Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

Welp! It happened to me. I was replaced by AI.

You may notice this is my first newsletter in months. That’s because in April, I suddenly found myself contracted to write artist bios for three individual clients while managing a part-time content job and coming on as Editor of the Miami New Times Best Of issue. Oh, and I went to a wedding in Colorado.

When it rains, it pours, and I gobbled up the opps because, y’know, broke freelancer life.

FYI, I write quite a few bios for major DJ/producers a year. It’s the highest paying work I get, so I’m always happy to do them. If you need a bio, hit up your girl. ;)

That being said, I was referred to an up-and-coming client from someone I know, and while they weren’t working via a label or a manager, they agreed to pay my full rate, which is great! I sent them examples of my previous work for Zedd, Poolside, etc., and they were like “This is awesome! Let’s do it!”

Not awesome. We did not just do it.

The first step to these bio jobs is always to hop on a call to chat about their project, their vision, their goals. The client had a really interesting story and was honing in on what made their sound unique and special. They were so amped up on this big new chapter of their career, and I was excited to play a role in capturing that magic.

Now, between that call and turning in my draft, I flew to that wedding, I got another email like URGENT: WE NEED A BIO FOR THIS MAJOR ARTIST RIGHT NOW! And I was like “Aahhhh, all the things!”

So, in full disclosure, I flipped that urgent bio out in a week and handled my biz, and eventually turned up-and-coming producer’s bio in a week later than I’d promised. Does that kinda suck? Yeah, it’s not great. I’m sorry I’m a human and not a robot.

Not being a robot is kind of key to the story.

When I finally put my bio draft together, I sent it over to the client and included a list of things we could easily tweak along with my usual line that goes “I’m happy to make any changes, edits, additions, subtractions, etc. until this is exactly what you’re looking for.”

The client immediately responded saying this just wasn’t what they had in mind. They wanted something more direct about their big wins and had some examples for me.

My immediate thought was “Oof, the best time to tell me this was when I sent all my examples in this style that were initially approved as awesome,” but before I could text back saying “Just took a look at your examples, I can get that to you by tomorrow,” the client texted me back:

“Nevermind. I’ll just use ChatGPT.”

My entire guts shot to clog up my throat. A stunning mix of regret, depression and disbelief washed over me. I was a failure. I was an asshole. I was really bad at this, clearly, why does anyone hire me to write bios?

If I had just gotten this draft done in two weeks instead of three, maybe this person would have worked with me on some rewrites. Maybe I should just call the other clients I was working with and tell them I was backing out because obviously I don’t know how to write a bio, no one needs me, I’m redundant.

Nevermind that I’ve been doing this for 10+ years and have had many clients absolutely ecstatic with my work over the years. Clearly, I have some things to talk about in therapy, lol.

After I called the client on the phone and received a partial payout of my original rate for my time and effort, I thought more about how this could have gone differently without beating myself into the ground.

There are always ways I can improve my process. Every failure or hiccup in my career is an opportunity to learn and get better. I whole-heartedly believe in this and have applied it to every shitty situation I’ve faced.

AND BUT ALSO, what the fuck was that????

My confidence was rattled, but I finished my other bio assignments and made some other folks really happy. I’m not gonna spiral anymore about this wild dismissal of my abilities and skill.

I refocused my efforts on editing the Best Of issue, and that’s when I had my second come-to-Jesus moment about AI.

This was my first time editing a whole newspaper myself. It was honestly a wonderful experience. I learned a lot, and I’m very proud of the final product. I’m so honored to be a part of this annual tradition that celebrates Miami’s home-grown talent across art, food, culture, services, shopping, politics, all of it.

But y’all. Some of these writers were DEFINITELY using AI.

At first, I was like “wow, this writer is kind of heavy handed. Everything is a bit dramatic and they’re reusing the same turns of phrase a lot.” I get it. I, too, get stuck on certain words and phrases in my writing. I’m pretty sure I used the word “effervescent” like 65,492 times between 2012 and 2016.

I also understand young writers are excited to be writing in the Best Of issue, so they’re really doing their big one even though I have to tone it down because why are we trying to win a Pulitzer talking about where to get a great -insert finger food here-, or whatever.

Then I moved on to another writer, and they were saying the same weird shit the last one was saying. Then another person was saying it. Then another, and I was like “Holy fucking shit. Are some of these kids using AI?!”

You know how I know you’re using AI? In all of this city’s 130-year history, ain’t nothing that happened here ever happened “quietly.”

“This place quietly became the best blahblahblah.”

“Evenings that quietly turn…”

“They quietly overhauled…”

I eventually just CTRL-F deleted every “quiet” in my Google Doc, and holy shit, if I ever read another “It’s not x. It’s y,” in my fucking life.

But that’s the curse, dear reader. Now that I’ve become highly attuned to AI diction, I am haunted by it.

Every time I open Instagram and see some written carousel uncovering some scandal, or listen to an influencer or wanna-be influencer talking about a little-known record or an astrology pattern, it’s all “This company just quietly pulled some shit” or “This sample quietly changed the face of pop music forever.”

Ummmmm, didn’t you HEAR IT? Aren’t you TALKING ABOUT IT? RIGHT NOW?

Every restaurant you’ve ever driven past is suddenly “tucked in” or “nestled in” or “hidden behind” something because AI thinks that sounds charming, when in reality, there’s a fucking sign for the place and it’s clearly marked in a shopping plaza on Google Maps.

This tone is all over YouTube in people’s video scripts. It’s all over the advertisements that clog my social feeds. It’s all over—as in, I’m fucking done. I’m cooked. Pack it up. We’re leaving.

Somewhere along the way, you chose laziness over being yourself. The individuality of each person’s perspective has quietly been outsourced for effective automation. It’s not just annoying. It’s a flattening of human tone across all mediums.

SEE? THAT’S WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE! And yes, it’s a formula that helps make a point, and my point is very good obvi, but when repeated ad nauseum, it loses effectiveness.

Here’s my thing. No matter if you’re a DJ/producer looking to sell yourself to promoters, label managers and journalists; or you’d like to quit your job and make content for a living because it looks fun and easy, you’ll at some point be tempted to use AI.

Using AI makes sense. It’s easy. It knows how to spell things and use proper grammar, and Americans are losing their ability to read and write beyond a 4th grade reading level, let alone the ability to discern a fact from an opinion.

Use AI. You have my blessing. You either wanna pay me or you don’t—but I am begging everyone to please, take your AI prompt one step further and ask it to have some kind of fucking style.

Did you know you can ask AI to write in the style of Kat Bein? You can! I’ve done it for fun a number of times, and it’s hilariously and insanely like me. It’s funny, it’s denigrating, it’s unhinged and it always comes back to this tear-jerker finale that espouses the merits of community and friendship.

I’d like to think it over exaggerates my use of SAT words, but I did just use the word “espouses” without thinking, so it probably has my number.

I am a writer with a style that has been honed for more than 15 years across a wealth of published works, and you can steal my steez in an instance. I don’t even mind, because then I won’t have to read how major shifts are happening “quietly” anymore.

But you don’t have to steal my voice. You can steal Tom Wolfe’s voice or Maya Angelou’s voice. You can be Hunter S. Thompson or Mark Twain or Sylvia Plath. You can be witty like Oscar Wilde, terse like Ernest Hemingway, descriptive like Tolkien, or vaguely racist like J.K Rowling.

You have the entirety of the written word at your fingertips and you choose to keep using the same fucking “It’s not x. It’s y,” formula? WHY?

So, in closing, I had a bit of a rough time in recent months, and I continue to be driven mad by an ever-present deluge of AI script. Whenever I hear these or other tell-tale signs, my vagus nerve triggers a fight-or-flight response and I scroll away like I’m running from something.

I’ve developed a rather deep-set Pavlovian response to the word “quietly” and will master the art of vomiting on cue any day now.

But, I’m back! And doesn’t it feel good to read me again? 😇

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Coming Up

Kat Calls hasn’t taken a break amid my emotional crisis, and I’m back this Thursday with my friend and fellow writer Harry Levin! He’s got a new DIY journalism brand called Orchestrology that examines the intersection of classical ensembles and pop music across genres. He’s got a cool podcast on Spotify and its first episode features frequent dance music vocalist Hayla. You can check it out below:

You can follow Orchestrology on Substack and Instagram, and do tune in Thursday to see us discuss the state of modern music journalism, our shared history as band kids, maybe riffing a little on how much I hate AI language—who knows!

Watch on YouTube

Alsooo…

Did you catch last month’s Kat Calls with Coco and Breezy?! It was so wonderful, those ladies are amazing. We talked about how they made Prince’s iconic third-eye sunglasses, how they used MySpace to level up into full-time creatives, and how they inject a little inner peace into all their groovy house tunes. Do listen to their affirmation-focused Free EP on Spotify and check out our chat below 🙂

Oh and speaking of which, I never shared my awesome Kat Calls with Deep Thrills via newsletter, because that’s about when I fell off the deadline cliff. He was such a rad guest, we had a lot of fun talking about his musical family and his dual alter ego Paper Idol and why the most punk rock thing you can do is destroy a Backstreet Boys CD you won in a claw machine in the arcade’s parking lot.

I also had a lovely time reviewing the latest Zeds Dead album for Spin last month. I wrote that it’s kind of like “DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing….., but if DJ Shadow grew up on ’90s rave music, bloghouse, and IDM.” I recommend giving it a listen from front to back sometime, when you’re feeling a little psychedelic and ready to get heady.

• Zeds Dead’s ‘Return to the Return’ Turns Inward

Also, Kat Calls bestie Justice, aka Tordenstrike in the comments, recently suffered a complete house fire and lost all of her belongings, including her laptop which she uses for her audio engineering job, all her clothes and treasured concert memorabilia, the works. She has a GoFundMe set up to help replace her work computer and start over. She has been such a supportive presence for Super Kat World and she is a lovely human. Please consider donating if you have any to spare.

• Help Justice recover from her devastating house fire

Alright, friends. I’m done for now. I hope I’ll be back next week with—dare I say it—a new playlist?!

Or whatever, maybe I’ll be pissed off about something else. Either way, cue the pay-for-tier subscribe button because if I don’t promote myself, who will?

Subscribe now

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

Who is Deep Thrills? Well, Deep Thrills is Paper Idol, and all of those people are Matan KG.

Editor’s note: I bought a New Order compilation CD when I was in high school and, being a fucking nerd, I read the liner notes and informational booklet that came therein. The first line of the essay was “Who is New Order? New Order is Joy Division…” and I didn’t understand what that meant at the time and was really confused. Of course, now I know the story, but also, now I get to write that same line.

Matan is from Los Angeles. When he’s feeling sunny and melodic and in the mood for some spectacles, he’s Paper Idol; a synthpop dude with an apparent love of Ed Banger, gritty basslines and late-aught indie-dance.

As such, he’s been hustling the mean streets of music town since 2018, and in 2024, he released a full-length album called All Roads Lead to Pretty. It encapsulates his electro-edged, melodic-leaning romanticism across 13 sing-along songs, meshing his skills as a guitar player with his in-the-box production and soft-boy vocal stylings.

And yet, somehow, all roads did not lead to Paper Idol. Sometime around the last few years, Matan felt a darker side bubbling inside his psyche, begging for a cigarette and a longer leash.

Enter Deep Thrills. Gone are the glasses. The hair? Mussed to filth.

The synth edges are sharper, the bass is boomier, and the collar is drawn all the way up to the chin. Deep Thrills wants a drink, he wants it now and he isn’t overly concerned if some spills on your dress. That’s just an excuse to buy you another one—dress that is, because the idea is getting you out of this one by the end of the night.

If that sounds aggressive to you, you simply did not party with hot strangers in the 2000s. It was a real good time, a messy time, a think-rich-look-poor time. It was a time that pulled a lot from ‘80s new wave aesthetics and late ‘70s ideas about who could make music and what skills it took to make a good song anyway (not many, you just need attitude).

Kids these days call it “indie sleaze,” and all of us who were there agree that’s a pretty cheesy name. Like, yes, we were sleazy, but there is a lot of freedom in not caring if you remember to wash your face of makeup when you finally go to bed at 6 a.m. Also, the tunes were fucking amazing.

Matan was there, for sure. He can’t make music like this without having caught at least the tail end of that blistering glitter bomb—but I don’t have to wonder about his bloghouse credentials after tomorrow, because at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT this Thursday, May 21, he’s coming to Kat Calls!

I am SO HYPED for this conversation, because of course, I never shut up about the mid-aughts anyway. Now I get to have my “but I was there” conversation with another person who obsessively mines memories of 2006-2009 for inspiration.

If you’ve been paying attention to this newsletter, you’ve already heard of him. I’ve added a few of his songs to my playlists, including this song “Truth Before Dare.” My friend Gianmarco showed it to me on my way to the last-ever Neon Liger, and it was the absolute perfect mood.

The song is a take on LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge,” but this time, Matan gripes about how his Deep Thrills thunder has been stolen by The Dare. Someone got to the big time doing electroclash-bloghouse revival first—but Matan’s got every LimeWire download of every DJ named Sebastie/An! Not fair!

It’s hilarious and vulnerable and somehow—despite being a reference in its entirety—felt wholly original and exciting. Most of all, it fucking bangs.

Since coming out with the first Deep Thrills single in 2024, Matan has been on a heavy roll. He released a five-song EP titled How Deep Is Your Thrill? In 2025, and just a couple weeks ago at the top of this month, he dropped another five-song EP, this time called How Cheap Is Your Thrill?

See the pattern?

Well, seeing as how he just dropped a new project, I can’t think of a better time to answer those questions on my YouTube channel.

YouTube.com/@SuperKatWorld

Of course, it’s more fun for all of us if you’re as excited and initiated as I am. Below, I’m sharing five songs I want you to hear before this Thursday’s chat.

And yes, we’re talking Paper Idol, too.

Deep Thrills - “Lock Me Up”

Holy warp-cut, Batman. It’s hard to find a groove this funky and French sounding outside of the Ed Banger set, but our boy Matan nailed it. The Justice-sounding snare? The SebastiAn-style wonky hook? The echo of Breakbot on the disco-laced melody? I know I see the world around me through Flat Eric eyes, but this isn’t just in my head. This cut is from his recently released How Cheap Is Your Thrill? EP, so definitely give that a full listen.

Paper Idol - “Ready For Love”

Just to prove the funk was within him before the dark side took over, I’m sharing this cut from Paper Idol’s 2020 EP Money For Flowers. It’s so deliciously deviant and grooved out. The walking bassline has just the right amount of swing, and the stammering piano breakdown melts perfectly into the biting synth resolution. The guy’s got talent, man.

Deep Thrills - “First Date” Feat. Xkylar

This was actually the debut single from Deep Thrills, and wowzers, way to make an impression. He and Xkylar went right for the indie sleaze jugular with a no-names sex anthem celebrating hook-up culture and all of its psychological avoidance. That chugging rhythm and horn sample combo is dastardly.

Paper Idol - “Miss You”

A cover does kind of feel like cheating for my purposes here, but this Rolling Stones redo is just too mean. Also, the idea of a dude in big, black nerd glasses doing his best Mick Jagger while looking bored in a kitchen with a band made up of himself is just... idk the irony is fantastic. I’m also such a sucker for people who do everything themselves—because I have to be, because that’s what I’m doing, hahaha.

Deep Thrills - “Climax”

This felt like a fitting title for a final song on our list. It also absolutely goes. This video was filmed and directed by Dheera Johnson, with whom Deep Thrills has collaborated on basically everything he’s done so far. Shout out Dheera, let’s definitely bring her up in our conversation.

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There you have it. You’ve met Matan—but not really!

Thursday is your chance! Come through the channel and join us for the live chat. Bring your own questions, because it’s your show as much as it’s my show, and it’s more fun with friends :)

YouTube.com/@SuperKatWorld

Alsooo…

I have remained EXTREMELY BUSY these past few weeks. I am like, up to my eyeballs in deadlines, and they just keep stacking.

I really want to share with you my Spin review of Kat Calls alumnus Kaleena Zanders’ debut album Anything Goes, which is fantastic, btw, but the article isn’t live yet and I need to get this out to you so I can go about merking my 15-leven other deadlines.

So, for now, go listen to Kaleena’s incredible, head-turning debut album, and check out the titular single below. Then watch our Kat Calls chat from 2021, for old-time’s sake ;)

Alrighty, folks! We’ve reached the end of another newsletter. I hope you’re as excited about Kat Calls: Deep Thrills as I am.

Also, obligatory moment where I tell you I do all this myself for no money, so if you’d like to support my endeavours on YouTube and on this newsletter and about town, consider joining the paid-tier of Kat Scrawls for $5/month or $50/year.

You could also buy a cute “See You On The Internet t-shirt” or a Super Kat World coffee mug or a Music Matters hat on my merch store or something. Just throwing out ideas. <3

Subscribe now

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s that time again—time for a fresh monthly playlist!

I’ve scoured the four corners of the Internet and scrounged up an hour and two minutes of delightful beats, kawaii sounds and hardcore bangers.

I’m really digging this month’s selections, which include new tracks from the shiny-happy-hyper world of Starjunk 95, a chill take on ‘90s Eurotrash house from Florian Picasso and Mija, an inspiring disco-house tune from The Brothers Macklovitch and Drama, an existential dance music banger from San Holo with Big Gigantic and vocals by Evalyn, and a really cool cover of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” by Gigamesh, Elohim and Thomas Adagio.

None of those songs will be highlighted below. Those are just the teasers. You’ve gotta go listen to the full playlist on Spotify to hear that shit. Nani nani boo boo ;)

However! As usual Kat Scrawls tradition, I am telling you more about nine of this month’s playlist tracks below. You can also check out the music videos and hear what they sound like, but you should really go check out the playlist in full, because I made it for you and it’s delicious.

Anyway, here’s what’s on the menu.

Madeon - “Fire Away” Feat. Slayyyter

The boy is fully back, people! Madeon’s third album, Victory, is due out June 26 on Mom + Pop Music (home to his bestie Porter Robinson as well as Magdalena Bay and Underscores, who we’ll get to in a minute). I am STOKED on it, because all the singles have been straight gas. He ripped his Coachella set (now streaming on YouTube), during which I kept yelling “this must be from the new album!” You can tell a Madeon song when you hear it.

This one with It Girl of the Moment Slayyyter keeps the pop-goes-self-destructive vibe of the releases going.

“‘Fire Away’ is perhaps the most anthemic record on the album,” Madeon is quoted in the press release. “It’s a song about love as warfare, words like weapons of the brokenhearted. Slayyyter embodied the other side of the story and her voice took the song to another level, her performance has so much confidence and attitude, she’s electric.”

Ascendants - “What’s Yo Numba”

FRIENDS!!! HUGE NEWS!! This is my friend Shaan’s project :D and it’s SO GOOD! I’m delighted to share this one with you, a funky UK Garage numba that grooves so futuristic funky, he had to give it a sci-fi- love story of a music video. I am obsessed with this track and even more so because Shaan is the fucking man, one of the Liger homies who has always been supremely talented and funny and nice. Mans has good taste, and he’s letting it show.

Shaan actually did grow up in London for a while before moving to the States. I’m not 100 percent on the particulars, but one time, his family just happened to be in Dublin for NYE when my family was also there, and I partied with him and his cousins in a Japanese restaurant that turned into a reggae party after hours. Legendary shit. Good times. S/O Shaan.

Underscores - “Music”

I warned you this would happen, and it’s happening now: We’re talking about Underscores!

I discovered this artist randomly on my Spotify algorithm. My first thought was, “wait, is this a 100 gecs song I don’t know?” No! It’s an Underscores song, which is the project of a young producer who started off making Dubstep on Soundcloud and now does adorable, textural wonderlands of hyperpop sound. She dropped an album called U in March of this year, and it’s really worth listening to in full. She made a whole visualizer for it where she’s running around a mall after hours, or before it’s open, I’m not sure. Anyway, shout out malls, and shout out Underscore. I’m so totally tuned in to whatever she’s doing from hereon out.

Deep Thrills - “The Lying Song”

Do you wish you could time travel to 2009 and hear Phoenix and Two Door Cinema Club for the first time all over again? Well, theoretical science posits that time traveling backward is actually impossible, so the next best thing is rockin’ out with Deep Thrills and this slice of upbeat guitar-drenched heartbreak that brilliantly channels mid-aught mania. This song is only 1 minute and 31 seconds long. Damn. Play it again.

Genesis Owusu - “Life Keeps Going”

Now! Strap yourself in for the latest from Ghanaian-Australian beat stomper Genesis Owusu. Cut from his forthcoming album Redstar Wu & The Worldwide Scourge, due out May 15, “Life Keeps Going” is both subtle and minimal while overflowing with attitude and edge. It’s persistent, just as its title suggests, moving with breakneck speed toward an avalanche that never comes. The tension just keeps building as Owusu raps raw about existing in the face of global madness. Hey, we can all relate! Will stay tuned for this full LP release.

Slow Magic - “Lost” Feat. Elohim

Let’s take a moment to drop in on two Kat Calls alumni and see how they’re doing! Oh hey! It’s Elohim and Slow Magic! Hi friends! These two existential wonderland explorers come together on a sugary new wave-inspired beat that burns bright and hot with magical sparkle, covering Elohim’s anxiety-ridden inner monologue with cotton candy shine. Is there anything better than a sad song that sounds exuberantly happy? My little goth heart says no.

Baauer - “Better”

Baauer is always been and remains one of the best darn producers out there. He’s also one of the nicest dudes. His Who Sampled deep dives on social media and Twitch are some of the most fun you can have with online musical content. Like, dude just obviously loves and respects the craft, so it’s no surprise his latest banger is a sample-heavy disco delight.

Of course, we have to do it to the don. Who did Baauer sample? Well, he took vocals and music from Norman Feel’s 1974 soul shiner “You Made Me Feel Better” and took the intro vox from The Kuhina Serenaders’ folksy feel-good jam “Let Me Have Music.” Well sampled, Mr. Baauer. Well done.

Alex Wilcoxx - “Fuck That” (Catnapp Remix)

Y’all know I am a sucker for stuttering drums and percussive vocal chops. That being said, I stood no chance against the experimental sunset sound of Catnapp’s Alex Wilcoxx remix. The Argentinian-born, Berlin-based producer took the original’s glitchy vocal and removed the electroclash background, instead curating her own liminal space techno that will fuck your face, but ever so gently. It’s brilliant, I don’t know what else to say.

