0. Mumblecore
I’d like to warn you that I am writing any piece of writing primarily for my own very satisfaction, and like to mumblecore a lot. I had been writing a PLAYLIST series here on this Mirror of mine before I tried to reflect on the medium-specific cases in that which was dubbed as Writing NFTs at one point.
In the PLAYLIST, I wanted to focus on people who were experimenting with what was then Music NFTs that are now but Onchain Music tracks. I am not implying anything. I think I like the guy. He has done a lot. That is a win.
I used to haphazardly choose two musical tracks, and comment upon them without even knowing anything about the artists. At one point, I was really bored, and stopped. It was because I do not think there were exciting experiment on the Music NFTs part other than Deafbeef’s sound poetics and Euler Beats. I am not sure if Herndon’s 2015 track “DAO” counts as onchain but I was expecting experiments at that level.
I myself did some plays via Logic Pro and Ableton Live soundbites that I minted on Zora and similar platforms as original score for my “art.” They are very short bites. Utterly discordant. You can hear Honegger dissing Xenakis: “THIS IS NOT MUSIC!” I am lucky I do not need to be stroke by a Sherman tank shrapnel but I do have ideas for IRL installations around the idea of sound, and its continuous landscapes—I just lack about 15 ether if you are interested, excluding any visa obtainment procedures for any probable visit to Berlin.
Then, I had many drafts where I jabbered on the vinyls I collected via Boomkat and Soundhom. Here is my EOY albums list. Enjoy.
5. Romance - Fade into You
https://youmustrememberthis.bandcamp.com/album/fade-into-you
Romance is a vaporwave renaissance act. It is for those of us who daydream in Celine Dion’s youth. After all, every crypto-systems aficionado would love to have an office in either Lugano or Zug. It is Eurovision. However, the soundscapes melt. Clear lit skylines. Full of Trans-Europe Expresses. Dissecting the individual titles would be futile. After all, Pitchwork have always been acting cringe. One of those albums you just let yourself melt into.
4. Kali Malone (feat. Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton) - Does Spring Hide its Joy?
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
I envy people who can play organs. I am jealous of those who think in organs. That’s why I have collected almost all albums by Kali Malone in vinyl, except this one and her upcoming 2024 title All Life Long. Accompanied by O’Malley of Sunn o))) and Railton, Malone tried some electric dreams in this long Canto of hers. It is not about kingfishers. It is not about you, certainly, either. For me, it is about how Kali explore the elliptical curves across spatio-temporalities any other ordinary human being would hide themselves from the thousand gazed plateux of the world. It is epic, clean, and peaceful.
3. Lucy Railton - Corner Dance
https://music.apple.com/tr/album/corner-dancer/1714649029
Railton’s album reminds me of an idea I once had to no avail:
nft://1/0x2954A0Bfe5389FC18aD2ba6d00F9AFb0973F7C75/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true
2. Fred again… & Brian Eno - Secret Life
The reason why I envy Fred is not he is an Eno protégé yet his capabilities as a wetware sound system. If you are shitting on people who vibe with his tunes, the truth is you are most definitely depressed. It’s time to hit the gym. It’s been 48 years since Eno released Another Green World but you are lucky you are alive to have witnessed an album by this duo in the year when censorship resistant consensus has been battling normiecore governments and Miyazaki shot his final movie—yes, you might bet I am not even starting the accelerating finds across neuroscience to math.
1. Clark - Sus Dog
https://clark.bandcamp.com/album/sus-dog-2
Wut up, dawg?!