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  • Dehd's Flower of Devotion album cover, with two masks in black and white
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    Dehd Mesmerizes on Flower of Devotion

    Chicago indie rock trio Dehd have returned with an emotional bang. In 2019, the band (bassist Emily Kempf, guitarist Jason Balla, and drummer Eric McGrady) released Water, an album centered around the break-up of Kempf and Balla, who were in a relationship with each other. It’s an interesting backdrop for an album, with raw emotion […] More

  • Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions game cover
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    Final Fantasy Tactics: A Strategy RPG for the Ages

    Early Final Fantasy titles such as Final Fantasy IV and VI pushed the boundaries for what was possible for role-playing games in terms of storytelling and character development. Final Fantasy VII blew our minds, expanding the scope of what an RPG could be. Then came Final Fantasy Tactics. On the surface, it would appear that […] More

  • Twin Peaks Side A album cover
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    Twin Peaks Gets Dreamy on Side A

    Twin Peaks first caught my ear with their 2019 release, Lookout Low, which was one of my favorite albums from that year. My love for the album led to a dive into the Chicago-based band’s back catalog. Soon I found myself listening to them quite regularly. And now over the past month, I have had […] More

  • Ohmme's Fantasize Your Ghost album cover
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    Ohmme Has Created Something Special with Fantasize Your Ghost

    “Looked in the mirror the other day, caught my reflection,” sing Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart in the song “3 2 4 3.” The Chicago-based duo are the driving force behind Ohmme, who released the sophomore album Fantasize Your Ghost on June 5 (Joyful Noise Recordings). The mirror imagery works perfectly for Ohmme, not just […] More

  • BoJack Horseman stares up at a giant floating baloon version of himself
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    How I Related to Aspects of Depression in BoJack Horseman

    Late in Season 6 of BoJack Horseman, Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter are catching up after some time apart, and she says to him: “When you’re Diane, you can live your whole life like it’s a puzzle, put together from the pieces of different sets….Your whole life is full of these pieces that don’t quite fit.” […] More

  • Cover image of The National's Boxer, depicting the band playing a concert at a wedding in black and white
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    The Healing Powers of The National’s Boxer

    I have suffered from anxiety and depression for years, although I didn’t always realize it. When I was in high school, through my college years, during moments of high anxiety, I’d describe myself as feeling “sick” or just “weird.” It wasn’t until things became out of control, where my heart felt like it was beating […] More

  • Metallica logo
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    My First Concert: Metallica on July 3, 1994

    It was July 1994. I was 12, the summer between sixth and seventh grade. I was getting into alternative music such as Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. But my first music obsession, the first of many, was Metallica. And they were coming to town. And I was going to see them. It would be my first […] More

  • A silhouetted Lily looks at a large projected image of Amaya
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    Devs Season 1 Finale: Simulation, Reality, and the Second Coming

    The eight-part miniseries Devs ended in a way I found very appropriate. The Devs Season 1 finale continued many of the themes we’ve seen throughout the series, it presented some head-scratching questions and gave us things to think about, and as usual provided some beautiful shots. I stated after Episode 7 that Devs was one […] More

  • Forest and Stewart chatting in the Devs golden hallways
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    Devs S1E7 Is a Box Within a Box, and Ramps Up the Anxiety

    I’ve been dealing with a very elevated level of anxiety over the past few weeks, as I’m sure many have. Unprecedented amounts of uncertainty have me feeling completely helpless at times. And then last week, coincidentally, I watched two of the most anxiety-inducing episodes of television I have seen in a long time. The first […] More

  • Lily and Katie sit across from each other at a table
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    Devs S1E6 Signals Things Are Coming to a Head for Lily

    I feel like Devs S1E6 was a nice complement to the episode that preceded it. Both episodes slowed the pace from earlier in the season. They both fill in background information on our main characters. But the most interesting similarity, for me was how each episode began and ended. Episode 5 opened with the song […] More

  • Sergei and Lily sit at tables in Amaya
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    Devs S1E5 Delves into Many Worlds and Looks to the Past

    While most of this season of Devs has been fast-paced and action-packed, Devs S1E5 stepped back and took a breath. The episode was used to fill in the backgrounds of many of the major players—Lily, Katie, Forest, and Sergei—while only slightly moving the plot forward. And that worked for me. I welcomed this change of […] More

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