Brookes Brothers, Danny Byrd - “Feelin’ This Way”

Speaking of stutter beats, let’s get some liquid d’n’b in here before we go. This beautifully spastic song comes courtesy of Brookes Brothers and Danny Byrd, featuring a vocal lifted straight from the Fabolous feat. Tamia 2003 classic “So Into You.” These boys are taking me back with this! This one feels colored in with future bass shades, so it’s no secret why I’m so into it, really. If you yearn for the optimistic sounds of the 2010s, give this a rinse and levitate.

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Welp, those are the highlights! But as I said, there is way more where that came from. There are 18 songs on this month’s playlist. Dive deep and explore.

Super Kat World Monthly Playlist

Alsooo…

I forgot to share this last week, but you should know that Kat Calls: Merchant is now streaming on YouTube in full! If you missed the livestream, I heartily implore you to give this chat a playthrough. Merchant was a lovely guest. We had a lot of fun, and you can see the newest Kat Calls intro video! It features a mall! The same mall I was a mall rat in during my middle school years!

Kat Calls: Merchant

And! Speaking of Kat Calls! I just found out YouTube video essayist Audio Eats is a big fan of the show!!

He recently highlighted Kat Calls: Ninjirachi in his video below, and when I thanked him in the comments, he said “So cool to see you here!!! You do the best interviews! I also used part of your Madeon interview in the video I made for him a couple years ago.”

HOW COOL AND CUTE IS THAT?!

Ninajirachi can’t be stopped

If you, too, are a fan of Kat Calls and this newsletter and the playlists I put together and everything I do here at Super Kat World, consider joining the paid-tier of this Substack. I am entirely self-funded, and you can hype me up big time with a $5/month or $50/year digital kiss on the cheek. I promise I’m worth it! Lol

Subscribe now

That about wraps it up for this week. Stay tuned for more Super Kat fun. Love youuuu.

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

I am still extremely busy, and while that’s a good thing—a great thing even—I am missing Super Kat World fun real bad.

Last week, I was suddenly saddled with a series of assignments from Spin. In the span of five days, it went from “Hey! Wanna help with a project?” to “Can you have the copy tomorrow?” to “Do you also wanna do a review of the new Zhu album?”

I’m happy to report that I got my two deadlines in mid-week and pulled off the Zhu album review by 10 am ET this Monday morning :)

It was really fun to write. It’s been quite a while since I did an old-fashioned album review, and while my first impression of Zhu’s Black Midas was, “yep, this sounds like Zhu doing Zhu stuff,” further deep listening helped me tap into a rather poetic place.

Further Reading: Zhu’s ‘Black Midas’ Turns Tragedy Into Gold (Spin, April 2025)

It didn’t hurt that the album came with a cool PR angle: Zhu’s house nearly burned down in the Palisades Fires in Los Angeles at the start of last year. While his home and studio remained standing, it was left totally uninhabitable by smoke damage, and he spent a year living out of a van, making music and playing shows.

The Midas touch allusions wrote themselves, really, and the stark techno sound brought me some interesting thoughts and turns of phrases. All in all, I have to say I like the album because I like what it inspired in me. I really like the second half of the album when things are quieter and more intimate. The last song, “Raindown,” is so fucking good. It really does sound like Sade.

Also, I didn’t know there was a short film for the album until I wrote this very sentence, so let’s enjoy this together.

I’m immediately loving this video. It’s playing out the Turkish coffee reading he samples in the album’s first track. It reminds me of when I met Zhu to interview him in 2018. We met in a park in LA and had pho. He was so nice and very thoughtful. He’s quite serious about everything he’s doing. He also gave me a sick Zhu jacket that says MEDIA on the back. I really need to wear it more.

Here’s an excerpt from that interview, and a link to the full article below. I think it was his first ever actual interview, because he started off anonymous, y’know?:

It’s quiet in the city. The few citizens out at this late and lonely hour are spurred by the soft rhythm of nocturnal noise, rain as it falls against glass windows and gutters, the distant cry of a siren somewhere chasing something, the thump of bass behind an alley door.

This is the headspace wherein ZHU creates. Hits including “Faded,” “Working For It” and “Intoxicate” transport more than four million monthly Spotify listeners to some smoky, sensual scene of his imagining. The Grammy-nominated singer/producer is a character in his own neon noir. He writes music at night and means for it to live in dark clubs and on foggy festival stages, so it’s strange to see him sitting in the bright Los Angeles sun, surrounded by bike riders and skateboarders at this Canoga Park recreation center.

Further Reading: ZHU’s New EP Invites Dance Music to the ‘Desert’ to Save Its Soul: Interview (Billboard, May 2018)

So yeah, Zhu is really fucking nice. I’m glad he’s still feeling inspired and inspiring me to write beautiful things.

As for the other two Spin pieces, you’ll just have to wait to hear more. They’re really fucking cute and I’m stoked on ‘em, but they’re not out yet and I don’t want to accidentally speak before my turn.

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Anywho, also been sending a million emails and mastering a million spreadsheets as editor of the Miami New Times’ forthcoming Best Of issue. It’s a lot of work! Got a great bunch of writers on the project, though, and a wonderful team of editorial staffers to help guide me through the process.

Can’t tell you anything else about that yet either, because winners of Best Of are secret until published. SHHHH. DON’T ASK.

What I CAN tell you though, is that I’m going live on YouTube today in less than an hour of this newsletter sending!

From 3 to 5 p.m. ET, I’ll be hosting another Jam Bam, which is a livestream where we listen to music and watch YouTube videos together, deciding whether or not a song is “playlist worthy.” You can’t just kinda like it, you have to LOVE it. That’s the rule.

Say Hi on YouTube

Join me on YouTube if you see this in time! Even if you miss the window, check my channel out sometime. We’ve got interviews, we’ve got on-the-ground reporting, we’ve got vlogumentaries and we’ve got personal vlogs. It’s just like reading these newsletters, except more like watching TV 😀

Anywho, thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. As May begins, I’m challenging myself to send a newsletter every Tuesday and get a video up on YouTube every Monday, even if it’s something simple like this one.

Next Tuesday will see a fresh monthly playlist though, courtesy of me and the folks at the Jam Bam.

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s been a while!

I’ve been very busy behind the scenes working on some big, time-consuming projects, mainly as Guest Editor of the Miami New Times Best Of edition, coming to news stands around Miami and Broward in June of this year.

I also finally put together a vlog of my MMW / Ultra 2026 experience. I did not film it like a regular weekly vlog, and instead, it’s mostly me talking at the camera with footage of the parties and interviews I nabbed during the very busy festivities.

But! It’s done and it’s cute and it’s streaming on the Super Kat World YouTube channel now!

That week, I managed to interview Nala, Madeon and Louis the Child for my ongoing Miami Music Week Vlogumentary. (If you missed it, I released my full interview with Skream for that project as a paid-subscriber treat just before heading out to Ultra Fest. I highly recommend watching it, Skream is the best.)

Stay tuned to my YouTube channel, because full clips of my Madeon and Louis The Child interviews will be coming there soon. I didn’t just talk to them about MMW, but about their upcoming albums and new live shows, and there will be lots of cute footage of those said performances to go along with the chit chats.

Super Kat World on YouTube

But that’s not the only reason to subscribe to Super Kat World on YouTube! In fact, you’ve got a good reason to tune in tomorrow, Thursday April 23, because…

KAT CALLS IS BACK!!! YAY!!

My friend and fellow journalist Megan Venzin put me in touch with Merchant’s team about a Kat Calls last month, and I’m so glad she did. We’ve only talked for about 10 minutes during yesterday’s practice call, and I can already tell he’s going to be a glowing guest to kick-off Kat Calls Season 7.

Megan met Merchant at Nashville’s Deep Tropics Festival in 2024 and was so impressed with his shining personality, emotional productions and DJ skills that she wrote him up as a must-watch emerging act in DJ Mag for 2025.

Further Reading: Six emerging artists you need to hear: March 2025 (DJ Mag, Various Authors, March 2025)

In that piece, Merchant spoke about his debut single “Tu Ta Le,” a collaboration with London-based Belgian Hoax and Kenyan vocalist Idd Aziz, as being a “cross-continental conversation” bringing together “three corners of the global diaspora uniting on one record — and part of the broader statement I wanted to make right out of the gate.”

Though he was born and raised in Jamaica, he now calls Nashville home, and he’s worked hard over the past few years to create a space for Afro-Caribbean rhythms in that “Music City.”

My ears really perked up when I heard he’d first made international waves with a remix of Damian Marley’s “Welcome to Jamrock.” The original was a huge favorite of mine when it first dropped in 2005. I am sure I ripped it off Kazaa and listened to it ad nauseum throughout sophomore year.

Remixing a generational classic that tackles the realities of hardship in an international tourist destination is no easy task, but I actually think Merchant’s mean-mugging groove of a rinse uplifts the original vision. I mean, Merchant grew up in those Jamrock streets. He fuckin’ knows what he’s talking about!

Pete Tong, BLOND:ish and Diplo were just some of the big names that started playing that remix out in their sets. Merchant actually put his spin on Major Lazer’s multi-lingual track “C’est Cuit” in early 2025, adding more melodic flavor to the already Caribbean-tinged track.

More recently, Afrohouse leader Black Coffee and Sparrow & Barbossa have taken him under their wings, and he just signed with Helix Records, home of Snakehips, Jamie Jones, Netsky and more.

These past few months, he’s been working on a concept EP which, in his own paraphrased words from our practice call yesterday, is a coming-of-age story told through music, honing in on stories of heartbreak and healing with a different featured vocalist on each song to help tell the sonic story.

He’s VERY excited about getting into the deep shit of this story, and you know that makes me very happy to hear!

Of course, we’ll also learn all about his upbringing in Jamaica, how he ended up in Nashville, of all places, and probably I’ll bring up the secret he confided in me yesterday about growing up learning to play guitar and being really into Blink182.

What can I say? I relate!

All that being said, what excites me most about this upcoming Kat Calls is just how great of a personality Merchant will bring to the table. He’s very fun, very silly, very open and excited to chat about everything and anything, so it’s going to be blast!

Tune in and be part of the conversation this Thursday, April 23, at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT.

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Plus! I just filmed a new intro for this season, running around the mall I grew up in, eating caramel-covered hard pretzel until my face was a disgusting gooey mess, trying on sunglasses in Spencer’s and reliving my mall goth roots at the local Hot Topic.

It’s going to be very goofy in the best possible way, lol.

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That’s it for this week, as I continue to prep for the upcoming kick off of Kat Calls Season 7!

We’ll be back next week with a thoughtful essay, or perhaps a new monthly playlist! My body is ready, indeed.

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s that time of the year again—time for all corners of the electronic dance music industry to come together in a giant firework of Miami excess.

As you more than likely already know (because I never shut up about it), I’ve been covering Winter Music Conference, Ultra Music Festival and Miami Music Week for 15 fucking years.

I first came down in 2010 to work for my blog, Fresh Wet Paint, although I first attended Ultra as a festival goer myself in 2005 when I was just a junior in high school. On the professional side, it was amazing to really take part in the litany of parties that litter the sidewalks, turning every hotel lobby and designer store into a wild showcase of DJ talent and electronic production prowess.

In the years that have followed, Miami Music Week has only grown—which is hard to imagine when it was already a maddening marathon of non-stop rhythm and beats.

Having watched the spectacle change and evolve over the years, seeing it become more commercialized, more defined, less spontaneous but just as electrically-charged, I’ve long wanted to put together a video documenting the experience, capturing and truly showcasing how insane and unruly Miami Music Week can be.

It’s one thing to say there are hundreds of parties taking over every street and corner of the 305. It’s another thing to really live it, driving through traffic from the Beach to downtown, micromanaging over-stretched schedules with friends and colleagues, trying to make it to multiple parties and cocktail hours, panel talks and award ceremonies in a handful of days, all while running on no sleep, fueled only by the excitement and the deadlines and the smiling faces of folks from all over the world that you may only see this one week of the year.

I’ve been gathering footage and interviews for the past few years on this project, and last year, I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Skream in his trailer after his Ultra 2025 set. The dubstep pioneer and cross-genre icon is one of the most colorful characters in the biz, and he’s always so friendly with me and ready to share incredible off-the-cuff stories about his experiences and honest opinions.

When we met last year, it marked Skream’s 20th Miami Music Week, and he was in proper form to chat, and you can tell I was also running high on the nerves and excitement of it all, chatting loud and fast to match his vibe.

We talked about his early days playing at Laundry Bar for 10 people with Mala and other dubstep OGs, and well as his first time playing Ultra alongside his bestie Benga, and how he, too, has watched the parties evolve and change from free label showcases and mad random energy bursts into giant commercial affairs and VIP offerings.

We chat about breaking records during this week and whether or not this week still represents a chance to set intentions for the year ahead, and how to survive the chaos of the week and get the most out of it, whatever you end up doing, seeing or remembering.

We also talk about how Justice were the first fellow musicians he ever played his house music tracks for, and how great their approval was for fueling his new endeavor. Wild story, and even more fun to think about knowing he’s opening for them Wednesday night at Factory Town, and I’ll be there cheering them all on!

It’s a great chat, and rewatching it today has energized me for the hard work ahead. I am still putting my plans in place and solidifying my interview lineup for this year, but if all goes well, I’m aiming to have this vlogumentary out in time for next year’s MMW/WMC celebrations.

I’m sharing the full, unedited interview with Skream for my paid subscribers only, as a thank you for their continued support. If you’re not currently a paid subscriber, consider joining for $5/month of $50/year and know those funds support this vlogumentary effort directly, as well as all the Kat Scrawls newsletters, Super Kat Diary weekly vlogs and every little bit of the sparkly Super Kat World universe.

But if you can’t join the paid tier, just know I am so glad you’re on this journey with me in any capacity 🙂

Read more

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s been a while since I edited a video for YouTube. It’s been hard to find the motivation with moving back and forth across the country and just generally digesting the changes in my life.

BUT ALL THAT ENDS TODAY!

As a means to relight the spark of video creativity and instill some kind of routine, I’ve started a weekly vlog series.

Introducing the Super Kat Diaries! Wherein I showcase behind-the-scenes realness of running Super Kat World and my normal, everyday life.

As I mention in the video’s intro, this is more for me than it is for the public, I guess. It’s a way to hold myself accountable, to get back into a rhythm of editing videos, and to try to appeal to the YouTube algorithm’s preference for a consistent and regular posting schedule.

It was really fun to put together, and it did help inspire me, but it was more work than I was expecting—of course. I should know this by now!

I’m sure the coming Miami Music Week episode will be waaay more exciting. I’m currently scheduling interviews for my WMC/MMW documentary, which will come to my YouTube channel *eventually*.

This vlog is a way for me to gear up for that, as well as other backlogged interviews I’ve done over the years that have never been finalized and published.

I’m feeling excited about this project, and I hope you find it at least half amusing :) I’m looking forward to sharing proper edited interviews and other fun insights on the YouTube channel in the weeks and months to come.

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Keeping things short and sweet this week, so the work I did on this vlog can take center stage.

In line with the theme of video work, I’m thinking I’ll share the full-length, unedited video of my sit-down interview with Skream during last year’s Ultra Music Festival. It’s part of my WMC/MMW documentary, but the whole chat is wonderful, of course, because Skream is one of the realest there is.

I’ll share that strictly with my paid-tier subscribers, since it’s basically BTS footage. If you’re not currently a part of that tier and you’d like to check it out, consider joining! It’s also a way to support my work on the documentary, and everything else I do as part of Super Kat World.

Subscribe now

This Week On Music League

The Super Kat World Music League Cup is really heating up! We’re in the final turns now, and the competition is stiff.

Last week’s playlist was all about Who Sampled? I asked folks to submit a song that was sampled by another artist, then submit the song that sampled that first song!

Jamie Gaard took the first and second place spots with her submissions of Mary O’Hara’s “Oró Mo Bháidín” and its impeccable use in Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead.” Give the full playlist a listen below, and see if you can’t pick out all the samples and their samplers.

Alsooo…

Did you hear Nylon just released its first-ever, peer-nominated and vetted Top 100 DJs List? Well, I didn’t nominate or vote for these DJs, but I did write 20 of their bio blurbs! Shout out the Nylon team for making me a part of this. It was a really fun project, and I’m honored to do my part 🙂 No, I didn’t write up Justice, but I did write up Gessafelstein! Read the full list at the link below:

• The NYLON House Dance 100 (Nylon, March 2026)

Go ahead and brush up on your WMC/MMW/Ultra Fest history by reading my newsletter about the week from a few years ago. By then, I’d already covered it for 13 years. Now it’ll be 15, holy shit. Here we go again.

• Kat Says: “After 13 Trips to Ultra, What Is There Left To Say?” (Kat Scrawls, April 2023)

Alright, friends. That’s all for this week, as I continue preparing for the hell week ahead, lol.

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

I’m going to admit something to you. It’s a little embarrassing, but it’s true, so here goes:

I can’t listen to Daft Punk without crying.

It’s a weird quirk I picked up sometime in the last 15 years. I’m not really sure when it started, but I know it used to only trigger with Alive 2007. That kind of made sense to me, because that show represented a huge shift in my life. Seeing them at Bang! Miami in November of 2006 and Lollapalooza in August of 2007 changed my whole world view and led me down the path that brought me here, to this newsletter and everything I’ve done professionally, in one way or another.

But earlier this week, I listened to Discovery again in full, and I found myself tearing up. Even now, just thinking about it, I wanna cry. It’s a disease of nostalgia, probably, but I’ll admit to being a softie. There are just too many memories wrapped up in their music, for me and so many humans around the world (get it? GET IT?!).

Today, March 16, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Discovery’s initial release. It was a very successful album, but it wasn’t as successful as it seems now. “One More Time” was an international radio hit, but it was mixed in with things like “Blue” by Eiffel 65 as a novelty of sorts, a strange breakthrough of European dance mania into US charts. Looking back, the reviews were mostly positive but not completely in awe—and yet 25 years on, Discovery has been recognized and embraced as one of the best albums of its generation and then some.

For me, Discovery was a revelation. My dad bought it for me that Christmas, and I played it in the living room immediately. I’d already heard the first four tracks, thanks to Cartoon Network’s Toonami animated music video special that played them in sequential order. It would take me another five years to finally see Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem in full (thanks, 2006 YouTube), but the storyline captured me immediately, as it continues to do today.

As soon as I realized Discovery’s 25th anniversary was approaching, I knew I’d dedicate a newsletter to exploring its charms. I mean, I have to. I’m Kat Bein. I’m under spiritual contract to write about Daft Punk any chance I get. Being a Daft Punk fan is like, part of my personality. I was interviewed by BBC Radio after they broke up. It’s like, a real thing, lol.

Further Reading: Fin: Why Daft Punk Was the Most Influential Electronic Act of Its Time (Billboard Dance, 2021)

So, I started listening to Discovery, writing furious notes about each song as it played, struck once again by the awe-inspiring scope of this LP. A few songs in, as I fought back the nostalgic urge to just remove my glasses and cry a while (editor’s note: I did not win that fight), a critical interpretation started to emerge.

This album weaves the most delicate web of lighthearted funk and euphoric romance alongside the heaviest guitar solos, boomiest basslines and forceful drums. It’s an exploration of dichotomies, working acid synths and trunk-thumping beats with fantastical flourishes and childlike whimsy. It’s so fucking serious, and yet it’s not serious at all. I mean, it’s a disco album released at a time when “disco” was still seen as artistic suicide, put forth by two underground house heroes regarded at the time as the cutting edge of chic style, but because Daft Punk have that cosmic juice, they were able to pull off the unthinkable.

In that way, Discovery plays like a couple of geniuses skipping through a field of daisies, dissecting sugary flower petals to make a Frankenstein’s monster of sound—like, the monster is gentle, but its boots are too heavy to not leave ominous impressions in the moss. There’s something underneath the shiny bits that feels intimidatingly powerful.

There is this danger, so to speak, that comes from—I think—the minds who made it. If you just give someone an overtly cheesy song and it’s got major chords and simple construction built around a hook that will earworm its way into your brain—that’s a wonderful accomplishment, but it’s surface level work. That’s the approach that makes things “cheesy.”

Discovery is never fully cheesy because there is a darkness to everything Daft Punk does. There’s this poundingness to it, it’s like something’s coming after you. It’s chasing something and it’s pushing you ever forward “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

There are moments on Discovery when the music is just so happy, but it’s almost psychotically so. Take “Crescendolls,” for instance. There’s a manic element to its eruptive celebration, the way the Joker laughs uncontrollably at Batman, but it’s not because someone just told a funny joke.

That strangeness is mirrored masterfully in Interstella 5555. “Crescendolls” is the moment when the alien band that has been abducted is selling out venues around Earth as the hottest new thing. Everyone is vying to get a piece of their action, and they should be happy that they’re successful, but they’ve been lobotomized, they’ve been roboticized, and they’re full of deep sorrow and this jadedness that comes from an artist being turned into a product.

But then and also, Discovery unfolds with a magical moment of repose. The insanity of “Crescendolls” melts into the quiet solace and heartbreaking romance of “Nightvision,” unfolding in the dark purples and blues of the 2 to 3 a.m. hours when the world is quiet and the sound of your own heartbeat rings in your ears..

It’s a stillness that wraps the Earth like a hug and allows for deep thoughts and dreams—right before being pummeled once again by the militance of “Superheroes,” which throws you back into the world of day, and the bombastic assault of the senses that is deadlines and war and traffic. It is the very ferventness of life that pushes humans to find reprieve in the controlled chaos of a club environment. It is both beautiful and maddening, and there is no escape.

You’ve got the dizzy champagne swimming pools of “High Life” pitted against the tragic romance of “Something About Us.” There’s the ever-present resiliency of “Voyager,” begging you to dry your eyes and march forward to its four-on-the-floor rhythm. Then there’s the ultra funky celebration of sixteenth notes that is “Short Circuit,” a super-fresh ‘80s NYC synth line that ultimately dissolves into a corroded acid mess; half the song spent in the heartbreak of a sound that hollows into a synthetic echo, like a voice holding onto life as it succumbs to the void.

