The Year's Most Memorable Media
Jul. 25th, 2023 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
utilitymonstergirlWith my birthday in three weeks, I wanted to compile a list of the media I've found in the past year that's lodged itself in my brain the most - not necessarily the best, or even things I would widely recommend, but whatever's done the most to shape how I create and think about art. (Starred entries are explicit.)
Ada Palmer - Writing/Realizing Disability + Power (Essay)
A powerful statement on the value of reaching out about experiences we are prone to minimizing, glossing over, or denying entirely. The historical examples given are fascinating and make me want to look further into each case.
Ada Rook - Ugly Death No Redemption Angel Curse I Love You (Album)
Synthesizing nu-metal, screamo, and trashy anime samples into a howl of rage - and, ultimately, hard-earned catharsis. It fucks every bit as hard as the name and cover art promise.
Average UrotsukidÅji Enjoyer - Good Writers are Perverts (Essay)
A rallying cry to make art more indulgent, gross, and untamed. Also discussed here.
Backxwash - I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses (Album)
The middle piece of a trilogy on family estrangement, religious trauma, and trading one hostile environment for another. I really admire how it brings in an amazing roster of guests and producers while still feeling tightly cohesive.
Black Dresses - Forever In Your Heart (Album)
The band's penultimate album, full of crunchy bangers, somber meditations, and a deep sense of exhaustion. I'm frustrated that their fandom burnt them out so hard, but glad that they've found more sustainable ways to make music elsewhere. Also discussed here.
*Braeburned - 609 (Comic)
I've known about this for a few years, but having a physical copy (itself a memento of my first Midwest Furfest) hits different. Also discussed here.
Daleport996 et al. - Sinkdog.com (Website)
A communal tribute to the most beautifully mystifying art piece of our generation. Also discussed here.
Daniel Lavery - Some Facts About Doggerland (Poem)
Possibly my favorite poem ever - a desperate, impossible wish for a seamless connection with the full scope of human history. I cannot read it without tearing up.
Dan Nadel et al. - It's Life As I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940-1980 (Nonfiction book)
Spanning editorial cartoons, daily strips, adventure serials, and Afrofuturist sagas, with analytical essays galore. All the featured artists - Tom Floyd, Grass Green, Seitu Hayden, Jay Jackson, Charles Johnson, Yaoundé Olu, Turtel Onli, Jackie Ormes, and Morrie Turner - are worth digging into independently.
*Gengoroh Tagame et al. - The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, Vol. 1 (Manga)
Lovingly-rendered bara with just enough sweetness to make the filth hit harder. Even when it isn't to my tastes, I am in awe of this artistry. Also discussed here.
*Ivy May et al. - Coquette Dragoon (Visual novel)
War, nationalism, the consequences of unearned power and being denied a childhood, and a burger joint staffed by plushies. I greatly admire this as a story that simply would not work if it wasn’t as profusely horny as it was. Also discussed here.
*Laika Albarn - Limerence (Webcomic)
An ongoing memoir comic by a woman roughly my age in a consensual relationship with her father, unsparing about either of their flaws. It is an excellent dive into a very specific slice of the human condition that produces emotions once known only to shrimp.
Laurent Binet - Civilizations (Prose novel)
An alternate history that feels like an absolutely bonkers Paradox-game campaign, while also doing fascinating things with narrative perspective and the relation between Great Men and inexorable forces. There are lots of deep-cut historical references and gags in here that I only caught a few of, but I still loved it.
Laurie Winer - Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical (Nonfiction book)
A look at how the politics, economics, and culture of show business were transformed through the 20th century through a man at the heart of all three. Accessible to non-theater-nerds like myself, but clearly full of details for those who are.
Lumsel - Foreach (Webcomic)
A magnificent Escher print of dysfunction. The Penrose Steps of conflicting needs. I have been rotating this in my mind for months now, and even drawn fanart.
*Max Graves - What Happens Next (Webcomic)
A beautifully messy psychodrama about catastrophically-online queers in the 2010s. Also discussed here.
Patricia Taxxon - Agnes & Hilda (Album)
It’s a beautiful statement on fusing the cerebral and indulgent sides of creation. It’s a vision of a world where pop music is by and for autistic trans furries. It’s got a murder ballad that samples Not Just Bikes and it ends with one of the most gutting love songs I’ve ever heard. Also discussed here.
Strugatsky Brothers - Hard To Be A God (Prose novel)
A Star Trek-style adventure that grapples with the shadow of Stalinism, the limits of pacifism, failures of Marxist historical analysis, and the ethics of saving people from themselves. I'm currently rereading The Left Hand of Darkness as something that approaches similar themes from a very different perspective, and hope to write up a comparison piece soon.
*Valerie Halla - Animal Girlfriends: It's Normal For Girls (Webcomic)
A wonderful showcase of the author's philosophies of art and erotica - unabashedly warm, loving, and unafraid to get the camera right up in there.
