Author: Sam

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The Departed

This weekend I had a Guinness and heard Shipping Up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphy’s at least 3 times, so I am bound by the blood of my people to complete the ritual and watch The Departed. And what a goddamn treat it was to revisit. Up that Dropkick Murphy’s play count to 5 now. 

Saw this when I was 15 at Lowe’s theater in Assembly Square, which later sat dormant for a decade before becoming Assembly Row, now a shopping center with luxury apartments and an AMC. We cheered when Somerville was mentioned (“Uncle Jackie was a small time bookie who tended bar at the Vets in Somerville”) so this movie has a special place in my heart. I’d rate it a 5 for the nostalgic, hometown, ancestral element alone. But this time it gets the 5 because it absolutely kicks ass. Scorsese injects movement and a crackling energy that never stops. Monahan’s script is seemingly messy but structurally perfect. I caught more details this watch than I maybe ever have before, and I’ve seen this a ton. But the biggest praise goes to Thelma Schoonmaker, whose incredible editing allows it to not only propel forward, but sing beautifully. The assembly of this must have been a nightmare, or she just so expertly yields the chaos of the film that it appears that way. 

Make no mistake, the maestro’s cooking with gas. This thing just blasts off: 8 minutes in we’re introduced to the leads and get some of the best Nicholson in the whole movie. 18 minutes in Dropkick Murphy starts blasting and Marty and Thelma seamlessly intersperse all our leads and their journeys across montages. Wahlberg has the best monologue of the movie grilling Leo. I could quote the entire thing, but I have to include the end part: 

Billy Costigan: Families are always rising or falling in America, am I right?
Queenan: Who said that?
Billy Costigan: Hawthorne.
Dignam: [Dignam makes a farting sound] What’s the matter, smartass, you don’t know any fuckin’ Shakespeare?

A complex, duplicitous, up tempo script with so many fucking incredible lines, half a dozen from Dignam alone in the first 20 minutes. The supporting cast is a huge part of what makes this movie as great as it is. THE perfect Wahlberg role, a perfect Alec Baldwin role, a quietly crucial and intimidating Ray Winstone, a fatherly Martin Sheen, and Farmiga doing damn good work balancing and playing off Damon and DiCaprio. 

The one lead I do want to touch on is Damon. His accent is one of the most egregious only because he’s from here and it still sounds so exaggerated. But boy is he great otherwise. One of the first roles where he gets to play a weaselly snake, the type of role I think he does best. He is charming and has some great game, but is such a smug asshole that no one really likes him. His implied impotence is such an interesting detail to include. There’s all sorts of wild choices in this, all for the better. A certain amount of anger is radiating throughout, towards trigger happy fake cops, towards religion and child abusing priests, and towards the psychopathic monsters who ruin people’s lives as if they were taking a piss, whether they’re gangsters, priests, or federal agents. Marty fucking rules. 

“Francis, it’s a nation of fucking rats.”

I post more movie reviews on Letterboxd.

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Breath by James Nestor

Breath by James Nestor is one of the best books I’ve read this year, a fascinating look at something we’re doing every second of every day yet hardly ever consciously think about: breathing. It’s jam packed with interesting stories throughout history, of scientists and every day people experimenting with their breath as a way to change their own physiology and health. Many of the tips offered in this book are very simple, like this: Breathing through your nose is beneficial and healthy. Breathing your mouth is bad. Like, really bad if you do it consistently, as they showed in an experiment where they blocked their noses for 2 weeks (every significant biomarker worsened). There are tons of stories from the book I’d love to share (my highlighted notes from Kindle come out to 78 pages and are included at the end), but first I want to go over some of the basic breathing practices and then showcase two of the more out there stories. Whether complex or stupidly easy, what amazes me most about these stories and techniques are how wide ranging the positive effects of breathing properly can be, impacting nearly every area of your health, including sleep, energy, immune system, decreased anxiety and depression, improved focus and cardiovascular health, just to name a few.

Continue reading “Breath by James Nestor”
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Quarantine Cuisine #1

One thing I’ve been focusing on in this time of quarantine is cooking. I ordered two dutch ovens (a piece of cooking equipment I’ve long wanted but never pulled the trigger on) and they luckily arrived within two days. With these I was able to try out two new to me recipes that turned out great.

