THE REPORT: 7/10/26
STRANGE BREW!
Brat Star “White Claw Addict”
Toronto digital pop artist Brat Star does right by her home country. On her new single, she shouts out what might be the most important Canadian beverage innovation since the good folks at Tim Hortons created the Iced Capp in 1999. New York residents: Is there anything better than the Hortons nestled into the Jamaica Station AirTrain terminal? OK, but what about the bar next door, the Air Bar? I’ve always wanted to throw a DJ night there.
Multiple YouTube comments on the latest tune from Nino Paid refer to the DMV emotional rapper as their therapist. In the video for “Mirror,” the shrink in question has an office that looks a little like an Airbnb; it comes complete with a few cans of Pringles and a bottle of something I don’t think he would have the authorization to prescribe. Over a barista folk sample and 808s, he goes full devastation mode, more patient than healer. “In a mirror / I looked like my dad / And my heart just feel somethin’ different / I was at my lowest passin’ out on pills / And my homie told me I was trippin’.”
Chopper’s Choice “Metal Shoppers”
I’m going to go ahead and take a major late pass on Chopper’s Choice, a cutty VA unit that features none other than Colin L of the legendary duo Theusaisamonster. I heard whispers that there is a bit of that aughts-style noise action here, and while it’s not that simple, tracks like “Metal Shoppers” do shitisu on the noggin like the best old-school basement tapes. Deep fried and a little funky!
DJ Rari (Feat. Elm Boy Peg and Trophy Chocolate) “Rock And Roll Yah”
Guitars and drum machines: Sometimes that’s all you need to have a rocking good time. They understand this in New Orleans, and DJ Rari especially understands this on “Rock And Roll Yah,” a bounce tune built on rough axe chops and woolly live vox. True Headbanger Music. (Is that sample what I think it is?)
CONNIE has been on a run lately. “BASSMZK” sounds like you smashed together every room at a late-’90s American rave. It sounds like Daft Punk and Delta 9 jamming inside of an abandoned Walmart. It’s got hyperspeed filter disco chops and lite-gabber kick drums. And then, a minute or so in, a guitar solo and vocoder.
JOHN’S MUSIC BLOG PRESENTS… THE BONUS THREE
John Says: “Nothing funny about the way this guy Pat works the drums. Tweaked footwork supreme.”
Diorbgs “Tagged”
John Says: “Found through a Mano Tweet, a vicious St. Louis rapper levitates over a PLURtastic Xaviersobased beat. That rhymed on purpose.”
Jumpy & LUCY (Cooper B Handy) “GET THE VIBE”
John Says: “Inspired lyrics, inspired video. Maybe as good as it gets? Have a nice weekend.”
MIX OF THE WEEK
DJ Fart In The Club at Solstice Festival 2026
DJ Fart In The Club is not a name anyone is going to forget any time soon. Trusted electronica sources have been singing the Seoul-born, Berlin-based DJ’s praises for a minute now, but it took me until this week to actually hit play on a mix. Here she is, on stage at a festival in northern Finland near the Arctic Circle—a stage sponsored by an internet radio station from Brooklyn—enveloped in smoke machine fog and piercing Nordic sun, playing a set of varied, tasteful dance music nice enough that, while listening, I started to picture an alternate reality, one where I did not quit drinking in 2015 and instead went deep into the New York City techno scene. To summarize: while her name sounds like something that would land at a Ridgewood DIY space in 2009, the music DJ Fart In The Club plays is actually more suited for a Ridgewood club in 2026.
MISCELLANEOUS LISTENING
Ralph Hill LIVE at Lavender Country
Luh Tyler “Spell”
The Madjestic Kasual MUSIC BEST SECOND QUARTER 2026 list
Graham Hunt “Riverboat Blues”
Peking Spring W/ Jon K on NTS
Kikù Hibino and Merzbow Rococo ∞ Echomatter
The Sound Chalk Makes “Electronic Eyes (ideasforconversations Re:mix)”
Rylo Rodriguez S.K.A.T.E.
DJ Debbie D “Supertweak”
The YAHHO Dog City Session on YouTube