ASH'S SPRING 2023 FAVORITE SONGS SPOTLIGHT: 3rd Ave, Deadbeat Girl, P.H.0, Strawberry Launch

Spotlighting some of my favorite songs from the Spring 2023 semester!

Reviewed by Alex Han

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please support each of the artists featured in this article by streaming their music! I've provided links to the featured songs in the author's notes at the top of each of their respective reviews. 

GREETINGS TO ALL AND welcome back to NYU MTech Music Reviews! I took something of an unplanned temporary hiatus from working on this blog during the month of June, due to a couple of surprise plot twists in my life that unfortunately kept me away from my music review work. Hopefully, though, I'll be making up for that absence today! I've got a crazy long article for you all in the form of a set of in-depth reviews, looking at some of my favorite songs from the Spring 2023 semester in MTech! You all know the drill—I've spoken with some of the individual artists involved to get their thoughts on the process, and feel free to read their commentary on the tracks below! And as always, make sure to stream their music via the links I've provided below. Happy reading (and listening!) and I'll see you further on down the page!

3rd Ave - ackerman

Stream "ackerman" on all platforms (and check out its animated music video) through 3rd Ave's Linktree!

 

The illustrious career of MTech undergrad hip hop collective 3rd Ave reached another milestone early in May, with the release of their most recent single, "ackerman". Debuted on a live stage for the first time at April's MTech Invasion festival, "ackerman"'s floor-shaking chorus, complete with a chant section purpose-built for audience participation, was a huge treat to watch. Closer in spirit to 3rd Ave's debut single, "Gottem", than to their R&B fusion endeavor "how u like" and their wavy rap rock effort "FAHRENHEIT", this new single embraces a fun-loving braggadocious swagger that puts 3rd Ave's relentless chemistry front and center. I was really excited to review this one, since I'm not sure any of the other 3rd Ave releases to this point have featured primary production from TypeOh, whom I was eager to see harness his production talents in the wider scope and eclectic context of 3rd Ave.

 

 

Pictured above: Jaden Tyler (left) and TypeOh (right) performing together at MTech Invasion. Photography courtesy of Ava Joyce (@avajoycee).

 

 "The process of me making the beat actually started from searching through old Japanese samples to make a Nujabes-type song because I was going through a Nujabes phase at the time. I then came across this one song that had this flute part that I knew would sound perfect with trap drums so I transitioned it to that instead of Nujabes-style drums like I was intending to do at first." –Luke Oh a.k.a. TypeOh

Opening with a snippet of archive audio from a 3rd Ave recording session, alongside an aged, retro-traditional flute sample, "ackerman" establishes a good vibe from the get-go. Mathias, Luke, & Jaden are heard laughing and bantering as they practice and flub their lines, which helps to create a distinctly tongue-in-cheek atmosphere that calls back to "Gottem" more so than the much more self-serious "how u like" and "FAHRENHEIT". The beat drop takes us into a simple, feel-good Southern trap instrumental, anchored by a steady, full 808 and regular, ticking hi-hat loop, with the slightly woozy flute sample playing over top; for me, the sound of "ackerman" and its instrumental calls back to an era of mid-late 2010s bouncy, sample-based trap music, equal parts "Mask Off" and "a lot", sonic territory which holds a lot of nostalgia for me. TypeOh's characteristically scrappy & braggadocious vocals deliver a catchy hook, armed with quick-footed sixteenth note flows and tasteful vocal doubling that imbues the chorus with an infectious, energetic, earworm quality. Somewhat humorously, tucked away under his vocals is a sample of a sound that I'm sure all of us who went to high school in the United States recognize—that being the iconic FitnessGram PACER Test and its uniquely deadpan narrator, who repeats "down, one, down, two" in its signature monotone. This opening leg of "ackerman", including the intro and first chorus, is such a fun and enjoyable listen, and sets up the rest of the track to be a loose, hugely fun endeavor that practically promises a good time along the way.

 

 

Pictured above: Jaden Tyler delivers a verse. Captured by Alex Ehasz (@ae_taylor_photo).

 

"The beat was really simple so I wanted to add something to spice it up and I just randomly thought of putting the PACER test on it and it ended up sounding good." –Luke Oh a.k.a. TypeOh

 

"Luke first played me 'ackerman' in his dorm one night at some point at the beginning of second semester. He said he was gonna trash it but when I heard it I was like 'we gotta use that'… especially with the PACER push-up test shit in the beat it was too crazy not to use." –Mathias Quilon a.k.a. Thai Thai

One of my chief criticisms of "how u like" was the lack of a Jaden Tyler verse, and it seems that the members of 3rd Ave preemptively addressed this particular point of contention with "ackerman", as it is Jaden who takes the song's first verse. He immediately drops into a catchy flow in his characteristic near-whispered spoken deadpan delivery, which made for quite a vibe switch compared to TypeOh's high-energy chorus just a moment before. I found myself not really in love with the vocal processing on Jaden's lead vocal here, though, with the combination of the slightly telephonic frequency response and liberal use of compression resulting in some weird high-end mouth noises coming through on occasion. Still, though, I thought this verse was really nice, and definitely was a satisfying return to form after the hard-felt absence of Jaden's pen game from "how u like". Jaden's flow is irresistibly catchy, and his laconic monotone makes for an excellent contrast with TypeOh's braggadocious delivery.

 

Pictured above: 3rd Ave performing "ackerman" at MTech Invasion. Captured by Alex Ehasz (@ae_taylor_photo). 

 

"We all loved the beat as soon as Luke played it for us… This one I knew I had to rap on, and used the references to spinning in the hook as a jumping-off point for my verse. I've never really loved the way I sound when I rap so I had been and still am experimenting with my delivery, and I was very happy that the whispering sounded as good as it did." –Jaden Tyler

 

Thai Thai enters the track in force after a repetition of TypeOh's chorus, blasting in with a breezy triplet flow and a ton of swagger. He delivers bars that detail his exploits with relationships & sex, fitting right in with the track's free & easy, half-joking spirit. The nimble, fast flow switches towards the second half of his verse were also really nice, and did a lot to showcase Thai's prowess as a rapper and vocalist. I thought the vocal doubling and overall mix on Thai's vocals sounded awesome, as he manages to sound forceful and also somewhat light & vivacious all at once. TypeOh gets his own verse shortly thereafter, and I found myself a bit less enamored with the vocal mix he got; he sounds a bit thin, especially on the heels of Thai Thai's verse, and I thought I was also catching hints of some of the same mouth noise from Jaden's verse earlier in the song (all the parts appear to have been recorded on the same day in the same dorm room, and presumably on the same microphone, so that makes sense). The mixing doesn't detract too much from Luke's flow, though, which remains as lithe and acrobatic as ever, flickering in and out with the speed of a boxer's fists. A couple choruses later and the song is done, exiting gracefully just past the three-minute mark.

 

Pictured above: All the members of 3rd Ave. From left to right: Suzie Sanford, Jaden Tyler, Anshoo Saha, TypeOh, Thai Thai, nickwuh. Captured by Ava Joyce (@avajoycee).

 

"We're really happy with how 'ackerman' is doing right now… To me, 'ackerman' is our best song. I can listen to it over and over again without getting tired of it; I love that song so much." –Mathias Quilon a.k.a. Thai Thai

I feel like it's somewhat anachronistic to use the term "easy listening" in reference to unapologetic trap bangers, but "ackerman" is unabashedly smooth and infectious, to the extent that it's developed a tendency over the past couple months to surreptitiously slide into my Spotify queue anytime I'm listening to music. It represents a flippant, wry spin on the blustering & posturing that is at the core of much of hip hop, communicating a great deal of 3rd Ave's confidence and drive while also showcasing their fun-loving, good-humored spirit. I continue to be impressed by 3rd Ave's increasingly widespread output, as "ackerman" slots into their existing discography really nicely; it embraces the supremely catchy, hooky nature of the earnest R&B slow jam "how u like" and combines it with the bouncy production and white-hot pen game of the pseudo-comedy atonal banger "Gottem" to create a track that to me feels like the total package of everything that makes 3rd Ave great. Jaden, Mathias, and especially Luke, really got a chance to shine here, and they made excellent use of their time in the spotlight, gifting us with a hugely fun track that is sure to end up somewhere up high on my Spotify Wrapped at year's end. To sum it all up, "ackerman" is an insanely enjoyable track that ranks as possibly my favorite track yet from 3rd Ave, and leaves me all the more excited to see what's next in store for them.

