These Nights Are Ours

  The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. A Deep Dive Into The Conflicted and Scared Psyche by Remember Notes I Woke up at 3am and Realized - God I have been fearing doing this for a long time.  This album is so massive that I’m scared of how long it is going to be to take these notes.  But I have to start somewhere, so we’re going to start at the beginning.   Distorted tones and rain begin the album. Immediately this differentiates itself form the past Remember albums, this is darker and grittier.  The tones offer a hint of paranoia and horror in them, like waking up in a startle from a dream.  The deep driving tone that joins in right around 1:05 drives all of this home as well.  Something is brooding here and it is a dreadful monstrosity whatever it is.   The track really doesn't even come into its...

  Magnum. Opus.  The highest level that an artist has achieved in their collective works. The best offering that they have put out.  Oxford puts it simply as “a large and important work of music, especially one regarded as the most important work of an artist or writer.” But this isn’t just anyone’s magnum opus, this is Remember .  The artist that released ルートバックホーム (Route Back Home) , largely considered one of the most important and best dreampunk releases across the entire genre.  The same Remember that released ハートエイクに歩い (Walking to Heartbreak) , an album that helped define the ‘classic’ dreampunk sound.  The author of The City is My Friend , an album that has significant personal importance to my introduction to the genre, and holds a special place in many people’s hearts.  A Deep Dive into the Conflicted and Scarred Psyche eclipses them all. As the title suggests, this album is a chaotic, emotional, and dark trip through someone's mind.  “ I...

The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. アーバン空想 by aural   Notes 目覚めた (awakened) - Immediately the song differentiates itself from Aural’s past works.  The albums previously had a strong focus on nature and the beauty that comes from those environments.  This new album creates a very urban atmosphere, with sounds mimicking city environments and noises.   The way this song begins is very much in the dark ambient territory, a low mechanical hum is the dominating force throughout the majority of the track.  If this was something to be found on its own it would be a very boring composition, but that is not what we have here.  There are subtle shifts that take place over the course of the track, the first is around 3:00 where the tone seems to take a half step down and becomes slightly more resonant.   The en...

  Grey overcast days, bright blue skies, neon red saturated streets at night.  Consciously or unconsciously, color plays a pivotal role in both the mood and tone of  our surroundings.  White, grey, black, brown, yellow, and green.  Six different colors, each of which has a critical role in the creation of Aural ’s album, アーバン空想 .   “ Color plays an extremely important role in production. Music is almost like a recipe, and color is the texture and flavor added in ,” they explained when describing the importance of color’s significance while taking the listener on this musical journey.  The details of how  color influenced them remains a trade secret, but it's the fact that it plays a pivotal role in music creation that  is most fascinating.   In utilizing these colors, Aural guides the listener from place to place within this city that we have never seen, showcasing different aspects of a life that we have never lived.  It's in these...

The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. Haunt Lines by Jude Frankum   Notes Content - This song starts off very soft with gentle rain falling.  It's so quiet I had to turn up my speakers quite a bit before I heard it.  A simple chord is strummed with quite a bit of delay on it… it has a very nice feel to it, balances well with the rain.  THe whole effect is extremely minimal, with the same elements in place for the first 1:30 in the song.  It really gives us a glimpse of what most of the album is going to be like.   After 1:30 we start getting a bit of chord progressions but there is still quite a bit of time in between the strumming of the guitar.  I really like this, it's meditative and reflective.  When listening to this I really get a sense of sentimentality and reflection.  This is music th...

  I looked at my surroundings and found no one.  Not a single soul to share my pain with.  I cried out into the black night and found no response.  Why? Why must it be this way?  Why am I always alone?  Is there no one there to hear me? In a desperate, final attempt I wail out one last time… to someone, anyone that would hear me.  Just as the darkness closes in on me and I brace for the end, I hear it… your voice.   You answered my call. Gave me light where there was none.  Slowly the night fades to dawn and gives way to the sun on the horizon.  We have found each other and now finally we are ready to face the day.   “I wrote this song as a love song to my girlfriend at the time. I always find people really natural sources of inspiration, [they] have emotions just like myself, and sometimes those emotions intertwine,” Jude Frankum speaks of his song I Don’t Regret a Day of Our Life Together .  One of four musical short storie...

The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. When The Night Air Leaves by VVV Notes Zenith - An undistorted electric guitar noodling with some other stringed instrument, I can’t tell what starts off the track… almost sounds aimless, like they are just improvising.  An interesting beat, consisting of a heavily distorted kick… I don’t even know if I would call it a kick drum.  It holds the beat but it’s not bass heavy, it's an interesting contrast to the undistorted string instrument used in conjunction with it.  The album also kind of just starts as if it's in the middle of something, like we're walking in on someone just chilling in their room playing some stuff.  Lots going on, and it's fascinating to see how they all interact with each other; that’s just the first 30 seconds of the song. After the beat comes in things slowly...