issue 01 - freshly squeezed, from my sponge to yours
issue 01 - freshly squeezed, from my sponge to yours
sponge-y similes, groovy house music for rooftops and balconies alike, a major milestone event announcement, a trailer to Marvel at and more
a very warm welcome to the very first issue of FRESH by wing, thank you for being here!
as a gemini in a social media saturated digital age, i am entirely in my element and love absorbing new content into my bloodstream - whether that is new music, new aesthetics, new styles, new ways of life, new thoughts, new feelings. (when i say ‘new’, i mean new in the sense of something being new to my knowledge, not necessarily being new in terms of overall newness in its exposure to the world. for example, a song from the 1940s could still be new to me, if i discovered it for the first time today. modern consumerist culture is very obsessed with this idea of New Newness but thats’s a discussion for maybe a future issue.)
i don’t remember who said this, but someone once likened me to a sponge, the way i absorb information and knowledge from all ends of the spectrum, then mix them all together and squeeze them all out in the work i produce, as one amalgamated smoothie of creative influences. that was a while ago, but i have to say that still feels like a pretty accurate description of how i function, to this day.
hence, this is where the concept of FRESH stems from! this will be a home for anything deemed new and fresh-worthy by myself (and special guests 👁️), freshly (ha) squeezed from my personal, very saturated sponge straight into yours. i hope you enjoy your stay here, and find something worthy of absorbing into your own personal sponge!
let’s kick things off with:
FRESH: new electronic
(the freshest in newly released electronic music)
Get To You (Extended Mix) - Denton (UK), SOHMI
this wonderfully warm, groovy, middle-of-the-afternoon house track has been stuck in my ears ever since SOHMI posted a sneak peak of this track from a set she did. Denton (UK)’s classic house sound mixes perfectly with SOHMI’s soulful vocals, definitely a track I can see being played across rooftop venues this summer, in addition to my apartment balcony - to the audience of myself, my plantlings, and my neighbours in the building across from us, who take a general interest in peeping over while i water my plants at 9am.
(a special shoutout to SOHMI for being one of the freshest new Asian-American female producers on the electronic scene the past few years!)
my only complaint with this track is where is the Extended-Extended mix that lasts longer than 4 minutes 19 seconds, and why is that not already being fed permanently into my eardrums?
FNK N ROLLAZ - Macross 82-99, Vantage
the last and final 11th track off Macross 82-99’s new album SAILORWAVE III, this gem nearly evaded my attention! not only is it a collaboration between two synthwave producers that have been on my radar for some time, but to my surprise, it samples a very familiar, very well known oldies song! i thought i couldn’t love the original song more, but FNK N ROLLAZ has proved me wrong.
FRESH 2022
if you want even more fresh picks, drop my playlist below a follow and check in from time to time - i keep this updated at least weekly! (FRESH by wing was also inspired by this, wink wink)
FRESH: electronic
(the freshest in general electronic music)
SPF INFINI - TDJ
recommended to me by a friend of mine (thanks Sam!), i thoroughly enjoyed my listen-through of this album. TDJ hails from Montreal and produces tracks in the realm of rave-worthy trance with touches of hyperpop, all of which are aplenty in this album. this is her third(!!!) album release of 2021, including track collaborations with some fellow prominent producers in the rave-trance world, such as Panteros666 and CFCF.
in a streaming music culture that currently leans heavily towards singles and radio play over LPs, albums and longer individual track lengths, it is reassuring to see artists still release full length albums, and to see listeners motivated to go through albums from top to bottom. bonus points to SPF INFINI for being a mixed album for even easier listening (where the tracks blend into each other, similar to how they would be played live in a DJ set)!
my personal favorites from the album are Nucl3ar Pow3r and Euphoria.
FRESH: events and happenings
(the freshest in current events and happenings - you get the gist by now)
ABGT500 Announcement!
it is that time of the year, the time of non-stop festival date and lineup announcements - are you tired yet? i know you have energy for one more, this one will be big! my beloved trance trio Above and Beyond (and label bosses of Anjunabeats) posted this sizzler reel announcing… an announcement on March 28. 🤠
though on the signup site they did drop two very juicy bits of information, that ABGT500 will be held in the US and on October 15! (for context, ABGT is their Group Therapy weekly radio show, which hosts a special milestone live set with special guests every year per 50 episodes, at a different city around the world!) safe to say i am very very very excited about this, and the prospect of perhaps being able to finally go to an ABGT show in person (?!). let me know if i’ll see you there, or if you’ll be tuning in on the livestream! and now we (not so) patiently wait for March 28 to arrive.
