W.R.I. - STORY OF MY A-LIST LIFE (and new releases for October 24, 2024)

I got introduced to the world of celebrity gossip after the infamous Ashlee Simpson lipsync incident on Saturday Night Live, which coincidentally happened 20 years ago yesterday. So I don't dox myself too much (or the sites I still go to 20 years later), I'll just talk about my memories of this era. The best term to describe this time of celebrity gossip is ruthless. TMZ eventually became the go-to place for news on socialites and partying movie stars and musicians as they drunkenly stumbled out of the clubs and made fools of themselves, or for breaking news on celebrity deaths or hospitalizations as they paid off nurses and police officers for any tidbits they could get. A time where, if the contents of somebody's T-Mobile Sidekick got leaked, the public was far less sympathetic and responded with "that person is a stupid whore anyway, soooo". A time where countdown sites were made for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen for when they officially turned 18, and you could find Ashton Kutcher in a Von Dutch hat saying this sort of fucked up shit out loud. Women were never skinny enough. Women were shamed for cellulite. Women were shamed for hip dips and large arms. Women were laughed at for their botched surgeries after trying to obtain the ideal body. Where Winona Ryder was shamed to hell and back for shoplifting, arrests and mugshots for Paris, Nicole, and Lindsay amplified them. I'll never forget the image of Britney Spears tied to a gurney in an ambulance. I'll never forget the image of Anna Nicole crying and holding her dead son, who had just passed away moments before. I'll never forget Vanessa Hudgens' nude photos leaking and people focusing less on how she was underage and more on how much of a stupid slut she was and mocking her. Upskirt photos. Brandon Davis' "firecrotch" rant recorded by an x17 paparazzo. Sex tapes. Perez Hilton. The rise of reality television. The mid-to-late 2000s were a hell of a time. I have a weird soft spot about that time period, because it was such a big part of my life and things felt more simple back then, but I also am fully aware of how truly fucked up that time was in celebrity gossip, and how much of that time negatively affected girls and women's self-esteem. 

W.R.I.'s STORY OF MY A-LIST LIFE is a sound collage time capsule of everything I experienced in those days of being new to celebrity gossip, the nastiest time for being a celebrity, and being absolutely captivated. You'll hear Britney being swarmed by paparazzi, followed by a bitcrushed Black Eyed Peas song, followed by a block of makeup ads, followed by audio clips of Lindsay Lohan in the court room. I'm unsure of how old this person is, if this person is my age or if this person is much younger and looking at this time through rose-colored lenses. If you're reading this, W.R.I., this album is absolutely eerily spot on. The track I am posting below is a good summary of what this album sounds like, but I recommend listening to the entire album as you look through Pop Culture Died in 2009's Twitter page for the full experience. 

You can find the full album digitally at the link below: 

https://nu-apollo.bandcamp.com/album/story-of-my-a-list-life

I'm going to save the cool links for the next post. Here are some new releases to check out:

S O A R E R - 現​実​化​解​除 - Originally released on March 9, 2024 but released physically on October 18, 2024 via Qingdao Market.

.mp3neptune - WAVEZZ - Released October 18, 2024. Thank you for the ode to Neon Nights, by the way. <3 

sφ​ι​cн​ι​rφ - g​н​​​φ​​​sτ - Released October 17, 2024

midnight première - memory haze collection - Released October 9, 2024

DEATH DEVOIR - 大​​​化​​​の​​​改​​​新 - Originally released on August 30, 2024, but released physically on October 18, 2024 via PMP.

The City Reviewer - Snow Dystopia - Released October 18, 2024

dystopian exoplanet - t r a n s p a r e n t m e t a l - Released October 21, 2024

Trademarks & Copyrights - Marble Girls I, II, and III - Being physically released tomorrow as The Marble Girls Trilogy via Arctic Contact.

luxury noise - reconfigured heart - Single. Released October 18, 2024

FM Forest - Universe (and a few other tidbits)

 

Imagine a world where time drifts slowly...a world where music carries you away.

