Circle of Friendz Season 2: Unknown Mortal Orchestra self-titled

Hello? Is anyone there? Because I'M BACK, WHERE ARE WE GOIN? This project, Circle of Friendz, where I totally haven't bitten off more than I can chew I swear, is back! I'm really glad to be back in the swing of things, being on a bit of a writing kick as of late. What better way is there to kick off what I shall henceforth call the second season of Circle of Friendz than with an artist newly invited into the Gorillaz family with Song Machine, Unknown Mortal Orchestra! Feels a little odd talking about them now, as Song Machine doesn't even officially come out until 11pm in my timezone as of the time I'm writing this opener, but it builds me up some hype. [EDIT: It's out!]  Before I indulge myself in their track Severed Head with Goldlink, let's dive into their self-titled 2011 debut. 

Ffunny Ffrends starts things off on the right foot. Its timeless lyricism about friendship comes matched with a really sticky guitar riff and chorus to create what sounds like a portrait of warm summer days long past. It makes sense learning after hearing the album that this was the big lead single, having made waves on Pitchfork and other music sites. If someone's bringing up this album to me, the first song that comes to mind is Ffunny Ffrends. If we're talking highlights, I'd also point you toward Thought Ballune. It has one of the best lines on an album, opening with "Building islands in the sky while I'm a prisoner in my own mind." I really emphasize with that struggle, trying to stay creative while feeling trapped and lost in your thoughts. It's quite relatable. Right after that on the album comes its best song, Jello and Juggernauts. The hilarious opening line "Looks like a bag of Cheetos exploded" is not just the best way I've heard a metaphorical bloodbath described, but also my favorite lyric on this album. While that line is funny, what comes after it in the song comes this album at its most thought-provoking. In my view, it's about writing and making art despite all the strange things that happen in life and the societal issues plaguing the world and the potentially harsh judgement from others, "the fears and judgements I'll never understand." 

From there, single How Can You Luv Me picks up the pace a little and Nerve Damage adds a punk edge with some cool twanging guitars, even though I'm not a huge fan of the vocals on it and it's the one I'm anticipating the least when I'm hearing this album front to back. Boy Witch closes out the album on a good note. It's the strangest sounding song and the one with the most going on sonically, from birds tweeting to chimes to the shifts between softer and rougher sounds, like the "MAKE IT SHOUT" done in the same vocal style as Nerve Damage. If you haven't yet, check out the live performances of this song too. Those are 3 times the length of the studio version, a lot punkier and have some sick guitar playing, it improves on the studio version quite a bit.

As a whole, Unknown Mortal Orchestra's debut is a pretty solid album with some neat guitarwork and catchy throwback songs. I do mean throwback, it sounds like a lost piece of late 60's psychedelic pop unearthed in our times. It keeps a nice vibe going through its brisk 9 tracks and 30 minute runtime. However, I don't think even the highs are super standout. It feels... somewhat slight? It doesn't blow me away, but it's still a nice debut effort. I'll check out the rest of their stuff. 7/10.

Feels pretty good to be back writing something after so long away. While usually Circle of Friendz is randomized, I chose this specifically because it would be a light, quick, fun record to talk about to get me back in the swing of things again. Honestly, I'm fine going without randomization, though I'm sure if I can't decide what to review at some point I'll lean back on it again. I'm not sure what collaborator is up next, but I do know I'm writing about Song Machine, Season 1. See ya then.

How Have I Been

When I was going through my drawers the other day, I found a little notebook in one of them. It wasn't very long ago when I wrote down something in that book, but it still felt like memories were flowing back when I opened it up. One of the pages had a few of what I would call "key terms." "Aimlessness/listlessness." "Community." Necessity." Essential vs. non essential." No more explanation for these or extra scribbles. When I read that page back, I immediately remembered why I made this seemingly meaningless list of phrases. These scant notes are the most basic representations for the ideas that I had stuck in my head as I was wandering around a local grocery store back in April of this year. These ideas were spawned by none else than the global pandemic consuming our lives at this very moment.

For context, I had been closely following the COVID-19 pandemic from an early stage around January. A Youtuber I liked had picked up the story, with the lockdowns of China becoming an all-encompassing beast that enamored him. He streamed constantly about it, following the virus as it began to spread across Asia and seep into Europe. As he watched, so did I. However, at no point during the pandemic's early stages did I feel scared. In fact, I kinda watched the whole debacle break down like it was some TV drama with a constantly evolving plotline rather then the life-changing event it would become for so many people across the world. I had a feeling that when it seeped into America that things could get very ugly as they did in China, but somehow my mind kept pushing it back as I focused on school and the life I held in my home state. What flipped the switch for me and started to get me emotionally concerned on a deeper level surprisingly wasn't when the declaration of the virus as a global pandemic was made or when the soft-stay-at-home orders were issued by my state's government. In fact, it was because of what was happening in Japan. 

