Astrid McQuaide is a 22 year old writer and graphic designer interested in fashion research, music journalism, and digital media archiving. She hosts the sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly radio show “mindpalaceFM” (which you can find on Soundcloud) and has contributed journalistic work to Pure Sky Radio. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Her favorite food right now is green grapes.


Welding The Sea by Youngsbower

A: [First up, I have Welding the Sea by Youngsbower, a really awesome project, kind of hard to find stuff about them online though. They're no longer active and they weren't after they released this album in 2002. Great year for music, if you ask me. Most of their stuff is fairly abstract experimental, like airing more on the side of rock. But not in like the classic music-to-music conversational sense. I guess when I think of experimental rock, there's like this whole plethora of guys that come to mind. Like, I don't know. R Stevie Moore, and this is just like so not that. Yeah, it feels a little bit more cerebral, obviously, it's instrumental, which separates it, but I've kind of placed it into this category of “Question Mark Ambient.” I feel like there are bajillions of musicians, especially, like, late 90s, early 2000s, who are like these ambient “One Take Jake” kind of guys, and they drop one or two projects and then dip forever. And this does fall into that category, which I feel like makes it kind of special. But speaking specifically to this song, W elding the Sea, I think it kind of stands as like the line leader in this album. It doesn't really like favor distortion as the foremost player, as much as the rest of the other songs. And it has this sort of, like, consistent magic dust, fairy wand thing, that I really appreciate. I guess like this twinkly computer noise is the team captain of the whole album, and especially in this song. In my notes, I have written that it reminds me of a motherboard becoming sentient. So, yeah, enjoy. Bye.]


Things Get Better by AntiGuru

A: [Next, I have Things Get Better by AntiGuru. This is orchestral glitch ambient um, which is kind of the whole thing with this mix, but it's from this compilation called Best of Tide Pool, which was released under Manual Music Records, Dutch label, and I did some shallow diving. The guy who started the label, his name is Paul Hazendonk, aka Prude Polly, makes like very forward facing club music. It's like the kind of music that if you were to bring like capital A aliens around Earth for the first time and then you brought them to like a canonical nightclub and then they went back to their planet and tried to make club music for their friends. It would it would sound exactly like that. But yeah, AntiGuru is, if I can share a little bit meh, um they have one album released called False Submissions that is just like, I don't know, the kind of music that your synth uncle makes with his buddies. Yeah, that was my tangent. But uh circling back to the songs specifically, it's really beautiful. It feels like sitting at the top of a tall mountain and time is moving like incredibly fast, but you're watching it from the third person. Whatever that means. But yeah, this song rocks, so enjoy. Bye.]


Status-Bf Rmx by Blond, B. Fleischmann

A: [Next is Status, the BF remix by a Blond and B Fleischmann. Instant classic. B. Fleischmann is as real as you can get as a musician, uh, with a chiptune guided soul. He's done a thousand cool things, and it's just generally cracked as fuck. I love all of his music, and his solo music, ie. non remixes, uh, are more guided by this, like, post rock ghost, like, I don't know, think American Analog Set. But his remixes are just, like, very digital computer thought spew. And this song feels like a very safe world to exist in, especially for a dust bunny. It has this, like melancholic undertone, but feels more like an “It's Gonna Be Okay” anthem. Which is in some ways a melancholic phenomena. Yeah, I think B Fleischmann walks this line between very childlike world building and digital sophistication, but he does a good job at making them go hand in hand. So, enjoy.]


Party on a Floating Cake by Takako Minekawa, Dustin Wong

A: [Next up, we have Party on a Floating Cake by Takako Minekawa and Dustin Wong. This is a perfect song made by two geniuses. It's off of a collaborative album that they released in 2013. But I don't know, this album could have come out at any time and you could tell me that and I'd believe you. If you were like, this dropped in ‘95. I'd be like, sure, if you were like, this dropped in 2024, I'd be like, "Sure”. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like there's this whole medieval thing going on, which is kind of hard to explain. I guess it's probably because of the harp. But I feel like if you're gonna do digitized medieval fairy tale music, this is exactly how to do it. I am enamored with Takako Minekawa always, and I have been since I was a teenager. Her album, Roomic Cube, kind of altered my musical brain chemistry. So definitely check that out. Yeah, she uses a lot of synth and heavy guitar, which I think is really effective in this collaboration, and it kind of creates this really fabulous conversation with Dustin Wong's style, which airs on like the more electronic side. I just think it's a genuinely ecstatic marriage of analog and digital, and it doesn't clash at all, but like I said, has a really beautiful conversation. To paint a picture, I guess, this song, to me, is how it feels to sit in a pillow fork and do shadow puppets all by yourself. It has like a really strong warmth to it, but it's really isolating in a really beautiful way. Yeah, enjoy.]


logical by shuttle358

A: [Next, I have logical by shuttle358. I don't really have much on this one because it's just a pretty through ambient track. Thematically, I guess this is kind of hard because it has like an underwater quality to it that isn't necessarily structurally conducive to dust bunnies, but hey, hey, who's to say they don't have dust bunnies in the ocean? Enjoy.]


thin film interference by hi-posi

A: [Next up, I have thin film interference by hi-posi. Fun use of symbols. I really like hi-posi in theory. Sometimes it gets a little bit too city poppy for me and in all honesty, it can be daunting, but she's a really cool musician. This album, this song is often an album called GLUON, which was released maybe one or two years before its time, which is a really funny niche to be put in. Great album art, hi-posi is great. Check it out. All of her stuff is super high energy, but this song is a nice jazzy switchup, so enjoy.]


Let Me Sleep by Color Filter

A: [This is one of my favorite songs of all time. It's Let Me Sleep by Color Filter. It's a total gimme in terms of the declared object, but it's too good not to include. Color Filter was a super early pioneer in the general dream pop stratosphere. But I think the techno breakbeat usage is what makes their music truly treasurable. It's just great. It's truly great. I don't know. I think pop is always going to be pop, but when it has this sort of digital sophistication, I think it's a whole other beast in a good way. And the song is just an absolute delight to listen to. So enjoy.]



sagzag by Tujirou

A: [Uh, sorry, my parents are playing music in the house, but next I have sagzag by Tujirou. Um, this is more of like an orchestral ambient. I don't have much on this one either. It's also a very through ambient track, so enjoy. Bye.]


Portofino 2 by Raymond Scott

A: [Next up, I have a classic Portofino 2 by Raymond Scott. This is a really important song in the realm of just music history. Not just because it's good, but because it's kind of one of the first of its kind. Raymond Scott was like one of the first “Type Beat” guys ever. He was doing this shit in the 30s, and that's kind of crazy. This song comes off of a posthumous compilation called Manhattan Research Inc, which is based on the music lab that he formed in 1946. It was one of the first experimental things I ever really heard, and it kind of blew my mind, so enjoy. Bye]


Also With Each Other by Requisit

A: [Next, I have Also With Each Other by Requisit. This song has a really dreamy thing about it that I find really enjoyable. I've been listening to it since the summer quite a bit. There's something also kind of heartbreaking about the song. It feels like the end of summer. That sort of like swollen but acceptable sorrow. I had this dream a few weeks ago that has become incredibly aspirational for me. Basically, it was like very Mario Kart-esque. I was like, running down this path lit by flowers. And it was dusk, and I felt like super safe and happy. And like, I bounced with high every step I took, it was so awesome. The second half of the dream was absurd, but yeah, this song feels like how it felt to wake up from that dream because it was so beautiful, but it wasn't real. Yeah, enjoy.]


Furniture by Minimum Chips

A: [Next, I have Furniture by Minimum Chips. Love this song. I played this on my own personal radio show and it was a crowd favorite. It's like what if First Player Dust Bunny wrote a song like, “oh gosh, you and your furniture,” Dust Bunny rolling its eyes type beat. It's off of a really great compilation called These are Testing Times that I highly recommend. So enjoy.]


My Bell Rings by Operelly

A: [Next, I have My Bell Rings by Operelly. Yay, we love Operelly! Big artist for me this year, but yeah, this song has a wintery thing about it, I think it's because of the drums. It's like a song for the first snow, but Operellly is just so great, all around. And this song is another really good balance of digital analog. It's just special. She's special. This song is special. Also Tinkerbell mentioned, so enjoy.]


Mn2 by RDL

A: [Next, I have Mn2 by RDL. This song's off of a compilation that you could use for this whole playlist. It's just a really fabulous mix of sounds. It's an adorable ass vibe. It's called Childish Music. I feel like Dust Bunnies are inherently juvenile because it's, like, the same as like cloud watching, world building, you know. This song has something really holy about it, like Chapel and space vibes. So enjoy.]


I Honor the Light That Shines Within You by Orange Cake Mix

A: [Next I have, I Honor the Light That Shines Within You by Orange Cake Mix. I love Orange Cake Mix so much forever and always, Connecticut based, and this song is similarly spacey to the last song I played. I'm gonna talk less now because I'm talking a lot and I want to keep this brief, but enjoy.]


Rosenfink/For Scarlet by Midaircondo

A: [Next, I have Rosenfink/For Scarlet by Midaircondo. This song is like Dust Bunny playing with his friends at the Dust Bunny Day club. The Day Rave with drugs. I'm kidding. It has a holy thing about it kind of the same as the last song, because of its like, chanting thing that it does with the vocals. It feels kind of half cursed. I don't know. I guess Dust Bunnies can be kind of dark. It's like collecting memories and objects formed from technology. But it's cool. It's cool. Enjoy. Bye.]


Brocade by Greg Davis

A: [Next I have Brocade by Greg Davis. This song is like a lullaby. It's like so vaguely familiar and nostalgic like a song maybe your parents played for you before you could like establish full memories, but it's really quite beautiful and pleasant. It's just a great song, placid water. So yeah, enjoy.]


Pienso Que by Richard Thomas 

A: [Next, I have Pienso Que by Richard Thomas. There's something low-key so menacing about this song. I think it's like the down pitched synth, but it's really good. I feel like the more I reflect, I feel like I'm becoming more aware of the darkness of dust bunnies. They're kind of creepy. I don't know. Enjoy. Bye.]


Dopees by Dorine Muraille

A: [I'm a little congested today, but next I have Dopees by Dorine Muraille. I think this is a really interesting take on this sort of like laptop dream pop thing, but in a different way than the Color Filter song I played. It has all of the like classic Indietronica noises too, but with this cool loop cymbal thing that I think is really quite effective. I don't know, it feels like a super broken memory, like putting together the pieces, or I guess like similarly when you wake up and try to remember a dream. It reminds me a lot of the show Serial Experiments Lain, which is great and you should watch that if you haven't yet, yeah, enjoy.]


I Dream in Stereo by Land of the Loops

A: [Next I have I Dream in Stereo by Land of the Loops. Gertified GOATS. I love Land of the Loops, always have. Yeah second to last song um enjoy bye.]


Something’s Not Right by Kid606

A: [Last song, I have Something's Not Right by Kid606. Um Maybe a little bit of a problematic fave depends on who you ask but he was and is super important. This is a good thinking song. It's more orchestral ambient with like just a splash of glitch, which is always nice, and perfect for this playlist. I hope you enjoyed all of those songs and again, I am Astrid and this is the first entry in this music journal. Go check out my radio show if you want. It is on SoundCloud called MindPalaceFM. If you liked this, you'll love that too so enjoy bye. Have a beautiful day.]