uuupah/11ty_neocities
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

fuck it babes huge overhaul

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
jonathan
2023-08-01 14:42:01 +09:30
parent 4d27c1c581
commit 18a71ad9e3
30 changed files with 86 additions and 126 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

62
src/blog/eastward.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
---
title: eastward
date: 2023-07-10
---
⚠️ i'm spoiling this bitch! don't read if you intend to play it! ⚠️
also! i got all the images for this post from [rpgfan](https://www.rpgfan.com/gallery/eastward-screenshots/) which is really nice because i did _not_ want to go and replay a bunch of it just to get pretty pictures
---
i bought eastward within a couple of days of release (16th september 2021), and i finally finished it at the start of july. i think that says a lot about both the flaws and strengths the game might have; the story is overall plagued by weird pacing (although i think it might be somewhat intentional), but it has enough going for it to drag me back in and finally finish it ten months later.
big elements of the games story are key to the experience as a whole, so i'm just going to slap this whole thing with a big spoiler warning. my short thoughts are that eastward is one of the best looking games that i have ever played, and the whole experience is only marred by a story that is paced a little weirdly and is sometimes a bit difficult to get your head around. well worth a look!
<a href="https://www.rpgfan.com/gallery/eastward-screenshots/#envira-gallery-image-190148">
<img src="https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Eastward-Screenshot-011.jpg" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/_assets/img/eastward/000.jpg'">
</a>
### feel
the _feel_ of eastward hits you immediately, and there's a good chance that you bought it because of the _feel_ you got from trailers and clips and screenshots. the world is insanely detailed with potentially the best spritework that i have ever seen. there is very little in the way of reused assets except where it makes sense to do so (furniture and combat related items crop up repeatedly, but i can happily give that a pass). every single building is unique with its own structure, history, greebles and crumbling advertisements. everything was hand designed by some of the most talented environment designers i have had the pleasure of witnessing.
the sprite format also works perfectly for this effect, by limiting the amount of detail you can expect to see. this would be much harder to pull off in a 3d engine with realistic assets. when you only have to draw junk and construction debris up to a pixel scale, you can focus on squeezing everything out of a location without fear of not being detailed _enough_.
these worlds are absolutely filled with people, and no side characters are alike. regular humans, weird mutants and robots all coexist, and while a lot of the dialogue for a lot of them is pretty standard rpg fare, they help sell the feel of an area by giving you a slice of what pepole are thinking about their situation. nothing groundbreaking, to be sure, but not hearing it from a cookiecutter model that has been used multiple times in one area, makes it feel like it's coming from an actual person with actual opinions.
the game's structure also does a stellar job of reinforcing the world itself. while the stop and start pacing does feel very odd and definitely made me lose interest once or twice, it gives you an overall feeling of uncertainty; this place might be really nice, but there is a feeling in the back of your mind that something might go horribly wrong at any moment. potcrock isle sounds like somewhere you should be in and out of in thirty minutes but you actually spend quite a bit of time there. greenberg is unbelievably homely but its a fraction of the amount of time before you're forced to leave. you're in new dam city for so long that it feels like this might be it, and it becomes hard to imagine where else you would even go.
the music of the game is lovely, although i'm hesitant to talk about it much after hearing it quite as much as i did. most of the tracks are under two minutes and can loop multiple times through the games long dialogue and exploration scenes. that whinging aside, the music is a perfect fit for the earthbound nostalgia that the game is playing with and i enjoyed it immensely.
<a href="https://www.rpgfan.com/gallery/eastward-screenshots/#envira-gallery-image-71704">
<img src="https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Eastward-Screenshot-008.jpg" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/_assets/img/eastward/001.jpg'">
</a>
### gameplay
when it comes to actually _playing_ the game, the experience is fairly neatly split into combat and exploration. the latter largely covers the time you'll spend in town talking to people, doing small tasks, looking for little side objectives, moving the story along and preparing for upcoming combat. this includes the game's cooking minigame which i see as a deeply iconic and core experience that sets eastward apart from a lot of similar experiences. the cooking itself is fairly simple and very reminiscent of something like breath of the wild: combine three ingredients and an optional spice, try to score a big number on the cooking slots, and then watch a little animation to receive your final dish. ingredients fit into groups (meat, fish, dairy and eggs, fruit, vegetables) which are used to determine about half of the recipes, but more specific ingredient combinations can give you more specific outputs, like pizza, pumpkin soup or takoyaki. the cooking element pulls triple duty, as a way to give yourself healing and buffs during combat, an action that links directly to john's character of being caring and loving, and for making ingredients a surprisingly compelling reward in the combat-based areas of the game.
