HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ NATHAN MONGOL WELLS
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Nathan Mongol Wells — a music-maker out of Texas (and a member of Ottoman Turks) who recently dropped a great solo album called ‘From a Dark Corner’ (and you can catch the track ‘In Years’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘420 ALL DAY’)
#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”?
It might not be the most interesting answer, but like many I'm absolutely obsessed with the newest King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard record, PetroDragonic Apocalypse.
If you told me a few years ago I was going to get into thrash metal, I think I would've probably believed you, but to enjoy this record THIS much is a bit unexpected. The DRUMS. I'm gonna go put it on right now.
#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)?
I really love a good action movie, and the Extraction movies on Netflix are a lot of fun. The sequel's initial action sequence is one of the coolest things ever put to screen, I swear.
It might be cliche but I watched Evangelion during the pandemic and really thought it was great, well worth a watch-through for the animation alone.
I haven't seen it in a while, but Wristcutters: A Love Story was always one of my favorite movies - Tom Waits is in it, Gogol Bordello provides a lot of the soundtrack, and it's wonderfully idiosyncratic while providing a very touching story.
Also, being a huge Star Wars fan, Solo was a fantastic movie (beyond even a Star Wars movie) and we were robbed of more of them.
#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)?
Any Erik Larson book - Devil in the White City was so riveting and almost life-changing in terms of non-fiction, and with maybe one exception every other thing he's written has intrigued me just as much.
A buddy just loaned me a new book called Vermis from an Instagram artist we both follow, Plastiboo. It's essentially a game guide to an old video, 16-bit game that never actually existed. The art is gorgeous, the lore is amazing and dark, and I've had a blast taking it in a little at a time. You don't wanna miss a detail.
There's a book I read a while ago that I thought was fascinating - it's probably time to pick it back up again. Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen. Attempts to piece together the truth about the legendary air base, taken from deathbed confessions and declassified documents. A really fun non-fiction book that almost reads like sci-fi, and it's as relevant today as it was when it came out - if not more so....
#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?
Unfortunately I already lost my favorite video. It was a drunk sorority girl in the bathroom imitating the "beans what the fuck" tiktok, God I loved it. Lost to time (I assume because that girl wanted to get hired at some point). But I loved her. Second place and still existing is the perennial favorite, it will outlive all of us and still be as funny as the first day you saw it: drinking out of cups
#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.
If you're ever at a restaurant in a state or country that has a coastline and they have grilled octopus, get it. I know, it's gonna be like 30 bucks, it probably came from farther away than you'd like to think about, and it's gonna be smaller than you expect, but man it's the most delicious meal ever.
OK folks, there you have it. Things that Nathan Mongol Wells think you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go find some bbq’d octopus, make sure to follow Nathan on the Facebook / Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘In Years’ a listen below…
