Top 7 - My Favourite Things From 1 Month in Quarantine
Well, roughly speaking, we're about 1 month into the COVID-19 quarantine as you read this. I hope you're well. This is a strange time and we can all only do our best, which is generally stay put, leave the house as little as possible and try not to go insane. That's harder than it sounds, I know, and while I gave you all a list of films you should check out during the quarantine, you might want to know what's been keeping me sane. Fortunately for you, that's the exact premise of this post! Below, I have a list of some of the albums, TV shows and video games that I've been enjoying this month, either for the first time or maybe they're familiar things that I've returned to who have proved incredibly comforting. Films have been left out, because I have a Letterboxd account if you want to know more specifically what I'm checking out (recent highlights have included Waves, Videodrome and the Jump Street films) and also because films are so often the focus here, it's nice to readjust for a change. One final thing to note, this isn't necessarily a list ranked by quality, nor even my preference, but largely by how much these things have left an impact on me in the last month. So, with that said, let's get into some honourable mentions!
Maybe it's the magic of working on the Safdie Brothers on Uncut Gems, but The Weeknd's new album soars through the stratosphere and is a funky R'n'B delight, buoyed up by the irresistibly brilliant banger "Blinding Lights".
Maybe I don't love it as much as other people seem to (and maybe that'll change in time) but Breath of the Wild is still a really great game that I just enjoy hanging out in.
Despite my best efforts, I can't help but be won over by Billie Eilish's debut album. That a 17 year old was able to make an album with this much swagger, confidence and high levels of production value would be impressive enough even if the songs weren't great. Fortunately, they're all excellent.
I'm going to do a proper full length post on On Cinema in the coming weeks but for now, let's just say you may want to do your homework and start getting ahead on one of the most casually absurd "film review shows" (if you can even call it that) that we have yet seen.
Some clunky controls held me back but even so, this game managed to break my heart in three short yet memorable hours. A real marvel at how the interactive element of video games can enhance storytelling nuances.
There are our honourable mentions, so now it's time to start properly ranking things, starting with...
On getting back to the UK and my Xbox One, the first game from my colossal backlog that I dipped into was Celeste, a 2D pixel-art platformer from a couple of years back. The story is about a young woman called Madline, who moves to a new town by herself. Faced with her own isolation, she decides to climb a mountain that seems to have mystical properties. The themes and plot of the game may not be the most original in the world (pixel art indie games about mental health are well worn ground at this point), but the reason Celeste stands out is because of how well it executes familiar tropes. It also is a great example of using the rising and often punishing difficulty level as a way of reinforcing the themes of the game. On that note, the platforming in this game is really excellent. It's the kind of gameplay where you will fail often, but it's always your fault, not the game and you restart almost immediately, meaning that trying again always feels like the right decision. If you like platformers at all, Celeste is a game you should be checking out. It isn't particularly long, but every minute has purpose, something that becomes harder to say about games in our modern landscape.
Sufjan Stevens is an artist I've discovered over the last few years, who has a really fascinatingly diverse discography. On the one hand, he has sprawling masterworks like Come On Feel the Ilinoise which uses an orchestra and a choir to tell the story of an entire American state, but then on the other hand, he also contributed songs to Call Me By Your Name, songs that enhanced the heartbreak of first love that the film has become famous for. With his 2015 album Carrie and Lowell though, he finds a really harmonius meeting point between the two. It has the conceptual brilliance of Ilinoise (being about his mother's death and her second husband), but also foreshadows the style and nuance that he would eventually bring to CMBYN. While I warn you it could probably ruin your mood, this album is an absolute downbeat delight. As long as you're ready to sit in sadness for a while, this is a forty minute sonic odyssey you won't regret.
