Fiction
(in no order)
Robert Glück ABOUT ED (New York Review Books)
Elle Nash DELIVER ME (Unnamed Press)
Jack Skelley THE COMPLETE FEAR OF KATHY ACKER (Semiotext(e))
Gary J Shipley SO BEAUTIFUL AND ELASTIC (Apocalypse Party)
Melinda Mátyus MYLIFEANDMYLIFE (Ugly Duckling Presse)
Juliet Escoria WITCH HUNT & BLACK CLOUD: NEW & COLLECTED WORKS (Clash Books)
Kenji Siratori & Zak Ferguson MUSHROOM DWELLERS (Independently published)
Sebastian Castillo SALMON (Shabby Doll House)
Alexandrine Ogundimu THE LONGEST SUMMER (CLASH Books)
Thomas Moore YOUR DREAMS (Amphetamine Sulphate)
Sean Kilpatrick TANTRUMS (Independently published)
Ava Hoffman LOVE POEMS/SMALLNESS STUDIES (Inside the Castle)
Thomas Kendall HOW I KILLED THE UNIVERSAL MAN (Whisk(e)y Tit)
Ben Fama IF I CLOSE MY EYES (SARKA Publishing)
David Musgrave LAMBDA (Europa Editions)
Jake Reber LEECH (11:11 Press)
Lucy K Shaw WOMAN WITH HAT (Shabby Doll House)
in8 iĐ 1/ 4 i am ĐNA (Calamari)
B.R. Yeager BURN YOU THE FUCK ALIVE (Apocalypse Party)
Damien Ark COME OCTOBER (Feral Dove Books)
Alex Kazemi NEW MILLENNIUM BOYS (Permuted Press)
David Scott Hay [NSFW] (Whisk(e)y Tit)
Audrey Szasz COUNTERILLUMINATION (Amphetamine Sulphate)
Jane White QUARRY (Boilerhouse Press)
Grant Maierhofer EBB (Kernpunkt Press)
Martin Riker THE GUEST LECTURE (Grove Atlantic)
Diane Williams I HEAR YOU’RE RICH (Soho Press)
Jinnwoo POLO (Expat Press)
Charlene Elsby BEDLAM (Apocalypse Party)
Travis Jeppeson SETTLERS LANDING (ITNA)
William Mountain Cox ROUNDABOUT (RELEGATION)
Carter St. Hogan ONE OF SEVERAL DESERTS (11:11 Press)
Chelsea Martin TELL ME I’M AN ARTIST (Soft Skull Press)
Lance Olsen ALWAYS CRASHING IN THE SAME CAR (Fiction Collective 2)
Parker Young CHEAP THERAPIST SAYS YOU’RE INSANE (Future Tense Books)
Shane Jesse Christmas METH – DTF (Filthy Loot)
Katie Jean Shinkle THICK CITY (Bull City Press)
Stewart Home ART SCHOOL ORGY (New Reality Records)
Kyler James THE HIGHER GENIUS (Rebel Satori Press)
Madeline Cash EARTH ANGEL (CLASH Books)
Sam Pink FANTASTIC FICTIONS (Expat Press)
Ira Rat HAIRS (Filthy Loot)
Poetry
(in no order)
Sara Nicholson APRIL (The Song Cave)
Kim Rosenfield PHANTOM CAPTAIN (Fence Books)
Robbie Coburn AND I COULD NOT HAVE HURT YOU (Kiddiepunk)
Robert Glück I, BOOMBOX (Roof Books)
David Melnick NICE: COLLECTED POEMS (Nightboat Books)
Eileen Myles A ‘WORKING LIFE’ (Grove Atlantic)
Marty Cain THE PRELUDE (Action Books)
Ange Dargent THE OTHERS LIVED AS ME (Kiddiepunk)
Bert Meyers BERT MEYERS: ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF AN AMERICAN MASTER (Pleiades Press)
Caroline Rayner THE MOAN WILDS (Shabby Doll House)
Danika Stegeman LeMay ABLATION (11:11 Press)
Jacques Prevel DEATH POEMS (Infinity Land Press)
John Wieners SOLITARY PLEASURE: SELECTED POEMS, JOURNALS AND EPHEMERA (Pilot Press)
Fred Moten PERENNIAL FASHION PRESENCE FALLING (Wave Books)
Richard Hell WHAT JUST HAPPENED (Winter Editions)
Sadé Powell WORDTOMYDEAD (Ugly Duckling Presse)
Doug Lang IN THE WORKS (Edge Books)
Julien Gracq GREAT LIBERTY (Wakefield Press)
Kevin Holden PINK NOISE (Nightboat Books)
Dominic Lyne WHO PAINTED THE SKY BLUE? (Degraded Discord)
Dorothea Lasky THE SHINING (Wave Books)
Nonfiction
(in no order)
Ágota Kristóf THE ILLITERATE (New Directions)
Michael Zryd HOLLIS FRAMPTON: NAVIGATING THE INFINITE CINEMA (Columbia University Press)
Blake Butler MOLLY (Archway Editions)
Andrew Gallix UNWORDS (Dodo Ink)
Eugene S. Robinson A WALK ACROSS DIRTY WATER AND STRAIGHT INTO MURDERER’S ROW (Feral House)
New Juche HEAT DEATH (Gallows Fruit)
Thurston Moore SONIC LIFE (Doubleday)
Craig Baldwin AVANT TO LIVE! (San Francisco Cinematheque)
Michael Silverblatt BOOKWORM: CONVERSATIONS WITH MICHAEL SILVERBLATT (The Song Cave)
Marc Masters HIGH BIAS: THE DISTORTED HISTORY OF THE CASSETTE TAPE (The University of North Carolina Press)
Sean DeLear I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT: THE 1979 TEENAGE DIARIES OF SEAN DELEAR (Semiotext(e))
Pierre Abidi, M Kitchell, Emmanuelle X ENIGMA STRATEGY (Inside the Castle)
Jason McBride EAT YOUR MIND: THE RADICAL LIFE AND WORK OF KATHY ACKER (Simon & Schuster)
Will Alexander THE COMING MENTAL RANGE (Litmus Press)
Bruce Lindsay IVOR CUTLER: A LIFE OUTSIDE THE SITTING ROOM (Equinox)
Jared Pappas-Kelley STALKING AMERICA (Delere Press)
Ian Penman FASSBINDER THOUSANDS OF MIRRORS (Semiotext(e))
Andrew Leland THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND (Penguin)
Georges Bataille THE LIMIT OF THE USEFUL (MIT Press)
Alice Notley TELLING THE TRUTH AS IT COMES UP (The Song Cave)
Sly Stone THANK YOU (FALETTINME BE MICE ELF AGIN) (AUWA)
Ashleigh A. Allen, Dylan Angell, William Butler, jimmy cooper, Matthew Kinlin & Neil Davies, Ellen Dillon, Ben Estes, Katherine Franco, Richard James Hall, Philip Hoare, Chris Jones, Hesse K., Elektra KB, Robert Kiely, Cyrus Larcombe-Moore, Ruby Lawrence, Daniel W.K. Lee, Paul Lee, Nate Lippens, Len Lukowski, Christopher Madden, Mary Manning, Georgia Mannion-Krase, Douglas A. Martin, So Mayer, Alistair McCartney, Mark Armijo McKnight, Davide Meneghello, Sam Moore, D Mortimer, Eileen Myles, Daniel Napsha, Cecila Pavón, Kathy Pendrill, Richard Porter, AM Ringwalt, Sophie Robinson, Jack Sagar, Prem Sahib, Kashif Sharma-Patel, Lucy Swan, Abdellah Taïa, Anne Tallentire, M. Ty, Eley Williams RESPONSES TO “FORBIDDEN COLORS” (1988) BY FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES (Pilot Press)
Music
(in no order)
Water From Your Eyes EVERYONE’S CRUSHED (Matador)
DJ 0.000001 RECOMBINANT SHANGAAN MIXTAPE (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Edwin R Stevens GOD ON ALL FOURS (Ankst Musik)
