STL #124: The Years in Reading, 2018 & 2019

 Again, lists recovered from a notebook. The were both ranked, and I didn't change the order even when it felt "wrong." The comments, such as they are, added in 2021. 

2018

1. CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. Co-listed with Pastoralia and Lincoln in the Bardo, so George Saunders was my writer of the year.
2. The Southern Reach Trilogy. I think these will be emblematic of this time. Annihilation is almost certainly the best. 
3. Lone Wolf and Cub. The whole thing. The bad guy is revealed like 10 volumes in and there's a sword fight that must last 1,000 pages.
4. Stamped from the Beginning. Shockingly persuasive.
5. Factfulness. A few years later I remember this as neoliberal propaganda. 
6. American Pastoral. I was into mid- to late- period Philip Roth at the time. 
7. Swallows and Amazons. Classic children's adventure. Will eventually read sequels.
8. Ms. Marvel/Bitch Planet. Not the most natural pair, maybe, the two best comics series I read. 
9. The Dispossessed. Flawed, sure, but emblematic of the best social science fiction.
10. The Red Parts. After reading Jane. One of the best true crime books.

2019

1. Hip Hop Family Tree/The Rap Yearbook. Seem like an odd choice for number one now, but I did get into early hip hop (and even 90s hip hop, really for the first time) as a result. 
2. Barnaby. Again, weird to see it so high now. Though I certainly like it. 
3. Our Band Could Be Your Life/Please Kill Me/Celebrated Summer. The third of this is a pretty graphic album thrown in only for thematic purposes. The other two have stuck with me.
4. "LeFanu/James" is what it said. I reread the book that included "Carmilla" (LeFanu) and I think that "James" is M.R. James. 
5. Comeback. I think this marks the beginning of the end of my rereading of the Parker novels in order. This was the first of the great sequence after his long break. I honestly don't know which one this is (maybe the riverboat job), but that is my favorite sequence. 
6. Parable of the Sower/Talents. Obviously these are good books, but I'm not as enthusiastic as some others.
7. Astro City. I love these comics. 
8. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/I, Robot. A natural pair of puzzle fictions.
9. Best of the Best American Horror. Condensed from the first ten years of Ellen Datlow's annual series. 
10. Say Nothing. One of the best true crime books. 

Curio: Archie Horror

 I have sitting on my desk a handwritten, ranked list of every Archie Horror comic inclusive of Afterlife With Archie (not originally under the imprint). 

1. Afterlife With Archie- The best title, best art, best script. RIP Betty Cooper. Unfortunately, the series broke off in the middle, with a great interlude featuring Josie as a cosmopolitan vampire. 
2. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina- Highly metal. Like a Gold Key adaptation of a Hammer horror. Sadly, only 8 issues. Betty and Veronica as Wiccan cheerleaders from one town over.
3. Blossom 666. Third best title. Cheryl and Jason Blossom's sibling rivalry over who is really the anti-Christ. Evidently written as a pitch as it ends on a cliff-hanger. 
4. Vampironica- A fantasia on her insecurities is top notch writing. Flattened, semi-painting art with excellent facial expressions. Not crazy about character design though. Fingerless gloves.
5. Vampironica: New Blood- Follows up on the implications of the next item on the list, so kudos on that. Also points for a hardcore seem with Ronnie's vampiric ancestor, Sir Francis Lodge, fighting a great white shark. 
6. Jughead the Hunger vs. Vampironica- Respect for thinking of a cross-over for something that really, really didn't need to happen. 
7. Jughead the Hunger - Best name. Horrible art, treats the Cooper family like Duck Dynasty. This one actually continues for multiple volumes, but one was enough. 

STL 123.4 The Vikstrom Interlude

 This is post number 123, part 4, about the band's 5th studio album, titled Chapter VI. How many points is that in Yahtzee? Chapter VI  is a beautiful name for any even somewhat Spinal Tappish band's fifth album, but to be fair they did have a double live album with Messiah that I'm skipping.  This is the only album featuring Thomas Vikstrom on vocals, and I hate it. 

Maybe it's at this point I should stop and say that despite all the time I've put into this project, Candlemass isn't my kind of band. I mean, obviously I like some of the things they've done, and some of the attributes of their sound are profoundly appealing But as I'm coming to understand it, the epic doom they are inextricably associated with is in essence in the overlap of the true, the actual, the good doom (i.e., basements dank with bong fumes) and a shinier power metal sound (blowdryers and stadium dreams). This album, as I'll elaborate on, falls too far to the latter, uninteresting, end of the spectrum. 

The other thing that I hope would go without saying is that I'd like these to be more than "reaction video" criticism.  If you look up "Candlemass reaction video" on Youtube, you'll find out what hip hop fans, goth girls, and self-appointed Christians think of the band's music. (And as I mentioned before, a vocal coach.) Even though I'm not putting in much research time, I do spend time with the music (not as implied by how long this is taking to finish though!) and in writing these.... reviews? essays? indulgent utterances?

Now, to return to my first point, this really isn't the kind of thing I like. There's glam riffs, there's soaring synth solos (that are actually kind of cool), and there's a singer who is histrionic and never mentions demons (the latter being a Leif problem, but still). One problem with the songwriting on this album is the implication that other, presumably real,  humans exist. This is most problematic in most prominently in "Julie Laughs No More." The lyrics invoke fairy tales, but in a metaphorical way. Very undoom.  

Listening this album in the wake of white nationalist insurrection in the nation's capitol was not the most woke thing I could have done. Now, Candlemass have never been associated with the deplorable elements of metal, but then I come to "Where the Runes Still Speak"  (sounding little bit like the good stuff, with the riff and keyboard textures) and this bit about "my blood.. calling from Asaland" put me on high alert. The appropriation of things Nordic by racists is both predictable and nauseating, and perhaps a topic I should expand on elsewhere. But then the idea that this is really about something else is cast aside with "I am the moongod/who dwelleth among the dead" and everything's ok. 

Now, to return to my second point, I feel some kind of obligation to do this right, even though no one is paying me for this and very, very few people will read it.  I see my due diligence as the following: listen through once to get the lay of the land, listen again reading lyrics,  listen at least 2 more times roaming the northern forests.  (That's really not enough, but see point one.) I couldn't quite get to that final run through though. 

What did I learn? Maybe trying to break a glass with your voice twice in the same chorus isn't the right move in certain situations. 

There's only one album to rank. It comes in last.