speaking of combat, eastward provides a fun experience of hacking your way through the wilds to whatever character or mcguffin you need to find to keep the story moving. john is permanently equipped with his frying pan as a short range melee weapon, which has a slow and weighty swing with a bit of knockback, and which gets upgraded throughout the game at key plot points. to my pure delight, each visual change to the frying pan is mirrored in the cooking animation, an attention to detail that i hadn't expected to see. there are also three guns which didn't get _heaps_ of use in my playthrough: a short range shotgun, a short to medium range flamethrower, and a long range sawblade gun. ammo is fairly limited and i found that good placement with the frying pan with its knockback effect made it an easier weapon to use most of the time, even if the damage was maybe a quarter of what the guns provide.
the guns (and bombs) are also used during environmental puzzles, which i found were balanced to be just long enough to not be fatiguing. they're not desperately complicated, but they're also not pokemon-level simple, and some of the latter ones required me to take a couple of goes to get through. for a story based game, not halting the flow for too long is pretty key, and i reckon they nailed it just about perfect.
that covers the majority of gameplay elements! i also thought it worth mentioning that enemy variety is solid, both visually and mechanically, and bosses were also quite fun looking, even if most of them could be completed first go. overall, a really good match for the story the game wanted to tell.
<a href="https://www.rpgfan.com/gallery/eastward-screenshots/#envira-gallery-image-190157">
<img src="https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Eastward-Screenshot-020.jpg" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/_assets/img/eastward/003.jpg'">
</a>
### story
i'm really not 100% sure with the story of this game. i felt myself wondering what the point of it was; you don't get that with a final fantasy, for example, because the point is to trust in your friends, stand up for what you believe in, and kill the big monster that is threatening the world etc etc. eastward has all these things, but the courage of the characters is never called into question and is more a bigone conclusion, which leaves any player with a bit of media literacy asking what the experience is trying to _tell_ you. quickly changing settings with a varied cast of characters also sets off my metaphor-meter, even though i don't think there was really meant to be any. while i think i did come to a satisfying conclusion after a little bit of googling (which i will discuss throughout this section, so spoiler alert) i decided that i didn't really care about that, because the dynamic of the main characters is what kept me going.
anyone who has any proximity to videogames in the last ten years or hbo in the last seven months is familiar with the father-child dynamic that has cropped up in telltale's the walking dead, the last of us, 2018s god of war etcetera, etcetera. you take a gruff middleaged man with some kind of trauma and dark past, you stick him in with an impressionable child to form a parental bond, and then you pull out his demons to mess with the whole deal and make some sweeping statement out people being unable to change or forcing their expectations on others or something. eastward is nice because it's the story of a kind man who brings a kid up right and cares deeply for her, and a kid who cares for him back. there's hints throughout that he's got some other stuff going on, and the game explores him wanting to settle down with uva (although i have heard some interesting thoughts about the greenberg people actually being aware of the human harvest, hence their insistence on getting the two of them together asap), but the dynamic is extremely positive to the end. some theories posit that sam was actually put in potcrock isle to experience the worst of the world, but john's love kept her from being jaded about humanity, and set the whole game in motion.
sam's saccharine perspective stems from this relationship; because she isn't jaded she loves to meet new people and approaches the world from an extremely positive place; she befriends the gruff and shady lee, a character who everyone in new dam city sees as cold hearted (and frankly, might still be). this positivity is mirrored by the bright and cheery aesthetic to create an angle on the post-apocalypse that i'd never seen before, and also gives incredible contrast when the more serious moments come to the story. i think this veil is unfortunately broken completely at the end of new dam city, where alva and isabelle disappear and the fate of the people seems shakey; i think that monkhollywood and the lovely ester city are attempts to get you back into a positive vibe to pull the rug out again, but we've been hurt one too many times at this point and the impact was lessended for me.
i was also largely lost by the time travel, the significance of solomon, and the whole ending. i like to the think the end-end is the result of sam's rebirth after joining with mother; she's come back to the world somehow and stumbled on to an older john who has been making it without her. i thing it's meant to represent the end of the cycles caused by mother, but it could just as easily be interpreted as just another one. i feel like we're a bit inundated with time travel and multiverse stories these days, and i honestly would have liked to see the story explored without it; this was my issue with 13 sentinels as well, where too many twists are layered on top of each other and they lose all their punch. at least they didn't pull an "it was all a simulation" one at the end. boom! spoiler in a spoiler.
<a href="https://www.rpgfan.com/gallery/eastward-screenshots/#envira-gallery-image-71705">
<img src="https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Eastward-Screenshot-009.jpg" onerror="this.onerror=null; this.src='/_assets/img/eastward/003.jpg'">
</a>
### finally
i think that eastward is truly one of the prettiest games i have ever seen, with one of the most charming worlds i have ever set foot in. i think the conclusion unfortunately let the game down a little, but i loved the story itself and the wholistic experience of the setting that comes from the characters and plots within it.

