#the only two non-synthwave songs are Come Together and Out of Touch

[anthro-cat]

ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thankfully stupid spotify has an automatic "on repeat" playlist so i will take songs from there

numba 1. Come Together by The Beatles this one's pretty fun!! i only like some songs by the beatles and this is one of them :-) i like the sh-k-k-k-k-k sound that it has

numba 2. Square City by Mitch Murder woah synthwave!!!!!!! i do like the whole album this one comes from cuz it's just really good for relaxing. don't know why this one's on my "on repeat" list though since i listen to another one more

numba 3. Outer Space by Mitch Murder speak of the devil. THIS synthwave one is SO GOOD. it's just the PERFECT one for chatting with your friends... i actually also like the album cuz it has big VA-11 Hall-A vibes and i love the ost from that game

numba 4. Out of Touch by Daryl Hall & John Oates i ADORE this song. even if it's a meme. it's rlly nice for car rides and such!!! not much to say other than i really do love it

numba 5. '84 Dreamin by Com Truise more synthwave!!! this one's from the Hotline Miami 2 OST but i love it so much that i put it in my synthwave playlist :-3 it just has this good vibe of going on a trip in a car while it's nighttime and you're sleepy

numba 6. Neon Towers by Cassetter not sure why THIS one's on my "on repeat"??? i find it pretty cool yeah. but it's nothing outstanding?? either way it's still fun

numba 7. Propagation by Com Truise this guy again! it's weird how the two songs i listen from this guy are on my "on repeat" but what can i do. i can say he does nail the "car ride at night" vibe

numba 8. Meet Matt Stryker by Carpenter Brut this one's dark synthwave this time!!! nothing much other than it's got this "boss fight" feel which i like, since i also listen to videogame music.

numba 9. Coup de Théâtre by Mitch Murder can u tell i like songs made by this guy. it's another one from the same album i use to relax :-3

numba 10. Extreme Pizza Power by Vincenzo Salvia i love the name of this one. it's also one of those songs you expect to see in a workout cassette where the people who are working out wear neon clothing and headbands and wristbands. it's so fun and exciting!!!!

anyone who wants to do this can do it!!! hehehheheeheehehe

okay I don't normally do these things but was tagged by @unsavorie and already in a music music mood so here we go!!

"Shuffle your ‘on repeat’ playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people."

"Don't Go Insane" - DPR IAN

I was obsessed with with one recently

"Loverboy" - young friend

and this one last year

"cough drops" - almost monday

and this one, recently again

"Something Super Sweet" - Rory Webley

and this one, again last year, and also a lot. i made up a dance to it

"*Equip Sunglasses*" - Hot Mulligan

I have been, am, and will probably continue to be obsessed with this one for a long time. I love it so much.

"ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?" - Negative 25

I also liked this one quite a lot but less than every single one so far lol

"Edge of the Earth" - The Beaches

this one i only very recently discovered, like within the last week, I cannot believe it made the list because I did not think I listened to it THAT MUCH 😅

"Sleeping on the Ceiling" - Friday Pilots Club

I wasn't obsessed with this one but I like how he says one of the lyrics so I always let it play, also this band has been making their way into my playlists more and more lately

"bl00dbath" - rosecoloredworld

this band got advertised to me on instagram not that long ago and I heavily fuck with at least three of their songs

"Addiction/Prescription" - poptropicaslutz!

this one has been my listen-again when it comes on shuffle lately, it's a mid yet fun song and I fuck with it. also I could have swore I'd heard of this band before but I went through their other songs and didn't recognize or like any lmfao

I was doing this and thinking "wow these are all such good songs that I love listening to" then it occurred to me that this is my on repeat and not my general playlist. on repeat means something 🤦

and I tag:

@vanguard @striders @letsrevince @hungry-hobbits @fluffy-flock @starssystem @langleyavenue @tenttle @adhdalistair @walnutsupreme @toadcroaky @babyprime

and anyone else who wants to do it!

[hcmj]

HCMJ’s Favorite Albums of 2019!

Listen to a mix featuring these albums here: HCMJ’s 2019 End Of Year Mix

Other Favorites:

David Bruce - The North Wind Was a Woman

galen tipton - fake meat

upusen - Highland Ave.