Boy was I late on the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen, but I am in love now just like everyone else. I didn’t know at the time but this egg fried rice dish I’ve been making since last year actually came from their sister site, Basically. I cook dinner almost every night and have been cooking for a while now but these videos (along with Kenny Shopsin’s cookbook and the Chef Show on Netflix) really got me to start experimenting again with new dishes and flavors. I’ve made Shopsin’s simplified, quick and easy bolognese and variations (which really was easy and good) so I was a little circumspect on how long this recipe takes. Would it really be worth it? The answer is god damn hell yeah it was worth it. I never cook with wine and reducing that down I think made a huge difference. The bolognese was so rich and wonderful. This blew my mind and the next time I make it I’ll probably double it. Highly, highly recommend.

Ivan Orkin, of Ivan Ramen, is an immediately likable, no bullshit guy who has such an amazing, tragic, heartwarming story. I learned about him in the excellent episode of Chef’s Table that covers his story. His personality shines through in just this short video. This was my first time really making a curry and I did use the exact boxed curry he uses in this video. I only used half a block because I was worried it would be overpowering, but I actually think it was a little lacking with just half, and next time I’ll definitely use the whole thing. I would have probably reduced it a bit more to make it a bit thicker, but my first try still came out really well and I’ll definitely make this again, and continue to tweak and experiment with the plentiful leftovers I have.

Written recipes are linked in the videos if you want finer details and measurements. I’ll post more recipes and successes and failures on here in the weeks to come because what the hell else have I got to do?

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Train to Busan + The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil

I’ve been getting into more South Korean films lately after loving Parasite (and the OG Oldboy back in the day) and these two movies were amazing. Train to Busan follows a group of people trying to get to, well, Busan, as a zombie outbreak hits. The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil is about a gang leader and a cop teaming up to catch a serial killer on the loose. While both films are dark and violent, they both manage to be so exciting and fun, with moments of humor and humanity throughout. I was on the edge of my seat during both movies, the pace is so sharp and quick, there’s really no dull moments in either movie. I’d highly recommend them both. Train to Busan is on Netflix right now.

Both movies feature one of the most effortlessly charismatic actors I’ve seen in awhile, Don Lee (Ma Dong-seok). He’s a big bruiser who can somehow switch his vibe from deeply menacing to wholesomely compassionate at the drop of a hat while barely changing the look on his face. He’s got a role in the stacked cast of Marvel’s Eternals (with a ton of my other favorites) coming out at the end of the year and I can’t wait to follow this guy’s career. He’s got some other movies I want to check out, like the Good, the Bad and the Weird, along with more South Korean films that I’ve seen get a ton of love, including the Handmaiden and Burning. Really grateful for Parasite and Bong Joon Ho nudging me to check out more international and out there films.

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My Favorite Books of 2019

I read a lot this year, much more fiction than I usually do, specifically a lot of detective and crime novels. And I loved it. I just focused on reading what I wanted to, and if I wasn’t enjoying a book I dropped it. Since I was only reading what I enjoyed, I read at a quicker pace and which led to more books overall than usual. I’m continuing this approach in 2020.  Here are my favorite books I read in 2019.

11/22/63 by Stephen King
This was my favorite book I read this year. It hit a lot of targets I’m really interested in: Historical fiction set in the 1960’s. Conspiracy theories. Elements of crime and spy stories with a scifi bent.

The main story has an outsider (to both time and place) time traveling back to first prove without a doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK, and then decide whether or not to prevent the assassination by murdering the assassin. There are plenty of detours from this ‘main story’, which I actually loved, that explore all the realistic side adventures of a time travel story. He tries to save others along the way, sometimes with causing even more dire consequences. He bets on a long shot to win big and then has to avoid retaliation from the bookie that got duped. There’s a lot going on and I enjoyed it all. It also sneaks in a love story, which grew to be one of the most powerful parts of the book. We’re thrown in with the character adjusting to this new time and new place and how he forms relationships and ultimately becomes a part of the community he’s in. In these ways it reminded me of Winesburg, Ohio, which is one of the highest compliments I can give a book. King is amazing at making the setting almost literally become a character, an evil character here, with Dallas. It’s linked to his greater universe he’s created and we even get a glimpse at Derry (another evil city) and the monster that’s living there in 1958 (but more on IT later).

