point is not to be action-packed – It’s to tell a story, and this is something that They Came from a Communist Planet does very well. As you explore the city, you also come across cans of spray paint – If you collect them all, you’re granted access to another game area. Time did not permit me to pursue this side quest on my playthrough for this review, but I’m entranced enough with the game that I intend to go back and explore every nook and cranny when I’m able.

An alien invasion is absolutely an end to the world (as we know it) and, in this case, an end to capitalism. I’m grateful for developers who are making brief, thought-provoking games like this one.

They Came from a Communist Planet is available for $4.99 on itch.io and Steam.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Police Force: A Collaborative Video Game Review


For the first time on this blog, I'm posting a review of a video game, Black Eyed Priest Games' Police Force. This post is a collaboration with my friend Brandon Hovey, author of a number of novels, including this year's Rod Veska and the Eye of the Liar (third in his ongoing Rod Veska series) and Burgers, Bloggers, and Cops, and webmaster of brandonchovey.net, a repository for his reviews of beer, coffee, video games, and music, as well as a home for his short fiction and non-fiction (really, if you can think of it, he's probably blogged on it or around it at some point -- I encourage a trawl through the archives). Brandon recommended Police Force to me recently, and I got around to playing it today. We decided to do a joint review, as we come at the game from different interest backgrounds. Whereas Brandon has a passion for and a huge knowledge base about tactical shooters and police simulators (not to mention a professional background in private investigations), my gaming interests are more centered around horror & experimental gaming. Being a relatively new dad, I particularly value games that pack a lot of bang into a relatively short duration (most of the games I've loved this year clock in at under 30 minutes, with many coming in at less than 5), so that also influences the games I seek out. With Police Force, we found a perfect collision of our current interests, and we decided to write up this joint piece to appear on both of our blogs.

MY REVIEW

Game Synopsis

As with any comprehensive review, the whole gaming experience needs to be evaluated, so it should go without saying that there will be spoilers ahead. In Police Force, the game follows an officer responding to the "deadliest 911 calls" in an unnamed municipality. While Black Eyed Priest Games plans on the final game featuring four cases, only the first case is available now. In Case 1: Barker Residence, you play as a lone police officer, armed only with a pistol and a flashlight, as your respond to a domestic disturbance call. In the introductory text, you learn about the Barker family, whose patriarch has been experiencing psychiatric disturbances. A neighbor reported hearing disturbing noises from the home , where Barker lives with his wife and daughter, late in the evening on Halloween 1988. The scene opens with the officer's flashlight illuminating a jack-o-lantern in the house's entryway. As the officer proceeds to explore the house, Mrs. Barker is found stabbed to death in the kitchen. Over the next few minutes, the player proceeds to explore the house, uncovering evidence and getting a little bit of a backstory on the Barker family, before finding Barker's daughter caged in a dead-end room in the home's basement. As the officer makes to exit the room, Barker bursts in, and it's kill-or-be-killed as he charges the protagonist. Once he is subdued, the game ends.

The Good

There are a number of things that Police Force does exceedingly well. First, the game does an excellent job of building tension throughout, with no ease in dread until after Barker's sudden charge during the basement finale. Throughout the house, you're continually expecting someone to pop out of the shadows, and some nightmarish imagery (a mannequin sat behind a divider in a room, some creepy effigies sat around the basement) really adds to the experience. The game also required you to switch between investigative mode and firearm mode. This mechanic added to the tension by not allowing the player to be ready to fire at any moment. Indeed, when the villain runs toward you, it's pretty unlikely you'll have your weapon out, and, on my first play-through, I was killed before I could fire off enough rounds to stop him. 

The Bad

While I did enjoy playing this game, it isn't without its major flaws. First, there is nearly nothing in the game besides the opening text that suggests it is set in the 80s. The graphics are fairly modern, so there's no retro influence there. (Admittedly, retro graphics are a bit of a fetish for me, and you can have a game set in the past that doesn't use them turn out perfectly [e.g., the unbelievably good Stories Untold].) I was also underwhelmed by the myth-making once you're actually in the house. With the exception of a little bit of scrawled text on the wall and a note in the daughter's room, you really don't learn anything explicit about the Barker family as you move through their startlingly clean, under-decorated home. While I admit I'm spoiled in this post-Gone Home world, I could've used a little bit more clutter to round the realism of the situation out. 

