Here are some of my favorite books, films, and music. See highlighted weblinks for fuller lists.
Novels:
Amis, Martin. Money: A Suicide Note 1984)
Austen, Jane. Emma; Mansfield Park, Persuasion, . . .
Barry, Sebastian. The Secret Scripture (2008)
Boll, Heinrich. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (trans. 1975)
Brontë, Charlotte. Villette (1853)
Burney, Fanny. Evelina (1778)—also Cecilia, Camilla, and The Wanderer
Chabon, Michael. The Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007)
Davies, Robertson. The Deptford Trilogy (1970-75)
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House (1852-53); *Our Mutual Friend . . .*Great Expectations . . . Dombey and Son . .
Didion, Joan. A Book of Common Prayer (1977)
Edgeworth, Maria. Belinda (1801)
Eliot, George. Middlemarch (1871-72)
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man (1952)
Erdrich, Louise. The Round House (2012); also Love Medicine
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying (1930)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (1925)
Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion (1915)
Gaskell, Elizabeth. North and South (1854-55)
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises (1926)
Hoban, Russell. Riddley Walker (1980)
Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day (1989)
Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989)
James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady . . . (1881 . . . 1908) also The Ambassadors
Kehlmann, Daniel. Tyll: A Novel (2020)—seek out excellent audiobook narrated by Firdous Bamji
McMurtry, Larry. Lonesome Dove (1985)—also seek out Lee Horsley’s terrific narration in audiobook
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon; Sula
Nabokov, Vladimir. Pnin; Lolita (seek out Jeremy Irons’s superb narration in audiobook edition)
Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer: A Novel (2015)
Proulx, E. Annie. The Shipping News (1993)
Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass (1995, aka Northern Lights, first novel in His Dark Materials trilogy, followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass)
Rachman, Tom. The Imperfectionists (2010)
Richardson, Samuel. Clarissa; Or, the History of a Young Lady (1747-48)
Robinson, Marilyn. Housekeeping (1980)
Roth, Philip. The Human Stain (2000)
Semple, Maria. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (2012)
Saunders, George. Tenth of December: Stories (2013)
Towles, Amor. A Gentleman in Moscow (2016)
Waters, Sarah. Fingersmith (2002), also see Affinity, and The Paying Guests
Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth (1905)
Williams, John. Stoner (1965)
Wodehouse, P. G. *Psmith
Want to check out some contmporary short fiction? See what's suggested in my Contemporary Fiction course (Fall 2016) or British Novels Since 2000 (Fall 2018)
Films and TV too:
The Wire (best show in history of television? or that could be The Sopranos or Breaking Bad or ?)
The Sopranos (six seasons with perhaps the best series finale of all time--as you watch each episode, you might enjoy reading Todd VanDerWerff's episode-by-episode A.V. Club blog as go
The Americans (superb including great series finale)
The (BBC) Office and The Office Special
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Veronica Mars
Freaks and Geeks
Fargo (Season 1-3--so good!)
Breaking Bad (incredible)
Better Call Saul (great)
Patriot
Fleabag (watch past first episode through arc . . .)
Killing Eve
Godless (Netflix)
Glow (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling)
Line of Duty
Downton Abbey
Leave It to Beaver, Dick Van Dyke Show and so on...to recent/current series: The Protectors (excellent), The Bridge (Swedish/Danish version is excellent, and American version also very good), Game of Thrones (of course!), Wallander (Swedish version is excellent, and also see version with Kenneth Branagh), Broadchurch, Dicte, Salamander, The Bletchley Circle, Top of the Lake, Jack Taylor, Happy Valley, Annika Bengtzon, The Code (excellent), The Fall, Marcella, Wentworth, and uneven but Marvel's Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Defenders, Dr. Who!
By the way, following Game of Thrones? listen to all episodes of the podcast Binge Mode via The Ringer.com by Mallory Rubin and Jascon Concepcion as they (re)visit "deep dive" each episode in the series. Or try to find Andy Greenwald's and also Jason Concepcion's conversations/episode reviews, and for a different, somewhat counterpoint voice, Alyssa Rosenberg at the Washington Post--see these two posts, for instance, on a recent controversial episode--an overarching defense/opinion piece with her regular column on that particular episode (Season 5, Episode 6). As with movie critics, it's interesting to follow the sentiments/sensibilities/perspectives and analysis/arguments of these critics over a long story arc for this show.
