Certain movies, songs, and books have given shape to my life and work. Others have given me some of my happiest moments. I’ve tried to gather all the best stuff on one page.
Books
Movies/TV
Music
Other Stuff
Books
I record all the books I read on Goodreads. Of all my five-star books, these are ten of my favorites:
- Worm, Wildbow*
- The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Eliezer Yudkowsky*
- The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, Lydia Davis
- Ender’s Shadow, Orson Scott Card
- Getting Things Done, David Allen
- The Neapolitan Quartet, Elena Ferrante
- Catch-22, Joseph Heller
- Sapiens, Yuval Harari
- Oblivion, David Foster Wallace
* = Free to read online
I’ve reviewed many books on Goodreads. I’ve also written posts about the best books I read in:
Movies // TV
I’ve rated every movie or television series I can remember watching on IMDB.
Top five for each:
Movies
- Life in a Day
- The Act of Killing
- Synecdoche, New York
- Kung Fu Hustle
- The Incredibles
Television
- Arrested Development
- Avatar: The Last Airbender // The Legend of Korra
- Rick and Morty
- Freaks and Geeks
- Azumanga Daioh
Music
I listen mostly to electronic dance music, but also everything else.
Songs
Not my top 30, but 30 of my top 300. (But the top 3 are my top 3.)
- Just One Second, London Elektricity
- Ghost Love Score, Nightwish
- 13 Angels On My Broken Windowsill (Fractal remix), BT
- Stompbox (Spor Remix), The Qemists
- It’s Too Late, The Streets
- Worldwide Choppers, Tech N9ne (ft. lots of other people)
- Still With Me (Seven Lions Remix), Tritonal
- Almost Human, High Contrast
- Together, The New Pornographers
- The Choice, Rory Kane (ft. Nika Rosa Danilova)
- 9x Outta 10, DJ Quik & Kurupt
- Just a Thought, Fred V & Grafix (ft. Reija Lee)
- You and Me (Flume Remix), Disclosure (ft. Eliza Doolittle)
- Stem/Long Stem, DJ Shadow
- How Could You, Maduk
- Without You, Danny L. Harle
- Moving Glowstream, Eskmo
- Urge For Going, Joni Mitchell
- Witchcraft, Pendulum
- Popcorn, Hot Butter
- Ain’t Cha, Clipse
- Someone Great, LCD Soundsystem
- Recess, Skrillex
- Archangel, Burial
- Hitz, Chase & Status (ft. Tinie Tempah)
- XO, Beyonce
- Escape (Electro Mix), DJ Icey
- California, Grimes
- Daydreaming, Paramore
- Telling Me, Koven
Artists
A few favorites, in alphabetical order:
Adam Ant, Angel Haze, Aphex Twin, araabMUZIK, Arcade Fire, Bjork, Chase & Status, CHVRCHES, Citay, Das Racist, Florence and the Machine, Fox Stevenson, Garbage, Gorillaz, Japandroids, Joni Mitchell, Kathryn Calder, Koven, London Elektricity, Lorde, Manic Street Preachers, Merchandise, Moby, Neko Case, Nero, Netsky, Nightwish, Outkast, Pendulum, Radiohead, Robyn, Run the Jewels, Seven Lions, Sleater-Kinney, Sleigh Bells, Special Request, Starkey, Tech N9ne, The Chemical Brothers, The Decemberists, The Lonely Island, The New Pornographers, The Stone Roses, The Streets, Trentemoller, TV on the Radio, Venetian Snares, Wiley, Yo La Tengo
Albums
A Long Way to Fall, Ulrich Schnauss
Black Noise, Pantha Du Prince
Blackwater Park, Opeth
Body Talk, Robyn
Bright and Vivid, Kathryn Calder
Dig Your Own Hole, The Chemical Brothers
Endtroducing, DJ Shadow
Endless, Fox Stevenson
Funeral, Arcade Fire
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, Yo La Tengo
Imani Vol. 1, Blackalicious
Immersion, Pendulum
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy
New Forms, Roni Size & Reprazent
No More Idols, Chase & Status
Plastic Beach, Gorillaz
Selected Ambient Works 85-92, Aphex Twin
Silent Alarm, Bloc Party
The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
Drops
Songs that are good overall and also have ten seconds that make me want to jump over a building or surf through a volcanic eruption.
- Another Day (xKore Remix), Modestep
- Billboard, S-Type
- Turn It Around, Sub Focus (ft. Kele)
- No Turning Back, SPL
- December, Seven Lions
- Led Astray (Culprate remix), Friction
- Between Two Points, The Glitch Mob
- I Need You (T-Mass Remix), Ramses B
- Let You Go, Chase & Status (ft. M. Ali)
- Mediums, The Upbeats
- Going Through Hell (Dot Rotten Remix), The Streets
- Jah No Partial, Major Lazer (ft. Flux Pavillion)
- Relapse, ShockOne (ft. Sam Nafie)
- Heartbeat (Calyx & Teebee Remix), Wilkinson (ft. P Money & Arlissa)
- Clockworks, Canblaster
Other Stuff
Webcomics
- XKCD
- Subnormality
- Kiwis by Beat (especially Minus and Great)
- SMBC
- Hark! A Vagrant
- Strong Female Protagonist
- Digger (finished story)
Subnormality is hard to get into, but it’s worth the effort once you get through the early comics. Here are a few of my favorites, all of which can be enjoyed without reading the rest:
The Real World
Laser Tag: My favorite thing to do in physical space. I hope it becomes a professional sport once we live in a post-scarcity society.
Frisbee: My second-favorite thing to do in physical space. Projectiles that fly reliably in straight lines aren’t nearly as much fun.