Rising Star
PREMIERE | Balloon Ride Fantasy Releases 'Arcadia'
New wave pop flavored with dance energy
07.05.2018
Balloon Ride Fantasy, a synth-pop/new wave band, premieres "Arcadia," a dreamy pulsing tune inspired by fantasy fiction and pop nostalgia. "Arcadia" is from the band's BRF EP, dropping July 20.
Made up of Chris Olszewski (lead vocals, producer), Phil Conley (guitars, synths), Bethany Conley (vocals), Brad Schneider (bass), and Jordan Wood (keyboards, synths), Balloon Ride Fantasy has shared the stage with The Chainsmokers, Chvrches, and Metric, as well as opening for The Naked and Famous at the Feed More Festival. In addition to music, Wood has appeared on HBO's Mindhunter, and NBC's Downward Dog.
"Arcadia" kicks off with coruscating synth layers leading into a new wave pop tune. Olszewski's textured timbres pervade the lyrics with gleaming sonic hues, as Conley's background vocals finance smooth sighing harmonies akin to gossamer tendrils. A simmering sax solo infuses the tune with taut harmonic pigments.
The rhythm of the track takes on an electronic dance momentum, infusing the music with a pulsing, driving energy. The combination of new wave pop flavors and dance brio gives the tune chic stylish tinctures of oomph, especially on the swelling colors of the chorus.
Shot with Ridley Scott-like interplays of dark and light, the video was filmed at Pittsburgh's famous hot spot, Evaline Party House. The visuals depict an initiation party for a mysterious cult, governed by a lioncorn, which is a hybrid of a lion and a unicorn. Mannequins, masks, and glow sticks saturate the video with fantasy ambience.
With "Arcadia," Balloon Ride Fantasy integrates creamy new wave flavors with the pulsating vitality of electronic dance. The result is a yummy concoction of stylish music.
Follow Balloon Ride Fantasy on Website | Facebook | Instagram
Randy Radic is a Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.
Music Features
On This Day: Hip-Hop Forever Changed America
Happy birthday to the world's biggest genre
08.11.2020
On this day in 1973, Clive Campbell, the Jamaican-American "selector" known as DJ Kool Herc, hosted a "back to school jam" at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in the Boogie Down Bronx of New York City.
Armed with a booming sound system and reggae beats, Herc– a shortened nickname for "Hercules"– commanded insatiable audiences across the South Bronx with his unique looping technique called the "Merry-Go Round." "[I knew that] they were waiting for this particular break," Herc later said, "and I got a couple of records that got the same break up in it. I wonder how it would be if I put them all together."
<p>The subtle trick elongated the audience's favorite parts of their favorite funk records and kept the energy high. The widened section was known as "the break" or "the get down." "The beauty of Herc's set-up was that once he would find that section of the record, he would create a loop live in front of the crowd using the two turntables and the crossfader on the mixer," wrote <em><a href="https://www.complex.com/music/2017/08/how-august-11-became-hip-hop-birthday" target="_blank">Complex.</a></em></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
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<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8ddc4d3d00fd608841f100e3878de8ab"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hw4H2FZjfpo?start=2&rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Kool DJ Herc, Merry Go Round</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw4H2FZjfpo&t=2s" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p>The method of the "Merry-Go-Round" quickly became universal among the Bronx's other pioneer DJ's. DJ Afrika Bambaataa, who headed the legendary hip-hop unit Universal Zulu Nation, added to the "breakbeats" in his own way, <a href="https://www.wnyc.org/story/89709-south-bronx-hip-hop-year-zero/" target="_blank">infusing the sounds of salsa, West Indian music, and rock and roll.</a> His 1982 track "Planet Rock" was one of his biggest crowd-pleasers and sampled an electric piano from the German quartet Kraftwerk. Meanwhile, Theodore Livingston, otherwise known as Grand Wizzard Theodore, also began toying with "breakbeats" and in turn invented what is now known as "scratching," which helped the records bounce and sound more percussive.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p>Then came the almighty Joseph Sadler, better known as Grandmaster Flash, who founded the Furious Five, the first-ever hip-hop group. Together, they incorporated poetic rhymes alongside Flash's slick instrumental breaks. Best known for their funky track "The Message," Flash invented cutting, which involved playing the same song on two separate turntables and snapping back and forth between them to create an entirely new record (he also invented the now-iconic backspin).</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="af7f40b46942865316ffae5a0f1694c2"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PobrSpMwKk4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (Official Video)</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- Popdust Mobile Banner 320x100 --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4301469008561137" data-ad-slot="6952751205"></ins><script>
