#world soundscape project

[sound-notes]

World faces ‘deathly silence’ of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts

[novlr]

6 more writing playlists for theme, mood, or specific scenes

These playlists are an eclectic mix to inspire you across a variety of genres, styles, and themes. Got a character starting a semester at music college? We got you! Do you need to encapsulate the spirit of 1960s counterculture? Sorted! There are even some genre-specific playlists to inspire your next Fantasy or Steampunk project, a collection of emotional songs for when you want to break a character’s heart, as well as a mix of lo-fi tracks with an urban feel that you can use to write quiet night scenes, or as an ambient soundtrack to some night time writing sprints.

Writing a Semester at Music College

This playlist, with its modern Jazz vibes, will help you perfectly capture and write about the life of a student at a music college. With complicated rhythms and virtuosic performances, you’ll be able to write your characters’ whole college experience from dorm room to classroom.

Writing 1960s Counterculture

No matter what genre you’re writing, this playlist is the perfect snapshot of the changing musical styles and social politics of the 1960s for the writer looking to capture the vibe. Whether you’re a non-fiction author writing a book on the time period, or a fiction author writing a thriller with a 1960s setting, this is the playlist for you!

Writing Quiet Nights in Urban Spaces

This collection of minimalist lo-fi tracks has the perfect calm feel for a dark city night. It perfectly captures the sounds of the city going by in the darkness. This is the ideal playlist for writers to imagine a moment of calm in an urban world, whether it’s for your characters, or just as an ambient soundscape for a midnight writing sprint.

Writing Fantasy Battles

If you need to capture the epic highs and lows of fantasy battles, then this collection of instrumental music is perfect. Full of thumping drum beats and virtuosic strings, this is the ideal playlist for both historical and fantasy writers to get their imaginations into gear.

Writing a Breakup

Moody tunes to inspire writers to write about heartbreak and breakups. Let the performances of these singer-songwriters wash over you as you prepare to break your characters’ hearts.

Writing Steampunk

This eclectic mix of Victorian-style instrumental music and cabaret carnival sounds will help you write the perfect Steampunk setting. With elements of melodic, symphonic sounds, ticking clocks, and industrial soundscapes permeating the background of these tracks, you’re sure to get all the Steampunk inspiration you need.

We're always updating our writing and inspiration playlists, so give us a follow on Spotify! Are there any specific playlists you'd like us to put together, let us know.

[projectdestati]

today i was driving home and thinking about a world where there was a kingdom hearts game set with the soundscape of mirror's edge. so i made this

[oneshotnewbie]

hii! i would like to request maya x carina x reader, where reader is still in college/university and a whole incident happens. r is taken as hostage and carina and maya panic after getting a call. really angsty pls

⚠️Trigger Warning⚠️ This one-shot includes the mention of a rampage and a brief mention of a hostage situation. Those plots are presented. If this triggers you too easily or you just can´t handle the subject, I urge you NOT to read this work. I am NOT embellishing this topic under any circumstance. Read at your own risk.

ᕚ---ᕘ

For you, the university was not only a place of learning, but also a melting pot of emotions. As the daughter of Maya and Carina, you felt the expectations weighing on your shoulders. Your mother, a respected obstetrician-gynecologist, had already made her mark in the medical world, and you felt the urge to follow in her footsteps.

Your parents had never put any pressure on you to follow the same path as either of them. Nevertheless, you felt an inner obligation to continue your family tradition. Even as a little girl, you listened with fascination when your mother talked about the challenges and successes of her job. The love of medicine seemed to be embedded in your DNA.

The campus pulsed with life as you moved through the crowd, clutching your books on anatomy and surgery, eager to head to your lectures. Like every day, your heart beat faster with excitement and a hint of uncertainty.

In your first year at university you found yourself in a world characterized by complex theories and demanding internships. The anatomy books became your constant companion and you learned to understand human anatomy like a puzzle. In the labs, you made precise cuts and analyzed tissue samples with the dedication of an artist who wanted to perfect every detail of her work.

The challenges of studying became clear as you approached your first internship at the hospital. Beads of sweat appeared on your forehead as you assisted in your first procedure. The smell of disinfectant and the hum of medical equipment surrounded you. You felt the responsibility getting bigger and bigger.

But with each passing day, not only did the challenge grow, but so did your passion. You soaked up the knowledge like it was the sweetest honey and found comfort in the advice of your professors.

The lecture hall you had just entered was filled with a hushed murmur of inquisitive students as you slumped in your seat. The excited atmosphere before another exciting lecture permeated the room as the professor began to talk about the latest advances in surgery. Surrounded by attentive fellow students, you listened intently to the expert's words and the technical details that rained down on you.

The projections on the wall showed complex surgical procedures as the professor delivered her explanations with enthusiasm and expertise and you tried to understand the connections between the details. You found yourself in a stream of information that took you into the fascinating world of medical innovations. Your eyes sparkled with excitement, taking in every sentence as if they could be keys to some secret knowledge.

Just before the professor was about to play a video showing complex open-heart surgery, a shrill alarm code, followed by an urgent warning, ripped through the air. "Attention, active shooter. Barricade yourself in the rooms." The room froze for a moment. You sat up, your eyes wide in surprise. An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach.

Students frantically ran to corners and sought shelter under tables. The professor tried in vain to calm the panicked crowd. But the situation escalated further when muffled shots were heard from outside the building. Recognizing this soundscape captured the attention of everyone in the room. Faces faded with fear and a feeling of helplessness spread.

Your heart was in your throat, you could hear the pulsing of your own heartbeat as you also pushed yourself into a corner, trying to keep a clear head. Panic was in the air, and thoughts of the surgical procedures and advances paled in front of the pressing reality.

A wave of fear passed through you and your thoughts whirled wildly. The idea of the place of learning becoming a scene of violence shook you to the core.

In a moment that seemed like an eternity, doors were thrown open and hooded figures entered. Another wave of fear swept through the room as people realized that this was no mere alarm, but a cruel reality. The shadow of disaster had entered the lecture hall.

Armed men in dark clothes now dominated the scene. Your class was taken hostage and a cold shiver ran through your body. Your eyes searched for allies, for a means of escape, but the men with weapons clung to their control over the desperate crowd.

The professor, your fellow students and you were trapped in a nightmare that was unfolding at breakneck speed. The situation worsened when the men began making demands and firing wildly in the air. You suddenly found yourself in the middle of a threatening drama that you never thought possible.

ᕚ---ᕘ

Maya and Carina stood in the fire station's supply room, surrounded by boxes full of medical supplies, taking inventory of necessary medical supplies. The mood was focused as the two checked lists and made sure all life-saving supplies were present.

"Do you think we should order more bandages? To be on the safe side?" the blonde asked as she pulled out individual small packages, counted them and then sorted them into the cupboards. "Yes, I think so. You can't have enough of them, especially on larger missions."

The sounds of the plastic wraps and packaging had created a calming atmosphere, but it was suddenly broken by a shrill voice. Victoria, who until recently had been sitting in the relaxation room, stormed into the small inventory room, her eyes wide with dismay. "You must come with me immediately," she said in a trembling voice. Her hands were gripping the remote control tightly.

