Figaro - MF DOOM
DOOM is the artist I find myself recommending to everybody regardless of what kind of music they like. It takes some time to begin noticing the sheer complexity of the flow, rhyme schemes and cryptic wordplay. Bar after bar without interruption in an unbelievable showcase of skill, unmatched by any poet or rapper or author that ever existed.
The fish song - Underscores
After years of listening to this song, I still have absolutely no idea what it's about. Like, it's obviously about a fish and there's themes of death and discovery and the conflict between studying something and exploiting it. But I don't know what its really about, and I want to keep it that way. It's so wonderfully different to every other song on that album I feel like someone in the band must have dreamt it.
Tintin in Tibet - Mount Eerie
This song perfects Mount Eerie's entire songwriting ethos: finding poetry in completely grounded truth. There are very few metaphors or abstract imagery, and they appear only with delicacy. This song alone changes my entire perspective on written art, when so much emotion can be found in such simple language.
The Blacker the Berry - Kendrick Lamar
The most visceral and raw performance in Kendrick's entire catalogue. It goes straight for the heart. Lyrics which struggle with some internal contradiction in the artist's interaction with the world often evoke very emotional responses in me, and the end of this song breaks my soul everytime.
Kick, Push - Lupe Fiasco
Maybe the first song I ever truly liked. I didn't know how to skate, I'd never been in love, I didn't listen to hip-hop ... I barely knew what "rebel" meant. But this song stuck with me. It's simple in form, and Lupe intertwines a solid flow with direct and sincere storytelling. It's a song about being free, and where nothing bad really happens.
Moanin' - Mingus Big Band (from Nostalgia in Time Square)
My favourite instrumental piece of all time. The heavy baritone sax, the piercing trumpets, the entire rise and fall of the brass sections and the melodies and harmonies. There's such a range in this song and it contains such energy.
Ponyboy - SOPHIE
This song makes me feel things no other song has made me feel. My recollection is that I didn't question my gender whatsoever before I listened to this song. Listen at your own discretion.
Shook - Tkay Maidza
This song is what the term slaps was made for. It's bashful, eclectic and contagiously energetic. It goes hard, it hits, it slaps, it bops.
The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green
A collection of heartwarming and thoughtful essays about what it means to be human. I've been a fan for the Green brothers for such a long time, and this book captures John's philosophy of compassion and empathy and taking thing seriously just to see what it feels like.
Beyond the Aquila Rift - Alastair Reynolds
A collection of short stories, covering AI and gender and evolution and the gamut of usual sci-fi topics. This was one of the first works of contemporary sci-fi that I read, and made me realise the potential of the genre. Always a strong recommend.
Stoner - John Williams
An underground classic, and a book I read at precisely the right time for it to probably contribute some subconcious thoughts about my decision to not pursue academia which I have never properly unpacked.
The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yōko Ogawa
Short, endlessly sweet and full of warmth. I remember scenes from this book in my head more vividly than most fiction I've read.
README.txt - Chelsea Manning
Sometimes your life is insane enough that your biography writes itself. There is very little prosaic flair and colour, but none is needed.
The Sellout - Paul Beatty
Not everybody does, but I found this book hilarious from the first page. Absolutely biting satire on race politics.
'Til Death Do Us Blart
Every year, five friends gather round to watch and discuss the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. A project that will only get funnier and funnier as time goes on. Nothing will stop them.
Lingthusiasm
Two linguist friends sharing their love of linguistics. It's very cute and full of cool stuff if you're casually interested in linguistics.
TRASHFUTURE
A very funny British podcast about politics, start-up culture, the relentless march of AI and facing our unknown future.
Minecraft
My bold prediction is that Minecraft will be the enduring legacy of the 2010s. People will be playing versions of this game for a long, long time. It's a perfect game, it has a perfect soundtrack, it lives deep in my heart. I vividly remember the first time I played it.
RimWorld
This game makes me want to play other colony sims, but they never match the grit and storytelling that you can get with RimWorld. It's the kind of game that it's fun just to hear people talk about playing.
Root
My favourite board game of all time. The gameplay is nuanced and interesting, and the player interaction is second-to-none. The art is also extremely cute.
Artwork - Richard Tipping
There is a semi-famous street sculpture down near Sydney Harbour of a car in the middle of a roundabout which has been seemingly smashed by an enormous boulder, fallen from a nearby cliff. A bit jarring, sure. Before this sculpture Tipping placed a sign with the words "Begin Artwork" in the standard style of road signs in the area, perhaps to fend off complaints of those alarmed by the sculpture. This is all setup to my favourite piece of street art I've ever seen: the sign on the other side reading "End Artwork". What does it mean for the artwork to end? Am I encouraged to no longer think about it? Is it an imperative for all art outside of this sculpture to be ceased? Is it self-referential? It's the closest I've ever come across to a kōan in the 'Western' world.
To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain - Zhang Huan
The title is a translation from Chinese but it makes everything work. A bunch of people climbed a mountain, stripped naked, and stacked on top of each other human-pyramid style and made a mountain a metre taller for a few minutes. This art has a political context you can read about on Wikipedia, but you don't need to. It's the most human idea of all ideas, and the more you think about it the more incredible it gets.