By: Maple Graham
- “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me ([golem] w [dysmorphia] [attempts suicide] to [influence] @ [the vintage clothing store]) ([eLiMiNaTiNg_tHe_pArTs_oF_MySeLf_tHaT_ArEnT_CoNtRiBuTiNg_tO_SuCcEsS] [identity#02])”
This song is memorable to me due to the ukulele and another break from the hyperpop influences, becoming a maximalist indie soundscape that culminates in an ending that’s bursting at the seams—drums messily cutting out the many instruments and samples behind it. Some may interpret this as amateurish, but I love whenever artists use the song’s space to their advantage, even if it means addressing the restrictions that come with the chosen medium it’s in. It’s a 7.5/10 for me, and it’s a good transition back from the last few songs that had more cons than pros. And as a cherry on top, this song doesn’t feel cut short.
- “They were unwitting necromancers who had stumbled on a formula for channeling voices, apprentices who had lost their sorcerer, as mindless golems animated by folx’s vision(s).”
A repeating end of a chord from the last song. As it isn’t even original, I give it a 1/10. Could’ve been tacked on to the end of the last song.
- “(Thus, when folx died, they said that they felt they had lost their eyes…)”
Different people all saying “friends&,” the name of the collective that made this album. I presume this to be made of samples taken from other pieces of media, specifically the phrase “friends and family”—cutting off the “family” bit. 4/10; is unlike anything else in the album, and acts as a landmark for me when I do listen, as it’s placed a little past the one-third line.
- “Hallelujah ([friends& original not a cover]) ([i_hOpE_EvErYoNe_lIsTeNiNg_iS_EnJoYiNg_tHe_mEtApHoR_AnD_ThE_CoNcEpT_AlBuM_!!] [if rym mods don’t respect case sensitivity when cataloguing this album i will kms])”
This title is the single reason why I decided to write this extensive review, as I haven’t seen a review that both respects the longer titles of the album and reviews each individual track. I’m starting to understand why this is the case. Anyway, about the song: it’s made with Hatsune Miku doing the main vocals in the song. The song is chill, and once again goes closer towards a simple maximalist experience without having the added edge of a chaotic genre. It’s a pleasant song, has tons of ear candy, and is something you could show almost everyone and get a neutral reaction from them at worst. 7.5/10.
- “The worker therefore only feels themself outside their work, and in their work feels outside themself.”
A segue that does all of the below: feels befitting in the tracklist, sounds decent, and doesn’t feel jarring on any bit of it. The ambient sounds—what seems to be a piano with a ton of reverberation added to it—feel appropriate and also make the “worker” in this song, who begins to sing a song and play a guitar after inviting an unnamed person over, feel out of place; all tying back to the song title. Masterfully done, and one of my favorite transitions in the whole album; 6/10.
- “folx feels at home when they are not working,”
A longer track that is light-hearted in tone, with another sample that doesn’t add much to the narrative, but still has a huge amount of work put into it. In a similar structure of “correspond with the first instinctive yearnings of that class for a general reconstruction of society.” this song is a lot all at once, and serves as a break that feels earned. 6/10, it’s a track I look forward to when playing the album cover-to-cover.
- “and when they are working folx does not feel at home. […]”
A piano combined with another synth and some miscellaneous samples, this song is far from short. It has a good runtime, a consistent theme, and doesn’t feel entirely far off from the last song; 6.5/10.
- “Its alien character emerges clearly in the fact that as soon as no physical or other compulsion exists, labor is shunned like the plague.”
Another random song that feels somewhat out-of-place, but is long enough for it to make its mark. It’s a simple overlay of an episode of the podcast “Never Ending Stories” and “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John playing on top of each other. I give it a 3/10 because it tries to fit in with the rest of the album, at least.
- “Carolina in My Mind ([skinwalker] w [alienation] [neglects] to [process] @ [the insurance claim centre]) ([aCtUaLlY_I_DoNt_eVeN_CaRe_aBoUt_wHaT_He_dOeS])”
A catchy song riding on its myriad string instruments throughout, along with a harmonica towards the end. It’s a bit short, and doesn’t have many notable qualities despite its relatively simple sampling and layering. It doesn’t feel overstimulating, and I personally don’t have any major problems with it, so I’ll give it a 5.5/10.
