creative zen's 'zenternet browsing' mix, and MTV2 reminiscing

Long time no see, friends. Hope you're all doing well! Since releasing the follow up to creative zen's touch entitled micro (which you can find here), I'd been thinking about doing a fun mix of y2k, frutiger-related tracks I've found in the last year, and I made it happen. I guess this counts as a brief commercial break "exclusive", LOL 

creative zen - zenternet browsing

"songs i've scrobbled in the last few months"

1. ax14 - Morning dew
2. 486 Paradise - MediaCenter
3. Dreaming Diary - JPEG Flowers
4. General Translator - 歓迎Plasma Lounge
5. chlorophyll - escalator dreams
6. HANAWARI YUMEKO - 世界間のつながり
7. TCR-4 - pay-per-view menu
8. post dive - Dreamcore
9. Brickmason - s e t . a l a r m . 0 6 : 3 0
10. alyzea - dream OS
11. enterprises - lukes birthday party.jpg
12. frutiger pm - frutiger pm
13. Aero Corp - ! ! motivating forces ! !
14. STAQQ OVERFLO - natural logon (3)
15. Agnar - MP3 for Humanity
16. Satin Sheets - OPUS
17. 世纪重塑 - 数字花园Digital Garden
18. climbing waterfalls - condensation room
19. Ghost Enterprise - Deep Web Dance Club
20. Your Bestest Friend :) - FOREVER CONNECTED
21. INTERNET CLUB - MAPMAKER
22. Mr. Roy G Biv - Goodnight

Click here to download the mix.

Kind of related, but I've been thinking back to 2001-2002, the days when my high school bestie's mom would pet sit for a friend of hers who was pretty well off. Their house blew my mind as a person who lived in a pretty dilapidated house as a child. Three floors, a beautiful backyard, and most significantly, a fully furnished basement with a TV, two couches, and a fancy office with two Compaq computers. That basement became our palace. I watched as my bestie, J, flirted with randos in Yahoo Messenger chat rooms who would send her bouquet emotes, and we searched through the family's folders for photos we could edit on Paint Shop Pro; thankfully they were mostly family photos and stock images, nothing too crazy. We watched Homestar Runner videos and went to random flash sites, hoping that we wouldn't infect the family's computers and get ourselves banned from using their PCs ever again. I have a specific memory of watching the banned version of Incubus' Wish You Were Here (in a freshly post-9/11 world, the visual of the members jumping off of a bridge could evoke memories of people jumping out of the towers, so Incubus redid the video with footage from the Morning View house instead), an .rm file that was pixelated to all hell, my stan flag flying with pride. But that's not the point of this tangent. 

This family could afford to have satellite TV.

This family had MTV2. 

I'd heard about MTV2, but us poors with normal cable (saying this tongue-in-cheek, of course) didn't get MTV2 until, like...2004, 2005ish? When more TV shows were taking over the channel, and it wasn't as focused on music as I saw it in 2001. 2001 MTV2 blew my fucking mind, and we basically kept it on in the background at all times, but I most of all cherished sitting on the couch, glued to the screen, watching MTV2's Control Freak. Looking back, why did we never use the computer to vote for our favorites? Maybe I was too mesmerized? Maybe J didn't want to use her email? I know I didn't have an email at that time, this was just before I got a computer of my own. Maybe we were too young to register an account and were too goody goody to lie? (Well, idk about that, I feel like J lied about her age for lols in those Yahoo Messenger chats) But the main reason why I fell in love with that channel was because MTV2 was digging deeper than main MTV was. They were showing videos by more underground artists, videos of various genres beyond what was popular at the time. It was truly my exposure to electronic music. The excitement I felt is something I'll never forget.

VHS rips of that show seem to be few and far between, possibly because of copyright, possibly because the tapes got tossed into a dump before somebody could preserve them 10-20 years later. I did find a brief rip of a Control Freak recording, courtesy of a private VHS-related torrent site that I'm thankful still exists (sadly, they closed off invites around the time I disappeared in 2016). I hope one day, somebody comes through with the ultimate jackpot so I can fully go down the rabbit hole, explore what I wish I could have witnessed for longer than a few hours every few weeks or months. 

Anywho, videos I fondly remember from my brief love affair with MTV2:
Nikka Costa - Like A Feather
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
Daft Punk - One More Time
Alicia Keys - Fallin'
Lil' Mo - Superwoman (feat. Fabolous)
Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
Moby - Natural Blues
Cake - Short Skirt/Long Jacket
The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be

Glad I got to experience that time while I could.

