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Faris Badwan recommended Accelerator by Royal Trux in Music (curated)

 
Accelerator by Royal Trux
Accelerator by Royal Trux
2012 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Royal Trux are a band I maybe got into four or five years ago. I think me liking them has a lot to do with just how good a guitar player Neil Hagerty is, but I like Royal Trux a lot more than any of the other bands he was in. It's just that feeling of when you're making music with the right person, a whole genre might evolve from it. They are completely unique and I think that he couldn't have done it without Jennifer Herrema - it could have only have ever been the two of them. That's what's so great about so many records I like... they often have a partnership of two people and their music couldn't have happened any other way. I feel The Horrors are like that a bit because we've seen so many bands come and go in the ten years since we've been a band. It feels like such a lottery whether a band stays together or not. But, on the other side of that, for us it feels like we could never actually break up. I guess that's an odd thing to say. That's about as optimistic as I get, probably."

Source
  
40x40

Woody Woodmansey recommended track Five Years by David Bowie in Stage by David Bowie in Music (curated)

 
Stage by David Bowie
Stage by David Bowie
1978 | Rock
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Five Years by David Bowie

(0 Ratings)

Track

"This one was one of my favorites because it was the opening track to The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust. What was wanted was a drum beat to introduce the song itself and to set an atmosphere for the whole album. The idea of the song is that the world is ending in five years, so it was about finding a drumbeat that got that across – which was quite a challenge! I remember going through drum rolls, cymbal crashes and I kind of thought: 'Well if it's the end of the world… I can't be bothered! Haha!' You wouldn't be excited and you wouldn't feel like doing a lot. So, that beat came out of sort of despair and apathy, and then when the band comes in and David starts singing, it just feels right. It felt like a really good beginning, so I was quite proud of that. I nailed the brief by all reports! It's been a lot of people's favorite bit of drumming, which is always nice to hear. They'll say: 'Oh when 'Five Years' starts, it gives my spine a tingle when I hear it!' Well my spine was tingling when I played it!"

Source
  
The Bonds of Blood (DI Dani Stephens #4)
The Bonds of Blood (DI Dani Stephens #4)
Rob Sinclair | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the fourth instalment in the DI Dani Stephens Series however, the first that I have read. For me, I don't feel I have missed out too much not having read the previous three in the series, maybe on a bit of the backstory, but nothing that ended up being detrimental to my enjoyment of The Bonds of Blood and just makes me want to go back and read more.

This is a great story - it starts pretty brutally with the murder of a husband and wife in their bed so be prepared - and one that follows DI Stephens and her team's investigation into the brutal murder which is far from straight forward.

Full of lies, deceit and secrets, this is a tricky one to try and work out who did it which makes it all the more enjoyable. It's full of great characters and is written at a good pace and I would definitely recommend to those who love a police procedural where it's not obvious who the perpetrator is until close to the end.

Thank you to Canelo and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
The Devil's Own (1997)
The Devil's Own (1997)
1997 | Action, Drama, Mystery
I don't know what's worse: a film that's underwritten and knows it, or a film which sets up such thought-provoking themes only to immediately ditch them by the wayside (which this one is). It's so frustrating how this had most of the elements just on principle alone to be really, really good and it still wasn't. Seemingly intentionally unexciting, so much so that Brad Pitt's middle-schooler-impression-of-Daniel-Day-Lewis-from-𝘐𝘯-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘰𝘧-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 accent is actually the best part of it. Gets semi-engaging in the last 45 minutes if only because it finally gets some of the right look + feel for what this wants to be, but even then it's got no bite and is disgustingly pro-cop (a cop who shot dead an unarmed victim multiple times then tried to force everyone to cover it up and doesn't regret it can be redeemed without doing anything!). Poises itself to go over issues of oppression, nationalism, trauma, violence, and what happens when they all intersect - but never does. Harrison Ford is so bland here, too. Doesn't even care about its own story, what a fucking shame. This really coulda been something.
  
Unity (The Prophecy #5)
Unity (The Prophecy #5)
Jessica Wayne | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
169 of 200
Kindle
Unity (The Prophecy book 5)
By Jessica Wayne

The death of one of their own will bring about a war unlike any other.

Beaten down, broken, and battle-scarred, Anastasia isn't sure she has what it takes to keep moving forward. Especially when her enemy has corrupted someone she can't afford to lose.

As hidden truths come to the surface, she sets her sights on the one thing that could bring her power unlike any she's ever seen. The only problem is that power could also destroy her.

New enemies and old friends clash to bring back the light back into one of their own.

But death may be the only way to stop it.





