I'm Sorry I'm Late! (Volume 1, Part 1)
time to lock in baby...
What’s good y’all? Only took me two months but I’m finally doing something different! Well kind of. To be honest this one will probably end up being a like a slightly bigger version (post completion note: oh it’s bigger alright) of the ‘Weekly Wrap Ups’ with one notable exception: everything included did not come out last week. As I mention in the ‘About’, I’m always looking for + downloading things and most of that is… *drum roll please* …. not new! Who woulda guessed it? Not me lemme tell ya. Now I believe in you, I bet you know where this is going… Bingo. I’m gonna write about that stuff here. In general I try not to say things like “I discovered” when it comes to the music I write about because well, it was always out there and someone was listening to it! Just not me. Guess I kinda feel like saying “I discovered” sort of implies I was the first, and uhh, I definitely wasn’t lol. So just imagine me pointing a big ass spotlight at each thing, madly shouting “listen to this!”, and then calmly sitting down and explaining why each one is special / the reason it resonated with me— no matter how dumb or serious.
With this being the first part of the series too, I bet y’all prolly wouldn’t be surprised to learn there was a lot stuff I wanted to include. Like a lot of stuff. I’m sorry I can’t help it there’s just so many cool things out there okay! I’ll get help soon, I promise. So in lieu of that I’m going to be splitting up Vol. 1 into two parts: the first part (this one) will contain music released in the past two years and the second will be anything pre-2023. Most of these won’t be two parts and also I’ll write about everything this time — because I mean they’re not a random single released within an arbitrary 7 day window, so I like to think they’ve got a lil bit more weight behind em if that make sense (you should still check out my WWU’s! I promise they’re still good too!). Anyways let’s get into and hope y’all enjoy! Vol. 1, Part 2 coming next in two weeks! It’s out now!
(Credit to fruttaeverdura for the artwork)
beansclub - જ⁀➴ᡣ superstar4k! ૮꒰ ྀི ⸝⸝⸝ ྀི꒱ა
released: 03/21/2024
type: single
from: singapore
genres: dariacore | electronic dance music | euro trance | mashup | freeform hardcore | hard trance | hardcore edm | nightcore | nu style gabber | sampling | sextrance | trance | trancegaze | uptempo hardcore
collaborations: n/a
listen: bandcamp | soundcloud | youtube
Fucking Pitchfork man. Beating me to the punch. I was literally working on a dariacore post when lo n behold what do I see at the top of my feed last Wednesday…. a fucking article from them talking about it and how Jane Remover pioneered the genre in the early 2020s with a couple of mixtape (ps: that’s why it’s called dariacore) and how it’s absolutely blowing up in Japan right now and blah blah blah blah. Man fuck oFF. I was bout to do that >:( For real tho, I’m psyched to see the subgenre actually getting the recognition it deserves. I mean where else are you gonna be able to hear a sample of ‘Funkytown’, DJ Khaled lost at sea on a jet-ski, and Brutalismus 3000 all in the span of 20 seconds??
Earlier this year I went through every thing beansclub has ever put out and this song has gotta be the perfect example for the potential of dariacore as a whole, so-to-speak. Now by this point you’re probably asking yourself, “what the fuck even IS dariacore??” Well allow me to copy and paste the definition from RYM for you kind reader:
“Dariacore is an internet-based Electronic Dance Music subgenre created in the early 2020s defined by the use of prominent vocal samples, chaotic production, hard and noisy basslines reminiscent of Future Bass, and elements of Mashup, Nightcore, Jersey Club and other diverse genres of EDM.”
Now that you’ve got a better idea of what it is, maybe you can better understand why it’s taking off like it is. It’s pretty much like hyperpop on steroids. I mean just in this song alone, beansclub runs through hits from Rae Sremmund, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Ellie Goulding, Charli XCX, Lady Gaga, Avril Lavigne and Chief Keef. That’s quite the fucking line up now. And the entire time he’s weaving each sample together in & out seamlessly to the point where it straight up feels like one cohesive, completely original song. Yet at the same time there’s so many beat and pace changes it seems like it’s constantly evolving and changing, moving in different directi— ……………. until they all drop out for a second and feels like you’re floating……………. then the five different sounds happening all at once slowly pick back up and start piecing themselves together, in unison, all building on top of one another until finally there’s this euphoric crescendo of sound + bass. It’s kinda fire.
