#hyperpop type beat 2020

[fadeawaywithyou]

immediate first reviews of the (non-nightcore) Mammalian Sighing Reflex album from Wilbur!

spoilers below if you haven't listened to his album! I really like it! Also, I'm not looking into lyrics online just yet, it's very late and if I do that I won't sleep cause it'll just consume my mind for hours.

-Amazon Standing Lamp: I love the guitar here and I laughed when it took me about 5 seconds to realize the higher voice isn't a woman, but actually Wilbur Soot singing alongside himself. He's sampling something at the end I don't know.

-Mine/Yours: The lyrics about kissing like a job and tongue and teeth *mwah* and the last line ohhhhhhh boy. The beat reminds me of a beating heart.

-Around the Pomegranate: the instrumental at 30 seconds in is SO GOOD the beat with the distorted voice is so fun. i can make out the lines "no one else can save you" and "nowhere you [can?] return to". This whole song is very fun despite the lyrics and meaning. It's just a very experimental. I like when the music gets very loud. Speaking of the lyrics the ending where Wilbur says he wants to feel normal again is just...I'm gonna go lay on the floor.

-I Don't Think It Will Ever End: Again with the experimental music! It kinda immediately reminds me of that part in Bo Burnham's Inside, the song "All Eyes On Me" where he has a mid-song monologue. It is very interesting in a meta-sense due to the comparison I can't help but make between this and Wilbur's streams. Where he's got a "chat" or audience responding to him in a cheery voice no matter what he says.

-Glass Chalet: I like the scratchy feeling in the instrumental. He's throwing stones in a Glass Chalet, which according to google is like a fancy type of cabin found in the mountains (the alps, specifically?). Also, I love the sampling he's doing with the talking at the end.

-Melatonin 130: I like the distorted voice at the end. He's really experimenting with this album and I'll keep saying it because I love it! I love the ending lyrics about everyone hoping you fail and the apes with coloring books, I think he said?

-Oh Distant You: The music takes up most of this song, instead of the lyrics, but what is sung is very nice.

-Eulogy: One of the lyrics hits very close to home. Not in a good way, but not in a bad way either. I guess it'll depend on the day I listen to the song. It's a good song. I like it a lot.

-Dropshipped Cat Shirt: The distortion kinda reminds me of those hyperpop songs that went viral on tiktok back in 2020 and it's very new to hear it used in this way with these lyrics and the general tone of the music. The last line! God, what is it with this album and the final couple of lines that hit me upside the head? I just need someone to tell me I'm tired???? God DAMN. shit...

-The Median: Very good. I like these shorter songs in between full-length songs. It's just a minute long but I really like it.

-Trying Not To Think About It: The lines about romance and marriage...man that's relatable. this is probably gonna be my favorite song. And then the rest of the song just.../pos but ooooooof

-10 Week Rule: It's a good song. Was NOT expecting that line in the chorus, which I'll let people reading this find out themselves.

Overall, this is an excellent album! I really love it and I will be listening to it constantly. This gives me the same feelings that YCGMA gave me, while still staying very distinct. It's not more POLISHED than ycgma, but it's clearly made with Wilbur's more improved skills in music making. (there is a word for this i can't remember rn)

I'm gonna commit to picking a favorite song after a couple more listens, but so far I really like Trying Not To Think About It and Around the Promegrante. This is a very creative album and I'm glad he's experimenting here. This doesn't sound like Lovejoy, and I'm super happy. It's unique, it's fun, and it's sad!

[declanlikesmusic]

Today's Listens: Episode 002

August 6th, 2023

Welcome back to the series! I hope that as I write more of these and document my growing thoughts on music & albums, we all come to acknowledge that while you may disagree with me on some takes more than others, we would all best come together to civilly discuss our collective love for the music that we're passionate for.

That said, this is a content warning for graphic imagery, specifically on the cover art for this first album. If you're not a fan of gross bodily organs and stuff, don't worry, neither am I.

Nirvana – In Utero (1993)

I'm kicking off today with me accepting the fact that I'm not a big In Utero guy. I know this album has often seen reappraisal as considered by a great deal of music peeps to be Nirvana's best album, but I'm personally firmly in the Nevermind camp, even though my last revisit of that album wasn't as infatuated. That said, while I wasn't keen on the raw recordings of this album at first, I grew to be more based and accustomed to it in the years since, leading to some damn good enjoyment nonetheless. It's a very good album all the same and I respect the status that it has, especially today.

6.9 / 10

Highlights: Heart-Shaped Box, Very Ape, Milk It, All Apologies

t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – アンドロメダ (2014)

I'm taking my sweet ass time with Telepath's massive discography of legendary vaporwave & slushwave music, but coming back to this one in particular was a shockingly pleasant surprise. I've always seen this as one of his most meditative albums, but I didn't recall it having actual music much on my first listen. So coming back to this, I can't believe I walked away with so many highlights. This thing is gorgeous; it gives you a ton of memorable short-term melodies and some beautiful deep cuts that run much longer and justifiably so. This might go down as one of my favourite Telepath albums, to be honest, but I still just can't wait to get the rest of his big heavy-hitters out of the way like this one.

7.8 / 10

Highlights: 空に光、いつも、二、アトラクション、不思議、蒸気涙

Gupi – None (2020)

So after work was a non-starter due to the weather, I headed right back home after lunch and rolled upon this record that I had heard all the way back when it came out. Many were hooked onto this, not just because of what this producer was making, but also because of who he even was. Goes to show you the true, unbridled power of nepotism. Speaking of non-starters, the opening title track was a deeply unpleasant first impression to me, but I was pleasantly surprised (again) that the rest of the record picked right up from there and remained consistently decent throughout, even great in spots towards the end. Bubblegum bass (and subsequently hyperpop) were running completely wild during the days of 100 gecs, so it was only natural for this young talent to bust through with this debut and have me have a decent time with it as well. I just don't look forward to revisiting his duo project with Fraxiom, that one was rough when I heard it, even if his track here was good too. I also really liked the refrain on False Awakening as well.

