iseesound

[iseesound]

Aired 03.09.23

"I just can't figure out what!"

Featuring music from Èl GINGER*, Playboi Carti, and Trillium Angels.

I don't exactly remember when I came across ÈL GINGER*, wether it was on TikTok or Spotify. However what I do know is that when I found their music I was introduced to an expressive discography filled with remixes of songs I love. PAPI CHULO is an experimental twist on a classic song. It ends with a symphony of police sirens that transition perfectly into Lifelike's Night Patrol. The song is a classic nu disco sound infused with police sirens, created a sense of worry and confusion throughout its 7 minute runtime.

There's something about the Noticed I Cried Flume Remix by PinkPanthress that screams something isn't right. Her distorted vocals repeating throughout the song give an eerie feeling all allthroughout.

New Neon by Playboi Cart sets the scene for a section of the hour dedicated to a new age of dance music. From, Tone, Tan (Fit and Ready) by Human Part, a California Gurls remix, SOPHIE's ethereal Infatuation - Litchobegen Remix, o Rosalia and nusar3000 Jersey Remix of DESPACHA.

The video for Basement by Brockhampton really sold this song to me. From the screams in the background. This song could have easily gone in last weeks episode. I honestly couldn't fit all the songs I wanted to. This episode is somewhat of a continuation.

Effeminacy by Sega Bodega begins the hyper pop section of the show. A genre based on twisting the pop genre in experimental ways. Little Bit by Shygirl and Eartheater and COUCOU CHLOE's Supersoaker are perfect examples of the genre.

Looking back at it, I should have included at least a few songs by Drain Gang. I am beginning to warm up to their music. The One and Only by Trillium Angels and Kirsha, although not part of that group, its from an album with a Bladee feature. The song overall has an odd sound. Especially with the album cover being so blurred. It introduces the last section of the show with a songs from a variety of genres.

Crickets by Cecilee Believe and Mothamor by Swordes both feature distorted vocals layered over ethereal instrumentals.

Love You Too, Death by MGMT has what I think is the oddest instrumentals from any of the songs on the show. With buzzes, triangles, shakers and even a recorder layered over one another. Not to mention the pff putting vocals and lyrics. Celestial Ether by Cedar Livansky continues with the unique instrumentals but returns to the ethereal vocals.

Stankonia (Stanklove) by Outkast

"Where do you end and where do I begin?"

Terrified ends the show, a song that blurs the line between zombies and Black people. A song where Childish Gambino sings what I think is the most intriguing line of the hour,

"I'm going to eat you alive Please don't find me rude But I don't eat fast food"

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐈’𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑!

Aired 03.02.23

“I guess I should’ve told you.”

Featuring music from Palmistry, Death Grips, Laura Les and a radio exclusive debut from Junko

The idea for a show dedicated to self reflective and explosive set started with "32.22" by Childish Gambino. The day my friend recommended it to me I listened to it over and over again. From the deep bubbles beginning to boil at the beginning to the explosive vocals as it progresses I was enamored by Gambino’s song. Controversies aside. Ye to me is one of Kanye West’s best albums, second to Yeezus.  “I Thought About Killing You” is fitting not only lyrical but the vocals seem like a clearer version of the instrumentals in 32.22.

I watched Bodies Bodies Bodies last year and I thought it was hilarious. A movie where (spoilers) the monsters are the victims themselves inspired the themes I wanted to play with throughout the show. Disasterpeace’s score is a refreshing modern take on the traditional horror music tropes. "Robert" is such a wild introduction to Wicked City by Jockstrap. It was the first song I listened to by them and it made me think that all their music was going to be as explosive as this one. I was pleasently surprised to see that their work was very different. The beginning of "Giving Bad People Good Ideas" is so ominous. I love the vocals for this song and its explosive beginning fits the ongoing theme.

Of course "Haunted" had to be on this episode. It was such an odd song to hear on Euphoria, especially for a bike scene.

"Do you think I'm frightening? Organ chords and lightning."

Excruciating Deth by Machine Girl samples Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed a werewolf horror/thriller movie. It comes from their incredibly popular album WLFGRL.

