[To be clear, i make this yearly list not to shift product, but simply to keep notes. I have always been a list-nerd, find them helpful to go back to in time, to see what i was into a few years ago, but also to assist my faltering brain. Never could understand how people publish their end of year lists at the start of December. The year is not done yet, so much can happen still (but nothing did this time).]
Album
Yaeji – With A Hammer
Her music has so much range. Mesmerizing
Kiefer – It’s OK, B U
What a huge talent
Megadef – Terminus Inferno
I admit, some of this is pretty puerile. But i had some fun with this anarcho-metal album
DJ Shadow – Action Adventure
Give it a few listens, it might grow on you
DDM (Drowning Dog and Malatesta) – Gen Pop
Sue me, but i just love these two oddballs
Track
Milena Patagônia – Evo me (prod. by Darksome)
Surprisingly poppy, but what a tune from the swiss-serbian singer/songwriter
Eartheater – Chop Suey
Its cover alone made this one of the top tracks for me this year
Fingathing – Frogspit
Fingathing get bonus credit for every release, and then with these frog sounds they had me in the bag
XymMusic – Paranoid
Huge, powerful in vulnerability and quirkiness
Four Tet – Three Drums
One of those goosebumps tracks
Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f
And another one
Burial – Unknown Summer
No year end list without a dose of Burial
Videos
The Yes Men – All Day I Dream (About Back Pay) “Marshmello”
It is mind blowing that this video was not spotted as a hoax at the Web Summit
ContraPoints – The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling
Cudos for this video after Natalie Wynn was tokenised in that awful podcast
SOME MORE NEWS – The Talented Mr. Musk, Part 1: Free Speech
Anything goes, as long as it rips Melon Husk a new one
Podcast
In Bed With The Right
This podcast is only starting out, but it will be a very relevant podcast
Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff
In which Margret Killjoy deep dives into radical moments in political history
If Books Could Kill
While Michael Hobbes still is my favorite podcaster, i do wonder how long this format will keep me interested
The Verso Podcast
Got a re-launch. And so far Eleanor Penny has worked her magic
Tech Won’t Save Us – The four episodes on Musk
TWSU is one of my regular podcasts. This series on Husk was fantastic
Lundisoir – Boxe et lutte des classes avec Selim Derkaoui
The quality of lundisoir can vary, but they can have great guests like Derkaoui
Books
Non Fiction:
Naomi Klein – Doppelganger; A Trip into the Mirror World
Again Klein proofs her perfect timing. She has written the book that needed to be written
Micha Frazer-Carroll – Mad World; The Politics of Mental Health
Mental health examined through the lens radical politics
Sophie Lewis – Abolish the Family; A Manifesto for Care and Liberation
This short book could have long tail repercussions, yes, let’s abolish the random and unfair construct family
Antony Loewenstein – The Palestine Laboratory; How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation around the World
Almost too brutal to read this during the Israel-Gaza war, but the book is well researched
Pablo Stefanoni – La rébellion est-elle passée à droite ?
Look, i did not love this book, its conclusion is disappointing, leftist critiques of identity politics lame. But it does paint a vivid picture of how the extreme right has managed to capture the rebellion momentum by stealing left wing talking points. But Klein explains it much better
Robert Chapman – Empire of Normality Neurodiversity and Capitalism
Full disclosure, i have not read this one yet. But after hearing the interview with the author on the death panel podcast i have no doubt that i will love it
Fiction:
Naomi Alderman – The Future
I much preferred her other book, The Power. But it again is a great story
M. E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi – Everything for Everyone
It’s not the most exiting read, but it paints a picture of a world that could be worth fighting for
Alan Lea – Hermetica
This is a Peter Gelderloos nom de plume for fiction writing
Maou – Fleur De Prunier
A comic book, a powerful story with great drawings
Bonzo – The Beautiful Idea
Another comic/zine. Loving this artist so much
But most i enjoyed to read, or re-read, the (auto)biographies of three women anarchists: de Cleyre, Goldman and Michel
TV Series
Les Indocils
Not the best quality in filming nor in actors, but what a story. Never have i ever cried so much
Time
Season two of the series, now taking place in a women’s prison, was even more gripping
Boiling Point
Thankfully only the opening scene of episode one was a one-take
La Revolution
Yeah, so this is from 2020, but we watched it this year… whatever. In case you are as late to the party as we are
Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
The series is pretty both sides-ey as a whole, but well done nevertheless
Movies
Not been a movie year for me.
At all.
Been watching way too many series.
Anatomy of a Fall
Maybe
Cuteness
Anything Carpinchos: As just one example
A young bear takes a break to play with a balloon
Pufferfish saying hello
In No Particular Order
May Add More Later
Suggest Stuff Please
Have Fun
Tell A Friend 😉
And Some Other Best Of 2023 Lists
The year in tech 2023
Pandemic Roundup: 2023 year in review
Hängengeblieben 2023 Unser großer Jahresrückblick
The Quietus’ Top 75 Tracks Of 2023
Top 10 albums of 2023
DJ Food
Indigenous Action Podcast Ep. 18: No Settler Future An Anti-Year in Review And Rest In Power, Klee
Previous Years