Maya and Carina exchanged a worried look and dropped everything. Both women's hearts began to pound wildly in their chests as they quickly left the room and followed their friend. As they entered the room, they both stopped in the middle of it.

The television flickered as the newscaster solemnly announced the terrible truth. "A serious incident has occurred at Seattle University. Armed attackers have entered the building and taken hostages. Police are on scene, but the situation is extremely critical."

Maya and Carina stared at the screen in shock as the reporter reported on the dramatic scenes, hitting them like a blow. Images of students running out filled the room. An icy shiver ran through the two of them when the name of the affected university was mentioned several times. A feeling of helplessness fell like a leaden veil over their hearts. The words invaded their thoughts, and the images of their beloved daughter studying at this institution seemed like a fragile glass threatened by an impending storm. "Y/n.. she has classes today. She's there."

Carina felt her knees weakening and tears forming in her eyes. The blonde reflexively clung to the back of the sofa. The world of the two, which had just seemed so familiar and safe, was thrown out of control. The maternal instincts awoke with frightening intensity when they thought of the dact that you were currently in a dangerous situation. "Oh mio Dio, no," the brunette whispered, her voice shaky. Maya, usually a rock in the surf, felt tears burning in her eyes too. Fear for her daughter engulfed them both like a blazing fire.

"We have to go to the university immediately," Maya spoke, interrupted by the muffled sound of the news in the background. Carina nodded, the determination in her eyes reflecting the inner strength that mothers could mobilize in times of crisis.

The fear, worry and hope blurred together as they set off together, seeking reassurance that they would do everything in their power to get you out of there.

[sojournerstales]

WF1999: Summer Heat ch.3

fem!drifter x eleanor

hey there. I think everybody has one of those hump chapters, but I figured some broader stuff out in writing this one. we're on loop 1, the year before the good end, btw.

03. I Like To Be Here

I can feel her breathing. It's through a layer of separation. That sensation of touch fed through the transference link. Eleanor's body against Mesa's. Mesa's hands on Eleanor's hips. Still it's there, body heat and a heart beating.

The last stretch home is made unscathed. We go down into the familiar underground, easily gliding by wrecks we have passed a dozen times before. Down here the soundscape changes. Everything feels closer and the roar of Eleanor's tomi echoes loud enough to drown anything else out.

Except there is that link between us. That psychic line kept open.

"Earlier. Back at the Zoo." I still sometimes worry that my thoughts projected would be seen as an intrusion, but I'm brave enough to start conversation.

"Mm?" Eleanor pulls back on the acceleration. The tomi reduces to a cruising speed and its roar pitches into a prolonged thrum.

"Something happened. I saw it. When you helped me up."

"Oh. That." Smooth turn. Eleanor and Mesa's body weight shift in sync to keep balance. We're almost home.

"Don't gotta tell me," I assure her, "But you can."

"You were being cute," Eleanor says eventually. She slows the tomi further. "I just wanted to eat you right up, my dear."

I feel a shiver and that gives me something to think about. It's my cheeks that feel hot, not Mesa's facial shell. I miss my chance to pick at it.

"Right-o. Last chance to brace yourself. I can feel the brooding tension of brother-dearest from here."

"So no chance of us just sneaking right through?"

-

No chance at all.

Mesa highlights two figures as Eleanor and I pull into the makeshift garage space. Arthur posted up by the task-board, his skana balanced with its tip on the ground and the hilt snug against the heel of his hand. Aoi sat cross-legged on the workbench next to Arthur.

"Lettie must be busy," Eleanor tells me. Her voice feels narrowed. I've learned this is the sensation of a private line. "There is no way she would miss this particular show."

We ride into center stage and Eleanor cuts the engine. Its final rumble echoes alone for a full second.

"You're missing a bike!" Aoi calls out at us, grinning.

Arthur grunts. It's a suitably dark and broody sound. He spins the skana once and then catches it. As far as I can tell, he's got all kinds of feelings about Eleanor and I getting close and I don't think all of them are good.

I have Mesa climb off the bike. She registers for my benefit Arthur's skana and Aoi's complete lack of conventional weaponry - highlighting then the metallic coils around Aoi's wrists. Before more detail starts to filter through I emerge from the frame. Mesa is rendered inert and I stand before her to begin explaining myself, "I wiped out. It's my bad, I --"

"While we appreciated the heads-up, I do not think you understood the sheer number that came after us. Or how fast." Eleanor's voice cuts through what I was going to say inside all of our heads. There is a brief, intentional pause for effect before she continues, "Personally I bless our lucky stars we got back here in one piece ourselves."

Arthur finally steps forward, "Maybe if at least one of you had stayed on communications --"

"Do you have any idea how far I have to go just for some peace and quiet? Apologies, brother, if I did not want one of you lot nattering away in my ear."

Aoi is about to say something, but she clocks the same thing that I do. Eleanor and Arthur coming face-to-face and a certain intensity about them. So Aoi gives me a look between the middle of them. I don't get the specifics of what she's trying to impart. I come from a world where thoughts and feelings are plainly spoken and Aoi just has so many expressions.

What I do get is out-of-signal radio static from Eleanor as her bickering with Arthur remains loud, but obfuscated.

"Listen!" I pipe up, trying to cut through whatever noise Arthur and Eleanor are immersed in. "Important part is that we made it, yeah? And lesson learned for next time. So why don't we just cool off?"

Aoi winces, but I think it's sympathetic.

Arthur scoffs and shoots me a look that could mean anything.

And Eleanor looks downright smug. I feel a small sensation in the back of my mind. A psychic nudge. Pat on the back? Soft elbow to my ribs?

"All I ask is next time you two decide to go walk-about, give one of us a heads up and stay. On. The. Line." He wipes sweat from his forward with the crook between thumb and finger, then addresses me specifically, "We're not on holiday here."

I hold my hands up in surrender. I'm not about to talk back to Arthur, not when he's worked up like this. I know how well Eleanor can needle him. We'll touch base later. He's already heading back into the mall proper anyway.

Eleanor is too, not turning to look at either Aoi or I. "Well I need a lie down. Ta-ta, lovely. And you, Aoi."

It leaves Aoi and I in the garage and she's looking at me. Really looking at me. And unfolding from her seated position and getting to her feet and coming up close.

"What?"

She smiles.

"What?" I whine.

"She left in a strop and came back in a good mood," Aoi muses, she shrugs her shoulders high and walks a meandering circle around me before coming back to my side and leaning on my shoulder, "You're good with her. Or..."

"Or..?"

"You are good... With each-other?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" I groan outwardly and slap my palms against my face.

Aoi takes my hands and pulls me forward a step. "Oh it's just so cute! You fixed the fumble, then?"

"I fixed the fumble." Why did I have to tell Aoi everything?

"Yay! We did not fix the AC!" Aoi delivers that like it shouldn't be bad news. It does soften the blow. "It's like a heatwave in there. Really makes me wish we had a pool. Or wish more than just my face and palms could sweat." Aoi looks down at her hands in mine, "Sorry," and her expression wrinkles. "Clammy."

