onlyhiddenremains-blog

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Album Review: GHOST - Poltergeist 2

Poltergeist 2 is a true and honest successor to the first Poltergeist, and hosts some of the very best of GHOST, period.

Pros: Tone, Production, & Lyrics

The album does two things really well; dark imagery and intensity. GHOST has always had a way of carrying his music with both menacing and very violent subject matter in his music, and it's something he's improved upon dramatically in this tape. What GHOST does in this tape much better than on other tapes like DAGO or the first Poltergeist tape, is a very much more fluid flow and a bit of a "say less" attitude, which is something few artists push for. As much as I like longer tracks and intricate verses, it definitelty feels like GHOST is saying just what needs to be said in each track, and I love that. The production is also very top notch, with returning producers GRWL and HiTecHGOD on some of GHOSTS's more experimental overall sounds on that note, but still retaining that sense of looming danger in the lyrics. Its a sweet and definitely cool direction to take for sure. As it pertains to lyrics this album, while they're pretty straightforward, again the best quality of each song is how the idea presented of GHOST being someone not to mess with feels very genuine. Songs like 'I Crave The Light' and 'Levitate' capture the essence of this album, and I think ultimately what GHOST is really about as an artist.

Con: A Slow & Rocky Start

As much as I appreciate the positive improvements made from DAGO to Poltergeist to now, something about the beginning of this tape seemed a bit off center for how most of it plays out. 'The Voices In My Head' is by no means a bad song, far from it, although it just feels misplaced and sort of misdirects what the album is going for, in my opinion. To speak bluntly, the first part of the tape feels like a "Side A" of the overall album. Does it take anything away from the rest of the album? Not really, no. However, when a step is taken back, it does feel like the album had two different ideas of what was being acheived and displayed, but this is all speculation and maybe even reaching on my part. Who's to say other than GHOST himself? Aside from that though, this album is pretty tight and every individual track goes hard.

Closing Thoughts

GHOST is one of few who really has a grasp on lyrical imagery, and that gets nothing but praise from me in all honesty. Sure, the tape feels a little rocky the first few listens, but now I can still say it takes time to appreciate the structure of both the album and lyrics, even if at times they deviate from conventions. As always however this is all my opinion, so take it as you will. Be sure to give Poltergeist 2 a listen, and show love to both GHOST and the talented producers on his tape.

Thanks for reading.

Links

Poltergeist 2 on Soundcloud

GHOST's Twitter

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Rotting Review: Myxie, Wildcard, Deergod

To kick things off, I’d like to say welcome to another installment of track reviews. While not technically the first set of reviews, I’m happy for this to be the first piece I’ve worked on in a couple of months now. There’s a lot I can say about the artists in the title themselves, and at some point i’d love to but, for now I want to highlight tracks from each artist that personally stood out to me recently. Links to all artists will be below so please make sure to follow, repost their work, and show them love.

1. Myxie - Lifeline

Pros: From the Disjunction album with 3M Shadow, 'Lifeline' is easily one of the best tracks simply due to Myxie's lyrics, and how she can take both the foreground and background of a track, making for some of the most laid back music and atmospheric music I've heard in a good while. Myxie also is a breath air in terms of what's said in her lyrics, considering there's no sexualization of herself or females in general, and I respect the hell out of that. She takes this sort of "girl left out in the rain" approach to her lyrics, and while a little somber in tone, it's certainly a direction I can get behind.

Cons: As much as I like Myxie's music, there are times when she comes off a bit like a mumble rapper, which isn't always bad, but I believe working on delivering words without sounding as slushy in delivery would do wonders. Were it not for the lyrics, I think i'd have a bit of a harder time appreciating what's being said, although not much other than that is really an issue, just something to note and hopefully improve upon.

2. Wildcard - Vibe

Pros: Wildcard has made leaps and bounds as a vocal and lyrical artist, and 'Vibe' highlights this perfectly. There's a lot of energy in this track, and I personally fuck with the second verse in particular. The rhyme scheme is also pretty well thought out and delivered, something that makes the lyrics work all the more in this track.

