BLU KOBINA, who KOBINA?

Sometimes you come across brilliance but for whatever reason your mind isn't ready for it yet. So when it comes back around into your life it hits you twice as hard. 

I discovered BLU KOBINA back in January of 2023 with Jury (2018) and it went right over my head like the idiot that I am. I came back to him earlier this year and found more songs that I liked but still blind to the art behind the music. 

This morning, God knows why, it has finally sunk in and now I have to go through his whole career as a musician. 

Dark, rich and full of nuanced autotuned vocals BLU KOBINA's trap is just something else. I've been going crazy all morning trying to find information on the artist. There is none. I followed him on Instagram and I have the theory that he's Canadian. But there is literally nothing besides the fact that he's called Seth.

Everything is done by this one dude. ALL OF IT. And nobody knows him. There are no interviews on his music, nothing. I can't believe it. For me, he's up there with the current best. The music sounds so much fuller than what you would expect from a home trap production. The layers to the main vocals and the backups, the instrumentals, all of it. 

His latest album, Wizard (2023) is a no-skip album. An absolute corker from start to finish. But I will say, you are not allowed to hit it off with such a banger as Angel X. What even is that? I tried to find the original song from which he sampled the female vocals but it was impossible. I went to YouTube, the place of answers and he had deactivated the comment section. It just makes everything even more appealing, the mystery of it. We love ourselves a dark king. 

Anyway, Angel X is like the abstract at the start of a dissertation paper. It's the bottled essence of the album's mood. Particularly, the harmonies he does with himself are very smartly crafted. Every layer of his own voice is stacked but each track has its unique autotuned twist to it, making it sound like different people all at once. The instrumental has a booming kick to it, an occasional deep bass string oozing in and out that sticks with you. The sampled elements of the song sound taken from traditional East Asian music (is my guess) which gives the whole tune a graceful and elegant spinal cord. Ten out of ten trap music.

Next album down the line, Slay Thy Demons (2022). Phwoa. He does one of those album transitions where one song (an interlude most likely) turns seamlessly into the next track. That's how the album starts and when he hits it off with that first beat in the album you feel it somewhere hidden inside your stomach. He takes the whole experience to an even darker place or deeper into your entrails with La Lune. He samples something which I know I know but I can't figure out what it is. [2h later]. I HAVE IT *manic laughter* It's the same sample as HAARPER's The Alchemist and the original is Fontane di Roma, p106:I. La fontana di Valle Giulia all'alba (the Ichiko Aoba version). That was going to annoy me so much if unsolved. BLU KOBINA uses a philarmonic orchestra version of the track. 

Okay because I could continue for ages I'm just going to highlight a few more. silk from Castle in the Woods (2021) because it's sexy as hell, burn the flowers (from that same album) because it's a little bit more upbeat and emo in a fun way. Carbon, a 2020 single, is very powerful as it plays with reverberation effects. It has a Travis Scott feel to it, which works very well with the instrumental. Wolf Blood is a single from 2019, that has a softer more melancholic rhythm to it. I understand that this might not be for everyone so this is an exclusive recommending for my sad homies. 

Do you believe in life after ODIE?

Bruv, you made me cry and I can't even bloody come up with words to describe this 

All I can say is: 

Anti Heaven: So accurate it hurts

 I have a new music obsession that I can't seem to quit. It's one random song from a random album from some random guy.

I don't know what brought it on, maybe I've been having too many happy thoughts lately that I needed to be reminded of what hopeful melancholy sounds like. This is the song. 

It's called Anti Heaven but before I get into the song I'm gonna talk a bit about the man behind it. 

Ben Shirken or as I came across him, Beshken, is an indie-electronic music producer and instrumentalist based in New York. After winning me over with his 2021 EP Tendryl, and in particular, Like You Do, I listened to more of his stuff and found that he's capable of making these deep soundscapes that wave you away for a while. Going for fast-paced high-hat usually and faded-off into the distance vocals, the whole thing just screams of spending a relaxed evening in a trance. 

And even though that EP is quite strictly electronic music, the artist has a habit of surprising you with each new single or album. His music reminds us of jamming jazz rhythms and quirky piano melodies, at times he brings his indie voice closer to the spotlight and uses more organic sounds that can ground the track into the psychedelic indie genre. 

He's like smoke tendrils and moving in and out of your ears. His 2019 single Cursed particularly captures the experience and the song (Focus On) that follows it on the album (Aisle of Psalm) vibes in the exact same fashion. 

His latest release is the 2023 EP Pressure Bump. On there he takes us to darker sounds but you can still feel his essence. He gives it his absolute all on the final track Mother. 

Now Anti Heaven. It's part of the 2022 album Pantomime which has other great tunes on it such as Self Defense, Social Suicide and The Ocean, El Diablo just to name a few. The song feels like the soundtrack to a moment of reflection. It feels like standing on top of a hill over the sprawling city in a cold sunrise. The city lamps are still on but the sun already made the sky lighter. The drums come in and sound like total chaos, but there's a meaning to each and every one of the beats. There's a specific feeling behind the speed of them and the harsh delivery at times. At the same time, a deep piano melody takes you along for the ride and that leads our vocalist into the first first to take off and get us to the heart of the song. It reminds me of the Weird Fishes/Arpeggi conundrum that we find in Radiohead's In Rainbows (2007 only fuller. 

I can't wait to be stuck in a skyscraper hotel room in Chicago at night looking into other people's windows and wondering the meaning of life itself. Again. Next week I'm gonna be feeling like a side character in The Bear having their little moment thanks to this song. 

I'll leave you with a quote from Beshken: "Finding excitement in the abstraction of human existence allows for the flow of endless ideas."

Music is in its hot summer era

What is it about summer that everything just screams and bursts with colour and taste? The sounds coming out of my headphones lately certainly are keeping to the style of the season and everything sounds a lot richer and rounded.

Loud and deep, reaching into the pit of my stomach and swirling me around as if high on daylight, heat and music. This is not specific to one genre, one artist, one mood. It's how the medium feels right now. Is that just me?
I'm using this entry to clean my monthly list just so I don't have a stupendous mental breakdown at the end of the month and I have to delete 50 songs because they don't fit. Three silly songs that I will be keeping in.