cece natalie - Miss Behave
released: 07/26/2024
type: album
from: connecticut, usa
genres: contemporary r&b | dance pop | electro clash | electro pop | synth pop
collaborations: kmoe
listen: apple music | soundcloud | spotify
You ever just listen to something and it instantly transports you back in time? Well this did that for me. This first time I hit play on this it jogged up this old ass memory of mine. So I was waiting for my parents to pick me up in early elementary school (I think), I mean I musta been about 5 or 6 or something like that, and for some reason I have very vivid 10 second clip in my head of some other girl in my class dancing to this song that had just came out. And well, it was (oh god I’m gonna date myself on this one….) Britney Spears’ ‘‘Baby One More Time’. I’m pretty sure it’s always stuck with me because 1) it was a fucking banger and 2) I remember thinking “uhh Mrs. *********** told us not to hit anyone??”. cece natalie invokes in me the same feeling that listening to that early 2000’s Britney style pop music did back then. I’m on the way home from seeing Like Mike with my Dad and I’m bout to go play some fucking Backyard Football on the family computer, which was in of in the kitchen of course. Duh. Oh those were the days man. *deep sigh* Those were the days.
DIGGER - THE BOSS
released: 03/22/2024
type: single
from: somewhere in the south, usa
genres: chicago drill | country rap | experimental hip hop | trap
collaborations: n/a
listen: apple music | bandcamp | spotify
watch: music video
*Pls read this entry in your very best, thick southern accent…*
Yes. Yes, I know. I see the name. To be fair I’m like 90% sure it’s a homage to the Monster Truck, Grave Digger. Which is l honestly low key kinda fire if we’re honest. S/o Grave Digger man. I honestly can’t remember the context but I’ve got some pretty fond (half) memories of watching Grave Digger on TV as a youngin. I’ve honestly got no idea why or what the context was lmfao I just remember loving it. *sighs* So I actually just looked it up and it’s a shortened version of Mud Digger. Oh well, now that’s not as sick but at least it ain’t what we were all thinking lol. Now I gotta say, as a southern boy myself this put a Huge Ass Smile on my face. It’s good to finally see some positive southern pride yafeelme? Did I go into this expecting to hate it? Absolutely. But did I come out saying “grab her by tha antlers and I mount her on tha wall!” uncontrollably every 10 minutes? Why yes, yes I did. So in the words of the man himself………
REAL TRUCKER WITCHOUSE MUD DIGGER BAD TO THE BONE 4 WHEEL DRIVE DEMON COMING STRAIGHT FROM THE ALPS
*… okay, you’re good. Thank ya, you may continue now.*
Evita Manji - Spandrel?
released: 01/30/2023
type: album
from: thessaloniki, greece
genres: alternative pop | alternative r&b | ambient pop | art pop | deconstructed club | electronic | experimental | glitch pop | post industrial | trance | uk bass | wave
collaborations: ludwig wandinger
listen: apple music | bandcamp | soundcloud | spotify
watch: xyz / labyrinth (live)
….. as you enter the cave, an almost melancholic dew seems to coat every inch of its inner rocky being. Waves crash gently up against shadowy reef rocks, which cut out from the jagged ceiling above like a gargoyle in the night. Almost glitch-like sound effects skitter all around you imitating alien insects clinging to the cave walls. A light mist weaves in and out of the branching passageways, seemingly connecting together various dimly lit caverns pulsing with emotion…
Ok bet, now switch waves to ‘the beats’ and caverns to ‘underground dancefloors’. That’s what listening to Evita Manji feels like. Also sorta random aside— but I knew going into writing this that Evita & SOPHIE were long time friends + collaborators; I did *not* know however that they were partners and engaged and physically together at the time of SOPHIE’s tragedy... I guess I remember it happened it Athens so that tracks, but woww… no wonder this thing sounds so achingly beautiful man…
FAB GODAMN - FOGOFOGOFOGO
released: 09/13/2024
type: album
from: são paulo, brazil
genres: brazilian hip hop | dark plugg | detroit rap | experimental hip hop | gangsta rap | hardcore hip hop | horrorcore | rage | trap
collaborations: fugitive99 | gbp4lace | gpfx.v | lemesthegod | luangelus | mavyrmldy | mile$ | nebrugg | ogmecbaby | plugjoli | prodbymaczin | prodbyogxbriell | rudies flacko | sickk | $upremos | yunggothskinny | 1longboybeats | 7dollar$
listen: spotify
watch: bct e boca | ela falo meu nome 3 vezes ft. ogmcebaby | eu preciso ir no psciólogo | quero um machado
Someone needs to get a handle on Brazil man. Before we know it they’re gonna invent an entirely new sub genre that generates sound waves which cause the Earth’s rotation to be knocked outta whack or something for all we fucking know. I mean (ok I’m not gonna lie, I’m bout to link a bunch a songs here and I feel like there’s a few of em that absolutely need some sort of warning label. You *will* feel like you were just hit by a fucking Chevy Tahoe when that thang kicks in so don’t say you weren’t warned. Ok now back to your regular schedule programming) what tf even is this and why does it sound SO good??? Tdfjkgbldjhrygltrg god I love that place. Just so much pure, unadulterated fun bruh. There’s no rules or preconceived notions on what something should or shouldn’t sound like. Case in point: FAB GODAMN. Oh you thought you knew what plugg music sounded like?? Lmfao wait till to hear it after FAB’s is done. Shit some of these synths and bass kicks make it sound like an alien spaceship just crashed landed right in the middle of your living room.