48
src/blog/pizza_tower.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
---
title: pizza tower
date: 2023-02-28
---
<!-- SCM Music Player https://www.scmplayer.net
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.scmplayer.net/script.js"
data-config="{'skin':'skins/tunes/skin.css','volume':31,'autoplay':false,'shuffle':false,'repeat':1,'placement':'top','showplaylist':false,'playlist':[{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Time for a Smackdown!','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy2Etqoylew'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Pizza Deluxe!','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MK4t3s_y10'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Cold Spaghetti','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs6W0UYC64Y'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Oregano Mirage','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfHcDa5jCF0'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Way Of The Pig','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWI0ksuPSBI'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - Yeehaw DeliveryBoy','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-dr4viC_hY'},{'title':'Pizza Tower OST - It%27s Pizza Time!','url':'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7gGacb8cO4'}]}" ></script>
<!-- SCM Music Player script end -->
<!-- {% include 'partials/playme.njk' %} -->
i always have a moment when engaging with a piece of media that has "changing the game" status on launch. besides the subject of today's post, the most recent example i can remember is [everything everywhere all at once](https://letterboxd.com/film/everything-everywhere-all-at-once/). it's impossible to not be aware of the hype before you get in on the show or film or game yourself, and i find that i spend a huge amount of time wondering whether i actually like it or whether i feel like i _should_ like it. this said, i think i did like everything everywhere, and i think i like pizza tower as well, despite the hordes of video essayists raving about it en masse. they don't really have anything insightful to say about the experience, and neither do i, so i might just cut to the core of my feelings.
### feel
<img src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/d/d2/Idle_demo1.gif" style="width:100px;max-height:70px;object-fit:cover;object-position:bottom"/>
you know how kids in the early 2000s would get given a gameboy or a playstation but because the parents had just made a pricey investment they had no interest in actually buying a top shelf game for it, so you end up with planet monsters for the gba and play it front to back because there isnt another option? i had sonic advance 2, which definitely wasn't the worst game i've ever played, but this particular "go fast at any cost" experience left a little to be desired. a horrid combination of viewport size (small) and map design (weird) meant that you could only get the wonderful sense of speed and fluidity that sonic promises by learning the maps and getting a bit lucky. more often than not a really fun feeling back and forth of horizontal springs and loops would be shot down by a 1 block high wall and a rising spike.
pizza tower feels like applying the 2d sonic concept against 2020s era movement game sensibilities. slapping a couple of extra moves (wall runs, drifts, super jumps) onto the moveset means that you only need a fraction of a second to recover if you're about to hit a wall, meaning you can realistically play twitchily and take the environment at play time without having to memorise it. the grab being intrinsically a foreward moving action, and actually acting as a boost if you want to hit high speed from standing, vastly improves on a jump that requires you to slow down to hit a target unless you have the perfect speed and placement.
these obviously arent the only movement techniques you have on hand but i think theyre the most important for making the game feel so smooth.
### structure
<img src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/8/88/Spr_player_skateboard.gif" style="width:100px;max-height:80px;object-fit:cover;object-position:bottom"/>
i mostly just want to use this to talk about the final boss fight. the rest of the structure of the game is perfectly serviceable and simply facilitates you pushing through a sequence of cool areas while very calmly encouraging you to go back if you just blast through them without looking for secrets or collectables. zero complaints there 👍
my one issue structure-wise is the boss fights, although this is hardly a unique complaint. the gameplay is pretty different and i didn't feel like it was really explained. i also wasn't very good at them, but i'm fine with being bad at boss fights if i can be pretty good at (and enjoy) the rest of the experience.
<details>
<summary>
final boss spoilers
</summary>
this thankfully does not apply to the final boss. i weirdly found it to be the easiest boss in the game, and it did a great job of challenging me _just_ enough while giving multiple satisfying and punchy scenes bundled into one big fight. the reveal of pizzahead is delightful and was legitimately unexpected, and even though it was desperately obvious since the beginning of the game, i couldnt help but grin doing the crumbling tower escape.
</details>
i know that that wasn't the most in-depth or insightful input on the finale of the game, but i feel like i need to at least attempt to put into words how much fun i had with it. after a bit of a string of puzzle games ending in well meaning but somewhat limp conclusions ([antichamber](./../antichamber/) and [manifold garden](./../manifold_garden/)), it's nice to get back on form.
### aesthetic
<img src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/9/93/Peppino_crawl.gif" style="width:100px;max-height:40px;object-fit:cover;object-position:bottom"/>
this is probably the area of the game that has been most harped on about by video essayists, but the art style is a breath of fresh air with its ms paint-ass wonky lines and paint bucket tone. the energy of peppino spaghetti and the games cast of characters is extremely chaotic, but i think the most important takeaway is that it has a different tone to the warioland 4 that inspired it. peppino is equal parts desperate and courageous which basically just means that he can be the best of both worlds when either situation demands it. most importantly to my personal enjoyment is that they dont lean on any gross humour like wario does. farts and breathing raw garlic breath arent really that funny and don't endear me to a character, sorry.
before i started writing this segment i was planning on being a contrarian and saying that the soundtrack wasn't that memorable, but after listening to it through i do have to confirm that it's pretty good. i wish that people would stop fixating on pizza time because theres plenty of other goodies in there. that track in particular is excellent for hyping you up for the final escape, but i think something like [splatoon](./../splatoon/)'s [now or never](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua4s7tV8WGM) does a better job, potentially because it's guaranteed to end on a perfect crescendo. my questionable pizza tower skills meant that half the time i would end the level about 60% of the way in, where the song is just starting to build up again for the actual good players doing a second lap to get a p ranking.
==>
[![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/7bdab8db38eabb66bdd50d16b5228c85/261964cdc07dccf2-81/s1280x1920/0421e1943a0d6ddc4dd96a354d3ed953b241d285.png)](https://dailyhatsune.tumblr.com/post/710230130593857536/miku-from-hit-game-pizza-tower)
<sub>[art by dailyhatsune on tumblr](https://dailyhatsune.tumblr.com/post/710230130593857536/miku-from-hit-game-pizza-tower)</sub>