Final Statement

Despite its flaws in world-building, I really enjoyed playing Police Force and actually booted it back up for another run-through immediately after I finished. (The game does only take about 5 minutes to complete, so no huge time commitment here, truly.) I've appreciated Black Eyed Priest Games' prior work, especially Quiet Haven, and I'm eagerly awaiting the upcoming three episodes of Police Force. I'm hopeful the developer will be able to keep up the tension in a variety of policing situations. If so, this one could end up an indie hybrid classic.

BRANDON’S REVIEW


Background: As Austin stated I have an interest in tactical shooters and police simulations. The first tactical shooter I had ever played was the original Rainbow Six for Nintendo 64. Frankly, Police Force is a tactical shooter of sorts despite being more horror-oriented. It certainly would be scary in real life for a lone officer without backup to enter this dimly lit home in pursuit of a possible murder suspect. I will discuss my playthrough first, and then I’ll discuss what I found great—and what I learned needs improvement.

Upon the start of the first case the player finds themselves in a foyer of the home. Below you on the floor is a in-game instructional manual. Continuing forward you’ll find the instructions handy. When you explore the home, the environment really stands out. This reminded me of the first level in SWAT 4: Close Quarters Battle. In that level you are hunting an elusive serial killer. You are just hunting a suspect, and you have the duty of doing it alone. Once I found one of the hostages, I was amushed by the murderous father. Four rounds and he was down; mission accomplished. 

Atmosphere: They got it done the right way. This house is dimly lit. You’ll want to move tactically, and you’ll want to be cautious as you explore this house of death. When you uncover evidence you’ll radio it into dispatch. However, there were some issues I discovered in the course of my playthrough.

Critiques: The flashlight is of horrible quality. No competent law enforcement officer or urban explorer would use such a flashlight with shoddy illumination. Furthermore, the game is supposedly set in the 1980s, this was the age of wheelguns (revolvers) when it came to police handguns. The player’s gun model resembles a subcompact handgun like a Walther PPK. It should be a full framed semi-automatic or a revolver that’s period appropriate: Smith & Wesson Model 66, S&W Model 59, Beretta 92, Sig P226…

Overall Analysis: I enjoyed the game. I’m ready for more episodic fun in Police Force!

*****
Police Force is available free/pay-what-you-want at https://leggomygiallo.itch.io/police-force.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Out Late: Dusk-to-Dawn Photos from 2016-2019


Kansas City Barbeque, San Diego, CA (1/30/2016)

JFL Football Fields, Morton, IL (11/23/2016)

Ross' 24 Hour Restaurant, Bettendorf, IA (4/13/2017)

Iowa City, IA (6/2/2017)

Davis, CA (6/20/2017)

Reno, NV (9/4/2017)

Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA (10/20/2017)

Lucky Dragon [R.I.P.], Las Vegas, NV (6/21/2018)

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Photo Dispatch #4: 1/20/19 (Various Locations in Northern California)

I often find my mind drawn to the history and culture of England, Germany, and the Soviet Republics in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, which may be a central reason why I'm always so awed by Brutalist architecture. I regularly photograph Brutalist buildings that I come across, and I frequently posted these on my Instagram account. Here are a few of my favorites, most of which I have never shared before, from my time in Northern California so far. UC Davis is certainly a great campus for someone enthralled by Brutalism.

Social Sciences and Humanities Building [UC Davis], Davis, CA (1/16/2019)

Briggs Hall [UC Davis], Davis, CA (8/29/2018) 
Chinese Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA (7/6/2018)


Briggs Hall [UC Davis], Davis, CA (12/12/2017) 
Social Sciences and Humanities Building [UC Davis], Davis, CA (10/26/2017)


Friday, January 4, 2019

Sunday, December 30, 2018

A Year in Review: My Favorite Albums of 2018 (Part 3)

This is the third and final part in a series exploring my favorite new albums of this year. If you follow the hyperlinks, you can read Part 1 and Part 2. Without further ado...

