It’s a new month so I got a new batch of songs to share.

Portraits Of Tracy “Halli Step / Raider Klan Shit”

I’ve been sleeping on this one but thankfully discovered via reels. Lousiana based Tracy Amare, via a character named Junie, made this ode to SpaceGhostPurrp as part of a larger concept album that might just climb up the ranks to be one of my favorites of the year.

Luci Gang “HEADLOCK”

Luci Gang is Lee Eun-seon, a rapper from Gwanmyeong, South Korea. The song, translated, is about stress management, via eating an egg sandwich at the park, spending money you don’t have, eating a chicken taco, buying secondhand jeans, eating a sundae, and not worrying about shit. This is relatable! Put your worries in a headlock!

Twisted Teens “Why Did You Miss It?”

New Orleans continues to be one of my favorite hubs of rock n’ roll. And Twisted Teens is the talk of the town having just signed to Sub Pop.

daisy* “punch”

Daisy Warne, formerly known (to some but not me) under the name BABii, is part of a cool UK electronic scene I’m interested in digging into. She’s a multidisciplinary artist ane even made that “gen x soft club” style album art seen above. I really like that things have started to look like PS2 ads again lately.

james K “Play”

I have a weird system picking songs for this thing. I basically have a playlist where I constantly cycle new music off and onto it. Then I pick a few I feel like putting in here. For some reason I’ve overlooked New York’s James K (Jamie Krasner) despite having numerous songs of hers pass through this playlist for years now. But I’ve been a fan, and this is one of my faves, and I will correct this oversight in future weeks.

aLex vs aLex “a girl like me”

I miss going to Coney Island. It’s a little grimy but that’s what’s perfect about it. There are bumper cars and a roller coaster that doubles as a historic landmark. There are little stalls and you press a button, and the stall lights up, and weird DIY puppets and dioramas start moving. I love the little cart ride that takes you into the haunted house (which is just like, Halloween decorations and other stuff sparsely laid around). And there’s just like puffs of air and strings hanging from the ceiling. Those strings have to be the nastiest things, just like those car wash things that drop down on your windshield but instead of cars, it’s rubbing against sweaty Brooklyn beach faces.

Anyway, here’s a “damn, son” button if you wanna drop it into your next nightcore DJ set.

ESP “Break Free”

musical edging.

ESP is a collab between Sofia Kourtesis and Manu Miran and a little Wilson-Phillips I guess.

The Avalanches “Oh the Sunn! (feat. Perry Farrell)”

This really gets going once that ESG sample hits.

I couldn’t have guessed that I’d be putting a song on here sung by Perry Farrell, but such is the magic of Australian music legends The Avalanches, one of my top 10 musical acts of all time. While the love affair started with their first record which had no guests aside from a guest MC or scratcher and thousands of samples, their later work has a list of collaborators that would make Gorillaz blush:

Warren Ellis, MGMT, Johnny Marr, Blood Orange, Karen O, Mick Jones, Denzel Curry, Tame Impala, Rye Rye, Royal Trux, Vashti Bunyan, Kurt Vile, David Berman, Camp Lo, Neheh Cherry, Toro y Moi, MF DOOM, Vegyn, Jamie xx, Haruomi Hosono, Carly Simon, Panda Bear, Tricky, Pink Siifu, John Glacier, Portraits of Tracy, Mike Patton, Danny Brown and fucking Haley Joel Osment.

That’s just like half of them. Excited to dig further into their newest stuff.

vegyn & John Glacier “A Dream Goes On Forever”

I’ve featured a few Vegyn tracks which always have fun videos of people dancing. I particularly like this video and track which features vocals from another On Repeat fave, John Glacier.

Elias Rønnenfelt “USA Baby”

Showcasing another Elias track, which again is such a far cry from the Iceage days. This song—dare I say—owes a bit of debt to the next guy on the list…

Chad Hugo “Jumpupw!nya (feat. Tierra Whack, Leikeli47)”

First off, Tierra Whack needs to be on more stuff.

I was like, what does this remind me of? “Holla Back Youngin?” Who made that? Oh duh.

Obviously, Chad Hugo was one half of The Neptunes, a duo of producers discovered in their teens. Chad was partners with the guy who did the theme to the Despicable Me movie, who sometimes wore a Mountie hat.

Ok, about this video. There’s a slight feeling watching that it’s secretly a Pepsi ad or something but it isn’t. And I’ll admit, I’m not the most eagle-eyed cherry on the block but it’s pretty clear a lot of this was entirely made with AI.

Look, I’m not entirely against AI as a tool. I’ve used it sparingly here and there, and it’s being seamlessly integrated into photo and video editing software in a way that’s genuinely very helpful. Heck, my girlfriend is AI. (Love you S1MONE, you’re my rock baby!)

But this video leans a bit too much on it and it kinda, ugh, negates the whole thing. Which is a bummer! There was clearly art direction involved and they could have made something really cool with it. But here I can’t even tell where the art direction begins and ends. They clearly fed those inspirations into an AI program which spit this stuff out and maybe drained a lake in the process.

People get so crazy about AI, so I’m not looking to start a debate about it, but I was excited to see this video after enjoying the song. I was expecting some Missy Elliott-type shit, and was a bit bummed out by it, that’s all. And before you start with the “no ethical consumpion” argument, I’d be more forgiving if it were any of the artists listed above (except maybe Perry Farrell). IT’S NOT LIKE THE GUY FROM THE NEPTUNES DOESNT HAVE MONEY!

Compare this to Tierra Whack’s Whack World, which was a low budget art project and delivered incredibly cool results and won a Grammy:

THE GOLD STANDARD

Tierra Whack - Whack World

now this is that good shit.

Big L “Put It On”

A palate cleanser from Harlem, 1995.

I’ve been busy so here’s a bunch of tracks I haven’t gotten around to posting including some new ones from old faves.

Josh Caffe “Limousine”

This song perfectly transitions into "Disco Infiltrator" by LCD Soundsystem--I'm a DJ, you know. So is Josh Caffe, he's a longtime stable of London's house scene.

Yves “Soap (feat. PinkPantheress)”

I like hanging out in Koreatown. Thing is, everywhere you go in Ktown, there are Kpop videos playing. Like not just in bars/pochas/clubs/etc, but at like supermarkets. There’s just like a rando 4K monitor playing the most expensive-looking video you’ve seen since the 2000s next to the napa cabbage.

Yves is a former member of LOONA, but I frankly don’t know anything about that. PinkPantheress brought me here, and it’s not the only feature I’ve got in this newsletter.

Deki Alem “Fun”

Deki Alem is a pair of Swedish brothers that mix up post-punk, hipdop and drum & bass—kinda what someone would make in a lab to appeal to me personally! I like this song but I have a sneaking suspicion I’ve heard it in an Uber Eats commercial or something like that.

Boko Yout “Ignored”

Another act from Sweden, this Apocalypse-looking MF’s self-described “afro-grunge” also feels custom-made for me.

Sweeping Promises “Cocoon”

My favorite band has dropped another album of bangers. This one is one of their oldest tracks, they’ve done the old “rip it up and start again” over the years, transforming it. This song makes me wanna get my ass to Lawrence, Kansas again! (I’ve been once.)

L’Rain “Soulless Cycle”

[in horrible voice] Ok, hmm..erm…I guess L’Rain rocks now, I guess?

I’ve been a big fan of L’Rain’s music for a few years now, but this song is a completely new direction—which, ironically, is exactly what artist Taja Cheek has been doing this whole time. One of my favorite songs about “being tired of being tired,” which is something I understand well. Here’s another by The Diodes!

thredd “Party”

This song, intentionally, is giving zero information so I have zero information to give. But I like it.

Typical Girls “Californication”

Typical Girls reimagines RHCP as the Pet Shop Boys in this cover.

Sofie Royer “Sesquicentennial”

BUTT! This video shot in China starts (and continues) with a homage to Lost in Translation’s opening (BUTT!) that made my mom weirdly upset when I watched it with her in the mid-2000s. Also, I’ve been obsessed with the word “sesquicentennial” and we haven’t really talked about it as much as I thought we would in this sesquicentennial year. This new record from Sofie Royer hits!

Chanpan “Endlessly”

More from Chanpan, one of my fave newer acts this year.

Erika de Casier “You Got It!”

I’ll stop posting her songs in these when they stop hitting. I want to go to Copenhagen and hang out with all of these hot people in this nice house, please send money.

Kelela “the bridge (feat. PinkPantheress)”

😯

Nourished By Time “Crazy People”

No, we’re never gonna survive un…less… we get a liddle CRAZY

KAZU “Come Behind Me So Good!”

Ryuchi Sakamoto contributes to this Blonde Redhead-y song from a few years ago from KAZU (who is, actually, the lady from Blonde Redhead).

Annahstasia “Sunday”

Heard this really pretty song on Derrick Gee’s YouTube which is a great spot to discover music if our tastes align! He also recently played and reminded me of this gem…

THE GOLD STANDARD:

OutKast “Skew it on the Bar-B (feat. Raekwon)

"I met a critic, I made her shit her drawers"

I wish I could time travel to when this song dropped. Andre 3000 is a time traveler. Think about it. It explains everything!

Speaking of, my buddy Graham Mason is officially the new Big Boi as he’s recently collaborated with Andre on 7 Piano Sketches, which you can watch on Mubi—highly recommended! I love Andre’s recent trajectory has been flute albums and Kelly Reichardt movies. Time traveler!

Allow me to be insufferable for a moment. Somehow, in the past few years, I have become a regular at the Chateau. (You gotta say it like that, like when someone says garr-bage instead of garbage.)

The Chateau appealed to me, because as I understood it, it’s a place that, for one hundred fucking years, has drawn the same type of people to it. I knew successful (and unsuccessful) writers, musicians, comedians, and artists flocked to it. Every celebrity has been there but the most fucked up ones seem to like it the most. And it especially seemed to attract New Yorkers visiting Los Angeles.

In 2013, I did a bit on Instagram where I was becoming #HollywoodBrett, and things were escalating quickly, with my life completely falling apart over the course of a single night.

On this bit, I ran around Hollywood and even visited the Chateau under the guise of having to use their restroom. An incredible Trojan Horse if I do say so myself. And, oh, what a restroom it was! Ice in the urinals! I left immediately.

I was terrified to be there. After all it was the Chateau, and I was me. The idea that I was even there was a punchline to me. Not only was I not rich and famous, I was already pretending to be a New York guy at the time.

I grew up in a small town in New Jersey. There was a hill you could walk to and see the skyline. There was a train in my town, but it only ran twice a day for commuters (with a transfer). For so much of my life, New York was an enormous presence but also just out of reach. All of the news on TV was New York news, all of the local commercials were New York commercials, most of the nationally aired shows were coming from New York City—even the movies I grew up on had a New York bent to them. I dreamt of being on SNL. I spent a lot of time on NJ Transit—in fact I’m visiting folks in the area and writing this now on a train to Hoboken, then I’ll transfer to the PATH, then onto the subway to get to some dumb bar.

Eventually, I conquered New York. Now they speak about me there in reverent tones (I get recognized, but only at a few specific Bushwick bars.) I was on the late night shows I loved (sorta, more featured background work but it counts). I got to be in the SNL writers room (I was a guest, not an actual writer, and it was the night where they did the “Hallelujah” thing). I was even on the local news!

This is not a piece about loving New York, but I loved New York, and still do. I’m Wilson Fisk ova here (minus the fascism and skullcrushing).

A few years ago, I was getting over my roughest breakup yet (a real one, not the one from the video above). I had worn myself ragged trying to make things happen career-wise, and things were only getting harder. The DIY venues and bar backrooms that I called home were disappearing or had already disappeared, and some people I loved passed away or moved on to different lives. Frankly, I had fallen out of love with New York. And I understood well enough to know it’s a city you need to love to survive in.

My move to Los Angeles was less of a “making my dreams come true” and more of a “well, let’s try this” kinda thing. Unlike New York, I didn’t “get” Los Angeles. On my initial visits, I kinda poked fun at the artifice of it all. I sincerely couldn’t begin to understand what makes this place tick.

On an exploratory visit to LA, just before the pandemic, I found myself in a new whirlwind romance. On a whim, I flew out west again since COVID-19 cleared up my schedule in a once-in-a-lifetime way, which led to an extended pandemic stay for a few months. This was a very nice period! Los Angeles was different; you could walk down the street and smell flowers. I was right near the beautiful Echo Park Lake, and convinced myself I made friends with a specific duck. Even though I couldn’t access my unemployment and things were scary on all fronts, I imagined a new, different life for me out west one things got sorted out. And then I got all that back pay at once and could actually afford to move. The universe was presenting big, blinking arrow signs.

Funny enough, when you decide to end a chapter, the end of that chapter can be real fun. The New York I returned to had life. All the bars and restaurants had street dining. The parks were full. I was attending protests, running into friends, and even had a big, fun hang in the park to get drunk with everyone one last time. It was a nice farewell.

I got dumped like two weeks before moving to the new city. Work was slow already, and due to an accidental gear mishap at the airport and some other bad timing, a cushy voice-acting gig dried up. The same week, my agent left the agency I was working with, and slow work came to a full stop. Everything in LA was closed and I didn’t know anyone here. I’d have weird Hinge dates in my driveway. I’d walk along the “hip” Sunset Blvd, lingering slowly as I passed the Black Cat—the only bar with outdoor seating where people would actually congregate. My long walks, which felt nice in New York, felt lonely in Los Angeles. Apparently, nobody walks but everyone hikes wtf? I tried to visit the Chateau and they looked at me like I was crazy.

My new normal was working my day job on my laptop in a hammock because I told myself I’d be outside all the time. I befriended the yard cats, who eventually became my cats. One time they gave me a dead rat. Without a guide to the city, I became my own guide, researching all the places I’d go when things opened back up.

But life threw more curveballs, and I was in a particular rut. I moved to exactly the wrong place for me at that time—a crumbling party house that once belonged to a cult, with a revolving door of terrifying roommates, police/EMT visits, and other unpredictabilities. (Also, Weird Al played there once, so it wasn’t all bad.) I often felt weird not being home, constantly worried about an unhoused person breaking in and locking themselves inside the house again. While my cats adjusted well to the move indoors, eventually my beloved cat Sid passed away. Due to a recurring gallbladder issue, I was spending my nights lying on the floor of my shower in the worst pain I’ve ever felt on a weekly basis. Things were scary. The LA experiment was not working out for me.