76
src/blog/three_albums_april_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
---
title: three albums - april 2023
date: 2023-05-01
---
you know the drill. top 3 albums at the top, musical musings at the bottom. this month's playlist is [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/25qNIBRU6sDvhHZ8ri0fjt?si=77680036e0024f7e)
### 3. fallwander
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px; padding-top:0; padding-bottom:0;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3003140462/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://fallwander.bandcamp.com/track/silva">Silva by Fallwander</a></iframe>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px; padding-top:0; padding-bottom:0;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2177385714/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://fallwander.bandcamp.com/track/rufus">Rufus by Fallwander</a></iframe>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px; padding-top:0; padding-bottom:0;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1361032698/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://fallwander.bandcamp.com/track/scars">Scars by Fallwander</a></iframe>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px; padding-top:0; padding-bottom:0;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=160899709/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://fallwander.bandcamp.com/track/clouds">Clouds by Fallwander</a></iframe>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px; padding-top:0;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1764043847/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://fallwander.bandcamp.com/track/good-grounds">Good Grounds by Fallwander</a></iframe>
honestly this album (?) ep (?) collection of singles (?)(✅) has made me understand just how terrible i am at media critique. the temptation to go to rym to slob off other people's opinions is overwhelming, and yet i resist, in the name of genuine, unfiltered soul searching
i like to analyse and recommend full albums, but the single nature of this set of tracks makes it a little more difficult to guess how they are intended to be listened to. probably individually, honestly, but i've put them together in reverse chronological order
i sort of feel like singing english with a european accent is a cheat. it works for bjork, and it works here, giving the vocals a slightly alien (for want of a better term) feel, at least for the english-first-language listener. the dual vocalists also evaded me on the first couple of listens: i originally thought that it was a cool digital effect that added a nice layer of texture to the vocals, but i guess it's a cool analogue effect that adds a nice layer of texture to the vocals
the rest of the composition is also lovely: muted drums, a flip flop behind a two handed piano melody and harmony and a more extended, ambient style synth alternative. theres also this incredible effect in good grounds that sounds sort of like a train shifting from left to right? if anyone knows what that is, drop a message in the guestbook
### 2. scaring the hoes - jpegmafia x danny brown
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3169714647/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://jpegmafia.bandcamp.com/album/scaring-the-hoes">SCARING THE HOES by JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown</a></iframe>
i was put onto this album by the lovely [aidia](https://aidia.pink/). i've dabbled in both jpegmafia and danny brown previously, especially in my deep dark death grips phase, but i was completely unaware that a collab album had come out.
to be completely frank, i've always liked peggy's instrumentals, but i'm not a massive fan of his vocals. the lyrics are usually solid, but the performance isn't my cup of tea, especially when put side by side with the obvious comparison of mc ride. danny brown, on the other hand, has one of the most out there voices in music, full-stop. i've listened to atrocity exhibition a couple of times, and while it is nice to listen to something so experimental and varied, it's a little fatiguing.
so along comes the combo of the century, with these two powerhouses to put together an album greater than the sum of its parts. it leans on enough familiar concepts for hip hop plebians like myself to latch onto, while still bringing out something really new and different.
this is a little goofy, but the hook that probably got me to stick through with this whole album was actually the saxophone used in the title track, Scaring the Hoes. it has this wailing, strained effect to it that burrowed into my mind, forcing me to spend literal hours to hunt down the track it reminded me of:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6yJUiSqmfVw?start=27" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
hyper-dimensional expansion beam is an incredible album, and i will probably talk about it in the future
### 1. nice to meet you, we are midori - midori
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5q8Hkakvwmb5Zyk4nUZKyD?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
i'm on record saying i dont normally love vocals, but i can tolerate (and very occasionally enjoy) them when they are used as an instrument first and for explicit storytelling second [sidebar: i think a consistent throughline between the albums that really inspire me is the ability to do storytelling without any vocals. i might go back over some of my top albums and see if this stands true]
the vocals in Nice to Meet You will probably stand out to you immediately, because it switches between the light hearted and upbeat light music girls-band style that any K-on watcher will be familiar with, and manic, aggressive punk style screaming choruses
on top of this, the instrumentals are their own third thing that doesnt immediately match the last two concepts that i introduced with the vocals. the band's instrument composition is in line with a small four piece jazz band, with a piano taking the lead, occasionally supplemented by an electric guitar, and supported by a drum set and a bass. plenty of familiar jazz vibes bleed into the rock energy of the album, as well as some interesting swing rhythms such as in my personal favourite track Monkey (track 4)
### other musical musings
#### inon zur
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/7rGidzYxexJJ0OKin1RRHx?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="152" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
i absolutely adore inon zur for his soundtrack work in fallout 4 (and i gather he did the ambient score for fallout 3 and new vegas as well). these albums are potentially some of the most consistent and evocative game scores i've heard, and while they dont scratch the musical storytelling itch of something like the skyrim or final fantasy xiii scores, i like to think that the less dominant vibe is actually a bit of a benefit, as it lets you take in the whole experience as a package as opposed to taking centre stage from the exploration and iteraction elements
it's been a second since i've listened to much of his stuff, so i thought i might give a peek at the rest of his discography. avoiding his other game score, i passed an ear over his suite of four self-published 2022 albums (mad panic, doomsday, dead of night and age of heroes). i'll be honest. these albums are quite bad. i was honestly flabbergasted that someone who has made such iconic tracks could flub so hard at doing something off his own back, but they have an extremely amateur energy that isn't present with the other higher profile albums
i don't have heaps more to say and its probably not worth harping on it too much. thankfully, this doesnt take away from the quality of his previous work. i'll always have you, fallout 4
#### higedriver - ukigomo
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r9186rZtCQM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
i'm of the belief that watching a music video forever changes the way that you experience that song (generally for the better). i remembered this song in the middle of a short anamanaguchi kick, and couldn't help but feel the bittersweet victory of the little being running their heart out, despite mortal peril and insurmountable obstacles. it's difficult to figure out how much of that is the intrinsic storytelling of the musical composition and how much is this cute little music video, but i like it nonetheless
#### teddy - teenage dads
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WD8Ku_x9v0Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
this track popped up on the local radio this month, and it's some of the most unapologetically upbeat cheery stuff i've heard in a while. perfect, no notes
#### patrice bourgeault - birds and airplanes
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3239191660/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://patricebourgeault.bandcamp.com/album/birds-and-airplanes">Birds and Airplanes by Patrice Bourgeault</a></iframe>
i honestly have no recollection of how i ended up on patrice bourgeault's bandcamp, but i loved this little sizzle reel style album. this dude is seriously talented, and i hope he keeps knocking it out of the park
#### this fucking spotify playlist
[link](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LOJLuFyuETM7XNQgNGjcu?si=05d9b2ef600b407f)
i ended up playing a bunch of wingspan this month, which is a board game about populating a bird sanctuary. it's basically an opportunity to sit at a table with a bunch of friends, look at bird pictures on cards and listen to birdcalls through the companion app. we decided to amp it up a little, however, and add the community spotify playlist, which goes unneccessarily hard. one of the stars is [cosmo sheldrake](https://cosmosheldrake.bandcamp.com/), an artist whose music was frankly made for this game, especially with their multiple bird-themed bird-call-recording-having albums