Ponyboy - SOPHIE

"He's my little pony boy,

So I treat him like a pony boy."

There's something about Palmistry and Blades coming together and making "Bad Vibes". Such a great song with the most intoxicating verse from Isabella Lovestory.

"En el carro manejando y hablando por celular,

Yo me visto bien y me porto mal."

"pink diamond" by Charlie XCX is such an explosive song, brimming with an unmatched energy.

"I just wanna go real hard,

Lip gloss on and I'm lookin' like a star."

"TT32v2" by MC Yallah serves as a great transition to the second half of the show. Switching from an electronically charged soundscape to a more traditional indie/alternative/punk soundscape.

"Brick by Alex G" helps bridge the two soundscapes with its digitally infused instrumentals. A song with so much anger and rawness. It's almost scary when pre-chorus sings,

"I know that you're lying, ahhhh"

Equally as scary is "Marching Theme" by Neutral Milk Hotel, and "Messi Kuuna!" by INU. "Marching Theme" crescendos into a distorted climax around the midway point with distorted instrumentals that sounds like groans melding in with the feedback. INU's vocals in "Messi Kuuna!" pack a punch, and even if you don't speak Japanese you can understand the feeling he is putting into his music.

I'm Terrified - Current Joys

"I'm afraid, I'm terrified

Where have you been,

In my life."

Poison Tree - Grouper

"Oh, beautiful poison tree,

Let your power grow in me."

"Polarize" by Junko, which if you missed the live show, I am sad to say you probably won't hear this song any time soon, is a song written by a good friend of mine, Raymond, who was mentioned in Cruel Winter. This song has gone through many demos which I have saved throughout my phone, laptop and hard drives. Beginning as a demo called "devilman", the song enamored me from the first listen. The lyrics so painfully raw and real left me aching.

"Lately I've been turning kinda mean,

I mean more than I mean,

but I lie, I lie,

I lie all the time."

Embarrassing as it is to say I did in fact go through a Homestuck phase in middle school, a small one as it was, it impacted me and the media I consumed for forever. "Ugly Story" tells the story of a Eridan Ampora.

"So what did you want me to say? Sorry?

Should I apologize when you ignore me?

The final song "Ptolemaea" by Ethel Cain is better understood in the context of the whole album it comes from "Preacher's Daughter" a concept album about a girl who falls in love and in the end is murdered and eaten alive by her lover.

A dark and scary song to say the least, "Ptolemaea" describes from the point of the killer, eating Ethel Cain.

"You poor thing,

Sweet, mourning lamb,

There's nothing you can do

It's already been done."

The main verses come from Ethel's point of view pleading him to stop.

The song crescendos into Cain's scream, marking the beginning of her end. A slow crash of drums and distorted guitars layered underneath Cain's vocals mark the end of this weeks show, "I'm The Monster".

"I can see it in your eyes, he keeps looking at me

Tell me, what have you done?

Stop, stop, stop, make it stop"

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐈’𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑!

“I guess I should’ve told you.”

Featuring music from Palmistry, Death Grips, Laura Les and a radio exclusive debut from Junko

Today @ 2PM CST☆12PM PST☆ 8PM GMT☆ヾ(´〇`)ﾉ♪♪

Listen on the Radio FX APP Via UIC Radio

✪☆✪���✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝒟ℯ𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒪𝒻 𝒜 𝒮𝓊𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇

Aired 02.23.23

“Dedicated to America’s last platinum blonde bimbo, Jayne Mansfield.” Featuring music from Charli XCX, Rosalía, M.I.A., and more.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

There's something about Jayne that called me to her story. A platinum blonde sex icon in America. From her youth she knew she was destined for stardom. Manifesting her future before the popularity of the Law of Attraction. She was seen as dumb, but was actually said to have a genius IQ. Though it's clear Jayne calculated her image, and how she was percieved. She met a terrible fate, dying in a car crash and the media spurred on a rumor she had been beheaded on impact. Though it was later proven false.