Whatever magic I had imagined Los Angeles having had crashed down to reality. New York is a living monument to itself—everything inspires and intersects. A melting pot, if you will. Los Angeles is not a melting pot. It’s like a banchan spread—a series of tiny, interesting dishes sitting next to each other, all with their own unique flavor. Maybe I still don’t understand it. It was not the Los Angeles from the TV, or from the movies. That was a fantasy, or so I thought.

Then one day, on a long, lonely walk that led me to the edge West Hollywood, I saw the Chateau, and was like, “I can probably just go in there now.” I made a reservation (that’s the trick), and sat down at the bar, which was playing The Maltese Falcon, and had a mocktail that the bartender suggested I help name (The Maltese Falcon, it’s known as today—a huge point of pride that I helped). I had a lovely time, made a few friends there, and declared this to be my new Cheers.

There’s just an energy there. Genuine lunatics like Abel Ferrara, Howard Hughes and Hunter S. Thompson had extended stays to feed on this energy. It inspired the writers of Rebel Without A Cause, an entire Jarvis Cocker record, numerous Eve Babitz essays and at least one Death Grips music video. From Greta Garbo to Greta Gerwig, this place seems to spark something in people, particularly ones that might not always fit in. Maybe it’s the heavy weight of everyone else’s history, some manifestation of old Hollywood ghosts where the glamorous nights, legendary stories and bad decisions have accumulated into a physical force you can actually feel. Or maybe it’s just the way the candles smell, idk.

I went home, and immediately lit a candle and played this Strokes demo that appears at the end of Somewhere in an attempt to keep my brain in Chateau mode. I watched every other film shot there, some terrible (sorry, Abel). I returned many times, with employees there starting to remember me.

I bought multiple books and absorbed the history, then would return and gawk at some detail of the place. “Wow, this must have been the phone booth that Desi Arnaz would drunkenly yell at Lucy when they’d have a lover’s quarrel.” “Wow, this is the chair from that Gram Parsons album cover.” “This is the elevator where Benicio Del Toro and Scarlett Johansson had…” Actually, no.

We don’t talk about what we see at the Chateau. At this place, discretion is observed by all. It says so right on the website. I brought my friend there once and she took a picture, and I hit the phone out of her hands. The DeuxMoi blind items I could have sent in… but no, I respect the sanctity. It’s a sacred space. Columbia Pictures founder Harry Cohn once said, “If you must get into trouble, do it at the Chateau.” He said that in 1939 and that’s still kinda the vibe now.

And man, did life become more interesting when I started going there with frequency. I wasn’t partying excessively, but I had crazy nights. I shot the shit with a teenage celebrity crush who was only interested because a writer I had befriended an hour earlier at the told her I was “a genius” which felt very Hollywood. A tuxedoed friend who just got hired for SNL was in town for the Emmys, saw me getting into a DeLorean-esque sports car outside of the Chateau with a lithe, stylish model and a man I was told was in organized crime, and wondered what my life had become. And I can’t even talk about what happened in the aforementioned bathroom on Thanksgiving but I’ll give you a worrying hint: Saltburn. #HollywoodBrett was a bit. But #ChateauBrett was REAL and was a shortcut out of the doldrums.

If you’re sitting at the bar at the Chateau, people assume you are important and will give you their card in hopes you can make their movie. I take advantage of this misconception whenever possible. I might be a big shot like Mr. Sam Levinson, for all they know!

I’ve made fleeting friends (and maybe a fleeting enemy or two) at the bar many times. A gorgeous dentist from Paris with a jazz musician boyfriend that came up way too late in the convo; a guy who was in Tremors and had great memories of it; a drunken sommelier who said I should give RFK Jr. a chance (I didn’t).

I had a moment of appreciation while observing some of the ephemera on display with a famous musician who shall remain nameless and her alligator tour guide husband one time. (She has a Chateau tattoo.)

There are quadrants to this place. A bar, a lounge, a restaurant, the hotel, the pool. I explored each one at a time, on different visits, like I was completing levels in a video game. I brought friends in and we all got to experience this together. My friend (who gets it) and I were at the pool, and she took a handful from the water and splashed it on me.

“Medicinal waters.”

She was right. MARILYN MONROE swam in that pool. HUMPHREY BOGART swam in that pool. DAVID SPADE swam in that pool.

I am not one of those people. I am a mere visitor, but the history of the Chateau does not only belong to the legends, but also the pretenders—literal pretenders, but also probably the band too, come to think of it.

New York had the magic right there for me. In Los Angeles, I had to seek out the magic a little bit. But I found it here, for better or worse.

I don’t go so often these days. It was briefly a hyperfixation—an expensive hobby, even if you’re not ordering the steak. Eventually, even the guy in Somewhere leaves the Chateau. (And abandons his car in the desert? Weird ending.) I feel like I finally finished the game, but it’s a game I’ll pick up again and introduce to other people over and over again because something happens when you walk up that staircase. And to think, I, once a young schmuck dressed like Michael O’Donoghue, I couldn’t get past the bathroom. I didn’t even think to try.

I’m visiting New York again. I was staying at a Holiday Inn in downtown Brooklyn. But this time, I insisted if people wanted to pay court to me, they’d have to meet me at the Chelsea Hotel. I’m #ChateauBrett now.

John Rosenberger passed away this week. He was a comedian and a regular, supportive fixture of the New York comedy scene. I cannot claim to have known him well. But what I have come to understand about the outpouring of love and sadness over his passing, it’s that so many shared a private DM or a memory of grabbing a beer after a show, and he surprised them with his insight and caring. He came from the hardcore scene, where he learned the lessons of collectivist action, and applied it to neurotic comedians and alley cats alike with a big, selfless heart. He will be missed by everyone who got to know him.

Whether you knew him or you didn’t, this is worth a read:

“We will have to step up for our neighbors in new and intensifying ways, and in many cases while we will be able to feel the warmth of our work, the moment may not allow us to stop and thank people the way we wish we could in real time.”

Fcukers “Feel The Real”

I remember in high school a friend of mine had a shirt that said “fcuk” on it, and another guy in my class was like “oooh so EDGY” and I don’t think he ever wore it again.

This is the issue I’ve had with Jackson Walker Lewis and Shanny Wise, otherwise known as Fcukers, or for that matter any band with Fuck in their name. Here are my feelings on as many as I can think of:

• Fuck Buttons - don’t mind this one, would love if a girlfriend used this as a sweet pet name for me

• Holy Fuck - never liked this band name, though there were two seperate comedy shows I liked that were named Holy Fuck so I guess context matters

• Fucked Up - I think this is a great name for a hardcore band

• Condo Fucks - Yo La Tengo side project that’s good but I don’t like the name

• Tropical Fuck Storm - I fully support them, and they had a killer set on The Best Show recently that I helped with, but the “Tropical” is doing some heavy lifting here to keep them on the right side of things

• Nice as Fuck - indiepop supergroup from 2016 and it works for what it is

• FIDLAR - If FIDLAR wasn’t a bad enough name, wait til you find out it stands for “Fuck it Dog, Life’s a Risk” (band is fine)

• The Fucking Champs - hard pass, especially when you learn it was their fix because they were unaware of the band that did “Tequila” and needed to change their name

• STRFKR - One time I was at Zebulon and a guy was talking to the bartender and he was like “oh I’m in STRFKR” and she made a face and this is what I’m talking about

Song is nice.

Elias Rønnenfelt & Erika De Casier “Blunt Force Trauma”

A power duo! I had a brief thought that he sounds a little like Bono in this but then I forced it out of my head. Sorry but “BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA” will be in your head all weekend.

Skeleten “Raw”

A very bold choice to make a music video where you are the world’s biggest punisher but here we are. The song and title is Sydney-based Russell Fitzgibbon‘s retort to overproduced dance music.

Gina Birch “Doom Monger”

I have opinions on the word “monger” too but I’ll spare you. This is Gina Birch, who you may know from a little band called The Raincoats. She’s very cool, and I hope to be as cool as she is whatever age she is now. I recommend watching this interview she did with Flo:

The Cleaners From Venus “The Artichoke That Loved Me”

I watched a bunch of those Digging videos and she uses this one by Cleaners From Venus, one of my all-time favorite bands, as the theme song.

Prewn “Dirty Dog”

“That dirty dawg did it again” is something they’re always saying about me

Prewn is the self recorded project of Izzy Hagerup, who didn’t initially intend for this to be a released song, which is why it kinda doesn’t make sense

Kelela “linknb”

I miss riding the subway. I actually take the train every week, multiple times a week in LA, but it’s a different experience and only goes a handful of places. I’m trying to recall the crazy things that I saw on the subway and it’s all a blur. But here’s a few things I do remember:

• That one magician guy

• There was a gross guy who was itching his bare ass on one of the wooden benches, then he got up and left, then we all got on the train, then the train doors shut, then a very fancy looking woman in a nice dress was about to sit in the same seat and, collectively, all the strangers on the train tried to communicate to her to not sit there nonverbally because the doors had shut, and she was confused and sat down and everyone went “nooo”

• Going to a station you don’t go to often and being like, “oh, this one is red, weird”

• The time a crazy guy just got at a charging angle and ran head-first into the wall and knocked himself out and everybody chose to ignore it and it was like, up to me to find somebody to help (fuck y’all)

• That bleak poem at 42nd street that hangs from the ceiling

• Seeing my ex on the train and saying to an acquaintance I was traveling with “oh man, that’s my ex” and that person obliviously shouting, “YOUR EX-GIRLFRIEND IS ON THE TRAIN!?”

• Fistbumping the showtime guy, reluctantly

• Eating a bagel on the train and getting a biiig wad of butter on a guy going to work (totally my bad, I’m sorry)

• Not being able to fit on the L train at Bedford Ave at 8:30 am

• Fucked up people still in Halloween costumes on November 1st morning commute

• The guy with the dancing robots

• One time getting on the train with Drake and or Josh and then a bunch of young girls freaking out and me trying to put it together who he was and somebody said “it’s Drake and Josh” even though it was just one of them

• Also saw Michael Cera a few times

• Also saw Pete Holmes once and hoping he didn’t see the time I played him on my public access show

• Learning what crack smells like secondhand

• Those psychos who would ride in between the cars

• The stations that had magazine stands on the platform

• I got really good at seeing how long the train was coming and if it was 3 minutes I had time to grab a slice of pizza at the spot near my house and them knowing that’s what I was doing and it became a game

I’ll be back in New York this week and will report on how much I actually missed it.

PinkPantheress “Tonight”

Like I said, I’m in NYC for a bit next week but I’m juuuuust missing a PinkPantheress show, but it’s also like a World Cup thing and she was juuuust on Hot Ones so I feel like vibes will be off anyways.

THE GOLD STANDARD

The Strokes “I’ll Try Anything Once (demo)”

This came on at the bar the other day. I feel like I’m libbing out or whatever by posting it but I really think it’s so beautiful. It could even be my favorite Strokes song, which is like saying “Temporary Secretary” is my favorite Beatles song (which it is). I’ll have more to say about this in a forthcoming post!

Hello all! First, I gotta plug. One week from today, 7:30pm at the Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles, my classic show THE LETHAL LOTTERY returns, where I pair up comedians to perform together and compete against other teams. It’s always a crazy night of comedy and we’ve gathered the funniest people to do it.

This time, I’m hosting alongside the great Nick Naney who suggested we bring it back, and we’re featuring four newly created comedy duos performing ONE NIGHT ONLY in a competition. See the following teams first and last performances:

• Jon Daly and Haley Stiel

• Max and Nicky Weinbach and Jessy Morner-Ritt

• Victoria Pandeirada and Brianna Ahlmark

• Martin Urbano and Allen Strickland Williams

More info and tickets here: https://partiful.com/e/9nUvPOcbSC238k3Z3cBH

Ok, now onto the songs:

Sweeping Promises “Shooting Shadows”

The best in the game is back with a ripper. This band is the best and they’re total sweethearts and got me to consider, “hey maybe I should move to Lawrence, Kansas—shit seems cool there” for a moment. They’ve brought in their live drummer and it makes a big difference to how raw they sound.

Ever hear about how Harry Nilsson fucked up his voice forever screaming at John Lennon? I feel like that’s going to happen to singer Lira Mondal after doing this on tour (which is fine if it sounds as good as this). I hope there’s a throatcoat tea plan or something like that. That “AGHHHHH” at 2:17 sounds like Henry Rollins at the beginning of “DO IT.”

Naomi Elizabeth “Smooth Like Power Steering”

I’ve been pacing myself on Naomi Elizabeth after recently discovering her. Last night on a long walk in the evening, I put on this song and once she starts going, “the first thing that you have to do is oooOOOoooOOOOhh” I started laughing out loud.

I posted “God Sent Me Hear To Rock You,” a song I’ve just discovered and thought was new (it was just re-added to YouTube and only had a few hundred views). I quickly became obsessed with the song (hot like the tropics, hot like the tropics) and my friend Sally informed me of some of the Naomi Elizabeth lore as a longtime follower from the Tumblr days. The scoop: not convinced it’s Naomi singing, and questioned if it was actually Amber Coffman singing. (I know for a fact some of you reading this know her, please ask for me). I wanted to enjoy the song without all the baggage at first but now I’m fully in.

The lore is still mysterious once you dig into it. She started to pop off when Grimes shared a post about her, saying, “she’s impossible to find which makes me more obsessed with her” and clearly inspired her in some ways. Her only contact was a voicemail (like Bill Murray) and a link to taquitos.net to get in touch. This Dazed article sums it up perfectly:

There’s something off, but you can’t explain what – unlike, for example, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, there are no contextual clues as to what emotions your brain should be switching to.

Frank Medley “First of All'“

Featuring Frank Medley again, who is not the rapper in the video—that’s Remtrex and this is the original. Frank is the remixer who takes grime freestyles like this and adds these jazzy, mellow sounds that completely reinvent them. I can’t get enough.

Horse Vision “You Could Have It”

This song from Stockholm’s Horse Vision is fine until 1:10 when it becomes that good shit.