So, what's been getting me all hot and bothered lately? Aside from life itself:

1. Trey Wxxds - HERE FOR A MOMENT (Album)

Mystery rapper Trey Wxxds released an album last week and against all odds, it's surprisingly closing ranks and becoming one of my favourites this 2024. Highly recommended is the Robinson Park (Freestyle) at the start of the album that even has a little snippet of Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan sampled. It has an admirable flow and bottled female soul backing vocals towards the end that give it a heart. It's got a classic beat that feels light 90s. I'll also give a solid mention to Been Here Before which is just weird and feels more like an interlude than a full song. It's nostalgic and druggy, two big favourites of mine, but particularly one of the artist's strong points. I'll also recommend These Days for beachy afrobeats on the instrumental. It's summer after all.

2. MRD - Let Her Go (2023)

If techno is the natural progression of the mainstream use of the synth, MRD's Let Her Go is a step in between. It's as if someone went full techno and then decided to scale it back one notch. As a result you get a dark and fast techno album Løvehjerte (2023) with postpunk electronic drum arrangements and full gorgeous melodies with simulated guitars and Dave-Gahan-sounding vocals. In one of my moments of rest at the gym, Midsommar, in collaboration with Narciss came on and I immediately felt hooked. After looking into the album a little bit, Let Her Go is a clear favourite. 

3. James Blake, Lil Yachty - Bad Cameo (2024)

If I was given a choice of artists that I would have loved to see collaborate, the combo James Blake and Lil Yachty would have been right at the top. After both released two albums in 2023 that absolutely blew me away, I can't imagine anything more harmful to my emotions. The album definitely feels as if Lil Yachty is swimming in an ocean of Blake. There is enough of his signature sound and signature lyrics to give him the spotlight many times but the sign-off is that unique James Blake production sound. Already hitting it off with Save The Savior I was shaking my head and practically begging for mercy. If looking into the gaping hole of destiny had a sound, it would be this. Strong contender for my favourite track of the album also was Run Away From The Rabbit which has an incomprehensible ending. As in I cannot wrap my head around the magnificence of it. Missing Man also made the list for like a minute but on the second listen I knew that I was kidding myself. Clearly, the best song is Bad Cameo. It feels like getting lost between two very different dreams. Lil Yachty's autotune echoes in the ribcage while Blake tickles your spine on the keys. Just when you think it's already pretty good and could leave it at that, Lil Yachty's autotune is almost gone making him human again "In due time, we'll be fine" and it's Blake's artificial falsetto that brings the robot back in "Don't you want to see the morning?". And right there is where I cried. I continued to cry but "Don't lead me down a dark path" just felt like still getting punched when you've lost consciousness. There really is no need. You're a clear champion mate.

Reflecting on Steve Jones, The Sex Pistols and punk as a concept

 I'm currently reading the autobiography of the notorious Steve Jones. The guitarist from The Sex Pistols. Every time I get my hands on a book about musicians or bands I get hooked and end up wolfing the whole thing in a couple of days. Just to be able to catch a glimpse of what went on behind the scenes is enjoyable enough. These iconic legends live, their road to fame and sometimes their catastrophical demise. Yeah, getting through the Sex Pistols' lifespan as a band and coming out okay the other end? Not easy. 

Despite not being the most famous Sex Pistol, Steve Jones is immediately my favourite. He's funny, direct and doesn't care about laying it all out, the good and the bad. He's honest, remorseful but unapologetic. It was what it was. Jones had a shit upbringing which does trully justify a lot of the shit he was up to. That's sentence summarises the whole first part of the book. I don't mean it in a bad way, it's really interesting to read but it is literally one ghastly event after the other and he's not even 20 year-odd.. He came from an extremely working-class family, had an absent father, a neglecting mother, a nonce for a step-dad, undiagnosed ADHD/Dyslexy for sure, and more predatory pedophiles roaming the streets of Battersea than eyes to spare. 

As I was reading I kept thinking, yeah, no wonder punk happened. You can see why there was a growing community of young people that were unsatisfied with the hand that life had dealt them, who were angry at how things worked and didn't want to sit quietly and accept their bleak future. So the answer was to let out all the rage somehow. Loud and bold it's easy to see why the movement attracted so many people. It's easy to see how the movement was part of the working class struggle to improve their situation and why it identifies politically with the left. Although it's no wonder that the neo-nazis had a good go at taking claim of punk. They were also loud and angry young offenders, it's just that their anger was directed at the wrong people. 

The Sex Pistols weren't the most vocal punk band of the age, I mean, yeah, they said outrageous shite on NME Magazine, but they weren't as political as The Clash or Stiff Little Fingers. The Clash cared, they were openly antifascist and antiracist. And you can hear it when you listen to the music, you can hear reggae beats, influences and lyrics that make a difference. It's bands like them that command my respect not so much the Pistols. The Pistols were just annoyed at pretty much everything. Sid by all rights shouldn't have even been in the band and John Lydon has turned out to be a massive Tory twat. 

According to Jones' biography, he was never a racist or a homophobe or anything those neo-c***s trying to take hold of punk were. But he does say that he didn't really care enough to understand the way things were at the time. He had enough on his plate worrying about nicking stuff, getting drunk to forget traumatic experiences at an early age and trying to escape the greyness of the London life in the sixties when you didn't have two pence to rub together. 

I can definitely see why the band made it big though. I can understand the effect their attitude would have on young folk with similar feelings of hopelessness and resentment. They were all raging because life was closing in around them and they had no positive outcome, just because they were born skint. These unfortunate souls turn to music, as we all do when in need of comfort, company, community or in need of a jolt to the soul. These young Brits melted into each other's sweaty bodies at shitty venues to scream, jump and batter the shit out of each other. Why not? You're fucked anyway so why not shove each other violently until someone loses consciousness or at least forgets there's an outside world while the music still blares from the amps. 

Every generation has been the same since then. In every generation, there is a musical movement of discomfort and discontent. Punk, ska, grunge, rap, trap, post-punk, you name it. There is always a group of working class folk that have fuck-all going for them, feel like they're getting shat on and make groundbreaking music just to ease the pain. It brings us all together. The lowest of the low find new outlets of expression, they become the focus of the world for a while and hold up a mirror on stage to call on fellow scumbags who are unhappy with the unfairness of the world. It's shortlived, eventually the movements degenerate until they become a parody of themselves. The OGs fuck off into a better world or completely sell their souls out and the emerging scene is plagued with posers. 

