hey y'all, long time no post. i hope this blog post finds you well amidst all the chaos happening right now. i'm doing well all things considered -- i've mostly been juggling between being exploited at the wage cage, drawing, playing games (hundred line my current hyperfixation), reading, watching movies, and just generally absorbing and marinating on life before i sit down and crank out work on a bigger personal project again.
quite frankly, i've never been a fan of summer. it gets disgustingly hot -- every year, i fight for my life to prevent my sleep schedule slipping into shambles and i lose track of the days. i joke to myself that i think instead of getting seasonal depression in the winter -- i get mine in the summer.
but funnily enough -- i associate the summer season the most with my NIGHTSHIFT OCs. a season filled with torturous, blisteringly hot days that are offset by the freedom that night brings for some of these characters -- i'm reminded of my hometown's orange and pink sunsets that indicate that the night is just about to begin -- of salty sweat offset by tempetuous, cool, sticky sweet treats like 7/11 ice cream or cut up canteloupes and mangoes. i didn't quite realize how often i drew my fave vampire trio at this time/lighting set-up til...well just this year.
ami, tocino, & carrion are MALIKMATA.
a compilation of my drawings of them together over the years.
anyways -- that's enough of a preamble of me rambling, here is a somewhat curated selection of some of my favorite songs that are in my rotation this summer. a wide variety of genres - some newer hits that are in contention for the annual discussion of what's that song of the summer. sorry not sorry; BROCKHAMPTON's SUMMER you will always be that song to me, but this year i'm proposing templuv's bad4myhealth. you can read more about the playlist cover and the tracklist below. nonetheless, i hope you discover a song or two you enjoy ~
about the cover art
a drawing of my OCs ami, tocino, & carrion from MALIKMATA.
earlier this year, my laptop of 5-ish years's GPU got busted and i lost a lot of random WIP files and sketches that i didn't post anywhere. i fortunately saved a majority of my files or at least had them archived around various websites/social media accounts that are easily accessible. but it had me feeling distraught at some of the WIPs i didn't get to save or showcase. it got me thinking, "wow maybe i do need to post more often even though i hate the current state of social media!" so hence here is this section, where i ramble a bit and share/showcase some of the WIPS for this playlist cover.
although i like how the current playlist cover came out, quite honestly - it wasn't what i had in mind originally. i made a summer playlist back in 2023 with a similar cover as well (that i never posted anywhere because summer seasonal depression yay!).
right before that summer, i visited the philippines for the first time...in the middle of their summer. i took some shoddy pictures for inspiration, and i liked this particular street corner in manila, so i edited it for this cover's background and drew my OCs over it.
so for this year's playlist, i wanted to change the cover up. originally, i made the character subject the members of a different band in my NIGHTSHIFT OC-universe.
sunday and sera from ANGELSHOT sporting day-time outfits they don't usually wear
although i like this drawing by itself and it feels reminiscent of summer with its vibrant blue tones and palm trees -- it doesn't quite yell summer to me. so i didn't go with this one.
a process gif of sunday and sera
maybe it's sentimentality or the irresistible urge to reheat my convex-mirror-fisheye-perspective-drawing nachos, but i redrew this concept with my MALIKMATA OCs with a golden hour-ish lighting scenario. and while drawing, i was immediately like "yup this is the cover". maybe another year or another season i'll find another set of OCs for a seasonal cover -- but this year is not that year i fear.
process gif of the playlist cover
about the track list
the tracklist handwritten by me
my music taste is all over the place, and i love it that way. i am that person people get annoyed at when they ask "what music do you listen to" and i say "everything". i grew up playing piano and whatever my school orchestra needed (or what i needed to play so i can dodge high school teacher periods i didn't want) , listening to car radio, and buying pop punk songs with itunes gift cards in my early teens.
it's a bit cliche, but if art is how we decorate space, i think of music as the decoration of time. i love music and in another life if i was not into art and games, i could definitely see myself pursuing a career in music media as a radio DJ or some editor at a magazine.
i would say that the first half or so tracks of this playlist are way more upbeat. a lot of hip-hop, alt rock, & hyperpop with infectious melodies and rhythms that have my head bouncing or headbanging in time with the beat -- energizing me with imaginary musings for my OCs while i do whatever i'm doing.
