Gupi: You're It (album)
By Patrick Totally
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Hyper pop. Digi core. Bubblegum bass. Bro step revival. Weird core. Tick tock music. Mine craft? Epic collage. Please, call me Peecee Music. Spotify Playlist was my father's name. Whatever you call this shit, Gupi's the best at producing it. Lots of people can cultivate manic energy for 8 easily clipable/loopable/shareable bars, but Gupi's one of the only people who can maintain that energy over the course of full songs. There isn't a single track on
You're It which props up a mediocre song with an exceptional chorus. These are full body pieces of art.
50 minutes of front-to-back Walmart sugar cookie bangers is a lot to digest regardless of the quality of the bangers in question, but we're living in a post-
Whole Lotta Red world, and I feel comfortable admitting that there
are some lovely albums that're meant to be listened to on shuffle. Use as directed. The drop on "Body Horror" shakes my fillings. Gupi's a good singer! I love when he sings on his tunes. I hope he sings more on whatever he does next. Thanks Gupi.
You can listen to You're It
here..
Fanny: Welcome To The Machines (album)
By Patrick Totally
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Exceptional mysanthropic nonsense 12". Feels like the result of a long gestation period. "Fuckingmachines," the A-side closer, has this one 2-step kicksnare motif that pops its head up at odd intervals throughout the track. The spaces between each of the loop's anchoring hits are filled by blownout cymbal crashes. It's obnoxiously addictive. I want to stamp a hole in my bedroom's floor whenever it comes up. It's deployed with admirable restraint, though. It'll often disappear before my brain can even lock into it.
That's the record's best attribute: it's abrupt in a way that few things are. It's nonsense, but it's a conniving, curated, more random than random kind of nonsense. It has historic aspirations. Whenever it does briefly make sense, like near the end of "Fuckingmachines" when that 2-step loop suddenly erupts through the dormancy of a prerequisite Tigerbeat bitcrushed heterosexual porn sample ("let her suck your dick for as long as she wants!"), the universe clicks into place for a couple of seconds.
That's my personal favorite example of
Welcome To The Machines divine order, but there's plenty of other instances like it throughout the record. It's worth taking this (relatively short) plunge if you, like me, tend to admire the nonartistry of the broader early 2000's evil tracker music dyaspora from a distance more than you actually listen to the material it produced. There's something special here!
Elder Ones: From Untruth (album)
By Octa Möbius Sheffner
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Exceedingly synthetic spiritual jazz which conquers back everything and the kitchen sink: analog synthesizer solos, NYC style operatic squawking, flowing drumming, colossal sound interaction. Wild, unrestrained sloganeering. Danger of change at every turn, and yet you really want to embrace it. Very toothed, very urgent, on occasion reminescent of Sun Araw jamming with Diamanda Galas. Four tracks, forty-six minutes, each a worthy, tight experience. You'll need this refresher on human energy.
You can listen to From Untruth
here.
Kakushigoto (TV series)
By Octa Möbius Sheffner
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Kakushigoto is about a single father (Kakushi Goto) whose wife vanished into the ocean in a diving accident and his daughter (Hime Goto), both of whose names mean 'secret'. Write Kakushi's name a little differently and it'll say 'draws for a living'. Why indeed, he draws for a living. His secret is that he draws ecchi manga for a living, and he is determined to keep it a secret from his daughter. Well, can't show a child all the dirty jokes! Involved are boxes with items for every age, drastic comedic misunderstandings, insight into the manga industry and the organization of a workplace, and a mystery unfolding in pieces of both the present in which the secret of drawing for a living is uncovered and Kakushi's quest to pass off his secretive living as being an executive salaryman who wears a suit to work each morning. Also a lot of self-doubt, a metric amount of self-doubt. This man is Imposter Syndrome incarnate - people are NOT getting paid to attend your autograph signing. Punny, occasionally cynical, sweet and heartwarming. Koji Kumeta can't keep getting away with creating a self-referential cinematic universe with his work though, the goddamn madman.
Vylet Pony: CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us) (album)
By Pedro P.P
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I think this is a modern masterpiece, when it comes to fandom music. And i mean fandom music in a very broad sense, because i've never been a full-on brony, yet this album really speaks to me, and it does to so, so many people who grew up online, regardless of what fandom you were on. A lot has already been said about "ANTONYMPH", the album's core track in my opinion, but i can't help but to mention how triumphant of a track it is. It's the epitome of fandom confidence, a post-cringe appreciation of your online youth and a desire to return to this sense of innocence and carelessness. It embodies the kind of energy that i think we should all have, and the kind of energy i wish i had as a kid. "Don't care you think it's cringe, because it's not your life" is such a simple line that quite deeply resonated with me. I took this album with me on a trip to the forest, with the intention of finding some sort of deep inner truth within my subconsciousness and, indeed, this album has helped me understand things that used to be incomprehensible to me. Another highlight is "37.6486° N, 122.4296° W", a semi-accoustic departure into simple Lorde-esque lines full of what i can best describe as "nostalgic and cathartic youth grandeur". These lyrics hurt. "Sipping milk tea with my friends, Austin looked at me and said, "Ain't this shit?" And I said "sure", but it was pretty good" is a line that has a similar emotional weight to Lorde's "I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth, She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar". Small acts, small words that feel like a voyeuristic look into the mind of someone who has been deeply hurt, and is trying to make sense of their surroundings. This is one of many vulnerable moments in this album, that only make its message of confidence and pride even better. There's no pride if there wasn't at one point pain. Again, deeply touching. I wish my words could make justice to this album but i'm having a very, very hard time putting how i feel into words other than what feels like brain keysmashes. If you grew up online, this is a must-listen. Not optional. Can't skip it. Go listen. And go buy it too.
You can listen to CUTIEMARKS (And the Things That Bind Us)
here.
Kogarashi: Acoustic Nightcore (album)
By Pedro P.P
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Yes, the title is misleading, this is far from either nightcore or fully acoustic, but this album carries with it a certain fidelity to its name anyway. This feels like a heartfelt open-letter as written by someone deeply in touch with the hyper sweetness of early PC music acts, and god damn it does it pack a hefty emotional gut punch. "Open letter" might be an understatement, this album feels like the artist ripped pages off his diary and started singing them over A.G Cook-esque instrumentals. I really do wish more pc music-inspired musicians would make their inspirations less obvious, and rather, take these ways of working and apply them into new things and brand new sounds, like Kogarashi did here. This feel like an amalgamation of contemporary queer singer-songwritter and bubblegum bass or, to a point, yes, nightcore. It is a heartbreaking listen, specially after finding out this is not a concept album about abandonment, this is all based on truth. My heart goes out to Kogarashi, i hope time treats him well. I at least know he'll make it big if he keeps pumping out stuff of this caliber. No one is doing it quite like he does on this album at least. Keep your eyes on him!
You can listen to Acoustic Nightcore
here.
