Monthly Check-In - June 2026

      Month of sloth will end with a fittingly lazy entry, as I don't have much to speak of (with levity) and I'm telling myself I can't postpone a monthly post to the 2nd day of the following month or else that'd just lead me to eventual inaction. Me and Chroma finished that rough draft of the next Entertainers album on the 15th and so just have to rerecord (a bit), mix, and master. With regards to solo music, that song Deadbeat (which was featured in the 'May songs' vid from last month) I'm working on a mix for rn and have this beautiful section from Pancakes which is now the best part of the whole thing :D (I love my friends!!!)

    I errr, did finish my And Then They Played Dilla entry on my CH list, given we're already halfway through the year I need to average 1 write-up a month to finish out the Hamiltonization process this year (a goal I set back in January). Speaking of Charles, I was going on Genius this month and transcribing/annotating, it's so damn time consuming I swear to god.. Was so surprised how many songs just didn't have lyrics (Humble Beginnings, Sunstorm, Parent-Teacher Night, Media Take Out), I mean, Steve Smith and The Blazer didn't even have an album page 😭.

    The last few days I've been making my way through Actual Air by David Berman (long time coming) which was actually shouted out by Charles Bissell in this one Pitchfork article. I don't know if it's just me being rusty but every third poem I got to reread and reread to make sense of (<- dense), there's also this like, grouping of poems split into 2 parts where each part is headered like one single poem. The thing is hard to make sense of at the moment (I've only read through part 2 (comes before part 1)), especially since each poem within is subheadered by roman numerals which jump around all over 😖. There have been some stellar poems and lines thus far, my favorite snippets go as follows:

- Not a still life but a slow life then

- North goes down on East and the branches out the window shift like scars on a toymaker’s hand.

    Just earlier I read through some Proust (Swann's Way) and actually found it deeply engrossing. I've really labored to get through what came to me as an immensely dry tale up to this point, can't tell if this is a newfound love for the style or simply a stellar passage. I'll certainly be holding out to see... (The part I'm referring to was pages 98-105, where the love of Bergotte is spoken of at length).

    I'm cutting it real close now (11:55PM), so I guess it's time to sign off. Here's to July, here's to finishing at least two books in a month, here's to releasing The Shape Of Ragtime To Come, here's to Charles Hamilton and Charles Bissell!

had practically no pics from June so this'll do

Song Review - Futura Free

    I never read this anywhere, but for a long time I believed the first half of this was taken from an old Frank demo. This type of pitch-shifting appears all across Blonde (most notably in Nikes), but when matched with an off-the-cuff performance and drums that seem to only come through when the vocals are present, it has all the hallmarks of something that was vocally isolated after the fact and placed onto a different beat. This is not the case (that it was an old song at least), however it hits on a theme that's the very backbone of Blonde, this nostalgia. Frank loves looking back (see: his entire discography), and upon returning to his normal voice (like the switch made in the aforementioned Nikes) he begins to rap of his life, of jobs he used to work, of Tyler crashing at his place, and finally, of the present. Speaking directly to the listener, Frank channels Kanye's Last Call with the lines, "This the last song... you can change this track now", it's a nod to the audience, a self-aware rolling of the credits ("Clark know and Matt know").

    To cap off what'll certainly go down as his defining work, Frank lends the mic to others and lets them speak candid, unaware of their placement on such a record. The beauty of capturing people in their day to day, being interviewed by a kid who's about as old at the time of recording as Blonde is to us now. Running Around by Buddy Ross sets the scene wonderfully, we'll never be those kids again. The song collapses time to me...

Originally Published: Jan. 4, 2026

Song Review - Duk Koo Kim

    I don't watch many sports in my free time, but there's some part of me that always itches for one-on-one combat, specifically boxing and MMA. There's next to no barrier to entry for understanding rules and I find stories infinitely more compelling when they culminate in a battle between two individuals rather than teams with a rotating cast of players. Every slight prior to the bout, every misstep and subsequent capitalization on that blunder in the ring, all the pressure is placed squarely on the shoulders of two and we need only wait until one buckles under the weight of it all. In this loss however, there is a celebration, one is victorious where another fails... That is how it usually plays out at least, isn't it? 

    In the match between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim there was no glory; all parties involved, from the men in question, their families, the referee even, every one of them had their lives upended. It was a tragedy, flat out. In recounting or rewatching the tape it feels inevitable, it's a part of history now, as certain as life, love, and death. This is the feeling Duk Koo Kim gives me, it's the insurmountable force of nature that claims us all in the end, the best you can do in this life is hold out until that day finally picks you.

Originally Published: Jan. 4, 2026

Monthly Check-In - May 2026

      Semester over!! I haven't looked into colleges to transfer but I'm thinking Chapel Hill could be good. Haven't read much this month but I've been making a lot of music, here's some of those songs (I'm still working on the two guitar ones at the start ☺). The next Entertainers is taking priority and we want to get a rough version completed this next week, then hammer out the last 2 or so songs and work on mixing/mastering. I've been learning Lua (Bright Eyes) and Zombie Girl (Adrianne Lenker) on guitar which are both just beautiful. I'm definitely going to be listening to some solo Adrianne, Big Thief never really grabbed me but that song man...