The Light is Leaving Us All - Current 93
Bandcamp
DJ John Peel famously described The Fall as "always different, always the same." I think the same, largely, could be said for Current 93. The undercurrent of England's Hidden Reverse flows through group leader David Tibet's lyricism and composition, as does the looming spectre of apocalypse, sometimes in the shape of black ships eating the sky and sometimes in the shape of giant Noddy dolls crucified over London. In later years, Tibet's lessons (mean to type lyrics there, but I'll leave it) have predominantly dealt with and been drawn from early Hellinistic apocalypse literature (though it's still easy to see the influence of William Blake here, too -- the rose was sick, and things are only worse). This album is the hypnotic high-point of this point in his career. Indeed, it's one of Current 93's best albums and their best album-length piece of output since 2006's magnum opus Black Ships Ate The Sky. Behind Tibet's singing/recitation (which is more repetitive than in past albums, a perfect choice for this album) is great accompaniment from one of my favorite lineups of Current 93 yet, including, among others, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance), Ossian Brown (Coil, Cyclobe), Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound), and Michael J. York (Coil). England's Hidden Reverse has been rather quiet over recent years, with Coil fully inactive since the death of Peter Christopherson in 2010 and Nurse With Wound attending to the auditory operating table less and less. It's good to see the stream still bubbling furiously in this, the latest dispatch from the incomparable Current 93.
Favorite Tracks: "The Birds Are Sweetly Singing," "The Policeman Is Dead," "The Postman is Singing"

Songs of Love and Horror - Will Oldham
Spotify
Things have been pretty quiet from the erstwhile Palace Brother over the past few years. The rushing stream of releases has slowed to a trickle since his marriage and the last few releases (Best Troubadour and Wolf of the Cosmos) have been covers albums. This one continues that trend, but, here, the artist being covered is Oldham himself (under his Palace and Bonnie "Prince" Billy monikers). This isn't the first time he's done this (Bonnie "Prince" Billy's country-fried Sings Greatest Palace Music takes a totally different approach to, in a number of cases, the same material), and this album proves just as essential as the earlier one. Here, though, there's something of a fragile, quiet reckoning with mortality while Oldham picks and sings songs from over half a lifetime ago, like "Ohio River Boat Song." I'd love to hear an album of totally new material, but, when you can revisit your back catalog and find something new in each of the 12 songs delivered (well, 11 and an outtake), I'll gladly take what I'm given.
Favorite Tracks: "I See A Darkness," "Ohio River Boat Song," "New Partner"

Throne - Heather Leigh
Spotify
Somehow, Heather Leigh manages to maintain the adventurous and unexpected nature of her earlier improvisational work on this, 2018's best pop album. And, despite what it sounds, despite lyrics that range from the extreme oversharing of "Prelude to Goddess" to the "What exactly happened in that garage?" of "Lena," this is a pop album. But it 's a pop album that shows how far you can go, both lyrically and musically, and still operate within the realm of pop. I listened to this for weeks on end when it came out, and I'm still surprised by it. I still can't get enough of it. It repays in measures, especially 16-minute album centerpiece "Gold Teeth." And somehow I made it this far without mentioning that the album is almost entirely pedal steel (somehow both the most overused and most underrated instrument in American music), with some bass assistance from Leigh's husband, David Keenan, one of the greatest writers working today. If you're a fan of pop music, experimental music, or are drawn to phrases like "cracked Appalachia," check this one out.
Favorite Tracks: "Prelude to Goddess," "Lena," "Gold Teeth"

