Fiction
(in no order)
sasha hawkins FOR DISOBEYING (Calamari Press)
Thomas Moore WE’LL NEVER BE FRAGILE AGAIN (Amphetamine Sulphate)
Victoria Brooks SILICONE GOD (House of Vlad)
Grace Nissan THE UTOPIANS (Ugly Duckling Presse)
Kenward Elmslie THE ORCHID STORIES (Pilot Press)
Danielle Chelosky BABY BRUISE (Filthy Loot)
Lynne Tillman THRILLED TO DEATH: SELECTED STORIES (Soft Skull)
Francis Whorrall-Campbell THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT HAVE BEEN DOWNLOADED (Good Press)
Gonçalo M. Tavares A GIRL IS LOST IN HER CENTURY, LOOKING FOR HER FATHER (Dalkey Archive)
Garielle Lutz WORSTED (Calamari Press)
Kit Schluter CARTOONS (City Lights)
Arreshy Young CODON (Calamari Press)
Tony O’Neill FORGED PRESCRIPTIONS (Far West Press)
Mr. Omar King AN ODYSSEY OF DINGBATS! (IP)
Joshua Escobar DEMONS OF EMINENCE (Publication Studio)
Brittany Menjivar & Erin Satterthwaite, eds. THE CAR CRASH COLLECTIVE ANTHOLOGY (Metalabel)
Logan Berry DOOM IS THE HOUSE WITHOUT A DOOR (Inside the Castle)
Grant Maierhofer TRAUMNOVELLE (Erratum Press)
Matthew Kinlin SO TENDER A KILLER (Filthy Loot)
Joe Westmoreland TRAMPS LIKE US (MCD)
Poetry
(in no order)
Amy Gerstler IS THIS MY FINAL FORM? (Penguin)
Gloria Frym LIES & MORE LIES (BlazeVox)
Emily Skillings TANTRUMS IN AIR (The Song Cave)
David Trinidad NEW PLAYLIST (Pitt Poetry Series)
Paul Cunningham SOCIOCIDE AT THE 24/7 (New Michigan Press)
Elaine Equi OUT OF THE BLANK (Coffee House Press)
Margaret Ross SATURDAY (The Song Cave)
Ron Padgett PINK DUST (NYRB)
Thomas Moore I RUINED YOUR LIFE (Kiddiepunk)
Tony Towle LATE SKETCHES & STUDIES (Kulvert Books)
Ariana Reines THE ROSE (Graywolf Press)
Brian Alan Ellis THE ERRORS TOUR (House of Vlad)
Cletus Crow JESUS FREAK (Pig Roast)
Sholto Buck LIGHT FILM (Pilot Press)
Kit Robinson TUNES & TENS (Roof Books)
Dom Lyne THE SKY WAS EMPTY, BUT THE THUNDER STILL ROLLED (Queer Mojo)
Nonfiction
(in no order)
Avital Ronell AMERICA: THE TROUBLED CONTINENT OF THOUGHT (Polity)
Ian Penman ERIK SATIE THREE PIECE SUITE (Semiotext(e))
Yasmine Shamma, Rona Cran, eds. CONVERSATIONS WITH NEW YORK SCHOOL POETS (Edinburgh University Press)
Naomi Falk THE SURRENDER OF MAN (Inside the Castle)
Peggy Ahwesh SOURCEBOOKS (Visual Studies Workshop)
Lidia Yuknavitch READING THE WAVES (Penguin)
Ron Padgett DICK: A MEMOIR OF DICK GALLUP (Cuneiform)
Robert Ford, Trent Adkins, Lawrence Warren, ed.THING (Primary Information)
Mike Hoolboom WORK (Canadian Film Institute)
Chris Kelso ON MELTING: ESSAYS AGAINST THE BODY (Filthy Loot)
Stewart Home FASCIST YOGA (Pluto Press)
Joe Brainard LOVE, JOE: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF JOE BRAINARD (Columbia University Press)
J. Hoberman EVERYTHING IS NOW (Verso)
Jeff Copeland LOVE YOU MADLY, HOLLY WOODLAWN (Feral House)
Music
(in no order)
Sparks MAD! (Transgressive Records)
Um, Jennifer? UM COMMA JENNIFER QUESTION MARK (Final Girls)
Destroyer DAN’S BOOGIE (Merge)
Kali Malone THE SACRIFICIAL CODE (Ideologic)
Dean Blunt ft. Elias Rønnenfelt LUCRE (World Music)
Tashi Dorji WE WILL BE WHEREVER THE FIRES ARE LIT (Drag City)
Guided by Voices UNIVERSE ROOM (Rockathon)
Lucy Railton BLUE VEIL (Ideologic Organ)
The Fall SINGLES LIVE VOL. 1: 1978-81 (Bella Union)
Jenny Hval IRIS SILVER MIST (4AD)
Haswell & Hecker UPIC DIFFUSION SESSION #23 (Editions Mego)
Youth Code YOURS, WITH MALICE (Sumerian)
Kevin Drumm IF TOMORROW GETS HERE (iDeal)
Backxwash ONLY DUST REMAINS (Ugly Hag Records)
Stephen O’Malley BUT REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE HAD (SPGRM 015)
Anthony Braxton B-X0 N0-47A (BYG Records)
Collapsible Shoulder Big Band A MAP OF BOOKS (Cuneiform)
Film
(in no order)
Harmony Korine BABY INVASION
Mona Convert UN PAYS EN FLAMMES
Albert Serra AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE
Wes Anderson THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
Julian Castronovo DEBUT, OR, OBJECTS OF THE FIELD OF DEBRIS AS CURRENTLY CATALOGUED
Robina Rose NIGHTSHIFT (restoration)
Alex Ross Perry PAVEMENTS
Gary Hustwit ENO
James Benning LITTLE BOY
Art
(in no order)
RAMMELLZEE (Palais de Tokyo)
Mark Leckey AS ABOVE SO BELOW (Lafayette Anticipations)
Alice Coltrane MONUMENT ETERNAL (Hammer Museum)
Bruce Nauman PASADENA YEARS (Marian Goodman, Los Angeles)
Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell WORLDS OF ECHO (Red Cat)
Deana Lawson (Pinault Collection, Paris)
Lecia Dole-Recio ESSAYS ON ABSTRACTION, PART 3 (The Fold Gallery)
James Turrell AT ONE (Le Bourget)
Jason Yates HURTS TO WALK (Gatto Pardo)
Amy Sarkisian THIS. (Alto Beta/Night Gallery)
Internet
(in no order)
Zona Motel
SCAB
ASTERISM
Anna’s Archive
zlibrary
The Wire
Original Cinemaniac
GAMESCENES
Skullcrushing Hummingbird
Internet Archive
VK Video
PLAY THERAPY V2.0
Solidarity Cinema
otherppl
WAKE ISLAND
Mattazine Society
pixiv
{ feuilleton }
SHABBY DOLL HOUSE
too scared to tell my mom
espresso bongo
X-R-A-Y
Art and Trash
Legsville
Rhizome
Theme Park Review
ok.ru
Musique Machine
ANGUSRAZE
PEPPERLAND SPICERACK
Beaucoup
Expat
SOAP2DAY
Volume 1 Brooklyn
Experimental Cinema
The Los Angeles Review of Books
3:AM Magazine
largehearted boy
pantaloons
Locus Solus: The New York School of Poets
giphy
The Wonderful World of Tam Tam Books
Hobart
Ubuweb
*
p.s. Hey. I thought I would leave you temporarily with my annual mid-year favorites so far list. There are undoubtedly things that would be in there if I wasn’t spacing out and/or had managed to get to them yet. Please share some of your faves of 2025 here if you don’t mind. So this’ll be the last post for about two weeks, and the blog and I will be back in our usual forms on Tuesday, July 1st. I hope everyone reading this enjoys themselves maximally between now and then. ** Julian, Hi. No problem, happens all the time. Happy about Fad Gadget’s and ‘Berg’s’ entree into your inner world. She’s an incredible writer. No, no online Little Caesar archive. It’s been talked about for years. It’s mostly logistics. I don’t have copies of all of the issues to scan, so it would have to involve finding all of them somewhere. There’s also been talk of doing a facsimile book of them, but I think getting the rights to the contents in that case would be too difficult. Anyway, I hope there will be something like that. I’ll get back to seeing how it could happen. Thanks for wanting such a thing. Take care! ** Dominik, Hi!!! It’s complicated. If you make a film in French in France there are all kinds of grants here you can ideally get to fund it. To shoot in English in the US, there are no grants, or hardly any, so the funds would need to be raised through … I don’t know. We went through semi-hell raising the money to make ‘RT’. So we would need to find a US producer who thinks they could raise the money. It’ll be an inexpensive film to make, for sure, but still. So that’s the deal. Also, France has all kinds of rules and restrictions that come with their grants, how much everyone needs to be paid, how long you’re allowed to shoot the film (not very long), which makes shooting films here hard in another way. We’ll figure it out. Thank you for asking. Triplets! That’s a lot! Good luck to love in that circumstance. Love making your next two weeks the most valuable to you in the longterm of any two week period you have thus far lived through, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Happy you have some solid stuff to tide you over. Have an excellent couple of weeks, Ben. ** Joe, Hi. Oh good, whew, that ‘The Sluts’ is still out there. I really like early Handke, basically almost all of his books up through ‘Repetition’, which I agree is great. ‘The Left-Handed Woman’ and ‘The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick’ I remember being especially strong. Awesome that he’s inspiring you. Thanks, Joe. ** Hugo, Hi, Hugo. It is great. Pretty much all of her books are great. I do love Firbank, yes. Other British fiction writers I really like? Let’s see … Henry Green, Christine Brooke-Rose, Muriel Spark, Brigid Brophy, Barbara Pym, Jean Rhys, … Those are the ones who spring to mind. Me too on obsessing over sentences and details. Works for me, and surely for you. There are novels of mine after the Cycle that I prefer and think are probably better, but the Cycle took me ten years of intense work and thinking, and I’m obviously really proud of it. Thank you. Luck with the wandering and working. I look forward to getting back into that mode myself. ** Steve, Oh, man, I’m so sorry. But onwards and surely upwards. I don’t know NTS, but I’ll look into it. All the luck in the world with them. Of course hopefully you won’t need any. The 2025 MIX NYC festival is in November. Later November, I think. If you check their page on Filmfreeway, that has all the info. ** Uday, No, I avoided that film. Seems like that was probably a wise idea. Nice Leibowitz quote. Boy, is she good at sound bites. Thanks about the trip, and, yeah, I’m not going to think about that crash, of course, and you have some kind of blast for the rest of June, okay? ** Arno, Hey, Arno! How really great to see you! I’m happy Quin is getting translated into Dutch. Very nice Quin anecdote. Naxos. I’ve heard of that island. How nice, although, the presumably hot weather, ouch. But you’re by the sea, etc., so best case scenario. Honestly, I’m not the biggest Thomas Ligotti fan. Nothing against his writing, he’s just a little too nihilistic for me, and that irks me. But he’s singular, and that’s important. I would second your reluctance to go the US whilst the monster and his monster-ettes are in charge. I’m curious to see what it’s like on the ground and up close. But scared too. But it’ll be okay. Anyway, yeah, so nice to see you and hear you sounding so good. ** pancakeIan, My pleasure. Yes, and my friend does a punch perfect imitation of Piper Laurie’s voice, and impressionists are almost always pleasurable. It’s really only the summer that mosquitoes decide to venture far enough from the Seine to find my apartment. I’m used to the long flights by now, but yeah. I think going by ship would be a lot more hellish, theoretically. Have a swell couple of weeks, my friend. ** Carsten, Hi. Saw your email, thank you. I’ll probably have to get to it once ensconced in the US, but I will, And thanks for the wishes. You have a fine, fine time yourself. ** Måns BT, Hey! She’s great. And happy your friend chilled out. Mehringdamm … no, I don’t know it. I don’t know Berlin all that well. It’s not a place I immediately think to travel to except when I have some kind of gig or something to take me there. It’s probably okay. Berlin is pretty fully gentrified to some degree these days, I think? Good, I hope the film people will be cool with November. If so, we can just go ahead and lock it down straight away. Yay! I’m reading two books that don’t come out until the fall. Laura Vasquez’s ‘The Endless Week’ and ‘Practicing Dying’ by Charlotte Northall. Both really good. Take care, pal, and enjoy everything there is to enjoy for the next coupla weeks. ** Alistair, Hey. Everyone I know in the States is going to a protest today. It’s pretty exciting. Are you prone to getting into fights? Is it possible people would be less likely to fight you given that their knuckles could get shredded? ** jay, She’s great. Oh, do I inordinately fix on suicide artists here? Not intentionally or consciously