- “Encounters with angels are as disturbing, traumatic and overwhelming as encounters with demons.”
Radio static, colored by songs on different frequencies cutting in and out. 4/10, I enjoy the sound of this.
- “After all, what could be more shattering, unassimilable and incomprehensible in our hyper-stressed, constantly disappointing and overstimulated lives, than the sensation of calm joy?”
The song is like “Thus every factor, which works against a repetition of the old crises, carries within itself the germ of a far more powerful future crisis.” but if it was way shorter and didn’t have the crowd effects. It’s nothing new, but the sound design is still good. 3/10.
- “Return of the Grievous Angel ([devil] w [separation anxiety] [flees] to [reflect] @ [the silent retreat]) ([i_dOnT_LiKe_tAkInG_A_BrEaK_FrOm_hIm])”
In case you were getting a bit bored, this song is sure to snap you back to reality. It’s fast, unrelenting, and very different from the false sense of security you got from the preceding stretch of music turning closer and closer to more mainstream genres. I love the tubular bells in this song—I love tubular bells in almost any song—and they add a lot of personality here while also stapling the last transition to the song in a meaningful way. It’s a 7.5/10 from me due to the change of pace that catches you off-guard.
- “All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and folx is at last compelled to face with sober senses their real conditions of life, and their relations with their kind.”
The last song, now heard from what sounds to be inside an adjacent room. It’s muffled and slows down towards the end, while a sweeping dustpan sound plays. It’s a good segue, and I like it more than I’d thought I would. 2.5/10.
- “Four Strong Winds ([witch] w [marijuana addiction] [loiters] to [serve] @ [his secret apartment]) ([hEs_sIcK_AnD_He_nEeDs_hElP_WhAt_aM_I_SuPpOsEd_tO_Do])”
Pauses litter the first half of this song, which I’m a huge fan of. Pausing randomly for a few milliseconds in a song is a technique I haven’t quite mastered yet in my own work, and it always enamors me when I hear it in another song. The content is polarizing, with the first bit being just vocals and guitar, and the second half falling into the casual maximalism I talked about earlier. A 5/10 from me.
- “Giving them potions, attaching horns to their body for drawing up the incisor, making the drums beat, the folx proceeds with a ceremony interrupted by halts and fresh departures, flows of all sorts, flows of words and breaks […]”
The sound of a tattoo gun with someone else begging for something. I don’t quite understand it or its relevance to the album—1.5/10.
- “the members of the village come to talk, the sick subject talks, the ghost is invoked, folx explains, everything recommences, drums, chants, trances.”
A song made up of rough cuts of a guitar, vocals, and a synth that sounds somewhat like a voice. It sounds pleasant, and I personally use it as a halfway point in the album to mark how far I’ve come on a listen through it. 3.5/10; it’s memorable.
- “At the top of the tower, there is no liberation from work. There is just more work — the only difference is that you might now enjoy it (life is too exciting for sleep).”
I remember this song not for its content, but for the content that follows. This track isn’t very special—I’d give it a 3.5/10, being a mashup of “Timber” by Ke$ha and “Ghosts” by Japan. It opens with another radio bit, which is always welcome to my ears.
- “For these CEOs, work is closer to an addiction than something they are forced to do.”
Easily the best transition on the album to me. It sounds like a slot machine’s reels clicking into place, but it’s just a bit of the last song repeating intermittently. I’m a very biased person when it comes to sound design I like, and I’d give this a 9/10 if I didn’t care at all about how that rating would be perceived. But after all, I’m rating based on sound, not how much dopamine it gives me upon listening to it. 4/10.
- “There are now two classes[…] those addicted to work, and those forced to work.”
Continuation of the last transition. Why did this have to be its own separate track? 2/10.
- “Goodnight Irene ([sandman] w [sociopathy] [misrepresents] to [leverage] @ [the asset management department]) ([i_cAn_bE_JuSt_lIkE_HiM])”
Delving back into the maximalist track pockets of the album, this is exquisitely put together, and I’m a huge fan of how fast this one goes. None of the ideas or bits are dwelled on much at all, which is a stark contrast to other songs which usually focus on at least one other gimmick or bit for the majority of the runtime. The “Hold My Liquor” by Kanye West sample adds a ton, as does the “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. sample in the latter half of the song. 7.5/10, very well done.