6.5 / 10

Highlights: Driving Directly Into a Concrete Wall, Regression, Faking It, False Awakening

N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton (1988)

For my 1,312th rating on my second RateYourMusic account, I thought I'd finally tune into one of the most respected and critically acclaimed rap albums of all time, not to mention among the most controversial records of the 80s and good for it too. The first two cuts off this album are iconic, though I've always been more of a Fuck tha Police type of person myself, and after that, Parental Discretion iz Advised and Express Yourself are great listens too. God, this drops off hard though. The last four tracks of the main album were a slog, from their Compton's n the House remix to the closer Quiet on tha Set. Every beat was far too scant & repetitive for my liking, especially at the runtimes they were given and tracks like I Ain't tha 1 especially had some lyrical clunkers that read as childish. Still, this was a fine time with some prime cuts, but just way more underwhelming by the end of it.

6.4 / 10

Highlights: Straight Outta Compton, Fuck tha Police, If it Ain't Ruff, Parental Discretion iz Advised, Express Yourself

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

I remember some time last year when I was trying to pull myself out of the rut of music listening burnout, I tuned in to a pair of Arctic Monkeys records with a friend/carer of mine. This excessively long-titled album was one of the two, the other being the excessively short-titled AM. I ended up preferring and even loving AM by comparison, but that doesn't (nor should it) undermine this debut album's accomplishments, especially as it's still very good to this day and has some exceptional highlights coming out of it. I thought to return to it just to have a simple good fuck rock time and I got exactly that. God bless the Arctic Monkeys for giving me exactly what I expected.

7.1 / 10

Highlights: The View From the Afternoon, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Fake Tales of San Francisco, Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But…, A Certain Romance

Rollergirl! – I Love You, Rollergirl! (2014)

Keats Collective as a label was the birthplace of future funk as a genre, thanks to acts like Saint Pepsi, Macross 82-99, Flamingosis, Lancaster and yes, Rollergirl getting a spotlight all over their formative years. This is currently the last EP Rollergirl has put out after their popular Self-Titled got buzz in the scene, but I'm certainly not as thrilled about this one. Compared to that previous EP, this record lacks a lot of the energy and tempo that I would've hoped to carry over. It felt a lot more homogenised and sterile by comparison, but I still really appreciated bits and pieces, like the opener, the closer (especially) and the part in I Love You by the end where the sample was chopped to sing out the album title. It's good and if you're curious, I wouldn't stray away from it. Like with rollerskates.

7.0 / 10

Highlights: Boogie Down, I Love You, Last Night

Yes – Close to the Edge (1972)

I've been meaning to revisit this record for the longest time now and I finally put my foot down to retry it. I really loved this record when I first heard it, but I can't say that I adore it as much as I appreciate it now still. It remains a wonderfully crafted record, but I've never been able to fawn over the title track and its segments until the last one. It's the B-side of this record that almost completely sold me and while it didn't win me all the way over in the end, I was still very happy with what I heard. If you wanna get into progressive rock, this is still one of the greatest places to start.

7.4 / 10

Highlights: And You and I, Siberian Khatru

INTERNET CLUB – DELUXE (2011)

Finally, to conclude the night, I wanted to listen to something very obsure, almost dark while eerie, ominous and mysteriously short. Who better to turn to for that than the one who made ▣世界から解放され▣？This super short, almost 15-minute offering was the first of a strange trilogy of pioneering broken transmission mini-albums and while I strongly admired ▣世界から解放され▣ for what it contributed to the scene, I ended up falling out of that same appreciation for the finale NHK REMINDS YOU TO BOOST YOUR SIGNAL. Returning to this album though was a complete shock to me; despite the rough start, when it got to the title track, I was in complete love with the looping sample and as the rest of the record went on, Robin displays hit after hit with chopped up vaporwave tunes and mystifying glitches. It ended up being my favourite of the three by a very good margin! Obviously, I don't expect this one to click with everybody, but if this intrigues you and you've already dipped your toes into the broken transmission or signalwave subgenres, I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy this one! Except NO MORE MONO, that one was uncomfortable.

7.9 / 10

Highlights: NIGHT DRIVE, DELUXE, ONLY IN DREAMS, SHARPER DUB, HEARTS (NIGHT DRIVE, PART TWO)

So that was a lot that I listened to today, but I had a ton of fun with it! Let me know what you thought of any of these albums and what I should try in the near future! Thank you so much for reading and stay gay!

[bigcircle-smallworld]

SEPTEMBER

THE UNDERAPPRECIATED SIGNIFICANCE OF HYPERPOP IN THE DIGITAL AGE

In the 21st century, increasing corporatization and its effects make the music landscape often impossible to navigate, for artists and consumers alike. One genre, however, has emerged somewhat unseen as a radical and disruptive force– hyperpop. The recent announcement that revolutionary label P.C. Music would be shutting down new music production and only revisiting archival content from here on out, I decided to write a bit about an art phenomena that I believe is more important than it might let on. 

While often written off as musically immature and ultra-niche, hyperpop challenges traditional notions of rhythm, melody, sampling, and genre boundaries with grace– not to mention artistic philosophy, especially in the context of an infinite internet. At its core, it is a product of the uniquely “free” digital age and late-stage capitalism. Hyperpop, short for "hyperactive pop," took inspiration from, for one, 2000s rave and electronic music culture, growing into itself in online forums, SoundCloud uploads, and the alternative DIY aesthetic of the early 2010s.