In late February, Japan was reporting that cases of the virus were starting to pop up at live venues around the country. With these cases, happening, Shinzo Abe had called for live venues to be shut down for the next several weeks to curb the virus spread. I, however, had known about none of this until I had gotten up at around 3 or 4 am to watch a AKB48 concert. The group had been holding special unit concerts that brought certain members together under certain themes and branding as a way to see how they would hold up to the public. I missed watching the first few of those live, but one I had wanted to see was band-oriented, so I knew I wanted to catch that one. When I woke up, it wasn't on. I had thought the streamer who was relaying the shows was just having issues or something, so I checked Discord and found the news that every single AKB event, be it concert or handshake, had been cancelled or delayed while the shutdown orders were in effect. I was stunned. I knew that several important events for the group were coming up that I was anticipating over the next few months, like the graduation of Minegishi Minami, had been in jeopardy. Eventually all those were delayed or cancelled too. If anyone reading this comes away thinking that I'm selfish or even insane for only getting seriously worried when the things I liked started to go away, I can't exactly argue with them. We'll get back to this group later. 

After that, a general feeling of uneasiness had settled in that hasn't gone away since. Ever since then, little by little, more and more got chipped away. More countries locked down, films delayed, events cancelled, sports and television on pause. Some would say that "the world had stopped." I don't like that term myself, because people are still aging, more and more get claimed to the virus, and the earth keeps turning. If the world actually stopped, maybe that might actually be easier because at least then we as a society could start getting our shit together and try to work things out in the meantime before the world un-pauses itself. Life is never that simple.

While so many things have changed over the last few months, and even in my own house my brother had lost his restaurant job when the restaurant switched to carryout-only, my daily life feels like it hasn't changed much at all. Financially, there's little change. My brother gets unemployment money. My mom, who worked from home pre-pandemic, still gets just as much if not more work as before. As for me, I've done online college classes from home since 2018, never having any social functions to attend to and having hobbies I do entirely from the home. When I do leave the house, it's for groceries, fast food, library and movie theater trips with my mom. With so much of my time already spent at home and only missing out on short trips to libraries and theaters, I've never quite felt trapped inside during all of this. At least, not any more than I usually do. When what I see around me are people whose lives have been upended or even cut short, my relative stability feels more and more like a privilege.

A trend I've noticed that YouTuber Diginee put into words even better than I could is that people are doing much more self-reflection and "reverting back to childhood" in the process while at home. I've been doing lots of self-reflection like many others, except that I've realized that I'm not exactly learning a whole not new about myself or making new revelations. Maybe it's because for the last couple years I've felt so trapped in my own mind self-reflecting and pacing around the room before that reflection now isn't bringing up much new. The apocalyptic worries I've had in my mind for years stirred up in part by me spending so much time alone self-reflecting are starting to come to life thanks to global governmental incompetency, and none of it feels surprising. It's just the natural conclusion of my deep fears taken form. Not much can surprise me anymore.

If I can't get much out of reflecting on my own past or my own character, I figured I could get something out of reflecting outwards on the state of the world. That's where those notes from earlier come in. It was particularly around March and April that was marked as a time of me wandering around grocery stores, seeing whatever vibrant nature was there being sucked away and replaced with a creeping sense of dread and weariness, seeing sterile shelves cleared out and snack food packages advertising delayed films that would become little more than reminders of the "old world" without this disruption. How would communities take new form? What does it feel like to be "non-essential" and shut out from work? How would people, other than myself, deal with a newfound sense of aimlessness or listlessness? These were some of the things I pondered to myself in my short trips outside the house. Some of these I don't think will have a clear answer until if and when the pandemic passes. Because of this, I don't really want to think about the future much. I don't like thinking about "when this is all over." Phrases like that make it feel like this will be a quick process to deal with rather than the long, drawn out tedious affair the virus has become. Instead of constantly thinking about the end point or giving myself some fake optimism that things will pass quickly, I instead like to focus on what I can do now and how I can do it now. I don't know if I even have very long to live. Maybe even one year from now, I won't be alive to look back and reflect on these musings I'm writing down now. But while I'm still here, may as well make something out of it.