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</script></center><strong></strong><p></p><p>But what evolved from the South Bronx in 1973 has now transformed American culture as a whole. <strong>Hip-hop has sunk its teeth into everything </strong><strong>from dance to fashion </strong><strong>and has wholly redefined American culture in the mere 47 years it's been around. It has single-handedly become the most impactful genre to ever exist in music–and not merely because it sounds dope.</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Still, despite mainstream's embrace and occasional exploitation, hip-hop has remained, first and foremost, a platform for hustlers, philosophers, and critical thinkers. "Hip-hop as a musical and global cultural form forces us to think critically about what we define as valuable knowledge, who we recognize as knowledge producers, and how knowledge can be created and shared," wrote <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/cultural-significance-hip-hop#:~:text=The%20study%20and%20archiving%20of,'&text=Hip%20hop%20is%20not%20a%20new%20subject%20of%20study%20in%20Oxford." target="_blank"><em>The University of Oxford</em></a>.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>The genre has overtly challenged authoritative perspectives and always shed light on the urban struggles for the underrepresented. In turn, it's birthed an incalculable number of storytellers and urban prophets, who all relentlessly grind for their city and their family. They fight to educate the masses and inspire other underrepresented people to succeed against all the odds.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="70d3c6b1ae217a3f9d6cc35695e0fda2"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GT9IWNxHupc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Scottie Beam featuring Rick Ross (Official Video)</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT9IWNxHupc" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>"Visualizing the realism of life in actuality, f*ck who's the baddest, a person's status depends on salary, and my mentality is money-oriented," raps <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEwSfbE9IXc" target="_blank">NY emcee A.Z.</a> as he reflects on the morbidity of life. On his legendary feature on Nas's 1994 hit "Life's a Bitch," A.Z. uses a double entendre to prophesize that life can only feel real to a person if they fully immerse themselves in their existence. </p><p>"The revolution is the genocide...my execution might be televised," Freddie Gibbs raps on 2020's "Scottie Beam." In just a few bars, he dissects the morbid cycle police killings and how "the revolution" won't happen until more people of color die. "Cash rules everything around me," Method Man chants, frustrated, on Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 hit "C.R.E.A.M." as he reflects <a href="https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/wu-tang-clan-cream-cash-rules-everything-around-me-misunderstood/" target="_blank">on the frustrations of capitalism</a>.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p><strong>For the last 47 years, hip-hop has always documented the American underbelly.</strong> Now, as the squeaky-clean revisionist history of America seems to further erode in 2020, it's important to remember where we heard the truth from first, because it definitely wasn't from a textbook.</p><h4>Want to Read More?</h4><h4><a href="https://www.popdust.com/5-albums-to-help-get-out-head-2645826593.html" target="_blank">5 Relaxing Rap Albums to Get You Out of Your Head</a></h4><h4><a href="https://www.popdust.com/5-albums-to-help-get-out-head-2645826593.html" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.popdust.com/medhane-interview-full-circle-2645576544.html" target="_blank">Interview: Medhane's Moment Has Finally Arrived</a></h4><h4><a href="https://www.popdust.com/the-most-annoying-love-songs-of-the-early-2000s-2646942641.html" target="_blank">The Most Annoying Love Songs of the Early 2000s</a></h4>
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Culture Feature
Raymond the Smug Cat and the Dark Underbelly of "Animal Crossing"
Raymond's popularity sheds light on a bizarre underside of the Animal Crossing fandom.