“Face to Face” is an overtly human story of humility and connection laid bare over a beat of chopped-up samples; and these moments of sonic maximalism are matched by breathless pauses, like the subtle grace of “Veridis Quo,” which seems to scream their adoration for Giorgio Moroder 11 years before they set their influence’s own voice to record on RAM.

Even from the very start, as it opens on the world’s greatest dance party vibe with the iconic breakout anthem “One More Time,” the celebration is suddenly cut dead, replaced by an ominous clock chime that begets the Eddie Van Helen-style eruption that is “Aerodynamic.” It’s like, “oh, did you think this album was all silly looping disco songs? No. It’s also mosh pits, and you’re gonna love that, too.”

It is the truth of all these things coming together that make the symphony of humanity so complex and alluring. Discovery leans into every aspect of that spectrum, capturing the ugly and the sad and the joyful and the insane.

Oh, and the ironic hilarity of finishing the album with a 10-minute track called “Too Long.” It’s the little wink with which they send us home, circling back to the album’s beginning with singer Romanthony, who also appears on “One More Time.”

“Too Long” does not softly wave us goodbye, but rather shoots us out of a rocket into the rest of our lives. It starts as a soft breeze and gradually ups the ante until it becomes a full-blown hurricane—and it does it so smoothly, you never get bored. Who could expect that by the end of a 10-minute song, you’d be left screaming for more.

“Back to the top!”

“Encore!”

Or, dare I say it, “One More Time!”

Exactly an hour from the start, the circle is complete. The ride is over, but it’s primed to begin again—if you want it to, which of course you do, because you know you need it and it’s good for you.

That’s why I can’t help but listen to Daft Punk and cry. I felt the immensity of this music when I was only 13, but with each passing year, I feel it more. The album’s message rings truer, its rainbow of happiness and heartbreak and persistence color coding itself to my own varied life experience.

Discovery is a message of such honesty and insurmountable truth, told sometimes with lyrics and sometimes with noise. It is the echoes of life’s complications made sonic across 14 delightfully repetitive and emotionally-wrought songs; a titanic achievement for any band’s career, let alone its sophomore effort.

So here I sit, glowing with admiration for Daft Punk once again. After 25 years and an incalculable amount of listens, “brilliant” is the only word I have left—but then again, I guess Discovery is all I have to say.

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A million love-letter essays and thank yous to Daft Punk would never be enough, but I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten my point across, lol. Thank YOU, dear reader, for coming on this journey with me!

This Week On Music League

Last week’s Deep Cuts playlist asked players to submit songs from their favorite artists that aren’t celebrated singles. Someone did submit “Steam Machine” from Daft Punk’s Discovery follow-up, Human After All, but it was my submission of “Tricky Tricky” by Royksopp, featuring the incredible Karin Dreijer, that won the most votes.

There’s a lot of great tracks on this playlist. Give it a listen below!

That’s it for this week. I hope you all go on now and listen to Discovery, maybe have a little cake to celebrate its birthday.

If you’d like to support me in writing more profusely obsessive essays about Daft Punk and the like, consider joining the paid-tier of this newsletter. It keeps me going!

Subscribe now

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s that time again! I have updated the Super Kat World - Monthly Playlist, and this month’s music is well worth your time and investigation!

There are 16 tracks on this month’s playlist, running the gamut from hard techno to playful dance-pop, introspective indie rock, hyphy bangers and more.

There are songs from Disclosure, Oliver Heldens, Starjunk 95, Mndsgn and more—but I’m not sharing those songs below. You have to listen to the full playlist on Spotify to feel the full effect. Nanny nanny boo boo.

Below, I’m highlighting eight choice selections, not because they’re the best of the best, but because I just really like them and might have a thing or two to share about ‘em. So there. I make the rules. I am the captain now.

Listen to the SKW Monthly Playlist

Anyway, enjoy these sonic wonders. I know I did.

Deep Thrills - “Truth Before Dare”

This song isn’t exactly *new,* but it’s new to me. My friend Gianmarco played it for Zach Schlein and I when we were driving around Gainesville on our way to Neon Liger, and we lost our fucking minds. Deep Thrills has been releasing music for a long time under the name Paper Idol, but he started the Deep Thrills alter ego to do a French Touch, indie sleaze, blog house thing—and then The Dare happened, and he felt like the nu school New York icon stole his thunder. What’s the best way to handle that jealousy? By making a “Losing My Edge” parody naming all the Ed Banger records you have and screaming over a fuzzed-out blog house-inspired synth hook, duh! Turn the speakers up all the fucking way and dance yourself clean, babe.

Further Reading: Kat Says: “One Neon Liger Could Fix Me” (February, 2026)

Moore Kismet - “A Restorative Chance”

“Have you had your warm glass of Clorax bleach today, mother fucker?” What a way to start an introspective beat anthem, right? Moore Kismet continues to be one of the best producers, most vulnerable lyricists and exciting stars of today’s electronic generation. Having burst onto the scene when they were just a tween, Moore is now an adult dealing with adult feelings, but the taste level and production talent have been pro-level since the jump. It’s only up from here, and I can not get enough of this fucking breakdown, my god!

Never forget the time I interviewed Moore Kismet on Kat Calls back in 2021!

Boys Noize - “HYYTUP”

Hey, do you listen to Boys Noize? Oh, you mean the third member of Nine Inch fucking Nails?! I can’t get over how cool it is that one of my all-time favorite DJ/producers is now a part of one of my all-time favorite industrial goth-rock bands. Insane, but not all that unbelievable considering BN has been rockin’ some of the dirtiest, soulful beats this side of 2007. His latest single is a stompy, 107 bpm industrial banger, just to prove to the haters that he belongs on that NIN stage.

Temples - “Jet Stream Heart”

Rock music doesn’t have enough Arabic-inspired guitar melodies. Temples is here to fix that, at least with this one song, which does in fact bang. The English rock band does psychedelic rock with a buzzsaw twist, and I hear from fans online that they’ve got one helluva live show. Something to look into, perhaps? This track is a single from a forthcoming LP called Bliss, so I’ll stay tuned.

ford., Barrie - “Som Time”

I just love a lofi drum beat, don’t you? Foreign Family Collective member ford. is a master at lazy Sunday swirls and bleeding-heart bpms. He’s joined by Brooklyn-based producer Barrie on this beautiful slice of downtime, and it feels luxurious like laying about the house, watching sun dappled shadows streak across the living room floor.

Oh hey, wouldn’t you know it? I also interviews ford. on Kat Calls back in 2021. Good year.

bbyclose - “Dream About You”

I heard you like bubblegum club music, so I got you this super fresh fizz. Bbyclose was just nominated for DJ Mag’s Best of Britain, and I can hear why. This is PC Music levels of kawaii, giving real Frutiger Aero vibes for your ears. About the tune, bbyclose says “I’m just a girl who spends her entire train journey daydreaming about moments we could have like washing the dishes and falling asleep in front of the TV and walking round the park on a Sunday morning drinking coffee and talking nonsense.” Adorbs. Love it. Romanticize that commute, girl.

DLG., Distant Matter - “Dinner at 3am”

Dinner at 3 a.m. sounds more like Taco Bell’s fourthmeal to me. One eats at 3 a.m. because they been at the club forever—or, maybe you’re a producer who lives a nocturnal lifestyle, and so you eat to fuel your bohemian lifestyle whenever you can. Honestly though, this tune sounds like 2 p.m. in the park to me. Whenever you listen to it, this lowkey melody and catchy beat is warm like a hug from a close friend.

TT The Artist - “Thug It Out” (Jay Sync Remix)

Baltimore icon TT The Artist dropped her anthem “Thug It Out” 11 years ago, but it feels brand new thanks to this Jay Sync remix. The Boston-based producer took the chunky synth line and stretched it throughout the tune, peppering it nicely with a stompy bass drum and letting TT’s vocals bring that mean mug to your face. No problems needed, but you should meet us outside so we can’t dance to this.

HAHAHA, y’all ain’t gonna believe this. I wasn’t picking artists I interviewed in 2021 on purpose. It just happened this way, but here’s Kat Calls: TT The Artist, from 2021.

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That is but a taste of the musical bouquet that awaits you on this month’s Super Kat World - Monthly Playlist. Don’t stop there! Eat the whole thing! With your ears! Yum yum!

Listen to the SKW Monthly Playlist

This Week On Music League

The past couple weeks over in the Music League have been so much fun! We had Weirdo Wonderland, songs about being weird made by weird people that just get fucking weird! My favorite submission was Tom Waits - “What’s He Building?”, but my won submission of 100 gecs’ “Doritos & Fritos” took the top spot. Listen to the playlist and get weird with it.

Last week, we had Ready Player One?, a celebration of video game soundtracks, covers of video game songs, songs featured in video games to great effect and songs inspired by video games. I won that round too, thanks to my “Dire Dire Docks” submission :) Get it? Submission? Sub Mission? The Sex Pistols thought that joke was funny.

Anyway, the Ready Player One? playlist was one of my favorites. Give it a listen below!

Well folks! I hope you enjoyed this month’s tunes. Give the full playlist a listen, and remember, Super Kat World is a reader-funded project. Should you like to support this newsletter, Kat Calls and everything that goes down on my YouTube channel, consider joining the paid-tier of the newsletter, or buy a cool piece of merch. I’ll be here doing this anyway, but money is always appreciated <3

Subscribe now

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Me and serious Liger fam at the Neon Liger X reunion in 2019.

Hey Friends,

How do you know your youth is truly behind you?

Is it when your knee gives out dancing on a speaker in front of a couple hundred college kids? Is it on the 20th anniversary of the best concert of your life?

Is it when the clubs stop playing party beats for kids on molly and start playing monotonous tech house for kids on K, and you decide it’s not worth leaving the house after 10 p.m. unless someone’s paying you or one of the five DJs you admired 15 years ago is playing a set of “old school” bangers?

Is it when the weight of life unfolding hangs heavy in the air, and any night you get less than seven hours of sleep sets you back worse than a hangover in your 20s? Or is it when “I’m exhausted” means there’s a tightness in your chest and your legs twitch under the covers while you wonder “how many years did I shave off my life all those times I did drugs and pulled all-nighters?”

I’ve been calling myself “middle-aged” since I turned 35, much to the ire of my closest friends who swear you can’t be middle-aged until you’re 40—but the closer I get to that milestone, the more I feel the middle-ness of my life in each body ache, each nostalgic look-back, each Grammy nomination that reads as familiar as a nutrition label (actually, I may recognize some scientific Latin-roots better than I recognize young musicians).

But all these things I have done and faced pale in comparison to the feeling that rose when my friend Vijay told me he was hosting the annual Neon Liger in Gainesville this February, remarking that it would be the 18th anniversary of the most meaningful party in my life, and that it would be the last one we ever did.

“An adult,” I said, noting the party’s age.

“Yeah, seemed fitting,” he said. “She’s free to venture into her own clubs now.”

If you don’t already know what Neon Liger is—oh, dear reader, it was the time of my life.

It was a weekly Saturday party in Gainesville, Fl., where hipsters, queer folk, ravers and Greek lifers aged 18 to 25ish ritualistically got hammered and sweaty and drunk and danced their happy asses off to bloghouse and indie sleaze bangers (both of which were terms no one had ever heard at the time).

I wrote a lovely essay about it for the Miami New Times eight years ago on the eve of its then 10-year anniversary, and to explain the feeling behind it all, I’ll drop a long-ish excerpt here:

I bought a round of shots for everyone as soon as we walked in the door. Manley, about to be a father, rolled his eyes, but accepted my offer. In these dirty halls, we instantly assumed our old roles and our old habits. An hour from then, I’d be crawling across a second-story gap, clawing to shoot a cryo gun into an alley of dancers. An hour from then, Gianmarco would be blacked out and shirtless. It was just like old times, dangerously so. And this was only the ninth Liger-versary.

This Saturday, Neon Liger, Gainesville’s legendary weekly party, celebrates a decade of partying as a science with a reunion in Gainesville. Everyone thinks they threw down in college, but we were the definition. The University of Florida was the number one party school in the nation. Tim Tebow was a living god. “EDM” was barely a term when Dirty Disco brought Skrillex to town. Ten years later, Liger alum have gone on to do big things in the music world, from founding III Points to running Skrillex’s record label. If you’ve partied at Bardot or grooved to Hundred Waters, you have Neon Liger, in part, to thank.

“I truly wish I stopped and enjoyed it more, but it was how we paid bills,” says Jimbo Rountree, co-owner of Neon Liger and its former home Spannk, the now-closed 200-person-capacity room famous in some debauched circles for its DJ booth made from the front end of a classic Chrysler Plymouth. “I can count on one hand how many Saturdays [founder Vijay Seixas and I] took off in those years, and I loved every second of it. The floor would be covered in sweat, drinks, God knows what else. We used to have people use a four-foot squeegee before mopping just to get the fluid out of the club. It was just so many people going crazy in one space.”

Liger, in its most notorious form, was a weekly Saturday party at Spannk. In the roughly six years I spent religiously attending, I met some of the best friends of my life. A lot of us have gone on to be decorated professionals, but back then, we were just chugging pre-ban Four Lokos and $5 champagne bottles while we performed lewd sex acts as dance moves on the front bar.

“I don’t think there was a single fight in all those years,” Rountree recalls. “People came in costume, dressed up, or with barely anything on. Nobody cared. It was about the music, drinks, and friends.”

Further Reading: Remembering Neon Liger, Florida’s Most Epic Party (Miami New Times, February 2018)

I started going to Liger in 2008, just seven months after its first party. I’d just moved from Tallahassee to Gainesville, transferring from FSU, where I had no declared major, to UF where I started a degree in journalism.

That off-hand shift in my education became the major turning point of my life story, but I’d say walking into my first Neon Liger was just as important.

I’d been going to house parties during my two years in Tally, and I noticed one DJ kept playing all the best backyards and living rooms. One night, I finally walked up to him, drenched in sweat and liquid courage, to say “hey! I keep seeing you around and your sets are awesome! Who are you?”

The man with a handlebar mustache and thick black glasses introduced himself as Manley, and about a year later, he started throwing random parties at an actual club. The music we’d all been downloading off random blogs was getting played on real sound systems, and there was an electricity in the air I recognized as a truly influential youth movement. It was not yet definable, but it was growing with each passing week, and when I was set to move cities, Manley was one of the first to know.

“I’ve had so much fun at your parties,” I said, probably just as sweaty as I was that first nightwe met, “and I’m really going to miss them.”

“Hey! If you’re moving to Gainesville, there’s another party you should go to.”

Me when I was Neon Liger for Halloween in 2010.

I started going to Neon Liger every Saturday, often by myself if no friends were in the mood. I’d thrash and rage and free myself in the too-loud speakers, smushed up against stranger’s bodies in the tiny, dirty space.

Before long, I had a new roommate named Joel who DJed, and he came to the party just as religiously. He crafted a scheme to play the night, and come Halloween, he managed it. That was the same night I first brought my friend Jordan, who’d just showed up in town one day while driving across the country and basically never left.

One night, we met a kid named Gianmarco who never drank or did any drugs but danced harder than anyone else in the club. One night, we met a kid named Jake who’d snuck in with a fake ID, and we practically kidnapped him into our group. These were the friends who started my blog with me (Fresh Wet Paint 4 lyfe), and we became a crew of our own, a little family inside the larger umbrella of the scene happening across town.

Slowly but surely, we made friends with all the cool kids who hung out in Liger’s car-shaped DJ booth, then we started dancing back there every Saturday, too.

Fresh Wet Paint started hosting our own themed parties, eventually getting brought on to host a spin-off Liger called Blue Leopard each Wednesday evening. When I started writing for the student paper, Vijay was one of the first people in town to hire me to write for the Neon Liger website, paying me real money (little as it was) to write about new song releases, Liger updates, and whatever the fuck I wanted.

When I graduated from UF in 2011, I moved back to south Florida and started my music journalism career, but I kept coming back about once a month to throw parties and hit up Neon Liger. It kept going with a new generation of kids behind the booth, but by 2016, Vijay and his partners sold the club, and he turned it into an annual ticketed event that would relive the glory days in a new space, making a little money, sure, but mostly as an excuse to get the old family together for a single weekend of debauchery.

I’ve made the pilgrimage to Gainesville just about every February since, with a couple of exceptions here and there. Whenever I tell someone what I’m doing, I just say “I’m going to my college reunion,” because it’s too much to explain in one sentence. Most of my close friends know what Neon Liger means though, because I either met them there or talked their ear off about it many a late night when I should have been asleep.

I was honored to be the official hostess/MC for most of the Liger anniversaries. Doing so always felt like a personal triumph. When I was young, this party was larger-than-life. Being part of it is an honor that sometimes felt unreal. In my mind, the party will always be this glowing mecha of cultural cool. The people who ran it were slightly untouchable hipsters I admired—but in reality, it’s been 18 years of us hanging out. I’ve spent half my life with these nerds, laughing about stupid shit and making dumb decisions, and along the way, the kids in cool jackets I looked up to became not only my peers, but my weird little family.

Each year, less friends make the trip, because they live further away, have bigger responsibilities, get married and have kids. Each year, I drive to Gainesville wondering “will the college kids of today wonder why a middle-aged woman is yelling at them on a microphone?” But every year, kids got down hard and heavy, and it felt like the spirit of bloghouse was alive when my friends DJed in the booth.

This year, though, it was certainly the end of an era. Joel didn’t make the trip, preparing for a move from Chicago to Miami. He’s kind of the chaotic mascot of the weekend; the one most likely to break something, or drop a phone in a pool, or party too hard, or invite a bunch of kids to the “afters.”

These past couple years, the “afters” is just us watching the Limp Bizkit 2021 Lollapalooza reunion concert on the TV, drinking hard seltzers until we can’t keep our eyes open, and while we are proud of Joel for making adult decisions, we missed his adorable messiness. (I accidentally broke the handle on a reclining couch this year, and when Vijay discovered it, he said “the spirit of Joel was here.”)

We didn’t sell tickets to this year’s event. We just hosted it in the arcade bar Vijay DJs every Friday, and let everyone in free, 21+. I didn’t climb the bar and scream into any mics. We didn’t even actually advertise it as Neon Liger. It was just a night that would be packed regardless, with Manley, Gianmarco (Viebrent), Nic Daniels (Nadhi), Mike G (Sketch) and Dunstan Wallace on the 1s and 2s.

Jordan was there. My friend Gabe and Melissa who ran Mars Pub & Laser Tag where we first hosted Fresh Wet Paint parties were there. My friend Zach, who went to UF after I graduated but never went to Neon Liger proper, was there with his besties, all of whom first came to Liger during the 10 year reunion eight years ago.

All of us knew it was Neon Liger. All of us enjoyed dancing to “Warp 1.9” and “We Are Your Friends” and “Polkadots” the remix. The reunions had always been for “us,” but this time, it really was just us having our own party in a sea of strange young faces, half of whom were really into it, and half of whom probably just wanted cheap beer.

I went into the weekend feeling incredible off center. The amount of time that has passed, the things that have changed in my life, the rockiness of the last year and the rarity with which I find familiar markers of time and space around me has been a strange and surreal experience. I think it’s what people call “a mid-life crisis,” and I never thought I’d actually have one of those.

Like, I’m not unhappy about anything I’ve done with my life so far. I don’t feel like I need to “catch up” to my dreams. I did them. I lived them. I’m not rich, and I’m not famous, but I’m respected and proud of what I’ve created with my time. Still, I’m in a transitional period where I look into the past and see how much things have changed, then look forward to the future and have no idea where it’s going.

A promo photo for me as hostess/MC of Neon Liger 11, back in 2019.

It doesn’t seem possible that a party founded in 2008 can be turning 18. That’s a whole lifetime. That’s how long it takes to build a personality. That moment was just yesterday for me. It looms so large in my rearview mirror, but the memories I cherish are much farther than they appear.

What has happened in the 18 years after I turned 20? Were these decades as remarkable and meaningful as the first two? Of course they were. They are the moments of my adult life; all the nuances of my career and independence and sense of self, but they were more measured, more serious, more work than just play, and Liger, for me, represented a space to let go and get lost in the play of it all.

When the night was winding down, I was on the patio of Arcade Bar saying goodbye to friends when someone told me Dunstan Wallace was playing the Cheers theme song to close out the night. I bolted through the bar to the DJ booth, most likely looking insane, just to be there for the moment.

Back in 2008, when Neon Liger felt very niche and small, before the sorority girls and ravers and anyone other than hipsters in American Apparel jeggings knew it existed, Vijay ended every night with that song. He stopped playing it sometime in 2009 or so when more people started coming to the party, but I made him play it again at the first reunions, and Dunstan has kept the tradition alive ever since.

I wanted to hear that song and think about the place where everyone first learned my name one more time. Then Dunstan and I said the closing Liger tagline—the one someone had yelled as the lights turned on and kids filed out the bar every Saturday night for some eight or nine years—one final time.

“If you’re not working here,” Dunstan yelled to the crowd.

“Or fucking someone who works here,” I yelled.

“Get the fuck out!” We both laughed, and that was that.

This chapter is closed, the party is over, and I’ll never go to Neon Liger again. Those feelings and that freedom and that hopeful carelessness is pushed into the margins of my life; a historical footnote that gives context to whatever happens today but can only be held as a memento on a shelf, not experienced in its fullness and radiantly real.

Letting it go does make me sad. It feels like a chunk of my soul is transformed into a relic, and not knowing what to replace it with makes those emotions stick in my throat. I am older, I am more tired, and though I am no richer than those days, I am wiser and more at ease.

I was afraid this half-official goodbye to Liger would make me feel kind of pathetic, like I’m that washed-up old person who tries to relive their glory years because they’ve got nothing left to look forward to—but being with my friends and dancing to the songs I love most, I felt so full of joy. Things are different. We are different, but these people who know me on a level most people never will have seen me grow and are proud of me. We have each other’s back wherever we go from here, and we don’t have to know where we’re going. We can’t anyway.

Sunday afternoon, as we packed our bags and readied to head toward a world without a Neon Liger, we started talking about what’s next.

“I know we’re not going to have Neon Liger anymore,” Gianmarco said, “but we should still get together once a year, all of us, and just hang out.”