Everything just sort of feels stale until the next big new movement from the working class rises, always one step ahead, ready to bring a fresh monster to life that will take the rest of the world by surprise. This will continue until World War 3 starts and there is no longer a surplus of angry young people. But at least with that loss, we will gain the return of the war poets. 

PS: I listened to Never Mind the Bollocks this morning. It still holds up. Holidays in the Sun is one of the best ways of opening a punk album the world has ever seen. 

Direct line to my heart

 The time has come again. I've made yet another playlist with the sole purpose of breaking my own heart. Not because it's sad music, but because be it because of the lyrics, or the melody or even just where the silences drop, it has a direct line to squash my heart for the briefest of seconds or the longest of minutes.

I've titled it "I'd rather be chainsawed in half" because I really think that taking a Milwaukee 2727-20 to the ribs might hurt less than listening to some of these tracks.

The list could be closed but I'm thinking there is a chance I'll come across more of these painful songs in the near future. The algorithm has been fed quite a bit. 

Here it is. 

I'm only going to go through a few of these but all of them have ended me one way or another.

1. Teleharmonic - The Smile

I don't think there is another artist better fit to inaugurate this list than Thom Yorke & co. Teleharmonic. Where do I even begin? It's part of Wall of Eyes, an album that The Smile released at the end of January this year and hit me like a brick in the face. I gave it a quiet listen one day and when I realised this was on it I completely lost my mind. I had originally heard the track two years ago when the final season of Peaky Blinders was released. It was just the soundtrack to one of the scenes in the series. I became obsessed and tried to find it but it hadn't been released by the band and apparently they had no intention of doing so for the foreseeable future. After a few months, I lost hope and sat with resignation listening to shitty edits on YouTube. 

I can't explain accurately enough what this song makes me feel. It's nostalgia and beauty and peace it just fills my chest with whatever life itself is made of. I cannot comprehend how a song can have so much power over my emotions and even my body as I physically react everytime I hear it. Unfortunately for The Smile, despite it being an objectively excellent album, I don't really give a toss about any other song that isn't Teleharmonic. 

3. Yesteryear - urbanation

Teleharmonic's power resides in the melody, the voice and the sheer weight of the atmosphere it generates. Yesteryear is a much simpler song in those terms and it's almost stripped back to an acoustic tune. Her sweet voice and matter-of-factly delivered details of heartbreak through the lyrics make me want to sway forever in it. What does if for me in this one is the universality of it all. 

It was released by urbanation back in 2018. Remember 2018? No? Me neither. It was released as a single. Everything this girl does is released as a single and she's been off-grid since 2020. I really hope she's cooking a corker of an album or something because people really have no right to drop a bunch of great songs and leave you wanting for more for four years. 

After opening the heart with this vein of music, I left it open for a few more songs that are in the same style as Yesteryear. 

4. BahBah - Insightful

Insightful released a new album, Broken Man, last Friday. He may be a broken man but that album broke me too. As a result, I decided to go through everything he has ever made. Again. 

BahBah was released in 2022 as part of his album 33 and it's exactly what wishful daydreaming sounds like. If I had to soundtrack a fantasy, this would be it. The looped guitar, the ticking noise which sounds like a metronome on speed and is our main percussion sounds along with a reverbed bass drum every once in a while. The moment the backing vocals come in I know I'm in trouble, but it's not until those soft violins enter the scene that I don't fully feel it in my heart. It is absolutely heartwrenching because just like a daydream it finishes and you're left there clutching the remains of that useless organ that keeps you alive. 

It is one of my favourites on the list although it did take me a while to decide what Insightful track to pick. He has a habit of reaching for my tender side. 

5. K - BEASTIE

I can't really give a lot of context, it came to me thanks to the Spotify algorithm I've been training for the best musical finds Olympics. The artist has next to no followers and only two ruddy songs on the profile. One of them is K, released in 2023. Because it's new and nobody knows who this artist is. I'm gonna give it a bit of hype. 

BEASTIE, WHAT ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU? It could be a female voice, a male voice, I don't know. I'm in love. What a sweet guitar and what an angsty voice. Listening to this made me a teenager pining in my bedroom for a crush that would most likely turn out badly. 

I also secretly like that they might be singing about me. It's my song people, a song for me. And it has all that I enjoy in this bedroom pop music, unrequited love, reverbed guitars of different kinds, high pitches cries and great loops. Made for me I tell ya'. 

Say Sorry by Kenneth Whalum serves as a great transition with the sweetest of apologies. The first time I heard one of the bridges on the song I thought I heard one of my ribs crack, Damn that pain in my chest. Damn you Kenneth. 

6. Chelsea - St. Paul & the Broken Bones

We transition to the land of soul or soul-infused music and hit it off with Chelsea by St. Paul & the Broken Bones. This band is something else entirely and mainly, that leading voice. I think it really is beyond human to have that tone and that emotion. And it's not just that, it's the lyrics too. 

Chelsea is sung to an unborn baby and it sings about future happiness and hope. It reaches a point where it is almost godlike and religious. Maybe Chelsea is the unborn baby of sound and light because that's what it sounds like. It's the softest lullaby ever and what a start of an album. The band released Angels in Science Fiction in 2023 and in my opinion (fact) it was one of the top 5 albums of the year. What a beautiful work of art. I can't wait to ball my eyes out when I see them live, I hope they crush me into tiny little specks of dust. 

7. Sorry - Johnny Ruiz & The Escapers

It is safe to say that there isn't anything that Pinrose Records puts out that I will not like. Every single artist they carry is just one of those old souls of soul. And Johnny Ruiz & The Escapers has that onirical sound that The Flamingos used to have back in the day. This song is another soft tune. It's like a tear falling slowly from a cheek and glistening in moonlight. It is a joy to hear and to feel deep inside. How can something so sad be so dumbstruckingly beautiful. 

This one grabs hold of the lungs right from the start and it's almost a breathless 2 minutes and 19 seconds. With the airy vocals and backing voices, and the instruments just playing their piece at the service of the sorrys and the forgiveness implored by our band. Simply delicious. 

Give the whole list a go because all of the songs share some of the elements of The Magnificent Seven and honestly, they are all good enough to make you cry and be happy you're alive. 

What do you mean it's not the original?

Cover versions. Love 'em or hate 'em but they've been a part of music since it very beginning. 

