#Sonic 06 brings me so much nostalgia

[tev-the-random]

I know this is very sudden, but allow me to rant about Sonic 06-

*the crowd boos*

LISTEN! It's not about the game itself, that is a story for another post. I specifically want to talk about Princess Elise-

*the crowd boos harder*

Hear me out: Elise had so much potential to be such a fascinating character. It's all right there. So I'm talking about it. Buckle up, I'm putting this girl in a blender 17 years after her game died.

The absurd missed potential of Elise really boils down to her role in the story as a damsel in distress and how heavily the game imposes that role on her, even when it's unnecessary/uninteresting. Point in case, she gets kidnapped and rescued four different times. In one game. But why? What purpose does this serve?

I believe Elise's repeated kidnapping is but a cheap narrative escape. They don't know how to make Sonic and Elise bond, so they repeat the act of him saving her over and over again to drive in the fact that he's a hero and she's... I don't know, she's just a princess.

Just a princess. That traps her into the tiny box that is the stereotypical damsel in distress, and a macguffing for the whole Iblis thing, at most. But that doesn't really suit her background at all, does it? All of the stuff that's given to us tells us that Elise should be more than that.

Ok so, the story goes out of its way to tell us that, for 10 whole years, Elise was not allowed to cry. Not a single tear. That's her main thing, that she has a warped sense of duty and doesn't get to feel much. But did she even know why? The way the story shows it, it doesn't seem like she does, at least not entirely; she was passed out cold when the whole "let's infuse half of a god into your soul" stuff happened. So in a way, this behaviour could be treated as trauma instilled on her by her father drilling the idea of "a strong queen doesn't cry, stop crying, just smile" into her head — we do see a flashback of him directly saying that to her when she was little and crying on his lap. And this would have been a fine point of her character arc, if only they had concluded it in a more... well, conclusive way. By showing her and the audience that the duke was wrong; crying is healthy and not a display of weakness, and her father's "crying is wrong" speech is bullshit. Or even just by having her realise that not crying at all has a negative impact on her health, because it should.

But if we assume that Elise did know why she couldn't cry, the story gets more interesting. Because it's not as if she held back tears for 10 years — a near-impossible feat for a normal human being — just for her pride or because she believed in those toxic words of the past, but because she needed to. There's a fucking monster inside of her and this CHILD is tasked with keeping it locked away all on her own. If she cries, the whole world will end. So she sees a purpose in being emotionally distant: if she closes herself off to all emotions and reactions, she will suppress her need to cry. If she doesn't allow herself to feel anything, she will be able to keep the world safe.

But like, if she ever breaks a leg, she's not allowed to cry, because she doesn't want one stupid broken leg to cause the end of the world. She swallows the pain in silence.

She lost her father, who apparently was her only parental figure, at a young age and was left alone to learn how to tend to the kingdom. She had to attend her own father's funeral, knowing that she had potentially contributed to his death by being in the lab that day. And she was not allowed to have a little cry about it.

That's a lot of pressure, but it's not like she can complain, so she just has to deal with it as best as she can. Which in the game is shown by having Elise be a bit... bland, I guess? At times, I don't know if her weird way of responding to things was intentional or if it was just bad writing.

Either way, I feel like a better way for that to reflect on her character would be to make her stoic, cold and impassive when interacting with others. For her to be unresponsive to Sonic's jokes and Eggman's threats at the start of the game. As the story progresses, she gets to mature emotionally and realise how fucked up she is and how all of these bottled feelings are killing her inside.

Sonic bonds with Elise by providing opportunities and encouragement for her to feel things and express herself. He can see that she cares a lot about things, but it's buried deep down; he sees that beneath all the fear and responsibility she imposes on herself, there's a girl who cherishes her kingdom and loves the people around her fiercely.

But how to bring her out of her shell?

Instead of bringing Elise back to her castle only for her to be kidnapped again — Eggman does have robots all over the kingdom looking for her, — Sonic decides to bring her along for the adventure. After all, she should want to defeat Eggman and the threat he poses to Soleanna. With that, Elise can have more time to bond with other characters without having her whole personality sacrificed to a trope that does not server her or the story.

And the thing is, at first, she doesn't really believe in herself. She only sees herself as the vessel of Iblis, she doesn't know how to fight or run fast or anything like that. But Sonic pulls her along anyway, because she's determined and, believe it or not, she does have power.

And she laughs. She screams, she gasps, she gets a hug. Because if there is something Sonic knows very well, is that the world is beautiful and everyone should get to live life to the fullest.

Now please picture me this: Elise has a hidden feisty personality. As the story progresses and she slowly opens up, she starts showing a tiny little bit of a sarcastic side. She learns that she's an absolute sucker for adventure and speed and daring situations, a real thrill seeker. She starts somewhat confronting Eggman when he kidnaps her — listen, I'm not saying she shouldn't be kidnapped at all, it kind of ruins the fun of it if there are no stakes, but four times is a bit much — and expressing all her pent up anger.

Picture me an Elise who is so done with this shit while also being glad to blow some stuff up. She has that soft side of love and care but also fuck Eggman.

It's during this whole adventure that she gets to meet the cast. And holy shit.

The potential that the Elise & Blaze duo had, man. Elise has a FIRE monster inside of her, it would make so much sense for Iblis to manifest through FIRE powers. And you know who else has fire powers? You know who else is a princess? Who else started her journey as an emotionally stunted stranger who learns to open up thanks to Sonic & co.?

Blaze the Cat

YES, CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? WHY THE HELL DID THESE TWO NOT INTERACT AT ALL???

It being the "Flames of Disaster", Elise can only see Iblis as a source of devastation and pain. She's scared of ever tapping into that side of herself, for her responsibility is just to lock it away and never look at it. But she can't escape it. And it would have been beautiful for Blaze to teach her how to come to terms with it and harness her fire for warmth, light and protection instead of destruction — but also destruction, because you know, sometimes blowing stuff up is fun.

That would grant character development not only for Elise, but also for Blaze, who gets to see a form of Iblis she never imagined before. Iblis is a world-destroying monster, she can't control or defeat it even if she has a connection to it through the flames; but maybe that's not their job to do. They shouldn't be wasting their time running around trying to kill some hedgehog, they should be protecting Elise from being used by Eggman! — Because surely that's what caused the end of the world, right? Eggman being too greedy and freeing a beast he couldn't control? Seems like a logical conclusion by all Blaze knows.

And Elise meeting Silver. Oh my fucking god.

