My books are worth it if you love meticulous scholarship, plenty of notes, and excessive introductions, since I usually stick to academic editions. That's why I chose Franklin's Dickinson over Johnson's; I want to read the poems as she wrote them, and it annoys me when editors change things just because they feel entitled to (this happens with Johnson, tho it's still quite popular bc of being the pioneer). Personally, I wouldn't trust other Dickinson editions; Franklin is the gold standard. I'm making an altar for Emily, she died on a day like tomorrow, in 1886. But Indian pipe plants cannot be plucked... The Yeats edition is also great, though unfortunately the binding broke and I'm not confident enough to fix it without ruining the book... but it still works for now. Btw, I'm thinking of adding a new book to my collection. Thoughts?: https://global.oup.com/booksites/content/9780199668427/

I love editions with notes and commentary, they always tend to be more interesting than most introductions in novels for example. I will try to aim for that Dickinson edition, she is one of the poets I want the best experience for. That Oxford Dictionary looks top-shelf, send me some pics if you ever get it

If I ever get that dictionary of Shakespearean pronunciation my life's not gonna be the same ever again. I'll start wandering the streets talking to strangers like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiYd9RcK5M And about Emily: yes please read the Franklin edition, and her letters!

Jazzical is calling you! Btw I loved Junko Onishi, I've been listening to her lately.🐧

I've been listening to Kapustin for a whopping 3 minutes and I'm already in love. This stuff immediately made me crack a huge smile, it's exactly the kind of music I want these days

One day, in who knows how many years of obsessive nolife practice, I'll play his toccatina.

Similar black metal bands in the vein of Svartsyn I recommend Katharsis, Armagedda and Ondskpat (this last one is more "orthodox" and less "raw", but one of the best swedish bm bands), but also I think Svartsyn has refined his own sound. Ornias compositions are always noise walls, very dense, with a few evil melodies on the back (of course it depends on the album). It's one of the few black metal bands which I like every album, but if I have to choose, it would be (in no particular order): if you want a really raw album, then "His Majesty" or "Destruction of Man", if you want something more epic "Timeless Reign", if you want to lose you in malignant noise walls "Black Testament", "Nightmarish Sleep" EP and "In Death" (a conceptual trilogy). 2020 "Requiem" it's exquisite too. About lyrics, (most people who listen to black metal don't give a shit about this) in general I find them very original, perfectly accompany that feeling of being absorbed and merging with the darkness.

About Discordance Axis: yes, absolutely. Grindcore is chaotic in general, but Discordance Axis are/were specially chaotic (like comparing an usual hardcore band with a mathcore band). Also in 1 hour you can listen to their entire discography, so in case you don't like it, you won't have wasted much time of your life either.

I ended up enjoying Discordance Axis, especially the last album, so I'm glad I finally took the plunge. I guess it's not much of a plunge since it was just over an hour like you said, but cool music nonetheless. Thanks for the other recs, I'll definitely check them out. I've listened to Ondskpat a few years ago but I could do with a revisit, and I think Katharsis is a band I've been recommended before, so I'm especially looking forward to them.

Souvenirs is a masterpiece, instantly transports me to a better world every single time.

You cannot go wrong with Alcest. I hope I watch them live this year, finally. I also saw you listening to Les Discrets, another favourite of mine! What other blackgaze bands do you like?

You know, I really don't listen to a whole lot of blackgaze or shoegaze and am by no means any sort of connoisseur of the stuff. I'd wager that 90% of the blackgaze I listen to is Alcest. Les Discrets are great too, especially their first album, I always saw them as a heavier and groovier Alcest, though maybe less broad in the moods and colours they evoke. I really like the band Fen, they're black metal and post-rock, but no shoegaze elements as far as I remember.

I actually already have heard one of the Éthiopiques albums, it was Volume 4, probably checked it out because it's one of Mulatu Astatke's most popular releases. It's very good, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the other volumes. The best Cape Town jazz musicians to me are the couple Abdullah Ibrahim and Sathima Bea Benjamin, they're both influenced by Duke Ellington and they're the parents of Jean Grae, one of my favorite rappers.

Season 5 had some okay stuff here and there, but for the most part it was bad, and it was at that point when the show died in my opinion. People say that with Malazan its the budget problem, but I don't buy that when the LOTR trilogy consistently pulled off good visual effects with massive box office success two decades back. Its the lack of vision, originality and the abundance of parasites who see TV and cinema as a tool to manipulate the fragile zeitgeist who run off with quick cash after exploiting the first wave of hype. I wasn't that familiar with Who Fears Death, so I've looked it up and it looks like something that I would enjoy reading at some point. And definitely agree with your take on ECM, they are great, but the notion of listening to the 537th spacious chamber jazz with third stream influences and glacial aesthetics can quickly turn parochial if you already know the ins and outs of the label, so I'm sure I'll appreciate that Lloyd record.