Deadbeat Girl - These Walls

Stream "These Walls" and its parent project, the five-track extended play What Will It Take, through Deadbeat Girl's Linktree page! Also, feel free to check out my full-length review of the EP at this link.

 

It was cause for celebration when Deadbeat Girl a.k.a. Valentina Olson released their debut project, the five-track EP What Will It Take? midway through last spring. I'd been following their music for a long, long time, ever since lead single "Another Day" made its initial debut in front of a crowd for the first time during a Collegium listening session that took place during my first months in MTech. The whole EP, itself comprised of three previously-released singles out of five tracks, ended up occupying a bit of a weird niche for me, at times feeling more like a short-form compilation or bundle than a proper debut project of new material. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the project—on the contrary, the songs themselves were practically bulletproof, and made a very strong case for Valentina's myriad talents as a songwriter and lyricist. The fact that I had heard most of the songs before simply served as minor obstacle to my enjoyment of the project as a whole.

"These Walls" is the third track on What Will It Take? and is one of the two brand new tracks on the project. It's hard to remember a track that provided as thrilling a listening experience as "These Walls" did for me the first time through, in part because of its pleasantly-surprising decision to shoot for a noticeably different aesthetic and feel than the rest of the EP's solidly alternative, pop punk flavor. The track opens with a few layers of acoustic guitars outlining a simple, two-chord progression, with soft finger-picked passages and pointed harmonics in tenuous coexistence with one another; the resultant mood is equally plaintive as it is anguished, setting up the narrative and themes of the track perfectly. A kick drum enters soon after, giving us our first glimpse of the track's rhythmic pulse, pounding out a steady, albeit slightly muffled, four-on-the-floor beat that seamlessly slots into the existing 12/8 groove. It was with this four-on-the-floor kick, and the subsequent synthetic white-noise riser that drops us into the first verse, that I got my first taste of the track's ambitious fusion of acoustic, singer-songwriter indie folk with chilled-out electronica and minimalist techno.

 

"Feels so close but yet so far

I chase for freedom up until I fall

Feel so trapped inside these walls

Does anyone understand me at all?"

 

Valentina's vocals enter after the riser in what reads like a subdued, acoustic spin on an EDM beat drop. They sing from behind a dense, short, claustrophobic reverb, implying a sort of confined and airless performance space, almost like singing from inside a coffin. The lyrics embrace an earnest simplicity that pairs remarkably well with Valentina's gripping vocals; bleeding with emotion and stinging like a gaping wound, her performance conveys the lyrical themes of imprisonment with a deft directness that works very well. As the title suggests, "These Walls" is about feeling trapped in one's own mind, a slave to depression & suicidal thoughts, and about feeling forced to chase after someone else in order to try and compensate for the self-love one lacks. In keeping with this theme, I really admire the track's acceptance of imperfection. Valentina's vocals, while never sounding out of tune or lacking in emotion, have a certain shakiness to them that absolutely sells the mental health struggle behind the narrative of this track. In a similar vein, the acoustic guitars hit buzzy notes from time to time, which I thought added an interesting layer of harshness on top of the otherwise very sweet melodies and progressions—the occasional fret buzz piercing through the mix reminds me of a self-hating intrusive thought briefly surfacing above the subconscious. The narrative and emotions come through really strongly, which in my opinion made for the track's biggest selling point; Deadbeat Girl's haunting evocation of depression and suicidality gives this track in particular a very, very strong ability to pluck at the heartstrings.

The arrangement and production choices also do a lot to further the presentation of the whole thing. The same two-chord progression loops throughout the whole song, but it's never presented through the exact same sonic palette twice, with little changes being made each time around to keep the soundscape evolving and moving forward. Little, distant shakers and hollow synth pads occasionally augment the instrumental background, while various electronic sound effects & production tricks—claps, risers, filter sweeps, reverb swells—enhance the feeling of sinking ever deeper as the track plays on. Of course, Valentina themself contributes a great deal to the track's stellar arrangement as well, performing some anguished backing vocal passages alongside distantly chopped & manipulated duplicates of her vocals in parts, which I thought made for a compelling representation of the conflicting inner voices and internal monologues in one's headspace. Perhaps the most left-field sound effect in use here plays during the track's outro, and takes the form of an answering machine, playing a message left to Valentina. The disembodied telephone voice encourages Valentina that they will survive, before leaving the guitars to take us down and out of the track, ending us off on a poignant, if only ambiguously optimistic, note.

"Hey, Val. I know life's been hectic right now…

but trust me, you'll get through this.

I miss you a lot.

Call me back when you get a chance, okay?

I love you.

Bye."

Before What Will It Take? I knew Deadbeat Girl only within the context of their firmly alt-rock sound, and I never would have expected to fall so in love with a track like "These Walls" from an artist like Deadbeat Girl, but it absolutely works to great effect. Hints of Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and The Cure are augmented with shades of Tchami, Kilo, and Massano, all mapped over Deadbeat Girl's tortured brand of lyricism and starkly vulnerable performance. It's a very striking combination that truly has no right to work as well as it does. Seriously—this is a weird one for me, especially knowing my own musical tastes and preferences. "These Walls" has no discernible chorus, it doesn't really have a clear-cut emotional climax towards which the song builds, and it isn't conventionally "catchy" in the way I would usually want from a song. The remarkable part, though, is that "These Walls" truly doesn't need any of those qualities. It exists on the strength of its narrative, production, and arrangement, which combine to create an emotional experience so potent that the track really has no need for a catchy pop chorus to carry us through. Coming back to this song after listening to the drum & bass-influenced "When You Went", Deadbeat Girl's most recent release at the time of this writing, makes me appreciate it all the more. "These Walls" is subtle, slinking, suffocating, with a layer of tarlike malevolence bubbling just beneath the surface, and an undertone of very real existential terror that makes it extraordinarily relatable. Yes, there's very much a place in the world for the exhilarating, floor-shaking, cathartic bombast of "Another Day", and the overwhelming angst of "When You Went", but there's also just as much a need for "These Walls"—which at its core is about nothing more than the constant, day-to-day, moment-to-moment internal struggle to convince yourself that life is still worth living, and I think that's a reminder we could all use every now and again.

P.H.0 - Yè (feat. Her Dark Heaven)

 

Stream "Yè", along with the rest of its parent LP, Karma, at P.H.0's Linktree page!

 

When the genre-bending, neo-traditional, maximalist electronica banger "Ascension" arrived on streaming platforms last spring, I got my first taste of MTech graduate collective P.H.0, whose spin on a crossgenre fusion between Eastern folk music and Western trance-techno rapidly established itself as one of my absolute favorite listening experiences ever. Based in Mongolian morin khuur alongside fast-paced breakbeats and massive metal guitars, a combination that I'd worried would feel somewhat schizophrenic in nature, "Ascension" nevertheless managed to feel laser-focused and altogether airtight in its construction. It was a uniquely phenomenal listening experience that captured something ephemeral but also deeply felt, making visible for the first time a bridge connecting Eastern and Western music in a way I had never realized was possible. The eventual release of P.H.0's debut LP, Karma, only served to further solidify my faith in the group's artistry, as the LP serves up ten tracks that together form conclusive proof that the head-spinning crossgenre appeal of "Ascension" was not a fluke, making for one of my favorite albums in recent memory. Today, I'm spotlighting the third track off of Karma, titled "Yè", featuring lead vocals from Jack Doyle of self-termed heavy metal/gospel band Her Dark Heaven. As the only track on Karma with vocals, I was especially interested to see the end result. The dynamic, ever-evolving interplay between the five members of P.H.0 continues to be one of my favorite aspects of the group's music, but I remember being intrigued to see how the members of P.H.0 would go about adding a vocalist to their already very full-sounding maximalist aesthetic. 

