šæThe Vinyl Reborn, Barber Beats, and Abandoned Railroads
Let's grab a handcar
Good morrrnnnninng friends! How are you this Monday morning?
Somehow weāre still having temperatures in the 60ās here - which is not usual for May.
It was a bit odd putting on a jacket this weekend. I canāt 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, Iām 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 Iām definitely excited for season 4!
It was definitely better than the 4 Scream movies I watched. Seriously - itās such a cheesy series.
Did you manage to get any of your crypto into stablecoins before the big drop?
Maybe itās all Othersideās fault . . . .
Iāve stayed ādown onlyā as they say - hopefully this bear market wonāt last too long. Maybe weāll head into a 1-3 year long crypto winter. THAT would be kinda fun.
Iāll be honest - I'm curious to see how NFTās do in a multi month bear cycle - and how the projects behind them survive.
If youāre looking to get into NFTās - keep an eye on floor prices for projects. A lot of stuff is getting verrrryyy cheap.
Shall we dive on in?
Hereās some Kawaii Future Bass for some background vibes . . .
šæThe 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 itās here to stay (for now).
If you want to get real indie - you can buy vaporware cassettes or floppy disks.
Thanks to vinylās resurgence - thereās a new demand for getting āthe best soundā - 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 āthe pinnacle of recorded sound. It is archival quality. It is future-proof. It is one of one. āNot only is an Ionic Original the equivalent of a painting, it is a painting.ā (source)
Hereās what it looks like.
It reminds me of some kind of 70ās 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 āIconic Originalā format. How much will they cost? Are they meant to be $500+ paintings? or a superior replacement to Vinyl/Cdās?
I guess weāll have to wait and see - but for now I canāt find any other information about it.
In the meantime - if you feel like you need some dope vinyl or cassettes - go check out Pacific Plazaās Bandcamp, business casualās, or Sakura Leeās page.
šµBarber Beats
Long live Vaporwave - Vaporwave is dead.
Vaporwave has been around over a decade - and itās no secret that the aesthetic is - well - old.
I love Vaporwave - but I also love 2015ās 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 - itās 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 - Iāll take it one step further.
Barber Beats sounds like Mallsoft in the Backrooms.
Yes - THOSE Backrooms.
Hmm. Maybe Mallsoft in the backrooms elevator.
Itās a dreamy trancelike sound - like Mallsoft Lofi or something.
Hereās a few examples.
The album art is a lot of fun - like a combo of deathcore/sad emo rapcore aesthetic with vaporwave sentiments.
Hereās a variety of album covers that Van Paugam collected.
Arenāt they fun? A mix of washed out greek sculptures against bright colors and hard fonts.
Itās a really interesting genre - and I look forward to diving in and finding an album that I like.
Read more about Van Paugumās take on the Barber Beats genre here.
Dive on into Barber Beats albums here and find one you like.
šAbandoned 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 donāt know about you - but Iāve always wanted to explore them, ideally with one of these.
Thatās 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. Hereās the link
Wouldnāt 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 āAbandoned Railsā 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 whoās 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.
Hereās 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 āAbandoned Railroadsā - but not on Reddit. R/AbandonedRailways is the closest to an abandoned railways subreddit I can find - and it is not very active.
Someday - Iāll hopefully have the time to build some kind of portable handcar. Iād love to explore some of the abandoned Railways around Tennessee.
Itās like tubing down the river - but with a great upper body workout.
Go check out the Abandoned Railways site!
šThe Land of Random
Random Modanr. Modanr? lol
Nicolas Cage is the Sun
This is extremely cursed media
Clairnote SN
Donāt like typical music theory? Say no more. Clairnote is an alternative music notation system. If youāre a musician - it might mess with you a bit.
Latercam
Turn your smartphone into a retro-style point and shoot with this app. Take pictures (no previewing or editing) and get them ādevelopedā into real pictures that you can get shipped straight to you.
This AI Does Not Exist
Generate realistic looking code snippets/projects that donāt exist. at all. Honestly - you could give me a list of 10 Githubs and throw 3 of these in there - and Iām not sure Iād be able to tell the difference.
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.
Fractal Wood Burning is Scary
Letās make pretty wood pictures with HIGH VOLTAGE. Nah fam - this stuff is nuts. I had no idea people did this but itās insane.
Hide Pictures in Pictures
You get sent a picture - but thereās actually another picture within the picture. Fascinating stenography tricks!
šµTikToks You Canāt Miss
Iām not sure what this dude is ready for - but neither Zombies nor Vampires are getting him.
Dang it. Not another Diet Coke
Summer 2016 was a sick vibe ngl
Me too man. Me tooooo. no more Whole Foods for me
Hahahahaha. When you have a Jedi Robe. Well . . .
If I ever go on a serious adventure - Iām getting rescue insurance
Thatās all for this week! See you next time :)
Nice issue Dave!