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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y  F I V E

Definitely still congested today; such is life. The spicy hot pot cleared my sinuses somewhat I suppose. Late episode too. Let’s enjoy some Daft Punk today. This album, Discovery, set a high water mark for electronic music which is very rarely matched; I’ll probably loop back and talk more about it in future but for today, just take a listen and let it wash over you. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/album/2noRn2Aes5aoNVsU6iWThc?si=qFkSEHSwQTOY_x8MmlGXnA

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y  F O U R

Let’s end the first week of classes with something fun: Calvin Harris’ second studio album. Somewhat back on track, the lovingly absurd and forced 80s pseudo nostalgia within this album certainly sits somewhere within the ancestry of the Vaporwave genre. His blending of electronic synth, deep emotional (as opposed to merely something with a beat to which one could dance), and this bizarre celebration of a sort of faux past made his early music extraordinarily influential on virtually every electronic musical genre. Furthermore, while this historical context is interesting, it’s also just a superb album with a lot of delightful and deeply memorable songs. Please enjoy Ready for the Weekend by Calvin Harris!

https://open.spotify.com/album/46atV5Jl6hrOhQfM4Xgy1M?si=8qEhqTCdQ8usryCKQTe7ew

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y  T H R E E

As yucky as I felt today from apparently still being sick, my various academic responsibilities went well; I’m excited to advise another student on their senior project and I think I successfully explained a core concept of Calculus 2 to a student who came to my office hours. I just wish it wasn’t so motherfucking cold outside.

Looking back, it seems that I’ve been severely lacking in my Calvin Harris selections for you all. My favorite album of his will probably always be I Created Disco for reasons I’ve already discussed, but he has quite a large body of work, much of which is superb. His fourth album is where I start to lose interest, his fifth utterly unlistenable, but this leaves his second and third albums to explore. I’ll share his third album today because I think it helps to illustrate what goes wrong later in his career. He still collaborates heavily with other artists herein but still creates something strongly imbued with his own unique style; the collaboration enhances the album as opposed to detracting from it. In fact, I really adore the collabs on this album, notably those with Kelis, Rihanna, Florence Welch and Ellie Goulding. For one thing, this album really showcases the talent contemporary Calvin Harris has; I won’t hold my breath but I hope, one day, that he creates something like this again. Please enjoy 18 Months by Calvin Harris!

https://open.spotify.com/album/7w19PFbxAjwZ7UVNp9z0uT?si=zPa-pC_4Rk2pY1ASc1UaGA

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y  T W O

Class, and therefore normalcy, has begun anew. I’ve taught Calc 2 more frequently than any other course thus far so that course preparation ought to take up only a trivially small fraction of my time. Life shall be decent and mercifully monotonous for the foreseeable future.

Today, stemming from my recommendation of the Fez soundtrack from Monday’s episode, I thought I’d share some music of Griffin McElroy with you. Recall that Griffin considers Disasterpeace as a major musical influence. This album is the soundtrack is from the Crystal Kingdom segment of the Balance campaign of the The Adventure Zone podcast. Griffin also cites Porter Robinson as a major musical influence; you can see this fairly overtly in his heavy use of vocaloid voices in his songs. That Griffin actually sat down to compose music for his podcast is something which I think truly ought to be celebrated; this was his first major foray into music production and I just can’t get over how wonderful it is that he was comfortable taking this plunge. Greater still is that the album is really quite delightful; astonishing for a first attempt. I hope you enjoy it too!

https://griffinmcelroy.bandcamp.com/album/the-adventure-zone-the-crystal-kingdom-ost

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y  O N E

Starting next week I’ll have a pretty constant stream of Vaporwave for you for a little while; I need to get my records up to date so I don’t repost anything but there are many great albums from artists who have already been showcased which we have yet to enjoy. That being said, I have the flu (and rather clearly have been fairly down since my return to North America; probably due to the lack of constant sunshine) and have not organized said records. I have a couple of fun oddball things for you for this week though, starting with this gem of a song from the days of yore. Think back fondly on Angel/Spike slash fiction as you listen to White Flag by Dido!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T H I R T Y