 I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I get annoyed every time I find out that a song I've loved forever is a cover version because then I go to the original and it doesn't sound right. Songs like Tainted Love by Soft Cell have been played so much more than the original (Gloria Jones' version) that in my head they no longer constitute a cover version. They become their own song in their own right (which is unfair to the original). 

On the other hand, cover versions of iconic songs can go two ways. Either they're a great rendition and the artist knows how to add their personal touch to make it differ from the OG or it's absolutely devoid of feeling and it just feels like the white brand version of the song. 

Then there are the GREAT cover versions. Those are the ones where artists take songs that are the opposite of the genre that they move in and bring them to their home turf to make the perfect symbiote. For example, Lost in Music which is a disco song by Sister Sledge was covered by The Fall who made an ace job of it because the original is so popular you can recognise it right away but it still sounds like a Fall song. If you didn't know of the existence of Sister Sledge you would never say that it's meant to be a disco tune. The same goes for The Slits and their reggae-punk version of Heard It Through The Grapevine or Walk On Guilded Splinters by Paul Weller (originally by Dr. John Creaux). Although, a lot of it has to do with the fact that the original is such a good song that it would work in whatever genre you want to put it in. So kudos to the OGs. 

I've been making a compilation of excellent covers of songs. It's a work in progress and I'm missing all the biggies still (yes, Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana will be added eventually). Let's take a look at a couple of these. 

I want to point out Jackie Wilson's version of Light My Fire. It came out in 1968, a year after its original release by The Doors. And to me, it's odd to find a soul artist cover music from someone else. Soul artists do a million different versions of soul songs (see My Girl for reference, originally by The Temptations), but I have rarely seen them cover other genres and certainly not psychedelic rock. The great thing is that Jackie Wilson doesn't stray from his line of music at all so Light My Fire sounds like a great Motown song. There's no organ, and obviously, the dreamy reverbed Jim Morrison which gives it so much personality is nowhere to be heard. Instead, we have some great percussion work and some horn charts. And forget about being taken into a dreamlike trance with Morrison,  Jackie Wilson's voice is here to directly seduce you. 

It's one of those times that I wish my ears were virgin ears and I was listening to both versions for the first time just to see in which genre it fits best. 

Have a go at both and get back to me.

Okay, let's go now to the most annoying and at the same time one of the most beautiful songs ever written (in any of its forms). Forever, I thought that It's All Over Now, Baby Blue was a song by Them. And I remember thinking, wow I knew Van Morrison was good but this is something else. it was only last year that I found out by chance that it's in fact a Bob Dylan song (1966) and it was covered by Them, The Animals and probably a bunch of other people. Even Echo & The Bunnymen did a version (not their best work). 

Of course, to me, the version by Them is the best, even better than the original if I'm being honest. Van Morrison's bluesy voice, paired with the sweet guitar just works a treat to my ears. I've heard the Bob Dylan version and why is it, that if he's the one who wrote the thing, does it feel to me that there's not so much heart poured into it? I feel terrible saying anything remotely bad about Bob Dylan since he's pretty much the father of music but still, it's true. 

The only other version of the song that can compete is the recently released version by ANOHNI, who if you didn't know is the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons only she went solo a few years back. This version just sounds like a different song altogether. The effects on her anguished voice and that damn guitar sends chills up and down my spine for four minutes straight. Direct line to the waterworks. 

Give the three versions a go and tell me I'm wrong. 

  

And now for a very odd finish. I don't know why, don't ask me but I have a very soft spot for Julio Iglesias. I DON'T KNOW WHY. I just do. Actually, I have a guilty soft spot for his son too but never mind that, it's completely generational. With Iglesias (father) there's something about being transported back in time immediately as soon as I hear his voice. He sings like it's an eternal summer in the 1970s. He's like the Spanish Tom Jones and I'm here for it. Julio Iglesias did a cover version of Solamente Una Vez which is originally by the genius Mexican musician Agustín Lara (1953). And as much as I love Agustín Lara's version (which also sends me back almost a century), with Julio Iglesias the lyrics feel true-er and I would happily give myself to the song and sway along with whatever he told me. To me it feels more paced, like the song is taking its time to get its point across. Like savouring a meal almost. I don't think I can explain it any better than that. 

I bloody love this cover.  

I could go on forever but I won't. Just give the list a follow and make your own opinions. 

Her Dark Materials: Sequins

The end is nigh. But what an end. 

That's what apocalypse preachers never tell you. Yeah, we're all going to go down in a blaze of fire and pain but nobody tells you what the soundtrack to the end of the world is going to be. 

If this is it, it might just be worth it. 

The final installment of the materials set is here. Our last material is sequins. Usually only allowed on New Year's Eve and representing celebration in its highest form. They are flashy, dramatic and ideal to dance in moving around strobe lights. 

What better music for it to represent than groovy disco house? There is no better music. Hands down the best subgenre of electronic music. It never fails to make you feel happy, it never fails to make you want to dance and it never fails to make you dive deep into the world of sampled 70's disco. 

One final time, let's do this. No shuffling, for the life of me, and no skipping tunes, for the life of you. 

Track one. We're due a warm-up first, so Give Me Your Love by Outunder is precisely that. It's slow and sultry and it's meant to get you in the mood. There's something in this song that I love about this genre and it's that it has a stop at the middle and it includes spoken vocals taken out of films, songs, poems or in this case, stand-up comedy. The djs usually manage to blend in this element perfectly with the organic beat that's the spine of the song. In this case, it's also combined with a series of moans that significantly makes it all hotter. The song never really picks up the pace but that's not what we want yet anyway. Open your ears, and gather your bearings, we're going on a sexy apocalyptic ride. 

Whistleblower by Rhode & Brown (the Hodini rework) picks up the pace a little. You can't sit still with this one. It keeps adding layers to the song with an actual whistle being one of them. The clear jazzy piano sequence works very well with the deep reverbed bassline and that's what holds the whole track together. There are no significant vocals in this one which is a fresh change since the rest of the list will rely heavily on them. Pantoufle by Georges follows in the same line as the previous track only it has a fantastic guitar riff holding the rest of the song up. 

For Electric Drama by Lovers, the sampled original music takes center stage and has a lot of weight in the track. There is a piece made up of sampled string instruments and some horn charts that fully open up the world of disco. The tune starts off quite slow so you might feel a slight comedown from Pantoufle but it has a fantastic build-up and reaches a good peak around minute 5. 

