#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”?

Dan: I’ve been listening to everything put out by Double Double Whammy for the last 5 years or so, and have listened to Great Grandpa’s “Four of Arrows”, and LVL UP’s “Return to Love” more times than I’d like to admit, but they just put out a record by 2nd Grade called “Hit to Hit”, and I can’t get enough of it! Others artists on rotation: Grumpy, Pope, NNAMDÏ, Big Thief, Fountains of Wayne

David:  This type of question is always tough for me, I tend to be all over the place and pretty indecisive. But, a few that I’ve been stuck on recently include Radiohead’s “Amnesiac”, MF Doom’s “Operation Doomsday”, and Nana Grizol’s new stuff “We Carry the Feeling”.

#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)?

Brian: Obviously, I have been watching a lot of TV and movies for the last few months. A movie that I can’t get out of my head and emphatically recommend to whoever will listen is Atlantics. It’s on Netflix, it’s got a magical realist vibe to it and doesn’t shy away from quietly challenging the viewer to think more deeply about work, race, class, and love. It also is just stunning to look at. 

David: To be honest, every time I get online to watch some beautiful work of cinema these days, I end up watching some low budget, dry historical documentaries.  If we went back a couple of years I’d say Interstellar, because Hanz Zimmer pulled up and made this incredible organ-dominated soundtrack, which reminded me of my obsession with Philip Glass and his work on Koyaanisqatsi.  The movie was pretty good too. 

#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)?

Brian: This rec might be a little dated, but the second season of the (excellent!) HBO adaptation just wrapped up and it’s been in my head: The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante. Now is the time to dive into this four-novel, life-encapsulating series about two women growing up and growing out of Naples in the mid-20th century. It’s just an incredible achievement and I can’t recommend it enough. On the nonfiction side, I would highly recommend Kids These Days by Malcolm Harris. It gave insight and language to the “burnout” phenomenon among millennials before that became a buzzword, and while rigorous in its research and analysis, it is so, so approachable and fun to read. 

Danielle: There, There by Tommy Orange sticks with me as the best book I have read in a while. It’s an eye-opening look into Native American history, told in that several viewpoint Pulp Fiction style where each character’s seemingly separate story ends up meshing together. I can’t really describe it in a way that does it justice. It’s gorgeous and tragic and everyone should read it. 

David: I’m always asking Brian and Danielle for book recommendations, so definitely listen to them.  I have to throw out this monster of a title (and book) though: “Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition” by Buddy Levy.  It’s a great detailing of Greely’s farthest north expedition up in Greenland.

#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?

Brian: I didn’t play video games until a few weeks ago, and Animal Crossing on the switch has been a godsend during these very stressful days. Everything that can be said about it already has been said, so I’ll just toss my endorsement on top of the pile and move on. 

Danielle: I would be sad if Audible went away. I didn’t think I would be an audiobook type of person, but I got it back in September when my commute was long. Now that I’m not doing that commute anymore, I mainly listen to Audiobooks while crocheting or drawing. 

David: For the past few years I’ve been semi-serious about this game called Rocket League, which is basically just car soccer.  It’s a fun way to stay competitive and also hang out with old friends from home, so I’d probably be bummed if it disappeared.

#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.

Dan: It may be cliche coming from a musician, but my tape player broke a while back, and I totally forgot what I was missing. I just got a hold of an old walkman from my parents’ house, and bought another to keep in my car. Since then, I’ve been buying a bunch of tapes and CDs again, and it feels great. There’s definitely something different about listening to an album all the way through, having the physical copy with J-card/liner notes to check out and learn about the artist, and knowing I’m supporting the artist more directly (and more recently, tons of amazing organizations that artists are donating to)!

P.S. You should try General Tso’s/Sesame Tofu if you haven’t already.

OK folks, there you have it. Things that Buddie think you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go take your Walkman for a walk to get some General Tso’s, make sure to follow Buddie on the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘Heartbeat’ a listen below…

…and if you like what you’re hearing, go do some further buddie-flavoured audio exploring over on the Bandcamp / Spotify.