It is now the year 2020. This blog itself has been somewhat active for about a year and Hat Tracks have been posted on my linked Twitter for an entire year. One a day (on average due to inconsistent scheduling) bringing a total of 365 songs to enjoy.
And frankly I’m done with the daily thing. I’m still going to post songs on Twitter occasionally, but I’m not even going to try and do it daily. I’ll just share what comes up in my queue if I consider it good enough to display on a tiny pedestal for about a hundred people to see. Really, everything’s gonna chill out a lot more. I can’t afford stress in my hobbies anymore.
But it wouldn’t be right to leave the last two months of the year unwrapped, so here’s the final Hat Track wrap-up for November and December of 2019. Let’s get started on getting it ended.
Daily Hat Track: November 1 (Auralnauts – Deep Sea Adventure)
Deep Sea Adventure is exactly as described. From the first splash onwards, the song serves as a splendidly interesting immersive journey with a fun groovy soundscape bringing fantastical creatures of the sea to life in my mind.
Daily Hat Track: November 2 (Mazare & Essenger – Berserker)
I’ve been getting into a combos of rock and electronic especially with the harsher vocals displaying an emotion of determined anger and edginess. Anyway, here’s an example of what an edgy being as myself has been enjoying.
Daily Hat Track: November 3 (Crazy Astronaut – Slam)
I’ve shared the varied madness that is Funky $#!+ 2014 and the intense arm hurting danceable song that is Date, but neither of them are quite as trippy as the incredibly chaotic Slam.
Daily Hat Track: November 4 (Bliss & Ritmo – Od Daka la Mana (Pitch Bend remix)
I’ve expressed my adoration for Bliss enough for it to be well established that any recent song with him is worth mentioning. Though I just realized that another song by him was released recently so that’s going on my queue now
Daily Hat Track: November 5 (Infected Mushroom, Tuna & A-WA – Lost in Space)
You know, I wasn’t a huge fan of the combination of this particular Infected Mushroom song’s rap (like in Artillery) and non-English vocals (like in Send me an Angel) but it’s grown on me.
The other two are still better though.
Daily Hat Track: November 6 (Andy Hunter – One Motion)
Definitely a classic for me. It’s towards the end of Andy Hunter’s dance focused career but I so vividly remember rocking out to that build in the initial behind the scenes preview. Definitely brings back some good memories.
Daily Hat Track: November 7 (Gramatik, Ryan Shaw & ProbCause – Don’t Give Up)
I always like the mixture of picking apart the underlying dystopia in our society and sprinkling a little hope for change into the mix.
And the fact that Gramatik is a funky groove master seals this song as a solid experience.
Daily Hat Track: November 8 (Xilent – Particles)
Xilent’s most recent album (and by recent I mean half a year ago) ended with a lovely psytrance/psystep mixture that I found to be quite enjoyable. Always a pleasure to see artists I enjoy reach into genres I like even more.
Daily Hat Track: November 9 (Matduke – Forgotten Kingdom)
Interestingly Matduke’s Forgotten Kingdom was nearly forgotten, not even findable on Spotify as the Monstercat Christmas comp was for some reason unavailable. And so when Matduke reuploaded it I was really happy to see it again.
Daily Hat Track: November 10 (Memtrix Ic Yr Pain)
I see your pain. Except oddly abbreviated. And one’s pain isn’t always quite visible my friend. But hey, that’s just a slight vocal added into this badass bouncing DnB tune.
Daily Hat Track: November 11 (Feint & CoMa – Snake Eyes)
Snake Eyes is one of Feint’s most popular tracks as well as one of his best. Though maybe I’ve got a bit of a fictional bias as this song fits some of the characters I’m writing all too well.
Many songs do that though.
Daily Hat Track: November 12 (Ashbury Heights – Corridor)
Ashbury Heights’ slight delve into dubstep while still keeping up the prime existentialism is certainly a treat.
Got some slippery sloping towards nihilism in there and that’s something I strangely love.