In the early 2010s, artists like SOPHIE, Arca, and AG Cook (who collaborate(d) regularly) began experimenting with a frenetic, maximalist approach to production. It often features exaggerated, pitch-shifted vocals, glitchy electronic beats, and a disregard for traditional song structures, incorporating elements from genres such as hip-hop, pop, electronic, and experimental noise. These blends reflect the diversity of musical influences and globalized nature of the internet, and usage of platforms like SoundCloud and Band-camp to share music across the world bypass traditional labels and gatekeepers. Not only does their music take full advantage of the internet’s infinite and hyper-accessible reserve of hundreds of years of music, individual samples, electronic tools and instruments, but it’s also a meta reflection on this abundance.

"Hey QT," was an early collaborative project between A.G. Cook, SOPHIE, Harriet Pittard, and performance artist Hayden Dunham, who appeared as BladeRunner-esque singer QT. This track, with its catchy, hyperactive melody and playful, consumerist lyrics, stood as an ironic reflection of the digital age's excesses. "Hey QT" didn't just embrace the internet era; it satirized it with an ironic promotional campaign, including a music video that was an ad for a fake energy drink, that questioned the lines between music, “content”, and commerciality. "Hey QT" became a symbol of subverting expectations and utilizing the irreplaceable digital canvas, all while critiquing the commodification of music and fame that is exaggerated by that very digital realm.  

One of the key drivers of Hyperpop era is the P.C. Music collective, founded by A.G. Cook back in the early days of the genre. P.C. Music's artists have pushed the boundaries of what is considered "pop" music. They provide a more IRL commune for artists who challenge listeners to question what defines authentic music and invite them into a both surreal and hyperreal world of sound.

Hyperpop trancents borders, and reflects the globalization of music, allowing artists from all over the world to exchange and collaborate. This global exchange of ideas has enriched the genre, leading to a vibrant ecosystem of artists who each contribute their own twist to the hyperpop sound, so much so that it now has taken the shape that artistic eras usually do by splitting into different factions that are growing into their own genres. 

Many of us may know the duo 100 Gecs– a slightly more angry and hard-edged hyperpop duo that revolutionized the genre with their surprising and somewhat random main-stream popularity around 2020. As the internet often manifests, 100 Gecs eventually fell from the type of widespread (basic?) social media buzz they held, but have progressed into their prior alternativity– this time with more artistic prowess, and a critically praised name for themselves. While it may seem as though the musicians were simply dropped back where they were before their “15 minutes”, the fact that hyperpop had its moment in the main stream limelight and is now developing beyond itself is significant. Many believe it is the reason for P.C. music’s halt of new production and reflection/remixing on the past decade of its work. Its time has come!

Cook himself has certainly changed. He continues to produce various levels of hyperpop and electronic music– the less intense of which have gradually made their way into the main stream. (Charli XCX; Kim Petras; recently, Beyoncé) 

Hyperpop’s boundary-pushing spirit and innovative production techniques will likely continue to influence mainstream and alternative music alike, pushing the envelope of what is possible within the realm of sound. It serves as a testament to the power of the internet and a thrilling chapter in the evolution of music. 

[sneakinbeats]

(FREE) Hyperpop x Lil Uzi Vert Type Beat 'POP' @Sneakin

[queermediastudies]

Range Weeks - Hyperpop: The Queer Voice of Music

When starting this assignment, I knew almost immediately that I wanted to focus my topic on something relevant to popular culture in some way. I initially considered a variety of topics including RuPaul’s Drag Race, specific musicians, and new television shows and movies. However, with weighing consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected the youth, including myself, I realized that music would be an interesting case study. Personally, I have loved hyperpop for a couple of years now, but my interest really started to peak at the start of the pandemic. I also knew from my habitual listening that hyperpop is a very gay genre of music. The goal of my video was to argue that hyperpop will thus be the queer voice of the next generation of music.

The proposal was the most difficult part of this process for me. I had a lot of initial ideas and the challenge for me was narrowing my topic to a concise enough point that I could make an effective argument. The draft I think was a momentum builder for me to finish the final edit. I had a clear vision of what I wanted the intro to look and sound like and that set me up quite well to finish the video with the same style and detail.

One unexpected challenge I faced was, two weeks ago right after the draft was submitted, I hit a writer’s block and didn’t know what I wanted to say in my script. I had to step away from the video for a couple of days to come back with a reenergized and more focused approach to get past it.

References

100 Gecs. (Nov. 18, 2021). 100 gecs – mememe {OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO}. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bw2dTY3SsQ.

100 Gecs. (June 13, 2019). 100 gecs – money machine (Official Music Video). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z97qLNXeAMQ.

Adidas Originals. (Oct. 22, 2020). Adidas x IVY PARK. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv2EFFRSoOY.

BroksBeatz. (Nov. 18, 2021). (FREE) Hyperpop Type Beat 2021 / Glitchcore Instrumental – “Final”. [Audio]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zLs3fxMUHI.

Cavalcante, A. (2017). Breaking Into Transgender Life: Transgender Audiences’ Experiences With “First of Its Kind” Visibility in Popular Media. (pp. 1-16). International Communication Association.

Dorian Electra. (April 24, 2019). Dorian Electra – Flamboyant Oofficial Video). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDb1oTfcmCI.

Glaive. (Feb. 17, 2021). Glaive – astrid (official video). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd-7Ye_vX1k.

Glaive. (Dec 3, 2020). Glaive – dnd (official video). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VJrMoDuvkQ.