 

Growing out of a riff established in the album's preceding track, the dreamy interlude-esque "Shin", "Yè" opens with a perfectly-executed seamless transition that takes the riff loosely articulated in "Shin" and brings it into sharp relief. Guitarist Jun Guo hits us with multiple layered parts, with heavy stereoized power chords punctuating the starts of each phrase, while a cleaner, zither-like pentatonic chordal part cuts right down the center of the stereo field, instantly creating that "Eastern folk meets metal" crossover fusion vibe that P.H.0 does so well. Little synth bubbles, presumably of modular synth artist Minghim Tong's design, flicker in and out of the stereo field, adding a nice sense of texture to the track's intro. Before long, Pierre's relentless drums slam into focus, with a complex, rapidly-pulsing doom metal kick pattern under a steady, metronomic hat line and a tight, punchy snare. Jun's guitars are a titanic force to be reckoned with, roaring like a hurricane, accompanied by screaming synthesizer leads whipping past the listener's head, plus a deliciously syncopated bassline. Even amongst the grand scale and sweeping audioscapes of Karma as a project, this intro really stands out to me as a prime example of P.H.0's penchant for the dramatic, effortlessly capturing the sheer force of heavy metal through a distinctly cinematic lens.

"A Japanese CPU dreams

Of electric sheep while the system sleeps…"

 

The verse brings a catchy, pentatonic lead vocal melody line, with lyrics that further Karma's distinctly cyberpunk aesthetic. Jack's voice is plaintive yet disconnected, floating over the instrumental with a certain apathetic disaffectedness that implies a state of greater emotional turmoil. Jack serves the track excellently, stepping into a role much more akin to that of a narrator of high fantasy as opposed to a central protagonist; his performance captures the mystical, epic flair of P.H.0's sound effortlessly. He is carried along by crunchy glimmers of synthesizer textures and a space-heavy sub bass, as the production lends us a brief moment to breathe before the hook. Octave-doubled backing vocals bring his soaring melody into sharp focus during the chorus, as Jack hits some high-pitched almost-wails that evoke a sense of distant anguish, as the drums and guitar crash together in glorious unison. The chorus is an excellent earworm, with the vocal melody, lyrics, and flow intertwining together to create a hook that sticks solidly in the brain just as well as the best of them.

 

"All I can be

Is the ghost in your machine"

After the hook, we pull back a little once again, and it is here that Chi-Chi Qiao's erhu gets the spotlight for the first time. P.H.0's unusual and eclectic lineup is definitively one of my favorite elements of the band's sound, and the marriage between the traditional folk leanings of the erhu and the futuristic beds of synthesizers employed on this track works especially well here. Chi-Chi trades melodic passages with some vocal chops, pentatonic melodies from each alternating and growing progressively more distant. Chi-Chi remains an expressive an erhuist as ever, employing trills and vibrato to give the instrument a soaring, weeping timbre that interplays really well with Jack's vocals. Chi-Chi and Jack together take the second verse, with the two displaying really remarkable melodic chemistry as they duck in and out of the soundscape in an almost dancelike fashion. Pierre keeps the momentum building with a syncopated tom rhythm before the chorus comes crashing back in, with Chi-Chi's wailing erhu passages drifting dreamily over the top.

 

Jun leads us into a sparse, halftime black metal breakdown, playing fuzzed-out, lurching melodies before the whole band pulls back once again to leave room for some soft, arpeggiated guitar layers. The whole band's sense of pacing on this track really impresses me, no doubt due to the efforts of Howard, the collective's enigmatic and mysterious (and newlywed!) producer. The emotional & narrative trajectory of "Yè" is blocked out remarkably well; where other attempts at music this heavy and maximalist might be overstimulating, "Yè" always seems to know when to drop things out and let us breathe before resolutely pulling us back in again. The buildup to this last outro/bridge sees Minghim's synth textures gradually build, layering on top of Jun's guitars, as Jack performs a really woozy, deadpan, low-octave middle eight that showcases some really impressive vocal range. We get one more moment of Jack's gripping, soaring vocals and guitar-driven catharsis before the whole track breaks down and devolves into an ultra-downtuned, slowed-down metal break before the whole thing seemingly flies apart and dissolves into the abyss, the soft rustle of distant wind taking us out of the track.

While there is no shortage of artists who continually challenge notions of genre and redefine what it means to be a musician within the walls of MTech, P.H.0 is probably one of the most left-field acts I've ever come across, in MTech or otherwise. Their proclivity for seamlessly fusing together both Eastern and Western musical ideas and stylistic sensibilities itself becomes a provocative commentary on international diaspora and what it means to exist with both feet in different worlds. As quite possibly my single favorite track by the group, "Yè" is a stunning showcase of innovative production, virtuosic musicianship, and catchy pop appeal, all while demonstrating an unmistakable foundational respect for folk music and tradition. I'm a huge fan of nostalgia in music, being myself an unabashed proponent of the current '90s emo/pop punk revivalist movement, and of the '70s brushed-soul Motown aesthetics embodied by Leon Bridges and Silk Sonic, but P.H.0 embraces something altogether more ancient and storied, capturing a long and vibrant cultural heritage with a rich, calligraphic edge that lends the music a certain fantastical romanticism. With this in mind, something tells me that no matter where you're from, you'll find something in this music that speaks to you. In short, P.H.0 is the future, and I firmly believe that we'll end up traveling in their wake one day, and I remain ever more excited to see what new ground they'll forge into tomorrow.

    

Strawberry Launch - Ready Yet

Stream "Ready Yet" on all platforms via Strawberry Launch's Linktree page! Reggie's review of "Ready Yet" is also available in our April 2023 Singles Spotlight article!

 

All photos sourced from the photo gallery available on the official Strawberry Launch website. 

 

When über-acclaimed psychedelic indie outfit Strawberry Launch released their long-awaited single "Ready Yet" this past April, I had no idea I was listening to a song that eventually would grow to be very close to my heart. "Ready Yet" was a comeback of sorts, the first new music released by the band since their self-titled EP all the way back in the summer of 2021, and I observed a fair amount of buzz on the eighth floor leading up to the release. Of course, being on the writing staff for this blog, I put a mental bookmark by the song, and pitched it to Reggie Katz shortly after its release, who wrote his own very comprehensive review of the track for that month's Singles Spotlight article. However, even after that article was published, I found that "Ready Yet" stuck around in my Spotify rotation. I just kept coming back to it. Even now, it's still there, firmly anchored in my Spotify On Repeat; I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being my #1 most replayed song of the year at this point. So obviously, I love this song, and I'm here today to tell you why.

"Ready Yet" dives right into the first verse from its opening, with Riiza's soft vocals leading us into shimmery, psychedelic guitar strumming that serves as the main background element for much of the first verse. The combination of the big vocal plate reverb and Matrianna's huge, wide-panned, slightly chimey-sounding layers of acoustic and electric guitars puts the song smack dab in the middle of quintessentially Strawberry Launch sonic territory mere seconds in, calling back to songs like "Sophie" and "That's On Me" from their 2021 self-titled EP. Underneath the guitars, Abby delivers an steadily journeying bassline, ornamented with all sorts of little melodic runs and slightly syncopated hits that remind me a little of bassists like Mike Dirnt and J. Tyler Johnson. Riiza's lyrics here deal with the somewhat mundane, un-glamorous, harsh realities of getting older; lines like "I made a lot of friends at this bar I don't know anymore" and "My girl told me that her boyfriend wants to marry her soon/Feels just like a week ago, we're eighteen years old and new to the city" succinctly capture the grim realization that all of us, friends and family included, are aging. Benjy's drums enter as we steadily build towards the chorus, with a soft, retro-sounding kit that straddles the line between ultra-clean, reverbed, psychedelic '80s nostalgia and Motown brushed-soul grit, delivering a steady backbeat as Riiza's harmonies swell and take us into the chorus.