“Yeah,” Manley said, “get an airbnb somewhere by like a lake or something, set up some DJ decks, stick a quarter in Joel and let him go nuts.”

“I’d be so down!” I said, knowing nothing is for certain, but feeling very sure in my heart that, even if it’s not every year, this silly group of characters will be in my life for the long haul.

“Maybe we can get some keychains made,” Manley continued, “like bracelets or something for everyone that says ‘Neon Lifer.’”

Because 18 years later, I can say with wholehearted assurance that Soulwax wasn’t lying when they said:

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Neon Liger is dead, long live Neon Liger—and if you never had the chance to experience the magic, I’m happy to say you can listen to Nic Daniels’ set from the final Liger below, now and forever.

Warning, this set goes hard af and is full of mid-2000s bangers! Not for the weak of heart! Hahaha, there is even a moment where he mixes Fergie and Bloody Beetroots with the Wii shopping channel music. Enjoy <3

This Week On Music League

We’ve had a couple of great weeks on Music League! Check the playlists below for This Is The House That Blogs Built, a special bloghouse edition in honor of the final Neon Liger. Justice vs. Simian “We Are Your Friends” took the top spot here, no surprise.

Also, last week’s This Is Not A Love Song playlist features great tunes about anything other than matter of the heart, a special anti-Valentine’s Day theme for the players in the league. “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang won this round!

Alright friends. Thanks for taking this existential walk down days gone by with me. I promise this is my last nostalgic essay for a little while. New music coming next week, promise!

Subscribe now

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays. As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

This is a moody selfie I took in 2006, lol, I was in my goth shit fr fr.

Hey Friends,

Did you post a nostalgic look-back on social media of your life in 2016?

The year has been labeled the last golden gasp of humanity by those of the Gen Z set, and in my own memory, it was a fine year. There was nothing wrong with it. Truly, the unbridled euphoria that was the summer of Pokémon GO can not be underestated—but if I’m being totally honest, I have waaaay fonder memories of 2006 than I have for any of the years of the 2010s.

It was the year I graduated high school and moved from my mom’s duplex in south Florida to a dorm at Florida State University. I entered emerging adulthood under the Spanish moss oak trees of Tallahassee and spent my time watching Daria episodes on a relatively new website called YouTube, surfing artist’s MySpace pages to discover new music I could then download on random blogs while simultaneously writing “Kat Bein is _____” status updates on Facebook, which I was finally allowed to have a profile on because I had an official .edu email.

It was the year I saw Daft Punk live while home on Thanksgiving break. It was the year I dove into heady art films by Jodorowski, Herzog and Lynch. It was the first year I took psychedelic drugs and learned to pack my own bowls, because I really wasn’t a stoner until college. It was also the first year I started drinking alcohol, and the first year I felt I was a part of something happening around me instead of just observing from the side lines of life.

Damn, 2006 was lit!

Every generation favors their youth over another’s but seeing as how this is my newsletter, I’m puttin’ a Kat Bein twist on the nostalgic trend and bypassing 2016 altogether, celebrating instead some incredible albums that turn 20 years old in 2026. Some you hopefully already know, some you may not have heard in a while, and some may be brand-new to you.

A lot of great music came out in 2006, but I whittled this list down to albums that played over-and-over in my personal rotation. There are honorable mention albums at the bottom, too, because even if I didn’t feel moved to write a blurb, they were likewise, important, meaningful, influential and otherwise worthy of your attention.

Without further ado, presented in chronological order, here are my 10 favorite albums of 2006:

Ghostland Observatory, Paparazzi Lightning (Jan. 1)

Did this album really come out on the first day of the year? Who fucking knows, the Internet certainly is not clear about it, and that makes me a little sad, because it means the Austin duo is not getting its due. Ghostland Observatory is one of the most powerful musical outfits of the mid 2000s and the band deserves more flowers, so this is me telling you to jam-the-fuck-out to Paparazzi Lightning as soon as humanly possible. A follow-up to 2005’s likewise funktacular debut delete.delete.i.eat.meat, the 10-track offering blends stadium-sized rock with body-snatching electro growls and over-the-top rock star confidence. Singer Aaron Behrens howls operatic like an indie sleaze Freddie Mercury with just as much stage presence, while synth sorcerer Thomas Turner manhandles the keys and machines as a super hero one-man band dressed in disco wizard capes and other glittering get-ups. If you ever have the chance to see Ghostland play a stage anywhere in the world, do not fucking miss it. “We click because we’re both willing to give everything,” Behrens told me in a 2020 interview, and that dedication is evident in everything they do. If god was fair, Ghostland would be superstars, and they are in my heart. Looking for more bite-sized plays? Listen to the single “Sad, Sad City” or “Stranger Lover.”

Further Reading: Ghostland Observatory “Regenerated” and Ready to Wow Okeechobee With Raw Electronic Power (Miami New Times, February 2020)

The Knife, Silent Shout (Feb. 17)

Discovering The Knife in 2006 was a personality-shifting revelation (for me) of the highest order. The Swedish brother-sister duo’s stark imagery, nightmare humor and dark electronic sounds painted my ‘80s goth sensibilities into modern dimensions with refreshing edge. I was introduced to the band by the single “We Share Our Mother’s Health,” which dragged me into an obsession with the full Silent Shout album, which morphed into an exploration of everything the band had ever released and an online purchase of their live show DVD, which had been published in Russia and therefore could only be enjoyed via my laptop CD-drive because it wasn’t compatible with any American DVD players. The 11-track LP plays out in midnight tones, pulsing a ghostly midwinter meditation that sounds like it was composed during the weeks of Swedish midwinter when the sun never rises. I can’t stress to you how cool it was to be dancing in a backyard with a DJ daring enough to drop “Like A Pen.” I hope the kids of today have their own version of such lawlessness.

Girl Talk, Night Ripper (May 9)

This may be hard for folks born after the year 1996 to believe, but it used to be social suicide to admit you listened to rock music, hip hop and pop hits. Genres and their fans went together like oil and water. Picking your favorite bands in middle school felt like joining a gang, but with the invention of peer-to-peer music sharing services, kids were suddenly able to download songs across decades and cultural divides without investing a single dollar. The barrier to entry for music discovery was lowered, and influences started bleeding over the edges of suburban lines in the sand. Mash up culture came soon after, and artists started mixing rap jams with ‘70s rock classics, showing that these seemingly disparate sounds could coexist on your iPod and in your heart. Girl Talk was the undisputed king of mash-up culture, and his 2006 debut Night Ripper killed the cross-genre naysayer forever. It was basically required listening to every millennial on Earth, the perfect mix to throw on during a house party, and picking out the samples felt like a joyful reward for music fans of all ages. I mean, my mom liked it as much as I did, because her youth was as represented as mine. Friendly warning: these mixes can give your brain musical whiplash, but the erratic style perfectly captures the maximalist nature of the era. Also, it’s the only place you’ll find The Rolling Stones and Ying Yang Twins playing at the same time—or The Game and The Pixies, or Nine Inch Nails and David Banner… You get it.

Hot Chip, The Warning (June 3)

For some reason, my brain sits Cut Copy and Hot Chip directly next to each other. I don’t completely understand it, but I suppose it’s because both bands enjoyed their peak at the same time, and both typify the indie synthpop of the 2000s era. They don’t necessarily sound like each other, and that has nothing to do with the relevance of this album, but I have to confess it somewhere. Now you know. Anywho, The Warning is a masterful display of juxtaposition, exploring violent lyrics and frantic rhythmic details alongside languid melodies and feel-good choruses, which makes for an incredibly arresting listen when played all the way through. The title track is wildly brilliant, playing soft and dreamlike on the glockenspiel while singer Joe Goddard threatens his band will “break your legs” as if whispering sweet nothings. It captured the way our suburban generation felt listening to gangster rap, which we seemingly had no business listening to but were totally in love with anyway. The album also begat some generational-defining singles, as songs “Boy From School” and “Over and Over” have been etched into the millennial brain so deeply, you can likely hear us humming them from space.

Mstrkrft, The Looks (July 18)

During the last couple years of my time in high school, Death From Above 1979 was one of the coolest bands on the scene. Comprised of simply a drummer who sang and a bad motherfucker who played bass like it was a lead guitar, the dance punk duo from Toronto redefined heavy metal as something you could fuck to (to my taste, anyway). Then, as quickly as their star rose, DFA79 imploded, never to release an album again (until they reunited some five or so years later, but I digress). It felt cataclysmic for the culture, then a phoenix by the name of Mstrkrft rose from the ashes. DFA79’s bass player, JFK, was back with a new co-member, and he’d traded his guitar for synthesizers, dropping some of the gnarliest, sexiest, deliciously-jagged buzzsaw melodies mine ears had ever enjoyed. The Looks felt custom-built for kids who loved ‘80s classics but yearned for something more “hack-the-world.” With this debut, Mstrkrft ushered in the official start of what would become known as the “bloghouse” era—and my life, at least, was never the same, lol.

Ratatat, Classics (Aug. 22)

One of the most instantly-recognizable guitar players I’ve ever heard, Ratatat’s Mike Stroud’s high-pitched lyrical wail takes the place of a lead singer. The Brooklyn-based duo’s instrumental electronic rock was a staple of my college diet. Listening to the track “Wildcat” today damn-near brings tears to my eyes, the way its crystalline reverb carry bittersweet memories of laying on the floor, stoned and optimistic, drifting through lazy afternoons and hours between classes believing music this good could one day save the world. A bold move to name your album Classics, but one that stands the test of time. Reportedly recorded in a house owned by Bjork in upstate New York, this album bridges the gap between the indie rock and bloghouse sounds of the decade’s sonic palette. It’s a 10/10 listen straight through, but if you want to snack on singles, do make sure you give “Loud Pipes” a good rinse.

Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds (Sept. 12)

To make a list of great albums from 2006 and not include something from Timbaland would be a gross oversight. The Virginia-bred producer was running the whole damn game circa the mid-2000s, and his stuttering brand of discotized electro-pop was best exemplified on 2006’s Loose by Nelly Furtado and FutureSex/LoveSounds by former *Nsync frontman Justin Timberlake. Now, let me make one thing clear: I was never a boy band 2000s pop girlie. I was a hater of late-’90s and early 2000s plastic pop through and through, but once these stars started dropping gems like “Dirty Pop” and Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” I was begrudgingly forced to admit the beats were fire. Then Timberlake teamed up with Timbaland, of whom I was already a rabid fan thanks to a casually-maniacal devotion to Missy Elliot, and the game was a wrap. I actually went out and bought FutureSex/LoveSounds on CD, which felt like a complete 180 in terms of personality for me, but I just couldn’t deny the club-pop genius. It also felt right, marrying hip-hop with electronica and chart-topping hooks. It’s an album totally of its time, and I’m not ashamed to say it was in heavy rotation throughout my freshman year of college. Like, if you squint, it’s not that different from bloghouse, y’know?

Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor (Sept. 19)

Just like how listening to punk and pop and hip-hop all at once was frowned upon, being a nerd and black was also super side-eyed in the 2000s and earlier decades. That’s what made skateboarding Lupe Fiasco such a rebel, rapping smooth over a jazzy beat telling the story of feeling trapped in the city. Kids all across America could relate, and the success of the Chicago rapper’s breakthrough single “Kick Push” certainly made it safer for the likes of Kid Cudi, Tyler, The Creator, Thundercat and more to let their nerd flags fly. Still, that’s just one track on Fiasco’s incredible debut LP. Food & Liquor was, overall, an exciting new chapter in the long-running story of conscious rap that started with songs like “The Message” and was perfect by groups like A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Black Star. Fiasco’s album brought that sound into the space age with production from The Neptunes, Kanye West, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and more. It was thoughtful, introspective, intellectual bars over danceable electro-hop grooves and jazz samples. Another absolute vanguard of its time, this album is an influential piece of the puzzle that leads to our world today.

Flying Lotus, 1983 (Oct. 3)

As a member of the Toonami and Adult Swim generation, I fell in love early and fast with Flying Lotus’ personal brand of lofi hip-hop beats. Notably, J Dilla’s Donuts was also released in 2006, but if I’m being honest, I listened to FlyLo’s 1983 and 2008 follow-up Los Angeles a lot more. As mentioned, I was becoming a stoner in 2006 (for the record, I’m not anymore, but more power to the stoners of the world, fr), and these hazy-daze rhythms and ambient melodic loops were the perfect soundtrack for getting lost in strange ideas and doing absolutely nothing. This album is hypnotizing from start to finish, and it was a favorite for driving around Tallahassee’s winding, rolling hill streets. My love of FlyLo’s style was only validated as his career took him to even more exciting, experimental heights, and he appreciated my long-time fandom when I confessed to loving these early albums when I finally got to interview him in 2018.

Further Reading: Flying Lotus on Brainfeeder’s Strange Decade of Success: ‘I’m Seeking the Sound of the Seeker’ (Billboard Dance, Nov. 2018)

Klaxons, Myths of the Near Future (Nov. 30)

There is some confusion online about whether this dropped in November of 2006 or January of 2007, but I am including it on this list no matter what, because I just love it so, so much. I’ve been listening to it a lot lately, and I really want to write a larger retrospective essay on what makes it so amazing, mostly because I feel it’s criminally underrated and nowhere near talked about enough. The self-described “new rave” band’s debut album was a ripping lightning ride of dance punk rhythms and electroshock synths made melodic by sing-along worthy choruses and catchy earworm hooks. It’s a beautiful, philosophical, intellectual-but-fun indie sleaze banger from start to finish, running fast with 11 songs in 36 minutes. It was a constant musical companion for me and my closest friends during my time at FSU, and it’s one of my favorite relistens from the past five years. If you haven’t given this your full attention, now is definitely the time.

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Damn, y’all. I knew I was going to dig up some sick fucking music when I came up with this list angle, but I didn’t realize just how wonderful the music and memories would be. It was a truly blessed year to have ears, that 2006. I’m glad the kids had such a great time in 2016, but I do believe this was a watershed moment for music overall. What a time to be alive, and I hope you found something new to love or have been inspired to revisit a timeless classic.

Here are some honorable mention albums also released in 2006:

• The Rapture, Pieces of the People We Love

• J Dilla, Donuts

• TV On The Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain

• Nelly Furtado, Loose

• Silversun Pickups, Carnavas

• The Killers, Sam’s Town

• Rick Ross, Port of Miami

• Grizzly Bear, Yellow House

• Peter, Bjorn & John, Writer’s Block

• Lady Sovereign, Public Warning

• Mickey Avalon, Mickey Avalon

• LCD Soundsystem, 45:33

• Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere

This Week On Music League

Speaking of 2006, this week’s Music League is themed “This is the House that Blogs Built.” I’ve asked participants to share their favorite of the genre, whether they were era-specific releases or modern songs that share the filter house spirit.

Last week was a great launch with Side 1s, Track 1s, inspired by the movie High Fidelity. My album opener picks were “Plainsong” by The Cure and “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop, but Justice’s “Genesis” won the round with the most votes from our players. I completely agree. It is the best album opening track ever, matched only by “One More Time,” but what do you think?

Listen to our Side 1s, Track 1s playlist on Spotify at the link below, and let me know in the comments what you think we missed! Better yet, join the Music League, there are a couple spots left :)

Join the SKW Music League Cup

Thanks for joining me on another memory-fueled merry-go-round. If you feel so moved, you’re invited to help support the Super Kat World mission by joining the paid-tier of this newsletter. Or, you can buy a piece of Super Kat World merch! But I’m happy to have you here no matter what <3

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Until next time, see you on the Internet!

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Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever! HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

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Hey Friends,

I was originally planning to give you an updated playlist today, but after spending three hours sifting through emails, churning through Spotify playlists and surfing YouTube, I’ve decided to wait until February, to give the music industry a little more time to come back to life after the holidays.

Don’t get me wrong. There are good songs that have come out in the last few weeks, but I try to keep a high bar when putting these playlists together. I want to feel super inspired by the music I support, and while I admit it might be totally a “me” thing, I didn’t walk away from my listening session today feeling all that inspired.

That being said, if you’ve heard some new shit that just blew your mind in the past couple months, I would LOVE for you to share it with me <3

Speaking of sharing music with me, you have one more day to join the Super Kat World Music League Cup and share your music taste with me and others in the community. You may just win a prize!

Learn more about Music League and see the themed rounds by reading my newsletter about it. Song choices for Round One: Side 1s, Track 1s are due Wednesday (today!), Jan. 28, at midnight ET.

Join the SKW Music League Cup

ANYWAY

Since I’m not updating the SKW playlist today (although I highly recommend listening to the Super Kat World Cumulative Playlist any and every time) we’re pivoting to something that I am very excited to share:

An archival interview I did with Tiga in 2015!!

I was already thinking it could be a cool piece to highlight, as the Canadian electronic music icon is gearing up to release his first solo studio album in a decade. His recently-released single “Hot Wife,” a collab with Boys Noize, was one of the tunes I listened to and enjoyed earlier.

Sharing my old chat with Tiga is timely, it’s relevant, and it all “makes sense.”

I’ve never forgotten this chat, because it holds a special place in my heart. Not to brag, but when I opened the Q&A up by asking Tiga “When did you first realize you were a weirdo?” he laughed and said “that’s, like, the best question I’ve ever been asked.”

YEAH, OKAY, YOU’RE RIGHT. I’M BRAGGING.

Besides the flattery, it’s just a great fucking interview, and after transcribing it yesterday, it feels weirdly relevant. We talk about Aphex Twin winning Best Electronic Album at the Grammys a month earlier, and how inspiring that is for musicians who trust their gut. Meanwhile, back in 2026, Aphex Twin just surpassed Taylor Swift for monthly YouTube plays, thanks in large part to his song “QKThr” being super popular on TikTok and IG reels.

We also talk about how most best-selling books are trash and life is too short to consume garbage. He was ironically reading Infinite Jest at the time, which I hadn’t read in March 2015 but have read now and would LOVE to talk about with him or anyone who has actually fucking read it. Honestly, this side of 38, the chat feels even more impressive and meaningful to me. I’m glad my 27-year-old self was able to handle this back and forth.

Long story short, it was just a really fun, human chat with one of the most interesting, strange and surreal producers on the electronic music scene, and I’d love to share it with y’all.

BUT! APPARENTLY! You can’t read it anymore!

Yes. My fun and victorious Tiga interview has been scrubbed from the Miami New Times website and is no longer accessible via the regular web.

Now, you may say: “What? Why?”

Well, about once every year or two, a media website will scrub its pages and erase underperforming urls. This could mean erasing interviews, personal essays, video clips, whatever. It’s all about proving to the Google robots that you’re a popular and meaningful website, in hopes that Google will bring your urls to the first page of any relevant searches.

Of course, a lot of old interviews aren’t getting clicks 10 or 11 years after they were first published. It hurts me, though, that what I consider one of my best interviews could be completely erased from the Internet without any heads up to me.

This is far from the only time this has happened, of course, and it underlines the importance of screen-capturing your best work, as a digital journalist.

Let it also show you, Internet user, that the Internet is not a forever machine full of answers. It is a fallible mansion full of rooms and hallways that change as soon as you turn a corner.

Thankfully, I was able to find a poorly-rendered version of the original interview via the Wayback Machine’s Internet Archive. It’s not perfect, but you can read the truncated version of this Q&A there as it was published in March 2015, should you like that experience.

In the spirit of longevity, though, I’ll be sharing the full transcript of our conversation below. Now, as long as Substack exists and doesn’t delete my account, this 2015 interview with Tiga can live on forever and ever.

If you’re a paying subscriber, you may also skip the read-through and listen to our conversation as recorded in full, like a podcast or something. I highly recommend it, because Tiga’s vocal inflections really make this, y’know? Don’t you wanna hear his statements in his own voice?

That’s why I started Kat Calls six years ago, so you could get the full experience of these conversations I have with artists—but I digress.

Here it is! My interview with Tiga from 2015. Enjoy <3

Photo by: Femme de $arkozy

Kat Bein: Your music, your career seems to be aesthetically defined by this fierce individuality to the point of surrealism almost—

Tiga: Fuck yeah, hahaha.

So, when did you first realize that you’re a weirdo?

That’s a really good—that’s like the best question I’ve ever been asked.

Nu-uh, really? Thanks, haha.

Honestly, or at least as far as an intro to an interview, it’s the most I’ve ever felt understood.

Awwwww, hahaha, that’s good. :D

It’s a good summary … but I think about it often. I guess a lot of people do. You wonder sometimes why you don’t fit in a little bit more, y’know? You don’t envy it, but you wonder. Recently, I thought about it, and I was like … I could trace it all the way back to being 6 years old. It’s just the way it is, so I think when I realized I was a weirdo was as soon as I even knew what my name was. My name was pretty weird when I was a kid. I always had a strange name [editor’s note: Tiga is his birth name]. I always looked a bit different, and my family was kind of different. I guess if you start different, you have a choice pretty early on: Do you try to assimilate? Do you chase something to fit in? Or do you just let it ride? I guess on some level I got comfortable with it, and that’s all I know.

I guess I pick up on that because I can relate to that feeling of growing up and realizing, “okay, I’m a little different from everyone else,” and people let you know, is the thing.

Oh yeah, hahaha. It usually doesn’t come as such a surprise. Someone lets you know.

But it’s cool that you stuck to it, because clearly that has worked out for you. It’s brought you to this creative profession.

Mm, yeah, it’s been good. I think also, if you’re in a creative profession or anything, obviously your individuality—whatever that means—is what you have to offer. The more you feel free to express that, the less self-conscious you are. Sometimes it’s really beneficial, because you’re free to do whatever it is you do and end up coming out of it different. I guess what I’m saying is, it’s nice to not—when you stop caring about fitting in or where your place is or whatever, it’s quite liberating.

It’s also a little bit challenging sometimes. I do think sometimes—because as a DJ for example—there’ve been times when I fit more neatly into an existing scene. For example, in the old rave days, it was a bit easier to fit in. Then in the electro years, there was a moment, and then pre-EDM. It does come in and out of phase where I feel like I’m part of the group, and then something happens and I move out or they move out, something. Sometimes that constant movement does get—it’s not as simple, is what I’m saying. Some people, at least looking from the outside, some people it’s just like, okay, boom, that’s their sound, it’s easy to describe, to keep doing it. They fit in on a certain circuit. It seems there’s a certain simplicity and a focus—but maybe that’s just looking from the other side. Maybe they see that about me, I don’t know.

