Instead of stalling on the fact I don’t have anything to write about, I’m starting with something simple. In the last two weeks I enjoyed a few things. Good music and good media show up all the time, but it’s still worth noting.

The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck

New England, 1919. Lionel and David spend a summer collecting songs. They fall in love. What they touch ripples through time into twelve linked stories. What stuck with me is how meaning moves through the decades. Song to song, person to person, object to object.
I started this thinking it would be close to North Woods by Daniel Mason (which I also enjoyed), but this book I found to be more tender.

And by that time, all of Mark’s and Julia’s and Ian’s problems would be so far in the past, so irrelevant, it would be as if they’d never even touched the earth.

But you should have a little pain in your life—humans are meant to have a little pain. Endings, I suppose, like seasons, like winters. That’s where all the good stuff is. Ripped apart, so you can feel the mending. There’s nothing like it. I wouldn’t wish an uneventful life on my worst enemy.

Crash Landing on You, 2019

The show isn’t new, it aired in 2019, but I love a good K-drama. In short:

After a paragliding accident, South Korean heiress Yoon Se-ri lands in North Korea. Captain Ri Jeong-hyeok finds her, hides her, and looks for a way to send her home. While they dodge the authorities, village life and the small kindnesses between Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok pull them closer and closer.

If you grew up with long Turkish soaps like I did, this feels like their antithesis. The plot is lighter and kinder. Even during the tense moments, the episodes usually settle into a comforting end. It’s that comfort that kept me watching. I cried at the end. Easy recommend. 10/10

Friend by James K

Thirteen tracks composed of hushed vocals over glassy electronics. And lots of layers. By the end, it made me feel lighter. Wonderful.

Also, James K is signed to AD 93. A label worth following if you like off-kilter techno. And the album is produced by Patrick Holland and Priori, they're the duo behind Jump Source. Listen to their banger EP JS06.