This year has been a good one for art! both my own art and other people's art. Connections have been made, pieces have been published, beautiful things are happening all around. Cliche as it may sound, 2024 feels like it'll bring with it insane amounts of creative power and opportunities. So, as an offering to what's to come soon, i'll share with you some of the things that made of this year something worth looking back at...
10: Beat bruxaria's burst to popularity
It mostly started as memes, gringos captioning music video clips containing alt-looking goth-gf-adjacent women twerking to distorted-beyond-recognition bass lines with "holy FUCK Brazil is lightyears ahead of us" and such things, but the great thing is that these memes have brought this obscure-ish brazilian genre to the not-quite-mainstream, and for that i am grateful. This sound is making (small) waves in brazil and not really elsewhere, not physically at least; soundcloud teens are already making their own bruxaria flips of anything and everything, and i wouldn't have it any other way. Insanely distorted bass, synth lines that sound downright goofy yet somehow dirty and edgy... It's such an online genre, yet it has its roots in a very very region-specific modus operandi. It's wonderful. It's weird. It's beat bruxaria, and it probably isn't here to stay but gosh is it fun. Let's live in the moment...
9: Fiona Blue - Rapture
2023 has absolutely been Anohni's year, and she's absolutely making the most of it. It feels like a very specific population gets excited as hell whenever she drops something, but for the release of My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, everyone paid attention. Enough has been said about that amazing, amazing album, so instead of hitting the same beats with it (don't get me wrong, it's absolutely a contender for AOTY), i decided to shine light on Rapture, a song she previously released on the self-titled (deadname) And The Johnsons album. This song, little did i know, wasn't made For that album, but instead was part of her repertoire under her name Fiona Blue, back in the Black Lips Performance Cult days. That side of her story as a New York City underground legend is not well known and i won't pretend to know the ins and outs of it, but what i can say is that this song is one of the most beautiful things i've heard this year. An absolutely heartshattering allegory dealing with the AIDS epidemic and its effects on her community and the people she loves/loved the most. I think every LGBTQ+ person should listen to this song. An absolute instant classic that should be basic queer education.
8: 218
This is the year... One of my small dreams came true, so excuse the self-referential nature of this spot on the list... 218 is one of my favorite labels of all time, if not THE all time favorite, and this year i officially became an administrator for it, which is a huge honor. I've been following the label closely for a long time, releasing albums under mysterious projects that remain anonymous to but a few, and this year we haven't been up to much! but the albums we have made and released have been bangers. 218's model is similar to other Next Year's Snow-adjacent projects, but slightly more quiet. Don't get it twisted though, it's a slow burn. Some of the best albums of all time in my honest opinion reside quietly within the confines of this label, and i have chosen to shine a small bit of light to the project so that more people get to experience the beauties only 218 can offer. Pick any album and listen to it, it'll feel like you're adopting a small child. That album's history is yet to be written, you are an integral part of its existance. So, make it your own by preaching its goodness to your friends and family. Share the wonders that 218 brought to your life. Nothing else like it.
7: Bluesky (or the idea behind it)
Twitter is stuck on an endless loop of going to shit every few months. It gets better and better at getting worse and worse, so, people have been looking for new alternatives for a while, or at least they were back in the first half of this year. I'd say most people have found their second-but-soon-to-be-first home online, and in my case, that home is Bluesky. Is it perfect? it's getting there! is it busy and buzzing with life? it's getting there! is the app fast and intuitive? it's getting there! is its culture as fun and casual yet complex and potentially stressing as twitter's? it's getting there! is there a lot of artists posting their work there? now that is actually happening already. And any social media is only as worthwhile as the art and content that is posted there, so yes, i do think Bluesky has a great future ahead. The one thing holding it back is its invite-only nature, but that will change soon, hopefully. Speaking of which, i have invites, so if you, the reader, need one, hit me up and i'll be more than happy to give you one if i still have them by the time you're reading this. #NotSponsored. #TheMoreTheMerrier.