BLACKPINK - Kill This Love

Starkey - Earth EP

Lamp - ‘A Distant Shore’ Asia Tour 2018

AWITW - Ｓｈｅ Ｗａｌｋ Ａｌｏｎｅ う者姻

Seaketa - Gion ぎおん

SNJO - Diamond

BONNEVILLE - AFFORDABLE LUXURY

20) Gareth Davis & Scanner - Footfalls

I first found the experimental composition/clarinet music of Gareth Davis in the early 2010′s during my initial dive into the Miasmah catalog. Teamed up here with another electronic musician/clarinetist, Footfalls uses long, poetic waves of deep woodwinds and synth improv to describe hauntingly desolate environments. It only seems fitting to start the list with one of many bookends on a decade in the grim, cold grey of Philadelphia.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

19) Barker - Utility

Arp and delay-driven rhythmic expression that recalls late-era Kraftwerk, building a pristine sci-fi future with ear-pleasing, rich, and laser-sharp production. Like disembodied trance or house music searching for a strong beat that never comes, Utility is absolute, skillfully-stated synth pleasure.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

18) Sean McCann/Seth Graham w/Kymatic Ensemble  - Split Series Vol. IV

Seth Graham’s Gasp was a big favorite in 2018, here condensed and re-imagined for chamber ensemble. Sean McCann’s “Vilon” finds a blissful middle-ground between electronic ambient music and traditional western instrumentation, like a poignant hymn sung somewhere far away, while the new “Gasp” arrangements are full of expressiveness and surprises.

BANDCAMP

17) 猫 シ Corp. & t e l e p a t h - Building a Better World

Deep bass pulses and distant rain welcome us to a familiar comfortable place, but as the unmistakable sound and melodic freedom of telepath’s original synth work bends its way over rolling toms in the reverb-soaked hifi opener, it becomes clear that this album is something new and special. Full-on new age drenched in an endless downpour, it’s a huge and beautiful world that’s blissful to be lost in.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

16) Various Artists - Oneironaut

Another rare case of a compilation that is actually worth listening to, Japanese indie powerhouse Local Visions assembles the best talent from the sax-loving, jazz-infused, post-vaporwave electronic underworld of Japan and beyond in the indomitable Oneironaut comp. Notable contributions from Utsuro Spark, upusen, Tsudio Studio, tamao ninomiya, and countless others deliver a hazy daydream.

BANDCAMP

15) wai wai music resort - WWMR 1

Also from Local Visions comes this special collection of tracks caught somewhere between “lost LP found in a record crate” and “bedroom 4-track” - two distinct lofi flavors that mysteriously meld seamlessly on WWMR 1. It sounds new and old, youthful and mature, and full of affection for love and the music it references.

BANDCAMP | SPOTIFY

14) EXID - Me & You

There’s something about this mini-album, a Christmas time snowy nostalgia as the sun sets on another chapter of life (and era of kpop) in tracks like “나의밤” and “WE ARE..,” the Jamiroquai funk of “내일해 (Urban Mix),” or club igniting title track - EXID may never exist in this form or at this level again, and like so many of my favorites this year it reflects the recent history of its genre brilliantly.

APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

13) Fire-Toolz - Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace)

Field Whispers is the stunning next step in the evolution of Fire-Toolz that feels completely at home on the finely-curated Orange Milk. Extended sax-soaked dreams collide with splinters of music jumbled and broken, elegant and disjointed, all bouncing off each other while still leaving room for moments of soaring guitar and dreamy synth pads.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

12) Hakobune - The Last of Our Time Together

With over 50 releases (4 just this year!), Hakobune’s discography can seem like an impenetrable wall of ambience, but like classics Seamless and Here and Love Knows Where, The Last of Our Time Together stands out - monumental and multi-dimensional - a slow dance skidding along the frozen surface of an endlessly deep, rich sea of emotion.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

11) FM Skyline - Advanced Memory Suite

As nostalgic electronic music continues to evolve and find itself elevated in the hands of increasingly-focused musicians, FM Skyline delivers a joyful retrospective on a decade that gave new life to so many old sounds. Exploring the inner recesses of our memory and delusion, Advanced Memory Suite turns the page on a decade of chillwave/synthwave/vaporwave/whateverwave. It’s a hypnotic monument to the modern renaissance.  