Chanpan “Buzzin”

There’s a lot to say about this but I don’t have time for all that. I’m gonna name a new genre and it’s called HORNYBEAT and that’s what this is. I’ve been getting a lot of HORNYBEAT stuff getting presented to me and I don’t really know how to feel about it when I’m not hornymode, like I’m usually listening to this on a run or something. Anyways, HORNYBEAT mix cumming soon. (I’m sorry)

Maara “I’m The One You Want”

While Maara Sellem-Gagnon from Montreal is maybe more known for Y2Kresponsible for this chill trip-hop track. Is it just me or does the beginning of this track sound like the beginning of “Hip-Hop” by Dead Prez? Also, is this HORNYBEAT?

Sophia Stel “I’ll Take It”

If I lived in a building with a gym it would all be different.

Sadesper Record “Siesta”

Sadesper Record was a 2001 collaboration from NARASAKI, who was the creative force behind a space-shoegaze metal band called Coaltar of the Deepers, and NARASAKI, an electronic musician and former drummer of hardcore punk band Melt-Banana. This song was created for the film U.F.O. by Yu-ichi Sukigara, which is featured in the video. It’s a cool confluence of influences and sounds all coming together.

Quiet Light “postinternetfame”

A newer track from Austin’s Quiet Light, aka med school student Riya Mahesh who is blowing up. I’m not deeply familiar with her catalog but the new stuff seems to be adding vocals to what I’m at least familiar with and have featured here, which were mostly instrumentals. She says her music is the result of trying to "Charli XCX a Gillian Welch."

DJ Worm “No Room / BD 4 Ever”

Self-explanatory

THE GOLD STANDARD

Land of the Loops “Multi-Family Garage Sale (Bargain-Bin Mix)”

I was using this song to help promote the Best Show Garage Sale which was nice and I got to meet some nice people. Then it got stuck in my head and now it’s back on loop. This song is not HORNYBEAT because it includes lines about not having sex.

A month ago, I celebrated my birthday with many of my friends and strangers at Koreatown’s best bar/restaurant/tearoom/IYKYK spot, Thai Angel. Since I had the aux for the night and I’m a little sicko, I decided to painstakingly make a THREE-HOUR MASHUP MIX.

I am an amateur, I’m not a DJ and this is not a perfect mix. But I think it’s a GOOD mix. This was culled from hours and hours of scouring the darkest recesses of the internet for some classics like this cool ass dude’s inspiring Warren G & Evanescence mashup, and painstakingly learning how to make a mashup on Adobe Premiere.

Thanks to all of the original and mashup artists who made these and try to guess which ones are mine in the comments.

Special thanks to:

• Jamie, the proprietor of Thai Angel, for too many birthday shots, and for having a cool spot that does half the work in making it a fun party

• Artem Lomaz for helping me hunt for mashups

• Rob Michael Hugel for submitting his own “Macho Man” mashup and giving me a ride home

• Sally Burtnick for explaining to me what “pitch” is

• Andrew Gleason for helping me when I couldn’t figure out how to change the pitch

• Tom Scharpling for buying everybody dumplings

• David Letterman and Booker T for the drops

If indie sleaze is a thing then welcome to the mashup renaissance. I gift this to you, reader, on the 20th anniversary of Night Ripper (no Girl Talk appears on the mashup playlist) in the hopes it will change your life. Play this at your next party! Or sit down in your easy chair, press play, and wind up like this guy:

SPOILERS:

1. Edan – “Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme”

2. Tinashe x Too $hort – “Nasty” x “Blow The Whistle”

3. The Avalanches – “Since I Left You (Prince Paul Remix)”

4. Kendrick Lamar x Ludacris – “Squabble Up” x “Stand Up”

5. Kendrick Lamar x Justin Timberlake – “Squabble Up” x “Rock Your Body”

6. Ludacris x Mark Ronson – “Move Bitch” x “Ooh Wee”

7. Usher x Dua Lipa – “Yeah!” x “Levitating”

8. 50 Cent x Mariya Takeuchi – “In Da Club” x “Plastic Love”

9. Sabrina Carpenter x Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen – “Espresso” x “Gimme Pizza”

10. The Doopees – “Doopee Time”

11. Lupe Fiasco x Röyksopp – “Kick Push” x “Eple”

12. Ashnikko x Kelis – “Slumber Party” x “Milkshake”

13. SOPHIE x Kelis – “Faceshopping” x “Milkshake”

14. WWE x Bad Bunny – “Whoop That Trick” x “Chambea” (ft. Booker T)

15. Lil Uzi Vert x Brie Larson – “Demon High” x “Black Sheep”

16. Herbie Hancock x Beastie Boys – “Rockit” x “Intergalactic”

17. Doechii x Pharrell – “Nissan Altima” x “Frontin’”

18. The Cardigans – “Lovefool”

19. Doja Cat x Ariana Grande – “Say So” x “thank u, next”

20. Doja Cat x Education Connection – “Say So” x “Education Connection”

21. De La Soul – “A Rollerskate Jam Called Saturdays”

22. ODB x CSS – “Got Your Money” x “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above”

23. The Whispers x Londonbeat – “The Beat Goes On” x “I’ve Been Thinking About You”

24. Doechii x Missy Elliott – “Nissan Altima” x “Lose Control”

25. Yaz x Sean Paul – “Situation” x “Temperature”

26. Stardust x Modjo – “Music Sounds Better With You” x “Lady”

27. The xx x Bad Bunny – “Intro” x “DTMF”

28. Various Artists – “Jock Jams Megamix”

29. Azealia Banks x Charli XCX – “212” x “Von Dutch”

30. Death Grips x Doss & Rye Rye – “I’ve Seen Footage” x “Look”

31. Gelli Haha – “Bounce House”

32. NewJeans x Ghost Town DJ’s – “Ditto” x “My Boo”

33. Smerz – “You Got Time And I Got Money”

34. Destiny’s Child – “Bills, Bills, Bills” (Snippet)

35. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)”

36. The Trammps x Rob Zombie – “Disco Inferno” x “Dragula”

37. Justice – “D.A.N.C.E. (Justice Remix)”

38. The Bravery x M.I.A. – “An Honest Mistake” x “URAQT”

39. Das Racist x The Rapture – “Combination Pizza Hut...” x “Whoo!”

40. Ludacris x The Rapture – “Rollout (My Business)” x “Whoo! Alright...”

41. Luiyito/Midas x Baby Keem – “Nueva Yol” x “Family Ties”

42. Baby Keem x Bad Bunny – “Family Ties” x “El Club”

43. Baby Keem/Kendrick x Bad Bunny – “Family Ties” x “MONACO”

44. Art of Noise x The Darkness – “Moments in Love” x “I Believe...”

45. Alice Deejay x Peter Bjorn and John – “Better Off Alone” x “Young Folks”

46. Alice Deejay x Alphaville – “Better Off Alone” x “Forever Young”

47. Safri Duo x The Postal Service – “Played-A-Live” x “Silhouettes”

48. Safri Duo x Gorillaz – “Played-A-Live” x “Feel Good Inc.”

49. Gorillaz x Addison Rae – “Feel Good Inc.” x “Fame Is A Gun”

50. NewJeans x Fred again.., Skepta – “Cool With You” x “Victory Lap”

51. Zara Larsson x PinkPantheress x Aqua – “Stateside” x “Barbie Girl”

52. SOPHIE x Destiny’s Child – “Immaterial” x “Say My Name”

53. INOJ x PinkPantheress – “Love Me Down” x “Illegal”

54. Cupid – “Cupid Shuffle”

55. Tommy Richman – “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”

56. Clairo x Travis Scott – “Juna” x “Junkyard”

57. Aphex Twin x Oklou – “Flim” x “Choke”

58. PinkPantheress x NewJeans – “Nice to Meet You” x “Super Shy”

59. Nourished By Time – “Baby Baby”

60. TV on the Radio x Outkast – “I Was a Lover” x “Int’l Players Anthem”

61. Outkast x Bloc Party – “B.O.B.” x “Banquet”

62. Toni Basil x Kreayshawn – “Mickey” x “Gucci Gucci”

63. Kreayshawn x Le Tigre – “Gucci Gucci” x “Deceptacon”

64. Kreayshawn x The Ting Tings – “Gucci Gucci” x “That’s Not My Name”

65. The Go-Go’s x Kreayshawn – “We Got the Beat” x “Gucci Gucci”

66. The Strokes – “Reptilia”

67. Childish Gambino x Gorillaz – “Redbone” x “Clint Eastwood”

68. Biggie x The Isley Brothers – “Juicy” x “Between The Sheets”

69. Erika de Casier – “Do My Thing”

70. Bad Brilliance – “Quack Head”

71. DODDODO & DJ Maighty Mars – “abcdosaka”

72. MF DOOM x John Cena – “Valerian Root” x “The Time Is Now”

73. Charles Hamilton – “Scorpion”

74. Kero Kero Bonito x Death Grips – “Flamingo” x “Lord of the Game”

75. Sickick x 50 Cent – “In Da Club” (Sickick Remix/Mashup)

76. The Knife x Biggie – “Heartbeats” x “Things Done Changed”

77. Björk x Aaliyah – “Bachelorette” x “Try Again”

78. Daft Punk x Madvillain – “Something About Us” x “Figaro”

79. Evanescence x Warren G – “Bring Me To Life” x “Regulate”

80. Biggie x Papa Roach – “Hypnotize” x “Last Resort”

81. Shaggy x Doechii – “It Wasn’t Me” x “Denial”

82. Doechii x Gang Starr – “Catfish” x “Mass Appeal”

83. Doechii x Busta Rhymes – “Catfish” x “Woo Hah!!”

84. Mark Morrison x Ini Kamoze – “Return of the Mack” x “Hotstepper”

85. Sister Nancy x Gorillaz – “Bam Bam” x “Dirty Harry”

86. Klub des Loosers x MF DOOM – “Depuis que j’étais enfant”

87. t.A.T.u. x Daddy Yankee – “All The Things She Said” x “Gasolina”

88. Neil Cicerenga – “Friends” (Mouth Moods)

89. Vanessa Carlton x Limp Bizkit – “A Thousand Miles” x “Rollin’ (UAV)”

90. KRS-One, Nas & Rakim – “Classic” (DJ Premier Remix)

91. A Tribe Called Quest – “Electric Relaxation”

92. Ludacris x T-Pain – “One More Drink” x “Stand Up”

93. Ludacris x Snoop Dogg – “One More Drink” x “Ain’t No Fun”

94. Ludacris x Dr. Dre – “One More Drink” x “The Next Episode”

95. Ludacris x Snoop Dogg – “One More Drink” x “Tha Shiznit”

96. Aaliyah x The xx – “Try Again” (Vocals) x “Intro”

97. DMX x The xx – “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” x “Intro”

98. Missy Elliott x ODB – “Work It” x “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”

99. The White Stripes x Eric B. & Rakim – “My Doorbell” x “Paid In Full”

100. Fatman Scoop x DJ Snake – “Be Faithful” x “Turn Down For What”

I got more songs. Check out the playlist here!

John Roseboro “I Took The L”

It’s his joke but I’ll make it too. This song from John Roseboro is about “taking the L,” which I did daily for years in New York City and, in a broader sense, have done daily in some form since birth. Haitian-American John Roseboro seems to have made every weird choice one could make, from living in an Amish community to working as a moritician.

Paul Grimstad & Talia Ryder “Evening Mirror”

Shout out to Dan Arnes for posting this song on IG. Paul Grimstad is the revolutionary on the other side of the phone in One Battle After Another and also the guy from Frownland. But those are his only two acting roles as he recently explained in a recent Best Show interview. He’s actually a musician well known for his soundtracks, including this one from Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East.

Chanpan “luigi’s mansione”

Somebody was bound to make this connection. I’m glad it was this catchy breakbeat lounge song by NYC’s Chanpan that sounds like it could be soundtracking a video game level. “I wonder what this song is about,” sings Grace Dumdaw (aka gracegrace) alongside Lance & Matthew Tran as sorta Mario & Luigi as the most hit-you-over-the-head (literally) visuals play but it’s fun and cathartic. The band got their start busking for fun in Chinatown but have gained a following due to Grace’s appearances in tv shows and music videos and the band’s expert shitposting.

Park Hye Jin “See So (I Can Hear Your Heart)”

A chiller from “K-House” DJ and polyglot Park Hye Jin whose sound has been shaped over the years from living in Seoul, Melbourne, London and Los Angeles.

If “Mr. Jokes” Steve Whalen somehow heard about this song he’d make a ton of Seeso jokes.

Naomi Elizabeth “God Sent Me Here To Rock You”

This rules. It sounds somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of Kesha and The Space Lady. Apparently, this has been around for a decade or more, and has a lot of people rightfully confused:

“sounds like sheryl crow lobotomy style”

“i dont care what you say this music video FUCKS and this song ROCKS”

“The file room killed me”

“I hear a mix of Grimes and Dirty Projectors. Not too bad of a song tbh.”

“Grimes tweeted that she has been listening to this for years now.”

“Here ten years later to remind you that Naomi is a top-tier performance artist and none of you can even comprehend her self-awareness, integrity and presentation.”

“meh, id hit it”

Bjork “I Miss You (Dobie Rub Part One) - Sunshine Mix

This is a chill track from a 1996 Bjork remix album. I had a big mashup mix I’ve been working on and may share soon and adding Bjork vocals to anything makes it more interesting.

Deki Alem “Stray Dog”

A departure from previous Deki Alem songs I’ve posted that are more moody post-punk tracks. This one feels like something I would have heard on a burned CD that somebody downloaded off Napster. (I didn’t have Napster.) It feels spiritually in this nebulous Jurassic 5 / Del / Dr. Octagon zone even if it doesn’t sound like any of them.

DJ Swisha & OSSX “Bone App The Teeth”

DJ Swisha from Brooklyn ("yerrr") and OSSX from New Jersey ("[slur]," yelled) made this track which is supposed to be pronounced like "Bon Appetit" and its a Jersey club hit from a few years ago.

Hot Pepper “Camino Equivocado”

Heard this one on the NTS Guide to Mexican Discoteca mix, highly recommended.

Mr. Fingers “Mystery of Love”

This Resident Advisor video about Larry Heard taught me all about this song I’ve heard at parties but have never ID’d! I’m not well-versed in deep house but I’ve watched a YouTube video about it, so now I’m an expert:

THE GOLD STANDARD

Delroy Wilson “This Life Makes Me Wonder”

This is a classic rocksteady track that I’ve loved for years. It’s melancholy as hell (my resting mood) but it still has a nice groove.

