Thrillville + Harlow

Most of the thoughtful post I was writing got deleted when Weebly logged me out, so I don't feel like it anymore, and it will have to wait while I write about something simpler to fulfill my weekly obligation to myself.

I haven't been strong enough to stop using Spotify despite my moral disagreements with it. I seriously considered transferring to Tidal or Qobuz, which pay artists slightly more, but their playlist size limits are even smaller than Spotify's, and that sacrifice isn't worth the essentially nonexistent impact that my boycott would have on Spotify. Anyway, as messed up as it is that Spotify's CEO has millions of extra dollars to invest in an AI military technology company instead of paying artists, I'm not opposed to AI military technology if it leads to more precise killing with less collateral damage and fewer civilian casualties. So I periodically check Spotify to see if some of the songs I wish were on it that weren't on it are on it now, and usually they're not, but sometimes they are. This year, I was surprised by the appearance of "The Ballad of Bandito Chinchilla" from one of the minigames in "Thrillville: Off the Rails."

Yes, I am embedding YouTube videos instead of Spotify links. Ironic. Anyway, it seemed like a long shot, but some hero had uploaded EPs of the original songs from both Thrillville games. I've never played the first Thrillville game, so I wasn't familiar with those songs, but "Emo Skater Girl" still packs some nostalgia because it's so 2006 that it sounds like a parody of 2006.

Just the other day, I squealed with delight when Harlow's underrated self-titled 1990 debut (and only) hard rock album showed up. I trawl far and wide for music, but I probably would be unaware of this album's existence if my dad hadn't owned it. I mean, I never asked which of my parents it belonged to, but I'm 99% sure my mom wouldn't have bought it. Anyway, I don't see eye to eye with my dad on much, but I like his taste in music. (It's also thanks to him that I'm so into Roxette, the Beatles, and New Age music, especially but not limited to David Arkenstone.) Harlow's obscurity is one of those cruel twists of fate that plagues this unjust purgatory in which we live. Every song on this album is a banger or at least a bopper. As is often the case, the opening track is the ultra-banger.