A 2024 Wrap-Up: Wines, Books & Music
MUSIC
Every year brings about new artists, new sounds, or new albums from artists I already know. This year's biggest surprises are below:
Standout joints: "X's" & "Dark Vacay"
Listen here and here, respectively.
Cigarettes After Sex are one of my most recent favorites, having taken over in my adult brain the places where Morphine lived in my teenage brain. Ironically, Morphine feels like the more grown up, adult version of Cigarettes After Sex, though both are perfect for their respective moods. CAS, however, seems to hit that perfect mark when looking back into old romances with naivete and wistfulness.
Standout joints: "Baby I Don't Mind" & "Mornin Dew"
Listen here and here, respectively.
Sunni Colon caught me out of nowhere and I couldn't stop listening to this album on repeat. There's a kind of...bounce...to this album that I wasn't expecting alongside the slick rnb vibes. Like all the songs are sung through the cone of a memory, giving the vocals a kind of muffled shine when they appear. Just a really lovely listen.
Standout joints: "Superstar" & "Only You Know"
Listen here and here, respectively.
Blissed out fuzzpop coated in daydream. I had heard about Beach House years ago, but never gave them a spin until this album for some reason (probably just some leftover curiosity about a band I'd never checked out prior). I put these cats in the same kind of vibey category as I would with Washed Out or maybe even a grittier, more lo-fi version of The Postal Service in some ways.
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WINE
I took to drinking more wine and fewer spirits towards the end of the year, preferring the grape to my (now) normal rye.
Orin Swift's "Slander" (Pinot Noir): I don't really drink a lot of pinots, so my knowledge of them is pretty anemic. The tartness on this one was just enough to be fun without going so overboard as to ruin the experience.
Orin Swift's "8 Years in the Desert" (Red Blend): this is a bottle I've been itching to try since I first heard about it, and luckily the wine spot near me carries much of his stuff. One of the softest, most fruitful red blends I've ever had. Absolutely spectacular bottle.
The Crane Assembly's "Disciples" (Red Blend): smooth, yet full-bodied and super fruit forward. This was a surprise as I like trying bottles based on their labels more than anything and, more often than not, the label ends up being the most interesting part of the drinking experience; not so here.
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BOOKS
As of this writing, I've read 105 books this year. This is the first year that wasn't predominantly graphic novels (though they certainly showed up in several months). I tried to get caught up on more recent horror that I've been missing out on the last few years and found some really excellent choices. While not all my favorites of the year are horror, they are all worth checking out.
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno (Novel)
A lovely slow-burn telling of a grief-based haunting. Really enjoyable read that moved at a solid pace.
A collection of essays from people who've either attempted suicide or are the survivors of others who've done so successfully. Some of the writing is great and relatable; other sections more poetic in nature. While a dark topic, I found a lot of the entries to be moving and well written.
Some people say they write dark fiction; others actually write it. And this collection is DARK dark, and I loved it.
A few stories early on suffered from an overuse of big or elevated thesaurus-like word usage, but that came and went quickly. The stories are great and I need more Paula D. Ashe immediately.
While I despise the impetus for needing books like this, I'm glad this collection exists. Some really exceptional writing and storytelling in a collection whose profit proceeds go directly to NARAL (reproductive rights, abortion care, birth control access, etc.).
Buy a few copies and pass them out to your reader friends for good measure.
While not full on horror, there are horrific aspects to this great little story collection. Heavy on the feel of fables (which I loved), this one evoked a lot of great imagery.
Standout stories: "Templo Mayor," "Diving for Pearls," "At the Bottom of My Lake of Blood," and "Dawn of the Box of Jelly."
This was beautifully rendered. It's hard to talk about it properly without rining the book one way or another, but the usage of unreliability throughout was well done and put to good effect.
A quick and easy, if disquieting, read.
I had Josh as a professor while doing my grad work at USF, so I've read the majority of his works. And? he continues to hit it out of the park on character and voice and the right level of absurdity. This is a great introduction to the character of Saint, who I hope we get to hear more from in the very near future. This book was an absolute ride from start to finish.
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