#combining vocaloid and sonic>>>>

[rymn-wtnsis]

Practice sketches of other characters I wanna add to R.Y.Mn. + abbreviation reveal

After much consideration, I can finally say that I'll be making the official title for these comics "R.Y.Mn." or "Rayman, Your Man." It was really hard to fit a word for the N there so I just combined it with the M to make "Man".

Character descriptions for the drawn characters & a few others + planned setting for future comics under "read more"

Members of Ristorante Animale di Marcello

Sonic the Hedgehog: Rayman's childhood friend who used to crush on him before hitting the big screen. Boastful of his speed and fame yet well-meaning towards those especially close to him, Sonic is one of the most hard-working employees at di Marcello. He and Rayman tend to hang out sometimes after work to catch up on their bond, resulting in them laughing at ridiculous things and the former catching feelings that... he never really thought would come back.

Crash Bandicoot: Rayman's best friend (whom he sometimes crushes on) and Sonic's self-proclaimed rival who also works at the restaurant they work in. He's rather aloof and can sometimes stumble at his job, but it's still worth noting that he's got a heart bigger than his brain as he's quick to react and pat his co-workers on the back if they even seem to be going through a rough time. Crash mainly has at least three favorite things: eating what's in the kitchen, showing off his cool spinning skills, and spending time with his family and friends after work.

Miku Hatsune: A Vocaloid from Japan who makes a living out of her one main hobby: singing. However, she chose to stay to don her cat ears and work at di Marcello for a side-job simply because the theme reminded her of the restaurants in her home-town, though she still manages to do her main career as a singer. She's a bit childish, but she's able to get the job done and give people what they want, even singing to them to lift customers' spirits. She also becomes quick friends with Kid due to the two of them both liking to dance and sing a lot even while at work. Whether she takes a liking for the others, including Rayman, who's to say?

Dynamite Headdy: The neckless puppet who's a former theater actor before throwing the towel in and resorting to working as a waiter at di Marcello. He's a bit brash and rude (somehow even moreso than Sonic), but he means just as well as the other employees of the restaurant. He's especially a bit passive-aggressive towards Rayman (the only one to genuinely do this), skeptical of his motivations on quitting his own job. Like Miku, however, Headdy is on pretty good terms with Kid since he could relate to him more, as he has a girlfriend named Heather and a rival he used to fight against back in his time.

Ace "Kid Klown" Kidman: A half-human half-alien who resembles a young clown, Ace Kidman, alias Kid Klown, used to live on the Klown planet before mysteriously crash-landing his rocket on another planet and being rescued by Rayman before the rocket could blow up from a bomb tied onto it. He likes several things such as strawberries (which he calls "chips"), reading physical copies of books, dancing, and even singing. He's also very loyal and obedient towards those closest to him (even if he has the inability to think twice and tends to mess up at times), hence why he wears dog ears to work.

Rayman: The sorta kinda titular main character of the comic series who flirts with most of the employees at di Marcello. A... whatever he is... who sought out fame and friendship at a young age and went to star as a hero when the opportunity came. However, one day, he realized that he wasn't being a hero to the people he cared about most; quite the opposite, actually. And so, he struggled to get out of the place and failed miserably each time... until a mysterious force managed to pull him out itself. Now in the other side of the world, Rayman lives in an apartment complex with his roommate, Kid, and his half-sister and neighbor, Jade, and works at di Marcello with bunny ears holding his hair back to disguise himself to pay for his rent. Did I mention that he may or may not have himself a bit of a love triangle in his hands?

Marcello: The mysterious manager and the son of the owner who named the restaurant after him. With his dark appearance and gravelly voice, Marcello may seem like a scary boss to be around, but he's actually really nice and cares for the employees of the restaurant. He especially cares about animals, uses a part of the money the crew earns to donate to animal shelters, and at one point even wanted to be a veterinarian, hence why the full name of his restaurant is "Ristorante Animale di Marcello" and why Rayman, Kid, and Miku have to wear animal ears.

[foundfamilyhq]

When do submissions open again?

Also have you considered organizing the list of previous submissions by series, rather than character name? I think it'd make it a bit easier to navigate.

Not for quite a while. They were only opened a few days ago and we always get 200+ new submissions every time, so there are too many to give an estimate the next opening at this point Ordering the list by series instead of character name certainly does sound like a better idea in hindsight, but unfortunately I doubt I'll have the time to go through the over 2,000 characters already on the list to reorganise it. Combined with the fact that different people submit the same series with different variations (e.g. some Sonic characters are submitted under "Sonic the Hedgehog", some under "IDW Sonic", "Archie Sonic", etc.) and without being familiar with every series on the list, it'd be hard to know which variations are all from the same series. I didn't know Project Sekai was a Vocaloid thing until recently and we get tons of submissions for that, which is just one example That isn't to say that I don't think your idea is the better way to do it, I just don't have it in me to reorganise that whole list at this stage. I only hope that if people are looking up their blorbos that they probably would be looking them up by name, which is probably why it was my first impulse to do it that way back when I started the blog

[emotionalhxc]

PART 2: Strawberry Hospital Instagram Q&A Q: Also do you like Sky Eats Airplane? Some of your songs give me the same vibe

N: "lowkey in shock that this band was brought up to me because they were (partially) the reason I found out what a DAW was in the first place because I read some interview of theirs back then describing their method of creation or something formative memories of listening to this one on a school computer in 5th grade" Q: When making an EP, do you usually have a "concept" or "vibe" before making the songs? N: "mostly! it is typically reflective of whatever sonic fixations I had in the years preceding the release itself + a culmination of whatever emotions are stirred up by life circumstances once I have that intersection pinned down, it begins to take a form of its own"

Q: Is there a story behind the Phantasmaphilia album art? It's so mesmerizing *0* N: "indeed ! the dead insects themselves were found outside of where I was living during the completion of the album, around this time of year. myself and some old friends collected them and brought them inside to scan in for the sake of the cover artwork. as for the bathtub image source, I am actually not holding my own legs but another person (out of frame) but we were wearing swimming trunks haha I wanted to create a feeling of ghostly vulnerability and I appreciate said old friends for helping me realize my vision at the time" Q: your music heals me and makes life bearable, thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️‍🩹 N: "I am so so grateful... thank you for sharing with me, it keeps me pushing forward knowing that my music reached you in the same way that other music heals me too (hug)"