It’s just an amazing combination of genre, drama, and romance with plenty of tense, eerie suspense. On top of it all, it’s a time travel story, presented in maybe the best way I’ve seen it done. It’s laid out in fascinating, easy to follow detail right at the start, but then moves on with the rest of the story, returning to it when it needs to, without ever being bogged down by the ‘rules’. It’s a long book but I never felt bored. It was an exciting, interesting story the whole way through.  

The Spenser Private Detective Novels by Robert Parker
While 11/22/63 was probably my favorite book this year, the Spenser novels are my favorite discovery. Robert Parker was a very local writer, living in Cambridge and teaching at BU, and though I hadn’t known of him previously, any time I brought him up to someone a bit older, they knew exactly who I was talking about. He’s a legend, considered the dean of American crime fiction, and wrote and released a book nearly every god damn year of his life once he got going. Almost all of the Spenser novels are set around Boston (with a few excursions, to London and Los Angeles, for example). It’s set when and where it was written, 1970’s and 80’s around Boston, but it also feels like it could be set any time, with many of the big landmarks and streets mentioned still here today. I read and enjoyed a lot of the detective novels I read this year, but this hit exactly what I was looking for. Spenser is the detective, and he’s a smart ass who likes to cook and read and work out at the YMCA. My guy!

While Spenser is recognized by all he encounters as one of the toughest, most reliable guys around, it’s much more realistic than a Jack Reacher Lee Child novel. He’s not unstoppable. He gets it as good as he gives at times, but his experience as a boxer and policeman make him a crafty, intelligent P.I.

Reading more about the author Robert Parker only made me like him more. Here’s some gold from his Wikipedia:
“Parker and his wife, Joan, separated at one point but then came to an unusual arrangement. They lived in a three-story Victorian house just outside of Harvard Square; she lived on one floor and he on another, and they shared the middle floor. This living arrangement is mirrored in Spenser’s private life: his girlfriend, Susan, had an aversion to marriage and living together full-time. Living separately suited them both, although they were fully committed to each other. Explaining the arrangement in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, Parker said, “I want to make love to my wife for the rest of my life, but I never want to sleep with her again.”
And, “when asked how his books would be viewed in 50 years, replied: ‘Don’t know, don’t care.'”

I’ve read 10 of these books upon discovering it, in just the last four months of the year. They’re incredibly fun, easy reads that you can move right through. My favorites so far are The Goldwulf Manuscript, Mortal Stakes, The Promised Land, & The Judas Goat. I look forward to reading even more in 2020.

A few more favorite detective novels this year: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Slow Horses by Mick Herron, Gun Machine by Warren Ellis, Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)

IT by Stephen King
I ripped through this book at a pretty insane pace, because of how well-written it is, but by the time I got to the end I was ready for it. Maybe I read it a little too fast. King really is a master, but at the same time, he could’ve easily cut 10-20% of the book and it’d probably be even better. That being said, it only really started to feel like it was dragging for a moment towards the end, but then the shIT hits the fan and it’s an exciting, terrifying ride straight to the end. 

As gruesome as it all is, the friendships between the Losers, the escape from misery they get among friends, and the joy and light-hearted humor they’re able to have with each other is really heart-warming and somehow plays well within the fact that a MURDEROUS ALIEN CLOWN IS MASS MURDERING CHILDREN IN THEIR TOWN. Great book, and another entry for me into the world Stephen King has built.

Leadership In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This is a great format to learn history through. It wasn’t a straightforward biography of one individual. Those can always be rough starting out; I don’t care about Lincoln’s uncle’s cousin, I want to hear about how he learned in his environment and built on those lessons to become one of the greatest leaders in American history . And this book provided exactly that. It looked at four President’s formation into the leaders they become, their style and methods, and the change they navigated and brought about through their leadership. The four Presidents were Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and Lyndon Johson, all incredibly interesting, different type of people and leaders. You get to learn about each leader in depth without treading repetitive ground or insignificant details. Kearns focused on their process and strategy, but also the things that happened to them in their lives that formed their pursuits, widened their empathy, and drove them in the direction they would go. Each portrait was very interesting, and I learned more than I previously knew about each man. FDR’s chapters were particularly illuminating because he’s the one I knew the least about before reading. Teddy Roosevelt navigating and balancing on the tight rope for the coal miner’s strike was was very interesting too, and could be a whole book in itself (I’m sure it is), yet is perfectly encapsulated by Kearns in a chapter. I look forward to reading more of her work and about these different leaders.

