Latest gomepost
- -Lotso’s heavy burden
- - -This stuffed bear could use some therapy
+ +I’m looking for the Hats of 2008
+ + +Please send me leads!
I’m looking for the Hats of 2008
+ ++ Hats by The Blue Nile is a perfect album, in some ways. + The description “mournful city soundscape” only sounds generic until you hear how well it fits the bill. + Every track immerses you in this atmospheric world of twilight blue, city lights, and melancholy. +
+ The album was released in 1989, and the clean, atmospheric sound palette is a flawless retrospective distillation of the decade’s synthy pop aesthetic. + It’s a prime example of genre decadence, sitting at the end of an era, where the expressive tools of the medium have been dialectically honed to a mirror sheen. +
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+ + It’s more of a gut feeling, but I also think Hats is pointing forward to the 90s in some ways. + For some reason, I would the urban theming of it feels more of the 90s than the 80s. + The drum machine and production also feel more early 90s to me. +
+ In any case, I like to think about the unique vibes of particular years or spans of time like this, + and the main perfection of Hats to me is how well it captures this edge of decades between the 80s and 90s. +
+ Recently, I’ve been feeling like there is a late 2000s vibe on the wind. + I somehow have the feeling that this summer will have a lot in common with the summer of 2007, maybe 2008, maybe 2009 (still narrowing it down). + I happened to recently stumble across a haiku by Kyoshi Takahama, a Shōwa era poet, which I think perfectly describes the feeling:* +
+ 去年今年貫く棒の如きもの
+ Something like a stick
+ That goes through
+ Last year and this year +
+ I think there’s something like a stick poking through the late 2000s and the current/coming moment. +
+ I’ve been going back through old Pitchfork reviews from 2007 and 2008 and listening to the most highly recommended music, trying to hone in on that feeling. + It’s been a lot of fun, discovering new music at an even faster rate than I normally do, probably closer to my brother’s pace. +
+ Throughout this process, it finally dawned on me: I think what I want to find is the Hats of 2008. + An album that perfectly captures the feeling of the time. + It doesn’t need to be mournful and atmospheric, necessarily, + but I do get the feeling it should have an urban theme, perhaps. +
+ So consider this me officially putting out a bounty.
+ If you know anything that came out in the period of 2007–09 that seems like it does a perfect job capturing the vibe of the times,
+ please send me a lead!
+ There’s not actually a reward, but I’ll really appreciate the gesture, and probably follow up with a shoutout thanking you.
+ As always, I can be reached at my Ctrl-C email: gome @ ctrl-c.club.
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+ * English translation by Katsuya Hiromoto +
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