The best of recent music findings
If you've talked to me at any point, I probably have recommended you music that you really loved. I pride myself in having the reputation of "most knowledgeable music person I know" to most people, and doesn't matter who you are or what you like, I almost definitely surely know something you certainly should try. This kind of recommendation though is very valuable, because it's very rare, only given mouth to mouth like sex; very important, yes; and I never really did public, general recommendations like I'll be doing with this post. On that note, this might not even be a recommendation post, since I only am making it to talk about some stuff I really, really love (especially The Lemony Creams) and give voice to some thoughts I believe can fit this written form bery well.
As to my taste in music, like you probably will notice here, it is truly eclectic. I like to say that I just really love music and don't really care about which form it presents itself as, and that's absolutely true. You can catch me bopping to literally anything, because I truly respect the subjectiveness of art and will always give value where value is (potentially) due. You can also catch me nerding about stuff any reasonable person would brush off, and that's quite a flex. I'm blessed with a musical palate that doesn't hesitate in licking every surface and texture, tasting all there is to taste (like Gustine Papellum, but for art), and if you hop on my train we'll live an adventure.
So, here's some really cool music that I really love and that you might like too:
Highveld Emo, by The Lemony Creams
From exploring the profile of a guy that liked a song I archived on my soundcloud profile, that archived the song "Little Headlights", I discovered Highveld Emo, by The Lemony Creams, on Youtube. Of course at first I only wanted to check out where Little Headlights came from, quick thing and whatnot, but from the very first track it really got me. This whole thing is unlike anything I have seen before. This level of personality and secrecy, mixed with amateurishness and uncaringness in presenting subjectively powerful messages so publicly, is something you don't see everyday. Reminds me a lot of when I discovered Clairo because of her covers on Youtube, way back in the day, and would YTB to MP3 her videos to bop in the morning walk. And then one day she released an EP and became an indie sensation out of nowhere, and now everybody knows her. This guy right here has everything to be walking that same path, but his situation is kinda different, maybe; it has all to do with this "personal secret" aura that his music has. It's like that musical friend sending you an idea for a song you're both not sure if it can actually be used anywhere, or a love letter containing the most beautiful poem ever written, kept inside a little jewelry box til the end of times. This album feels like sipping 40s at the roof with the boys and an acoustic guitar, and all of a sudden that one friend that's secrectly into you sings you a serenade that only you two will understand, and since you're both too shy to make a move, that will be the only true-love moment you'll ever find as a (potential) couple, but it's not a big deal because you can delight yourself with that memory every day, dreaming of a romance like in the young-adult novels you read, and that will remain true to you until you grow old, childless and probably loveless because the guy died in an accident drunk driving a couple months after that one night on the roof when you were sipping 40s with the boys and he sang you that one song that truly came from the heart and it resulted in nothing and that took him into a deep depression rabbit hole, and to this day nobody can be sure if it was a suicide or not, and the only thing you could ever be sure of in your whole life is that he was the only true love you would ever come to find; Highveld Emo really feels like that. I have been listening to this thing nonstop for over a month now, can sing every song and have made two covers with my friends that are reserved for the Androgenetic Alopecia revival mixtape, and are both side-As for sure.
The DIY is there, it's voice-memo-type music; as if the styles of Weatherday and Neutral Milk Hotel crossed paths with a suburban young fellow that happened to be going through an emo phase at that moment, and with the ability of truly pouring his heart onto songs about problems that don't really matter, made absolute neighborhood masterpieces that nobody in that neighborhood will ever know. And when he finally pulls out a guitar at someone's birthday party and starts to play, only then a reputation will be formed and people will respect and recognize him as the amazing musician he is.
It's a necessary experience to be had, the whole album, but my favoite song is for sure Little Headlights, while the rest all fall into 2nd place. If it wasn't for that one song representing so much to me, I would've said it's a perfect album though.
Eliott Contrabande
I found this girl from gold-digging Bandcamp, googling efforts took me places and now I've been archiving her discography. Not everything is good there, though, don't get me wrong, but she sure knows how to do her own thing and I love that. The influences are very obvious, especially when it comes to Sonic Youth, and it reaches a kinda post-post-punk, kinda english DIY, Bandcamp bargain bin aesthetic, that's very interesting from a "self discovery" standpoint, and can easily be made too much of —potential vs solidity—, but who cares, the idea is there and it certainly is worth a try.
I like to see it as music made by a Kim Gordon from before Confusion is Sex. That really gives the overrall idea of Eliott Contrabande.
These are my favorite three:
Addae's covers
Finding this gem was one of the best things to have happened to me this last year. Addae is an amazing cover channel by an amazing bass player, super low-key, super unknown, that made the best A Tribe Called Quest's Excursions cover I have ever heard. I've played this bassline my whole life, and this guy and his drum-friend made something just so amazing and so relatable to me, very akin to when Mets and I would jam together trying to immitate old hip-hop beats and just, you know, cherish our drum'n'bass connection. Rest in peace, dear friend, I'm sure you would've loved this video as well.
Earth's Angel and True Vulture
From listening to Death Grips for over a decade now, and nurturing an audio collection of their discography with multiple file and quality types to choose from, of each and every single (might be wrong) thing they have ever released, I can say with 100% certainty that I'm yet to experience all they have to offer. A disconnection to the collective of this "fandom" makes my discoveries of the group just that much more interesting, and despite not being that recent my knowledge of these two, I feel like it's right to put them here as an example since they were discovered within the 2020s.
Like More than the fairy, @deathgripz and the Björk remixes, it's easy to brush off the solitary singles when giving leeway for the albums to shine their brightest. But actually appreciating these artful snippets can be considered a "fulfilling Death Grips experience", thus also becoming a necessary listen when you get into it. So why not, right?
True Vulture also is the score of a cool animation.
Gofrette's theme
From the weirdness that is Canada's open television, with all them amazing/weird cartoons like Being Ian and Braceface, Gofrette comes along as an absolute trip. The efforts to have the cartoon as a direct port of the books makes for a very unique style, both visual and audial, and the intro is a direct representation of that. If you're into nintendo handheld music this is an undeniable bop, and if you're into cartoon music this is big time a top 10.
Encat
Ok, this is another one that's not very recent, but holy shit I need to show this to people, it's amazing. Encat is kind of a chill sample-mess that's better enjoyed as an "experience" rather than "actual music". It touches lo-fi very well, not hard to get the dreamy cloudiness going, and I honestly still don't know if it is 100% originally made or not; it might not even matter, it's super nice; and a fact is that it goes hard and I don't care.
Off White
I don't understand this. It confuses my ears. I love it so much, it's like Steve Reich. What a bassy trip this thing is. Oh, my.
As you might've noticed I haven't posted much anywhere. Money is at a critical low so I've been taking some quick jobs to put food on the table, and hourly payments just take my whole day and stamina and soul so there isn't much left to give away. I'm still dishing out daily picture updates on Instagram, because that takes me only a couple minutes, but updates over here take a little more time to make perfect and I haven't had much time. You can follow there if you like the photos, and if you like the other stuff I'm sorry but I'll be closing the overflowing well for now. Probably next week I can come back to the regular level of activity.
And remember, if you wish to support my stuff you can always get the book. It's really cool, I swear.
P.S.Fishomancer said I sound like Dwight in this post.