FM Forest's first album, originally titled Original Master Recording (Universe) before seemingly getting changed to just Universe for a physical VILL4IN release, lives up to the expectations I had after seeing that beautiful album cover. FM Forest delivers an album that would have fit perfectly in the discography of Windham Hill Records, which is high fucking praise. An extremely beautiful new age album with peak meditation vibes, peak going into the forest and sitting next to your favorite waterfall vibes, peak feeling the crisp air on a dreary day and feeling your stresses melt away vibes. Though this album was created during the spring and summer seasons (per the artist's album description), it's resonating so well with me during this chilly fall transition. All of that to say: listen to the first track of the album below, and let the music carry you away.

You may find this album for free digitally at the link below:

https://fmforest.bandcamp.com/album/original-master-recording-universe

Other quick tidbits:

1. Looking for other cool albums? Here are two recommendations for you:

Aexion - ᨖ​ᨗ​ᨆ​ᨊ​ᨙ ᨔ​ᨘ​ᨌ​ᨗ 「Hallow Hymn」 - Slushified late night lo-fi. Imagine if Telepath and 蜃気楼MIRAGE did a collab album together, and it would be this. 

modest by default | Mabisyo - 死​ぬ​こ​と​を​学​ぶ​た​め​の​戦​略 - Though these two are known for their barber beats releases, this album leans more into ambient and dreampunk sounds and is one of my favorite discoveries this year. 

2. This Saturday, Roge Corp is hosting Rogefest 2, a cool URL show/birthday party with a smorgasbord of a lineup. Show starts at 2:00 p.m. eastern, set times TBA. Hope to see you in the chat at https://twitch.tv/roge_corp! 

Links post for October 12, 2024

This post is gonna be a megalinks post, since I didn't do any links in the extremely long late night lofi post (which I'm glad everybody enjoyed!). New releases were found in the sea of Bandcamp emails I've received in the last week and a half, and cool albums are...well, cool albums. All links will open up in a new window. Enjoy!

Cool Albums:

Notorious Secret - Entwined Fates - Noto is continuing to bring it in the late night lo-fi department, and this one is a lot of fun. Lots of drama, lots of cool sampling choices, and...maybe the cassette comes with a secret EP featuring a few cool people? That said, this is not an intentional plug or a sponsored whateverthefuck, this album is truly a delightful listen. 

chris††† - alone online - This album was hard to listen to, and I'm not even saying it in a rude "oh god it was so terrible" kind of way. It's bleak, and I feel like he got the point across with this very lonely, terminally online concept in a way that felt too real and uncomfortable. You know the photos of the really filthy basement bedrooms, covered head to toe in Monster energy drink cans and food wrappers? This album is on repeat in that room. In a world where COVID didn't exist, I think this album would have done a lot better for him. Bonus: alone time alt, the alternative versions of the tracks. 

Chad Manchild's Emojams Vol. 1 - Don't judge the album by the name. This Late Arcane side-project is a banger and a half, and in my opinion, rivals One Mind Stand™'s album in terms of sampled early 2000s music done right. Sorry to compare this album to OMS, I feel like I'm almost insulting Late Arcane by doing so but I'm not! Truly, give this album a listen.

Dirty River - Username please - More mid-2000s nostalgia for you all to check out, this time in the form of long lost Wii music. It seems that this artist is primarily creating barber beats, so I'm not sure if he has other albums like this, but Dirty River, if you're somehow reading this: create a sequel. This is a lovely album.

M1 t e l e v í z i ó - k é p ú j s á g - This short and sweet EP gives me the same feelings I experienced with International Telecom's ３ａ.ｍ.Ｓｉｇｎａｌｓ release, previously mentioned on this blog. Envision Ceefax on in the background as you're dozing off on the couch, and you find yourself within the Teletext in your dreams and the music is continuing on in your head. That sums up this adorable release.

.mp3neptune - You Keep Me Up At Night - Though this album came out during the late summer, it's really scratching the October spooky itch for me. Drove home to this a few nights ago as blue hour was hitting, and my goodness. Unsettling ambient that I highly recommend. 

Slime Portal - October Nightmare - On the topic of spooky! I have to give a shoutout to this release introduced to me back in 2015. Definitely in the signalwave/broken transmission genre, it's very much collaged Halloween commercials in the best way, imo a bit ahead of its time because I feel like this would have an audience now if it was given another chance or some sort of reissue. I am 95% certain that this is an old Video 2000 side-project, and if I was not supposed to reveal that, I am so sorry. I linked to the YouTube video for this one, but Vapor Memory was sweet enough to link to the album in the description. Of course, quick shoutout to Vapor Memory. Love you, homie!

New Releases:
Skeleton Lipstick - Death Romantique - Released on October 8, 2024

회사AUTO - Greatest Hits vol​.​1 - Originally released on February 2, 2016, but reissued on vinyl on October 4, 2024 by My Pet Flamingo.

德羅斯 & 定常 w a n d e r e r - 徘​徊​於​夢​境​之​間 - Released October 4, 2024

Phorme - Soulless - Released October 3, 2024

Vįr+üål Åįrßñß - ⩑ ⟔ ∴ ⨊ ∵ ⟓ ⩒ - Released October 2, 2024

Diskette Park - Radiant Covenant - Released October 9, 2024

Ghost Particles - Altered Reality - Released October 11, 2024

Unfortunately, I cannot add all of the artists in my tags. My apologies! I tried!

In closing, a very special shoutout to PhotographyNest for creating a hella cool blog recently called Vaporwave2, documenting his favorite albums and showing off some of his cassette collection. He also wrote a very sweet entry about me that left me a bit verklempt. Check his blog out! If you have a cool vaporwave-related or music-related blog, please tell me! We need to create some sort of network. 

The Late Night Lofi compilations

One night in late 2010, my ex and I decided to drive back to our hometown in the middle of the night instead of waiting to do so in the early morning. The air was brisk and his window was broken and permanently cracked. It was a very foggy evening, a bit spooky actually and extremely dangerous, and his radio was broken, which gave me a lot of time to think while continuously scanning for deer. This song kept playing in my head, and I thought about making a cool mix based upon that very creepy, sorta lo-fi sound that this particular Tobacco track and this eerie, foggy drive really epitomized, but what to call it? "Late Night Lofi" was what popped into my mind. Alas, I never made that mix, but the words "Late Night Lofi" stuck with me to use one day. 

As I mentioned in the International Telecom post, I found vaporwave in 2011 and finally understood it after hearing Midnight Television's self-titled album. From there, I was on the prowl for anything that sounded like what I'd heard through Laserdisc Visions and Midnight Television. I did find a couple of albums via Midnight Television's short-lived blog, Moonlit TV Dinner, and I did find others through lurking around Facebook pages and groups, as well as stalking people's Last.fm accounts. After a year of finding gems and falling in love, I chose to make a mix of the songs I'd considered to be highlights and tracks that sounded like the concept of "driving at dusk and continuing on well into the night", and decided that Late Night Lofi would be the absolute perfect name for this mix of 'whatever the fuck this genre is'. Newbreed, gunk, etc. 

Here we are, 12 years later, and I just released the seventh installment of the series. Late night lofi has also been adopted into a genre (because of course I was gonna use my own mix name and inspiration when releasing luxury elite albums!) and even has become its own festival, which is extremely flattering and hella cool. Never did I envision this to happen when I created the first mix, any of this. Anyway, here are all of the mixes, and I'll make sure to post the download links for each one. Enjoy.

Late Night Lofi, originally posted to Tumblr on 06/04/2012

1. Mimics - Palmeaters
2. Wasted Nights - Slow Mirror

3. Lasership Stereo - Digital Rain

4. Future Airwaves - Vision

5. Computer Dreams - Information Superhighway

6. Dreams West - Super Gran Turismo

7. 18 Carat Affair - New Jack City

8. Sand Circles - Downtown Holdup

9. Outer Limits Recordings - Driving At Night

10. Midnight Television - Jazzercise

11. Magnétophonique - City Lights

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/aen9zhjiqmwaxkt/LATENIGHTLOFI.zip

Late Night Lofi II, originally posted to Tumblr on 12/09/2012

1. bittertv - クルーズライナーVOYAGER

2. Wasted Nights - Feelings

3. Computer Dreams - Drips

4. saharasunset - en jean

5. Dreams West - Distant

6. VHS Logos - Dial 89,3

7. orchids&flowers - Midnight Hour

8. Lasership Stereo - Circuit Heroes

9. Local News - Tonights Special Guest

10. SAFE MODE - 00002

11. esc 不在 - tonight on hbo

12. Hayao Yamaneko - The Ancients Called It "Lucifer-Alpha"

13. Diskette Romances - Emerson J. Banks

14. 骨架的 - Fantasy

15. 18 Carat Affair - Cybernetic

16. Walter Christian Rothe - Verena

17. Midnight Television - All Night

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/zgr1n9w1k4i99d9/LATENIGHTLOFIII.zip

