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Classic Album Review Music News and Interviews

Machine Girl Releases New Single, Teases Upcoming Album

Experimental digital hardcore and drum and bass duo Machine Girl has announced their upcoming LP, “MG Ultra.”

The album is planned for release October 18. The project was teased alongside the single “Until I Die,” which will be the first track off the album.

The project follows the two-part soundtrack for the FPS platformer video game “Neon White,” which was entirely produced by Machine Girl.

Sonically, there’s a lot of resemblance to the aformentioned soundtracks, with the addition of the harsher-sounding digital hardcore aspects that are heard in some of Machine Girl’s prior albums, such as “The Ugly Art.”

The album appears to be shaping up as some type of amalgamation of all of the differing sounds that the band has dabbled in, feeling like a kind of “updated” version of their earliest works.

Cover art for the single "Until I Die" by Machine Girl
Cover art for the single “Until I Die” by Machine Girl

In addition to the album’s announcement, the band also plans on launching a North America tour beginning on Halloween at the Brooklyn Steel in New York.

Among the scheduled tour dates includes a show at the Lincoln Theater here in Raleigh, a show I’m personally quite excited for. The last time the band had performed in the area was back in May of last year, where they served as the opener for hyperpop duo 100 Gecs, a show of which I was an attendee.

Overall, I’m definitely looking forward to this addition to Machine Girl’s discography, as well as what feels like a whole new chapter for the band with a unique sound.

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New Album Review

New Favorites In Underground: June 2024

As summer inches closer and closer, with it brings a plethora of warm music to go along with it. I want to highlight a couple of such projects that us wonderful folks at WKNC have added for heavy rotation during our underground hours.

Machinedrum – “3FOR82”

Album art for Machinedrum's newest album "3FOR82".
Album art for “3FOR82” by Machinedrum

Before I had decided to check out this album, I had only been familiar with Machinedrum’s earlier works, which were primarily instrumental, wonky-type hip-hop beats. “3FOR82” sees Machinedrum in his most versatile state, while also staying true to his roots. We see experimentation from almost all corners of hip-hop, with blends of everything from boom bap to drum and bass. Machinedrum is definitely one of the very few artists who is both skilled and comfortable enough with their own production to pull something off like that. Recommended for all fans of electronic and hip-hop fusion.

Yaya Bey – “Ten Fold”

Album art for Yaya Bey's newest album "Ten Fold".
Album art for “Ten Fold” by Yaya Bey

“Ten Fold” is probably one of the most honest albums that I’ve listened to in a while. Yaya Bey doesn’t attempt to tread around her emotions, thoughts, and fears, choosing to present everything in full. It’s a contemporary R&B album that predictably deals with themes of romance and sensuality, but as I stated prior, it simply feels more genuine compared to most of what I tend to hear from that genre. Nonetheless, it still holds true in being a warm and smooth record perfect for the summertime parties to come.

Milan Ring – “Mangos”

Album art for Milan Ring's newest album "Mangos"
Album art for “Mangos” by Milan Ring

Back on the theme of summer, “Mangos” is a project that will definitely be serving to accompany all of my future excursions in the coming months. I’d say the album excels in its imagery above all else, easily taking me straight to the tropics, chomping down on some pineapple and watermelon. While it might not be anything to go raving about, Milan Ring delivers gorgeous vocal performances and soothing but also punchy and danceable instrumentals.

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Concert Review

Talking About Vaporwave: i2K Electronic Music Festival

This past weekend, I took a drive out to Richmond, Virginia to go experience what is likely the most surreal concert (or festival) I’ll ever attend.

Around the beginning of the year, prominent vaporwave artists V4NGOE and Roge Corp conspired to create the VaporVA collective as a means of bringing more vapor related events to Virginia. The i2K festival would serve as the very first live event they would organize, being hosted at the Ember Music Hall in downtown Richmond.

I can’t exactly recall how I had heard of the event initially, I just remember seeing a collection of some of the most well-known vaporwave artists all coming together in one place. The festival gathered 12 artists in one night for about thirty dollars, so it just seemed economical to go, honestly. With that said, I did hesitate for a while to get a ticket as I couldn’t find someone to go with. I was eventually able to convince a friend of mine who flaked on me prior to go with me though, so I wasn’t alone this time.

The event was centered around the artstyles and vibes of the late 1990s and early 2000s, as is visible on the artwork of the promotional flier. In an effort to play along with this, I tried to dress the part as well, wearing a t-shirt with a faded print of the mythical Pokémon Mew. In all seriousness though, the theming around the event did play a big role in my overall experience thanks to the visuals that were provided, which I’ll discuss in it’s own paragraph.

