Infinite Playlist #4

Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil – “Cloud Atlas” (2012)

Compared to most albums I will cover, this is one of the few that have been with me for years. When it came out in 2012, I considered it to be one of the best film scores of the year. While I had a more complicated feeling around The Wachowski Sisters/Tom Tykwer film it’s attached to, there’s something to hearing a score that fully encapsulates its potential. To summarize, this is a story that spans multiple genres and timelines over the course of centuries in both past and future senses. To encapsulate every potential emotion that would come with that is difficult and I’m happy to report that Cloud Atlas (2012) largely captured that in ways that few bawdy auteur-driven films have even tried in the decade since.

Of the five timelines, there’s one small connective tissue. There is the “Cloud Atlas Quartet” that finds this melody appearing in different ways to these characters. It’s a largely spiritual experience, where you’re driven as much by passionate, emotional romance and frivolous escapades in a futuristic society. There’s so much on display in the score that I’m amazed at how well it all blends together, never shifting too far from the course at any time. It all balances in ways relevant to the theme, allowing for a crescendo at points to drop out, and what emerges is the central melody, grounding our entire existence in a few notes. It’s beautiful and simple in ways that only a composer can truly capture.

Given that this whole project is one of the most collaborative works I’ve seen, it’s amazing how this all came together. I’m still surprised that this music didn’t get more recognition during its time. Then again, Cloud Atlas feels like it’s been relegated to the status that most Wachowski films have in the past 20 years. It’s a cult classic that reveals the potential of what following your heart can look like. I personally think that what this score lacks in being a single mood it more than makes up for by encapsulating every feeling one can have in the course of an hour. It’s so beautiful, delicate, bold, hilarious, tragic, and completely hopeful of what humanity can achieve through perseverance. It’s not my favorite score, but revisiting it reminds me why I keep coming back to it.

L7 - “Bricks Are Heavy” (1992) 

As mentioned in a prior Infinite Playlist, I have been getting more into music scenes of the 90s. Following a successful experience with Veruca Salt, I was eager to dive into more Riot Grrrl and chose to finally give L7 a proper listen. There’s a lot to love about what little I’ve heard from them prior, notably “Pretend We’re Dead.” It’s the perfect deadpan song with great subtext about sarcastically being submissive. They’re loud and fast, bordering on grunge, and I also found plenty of their distortion to be reminiscent of what I loved about 70s punk. Everything about the band felt aggressive and desired to passionately scream their messages at you as quickly as possible. As a result, this record is such a quick thrill ride that I’m glad to have taken.

When entering the world of L7, I feel like I’m entering a protest to the mainstream, where you’re hearing women who are tired of being marginalized. There’s anti-war anthems blaring through speakers as voices grow hoarse. Like Veruca Salt, there’s still some sense that they have a pop sensibility, only it’s buried under an unwillingness to be direct about it. What’s here is so beautifully precise and has the angry, young energy that it becomes timeless with how it manages to convey complicated emotions in such a direct and digestible way. It breaks down the idea that women need to be pleasant or nice. They can be rude and call you out when you misbehave. 

Unlike most bands on here, I struggle to really discuss L7 less because they aren’t trying but because of how direct they are. They are definitive Riot Grrrl and it’s difficult to not know how they truly feel. I really need to dig into their catalog and appreciate more of what they’ve done. Unlike Veruca Salt, I don’t know that I’m as able to understand who the musicians are as individuals. Their music is more thematic, and less driven by personal experiences. Though what’s so wrong with that? Their ability to stitch together such a precise album like “Bricks Are Heavy” impresses me and I’m sure I’ll put it on next time I need a jolt of quick energy. 

Miley Cyrus – “Endless Summer Vacation” (2023)

I think that one thing I’ve grown to appreciate over the past few years are records about self-actualization. As the one person who loves Lorde’s “Solar Power,” I’m aware of what a mellow record can do to your soul. The ability to wade through those quieter moments of your life may open some deeper truths about where you see your life heading. As Lorde perfectly depicted, sometimes it may seem self-involved and ridiculous, but I’d argue having that earnestness allows for an honest conversation that continues with Miley Cyrus’ latest. While I don’t love it yet as much as “Solar Power,” I would consider “Endless Summer Vacation” as a record that I’m likely to put on every time I need to close my eyes and take a deep breath.