Spider-Man: Life Story by Chip Zdarsky & Mark Bagley
Far and away the best comic I read this year. While I enjoyed X-Men: Grand Design, this is what I hoped it would be. Chip Zdarsky reimagines the life of Spider-Man chronologically in real-time, each issue covering a different decade, from the 60’s to the 10’s, with Peter Parker and the world around him aging as it goes on. By pulling from over 50 years of comics, distilling the greatest moments in each decade, Zdarsky was able to not only cover the highlights, but imbue each issue and the story as a whole with a tremendous amount of emotion and thoughtfulness. In comics, characters almost never actually age, or if so, extremely slowly. Having Peter Parker go through life, love, loss, and more, grounds the character and makes the emotional beats of the story that much stronger. While Grand Design whipped through story plots, giving a summarization of decades of storytelling, Life Story somehow accomplished a more powerful story in a much shorter page count. I loved this book and would love to see Zdarsky explore more of his planned world, where Captain America, Iron Man, Reed Richards and more age and suffer and live complete lives.

Station Eleven by Emily St. Mandel
I really this twisty post-apocalyptic tale. It’s grim, as you’d expect the apocalypse to be, but it also has a lot of heart, showcasing the importance of community, story-telling, and hope even in the darkest conditions. The structure of the book is great and it wraps around itself and connects all of the characters across time in a really interesting way.

Keep Going by Austin Kleon
I’m a big fan of Austin Kleon’s blog and previous books, and this is another winner. It will instant boost to be more creative, but it’s equally motivating for life in general. The world can seem pretty depressing and this is a book that challenges us to continue to cultivate our own gardens, inside our homes, our relationships, our daily practices, and to keep going in the pursuits and passions that make us feel more alive.

Awareness by Anthony De Mello
This is a kick in the pants book. I don’t know if I’d agree with everything De Mello says in this book, but his blunt, no bullshit talks on how life really is, how people really are, certainly attunes you to the way you’re living. It’s a good palate cleanser to wake you up and think about how much time your wasting on the inconsequential, and to get back in touch with who you really are.

Eat Me: the Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin
Another no bullshit taker, Kenny Shopsin, wrote this wonderful cookbook/musings on life and creativity. This book reinvigorated my passion for cooking and is packed with glorious comfort food recipes. But the real value in this book is Shopsin’s view on life and creativity, allowing no compromises in how he runs his restaurant, how he cooks his food, and how he lives his life. Everyone is different, and Kenny Shopsin is certainly unique, but his drive to live on his own terms is truly inspiring.

A Few More Favorites:
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
All That You Leave Behind by Erin Lee Carr
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
The Black Monday Murders by Jonathan Hickman
House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman
X-Men Grand Design by Ed Piskor


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My Favorite Movies of 2019

  1. Parasite
  2. Uncut Gems
  3. Midsommar
  4. Marriage Story
  5. The Irishman
  6. Avengers: Endgame
  7. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
  8. Knives Out
  9. Booksmart
  10. ???

Honorable Mentions: Always Be My Maybe, Shazam!, The King, Deadwood: The Movie, The Report

Still need to see: Joker, Jojo Rabbit, The Lighthouse, Little Women, Honey Boy, The Last Black Man In San Francisco and plenty more I’m sure I missed