Q: Squall. I love that song so much. I would love to hear your reasons for that song. N: "oh yes Squall! I wrote that for an internet friend who lived somewhere that was basically a perpetual snowstorm, I would stay up late talking with them and it meant very much to me during that period of time to me, the flurry of splittercore kicks and icy trance lead melodies reminded me of a blizzard" Q: How did you get your name? N: "strawberry hospital? or neptune? I'll answer both! strawberry hospital was intended to follow the naming trend of many bands and artists I grew up with, but also represent the otherwise polarizing thematic elements (bittwersweetness) and stylings present within the music and lyrics my name Neptune is chosen but I have kept it for over a decade now, it reminds me of the ocean and a cold planet very far away from here"

Q: Ilysm I sry if this is a dumb q but are the songs on halfawake all vocaloid or ur voice N: "awe no questions are dumb! the original release is exclusively vocaloid as I was too anxious to include my own singing in my songs in 2016. but the live version of the song is special, because I sing the chorus with my own voice instead. other albums feature a combination of my own voice and vocaloid (with exceptions)" Q: what is your bowling ball size? N: "this question is so unrelated I love it... so I cannot bowl to save my life and maybe I'm missing a double meaning here but they say a bowling ball should be 10% of your own weight right? in that case, like 12? I am unfortunate epitome of gay people failing at sports stereotype"

Q: what's your personal favorite song you've ever release?? 🖤 N: "Halfawake, Memento, Phantoma, Azure, Rhythm 0" Q: so like whats next for uu? N: "I'd love to play a few more shows before the year ends... maybe an international one? we shall see... otherwise trying to explore new forms for the project to take, I never want to reiterate what has already been established to the point of monotony heh" Q: I really love Tacit ❤️ and would love to know what it's about N: "Tacit is an apology for not being able to fulfill the role of what somebody would like you to be for them. not exactly a hard rejection but an assuring one (if such a thing exists) ... sometimes you need to use your head over your heart? I struggled with this at times p.s. it was heavily influenced by the haibane renmei OST!"

Q: Would you ever go on a tour! Californian fan here and I love you and your music :D N: "it will happen someday I am certain, playing a show in California feels obligatory (in a good way) plus I have had a few invitations from fellow musician friends that I need to take them up on" CONTINUED INTO PART 3 ON MY NEXT POST

[kels-orange-joe]

introduction ^_^ (regularly updates)

haii my name is stitch (not my real name obviously)

and yes as in the chaotic blue creature from lilo & stitch but that’s besides the point

this is my side blog!! an omori (mainly kel) themed one at that. my main blog is @stitchthelilo, and this is specifically for stimboards/sensory boards (well some other stuff too but that’s like the main thing) whatever you wanna call em, it’s also a kel fanblog cuz he is THE BEST OMORI CHARACTER!!! I WILL STAND BY THAT TIL THE DAY I DIE BECAUSE ITS TRUE

nonetheless.. i do take requests! and my status will update when they are open and stuff like that idk

i tend to use emoticons a lot and i’m a lil bit cringe so just a warning

my first time doing this so criticism is accepted with wide arms :)

the stuff you can request is what i have put in the tags section :3 (will further elaborate in rules/boundaries section)

ohh and even if you wanna request something really specific (like combining #sunny’s sketchbook and #character portraits for example) you can still request it as long as it’s something that is a combination of tags that i put

also if you want to request a prompt pls specify if you want it to be dialogue or scenarios

TAGS

#waves of orange joe = stimboards/sensory boards

#sunny’s sketchbook = art

#character portraits = pfps

#mari’s picnic blanket = flags

#headspace shenanigans = fanfics

#basils’s photo album = headcanons

#white space vibes = mood boards

#space boyfriend’s tape = playlists

#sunny’s inner mind = prompts

#the headspace alter egos = names/pronouns

RULES/BOUNDARIES

sfw interactions only!

any fandoms are accepted! some i just know more about better than others which i will get into in a bit, so please do understand.. as that is why the accuracy for some stimboards is off

i have the right to deny your request, ESPECIALLY if it’s something very icky

proshippers/comshippers, dubcon/noncon, nsfw blogs, ddlg blogs, anti-lgbtqia+, anti-religion (muslimphobic, islamophobic, etc. etc), anti-xenogender/neopronouns, anti-otherkin/therian/whateva idrk, racist, zionists, and just anyone who supports anything gross GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THIS BLOG DNI

please do understand i have a life and you will have to be patient, your requests will be done eventually just wait

just have common sense, if you KNOW something is bad but are still here then go away oml

feel free to just talk to me in the asks! anon or not, i’m willing to just talk, as it isn’t just for requests. you can vent or rant there too if you want, i’ll listen! you are loved remember that <3

any ships are fine as long as they aren’t illegal or anything, a personal favourite of mine is suntan :3

you may request: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, whump, slow burn, nsfw (just not smut, i’d rather not do that on a blog like this.. implied smut is ok though! and gore and heavy topics are fine too), panic attacks, all types of horror, comedy, drama, pining, mutual pining, all kinds of relationships (as long as the toxic ones are not romanticised), and basically just anything that isn’t in the you may not request part

you may not request: smut, proship/comship, dubcon/noncon, romanticisation of gross things (but if it isn’t meant to be romanticised then you can request), just anything gross really

THINGS I WILL MAKE

ocs as long as you provide pics and/or info, info is optional though ofc! but if you don’t provide it i am just gonna go off of aesthetic

total drama

danganronpa

omori

undertale/deltarune but moreso undertale

pokemon

sonic

mario

cookie run

the amazing digital circus

murder drones

smg4

bfdi/bfb/tpot

ii

hfjone

any object show really lmao

mlp

adventure time. however……. i may not be that accurate when it comes to later seasons or fionna and cake, cuz i never actually finished it or watched the spin-off, lmao sorry

gravity falls! same as adventure time though, haven’t yet finished it (but ik bill cipher and allat)

vocaloid

warriors/warrior cats (i haven’t read the books though, might not be accurate sorry)

scp foundation

bbc ghosts

she-ra: and the princesses of power

memes

garfield

the sims

among us (as cringe as that may sound, it’s a good game)

my singing monsters

the battle cats

dnd

agere/petre/agedre/petdre

otherkin/therian

furry

starters movieunleashers

hazbin hotel/helluva boss (i do NOT support vivziepop or her team, i separate content from creator because the episodes can really be good, even if they miss most of the time.. and i love the concept of both shows. I PIRATE IT Y’ALL DW I AM NOT GIVING PRIME VIDEO NOR VIVZIEPOP MY MONEY 😭)

doctor who

good omens

and much more! but i can’t be bothered adding them.. if any more of my interests are in an ask i’ll just tell y’all and edit this