What do you feel about the way things are right now? Do you feel like you’re fitting into a group, or do you feel like you’re floating in this personal world of whatever?

I think I’m floating. Floating—well, I think right now is a really good time in general. I feel really amazing about what I’m doing, but also … the scene in general is a really nice time. There’s a lot of interest in general just for electronic music and dance music. It’s very healthy. There’s a lot of parties, and there’s a lot of energy and attention being put towards it, and a lot of enthusiasm in all the sides. What also is really cool is, I think now the massive EDM wave that started to rise up lets say four or five years ago, that first giant generation has kind of crashed—not crashed in a bad way, but now you reap more of the wide benefits, especially in places like America. It’s finally more established as a culture and that benefits everybody.

For me, it’s the same in the UK now. It’s a whole new generation of people that are just really into dance music. They’re really into good parties, they’re very open minded and it’s a good time in general. Whatever you do, there’s a bigger audience for it and it feels good.

I was trolling your Twitter page a little bit to see what was on your mind, and I noticed you were following the Aphex Twin Grammy situation pretty closely.

Yeah, I mean, I’m a very big fan over the years. He’s been a constant musical companion for, my god, I guess it’s like 20 years. I mean, if you would have told me while I was a kid and I had a record store and say “this guy’s gonna win a Grammy” it’d be so mind blowing, you know? In a lot of ways, that encapsulates what I’m talking about, which is that it’s a cool time. The fact that Aphex Twin walks away with a Grammy is awesome. It’s exciting and he deserves it. I mean, he’s the bomb. He’s really the bomb, haha.

It’s kind of a victory for the weirdos for that to happen.

Yeah, I mean, it’s a victory for quality. If nothing else, Aphex is a perfect example of, if you’re that good, nothing else matters. If you’re that good and you stick to your guns, anything can happen. It’s the same thing for Daft Punk too, right? Daft Punk, they’re just so good that nothing else matters really. I think the Aphex Twin, for a lot of people, seeing Aphex get that level of mainstream recognition is pretty inspiring because, I think for all kinds of producers who make all kinds of music, it’s hard to tell yourself now, “oh, my music is too weird” because, y’know, all bets are off when things like that are getting that level of recognition.

It opens the doors for—

One thing that’s important though, I do see myself as—I don’t see myself as weird. I just see myself as being me. For me, a lot of the time it’s the other way around. I don’t understand a lot of the things that are so popular. I just don’t understand because I just don’t see the quality. It’s like, with books, y’know? The best sellers are just shitty books! So, you have to tell yourself, is that me? Am I the issue? Or is it other people’s level of literacy or knowledge? It’s not like I walk around thinking “oh, I’m some weirdo.”

Right, haha.

And the other thing that’s important too, is that I’m not into some crazy underground aesthetic where—like, I believe in success and capitalism. I’m not into being some kind of outsider “weirdo,” because I think a lot of the time that’s a story people tell themselves to feel better about—well just to put themselves to bed at night. “Oh, I’m so underground and that’s why my apartment is shitty,” or whatever it is. I’m totally not into that.

For me, the Holy Grail is like Aphex or Daft Punk. It’s just when the best rises, like in sports or football, that’s the bomb—and I sincerely believe that if you’re good enough and you have a bit of luck—I guess what I’m saying is weird with enough quality and determination becomes normal, because when it’s good enough, it just switches in an instant, the context changes and all of a sudden it’s like, “oh shit, that makes sense.”

I think it’s really funny you mentioned books and in particular the best-seller list and how shitty it is, because I had seen something about you being into books and I was hoping you were being honest about it, and I was talking to my roommate about “oh, ask him what books he’s reading,” and then we made a joke about “why all the best sellers are shitty?” It’s interesting to hear people say what they are interested in when you know they actually have an interest in books. So I guess my question is, what books are you reading? Hahahaha, what books do you like? How do you pull inspiration from literature, if you do.

Well, reading is my favorite thing in the world, pretty much, which is literally like the least rock’n’roll answer to a DJ question, but to me the big benefit of my lifestyle is—one of the benefits is I have so much time on my own. I have so much time in airplanes that I just get to read a lot. I don’t like to be using my computer and I try to stay away from all that other shit as much as I can, because I just like reading and it feels good. It does something to the brain, so I get a lot of time to read which I wouldn’t otherwise. Because even when I’m at home, work tends to eat into that time.

I love reading and, I mean the inspiration of reading, it’s just system wide. It’s super general. It’s like inspiration from traveling. It just feeds who you are, and I think more than anything else, for me, reading is a direct link to intelligence. You’re just building up your vocabulary, you’re building up your ideas and you’re sharing time with brilliant minds. I don’t want to share time with some mediocre writer. I don’t want to talk to that person by reading his book. We only have x-amount of time in life. The closest I can relate to death is when I think about an empty library, like a library of unread books. That’s when you realize your real mortality, it’s like fuck, you’re not gonna have time to read all the books you wanna read. So you can’t waste time with trash. You just can’t.

I don’t think a lot of people realize that. Like, how they consume content. They’re just wasting their time. Anyway. That’s a long answer for what I’m reading right now.

Hahaha!

I’m doing something I never did before, and I’m reading one book at once. I don’t like to do [that]. I’m reading—this is actually a super cliche answer, but I never read Infinite Jest. I’m finally like a third of the way through it, which is, y’know, I don’t know if you read it, but it’s quite—it’s dense.

I haven’t actually, but I’ve heard a lot about it.

Yeah, me too. It’s one of those books people talk about. They hear about it, they see it, they might buy it, but how many people actually read it?

Actually, I don’t like Kindles, but I got a Kindle just because, so now I’m reading all books that are so huge that I could never travel with them, hahaha.

That’s really funny. They’re not carry-ons.

Haha, so I’m reading Infinite Jest. I’m reading a book called The Organized Mind which is about like, neuroscience and human’s inherent desire for organization, which is my oblique way of dealing with my music library.

Hahaha.

And I’m also reading a book called The Story of the Jews, which is a history of the Jewish culture up until like 1492 or something. It’s a little dense, but it’s good. It’s fun.

I like that you preface this with saying you’re trying this new thing called reading one book at a time, and then you just listed three books that you’re reading.

Yeah, well, yeah—but actually right now, I’d like something a tiny bit lighter. Like, the mood I’m in today, like right now, I’d like something that takes me away a little bit easier. But anyway.

Well, I appreciate everything that you’re saying. I think it makes a lot of sense, haha.

But also, the last thing about reading that’s an obvious connection for writing songs—reading just makes you a better writer. It’s just exposure, and even my songs, like all my tracks, they’re really quite simple and they’re meant to be really simple, but—it sounds super arrogant to say, but your consonants with words, with the subtleties or words, not complexity but being able to reduce it to really basic, simple things, but then to find some little tiny interesting twist in a sequence of six words, all that stuff comes from reading and just being exposed to the beauty of it. I guess that’s poetry more than literature, but it just slowly happens.

The other—sorry, the last thing in this interview about reading—the last thing about reading is, it’s something that, as you get older, it only gets better. There’s a curve that’s really nice where, I don’t know, even something like listening to music, I sometimes think favors the young. There’s something about listening to music when you’re—so many of my favorite records and albums hit me [when I was] really young and are still with me. There’s something when you’re a kid, I’m talking like a kid, like 8 years to 18 or whatever, you’re really—music hits so hard, or it did for me, on such a deep level, and I just know if you go around and ask your friends “name your 10 favorite albums,” most of the time they’re things that hit young. You don’t just start rattling off 10 albums they heard when they were 34.

Whereas with books, it’s different. It goes with that curve.

Well music is so visceral, and when you’re young, you’re all about that energy and that excitement and the now-ness.

Yeah, it’s true. And it’s immediate, too. It’s not like when you’re 12, you’re not sitting down with a 1,000-page book to get your hit. You’d be a really patient kid.

And then you’re weird, and then everyone makes fun of you anyway.

Yeah, I wasn’t so into reading when I was a kid. By the way, I’ve got to go in about 5 minutes, because I’ve gotta go to my flight.

That’s cool! I know we talked about a lot of different stuff which I thought would be good because, I mean, you kinda talk about the same thing over and over again [in these interviews], but do you want to say anything about the “Bugatti” remix package that’s coming out, or about anything that you’re actually working on in your musical career? Hahaha.

Hahaha, anything relevant? No, I don’t really, not particularly.

I mean, “Bugatti,” I really love it. It’s one of my favorite tracks I’ve ever made. I’m very—well to tie it into what we talked about before, for me, “Bugatti” is a beautiful hybrid of weird but successful. It’s a strange record done with absolutely no agenda, not fitting into any category really, and at the same time, it’s been massively successful. That for me, that’s really, I think that’s the single best thing about being in the music business or making tracks. That’s a really cool feeling, when something just—you make it and it’s this strange little creation and it just happens so fast. It’s like an hour, two hours, you don’t know where it comes from. You don’t really have a plan, and then fast forward a few months and it’s like, it’s really out there and people love it and it doesn’t require explanation or context. When a weird track makes it, it feels 10 times better than when a more formulaic formatted record makes it.

I mean, I’ve had both. Even the year before I did that track “Let’s Go Dancing,” and that was a pretty main club record, like a big hit in a slightly more underground, more DJ world, and it felt amazing obviously. It always feels good when everyone is playing your records, but at the same time it was like, it was slightly more calculated. It was like “okay, I wanna make a record they’re gonna play at a club or a party in Ibiza.” So that feels good, but it doesn’t have that same mystery, but something like “Bugatti.” I’m in London and they’re playing it on BBC Radio 1 and you hear it in a taxi and the guy is humming it, that’s crazy. That’s kind of my mission in life, actually.

Well, because then you know that it’s your idea that they like.

Yeah, exactly. And also, it’s also just encouraging because it’s life affirming, because you realize that, actually, those barriers between the categories that we all make for ourselves, “weird,” “strange,” “not weird,” “boring,” “commercial,” you realize that you’re as much a part of that bullshit as they are. You realize that it just doesn’t really matter, that it just—everyone kind of wants the same thing. They want something they like, and if they hear something interesting, they’re gonna like it and everyone’s happy.

It’s a happy ending. It goes with a little fairy tale almost, and I’ve been lucky because it’s happened with “Sunglasses At Night” which was the first track I ever made and it happened with Bugatti,” it kinda happened with “Shoes” and it’s a nice, it’s a very good feeling.

Well congrats!

Thank you, and specifically the remix package. The reaction was so good, people love the track so much and what a lot of people don’t know is that remixing is not an automatic process. When artists actually like your record, they do a way better job. Everyone I called was like “yes!” People were offering remixes, like HudMo just wanted to do one. People were just saying “I want to do it,” and specifically, the ones that come to mind, like that kid Jauz is relatively new in the scene in America, his mix is amazing. And the Cliff Lothar one was amazing, so it felt, it was just part of an ongoing loving.

What about the Pusha T thing? How did that happen? Did you reach out to him or did he just say “I wanna rap on your song?” That’s kind of a crazy out there move.

It’s true. I kinda forgot about that one, haha. The track was already kind of blowing up and it was the people at the UK label Virgin who suggested it. It started because this rapper Vic Mensa heard the track on the radio in the UK and he was part of a panel of, you know those things where you hear a record and you say what you think of it? He was just randomly a guest on a show where they played that record and he loved it. He was like “yo, this is dope, I can rap on this” and then everyone in the UK heard that and were like “shit that’s a pretty good idea. Let’s ask some hiphop guy to do it.”

The only guy I was interested in was Pusha T, because I never have collabed on a record and I’m very wary of, I think it’s just wack in general. I don’t know, it just always seems so calculated, so I’m not—but I love Pusha T. I mean, I really love him. I love his voice, and I like his records and so, it was perfect. And he did a sick job, too, because it feels right. It doesn’t just feel like someone mailed it in and we got the flavor of the month or whatever. So it’s cool.

I get major cred with shit like, you know when you see your cousin at a holiday dinner or something and he’s like “yo man! Pusha T lives by the same G code as my cousin!” and you get some mainstream love from that, which is always nice.

Cousins who would otherwise not really know what to say to their friends about your weird music career?

Ah, I don’t know. Y’know. Listen, I’m not that weird. Hahaha, y’know, I’m only part weird.

I promise I’m not trying to paint you into this really strange corner where no one even knows what to think about you.

I think the thing is that, there’s a bit of a personality gap in a lot of the shit we’re all exposed to nowadays. A lot of stuff is actually quite conservative and quite white bread and quite straight, y’know? That’s what I get, especially from dance music. It’s strange, because it was meant to be all futuristic and shit, and in a lot of ways, it’s quite white bread, and I think it’s like, I’m just a real person, y’know? Same on Twitter. I just say what I think, it’s not revolutionary, but I think considering how measured and boring a lot of other people are—maybe that sounds arrogant—but, I just have personality. I just whatever, that’s it. That’s my crime.

Go to jail. Do not collect $200. Alright, well I’ll let you go, hahaha, but thanks for chatting with me.

No problem, it was a pleasure.

I hope that you enjoy yourself at Bardot tonight.

Yeah, I will. I really, actually, I’ve grown to really love Miami. I really like it, so I’m excited.

I’m glad to hear that. It gets ragged on sometimes but it’s cool.

No, Miami is great! I love it. I like any city that’s really themselves, you know? And Miami is like, 100 percent Miami.

That’s true. Loud and proud.

It’s hard to hate on that. Oh shit, that’s my final boarding.

Okay! Go! Go! Go! Thank you!

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There ya go! In all its glory, with minimal edits for length and clarity. Did you enjoy it? Let me know! Tell my your favorite Tiga song! Tell me what you’re currently reading. Go nuts!

Also, if you aren’t already a member, consider joining the paid tier of this newsletter in order to hear my conversation with Tiga in our own voices, and to support the Super Kat World platform <3

Subscribe now

This transcription was really long, so I’ll drop ya off here for the week. Remember to join the Super Kat World Music League Cup, if you dare, mwahahaha!

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Read more

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

As I gazed upon the neon One-Eyed Jack sign gracing the entrance of Downtown Miami’s Floyd nightclub last Friday night, I had no idea where the evening would lead me, but I had a definite feeling it would be a place both wonderful and strange.

I was on the list for the inaugural No Hay Banda, a multi-room event at Floyd and its sister venue The Ground honoring the life, work and influence of the inimitable director, artist and haunting absurdist David Lynch. I arrived at about 8:45 p.m., early by Miami standards, and I was far from the only one. A sizable line had formed along the bustling 11th Street, and there was still two hours to go before The Ground’s famous upstairs counterpart, Club Space, would officially open.

The masses were moved to motion by the promise of surreal sounds from Lynch collaborators and admirers alike. Headline acts included experimental rock group Xiu Xiu presenting a tribute to Eraserhead, singer-songwriter Zola Jesus performing a solo set on a grand piano, and synth-heavy scenes staged by Johnny Jewel of Chromatics and Glass Candy fame. Each set was elevated by evocative visuals, eerie atmospheres and Lynchian installations all around, with glowing TVs (courtesy of installation artist Mokibaby), electric candles and lush red curtains filling the two activated rooms.

It was a seance of sorts, coming to life on the one-year anniversary of Lynch’s death, and there was plenty of strange spirit in the air—but David, as it seems, is a friendly ghost, and having fallen in love with Twin Peaks in mid 2023, I welcomed the opportunity to commune with his otherworldly essence.

In the interest of full editorial disclosure, I had nothing to do with organizing No Hay Banda, but I did come up with its name. Chatting over burgers last November, friend and fellow music journalist Zach Schlein told me he was roped in on conceptualizing a club night celebrating Lynch by Santi Vidal, aka DJ and multimedia artist True Vine, a mainstay of the Club Space and III Points crew who was spearheading the event.

The hope was to put together a fitting tribute that could become an annual thing—like Dilla Day but Lynchian—and they were workshopping what to call it.

“Well, Silencio is out, because that’s the name of his club in Paris,” I said. (In a not-so-humble brag, I told the story of how I actually got into the storied club in 2019. Shout out my Because Music friends for putting me on that list.)

“What about No Hay Banda?” I suggested. I’d seen Lynch’s seminal film Mulholland Drive earlier last year, and the unforgettable line preceding singer Rebekah Del Rio’s rendition of “Llorando (Crying)” on an uncanny stage seemed a perfect fit for a Miami-based Lynch celebration—for a few different reasons.

A day later, I was told my name was getting the green light, and while I won’t see any monetary compensation for my contribution, I’ve been promised free tickets for life. To me, that’s a damn fine deal.

Fast-forward to Jan. 16, and the night had arrived. I watched Lost Highway the evening before in preparation, but it would have been good to rewatch Eraserhead, because as soon as I shuffled past the entranceway decorated with Lynch film posters, beyond the Red Room-reminiscent hallway and a stack of CRT televisions looping close-ups of Laura Palmer and Betty Elms (among other Lynchian vibes and live camera feeds of passersby), I was thrust into the uneasy experience of Xiu Xiu channeling Lynch’s debut film.

“What does Eraserhead Xiu Xiu even mean?” I’d wondered before the set. The oft-abrasive band garnered acclaim for their 2016 covers album Plays the Music of Twin Peaks and accompanying tour, and following Lynch’s death last year, had concocted a similar homage to his 1977 black-and-white mind fuck and directorial debut.

Turns out, Xiu Xiu doing Eraserhead is a fittingly unsettling audiovisual experience. It’s kinda like going to an avant-garde art show in the middle of a concert venue. The group’s Jamie Stewart and Angela Seo sat solemnly upon the stage, dressed in black suits and ties, playing homemade instruments, modular synths and electrical interference sounds over field recordings and Looney Tunes sound effects.

The “music,” if you wanna call it that, was backdropped by off-putting black-and-white images that were sometimes sexual, sometimes old-timey, and always a little unnerving. At one point, Seo just started screaming “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” over a crescendoing hand siren.

So, y’know, Eraserhead vibes.

Near the end of the hour-long experience, there was a sudden injection of reggaeton beats. It was faint, but it was persistent, and it felt like a strange departure from the otherwise ghostly, intangible mood. I had a feeling the Club Space terrace was warming up, and the venue was piping the sound downstairs, as they would on any other night if there wasn’t an intentionally uncomfortable audiovisual funeral happening at The Ground.

It went on for like two minutes before Xiu Xiu’s Stewart took the mic.

“Turn that off!” he yelled, directing his ire at the sound engineer. “I said cut that music off or we’re done, shithead!”

After club hands scrambled around the edges of the crowd, the intrusive sound of Bad Bunny eventually stopped, plunging the room back into the odd air of earlier, as though nothing had ever happened. Honestly, most of us thought the whole display might have been part of the show. Even the No Hay Banda organizers weren’t completely sure, although they later confirmed to me my initial theory was correct, lol.

Still, what’s more Lynchian than interrupting the high-brow art show with Bad Bunny so you can scream at the theater hands before dropping right into a heavy rendition of “In Heaven,” the iconic Eraserhead song sung by the film’s equally memorable Lady in the Radiator? As the creeping tendrils of the show wound down, Stewart threw a bunch of beer bottles into a mic’d-up garbage can and started smashing them with a broom handle. With a display like that, it’s no wonder people suspected the hiccup might have been scripted.

As the magical mystery of that strange showcase dispersed following an enthusiastic round of applause, the audience started chit-chatting away and I moved slowly through the hoard toward Floyd. Since Lynch’s passing last year, the hallway between the lounge-style club and The Ground had been refurbished into a Red Room-styled space, complete with zig-zagging black-and-white lines running across the floor. The eerie passageway glowed Lynchian red as folks stopped to take selfies in a full-size mirror and a pale female statue cast its sights over the proceedings. Just around the corner, the sounds of local multi-instrumentalist and guitar wizard Diego Melgar shredding his live version of the Twin Peaks opening theme lured me into the small space like a siren’s call.

Diego and his friends are talented no matter the occasion, but watching them tear up electric jazz renditions of the timeless Twin Peaks soundtrack, originally composed and performed by Lynch’s long-time collaborator and friend Angelo Badalamenti, was a spiritual experience.

Badalamenti once recounted that upon hearing his musical theme for Twin Peak’s central-yet-absent character Laura Palmer, Lynch said, “Oh, that’s it. Oh, that’s so beautiful, Angelo. Oh, that’s tearing my heart out. I love that. Just keep that going.” It’s a suitable anecdote to share, because the audience was moved to literal tears watching Melgar and his band perform this and other iconic selections from the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

Clad in a fluffy black jacket and heavy sunglasses, Melgar shook his guitar like a sputtering rocket while singer Dani Amaro moaned and wailed an angelic accompaniment, all backed by walking bass lines and persistent drumming providing a sturdy backbone to the half-improv performance. The crowd gathered around the low stage like moths hypnotized by a camp fire. It was soulful and striking, as warm and comforting as it was for me whenever I’d slump into the couch after a long day of working to watch another episode of Lynch’s wildest mainstream achievement.

That a show as strange as Twin Peaks was ever aired—let alone proved successful—on network television feels as great a triumph of art over commerce as the human race will ever see. Having the chance to live within its music in an intimate venue, reinterpreted by local favorites with astounding talents in a room full of like-minded fanatics is a bonus too rich for our times, but it happened, and I’m so very glad to have experienced it all.

The band played “Laura Palmer’s Theme,” “Audrey’s Dance,” “Into The Night,” “The Nightingale” and the show’s main title theme three separate times, wrapping up with the vocal-accompanied version immortalized by singer Julee Cruise, “Falling.” By the closing rendition, I just let myself cry. It was so, so beautiful, and the folks behind me agreed. When the band finished, we all started screaming, shouting “absolutely phenomenal,” “incredible,” and so on. What a scene.

Back in the main room, a similarly spellbound performance was underway. Defying all club physics, a grand piano had been hoisted upon The Ground stage, and Zola Jesus was ominously and beautifully breaking hearts with her arresting poise.

The Arizona-born songstress has the rare and distinct honor of having her music remixed by David Lynch himself. The director lent his touch to her track “In Your Nature” in 2012, turning her anxious string-laden banger into a ‘90s-style alt rock smolder.

