Most aspects of the ongoing culture war don't strike me as important or real, but I will pick this one side: Spotify is a morally repugnant institution, and Wrapped serves only to reinforce their stranglehold on the industry. The hyper-analytical breakdown of listening habits misses the point of music by a mile. I'm not here to consume; I'm here to feel something, to partake & celebrate in the ritual of creation. If you vibe with this adage - and if you can enjoy loud, energetic flavors of electronic music - then you might find this retrospective to be worth exploring.

With cohost's shutdown on the horizon, I've been working on this blog a bit more fervently than usual. It now has an RSS feed (actually an "Atom" feed, not that it matters), so you can plug meow.garden into any feed reader and receive new posts alongside any other blogs you follow. Come along for the ride - RSS is cool and retro now!

I was introduced to Alexander Panos' Nascent earlier this month. Trying to describe a project of this magnitude in a way that captures its essential details without being reductive might be impossible. Here's what I can tell you up-front: no other album has taught me more about music. I think you should listen to it in solitude when you have a moment to spare. The rest of this article is my best effort to pinpoint those essential details.