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!
Oh man, I actually have no idea how I forgot my (current) favourite book of the year – “Flower”, by Ed Atkins. It’s this weird pseudo-response to Autoportrait that’s far less confessional and much more banal (somehow). I just got reminded of that by the recent London exhibition from that author, which was excellent.
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.
* Should be spelled Dopplereffekt but you know what I mean.
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.
Ever listened to Drifter’s Sympathy, the podcast of Grails player Emil Amos? They were on AD’s Transmission podcast a couple of times and the mixture of personal and music history is a great listen!
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.
PS have you ever watched PETSCOP? watched it for the first time the other day and fell in love with it. i think, particularly wrt God Jr and the various approaches to it people have talked about, that you might get a lot out of it. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIEbITAtGBebWGyBZQlkiMXwt30WqG9Bd
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!!!
Hi Dennis,
Mr. Omar King here.
I want to thank you publicly – here at the comments section – for including An Odyssey of Dingbats! A Collection of Stories and Other Obscurities to your list. What a happy surprise to find out that Dingbats (and other wonderfully grotesque and bizarre and interesting works by fascinating talents) is one of your favorite fiction of the year 2025. I can’t believe it! I feel like I have been slapped in the face with a wet flounder, in a great and hunky dory way! Thank you, sir, for making my morning. It really means a lot to me. You are a wonderful man. My tip my top hat off to you, sir.
My favorite fiction (that I am currently re-reading) is: Story of the Eye By: George’s Bataille.
Short book but a great read. It’s great to take around in a bag or coat pocket. While one is waiting for their Thai takeout, Story of the Eye is great read to kill time waiting and waiting and waiting at the little rinky-dink bar lounge of the Thai Restaurant. I’m currently on page 76. Interesting stuff.
At any rate.
This is wheee I conclude my conversation here at the comments section. It was great writing to you, Mr. Cooper. And again, many thanks for that happy surprise. This morning I’m just happy and jolting with excitement as we speak. Like a slinking dog jumping for joy! HOORAY-HOORAY!!
Well, you take care of yourself, sir. And I’ll see you around like a doughnut
.
Sincerely,
Mr. Omar King.
P.S: Please send my regards to Zac. There is a dark blue or black short/sweater (I believe it was black, it was hard to see in the dark) that he wore sometime ago at stories and I believe in March 30th – at a reading I saw you, Jack Skelley, (my best friend) Chris Zeischegg, Luka Fisher, and more of our contemporarie – and I thought – that esoteric image and the stark bold lettering – was neat! Where did he get it? Was it from a Michael Salerno? Is that the individual? My mind is all scrambled eggs here, forgive me. If that is so, please do send my regards to Mike and Zac. They sure are a pip.
Let me shut up and get off the comment section. Take care and have a super day. Bye-bye.
Have not really been reading/listening to a whole of of new right now, mostly going back through past decades.
But 2025 so far, here are a few albums/EPs:
Tapeworms- Grand Voyage: https://tapewormsband.bandcamp.com/album/grand-voyage
Kilmilky- 生きたい : https://killmilky.bandcamp.com/album/–4
KOM_I- FANI MANI: https://033kom.bandcamp.com/album/fani-mani
Wolfears- Wolfpack: https://wolfears.bandcamp.com/album/wolfpack
Pent Up Pup- Furfag: https://pentup-pup.bandcamp.com/album/furfag
Ah shit! How could I have forgotten: Planning for Burial- It’s Closeness, It’s Easy: https://planningforburial.bandcamp.com/album/its-closeness-its-easy
Will be seeing the band next month! The local openers they picked are a folk singer and a power electronics duo, really splitting the difference of the sound! Should be really fun.
Have a great two weeks! Anyways, I always find myself making my own “best of” lists at the end of every year. I’m not sure why, I think I just want to have an archive of everything I liked for the sake of a time capsule or in case I forget. I haven’t done that this year yet. I bought FOR DISOBEYING the last time you recommended it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Somehow, I haven’t listened to any of the albums or seen any of the films you recommended, which I’ll have to remedy. Sometimes I fall behind.
Hey, Dennis! I’ve missed our talks. How are things going?
I haven’t watched anything from this year yet, but there are three albums that I particularly enjoyed: choke enough by Oklou, Eusexua by Fka Twigs and Fancy That by pinkpantheress. Maybe there’s more.
I was reading your Wikipedia page the other day out of curiosity and was surprised by your father’s relationship with Nixon. Have you ever met him? How was that like?