I have really enjoyed this series I loved the first 3 books so much the last 2 were ok. I’m not sure they were really needed but despite this they were ok. Ana and Dekota finally get their happy ending and Vincent gets to redeem himself! The last two chapters and epilogue really give you a hero's win good feel. Hope you al enjoy it!
  
Faction Paradox: Of the City of the Saved... (Faction Paradox, #2)
Faction Paradox: Of the City of the Saved... (Faction Paradox, #2)
Philip Purser-Hallard | 2004 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I didn't finish the book, but as you can only either list your books as "Want-To Read", "Currently Reading" or "Read", I went with the latter choice, as it was the only that seemed to fit even remotely. So, my review..

I try to keep an open mind for most things - meeting new people, going to see a movie or checking out a new TV series, or even when starting a new book. This book came highly recommended, the highest recommendation coming from Faction Paradox creator, Lawrence Miles. So, without even cracking the book open, it already had high expectations thrust upon it.

After five attempts at reading it, I gave up tonight! The book bored me unbelievably! Things got to be so bad that I used to help me to get to sleep the last 2 re-reading attempts.

I felt there was just too much going on, with a difficult to really get a feel for *any* of the characters in the first quarter I trudged through. After devouring Miles' FP debut novel, 'This Town Will Not Let Us Go', I thought this would be just as good; sadly, not so much.
  
I really, really want to give this 4 stars. However, my ratings don't just include how much I enjoyed the story, they also include how I feel about punctuation, misspelled words, and grammar. Honestly, that is the only thing keeping me from giving You Loved Me At My Darkest 4 stars. There were several misspelled words (and I am aware that some of these words are not spelled the American way - I do not considered these words misspelled), some places where words were missing, and a good amount of incorrect punctuation. However! I really, really enjoyed reading this book. Despite it being hard to keep up with perspective (mostly in the beginning), I was easily captivated and it wouldn't let go! The story was heartbreaking, but filled with so much fight and spirit. I didn't want to put it down. My heart beat in sync with Lily's. I felt her pain, I felt her fear, I felt her love. I was more reserved in allowing myself to completely trust Jake, more so than Lily was, but it was easy to see that there was something bigger going on. I definitely do not regret finding Evie's book!
  
Dear Aaron
Dear Aaron
Mariana Zapata | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I feel pretty bad for giving this 3 stars. I normally love this author's books but the first 54% or whatever amount it was with the letters/emails/IM's/text messages I was not a fan of at all. This is the third book I've read with them in, and the first I've actually finished. It just all seems so impersonal. I like to read about the body language and facial features after things get said so I can see how the characters react.

From 54-99% I enjoyed it, that first phone call was so good after so long, and then when they first met at the airport? Sigh... that was so sweet, if I did have a few tears in my eyes like Ruby at the time. Then the slow progression from friends to more...it was cute!

But then came the ending. I wanted more. It was like we didn't really get to see them end happily. And then we were back to the IMing... Ugh.

I think I've pretty much read all the author's books now apart from the Malykhin one, which is next on my list.
  
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
1993 | Drama
Didn't Age Well
I have a few qualms with this film. I think the sentiment is great. I understand the many levels that each of the characters provides and I think the actors did a great job. I think the problem with this film is the timing. This film would've never made it to screen if it was released or even conceived in the last several years. I think the idea of an able-bodied, neurotypical man playing that of a neurodiverse character is just shoddy in it of itself. Not to say that Leo wasn't good, because he was. Obviously if you've seen any of his other works, you know Leo is great. But the sentiment still stands.

I feel like this movie is a lot more philosophical than I ever expected it to be. I didn't have a lot of expectations going in as I'd never really heard anything about the movie beyond the title, but I think it was a lot of metaphorical, philosophical meanings that were meant to be taken from the film.

It's definitely interesting to see how older films age and in my opinion, this one didn't age well.
  
Status Update (2018)
Status Update (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Fantasy
8
7.2 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Ross Lynch stars as Kyle Moore, a teenager who after being uprooted by his parents' separation and unable to fit into his new hometown, stumbles upon a magical app that causes his social media updates to come true.



My mum asked me what I'd seen this month and so we went through the list with a brief description of the ones she hadn't heard of. When I got to this one... "It's so much fun, you'd hate it, dad would love it." Mum will watch a lot of things, but daft humour isn't really one of them. Dad and I are all over them though.

I would totally abuse an app that made my status updates come true... of course I'd want to check that it didn't apply things retroactively, and that I could dial my sarcasm back a lot to protect myself from worse self afflicted issues than happen in the film.

It's a fun diversion, a feel good film that has clearly been trying to tick all the boxes on what makes people go to the cinema... bit of wacky mystery, some singing and dancing, a bitchy gay... it's got all the things we love.