Oklahoma City industrial metal band Chat Pile caught up with us in the back alley of Gabe’s in Iowa City ahead of their exuberantly chaotic, sludgy set upstairs. The four members talked about their life on the road as a touring band, described their love of horror films, and bashed some of the many unsavory aspects of capitalism. Along with this, they pushed back against the idea of nihilism. 

Surrounding his performance for the Englert’s new concert series Track Zero, alternative jazz musician Sen Morimoto phoned in from his studio in Chicago. From there he went over his personal origins, his vast array of musical influences, and the unfair practices of streaming services like Spotify. He also brought up his excitement about coming to Iowa City back on November 11^th. 

You can check out the channel here, where you can watch all our videos from there. Like and subscribe and all that other cliche self-promotion. Stay tuned for more content to come in the coming months. This marks just the beginning. 

The post KRUI Media Empire Expands by Introducing New Video Content appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The channel itself is a remnant from the older age of music discovery on the internet, where its mysterious side showed through, captivating those who stumbled upon the songs while exploring through the algorithm. I was a time when music discovery was a lot less centralized, and people scoured forums, discussion boards and YouTube recommendations for new music.

However, the channel’s following has more so come over the years with the increasing awareness of Eccojams’ impact amassing a lot of attention. The most popular video on the channel nobody here has over three million views. It features the track “B4” from Eccojams playing over a continuously shifting and ascending rainbow staircase among a dark, deserted city back drop. The video has become iconic among those in vaporwave circles. 

Lopatin has never returned to Eccojams. Although there is a volume one, there have never been any subsequent volumes. Many have hoped for a sequel to the album, but their wishes have never been met. When asked if there would ever be an Eccojams Vol. 2, Lopatin stated that he would likely never release them, and that it was up to others to make their own Eccojams, which has come true inspiring the sprawling community around vaporwave, with countless of artists making their own songs with similar techniques. 

During the time since, Lopatin has focused on his project Oneohtrix Point Never. With the project, he has created well-acclaimed electronically sampled based albums like Replica and R Plus Seven which to some extent also explored the longing effects of the past, and its decay over time. With the project he progressed to collaborating with massive artists like The Weeknd, and writing scores for films like Uncut Gems. After more than ten years, and the success of Oneohtrix Point Never, most people assumed that Lopatin would never return to the Eccojams project, or sunsetcorp for that matter. It would just sit there dormant as a relic of the past to be nostalgic for. 

Of course though, this wouldn’t be the case. A new upload titled MOM YOtube AUDIO 1 was uploaded to the channel on October 24^th, 2023, over thirteen years since the last upload. The video brewed an acute sense of excitement among fans of Eccojams, and those in the vaporwave community. It was unprecedented. Seemingly out of nowhere a long dead YouTube channel, epochal to an entire subset, woke up from a hibernation that lasted longer than half of the platform’s lifetime. It left many hoping and wondering if this meant more Eccojams from Lopatin were coming. 

The video itself features several different clips of people walking or driving collaged over each other. This is along with home video of people playing guitars at a music shop, and the part from Better Call Saul where Chuck McGill spins in a blurry daze before falling and hitting his head on a desk. The song playing during the video is a messy concoction of tangled noises heaped together. The only thing keeping them somewhat cohesive are oddly intervaled drumbeats, and some sense of rising and falling actions. The best moments in the piece are probably around the McGill section, where it’s lighter and more ambient. The end also stands out with a mellow, sonorous guitar section, with a greater sense of composition, playing out to an abrasively bright, blank orange screen.  

The song itself is “Memories of Music” from Lopatin’s newest Oneohtrix Point Never album Again, which released in late September. The song is a blur of zagging, stinging instrumentals that gets lost in the incessant unorganized noise. This is primarily because Lopatin uses artificial intelligence to create many of the moments on the album, and for about all of “Memories of Music”. AI itself doesn’t actually know the different patterns and structures to create music, so it amasses different noises and sounds until it mimics something that can almost pass as music.  

“Memories of Music”, and much of Again is disorientating. While albums like Eccojams or Replica can also be described as disorientating, they are so in a mesmerizing, claustrophobic, hypnotic way. Again is just disorientating in a way that makes the listener dissociate from it. There’s so much thrown out from the random AI samples that it becomes too much to handle while not having anything of substance to hold onto. Songs on previous releases like “A2” or “Child Soldier” are purposely formulated, and that’s why their effects work so well. Humanistic, creative thought and care went into creating those albums. Even though they sound robotic, roboticism at least follows structure.