The whole premise of this weeks set, is reimagining Jayne's final car ride. An alternative plot line where she crashes the car herself. (Metaphorically speaking.) The beginning, "Cleo at Abbey Road" by Shygirl and "Interlude - The Trio" by Lana Del Rey sets the soundscape for the rest of the hour of music. In the show, I created a special version where you can hear someone getting into a car, after The Trio, starting the car, flipping through the radio stations, and "Vroom Vroom" by Charlie XCX blaring on the speakers. Signaling the beginning of the car ride.

The music throughout the car ride is a mic of female pop and hyper pop. Which I find fitting for someone like Jayne. The epitome of American femininity. Throughout you'll find music mixed with mentions and critiques of fame, femininity, and money. While also playing with the car ride concept.

"Bad Girls" - M.I.A.

"Suki suki I'm comin' in the Cherokee Gasoline There's steam on the window screen"

"Rich Girl" - Gwen Stefani

"Clean out Vivienne Westwood In my Galliano gown No, wouldn't just have one hood A Hollywood mansion if I could Please book me first-class to my fancy house in London town"

Throughout the set a lot of the music has these themes of femininity and expression. Music like "Jennifer B" by Jockstrap "Supersoaker" by Eartheater and "Mwah :3" by Dinamarca also pushes in new genres I haven't played yet. I felt that the sets I was showing were not accurate to my current music taste. Electronic, hyper pop, and experimental.

"honda" - FKA Twigs

"On the (on the) M way (yeah) Honda (Honda), rizla (ooh), baby"

"AMERICAN GURL" - Kilo Kish

"In a locked box, in a locked drawer Will I find me an American girl? American girl"

"Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga

"Garage glamorous Not sure what it means But this photo of us It don't have a price"

Rosalia sings in "Dolerme",

"Acelero pa' ve' si consigo estrellarme Quiero que lo veas y no pienses en detenerme Y así demuestras que has podido olvidarme"

"I accelerate to see if I can crash I want you to see it, don't try to stop me And so you can show me that you could forget me Or, why are you not doing your part too? Step on it and let go of the wheel"

Another hint as to what's to come at the end. I love this song, and I found it so fitting.

Jayne was married to a bodybuilder, Mickey Hargitay. They ultimately became divorced. Azeliea Banks raps in "Count Contessa",

"Muscle Mike can't protect ya"

Jayne had so much in her life. Fame, money, and men. But ultimately none of that could save her.

Restating the theme of stardom and the critique of it. "scream my name" by Fousheé is a pop punk anthem of a rich girl at the club. While "XS" by Rina Sawayama is a direct critique to excessive consumerism. (Something prevalent in fame and Hollywood).

The final two songs tell Jayne's story. Of course I could have fabricated some alternate story line where Jayne lives, like Tarintino's "Once Upon a Time.... In Hollywood". But matter cannot be created or destroyed, and sadly Jayne in the end, ends up dying. Though in this alternate timeline she had control of her death, and more importantly had control of how the media would portray her.

"The Ballad of Jayne" - L.A. Guns

"Things ain't always what they seem  What a shame, what a shame  What happened to Jayne"

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝒜𝓁𝓁 ℐ ℰ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝒩ℯℯ𝒹ℯ𝒹

Aired 02.16.23

A journey to Egypt, through the sounds of Beach House, Spelling, Marvin Gaye, and more.

Listen in Spotify and Apple Music.

A special episode hosted and blog written by Alonso Bueno

When will I learn? 

My post-high school grad existential crisis was in full swing in the fall of 2021. After arguably one of the best summers of my life, I found myself conflicted. My friend group broke into a civil war over the prettiest of things. The girl I fancied no longer found my fear of making the first move charming. Oh, and God? Well, let's just say we aren't on speaking terms.

November 2021 rolled around and so did my trip abroad. Months earlier, a dear friend of mine invited me to see him run a marathon in Istanbul. To make our trip worthwhile, we added Egypt to the itinerary and invited other friends. Istanbul was amazing; I could literally write a book on how much I love that city. My trip to Egypt on the other hand was much more... thought-provoking. The sight of extreme poverty combined with my already ongoing existential crisis made me question everything. Whatever little clarity I had, was completely wiped away on this leg of my trip. Only the music buzzing through my AirPods could preserve any sense of sanity.

