Safe Mind made a second excellent dance-pop tune. Their music continues to conjure time-lapsed shots of the Mancunian skyline at night; really, though, it’s a Western Mass thing: the duo of Cooper B. Handy (LUCY) and Gus Muller (Boy Harsher) have been embedded in the New England game for many minutes. I’m still working on my Boston frat rap alter ego. The name? Kevin Gelato. The mixtape? Dime Sack and an IPA.
DIME is shorthand for Diamond Princess. The NYC artist’s debut single is a full-on fusion of YOLO trance and East Coast club rap. I apologize for what I’m about to say, but I feel like it has to be said: The track’s brooding synths have “recession indicator” printed all over them. Look, we lost a lot of important 2000s music in that Myspace server malfunction. The only solution, really, is to make more of it. John’s Pick of the Week.
As long as we are talking about Myspace… NEW YORK’s *rapstar was one of my favorite releases of 2024, a tactile electoglitchpopartrap record that did a good job translating the experience of their intentionally casual live set to headphones. The London duo’s back today with an uptempo two-tracker. “think of you” has an octave bassline and a bitcrushed freakout bridge section that will make you go wobbly at the 86th Street R stop.
Compton Av, D-Lo, Lefty Gunplay, Hati Babbii “It’s A Go”
This pummeling California rap posse cut connects NorCal hyphy with contemporary Los Angeles, linking two sprawling decades of garage door slamming noises and offbeat pockets. The E-40 episode of Drink Champs is one of my favorite podcasts of all time. The guy knows a lot about moscato.
Here, Nashville egg punk vets Snõõper enter electro-schmack mode. In a just world, “Crash Out” would be soundtracking gamer meltdown compilation clips on YouTube. It’s smooshed and driving, maybe not a million miles away from rainbow rock in the broader scheme of things, and it potentially points to new pathways for the genre. I’m sensing a bit of a theme on the blog this week.
MIX OF THE WEEK: Frost Children @ The Lot Radio 5-22-2025
Sometimes you just need some EDM in your goddamn life. We are finishing off Electro Week strong, people. It’s hard for me to tell what is new here, what is “vintage,” and what is created or remixed by the Frost Children. And you know what? That’s fine. Being a music blogger can often feel like a hell of my own creation. Not a bad mix, though…