The Groovy Thing by Jamie Trench is a rough and funky rise in energy for the list and For You, I'm Sure by Tuesday Brunch has the same effect only with lighter punch to it. These two tracks are the signal that we're on a steady climb to reach our first point of climax.

I caught my hips doing a little dance while I was sat at my desk while listening to All Night by Art of Tones, so that must mean we're close. Similar to climbing Mount Everest and for a second the clouds disappear and you can see its peak. The looped bassline reminds me vaguely of Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust and overall it has a very Daft Punk feel to it. This means nothing other than those two artists had heavy disco influences when making their music. 

Ten points to whoever can tell me what song is sampled in Partylife by Stefano Ritteri. I've heard it before. Trillions of times. And I have the original stashed somewhere in my Spotify but I can't friggin put my finger on the title or artist of it. Anyway. The track keeps the steady groove going as it greets you with "welcome to the 70s". There is an abrupt stop around minute 4 that genuinely had me thinking something had happened to the computer, but it breaks magnificently seconds later. I think at that point I said out loud "youuu dog, you" while I shook my index finger at the screen.  

Our first almighty high comes at Peter Brown's Troubles (the Richard Earnshaw Remix). It has it all, a quick bit, groovy basslines, a looped piano sequence and screaming soulful vocals.  Completely feelgood with its intervals in energy so within the song we find pauses and splurges of vigour. 

Watashi No Sukinahito by Boku Wa takes us to the Japanese disco scene and keeps the tempo going. There is a full dancefloor and neon lights of pink and blue bouncing off every single sequin. 

Call it House by Never Dull is the start of a slight comedown. Nevertheless, it's potentially my favourite song on the list. That guitar riff with the broken backing vocals work too well in my ears. An ode to house music and an ode to funk. Despite the track not being as lively as the previous ones, it will still have you moving around in your chair unconsciously. It will do so in a slightly sexier and cooler way.

The next subsection is still house music obviously but it gradually gives the electronic less of an importance and it starts to sound a lot more like standard disco or funk music. More powerful vocals, more strings working together and those keyboards that are always at the foundation of the tracks. This mood is encapsulated perfectly by Voodoo? by L'Imperatrice (the Lazywax remix).

I flipped this around with Humans by Night Tapes (the Franc Moody remix), electronic sounds come back into the scene big time and the bassline has an artificial feel to it. The original song is so sweet, ethereal and soft that the remix sounds like a completely different track. It has no resemblance at all. They're both equally enjoyable. 

And since it's the end of the end, I decided to go out with a massive bang. I had trouble deciding what to finish off with so like in The Lord of the Rings, I decided to have multiple endings. The end of the end starts at My Body Moves by Robbie Rivera and Elizabeth Gandolfo (the Soul Speech remix). We have the vocals and that looped piano driving everyone nuts in a good way. It has a little more electronic beats than what I'm used to enjoying in this type of house music but it works very well regardless. 

Experience by Sum Bloke is the heart of the subgenre. It has it all, There's a sax solo that's lost somewhere in the middle just before it drops and the first time I heard it, I literally spiraled out of control. I think I said, "Well now you're just showing off". Ex.Quisite. 

Shift by Phil Fuldner doesn't even let you rest. Even for a second. The curious thing about this one is that it has all the similar elements as the rest of the tunes on the list but the vocals are clearly taken out of somewhere within the reggae scene. So it has a little bit of an edge in that sense but still respects the mood of the selection. 

End your lists properly because it will be the last thing everyone will listen and it's how it makes them feel is that they'll remember. I said I wanted to go out with a bang. And I did. But There Must Be Something by Freiboitar doesn't start off that way. It has a little jazz workings that it builds up on. A sweet high-key piano that coexists with an almost bothersome noise. All of this with the sampled soulful vocals of Friday Saturday & Sunday-There Must Be Something. It's not the bang I thought I wanted but it's definitely the one I needed.

All good things come to an end and that is a good thing in itself.

I will not be posting soon. (that way if I do it's just a pleasant surprise for myself)

Her Dark Materials: Cotton

My job is to be as confusing as possible. Either one post in three months or two in a space of two days. It's the brilliant curse of intermittent inspiration.

Nah, that's not entirely true, it's simply that writing on here feels easier, like an unfiltered stream of my internal monologue is trickling out of my fingertips and also, it serves as a break from heavier stuff. I've been lucky to be inspired throughout the autumn, only in a very different way. 

The materials set is almost finished and I've saved my favourite subgenres for last. We still have two to go so chop chop. Let's intro the shit out of this list so you can press play. 

Cotton. Who doesn't like cotton? It's soft and breathable, it's comfy, warm and feels like you're being hugged by a cloud. 

Therefore, I think it doesn't need to be up for discussion when I relate cotton to deep house. In my mind, it's directly related to falling asleep and going into a profound dream. The sounds almost always sound distant and stuffy, like listening to reality through the wall of the unconscious. 

I won't hold you back any longer. Get into bed, cover yourself up with a blanket, make sure the shuffle button is the f- off and close your eyes. 

You're in bed, the lights are out yet you're still awake. Passing cars in the street project a show of shadows on your bedroom wall. That's I Like You A Lot by SI-FI. The beat and the keyboard melody are still quite crisp and sound very close to our ears. Also the distinct and quickly delivered lyrics  (which are taken straight out of Dumb and Dumber by the way) are proof that sleep isn't close yet. When we get to Cody Is A Tank by DATSKO and Itani we have a similar feeling to it but the voice already sounds a little distant and the keyboard is more distorted, almost sounding as if it's being played inside your eardrum. 

Eyelids start to droop in Whatever Happens, Happens by Loverground and Henrik Villard. A soft and mellow veil of sound covers your body and completely envelops it. You are surrendered to the power of the dj of drowsyness. 

With montage l.a. by sunflwr we have fully fallen headfirst into the dream. And it's a pleasant dream, it's a peaceful sleep. For the following section, the voices are now female and have a sweeter note to them. The enveloping veil is still there and will be throughout the rest of the list. It's kind of like being a caterpillar in a pod just waiting to complete transformation. That particular subsection finishes at U Gotta Show Me Luv by Júlio Cruz and Cage.

Have you ever had a nostalgic dream? Not a dream that made you nostalgic when you woke up from it, but a dream where you felt nostalgic as you were living it. That's the mood of what's up next, and because I'm a sad little girl, it's my favourite part. The next tr-

oh no. 

oh god no. 