The set kicks off with “On the Sea” by Beach House. The slow fade-in of the piano is almost soothing. But the lyrics quickly turn the mood somber.

“Out on the sea, we’d be forgiven

Our bodies stopped the spirit leavin’”

As I flew over the Mediterranean I thought about how easy it’d be to leave it all behind. Maybe if I never went back home I could just forget all my anxieties. Live free.

Just like J. Cole expresses the difficulty of leaving behind his anxiety in “St. Tropez”, I too couldn’t abandon mine by traveling across the globe. They were embedded in my psyche.

I discovered Spelling through Anthony Fantano, unfortunately. Nevertheless, “Turning wheel” is a great tune. That song along with “Finally Alone” by Mac DeMarco embodied what I felt when I stepped out of the Cairo International Airport for the first time.  A sense of optimism rushed through me. I was ready to shed my boring suburban life and immerse myself in a setting entirely out of my element.

“Cien Años” by Pedro Infante is a love song, the only one on the set. We ended our first night on a boat, floating along the Nile River, eating Koshary. I was feeling romantic, oddly enough. I reminisced on the women in my life. Something that would typically torment me, ended up evoking a sense of happiness. I felt grateful to have had them in my life.

“Y sin embargo sigues

Unida a mi existencia

Y si vivo cien años

Cien años pienso en ti”

The set takes on a more melancholic tone with “Crown” by Kendrick Lamar and “Weight of the World” by Jordana. Our road trip to Alexandria was mostly made up of me reflecting. As I sat in the van for hours I pondered on the meaning of life. What is there to do about all this suffering? I felt powerless. I wanted to pray, but like I said, me and the big guy aren’t on speaking terms.

The next two songs on this set are sort of juxtaposing in a way. “How Great” by Chance the Rapper shows the side of me that wanted close my eyes, cross my fingers, and hope that God will solve all my problems. Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me” shows the side of me that was forced to recognize the problems in the world for what they were. We can tackle them head-on, and make tangible decisions. But hope alone won’t be enough.

“What about this overcrowded land

How much more abuse from man can she stand?”

“Waves” by Calpurnia | “Bubba” by Jack Larsen | “Blooming” by Amulets

My last day in Egypt was spent Jeep-ing through the desert of Faiyum. I don’t know if the other group members could tell that I was mainly in a dissociative state that day. I stared at the slightly yellow-tinted sands and thought nothing. It was scary and yet kinda nice to have no critical thoughts. I almost felt like I was one with the desert.

I discovered Willie Nelson when I was in middle school and have been a fan ever since. “A Wonderful Yesterday” nicely reflects the feeling I felt at the Cairo International airport on the way back home. Despite hitting my lowest point mentally while in Egypt, I felt a sense of gratitude for the experience. It’s odd really.

Current Joys has gotten me through some tough times. In "Home (Pt. 1 & 2)" Nick Rattigan sings of him being lost in the world. Reality began to sink back in as I sat in the car on the way home from the airport. I wasn't sure where to go from there. What even is the next step after an experience like that?

"I don't know where I'll go

Don't worry about tomorrow

We'll find our way home"

When I got home I threw off my backpack and free-fell onto my bed. My cat followed behind, curling up into a ball on my chest. Suddenly, I felt a wave of relief through my body. Maybe this is all I ever needed.

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫🗡️

Aired 02.09.23

Featuring music from Injury Reserve, Joe Glass, Radiohead and more.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

If you think this is about you, it probably is.

I have yet to feel worse than the day my closest friend betrayed the trust I had in her. (Woah getting personal today aren't we). I find it funny I started making these mixes for my friends and she was the first one to get one, and now almost two years later am doing much more with it.

Beginning with the first three songs, I tried to capture the three main themes throughout the set. "The Inflated Tear" by Rahsaan Roland Kirk was used in the movie "Judas and The Black Messiah" which I find fitting to start a set about betrayal with a song that was used thematically throughout a movie about betrayal. My feelings about everything, to this day, confuse me. Half of me tries to move on, while the other one is still angry. Although the song "u" is about Kendrick Lamar's own internal turmoil. If you turn the second verse onto someone else, or the beginning of the third verse, the verses mirror the same turmoil I felt when I heard about all the things she told my friends. Everything I do, I do with intention. With these sets, I often recontextualize music, and give it new meaning. Which sounds like a pretentious way of making playlists, but I don't see it that way.

