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“Feels”, that piece of post-Tumblr Millenial slang, is as much misunderstood as it is derided. But let’s get to that later. Pure Feels (the name chosen as a homage of the iconic Pure Moods compilation) draws from ambient music, not the genre proper, but the music that was going on while other things were happening. Music from Dreamcast and N64, the sounds of spas and suburban malls, elevators and hold lines. It might seem strange that that songs so influenced by background music, music essentially designed to be ignored, are invested with such sincere emotion. And that’s part of the reason why stuff like vaporware is assumed to have been made with a hefty amount or irony. But that’s not it at all The whole thing is soaked in the nostalgia of those times. Those feelings of comfort, of control, of limitlessness, of certainty, of prosperity, are as tied to the 90s as they are to childhood for people of a certain age. Using the word “feels” as a noun may seem at first like childish artifice, but it’s inarticulateness is the point. It’s an emotion that can’t be named, but only felt, deep and inchoate. That’s the vein Moon Cities has tapped into on Pure Feels. This is the New New Age.
1. Sega Saturn – NTSC Boot
2. Vektroid – YR HEART
3. Macintosh Plus – ECCOと悪寒ダイビング
4. USF – Kneepads
5. Meishi Smile – Summer Blue
6. Pastel Ghost – Dark Beach
7. Clams Casino – Wizard
8. Rivka – Gone
9. Friendzone – Poly
10. Saint Pepsi – Mr. Wonderful
11. Miami Vice – Climate Control
12. Classixx – A Fax From the Beach
13. Anamanaguchi – U n ME
14. Jim Guthrie – Cabin Music
15. Balún – El Medio Contenido
16. Chalkboards – ta på jakken din
17. Teen Daze – I Fell into the Light
18. Kosumo Notto – Desperation Move
19. aivi & surasshu – The Hill (from Steven Universe)
20. Lullatone – Finding a Leaf in your Girlfriend’s Hair