A reflection on live albums and the failing of this year community project

by Tarbeaux on Fri, Aug 11, 2023

When ferday doesn't participate, you know something's wrong

Each year, the vortex’s members are presented with a common activity to take part in and interact with each other. This activity essentially revolves around listening to music in a chosen theme. We had goat and guts, which tackled the birth of black and death metal with their most influential early albums. Or listening to Rolling Stone’s top 500 songs lists (2004 and 2021). Well this year’s goal was to listen to a list of the best or most important 147 live albums ever released from 1953 to 2020.

gigs

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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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State of the Vortex: Mid-year 2023

by Snyde on Thu, Jul 6, 2023

On and on it spins.

The musical stagnation of the 2020s is well documented around these parts. A quick look at the mainstream will tell you all you need to know, with no major developments since the hip hop boom of the 00s. Cultural footnotes such as dubstep, vaporwave, cloud rap and hyperpop certainly influenced the zeitgeist, but never gained a proper foothold. Thus, we stand at a point of complete cultural nihilism, doomed to repeat what has been popular or rebel against it, in ironic acknowledgment of its power.

SotV mid-year 2023

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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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