Dissection Maps – Old Saw
Old Saw
Dissection Maps
EP
Experimental
Louis Pelingen
November 30, 2024
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While I'd consider a couple releases this year unmissable, such as MYDYA's Nihil Amoris and Iglooghost's Tidal Memory Exo, no electronic music has captured me quite like Skee Mask's Resort since his previous album Pool. Such an unbelievably lovely techno album that is to your ears what the warm soft sun on a perfect summer day is to your skin. I've listened to tracks like "Daytime Gamer", "Schneiders Paradox" and "Hölzl Was A Dancer" over and over this whole year and I don't plan to stop any time soon. Anything Skee Mask puts out is immediately some of the best stuff of the decade so far let alone the year. It'd also be worth pointing out ISS010!
When I recently visited Japan, one of the things I was most deeply moved by was how many artisans there were there that had been working on a singular craft for their entire lives.
One of the things I love so much about electronic music is that there are so many artists that have quietly worked over decades, heads down and hoods up, with a deep single minded vision to crush the coal of their sound languages into infinitely refracting diamonds and in so doing create these beautiful long evolving narratives of music that in-turn reflect our own twisting, turning and deepening lives.
The story of music in 2024 was how many of these OG druids were creating astonishing documents of their craft well into their third or even fourth decades of music making. For me, the best of these was Seefeel's Everything Squared who's title itself implies a sense continuation and completion.
Listened to over an entire career of releases Seefeel's music feels like repelling from the top of a cathedral spire down into the nave, moving through shapes and shadows illuminated by the prismatic light glancing through stained glass windows and emerging into this sparkling devotional space.
Everything squared really feels like arriving in that space.
Whether it's their use of Sarah Peacock's voice as chopped choral instrument, their incredible amalgamation of electronica and dub with the deepest of subs and endless delay lines, or their commitment to what is essentially loop based music (they don't often use typical chord progressions) they bring all of it to final boss stage in this astonishing ep that I know, I will be listening to you for many years to come.
Listen to MIDI Janitor's music here.
Mom and Dad's Computer is an artist you need to be watching. They're quite prolific and have released countless albums and EPs in the last year, but I'm especially a sucker for their Frutiger Aero and y2k-inspired albums. clubhouse in particular is beautifully bitcrushed, and the sample selections are too good; all of the songs flow together in a way that feels very cozy and calming. The tracks sound like hold music for a spa, or things you'd hear while surfing on WebTV. Please check this album out!
I think if there was one release I'd want people to listen to from this year it would be the Jaiden Macintosh release on retrac recordings. I know for a fact I'll be listening to that first track for the rest of my life. There's something deeply moving about it for me. It creates this bleary-eyed atmosphere that almost feels like an accurate depiction of how seeing an angel would sound like. It slows the world down for me, and that's a really hard thing to do as an artist.
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Neir – Hollow Point EP
Oftentimes as a musician / producer I find myself hearing production on a track that will immediately challenge me to find out just how those sounds were made and arranged. On Neir’s debut “Hollow Point”, I feel this every 6-10 seconds for each track. As someone who started with roots in contemporary hardcore, I find a lot of recent Hardcore DJ sets and releases to bore me – as I usually can assume the remainder of the track, or the rest of the upcoming crate. I cannot say I ever felt that way about anything on this project. From the surgically accurate industrial tones, to the almost dubstep yearning bass, this is not just 6 of my favorite songs, but a tome to learn from and extract inspiration.
Neir is Alice, a new face in hardcore and one that will surely leave an incredible worldwide impact. I know sooner than later we’ll meet at some venue on the same bill, but I wanted to give her her flowers here before I’m able to in the real world.
“the feeling/vibe I associate with the project is rave music through the most distorted or this kinda cooked nostalgia, that and a love letter to it from me”
Japanese bullet trains
Photoshop threshold
Helvetica font
The hacker scene in die hard
Blame!
Check out MANAPOOL's music here.
Hello! I wanted to put a little note in here while you’re enjoying these insights to say thank you so much if you’ve followed along with us so far and helped in our mission to spread the word about incredible music.
We have BIG plans for the new year (literally, like straight away).
I’d like to ask – if you’ve enjoyed our content this year – to consider helping us out over at our patreon, it may look bare at the moment but we promise you won’t regret it.
If you can’t do that at the moment, consider telling your friend about us! Invite them to the discord or suggest they follow us on bluesky, twitter or instagram. We’d really appreciate it.
Anyway, back to the best of 2024!
clust.r – ever chance Glitchy and ethereal ear candy. Probably the most cohesive pop album to come from this year. Sounds like your old iPod Touch on steroids.
I’ve been a big fan of BAKGROUND’s previous ambient vaporwave work, so I was stoked this year to see they had released another similar album. Although, UNTITLED totally shattered my expectations. It’s easily some of the most soothing and wide sounding ambient music I’ve ever heard. It so accurately nails the indescribable feeling of comfort hearing the PS2 start up for the first time. Really some of my favorite music to release this year and if you like ambient then absolutely do not sleep on this album.
Listen to Korizon's music here.
Ten or so years ago my band Kids played a small show with New Issue (then under the name Hungry Cloud Darkening). I bought their record Dark Cloud At Water at that show and have kept it in regular rotation ever since even though I had not kept up to date with the band’s activity. A few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised when my partner’s band Club Cafe was asked to open for them at a show in support of this new record.
