Zeal and Ardor - Run

 

The new Zeal and Ardor album is out and after three listens this morning, it's already on my shortlist for album of the year. I am perpetually blown the f**k away by how this man's sound evolves. It would be so easy for a band with this DNA to tread water, but that is most definitely NOT the case.

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Read:

This isn't the edition I have, but I love this cover

I realized recently that, for all the fiction by H.P. Lovecraft I've read over the last thirty-odd years, I don't think I'd ever read The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I'm about halfway through the novella at this point, and two observations:

1) This one definitely sates the thirst for Lovecraft imagery and overall style/tone, however, it is not a very good story, and does not feel all that different than quite a few of his other stories.

2) This is easily the most racist of HPL's work that I've read.

The racism, coupled with the redundant prose, has made this one a bit of a chore. However, I intend on trudging on until completion. As I have gotten older and been exposed to more and more Weird Fiction and Horror, Lovecraft becomes more about the concepts and less about the writing. He just wasn't that good. 

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Watch:

The season finale of The Book of Boba Fett was everything I could ever want from a Star Wars story. 

Now, we'll all just have to wait until the third season of The Mandalorian premieres.

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Playlist:

Burial - Antidawn

Zombi - Digitalis

Abby Sage - Fears of Yours and Mine EP

Zeal and Ardor - Eponymous

Orville Peck - Pony

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A Dirge For Boba Fett's November

 

Here we are again. Remember what yer grandpappy telt ya, November brings the Opeth.

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Watch:

Finally!!!

 

When they brought Fett into the second season of The Mandalorian, I was bummed. I mean, with the creation of Mando, it seemed a misstep to overturn Fett's death, because the brilliance of following another character in the beloved armor floored me as a simple and elegant solution to the problem of how to bring back one of the most popular characters in the franchise. By the end of that season, however, when I realized Fett would not end up a regular character on the show, I warmed to his presence. The masterstroke of setting up a new, Fett-centric show with the post-credits sequence on the final episode proved a masterstroke to me, and now, here we are! With Bossk people, Ree-Eyes, Sand People, Bib Fortuna and Gamorrean Guards a'plenty, I am super excited for this one. Bring it on!

 

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Playlist:

Opeth - Blackwater Park

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten

Type O Negative - Dead Again

HEALTH & Poppy - Dead Flowers

Boy Harsher - Careful

Boy Harsher - Country Girl Uncut

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

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Card:

The shortest distance between two points isn't always the fastest. Swiftness can come by way of out-thinking a dilemma.