 

"But I never thought

I'd grow up this fast

But I'm not ready yet

I'm not ready yet

I was dying to get to this part

And now it's slipping away

And I'm not ready yet

I'm not ready yet" 

The chorus hits with a colossal presence and sense of scale. Riiza trades lines between her lead vocals and huge harmony stacks in the background, which I thought made for some really pleasing back-and-forth interplay. Some really nice synth layers also enter in tandem, courtesy of Taylor, who provides us with a rapid, Atari 2600-esque arpeggiator that rises and falls repeatedly alongside cool, ethereal keyboard countermelodies. I thought the layering present in the chorus, both in regards to the vocals and production, was a really strong aspect of the track's overall presentation; the feeling of momentum and magnitude is very well-conveyed, and the little touches, like the subtle sixteenth note tambourine tucked far in the back of the stereo field, and Benjy's delayed crash hits at certain points, do a lot to give the track an unstoppable groove that makes it ripe for headbanging. The chorus is long, too, clocking in at nearly a minute in length. The sheer length of the chorus, which might be considered to be out of place in a pop context, threw me for a bit of a loop on first listen, but I've actually come to really love that about this song, and I think the long chorus does a lot to really slam home the narrative of this track: getting older is terrifying, and I'm not ready for it yet. Suffice it to say I love everything about this chorus; I thought it was super well-executed and you'll catch me singing along anytime it comes on!

"And I've got bills to pay

And big debts of my own

Oh, I'm terrified

That I might live this life alone!"

The second verse is only a fraction of the length of the first, opening with Riiza's ruminations on her siblings, particularly in regards to their ever-changing lives as they settle down and start families. The verse reaches a climactic peak quickly when Riiza brings in chanted, shouted background vocals at the line "I might live this life alone", which I thought was a rather nice touch that communicated very well the sheer terror underneath that simple statement. The extra momentum provided to the track by the chanted vocals felt really nice, and imbued the second chorus with an even greater sense of acceleration and bombast. Following the second chorus is a bridge which serves as something of a come-down moment, as Matrianna's wavy guitar strumming comes to the forefront and Benjy's drumming goes into a soft halftime groove, and Riiza's vocals take a step back in the sound field, becoming increasingly distant and flush with reverb; she sings, "You're never far away from me", repeating the line over and over in a way that feels like trying to cling onto friends that only grow more distant with time, which I found to be a really nice touch. The bridge also brings a slightly extended ending that almost reads like a fakeout key change, where we start this ascending chord progression that seems like it's going to lead to an upwards modulation before we end up back in the original key nonetheless, which I thought was a really cool double-curveball of sorts. The track's final chorus sees Riiza really let it rip, as she releases a string of soaring melodies, reaching high into her upper range in a manner that feels truly cathartic, like a cry for help from deep within. The whole band goes halftime during the last leg of this final chorus in a moment that jacks the headbanging pulse up to 11 before everyone hits one last giant chord and Riiza's lone vocals end off the track.

 

"I feel like I'm still learning and growing with myself every day and I wanted to write about the anxiety it gives me to compare my life trajectory to those closest to me." –Riiza, lead vocalist

"Ready Yet" is indisputably one of my favorites from Strawberry Launch. (And here I was, thinking nothing would ever top "She" in my personal favorites… so congratulations to all members of the band for proving me wrong!) I rarely find myself gravitating towards pop songs that are longer than four minutes or so, and yet, both in spite of and because of the track's near five minutes in length, "Ready Yet" occupies a very special place for me. It is immensely cathartic and tugs at the heartstrings, on account of the strengths of its songwriting and production, both of which go hand in hand to create a richly layered combination thick with pathos. The sparkly, shimmery, glitter-soaked retro-psychedelic nostalgia that is the sound of Strawberry Launch resolves into a clear, razor-sharp image perhaps more so than any other song they've done yet; to put it another way, if I had to pick one single song to show to a friend and explain to them, "this is what Strawberry Launch sounds like", "Ready Yet" would be that song. The band sounds totally locked in, and all the members find great pockets to slot into and play off of one another's performances. Musically, this track is awesome; the band does a ton of little turns based off of carefully-placed pivot chords and applied dominants that keep the listener hooked in, engaged, and pleasantly surprised without the journey ever feeling overly chaotic or unfocused. The mix and master sounds wonderfully polished, and I actually really love the way the synthesizers are integrated with the guitars, creating a crystal-clear lead synthesizer over a shimmery rhythm guitar section. Taylor shines in this lead role, contributing all sorts of little melodic touches that elevate the choruses to the next level, while Matrianna, Benjy, and Abby form a juggernaut of a rhythm section that keeps the pulse of the track interesting & varied while relentlessly moving forward all the while. Of course, Riiza remains firmly entrenched in the spotlight throughout the track's runtime, turning in a spine-tingling vocal performance that feels to me like she's baring her soul—which, considering the undercurrent of existential terror in her lyrics, isn't far off from the truth. Part of me even wishes she sounded a little less perfect and put-together at times, which might have more to do with production & mixing than with performance, but as it stands, this track still makes for a wonderful showcase of her ability to assemble an emotionally gripping & relatable narrative, and convey those emotions through her performance. To put it bluntly, the entire band is firing on all cylinders here, and there's very little in the way of things I would change. "Ready Yet" is unassailable, both in regards to its creative vision as well as its execution, and absolutely deserves all the love and then some.

I hope it's clear by this point that I genuinely love this song, and I've gotten to a point where I really resonate with it personally. This is in part due to my own personal circumstances, which have undeniably shaped my perspective on the song and its meaning, so if I may write as Alex for a moment, as it were, rather than "in character" as Ash, I'd like to take a moment to talk about why this song in particular means so much to me. It was already the thick of summer, and "Ready Yet" had already firmly entrenched itself as one of my favorite songs of the year, when I received the news that due to a variety of unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, it was no longer possible for me to pursue graduate school. For most of my time in the MTech undergraduate program, the plan had always been to get my Bachelor's degree and then enter the five-year Master's degree program straight away, which would have given me an extra three semesters in college to learn more stuff and figure out my shit—and then suddenly, practically overnight, I was in the position of having to revise my entire life plan to account for the fact that I was now a mere six months away from being out of school forever. I don't think I quite fully realized the sheer severity of my predicament right away, but at some point it hit me—holy shit, I have to have a stable job and be paying bills and be moving up in the world before the year is out. I can't take shelter on the eighth floor anymore. I can't chill on the couch and chat with the studio monitor and hang out with my friends in Dolan and pretend like life isn't going to catch up to me one day. I can't delay the search for a stable career job for another eighteen months, nor can I plan on doing so with a Master's degree in hand. I have to do that shit now—and realizing all that practically seared a subsequent realization into my brain that's remained there ever since: I'm not ready yet. How can I be? I don't know how to be an adult, I don't know how to manage money, I feel like I have zero marketable skills. I'm turning 23 this July, and the prospect of sinking ever deeper into adulthood is utterly terrifying to me.

