We saw "The Last Jedi" and I see why the privileged are whining

It's possible that "The Last Jedi" is the best Star Wars film of all time. I would argue that it's the best Star Wars film of this century, and sets a high bar for everything that follows. (3/5 stars only because it's such a mess as a film)

This film has to be analyzed at least two levels: as a film, and as a Star Wars film that is the followup to "The Force Awakens". For convenience I'm going to use TLJ to refer to this film and TFA for the previous one. Unfortunately, almost any serious analysis is going to involve spoilers for TLJ and TFA, so it'll be behind a cut. Also, this got a bit long...
( Here goes )

End of year music in non-US styles

In other years I've had more organized end-of-year music things. Lots of DJs and producers put out year-end compilations or mash-ups but I've not kept up and also fuck 2017 right in the eye-socket. So instead I'm going to give you a set of things that (for the most part) are not your traditional US-centric sounds.

https://soundcloud.com/ivoryoasis/giraff-raining
I feel like I've been hearing this song off and on for longer but Soundcloud tells me it was posted about 7 months ago. Giraff's "Raining" is a gentle EDM banger that's sometimes categorized as "summer house" - the kind of thing one would want to dance to on a warm moonlit beach. Sounds beautiful right now. (It's single digits temp outside right now where I am.)

https://soundcloud.com/angelikavee/angelika-vee-coco-jambo
While I'm on the summery tip, here's Angelica Vee's rework of "Coco Jambo" (or Jamboo - it's listed both ways), a mid-90s summery hit. The original was more Afro-Caribbean and featured Mr President's rapping over the base melody. Vee's remix is sped up a bit and has the male vocals stripped out. Not a bad remix, as these things go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7UnH-3Hgp4
Sagi Abitbul (https://www.facebook.com/pg/sagiabitbulofficial) is located in Israel and much of his work features Mediterranean, Arab, and Middle Eastern styles and vocals. This track starts off pretty traditional until about 1:15 when it drops in a fast house beat. I really like the style and tempo changes. Just when you think you know what this track (Stanga) is going to do it doubles back on you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ciLHgyzGbs
Mascota (DJ Mascota - https://www.djmascota.com) is a Bulgarian with a lot of local credentials but not much American exposure that I could find. Here he's doing some nice deep house sounds fronted by Poli Hubavenska (https://www.polihubavenska.com) another Bulgarian. Hard to be sure from the pictures but she might also be the woman in the video. Interestingly, web searching her shows some links with Matan Caspi, who often appears in Groovelectric mixes. Possibly that's where I originally got this track.

https://soundcloud.com/el-buho/toumani-sidiki-hamadoun-toure-el-buho-edit
Toumani Diabaté is a Malian traditional-music player known for the kora, a unique instrument that is kind of a cross between a lute and a harp. The original track was done with his son Sidiki and it's in a complex counter-beating style that I can't compare to anything else. This version is a rework by El_Búho, a Latin American remixer (https://www.facebook.com/ElBuhito) who also has an unusual style of electronica. I imagine if I was better versed in these genres and styles I'd have something intelligent to say but as is all I can tell you is "this is cool; you should listen to it."