You've probably already seen Tiger King, but if you haven't, what the hell are you doing? While on the one hand it's another example of the generic true crime formula that Netflix perfected so well they had to cancel American Vandal when it parodied it too well, it is a story unlike any other. The characters, events and twists of the tale of Joe Exotic make Tiger King feel unlike anything else out there. What starts as an examination into the kind of people who run zoos and tiger enclosures soon spirals wildly out of control into tales of rampant polygamy, murder accusations and hitmen who may not even realise they're hitmen. If you've managed to avoid any details so far, you have to check out Tiger King and learn about the wild world of Joe Exotic and friends. You may not like many of the characters once you reach the other side, but you'll struggle to forget them.
Dua Lipa's eponymous first album is messy, but good fun. Some of the songs on there are great (I'll happily stick up for "Blow Your Mind" any day of the week) but I've always liked her work with other artists better. That culminated in the sound of 2018's summer "One Kiss", which due to two of my flatmates from the time is intrinsically connected to that summer, to that campus, to that kitchen forever. The reason I'm telling this story is because while Dua Lipa has done some great songs before, I was in no way prepared for what a step-up her second album Future Nostalgia would be. Future Nostalgia is pure pop perfection. It uses all the tricks and techniques that pop music has used for decades, but has a truly fun, sexy time with them. Verses are dedicated to "all that good pipe in the moonlight", playful grunts and squeals have been left untouched in post-production and more than that, you feel like this is an artist really reaching her current creative peak. In the few weeks since this album came out, I've listened to it maybe five or six times, something that I rarely do for most albums, let alone listening that many times in one month. Even to those who have been so far unconverted to Dua Lipa, I encourage you to take a chance on a slick slice of pop that you will be drawn back to, again and again. We're all told it's important to keep routines during this time, so why not make a weekly listen to Future Nostalgia part of yours?
I got this game as a gift from a friend at Christmas and while I loved what I played at the time, it was a busy time for me, so I didn't manage to get much done. Recently though, I dipped my toes back into the miserable world of Revachol, the death of a mysterious man and my nameless, booze soaked detective and was instantly reminded why I love this game so much. The thing is, my almost 12 hours of playtime have only translated into about three in-game days, but I feel like I've seen and experienced so much. This murder mystery RPG is so incredible mainly because of its brilliant writing, which might be the best I've ever seen in any video game. You get huge, expansive sets of dialogue choices, which can take your character down numerous different avenues. Perhaps you're a superstar detective? Maybe you're a hopeless pill addict who killed the man himself? In my case, you might be an utterly delirious lunatic, convinced that larger, supernatural forces are at play behind all of this. However you play though, I find it impossible to see how you couldn't be impressed by the world that has been built here. The only criticism I can ever give of Disco Elysium is that I don't feel like I have enough time in the day to dedicate to it.
Roughly a year ago, I got really into Arcade Fire. I'd dipped my toe in before, but I was finally, really getting into this band I'd heard so much good stuff about. The thing is, their album The Suburbs was a really difficult album for me. I didn't like it at all, I couldn't even finish it, despite some songs I did like. Then, something happened, and I apologise because it'll make me sound really pretentious. On going to America and finally seeing the kind of suburbs that this album was written about, it all clicked. On a coach trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, I finally managed to listen to it all the way through, and was really pleased by what I heard. That brings us around to me, sitting in Miami Airport, listening to The Suburbs and finally getting it. This is an album about mourning the death of an America past. Maybe it was an America that never existed, but it feels like it did and now it certainly doesn't. Every time I listen to it, a new song leaps out at me, utterly blowing me away afresh and I love how the buoyant songs all hide lyrics of mourning and the sadder songs feel so oddly comforting. A year ago, this was easily my lest favourite Arcade Fire album. Now, having seen the suburbs and given my heart to them, I think it could be my favourite. As someone currently stuck in his tiny little home village, an album about how constrictive those environments can be speaks to my soul, maybe a little too well. Maybe just right.
