Tuesday 3 January 2023

2022 REVIEW - RECORDS

In no particular order, these are my top records and reissues from 2022, about half of which are actually from 2021 and I was just a bit slow off the starting blocks to include last year.

Best Records of 2022

  1. Gauze - 言いたかねえけど目糞鼻糞 LP
  2. Unidad Idealogica - S/T LP
  3. Algara - Absortos En El Tedio Eterno LP
  4. Stingray - Feeding Time 7”
  5. Home Front - Think Of The Lie 12”
  6. Spectral Wound - A Diabolic Thirst LP
  7. Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae Of Gods - Part I 12”
  8. Drowning Horse - Meghalayan 12”
  9. The Flex - Chewing Gum For The Ears LP
  10. Speed - A Gang Called Speed 12”
  11. Vacuous - Dreams Of Dysphoria LP & Katabasis 12”
  12. Slime Lord - Moss Contamination LP
  13. Mortuary Spawn - Spawned From The Mortuary  12”
  14. Sinnesloschen Inc (aka Deadly Avenger) - Polybius LP 


The final Gauze record got a vinyl release this year and while my favourite material is still the fourth LP, this is still a fitting note for them to end things on. Fast, utterly raging, and all over before you realise what just happened. What a band.


The Algara lp was well worthy of all the praise I was hearing, Unidad Idealogica LP was a ferocious blast of fast Colombian punk and the burly aggro of Stingray and catchy synth melodies of Home Front meant those records did not leave my turntable for months.



Spectral Wound’s A Diabolic Thirst LP was feral blast of raw,  frosty Canadian black metal, but was impossible get ahold of in 2021. It took me until the middle of this year to locate a copy of the repress. Meanwhile Adelaide’s Mournful Congregation served up some huge chunks of melancholy funeral doom that hit the mark nicely. Perth doom/drone outfit Drowning Horse returned with their Meghalayan 12” which was a nice heavy, slow surprise as I assumed they had called it quits. Saw them play with Space Bong several years ago and they were great.


The Flex’s Chewing Gum For The Ears LP was a swift dose of fast, ripping hardcore that was just what I needed, while Speed’s Gang Called Speed 12” brought back memories of early Knuckledust or Set it Off-era Madball - despite (or should that be IN spite of) their ludicrous videos showing off their boxing moves.


The backslide into metal was completed by Vacuous’s vicious new lp, Dreams Of Dysphoria, and their Katabasis 12” which I discovered earlier in the year and lucked out when I discovered an Australian distro was still carrying it. Despite being from 2021, the festering, atmospheric death metal of Slime Lord’s Moss Contamination lp and Mortuary Spawn’s, Spawned From The Mortuary, got their vinyl debuts this year. I picked up both when we went home in June.


Finally, on the electronic / synthwave side of things, Deadly Avenger released the excellent Polybius lp,under the somewhat confusing alias of Sinnesloschen Inc, and seemingly inspired by Poltergeist and TRON and a strange urban legend.


Reissues



  1. Dischord First Six Records box 
  2. Sleep - Dopesmoker box set
  3. T.H.E Rutto - Ei Paluuta 7” & Ilmastoitu Painajainen 7”

On the reissue front, Dischord’s anniversary box set that reproduced the first six 7”s released by the label (plus a bonus record) was an incredible release and probably my favourite out of everything I picked up this year. Third Man’s expanded, deluxe box set treatment of Sleep’s seminal Dopesmoker record was too good to pass up and makes a nice companion to my first press on Tee Pee. T.H.E Rutto from Finland had their two classic 7”s reissued and they made for an excellent upgrade from the bootleg I’ve had for years. I remember being at the Grosvenor with Ralf and Darren when Paco described T.H.E Rutto simply as Finnish punk that sounds like they cant play their instruments. We each bought a copy immediately!

Sunday 1 January 2023

2022 REVIEW


For a person who spends a lot of his time watching and writing about movies, I did not see a lot of new films in 2022 year to compile a properly satisfactory Top Ten.

In fairness, most of my film writing this year was about movies that were already released, or underseen, or that you might have somehow missed. If I’m honest I prefer writing about movies I love, that I can recommend enthusiastically, rather than new releases. 

So I haven’t yet gotten to see X, Nope, Avatar: The Way of Water, Banshees of Inisherin or Triangle of Sadness (the latter two have only just been released in Australia), all of which I suspect may have dented my Top Ten. What I have instead is a Top Ten of 2022 movies where the last couple might well get bumped once I catch up with all my 2022 viewing admin.

I’ve also got a bumper crop of first time watches, for older films I discovered, and loved. As well as the traditional ‘worst of’ list for movies I would very much like my time, money and effort back for, please.


Top Movies of 2022

1. Prey

Initial worries that Ye Olde Predytore might be a bit gimmicky were immediately dispelled, as Prey quickly establishes itself as the best Predator movie since Arnie wisecracked around the jungle in ‘87.


2. Everything Everywhere All At Once

EEAaO is overflowing with vivid imagination, oddball humour, big ideas and bigger feelings. It’s weird, funny and above all else original. Michelle Yeoh can do no wrong in my eyes and the return of Ke Huy Quan to cinema screens is very welcome. A genuinely wild ride.


3. Barbarian

A tense Air BnB nightmare that made me feel genuinely uncomfortable in the cinema. Full disclosure, I was already feeling a bit ill at the time, but let’s give Barbarian the benefit of the doubt. It does a lot with a simple concept, and the things it doesn’t show us generate the biggest heebie jeebies. The first half is almost flawless.


4. Resurrection

Andrew Semans’ dark thriller shifts gears somewhere along the line into outright horror, but not before dragging us under the surface into the depths of grief, trauma and psychological control. Rebecca Hall is phenomenal.