Daily Hat Track: November 13 (Varien & 7 Minutes Dead – Mirai Sekai Continuous mix)
I’d definitely consider this to be an underrated masterpiece of an EP. The styles of Varien and 7MD work beautifully together and the continuous mix of the album serves as an experience of its own.
Daily Hat Track: November 14 (Carpenter Brut – Escape from Midwich Valley)
I’ve shared my favorite from the Brut already but I feel it’s important to note where it all began as well. Both in the sense of the first track off of Trilogy and the first song I had ever heard from him.
Daily Hat Track: November 15 (Solar Fake – Not What I Wanted)
Ok, so crumbling relationships aren’t my favorite subject matter in music (See Three Cheers for the Newlydeads review), but there are some RIDICULOUSLY catchy exceptions.
Unsurprisingly, this is one of them.
Daily Hat Track: November 16 (The Flashbulb – Gray Pill)
I always find it fascinating when I find a song like this with seemingly cryptic lyrics to tear into.
Not sure how I feel when it turns out the song is about a suicide pact gone wrong though.
Daily Hat Track: November 17 (David Crowder Band – Can You Feel It?)
Not really huge on worship songs these days, but there are some that have clearly had an influence on my taste over my life. This one’s a bit more electronic than most David Crowder’s stuff.
Daily Hat Track: November 18 (Colony 5 – Black)
Edgy love song but not in a toxic way, more in a goth gf way.
The best way
Daily Hat Track: November 19 (Aviators & Lectro Dub – Paralyzed)
Perhaps the catchiest of Aviators’ discography. I’m not sure if it’s the funky beat or the fantastic vocals in the chorus that draws me in. Probably both.
Daily Hat Track: November 20 (Celldwelller – A Matter of Time)
While I’ve found the structure of Celldweller’s singles as of late to be somewhat odd, he’s still on top of his game at providing that blend of electronic and rock I gushed over in my review of his debut album.
Daily Hat Track: November 21 (London Elektricity & Inja – Possible Worlds)
While most of the DnB tracks I’ve shared on here have been the more energetic, there are some, like this one, that are much more calm and soothing. Plus it’s got a bit of inspirational message telling in there.
Daily Hat Track: November 22 (Grendel – Cloak & Dagger)
I shared Grendel a good couple times a while back. Here we are again with Cloak and Dagger, a song exploring twisted and distorted modern morality. I have an unhealthy obsession with this topic…
Daily Hat Track: November 23 (5haus – Unfixed)
I’ve been sharing nothing but lyrically dark music lately. How about some cheering up with something that sounds equally dark but with a beautiful tint to it. Also a lack of existential lyrics helps keep the mood from sinking.
Daily Hat Track: November 24 (Noisestorm – Crab Rave)
? M ? E ? M ? E ?
No but seriously this was good funk straight from the beginning before everything was g o n e.
Daily Hat Track: November 25 (Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?)
Sometimes depression hits without any reason or warning and you just don’t know what to do…
Daily Hat Track: November 26 (VNV Nation – A Million)
A haunting beauty, perfect for late night meditation and introspection covering every struggle to occur upon the Earth.
Daily Hat Track: November 27 (Apoptygma Berzerk – Kathy’s Song (VNV Nation remix))
Somewhat continuing with the existential VNV Nation, here’s Kathy’s song, originally by Apoptygma Berzerk but remixed by VNV. And like some sort of songs I’ve shown previously, this song explores one’s ambiguous moral standing.
Daily Hat Track: November 28 (Sub Focus – World of Hurt)
I’ve been thinking a lot about the flaws of this world we live in a lot lately. Getting really existential.
Sometimes, that’s just my default state of mind…
Daily Hat Track: November 29 (1200 Micrograms – Acid for Nothing)
This fun psytrance tune is about lucid dreams and not drugs at all, why would you even think that?
Daily Hat Track: November 30 (Julian Emery & Dana Jean Phoenix)
Much of my life is synthetic. I’m interacting with said synthetic life right now.
