monthly media, feb 2024
unfortunately, this month’s entry will be significantly shorter than last time1. i was really busy these last few weeks because of some out of town trips and major pitches at work. i definitely spent most of my time tired but thankfully still managed to use the little leftover energy i had left to discover new things. as always, let me know if you find something you like from these lists!
btw, there are a couple of content warnings in this post but they’re just mentions and not explicit. there is a warning attached right before the paragraph!
as always, here’s my yearly playlist if you want to see what else i’m listening to! i am constantly updating it :)
nicole dollanganger
nicolle dollangager came to me as a recommendation from a friend while we were discussing why he didn’t really click with phoebe bridgers. to him, nicole had this “gripping quality” phoebe didn’t quite have. i think anybody who is an ethel cain fan will probably enjoy nicole’s work2. her music is hauntingly beautiful and eerie, and her lyricism is fantastic. there is an interesting contrast between her soft vocals and macabre song topics. i will admit i found it a little difficult to really get into her discography mostly because a lot of her songs are kind of formulaic so things can come off as one dimensional—but that formula works really well for her though! i’ve only listened to her 3 most recent albums and a couple songs off her older ones.
favorite songs: lemonade, whispering glades, you’re so cool
girl with fish by feeble little horse
another recommendation from a friend! girl with fish is a nice, fuzzy noise rock/pop album. i think on the surface this might seem like a run of the mill album for its genre but i find it has a lot of kooky details and cool shifts that keep the album pretty interesting. there are a lot of catchy riffs and choruses i find myself humming—pocket most notably, i like to do the screaming part in my head though. i think this is an album that deserves multiple listens to get the most out of it! it’s like you get to pick up new details every time.
favorite songs: heavy water, paces, slide
eartheater
eartheater was also recommended to me by a friend. i unfortunately couldn’t get into her music, but i can see why other people would be a fan of hers. i do not think her music is bad by any means, but it feels like it is just missing something that would make it feel much more appealing to my ears. her cover of chop suey is great though, and there are still a few songs i quite enjoyed on both of her records. i think i may try giving her another shot some other time.
favorite songs: pure smile snake venom, chop suey, crushing
going…going…GONE! by hemlocke springs
this is a super fun and quirky (i mean this in the most positive way) pop album! i know she got pretty big on tiktok but that’s not how i found her. i first found out about her through “sever the blight” (fantastic song, by the way) which was on a playlist a friend had made for me. i think she has a charming, unique style of writing that sets her apart from all the other emerging pop artists, tiktok-famous or not. she has a lot of potential and i am looking forward to what other music she releases in the future!
favorites: enknee1, girlfriend, heavun
desire, i want to turn into you: everasking edition by caroline polachek
i was so excited about this when caroline initially tweeted about a collab with weyes blood! i thought the two of them made up the most perfect match ever and i was not all disappointed with the new rendition of butterfly net. most of the songs introduced into the deluxe version are rereleases of some other singles or rerecordings so i’m not going to talk about them. but i thought coma and spring is coming with a strawberry in its mouth were wonderful additions!
jump rope gazers by the beths
jump rope gazers is a pretty solid sophomore effort from the beths! i was a big fan of their debut album future me hates me but haven’t really kept up with their music since then. this is a cute little carefree summery indie rock album, perfect as your road trip soundtrack. it is a lot more toned down from their previous work but they do it well. i’ve seen a lot of people complain about how this sounds kind of generic and uninventive, but i do not think those qualities are bad things. genres will always have a “sound” to them because that’s what made people like the genre in the first place. i think how “new” something is needs to stop being a measure for how good something is as well, but that’s a discussion for another time.
favorite songs: just shy of sure, out of sight, mars the god of war
humbleman by humb.
i was doing a cfo on toontown rewritten when somebody on my team plugged their music. i asked them what genre of music they made and was sold as soon as they said hyperpop was one of them. humbleman is a multi-genre album with a couple of tracks that feature fun melodies and pretty cool prod. despite the variety in genres, the album still feels cohesive enough and like the songs are all part of the same project. i like the album cover too!
