Flotsam and Jetsam: April 22, 2026

Many a great man has dared to ask the question: "Where does the time go?" And may I say I joined their ranks this week when I realized the last one of these blog entries was three months ago. Recently I went a fourth round with the no-longer-novel Coronavirus, but mostly I've been busy with work, where I'm living out the "accidentally became important" meme to mixed results.

The halcyon days of early spring bring with them the first rounds of the NBA playoffs. In a reminder of time's flat and circular nature, the Knicks are once again facing off against a young, physical team with something to prove and the pundits are skeptical. I'm looking forward to spending the next week or so watching unhealthy amounts of basketball (or at least letting it run in the background while I work late).

Nashpaints - Everyone Good is Called Molly

Not a whole lot is known about Nashpaints, the one-man-band alias for Finn Carraher McDonald (who also plays in Princ€ss and has collaborated with Maria Somerville). 2020's Blindman the Gambler surrounded homespun indie rock with field recordings and murky instrumentals, slathering the whole enterprise in tape hiss. Molly ditches the static and adds a healthy dash of Brill Building to make something cohesive and singular.

I won't be the only person to point out similarities to Cindy Lee or Atlas Sound, especially on the woven riffs of "Stretching" or the throwback pop of "Tonight I'm Thinking of My Big Eyes." There's also a fair bit of MBV in the rumbling churn of "Boyfriend First." It rules is basically what I'm saying. So far this is the clubhouse leader for my album of the year.

Hysterical Love Project - "2BC1"

Found this browsing the Motion Ward bandcamp after getting into the Cancer House EP. It takes classic dream pop and adds a vaporwave sheen, and would sound nice in any situation where one finds themself only half awake.

Excess Blood - Porcelain Doll

A pretty new release from the Milwaukee punk label Unlawful Assembly. It's a cool mix of goth and post-punk textures with the occasional intrusion of aggressive hardcore. Cue Ice T:

Hiroyuki Onogawa - August in the Water OST

I'm going to Japan next month, so during my last bout with Covid I powered through a bunch of Japanese movies on my watchlist (more on these later). I sadly couldn't buy all the way in to August in the Water, the supernatural coming-of-age film by Gakuryu Ishii; the shift between those two ideas felt a bit too jarring for my liking. But the dreamlike vibe made for a pleasant enough two hours, and the aqueous synth-driven soundtrack is by turns hypnotic and foreboding. Get this going on the JBL at your next beach day and really throw everyone for a loop.

Bamboo Data - Tone of Water, Colors of Sky

Unrelated to my Japanese movie binge, this crossed my proverbial desk (read: Twitter timeline) and I dug the mix of environmental music and pulsing rhythms. Bamboo Data is an alias of the Japanese producer Susumu Yokota, and this initially released in some kind of promotion with an old cell phone provider in Japan.

TRAXMAN - TRAXMAN vs Chick Corea Footwork Style Trackz EP

Six absolute heaters from the Traxman. Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Recommendation Corner:

READ:

Jesse Barron "Transference in the Afternoon" - unlike anything I've read, and something I'll be thinking about for a long time. You might need to rock with archive dot ph on this one

Mitch Therieau "Into the Right-Wing Dream World" - treats the AI-cum-Fascist nostalgia imagery of the modern right seriously enough to unpack what it might reveal about the American psyche

Alexander Sammon "The Worst Neighbor Ever" - a very human examination of how different people view neighborly duties, and of the futility of trying to be a force for good in the world

WATCH:

A New Love in Tokyo (dir. Banmei Takahashi 1994) - a tale of friendship between sex workers that's an unimaginable delight. I asked my friend Oren if he could source this for his Plex server but I'm sure there's a decent copy floating around online

Yokohama BJ Blues (dir. Eiichi Kudo 1981) - extremely hungover noir with a great "blues" (read: power ballad) heavy soundtrack performed by the lead actor Yusaku Matsuda. This one is on Tubi

The Man Who Stole the Sun (dir. Kazuhiko Hasegawa 1979) - absolute masterpiece and worth a deep dive if you want to read about it. By most accounts the first film to use humor to reckon with the consequences of the atomic bomb. Leonard Schrader co-wrote the screenplay and Kiyoshi Kurosawa was an AD. It's screening in 35mm at Japan Society in May for anybody who lives in NYC

Anguish (dir. Bigas Luna 1987) - Not Japanese. Nominally about a serial killer optometrist and I can't really say more without spoiling why this rips. Go in cold if you can