Birthdays Bonus

Joe Goode - Birthdays (2008)

First things first - apologies for taking such an extended break. Every Summer I give myself a list of things to sort out and then never end up actually doing it, but this year was different. Nothing exciting unfortunately, jut a lot of tedious file management that I'd been putting off for ages and catching up on some other things. The downside to that being I am now behind in other areas, this blog included - so it goes.

At any rate, I have a fair few things planned for this month to make up for it - starting with the annual tradition that is the anniversary post. By happy synchronicity both me and the site share a birthday, I like to mark the occasion with a slightly longer than usual post with some of my recent favourites, so let's get stuck right in.

Kicking off with Ceephax's Christmas gift to us in Baddow Moods. In the past I've characterised Ceephax's output as a bit tongue-in-cheek, which is true - you only have to look at the videos for his tracks to see he's having a right laugh embracing the cheese. Baddow Moods is pretty far from that, it's a gorgeous experience throughout, delving into more Deep House territory, sometimes even ambient at times but still with the eponymous Acid backing it up. Here's one of my favourites from the LP and the longest of the bunch in Ventlaris - to the surprise of no one reading it's this spacey number with flecks of acid as mentioned above and I could live in it's space forever. I may have to give the whole LP a write up one of these days.



There's going to be a theme for this month where I get to nerd out a little, and you're going to see a little bit of that here. Chikada Wasei, one of the men behind the tracks for the Cyberia scenes in Serial Experiements Lain has been making new additions to the series since 2018, with Layer 4 being the most recent one. Wasei is a talented producer, and importantly very flexible with the productions that make it onto these albums - while there are glimpses of the thudding Techno of the original OST, there's a variety in genres on show on the modern Cyberia-s. Really they deserve their own post (another one I'll have to get around to). For now, here's a choice bit from Layer 4



Case in point when it comes to variety, there's a companion album to Layer 03 titled After Hours which is predictably a lot more laid back than the main entries. A cool concept in general really, as Wasei turned to the community for contributions, the Lain community has a massive amount of fan-made music so it was nice to see it recognised. Not to say Wasei was totally hands off though, he too has a few contributions and collaborations throughout the track list, the introspective Last Present being a highlight.



A little bit of my last Bandcamp Friday pickups next, they were a little piecemeal this time around despite me having an extra month to prepare. Garoad dropped another single recently, they are infrequent but always a highlight (but also he seems to be busy with other soundtrack work so I can hardly complain!). Fight On Beat sees a return to form, if like me you just love the VA-11 HALL-A OST then you'll be right at home here. It wastes no time getting right down to it, opening with the exact sounds that put the VA-11 HALL-A tracks on my radar. Surprisingly not the only Fighting Game themed track I picked up on BC Friday either, but that's a tale for another day.



Some Rei Harakami next, and another from my recent BC Friday. I've been slowly drip feeding myself Harakami's works over the past few years in order to make the most of them - I adore Harakami's sound, so the longer I can hold onto having 'new' works to listen to the better. One of his tracks - Pone - is one of my favourites of all time, so it's only natural that I give a little shout out here too. Unrest is his debut, and as much as I like to say he perfects his formula on later albums, most of it is already here from the get go - that playful electric piano that underpins Harakami's sound is still there, it's just trimmed in Techno on this first LP. To the surprise of no one, the more downtempo bits are my favourites, starting with the short and sweet Wreck, an almost prototype of Pone mentioned above, simply gorgeous.



To make up for that one being a little short, one I've talked about before but is the first that comes to mind when thinking of this album - the lovely, dubby Bioscope. It sounds a little different from the usual E-Piano stuff I mentioned before, but the production sensibilities remain the same and shine through quite nicely. I will say if you've enjoyed either of these two, go right ahead and look up Harakami's discography and you won't be disappointed, as mentioned earlier [Lust] is my favourite of the bunch, but you can drop the needle pretty much anywhere and get some more goodness going on.



