Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews

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Squeaking another one in at the end of the month! In this episode, we’ve got another two great albums for our September new music roundup. First up is Project Since I Left You, a plunderphonics cover project of The Avalanches seminal album. Then, we dive into DISC 2 by DEVIL KILLER, Dan Mason's project featuring an incredible blend of breaks and ambient electronic music. All that as well as shout outs, so grab a copy of these albums and join us!

Shout Outs

Easy Delivery Co. on St...

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In this episode, we’re checking out Deconstructed Club, or post-club, a genre that seeks to push back against the tropes of club music and explore the boundaries of various styles of EDM and IDM. We (very) briefly discuss the genre’s history, how it did or didn’t click with us, and explore a variety of DJ sets and mixes from YUNG SHIRO 白. Ultimately, deconstructed club is a fascinating blend of club genres, post-industrial, grime, and so much more and offers a rewarding experience to the persistent listener.

Huge tha...

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It’s time for our monthly new music episode! What month do you ask? We’re not saying! We definitely didn’t call the July episode “August New Music.” Stop asking.
Anyway, in this episode, we’re exploring the duality of man as expressed through music. First up, we have a beautiful ambient album from Bon Odori that moves seamlessly between bliss and despair. We then blast off to the optimism of the 80s with some masterful vaporwave/future funk from Late Arcane. Grab a copy of these albums and join us!

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In this month’s episode, we're checking out what’s going on with some “recent” climatewave releases. This is an episode topic that we are doing at random. For absolutely no reason. None. We picked five recently released (or rereleased) albums that cover climatewave from 2013 to 2026. For a narrow definition of “everyone,” there is almost certainly something for everyone here. Check out these albums and join us!

Tracks Sampled

[carteBlanche] - blue airmail 黄金の砂 from ぬけがけしないで by ｔｅｐｈ　ｃｏ. 愛, [carteBlanche], & 常世
Nordwrong from Nordwrong by Lindsheaven Virtual Plaza

Albums Discussed

ぬけがけしないで by ｔｅｐｈ　ｃｏ. 愛, [carteBlanche...

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It’s time for our August new music episode. This month we’ve got something for everyone, provided everyone likes ambient music and/or vaporwave. We’re starting off with an album exploring the long and lonely life of the white dwarf drifting through space. Then we’re hitting up the metaverse to check out the latest in dying mall technology. Go grab a copy of these albums and join us in checking them out!

Shout Outs

Kmart 1989-1992 Live on PowerPCMEs Twitch
Forbidden Solitaire on Steam

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Oh boy. In this episode we’re talking about dungeon synth and microgenres. What’s the actual topic? Is Ross just trying to talk about music he likes? Is Birk just rambling about genres again?! Let us know if you figure it out! Even if you don’t care about the nuts and bolts of genre theory you should definitely check out the video. If you are into dungeon synth of any stripe you’re almost guaranteed to find at least one album you enjoy.

Track Sampled

open fie...

It’s time to close out Boards of Canada month. Wow! Two whole episodes! In this episode, we’re digging into Inferno, the duo's first release in thirteen years. It’s an album that brings the cult and numerology mystique of Geogaddi into the clean, soundtrack-inspired aesthetic of Tomorrow’s Harvest. We get into how plunderphonics, nostalgia, and hauntology have shifted over the evolution of the band’s discography and how that impacts the album. Grab a copy, fire up your favorite numbers station, and join us!

The Album

Inferno by Boards of Canada

Additio...

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Boards of Canada perfectly embody the themes we love to explore: plunderphonics, nostalgia, and hauntology. Despite this, we’ve never examined their work in detail. With their first album release in 13 years, we’re dedicating the month of June to a full retrospective. In this episode, we discuss their first four major releases, analyzing them as both listening experiences and explorations of those key themes. Grab a haunted sample of your favorite childhood memory and join us!

Albums Discussed

Music Has The Right To Children by Boards of C...