Suspiria - Thom Yorke
Spotify
The horror releases of 2018 (e.g., Hereditary, Ghost Stories, Mandy) make it easy to make a case for this year as the greatest year for horror since the 1970s. The crown jewel of this year's releases is Luca Guadgnino's reimagining of Dario Argento's Suspiria, and Thom Yorke's score for the film will certainly go down in history as one of the all-time great horror scores. But it's more than that -- It's the most vibrant, interesting work Yorke has put out since Radiohead's decade-old masterpiece, In Rainbows. Moving between quiet, hypnotic piano balladry ("Suspirium"), kraut/prog-rock score cues ("Has Ended" sounds like something Pink Floyd would've contributed to the Obscured By Clouds soundtrack had they been listening to enough Can), and culminating in the 14-minute vocal ambience of "A Choir of One," Yorke's score provides a perfect backdrop for Guadgnino's 70s Berlin. Like the greatest of scores, though, the album doesn't need the film to land successfully. Indeed, it was just as gripping of a listen before seeing the movie as after, and I find myself returning to it regularly. This one will definitely stand the test of time.
Favorite Tracks: "Suspirium," "Has Ended," "Volk"

This Is My Dinner - Sun Kil Moon
Spotify
I already talked about this album's genesis as a European travelogue in my write-up of Mark Kozelek's recent gig in Chico. Rather than reiterate that here, I'll point you towards that review and talk about the elements of the album that I didn't get to cover there -- in particular, the strong, memorable second disc. The disc starts with "David Cassidy," Mark's paean to the recently deceased Cassidy (as well as AC/DC's Malcolm Young). It's obviously from the lyrics that the lyrics were written to be delivered live, but, amidst the encouragements for the crowd to cheer for the late Cassidy, are some incredibly heartfelt lyrics about how David Cassidy and The Partridge Family (along with AC/DC, Glenn Tipton, KK Downing, etc.) changed Mark's life. The next two tracks are covers. First up is a pretty joyous run-through of The Partridge Family's "Come On, Get Happy." Next is Kozelek's third recorded cover of AC/DC's "Rock 'n' Roll Singer," and I think it's his best one yet. Again, it's clear that Mark is singing in the studio as if he were still on-stage. (I find myself wondering throughout how This Is My Dinner would've been received as a true live album. Some of Neil Young's greatest songs first appeared in live versions -- Why not the same with the Koz?) Rounding out the second disc are the finale, a reading from John Connolly's "He," and the penultimate track (and my album favorite), "Soap for Joyful Hands." It's the best song ever written about washing your socks with hotel soap, and, as usual, it's about an awful lot more. Mark intends to release at least two albums in 2019, and his 2018 output has made me incredibly eager for those to come out. Thankfully, the first comes in March, which is just around the corner.
Favorite Tracks: "This Is My Dinner," "David Cassidy," "Come On Get Happy," "Soap for Joyful Hands"

Mogic - Hen Ogledd
Spotify
This is the latest from Richard Dawson (check out last year's Peasant) and friends, and, although I haven't had the chance to spend a ton of time with it yet, it's on my mind a lot, and I think I'll be remembering it as one of the best of 2018 in years to come. The title (a combination of "Magic" and "Logic") sums up central themes of the album pretty well -- What place do magic, myth, & romance have in this cold, logical, rational age? Having only heard the album a few times, I don't know Hen Ogledd's answer yet, but tracks like "Sky Burial," "Problem Child," "First Date," and "Etheldreda" make me certain I'll continue returning until I know for sure. One part improvisational experimentation, one part freaky folk, one part classic pop songwriting, and one part driving rock, this one has something for most everyone.
Favorite Tracks: "Sky Burial," "Problem Child," "First Date," "Etheldreda"

Thanks for reading! If you've created a similar list yourself, please share it in the comments!

Saturday, December 29, 2018

A Year in Review: My Favorite Albums of 2018 (Part 2)

With 2018 rapidly dwindling, I wanted to take a little time and wrap up the 2018 album recap I started last week. If you've seen that post, you already know I can be pretty long winded when talking about music, so, without any further introduction, I present you with more of my favorite albums of 2018.