"You're good." We let go of each other and side-by-side make our way into the mall.

Aoi wasn't kidding. Between the civilian population we had let in, the veins of infestation binding certain walls together, the sky lights, and everything else, it's a heatwave. "... I could have Yareli hose us down," I muse out loud.

"Is that the magical girl?" Aoi gasps, I can practically hear the sparkle-eyes emoticon.

"Yeah," I snort, "Criminal I haven't introduced you two yet."

"You will do that. One hundred percent. Once I am less busy. I might need to convince Amir that one of the arcade cabinets is to be sacrificed to the AC Gods. Or we find scrap parts from somewhere else."

"Anything I can do?"

"Ohh, you could hand out water bottles? You could..."

Work in the Central Mall never really ends. Even before we let refugees in. It's a place held together by spit, duct tape, and techrot. It's a home, too. I walk with Aoi to the arcade and see Amir challenging two kids at once on a pair of arcade cabinets. And in a similar vein there is a trio of young girls thinking they are being sneaky behind a planter as they all watch Eleanor walk by - fear and excitement. Arthur looks to be having an important conversation with Lettie. It's terse, until she puts a hand on his shoulder and I watch as both of them relax.

Finally - as I'm making my way back to my room - Quincy catches me walking by. Things are tense there too. He's still trying to figure me out. He nods before turning back to the pair of lads he was talking with. They've a box of merchandise between them. I doubt Arthur approves.

In some ways it reminds me of the camp Kahl had set up. Or even before then the underground networks of the last free people in Narmer space. And even before then I realize maybe this - this right here - is what Duviri's market square always failed to emulate.

Nothing here is so clean and tidy.

part 3 of 4?

prev

[python-nebula]

Alright, by popular demand here is my rant analysis of how 'Rex - Brutus II' by The Buttress is basically just TMA season 5!! :3

(WHY DO THINGS KEEP STOPPING BEING IN BOLD) (okay just ignore it)

[first of all: 'Brutus' = 'Jon', 'Rex' = 'Archivist']

secondly from a purely sound standpoint, the song has such TMA vibes anyways, the discordant tune, the eerie-ness, like,,

(okay, let the lyric analysis commence!) (also I'll put the lyrics in different font + bold) (also most questions as rhetorical)

______________________________________________________________

Speak with me! No - Your eyes already say the things that with your mouth you won't

I feel like this bit is self-explanatory (first part: Jon's Compelling thing, second part: he Knows things/has emotions about things but won't tell Martin, Martin can tell)

Below my countrymen cry out for each other's blood and anguish The men and women now at war, each camp speaking different language and yet both sides curse out at me as they toil and they languish

Very reminiscent of the first Slaughter domain + Jon projecting his self-blame onto everyone else (aka thinking that everyone must blame him bc he blames himself, even though they don't even know that he caused the eyepocalypse)

am I even Brutus still? It's like I've forgotten my own name... But the people call me Rex

'am I even Jon still? It's like I've forgotten my own name... But the people call me Archivist'; trying not to give up his humanity but feeling a duty to help humanity that requires not being one of them

My heart never beats in me alone But always through the hearts of other men That want me dead

Jon's been manipulated for 4 whole seasons and he's sick of it- he doesn't want to be a disposable pawn anymore

[I skipped most of the next verse bc I don't feel that it fits neatly]

I do not do what is best for myself, but for us - The Public

He's trying to convince himself that the only reason he's smiting avatars and getting to the Panopticon is to save the world; that is one reason, but there's an element of selfishness too

Also in this section of the song, you can hear people shouting in the background which a) is reminiscent of the soundscaping in Mag 189 and b) representative of the pressure Jon feels to succeed in his task

during this instrumental section, voices in the background whisper 'Brutus'[/'Jon']; either the Eye calling Jon to the Panopticon or Martin trying to get through to him

But now here I supersede you - The difference between you and me - You act out of love for yourself I do so for my love of the people

Again, trying to convince himself of the previous point, however this time it's directed at Elias/Jonah; Jon maintains that he's better than Jonah, but is he?

the aformentioned shouting begins again in the background, as well as the 'Brutus' whispering

There, you - Have you no pride? What are you doing? Feel shame, it is I - Brutus the human

Jon talking to the other avatars and/or smiting them; also 'Brutus' = 'Jon' so he is restating his humanity once again

Make them like oil from water - I will separate them! Mothers will kill their own daughters and friend will kill friend

How Jon basically gets to decide who is watcher (an avatar) and who is watched (a victim), and how neither option is good; the people will suffer anyway

It's not cruel or loveless or hatred Cause even if it means I must erase you I do so for the good of the many of those who must remain so please forgive me!

He is insisting (to himself or others?) that what he is doing isn't malicious, it's right/good in the long run, it will help everyone eventually, but still a part of him begs to be forgiven

It is my duty, I must separate them Must divide them - With tear in eye and iron stomach

He is losing himself, no matter how hard he tries; but is he? he still feels sadness for people (if vague) and has to steel himself before going into a domain/smiting someone- is that not humanity?

Here I go now... Like Samson among the Philistines... For I am become.... Death.

Now eventually, he has come to the end, they all have destroyed the Panopticon and killed Jonah, he and Martin have carved their way through domains like Samson, and now they bring death to Jonah and the Fears , but also to themselves [although those last two are debatable]

Finally, the outro of the song has not only the shouting return, [all the elements together are so good and remind me of the soundscaping in Mag 200 after they succeed]

but elements of the previous song 'Brutus' also bleed through (the tune and the laughs/violin, the word 'Brutus' repeated like a mantra); Jon is being pulled back to himself and his humanity in his last moments; although in the song these elements sound sinister, I think it just reflects how the Archivist comes back to being Jon as the man he loves agrees to kill him - they die/disappear together, as themselves.

And there you have it!! I might add to this later but for now its finished, lmk if I missed anything (I probably did) :3

[tagging the people who seemed interested:

@cupsy-daisy @sushisocksthereal @cinemasapph1c @lobsterwizard

@kitsunesakii @rotting-and-so-beautiful @malthedreamer]

[zsakuva]

hey saku! not sure if you've ever been asked questions along these lines before- either way, here you go!

1. What's your favourite part of the process of creating an audio? (writing, recording, SFX etc) and why is it your favourite?

2. what's your favourite character to record and why?

Constructing the idea and the latter part of editing.

Constructing the idea: Because that's when my mind does its thing! I set the limitations and wonder about characters. It's so much fun to discover and create new things, and worldbuilding is a part of it too. For my personal projects, I've spent months purely worldbuilding, and I always find it exciting. For audios, the confines I work in are stricter, but crafting a story within it never gets tiring!

Editing: I hate editing the raw voice. It takes hours for me. What I do love is adding the pieces together. Layering the soundscape, fitting in the SFX, and building the auditory world is amazing! It's as if you're listening to the world come alive, and I can't help but smile every time. I've felt the most satisfaction after listening back to The Noble Trials episodes because of the added soundtrack. I can only create the atmosphere from my own imagination, but when I can honour it and see it all the clearer, it's a wonderful feeling!