Except this song might be demonizing such an idea so maybe I shouldn’t glorify it too much.
Daily Hat Track: December 1 (Danny Cocke – Thief of Time)
Thief of Time, eh? Sounds like a brilliantly dangerous thief to me, but I do have biases with my enjoyment of that title.
Regardless of the title, the song definitely draws me in through its layers of beauty.
Daily Hat Track: December 2 (Mire. – Bury)
Cryptic darkness and a calming twinge of vocal chopped beauty always makes for a good combination. Kind of feels like darker Glitch Mob if that makes any sense. Piano is nice too.
Daily Hat Track: December 3 (Ghost Rider – Felt)
Ghost Rider is becoming one of my favorite psytrance artists as of late. He gives out an enthralling combo of beauty and funk that I keep finding myself coming back to. And the topic of emotional balance draws me in deeper.
Daily Hat Track: December 4 (Walking AIndivisiocross Jupiter – The Truth was Revealed)
Walking Across Jupiter is a magnificent name for a band. And their music is equally magnificent, with some great blend of orchestral with some lovely guitar progressions. The glory of the song lives up to its lofty title.
Daily Hat Track: December 5 (Micah Ariss & Matthew Parker – Bring Me Down)
Rediscovered Matthew Parker a week or so ago via this Micah Ariss release. That name really brings me back to the Glowing Collision days of Andy Hunter.
But even without my most nostalgic artist backing him, Matthew holds up.
Daily Hat Track: December 6 (Laur – Sound Chimera)
Listened to this on the commute home a couple days ago. The sheer unpredictable chaotically energetic energy that this song displays should have probably gotten me arrested, considering how affected my driving.
It was 2AM tho
Daily Hat Track: December 7 (Indivision, Colourz & Jonny Rose – Time Traveler)
Have I ever mentioned how much time travel fascinates me? I’ve enjoyed building a world around it and consistently enjoy songs like this one involving the concept. Plus it’s DnB so this song is simply an instant win.
Daily Hat Track: December 8 (Varien & Tori Letzler – SOHEAVYSOHOLLOW)
Varien once again treads the line between darkness and light. There is definitely a beauty to this song’s call for peace and dominance over the shadows. But that doesn’t mean said shadows aren’t there.
Daily Hat Track: December 9 (Draper – Let’s Pretend)
This song has a sax
Sometimes that’s all I need
This song has a sax
It’s really the only reason I’m sharing
This song has a sax
You might not have noticed but there’s a particular woodwind I like
This song has a sax
Daily Hat Track: December 10 (I Will Never Be the Same – Skyhunter)
This song fits that great blend of rock and electronic but it’s quite nicely subdued, even when the syncopation comes in
Daily Hat Track: December 11 (Juno Reactor – Dakota (Undercover extended mix)
Starting off this spam with some hard-hitting psytrance. Much of the vocals are typical of the genre but I do have the urge to highlight that female solo towards the middle. Lovely piece.
Daily Hat Track: December 12 (Black Sun Empire – Obselete)
And here we have something a bit grittier and skin crawling. Slower and not quite in my usual comfort zone, this song does have an overwhelmingly intriguing emotion to it that keep some enthralled.
Daily Hat Track: December 13 (Rinzen – Renegade)
As with any good song on Mau5trap. The progression of this groove and the groove of this progression really tickles my mind a bit. I’m not saying it’s a work of art, but I am saying I’m having quite a good time with it.
Daily Hat Track: December 14 (Andy Hunter & Saint Louis – Moving On)
I haven’t been paying the utmost attention to Andy Hunter’s Presence Project as most of it differs a bit from the classical Hunter I fell in love with but the most recent volume seems to have some more upbeat variety.
Daily Hat Track: December 15 (Drop Frame & Annie Inkerman – Swim)
Am I drowning in the immersivity that is Drop Frame or am I perhaps drowning in reality itself? There’s a slight line of edge in here and that’s a sweet spot for me.
