Strawberry Road to Madness: A Hellish Stroll Through the Reliquary

by strawberrydeluxe on Mon, Aug 7, 2023

Never go full reliquary

It is July 29, 2023 as I write this, which means I’m a few weeks out from a year in the Vortex. I was lured in by talk of “music spreadsheets” and “trying to grow the community”, and those certainly are two things one could say about the Vortex. I might describe it more as “a place full of assholes who bully each other for enjoying music” but to each their own.

top25 reliquary

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Comfy Synth Dumpster Dive

by Planex on Tue, Jun 6, 2023

Sometime an interdimensional gnome needs a rest

You’re a gnome having a picnic with another gnome, your friend brought cheese and crackers. He explains a wonderful recipe for a mushroom stew. After a while, you part ways and walk along the gentle flowing stream, past the meadow, back to your cottage, where you enjoy a nice glass of wine before bed. This is the mental space you need to be in for comfy synth. If you don’t already understand, click off this article now, this will not be for you.

doot gnome planex

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The 2022 retrospective of non-2022 albums

by Tarbeaux on Tue, Jan 31, 2023

It was better before

Over the past year, I have found myself increasingly disinterested in new music. The decline in quality that began in 2016 has continued, and the impact of two years of COVID-19 has only exacerbated the situation, with many live shows and bands being affected. Few albums seem to garner both critical and popular acclaim, and those that do are often not particularly innovative or exciting (looking at you Black Country, New Road - Ants from Up There and Chat Pile - God’s Country).

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Why 2022 was actually a great year

by Snyde on Mon, Jan 16, 2023

As long as you avoided music released in 2022

The game has changed. I followed my own advice from last year and listened to even less current music and even more music from past years and I couldn’t be happier. I watched my vortex comrades commiserate as they forced themselves through yet another goregrind, business casual, drum ‘n’ bass release as I merrily ignored 2022. There are too many things I want to listen to, too many discogs to run, too many lists to peruse and waaaaaaay too many reliquary picks.

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