[xox-b1te-m3-xox]

yo!! i'm hunter (im 20 yej), i'm also known as lepus / leppy / lele, rev / revolver, uzi, moxie, calware / cal, hornet, freminet / fremmy / frem, wolf, lugia, reshiram / reshi, or any of my other kin names. im gay and cosmoveric errorgender / libramasculine (he/they/neos), see my pronouns page for my neopronouns list & all the kin names i use!!!

professionally i use the names colt and orion !! i don't really use those names on this account though this is my hell fandom space lmfao

im also experimenting with the names dusk and ghost, so if you want to refer to me with those names i don't mind!!

i block minors that interact with my content so sorry abt that, its nothing personal i just dont want kids in my space

IF YOU'RE COMING FROM MY PROFESSIONAL SOCIALS, ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE BECAUSE I AM NOT PROFESSIONAL HERE, SEE MY BSKY FOR PROFESSIONAL CONTENT

cringe culture is dead, so i'm gonna be cringe on main!!!!! im a border collie therian and a furry, so im ultra levels of cringe aren't i, bite me

this post is way too FUCKING long so feel free to read this intro and leave it at that idrc i wrote this for me anyways (/hj)

yes i format my page like a 15 year old so what?? i never mentally recovered past middle school anyways

im medically diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, and bipolar 1 disorder........................... ya boi is fucked up god damn (im being medicated for everything and i'm getting therapy don't worry)

in other news, i publish books under the name hunter bunnyfields !!

theres tons of stuff under the cut including the fandoms im into, if my edit requests are open, my kin list, my tags, and my social media!

by the way fuck the algorithm tumblr can suck my metaphysical dick

if you want to you can send me asks about any of the fandoms im into or ships i like just be wary about sending spoiler content (like endings or other paths) unless i've explicitly posted about it before

i'm not gonna bother listing all my ships bc a lot of them are pretty obvious just bc of these post dividers (hunter route is best route fight me idgaf i speak the truth and im into blondes) but feel free to send me other ships (i will judge you harshly for them /silly)

so moving on, the fandoms im into include: sonic, danganronpa, stardew valley, cotl, fnaf, vocaloid/sekai, warrior cats, pokemon, hyv games (except tot), ninjago, cookie run, promare, my little pony, aphmau, yttd, undertale, space leaper, food fantasy, afterl!fe, mystic messenger, nimona, lackadaisy, murder drones, tadc, camp buddy, minecraft: story mode, professor layton, the legend of zelda, tof, fnf, bluey, afk journey, hollow knight, mystery skulls animated, p5, resident evil, steven universe, what lurks beneath, portal

feel free to ask me about any of them idrc i like talking!!!!!!!! i also forget that im in most of these fandoms half the time and i'm sure there's more i've forgotten to add im just stupid

yes im a kinnie no i don't care about doubles no i won't tell you my full kin list i'll just randomly drop the fact i kin characters sometimes (this is a lie; i have pretty much all of my kin names on my pronouns page, i've just got some of em as friends only lmao)

if you want a few of the characters i personally identify with, if it wasn't already obvious from my intro, my mains are freminet from genshin impact, uzi from murder drones, moxie from the lonely wolf series, hornet from hollow knight and hunter from camp buddy

some of my other major kins include wanderer, herrscher of sentience, vflower, ivypool, jayfeather, starlight glimmer, kokichi ouma, surge the tenrec, kieran (pkmn), and lio fotia

i kin more characters those are just the main ones, i'm the worst combination of all your least favourite character tropes!!!!

feel free to ask me about my kins if you want, or ask what kin shift im in idrc, i dont kin shift that much anymore but sometimes i do, i have tons of kin names on my pronouns page so there's that too

i do edits and moodboards sometimes??? i guess?? sometimes i'll make icons or whatever, sometimes i do fancy dividers, hell did you guys know im an artist?? i do art sometimes too, occasionally i do sprite edits if i feel like it but i'm not that good at replicating artstyles so shrugs, mainly just do ur classic 2018 tumblr edits here

so uh if you want some icons or whatever the fuck else i listed

✨ Feel Free To Send Requests ✨

i don't have much of a blacklist other than don't be weird about ships (so no pr*sh*p stuff) and don't ask for nsfw/gorey stuff

but i do edits pretty rarely so don't expect a lot from me lmaooo

for some reason i also made tags for some of my bs ramblings so stuff usually tagged with .txt is miscellaneous bullshit i post (ocasionally some of my posts are funny, i think)

some, but not all of them, may include: legendary post archive.txt, the brainrot.txt, random.txt, art.txt, psa.txt, save.txt/saves.txt, asks.txt, fave.txt signal boost.txt, promo.txt, random.txt, textingronpa.txt, the journal.txt, ask meme.txt

most of my personal ramblings go under random.txt but occasionally i add other stuff, so if the tumblr search function allows you to peruse the tags go ahead idrc if you do

in particular my primary tag is 'the journal.txt', as this is where most of my rambling about my novel series go, i've been working on the series since 2015 so i don't like to shut the hell up about it lmfao

a lot of my posts are LONG POSTS, so if you don't wanna see long posts please blacklist the 'long post tw' tag bc that's what i normally tag them as!!! yes, i mean it, ill post them a lot

if you see something tagged as 'ask meme.txt' whether you're scrolling through my blog or i just reblogged it, you can send me shit for it and i'll find the original psot i swear, send me shit from 13 years ago idgaf ill answer it bc im bored

stuff that goes into 'the brainrot.txt' is usually random fandom shit that pretty much has made a permanent place in my brain, despite my current obsession being different this shit somehow always manages to have a grip on me, and i use this tag a lot so lmao

hey i have a shit ton of ✨ social media ✨ and ✨ miscellaneous bullshit websites ✨ if you wanna check em out, idk why you'd wanna do that tho all my cringeposting is already here

BLUESKY || TOYHOU.SE || MY OFFICIAL WEBSITE REDBUBBLE || FANDOM WIKIA || TWITCH || AO3 SQW || WATTPAD || DEVIANTART  || ARTFIGHT COMICFURY || MAIN YOUTUBE || GAMEJOLT PATREON || POKEFARM || FANDOM YOUTUBE

i've got some accs i'm only leaving up to ward off impersonators so i'm not linking them here but if you want to know what they are idrc if you just ask me through the askbox or whateve

[heckinconfusedparade]

Aight fuckers listen up:

Give me a character and a face and I will draw them! (If it’s a face and character that really isn’t a good combination, I just won’t do it)

Faces I will not do: H2, H7, H10, H9, J8

It can be a character outside the Sonic fandom! Just be aware that I may not do it if I don’t know the character. Think Marvel, danganronpa, vocaloid, Mario, etc

TEMPLATE CREDITS: magicalpouch on Twitter

[starsforwilbur]

Pinned | 🎞️

“Suddenly everything just started up, into a nonsensical scenario”

Welcome to my blog! This is me remaking it for the hundredth time but I think this is the last time, I’ve decided to just combine everything I wanted on here to make my life easier.

