"If it had not been for the discontent of a few fellows who had not been satisfied with their conditions, you would still be living in caves. Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization."

- Eugene V. Debs

Hi, nice to meet you!

I wear many masks. Awkward fudanshi, professional self-deprecator, generally irrepressible Japanophile, fully automated luxury gay space Bookchinist, meme philosopher/irony-bro, mediocre college student, staunch Cascadian...

I'll talk your ear off about a number of subjects if given the change, because I'm hopeless at interacting with people in real life, and I use online chat as a substitute.

RYM is where I've met most of my friends. It's a great site, but even so a lot of people on it piss me off. Nevertheless, I try to be polite (if not outgoing) and I will add you back if you add me in about 95% of cases. I talk to most of my close internet friends (so, my friends) on Steam so just add me there if you would like to stay in contact socially.

Some small notes:

- I listen to a lot more than I rate. Most music I hear isn't stuff that I recall strongly enough for it to merit rating. I'd go through my wishlist and tag stuff I've already heard but lol

Views on music/rating/etc:
Bit long so I'll spoiler it. (Oh, and don't take any of this as accusatory or lecturing. It's all good-natured, and as much of a reminder to myself as it is advice to anyone else :P)


- Aesthetic matters. This means lyrics, concept, cover art, everything that's related to the album as a multimedia conceptual package affects musical appreciation. Music doesn't exist in a vacuum, and treating it as such will deprive you of many powerful experiences.

- Likewise, context of listening matters. This is why my ratings, on their own, don't mean very much - it's just a reflection of how much value I got from that album when I last listened to it. And, of course, I don't rate most of what I listen to, because I'm not well-acquainted enough to come to a solid view on it. Well, and my opinions change (of course) - stuff has gone from 1.5 to 4.5 before, and vice versa.

- The worst thing any art can do is leave no impression. I don't believe in something being "awful", just not having any worth to me. My low ratings aren't a condemnation of your enjoyment, I just can't see the appeal.

- If you love everything you listen to (or so your ratings indicate), you love nothing. Being picky just shows that you can isolate what really matters to you. On the other side of the coin, if your 0.5* ratings just consist of Brokencyde, Crazy Frog, Justin Bieber and Asking Alexandria, it's hard to know what you really want to not hear from your music.

- Find something you care a lot about and try to learn as much as you can about it. This goes for life in general, but RYM is a fantastic resource and a great way to dig into a genre that fascinates you or resonates with you.

- Don't, however, fall into the trap of ignoring a genre out of prejudice, or making false stereotypes about it. Lord knows I missed out on so many things by thinking that. Basically every style of music has the potential to produce something worthwhile.

- While a fantastic resource, RYM is just that. Stay away from trends, "cultures" and gimmicks. Don't hero-worship.

- Remember that it's not a contest to find more obscure things and have more ratings. Listening to music isn't, or shouldn't be, an obligation or grind. Enjoy discovery, remember how profound music can be.


I mostly work on lists rather than reviews these days because I don't like giving "final judgement" type scores unless I'm closely acquainted with an album. So, if you're looking to use me as a resource for some godforsaken reason, look at my lists, because that's where the action is.

Do note, though: I have a very very one-track mind and have trouble focusing on multiple projects (read: lists) at once. So I'll generally download a huge backlog of stuff for one list, listen to nothing but stuff from that backlog for months, and then switch gears. This means that other lists tend to go uncared for for a while, sadly...