Cashier Conductor (Chapter 1) by Ranipla

Ok, cringe all you want at this one, but it’s genuinely tough to find a record that oozes with personality like this one does. Cashier Conductor (Chapter 1) by Ranipla walks you through its shenanigans like an old friend; the skits here bring you into the room with the artist and all of the voices in their head. Each song harkens back to a style of internet music that Ranipla obviously deeply cherishes, bouncing from electro-swing to hyper-ska to breakcore to bubblegum bass, giving us a grand tour of the digital underground. Yes, this one’s goofy, but the forwardness of Ranipla’s aesthetic only further proves their love for these sounds and their belief that there’s no better way to express themselves than with some noisy e-pop. Some artists spend their entire lives searching for the language that gives their soul away to an audience, but Ranipla has undoubtedly found theirs in fairly short order. If you still find a reason to scoff at such a beautiful achievement, I’ll help you pack.

- Michael