I accidentally added two songs by DATSKO. Okay, nevermind. Never mind. Never sodding mind. We'll just pretend it's a deja vu. *spends the rest of the day in a huff*

ALL BY YOURSELF is not as cheery as the ones before and it serves as a transition into a different vibe. That feeling is complete when we get to Healing Process by Tom Vernon. You're floating in a little cotton cloud of sadness and melancholy but still at peace. It's where you want to be, and if you have doubts, they're blown away as the sample of Hotline Bling by Drake enters. 

The same thing happens with Hear Me by Ludua, it uses the sample of Modjo's Lady (Hear Me Tonight) to remind us of happier times. Now we're remembering them from the world of dreams and although it's not a sad song there's a pang of distance that makes it nostalgic.

Peak sadness and peak depth reach us with NYE 2005 by Model Man it gives so much importance to the keyboard that the beats are slowly introduced almost at minute one. Nevertheless, it's a low that the list needed. Different from other materials where there is a peak of noise, sexyness, or pump, in this case, the peak we wanted to reach has the opposite effect. It's almost a pause in the sequence of songs. 

We slowly make a comeback from that part of the dream but we're not out of the nostalgic woods just yet. Miroki by DJibouti and DJacuzzi is definitely a harsher sound with those acid loops in the middle but the keyboard grounds us to the essence of the playlist. 

ONCE AGAIN by Catlow brings back the female vocals and the light feel to the songs. We're still very deep in the dream but it is pleasant once again (no pun intended).

And for the end, we need something that wakes us up. Again the sounds are crisper and clearer once we reach AMLV by cuanzi. We pick up the pace of the bpms and our heart begins to understand we're on the verge of ending our slumber. Nevertheless, the lyrics are still a little distant, so we're not in the waking world just yet. 

SETTIMA NOTTE is our alarm clock. We're still confused and dazed from waking up, but we're here. It's to remind us of how deep we went and where we are now. Ironically the least cotton song on the list yet it might be my favourite. 

Despite that little mishap in the middle where I went against the most important rule of the art of making playlists, overall, cotton is fantastic and easy to get through during any moment of the day.

Cocking it up since 1995, Kk out. 

Ps: Please wait for the next and final installment of the materials set. Not to hype it up, but it will 100% be the best one. 

Her Dark Materials: Linen

Today has been the first time in a long time that I've managed to find sufficient inspiration, strength and time to continue my little endeavor into the world of incredibly specific mood playlists.

The setlist compiling electronic music associated with textiles is still very much alive and I'm here to unpack its latest installment. Linen. 

Linen is a material usually worn in the summer in hot countries. I have therefore associated it with a subgenre of electronic music that relies heavily on African drum sounds, latin lyrics and rich high-hats. 

Here it is, in order. 

If you've followed the three materials before this one, you might know by now that I like to tell little stories with my playlists and that they're divided into smaller sections. 

Linen begins with our arrival in this hot country. It starts off calm and we can hear crickets, so we've arrived at night and we can barely see the ground in front of our feet. Akabongi by Daniel Haaksman, Spoek Mathambo, Los Bulldozer and Kapote (who provides the remix), wouldn't have made it on the list but for the guitars that kick off around the second minute. I thought it was quite a cheerful sound that fit perfectly with the start, to help everyone understand what's coming.

Pray by Trashlagoon on the other hand isn't as cheery but it does feel like a warm breeze on your face and it would be a song that I could picture myself listening to at sunrise. It only has a hint of the drums I was referring to at the beginning so it feels quieter, like the day is just starting. 

Caparica by Populous signals that the sun is getting warmer. People are on the streets, there is hustle and bustle, there is chaos and strange smells surround you. You start to truly connect to the drums and you can feel invisible threads pull at your chest and force you to dance to the beat. 

Things change when we get to Pa Lante by Tom & Collins, Mr. Pig, Minow and Gabsy. It has gotten a lot faster and the drums require quicker feet. We're at twilight and there is a lot of humidity, the linen starts to stick to your back as the dancing gets heated. It might be one of my favourites of the list simply because there is no way this song doesn't make you feel good. 

But my favourite is without a doubt Xtasis by Nick León and Dj Babatr. It feels like the dark side of the moon but it is in fact the heart and soul of the mood I'm trying to encapsulate with the list. There is still positive energy coming from it and there are fast drums even though the sounds are slightly less organic than before. It holds the exotic essence and it has a great kick-off around the middle that just sends you spiraling into some other dimension. Ten outta ten. 

The harshest song on the list is once again by CRRDR, it's Besinho and it's hard to keep up with it. The sounds are nowhere near organic anymore yet it still manages to hint at those drum arrangements we've been listening to so far. Also, the lyrics in Portuguese make us think it might just be some dodgy Brazilian number. I didn't want to get too far into this vibe so after CRRDR I softened the mood again. 

Even though we're keeping the list quite chilled out, it's still night in my mind and that's what Umma represents. The song by Matt Sawyer and Everything Counts is clearly a darker energy than the first songs and it serves as a good transition between CRRDR and the African-beat-infused house music that is up next. 

The purest house song on the list is Significant Others by Chaos In The CBD. It is lounge house as I like to dub it but it has the same drum sequence as the rest of the list entwined with the rest of the elements of the song. It is the heart of track and yet it remains classy and expensive. It also has this Peruvian pan flute segment that brings it all together and highlights the warmth of the song. Riu - N'Dini mix by Millok and Kingja is exactly like the previous song only with a little bit more spice to it. It's faster, groovier and is asking you once again to sway to the beat. The horn charts in the middle are excellent and it's what earned it its spot on the list. It has peak moment of the night energy. 

Another one of my favourites is Ritmo del Amor by Hamza Rahimutula. The DJ manages to balance perfectly the moment in which he drops so he spends the first two and a half minutes teasing the listener. The drop isn't even that spectacular but it's enough to want to keep listening. The moment when it all comes together is as the lyrics are added in and he starts to prepare the next one. 

And to finish off, we have a high-energy track, Hear My Soul by GW Harrison. We're still respecting the drum sequence that has been with us since the beginning but this one also has a soulful voice guiding us along the latin rhythms. An excellent communion of elements and a final tune to leave you wanting more which is the general feeling when your summer holidays are coming to a close. 

Linen was hard to make but extremely enjoyable to listen back to back. Hopefully, the listeners will agree. 

Anyways. 

