i get what you’re saying about the culture and identity politics in general, but to put all of that on shamir seems kinda unfair? if anything, they did not benefit from poptimism when they chose to forgo the pop route established on “ratchet,” got dropped by XL and management, and self-released albums for a few years that got far less attention than if they had just stayed with XL and made “ratchet pt. 2.”

also, they were 20 when they got signed to XL. expecting a 20 year old who was probably still figuring out their own identity to push back against the mechanisms of the whole industry and the music press in an effort to call out the shortcomings of identity politics and wokeness pre-trump seems idk unrealistic and like it’s doing a lot of projection?

Ratchet seems to be quite underrated; it was runner-up to Kendrick on my 2015 list and my then-2-year-old loved it. I still play it – maybe not on the regular, but those songs are etched in my mind. It’s been too crazy to really keep up with his output but I’m always happy to read about him thriving and giving his stuff a listen.

Idk when ur a brand new artist and a really young person I imagine is REALLY difficult to articulate what’s happening as it’s happening and you’re receiving even a modicum of indie fame. To be confident enough to step back, analyze what’s happening, and be reflective about it? I applaud it, no matter how long it takes.

No, but I will definitely check it out. That’s awesome!

Yeah he is a little too all-over-the-place stylistically for me, but that is probably just because Ratchet was one of my favorite albums of the 2010s. He’s always doing something interesting, that is for sure.

I specifically remembering downloading Lucky Ones as one of my very first Napster experiences after seeing it on Buffy. She was just on Canada’s Drag Race, too!

This is amazing!!! Congrats on the awesome work. I love Gregg Araki!!!

Have you seen Gregg Araki’s film “Kaboom”? It came out in 2010, after “Mysterious Skin.” I composed the music score for the film (with a little additional music from Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins and Ulrich Schnauss). I wrote about 70 minutes of music for “Kaboom,” in some cases working closely with Gregg here in my recording studio in West LA. The music is rather shoe-gazey, but there’s some dramatic orchestral music as well — which is why I think Gregg hired me. He needed a composer who could span a wide range from rock to ambient to symphonic orchestra, while making it sound cohesive. It was a fun gig, and Gregg is a marvelous collaborator.

That Gazelle Twin x NYX album is sooo fantastic!

Update on Gregg Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy: the only one that’s currently available is The Doom Generation, which is pretty good. My favorite, Nowhere, starts at $110 for a DVD on Amazon!

Lol, I linked to the damn Buffy song, and not the Gazelle Twin album!

Here it is:

https://nyx-edc.bandcamp.com/album/deep-england

On Gregg Araki: I never met an Araki film I didn’t like. I especially like his teen apocalypse trilogy. Are those even available these days?

On Baphomet: Speaking of horned god men, Gazelle Twin & NYX fucking bring the dark pagan energy to this album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTLR5hg2URk

On the Poconos: Lived most of my life in Pennsylvania, but I never went. 🙁

On Shamir: Looking forward to hearing the new album!