2019 has been a hell of a year. Taking a musical to Edinburgh Fringe. Art attacking in Japan. Launching a successful Kickstarter. It’s been really great, and one part of that has been this newsletter. And a big part of that has been you.
Thanks for reading. It’s really meant a lot to me.
Other than a short message close to New Year’s, this will be the last newsletter of 2019. Hope you’ll stick with me in 2020. Or not. Life is short, and time is a squared circ… I mean, precious.
2019 Year in Review - My Favourites
I don’t take notes throughout the year on things I watch, read, or even experience. That would have made this a lot easier. These are my favourites of the year, because I’m not insane enough to think I can judge anything to be the best.
Book of the Year: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
My enthusiasm for this book cannot be overstated. It astonished me, knocked me over, and made me excited about reading in a thousand different ways. Enthusiastic recommendations by Robin Sloan and Warren Ellis put it on my radar, and I am forever indebted to them. This book fucking bops.
Teen lesbian space witch opera doesn’t scratch the surface of what Muir is doing here. The world feels completely new and yet entirely familiar, the character’s motivations are relatable and their actions ring true.
Keep in mind this is a universe where people control skeletons with magic, yet it all feels so believable. Muir manages this by deftly blending mythic language and modern slang - one minute you’re unpacking a thousand year-old blood curse and the next you’re learning a character is a total douche bag. That it works at all is a wonder; that it works this well is a miracle.
Tamsyn Muir is going to be a superstar.
Runner-up: Nocilla Dream by Agustín Fernández Mallo
Album of the Year: Anima by Thom Yorke
Song of the Year: Dawn Chorus by Thom Yorke
The quiet sadness of “Dawn Chorus” haunts my waking dreams. Is that a good thing? I guess if you vibe with Yorke’s incessantly catchy melancholy it is. Anima is a pagan ritual in a dark forest that doubles as the year’s best party. I love this album as much as anything by Radiohead, which is to say more than anything, ever.
Runners-up: Basketball Breakups by Good Morning, 5 by SAULT, Finding Gabriel by Brad Mehldau, GREY Area by Little Simz, Incidental Music by W.H. Lung
Movie of the Year: The Farewell
2012 - Awkwafina releases “My Vag”, a viral hit about… her vag. 2019 - Awkwafina reduces me to a blubbering mess in The Farewell, a movie I’m so thankful for I want to give it a hug.
I’ve never felt so seen in a movie, my lived experience of being Chinese so recognised and cared for. Not played for laughs, not flying through the air kicking demons into outer space. Just the human-sized story of a family struggling with what it means to love someone, respect someone, and, ultimately, be a family.
Runner-up: The King
Game of the Year: What the Golf?
This was Untitled Goose Game right up until the moment I played it. That’s not to say UGG is a bad game. It isn’t. But I loved the idea of UGG, and how it got people talking about what a video game could be, much more than I enjoyed playing it.
But What the Golf? I fucking loved What the Golf? A ludicrous collection of “golf” games wrapped in a bizarre narrative about a testing lab supercomputer gone wrong, it’s every good video game of the last ten years, but golf. And it works so well it makes me angry that I didn’t both think of and make it first. God bless this game.
Runners-up: Untitled Goose Game, Assemble With Care, Cricket Through The Ages, Dragons Dogma (Switch Edition)
Restaurant of the Year: Chinese Laundry
The food is amazing. That’s a given. But Chinese Laundry wins, despite my having only eaten there once, because of their story. These never-say-quit ladies persevered through a fire, squatters, unwilling insurance brokers, and who knows what else to triumphantly deliver my favourite meal of 2019. If you’re in London, you have to go.
Runners-up: KraPow, Smoking Goat, Esters
All the Rest
Plant of the Year: Monstera Deliciosa
Shoe of the Year: Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknit
TV Show of the Year: What We Do In The Shadows
Chocolate Bar of the Year: Peanut Butter KitKat
Pub of the Year: Red Hand
Apple Product of the Year: AirPods Pro
Choir of the Year: Chaps Choir
Art Gallery of the Year: White Cube
Fast Food of the Year: Ricebrother
Tiny Desk Concert of the Year: IDLES
Glastonbury Performance of the Year: IDLES
Flat White of the Year: Allpress Redchurch Street
Croissant of the Year: Maple Bacon at Pophams
Publisher of the Year: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Magazine of the Year: The Happy Reader
Clothing of the Year: Snow Peak Flexible Insulated Pullover