Genius. (April 2, 2021). ElyOtto “SugarCrash!” Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLgL43A_bCM&t=12s.

Glover, C., Barrie, Z., & Bogert, B. (2017, October 25). A labor of love: “Why zines will always be an important part of queer culture”. GO Magazine. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from http://gomag.com/article/what-zines-mean-to-the-queer-community/.

Jagose, A. (1996). Queer Theory. (pp. 1-6, & 72-82). New York University Press.

Juju. (Oct. 17, 2020). (FREE) HYPERPOP/GLITCHCORE TYPE BEAT “ONLINE :)++”. [Audio]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ulykz8QHYU.

Lady Gaga. (May 22, 2020). Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande – Rain On Me (Official Music Video). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoAm4om0wTs.

Madonna. (June 18, 2015). Madonna – Bitch I’m Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hPMmzKs62w&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2itaI9vGwp96AsBz&index=11.

Mic The Snare. (Nov. 23, 2020). Is HYPERPOP The Future of Pop?. [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooAuteRHyD0&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2itaI9 vGwp96AsBz&index=3&t=429s.

Nakumi. (May 25, 2021). [FREE] Hyperpop/Glitchcore Instrumental – “bakaa”. [Audio]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640LrLejLcU&t=90s.

Patrick Cc:. (Feb. 2, 2021). HYPERPOP is the F U T U R E. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMRAcSWAzEE&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2it aI9vGwp96AsBz&index=2&t=399s.

Rebecca. (Feb 10, 2021). Rebecca Black – Friday (Remix) ft Dorian Electra, Big Freedia & 3OH!3 [OFFICIAL VIDEO]. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCFOcqsnc9Y&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2itaI9v Gwp96AsBz&index=17.

Rico Nasty. (Aug. 13, 2020). Rico Nasty – IPHONE [Official Music Video]. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuhvdaDabpU&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2itaI9v Gwp96AsBz&index=18.

Recording Academy / GRAMMYs. (Feb. 10, 2019). Sophie Red Carpet Interview | 2019 GRAMMYs. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NsOE8-tKGc.

TikTok Stars. (March 8, 2021). SUGAR CRASH BEST TikTok Compilation. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt5Et8MaAGQ&list=PL6RKr_sM3kZUVtv2y2itaI9 vGwp96AsBz&index=6&t=152s.

Valentinesditty. (Feb. 17, 2021). How to mix hyperpop vocals pt2. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljle9jTuk0Y.

Vroom Vroom Recordings. (May 3, 2016). Charli XCX – Vroom Vroom [Official Video]. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfAqtFuGjWM.

[notalive1999]

Playlists for every mood, situation and vibe

Literally the only thing i’m good at in life is making playlists and I have close to over 100 playlists on my spotify and theres one for literally every situation or mood you could imagine, so check some of them out if you get a chance 

1. songs about love

2. songs to listen to when you’re getting ready to go out

3. a mix of songs you’d here in every 2000′s teen movie 

4. the best road trip playlist you’ve ever heard

5. songs you’d always hear at the mall in the 2000′s

6. songs for driving down the highway with the top down 

7. songs for when you’re lonely and sad

8. a mix of songs from that 2012-2014 tumblr emo phase 

9. songs for when you’re going through a breakup 

10. the best sex playlist 

11. coming of age types of songs for when you feel like the main character 

12. old hollywood, classy dinner party type of playlist 

13. 90′s and early 2000′s R&B 

14. Modern R&B and hip-hop

15. the ultimate fall playlist 

16. songs for when you’re sad but like also still tryna party 

17. a mix of chill songs just to chill in your room with

18. songs for when you want revenge 

19. the ultimate workout playlist 

20. throwback/vintage workout jams from the 80′s and 90′s

21. modern songs that sound like they’re from the 90′s 

22. modern songs that sound like they’re from the 80′s 

23. modern songs that sound like they’re from the 70′s

24. the specific type of 2000′s alternative music you’d always hear in the car with your parents as a kid

25. songs for when you have aux at the party 

26. songs that remind me of Thelma & Louise with a desert grunge, running from the law kind of vibe

27. songs for summer day’s 

28. songs for summer nights 

29. songs to listen to during a photoshoot 

30. songs for rainy days 

40. songs you could slow dance to during the apocalypse 

41. a mix of indie alternative songs 

42. a mix of 80′s songs you can dance around your bedroom to 

43. gay club bangers 

44. songs that make you feel like you’re in a coffee shop 

45. 90′s grunge songs 

46. songs about Los Angeles 

47. a mix of happy songs to give you good vibes

48. that cringey era of early 2010′s pop music that probably played at all your middle school dances 

49. 70′s disco songs 

50. chill ambient lo-fi beats to study to 

51. songs that remind me of witchcraft 

52. the ultimate halloween playlist 

53. songs to listen to when you’re driving around bored with nowhere to go 

54. all the songs you would have heard at a frat party in the 80′s 

55. all the old Disney and Nickelodeon bangers from your childhood

56. 2000′s pop punk 

57. a mix of songs for those times when you’re not sad, but not really happy either and just kind of bored and emotionless 

58. the ultimate Christmas playlist 

59. songs that remind me of hanging out by a bonfire 

60. songs to listen to at the beach 

61. a mix of chill, low intensity rap and hip-hop songs 

62. slower, chill songs for when the parties winding down that you can still get down to 

63. a mix of electronic and house heavy club bangers 

64. songs for when you’re alone in your room contemplating life 

65. a mix of high intensity hyperpop songs 

66. a playlist of modern mainstream alternative 

67. electronic and dance music 

68. songs you’d probably hear at any beach in the 90′s 

69. a mix of just straight up groovy songs 

70. hits from the 1950′s 

71. hits from the 1960′s 

72. hits from the 1970′s

73. hits from the 1980′s 

74. hits from the 1990′s

75. hits from the 2000′s

76. hits from the 2010′s 

77. hits (so far) from the 2020′s

That’s not even all them, you can check the rest out on my account here.

