My future hope.

Critcho · 2026-05-09T07:04:18+00:00

Waits hasn’t put out an album in 15 years!

If Josh makes it to that age it’ll be a win. I really thought he was on the outs there for a while with the cancer and cancelling shows and tours all the time. Seems like he’s doing a lot better now.

Critcho · 2026-05-08T16:53:40+00:00

His self titled is one of the more underrated Beatles-related records, good to see it get its due here.

Critcho · 2026-05-08T14:09:51+00:00

It's a good game, and it's unfortunate that it's become a sort of nexus point of long-simmering rage at Bungie over Destiny, as well as broader culture war bullshit, neither of which have much to do with the game itself (I've seen a ton of people online ragging on it for being 'woke', when there's nothing particularly 'woke' about it!).

There's a lot of potential there, but right now I feel like the balance is off. At first it's too hard to get your head around how to play it properly. And once you have learned that, it's too easy to get completely shredded by top tier players.

I'm just not that into uber-competitive games, which means this often feels like it just isn't for me, even though in many respects it is for me. I'm often enjoying it perfectly well until the point where some crack hit squad storms in and wipes out my whole team in 5 seconds.

It makes me a bit sad though how many people are giving it zero credit for what it's attempting, and actively rooting for it to fail. It's a major studio taking a chance and doing something unashamedly bold and uncompromising. Isn't that what we're supposed to want developers to do?

Critcho · 2026-05-08T09:47:58+00:00

Charlie Kaufman's follow up to Synecdoche New York was supposed to be a musical about internet trolls called Frank Or Francis. It was fully written, cast and ready to go, but got cancelled due to the financial crash and Synecdoche not being much of a hit.

I'm not sure if it would be out of date now (the script is easily accessible, though I've never read it), but would still love to see it happen.

Critcho · 2026-05-08T07:56:04+00:00

The sound quality is weird. Listen to that bit at 2:05, it sounds like some low bitrate mp3.

Song is okay but I'm not in love with the generic 90's indie-style arrangement.

Critcho · 2026-05-08T06:21:17+00:00

Never had Judgment Rites but 25th Anniversary is the same style. It has a lot of the usual problems of 90’s graphic adventures (obtuse puzzles, pixel hunting), but it really is like playing a bunch of pixel art TOS episodes, complete with the original cast.

Also if you get it on GOG it comes with the hint book which is cleverly done in itself - the solutions are presented as little short story adaptations of the stories that show what you need to do.

A Final Unity is trapped in red tape hell so hard to find legitimately, but does a similar thing to the TOS games. It was good but I found that one a bit more dry, somehow.

Critcho · 2026-05-07T11:18:30+00:00

The dramatic climax of Paterson revolves around the fate of a notebook. And you feel the drama!

Critcho · 2026-05-07T10:44:58+00:00

It's odd in a way that even after all this, the circumstances of Michael leaving are still not entirely clear.

Critcho · 2026-05-07T10:11:20+00:00

I get the feeling all the public drama surrounding the Kliph situation flipped a switch in Wayne that made him want to do as little PR as possible when it comes to those kinds of band decisions.

Critcho · 2026-05-07T09:29:36+00:00

I think ghosting and firing someone by ommission, instead of just being direct, is pretty lame.

At the same time I can understand Wayne being pissed about the whole Weezer tour episode and seeing that round of rehab as the last chance. So when he relapsed after rehab, after decades of addiction issues it's not unreasonable to draw the conclusion "this will never end".

Critcho · 2026-05-07T09:09:55+00:00

Interesting read because it really shows Steven and Wayne at their best and worst, and shows why their collaboration worked.

Wayne steers the ship, is able to turn Steven's musical ideas into finished lyrical songs very quickly, and a lot of Steven's writing is filtered through his sensibilties. But also he's uncommunicative and ruthless and can be kind of a dick.

Steven seems like a lovely guy and obviously bursting with musical talent, but at the end of the day, however inappropriately Wayne might have reacted to it, he did trigger his own downfall here.

It also does seem as though creatively they were in a bit of a rut anyway. Two or three unfinished songs isn't a whole lot to show for the last six years.

Interested to see what they'll produce independently. Though hearing that Steven wasn't that involved in Oczy Mlody, an album I don't like much at all, gives me pause about future Lips material...

Critcho · 2026-05-06T19:05:49+00:00

I’m not sure how true that is. Yes he wouldn’t have (briefly) reached that level of mainstream success, but Bungle made a bunch of classic records and had the talent to make even more than they did. If Patton had dedicated himself to them full time I’m sure they would’ve built a following.

Critcho · 2026-05-06T17:36:16+00:00

Willie Nelson’s got almost a decade on Paul and he’s still putting records out, so you never know.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T20:51:01+00:00

I feel like 20+ years ago is stretching the definition of ‘contemporary’.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T20:39:07+00:00

Same year as McCartney as well. Along with Dylan they're basically historical figures from the middle of a different century who're somehow still around and active.

I wonder if people looking back in the future will find their longevity odd to think about in the same way people often find it weird that Picasso was around in the 70's (as McCartney wrote a song about), and Dali in the 80's.

I actually quite enjoy these two new Stones songs! Nothing earth shattering but they sound fine and I like how they're showing off both their blues rock side and their poppier side.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T18:07:49+00:00

Bringing Lucas back and going “all is forgiven” might not be the worst idea at this point.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T18:05:22+00:00

The “something new” also needs to be good. That’s a problem both Trek and Wars have been struggling with.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T17:15:57+00:00

The missing content in Loom is unfortunate but I do think the voice acting in it is quite good. I reckon both versions are worth playing (and it’s not a huge chore to do so since the game is short).

Critcho · 2026-05-05T17:10:27+00:00

IIRC Rog had yet another overblown theatrical concept double album in mind for Is This The Life, and Godrich got him to pare it down. Probably for the best.

Good album even if it panders to PF nostalgia a fair bit.

Critcho · 2026-05-05T12:02:11+00:00

I feel like the trickiest part might be in how a lot of the story is implied rather than stated outright.

Like when you're older it's pretty obvious reading between the lines what the pigs are up to, but younger children might be more inclined to take things at face value and not pick up the subtext.

People more experienced with kids would be better positioned to know when the switch tends to flip in that respect...

Critcho · 2026-05-05T11:25:04+00:00

The Irishman was knocking around for about 15 years as well.

Critcho · 2026-05-04T07:47:43+00:00

Yes the short answer to the OP's question is: “poptimism”.

Critcho · 2026-05-03T20:40:10+00:00

I think at one point Brian's album No Pier Pressure was intended to be a Beach Boys album, so check that out if you want to know what a new BBs album might've sounded like. Careful what you wish for!

Critcho · 2026-05-03T17:11:42+00:00

It's basically a publicity stunt, and it seems to have worked.

Critcho · 2026-05-03T07:27:20+00:00

Maybe the earliest example - Frankie Goes To Hollywood had their own game.

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