the latter half of the playlist slows down -- becoming a bit more contemplative; a little sardonic & bitter even. to borrow this metaphor from a comparison between the euphoria seasons (a show i have mixed feelings on), if the first half of the playlist is the party itself, the second half is sobering up from the party -- of wanting to go back home or youre on the way home or youre still stuck at the party & wondering why you bothered coming in the first place. the second half contains much slower, more intimate songs. again, a wide mix of genres, but probably leans towards contemporary r&b & indie rock. oh and charli xcx's party4u is there.
i like all the songs on this playlist, but to highlight the must listens & recommend musicians who i think aren't getting enough love:
- bad4myhealth by templuv is my pick for this year's song of the summer. the nostalgic radio intro, acoustic guitar riff scattered throughout the track, & the vocals are reminiscent of a lost 2000s boyband track while still feeling fresh -- yeah okay i am not immune to nostalgia.
- Loser by Julia Wolf is a banger. julia wolfe's latest project PRESSURE has NO skips. i contemplated putting other tracks on this like "in my room" which has been blowing up and how i discovered her work, but the metal guitar riff & hook of this track are SO sonically satisfying. as of writing this i'm praying that her tickets for a nearby show aren't gonna break the bank. please check out her project PRESSURE deserves so much love
- Professional Vengeance by Jane Remover i struggled to only pick only one(1) song from jane remover's latest project - Revengeseekerz...which is slated to probably be my fave album this year. i was stuck between this song and fadeoutz... if i broke my self-inflicted "1 artist per playlist" rule, i'd put fadeoutz on the 2nd half of this playlist for sure. idk what to say about jane remover that hasn't been said already -- jane remover is a generational talent. this track is bombastic -- fusing hardstyle electronic music with the intensity i love from hardcore/metal with an infection hyperpop-y melody all delievered with jane remover's swag. 2025 is the year for jane remover.
some other mmiscellaneous thoughts on some of the songs here. if i talked about every track and why i included it -- i think i'd be here all day haha. so here are a couple short thoughts:
- lol. by LeftAtLondon, Jedwill, & wishlane leftatlondon recently remastered her transgender street legend projects & it was sooo hard to choose what to include, but i LOVE this song. the production & vocal features are impecccable with wishlane's verse being the standout for me.
- one for the troops by ericdoa ericdoa was the opener for when i saw porter robinson last year & i absolutely LOVE his songs. this track is probably my favorite b-side off his latest project -- which is insane to say because all of his teaser singles for that project are incredible.
- OOH by SOPHIE i have mixed feelings on posthumous releases, but SOPHIE's estate handles her work with upmost care & respect -- so i feel incredibly gracious that there were 2 more SOPHIE slide tracks. this particular track is the pinnacle of pop -- bubblegum, vibrant beats with SOPHIE's signature production. R.I.P. SOPHIE -- a brillaint visionary taken from this world way too soon.
- RUMBLE by PALEDUSK (ft. Masato) is probably the track that's hardest to describe sonically. It is Bohemian Rapsody/Sicko Mode for people who are obsessed with The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (me). i discovered this track while playing the game, and i've been obsessed ever since. no spoilers, but the moment i first heard it, my jaw was on the floor and my eyes were wide open. i just sat there astounded -- taking all of the moment in. impeccable song - no notes.
- party4u by Charli XCX as a long time charli fan since VROOM VROOM, i am so happy for charli's rise in popularity and notoriety -- and people rediscovering this song years later. this is my favorite charli song hands down. it is conceptually and sonically profound -- phenomenal, emotional, and yet still a banger. i think if karaoke machines had this song, this would be on my roster.
anyways, thanks for reading this post. i have more blog posts i definitely want to create. there's some concepts in the oven, but i'm waiting on a couple things for them. some IRL events and some... for me to finish the hundred line since i think a route ending tier list blog post would be so fun for me and like 3 other people.
there will also (of course) be my end of the year wrap-up of favorite media from this year that i'm looking forward to because i had a lot of fun writing and creating last year's favorites list.
h.a.g.s.
- janel
i n t r o
janel.
they/them || ♑︎ || filipino
illustration and visdev.
loves their original characters, cooking, brutalist design, and halo halo
interested in creating works exploring the euphoria, humor, and devastation of the mundane -- whether it centers man, monster, or in between.