Whenever I think I’m done thinking about punk online, something crosses my path that makes me so happy and makes me feel so much hope and joy about the future. Facebook served me this account called “Gatch Rivett Airbrushin,” and yes it’s an airbrush artist but it’s mostly a middle-aged man who draws felt marker cartoon characters reimagined as skinheads. And it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Good news — I asked him to draw a skinhead E.T. and he said he’s gonna do it. So we all have that to look forward to.
Here’s some other stuff we’re listening to this week.
Nadia Struiwigh “OXI5”
Sam: In the name of maintaining honesty with all my closest friends – you, the reader, not Josiah – I have been listening to the new Blood Incantation nonstop but knew I couldn’t include Blood Incantation. I’m exaggerating a little bit because I have also been listening to the new Drug Church a lot, another no-go zone. And in the last two days I’ve squeezed in something special from Josiah that I also can’t talk about. Which leaves me with only something very cool that I have nothing to say about besides “dope synths.” Talk about dope synths, tho, right???
Jos: In my mind Drug Church is just about the musical equivalent of a cartoon drawing of Toy Story characters as skinheads, but I’d way rather look at something like that than listen to it so I never have. But I did listen to the new Blood Incantation. In fact, I even said this about it in a group chat:
Okay but electronic bleep bloop music with a last name and song title that both kind of look like keyboard smashes, and the art looks like it’s from a 2002 trance techno CD series… I’m locked in. A better world of Sam picks is possible.
Billow Observatory "Garden of Four Streams"
Sam: What’s this? MORE dope synths?? When I’m not running with the dog to “The Stargate [Tablet I],” I am spending most nights reading and zeroing in on the perfect accompaniment so even though this is 10 months old it’s still 2024 and that’s new enough for me to include here. Currently I’m in the final stretch of Dune, a book I have tried and failed to read several times over my life but which was the favourite book of someone I care about deeply who passed away recently, which is a funny thing to put obliquely in a newsletter when I’m simultaneously refusing to write about other stuff that would make me seem basic. But look, that’s why the vibes are like this. Be grateful we’re not doing the podcast.
Jos: What the fuck Sam. Are you finally in your wanker era? Like if you could just stop indulging your wretched desire to say “dope synths” over and over again, you could really front like you’re getting into musique concrète. Which is ultimately the heart of the problem. I bet everyone would like time-lapsed shots of architecture and calming, layered sound baths, but Big Aesthete won’t let you say “dope synths.” And I for one am still on their side. We need to gatekeep high art from people who might enjoy it too much.
Taylor Deupree “Stil. (for Vibraphone & Bass Drum)”
Jos: I was going to try and balance it out by posting some kind of new pop-punk artist or something but fuck it. We’re going full wanker mode. This guy Taylor Deupree has the perfect Spotify artist photo, like you were cyberstalking your substitute teacher and found some shots of him trying to “serve” while on vacation and suddenly feel guilty for digging so deep. But he’s also got the juice, having worked with greats like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christian Fennesz, among many others. This album Sti.ll has those beautiful textures that you can just get lost in. And blessedly, there are no dope synths.
Sam: Dope vibes! When I was in concert band I dreaded any assignment to the metallophone family because I can’t actually read music. But those were always bombastic Robert W. Smith compositions, and I’m confident that if we had been performing the works of Taylor Deupree I would have experienced a surge in confidence that quite possibly could have altered the trajectory of my life. Smiling thinking about a bunch of grade sevens playing this for their parents at the school Christmas concert.
Chino Yoshio “Ham and Melon (Sine Wave Version)”
Jos: This is not quite “dope synths,” but it is music that is so beautiful and foreign yet universal that I can’t really stop listening to it. I found Chino Yoshio because of the unfortunately great Spotify algorithm, and I’m becoming obsessed. Clicking around on his Linktree has some amazing tidbits, rules, and advice. And his bio is so wonderfully earnest that it makes my heart swell:
Let me introduce myself(日本語↓).I live at Kyotanabe near Mt. Kannabi in southern Kyoto Japan. I am making piano songs. I studied to play an electric organ and composition in Yamaha music school. My music Yoakemae was on Mercedes Benz Mixed Tape 24 in 2008. I joined the Tokyo Dawn Records Remix Contest around 2012. This is one of my remix works Do What I Do - Chino Yoshio & Quartet Remix . I have distributed my music on my podcast "Relax" since 2006. I organized the songs that were on my podcast in this playlist Relax . Now I am preparing for the release of the next Relax Album series. I am working as a mechanical engineer on weekdays. Sometimes I listen to this playlist, My Favorite Songs during my commute. This playlist contains songs by artists who have influenced me. My sheet music is available on Apple Books. chinoyoshio.com
There are so many great Chino Yoshio songs, but the Sine Wave version of “Ham and Melon” is the newest. It’s also got amazing art that subtly interprets its title.
Sam: The most revealing element here is referring to your job as the work you do on weekdays. How elevated! How healthy! How impossible for me to imagine. I just got back from “interviewing” a celebrity chef (asking two promotional questions for use on TikTok [very nice person, to be fair]) and now I’m despondent again thinking about how this is my life. But it’s not! It’s just what I do on weekdays.
NOFX: The FINAL PERFORMANCES EVER - LAST SHOW (Day 3: sunday october, 6th. 2024)
Jos: I’m just pasting the name of the YouTube link because I think this is stolen from the Madden bros’ weird Veeps streaming service. It’s just funny to think that after listening to about 35 minutes worth of healing warm audio in this newsletter, there’s an alternate world where we would have had to do like self-imposed live reaction videos to these three final NOFX sets. Scrubbing around in here, it’s quite nasty and depressing. Thank goodness we’ve all moved on.
Sam: Having zero compulsion to got to the final NOFX shows in Toronto – made easier by the fact that they were expensive and way out of the city, but still, I didn’t even consider it – felt like I was moving on from an era of myself. Watching this… you know, I wish I went. I will never change. But I AM glad we’re not doing reacts, which I guess we can now admit is what we did for a hobby for half a decade.
I think we will start putting this pic at the end of the newsletter so you know it’s done.