Kali Malone DOES SPRING HIDE ITS JOY (Ideologic Organ)
Guided by Voices WELSHPOOL FRILLIES (GBV, Inc)
Oxbow LOVE’S HOLIDAY (Ipecac)
Sparks THE GIRL IS CRYING IN HER LATTE (Island)
Mandy, Indiana I’VE SEEN A WAY (Fire Talk)
Nondi_ FLOOD CITY TRAX (Planet Mu)
Ziúr EYEROLL (Hakuna Kulala)
Lonnie Holley OH ME OH MY (Jagjaguwar)
Martyna Basta SLOWLY FORGETTING, BARELY REMEMBERING (Warm Winters Ltd.)
Liturgy 93696 (Thrill Jockey)
Éliane Radigue NALDJORLAK (Saltern)
DJ K PANICO NO SUBMUNDO (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Yves Tumor PRAISE A LORD WHO CHEWS BUT WHICH DOES NOT CONSUME; (OR SIMPLY, HOT BETWEEN WORLDS) (Warp)
The Replacements TIM (LET IT BLEED EDITION) (Rhino)
Bill Seaman/Tim Diagram/Stephen Spera THE WORLD WAS TURNING BEFORE (laaps)
John Cale MERCY (Domino)
Khanate TO BE CRUEL (Sacred Bones)
Killah Priest FOREST OF THE HAPPY EVER AFTER (Proverbs Records)
Bill Orcutt THE ANXIETY OF SYMMETRY (Fake Estates)
Danny Brown QUARANTA (Warp)
Nick Hudson SEBASTIAN WRAP/GARDEN OF LUXOR (Super8Sync Recordings)
Stephen O’Malley & Anthony Pateras SEPT DUOS POUR GUITARE ACOUSTIQUE & PIANO PREPARE (Shelter Press)
Film
(in no order)
Kyle Edward Ball SKINAMARINK
Yves-Marie Mahé JEUNE CINÉMA
Wes Anderson ASTEROID CITY
Aki Kaurismäki FALLEN LEAVES
Michael Salerno THE MASTURBATOR’S HEART
Jean-Luc Godard TRAILER OF A FILM THAT WILL NEVER EXIST: PHONY WARS
Emile Parcelier GREEN NARCISSUS
Albert Serra PACIFICTION
Rainer Kohlberger ANSWERING THE SUN
Rob Rice WAY OUT AHEAD OF US
Pedro Costa THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE
Laura Poitras ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
Ari Aster BEAU IS AFRAID
Dicky Bahto FOR LIZ HARRIS
Chad Stahelski JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Ken Jacobs XCXHXEXRXRXIXEXSX
Simon Payne INTERVALS
Gerard Johnstone M3GAN
Radu Jude DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
Art
(in no order)
LA MOSURE DES TERMITES (Palais de Tokyo, Paris)
Henry Taylor B SIDE (MoCA, Los Angeles)
Milford Graves FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY (ICA, Los Angeles)
Thomas Demand LE BÉGAIEMENT DE L’HISTOIRE (Jeu de Paume)
Trisha Donnelly (Air de Paris)
Mike Kelley GHOST AND SPIRIT (Pinault Collection, Paris)
WHO YOU STARING AT? (Centre Pompidou)
Rakajoo CEINTURE NWAR (Palais de Tokyo, Paris)
Thom Andersen WORK ON FILM (Academy Museum, Los Angeles)
Page Person THE EAR* (*OR HOW I BECAME A PERSON) (Human Resources, Los Angeles)
Rammellzee GOTHIC FUTURISM (Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles)
Internet
(in no order)
SCAB
zlibrary
The Wire
GAMESCENES
Internet Archive
pixiv
SHABBY DOLL HOUSE
Small Press Distribution
espresso bongo
X-R-A-Y
{ feuilleton }
Legsville
Rhizome
Theme Park Review
ASTERISM
Musique Machine
Original Cinemaniac
Beaucoup
Expat
SOAP2DAY
Volume 1 Brooklyn
Experimental Cinema
The Los Angeles Review of Books
3:AM Magazine
largehearted boy
pantaloons
Harriet
Open Culture
Locus Solus: The New York School of Poets
giphy
The Wonderful World of Tam Tam Books
Hobart
Ubuweb
*
p.s. Hey. I’m sure I’m spacing out on things that really should be up there, but, for all intents and purposes, these are my favorite things of 2023, which I present to you in hopes that you’ll share some of yours in return, but only if you want to. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Sure, of course. What we really should do is bring full-fledged Halloween to France. Not only would that be a saintly gesture, but we could be multi-billionaires, I’m absolutely sure. Come visit, and we can make a masterplan. Hm, I guess I think if I were immortal, I wouldn’t have to change anything about how I lie because I would have all the time in the world to just gradually transition into another situation? Hm, good question. Love would be happy to stop by your place too. Listen for his knock. Love being so sexually satisfied and spent that he wouldn’t have the energy to jerk off in the shower six times a day even if he wanted to, G. ** tomk, Hi, Tom. Thanks a ton, pal. ** Bill, Happy to hear about the settling. Holy moly, no, I hadn’t heard of ‘Red Night’. Have you actually seen it? I guess you just missed it in SF, or, wait, did you see it? I’ll check my local listings. Nice! I saw ‘Godzilla Minus One’ last night, and it’s actually pretty terrific. Not batshit crazy by any means, but … ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Very happy that B’s work keyed into your interests and even past work. Happy weekend! ** Mark, Hi, Mark! I increasingly think I’ll save ‘May December’ for a long future plane flight. I can recommend ‘Godzilla Minus One’ if you want a charming escape. Nice: the Xmas shebang. Over here, we’ll do a buche feast of some sort. I had the most sterling Indian dinner just last evening. Crackling weekend. ** Goutful, Cool, glad you liked it. Emotional nausea … yeah, maybe I get that. Hurl is such a good word. In general, but for vomiting maybe especially. The English language is more poetic than people give it credit for. I’ve realised that living over here where I’ll just casually use a common American term for something around French people and they are fascinated and impressed by the oddness of my choice of words. I was telling my friend Zac what you wrote yesterday, and he noted how interesting it is that doctors everywhere, whether it’s in the US or France or Japan or wherever, have the same bedside manner. That proper ‘bedside manner’ is a universal thing. I don’t know if that’s completely true, but it’s true that doctors here do go into a behavioral mode when I’ve seen them that is precisely the same as with