I’ve been working a lot in the past weeks, and I’m very happy with that! I’m off to São Paulo this week, and it’s all with the money I got with the drawings.
Recently I even made a drawing thinking about The Sluts, but I couldn’t post on Instagram because of it’s nudity. Here it is, if you’re interested: https://x.com/peturpitus/status/1928494149935808653?t=s3Qh9OI8d4xGOyjlmlUXow&s=19
It’s not my best, but I really wanted to draw that masked guy. The phrase is from your blog too. I’ve made three drawings referencing that same post, maybe I’m a little obsessed.
By the way, out of curiosity, have you ever met Tom of Finland?
Hope your trip went well.
Enjoy your vacation, Dennis!
Yes! I would love to set up an interview and talk about my posts. I would love to know if we ever interacted. Im considering “retiring” as a slave and moving onto other writing as an outlet but I am still undecided. I hope to hear from you when you get back.
Be safe and enjoy!
hi dennis!!!
thank you for including me on your list! I can’t express how much of an honor it is to have you even read for disobeying, let alone like it. I’m in arizona, and sometimes we get cool artsy stuff at the expensive theaters, so I’m hoping to be able to see your movie sometime soon! it looks badass. I love that you like Pulp too; if you’re into metal at all, check out “Crawlspace” by chat pile. their lyrics are crazy (catchy and haunting lol). they’re amazing live too! very neat film/literature trivia about your city between songs, they’re so fucking cool.
anyway, thank you! I’m working on a pro-wrestling novel currently, and I think I might finish it soon. would I be able to send you a copy when it’s done? no worries if not. just let me know!!!
best,
sasha
i hope the festival and all other potential festivals go well dennis!
thanks again for the shoutout and no rush in taking the time to read my stuff!
unfortunately i haven’t read/watched/listened/experienced anything on the list other than the two thomas moore books. i really wanna read BABY BRUISE by danielle chelosky (as well as PREGAMING GRIEF). i’ve read some of her short pieces online and loved them.
as for what i’ve read/watched this year so far (just books and films unfortunately):
books:
WE’LL NEVER BE FRAGILE AGAIN + I RUINED YOUR LIFE (2025)
THE ELTINGVILLE CLUB (1994-2016)
films:
THE HUNGRY SNAKE WOMAN (1986)
NOSFERATU (2024)
KUSO (2017)
QUEER (2024)
BORN OF FIRE (1987)
THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017)
TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1989) [rewatch]
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (1992)
BUGCRUSH (2006)
BONE (1972)
CAFE FLESH (1982) [rewatch via the new mondo macabro 4K restoration]
IN THE COMPANY OF MEN (1997)
HAPPINESS (1998)
TAOISM DRUNKARD (1984) [rewatch via new eureka HD restoration]
THE STRANGE THING ABOUT THE JOHNSONS (2011)
THE RAINBOW BRIDGE (2024)
THE CURSE OF KAZUO UMEZU (1990)
Hey man seems like you got really into the New York school of poets so far this year? Any reason for that? Also how do you see so many art shows/exhibitions around the country? Do you travel just to see art? I’ve read a lot of stuff that hasn’t stuck with me this year, but now I’m reading Play as it Lays (Didion) which is
Hope ur well have fun in California
Any reason you read so much about the New York school of poets so far this year? Hope California’s cool — I was just there and saw hella seals
Reading Play It as It Lays (Didion) rn, my fav thing of the year so far.
hey there, hope your screening in sf goes well, i was there recently and i saw a self-driving car for the first time and it really disturbed me. i went to la also and per your suggestion went to poquito mas (the studio city one) and it was excellent. my favorite thing was hollywood forever cemetery, i spent a few hours there. the rest of the west coast wasn’t for me i think. i know youre very busy but if you’ve got any time soon i’d still love to hear what you think of my short film when you watch it! if you’re seeking any US funding for a film, if you can get some producers native to the deep south, there are actually a lot of dedicated funds for those folks that are surprisingly still pretty stable bc they’re private. i still wait anxiously to hear if there are any RT screenings in nyc or near new orleans!! hope all is well with u
hi dennis.
I typed out a full response after spending an hour trying to put thoughts into words. But when I pressed “post comment,” it didn’t post, and it deleted what I wrote. This is very annoying. You might be able to see the comment, I dunno. So now I’m just gonna type madlib style what I remember from my message.