Hopefully another post soon with things I've liked lately. For now, take care!

Cool Albums for March 22, 2025

Hello, I know it's been nearly two months since I've posted around these parts, but I felt inspired after a walk with mp3 player number three this evening and felt like I should post about some cool albums I've been listening to lately. As always, all links will open in a new tab. 

days of blue skies - As The Days Go By.... - Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous album. As I said in a previous post, slushwave can be hit or miss for me, but when this album hits, it hits. If Only Today Lasted Forever, Night Drive, West to East, Soft Moonlight...all of them are pure gems. Please check this one out.
TCR-4 - ｄａｉｌｙ　ｍｅｄｉａ - I've listened to so much Mom and Dad's Computer lately, half because I truly enjoy it but half because MDC is so prolific that I have countless albums of theirs to check out. I'm a sucker for the MDC-related albums that thrive in a 2000s frutiger-nostalgic world and I feel like they curate that vibe for their releases in a way that itches my brain. For this one, just imagine if somebody stumbled upon a WebTV music playlist that's nothing but dance-y bangers, and there you go.
Afterdeath Television - Mater Natura - This release is stunning. Another new age-y nature-filled release in a similar realm as the FM Forest album I'd previously mentioned on this blog, apparently inspired by Overgrowth. The sample choices are lovely, and it was a comforting album to listen to in the midst of grieving. Really glad I gave this one a listen after I admittedly listened to another ADTV album that didn't fully gel with me.
OnlineSculpture - 美しい都会の女の子! - I forget how I stumbled onto this artist, but this five track EP goes into some unexpected and very fun sampling directions. It reminds me of something I would have heard back in the early early days of vaporwave, where chillwavers and other electronic artists were sampling and the lines of "is it vaporwave or is it not" were very blurred. Track two has this killer post-punk sounding bassline that I absolutely live for, and I hope this artist chooses to make a full album in the future.
Faint Waves - Paradiso: The Alternate Paradise - It's crazy as fuck to listen to an alternate version of a release before hearing the original, but I'll listen to it in the future. For now, I will say that the Paradiso versions seem to put a Balearic spin on the original tracks in a way that gives me full-on Pure Moods. This actually played on my mp3 player right after Mater Natura, and may I say I think they compliment each other well. 

There are definitely others I've liked in the last few months and I could go way way back and link those, but maybe I'll get to doing that eventually. I hope this post finds you well, and we'll talk again next time, whenever that will be. xoxo

New Releases for December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! I may update this if more Christmas-themed releases appear in my inbox today. 

New Releases

TCR-4 - F e s t i v e - Released December 25, 2024

Various Artists - Low Jolly Depression - Released December 25, 2024

Various Artists - Vaporwave Is Coming To Town! - Released December 25, 2024

Paco Moreno - Paco Moreno's Kmart Christmas - Originally released December 6, 2024, but released physically via Disklab on December 21, 2024.

And if you missed the last post, I'll link these one more time:

Various Artists - The Signalwave Christmas Special 2024 - Released December 21, 2024

FOTOshoppeツ - Christmas Forecast - Released December 23, 2024

And one more that I forgot about posting a week or two ago:

Various Artists - Holiday Countdown - Released December 1, 2024

xoxo, and ho ho ho! 

Links post for December 17, 2024

I'll be heading out of town for a few days, so I figured I'd make a quick post before I went radio silent. I'll be back in time for Pad Chennington's Ugly Sweater Party on Sunday (something that I'm a part of!), and hopefully I'll be back with some albums to shout out in the next post. This one won't be as mega as the last post, but it'll still be a goodie. As always, links will open in a new window. Here we go.

Cool Albums

LAST CEREMONY - Sunsets & Late Night Drives - I've listened to quite a few LAST CEREMONY releases in the last year or so, but this one's my favorite. The title track is a gorgeous introduction to this appropriately named album, of starting your drive at blue hour and continuing well into the night time as passing cars are fewer and fewer, and turning off your car in the driveway at 2:00 a.m. with bleary eyes and clarity. Kinda reminds me of how I try to organize my Late Night Lofi tracklists a bit. The only complaint I have about this album is minor, and a bit of a compliment: I wish it were longer.

TCR-4 - Ｍ​ｏ​ｓ​ｔ​ｌ​ｙ​　​Ｃ​ｌ​ｏ​ｕ​ｄ​ｙ - A short but sweet signalwave album (that gives me hints of barber beats with the sample selection) that's inspired by the Pacific Northwest. It's relaxing, it's cozy, it's quite pleasant. 