A. V. Club/Caroline Siede's "A timey-wimey guide to the modern era of Doctor Who" (10 October 2018)
Films (most dates accurate)
’71 (2014)--riveting
8½ (1963)--one of the best of all time
12 Angry Men (1957, also 1997 remake, plus "12", a 2007 Russian version)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Alice in the Cities (1974)--one of my very favorites
Alien (1979); Aliens (1986)
Arrival (2016)
Babette’s Feast (1987)
Before Sunrise (1995, first in director Linklater's romantic/sentimentally intelligent trilogy, followed by Before Sunset and Before Midnight, spanning 18 years, with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke)
Before Midnight (2013)
Before Sunset (2004)
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Best in Show (2000)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)
Breaking Away (1979)
Bullitt (1968)
Caché (2004)
Casablanca (1942)
Children of Men (2006)
Chinatown (1974)
City of God (2002)--powerful
Cléo from 5 to 7
Clueless (1995)
L'Eclisse (1962)
Equinox Flower (1958)
Fargo (1996)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Fresh (1994)
Frozen River (2008)
Get Out (2017)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Her (2013)
Holiday (1938)
Hoosiers (1986)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)
Journey to Italy (1954)
Kes (1970)
Kill Bill: Vols. 1 and 2 (2003/2004)
Kings of the Road (1976)
Late Spring (1949)--great
L'avventura (1961)
Manhattan (1979)--with caveat that 17-yr. old Tracy's character serves to (briefly) verbally indict the neurotic, self-indulgent and abusive adults, esp. Isaac, while ultimately? offering a chastened hope/faith even after she's been used ...a thought-provoking film that more than ever can prompt debate/disgust/revelation...
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Midnight Run (1988)
The Millenium Trilogy (Swedish): The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009); The Girl Who Played with Fire; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Miss Congeniality (2001)
Mulholland Drive (2001)--fascinating--regarded by many as the top film since 2000
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
My Dinner With Andre (1981)--classic conversation
Nights of Cabiria (1957)--sentimental favorite
North by Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946)
Now, Voyager (1942)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Paris, Texas (1984)--so goodd
Parasite (2019)
Persona (1967)
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
Police, adjective (2009, Romanian)--so unexpected in its tones/humor
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Rashomon (1950)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Stop Making Sense (1984)--best concert film of all time?
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)--great/charming and more
The 400 Blows (1959)--favorite
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)
The Searchers (1956)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Trip (2010)
Three Colours: BLUE(1993), Three Colours: WHITE (1993), Three Colours: RED(1994)--excellent
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Toni Erdmann (2016)--favorite
Top Hat (1935)
Toyko Story (1953)
Two Days, One Night (2014)--excellent
Under the Skin (2014)--provocative
Vertigo (1958)
Wait Until Dark (1967)
What’s Up Doc? (1972)
Whiplash (2014)
Wild Strawberries (1959)
Winter’s Bone (2010)
Music:
1. Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense (1984, dir. Demme) includes “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JccW-mLdNe0
2. The Roches, The Roches (1979) includes “Hammond Song”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ypwCN9FDc
3. Laurie Anderson, Big Science (1982) includes the tremendous “O Superman” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfpi2H8tOE&feature=youtu.be
4. Robyn, Body Talk (2010), includes “Hang with Me”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3a2qoyONVA