6: Vektroid - cRASH 1
Not gonna lie, i was scared to give this one a listen at first! Vektroid is an absolute legend and she needs no introduction, but she has missed the mark at some points with some of her output, and i was terrified of this album becoming another misdirected effort that feels grandiose and important yet ends up sounding "very okay". But! i was so wrong! this album is insane!! Vektroid is not scared to be weird in this one, which is such a joy to see. I thought she would hit us with a crowd pleaser that falls flat, but i am 100% sure this one left more than one vaporfan scratching their head, not knowing whether to be in awe or just plain weirded out. Because yes, it's weird, it's choppy, it's abstract, it's downright avant garde, and i think it's one of this year's best albums. There's place for experimentation, and Vektroid wasn't scared to hit all the buttons that needed to be pressed here. Man, she really really snapped here. "We stan", absolutely.
5: Jim Legxacy
If the second half of this year was Anohni's, the first half was absolutely Jim Legxacy's. I previously covered his single "DJ" in a Lock Picks article you should absolutely read, but it bears repeating. This man is going places, and he knows it! He produces with the confidence of someone who's been in the game for a long long time, but his rise to prominence has been quick and certain. People are keeping their eyes and ears stuck to his emotional flow and somehow-midwest-emo beats. His album "Homeless (redacted) Pop Music" is full of emotion, driven home by sampling such hits as Hannah Montana's "Ordinary Girl", of all things. You'd think that this use of samples would end up gimmicky by simply hearing it on paper, but the track "miley's riddim" would've absolutely been my single of the year if it actually came out as such. This album is short! he kept us wanting more and i think he knew what he was doing. He will return to give us more sooner rather than later, and i know it'll be just as amazing, if not more. Really hope his rise to fame continues. And with his talent, i know it will. "We really leaving Lewisham with this one!!", as his comment section says.
4: A small but meaningful wave of appretiation for Aerea Negrot:
Aerea negrot... I barely knew you, but i miss you so much already... Even if her untimely death made her name rise to public knowledge for a short bit, some people might not know of her yet. So, for the uninitiated, Aerea Negrot was (but in my heart continues being) a berlin house legend. Her weird vocal style captivated the hearts of everyone who even came near her, whether as a solo act burning the (vocal) house down, or back when she performed with Hercules and Love Affair. Her thick venezuelan accent merges with her sometimes-german-sometimes-english-sometimes-french lyrics as she screams, scats, babbles and harmonizes with her own echoed vocals over classic house beats that made everyone want more and more. A trans goddess that left us way too soon...
You might be tempted to listen to her only studio LP "Arabxilla", and while i absolutely love it, i'd say that one is for the fans. If you want the real Aerea Negrot experience and a good starting point, it's all about the live performances. Luckily there's no shortage of clips on youtube, so, click to your heart's content. I know you will be hooked. Rest in peace, you beautifully weird angel. De Venezuela para el mundo...
3: Ayesha Erotica's big return:
Not to be all "i told you so" about it, but honestly, there was no possible way she'd be gone forever. Someone with her vision and her talent does not simply dissapear off the face of the earth like that. She had plenty of unfinished business, and she knew it. She (probably) did work anonymously as a producer after her dissapearance, so in a way it feels like she was never truly gone, plus, with all the leaks and songs being unearthed every couple weeks, it really felt like Ayesha's ghost was still walking among us... Even then, with all the content and photos, her absence was felt. The legend of Ayesha felt like a story that ended way too soon... But then, one faithful day in August, we saw a flyer for a party in Los Angeles. Ayesha Erotica's live debut was advertised.
Even if i didn't think she'd be truly gone forever, i had my moments of doubt, specially with this flyer. No way she'd just re-appear like this, after all the silence, all the rumors and misinformation. The date came, and indeed, she was there! Her set was short and the track selection left a lot to be desired, but i think that was, in part, her plan. Leave them wanting more. And indeed, we want more! She is currently working on new music, and her first official music video will release later this month. We all have our eyes on Ayesha right now, beautiful things are about to happen. Keep it sexy, bible girl.
2: Ecco2k's boiler room set
I think it's been a while time since we got a truly historic live performance. When thinking about these slightly gimmicky but absolutely legendary moments, my mind goes to the early PC music sets, back when they were not really figuring things out, but rather show their concepts and visions to the music world at large. SOPHIE hiring drag queen Ben Woozy to hand-sync (...lip-sync but as a DJ?) a pre-recorded mix, GFOTY completely and utterly destroying the audience's sense of rhythm and purposefully(?) matching NONE of the beats, making transitions that not even a beginner DJ would do on accident... These moments left people with their mouths agape back then and they continue being referenced to this day, and we haven't seen anything like it in a while... Until this year, when Ecco2k decided to completely disregard the audience's desire to dance all night and instead blessed us with piano interpretations of various songs, including ones by Drake, Vivaldi, Skrillex and fucking Super Smash Bros of all things, accompanied by spoken word pieces by Chuquimamani-condori, Soulja Boy and others. This was truly a historic music moment akin to a 70's "happening", in my opinion. Unexpected, attention-catching and truly something that will be referenced by artists and musicians in the years to follow. I return to this mix at least a couple times a week. It truly is something to be remembered, and an absolute highlight of this year.
1: Underscore's music video for "Locals (Girls like us)"
Any "year's favorites" list is "doomed" to be highly centered around not necesarely the year's best, but rather the writer's relationship with the year and its occurences, and how they relate to the writer, as opposed to the reader. I wanted to end on a personal high note and reference a couple things that will change not only the rest of my year, but the rest of my life.
Last year, i made the trip of a lifetime to the US. It was my first time leaving the country by myself, and i was scared as hell. I was lovingly received by my partner Flora and my then-friend-now-partner Patrick, and through their warmth and the things we experienced together, i realized that yes, i do want to move to the US, with all of its imperfections and weirdness. The trip was absolutely fantastic, however, as a person of color, i did experience a couple things i was not necesarely ready for, as someone who has lived their entire life being a racial mayority in their home country, or at least passing as such. Experiencing mean looks from white people at diners, being followed by security at Walmart for the color of my skin left me feeling insecure, potentially scared of what the future will hold for me, a soon-to-be latino immigrant in the USA. And in a small, conservative town too!
My partner Patrick, a couple months ago, told me about one of his newly found favorite diners, and he said he'd love to take me there. He made a point to say that he'd love me to experience their food, despite the place being mostly full of white people who might not necesarely be enthusiastic about me being there. "There" being both the diner and the country at large. This left me nervous, wondering what things will be like and what i'll need to get ready for. I was scared! Until Underscore's music video for Locals (Girls like us) came out to give me a slight sense of calm amidst the storm.
April is a trans woman of color who is not afraid to let herself be seen in the trashiest of events: a demolition derby, full of big trucks, american flags, hotdog eating contests, and a LOT of white people. I think she might've been the only person of color in the music video, and to me personally, seeing that meant a lot. It gave me a small but meaningful dose of fuel to better face the racism i will undoubtedly experience when my immigration process begins and i'm fully moved to the US. It gave me the energy and precedent to face this not as a victim, but rather as a badass bitch who is not afraid of being loud, weird, intense, out-there and fully unique, not to mention proud of my physical attributes that mark me as a latino immigrant; things that conservatives would see as shameful defects. My darker skin, my pitch black, thick hair and eyebrows, my accent. People are bound to gravitate towards authentic individuals in the face of adversity, and this music video fully embodies that energy in a way that made me feel seen, and thoroughly, properly loved, even if this wasn't necesarely April's vision for the music video and album as a whole. Visibility is an act of political defiance in the face of conservative power, and this piece helped me better understand what my role will be, both as my own person and as a (soon to be) member of a particular community of people going through the same things. It won't be easy, but this music video made it just a bit easier. Thank you April.
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