doctors in the US I’ve ever seen. Make sense? Very best luck with your studying weekend. Nice you know Gluck’s work. His new novel is fantastic. My weekend will begin momentarily with a coffee with the just mentioned Mr. Gluck, and then … we’ll see. ** Jeff J, Hi. Yeah, Wurtz is super great. I’ll return your email today sometime, but sounds good. I’m a lifelong fan Clark Coolidge since discovering him in my college days. I know I’ve had books of his in the ‘5 books’ posts. I’m not sure if I’ve done a whole post on him. I should though. I do like d.a. levy, yes. I haven’t read him in a long time. I might have had a poem or two of his here in some context or other. But if you’re asking if they’re worth investigating, yes, by all means, I say. ** Audrey, Hi, Audrey. No, sadly Criterion Channel is not over here. You can get it with a VPN, but the connection is so slow that it’s just not worth it. Frampton is always fascinating and very experimental in numerous ways. My favorites of his are (1) STRAITS OF MAGELLAN, which was never finished but exists in various parts. I think Criterion collects them under the rubric ‘Films from Magellan’. And (2) ZORNS LEMMA, which is on the Criterion DVD and is probably streaming there? Yes, so far we’ve submitted the film without VFX and with rudimentary color grading and sound mix. It’s not ideal, but you can watch the current cut and get a very good sense of what it will be when it’s finished. There’s actually two trans performers in the film, the boy/son I mentioned and a secondary but prominent character who is also trans in the film. You’ll get to see the film for sure, it’s just how and when. Oh, maybe I’ll go contribute to her Kickstarter if that’s still possible so I can see her film. Yes, Gluck read from the new novel and his excellent recent poetry book ‘I, Boombox’. Gosh, hope you like ‘Guide’. Pedro Costa’s ‘Vitalina Varela’ is one of my all time favorite films. It’s exquisite. The ‘Godzilla’ movie is really quite fun and charming. It has a cool color palate, and the score is quite odd and kind of discordant and subtle. Have the most wonderful weekend! Love, Dennis. ** Telly, Hi, Telly. I remember you, and it has been a while. Nice to see ya. Great and exciting about the one-man anthology comic near-finishing. How are you going to release it? I very greatly prefer the old Austryn Wainhouse translation of ‘120 Days of Sodom’ as published by Grove Press. I think the newer translations really thin out and empty the writing. I’m not a fan of them. I’m knowing more and mire filmmakers, and I’m really liking them as people, although I only know ones who make or want to make strange, unconventional films. I actually don’t think much about the story when I’m writing either. I think of my fiction as being a whole thing, like that the characters and story aren’t more important than the style or the structure or the writing itself. I think of the characters as being the most important aspects, I guess, the most powerful parts of, say, a novel. The parts that have the biggest responsibility or something. But I believe in them even if I don’t think they’re real. Which actually doesn’t sound so different than how you say you see your characters really? Anyway, cool to get to talk with you. Enjoy Saturday and Sunday. ** Right. You know what your local weekend involves, and I’ll see you back here on Monday.
Now available in North America 
*
Happy that you enjoyed Godzilla Minus One! Limmy disses the trailer here but I thought it looked good. Not sure when it’s due at the cinema near me though.
My best of 2023:
Fiction
Audrey Szasz – Counterillumination (Amphetamine Sulphate)
Non fiction
New Juche – Heat Death (Gallows Fruit)
Don Paterson – Toy Fights: A Boyhood (Faber & Faber)
Film
M3GAN (Gerard Johnstone)
Music
Actress – LXXXVIII (Ninja Tune)
Jlin – Perspective (Planet Mu)
Nondi_ – Flood City Trax (Planet Mu)
Art
Rachel Maclean – Don’t Buy Mi (Ayr, Jupiter Artland)
What a list!
As per, chefs liss.
When there are books that I have lined up for purchase, I seem to have this innate need for Cooper-approval 😉 before prioritising which one’s to grab.
What a delight to also see other works that I haven’t yet been introduced to.
It has been such a good year for books.
I am also humbled, and as usual bowled over by your support, and surprised that mine and Kenji’s mutant baby made your list. That book is a special one.
My favourite reads of this year (not based upon release date) have been…
THE AUTODIDACTS by Thomas Kendall.
White/Other by Fran Lock, a writer/poet I really think you’d love, if you aren’t already familiar with her work.
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Jack/ The End of Alice/ The Safety of Objects/ The Mistress’s Daughter, by A.M Homes
Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova
Birth of Eros by Debra Di Blasi
Porn-anti-porn/Goosesteps: fictions and docufictions by Harold Jaffe
All the Sweet Prettiness of Life by Cody Sexton
House of Delete by Snatch Wylden
For film, my faves have been…
Babylon
Oppenheimer
Serial Mom (rewatch)
Cry Baby (rewatch)
A Dirty Shame (rewatch)
Sometime Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things
Eating Miss Daisy
My Bloody Banjo
Puppet Pal V
The Last Matinee
Enys Men
Erotomaniac
Catfight
Antman & The Wasp Quantumania (I love it for all its ridiculousness and colour)
Barbarian
Alien Nation
Talk To Me
The Son
The Meg 2
Barbie (kind of) (undecided)
I have not really watched many new films this year, because half of them in the UK that are screening are merely blockbusters or Marvel or DC – desperate pleas for money.