Today let’s listen to an early work of Disasterpeace, the soundtrack for the game Fez. It’s a glorious example of ambient Chiptune music which is a delight to listen to. According to Griffin McElroy, this album was a major influence of his during his composition of music for his Adventure Zone podcast. I hope you like it!

https://open.spotify.com/album/6QtCv5E76lUVbXfUFZxLuH?si=nZCAAUdKQ1iyqEAJ9vk6fw

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  N I N E

My episodes will return to their normal, long-winded character in a short time, probably within the span of mere days, but my god is returning to the winter so much harder than leaving it. I think my jet lag has been conquered but now I have my minor illness as well as the knowledge that a new term approaches to grapple with. The conference filled me with many mathematical ideas which, in addition to being interesting, must now be seriously considered and worked through in excruciating detail. Life goes on, I suppose.

Suffice it to say, something special is required to get us through the dreary day. Please enjoy the entrancing, nostalgic embrace of Femme Fatale by Britney Spears.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0oFBaXLFsUVa2gEmJf4FcJ?si=ONuNY8uTRPSu7YZyxSgLjw

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  S E V E N

I’m somewhat exhausted from my trip but don’t want to go on a full hiatus from the show either; I’ll be posting some fairly minimalist episodes for the next few days. Please enjoy Spirit Bomb by Origami Girl!

https://open.spotify.com/album/0lOXsMhT5MI4uJAUKu9Fqe?si=KCx6xdk-RYKuueU0B2sIcg

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  E I G H T

I’m happy to have gone out for mini community day today but the temperature together with my cold was somewhat unpleasant. I don’t think I seriously jeopardized my health, in fact I need to reacclimatize to the winter, but oof it was somewhat yucky out there.

Today I have an album for you which is new to me; I found it just yesterday. I believe someone posted it to the Synthwave subreddit. It’s a fun synth journey through a futuristic cityscape, something with which we are quite familiar, but moreover I do think the songs have an extra little something which makes me really like them. I’m definitely going to delve further into the artist’s discography. Please enjoy Age of Machines by Glitch Black!

https://open.spotify.com/album/6vVV7Kxd6TwG4PaFy4dcde?si=6VK8DVQtTs-jZFhXrlp67A

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  S I X

A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

I’m perfectly okay handling a bit of fatigue, as I can handle being a bit under the weather, but both at once are usually enough to bring me down. I have a bit of a sore throat to go with my jet lag. Oh well. Also, yeah I know it’s the wrong time; better this than no episode at all.

As an epilogue for our Ascertainment week, I’m going to share two Virtual Self remixes. Please don’t let the terse tone of this episode make you think that they’re anything other than superb. I had planned to share them yesterday but, ya know, sleep and planes and all that. Both are remixes of what may well be the gem of the Virtual Self EP: Ghost Voices.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3BbIIKqZ8i3NJEDw4dHBr5?si=Jq-_88H_RhepJXr8hQdN7A

https://open.spotify.com/album/7iiQ4ZI7aqaXT2E3Imaa0Y?si=hrA5tCdJTKCELp3xogs3LA

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A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

Today is my final day in Singapore. I think I saw everything I could reasonably see in a visit given that I was working throughout. I saw the aquarium today; like many things here it was sublime and was probably the best I’ve ever encountered. The totalitarian system of rules, fines and punishments here makes me uncomfortable but, ultimately, the beauty of the city appears to be reflected in the happiness of its citizens. I’m sure there’s a darker side to this place but I can’t speak with any authority on it because all I’ve experienced here has been wonderful. I suppose I am quite emotionally conflicted with regards to this issue and am in no place to pass any sweeping judgement on this bizarre, unique nation. I hope this beautiful harmony between people of different faiths and cultural backgrounds has not come at too high of a price. Having lived in America for many years now I have seen a great deal of unfairness, inequality and unadulterated hate; visiting a place which even appears to lack these things is humbling and, unfortunately, in profound contrast to my expectations. I hope to visit Singapore again. 

