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Voices from the Lake ⁘ II
Their first one was an absolute classic — diving blissfully into deep / ambient techno realms, towards the depth then rising again over the course of several tracks — and the sequel doesn’t disappoint! It has a brighter sound, more melodies, a bit of a new age touch, and retains the same aquatic magic. (Has it really been this long between the two? I felt like this sound has been with me the whole time.)
There are several versions of this, apparently — a 44:46 seamlessly mixed version and a 62:37 version with separate tracks. Both are good!
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Hayao Miyazaki ⁘ Laputa: Castle in the Sky
A bunch of Miyazaki films aired around the holidays on France 4; some I’d seen long ago, some I hadn’t seen yet, I’m not sure which one is my favourite anymore but it was great to watch them again!
Laputa had the best feeling of adventure and freedom I think; I loved the story and Dola is really fun once you get to know her. Someone on the comment box here mentioned Skies of Arcadia might have been inspired by it and yes, I get that, it’s also one of my favourite games!
I loved the retro sci-fi universe with beautiful scenery in Nausicaä — there was a bit too much fighting for me and some of the music felt out of place, you can tell it was an earlier work, but still, really good.
Part of the setting in Howl’s Moving Castle is based on the town where I’ve gone to school and spent most of my life; my brother and half-sister (jeweller and corset maker) even considered setting shop in the original hat shop as the owners were selling a couple of years ago! But even though it was easy to see which real-life house had inspired which imaginary one, Miyazaki’s town had quite a different feel from the real one — better, more peaceful, and a bit more nordic too.
I… don’t really like the way old women are portrayed in Miyazaki’s films? Like, they’re often sympathetic, but they almost seem like a different species of human beings. Makes me scared about how I’m going to age later.
Pretty much everything about Princess Mononoke was fantastic, it’s more austere than the others but that makes the magical moments shine even more. Also the morality of the characters is interesting. If I try to be objective it might be the best one? But I don’t really feel like picking a favourite, I like seeing many worlds.
I still haven’t seen Kiki’s Delivery Service, but I will someday!
▷ Letterboxd
▷ RYM
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凛として時雨 [Ling Tosite Sigure] ⁘ Inspiration is DEAD
I wasn’t surprised when friends said they loved this band when they were teenagers — this is loud, emotional and beautiful, the vocals give the music a more vulnerable and human sound too.
(I already like post-hardcore, not entirely sure what Shimokita-kei is but since Sheena Ringo’s Shōso Strip is the top album that probably means I like it too, I haven’t delved into emo yet)
▷ RYM
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Jana Rush ⁘ Fact Mix 623
Still love Painful Enlightenment with its tension and anxiety-filled grooves with fragmented jazzy samples, it’s my favourite footwork/juke record yet; I wanted some more so I listened to this and it’s just as good, then gets even crazier and better! When the pitch-shifted vocals from Marcellis’s “Donnie” come in around twenty minutes in you know things are getting real ♥
You better get your own fuckin’ army pal!
▷ Soundcloud (free download)
▷ RYM
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Carl Burton ⁘ Islands: Non-Places
“Non-place” is a concept invented by anthropologist Marc Augé to designate places like airports and malls that serve a function but have no history, no culture, aren’t really habitable.
This game, however, is a beautiful reappropriation of those by colours and the poetic. It’s not exactly a game, in fact it could have been a short film; but the necessity of human input to progress in the ten short scenes (you’ll finish it in one session) is meaningful in itself.
(For my first year at university, I had to wake up too early and take the train every day then sit through classes that were way too fast and difficult for me to follow. I’d picked the wrong major and that year was a complete failure; attending class felt completely pointless. I was falling asleep in my chair and daydreaming that the chairs and desks and stationery would begin to fly so I could fly and sleep too.)
▷ Itch.io
▷ Glitchwave
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Tess Scilipoti ⁘ Closet
“A memoir comic about gender.”
(Also the other comics on her page, there are ten and they’re all good.)
▷ Tess Scilipoti
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Zadbox Entertainment ⁘ Quern: Undying Thoughts
Welcome to puzzle island! An island with puzzles!
