Though the site has slowly been crawling towards death over the past months through management shakeups and bankruptcy, last Friday saw the final end of new content on vice.com.
I worked at that site from 2012-2018, and despite the fact that it broke my body, mind and spirit, I genuinely miss the sense of chaotic possibility that VICE and its ilk presented to the wider world. Should 26 year olds be in charge of digital strategy for a multimillion dollar site? Absolutely not. But were we? Yes, for less than 30k a year!
If hiring the ambitious yet unqualified ultimately led to things like accidentally revealing where John McAfee was because our editors didn’t know how to wipe metadata, or not understanding how their own history of sexual impropriety made Women’s March merch super tone deaf, it also for better or worse led to a place where people wanted to make bold, weird, funny stuff, attracting (and often taking advantage of) young people who believed in a stranger future than their peers. It genuinely changed my life, I met my now-wife there, there are dozens of things that I think might be the best stuff I’ll ever work on – RIP VICE, my favorite media ponzi scheme.
Ironically, on the same day as the VICE announcement, I dropped a song with my ex-VICE colleague Kareem Rahma on the endlessness of content called “Content Machine.” The irony isn’t lost on us!
On to the new tracks! You can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
Les Savy Fav – Guzzle Blood
The world is a better place with new Les Savy Fav records in it. The excellent video from Superjail! creator Christy Karacas is a delightful bonus to this headbanging dirge from their upcoming LP OUI, LSF.
Flyana Boss – yeaaa
“yeaaa” seems to answer the prompt of what a Missy Elliott song for the TikTok dance era would sound like. From LA duo Flyana Boss, the track is bright, fun, and dripping with sugary, wiggling energy.
atlgrandma – thin ice
“thin ice” is a slacker pop Balearic dance jam that’s also lithe continental pop but it also has a distinct hyperpop aftertaste? Like the mystery flavor Airhead, it’s confounding but ultimately delightful.
Perennial – Minimalism
Imagine Black Eyes but timewarped into 60’s Swinging London and you’re pretty close on this post-punk raveup from Massachusetts. The track’s bright, lean production recalls the 00’s UK indie explosion, but the shout-y enthusiasm is pure house party.
RiTchie - Dizzy (feat. Aminé)
I was immediately caught off guard by the stuttering beat for “Dizzy,” the debut single from Injury Reserve/By Storm member RiTchie’s first solo LP Triple Digits [112]. Aminé’s verse about the worst of the rise-and-grind set is also a delight – “you the type to link and build at a urinal / your granny died you takin fit pics at the funeral”
throwback
Gui Boratto – Mr. Decay
Been on a big 00’s Kompakt kick lately, and I’m shocked at how incredible Chromophobia still sounds! “Mr. Decay” and “Gate 7” were always highlights, but the album’s resistance of easy sounds in favor of itchy textures and triplet/dotted rhythms rendered in pristine, crystal detail is a breath of fresh air amidst the danker sounds of 2020s hardware techno.