It was around September I was able to get over everything that happened. There was this vulnerability, which is expressed in "Time" by George Riley, that I began to feel.

"I'm very protective over my space I don't let no one in unless I'm satisfied they're good and humble Don't like to mingle with the fickle and fake"

I love how this song starts, there's a lot of rock/indie songs in here with guitars/strings being the main instrument. It helps with the cohesiveness of the whole set itself. I'm not an avid Radiohead listener, but the song, even with its clear message of finding real friends, these particular set of lyrics, remind me of the stupidity of it all.

"They brought in the CIA The tanks and the whole marines To blow me away To blow me sky high"

I saw Joe Glass preform "Slither" live last week on Two Faced Radio. (Thursdays from 3PM-5Pm right after my show ;) ) Seeing his fingers dance on the neck of his guitar in person really cemented my love for this song.

"Was there nothing he could Do to make her stay?"

There was a point where I didn't really care about what happened. I was more caught up in salvaging the friendship then realizing how bad it was. Looking back at it now, it was her way of ending our friendship, maybe out of spite, or maybe something else. It was about half a year of uncomfortable conversations that made me feel worse.

The downside of becoming so close to someone, is how intertwined they become with your own life. Our lives began to intersect everywhere. For a long time I wondered what would I say when I would see her. I realized after a while, I really didn't want to say anything. They probably would not mean the same to her anyways.

My American Life, Brockhampton

"And I got nothing to give, that's why I made you this tape I been climbin' this wall, how much more can I take? Sometimes I think about dyin', but then I think of those days Sometimes I wish we could speak, but I have nothing to say"

Bust, Lomelda

"I thought of so many things To say to you, to you But what were they What were they What were they to you, to you"

Reflecting back on it all. What happened, and our friendship. I began to realize that it wasn't as healthy as I thought it was. Ironically, I put this in a mix I made her right after everything happened. But I realize now what Clairo meant in "Little Changes" by singing:

"He loved me good enough to calm me down But tried to trick me into little changes

I see the end before it begins"

I have a photo wall in my room. With pictures of my friends and family. She's in a few. There's a few with other friends that have faded. On a call once with my friend, I asked him, "I should take these down shouldn't I?" What he said to me has stuck to me even till now. "You can still be happy with the good memories you have."

"But white noise comes from nothing at all And finally I feel Good Good to fall between The ones I love and the ones that faded"

The vulnerability I'm trying to express, where I'm trying to figure out how to express is hard to put into words. I feel like it's just plain corny. But sometimes the most clear way to express is just being honest about.

Personally, Omar Apollo

"Too many people I don't see no more Too many feelings I don't feel no more 'Cause I really don't wanna be here alone Too many people I don't need no more So many doubts that I stop keeping score"

I could go on and on about "Glory", from the way Hodge censors himself, to his mention of Jesus. But I own three frogs, and so all I have to mention from this song is this line:

"Dissecting my life apart like a frog with no ribbit"

I just recently got into beabadoobee, "broken cd" repeats the whole mixtape theme I have going on. Though I'm the only one who really understands that with the way I make connections in these playlists.

I go back in forth with my feelings about the whole situation. But for the most part I kept quiet about it.

TO FEEL ALIVE, Kali Chis

"I let them crucify me I kept my head down, humble Some people get their kicks just steppin' on your dreams, I know it"

I remember when “Non Voglio Mai Vedere Il Sole Tramontare” was released, Caroline Polachek had announced it saying it was out of character for her. It doesn’t surprise me she can sing opera so well. (Its to my understanding an opera about Kurt Cobain’s last days.) The translation of the title is “I Never Want to See the Sun Go Down.”

