Category: Consumption

Book review: Detours

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DetoursDetours by Tim Rogers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Five stars. I suppose it’s unlikely I would have rated any other way, really, given how much of my early adulthood was soundtracked by the guy. See, for nerdy dorks of my age and type, Tim Rogers’ work is pretty important. I’ve written about that here if you’d fancy further solipsism – but suffice it to say You Am I were (and are) a band that made you feel like you could give it a go, and that there was stuff and a place out there for you, too.

Yeah, there are big rock moves, and big rock appetites. But then behind it all was someone who wrote songs about OCD, who felt an impostor, and who used Townshend windmills to blur reality, just a bit.
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Book review: The Essex Serpent

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The Essex SerpentThe Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This will only be a short review as I find myself in a quandary with this book. I can’t figure whether I like it, beyond being faintly impressed with Perry’s hand at portraiture.
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Book review: Tex

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TexTex by Tex Perkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

TEX IS SEX, or so read the graffiti I used to see sometimes. Everyone kind of knows the guy – Greg to his mum – whether it’s because they used to see the Beasts, or because of that fight at the ARIAs, or because he’s the dude who makes albums with Don and Charlie, or because of that time he suggested it might be time for legal advice. You know – that guy.
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Supersense, Melbourne: August 18-20, 2017

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I’m just back from a couple of days in Melbourne at the Supersense festival, and am kind of exhausted but mostly happy. So I figured while it was fresh I’d note some thoughts on the whole shebang.

Stage and stalls

The festival bills itself as an examination of the ecstatic experience, and that pretty accurately covers the couple of days I spent in the phone coverage-free bowels of Arts Centre Melbourne. Like other festivals it’s run to a timetable, sure. But this one saw performances enacted in familiar venues seen from unusual perspectives: foyers, rehearsal rooms and, notably, viewed from an enormous stage (and not the stalls). Throughout, I saw and heard a dedication to pushing music somewhere that transcends the idea of mere performance – sometimes unsuccessfully, but often brilliantly.

TLDR version? Goes orright, mate.

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A Shropshire apocalypse

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Like the end of the world? Enjoy walking around? Hate people?

Well, have I got the game for you.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a game by the developers of Dear Esther, probably the best-known walking simulator game. Where that game focused on paths around a small island, Rapture allows you to wander around a fictional Shropshire valley, ostensibly at the end of Something Really Catastrophic.  Continue reading “A Shropshire apocalypse” →

Book review: Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth

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Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on EarthJimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chris Ware’s almost-autobiographical tale of a meek man and his familial foundering has been on my to-read list since it started winning a bunch of awards in 2001. I’m kind of glad I’m reading it now, because I’m not sure I would’ve had the emotional fortitude to survive it back then.

It’s cold in here.

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Book review: The Decagon House Murders

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TitleThe Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine a ten-sided house. Add to it murder mystery enthusiasts, each bearing a famous crime writer’s nickhame. Add a sprinkling of weird fiction ghostliness and gothic murder. Then kill everybody.
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What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)

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After the extended session that was my Batman: Arkham series experience, I figured I needed something to clear out the cobwebs a bit. A short thing that I could zoom through that was completely different to the face-punching and gliding I’d been doing.

Giant Sparrow’s What Remains of Edith Finch was what I chose. It’s not something that requires a lot of playtime – I think I completed the game and about 80 per cent of its trophies in just under two hours – but it was quite a thought-provoking experience. Some spoilers probably follow, so if you’re considering playing, maybe do that first.  Continue reading “What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)” →

MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEEAD!

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Well, after over one hundred hours of playtime, I’ve made my way through the Arkham series of Batman games. So here’s some thoughts about them. (If you want to read about my experience with Telltale’s foray into Gotham, go here.)

Undoubtedly, there’ll be spoilers aplenty, so if you haven’t played – and really, you should – proceed with caution.

First, though:

(Longer version. Originally from PVP.)

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Book review: Wolf in White Van

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Wolf in White VanWolf in White Van by John Darnielle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The short review? Songwriter writes book. Book digs a bit deeper into some of songwriter’s peccadilloes. People who like songwriter’s work will like book. EXEUNT.

I have to admit I was predisposed towards liking this book given that I am a fan of Darnielle’s music. Knowing how good the writing is in The Mountain Goats – an eclectic, honest and nerdily funny combo who’ve produced some of the best songs about a) peanuts, b) relationship decline, c) abusive adolescence and d) insurance fraud ever (I’m not covering goths, road trips, wrestling, Michael Myers or religion here, but take my word for it, they’re there) – I expected good things.
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