 

I think it's safe to say that my personal situation, while it doesn't change the core message behind "Ready Yet", definitely makes me resonate with it all that much more. For me, "Ready Yet" captures the existential terror of getting older in a way that nothing else really does; I caught hints of that sense of dread when I first listened to the song, but when I listen to it now, that terror exists very much on the surface of the track, shrouded as it is behind sweet, luscious guitars and bubblegum synth melodies. I've come to respect Riiza's songwriting abilities all that much more for being able to capture that great existential panic and convey it in such a relatable, catchy, earworm of a piece. Riiza's songwriting lays bare a number of unpleasant facts of getting older—the increasing difficulty of maintaining friendships, the panic of seeing friends & loved ones settle down for good, the gnawing realization that our best years are slipping away faster than we can enjoy them—and articulates them succinctly & decisively with a few bold strokes of the pen. This song certainly isn't about me directly, but it captures a harsh cross-section of getting older that I'm sure all of us can relate to, and that is a great achievement in any songwriter's book.

 

"I'm not ready yet…

And neither are you." 

Anyways, to close out my personal adage, I'm now working at Mansion Recording Studios, where I toil away the late night hours building my mastery of Pro Tools hotkeys and my skills at running vocal sessions, doing my damnedest to become a skilled and respected engineer within the Brooklyn hip hop and R&B scene. At the same time, I'm taking freelance live sound work, sometimes at bars, sometimes at outdoor venues. My luthiery side operation is slowly starting to gain steady business, and has culminated in a number of commissions for custom-built guitars I've been working my way through over the course of the summer. This means long hours (including frequent overnights), lots of manual labor (sanding & sawing wood, along with moving monitors and heavy equipment, will do that to you), and very, very little sleep—all this because I am acutely aware that I'm not fucking ready yet. Whether I'm ready or not, though, in six months, I'll have to face the storm that is adult life, and I'd better hope that by then, I've built the skills to weather that storm. After literal months on replay, I would have gotten sick of most songs by now, but "Ready Yet" continues to play in my headphones, whether I'm taking the G train on my way to Mansion for an overnight shift, spraying down a naked guitar body with nitro lacquer, or crouched down in some dingy back corner of a dive bar, testing signal flow through a banged-up PA system. I suppose that at the end of the day, no matter how terrified I am of what lies ahead, "Ready Yet" affords me the ability to take some small comfort in knowing that I am not alone, and to me, that is the absolute best example of what the experience of music is all about.

 

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Hope you all enjoyed hearing about some of the songs that defined the sound of spring for me! Don't forget to stream all of these songs, and more, and support all of the lovely artists featured here. Both myself and Reggie are quite busy these days, but I promise we'll be back before you know it! Be on the lookout for Singles Spotlight coming soon, and I'll see you all on campus in the coming months.

Happy summer and enjoy the music!

–Alex "Ash" Han

ASH'S FALL 2022 FAVORITE SONGS SPOTLIGHT: After 8:30, Dog Collar, Ethan Crowley, Kid Reno, nickwuh, Thai Thai, & webcage

Bringing you a collection of songs that I love and thought deserved a mention!
Written by Ash

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to include commentary from Dog Collar.

 

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope finals treated you well, and that you are all now enjoying the winter break in a (relatively) stress-free environment. I'd planned to have a new edition of Singles Spotlight ready for you all to read on Christmas morning as my personal gift to you all, but unfortunately, hardly any MTech students released anything during December... probably, y'know, due to finals and all—which I can't fault anyone for considering that I myself basically lived in Bobst for the last couple weeks of the semester! So in lieu of our regular Singles Spotlight edition, I'm instead bringing you an end-of-semester retrospective list of the songs that I haven't been able to get out of my head this fall semester! I've spoken about some of these songs before, while some are brand new to our blog, and I've talked briefly with some of the artists involved in the hopes of sharing with you some of the creative process that went into these songs. So without further ado, I present to you a list, in no particular order, of some of my favorite MTech songs of the semester! I hope you enjoy the music and don't forget to stream the songs at the links I've provided. Here's to a great 2023 and I will see you all soon!

 

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After 8:30 - And It Goes 

 

This track can be streamed via Joey's Linktree page here!

For the first song we're looking at today, I've selected a little indie pop ditty called "And It Goes", released back in April of 2022. This is the debut single of After 8:30, an indie rock outfit formed in Central Jersey towards the tail end of the pandemic. The band includes MTech sophomore Joey Farrell on keys, rhythm guitar, and backing vocals, NYU Tisch student Matt Woodward on lead guitar and lead vocals, Stevens University music technology undergraduate Sam A. Sherwood on bass, and Eric Tiber on drums. I took the liberty of reaching out to Joey to talk a little bit about the process behind the song. "And It Goes" was actually the first song the group wrote together, and evolved via a sort of extended process of jamming—or "noodling", as Joey aptly put it!

"Our guitarist, Matt, came in with the guitar riff and the prechorus, but nothing else. We all learned the song, and started noodling around trying to compose our own parts… so the structure of the song came first." –Joey Farrell

Built on a summery, sparkling guitar riff, "And It Goes" deals with the aftermath & fallout of a relationship. The song's uptempo presentation and major key musical foundation pair with a set of lead vocal melodies that sort of remind me of early Panic! at the Disco; Matt's lead vocal performance is remarkably loose and organic while also maintaining really strong timefeel and pitch, which, for me, creates a tongue-in-cheek & whimsical vibe that nonetheless showcases a great deal of technical skill. Matt channels a refreshingly camp spirit in his performance, delivering lyrics like "Babe, you are the reason I might just drink a little too much" and dropping casual F-bombs in a way that injects a peppy sense of humor into the song's otherwise heavy subject matter. The vocals absolutely sell the song for me, and the fact that I can totally picture the vocals being delivered with a smile is a huge contributor to the overall fun & somewhat loose vibe of the track.
 

"The song went untitled for several months because we wanted to come up with a title that was unique… We thought 'And It Goes' represented what the lyrics were about: a vicious cycle." –Joey Farrell

Speaking of vibes, the instrumental backing strikes an excellent balance, managing to be at once uptempo and fun while also being unhurried, chill, and laid-back. The resultant cross-section is an endearing and relaxed endeavor that reminds me of late 1960s pop rock and bubblegum pop acts like The Monkees and The Ohio Express. I think part of the '60s vibes come from the production and mixing choices made here; the dry, austere drum sound and the heavily chorused, shimmering guitar licks both evoke callbacks to surf rock for me. It's evident that the band is also really comfortable playing together; as with Matt's vocal performance, the rest of the band manages a nice cross between being tight and loose simultaneously (how does that even work? I have no idea). The feel is nicely locked-in without ever feeling static, and the band consistently throws us little bits of ear candy to keep us entertained. In particular, I really like Joey's muted melodic guitar lines and gradually swelling backing vocals during the instrumental break before the last chorus, and on drums, Eric consistently gives us great little drum fills that always elevate the groove throughout the length of the track. Part of me wishes the track had more elements, but I also think the breezy, casual energy of the track is part of what makes it work so well; the more I thought about it, the more I realized that adding additional instruments and parts might weigh the song down too much for its own good. In short, it's damn near perfect the way it is, and I wanted to be among the first to commend these guys for the wonderful vibe they managed to capture here! Overall, I love this track for its total commitment to being a free spirit, and I'm certainly going to be watching After 8:30 with a keen eye to see what they do next!

 
Dog Collar - Multi Split Scan

This song comes from Dog Collar's Turbo Squid, an album which I reviewed this past October! Please feel free to check out that review here. As well, here are links to the album on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp for your listening pleasure!
 
The DJ duo Ecliptic, made up of NYU MTech undergrads Dog Collar and Kid Reno, has collectively been responsible for a rather large portion of my techno intake from the past semester. Both Dog Collar and Kid Reno released instrumental electronic albums last fall, and I've chosen to spotlight tracks from both artists in today's article! We're taking a deeper look at Dog Collar's "Multi Split Scan", the third track off of his August 2022 full-length release, Turbo Squid. This track was a particular standout from that album for me; I fell in love with "Multi Split Scan" pretty much immediately over its relentlessly funky rhythms and retro soundscape.