The drive up to Richmond could likely be it’s own story in and of itself, solely based off the conversations you’re more or less forced to have when starting at nothing but open road for a hundred miles. The same held true for the ride back, but with a few extra steps. I tried to prepare a playlist for both trips containing my favorite songs from around the early 2000s as well as plenty of vaporwave. I especially remember VAPERROR being cued a good number of times, as he was likely the one I was most excited to see on the lineup.

After a two and half hour journey, we arrived in Richmond a bit before the venue’s doors opened. Upon opening, we were greeted by a bunch of vendor’s tables from the various artists who were performing in addition to some labels. As a token of appreciation for my driving, my friend who I was with got some merch for me, including a secondhand cassette copy of “Night Coverage” by Meteorological Agency, a solid signalwave album. Aside from the merch, a couple of vendors had some CRT TVs set up with game consoles, which may or may not have distracted us through some of the first set.

We would eventually make our way to the stage after perusing around for enough time. The first artist we saw in full would be that of Heaven Sample, who played a variety of electronica during their set. While it didn’t exactly appeal to me, I came to respect them more when I heard them accompany several of the following artists with live drumming.

During much of Heaven Sample’s set, I found myself moreso distracted by the visuals that had been set up both behind the stage and on a large screen off to the side. I might have the mind of a toddler, but it was just something about those displays that felt hypnotizing. The overly saturated colors, the flashing text, the mirrored and manipulated clips of old commercials, it was all just enamoring. It was honestly my favorite aspect of the whole concert, and it weirdly kept me both distracted from and focused on the music, it’s hard to explain.

The next artist to play was that of BECAREFUL, who played a set of deep house remixes of some familiar 2000s hits. Their set felt most in character for the event when you only really focused on the music. It was relaxing and chilled out, but quite danceable too, as deep house sets usually go. The energy honestly felt a little scattered, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from taking a genre like vaporwave and putting it into a live format.

The next artist to come out, That’s Matt, would do the job of exciting the crowd some more with a set of some future funk tracks. Nothing exactly remarkable as the set wasn’t very long, just some fun tunes and a fun stage personality, rocking a rhinestone cowboy hat. Definitely got me ready for the next set.

I guess it’s understandable that the person hosting the event would want to hype everyone up as much as possible, and they definitely succeeded. V4NGOE’s set started out with a more hypnogogic sound, with trippy vocals similar to that of George Clanton. Funnily enough, his set somewhat mirrored that of the George Clanton concert that took place this past October. The energy kept gradually increasing until he quite literally just jumped into the crowd, causing a moshpit to start. Interestingly, I believe that V4NGOE was the only artist in the lineup that stuck to their artist persona. This is something I noticed as in some prior vaporwave events, many of the artists in the scene would choose to keep their identities hidden. It’s something that became a key aspect of the genre to a degree, so it was just curious to me. Regardless, their set ticked all the boxes for me, and it alone made me feel that it was definitely worth coming out here.

The next artist to perform, FrankJavCee, was one that I really don’t know how to describe. FrankJavCee used to be a content creator on YouTube some time ago, being most prevalent around 2016. I had spent a lot of time watching his videos that would comedically teach you how to create a certain genre of “internet” music. Of course, vaporwave and it’s subgenres were heavily discussed. If I recall correctly, he’s since ceased to upload onto his channel and has mostly minimized his social media presence. So, yeah, it felt strange to see one of my favorite content creators from eight years ago to come out on stage and start shredding a saxophone. Still though, it was a great set and a nice change of pace.

Perhaps YouTubers are going to become a theme here, with the next artist, Whitewoods, who isn’t exactly a YouTuber themselves, but gained a lot of traction due to their song Beach Walk being used in a good number of videos and being remixed several times. It could be said their music helped to bring vaporwave out of the niche esoteric corner of the internet it developed from. Their set was more stripped down as compared to the others, but felt easier to vibe to. It’s a different type of feeling to hear a song you’ve listened to for years and years be played live in front of you by the person who made it.

After Whitewoods’ set, it was time for VAPERROR to come out, and as I stated prior, I was more excited for him out of everybody. I genuinely would’ve payed to just see him alone. Around the time we got into the venue, I had spoken to him briefly about basic things like how much I appreciate his music, how much I play him on my sets, how he needs to re-issue some albums, stuff like that. His set was pretty much everything I had hoped for, consisting of tracks from all throughout his discography. I’d say the highlights were some of the remixes from his collaborations with vaporwave giant Telepath. Overall, very bouncy, I was indeed bouncing. However, before his set came to a close, he broke out a couple of unreleased hardcore tracks with artist Sage Hardware, and I never would’ve expected that one of the most intense moshpits I’ve ever been in would come from a vaporwave concert. My friend who I was with nearly had to sit the rest of the festival out in the aftermath of it. When all was said and done though, we both agreed that that set alone made this one of the greatest nights of our lives.

