Welcome to Perfectly Imperfect #50 👋

If you’re new here after Nicole McLaughlin, Lance Oppenheim, or Jacob Keller— welcome! Perfectly Imperfect is a 2x/week recommendation newsletter, no algorithms or referral links here, just good ol’ fashioned curated recs from real people. Check out the archive for more recs and as always, join the Perfectly Imperfect Discord to keep the conversation going.

Without further ado

Tyler Bainbridge (instagram, letterboxd, last.fm)

📽️ Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (2021)

Adam Curtis’ ambitious BBC series, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World, is a fascinating exploration of how we’ve gotten to this present moment. Curtis plainly delivers his analysis of the modern world by connecting the dots of seemingly unrelated events over archival footage soundtracked by Aphex Twin, Burial, Gang of Four, and more (seriously, it’s a great soundtrack). It’s as beautiful as it is mind-boggling— if you’re interested in inequality, power, chaos, and corruption in the age of individualism, this one’s for you.

📽️ Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Shaka King directs the shit out of this and further proves that if your film stars Daniel Kaluuya or LaKeith Stanfield it's bound to be great. It tells the story of Fred Hampton, deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party, who was assassinated in 1969 by the FBI "You can murder a liberator, but you can’t murder liberation. You can murder a revolutionary, but you can’t murder revolution. And you can murder a freedom fighter, but you can’t murder freedom!"

📽️ 💿 Framing Britney Spears & In The Zone (2003)

Last week I watched the New York Times documentary, "Framing Britney Spears", which was eye opening to say the least. While Brittney was pioneering the aesthetics of modern pop music and being demonized by the paparazzi, lil Tyler was listening to Green Day and classic rock, utterly oblivious to her cultural significance. Embarrassingly it wouldn't be until much later that I'd come around to pop, now one of my favorite genres. This doc got me revisiting Britney's discography and In The Zone is a favorite of mine— this album is still fresh and exciting nearly 20 years later, it's no wonder that artists such as Rina Sawayama and Slayyyter are still experimenting with this sound. #FreeBritney

💿 Black Country, New Road - For the first time (2021)

I don’t want to spend too much time on this since I already rec’d this band back in November when the first single, Science Fair, came out. However, the full LP just dropped and I can’t not mention it since it’ll likely end up being one of my favorites of the year. Anxious, suspenseful, and epic— this thing totally lived up to the hype and I’m really excited to see where BCNR goes next.

👖 Uniqlo U Straight Leg Sweatpants

I've never been a big sweatpants guy and when WFH became the new norm, I was dead set on keeping my clothing routine. I forced myself to at least wear jeans (weird tbh) to avoid further dissolving the thin barrier between work and leisure, but...fuck that...it's cold and I may as well be comfortable. These sweatpants from Uniqlo's U collection at least feel semi-cool with their straight leg fit and unconventional silhouette, at least they're not joggers. Pretty affordable too.

🏠 NOWNESS: My Place

I'm moving to NYC soon, so naturally I'm starting to think about what I want my new place to look & feel like. Sometimes it feels like the homes on Architecture Digest feel really sterile and rarely does it feel like someone actually lives there, if that makes sense. My Place focuses on the homes of artists and usually their homes are filled with personality which I find really inspiring as someone who likes a bit of intentional clutter & fun. Check out this episode on Charli XCX's home.

🍺 💆‍♂️ Rothaus Pilsner & wild thoughts

Okay so this is a 2 in 1 rec. Wild Thoughts is a newsletter run by the homie Will Ryan, one of the first guests on Perfectly Imperfect. Last week on his newsletter he rec'd this Pilsner from Rothaus and boy o' boy was it delicious. No judgement, but if you're still on the ~fancy~ double IPA wave I highly rec dipping your toes into pilsners. After pretty much only drinking IPAs in my early 20s I had a draft Mahou (a pale lager, but close enough) in Madrid and never looked back. Now I seek out simple, golden, refreshing, and delicious pilsners, and this one from Rothaus may be my new favorite. So yeah, try this beer and subscribe to Wild Thoughts.

❗ But wait, there’s more!