Obviously inspired by Myst, which along with Riven were games that enchanted me when I was a kid even though I couldn’t finish them without walkthroughss. This is a very good tribute, with interesting puzzles and a relaxing mood; the difficulty was also just right for me. The story is clearly dictated by the puzzles but it’s also coherent and you do get to make a meaningful choice at the end. My only complaint would be a lack of variety in scenery (you do get some at the end), but I had a good time with this!
▷ Glitchwave
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Jonny L ⁘ I’m Leavin’
Classic jungle. Emotional, banging, occasionally slower and a little stranger too, with an important place given to the vocals, all four tracks are worth it.
▷ Discogs
▷ RYM
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Spencer Grady / Fermata Ark / Mark Wastell ⁘ Thus : Excerpts from a Smaller Work
Digging Mark Wastell’s records and his Confront label; this one is drone-based but not minimal at all, mostly based on strings, slow, large movements and textured sounds.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Arild Andersen / Clive Bell / Mark Wastell ⁘ Tales of Hackney
And this one is a little jazzy and perhaps a bit more accessible! Double bass, different flutes and percussions, with plenty of shifting and ambiguous moments, sometimes tense, sometimes peaceful, beautiful in any case. Experimental music that feels like it expands from genre standards rather than starting someplace else.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Chris Di Vito ⁘ Yoknapatawpha Clipping Tracks
Goes from noise at the beginning of the album (pretty lively, not super harsh, feels like a storm outside) to various kinds of ambient (from the isolationist kind to more Tim Hecker-like fuzzy melodies), and what seems to be edited field recordings. In fact most of the sounds here feel like they have “natural” textures (whatever that means), making the whole selection feel cohesive and particularly pleasant.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Margaux Gazur ⁘ Blurred Memories
Semi-aquatic ambient techno × deep house. Sometype’s review on RYM is good so here’s a link to it.
Thanks to praziluk for the recommendation!
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Headache ⁘ Thank You for Almost Everything
Could have been anything with this kind of cover, right? I would have guessed grindcore.
But this is cool downtempo beats with quirky, stream-of-consciousness, sometimes moving and often funny spoken word. I was going to compare it to a more upbeat and chill “Fitter Happier” but just saw that their mix starts with “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” and it also sounds like a better version of that!
There’s a lot of anxiety and insecurity in there, but also joy; mostly it feels very human and strangely relevant in today’s world. I didn’t immediately notice it was a synthetic voice speaking — in fact I think this definitely adds to the humour and strangeness.
I started with The Head Hurts but the Heart Knows the Truth which is great too and very similar, but this one is even better, especially beatwise.
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Brittany Davis ⁘ Black Thunder
Voice, piano, Rhodes, bass and drums. As you’d expect from a fully improvised album, some of the results here are more inspired than others but there’s some real magic happening here; “Amid the Blackout of the Night” is incredibly beautiful (and even more moving when you listen to the lyrics and know Davis is blind from birth).
▷ Bandcamp
▷ RYM
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Nine Inch Nails ⁘ The Fragile
Feeling sad, tired, vulnerable and nostalgic so I’m putting this on again. My favourite album when I was 15. When was the last time I’d played it? (Not that long ago actually)
Sounds weird to say it, but it sounds more like a rock album now than it did to my ears at the time. Rock was so dominant back then it was just basically the default, I didn’t notice it. Though of course what makes this interesting is what Reznor does with this sound.
Yeah, the lyrics read like a teenager’s diary. It’s one of the two main flaws on the album along with “Starfuckers Inc” (which is kind of ridiculous and very out of place, teenage me would have disagreed but it really should have been a standalone single). To be honest I don’t mind the lyrics that much anymore.
Like on Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the gap between the discs is meaningful and I love that. I don’t think talking about “double albums” makes much sense anymore (double on which format?) except for cases like these. And so there are two endings on this — “La mer” and “The Great Below” are particularly meaningful to me, but “Ripe (with Decay)” is a interestingly open ending, hinting towards a possible new direction. In fact the instrumental tracks here are some of the most interesting ones, bringing more nuance and ambiguity (which I didn’t really find in the Ghosts series).
If you care about physical releases, the digipak is excellent too! Mine is a little worn now, but I took care of it. I love it when albums had their own visual identity with booklets full of pictures, good typography etc.
The And All That Could Have Been live album is also worth getting if you like this.
▷ Nine Inch Nails Wiki
▷ RYM
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