Info: 🎥

Hi! My name is Wilbur and I use He/Him pronouns, I am a boy, MLM, and Aroace! I am a minor so don’t be weird, but don’t be afraid to reach out! I rant about my interests a lot and I really love doing so. My interests include:

- Project Sekai, Vocaloid, Black Butler, Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Vtubers, Omori, Sk8 the infinity, Enstars, Sanrio, Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, Ouji fashion, Spider-man, etc.

Some important things to note : 🎥

- I am autistic, dyslexic, and have ADHD so please be patient with me

- Like I said, I rant about my interets a lot

- There won’t ever be like a set aesthetic for this blog, I will probably change it based on the character I’m hyperfixating on at that moment

- May go inactive at random points

- I am a multi shipper so I may post or reblog different ships

DNI: 🎥

Homophobe/transphobe, racist/colorist, Misogynist, ableist, or any other forms of bigotry, MAP or whatever the heck you guys call yourself now get away from me, Pro ship/anti anti, anti-agere/petre, “cringe” blogs, dislike my interests

“Just like a movie, this is my story”

🎞️ : Enjoy your stay!

[broken-clover]

1 5 27 32 for oc asks :)

Thank you TwT

1. Your first OC ever?

Probably some Pokemon character that I made when I was like seven and have since forgotten all about, but one of the first ones I can remember properly was a Sonic OC named Camo the Hedgehog. He was your generic edgy for the sake of edgy sort of protagonist, I remember trying to draw him once with a Deviantart base and it was...it was something.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Mmmm hard call, most obvious answer is Oskar I think, he's just a little guy running around having adventures. The Handyman would be nice since his whole thing is being gentle and loving to to everyone, but I do not trust the internet with a skinny guy with a mask and a cloak

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Ohh I had an obsession for a while in making characters solely based on songs, I blame Deviantart for that. This is an odd progression of events, but I had a character that I based on the Fuel song Shimmer, whose deal was that he constantly got into accidents by sheer coincidence. I ended up combining him with another character that was a Vocaloid OC and made a new story altogether from that about an amnesiac android that plays in a band

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

I don't know about 'suitable,' but I think it'd be hilarious to have Pantea as a protagonist since her whole thing is being indestructible, so she would just be progressively more annoyed about the whole thing

[ikeepforgettimypassword]

My Rwby ttrpg character might have the worst playlist ever. A combination of modern pop, the crane wives, and sonic music, plus some more random picks like Mitski, hard European rock, vocaloid, and the legally blonde musical. How do any of these go together cohesively??

[ryleighgoldner]

VOCALOID Rock/Metal x Wilde Life (Is This Even a Thing?)

…So I made a playlist for and inspired by Pascalle Lepas' character, Oscar Wilde, from her comic, "Wilde Life." And I also love VOCALOID, so I decided to combine those two things.

This was the result. Behold, 'The Recollection of Oscar David Wilde, Deviations One (VOCALOID)'

Initially tried to post it in the comment section, but I tried to change a GIF, and long story short, that comment's currently pending.

I still want to share it though.

The playlist includes rock, metal, post-hardcore, alternative metal, metalcore, and ballads. (EDIT: Below is a copy-and-paste from the original post) The VOCALOID producers featured in the playlist are: Okame-P, Yuyoyuppe, Shoten Taro (書��太郎), wasi (of Takamachi Walk), LEVEREVE, and Kanata Lab (Kanata Labo). Sonically and instrumentally, the playlist starts off light but gets much darker as it progresses. The lyrics are still dark and depressing (only applies to Okame-P's songs), though. The title track of 'The memory echoes softly' is the only track that's mostly in English.

[chaos-husband]

Rules, Whitelist, and Blacklist

Rules:

● I accept requests, but please do not demand for them to be done. Editing is a hobby for me and I have other obligations in my real life. I will do them when I am able to.

○ I support the critical consumption of media, but I do not tolerate pro-shippers or anything similar (pro-fic, anti-anti, com-ship, etc.) In that vein, I do allow requests for media deemed "problematic" as long as they are not listed on my blacklist.

● I will never allow requests that involve pedophilia, incest, zoophilia, or any form of bigotry or antisemitism!

○ Please read the info on each edit for crediting me. Most of my edits do not require credit, but there are exceptions while I must be credited.

● Do not use my work for commercial purposes, including NFTs. You are also not allowed to use my edits for roleplay, on or off Tumblr. This is a very personal thing for me, so please respect my wishes on the matter.

○ Do not repost my edits without my permission and never claim my work as your own. You're free to use my edits as page deco or materials for your own edits, but please do not claim everything as yours. - That said, if you are using my work for HTML or Markdown based websites then please use my posts as the image source or upload it to a PRIVATE image hosting source. Discord is no longer a viable host as of 2023.

● Anon is always turned on and you are allowed to claim an emoji, combination of emojis, or label/title for yourself. I will keep a list and tag.

Blacklist:

○ This is NOT a trigger list. Its is just for personal comfort.

Fandoms/Sources

Any YouTuber-specific fandom

MCYT

Countryhumans

Hetalia

Yandere Simulator

Your Boyfriend (Game)

Harry Potter

Themes/Aesthetics

Anything that focuses on eyes (more than 2, eye horror, realistic eyes, etc.)

Medical themes (plague doctors excluded)

Bugs and spiders (Muffet from Undertale excluded)

Real people (actors included)

Whitelist:

● This list is long, but not full. There are some sources I no longer interact with, but am still willing to edit for (E.G. South Park). The list is also organized in alphabetical order.

○ I'm not opposed to spoilers for any sources I haven't caught up on yet! Feel free to spoil me on anything lol.

● I'm open to editing anything as long as it's not on my blacklist.

○ Anything in bold is a hyperfixation or special interest of mine!

AKIRA (Movie only)

The Amazing Digital Circus

BanG Dream: Girls Band Party

Chainsaw Man (Up-to-date on the manga!)