More materials will be up shortly. 

Her Dark Materials: Silk

I'm on fire. Three posts in less than a week? The Singapore bots must be enjoying all the raves.

So, here's the next installment of the Her Dark Materials set. Silk. A bitch of a fabric and a bitch of a list. It took me forever to try to pinpoint the mood and different tramlines that made sense between themselves and with the whole.

I'm not really pleased with the overall result. It's the horse meme where it starts off really detailed and ends up being dogshite. 

Silk is a fancy material and as such it's a fancy event. I don't know how to explain it, but it needs to sound clean, regardless of whether it's loud or fast or whatever, it has to sound like diamonds clinking together. It's an exclusive party in a London penthouse. Not with those shoes love. 

Here it is. No shuffling or so help me, yadda yadda yadda. 

So. As I said, I enjoyed making the start and had a very clear trajectory for it. I don't know when it started to derail but let's just go through it together and see, shall we? 

We hit it off in the limo, we haven't even got there yet. DWIG's One for Good to me sounds like a slow moving car. I can see the silver wheels turning smoothly and the flashing streetlights as it passes. You're feeling done up and you still smell of the artificial scent you sprayed on your chest. Nice little exuberant Uber ride. 

This compilation has a very slow burn and you don't actually reach the party until you get to Mixed Emotions by Chase & Status and Clementine Douglas.  I said it was a party in London so we need the signature drum and bass sound. Who better for that than the iconic duo who have been dropping the same friggin' beat since 2003 (not a compliment). I normally don't listen to stuff like this, but I admit that I loved the No More Idols (2011) album. If I have to pick an artist that sounds similar but better, I'm more of a Magnetic Man girl myself (even though they only released the self-titled Magnetic Man album in 2010 and then disappeared forever). 

But enough d&b, it gets so boring after a few minutes. This Feeling by Eden Prince and Alex Mills also sounds like you're in a car, so chronologically in my little made up party, it doesn't fit. Anyway, you're a manga styled cartoon and you're cruising down a neon highway. That's what this sounds like. By now the tempo has picked up (drum & bass doesn't count) and you can actually dance a little to the music. Woodpecker by Castelle is slightly sexy but still chaste enough to be clean and sparkling. He just wants a peck on the cheek. For some reason I see twinkling lights, girating platforms, lipgloss and platinum highlights for this section. 

Is it actually a fancy party if you don't have a 2000's Destiny's Child song remixed? No. I listened to My Breath by Adam K and my bank account balance magically grew a couple of zeros on the right. The sound of jewels, the peak of your evening where everything is aligned for a few minutes. 

There's a small little two-song tramline after that moment of perfection where I wanted to bring down the energy and give my fictional party atendees a moment to sit down, catch some air, or catch some smoke from one of those long cigarrettes as they're covered in their fake-feather coats in the terrace overlooking the city. 

That balance is broken with Lithium by Odd Mob, it couldn't be more 2010s UK only it's not even as old as it sounds (2017). But I'm all down for this type of sound, it reminds me way to much of teenage years not to feel nostalgic. In a way, it gives me the sensation of sounding childish, superficial and mainstream, but still sleek and lush. It's very odd (no joke intended). It wouldn't be my first pick at a party yet it's one of my favourite tracks on the list. 

It's not my favourite though, that comes two tracks later with Dancefloor by Puppy Mountain. I can't really say why because it has the exact same energy as the rest of the tramline, I guess that in a way it sounds a little more like hope? Yeah, that's a question since I'm not entirely sure if that's true. It also feels so simple but I stopped to listen to it in detail and I realised it has a lot more layers than what I initially perceived. That's always a treat, to try to peel them off one by one and then being able to hear them all at the same time but separately. 

You might think the next track is better, especially if you consider what comes after it. I did not have a clue what to do with the ending of this list. No jockey at the disc on this one. Those last two track make no sense. They still sound UK but they don't really fit the rest of the mood if I think about it and they're too upbeat for it to be the end. I've dubbed it my own coïtus interruptus.

The most annoying thing is that on its own, Knees Up by Obskür, is an insane track. It's objectively the best track out of the whole goddamn list, I just didn't know what to do with so much power in my weak little hands. 

Blast it.

More materials soon in blogs near you. 

Her Dark Materials: Spandex

As Olivia Newton John said back in 1981, let's get physical. And that is what we're going to do today in her dark materials the spandex edition. 

We all know that the material is used for working out, it's a heartrate of over 150 and jumping on the pads of your feet indefinitely. 

Rest is for the weak and shuffling songs is for the foolish. 

Like walking into a spinning class for the first time, there is a certain element of fear that goes into making/listening to this playlist. There will be no mercy or silence for the next hour and a half and you will struggle to keep up. This is because spandex represents the electronic music that reverberates in your chest and that gets confused with a splitting headache (in the most positive way possible). 

It is for this reason that I wanted to start with something familiar. For my sake, not for anybody else's, I'm the one that was feeling queasy about hitting it off loudly. You know what it is! by Jerb has this great sample of Wiz Khalifa's Black and Yellow. It's meant to make listeners think that although it is unknown territory, there is communion between this and the most mainstream music ever created. The song doesn't even start off that hard, it has this excellent build-up that acts as a warm-up for the next one. 

The first subset inside the set is made up of music I've been discovering recently, that is the electronic music which uses vocals from rap songs over the melody and works a treat. At times, I'll find full verses in the song so I've decided to dub it rap techno. Another subgenre of the Leviathan that is techno music. 

As I was making the list I realised how much easier it is to connect with some of these songs when they have at least some lyrics in them. Maybe it's the fact that it's such a machine-made sound that hearing something familiar and organic as a voice can bring it closer to us. This is not to say that I don't enjoy purely "instrumental" (that's so not the word) electronic music. 

Keep On by X CLUB. is particularly enjoyable for me because we're still in the part of the playlist where the aggressiveness is being turned up gradually and everything is still feelgood. In the middle it has these wave-like loops that are so fluid you can't help your shoulders moving along with them. If it's making me want to dance, it's a keeper. 

The feelgood vibes end immediately after that song and we enter the oh my word where the hell are we? part of the playlist. Samba Soccer 2001 by KETTAMA wouldn't have made the cut were it not for the fact that it samples a very popular yet very Spanish song. If you don't know it, it's fine, go on YouTube this instant and type in El Baile del Gorila - Melody. You're welcome. KETTAMA had the INDECENCY of using the English version. My brother, if you're going to sample such a track, use the original. By all counts, the combination of such an ugly loud sound should not work with Melody's artificially high-pitched pre-teen voice, but it does. So I added it. 