or something, but then again that doesn’t surprise me. Fun: that AI poetry writing session. I’ve never ever done anything with AI. There just hasn’t been the occasion. And maybe I’m a little afraid to dip into that cookie jar. Oh, sure, I think you’re right about the porn models performing for themselves. That’s why people ‘go nuts’ at concerts and sporting events and stuff, I think? Thanks, hopefully the trip and film screening will be worth the flight costs and jet lag. Probably. I like the Cycle books as individuals too. But I think it’s inevitable that they’ll get culled into one volume in the future for cost saving reasons if nothing else. And better that than the books just going out of print and disappearing into the rare books sites only. Have 14 or so days of as much fun as can be imagined. ** HaRpEr //, Hi. It’s so great. My favorite novel of hers is ‘Tripticks’, so maybe try that one next? ‘Castration Movie’ is playing in the SF festival that ‘RT’ is in, but I think we’ll up there too shortishly to spare those hours. Let me know how it is. What do I know, but I have a strong suspicion you won’t be insane by the next time we interact. Call it a hunch. I do hope the weeks give you beaucoup things of immense stimulation. Take care, and see you on the other side. ** Steeqhen, Oops, sorry, about the backslide. Mm, try not to dwell on it? I don’t know how. Luckily, I never cared about the grades my schools gave me. I never wanted to go to some high end university, so it didn’t seem to matter. I would go to the Charli concert. If you go, there is the chance something about it might lift you upwards. If you don’t go, there’s probably a lot less chance that something you will do at home during that time will. That’s my logic. ** Bill, Hi, B. ‘Tripticks’ is my favorite of her books. Yes, so happy I’ll get to see you. We’ll sort out the location stuff in the next days. Great. ** Alice, Japan is as amazing as everyone always says it is. And, yes, there are some crazy stores in Tokyo. Lots of them. That’s such a nice story about your young trans masc friend. I have so many good friends who are trans, masc and fem. And being the age I am, of course, all of them are younger than me and often significantly younger. The adventurousness and aiming for originality is so beautiful and inspiring. And I can totally relate to it even as someone whose given gender identity has never bothered me. Anyway, that’s great. And very interesting about the found, overheard encounters’ influence. That feels exciting even over here to me. I really like ‘A Crack Up at the Race Riots’. It’s terrific. Enjoy your friends fully, and I too look very much forward to our future conversations. ** lotuseatermachine, Hi. I’m excited to read your stuff. I may have to get to the West Coast before I can stop thinking about what I need to pack, etc. and have a free brain. Me too, about the festivals, and thanks. I’ll look into the Brisbane festival, thank you. Take good care. ** BimboFagDoll, Well hello there! Yeah, I talk back to everyone who comments here. It’s weird, haha. Curiously, I believe I saw a new profile by you yesterday when I was searching around. Yes, it would be fascinating and excellent to interview you. What a great idea. I’m going away for two weeks starting tomorrow and shutting the blog down while I’m away, but I and it will be at back at the beginning of July if you want to talk more about that and ideally set something up. Thanks a lot. All the best to you for now. ** Okay. You know the drill. So, again, have an awesome vacation from the blog. I’ll probably peek in at the comments while I’m away once in a while, so feel free to share your faves or talk about whatever, and I’ll get back to you starting on July 1st. See you then.
