ON REPEAT: Deki Alem, Quiet Light, iANO, 3l3d3p, KNEECAP, Sudan Archives, Tyler the Creator, Smerz, Erika de Casier, Chromeo, babybaby_explores, Ceri Wax, Debby Friday
“But sometimes…I can be…not that…NICE.”
It’s been a minute because things have been…tumultuous. Lotsa big swings, weird vibes, late nights, fun and non-fun alike, even some epic fails—I can’t get into it! Look, it’s annoying to be coy, but being coy about recent failures is all I have these days as I drag what’s left of me to the 2025 finish line.
It’s a necessary advisory as I begin to write this. This will not be necessarily reflected in the songs I’ve picked since I have a backlog of songs I’ve been meaning to put in here…or will it? Let’s get it started.
Deki Alem “Fluent Stutter”
Deki Alem is a punk trip-hop duo of twin brothers from Gothenburg—you had me at DEKI. This song from a few years back is a tight burst of energy that neither sounds like punk or trip hop even. It sounds a little like the Tricky remixing this Fat Boys song or like a darkwave Scatman John b-side and I mean that all as a compliment.
Quiet Light “Aurora”
Quiet Light is another name for Austin’s Riya Mahesh. I quite like this bit from her bio:
She believes in working in extremes; mentioning her ideal song as one that “Charli XCXs a Gillian Welch song.”
iANO “Already Gone”
Mystery music from Portland maybe? shit I have no idea
Smerz “A Thousand Lies”
I’ve talked about Smerz a lot on here but Sheamus here can tell you how I feel about the record. I also love the videos from these records.
Erika de Casier “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
Thankfully, it’s not a Stones cover, De Casier’s sound is the smooth, cool-toned opposite of car commercial boomer rock.
I’m already showing my cards here too much with these songs.
babybaby_explores “Nice Sometimes”
I’ve posted about this Providence band but this song is maybe their biggest earworm. “But sometimes…I can be…not that…NICE” is exactly I say to my opps when I want the smoke.
Ceri Wax “Pura”
Some fun dancefloor stuff from Italy.
DEBBY FRIDAY “Bet On Me”
Never quite sounds the same but always sounds interesting.
3l3d3p “OSTRASIZED”
Reconnecting with one of my pandemic-era faves and an excellent new record. This one is a fun drum & bass hyperpop track with a slicker production than I’m used to from this project—less lo-fi 3d madness, but the video still has the prerequsite 3l3d3p seizure warning.
KNEECAP & Mozey “THE RECAP”
DISCLAIMER #1: Obviously, free Palestine, fuck ethnic cleansing, fuck censorship, Erin go bragh, etc. It’s very good to talk about all of this stuff, particularly if you have a big platform!
DISCLAIMER #2: I do like this song a lot and would want to “get in the pit” so to speak while it were playing.
I’m admittedly not super well-versed in all the KNEECAP stuff outside of the headlines of the stodgiest people hating them, which I got more from leftist chatter than music chatter. (I know Bob Vylan a bit more but, same.)
I think I heard of them, saw the haircuts and the mask and kinda wrote them off in my head. I didn’t realize they kinda kick ass and I’ve been playing just this one song all summer on runs and heard it once at da club (aka the thai restaurant I like that stays open late).
I will say, this video, uh, it gets the message across. This is a good thing because if they weren’t explicit about their message they could just easily come off like gen-z House of Pain or something. A less annoying Chumbawamba? At least someone is finally reclaiming Fred Perrys for the good guys.
Again, this is just a fresh reaction to one of the biggest acts going right now, but it really hits you over the head with everything! Is the lack of nuance just what it’s like to be like 19 again? I feel like ending the video on the Palestinian village with a Kneecap mural is like a bit much, no? DJ Próvaí was a teacher until 2020, when he reportedly left his school after they were alerted to a video where he had “Brits Out” written on his buttocks during a concert so I guess this has been going on for a while.
Just gently critiquing this while acknowledging they are a net positive. I’ll watch the documentary and get back to you!
Sudan Archives “MS. PACMAN”
This could be the song of the year. “In my favorite BLOUSE” is an all-time lyric.
Tyler, The Creator “Ring Ring Ring”
I’ve always had a bit of a complicated relationship with Tyler—not in a Jerrod Carmichael kinda way, more like an Anthony Fantano kinda way, unfortunately.
When he first came on the scene, I was so excited about him and watched that “Sandwitches” performance on J***y F****n’s show over and over again. Then I listened to the record and there was just some dumbass lyrics and it didn’t sound like the Odd Future I watched. Then they became a whole thing. I was watching this Derrick Gee video with the band Paris Texas and they kinda vocalized a feeling I had about Tyler/Odd Future/etc. It’s always been a whole thing, and I avoid whole things when I can. It’s why I hate The Beatles.
But that being said, every time I listen to new music from Tyler I love it. There are new twists and turns. I sometimes sneak songs into playlists so they catch me by surprise, sans baggage. This one from a few months ago is a complete departure, a Michael Jackson-y one, complete with synths, strings, and a cordless telephone ring. It reminds me of “Needy Girl” a little.
Maybe he could be my favorite, but it’s just a whole thing.
THE GOLD STANDARD
Chromeo “Needy Girl”
I could take or leave 99% of Chromeo’s output. I remember going to see them forever ago and was shocked at how much a bro fest it was. But this song, this wonderful song, will always be perfection to me. A New York Noise classic!
Did you know they were brothers?