[iconicwybie]

You know I had to redraw him!

I want you all to meet, the Humanized version of a oc I have, name Richard.

Now Richard is not just an oc of mine, but also part of a Wattpad I'm writing about, when I ever show my friends about this oc. They usually say he looks like vampire!?!

Now Richard can be described on depending on which of my other ocs you ask about, but it's either a exhibitionist, Cocky, Hateful, or even by other's (you'll find out who soon 😉 ) as a caring dominant person!?

There's a lot of things that he has seen, or even been through. Which makes him bottle up this anger and truma into unhealthy ways, ( this bitch need MAJOR therapy ) and even makes him release this anger to others, even people ( or engines if we're talking non-humanized ) that he cares about or are close to him.

If I would to give this oc a voice actor, I'll be stuck between Griffin Burns, Rami Malek, or even Addie Chandler.

Random Scenarios ( if you want to simp for him even ) :

This man absolutely loves smelling things ( I mean even hair, your cologne or perfume, or even just your sweater )

He was actually born in South Korea

He definitely is the type to steal your sweater

Richard actually never knew his father, since his father was always working

His room is COMPLETELY filled with either anime posters, or pictures of his s/o

He's the type to bring to a train station cafa as a date.

HATES the smell of noodles

He got into webcore, phonk, hyperpop, and Luci 4 music by his first friend. 😉

https://youtu.be/NXazdVhuocY

https://youtu.be/3PQxaEm9JG8

[toerisdivine]

#2 WFLYTD - Six Impala

Genre: Hyperpop

    Don’t open that package!

The early months of 2020 were a pretty fun time to be into underground music.  My last year’s list topper, 1000 gecs, had been out long enough and snowballing in popularity for music lovers to be looking for the next gecs, and this label was casually being applied to every high energy band releasing albums with any interesting combination of genres.  Two that I listened to were by Stice and Yufi, and while I don’t love either album, I loved how much they had the gecs energy without sounding like a carbon copy.

    From my perspective, April 24th’s Square Garden was the sendoff to the wild west of gecalikes: The biggest names of PC music, Dog Show Records, and similar sounding friends coming together for a wild night of remixes, mashups, shitposts, and monster hyperpop bangers.  The night soared so high that the sequel, Lavapalooza, was almost certainly doomed to live in its shadow.  Despite what should have been the bigger and better concert, most of the new acts and plenty of the old acts seemed like they were trying to copy the “formula” of Square Garden instead of making the new book for Lavapalooza. (To be fair to PC Music, they tried going full ambient for this concert, which, ehh.  At least they tried.) That being said, with all the artists present, there were bound to be a few that stood out.  I was told to look at Six Impala’s set after the fact, and while most of it was just okay there was a super nasty bass drop that left me needing to check out more.

    Good idea, past me, because this album rules.  It’s definitely in the mold of modern, post Square Garden Hyperpop, but there are a lot of things that make this unlike any other release in the genre.  For starters, Six Impala is a collective of electronic musicians whose expertise range from dubstep to glitch, and having six established solo producers of different styles invariably leads to an eclectic album.  If you’re into electronic music for the sick drops, this album has you covered. Gnasty drops appear on “Toy Car,” “SWEETSWEETSWEETLIKEBUBBLEGUM,” and “STARSHINE.”  More extreme forms of dance music are covered by “LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE,” a full on gabber song, and “EPSILON LOVE” which may not have a full drop, but is covered with screechy synth lines sure to tickle year ears, and it even ends with a breakcore section.

Now you’re thinking, “Sure, drops are good, but this is hyperpop.  Are these drops incorporated into songs that will be running through my head for days,” and the answer is of course, yes.  I chose the phrasing of that hypothetical for a reason after all.  The aforementioned “Toy Car” was one of the catchiest songs of the year, and it’s hard to deny the sugary gloss that is “candy painted nails.”  The vocals on this album feel like a further stretch of the established hyperpop style; instead of using autotuned singers it sounds like it’s pitch shifting manipulated text to speech samples.  It makes the saccharine parts of the album even more likely to give you diabetes.  The album itself revolves around “SWEETSWEETSWEETLIKEBUBBLEGUM,” a song with a singalong “repeat after me” chorus that quickly turns sinister, like most of this album.

 Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to mention the hidden dark side of this album.  This is a concept album about creepy dentists.  “Toy Car,” is about taking full control of other people, “SWEETSWEETSWEETLIKEBUBBLEGUM” includes lines about all your teeth falling out as well as gums smacking together asmr, and the following song “tying bows to each of your teeth” opens with a sinisterly cute voice threatening to steal all your teeth before turning into a lounge music section complete with drill sounds and people screaming.  Lounge music actually comes up a good amount here, as it also composes the first interlude “spare your enamel, she needs it more than you,” and the beat of “Toy Car” samples the wii shop music drums.

While there are certainly more types of music that appear on this album I could cover, like the heavy guitar riff in the opener or the glitchy A. G. Cook type beats that appear at the end of the album, the most distinct that I haven’t seen used in hyperpop is the 10 minute sound collage song that serves as the epilogue to the album.  It’s centered around the idea of channel surfing various radio stations on, unfortunately*, OMNI Radio.  You get some metalcore, weird game shows, and weirder commercials.  It’s bizarre and honestly not necessary listening to enjoy the album, but to be honest if sound collage is the future of Hyperpop I’m not complaining.

Now remember, don’t open that package!