“I was blessed to have discovered David Lynch from a very young age,” she told the crowd, “to be corrupted by his work from a very young age. I’m assuming many of you as well have been corrupted. I see the corruption in your eyes.

“I had a peak experience of being able to meet him several times and thank him for his work and get insight into his process and everything. It’s just been magical to be able to even say that, and I was able to perform the song I’m about to play for him before he passed.”

Just as she was about to launch into her own version of “In Heaven” from Eraserhead, she paused before sharing one more message to the audience.

“Can I just say,” she turned. “May we all learn from him in the way that he has left a legacy of us all coming together here today for being so uniquely himself. In a world of algorithms and AI and endless copies of a copy of a copy, we have more of an onus on ourselves and a responsibility to be unapologetically ourselves. So if we’re gonna take anything from this evening, go home and go ‘How can I be more of a freak?’”

Just as with everything else so far that night, it was a magical set that transcended the usual concert experience—but not without hilarious WTF-inducing twists and turns along the way.

Miami club crowds are notorious for their background conversations: I once watched a similarly intimate set from James Blake on piano and the place would not shut the fuck up for a single song. Anyway, the back half of the room was gathered around a bar, chatting it up as folks who come to Space are prone to doing, but earlier, one concertgoer was simply not tolerating it during Zola Jesus’ otherwise religiously passionate performance.

“We respect the death of David Lynch in this house!” a man’s voice boomed from beside me. “Please, keep your voices down. What the fuck are you even here for?”

“What was that?” Zola asked into the mic. “Do we have a problem?”

“He’s quieting the crowd,” I heard a woman up front say.

“Oh—keep going then,” Zola said, prompting a laugh from the crowd.

“Respect the dead!” the man yelled, moving closer to the stage.

“And the undead,” Zola added, before continuing her musical devotion in what was now a more solemnly silent room. It was honestly well played by that dude, because the intensity of the performance became all the more piercing in the aftermath.

Zola Jesus closed with “Plyve Kacha,” a Ukrainian folk number she dedicated to the ongoing conflict abroad in the song’s native country as well as the death of the American Dream occurring more close by. As the singer lamented the current state of affairs, I was LOLing to myself, struck once again by the absurd beauty of screaming at a Miami audience to STFU at a David Lynch memorial event. Things I never thought I’d see for $600, Alex.

Afterwards, I ran into Miami music journalist and friend Grant Albert, and we started chopping it up. We showed off our respective David Lynch-themed t-shirts and talked about life stuff, and just as I was about to check out Shir Miya’s DJ set at Floyd, Johnny Jewel took The Ground stage and started handing out vinyl copies of his 2017 release Windswept.

The Italians Do It Better co-founder was decked out in a red suit with black glittering tears streaming down his face, and I was not gonna miss this vibe. Prior to commencing his set, he took his place behind the synthesizers and addressed the crowd.

“I’ve got to admit, I’m feeling very emotional, so I’m not that chatty but… I’m going to let the music talk, and obviously we love you David, and thank you,” he said. “The power of how much music matters and how much art matters… We are so lucky to have somebody like David sacrifice his entire life, blood, sweat and tears to make this incredible art that we can have forever and made us all dream, inspired us… it’s really difficult to put it into words. Like I said, I’m going to let the music do the talking. That being said: let’s rock.”

The screen behind him flashed: “WARNING: The film you are about to watch contains graphic scenes & images of” with a rotating kicker repeating at faster and faster rates that cautioned audiences of “ULTRA VIOLENCE, FLASHING LIGHTS, WITCHCRAFT, CLAUSTRAPHOBIA, CAR CHASES, SHARP OBJECTS, KILLER NUNS, VAMPRES, MYSTERY, ROMANCE, MOVIE STARS, POSSESSION, AGENT COOPER, ANALOG SYNTHESIS, FAKE BLOOD, GLAMOUR, MELODRAMA, THE HUMAN BODY, ENDLESS HOPE, THE COLOR RED,” before ending decidedly on the name LAURA PALMER.

Johnny’s set was as cinematic a journey as promised, with his spine-tingling and danceable brand of Jewel-tone synthpop unfurling against a collage of scenes from the likes of A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner, The Holy Mountain, Drive and other memorable films.

He, too, played the Twin Peaks opening theme with the full production and Julee Cruise-sung vocals heard in “Falling.” Clips of Lynch films and Twin Peaks characters were displayed in reverent fashion behind him, finishing with a close-up of a young Lynch himself, smiling upon us all.

“May the night bloom jasmine forever & ever,” the screen read, an homage to Lynch’s love of the flowers that scent the LA air with a romantic flagrance.

Jewel was joined by guests a few times, first by Zola Jesus for their collaborative track “Wiseblood,” which upon concluding, he noted was the first time the pair had ever performed the song in the same room. Later, he welcomed his IDIB labelmate, musical collaborator, and romantic partner Desire onstage to serenade the audience with her songs “Saturday” and “Under Your Spell,” an era-defining cut from the Drive soundtrack.

The whole performance was extremely Twin Peaks-coded sonically and visually, which is appropriate, as the musician lent “Windswept” to the soundtrack of Twin Peaks: The Return and appeared performing alongside Chromatics in the 2017 series’ premiere episode.

“Life is short,” the screen behind him blared in bold white letters. “Love someone tonight with thunder in your heart,” and in that moment, Jewel led us in a singalong to Chromatics’ cover of Kate Bush’s anthemic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).”

By that point, my old ass was exhausted, emotional and entertained. Before dipping out early, I snuck into the Red Room to catch a little bit of event organizer True Vine/Vidal go b2b with III Points co-founder Sinopoli on the decks. The next day, Zach called and told me how hard they rocked it, working Moby’s ‘90s rave classic “Go - Woodtick Mix,” which heavily samples “Laura’s Theme” from the Twin Peaks soundtrack, into the set along with other dance floor-friendly Lynchian selections.

During that same Saturday call, Zach passed the phone to Vidal, who shared his own experience of Lynch’s spirit making his presence known. He recounted how at several points during the DJ set, the tempo would seemingly change all on its own, he and Sinopoli staring in amazement as the displayed BPM moved up and down, both of them keeping their hands off of the CDJs all the while. They concluded this ghost in the machine was Lynch himself, playfully fucking with the decks to have a little fun.

Whether it’s true or not, I also choose to believe.

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These past few days, I’ve reflected a lot on David Lynch’s work and what it all means to me.

That’s ironic of course, because divining “meaning” is hardly the point of Lynch’s filmography. Even so, how can cinema so surreal and grotesque have touched the hearts, minds and lives of so many? I believe it’s because of the truths that Lynch’s art shows us.

Life is not easy, nor is it pretty, and Lynch is one of the greatest creatives to ever capture the unease of human life in his work. But at the core of it all, in his aesthetics and turns of phrase, there is a wholesome remembrance of rosier times. His work exudes his ‘50s childhood upbringing, centering a twinge of golden-age Americana and accompanying youthful hope alongside the idiosyncratic horrors he conjured.

Even as the world rots and crumbles around us, inside all of us remains a child with wonder in their eyes. Ugliness and unfinished stories are beautiful because they are real, and our ability to continue exploring the unexplored and simply exist is a worthwhile prize in and of itself, uncertainty be damned. Choosing not to turn away from discomfort, but to instead look it head on and find the romance within, is one of the wisest lessons Lynch’s movies, shows, art and music has to impart, and I think that’s why so many of us find it so hypnotizing. At least, that’s my theory.

Happy belated birthday, David Lynch. I hope there’s a lot of pie in freakazoid heaven, where everything is fine.

Alsooo…

I’d like to remind you that the first Super Kat World Music League Cup is now open to join! If you missed the announcement, it’s an app-based game that puts your music taste head-to-head with other members of this here community. It’s all in good fun, free to participate, and the winner will get a physical prize from me in the mail! Join at the link below, and learn more in last week’s newsletter.

• Join the Super Kat World Music League Cup

Do not forget that I’m raising funds with a very cool, very e-centric t-shirt, available for purchase now on my merch site. I am personally very into this one, and I get $10 for each shirt sold <3 I’ll post a pic of me wearing it whenever I can get my own, lol, being an indie creator is awesome.

• Buy it now, besitos

This is also my obligatory reminder that you can support Super Kat World by joining the paid-tier of this here newsletter. For $5/month or $50/year, you can enjoy exclusive interview recordings, themed radio shows and other silly delights.

Subscribe now

That’s it for this week. I hope you all watch some David Lynch this weekend <3

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

Do you wanna play a game?

No, it’s not scary like Saw, but it will be a test of your musical fortitude—and there is a prize to be won!

Announcing the first-ever Super Kat World Music League Cup!

What is Music League?

Firstly, it’s an app, available for both Apple and Android iOS users. To participate, you will need to download the app, but it’s free to use with minimal ad interruptions.

In concept, Music League is a friendly competition consisting of a set number of rounds. Each round includes a theme, and participants nominate songs from Spotify to fit that theme. You will need to use Spotify to participate, but free version of Spotify get the job done.

The app generates a playlist with everyone’s submissions. Players have a few days to listen to the songs, then go back to the Music League app to vote for their favorites.

Each vote for a song earns the submitting player a vote. It is possible to vote for one song more than once. Submissions and votes are anonymous until each voting round ends. The player with the most votes overall at the end of the league wins!

I’ve participated in a few Music Leagues with friends in the past year, and I thought it would be so cute to get this community together for a SKW event! It’s a great way to discover new music. You just might find your new favorite artist or song!

For the Super Kat World Music League Cup:

There will be 10 rounds, each lasting one week. New rounds will open on Monday mornings. You can change your submissions as many times as you want until the playlists are created on Thursdays at midnight EST. Votes will be counted come Sunday at midnight EST. Then, on Monday morning, the next round will begin!

In regular Music Leagues, the prize is knowing your music taste was most beloved by everyone else in the league. In the Super Kat World Music League Cup, a physical prize (which I am so excited about) will be mailed to the winner soon after completion! (You will have to give me your address, but the prize will be my gift to you.)

That being said, it’s a completely friendly competition, and it should all be great fun. I’m including a link to join the Super Kat World Music League Cup below. There are 20 spots available for this opening league. It’s first come, first serve, so join if you’re interested. If you are interested and miss the window, don’t worry, I think we’ll be doing this another time later in the year.

The inaugural Super Kat World Music League Cup kicks off Monday, Jan. 26, so there is some time to start your engines.

Join the SKW Music League Cup

Want a sneak peak at the themed rounds? Take a look at our courses!

• Week 1: Side 1, Track 1

  “I’m feeling kind of basic today.” In honor of the film classic High Fidelity, we open this Music League with a playlist of album opening tracks! Sly declarations of new classic status slipped into a list of old safe ones is encouraged ;)

• Week 2: This Is The House That Blogs Built

  In honor of the final Neon Liger going down in Gainesville, FL, this weekend, let’s make a playlist of blog house bangers. Can be old school hits that rocked dance floors from 2006 to 2009, or new school sounds that capture the general anything-goes spirit of the filter-house era.

• Week 3: This Is Not A Love Song

  It’s Valentine’s Day week, but songs about love and heartbreak are a dime a dozen. Share a song you have love for that is about anything other than matters of the heart.

• Week 4: Weirdo Wonderland

  Songs about being weird made by weird people that just get fucking weird!

• Week 5: Ready Player One?

  Video game soundtracks need to be celebrated! Pick a song from your favorite game, or a cover of a song from a video game, or a song about video games, or a song featured in a video game to great effect.

• Week 6: Deep Cuts

  Highlight a song from your favorite artists that isn’t a celebrated single.

• Week 7: Who Sampled?

  Submit a song that was sampled by another artist, then submit the song that sampled that first song. Dig deep in those crates!

• Week 8: Up All Night To Get Lucky

  It’s St. Patrick’s Day week, and we’re looking for a musical pot of gold. Choose songs about luck and good fortune.

• Week 9: Demos, Covers, Live Versions, Side Projects and Other Obscurities

  Let’s hear an alternate version of a personal or fan favorite.

• Week 10: The Greatest Song In The World

  This is your chance to win it all! What’s your go-to song when it’s time to impress? When it’s time to rock a dance floor at peak hour? Or just something you really want to make us listen to! Thanks for playing :)

I’ll share the playlists we generate with readers of this newsletter, so you can enjoy them each week, should you like to see what folks choose.

I’M SO EXCITED, Y’ALL! I hope to see you there 🙂

Join the SKW Music League Cup

Alsooo…

🚨New Merch Alert🚨

This adorable little t-shirt is now available in the Super Kat World merch store! Tbh, I’m not making a lot of money these days, and I’ve got some expenses to cover. I’m launching this t-shirt as a bit of a fundraiser, but I’ve had the design in mind for months, and honestly? I love it! I can’t wait to get one for myself!

• Buy the shirt and other merch at my store

Want to support Super Kat World but don’t want a t-shirt, or hat, or coffee mug? You can simply join the paid tier of this newsletter for $5/month or $50/year and help fund Kat Scrawls, Kat Calls, Vlogumentaries, Music League prizes, and all other manner of SKW fun <3

Subscribe now

That’s it for this week! Short and sweet. I look forward to seeing some of you in the Music League. May the best music lover win!

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

Welcome to 2026! I hope you’re off to a great start—and if you’re not, I’ve got just the thing!

It’s a new episode of Super Kat Radio, this time coming with a Fresh Start theme.

All the songs on this edition are upbeat, hopeful, joyous or at least spiritually inspiring. I’m hoping it’s an hour-long session of musical motivation to get you smiling into the start of another year, and perhaps something you can come back to when you just need a pick-me-up.

As with the first edition of Super Kat Radio (which was an exhaustive 3-hour deep dive into the genre of French Touch), this program is created exclusively for paid tier members of the Kat Scrawls newsletter. I know, it’s annoying, but I have to do something to give back to those folks who give me $5/month or $50/year to make everything in Super Kat World happen!

If you’re already a paying customer—thank you! You’re amazing!

If you’re not, maybe this Fresh Start radio show is the perfect thing to lure you into my clutches? Mwahaha?

Subscribe now

Whether you support Super Kat World financially or not, I am extremely appreciative of you being here.

That’s why I also want to let you know to stay tuned, and I’ll be launching a Super Kat World Music League very soon!

What is Music League?

Well, it’s an app that brings a team (or league) of music lovers together to compete against one another (in a friendly fashion, of course), wherein each week brings a theme, and each player is asked to submit two songs that fit that theme. All the songs are compiled onto an anonymous playlist on Spotify, and each player then votes for their favorites with a set number of points. So, if you have 15 points, you can vote for 15 songs, or vote twice for a song you really like, etc.

It’s really fun, although you do have to have a Spotify account to use the app. I know that is annoying, but I make my playlists on Spotify, so hopefully you’re already there.

Stay tuned next week for more info on how to join the Super Kat World Music League. There WILL be an actual PRIZE for the winner :) and it’s a free experience. You might be able to join even if you have the free version of Spotify? I’ll look into it!

Anyway, if you’re not a paid subscriber, this is where the newsletter ends. I love you!

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Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

This end-of-year newsletter finds me at a moment of clouded speechlessness. I want to make a grand statement about the year, how it was on its A Tale of Two Cities shit, giving each of us the “best of times and worst of times” dichotomy special, but the message to take from it all is not exactly clear, and I’m forcing myself to write in hopes it’ll come to me along the way.

I could be the 1,076th person in your life and on your internet feed to say “it was a difficult year for all of us,” and I suppose I just was.

I don’t need to reiterate all the ways news headlines and political reels have darkened the mood. We live in an age when opinion weighs more than fact, and where computer-generated images feed biased belief systems in both inane and damaging ways.

But even more than the AI slop and the divided discourse, I am so fucking tired of scrolling Instagram and seeing a bunch of influencer ads that start like “I’m sorry to everyone who bought the XYZ product already, because they just announced a massive sale,” and “Don’t buy XYZ product, unless you want to lose 40 pounds in four weeks and get a call from your middle school bully apologizing for ruining your life.” What the fuck is it with the bad reverse psychology? Like, what the actual fuck is anyone talking about?

Honestly, at the end of 2025, I’m just so, so tired.

BUMMER CITY, KAT. WTF? ISN’T THIS A MUSIC NEWSLETTER?

Oopsies 😇 My bad, y’all. Getting a little too real.

And that will continue.

Truly though, 2025 was a lot. I started the year off sitting beside my grandma in the hospital while she died. I’ve never seen a person die before, and it was actually really beautiful and peaceful. It was as nice as watching someone die can be, I guess. I called her Maga, if you can fucking believe that. I made that name up for her because my dad and my uncle called her Ma, and she said “you can’t call me Ma, because I’m your grandma,” so I added a -ga, and I called her Maga from the time I could speak.

In 2016, Trump named his political movement after my grandma, and it was fucking weird. I stopped calling her that when I talked to people, because I didn’t wanna make people uncomfortable, but you know what? Maga fucking rocked. She was nuts and she could be mean, but she was also a bad bitch who used to make me scream as loud as I could in the living room on command, just in case someone tried to steal me at the mall or something.

She had dementia in the end, and she lived in a broken-down trailer infested by rats, and going to see her made me super uncomfortable and I didn’t like to sit on any of the chairs. I was always trying to vacuum the spider webs that grew all over everything, and then I watched her die. I was alone in the room with her when it happened, then I had to get the nurses who had me sign some papers and take her jewelry off her body. It felt wrong and I apologized to her while I did it, but the nurses told me it was the right thing to do.

My last picture with Maga.

Why am I telling you this in my music newsletter? I don’t know, man. It just feels good to share, because I want it to mean something—and her death definitely did, to me. It meant the end of a struggle, for her and for me and for my dad. It also taught me a very important lesson; that some outcomes are inevitable, and working yourself into a hole trying to fix everything doesn’t change the end of the line.

I know you can’t actually teach people things by telling them stuff. Everyone has to learn life’s lessons by doing, but if I can impress one thing upon you to bring into the new year, it’s to listen to what people call “The Serenity Prayer.”

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.”

BRO. I heard that shit 10.2 million times in my life, and when Maga died, I heard it again and I was like—

BRO! The 👏 wisdom 👏 to 👏 know 👏 the 👏 difference!

Idk, it struck me like a lightning bolt. Like, I actually know the difference now, and I’m so grateful to Maga for teaching me that lesson on her way out.

What everyone can change differs from person to person. We all have different strengths and different weaknesses. We all have different energy levels, different networks and different expertise. We all feel different year to year, week to week, and day to day.

All I’m saying is, don’t stress yourself more than you have to, and find joy in every moment you can.

Everything about your life will change faster than you can imagine. All of this will end. None of it matters, except for the feeling you carry within yourself—and to a certain extent, how that feeling inspires or exhausts the people around you.

10 days after Maga died, I finished and published my Justice mini-documentary on YouTube. I spent seven months working on it, and I’d built it up in my mind to be a really big deal. It is a really big deal, because I did it all myself, and that’s fucking insane. I’m super proud of it, but the moment it went live, I was buried in so much personal life bullshit, it didn’t feel the way I’d imagined it would for all those months.

I think in the creative fields, people do that to themselves a lot. We put so much of ourselves into something, and then it’s over and it’s like, “wait, what do I feel now?”

On social media, you see people celebrate a lot. You don’t see people wonder what the fuck happens next, but that feeling happens a lot, trust and believe.

I ended up screening the doc at my friend’s club, Jolene in downtown Miami, and it was a really beautiful experience that let me feel the accomplishment with friends and cool people. Again, I’m really proud of this thing, and I’m thankful to everyone who watched it and commented something sweet. Y’all fucking rock, for real. Those comments help me out a lot.

And then 16 days after that screening, I lost my job.

BLOOP. lol

I had to move out of my apartment a month later because I couldn’t afford rent, and it all worked out. I’m good. I’m back in south Florida. I’m fine.

I dreamed of going full-time with Super Kat World for at least two years prior to getting laid off. Suddenly, I was full-timing Super Kat World, not because I can live off the earnings (lol I can not), but because I had to. I felt energized as hell for about two weeks, and then I did nothing all summer long.

I mean, looking at the year I’d had so far, can you blame me?

Well, I did blame myself. It is what it is, once again.

But it’s okay. I’m sure you also had some really harrowing stories in 2025. I’m sure you look back on your own year and wonder how the heck you got through some of it. I’m really proud of you, too. We *literally* did it.

I kept working after I lost my job. I am back on the full-time freelance grind (how can I be full-time Super Kat World and full-time freelance? Yes).

The first big gig that got me back on the train was this year’s III Points zine, Capsule 002. It was a slog and a half writing unique, original bios for all 198 artists on the lineup, plus a few bits of editorial content, but the most egotistically rewarding part was once again writing the afterword, and I’ll share the pdf for y’all at the end of this newsletter.

It reiterates the same themes as this essay, so maybe you’ll enjoy that, but the best part is the last line where I say:

“Time is a flat circle, but so is a dance floor and we are so back.”

That became a little mantra for me and my friends, because as much as I can wallow in the things that hurt in 2025 (and I really am wallowing in it right now by making you read this, aren’t I?), I look around at how my year ended, with me focusing on projects that make me happy, feeling supported by my community and those who stepped up to help me when I needed it most, knowing what I can change and what I can not, learning to be kind to myself and let things take the time they need to grow, and I’m just like, “Yeah. It’s okay. This is fine. Things are actually kinda (dare I say it) good?”

That feeling is it. That weird feeling of like, “Yeah, shit sucks, but also? It’s kinda lit out here.” Like, we got our friends, we got our projects, we got our nice little homes that reflect ourselves back to us. We’ve got the chance to live every day and take it as it comes. We can go outside and say hi to a stranger. We can go to a library and read a book for free. We can buy a guitar on Facebook marketplace for $50 and learn to play a song, or just sit outside and do absolutely nothing until we get bored, and that’s pretty cool.

My friend (and very talented producer/DJ) Pat Lok posted this to IG yesterday, and I wanna share it because it wraps up how I feel heading into 2026.

Yes, the world is a dumpster fire. Yes, more and more music publications are folding or shutting down their budgets. Yes, AI is an insularly-fueled bubble bound to burst but not before it takes out a million jobs and confuses the masses and drains resources and increases human solitude (and likely does something positive along the way, like, statistically speaking)---BUT, we are still out here.