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot I also put out these two videos earlier this month. There's one longer one I gotta get to editing on DaVinci, but that's sorta on the backburner for now. On the more visual side I also did cover art for a dear friend's EP, check it out!! Up there w/ my favorite releases this year 😊

     With regards to music listening I've fallen back into my Charles Hamilton listening and am currently working on my write-up for And Then They Played Dilla. Also went through some Bright Eyes (got a newfound love for Wide Awake) and later Modest Mouse (in preparation for their new album which I'm quite hype for). Speaking of hype, that new Quadeca 👀.. I have this soft rule of not listening to advance singles, but the fanfare surrounding Dark Magic is making it difficult. I'm always gonna be there for new full length Quad though, love that dude.

    And so it winds down.. here's to June, Summer is in full swing, here's to hot weather and cold water, to Modest Mouse, to writing and recording, to my friends, to me, to The Entertainers!! Here's to creating, to putting yourself out there, to movement. 

Monthly Check-In - Apr. 2026

     The month's already come to an end.. 😖 Finals are spread amongst the next 2 weeks for me along with some tests, and errrr, there's also 2 classes I'm hopelessly behind on homework in. I'll get through one of 'em this weekend at the least. Once that's all over though it's on to transferring schools and keeping my head on straight, getting things done on my Summer break.

    One of those things will be the Entertainers album, which has admittedly slowed to a crawl this past month :P. Another thing is this solo release, unsure what form it'll take on, EP? Album? we'll see I suppose. There's this new song I put together recently (link), don't know if that'll go anywhere, I need to experiment with more sounds though, put that on the docket...

    Oh yea! I got back into reading this month that's probably the biggest thing, I'll go from worst to best here: 

Night Falls Fast was a dull read all 'round that left quite a bad taste in my mouth nearing the end, seeing how much was spoken as matter of fact despite the confounding and difficult to navigate reality of things. The author doesn't appear to see psychology as an incomplete science and takes so much of it at face value, you can tell she works in the field I guess. There's mention of how important a mix of talk/behavioral therapy is with drugs for a patients improvement, but the book only brings up drugs as the solution apart from this section?? I would've appreciated some mention of habits that are scientifically shown to work as some sort of treatment but instead it's the same old same old. When lithium is brought up there isn't a single negative word said against it, there's this stunning lack of nuance throughout the entire book really. The anecdotes of suicides here are never the standard, we're told exclusively of the famous and the extraordinary. It seems more alienating if anything, having so little of these peoples lives actually told in the book I could only imagine makes those who haven't been suicidal and are reading the book (with sub header "understanding suicide") believe that these people simply can't be understood, that they just ought to be doped up and sedated. On page 90 of this book there is this poem, said to be written by a 15 year old boy who went on to take his life 2 years after... In reality, this poem was written by Dr. Earl Reum and was notably retooled to fit in the book Perks of Being a Wallflower a year prior to this book's release. The citation for this made up story behind the poem comes from a Christmas Crackers book that itself has zero citation of where it got the poem (much less the notion that it was the work of a suicidal teen)! After digging into this particular thread w/r/t the book I came to the conclusion that I ought to cut my losses, that the entire sum total of knowledge I gained having read this could be summed up in a single paragraph which I'd need to take with perhaps more than a pinch of salt.

Everything Is Tuberculosis

Thoughts I jotted down on Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, shortly after finishing it (SPOILERS): it’s difficult to quite feel the weight of Heaven when it’s central characters pull me up and out of the environment and world. our narrator has an inner monologue so elementary in that first chapter that I almost dropped the book right there. upon further reading things got much better and, especially on that journey to the museum I could see the elegance in Mieko’s writing. coming to a close, however, those two speeches on the worldviews of Kojima and Minomia again rang out with a dull thud. though this time due to how eloquently they spoke rather than a lack of depth. I have no doubt you can come to ideas like Kojima’s, or get bits and pieces of Minomia’s ideology at 14, but to spill out these treatises off-hand is ludicrous. the conception of Heaven by these three characters was a wonder to see all come together though. Kojima has her own Heaven in the museum, in the titles and meaning she colors the world with, granting herself beauty and power in a world which sees her as anything but. Minomia calls the present a Heaven in that he continually takes what he wants with a disregard for most others, he finds contentment in this cruelty. while it’s never outright stated, I believe our narrator finds a heaven-like beauty in the world following his eye surgery, this newfound depth, the vibrance of leaves falling around will keep with him forever now... the painting of Heaven, this couple coming together and being one despite everything, is an ideal we fail to see in the lives of our characters. the narrator’s parents are getting divorced, Kojima’s parents split, and the main relationship of the book between our narrator and Kojima is cut off (“I never had a friend like her again”). it’s interesting how Kojima’s parents relationship ends similarly to Kojima and the narrator’s, with the shutting down and unresponsiveness. also important to note that Kojima only feels more powerful and confident (see: the bolder handwriting and smiling) as she becomes more frail and vulnerable.