Feng - Walk In the Park
released: 09/24/2024
type: single
from: london, england
genres: bop | chicago drill | cloud rap | experimental hip hop | trap
collaborations: jinchyna
listen: apple music | soundcloud | spotify
watch: music video
Not gonna lie, I can’t take credit for this one. My boy C**** hit me with the Chicago inspired bop so good I was sitting there waiting to hear GBE tags for bout 20 seconds. The funny backstory on this is that I didn’t even actually listen to it when he first sent it to me (Full disclosure: He’s even got a damn good track record of putting me on before too lol). I’m sorry C****! In any case, I was at the doc office and literally just about to play it when I got called back for some scans on a foot injury. Then due to my brain having the attention span of a squirrel, I promptly forgot all about it until later that night yayyy for squirrel attention spans so cool honestly /s. Fast forward a few hours and C**** picked me up for our intramural soccer game— I mean did you think I was NOT gonna go and provide the squad moral support. Smfh, I don’t care if I’m washed n got a busted foot. Catch me out there complimenting great through balls and overlapping runs! Anyways as we’re driving this song starts playing and about halfway through I slowly turned to him and go “yooooo….. what tf is this???”. Yeahhh so uhh, think you could say I was a fan. It’s like… *chefs kiss* perfect. The throwback sound. The simple, but memorable one liners. The auto-tune. The slightly lo fi sound. The fact they left out all the drum + bass kicks. Or how it’s so short you immediately want to run it back. Speaking of that…
Fine - Rocky Top Ballads
released: 06/07/2024
type: album
from: copenhagen, denmark
genres: alternative country | country | dream pop | ethereal wave | folk | hypnagogic pop | indie folk | lo fi | neo psychedelia | singer-songwriter | slacker rock | slowcore
collaborations: andreas murga | andreas vasegaard nielsen | lola hammerich | mads muurholm
listen: apple music | bandcamp | soundcloud | spotify
watch: big muzzy | coasting | days incomplete | losing tennessee
Ok yeahhhh I feel hella late on this one. I remember seeing it on a couple Year End lists but my dumbass passed it by every time. Whack! Don’t be like me. Don’t pass this by. Listen to this the first time you see it. Now I’m not gonna sit here and be like “oooOoOo so ethEreAL” because I do really try hard not to sound overly cringe (hard to believe I know it), but this straight up an amazing album full of lush + dreamy production that sometimes leans into artists such as Mazzy Star or the Cocteua Twins for inspiration. So if that sounds even *remotely* up your alley, then yeah, just go ahead and click play. Like right now. Don’t even think about it. Don’t even bother finish reading this rev—
HighSchool - Colt
members: lilli | rory trobbiani (vocals) | scotty
released: 05/09/2023
type: single
from: melbourne, australia
genres: coldwave | gothic rock | new wave | post punk | synth pop
collaborations: n/a
listen: apple music | soundcloud | spotify
watch: music video
Honestly think my guy @churchking2527 in the YouTube music video comment section sums it up better than I ever could,
“Don't get me wrong, their other tracks are good... but this song is just 11/10. I dunno why, I play it all the time.”
Yes churchking, this song is an 11/10. Like he said, a lot of their stuff is great and honestly all of it maintains at least a very similar level of “pretty good”….. but there’s just something about this here record man….. it’s a special one.