Must Hear: Toy Car, SWEETSWEETSWEETLIKEBUBBLEGUM, EPSILON LOVE

Recommended For: People looking to get over their fear of dentists, Hyperpop stans

*Omnipony was a member of the band at the time, and has since stepped down after confirming allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 12 year old.  If I had a nickel for every canceled anthropomorphic animal musician I talked about on this year’s top ten, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 21/11/2020 (Billie Eilish)

I’ve got an easy week ahead of me since nothing happened this week. Okay, that’s a lie because there are some big stories here but we only have six new arrivals, meaning that this might be a shorter episode and honestly I’m glad. We’ve had immensely busy weeks since I started this show, full of album bombs from 21 Savage, Ariana Grande and Headie One, bizarre new entries from years ago like “Train Wreck” or “All Girls are the Same”, interesting and intriguing new arrivals ranging from Clairo to Giggs and most importantly, a lot of comical mediocre garbage from D-Block Europe. This week, however, I’ve got half of my usual bargain bin of pop music and whilst some of these songs are notable and worth talking about... well, you’ll see. “positions” by Ariana Grande is spending a fourth week at #1. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Firstly, let’s run through the drop-outs, most of which are inconsequential considering this is a slow breather week between two massive ones – BTS are coming next, folks, and bringing Megan Thee Stallion with them. I think our most notable losses is how absolutely everything from Kylie Minogue, the Kid LAROI and even dutchavelli is completely gone here, including “Cool with Me” with M1llionz, the actual single from the record. I guess we can say goodbye to the top 10 hit “Breaking Me” by Topic and A75, as well as the drop off of one 2020’s biggest #1 hits, “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande – we can wish a perhaps premature farewell to “Jerusalema” by Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode while we’re here. The bigger stories probably lie with our returns, many of which are peaking or returning to their peak like “Sofia” by Clairo at #75, “All Girls are the Same” by the late Juice WRLD at #73 and “Martin & Gina” by Polo G at #71. The Christmas songs have also started flooding in, one of which is a new arrival that we’ll talk about later, but so far we just have the controversial classic “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl returning to #63, “Last Christmas” by WHAM! – the biggest #2 of all time – back at #44 and already, on November 21st, more than a month before the big day, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey moving up to the top 40 at #30. I don’t see much competition that’ll block this from #1 this year. Also, speaking of all this holiday music, “Holiday” by Little Mix returns at #36 thanks to silly UK chart rules that meant it was traded off with “Happiness” from last week. I’ve already reviewed all of these songs – or close enough to all of them – but one I haven’t reviewed is “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” by Baccara returning to #57 as it becomes the new Scottish football anthem. You know, that Spanish disco track from 1977. It did hit #1 that year, but this is such a bizarre return I felt the need to talk about it... but, never mind, I think I should take advantage of having less on my plate this week. In terms of fallers and climbers, “Straight Murder (Giggs & David)” by, you guessed it, Giggs and Dave, dropped out of its top 40 debut to just #56 this week, joining the biggest faller, “Dynamite” by BTS, presumably having its streaming cut or just finally running out of the K-pop steam, dropping from #21 to #52. Other songs backing away from the top 40 include “Deluded” by Tion Wayne and MIST at #49, “Confetti” by Little Mix at #42 and “Loading” by Central Cee at #41. What worries me is there’s not much that seems to be replacing it, other than maybe “Plugged in Freestyle” by Fumez the Engineer and A92 at #45 or our biggest climber, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #30. It should also be noted that strangely, the album at #1 on the Album Charts has no presence in the UK Top 75 – which I review because, really, who cares about those last 25 songs? – probably because of how many physical albums were sold instead of digital sales and streaming. It’s an AC/DC album so it’s expected that the audiences who stream songs and buy CDs from Australian rock legends don’t overlap, even with a big lead single that nearly charted on the US Hot 100. Well, let’s talk about the songs that DID debut finally, starting with... the revenge of the Sith.

NEW ARRIVALS

#65 – “Cut Me Off” – Yxng Bane featuring D-Block Europe

Produced by DZL and Akeel

The music I’ve been listening to has been pretty much all over the place recently, ranging from 1990s drum and bass to McAlmont & Butler to bitcrushed hyperpop to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin to... Young Thug, for some reason. That’s part of the reason I like doing REVIEWING THE CHARTS. It keeps me grounded to what music is actually popular, important and what I should be looking out for. With that said, I don’t think I’ve ever felt the need to look out for D-Block Europe, but they keep on popping up on the chart week after week regardless. Well, a collaboration between these two is never unexpected; after all, they have an entire album together, which has sometimes confused me since Yxng Bane has always been a smoother Afrobeats crooner whilst D-Block Europe make stiff, comical trap-adjacent emptiness type beats... whatever that means. The collaboration, I have to say, actually works and I’ll admit, I’m actually pretty fond of this track. It’s got a pretty minimal beat off of mostly dancehall percussion, sparse vocal samples and bass, but it picks up a lot of groove during the chorus and whilst Yxng Bane isn’t exactly the most interesting frontman, he does ride the beat fine and his sing-songy flow is pretty damn catchy. He takes care of the first half of the song, before D-Block Europe even come in, and surprisingly, the first other voice we hear is Dirtbike LB. No, Dirtbike isn’t interesting but he sounds a lot more engaged than usual and he actually sounds mentally sound and happy, so that’s good, even if he rids the song of any of Yxng Bane’s subtlety. His flows are pretty solid, even if they are sometimes copped from NAV on “Lemonade”, oddly. This beat can also handle Young Adz’s fascination with leaving empty space in his verses, as he has some pretty complex melodic and triplet flows over the beat, which never loses its funk even when threatened with how awkward D-Block Europe tend to be, and that final flow Adz uses over the pumping 808s is smooth as all hell and actually has some swagger for once. He doesn’t say anything embarrassing and there’s actually some wordplay going on here, so I really can’t complain about this track as much as I wanted to. Will it stand up to replay? Maybe not, but this is pretty great actually and a massive improvement from all three of these dudes, although this may just be a fluke like “New Dior”. If these guys want to show more fluke brilliance from now on that would be great. Just saying.