Thank you for talking about Henry Green; it finally gave me the kick to start really reading “Party-going” after a long time of just sitting on my overflowing bookshelf. I am enjoying it immensely. Also, I finished “I wished” after a long while of putting it off, and I have to say it’s some really great stuff. I know you don’t like going on about yr own work, so I won’t press on that point though, just know yr really, really great. My mood has been a bit all over the place as of late, but that’s ok. Been spending some time talking to Alice too, since she’s a great person and artist (when one can get her to really write), so I can’t be too upset. I feel grateful for all my friends and for having all these avenues. I went up to the Netherlands and spent some time swimming today, walked past a brothel where some guy was selling ripoff watches to two hairy boys who were cheifing down multiple cigarettes, across from them was a young toddler pouring water into the mouth of a very ugly dog while telling her mom it was dead/dying. A very cool place. I hope California treated you well. I always wanted to go to more American theme parks and bookstores. My partner took me to Carowinds, but that didn’t feel too special. BTW this may be glib for me to ask, but would it be possible to send you my novel one day? I know you have a lot on yr plate right now, but I would like to have someone tell me if it’s worth putting out into the world. My friends think so, but I do want more voices to tell me what my deal is. I don’t mind if you say no. I’m just happy to be here. I’m gonna see about really locking in me and Alices trip to Paris soon. I will likely have a response by the time you read this dirge. Also, I would like to see your movie, but if no theatre nearby plays it or there is no easy access to it, I might pirate it. If that transpires, I will pay you and Zac 20 bucks upfront, since I wanna support this damn thing.
All the best to you. Completely sincere despite my unspooling ramble.
Hi Dennis! I hope your trip has been going well. At some point, I would like to see Japan for myself. I’ve developed a fascination with certain theme parks in the area. It came from this Dreamcast game called ‘Illbleed’, which was influenced by specific locations. That’s one of my favourite horror games. Lately, I’ve been emulating PS1 titles. I was motivated to do this because Hugo and I were looking at some of your lists related to games. He, in particular, looked at a list you made, looking at 90s CD-ROM games and has been playing ‘The Dark Eye’. We call each other often, and I’ve been watching him stream it for me. Such a fascinating experience.
In terms of what I’ve been playing, I’ve put a lot of time into ‘LSD Dream Emulator’. I find games of that sort to be quite healing. There’s an embrace of opaqueness in the journeys that you actively take. Despite being an “open-ended” experience, there’s a state of ambiguity that prolongs itself as a test against your agency. My favourite example of this is the game ‘Yume Nikki’, which I find utterly beautiful. In some sense, I’ve been applying a similar method to my writing. I’m interested in the texture of that mystery that, I believe, exists around everyone. Moreover, I’m captivated by how others define that space and choose to respond to it when they express themselves. Those sentiments have come to mind in my playthrough of ‘LSD Dream Emulator’.
It’s wonderful to be in a space where I can meet others experimenting on their terms. Just a few days ago, I went to a concert with some friends to see the band Have a Nice Life. The show was a wonderful experience, although unfortunately, it was the last show being hosted in that venue. It’s a shame to see it shut down, given its significance as an accessible space. Whilst there, I saw many trans people of different stripes in the same space. I was reminded of how a few years ago, I struggled to find a space where I could be honest about my identity. My willingness to go into new spaces has helped me access more than I could’ve imagined. For some time, I denied myself the self-worth to engage with others. I’m glad that I’ve pushed forward beyond that point and that I get to witness the fluidity of environments that were always around.
I’ll have to give ‘A Crack Up at the Race Riots’ a shot! I’ve yet to see ‘Baby Invasion’, so I’m a bit behind on certain Korine releases. It was great to see it show up on your list. Being active in certain film spaces, I’m aware of how divisive his recent two films have been. Still, I’m very curious about it, especially with it being scored by Burial.
I look forward to hearing back from you. Wish you the best!
Great seeing you and Zac in SF, Dennis! I really enjoyed the quiet distance of the new film, the hidden tension and funny dialog. The Andre character looks rather like one of Gisele’s dolls. Hope you had a good time in SF, and the rest of your trip is going well. Thanks for the lists, and the favorites from everyone. Will definitely keep me busy until your return.