D4DJ

Demon Slayer

Dragon Ball (Classic, Z, Super, and GT)

Dragon Quest (7, 9, and 11)

Elder Scrolls (Oblivion, Skyrim, and Online)

Fallout (New Vegas and 4)

Final Fantasy (10 and 14)

Genshin Impact (Not an active player since 2.1)

Gorillaz

Guilty Gear

The Legend of Zelda (Full series, but esp. Twilight Princess)

Muramasa: The Demon Blade

Murder Drones

My Hero Academia (First season only)

My Little Pony (Gen 1, 3, and 4)

MySims (Classic Wii, Kingdom Wii + DS, Agents Wii)

Naruto (No Boruto)

Ninjago

Okami + Okamiden

Persona (1-5 and spinoffs, but esp. 3 and 4)

Pokémon (Gen 1-8)

Project SEKAI (+ Vocaloid)

Shin Megami Tensei (3-5)

Sonic the Hedgehog

South Park

Splatoon (1-3)

Stardew Valley

Static Shock (2000s cartoon)

Steven Universe (Show + movie, not Future)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 and some 2003)

Total Drama (All seasons including 2023)

Undertale + Deltarune

Wings of Fire (Caught up to book 8)

Xenoblade Chronicles (1, 2, and X)

[flashanimated]

doodles whilst combatting boredom.

(no sh/douge shippers or anyone who actually thinks shadow's 50+)

[carbon--14]

i’m going feral i just found a song by a vocaloid producer i like that sounds like it could be on a sonic ost. the need to combine fixations is So strong rn

[serenawitchwriter]

BNHA fusion (Bakusquad/Deku)

BakuDeku

HE NUMBER ONE HERO

SCREAMS

DESTRUCTION!

is so insecure tho, don’t tell anyone

WILL ALSO TAKE ANY CHALLENGE

SCARY

YOU CAN’T HURT HIM??

SUPER UNSTABLE

ONLY GETS ALONG WITH KIRASHIMA

really wants to be friends with everyone though, please?

WOULD KILL YOU

NEVER SHUTS UP

BREAKS EVERYTHING INCLUDING HIMSELF, STILL COMES AFTER YOU

AND HE’S SMART!!??

HONEST

kinda hates himself, but in an apathetic way

NEVER GIVES UP

possibly Undyne from Undertale?

cries when frustrated

ADMIRABLE DESPITE ALL HIS FLAWS

UNSTOPPABLE WHEN HE PUTS HIS MIND TO SOMETHING

gets strangely flustered around people he admires, comes across as tsundere

KiriDeku

MANLY AS HELL

SO STRONG

FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE

WILL BENCH PRESS ALL HIS FRIENDS AT ONCE

A HERO FANBOY SQUARED

TOUGH AS NAILS

ALMOST ALWAYS SMILING

freckles and shark teeth

explosion of red fluffy hair, green roots

is very private with their insecurity. will go quiet and thoughtful when left alone

unshakably kind

MOTIVATES YOU

TRIES TO USE SLANG AND FAILS

has this weird habit of headbutting things and breaking them?

Bakugou hates but tolerates them? he acts more like a wet cat than sparky sparky boom man

they are LITERALLY the only person who can get away with hugging him

(Bakugou secretly loves them)

SO

MANY

BRO

HUGS!!!

prone towards depression but makes himself feel better by helping people

LITERALLY EVERYONE LOVES THEM

gives off a strangely unattainable vibe

DekuMina

watermelon, freckled pink skin, green fluffy hair that is amazingly curly. horns

green eyes, with black sclara

cute beyond reason

really really excitable

#1 friend, always knows when something is wrong and how to cheer people up

socially conscious. can hang out with basically anyone and be liked

an ambivert

loves dancing and moving and fighting. incredibly flexible but also muscular. sorta Mirko physique only unmatured

has sick kicks and flips

hates bullies and will punch clocks out without hesitation

can be kinda obnoxious, especially because they don’t know how to shut up

will tease you accurately if you call them out. they’re not mean, but can pick out what’s actually wrong. getting called out when you’re trying to be mad is also obnoxious

extremely tactile and clingy. loves hugging and just touching their friends. Mido never felt like he had permission before, but combined with Mina they give out touches freely

slightly dark, self-depreciating humor but you can never tell if they’re serious

both intentionally and unintentionally funny

clumsy, a bit of a space case

makes fun of Bakugou the most

gets really creative in the type of acid they make and how they use it, particularly combined with the tentacle quirk

has no fashion sense. Mina might be able to claim her bright colors and patterns are an aesthetic. but DekuMina can make no such claim. they are an eyesore and they love it. ugly is their aesthetic and they will not apologize

unironically wears eye-searing Hawaiian shirts, bakugou hates this about them

unironically finger guns at every opportunity

KamiDeku

oh man, they are not okay

chronic pain

trying to cover up that anything is wrong with smiles and humor x2

yellow hair with more than once green lightning streak

electric green eyes that glow constantly

attacks with green lightning in general. it’s overpowered but they can control where it’s going now.

unafraid to go all out in a fight and suffers physically and mentally for it

really hard on themselves, low confidence

the kind of adhd where they have a million interest and skill-sets. they’ve learned so much, they genuinely are really smart. but they remember absolutely nothing

they get really frustrated and will often cry because of this. they know the information is there but they can never find it when they need it. they’re just reaching into their brain and finding nothing when they know something is supposed to be there. they hate it

pretty depressed

an incredibly loyal friend, always trying to help no matter how worn out they are

is genuinely really funny. they know how to do critical and aware humor, situational humor, improv. they could do standup if they tried.

probably eats really weird food. i see them combining bizarre food items together and really liking it. will put garbage into their body, shaggy style

easygoing when they don’t have any stressors

but extremely anxious when there are stressors (note: there are a lot of stressors)

stims with their hands a lot. their hands just can’t hold still. will flap twiddle, twitch, tap, anything

the friend that will try to put all the focus on you when it’s clear that they’re the one having a meltdown.

is baby

the friend groups come out in force for this one. they will not let them feel alone or bad. kamideku is getting the support they need

loves cuddles

JiroDeku

vibing

Jirou brings out Mido’s attitude, so honestly they are mean and sassy and sarcastic. they’d insult you and you’d thank them for it

straight green and purple hair in an gradient, keeps the earlobes.

trying and succeeding to be punk rock but is also adorable. like you know they can and will kick your ass, but they are also so short and they have chubby cheeks and freckles. they’re adorable

a short and compensating for it vibe except they are legitimately edgy

they might be nb, but they are also absolutely still a sword lesbian

sonic boom quirk. they will destroy building with their quirk, they will destroy eardrums

absolutely in a punk band and capable of rapping

probably does vocaloid/computer based music

could also see them using a gun

I could see them being into arson, too, hopefully only for good reasons 

is wild and chaotic. they are genuinely having a lot of fun.

their grin is absolutely feral and a threat, and honestly that’s very valid and sexy of them

pretty chill when they aren’t up to shit, 

constantly listening to music, always has a pair of good headphones around their neck

vibes  with Bakugou more than Jirou does alone.