2. I think... currently, it's Zaros. I just love his character, the accent I gave him, and the tones I can play with. But Dontis is a very close second.

[lady-harrowhark]

Have you ever wanted a fun way to pitch the series to your friends? Look no further!

A while back I was approached by @wilfriede to write a pitch for a podfic event, and now it's available on ao3 with a remastered performance and new and improved soundscaping! Their recording and editing has completely knocked it out of the park, and I'm super excited that it's now out in the world for everyone to enjoy. It was such a fun collaboration to be a part of!

[Audio is 4:32 and the script is included on the same page.]

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 30/12/2024

Uncanny Approaching

Season 6 No Album Release (Read More) Enemy Approaching (Extended Version) - Undertale

Ripped by Blookerstein, Myeauxyoozi Visuals by Moralem, Galacksy, A-Man, Sarvéproductions

Requested by @realchickenmanny and crickqt! (Ask Box, Discord)

And so, we've reached the end of the year. Christmas, holidays, Season 8 of SiIvaGunner; all come to an end with the celebratory bang of fire in the sky. And for this blog, too, I knew had to end the year in something big; in a rip of cosmic, cataclysmic power. After finishing up the previous post covering PRIMEneria, I solemnly returned to my expansive archives with arms folded behind my back, my gaze passing across dozens upon dozens of possible rips left in the blog's drafts; each possible contenders for a future post. Requests, gimmicks, anniversaries, lore, good rips, bad rips, a collection of treasures gathered across one-and-a-half years of running this blog for the purpose of review...and yet deep down, I always knew what had to be done. Since the blog's very beginning I was aware of its existence, a rip with energy so potent that I never once dared to approach it, yet I knew that it could not be ignored forever. The rip is, indeed, perhaps the most vile creation the SiIvaGunner team has yet made, a weapon of torture unleashed upon us at the apex of Undertale's 7th anniversary celebrations. Indeed, it is the magnum opus of SiIvaGunner's 6th Season; Uncanny Approaching.

Take a moment to picture yourself, sat at the computer in the far away time of September 2022. You're a big fan of the SiIvaGunner YouTube channel, which had uploaded high quality rips for six years and have been an absolute delight to follow throughout. A large part of that investment has been the channel's close ties to one of your favorite games: Undertale! From the very beginning, you've noted that it's as if the channel and game have had a sort of brotherly relationship, with lots of rips like Locked in the Underground, Field of Love and Cringe, Aphex and more showing a fantastic understanding and reverence for the game and its soundscape. Earlier in the very same year, for the big Minecraft anniversary event you also followed quite attentively, there was a particularly resonant piece – Fell From a High Place (Reprise) – which made it ever so evident how much Undertale means to so many people all around the world. And now, it was September 15th, the celebration of the game's release in full swing; midway through the day, you notice the upload of and watch the impeccably made Jesus of the Underground, floored by the ripper's devotion to such a large project and amazed at the end results. This is a truly fantastic anniversary indeed! What could possibly go wrong?

Yet at the back of your mind, you recall rips that appeared as if to hint at the brewing of a greater evil to come. SiIvaGunner, like Undertale itself, has always had a dash of insanity to it, a pinch of the insufferable for the sake of comedy. None had captured that vibe better, perhaps, than Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny, merging Undertale with a multitude of sources - chief among them, as featured in its title, the king of brainrot. Whilst commonplace enough today to become 2024's word of the year, I think it's reasonable to say that 2021-2022 or so were when this kind of content truly began to rise in notoriety. It can be hard to put a proper definition on the term; it's the kind of widely attention-grabbing slop that infests TikTok and YouTube shorts, which has gone through so many degrees of ironic and unironic evaluation to where nobody really seems to know what to think of it anymore. The face of brainrot changes by the month – CostCo Guys, Skibidi Toilet (hey there, Hidden Headtoilets (skibidi toree 2)!), Gegagedigedagedago –but to me, its icon shall forever be the legendary Uncanny Mr. Incredible; a series of edited images depicting Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles in increasing stages of grief. These images and the video edits made for them are truly some of the sloppiest slop you can find online, like an evil and fucked up extension of the age-old meme format of "Thing -> Bad, Thing -> Good", yet designed to where it could theoretically...go on forever.

This brewing, bubbling evil, already being toyed around with by the SiIva team in rips like Level 8 - Eversion HD, would only grow and grow throughout the year; the true power of Uncanniness yet to be wholly harnessed, it's potential for creating endlessly engaging slop yet to be fully understood. Until at last, the fated day came; Undertale's anniversary stood in the crosshairs of the canny, and the day would be remembered not for its festivities, but for its pain. For Uncanny Approaching.

Even without playing the embedded video above, you've likely already put the pieces together of vaguely what sort of rip we're discussing here. A step above merely having images of Mr. Incredible react to captions with befitting music, Uncanny Approaching – as was foreshadowed in the aforementioned Level 8 - Eversion HD – features a selection of freshly-made images of Frisk, Undertale's protagonist, matching every stage of Mr. Incredible's canniness; and additionally, more than just a simple spiral downward, we're also treated to images of Frisk *gaining* canniness across escalating stages of celebration. The original Mr. Incredible Uncanny posting comes with a set standard of music tracks to pair with every image featured; similarly to the legendary Story of Undertale, each of those tracks are here rearranged in the sonic style of different parts of Undertale's vast soundtrack.

All of this in unison sets the stage for a genuinely high-quality adaptation of the braindead Uncanniness-posting; accolades already thrown toward the previously mentioned early appearances of Mr. Incredible Going Uncanny on the channel like Level 8 - Eversion HD. It is, indeed, perfectly befitting for the SiIvaGunner channel to take a concept so run into the ground by low-effort posters and to reenvision it into something truly grand...yet Uncanny Approaching goes many steps further beyond that simple milestone. Indeed, more than just music and images, more than just featuring every image for a one-and-done bit, Uncanny Approaching goes the full mile and features captions and Situations for our canny friend to react to; "you hop on your PC" -> "you see you friend connected on discord" -> "he sent you a message" -> "you decide to check it" -> "he invites you to a party after school tomorrow" -> "he says EVERYONE is invited!" and so on, and so forth. As you'll notice just from these brief excerpts, this "story" is written in a way that feels almost deliberately slow and painful, each snippet given a full Canny reaction, sometimes multiple identical ones in a row – althewhile also containing multiple grammatical errors and a general sense of slapdash-ness, perfectly capturing the feel of Canny-posting on TikTok and YouTube shorts; like super mario 64 but it's in the buddy holly soundfont, its authenticity to the source material is to be commended despite the pain that it brings.