Some stuff I enjoyed this year…
Fiction:
Julia Elliott, Hellions: stories
Michael DeForge, Holy Acrimony
Joel Lane, The Terrible Changes (new edition, finally)
Juliet Escoria, You Are the Snake: Stories
Charlene Elsby, Violent Faculties
Non-fiction:
Andr Mesquita, Gran Fury: Art is Not Enough
Bob Ostertag, Encounters With Men
Movies (I’m very behind):
Dennis Cooper and Zac Farley, Room Temperature
Joshua Oppenheimer, The End
Jun Li, Queerpanorama
Aaron Schimberg, A Different Man
Carter Smith, The Passenger
Music:
Dirk Serries/Mark Wastell, Dual Activities
Angharad Davies/Burhardt Beins, Meshes of the Evening
Filterbeds, Mutualism
Phil Perkins, thirteen feet nine inches
Jane in Ether, Oneiric
Veronika Mayer/Gobi Drab, Live Recording Session #1
Trio Catch plays Urquiza, Terranova etc
Live:
Thea Farhadian at Peacock Lounge
Salonen cond. SF Symphony, Firebird, Berg violin concerto, Magnus Lindberg
Lea Bertucci/Ben Vida/Henry Fraser/Cleek Shrey at Roulette, NYC
Jarvi cond. SF Symphony, Mahler 7th, Shostakovich Piano Concerto #2 (Gerstein)
Salonen cond. SF Symphony, Prokofiev 2nd piano concerto (Trifonov), Rite of Spring
John Bischoff, O’Kane/Heglin/Djll at Tom’s Place
John McCowen/Madison Greenstone at the Lab
Bill
I’m surprised not to see Deerhoof’s latest LP on your music list. Did you get to hear it? I think it’s quite good (like most of what they do).
Hi Dennis, I sent you an email about the post, thanks for this. I haven’t consumed much that was born in this year, maybe only the new Wes Anderson film and most of Silent Catastrophes, the presumably final attempt to milk Sebald’s remains of every last drop. But it was surprisingly readable actually, and very much led me to Handke, whose Slow Homecoming I’m currently reading and loving. Hope all is going well there, travel safe! J
Testing–because the blog’s been eating my comments
I always look at your year-end or mid-year lists with great interest, because I do not keep up. So you won’t be getting one of those from me. Also, what timing with my email about publishers–your poetry list above is filled with great suggestions. I am floundering a bit with that, because many publishers I’ve had on my radar (Ugly Duckling, Soft Skull, The Song Cave, Coffee House) are not open for submissions at the moment or at all. I like Amphetamine Sulphate, but they don’t seem to do chapbooks. Is it considered bad form to ask whether they’d be open to it?
So yeah, can’t really do a list of recent favorites, but I’m happy to share a couple of highlights that were new to me.
For live music it’s Iggy Pop, seen this past Tuesday at Munich’s Tollwood Festival. A beautiful set filled with many old Stooges songs, & Iggy just remains an inimitable beast. Very glad I finally got to see him in the flesh.
Best recent film I’ve seen is Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat by Johan Grimonprez–a political/historical doc that transcends both categories by virtue of its incredible editing, sound design & the spirit behind it.
Most interesting discovery was Wake in Fright from 1971, which–despite some concessions to plot & the curse of character identification–was a surprisingly savage experience.
A personal highlight for me this year was taking part in a Candomblé ritual/ceremony. Candomblé is basically Yoruba sacred tradition in Brazilian diasporic guise. And because to me ritual has everything to do with art, I’m including it here.
In a similar vein: my visits to two Tibetan buddhist stupas in Benalmádena & Vélez-Málaga.
Here’s some music, mostly old, that’s been on heavy rotation with me lately:
Toto Bissainthe (especially Ibo ogun)
Fela Kuti (especially Sorrow Tears and Blood)
Rail Band
Jozef van Wissem
Dillinger (especially Cocaine in My Brain)
Mdou Moctar
Boubacar Traoré
As for literature it’s been mostly re-reading, study & digging into really obscure source books–all ethnopoetics-related.
I hope you’re having a fine time in the States. And I’m sure the premiere went very well. Looking forward to the full report.
Take care brother.
Hey, hope you had a wondrous trip! Hopefully your jet lag is doing the opposite of lagging. I won’t take up too much time, I’ll let you know how it’s all been going later, but I will say that I’ve finished my book finally and going through the process of getting it published.
So here are my favourites, the music is all released this year, but the rest is stuff that I’ve experienced for the first time.
p.s. Oh and by the way, ‘Castration Movie’ which I said I’d give you my report on is really really spectacular IMO. It made me spite all of these establishment dinosaurs claiming that young people aren’t interested in doing anything interesting anymore. Truly something to gawp and marvel at. Very funny too, and so inspiring in its ambition.