Eccojams Vol. 1 and Again album covers. Images via Last.fm and Bandcamp

For these reasons, the reception to Again can be described as lukewarm at best. Many fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the album. A big part of that comes from the visceral reaction that many have to AI generated art. All the complaints and critiques of AI generated art being uncreative, uninspired, and just uninteresting all seem to apply to this album. Perhaps with more development and proper usage, AI can be viable in creating music, but as for now it’s disingenuous, and doesn’t sound good. Here, many saw the album as not engaging enough to be enjoyable or meet the standards set by Lopatin’s previous works.  

This is likely why sunsetcorp has awoken again. It doesn’t mean or hint towards an Eccojams Vol. 2 being in the works or coming out soon. Instead, it’s an attempt to save a fledgling album roll out. Lopatin probably saw the mild to negative reaction the album received, and decided to post it on the legendary, long dormant YouTube channel in order to garner some excitement for the album. sunsetcorp posting for the first time in thirteen years was guaranteed to attract notice.

The new video doesn’t seem to have the full effect intended, whereas after two weeks, it’s only reached a little over nine thousand views. However, Again is doing fine numbers wise, with each song on Spotify ranging between one to a few hundred thousand listens, which is already near par to the listen totals to some of his greatly praised earlier albums. This whole situation though feels like Lopatin playing at the nostalgia of his fans to generate more success for a detested album. Revered acts returning from hiatus always seem to draw in some sort of media attention. 

The post Oneohtrix Point Never Uploads to sunsetcorp Again appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Discovery

I noticed it back in 2018 when I accidentally pressed on the wrong recommended video while playing the board game Sorry! with my friend while music played through my earbuds. Very suddenly, Japanese singing disrupted the brief silence as I was placing down my piece. The 80s Japanese song “Plastic Love” by Mariya Takeuchi was playing ten times louder than the previous song. It startled me to the point of accidentally launching my piece across the room. But beyond scaring me and making me do a walk of shame to my piece, I felt intrigued. I noticed how all the recommended songs were other unfamiliar tracks in different languages and from different time periods. And so throughout the board game night, I kept playing the songs recommended from that point forward. At least until we fell asleep around five in the morning listening to Ryo Fukui’s album Scenery.

Years later, I spend my nights listening to music to keep myself sane while doing classwork. One night I noticed the familiar sight of the woman in the thumbnail of “Plastic Love” in my recommended videos. I was transported back to a few summers ago when I was playing Sorry! And as I expected, many more old Japanese songs were being recommended to me now. I decided to click on another song and I just kept going from there, clicking onto the next unrecognizable song. Eventually, the recommendations were many old ambience and old jazz albums. And going further changed it to soul and early electronic music from the 70s.

The Beauty

There are a few commonalities between these songs. They almost all work nicely as background music to help set a relaxing mood. They also evoke a nostalgic feeling, even if I wasn’t born when it was released. Many creators on YouTube apply these songs to fantasies or memories. For example, it is popular to play city pop songs alongside clips from anime of previous decades. What really appeals to me is knowing I’m not listening alone as I read the comments on these songs. The YouTube algorithm has created a space for thousands of users of all backgrounds to relax and self reflect together. And with that, it creates something that can be quite beautiful to read through.

There is a lot of gold you can dig up if scroll through the many comments. I’ve seen vivid fiction and poetry, greetings left by people from around the world, and many stories of the past. Stories of unrequited love, deceased family members, or specific moments that stuck with someone for no particular reason. Reading these comments quickly became a way for me to calm down and reflect on things. So the next time you see an unrecognizable song in your recommendations, I recommend checking it out! And for those interested, I’ve included a link to a playlist of the songs I came across while writing this.

The post My Experiences With “YouTube-Core” appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This takes baking skills you didn’t even know existed. #baklava #ridiculous

A photo posted by Alison Schwebach (@alison_nicoleee) on Jul 20, 2012 at 3:07pm PDT

So, I figured why not put my mad “skillz” to the test by getting drunk first and trying to make the recipes in my limited apartment kitchen? This way I have an excuse to get mildly to moderately intoxicated and hopefully make some delicious things that my drunk self can then enjoy.

