astrid

"lofi catgirls stole my identity and tanked my credit score" is a split by salem's corydalis and dutchmasters released in July of 2025 that I have fallen head over heels in love for over the past few days since my initial listen. The way this project combines lo-fi indietronica elements with the low-passed unbridled screams of these two creates a warmth I've yet to hear captured in any other album. There's almost an apocalyptic feeling to this, but not exactly what you're thinking of, it's less being there as the apocalypse happens and more standing in the wasteland of the post-apocalypse, lamenting all that was lost. Neat record, can't recommend it enough.

FFO: ~ your arms are my cocoon ~ Garden Angel ~ gingerbee ~ Girls Rituals(?)

!! Links Below !!

eatthefuckingsnow is the newest kid on the block of the nintendocore scene that I am ever so late to, and their 4 song demo is rather impressive. Unlike the other nintendocore releases I've heard, this is mostly influenced by deathcore more than it is metalcore, and while on paper this doesn't sound like a substantial difference, it's a very important way to differentiate it from its contemporaries, and it adds a really unique flair to what would otherwise be just another pile of songs in the road. This is not an album you'll get immediately, hell if hearing the term "nintendocore" made you think anything but "that sounds fucking awesome" I'd recommend you stay away from this project, but otherwise, this is really worth checking out.

FFO: ~ Garden Angel ~ Bubblegum Octopus ~ I Shot The Duck Hunt Dog

!! LINKS BELOW !!

Gato Barbieri's first chapter in what I like to call his travel series, "Latin America" is one of the most mind blowing and impressive jazz albums I've ever heard. The way that Barbieri (for lack of a better word) abuses the shit out of his saxophone for the entire duration of this album is insane. His performance is most notable on "La China Leoncia Arreó la Correntinada Trajo Entre la Muchachada la Flor de la Juventud" which is one of if not my very favorite jazz song of all time. This whole album is an insane trip that quite honestly is very difficult to put into words, you really just have to hear it for yourself.

FFO: ~ Honestly I'm not sure, this is unlike anything else I've heard

!! LINKS BELOW !!

Maddie's album is... an interesting one for sure. "Internet Handle for a Sixteen Year Old Girl" is the debut album of Madeline Dawn Skies—or Maddie as I'll call her for the duration of this—released on January 1st of this year, and what an amazing way to start the year it was. Maddie's extremely sloppy approach to slacker rock, while not enjoyed by all, is one that I find extremely addicting. The way that there are some elements that are so off time they feel entirely separate, the odd panning, the inconsistent production, the really crappily recorded drums, for literally anyone else these would be huge problems with the record, but for me they add an amazing touch of personality to this already great record. Is it guaranteed everyone will find enjoyment in this record? God no. Will the ones that do fall in love with it? God I hope so.

FFO: ~ Car Seat Headrest's Numbered Albums ~ Greens on Toast ~ drug bug ~ carter c

!! LINKS BELOW !!

"Scotland, I Wish You Had Stayed." by Flatsound is an album that is very important to me, despite only discovering it late last year. The caliber of emotion present here from start to finish is destroying, from almost Xiu Xiu-like "66666666", to the warm yet somber "I Hope You're Okay", to the absolutely baffling "Your Fathers Car" every single minute of this record is jam packed with some of the most depressing music I have ever heard. It's honestly difficult for me to put my feelings on this album into words, it's the only reason as to why I haven't written a review on it yet.

FFO: ~ Phil Elverum ~ Cameron Winter ~ Alex G ~ Elliott Smith ~ Ichiko Aoba

!! LINKS BELOW !!

“Disquiet” is the latest album by jazz/improv trio The Necks that I was introduced to by my friend Styg a few weeks ago around the time of its release, and since that initial introduction its enticed me with its length and genre combination, so I’m very excited to finally check it out today. The Necks have been in operation since 1987 so to see this much praise for a work of theirs almost forty years later is very, very interesting, and I’m very much anticipating what awaits me on the other side of this just over three hour long venture.