big sister to most of the class

probably kicks doors open

serodeku

spiderman

weird, not in an artistic or intentional way. they just have an off vibe

unsettling smile, freckles, eyes that are a bit to big. curly black hair.

on the plain side

lanky and scarred

can shoots energy, tentacles, and tape from elbows.

great a parkour, has fantastic mobility

full of nervous energy, but still 100% down to fuck with people

secretly a sadist.

will call anyone out when they’re being stupid or reckless

pretty social

loves fruits and vegetables

loves tv, could probably tell you everything about the show he’s watching

pretty bashful

besties with Kaminari and Kirishima

a great hype man

insane, slightly scary pranks

it’s hard to tell what they’re thinking, especially in a fight

fantastic at creating traps and pushing people into them

tries to pretend he’s not as dangerous or confident as he really is. would prefer to be underestimated

tends to talk down his achievements as a result

but knows exactly how powerful they are

(masterlist)

[fluidsf]

Fluid Label Focus on Quantum Natives 5

J. Ka Ching: Another Vanishing City

Cover by J. and awe IX

Catalogue number: QNR026

Reviewed format: review copy of 320kbps/48kHz MP3 album as kindly provided by Quantum Natives

Welcome to the new review in the Fluid Label Focus series on the Quantum Natives label in which today I’m reviewing their most recent release, the album Another Vanishing City by J. Ka Ching. As always the album’s download includes all album tracks as MP3s, this time in 48kHz for better sound quality, as well as the cover artwork and also lyrics and credits text files. Indeed, you guessed it, this is one of the few song-based releases I’m reviewing on this album and Another Vanishing City does have quite a poppy sound to it, albeit with a quirky personality through energetic bursts of synths and Chinese influences in the instrumentation, but all about that in the next paragraph as I’ll first talk a bit about the album cover artwork. The album artwork is by J. Ka Ching (Jevon Voon) and awe IX and features a nifty collage like image of a Chinese style mountain landscape consisting of two different images of this landscape in monochrome layered over each other, with the background image seemingly showing an “older” image of the mountain than the more refined centre image. J. Ka Ching’s artist name and the album title feature on the cover in true Quantum Natives fashion, in heavily stylised graffiti like type that also has this wild post-internet alien feel to it but could also look a bit like a “remixed” version of Chinese characters. A very nice recognisable cover and overall it quite matches the Chinese aspects of this album’s sound as well. So indeed, let’s have a look at this 25 minute album’s 9 tracks now.

As I mentioned Another Vanishing City is pretty much a song driven album, though the tracks on the album are mostly quite short with the songs being mixed with shorter instrumental pieces making the album feel like a short soundtrack in a way. The lyrics of the songs themselves are quite abstract though noticeably emotional and a bit dramatic but in a good honest manner. As my listening manner is often leaning more on the sound and vibe of the music itself however, I’ll focus on the vocal performances and music itself which is definitely good. J. Ka Ching’s vocals are, while being noticeably auto-tuned, quite good with the emotions within the lyrics coming through clearly even with all the vocal effect processing. But what I noticed in particular, besides the vocals is that J. Ka Ching has quite a wild way of creating his music, mixing recognisable Deconstructed Club, PC Music synths and Asian influences together but in a way that jumps around in unpredictable enjoyable ways. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next and besides the songs the melodies on Another Vanishing City are quite aleatoric and abstract at times. The chaotic edge of J. Ka Ching’s music does make the music a notch disjointed at times, with the instruments and sound effects being on the edge of falling out of the tracks’ structures but this is definitely saved by J. Ka Ching’s excellent feel for refined production in his music, always letting the layers of sound and instruments interlock with each other in a pleasant way that’s not overly noisy. Looking at the separate tracks on Another Vanishing City, starting with See No Faces, which features a calm first half and an energetic explosive second half. The first half of this track features J. Ka Ching’s vocals over a mixture of Asian mallet instruments, liquid sound effects, choir samples, modulated synth chords and punchy sub bass. The melancholic sad music of the first half follows a nice polyrhythm in its melodies which leads directly into the more active second half. The second half has quite an explosive Deconstructed Club sound to it, with plenty of thunderous stuttering compressed drums and explosion sounds, squeaky PC music synth leads as well as a mixture of Asian mallet instruments and synth sounds. This then follows into second track plurrRealityz, Tio’tia:ke. Definitely one of the stronger tracks on this album plurrRealityz, Tio’tia:ke features a melodic and rhythmic abstract made up of a variety of sources, Asian instruments, vocal sample chops, quirky synth stabs, EDM bass kick samples and manipulated percussion and sound effects, in its organic wildly evolving shape it wonderfully describes what could be a calm mountain landscape in Japan, sunlight overflowing the trees and a lake nearby. Afterwards Yearning 4 The Ideal follows which has a more straight song form with more upbeat vocals and plenty of PC Music elements in the synth, beat but again there’s also plenty of sweet Asian instruments in the mix and the wild vocal manipulations add a great layer of quirkiness to the piece. Details like the ever shifting click Trap hi hat patterns and chopped up guitar give the music that bit extra that elevates it above other PC music related music. The melodies are simple but the execution of sound play, composition and of course J. Ka Ching’s energetic vocals make this a great fun track to jam to but its layering also rewards deeper listening into the soundscape of the piece. Afterwards we have two short pieces, the first of which is ���家 Guest Families, which is practically an a capella piece (not counting the segue interlude), there are some sweet harmonies in this one which are overdubbed by J. Ka Ching himself and the melodies are very catchy and well written. A great little song. Afterwards we have the instrumental track All Ghost’s Fear the Rooster’s Crow, which has a sweet early morning ambience to it, emitted through the warm tones of a mixture of Eastern instruments, honky tonk piano and funky drum hit samples, which do give the piece a playful abstract edge. The honky tonk piano recording in the background seems to be delayed a bit, its microtonal shifts in tone sounding a bit like distant car klaxons, a great subtle touch the music which enhances that early morning vibe. The Smell of Boiling Rice starts with a really lush melodic soundscape continuing that early morning ambience featuring a great guzheng performance by Xing Ru Zhong backed by vocal drones, explosive drum hits and squelchy synth effects which morphs into a rather bizarre circus like jumpy waltz rhythm melody which much poppies and full of PC music sounds particularly in the synths. The drum patterns are really wild and quirky, very nice, but it’s good that this bit is not longer as it contrast quite a lot with the lush ambience of the first half. Nexopias of Our Forgotten Ancestors follows with once again plenty of craziness in the composition and sound work but it’s one of the tracks where the organised chaos of elements works the best. The noisy groove mixing heavily percussive drum patterns, squeaky PWM synth, vocal chops is both catchy and energetic and has a clear focus in its progression and melodies. The guitar solo by Inland Island (which is a band, but there’s no specific credit for who plays the guitar in the credits text file) also adds a surprising Rock element to the piece which works well moving to the last part of the track in which the music strips itself back to the jumpy percussion and a bit crushed marimba melody. Then on Skid Swan Song we have a Vocaloid like voice singing the song over abstract metallic Asian style staccato synth melodies which leads to final track I’m Trying to Remember the Hue of the Sunlight. This is again a song with J. Ka Ching’s vocals, very PC Music like in this case with the poppy instrumental backing and squeaky energetic fat synth leads, the quirky layering of sound effects and guzheng performance definitely do give it that extra element of originality that I like about J. Ka Ching’s stronger tracks on Another Vanishing City. Indeed when he’s connecting his wildly maximalist approach to electronic music with a smoothly flowing composition and some restraint that keeps the music from going overboard with ideas that distract and disrupt the continuity of his music J. Ka Ching delivers a great mixture of atmospheric soundscapes, PC Music influenced songs that feature some great inspired compositional and sonic ideas that give the music a great conceptual coherency, especially on this album.