And finally, one last selection from one of my recent loves - Yagya's Faded Photographs is a wonderfully sedate experience, one that works best when listened to as one whole thing, though this makes it tricky to pick out individual pieces, especially as so many of the tracks flow together. The one-two punch of No Matter What and Melting In The Morning Sun have been my most repeated of the bunch. Here, the instrumentals almost take a backseat, which makes the vocal flourishes shine that much brighter. The album is quite accessible when compared to the Yagya output that I knew from the early 00's - the super stripped minimal where 6 minutes is the shortest runtime. The vocals are a welcome addition for me, they do wonders for the atmosphere and I think really complete that slight melancholy as shown on the album's cover. I've seen some say they aren't a fan, but also a fair few say the production is very similar to the albums before this (albeit minus the vocals) - if that's the case I'll have to pencil a few of them in to check out come Winter.



And that'll be about all for today, thanks for sticking with us for another year, and as I say every time - here's to many more. Stay tuned for more writings this month, some of it can't be on Bandcamp players so I'll have to try and arrange something else - apologies in advance. Shouldn't be too long mind you, until then - as always - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

The Final(?) Friday - Part One

Hasui Kawase - Starlit Night, Miyajima (1928)

Hey there, it's been a while - apologies ofr the slight delay, the first half of this week got a little chaotic. But I am here now, and I bring the results of what may be the last ever Bandcamp Friday - it's hard to tell, the statement from the start of this year only lists them happening until May, but I suppose time will reveal all. I've had an exceptional run with them since they started running them though, and it's been a nice nudge to pick up some music once a month or so. We'll save that talk for later though, there is a lot of stuff to go through this time so I am going to split it into a couple (or more) parts. So, let's get stuck right in.

Some Garoad first off - you might have seen me talk at length about my love of their soundtracks for VA-11 Hall-a, the two were a match made in heaven and complimented each other nigh perfectly. From My Star To Yours is cut from the same cloth, if you were at all a fan of those OSTs you will immediately find common ground here. I have a lot of love for the sound here, it's retro 80's infused electronic without getting too deep into Synthwave territory, Garoad's inspirations lie elsewhere if the artwork didn't tip you off already - From My Star To Yours is very cinematic in its execution, like it's an insert song from an 80's Space Opera OVA (hence the artwork!), lavished with synth noodling and power chords and the mandatory of-the-era guitar riffs, and even an extended outro reprising the main motif on piano - all that's missing is the vocal accompaniment to complete that vibe. It's been a long time since Garoad released anything, I'm more than happy to hear more from them and am hoping there is more in the pipeline, as someone who is a big fan of the soundtrack of Bubblegum Crisis, I welcome any and all artists bringing back this style.



We're sticking in that same vein for the time being though, both the retro and Japanese influences. Enter Macross 82-99, who is still going strong all these years later. 82-99 first caught my ear with their unique blend of the kind of House that brought me here to this site in the first place, with a hearty helping of anime fandom for good measure (if the name Macross and the title of this release didn't make that obvious enough already). On the early mixtape releases this was twinned with vaporwave so it was a perfect macth for me circa 2012 when I was getting deep into that kind of thing.

I can understand it feeling gimmicky to some, (hell, I even thought as much when I was first exploring their work, chalk it up to my expeirnece with a ton of one-off vaporwave acts) but Macross is still going strong to this day, with Sailorwave III releasing just a couple months ago. Despite the name this isn't a Sailor Moon bootleg remix album, but the latest in a string of sequels to the albums that made Macross so popular in the first place. I've chosen That Music thing time around, purely because it transported me back to that time in my life when I first met Macross - cast your mind back to the Summers of the early 2010s, and think of the French Touch stuff that we used to post around that time - that's That Music, a little nostalgic sprinkle of sunshine. I don't dip my feet into the world of Future Funk often anymore, but I can always count on 82-99 for tracks like this.



Speaking of nostalgia, some Au Revior Simone next (and also another case of me misplacing something so picking it up again). The Bird Of Music is another record steeped in memories for me, again from around that same era. Not to get too sentimental or anything - I was heading off to University and my go-to convo starter for those first few awkward weeks was to get talking music. There was a bit of crossover with some (after all I think students are legally required to listen to Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada when entering University!), and acts like Au Revior Simone were there to bridge the gap where there wasn't, so both this album and Still Night, Still Light were instrumental in that.