"This track started with the drums… I essentially made all the drum parts years ago when I first started making music… then I returned to this song years later, and had some breakthroughs… it's funny that you chose this song because this is technically one of the first Ableton projects I made." –Sunil Prahbu a.k.a. Dog Collar

The track opens with a sparse kick drum pattern under a strange, bitcrushed-sounding bassline. The danceability of this track is off the charts right away, as Dog Collar blesses us with drums that carry a couple different layered hi-hat patterns, as well as hard-panned synth chords that echo the syncopated bassline; the combination of the two creates a distinct groove right from the get-go. I really love the drum sounds on this track; some very organic-sounding hi-hat sounds in the left channel are juxtaposed quite nicely with some very clearly sample-based, MIDI-sounding hi-hats in the right channel, along with a dusty, punchy snare sample that cuts right through the center of the groove. In addition, Dog Collar does some really nice intervallic synth passages during this section. All the analog sounds used here are rich, textured, and full-sounding, and I find myself becoming quite immersed in the spacious and wide-open soundscape here. The combination between warm analog synths and drums that straddle the line between sounding both organic and programmed places this track's soundscape and vibe quite squarely in the late 1990s for me, with albums like PropellerHeads' Decksandrumsandrockandroll coming to the front of my mind here. Dog Collar's take on the '90s is dark, grimy, and hard-edged, while sacrificing none of the funky spirit and raw energy that defines electronic music of this period for me. The main synth motif has some really interesting interplay between alternating harmonic major and minor sevenths, which creates a slightly unsettling vibe since the track never quite reaches a resolution of sorts. Still, though, this makes moments like 1:36 all the more pleasing; when the dissonant intervals drop out and the track settles quite firmly in natural minor, the track gains a really great sense of driving momentum that never fails to get me headbanging.

"The first drum part that starts the second half I actually ran through my vocal bus, autotune and all, just for shits. I thought it sounded good so I kept it… A lot of the drums originated as sample loops (mostly from Reddit, and a couple sample packs recommended from friends). I found that if I accentuated different frequencies in the samples, I could layer them to create more complex rhythms, and then I could add intense reverb or delay to the drum tracks which I wanted to take up most of the atmosphere." –Sunil Prahbu a.k.a. Dog Collar

Past the two-minute mark, the track's second half enters in full force, as the familiar elements disappear, save for the first half's two kick drums, which keep a constant pulse going. We get a number of layered drum breaks during this section, including one in halftime soaked in syncopated delay, plus a couple that exist more towards the front of the mix; Dog Collar mixes and matches pieces from these various drum breaks, which results in a very rhythmically diverse, continually dynamic soundscape that I find really interesting. There's always something new to grab onto and the groove never gets stale at all. The synth work here is a bit more austere, leaving the listener more room to focus on the excellent drum programming & sampling on display. By the time the track reaches the tail end of its four minutes and forty seconds of runtime, we're leagues away from where we began, which I feel speaks to the strength of the experience of the journey that Dog Collar was able to distill here. Despite how dynamic the production is on this track, the spirit of dance consistently remains the focal point here, and "Multi Split Scan" offers no compromises on that front. I imagine this track will translate to dance floors and nightclubs perfectly and I truly cannot wait to experience it live for the first time!

 

Ethan Crowley - 603 

 

I also reviewed this track as part of my review of Ethan Crowley's latest album, Drowning in a Glass of Water, a review which you can check out here! The album can be streamed via this link.
 
Way back in October, I decided I wanted to start a blog wherein I reviewed music released by other students in the program, a decision partially spurred by the wonderful exchanges of feedback and constructive criticism at the Collegium listening sessions I'd participated in to that point. In particular, the September Collegium listening session brought to the stage singer-songwriter Ethan Crowley and his track "In My Dreams", the lead single from his debut LP. I found myself really moved by not just that track, but also the earnest comments on it made by the Collegium audience, and it just so happened that Ethan's debut project, Drowning in a Glass of Water, was the first LP I took a crack at on this blog. So in a way, I guess, Ethan's partially responsible for the birth of this blog, for better or for worse!

Anyways, as great a track as "In My Dreams" was, it's not that song we're looking at today; rather, I've chosen "603" for inclusion on this semester-end retrospective instead. The seventh track off of Drowning in a Glass of Water, this track sees Ethan's innate folk songwriting sensibilities collide with an excellent pop chorus to create an achingly tender final product that displays Ethan's strengths at their finest.

"I wrote '603' during a pretty difficult year for me, and I used that song to express some of the emotions that I was feeling." –Ethan Crowley

 

The song opens with a straightforward electric guitar riff that outlines an austere pop chord progression. Ethan delivers subdued & tender vocals over this sparse instrumental foundation for the duration of this first verse; his melodies are really nice here, and his performance rather convincingly communicates the song's topics of regret and heartbreak. The first chorus sees Ethan deliver a powerful, soaring chorus melody with throbbing pathos; this chorus is absolutely killer and hearing Ethan let the vocals rip like this consistently makes for a great moment. The magic only builds from here, though, as the second verse makes a number of striking changes to the established soundscape; the lead vocals become accompanied by some really nicely octave doubled backing vocals, and the finger-picked electric guitar from the first verse is replaced by some chunky, rhythmic power chords played on stereoized and doubled acoustic guitars over a subtle electric bass. Although this second verse is still pretty understated in its presentation, the introduction of all these new elements makes the song feel distinctly bigger and larger in scope at this point. The song manages the buildup and constant evolution of its soundscape really well, which is definitely one of my favorite things about this track and speaks to Ethan's strengths as a songwriter, arranger, and producer.

 

After the second chorus, Ethan gives us an achingly tender bridge before dropping back into a stripped-back rendition of the chorus section. From here, some vocal runs and the subtle entrance of a piano build up the song one last time before the song's grandiose final chorus, during which Ethan hits some amazing tenor harmonies over an increasingly tortured lead vocal performance in a moment that drives home all the emotion all at once. The various guitar sounds from earlier in the track combine and join forces for this final chorus, backed by some really tasteful piano countermelodies. By the time the song ends, I'm utterly emotionally spent, which I feel is a sign that the emotional journey Ethan crafted for us here was executed exceptionally well. The last chorus hits like nothing else, and the track's peaks and valleys culminate in an exquisite release of tension that I feel is truly special. However, if I have one criticism of this song, it has to do with the vocals. Ethan's a great singer, don't get me wrong, but I find some of the pitch correction work done on his vocals to be a bit much, especially when his vocals dip into the lower parts of his range during the verses; he ends up sounding a bit artificial for my taste, which is a shame, because his voice is truly great and deserves to exist in its natural state. I also find the choice of reverb on the lead vocals to be slightly distracting; this reverb has a really long, pronounced tail, and it tends to crash back on itself in a way that reduces the intelligibility of the lyrics a bit too much. Otherwise, though, this track is truly a breathtaking showcase of Ethan's abilities as a performer, producer, and songwriter, and it should absolutely be going on your playlist of breakup songs from here on out! I consider "603" to be a rare achievement of songwriting pathos, and I hope that one day, I'll be able to sell emotion as convincingly as Ethan managed here. I eagerly await whatever new release follows Drowning in a Glass of Water, and I hope the Collegium crowd loves the next single as much as we did the last one!

 

Kid Reno - REDEYEBROWS135

I reviewed the project this song came from, Kid Reno's Techno for Children & Dogs, back in October. Feel free to read that review here! Additionally, here are links to the album on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp!

 

"'REDEYEBROWS135' was created by me, high as hell in Austria before I went back to sleep, experimenting with kick tones, frequency shifters, and LFOs to create my rhythms and hi-hats, because my friend dyed his eyebrows red and I thought they looked really good." –Reno Haas a.k.a. Kid Reno

Before I'd made my first foray into the music of Dog Collar, Kid Reno's Techno for Children & Dogs was the second project I ever reviewed on this blog, and it's a really good one, throwing the listener headbanging bombast and meditative soundscapes in equal measure. To this day, I can't think of anything else that sounds quite like it; Reno managed a really excellent combination of saavy sampling work and innovative production to create a thoroughly futuristic project. Today, I'm taking a deeper look at "REDEYEBROWS135", the second track off the LP. Created during Kid Reno's stay in a mountain resort in Austria during the summer of 2022, this is a more chilled-out endeavor compared to some of the more breakneck moments of unadulterated raw energy on this record, pulling soundscapes and rhythms from '90s house music in the pursuit of a distinctly laid-back, aquatic techno vibe.