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

10) emamouse - Black place on the edge

It was a huge year from the prolific Tokyo-based visual artist and musician emamouse, whose non-stop creative output continues to challenge the very nature of reality. Black place on the edge was a standout favorite this year, layered and mysterious - incidental music for the surreal dreamworld described in mou’s most unnerving illustrations. Like waking up and finding yourself trapped inside Quest 64.

BANDCAMP

09) Koeosaeme - Obanikeshi

My favorite Orange Milk release of the year, Koeosaeme delivers another absolute hurricane of hyper-detailed, sensory-extreme, buckshot-to-the-face arrangements. The sheer amount of data on this album is staggering, with more musical information packed into a few minutes of its blissful chaos than most full length albums combined.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

08) Jaeho Hwang - Non-self 비자아

I was super fortunate to play a show with Jaeho Hwang in Tokyo during this year’s Neo Gaia Phantasy tour - his immense set started so intensely it’s as if the entire room was cast under a shamanistic spell, hypnotized by percussive expressionism, drawn to the light of digitally melting faces and occult rituals playing out on the screen behind him. Non-self 비자아 is without mercy and full of powerful and primal energy.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

07) Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

Natalie Mering’s subtly expressive, velvety voice on its own is enough to make anything she touches turn to gold, but her songwriting is so masterfully dialed in on Titanic Rising it’s as if Harry Nilsson came back from the dead to write a new volume of pop rock ballads to get us through the next 50 years. It’s an album dripping with love for all the best parts of the 1970′s (Stardust-era Willie Nelson, early ELO, “Lost Weekend” Lennon and friends, etc), but also showcases the compositional chops to match and sometimes surpass its musical lineage (e.g. “Picture Me Better”).

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

06) Monari Wakita - RIGHT HERE

Off the heals of last year’s jaw-dropping Ahead!, ex-Especia Monari Wakita continues to defy modern conventions while asserting herself as one of the most powerful female voices in jpop. “エスパドリーユでつかまえて” sounds like Hitomitoi when she was a rising star, FRIEND IN NEED continues the new jack swing flirting, “やさしい嘘” sounds like it’s begging to be sampled by a future funk artist, and the lead-off single “Just a Crush for Today” is somewhere in a stop-and-go freefall between Billy Joel and Sonic R.

VIDEO 1 | VIDEO 2

05) Yeule - Serotonin II

Beneath the subtle power and diffusion of a voice like an extra-dimensional Julee Cruise, Serotonin II’s beautifully bleak paintings of the world it carefully constructs are reflective of Yeule’s transcendence into the artist’s next form. Crumbling brutalism under a blinding white sky, aliens in a graveyard - the romance of eternal torment in the spiral - all in dark room illuminated by a computer monitor sometime in the 00′s.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

04) The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time - Stage 6

The final release for this multi-year project, capturing a mind being lost to dementia, also marks the end of Leyland Kirby’s multi-decade spanning Caretaker project - a project that has had an immense impact on my perception of the limitlessness of music. Now completed, Everywhere at the End of Time towers as a 50 track, 6.5 hour journey from dreamy lucidity to terrifying confusion and darkness.

BANDCAMP

03) Tsudio Studio - Soda Resort Journey

Tsudio Studio brings a contemporary frame to leisure fantasy. Instant classics “Kiss in KIX,” “Asian Coke Light,” and “Like a Ruin” expand on the electro-bossa pop of Port Island, while surprises like “Beijing Cat” expand and explore new worlds of sound. One perfect chord after another, from start to finish, Soda Resort Journey is bubbly and delicious to listen to. Play it looped, close your eyes, be where you’d rather be.

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

02) Minuano - Butterfly Dream

Lamp vocalist Kaori Sakakibara’s side project Minuano is like some mutant variant of Lamp - equally complex while slightly less disorienting arrangements (although there are a few re-worked Lamp classics on here), tighter pop sound, stunningly immaculate vocal production - all while maintaining the unique orchestral jazz pop that makes both bands such a euphoric joy to listen to. “Memory of Soda Pop” was my favorite track released by anyone this year.