ｙｏｕ　ｓｔｉｌｌ　ｆｅｅｌ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ，　ｄｏｎ＇ｔ　ｙｏｕ - 最 後 に 永 遠 に - Admittedly, slushwave can be hit or miss for me. Whether it's the sample selection, what is being sampled in the song (I feel like you've seen me say more than once that I wish people didn't use full versus and choruses as a crutch and get a little more creative in what the song is sampling, which may be a hot take), but this album from YSFTOTDY is BEAUTIFUL. Great sample selections, and the tracks take me on a hell of a journey. I usually see a 26 minute song and think "why in the world does a track need to be this long", but 木 の 誕 生 / 竹 月 worked fantastically, reminding me of the end of one of my favorite Deerhunter songs in how both tracks make you feel like waves are crashing around and over you. While Little Kids by Deerhunter leaves you feeling disturbed, 木 の 誕 生 / 竹 月 provides nothing but tranquility. 

Various Artists - S​​​Ξ​​​CR​​​Ξ​​​+ ΞXPLOR​​​Λ​​​+​​​ION PROGR​​​Λ​​​M [Vol. 1] - Vįr+üål Åįrßñß did an incredible job in curating this release. There's not really a spoken theme, but the cover makes me envision an alternate universe where the Boston Dynamics robots took over the earth, and the effects of global warming are reversing itself as nature overtakes what humans built. All of that to say, it's really pretty, and half of this compilation is appearing in future Neon Nights* episodes.

死夢VANITY - lavish memories - 死夢VANITY has returned with another lovely late night lo-fi album that could be the soundtrack of a luxurious date night, or a soundtrack of a top notch spa experience, or a soundtrack to shopping for very expensive jewelry. It's very rich sounding, kinda borderline barber beats-y as well with the sample selection, and I love it. Welcome back, homie.

New Releases

Mitch Murder x Pizza Hotline - Anti Gravity Tournament - Released December 6, 2024

Notorious Secret x [carteBlanche] - Moondial - Originally released August 25, 2023, but received a physical release via Underwater Computing_ on December 13, 2024.

Various Artists - Sailing Vol. 2 - Released December 13, 2024 (I am on this comp!)

Donor Lens - The Singles (2019-2024) - Released December 13, 2024

days of blue skies & desert sand feels warm at night - Perli tal-Passat - Released December 16, 2024

LAST CEREMONY - Ambience of Absence - Released December 13, 2024

Florida Rains - Tampa Theatre - Released December 13, 2024

FIJI島の水 - INMY5Y5TEM - Single. Released December 16, 2024

Crystal Eternal - Ibiza Danse Magick (Radio Edit) - Single. Released December 15, 2024

* Neon Nights is my online radio show that airs biweekly, every other Tuesday, at 10:00 p.m. eastern. I play a lot of what gets highlighted in these posts, and I sometimes like to do themed episodes, too. A new episode is actually airing tonight, if you'd like to come in and check it out! Here's the link to the show. Also, fun fact: the next episode after this one falls on New Year's Eve, and it will be a two hour 2024 Neon Nights retrospective, a.k.a. Late Night Lofi VII (which I previously highlighted on the blog), and tracks that fit the vibe of the LNLF mix. It'll be a beautiful episode. If you're gonna tune into any of them, choose that one. 

Until next time!

Florida Rains - Trop (and new releases for November 27, 2024)

 

Florida Rains has been quite prolific in 2024, releasing 17 albums in eleven months. I'm slowly catching up on checking out their discography, but between Downtown Tampa and the album I'm discussing in today's post, I'm really enjoying what I've heard of their output. Named after a Rainfall Amounts segment on The Weather Channel, Florida Rains is another artist I've found whose Weather Channel-inspired releases have not been the same ol' formula that many other meteorologically themed vaporwave albums have followed in the last decade, choosing to go more into a late night lo-fi territory and using some really lovely lo-fi jazz samples. There's some excellent curation on Trop, and if you don't come out of hearing this album feeling extremely cozy, idk what to tell you. It was hard to choose a single track to upload to YouTube, but the track Joyce is just...SO FUCKING CUTE. I didn't realize until just now that the titles are the names of baseball players from their local team. Another reason why this album is so damn charming! I'm excited to hear more of what Florida Rains puts out in the future. 