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It’s the end of the month, which means we’re squeezing in one last episode dedicated to May new music! As usual, we’ve got two great albums on deck. First, we dive into Empire of Light, the latest space ambient album from vaporwave legend 猫 シ Corp. Then, we check out Philosophie du Soi, an energetic jazz fusion EP from the new duo, PAON. Join us for all that and our usual barrage of questionable shout outs!

Shout Outs

Phantom Architecture By Philip Wilkinson
Null.mkv
Malice<...

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Started as an IndieGoGo campaign in 2020, Nobody Here: The Story of Vaporwave, is an ambitious attempt to document and capture ephemeral history of vaporwave from its rise around 2010 to the early 2020s. After numerous production delays due to COVID, growing scope, and other production factors it’s finally out and available for everyone to see. We get into the documentary, crowd-funded documentaries in general, and the general difficulty in tackling this subject.

Like any attempt to capture recent history, there is also disagreement and controversy around the film and it...

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Hey, do you know how many days are in April? Because Birk sure doesn’t! So, we’re putting the “night” in Night Clerk Radio with a special evening release.

In this episode, it's time for some April new music! But first, we start with some of our most out-of-touch shout-outs ever! Specialty coffee subscriptions? Criterion Commentary Tracks? Get real! Don’t worry, however, as we then get into two very different but very excellent albums. We discuss the slushy and hypnagogic ロービット from vaporwave artist Eccosystem and then dig into the endless fut...

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Okay, the accelerated release schedule continues for another month! Time to cram 'em in!

In this episode, we’re checking out a 2025 article covering “Cinematic Doom Jazz.” This curation effort from Philippe Blache for Igloo Magazine highlights and categorizes dozens of doom and dark jazz bands and ensembles from the past 20+ years. It features everything from early 2000s trip hop inspired tracks to more recent releases from Cryo Chamber. The article is linked below. Please give it a read and check out the artists featured.

Music Sampled

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We’re getting back on schedule with a one-time only accelerated release cadence! Also, you gotta release March new music in March. Those are just the rules. I don’t make em.

In this episode, we follow our traditional approach of having literally zero coordination leading to the selection of two very different albums. First up, we have a delightful ambient album from composer Nick Bowers that was written to accompany a painting exhibit. Then, we get into the most recent compendium from classic dungeon synth artist DIM. All that...

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While some may wax poetic about the ancient and noble art of fishing, they often overlook that it’s an activity that inspires some excellent games with incredible soundtracks. Well, in this episode, we haven’t forgotten! We’re talking about fishing games, their music, and their influence on vaporwave. We primarily focus on two plunderphonics albums from River Master, but we also talk about a handful of other albums, both old and new. So grab a six-pack and some nightcrawlers and join us!

Albums Discussed

The Angler...

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We've emerged from our winter slumber to share some new music. First, we’re listening to the latest collaboration from City Girl & Guided Tour, Mana Lake, which takes the listener on an evocative journey through house, lofi, and vaporwave. Then we’re checking out personalFX, the debut album from 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝑜𝓃𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒, a fantastic album that similarly tackles a range of genres and moods. We hope you join us and check out these artists!

Albums Discussed

Mana Lake by City Girl & Guided Tour
personalFX by 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝑜𝓃𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

Credits

Music by: 2Mello
Artwork by: Patsy McDowell
Night Clerk Radio on Bluesky

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In our last new music episode of 2025, we’re checking out some recent albums with a focus on experimental electronic music. First up, we have an evocative journey through supernatural and eerie memories inspired by horror video game OSTs. Then we’re diving into the latest from plunderphonics pioneer and veteran Oneohtrix Point Never, an album that offers a lush exploration of 90s commercial sample CDs set against a hazy backdrop of digital nostalgia.

Shout Outs

The Signalwave Christmas Special 2025 by The Signalwave Community
nosleep by Vari...

