favourite things

favourite listenables

frank ocean - blonde/endless

hard to pick between these two. blonde is undeniably the more rounded product with more polished recordings and mixing, emotional complexity and diversity sonically, endless however acts as more interesting listen, which unpolished nature doesn’t detract from the atmospheric nature of the contents.

eden - icymi

holy fuck. this album is everything to me. i've been following eden since 2015, right before they dropped their old moniker the eden project. i've slowly watched them develop since then to release this insane work of art. highly textured, the album iterates and reiterates the theme of love lost, each song presenting the same core ideas under such a different lens. emotionally devastating.

yeo - recovery channel

i got introduced to yeo by an old friend while playing tekken with them. this was the first album i was around for the release of, and i couldn't be more impressed in the growth of an artist in three years. recovery channel acts as a phenomenal piece of australian r&b while also having deep ties to yeo’s herstige as malaysian-australian. very tactile of a record.

brakence - hypochondriac

i actually found the closer track on this album before i heard anything else from brakence. i kept hearing whispers on forums and stuff about how dedicated his fanbase was, so i checked his most recent album out, this one. production is immaculate, with incredible attention to detail. takes its themes to their apex before ripping itself apart at the seams.

childish gambino - awaken my love!

for many people childish gambino’s departure from atlanta rap to psychedelic soul was probably the switch up they dreaded, but for me personally the more i listened to this masterpiece the more i fell in love with the beautiful themes of love, parenthood and police brutality contrasted with just some fucking hard basslines and soulful melodies.

honourable mentions

favourite playables

mirror’s edge/mirror’s edge catalyst

choosing between mirror’s Eege and it's reboot (on the second instalment no less) is particularly difficult because despite having the same premise they function incredibly differently due to catalyst's open world structure. i won't do a full breakdown of both products (although i do have complex opinions), i'll say that both games have almost nothing to say in the way of story and everything to say in gameplay, although i would call the original a much more polished product. its length is probably it's weakest attribute, but the replayability is shockingly high. it's sequel has a lot of problems from a game design perspective that's offset by the moment to moment gameplay just being fun.

final fantasy vii

the stereotypical pic. i’ve heard the sentiment a lot of people like ffvii the most out of the series purely because it was the first final fantasy they played. not entirely untrue, but i feel like ffvii captures a brilliant mix of sci-fi/fantasy that creates a world that while having such insane variety in locations and vibes, also feels cohesive and consistent. try as i might i just haven't experienced the same sense of continuity in the other titles i've played thru (1, 4 , 6, 7, 8 and 9 this far). definitely lives up to the hype. fuck ffviii though. duck it to death.

outer wilds

i understand that by writing this im intentionally violating one of the sacred rules of this game; that you don’t talk about it. so bare with me is i try to keep my sins to a minimum. outer wilds has a reputation for changing people’s outlooks on life, breaking what they think is possible in games, and having an amazing soundtrack written by andrew prahlow, one that i personally have shed tears to in its beauty. its a work that has affected me the most deeply of any medium, and the fact i can’t talk about it any further without whittling at the experience kills me.

sekiro

i know when people debate which is the best souls game it inevitably ends up being an armed conflict between the united kingdom of bloodborne and the people’s republic of elden ring but since i haven’t finished elden ring, i guess it comes down the ukb against the sovereign state of sekiro, and in that conflict i’m sorry to say, sekiro comes out on top. it’s easy to think that this is just because it’s set in japan, but i’d actually contend that it’s because combat is much more centred around creating a sense of mastery, learning when to push for an advantage, play patiently, and the best responses to attacks to create a much more intimate dance with enemies, feeling one with the flow of battle. deeply satisfying at the highest level

sleeping dogs

i almost put this in the honourable mentions list, but the more i tried to write a tagline for it, the more i remembered everything so great about it. it's atmosphere and authenticity it's staggering for something digital. i really have to commend the devs for taking such vivid inspiration from wuxia films and not grinding down its cultural roots like most other western martial arts media. i could say much more, but i'll leave you with the fact I've played it through 3(4?) times, and i very rarely play a game through twice.

honourable mentions

favourite watchables

all about lily chou-chou

most coming of age films are about explicit empowerment from disempowerment, usually with the protagonist either gaining a sense of control over the self or external surroundings. lily chou-chou is much more interested in the messy road between the two of those states, and mirrors the often unclear and emotionally confusing passage of reality. scored with some genuinely incredible music and cinematography choices that realise the emotional complexity of its subject matter beautifully.

tatami galaxy

originally got into this anime cause i used to binge watch amvs and source out the visually appealing shows, which is the first thing anyone who sees tatami galaxy brings up. it contrasts incredibly textured backgrounds, including rotoscopes and straight footage, with expressive yet simplistic characters. it's premise is likely to resonate with young men, particularly those disenfranchised with the wasting of youth, more than any demographic, but that doesn't stop it from being a highly entertaining watch with comedy that actually made me laugh, and oh brother do i find most anime ‘comedy’’ grating.

her

takes its honestly silly premise to act as a deeply mature view of relationships, what it means to love, to grieve, to move on. really well acted in typical a24 fashion. tied together with an amazing soundtrack by arcade fire. Hard to believe this is the guy who wrote jackass

aku no hana

uncomfortable at the best of the times, the flowers of evil revels in creating a sense of helplessness that pervades the entire experience. perfectly captures the experience of being an emotionally immature, deeply pretentious and sexually charged teenager. perfectly. there's almost a sense of relief that comes with surrendering to the utter chaos. unfortunately exits after season 1, while the manga goes on for quite a while. also unfortunately has the marred reputation of looking rather strange to the outsider, being completely rotoscoped. i'd argue its animation style is meant to indicate the seriousness of which it takes itself. in any other show, the events would be played for comedy, and aku no hana has no interest in playing that role.

sonny boy

really impressed with how the series intersperses typical isekai tropes with genuine philosophy and thought provoking fables. man vs nature, immortality, societal structures and the rules we create,the role of god. also some inspiring art direction that consistently outdoes itself with vibrant colours and mind bending worlds.

honourable mentions

favourite readables