"I smoked a spliff and opened Ableton and was messing around with its stock arpeggiators until I tweaked a patch to my liking—that's the first sound you hear." –Reno Haas a.k.a. Kid Reno

The track opens with a heavenly, reverb-heavy arpeggiator sound, articulating a shimmery melody through watery bells and chimes that continually sound from different places in the stereo field. Soon after, a tight, round synth bass enters amidst shuffling, syncopated percussion rhythms. The synth bass hits every quarter note, while a soft kick drum hits some nice offbeat pulses pretty far back in the mix, creating a subtly complex rhythmic feel that anchors this opening section. I really enjoy the vibe of this section, which I felt meshed some really well-chosen sounds together to create a really strong underwater techno soundscape, lending the track its own unique vibe and spirit right away.

"…I was using MIDI for ['REDEYEBROWS135'] and was having a lot of fun turning some lo-fi keyboard sounds into my kick tones… I found that there's a certain frequency range, around 40 to 80 Hz, that really shines… so I take my sound, and then I use a frequency shifter to tune it down to a specific hertz, and then I use the Spectrum Ableton plugin to watch where the frequency lands… then I use a lot of EQ… and then I use saturators and drum busses to darken the sound and create a fuller noise… there's this stock reverb in Ableton called "Sub Boom", and it reverberates the low end like crazy and creates a sub, so I'll take that and double it… so at the end of it, there will be three or four layers…" –Reno Haas a.k.a. Kid Reno 

The track's second half brings a pretty significant beat switch, as a wubby kick drum enters, replacing the synth bass, and the whole track darkens significantly in terms of both frequency content and vibe. The arpeggiators from the first half remain, though they sound bigger and more reverb-heavy now, almost like they're calling out to the listener from the back of a cave. A relatively simple hi-hat pattern then becomes layered with an additional drum break sample, incorporating many metallic-sounding percussion hits that flicker in and out of each ear. The track's last section brings a set of almost human-like breath noises that oscillate, alternating with crushed snare hits as the hi-hats pick up the pace and the energy builds to its peak. I really enjoy the sense of dynamism and gradual movement this track brings; the arpeggiators stay constant throughout, whereas the rest of the soundscape undergoes slight changes moment-to-moment that help the whole song stay fresh and interesting. Reno's sound design is really incredible here, and I think his custom sounds—most notably that keyboard sound that he turned into a kick drum—do a lot to sculpt the truly unique soundscape of this track. This track is perfect for the dance floor and I am counting down the days until winter break is over and I can finally see Ecliptic perform live! With the one-two punch of Kid Reno's Techno for Children & Dogs and Dog Collar's Turbo Squid, I feel relatively safe in declaring 2022 as a W for the DJ duo, and I hope their journey into 2023 sees a continuation of the exciting and evolving musical soundscapes they've established here.
 

nickwuh - my everest

My review of nickwuh's us against the universe is probably still the single longest review I've ever written on this blog, and I truly poured my heart and soul into it, so I would greatly appreciate it if y'all would check it out here! As always, here are the streaming links to the project on Spotify and Apple Music.

With a 17-track album and a healthy handful of singles under his belt during this year alone, picking a standout nickwuh track proved to be a really difficult task when I was writing this article. Having said that, though, the clear choice for me was "my everest"; though this track never saw the light of day as its own single release, I thought it appropriate to show some album cuts some love! The sixth track off of nickwuh's sprawling studio effort us against the universe, "my everest" takes just about everything I love about Nick Wu's music and distills it into a four-minute opus that is easily one of my most replayed student tracks of the year. Nick gives us an earnestly vulnerable and honest performance through earworm pop vocal melodies, meticulously layered production, and enough genre crossovers and beat switches to satisfy even the most jaded of pop listeners.
 

The track opens with a short verse from featured artists thms. over a bed of understated, warm synth pads. A short instrumental break introduces a bright guitar riff that Nick says was inspired by HoneyComeBear's "Wasurekata". Nick named a couple other tracks as direct influences upon the songwriting & production of "my everest", namely Puppet's "Fuji Rock" and James Ivy's "Yearbook", both of which straddle the line between electronica and pop punk. That crossgenre combination shines through clearly, with the combination of Nick's synth-based electronic production and emo-influenced vocal melodies anchoring "my everest".
 

"Puppet's EDM pop punk style is deeply ingrained into my influences… his music was my introduction into pop punk." –Nick Wu a.k.a. nickwuh

 

The second featured artist, lil slav, takes over lead vocals for the second verse, trading lines back and forth with Nick before a soft, tenderly performed bridge courtesy of Jason Solo. I really love Jason's performance on the bridge here; he brings a really mellow, richly textured vocal timbre that makes for a nice contrast with the singing voices of both lil slav and Nick himself, which tend to be lighter in tone and sharper-sounding overall. Jason also delivers some of the most earnest and hard-hitting lyrics on the song during this section, as he relates, "A stupid thing to dream for someone seventeen/Yet a song that turns out right is still a victory". Speaking of lyrics, "my everest" is about the personal fulfillment and existential satisfaction that Nick (and friends) gain from pursuing music as a passion; the title refers to the characterization of music as a "never-ending climb", thus being like Everest in a sense. Now, maybe I'm just a little biased here, since as an MTech student myself, I've also chosen to pursue music full-time, but I found this song extremely relatable. I thought that Nick's earnest lyricism and heartfelt performance sold how emotionally weighty the decision to pursue a career as dicey as music can be, and that's something I imagine many of us can relate to.
 

"The initial chorus for 'my everest' came to me one day as I was recording vocals… I came up with the idea around the end of my junior year summer, so it took basically a whole year for me to finally finish it." –Nick Wu a.k.a. nickwuh 

Coming out of the track's final chorus, Nick blesses us with a truly meteoric beat switch, as the tempo slows down enough for some crashing acoustic drums and massive guitars to take up the pulse of the song instead in a moment that goes full-tilt pop punk. Izomii takes over lead vocals during this final act, bringing an Alex Gaskarth meets Gerard Way-esque vocal performance that sees them nail soaring melodies with ease. The lead vocals are also accompanied by some economical yet effective sustained backing vocal harmonies for a remarkably beautiful pairing; the vocals in this section are truly perfect and do a great deal to advance the sense of emotional release I get from this outro section. The outro of "my everest" is probably one of my favorite outros in any piece of music, ever, and it makes for a truly climactic moment in the song's progression. If I had one piece of constructive feedback to give, it might be that I feel that the song takes a little too long to get us to this point, but I also think that the four minutes of runtime we have to get through before the outro is precisely why that outro works so well; it feels utterly earned and it feels like a huge release of everything we've spent the past four minutes building up. I will, however, echo one of my greater points of contention with us against the universe here, and say that I wish that the vocal processing & vocal performances were more distinct; it's not always obvious to me whether thms. or lil slav or Nick himself is singing at any given moment, and I'd love to be able to tell their voices apart a little bit more. Otherwise, though, this track is truly great, and I'll be the first to reference it as a peak example of how Nick's music crosses genre boundaries and nails down great pop hooks in a way that for me is truly special.

Thai Thai - KILL 4 MY SPOT

This track comes off of Thai Thai's EP TELEVISED SUICIDE, which you can stream here! As always, feel free to check out my review of that project at this link, and don't forget to watch the extremely eye-catching music video for the track on YouTube!
 