Cons: While there's nitpicks on my part in regards to a few parts of the lyrics, I can't really say there's any negative things to really breakdown in this song. It's a strong song for sure, and I really hope to hear more tracks like this from Wildcard in the future.

3. Deergod - Yeah, No

Pros: 'Yeah, No' is a really melodic and soothing song, and one of Deergod's best produced songs all around. It comes off a bit simple, but as I replayed it there was always something new to pay attention to, and I like the repeatability of it. While not directly part of the song, the track cover helps highlight the tone of the track, and I thought that was pretty interesting too.

Cons: As much as I do like this song, it feels like it's been arbitrarily extended in a way. It comes across like a well thought out 30-50 second snippet that was just extended by looping a few times, although admittedly it's just speculating on my part. Overall though, a very good track from Deergod.

Edit: This track is actually the beat for Precipitation by BONES, which is admittedly really fucking neat.

Closing Thoughts

I hope to never really come off as nitpicky or too critical, but when I fuck with an artist I really want to express my best and most honest thoughts regarding their works. I admittedly have trouble at times putting these reviews together, either due to lack of coherent structure or lack of time in the day. Regardless though, I urge whoever's reading to check out the artists work themselves, and maybe formulate an opinion of the artists work mentioned, rather than take my opinions and reviews as some sort of objective fact. I hope if anything, someone or even the artists themselves, take something from this review.

Links

Myxie - Twitter/Soundcloud

Wildcard - Twitter/Soundcloud

Deergod - Twitter/Soundcloud

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Boogie

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Rigor Mortis 002: Ayame Of Ends

I apologize in advance to ENDS and Ayame personally, as this honestly reflects poorly of me for taking so long. I’m more openly available to interview and be more consistent, as well as do little things between that. Shouts to anyone and everyone who still reads these interviews by the way, stay smooth.

Ayame is a Michigan born rap artist from the ENDS collective. Many moons again, we previously published an interview which at this time has been lost to the ether of the internet. This is actually framed more as a follow-up to that interview, so it admittedly seems a bit incomplete. Regardless of the framing, I had a blast talking with Ayame about his growth, his second trip to Las Vegas, and a bit more about his other interests and hobbies that contribute to his work and ENDS. As always, be sure to show love to the artist and collective. Enjoy!

RH: It’s been a good minute since we’ve talked, man. How have things been since we last talked?

A: Things have been going as well as they could, just being consistent with music and music videos. It’s really the same since last time slowly chipping away at the Soundcloud echelon *laughs*

RH: Good stuff man. Would you say your video making/editing has changed since you first began?

A: It’s been going better then when I first started. Shooting and editing a music video is a very deep and complex process. When you shoot a video, you have to kind of have this sort of foresight to see what the final product is going to be. It almost if never turns out the way you picture it in your head. It’s a challenge trying to think ahead while simultaneously focusing on what is in front of you. I have definitely gotten better at managing my vision and following through on ideas more now.

RH: On the music of side of things, I assume there’s also been growth there too, right? As it relates to both process and sound?

A: You assumed correct! *laughs* I think as a musician with a passion that is creatively focused, your tastes change and your growth happens sporadically. I think its kind of tough to look inwards at my own work and say definitively yes or no that I have actually grown. I would say people on the outside looking in have a better opinion on whether you grow or not, the music I make is right in front of my face everyday its hard to see what my growth actually is. I personally think my sound and me as a person have changed drastically since I first started doing music! Ultimately its up to the listener to decide whether its true or not.

RH: We met face to face in Las Vegas some time ago, and you recently went back. How was it this second time around?

A: The second time in Vegas really opened my eyes to my own potential and where I could try and take this. I had so much fun being with everyone who was equally passionate and creative as me. Ever since I came back I feel like that momentum I had is just flowing throughout all my music. Going to Vegas by myself was a big step for me, and I think after taking that step each one gets a little less scary to take now. Vegas changed my life internally more then anything and had me realize what I was apart of, it was truly an unforgettable experience.