#60 – “HOLIDAY” – Lil Nas X

Produced by Take a Daytrip and Tay Keith

I like Lil Nas X. I enjoy his fun social media presence and meme-heavy persona, which may grow old to a lot of folks but I still like seeing him pop up on my timeline. I admire how he is openly gay and not afraid to discuss that in his music especially when he has the impossible platform of “Old Town Road”, one of if not the biggest songs of all time. I’m intrigued by his willingness to blend genres and break down boundaries in styles of music from sound, presentation and even race, even if it loses him some points on actually developing said tracks, mostly ending up as demos – the initiative is there. However, on that last EP, and especially this song, his charisma is the driving force and I don’t think Nas can replicate the magic of even “Panini” without more than his natural, jovial and playful tone. To start off with the positives, I do like the cold, icy beat that fits with the vague, pretty false holiday theme here, and they are some nice little details like that wobbling synth-bass differing from typical distorted trap 808s, the background keys replicating the melody of the second chorus throughout, and even the morphing of the producer tags to form a sentence. Tay Keith took it to ten instead for this beat, I suppose, and it is a good fusion of the two production styles. The problem I have with this song is, unfortunately, Lil Nas X. His delivery is checked-out and bored, and that makes these hard-to-sell lyrics about his career both irrelevant to the ostensibly Christmas-themed song and just not convincing in the slightest.

I can’t even close my eyes and I don’t know why, I guess I don’t like surprises / I can’t even stay away from the game I play, they gon’ know us today, yeah

This is the chorus and he’s saying absolutely nothing here. It’s just rhyming words that would have fit for a demo but are produced with some robotic multi-tracking and engineering to make it sound professional but also dull and manufactured. Sure, the verses and pre-chorus have more depth but this type of self-aware flexing and snarky one-liners only works well when it doesn’t sound like it’s being played completely straight (No pun intended). The song and artist exhumes character and optimism but both the beat and Nas here sound sour, mean-spirited and almost ugly. Most of the throwaway pop culture references are pretty pointless and awkward as well, with some really awful lyrics.

Ayy, and I’m sexy, they want to sex me

I call redundancy, Your Honour. Oh, and what a pre-chorus. “Hee-hee, I’m bad as Michael Jackson”? In 2020? It’s not like I expected anything lyrically superb from Lil Nas X, but less filler and... unfortunate implications would have been fun. Man, I do want to like this song, and I’m excited for that “CALL ME BY YOUR NAME” track he continues to tease, but for now this doesn’t work as a Christmas single at all, unless your idea of the Winter holidays is joyless cynicism. Okay, well, maybe in 2020, that’ll work out for you but any other year, this wouldn’t cut it.

#59 – “A Little Love” – Celeste

Produced by Josh Crocker and Jamie Hartman

This song is an advertisement. So much of an advertisement in fact that the full name of the song is “A Little Love (From the John Lewis & Waitrose Christmas Advert 2020)”. The John Lewis company is a brand of high-end department stores across the British Isles and have become kind of an iconic Christmas tradition in the UK for their heart-warming but often fantasy-adjacent advertisements they release every November or so. It always comes with a song, sometimes original, sometimes a cover, and nearly always a dreary piano ballad. This year they enlisted BRIT Award winner and British soul newcomer Celeste but not even new blood and an original song written for the advert can make this sound anything resembling interesting. A lot of people thought this John Lewis advertisement was disappointing – I don’t have an opinion because I do not care about the quality of adverts. I also do not care about the quality of the song which I’m sure you can tell is very little. This advert becomes increasingly irrelevant as the years go on and not even Celeste’s pretty unique voice can make this anything more than dull and half-baked. I mean, it’s well-mixed, but so is nearly everything that charts. You really can’t say this is anything but a product that serves as promotion for another product. It’s no surprise this didn’t debut high because in 2020 – and really any year – people would and should want more than this. Hopefully this doesn’t coast off of the advert and become a hit because, I don’t know, it kind of sets a bad precedent. Maybe I’m just pretentious. Probably.

#43 – “Flavour” – Loski and Stormzy

Produced by Mike Elizondo and Steel Banglez

Last time we saw Loski, he was going for a threatening and menacing “bad guy” drill track, but now he’s making room for the ladies in that drug trafficking route, rapping over a smooth Afrobeats instrumental courtesy of Steel Banglez, who’s still around actually amongst the waves of rip-offs and producers courting his style for their own, and it’s just a hook-up jam where the guys mostly trade bars about girls. Of course, Stormzy gets the first verse, but with the deadpan delivery of both of these guys but especially Loski, the somewhat shoddy vocal mixing on Stormzy’s voice, I find myself caring so little about absolutely any of this. This beat is kind of distracting in how it mixes Eastern strings with Afrobeats rhythms, early 2010s dance music synths (the main synth pattern sounds as 2014 as possible) and trap skitters. The hook is barely existent, neither of the guys have chemistry or charisma here, not even Stormzy, and the song’s about two Loski verses too long. No, the lyrical content isn’t anything but vaguely cute, surprisingly inoffensive and shockingly lacking in misogyny for once, and I don’t expect it to be. Honestly, Stormzy name-dropping Everybody Loves Raymond is probably the highlight. I’m sure Ray Romano is beaming.

