These tracks have been in regular rotation for me this summer, as they all have something unusual or intriguing that has hooked right into my brain. I hope you find something notable here too!
Father and Son, by Boards of Canada
As an album, I don’t feel Inferno quite works, as it’s both too long to maintain a coherent idea (over an hour!), and the individual tracks are not distinct enough to feel like the progression of an idea.
However, this one track Father and Son absolutely captured me, and I’ve kept going back to it since the album’s release in May. There’s something about the stylized pacing of the sampled voices, and the snippet of distorted voice that sounds like “miaow, miaow”, which has captured my subconscious. It plays over and over in my head, which is kind of a good thing! (If only the topic of the lyrics wasn’t such a bummer).
Fuck my Computer, by Ninajirachi
This was released in 2025, but I only discovered it last month. The first three tracks from the album I Love My Computer are all strong, but this one in particular warms my heart, as the melody reminds me of a dial-up modem connecting to the internet. This sound conjures more nostalgia for me than the more intentionally-nostalic iPod Touch, as I’m a bit too old to have those high school memories (my era is more Walkman tape player!).
I feel a bit conflicted about the message of this one, as I think it’s becoming increasingly easy to retreat into the safe cocoon of interacting only with your computer, and I see that being detrimental to people individually and to society. Still, Ninajirachi has said in interviews that the inspiration was her feeling of close collaboration with her computer while making music, and not talking to LLMs as I’d originally worried. So this is more like an ode to the feeling of communing with her instrument, which is a very common topic in music, and makes me feel better about surrendering to the beat.
Out of the Rain, by media puzzle
In some ways this track triangulates between the previous two, as much of the vocal is sampled dialogue like in Father and Son, while the band is Australian like Ninajirachi. I love how the newsreader samples highlight the musicality and rhythm in some voices, and how local news can have an inherent comedy to it even when covering serious topics. I also enjoy hearing a trumpet again—it seems like it’s been a while since 90s punk and ska!
But overall, I just love the energy, the construction, and the lyrics of this whole album. At 23 minutes it would almost fit onto a single side of vinyl, but that just means it doesn’t have time to out-stay its welcome. Every track is a gem! The eclectic collection of samples is delightful, such as the one linking Morse code transmission rhythm back to the horse theme. Since its release in April this one has been a regular play for me, and I can’t help but feel good after listening to it.