RH: How have things been with ENDS as of late? Would you say they’ve also played a role in your growth recently?

A: ENDS is a huge reason for my growth 100%. ENDS as a collective showcases one thing really well: making quality music for nobody but ourselves. That influence plus helping each other out push us to higher levels, and I think a lot of the results speak to that. ENDS  honestly has been really pushing the gas. We just had Deergod collab with Bones, the first ever ENDS x SESH collab and we were all very excited for it. Everyone has been killing there music lately, that was just one highlight so far :)

RH: On a personal note aside from ENDS, what goals do you have for yourself this year?

A: My plans for this year are quite lofty. *laughs* I got a lot of ideas for things I want to pursue; whether it’s projects or music videos, I want to conquer it all. I think I’ve started off towards those goals on the right foot at the very least. I want this year to be when I don't take my foot off anyone’s neck. I plan to push myself till I'm exhausted only to keep going. My passion and drive is lethal this yea

RH: I hope this isn’t too personal, but would you say you’ve struggled getting to where you are now, be it on a personal note or with making music?

A: Struggling is daily part of life right? No reason for the question to be taboo! But to answer your question yes. I struggle with depression and a sort of mild bi-polar disorder, I don’t want to sit here and tell you that’s what I have because this is me self diagnosing myself and I am only speaking on how I believe I feel. I go back and forth about how I actually feel and what I want to feel, it’s hard for me to put into words what it feels like to feel like your emotions are fake and the ones you thought were real are supposed to be fake. It’s a constant battle I live with everyday. I am a pretty open book about my mental health I think at the very least its important to talk about. I’m not afraid of who I am. I deal with it, and thats all that matters to me, but to elaborate better on the emotions bit, I have a hard time figuring out what I am actually feeling as opposed to what fake emotions are on my surface and constantly pushing me away from the truth.

RH: Do people around you in your day-to-day know of your music and support you making music?

A: Not really. I mean Junior and Dxrkz are my best friends and they're in ends so I guess that kind of counts I suppose! As for like family and stuff I wouldn't say they support me but they don’t necessarily look down on me either? It’s not a situation I want to dive into that much, but my personal friends outside of music don't and I couldn't care less if they did or not as selfish as that may sound. It doesn’t really matter who supports me or whatever I’d rather look at the people who support me now above all else.

RH: What’s kept your drive for making music alive since you’ve begun?

A: My drive is about feeling better and helping everyone else along the way. My drive is completely selfish let me just say it bluntly, I do this for me. I enjoy it, it stresses me out a lot but it gives me a sense of purpose. Before I started making music I had no idea where I was going and I felt so lost. This music stuff is blood in my veins and if you don't believe me when I say that then keep moving. I love what I do and even though I am more strung out then ever before, I have never felt happier then when I performed a song or when I drop something I created and someone telling me how much they love it. It’s a selfish career path and that's where my drive comes from.

RH: To go backwards a bit, tell me a bit more about the music video process. How much would say it’s changed from the last time we talked to now?

A: With making music videos my focus has gotten more clear on how a video should like and be represented. All I have is a camera and an imagination to bring what the track is trying to say to life. I do things slightly differently here and there, but overall I am just way more clear about how to get the correct shots, the lighting and what to film and where etc. Mind you I am no Cole Bennett lmao but I think with more refinement I can take it higher then I thought possible. Music videos are still secondary to me, I treat them with importance but my music will always be my main focus.

RH: I really appreciate you taking time to do this follow-up man. Once again, do you have any final words or shoutouts to give before we close out?

A: This music shit is meant to be fun and I’ll be damned if anyone tried to tell me how I should act what I should be doing. I’m doing it because I want too. And ENDS + CCZM reflect that attitude perfectly. I love those guys to death special thank you them for supporting me and being with me. And thank you to all my friends outside of collective who send me beats (Umistyle, 2k6, AceNarukami, Esthetic) they keep me going the most. It’s going to be a fucking great year even through all the strife!