“Outside” by Injury Reserve is the opening track for the album By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Setting the scene for the feeling of the album. Theres a line where Ritchie with a T raps,

“Got my skeletons, you've got yours But let's be honest here  This, this don't end with agree and disagree That ain't possible There's just some things  There's just some things that ain't right"

There was this one conversation I had with her, trying to understand why she switched up on me so suddenly and I realized there was no way it was going to end with us being as close as we had been just a week before.

“The Wake Pt. 3 & 2” by Slauson Malone calls back to the trumpets from “The Inflated Tear” and the strings heard throughout the set like in “Slither”. Though the lyrics remind me of one of the last real conversations I had with her.

“I know, you know I'll be at your wake, in the waves”

After writing this all, I realize this is not about a friend betraying you. Rather it's a set that encapsulates the aftermath of it all. The painting I chose for the Apple Music cover, "The Death of Caesar" by Jean-Léon Gérôme, captures not the assassination of Julius Caesar itself, but rather the immediate aftermath. It seems like a much more fitting cover now.

When Caesar was murdered, his killers say they murdered him because they feared his dictatorship was undermining the Roman Republic. But they were unable to restore the institutions of the Republic.

I find that parallel to my own life. As her actions led to the end of our friend group. Ending much more than she anticipated.

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫🗡️

Thursday @ 2PM CST☆12PM PST☆ 8PM GMT☆ヾ(´〇`)ﾉ♪♪

Listen on the Radio FX APP Via UIC Radio

✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆✪☆

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝓒𝓻𝓾𝓮𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻༄

Poster design I did for this weeks show. Took me about an hour to make that type. Then printing it was a nightmare but I’m really happy with how it turned out. (*^‿^*)

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, 𝓒𝓻𝓾𝓮𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻༄

Aired 02.02.23

Featuring music from American Football, Mitski, Panchiko, Alex G and more!

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

From the beginning of quarantine to my trip to New York in 2021, I went through a time in my life that felt like a perpetual winter I would never get out of. Countless nights spent on Minecraft with my friends from California and London, to the endless drives to nowhere with my friends here in Chicago. “Cruel Winter,” encapsulates the music I was listening to during that time. A digitally infused indie soundscape.

The name comes partly from a screenplay I wrote for a screenwriting class I took, and from a playlist I made with my friend Raymond, (who I met in the screenwriting class). It encapsulated this specific sound, a grey and brown with a stark baby blue between the two. 

Starting of with “Brian is The Most Beautiful Boy,” the droning at the beginning takes me straight back to the beginning of the pandemic, mostly in my room playing Minecraft with my friends Jas, Ray and Alfie. I had just gotten my license as well, and sometimes I would take longer coming back from picking the lunches the school gave out for free, just to clear my mind.

“My Friends Don’t Know (I Know They Hate Me)” by dandelion hands was so popular on TikTok during this time. I loved this song and I would listen to the album “It’s All in Your Head,” over and over. It was around then the “Cruel Winter” began to settle in.

The first run of the show is called “Raymond’s Run,” I met Ray in that online screenwriting class, we became pretty good friends after the class ended, spending hours on Minecraft and Discord. He got me a cracked version of FL Studio and introduced me to a word of music I had never listened to. I can still remember the day I listened to “Deathmetal” and gushing about it to Raymond the next day. Or when Raymond showed me the cassette he wanted to buy from Subsonic Eye’s bandcamp. “Cabin Fever” reminds me of the screenplay I wrote, and the runs I would take in the mornings. Raymond is an incredibly talented guitar player, he could learn a song so quickly. I remember he learned “Beautiful Boy,” by John Lennon, on a call with me and our friend Jas, with a quick glance at the chords. He was working on a folk album around that time and he shared Nick Drake as one of his inspirations for the album. “Parasite” stuck with me.

My friend Sasha and Maya would frequently host creative zoom sessions, where we would just spend time working on whatever we wanted.

I would mostly draw, and sometimes write. While they wrote. Sasha introduced me to Car Seat Headrest around that time, and “Twin Fantasy” became an obsession. “Stop Smoking We Love You” transitions well into “Thoroughfare” by Ethel Cain, one of three songs in this set that I didn’t listen to during the pandemic. Though the lyricism encapsulates my mindset during the time. I had a desire to run to California and leave everything behind. I considered not going to college and just running to the west. 

