ON REPEAT: Special Interest, H31R & Semiratruth, Skinny Pelembe, BIBI, Σtella, babybaby_explores
[fart sound]
There are so many weird names in that title, wow. Welcome back and thank you for reading this thing! My therapist left my health plan a few months ago and I think it shows in my writing 😊
Forgive my cheap plug! There is a new episode of The John Gentle Show out with David Brown. Naturally, here’s an upsetting highlight:
Also, MC Hammer passed away! I went to the DNC a few years ago as a representative of The Onion (lol), and he was just hanging around the whole time, along with Kid of Kid n’ Play and Jerry Springer, I guess waiting to get waved over by The Young Turks. Here’s a thing I did as my libertarian public access host character Smith where he appears for literally a single second:
I haven’t watched this in years and 1.) this precisely why I was never hired for The Daily Show, 2) wow I got fat, and 3) I’m still proud of that “amen” intro.
Anyway, his music is not the best but my brother left behind his CD when he went off to college and as a small boy I loved the beginning of “Crime Story” because it sounded like a fart. You be the judge:
Spotify playlist here. Here are some song picks:
Skinny Pelembe “Oh, Silly George”
Skinny Pelembe is from South Africa, by way of the UK and this song is like sample-heavy psychedelic afrobeat.
Σtella - Up and Away
It’s pronounced “Sigma” if you’re wondering.
She’s one of the newest Sub Pop artists, and her music sounds almost like something you’d hear played out of an old speaker while you eat Souvlaki at an ancient restaurant, and that is a good thing!
Also, I just learned that instrument is called a bouzouki. More bands should have bouzouki!
H31R & Semiratruth “Glass Ceiling”
H31R (pronounced heir) is the hip-hop/electronic duo of JWords (seen here making sick beats on the spot) and maassai. And they’re from…JERSEY, BABY. (Actually I think just JWords.) But they make good songs because they do it JERSEY STYLE, YEAHHH.
I never understood the idea of doing something “Jersey style” because New Jersey has the biggest population density in America. It has cities as disparate as Camden and Princeton, an infinite number mid suburbs, the pine barrens, the nice beach, the not nice beach, and pretending we all have anything in common besides a general chip-on-your-shoulder is dumb. (This is likely an unpopular opinion amongst New Jerseyans.)
That being said, anytime I find good music from New Jersey I am a little proud, because I know how much of a cultural vacuum it can be (at least the part I’m from, which is too close to NYC’s magnetic pull for anything cool to stay).
I do really like this album though. It’s got fun drum n bass stuff and fun hip-hop and I’ll probably post more on this and do less ranting about the state I’m from.
babybaby_explores “Pants”
Yeah I hate pants too
BIBI “Bam Yang Gang”
Resistance is futile—this is true for both the borg and the entire K-pop machine alike, which are two things I conflate. Somehow the algorithm put this in front of me and I was like, “Wow, what a pleasant little ditty!” I don’t mean that in a negative way, but if anything is a “little ditty,” it’s this.
I’m assuming BIBI is bigger than The Beatles somehow but I’m just learning about her. Apparently she won a competition show after getting big on Soundcloud. Cursory cultural research says this is a song about a read bean jelly dessert, or an unattainable sweet memory from the past. I like the little keyboard thing and at the end of the video she eats her vape.
What a nice little ditty.
BIBI “Sugar Rush”
oh shit BIBI you got that dawg in you
This Timbaland-sounding joint is mostly in English and is also maybe about dessert or maybe about fucking or killing.
This is the fucking b-side of the previous song. This is how I felt when I first heard Tierra Whack.
you got that dawwwwg in you
THE GOLD STANDARD
Special Interest “Disco 1.5”
Special Interest is certainly one of my favorite bands of the past few years. The band is a stew of no wave, glam, punk, dance, house, guttural screams from New Orleans.
They are certainly my favorite live band. I finally got to work with them this week and can add, THEY ARE ALSO COOL PEOPLE.
I also saw their show at El Cid was great except when I guess I stood in front of this older gentleman and he began loudly SCOLDING ME ABOUT HOW LONG HE WAS STANDING THERE (even though he was directly next to the entrance). I then moved out of his way and I guess in front of someone else having a day, and instead of asking me to slide over they started dramatically coughing on my neck until I fully turned around and stared at them. I’m sorry I’m laaaarge but not very punk of you, Silver Lake!!
* For the record, I’m always happy to move over a bit!