Mark Kozelek - Mark Kozelek
Spotify
This is the first album of completely original material Kozelek has put out under his own name, although a number of Sun Kil Moon albums have only featured him and his guitar (and, indeed, Mark had said this album was going to be released under the SKM moniker until a couple of months before release). The lyrics on this one can be be described as stream-of-consciousness, but, rather than focusing on experiences on tour, this album focuses a bit more on Kozelek's life in San Francisco and the memories stirred during day-to-day life there (and other places he considers home, like New Orleans). Indeed, opening track "This Is My Town" is a hymn to how much Mark loves San Francisco. I spent quite a bit of time writing about tracks off of this album in my write-up of Mark's recent gig in Chico, so I'll point you there for further musings on the tracks. This album was recorded in San Francisco hotel rooms, largely with a 1960 Fender Jazzmaster guitar. The music is some of the most hypnotic of his career, and, as much as I love the lyrics and vocals, I'd gladly buy an instrumental version of this one. On album highlight "My Love for You is Undying," Mark sings "Though some may find my specifying agonizing and trying, long-winded and unsatisfying, others may find it hypnotizing, comforting, and inspiring, relatable and consoling." I'm definitely in the latter camp, and this one is definitely hypnotizing, comforting, inspiring, relatable, and consoling.
Favorite Tracks: "My Love for You is Undying," "666 Post," "I Cried During Wall Street"

Age Of - Oneohtrix Point Never
Spotify
Age Of  is the central part of Daniel Lopatin's MYRIAD story. The album is described as a four-part "epochal song cycle." I totally love this sort of thing, and I find Lopatin's concept fascinating. There's a great Fader article on it. But, even if the high concept thing isn't your bag (baby), there's a lot to love here. Lopatin's Oneohtrix Point Never project has been putting out essential experimental electronic releases (check out Replicas and Garden of Delete) for over a decade. This album is still built around OPN's typical tropes (sampling, vintage synths), but, here, we learn that Lopatin is also a hell of a pop songwriter, as best evinced on the stunning "Babylon." Age Of paints a pretty dire picture of the state of things. Indeed, he seems to think we're getting towards the collapse part of the cultural cycle. However, it is still a cycle, and rebirth is promised on the other side. Regardless of whether such collapse happens (my money is on yes), this album makes for a good primer for understanding apocalypse.
Favorite Tracks: "Age Of," "Babylon," "The Station," "Black Snow"

Pastoral - Gazelle Twin
Bandcamp
By far the most political album on this list, Pastoral's opener, "Folly," kicks off with a nightmarish voice asking "What species is this? What century? What atmosphere?" From here, we immediately leap into the pulsing beat of "Better in My Day," with its repeated chants of "Just look at these kids now (no respect)," a song from written from the perspective of backwards-looking British citizens who clearly think the Golden Age has passed. What we get with Pastoral, one of my very favorites of the year (and certainly one of the creepiest on this list), is a folk horror reading of Brexit, where the exit of Great Britain from the European Union is read as summer icumen in. This is a fascinating song cycle, and, regardless of whether you agree with Gazelle Twin's Elizabeth Bernholz or not, it's worth engaging with fully. This is one to be heard on headphones without distractions. The album fades out (or, should I say, drops out) with a field recording of British folk staple "Over the Hills and Far Away," reminding you of the tradition that, behind all of the electronics and distortion, Gazelle Twin is operating from: that of the English using song to explore the most difficult aspects of being English.
Favorite Tracks: "Better In My Day," "Glory," "Tea Rooms," "Hobby Horse"