33
src/blog/three_albums_february_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
---
title: three albums - february 2023
date: 2023-03-01
---
[my monthly playlist for feb 23](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vk88QNysxGGbPj1G9UPhN)
as the playlist suggests, i listened to quite a bit of new stuff this month. some of it was bad, some of it was reminding myself what noisia sounds like, some of it was my playboi carti friend continuing to try to convert me. i actually had a really tough time narrowing down the list this time, so i squeezed in some honourable mentions at the end.
### 3. woof woof - arthur
i don't really go for vocals in music as a rule, but woof woof by arthur really brings something a bit out there. i hope that the lyrics represent a bit of a character for the vocalist, because otherwise they have gone through some _shit_. the performance also reminded me of [pinc louds](https://pinclouds.bandcamp.com/album/delancey-st-station) which is always something i appreciate, and the vibe in general doesn't require much introspection into the experience; it's just an exaggerated(?) outpouring of emotion over bouncy instrumentals.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3912572000/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://plzmakeitruins.bandcamp.com/album/woof-woof">Woof Woof by ARTHUR</a></iframe>
### 2. hazardous bubble basics - golemm
besides the obvious options ([machine girl](https://machinegirl.bandcamp.com/), [nanoray](https://nanoray.bandcamp.com/), [golden boy](https://gold3nboy.bandcamp.com)) breakcore music can be really hard to recommend due to its low barrier to entry (i want to coin the term "the vaporwave effect"). a lot of it is just crap with overuse of the amen break and boring generic soundfonts, and a lot of the compositions are also really short, sub 3 minutes. this is the case for one of my favourite tracks, [ghost by zaphyre](https://syncoperecords.bandcamp.com/track/ghost-2) but in that case, and this case, i'm happy to give it to them anyway. is it worse to have an eight track album that's barely fifteen minutes, or stretch out a two minute sketch to four minutes just to shut people like me up?
hazardous bubble basics has an interesting funky vibe on top of the high tempo and punchy beats that i love, which is why it won out against [andromeda by windowshopping](https://djwndwshppng.bandcamp.com/album/andromeda) and [basement popstar by gnb chili](https://noagreements.bandcamp.com/album/basement-popstar) which both had bangers, but also a lot of misses.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=96852056/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://golemm.bandcamp.com/album/hazardous-bubble-basics">Hazardous Bubble Basics by Golemm</a></iframe>
### 1. the electric state - simon stalenhag
i was honestly flabbergasted to find this even exists. for those unaware, simon stålenhag has been my favourite artist for a long time. i adore their ability to merge the mundane world with the futuristic / fantastical, as well as their incredible skill in digital rendering. they've written a couple of books, a ttrpg and a netflix original fleshing their worlds out, so it only makes sense they would pull a [burial - streetlands](https://burial.bandcamp.com/album/streetlands) and make the audio equivalent of the gritty, spooky world that they're invisioning. this was a super nice experience that i revisited quite a few times during the month.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=533296537/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://simonstalenhag.bandcamp.com/album/the-electric-state">The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag</a></iframe>
### honourable mentions
#### farveblind - all clubs are bastards
[listen here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ3bccOqB0I&list=OLAK5uy_nfVRZAtqzIUf-L5B2GL5E23UXAtDsNGog)<br/>
a bit of danish electropop never hurt anyone, but this one dodged the list because it wasn't really the most unique experience. i do love lucy love's feature on rock 'n rolla and the general vibe of the whole album is very upbeat, but it's definitely not coming out out at the next experimental night.
#### noise0002 - eldia
[listen here](https://eldia000.bandcamp.com/album/noise0002)<br/>
variety is also the name of the game here, as this is a guest feature album. it's also a breakcore piece, which means that it has the appealing fast tempo and punchy drums, but also the kind of questionable quality on some tracks that you get with genres with a low barrier to entry. the first half of the album has a lot of dreamy """chill""" tracks that i really enjoyed, but the inconsistency of the second half is what kept it off of the podium for me.
#### compositions for piano - the flashbulb
[listen here](https://theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/album/compositions-for-piano)<br/>
this one was a spotify recommendation based on my drill and bass / idm / `genres are stupid experience` with [µ-ziq](https://mikeparadinas.bandcamp.com/album/lunatic-harness-25th-anniversary-edition) and [squarepusher](https://squarepusher.bandcamp.com/). it seems that the flashbulb has heaps of other works in that kind of genre neighbourhood, but compositions for piano is more conventional modern classical, maybe with a little bit of a twist as a result of the flashbulb's pedigree.