No shock here, right? Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been my absolute rock in this most uncertain of times. I'll try not to keep you here too long as I've already written about how much I love this game, but really, there's so much to adore. Every day, I wake up and Animal Crossing is there for me. It gives me a routine, a reason to crawl out of bed. It gives me an escape into a world of joy and love. It also reminds me how much capitalism sucks, something that I maybe don't need reminding of now because of how blatantly obvious it has become, but still, it never hurts. As the world outside has been falling apart and my life frays, as those of many others have, getting to pop into my island, dig up fossils and shake some fruit trees has healed me a little bit. I am always an advocate of the healing power of art, how it can help you in some of your toughest times, but the arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has proven that in spades. It has kept me sane in the last month and I hope either it has done the same for you or you've found something equally healing to keep your joy alive.
After Hours by The Weeknd
Maybe it's the magic of working on the Safdie Brothers on Uncut Gems, but The Weeknd's new album soars through the stratosphere and is a funky R'n'B delight, buoyed up by the irresistibly brilliant banger "Blinding Lights".
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Maybe I don't love it as much as other people seem to (and maybe that'll change in time) but Breath of the Wild is still a really great game that I just enjoy hanging out in.
when we all fall asleep where do we go by Billie Eilish
Despite my best efforts, I can't help but be won over by Billie Eilish's debut album. That a 17 year old was able to make an album with this much swagger, confidence and high levels of production value would be impressive enough even if the songs weren't great. Fortunately, they're all excellent.
On Cinema at The Cinema
I'm going to do a proper full length post on On Cinema in the coming weeks but for now, let's just say you may want to do your homework and start getting ahead on one of the most casually absurd "film review shows" (if you can even call it that) that we have yet seen.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Some clunky controls held me back but even so, this game managed to break my heart in three short yet memorable hours. A real marvel at how the interactive element of video games can enhance storytelling nuances.
There are our honourable mentions, so now it's time to start properly ranking things, starting with...
7. Celeste
On getting back to the UK and my Xbox One, the first game from my colossal backlog that I dipped into was Celeste, a 2D pixel-art platformer from a couple of years back. The story is about a young woman called Madline, who moves to a new town by herself. Faced with her own isolation, she decides to climb a mountain that seems to have mystical properties. The themes and plot of the game may not be the most original in the world (pixel art indie games about mental health are well worn ground at this point), but the reason Celeste stands out is because of how well it executes familiar tropes. It also is a great example of using the rising and often punishing difficulty level as a way of reinforcing the themes of the game. On that note, the platforming in this game is really excellent. It's the kind of gameplay where you will fail often, but it's always your fault, not the game and you restart almost immediately, meaning that trying again always feels like the right decision. If you like platformers at all, Celeste is a game you should be checking out. It isn't particularly long, but every minute has purpose, something that becomes harder to say about games in our modern landscape.
6. Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an artist I've discovered over the last few years, who has a really fascinatingly diverse discography. On the one hand, he has sprawling masterworks like Come On Feel the Ilinoise which uses an orchestra and a choir to tell the story of an entire American state, but then on the other hand, he also contributed songs to Call Me By Your Name, songs that enhanced the heartbreak of first love that the film has become famous for. With his 2015 album Carrie and Lowell though, he finds a really harmonius meeting point between the two. It has the conceptual brilliance of Ilinoise (being about his mother's death and her second husband), but also foreshadows the style and nuance that he would eventually bring to CMBYN. While I warn you it could probably ruin your mood, this album is an absolute downbeat delight. As long as you're ready to sit in sadness for a while, this is a forty minute sonic odyssey you won't regret.
5. Tiger King
You've probably already seen Tiger King, but if you haven't, what the hell are you doing? While on the one hand it's another example of the generic true crime formula that Netflix perfected so well they had to cancel American Vandal when it parodied it too well, it is a story unlike any other. The characters, events and twists of the tale of Joe Exotic make Tiger King feel unlike anything else out there. What starts as an examination into the kind of people who run zoos and tiger enclosures soon spirals wildly out of control into tales of rampant polygamy, murder accusations and hitmen who may not even realise they're hitmen. If you've managed to avoid any details so far, you have to check out Tiger King and learn about the wild world of Joe Exotic and friends. You may not like many of the characters once you reach the other side, but you'll struggle to forget them.
4. Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa's eponymous first album is messy, but good fun. Some of the songs on there are great (I'll happily stick up for "Blow Your Mind" any day of the week) but I've always liked her work with other artists better. That culminated in the sound of 2018's summer "One Kiss", which due to two of my flatmates from the time is intrinsically connected to that summer, to that campus, to that kitchen forever. The reason I'm telling this story is because while Dua Lipa has done some great songs before, I was in no way prepared for what a step-up her second album Future Nostalgia would be. Future Nostalgia is pure pop perfection. It uses all the tricks and techniques that pop music has used for decades, but has a truly fun, sexy time with them. Verses are dedicated to "all that good pipe in the moonlight", playful grunts and squeals have been left untouched in post-production and more than that, you feel like this is an artist really reaching her current creative peak. In the few weeks since this album came out, I've listened to it maybe five or six times, something that I rarely do for most albums, let alone listening that many times in one month. Even to those who have been so far unconverted to Dua Lipa, I encourage you to take a chance on a slick slice of pop that you will be drawn back to, again and again. We're all told it's important to keep routines during this time, so why not make a weekly listen to Future Nostalgia part of yours?
3. Disco Elysium
I got this game as a gift from a friend at Christmas and while I loved what I played at the time, it was a busy time for me, so I didn't manage to get much done. Recently though, I dipped my toes back into the miserable world of Revachol, the death of a mysterious man and my nameless, booze soaked detective and was instantly reminded why I love this game so much. The thing is, my almost 12 hours of playtime have only translated into about three in-game days, but I feel like I've seen and experienced so much. This murder mystery RPG is so incredible mainly because of its brilliant writing, which might be the best I've ever seen in any video game. You get huge, expansive sets of dialogue choices, which can take your character down numerous different avenues. Perhaps you're a superstar detective? Maybe you're a hopeless pill addict who killed the man himself? In my case, you might be an utterly delirious lunatic, convinced that larger, supernatural forces are at play behind all of this. However you play though, I find it impossible to see how you couldn't be impressed by the world that has been built here. The only criticism I can ever give of Disco Elysium is that I don't feel like I have enough time in the day to dedicate to it.
2. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
Roughly a year ago, I got really into Arcade Fire. I'd dipped my toe in before, but I was finally, really getting into this band I'd heard so much good stuff about. The thing is, their album The Suburbs was a really difficult album for me. I didn't like it at all, I couldn't even finish it, despite some songs I did like. Then, something happened, and I apologise because it'll make me sound really pretentious. On going to America and finally seeing the kind of suburbs that this album was written about, it all clicked. On a coach trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, I finally managed to listen to it all the way through, and was really pleased by what I heard. That brings us around to me, sitting in Miami Airport, listening to The Suburbs and finally getting it. This is an album about mourning the death of an America past. Maybe it was an America that never existed, but it feels like it did and now it certainly doesn't. Every time I listen to it, a new song leaps out at me, utterly blowing me away afresh and I love how the buoyant songs all hide lyrics of mourning and the sadder songs feel so oddly comforting. A year ago, this was easily my lest favourite Arcade Fire album. Now, having seen the suburbs and given my heart to them, I think it could be my favourite. As someone currently stuck in his tiny little home village, an album about how constrictive those environments can be speaks to my soul, maybe a little too well. Maybe just right.
1. Animal Crossing New Horizons
No shock here, right? Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been my absolute rock in this most uncertain of times. I'll try not to keep you here too long as I've already written about how much I love this game, but really, there's so much to adore. Every day, I wake up and Animal Crossing is there for me. It gives me a routine, a reason to crawl out of bed. It gives me an escape into a world of joy and love. It also reminds me how much capitalism sucks, something that I maybe don't need reminding of now because of how blatantly obvious it has become, but still, it never hurts. As the world outside has been falling apart and my life frays, as those of many others have, getting to pop into my island, dig up fossils and shake some fruit trees has healed me a little bit. I am always an advocate of the healing power of art, how it can help you in some of your toughest times, but the arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has proven that in spades. It has kept me sane in the last month and I hope either it has done the same for you or you've found something equally healing to keep your joy alive.
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