Slaughterhouse Five - So it goes.

Tao Te Ching

    I'm tired now, I just spilled out a bunch of words on this book I didn't like, then didn't have the energy to write on the ones I actually enjoyed, sorry y'all 😓. Here's to May, here's to eating graham crackers and walking outside just after the rainclouds cleared up, here's to getting out of bed and getting back into it.

Monthly Check-In - Mar. 2026

    Falling further behind in classes at the moment, but Spring break is right around the corner! This month was defined mostly by this new Entertainers album that me and my friend Chromatrope have put together (like 80% of it + we'll do some touching up). It's such an incredible feeling to just have a shared goal with someone else, that closed loop of energy which gives back as much you put in. I know that if I can round it off nicely the album will be something I can always look back on and be amused by, which excites me. There was also this little EP thing we put out to hype the main album (along with a music video), though that project was largely odds and ends which came about from the last (failed) Entertainers concept.

    In terms of less silly musical ventures, within the last few days I put together a song (unlisted upload of it in the current state) which I see some promise in. There's some kinks to be worked out w/r/t how I sing different parts, the lyrics, and how it'll come together in a more produced recording (w/ backing vocals, other guitars, mixing, panning, etc.), but I think at a baseline there's some decent stuff there. Honestly I just got to knock it out instead of dwelling on things cause moving on means more songs, more experience w/ everything.

    Me and some friends put together a Stardew world this month also :D, albeit the thing lasted like 2 weeks, as you'd expect. I had a really fun time tapping back into that game, it's been so long since I touched it (though I did play that one copycat, Sun Haven). The fishing is as addicting as ever, also learned how much time/energy sprinklers save you which is kinda crazy (also the pan is awesome, I love the pan (also also love how you can wear it as a hat it's real cute)).

    Concerning music, I've been listening to a lot of Slayr and Underscores this past week (plus John Mayer, loveisheavenly, and Curdle Motif from earlier in the month). Toxic and The Fish Song are actually unreal though, I'll def end up learning that one on guitar. Speaking of, I finally tabbed out something on Ultimate Guitar Tabs!! It's Gillian Schnurr - Adult Song, so happy to finally share how to play that with people even if the audience is like, 2 digits. There's also a Curdle Motif tab, but that may end up collecting dust in the drafts cause the only recording of it obscures his guitar through much of it (I'm shite at learning by ear) and the strumming is very impromptu, just slowing things down it changes like 8 times in 2 minutes.

Anyways, I guess I'll see y'all in April! ^_^

Monthly Check-In - Feb. 2026

    Hey all! I've got a little creative streak going atm that I'm trying to stoke, may end up spreading myself thin but I believe it's for the best to strike while the iron's hot and so I'm trying to do that. My classes have somewhat taken the backseat, that's just how I am at the start of semesters though, gotta clutch it near the end all the time :P

    The past 2 weeks I've been working on one of the song ideas I had last July and wrote about the slow death of wasting time, of despair that manifests not in a dramatic act, but in the lack of any action. Tweaked and finalized the song structure last week (I'm like all the guitar parts I have for it) and also tried to put a vocal melody/lyrics to something for the first time (less enthused about those, but we live and learn). There's this little fingerpicking part I came up w/ not too long ago that I think will be my next song, the goal rn is to have an EP of a handful of original works and like, 1-2 covers.

    This week during classes I've kept myself occupied with some drawing during downtime, hoping to keep that as a constant, just a sketch a day as the benchmark for now. I've always loved drawing but found throughout my entire life that I gravitated towards purely following references (not tracing, but copying nonetheless), and so putting something new on the page is what I'm aiming for w/r/t that atm. Prob will practice furry characters tbh cause there's so much variety there and I'm on a huge CSH kick.

    I finished up one Entertainers track last night and exported the main section for another, so I'm hoping I can link w/ some of my friends and finish out most of the next album over spring break. Also been doing work uploading all these Charles Hamilton instrumentals to YouTube, almost got everything up that I wanted to, in March I def gotta finish my ATTPD write-up.

    This year I've had this overarching goal of delving back through bands I listened to once or twice in that 15-17 age range to give them a fair and honest shake. For Feb it was Stereolab (and some Modest Mouse), and well, I'm still so-so on a lot of earlier works from them. Cobra Phases and Sound-Dust (the last 2 I checked out) are what really piqued my interest, those ones are fantastic. I think what differentiates them so much from those early records is their exploratory and inventive nature. My main gripe with the Dots and Loops (and prior) material is that it ends up getting memory-holed for me because the songs feel submerged in these Stereolab-isms to a point where none gain a sense of identity enough to stick out amongst the sea of others. I'll prob round things out w/ Margerine Eclipse (though I can easily see my completionist tendencies taking over and having me finish the discog proper, we'll see).

Well, here's to March!

I'll put the drawings I talked about here cause it's got no traffic so I feel less embarrassed #NoMotion #GuppyLifeWillSetMeFree