05.14.2020
Nintendo
Raymond is a smug cat who highlights his heterochromatic eyes with hipster glasses.
He is essentially the same exact character as every other Animal Crossing villager with a "Smug" personality type, but again, and this is very important, Raymond is a cat with heterochromatic eyes and hipster glasses. As such, he has completely broken the Animal Crossing community.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3Nzg3Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMzczNTI2N30.vmUprSYDuXiJcQZ6URDqST_Q22-rnWOVTvzIMEvyEfQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="950c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="222ac114c4ab04672c8b6333b9de14a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Raymond anime">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">https://www.reddit.com/r/AnimalCrossing/comments/fsj0iq/raymond_loves_anime/</small>
</p><p>
It's nearly impossible to step foot into any <em>Animal Crossing</em>-centric corner of the Internet without seeing dozens of posts about Raymond—love posts, backlash posts, endless <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/5/12/21256054/animal-crossing-raymond-villager-new-horizons-black-market-in-boxes-meme-fan-art-nintendo-switch" target="_blank">Raymond memes</a>. But there's more to Raymond's popularity than simple fan posting.
</p><p>Raymond's popularity also sheds light on a bizarre underside of the <em>Animal Crossing </em>fandom—a <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/4/22/21229959/animal-crossing-new-horizons-black-market-villager-trading-raymond-nmt-bells-nintendo-switch-discord" target="_blank">virtual black market</a> characterized by backdoor deals and fictional animal trafficking.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><div id="993ab" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fd9090857de6bffbab2221264fbd8fcc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1259488870208606210" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I love Raymond cause without him we wouldn’t have content like this https://t.co/Mu7esZkCd0</div> — Chloe 🥭 (@Chloe 🥭)<a href="https://twitter.com/daisyymaes/statuses/1259488870208606210">1589120521.0</a></blockquote></div><p>
To be clear, "selling"<em> Animal Crossing </em>villagers is not unique to <em>New Horizons</em>. Since 2012, certain <em>New Leaf </em>forums have provided spaces for players to offer up desirable villagers (or "dreamies," as the community refers to their favorites) in exchange for in-game currency. Back then, villager trading was a somewhat <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Trade-Villagers-in-Animal-Crossing:-New-Leaf" target="_blank">complicated process</a> that required players to wait for the targeted villager to randomly decide to move. Afterwards, the buyer would come to the seller's island on the villager's move-out date and talk to the moving villager, which would lead that villager to move to their island.<br>
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p>
Then <em><a href="https://animal-crossing.com/amiibo/#welcome" target="_blank">Animal Crossing </a></em><a href="https://animal-crossing.com/amiibo/#welcome">amiibo cards</a> came along and changed everything. With an <em>Animal Crossing </em>amiibo card, all you had to do was scan the card of your favorite villager and they would move to your town. Popular villagers could be endlessly generated without any need for trading or waiting. Outside of people exchanging rare items, the player-based <em>New Leaf </em>economy largely died. <span></span>
</p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- Popdust Mobile Banner 320x100 --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4301469008561137" data-ad-slot="6952751205"></ins><script>
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But <em>New Horizons </em>is significantly more popular than <em>New Leaf </em>ever was, and while <em>Animal Crossing </em>amiibo cards are still supported, they're also out of print (although <a href="https://nintendosoup.com/animal-crossing-amiibo-cards-will-get-another-restock-in-japan-during-june-2020/" target="_blank">set to be reprint</a> later this year). This has resulted in an insane demand for the cards on eBay, driving the prices of popular villager cards up anywhere from $30 to $100 each. Still, once in possession of a villager's amiibo card, the player has unlimited access to that character forever. And perhaps even more importantly, using an amiibo card in <em>Animal Crossing: New Horizons </em>allows you to select which villager you want to move, anytime you want. That villager will then immediately start packing up their house ("in-boxes," as the <em>Animal Crossing </em>community says), making them available to "sell" at a moment's notice.