The album’s opener, “Rapid Eye Movement,” was rather interesting, keeping me entertained through the entirety of its fifty seven minute runtime, yet still I had the feeling it left something to be desired, although I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that was. Maybe it was the constant build to a crescendo that never happened that left me wanting more but that was more admirable than anything, it could’ve been the way the record progressed, wishing for some sort of constant factor to keep it grounded but those are both nothing more than nitpicks to me, when I feel there’s some sort of major thing missing here and I just don’t know what it is.

Other than that, however, I found this to be a pleasant enough experience, for how long it is it excels in maintaining my interest and staying fresh the whole time. It sets a great stage for the long, long journey ahead and I’m very excited for what more this project has to bring, and while in a vacuum it may not be the most exciting, I feel that as I progress through and eventually finish finish the project, I’ll start to truly appreciate it as a song, and hopefully a very strong opener.

Following that we have “Ghost Net,” the longest track on the entire album by a mile with a monstrous seventy four minute runtime, and it works damn well with it. Unlike the opener, it has quite a few repeating elements that maintain a nice foundation for the rest of the track to build off of, the first one that comes to mind is the extremely simple electric guitar loop that I found myself fixating on a lot. The noticeably higher tempo does also help the song quite a bit, with it passing by significantly faster than its predecessor. I also noticed that a fair bit of elements were either syncopated or completely off tempo, and while not particularly enjoyable in the mix, I do find the decision to leave those in rather intriguing. It reminds me of my first listen to the legendary Philosophy of the World, where despite not really enjoying the actual music being played, I was enamored by the freedom of it all. I like it more for what it represents than what it actually is.

However, all this praise doesn’t mean this is flawless. I feel like a few individual ideas drag on for quite a bit too long, for example the simple loop of drums and guitar feedback around the 50 minute mark was enjoyable for a good bit, but I feel scraping it down by a bit would’ve helped this track prosper as a whole. The ride being hard panned left and constantly going off over and over and over doesn’t help out much either, as it gets really easy to hone in on and get really irritated with, and I feel just centralizing it would’ve easily fixed this problem.

Despite all that, picking apart this monster of a composition was fun as hell. Even though it wasn’t the best thing ever and I do have my gripes with it, I can certainly understand why people could love this so much.

Being the shortest track here, “Causeway” is a great break from the madness that is the rest of this album, at least at the start. It’s a simple, tranquil soundscape that doesn’t demand itself to be brought to the forefront of your attention, and I love it for that. The simple combination of repeating, reverb soaked guitar, and improvised piano at the beginning allows for an almost hypnotic sound to be created in such a relatively short amount of time. There’s an inherent feeling of peacefulness in the simplicity here that I love a lot.

The second movement of this track throws that all away with the most intense drums on the project so far, which aren’t mind blowing by any means, sounding like very simple blast beats, but unexpected in an album such as this. The combination of piano and organ accompanying these drums are amazing inclusions, it’s difficult to focus on either of them on their own, but I feel that helps more than it harms, because they work very well if you look at them as one element. This is probably my favorite song on the entire project, I don’t have any major problems with it, it’s short, it’s sweet, and it’s one hell of a ride.

What an amazing way to close an album like this, I most likely won’t have much to say here as I was much more honed in on the music than the review here but I’ll try to keep it on par with the preceding tracks. “Warm Running Sunlight” is a very fitting title for a song like this one, it’s a serene soundscape that still feels tense, you’re on the edge of your seat but still slouched and comfortable, there are moments here that invoke an idyllic feeling that I can’t quite put into the proper wording to do them justice.

That being said this track is somewhat of a bore, it has the same problem as “Ghost Net” where individual ideas drag on far too long, although I can’t give specific examples. I feel it could’ve ended significantly earlier too, cutting off a good three or so minutes from the end could possibly have done it well. Overall though I feel this is a very well fitting closer, despite my problems I don’t really know how else this album could’ve ended unless it was like this, and I appreciate it for that.

Although I went into this album expecting to like it more than I did, I still enjoyed the album from front to back. Picking the songs apart layer by layer was really fun and I liked the way each track progressed enough for me to barely get bored. Although it definitely does have overdone length problems I totally understand why so many people I know are giving it the praise they are, despite me not personally agreeing.