Late Night Lofi III, a mix for One O'Clock originally finished on 01/16/2013 but posted on 05/28/2013

1. Hayao Yamaneko - Dreams Two

2. Miami Vice - Empty Mall Lobby

3. VentureX - Smooth

4. hbocinemax - midnight vision

5. ECO VIRTUAL - Valley Breeze

6. luxury elite - swimming

7. Lasership Stereo - Sweet Rain

8. malewarlock - inoui

9. SAINT PEPSI - GIMME YOUR LOVE

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/akshiykqrd7irz3/LATENIGHTLOFIIII.zip

Late Night Lofi IV, a mix for Neon Nights aired on 05/08/2014

1. Visaプリペイド - Mizushima

2. ULTRA ウルトラ - クレジット u p g r a d e ° 21

3. VentureX - Vacation

4. b o d y l i n e - television insomnia

5. VECTOR GRAPHICS - DIRTY LOOKS

6. Fé Mora - farewell

7. Computer Dreams - Waiting

8. Dystopian Chic - 5:19AM jam

9. ＤＯＮＴ/ BＥ/ 正方形 - Nucle

10. Public Spreads the News [also written as Linckoln Public Library] - Movin' On Up

11. Miami Vice - Evening Broadcast

12. Lasership Stereo - Tides

13. Gｅｎｅｒａｌ Ｔｒａｎｓｌａｔｏｒ - 当社PROTAGONIST（GENERALトランス）のためのインタールード

13. Convenient Integrative Moods - Structured Nighttime Activities

14. ショッピングワールドjp - NIGHTTIME SURF

15. INTERNET CLUB - DIGITAL FOG

16. Hong Kong Express - 夏天愛

17. SAINT PEPSI - de salle

18. luxury elite - cold

19. 18 Carat Affair - What If...

20. ESPRIT 空想 - summer night

21. TIME SLIME - LOVE

22. bbrainz - be good

23. CYBEREALITYライフ - オーロラ3.0

24. collegeparty - underwater archaeology

25. Kodak Cameo - The Strip at Midnight

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/gjlm2whbisjc86g/LATENIGHTLOFIIV.zip

Late Night Lofi V, posted to Twitter on 12/01/2020

1. Young Muslim - Super GT

2. b o d y l i n e - nite waves (VHS)

3. ｇｈ０ｓｔ - 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝒾𝓃'

4. COSMIC CYCLER - showroom

5. Silver Richards - Happy Hour

6. SYLLABUS - Up Late Again

7. BABEFAKE - Evening

8. bl00dwave - Crystal Building

9. plastique - Indigo

10. Ｓｐｏｒｔ３０００ - Sport

11. 18 Carat Affair - Timeshares

12. Noir FM - Hazy Entrance

13. SAINT PEPSI - silhouettes

14. Kodak Cameo - Card Shark

15. Lasership Stereo - Showroom

16. 死夢VANITY - lovely reveries

17. luxury elite - private

18. GLITTER FORTRESS - MIDNIGHT

19. INTERNET CLUB - DIGI-NOIR

20. Mediterráneo Mall - Al Aire Libre

21. vcr-classique - busy life

22. t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - 魅惑的な目

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/kpz1t4w2sf7bfxv/LATENIGHTLOFIV.zip

Late Night Lofi VI, posted to Twitter on 04/14/2023

1. Ashleigh Sullivan - 抱擁とキス  ˹ xoxoxo ˼

2. MiraiCult - ミーハージャンクショップ

3. Notorious Secret - The Moon and You

4. FutureFunkRocker - Candle Light

5. Kodak Cameo - Don't Go

6. 𝙡𝙮_ - Track 2

7. Aexion - Fireflies

8. TUPPERWAVE - All Night Long

9. 私たちのNIGHT - love hotel

10. 世界は80年代に終了しました - 本当の恋人

11. Seabaud - 陽光 微笑 Ｓｕｎｓｈｉｎｅ Ｓｍｉｌｅ

12. forbidden memories - roses

13. BABEFAKE - Blue Shadow

14. Turboway - 貿易収支 ＴＲＡＤＥ ＢＡＬＡＮＣＥ

15. Nmesh - HI-RISΞ HΞARTBRΞAK

16. Persona La Ave - Special Boys

17. SAINT PEPSI - Dreams

18. NEW GAIA - Last Glimpse

19. bl00dwave - BODY

20. Mabisyo - The Cigarette Never Goes Out

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/peqt8pcd81hp2p6/latenightlofivi.zip