5. Wye Oak, Civilian (2011) includes “Hot As Day”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gmEYXvF0Q
6. The Beths, Future Me Hates Me (2018) includes “Little Death”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuzlZWvTU2I
7. Hop Along, Bark Your Head Off, Dog (2018) includes “Prior Things”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IbBU4QXxD4
8. Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019) includes “Venice Bitch”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg3DxELVPj4
9. Julian Bream, Popular Classics for Spanish Guitar (1962) includes Chôros No. 1 for Guitar, "Tipico brasileiro", A.161
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9qf9Jhj90&list=OLAK5uy_mllwkaAVeA7CB9xkLNGKUqxYD6UqB7vqM&index=2&t=0s
10. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals (2008)--mash up samples over 300 songs
https://vimeo.com/246033367
and (thanks to Barb Kirchmeier's recommendation!) must see the most-exuberant-can-make-you -feel-joyous for the rest of your life? full-length fabulous dance film-album set to the music of Girl Talk's album "All Day" (373 layered song mash up): girl walk / / all day
Bonus(es): Big Thief, Two Hands (2019) includes “Not”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIcVwH47uxQ
". . . It's not the room / Not beginning / Not the crowd / Not winning / Not the planet / Not spinning / Not a ruse / Not heat / Not the fire lapping up the creek / Not food / Not to eat / Not to die / Not dying / Not to laugh / Not lying / Not the vacant wilderness vying / Not the room / Not beginning / Not the crowd / Not winning / Not the planet / Not spinning . . . .” –“Not”, Big Thief
Mitski, Be the Cowboy includes “Nobody”
See also riveting performance by LP (Laura Pergolizzi): Lost on You or Robyn's Honey
Robyn, "Get Myself Together" "Call Your Girlfriend"
Angel Olsen "Sister"
Madison Cunningham, "Pin It Down"
Tommy Dorsey, "Song of India"
Artie Shaw, "Begin the Beguine"
Anna Fedorova plays Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 [rec. by good friend Dene Thomas]
Com Truise - In Decay and Massive Attack - Angel (Mezzanine album) and Mac DeMarco - 2 (2012) [recs. by former student/FB friend Skye Williams]
Stella Donnelly's debut album Beware of the Dogs (2019)
And/or see my Spotify playlist Songs on 2018-2019 Playlist:
[according to Spotify's statistics, my favorite artist/song for 2019 is Lucy Dacus/Night Shift; I listened to 620 different songs from 30 countries, and I was "genre-fluid" because I listened, in descending order of quantity/time, to Art Pop, Pop, Indie Rock, Hip Hop, and New Americana; among other favorite songs was Caroline Rose's "Jeannie Becomes a Mom, and Soccer Mommy's "Your Dog," and from 2018 Christine and the Queens's "5 Dollars."]
5 Dollars/Christine and the Queens
Ablaze/YOB
About You/G Flip
Addictions/Lucy Dacus
Anthem (To Human Justice)/Logan Richardson
APESHIT/The Carters
Bad Bad News/Leon Bridges
Bad Mind/Erin Rae
Believe/Amen Dunes
Black Sheep/MILCK
Body to Flame/Lucy Dacus
The Bug Collector/Haley Heynderickx
Come Over/The Internet
Curious/Hayley Kiyoko
Doctor Atomic, Act I, Scene 3/John Adams
Drowning Man/Eric Church
Everybody Wants to Be Famous/Superorganism
Foundation/Public Practice
Generator/Turnstile
Gladly/Tirzah
Gold Purple Orange/Jean Grae, Quelle Chris
Gold Rush/Death Cab for Cutie
Graffiti/CHVRCHES
Hangout at the Gallows/Father John Misty
Historia de un Amor/Tonina
Historians/Lucy Dacus
Honey/Robyn
I Dance Like This/David Byrne
It Makes You Forget (ltgehane)/Peggy Gou
Jeannie Becomes a Mom/Caroline Rose
King’s Dead/Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar
Last Lion of Albion/Neko Case
Leave It Alone/Amanda Shires
Liquid Days/David Byrne, Philip Glass
Little Death/The Beths
Love It If We Made It/The 1975
Make Me Feel/Janelle Monáe
May Your Kindness Remain/Courtney Marie Andrews
Me & My Dog/Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus (Boygenius)
MJ/Now, Now
Mo Light/47 Soul
MOOO!/Doja Cat
Music Is Worth Living For/Andrew W.K.
