hi all! tonight i've kinda just been vibing, listening to music, and thinking about things i wanna do with my art. doing that involves a lot of staring blankly at my FA page, revisiting old art, etc. so i saw my last journal and remembered: the Sanrio character ranking contest results are in!

to reiterate, i'm a huge Hello Kitty loser. i would've preferred she won out, but alas, in the end, she only got 5th... top five is still good enough for me because she beat My Melody. that means she beat at least one of the mega-popular Sanrio characters! i was still surprised to see Pochacco so high (3rd place), given how little merch i've actually seen of him. also a bit surprised that Pompompurin took first from Cinnamoroll, though i'm not totally sure why. and i must admit i did not do my civic duty of voting for Hello Kitty every day because i kept forgetting. that's an L on my part gang

now, the meat of the post! i wanna talk a little music! just cuz im feelin it~

given the 🔗 silly drawing of my sona Ocean from the other day, it's not hard to guess she's taking up a lot of my brain space right now. i've been researching a little more into her musical vibe inspirations, namely lighter furry takes on breakcore, speedcore, and all that breakbeat drum n bass goodness. i read up a little bit on PLUR and kandi in rave culture, which has me wanting to buy some beads and charms and make some ocean/orca themed kandi... not that i'll ever go to a rave and trade them lol. i'd love to get into the scene, but in reality i don't think i'll ever have the energy for that.

i also determined that the 🔗 Super Monkey Ball OST is sorta like... chill drum n bass? and i can't help but wonder if that planted in me some seeds of liking the genre lol. i did like EDM/dubstep remixes of video game music in middle school, so i'd say it's always been there in some form! haven't been into dubstep for a while, though. nowadays, when i'm in the mood for something more tangy than my usual (2000+ song) playlist, i definitely gravitate towards DnB and breakbeats. i love the idea of a song that starts out atmospheric and gentle, then introduces a clean, sharp breakbeat before bringing in more intense elements. or like, vaporwave with a breakbeat? that's gotta go hard.

considering those neon rave DnB vibes that are so core to my expression of Ocean, i was wondering about some art more directly in that vein but... well, i don't like spoiling any of my ideas :3 (especially cuz often i just never get to them LOL) but rest assured, i have some ideas for really different art forming in my head! hopefully i can fight the motivation issues and make something to be proud of <3

so instead, let me drop off some music recommendations! just what i've been listening to, tonight in particular. full album stuff.

firstly, 🔗 NO SUMMER NO CRY by Slime Girls. some upbeat video gamey synth pop tunes with city pop inspirations and a few toned down songs in there. i heard CCC (Gelato Beach Ver.) in middle school and only more recently found the full EP, and DANG i really love it! i vibe so fucking hard with the use of the mario 64 instrument samples, and the spoken part of YOU BELONG is a lovely addition

i discovered 🔗 Olympics in Space by nobonoko only tonight, but gosh, the 80s style electronic synth pop had me HOOKED! definitely something i'll be listening to while drawing in the future. the use of the metal pipe falling meme sound effect as a genuine part of some of the tracks (near seamlessly worked in, mind you!) had me awestruck, actually. good shit

then there's 🔗 Bicycle by Patricia Taxxon, with those lovely, always-experimental, techy tunes. (i don't know if it'd be "techno" cuz i don't really know what counts as techno, but to me, "techy" is the descriptor that comes to mind). i'm setting out to listen to more of her stuff, and perhaps work up to TECHDOG. i'm not very into noise though, so i may not be able to handle TECHDOG 5 & 6. still massively respect it as a piece of art tho. anyway in Bicycle, Big Wheel really stood out to me for the vocals and lyrics. anything dream-related can easily hook me. and Patricia Taxxon has such a talent for long songs that can maybe be a bit repetitive from second-to-second, but build up over time to something... transcendent! love it~

and lastly, 🔗 Stimulacrum by 4lung/Rawrdcore, with more experimental IDM beats. i listen to music on spotify (ew) while i'm at work, so that's most of my access to 4lung's music. and ive got some Laser Lemon and Selected Idiot Works on my normal playlist that i regularly vibe to, but i gotta admit... i've been sleeping on Stimulacrum! i popped it into my queue the other night since i was vibing to other 4lung stuff and wanted some more. was hooked on every song! the dolphin sounds in the intro hit me right in my orca heart <3 i feel like, overall, it's got maybe a "darker" vibe to it that feels more emotional, i suppose? not always great with describing this stuff. but i love that feel, makes it stand out from the other stuff i like

and a few honorable mentions while im sharing music! i will always return to 🔗 NERVE'S ENDING by The Quick Brown Fox. amazing speedcore sound and one of my first exposures to this umbrella of genres. and uhh, way in another ballpark, 🔗 a Mario 64 soundfont remake of Tatsuro Yamashita's For You by JQHN! my introduction to city pop! i've uh... yet to listen to the original whole album all the way through, lol. i just love what's possible with the mario 64 soundfont! ...and ahh this is getting long, but one more! Minewest Emo by saddyowner, an amazing reimagining of Minecraft Volume Alpha in a midwest emo style! i think it's a really beautiful rendition of an already beautiful and iconic soundtrack.

man, this was gonna be a short post when i started... and here we are x3 i guess i was really in the mood to share! i find it hard to listen to new music a lot of the time, so it's been nice to find some new stuff in some new genres. new for me, anyway. and learning lots along the way! so to anyone reading, i hope my thoughts and recommendations have piqued your interest enough to tempt you into listening~ hopefully some more Ocean art on the horizon from me~ have a good day or night <3

edit: oh and if you do listen to any of my recommendations, tell me what you think! would love to hear others thoughts~