Stussy Pony Hair Belt, LA Apparel’s novelty and vintage watches, and Jackie (2016)

Alex Cushing (instagram, twitter, last.fm, goodreads)

📕 Alas, Babylon

I'm rec-ing this book because it kind of kicked off my re-emergence into reading. Tyler rec'd it to me several years ago, and because it was a small commitment of ~300ish pages, I figured why not and gave it a shot. Alas, Babylon was written in the '50s, at the height of the Cold War, when the fear of an apocalyptic war was everywhere. You read about a small Florida town's adjustment to the end times & how they come together to survive. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and easily powered through it in a couple days, even when I read it as my first book in years.

📕 Re-reading Books You Loved

Building off my last rec — I've fully come around to re-reading books I love. I understand the perspective of "you can only scratch the surface of what can be offered to you in books in your lifetime", but when I love a book, sometimes all I want to do is escape into that world again. I find that when I give into this urge and just read whatever I'm craving, I’m happier.

🎥 Vittorio De Seta Doc shorts

Last week I was browsing through the streaming services, trying to find something different to watch. I needed a break from The Bachelor, Gossip Girl, and Twin Peaks, so I hopped onto Criterion to look for something a bit more unique. I ended up finding and watching a few of Vittorio's mini docs because they were short and seemed interesting enough.

In Fishing Boats, you see get a first-hand perspective of a late 1950's Sicilian fishing crew braving torrential conditions to haul in their daily catch. In Islands of Fire, you see a small village nestled at the mercy of an active volcano, and what they go through when that volcano acts up. I watched these because they were short and different, but found myself oddly invested in the random fishermen/townfolk and will definitely be revisiting to check out some more doc shorts soon.

☕ Fellow Coffee Setup

Slowly my morning mud setup has been Fellow-ified. I now use their Stagg Kettle, and Vacuum Canisters, and have been eyeing their travel mugs and maybe the grinder one day 🤔. My absolute favorite piece of hardware in my coffee setup is the Stagg Kettle. It's a beautiful gooseneck kettle with so many conveniences. It maintains heat if you leave it on for a while, it’s easily temp controlled, the bottom doesn't get hot so you can place it on your kitchen surfaces without worry, and it just looks nice. The bean canister matches its aesthetic and works as advertised. Pretty soon my coffee setup will be straight out the Fellow Lookbook.

🔊 Shoutouts

Bar Part Time Dog Barrel Tee,

Avery Ginsberg's Bite the Hand that Feeds! Playlist,

Vintage Kantha Quilt Jacket,

BasketCase release tomorrow (Friday 2/19)

Serey Morm (instagram, twitter, vsco)

🎒 Baboon to the Moon Go Bags

Been looking for a quality weekender good enough for a weekend trip, that had some structure to it, and this was it. These bags are really well made and I love that I can just basically toss 'em anywhere I go. I wouldn't travel by air with these because it's so heavy, and just an awkward size for a carry-on or checked. I got the small yellow initially, but then decided to be less loud with a black, and their return/replace process was so smooth, and they literally ship instantly.

🙌 L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

Let me start off by saying that I have avoided hand creams and moisturizers for the last 20 plus years of my life because I HATE that clammy feeling that hand creams leave. I've tried Jergens, Gold Bond, Aesop, and all that. It's been a rough winter and the excessive hand-washing and hand sanitizer has f**ked my hands up. I spontaneously walked into L'Occitane recently and it was the best decision that I've made this winter. I picked up their Néroli & Orchidée, Cherry Blossom, and Shea Butter hand cream and they were all great!! My hands are now healing and no more clammy feeling :)

🥛 Oatly, Barista Edition

Okay, so at this point I don't think I have to cover bases on what Oatly is. For those who aren't familiar, it's probably the most hyped oat milk brand out there right now. BUT, let me tell you about the barista edition, this shit hits different for frothing and iced lattes. It's a lot thicker than the regular Oatly milk you're probably used to, but I honestly think it might be better than real milk. It also goes super well with baked goods if it isn't too thick for you. Another plus is that this stuff can be shipped and doesn’t have to be refrigerated until it’s opened.

💿 Pink Sweat$ — PINK PLANET (2021)

One of my favorite R&B artists of all time. I found him a while back through his breakthrough song Honesty randomly scrolling through Youtube, and have been hooked ever since. His single releases has not missed. His album just dropped, and it has lived up to his vibe so far. Check out the album!

🗞 Extra! Extra!

Oreo THINS Dark Chocolate — Greatest Oreo of ALL TIME, ALL TIME

Brent Faiyaz ft. Tyler, The Creator - Gravity — New Brent, let’s gooo!

Follow Tyler, Alex, & Serey on Instagram for more.

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