Pain is not an area unexplored by SiIvaGunner – one of my all-time favorite rips, Sex - Steve Harvey, occurred on a day pretty much entirely dedicated to it – yet the lengths that Uncanny Approaching goes toward inflicting it feels like a new level altogether. I've already set the stage for the lead-up to the rip, the absolute rug-pull of a surprise it provided after the beautiful Jesus of the Underground - yet I've been careful to omit one core detail. You're capable of seeing the runtime yourself right now just by clicking on the video embed, a gargantuan 37 minutes and 51 seconds; but back on its release, this video released as a YouTube Premiere, to be witnessed live in its entirety by an audience unaware of just how long they would have to endure it for. As someone who was there to see it all unfold, it was like seeing a prophecy come to life – the "Endless Slop" theory proposed in my mind during the months leading up to the rip was playing out in front of me, like a SiIvaGunner-branded precursor to that one AI Generated "Endless" Seinfeld parody. Only, of course, this was still a SiIvaGunner project, still ever so carefully teetering the line between slop and quality; the artwork still excellent, the rearrangements of all the Canny themes as fantastic as the same concept was back on Story of Undertale, and the story having some genuinely fun ties to the actual...well, story of Undertale.

And in a way, having all of those genuinely excellent qualities tied to a viewing experience as deliberately mind-numbing as this made the experience torturous in an even more special way. Later in the same day, we would get to see the images and music arrangements released in isolation from Uncanny Approaching through Enemy Approaching (Extended Version) (Short Version); yet before that released, if you wanted to hear just your favorite part of the Uncanny-posting's Undertale re-imagining, or explore the different pieces of art made for the project, you had to hunker down and sit through the premiere like everybody else. It's the perfect storm of slop and cinema; a blend of appeal and brainrot that draws you in with something compelling and keeps you stuck through a brainwashing regime of canniness. I've sat through the entire thing twice and I still don't believe I could tell you upfront what exactly happens in the story due to me outright zoning out of focus repeatedly both times; other than excellent quotes like "he look at you with evil intents, he about to grab you and turn you into a glitch man like jerry", "you get theb ox and run out of their as quick as you can", and "mom die", it's all become a noise of Undertale iconography and canniness.

Nevertheless, Uncanny Approaching is a true testament to the will of the SiIvaGunner team; to commit to an idea as genuinely insane as this is on paper and continue through with it despite – or perhaps even BECAUSE – of how much the audience will suffer through it. I can only imagine how long it must have taken, past drawing the artwork and arranging the music, for the video to have been put together; for each section to have been penned and composed so specifically as to maximize the torture involved. Indeed, I understand it to where it was Myeauxyoozi in particular who was responsible for this script, working with Blookerstein's arrangement talent demonstrated on The expanse of meme in past was split, A fiendish trap has now been set; Behind a tree the villains sit, Terror of sport, the Robbie's Net. alongside the art talent of four of the SiIva team's best artists; and given Myeauxyoozi's previous contributions to the channel such as Among Drip Drop Galaxy, Shaky Mountain and being the channel's biggest provider of rips using Harlem Shake, there is no doubt in my mind that he is – said with affection – mentally unwell enough to have been the best possible writer for the job.

Commendable in both its authentic arrangements (I especially love the Heart of Fire segment) and the surgical precision with which its attack on the senses was delivered, Uncanny Approaching was a once-in-a-lifetime event for those there to witness it all unfold. It's the kind of experience that's easy to forget amidst the insanity of SiIvaGunner's long history of uploads and events (mind, this was the same year as the insane Harlem Shakeover mentioned on Totally Shaaking Out Right Now), yet one that those who were there to see it will surely never forget. Indeed, I was there to suffer alongside everybody else, and it was the kind of pain I can only dream of experiencing through the channel again in the years to come.

[allatseapod]

Meet the crew!

Look what the tide washed in!

Noah (they/them) is the writer of All At Sea and the voice of February. They're currently in the process of completing their MA in English Literature, which focuses on the importance of the found family trope in queer, POC-led narratives. When they're not drowning in books or literary analysis, you can find them staring blearily at a blank Word Doc, or drowning in all the different audio dramas they still need to listen to.

Scotchy @secondhand-coelacanth (any pronouns) is a producer of All At Sea and the voice of Sturgeon. They found their passion for podcasting through working on The Hermit Archives as an editor and minor character, and can't wait to bring more sounds and noises right to your eardrums. When he isn't splicing voice lines for enrichment, or surviving the horrors of academia, Scotchy can be found making music, crocheting, or fishing around for a new hobby to try out.

Louis Wolf @louis-dc (he/they) is a producer of All At Sea, he is a disabled artist/actor based in Colorado. Doing theatre in high school helped to reveal his passion for storytelling, specifically with acting and directing. This has fed in well to a love of dnd. When not playing ttrpgs with friends, Louis can be found playing video games, yelling about superheroes, or watching bird documentaries with their cat. Louis is the assistant producer of Soul Operator, you can hear them as Alex in episode eight of The Grotto and Athena in the upcoming audio drama Forged Bonds. He is creator of upcoming talking head podcast Media Microscope.

Rowan Odom @twinstrangersp (they/them) Rowan, sound designer of All At Sea, is a non-binary creator whose passion lies in creating stories in a post-Covid world, specifically those filled with queerness, love, and horror. They also make time for D&D and random crafts in their spare time! They are one of the Strangers of Twin Strangers Productions and the creator of the studio’s first AD, Syntax. They are also the main editor in the upcoming Rites of Descendancy and can be heard as a voice in The Moon Crown as Aria, and Syntax as Elora.

Rusty Cornmagnate @cornmagnate (he/they) 20 y/o artist and graphic designer, author of visuals for All At Sea

El Carters @waysofink (they/them) is our transcriber & beta-reader/listener. Creative writing graduate from Poland who fell in love with the audio drama format in 2022. Since then they have been getting involved in some projects (like this one) & writing their own show - Nightpocalypse. When not writing, El likes to indulge in some sewing, soundscaping, DnD, media consumption, and various arts and crafts.

[nemonoonesuch]

[Re-L Notebook]

Stanley Donwood's Notes and Stories

Ergo Proxy characteristics barren landscapes, palimpsest of self-questioning anguish for a true place in the world, mechanistically oppressive societies and grayish palettes are very rotted on the cultural imagery of artistic projects of early XXI century. Aesthetically this anime is not alien to the influences of these currents of thought and production, on their relatives niche; from alchemy and the subconscious to the dystopian soundscapes of Radiohead.

And considering the latter, is perhaps no coincidence that the ending of the series was no other than "Paranoid Android".

But another link to the band was there, hidden. On Meditatio XVI, where Re-L, Pino and Vincent got stranded on a desolate field of nothing, waiting for a breeze and grasping their sanity as the days passed by and resources started to get scarce. Re-L keeps a journal where she pours her feelings, thoughts and notes on the increasingly confusing world they inhabited. This is also a very interesting and subtle way to refresh avid viewers the information that was just revealed.

Among the notes concerning the nature of proxies and amrita cells, some passages had a familiar structure. And the author of that sequences of words was no other than Stanley Donwood, creator of Radiohead's artwork (and many other projects from Thom Yorke).

So... Eureka!

That was the missing link. The taste of the producers and the artists behind the anime all poured as subtle references to the works they admired and degusted.

So my search started with this note. and by words sequences it was particularly easy to find the source as some of Stanley Donwood's short stories:

Trouble with the Neighbours.

Aliens Again

Big Bird Story

A Man who thinks he is a Pig

At some point I realize the diary looked like the same three stories written over and over again... at least at this particular timestamp

Then there's this sets of pages:

more clearly seen as

That comes from the story:

Game

EXTRA:

There's also a portion of the lyrics of The Land of Plenty, by Leonard Cohen

For the millions in the prison That wealth has set apart - For the Christ who has not risen From the caverns of the heart - For the innermost decision That we cannot but obey - For what's left of our religion I lift my voice and pray: May the lights in The Land of Plenty May the light in The Land of Plenty May the light in The Land of Plenty Shine on the truth some day I know I said I'd meet you I'd meet you at the store But I can't buy it, baby I can't buy it anymore

Still Missing

One of the pages has a text that I cannot find the source to. It looks like the lyrics of a song. As usual: Thank you so much for reading this far

[mariacallous]

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu made headlines in April after coasting to a second term in office by nearly 12 percentage points. Imamoglu, who has served at the city’s helm since 2019, is seen as a major political threat to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). The latest win in Istanbul cemented Imamoglu’s continued popularity among the Turkish public.

But Imamoglu is only the most prominent face of a broader opposition, led by the Republican People’s Party (CHP). In March’s municipal elections, the CHP secured its most crushing victory over the AKP in decades. Possibly more notable than Imamoglu’s reelection was the newly elected class of women executives of provinces and districts across the country.

One of these women—Sinem Dedetas—may hold the keys to the future of Turkey’s opposition. Imamoglu is currently battling slander charges in the country’s high court, in addition to a slew of other cases that could eventually ban him from politics, even as he is the favorite to run for the CHP in Turkey’s 2028 presidential election. No matter how those fortunes play out, Dedetas promises to be central to the party’s strategy in a post-Erdogan Turkey.

Istanbul is the only city in the world to straddle two continents. Uskudar, a seaside constituency on the Anatolian side, lacks many of the bars and clubs across the water in the European districts. Instead, the conservative area is known for its historical mosques. It is also one of Istanbul’s key transportation hubs, home to a confluence of ferries, rail, metro, and bus lines. Millions of people from all over the city—and world—pass through Uskudar every day.

In April’s elections, Dedetas, a 43-year-old engineer, made history as the first woman to ever win the Uskudar municipality mayorship, a position similar to that of a New York borough president. She also flipped the district from the AKP to CHP rule.

Dedetas moved to Uskudar from her native Eskisehir, a city in northwest Turkey, for college in 1999. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in naval engineering from Istanbul Technical University, she got her first job in the district as an engineer. In 2014, she went on to work as a marine engineer at the Halic Shipyards, the oldest continuously operating dockyard in the world. Over the centuries, the facility has produced vessels from sail boats to steamships and submarines to electrical passenger taxis.

Dedetas’s career has featured many firsts. In 2014, she became the first chairwoman of the Turkish Chamber of Naval Engineers. While she was in that position, Istanbul’s AKP mayor tried to privatize the public harbor and turn it into a terminal full of restaurants and shops. Dedetas protested the project and was barred by the government from entering the shipyard.

She continued to oppose the new real estate development, concerned that the city’s ferries—an indelible part of Istanbul’s social history, skyline, and soundscape—would grind to a halt without the vital maintenance work done at the docks. “We fought to keep [it] from being lost,” Dedetas later said after her success in blocking the project.

Then Imamoglu became mayor of the city, bringing Istanbul back under CHP rule. “The privatization processes of the shipyard were being carried out,” Dedetas told Turkish media. “If [the mayorship] had not changed hands in the 2019 elections, there would be no shipyard left.”

One of the new mayor’s first orders of business was to appoint Dedetas as manager of Istanbul’s maritime public transportation system; she was the first woman in the role. Over the last quarter century, the city’s water transport fell into disarray as Istanbul’s population swelled and moved further inland, contributing to congestion and gridlock on road and rail. Yet municipal-run ferries predate the first Bosporus bridge and remain one of the city’s fastest options to cross continents.

Dedetas proved herself to be a masterful administrator, overhauling the entire water transit system. She opened 11 new ferry lines and launched a 24-hour weekend ferry that connected the European and Asian sides of the city. She also doubled the patronage of public water transport, in part by restoring the iconic white and orange vapur ferry ships. And she launched an electric sea taxi service, providing a personal, environmentally friendly option to traverse the Bosporus Strait and the Marmara Sea.

Through the effective management of maritime transportation, Dedetas gained national attention. She set her eyes on her home district, Uskudar—the Istanbul neighborhood with the longest Bosporus shoreline—ahead of the 2024 municipal elections. “Uskudar is the first gate for people who arrive from Anatolia, and for Istanbul, it is the gate to the rest of the country,” said Onur Cingil, an Uskudar native and CHP member.

The borough had been an AKP stronghold for as long as Cingil and most others could remember. It is even home to Erdogan’s private villa. Cingil said he saw local government officials claim eminent domain and exaggerate concerns about earthquake vulnerability to demolish buildings and hand over lucrative sites to construction companies, religious associations, and other party loyalists. “This happened … to my own student dormitory, and many other places,” Cingil said.

Cingil was one of the many CHP candidates vying to be the nominee for Uskudar’s mayorship in March’s elections, but the CHP leadership eventually selected Dedetas to run due to her reputation for being a technocratic consensus builder.

“Normally, I wouldn’t expect such a profile to be nominated for Uskudar,” said Burak Bilgehan Ozpek, a professor of political science at TOBB University of Economics and Technology. He described Dedetas’s young, professional, and secular profile as going against the grain in the district. The CHP typically nominated old-school, male party insiders for such roles, Ozpek said, adding with a laugh that they always lost the race. “This was a radical change,” he added.

Dedetas took a pro-people approach to her campaign against the AKP incumbent Hilmi Turkmen, who had been a mainstay in Uskudar’s politics for decades. She canvassed the district neighborhood by neighborhood, underlining her accomplishments governing the city’s maritime transit system, which has a budget the same size as Uskudar’s.

Dedetas vowed to redress the AKP’s neglect of women’s issues on both the district and federal levels. She promised to prioritize women’s employment and noted that, during her time helming Istanbul’s maritime transit system, she nearly tripled the number of women working there. She also proposed the creation of a free HPV vaccine program to protect against some forms of cervical cancer. (The cost of the vaccine has become nearly equivalent to Turkey’s monthly minimum wage.)

The candidate pledged to create child nurseries in every neighborhood in Uskudar. “This will enable women to work,” especially residents with low incomes, said Rumeysa Camdereli, an activist and member of Havle Women’s Association, the first Muslim feminist organization in Turkey.

Dedetas promised to expand welfare initiatives, and called for additional municipally subsidized cafeterias in Uskudar. Imamoglu created these during his first term for residents to get a healthy meal for just over a dollar, and his AKP competitor Murat Kurum mocked them on the campaign trail. “We are tired and bored of the rhetoric that tries to deceive the people by … giving half a tea glass of water or milk as if it is a service,” said Kurum. He also made fun of Imamoglu’s background as a kofte vendor.