favorite songs: r u up y3t, elytra, wym (sped up + jersey)
today i laid down by bl4ck m4rket c4rt
this was also recommended by a friend. it’s an incredibly beautiful shoegaze/slowcore album and an underrated gem. it’s incredible what the artist, kai, was able to achieve at 17 with this effort. this album has a lot of the twinkly sound effects i mentioned i loved so much in last month’s monthly media which definitely adds to why i like this so much. the melodies are warm and comforting, the layers to the music are dynamic, and i find that all songs progress into these beautiful, grand endings. the vocals are very subdued in these songs but that’s okay. the lyrics, although minimal, do a good job of communicating kai’s feelings and it’s very easy to pick up what he’s talking about.
cw: suicide mention
unfortunately, kai had died by suicide recently. it made me really sad when i found out through the comment section on his bandcamp. his girlfriend left a very touching comment on this video which made me cry. i’m very grateful he was able to share such a beautiful album with us and i hope he rests in peace.
favorite songs: good morning texts, no food, alive always
あかるいくらい (umbralucent) by 浮 [buoy]
here is the last of the new music i discovered this month which was yet another recommendation by my dear friend moi, who you might know as passerine. this is a very soft and homely sounding album, much like something that would play at the ending of a happy movie that took place in the countryside with the sun shining brightly. if you’re a fan of ichiko aoba you will probably like this album as well. the instrumentals and vocals work really well together to create these gentle melodies. you should listen to this while eating some oatmeal and sunbathing early in the morning.
favorite songs: とげぬき (tweezers), 薄暮は時を (time reimagined by twilight), 大汽 (moist atmosphere)
this month was huge for my coming of age loving self..!!
cleaners dir. glenn barit
i’ve been meaning to watch this movie for so long! i’ve only heard positive things about it from filipino movie buffs so i had some expectations about this movie that i can gladly say were well exceeded. first of all, i think i need to talk about how this movie achieved the stylistic look it has. after the the movie was shot and edited, the team printed thousands of frames in black and white onto paper, then manually colored the main characters with highlighters before scanning everything and editing it again to make the final version of the movie we see now. this movie is a touching portrait of the average filipino going through the notions of highschool. it was almost like watching myself. what this movie makes out to be short stories end up being a lot more than that. they’re tales of growing up and grappling with responsibilities and morality. it’s honest and tragically funny. the ending i think, is particularly beautiful.
swing girls dir. shinobu yaguchi
god, i love when the youth unashamedly pursue something they’re passionate about. this movie is a very lighthearted, silly slice of life about girls who join their school band to get out of summer classes. it’s touching and nostalgic, hilarious when it wants to be. in ways it feels so authentic it’s like you’re one with the swing girls, working odd jobs to scrape enough money for second hand instruments. i’m not sure what it is about movies that celebrate jazz, but they are always just so good. if you need a good pick me up, check this out!
i originally had plans to watch some live action tv shows for once but all i was able to watch this month was another cartoon…
cw: sexual violence mention
hazbin hotel by vivienne “vivziepop” medrano
if you have been on twitter at all, i think your first impression of this show is probably that it’s full of flaws, horrible, and one of the worst shows ever created. and yes, i do agree that the show has it’s flaws; i’m not very fond of the show’s color palette, for instance. yes, i get that they’re in hell but because every character has a red/black/white color scheme much like their backdrop, they tend to blend in. every character also has essentially the same silhouette. the writing could be better–there’s a lot of loose ends with the story and how it progresses. a common complaint is this show's “tell don’t show” both with character backgrounds and the story, which i can also attest to. some character personalities don’t feel fully fleshed out and seem to be built off of a single trait. there is a portrayal of sexual violence that i've seen victims actively dislike, although it’s not my place to talk about. a lot of the humor and swearing feel so forced; oh my god especially the swearing, particularly with the character adam. but with all that being said… it was still kind of a fun watch? it’s definitely far from perfect but i also don’t think it’s as horrible as everyone seems to be making it out to be. like you can turn your brain off and just enjoy it as it is, vivziepop being a potentially questionable person aside (don’t worry i didn’t give her any money). i might’ve even found myself being quite fond of sir pentious and angel dust…
well i certainly lost the momentum i had from last month… though i’m not sure if that’s just because i wasn’t a super big fan of the one and only book i decided to read or because i was too busy :/
my year of rest and relaxation by ottessa moshfegh
i had heard a lot of praise for this book in recent years so i was looking forward to reading it! the book had a really strong start which i found weirdly refreshing and engaging. almost every character in this book was a shitty person, but ottessa does a wonderful job of still making them feel like real humans with their own problems. sometimes you feel sympathetic towards their struggles. because this book doesn’t have much of a plot and is primarily character driven, i think it’s great that the main character is interesting enough to keep the book afloat. unfortunately, somewhere towards the middle i no longer felt excited to pick the book up. i'm not sure what exactly went wrong, but i feel like maybe too much of the same thing was happening. the very barely there story needed to move forward a little. i also thought that the 9/11 connection was a little odd but i digress. the book was still an overall pleasant read and definitely very interesting. this is just my opinion, so you may find yourself liking it more than i have!
