#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?

“The Old House” by Tuxis Giant.

This is an album so lovely that I felt compelled to halfway start a music blog in order to write about it. It’s gentle but aching. I find connection and catharsis in the album and I hope that you will too. It is filled with grief and joy and its delivery is both understated and raw. Such a treat.

#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?

“Gaza Fights for Freedom” by Abby Martin (2019)

This is an incredible film from Empire Files and it’s free to watch.

I recommended it a lot when I was working on the “From the River to the Sea: The Horrible Truth About Palestine” fundraiser compilation in 2021. I wanted people to watch it for themselves and to be empowered to feel proud in their advocacy of Palestinians and be loud in their condemnation of the violent and oppressive state of Israel. I wanted people to be angry with their own governments for continuing to actively participate in apartheid, occupation and genocide.

I don’t believe you can watch this documentary and argue in good faith that Israel is not the overwhelming aggressor. There’s a positive there, because a lot of people are very ignorant on “the conflict,” partly due to the media's complicity–but I do want to stress that most efforts to bog people down in debates are malicious. It’s not a “complicated” situation and we really shouldn’t have to pre-prepare a fully-cited lecture for those who want to “well, actually” the idea that exterminating civilians is bad.

I’m pissed off, lads.

#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?

“Indiana Jones and The Cult of the Mummy’s Crypt: An Interactive Tale of Terror” by R.L. Stine.

In the 1980s, Ballantine Books began publishing a slew of Indiana Jones gamebooks, the first of which were written by the great R.L. Stine prior to his successes with “Fear Street” and “Goosebumps.” I always knew the genre as “Choose Your Own Adventure” but this particular series is known as “Find Your Fate.”

I only found out that these existed recently and some of them are really inexpensive. They’re really silly, and kinda gruesome: “You search for another exit as the mummies stagger forward. The air is foul. The floor is littered with all their arms and legs. And still they come.”–isn’t that fun?

Ethically, it’s not the best to be aiding a protagonist in the United States’ endless looting of other nations, if we’re to be fair, most fiction has imperialism brain anyway. So, when that depression hits, and boy has it been hitting, there’s nothing quite like a fun flirty bit of intellectual regression.

#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?

It’s terrible to pick your own thing but I’m miserable without a project. Usually my projects make me miserable too but I do sometimes get out of bed for them.

I started writing about wrestling as it seemed faintly more productive than just googling wrestling stats and then forgetting them. It was a good tool for getting through grief-heavy days. Nobody reads it and I’m not a great writer but I do try to research thoroughly, and some of my favourite wrestlers have said they liked the articles–so that has been very nice.

It feels better to create something than to just double-screen constantly, but I do wish sometimes that I could comfortably just single-screen.

#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.

Get a bird. They are lowkey terrible pets. Impossible to please. Messy. Noisy. But so great. And so pretty! And stupid!

I have two budgies, girls, Frankie and Dee, and a three-month-old boy cockatiel called Broski. The girls have never liked me too much but it is my honour to take care of them. Broski will not let me out of his sight, he is my shoulder-riding, toe-biting, bestie, and honestly my only friend since I moved to Miami. Generally speaking, the smaller the creature’s brain, the more likeable it finds me.

OK folks, there you have it. Things that Jamie from Audio Antihero thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go befriend a bird, make sure to befriend Jamie on the Instagram / Twitter and then also give the latest single ‘Maybelline’ from Frog’s upcoming album GROG a listen below …

…and if you like what you’re hearing, go do some further frog-flavoured audio exploring over on the Bandcamp / Spotify — AND THEN — start mentally preparing yourself for a Highly Recommended Q&A with a member of Frog in the very near future (#FrogGROGblahg).

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JEREMY / @HI54LOFI

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