Now available in North America 
Bon voyage Dennis! Hope California is fruitful in as many ways as possible.
xo, J
This is such a great list, thank you! I’d personally add “Final Destination:Bloodlines” and Ethel Cain’s “Perverts” to my best of 2025 list, although I’ll definitely borrow Chris Kelso’s spectacular “On Melting” from yours, as well as Penman’s “Satie”. I’d also maybe tentatively include “Blue Prince” by Dugobomb, although I’m nowhere near finished with that. Unfortunately I’m nowhere near as trendy as you, so my cultural consumption has mostly been from previous decades/centuries this year, although some highlights would be Nitro+Chiral’s game “Slow Damage (2022)”, Gen Urobochi’s “Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part III: Rebellion (2013)” and Mitski’s “Bury me at Makeout Creek (2014)”, which all somehow managed to pass me by until recently.
I get what you mean about AI, I imagine it might be either your favourite or least favourite thing ever. It’s probably also different to do on your own vs as a group, a bit like a seance or slumber party ritual. Hmmm, you agreeing with me about pornstars performing for themselves has actually made me doubt myself, because I’m someone who involuntarily goes ecstatic at concerts. Maybe there’s a type of pornstar who gets that kind of crazy freak-out energy that comes from doing something you love, and funnels it into something that looks more like sexual pleasure.
Hmmm, yeah, I get that about the Cycle, I think you’re right about them being culled into one unit. I definitely own everything you’ve worked on physically, but I do also have a thumbdrive with all your stuff on in case one of my friends wants to try your writing. I was first given your Cycle via a burned CD, which had every book transcribed into .txt files, so I think your stuff has a culty-enough audience that it’ll always be accessible to anyone who wants to read it. Anyway, I’m sure your trip is going to be amazing. Best of luck to you guys, see you!
Dennis! I’d like to send you my new book. Where to send it? xoxo
Hey, Dennis! Thank you so much for including On Melting! This is another beautifully curated list 😎
Excited for Room Temperature. Our film is going well. We have a great DP and crew. The most annoying part of the whole thing has been getting things like rental insurance for the equipment, etc. Still, we have animatronic spiders and a cool probe lens, so hopefully it’ll all come together. I’ll keep you posted.
Hope you’re safe and well, my friend 🖤
Of course, I have to look up each new book, but I have to say “Fascist Yoga” made me burst out laughing. Wish it was a novel!
FILM
Marching Powder = Brit-Flick about aging coked-up football hooligans. Surprisingly affecting, I felt.
FICTION
Thomas Moore – We’ll Never Be Fragile Again (Amphetamine Sulphate) The master returns!
NON FICTION
Steven Warwick – Notes on Evil (Floating Opera Press) Kudos for discussing Alan Clarke and Dopplereffeckt here.
MUSIC
Polygonia – Dream Horizons (Dekmantel) Lush, hypnotic Techno.
Hey Danger D!
I’m posting this before I read yours and others so I’ll probably see some shit I forgot!
Tossing love and peace and gnarlyness in your general direction. – L
My favs so far (I tried to limit to things released in 2024/2025)
Fiction:
On The Calculation of Volume (Books I and II) by Solvej Balle
An Incomplete Catalog of Disappearance by Diana Oropeza
Hum by Helen Phillips
I Wish To Say Lovely Things by Adam Gnade
Nonfiction:
I Heard Her Call My Name by Lucy Sante
Never Understood: The Jesus and Mary Chain by Jim and William Reid
In The JIngle Jangle Jungle: Keeping Time With The Brian Jonestown Massacre by Joel Gion
Molly by Blake Butler
Selected Amazon Reviews by Kevin Killian
Graphic Novel:
Final Cut by Charles Burns
Poetry:
Birthroot by Lisa Oliver
A Dial Stuck Between Stations by Colin Keating
Music:
Phonetics On and On by Horsegirl
Around and About You by Miranda Spatuala and Nowhere Flower
FR FR by The Vardaman Ensemble
Tsapiky: Modern Music From Southwest Madagascar by Sublime Frequencie
Heat Dome by Nowhere Flower
Brittle Stars and Hoar Frost by Outside Everywhere
The Feudal Horn By Argawarga
I’m Trying To Carry a Spark Into The Future by Plastic Harmony Band
Luminal by Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe
Miracle Music by Grails
Live At The Leather Fly by Butthole Surfers
Amassed Like A Rat King by JPW and Dad Weed
Some Kind of Love (Velvets Covers) by The Feelies
Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee
Internet /Podcasts:
Aquarium Drunkard / Transmission Podcast
Revolutions Per Movie Podcast
Kreative Kontrol Podcast
RAW Impressions by Lou and Adelle Barlow
Life of the Record
Film:
The Phonetian Scheme
Pavements
Eno
Hey Thanks for mentioning my Substack!!!