Dear diary,

I’ve been loving the trend of videos of robots hitting kids and knocking over plates. Delivery robots? Fuck off. Humanoid robots who do little dances and sometimes malfunction? I’m all for it. Even the mascot of this blog is ASIMO.

I went to Disneyland with a friend a few years ago and the ride where you drive little cars around (not the Cars cars, the ones that you actially drive and really smell like gas) was sponsored by Honda and had a little ASIMO there and I reacted like I saw my favorite celebrity.

Speaking of, I got to do a show with my actual favorite celebrity Conan O’Brien a few weeks ago and he was as nice as I could have imagined. He was trying out jokes for the Oscars and couldn’t have been more cool and chill backstage. I have said for years the only celebrity I would really care about meeting was Conan. I made my friend Rob get a beer with me before the show so I would be normal. (I learned in my 20’s that one beer calms the nerves before you do comedy onstage, but it’s two beers maximum or else it starts to mess up your timing.) I was mostly normal!

Here’s a pic of me fucking cheesing because Conan had his arm around me and was cracking jokes the whole time. Thanks to my good friends Joe and Clare who had me on the show. I quote Clare below!

More songs I’ve been into. Check out the full playlist of them here.

Jesse Rae “Inside Out”

The Drama was great. I saw it alone in a Burbank theater full of people who did not know what they had signed up for and I felt like the only person laughing. But by the end of the film I felt like I had been in a car crash. But the biggest takeaway, after Jeremy Levick as the DJ and his little hat, is how much this one got stuck in my head.

While the Odyssey version is more well-known, it was written by this weird Scottish guy named Jesse Rae. The armor isn’t just for the album cover, he wore it all the time—even in business meetings. He said it was because he was a “funk warrior,” which would have been a sufficient explanation for me. Rae refused to have meetings in London, demanding they meet him in the Highlands. Weird gimmick, but it could have been worse:

After initially making his way to the US as the bassist in a heavy metal band, in the 1970s and 1980s Jesse Rae became a close companion and collaborator with some of the great American funk musicians of the era – Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads’ synthesiser guru Bernie Worrell, the talk-box loving Roger Troutman of G-funk progenitors Zapp and Roger (as sampled on 2Pac’s California Love), as well as Keith LeBlanc and Doug Wimbish from the Sugarhill Records house band (as featured on White Lines and The Message) and many more. Between 1979 and 1987, with a little help from his friends, Rae penned a raft of slick, groovy, camp and not a little bit silly synth-funk singles, full of Celtic bon mots, sung with a thick Scottish flourish and accompanied by surreal, self-directed videos.

He eventually ran for Scottish parliament (in the helmet), but lost. What a guy!

Shira Small “I Want To Lay With You”

Another one from The Drama. This soundtrack rules.

This record was recorded in a day in 1974 as a class project by a high school student from Pennsylvania. Numero Group released this years later.

Ghédalia Tazartès “Casimodo Tango”

I’ve been thinking about taking dance lessons. For years, actually. One inspiration was Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. I always thought, it would be cool to surprise someone with being really good at doing the tango. I was trying to tell this to a friend recently but misspoke. I was like, “I want to learn the tango, I was inspired by Last Tango in Paris.” That means something very different.

He’s better known for his tape loop work but he included this very French accordion cabaret song on this record. It’s so French he’s singing about Quasimodo. Ironically, Ghédalia Tazartès is actually on The Drama soundtrack too but I’ve been listening to this one for months—what are the odds?

Fine “Days Incomplete”

More good shit from Copenhagen. Fine is a collaborator with two of my faves, Erika de Casier and Astrid Sonne.

Tara Lily & King Krule “Tropical Storm”

Tara Lily, from London by way of Bengali, began a mid-lockdown collaboration King Krule, who I have been a big fan of since the Zoo Kid days (when he was literally a kid).

They Are Gutting a Body of Water “The Chase”

This video stressed me the fuck out

Deki Alem “Wet Paint”

The band calls this their mosh pit song and the video features a POV of a coke straw.

Love Spirals Downwards “Nova”

While Love Spirals Downwards was known for a more dreamy sound, this was the first track of theirs to incorporate some DnB sounds.

Vegyn “It’s Nice To Be Alive”

This came up for me on YouTube automatically. And, respect. I like the song and the video. I like when the guy starts making an invisible fireball with his hands, it reminds me of Hechicero, the alchemist.

I usually don’t trust the algorithm. I’ll be watching like, a Bar Italia video or something, and then YouTube will be like, because he likes [ROCK MUSIC] we will play [ARTIST:WEEZER] and then I get mad. I still get irrationally mad about a time I was in high school and went to a record store in the mall and asked about a new record by The Hives, and the guy was like—we don’t have that but we do have the new album by The Get Up Kids. BITCH, IF I ASKED FOR A SODA, DON’T OFFER ME MILK. Still mad at that guy.

Vegyn was inspired by The Sims and Donkey Kong Country for this song. Vegyn’s father is Phil Thornalley, who was a member of The Cure and co-wrote “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia.

Quiet Light “Paris”

Morning music.

Furacão 2000 “Mimosa 2000”

I have to apologize. I’ve been into this song for a while and featured it recently, and attributed it to a more modern artist who is, for lack of a better word, an EDM douche. And while that is factually correct, I dug a little deeper, and it’s actually just a remix of THIS track, which itself is a Frankenstein of a bunch of Miami bass and freestyle sounds—including Nyasia’s “Now and Forever” (though it’s only the newer version she’s credited on) and Tony Garcia’s “Just Like The Wind.”

PPJ “Mimosa 2000”

I only realized this because one of my fave groups, PPJ (Páula, Povoa, Jerge) covered it.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Todd Terje “Svensk Sås”

I was gonna include one more song from The Drama soundtrack, but I like these two Todd Terje songs a bit more than the one on the soundtrack. But this whole record was pretty huge for some people, right? It was for me!

Todd Terje “Inspector Norse”

Kristoffer Borgli directed this music video which must have been the first thing of his i ever saw. The video follows a guy named Marius who just spends his days making up dances. I also recommend Sick of Myself, which is a real nightmare of a movie.

Shout out to my buddy Frank Flaherty who DJ’d and did sound for my shows in Brooklyn, particularly The Macaulay Culkin Show at Shea Stadium. He would always play this song when we’d be about to start the show—so I always associate this song with, “ok, time to start the show!” Please remind me to play this at my wedding if I ever get married.

aLex vs aLex & S.3.R “centro aLt”

This is a track by Guatemalan-born New Yorker/Berliner aLex vs aLex (Sofia Insua). In this song and video, joined by S.3.R. (singer of American-Columbian psych-rock band Divino Niño), who looks very cool. I considered what this look would look like on my face and body and I think it would translate perfectly.

comment “YES!” below if u agree

J.R.C.G. “Cholla Beat”

ok we get it you’re talented. JRCG is Justin R. Cruz Gallego, who is on Sub Pop and the song is named after a type of cactus I think.

Daufødt “Jeg vil bare hjem”

RIPPER. Daufødt (translates to “Stillborn”) is a hardcore band from Norway, but they’ve called this song (translates to “I just want to go home”) their version of a “pop song.” The lyrics, vocals and even artwork are by Annika Linn Verdal Homme, whose anti-capitalist lyrics led to an angry letter-writing campaign by “the Norwegian elite” (which sounds like a cruise ship).

SCHA DARA PARR “Summer Jam ‘95”

My good bud Pat Byrne heard this (I believe IN Tokyo) and clocked it as a “Brett song” and I really appreciate that.

Scha Dara Parr were huge in Japanese hip-hop and DJ Shinco’s sample of “Seven Minutes of Funk” by The Whole Darn Family (also used by Jay-Z) made this a summertime jam equivalent to that Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff song.

Essentially, the Japanese Beastie Boys, Bose, Ani, and Shinco presented themselves as chill, normal, drama-free dudes in contrast to the posturing of other more gangsta-esque acts of the era. They were also some of the first to rock BAPE!

GEE LEE, Riton and Kah-Lo “Coke & Rum (Fake ID Remix)”

This song is a blast. If I were English and heard this at the club, I’d say something like “dis is PROPER Camden, mate!” but I’m from New Jersey, and haven’t needed a fake ID in a very long time… but I still know how to party… but if I drink rum I just feel very bad the next day.

It’s a remix of a song from a few years back which sounds like this, which has had a big TikTok resurgence lately (thus the remix), but it’s interpolating The Clapping Song!

ideasforconversations “14c4”

New York duo ideasforconversations (Mollie Gilbertson and Emerson Fossett) met working at a New York grocery store and the band’s name supposedly comes from one a list in Mollie’s notes app.

VANO 30000 “Running Away”

Sometimes a song just needs to be under two minutes. Do the thing a couple of times and then move on. It’s why everybody liked that J Dilla record. It’s why I don’t mind TikTok music! (I know there’s been a lot of TikTok songs lately, but I’m not even on TikTok that much—half the time I’m finding this out retroactively.)

This VANO 30000 remix is the version I’ve had on repeat but the original is a collab between BADBADNOTGOOD and Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands:

BADBADNOTGOOD & Samuel T. Herring “Time Moves Slow”

Songs don’t need to be fast either.

NEW YORK “city”

*The name of this song is written the way Matt Berry says it.

Accelera Deck “Film the Drums”

In addition to being good advice for a live music videographer, “Film the Drums,” is also another track off this record which I discovered a few months ago and has been good walking music since.

Acopia “Falling”

Another track from this band I’ve talked about a lot on here.

Genesis Owusu - STAMPEDE

This song rules but this video stressed me the FUCK out.

Bina “Bossy”

“bitch, you look like KANE” (complimentary 🙂)

Eliana Glass “Good Friends Call Me E”

Good friends call me B.

Comment “we love u B!” down below if you like me.

THE GOLD STANDARD:

Wiley “Goin’ Mad”

I LOVED grime in high school. Just imagine skinny ass, shaggy-haired Brett, with his non-Apple Mp3 player that holds like 30 songs, walking around suburban New Jersey going, “I FINK OIM GOIN MAD, MAITE…I FINK IM LOOSEN MOY MOYND…I GOT SO MUCH ON ME PLATE (i got so much on me plate)…I FINK OIM GOIN MAD, MAITE.”

Hello, it’s been a while since I’ve updated (been feeling whatever) which means I have so many songs I really like but they could have had a whole life cycle in this time period. I’ve been a bit checked out.

Been working hard on something I’m excited to share with people. If you’ve talked to me personally within the month I’ve probably mentioned it. It’s very dumb.

I keep this playlist updated here.

Automatic “Mercury”

I was super excited to book Automatic on The Best Show (check out the set here) a month or two ago and this song of theirs is my absolute fave of their newer stuff.

Cannibal Ox “Iron Galaxy”

Ok somehow I never got into Cannibal Ox in high school despite listening to everything around it but now I am. This song makes me excited to try weed for the first time.

Kassie Krut “Copycat”

Kassie Krut is one of my fave newer NYC acts that I’ve featured on here a few times. This one sounds like SOPHIE remixing Vampire Weekend with Kim Gordon doing her rap thing over it.

Show Me The Body & Princess Nokia “Spit”

I had a big Show Me The Body phase a while back before I was writing this thing and for whatever reason I seem to have missed their newer music last year including this SEXY (and a lil scummy) song collaborating with Princess Nokia, which is like a superhero team up for people who have gotten in fist fights late at night in Bushwick DIY venues. Both SMTB and Nokia are genre-fluid and do great collabs so it’s a great fit.

They Are Gutting a Body of Water “american food”

Did you see this NTS performance of TAGBOW in a garbage dump? If I had millions of dollars I would just put it towards making weird stuff like this.

HOMADE “Blue Fish”

This track is from a few years ago by rising NYC band HOMADE. This song was recorded after they won a contest which should be how more songs get made. I also like the name of the band.*

*I don’t know if the title is a joke (“ho made”) and I’m afraid to acknowledge.

12 RODS “Mexico”

This one has been on repeat for a while for me, after I heard it on one of Derrick Gee’s listening videos. 12 Rods, from Minneapolis, released this song in 1996 off the album gay?,(which is a great album title), and got a 10.0 on Pitchfork, which I guess existed then. The band was built up to be the “American Radiohead,” but sometimes things don’t happen. The silver lining is that people can discover it like a hidden treasure when they feel like they’ve heard it all.

Jimothy Lacoste “Subway System”

I was walking around Chicago with my good pal Kate Sweeney, who asked me “Do you know Jimothy?” I didn’t know this was a music question and I think I responded “I don’t want to know a Jimothy,” but turns out I like Jimothy. I even kinda like when he speaks in third person in this.

This song is from seven years ago.

Sex Week “Bluff”

Hm for me every week is sex week? This is a newer band from NYC currently touring for Acopia, a show I should have bought tickets for in LA but I didn’t and I missed it.

Dean Blunt & Elias Rønnenfelt “5”

This is a fun collab of mysterious weird Dean Blunt (who has a hand in so much shit I like), Elias from Iceage (still weird to me he’s dating Jenna Ortega), and producer Vegyn (who I’ve been listening to a lot in the morning to encourage me from bedrotting for hours). Another good morning song…

Bobbi Humphrey “Blacks and Blues”

I grew up watching Taxi and grooving my little child-ass to the intro every time, so this is great for me. Bobbi Humphrey is called the “First Lady of the Flute” which is a confusing title for me because it sounds like she married a flute.

Ahmed Malek “Bossa”

The heads know the best bossa nova is from Algeria.

Bad Bunny “NUEVAYoL”

You know this song but I’ve been listening to so much Bad Bunny just adding this here for posterity.

Kumo 99 “Ziplock”

This video—Jesus Christ, guys.

Alok & DENNIS “Mimosa (feat. Nyasia)”

You might have heard this on TikTok. It’s catchy and fun and to put it nicely doesn’t sound the way the video looks. It’s way more Webster Hall ‘89 than EDC 2011, but I don’t really keep an eye on that world. I’ve never even done any of the things shown in the video. Never been to a big electronic festival, never sprayed champagne on hot strangers while Erika Kirk fireworks go off, and I don’t really wear shorts unless I’m at a pool. But this might be the summer where that all changes…

THE GOLD STANDARD:

Xzibit “Paparazzi”

I’m not the biggest Xzibit fan but I feel bad that broadly culturally, he’s more known in like the genre of the Top Gear guys. But this song sounds like Mobb Deep or something.