LINKS

AYAME: Twitter / Soundcloud

ENDS: Twitter / Soundcloud / Merch

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Reviewing Smug Anime Faces, Number Score Only

8/10

9.5/10

10/10

11/10

8/10

Here's a bad April Fools Joke from a sleep deprived guy at 6 in the morning 💜

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A Big Ol’ Update About Life And Depression

It’s been a really long time. It’s hard to give this any semblance of an introductions, so i’ll be cutting to the chase and just saying it all here. To those who checked up on me and worried, thank you and I apologize if I’ve brought your mood down.

I normally don’t tell people how I feel or what i’m going through. I try my best to keep my emotions bottled to push on with the current things involving my living and work situations, which admittedly haven’t been very stable. Late November of last year, I moved and went from California to Fort Worth, Texas. As happy as I was to finally be alone(with a roomie so not totally alone) in a new place, a lot of baggage I kept pushed down shot out a month into living in Texas. All my fears of not changing, of still being a cruel and terrible person shot out, and more so, my friend/roomie basically called me a loser and that I hadn’t changed...

LET ME BE CLEAR

I..have tried my best to not think of myself in this way. I’ve had ex partners, old and fake friends, even family reverberate this sentiment. For years, it clung to me, and I wanted to believe making it Texas was proof I wasn’t. I wanted to think, and I still think I’m not this dysfunctional loser who won’t amount to anything. My self esteem and self worth aren’t very high, this coupled with every thought and harsh sentiment shared peaked into a mental breakdown and me wanting to commit suicide in Texas. My friend had taken me to the hospital and I was under psychological evaluation for more than 12 hours...

AS STUPID AS IT WAS

Rather than go to therapy, take antidepressants, or talk with someone I kept doing what I did always, that being drink to get drunk, stress, and cry. Miraculously, my friend and I had put enough money away to get the cheapest ticket back to California. 4 whole months of festering emotionally and toiling made me give up on the idea of living in Texas, among many other things by that point. It’s at the time of this writing, been a whole month since my return to California, and I’ve never felt so low. Throughout all this time I’ve kept thinking about RH and all the things I planned for this year. I still want to pursue it, for me if no one else, but my mental health hasn’t been great in a long, long time.

EVEN NOW

My mental health isn’t the best, but I have been making more positive changes to combat it. As apprehensive as I am to trust others or myself, I’ve been slowing my mind down and checking my negative thoughts better lately. A past me couldn’t have written any of this out. The current me still needs a lot of work, especially on working my emotions out. Cutting and bottling up emotions isn’t healthy. Hopefully me sharing this puts me at ease, or better yet helps someone going through thoughts of self deprecation and depression. It’s a very one day at a time thing. A good friend named Dylan said it best

I HAVE SOMETHING, AND LOVED ONES.

- R H

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Rigor Mortis: 01 - Scoff

I recently had the time and opportunity to talk to with Missouri resident and music producer Scoff, formerly known as Virtual Wave. We talked about his start in making music, a bit about his most recent project 'Bad Vibrations' and his future projects and goals. Be sure to show him some love, as well as his music on SoundCloud.

RH: Let's talk a bit about you. Where are you from, and how long have you been producing?

S: Well, I'm a 19 years old producer from Kansas City, Missouri. I've been producing for a little over a year now.

RH: What made you get into producing music? Do you still operate as Virtual Wave?

S: To be honest, I got into producing through lo-fi beats. I wanted to make my own but they were garbage. I stopped using the Virtual Wave name a few weeks ago.

RH: What was the reasoning for that if I can ask?

S: I just thought it was necessary, you know? People began to think Virtual Wave is a genre. I only named myself that because I ran a Facebook Page under that name so I wasn't really attached to the name.

RH: Do you have a process when it comes to making music, or does it just come to you as you work on it?

S: Typically I hear a sample that catches my ear or I'll have a melody in my head and then build off there. While I'm at work, I just think of what I should do next.

RH: Was making music something you just picked up, or has it always been something you've been doing?