Literally, everything is changing and everything is expensive, but what are you gonna do about it?

I, for one, am going to do nothing—or at least nothing that I wouldn’t be doing already.

I am going to keep writing essays about music. I’m going to keep fostering my community. I’m going to keep playing music in my spare time and doing things that bring me joy. I’m going to keep sitting on the couch sometimes wondering how the fuck I managed to have the energy to do so much in my 20s, and I’m going to keep making playlists and listening to them like “damn! This shit is good! It makes me wanna write something.” I’m gonna keep talking to my friends about stuff and going, “I think there’s an essay in there somewhere,” and I’m going to keep overthinking everything until some kind of meaning forms from the vast, aimless, existential malaise and euphoric spark of connection.

I’m going to just keep going—and hopefully I’m gonna exercise more, because I’m tired of not exercising.

And if you read all this, I’m sorry, lol. You caught me on a weird day. Hopefully you got some meaning out of it also, and hopefully I see you back here in 2026 where we all keep going forever and ever until it stops, amen.

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I’m wringing my hands sharing this essay with y’all because like, really wtf, but I’m sharing it just in case it helps anyone else feel better.

All that said, I *am* really looking forward to 2026. I mean, there is literally no other choice, haha, but I do love the fresh start of a year to kick-start the routine and infuse each day with a certain sense of starting over.

I’ve often said humanity’s greatest weakness is also its greatest strength: that we can start every day with a new perspective, which on one hand allows us to slowly descend into madness without noticing its normalization, but also gives us the chance to rise above it. So, if someone wants to shit on you celebrating the new year as a chance to restart, just sleep it off and do your thing anyway.

Alsooo…

Here is the PDF of my Capsule 002 afterword, for anyone who would like to read it.

And with that, I’m out FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR (lol, 1.5 days to go).

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say Hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Here’s a picture of me from a Christmas past <3

Hey Friends,

‘Tis the season for our brains to stop working, our bodies to expand with sugary treats, and our hearts to grow three sizes in one day.

‘Tis also the season for holiday music, and though I’m late to the game (Happy Christmas Eve, y’all!), I still want to tickle your ear drums with some of my favorite holiday tunes.

I know a lot of people don’t love Christmas songs nor particularly the holiday season, but it’s always been a joyful, nostalgic and bittersweet time in life that I cherish. My dad is big into holiday music, and as far back as I remember, the day after Thanksgiving marked the kick-off of seasonal spins. He played the shit out of the A Very Special Christmas CD collection (with artwork by the late, great Keith Haring), and ripped through all the classic Christmas crooner vinyl records, which I now own since he donated his whole collection to me before moving to Alabama some 13 years ago.

Those memories and that music light-up the little kid in me, and I now inherited my dad’s tradition of playing holiday music all December long.

But I come to you today not with the standards or the most overplayed radio hits. There is no Mariah Carey under this tree, no glittering pop covers of traditional anthems nor ‘40s-era standards. I didn’t even include Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s ideologically opposed classics (although I love both the synth-crazed sounds of “Wonderful Christmastime” and the hopeful-hippie cynicism of “Happy Xmas [War is Over]”).

I just feel like y’all have heard those before.

You have maybe even heard most of the songs I’ve picked out for you as presents below, but you just might discover something new and exciting, and that’s what we do it for.

Hark! The seasonal songs before us are here to bring a bit of cheer to you and yours. For your convenience, I’ve made a Spotify playlist as well. You may enjoy these songs wherever you go, and there are some bonus tracks not included. Feel free to skip anything that doesn’t warm your heart.

I wish you and everyone you love a wonderful holiday break, whether you celebrate or not. It’s been a hard year, and you’ve earned it. <3

DMX - “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Ever since this clip dropped on NYC’s Power 105 13 years ago, it’s become the gateway to my holiday season. Some people say it’s not Christmas until Santa appears at the end of the Macy’s Day Parade. I say it’s not Christmas until DMX bodies “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” with the table beats. You play this clip on YouTube, THEN you enjoy holiday music for the rest of the season. RIP a real legend. C’MON! C’MON!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - “Christmas All Over Again”

Much like how DMX is the portal to holiday cheer, Tom Petty’s “Christmas All Over Again” is always—ALWAYS—the first Christmas song I play of the season. It’s my favorite Christmas song of all time. It’s an echo of my childhood, and it shows my Florida pride (Petty is from Gainesville, my college alma mater, after all). It’s also the first track off A Very Special Christmas 2, released in 1992, so I probably DID hear this song first every holiday season growing up, since my dad put those CDs on constantly. Let the feel-good, not-to-saccharine sleigh bells and guitar licks warm your wintery bones.

The Kinks - “Father Christmas”

Would you believe I never heard this song until this year?! There are still some Christmas surprises in the old bag yet. Released in 1977, it might be one of the first subversive Christmas songs recorded. The Kinks rock in everything they do, and this song is no different as they sing about poor kids beating up a Santa outside a department store, holding him up for his cash on behalf of all the kids who get overlooked on Christmas morning because their parents can’t afford the gifts the rich kids get. It also just fuckin’ rips.

Ramones - “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)”

Speaking of punk rock Christmas, you can’t have a rowdy season without New York’s leather bros. If family time gives you the heebie jeebies, give this tune from 1989 a spin. If there was ever a time to let bygones be bygones, it’s certainly now, and no one can fight when the punk rock Beach Boys are giving it to you this sweet.

Outkast - “Player’s Ball” (Christmas Mix)

Growing up in Florida, people always wanna comment on how not-very-Christmasy the time must be. Sure, we don’t have snow down here, but we do have style and plenty of Christmas cheer. Throw some lights up on a palm tree and wear an ugly sweater even if it’s hot. This tune from Outkast was actually the duo’s debut recording, released as part of A LaFace Family Christmas in 1993. It’s a tropical state anthem for those who celebrate the season in Southern traditions.

Vince Guaraldi - “Christmas Time is Here”

Okay okay, you know this one, and it is very traditional, but it’s also my second-favorite Christmas song of all time, so I had to include it. The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas is my favorite Christmas album ever recorded. It’s so bittersweet and melancholic and beautiful. It fills my heart with joy and reverence and feelings of reflection, which is what I feel this season of the year is all about—and who doesn’t love A Charlie Brown Christmas, the tv special?? That little tree?? Be still my heart. If you need some lofi beats to Christmas to, look no further than this absolute mood.

The Waitresses - “Christmas Wrapping”

The ‘80s did cheesy Christmas songs so well, and this cut from The Waitresses (famously known for their hit “I Know What Boys Like”) delivers the most “adulting” Christmas anthem I’ve ever enjoyed. “Bah Humbug, now that’s too strong! / ‘Cause it is my favorite holiday / But all this year’s been a busy blur / Don’t think I have the energy.” You and me both, sister. It’s a storytelling song, and we get to follow along with the comedy-of-errors that was singer Patty Donahue’s whole year—but it has a happy cute-meet ending, so it’s basically a Hallmark holiday movie that doesn’t suck.

The Pogues - “Fairytale in New York”

The Pogues are doing a ballad for Christmas, because not every year can be full of holiday cheer. Sometimes, you end up singing in the drunk tank, looking back on fonder times, wondering where it all went wrong—but hey! When you’re an English celt, that’s how it goes, and The Pogues give us some good fiddlin’ halfway through to keep your feet moving, even while the singers trade insults back and forth. Being sad is real fun, sometimes.

Smashing Pumpkins - “Christmas Time”

Do goths celebrate Christmas? I am here to say, “absolutely we do!” and so is Billy Corbin, and of course everyone involved with the classic animated feature The Nightmare Before Christmas. This wholesome alt-rock shoegaze holiday song comes courtesy of A Very Special Christmas Vol. 3, released in 1997. I’m telling ya, that CD collection is the GOAT for holiday jams. It comes just two years after Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, so of course it’s got a whole orchestra behind it.

Run-D.M.C. - “Christmas in Hollis”

Run-D.M.C. weren’t the first rappers to do a Christmas song, and this is far from the only seasonal hit they produced, but I do believe “Christmas in Hollis” may be the best hip-hop holiday tune to date. Idk, it’s a personal take, but I love this one. Released on the first A Very Special Christmas compilation in 1987, it’s the same age as I am :) The sleigh bells go so well with the drum machine, and I love the little bit with the carol medley. It’s just a vibe!

No Doubt - “Oi To The World”

I absolutely, 100 percent downloaded this Orange County ska jam on Napster or Kazaa or LimeWire or something and put it on a CD-R to bring to school in the early 2000s. This is exactly what a young teenager should be listening to on Christmas. It’s cocky, it’s cute, it’s got dubby basslines and holiday horns. It’s actually a cover of an original song by The Vandals released in 1996, but this is the version I grew up with, so it’s the one I’m sharing. Another good one for those of us who celebrate with palm trees instead of evergreens.

Stevie Wonder - “What Christmas Means To Me”

I assume this is another overplayed classic for most of you, but in the case that it isn’t, and just because it’s an absolute jam, I’m sharing this funky Stevie Wonder holiday cut. Released as part of his 1967 album Someday at Christmas, it’s one of 12 great tracks he laid down for the season. It’s actually the album closer, which is kinda crazy because it goes so hard, but I guess you gotta leave ‘em wanting more.

Kurtis Blow - “Christmas Rappin’”

Who’s ready to rock steady on Christmas? Rap pioneer Kurtis Blow didn’t need to go this hard for Christmas in 1979, but he sure did. It’s got disco flavor, rockin’ the bass line from Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and runs for a little more than eight minutes. The sound of the party vibin’ out to Blow’s call-and-response is a very nice touch. It’s like listening to an actual Christmas basement party from golden-age NYC, but it’s just you, the spiked egg nog and your headphones pullin’ a Risky Business.

Adam Sandler - “The Chanukah Song”

All these songs have been Christmas songs, but I can’t go one holiday season without putting this ‘90s classic on rotation. Released in December of 1994, it was played rather constantly on alt-rock stations, and I remember the exact moment I first heard it; sitting in the backseat of my mom’s boyfriend’s car as the three of us were driving somewhere, all of us listening intently and laughing hysterically at all the different references. It’s a modern classic, and I know I’m a few days late to tell my reader friends Happy Chanukah,” but I hope you had eight crazy nights of fun all the same.

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Listen to these songs and more on my Super Kat World’s Merry Christmas playlist on Spotify.

Alright, friends. That’s it for me this week. A special holiday treat. Here’s one more just to rock you out, from my Florida-based celebration to yours.

🎄If you feel like gifting me $5/mo or $50/year, you can do just that by joining the paid tier of this newsletter at the button below, but I’m just contractually obligated by my car bill to say that. It’s the thought that counts this season, and I thank you so very much for reading this here newsletter and being part of my internet family. <3🎄

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Alsooo…

Billboard Dance dropped its list of the best tracks of the year, and I am one of the “staff” who made picks! This year I wrote up Soulwax, Skream and Partiboi69, Ninajirachi and Skrillex. You’ll have to click the link below to see which tracks made the cut, and which song took the top spot!

• The 50 Best Dance Tracks of 2025: Staff Picks (Billboard Dance, 2025)

If you haven’t bought gifts for your friends yet, it’s too late for them to arrive on time—but if you just want to shop some very 305-centric gift ideas, check my listicle for the Miami New Times. I already bought myself the A Nostalgic Miami pin set that includes beautiful pins of Tobacco Road, Churchill’s Pub and Gramps. I’ll show them off when they come in the mail :)

• The Best Gifts For Miami Music Fans (Miami New Times, 2025)

And with that, I’m going to take a shower, call my friends and family, eat some holiday lasagna and do nothing but play Radiant Historia on the Ayn Odin until I begin work again Monday morning.

I really do wish you all a very merry holiday, and I will be back next week to wish you all a happy new year. <3

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say 'Happy Holidays' on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

I did not want to do anything this year for Art Basel—excuse me, “Miami Art Week.”

What the world sees as a brilliant opportunity to flex on socials, elbow past long lines to drink free cocktails at exclusive parties, stay up two days in a row on a mixture of amphetamines and adrenaline, and (allegedly) see some art, has morphed over the past 13 years from my idea of a good time to my living nightmare.

The first time I ventured into “Art Basel,” it was 2012, and it was great. Wynwood Walls was still a free museum open to the public. Hell, Wynwood itself was still the kind of place people thought you shouldn’t be in once the sun went down, as opposed to what it is now, which is a lawless, 24/7 outdoor luxury flea market.

Me BEING the art at an Art Basel exhibit in 2014

I went to the big art conventions on the beach, following my friend Victor around as he made videos on assignment for the Miami New Times. I saw Rakim play The Stage Miami, a free Fool’s Gold party, and went to this cool thing called Basel Castle to watch Trinidad James, Purity Ring and Twin Shadows on one of the wildest lineups of the week.

But that’s the thing. There weren’t that many lineups, to be honest, because in 2012, the phrase “Miami Art Week” wasn’t even a term. We just called it all “Art Basel,” the name of the international art show that started coming to the beach in 2002.

Just as the success of Winter Music Conference brought about a city-wide influx of parties around its annual gathering, parties that eventually overshadowed WMC itself to become a thing known as “Miami Music Week,” “Miami Art Week” is the monstrous cultural vampire that’s attached itself to the money-tourism institution that “Art Basel” became.

In 2025, there are countless art fairs and convention showcases, as well as about a million parties featuring musical headliners that draw huge numbers of ticket buyers and list-chasing party phantoms, each of which likes to pretend it has something to do with art by hiring someone to, I don’t know, live paint or make a colorful installation you can snap a selfie in front of.

Deep down, we all know it has nothing to do with art anymore. Unless you’re one of the rich people that comes to the shows a day before they open to actually spend millions of dollars on contemporary art pieces, or perhaps to launder some of your dirty money. Mostly, it’s a cross-branding opportunity for companies to put their flags in the sand, proving their hip and relevant, vying for some of that sweet tourist money and cultural Basel cache.

@sebastiangentalike what do these events even mean 😭😭🤣 #artbasel #artbaselmiami #miami @Vale Genta

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It hasn’t had anything to do with art in a long time, and for most of my 13 years adventuring through Miami Art Week, “I haven’t even seen any art yet!” has remained the unofficial slogan, repeated by just about everyone you meet from free party to private party to ticketed musical event.

But that’s not why I’ve come to hate Art Basel. I’ve come to hate Art Basel because I am old, and I am weakened, and I am sick of sitting in traffic for two hours just to go cover some event that will pay me more than the usual feature assignments but marginally less than it would take to make more than $100 off the whole week, once factoring in gas, parking, food and the intangible emotional toll of staying up too late, sleeping in until 2 p.m., losing my voice and completely losing my mind.

And I said as much to my friend Zach on the phone Thursday evening as I lamented that I had once again been roped into covering SPIN’s annual Basel party, this time taking place on fucking South Beach with headline performances from Cee-Lo Green and Clipse.

“Oh no0o0o,” Zach said, taunting me. “I have to get paid to go see the most anticipated hip-hop comeback of the year. I’m getting work and I have to hang out with cool people and do cool things. Shuut the fuuck up, bitch, a-haha!”

I laughed, but I did not relent. My assignment last year covering a Nylon party was so heinous an experience, I’d sworn the whole fucking Art Week off.

It wasn’t because Nylon was annoying. They were great to work with, and I was very happy to see Ludacris live, even if all the Gen Z people at the party only knew the words to his song with Justin Bieber. It was the hour drive from my apartment in Ft Lauderdale followed by a two-hour Uber ride that cost $100 just to go from downtown to Star Island that ruined my experience (although, graciously, Nylon did reimburse me for the Uber).

It had taken me so long to get to this living advertorial party that I’d missed my chance to interview Hugel, the DJ I was supposed to be covering, for more than five minutes. A few days later, I had to finish the Q&A over the phone. Which is fine, but like, three hours in traffic and $100 for an Uber to go five miles is just like—I mean, Ludacris better appreciate my love, that’s all I’m saying.

Further Reading: Hugel’s Huge Year: The DJ reflects on his 2024 — and how he’s never felt freer as an artist (Nylon, 2024)

So when I shoved my body into whatever I have in my closet that feels appropriate for hanging out with people who make my annual income in a day, dragged myself into the driver’s seat of my car and mapped the fastest route to Scope Art Fair off fucking Ocean Drive, I was anticipating a lot of headache.

On the drive down, I listened to Clipse’s Grammy-nominated album-of-the-year Let God Sort Em Out and muttered under my breath about “I hope SPIN reimburses me for whatever $40 parking lot I find,” and just as I was getting off the highway, my friend Jaime called.

“Are you here? Getting in was a shit show. You’re looking for parking? Good luck.”

It was like she’d whispered some kind of magic word, because just as I pulled onto Collins Avenue—which should have been the mouth of hell this time of year—I spotted an open parking spot on the street.

I drove past it at first, thought deeply for 15 seconds about whether or not I should just take it and walk the rest of the way or if that was foolish, but it was the time spent thinking that was foolish, so I backed my car up and snatched that shit.

Parking. On South Beach. During Basel. For 10 fucking dollars.

And the walk to Scope was only 10 minutes!

I walked to the entrance of the SPIN event with the swagger only a local can feel having pulled off the Magic City’s greatest trick. From there, I met with my friends and was treated to a free round of canned cocktails. I said hello to my SPIN friends, who I see every year at this same damn SPIN event, and I dutifully danced and took notes to all the musical performers.

Someone built a pop-up dive bar situation outside the Scope fair, and I played some Galaga on the arcade machine, but never did get to play any pool. I thought the scene was a nice touch, even if I didn’t know why they hung a portrait of George W. Bush behind the bar.

My friends left after a couple hours, free to explore whatever Basel even they deemed interesting, but I was at work and had to stay until 1 a.m. shut down. I thought I’d be on my own for the rest of the evening, and my hips were hurting (because I am old), so I wandered through VIP looking for an empty spot at a table.

I had it all planned out: I’d just be nice and say to the rich people “Hey, I’m covering this event for SPIN. Can I sit down for a while?” But when I made eye contact with the first person at the table, I screamed! My friend Nicole from my old Soho House days screamed! We hadn’t seen each other in eight years. What are the odds of that?

Nicole now works for an art gallery in Austin, and she brought the owner and his crew to the SPIN event to see Cee-Lo. Everyone was super cool and super nice. I met a photographer who covered the LA protests for the Washington Post. I met a cool woman who was a creative director, and we had a nice chat about music and the creativity it awakens in those who are visual artists. The owner of the gallery told me I should stay with them the rest of the night and help myself to their drinks. Cee-Lo played, then Clipse stormed the stage, and everything was, in spite of my fears, very very good.

It’s the same thing every year. At the events, I’m swept up in the excitement of the environment. People are happy, people are swapping Instagram follows, people are interesting and have cool things to share. I just have to be in the flow and take each moment as it comes. I hate to admit it, but Zach was right to make fun of me.

Further Reading: SPIN Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary With Party At Miami Art Week (SPIN, 2025)

One night down, two more to go.

I wasn’t planning to go out Friday night, but earlier in the week, I’d been told Myd was coming to play Gramps in Wynwood, and of course I wanted to get on the list. I’ll go anywhere for the Ed Banger party (proven when I flew to London days after knee surgery to see Ed Banger XX), and after 13 years of incredible service, Gramps is set to close at the beginning of 2026. I definitely wanted to party there one more time, and this was the perfect opp.

My friend Joel was in town from Chicago, celebrating his birthday the night before. He was my +1 to the party, and of course, not 10 minutes into the place, I ran into some old party friends. We ended up having a serious heart-to-heart about how things change, people change, and without going into the big details, it was a joy and a relief. Once again, I was connecting and reconnecting without even trying. Thanks a lot, Basel.

I had the chance to chat with Myd before his set, and he too gave me space to talk about some of the heavier things I’ve dealt with this year. It turns out he and I both said goodbye to a loved one at the start of 2025, and I am thankful that this awesome person—whose album I just wrote up as one of the best of the year in Billboard’s Dance list—is a real person, too. (We also talked about GTA VI and how Miami just looks like a video game when you’re in it. He’s not wrong.)

I thought Myd looked funny standing in line at this bar before his set like any regular dude, and asked if I could paparazzi him, lol. He said yes, I’m not a fucking creep.

Back on the front patio, I ran into Adam, the owner of Gramps, and he too pulled me aside for yet another serious chat. We talked about how things change, cities change, people change, and how the ending of Gramps signifies that change but does it with heart and personal care. I won’t go into the personal details here, either (I told Adam we were talking off the record, lol), but just know, Gramps goes into the light for the right reasons, and there will be more from Adam in the 305.

So, I’d been at the damn party for *checks notes* three hours, and I had just as many deeply personal, well-filling conversations with thoughtful, caring people about the past, present and future.

Jesus fucking christ, Basel. We get it! You’re good!

I spent the last two hours of the night dancing so hard my joints hurt. As soon as Myd started, the whole place just lit up. He played a set of French Touch classics, Myd originals, and delightful disco vibes. I met this group of women who came from out of town for a friendly reunion and just happened to be there. There was a guy full-on break dancing and we had a nice time showing off on the dance floor. I made friends with an artist from LA who had also worked himself into a sweat-dripping mess, and I promised to go see his exhibit at Red Dot the next evening (and I did! I am a woman of my word).

Once again, I went to bed happy, thankful that I did not stay in the line at Coyo Taco past 3:15 a.m., because I had a panel on Disco + Design to sit on at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

I was a little less enthusiastic when I woke up at noon without a voice, but comme ci, comme ça.

I’d rather include a picture of me on this panel, but I don’t have any atm. Maybe my friends will send me some, but whatever, lol. Just know I was on this thang.

I was once again not planning to come to Basel on Saturday (noticing the pattern here?), but I’d been roped into this panel last minute. It was organized by my old party friend Michelle Leshem, and I was sitting on the panel with Soul Clap and some others to talk about the lasting impact of ‘70s disco culture, the era’s designs and what we can take from that decade to improve our own.

It was, of course, wonderful and beautiful. I wasn’t the only person running on less-than-seven hours of sleep. Everyone was funny and insightful, and I got to make the first joke about cocaine (which was a real winner, let me just say). Afterward, my old friend Sam Baum—the guy who threw Basel Castle back in the day and now owns BeyBey, the very cool location of this panel—got up and thanked everyone for coming.