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p>
<span></span>This brings us back to—you guessed it—Raymond, the smug cat. <em>New Horizons </em>has eight brand new villagers who don't have amiibo cards, and the most popular amongst them is Raymond. The fact that there's no Raymond amiibo card means that he's impossible to get without someone naturally encountering him in-game first, causing the <em></em>player-based <em>Animal Crossing </em>black market scene to re-emerge with a vengeance. Traditional forum posts are a thing of the past. Now, entire online storefronts like "<a href="https://nookazon.com/product/1096505003" target="_blank">Nookazon</a>" exist for people to list their Raymonds (and anything else in the game, too) for bidding wars.<span></span><br>
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>
Moreover, the Turnip-based "Stalk Market" has generated a massive influx of bells for many active <em>Animal Crossing </em>players, making the game's primary form of currency worthless in most player-to-player transactions. Instead, the market now revolves around Nook Miles Tickets, which allow players to travel to deserted islands to farm resources and potentially encounter new villagers.
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p>
<span></span><span></span>Ultimately, all of this, largely driven by demand for Raymond and a few other "dreamies," has resulted in a bizarre cycle wherein a player can sell Raymond for 1000 Nook Miles Tickets, giving them 1000 more chances to hop deserted islands in search of...more Raymonds. Rinse and repeat. Oh, and lest anyone think there's no potential for profit, plenty of eBay accounts now sell "genuinely encountered" Raymonds at $10 to $20 real-world dollars, with hundreds of sales. <span></span>
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3ODEyNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTI3MDU4N30.TIu56I4PZZLMk9rqePXD2NMODyMXUaOgaZeYrIs_16s/img.png?width=980" id="c3c02" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d4c2c46818a71f192e2ab7f465d757e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Animal Crossing Raymond Ebay">
</p><p>
On one hand, <em>Animal Crossing </em>is a video game, and all of the villagers are virtual bits of data without real feelings. But at the same time, something about the whole <em></em><em>Animal Crossing </em>villager black market scene feels...wrong.
</p><p>
<em></em><em>Animal Crossing </em>is designed to be a relaxing experience revolving around slow-paced, real-time gameplay and forming friendships with the animals on your island. Its widespread use as a <a href="https://www.popdust.com/people-are-using-the-animal-crossing-new-horizons-museum-to-go-on-dates-while-stuck-in-quarantine-2645575339.html" target="_self">social outlet</a> and means of creative expression stands testament to its spirit as a game meant to be <em>experienced</em>. <span></span>
</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>
Of course, with a game as open-ended as <em>Animal Crossing</em>, different people are bound to find different ways to experience it. Still, it's a sad reflection on humanity that in a game so heavily geared towards relaxation, such a large subset of players have taken it upon themselves to build a virtual, hyper-capitalist meta-economy–turning the cute, friendly villagers that the game intends you to form connections with into commodities. Meanwhile, "ugly" villagers are oftentimes <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/4/29/21238552/animal-crossing-new-horizons-acnh-switch-ugly-villagers-trading-amiibo-moving-out" target="_blank">treated like dirt</a>, abused and ridiculed despite their personalities being exactly the same as their more conventionally attractive alternatives. For many within the <em>Animal Crossing </em>community, creating a perfect island with top-tier villagers becomes a status symbol instead of a personal goal dictated by personal preferences.
</p><p>
<em>Animal Crossing </em>is a game, sure, but the way players have twisted it seems to speak to something dark, and maybe even sad, at humanity's core. Are we truly unable to bond and relax outside of the reaches of greedy, hierarchical ideologies? Or are we doomed to endlessly chase after Raymond the smug cat?
</p><div id="8f402" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b9f67663ec8c57ddb279a44609ffab89"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1260070481157373952" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"Moving again... crisp"
#AnimalCrossingNewHorizons https://t.co/O1ieim1PWk</div> — Sara (@Sara)<a href="https://twitter.com/Rinkibu/statuses/1260070481157373952">1589259188.0</a></blockquote></div><p>
<br>
<span></span>
</p>
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