I started this post last year. When I opened the file to continue last week, I saw the title (“September 2024 - Music Recommendations”), and one, measly line:

You ever feel completely creatively bankrupt and drained at the end of every work day?

Yes, past me. I do. But as the great Protein Ribosome¹ himself reminds us:

Buckle up, this’ll be a long one! We have two years to cover!

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk OST (2023)

While I never played enough of the games that Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a spiritual successor to, the appeal is clear. Anti-establishment themes blend with skate and hip-hop culture; you battle crews to tag streets and malls while jamming to the funkiest songs concieved by humankind. Developer Team Reptile tapped the original composer for many songs from the Jet Set games and an all-star crew of indie musicians (2 Mello, Klaus Veen (having worked with them before on Lethal League), GRRL, KiloWatts, and more) for this, and it paid off.

There are very few songs that fall flat for me on this album. I recommend playing the game to get the full experience. Doing flips, tricks, and sick graffiti while listening to the cutesy “condensed milk” is one of the best moments I’ve had in indie gaming in a while.

It’s worth mentioning that 2 Mello has released two tribute albums to the Jet Set games, and if you enjoy BRC’s songs, you’ll definitely enjoy these.

Favorites:

• 2 Mello - I Wanna Kno
• cyber milk - Condensed Milk
• Hideki Naganuma - GET ENUF
• Hideki Naganuma - DAT PEOPLE
• SkyBlew - Light Switch (Prod. Navo The Maestro)

Wavedash - Tempo (2024)

Tempo was my album of the summer for 2024. There’s not much I can say here that hasn’t already been said, but the songs on this record are such an absolute jam. Wavedash has crammed both Madeon and Anamanaguchi features into the same album, and it feels like it was tailor-made for me.

Wavedash’s production is on fucking point. It feels like they experiment, take their ideas to their natural ends, and only publish once they’ve polished a song so much it’s shining. The result is 12 danceworthy tracks that are overflowing with variety and novelty. “b Alright!"’s massive bursts of energy are never not fun; hearing all the different singers on “All Ur Luv” is bliss.

This album should have wide, wide appeal even if you’re new to electronic music.

Favorites:

• Had2Go
• b Alright!
• SKYFALLING

Lotus Juice, Shoji Meguro et al. - P3R tracks (2024)

There are tons of valid ways you can criticize Persona 3 Reload - it’s a remake of FES and doesn’t include the female lead from P3P, it split out the extra FES content into separate, paid DLC, and it doesn’t ultimately fix the repetitive nature of the original (though it does try!).

I’m not here to talk about any of that. Instead, we got new tracks! The release of new Persona music should trigger a worldwide holiday to stop and listen, imo (did you know that the last game actually created Jazz music? It’s true!).

What a nice surprise. “Color Your Night” in particular is a reimagining of the nighttime track from P3, and I can’t think of a better love letter to the game. Lotus Juice turns everything he appears on into gold.

No Mana - I Contain Flashing Images (2024)

I cannot believe No Mana only has 26k subscribers at the time of writing. Their most viewed video is their set from Gravity 2021, which is incredible and you should absolutely watch it (I don’t want to undersell - yes, Strangers is great, of course, pairing it with recreating scenes from Your Name but as live set visuals is nuts!), but this artist deserves a ton of love regardless. Their pixel art is mesmerizing, set visuals synced perfectly, and transitions godlike. I want to highlight ICFI here because it feels so coherent, and some of the collabs here are quite nostalgic for me.

“Solarpunk” has a ton of punch, perfect for an opener. As someone who actually thought deadmau5’s 4x4=12 was good, I fell in love with SOFI’s voice in “Digital Friends” all over again. Feed Me’s signature punch comes through loud and clear in “Hopeless”. But even with all these featured artists, No Mana underpins with strong production, and an evolution of a late 00s vibe that’s enchanting as all hell.

ICFI and No Mana in general would be unmissable live, I’m sure of it. Dedicate some time to listening, and if you can, throw the visuals up on a second screen if you need to multitask. I can guarantee you’ll be distracted in the best way possible.

Favorites:

• Solarpunk
• Digital Friends (w/ SOFI)
• Hopeless (w/ Feed Me, Bertie Scott)
• Everlasting (w/ EMSKI)
• Lost Call

Jamie Paige

If we flash back to 2016, I was bright-eyed and excited about the future rather than jaded and depressed. But most relevant: “Love Taste” is playing on repeat, and I’ve no idea who Jamie Paige is. I’m not sure I made an effort to try and find out, unfortunately, which delayed my appreciation of their music until, well, now.