I tended to lean a little more towards this one for suggestions at the time as it's a little more folky in parts which I thought made it more accessible for some - Fallen Snow was one that I remember suggesting a lot, I think it balances that folk style with the electronics quite well. I liked Still Night more at the time, but coming back to this one after all this time I've gained new appreciation for it, somehow I always end up remembering the slower tracks more and completely forgetting that the album also has tracks like Dark Halls on it as well which has been a welcome return to my library. Its been a while since I've had some good energetic electropop, even if it's not techically 'new'.



As mentioned in the opener, this is only a portion of my pickups for this month, so stay tuned for part 2 and maybe more after that too. This one managed to be fairly sonically consistent, the next one(s) might get a little bit more eclectic but should prove very interesting as well, one I might even spin off into my first new 'review' in who knows how long. Things have quieted down again so shouldn't be too long until the next one, until then, as alawys - stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Retro Active

I have climbed out of the ambient / field recording hole for the time being - I could write about some of it in future but it's one of those things that it's a bit tricky to get streams of legit (especially for Wendy Carlos' work for some reason.) But we're back in electronic territory for the time being. And in another return to form I've picked out some tunes that were served up back to back courtesy of the chaos theory of the shuffle algorithm that are nicely sonically linked.

Jeffery Smart - Study for Bondi Penthouse (2002)

The order of the day is a slight retro vibe, some stronger than others. Another cut from DMX Krew's Nu Romantix leads this time - those who've seen me post about DMX before might have an idea of what to expect going in: deliberately emulating the aesthetics of the 80s for better or worse. This usually manifests in some dangerously cheesy lyrics and some delicious synth backing with a bit of vintage breakin' influence (especially on his early work), Nu Romantix has it's fair share of that too, but there's more variety on there than just that generalisation. Take the final track, a remix of I'm All Alone by Cylob, label mate on Rephlex at the time - you'd maybe expect it to be a little more IDM in style given Cylob's other works but here it's kept in line with the overall feel of the rest of the album. It wastes no time on things like intros and gets straight down to business, there's some absolutely gorgeous melodic synth work on show throughout, culminating in an incredible duet in the latter half.



Returning to the VA-11 HALL-A soundtrack once again now, most times I talk about the OST albums for it I mainly focus on the more atmospheric tracks. There's no shortage of them across the two main OST albums and I do love them a whole lot: I say it every time it comes up but they are pretty much aesthetic perfection when it comes to twinning with the art direction of VA-11 HALL-A, they're not quite full on synthwave but certainly carry that sensibility with them.

This time we're not talking about the chill vibes to make cocktails to that have made up the previous posts, tucked away on the Second Round album among other little nuggets of gold like the fictional OS startup sounds is All Systems, Go!. Much like Simon Viklund's Hot Pursuit from a little while ago, it's a little slice of high energy retro goodness - sounding like it was ripped straight out of a promo video for a then top of the line personal computer, especially with that MIDI as hell brass at the beginning. It's not all novelty though, see it through to about 50 seconds in and after a mighty flourish it gets a little more fleshed out, full of lovely touches like those slow arpeggios that really come into their own on headphones.



Another soundtrack name to round out, this time on a solo record though. You might have seen me bring up Jasper Byrne a few times in the past, his appearances on the Hotline Miami soundtracks are what pointed me in his direction. Those soundtracks have a reputation for being equal parts face melting electronic and hazy psychedelic, Byrne's work leans more toward the latter than the former, but still has that neon soaked feel that bridges the gap between the two - a more sedate style compare the squealing synth chords of some other synthwave acts.

I first heard Night on the Adult Swim synthwave-style compilation called Fever Dreams and had assumed that like a few of the tracks on there that it was an exclusive. A trip to discogs though soon pointed me towards his solo work and the album of the same name. If you're at all a fan of the kind of stuff he made for the Hotline Miami games you will find a lot to like here, Night isn't my top favourite of this album (that would be Bliss that I've posted before), but it's a great intro to the album and the overall aesthetic Jasper plays with on it: It follows the same formula of the more downtempo electronic pieces he makes but with the addition of these hazy chillwave style vocals. From what I remember I don't think they suited all the tracks but they fit really nicely on Night and Bliss.



