2025: The year in review – Part 1: Culture

It’s not been a vintage year on the cultural front; I have just about kept up a steady pace of consumption, but my appetite for seeking out novel experience is definitely not what it was. That said, there were some highlights I feel are worth noting; they are listed below.

Television

For various reasons I have completely given up on watching TV in recent times, but I made one exception this year; an old favourite, Twin Peaks. Inspired by the sad news of the passing of David Lynch in January I acquired the box set of all three seasons, and proceeded to view it in a properly nostalgic style; one episode at a time, at more or less weekly intervals. I threw in Fire Walk with Me after finishing season two, then left a gap (though not 25 years) before starting season three, which I haven’t quite completed yet, though I should wrap it up sometime next month. I hadn’t revisited Twin Peaks since it originally aired, so I was a little worried that it might not be as good as I remembered, but I’m glad to report that it did not disappoint in any way, retaining its capacity to intrigue and shock in equal measure. Even if I had caught some other shows this year I’m pretty sure that none of them would have topped Lynch’s beguiling masterpiece.

Film

I did quite well with cinema-going in the first half of the year, then fell off a bit after the summer; I’ll have to catch up ahead of the Oscars. Of the movies I saw this year I particularly liked Nickel Boys, A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown, The Phoenician Scheme, and Die My Love. For my favourite I’m oscillating between One Battle After Another and Nouvelle Vague, with the latter just winning out.

Books

I didn’t get through much new fiction this year; far too much of my reading time was taken up by staying current with the news, though I can’t say much of that left me feeling particularly informed. Of the books I did read the most memorable were Death Valley by Melissa Broder, The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits, and my favourite, the dreamlike and unsettling An Earthquake Is a Shaking of the Surface of the Earth by Anna Moschovakis.

Music

I bought a respectable number of new records this year; here are my top five:

• Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 – Galaxie 500
• Instant Holograms On Metal Film – Stereolab
• Tunnel Vision – Beach Bunny
• Double Infinity – Big Thief
• Snocaps – Snocaps

I didn’t see much live music, but the shows I caught were pretty good; the best was courtesy of the reliably energetic Beach Bunny.

Come back tomorrow for our review of the year in blogging…