I had a draft saved from 2 years ago about my media diet. Some may say it’s too late to finish and publish it, but I say let’s sit with what I was peeping back in 2024.
đ” Music
The Shape of Punk to ComeâRefused
I’m late to this, but my roommates showed me this album and I was blown away. Varied, aggressive, and distinctive, even all these years later, I highly recommend it if you like hard or underground music and you’re like me and somehow missed it.
Good TogetherâLake Street Dive
I didn’t know anything about Lake Street Dive before a friend took me to their live show. I was totally charmed. Fun, moving, and poppy. Real solid. I tried checking out older albums, but the new one resonated with me the most, so that’s what I ended picking up and listening to. If the opening track doesn’t pull you in, jump ship, the album isn’t for you.
Streets of Fire SoundtrackâVarious Artists
I watched Patrick Willem’s detailed exploration of the movie. I had seen the movie several years ago, and liked it, so with the video essay fresh in my head, I downloaded the soundtrack. And you know what? That first tune is worth the price of admission alone. The rest of the album isn’t bad, but the opener is a total banger.
The Baby Huey Story: The Living LegendâBaby Huey
I was prepared to nod along to Discog’s post on essential funk records, and was surprised when right out of the gate they hit me with a record I didn’t know: The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend.
Signed to Curtis Mayfieldâs Curtom label in 1969, Baby Huey and his band, the Babysitters, cut and issued two funk-filled singles before Rameyâs untimely death. As a tribute, Mayfield brought these along with seven other recorded performances and released the posthumous 1971 album…
Sad, fascinating story, but what was the music like? Pretty great, pretty soulful, and damn it, pretty funky. The album clearly isn’t finished, and it’s heartbreaking to think about the talent the world lost, but damn if what’s here isn’t pretty awesome.
Go For Your GunsâThe Isley Brothers
Speaking of funk, who’s more underrated than The Isley Brothers? I’m not saying they don’t get credit, but that they don’t get enough. They made artistically exceptional records that consistently hit the charts for three decades. How many acts can say that?
Go For Your Guns is a late 70s hard funk album that was one of their most popular records, so I feel a little silly for not getting to it until now (I mostly swirled around their singles. Silly me indeed). The record was sampled a lot by Ice Cube on It Was A Good Day, but enough factoids, this album moves, and you should get shuffle your booty to your turntable and put it on right now.
School DaysâStanley Clarke
One thing I appreciate about Stanley Clarke is that, at least during this early period I’m a little more familiar with, he never let his virtuosity get in the way of a sweaty groove. Yes, there’s lots of jazz things happening, but you’re still gonna wiggle to it.
I pulled my copy off the shelf when I saw it pop up in, what else, Discog’s post on essential jazz fusion records.
Also, Lopsy Lu, off Clarke’s self-titled solo album, rips.
đș TV
What We Do In The Shadows
I re-watched this show with my roommates, one of whom hadn’t seen it before. What a joy. This show is so consistently funny. I think it falls off towards the end, but weak What We Do In The Shadows is still better than most TV comedies.
đż Movies
Bound
The Wachowskis first movie they made to prove they could make The Matrix. It’s a really good thriller! They made a tiny budget movie look incredible, the script is tight, and Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly are great. Go see it if you haven’t.
Bambi Meets Godzilla
A classic underground cartoon from 1969. I screened this short as part of a Godzilla movie night on our roof. We had 25 people up there!
Coming Out
Screened this short in front of the Godzilla movies on the roof as well. It’s fantastic, and at 2 minutes, you’ve got no excuse not to watch it.
Godzilla Minus One
This is one of my favorite Godzilla movies. It captures the original horror of the creature, set against an actually emotional and engaging human drama of the devastation in Japan after World War II. Even if you don’t like Godzilla specifically or monster movies in general, you’ll probably like this one. It’s a metaphor, man.
Godzilla: Final Wars
This movie is so insane, it has to be seen to be believed. And even then, you might still not believe it. Wall to wall bonkers. We screened this on the roof after Godzilla: Minus One, so we had about half the people for this one. Everyone who stayed got one bug eyed slack jawed experience. If you want the wildest monster madness strung together by a plot that you’ll be questioning whether you just had a really weird dream, you can’t go wrong here.
Tokyo Gore Police
My roommate borrowed this from the library based solely on the cover, and man this movie is daffy bonkers fun. It’s a wild sci-fi crime story where there are mutants who regrow wounds as weapons, and every frame is blasted with firehose pressure blood. This has some of the most insane imagery I’ve ever seen put to screen. If you’re worried about being disturbed or grossed out, steer clear. There’s also some terrible Japanese-style blackface near the end. They got so close to a pure “if you like insane horror” recommend, but alas.
Alien: Romulus
The fifth movie in any series is going to have a tough time no matter what. How many more times can you reheat the same concept? However, given it’s part five, this is pretty great. It doesn’t touch the original or Aliens in my opinion, but I’d say you can argue it’s the third best in the franchise. Some of the set pieces are really inventive and have a lot of fun in the Alien world. There are some eye-roll nostalgia callbacks, and the CGI resurrected Ian Holm is gross and unnecessary, although somewhat thematically fitting. It’s a fun time if you like the Alien movies.
Southland Tales
We had a screening of the deeply weird Southland Tales on the roof over the weekend, Richard Kellyâs panned follow up to Donnie Darko. Whether or not youâve seen the movie, my roommate Ivyâs piece for Bright Wall Dark Room on the film is well worth a read for her writing alone.
Hot Shots!
I remember laughing at this as a kid, reacting more to the silliness, and not getting any of the spoof aspect. I hadn’t seen Top Gun, or any of the other movies it spoofs. I was reminded of this from Nick de Semlyen’s A Very Good Year episode. I have been sick, and wanted something funny and comfortingly nostalgic to watch. Now that I’ve seen Top Gun, I get more of the jokes. There’s some fun physical bits and Llyod Bridges has some great moments. However, the unequivocally racist final act prevents a recommendation.
The Substance
WOW. This movie is gross and long and divisive and I think it’s great. What it’s commenting on comes through loud and clear, without feeling like a lecture or sacrificing any entertainment value. I’ve seen it twice, and I think you should too.
Alright, that wraps it up for this post I meant to publish 24 months ago. Maybe this will get me back into the habit of making these end of month media round ups, or maybe I’ll publish September 2026’s media diet in early 2040.