That desire was ignited by the screenwriting class I took through Academy of Arts University. There was something special about that class. Where as most zoom classes I had during the time was filled with shut off cameras. Most of the students had their cameras open and were eager to participate. We all had an instagram group chat where we would check in on each other throughout the year. I had met Raymond there and Jas through the class. Just a few weeks after the class ended we played on a Minecraft server Jas had made almost every single night. I met so many people on the server, we would talk and play for hours. I even met my friend Alfie, who’s from London, with them on a Minecraft parkour map.

Mr. Q, the teacher of the screenwriting class read a screenplay I wrote months after the class ended. (Which I plan to film later this year.) He recommended me Holy Hive sometime later. “Cynthia’s Celebration” has these beautiful drums that are just so rich and beautiful. It reminds me of the feeling I had while taking his class and those nights playing Minecraft. (Brown and a hint of orange).

“Lens” by Frank Ocean is my favorite song from Frank. I would play this song non-stop. It was my most listened song that year. It reminds me of the directionless drives I would take with my friends. Nate’s car was our go to vehicle. While me and Alonso would control the aux. 

I watched “We’re All Going to The World’s Fair” with Jas and Ray.

We hated it. But the music stuck with me. Sasha had already introduced Alex G to me but his music never clicked with me until I watched this movie. “End Song” reminds me of this feeling I had in the lit of my stomach throughout the pandemic. It still hasn’t quite went away.

I had many movie nights during the pandemic. Some with my friend Sarah, others with my childhood best friend B, and others with Ixmati, Annie and Celeste. Sometimes it was spent trying not to fall asleep, and others spent trying not to wake my parents.  

“Two Weeks In December” by Skull Crusher and “Secret” by Waveform* have this specific sound, like the haze that seemed to cover everything during the first few months of the quarantine.

I never really got into Mitski, but “A Pearl” had been on heavy rotation throughout the year and well into the beginning of the quarantine. 

“It’s just that I fell in love with a war,

Nobody told me it ended,

and it left a pearl in my head,

and I roll it every night

just to watch it glow.”

I hate to admit I romanticized the first few months of quarantine and I often find myself looking back. I can’t help to smile. Even though it felt like the world was ending, I didn’t feel alone.

My “Cruel Winter” felt like it was nearing it’s end when I listened to “A Lot’s Going To Change” by Weyes Blood. I was graduating high school. I so badly wanted to go back to how it had been before. I was so afraid of what came after. It was during this time where the pandemic was in limbo. The cases had spiked again and everything was in limbo. 

American Football was a band I listened to throughout my dive into the lesser known indie artists, at least from my perspective. The perpetual winter ended at the end of summer ‘21. Right before a solo trip to New York with my friends Alonso and Dario. (Or so I thought).

The final run of the set is made up of three songs. “Wintertime” by Brockhampton, “4sure” by Louke Man, and “Thank You Song” by FKA Twigs

“Wintertime” is an unreleased song that was leaked along with the Technical Difficulties tracks Brockhampton did over the quarantine. The songs were on heavy rotation when I would drive. “Wintertime” was the inspiration for my screenplay I wrote during that online class. It was a big idea condensed into a 7 page script if I remember correctly. A fitting metaphor to the big ideas I had during the pandemic but with little outlet to do them.

The last two songs serve as a thank you, to all those friends that helped me get through my “Cruel Winter”, and even though it came back not long after my trip to New York. These people helped me get through it.

Special thanks to Aaron, Alfie, Alonso, Anna, B, Celeste, Daisy., Dario, Erin, Iris, Ixmati, Jas, Marcus, Maya, Mr. Q, Nate, Raymond, Sarah, Sasha, The Screenwriting Guild, and TJ. Even though I couldn’t mention everyone and everything we did together, I am grateful for the memories we made together.

