april 2025 finds is here!
BOOKS
1. i took advantage of the big power outage and pushed to finally finish sonic life by thurston moore. pro? it’s an unofficial history of the last decades of mainly american underground music. con? do you remember the episode of friends where joey uses the thesaurus? well, imagine a whole entire book of pompous dictionary words. it’s confusing and it distracts from the story way too often. also, huge cringe fest at the end where tm explained how he left his wife and kid for a woman who was in a relationship herself. the two couples knew each other, too. he hid the cheating and lied about it for at least one year after his wife/band mate found about it… and he still tries to make it sound romantic. ew.
2. i have also finished robert whitman’s wonderful tokyo junkie. the best way to time travel back to tokyo from the 1960s on, both olympics included! i’m now looking to read his other books.
3. le consentement by vanessa springora is an autobiographical story. when she was only 14, she started a relationship with gabriel matzneff. he was a writer famous for the pedophile lifestyle he had illustrated in his work for decades. the writing is fluid and details the abuse as well as the way the society, including her parents, reacted to it. recommended especially for the insight into the repeated offender’s mechanisms. after you read the book, you’d enjoy reading about the aftermath of this book’s publication.
4. camping by lavinia braniste illustrates with seamless flow a very small life. that of a romanian emigrant in spain on the brink of retirement and going back to her home land. since about 20% of romanians live abroad, this is a very current topic.
MUSIC
occasionally, friends tell me there is no good new music. there absolutely is. the kids are alright.
5. check out indie mexican musician bruses. click here for the whole kexp concert and a short interview.
6. let me introduce you to dominican rapper tokischa. if you are into dembow beats, you’re gonna love her. i already do!
but if you want a fire live version, watch it here (skip to 8:00).
the industry came to get her flavour. first was rosalia.
then, madonna, whose business plan is still sucking the youth dry in her desperate attempts to maintain relevance.
recently, argentinian nathy peluso joined her.
7. and, since i am on the topic, here’s nathy peluso with my favourites ca7riel and paco amoroso.
and here is buenos aires, my favourite nathy song.
8. i saw florence + the machine live in 2010. i still love her.
9. i bought tickets to see warhaus at casa da musica 6 months ago. but the gig got cancelled because of the big power outage. power came back half an hour after the gig was supposed to start…
10. i like these two songs from the strokes 2020 album.
but i also still like their old stuff.
11. jackson wang is out with another banger.
FILMS
12. o diabo do entrudo is a documentary about a tradition of the portuguese village of lazarim. it’s a minimalistic and quiet glimpse into a secret world. lately, i’ve been into pagan stuff, portuguese or not, so i loved the film.
PODCASTS
13. i don’t know if these classify as podcasts. maybe not. anyway, my thing for herr eidinger goes on.
14. billy corgan loves to be on podcasts lately, on either side of the mike.
YOUTUBE
15. vienna has probably the best city marketing i’ve ever seen. their video content is addictive. you must check the website and the youtube channel if you’re planning to visit. or even just for fun.
16. this is a 2-part series about the meaning behind kendrick lamar‘s super bowl show.
17. a neat junk journal sounds like something i’d do, but i know i never will.
18. i’m not impressed my make up artists who make young women look great. i’m more interested in the ones who make old people look great!
19. the theme of this year’s met gala was: superfine: tailoring black style. black dandysm receives its well deserved and way overdue flowers.
unfortunately, the met gala came and went and it was underwhelming. but i guess it always is. a few get the theme and a lot mess it up.
20. you can never have enough weirdoes. who doesn’t like john waters?
21. last, but definitely not least, i came across a romanian streamer. silviu faiar‘s content is in romanian-only. he’s young and sharp and funny. we’ve watched him between the two rounds of elections for his hot takes. he shares bits of his twitch content on his two youtube channels. absolutely recommended.
how was you april? i’ve had a quiet but productive month, you can check it on my insta.
photo and video credits: copyright holders and little aesthete