My Friend the Forest/Nils Frahm
My Mind I Find in Time/Mary Halverson
My My My!/Troye Sivan
Need a Little Time/Courtney Barnett
Next of Kin/Lucy Dacus
Nina Cried Power/Hozier, feat. Mavis Staples
Nobody/Mitski
Noid/Yves Tumor
Nonbeliever/Lucy Dacus
Once in My Life/The Decemberists
The One/Jorja Smith
Pillar of Truth/Lucy Dacus
She Remembers Everything/Rosanne Cash
The Shell/Lucy Dacus
Short Court Style/Natalie Prass
Show Us the Way/Kamasi Washington
SICKO MODE/Travis Scott
Slow Burn/Kacey Musgraves
Space Cowboy/Kacey Musgraves
This Is America/Childish Gambino
Thread/David Bazan
Timefighter/Lucy Dacus
Venice Bitch/Lana Del Rey
When We Are/Nubya Garcia
White Flowers/Tom Demac
Wide Awake/Parquet Courts
Widerstehe doch der Sunde, BWV 54/J.S. Bach
You Worry Me/Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Your Dog/Soccer Mommy
Yours & Mine/Lucy Dacus
6 Summers/Anderson .Paak
Bite the Hand/Boygenius
Work It/Marie Davidson
The Station/Oneohtrix Point Never
Symmetry/Wye Oak
I Shall Love 2 /Julia Holter
Nont For Sale/Sudan Archives
Look Alive/BlocBoy JB feat. Drake
Boo’d Up/Ella Mai
Ella Quiere Beber-remix/Anuel Aa, Romeo Santos
I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend/girl in red
Seventeen/Tomberlin
Salt in the Wound/Boygenius
Still Clean/Soccer Mommy
Baby Forgive Me/Robyn
Between the Lines/Robyn
Ever Again/Robyn
Dead to Me/Kali Uchis
Killer/Kali Uchis
Geyser/Mitski
How Simple/Hop Along
Prior Things/Hop Along
Acrylic/Leikeli47
The Great Refusal/Colin Self
Less Than Thou/The Beths
Obamanomics/Ryan Porter
Night Court in Compton/Ryan Porter
Work It/Marie Davidson
The Psychologist/Marie Davidson
Pressure/Flasher
Material/Flasher
Sure/Hatchie
Sleep/Hatchie
Try/Hatchie
Han Jan/Peggy Gou
Charcoal Baby/Blood Orange
Future Me Hates Me/The Beths
Great No One/The Beths
But I Like You/Say Sue Me
1539 N. Calvert/JPEGMAFIA
Disarray/Low
Dancing and Blood/Low
Poor Sucker/Low
My Brother/The Survivals
Do You Trust Amajita?/Ntombi Ndaba
Cicada/La Luz
Hyperlands/Aisha Devi/
Inner State of Alchemy/Aisha Devi/
Peacock/Jean Grae & Quelle Chris
Dark Spring/Beach House
Hunter/Anna Calvi
9/10, Jeff Rosenstock
Pristine/Snail Mail
Speaking Terms/Lush
Bird in Space/Screaming Females
Goodlove/Justine Skye
Tommy/Tommy Genesis
You Know Me/Tommy Genesis
It’s OK/Tommy Genesis
Miami/Tommy Genesis
Slowdown/Lunar Vacation
Cold War/Cautious Clay
Karaoke (feat. Lizzo)/Big Freedia
Oh Honey/Neighbor Lady
Las Culpas II/Juana Molina
Majesty (with Labrinth & feat. Eminem)/Nicki Minaj
4EVER/Clairo
The Barrel/Aldous Harding
Red Bull & Hennessy/Jenny Lewis
Seventeen/Sharon Van Etten
Taking Chances/Sharon Van Etten
UFOF/Big Thief
Started Out/Georgia
Terribly True/Deanna Petcoff
Door/Caroline Polachek
On Account of Your Love/Brett
Turn the Light/Karen O & Danger Mouse
Easy Way Out/Illgen-Nur
Tenderness/Jay Som
Reverse Conversion Therapy/Arthur Moon
the stage/Shura
Fighter/Joseph
Ducter/black midi
Real Thing/Middle Kids
A Stone is a Stone/Helena Deland
Just Exist/Eliza & The Delusionals
Groceries/Mallrat
Starry Night-Original Mix/Peggy Gou
Not/Big Thief
This Land-Single Version/Gary Clark Jr.
