Hello everyone! ＼( ･_･)
Thank you for your patience! I’ll be honest – this update has been “ready” for a while, but I didn’t want to come back after months and months with just a simple update, so I kept adding little things – as time went on, I felt like I needed to change things around even more, and you can figure out the loop that I ended up in. With all that said, it’s here, and I think it’s a pretty cool update :P
I’m happy that I’ve been able to work on zona.plankton (somewhat) consistently for the past year and a half, and the reception has been wunderbar. I’m truly thankful for your messages and inquiries! This is my biggest project so far, and I’ve put a lot of love into it; hopefully I’ll continue to do as such. I have bright plans for the future.
As far as this update goes, the Umihara Kawase theme is one of my favorite additions. If you’re not in the know about what it’s based on, it’s this marine, phyiscs-based platformer that first came out on the SNES (!). I found out about it on accident many years ago, and it’s been one of my favorite games ever since. I really encourage you to play it. Here’s what my friend André has to say about it:
– André
Check out this longplay for a peek. If you want to do some further digging, there’s also the UmiharaWiki. BOOYAH!
Shinichi Atobe - Butterfly Effect • listen
My recommendation for today is Butterfly Effect by Shinichi Atobe.
It’s a very smoky record. Over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate it in a lot of unexpected ways. There’s a specific sound palette here – these ever-so-slightly quantized synths in unison, marching stuttered snares, the breathing & living hiss – it’s hard to describe, really, but it’s a type of analog that you rarely hear.
Even as far as structure goes, it’s very self-assured. Free Access Zone 1 has this meditative noir ambience, and after it lulls you in, there’s this huge GONG of a title track – the hi-hats are so sinus-clearing it stings! — and it feels like how any late night meanderings in a big city should feel like. A square person would systematically intersperse the noisier tracks with the more palatable minimal techno-ish songs, but Mr. Atobe had the clearer vision.
It feels even more mystical when you realise this was his first release in 13 years (!), after a 2001 EP on the Chain Reaction label (which is also nuts – your first EP being co-signed by the Basic Channel guys?!). At that time, no one knew anything about him or how the music came to be.
This album was a late night headliner for me when I was in highschool. I was big into microhouse back then. I used to listen to it while studying, writing, organizing, laying in bed, and maybe my personal favorite, waiting for something; feels mighty vague describing it that way but, at the time, I had just found out what a wonder of human arrangement scheduling was, so I used to do it for everything. It brings me back to a special friday where my parents ordered pizza — I was reading about retro games, waiting to play Fallout 2 at 8PM, all while listening．．．
VERDICT: an alien Wong Kar-Wai’s bokeh.
Mr. Atobe’s discography is packed with gems like this, so start listening! ♫♪(˙‿˙)♫♪
Collection of Interesting Words
I’m writing this part of the post right before making the update live.
It’s been tough recently, hehe. I’ll spare the boring details. I really wanted 2024 to have a extraordinary start, but it sort of slipped right through me. I’m certainly smarter than I was before… I should put it to good use.
When it comes to the things I’m working on, I have a policy for secrecy that I dilligently follow. A lesson learned from when I was younger: I would get so excited about some random project idea, talk everyone’s ear off about it, then forget the entire thing in two weeks.
I hold it together pretty well now. The problem with that is that when I say I’m working on something, it’s hard to even know what I’m talking about. Could be a cooking book or whatever. So for once, I’m telling you a few of my current projects. No dates for anything though – we need to keep some discipline…
I’m currently actively working on:
two albums;
one EP;
a short comic (one-shot);
updates for the website;
your requests;
general illustrations (been a while!)
This is what’s tangible for now. I’ve been practicing a lot of cool crap like animation too – whatever! I’m indulging at this point!!
If you’ve ever enjoyed anything I have ever made, first of all, thank you very much, second of all, you are NOT prepared for anything that has yet to come out. I am at nowhere else but the start. Over the past 10 or so unreleased blogposts that went straight to the bin; the occasional tweet updates, and any other form of communication that I could possibly have with you, I have been DYING to express this in the single most earth-shattering way possible. What I realized just now is that saying it really does nothing, and I’m Stupid. I don’t care. I don’t care if I read this again in a week and faint from embarrassment! I feel it in the marrow of my bones!
THANK YOU!
As a closing remark, if you have website issues, questions, suggestions, messages, or anything that you’d like to shoot my way, we have an e-mail now at contact@zonaplankton.net. It doesn’t have to be a professional e-mail or anything; as the name suggests, it’s just a general (and to be honest with you, the best) way to get in contact! I look forward to seeing your messages (*･ω･)φ__ ✉
I hope you have a nice day.
I’ll see you soon 〠
Signed, with love,
noo.dll__〆(￣ー￣ )
see ya!