We both needed to take a breather, so we missed a bit of the next artist, Trapcry, who was the most hip-hop and trap adjacent of the lineup. My friend didn’t exactly feel like moving all that much more, understandably, but I decided to hop back in the crowd and get hype one more time before the festival started to slow down. I’d say Trapcry also had one of the best stage personalities out of the lineup, and just brought non-stop energy for what I was able to enjoy.

With the both of us still extremely tired from the pit, we decided to watch the next set, which was Fake Fever, from a distance. He brought in a more ambient sound, which sent me into a trance as I watched corrupted footage of Halo 2 gameplay on the side screen. I do have to say that that pit absolutely did a number on both of us, who were majorly starved and dehydrated, and who also agreed to get food after the festival was over with.

The last artist that I wanted to see perform would be that of FM Skyline, who provided the perfect score for an end to my night. My friend decided to head back to my car early, but I stayed through the majority of his set, thankfully being able to hear my favorite songs from him. I would almost describe his sound as the tunes of a jukebox from a far future cyberpunk bar that’s attempting to mimic the styles of the 80s and 90s. I was aware that there were a couple more DJ sets to be played after him, but I decided to call it for the night, heading back to the car.

We began our drive back exhausted and beat up, but moreso ready for that 2 a.m. Cookout to hit. It definitely did hit. I got back home at about 5 a.m. and instantly whisked myself to bed and decided to let the signalwave tunes carry me to sleep that night.

I’m very excited to see the future events that VaporVA has in store, and while it could be a bit closer to Raleigh, I’m grateful that live vaporwave is starting to grow more and more, and it’s good to have some kind of “guide” for the east coast.


Categories
Blog Concert Review

Concert Review: MIKE

In my preview for this concert, I wrote very briefly about my relationship with a more poetic style of song, the kind of style that MIKE employs in his work. It’s a type of sentiment that I share with a couple of my close friends who also enjoy a more mellow style of rapping. I mention this again because I never exactly realized the exact degree to which an artist could make me feel connected with their words (and their beats). I could continue on about this, but for now, I should probably discuss what the actual show was like.

I had initially planned on attending this show with a couple friends of mine, one of which was very familar with MIKE and the openers and another who wasn’t at all. In my opinion, if you plan on attending a concert with a pair, this is the exact dynamic you should go with. In my case, I was only really versed with MIKE, only being vaguely aware of the openers. Unfortunately, conflicting schedules let to my friends being unable to come along, so I was forced to go alone.

I arrived at the venue a little late, but still before any of the performances began, I still wish I could’ve gotten a better spot in the crowd though.

Prior to the performances starting, the venue staff had some quite enjoyable house tracks playing with R&B elements, which I may or may not have attempted to ID at certain points. Usually I feel like time is dragging on during the pre-show of a concert while my anticipation builds, but that wasn’t the case here.

In the midst of me vibing out to somebody’s house playlist, the lights go red and the first opener comes out, El Cousteau. The sound of loud trap drums was overwhelming, but the energy that El Cousteau delivered was arguably the most unique out of all the performers that would follow him. He didn’t exact fit the mold of a more “mellow” rapper, instead showcasing a more upbeat and excited mood, typical of the rage style. His set was fairly short, only about twenty minutes, but definitely did the job of hyping the crowd up some.

The next opener to come out was Niontay, who on the contrary did fit the mold of a “mellow” rapper. His voice was a lot more calm as compared to El Cousteau, and his lyricism felt more poetic, leading to a drop in the overall energy. This isn’t to say he or any of the other performers weren’t energetic, but more that they all brought a very different spirit with them, which I appreciate. My favorite aspect of this set would definitely lie in the beats, which were pretty similar to that of MIKE’s. They had a hint of some vaporwave elements to them which is probably one of the biggest things that drew me to MIKE’s music in the first place. I plan on looking more into Niontay’s music for myself, hopefully adding a few more songs to the playlist.

The final opener to perform would be that of 454, who felt like a fusion between the prior two openers. The first thing that immediately drew me to him would be his voice. He had a cadence which I’m not really able to describe, but got me more invested in his lyricism. The energy that he brought was more in line with that of El Cousteau’s, as it was more excited and fast-paced. With that in mind, I was more ready for MIKE to come out than anything else.