21
src/blog/three_albums_january_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
---
title: three albums - january 2023
date: 2023-02-01
---
### 3. you always will be - dylan henner
gnarly evocative ambient album that changes in tone and style over the hour to write a really sweet narrative
<iframe style="border: 0; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2390404927/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless width="100%"><a href="https://dylanhenner.bandcamp.com/album/you-always-will-be">You Always Will Be by Dylan Henner</a></iframe>
### 2. world is yours - mass of the fermenting dregs
this isnt really a new album but i hadnt heard it before. pretty classic j-rock, think flcl
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0nwLNp8Qef1KpnUdXJgEJn?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>
### 1. vivarium - angus macrae
one of the best neo-classical albums ive heard in forever, feels like a really good cohesive movie score
<iframe style="border: 0; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=974618955/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless width="100%"><a href="https://angusmacrae.bandcamp.com/album/vivarium">Vivarium by Angus MacRae</a></iframe>

26
src/blog/three_albums_july_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
---
title: three albums - july 2023
date: 2023-08-01
---
[this month's playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2c9JLkUOMge42v5GZmOpQC?si=ae908cbf1387433a)
### 3. cancionero musical de palacio: music of the spanish court - accentus ensemble
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1iZFoEYDppReBZ5C7tX5Al?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>
i stumbled onto this by complete accident and might have ignored it if it was a bit less interesting, but when someone drops an album based on tunes from the 1500s into your lap, i feel like it's generally worth a listen. i was really taken aback by how much it reminds me of what some might consider stereotypical medieval style music, but i guess it makes total sense to use the real deal as your inspiration when making a movie or videogame or whatever. either that, or the accentus ensemble took some heavy creative liberties when recording this thing
### 2. what a body can do - female wizard
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3274548095/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://femalewizard.bandcamp.com/album/what-a-body-can-do">What A Body Can Do by Female Wizard</a></iframe>
listening to this album sends me straight into the nightclub scene from the matrix, which is ridiculous, because none of the music in the matrix sounds like this. i've heard some people say that this is a more dj-friendly album than their previous, which is probably why i get that impression, but it also makes the sometimes-grating industrial experience almost easy to listen to. despite that, the album has plenty of depth to it, as each track leads you from a nice approachable entry point to something grimier and with loads more depth
### 1. radio therapy part 1 - sci clone
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3510816739/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://metalheadz.bandcamp.com/album/radio-therapy-part-1">Radio Therapy - Part 1 by Sci-Clone</a></iframe>
rym assigns the genre "jazzstep" to radio therapy part 1 which is frankly foul. who is making up genre names these days? thankfully it has broken beat and liquid dnb as kinda "sub-genres" which works just fine, because this album is a classic liquid dnb piece in my opinion. the first track opens with a classic start-of-album answering machine message talking about how the caller finds sci-clone exciting and relaxing and says that it "takes them back to all the places that i've been that i love"; i'm not sure how intentional it was, but the positivity coming off of this opening slice immediately rubs off on you and primes you to just have a really pleasant time. the sound is very reminiscent of something you might find in a classic 90's racing game, but it doesn't feel like they're chasing an aesthetic, and rather just feels like the organic feel of a pair of guys that fell into a particular type of music that they like to make
### honourable mention: oneohtrix point never
<img style="max-width: 360px;" src="/_assets/img/three_albums_july_2023/meirl.jpg" title="this is me btw. if you're mean to me this is who you're being mean to :(">
oneohtrix point never is doing an australian tour and i made it to the local gig! i'm not sure that i've aired my gripes with live electronic music, and this set definitely isn't immune to my normal criticisms, but it was still a really fun experience. the skinny is that many electronic artists make pieces that are too complicated to perform live, but people are there to hear the tracks that they know, so they're forced to either play a cut down version of the classics or to find a way to "perform" them, which normally just means plugging all of the stems into a midi controller and making fine adjustments during the show. my favourite part was the encore, where he went up and performed a live composition on his two synths and decks, although you can sort of see why the full tracks require a little more fuss. in any case, still on the hunt for some artists that are happy to make some toned-down versions of their classics, or to play their classics but with more time between transitions to make up for the manual overhead

28
src/blog/three_albums_june_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
---
title: three albums - june 2023
date: 2023-07-01
---
this is likely going to be a shorter post than usual, but this month's playlist is [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7EMFyjdCmvrF2q2q8mvKJ6?si=e8fccb3f063f4699)
### 3. sinnohvation - insaneintherainmusic
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZdMJRE9Qo6I" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
this is maybe a bit more cheesy and self-indulgent than usual, but it's been a really big month and i needed some shameless nostalgia to fall back on.
orchestral reimaginings of scores is hardly new, but it's largely the brainchild of a guy with a single daw who thinks he can really give that classic track the extra punch it had been missing. sinnovation goes in the exact opposite direction, and sticks really close to the vibe of the [go ichinose, hitomi sato et. al.](https://youtu.be/b7oDZaUEoNo) original. the difference is that insaneintherain employed multi-track composition done by both him and other performers, as well as the help of a full orchestra for a couple of tracks. while i'm a huge fan of unmodified game score, i think that this might actually be the better experience
### 2. comfortable silence - tomcbumpz
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1Mlp2X6DPCWVLoN6QqH25x?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>
this album / ep is full of a bunch of little musical sketches, and that is my only real complaint with them: i think each track is so lovely and evocative that i would love to see them all fleshed out properly and given time to shine. technically speaking they don't even appear to be that complicated, with each piece only having a handful of tracks in total, but they're woven on top of each other in a way that lets the imagination run wild. i implore you to close your eyes for ten minutes and imagine alien forests or exploring a cave of phosphorescent mushrooms
### 1. odyssée - jordane tumarinson
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/2KWSapFXHxoIv4tF0NGbDW?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>
i feel incredibly predictable rounding out yet another month with yet another solo piano album, but the heart wants what the heart wants. jordane has an incredible skill for storytelling with a single instrument. the album has a classical backbone, and some tracks (e.g. momentum) lean in on it more than others, but jordane brings in a modern feel to the whole arrangement
#### honourable mention - aloe vittoria makes music for you - aloe vittoria
[link](https://soundcloud.com/aloe-vittoria/aloe-vittoria-makes-music-for-you)
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1528521529&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/aloe-vittoria" title="Aloe vittoria" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Aloe vittoria</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/aloe-vittoria/aloe-vittoria-makes-music-for-you" title="[Album] Aloe Vittoria Makes Music For You" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">[Album] Aloe Vittoria Makes Music For You</a></div>
this album came out of my local scene and i found it a really pleasant surprise; i normally have little interest in mumble rap, but some of the tracks really threw me for a loop here with some crazy inventive production.