And that'll do it for this time. Things have been much quieter so I should be able to keep to schedule a little better. I have fallen behind on the republishing front though so it may be time for an old post to make an appearance again but I'll try and balance it with something new, or add to it like I did with that OPN post from December. Either way, stay tuned for more and as always: stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Algorithms!

I've for a long time voiced my issues with algorithms when it comes to discovering new music. Partly because I'm slightly jaded from every 'you might like' system not being as good as Grooveshark's (RIP), or at least as good as I remember it being with rose tinted glasses and all. That and getting stuck in a perpetual loop of 'Albums you might like' recommends from discogs too, though I will admit that they have gotten better with time. And that's really the crux of this post - I've changed my tune a bit when it comes to the algorithms, whether that be them getting better or me just having less time to take the deep dives that I used to I can't say. Here's a selection of tunes I've found via automated processes.

Ellsworth Kelly - Spectrum Colors Arranged By Chance VI (1951)

A lot of this music comes from Japan, and the reason for that is multi-layered. Firstly I've been on that kind of mode for a while so it's only natural the machines learn that and send similar stuff my way (see my previous posts on Rei Harakami et al), but secondly because it seems to be a big scene in the world of YouTube. And the reason for that is interesting in and of itself, word in the industry is that it's diabolically hard to license Japanese music for release elsewhere - though labels like Light In The Attic are doing their best to rectify that, I highly recommend their compilation Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990. There are exceptions to this, most of Rei Harakami's work is easily accessible via Bandcamp now for one, but often things just get lost in the interim.

Enter Susumu Yokota - an equally prolific name in the world of Japanese electronic but unlike Harakami's works, a lot of his discography is not simple to get your hands on. The album I found via the 'rithms, Cat, Mouse & Me, is one such example: released in 1997 on the Harthouse label, never re-pressed or re-issued beyond the original releases in Europe and the US and the label is still around but has been defunct several times throughout the years - the first time being actually in 1997. And that's before we introduce the complications of Yokota's death probably making managing the rights a real headache. But enough background, onto the album itself! Credited to just 'Yokota' on the sleeve, it's a different flavour to the House and Ambient stuff I've posted of his before. Here we take a trip to the more downtempo side of things, some of these tracks are straight up Trip-Hop and I love Yokota's interpretations of the genre. The whole thing has this lovely late 90's feel that as you all know by now I really really love. I picked this track in particular for that very reason, for a little while we dip our toes into Drum & Bass territory and if you're at all like me and love Soichi Terada's D&B work - this one will be extremely up your alley. Taking a few cues from the like of Omni Trio as well, Few is packed with lush ambient pads backed with breakbeats, Yokota gives the tune plenty of room to breathe with extended breakdowns focusing on those delicious synths. I've been wearing it out for well over a week now with no signs of stopping.



I've also discovered a lot of compilations this way - one I've mentioned very briefly in passing, Hamburgeins has given me a chance to once again open my borders to more minimal stuff. I'm incredibly picky when it comes to minimal as longtime readers will know - which often makes it hard for me to pin down why I like some tracks over others and this one is no different in that respect. At it's most base level its just a simple loop and a 4/4 for 8 minutes with the occasional vocal chorus - on paper it sounds like I wouldn't much care for it but it's probably one of my most listened to from the compilation, though it is an alias/group of Alexander Polzin so that might explain it a bit. I think it really captures that hi-tech smoothness that permeates that compilation, and maybe it's just the menial work I'm doing these days but it's been a great one to pass the time with.



And a roundabout one to play us out, and the oldest example of this here. This one's a cross-media tale - VA-11 HALL-A was first recommended to me by Steam thanks to my interest in any and all things with the 'Cyberpunk' tag. It was the artwork that caught my eye first of all, but like so many people's Steam accounts I essentially wish-listed it and promptly forgot about it. A few weeks later a streamer I follow mentioned they'd be playing it so I figured I'd tune in, and it was one of those moments where I couldn't stick around - not because of timezones or I had something to do - no, this was one of those times where I had to leave the stream because I knew I needed this in my life. The artwork, the music and of course the game itself absolutely nail their aesthetic and I'm having to stop myself from writing multiple paragraphs on it once again. Simply put: if you like Synthwavy stuff at all, definitely consider picking up VA-11 HALL-A or it's soundtracks - Garoad's music is impeccably twinned with it and makes the whole experience that much richer, it runs the gamut from full on synthwave club tracks, to borderline ambient and twinkling downtempo slow jams like this one. Absolutely gorgeous.