I hit send before I added the Substacks I read –
It’s Ottessa Bitch by Ottessa Moshfegh, Range and Basin by Jason Woodbury, The Work by Christopher Luna, Lucy Sante
nice list, the horsegirl record is filling my brain constantly atm
So good! I’m seeing them in August.
Dennis,
I was just mulling over some of the art I’ve experienced this year, so this couldn’t be more perfect timing. Love to see Backxwash, Dean Blunt, and Harmony Korine’s releases up here. Dean is one of my favorite contemporary artists of the past decade. Worth having a day about imo. Same for the great RAMMELLZEE.
Here’s just a smattering of what’s been on my mind this year so far:
MUSIC
billy woods – GOLLIWOG
Model/Actriz – Pirouette
MIKE – Showbiz!
Los Thuthanaka – S/T
Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar
horsegiirL – v.i.p. – very important pony
African-American Sound Recordings – Hits of Ash
Fatboi Sharif & Driveby – Let Me Out
SPELLLING – Portrait of My Heart
Erika de Casier – Lifetime
FILM
The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson)
Final Destination Bloodlines (Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein)
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni)
Secret Mall Apartment (Jeremy Workman)
The Shrouds (David Cronenberg)
BOOKS
Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring (Brad Gooch)
Rejection (Tony Tulathimutte)
Underground Barbie (Maša Kolanović)
Unsex Me Here (Aurora Mattia)
dykes day, a holigay (edited by Maya Lovell)
ART
Wickerman & Lomax, The Return of American Pest (Current Space, Baltimore)
SCOUT Art Fair (ArtScape, Baltimore)
And on the TV front, the first season of The Studio was the most I’ve laughed at a show since Atlanta.
cheers senor, tasty list. looking forward to seeing the albert serra and i’ll hunt around for the james benning. I’m envious you manage to read so much, it seems like! and then always interesting to see then investigate your art show picks. Are you into painting much? when I moved to new york i was surprised at how much painting dominates the art world. Mark Leckey had this cool installation at Gladstone involving a bus stop and a video of a guy crashing his body into its glass, and lately they’re showing some cool Rauschenberg stuff
some records i liked:
Ellen Arkbro NIGHTCLOUDS
William Tyler TIME INDEFINITE
bb trickz 80Z
Surgeon SHELL-WAVE
Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta MAPAMBAZUKO
Pissgrave MALIGNANT WORTHLESNESS
Maria Somerville LUSTER
Lippard Arkbro Lindwall HOW DO I KNOW IF MY CAT LIKES ME
Oklou CHOKE ENOUGH
Nina Garcia BYE BYE BIRD
Caroline CAROLINE 2
Autoreverse AUTOTUNES
Ostraca EVENTUALITIES
I love music but I’m not terribly current when it comes to that, usually. Here’s some I’ve been listening to lately.
Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy/Teens of Denial/How to Leave Town/Monomania/etc.
Phil Ochs – There But For Fortune
Amigo the Devil – Yours Until the War is Over
Peach Pit – Being So Normal
The Taxpayers – “God, Forgive These Bastards” Songs From the Forgotten Life of Henry Turner
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning/LIFTED or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Ramshackle Glory – Live the Dream
Wingnut Dishwashers Union – Burn the Earth! Leave it Behind!
100 gecs – 10,000 gecs
Hi Dennis, I always love these days because I get to see people I follow and what they are up to but also there’s always a good mix of things that are new to me. Enjoy your time away and hope everything goes well.
That reminds me, I really need to see the new Wes Anderson movie. Maybe next week.
Haven’t read all that many new books this year, save for Lili Taylor’s book on birdwatching, and a few others (there was a new history of El Cid that was pretty cool). A few of my friends have done books I liked: Brendan Connell’s UPUAUT, Justin Isis’ THE ARISTOCRACY OF WEAK NERVES.
On the music front I really enjoyed Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM (shocking, I know). Miley Cyrus’ new one was pretty good as well. I gave the new Garbage a listen last night (having finally finished listening to/reading Wagner’s THE RING) and it may grow on me.
Hi!!
Have a lovely and safe trip, Dennis! I hope the festival audience will adore “Room Temperature”!
And thank you so much for sharing your mid-year favorites list – and including SCAB! I live for these posts!
Here are my favorites so far:
BOOKS
Fucked Up by Damien Ark
Wasted by Mark Johnson
Out of the Shadows by Walt Odets
To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life by Hervé Guibert
FILMS
Bird (dir. Andrea Arnold)
Baby Invasion (dir. Harmony Korine)
Külön Falka (Wild Roots) (dir. Hajni Kis)
SERIES
The Pitt [Season 1]
Overcompensating [Season 1]
Couples Therapy [Season 4]
Love making your next two weeks perfect – however you might define that tricky word at any given moment, Od.
May your trip go smoothly! I hope you enjoy whatever blockbusters are available during the flight.
Roughly, NTS is a British counterpart to WFMU, with two stations doing 24/7 freeform programming. They also operate a label which has released several excellent genre compilations: amapiano, cumbia, dungeon synth, “European primitive guitar.”
I’m recording the next “Radio Not Radio” today – I need to wait a little because it’s raining heavily outside – and will post a link here. Once it’s up, I plan to approach NTS and Resonance FM (which hosts The Wire’s weekly radio show) next week.
Top 24 albums and eps:
Benefits, Constant Noise (Invada)
Kali Uchis, Sincerely, (Capitol)
Tropical Fuck Storm, Fairytale Codex (Fire)
sadness/soulless, Burning as the First Light (self-released)
YHWH Nailgun, 45 Pounds (AD93)
AYA, hexed! (Hyperdub)
Lucy Liyou, Every video without Your Face, Every Sound without Your Name (Orange Milk)
Ethel Cain, Perverts (Daughters of Cain)
Circuit des Yeux, Halo on the Inside (Matador)
Model/Actriz, Pirouette (True Panther)
Little Simz, Lotus (AWAL)
FKA twigs, Eusexua (Atlantic)
The Ex, If Your Mirror Breaks (self-released)
Matmos, Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey)
Nazar, Demilitarize (Hyperdub)
Kuunatic, Wheels of Omon (Glitterbeat)
Rose City Band, Sol Y Sombra (Thrill Jockey)
Park Jiha, All Living Things (Glitterbeat)
Julien Baker & TORRES, Send a Prayer My Way (Matador)
DJ Narciso, Diferenciado (Principe)
JLZ, Tumba (Swine)
Mary Halvorson, About Ghosts (Nonesuch)
weed420, Amor de Encava (self-released)
Verraco, Basic Manuevres (XL)
Favorite films (and TV):
THE REVEAL season 2
LOUIS THEROUX: THE SETTLERS
7 WALKS WITH MARK BROWN
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES
VULCANIZADORA
A BODY TO LIVE IN
HENRY FONDA FOR PRESIDENT
L’HISTOIRE DE “SCENARIO”
MISERICORDIA
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Best older films released to U.S. theaters for the first time in 2025:
COMPENSATION (Zeinabu Irene Davis)
THE HOUSEMAID (Kim Ki-young)
LOVE & POP (Hideaki Anno)
LOVE HOTEL (Shinji Somai)
NIGHTSHIFT (Robina Rose)
I downloaded Adam Curtis’ new TV series today!