Encountering Ellington is always great, be it through his work or the musicians he played alongside with or through the ones he influenced, so thank you for that recommendation.

I don't think I've heard The Rain Horse actually, but all your other picks are great. He has so many damn albums it's difficult to keep a track of them. He also has only a few duds imho. I have to revisit Schnittke's symphonic output as I can't remember that much of it. His choir music is fantastic though, as is his chamber music. And yes Wilson's remix is fantastic like all of his other works. To be honest though, I always liked Lizard. I still think it's a much maligned album just because it has very little rock in it. Never got into Soft Machine as much, but I'm probably due to revisit their early albums soon.

Rain Horse is part of the Filmworks series and it's a (mostly) very relaxing and tranquil chamber jazz trio piece, some of his most beautiful work in my opinion is on there. I definitely prefer Schnittke's chamber and choir stuff in general, I think when it comes to his symphonies he tries a lot to sound like Shostakovich, whom I prefer for those longer and grandiose ideas. I don't think I ever disliked Lizard but it took time and exposure to different mixes before I could really understand what they were going for. I also like a lot of Wilson's remixes, especially ELP and Gentle Giant, I'm surprised to see many people hate on them from time to time. I like Soft Machine but sometimes their jazzier stuff doesn't do it for me, but their psychedelic rock stuff on Volume Two for example I've always really liked.

For some reason I never got into Shostakovich at all except for a few pieces such as a few string quartets. Except for his use of tonality and rather clear structures, I don't really understand why he is that popular. The Gentle Giant remixes are absolutely amazing as well. ELP are another band that just never tickled my fancy whatsoever.

You're right about The Void, it's the resource management that makes that game so tough. You have to find safe havens quickly, and it is very easy to get lost in that game. And you know what, I think we agree 100% on Elden Ring. I enjoyed it, but it did feel been there, done that as someone who's played all their soulsborne games in order. I think it has great weaponry/armor, spells & bosses, but the exploration and level-design felt weak. It seemed like they cared more about environmental story-telling than making the open world feel interesting to explore. The reused assets was also a gripe, especially since I remember all the marketing hype about this being a brand new IP and I'm seeing Dark Souls 3 crabs everywhere. I also hated how often I'd find an area I missed, only to be overleveled severely because I was supposed to have done it 15-20 hours ago. It doesn't have the same tight, well-curated directing that Bloodborne and Dark Souls 1 had, which are still their best ones to me.

I saw others saying the same thing as you and it seems like the DS version is the ultimate one. I will definitely try to find some time this year to go through both games. I never actually owned a DS in my life but I have good memories from emulating Shin Megami Tensei IV and Strange Journey. Don't know if you ever played those, it's basically a parent franchise to Persona which I also enjoy a lot, and SMT IV has probably my favourite soundtrack of all time when it comes to video games. I think the partial reason behind the overfilled open world in Elden Ring is that currently a lot of players seek these extremely long games where they can get immersed and escape for a long time without interruption while paying no attention to the execution of the actual content they are dealing with, as long as it doesn't take them out of their state of mind. The game could have been much better if they spent the time on creating new assets instead of trying to find out how to efficiently make filler

I've played SMT IV and really enjoyed it, and you are right about the music, the boss theme especially was very catchy and memorable. I think Devil Survivor on DS was the first one I played in the series, and then soon after I played its sequel and then Persona 3 & 4. And as much as I like open world games as much as the next person, I do think they are making a climate of quantity over quality. But Elden Ring sold like a Pokémon game, so I'm not expecting this trend to go anywhere anytime soon.

No, it's motives were too complex for me

I'm glad you liked my suggestions! I thought about what you said about Dowland and how that music hit you because you've been a classical guitar player. My first instrument was a guitar, I started with an electric bc I was a teen with no budget at all and got the cheapest guitar ever. I realised with time that the sound I wanted was acoustic so I switched to a beautiful acoustic guitar I still have today with me. I sometimes play and sing, I'm not a serious guitar player but I don't want to quit. I sold this guitar years ago in the middle of an existential crisis and, funnily, I ended up buying it again. Things like these never leave you. May I ask why did you stop playing instruments?