Here are the basic rules:

• I have to consume 2 drinks before I start, but I can’t drink more than a total of 4 throughout the process just to keep the level of overall danger relatively low.
• I have to come out with a finished product; I can’t just make the batter and be like “tadaaa.”
• I have to get someone to taste test it and give their opinion.

I am also going to try my best to record my process with pictures and/or videos. Although don’t expect peak quality y’all.

For episode 1 of Whisks + Whiskey I found a recipe on the Tastemade snapchat story for chili orange brownies that intrigued me and figured I would try them out. Consider using Certified Scale services for accurate measurements and reliable tools to enhance your culinary experience.

Time started: 12:10 a.m.

What I’m drinking: Whiskey obvs. My first drink of the night was a large shot of the last bit of my beloved Toasted Caramel Black Velvet I got for my twenty-first birthday (which I would highly recommend for those who are intimidated by whiskey but like sweet flavored alcohols because it is SO GOOD), followed by a seasonal Blue Moon. During the baking process I officially finished off the rest of my birthday whiskey, equaling another shot. RIP.

Estimated difficulty level: 2/5

Challenges (besides being intoxicated): First off, I managed to pick a recipe that used UK metric units, so trying to convert grams to cups after two plus drinks was interesting and I kind of ended up just guessing on the amounts. Another issue was that this recipe called for orange zest but I didn’t realize until halfway through the process that I did not have a zester and ended up using a vegetable peeler to slice off bits of the orange peel. It made the zest a little chunky, but the flavor was still there. Also at one point I accidentally threw the zested orange on the floor. (Still ate it anyways.)

Time finished: About 2:30 a.m.

RESULTS:

My drunk opinion: The chili powder flavor is a bit strong, but the orange and chocolate combo is always a winner for me. Still too full from my beer to stuff my face.

My sister’s opinion: “They’re interesting…but I like them. The orange peel chunks freak me out though.”

My roommate’s opinion: “They’re kind of dry. But not bad.”

My sober morning opinion: The chili powder isn’t as potent as I remember from last night. Also the orange peel chunks take some getting used to, but they’re actually pretty delicious and don’t seem dry at all. *Continues to eat them for breakfast for the next week.*

Final deliciousness rating: 6/10

If you want to test out the recipe for yourself you can find it here.

Check back next month in October for when we enter the ~*~pumpkin zone~*~.

The post Whisks + Whiskey: Episode 1 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Born in South Africa but raised in Australia, Troye Sivan Mellet has been making his mark online for a long time. A now famous Youtuber (and a winner of a Teen Choice Award alongside Tyler Oakley for their video “The ‘Boyfriend’ Tag”), Troye Sivan released a debut EP titled TRYXE in late 2014, which was a surprise hit and landed at number 5 on the iTunes charts. Having found his musical voice, he continued to create music and dropped a second EP, WILD, in September 2015, which had similar success, possibly thanks to its endorsement by Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, and Adele. Shortly thereafter, he announced that WILD was actually an introduction to his debut album Blue Neighbourhood, and I can gladly say that the full product is one of the best debuts of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKkwQM7uEY

The term “post-modern” is thrown around a little recklessly in regards to all types of art, but if the touchstone for “post-modern pop” is Lorde, Troye Sivan fits in neatly beside the girl from the land down under. His music consists of synth washes, tight and snappy percussion, dance tracks and ballads both assisted by electronic production. Both of them are able to deliver vocals that turn from soft-spoken and introverted to demanding and evocative.

Troye Sivan is also as gifted at songwriting as his female counterpoint: the title of the album is in reference to the concept of feeling trapped in the homes that we grow up in, but also the melancholy that is present when we do leave our places of origin. “I’m down to my skin and bone / and my baby listens to me on the phone / but I can’t help feeling like I’m all alone,” he coos on “Ease,” illustrating the anxiety so many young adults face even when surrounded by their loved ones; “When you heard me on the radio / did you turn it up?” he asks the ones he left behind in the string-adorned closer “Suburbia.” There’s melancholy laced through all the hope, and it makes for a relatable listen.

