Music albums of the 2010s

Contrary to popular belief, 2020 is the last year of the 2010s, not the first year of the 2020s. (The first year of the Common Era was AD/CE 1, not AD/CE 0; the last year of the Common Era’s first decade was AD/CE 10.)

So: this is a good time to publish some rankings.

Tonight, I offer my five favorite music albums of the 2010s. Bear in mind, I’ve hardly listened to anything new since 2013 or 2014.

2016’s Wildflower was an exception. I just couldn’t keep away from the Avalanches’ first album in sixteen years. (I’ve yet to listen to We Will Always Love You, released this month.)

Without further ado, here are the top five:

1. Destroyer, Kaputt (2011)
2. Grimes, Visions (2012)
3. Daft Punk, Random Access Memories (2013)
4. The Avalanches, Wildflower (2016)
5. Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City (2012)

Nothing very unknown or surprising here.

It’s not that I don’t listen to music any more: this year, I’ve averaged two hours per day on Spotify. It’s that I’ve been going back, again and again, to the well, the well being Julee Cruise.

read more »

Pepe is of the immortals

In one day, Samuel has gone from slithering on his belly to crawling. He used to crawl just one or two feet at a time. Now it’s his preferred mode of locomotion.

He still slithers when his arms are weary.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Full episodes of Midsomer Murders have long been streamable gratis, with advertisements, through IMDb.

Now, FilmRise has posted quite a few episodes to YouTube. The videos appear to be ad-free.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Watching the UEFA Nations League, I was a little surprised to see Pepe trot out onto the field for Portugal. “He is so, so old,” I told Karin.

(He’s only a couple of years younger than I am. He’s older than David.)

“Maybe he’s like Grimes,” said Karin.

It took me a moment to understand whom she meant. At first, I was thinking of Grimes the musician. Then I realized that Karin was referring to Captain Grimes of Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall.

GRIMES WAS OF THE IMMORTALS