5. Apollo 10 ½

Richard Linklater was back playing with rotoscope for an animated childhood memoir that combines nostalgia and exaggeration to perfect effect. It crept out on Netflix in the middle of the year without really setting the world alight, but I didn’t see much better, and nor was anything more ‘feelgood’ in 2022.


6. Bullet Train

Extremely fun Shinkansen violence caper. Great cast, simple plot, Cockney Rejects on the soundtrack. What more do you want, mate?


7. Language Lessons

Natalie Morales’ directorial debut, taking place almost entirely over Zoom as the pandemic was in full swing during filming. The story of two people learning from each other, trusting and supporting each other, becoming friends. Both Morales and Mark Duplass are fantastic and it feels real and never saccharine. Technically a 2021 release, it barely saw the light of day in Australia until showing up on Kanopy earlier this month. Which is a real shame, so I’m including it regardless.


8. Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off

Documentaries on people with exceptional talent will always be fascinating and Tony Hawk’s story is no different. It’s careful not to paint him as flawless, acknowledging his failings, but also showing off what raw ability and dedicated, tunnel-vision perfectionism can achieve.


9. The Northman

Robert Eggers epic Norse yarn of vengeance and chronic procrastination might not’ve been as wild as the trailer led me to believe, but it was still a weird and visually pleasing tale of Norse aggro and awkward family dynamics.


10. The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

A light, fun adventure that sneaks into the top ten on the strength of the Cage / Pascal chemistry at its centre. However, I maintain that MY idea for a weird-meta-Nic-Cage-movie that I came up with in 2019 (and tweeted about extensively), is better, to wit: 

The true story of the theft of Nicolas Cage’s Action Comics #1. Every character is played by Cage EXCEPT Nicolas Cage, who is played by Tilda Swinton. Also Superman talks directly to Cage in dreams, co-ordinating his career and there is friction between the two because Cage blames him for The Wicker Man remake.


Favourite First Time Watches 2022

Live Wire (1992) 

Thanks to a random GIF on Twitter I discovered that Live Wire is one of the greatest action thrillers of the 90s, possibly of all time. Terrorists devise a liquid explosive that activates inside the human body and it’s up to Pierce Brosnan’s cocky bomb disposal cop, who plays by his own rules (of course), to stop them. There’s an extremely overwrought death scene, an absurd, sentient bomb robot and Brosnan fights an exploding clown… in a wheelchair. It’s magnificent stupidity, the towering high point of Brosnan’s career and I loved every single idiotic second of it.


Freeway (1996)

How did so many big names agree to make something so sleazy and how did it fly under my radar for twenty five years? Freeway is dark and seedy and utterly deranged. You’ll need a shower if you come within ten feet of it. A lurid, trash masterpiece.


Lapsis (2020)

Unique and thoroughly compelling anti-capitalist / job-hell sci-fi. Lapsis throws its tech into a world not otherwise more advanced than ours, making for some sharp, unassuming and thoughtful indie science fiction.


Miami Connection (1987)

Miami Connection is a movie that spends 99% of its run time beating the crap out of ninjas, with the remaining 1% spent singing songs about beating the crap out of ninjas. It’s a sublime blend of low budget action, ninja movie staples and enjoyable blood and guts. Go ahead and laugh AT it if you must, but I’m here laughing WITH it. Miami Connection’s big, earnest heart and over the top thrills make it completely impossible to dislike. Plus, I am utterly obsessed with the soundtrack.


The Dawn Wall (2017)

Another documentary about an incredible talent. Tommy Caldwell’s life story could be a Hollywood movie, except you’d dismiss it for being too far fetched! Jaw dropping and hugely enjoyable.


Minari (2020)

Steven Yeun is a brilliant actor and I was completely absorbed by Minari which is, at times, utterly lovely; and at others it made me want to fucking weep. A fantastic film.


Timecop (1994)

Somehow I had never seen Timecop. For nearly thirty years it evaded me and I was going about my day to day business, blissfully unaware of how awesome it is. Van Damme + time travel = a good, good time.


Miracle Mile (1988)

Surprisingly dark race against time thriller, starring the criminally underrated Anthony Edwards. Miracle Mile warps from romantic comedy into nuclear fear / societal breakdown terror in the blink of an eye, as the patrons of an all night diner get an early heads up on the forthcoming apocalypse, thanks to wrong number.


My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Finally got to watching this Miyazaki classic when I was isolating with Covid earlier in the year and, what a surprise, it charmed the pants off me. Iconic characters, wonderful animation and a delightfully feelgood story. It’s not at all hard to see why so many people have taken this movie to their hearts.


Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

An incendiary biopic of Black Panther, Fred Hampton, which is depressingly unjust and, sadly, still hugely relevant. Brilliantly acted with a fantastic performance from Daniel Kaluuya.



The Shit Worst


Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a piss weak reboot that misunderstood everything that made the original great. It introduced an extremely insensitive and sour NRA loving subplot, fell back on gore when it had no ideas of its own, and ground Tobe Hooper’s legacy into dust. The worst movie I have seen in a very long time. There was no close competition and it was absolute garbage.

The makers of the insufferable Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee were more interested in themselves than their subject matter. So we had to suffer through a documentary about privileged media bros, instead of privileged tech bros. It was unwatchable.

Jackass Forever reunited a bunch of forty-something skaters to remind us all how much they enjoy harassing animals. The chained up bear was the last straw for me.

Metal Lords was a charmless Netflix subculture cash-in, from the creators of Game of Thrones. Apparently they’d been wanting to make it for years. God knows why?