I have recently started one of my weird experimental documentaries, or video essays, you could say based on you dear Dennis, I hope you like the end result. Also, please don’t sue me 😉
I hope you enjoy the festivities, in all its commercial and consumerist glory (I don’t need no holiday season to encourage me to buy books and films for myself, and to treat others). Hope the film is going well for you and Zac.
Much love and respect, as always.
Zak
Dennisss– I shall mine your “Mine.” And your mind. Good goodies list. Thank you, Santa! Several on there I desire to consume. Incl. that Ben Fama. OK News Flash!! You’ll recall 2 years I did a DC guest post for Irish poet/writer (based in Rome) Karina Bush’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Slut. It was a preview of Karina’s sickass poli-sexual novel. Well, she has now completed her opus and is streaming it free. Rendered in AI. Here: https://rumble.com/v402ucg-fourth-industrial-revolution-slut-part-i.html How’s it going there. I’m today working on the script for Fear of Kathy Acker the play. love! Jack
A wonderful list of goodies; thank you, Dennis.
Hey Dennis, what a wonderful list, always look forward to your year-end roundup. I’m curious if you’ve heard EXEK, a most excellent post-punk outfit out of Melbourne? This year’s LP from them, The Map and The Territory, is one of my favorite things of 2023. Hypnotic, multi-layered, dryly funny, and often quite beautiful. I have a hunch you might dig ‘em.
Fiction:
The Shards (Bret Easton Ellis) favorite novel of the year
Neo-Decadence Evangelion (edited by Justin Isis)
Poetry:
Impure Thoughts (Golnoosh Nour)
Pictures of Apocalypse (Thomas Ligotti)
The Others Lived As Me (Ange Dargent)
Non-fiction:
The Higher Genius (Kyler James)
Doom Guy (John Romero)
Goth: A History (Lol Tolhurst)
Weird Medieval Guys (Olivia M. Swarthout)
Graphic Novels:
Octopus Pie: The Other Side + Eternal (Meredith Gran)
Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour (McElroys)
Monica (Daniel Clowes)
Ain’t It Fun: Peter Laughner & Proto-Punk in the Secret City (Aaron Lange) highly recommended
Music:
Endless Summer Vacation (Miley Cyrus)
Guts (Olivia Rodrigo)
(I also got the new albums by Ladytron, Depeche Mode, M83, Boygenius, Feist, Swans, Kylie Minogue, Troye Sivan, and Nicki Minaj, but none of those I found particularily memorable)
Film:
Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
The Masturbator’s Heart (Michael Salerno)
Video/Computer Games:
Dreams in the Witch House
System Shock Remake
World of Horror
—-
Sadly there are a few new books this year that for whatever reason I purchased but haven’t got around to reading yet, like the Thurston Moore one and also the Audrey Szasz one. Truth be told though I didn’t read a whole lot of new books this year because I was so bogged down with my medieval research (which should be done by year’s end): next year I plan to focus more on fiction.
I forgot a whole host of other films.
MEN
A Bunch of Amateurs
Brian & Charles
AFTER LOVE
SUPER HOST
MAD GOD
BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION
SOMETHING IN THE DIRT
SWAN SONG
HALLOWEEN KILLS (re-watch, the second viewing my rating went from a two to five, so obviously seeing it with a shitty audience did not help) / HALLOWEEN ENDS (the greatest remake of CHRISTINE ever made without being a direct remake/reboot)
KNOCK AT THE CABIN
CLERKS III
KATALIN VARGA
THE FEAST
MUTANT BLAST
DARK HABITS
THEY LIVE (Took me far too long to get to this great film)
John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned (which I am a huge advocate for)
AFTER MIDNIGHT
ZOMblogALPYSE
RENFIELD
HERO (2002) (Re-watch)
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (Re-watch)
DEAD OR ALIVE
FANG (2023) (I am biased as I composed the score hahaha)
Hairspray (re-watch)
Curse of the Golden Flower
EVIL DEAD RISE (my opinion changes every day, sometimes I love it, other times I am tepid)
Theoretically my favorite time around here, though the last couple years I’ve been pretty pathetic as far as using this gold mine of a list to keep up on contemporary writing and art. But this year feels different, finally ready to get my shit together and delve in to some of this stuff. Thanks so much for sharing and to everyone else who adds their lists in the comments.
Wish I had more to contribute but off the top of my head Thomas Moore’s book was brain meltingly great, Heat Death goes without saying – NJ is always exceptional. The Sotos stuff published by AS, of course. Was Michael’s Teenage Satanists collection this year? I was lucky enough to see The Masturbator’s heart – absolutely stunning. Just realized I actually have Counterillumination on my shelf and have yet to read. Music wise it’s been a year of arty pop music – Charli XCX, Caroline Polchek, Rosalía, etc. – and noise stuff – labels like Fieldwork, Angst, Prose Nagge, Petite Soles, Deadline, Modern Decadence, etc.
hope all is well with you, D, aside from frustration with the completion of the film, which I know will resolve itself – it must!
P.S. sending you a FB message after I post this – just some lighthearted shit talking that I don’t wanna do here. Xo – steven
Yay one of my favorite days of the year 🙂 thanks as always
I’ve been going through some of the shorter Hollis Frampton works on Criterion — my favorites so far are *Surface Tension* and *(nostalgia)*, will go through their Straits of Magellan shortly. They make me think of the dad in *Infinite Jest*. I’ll have to look at those Michael Zryd books you’ve posted in the past.
I almost never post here but this is my favorite website, I read it every single day. Thank you thank you thank you for what you do. I’ve gleaned a huge education from here.