She remembers him. That is literally the first thing she sees when she meets Sonic! She remembers Silver from when she was a child, she remembers he saved her. He was the one who even remotely tried to comfort her when her father died and the one who witnessed the might of what's inside of her. If anything, she must have spent years wondering if she just imagined him or not, this must be such a surreal encounter!

(It was either that or she actually saw the destroyed future and Silver via Iblis or something, I'm not really sure what that first scene was supposed to be. But I'm going with the "she remembers him" path)

At first, Silver doesn't know her, of course; he's only here for Sonic! But when he travels back to the Solaris Project incident, everything changes. And as much as Silver wants to be bitter about how simple the origins of their problems were — how all of it could have been avoided if only those scientists weren't so greedy, if only they had been able to destroy the base form of Iblis before it became a monster, if only the responsibility of keeping it at bay hadn't been put on a little girl, if only she had been able to keep it trapped forever, if only, if only, if only — he can't find it in himself to be anything but compassionate towards Elise. The two of them are very alike, in a way: burdened with the weight of the world, a responsibility they never asked for, but unable to give it to anybody else or give up because they care too much.

So that's the irony of Silver's story: he came to the past with the intent of ending a life, when this whole time he was supposed to save a life. Not just to save his future, but because Elise, like him, was robbed of many things, and it's not fair. He wants to go back to his time knowing Elise would live to see a safe and happy future for herself for as long as she lived. If he couldn't save the future, then at least he can change the past and delay the inevitable, give this world a little more time.

Oh and that's not even to mention Mephiles. He himself is a wonderful villain, but the fact that he never interacted with Elise is such a shame.

Think of the direct influence Mephiles could have on Elise as the other half of Solaris. The ways in which he could have tried to deceive her. Yeah, he wants to drag this out and see everyone suffer for as long as possible, but he has a damn queen in his board, why should he only play with the pawns?

It could have helped push the story just a little further by having him communicate with Elise in any way, shape or form. Replace Eggman kidnapping her 137 times with Mephiles luring Elise and using her bottled up feelings against her. Let her be Solaris' unwilling ticking time bomb.

And of course, I couldn't leave this without talking about the big issue everyone has with Elise. The fact that most people only ever remember her as that random human girl who kissed Sonic that one time. Not only was that whole romance uncalled for, but I feel like the story could have benefited a lot more from their platonic feelings. Hell, let Elise be her own damn character. Let Sonic have a positive influence on her without breaking everything else. Let them remain as friends at the end of the story without resetting everything — and really, just let her know that, even if Sonic leaves Soleanna tomorrow, she'll be ok; she's more than ok now, actually.

TLDR; Princess Elise from Sonic 2006 could have been such a cool character with complex emotions, the fact that her legacy is what it is is really sad to me.

#make Elise set fire to things actually I think that would be fun. give this girl some whimsy in her life #*deflates* #it's been a while since I've last had a good rant about Sonic the Hedgehog #just finished the second season of Sonic Prime. Saw the last update of Sonic P-06 a few days ago too so I was in the mood today #Sonic 06 brings me so much nostalgia #Sonic Frontiers actually reminds me of it a little bit #In a good way #I'm glad with the direction the franchise is going on right now. RIP to 2006 tho #Sonic the Hedgehog #Princess Elise #Sonic 06 #character analysis #(kind of? very loosely) #TEV Talk

[h-worksrambles]

Sonic X Shadow Generations fascinates me. Because it feels like something I shouldn’t be excited for. And yet I absolutely am.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Sonic Generations. It’s my third favourite game in the series and my favourite 3D Sonic game (with Sonic Adventure 2 in a close second). I’m very happy to see it getting a re release to expose it to new audiences, and playing it in 4K60fps on my PS5 is a very enticing. Likewise, I really like Shadow as a character and I’m excited to play as him again.

And yet, his new bonus campaign promises to basically be a bunch of nostalgic pandering for Shadow the Hedgehog, a game which I consider to be, simply put, crap. It was boring, dull, colourless and embarrassing trend chasing. And pretty much everything I hated about it is on display in this trailer.

We’ve got gritty, grey cityscapes, we’ve got the rather blah alien villain, Black Doom returning, we’ve got the looming return of the series’…bafflingly executed lore. In a word, Shadow was a pretty much everything I didn’t want Sonic to be shoved into a blender. I’ve given my thoughts on revisiting past excesses and failures for the sake of nostalgia. I wrote a whole thing about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and my fears that it would go overboard pandering to the 2000s spin offs (which I dislike a for lot of the same reasons as a lot of Sonic stuff from the mid 2000s). A faux attempt at maturity that sacrifices Sonic’s camp and colour, and lacks the writing competency to make its tone shift work is pretty much my worst case scenario for the series. And now we’re invoking that for nostalgia? Again, I should hate this.

So if I dislike Shadow the Hedgehog so much. If it really is so emblematic of Sonic’s worst excesses that I want it to leave behind in the 2000s…then why am I so damn hyped for this? Why am I not feeling the same dread as whenever VII Remake implicitly threatens to bring back Genesis?

I think it’s because of the specific relationship Sonic has had with its past for the last decade. So much of the stuff from that time period is material that Sega has seemed actively scared to touch again. Sometimes with good reason. But I think that’s why some material from that time has gained such a strong nostalgic cult following, and why they’re held up as such bastions of missed potential. There’s never been anything quite like Shadow or 06 since they came out with how safe Sega has subsequently played things. And in many respects, that’s a good thing. But I can see how it build a sense of mystique around them. It was kind of sad to see 2010s Sonic so…scared of itself. Terrified to invoke its own history but not really committed to a new direction either. And this is pretty much the exact opposite of that hesitancy.

Basically, the reason I react to seeing Westopolis or Black Doom with ‘holy shit let’s go!!!’ rather than ‘why, god, why?’ is because I genuinely never thought I would see them again after this long. It’s just exciting to see Sonic Team throw caution to the wind and embrace all the parts of their franchise. Even the parts I personally dislike. Plus, Sonic Generations is kind of the perfect game in which to reimagine that stuff and make it..actually good this time. This was the game that made Crisis City of all things into a banger level. The game that took Silver, one of the most notorious boss fights in the series, and gave him a kickass encounter.

If they can fix that, they can do anything.

Plus, the fact that the trailers already show all these trippy stage effects and anime af boss fights and set pieces tells me we’re not just gonna be running through the same drab washed out burning cities that made Shadow 2005 so boring. Again, there’s evidently an effort being made to rehabilitate and reimagine this stuff, not just repeat all the same mistakes. And that’s exciting.

So yeah, Sonic X Shadow Generations has somehow managed to get me genuinely excited for all the parts of the series I typically balk at. And that’s pretty impressive.