Flash-forward now to 2023, and Jamie Paige pops back up onto my radar with

エビチャーハン! (You’re Telling Me A SHRIMP Fried This Rice?!) (2023)

There’s so much joy in this video, from the production values (“almost 4 minutes of b-roll plushie abuse” a music video CAN make, actually), through the lyrics (Shrimp Miku will kill your family if you do not eat this fried rice), to the infectious laughter in the outtakes at the end.

Constant Companions (2024)

Following Jamie Paige’s bandcamp, forgetting, and then waiting almost a year brought me face-to-face with Constant Companions, a high-energy vocaloid pop album featuring lyrics that explore love in many different shapes and forms. It’s catchy. WOW, is it catchy. I went from “Guess I’ll listen” to “oops, I’ve got ‘ROT FOR CLOUT’ on repeat and on the turntables in the basement” in a little over a day.

Jamie Paige demonstrates their mastery in the synthetized voice space by making the absolute best English tracks I’ve heard, bar none. The harmonies and clever use of both UTAU² and Synth V Kasane Teto in “Machine Love” (@3:20) underscore this better than I can express in words.

Though featured heavily, vocaloid interest is not a prerequisite for enjoying this album, honestly. Go in ready to feel, dance, and vibe. Follow along with the lyrics. You’ll have a great time.

Favorites:

• ROT FOR CLOUT
• I Wish That I Could Fall
• My Darling, My Companion
• Machine Love

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why (2009)

Only “Milk” is streamable from bandcamp, but the album is on YouTube just fine.

This feels like a cop-out. I wrote about Sweet Trip 3 years ago, and I generally have a rule where I try not to just go “oh, new artist I like has a new album, let’s put it in the recs blog” because that feels “too easy” (and I wonder why I have issues producing content). Still, here we are. You Will Never Know Why is not new, by the way, just new to me.

Thanks to a certain artist which I should dedicate a whole post to someday, my soft spot is pretty much “distorted effects” + “contemplative lyrics” + “ethereal vibes”, which this album brings in spades.

If you have any remote interest in this type of music³ (which Wikipedia and the Bandcamp page insist is electronic shoegaze - gee I guess I’m a shoegaze enjoyer) then I think I can confidently say Sweet Trip has you covered.

“Milk” is the cornerstone of this album, where a soft acoustic guitar underpins the harmony of the band’s two members, with plenty of other strings and synths layered on and off. I can’t describe the feeling I get when the electric guitar hits at 2:30 in this song, but it’s something powerful.

“Acting”, too, has these incredible bursts of energy where the guitar and beat ebb and flow and lead you on and on and on for its *checks notes* seven minute runtime.

Most of my listening, though, has been “Air Supply”, and “Pretending”, the latter of which I have to gush about. The bitcrushed drums in the intro and throughout leading into the incredible lyrics, and then the transitions into the bridge, then the chorus… I’ve been humming this song for months.

know how to succeed

the problem is time

better to say you want it all

not willing to wait

‘cause we all have our due time (a due date)

- Sweet Trip - Pretending

Favorites:

• Milk
• Acting
• Air Supply
• Pretending
• Misfortunes are Cruel

Jaron - LIGHTYEARS (2024)

Okay, listen. I know what I said up there. I said I wouldn’t just post about a new album from an artist that I like because it’s “too easy”. I have to break that rule again, because if you aren’t already listening to Jaron, then you need to be.

Jaron is simply one of the most inspirational and talented artists I’ve ever listened to. He’s a one-man music production machine yet isn’t afraid to collab either.

There’s simply no part of this album I don’t appreciate. I tuned into the livestream release and was floored by whatever magic those synths be doing in “WANTTTHIS”!? The slightly silly yet catchy lyrics in “LIGHTYEARS” got me and eventually I was dancing in my basement.

We also get the singles that have been out for a while - “BUTTERFLY”, “SPINNING”, and “ORANGES” are all worthy songs-to-ascend-to-a-higher-plane-of-existence-to. Give it a listen. If you are even slightly hyperpop-curious⁴, you might be very appreciative of the sounds here.

Favorites:

• The whole album basically

Femtanyl - REACTOR (2024)

OK. Let’s change gears slightly here. I’ve been ramping up the tempo a bit, and this one might blow you out of your seat if you’re not strapped in and/or your lows are turned up too high.

I learned about this artist via this tweet from jam2go:

Here's a "Your Graphics Card is dying" effect I stumbled into while working on the datamoshing video.