To conclude this review I would say that with Another Vanishing City, J. Ka Ching is on the way of shaping a personal style through his music that combines the best influences of pop inspired experimental music styles and Asian themed soundscapes with his excellent attitude to going all out with his quirky imagination in the rich production of the music. While I do feel that J. Ka Ching can work a bit on keeping the flow of his music consistent in its structure, Another Vanishing City is definitely a great enjoyable album as it is. I am definitely looking forward to seeing J. Ka Ching’s music grow even more on future releases but for now I recommend you to check out this album for some varied good creative vibes radiated through J. Ka Ching’s colourful music.

You can get the Quantum Natives free download version of this album via this Mediafire link here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/65u338hskidedi6/J.Ka_Ching-_Another_Vanishing_City__%2528QNR026%2529.zip/file

[hcmj]

HCMJ’s Favorite Albums of 2018!

Listen to a mix featuring these albums here: HCMJ’s 2018 End Of Year Mix

Honorable Mentions: 

LLLL - Chains Phase 4: Resemblance

Various - 慕情 in da tracks

Endurance - Shade Terrarium

Farragol x dropp - 楽感 / optimo

pool$ide - aquarius

FUJII - EUPHORIA

Andrew W.K. - You’re Not Alone

Stardazer - Vacation Dreams

Alex Crispin - Open Submission

Foodman - Aru Otoko No Densetsu

20) TUPPERWΛVE - To you baby, with love

As the years go by, sometimes I still crave that classic-style (or as Tech Honors once described SEAWRLDハートブレーク, “trash-ass”) vaporwave sound. It’s the usual fare of slowed down antiquated R&B with filter sweeps and side-chained kicks, but TUPPERWΛVE’s sample choices and looped snippets stay inspired throughout, building emotionally impactful arrangements and proving the artist has what 90% of contemporary vaporwave is missing: a sense of taste and purpose. NUWRLD vibes.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD

19) The Caretaker - Everywhere At The End Of Time - Stage 4 & 5

Leyland Kirby released stages 4 and 5 of his six part, multi-year epic simulating a mind falling into dementia. It’s said the last memories someone suffering from dementia retains are the melodies heard in their youth, and on this year’s installments we find melodies from the first stages lost in a haze of static and noise. While not as easy to listen to as the first three stages, these 8 tracks lose the poetic titles of the previous installments and present an absolutely horrifying interpretation of the confusion that comes with a mind breaking down.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD

18) Kate NV - для FOR

I won’t lie, I went into the new Kate NV hoping for at least a few heart-melting rib-cage exploding pop masterpieces like what she showed us on Binasu (my favorite album of 2016). However, the absence of conventional songwriting on для FOR ends up being its defining characteristic. The album delivers a set of impressionistic synth sculptures that slowly develop an album that blossoms into blissful organic structures with brushstrokes of vocals before skipping off into a brightly lit horizon.

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17) 忘れた頃に手紙をよこさないで - Tamao Ninomiya

There is an air of surreality drifting through the new crop of Tokyo underground post-pop. Tamao Ninomiya’s “lo-fi bedroom pop” is always performed in PJs and has a playful gloominess with a thousand-yard-stare kind of shyness that exudes a special kind of emotional resonance. Everything is gentle, subtly “off” - it’s an inventive and delicate pop sketchbook. 

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16) Kero Kero Bonito - Time 'n' Place

The same way Pokémon Yellow was a video game based on an anime that was based on a video game, Kero Kero Bonito is a British group that has arrived at a sound closer to early 2000′s jrock than the British rock that crop of Japanese musicians were imitating. While the final 1/3rd of the album drags, there’s no denying the pop perfection of “Time Today,” the Blue-Album-Weezer thunder of “Only Acting,” the Parklife-era Blur artschool bounce of “If I’d Known,” the whimsical bubblegum of “Make Believe,” or the saccharin yet heartfelt “Dear Future Self,” a pop meditation complete with "Mr. Blue Sky” charm and melodramatic chamber orchestra arrangements.

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15) we could die here - we could die here

While “brooding ambient” is a genre I have drifted away from these past years, ‘we could die here’ reminded me of why I was once drawn to it. It’s all about creating atmospheres, and while so much of genre these days seems to be producing the same, boring, smoke-filled neon/black room, ‘we could die here’s lush sound succeeds in building a sprawling, haunting world with enough depth that it’s worth returning to.

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14) poemme - Moments in Golden Light

Similar in scope to ‘we could die here,’ Moments in Golden Light is as advertised - warm and soft. Blissful pillows of ambience constructed in the old style, poemme pulses and drones with the silkiness of Hakobune and the breadth of Steve Roach, featuring a track that even unabashedly layers in bird samples.

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13) Machine Girl - The Ugly Art

The Ugly Art is special, as it’s the first Machine Girl album that begins to capture the raw energy and power of their live shows by showcasing live drums. The insane breaks are intact and the blistering Dreamcast punk is more hardcore. It’s dense, unrelenting in its shredding, and culminates in the epic “A Decent Man,” a 10 minute violent rave masterpiece with more content than all 3 Matrix movies combined.