If I may share my favs of 2023:
Music-
100 gecs – *10,000 gecs* (I feel like 100 gecs kinda fell off in my group of friends after the pandemic, which is a total shame because I think they’re better than ever / this their sell-out California release is better than the previous, more polished and more effortful whereas *1000 gecs* is merely as good as when they were pumping out new material for every virtual gig during the pandemic)
Ellen Arkbro – *Sounds While Waiting* (probably my favorite album of the year. Arkbro plays drones on parallel organs and then moves them around or something? It’s fun to play the album on speakers and then walk around the room and hear the change of frequencies based on where you are. Suites a variety of moods, scratches the same itch that Kali Malone’s last organ album *The Sacrifical Code* provided so much satisfaction for. Also FFO Eliane Radigue)
Model Actriz – *Dogsbody* (they say they’re dance pop not gay no wave, and Not lyrically influenced by *Ulysses*?? she doth protest too much)
Tisakorean – *Let Me Update My Status* (weirdo rap / trap? talented vocalist and producer IMO, something about his metaphors reminds me of yours (DC’s), psychedelic or synesthetic or something. He played recently(?) with 100 gecs and Liturgy in NYC, i wish i was a local because that’s so up my alley)
Trhä – *Im Ëmat Gan Líeshtam Namvajno* and *vat gëlénva!!!* (this guy really dropped 14 albums in 2023 so far! and I love all the ones I’ve heard so far. thrilling lofi black metal / dungeon synth)
Water From Your Eyes – *Everyone’s Crushed* (I saw them open for Palm and they played long repetitive hypnotizing stuff, I like that they’ve abbreviated some on this release, and that their ~extended technique Jute Gyte inspo comes through with some weird ass riffs like on “True Life” and “Barley”. Next time they’re coming through is on a big ass festival w Guided by Voices that I’m going to have to sneak into)
Movies:
João Pedro Rodrigues – *Will-o’-the-Wisp*
Mark Jenkin – *Enys Men*
Guy Maddin – *Tales from the Gimli Hospital Redux*
Sebastián Silva – *Rotting in the Sun*
Elizabeth Banks – *Cocaine Bear*
Ari Aster – *Beau is Afraid*
Todd Haynes – *May December*
Wes Anderson – *Asteroid City* and *The Swan* (his netflix shorts are the best work he’s done in years and years IMO)
Books (released anytime) –
Daniel Clowes – *Monica*
Brian Evenson – *Dark Property*
Jinnwoo – *Polo*
Sarah Kofman – *Nietzsche and Metaphor*
László Krasznahorkai – *Satantango*
Jean-François Lyotard – *Just Gaming*
David Markson – *This is Not a Novel*
Harry Mathews – *Cigarettes*
Marie NDiaye – *My Heart Hemmed In*
Thomas Pynchon – *Gravity’s Rainbow*
Philippa Snow – *Which as You Know Means Violence*
Art shows –
Nick Cave – *Forothermore* (Guggenheim)
Tara Donovan – s/t (Pace NYC)
Kate Mosher Hall – *Big View* (Miguel Abreu)
Delcy Morelos – *El Abrazo* (Dia Chelsea)
George Rouy – *Endless Song* (Nicolas Vassell)
Ed Ruscha – *Now Then* (Moma) (came in not really into Ruscha’s work and exited totally thrilled)
Hello!
I am going on that group outing tomorrow with some people, some I haven’t seen in a bit, so I am anticipating.
I think my self esteem might be gradually rebuilding itself, so that is another positive.
Haha
“Anyone who would think that must be a swiftie or something”
Your funny. Just the subtle Swiftie bash. I like to imagine u have a neighbor who all day long blasts Taylor Swift and it just becomes a very personal vindictive hatred for anyone who associates with her.
I think we might be the same with the adamantly defending a point thing. I think I just did it last comment with the really prolonged opinion thing about ya know ya know. It could be a bad habit. I guess it depends.
I love talking about very insightful things and stuff but I know here ur really busy so I have to remember that talking a lot here is different then I guess me hanging out with a friend and just spewing bullshit out of my mouth.
But yes next week I will let you know about that elefant because I think I’m back on track.
Would it be alright if I sent a book with the drawing as well?
I only read GOOD books. You can trust my exquisite taste in literature ; )
Tho I’m drawing blanks maybe next week I can do my end of year list but atm: 🤷♂️
Dennis, thanks so much. I agree with James/Sypha that The Shards is the best. I hope you’ll get to it one day, but it’s long! Published before this year, but I just picked up Dark Star, a biography of Vivien Leigh. Loving it so far and I haven’t even gotten to the juicy parts yet. When I’m done, I plan to see Gone with the Wind and Streetcar again (after I know the stories behind them). Of course, your blog is always the very best of the Internet. Cheers, mate.
Hello Dennis! Big, big fan of your work and first time commenter here. Hoping to read and watch all of it! I’m curious if you read/watch any plays/theater? I saw on your website that you had some plays performed but I sadly see that you never published the scripts, so hopefully in the future I’ll be able to catch one. Here is my list for the year:
(not much of this was created this year, just things i read/saw this year)
Fiction:
Milk Fed — Melissa Broder
Giovanni’s Room — James Baldwin
The Secret History — Donna Tartt
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl — Andrew Lawlor
All of Sarah Kane’s plays
Queer — William S. Burroughs (simultaneously excited and nervous for the Queer film adaptation by Luca Guadagnino)
Rant — Chuck Palahniuk
All The Dirty Parts — Daniel Handler
Less Than Zero — Bret Easton Ellis
Film:
LA Plays Itself, Fred Halsted (have you seen this? the whole time i was watching it i kept thinking that i felt it was something you’d enjoy.)
Strange Way of Life, Pedro Almodovar
Cruising, William Friedkin
Saltburn, Emerald Fennell (stylistically beautiful, not sure what the hate is for)
Rope, Alfred Hitchcock
Pi, Darren Aronofsky
Kokomo City, D. Smith
Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick (saw this in Paris!)
Eraserhead, David Lynch (I know, I’m late)
your list is totally seismic as always dc — because of work and life, my list is nowhere near as populated as i’d like it to be this year — and you’ve covered a lot of my faves (& soon to be faves) already, so without repeating those… — but nonetheless:
BOOKS & COMICS
Ken Killian — ARGENTO SERIES [surprised this wasn’t on your list — Pilot Press keep knocking it out of the park don’t they?]
