Treat your ears and eyes

Did I make a newsletter because I like making graphics? Maybe.

I already posted my 2020 playlist of 69 songs, but here are my absolute favorite songs of the year. If I had to pick just one, it’d be “Kyoto.”

This year I got back to a lot of things. One of those was watching more TV. Here are some of the best things I saw. (Note: while I made sure every song on my list was a 2020 release, the same is not true of these shows.) I mentioned Ted Lasso and How To With John Wilson last week. Highly recommend each. Most of these were fairly popular and well-covered, but I’d like to take this moment because I can to evangelize for some lesser-known properties that were great: High Fidelity, based on the novel, was excellent fun and it’s a huge bummer that they aren’t going to make a second season; Murder on Middle Beach, a documentary where a guy explores his family history in attempt to solve his own mother’s senseless murder; and Dave, a fictionalized version of rapper Lil Dicky’s life, was smart and poignant in between the dick jokes and raunch. (Other shows I liked but not enough to put on the graphic: Barry, Fargo, Hard Knocks, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Love Fraud, and McMillions. I watched The Flight Attendant in the first days of 2021 and would have included it had I seen it earlier.)

I didn’t listen to as many podcasts this year, in part because I spent a lot less time driving to and from work, but here is the best of what I heard. Some of my old faves (99PI, Poscast, Lovett) and some new(er) gems: The Dream season 2, all about the wellness industry; Rabbit Hole, about how we are Very Online and it’s killing us; Pass Through Frequencies, where Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World interviews other musicians; and Very Amusing With Carlye Wisel, about theme parks. Hopefully there’s something for everyone in that sentence.

I just didn’t see enough films to make a best of list there. I did recently watch Soul and Beastie Boys Story, which were both great. Off the top of my head, Palm Springs was fantastic and then…I’m blanking so I’ll stop writing okay.

Maybe I’ll let my dude Hippeux make the next Crit List? Bet he’s a big free form jazz guy.

And because I can’t do anything without some self-deprecation, because even though a surprising number of people signed up to read this newsletter it still kinda seems silly to be writing it…

Okay thanks bye love you really I mean it happy new year!