That said, if I see Mephiles again, I’m leaving.

#my unhinged ramblings about a cool remaster #sonic x shadow generations #sonic generations #shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #basically a ramble about my love hate relationship with 2000s sonic

[dreamcast-official]

Um okay wait the headmates knowledgeable about sonic aren't in the front. Um. Okay what are your top five favorite sonic games and if you are willing to elaborate on them, why are they your faves?

OHHHH THIS IS A GOOD ONE... ok so:

sonic adventure 2. not only is this our favorite sonic game, it's our favorite game overall. everything about it lines up to make it basically perfect; the story, the gameplay, the soundtrack, the graphics, it's all amazing. it helps that it's "dated"; the graphics and soundtrack are very 2001 and i love that. the gameplay styles are varied enough that it doesn't stagnate but they're similar enough that it doesn't feel like you're just suddenly playing a completely different game. the way the hero story and the dark story explain everything but in very fragmented ways so it's up to the player to piece everything together, even after the last story, is just amazing storytelling. and the SOUNDTRACK!!!! live & learn is really the BEST track i've ever heard in a videogame. it is so fucking good.... of course the other tracks from sa2 are amazing too; not only are they good but they are devices for the storytelling and i LOVE when the soundtrack is part of the story as opposed to just noise. also the chao garden in sa2 is perfect.

sonic and the black knight. the story, the gameplay, the soundtrack and the characters are just... perfect to me. we are very much so aware that the sword gameplay is not everyone's favorites but it is our favorite so 💝 love and light. the story is so good and the themes are worked so well. the character writing is also so good, i could talk about it for hours, it feels like some of the best character writing of the entire series. the soundtrack in satbk is also just... so fucking good. knight of the wind, fight the knight, through the fire and with me are such good vocal tracks i dare say they're some of the best in the series. it probably also helps that we have a lot of nostalgia for this game as it was the first sonic game i got to play for myself. it's just so good.

sonic and the secret rings. that's right both of the storybook games end up on this list because they're just so good. secret rings has the same qualities satbk has, the only reason they're not tied is the motion gameplay in secret rings which can be uh. not good a lot of the time. but that's one detail so like... not enough to bring the entire game down, that's for sure. the story and characters in secret rings are just as good as satbk, i love it all so much. the soundtrack is also AMAZING, i mean, seven rings in hands is an absolute banger, the level themes are all amazing too. and in secret rings we got darkspine sonic, which is just probably one of the coolest transformations in the whole franchise. secret rings good.

shadow 2005. completely unironically i fucking love this game. the story is convoluted as hell and there was no reason to make this a game with multiple endings (let alone 326 different paths that the game accounts for) and that's what knocks it down a peg for us - this would've worked better as a straightforward game, without the branch endings, but it's understandable why they did that (it was the cool thing to do in 2005). the guns and vehicles are so silly when you look at it from outside but when you're actually playing the game they (mostly) work just fine and don't feel like they don't belong. also, the story is good. ik i said it would've worked better w/o multiple endings but even then it's a good story - and most of the endings are good conclusions to the story that's been built up. also the soundtrack in shadow 2005 FUCKS HARD i will never not say this. i am... all of me? all hail shadow?? never turn back??? ALMOST DEAD???? TRACKS THAT FUCK SEVERELY. I MEAN THIS.

sonic 06. i have nothing to say in my defense i just really like this game. it is however incredibly unplayable so it has to be at the bottom, but besides that?? good story, good soundtrack, good chatacters and a lot of promise. the story behind the development sonic 06 is also incredibly interesting to me purely because it had everything to do well if it wasn't for a small setback that snowballed into... a mess. the glitches are also funny ngl. the soundtrack for 06 is also my most beloved of ever, all of it is amazing. my destiny is one of THE most underrated tracks from the franchise i will NOT stop talking about it!!!! sega will die before they acknowledge this game and for that i live in sorrow but i do genuinely unironically enjoy it.

#solar system tag #milk.mail #THANK YOU

[latin-dr-robotnik]

1, 6, 16, 18, 29 :D

Oh, ‘sup beev :P

1. Why did you become interested in Sonic?

That’s the beauty of childhood - cool thing you see, cool thing you love. Technically I should’ve been a Mario fan (since SMB is the first game I’ve ever played), but Sonic was vibin’ better with me. It’s the SEGA marketing reasoning: he’s blue, he’s fast, he’s cool. That was enough to get me interested. Then the music and Sonic X helped me get invested for real in everything the series had to offer.

Also the worlds! The colors, shapes, sprites, the whole idea of an adventure interconnected instead of regular-ass 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. Everything came together quite well, honestly.

6. Favourite game(s)?

At this point I think you know the answer better than me :P

S3K is the absolute holy grail of Sonic, no questions asked and full nostalgia. But it’s a well-deserved nostalgia in my opinion, since even the biggest of Sonic’s detractors can’t bring down that game.

Sonic CD. I’ll forever defend this game’s lack of flow and weird pinballing across time periods. Beyond that, the music and art style carry this game all day.

Sonic Adventure. There’s no room for discussing nuances of Sonic’s transition to 3D, this was an almost perfect transition of classic era Sonic to 3D. Everything about this game is so cool, even the poorly aged cutscenes are endearing in a “so bad it’s good” way. Probably my favorite level lineup for Sonic, while I like to consider the others as little bonuses I can go for if I’m in the mood. And, of course, the music.

Sonic Unleashed. No nostalgia bias, but this is peak 3D Sonic for me - yes, even with the werehog. The world, the adventure, the world adventure; everything is so right with this game. It takes one of my favorite parts of Adventure (hub worlds) and makes them genuine places you want to live in. And while the gameplay is not exactly Adventure-formula, it got so many things right for its first time (if I want to go slower than normal Sonic I can boot up a werehog level, and trust me, I do that a lot.) And the music... well we are very trained on that aspect :P (Jungle Joyride Night > everything else.)

Sonic Mania. Yeah, I said it. Mania was the game I didn’t know I needed until I saw it for the first time. Growing up with the Genesis games you can absolutely conclude I was also part of the target demographic for this game, and I honestly don’t care. Mania looks great, plays great and sounds great (even if I’m getting a little tired of everyone recreating Tee’s Mania style for fangames and remixes), and while it ain’t S3K, it gets pretty close at times.

(Special mention to Sonic Colors, a little gem I still love 10 years later, and probably even more than ever right now. It’s fun, it’s harmless and it’s a pretty good time.)

16. Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?

Look at the previous question and guess which are my favorites, lol.