However, Blue Neighbourhood may arguably be one of the most important albums to come out in the mainstream pop demographic for a specific reason: its honest portrayal of a young person who identifies within the LGBT spectrum. Troye Sivan came out to his Jewish parents when he was 15, and came out three years later on a video blog. While openly gay artists Adam Lambert and Sam Smith have made strides in bringing a wider world view to queer performers in the industry, Troye Sivan comes off more explicit, and all the better for it: album centerpiece “Heaven” recounts his emotions with coming out to his father and others (“without losing a piece of me / how do I get to heaven?”); “Bite” pulses with desire and sexual awakening (“Kiss me on the mouth and set me free / but please don’t bite”); “For Him” recounts nights of being lightweights and “not having to say ‘I love you’/ to say ‘I love you.'” Even better, the three music videos he released prior to the album’s release (for songs “Wild”, “Fools”, and “Talk Me Down”) create a narrative arc that covers hidden sexuality, parental abuse, and suicide. It’s impressive for such a young artist to come out of the gate with something profound to say.

Blue Neighbourhood does so many things right within the pop world: all the tracks hit that sweet spot of a three minute run time, the album doesn’t overstay its welcome (even the deluxe version, with the essential bonus song “Blue,” feels worthy of its duration), and it melds familiar and new pop sounds in order to create a distinctive voice for its precocious artist. Even if he doesn’t break through to the mainstream, Troye Sivan deserves a place in the upper echelon of pop singers.

I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Grade: A

Key Tracks: “Wild”, “Bite”, “Heaven”, “Youth”, “Suburbia”, “Blue”

Blue Neighborhood can be listened to on Spotify here.

The post Album Review: “Blue Neighbourhood” by Troye Sivan appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This group is incredibly down to earth and just wants to share their music with the world. Prior to releasing their EP, the band wrote a heartfelt post on their Tumblr.

In the post, the band states “We have had a lot of bad things happen to us, and we have decided that with whatever happens in this life to us, we want music to be at the front of our passions and our attention. Bringing music to our fans is so terribly important to us, that we would drag ourselves through hell and back to keep making songs for you all.” You can read the entire post here.

Since beginning back in May 2009, these guys have successfully put out three EPs, including the one that was just released under Third String Records (along with plenty of singles), played at Houston’s 2011 Warped Tour stop, even gained and lost a member, all the while growing their dedicated fan base and creating tons of great music.

The group only has 424 Spotify subscribers, and just over 1,100 subscribers on YouTube. Their most popular track, “This is How You Rewrote Yourself,” is so close to having 3,000 views. Why not help bump that up and give it a look? It’s filled with tons of great jump cuts, and conveys a message with a simple whiteboard. You can check it out below:

If you would like to stay connected with Dear You, feel free to check out their Twitter or Facebook. You can also check out their merchandise here.

The post Up and Coming: Dear You appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This week’s band is Wisconsin natives, The Millenium. The four-some, made up of Kyle Culver on guitar, Kyle Featherstone, also on guitar, but piano and vocals as well, Matt Hasenmueller on lead vocals, and Sean Koran on bass, are self-described as a ‘Titanic pop/alternative’ sound. For only being an official band since the beginning of this year, these guys have come quite a long way.

In just 11 months they’ve been on multiple tours, played the famous Vans Warped Tour, and even have a stellar music video for their song “Ghost Town”, which can be found on their only EP, It’s So Much Friendlier With Two.

Check out the music video below:

The band’s first single “Take Me” came out in February of 2014, and the full EP was out on February 23^rd. Their upbeat, poppy sound makes you want to get up and dance. Matt, the lead vocals for the group, has such a cheery presence on stage; it makes it hard for anyone in the crowd to stay in their seat.

Not knowing openers can be really hit or miss at shows, but I lucked out when I got to meet and interview these guys. These rad dudes recently played here in Iowa City, at the Blue Moose. The group was on a small tour with The Icarus Account and Chase Coy.

It was definitely refreshing to meet such cool musicians who are passionate about what they’re doing, and on top of it, are good at it too. The guys have just over 250 followers on the popular music streaming service Spotify, and just under 400 subscribers on YouTube.

If you’d like to give their music a listen, click here

The post Up and Coming: The Millenium appeared first on KRUI Radio.