Cloudy June is a musical artist I only encountered recently. Her EP, Unthinkable, only has six songs but every song is an arrow straight to my libido. Technically only four of the six songs are about sex but the other two are fueled by the same passion that makes them impossible to ignore. I greatly enjoy her work and find a lot of inspiration from her songs. I am looking forward to catching up on the rest of her work.
Here is the first one I heard, Fuck You in my Head.
Contact is an album by Stilz and Castroe. These seven synth songs evoke cyberpunk worlds and outer space travel. Every song is gorgeous but the last song, Radio Waves, has taken permanent residence in my brain and been added to my Vaquel writing music playlist.
Hawaii Samurai is a French band that does surf music. When it comes surf music, I find that almost all of it is good but very little leaves an impression. Hawaii Samurai is different in that I catch myself thinking of their work for days afterwards. It is an intangible thing that I find hard to describe, but I know I like them. I am especially fond of their album “The Shape of Surf to come.
Surf music also makes great writing music.
Camp Clarity is a “found footage” style horror podcast. The first season concerns a group of young high school graduates going on a camping trip before they separate for college. The one kid who is not leaving town has a podcast, so he records the trip and hopes to get some usable material out of it. Bad things happen and gets recorded.
This past October, I thought I would try to listen to fictional horror podcasts. There was more than I was expecting out there but they fell into predictable tropes and rather uninspired voice acting. One was promising until it got to the two part story about how an unmotivated guy with no real charisma lost his girlfriend. I was starting to lose hope but then I came across Camp Clarity.
I really enjoyed the quality of this show. The voices are distinct and the personalities are strong enough that you don’t get confused with five people talking. The plot wraps up in the first season, although like most good horror stories, that doesn’t mean all the questions have been answered.
There is a second season hat I haven’t gotten to yet, but I highly recommend checking out the first season. The showrunner has moved onto producing more podcasts for other companies but promises there will be a third season. Either way, what there is of this story is well worth your time.
Forgotten Blue is an ep by the artist, Hypercan. There are only five songs but wow, what a cool five they are. They remind me of lost science fiction worlds and thrilling closing credit sequences in an anime. Give it a listen.
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats are a British rock band that sounds like came from the early 70’s. Their songs are blanketed in heavy guitars and play like soundtracks to murder scenes in a b-movies. I find their music great for setting a mood for when I want to dive deep into horror and never come back up. Which makes them a perfect band to start October with.
The Night Creeper is their fourth album and one of my favorites. The songs are all great but Melody Lane stands out as the most haunting. I’m not quite sure what is happening in the song but I know it won’t have a happy ending.
Sexualizer is a synth and vocal album by James “Perturbator” Kent. The music is a weird crossroad of haunting, sexy and head-bopping. It is the kind of music that permeates into your background and makes anything you are doing feel so much cooler.
Now I have to be honest about something. There is a description on the bandcamp page for this album that explains the story of a porn actor getting hooked on drugs, murdering people and going to jail. I don’t know if I have every noticed any of that while listening to the music. That’s on me, but maybe you will. Either way, this is a lovely short album.
Destruyr makes synth music inspired by horror movies. Some artists do this and create very tense music that sounds like a serial killer is about to murder your puppy and my anxiety goes through the roof. Destryur does something different and creates catchy songs and clever dialogue bits. I get the same warm feeling of thinking about a horror movie without the need to look over my shoulder.
Panic is my favorite album of theirs but I encourage you to check out more of their albums.
God is an Astronaut is the name of an Irish post-rock band. Now, I have no idea what post-rock means but the band itself creates entire albums of sweeping instrumental music that is perfect for hitching rides on comets.
But to be fair, maybe not all of the albums are instrumental because I can’t seem to escape the gravitational pull of the album, All is Violent, All is Bright. It is a lovely album and one that always gives me peace and wonder when I listen to it.
Did you ever listen to Enigma and thought to yourself, “Hey, I like these dance beats, but I wish these Gregorian Chants were replaced with women moaning, crying out and asking for it to be harder?” Well, Sexsonica has come to the rescue with not just one, but FOUR albums of just that kind of music in the Sexualsong series.
To be honest, they all sort of blend into one another but maybe that is the goal. These NSFW songs are not the kind you listen to while driving, doing chores or out on a walk but I find they make excellent smut writing music as it sounds like you’re trying to type during a dance club orgy. The few spoken words are repetitive enough not to be distracting for creative endeavors.
Of the four albums, I tend to like Sexualsong 2 the best.