This is a good ass beat. But do you KNOW? Do you know what it is? I’m gonna take a second and you try to guess and unless you know you’ll never get it.

Take a second and try to identify the voice.

Ok it’s this. Isn’t that crazy?

What a shit year! Even if you take a glass half full approach, there’s still shit in the glass—you don’t want to drink shit! If you had a nice lil year, god bless ya. But there’s always good shit to appreciate.

Favorite TV show was 100% Haha, You Clowns. If you’re a close friend reading this, I probably sat you down to watch the web series with me at some point. I had Phantom Menace-level excitement for the Adult Swim show and it has not disappointed.

Additionally, I loved The Chair Company, Common Side Effects, and The Rehearsal, which absolutely blew my mind.

Favorite movie of the year was One Battle After Another, but you too probably. I also really liked Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship—the “licking the toad” sequence is an all-timer. I also liked Amalia Ulman’s Magic Farm (her La Planeta was a first time watch, too). Weapons surpassed my expectations with one of the best endings I’ve ever seen a film have. I also had fun with Fantastic Four and felt weird in a good way with If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

Also, I like fake wrestling not real fighting but they cast a fake wrestler in The Smashing Machine and I loved it—particularly the Cleaners From Venus needle drop. When I was doing The Podcast For Laundry, I teased the phrase “Corridor of Dreams” the whole show, knowing the end would be me going to heaven, which, naturally, was a big laundromat with all my friends. I will say it’s unlikely Cleaners From Venus would be playing in a Scottsdale supermarket (like it does at the end), but the movie perfectly recreates late 90’s radio from Rod Stewart to Lil Suzy to the Jon Secada song in the carnival clip above, so I’ll forgive it. Also the film has the perfect score from Nala Sinephro and an incredible era-appropriate tie-in game made by Blake Andrews & company, where you help Mark Kerr meditate.

Now, it’s onto the SONGS:

Smerz “You Got Time And I Got Money”

When I wrote about this song earlier this year, I pondered if it would be my “song of the summer” and it turned out I was right, and it was also my song of the fall as well. Shout out to Smerz for putting out a remix album with my faves Erika De Casier, Astrid Sonne, and a remix of this song with MIKE, Fousheé and Elias Rønnenfelt from Iceage which is like a 2020s version of those 2000’s era songs where it would be like Pharrell and Julian Casablancas on a song specifically written for a Converse commercial.

Gelli Haha “Bounce House”

Probably the catchiest song that might be on this list. Respect to any performer who brings three trampolines and a parachute to every show.

Oklou “blade bird”

Actually, this might be the catchiest song of the bunch? Hard to say. I love this set of her performing with figure skaters. I love how this song has these really interesting production flourishes, but it also kinda sounds like something Dido released in 2001.

Erika de Casier “Delusional”

This song is like Sade meets “Insane in the Membrane” and that is a huge compliment from me. Another year, another Erika de Casier record that doesn’t miss.

Destroyer & Fiver “Bologna”

Every once in a while I’ll read that magazine that is on the plane and it’s like, have you considered a trip to this five-star resort in Porto? And the eventual answer is, “I will never own a home and I sometimes can’t afford food,” but for a blissful moment the answer is “I am seriously considering a trip to this five-star resort in Porto” and that moment is the sweet spot to put some Destroyer on.

Backxwash “9th Heaven”

Backxwash is a rapper from Montreal who has previously won the Polaris prize and while she’s always pushed the boundaries in her music, this feels like a big shift in style and sound. I saw the world “horrorcore” thrown around but that’s also ICP, and I won’t do that to her. (FYI, I know one ICP song by heart but it’s never available for karaoke.)

Sudan Archives “MS. PACMAN”

“In my favorite BLOUSE” is an all-time lyric.

Water From Your Eyes “Life Signs”

KoЯn influence detected.

Bar Italia “Fundraiser”

Hey it’s the guy from Peep Show! This is Bar Italia sounding the most they ever have like an mid-2000s band I would have loved in high school that’s ripping off XTC.

Kari Faux “rebound”

Kari Faux (from Little Rock, Arkansas) is one of my favorites. This woman is a chameleon—her sound is constantly changing but it’s always hitting right. Compare this to this!

Honningbarna “Amor Fati”

This song rips. It’s kinda like if The Hives decided to make an IDLES record and did a better job than IDLES.

Jim Legxacy “father”

“on the block, I was listening to Mitski.”

Frank Medley “Scars”

This hits hard! Vocals on the track are from Lioness & Queenie from about seven years ago, rapping over a new track from Frank Medley. They rapped quite a bit before the sun went down completely that day. Here’s what Queenie is up to lately. This rules so hard I can’t begin to explain it.

babybaby_explores “Nice Sometimes”

I’ve posted about this Providence band but this song is maybe their biggest earworm. “But sometimes…I can be…not that…NICE” is exactly I say to my opps when I want the smoke.

untitled (halo) “blunt subconscious”

I like a band where one person sings and then the other people patiently vibe in the background until it’s their turn to sing.

The Marias “Back To Me”

I can’t stress enough low pleasant every song by The Marias sounds. Check out her new record under the name Not For Radio for songs that sound a little less Cardigans and a little more Broadcast.

Jadu Heart “AUX”

Jadu Heart is Alex Headford and Diva-Sachy Jeffrey, who dated for nine years, then broke up, kept their band going, then made an album about it.

Clipse “Ace Trumpets”

This comment sums it up well:

Pusha T have me feeling like I need to protect my imaginary drug empire

Optic Sink “Don’t Look Down”

One of my very favorite bands down in Memphis, Optic Sink add a cool CAN-y influence to their synth-y post-punk sound.

Raisa K “Affectionately”

Raisa is from the band Good Sad Happy Bad, which is the response I stutter when people ask me how I’m doing these days.

Madeline Goldstein “1996 Expectations”

Songs for planning to murder your husband to.

Kilo Kish “Reprogram”

Kilo Kish continues her office culture saga with this music video.

Pulp “Spike Island”

Props to a creative way to use AI to say AI sucks and is nauseating. I do like when they’re all suddenly Asian for some reason.

Gut Health “Beat to Beat”

I’ve talked about my love of Gut Health (the band and the concept) a lot before. The Melbourne/Naarm group’s lead singer Athina Uh-oh is super fun to watch onstage. But I recently read something comparing her voice to Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings, and this is totally what that band would sound like if they rocked a bit more.

Mamalarky “#1 Best of All Time”

Should I rent a convertible? Never drove one before. Only was a passenger in one like twice. (Unless you count the Cars ride at Disneyland—then 4 times.)

KNEECAP (feat. Mozey) “The Recap”

Me, in the rave pit, moshdancing, while enunciating perfectly: “Na, na, na, imithe le fada, its KNEECAP the recap, ríthe Bhéal Feirste!”

3l3d3p “rpa”

As usual, the video still has the prerequsite 3l3d3p seizure warning.

Nourished By Time “BABY BABY”

Nourished By Time was one of my big faves last year, and I admittedly slept a bit on this record (maybe I overdid it), but this track was a highlight. I like the part where he goes “BABY, BABY...BABY, BABY...BABY BABY!!!”

Amaarae “Girlie-Pop!”

Song moment of the year is the way it literally switches genres when she says, quite literally, “switching genres til we make it pop—POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP.”

PinkPantheress “Illegal”

Everybody’s loving PinkPantheress these days…

and it’s nice to see!! PinkPantheress is a nice girl!!

Nearing the end of the year and I’m about to drop my best of the year list but wanted to get a few more tracks I loved in there under the wire. They’re all collected here on S*****y.

Jim Legxacy “father”

I saw this one from London-based Jim Legxacy (I will definitely pronounce it the way it’s spelled in conversation until someone tells me the ‘x’ is silent) pop up on a few end-of-year lists and it instantly hooked me. Sounds nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. And it’s as short as a Wire song! It makes you wanna just play it again. I love the frutiger aero vibes of the video too. I also love "on the block, I was listening to Mitski." And I never had a father either!

Amaarae “Girlie-Pop!”

I previously talked about Amaarae’s “this feels like a hit from 2003” song “Counterfeit” before, but this one feels like a Janet Jackson song that with a Jersey Club bounce and afrobeat drums. It’s all over the place, which is fitting from someone who lived both in Jersey and Ghana. Song moment of the year is the way it literally switches genres when she says, quite literally, “switching genres til we make it pop—POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP.”

Lauren Duffus “Riser Brummm”

I feel like NTS fave Lauren Duffus (from Lewisham, UK) and her “dystopian club tracks” perfectly capture how I’ve felt this year: a little down, a little spaced out, a little "chopped-n-stretched," but not completely grooveless.

NEW YORK “you”

I was really looking forward to seeing electronica duo NEW YORK when I was in Chicago but I waited too long and wasted a night waiting to get into their show with Smerz and well, I never got into that show. It was sold out and I waited around for tickets to open up that just never did. This is frustrating for me, someone whose years of experience doing comedy and skipping lines and confidently walking into places, coupled with many instances of being “on the list” (yes, I am bragging) was thwarted by The Empty Bottle’s judicious door people.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the project known as NEW YORK after writing about it a year ago. It’s from an American, Coumba Samba, and Estonian artist Gretchen Lawrence, based in London.

There’s more of their music out there but with them coming from the art world, I’m drawn to how conceptual it is. It’s all very Y2K, intentionally amateurish at times, and feels a bit impenetrable at times. The sound it’s recreating reminds me of being 14, in high school in New Jersey, and finding new leftfield music like this for the first time. Maybe I’m projecting and taking the title too literally, but it reminds me of looking at New York from an aspirational perspective. It felt worlds away even though there was a train that went there in my town that woke me up every morning. The fact that this band is from London (despite it also being a Metropolis) maybe speaks to this feeling—or again, I’m just projecting.

In fact, I was literally just on the outside looking in once again in a new city, and they were frustratingly out of reach. I’ll figure it out!

ear “Real Life”

ear is Yaelle Avtan and Jonah Paz, who are from London and upstate New York and maybe even make their music like that. Here’s a bit about the making of this song from an interview they did with No Bells:

I was playing the melody on the MacBook keyboard over and over again and I was like, “That’s lowkey fire.”

I wish I could say things like “lowkey fire” with more confidence idk.

PinkPantheress “Noises + JT”

what da fuckuz dat

KNEECAP & Paul Hartnoll “Sayonara”

Speaking of acts I’m still wrapping my head around, this song from Ireland’s KNEECAP is a collab with Paul Hartnoll from Orbital. This one reminded me of The KLF’s “3am Eternal” which I mean in a complimentary way.

Also I’m feeling this killer video hard as I currently write this mildly hungover from a karaoke birthday party for my friend Katie in Koreatown (HBD), which is a slightly different vibe than say, a rave in Belfast. I wasn’t raging, per say, but I had two of those big-ass Cass bottles at JJAN (apparently Lisa hung out there once, I’m told and then sang my heart out at R Bar after—more on that later. I love party! I hate day after party!!!

Gut Health “Beat to Beat”

I’ve talked about my love of Gut Health (the band and the concept) a lot before. The Melbourne/Naarm group’s lead singer Athina Uh-oh is super fun to watch onstage. But I recently read something comparing her voice to Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings, and this is totally what that band would sound like if they rocked a bit more.

Geese “Bow Down”

[Brett walks onto platform, walks up to lectern, taps mic to test audio, pulls out notes, puts on readers, clears throat, begins.] NOW IS THE TIME I FINALLY TALK ABOUT GEESE.

I actually don’t have a lot to say about them right now for the same reason I still haven’t watched Succession. You guys are being annoying about it!

I don’t know some of it isn’t for me, but I like this song though.

Acopia “Last Word”

Here’s another track from Acopia, also from Melbourne/Naarm ( I just learned they call it Naarm too idk if I’m doing it right), who make music specifically for introspective, aimless late night drives.

Not For Radio “Puddles”

I was like, this sounds like The Marias and then I was like oh duh it’s Maria. I’ve compared the band to The Cardigans before and this is a bit more like Broadcast so it’s exactly my shit.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Shai “If I Ever Fall In Love”

I wanted to do this at karaoke but it’s not quite a “fun song” and generally that feels like a party foul. Also, I’m only one person. and can’t guarantee their version has all the other voices. Also, I only like the acapella version (can’t guarantee they play the right version). The one with music is fine but it’s too “blank CD with ‘SEX JAMZ’ written on it” for me. Also, I’m not really a good singer as evidenced when I tried to sing Boyz II Men and did just ok.

But I tell you this…

I’d kill it.

Here’s another selection of songs that I have on repeat this week. I do have them all collected here in a handy playlist on Spotify, WHICH I DO NOT SUPPORT.

Nourished By Time “BABY BABY”

Nourished By Time was one of my big faves last year, and I admittedly slept a bit on this record (maybe I overdid it), but this track was a highlight. I like the part where he goes “BABY, BABY...BABY, BABY...BABY BABY!!!”

Also I said this in the last one about the Smerz music videos but I just like a good iPhone video.

This is shot at the American Dream mall in the Meadowlands, which used to be called…Xanadu. This was announced in like 1996, and was supposed to open in like 2004…and then it took another 20 years to actually open. That’s a very long time. This means I used to drive by it as a kid when it was just a vacant eyesore on the side of the highway. I could have really used it when I had a license and had nowhere to go so I just visited malls a lot. And by the time it had finally opened, I lived in Los Angeles. Honestly fuck that. I don’t even like malls, really. I went to one the other night and got so mad except when I got tteokbokki on a stick. But I didn’t like everything else. So in a sense I actually hate this video. Someday…I will visit you, American Dream mall, and I will partake in your indoor water slides and artificial ski hill.

Itoa “Oh No (feat. Nakamura Minami)”

Itoa is a producer from London, tapping rapper Nakamura Minami for lyrics on this track.

Gelli Haha “Funny Music”

Gelli Haha and her crew puts on such a fun live show you should try to see her live. I just learned the other ones are named Sisi Haha, Juju Haha, and Judi Haha. Idk I like when they have fun names.

Silver Gore “All The Good Men”

Silver Gore is the London-based duo Ava Gore and Ethan P. Flynn and a monster called the dragon dog, which might be a Dark Crystal reference? I don’t know I never liked that movie.