The above being said, the main focus of this episode is our Ascertainment week. Today I’m going to share with you Porter’s newest project titled Virtual Self. The artist known as Virtual Self is indeed Porter Robinson, but the Virtual Self releases and live appearances are to be considered separate, and no Porter Robinson music appears in Virtual Self sets or conversely. This being said, and indeed having been a choice made by Porter himself, I again wish to argue that this division is arbitrary and artificial. 

The genesis of Virtual Self occurred for two reasons, the first somewhat negative and the second quite beautiful. The first is that, after the release of Worlds, the new fans Porter obtained began to first want and later demand more music in the Worlds style. Comments about how Porter’s music “saved the lives” of his fans, as well as many similarly positive yet grandiose statements, appear to have worn Porter down emotionally. Releasing a “side project” seems to have been a way to free himself from writers block. Instead of hoping beyond hope to exceed his masterpiece, he cleared his mind and permitted himself to work on something different. Let me mention now that this is why I went on and on about this “old” versus “new” Porter distinction: it is not only absurd but is actively harmful. On Porter’s end it appears to have seriously exacerbated his depression and anxiety symptoms, whereas in the part of his fans it gave rise to a bizarre cult of personality centered around “new Porter”. If you think I’m exaggerating take a look at the Porter Robinson subreddit. To share any posts from there here would be overtly mocking the (often obviously very upset and distraught) people posting there, but I’m confident that “cult of personality” is also the feeling you’ll get if you indeed read through it. 

The brighter side of all of this is the creation of the Virtual Self project itself. All throughout his career Porter has credited music from DDR, other video games, other EDM artists and asian pop as influences on his music. Virtual Self is, despite what many would tell you, Porter’s return to his roots. Porter learned a tremendous amount in his journey through composing and touring Worlds, but the album had a delicateness to it which was not present in his other works. In Virtual Self he synthesizes everything he has learned thus far but, moreover, goes harder here than he ever has before. On twitter he described his first Virtual Self show as “a rave” and, having been to one of these shows, can personally attest that this was indeed the case. The set I saw him perform was full of masterful production and deep emotion, but in addition to the themes of loneliness and isolation which are sorrowful but sublime throughout Worlds, we also are made to feel the raw, pulsing sexuality of Porter’s unrefined early work from his teenage years. 

Maybe all of the ideas which comprise Virtual Self wouldn’t normally be able to mix together, that normally they would be too disparate. That which binds them into one cohesive whole is Porter himself; this music is his experience, his emotion, his Self, unadorned and vulnerable and pure for all to see. Again, I have the honour of sharing with you all something magnificent. Here is the debut self-titled EP of Virtual Self. 

I’m having a minor WiFi issue and can’t post the link to the album myself. 

EDIT: here is the link

https://open.spotify.com/album/7I3PH61aLVNVj4EVvU16WG?si=sCXaf6SBQa6FIWIvz4VgaQ

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A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

Short episode today; day trips to other countries which involve long ferry rides and customs crossings at both ends are tiring to say the least. I did have the best curry fish of my life though, and curry fish is one of my very favorite dishes. The meal cost me 700,000 rupiah which, luckily, is only a bit over 60 dollars. Indonesia is cool.

Tomorrow we’re going to get into Porter’s Virtual Self project. For today, let’s listen to some remixes of and by Porter. Porter is a truly brilliant producer of music but he’s also a singularly talented DJ. Similarly, his complex and unique songs lead to very curious and often delightful remixes. Please enjoy the Worlds (Remixed) collection by various artists as well as Porter’s remix of The Thrill by Nero!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4md2wqPrUzT3pX7KQVJ4pO?si=eHGnknfuS_mMIY5iWX9gKg

 https://open.spotify.com/album/5HDlGNb8ZpyzvkvPwO8moJ?si=T-M9Kn7OQg6y2sDyHvOiyQ

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  T H R E E

A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

So what did you all think of Worlds? Hitting the major beats of being deeply emotional electronic music and using this medium to convey a story, it’s a fairly archetypical fit for this show; indeed it was deliberately being saved for something of a special occasion. While I urge you to note the fundamental and glaringly apparent similarities to Porter’s older work, I do understand that the softer tone of Worlds may be easier to swallow if dubstep and rave-inspired dance music isn’t to your taste. It’s hard to say too too much more about Worlds; my list of favorite songs on the album is “all of them lol”. Listen and re-listen to it; it’s a masterpiece. 

