Theme Park Experience

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  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J

" We’re not repeating history/Just the parts that sucked ” -Ben Folds, “2020” For every year since 2001, I cobbled together a list of my favorite albums of the year. I’d share it with friends via e-mail. Then those lists morphed into extensive posts on this blog.  This year, I do not have an extensive list of albums, but I do have a near-three-hour Spotify playlist of tunes that caught my ear .  I really loved Hum’s surprise album Inlet , as it sounds like the natural progression from Downward is Heavenward . Dogleg’s Melee shows a young post-hardcore/emo band that has a lot of promise. And an EP from a bus driver in Denton recording under the name It Me shows he should make this one-man project into a fully-formed band.  Why did I opt out of exploring entire albums en masse in 2020? Well, my mind was on other, much more important, matters. Having the focus to devote 30-55 minutes to a new album while working or driving was difficult. I don’t think I’m alone here.  This was not t

For as long as I have been alive, Star Wars has been in my life. I was only a year old when The Empire Strikes Back came out, a time when apparently a lot of people were angry about the twist that revealed Luke Skywalker’s parentage. I was not aware of this until I was in college, and frankly, does it really matter about the twist or the context of the day for fans? I think it does, as history has a way of repeating itself. These eleven films (along with a couple of animated shows, a holiday special, and a couple of live action shows) continue to mean something, even when they come out to mixed reviews. The Star Wars saga itself is bigger than those reactions, and I’m happy to see the saga transcend generations. I’m only a few days removed from seeing The Rise of Skywalker for the first time. I thought it was a fantastic film in the Skywalker saga. And since I’m not a filmmaker or a producer, I’m not one to make a bold claim about how I would have done it better. Because Star

Another great year of music came through my eardrums. Some were from new acts, others came from acts I’ve loved for many years. This is a collection of albums that brought me the most joy in the year. I also compiled a lengthy list of my favorite songs of the year here . Holding Patterns, Endless Three former members of Crash of Rhinos made an album that is on the level of their former band. Dare I say Endless is better -- in some aspects -- than that incredible five-piece’s second album, Knots . Imagine the shouting of Hot Water Music with the dynamics ala . . . And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead and Sonic Youth, along with drumming that is not afraid to run over the beat. Just fantastic from start to finish. American Football, LP3 American Football’s third self-titled album is another stellar addition to the band’s discography. For a band that was originally a one-off while the members were in college (and their first LP was done mainly a

It’s been four years since Hope and I have officially been together. (And a week shy of two years married.) It’s hard to think of a better way of commemorating the occasion than sharing the experience of meeting the guy who — in some ways — helped bring her and I together: Kevin Smith. To recap: Hope and I met through Twitter only a short time after Kevin’s 2015 appearance at the Texas Theatre. She related to the thoughts I blogged about after hearing Kevin’s two-hour epic response on how to stay positive in spite of people constantly saying you suck. Even though it was a Twitter interaction, I had never felt a pull that strong to someone before. I sensed something was way more to this woman than I could put into words. It was more than her finding inspiration in Kevin’s response when many of the people in my earshot who complained how only one question was answered over a two-hour period. There was depth I wanted to know more about — and I wanted to know soon. After she put out