78
src/blog/three_albums_march_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
---
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
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/2XS5McKf3zdJWpcZ4OkZPZ?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
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
<iframe style="max-width:560px; width:100%; aspect-ratio: 560/315;" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/C7PnWASHHrY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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
<iframe style="max-width:560px; width:100%; aspect-ratio: 560/315;" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4JkIs37a2JE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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」
<iframe style="max-width:560px; width:100%; aspect-ratio: 560/315;" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5QjVeH2Z57E" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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

50
src/blog/three_albums_may_2023.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
---
title: three albums - may 2023
date: 2023-06-01
---
this month's playlist is [here!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BU15m431CObSKIN0FeLgQ?si=6b85e44c13e6416a)
### 3. hello, my name is pipotaku - pipotaku
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2704358402/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://pipotaku.bandcamp.com/album/hello-my-name-is-pipotaku">Hello, My Name Is Pipotaku by Pipotaku</a></iframe>
i'm going to talk further down this post about my sickly game score depedency and the lengths that i've gone to to kick the habit. while something like the skyrim soundtrack is a bit more complicated, the breakbeat tracks from neon white are a lot easier to emulate. while machine girl has plenty of albums with a similar vibe ([gemini](https://machinegirl.bandcamp.com/album/gemini) is a great example), i'm always keeping an eye on new artists coming into the scene
what sets hello, my name is pipotaku apart from the rest of this flavour of music is a little difficult to pinpoint exactly, but from a purely subjective angle it does scratch a happy little itch in my head. it may be as simple as it being a full half hour of tracks without a dud, or the way that it takes many common breakcore sounds but sharpens them to a razors edge for a really satisfying final experience
this should also be a subtle push to go through and listen to their entire discography, as it sits just barely over an hour and has a comprehensive feel that lets you jump from one directly into the next
### 2. ultraviolet - kelly moran
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3704305105/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://kellymoran.bandcamp.com/album/ultraviolet">Ultraviolet by kelly moran</a></iframe>
i adore prepared piano and have since i first listened to [jynweythek](https://aphextwin.bandcamp.com/track/jynweythek) many years ago. you can get really ridiculous about it if you want to, but sometimes simply adding some items to make a piano sound harsher and tinnier adds all the spice that's really necessary to elevate the experience. the piano drives all of the tracks with some light drones performing a harmony role to fill in the overall tone of each piece. i found this super refreshing after both the high energy of pipotaku's discography and the more complex ambient and modern classical music i was trying out through the month
### 1. asperities - julia kent
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 320px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3258924639/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://music.juliakent.com/album/asperities">Asperities by Julia Kent</a></iframe>
i think (embarassingly) that this album caught my attention because the first track, hellebore, sounds initially like something from the dark souls soundtrack. the string melody fading in and out of the piece in layers reminds me of [firelink shrine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJhVgB_H-Q8), but thankfully the rest of the album isnt just aping this same aesthetic
asperities has the aesthetic of a more progressive ambient album, but uses entirely orchestral instruments rather than drones and synthesised sound (at least as far as i can tell). the melodies are repetitive but driven, almost like the opening build up to the big crescendo of a pivotal scene in a fantasy or historical drama, except that crescendo never comes. that might sound negative, but it just means that you get to really absorb the mournful beauty of the sound
### other musical musings
#### the skyrim soundtrack minus the skyrim soundtrack
anyone who has had the misfortune of digging into [my last.fm](https://www.last.fm/user/uuupah/library/albums) might have noticed an absurd trend in my listening habits: close to 10% of the music i have listened to in the last five years has been the skyrim soundtrack. i could gush for hours about how well composed this score is (and i probably will at some point), but it A. makes my spotify wrapped look very embarassing and B. doesnt really contribute to my media literacy in a meaningful way
my solution? create the skyrim soundtrack without using the skyrim soundtrack
<iframe style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/65Zz0fFlrTOtBDt5O8bVBR?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
now there are plenty of half assed equivalents to this kind of project, where someone grabs six albums that sort of sound similar to something else and just call it a day, but because this is something i want to listen to regularly, im taking it deadly serious. i'm being very precise about tone, volume modulation and the instruments used in each track, and being quite brutal with cutting out tracks that aren't quite there. i'm also trying to avoid artists whose whole thing is to just make music that sounds like game score (scorewizard in particular), just because it sort of feels like cheating; ZXi want the final product to also be a great source of new inspiration for easing people out of the soundtrack space and into the larger world of ambient music, and that kind of work doesnt really assist that task
this is still a huge work in progress and will probably continue to be so for a while, but blog readers will definitely be the first to know when it's finished
#### nadia birkenstock
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jUdV_ZRrZes" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
i have a soft spot for hippie instruments. there, i said it. the harp, hand pan and marimba all have this natural warmth that i simply cannot go past. i suspect that the prepared piano also scratches that itch, hence kelly moran making it big on the list this month. i had the sincere intention to dive into nadia birkenstock this month, so much so that i put her name on the early draft of this blog four or so weeks ago, but that didnt end up happening
#### trauma center 2
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dRBoQqgBF_A" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
i just remembered that this exists and i like it a lot