Finally, it was time for MIKE to come out, and initially, I don’t think I had mentally processed everything that was going on. To me, it was just “MIKE is here, he’s rapping, that’s cool.” It wasn’t until the hypnotic instrumental of “Set the Mood” came in that I had entered into what felt like a whole different reality. I felt this kind of familiar feeling that I had felt when listening to MIKE’s other instrumentals for the first time. All of his beats share this mesmerizing mood that never fail to put me in a trance-like state, pairing perfectly with his style of rapping. It’s a little difficult to describe, but for me, I believe the reason for this lies in this kind of “artificial antiquity” that he employs with the slight vaporwave influence that I mentioned prior. It’s a combination I never would’ve imagined working before, but MIKE somehow makes it happen.

There wasn’t a certain album or project that was focused on during the performance, it was basically a mixed bag of tracks from his discography in addition to some fun unreleased tracks. I wouldn’t have minded if it was focused on one project, but nonetheless I’m happy I was still able to hear some songs from early on, especially “Hunger”.

Throughout the show, there was a pretty clear effort made to foster a connection with the crowd. While being a great performer for one, MIKE is also just genuinely entertaining and funny. There was an entire arc about him not being aware of his friend’s birthday despite knowing him for over a year. I take pride in saying that I am exactly like that friend. Aside from that, I had just one qualm about some of the people around me, who seemed a lot more invested in a basketball game than they did the actual show. Which I normally wouldn’t care about, but they were right in the center of the crowd and slightly obscuring my view. Regardless, I still felt connected with the people who were there to actually enjoy the music and the artistry, and I especially felt connected with the performers.

MIKE closed out his set with the song “Closing Credits,” appropriately. I felt that it was the perfect song to drift away to and put an end to my hypnosis as I sang away part of the chorus. Somebody take the wheel, for real.

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Band/Artist Profile Concert Preview

Concert Preview: MIKE

Abstract hip-hop artist MIKE is set to play at Cat’s Cradle this upcoming Wednesday, May 22. This concert serves as one of the final shows for his “Somebody Fine Me Trouble” tour.

I’ve only been to one other hip-hop concert prior to this, that being Death Grips at The Ritz back in August of last year. Death Grips similarily being a well-respected band in the underground pushing the boundary of abstract hip-hop. I’m not here to talk about them though. Instead, I want to focus on a couple of the standout pieces of MIKE’s discography, and what I’ve been listening to from him lately.

“Burning Desire”

“Burning Desire” is the latest solo album from MIKE, releasing on October 13 of last year. This would be the project that would bring my attention to MIKE. I was immediately captivated by the sampling techniques that had been employed over his more deadpan rapping. This is not to say I don’t enjoy this style of delivery, I do, and I believe it pairs nicely with the dreamy and old-school production. My favorite track would probably be “plz don’t cut my wings” which holds a feature from the artist Earl Sweatshirt. Sweatshirt and MIKE often collaborate and share appearances on one another’s projects, both sharing a similar approach to their work. Overall, I’d say that this album serves as a great introduction point to the rest of MIKE’s work. It’s very definitive and is almost an amalgamation of his output up to that point in his career.

“Beware of the Monkey”

“Beware of the Monkey” is the most recent mixtape from MIKE released on December 21, 2022. I’d describe this mixtape as a beam of hope in the wallows of despair. A large amount of MIKE’s work centers around themes of depression, isolation, and self-hatred. “Beware of the Monkey” sees him in a more optimistic and hopeful spirit, which is always nice to see after listening to some of his more early works. When taking a look at the production, you can see MIKE taking a more of hypnotic approach that he would build upon in the aformentioned “Burning Desire”. My favorite track off of the mixtape would have to be the opener, “nuthin i can do is wrng”.

“May God Bless Your Hustle”

“May God Bless Your Hustle” is one of MIKE’s earlier works that would grant him some traction in the underground. Being released on June 21, 2017, the album reflects a lot of the gloomier sentiments common during that respective era of hip-hop. It’s an extremely relaxing yet emotionally crushing record that I can heavily sympathize with at parts. Out of all of MIKE’s projects, this would be my personal favorite, with my top track being “Pigeonfeet”.

Final Thoughts

Going solely off of the music that I tend to keep on rotation from MIKE, I want to expect this show to be a personal one. It’s a type of sound that he brings forth that can really connect you to others through just the music. I’m absolutely sure that this will be one of my most unique concert experiences and I’m very much ready for it.