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12) Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of

Age Of is a complex concept album more convoluted than a Roger Waters solo project. The music itself makes the trip one worth taking, through 13 immaculately produced tracks painting a post-apocalyptic machine world. It has an ability to turn pop tricks on tracks like “Black Snow” and “Same,” while the sound remains distant from any of comfortable paradigm. Bits of static, broken samples, and walls of noise develop into larger-than-life ballads that seem eerily familiar despite being so alien. The arrangements are complex and the production is deep, it’s a cyber-western soundtrack that always commands full attention. 

SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC

11) Seth Graham - Gasp

Gasp has a charm and complexity that sets it apart from a lot of experimental composition. The tape cut samples of “Whisper - Slap” sound impossibly worked on, while the ASMR freakouts of “Binary Tapioca” and the restrained playfulness of “Flower Cheese” make the process sound like an artist working effortlessly. Deeply emotive and loudly expressive, Gasp has a sound that digs in its hooks and burrows deep.

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10) Equip - Synthetic Core 88

The long awaited followup to the seminal faux-ost I Dreamed Of A Palace In The Sky, Synthetic Core 88 delivers on the promise of Equip’s earlier work and brings it to a new realm of legitimacy. This is a 32-bit RPG I wish I could play - with all the themes of interwoven technology and magic revealing themselves in the clever score. The conflict between the cold steel and floral lushness emerges in the sound somewhere between Uematsu and a “Tales of” game. This album could only be made by someone who truly understands how music supports the worldbuilding an RPG needs to be a successful narrative platform.

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9) Utsuro Spark - Static Electricity

Utsuro Spark is a miracle. One of the highlights from the impressive output of the Japanese label, Local Visions, this mini-album is a collection of beautifully crafted metropolitan electro pop. Sharp instrumentals including studio-perfect guitar and on-point synth work lay a foundation for blissfully creamy vocals - pop music that is full of desperate longing and unpretentious charm. The katakana titles recall the old Japanese pop it draws inspiration from, but in many ways the soul of this music at the very least meets the bar set by the old masters. 

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8) Tsudio Studio - Port Island

I was lucky to play a show in Kobe with Tsudio Studio, whose brilliant songwriting and iconic vocal delivery completely won over my heart and soul. The jazzy coolness and gorgeous chord structure for tracks like “Azur” and “Snowfall Seaside” are absolutely intoxicating, while the hooky R&B in “Mikage” and the Phantasy Star Online space-shredding of the opener “Tor” make Port Island a mini-album where every single track is a stand out.

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7) Dinosaur On Fire - Populous Romantique

After a 6 year gap, dds cohort Tech Honors unleashed the second Dinosaur On Fire album in a maelstrom of prog rock and laser beams. It’s an ultra hi-fi production that bounces from stoner prog to krautrock to synthwave to operatic video game symphonies to Ray Lynch arp fountains and back again effortlessly. Populous Romantique showcases the expansive reach of Tech’s abilities both as a visionary artist and producer.

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6) Monari Wakita - Ahead!

While so much jpop has become aggressively intense and fast-tempo, Ahead! provides a soulful contrast. Monari Wakita is an ex-idol and alumni of Especia, a group known for capitalizing on 80′s/90′s nostalgia. Ahead! mostly pulls from the 90′s, with new jack swing aping and hyper-produced city pop so technically perfect that the instrumentals would sound at home on the soundtrack of a 90′s Sonic Team video game. It’s that FM bass, synthetic swing, and plastic instrumentation against Monari’s powerful and soulful voice that gives Ahead! its irresistible charm and made it one of the most addictive albums of the year.

VIDEO 1 / VIDEO 2

5) Ventla - Plugged-Matic/Sublingual Odyssey

After years of silence, Ventla returned in 2018 with 10 (!) new albums on his quest to release 100. Ventla’s music continues to be eclectic vignettes of scratchy pop music, utilizing a seemingly endless variety of instruments and synths. Of the 10, the “classic Ventla” sound of Plugged-Matic and the playful exoticism explored on Sublingual Odyssey were my favorites - but with an artist whose entire catalog of 477 songs is easily played on loop for days on end, picking only 2 albums is almost an act of futility.

STREAM/DOWNLOAD: Plugged-Matic/Sublingual Odyssey

4) emamouse - Pigeon’s Point

emamouse’s genius visual art and surreal identity are accented by her equally forward thinking music. The iconic opener “01_PP2″ is a brilliant statement of purpose; a homicidal vocaloid squeaking words you can’t quite understand but frighten you nonetheless over a synth organ jamming out hypnotic post-pop you can’t help but dance to. This is music written by a true artist with a powerful vision of reality and instrumental chops informed by video game music deep cuts. “08_Pigeon’s Swipe” is another great showcase of emamouse’s ability to skew Dragon Quest baroque synths and contort them into the brilliant, unsettling world of her boundless imagination.

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3) TWICE - What Is Love?

Kpop can be a divisive genre, but its meteoric rise in the US is no fluke. The Korean pop machine has mastered the art of the pop song, and nowhere is it more evident than in TWICE’s “What Is Love?” Perfect structure, heart-tugging hook, surprising turns, and a chorus that sounds like 1000 girls yelling the lyrics from the bottom of the grand canyon, “What Is Love?” is technically perfect and sweetly endearing. It’s truly the most perfect pop song I’ve ever heard.

VIDEO

2) Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling

Crumbling is an album so in tune with my personal taste it’s hard to believe it exists. With a foundation of Lamp-esque dreamy pop labyrinths, Mid-Air Thief weaves complex arrangements peppered with ELO synths, chiptune fireworks, lo-fi indie folk revery, underwater voices and Elliott Smith whispers, even some Merriweather Post Pavilion electro-hippy clouds. It’s all the right flavors and textures coming together in a perfectly balanced, romantic masterpiece.

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1) Lamp - Her Watch / 彼女の時計

I discovered Lamp through a vaporwave album back in 2014 that sampled them heavily, and while those short samples of cooing vocals and breezy guitar looped with their heads underwater certainly worked in a satisfying way on that album, discovering the source material was a revelation. Lamp is the result of an algorithm to determine music that would be most appealing to me, and they hit new ridiculous heights of personal appeal on Her Watch. Their signature labyrinthine hurricane of Beatle-esque chord changes under soft voices and bossa nova rhythms is re-fitted into a nostalgic frame, sometimes approaching an almost city pop revivalist sound. The tenderness of “Slow-Motion,” the romance of “A Train Window,” the pop genius of “1998,” the borage of melancholic brightness that rolls from the opening chords of “At The Night Party,” all of it falls into place on the most sublime 36 minutes I have heard in a long time. It was the soundtrack to my life this year and my favorite album of 2018!

STREAM/DOWNLOAD / SPOTIFY / APPLE MUSIC