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United States of America by The United States of America
United States of America by The United States of America
1968 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This band were in a similar-shaped box to Silver Apples. The nucleus of the band – Joe Byrd – was from an academic background; he was part of the Fluxus movement at the same time as Yoko Ono. He looked like a freak but wasn't druggy. The band were definitely writing lyrics that were less utopian than a lot of the stuff the hippies were writing at the time; there's a subversive edge seeping through the record that's evocative of what was going on in the States at the time – Vietnam, conscription, campus violence, the civil rights movement. You can really imagine this lot playing at a proper happening. A track like 'Love Song For The Dead Ché' is one of the most beautiful songs ever written, whereas some of the rest of it has a real jagged edge, a violence almost, that seems to come from Byrd's more experimental side. It's a very political record. Their second album even more so. I could easily have chosen that; this one just edged it for me today."

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Tyondai Braxton recommended Articulacao by Florian Hecker in Music (curated)

 
Articulacao by Florian Hecker
Articulacao by Florian Hecker
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This series of pieces by Florian Hecker is great. The 30 minute modular synth piece in the book ended by the vocal pieces is a really amazing. I could listen to this piece as one whole composition – I don't actually know his mode of operation, but it works great as a collection. As a modular synth and electronic music guy, the middle movement is just masterful. And he's such an interesting guy, so again, very personalised as far as the way that he works. I don't know at all about what he thinks. In a lot of ways theoretically he's quite impenetrable, I don't know where he's coming from in some instances. He definitely excites me. A lot of his stuff is heavily theoretical. Like the Joan le Barbara movement in the beginning with the voice – it's like the reciting of these philosophical truths or something. And in a way, I would ask him, “Am I supposed to be digesting all of this information or am I supposed to be just letting it wash over me?” That's how I appreciate it."

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Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
1993 | Rock
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My older brother used to play this a lot in the house - the piano sample in 'C.R.E.A.M.' is probably one of the earliest things I can remember. It predates the first records I fell in love with, it was just always getting blasted out of his room. I didn't actively keep up with hip-hop - all I had access to was through him while I got more interested in guitar and rock music. When we were mixing Antidotes, I started to go back and actively rediscover a lot of the stuff my brother had been listening to at the time, from around '94/'95. I love the production, the lyricism and how evocative this incredibly captivating cinematic cartoon world is. I love the whole gang mentality, their self-sufficiency, the grittiness of the production. I don't think I've taken direct musical influence from them, but I admire their ethos and the self-mythologising, the way they turned it into something much bigger than just the tracks. It's just a fucking amazing record."

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The Rhythm Section (2019)
The Rhythm Section (2019)
2019 | Action, Drama, Mystery
A weird, gross, seedy, nonsensical piece of tough-as-nails fluff that I found to be immensely enjoyable. In terms of both its looks and its writing, it plays a whole lot less like Reed Morano's heartbreaking portrait of grief in 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 and a *lot* more like Ang Lee taking a stab at 𝘗𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘵. The main critique (besides the fact that this movie is illiterate pace-wise and makes not a drop of sense - both perfectly valid) seems to be that this didn't take the route of generic actioner, to which I reply with a resounding... lmfao k. Visually fetching, and that score *slaps* - not to mention the action is swift and brutal, that car chase is an all-fucking-timer. Amounts to a globetrotting asskicker where Blake Lively sleeps and stumbles around gorgeous locations while beating the shit out of and verbally chastising every man she comes across, we love to see it. Like a delectably oafish hybrid of 𝘏𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘦 and 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯, which you can sign me right the hell up for.
  
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
2018 | Action, Comedy
I don't feel like a lot needs to be said about this one. It's a fun action comedy, and while like most films of this ilk it's slightly predictable it still has a great outcome.

If Sam Heughan wanted to make the jump over to "serious" action and play Bond, I think I'd watch that. Hell, if Mila Kunis wanted to do that I'd watch it. There were a lot of entertaining actors, it might not be the highlight of their career but I'm certainly glad they signed on for it.