Mixer/Amber Mark
Juice/Lizzo
Cycles/Shafiq Husayn
Reason in Disguise/Ezra Collective
Divine Wine/Petrov
No One’s Easy to Love/Sharon Van Etten
Old Black Magic/Josh Ritter
L.A. (Remix feat. Westerman)/Amen Dunes
Accident (feat. Laura Jean)/Jenny Hval and Laura Jean
Lark/Angel Olsen
Give It To Me Straight/Gus Dapperton
Was It Something I Said/MyKey
Digger/Great Grandpa
Tú/maye
So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings/Caroline Polachek
The Light/Metronomy
High/Sir Sly
You’ll Need A New Backseat Driver/The New Pornographers
Secretary/Cate le Bon
Messing with My Head/Smoothboi Ezra
Oh Mama/Twin Peaks
Broadcasting/Blood Cultures
Too Late/Alex Siegel
Lucy/Soccer Mommy
Fruit Roll Up/Clayjay
Heavenly/Cigarettes After Sex
Shelter/Mikal Cronin
Ayayai/Daniela Andrade
Norman fucking Rockwell/Lana Del Rey
Something Has to Change/The Japanese House
Friend of Mine/Whitney
You Ain’t the Problem/Michael Kiwanuka
Colossus of Rhodes/The New Pornographers
Estrangers/No Vacation
Sex Emoji/Metronomy
Good Luck/Broken Bells
Forgotten Eyes/Big Thief
Still I Miss U/Blue Hawaii
Eye 2 Eye/Moon Duo
Personal/Blue Material
Belong/slenderbodies
Water Me Down/Vagabon
Erase/Cautious Clay
The Sun Will Shine/sir Was
Some songs from 2017—when title of song is followed by title of album, that suggests that the whole album may be especially notable (see work-in-progress Spotify list for spflores7, “2017 songs”:
https://open.spotify.com/user/spflores7/playlist/3dYVgaKuja5Ado6oEOFJtS
Big Thief, "Mary"--Capacity
Charly Bliss, “Glitter”
Cardi B, “Bodak Yellow”
Now, Now “SGL”
Lil Uzi Vert, “XO Tour Llif3”—Luv Is Rage 2
SZA, “The Weekend”--CTRL
Charli XCX, “Boys” [lightweight]
Perfume Genius, “Slip Away”—No Shape
Kendrick Lamar, “Love. Feat. Zacari.”--DAMN
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “If We Were Vampires”—The Nashville Sound
Vince Staples, “BagBak”—Big Fish Theory
Fever Ray, “To the Moon and Back”--Plunge
Muna, “I Know a Place”
(Sandy) Alex G, “Bobby”
Danish String Quartet, “Æ Rømeser” from Last Leaf
Jay Som, “The Bus Song”—Everybody Works
Ibeyi. Feat. Kamasi Washington, “Deathless”
Aldous Harding, “Imagining My Man”--Party
Valerie June, “Astral Plane”
Harry Styles, “Sign of the Times”
Paramore, “Rose-Colored Boy” –After Laughter
Alvvays, “Plimsoll Punks”--Antisocialites
Feist, “Any Party”
yaeji, “raingurl”
Cam, “Diane”
Phoebe Bridges, “Motion Sickness”
Margo Price, “All American Made”
Downtown Boys, “A Wall”
Sylvan Esso, “Die Young”—What Now
Japanese Breakfast, “Road Head”
Rodney Crowell, “I Don’t Care Anymore”
Broken Social Scene, “Stay Happy”
St. Vincent, “New York”
6LACK, “That Far”
King Krule, “Dum Surfer”
Kingdom, “Nurtureworld”
Joan Shelley, “I Got What I Wanted”
La Santa Cecilia, “Leña de Pirul”—Amar Y Vivir
Vagabon, “Fear & Force”
Hundred Waters, “Particle”
Jorja Smith, Preditah, “On My Mind”
Anna Tivel, “Alleyway”
Luke Combs, “Hurricane”
Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, “inter-are”
Objekt, “Needle and Thread”
Laura Marling, “Wild Fire”
Overcoats, “23”
Future, “Mask Off”
Jonas Kaufmann, “Pourquoi me reveiller …” from Werther, Acte III
Selena Gomez, “Bad Liar”
Little Big Town, “Lost in California”
Diet Cig, “Barf Day”
Gracie and Rachel, “Only a Child”
Gabriel Garzón-Montano, "Sour Mango"
Julien Baker, “Appointments”
Anne Akiko Meyers, “Fantasia” (on her 1741 Guarneri del Gesù violin) composed by Einojuhani Rautavaara
Benjamin Clementine, “Phantom of Aleppoville”
Bicep, “Aura”
KH, “Question”
Ambrose Akinmusire, “Maurice & Michael (sorry I didn’t say hello)-Live
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah feat. Elena Pinderhughes
"Encryption"
Priests, “Nothing Feels Natural”—Nothing Feels Natural
Jaimie Branch, “Theme 001”—Fly or Die
Mr. Mitch, “Lost Touch (feat. Duval Timothy)”—Devout
The War on Drugs, “Up All Night”—A Deeper Understanding
The National, “Nobody Else Will Be There”—Sleep Well Beast
Torres, Three Futures (whole album)
Open Mike Eagle, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (whole album)
Ron Miles, “Is There Room in Your Heart for a Man Like Me”—I Am a Man
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Moorland Elegies (Kõrvits)
Joan Shelley, “We’d Be Home”--album: Joan Shelley
Thundercat, “Them Changes”
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, “An Intention”—The Kid
Midland, “Lonely for You Only”—On the Rocks
Waxahatchee, “Never Been Wrong”—Out in the Storm
Priests, “Suck”
Oumou Sangaré, “Fadjamou”--Mogoya
Examples of songs from 2016:
Lucy Dacus, "I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore"
Mitski, "Your Best American Girl"—
Britney Spears, "Clumsy"
Robert Ellis, “California”
Angel Olsen, “Sister”
Lindstrøm, “Closing Shot”
Riton (feat. Kah-Lo), “Rinse & Repeat”
Shura, “What’s It Gonna Be?”