Himera - The Remix Album
released: 08/21/2024
type: remix album
from: amsterdam, netherlands
genres: ambient trance | bubblegum bass | dream trance | electronic dance music | euro trance | glitch pop | hard trance | hyperpop | mashup | progressive trance | remixes | synth pop | trance | uplifting trance
collaborations: a. g. cook | carly rae jepsen | charli xcx | finn keane (aka easyfun) | foxes | hannah diamond | john travolta | laura les | lewis grant | life sim (aka a. g. cook) | lil uzi vert | oklou | olivia newton-john | planet 1999 | pinkpantheress | rema | river moon | thy slaughter (aka a. g. cook x finn keane) | tielsie | trndytrndy | umru | zedd
listen: bandcamp
Do you like synths? Are you a fan of trance? Do you like when music makes you feel like you’re in some sort of euphoric dream happily floating through the sky? Well then do I have the album for you! Nahh but on a serious note holy shit are Himera’s synths on this thing god-tier level. I think the reason this one slipped under my radar was because it’s a Bandcamp-Only release (at least that’s what I’ll blame it on) and I only started following him over there upon stumbling across this thing. Himera has always been a personal favorite hyperpop producers (I think his synths *might* have something to do with that ngl to ya. If you can’t tell by now I’m kind of a sucker for that kind of thing lol) of mine, but tbh this might be the progressive trance album if I’m being real. Idc if I’m bias. Taking hits from some of the biggest stars in the world today (Charli, Uzi, PinkPantheress, Rema just to name a few) and putting his signature twist on them, Himera creates the sort of remix album you dream of. None of that “Throw a Couple of New Verses On the Same Beat and Call It a Day” type shit. Everything on here feels truly original, like these were OG versions….. and this was the first place they called home.
jackzebra & user116 - 拾
released: 09/13/2024
type: collaborative album
from: chengdu, china | china
genres: chinese hip hop | cloud rap | digicore | experimental hip hop | plugg | pluggnb | pop rap | soundcloud rap
collaborations: apri21 | crave | kojowav | kydere | radkoun | recyclebin
listen: apple music | soundcloud | spotify | youtube
Music like this that makes me realize just how fucking great the internet can be at times. At this point it’s been 10+ years of what almost I’ll call like “unfiltered music access”. You can find music from literally anywhere, by literally anyone with just the click of a button. The US has always been at the epicenter of rap music, I mean we were the originators, but tbh over the last 5-10 years in my opinion it’s reeeealllyy stagnated a lot (for the most part, there’s always exceptions). If I’m being honest most American rap just bores the fuck outta me nowadays. Idk if y’all watch the NBA like that but it’s kinda similar to what’s happening over there. How it feels like youth development overseas has caught up and maybe even surpassed coaching stateside, which has led to the league slowly but surely being dominated by non-Americans. I mean off top, name the top 5 players in the league rn and I bet at least 3 of em will be from overseas. To draw a line back to music, that’s where the internet and music accessibility comes in I think. All these other countries have been listening to and soaking in American rap for decades & decades (similar to how the NBA has been broadcast globally) now without any real way of creating their own take on it + giving it a proper platform. But now, some random guy in fucking Mongolia could hear a Yung Lean song on YouTube, get inspired, record something off his MacBook in 30 minutes and then throw it on SoundCloud for the whole world to hear. It’s so fucking cool to see all these all these different takes and evolutions on rap that never would have occurred without the power of the internet. Easily my favorite thing about rap today, hands down. I’m tryna see what’s going off in the underground scene in Tehran or Lithuania you feel me?
kuragari - niconico
released: 05/10/2024
type: ep
from: japan
genres: alternative rock | | noise | noise pop | noise rock | post rock | shoegaze
collaborations: n/a
listen: apple music | bandcamp | soundcloud | spotify | youtube
Full disclosure: this ones kinda loud….
What can I say? The girls who get it, get it. And the girls who don’t, don’t.
Kwes E - juggin’ / juggin’ on an autumn morning
released: 06/24/2024
type: single
from: canterbury, england
genres: alternative r&b | cloud rap | conscious rap | experimental hip hop | jerk | lowend | pop rap | pluggnb | soundcloud rap | uk hip hop
collaborations: endevour | inuyasha | moses ideka
listen: apple music | soundcloud | spotify
watch: music video
A couple weeks ago I briefly mentioned the rising UK underground and how it looks to be in safe hands (DAZED did a pretty good article on it). There’s huge a plethora of up n coming talent from across the pond right now (EsDeeKid, Rico Ace, Pierre, YT, Cal1sto, fakemink, C Milano, Teebo, Ohmien, Ciel, Finessekid, Santova and just to name a few), but Kwes E may be at the front of that pack and ‘juggin’ is the perfect example why. I’m honestly not sure what hooked me more, the song itself or the music video. Starting out with the perfect “summer bbq with friends” ass vibe before breaking down into an introspective second half; it hits all the right beats along the way (both literally and figuratively). Type of music that makes you want to enjoy all the little things if you know what I mean. Left me itching to put together a playlist of all my favorite music to play at the next cookout with friends. Speaking of that, the first time I catch a whiff of something cooking on a grill this spring the inner Glizzy Gobbler in me bout to rise up like the Undertaker coming out of a coffin…..