I’d add Rush, ‘06, probably half of Genesis 3D Blast, half of SA2 and Forces’ Avatar songs to the mix, and we’re golden. Hell, I’ll probably even add Lost World at some point.

18. Got any remixes you like?

heh, “any”?

An entire article, and also an entire Spotlight series dedicated to great musicians that have done at least one great Sonic remix in the past :P

Need more? Metal Sonic (Progressive House Remix); Aquarium Park ~ Act 1 (Remix); Turquoise Hill Zone Act 1 (Sonic Chaos Remake); My Sweet Passion (EuRosy Mix); Marble Zone '12; Labyrinth Zone '12; Evening Star ~ Tudd Future Funk Remix; Marble Zone ~ Joshua Morse Chiptune Funk Remix; Mystic Cave Zone ~ NewJackSwing Remix; Special Stage: Sonic 3D Blast Main Theme.

Funnily enough, I just noticed I’m mentioning fan remixes. For official remixes I think I’ll pick...

Seven Rings in Hand (Fairytales in Trance) (this is a great remix, I don’t know why you guys hate it so much </3)

Generations’ Stardust Speedway Bad Future US (it beat Forces for 6 years lol)

Hell, Gens’ S3 File Select is still so great.

Well, does a cover fit in the description? Because Crush 40′s Un-gravitify is probably the greatest underrated cover.

Green Light Ride (Tyler Smyth Remix), of course.

Ice Mountain.

The Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed Metal Sonic’s theme from S4E2. (This is the ultimate Metal Sonic theme and they just don’t use it anymore, SEGA you cowards.)

Also, Pleasure Castle is my favorite 3D Blast Remix, lol.

29. Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?

Face to face? Not really. I know about 3 people that live not that far from me, and technically we could meet up one day if we want to, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen haha.

Internet friends, on the other hand? Oh boy, a lot...

#ask latin dr robotnik #beevean #this took wayyyy too long #mostly because tumblr actually broke apart while i was writing this #it doesn't surprise me tbh - they pushed out an update i believe today or yesterday #but it was still annoying af

[crystalchimera]

With all this hype for Sonic Forces I’ve found myself looking back at the games that came before it and just going “wow” in amazement. Like, I love the Sonic games and their plots and their songs and everything, but looking back on them I’m getting like...a strange sense of nostalgia even though I haven’t played most of them?

Which kinda brings me to my next point. I feel like Sonic Forces is Roger Craig Smith's first big game, and what I mean by that I mean in terms of how impactful the game will be. Whether the game “flops” like Sonic 06, or becomes the “next greatest thing since white bread” like Sonic Unleashed/Generations doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the game will leave a big impact on Sonic.

Okay, now why am I saying this? Well, despite how weirdly I set this up, I’m writing this really just to express how happy I am for Roger, but also how sad I am that Jason Griffith is no longer doing Sonic. I KNOW, IT’S WEIRD considering the context and how I’m writing this. But re-watching the cutscenes from previous games, and re-watching Sonic X just got me feeling super nostalgic and making me realize just how much I miss his work. I actually have some very major feels because of this. :”D

But enough rambling, I don’t really know how to express my feelings about this properly so I’ll just stop while I’m ahead. jfgfjgh

So, to Roger Craig Smith. If by chance you find this, I’m so happy for you! I love your work on Sonic and it’s really nice to hear your voice! I always look forward to hearing your Sonic voice and I can’t wait to play Sonic Forces. <3

And to Jason Griffith, if you see this somehow. Whenever I think of Sonic I think of your voice first. You left such an impact on Sonic and on me. I’m glad you got to voice him for as long as you did. I really do miss hearing you play Sonic, Shadow, and heck even Jet! I wish you the best of luck on your future voice acting gigs, as well as your son! I look forward to seeing whoever you voice next. <3

#Roger Craig Smith #Jason Griffith #Sonic Forces #Sonic The Hegdehog #Sonic Unleashed #Chimera Ramblings #Aaaaaa fe e l s..... #Young Sonic fan gets feels over voice actor change that happened like 7 years ago #More at 11- #I can't believe I basically wrote an ope letter to Roger and Jason #What is my life right now #ADSAFSAD IGNORE THIS #I'M JUST HAVING DUMB SONIC FEELS #I FEEL KINDA BAD CAUSE I KINDA LEFT RYAN OUT??? #DON'T GET ME WRONG I LOVE HIM TOO #But he sadly didn't get to voice Sonic for as long as Jason has #So the impact left on me isn't really much #Ryan Drummond

[diamonddeposits]

BEST TRACKS OF 2017-ARTISTS LIST #12

WOOZLES

Emotional rock as bright as a votive candle.  Woozles is the avatar of Connecticut's very own  Conor Ryan and in his sound he perfectly captures the essence of relationships between friends and lovers, the restlessness of days both good and bad and the enduring spirit to carry on even when life keeps giving you the hits. His Wasted Nights LP was released earlier this year via the venerable Z Tapes . In 2017 he will be gifting us more music. Here is his list with some thoughts on his favorite artists that did not make the cut!

2017 has been an awful year in general, but an incredible year for music. If I were to have not given myself limits on this end of the year list it would have included Tyler the Creator, Paramore, Khalid, Lorde, Deerhoof, Japanese Breakfast, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Phoenix, Big Thief, and so many others. However, I wanted to try to focus on some "lesser known" bands that in my opinion might not have gotten the exposure they deserved this year. For anyone that just wants to listen instead of reading my rambling, here's a Spotify playlist of all the songs on this list that are available on Spotify. I hope you find some new hidden gems with this list and if you can be sure to support these artists! They need you! 

01. Rose by Sam Nazz I can't pinpoint in words exactly what makes this song so magical. Sam's vocals are absolutely incredible and the melody melts my heart. The lyrics are still cryptic to me, but somehow still hold a lot of meaning. For whatever reason, listening to this song has helped calm me down on multiple occasions this year and has helped me through a lot. 

02. Dark Red by Steve Lacy Wow this song is....amazing. The lyrics on this song hit hard for me and talk about dealing with anxiety in relationships, "What if she's fine / It's my mind that wrong." Steve's vocals are executed so well and I love the way the arrangement flows. There's a whole lot of amazing ideas packed into this three minute long song. This is going to be a bop for years to come. 