“Between these panelists, there’s about 100 years of connection and friendship for me here,” he said. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but it almost made me cry.

He took all of us on a tour of BeyBey, which is part-cafe, part-restaurant, part-venue, all presented with a mid-century take on Mediterranean meets Miami, and I felt like I’d walked through a kind of time warp. It had the cozy, chosen-family vibe I think about when I think about Miami circa 2012. Here is this guy who did all these cool things all those years ago that I was a part of, and he’s doing something new that keeps the old spirit alive.

That’s not what everything in Miami feels like; it being a city that celebrates the shiny and new, and as I sat with Jaime and Joel over some incredible appetizers and craft cocktails that actually take expert-level skill to come up with and not just like, say they’re “craft” cocktails, I felt my heart wrapped up in the comfort of all the years of community I’ve cultivated in this city by the sea.

Swimming with pride, having ditched my ego about Basel being a pain in my fucking ass some 12 hours before, the three of us got in my car (parking was considerably more expensive this time, lol) and drove across the bridge once more to the Red Dot art fair.

“Can we listen to Oasis?” Jaime asked from my backseat. I thought she might be joking, but she was serious, and I love Oasis, so of course I complied.

“Anyway, here’s ‘Wonderwall,’” Joel said, and I shit you not—you would have thought we were filming a coming-of-age movie—all three of just started singing this fucking song, goose bumps on my arms as we took in the glowing skyline of downtown Miami from I-195.

It would have been stupid and corny if it wasn’t so earnest and heartfelt and real. It was that perfect moment where things just come to together, and the traffic wasn’t even bad.

We got to Wynwood and headed to see some art. In true Basel fashion, we had 30 minutes to explore the fair before they shut the whole thing down. I met my new artist friend Andrew from the Myd dance floor, and we ran through the aisles, taking pictures of our favorite pieces before the staff pushed us out the door.

We met more friends outside the entrance, a quick hello-and-huddle before everyone went in their own directions to another party, another festival, another night on the town. I, however, was calling it. I’d had three consecutive nights of spirit-lightening, culturally-inspiring fun, and that, for me, was enough.

My body was tired, but my mind was more at ease than it has been in a long time, and for someone who didn’t even want to go to Basel, there’s really no better outcome.

So, do I still think Basel is bogus? I’ve come back around. Maybe next year I’ll actually plan to do some things, instead of getting called at the last minute.

Or maybe that’s actually the right way to do Basel: without a real plan, expecting nothing in particular and finding magic around every corner—if you dare.

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Geeeeez, Basel. Why you gotta get me all sentimental?? But truly, it was an incredible week. So incredible that it took me a week to recover and another week to finish writing this newsletter. LOL. I am old, but I’m not dead yet, so the party continues.

Did you go to Miami Art Week this year? I know my other friends, who I did not see, also had similarly fulfilling and surprising experiences. Let me know if you came in the comments. I’d love to hear your Basel stories, gruesome or inspiring as they may be.

Alsooo…

Did you catch where I mentioned the Billboard Dance Best Albums of the Year list? It just went up! I wrote about Myd’s Mydnight and Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer, but you’ll have to read the full list to see what other LPs made the cut—and what took the number 1 spot!

• The 25 Best Dance Albums of 2025: Staff Picks

A best songs of the year list is soon to follow, so keep an eye out for that.

Okay, that wraps up another Kat Scrawls. I’ll be back next week with my favorite Christmas songs that don’t suck, so I hope you’re in a festive mood. Happy Hanukkah to all my friends who celebrate. I hope you’re really letting the light in this season <3

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

Have you heard? The music industry fuuuuuucking suuuuuucks.

Seriously though, if there’s one thing listening to music for 38 years has taught me, it’s that the worst part of making music is being signed to a shitty label. Luckily, being a real artist signed to a shitty label sometimes bears delicious fruit.

Many a time has a musician rushed to the studio after a soul-crushing, moral-questioning, morale-dampening meeting with a manager or A&R rep to write a scathing, sarcastic, bitter, angry, witty little tune about how that suit can kiss their fucking ass. Some artists owe some of their biggest hits to this moment—some even whole albums!

Take Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Following his mainstream breakthrough Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, it’s a 15-track concept album that tells the tale of a man driven to madness by the evils of fame, excess and expectation. I’m sure it’s, uh, slightly biographical, and it’s terribly brilliant.

Or take Blink 182’s hits “The Rock Show” and “First Date.” I read Mark Hoppus’ autobiography Fahrenheit 182 earlier this year, and in it, he tells how the band’s label heard the songs from their upcoming classic Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, only to respond with “We need another ‘All The Small Things.’”

Mark and Tom both went home that day and wrote the cheesiest, most egregiously pop-punk songs they could muster. They essentially wrote watered-down fan-fictions of “All The Small Things” in a hate-fueled rage just to say “fuck you” to the execs. Those songs were, in fact, “The Rock Show” and “First Date”---and then they became the biggest songs from the album. So, y’know. There ya go.

A similar tale can be told about Eminem’s “The Way I Am.” He came back from a meeting about The Marshall Mathers LP where they ripped into his ass talking about his songs were too dark for radio and what the fuck was he thinking? They wanted another “My Name Is,” and pissed to high heaven, he got in the booth and ripped “The Way I Am” in a single day. Then he turned around and also wrote “The Real Slim Shady.” The hit was produced, so the album was released, but not without taking his shot at the game, first and foremost.

I’ve long wanted to make a listicle highlighting my favorite songs that take the piss out of execs, and that day has finally arrived!

It turns out there are A LOT of songs where artists bitch about their jobs in one form or another. To narrow things down, I’m leaving out any of the “tour life is hard” songs. There are a ton of those, and I love them, but they’re not really angry songs. They’re sad songs about weary hearts trying to sleep on buses or vans, chasing the high of being on stage for two hours a night, just to get back on that smelly bus again.

If you want to listen to good songs about how touring life sucks, listen to “Turn The Page” by Bob Seger or “The Load-Out” by Jackson Browne—or “Adam’s Song” by Blink 182.

If you want to listen to songs about how money-men abuse musicians, showering them with phony smiles, fairy tale promises, and confusing contracts only to work them to the bone, rewrite their songs and sow discontent among the band members (and who doesn’t?!), then feast your eyes and ears upon the 16-ish torrid tracks below.

Daft Punk - Interstellar 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

Before we dig into specific songs, I wanna bless you with the greatest “fuck you” to the music industry ever created. Daft Punk’s seminal album Discovery doesn’t touch on the evils music executives itself, but the feature-length animated film Interstella 5555 that accompanies the album is *literally* all about that. An alien band is abducted mid-performance and taken to Earth where their blue flesh is painted human colors, their minds are brainwashed, and they’re signed to an exclusive record deal. It takes a hero from their home system to save the Crescendolls band, restoring their memories and their true senses of identity, while also uncovering the truth: That the music industry has been run by a demonic being who sucks the youth and talent out of musical geniuses in order to live forever on a pile of money earned on the merits of others. It’s not a subtle message, lol, but it sure is fun to watch!

Smashing Pumpkins - “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”

This is the song that inspired this list. I listened to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins in 2023, and while I enjoy memories of being in elementary school, listening to this song on the radio and loving it because I of course loved vampires, it took me until my adult years to truly understand its lyrical message. His rage is the source of his artistry. Singer Billy Corgan writes the songs that speak to the apathetic yet not-yet-totally crushed spirit of Gen X, but where did all his anger and talent get him? Up on a stage, baring his soul before his brethren, “naked, nothing but an animal,” trying to “fake it for just one more show.” He’s a rat in a cage, working for a vampiric industry set to drain, trading in his soul for “secret destroyers, and a piece of the game.” He still believes that he can’t be saved, but damn does his demise sound good.

Further Reading: Kat Says: “Everything I Know About Life, I Learned From The Smashing Pumpkins” (August 2023)

Editor’s Note: I accidentally called Billy Corgan “Billy Corben,” who the director of Cocain Cowboys and one helluva guy. I edited this so as to get it right, but if you caught it in the newsletter version, lol.

Sex Pistols - “EMI”

This is the song that first comes to mind when I think of “fuck you”s to the industry. EMI signed the Sex Pistols in late 1976 and dropped them three months later when the UK punk pioneers’ behavior in the streets (like Sid Vicious starting fights with basically everyone), on TV (cussing on the Bill Grundy show because he was hitting on Siouxsie Sioux), and in live shows “hurt” the label’s reputation. “EMI wanted to sign us to show what a grand, varied label they were,” singer Rotten said in an interview, “but they really were not.” So, what did Johnny Rotten and the boys do? Get in the studio and write a song making fun of the label. “And you thought that we were faking / That we were all just money making / You do not believe we’re for real / Or you would lose your cheap appeal?” Not to worry though. A young Richard Branson wanted to prove he could sign the most dangerous band in the world, and in October of 1977, the Pistols released their debut and only true studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, on Virgin Records.

Public Image Ltd. - “Public Image”

That was far from the end of the Sex Pistols’ trouble, though. In fact, it was the beginning of the end. The Sex Pistols were managed by a man named Malcom McClaren. He put the band together as a social experiment, gathering the weirdest, rawest punks from the streets of London and pushing them to make socially-berating tunes about their wayward youth. He didn’t bargain for Johnny Rotten to be a real intellectual with something important to say, and Rotten never got along with McClaren’s puppet string mentality. As the Sex Pistols gained popularity, McClaren thought it would be more fun to destroy the band, so he separated Rotten and his friend Vicious from guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, booking them only in the worst, most antagonizing cities in the US for their tour (opting for small town Texas rather than NYC where they would have been embraced), and eventually fed into Vicious’ delusions that he could be the lead singer instead of Rotten.

In the end, Rotten was exiled from the band. The band chose McClaren over him, even his best friend. That strung, for sure, but after a year or so of licking his wounds, he traveled to Jamaica where he felt reinspired musically. What came of that was his second band, Public Image Limited, the debut single of which “Public Image” stuck it to McClaren and the industry that only saw Rotten for his spiked red hair and ripped clothes rather than for his message of social inequity and political satire. “Two sides to every story / Somebody had to stop me / I’m not the same as when I began / I will not be treated as property / Public image, you got what you wanted / The public image belongs to me / It’s my entrance, my own creation / My grand finale, my goodbye.”

A Tribe Called Quest - “Check The Rhime”

Alright, this song isn’t all about the music industry. It’s an all-time Tribe classic that mostly brags about their talent—but there’s one like from Q-Tip that comes to mind every time I think about this topic. It’s stuck with me ever since I first heard it in high school, and it speaks for itself.

“Industry rule number 4,080 / Record company people are shady / So kids watch your back ‘cause I think they smoke crack / I don’t doubt it, look at how they act.”

Pink Floyd - “Have A Cigar”

Pink Floyd might have more songs about the evil side of the music industry than any other band in history. Take “Comfortably Numb” from The Wall. It’s a song about shooting drugs into the arm of a singer too tired and mentally ill to stand up, just to get the guy on stage, but my personal favorite for this list has got to be “Have A Cigar” from Wish You Were Here. It’s just so comical, the scene set at the beginning where a big industry exec is selling the band sky-high dreams while being completely oblivious to the band itself. “Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar, you’re gonna go far / You’re gonna fly, you’re never gonna die / You’re gonna make it if you try, they’re gonna love you / Well, I’ve always had a deep respect and I mean that most sincere / The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think / Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?”

Alien Ant Farm - “Whisper”

Like I said about Smashing Pumpkins, I’ve spent the last few years reviewing all the music that moved me as a teenager, and while it may sound surprising, Alien Ant Farm’s 2001 album Anthology (yes, the one with their cover of “Smooth Criminal”) holds up more than most! It’s truly a brilliant effort (if you like 2000s-era alt-metal), and I rediscovered my love for it randomly while taking a trip to Japan. This song stood out to me while I rode the Tokyo Metro. It’s such a scathing take on the label experience, holding nothing back as it talks about suits who think they know what’s best for your art, because it’s all about making money, at the end of the day. “Small rooms with record exec types / Whisper away my future lately / I’ll introduce you to producers / I’ll write your songs and make them way damn shorter.”

Danny Brown - “Radio Song”

One of rap music’s weirdest dudes ever, Danny Brown has a beautiful mind and a real different approach to fashion, music and life. His 2010 album XXX came out on indie label Fool’s Gold and caught critics’ ears with its uniqueness, and while Fool’s Gold and its heads A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs foster that instinct, Brown still decided to take shots at the other half of the scene. “Radio Song” is, uh, not a catchy single at first listen, but that’s the point. He sings awkwardly about needing “a hit, a chart-topping single. That’s why it’s called commercial, because you need a jingle,” and it actually goes! “These stupid-ass n****s wouldn’t know what to do / So they copy wack niggas, that’s what that makes you / The game’s so trendy, that’s why these labels fails / ‘Cause they don’t care about music, just first week sales.”

Depeche Mode - “Everything Counts”

Speaking of sales! I have to include this banger from one of my all-time favorite bands. From the band’s 1983 album Construction Time Again (the title of which pokes fun at the band’s need to get back in the studio and make a new album), “Everything Counts” is a new wave classic that paints label executives as sheisty, lying, smoke-blowing misers who cover their insincerity with “a sun-tan and a grin.” “The grabbing hands grab all they can / All for themselves, after all / It’s a competitive world / Everything counts in large amounts.” What a chorus! And the song was a hit, charting in about 10 countries.

The Smiths - “Paint a Vulgar Picture”

Not to be outdone, fellow ‘80s icons The Smiths crafted one of the most painful tracks on this list. In classic Smiths fashion, the music sounds very joyful and bright, but Morrissey’s lyrics are dripping with antagonization and wit. It’s about a successful artist who has died and the executives who clamor among themselves to say how close they were to the artist, all the meanwhile scheming new ways to resell the artist’s music in perpetuity. “The sycophantic slags all say / “I knew him first, and I knew him well” / Re-issue, re-package, re-package / Re-evaluate the songs / Double pack with a photograph / Extra track, and the tacky badge.” The whole song is lyrically brilliant, so give it a deep listen.

The Rapture - “Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh Huh.”

Now that we’re in the mood for a party, how about The Rapture? From the 2006 LP Piece of the People We Love, this tune is one of the group’s most fun. I used to like singing it with friends when they got to the whole “People don’t dance no more / they just stand there like this / They cross their arms and stare you down / And drink and moan and diss.” Now that I’m older and even more jaded, it’s this line that catches my heart: “But maybe the reason we’re so uninspired / Is ‘cause the hour is late and the bodies are tired / Yeah, I think everybody here can agree / That a party ain’t great ‘cause the booze is free / Naw, free spirits ain’t settin’ no one’s spirit free.” Sounds like every sponsored Art Basel party I’ve ever been to (more on that next week, lol).

Reel Big Fish - “Sell Out”

I was a clarinet player in the marching band, and that means I sat right in front of the trumpet section during band rehearsals. Because I went to high school in the early 2000s, that meant I also heard a lot of second-hand Reel Big Fish. High school band kids who played brass instruments in the early 2000s LOVED third wave ska, for better or worse. In the case of this song, I dig it, because it’s such a great piss take at hit-making labels! I mean, with a chorus like “Sell out! With me tonight,” it’s custom-made to appeal to teenage ears. The video is also classic third-wave ska dude-bro humor, and I have a soft spot for such idiocy. “’Cause you’re gonna go to the record store / You’re gonna give ‘em all your money / Radio plays what they want you to hear / Tell me it’s cool, I just don’t believe it.” That’s pure suburban angst, baby.

Billy Squier - “The Stroke”

What was my dad’s version of Reel Big Fish’s “Sell Out?” Enter Billy Squire’s “The Stroke.” The rumormill will tell you this song is about masturbation, but that’s simply not true.

“Put your right hand out, give a firm handshake / Talk to me about that one big break / Spread your ear pollution, both far and wide / Keep your contributions by your side and / Stroke me, stroke me / Could be a winner boy you move mighty well.”

That is 100 percent music industry suit talk. Just sign on the dotted line, and you’ll see your face on the cover of the Rolling Stone. All they have to do is whisper sweet nothings into your ear, give you a $5 million advance, then not tell you that advance pays for your studio sessions, your producer and engineering fees, your album pressings, your distribution, your tour bookings, the bus itself, and of course 10 percent for the manager. The truth is, most artists end up owing money to the record label when their album is done. How about them apples?

MGMT - “Fated to Pretend”

The rock’n’roll lifestyle is so glamorous! Three cheers for marrying models, divorcing them and choking on your own vomit in the end. I love this hipster classic, because it does The Smiths thing where it sounds so bright and hopeful while nestling in some of the darkest lyrics you’ve ever heard in your life. It’s not really taking the piss at the label execs, but it really underlines the seedy underbelly of the successful artist lifestyle. You get so addicted to the attention, the money and the high of performance, you lose touch with everyone who really cares about you.

“I’ll miss the playgrounds / And the animals and digging up worms / I’ll miss the comfort of my mother / And the weight of the world / I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, / Miss my dog and my home / Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom / And the freedom and the time spent alone / But there is really nothing, nothing we can do / Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.”

Hole - “Celebrity Skin”

Before MGMT wrote about the hollow of rock star excess, Hole turned it into a ‘90s rock anthem. Celebrity Skin the album is the band’s final before it broke up, and it was the group’s “California album.” It’s much shinier and more pop-focused than its previous grunge efforts, mocking and celebrating the L.A. lifestyle and commercial approach. It’s a great fucking album, and the LP’s title track is iconic. Did Courtney Love become the monster she sang about? Yes, it does seem like she kinda did a little but, but hey! A girl’s gotta have some fun.

“When I wake up in my makeup / It’s too early for that dress / Wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood / I’m glad I came here with your pound of flesh / No second billing ‘cause you’re a star now / Oh, Cinderella, they aren’t sluts like you / Beautiful garbage, beautiful dresses / Can you stand up or will you just fall down?”

New Radicals - “You Get What You Give”

Just yesterday, I just saw a holiday shopping commercial that recreated this music video, featuring a bunch of rebellious teens running amok in a mall set to this nostalgic tune. It reminded me that I watched this song on VH1’s incredible program Pop Up Video and learned that the singer was already going to break up the band when the label asked him to make this video. He wears his bucket hat over his eyes a lot to hide his disinterest in the whole project. The thing is, this song tries to reconnect the jaded artist with the reason he makes music in the first place. It’s about the freedom and the feeling, the pure expression and the experimentation. It’s not about the fact that you’ve made no money and someone is hounding you for a hit. It’s not about the fashionista musicians partying with billionaires (shout out the line about Courtney Love, lol). At least, that’s what you gotta tell yourself. “Don’t let go / I feel the music in you / Don’t let go / Fly high, high / What’s real can’t die / You only get what you give.”

Bonus Track: Tool - “Hooker With A Penis”

Let’s end this listicle with a little winking side eye. Tool’s “Hooker With A Penis” isn’t about the music industry executives beating you down. It’s about the fans that wanna talk shit and call you a sell out because your concerts happen in bigger venues than bars and they feel something has been lost. To that, Tool returns with this awesome cut from 1996’s second album Ænima.

“All you know about me is what I’ve sold ya, dumb fuck / I sold out long before you’d ever even heard my name / I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit / And then you bought one.

I’ve got some advice for you, little buddy / Before you point your finger, you should know that I’m the man / If I’m the fuckin’ man, then you’re the fuckin’ man as well / So you can point that fuckin’ finger up your ass.”

So there ya go. The man isn’t the enemy. The man is everywhere, so if you want to make a change, start with the man in the mirror! Yay! A Michael Jackson reference to close us out, lol.

There are about a million other good songs that could have made this list. I didn’t talk about Heart’s “Barracuda” or Britney Spears’ “Piece of Me,” but you could argue these belong here as well. What songs about the music industry being a blood sport do you like best? Tell me in the comments!

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For now, I’m off to Art Basel to sit in hellish traffic and write sponsored party reviews for scraps.

Until next time, see you on the Internet!

Say hi on the SKW Discord

Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the Super Kat World playlists on Spotify. One is updated monthly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!

HMU on Twitter / IG / YouTube

Are you enjoying Kat Scrawls? Do you think your friends would enjoy it? Please consider joining the paid subscription tier to support my work, or buying a super-cool piece of merch, or sharing this newsletter with a friend who likes good tunes and silly essays.

As always, please feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me—or “like” it, leave a comment, and Tweet it or something. Just spread the love and holler back, I’m always here for you ;)

Hey Friends,

It’s been a minute! I was celebrating my birthday with a couple Justice concerts in Chicago and Miami, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t hard at work making a special present for you!

As I muddle through post-Justice tour depression, I felt it the perfect time to cook up the first episode of Super Kat Radio, a musical exploration of different genres and themes—or basically an excuse for me to play you a bunch of dope songs with a side of cultural education.

Since I love me some French Touch, it seemed right to kick off the series with a deep dive into the genre, exploring the hallmarks of the style and beloved tracks from some of its most legendary names across the decades. I also threw in some lesser-known songs, because they deserve the shine.

This first episode comes in at just less than 3 hours. I start with some influential French disco from the ‘70s, including a track from Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk’s father, then go into the big hits of the ‘90s and ‘00s, explaining the milestones of the OG era, French Touch 2.0 and the modern scene.

We’ve got Daft Punk and Justice, of course, but also Alan Braxe, DJ Falcon, Mr. Oizo, Cassius, SebastiAn, TEPR, Danger, Madeon, Brodinski, Busy P and more.

Super Kat Radio is presented as a special thank you to my paid subscribers. I’ve got to show them some love somehow, so if you’re one of those remarkable folks, this is for you! If you haven’t joined the paid tier, does three hours of French Touch with commentary from yours truly sound like a good enough reason to drop $5/month or $50/year? Does it??

There will be more Super Kat Radio shows to come, so stay tuned, and let me know what you’d like to hear from the program next! Electroclash? Bloghouse? Post-Punk? Southern hip-hop of the 2000s? We can do whatever, as long as it’s fun :D

If you’re not a paid subscriber, this is where our newsletter ends. I love you just the same <3 I’ll be back next week with more fun. Besos!

PS- If you’re also suffering from post-Justice tour depression, may I shamelessly suggest watching my Hyperdrama tour vlogumentary, Neverender, on YouTube? Love youuuu ;)

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