satellite cult 46.46

dan mason, blushʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ, feel something

Oct 21, 2023

welcome to this week’s satellite cult dispatch. i’m so glad you’re here. i hope the artifacts i present you with will set you adrift on a low-poly ship off into the horizon. things will be better there.

please be aware that the void dive section below contains flashing gifs.

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Devil Killer

vaporwave icon Dan Mason, most appreciated for his contributions to mallsoft, has still picked the path of plunderphonics. but on Devil Killer, released on net label business casual, he’s chosen to embrace a set of sounds that reflect the changing landscape of electronic music, leaning hard into ambient breakcore, Japanese EDM, and Y2K nostalgia. vapor released over the past year has frequently demonstrated that while there will always be a place for the classic sounds of eccojams and slushwave, this is the direction the genre is moving in, even as the online techno scene seems at the precipice of a denouement as IRL indie and DIY scenes rebuild themselves in New York and elsewhere. either way, this album represents a change in course for underground music.

Shopping Mall Playlist (EP)

this EP by Kurosaki, an alias of Antonio Monardes, features a slushiness that isn’t always present in mallsoft, but brings a dreaminess that renders the idea of strolling through the main concourse of a shopping center romantic in the way romance novels and 80s music videos frame a walk on the beach.

Allstars☆ VI

net label Sunset Grid celebrated its 500th release with a new compilation album that features a great line up of established names in the vaporwave scene like b l u e s c r e e n, KENMORE Classic, and TVVIN_PINEZ_M4LL, but also plenty of dynamic emerging producers. tracks range from future funk to classic vapor to noise, but uniting all of them is an emphasis on post-internet experiences.

welcome home

in the second ever edition of satellite cult, i explored the development of the sextrance scene at the moment it was booming. a year later, it seems that new releases have slowed, at least for now. if you’re like me and you’re afraid you won’t make it until the next Yung Lain or purity://filter release, this hard trance EP by plant dog is more than capable of scratching that itch in the meantime.

break A moment

blushʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ is back with an ambient drum and bass release with some future funk inclinations, lending it a warmth to compliment and underscore the hints of wistfulness throughout. it has a epic quality to it, not unlike the end credits of a shonen anime—though they don’t sound the same. imagine free falling through a blank abyss, knowing that at the end you’ll come out alive. this is it.

douyouwanttofeelsomething.com

a project of sgt_slaughtermelon, the net art piece doyouwanttofeelsomething.com is an exploration of human melancholy, loneliness, insecurity, and apathy, but it is not depressing. in fact, there is something encouraging about it and optimistic.1