Late Night Lofi VII, posted to Twitter on 10/06/24

1. Basement Love - Her

2. ｗｉｎｄｏｗｓ - IIIIIIII

3. Kratzwerk - ｓｈｏｗ ｍｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌ ｆａｃｅ

4. 魚魚 - lucky starfish

5. b o d y l i n e - song of the sea

6. bentoboy - Miami

7. 潜在的溺愛者 - 別次元の旅立ち

8. Copywrong - Shame

9. Skyglow - I got your number

10. VHSテープリワインダー - Mixed Messages

11. 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 - Tropical Modernism

12. Eyeliner - Timelapse

13. Daydream Deluxe - OASIS沈没

14. Florida Rains - Florida Aquarium

15. Fan Fiordo - Paysage Bleu

16. midnight première - diamond nights

17. 死夢VANITY - true love

18. Tupperwave - Ramen Danbo

19. Nmesh - Kym & Patticakes

20. vcr-classique - night color

21. ホテル shampoo - sax fifth ave

22. Cinematic Sequences - Stay Tuned For More

23. Notorious Secret - Entwined Fates

24. Mom and Dad's Computer - menudrift

25. Atlas Cries - HOME AGAiN

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/2ph0zgh2q5x8bvu/latenightlofivii.zip

International Telecom - ３ａ.ｍ.Ｓｉｇｎａｌｓ

 

Summer 2011: I downloaded Laserdisc Visions' New Dreams LTD. I wanted so badly to understand it, but I felt more confused than anything, especially after being so enamored for months with the perfection that still is Vektroid's Telnet Erotika. At this point, we were still a year and a half away from the first use of 'vaporwave' as a genre name, and all I knew about whatever I was hearing from New Dreams LTD. was "this sounds...different." Nonetheless, I downloaded everything I could find of the other Beer on the Rug releases, and what made me fully get whatever this newfangled genre was, was Midnight Television's self-titled album. 

A decade before, I was looking longingly out my window facing the second busiest street in my hometown at 1:00 a.m., seeing people drive by and wondering where they were going, why they were out so late, what my town even had to offer at night. If I wasn't staring out the window, I was surfing online, looking around for Incubus-related media and thinking about how I wanted a shirt from T-Shirt Hell. My choices. Or I was in my bedroom, flipping through the channels, either stumbling onto color bars or George Foreman Grill paid programming, eventually settling on The Weather Channel as I got ready for bed. All of that to say: Midnight Television, within a ten minute album, hit every mark and sent me back to my early days of high school and the memories I mentioned above. Since then I'd chased and looked and downloaded so many albums in the broken transmission/signalwave genre for an album that would hit me in a similar way, or at least have a similar vibe, and I'd say International Telecom's ３ａ.ｍ.Ｓｉｇｎａｌｓ hits pretty close. 

Nine tracks and four bonus tracks of music you'd hear or wish to hear as you channel surfed in the middle of the night, damn well knowing you're not going to find anything outside of paid programming, color bars, Girls Gone Wild commercials and phone sex ads, and uninteresting classic movies. Knowing you need to go to sleep but being too stubborn to do so. Wishing that you could go explore your hometown at night as you saw others do but lacking the courage and a driver's license. Originally released in early 2023 via TVVIN_PINEZ_M4LL's label, B O G U S // COLLECTIVE, this album later got a cassette release via Aexion's label, Enterprise, which sold out. I am jealous of all of you who have this one on tape, truly. This album has some top notch sampling choices and provides the most comforting vibes that I'd last experienced with 猫 シ Corp.'s NEWS AT 11. I don't know if these comparisons will help in enticing you to check this album out if you've not done so, but LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM. Just fucking do it. 

You can find the album for free at the link below: 

https://intertelecom.bandcamp.com/album/--32