Uh oh, the time between posts on this blog is approaching the 1 year interval I release my DJ sets in. Content is hard, also scheduling is hard and also moving sucks.

LET’S GET INTO IT

G Jones - Illusory Tracks (2022)

The day I stop blasting “R.A.V.E.” in my car is the day I will have died. The lead-in melody that pitches down as the song builds might be in the running for one of the best song intros in electronic music.

Some of Illusory Tracks started as a fairly slow burn for me. It wasn’t until after I saw “Operator” live and then subsequently heard how absolutley mixable “R.A.V.E.” is that I really started to understand just how insane these new tracks were.

The live bangers at the front of the album contrast with a few on the back half - “Patterns Emerge” and “Thought Tracing”, which remind of some of the more ethereal tracks on The Ineffable Truth.

G Jones is one of those artists where seeing them live makes me appreciate their music so much more. If you can, check out some live set recordings, they’re fantastic. “Elysian Hardcore” in particular is elevated to new levels when it’s massive festival speakers that can blast this section at you rather than some wimpy headphones.

Favorites:

• R.A.V.E.
• Operator
• Say What

Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die (2022)

This was the first full album I listened to from Polyphia, after a friend recommended it to me, and while not all of the songs hit me, I was astonished at the talent on display throughout.

“Genesis” impressed me right off the bat, reminding me of a Gramatik-like mix of saxophone and guitar which I love. The next few songs blend together and “Reverie” is a particular jam for me with its repeating melody getting chopped up, added to, and thrown around throughout.

The inclusion of the songs with vocal guests sometimes feels a little dissonant with the rest of the album for me. Even though I really, really love “ABC” (wow, who would have guessed I’d like it just because it’s got Japanese vocals and I adore how the guitar matches and compliments the melody), it and the vocals on “Fuck Around and Find Out”, and “Chimera” jar me out of listening, a bit.

What’s really interesting to me about Polyphia, despite the note about vocalists above, is that the production credits list is massive, more than double the tracklist! Even though I hadn’t heard of them, I had heard of some of the artists they’ve collaborated with here and in the past - Steve Vai and Ichika Nito in particular. If it’s a ploy to expose as many folks as possible to their music, then it’s working.

I’ve also just learned that Porter Robinson tapped Rafa Rodriguez, who helped write a riff for “Reverie”, for his last Nurture live show at Coachella. And Rafa has made an absolutely insane “Get Your Wish” cover which you should drop everything to watch immediately:

Overall, I’m shocked. Polyphia’s work makes me feel unqualified to talk about music. Whether that’s because I normally don’t listen to rock, or because of the sheer complexity in songwriting, I’m not sure, but it is a hell of a treat for the ears.

Also, I love their song visualizers. Very cool VFX work.

Favorites:

• Genesis
• Reverie
• ABC

KAF & Hakushi Hasegawa - “蕾に雷” (2022)

(Buy @ OTOTOY)

Since I was introduced to the eclectic jazz-pop producer Hakushi Hasegawa at Secret Sky 2020, I’ve been listening to all of his releases since in awe at his creativity. It seems he’s on a collaborative streak, since in 2021 he teamed up with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra in this sense-assaulting track and software-destroying video which I particularly love, and now in 2022 with KAF in this track.

KAF, a virtual singer whose work is probably best explained by their most popular video, “Devour the past”, juxtaposes their 3D avatar singing with real-life locations and footage. You would think this dissonance would be fitting for a Hasegawa collab, but instead we get something better - a mind-melting 2D animation that’s cut to the track beautifully.

And what a track it is. KAF’s vocals serenade as a sense of unease builds throughout the song, helped along by drums that are startling, erratic, and blown-out, until we get a classic Hasegawa five-things-are-happening-at-once-in-this-part-and-you-are-going-to-freak-out-the-first-time-you-listen at 2:38. I heard this on a random playlist and had to go back and watch it on a big screen a few times in a row, just going “damn!” until I had enough. More like this, please.

Skrillex - Quest for Fire (2023)

Before Quest for Fire came out, I don’t think I had given much of Skrillex’s releases much of a real listen since Recess, which I actually didn’t listen to much with the exception of “Try It Out” (I was pretty into Alvin Risk at the time). I didn’t even really appreciate Show Tracks fully until I went back into his discography to prepare for Quest, and realized that “Mumbai Power” is, in fact, a banger.

With that said, I’ve listened to Quest for Fire more times than any other album this year, so far. It flows so well together and the highs are so very high that I can’t help but groove anytime one of my favorites comes on.

Quest feels really, really fresh, despite it taking almost 10 years (!) for Skrillex to release another album (and he released two, actually). His releases always seem to stir up the entire music community, and I’ve already had tons of remixes grace my feed. I even heard one of his new tracks dropped during a recent set at MOGRA (at Anison Matrix, no less).

“Rumble” feels primal and it forces you to dance. “Tears”, with its muted piano sample, sounds like nothing else I’ve heard (and it’s surreal to hear an Ocarina of Time sample in an album release as massive as this). “Supersonic” is an insane, room-filling sendoff for Noisia, who split up recently - the end of an era.