You can find this album digitally at the link below:

https://floridarains.bandcamp.com/album/trop

Now, here are plenty of new releases to check out if you desire. As always, links open in a new window:

Dirty River - Between us - Released November 15, 2024

Fornax Void - Music for Dystopian Concrete Buildings: The Future of Void Corp. - Released November 15, 2024

Mabisyo - Beatmaking Sessions Vol.1 - Released November 15, 2024

Dan Mason - Bleed - Released November 15, 2024

Mom and Dad's Computer - Home Design 3D - Released November 21, 2024

Tele + 1 & Paco Moreno - analog ghost - Released November 22, 2024

LEI WOLUNG - SMOKE AND MIRRORS - Released November 22, 2024

ユリア★ & HANAWARI YUMEKO - NEO​​​マ​​​ジ​​​カ​​​ル​​​★​​​ガ​​​ー​​​ル - Released November 22, 2024

Lost Colossus - 死​の​競​争 (Death Race) - Released November 8, 2024

TCR-4 - M o n d a y - Released November 19, 2024

Minuit Café - CLUB ☆ NOSTALGIA 『​ク​ラ​ブ​・​ノ​ス​タ​ル​ジ​ア​』 - Released November 8, 2024

HYDROPLANED INTO A FALSE REALITY! - Limbo - Released November 15, 2024

bentoboy - DEPTHS-OF-MY-MIND - Released November 21, 2024

Crystal Eternal - Eyes Without a Face - Single. Released November 19, 2024

Blogspot removed everything I typed up after the links, what the hell! My apologies that not everybody in the New Releases section are in the tags due to the character limit. And an additional apology if my writing in this post is coming off clunky; I slept like pure garbo and I don't think this caffeine will ever kick in.

A quick shoutout to another music blog out there posting about vaporwave and other cool underground music, listencorp. Make sure to subscribe to their emails, as they go very in-depth in them in a way that I find to be super cool. Check them out! 

New Releases links for November 4, 2024

It's been a long past few days, friends, and links are very overdue. I'll do a Cool Albums post in the next coming days, but for now, LOTS AND LOTS OF NEW RELEASES. Links will open up in a new window, as always! 

TCR-4 - Ｍ​ｏ​ｓ​ｔ​ｌ​ｙ​　​Ｃ​ｌ​ｏ​ｕ​ｄ​ｙ - Released October 29, 2024
LAST CEREMONY - Pools & Palm Trees - Released October 30, 2024

KJ VALIUM - THE PACIFIC THEATER - Released October 31, 2024

セーブ画面 - Save Rooms + Cutscenes - Released October 31, 2024

ll nøthing ll - Everything Holding On Together - Released November 1, 2024

👁‍🗨📲 - 👁​点​击​と​👁 - Originally released on December 1, 2023 via Kats Kill Records, but received a cassette release on November 1, 2024 via First Class Collective.

猫 シ Corp. - Oasys​✓​✓​✓​☞​❐​計​算 ソ​フ​ト​ウ​ェ​ア & Hi​​​-​​​Fi - Originally released September 16, 2016 and August 7, 2013 respectively, but reissued together on cassette and minidisc via Underwater Computing _ on October 30, 2024.

很寂寞,,,總是很寂寞 - Live at "Una noche de Vapor en el Puerto" - Released November 1, 2024

DJ VIOLENCE - VAPORMEMPHIS FORECAST 2 - Released November 1, 2024

unknown settlement - autumnal gloam - Released November 1, 2024

VANITAS命死 - 野​外​博​物​館 (open air museum) [​𝒸​𝒶​𝓈​𝓈​𝑒​𝓉​𝓉​𝑒 𝓂​𝒾​𝓍​] - Originally released January 1, 2024, but cassette mix released on October 25, 2024 via My Pet Flamingo.

V4NGOE - Holy Spirit Soundtrack - Released October 25, 2024

pjpriiincess x applecore - subaqueous fantasy (midnite levels) - Released October 26, 2024

Various Artists - All Hallows' Screens - Released October 28, 2024

Various Artists - Storm Season 台​风​预​警 - Released November 4, 2024

Various Artists - Screamtime - Released November 3, 2024

Also: I will be vanishing from Discord for a few months starting tomorrow night. That said, if you have something you'd like to send my way Bandcamp-wise that you think deserves attention, or some sort of self-promotion, feel free to send it over to briefcommercialbreak at gmail dot com. I'll try to check it frequently so I don't miss out on anything. Talk again soon!