Hello stranger, I hope this email finds you well. I've been battling a migraine all day so some of these blurbs have been cut short (a lot of that lately, huh?), plus it's a pretty weak week (hmmm) so there isn't too much to write about anyways. My goal is to only ever pull things through that I'm truly excited about and that I think you should be excited about too. I'll never list out garbage just to fill an issue.
In other news, I'm working on expanding this newsletter (again...) to twice a week. Every Friday (or Saturday?), I'll be sending out a second issue with rotating features (these will be free during the beta season) continuing with things like nonsense., the news, curated playlists, and (paid) contributions from others. More to come on that later this week when I send out nonsense.november (and have fully defeated this migraine in battle).
Also thinking about a Chicago sports newsletter again... hit me up if you'd read it or want to contribute to it...
streaming variability
what's on tv this week
Not too many exciting shows hitting the streams this week, but there are quite a few shows with their season finales: Invasion, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Our Flag Means Death, Still Up, as well as Billions final season.
In other news, I finally started watching The Fall of the House of Usher (6/8 down) and I think this might be the best thing Mike Flanagan has made for Netflix thus far. I really dig everything they are bringing together—between his typical, visually appealing horror, the Sackler family parallels, tiny hints of Succession, and the Edgar Allen Poe stories (and likely other things I'm too dumb to notice).
New Shows
American Horror Stories S3 (Hulu) — 26 October
All four episodes drop Thursday for Huluween... (dumb) Despite my general dislike of Ryan Murphy shows, my current love of anthologies has me interested enough to give this a chance. We need more short stories in the world and this is basically Creepshow with a real budget.
Fellow Travelers—Miniseries (Showtime) — 29 October
This feels like one of those miniseries that might come and go without really being noticed, but both Matt Bomer and Allison Williams are talented and attractive actors. The people behind the camera have a decent pedigree as well.
The Gilded Age S2 (HBO) — 29 October
I actually enjoyed The Gilded Age S1 a lot more than I expected. The acting was terrific and there was just enough there plot-wise to keep me engaged. I'm hopeful we get more of the same given the creator's track record with Downton Abbey.
The Schedule
Days based on streaming availability for the majority of people
Wednesday
Invasion (Apple) 2:10
Welcome to Wrexham (FX) 2:10-11
Thursday
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount) 4:9
Our Flag Means Death (HBO) 2:8
Scavengers Reign (HBO) 1:4-6
American Horror Stories (Hulu) S3
Friday
Still Up (Apple) 1:8
Gen V (Amazon) 1:7
Loki (Disney) 2:4
Lessons in Chemistry (Apple) 1:4
Shining Vale (Starz) 2:3
Goosebumps (Disney/Hulu) 1:7
Sunday
Billions (Showtime) 7:12
Last Week Tonight (HBO) 10:15
The Circus (Showtime) 8:10
Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) 7:3
Fellow Travelers (Showtime) 1:1
The Gilded Age (HBO) 2:1
sonic vibrations
this past Friday's best album releases
Release of the Week
💽 Lahai — Sampha
If I'm being honest, the R&B soft singing style of Sampha (and others) isn't really my jam, but Sampha does it so well that it's hard to deny how great this album is. And given some of the other disappointments this week, this easily notched the release of the week for me.
Other Releases
Big Exciting Things
ONE MORE TIME... — blink-182
Speaking of disappointments... calling it a disappointment is a little harsh since I didn't have high expectations and I actually enjoyed it a tiny bit. It's just... not great... but it's fun to have new music from these three guys back together again. Some of the best songs weren't released as singles so it was a fun enough listen.
Hackney Diamonds — The Rolling Stones
Hard to ignore when one of the greatest bands ever releases a new album. I'd never expect anything great from these guys at this point in their career, but they released a new album so I listened to it...
The Usual Alternative Vibes
Bobbie — Pip Blom
My Big Day — Bombay Bicycle Club
Bad Dream Jaguar — Sun June
Based On A True Story... — New West
The What's New But Different
INNERSTANDING — Dhani Harrison
UPSAHL PRESENTS: THE PHX TAPES — UPSAHL
Bits and Bobs
Money EP — Iglu & Hartly
I never thought I'd be featuring something from Iglu & Hartly here. And Then Boom was a staple for me when I was first discovering indie music and while their voices may be a turn off for some, In This City was a song I had on repeat when driving with the windows down back in the day.
Novella EP — Will Joseph Cook
Covertime EP — Mungo Jerry
sequential variants
this weeks best comic releases—books are in order of my interest/preference if you are looking for help narrowing down
No. 1s
Gone (DSTLRY) #1
First regular series from DSTLRY from artist Jock. Love Jock. I don't understand the digital release strategy for DSTLRY though...
Dracula (Skybound) #1
A new Universal Monsters universe kicks off with Dracula from the team behind Department of Truth James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds. Skybound/Image are basically doing the same thing here that they started with Void Rivals in building the Transformers/GI Joe Energon Universe.
Dark Spaces: Dungeon (IDW) #1
Finally giving Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherman's Dark Spaces series a shot with this Dungeon miniseries.
Edenwood (Image) #1
Tony Daniel with his first creator-owned series as both a writer and artist (he also did Nocterra with the aforementioned Scott Snyder). He's never really done it for me, personally, but I'm willing to see him give it a go.
Blitmap (Titan) #1
Giant Robot Hellboy (Dark Horse) #1
Paladin of Axes (Image) #1
Releases
What's the Furthest Place From Here? (Image) #15
I say this every month, but this continues to be the best comic being published (along with Saga)
Rare Flavours (Boom) #2
The first issue of this was so damn good it's got potential to join WTFPFH as one of the best books on shelves.
Detective Comics (DC) #1075
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World (Boom) #10
Newburn (Image) #12
Kaptara: Universal Truths (Image) #3
Void Rivals (Skybound) #5
Something is Killing the Children (Boom) #34
Ice Cream Man (Image) #37
Black Hammer: The End (Dark Horse) #3
The Ribbon Queen (AWA) #4
The Plot Holes (Whatnot) #3
The Immortal Thor (Marvel) #3
Realm of X (Marvel) #3
I Hate Fairyland (Image) #10
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DC) #6
Wonder Woman (DC) #3
The Pengiun (DC) #3
The Flash (DC) #2
Harley Quinn (DC) #33
The Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child (Dark Horse) #4
silver-screen voyage
movies hitting the big screen this week
The Killer (Limited)
David Fincher's The Killer hits theaters this week in limited release, but I assume most people will wait until it drops on Netflix, November 10.
The Holdovers (Limited)
Another limited release, but this will open wide in theaters on November 10. Paul Giammati stars in this Alexander Payne joint about a cranky teacher at a boarding school who watches the "holdovers" over the holiday break.
Fingernails (Limited)
A Severance-esque sci-fi story about technological/algorithmic match-making. This one hits Apple streaming shortly after on November 3.
AKA Mr. Chow (HBO)
This actually came out yesterday on HBO, but I wanted to include it anyways.
Pain Hustlers (Netflix)
South Park: Joining the Panderverse (Paramount)
Outro
I've been thinking about sonic vibrations a bit lately. It's the only section that's not future looking due to the fact it's a little harder to discover indie albums until they are actually released. With comics, tv, and movies, there's so much promotion leading up to releases and companies like A24 and Image Comics, do such a good job at promoting the "indie" releases. So instead, I do the digging every Friday to find the albums really worth checking out. Let me know if you'd rather hear about the upcoming albums rather than the stuff that's been out for a couple days. Or both(?)
Stay sane,
—humdrum