S: I loved music ever since I was a little kid, I can legit talk about it for hours on end. I started playing the bass guitar, and even took music theory in school as well.

RH: As it relates to the music you have out so far, what would you say you're most proud of releasing?

S: I'd say 'Afraid' with Moonlet. That song just makes me happy to think about. Moonlet was technically the first person to do vocals on any of my songs, so it has a special place for me. There is also a video for it on Underground Underdogs' YouTube channel which surprisingly was their first music video to reach 1K* views and is currently their highest viewed video so that's crazy to me.

RH: Were you nervous making your work public for people to see? How did you first feel about putting out music?

S: At first I wasn't really nervous. I was just making cool stuff to show to my friends. I later started to notice people actually listening to my music and that actually helped motivate me to keep going at it.

RH: Have their been times you've struggled with putting music out?

S: Yeah, sometimes I get beat blocks or have trouble finding time to make stuff. Still, I attempt to at least make something once a day for practice.

RH: Tell me about the Bad Vibrations project, it's pretty great production wise and collaboratively speaking. What made you decide on getting it together?

S: So at first it was going to be a project where I was going to do vocals, I even have an unused guccihighwaters verse. At the time my vocals weren't great so I decided to shift my focus to beats. I think I made about twenty beats in total for the project, then I began messaging I could to see if they wanted to be a part of it. It was a two month process but I believe it came out well.

RH: Is there anything you're currently working on? Are vocal tracks something to expect in the near future?

S: Right now just production. Eventually I want to do vocals but it may be a while til' I'm for that leap. As for right now, I'm currently working on Bad Vibes 2 and I already have some dope names involved in it.

RH: Who would you say played a part in inspiring you to make music?

S: When I was first playing Bass, bands like the Beatles and Tool inspired me, but as I began to produce music people like Fifty Grand, Ginseng, and Lil Peep really influenced me to think to think that I can really do this if I put everything into it.

RH: What do you hope to achieve as an artist?

S: My main goal is to be recognized and to be able to make a living off what I'm doing. No matter what though, I'm going to keep creating.

RH: Thanks so much for your time man. Do you have any final words or shutouts to give?

S: I'm just going to keep making music, and people should be excited for what I have in the works. I'd also like to shoutout the people I've worked with like gxxdbi, Moonlet, 1800entity, and more. Without them I wouldn't be where I'm at today.

Editors note:*- Afraid has near 4k views on UUs channel. Congrats to Both Scoff and Moonlet!

Links:

Scoff: Twitter / SoundCloud

Moonlet: Twitter / SoundCloud

Afraid(Official Music Video) hosted by Underground Underdogs

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Music Visuals & Their Qualities

Note: In the spirit of the new year and doing things differently, I've decided to openly discuss my opinions and thoughts as such, as opposed to trying to make some point or fact of the things I say or discuss. With that out of the way I wanna talk about Music Visuals.

What Makes A Visual?

A Visual is generally a well edited, supplemental aesthetic piece to a song, when done correctly. I think what makes a Visual a truly effective and unique addition to a song is how the visual builds either a feeling or provides a unique interpretation to enhance one's listening experience, with the basis being the song that goes with the visual. To put it shortly, what makes a Visual good is how well the direction of the video can synergize with a song. Below I'll be talking a bit about some of my favorite visuals, and how I think they've set a standard of qualities to look into when watching a Visual.

1 - Melancholic & Trippy

Hidden Behind Leaves video for 'Paixao' by Dylan Ross is a key example in showing how a Visual can not only be incredibly abstract, but also help to further capture the sort of archaic, witchy, and melancholic tone the song itself exudes. It's a visually psychedelic, yet somber video all around, and there's few, if even any video in general that has done it quite like Hidden Behind Leaves has with this particular video.

2 - Wavy & Beautiful

Tobi Visuals video for 'Mute City' by DPRT highlighted and in a sense encapsulated what vaporwave was, aesthetically speaking. Smooth editing, Purple filtering, Japanese commercials, beautiful women, and a ton of fucking water everywhere was were set as defining factors in the genre and subculture, for me anyway. While Mute City wasn't a vaporwave track, the visual for it certainly is, and it's amazing to see all the previous elements play off together with the song.