It was a pretty fantastic year for movies and there’s still a good amount I need to see. I watched a lot of these towards the end of the year, so some recency bias might be at play, but I really, really loved the top 6 movies, as wildly different as they are from each other. The rest were great too, but no other movies blew me away like those first 6. Each one felt like a powerhouse in it’s own way. Parasite is weird and funny, yet feels classic in it’s themes and cinematography. Every shot was perfect. It seamlessly blends straight up drama with off-kilter satire and moments of horror with slapstick comedy. Somehow it felt Shakespearean with the conflict between two families from very different circumstances. Uncut Gems is an uncomfortable thrill ride in the best possible way. There’s so much to unpack because so many great moments are jammed in at a breakneck pace. One highlight and example of the deep world the Safdie’s created: While Howard is being pursued for his hundred thousand dollar debt by serious, leg breaking collectors, another shrimpy, weaker bookie constantly pops up looking for the 32 grand Howard owes him, only to be told to fuck off, swatted away like a fly because Howard is too worried about the greater, scarier consequences closing in on him. It’s hilarious, as many parts of the movie somehow are, as we watch this guy dig his hole deeper and deeper. Also, I absolutely loved Julia Fox (and KG!). Midsommar just blew me away. Very disturbing, eerily beautiful, batshit crazy. I loved it and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I saw it. Florence Pugh rightfully stole the show but Jack Reynor and Will Poulter play their roles perfectly as well. A friend said it’s a tough movie to recommend to someone, and I agree, but if you like fucked up disturbing movies, you’ll love it. Marriage Story is another brutal movie in it’s own way, but not being married probably helped me enjoy it. I loved how real it was, shifting from blame and anger to moments of tenderness trying to survive the soul crushing process of a divorce. Each scene had something interesting or unique going on it and connected to something deeper as the movie went on.

I love when movies perfectly execute their specific tone, while still managing to weave in moments of humor, compassion, wrath, and reality. All of these movies somehow managed to do that.

The next two could be interchangeable for me, weirdly considering the ‘beef’ between Scorsese and Marvel. First of all, Scorsese is probably my favorite director of all time, and I am a die heard Marvel fanboy, loving the MCU from the beginning. Both of these films are grand caps to momentous movie making. The Irishman is the coda to Scorsese’s meticulous mafia studies, somber and epic. It’s beautiful because it’s a Scorsese movie, but it’s also morbid and depressing. In this world you either die prematurely, murdered by a knife or a gun, or you simply continue living, enduring the unending march towards death that we all face. It’s a very long movie, which matches this march, and one I’ll definitely revisit in the future. A very different type of ending (though still with plenty of deaths) happened in Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of over a decade of movies, creating for the first time an entire cinematic universe across them all. As I said, I love the MCU movies and this was a bittersweet, cathartic end. With some time, I do think Infinity War may be the better movie, but Cap wielding Mjlonir to bitch slap Thanos around, plus the ensuing reunion/battle, was probably my favorite theater experience this year.

The next two movies were somewhat perplexing, in mostly great, surprising ways because both constantly subvert audience expectations. I laughed as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ended and the credits started rolling at the audacity of this weird, strange movie. I liked it, but it felt like nothing really happened. And upon reflection, not much did. It was a hang out movie, and we got to hang out with two fucked up men of Tarantino, played by two of the best actors we have. The whole movie felt anti-Tarantino in a way. When Pitt goes to check on the old man at the ranch, it’s nothing but suspense and tension building. We think for sure we’re going to find a corpse with flies hovering above it but instead…he’s fine. He was just napping. It was anti-climatic. So was the whole movie in a way. The hype and worry over a movie featuring Charles Manson, Sharon Tate, and Roman Polanski barely featured them at all. We got to watch DiCaprio go apeshit, agonizing over his career, and Pitt play basically himself, a cool, devastatingly good looking dude (who could also beat Bruce Lee in a fight and might have killed his wife). While Hollywood was nearly plotless, Knives Out was almost overstuffed with plot. Rian Johnson crafts a great murder mystery that also subverts typical mystery tropes throughout the whole movie. I was so thrown at one reveal in the middle of it, I thought they gave the whole movie away. Then the final twist came and it made sense. And god damn was the cast fantastic, top to bottom, but Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas shine the brightest. Original work from Tarantino and Rian Johnson is always more than welcome. Both movies have their small flaws, and could be viewed as “tied” in my rankings, but I want more movies like both of these! I’m looking forward to rewatching both, to hang out in Tarantino’s 1969 Hollywood, and to further grasp the mechanics and intricacies of Johnson’s unique murder mystery.

Then there’s Booksmart, which could easily be brushed off as an inverted Superbad remake, but instead it leaps forward with heart and empathy as it’s themes. And it’s funny as fuck.

Finally, I leave my #10 spot open. I’m fairly certain one of the movies I missed will become at least #10, over the Honorable Mentions I listed. I just need to see them first. having said that, I did really like the Honorable Mention movies a lot too. Shazam! was the last movie I watched that came out in 2019, and it was a goofy, funny, kind-hearted throwback. If I had to fill the #10 spot right now, it’d be that or The King, which is another fairly formulaic story enlivened by zigging where you least expect it. It had one of the best endings to a movie I’ve seen in awhile.