Thai Thai's short, five-track EP TELEVISED SUICIDE is perhaps my favorite rap project I've reviewed this past semester, and today I've selected the EP's second track, "KILL 4 MY SPOT", for further review! A striking & gripping experience from start to finish, TELEVISED SUICIDE is a body of work defined by its emotionally open and vulnerable take on trauma and loss, along with an overarching theme of the constant interrogation of oneself and the pursuit of personal growth, all rendered through Thai Thai's excellent lyrical sensibilities and songwriting prowess. "KILL 4 MY SPOT" basically takes all of the myriad strengths of TELEVISED SUICIDE and condenses them into a tight three-minute package that I feel makes for a resoundingly successful introduction to the universe of Thai Thai and his music.
 

"I found creative inspiration from artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Denzel Curry… I'd say Kendrick Lamar inspired the hook specifically… Denzel Curry is an inspiration behind almost every one of my verses when it comes to delivery, flow, and lyricism." –Mathias Quilon a.k.a. Thai Thai

 

"KILL 4 MY SPOT" brings an instrumental made by San Francisco producer sliquethousin. Based in sweet harp chords over sparse percussion, vocal chanting, and subtle string lines, the instrumental feels very solidly indebted to modern conscious rap; I was immediately reminded of J Cole and Kendrick Lamar on first listen, a resemblance enhanced somewhat by Thai Thai's delivery, which I thought bore a striking similarity to Kendrick's own voice. Thai Thai's Denzel Curry influences are also very clear here, as his verses carry a confident swagger that belies the undercurrent of self-interrogation and introspection that define the track's lyrical throughline; the result reminds me very much of the trauma-focused and introspective topics on both Kendrick's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers as well as Denzel's Melt My Eyez, See Your Future. Lyrically speaking, the track deals with the implications of pursuing music when it comes to one's perception of oneself, balancing aggressive bravado in the verses with open vulnerability in the chorus in a way that feels cohesive. I very much admire this track's deconstruction of the self, and its willingness to openly interrogate the behaviors that led to its creation—attributes which I feel speak to a certain artistic boldness that helped me develop a healthy respect for Thai Thai's creative journey as an artist.  

"Lyrically, I wanted to speak on the feeling of coming into my own as an artist… I also wanted to touch on how pursuing a musical path has affected the way others perceive me, because at the time I felt I was being criticized by a lot of people for simply doing something that makes me happy." –Mathias Quilon a.k.a. Thai Thai

I also wanted to draw particular attention to the mixing and mastering work done by Thai Thai on this track. In my initial review of TELEVISED SUICIDE, I gave particular praise to the EP's level of professionalism and polish in its presentation, and I've only grown more impressed with it as time goes on. On "KILL 4 MY SPOT", everything feels like it has space within the mix, and all the elements work together in support of the song as a whole. The lead vocal engineering on the track is also a standout feature, as Thai Thai used a heavy chorus in order to sink the vocals more deeply into the instrumental background; the song feels & moves like a totally locked-in cogent unit, which I think helps a lot in the cultivation of the track's unique vibe. It's sometimes said that the best mixing and mastering work goes unnoticed, and I'd say that holds true here; there's absolutely nothing to break the immersion or pull me out of the experience, and with this track, the experience is everything. "KILL 4 MY SPOT" seeks to balance grounded pensiveness and existential frustration in a wholly brave & vulnerable combination, executed with professional-grade precision. With TELEVISED SUICIDE, Thai Thai cemented himself as one of my favorite rappers from the MTech scene, and I'll be sure to stay tuned to see what he does next!

 

webcage - self-esteem

This track can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as purchased via Bandcamp!

 

The hyperpop collective webcage, which includes former MTech student torr and current MTech undergraduate Franco Vizcaya a.k.a. _st1cks alongside a plethora of other members, is on the rise amidst the Internet hyperpop scene. webcage recently passed ten thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, and I've been eagerly following their gradual rise in popularity over the past year or so. I've found one particular track, entitled "self-esteem", routinely cropping up in my Spotify listening history during this stretch, and I thought I'd take a closer look at this track today!
 
"self-esteem" is the opening track off of webcage's acclaimed 2021 LP peer2peer, a collection of banger hyperpop tracks that inhabit a pop punk-adjacent soundscape built on top of innovative sound design and unique combinations of crossgenre elements. I took a quick read through some online commentary about the album, and found users who drew comparisons to the work of underscores, glaive, and BROCKHAMPTON, referencing webcage's Internet collective beginnings and pop punk-inspired sound.
 
"self-esteem" opens with a reverb-heavy drum break, followed by a wailing lead synth, sparse yet bouncy drums, and massive synth bass that hit us with a huge, forceful first chorus. The hook here is performed by torr, webcage founder and former MTech undergraduate whose own solo track "selfdestruct" just crossed 1.5 million Spotify plays late last year. torr's vocals here are slathered in autotune and distortion, pairing a lower lead vocal with a formant-shifted, high-pitched backing vocal an octave up. As with his own solo work, torr's vocal melody here is irresistibly catchy, conveying a fun-loving spirit and lack of self-seriousness that results in a thoroughly entertaining earworm of a hook. The first verse, performed by Portland-based artist saoirse dream, brings something of a vibe switch, as the bouncy, heavy synthesizers from the hook are replaced by moody emo finger-picked electric guitars and autotuned backing vocal harmonies. Speaking of, the harmonies are really nice here, as saoirse dream pairs some backing melodies that weave and duck independently of one another in a way that almost feels contrapuntal. The result is remarkably organic & textured despite the heavy use of autotune, as the harmonies never feel static, and they continually outline the song's underlying chord progression in new and interesting ways. saoirse dream also brings one of my favorite lyrics on the record, as they open their verse with the lines, "Most days I can't remember what I did the day before/I probably just sat in my bed leaving empty monsters on the floor", through a nicely-flowing melody that parallels the apathetic lyrics very well.

daywaiter's second verse brings some nicely-arranged vocal harmonies that serve to further intensify the BROCKHAMPTON parallels for me, as something about daywaiter's vocal timbre here reminds me a little of Kevin Abstract. The luscious vocal layers have some interesting interplay here as they alternate in and out, further diversifying the melodic soundscape. bh's chorus follows shortly after, bringing an octave-doubled main melody as he discusses themes of self-discovery and bottling-up of one's problems. There's also some cool call-and-response bits of backing vocals that echo parts of the lead vocal in interesting ways. Nebita's third verse represents a bit of a come-down, as the vibe gets a little more chilled out. I really love the timbre of the fourth verse's vocalist, wishlane; I can't think of any specific vocalist wishlane's voice reminds me of, but I really like the almost R&B-esque vocal inflections and organic vocal chain in use here. wishlane's verse makes for a decidedly human moment, which I thought was a great pacing decision before the track's blazing final act. This verse also ends with a really cool moment wherein wishlane sings a progressively ascending sustained note alongside what sounds like digital formant shifting, creating an effect where their voice starts as a relatively normal-sounding tenor before ascending in pitch past the realm of one's natural vocal range; I thought it made for a nice marriage between the artistic abilities of webcage's members and the cool production techniques and technological trickery they employed here.

The track's last section sees the return of torr's opening hook, this time backed by some fast-paced, chunky pop punk power chords and crescendoing acoustic drums that swell into a crashing, bombastic final chorus in a moment that feels like a distinctly modern spin on early Blink-182 for me. The last chorus gives us huge, distorted power chords and heavily-limited, punchy drums that amass into a titanic wall of sound. This last chorus is truly beautiful and it makes for a deeply cathartic release of tension; the cross-section of disaffected apathy, raging loneliness, and bombastic hedonism absolutely make this song for me, and I hope webcage gives us another project soon that builds on everything that made this one great!

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That's all for this Fall 2022 retrospective review! Thank you all so much for your support, as always! We hope to share many more reviews with you in the coming semester. Enjoy the rest of the break and I will see you all on the eighth floor in the new semester!

–Ash