And so ends another weekly post, I'm going to try resurrect some old posts this weekend if I can make heads or tails of the spaghetti html with the new blogger layout, I may republish a couple of them as 'new' posts at some point during the week as well. Apologies for the re-runs in advance but I'll try and balance it out with new ones too! And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

One Year Older

It's that time of year again where by happy coincidence the blog and I share a birthday. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster for the last couple, this year doubly so. But I'm not to wallow in the current state of things (too much), in instead I thought I'd put together a list of tunes from the last 12 months or so that have really meant a lot to me.

Helen Frankenthaler - Yearning (1973)

Starting with back in December / January where I revisited the Everything But The Girl album Walking Wounded, a great album on its own but I had yet to check out the fancy expanded edition put out some time ago that has a second disc of remixes and the like to boot. It's there I would find what quickly shot up the list of my favourite of their works: a demo of what would become Before Today on the final album called Above The Law. I've always loved Tracey Thorn's vocals since I was first introduced to them on Massive Attack's Protection, her delivery is often really powerful and carries so much feeling. I mentioned last time I posted this that track sticks out on the album: being a demo it's got a slightly rough sound in comparison to the super polished smoothness of the rest of Walking Wounded. Which on paper wouldn't be something I'd like, in fact I probably would have argued it as a negative. But after spending a lot of time with this one I think it works perfectly, it twins beautifully with Thorn's impassioned, almost desperate delivery on the choruses.



Keeping it older for now, I put Garoad's soundtracks for VA​-​11 HALL​-​A back in rotation after a long absence, they're delightfully retro in parts. This one in particular could easily be a shared B-Side with Mitch Murder's brand of synthwave-esque stuff. I didn't realise how much I'd missed this kind of melodic slow jam until I had them back in rotation. It makes for very good 'doing stuff' music as is to be expected from the OST of a Visual Novel about bar-tending, I knew when this was one of the first tracks you hear that it was going to definitely be something that was almost designed for me. Garoad's done some other soundtracks and a solo EP that I still desperately need to check out, but like so many other things that I love I'm trying to pace myself and not dive in all at once and get burned. With a sequel to VA​-​11 HALL​-​A on the horizon the equally punnily titled N1RV-Ann-A, here's hoping we get more sweet synths heading our way soon.



And of course I can't write a post about favourites of the last 12 months without mentioning Rei Harakami. I simultaneously can't believe it took me so long to finally get fully immersed in his works but am also very happy that I waited until no because I feel like I appreciate them more now that I would have years ago. And really what is there to say about Harakami's work that I haven't said already? Supremely lush synth work, incredibly smooth productions and an ambient sensibility make for some electronic music that is just an absolute joy to listen to. 2005's Lust is a perfect diving in point, home to some of my favourite 'Harakami in a nutshell' tunes such as the title track. But since I've talked about that one a couple of times already, lets look at Come Here Go There instead. It fits the bill of everything I've mentioned so far, with the addition of a surprisingly intense kick drum being added for the final minute or so. It's just divine, if your taste is at all similar to mine, you absolutely need some Harakami in your collection, perhaps not this album, but go exploring the discography!



It has also taken me a very long time to branch out when it comes to ADULT., partly because I made that mistake of diving headlong into their discography and picking up almost half of it in one go a few years ago so for a long time I didn't feel like I needed more. Enter this year though where I finally got around to looking at their stuff that was newer than what I had. After a couple of tries I settled on The Way Things Fall, which was again almost tailor made for me. It was the punky electro of the ADULT. that I had, but this time with an almost more electropop edge. I'd almost say that this makes this album in particular more approachable than their early work but it's not a huge change. If you like this, there's a high chance you'd also like Anxiety Always for example. The biggest change here is Nicola Kuperus' vocals being more dynamic, as much as I love her stoic monotone on tracks like Hand To Phone I don't think it would have worked as well here so it's a welcome change, her lyricism remains on point; full of visceral imagery and interesting rhythms. Not to overlook Adam Lee Miller's production, the nervous synths throughout this track are perfectly selected and the little bits of 808 that poke through every now and then really lend themselves to that now slightly retro edge that ADULT. have.