3 - VHS Quality/Nostalgia factors

Nostalgia can sometimes be a nice thing to revisit, especially with music. One thing that struck me about Kigetsu Yens visual for 'Lyrical Combat' by TwistKid was how natural and smooth Twist's song ran with old clips of MTV shows, skating videos, and old basketball footage. The footage itself, some 20 or 30 years old even, really redefined the feel of Twist's song. As much as it's about spitting bars, when both video and song are together, Twist's song became a part of that nostalgia, like he wasn't from this time, and it's pretty amazing that a video helped to do that. It's honestly cool for Kigetsu to have chosen videos of lower quality considering that at the time HD wasn't a thing, and I honestly don't mind that, the nostalgia comes from the grainy footage, in my opinion.

Closing Thoughts

There's a lot more to Visuals than just fancy edits and elements that correspond to aesthetics, and maybe that's hard to think of at face value. Nonetheless, and despite narrow windows of time and staying awake, I enjoyed trying to articulate what I think makes for good visuals. I can't stress that it's only an opinion, since I'm honestly no critic, and amateur in a lot of places, but if this gave any new insight to someone, then I guess I'll have done a good job. Feedbacks always appreciated, and thanks for reading.

Links

Kigetsu Yen: Twitter / Youtube

TwistKid: Twitter / SoundCloud

Tobi Visuals: Twitter / Youtube

dprt: SoundCloud

Hidden Behind Leaves: Twitter / Youtube

Dylan Ross: Twitter / SoundCloud

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Welcome To 2019

Welcome to RottingHollows. I am Asura, or Hollows, whichever you prefer. I've been writing for a while but as of this year I want to take it seriously and change my style and format dramatically. Due to Health Issues, working a tedious night job, and moving to an entirely new state, I've been slow to begin progress on RH again. I'm making this post to achieve a few things, mainly address what will be of the old interviews and what exactly will be different this time around. For one, I have a new email strictly for music related projects and business emails, and secondly, I do plan to do audio interviews in the near future, once I have the right equipment and have a better grasp of conducting them professionally. Another thing I want to start doing more of is written essays on certain aspects of the underground culture that gets overlooked, or at the very least aspects of the underground I appreciate. Below are some things I'll be addressing concerning the old RH Tumblr and Twitter, and just other general things.

Why The Inactivity?

I have a lot of personal funk and negative energy attached to a lot of my older blogs and projects, especially concerning personal relationships and drug use. RH, and whatever projects came before were quite literally fueled by drug induced rages and extreme depression.

I want to move past that, hence the new Twitter, Tumblr, and additional business email.

What's Gonna Happen To The Old @ and Tumblr?

I'll be keeping both open in an indefinite limbo state. I will however update the old RH as basically an archive of my older interviews.

What/How Will Interviews Be Different?

I really want to keep written interviews to a minimum, unless

1. Someone specifically wants to do a written interview.

2. It's at the time more accessible to do them.

Another thing I should mention is interviews will still be free. I don't like the idea of making what I do a 'marketable' thing. If people like it they'll support it, and maybe I'll set up a tip jar kinda deal when/if that happens.

What's New?

At some point, I plan to start a YouTube channel for the interviews I conduct, but more immediately, I'll be setting up a new Soundcloud for music collaborative tapes, or to simply host singles if artists would like that as well. I really enjoyed putting together BroadBandComa, and really hope to do more of that this year.

Closing Thoughts:

This year I really want to do something positive for a change with my small format. I'd like to be a bridge for creators to their audience, and this doesn't just go for music artists but creatives around the underground. More than anything, I'd like to spread love, and love doing this like I did three years when I began. Also mad love to Syhnical for being my artistic creative and really only fellow member of RottingHollows. His work is vastly more appreciated than I can ever hope to express. Let's make this year a good one.

Links:

Syhnical(Art Credit, Fellow RH member)

Twitter

Business Email