Jen Calleja — VEHICLE [Prototype Press also doing wonders — but the Calleja was my fave of theirs this year by a long shot]
Joanna Ebenstein, editor — MEL GORDON’S CABARETS OF DEATH: DEATH, DANCE AND DINING IN EARLY 20th CENTURY PARIS
Jussi Parikka — OPERATIONAL IMAGES: FROM THE VISUAL TO THE INVISUAL
Enrico Monacelli — THE GREAT PSYCHIC OUTDOORS: LO-FI MUSIC AND ESCAPING CAPITALISM
Cam Marshall — MATCHMAKER
Lee Edelman — BAD EDUCATION: WHY QUEER THEORY TEACHES US NOTHING
McKenzie Wark — RAVING
Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno — TONE
Mieko Kanai — MILD VERTIGO
Chuck Tingle — CAMP DAMASCUS
Matt Colquhoun — NARCISSUS IN BLOOM: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF THE SELFIE
Mário de Andrade — MACUNAÍMA
Acid Horizon — ANTI-OCULUS: A PHILOSOPHY OF ESCAPE
Annie Ernaux — THE YOUNG MAN
Teju Cole — TREMOR
Gregory J. Seigworth and Carolyn Pedwell, editors — THE AFFECT THEORY READER 2: WORLDINGS, TENSIONS, FUTURES
Alison Rumfitt — BRAINWYRMS
Harry Mathews — CIGARETTES [Dalkey Archive Essentials are fantastic reprints but have really ugly covers]
Kawika Guillermo — NIMRODS: A FAKE-PUNK SELF-HURT ANTI-MEMOIR
@maximumgraves — WHAT HAPPENS NEXT (https://whathappensnext.webcomic.ws/comics/1) [this one’s a bit of a cheat cos it’s been going since 2021, but I only discovered it this year and it is really, really excellent, I highly recommend]
BOOKS THAT WOULD BE ON MY LIST IF ONLY I’D READ THEM:
M. J. Maloney — THE GHOSTWRITERS
Jon Fosse — A SHINING
Bret Easton Ellis — THE SHARDS
Mathias Enard — THE ANNUAL BANQUET OF THE GRAVEDIGGERS’ GUILD [french lit twitter were going mad over this one for a while]
Mircea Cartarescu — SOLENOID [ditto]
Alexis Wright — PRAISEWORTHY [double ditto — nobel prize predictions being bandied around, which puts me off a bit]
Annie Ernaux — SHAME
Isabel Waidner — COREY FAH DOES SOCIAL MOBILITY [i’ve had v mixed feelings about their other books, but i admire? find interesting? that they’re both obviously experimental and fairly mainstream for “literary fiction” standards]
Andrei Platonov — CHEVENGUR
Fernanda Melchor — THIS IS NOT MIAMI
McKenzie Wark — LOVE AND MONEY, SEX AND DEATH: A MEMOIR
Yasunari Kawabata — THE RAINBOW
David Roberts — THE WAY THE DAY BREAKS
Timothy Linward — GRIMDARK: A VERY BRITISH HELL
MUSIC
Tujiko Noriko — CREPISCULE I & II
billy woods and Kenny Segal — MAPS
Simeon ten Holt and Erik Hall — CANTO OSTINATO
Stephen Micus — THUNDER
Lankum — FALSE LANKUM
DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ — DESTINY
The Mountain Goats — JENNY FROM THEBES
Maria BC — SPIKE FIELD
Chuquimamani-Condori — DJ E
Colin Stetson — WHEN WE WERE THAT WHAT WEPT FOR THE SEA
ANOHNI and the Johnsons — MY BACK WAS A BRIDGE FOR YOU TO CROSS
Laurel Halo — ATLAS
Matana Roberts — COIN COIN CHAPTER FIVE: IN THE GARDEN…
lostrushi — SISTERHOOD
Steve Roach — INTEGRATION BEING
Titanic — VIDRIO
Sufjan Stevens — JAVELIN
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter — SAVED!
Survival Spheres — (various on YouTube)
[have heard great things, but not yet listened to, the new MIKE, Swans, Tim Hecker, and Oneohtrix Point Never albums]
FILMS & TV
[i always say this is the year i’m going to see films and i always fail to:]
James Mangold dir. — INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
Quentin Dupiex dir. — SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING
Wes Anderson dir. — THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR
Volker Heise dir. — BERLIN 1945 [series]
Volker Heise dir. — BERLIN 1933 [series]
Lewis Arnold dir. — THE LONG SHADOW [series]
Toshio Kawaguchi dir. — PLUTO [series]
Jane Wu dir. — BLUE EYE SAMURAI [series]
[have heard great things, but not yet seen, Celine Song’s PAST LIVES, the new David Fincher, the new Martin Scorsese… oh, and CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET]
THEATRE
James Nash — GUIDELINES / THE FOREST (@ Camden People’s Theatre, London)
C. P. Taylor — GOOD (@ Harold Pinter Theatre, London)
Kim Noble — LULLABY FOR SCAVENGERS (@ Soho Theatre, London)
Travis Alabanza and Debbie Hannan — SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND (@ The Royal Court, London) [well, the second half anyway]
my grandma’s funeral
[there was an adaptation of THE FAGGOTS AND THEIR FRIENDS BETWEEN REVOLUTIONS that was apparently excellent also]
MUSEUMS & EXHIBITIONS
Alice Neel (@ The Barbican Centre, London)
Puppentheater-Museum (Berlin)
Philip Guston (@ Tate Modern, London)
Patric D. Prince: Digital Art Visionary (@ V&A, London)
Anselm Kiefer: Finnegans Wake (@ White Cube Bermondsey, London)
patter (vacuous matter) (@ University of Greenwich, London)
Headway East London: differently various (@ Barbican)
[somewhere in the evil dimension on your evil blog, evil me has put down the Marina Abramovic retrospective @ The Royal Academy]
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2024
Spyros Papapetros — PRE/ARCHITECTURE
Carmen Pellegrino — THE EARTH IS FALLING
Elfride Jelinek — THE CHILDREN OF THE DEAD
Jeanne Thornton — A/S/L
Patrik Ourednik — EUROPEANA: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 20th CENTURY
Marguerite Young — MISS MACINTOSH, MY DARLING [boy, if i had a few years to spare]
Cui Zi’en — PLATINUM BIBLE OF THE PUBLIC TOILET: TEN QUEER STORIES
Legacy Russell — BLACK MEME: THE HISTORY OF THE IMAGES THAT MAKE US
Agnes Arnold-Forster — NOSTALGIA: A HISTORY OF A DANGEROUS EMOTION
Hayao Miyazaki dir. — THE BOY AND THE HERON [i mean, obviously, right?]
Yorgos Lanthimos dir. — POOR THINGS
Rogelio Braga — BORDERLANDS: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (@ The Royal Court)
Sara Pinedo — FIELD STUDIES (@ The Royal Court)
Robert Wilson — MARY SAID WHAT SHE SAID (@ The Barbican Theatre, London)
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind (@ Tate Modern)
Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit (@ Tate Modern)
Electric Dreams (@ Tate Modern)
Francis Alÿs (@ Barbican)
[some horrific absences on my part:]
Avery Dame-Griff — THE TWO REVOLUTIONS: A HISTORY OF THE TRANSGENDER INTERNET
Jacob C. Miller — RETAIL RUINS: THE GHOSTS OF POST-INDUSTRIAL SPECTACLE
oh shit one more horrific absence whoopsie
MyHouse.wad
[the only game I played that came out this year but it was really something, i recommend a delve sometime]
I’m still figuring out my film list. By the time I turn in the final version, I’ll have spent 11 hours catching up with THE DELINQUENTS, MENUS-PLAISIRS LES TROISGROS and TRENQUE LAUQUEN (or so I promise myself). Searching for the shorts on your list turns up several trailers for films that aren’t available to the public yet. Looking up Michael Salerno on YouTube led to a guy playing Guns ‘N Roses’ “Mr. Brownstone” on guitar.
