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💿The Vinyl Reborn, Barber Beats, and Abandoned Railroads

Let's grab a handcar

David Nichols

May 9, 2022

Good morrrnnnninng friends! How are you this Monday morning?

Somehow we’re still having temperatures in the 60’s here - which is not usual for May.

It was a bit odd putting on a jacket this weekend. I can’t remember the last time I wore a jacket in May in Franklin, Tennessee.

HOPEFULLY - that means we get to wear jackets in October this year. Seriously, I’m tired of it being 85 degrees on Halloween.

Speaking of cold weather . . .

I marathoned the third season of Snowpiercer last week. It was pretty decent - not as good as season 2, but I’m definitely excited for season 4!

It was definitely better than the 4 Scream movies I watched. Seriously - it’s such a cheesy series.

Did you manage to get any of your crypto into stablecoins before the big drop?

Maybe it’s all Otherside’s fault . . . .

I’ve stayed “down only” as they say - hopefully this bear market won’t last too long. Maybe we’ll head into a 1-3 year long crypto winter. THAT would be kinda fun.

I’ll be honest - I'm curious to see how NFT’s do in a multi month bear cycle - and how the projects behind them survive.

If you’re looking to get into NFT’s - keep an eye on floor prices for projects. A lot of stuff is getting verrrryyy cheap.

Shall we dive on in?

Here’s some Kawaii Future Bass for some background vibes . . .

💿The Vinyl Reborn

For years - the Vinyl has kept creeping back into pop culture. Heck - you could say Vinyl is now mainstream again - especially with all the displays at Target.

PHYSICAL MUSIC IS BACK BABY - and it’s here to stay (for now).

If you want to get real indie - you can buy vaporware cassettes or floppy disks.

Thanks to vinyl’s resurgence - there’s a new demand for getting “the best sound” - whether it be from earbuds, headphones, or other tech.

Guitarist T Bone Burnett has created a new kind of medium - blending Vinyl and CD into one.

Aiming to surpass the playback quality of both CD and vinyl, one-of-a-kind Ionic Originals are created by painting lacquer onto an aluminium disc, which is then played via a stylus like a standard record. Burnett claims it is “the pinnacle of recorded sound. It is archival quality. It is future-proof. It is one of one. “Not only is an Ionic Original the equivalent of a painting, it is a painting.” (source)

Here’s what it looks like.

It reminds me of some kind of 70’s modern vibe - like that Golden record that was sent with the Voyager satellite.

Guess who the first artist to be recorded was?

Only the legendary Bob Dylan!

I really wish I knew more information about this intriguing “Iconic Original” format. How much will they cost? Are they meant to be $500+ paintings? or a superior replacement to Vinyl/Cd’s?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see - but for now I can’t find any other information about it.

In the meantime - if you feel like you need some dope vinyl or cassettes - go check out Pacific Plaza’s Bandcamp, business casual’s, or Sakura Lee’s page.

🎵Barber Beats

Long live Vaporwave - Vaporwave is dead.

Vaporwave has been around over a decade - and it’s no secret that the aesthetic is - well - old.

I love Vaporwave - but I also love 2015’s Skater Punk Vibes - but even I have to admit that the style is no longer in vogue as it once was.

The genres keep splintering - it’s hard to keep up with them all.

Vaporwave has proliferated into a ton of subgenres - from outrun to Mallsoft, and more.

Van Paugam argues that a new micro-genre Barber Beats is the future of vaporware.

To me it sounds like a more mature version of Mallsoft, but who knows anymore. The style tends to be heavy on bass and have a slant towards melodic, not chaotic, and typically doesnt sound like a warbled melted tape in a broken deck like much of what Vaporwave is known for embodying, much to the chagrin of the self-styled vaporwave community. Inspiration for Barber Beats comes from a wide variety of other genres like downtempo, trip-hop, lounge, world music, jazz, house, or just about anything. The open format for the style is a refreshing exodus from what Vaporwave was in the past. (source)

I wandered through some of the Barber Beats page on Bandcamp - and I definitely agree with the Mallsoft sentiment. Heck - I’ll take it one step further.

