Artwork by Altj-Pop
A while back, while – as always – set on our perilous quest to explore unsafe sound territories, we stumbled upon a label called 1898music, a weird creature of mutating, cutting-edge sounds: hyperactive music (better defined as hyperwave) which is as closely related to digital culture, computer music, and Sophie as it is to abstract, conceptual noise. The key, to put in the label’s own words, is Nihilism, articulated via the very same ecstatic and erotic drive which characterizes Japanese legendary Merzbow’s Noise compositions:
1898 realizes that one must abandon noise in order to execute the Merzbauic Promise. 1898 traverses the fantasy of noise and claims that there is no mystery regarding noise. 1898 takes a surgeon’s knife and cuts the phantasmatic-enigmatic-ambient-phenomenological element of noise by intensifying many aspects of the noise, EDM and post-Internet music legacy via confronting musicality as a fiction and object of Acceleration. 1898 is a unilateral noise and annihilation of the possibility of (sound) art. 1898 is the purest form of Scientific Merzbauic Nihilism.
After a few days of sincere astoundment and binge-listening to the DJ Melania 666, Alt-Jpop, and DJ Tony aka Toni tracks, we decided to get in touch with the label through one of its artists, i.e. Alt-Jpop, which we then discovered being Antonio from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the very mastermind behind the 1898 outcome. Via the Alt-Jpop project, Antonio released a massive amount of saturated, lollypop bangers such as this, teasing digital lullabies such as this, and ultra-accelerated, astonishing, post-anything mixtures of sound art, EDM, bass, and PC Music (the label) such as this. The main influence, of course, is J-Pop:
I’m interested in J-pop; after many years of following the genre, I thought it was going to evolve into something else, but at this point, it’s all future bass/EDM without risks or feel-good toy piano core. What I’m trying to do with my project and with 1898music is to offer a slightly more extreme and offbeat version of it, or at least let me be influenced and inspired by J-pop. Still, there are some good unconventional Jpop tracks, you just have to dig deep.
GUESTMIX#54 by Alt-Jpop offers very meaningful insight into the 1898music concept, and on underground Internet music in general, which is managing to completely detach from any form of reality by the means of terrorizing incursion campaigns into mainstream Pop music, conceptual abstractions, and devastating rhythm explosions – all highly representative of our current society, and for this reason worth your interest and curiosity. Push the button!
Follow Alt-Jpop on Soundcloud, and 1898music on Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
Alt-Jpop – From Mongolia to Korea (unreleased)
DJ Melania 666 – CASTLE III; auto-accelerative movement of the Spirit departs from Mongolia; 新朋克
SATSUKI – 사츠키는 인성터진 씨발년이고 ! 한국사람은 돈 존나 밝히다가 돈독올라서 뒤질 개시발 사기꾼새끼다 ! _ W 한국사람
DJ Melania 666 – NAOMI-chan (sicc of everything) [feat. Alt-Jpop and Where’s Naomi-chan]
DJ Melania 666 – CASTLE VI; A KISS TO BIANCA; time 2 say goodbye— feat. Alt-Jpop (unreleased)
Golin – Momoko
kimmineralwater – I’m bad but u still luv me
FREEMAKIM ft. Jvcki Wai [Prod. shutupkimki]
Alt-Jpop – RESET (unreleased)
valknee – 伊豆の映画祭に行く男女 ALT-DEMBOW EDIT by Alt-Jpop
Yourbeagle – 롯데 프리미엄 아울렛 기흥점ㅣ김미정
DJ Melania 666 – CASTLE II; a?=b?=c?; 城堡._1
Odonbat & MO – Чам руу 2-U ft. NMN (Official Video) [Z& Club]
Alt-Jpop – Naive
DJ Melania 666 playing an acoustic song 4 u and some Chinese lessons 4 u :)?????
Alt-Jpop – WHO IS ALT-JPOP? A TOURIST AND AN EXCELLENT HUMAN BEING
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We are a non-profit organization registered in December 2018, operating since late 2015 as a webzine and media website. In early 2017, we started our own event series focused on arts, experimental, and dancefloor-oriented music. We reject every invocation to “the Future” meant as the signifier for capitalistic “progress” and “innovation”, fully embracing the Present instead; we renounce any reckless and ultimately arbitrary division between “high” and “low”, respectable and not respectable, “mind” and “body”; we support and invite musicians, artists, and performers having diverse backgrounds and expressing themselves via variegated artistic practices.