without repeating things from yours — though big shout to the Francis Whorrall-Campbell — but I am repeating some things others have already put in the comments:
BOOKS
Aliocha Coll, ATTILA
Solve Balle, ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME vols I & II
Daniel Spicer, PETER BRÖTZMANN: FREE-JAZZ, REVOLUTION AND THE POLITICS OF IMPROVISATION
David Gouldstone, CHURCHES OF HERTFORDSHIRE
Colum McCann, TWIST
e v, H()LE
Jordan/_ Hell, A SERIES OF ATTEMPTS #3 ☆LOVING WOMEN☆☆LE PONY☆☆
Gerald Murnane, BARLEY PATCH
Imogen Cassels, SILK WORK
Jeanne Thornton, A/S/L
Kate Zambreno, BOOK OF MUTTER
Kate Zambreno, APPENDIX PROJECT
Ben Alderson-Day, PRESENCE
Michaela Vieser and Isaac Yuen, THE SOUND ATLAS
Christian Nirvana Damato, MULTIPLICATION OF ORGANS MANIFESTO
Don Mee Choi DMZ COLONY
Inger Christensen, THE PAINTED ROOM
Vincenzo Latronico, PERFECTION
Ed Atkins, FLOWER
Alison Bechdel, SPARE
Joan Didion, NOTES TO JOHN
(everyone is psyched for SCHATTENFROH but alas, i’m not enough of an artistic influencer to receive a proof copy)
MUSIC
Car Seat Headrest, THE SCHOLARS
Toma Gouband, COURANTS DES VENTS
How to disappear completely, SERAPHIM III
estelle allen, STONER
Steve Roden, VIEW
Los Thuthanaka, LOS THUTHANAKA
Sage Martens, CHAMBER MUSIC FOR LAWN MOWERS
caroline, CAROLINE 2
TJ Douglas, DYING
Eccodust, ECCODUST
FILMS
David Cronenberg, dir. THE SHROUDS
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, dir. CLOUD
Louise Weard, dir. CASTRATION MOVIE ANTHOLOGY I. TRAPS
Jacques Rivette dir. OUT 1 [which I know was 1971 but fuck it I’m putting it here, it was incredible]
ART
ED ATKINS (Tate Britain)
DO HO SUH: WALK THE HOUSE (Tate Modern)
GIACOMETTI: ENCOUNTERS (Barbican)
THE CERAMIC ART OF ABDO NAGI (North Hertfordshire Museum)
Mhairi Vari, SOUTHERN OUTFALL (Crossness Pumping Station)
GAMES
LABYRINTH OF THE DEMON KING
(lots of people raving about BLUE PRINCE, i haven’t played it yet)
i’m sorry i went awol and only managed to come back on the day you go on hiatus! just lots of headless chicken stress the last six weeks or however long. anyway, have a blast in… LA? & catch you on the flipside &c.&c.&c.
Hey, Dennis!! Wishing you the safest of travels to California (and back). Thanks for this mid-year list—so much to pore over!
Some favorites of mine so far:
Films:
‘Magic Farm’ (dir. by Amalia Ulman)
‘B.O.Y. – Bruises of Yesterday’ (dir. by Søren Green)
‘Việt and Nam’ (dir. by Trương Minh Quý)
‘All We Imagine as Light’ (dir. by Payal Kapadia)
‘Tendaberry’ (dir. by Haley Elizabeth Anderson)
‘Vermiglio’ (dir. by Maura Delpero)
‘Bring Them Down’ (dir. by Christopher Andrews)
‘La Cocina’ (dir. by Alonso Ruizpalacios)
‘Misericordia’ (dir. by Alain Guiraudie)
Music:
Love Spells ‘The Love I Showed You Was Yours To Keep’
Gem Club ‘Garlands’
Sea Lemon ‘Give In’
Maria Somerville ‘Luster’
Erika de Casier ‘Lifetime’
Maida Rose ‘In Boundless Blue’
Jadu Heart ‘POST HEAVEN’
I just realized I haven’t read any new fiction from 2025… yikes!
xoxoxo!!! Best of luck with the SF screening!!!