Kurum’s gaffe turned off blue collar voters. Istanbul’s public eateries fill up every day for lunch and are vital in a country enduring a cost-of-living crisis amid annual inflation of nearly 70 percent.

“Local elections are less ideological and always more focused on services,” said Emine Ucak, the program director for social policy at the Reform Institute, an Istanbul-based policy center, who researches women in Turkish politics. “Women always think about their children, and they had stopped seeing a future for them.”

The campaign also focused on securing areas most vulnerable to earthquakes, a national concern after the devastating February 2023 earthquakes in Turkey’s southeast. Many locals fear that the slate block flats populating the hills above Uskudar’s wharf are in imminent danger in case of an earthquake. In response to their concerns, Dedetas is establishing a natural disaster directorate to help the district become prepared for earthquakes and other catastrophes.

On election night, Dedetas triumphed, beating Turkmen by more than seven percentage points. In doing so, she tore apart the long-held myth that Uskudar was an AKP stronghold.

“It’s a district with a lot of conservative families,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a visiting fellow at Brookings Institution. “For an uncovered woman to win is a real testament to her political appeal.” Unlike past CHP candidates, Dedetas shied away from the hardline, sometimes alienating secularism her party is known for. Pragmatism and empathy won the day.

Dedetas was not the only victorious woman on election day. Altogether, voters tripled the number of women mayors across Turkey. While only four female mayors had been elected in the previous municipal elections in 2019, 11 provinces and 64 municipalities are now governed by women, the vast majority of them representing opposition parties. Together, they won, on average, 53 percent of votes.

Female political representation is a welcome change after what many in the country see as backsliding on women’s rights under Erdogan. In 2021, Turkey exited the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to combat gender-based violence that was drafted in the city a decade earlier. The Turkish president had urged women to have at least three children, claiming that those who reject motherhood are “deficient” and “incomplete.”

Although Turkey has a highly centralized political system, mayors remain key to managing districts and municipalities. They are where citizens first access the country’s welfare systems, and where businesses are registered, among other duties.

Following March’s elections, Dedetas and other mayors in the Turkish opposition now have their best chance in decades to govern with less interference from Ankara. She has wasted no time in initiating programs that address locals’ needs, such as grocery subsidies of up to $150 for retired residents. The district also plans to provide elderly residents free shuttle services to food markets. (Pensioners, who compose more than 10 percent of Turkey’s national population, receive roughly $293 per month from the state, an impossible wage to live on in Istanbul.)

Uskudar’s new mayor is also working to counteract the AKP’s neoliberal strategies, which many accuse of benefiting political patrons through shady backroom dealings all while poverty has deepened. To help promote transparency, Dedetas has begun to broadcast all municipal council meetings live online.

Figen Kucuksezer, an optometrist and Uskudar resident, is very excited by these changes. They’ve already helped preserve Uskudar’s Validebag Grove, one of the last wild green spaces in Istanbul. The area, which Kucuksezer volunteers to protect, is home to 400-year-old trees and migratory birds.

“The former mayor always wanted to make changes to the grove,” she said, referring to the AKP’s plans to develop the area by adding parking lots and food stalls and removing some native flora. But Kucuksezer and other local activists filed a lawsuit and have fought for years for Validebag to be left alone. “We had to block the Caterpillar [equipment] from entering in,” she said.

Since being elected, Dedetas has promised to protect it as a green space for all residents. In May, the local court annulled the previous government’s construction plan. “It is a breath of fresh air,” Kucuksezer added.

There is a saying in Turkish politics that whoever wins Istanbul will one day win Turkey. It was the case for Erdogan, who previously served as mayor of Istanbul before leading the country for the past two decades.

After years in the political wilderness, the CHP is now trying to repeat its success in the next national election, which should be the first without Erdogan in nearly 30 years. The challenge for Dedetas is to help Imamoglu triumph so that she can be his successor in Istanbul as he runs for the presidency.

So far, her stances have mirrored those of Imamoglu; Dedetas regularly highlights their work together on social media. But she has also bolstered her own profile by engaging in key culture war debates—including by opposing controversial legislation that will kill beloved stray dogs on the streets to rooting for the women’s national volleyball team at the Paris 2024 Olympics, a squad that has been vilified by the conservative right. Imamoglu’s and Dedetas’s fortunes are now intertwined.

“And this is just the start of her office,” said Cingil, Dedetas’s one-time party rival. “There are already rumors that she will be the next candidate for Istanbul mayor.” That would be another first.

[echoesoftheeldritch]

[the click of a tape recorder]

[static]

A podcast is nothing without good editors.

Wouldn't you agree?

Then why not help us make ours the best it could be?

[creepy music slowly fading in]

Echoes of the Eldritch is a Magnus Archives fan podcast that takes place after the events of the original story, in one of the worlds that the fears got sent to.

We are currently looking for editors (among others)! So if you have experience, or interest in:

- vocal edits

- soundscaping

-adding atmospheric music

Join us on discord to become part of the team!

Or else...

[a cacophony of impending doom swells]

[it suddenly stops]

Just kidding :)

But we would be very happy to have you!

The project is also still looking for artists, writers and voice actors for a few remaining roles! Find out more right on this blog, or by joining the discord!

See you there!

[static stops]

[click of a tape recorder turning off]

[everythingyouwilllistento]

Balloonerism by Mac Miller (2025) Review

this month, i listened to every mac album over again in preparation for this release. ive never heard the leaked version (thankfully) so going into this blind is really helping the world building and dreamlike soundscape that is "Balloonerism": an unreleased album that was made between the recordings of "Faces" in 2014 and "GO:OD AM" in 2015.

"Faces" sounded like hallucinations mac had while on trips of his worst and introspective thoughts of his depression and "Circles", his previous posthumous record, sounded as if mac was finally at peace and closed a book of a person who was troubled, struggled, and finally met his oasis at the end of the tunnel. if this album sounds like anything, it likens to a combination of both but a dream plucked and explored for the fun, the beauty, and the horrors.

the first two tracks really lavish the psychedelic and wide world mac presents before painting himself in on "Do You Have A Destination?" leaving on notes of overgrown subway trains with connected radios asking the listener where they expect this album to continue.

"5 Dollar Pony Rides" is so fun. sounds like a proto-"What's the Use?" but sillier and uplifting. thundercat is truly treasured on any track he's on with mac.

the next few tracks just add to the groove and paint-like visions of stories from mr miller and these might be some of the most creative lines he's put on paper. every line feels like it has years worth of backstory, threads, and emotion. the family depiction on "Friendly Hallucinations", friends and the mind he's lost during his fame on "Mrs. Deborah Downer", the personal lines and physical knocking on "Stoned", its insanely vivid.

the highlight on here obviously has to be "Funny Papers". beside the saddening connection with mac himself, its beautiful. a very bittersweet and softer rocker about the deaths (tragedy) and births (miracles) in news before taking time to reflect on himself. "Ain't an innovator, just a motherfuckin' illustrator". i think on this one, he painted a perfect picture and really made me cry again to art.

one track that brings the experience down is "Transformations", a track that features mac's alter-ego "delusional thomas" and while the beat is fitting, the persona i can't recommend. the voice modulation and constant shifting were never going to age the best and there's not a lot of value from the lyrics themselves.

while "Excelsior" is a fun little 2 & 1/2 minutes of child retrospection, and "Manakins" is fine, the last two tracks "Rick's Piano" & "Tomorrow Will Never Know" really over-shine them during the last leg of the album. the former is a wonderful 5 minutes of dreamy and fun mac before we send the world of "Balloonerism" to it's end. the ladder is probably the biggest song mac has in his entire catalogue. 12 entire minutes dedicated to mac exploring his depression and the finale. the end of life, the end of childhood, and the end of problems. it ends on a phone ringing and never being picked up with children playing in the background. an insanely haunting and sad finish.

