Semantic Distance

hand it over — mgmt

you know the tweet that’s like:

opening spotify when you’re not obsessed with a song is like opening up the fridge over and over again when there’s nothing good to eat

to no one’s surprise, that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling with this song over the past couple of weeks. idk what specifically caused the resurgence as mgmt isn’t in my usual rotation, but i was randomly humming the chorus one night and my head snapped like a hunting dog towards my phone. the song transitions from c# minor to its parallel major of e, but the eeriness, somber, and weight of the first eight bars bleeds into the rest of the song. listening to a piano arrangement of the song made me realize that chord progression is sort of hidden in the mix, with the bass doing a lot of the work for guiding the ear. the songwriting of the outro coupled with the refrain of “hand it over” is what really makes the song for me. i’m particularly drawn to the use of “rightfully” when the speaker is talking about this amorphous desire of theirs; this declaration of deservedness is a feeling i think most of us have felt and (personally) brings me in closer to the track. below is an earlier section (around 0:38) that always grabs my attention—the descending melody.. the ascending minor chords.. the rise back up to the previous motif… like yeah… #realfuckingmusic.

it also doesn’t help that i still in the aftermath of applying to [REDACTED] and the lamenting of the chorus didn’t help the (occasional) spiraling. i can see my dreams so clearly! they’re right there! hand it over! also fun fact: this song was partly inspired by and written during the 2016 election and reading that in 2026 makes me realize the lyrics like these are very on the nose… i mean that in the best way possible…

the joke's worn thin, the king stepped in now we'll see who is who look who's bending over

mutant exotic → back 4 more → f.u.

this specific order of songs causes my body to move so rigorously that i’m convinced i’m doing some sort of somatic therapy. there’s something so effortlessly cool about lsdxoxo’s and it pairs nicely with toka project’s deep house production, with jamie xx closing it out with playful treat eryka badu vocal samples. each of these songs deserve some sort of 16 track transition with some low pass filters and center bass swaps. can a dj please hop on this?

here are some more variations of these three tracks

csirac → muschi muschi → cyan hardcore front left speaker → set the roof → the hills (george daniel remix) got em (sango remix) → screen cleaner → hitchhiking

wired — post june

i imagine this song playing after a b2b with the general aesthetics of the songs in the above absorption, acting as a breather in between hard acid, techno, trance tracks. the instrumentation is simple: a basic drum pattern, a fuzzy bass, and arpeggiated synth lines that are stretched across all frequencies in the middle of the song. i feel like one of those photos from art & oppression by ellen jantzen, but on the imaginary dance floor in my head.