Diminished & Transmitting is a perfect successor to the band’s early work. Based in Anacortes, Washington, New Issue follows in the K Records/Phil Elverum tradition of home recording, but their approach to songwriting and arranging is much more minimal and pop-oriented than their peers. It doesn’t sound much like my own music, but I relate deeply to their unconventional use of traditional rock instrumentation, the unbothered affect that carries their music, and their seemingly formalist approach to song craft. Love this record so much as an exemplar of texture, repetition, and restraint in rock-based music. I have a feeling I’ll be spinning it for another ten or so years.
Chris Olsen -– Dark Ride
Lush midi woodwinds lay romantic beds. A fragile voice sets cryptic lyrics to pastoral melodies. Sometimes a choir responds with a delicate but deliberate counterpoint. When the words can’t fully express the feeling a sweep of hollywood strings or a timpani sample complete the emotion. The arrangements are always developing.
If you want a quick blurb, it sounds like a young Phil Elverum fronting The Left Banke. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Artists who made music like this had label budgets or they recorded to tape. What’s special about Chris Olsen is the way he achieves this sound in a DAW. Thoughtful songwriting and achingly beautiful production. This is the sound of longing. You’re on the dark ride.
Check out friends&'s music here.
Crystal Eternal’s KEYGEN has resonated with me all year, standing out as one of the most original and emotional releases I’ve encountered in recent memory. Labeling it "experimental" feels reductive, as the album weaves together an incredible tapestry of influences – from world music and eco virtual to vaporbreak and future funk—all while staying unmistakably vaporwave. Eternal’s creativity shines through in her use of self-recorded guitar licks and filtered vocals, as heard on tracks like Not Quite What You Wanted or It’s Over.
The raw, heartfelt lyrics struck a chord with me, evoking emotions I hadn’t felt in the genre since Christttt’s Social Justice Whatever back in 2017. Tracks like Back in Time even reimagine her earlier work, adding depth and growth to the album’s narrative of transformation. KEYGEN tells a story, and it’s a deeply personal one—beautiful, bold, and brimming with originality. I can’t quite explain it, but I felt something profound while listening. It’s a must-hear for anyone seeking emotion and innovation in Vaporwave.
Cloudgazers by Vireo is a playful escape from the daily challenges of life. A nostalgic indie pop beat and a driving guitar ostinato carry Chris’s words with such effortlessness that the song’s compound meter goes nearly unnoticed. An explosion of energy and shimmering textures, the chorus of “Cloudgazers” features a mesmerizing countermelody in the guitar, and a humble question we could all stand to ask ourselves more often:
“When’s the last time a big wave / laid on their back and watched the clouds go / with a clear mind.”
Check out Hannah Sandoz's music.
It seems that 2024 has been branded as the year of the br@t, but for those of us who don’t lean green, read on…
It was most refreshing to hear artists splash new life into tradition-steeped worlds, and uncover new realms therein. A few records come to mind:
LEYA – I Forget Everything
This short but syrupy EP was the intake we all needed to tranquilize ourselves out of a tumultuous year. Gotta love an out of tune harp (microtonal, as they now say at Juilliard).
Concrete Husband – Piel
Perhaps I am biased ~ he’s family after all <3 ~ but the debut album of our favorite NYC flutist/DJ superstar is a gorgeous and riveting mission statement, giving us a sampler of all the many facets of a brilliant musical mind. Carlos’ grand imagination, powerful resilience, and hopeful vision all shine bright in this music.
Lucy Liyou – +82 K-Pop Star
LL is one of those quietly iconic artists (& my sister at heart <3), and she dropped the sonic blueprints of her forthcoming gesamtkunstwerk with aplomb, without any notice in the dead of summer. It starts with 45 seconds of coughing, is 45 minutes total, and comes complete with a detailed 37 page PDF script. This one is most rewarding paired with your best headphones and enhancer of choice – oh, the places you’ll go!
Well, Bubble Blade's music sounds exactly like what you could expect from that name. The Blade stands for the fantasy, videogamesque approach, as the musician behind this project is also known as Grim Father, a dungeon synth artist. Then on the other side come the bubbles, bringing a gentle, ethereal, sparkling atmosphere, iridescent and playful, much like these aforementioned soapy air pockets.
I've always been drawn to crossover creations, and I find myself appreciating releases where artists blend everything they like, regardless of sticking to a genre. This was evident from the intro track, which starts with a typical fantasy melody for a few bars only to surprise us with an unexpected trapy vaporish twist when the first 808 hits. What a smart way to give the album rules to the listeners !
Well, we may receive the rules, but the quest has just begun as this tape feels like a journey where each track could be a new level. We'll cross different landscapes, featuring bright melodies, futuristic, shiny synths along vapor filtered snares and deep toms organized in gorgeous break rhythms. From time to time, we eventually face some trials during which the tempo picks up, and the drum'n'bass patterns strike ! Think SSX, but the downhill takes place on the ramparts of a kaleidoscopic castle.
By the time it takes for our heart to return to its normal rhythm, we can chill again on the most peaceful paths.
The composition here feels like a generous lacework of sonorities, textures, and patterns. A lot of care has been given to the details in these spontaneous structures, but without any disdain for loop work or efficient, comfy melodies.
The lead synth of the eponymous track Vaporous Halls stays stuck in my head for days each time I listen to this album and I have to say that this tape deserves a place in that special zone, close to my heart, where the boundaries between fantasy, vaporwave, cloud, ethereal break beats, and ambient become porous.
Listen to Claire Kelp's music here.
Within the first 20 seconds, I knew this piece of art was something special. The ethereal synths, the perfectly imperfect mix, that aching sense of nostalgia - it’s all there. Gives me the same feeling as a great first kiss: tender, full of longing. Easily my top favourite of this year.
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