Everywhere at the End of Time (Stages 4 & 5) -The Caretaker
Bandcamp
Boy, this one would've been tough to write about back at Stage 1, and so much has happened since then. Back in the fall of 2016, Leyland Kirby informed the world that The Caretaker, the musical persona that Kirby has released his ballroom meditations on memory through since the late 90s, had been diagnosed with dementia and that his final project, Everywhere at the End of Time, would document his neurodegeneration. Truly, Stage 1 was some of the most pleasant listening of Kirby's career, but the knowledge of what was to come hung heavy over it. This project uses the 78rpm big band samples that The Caretaker has utilized through his entire career, but takes their ultimate distortion to fully unseen depths. In the first few stages, the pain was felt most acutely through the titles of the songs ("Things that are beautiful and transient," "A losing battle is raging," What does it matter how my heart breaks," "Last moments of pure recall," and "The way ahead feels lonely," a title that nearly reduces me to tears every time I read it). Before proceeding, it's worth letting you know that one of my best friends, my grandfather, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's shortly before these albums started being released. His situation isn't as dire as what The Caretaker describes, though, of course, that nasty word "yet" hangs like an atom bomb over this statement. For Stages 4 & 5, we've left the point where the pieces still have typical titles (& simple, short durations) and moved into long pieces composed of incredible, growing, jumbled distortion of the pieces that have grown familiar since the start of the project two years ago. Here, we've instead got stabbingly descriptive titles like "Stage 4 Post Awareness Confusions," "Stage 4 Temporary Bliss State," "Stage 5 Advanced Plaque Entaglements," and "Stage 5 Sudden Time Regression Into Isolation." Although I eagerly ate up the first two phases when they came out, I've been more and more hesitant to engage as the series moved on and waited months on Stage 5. Never has music which could easily have been termed "easy listening" at the start distorted into something so damn hard. This can't be easy for Kirby to put together, and I've never encountered something tougher to listen to, but it's worth it. I won't jot down any favorite tracks from this one. This needs to be experienced as a whole to really feel the pain and confusion of familiar sounds being distorted. Indeed, as the hours go by, the repeated (I think? It's disorienting like that) samples feel more and more like very personal memories fall apart and becoming entangled.  Listening from Stage 1 to Stage 5 takes just over five hours, and the full piece, which will be completed in March of this year, will likely last close to 7 hours. It'll be harrowing, but it's worth it. With the high prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders, I find it very unlikely that anyone reading has remained untouched by these (sometimes slow, sometimes criminally quick, always too quick) ransackers of the mind. Expect a longer post about the series as a whole (and on The Caretaker's unrivaled body of work) when the last installment comes out in a few months.

I was intending to get a little further down the list tonight that I did, but, man, writing about Everywhere at the End of Time really took it out of me. I'll write about the last six albums on the list tomorrow or Monday. Tonight, I'll leave you with a short list of the best reissues of the year.

Best Reissues of the Year
Love and Work: The Lioness Sessions - Songs: Ohia (Bandcamp) [Seriously, this is a must-listen, even if you don't already know Molina's Lioness album. Even just the outtakes are better than most albums, full stop. More on Molina, and on this album in particular, in a later post.]

Life Is Unfair - Black Box Recorder (Bandcamp) [Some additional live recordings appear to be available exclusively (?) on Spotify.]

Cherry Red's totally essential Felt reissues (Spotify) [It was the Year of Lawrence. If you've never check these out before, do it. I especially recommend Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty, The Splendour of Fear, The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories, Ignite the Seven Cannons, The Seventeenth Century, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word, Poem of the River, The Pictorial Jackson Review, Train Above the City, and Me and a Monkey on the Moon. Yep, that's the whole discography. If you want a good starting spot, you could go with Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty. Or The Splendour of Fear. Or The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories. Or... You get the picture.]

Cherry Red's pREServed deluxe editions of The Residents' Meet The Residents, Third Reich & Roll, Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, and Fingerprince (Only the deluxe version of Fingerprince is available on any streaming service, but here are links to the standard versions of Meet The ResidentsThird Reich & Roll, and Duck Stab/Buster & Glen so you can see if this is something you'd be into.)

Cherry Red's (man, these guys are delivering) reissue of The Fall's criminally underrated Levitate, their 1997 album featuring, for the last time, Steve Hanley, Martin Bramah (on one track), Simon Wolstencroft, and currently missing colossus Karl Burns (Spotify) [MES is dead; Long live MES!]

[Part 1 of this list is available here and Part 3 is available here.]