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Okay class, settle down and bust out your textbooks because in this episode we’re digging into Utopian Scholastic. It's the aesthetic of optimistic encyclopedias, multimedia learning, and the sleek, educational graphics that promised a brighter, hyper-informed future. We'll explore how Utopian Scholastic, with its love of Dorling Kindersley and Encarta, shapes our nostalgia for education in the 90s and its natural connection to vaporwave.

Outro Sample

Discovery (Virtua Theme) from Virtua by trndytrndy

Visual Mixes

Scholastic Exploration 📚 (Encartwave Mix) by ArpWire
𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 📖 1990s Nostalgic Atmospheres (Music & Ambience) ✨🛰️🌍🦒🌿 by Kester...

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Wow, would you look at that? It’s an episode covering some new music, and within Birk’s local light cone, it still qualifies as a November release. After spending an absurd amount of time on a couple of shout outs we get into two great albums. First up is some vaporwave/drum and base from Pizza Hotline inspired by nostalgia for early 00s video game soundtracks. Then we embrace the black friday recording date with some chillwave/mallsoft synth work from Dead Shopping Malls. Put down that 65” box of Kraft Dinner...

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Announcement!

We were fortunate enough to be invited onto the “Hot Takes” vaporwave talk show. We sat down with YUNG SHIRO 白 and luxury noise for two hours of chatting about everything from Boards of Canada to horror tropes. Please check it out here: Episode 87: Night Clerk Radio.

Anyway! Wow, another genre episode! It’s been a while. What will they talk about this time? Will they talk about Bandcamp tags for an uncomfortable amount of time? Will they get hung up on overly niche hyper characterization of niche ge...

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Another episode already?! That's right! We're working to return to our regular release schedule. In this episode, we're diving into some new October music. As usual, we've got two albums: Ross stayed on theme for spooky month with a unique take on plunderphonics and dungeon synth from Magnum Innominandum, drawing inspiration from classic cosmic horror. Birk immediately jumped on that brand new Navigateur album, which offers an eclectic blend of genres and masterful production. We hope you join us in checking out these albums and supporting these artists.

Shout...

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It’s a late start to the spooky season! We’re jumping right in with a handful of soundtracks from recent horror video games. We’re checking out the big meaty six hour journey that is the Silent Hill 2 (2024) soundtrack. Then we’re turning our attention to the soundtracks for Look Outside and CULTIC. We discuss the games, their soundtracks, and what we love about video game soundtracks more generally. Grab these games, their soundtracks, and join us!

Thanks so much for your support! There will be a deluge of episo...

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In this episode, we're diving into some new September music. With summer coming to a close, it seems we were both inspired to explore some of our favorite comfort genres. For Birk, that's the hazy and nostalgic VIDEOFUNK, a unique blend of vaporwave, signalwave, and future funk from FIJI島の水. For Ross, it's the evocative and cinematic dark ambient of Leviathan by NoRinTon. Join us as we check out some new music!

Shout Outs

VAPORMEX 北方人 by Cerecita Spice & PENTIUM 2 ダニ
CULTIC: Chapter Two
Welcome to the MiniDisc Wiki
Ancien...

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In this episode, we dare to enter Ross’s cherished domain: the tabletop role-playing game! We’re checking out “First Quest,” a 1985 promotional cassette released by TSR UK. The cassette features a wide variety of tracks from an eclectic collection of artists. The end result is a fascinating assortment of electronic music that ranges from upbeat and poppy synths to ambient and drony textured soundscapes. So sit down, grab a pre-gen, and join us!

Check it out on YouTube

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons -- First Quest: The Music cassette...

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It’s time for our August new music episode. This time there’s no obvious overarching theme between our picks so no clever episode title, sorry! We’re starting off with Master Builder by Xeeland, an album that takes you on an evocative journey through the horrors of brutalist architecture. Then we’re heading off to Hawaii for The Molokai Compendium by Nmesh, a richly produced and deeply layered plunderphonic adventure inspired by one of the best bad movies of all time. Join us and check out these albums!

