---
title: three albums - march 2023
date: 2023-04-01
---

[my monthly playlist for mar 23](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2B6rp9N5HXvxRm0LCn1Sgi)

i thought that last month was a bumper post, but if my draft notes are anything to go by, this one is going to be even bigger. as before, i'll start with the top three, then stick the honourable mentions underneath!

### 3. message from oasis: forest of ion - takashi kokubo
<iframe style="border-radius:12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5WGDp1vObzD4zGkecoMzl9?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>

the outside observer might see ambient music as just yoga music or museum ambience, but it spans a super wide range of instrument suites and intentions: i've talked previously about my love for arctic ambient, which brings images of desolate landscapes to the minds eye, largely by layering different drones and slow mechanical noises. i'm also into field recording music, which uses ambient noises from nature as its own kind of instrument; i think it's a super unique style and i can't really find an equivalent in the rest of the music that i know

takashi kokubo has been using field recordings in his music for decades now, and while i'm specifically recommending forest of ion this month, i think you'd have a good time with just about any of his albums. this particular album shifts between a synthesised harmony, a string melody (with some woodwind highlights), and a field recording backing track. the songs are pretty long, so there's plenty of time to focus on one particular element before letting it fade into the background and let the chirping of birds and rustling leaves come back in. i popped on this album when i was feeling particularly overwhelmed last week and just laid on the floor for half an hour; i highly recommend the experience

### 2. 10000 gecs - 100 gecs

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i first learned about 100 gecs them with [money machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z97qLNXeAMQ) a couple of years ago, and i _think_ they're fairly responsible for the creation of hyperpop as a genre. that track and [stupid horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZvfTyS1qb8) lock in the overall style of the band, being aggressive autotune, fast tempos, clipping synths and just enough of a hint of ska that the average listener (aka me) didnt really pick up on it the first time around. it's basically 90's nostalgia from the perspective of gen z, and i'm pretty sure any video using it as a background track is legally obligated to use a fisheye lens.

10 000 gecs leans all the way in on the ska angle but still keeps the high energy beat and the electronic elements that got me invested in the first place. theres a smattering of meme tracks (frog on the floor, i got my tooth removed) but i think the upbeat and genuine feel of the rest of the album meant they could happily jive along with them rather than skipping like i normally might. they use a lot of weird foley in tracks like the most wanted person in the united states, which also feels like it leans into that 2023 internet energy incubated by tiktok, vine and youtube let's-players. i was honestly surprised that this album grabbed me as much as it did, but i'm really happy that 1000 gecs wasn't a flash in the pan type experience, and that we might see a 100 000 gecs in another three years time!

### 1. music for 18 musicians (steve reich) - erik hall

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3844552200/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://erikhall.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-18-musicians-steve-reich">Music For 18 Musicians (Steve Reich) by Erik Hall</a></iframe>

i literally just realised while in the process of making this post that music for 18 musicians is actually a composition by steve reich from 1998, and that it seems to be a bit of a pet project for some composers to recreate it themselves with their own personal spin. [the original](https://open.spotify.com/album/1w9O7mS9WEp5xlZUpYbDt9?si=4jTE25ZLRtCDLDlcfRk8_Q) is very analog, i assume because it was performed on actual instruments, and that gives the whole thing a more natural feeling. erik hall's version was just performed by him, and the studio feeling makes it feel a bit more clean and up-close, as if you're having the music piped directly into your head rather than sitting in the audience in a big theatre (which is probably pretty accurate to how the audio was actually prepared). the vocalists and clarinets have been completely replaced with digital counterparts, which makes it feel more like the soundtrack to a cute little puzzle game dealing with grand concepts ([thomas was alone](https://david-housden.bandcamp.com/album/thomas-was-alone-original-soundtrack-deluxe-edition), perhaps?). given that i've now only listened to the original once i think it's a bit hard to judge one against the other, but both steve and erik really bring their own special something to the overall experience and i'm now super psyched to check out the original! 