Today let’s listen to (and watch!) a more recent project of Porter’s in collaboration with Madeon. The duo wrote and performed the song Shelter together and subsequently went on tour together. The tour was extremely exciting as all songs were performed by both of them together, nothing was separate. While it’s exciting to see two of your favorite artists both perform, for them to turn this concert series into a true synthesis of both of their respective songs and musical philosophies is truly magical. Take a listen to Shelter by Porter Robinson and Madeon. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1n8ESe5nt7EeuZedZUI3yu?si=wPL70aU8TbeStIX-JZAZFw

The above being said, the story of Shelter doesn’t end there. Porter went on to enter (ultimately successful) talks initiated using Crunchyroll as an intermediary in order to get a short anime film based on Shelter to be created. Despite not being an animator himself, Porter was deeply involved in the creation of the anime’s setting, story and characters. It’s a beautiful short with heavy undertones of transhumanism within a dark apocalyptic future. Please also enjoy Shelter: The Animation by Porter Robinson. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0

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A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

The conference is over; it was a fun time but I’m happy to have some time off. I’m happy I have a day or two to myself to see some more sights here. It’s strange to spend a month with all of these people, strengthening my relationships with them, interacting with them on the daily, to have everyone return to being a world apart to suddenly. It’s an odd feeling.

From my last episode, admittedly somewhat negatively slanted, one might wonder if I have any negative feelings towards the album Worlds. I assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Recalling our previous thread of discussion, I take issue with the fact that the Porter fandom seems to act as though Worlds was diametrically opposed to both Porter’s previous work as well as EDM as a whole; I find this idea blatantly absurd bordering on madness. I understand that some of these ideas came from Porter himself but, another thing which frequently irks me, I feel we need to be much more cognizant of the fact that artists are too emotionally close to their own work to necessarily possess reasonable opinions about it. 

Let’s discuss the album itself. Though it is not a fundamental departure from Porter’s early work, it certainly displays his growth and talent as an artist. Though there exist many electronic producers who break the mold and create music far more complex and potent than typical popular club fare, Worlds made crystal clear that Porter was among them, and moreover is one of the best. Porter did not invent the sound of Worlds from nothing, it has a rich musical lineage derived from the work of many trailblazing electronic producers and DJs, but it’s still one of the greatest electronic albums of all time. Its creation and subsequent well deserved popularity showed many EDM fans, notably younger fans, the heights electronic music can achieve. As I naively took on the task of writing a full Ascertainment week on this topic we can get back to the discussion tomorrow; for now I very much want you you enjoy Worlds by Porter Robinson!

https://open.spotify.com/album/7AJPV0L05IyIBid97AvwVD?si=OsacP41US3qvKsB1R0Cn6g

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y  O N E

A S C E R T A I N M E N T :  Porter Robinson

Alright, fine, I guess we’re doing this. Might as well call it like it is. Yesterday I shared with you some of Porter’s early stuff with a view towards putting it into a larger context (though, of course, also because it stands perfectly well on its own). I eluded to an “old Porter” versus “new Porter” dichotomy yesterday and, for anyone who isn’t familiar, I’ll explain it now. Yesterday and today’s musical pics constitute “old Porter”, his dubstep/EDM era during which he was heavily influenced by various other artists, notably Skrillex. There are a number of Porter fans to whom this era of his music is distasteful and who vastly prefer his album Worlds which I’ll share tomorrow. Core to this argument, and what I disagree with fundamentally, is that the music of “new Porter” is outside of and markedly different than EDM music. If you think this sounds like an abstract, bizarrely technical distinction with no bearing on reality then, well… you and I agree. Regardless, I assure you it is, for reasons beyond my understanding, considered rather contentious. This whole idea gets even more complicated when Virtual Self gets thrown into the mix but we won’t get into this further complication today. 