Barber Beats sounds like Mallsoft in the Backrooms.

Yes - THOSE Backrooms.

Hmm. Maybe Mallsoft in the backrooms elevator.

It’s a dreamy trancelike sound - like Mallsoft Lofi or something.

Here’s a few examples.

The album art is a lot of fun - like a combo of deathcore/sad emo rapcore aesthetic with vaporwave sentiments.

Here’s a variety of album covers that Van Paugam collected.

Aren’t they fun? A mix of washed out greek sculptures against bright colors and hard fonts.

It’s a really interesting genre - and I look forward to diving in and finding an album that I like.

Read more about Van Paugum’s take on the Barber Beats genre here.

Dive on into Barber Beats albums here and find one you like.

🚂Abandoned Rails

There are thousands of miles of abandoned railway tracks all over the United States. Rather than be used for cool urban exploration groups or an alternative way to travel, they lie rusting and rotting - an ode to the old days.

I don’t know about you - but I’ve always wanted to explore them, ideally with one of these.

That’s no old model either - you can buy a brand new handcar from the Kalamazoo Manufacturing company.

Build it yourself with a DIY guide for $49.95 + all the parts OR buy a fully assembled one for around 10K + a hefty shipping fee. Here’s the link

Wouldn’t it be fun to pack a bag, grab a handcar, and explore?

after ensuring they are actually abandoned, of course.

I discovered a website called “Abandoned Rails” that features maps of abandoned tracks all over the United States.

Greg Harrison - the website owner, is a software developer for BNSF Railway in Texas who’s always had a keen interest in railroads.

I've had an interest in trains for most of my life. When I was a kid and would be riding in the car with my parents, any time we would come up to some railroad tracks, I would expectantly look both ways at the crossing hoping to see a train. Unfortunately, I didn't grow up around a railroad track, so any time I did see a train, I was always excited. For some reason, anytime we crossed abandoned tracks, I would still look both ways expectantly, though I never knew what I was looking for. (source)

You can post comments about different locations, or email the website owner with updated information.

Here’s a description of the tracks in Maryville, for example.

These comments are VERY interesting - with many adding details about various rail lines and surviving tracks.

Heck - this site is a VERY compelling argument for why comment sections are still relevant to the internet. The amount of detail honestly makes quite a bit of Reddit look bad.

From the looks of it - there are quite a few abandoned rails enthusiasts - which is AWESOME.

It looks like they mainly hang out on Facebook if you just type in “Abandoned Railroads” - but not on Reddit. R/AbandonedRailways is the closest to an abandoned railways subreddit I can find - and it is not very active.

Someday - I’ll hopefully have the time to build some kind of portable handcar. I’d love to explore some of the abandoned Railways around Tennessee.

It’s like tubing down the river - but with a great upper body workout.

Go check out the Abandoned Railways site!

Abandoned Railways

🐙The Land of Random

Random Modanr. Modanr? lol

Nicolas Cage is the Sun

This is extremely cursed media

Clairnote SN

Don’t like typical music theory? Say no more. Clairnote is an alternative music notation system. If you’re a musician - it might mess with you a bit.

Clairnote SN

Latercam

Turn your smartphone into a retro-style point and shoot with this app. Take pictures (no previewing or editing) and get them “developed” into real pictures that you can get shipped straight to you.

Latercam

This AI Does Not Exist

Generate realistic looking code snippets/projects that don’t exist. at all. Honestly - you could give me a list of 10 Githubs and throw 3 of these in there - and I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference.

This AI is a lie

Insane Luxury RV

Somehow - this insane RV has a storage compartment for a CAR

Got Solitude?

This really fun site has a bunch of really fun little programs - like playing the alphabet song on your keyboard, a interesting little 3D chat box, a Wikipedia linker, and other stuff.

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