In 2026, I'm making a concerted effort to listen to more music and find new artists. As part of that, I'll write about two albums that are new to me and one classic I'm revisiting each month.
Tommy heavenly6 - Tommy ♡ Ice Cream Heaven ♡ Forever (2013)
What a ridiculous name for an album. I'm not gonna type it out every time. From now on I'm calling it Ice Cream Heaven Forever. I'm a bit of an outsider to Tomoko Kawase's cinematic universe, but I think the gist of it is that she releases music under two different personas: Tommy heavenly6 for edgier rock music and Tommy february6 for upbeat pop. This seems to be the last solo release she's done as either, and her band went inactive shortly after as well. So what does her swan song release leave us with? It's a spooky Halloween type beat. From vampire themed love songs to listing generally frightening entities Jay-Z style, the entire album is a bit comically themed, but she delivers each song with enough confidence that it's a whole lot of fun to listen to. Well over half of the lyrics are in English, too, making it pretty easy to get into.
Musically, I'd describe Ice Cream Heaven Forever as if there were a third band sitting between Black Stones and Trapnest in the Nana universe. If you don't understand those words, I guess I'd describe it as uhhh... Paramore with a dash of Evanescence? I dunno man, I'm a fucking weeb through and through. While there's nothing groundbreaking happening in any of the songs, there's a fun variety of sounds to keep things moving. From "LOVIN YOU"'s romp through a graveyard in a zombie flick to "Ash Like Snow"'s tragic love story, just about every track vividly projects an early 2010's music video into your head. Yeah it's pretty corny music, but I'm sick of pretending that corny rock doesn't kick ass.
Favorite Track: RUBY EYES
Parannoul - To See the Next Part of the Dream (2021)
It's the first post and I'm already cheating a bit. Truthfully, I liked this album when it was new enough to buy it off Bandcamp. Then I somehow forgot to listen to it for a few years. So we're gonna pretend it's new to me. Don't worry about it.
Hailing from South Korea, Parannoul's music is probably best described as shoegaze. But if you're like me and saw one too many shitty local shoegaze bands in the 2010's and swore off the genre, don't worry. This shit is a breath of fresh air. To See the Next Part of the Dream, their debut album, is certainly dripping with the dream-like atmosphere shoegaze often delivers. However, it's got garbage can cymbals to keep you from dozing off and bright synth lines to stop you from drowning in a sludge of gloomy guitar riffs. The lofi sound can a bit off-putting at first, particularly the aforementioned dumpster drum set and tinny vocals, but by the time you're a few tracks in, you'll be fondly remembering the days where 100 kbps was nothing to take for granted or when your brother discovered he can fit over 100 MP3s onto a single iTunes data CD.
Feelings of yearning and incompleteness lend themselves well to shoegaze, and this album is no exception. While I'm at a stage in my life where the lyrics of self-loathing, nihilism, and disillusionment don't hit quite as hard as they once would have (don't worry, I've got plenty of time to return to that), some of the songs still hit plenty hard. If you can believe it, "Analog Sentimentalism" is particularly targeted towards me. The opening of Extra Story probably best summarizes the band's disposition towards life (translated lyrics from their Bandcamp page):
And 21 years old, I experience frustration for the first time
23 years old, there's nothing left
25 years old, I surrender to the world
27 years old, just like the others
29 years old, I live in exhaustion
31 years old, my childhood self
33 years old, only traces of alcohol and cigarettes in the clothes
35 years old, I've already forgotten it
Despite the hopeless attitude of the writing, the overall composition and hopeful end to the album lift the overall message to something a bit less depressing. It's easy to look back and realize you've been near catatonic since entering adulthood, but eventually, you'll see the next part of this dream.
Favorite Track: Age of Fluctuation
Justice - A Cross the Universe (2008)
First off, if you haven't listened to Justice's Cross, what the fuck are you doing? Go do that right now. I'll wait. Jesus Christ... Released a year after Cross, A Cross the Universe is a live album accompaniment to a documentary of the supporting tour. I'll be honest, I've never watched the documentary. But god damn is the album good. This is the live album that convinced me live albums can be worthwhile (please understand, I would not hear Alive 2007 until several years later). I've longed to see Justice perform since the day I first heard this album, but I've yet to do so. Please don't die, Justice.
The beauty of A Cross the Universe is how perfect a snapshot in time it captures. It's 2008 again, mother fucker. Apart from a couple of tracks, Cross has aged unbelievably well. Almost unfairly so. A Cross the Universe, however. That's a fucking 2008 album. Listening to it now, you realize it's kinda ass to throw a shitty Metallica riff or Beastie Boys sample over some of the best electronic songs of all time. But in 2008? Everyone fucking loses it. I think I would have shit my pants. Most of the set holds up incredibly well, though. It has what I legitimately consider to be the best version of Stress, and just about every favorite from its source has been amped up with even dirtier saws. How did they do that? I'm getting my synth out of the closet right now.
A Cross the Universe is also a great example of how getting away from music streaming is beneficial to your health. "NY Excuse" from the show's encore is no longer available for streaming. It's greyed out. But I've still got the same MP3 files I bought in 2014. They can't take them away from me. I'm highlighting them in a file browser. I'm spinning them around. They're mine. Seriously, you can stop using Spotify. You can buy one album by a favorite artist off Bandcamp each month and pirate everything else and still contribute more to artists' livelihood than a thousand listens on streaming ever will.
Favorite Track: Phantom Part 2