Music Recs: WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA, jam2go, Vylet Pony & more

Turns out working full-time and writing blog posts do not mix. I also didn’t have a ton of time to discover new music, but there are definitely some gems in here that have caught my ear.

Hope you enjoy!

“Probably Yui” (“Radio Happy” and “Tabun, Kaze”)

Starting off with a mashup? I guess I am. This mashup hits me differently. By Tom-i, it mashes up “Radio Happy”, an Idolmaster song (wtf I love Idolmaster now, this remix slaps too), and “多分、風。”, a Sakanaction song, which are both great in their own right. Been listening to a lot of Sakanction lately too, maybe I’ll do a proper section on them one of these days.

It’s not perfect, the low frequencies of the original vocals still cut through sometimes, but these songs just blend too well together that whenever I hear the original of either, it feels lacking. I wonder if the mashup artist had an idea and just couldn’t get it out of their head without creating it, a feeling I know all too well.

It’s hard for me to write how I feel about the track itself because there are certain bands that hold a lot of personal value and nostalgia for me, and Sakanaction is one of them. The joy-filled vocals of “Radio Happy” work well here, the cheering in the background evoking some of the songs where Sakanaction brings in multiple singers. It creates this feeling of looking back and forward at the same time, the new vocals both contrast and blend right in.

Wednesday Campanella - Neon (2022)

I’m pretty torn up about this next one. The vocalist for Wednesday Campanella, KOM_I, has left, and in her place, Utaha takes up the mantle.

As far as I’m concerned, KOM_I is an unfollowable act - her face and voice iconic throughout the group’s many avant-garde music videos such as “Shakushain” and “Diablo”. There’s something about the tone of her voice that evokes a wistful, self-reflective feeling for me, adding up with the incredible music production to something more than the sum of their parts. She even took the stage at Second Sky 2019, using her infectious smile and dance to win over what felt like a divided audience at the time. Seeing her release a massive inflatable ball that briefly rolled around the crowd only to catch the wind and disappear into the sky right at the break of “Melos” seemed to make everyone complicit with her antics. Can you tell I was there and loved it? It was a great show!

So, then, as I listened to the new tracks in Neon, I did so with both low expectations and a heavy heart, and came away feeling a bit relieved. Of course, Kenmochi Hidefumi is still around, so the music and lyrics are still very striking, fun, and have the group’s trademark wordplay. The future-bass production of “Himiko” (video above) combines with bold trumpets leading into the drop, and I really dig the inspired “channels” playing on the TVs on set. “Edison” has a neat trick featuring a seated dancing routine, and when combined with a catchy chorus and creative lyrics (“ejison, jisonshin”, and mentions of making house music with Ableton Live) it manages to feel complete.

It’s impossible to replace KOM_I, for me, but I’m not feeling so down about the future of Wed Camp either.

Favorites:

• Edison
• Himiko

Lifeformed, Janice Kwan - TUNIC (Original Game Soundtrack) (2022)

Somehow, some way, I beat 99% of Tunic without looking anything up. The very, very last puzzle I looked up, I was frustrated to learn that I was… “off by one” so to speak, in my solution. I highly recommend holding off as long as you can for Tunic, because it’s worth it.

Give your full attention and you’ll be swept away by its pulsating synths, like a breeze over a landscape. The soundtrack is grand, and starting with “To Far Shores” feels as though there’s a massive weight behind this place you’ve found yourself in. “Memories of Memories” is the song you’ll hear the most often, and it’s quite satisfying to listen to. Not only is it a perfect loop, it asks and resolves musical “questions” throughout that seems to mimic the player’s thought process while playing.

The game does a very neat effect where it’ll dampen (but not pause) the soundtrack while you look at the manual, this track quietly underscoring most of your critical thinking, and then when you return to the game world, the song comes back in full swing and supports the solution you just found. It’s an incredible feeling.

Favorites:

• Memories of Memories
• The Weight of Rain
• Spirit Estuary
• Forget to Forget
• My Favourite Customer
• Sunset Breakfast
• Secret Legend

jam2go - Apotrope (2020)

jam2go isn’t just a musician, they also make games, animations, and video essays, all of which are well-produced. jam2go has a distinct style which evokes real “blender default cube but surreal and post-apocalpytic” energy that I really appreciate. It can look simple at times, but the animation and particle effects make it very evocative.

After diving head-first into their discography, I came away from “Apotrope” the highest. “Mangrove Motion”, with reversed voices and minimal beats, throw me into a car ride on the way home late at night, while the title track’s engaging buildup of complexity is broken halfway in by breathy, spoken vocals that caught me off guard in the best way possible.

I’ll go check out the Kitten Burst Part A OST and get back to you in a future post. Keep an eye on jam2go.

Favorites:

• Mangrove Motion
• Apotrope
• Cancelled Plans

Vylet Pony - 3 albums (2019, 2021, 2022)

Fandom music has always been interesting to me. As someone who’s been influenced quite a bit by the music of a mysterious disappearing artist, having your art connected to a divisive piece of media has a nonzero chance of putting off creators and listeners alike. After 10 years, I’ve learned that the secret is that you just gotta make what makes you happy.

The fact that artists like loophoof, TCB, and Vylet Pony are still active proves that something else entirely has been created. A generation has grown with this positive feedback loop, stronger than anything else I’ve seen, and what once was rooted in nostalgia has evolved to intertwine itself into people’s everyday lives.

Vylet Pony is by no means as “underground” as some other pony artists, catching the eye of a certain outspoken music reviewer, and amassing ~45k subscribers at the time of writing.

With a fairly large discography, I dove into some recent releases to get my bearings - can opener’s notebook: fish whisperer (2022), CUTIEMARKS (and the things that bind us) (2021), and Queen of Misfits (2019). There’s a lot to like, and a ton of range in these three albums.

CUTIEMARKS screams in ALL CAPS, from “BONNIE” with its distorted guitar and swingy verses, to a poppy anthem about internet culture in “ANTONYMPH” with Skype samples (!) and synths that scream “2009”.

can opener’s notebook mixes in a lot of what I love - chopped guitar and piano samples with lyrics unbelievably full of emotion. I kept coming back to the raw power of “telephone” over and over.

Queen of Misfits is a very solid electronic album, with the vocal chops of “Sorceress” calling back to other fandom music with tantalizingly sung lyrics, and “The Magic Show”, a 10-minute long 3-part finisher that feels like it’s scoring a movie instead of listing as song #20 (!!) on a 21-track album.

Rather than be tied down to any one genre, Vylet Pony seems defined by the passion and emotion in their songs more than anything else. Keep an open mind and give them a listen.

Favorites:

• Antonymph
• BONNIE
• telephone
• the yak song
• Sorceress
• The Magic Show
• Ursa Major (ft. Just Fern)
• To Blame

That’s all I care to rant about at the moment. Thanks for listening!