And finally, HEALTH's Death Magic. It's not their newest release sure but it's a damn fine album. The whole thing is permeated with this kind of nihilistic outlook that is thematically completely at odds with the thundering instrumentals and I adore it for that. There are lots of little flourishes that make HEALTH even further blur the lines between a traditional band and an electronic act; only after looking up a live version of this track did I even know that what I thought were synth pads backing up the whole thing is actually just a really distorted (or otherwise messed with by pedals) Guitar. I've mentioned before how much I like the more electronic direction they took starting with this album but it bears repeating, it's like they tapped into a sound that I didn't know I needed until I heard it. I've been holding onto Dark Enough for a while now for just such an occasion as I think it perfectly sums up all I've talked about above. Whenever it comes up I cannot help but listen to it in full as soon as I hear that incredibly powerful intro.



I think that'll about do us for today. I didn't cover some stuff I had planned because in hindsight it would have clashed with the overall vibe of this post, but that's OK because it would have been a little long that way too, it'll easily roll over into the next post. As always: Stay safe and enjoy the music all,

-CVF

Return To Form

Having looked over the last few pages of draft posts. I don't think they'll be anymore generic republished ones. I will make an exception for mixtapes and the like but otherwise it will be all Original Content™ from here on out. Partly because I feel the quality of my old writing doesn't reflect who I am now and also because I feel like it's been a bit of a cop out. So if you're OK with maybe waiting slightly longer for posts but having them all be new then good news! I'm also trying to swap over to Bandcamp players where possible if you've noticed, it's actually been fairly painless and means I can write posts not at my desktop too. Nothin' too special this time, just some new and old tunes I've been listening to, just like old times (but new!)

Fernand Leger - Forms In Space (1950)

Fell back into VA​-​11 HALL​-​A something fierce. Everything about it is supremely my aesthetic and it has a sublime OST to boot, how can you not love something that has the official website URL of 'waifubartending.com' ? The great irony of me falling in love with a game about Bartending while I WAS a bartender isn't lost on me, those were... interesting times to be me. The OST remains as solid as ever, I've posted a couple of the big hits from it in the past so instead here's a lesser known one. It still does a fantastic job of setting the mood, all the gorgeous elements that make the soundtrack are there, down to the melodic leitmotif that appears on multiple tracks trhroughout.



It's been a while since I mentioned Mitch Murder, responsible for a large portion of the retro electronic sound in my library (And showing me that the pedantic sub genres of electronic music know no bounds by having some of his releases labelled with 'Yuppiewave'). We're going back in his catalogue here to Selection One, a compilation series (of 5 currently!) of free songs he'd put out over the last year or two. One is from 2012 and is an excellent jumping in point if you're new to the scene; a quick rundown of his productions with some remixes on the end to boot. Mitch's work always hits differently with me, compared to say the Slasher themed high tempo Electro from Carpenter Brut, Mitch shifts around genres and moods regularly: sometimes bordering on full on Vaporwave, sometimes lush but surprisingly powerful slow jams like this:



And finally, an EP from DMX Krew that I narrowly avoided scooping in my last bandcamp haul. In addition to some of the old Rephlex material making it's way to digital platforms, Ed From DMX is also still fairly active and drops new releases on there too. Rest assured it's near the top of the list for picking up next time though, I've been listening to the opening track from Don't You Wanna Play? for a few weeks now but I have to ration it, because it's one of those tracks that I immediately start vising with from the intro alone. Of note, there's no tongue-in-cheek lyrics or self aware irony to the sounds on this one like there has been on other DMX releases I've talked about; it's just super sweet somewhat deep House through and through.

Ilictronix Podcast: The Synthwave Special

Its a Synthwave Special! Claude and Adam share their favorite tracks of the week. Claude digs deep in his Synthwave collection and Adam digs through his recent Bandcamp finds.