As they are superb, but also to illustrate what I consider to be the absurdity of the aforementioned old/new distinction, I wish to share some of Porter’s singles which don’t appear on any of his albums. One is Easy by Porter Robinson and Mat Zo, which I quite enjoy, but I’d like to talk primarily about another: Language. I’m actually not sure whether or not people typically class Language as “old” or “new” Porter but my understanding is that it appearing before Worlds makes it “old” by the common definition. Don’t get me wrong, Worlds is a groundbreaking album and its sound is quite unique, and I’m so excited to char it with you, but Language is so very apparently a phenological link between Porter’s “old” and “new” styles. All of this discussion is preliminary, I suppose, since we of course also have to listen to Worlds in order to compare the “old” to the “new” in the first place. For now, take a listen to Language; it is truly superb and is one of my favorite pieces of music. 

I’m feeling a bit catty today so I’m going to share a third single of Porter’s as well. Struggling to finish his debut album, famously milquetoast EDM producer Zedd enlisted Porter to finish up a song on the album. This particular song was Clarity, the title track of Zedd’s debut album, and indeed is what put Zedd on the map. It’s a great song which oozes and beautifully showcases Porter’s talent and unique style… though it is a shame his (primary) contribution to it goes largely uncredited, despite being a fairly well-known open secret. To be cattier still, I’m going to share the music video with you instead of just the song. I urge you to take note of the many shots of Zedd interspersed throughout the video. I find this both rather humorous and extremely absurd; It’s clearly a way to assign brand-ownership to a song he had very little creative hand in whatsoever. Knowing this makes watching the video a bit pathetic but hopefully it will be enjoyable to any cringe-connoisseurs among you.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0a1g0ZJlWFaLYubbqjmsCm?si=uvV7r9d8QsKCQKSQs50rcw

https://open.spotify.com/album/24FFBFTNl0Rraus5wPoQnH?si=9idGWg-SQyef_PffDtDxoA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxxstCcJlsc

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O N E  H U N D R E D  T W E N T Y

The “oof” continues but I did take some time last night to myself to get a bunch of my own research done. Nothing is finished yet but I have a fruitful idea which I think might come together soon. Still, this much work is wearing me down a bit, so let’s try to feel a bit better by listening to some Porter Robinson. He’s interesting to talk about, enough that my original intention was to devote an ascertainment week to him, but I’ve somewhat abandoned this idea. I have a lot to say about him but maybe not to the level of the previous two showcased artists. Let’s consider the next few days a soft ascertainment week: less structured than the previous ones but still a number of consecutive days devoted to Porter’s music. 

We’re gonna start with the early stuff. In terms of my personal musical history and experience, Porter’s early music was what got me into a lot of this softer, more emotional EDM-adjacent electronic music. As dubstep-flavored as even his earliest EP Spitfire, I take the somewhat controversial Porter-related opinion that Porter’s style didn’t change fundamentally between Spitfire and his album Worlds, though the latter was absolutely a refinement of this unique sound. I even think it was present in what was essentially his debut single Say My Name, produced, I believe, before Porter was even 18. Hopefully I can work towards dispelling the “new Porter” versus “Old Porter” myth. For today, take a listen both to Spitfire and to the single Say My Name by Porter Robinson! We’ll chat more about them tomorrow.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1PUPPk8ahNbNLSDuLzA1jB?si=bEHJ7E7jRu-zqKJOaSFvmw

https://open.spotify.com/album/5ODr4NbFi1Pb1Pnlee3bql?si=033PlKQKTFS4eyUcYAjgjQ

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O N E  H U N D R E D  N I N E T E E N

Oof. Conferences. At least on crappy days you can relax while moping; today was full of wonderfully fruitful (but therefore exceedingly exhausting) conversations. I had a tasty soup with slipper lobster in it for lunch though, so I guess that’s cool.

I mentioned k?d in passing yesterday without ever having mentioned him before. He’s a pretty cool up and coming electronic producer and his fairly recent EP is quite fun. Take a listen to Find Paradise by k?d!

https://open.spotify.com/album/619kcHTNa2X9kVvNcjQ7Mf?si=n2CFFuM7TNayRHH23OQUGg

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