Confessions of a wannabe hipster

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Butterfly Effect by DJ Krush

Krush at his best is hypnotic, low-key anytime beats that just exude cool. There's a reason he's one of my most played artists... but this? This is so far from peak Krush that I'd have trouble distinguishing it from the soundtrack to a mediocre shoot'em up mobile app.

I'd like to be able to point to one thing that separates his best material from Butterfly Effect, but he's lost more than a step, he's lost track of his whole aesthetic. Not only is it not cool, it actually sounds like it's trying to be pretty. Maybe that could be an interesting change of direction if he was committed to it, but the preponderance of glitchy sound effects leaves me wondering what kind of mood I would need to be in to appreciate his new look. I needed to reaffirm my faith in humanity, so I went back to

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覚醒 (Kakusei) by DJ Krush

It got me temporarily booted from my bedroom (seriously? not night music?), but it was worth it.

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Yeah I wasn't too happy with the new Krush either (for many of the reasons you mentioned)

You got a favorite Krush LP sp4ce? (Kakusei is likely my favorite from him though Meiso comes close and MiLight comes even closer)

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The Agent Intellect by Protomartyr

This generation clearly has a taste for dank post-punk -- drawling vocals, echoey distortion, and just enough dissonance to make most of the elder listeners mistake it for noise. These guys seem comfortable in their niche and deliver a few bangers here (my favorite is "The Hermit"), but The Agent Intellect feels more like a mixtape than an album to me. Fortunately, a lack of vision is easier to fix than most other problems, so I'll be keeping an eye on their future releases. In the meantime, I'll go back to spinning my favorite dungeon crawler from 2015:

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Viet Cong by Viet Cong

Is darkness necessarily pessimistic? Maybe more like self-indulgent. After all, darkness is most palpable in contrast to something much brighter...

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Art Angels by Grimes

I was pretty pessimistic going into my first listen to this. The early singles seemed scattered, to say the least, and overplay of the singles from her previous album, Visions, had left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I was not, however, put off by the mobs of internet-goers dismissing Art Angels as "idiot pop" -- if anything, that encouraged me. I've seen so many backlashes against artists who choose to go in a more mainstream direction with their music, sometimes with hints of misogyny but always smacking of elitism, that I know I'm better off just ignoring the chatter.

But is it any good? Yes. Yes, it is. Art Angels is infectious and blissful maximalist pop from beginning to end. Seldom have I heard an artist sound like they were having this much fun making music and the last time I remember an album being this uplifting was Passion Pit's 2012 joyride, Gossamer.

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Gossamer by Passion Pit

What's more, Grimes' eccentricities give Art Angels a kick that most pop artists can't boast. The way she toyed with the music press leading up to the release of this album was two parts hilarious and five parts brilliant. I can't wait to hear what she comes up with next, but in the meantime, I have gobs of new tracks for my playlists.