The ilictronix podcast for this week is up and running! Ditching my MO from previous weeks, I swap out my usual downtempo leanings and instead give a rundown of a few of my favourite things in the ever-expanding and increasingly filled with umbrella genres known as 'synthwave' (though I will admit that the HEALTH track doesn't exactly fit that definition), and Adam takes a leaf out of my book from last week, and talks us through some odds and ends that he's picked up from Bandcamp, Beatport and a variety of other digital storefronts in his time for his own instalment of Digtal Crate Digging™. So don't let the fancy thumbnail mislead you, it's not all a retro synthwave fest like it implies, we have some pretty interesting discussions this episode inbetween the tunes too. Tracklist and notes follow as per usual.

Tracklist:
Intro:
Max Coveri - Running In The 90’s (Sytricka Vaporwave Glitch-Vocals Remix)

Claude’s picks:
Carpenter Brut - Maniac (Live)
HEALTH - Drugs Exist
Scattle - Inner Animal
Garoad - Every Day Is Night
M|O|O|N - Dust (Carpenter Brut Remix)


Adam’s Picks
Mujipuki - Nhubu 2.0
Quasar - We Belong Together
Melodymann - Borderline
Adam Berecki - Nobody
Shanti Celeste - Nu4him

Outro:
Lone - Pulsar


Show Notes:
You can see the live visuals I was talking about for Carpenter Brut's live cover of Maniac here. The visuals also include all the lyrics on screen too, which is a bonus, and in the video description Carpenter Brut helpfully has a vocal credit that I overlook in my episode prep, the vocals are by a one Yann Ligner from KLONE. You can see as well here that he has a live drummer which I forgot to mention and find pretty interesting for an electronic act! It also gives you a glimpse into the absolutely mental atmosphere created, I spotted at least 2 people from the crowd climb the stage and... well... stage dive in my brief scrub through.

You can find the site for the Cyberpunk Bartending Visual Novel I talked about, VA-11 HALL-A, at the fantastic URL that Adam mentioned: waifubartending.com, if you're interested in picking it up it's available on both Steam or GOG. Unlike Hotline Miami and it's ilk, the soundtrack isn't available as DLC for the game, instead the soundtrack is available over on Garoad's bandcamp as 3 separate releases. Every Day Is Night, my selection for this episode is taken from the Second Round OST.

The twitter thread between Lone and friends re: alleged Black Eyed Peas plagiarism can be found here, it's not the first incident of it's kind and it probably won't be the last, I distinctly remember something like this happening between Breakbot and Bruno Mars some years ago.

And with that, we are done for another week of Podcasting! Me and Adam will be back with more same time same channel next week. As always, stay safe and enjoy the music. We'll leave the light on for ya.

-Claude Van Foxbat

Double Cyberpunk Feature

After weeks if not months of not paying off, I finally found a couple things on soundcloud that grabbed my attention. Wasting no time let's get stuck in, some more Ghost In The Shell action, normally I'm a bit cynical with anything billing itself as a remix because they normally miss the point or are just plain naff, I imagine in part due to Deadamau5 dropping a bit of the main choral theme a few years back in his live sets (which while a nic touch, was a bit low effort). Ghostgate manages to strike a nice balance between the two, the subtle cues of the chorus in the first minute or so are nicely done and manages to capture the dark ambient vibe of the OST well. It could do with a bit more variety once it gets going but overall not too shabby.



And finally just because it's been rinign in my ears for the past week or so, more from the VA-11 HALL-A OST, the game that had my interest as soon as I saw the tagline "Cyberpunk Bartender Action". I'd have much appreciated it if this was the kinda stuff playing when I was working in a bar but hey ho. Most of the OST is a kinda synthwavy deal, but this one's been sticking out to me as of late because it's got a 90's techno thing to it, that might just be the synth piano stabs but who knows. Definitley check the two volumes out if you're in need of more like this.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Cyberpunk Soundtrack Action

I like bars and I like Cyberpunk. So once again I am spoiled by the fact that VA​-​11 HALL​-​A exists. It also helps it has a pretty solid soundtrack to boot. Here's a preview of the kinda stuff on offer; equal parts Sega CD style vapourwave and Hotline Miami style synthwave that is supremely My Aesthetic (tm).



There's also a second volume with 44 tracks for charity that I was going to post too, but I think I'll hang onto that one for a rainy day. Be sure to check out Garoad's Bandcamp if your interest is piqued though!

-Claude Van Foxbat