5
src/blog/🚧archive_game_radar.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
---
title: game radar - archive
draft: true
---

34
src/blog/🚧keyboards.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
---
title: keyboards
draft: true
---
## hhkb
## alps60
## 1800 refurb
## handire alice
## bleach60
## rama kara
## pain27
## downbubble
## zoo96
## gherkEd
## realforce 87u
## 1x2
## realforce 23u
## switch collection
## dilly

57
src/blog/🚧may_game_radar.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
---
title: game radar - may 2023
draft: true
---
### cramped room of death
stephen's sausage roll but a dungeon crawler ig?
### breeze in the clouds
platformer beat-em-up that i can say definitively is not using the anthro look as a cute aesthetic, but because the artists are absolute dyed-in-the-wool furries. that does at least mean that the characters all look super appealing and distinct and have heaps of charm. the music also sounds super cool.
### cataclismo
from my searching around this game appears to be equal parts fortress builder and adventure game. the former could be really interesting, since it doesnt seem to be a tower defence but something new (at least to me)
### #blud
noughties style animation in a 2d top down brawler - gameplay is maybe not that unique but its a tried and true formula and the animation might be enough to carry it
### black sword dx
a really unique look, but more isometric 2d brawler type gameplay
### dordogne
colour me intrigued, especially after watching 40 trailers i skipped almost immediately
### tako no himitsu
i dont think ive ever seen a new game capture the gba feel quite as well as this appears to
### mr run and jump
ya girl loves movement platformers and this one looks like it feels good
### fall of porcupine
### planet of lana
### tchia
new caledonia
### times and galaxy
### desta: the memories between
### omega strikers
### The Caligula Effect 2
### tin can
### mail time
### cosmic wheel sisterhood

12
src/blog/🚧modern_puzzle_games.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
---
title: modern puzzle games
draft: true
---
## antichamber
## manifold garden
## fez
## the witness

27
src/blog/🚧the_witness.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
---
title: the witness
draft: true
---
i've been on a puzzle game kick recently; antichamber and manifold garden have always visually intrigued me, so i knocked them out in the beginnning of the year and found them pretty enjoyable. i had a crack at filament, which was a creative and interesting idea, but it went a little too hard too fast for my liking and i pretty quickly got demoralised and stopped playing. so what was next on the chopping block?
we're only a quarter of the way in, but the witness is potentially my favourite game of the year. it's been out for about seven years now so i've heard plenty of hot takes on it and frankly expected it to not hold up to the hype, but i was almost instantly swept up in the puzzles and world. i pretty quickly started making comparisons to myst, as you're dropped on a big island with no people but loads of weird mechanisms, cryptic mechanisms and a wide variety of architecture and flora. the location designers clearly had no shortage of inspiration, because you can find all kinds of weird perspective tricks and shapes in shadows and reflections if viewed from just the right angle. the look of the whole game is bright and warm and i spent a lot of time heading over to some exciting looking ruin or cluster of plants i saw out of the corner of my eye.
puzzle-wise, the witness is structured extremely well to make you feel like a genius, regardless of how clever you actually are. different puzzles follow different "rules" that dictate the lines that you should be drawing
- potentially one of my favourite games so far this year
- exploration
- myst
- puzzles always felt like they were easily explained
- you need the perspective that if something is really difficult, you're probably not meant to be there yet
- if it's in the middle of a section then just stepping away and doing something else generally helps
- otherwise, the game really babies you through the beginning of a rule and if you're not being babied then
# joseph anderson
- i love joseph but this is one of his weaker videos
- gripes were presented as design issues
- 'i didnt get the sound puzzles'
- brute forcing instead of experimenting to work out what's going on
- complaining about optional puzzles being a waste of time despite them clearly being for completionists
- josephs habit of playing a game to abs0lute completion bites him in the ass here
- 'they made a game where the ridiculous endgame stuff pushes the line of what's fun to play' like no shit

17
src/blog/🚧three_albums_archive.md Normal file
View File

@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
---
title: three albums - archive
date: 2023-01-01
draft: true
---
| period | album 1 | album 2 | album 3 | notes |
| ------ | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------ |
| 2206 | neon white - machine girl | | | |
| 2207 | spirit - kit grill | shuriken cell - shuriken cell | mill's pond single collection - lucho ripley | |
| 2208 | non band - non band | [小圈子 - 輕描淡寫](https://open.spotify.com/album/6Obf8MKmo6a0WcswmPTptl) | [オン・ギター - masayoshi takanaka](https://open.spotify.com/album/20ku6CzcC5hFmNxoCaOzzJ) | |
| 2209 | repair techniques - sofie birch, johan caroe | u//me - dj kuroneko | propelled life - imeruat | |
| 2210 | views - haruhisa tanaka | rising fog - lucette bourdin | hyper dimensional expansion beam - the comet is coming | this month has some fucking CRACKERS |
| 2211 | blue - haruhisa tanaka | pleasure vision - bacchae | | |
| 2212 | endless summer - motionfield | blue forest - woulter veldhuis | see-through - patricia wolf | rediscovered the green kingdom |
| 2301 | vivarium - angus macrae | you will always be - dylan henner | fountain - danny paul grody | |
| 2302 | woof woof - arthur | compositions for piano - the flashbulb | the electric state - simon stalenhag | |