Marginalia #5 — Arden from Arden's Asides
Marginalia is a series of short interviews with music lovers from small corners of the internet — bloggers, reviewers, and listeners worth knowing about.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Arden (they/them) an academic attempting to resist my general disillusionment with the education system. Grad school really burned me out so I have been trying to reconnect with writing and reading in a healthier way.
How did you get into music? Any highlights in your journey?
There wasn’t a time in my life when music wasn’t a major presence. My parents grew up in the 60s and 70s, a huge boom of music genres and obsessive fandoms, and since it was such a big presence in their lives, there was all kinds of music in my household growing up.
What shaped my love for music the most as a kid was listening to Motown Music Block on K-Earth 101, a local radio that played “oldies” (which now plays music from the 2010s making me shrivel up a bit inside haha.) My mom listened to this on the way to drop my siblings and I off at school every morning and it often played at thrift stores when we went shopping on weekends. I feel transported in time whenever I hear “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye or “Stop in the Name of Love” by The Supremes.
A lot of music was “given” to me by people I know: Do As Infinity and Utada Hikaru from an online pen pal; Muse, Radiohead, David Bowie from my older brother; Coldplay and Snow Patrol from a high school bestie. For a while, I felt like I didn’t have my own unique music interests, but that’s not true. My biggest teenage love was the poetic lyricism of Bright Eyes. I dabbled in alt rock with Evanescence, Linkin Park, and Yellowcard, but also lingered in J-Rock with The Pillows (who I got to see in concert once!) These collectively sound like high school to me and immediately take me back when they play.
As an adult, I’ve broadened my music interests quite a bit. I’m much more in tune with pop than I was growing up since I was neither an MTV nor radio kid; Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Carly Rae Jepsen in heavy rotation, along with those who blend pop into other genres: Laufey and jazz, Mitski and rock, Kacey Musgraves and country. I’ve also grown more fond of electronic sounds (something that felt like “noise” to me when I was younger) such as Björk and Porter Robinson.
I’ve also had a lifelong fondness for MIDIs which has grown into a love for chiptune and digital fusion. I grew up in a family of gamers so video game music was arguably even more of a presence in my life than anything on the radio. I haven’t come across a single artist under the Infloresce record label that I don’t get on with - they’re making great art.
What's your current favorite album/artist and why?
It’s hard for me to play favorites, but I’ve had West End Girl by Lily Allen and I Love My Computer by Ninajirachi on repeat ever since their respective albums released late last year. They couldn’t be further apart from each other, but they speak to different parts of what draws me to music.
Although I’ve heard a few Lily Allen songs here and there, this is the first time that I have connected deeply to one of her albums. The titular track has this great, naive musical quality and I love how it feels like we are inside of a sound bubble during the staged phone call. Transitioning from this wistful, airy song to the crunchy, heavy, syncopation of “Rumination” hit me like a truck. I’m at a similar place in my life right now; she captured the shifting landscape of these emotions so effectively. I’ve heard some people treating it like a simple diss track/call out album that will be a flash in the pan once people move on from the drama, but I don’t think that does her storytelling justice.
Meanwhile, Ninajirachi released a hell of a debut. This was the pick-me-up I needed as the year was ending. It’s SO nostalgic while still being fresh. Even though I have been getting more into electronic music, I haven’t really explored EDM or trance, but she actually makes me curious about them. If I was in my feels with Lily, Nina was pure, infectious joy with songs like “iPod touch” (“It sounds like a song that nobody knows / And I heard it in a post when I was twelve years old”) which reminds me of discovering music on mySpace profiles, blogger background songs, geocities midi tracks. There’s something about ending my work shift, popping on my headphones, and then just completely disappearing into her sound that was soothing despite how layered and loud it all is (something I’m normally sensitive to.)
What's an album that you feel holds up to the years and will stand the test of time?
This is such an interesting question to me. To an extent, all art is a time capsule, but music feels even more like this - maybe because it touches so many different sensory experiences depending on how you are connecting with it. As I mentioned earlier, music transports me through time, and, in the case of Motown, to an era when I wasn’t even alive.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, which led me to reread Hanif Abdurraqib’s essay on the singer. Here we are again in another senseless war and this impassioned plea for peace (despite Gaye’s own personal vices) feels incredibly poignant.
Here’s a great passage from Abdurraqib’s essay:
I feel a similar way when listening to Dirty Computer, my personal favorite in a packed discography of heavy hitters by Janelle Monáe. Hearing Brian Wilson’s voice layered alongside their own is such an experience and the line “I’ll love you in this space and time” itself seems to convey this cosmic significance of music - it has this ability to reach across space and time to affect us in all kinds of ways. You can sense the fingerprints of all their musical influences, Prince in particular, throughout the album, but it’s also still squarely identifiable as Monáe’s unique funk.