03. Lake by Flossy Clouds First of all, I want to say that this entire album is amazing. As a whole, it lives in a very special sonic world all on its own that I love to revisit, especially when I need to step back from the things running through my mind. This song in particular is a highlight that blends a borderline trap drumbeat with cycling acoustic guitars and emotional auto-harmonized vocals. Lyrically, like the last song, it touches on anxiety in relationships, but ends on a hopeful note, "But I remember when we're on the road / It doesn't matter where we go"

04. Footscray Station by Camp Cope Everything about this song is so special. The way this song unfolds rips my heart apart and makes me feel some kind of hard to pinpoint nostalgia. The lyrics are packed with such specific imagery that by the end of the song I feel like I've just finished reading someone's diary. Not to mention that the vocal delivery is so packed with emotion that it's hard to not hear this song without having tears in my eyes. 

05. Fault by Alex Napping Welcome to the heartbreak song with one of the best choruses of the year. It's a reflective song about feelings of guilt and blame in a relationship. The song builds a musical atmosphere that's painful and cathartic all at once. Not to mention, Alex's vocals are soaring on on this track, which elevates it to a whole other level. 

06. Makin' Excuses by Mister Heavenly Here's another song where it was hard for me to pick just one song from an album. Mister Heavenly is an indie supergroup composed of Honus Honus (the front person of Man Man), Nick Thorburn (the front person of Islands), and Joe Plummer (the drummer of The Shins). This song is a bop through and through. It has an infectious groove that bursts into pure sonic fun during the impossible-to-not-sing-along-to chorus. Lyrically it's about the hesitation that can come with starting a relationship. That feeling of not wanting to open yourself up completely and just be yourself with another person. On top of all this, the video is weirdly endearing and super creative. 

07. The Bus Song by Jay Som I can't say enough about how much I love this song and how much it means to me. The production on it is absolutely perfect, which is even more impressive when you consider that Melina Duterte wrote and recorded the whole album almost entirely by herself. The song is impeccably arranged and unfolds so perfectly. It's easily one of my favorite songs lyrically that I've heard in a long time, "Take time to figure it out / I'll be the one that sticks around" hits me so hard every single time I hear it. I've cried to this song more times than I'd like to admit, but it's also helped calm me down more times than I can count and I'm just so thankful that it exists. Also the music video might possibly be the most uplifting music video ever created. 

08. Divinity by Jelani Sei Before I go on, you all should buy this EP immediately. Trust me, it's so worth it. The first time I saw this band live I was absolutely blown away. I'd never listened to their recorded material before, but I was absolutely floored by their performance and immediately fell in love with their sound. Listening to this song on headphones is such a special experience. The production is just so creative and well executed. The actual arrangement is so groovy with so many moving parts, but that all fit together into a cohesive whole. I love this band with all my heart and can't wait for them to become huge because they truly deserve it. 

09. Gone by Queen Moo A staple of the Connecticut music scene, I've seen this band play live more than anyone else. On their sophomore album, Mean Well, they capture their own special brand of punk that twists and turns with an almost infinite amount of catchy hooks packed in. "Gone" is a highlight for me because it ebbs, flows, and builds so effortlessly both musically and lyrically. If you want a truly unique experience, treat yourself and dig into to this whole album. I promise it's worth it.

  10. Bronxville (Gasoline Fantasy) by False Priest Holy shit. This song should be a an alternative rock hit immediately. This should be blasting as you're flying down a desert highway with the setting sun as a backdrop. I'm gonna admit that I've listened to this song 10+ times in a row because it's so damn catchy. Everything is mixed perfectly with each instrument having just the right amount of punch. The lyrics deal with feelings of restlessness and that creeping feeling we all sometimes have of wanting to leave a situation, whether physically or emotionally, "A full tank of gasoline / Is really all you could need."

12. Interstate Vision by Lomelda The lyrics to this song capture something special that a lot of artists try and fail to bottle in a song. The chorus is simple, but with Hannah's vocal delivery it becomes extremely powerful, "Can you feel me now? Do you know me yet?" I feel a whole lot of random nostalgia while listening to this one. It's a magical song. 

13. Fit to Be Found by Harvey Trisdale This song is really special to me. It's the first single from my friend Jeremy's new band, who you might know as one of the songwriters in the band Furnsss (and his can't miss hit "Where Did My Pets Go?). We've been friends since 4th grade and he's one of the most talented musicians I know. Fit to Be Found is just ridiculously catchy and the dynamic builds throughout the song are perfect. Keep an eye out for the full album next year because it's going to blow you away. 

14. Jacuzzi by Cheem Bop bop bop bop this is a major bop. Cheem's sophomore LP, "Downhill," is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. Short songs packed to the brim with an incredible amount of extremely well-executed musical ideas. The chorus of "Jacuzzi" is catchy as hell, there's an awesome musical breakdown, the two vocalists (Sam and Skye) have some amazing vocal interplay, and the production is spotless. Lyrically it hits hard because it touches on dealing with mental health while trying to maintain a relationship, "You don't even know, the pressure that keeps me so low / Hold me close, I'll float away if you let me go." 

15. Anywhere by Fuvk This song is from an album that's technically two EPs put together in one. These collections of songs are both heartbreaking. The production, especially when listened to on headphones, is all encompassing. Everything feels so close and painful words pour out over gently plucked guitars and instruments that pop in and out in these beautiful arrangements. "Anywhere" is the opener and it immediately sucks you in. It's best experienced while lying on your bed staring at the ceiling. 

16. Need to Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag How can you listen to this song without grooving to it? I love everything about this song. Hooky guitar parts, powerful vocal delivery, a sweet bass groove, and "toasty" production to tie it all together. I love the lyrics for this song because they talk about wanting, as the song title says, to actually feel the love of someone else they're interested in. Both of the people in the song have been hesitant about opening up to the possibility of truly loving again, "I've been holding back so much / But at what cost?" In the end though, the chorus rings out as a proclamation of being willing to try again after all. It's a triumphant and dangerously catchy song that stays on repeat every time I put it on. 

17. On Top by Hoops Is this a perfect dream pop song? Hell yeah it is. There's a real warmth to this production that brings the instrumental arrangement to the next level. First of all, "On Top" is ridiculously catchy, which as you can tell by now is something that I'm a sucker for. The real reason I love this song though is the lyrics because the chorus is essentially cheering you on through those hard days, "Keep your head up, you're doing fine / I know it's hard but you'll be alright." This sounds wildly cheesy, but when I'm having a bad day and I put this song on it really does help me to push through. Thanks, Hoops, for rooting for me.

