why... music??

somehow i got linked to make it forever. i'd actually seen the album cover of 100 percent electronica but had not listened to it. but when i had heard make it forever, i was captivated. this album came out in high school going to college, a transitional period of my life. this album also got me into the whole 100 percent electronica label.

love:

the large synth opening of living loose. the bombastic energy of make it forever. the ooh and uhhs and ahhs. the bassline on slide. the reprise on you lost me there. the hooks, the synth layers, etc.

over the years it just stands to me as a wonderful hazy blurry album. one of my favorites

one of the first places that i got into music was little big planet, who featured the go! team on both games. that was in middle school. from the soundtrack, they became one of the few artists i followed as i got older. when scene between was annouced, I was excited. i remember i found a way to prelisten to this album via a NPR page. it was an unexpectedly indie rock addition to the go! team's style of blasted out, blissfully nostalgic music. for a while, this was my favorite album period. i think slide dethroned it, but this album is still one of my all time favorites. i have a strong memory of listening to this on a road trip with my family, looking out the window at the trees poking out the cliff faces surrounding us.

love: 

the hazy, sunbaked, collaborative energy. sounds like a collage of beautifully overexposed photo.

this album is like a sweet dream

forever ago, when i only listened to the indie dance radio on pandora, i was served up some postal service songs. as a child i thought it was boring. thankfully i have changed my mind! i found it mid pandemic. i think the first song to grab me was such great heights, and at some point i even scrawled some lyrics on the bottom of my desk. but the whole album now is treasured. 

love:

the crunchy synths and the snappy sequenced drums on the whole album. the world building on this place is a prison. the plucky synth on such great heights. the conversation on nothing better. the album cover.

one of my songs has a synth inspired by the postal service. can you guess which song???

to me, this is the modest mouse album. it has the fantastic lyrics, more loose and jangly style of some of their earlier stuff but paired with very subtly psychedelic production here and there. i discovered it after a friend of mine pointed out their song dramamine from another album, and from there i dove into the band as a whole. i listened to this a lot while walking around, during a frustrating and loose time of my life. i don't recall much from this time, but i apparently listened to enough modest mouse to make them one of my most listened-to artists. this album was the perfect complement to that period of my life. there is something about issac brock's singing that is so perfectly imperfect.

love:

the intricate lyrics and many one liners, the fun and interesting guitar playing, catchy melodies, the whole thing. 

like walking around with nothing to do but think.

Sounds like a divine message. Beyond huge and crushing. The guitars are pushed to the maximum, turning into a textured wall that brush against the brain. The drums somehow manage to cut through the mix? Sometimes it's pushed so hard it feels like you can feel the cracks in the sound, like in "More". Simple lyrics that still feel poetic and weighted. Surprisingly ambient as well, not just pure noise. Favorite is Don't Walk Away. Amazing, one of a kind album, that you cannot find elsewhere. The emotion in this is overpowering and powerful.

love:

the sound, the emotion, the volume. play this at a loud enough volume.

sound like a message you need to hear

It took me a few years to get into this. I originally found it from its connection to the Elephant 6 Collective, and I had listened to it once or twice, but it didn't stick. Then, in 2024, I found a used CD of this album. I started listening to it in the car. What surprised me about this album, coming back to it now, is how much I can listen to it. Some other cds i would eventually get tired of, but this album stayed on. Even the long ambient track. When I started listening to it outside of the car is when I truly fell in love.

I find the album both whimsical and slightly melancholic- the lyrics of "No Growing (exegesis)" and "Green Typewriters" 4 come to mind here. I think about the current malaise in my life. Then I hear the lush sounds of this album and get carried away. In a period of my life where I find myself questioning my choices and tastes, this album becomes a rock for me to hold onto. 

I love the variety of sounds in this album- it's not a super hifi album but they still make room for a lot of interesting production choices and noises that are always fun to listen to. One thing I want to highlight is the 10 minute ambient/field recording-y track- it's surprisingly enveloping and immersive.

love:

the feeling, the journey

sounds like a bittersweet sleep

i found them through 100 percent electronica. the song that sealed the deal for me was sky2fall followed by chaeri. again, i have a strong memory of this song in a car. driving in a sort of coastal town through houses nestled on the hills, while hearing how chaeri is killing her. 

love:

the pop perfection, immaculately produced. seriously this album sounds amazing. the bass specifically sounds awesome. the reverb-y builds. the grit of you lose. 

this album sounds like LA.