Windy's Monthly Mix: February '26
So 2025 was a hot steaming pile of shit! I'm not gonna tell y'all why, you all been there! And wow, this year didn't look any better either from the looks of it so far. Western imperials do what war-hungry cunt does and my country want some of that action for some fucking reason while everything crumbles apart. Like, sure, let's join the "Board of Peace" headed by the causal of unpeace itself, then our president wants to be the mediator between Iran and US while you can't even provide a good school lunch program. And worst of all, most people don't give fucks about this, they hate Iranians and just spend all their energy killing queer people instead. Wonderful.
But, enough about fukin woke politic nonsense, we're here for the music! And so far, things are looking very exciting. New Mitski & By Storm album came out and I need to check on those. New underscores pop-centric album is on the way, and more to come, I suppose. More importantly though, I really need to get myself back into writing. My brain feels like mush getting out of such terrible year. It's not gonna be easy with how tired I get after work, but hopefully I can get consistent at this.
of Montreal - Aldhils Arborterum
So this is one of two used CDs I got because I was curious of this band being on Polyvinyl's roster. This is their last album on Kindercore before that label collapsed (alongside many life events of leader's Kevin Barnes) and proceed their move to that label. It's considered by many to be the band's least interesting work within their colorful discography, especially considering this is preceding their transition into the glam-rock inspired sound ala Prince with future album (we'll get there). But honestly, maybe this is speaking as a oM newbie, I enjoy this one a lot. It's a simple collection of breezy, poppy songs about little stories or aspects of life and sometimes that's all you need in life. Whether it's about the looming doom of aging and death coming to us one day on "Old People in the Cementary", the joy of sharing and mingling and how much you miss it on "Pancakes for One", or "An Ode to the Nocturnal Muse" which is just a song about why sleeping is the greatest invention since fire (which is true, yeah), Kevin and his mate did greatly here, it feels like strolling thru your neighborhood seeing all these events in front of you.
favorites: Old People in the Cementary, Isn't It Nice?, Jennifer Louise, Pancakes for One, An Ode to the Nocturnal Muse, Natalie and Effie in the Park,
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
But when you're talking about this band, this album will be the very first thing that comes up into discussion as the band's best material and Kevin's peak at their pen and music game. This was written during his time in Oslo, Norway, detailing his mental breakdown and boy you can tell with it's opener, which was them struggling with identity crisis and breaking down their past idea of romance under his relationship with their wife at the time. That's the main strength this album has, the contrast between the whimsical instrumentations and the dark, though still witty lyrics. "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" is basically them being in a circus show, begging for their brain juice to not fuck them up, at least judging by the music under it. "Gronlandic Edit" has some sickass bass with lines like "physics makes us all us its bitches" while battling with their nihilism. And then "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" just spelled out their condition writing this album. But all this culminates to "The Past is a Grotesque Animal", a near-12 minutes song that becomes the album's centerpiece, delving into Barnes' headspace at their edge of insanity, realizing fucked this relationship gets and , which slowly transitioning into their glam-rock alter-ego, Georgie Fruit, "a black man in his 40s with a gender-bending glam-rock past." Which uhh, yeah, definitely a character that should be masterminded and acted by some white bi dude from NOT Montreal. So how did his strange adventure begin? By rejecting some (bi?) girl at a bar named Eva, then called her a fag because she lacked the rizz. Yeah, Kevin was known to be a dick during this part of their career, and this song kinda shows (to be fair, they did later apologize about this character, albeit a decade plus after this album, in response for the follow-up of this album lol). Though the idea of this fucker rejecting some girl this way is kinda funny and why on earth you got to make the hook so god damn catchy to sing. Fuck off! At least the next song ain't this assholeish, "Faberge Falls for Shuggie" is him embracing the sexy funk, love their vocals in this, so spicy. Also they teased their next two release after this in the outro, the next studio album "Skeletal Lamping" released a year after this album, and the EP "thecontrollersphere" three years after, nice. Fruit gets fruity and cocky on "Labyrinthian Pomp". No more sad & helpless Kevin here, they fully embraced the Prince energy, showing off how much pussy he has accrued unlike you losers! But, oop, he comes across, a rejector! And he can't just hit her back, even if it pissed him off, okay maybe I'll pay this other girl, no no no I can't just do that!! The album at least ends on a more introspective note on the closer, despite all of the burned ashes they produce within this album, they accept the complexity of their identity, which, given that one of the way they coped was with this Georgie Fruit character, is pretty fucking hilarious. Alright, let's all meltdown together after this ride, and clean it up, geez. Good times.
favorites: Suffer for Fashion, Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse, A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger, The Past is a Grotesque Animal, Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider, Faberge Falls for Shuggie, She's a Rejecter
underscores - Do It (Yves remix)
underscores has been on a goddamned hot streak lately with this album cycle and she kicked off this year by fulfilling her dream with finesse. Not only that the original song (and video) was already inspired by K-pop makes this collab make sense, but it's also stands out from the original in so many ways, which is usually the achilles heels on remixes or alt versions like this. The original's backing is more focused on the beat and the buzzing wubs, while here there's a higher emphasis on melody with the synth lead present throughout the song. Her singing is higher here, presumably to match Yves later on the chorus & second verse, which, fits like a glove here. And that bridge and the last chorus is so good, the buzz on the latter especially is so infectious. As a long time fan (Dec 2018!!!), I'm glad so many people became aware of her music with this crossover. She has come a long way since the first time I come across her on bitbird and she's only getting better since then.
FLAVOR FOLEY - Ego Renegade Boy [single]
This song should be written as the definition for "deadnaming" on the queer dictionary, the girls straight up run with the "killing your past" trope at it's most extreme, or at least, its most obvious conclusion, through the story of transmasc Kagamine Len. From depicting the story as a murder case of "the daughter", his pre-transition self. Reference of parents mourning their mutilated, transified child, while their current, happier self facing death threats with energy and attention tenfold compared to the mourning and "care" for "their daughter". There's a lot of details both on the music and the visuals that really enhance this anthem more and more, far more I can list or even notice during my first few listens. Like how the bloods in the chalk outline was placed on the pelvis, referring to trans men criticized of sacrificing their motherhood, fertility, etc. I didn't noticed that before! Or with the "did you know her?" line, which, I don't think bears explanation, do you really know your child, mom? I'm not transmasc in anyway, so this song is a good learning & reminder of their struggles. And considering that their experience are nowhere near as prominently brought up within the community as they should be, I'm glad this song exist, being as big of a banger as it is. Congrats on your transitioning, Len!
Ninajirachi & daine - It's You (underscores' "It's U" remix)
"the concept of spoiling the name of ur new album in a remix of ur bestie's song" - @boysaliarpt3 on Twitter
Well, here's a surprise: one of my favorite artists remixing a deep cut from my 2025 EDM album of the year, turning the electropop bop to an absolute brostep banger with some fucking nasty wubz on the second drop. Good shit.
underscores - Tell Me (U Want It) [single]
Last single for the album, titled "U", and with the tracklist revealed, the album's intro. Interesting, consider that this is very lowkey compared to her last two starting off with an explosive opening. Not complaining though, this is still very catchy in amidst of the buzzes & textures. I love singing "tell me u want it" it just never gets old. And that outro is so cool, though I don't know if it's a good transition to "Music", guess we'll have find out when the album came out.