#BEST OF 2017 #woozles #hoops #sheer mag #fuvk #cheem #harvey trisdale #lomelda #false priest #queen moon #jelani sei #jay som #mister heavenly #alex napping #camp cope #flossy clouds #sam nazz #steve lacey

[brigade-claire-opinions]

Review: Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces (Switch)

But mostly Forces, oops.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Sonic fan. The Blue Blur has seen me through much of my life - in childhood, through my teen years, and now even to my mid-twenties. I’ve been there for every great Sonic game, for every poor Sonic game, and for every mediocre Sonic game. I’ve seen the Adventures, the 06s, the Unleashes, the Colors, the Generations, the Sonic 4s, the Booms. I’ve played the classic games, the Advance games, the Rush games, the Rivals games, I’ve even played The Dark Brotherhood. Sonic has been a part of my gaming life pretty much from the get-go.

When both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces were announced last summer, I found myself far more excited for Forces - then known as Project Sonic 2017. A new 3D Sonic game by Sonic Team, a completely fucked-up looking world, another Generations-style team up of Classic and Modern Sonic... count me in.

Sonic Mania, meanwhile, looked like a nostalgia trap. While I’ve always had a soft spot for the classic Sonic titles - Sonic 3 & Knuckles especially, as it was my first Sonic game - I’ve always preferred the 3D games. I like my Adventure games, my Colors, my Generations, even Lost World had its moments. I didn’t think I would enjoy Mania.

I was incorrect. Sonic Mania, while definitely a nostalgia grab, turned out to be a great experience, all the better because of the nostalgia factor. Each returning stage was remixed - both visually and audibly - with fantastic results; each original stage felt wonderfully handcrafted.

The controls were as smooth as butter. The game felt similar to the classic games, but... refined. Definitely better. The game had so many cool things going for it, too: drop-dashing as Sonic, having new routes (and even a completely different stage at one point) as Knuckles, Debug Mode, “& Knuckles” mode, the return of Blue Sphere, a better UFO mode than Sonic CD... Sonic Mania was a great time, and at $19.99, was a great value even with the short length. There was a lot to love there, and I was more than satisfied with the end result.

Yet... Mania felt like filler. Sonic Forces was still looming on the horizon, and despite thoroughly enjoying Mania, it was overshadowed by the new 3D game. I loved the opening theme - Fist Bump featuring Douglas Robb from Hoobastank. I loved the idea of being able to create an avatar - make all the jokes about fursonas that you want, but what a way to bring a new idea! And I loved that, gameplay-wise, the Avatar looked like a refined Sonic Boom character. I loved Infinite’s edgy OC feel and his edgy Punkstep theme. I loved just how... ridiculous, how over-the-top it all looked. I played the terrible Switch demo and wished I could play more than just one minute of each stage. When the game finally launched on Tuesday, I was more than ready.

I’m aware of the mixed reception of this title. I have both a PS4 and a Switch; I chose the Switch versions because Sonic has always felt more at-home on Nintendo for me than any of the other platforms. I’m aware that the Switch version of Forces is considered to be inferior to the others. I’m aware of the 30fps, the 720p, the reported framerate issues... I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I felt that I’d made the correct decision.

Ladies and gentlemen, it brings me great pleasure to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sonic Forces. That doesn’t mean the game is perfect - it’s definitely flawed, with some flaws more glaring than others.

Sonic Forces is split into four different types of gameplay - 2D platforming gameplay as Classic Sonic, 2D/3D hybrid gotta-go-fucking-fast platforming as Modern Sonic, Sonic Boom-esque 3D and 2D slower adventure platforming as the Avatar, and a team-up hybrid of Modern Sonic and the Avatar.

Ultimately, that last one is the game’s biggest flaw for me - the two gameplay styles don’t blend nearly as well as Sega thinks they do. It feels weird controlling two characters at once, and because the Avatar is slower than Sonic and doesn’t have a homing attack - they use a grappling hook instead - there’s a weird dissonance. Sonic will often speed ahead of the Avatar, and whenever you try to perform a homing attack, there’s an awkward second that Sonic will be floating in the air next to the Avatar as they fire their hook. The Team Boost function, while cool, feels needless. It’s more of a means to skip large sections of stages rather than actually play through them - and since the move is executed regardless of whether you properly perform the “required” QTE, control of the game is basically ripped from you.

I should note here that I played the game on Hard mode. Normal mode seemed to be “noob mode,” so I decided to try to make the game a little more challenging for myself. I had a blast on this mode, but my experience my vary from someone who played on Normal.

Playing as the Avatar is fun. After the first stage of the game, you’re tasked with creating your furry pal - you choose their gender, their race, their skin color, their fur color, and their voice. Each Avatar race has a different ability - I created a female wolf for my first playthrough, meaning that I drew in nearby rings as I went by them. After you beat the first Avatar stage, you unlock the ability to change their clothes and weapon - and this is where the meat of the Avatar system lies. There are many unlockable Avatar parts that you earn throughout the game. Some are fucking great looking; others, not so much. I spent much longer than I care to admit just customizing my wolf girl to make the cutest outfits I could, so take that for what it’s worth. It also helps that I had the preorder costumes, so my girl ran around in Joker’s coat from Persona 5 along with some Converse and cute gloves.

The Avatar is equipped with a weapon called a “Wispon.” That’s right, folks, the Wisps from Sonic Colors are back. However, with the exception of Yacker, their Hyper-Go-On energy is harnessed for use in the Avatar’s weapon. Each weapon uses a different Wisp to power its ability, and each stage is laden with them. Since the Wisps have no plot relevance yet again, I found this to be a cool excuse to use them - they seem to just be residents of Sonic’s planet now. The Avatar’s stages also have varying routes that can be accessed with different Wispon abilities, thereby upping replay value.

Yacker is used yet again as Modern Sonic’s boost ability. These stages are more of what you expect from Colors and Generations - boost, react to platforming challenges while boosting, occasionally switch to 2D mode for some precision platforming, etc. I did notice, however, that the game seemed to punish me for boosting mindlessly through these stages. I often found myself careening off ledges or right into enemies, causing some rather humiliating deaths. It’s important to note that most of these deaths felt like my fault and not the game’s - I wasn’t paying attention and I was punished for it. This is a huge factor for me. It’s one thing if a death is caused by my carelessness or lack of skill - it’s another if the game throws bullshit at me. Aside from a few instances where something seemed to just come out of nowhere, I felt that the game was fair with its punishment.

I wasn’t fond of the Classic Sonic stages in Generations. Classic Sonic felt weirdly floaty, stiff, and slippery. Those stages felt like a chore to me, and I pretty much only played them to get them over with so I could get to the Modern Sonic stages.