"Balloonerism" is probably the last full project we will ever get from mac miller and his estate. and i can live with that. its the last dream from him to finally get an official release and one to end on a different, more interesting note.

we miss you mac miller, and we hope your journey to heaven has led to peace, love, and all the weed you'll ever need.

97/110

FAVS: Do You Have A Destination?, 5 Dollar Pony Rides, Funny Papers, Rick's Piano

WORST: Transformations

[industrial-horror]

Skinny Puppy is a pioneering band in the industrial music genre, known for their dark, experimental sound and theatrical live performances. Formed in 1982 in Vancouver, Canada, by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton) and Nivek Ogre (Kevin Ogilvie), Skinny Puppy blends elements of electronic music, punk, and performance art, crafting a unique and unsettling aesthetic that has significantly influenced the industrial and electronic music scenes.

Early Years

The band began as a side project for Key while he was a member of the new wave group Images in Vogue. However, Skinny Puppy soon became a primary focus, with the duo recording their debut EP, Back & Forth (1984), in Key’s home studio. They quickly gained attention for their experimental approach, incorporating samples, synthesizers, and abrasive rhythms to create a chaotic yet controlled soundscape.

Their first full-length album, Remission (1984), and its follow-up, Bites (1985), helped define the emerging industrial genre, alongside artists like Front 242 and Throbbing Gristle. Tracks like "Assimilate" and "The Choke" showcased the band’s fusion of ominous atmospheres and driving beats.

Themes and Style

Skinny Puppy's music frequently explores themes of dystopia, environmental destruction, animal rights, and the darker aspects of human psychology. They are noted for their confrontational approach to social and political issues, often challenging their audience with disturbing imagery and lyrics.

The band's sound is characterized by dense layers of electronic textures, distorted vocals, and innovative use of sampling. They are also known for their intense and theatrical live performances, which often feature elaborate visuals, costumes, and provocative stage setups.

Evolution and Influence

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, albums like Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (1986), Cleanse Fold and Manipulate (1987), and VIVIsectVI (1988) solidified their reputation as industrial trailblazers. Too Dark Park (1990) and Last Rights (1992) pushed their sound even further, diving deeper into noise and experimentalism.

However, internal tensions and personal struggles, including Ogre's battles with addiction, led to the band's initial breakup in 1995 after the release of The Process. The death of their longtime collaborator, Dwayne Goettel, from a heroin overdose added to the turbulence during this period.

Reformation and Later Years

Skinny Puppy reunited in the early 2000s, releasing new material, including albums like The Greater Wrong of the Right (2004), Weapon (2013), and HanDover (2011). These later works maintained their signature intensity while incorporating contemporary electronic influences. They continue to tour, delivering politically charged performances that resonate with fans old and new.

Legacy

Skinny Puppy's influence extends beyond the industrial genre. Artists ranging from Nine Inch Nails to Marilyn Manson, and even electronic acts like The Prodigy, cite them as a key inspiration. Their innovative approach to sound design and multimedia presentation has left a lasting mark on the music world.

To this day, Skinny Puppy remains an icon of industrial music, a symbol of uncompromising artistic vision, and a voice for those on the fringes of mainstream culture.

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-09-09

It was Bandcamp Friday last friday so those go up front:

Listening: First up God's Country by Chat Pile which I cannot remember why I found it but is extremely noisy metal. Blunt, to the point.

A Dog A Deer A Seal by Hit Bargain has featured on a Monday before but now I actually bought the album, here's the title track. Very modern-style rock.

The Envoy by Gavlina Rayna Russom, her first solo album after leaving LCD Soundsystem, soundscape electronic and voice based on The Left Hand of Darkness.

Cyberspace Database by Fornax Void, sort of the evil mirror dimension version of Businessfunk which now that I think about it has never come up on here? Incredible. Anyway a sort of fantasy soundscape for a cyberspace environment. Huge album too, like 50 songs.

Alright back to our regularly scheduled programming

Watching: New! Dynamo! Dreams! from Ian Hubert,

This is the first time we're back at what was started in Ep1 so there is in fact some kind of plot, although the series remains supremely vibes-based. Excellent extensive rampaging robotaxi sequence. Dynamo Dreams is mostly about the props and atmosphere.

Reading: Finished The Tyrant Baru Cormorant after a brief lapse in reading. It's got problems! I really like a lot of it but it keeps on pausing the book to tell us about the blogs and wikipedia pages Seth Dickinson has been reading. Have you heard of Euler's Formula? What about the evolutionary argument for homosexuality? Yo did you hear about plants that avert scurvy? I am going to tell you about these in a boringly straightforward didactic way for the next 200 pages while occasionally progressing the plot.

Things I like: There is a very real sense of trying to balance everyone's schemes. Despite the fantasy communication techniques there's a lot of hidden information that gets used well, and the vibe of Baru's person-blindness is felt heavily but by anyone trying to make a plan run smoothly. Baru gets so messed up over the course of these books and it works to demonstrate how she's taking herself to pieces to make this work.

When Baru is actually doing her thing you can ignore the sort of awkward frankensteined nature of the world around her, but when explicit attention is drawn to it it quickly starts to fall apart, and the introduction of the Lightning Cult has me worried that this will only get more severe. Seth Dickinson seemingly cannot do Greg Egan, but they can do the rest of the Baru Cormorant pretty solidly.

Also more Skin Horse. Only to about 2012 so far.

Making: Some abortive soldering projects, hampered by my lack of good quality solder, I only have pure tin/copper blend in pretty coarse gauge, you want something finer and with a little silver for this.

Started working through some Control Theory lectures to brush up on that because I'm also working through some ROS tutorials, I want to make my robotics projects more broadly useful and integrating ROS/microROS might go a long way to helping that.

Playing: Ash and Adam's Gobsmacked, an early access roguelite arena combat goblin game that came out recently. Big focus on mobility, you can run and jump and glide around levels while taking out a bunch of robots. Still pretty finicky, controls are on the slippier side so on the plus side "high skill ceiling" but also "uncontrollable".

A touch of Minecraft, poking at Modrinth mod manager rather than my usual manual mod installation because I was unwilling to spend time figuring out how some of the new mods interact. I really do want to stick with a world long enough to do something interesting sometime.

Tools and Equipment: I set up Tailscale to link my server with my devices when they're in the field, using a headscale node running on my cloud server. It's really nice once you have all the basics sorted out, works smoothly. Worth a look if you want to securely access your home network while on the go.