Though I was immediately drawn to the opening track, “Make Me Feel,” and “I Like That,” when the album first released, I found myself really touched by the anxious vulnerabilities in “Don’t Judge Me” and “So Afraid” the last time I listened to the record. As with Gaye’s record, Monáe provides an impassioned defense of love (in all its manifestations) against war (inner turmoil and global crimes alike.) There’s just so much to lyrically dig into that I could probably go on and on.
What's a "guilty pleasure" artist you'll defend to anyone who'll listen?
In my mid-30s, I have long left behind the concept of a guilty pleasure, but I know that there’s music I listen to that would probably get a reaction from other people even if I’m not at all embarrassed by them. Ska still has such a reputation to it as this odd, black sheep of music. But you know what? Ska is fun as heck.
Aside from a stray song here and there (“Superman” by Goldfinger, anyone?), I didn’t really listen to much ska growing up, but I definitely knew a few skankers in high school. More recently, I’ve been into We Are the Union (as well as Jer’s solo works and covers on SkaTune Network), Catbite, and Girls Go Ska.
In general, I’m an advocate of the philosophy “there’s something for everyone” when it comes to music genres. I used to turn my nose up high to country, but I’ve definitely found artists whose music genuinely touches me. I haven’t quite found “my” metal music though - so everyone has their holdouts :P
How do you discover new (or old) music these days?
Recently,I wrote a blog post asking other people the same question! So much of my music sourcing history was through friends and community and I feel like the algorithmic, AI-generated playlist push has made discovering new-to-me music feel sterile.
Aside from subscribing to my favorite artist’s newsletters or Bandcamp accounts, I casually read Pitchfork and lurk through various subreddits. I am also planning to go through the Tiny Desk Concert archive and the Infloresce Snowdrop concert VODs. I’ve only just begun dabbling with Rate Your Music, but I think that might yield some interesting gems that I haven’t come across before or remind me of bands I want to get back into.
I still think word-of-mouth is my favorite way to discover new music, though. Direct recommendations from music lovers who can sample specific songs and tailor lists to a specific vibe is so much more helpful to me than scouring the internet on my own. Outside of my friend circles, I have had a good track record with recommendations from Jer, Mic The Snare, and lockedgroove.
What's an album or artist everyone seems to love that you just couldn't get into?
I wouldn’t say everyone loves her, but I have tried to get into Lana Del Rey so many times because she is the quintessential “sad girl” singer, something that is very much up my alley, but I haven’t clicked with her at all. I come to artists with as much of an open mind as I can, so it’s not about her being too popular or even things about her that I personally disagree with.
If you could only listen to one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
As a genre-hopper, this question pains me! As a reader, I try on anything that sounds interesting to me, which has led me through all kinds of offbeat, weird fiction as well as popular fiction (romance, cozy mysteries, trending literary fiction.) I’m the same way with music. If I like something, I’ll listen regardless of whatever micro-genres they have been associated with.
This is going to be sound like I’m cheating, but I think I’d have to go with “pop.” It almost doesn’t even feel like a genre, since there are always so many layers of influences packed into an album’s production, but I think it would give me the most variety. That said, I would be devastated not to have digital fusion; I always have something lovely playing in the background while I write.
How do you listen to music i.e. via streaming, vinyl, CDs? What audio gear do you use?
If I’m sampling an album for the first time, I’ll listen directly on Bandcamp or YouTube (depending on where it is available) through my humble Macbook Air speakers. It’s the most immediate, casual way that I engage with this hobby.
If I loved something enough to buy it on vinyl, then my current setup is a Fluance RT-82 turntable, Neumi BS5P Powered Bookshelf Speakers, Art DJ Pre-II Phono Preamp, and an Amazon Basics RCA Audio Cable.
If I want to listen on the go, then I have a Snowsky Echo Mini as a Digital Audio Player with Linsoul Kiwi Cadenzas IEMs and Tripowin Zonie Cable (in lavender), and SpinFit W1 in size SS. I’m really loving this setup a lot and haven’t missed streaming since leaving it.
Who should I interview next?
It would be so cool if you could interview Locked Groove. She has such an extensive and varied record collection!
Where can we find you and do you have anything you would like to share?
I started my blog Arden’s Asides a couple years ago to get back into writing and cover a number of topics including: books, music, and media analysis. Most of my major projects are on hiatus right now, but one that I want to get back to is Toy Canon, a series about how kids played with toys. I’ve mostly focused on my own memories, but I’d love to interview other people one day as well!