Ruin It Forever

Kissy Sell Out “Go Explode”

Do you think this guy has actually accidentally lit a few girls’ hair on fire while attempting to flirt with them? I really hope this is not a case of “write what you know.” Then again, the clumsiness and anxiety in this song is so potent, it can’t possibly come from anything but lived experience. The lovely thing about this tune, though, is that he’s smiling cheerfully through his ridiculous awkwardness, and there’s a genuine optimism about his ability to overcome it, and actually have some sort of moment of triumph, even if that means making out with a girl without literally burning her.

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Lowell Brams “Dream About Vince Guaraldi”

Lowell Brams and Sufjan Stevens’ Music For Insomnia is a thing of jarring beauty that perfectly evokes varying states of exhaustion, restlessness, and distraction. Their more discordant compositions are the most immediate and unnerving in how accurately they simulate a sort of aggravated daze, but the more relaxed pieces capture the lovely moments in which waking life blurs into a dream world. The prettier bits are rather sleepy, but there’s never more than a few seconds of peace on the record. True to Brams and Stevens’ subject, the closer the music gets to a state of rest, the more inevitable it will be that noise and tension will jolt you awake, or just alert enough to not be asleep.

Buy it from Asthmatic Kitty.