Daily Hat Track: December 16 (yh & Laura Brehm – Suppressant)
Not really in a position to sleep at all at the moment but I’m getting the vibe that it’s not my conscious self that needs to rest but the subconscious whispers that constantly threaten my esteem.
Daily Hat Track: December 17 (OBNX – Right Wing Death Squad)
The sound design of this one could stand to be a slight bit less harsh but there is definitely a hidden groove within there, especially in the second half.
Daily Hat Track: December 18 (Donbor & Crimson – Bleeding)
Quite a new song here from Donbor. While still chilly dark as usual, Crimson’s vocals now seal the deal with an edgy feel.
Daily Hat Track: December 19 (Infected Mushroom – The Messenger 2012)
Home to one of my favorite transitions in the entire Infected Mushroom discography. It’s when the entire song freezes up a bit over halfway through and then recreates itself from this frozen point that fascinates me.
Daily Hat Track: December 20 (Astrix – He.art)
He art is definitely a highlight of epitomal psytrance. Sure it follows all of the tropes, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the song to establish said tropes, but it was my introduction to many of said tropes.
Daily Hat Track: December 21 (Thomas Barrandon – Fragment)
So I’ll begin this final mad dash to the end of the year with something that’s simply a beautiful daze. A bit too soothing to be busy at 4:30 AM
Daily Hat Track: December 22 (Antti Martikainen – Kalevala)
Just a small little bit of epic orchestral cinematic rock
Only twenty five minutes long
No big deal
Daily Hat Track December 23 (Champion & Veela – Breathe)
Veela’s vocals are always gorgeous. Well executed vocal chops are always groovy. A good DnB tracks always has good energy. So it’s no surprise that this Champion track is full of gorgeously groovy energy.
Daily Hat Track: December 24 (Varien – MATRICULATED)
I’m not sure why I thought this song has to do with cheering or why it’s actually about academic acceptance but it’s certainly tripping me out whatever it is.
Daily Hat Track: December 25 (MASTER BOOT RECORD – Skynet)
Not only does this song consistently rock throughout, it also consistently accelerates in tempo and intensity up until the end. Some great fusion of metal and chiptune in this one if I do say so myself.
Daily Hat Track: December 26 (Killigrew – Otherworld)
Artists like Killigrew are masters of mixing the slight bit of darkness within one’s introspection into the overall beauty that is their music. I love it.
Daily Hat Track: December 27 (Andy Hunter – Tiny Planet)
I know it’s been barely any time since my last share of an Andy Hunter Presence Project track but I once again want to highlight Andy’s splendid return to the energetic technogical feeling I’d originally discovered him as.
Daily Hat Track: December 28 (Tut Tut Child & Kendall Morgan – Made It For Me)
Decided to peek back in the distant Monstercat past. I’d forgotten how much Tut Tut Child bangs.
Daily Hat Track: December 29 (Deadlock – Imagination)
This song didn’t catch my attention quite immediately despite hitting so hard and fast, but somehow the way it progressed really sealed up my enjoyment, though upon relistening the lyrics do raise an eyebrow.
Daily Hat Track: December 30 (EDDIE – Abandon)
EDDIE really meshes the chilling vocals, haunted atmospheres, pulsing basslines and rhythmic melodies into quite an experience in this song.
Daily Hat Track: December 31 (L Plus – Taking me Higher)
And to conclude the Daily Hat Tracks we have some DnB, my first favorite EDM subgenre. This one has a great energetic classical DnB feel to it. A fitting possible conclusion to this project…
And so concludes the Daily Hat Tracks. The playlist I’ve created over the past year is now somewhat complete. I say somewhat because apparently there’s a few day’s worth of songs that somehow didn’t make it into the playlist and as of right now, I don’t feel like trying to figure out which ones so I can squeeze them in there. I’m putting the Daily Hat Tracks behind me after all…
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4CIZYAQAzctqYqFG89HIv2?si=yWcT6WrvRbm4mArnqQgUbg