Fingers crossed this comment goes through. Luckily my list is copy and pasted.
MUSIC
aya – hexed!
Caroline – Caroline 2
Marie Davidson – City of Clowns
OHYUNG – You Are Always On My Mind
Oklou – Choke Enough
Addison Rae – Addison
Jane Remover – Revengeseekerz
Um, Jennifer? – Um Comma Jennifer Question Mark
YHWH Nailgun – 45 Pounds
BOOKS (Fiction/Non-Fiction/Poetry/etc.)
John Ashbery – Three Poems
Dodie Bellamy – The Letters of Mina Harker
Thomas Bernhard – Woodcutters
Alfred Doblin – Berlin Alexanderplatz
Kay Gabriel – A Queen in Bucks County
Henry Green – Nothing
Hesse K – Disquiet Drive
Kevin Killian – Argento Series
Stephane Mallarme – A Roll of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance
Alain Robbe-Grillet – For a New Novel
Robert Walser – Jakob Von Gunten
FILM
Hail the New Puritan (dir. Charles Atlas)
La Luna (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
It’s Not Me (dir. Leos Carax)
Ellie Parker (dir. Scott Coffey)
Waiting for Guffman (dir. Christopher Guest)
The White Ribbon (dir. Michael Haneke)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (dir. Jacques Rivette)
The Death of Maria Malibran (dir. Werner Schroeter)
Storytelling (dir. Todd Solondz)
I-Be Area (dir. Ryan Trecartin)
Castration Movie (dir. Louise Weard)
*Poof* Its me! Back and more quantum than ever haha! I actually feel rampant and resting ill explain more when its not so important. !1 I love fire island it’s actually magical idk 2! whats up I’ve been doing alot of good work in my silence! I updated my website so it’s fully functional and portfolio like(https://closedpractice.univer.se), im gonna start making crazy memes again and more art for instagram since it still runs the world! I created the actual Closed Practice formula and its!
Hard Work + Pure Intention = Magical Thinking → Tangible Results
A method of self-direction, not self-delusion.
Hum thats all thats important now what I’ve just been updating my everything ill be back to explain more later so ttylxoxo and what was for dinner?
Hey Dennis
Blog finally back up!
Don’t know if you’ll see this, but if not I’ll just rewrite it on the next post.
Ended up going to the Charli concert, and I’m really happy I did. It took getting up early, and a 2 hour gym session the day before, but it invigorated me. I had a good time, especially getting to meet in person a lot of people from Dublin I knew of, or had been mutuals with online.
I spent most of June with my family, but properly came back to my place a few days ago, with the motivation and spirit to clean it up and sort it out; it’s gonna be a nice place, especially with the bay window as a place to sit with people.
I’ve been struggling to read for pleasure — I think I overloaded my brain from January to April — but instead I’ve been back on a film buzz. Been making my way through any of the films on that recent New York Times list of the ‘best’ films of the 21st century: a lot of them have been on my radar for years, some since they came out. Watched The Florida Project, and Adaptation. I also watched Eyes Wide Shut for the first time a week ago, and I went to a screening of Funny Games (the original) in this arthouse cinema in Cork that’s a converted church. They’re doing a Haneke retrospective, The Piano Teacher is tomorrow, but I may end up skipping out as I have a lot of tasks to do tomorrow. The one I’m most excited to see is Benny’s Video, which has been on my list for so long, and that’ll be at the end of July.
My friends and I have been in talks of doing a group trip to Paris, most likely the end of August, though if that falls through I still intend to go myself, so if/when I’m there, I’ll let you know.
The only 2025 art I’ve been exposing myself to is music, so let me name some albums I’ve enjoyed:
• Perverts by Ethel Cain — listened to that back in January on the train from Beauvais to Paris, which was perhaps the perfect experience; so gloomy, with this tinge of rural seductiveness. Like I could imagine having some wild animalistic sex in one of those fields.
• Choke enough by Oklou — most of the music I’ve been enjoying this year is electronic ambience, especially the feminine. Seeing her in December with my friends. I’d known of her since 2020 but it was this new album that really got her on my radar.
• Eusexua by FKA Twigs — haven’t listened to this in a while, certainly not my favourite album of hers, but there’s a lot of songs on this that were on repeat for weeks for me, like Drums of Death and the title track. What has kept me invested however is how messy she has been: cancelling tour dates for seemingly no reason, not getting her visa to play in the US, having discord rants about how talented she is compared to others, she even somehow was involved in some fight between Arca and Sevdaliza… it’s entertaining!!