Shout Ou...

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In this episode, we’re finally breaking out the summer dungeon synth. But first we ask: what even is summer in music when freed from the burden of marketing and publicity? After that mild diversion, we chat about five dungeon synth albums that could, by some definition, evoke feelings appropriate for summer times. Whatever summer is to you we hope you join us and check out this great set of albums.

Outro Sample

The Awakening from The Sleeping Green by Lunar Womb

Albums Discussed

...

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First of all, sorry for the hecked up timing of recent episode releases. Ross and I have both had family in town which makes sticking to our usual schedule a bit difficult. Things should be back to normal here shortly.

Anyways! In this episode, Ross and I set out to find some new summer dungeon synth. That didn’t work out, so by complete chance Ross went with dungeon synth and I went with summer. It doesn’t matter! We ended up finding two super fun albums. Start your day...

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In this episode, we’re exploring one of our favorite metagenres: haunted media about media that never existed. This time, we’re delving into Vermis, a strategy guide for a game that doesn’t exist. It’s a beautiful and evocative collection of art and worldbuilding from the artist Plastiboo. We also check out the accompanying dungeon synth album by Radagast, released on cassette by HDK. Choose the nature of your flesh and then join us in the well!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Birk found the Doom 2 Strategy Guide he was talking...

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It’s time for June new music explorations and in this episode Ross and Birk have once again shown up with two very different albums. We’re discussing Suburbia After Dark, a compelling sample-laden darkwave journey, and Vistas, an upbeat love letter to Frutiger Aero and all the tech you love from the 00’s. Grab yourself a copy of these albums and join us!

Birk Shout-Outs

Notorious Secret/Solodolo84 Sanctuary 2025
Keyloggers, Cryptojacking, Mirror Neurons, Marley Station by Angelwings Marmalade
Vaporwave News Network

Ross Shout...

## Support TransOhio!

In this episode, we’re back to checking out a bunch of great live and URL sets from Sanctuary 2025, a charity show for the TransOhio Emergency Fund organized by Nostalgia Lounge in March of 2025. We go through sets that cover everything from classic vaporwave, to house and techno, breakcore, and beyond. Join us on our musical journey through Sanctuary 2025!

Artists! If we have not gotten to your set or if you have a public link to your Sanctuary 2025 set that we missed in either episode please let us know! We just want to ma...

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It’s time for us to gather around the Bandcamppole and celebrate the working artists of the world with our May new music episode. We’ve once again (completely unplanned!) have selected albums that represent both the comfort and the anxiety in vaporwave. First, we’re checking out the smooth and lush classic vaporwave of celadonDREAM Suite’s sophomore album. Then we’re going on an adventure with some glitchy and eclectic space ambient courtesy of ZIAD!. We hope you join us and give these albums a listen!

Albums Discussed<...

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## Support the TransOhio Emergency Fund
In this episode, we’re starting our series covering as many IRL and URL sets as we can get our hands on from Sanctuary 2025. Sanctuary is a charity show put on by Nostalgia Lounge (run by Crystal Eternal) to raise money for the TransOhio Emergency Fund. It was a huge success and featured music from dozens of artists highlighting numerous genres from vaporwave and future funk to industrial and breakcore.

Remember: We will be covering more sets in the future so if we di...

Hello! We’re starting a new project this month. We have almost 50 bonus episodes on our Patreon. The goal is to get these older bonus episodes out from behind the paywall. So travel back in time with us for poor recording setups, bad editing, out of date opinions, and so much more!

Original Show Notes:

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Well friends, it seems like nothing gets us into a long conversation like the historical and sociopolitical landscape of corporate art, aesthetics, and marketing. We talk about everything from the post-WW2 rise of...

