algroth

https://twitter.com/wifeclipse/status/1209164762115969025 Please don't fix this. Edit: COWARDS. They took the tweet down. Here's another wonderfully horrifying Cats scene:

Is your version of the game up to date? My understanding is that they introduced font size sliders in one of the latest patches.

Did you not enjoy KOTOR II, Bart?

The Rise of Skywalker was worth it:

Ridiculous. As Mark Kermode points out in his review, the film was already being re-designed based on the response to the trailer and it's clear that no amount of fine-tuning would make the central conceit any better. The culprit is in the premise itself, not just the execution. Continuing to fiddle around with it at this stage is a textbook definition of "polishing a turd".

In other words, FOMO, which the industry loves to exploit in such event films and so on.

@injurai You might like some of these.

Debby Friday - Bitchpunk The cover says it all really. It's hard, it's sassy, it's punky, it's stripped down, and it's political, not just in its lyrics but in the sheer soundscape it manages to evoke. Like Khalab's Black Noise 2048 (though also very much unlike it in sound), it creates a feeling of discordant pluralism that seems to create as much of a contrast and split as the plain black and white of the cover in the music itself. It's very much the sound of the social divide.

DjRUM - Portrait with Firewood Blending lush post-minimalist passages and acoustic instrumentation with electronic beats, glitches and synth pads isn't anything new per se, we've seen as much in the past from Venetian Snares, Kashiwa Daisuke, Murcof, Susumu Yokota, and the list goes on. This album might not be bringing something new to the table, but what it does, it does so with plenty of finesse, fusing both elements in a manner that is as effective and resonant as any of the previous acts, and often lending itself so some rather transcendent passages. Quite lovely, all in all.

Khalab - Black Noise 2084 A very nice, hard-cutting, groovy slice of afro-infused UK bass. It all makes for a soundscape that is at once distinctly pluralist and combative and clashing, like a dystopian reimagining of Wakanda, in full realization of the conflict in its contrast to its starving, neglected environs. It slaps, that's all.

For any Epic users here, Into the Breach is free this week.

New Nolan

Bubu - Anabelas For prog fans, here's a true one-album wonder. Up until 2018, forty years after the fact, this was the only album ever attributed to this ensemble which existed as an offshoot of the vanguardist Di Tella Institute which in the 60s and 70s gave birth to artists like Clorindo Testa (better known as an architect), Julio le Parc, Marta Minujín (close associate to Andy Warhol during the 80s), Luis Felipe Noé (father of Gaspar Noé), Rómulo Maccio amidst others, and whose musical wing was founded and led by modern classical composer Alberto Ginastera and in times of great censorship under military dictatorship housed courses and presentations by left-leaning modern composers like Iannis Xenakis, Luigi Nono and Aaron Copland. This particular piece is something of a fusion of Italian prog by way of Il Balleto di Bronzo or prime-era Banco with King Crimson and Stravinsky, played by an octet with heavy emphasis on the interplay between flute, violin and saxophone, spanning three rather intricate suites. An absolute classic of Argentine prog which nevertheless found a much greater following abroad than it did locally.

Clau Aniz - Filha de mil mulheres There's a pretty clear line that can be drawn between this an Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising. Both are lush, largely analog and wood-like in feel/texture, pop music rooted deeply in 70s trends and acts; but whereas Blood's albums tend to favour more the sounds of Harry Nilsson or Joni Mitchell, Clau Aniz, native of Brazil, seems to evoke a fair bit of the MPB of Milton Nascimento and the particular jazz-rock brand of Luis Alberto Spinetta's mid-70s ventures, especially with Invisible's El jardín de los presentes. All in all this is a warm, nostalgic, quite tasteful throwback to this era, all with a certain dream pop/slowcore-tinged wistfulness about it as well. Can be seen as a bit of a musical equivalent of going through one's parents' slow-degrading photo albums of the time - in other words its cover seems quite apt.

Oh boy, here we go...

For a decades-long bounty hunter, Mando sure has a problem with killing. Overall probably the 'best' episode so far, but it's hardly saying much, and again, his character is a mess, a walking contradiction of a central conceit that mandates amorality and a spineless approach to the material that demands he be a 'good guy'. Mando's whole character is a long case of "Greedo shot first".

Kasper Bjørke Quartet - The Fifty Eleven Project Rather lush and soothing blend of Michael Brook-esque ambient and electronic textures with the Max Richter brand of post-minimalism.

George Clanton - Slide I'll just go ahead and copy this review from RYM because it summarizes the album better than I ever could:

I'd say that anything you need to know regarding the lore is pretty thoroughly explained in the game too. It does a pretty good job establishing all you need to know lore-wise to get the gist of the world and the conflict at hand.

Richard Devine - Sort/Lave Would I want some more Ɖ̵̨̨̧̢̡̡̛̜̩̠̞̟̞͕̬̹͔̪͚̖̪̬̹͍̝͕̱̪̞̮̹͓̖̲̼̗̠̠̤͖̰͔͉͚͍͙͇͒͗͆̋̌̄̀͆̄͐͆͌̎̌̄̈́͆͑̒͊̿͆͌͛͐̿̏̀̔̔̽̾̾̎̃̒́̎͐̃̚͘̚͜͜͠͝͝ɖ̸̡̨̡̨̨̛̺̙̫̹̠̹̟̘̪͎̫͎̫͚͓̞̙̥̲̟̙͖̪̫̥̗̠̬̹̘̭̱͉͎̬̦̳͔̩̪͙̣̇̀̍̇͆̾̎̏̐̈́̊̍̈́͊̄͑̒͒͑͋̎̀̇̇̐͊̐͂͑̋̀͋̄̈́̒̔̌̄͂̌́̎̅̍̂͘͜͠͝͝͠ͅŊ̸̧̧̨̡̛̙̼̖̣͚̬͎̜̙̫͉̻̙̯͈̗̗̭͔̩̜͕̯͕̪͇̩̮̠̗̲̜̦͚̼͎̻̟̰̟̯͈͍̗̱̣̼̻̤͇̙͙͈͇̈́̄͛͐̅̇͋̒̌̑͐̈́̉͂̅̄̊̀͂͋͐̽͐͑̈́̋͊͛̎̾͋̎̐̔̈͘̕͜͝͝͝ŋ̷̨̛̝̮̙̗̖͖̖̖̠̲̬͕̖̪͖͈͍̥͔̰͎̳͍̤̞̰̦̰̰̜̞͇̦̱̣̞̤̠͓̫͉͖́͛̿͛̋͒͆̈́̄͛̽̋͐͋͌͋͐́͋͒̈́̒̈̾̏͊̑̓̓̏͂̆͑̋̆̃̔͗̏̋̿̐̽̐̆̐͐̏̅͛̒̑͂̕͘͘̕̚͝͠͝͠Y̶̧̡̢̢̬͎̝̜̼̯̪͚̻̠̺̯̗̝̺͈̝̝͔̲̮̜̪̮͔̙̠͖̘͙̝̜͇̙̗̠͍͓̯̣̭̰͓͍̑̉͋̓͋̐̒̀͐̈̉̈́̆̀͋̔̉̎̓̃̀̈́̈́̈́̂̓̀́͛̽̔͒̉́̑̀͋̃̈̎̈̃̽̐̈́̈̓͌̆̀̽̏̉̑̍̋͆͗͘͘͘̚͜͝͠͝ͅͅɣ̴̧̧̧̢̢̧̛̛̛̗͔̳̱̦͎̠̱͕͙̭̻͖̠̤̱̠̻̯̘͕͎̺̦̖͈̖̠̤̙͈̞͕̮̩̳̳̣͈͉͚̬̦̤̤̱̟̻̼̙̞͇̗̩̫͛̈̈͊́̂͒̍͐͗̄̃̔͑̍̐͆́̍̂̄̓̌̈́̈̍̈́̉̅̂͗̔̋͊͛̏͆̆̅͊̆̓̅̿̔̀̑̉̅̽̋̈́͐̚͘̕͜͠͝͝͝Ɔ̴̧̧̡̡̜̣̻͎̫̗̹̠̱̭̤͕̼̯̺̩̝͉͔̦̹͉̯̻͍̮͚̯̖̦̥̱͕̘̣̘̬̞͖̠̭͖͇͓̀̈́͆̓̊̽̎̿̆̾̀̅͊͋̆̇̅̒̀̓͂̾͒͆̏̑͊͗̂̿͛̔̉́͂̍̈̔̇͌̇̾̀̉͆͌͂̀͘͜͜͝ͅͅɔ̶̡̨̢̢̢̧̨̡̣̟͙̠̜̺̩̝̹̳͚͍̺͔͍̱̯͔̞͖̝͍͎̲͈̭͕͖͓̫̥̱̲̞̰̹͚̣̲̯͕̦̅̓͋̐̊͂̾̒̌̈̈́̈́͒̀̅͆̇̇̎̅̅͒͑͊͒̓͂͌̏̓͆̀̓̌͑̍̎͗̓̍̉͌͘̚̚̚͜͜͜͝͝ͅƐ̴̨̨̡̧̨̨̛̛̛̲̠͕̙̘̝̝̼͍̖͖͉̩̱̪̫̭̮̟͚̳̞̫͎̗̩̪̹͔͖̦̭̬̱͇̲̘͈͖̭͖͇̩͚̯̯͗́͑̆̋̿͆́̂̈́̉͆̐͐͑͊͗̈́̽̊̉̎͊͑̓̒̒̎̽̀̋̍̆̇͗̉͘͘̕̚͜͜͠͠͝͝͠ͅͅɛ̴̢̢̢̨̢̮̞̜͕͚̜̠̞̼̪̣̘͍̮̱͉̻̩͙̝̥͚̪̘͇̟̭̣̹̗͈͈̫̗̭̣̪̦̜̺͎͔̬̬̝̮̤̟͖̫̳̩̝̽͋͐͒̄͌̏̓̊́̂̀͑̿̅̒̆̇͗͑̌̾͒̈͂͑̂̿̓̈́̄̋̀͊͗̇̈́́͗̊̇͛̓̑͒̇͘̚͘͜͜͝͠͠͝͠ͅƲ̷̨̢̨̛̹͎̰͍͚͖̰̺̪͕̯̦͚̝͉̣̦͕̦̭̳͙̹͕̟̘̞̘͙̲͖̪͙̟̦̗͉̞̫̤̥̰͔͙̳̟̹̹͖̤̹̟̤̊̋̊̉̈́̑̅̊̈̔͌́̽̈́̽͊̓̐́͋̊̈̄̊̿̃̋̔͒͐̉̈́̐̐̔͌̈́͒̅̎̿͘̚͘͜͜͝͝͠ʋ̸̨̢̛̛͓̼̩̺̘̬͔̗͈̻̞̪͕̺͙̮͖̥̯̱̭̹̱̳̥̠̫͔̦͓̜͙̗̩͖̫͖͖̫͔̼̖͕̞̱̫̊̽̈̃͌̆̅͆̒͊͛̉̆̒̆́̓͊̀̓̄̍͌̀̐͋̌̾̀̐̈́̄̏̉̄͘͘͘͜͝͝͝͝͠ͅ with that IDM? Why, yes I would.

Hakushi Hasegawa - Air ni ni Quite wonderful, a lush and harmonious blend of art/prog pop with wonky, breakcore and nu-jazz elements, all to create something that is as reminiscent to the Katamari Damacy soundtrack as it is Iglooghost's Neo Wax Bloom. One of the albums of the year.

Rosalía - El mal querer Sounds a bit like a flamenco-infused FKA Twigs, and overall feels to me like a much more interesting approach than Rosalía's earlier album Los ángeles, which instead felt anemic and tasteful to a fault. Unfortunately, bar a few tracks early on that were very good indeed, a large bulk of the album also feels like a collection of sketches and unfinished ideas that meander for a short while until they end. It feels a bit slight outside a few songs worth cherry-picking from the lot, and all this for an album that is barely 30 minutes in length.

Angles 9 - Disappeared Behind the Sun Nice throwback to the heyday of Charlie Haden, Carla Bley and the rest of the Liberation Music Orchestra. The title track is straight fire (no pun intended).

Damien Dubrovnik - Great Many Arrows Whilst not as rich, this here feels like the sort of industrial-chamber hybrid that's cut from the same cloth as the likes of Lingua Ignota or some latter-day Coil and offshoots. It's very nice, I thoroughly dug it but especially enjoy it as it tends more towards the darkwave/"gothic chamber music" feel in its second half. Worth a listen for anyone with an inclination to this sort of music for certain.