In Forces, Classic Sonic controls very similarly to how he did in Sonic Mania. He even has the Drop Dash ability, which makes him feel like a dream. I very much enjoyed these stages; none overstayed their welcome. While I feel that his involvement in the game’s plot is questionable, these stages were a nice change of pace.

The plot of Sonic Forces is ridiculous. Many of the reviews I’ve read have stated that it’s the worst part of the game, that it sullies the experience, etc. I know I’m in the minority, but I really, unironically enjoyed the story. Yes, like I said, it’s ridiculous, utterly stupid. But the game fucking commits to that shit. Sonic and Eggman are as cocky and arrogant as ever, Tails is still not-so-subtly gay for the Blue Blur, Knuckles and the rest are just kind of there... all of this is par for the course.

The over-the-top part of the story comes in the form of Infinite, the game’s new antagonist. This dude hates all things good, and is basically the culmination of every edgy Sonic OC ever created. He wears a mask, he has one weird demonic eye, he has a gem embedded in his chest that allows him to do crazy shit... while I know that he’s not some commentary on Sonic OCs, I like to think that Sonic Team was at least somewhat self-aware with this guy. Liam O’Brien voices him, which just increases the edge factor tenfold. Sonic is a great foil for him, too - whenever Infinite growls some edgy phrase, Sonic drops a dopey one-liner. Brilliant chemistry.

Let’s actually take a moment to discuss the voice acting. Returning as the voice of Sonic is Roger Craig Smith, who’s now portrayed the Blue Blur for longer than anyone else has, and in more things than anyone else has. If you liked him in the other games or shows where he’s Sonic, you’ll like him here - if you didn’t, then this game probably won’t change your mind. I personally love Smith’s take on Sonic and prefer it over Ryan Drummond’s and (vastly over) Jason Griffith’s. Like in Generations, however, Classic Sonic does not have any spoken dialogue, so he has no voice actor. I think that it’s really cute how he communicates in gestures and facial expressions, so this is a non-issue for me.

Mike Pollock’s Eggman is also as brilliant as always. He doesn’t really throw his voice around here like in the other games, probably because Eggman’s already achieved his goal here. The Eggman Empire is actually finally a thing - it’s so fucking gratifying to see, and Pollock really brings out that raging pride in Baldy McNosehair’s voice.

The rest of the voice cast is great too - Colleen O'Shaughnessey brings good performances for Tails and Charmy (though I can’t help but miss Kate Higgins for Tails), Cindy Robinson is good as Amy, Travis Willingham and Matt Mercer are good as Knuckles and Espio respectively, Karen Strassman really brings it for Rouge, Quinton Flynn is good as Silver, I can’t hear Vic Mignogna behind Omega’s voice filter, so thank the gods for that, you get the point. The voice acting is great.

I want to take a moment to applaud Kirk Thornton for his performance as Shadow. Before this game, I didn’t really care for his portrayal of Shadow. I couldn’t tell you what it was, but something just seemed off. He seemed miscast. This time around, however, he sounds great as Shadow. I still hold that Jason Griffith (yes, he voiced both Sonic and Shadow before the change) gave the best performance, but in my opinion, it seems like Kirk finally found his stride for Shadow in this one.

There are two ways to play as Shadow in this game - the first is through the free Episode Shadow DLC, which serves as sort of a prequel to the events of the game. The second is that when you S rank certain Modern Sonic stages (or all of them, maybe? I haven’t S ranked all of them yet), you can play as Shadow on subsequent run-throughs. As of this writing, I haven’t played through Episode Shadow yet, but I have played as Shadow in two Sonic stages. It may just be me, but he feels different from Sonic - he feels more like he did in Adventure 2, which is great. His boost is also pretty silly to look at.

The music in Forces is top-notch. Classic Sonic stages have a chiptune sound to them, remnicscent of the hedgehog’s 8- and 16-bit adventures. Modern Sonic stages tend to have fast-paced rock soundtracks, as is custom for our green-eyed friend. The Avatar has electronic music in their stages, so expect lots of techno wub.

In all, Sonic Forces is a pretty good package. My playthrough clocked in at about 8 hours, which I’m okay with, but may be a little skint for the $40 price of admission. Still, I had a great time with the game. It scratched the itch I’ve had for years for a good 3D Sonic game. I noticed none of the technical issues that others have pointed out, so take that for what it’s worth. While it may not be perfect for everyone, it was good enough for me.

This year was a great year for Sonic, with games that should satisfy both types of Sonic fans. Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces are both available for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Sonic Mania goes for $19.99, while Sonic Forces retails for $39.99.

#review #Sonic Forces #Sonic Mania

[newstechreviews]

So far, the music of 2020 has been defined by its absences. Tours have been postponed; festivals have been canceled. Many high-profile artists, including The Dixie Chicks, Sam Smith and Alanis Morissette, have scrapped their albums for the time being, leaving immense holes in the year’s release calendar.

But plenty of excellent music has been released anyway; some of it seems to address the fragile state of the world directly, while other albums act as welcome reprieves. From Fiona Apple’s return to Lil Uzi Vert’s ascendance, here are the best albums of the year up to this point.

Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

It’s bold for a young pop star to title her album Future Nostalgia; it suggests a claim to timelessness, the kind of music that will represent an era and bring fans rushing back to that moment in their lives whenever it plays. Lucky for Britain’s Dua Lipa, that boldness paid off on her sleek, disco-leaning sophomore project. Lipa has a knack for earworms; her breakthrough came on 2017’s inescapable “New Rules.” Future Nostalgia, on which she has songwriting contributions on every track, has several: the kiss-off anthem “Don’t Start Now,” the passionate dance track “Break My Heart,” the winking, lusty “Physical.” It takes a masterful artist to sing lyrics like “My sugar boo, I’m levitating” and sell them. But Lipa is on top of her game, flavoring her rich soprano voice with a warm sense of humor in songs that rely on juicy, sticky beats. By the end of the album, a term of endearment like “honey boo” sounds timeless, too.—Raisa Bruner

Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Fetch the Bolt Cutters is what happened when Fiona Apple, now decades into a career during which she’s been both a critical darling and subject of controversy, let go of any last shred of her need for approval. Apple recorded this album entirely in her home in Venice Beach with trusted friends and collaborators; you can hear her and her friends’ dogs barking in “Fetch the Bolt Cutters,” and the percussion is often crafted from found items around the house. But in its 13 wry, witheringly honest tracks, Apple’s newfound musical freedom has also drawn up some of her most powerful indictments of both other people and the shackles that accompany celebrity and womanhood. The album feels potent, like something Apple had to get off her chest. There’s the unmodulated yodeling at the end of “I Want You to Love Me,” the rush of “Shameika,” the comic delivery of “Ladies, ladies, ladies.” “Kick me under the table all that you want, I won’t shut up,” she intones on “Under the Table,” and it’s both both a statement of resilience and a reminder that music can offer us much more than love stories. Fetch the Bolt Cutters is about friends, acquaintances, bosses, lovers, exes, societal forces: every kind of relationship, put under Apple’s microscope and unleashed as an anthem of individuality.—Raisa Bruner