I’ll be coming back to this one every so often, no doubt.

Favorites:

• Rumble
• Tears
• Good Space
• TOO BIZARRE (juked)
• Hydrate
• Supersonic (my existence)

GYARI - “私の酸素を吸わないでほしい (Don’t Breathe My Oxygen)” (2023)

I was overjoyed to see this on my feed earlier this week! It’s been 3 years since GYARI’s last song like this, so I might have lost hope that VOMS, their VTuber project, was their sole focus moving forward. Of course, in the meantime, we’ve certainly had “Hello VOMS”, arranged by GYARI, but that’s not true of all the tracks (“We are VOX MONSTERS” was produced by KOTONOHOUSE), so it’s refreshing to see a new song produced by GYARI on their channel.

In fact, this newest track samples a quote from Miuneru Haneuzu, a new-ish VOMS VTuber. I love the intro in the video, showing the breakdown of the sample where we can hear it repeated and then played back, pitch-shifted to form the melody. The work is quite similar to GYARI’s other works, so I encourage you to check them out if this intrigues you. I recommend the classic “Aoi-chan is Going to Eat ChocoMint No Matter What”.

I was particularly enthralled by the interesting production qualities on the video and the concept of the song. The quote comes from a stream of Let’s Play! Oink Games with VTubers, the game in question being “Deep Sea Adventure”. Ths risk/reward here is that you need to collect treasure, but everyone shares the same oxygen tank. And so, the line repeated throughout the song is “Don’t breathe my oxygen.” The 3D-rendered underwater environment features instrument-wielding Minecraft avatars (HE SPIN), fish and turtles, and even the treasure chips from the game.

I hope GYARI continues to produce music!

Also, RIP Pikamee. She will live on in our hearts, and we’ll think of her whenever our tea is done. ;_;7

DENONBU - “Crush”, “Make Some Noise” (2023)

I’ve been shilling DENONBU to anyone who’ll listen to me talk about it recently, so imagine my surprise when I realize I hadn’t written about them yet!

DENONBU is difficult to describe, but in as few words as possible, it’s a project (franchise?) by Bandai Namco that consists of original (fictional) characters that are part of clubs in (fictional) schools from different (real) districts of Tokyo, who are voiced by (real) performers and sing songs produced by (real) artists. Perhaps it’s confusing because there’s no one piece of DENONBU-related media for people to gravitate to, like an anime or game. For now, it seems crossovers, PVs, merchandise and live shows are in the cards.

But that’s not why DENONBU is exciting for me. The project has spawned some amazing songs, produced by a ton of incredible artists, some of which you may have heard of! Yunomi, Moe Shop, Neko Hacker, Snail’s House, PSYQUI, YUC’e, and Aiobahn, just to name a few! Remix culture on these tracks is also insane on Soundcloud, creating some incredible bootlegs (I like this one, also this one).

Also, footage of this is hard to find, but they did whatever this is??? An “AI and xR immersive DJ experience where songs with predetermined points is complemented with character animation and effects”? Nuts.

If you’ve any interest in the type of music I write about on this blog, don’t sleep on DENONBU songs. My favorites pre-this-year are probably “Good Night Baby”, “Hyper Bass”, and “いただきバベル”. The two songs that spurred me to write this are really interesting, too: “Crush” and “Make Some Noise” are both darker vibes but the vocals are really fun. It’s hard to write about any one song, because it kind of feels like a release from an artist you know. So if you see an artist you recognize, give it a listen!

Oh hey, two of my DJ sets have featured DENONBU songs, too! 😉

LIGHTNING ROUND

Either I’ve written about these artists recently, or I don’t have much to say except TAKE A LISTEN

Aiobahn - “宙でおやすみ”, “Re: searchlight”, “INTERNET YAMERO” (2023)

Hey. The new Aiobahn tracks are real good. I’ll keep posting about Aiobahn on this website until somebody stops me. “宙でおやすみ” is right in my wistful strike zone.

(Bandcamp)

Wednesday Campanella - RABBIT STAR ★ (2023)

My hope for Wed Camp continues to rise as the video for “赤ずきん / Little Red Riding Hood” debuts full of killer visuals and creative lyrics, as usual. Utaha is nailing the verbal flow in this one and it sounds very on point for the group. Oh yeah, and RABBIT STAR, the second EP with Utaha, is out now.

Hey what was up with all the drum and bass music on PS1 (1994-2004?)

Ape Escape’s soundtrack slaps? Some random band released a PS1 companion game for an album that’s aesthetic af?? M-Flo had a song in DDR??? HUH????

I’ve just been throwing this on in the background sometimes while working or doing projects. It’s kinda nuts how game soundtracks all had these elements at one point in time.

Korone Inugami - “Wonky Monkey” (2023)

These visuals and production and this part holy fuck I’m die thank you forever

THAT’S IT, ALL IDEAS OUT OF MY HEAD EXCEPT MAYBE A SECRET POST COMING SOON, SEE YOU AGAIN IN ANOTHER 6 MONTHS OOPS

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