Reflecting on my 2022 media
Each year, I usually do a small 3x3 of the music I've listened to and really loved that year. Since I was bedridden and miserable for a good quarter this time and ended up listening to less than usual, I figured this would be a good time to just think about just stuff I enjoyed this year and reflect on what I want more out of the stuff I take in in 2023.
Just as a heads up, the above isn't a "Top 9" or anything of the year, just stuff that really brought me pleasure or I felt better after completing!
Top Left to Bottom Right:
- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
- Kirby & the Forgotten Land
- NOT TiGHT by DOMi & JD BECK
- Turning Red
- Raw Data Feel by Everything Everything
- Pop Team Epic Season 2
- Melt My Eyez See Your Future by Denzel Curry
- Unpacking
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
As mentioned, music was super light this time. I ended up really just listening to singles a bunch from the albums here (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, NOT TiGHT, Raw Data Feel, Melt My Eyez See Your Future) but the melancholy and reflection on all of these hit in a way I sorely needed throughout the year. I know I listened to Count Me Out a lot out of everything here, but god does NOT TiGHT as a total album package make me excited for future DOMi & JD BECK stuff.
I'm horrendous when it comes to finishing shows and getting to movies, but I think that's a symptom of superhero movie fatigue finally hitting me hard this year. While I'm not a blind MCU follower to begin with, there just was very little to look forward to and end up enjoying afterwards this go-around. Thankfully, Turning Red and Everything Everywhere All at Once's sincerity in their different matters helped ground me in a way that ended up having me do a second viewing for both just cause. Pop Team Epic Season 2 was an easy fave though - absurdist and very deep gaming culture humor is a rarity in media these days and PTE gave it in spades in a way I've been missing since its first season.
This year and last year I challenged myself to finish at least one new game a month - learning that my gaming pace is either feverish or glacial. If it wasn't a short 6-or-less hour experience, it either fell to the wayside or ended up being ignored. Not the biggest issue though, seeing as last year's Unpacking was something I both didn't expect to love as much as I did and write such a sincere story with little tools. I thankfully also dug deep into Kirby and the Forgotten Land earlier this year too, which is at least in the top 5 of that series for me now.
Looking forward, I don't know if I have much I want to change or fix in my consumption habits. As always, I'd love to push forward into enjoying movies for myself and watching more, but that's just a global "media for me" problem to solve. That and just less Youtube binging anyway.
Here's to 2023! 🎉