Electronic artist Makeup and Vanity Set is known for his cinematically dark soundscapes. What he’s not known for is creating dance-y beats with WARP records flavored spastic flourishes, which is exactly what he’s doing under the pseudonym daas. The latest release, Selected Early DOS, is a collection of recordings from 2000-2004 recorded in Murfreesboro and LA that reflect that certain kind of electronic music from the era.

There’s an insane pace to a lot of this that will drive you to madness if you aren’t ready for it beforehand but with that insight going in, you can easily enjoy this as the soundtrack to a tweaked out experience or frantic Rave scene. That’s not a disparaging comment – as the music induces a heightened state and I believe that to be the intention.

There are little bits and pieces throughout that denote the Makeup and Vanity Set “sound” that will emerge some 20 years after these recordings but it’s clearly, intentionally, a different beast of a project.

Last we heard from Jonesiii from the Moon was back in July 2017 with his album The Moon Is Watching Us (an intriguing spacey affair). Since that time he’s released a handful of new songs; the latest of which is “One Love” – now streaming over on Soundcloud.

Listen, I’m the last person that should be writing reviews of hip-hop as my musical vocabulary in the genre is certainly stinted, to say the least. What I can say is that this track is much more accessible than The Moon Is Watching Us but doesn’t shy away from some of the same lyrical themes as the previous album; it just presents them a little differently. The backing beat is borderline vaporwave but supports the vocal line from Jonesiii perfectly as it crosses between a crooning refrain and a smooth-yet-driving verse.

There’s something mesmerizing and meditative about the repetitive refrain and its delivery and I hope there’s more of it down the line.

Back on Volume 101 of the WOTT Music podcast we featured the song “Wynona” from The Daytona Machines and now it seems they’ve re-released their self-titled EP with a fuller sound, new sequence and additional songs.

The band describes them as “garage pop” which is fitting for a good majority of the tracks but undersells their diversity. “Wynona” features baritone sax for crissake! The new track, “King of the Road”, is a burst of anthemic energy complete with megaphone outbursts in the breakdown – a combination that will, surely, translate to a fevered pitch live.

Follow along on Instagram or Facebook – I suspect good things from these folks.

When last we checked in with Billy Anderson, he had re-released Billy Again Lately, a 1977 collaboration with R. Stevie Moore that hit all the right spots when it comes to DIY, slightly-off-kilter pop songs. Now he’s released Obstinato (Instrumental Encounters) and it’s a wildly different release.

Aside from the fact that it’s instrumental, the production and instrumentation here veers heavily into an almost Muzak zone. It’s borderline corny but entrancing with its variety. Tracks like Aylin Pearl are atmospheric and ambient, while Which Way to the Lido Deck? has a full-on beach resort vibe.

I can’t say this is for everyone but with track titles like Does God Believe in Atheists? or Step Away from the Bobbleheads, I have to imagine that Anderson has a sense of humor and embraces the production on these songs as a conscious limitation. It’s refreshingly different by being intentionally odd.

ONRI has been releasing music since 2012, with a decent hiatus from 2013 until now, with the release of Ephemera. The production here is thick and murky with the songs embracing an almost transcendental state of immersion. Each track is filled with spacey, squiggly guitars and vocals that feel more instrumental than instruction.

Are those bizarre adjectives to describe an EP of guitar based songs? Maybe but they’re also not inaccurate. This is a collection of songs best listened to with the lights low and extremely loud speakers to let it wrap you in its offerings.