Recap: August 2026

Catalog Club: Neil Young, 1990–96

Couple of new-to-me (the albums credited to Neil Young), couple of old-to-me (the & Crazy Horse ones). Fascinating and great to hear them in order of release—really highlights Neil’s influence on the 90s alt-rock scene. I’ve never been a Pearl Jam fan but enjoyed them on 1995’s Mirror Ball.

Elsewhere

• love aggregates by Asher White — this I really like. Will write about it more in September.
• Germ Free Adolescents by X-Ray Spex — I’ve been trying to get into this for 30 years and haven’t managed to do so. No doubt I’ll give it another go in a year or two.
• Little Wide Open by Kevin Morby — another one that I didn’t like as much as I expected to. Nice enough.
• Punching the Clown by Lambchop — Like the Asher White album, I think I’m going to play this to death.
• Guitar by Mac DeMarco — despite initially disregarding it, I keep coming back to this!

Watched

Summer’s done and with it the Summer of Cusack. I’ve long been fascinated by Cusack—I was never going to watch his whole filmography in a summer but I watched and, in most cases, re-watched six of them. I haven’t kept pace with his work since, ooh, the last decade and a half, but his 80s, 90s and 00s output I enjoy a lot. Connections about, as you’d expect:

Watching Cusack in order suggests some connections I hadn’t gone looking for, mostly around moral compromise and concession. David Shayne in Bullets Over Broadway concedes his way down one compromise at a time, and pays for it. Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out concedes nothing and is ruined anyway. Runaway Jury‘s Nick Easter turns up with the con already written and walks out clean. Martin Blank does the worst thing any of them do, announces he’s stopping, and nobody argues (or even really appears to be listening).

Played

Pikuniku was a hilarious way to spend a few hours. In the run-up to the (3D) sequel this autumn, it’s often on sale I’d definitely recommend it.

I have posted several times recently about Dead Cells and it’s about as good a gaming experience as I’ve had in years. In every run I accomplish something that keeps me coming back.

Which reminds me–I must go and finish Hollow Knight. Next is to face the final boss, which I’m reasonably confident I can do. What’s holding me back is knowing what comes after that. As much as I adore the game, I don’t always look forward to spending 30-60 minutes banging my head against a wall. Even though Hollow Knight is a top-10 game for me, I’m unlikely to pick up Silksong unless my free time markedly increases.

Read

Ask Iwata and How to Win the Premier League were both topics covered by people that don’t usually speak publicly about them. Each book serves a specific research project that I have running, and that will likely influence what I read next. In the meantime I’m finishing off Lucinda Williams’ autobiography which is far better than these things often are.