Have you seen the Wire’s year-end list? The new issue hasn’t arrived in New York yet.
The Santacon crowd didn’t get annoying today till late afternoon, but every bar and restaurant that serves alcohol has a huge line of “Santas”. A waitress told me she hates this day, but she makes a small fortune in tips.
I heard Y Pants for the first time recently. They seem strikingly original, an American version of a strain of ramshackle post-punk made by women in the UK and Europe. More bands should use toy piano!
I like QUARANTA, but it feels overly subdued, almost sedate. Knowing the state Danny Brown was in when he recorded it, you can hear him trying hard to stay in control.
Hey Dennis!
Thanks so much for including me in this list! And thanks to all above who did likewise. Gallows Fruit and I have had a rough time of it since Heat Death 1’s release. Right after your Welcome post Paypal banned us permanently with no explanation (“we cannot inform you of the reason as this would compromise the integrity of the platform”). I read here that Damien Ark experienced this too a few days ago. They are keeping all of our money for 120 days before the process of releasing it to us can begin. I’ve paid for all the postage costs out of my own pocket, and am now in a hole. We’re setting up a new site and payment platform now. I urge everyone to beware of Paypal! And avoid if possible. I also had a bad motorbike accident and am laid up as a result. Nothing broken but temporarily immobilized and deeper out of pocket. Hoping luck will change soon!
Joe x
Teenage Satanists in Oklahoma – Michael Salerno
Hate – Michael Salerno
Butcher’s Crossing – John Williams
The Shards – Bret Easton Ellis
I Wished – Coop
Violence, Faits divers, Littérature – Coop
Phantom Africa – Michel Leiris
An English Farmhouse – Geoffrey Griggson
Obviates – Peter Sotos
The Cheap-eaters – Thomas Bernhard
Scarp – Nick Papadimitiou
Many more but cannot recall
Dennis! I screamed and couldn’t believe seeing NMB on your list! After working on the god-damn-thing for a decade, I often dreamed of the possibilities like this moment. I also am considering stealing the copy of ‘All Ears’ I’ve checked out from the library for months now (I’d never do that, cause someone else might need it and can’t afford an ebay copy but I keep hitting ‘renew’) — holy shit that piece you wrote about the art-school kids was so visceral and insane, but really captured the dream of the ‘monoculture’ world that once existed. Anyways, I’m just so endlessly grateful to be included and to see the novel considered and to have made the cut amongst so many incredible artists, and amazing moments for film/literature in 2023. Thank you so much. Did you see the issue of King Kong yet that you, Derek and Zac are in? I saw a pic of your spread in the preview email they sent. I hope you’ve been so well. Cheers to no more dying in the heat and I hope you have a brilliant Xmas season and will catch up with you soon.
Hi!!
The year-end list! These posts are always the most pleasant and exciting goldmines!
There’re so many pieces I haven’t read/watched/listened to; I can’t wait to dive in! Thank you, thank you! And, as always, thank you so, so much for including SCAB!
Okay, yes. This “Halloween in France” plan sounds bulletproof. By this time next year, after our first season, we could be pretty well off.
Right, that makes sense. I’ve thought about what I’d do if I suddenly became immortal and kind of came to the same conclusion – I mean, I’d probably only change the things I’d love to change anyway, I mean, even now, which isn’t much, to be honest.
I think love deserves some sexual bliss after the many things he’s doing for us, haha!
Here are the books, movies, and TV shows that were the highlights of my year (as always, they weren’t all published/aired in 2023, but they entered my world this year):
BOOKS
Missed. Better Still. by Peter Sotos
DES by Martin Bladh
Rent Boy by Gary Indiana
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Faggots by Larry Cramer
Deliver Me by Elle Nash
MOVIES
Bullet Train, dir. by David Leitch
Lilya 4-Ever dir. by Lukas Moodysson
Joker dir. by Todd Phillips
Bottoms dir. by Emma Seligman
SERIES
Rain Dogs
Atlanta
Reservation Dogs
The Night Logan Woke Up
Fellow Travelers (although this is a love–hate relationship similar to the one I had with Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life”)
Love listing you as the utmost highlight of his year, Od.
Oh, wow, thanks, Dennis, truly an absolute honor to be included here. And in such delightful and august company. Love you! Jason
Thank you Dennis. i love you my friend. I think my fav book this year by a living American was Catherine Lacey’s Autobiography of X. Grateful for your list esp this year when so much flew by. So much more to say; hope to see you / catch up sometime soon. All my best, Blake
Thank you so much man! I can’t believe I managed to sneak onto this list.
The Thomas Moore, Charlene Elsby and Yeager are all on my list. I’ve got to read Molly by Blake Butler soon. I loved Biography of X by Catherine Lacey and boulder by Eva Balthasar as well.
Here’s my short 2023 list:
Album: Desire, Caroline Polachek
Series: The Curse, Showtime
Broadway: Grey House, Levi Holloway
Book: The Complete Fear of Kathy Acker, Jack Skelley
Exhibitions: Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines, Brooklyn Museum
Zine: Note On Library Lesbians and Pulp, Aiden M. Bettine
Tacos: Milpa Grill, Los Angeles
Movie: Rotting In the Sun, Sebastián Silva
Hi Dennis,
Lots of good stuff on here, and just as much I haven’t heard of! The Masturbator’s Heart isn’t out here yet, but it sounds fantastic. Also, I’m glad that Do Not Expect… made the cut! I can’t wait to rewatch it over and over now that it’s online. I’ll check out those Frampton shorts ASAP. The film is sounding incredible, I really hope that the funding works out and I’ll be ready to see it whenever it’s available! Sadly, Weard’s kickstarter ended, though luckily she reached the goal she needed for the film. I’ll have to check out some of Gluck’s work, I’m glad you enjoyed the stuff he read. I’m really loving Guide so far. It’s strange, since spending so much time on the blog I’m able to recognize your voice more clearly. Reading your more casual writing makes me notice little details that remind me of you. I’ve heard very good things about all of Costa’s films, but that one and the trilogy (I think?) it’s a part of especially. Anyways, here’s my lists! Albums are unranked but the films are in order from least best to most best. I didn’t get to much art outside of those two mediums this year.