Grimes, Miss Anthropocene

The recent headlines about Grimes have covered everything but the music—her baby’s name, her Twitter feuds, the labor politics of her boyfriend Elon Musk. It’s a shame, because her latest album Miss Anthropocene rivals anything she’s released over her decade-long career. At first glance, its muddled electro-pop aesthetic and lyrics might seem to obscure Grimes’ lofty stated goal of creating a “death god” representing climate change. But each melody is an earworm, and terrifying themes gradually unfold in mantras: “Cross my heart and hope to fly”; “I wanna play a beautiful game even though we’re gonna lose”; “I hear they’re calling my name/ I’m not gonna sleep anymore.” Grimes might be a controversy magnet, but she’s also still one of the most compelling and ambitious pop artists of the ‘00s.—Andrew R. Chow

Jeremy Cunningham, The Weather Up There

The Weather Up There grapples with one of the most painful topics imaginable: the murder of a loved one. Twelve years ago, the Cincinnati jazz drummer Jeremy Cunningham’s younger brother Andrew was shot to death at home by two men who mistook him for someone else. On this album, Andrew’s death is confronted in direct ways—voice message tributes from family members and friends, spoken word poems—as well as in musical form. And while the subject matter is anguished, the album is far from a difficult listen: Cunningham recruits some of the world’s best jazz musicians—like the guitarist Ben Parker and the cellist Tomeka Reid—to create gorgeous textures and probing melodies.—Andrew R. Chow

Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake

In March, while much the world’s population was cocooning in their homes, an impish 25-year-old iconoclast from Philadelphia erupted back into the cultural stratosphere riding a UFO and three alter egos. Eternal Atake, Lil Uzi Vert’s second studio album, is not just a streaming juggernaut—it racked up 400 million streams in its first week—but a classic of the streaming era, filled with incandescent melodies and an elastic sonic palette. Over 18 songs, Uzi shows off his array of approaches: he flips an overexposed Backstreet Boys song (“I Want It That Way”) into something genuinely new (“That Way”); stretches his voice to its highest and lowest registers (“You Better Move”); turns the word fragment “Balenci” into some kind of inexorable incantation (“Pop”); and proves he can rap with the best with them (on the turbo-charged “Homecoming”). A few years ago, Uzi was a distracted challenger to hip-hop’s royalty; now, he’s the center of the world, or possibly the universe.—Andrew R. Chow

Makaya McCraven, We’re New Again: A Reimagining

Since Gil Scott-Heron’s death in 2011, the poet and musician’s legacy has only grown in stature, as more and more people become aware of his impact on modern protest rhetoric and the origins of hip-hop. In February, the jazz drummer Makaya McCraven released We’re New Again: A Reimagining, which is not just a tribute to Scott-Heron but a reinvigoration. The album is the third major conceptualization of vocal fragments delivered by Heron in the years before his death: The first, Richard Russell’s I’m New Here, was sparse and industrial, while the second, Jamie xx’s We’re New Here, recast Scott-Heron as a dance-floor prophet.

This version by McCraven—one of the leaders of jazz’s new global vanguard—perhaps comes closest to Scott-Heron’s own aesthetic and avant-garde approach. McCraven brings together an all-star band to create a diasporic collage of experimental black music: J Dilla breakbeats, free jazz brambles, Afro Latin grooves, neo soul. And while Scott-Heron’s lyrics address addiction, insomnia and alienation, McCraven finds a communal warmth in them—and perhaps a blueprint to overcoming isolation and oppression.—Andrew R. Chow

The 1975, Notes on a Conditional Form

At 22 tracks, Notes on a Conditional Form can feel more like a long, meandering stroll through the eclectic mind of lead singer Matty Healy than a concentrated artistic statement. That, perhaps, is the point. What does the duet ballad “Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America,” utterly tender and minimal, have in common with a Greta Thunberg spoken-word track on climate change, or the angsty punk rock of “People,” or the slow country swing of “Roadkill,” or the purely atmospheric glow of “Having No Head”? Just the source. The 1975 have never boxed themselves in; this mix of jazz production, experimental instrumentation and unusual song structures is par for the course over the British band’s nearly-two-decade career together. But Notes on a Conditional Form feels even more like a grab-bag of ideas than usual. They say Millennials are easily distracted, but here’s an argument in favor of being comfortable with constant tonal switching, because there’s beauty in the unexpected. It sounds like the group is trying new things in real-time, unfettered by the need to over-edit. Is it all performance, or is it authentic playfulness? Does it matter, when it sounds good?—Raisa Bruner

Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately starts with a ragged intake of breath. It’s a good idea to inhale along with Mike Hadreas, who performs as the alt-pop creator Perfume Genius, because the uncompromising album about to begin holds a lengthy, emotionally vibrant journey in store. Now on his fourth album, Perfume Genius proves he’s equally comfortable with off-kilter indie rock, shimmering synth-pop and any shade of genre in between. His songs work a bit like paintings, in which he transforms sweetly-textured melodies into sheets of echoing, punk-inflected sound (“Whole Life”), or spackles flecks of glitter over a grimy base (“Leave”). Or, as on “Without You,” he can make a rock tune that twinkles, full of color. Perfume Genius has regularly plumbed his experiences of identity, relationships and pain for lyrical content. Here, he’s more opaque than ever. But pay close attention, and he’s also found new points of relating. “Take this wildness away,” he pleads over the bright swing of “On the Floor.” Listeners might beg to disagree.—Raisa Bruner

Yaeji, What We Drew

Over last few years, the bilingual Korean-American artist Yaeji has been throwing low-burning dance parties across the globe, linking up with local artists to create music that transgresses genres and cultures. Her mixtape What We Drew is an extension of this expansive vision: it includes producers from London and Tokyo and rappers from Oakland and North Carolina and pulls from trap, footwork, industrial music and even ASMR. The result is a simmering 40-minute recreation of a sweaty Brooklyn warehouse dance party. Throughout the project, Yaeji’s exploration of contrasting opposites—local and global, mythical and mundane, euphoric and depressive—keeps the project fresh listen after listen.—Andrew R. Chow

#Blogger