i am still keeping up with frieren and dunmeshi! so excited about watching new episodes every week. i wanted to catch up with all the anime i started but haven’t finished, namely spy x family, komi-san, skip to loafer, and the second season of mairuma. hopefully i get to do that in march! i also still have so much manga to catch up with…
blue lock by kaneshiro, muneyuki & nomura, yuusuke
a very fun watch but a rather silly premise coming from someone who fixated on haikyuu for most of their teen years. i need someone to tell these boys that their lives aren’t over because they aren’t the best striker in japan </3
onto my more serious thoughts, i think it’s rather unfortunate when an anime that has a focus on movement (sports, fight scenes, etc.) has some pretty lackluster animation. there are often times where they’re going over this supposedly incredible play they came up with in the voiceover but the visuals don’t make it seem as cool as it’s supposed to be because they can’t show it. oftentimes the anime just shows a still. it’s still pretty bearable though so i can overlook this aspect. story-wise, it has an interesting premise. it’s a different take from the usual “power of friendship and teamwork” that comes with other anime of this genre, even though i think this very power is usually what gets me attached to other shows. blue lock is instead about being selfish, and it really feels like these guys might try to kill each other. some of the earlier trials felt a little unfair, but the way matches are written is engaging enough. sometimes the pacing feels a little off, but that might be the anime’s doing. i’m also not a fan of any real life sports so i can’t speak on how true to life the strategies and moves are, but it’s fictional football hunger games so i’m not expecting much in that department. i’ve often heard that the manga is much better, so maybe it’s something i need to check out as well. the anime itself is just fine, though i don’t think it is anywhere close to being “the next haikyuu” like a lot of people seem to say.
btw, needed to share a screenshot of an excerpt of this myanimelist review for blue lock before i move onto the next part:
thank you, myanimelist user TheNinthRequiem for making me laugh!
i am still playing baldur’s gate even though i haven’t had much time to, so i’m making very little progress. i have also been meaning to revisit tears of the kingdom (i finished two dungeons, got the master sword and hylian shield, then stopped playing) because it’s a lovely game i need to finish! so really, i only picked up one new game this month.
new york times word games
after seeing the ridiculous purple themes connections puts out, i decided to download the new york times word games app. i have been enjoying doing mini crosswords, connections, and wordle! letterboxed and patterns are also pretty fun, but i am absolutely horrible at spelling bee therefore i dislike playing that game. i think crosswords are really cool and i have a lot of respect for people who are good at them and the people who make them! i think you have to be both smart and into pop culture to answer them well. i still think about that episode the try guys did with a pro crossword puzzler who answers the big ones in three to four minutes. i already feel huge when i solve the mini in under a minute so i don’t want to imagine the kind of person i’d become if i could solve the big ones that fast.
i think that sums up this monthly media! thanks for sticking around if you did, totally fine if you just skimmed or didn’t stick around at all. in a weird way, the shorter entry almost feels like a blessing with how much more room i feel like i have to speak on something. sometimes i worry about posts being a little too long.
with that being said, doing this makes me realize that a lot of these new things i take a look at are usually recommendations from friends. i think it’s very sweet of people to recommend things to me, because it usually comes from a place of “i know what you like and when i saw this thing it reminded me of what you like, so i think you might like it”. if it’s not that, then it’s definitely something along the lines of “i love this thing so much and i need to share it with everyone i love so we can all love it together” which i think is just as sweet.
if you, my dear friend and reader, have a recommendation, i’d be more than happy to check it out! you know where to write me.
until next time!