Thom's Link Emporium - 0024 - 4 July 2022

We’re half way through the year! Weird, huh? Not least since I don’t firmly feel like I’m out of 2020 yet, and instead we’re half way through 2022. Turns out pandemics really mess up your notion of time.

Still, it gives me the chance to share my favourite albums of 2022 this week, and next week I’ll be sharing my favourite tracks from the first half of the year. If you’re not subscribed already, you can make sure you receive that the moment it’s finished by subscribing here!

Links

It probably says a fair amount about what it's like to work in an Amazon warehouse that in some places Amazon are projected to have employed the entire available workforce by 2021, and, if nothing changes, potentially the whole available US workforce by 2024
If you're asking questions like "what is crypto?" and "why are all the people who say they’re into crypto looking so sad at the moment?" then this article on the collapse of crypto is a good place to start.
A lengthy Twitter thread from 2018 beautifully telling the story of when the author met the president of Ireland while on ketamine. For the sake of clarity and to avoid any legal action, it was the author of the Twitter thread who was high on ketamine, not the president of Ireland.
I only learned this week that both Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas and Keith Moon both died in England. Not only that, but they both died in Harry Nilsson's London apartment, Mama Cass of a heart attack at 32 in 1974, and Keith Moon of an overdose, also at 32, in 1978.
Ted Gioia on the ridiculous situation of "fair use" in copyright. This issue is particularly clear for YouTube music educators who try their best to get people into the music of the record labels, and in return get their videos demonetised. "a few things are certain: (1) The system is broken; (2) The organizations with money and power don’t want to fix it; and (3) The culture at large is hurt because education and advocacy programs—absolutely essential to the future of the musical arts—are punished rather than supported."

Listening

Here's my top 10 albums from the first half of the year. If anyone were to cross-check you might find some have moved up and down this list compared to the various monthly lists - it's just because I've changed my opinion on them a bit. The links are all Apple Music, but they’re pretty easily searchable on your streaming platform of choice.

Harry's House - Harry Styles: Just a perfect pop album, light, airy, fun but with some genuine depth
A Light for Attracting Attention - The Smile: Some Radiohead members team up with the drummer from Sons of Kemet and make songs that would be at the b-side-experimental end of Radiohead's normal output.
MOTOMAMI - ROSALIA: The capital-letter loving Latinx singer has made one of the most interesting pop albums for many years.
CRASH - Charli XCX: Another fan of capital letters and another excellent pop album. Maybe not quite as wonderful as her lockdown album, How I'm Feeling Now, but still brilliant.
Chloë and the Next 20th Century - Father John Misty: Perhaps not a huge departure from his previous work, but why change a winning formula? Sardonic, beautiful tunes from a talented singer/songwriter.
Topical Dancer - Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul: The experimental electronic Belgian pop album we've all been waiting for.
We've Been Going About This All Wrong - Sharon Van Etten: Another excellent singer-songwriter. I think this might be my favourite album of hers
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There: A difficult to describe album that brings in elements of rock and jazz to make something that sounds different from all other albums I've heard this year.
Classic Objects - Jenny Hval: The Norwegian progressive indie album we've all been waiting for.
Timbuktu - Oumou Sangaré: This comes with the context that I don't think I've heard anything by Sangaré that I haven't loved, but this Malian singer is one of the greatest in Africa (based on what can only be described as limited research) and is absolutely beautiful.

### Watching

A tour of massive Lego layout from a creator in Innsbruck, Switzerland. "Honestly I could do that for hours" he says, following his train around, and I'm inclined to agree.

And in other creative pursuits, this creator is making The Simpsons Hit and Run game using Unreal Engine. If you want to know how amazingly powerful UE5 is as a tool for making worlds, I’d start here.

Quote

One cannot be fully human while continuing to violate the humanity of another, which is what all prejudices encourage us to do.
John Shelby Spong, The Fourth Gospel