diSKOAver weekly: Week of December 8, 2021

Hello gorgeous internet friends!🥰✨💖

Did you miss me? I sure missed you.

I think the hiatus is over? IDK. I feel like I keep saying that, but I’m pretty sure this is the real deal this time, haha.

In the past I have spent a lot of time overthinking what I share on this silly little site because I want it to be an equally fun and informative space that also happens to be aesthetically pleasing to My People. Plus there’s that pressure to figure out how to monetize the thing that makes you happy 🤑, which can easily become a thing that makes you really unhappy when you get caught comparing your internet offerings to someone else’s. Juggling all of those feels on top of a pandemic made trying to express myself even more stressful so I gave myself as much space from this as I needed until I missed it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

And some of you even reached out a few times to ask when the next update was coming. 🥺 You’ll never know how much that meant to feel like my contributions are actually meaningful to y’all even though most of the time I feel like I’m gushing into the void, lmao.

Anyway I hope you all are doing well and have been stuck at least twice by now. 💉

Enjoy!

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1. Mickey Kojak - ”Club Is On Fire”

   Okay so for whatever stupid reason when I want to take myself seriously about loving on this Sydney sweetie I always tell myself his full name is actually Michelangelo Kojak. I might have dreamed that once? Either way, that’s not even remotely true. I know his real name is actually Michael Dable and yet here we are lol. At any rate, our fateful hero has been doing his part during the pandemic to regularly drop techno treats on Tuesdays of his choosing to keep the fire burning in our hearts for his adorkable ass while he continues to work on new music. Luckily we managed to get a remix and two originals from Mickey in 2021, “Lights Out” and “Club Is On Fire”, the latter being the more splendidly chaotic of the two.

2. Pat Lok x Party Pupils - “So Fine”

   Over the course of 2021 the Twitter homey Pat Lok has been doing the Lorde’s work by keeping us satiated with shit that slaps. His recent collaborations with Party Pupils have been especially hitting the spot as of late. “So Fine” is an obvious fave because it makes it easier for me to pretend like I’m getting the attention I know I deserve, but I also really love their latest, “I Want You”. Which is also more attention seeking from me I guess? lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3. Lxury - “PAD MA”

   I was really glad London’s Lxury snuck in another EP after last year’s No Real Rush. This new one, Smart Digital Life is a lot more airy and brighter than NRR. There’s not a track I’d cut. In a parallel universe I would’ve included “Up High” but I was really feeling the high energy of "PAD MA” to compliment everything else in this weeks playlist.

4. Simon Hinter - “Wanna Make Love - Mixed”

   I love a good DJ Kicks mix, which is where I fell for German producer Simon Hinter. While I thoroughly enjoyed the entire mix that Disclosure put together, “Wanna Make Love” easily stands out as a moment to shut the fuck up and dance. Do not try to shift your focus otherwise you might get swept away on the dance floor.

5. Alfie Templeman - “Wait, I Lied”

   If these are the kinds of songs that Alfie Templeman is writing at 18, mannnn I’m like dying to know how his sound is gonna evolve in the next, like, 5 years. The progression from Don’t Go Wasting Time to Forever Isn’t Long Enough is somewhat subtle but you can tell that he’s feeling a lot more confident in his sound. Here’s hoping he continues on this trajectory he’s clearly on at the moment.

6. Jaded - “Welcome To The People”

   Lovely London lads Jaded have also been doing their part holding it down in 2021. I think “Welcome To The People” is a nice change of pace for the trio. The beat is super addictive. It keeps you stimulated as if you’re slightly over caffeinated and leaves you wanting like a 10 minute edit of this or some other absurd length.