Albums:
I WANT YOU TO KILL ME by Alex Walton
Census Designated by Jane Remover
Wallsocket by Underscores
Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey
Shadow Kingdom by Bob Dylan
GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
Films:
15. Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola
14. Asteroid City dir. Wes Anderson
13. Memory Holograph dir. Dillon Hammi
12. La Chimera dir. Alice Rohrwacher
11. Coma dir. Bertrand Bonello
10. Shin Kamen Rider dir. Hideaki Anno
9. The People’s Joker dir. Vera Drew
8. Saint Omer dir. Alice Diop
7. John Wick Chapter 4 dir. Chad Stahelski
6. The Beast dir. Bertrand Bonello
5. Skinamarink dir. Kyle Edward Ball
4. Boston Johnny dir. Charlie Roxburgh
3. Aggro Dr1ft dir. Harmony Korine
2. Knock at the Cabin dir. M Night Shyamalan
1. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World dir. Radu Jude
Films that probably would’ve made the cut if I was able to get to them:
in water dir. Hong Sang-soo
Music dir. Angela Schanelec
Rotting in the Sun dir. Sebastion Silva
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani dir. Karan Johar
Films I am most excited for that are (hopefully) releasing next year:
Janet Planet dir. Annie Baker
I Saw the TV Glow dir. Jane Schoenbrun
Untitled Dennis Cooper Film
Untitled Mike Leigh Project
Polaris dir. Lynne Ramsey
Megalopolis dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Untitled Castration Film dir. Lousie Weard
Stress Positions dir. Theda Hammel
The Human Surge 3 dir. Eduardo Williams
Oh, Canada dir. Paul Schrader
In Our Day dir. Hong Sang-soo
I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Thanks again for sharing your list!
Much Love,
Audrey
Dennis!!!
All I have an informed opinion on is music, so here is my list of my fave albums of 2023
Sign Crushes Motoriat – Hurting
7038635357 – Neo Seven
More Eaze – Eternity
Blawan – Dismantled Into Juice
Martyna Basta – Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering
Final – I Am The Dirt Under Your Fingernails
Sarah Davachi – Two Sisters
Jlin – Perspective
How are you?
I’m swell (is that another of those English words that has a special poetic magic?): I’m very close to finishing my new novel, and Oscar and I are making what feel like breakthroughs with our screenplay. Other than that just trying to enjoy life with a positive tilt to my pov.
Meg
The usual treasure trove this year, Dennis. Wow.
I’m very annoyed my copy of the new Robert Gluck is sitting at home and won’t be accessible for a couple more weeks. I might be able to get my hands on the new New Juche in days, fingers crossed.
I’m still traveling; streamed Red Night from the festival website. It’s available for a bit longer (ahith.com). When will The Masturbator’s Heart be available to stream?
Books:
Yoshiharu Tsuge, Nejishiki (mostly for the legendary title story)
William Jones, I Didn’t See It Coming
Matthew Cheney, The Last Vanishing Man and Other Stories
Thomas Moore, Your Dreams
Tom Reamy, Under the Hollywood Sign: The Collected Stories of Tom Reamy
Kelly Link, White Cat, Black Dog
Matthew Desmond, Poverty by America
Movies (with some 2022 items):
Beck Stafford, Collin Stafford, Red Night
Celine Song, Past Lives
Justine Trier, Anatomy of a Fall
Ian White, Mutiny in Heaven: the Birthday Party
Laura Moss, Birth/Rebirth
Roger Ross Williams, Cassandro
Nate Dorr, ywnhx
Juan Felipe Zuleta, Unidentified Objects
Carlos Conceição, Tommy Guns
Zachary Wigon, Sanctuary
Sébastien Marnier, The Origin of Evil
Jun Robles Lana, About Us but not About Us
Mariama Diallo, Master
Toby Amies, In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50
Brandon Cronenburg, Infinity Pool
Art:
Tetsuya Ishida at Gagosian Gallery, New York
Patricia Piccinini at JC Contemporary, Hong Kong
Remedios Varo at Wendi Norris Gallery, San Francisco
Of Mythic Worlds at the Drawing Center, New York
Jimmy Desana retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, NY
Myth Makers at JC Contemporary, Hong Kong
Music (all available on bandcamp):
Tom Mudd, Guitar Cultures
Ned Rothenburg, Crossing 4
Beam Spitter, Split Jaw
Chat Pile, God’s Country
Ross Birdwise, Clotted Time
Carrer/Schlippenbach/Edwards/Lambert, Unwalled
Djll/Louchard, Basic Electricity
Carlo Costa/John McCowen, Pianissimo etc
Max Eastley/Terry Day/John Butcher, Angles of Inquiry
Beeferman/Foster/Evans/Hirsch, GLOW
Live music:
James Fei/Yan Jun, Bryan Eubanks trio at Tom’s Place, Berkeley
James Fei/John Bischoff at The Lab, SF
Carole Kim/Dilate Ensemble at Center for New Music, SF
Matthew Goodheart, Bryan Eubanks/1000 drums at Mosswood Sound, Oakland
Califone at The Chapel
Igor Levit/SF Symphony plays Busoni’s Piano Concerto, Davies Hall, SF
Tom Djll/Branden Abushanab at Luggage Store Gallery, SF
Chris Brown solo piano at Mosswood Sound, Oakland
Bill
Thanks as usual
Some albums I’ve loved:
Tirzah – trip9love…
Rainy Miller & Space Afrika – A Grisaille Wedding
Richie Culver – Scream If You Don’t Exist
Jules Reidy – Trances
Klein – touched by an angel
Bract & Bayang – REDBRICKGOTHIK
Jane Remover – Census Designated
Khanate – To Be Cruel
Iceboy Violet – Not A Dream But A Controlled Explosion
Yves Tumor – Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Liturgy – 93696
Evian Christ – Revanchist
KAVARI – Against The Wood, Opposed To Flesh
Jute Gyte – Unus Mundus Patet
Man, these lists are so good. Honoured and thankful to have Your Dreams sat alongside such brilliant writers and artists. Thank you, Dennis.
All fine here. Working on a couple of projects which are at different points which I’ll talk about more soon.
Looking forward to some time off work for the holidays. I finish December 22nd, and once I finish it will be writing and very little else for a couple of weeks if I have my way.
How is the Mike Kelley show in Paris? I think it’s at the same place where I saw the Charles Ray show with you? Wondering whether I can maybe make it over for a couple of days before it closes in February.
Thank you so much Dennis!