Little Simz “Don’t Leave Too Soon”

Little Simz is a national treasure. She’s from the UK, so she’s theirs but I hope they do everything to protect her.

I’ve been through it the last few months so I’m feeling this one. She’s talking about the feeling of dissociating and detatching from reality when things get hard. I believe the psilocybin community calls this “ego death” which is something that comes quite naturally to me, so I’ve never needed to partake!

Debby Friday “Alberta”

Debby calls this a “shoegaze dancehall” track.

Whenever I see someone squeeze out a tear on camera, I think, “so what, I could do that.” I could cry right now! Nice song tho

Acopia “Talk About It”

Another fun one from Acopia from Melbourne. Acopia is a word “used to describe a state of being old, frail, and unable to cope with living” which makes sense why I’m digging it rn! Rock IT, man! [air strums]

Bar Italia “Fundraiser”

Hey it’s the guy from Peep Show! This is Bar Italia sounding the most they ever have like an mid-2000s band I would have loved in high school that’s ripping off XTC.

Water From Your Eyes “Knights in Armor”

Spotify wrapped, WHICH I DO NOT SUPPORT, is so fun even though it’s just a pretty version of the last.fm account I still have active. For the second year in a row, Water From Your Eyes was at the top of my most listened to list, alongside Bar Italia, Erika de Casier and Smerz. Actually, it was Doechii at #1 but that must have all been in like January because that really feels like last year. Also Pulp was high on the list…

Pulp “Spike Island”

Got to see them at the Bowl this year. Jarvis is very cool to see in person even though I was very far away from him.

Also props to a creative way to use AI to say AI sucks and is nauseating. I do like when they’re all suddenly Asian for some reason.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Pulp “Babies”

One more classic postmodern Pulp video. How does one become a Jarvis Cocker I wonder? Nature? Nurture? What are the choices in life to wind up like this?

It’s been a minute because things have been…tumultuous. Lotsa big swings, weird vibes, late nights, fun and non-fun alike, even some epic fails—I can’t get into it! Look, it’s annoying to be coy, but being coy about recent failures is all I have these days as I drag what’s left of me to the 2025 finish line.

It’s a necessary advisory as I begin to write this. This will not be necessarily reflected in the songs I’ve picked since I have a backlog of songs I’ve been meaning to put in here…or will it? Let’s get it started.

Deki Alem “Fluent Stutter”

Deki Alem is a punk trip-hop duo of twin brothers from Gothenburg—you had me at DEKI. This song from a few years back is a tight burst of energy that neither sounds like punk or trip hop even. It sounds a little like the Tricky remixing this Fat Boys song or like a darkwave Scatman John b-side and I mean that all as a compliment.

Quiet Light “Aurora”

Quiet Light is another name for Austin’s Riya Mahesh. I quite like this bit from her bio:

She believes in working in extremes; mentioning her ideal song as one that “Charli XCXs a Gillian Welch song.”

iANO “Already Gone”

Mystery music from Portland maybe? shit I have no idea

Smerz “A Thousand Lies”

I’ve talked about Smerz a lot on here but Sheamus here can tell you how I feel about the record. I also love the videos from these records.

Erika de Casier “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

Thankfully, it’s not a Stones cover, De Casier’s sound is the smooth, cool-toned opposite of car commercial boomer rock.

I’m already showing my cards here too much with these songs.

babybaby_explores “Nice Sometimes”

I’ve posted about this Providence band but this song is maybe their biggest earworm. “But sometimes…I can be…not that…NICE” is exactly I say to my opps when I want the smoke.

Ceri Wax “Pura”

Some fun dancefloor stuff from Italy.

DEBBY FRIDAY “Bet On Me”

Never quite sounds the same but always sounds interesting.

3l3d3p “OSTRASIZED”

Reconnecting with one of my pandemic-era faves and an excellent new record. This one is a fun drum & bass hyperpop track with a slicker production than I’m used to from this project—less lo-fi 3d madness, but the video still has the prerequsite 3l3d3p seizure warning.

KNEECAP & Mozey “THE RECAP”

DISCLAIMER #1: Obviously, free Palestine, fuck ethnic cleansing, fuck censorship, Erin go bragh, etc. It’s very good to talk about all of this stuff, particularly if you have a big platform!

DISCLAIMER #2: I do like this song a lot and would want to “get in the pit” so to speak while it were playing.

I’m admittedly not super well-versed in all the KNEECAP stuff outside of the headlines of the stodgiest people hating them, which I got more from leftist chatter than music chatter. (I know Bob Vylan a bit more but, same.)

I think I heard of them, saw the haircuts and the mask and kinda wrote them off in my head. I didn’t realize they kinda kick ass and I’ve been playing just this one song all summer on runs and heard it once at da club (aka the thai restaurant I like that stays open late).

I will say, this video, uh, it gets the message across. This is a good thing because if they weren’t explicit about their message they could just easily come off like gen-z House of Pain or something. A less annoying Chumbawamba? At least someone is finally reclaiming Fred Perrys for the good guys.

Again, this is just a fresh reaction to one of the biggest acts going right now, but it really hits you over the head with everything! Is the lack of nuance just what it’s like to be like 19 again? I feel like ending the video on the Palestinian village with a Kneecap mural is like a bit much, no? DJ Próvaí was a teacher until 2020, when he reportedly left his school after they were alerted to a video where he had “Brits Out” written on his buttocks during a concert so I guess this has been going on for a while.

Just gently critiquing this while acknowledging they are a net positive. I’ll watch the documentary and get back to you!

Sudan Archives “MS. PACMAN”

This could be the song of the year. “In my favorite BLOUSE” is an all-time lyric.

Tyler, The Creator “Ring Ring Ring”

I’ve always had a bit of a complicated relationship with Tyler—not in a Jerrod Carmichael kinda way, more like an Anthony Fantano kinda way, unfortunately.

When he first came on the scene, I was so excited about him and watched that “Sandwitches” performance on J***y F****n’s show over and over again. Then I listened to the record and there was just some dumbass lyrics and it didn’t sound like the Odd Future I watched. Then they became a whole thing. I was watching this Derrick Gee video with the band Paris Texas and they kinda vocalized a feeling I had about Tyler/Odd Future/etc. It’s always been a whole thing, and I avoid whole things when I can. It’s why I hate The Beatles.

But that being said, every time I listen to new music from Tyler I love it. There are new twists and turns. I sometimes sneak songs into playlists so they catch me by surprise, sans baggage. This one from a few months ago is a complete departure, a Michael Jackson-y one, complete with synths, strings, and a cordless telephone ring. It reminds me of “Needy Girl” a little.

Maybe he could be my favorite, but it’s just a whole thing.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Chromeo “Needy Girl”

I could take or leave 99% of Chromeo’s output. I remember going to see them forever ago and was shocked at how much a bro fest it was. But this song, this wonderful song, will always be perfection to me. A New York Noise classic!

Did you know they were brothers?

Hi! I’m tired but feeling good. We just did a bunch of Best Show 25 shows in New York, Philly & LA! We still have one more Chicago date to go next week, so tell your friends.

The Best Show was something I discovered 20(!) years ago when I was in high school. Inspired by the comedy bits between host Tom Scharpling and his comedy partner Jon Wurster, I began calling in, doing bits myself—something I wouldn’t recommend. Somehow, I received some unlikely off-show encouragement from Tom, which was just the boost I needed to pursue comedy on my own.

In the years that followed, motivated in part to someday be a “proper” Best Show guest one day, I launched my own local television show, produced one million comedy performances, and created a podcast with Forever Dog, which led to opportunities in producing, editing, and design for the independent podcast company. Coincidentally, I learned all the perfect skills (along with my history with the show) to eventually join the podcast as a producer when Tom sought out Forever Dog as an L.A. production partner that could scale up the show.

This past week has been incredible, where I saw the scale of the fanbase, which typically only exists on online spaces. I both shared my fandom of what Tom and Jon have built and got some surprising recognition of my own work over the years. (John Gentle made a few appearances, too.)

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting numerous listeners and admired musicians and comedians, and I was able to draft several of my longtime collaborators into the shows as well. Along with traveling and seeing so many old friends, it’s just been good vibes, and I’m feeling nice about all of it, particularly when the world is all bad vibes.

I wanna publicly thank Tom, Jon, AP Mike, Jason, Pat, FD, and all the FOTs that have let me be a part of one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of.

I’ve been doing a lot of walking around New York and Philly—and listening to a lot of music too, so here are some song recommendations. Here’s the playlist link!

Jay-Jay Johanson & Magnus Frykberg “So Tell The Girls That I Am Back In Town”

I’m all here for trip-hop crooners. This has been the de facto soundtrack to start every day of my return to Brooklyn, which will always be home.

Once voted “the most beautiful man in the world”, Jay-Jay Johanson of Trollhättan, Sweden, released this track in August 1996, sounding like Jens Lekman singing over Portishead. This record kicked off a long career of electronic experimentation, which included something called the “Cosmodrome,” a giant 2001 art installation in France and a possibly regrettable Fischerspooner-y electroclash phase.

I first heard this on The Righteous Gemstones when Gideon was doing dirtbike stunts, and it’s popped up recently on AEW as the theme song for Taz’s less chode-y, well-coiffed son, Hook:

Accelera Deck “This Bliss”

I was on a late night walk when this song I heard a bit of and put on a “songs to listen to” playlist popped up. It conjured this very strange feeling of nostalgia that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but I’ve since listened to it every day this week.

It’s unlikely I heard this back in 1997 when I’m just learning the song was released. (I also thought the previous song was newer.)

Accelera Deck is Chris Jeely from Birmingham, Alabama. He had been a musician in the shoegaze lane before two major life events: a fire that consumed his home and his equipment, and a single listen to Aphex Twin that inspired him to start anew with electronic beats.

Kelly Lee Owens “More Than A Woman”

I’m a big Aaliyah head. I regularly wear an Aaliyah shirt that gets me nods on the street. This is due, in part to a Y2K-adjacent puberty but also revisiting her whole catalog. This cover from Welsh musician Kelly Lee Owens from a few years ago just recently hit my ears on Anu’s NTS show (which always hits) and it’s a great cover—one also enhanced by a listen on .75 speed as one YouTube commenter pointed out.

Optic Sink “Don’t Look Down”

One of my very favorite bands down in Memphis, Optic Sink add a cool CAN-y influence to their synth-y post-punk sound. You may know the singer Natalie Hoffmann from the band Nots, which was also one of my favorite groups when they were still rockin, but this is new act is such a cool departure. As heard on The Best Show, actually!

Heartworms “Jacked”

I play this when I start running so it’s funny to see the video is also just running.

Water From Your Eyes “Born 2”

Still loving this record.

‘89 The Brainchild “OPERATION: FLESH PRISON LIBERATION EFFORT”

Yuup.

Frank Medley “Scars”

This hits hard! Vocals on the track are from Lioness & Queenie from about seven years ago, rapping over a new track from Frank Medley. They rapped quite a bit before the sun went down completely that day. Here’s what Queenie is up to lately. This rules so hard I can’t begin to explain it.

Pink Siifu & Turich Benjy “Bussin’ (Cold)”

Cincinnati rapper Pink Siifu’s got a deep catalog of great tracks and this is one of them from 4 years ago that I’m just catching up with.

Men I Trust “Another Stone”

Another good song for late-night walks.

The Crying Nudes “Ber3ft”

If this sounds like Dean Blunt, it’s because it is! Another one of his secretive projects, this time with Fine Glindvad from Copenhagen’s Chinah, and also a collaborator with OR fave Erika De Casier.

deer park & Ivy Knight “Pharmacy”

A cool track from newer NYC band deer park, which was actually a fake band name I gave when I used to prank call Courtney Love about a “collab” in college.

Sorry “Jetplane”

Click on the video to see modern dancers simulate an orgy with Elon Musk, The Joker, Mickey Mouse and The Grinch.

Pulp “After You”

I saw Pulp and LCD Soundsystem when they came through Los Angeles and had a blast. Was revisiting some record I skipped over and liked this track from 2013.

LCD Soundsystem “Movement”

One of the most formative songs for my taste in music. LCD would move away from aping Mark E. Smith in later records, but I wish they hadn’t. Weirdly, this never led to me getting super into The Fall.

Heard this first back in 2004 on New York Noise, a show I’d later appear on—and someone actually recognized me at one of the Best Show 25 shows from that.

This recent Hollywood Bowl show was actually the first time I saw LCD live, somehow. I reminisced with fellow elderlennials about watching their “last” show on a livestream. Tried desperately to get James Murphy on my old public access show and eventually wound up playing him a few times, usually fighting Thanos for some reason.

It’s the fall now, I guess! I’m in LA so it’s still summer til December where it hits spring. But the spirit of the “new school year” vibe has hit me with me making some life changes, home changes and big plans for the fall. These are the last of the songs from this summer I’ve been into, and you can listen to everything I write about in this playlist.

Sudan Archives “DEAD”

After putting out my “record-of-the-year” a few years ago, I’ve weirdly put off listening to this one from Sudan Archives but now that I am, I love it!

Double Virgo “alarm bells in central plaza”

Before forming bar italia, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton performed as Double Virgo and have started putting out new stuff. It’s their fuckaround band, and that’s important to have, particularly to me who tends to prefer the fuckaround vibe to a polished masterpiece.

Faye Wong “After the Beep”

“嗶一聲之後”

If you know Faye Wong, you likely know her from one of my favorite movies, Chungking Express. Obviously, you needed to cast the coolest, quirkiest, most beautiful woman of all time to tell the story about a home-invading stalker who spends the second half of the movie screeching and blasting music.

After this, I looked into her music which was primarily a more traditional style of canto-pop, which felt at odds with her very modern persona, and I had somewhat given up until finding this on a playlist created by Michelle Zauner and if finally hit what I had been looking for!

Kitty Craft “Stay”

Did you know I’m twee? Pamela Valfer upgraded her lo-fi twee pop in the late ‘90s with keys and samplers, making really cool shit like this that I’ve been enjoying diving into.

Gelli Haha “Tiramisu”

I talked about Gelli Haha previously but this track is fun and has a bit more of a punky vibe to it.

Jenny Hval “The artist is absent - 89 seconds rewrite”

This song confuses me. It’s spooky and smooth and makes me dance like Napoleon Dynamite.

The Mall “Habit”

I can say the same thing about this one minus the smooth and plus what to me sounds like transmissions from a space war.

