September 2020 media
Some things I’ve enjoyed this month:
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Hades: There are only a handful of games I’d recommend with “Even if you don’t usually like the genre you should try this one,” and Hades is that for roguelikes. My new favorite game from Supergiant (who have a truly terrifying catalog now) and one of the best games I’ve played this year.
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Wayfinding: I’ve been reading a lot of nonfiction about moving around this year, perhaps as a palliative for cabin fever: Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust for walking, Robert Moor’s On Trails for trails, and now M.R. O’Connor’s Wayfinding for navigation. All three have been great.
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Ichiko Aoba at Japan Matsuri: Aoba recorded an hour-long performance for a UK Japan cultural festival. She continues to sound better and better—I can’t wait to hear what her next album is like. (It seems the video won’t be archived permanently, though, which is unfortunate. Grateful for youtube-dl!)
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Mouth Dreams: Maybe a bit of recency bias here, since Neil Cicierega’s latest mashup crime made it out with mere hours to spare in the month, but I’ve been laughing at it all night. Even four albums into the Mouth oeuvre, Cicierega’s still finding new combinations of songs that feel like sacrilege. Tremendous work.