Once we reach TEKKNO we all know something is wrong. meet her at the love parade tekkno sounds so corrupt it should be illegal. Corrupt, in decomposition, just bloody wrong. Yet, it's screaming spandex at me and is at the heart of the list. The dj usually takes mainstream songs and just turns them poisonous with his terrifying techno, I was particularly obsessed with the version he made of A$AP Rocky's Praise The Lord. Have you ever jumped for 4:35 minutes non-stop? No? Give that a go then.  

What comes after that are a sequence of nightmarish hellsounds that reach their end in Rave Energy by Jhorman Peña, Niotech. I tried to keep it dark but bouncy although some parts are so dark that it gets a little daunting to keep bouncing. For example, MASSAGING ME by TRAYVP would've been put at the start of the list because it's perfect for describing this rap techno subgenre I was on about before but it's to fast paced and primitively loud that I couldn't fit it. It takes Massaging Me by Future, and in my humblest of opinions, makes it so much better. This is what the original should have been from the outset.

It doesn't get considerably lighter after that though, we're still not out of the woods. Nevertheless it's definitely a bit of a comedown. Songs get a tad more melodic and with SLIGHTLY less aggressive bpms. I wanted to finish on a more ethereal note (as ethereal as spandex can get) and added songs that had a bit of reverb and female vocals to them. Want U So Badly by KLOE just made the cut because at times I think it's too sweet for spandex, despite sampling vocals from the Black Eyed Peas. It's possibly my favourite out of the playlist which goes to show I haven't got a dark bone in my body and it's all persona. That harp in the middle of the track is the kind of quiet endorphin rush you feel when you're done working out.

More materials up soon. Rest yer ears. 

Her Dark Materials: Leather

Now that I'm done writing annoying Instagram posts* full of cheap philosphy and childish observations to hide the fact that they're just mediocre photographs I can get back to what really matters, writing annoying blog posts full of cheap analysis and childish observations. 

I've recently started a new playlist set and decided to do a little recap once I'm done with them. The folder is called MATERIALS and each list will have its own fabric assigned (a little wordplay with a massive techno club in Madrid - Fabrik). Each material will represent a certain type of electronic music. Kind of like word association but with clothes and beats. If you don't agree with what the material sounds like, tough, that's literally what it sounds like and I won't consider changing my mind. 

So, here is the first one. Leather. 

This goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway: No shuffling or skipping, there's a reason why they're lined up in the way they are.

 

Leather is a hot fabric, in every sense. You're going to be sweating your arse off the second you move in it and that is what this music feels like to me. Leather can also be quite stinky. This in my head translates into music that sounds a little dirty. 

Therefore, with this in mind I decided to kick it off slow and what I wanted listeners to feel was: Where are we going? Just so I can grab them by the ear and run towards the fantastic subgenre that mixes reggaeton music and repetitive harsh electronic beat. This is the new spawn of techno**. The ultimate club genre.

The CHIBI remix is the start of that little tramline. Esty can make the sweetest sounds that remind me a little to Billie Eilish only with more sass. She is the real latin urban ROSALÍA (I love her but she's from Barcelona, I don't care how much time she spends in Miami). Esty has that same softness to her voice but can kick you in the gut with a plotwist mid song that will floor you. I particularly like i 4got ur birthday. For the remix what they did was double that sass expresso. 

I tried to build on that same mood and reached a peak with Traaa by CRRDR. I listened to most of the stuff by the artist and it really is the heart of this subgenre. I decided to give it my all and turn up the heat with this slayer. It's fast, sexy and if you have the skill, twerkeable. I'm gonna ask for it the next time I go out and if I don't get my way I'll boicot the DJs night. 

Moving on from reggaeton but still keeping it a little nasty I added y u look so hawt by Bad Boombox and MC Young Lil. Self explanatory. Hawwwt. But I'll explain. It's quick, it's fun and the lyrics are always trying to seduce you with large pupils that gawk at you over a pair of grey 2002 plastic sunglasses. There is a call for sleeveless black t-shirts, long white socks and visible G-strings. Similar artists are MCR-T and Brutalismus 3000. 

One of my favourite tracks of the list is actually a little breather. Love's No Crime by Tino Troster is frankly excellent. Perfect for toning it down but still upbeat enough to make you stomp on that beat while the vocals tickle your neck. It could seem quite linear but it really is a joy to get through. 

After a few excellent tracks that serve also as a transition to a harsher electronic sound we arrive to a well known name in this subgenre of nasty techno. Partiboi69 as a must for this list and HOE has the perfet energy that fits in another little climb in speed and volume. The DJ is probably one of the first that I got to know that sounded dirty. It is less seductive than prior tracks but has a  badder energy. I feel in general, lyrics go very well with this kind of vibe and not many songs without them would fit the list. The vocals on this are the prefect contrast between a deep voice and a statement normally reserved for women. That beautiful duality you find in this nasty genre. Where genders mix and sexuality oozes in the music but it's all surrounded by a harsh beat that doesn't offer a single lull. 

The peak in volume and speed comes after that with Give Me Base by Noimage. I wasn't ready for these bpms and suddenly my little electronic session turned into a criminal aerobics class. But that's what it is. Nevertheless, for some reason it still feels dirty in the fun sense of the word. It's totally "leathery" and skintight. It's a good 5 minutes of skintight heat. But easy, you can calm down after this and breathe. 

Post almost throwing up a lung comes a few acid sounds here and there (still respecting the mood though). I love that sound beyond what I am capable of explaining. I cannot distinguish good from bad when it comes to those acid loops. Is it good or is it just really addictive? I am not going to lie I really needed to feel comfort after Noimage so I went to familiar sounds and slower bpms. The worst is behind us, sadly. 

I finish off with DJ in Berlin by 3LNA and P.vanillaboy which is still sexy but at the same time adorable in some form. It's what you want from goodbyes, to leave you with a good taste in your mouth and the affirmation that you had a good time. It's also meant to leave you wondering how the hell you clean sweaty leather. 

More materials up shortly. 

*I said I was done writing them, not posting them. Sorry. There's like six more to go.

**Techno is like the Greek god Zeus. Gazillion babies everywhere.