[song: WEIGHTLESS! by Femtanyl] https://t.co/b5oHaTYuRq pic.twitter.com/p1fBao5CqG

— 𝐉𝐀𝐌߶𝐆𝐎 (@Jam2go) November 9, 2024

A great track choice for a cool video. Right away, I was intrigued. Femtanyl’s music feels like the type of thing that hits very specifically for a some people. It’s like listening to breakcore by inserting the cable from a sad, angry dial-up modem right into your ear: Somehow both totally inextricable from and ascended past multiple terminally-online subcultures (see also “Antonymph” by Vylet Pony for an idea of other “webcore” works). The vocals and lyrics are in your face and full of emotion. I’m not sure how much staying power this album has for me personally, but I’ve come back to it a few times when I’m in a mood. Keep your eye on this artist.

Favorites:

• WEIGHTLESS
• M3 n MIN3

Qrion - We Are Always Under The Same Sky (2025)

If you need to relax after that last album, I have just the thing.

Until recently, aside from the certified classic “Proud”, I wasn’t too high on Qrion. That changed for me almost immediately as soon as the first singles from this album were released. I finally “got it”.

I have a confession to make. I used to think that deep house music wasn’t all that interesting or important. Qrion has proved me incredibly wrong. This album is a certified driving-at-night banger.

The inspirational notes emanating from “Keep On Moving Up”, something past me would have called simplistic, I can now find novelty in. “Hush My Heart” demonstrates just how perfectly Qrion can make vocals, piano, and synths compliment each other and mesh in a song.

The cover art and visuals for the album itself has this “comfy children’s book” vibe and it’s cute as heck. Personal stories in the video descriptions describe the artist growing up in Sapporo. Having visited Hokkaido myself, I can’t help but be drawn in. There’s something magical about these tracks and their presentation.

Favorites:

• Miyanosawa
• Keep On Moving Up
• Hush My Heart
• Wayside
• Ice Palace

ANISON LIGHTNING ROUND

milet - Anytime Anywhere

Watch Frieren. It might be the anime of the decade.

YOASOBI - UNDEAD

“Ahh, you know, I’m not sure how much of a fan I am of YOASOBI, I mean, they sound great and all, and that one song from the Gundam show was good, and I guess Idol was good too, even though I didn’t watch Oshi no Ko but-”

I love YOASOBI now wtf

VOCALOID LIGHTNING ROUND

Been kinda down a vocaloid hole lately tbh

DECO*27 - ヴァンパイア feat. 初音ミク (TeddyLoid Remix)

TeddyLoid never misses.

r-906 - the Hole

All I want is to play a show like this.

back to the “hole”!

ぬぬぬぬぬぬぬぬぬぬぬぬ…

This artist puts out bangers with great videos to boot. I’m not quite sure why their name is longer than will fit on any device, and I think they put that square watermark in every one of their videos to stop reposts or something. But the quality of their videos and tracks is undeniable.

The idea of Zundamon holding a bunch of other vocaloids at gunpoint and asking them what they like on their fried chicken is hilarious to me.

Sasuke Haraguchi - Hito Mania

I became obsessed with this chaotic song containing punchy beats and infamous samples when Gigi Murin covered it. Below is the original and the two covers I’ve enjoyed.

Have you seen this cat? Now you have :)

It’s clear now how I am obviously a taste leader in niche anime music, because I appreciated this song in full when it came out. Aiobahn’s remix in 2023 went on to surpass the original in popularity. I will let this go to my head. If you haven’t listened yet somehow, enjoy - this track has one of my favorite artists of all time remixing another of my favorites of all time: Kenmochi Hidefumi of Wednesday Campanella fame.

For those curious about what “Aiobahn +81” means: Read this post that describes the creator’s struggle with a divided audience after “INTERNET YAMERO” exploded in popularity.

What to listen to as the world ends

This is a hell of a cover. You might notice I posted another wisteria cover above. I think her voice is lovely. I’ve never heard a DnB remix of this song with vocals that stunlocked me like they did on my first listen.

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Thanks for reading until the end! I hope to blog more frequently, but I’m not sure if I will. Projects of interest coming up are a Framework mainboard replacement (I never did a Framework review as a pin in the eGPU laptop series, maybe I’ll get around to that. Spoiler: it’s pretty much perfect), and maybe possibly learning what the hell NixOS is all about. And of course, more music. I’ll never stop listening to music.

If you’re reading this on the day it’s published - it’s Bandcamp Friday! Please support these artists if you like their work.

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