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It’s time for our April New Music episode! This time around, we’re breaking the rules a bit by discussing three albums. Your three course meal starts with some classic USPS inspired vaporwave, moving on to an eclectic selection of chill experimental ambient before finishing things off with a moving tribute to the music of Twin Peaks. We hope you join us in checking out these albums and support the artists below!

Albums Discussed

U.S. Mail by opal東京
Living Rooms (Bonus Tracks Version) by Nobey On...

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In this episode, we’re checking out listencorp, a long-running magazine that covers vaporwave and electronic music. Each of their six issues features long-form articles, artist interviews, album reviews, and a whole bunch of great art and graphic design. We read through all of them and sat down to discuss our favorite articles. Grab their digital bundle on Etsy and join us!

P.S. The ‘plosive suppression on this recording is wilding and sometimes “listencorp” sounds like “listencore.” Sorry! However you pronounce it, definitely go and support what they’re doing!

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You should know that this episode was divinely ordained. The Discogs article below was posted by a listener on our Patreon Discord at the precise moment Birk was listening to a related album and thinking about this episode topic. As a result, you have to listen to us work our way through the landscape of Japanese Ambient in the 80s and 90s. We talk about the music of the time and how it might have arisen from changing material and technological conditions, the importance of funding cool art, and its resurgence...

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In this month’s new music episode, we’re exploring the anxiety/comfort duality in vaporwave as it appears across two amazing albums. Join us as we discuss the wonderfully anxiety-inducing Cursed Mall from AWITW and then go on a soothing cosmic voyage with Blueberries on Mars by 猫 シ Corp.

Shout Outs

ninja tape by 直子coed
foreign transmission by JPEGSTRIPES
Hands United: Echoes of Equality by Utopia District
CRYSTAL PEPSI Employee Training Video (1992)
"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙑𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚?" @ MAGFest 2025
Liminal Ambient: Gen Z's Answer to LoFi

Albums Discussed

Cursed Mall (The Soundtrack) by A...

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In this episode, we’re discussing the 2024 album Passion by D.J. VLK. This amazing display of plunderphonics is made entirely using samples from the forgotten paranormal soap opera “Passions.” We talk about the show itself, the plight of memory-holed media, and the exploration of others' memories through art. This is a wonderful and weird album that you should definitely check out.

Music Discussed

Passion by D.J. VLK

Supplemental Links

Happy 25 Years to the Most Unhinged Soap Opera of All Time
Rememb...

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In this episode we’re digging into Solarpunk, a multi-media art movement that aims to build a vision of a more optimistic future, free from the crushing doom of environmental collapse. We talk about the movement, some example media, and our thoughts on movements becoming aesthetics. So, come in from your rooftop garden and join us as we take a more hopeful view of the future.

Music Sampled

Light Blending In - Snowy Sunset from Solarpunk: A Possible Future by Various Artists

Media Discussed

So...

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It’s time for our first new music episode of 2025! It’s getting cold and snowy where we live so we picked out some albums that fit our wintery mood. We’re covering an amazing slushwave compilation from Mom and Dad’s Computer & 愛 as well as an evocative dark cinematic album from Dhalia’s Tear.

Albums Discussed

飑 by Mom and Dad's Computer & "愛"
Apeiron by Dahlia's Tear

Shout Outs

after everything by luxury noise
VAPORAISE 2024 sets on Utopia District’s YouTube
Consumer Electronics Record...

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We’re back! In this episode, we’re easing back into our recording schedule with a discussion of thirteen diverse albums spanning a wide range of Christmastude. From classic vaporwave to modern jazz, dark ambient to goth industrial, we delve into our musical stockings to uncover some new seasonal favorites.

Outro Sample

Null Device - Baby, It​’​s No Longer Cold Outside (Because of Climate Change) from GRABYOURCHRISTMASTREE by Elektro Vox

Albums Discussed

Holiday Countdown by Various Artists
Holidays by Anomalie
Christmas at Crystal...