BANDCAMP

01) EQUIP - CURSEBREAKER X

This was the year of EQUIP. No better story for this year, no better sound than CURSEBREAKER X - the songs from this album will always bring back a thousand memories of smoke-filled clubs, dark forests, and snow-capped mountains from across Japan - the building promise of absolute freedom and a happier tomorrow as we all lived the Neo Gaia Phantasy.. But even without my personal connection to the music, the hardware-driven “perfect sound” VGM and EQUIP’s signature cassette tape destruction has never been better balanced than it is here - it’s loud, and filled with unforgettable melodies and unknown lands. It’s monumental and iconic and will stand the test of time and it was my favorite album of 2019!

BANDCAMP | APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

[kickdownthewalls]

Top 20 Non-Metal Albums of 2017

So, while my passion has long been heavy metal, there is so much other great music out there I felt it was worth my time to compile a list of the best of the rest. These twenty albums represent quite a number of genres, but they all share the quality of being awesome…

1. BLACK SEAGULL - Distant Lullabies

After the heart-breaking demise of one of my favorite band of the last two decades, On Trial, I was overjoyed to hear that a couple of ex-members had formed a new band called Black Seagull. While the sound is a bit more mellow and countrified, the songwriting quality is still top-notch and it sounds very much like a logical continuation of the Forever album.

2. ANVIL STRYKEZ - Anvil Strykez

My first impression was this would be a half-assed synthwave late-comer, based on the name, song titles, and album art, but damn if this isn’t one of the most thoroughly engaging albums all around. Vocoded vocals, pure 80s synth and drum machines, well-placed guitars, and a completely memorable and different approach for each tune add up to one hell of a spin.

3. DEPECHE MODE - Spirit

The past few Mode records have been consistently good, if not quite as memorable as Playing the Angel or any of the classics. Spirit is a different beast and my favorite album of theirs since Songs of Faith and Devotion way back in in ’93. The songs “Going Backwards” and “Where’s the Revolution” rank right up there with anything they have penned and the lyrics throughout the album are the perfect reflection of our current state of devolved world affairs.

4. POPPY - poppy.computer

It’s happening again. Some things are weird. Let’s appreciate together. Am I doing this right? Someone sent me this. Can you see it? These are cotton swabs. Poppy loves politics. You are Poppy. I’m Poppy. Everybody wants to be Poppy, Poppy.

5. SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS - Random Elements

One of those groups that, save for one big top-40 hit back in 1979, has flown under the radar but consistently released top-notch albums over the years. Paul Roberts is the singer/songwriter that has helmed the group since the start (and even paints all the album covers) and he still sounds as unique as ever. He writes songs that have a certain melancholy to them that has always struck a chord with me and Random Elements is full of them.

6. DANCE WITH THE DEAD - B-Sides: Volume 1

While synthwave acts like GosT and Carpenter Brut have made a considerable number of fans among metalheads, Dance With the Dead goes the furthest in actually combining the styles. Retro synth lines are still the dominant feature but the chugging, thrashy riffs are nearly as omnipresent and the band add some very well-placed (and well-played) guitar solos on many tracks. This is their latest and they have only gone from strength to strength.

7. THE HAXANS - Party Monsters

This is the kind of thing I would usually roll my eyes at and dismiss straight away but this duo has put together a collection of songs that are so infectious, I can’t stop listening to it. It is the perfect mix of death punk, pop, and Rob Zombie-eque horror metal. Vocalist Ashley Costello is a real gem, too, delivering the campy lyrics with the perfect mix of sensuality and power.

8. KMFDM - Hell Yeah

These die-hard industrial rockers have been releasing slight variations on the same album for the past 25 years or so but, hey, it’s a fucking great album. Hell Yeah isn’t quite up there with WTF?! or WWIII but it’s better than the last couple and their revolutionary calls to action have never been timelier.

9. THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA - Amber Galactic

When it comes to paying tribute to classic AOR from the 70s and 80s, no one does it better and with more enthusiasm than The Night Flight Orchestra. Amber Galactic is not as consistently brilliant as the first two albums but it is still great and the song “Domino” is an instant classic.

10. SIINAI - Sykli

This is Finnish ambient space trance. Repetitive, hypnotic electronics, looping guitars - it’s the perfect soundtrack for some meditation or that long, slow flight into the night. I’m always looking for chill stuff like this that works and, damn, this is executed with utmost perfection.

11. CHEAP TRICK - We're All Alright!

While Cheap Trick made some pretty mediocre records in the 80s and 90s, their 70s albums all stand up as classics and they have done some good work in recent years, too, most notably 2009’s The Latest. We’re All Alright! might be even better and the first half in particular is loaded with some well-crafted and hard rocking tunes.

12. CURSED MOON - Rite of Darkness

This album positively reeks of early-80s death rock in all the best ways. You’ve got driving basslines, reverby guitars, and gloomy synths, with the added bonus of gruff vocals that are more in the vein of early black or death metal. Not a ton of variety from song to song but it’s a highly enjoyable sound that works for a full album.

13. THE MOON AND THE NIGHT SPIRIT - Metanoia

This is a cool Hungarian duo that has been around for a good 15 years now. They make a very enchanting brand of folky darkwave with dreamy melodies and ethereal vocals. This is the first time I have had a chance to hear them since I fell in love with their 2011 album Mohalepte a few years back and I’m pleased to report they haven’t lost any of their charms.

14. LEGEND - Midnight Champion

Duo from Iceland that manages to capture the vibe and quality of classic industrial-rock and infuse it with modern and rather epic touches. The songs don’t just kick in and race to a catchy chorus; you have to be patient. The payoff is always worth it, though, and each songs follows its own dramatic course.

15. ADRENALINE RUSH - Soul Survivor

The debut from these Swedish hard rockers back in 2014 was a captivating collection of tunes that lived up to the band’s name. Soul Survivor is not quite as consistently good but it still has some damn fine tracks. The sound is big, melodic and surprisingly metal at times, with Tave Wanning’s vocals adding a great deal of charm, passion, and distinctiveness to the proceedings.

16. JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - Damage and Joy

I’ll admit I never paid much attention to these Scotts until the Automatic album came out and blew me away. Sadly, they seem to have slowly disintegrated after that, but after a lengthy break, they managed to return with one hell of a comeback record. Damage and Joy has some of the feedback from the early years, some of the electronics of the later years, and all of the sardonic humor and Velvet Underground chord progressions you would hope for.

17. BLONDIE - Pollinator

Blondie has had some good tunes since their reunion in 1999 but this is the first album where nearly every track is a winner. The three most important contributors to the band’s sound - Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, and drummer Clem Burke - are all still intact and in great form.

18. BLACK MARE - Death Magick Mother

This is the solo project from Sera Timms, the lead vocalist of Ides of Gemini. Here she takes a far more traditional gothic tone with the music, while her vocals take on an even more ethereal feel than in Ides. No individual song really stands out but it all works together beautifully as a complete album.

19. RAINBOWLICKER - I Saw The Light But Turned It Off

My first listen to this Finnish outfit was truly one of those WTF moments. Elements of punk, electro, chiptune, industrial and goth all merge together with some suitably peculiar, snotty vocals to make a fresh sound that is at once annoying and endearing.

20. TARJA - From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas)

Christmas albums have a tendency to be either too campy or too cliched for their own good. Tarja instead presents a collection of traditional (and one original) tunes done up in a suitably dramatic and darkly original fashion. While her solo rock albums have left me rather flat, I love her voice and the orchestral pairing is simply gorgeous. No one sounds like Tarja, no matter how hard they try.

Some more bands with great releases in 2017 to check out if you are curious: AGUSA, BARDSPEC, CAMERATA MEDIOLANENS, DAN TERMINUS, FLAMES OF GENESIS, GALLEY BEGGAR, IIVII, KESHA, L.A. WITCH, LIVING COLOUR, PERTURBATOR, ROPE SECT, SOROR DOLOROSA, and UFFE LORENZEN.