I did mention that AKB48 group earlier, didn't I? Right, right. While I was thinking about writing something related to COVID or my underdeveloped thoughts on the world in general for a minute now, what finally got me up from school and hobby-induced coma was a surprise charity song the group did, Hanareta Itemo. All the proceeds go medical workers and the like who are working nonstop to find a cure and heal the sick. It was unexpected in several ways. The first was that the video was never even hinted at beforehand, being a total surprise. The second were all the graduated members. I mean, Tomochin, Acchan, Sayanee, some of the biggest names of the group's past worked alongside almost every active member for this song. This leads to my third surprise, just how emotional I got. Seeing the graduated members in the video the first time got me incredibly emotional in an instant. It was this move combined with the touching lyrics provided a moving song unlike any other in AKB48's history. In particular, the final line, "For you, let's keep our distance," is one that will stay with me forever. Hanarete Itemo, unlike any other song I've encountered yet, was something I had to build a tolerence to. Usually, this would mean that the song was weak at first and grew on me later, but that's far from the case. The first time I saw the video, I was left a bawling mess during it. And the next time I watched it. And the next time. It's taken me multiple listens to get through it without crying, although in these cases I have to listen to it without reading along to the translated lyrics, lest it happen again. I've never had a song affect me as much as this one has. There's been many songs lately talking about the issues plaguing 2020, but not one as heartfelt and powerful as this.

So, while the world is the way it is, all I can do is my best. I can still work on my classes. I still have food, water, clothes, internet and just about anything else I could need with me at home to live. I can still watch anime and listen to music and write out this post. For that, I can feel blessed. I could just sit around and wonder "when will things go back to normal?" Except I can't. The world is still turning. I'm still alive, for the moment. So all I can do is keep being myself until the moment I can't anymore.

To anyone who stumbles upon this post, I want to know just one thing. How have you been?

This (Thursday) in Music: aka Boy, Do I Love Some Coincidences!

So somehow, in a series of events that not even I could have predicted, the gods of music have decided to shine down upon me on Thursday and unleash a combination of songs that I never could have expected to hear on the same day. Both AKB48 and Gorillaz have somehow released new songs on the same day as each other. It's one hell of a fantastic coincidence to see two of my all-time favorite groups release new songs on the same day, so I'm taking this coincidence as a sign from the music gods to get back to writing. So here I am!

First up, let's talk AKB. It's been a wild few months for the group in the time since the last single, Sustainable, from back in September of last year. The center for that single, Yahagi Moeka, graduating after being pushed by management to be one of the group's major stars, the last remaining first generation member, Minegishi Minami leaving after almost 15 years, the end of AKBingo and their cafe, frequent AKB senbatsu member and SKE48 queen Matsui Jurina leaving after over 11 years, it's been a wild ride. But now we are closing in on the release of AKB's first single for 2020, Shitsuren, Arigatou, played for the first time on AKB general manager Mukaichi Mion's radio show. Was the longer-than-usual break between singles worth it this time? I'd certainly argue so! In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this was AKB's best single since 2017's 11gatsu no Anklet.

From the translated title of this song, Thank You, Heartbreak, I expected to hear a slow, mournful ballad, more along the lines of the already released coupling song Aisuru Hito, which I covered a few months ago. Instead what I got sounds surprisingly breezy and fun. I really, really enjoy the bright organ bedding of the song combined with the colorful guitars. Something about that combination and the general feel of the song really reminds me of Koi no Etude by Puffy AmiYumi in the best of ways. The chorus is super infectious and lovely too. I can totally imagine this being a nice summer song with a Everyday, Kachuusha type of video except for the fact that this is coming out in March. I am certainly excited for the video to come out and it's the most excited I've been for a main AKB48 single in the short time since I've joined the fandom. I'm really stoked to hear how the rest of the coupling songs turn out, especially Minegishi's graduation song. AKB really knocked it out of the park this time.

Yuiri, center Mizuki, and best girl Nana.

Lastly, there's Gorillaz. The Song Machine is fine-tuned and all ready to go, as evidenced by the fantastic debut song to come out of it, Momentary Bliss. Song Machine is a way for Gorillaz to continue making music without the pressures of touring and working on a full album, being able to "run on autopilot" and be worked at in small chunks in the background while Damon Albarn focuses most of his attention onto other projects, a process that I think can yield incredible results as shown by what's come out of it so far. The newest track Desole, while being a complete shift from the roaring and very British dancepunk of the opening single is yet more proof to add to the pile that Gorillaz can be in top form even without the long production processes of past releases.