Polari Records - No Tears In the Backroom Vol. 1 / No Tears In the Backroom Vol. 2
released: 11/15/2022 | 01/31/2024
type: compilation albums
from: brazil | denmark | england | faroe islands | france | germany | ireland | italy | scotland | spain
genres: acid techno | dance | detroit techno | disco | disco house | electronic | electronic body music | euro dance | house | italo disco | new beat | nu disco | progressive dance | synth pop | synth wave | techno | trance | uptempo
collaborations: brynjolfur | budino | davis | dj city | elisa paradiso | jordan nocturne | joshua james | hard ton | hifi sean | louis de tomaso | micropacer | nimmo | patricio diaz | rees | rotciv | sean den | shay shaz | timothy clerkin | xols
listen: vol. 1 - bandcamp | spotify
vol. 2 - bandcamp | spotify
(Mom look away) God it musta been so fucking sick to go to a disco with your girl in the 80s off your rocker on cocaine.
Prostitute - Attempted Martyr
members: andrew caster (drums, sampling) | bret wall (bass) | dylan zaranski (bass) | moe (guitar, keyboards, sampling, vocals) | ross babinski (guitar)
released: 10/20/2024
type: album
from: dearborn, mi, usa
genres: arabic music | art punk | experimental rock | industrial rock | noise rock | post industrial | post hardcore | pigfuck | post punk
collaborations: n/a
listen: apple music | bandcamp | spotify | youtube
watch: judge
Punk bands got some crazy names bruh. As I get more and more into alternative and punk stuff I keep seeing some wiiiiiiiilld stuff haha. So this whole time y’all really just been like “Yo you hear that new Bloody Gooch album? It’s fire, you should check it out.” Tbf I can’t really say much though if I’m being honest considering I come from like a rap background; for the lack of a better term. There are some pretty fucking stupid rapper names out there don’t even get me started lmao. I mean have you have ever like really thought about dumb “Lil Baby” is as purely a stage name? Ffs 2 Chainz used to go by “Tity Boi” lmfao. Waaay back in the SoundCloud days you know how hard it was telling people to listen to some dude name ICYTWAT?? Or that Lil Ugly Mane was an incredibly talented and creative artist who was pushing boundaries and needed to be taken seriously. I was out here in the trenches man. Ok enough LUM prop my bad back to the point.… So Prostitute amirite? This was one of those situations where the cover art kinda caught my eye so I went into it on a half whim and was then promptly blown away. Great stuff all around guys. Fucking loved it. More please.
¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U - Boiler Room: Tokyo
released: 11/09/2024 | 01/06/2025
type: dj set
from: osaka, japan → tokyo, japan
genres: acid techno | breakbeat hardcore | dance | electronic | electronic dance music | euro dance | gabber | hard dance | hard drum | hard house | hard trance | house | industrial dance music | mashup | pop | progressive house | tech house | techno
collaborations: empirion | the chemical brothers | chemotex | for those i love | fred again.. | jamie xx | karla borecky | locked club | lorenzo senni | nai barghouti | overmono | the prodigy | romy | skrillex | sophie | tzusing | underworld | 3phaz | 100gecs
listen: soundcloud
watch: youtube
So this might straight up be one of my favorite Boiler Rooms ever. Like fr. Like fr fr. If you don’t believe me just watch from 13:31 to 25:26. It’s so fucking hype. I mean that shit at like 20 minutes??? And then he somehow tops that just a minute later???? Fucking hell I dun think I threw me neck out again. Only to then seamlessly transition that shit into some bloody dance pop from Romy & Fred again… and I hate Fred again..! Just an absolute masterclass at DJ’ing. “Oh look at at me I’m Yousuke Yukimatsu and I like to a DJ outta my fucking mind oOOooOo I’m so cool” (You’re so cool Yousuke Yukimatsu I love youuu please come to B*****!).
God isn’t live music just the fucking best…. Nothing hits quite like it.
Side note: aaaaand the YouTube comment section pulls up from deep for a late bomb to close out the quarter post,
“this is how I imagined nightclubs as a kid…..”
** CONTINUED IN PART 2 **