The only reason there's a half star off this is because of Kate McKinnon. For a moment at the beginning of the film I thought she might not be playing that same character again... it's a funny character but there are those awkward moments where you stop and scrunch up your face at the screen a bit. I like her, but I don't feel like these roles are doing her justice, and I'm not sure that they should be anything other than bit part comic relief.
  
The Minds of Billy Milligan
The Minds of Billy Milligan
Daniel Keyes | 1981 | Crime
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Admittedly, I wanted to read this book after watching Split, and hearing that Billy Milligan inspired the character.
It seems like there are two camps in the psychology field, ones that believe in Multiple Personalities (now DID), and ones that do not. While at some points I thought to myself, surely, this couldn't be true. But, the brain is weird, and I believe it. I was also hesitant to believe a lot of the details because a)conversations were completely recreated and b) the author was the dude that wrote Flowers for Algernon.
This begins as a true crime novel, then goes into a narrative of Billy Milligan's various lives, then what happened after he told the author his story. I preferred the true crime section to all else, but it was all intensely interesting.
Now, the Split connection; there were some personalities straight up lifted from Milligan's case, and the fact there were 24. Split took a lot from this book.
Overall, an interesting, and at times, unsettling, read.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Dumped, Actually in Books

Sep 28, 2019  
Dumped, Actually
Dumped, Actually
Nick Spalding | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fun and heartwarming
Nick Spalding’s books can always be relied on to be lighthearted and entertaining, and Dumped, Actually is no exception. To be frank, his writing style is basic and uncomplicated, and it’ll never win any awards. However that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.

I decided to read this as it rather reminded me of my doomed relationship last year, and there is a lot in this book that i could relate to about how I felt (and still do). Of course Ollie’s exploits are entirely over the top and farcical, but that’s what makes this book so enjoyable to read and it’s laugh out loud funny in parts. There’s a moment just over half way through that throws the momentum of the book a little, but it’s still very heartwarming and has a lot of feel good moments and messages. Part of the ending is a bit cliched and the writing does get a bit basic at times, but it’s still a rather fun moving book that really got me thinking (and crying).
  
Countdown (2019)
Countdown (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
Poorly executed
I remember seeing the trailer for this and being intrigued, yet didn't get chance to watch it at the cinema. Which is a shame as it might have been better on the big screen.

The plot and idea behind this is a good one. An app that tells you when you die thats actually true? With today's technology reliant society, this is a wonderful idea for a film as it can resonate with most people. The problem is that it has been very poorly executed. I didn't find it particularly scary or horrifying, and the number of deaths in this are surprisingly lacking. They've also tried to give this a proper back story and explanation when really it wasn't necessary. If they had made it a lot creepier and a lot less explainable, this could've actually been a decent film as the acting of a couple of leads was quite good. And i loved the IT guy who definitely brought a few laughs.

Overall not terrible, but not particularly scary for a horror which was a shame.
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Aug 16, 2020

This is on my (large) list to watch. I always have time for an average horror 👍😂

House Beneath the Bridge
House Beneath the Bridge
Iain Rob Wright | 2017 | Horror
9
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
The burning of the wrong person leads to a village being cursed. Years later a car crash leaves three groups of people stranded in a dried up river bed that should be easy to get out of, but isn't. Some take haven in a strange church whilst others find a strange house. Terrorised by a strange monk and a giant toad god they need to find a way out, but who can they trust.

This is the first book by Iain Rob Wright that I have read and I have to say I enjoyed it. There are a number of characters who could be the villain or who could be helping the main cast and the reader is misled through out a lot of the book. The landscape the cast are trapped in is just strange enough to add a bit of unease but not so strange that it takes away form the characters interaction.
It was also nice to find a stand alone novel as there are a lot of series' around.