#7 – “Stop Crying Your Heart Out” – BBC Children in Need

Produced by Brian Rawling, Mark Taylor, Anoushka Shankar, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Grace Chatto and BBC Concert Orchestra

When I did my Spring episode, I was met with a BBC Radio 1 cover of “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters that was released to support the NHS workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the first British lockdown. This “Live Lounge Allstars” single went to #1 and naturally, with a second lockdown we have a second single by a second BBC radio station with second-rate “Allstars”, which is probably why it’s just credited as BBC Children in Need this time. Oh, and for some reason, they credited every single BBC Child in Need on the Spotify page this time. Now last time we had you know, the actual Foo Fighters, as well as global superstars like Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding, as well as Sean Paul, Rita Ora and members of Coldplay, alongside many, many others, all of which were or are relevant to this day. So for this second song, not only did they take an absolutely crap Oasis single from their early-mid-2000s years, way after they had stopped being worth listening to, and stripped it of any of its genuine orchestral backing and intriguing and iconic Liam Gallagher vocal deliveries. I’m not going to go in-depth like last time. It still butchers a classic, but a classic song I hate in the first place, just getting rid of any redeemable elements that Oasis still had in 2002, so I don’t care enough about the source material but really this is weak and boring, with questionable vocal mixing and unimpressive vocal performances from everyone involved. If you’re wondering who everyone involved is, it’s Izzy Bizu, Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit, Melanie C, Jamie Cullum, Ella Eyre, Paloma Faith, Rebecca Ferguson, Jess Glyne, LAUV, Ava Max, James Morrison, Gregory Porter, Nile Rodgers, Jack Savoretti, Anoushka Sankor, Robbie Williams and Yola... as well as some of the more bizarre additions, like Jay Sean riding high off of an uncredited sample of his hit last year, Kylie Minogue clearly only here to promote an album (In fact, that can sadly be said for most of the artists here), Lenny Kravitz and freaking CHER both being somehow completely unrecognisable, Goddamn Bryan Adams and KSI of all people, who doesn’t even get a rap verse like AJ Tracey and Sean Paul on the first cover. He’s just... there, I guess? None of these guys are in sync at all and the song was unremarkable in the first place but I can’t get mad at charity going to a good cause, even if all of these musicians could just cough up some of their own cash. I expect to see this fall dramatically next week.

#2 – “Therefore I Am” – Billie Eilish

Produced by FINNEAS

This, however, I predict will stick around. Billie Eilish bravely drops the lowercase for a brand new song – and maybe perhaps could possibly be a lead single – and it acts as an attack on the critics, particularly a response to all of the nonsense that has been thrown her way for being a confident young woman in the industry who decides she doesn’t want to conform to outrageous beauty standards set by the media. I think a very recent notable one was when she was photographed by paparazzi walking and looking like a completely normal 19-year-old woman (although, perhaps one with particularly vibrant hair dye) and was met with criticism from the news media and a lot of different narratives on social media, ranging from general body-shaming (which she already took a stance towards in March on her tour with a pretty cool short film) to weird professions of beauty when, no, she did not look like she was keeping up appearances and that is completely fine. That image displays a problem with how society holds celebrities and particularly women to a ridiculous fashion standard, even when they’re just walking from place to place, like they can’t look like your normal, ordinary, every-day adult woman, which, you know, they are. I think she really gets to that point when she says this:

Top of the world but your world isn’t real / Your world’s an ideal

Sadly, I think the rest of the song is rather underwritten and feels like a vague diss track towards critics, using arguments that really only apply when talking about cyberbullying and genuine toxic media press (which the UK knows well), and generalising them with all critics, making it seem like a human attack on mass-media corporations, which doesn’t really go down as well as she wants it to. The pre-chorus, chorus and even the second verse and bridge feel pretty underwhelming in terms of content too and whilst her carefree delivery is supposed to make the lines hit harder if anything it just weakens the blow. The minimal production from FINNEAS with a pretty nice 808 bass groove and distorted percussion, as well as a pretty piano flourish, does help to make this sound a bit less tired but honestly just makes Eilish seem out of place if anything, which isn’t true for anything else the two have made together, so I’m personally not a fan and think this is a rare miss for Billie and FINNEAS. I agree with the message, but this could have been executed in a much more impactful and aggressive way that would have made more of a point, in my opinion.

Conclusion

That’s not to say that the song is bad, though and I’ll give “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish an Honourable Mention even for just being interesting and more than the most basic, factory-produced equivalent of its genre that could be made, which can be said for most of the rest of the tracks here. Best of the Week does go to Yxng Bane and D-Block Europe of all people for “Cut Me Off”, and I can’t bring myself to dislike a charity single so I suppose Worst of the Week goes to Lil Nas X’s “HOLIDAY”, and the Dishonourable Mention will be brought to you after the messages. In other words, it’s “A Little Love” by Celeste. Here’s this week’s top 10:

I’ll brace myself for the upcoming week now, and you can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank if you want to see me Tweet complete nonsense the majority of the time. I’ll see you next week.

[sneakinbeats]

'ERA' DaBaby x Lil Uzi Vert x TyFontaine Type Beat @Sneakin 

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(FREE) Future x Lil Uzi Vert x Hyperpop Type Beat 'CODE' @Sneakin

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(FREE) DaBaby x Lil Uzi Vert x Lil Keed Type Beat 'GLIDER' @Sneakin

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(FREE) Virtual x Lil Uzi Vert x Bladee Type Beat 'TAKE ME' @Sneakin

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(FREE) Future x Lil Uzi Vert x Brandon Finessin Type Beat 'Member' @Sneakin

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