Remember tomorrow to watch Black Mirror while hungover so you start the new year with the worst existential dread possible.

As I did in 2016, I'm going to run through a review of yk records releases from 2017.

Back in April of 2017, Ryan Norris approached me on the possibility of releasing the third full-length from his band Coupler, Gifts from the Ebb Tide. I've long admired the work of Norris from way back when he was a member of the pop/rock band The Privates to his more recent collaborative works with Cortney Tidwell, KORT and HeCTA to name but a few. That is to say, I was definitely flattered and eager to work with his particular brand of electronic music.

Each track (or "Invention" in this case) is a slow build of loops, embellishments, glitches and percussive elements. It's been described as "Deliberate Ambient Music" - a phrase that I find incredibly enjoyable to describe the sounds but not altogether accurate. Ambient music implies only a mood or atmosphere, often lacking any sort of beat, which is certainly not the case here. That being said, I do love the idea that these songs are composed and executed in a way that isn't as random and subject to entropy as a lot of ambient works may be.

The album has two great videos, lots of lengthy interviews with Norris in various publications, a Bandcamp inclusion in their weekly podcast and even garnered a Pitchfork review.

We pressed the album to "Sea Blue Vinyl" (my first time working with Furnace) into a beautiful gatefold package featuring some artwork by Peter Skwiot Smith. It is, of course, streaming everywhere as well but I'm always going to recommend the physical version.

There's more to come from this album as we're working on a video for Invention I but I'm happy with how word has spread so far. If you have a chance to see the band live, I highly recommend it - particularly when projections accompany them.

a nice overview for frontend enthusiasts who haven't taken the deep dive into the latest tech

pretty terrifying actually

y’all. my momma was trynna send my sister an animoji and this is what happened. i died ?????? https://t.co/PR4KJk9YsO

Happy Friday to everyone except whomever put this 20 minute live Dave Matthews track on the jukebox

me: hello any man: bitcoin

Me at the start of 2017 // me at the end of 2017 https://t.co/ypA1O7ifE3

https://t.co/mssIRs1Nqv

if you die today or tomorrow the tombstone guys will round up so it says you died in 2018. this is called the baker's farewell

Would y'all invest in birdcoin

As I did in 2016, I'm going to run through a review of yk records releases from 2017.

It's not an outlandish statement to say that Makeup and Vanity Set is an extremely prolific musician. In 2017 alone, he released five "official" albums, two full-length Subscriber exclusives of non-b-side work, four 10 minute sound explorations, some remixes and contributed music to a Netflix movie. Not to mention that he was also recording music for release next year. Oh, and he also has a side project he rarely talks about. Despite all of that, I'm sure I'm not even scratching the surface of the full body of work within a calendar year.

One of those many releases was for the indiegame Trackless, providing the original score that accompanies the game. The game itself is an homage to early puzzlers like Myst, text-based adventure games from the DOS era and even some early VR undertakings. The video below will give you a good summary of the style of the game and the vibe of the MAVS score behind it: It's not your typical looking game and it's a Makeup and Vanity Set composition that takes on many new sounds and styles. It still often has a dark and foreboding vibe but, overall, it's a decidedly lighter tone that pulls you forward into something, rather than chases you from behind (metaphorically speaking of course). With the amount of work that MAVS releases in a year, it's impossible for me to be involved in every single one and, honestly, I'm glad he's found a large enough audience that he can spread it around.

We released the soundtrack digitally and on clear cassette, given that the game itself is an homage to the 80's, why not also make the physical format version a nod to that time as well. Furthermore, the potential degradation of the music through the tape decay was just too alluring.

As I did in 2016, I'm going to run through a review of yk records releases from 2017.

The short film Arrival is a very special piece of work. Designer, illustrator and animator Alex Myung launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013 to give him the funds to hand animate a film that told the story of a young man discovering his sexuality and dealing with the fear of coming out that came with it. It's a story that far too many have experienced and one that doesn't get discussed nearly enough. It's a 20-minute watch and it's absolutely stunning what Myung was able to animate, regardless of it only being himself doing the work. It's amassed 1.8 million views on YouTube and been screened at several prestigious film festivals. Thes story has no dialogue and moves through its series of events with the aid of the score provided by Upright T-Rex; the creative sound studio powered by Ross Wariner and Cody Uhler - musicians who have released several albums under other monikers with yk records. It's largely orchestral, appropriately dramatic and extremely pretty. I'm a huge fan of everything Upright T-Rex are involved in and hearing that they were scoring a film was an exciting prospect. The results are, in my opinion, wonderful. The music gives the film an extra layer of identity and is instantly recognizable even outside the context of seeing it paired with the film.

The visual identity of the film is, clearly, very much rooted in Anime style and I fear that may give some Western viewers pause before diving in. I understand a lack of familiarity with the style (I am fairly ignorant to it myself) but its an extremely accessible piece, visually, aurally and thematically. I'm proud to have been involved in a tiny portion of spreading the word about the film and getting the soundtrack out to a wider audience.

The record was pressed to Picture Disc vinyl featuring original art from Myung and is streaming on all the platforms.

Black Mirror S4 episode list : 1. Cor Blimey, What If Facebook Likes Were The Only Way To Earn a Quid 2. There Is An App That Can Download You, Well Scary Innit Bruv 3. Me New Misses Is a Android And I Aint Bovvered 4. The Cheeky Gov'na Got A Pic Of Me Bollocks Through Me Webcam

Million dollar idea: twitter but where no one talks about Trump

to read

I regret to inform you that my hometown crush now vapes.

i can't believe i watched the whole thing

slow build

Saved Tweet for when Bitcoin plummets: I guess they BIT off more than they could C(HEW)OIN.