As the title suggests, Cyrus chose to make a record that is about finding independence and peace. The hit single “Flowers” perfectly shows how she’s trying to free herself of others’ expectations and become something more authentic. I personally love how candid she’s become with each new album, where even something as rooted in gimmickry as “Plastic Hearts” has this soul searching. Her voice has only grown richer and more confident over the years, and it especially shines here. I love that every song is breezy, finding her almost wandering around a resort and singing about what she sees. There’s so much passion as she contemplates having a frivolous affair in very explicit, youthful ways. You feel like she’s alive, having a joy that can’t be properly expressed through anthemic rock. It’s only through peace that everything clicks.

Like “Solar Power,” I understand that the immediate response is largely a disappointment. I’ll confess that my affection for the album only came after a second listen where I slowed down and met the music on its terms. Once I did, I was able to see the greater picture and recognize the ways that I need to slow down and appreciate what I have in my life. I’m sure this will be a record that grows in quality with subsequent listens, capturing me more willing to sit under those palm trees while the wind blows by and just be happy. This is a conflict-free record, and it’s exactly what I need right now. I don’t know that it will match how much I enjoy the Lorde record, but it does make for a good companion piece.

Kero Kero Bonito – “Time ‘n’ Place” (2018)

This is one of those cases where leaving your Spotify playlist going produced great results. Upon finishing a Nicole Dollanganger album, I found an hour’s worth of recommendations emerges. A lot of them were the familiar artists I had slowly grown more infatuated with. Then there was this left turn into electropop/hyperpop music that I’ve been craving. I recognize that Kero Kero Bonito has a wider pallet, but the track chosen had that sweet mix of beautiful vocals and chaotic backing track that allowed you to feel a pop song deteriorating before your ears. I had to give the whole album a listen immediately.

I’m grateful to say that “Time ‘n’ Place” is a record that is very much in my lane. There is something infectious about the way the singer is able to navigate an album that starts with these disastrous cuts and ends with a calmer tone of clarity. As dumb as it sounds, I am one of those people who enjoys it when a record annoys the listener, tricking them with skipping, glitching, and even a sense of incompletion. Of course, it needs to be artistic and intentional, but Kero Kero Bonito does it in such a way that it caught me off guard and kept me laughing each time. I think that given these songs hide insecurity buried in the lyrics, it all adds something wonderful that makes me curious to listen to more.

As mentioned, the back half feels like something more focused and clear. Given that it’s just as genre-hopping as the front, I don’t think it suffers. In fact, I’d argue there’s something beautiful about how the lyrics turn to something more direct. Songs like “Sometimes” benefit from her cheery vocals singing about how everyone deserves to be loved. By the final music, there is a transformation that makes you recognize the wonder of playing with form as much as they did. Given that their previous album has received more acclaim, I’m very curious to see if this is like Hyd and I’m witnessing the start of a new favorite. Whatever it may be, this is a cute little record that I’m happy to have found, even if by accident.

100 Gecs – “10,000 Gecs” (2023)

Even as I search for some great hyperpop records to fill my time, there is something to be said for those rare moments where you receive manna from the genre’s Gods. There is nothing like listening to a 100 Gecs record for the first time, if just because they’re as much a band defiling the idea of lyrical topics but also what can be a backing track. On this record, they sing about everything from the pitfalls of living in Hollywood to having teeth pulled and even the wonderful “Frog on the Floor.” It’s a neurodivergent world where everything is thrown on the floor and the listener has no choice but to pick it up and wonder just what this song was before it got broken under someone’s foot and reassembled.

I think what makes the record stand out more is how few artists are doing hyperpop this confidently anymore. Even as I find artists like Hyd, it’s clear that the glitching technique is more used to complement other forms of pop now. Nobody’s using pop-punk and ska hooks in such deranged ways, where the vocals distorting compliments a very bizarre nu-metal pastiche about murdering somebody. Whatever the world of 100 Gecs is, it’s one that I would love to visit more and try to understand because it’s unlike anything else. 

There are few records that are likely to be released in 2023 that have as much personality as “10,000 Gecs.” Even if there’s very little that is necessarily funny, I was constantly laughing at the surprises that are in store. They don’t all make sense and you may look like a madman playing this for your houseguest, but it’s nice to know an album like this exists. It provides a sense of where pop music could be headed, and one can hope it’s as candid about how confused it is about life as a concept. If we can get Adele to sing about having her tooth removed, then we’ll know that things are changing for the better. Until then, just press play and for 26 minutes enjoy the caffeinated headache that is this record.