First, I have to start to with the production, because it is so incredibly lush and rich. Major props to James Ford on the production, because this is easily his best song yet with Gorillaz besides possibly Souk Eye (although there's always the chance that this song could overtake that one in my eyes.) The bass is so smooth and bouncy and the drums really work together well with it. The guitars are especially crisp and work great with everything else. One unexpected surprise was with certain instruments on display. I really love that non-synth horns and strings are peppered throughout as well, because I don't think there's been either of those on a Gorillaz studio track since Plastic Beach and they sound great here. It adds a level of beauty, flair and polish I don't see very often on newer Gorillaz tracks. Lyrically, it's just as beautiful as the instrumental, with 2D and Fatoumata Diawara trading off verses in French and English about hopelessly trying to keep a relationship together (at least that's how I interpreted it). Both Fatoumata and 2D are in top form vocally. My next surprise was with the length. The track, at least in the video, is 5 and a half minutes long and ends up really taking its time to breathe and let the listener linger in the song's atmosphere. Much of this is sadly cut from the version on music streaming platforms, with the song getting cut down by almost two minutes. Nevertheless, I haven't been as excited for new Gorillaz music as I have been now after hearing this lovely tune. Whatever comes down the Song Machine next, I'm open for it. The small preview for the next one in particular really has me intrigued, it sounds like nothing the band has ever done before.

This Wednesday in Music #4 (Reupload)

I skipped December 4th because I either had nothing much to say about what was out (Lucie,too) or I had problems trying to download around the time I wanted to write (Cyaron) so nothing on that week. Not like that kind of delay matters much now anyway when due to a combo of schoolwork and the usual holiday busyness around this time, I’ve been weeks late. So now it’s this one and then two more of these and I’m wrapping up This Wednesday in Music as a segment for right now. The main purpose of this was to get myself writing about SOMETHING, literally anything this year, and that’s been fulfilled. It’s the type of thing I can pick back up at anytime, so maybe I’ll do it again someday, but no promises.




You know, I never expected I’d be talking about Earth, Wind & Fire on this blog, but I guess I am now, because Little Glee Monster just collaborated with them and it’s actually not too bad. It’s a pretty fun disco track and the Earth, Wind & Fire collab ends up fitting in pretty well into the mix. Most importantly, the girls’ vocals are still as great as ever, but I don’t think they could ever pull off a bad performance if they tried. There’s a really pretty Christmas ballad, Itoshisa ni Ribbon o Kakete, for the coupling song as well. I would say that the instrumental is pretty standard J-Pop ballad fare, with its sweeping string section, acoustic guitar and piano, but something about that instrumental meshed with the girls’ tremendous singing just...works, you know? It’s a very comforting Christmas song and a great way to get me in the spirit of the season.




On a completely different note, the new Co Shu Nie album, Pure, is pretty great! I’ve been waiting a minute for this band to finally get the full album release that I thought they deserved, and I have to say that the wait paid off. A decent portion of the album is stuff you’ve already heard if you’ve been following the band’s trajectory since they switched labels to Sony. All of their anime songs from Tokyo Ghoul re, Yakusoku no Neverland and Psycho Pass 3 are here, alongside the non-anime singles Psychopool - Legopool and iB placed in the album’s midsection to go alongside a new intro and 5 other original tracks. The award for best song has to go to the blistering second track asphyxia, which impressed me just as much listening to it on the album as it did when I first heard it watching Tokyo Ghoul. To me, this is the definitive Co Shu Nie track, going from calmer bits to fast math rock in seconds, all of it with Miku’s amazing singing to round it all out. The drums are fucking fantastic on this song too, so props to Fujita Ryosuke for nailing it so goddamn hard. Even through all the noise, it’s still catchy and gets stuck in your head pretty fast. Speaking of catchy, iB is such an earworm! It’s one of the calmer tracks on the record, serving as the breather after my least favorite song, Psychopool - Legopool (which I would like a lot more if it wasn’t for that annoying distorted hook that sounds like Miku’s trying to sing through an electric fan or something.) It’s got the best bass on the album, thanks to Matsumoto Shunsuke. Unlike the song before it, the hook on this one is stellar and the breathy vocals sound cool, like a nice chill wind coming in on a hot day. Of the non-anime songs, this one is by far my favorite. The other calmer tracks that finish off the album work pretty nicely too, like inertia with its hypnotic percussion and glistening piano. It threatens to racket back up to the noise of many of the earlier tracks for a bit as a guitar quietly buzzes through an instrumental break, but the tracks continues on with its quiet mood. The closing ballad gray gets a little louder than inertia, but decides to amp up the volume through a lovely string section rather than roaring guitars, which I think really works well in closing the album on a gentler note. This is not a release that you want to miss in any way, and I’d dare say that it’s one of the best albums of the year. It’s a fine testament to Co Shu Nie’s growth as artists from their indie days and how their newfound major-label fame didn’t result in a weaker product. In fact, it’s their best release yet. If you’re into math rock at all, you’re doing yourself a disservice not giving this one a go.