• Carrie and Lowell (10th Anniversary Edition) by Sufjan Stevens — had a lot of great demos and alternate versions of some of the songs, some I’ve come to prefer more than the originals.
• i quit by HAIM — Whilst I’m fine about the album itself, I really enjoyed a lot of the singles, like Down to be Wrong, Take Me Back, and Relationships.
• Addison by Addison Rae — similar boat to the HAIM album, though the singles for this were some of the best pop songs I’ve heard in the past few years: Diet Pepsi, Aquamarine, Headphones On, Fame is a Gun. Whilst a lot of it is inspired by the past, it’s refreshing to hear a pop album that isn’t the Jack Antonoff style, or faux-introspective lyrics trying to come across as real when it’s a calculated image. She’s just upfront about loving personas and theatrics in pop.
• Still haven’t listened to the new Bon Iver, but been listening a lot to 22, A Million from 2016
• Guided by Voices, and been listening to a lot of their 90s output.
• Was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the new Gaga album, though I haven’t gone back to it much and originally had pretty low expectations from the singles. Garden of Eden, Zombieboy, and Killah were the standouts to me.
•Carpe Diem, Moonman by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets is one I only recently listened to, mainly due to the cover, but have been coming back to a lot since.
• Was very apprehensive going into Virgin by Lorde, as all the singles felt ‘off’… like they ended just as they were beginning. However it might just be familiarity, but it all truly clicked once I listened to the album. I don’t know if I would consider it her best, as Melodrama was just so clean and perfect in its track listing and its fully fleshed thematics, but this is certainly up there. My favourites are Shapeshifter (a drum n bass track that becomes almost orchestral by the end), Current Affairs, Clearblue (which is a fully acapella track with vocoder effects and autotune), and Man of the Year. Excited to see the album performed live in November!
Oops forgot a bit,
Was walking through UCC to get some soup today, and realized the last time Lorde released an album was in 2021, the summer before college, with this one coming out the summer after college. Now I’m not the only person of my generation to have a parasocial relationship with Lorde, where it feels like each album dictates a specific period of your life, as if she was writing directly to you (though I definitely would be one of the first to do it, all the way back in 2013!), but I do think there’s something so personal to me to have these two releases bookend this period of my life, and feel like summaries of where my mind is and was…
Hey oh good that I’ve come back in time-with enough extra time- to see what you have shared! Really good taste I’ll have to explore more later
Oh. So., I was hospitalized again I think the 8th of June. I’m back and feeling better but there’s a lot of ugh factors. I’ve juat been trying to push myself even when it seems. It just feels very frustrating having to keep going back because I was just in one in January although a separate institution.
But today’s good. Peaceful sorta. Cicadas are wild You know it’s hot and your in the south when you hear “szzzzzzz” outside which is
it was 92 outside today.
I did practice driving . hopefully I’m going to get my license Soon. I’ll be talking classes in the fall figure drawing and music fundamentals which could be very promising. I won’t mess up and drop out again like I kept have to do since I kept getting hospitalized.
Well that’s it for now, for now as of yet, but how was your trip been? What’s the news?
I’ll try to drop a comment in the mornings so that I’m more vigilant
hi dennis, sorry about the technical problems and hope la was cool. it’s been annoying over here. tourists interrupting my daily routine, grr.
the outage funnily enough happened while i was preparing to order some of these here, but i forgot note down which ones looked cool. (already got codon and on melting which is neat.) so i ordered the two books christopher norris wrote, becuse it’s been featured here and i liked a lot of combatwoundedveteran’s stuff. hunchback is pretty good, alongside codon, it’s tickling my brain for syntax fuckery.
<– has not listened to combatwoundedveteran in almost five years.
i am very out of touch with what came out this year becuse my love to stick to one author and go through their whole bookography, same with music — in my oasis phase, this might cause a war. — speaking of which,
less than zero was fantastic, feel very out of my depth trying to discuss it even if a lot of what i want to say is on the tip of my tongue. i laughed when i thought 'wow i wish that was my life', and then realized i just basically thought 'i wanna become a upper class socialite who goes to parties and have practically nothing to live for', gonna wonder how much bee grimaces when he hears stuff like that.
i think that is it, i'll write more when this blog is back in business, thanks for the list!