Favorite non-2019 movies I saw for the first time: A Star is Born, All That Jazz, Paterson, Wonder Boys, While We’re Young

I watched 5 Adam Driver movies this year (Star Wars was not one of them) and he may be my current favorite actor now. His acting made what could have been a few “boring” movies really exciting and interesting. Paterson is a movie where almost nothing happens, as Adam Driver’s bus driver/poet character just goes about his daily routine for a week, and yet it’s soothing in a way that illustrates a peaceful, zen approach to life. The Report, a pretty standard investigative political drama, is energized by his relentless, manic pursuit of the truth and justice as his character uncovers step by step how the U.S. came to use torture following 9/11. He also played a sort of scummy but likable aspiring filmmaker in While We’re Young, which, along with Marriage Story and the Meyerowitz Stories last year, cemented me as a Noah Baumbach fan.

Finally, I absolutely loved two very different (or are they?) musical movies, A Star Is Born and All That Jazz. Both featured drug addicted stars doing what they loved: doing drugs, chasing women, and singing and dancing. What’s not to love? For real though, these were right up there with the best movies I watched this year. I’m excited to catch up on all that I missed, and maybe tweak this list in the future. I hope next year brings as much diverse and powerful movies as this year did.

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My Favorite Albums of 2019

My Absolute Favorites:

  • Bandana – Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
  • Mirrorland – EarthGang
  • Father of the Bride – Vampire Weekend
  • KIWANUKA – Michael Kiwanuka
  • Free Nationals – Free Nationals
  • Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest – Bill Callahan
  • Jamie – Brittany Howard
  • uknowhatimsayin¿ – Danny Brown

Favorite Non-2019 Albums

  • Ghosts I-IV – Nine Inch Nails
  • The Mix-Up – Beastie Boys
  • Atrocity Exhbition – Danny Brown
  • Oblivion Access & Mista Thug Isolation – Lil Ugly Mane
  • A Star Is Born Soundtrack – Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga
  • Supreme Blientele – Westside Gunn

Albums I Really Liked But Need to Listen to More

  • SOUND & FURY – Sturgill Simpson
  • Magdalene – FKA twigs

Some More Albums I Really Liked

  • ZUU – Denzel Curry
  • GINGER – BROCKHAMPTON
  • When I Get Home – Solange
  • Outer Peace – Toro y Moi
  • Heard It In a Past Life – Maggie Rogers
  • WATCHMEN: Volumes 1-3 – Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor
  • Hitler Wears Hermes 7 – Westside Gunn
  • WWCD – Griselda

Special shout out to Tierra Whack. While she didn’t release an album this year, she did drop lots of great singles and she was my top Spotify artist this year (followed by Freddie Gibbs, Vampire Weekend, and EarthGang).

I made another yearly playlist capturing all the new music I heard and liked even a little bit. I had a separate playlist where I put songs (no matter the year) I really liked and was listening to on repeat throughout the year. Of course there’s also Spotify Wrapped, which is similar to that, but I don’t fully trust how they track it. In any case, these three playlists plus all the albums give a pretty good overview of what I listened to and enjoyed in 2019.

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My Favorite TV of 2019

Watchmen (S1)
Succession (S1+2)
Fleabag (S2)
The Mandalorian (S1)
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (S1)
Barry (S2)
The Boys (S1)
The Righteous Gemstones (S1)
Vice Principals (S1+2)
Russian Doll (S1)
Dave Chappelle: Sticks and Stones (Stand-up)
Bob’s Burgers (S9)
Ramy (S1)
Catastrophe (S1-4)
Veep (S7)
Broad City (S5)
Love, Death & Robots (S1)
Shrill (S1)
Patriot (S1+2)

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Finally, JAY Z has come back to Spotify

Christmas comes early. I was saying the other night how Hov keeping himself off Spotify in favor of his company Tidal was hurting his legacy and relevancy. No one was gonna go out of their way to get Tidal just for JAY Z albums, as much as I love him. That means newer generations couldn’t hear Reasonable Doubt, the Blueprint, the Black Album, Watch the Throne. I’m happy they now can. Happy birthday to the GOAT, Sean Carter.