Lake Street Dive, “Call Off Your Dogs”
Angelica Garcia, “Orange Flower”
Angela Hunte, “Mon Bon Ami”
Heron Oblivion, “Beneath Fields”
Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band, “High Castle Rock”
Saintseneca, “Sleeper Hold”
CHVRCHES, “Clearest Blue”
Aurora, “Running With The Wolves”
Frank Turner, “Get Better”
Bully, “Milkman”
EL VY, “Return To The Moon (Political S…)
Lianne La Havas, “What You Don’t Do”
The Staves, “No Me, No You, No More”
The Weepies, “Sirens”
Torres, “Strange Hellos”
And The Kids, “All Day All Night”
Patty Griffin, “Made of the Sun”
SOAK, “Sea Creatures”
Beach House, “Wildflower”
Kendrick Lamar, “King Kunta”
Elle King, “Ex’s & Oh’s”
Liza Anne, “Lost”
Low, “No Compromise”
Laura Stevenson, “Torch Song”
Angel Olsen, “Shut Up Kiss Me”
School of Seven Bells, “Open Your Eyes”
Bibi Bourelly, “Sally”
Lower Dens, “To Die in L.A.”
And continuing favorites:
Torres-Sprinter
Natalie Prass/Natalie Prass
Colleen/Captain of None
Grimes/Art Angels
Girlpool/Before the World Was Big
Jamie xx/In Colour
Carly Rae Jepsen/Emotion
The Internet/Ego Death
Bjork/Vulnicura
Talking Heads
The Shins
The New Pornographers
Imogen Heap
DJ Tiesto (Oakenfold's Southern Sun)
Alabama Shakes
Animal Collective
Arctic Monkeys
Beirut
Chvrches
Cut Copy
Lady Gaga
FKA twigs
M83
Phantogram
Polica
Daft Punk
Fountains of Wayne
Gianluca Motta (Not Alone, Deadmaus5 Remix feat. Molly)
Highasakite
Metric
Now Now
Patrick Watson
Radiohead (The King of Limbs)
Robyn (wonderful, esp. album Body Talk and also Honey)
Regina Spektor
Sufjan Stevens-Age of Adz
The Avalanches (their debut album, Since I Left You, is fantastic)
Waxahatchee
Wye Oak (great, esp. album Civilian)
The xx
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Girl Talk's (mashup artist Gregg Gillis's) album Feed the Animals
Podcasts:
The New Yorker Fiction (contemporary writers read favorite pieces published by other writers in The New Yorker , then discuss briefly with fiction editor)
The Tobolowsky Files (character actor Stephen Tobolowsky's wonderful stories about "life, love, and the entertainment industry")
Please Save Me (comic recap of weekly episodes of the fictional TV show Chicago Heroes--written and produced by my son Ben!)
The Dollop (comic retelling of figures/events in U.S. history)
NPR: Live Concerts
KEXP Song of the Day
PRI: Selected Shorts
Coffee Break Spanish (delightful way to learn/review)
Coffee Break French
KCRW's The Document (our son Ben wrote an upcoming segment--a faux interview with Werner Herzog)
Online Radio: Tune In Radio--KING FM Opera, Operavore, Swissradio Opera
KUOI 89.3! (I did a stint with my then 13 yr. old son Ben as a KUOI DJ with a weekly 3 hr. radio show one summer many years ago)
Boardgames to check out: 7 Wonders Game; Ticket to Ride Europe