4lung - Act My Age (Album)
A concept album about the healing, redemptive power of age regression. Lush and cozy, with a great high-energy finale.
Ada Palmer - Writing/Realizing Disability + Power (Essay)
A powerful statement on the value of reaching out about experiences we are prone to minimizing, glossing over, or denying entirely. The historical examples given are fascinating and make me want to look further into each case.
Ada Rook - Ugly Death No Redemption Angel Curse I Love You (Album)
Synthesizing nu-metal, screamo, and trashy anime samples into a howl of rage - and, ultimately, hard-earned catharsis. It fucks every bit as hard as the name and cover art promise.
Average UrotsukidÅji Enjoyer - Good Writers are Perverts (Essay)
A rallying cry to make art more indulgent, gross, and untamed. Also discussed here.
Backxwash - I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses (Album)
The middle piece of a trilogy on family estrangement, religious trauma, and trading one hostile environment for another. I really admire how it brings in an amazing roster of guests and producers while still feeling tightly cohesive.
Black Dresses - Forever In Your Heart (Album)
The band's penultimate album, full of crunchy bangers, somber meditations, and a deep sense of exhaustion. I'm frustrated that their fandom burnt them out so hard, but glad that they've found more sustainable ways to make music elsewhere. Also discussed here.
*Braeburned - 609 (Comic)
I've known about this for a few years, but having a physical copy (itself a memento of my first Midwest Furfest) hits different. Also discussed here.
Daleport996 et al. - Sinkdog.com (Website)
A communal tribute to the most beautifully mystifying art piece of our generation. Also discussed here.
Daniel Lavery - Some Facts About Doggerland (Poem)
Possibly my favorite poem ever - a desperate, impossible wish for a seamless connection with the full scope of human history. I cannot read it without tearing up.
Dan Nadel et al. - It's Life As I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940-1980 (Nonfiction book)
Spanning editorial cartoons, daily strips, adventure serials, and Afrofuturist sagas, with analytical essays galore. All the featured artists - Tom Floyd, Grass Green, Seitu Hayden, Jay Jackson, Charles Johnson, Yaoundé Olu, Turtel Onli, Jackie Ormes, and Morrie Turner - are worth digging into independently.
*Gengoroh Tagame et al. - The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, Vol. 1 (Manga)
Lovingly-rendered bara with just enough sweetness to make the filth hit harder. Even when it isn't to my tastes, I am in awe of this artistry. Also discussed here.
*Ivy May et al. - Coquette Dragoon (Visual novel)
War, nationalism, the consequences of unearned power and being denied a childhood, and a burger joint staffed by plushies. I greatly admire this as a story that simply would not work if it wasn’t as profusely horny as it was. Also discussed here.
*Laika Albarn - Limerence (Webcomic)
An ongoing memoir comic by a woman roughly my age in a consensual relationship with her father, unsparing about either of their flaws. It is an excellent dive into a very specific slice of the human condition that produces emotions once known only to shrimp.
Laurent Binet - Civilizations (Prose novel)
An alternate history that feels like an absolutely bonkers Paradox-game campaign, while also doing fascinating things with narrative perspective and the relation between Great Men and inexorable forces. There are lots of deep-cut historical references and gags in here that I only caught a few of, but I still loved it.
Laurie Winer - Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical (Nonfiction book)
A look at how the politics, economics, and culture of show business were transformed through the 20th century through a man at the heart of all three. Accessible to non-theater-nerds like myself, but clearly full of details for those who are.
Lumsel - Foreach (Webcomic)
A magnificent Escher print of dysfunction. The Penrose Steps of conflicting needs. I have been rotating this in my mind for months now, and even drawn fanart.
*Max Graves - What Happens Next (Webcomic)
A beautifully messy psychodrama about catastrophically-online queers in the 2010s. Also discussed here.
Patricia Taxxon - Agnes & Hilda (Album)
It’s a beautiful statement on fusing the cerebral and indulgent sides of creation. It’s a vision of a world where pop music is by and for autistic trans furries. It’s got a murder ballad that samples Not Just Bikes and it ends with one of the most gutting love songs I’ve ever heard. Also discussed here.
Strugatsky Brothers - Hard To Be A God (Prose novel)
A Star Trek-style adventure that grapples with the shadow of Stalinism, the limits of pacifism, failures of Marxist historical analysis, and the ethics of saving people from themselves. I'm currently rereading The Left Hand of Darkness as something that approaches similar themes from a very different perspective, and hope to write up a comparison piece soon.
*Valerie Halla - Animal Girlfriends: It's Normal For Girls (Webcomic)
A wonderful showcase of the author's philosophies of art and erotica - unabashedly warm, loving, and unafraid to get the camera right up in there.
4lung - Act My Age (Album)
A concept album about the healing, redemptive power of age regression. Lush and cozy, with a great high-energy finale.
