[QuickTidal]

Fuck me, this is good!

I didn't know I needed Marcus Mumford and Hozier singing together till now.

[Alrin]

So Spotify just Wrapped for the year and mine had some surprises. My top two tracks for the year were both by the Postal Service, which I did not expect. Not mad about it, but was definitely not on my bingo card.

Conversely, in the most predictable fashion ever, Mineral landed my #1 album wirth Power of Failing. This is a record I listen to in-full at least once a week, often more, so no surprise there at all.



And finally, my top artist was the almighty We Set Sail (R.I.P). Best dudes ever. Best band ever. I miss them every day (in fact, I missed them so much in the wake of their calling it a day that I hired their lead singer to be my wedding celebrant! If you're ever planning to get hitched in Brisbane, hit him up).



[EDIT: fixing broken links. Thanks for the catch, AV.]

This post has been edited by Alrin: 05 December 2025 - 11:53 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Alrin, on 05 December 2025 - 02:02 AM, said:

So Spotify just Wrapped for the year and mine had some surprises. My top two tracks for the year were both by the Postal Service, which I did not expect. Not mad about it, but was definitely not on my bingo card.

Conversely, in the most predictable fashion ever, Mineral landed my #1 album wirth Power of Failing. This is a record I listen to in-full at least once a week, often more, so no surprise there at all.



And finally, my top artist was the almighty We Set Sail (R.I.P). Best dudes ever. Best band ever. I miss them every day (in fact, I missed them so much in the wake of their calling it a day that I hired their lead singer to be my wedding celebrant! If you're ever planning to get hitched in Brisbane, hit him up).

The videos weren't playing (error message: "An error occurred. Please try again later. (Playback ID: oUSysADh_kOOiLH2)") because the url included the "&list=" (and following text) section at the end---but the videos in the quotation above should play.

[Alrin]

Good catch. Totally missed it when posting. Have edited to reflect.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

New free experimental reverb by one of my favorite innovative developers (in collaboration with producer and Youtuber S1gns Of L1fe):

Quote

Illuminate the Void. Texture the Unknown.
SOL is a stellar textural effects engine created in collaboration with Chris Bryant (S1gns Of L1fe). It fuses a powerful Granular Engine with an expansive CLOUDS reverb to create movement, depth, and spacious tonal color.

Shape shimmering atmospheres with radiant detail, or dissolve them into wide cosmic shadows. SOL does not emulate rooms. It transforms space itself.

Youtuber guy:




[Edit: when you install it, it gives you the following message: “May it be a light for you in dark places when all other lights go out.” – Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring
I love their synth Myth. The user guide for that has one of my favorite Nietzsche quotes right at the beginning of it iirc: "One must still have chaos in oneself in order to give birth to a dancing star."]

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 09 December 2025 - 08:25 PM

[Tsundoku]

@AVD

Here's a history lesson you might enjoy.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Free for about another day and a half: the lite version of one of the most acclaimed and widely used delay plugins, Echoboy:





Trent Reznor has said he's a big fan of the distortion modules, most of which are included in Echoboy Jr.

Other artists on Equipboard who use it:


https://equipboard.c...boy#artistUsage

To get it for free:

12 Days of Soundtoys - Soundtoys

They're giving out one free plugin every two days; I expect the next one will probably be Devil-Loc, which is widely used on drums and vocals, particularly using small amounts on a parallel track. For vocals it was notably used on the choruses in Charlie XCX's Apple last year.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 December 2025 - 09:42 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Synthmaster One free until January 4th:





SynthMaster One Mac/Windows/iOS

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 14 December 2025 - 12:55 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Free for a limited time (usually $49)---drum midi selection by metal drummer Bastian Emig. They also have a virtual version of his drum kit to play it on, though it works with other virtual drums as well.



https://ugritone.com...-free-selection

(Emig and Ugritone are not American so that's not an American eagle.)

Plus the same site has a $25 off voucher that can be used to get one of their $15 or $20 midi packs for free. I already have their Death Metal Essentials, Black Metal Essentials, Industrial Metal Essentials, and Folk Metal Essentials (did I leave out Metal Metal Essentials?), where were we oh right Post Metal Essentials, Doom Metal Essentials, Essential Metal Essentials, Emocore Essentials, Corecore Essentials, and Progressive Death Metal Essentials (for what is more progressive than Death?... only the Metal after death!).

https://ugritone.com...tions/midipacks

I'm leaning towards one of the two latest Ugritone midi packs: Thrash Metal Anthology (I like example one and three)

https://ugritone.com...ology-midi-pack

or Death Metal Anthology (I'm liking example two).

https://ugritone.com...ology-midi-pack

(If you're not familiar with drum midi, they record the exact timing and intensity of each hit for each part of the kit, and you can edit them, add hits, change which kit part they correspond to, etc.)