Water From Your Eyes “Life Signs”

This record rules.

Masayoshi Takanaka "Tokyo Reggie"

“トーキョー レギー”

I poke around Japanese music quite a bit, but it’s hard to figure out the whole “world” of J-Pop and J-Rock, so I just zero in on artists I like, like Jun Togawa or Shintaro Sakamoto and explore their connections. I randomly clicked on this one and really enjoyed this song, by Masayoshi Takanaka, and discovered he’s a guitar virtuoso and considered one of the most important fusion guitarists in Japanese music history. He’s also a fan of colorful businesswear and crazy guitars.

I’ve since listened to a bunch and found myself sad I didn’t get into him a few months earlier to catch his first American show at the Wiltern.

But the more I listened to this track, the more I found familiar…

I like wrestling, and one of the big events in wrestling is the January 4th Tokyo Dome show, where wrestlers from around the world descend to Tokyo for a wrestling-forward show that feels grand, capping off a week of big events surrounding Oshogatsu, the annual week-long new year’s celebrations. It’s their WrestleMania, but with less C-list celebrities.

One of the things that gets me hyped for this event is the matchcard, soundtracked by a wild VO guy and a killer soundtrack:

Is that the same riff as this song from 1976? I had to dig deeper.

This song is an original piece by longtime New Japan Pro Wrestling composer Yonosuke Kitamura, but there’s not a ton of info about him. But digging deeper into Japanese wrestling music of the past I found there’s some interesting stuff, and it’s all labeled horribly.

I found out that Takanaka’s killer song “Thunder Storm” was also the theme song for 80’s wrestler Genichiro Tenryu, and he even performed it at his retirement show:

So ultimately, I can gather that the composer was at least inspired by this riff and took it from guitar fusion to hard rock. Basically, I dunno but that’s for taking this ride with me.

Charles Hamilton - Scorpion

Here’s another one that caught me by surprise in a similar way. I’ve always wondered about the source of this sample from this song by Charles Hamilton. I always thought it was one of the wildest flips and because it came out on some rando mixtape I didn’t know what it was until…

Raphael Saadiq & D’Angelo “Be Here”

I’ve had this one on repeat past few weeks and everytime the sample comes up at the end I do my impression of this guy in this Damon Albarn clip going, “wholesale!”

Rounding up some of my end-of-summer jams—damn this summer flew by!

Water From Your Eyes “Life Signs”

Usually I let songs gestate for a month before I write about them here to avoid posting something that I’m only briefly excited about but I’ve made some exceptions this week, particularly this song which made me go “OH FUCK YES” when I was listening to it this week for the first time.

Water From Your Eyes put out one of my favorite records of 2023—it was a revelation. I can’t say it was like nothing I had heard before, but instead it was such a different presentation of things I have heard before. If you listen to Nate and Rachel’s solo projects (This is Lorelei, Thanks For Coming) you’ll hear those sounds in slightly more conventional ways.

I got to book them on The Best Show and there was a long discussion of KoЯn, which I think at least was in their mind when making the last record—they even made a stop in Bakersfield on their tour. They’re a bit of a punchline now but they probably sounded pretty wild when they came on the scene. Listening to this record, and keeping that inspiration in mind—I’m once again hearing familiar sounds in new ways. Elements of This is Lorelei’s country tinge, Rachel’s unique indie rock voice and a little bit of nu-metal cacophony.

Madeline Goldstein “1996 Expectations”

I’ve written at length about Madeline Goldstein who is so good at this sincere Annie Lennox-esque look, vibe and performance style. All I really have to say is I think this is really “rad” (but I thought a lot about what word I’d use to describe it and settled on that). This video? Also rad.

Kilo Kish “Reprogram”

Kilo Kish continues her office culture saga with this music video.

Look, did I intentionally put two music videos featuring the artist dance-posing in a black business suit together on this list? Yes, only because at first I did it unintentionally and I didn’t want people to think it’s a weird thing I have but maybe that ship has sailed. [Sadly deletes “Me Against The Music” from the list.]

Devin Morrison “Ayako”

I heard about this slow jam for weebs from this video by Derrick Gee and the DJ Jyoty, two names I’m fans of.

Derrick Gee is a fun music vlogger, who also has a fun interview with Erika de Casier…

…which leads me to another jam from her new record:

Erika de Casier “December”

INTERWORLD “RAPTURE”

Dark Hungarian phonk.

DJ Jeeh FDC, DJ Biel Divulga “VOU SARRAR A PUTA NA MARCONE - QUEM TA DE LACOSTE FORTE”

Brazilian phonk from at least 4 DJs, and at least one with braces. At least twice, I’ve played this for people and they get mad and go “STOP.”

Sweet Trip “Air Supply”

This song has been on repeat all summer.

Clairo “Amoeba”

I am not being a performative male!

I’m on another walking kick, trying to do 10,000 steps a day. I live in a very “city” part of LA, and before that I lived in Bushwick. I’ve been walking late in the evening since it’s been so hot during the day, but my area (Hollywood/Koreatown) is totally fine—I’m surrounded by cafes and art galleries, but it isn’t the nicest late at night, so into Larchmont Village and Hancock Park.

The houses there are wild, I literally walked by Francis Buxton’s house (he was takin’ his bath) last night. Despite being in a giant city, I’m walking on completely empty streets getting glimpses of lifestyles I’ve never known. And Clairo, I’ve found, is an appropriate soundtrack for this activity.

Raisa K & Coby Sey “Stay”

This is another record perfect for nighttime walks, as evidenced by this video!

THE GOLD STANDARD

Wire “On Returning”

Wire is not my favorite band but I have always credited them as my ideal band. It all comes down to two simple things: they wrote short songs and they were always experimenting.

My broken brain loves a short song. It gets to the point. When I’ve got a giant playlist of music that balloons a bit to big, I just sort by length and delete anything over 5 minutes. Is this why I’m never getting into jazz? Or prog? Perhaps. But it’s probably why I always revisit Wire.

They get an idea across and then they're done. There’s no long, boring solos, no long intros or outros. This approach allowed them to try out tons of different sounds without getting stuck. They went from the speedy punk of their first record to the moodier, more complex sounds of Chairs Missing and 154 in just a couple of years.

Photo by Corey Poluk

Hello, children. Once upon a time there was a thing called Tumblr. It was mainly a pornography site that specialized in shipping Marvel characters, subtitled stills from anime films and the show Supernatural, and plain text titles of books. It was like Xanga on Viagra and we all loved it.

This is how I met Joel Cusumano, who specalized in a non-porn account called blameaspartame. One of his specialities is wading into the deepest darkest recesses of Facebook groups and other online communities. Many are lost to the recesses of time but some can be found via reposts.

Sometimes you know people because of a very dumb thing even though they are not dumb at all, but actually in fact, smart.

I met Joel on journeys to the Bay Area, and learned he’s also a great musician. I have seen a few different bands of his, from DSTVV to Cocktails. Take a listen to the kind of music Joel likes and if it’s up your alley, you may enjoy his new record coming out this October. The mixing is done alphas":

These selections kick ass and includes ones of my all-time favorites Jun Togawa. Take it away, Joel—you are better at this than I am:

Apogee & Perigee - “月世界旅行”

tr: “A Trip to the Moon” (1984)

I’ve been a Yellow Magic Orchestra head since college, but only recently deep Youtube-holed the three members’ individual careers. It’s an embarrassment of riches well worth your time. I looked up any writing or producing credit listed on Discogs and hunted each down on YouTube. Of the three, I was probably most impressed with Haruomi Hosono’s writing and production work for other artists. The Apogee & Perigee one-off album is one of the weirder things he produced. It’s a collaboration with singer Jun Togawa (they also worked on her project Guernica). I gather from this Reddit post that the album is sung from the point of view of two robots programmed to love each other and escape fascist earth to teach future generations about love. Great concept, though these days we’ve learned the robots will be playing for the other team.

Failure - “Stuck on You”

I essentially listened to whatever my parents listened to (mostly oldies and adult contemporary) until 7th grade in 1995, when I decided to dive into the music of my peers: Alternative rock, baby. I have a serious fondness for the alt-rock singles of the mid-’90s, though I’d be the first to admit it wasn’t rock’s most artistically seismic moment. Somehow, despite me being pretty glued to the alternative radio station at the time, I missed “Stuck on You”, a minor alt chart hit, but I heard it recently and love it. I think it has an element that rips off The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today”, to great effect (steal things that work, kids!).

Now this kind of music is called “classic rock”, isn’t that depressing? I’m old, buddy. There’s a strictly informative doc on Failure that was released this summer called Every Time You Lose Your Mind that features some of the most egregious amount of unrelated talking head appearances since that Sparks doc: Rick Beato, Tommy Lee, Margaret Cho, Jason Schwartzman, Hayley Williams—you know, all the people who were there with the band at the time! How am I supposed to know what to think about a band until my favorite celebrities tell me they’re good??

Fabrizio de André - “Un matto (Dietro ogni scemo c'è un villaggio)”

tr: “A Madman (Behind Every Fool There’s a Village)”

De André is one of those artists with a crazy ratio of monumental stature in his homeland to obscurity in the Anglosphere. It’s maybe hard to fully appreciate his genius without speaking Italian. I‘m knocked out by “Un Matto”’s opening verse; I just have to write it out here (English translation mine):

Tu prova ad avere un mondo nel cuore (You try to keep a world in your heart)

E non riesci ad esprimerlo con le parole (And you’re not able to express it in words)

E la luce del giorno si divide la piazza (And the light of the day divides the piazza)

Tra un villaggio che ride, e te, lo scemo che passa (Between a village that laughs, and you, the fool who passes by)

E neppure la notte ti lascia da solo (And not even the night leaves you alone)

Gli altri sognan sé stessi, e tu sogni di loro (The others dream of themselves, and you dream of them)

I’ve been listening to de André’s music for a while, but as my Italian improves, I have a whole new experience with him. Listening to lyrics in a new language is puzzle solving. De André was a poet of the underdog, the outsider, which draws me to his work as someone who’s always felt an alien in my own culture, and frequently in my own head. “Un Matto” is from his 1970 album Non al denaro non all'amore nè al cielo, which is based on Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology. The album followed 1970’s La buona novella (The Good Novel) (1970), a concept album narrating a humanistic portrait of Jesus, and was followed by 1973’s decidedly left-wing Storia di un impiegato (Story of a Worker). All three are fantastic, and recommended starting points for de André.

Franco Battiato - “Il re del mondo”

tr: “The King of the World”

Tip: The heads just call him Battiato. He began his career as a pop singer-songwriter in the late ‘60s (see “La torre”), came into his own in the early ‘70s as a (for lack of better comparison due to his singularity) Eno-adjacent experimentalist (check out the fantastic Fetus (1971) and Pollution (1972)), then emerged as a new wave “pop” (I’d say really art-rock) star in Italy in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. Besides producing and writing and producing songs at that time for other Italian artists (such as Alice’s “Per Elisa”, Giuni Russo’s “Atmosfera”, and Milva’s “Alexanderplatz”), he released a brilliant string of 10/10 albums that kick off with L'era del cinghiale bianco (The Age of the White Boar) (1979) and end with L'arca di Noè (Noah’s Ark) (1982). His music of this period includes his haunting, breathy vocals, drumming that sounds equally influenced by prog and new wave, the violin from frequent collaborator Giusto Pio, and a dense array of lyrical references that require Wiki citations. Like the best songwriters, there’s a layer of mystery to what exactly he’s on about, but the drama of the music bridges the bewilderment. From the second verse:

Nei vestiti bianchi a ruota (In the white flared dresses)

Echi delle danze sufi (Echoes of Sufi dances)

Nelle metro giapponesi oggi (In the Japanese metros today)

Macchine d'ossigeno (Oxygen machines)

Più diventa tutto inutile (The more useless everything becomes)

E più credi che sia vero (The more real you believe it to be)

E il giorno della fine non ti servirà l'inglese (And on the final day you won’t need English)

Again, as an outsider, someone who can easily feel alienated even in a room full of friends, I’ve always used music to make me feel sane and at home. When I was a lonely teenager, records by bands like The Undertones and Cheap Trick were my soundtrack. Now, though I still adore all the raucous music of my youth, it tends to be more pensive fare like Battiato and de André that relieve my isolation. In the past few years, I underwent treatment at a mental hospital, and later experienced the painful end of a romantic relationship—and my soundtrack hasn’t so much been angry lovelorn guitar rock, but Battiato, and his art-pop songs about long dead Italian newspaper editors and the Russian Revolution. My life, my personality, my tastes, surrender to an unrelenting forward movement, but still I labor obsessively to unlock the past, which to me remains far more mysterious than the future.

Tamao Koike - “鏡の中の十月”

tr: “October in the Mirror” (1983)

Another Yellow Magic Orchestra-produced gem that I can find just about nothing about. It’s always stunning to find something so fantastic that seems to have been barely released. I gather Tamao Koike was a model with a very brief recording career; this is the only release I see listed on Discogs other than a recent comp (she also appeared in a video for Yukihiro Takahashi’s fantastic Neuromantic album). The session that produced the melancholic “October in the Mirror” also produced a cool cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Runnin’ Away”.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Talk Talk - “Life’s What You Make It”

The Colour of Spring appears in the exact center of Talk Talk’s discography, and I know it is hipper to prefer subsequent releases, but this is the one for me. The takeoff point of a group mutating from solid but unremarkable pop band into avant-garde abstruseness. “Life’s What You Make It” is heavy without heaviness, it’s immediately accessible and funky and weird, it says so much by saying so little. Reading the lyrics on the page you could mistake them for a Hallmark card, but the effect in the music is haunting. Pop writers should never forget that one is primarily communicating musically and emotionally, not textually. Brilliant example of that.

The summer is winding down and I haven’t been posting much because I’ve been too busy sipping cocktails at the pool* to be bothered.

*watching YouTube videos in my house which has no pool, or even most ingredients to make a cocktail

Here are some of the songs I’ve been digging the last month or two and at two stories that happen to have one incident in common.

deep tan “Constant Inconsistencies”

I found this band I liked called deep tan. I tend to not google a band until I’ve heard them a bit and usually it’s when I start to write on this thing that I get the background. I don’t want some random detail to color a song a certain way.