if you are new to Above and Beyond, you can give one of their all-time freshest tracks a spin below:
Roller Rink @ Rockerfeller Center
get your rollerskates out, because the iconic ice rink at Rockefeller Center in NYC is turning into a retro (grid-patterned?) roller rink from April-October this year! this makeover is hosted by Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace, a family-owned roller rink biz from the 70’s with arguably the coolest company name ever. itching to get some loops in on this already, they better have a great soundtrack playing too! i have some ideas if they need suggestions.
much like the Rockefeller ice rink, i have also done a revival of my retro 8 year old self, and bought myself a pair of inline rollerskates again last year. unfortunately, all roller rinks in Hong Kong are currently closed due to Covid measures, but i have been having a blast skating again on nearby cycling tracks in the sunshine, blasting this playlist on shuffle.
FRESH: film and tv
Ms. Marvel Trailer
it’s time for the latest serving of Disney+, Ms. Marvel! it’s also about time that Marvel Studios has a female POC led franchise… better late than never. aside from the comments section in chaos about Marvel changing her powers, Kamala played by Iman Vellani seems every bit your typical high school teenage fangirl. i can’t help but reminisce on my younger days - as an adult in her 20s, i feel slightly out of the target audience range for this show. from the trailer alone, i know i would’ve been overjoyed if i was able to watch this in my teenage years, to be able to see myself on screen as a superhero. it may not have the same impact on me now, but i reckon i’ll still enjoy the story. if anything, i’m watching this for 14 year old wing.
FRESH: bling
(the freshest in what i’m currently serving up in the jewelry realm)
i’ve been happily working away on some exciting custom pieces, it’s always a joy to be able to make art that both you and i love! here’s one of my recent creations up for adoption, the LUCKY CHARM necklace:
green is a color i have only recently become partial to, for emotional and sentimental reasons. using green as a theme in this piece was equal parts enjoyable and challenging - i usually use a very minimum of maybe three colors in any piece of art! all these little charms are also so fun to individually string together, then attach.
(writing wing is currently realising that this is becoming a /very/ long first issue… what can i say, there is a lot of love i want to share with you! we continue)
FRESH: self
(the freshest in my current self awareness, discovery and improvement journey)
To Talk Or Not To Talk
i’ve noticed that i start feeling anxious when i’m not in consistent touch with people i care about. i think it’s partly due to being overly accustomed to the instant nature of communication nowadays - if it’s as accessable as sending a quick text, why would you choose to not say something? but maybe, the means is not the issue. sometimes, sending a text is just as difficult as a call, or meeting in person. maybe the expectation of constant communication is the issue - it is ultimately unrealistic to expect of both yourself and others. there is also solace and respite to be found within voids of communication, a return to neutral ground. it also frees up more energy and more time to spend with yourself, and that is not half bad at all.
FRESH: miscellaneous
InstaTok
as you have probably seen on your feeds, Instagram has become TikTok 2.0 with their (relatively new) Reels feature. on one hand, while i am still mourning the loss of Instagram as a purely picture-based format, i have also (willingly) jumped head-first into the bottomless pit of creating reels. since TikTok remains banned here, this has been my first cultural exposure really to the format, and I can see why it is so viral, and so addictive. as someone who loves long format video editing as well as quick, consumable media, reels truly hit a sweet spot for me in the content creation sphere.
sure, the actual process in real time is 20 minutes give or take, but seeing it happen in all of 10 seconds is oh so satisfying.
Relativity
it is still hard to grapple my head around the fact that air raids are happening right now in Ukraine, whilst i am sitting here writing this, and you are here reading this with me. so many different kinds of lives are lived in the same moment, and while you cannot live someone elses’ nor take their pain away from them, you can live the life you do have to the fullest everyday, and do what you can, when you can, to help those who need it.
Hyperfixate
i would like to extend a big shoutout to my bestie Ari’s weekly newsletter, Hyperfixate! without it, i don’t think FRESH would exist right now. it’s been an incredibly inspiring (and insightful) read, written in great style by a fantastic author.
my deepest appreciation to you for making your way with me through this bumper-sized issue, you may pick up your complimentary I WAS FRESH FIRST gold star from the imaginary merch table on your way out ⭐ see you for the next issue, very excited for all to come on here!
lots of love,
wing
head over to freshbywing.com to catch up on past issues of FRESH, and find us on instagram!
I finally got the time to read the first issue and I'm loving the vibes! Gonna add Demospongiae to my identity now 😆
Such a cute first issue!!! Congrats, friend. I'm happy to be a sponge too :))