looking back at my music taste swimmings from last year.
in spring i fell back into blur. not much to say here. i get blue for some tracks though, because they remind me, for example, of sitting alone on a table in our faculty room, watching students happily hurrying about in the evening sun, them still having the whole youth (funny how i equate the end of youth with the end of uni, yeah? not funny though, i guess) ahead of them, while i’m finally graduating and getting thrusted out into the world where i have to decide for myself again and afain.
spring/end of summer was marked by french electro pop and everything around it. i was writing my thesis (which wasn’t really any good). forcing myself out of home, because i couldn’t work there: neighbours renovating their place, very loud; grandma (don’t want to touch this subject); at times - other annoying stuff and distractions. i’d drag myself to the uni (yet again), go to the library. somehow never made to my favourite last floor, which is space-themed; only stuck at fourth floor, which had less people and also a japanese center. i’d turn on soundtracks from First Man and then Apollo 11 (i remember well how that moment in Lift Off and Staging track literally made me jump a bit, i was too engrossed in the work and didn’t expect the loud sound. strangely it was a tiny bit exciting). and then, or sometimes from the very start i’d put on the radio stations starting with kid francescoli or grand blanc or flavian berger. these sounds are tied forever with this dimly lit hall, old wooden floor and bad chairs, with me feeling utterly miserable, with evening sun.
i started listening to city pop even before that. it started with exactly that - “city pop” playlist videos on youtube, with Van Paugam’s city pop radio. i floated a lot in the same hyped tracks like plastic love, slowly opening the wonderfulness that is everything tatsura yamashita has done. i was trusting myself to the flows of youtube recommendations, drifting along and finding myself at the shores of some less popular stuff and stuff that is not really 80s pop. once, i remember, i let the stylifh album artwork and the clever “mint jams” name take me on a journey to discovering casiopea. i loved it, unexpectedly somehow, so much, i tried to listen to all albums i could find. this is when i also started to spill over more to the wonders of japanese jazz fusion, soul and everything else that i normally would never, ever listen to.
Van Paugam’s channel got axed by copyright holders, but surprisingly (and thankfully) there still are others. Xerf Xpec is the best subscription of last year - full albums, and somehow each is absolutely worth a listen. some - just 80s pop, but very good pop, some - instrumental, jazzy stuff, very enjoyable too. i don’t know what was it about 80s Japan - economic bubble giving people the freedom to experiment as much as they want? - but the sound of all these albums is just... so enjoyable. so nice. it’s like a honey to my ears. i don’t know what is it, no other music does it like that for me.
back in summer i got tickets to rammstein - for this summer’s concert. i never, ever do things so in advance, and the concert is in another country, even! but somehow i felt like i’d regret it if i wouldn’t go. maybe i’ll regret it either way. but lately i try to make myself do as everyone always says - “better try and regret, than regret not trying”. i mean i guess i try to get out of my shell more. one of the reasons i went to mountains again, although for it to be a better experience i really need to get more fit. i want to do it again.
but i digress. new rammstein album - listened to it a lot. that’s when i got the tickets. in fall went to oomph concert. couldn’t say i was their fan or listened to them much, but like it often happens - after the concert i relistened a lot of their stuff, and fell further - to other german rock of the same style. liked the poppy down below, absolutely loved eisbrecher. and liked even more bands i can’t name off the top of my head right now. but to be honest, rammstein don’t even seem that interesting in comparison. they’re good and i’m sure the live show will be awesome, but the music itself is now a bit disappointing to me: so this is the most popular act, while there’s so much more german bands have to offer? but i guess you won’t get far without good PR and that’s fair too.
speaking of honey to my ears, at the same time, but more lazily, i was trying to check out modern Japanese stuff - stumbled upon asian kung-fu generation’s re:re and it just evoked such a strong feeling of nostalgia... nostalgia for something. i don’t know what. for something i never experienced? sounds weird, but i’ve seen people mention the same thing about 80s Japanese pop. i think it’s the same for me in that case, too. anyway, bumping aimlessly from band to band, i happened upon cidergirl. not gonna lie, got attracted to the pretty album artwork, but then i listened to them. and their music is just so... honey, i said? so pleasant, so comforting. it’s like every note, every beat, every sound is just in the right place. i was lucky, too, because i found that they were going to release a new album soon. skip to february this year: their new album is good, i loved several songs, but i still like the previous albums way more. i think the new album sounds a bit too pop-ish, maybe? i don’t know, but there’s a few songs that sound a bit plain. i love cidergirl anyway, though.
another band i didn’t expect to fall in love with - moshimo. i listened to their album todome way to many times, practically on repeat on some days. and good news for me again, their album is out soon too. one downside is i’m sure i’ll never have the chance to see either of these bands live.
at some point youtube decided, that since i listen to “asian music”, as the recommendation said, i should check out korean artists. i don’t care at all for idols and all that (in my view - extremely artificial) culture, so this route was of no interest to me. i listened to some of the indie artists. i loved stella jang (can relate to her paycheck song a lot now, haha). but i feel like i’d have to put some effort in finding out what korean indie scene has to offer, and that will have to wait.
right now i’m keeping myself to the same bubble of 80s and later J-pop and some jazz funk/fusion. i don’t know why, maybe it just feels so warm and safe? it makes me happy. at times nostalgic, somehow. at times - very blue. and it’s not dull at all, the music is done with great thought and care, you can feel it. i listen to every album Xerf Xpec puts out on their channel, my recent love - Halcali girls, Kazuhito Murata and Yui Asaka. i’m starting to think i shouldn’t rely on streaming only, and maybe should start being more systematic in my discovery of artists and their discography. maybe start building up my own collection.
i hardly listen to any of the usual stuff i used to listen to before. this also made me want to get back to learning German and maybe get into learning Japanese. but right now i’m not sure how i can fit the first in my schedule (although all working people manage this, somehow), and for the second thing - i’m also a bit afraid that it’s very hard. hopefully i’ll overcome this silly indecisiveness.
for now, i’m very happy to have the tunes i do right now.