Well I went down this weird Wiki wormhole the other night when I learned that Jeffrey Epstein was close to John Casablancas, Julian’s father that ran a modeling company and possibly connected him with young women…

Then I learned this agency was already embroiled with an alleged sex trafficking scandal with billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who was known as "The Great Gatsby of the Middle East” and browsed their lookbooks to add young women to his harem…

His father worked for the king of Saudi Arabia. His sister was author Samira Khashoggi who married businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed Dodi Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed who died with Princess Diana (though the father claims they were killed by MI6 agents)…

His brother was the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was brutally killed by MBS and the Saudi government…

And then I was reading that Jamal Khashoggi went to school with Osama bin Laden before he was radicalized and was the only non-royal Saudi Arabian who knew of the royals' intimate dealing with al-Qaeda in the lead-up to the September 11 attacks. He became an enemy when he condemned it…

Then I began reading up on the entire bin Laden family, whose patriarch also worked for the king of Saudi Arabia. Osama’s brother is Yeslam bin Laden, who led the Geneva, Switzerland-based Saudi Investment Company…

And whose estranged daughter, Wafah Dufour, plays in a band with Celeste Guinness (of the brewing family) and French model Melia Beaudoin called deep tan.

Like I found this out, not by googling the band I have been listening to, but through two hours of 2am Wikipedia clicking. The song is certainly colored now, but I’m glad that is not how I first found out about the band. Of course, I don’t hold this against her. After all, it wasn’t her fault her uncle did 9/11.

Debby Friday “1/17”

Debby Friday sounds different every time I click the play button. This is a far cry from the electro hip-hop “bitchpunk” from a few years ago, or even the cold post-punk from just two years ago. She’s one of my favorites and can do no wrong!

Smerz “You Got Time and I Got Money”

Is this my song of the summer? I listen to this one like every day.

Clipse “Ace Trumpets”

This comment sums it up well:

If they think I'm going to listen to the same coke rap in 2025 as I did 20 years ago, they are absolutely correct

And this one:

Pusha T have me feeling like I need to protect my imaginary drug empire

Tyler, The Creator “Hot Wind Blows (feat. Lil Wayne)”

I got into this song from seeing this Toni Storm edit on Instagram. You know who Tyler is, but if you don’t know who “Timeless” Toni Storm is, you should jump on YouTube. The most entertaining wrestling character, maybe ever? Even if you don’t fuck with pro wrestling, you might like this one.

Quick recap of her story: Toni Storm was a great wrestler with a dull “rocker girl” gimmick for years, until a title loss to a friend caused her to crash out. She was reborn into a psychotic Norma Desmond-esque fallen film star (and her Max von Mayerling-esque butler) who throws shoes at announcers, exclusively speaks in “saucy” double entendre, and pauses before her big moves for her close-up. Some of the best details are glimpses at her twisted private life and her press conference shenanigans. Her faded glory was regained when she won the title again, as fans tossed roses and yelled “bravo” to rapturous applause. Also featured in the video was her younger understudy, Mariah May, who adopted her “rocker girl” persona and fawned over her until her big win caused her to bloody her idol, leading to another crash out, and a long feud capped off by a bloody Hollywood ending. She’s now the reigning World Champion and her act makes me laugh every week.

Honningbarna “Amor Fati”

This song rips. It’s kinda like if The Hives decided to make an IDLES record.

Riley With Fire “Bad”

Before Nourished By Time, there was Riley With Fire—recorded by Marcus Brown in a dorm room in Boston. This is the bio included:

Riley With Fire is Marcus Brown compartmentalizing his identity crises into 4 minute songs.

Gelli Haha “Bounce House”

Gelli Haha is the stage persona of Angel Abaya, who adopted a red-heavy color scheme, an aesthetic inspired by children’s television of yesteryear, trampolines, and wrapped it all up in something called the Gelliverse. This project immediately reminded me of another performance artist, Jennifer Vanilla—though it leans in more of a pop direction.

cumgirl8 “Something New”

A chiller tune from cumgirl8—actually this kinda sounds like Jennifer Vanilla!

lua trilogy & SUPERCOLLIDER “Emerald Eyes (A Medley of Sorts)”

Lua Trilogy is the name of a programming language, but by digging a bit deeper into Google results—also the name of a prolific teen musician from Texas.

THE GOLD STANDARD

Aqua “Barbie Girl”

Only really picking this one to tell a story that happened a few years before this song came out.

When I was a little boy I played with Barbie dolls. I found them in the garage, where my sister put them as a teenager. I didn’t have a father growing up, so there was nobody around to freak out about this, presuming that’s their fatherly duty. I knew it was “unusual” for boys to play with Barbie dolls, but I wasn’t going to the toy store and buying them, I was just working with what I had. They seemed the same size as my brother’s old G.I. Joe dolls and I was usually making up my own stories with them anyways. I was a woke little boy!

I guess I had an appreciation for Barbie dolls, in the same way I could, say, recite the TV Guide from memory. I was simply a shy, weird kid and this Barbie thing was not at the top of the list of unusual things I did. There weren’t a ton of kids near me growing up so this weirdness continued to brine in isolation throughout the 90’s.

I had friends in elementary school who were mostly boys, but the one friend I had at the bus stop was a girl. She was Egyptian, so let’s call her Cleopatra. I’d walk with her down the hill to her house, then walk home. This was maybe three minutes a day but it was my main extracurricular socializing.

One day, Cleopatra invited me to her birthday party. I had never been to a girl’s birthday party before. The party was filled with entirely girls and me. Already a bit shy, I knew this was going to be a hurdle. I also met her dad, who had a thick moustache and was intense. My memory of this man is kinda blurred with the “NO SOUP FOR YOU” guy from Seinfeld so just imagine that guy and his thick accent. I had a bad feeling about this guy.

So I’m sitting with a bunch of girls (ew) and I have very little to add to this group dynamic. Getting a lot of “why are you here?” energy. We went into her bedroom, where she pulled out her Barbie collection. “Finally! I can work with this,” I thought. I had something to contribute now, as I was not a novice at this activity. I was ready to shine.

Then, Cleopatra’s stern father walked in and was not happy to see a BOY playing with BARBIE DOLLS. He did not like this one bit. “BOYS SHOULD NOT PLAY WITH DOLLS, COME WITH ME.”

He made me leave the room, and he sat me down alone at the kitchen table. I fully remember this kitchen feeling like an interrogation room. Maybe he was trying to help. But I didn’t have a dad and didn’t have many friends. I was a sensitive boy just not used to dad energy, let alone moustache Egyptian Soup Nazi dad energy. He put a piece of cake in front of me. I didn’t want any cake, and he responded with, “WHY DON’T YOU WANT MY CAKE?” I froze. He continued to intimidate me. “I OFFER YOU CAKE AND YOU REJECT IT, THAT’S RUDE BEHAVIOR.”

I just freaked out and ran out the door. Thankfully, I lived 30 seconds away. My sister was surprised I left the party, and asked me what happened, and I was like, “Cleopatra’s dad tried to make me eat cake. He also had a moustache.” I guess she was just used to me being weird, and she was nice enough to go over and say I was feeling sick and had to go home, seeing that I was clearly shaken up from the whole non-incident.

But it stuck with me. For years, I remember the uneaten cake, the pile of dolls, and his giant moustache.

I fully stopped talking to Cleopatra out of embarrassment and took the other street home from the bus stop, partially because I was scared I’d see her dad and he’d try to force Oreos on me or something.

…

About ten years later, there was a hubbub in the neighborhood. Cleopatra’s dad was arrested on a trip to Egypt. He had a side business forging documents like passports and other IDs. And apparently, he had sold these documents to the 9/11 hijackers.

Mohammed El-Atriss, 46, admitted last month to running phony document mills in Paterson and Elizabeth that catered to illegal immigrants and brought in as much as $1,300 to $1,500 each day.

He admitted selling fake documents to Khalid Almihdhar, who was on the airliner that crashed into the Pentagon, and Abdulaziz Alomari, who was aboard one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center. But he emphasized he had no idea who they were or what they had in mind. El-Atriss continued to sell the bogus documents for 10 months after realizing he had sold them to two of the hijackers.

“Unfortunately, they turned out to be hijackers,” he said. “I regret what happened, but I don’t feel in any way that I am responsible for it.”

Hmm but you were, a little bit.

“He knew these guys were bad guys,” said Fred Ernst, a sergeant in the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department when he investigated el-Atriss. “He knew they weren’t there as tourists to see the Statue of Liberty.”

A naturalized U.S. citizen, el-Atriss continually insisted that he was not part of the 9/11 plot — and, in fact, openly condemned the attacks. But he felt he had been unfairly branded as a conspirator because of his unintended connection with the hijackers.

Look, while what he did was illegal, I can believe this man wasn’t doing anything intentionally bad. He mainly sold IDs to Mexicans and South Americans. He probably helped a lot of innocent, hard-working immigrants find an easier life.

I felt really bad for Cleopatra. She had to move to Egypt and leave her life in New Jersey behind and probably had to deal with a lot of bullshit and racism that she had nothing to do with. If we had stayed friends, maybe I would have been able to help.

But to this day, I firmly and apolitically decided to take the position of: “I told you I had a bad feeling about this guy. I’m glad I didn’t eat his blood money birthday cake. Barbies are a normal thing for little boys to be interested in!!!”

I don’t think he was a terrorist. But I do think he was a scary man with a big bushy moustache, and he could have been a little more chill about the birthday cake and the dolls. And in a way, that is a form of terrorism.

I remember my sister saw his picture pop up on the news. Like, not the local news, like, the world news. And she remembered the time when she talked to him after I ran home from the party. “You know, he was kinda scary.”

“WHY DON’T YOU WANT MY CAKE?”

Hello, happy(?) 4th of July, I hope you eat some burgers.

If you didn’t catch it, the entire Best Show Retrospective is now on YouTube if you want to learn about the show I work on and have loved for a long time:

Okay, let’s move onto the very nice songs. Check out all of the tracks featured on this page here on this Spotify playlist—sorry!

Kari Faux “rebound”

Kari Faux (from Little Rock, Arkansas) is one of my favorites. This woman is a chameleon—her sound is constantly changing but it’s always hitting right. Compare this to this!

Raisa K “Affectionately”

Raisa is from the band Good Sad Happy Bad, which is the response I stutter when people ask me how I’m doing these days.

John Carroll Kirby “Mates”

John Carroll Kirby has worked with Solange, Frank Ocean, and Harry Styles, and his instrumental song "Mates" is inspired by his time in Costa Rica. But after seeing this video of him hanging out with his friend in Tokyo, that’s all I want to talk about here. His friend’s name is Mamoru Mikamoto. This is all I was able to find out about him.

Smerz “Feisty”

Smerz, the Norwegian duo of Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg, have a new record out. They make moody (and sometimes spooky) music about regular shit. The name "Smerz" is derived from the German word “Schmerz,” which translates to “pain” or “heartache.”

I am always fascinated by their obsession with normie girls. I mean, look at this older record cover, it’s MAGNIFICENT:

Just a bunch of white girls drinking sangria in the darkness.

What does a normal day of music making look for you guys?

CS: We meet up at 10 a.m. at one of our apartments...

HM: ... almost every day.

CS: And then we drink coffee.

HM: And if one of us is late, we bring croissants as an excuse. Then, if someone is having a bad day, we talk about that for an hour.

More Smerz in a bit.

3l3d3p “rpa”

3l3d3p provided my absolute favorite track to go running to during the pandemic. It’s the solo project of Marina Rei Thompson, from LA.

PinkPantheress “Girl Like Me”

Everybody’s loving PinkPantheress these days…

and it’s nice to see!! PinkPantheress is a nice girl!!

Oklou & underscores “harvest sky”

I like this song because it sounds like I’m outside of the club—WHERE I BELONG.

DJ Paulinho Mondi & MC Vitorioso “Beeper Funk - Slowed”

Brazilian funk, aka phonk mandelao or phonk, is the closest thing to a new punk rock we have now. Like you can probably make people of a certain age mad by just playing it. so I’ve been trying to get into it.

There’s usually an element of tuu-cha-cha-tu-chacha, some busted bass sounds and then a “drop” that sounds like actual hell. The artwork is usually AI of some demon going super saiyan or something.

This one isn’t particularly egregious, but please point me to some of the best (or worst):

@shonci#brazilianfunk #funkbrasil #automotivo #mandelao

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Sweet Trip “Air Supply”

I can’t be the only millennial that just found out about Sweet Trip right? i mean, we all have our blindspots but this one feels particularly egregious.

I was casually watching a video about some Rate Your Music list—a site I’m not really too familiar with. All the applicable top lists had Sweet Trip’s albums right up at the top. Since then I’ve been inundated with Sweet Trip stuff as if they were one of the huge bands of the 2000s. I feel mildly gaslit, as if I somehow missed The Shins or something in my youth. I payed very close attention to this stuff back then! I can’t help but wonder how I missed such a seminal band during my peak musical discovery obsession phase.

Maybe I’ve just tuned them out because of their vaguely generic name, a thing I’ve done for some bands whose names turned me off (like Helmet, or Cigarettes After Sex). But I don’t really mind Sweet Trip.

They were a San Francisco band. Maybe it’s a Bay Area thing? You guys do things your own way up there. Since moving to the West Coast, I’ve had conversations with people like “WAIT YOU DON’T KNOW ‘HYPHY HOODSHOT’ BY KEEK DE FREEK?” or whatever. No, I don’t it’s for you guys.

The real reason is probably younger music nerds discovered it for themselves and boosted it up. After all, the kids love Slowdive. Hell, kids everywhere were dancing to The Cramps when Wednesday came out. Kate Bush topped the charts! My mom was the right age in the 1960’s but probably couldn’t name a single Velvet Underground song. Things aren’t canonized on a schedule. It just happens.

Or maybe it’s Mandela Effect?

Tell me in the comments if I’m dumb for not knowing this already. More on Sweet Trip here.

Get Smart “Just For The Moment”

Here’s another one I’m just discovering for the first time through snooping through my friend Kate Sweeney’s playlists. This band is from Lawrence, Kansas, the first place I ever went that wasn’t in New Jersey or New York as a child. Perfect song for the summer!

THE GOLD STANDARD

Smerz “No Harm”

Spooky shit but also nothing spooky about it.

Kari Faux & Jerry Paper “Gotta Know”

I’m doing two gold standards!