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨, “҉T҉r҉a҉n҉s҉c҉e҉n҉d҉“҉

Aired 01.26.23

Featuring music from Lauren Auder, Alice Coltrane, FKA Twigs, and more. Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

I first made this set as a test run for the Listening Party events I wanted to do at UIC’s School of Design. With the intention to play it right after students got out of class, I chose to begin with “in god’s childlike hands” by Lauren Auder. Which I first heard play in Virgil Abloh’s last show for LV. This song builds up perfectly, the instruments slowly building up, mimicking an almost alien like forest coming into view, (reminds me of Bjork’s Utopia), I found it fitting that the ‘siren’ that starts around the 2:30 mark almost resembles a police siren, seeing how UIC is in the city.

The next three songs, are a part of what I like to call a ‘run’, where I let the songs play without introduction. “Hyperballad” by Bjork, “Cicada,” by Sega Bodega, and “How Does It Feel,” by Pharrel Williams. These three songs have very similar beats, where it almost sounds as if its reverbing in on itself. (In my head I picture it as the sound bounces off the walls of a narrow hallway.) They transition into each other pretty well despite the difference in genre and overall sounds.

Originally White Willow Bark” by MF DOOM was meant to be an interlude to allow me to explain the set’s overall theme, I did in fact forget when it came to the actual show. However, this interlude does serve to help cut into a different sound. While choosing the music for the set, I kept in mind, what “transcend” meant to me in terms of music. It could mean synths, psychadelia, techno, jazz, hypnotic or grandiose. Listening to “Windowlicker”, specifically A.G Cook’s cover I was immediately impressed at the level of complexity its made with. (Hypnotic techno, smells like sangria). I knew I had to incorporate it somehow. From 4:50, the song is so chaotic its amazing how it doesn’t get muddy, A.G Cook is. a. genius.

The next run in this set is quiet long, “home with you,” by FKA Twigs, “Love’s the Only Way,” by Cage The Elephant, and “Journey into Satchidanada,” by Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. The perfect example of the beauty that is the Spotify Crossfade. There is no way I would have ever come across this if it hadn’t been for my friend’s suggestion of Cage The Elephant, it was almost by mere coincidence that the two were together in the early draft of the set. “home with you” has these beautiful flutes playing at the end that call back to “in god’s child like hands”. The way it ends, and transitions to “Love’s the Only Way” almost makes it sound as if it were the same song for a moment. If it hadn’t been for the collaboration between Online Ceramics and Alice Coltrane I would have never been introduced to the world of psychedelic jazz that she had created. Her music is incredibly immersive and has a world-building quality to it.

The final run, is made up of “Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds,” by The Beatles, “For Sale?,” by Kendrick Lamar, and “Frosti,” by Bjork (again, yes). Transitioning from Alice Coltrane into The Beatles seemed incredibly fitting, both songs are gorgeous examples of immersive psychadelia, (and both have long titles, jeez). I remember sitting in my 7th grade health class and hearing “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” for the first time, reading the lyrics, and having a discussion on LSD right after and its effects. I don’t remember much of the discussion, I do however remember going home and listening to the song over and over again. “For Sale,” being placed right after “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” the groovy synths and the reverb in the song, along with the references of Lucy over and over, it sounds as if Kendrick is talking about the same Lucy The Beatles sing about. The chime that plays at the end perfectly transitions into the music box that plays in “Frosti,” which comes from Bjork’s album “Vespertine,” which serves as an interlude. Two interludes placed right after the other, who would have thought they would work so well.

The final two songs, I feel, serve as a conclusion, restating the sonic themes from the set. “Bliss,” by Yung Lean and FKA Twigs, (yep, again) and “Falaise,” by Floating Points. With the repeating guitar, the chime, layered with Twigs’s ethereal vocals, along with the lyrics “and I’m seeing sounds.” “Bliss” was the perfect song to close the show. However, there was still time left for me to play one more song. I discovered “Falaise,” on a random spotify playlist one day. It became one of my favorite songs. (It wasn’t until later I would learn the Virgil also used this song in his FW 22 show in Bangkok.) With its hypnotic rhythms, filled with flutes resembling Auder’s “in god’s childlike hands,” the song ends the set with a grandiose transcendental finale.

[iseesound]

𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃! 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 ミ★♫ Thursdays @ 2PM-3PM, ヾ(´〇`)ﾉ♪♪

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