You can convert drum midi mappings from one virtual instrument format (which kit pieces correspond to which midi notes) to another using the free open-source drum midi toolbox Drum Groove Pro:

https://github.com/I...n/DrumGroovePro

If you don't already have one, here's a good free drum virtual instrument for the free Kontakt Player (which can be run in a free DAW like Waveform Free, which is also pretty easy to use):

https://bogrendigita...rimh-drums-free

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 16 December 2025 - 02:31 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Free until December 31st:

Quote

Temperance Lite represents the next step for reverb technology, offering a new approach to shape ambiance. It responds to the language of music, encouraging you to explore reverb in a new way. Unlike a traditional algorithmic or convolution reverb, Temperance Lite lets you control reverb resonances using the familiar 12-note chromatic scale. This allows you to choose which notes bloom or wither within your chosen space, creating musical ambiances that were previously unattainable.

https://www.eventide...temperance-lite

And Devil-Loc is free until sometime tomorrow (the key to using this is to mix in just a little, either with a mix knob or as a parallel send):



12 Days of Soundtoys - Soundtoys

It's great on drums (as the video demonstrates) but it can also be great on other sources---it was used on Charlie XCX's vocals for the choruses of Von Dutch last year.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Live concert in Taiwan:

https://www.facebook...890832128174836

(you don't have to log in to view it, you can just close the pop-up that prompts you to log in; remember to activate sound with the speaker icon in the upper right)

& it's a nice little ear-wyrm...

Though AR would allow the rhythmic serpent to swallow you into visions of the musical fire... but without the thrill of the knowledge (for better or worse, if not for evil) that a malfunction could result in you getting crushed for good.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

(Jag vet, du är inte min - "I Know, You Aren't Mine" )

From the lyrics (with English translation):

Spoiler

Quote

Your steps in the night, I hear them go
Dina steg i natten, jag hör dem gå

The heart whispers that I should understand
Hjärtat viskar att jag bör förstå

We stood in the rain at your gate and ran out and everything went fast
Vi stod i regnet vid din port och tog slut och allt gick fort

[...] my dream of you has burst
min dröm om dig har spräckt

Nice to see that such a soulful song has been #1 on Spotify's charts---in Sweden, at least...

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Finally finished listening through Pitchfork's "100 Best Songs of 2025". Two of my favorites surprised me.

The 100 Best Songs of 2025 | Pitchfork

I'm generally not extremely into reggaeton (though my understanding of the genre has deepened through watching some reggaeton production and mixing walkthroughs (for hit songs, going through them track by track and plugin by plugin) on Mix With the Masters), but this is a great song (wait for the drop):

Quote

It's the song that launched a thousand perreos. [...] a rallying cry carried down from the heavens—or, more appropriately, a third-floor fire escape. If there was a Latino with a JBL speaker nearby, odds are you heard El Jíbaro call out the Boricua Bat Signal: a spirited "NUEVAYOOOOOLLL."

The 100 Best Songs of 2025 | Pitchfork

This next one I was a little reluctant to listen to after reading the description, but it's great:

Quote

Last year at Primavera Sound, I saw aya terrorize a crowd of unsuspecting young Europeans: As the West Yorkshire producer DJ'd and sang, she started to climb onto the decks and scream-sing directly into the faces in the crowd. This is what "off to the ESSO" feels like: aya reaching towards you, Spy Kids 3D-style, grabbing you by the throat, and forcibly pulling you into her nightmare. It is a terrifying, upsetting portrait of drug addiction. Paranoid non-linear thoughts crash into each other; the beat pounds into every inch of your body [...] It hammers its message home with brutal efficiency: Even hell would feel better than this.

The 100 Best Songs of 2025 | Pitchfork

... oh, and that very soulful hit song I posted about two days ago? There's something I forgot to mention about it... but I'll do that over at the dedicated thread:

https://forum.malaza...n/page__st__140

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Free for a limited time:

Quote

PTone is 42 sounds handmade with love and dedication. Sampled using hi end gear from a lovely ancient casio keyboard, tweaked, twisted and processed with analog and digital devices.



PTone Soundbox instrument

It gets more interesting about 12 seconds in...

For the free Soundbox player: SOUNDBOX by Audiomodern | One Platform. Infinite Sounds

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Spoiler

beds like hungry altars
[...] they're here to meet me
one slips past in an orderly

cold hands on my forehead
[...] let the body open
let the demons feed
[...] the dark leans in

Spoiler

Is it
falling
if you never
hit the ground?

[...] fall into the dream
for a second I thought you were
there

These songs are from the book Party at the World's End, which is now being made available as a free podcast:

Quote

Take a mad ride past the event horizon of sanity with Lilith, Dionysus, and their band Babylon in this Myth-punk vision of an alternate universe where 2012 went quite differently. This is the story of those Fallen who walk amongst us in the age of Anonymity and alternate identities, and hints of the dark world that is to come.

As Lilith and her band of miscreants transcend from escaped convicts to superstars of a different kind, they grapple with the intoxication of influence. Are they on an ego trip, or do they truly believe they are the reincarnated avatars of immortal entities? With great power comes great danger, and they soon find themselves chased by counter-terrorism units as America begins to crumble around them, and what began as little more than a prank turns a band into the ultimate symbol of death and rebirth.

Party at the Worlds End — The Fallen Cycle Mythos | serialized fiction podcast — The Fallen Cycle

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

The intro to this one has been stuck in my head intermittently, providing a nice soundtrack to the day:



Alternating with the chorus from this: