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Patricia Taxxon Task
A lot of what I love about reductionism and drone + probably a great gateway into these genres as it’s varied, dynamic, concise, with a different approach in each track. If you want more, TECHDOG 7 goes further — but, like, so much further that it becomes worlds within a world within a world. If you want a normal listening session, this 47-minute album is cuter and more approachable!
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Kunteynir Bec
Pretty cool 00s experimental hip hop with plenty of loops, backwards stuff, crude synths, sometimes it’s lo-fi and weird in a raw way (Also I always like how the Russian language sounds)
▷ RYM
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NieR: Automata
Great qualities and glaring flaws — I think I understand why many people love it and some hate it.
Don’t really care to list all the pros and cons here (let’s just say I was a bit tired of walking up and down the same factory stairs so many times + I put the game on easy mode occasionally + didn’t care much about the villains), but mostly I really liked being an android with cool abilities in a melancholic, sometimes surprisingly peaceful post-apocalyptic world where nature is taking back the buildings. Also the soundtrack is beautiful. Just wished the damned soldier androids would make peace with the funny clunky robots in the woods already.
The story is super tragic, which is something I can sort of appreciate now (but it might have been too much when I was younger).
▷ Steam
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:zoviet*france: / Jim O’Rourke / The Hafler Trio Unentitled
Pretty cool line-up, right?
This is worth getting mostly for :zoviet*france:’s track, which is a highlight in their discography though in a different style than their usual output — cleaner and more electronic, making it pretty close to The Decriminalisation of Country Music (an unusual album in their discography), but also primal and psychedelic. Jim O’Rourke’s track is... strange. Takes unexpected directions, though it’s hard to tell where it’s going. Alternates between very quiet droney passages and lo-fi collages with radios and stuff, actually surprisingly close to :zoviet*france:. The Hafler Trio’s track is spooky drones with dramatic, horror-film flourishes, not too surprising if you’re familiar with the artist.
▷ RYM
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Tinashe BB/ANG3L
Love how aquatic and sensual her sound is
(Sometimes all I need is a hook; I liked Aquarius but couldn’t remember a standout track so I didn’t listen to it very often; here I can’t forget “Talk to Me Nice”, so fluid and almost hauntingly catchy)
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Kozo Inada e[ ]
I’d never heard about this artist before, but he’s worth checking out if you like long, subtle drones; his sound changes a lot from record to record, sometimes completely electronic, very minimal and cold like on c[ ], sometimes more detailed ambient like on j[ ]. This one includes field recordings and strikes a very good balance between minimal and intricate.
Thanks to fish for the discovery!
▷ RYM
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Léonora Miano La saison de l’ombre [Season of the Shadow]
(Oh nice, this one is translated into English too!)
Starts as a story about a fire and missing people somewhere in Cameroon; the perspective is that of people in a tiny village who only know themselves and people from another village, beyond that is the great unknown, and discovering the truth will be horrifying. Beautifully written, riveting, and the perspective change works very well.
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Vitesse X Us Ephemeral
Dream trance is still one of the best, most soothing feelings in the world, I want to be a dream trance mermaid living in a dream trance world
This may not, technically, be dream trance but it has the same feeling
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Elliott Smith Elliott Smith
A fantastic album I hadn’t listened to in years because I don’t listen to sad music much, in fact I haven’t listened to any of his other records yet.
But... sometimes it fits. I’d been crying for days and needed comfort. Not sure this actually brought any (resonance would be a better word than comfort), but the songs were beautiful in their hopelessness and they fit. I also listened to a couple of songs off Either / Or, not enough to form an opinion on it yet but I think I prefer the raw, urban sound of the self-titled. And the couple of not-completely-sad chords here and there, like on “Single File”, make it better.
As long as it doesn’t fit my mood for too long, it’s okay. I don’t know. Things are shaky and could go either way.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Leef 6010 Paper Lily, Chapter 1
A horror game that starts as cozy but very sad slice-of-life and makes me feel a lot of empathy for the characters — given how dark and cruel the prequel Project Kat was, I really hope there will be a good ending but so far I like this very much, the atmosphere and soundtrack are really good, sometimes nightmarish and sometimes dreamlike (there’s a noticeable Yume Nikki influence). Also each puzzle has different solutions and outcomes, and the final boss battle is great! My only complaint being that the gameplay can feel unfairly punishing at times (often leading you to a bad ending). But I’m looking forward to chapter 2.
CW: bullying, self-harm, imprisonment, suicidal ideation, all kinds of horror, blood and gore
▷ Steam
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Diles que no me maten Obrigaggi
Not quite nocturnal but vesperal; the sun falling and the night seeping in, but in a shifting, uncertain weather, clouds sometimes obscuring the sun, sometimes letting it shine a bit, playing with shadows. With Spanish vocals somewhere between singing and spoken word, soft mystery, a slight but continuous tension.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Revisiting this because the resemblance with Obrigaggi is interesting. The obvious difference being that Yo La Tengo’s album gets a lot warmer and more tender — once you get past the first track, that is. That opener isn’t just my favourite track, it’s remarkable in the way it colors everything that follow with a dark, chilly undertone, a cold night before being invited inside. The closer is also remarkable because it doesn’t even feel like a long track, the ending just drifts comfortably as the most natural thing in the world.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Amstrong Sprinkler
I first heard Marie-Louise Munck as the singer of Antenne — a great trip hop project that sounds like a rainy day, slow, introspective, a little strange and deeply melancholic. Amstrong’s sound is based on punchier, grimier mechanical rhythms, but Munck’s voice is immediately recognizable and tinges everything with melancholy here as well — only the setting this time is like an engine room instead of a rainy city. Which can be just as relatable.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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