### honourable mentions

#### whatever the weather

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3737943266/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://whateva.bandcamp.com/album/whatever-the-weather">Whatever The Weather by Whatever The Weather</a></iframe>

you know how i was talking before about how ambient music stretches across a huge range of moods and intentions? whatever the weather manages to hit just about everything in one way or another in a single album and intersects with a couple of other different flavours of electronic music. it's not all hits, and some of the instruments sound a bit flat or simplistic, but it _is_ a super fun bit of experimentation and variety 

#### slow attack ensemble

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1301589529/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://slowattackensemble.bandcamp.com/album/soundscapes-for-the-emotional-type-listener">Soundscapes for the Emotional-Type Listener by Slow Attack Ensemble</a></iframe>

i got recommended music for 18 musicians and soundscapes for the emotional-type listener at the same time, probably one after the other or one under the other in the "fans also like" section. both of the albums scratch the same kind of itch, but soundscapes for the emotional-type listener has a smaller ensemble and focuses a bit more on artificial sounds and driving melodies instead of a flowing soundscape. it still kills though!

#### bigfoot collective - rizkit for the bizkit

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3944718784/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/track=2209258696/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://thebigfootcollective.bandcamp.com/album/masterplan-special">Masterplan Special by The Bigfoot Collective</a></iframe>

i heard this one on local radio; it's part of a single so its a bit too small for me to put in my top three, but the track is so incredibly groovy that i had to chuck it down here. the bigfoot collective is a 20 piece band based in australia and you've simply got to rep the locals. hopefully i can see them in person some time!

#### solar fields
[listen here](https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/)<br/>

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1621074005/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/album/formations">Formations by Solar Fields</a></iframe>

i went absolutely ballistic on solar fields this month, with 274 listens over the 31 days. i've loved them for a really long time and i think i've mentioned my absolute fascination with ultimae records, their publisher and the publisher of a great number of very similar artists. i was first introduced to their work from the mirrors edge soundtrack, and then the absolutely stellar mirrors edge catalyst soundtrack back in 2016. the really nice thing about their sound is its consistency; i tend to gravitate to artists that have consistent tone throughout their discography, or at least over the span of three or four albums. this means i can really appreciate their work for a couple of hours, and also keeps the music from being jarring if i'm listening to it during work hours

i have a spotify playlist that's basically just every full album from solar fields, and then listened to them exclusively for a couple of days back in the start of march. solar fields' particular vibe is slightly more upbeat than your average ambient track, although it hits a lot of the same boxes ([everynoise](https://everynoise.com/artistprofile.cgi?id=7GyhmlEy51sGUE09A5AWzc) classifies them as ambient trance, downtempo, space ambient and """psychill""" (i still have a serious aversion to any genre with chill in the name)). this means that it's not always the best music for a certain type of work and i find it a bit too distracting in some cases, but if i really have the momentum up then it's a great time!

besides that, i don't really have anything super incredible to say about them, except that they're one of my favourite artists and that they're well worth a look. i think [their new stuff](https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/album/formations) is really nice, or you can try out some of their classics like [blue moon station](https://solarfields.bandcamp.com/album/blue-moon-station)

#### crater eighters routine

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i've loved the splatoon soundtracks for ages, long before i actually got horribly addicted to the game itself. 3 is unique when compared to the prior games due to the inclusion of delay lama, a plugin for digital audio workstations that tries to emulate the way that vowel sounds are made by a human voice. this track was included fairly early in to the story mode so the first time i heard it i just went "huh that's pretty funky" and kept going, but now that i've been made aware it's got me even more jazzed about the creativity of this ost

#### virtual insanity - jamiroquai

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if [lessons in meme culture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7TaN114Y4Q) is anything to go by, the youtube algorithm decided to hit all of us with jamiroquai's virtual insanity music video in march of 2023. i'd heard of jk before but i'd never taken the time to actually sit down and listen to their music, so i knocked out a couple of albums during the month. it's impossible not to adore the guy's positive energy and joy, even when he's singing about how technology is tearing our societies apart

#### 五光発條 × Sountrive「GOKO BANE」

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this track is actually one of the first songs that i ever bought back in high school! the piece takes elements from a field recording of a spring factory in kanagawa and turns it into a bouncy driven idm track, combining synths and individual mechanical samples. i stumbled back onto it by complete chance and it was a nice reminder that my obsession with these kinds of techniques has been around for quite a while