We didn't play anything in my classes that was as ethereal or mystical sounding as Dowland, but I suppose I can imagine having played the instrument for several years did something to that effect, in terms of being drawn to that sound in general. I first played clarinet and then started studying guitar a year later, which quickly became my main hobby. I owned acoustics and electrics, but when you're taught various fingerpicking styles, you tend to gravitate to the nylon-stringed instruments over the others. Anyway, I sustained a major hand injury back in 2013. It still works but it's badly scarred, I can DM you a photo of it later if you like. Anyway, a major tendon responsible for controlling the thumb and index finger on my dominant hand was damaged, so playing guitar for even brief periods of time feels exhausting, so I very gradually stopped playing. There was never any conscious moment where I said "I quit", it was more like I slowly ghosted the instrument without realizing it.

I'm sorry that happened to you. I also injured myself, both wrists, last year. Being someone from fine arts and also playing instruments I can understand how frustrating can be something like you describe. My injury is not as severe as what you're describing, but I'm still living with it, however I'm gradually recovering with yoga and rehab. I think it's not good for me to stop doing things, as I believe the tendons need to be strengthen and active. I really hope you recover from this.

Sorry for the super late reply. It was the longest concert I've ever been to. The albums that specifically would be similar will be Unlock the Shrine and Rain Upon the Impure. Foulest Semen onward he really just leans into his unique fusion of Black and Doom and eventually Death and Gothic, as well. Panzerfaust is always a pretty solid band, however, I need to try to dig into them more and fully cement my thoughts on the band. Having Opeth go from being one of the best and most unique voices in Prog metal, to what they are now is just disappointing. I'm also in the same belief as you, if an artist can pull of an evolution that works, it's awesome. However, changing out of boredom and not having any real vision always seems to lead to a decline into mediocrity. Sadly the latter tends to be the rule and the former is rare.

Casualties of Cool is one of his best side projects and about a year or so ago, I think he announced he and Che are working on another. That introspection is what makes Devin such an interesting artist in both his music and personality. It's also the reason why so many of his albums are just so damn good. His albums are so honest and personal. His last couple albums seemed pretty safe, however I am very excited for his Opera The Moth that I believe is premiering live this year. He has always been like that, even when he was singing for Steve Vai and especially with and after Strapping Young Lad. There are still very few bands that can sound as vicious as SYL. I think you will love CoC. If thats the case, I'd also recommend one of Arjen Lucassen's side projects with Anneke Van Giersbergen: The Gentle Storm, theres 2 versions of the album. The Gentle version is semi acoustic and tries to minimize the more electric or metal elements to the sound and the Storm version is more of his..

lush Prog Metal. Another one of his side Projects Guilt Machine is equally as fantastic. In all honesty, if you're feeling multiple singers, Ayreon is just fantastic for concept albums that just end up being plays.

A Very persuasive argument. I could go on, but I don't want to ruin the overall nihilistic atmosphere it radiates by overshadowing and arguing nonstop. I am able to value and respect quiet.

VLR has perhaps the most unforeseeable plot twist I've ever come across, you should like it if you enjoyed 999. I've played Disco twice and enjoyed it immensely, it was actually what made me get into Planescape as the creators cited it as their biggest inspiration. Haven't played Rain World but I played Hollow Knight back when it came out and enjoyed it.

Hey I started playing resident evil 4 on the gamecube recently.

Man, that talking skull was off the chain.

I think being left-handed made his approach to certain standards a lot softer than most other pianists. His right-hand leads are very deliberate and delicate on a lot of songs. I like his speed too, but I think his unique vocabulary shines better on the more subdued improvisations. I prefer Bud Powell when it comes to piano shredding.

Huh I never knew he's left handed. I'll definitely relisten to some of his more moody stuff in the near future.

I remember enjoying Masayoshi Takanaka and Norman Brown but I'm game for anything that's good!

Here's a few easy tunes, most of these are pretty popular standards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw9-BSiXc8Q / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-0JZlrk4xA / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHXHwbKwoVY / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgaIUqH0w6c /

You might also like The Bad Plus, they're one of the big modern jazz bands around these days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Grt0-y4bM / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xdRqAO7T4

He blocked me. I think he thinks he's an alternative because he writes everything lowercase and does not use periods and commas. I wrote like that a long time ago too, but that was before it went viral. I think he may consider himself a top-notch hipster and gets upset over even the smallest things.

I just took a look at Versioneigh's profile. What an irony, he poses like neo-Nazi scum and yet chooses Hipster Favorite as his flagship artist, a total embarrassment. https://ghosttrackmedia.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/ghost-story-7-kerry-mccoy-isnt-the-only-asshole-in-deafheaven/ -- "Yet, in 2012 Deafheaven members were wearing Hate Forest shirts on stage and laughing off people in the crowd calling them Nazis on stage. "