7. Darius - “Feels Right (feat. Duñe)”

   Let the record reflect that the only show I went to in all of 2021 was to see Darius and Étienne de Crécy while I was in Paris for part of August and most of September. I just can’t bring myself to do shows in the US yet. I got hella trust issues with this country related to this pandem. Meanwhile, France’s vaccination efforts coupled with the countrywide implementation of the Pass Sanitaire put my mind at ease to dance the night away. And you better believe I barely moved the next day I went so hard at that show. While every track on Darius’ new EP, OASIS (Prelude), has its each little flavor to savor, “Feels Right” is my favorite mood enhancer of his and I had to make sure this one got to y’all. 🥰

8. Louis La Roche - “One Big Gay Disco”

   I very much like Louis La Roche’s new album, We’re Not That Different. There are so many good details about this record that make me keep coming back to it. My first taste of the record was, “One Big Gay Disco”, which is how I would succinctly describe what I hope heaven is like if it exists. I did ⚡️The Kibbe Thing⚡️ and hunted down the origin of this sample. I’m not going to publicize the hateful homophobic person’s name who said some horrible shit in an interview that Louis chose to transform into something positive and fuckin fabulous. I’m not mad it wasn’t easy to find the clip. Maybe just take my word for it that it’s awful and as someone who has people who lost people in the Pulse shooting that this song advances the slay agenda and is defiantly gay as hell.

9. KUNZITE - “SUPREME BEAM”

   I’m such a doofus. I went way too long not putting it together that KUNZITE was Ratatat adjacent. Never not embarrassing when something that later seems painfully obvious just flies over my head. I mean how long have I been at this shit, 12 years now? Anyway for the record KUNZITE is comprised of RATATAT's Mike Stroud and Agustin White from White Flight which is why it’s vibey af. I really love their latest album, VISUALS and I cannot recommend it enough.

10. Willow Kayne - “Opinion”

    When last we met this little sweetie was just stepping out with her debut single, “Two Seater”. Since then she’s released tracks “I Don’t Wanna Know” and more recently, “Opinion”. Have a peep at the brand spankin’ new music video for IDWK which Willow shot during her recent stay in Los Angeles. If you need any concrete evidence that the 90s are absolutely back in style, just sit back and let Willow’s ‘fits wash over you in all of their Delias-era glory. For some reason I really want Willow and BENEE to be besties. I feel like they would get into the best kind of trouble together, you know?

11. Noah Davis- “How Much Cash”

    I haven’t watched American Idol since season one so I hadn’t made the connection that Noah Davis has already had a little heat going for awhile. To me he was just some unassuming sweet thing that landed on my FYP and left me fucking SHOOK when “How Much Cash” hit my earholes. It not only makes me want to go to a gay bar full of hot lil go-go boys, but given that I’m in a space to call in the blessings I’ve been blocking, I always feel richer and mad sexy after playing this.

12. Magdalena Bay- “Secrets (Your Fire)”

    Only been trying to make this band happen since *checks notes AKA the DW archive* 2019. Glad everyone has joined the party! Like sincerely. I really am. Gotta say tho, they really fucking nailed it with this record. Mercurial World is just… *chef’s kiss*. Also this 90s nostalgia aesthetic just makes me feel like I’m on Geocities talking about this. If you don’t know what Geocities is please don’t tell me and just Google it. I can already feel the “kids these days don’t know how good they have it for making websites” spiel and I’m not in the mood to embarrass myself. Just let me casually obsess over their music video for this song and their website in peace.

13. Griff - “One Night”

    Fun true story: while working from my Airbnb in Paris I would leave MTV France on because I figured of all the TV shows that would teach me useful French vocabulary that Catfish would be perfect for someone as Very Online as yours truly. In France they were going HARD with plugging this song in the commercial breaks. Admittedly I haven’t given Griff a lot of attention in the past, but the clip from, “One Night” left me curious about the story behind the song. Apparently it’s about, “feeling like you’re always carrying this darkness or burden.” As Griff told NME, “I think in the daytime we can feel distracted because we’re around people and we’re busy, but that moment between going to bed and falling asleep, there’s just enough silence for those burdens to get louder. Essentially this song is trying to understand why I can’t shake it, and the chorus comes to this breaking point of desperately wanting at least ‘One Night’ alone.” Yeah girl, feel that. 😔

14. Carter Vail - “Trash Friends”

    Carter Vail makes it very easy to love him, which is why I’m not surprised at his ever growing following on TikTok. He’s a solid songwriter, has a great sense of humor (see also: “Trash Friends”), and also happens to have a face that you don’t mind looking at for long periods of time. It did not surprise me one bit to learn that he’s based in Nashville now and played at Rockwood Music Hall at the end of November. Hell I might DM his ass and ask him if he’s going to Belmont, because that’s the vibe he’s throwing. He’s throwing “homey I could’ve gone to college with who’s having a fun time getting better at writing songs”. That said, it seems his sound has already evolved quite a bit since he started releasing tracks in 2018 and I definitely like the direction he’s chosen for his 2021 cuts.

15. Nasty Party- “People On The Street”

    Are you ready to hit BINGO on your SKOA Bingo cards? This one is courtesy of the TikTok algorithm AND is an Australian baby band, bitches. LMAO. These guys have managed to capture the essence of 1980’s punk but made just enough tweaks to the sound that it could contend with today’s standards. In my ✨Kibbe Flies Aussie Bands To America And Makes Them All Famous Fantasy✨, these guys would be on a bill with Johnny Hunter and These New South Whales.

16. Jakuzi - “Açık Bir Yara”

    My little Turkish darklings Jakuzi have reappeared to seduce us with a quickie two-song EP for 2021, of which the title track,“Açık Bir Yara” is my favorite. Singer Kutay Soyocak has also started dabbling in a new black metal project called Vox In Rama which is a genre I’m not often in the mood for but is very cool to see this side of Kutay’s vocal abilities.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Mickey Kojak - "Strange"

image courtesy of Mickey Kojak

Mickey Kojak has made his first appearance of 2020 with his new track, “Strange”, an ode to good nights filled with bad choices and even worse repercussions. After closing out 2019 with the rambunctiously addictive “Video Games”, this new track has that low-key funk that really just sounds like you’re up to no good.

Fun fact about the song: it originated as one of his Techno Tuesday Instagram posts, where he casually flexes how effortlessly brilliant he is on the regular. With this factoid fresh in my mind I’m going to do my best not to go back and check out his other previous TT posts and daydream about which idea he finishes next. There have been some in recent memory that were straight fire.

2019 was a pretty busy year for the most adorable Aussie. In addition to releasing his Together EP (one of my favorites of the year), he also teamed up with Bag Raiders on “Wild At Heart” from their album Horizons, did a badass Like A Version session where he covered Art vs Science’s “Parlez-Vous Français?”, all before ending the year with my favorite Lana Del Rey diss track (“Video Games”). From the looks of things he doesn’t intend to slow down. Next month he’s hitting the road on his Turbo Tour before heading out to support Confidence Man in May.

MICKEY KOJAK “TURBO TOUR”
The Foundry
Friday 6 March
Brisbane, QLD

Northcote Social Club
Saturday 7 March
Melbourne, VIC

The Lansdowne
Saturday 14 March
Sydney, NSW
TICKETS 

CONFIDENCE MAN TOUR
Freo Social
Thursday 14 May 
Fremantle, WA

Lion Arts Factory
Friday 15 May 
Adelaide, SA

Forum Melbourne
Saturday 16 May
Melbourne, VIC

The Tivoli
Friday 22 May
Brisbane, QLD

Metro Theatre
Saturday 23 May
Sydney, NSW 
TICKETS

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS
Friday 24 - Sunday 26 July
North Byron Parklands, NSW 
MORE INFO

[SONG OF THE DAY] Mickey Kojak - "It's Gonna Be Okay (feat. Jake Stone)"

VIBE O CLOCKKKK ON FRIDAY

WE MADE IT Y’ALL!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

HERE WE GOOOOO!

Sydney synthpop artist Mickey Kojak has unveiled his latest track, “It’s Gonna Be Okay” featuring vocal stylings of Jake Stone (Bluejuice). Fun true story: the two got together after Jake commented on a festival video of Mickey performing his latest single, “All That Acid”. Stone came to a show where the two got well acquainted before holing up in Mickey’s Sydney studio. Each recording session came with a martial arts lesson, which from all reports were short-lived and always ended with Mickey being grappled to the ground. 

…..yo but is there footage of this tho? LOL

Mickey is prepping to hit the road next month in support of his forthcoming EP Together. More details forthcoming.