Invite me, I won't come
2026 Mix 24: 1988 briefly considered, then the returns of the moth, Nia Archives' day job, and Fyore of "Fyore" from FYORE, plus Egyptian Ken dolls and Wheatus drone
This week I’m giving my grumblings about US and Anglosphere pop a break to go back to the heady days of 1988, which I’ve been exploring for an upcoming album tournament.
1988 was a year that I found even harder to slog through in a Discogs dive than 1989 was, and with no Jane Child jumping out as a rosetta stone for my music tastes.
But given that this year I’ve been consciously ratcheting up my listening to Caribbean dancehall styles, especially bouyon and shatta, it’s serendiptous that I found a gem that fits into the current Caribbean pop landscape in a similar way that Jane Child fit into the alt-rock-goes-teenager turn.
That album is Las Palé by the group Feeling Kréyol—three Guadeloupean singers who were plucked out of obscurity to front the quickie cash-in songs of producer Darius Denon trying to ride the burgeoning zouk wave. The three singers were strangers, the result of an informal audition process who were shuttled into a studio and taught the songs quickly with little attention paid to the finer details of their performances, like completing a mix or synchronizing their vocals perfectly to the tracks. They ultimately only recorded six songs that by Denon’s own estimation were cost-cutting approximations of Zouk Machine or Kassav.
The result, seemingly by accident, is a loose, ramshackle, and joyous record that feels like an early glimpse of the feel of more contemporary Caribbean pop—“cutting corners” becomes provocative minimalism, “unfinished mix” becomes textured (or at least un-smooth) sonic interest, “not synchronized vocals” becomes a more distinct sense of vocal grain.
My other two big ‘88 finds are both by women doing rap with a harder edge than some of the other albums that appear in various tiers of my provisional ‘88 album list: L’Trimm, The Real Roxanne, Sweet Tee, J.J. Fad, Salt N Pepa.
Anquette’s Respect is only a few degrees tougher than their peers, with the trio siccing then-State Attorney for Dade County Florida Janet Reno on deadbeats who don’t pay child support (“Janet Reno”), and then making their own “Night of the Living Baseheads,” but enlisting the Monkees instead of the J.B.’s for the hook (“Mary Mary”).
Far more bracing is Manhandler by Cassidine, which is as explicit as anything I’ve heard from this period and achieved a shock value that I’ve never really experienced in macho counterparts like N.W.A. I felt like I gasped at something on every track.
Other observations: Japanese pop seemed to be back in ferment (if it ever left—my guess is no) as the avant-garde, new wave, and hairspray-pop all hit regularly in the albums I tested. Favorites included Yasuaki Shimizu’s alternately nervous and smooth new wave Dementos; After Dinner’s experimental hodgepodge collection Souvenir Cassette; and knowing 80s cheeseball pop sampler Miho Nakayama’s Mind Game.
A few other finds that made waves in my otherwise indie-pedigree-approved list (Spirit of Eden, Surfer Rosa, Nation of Millions, Daydream Nation, check, and in about descending order): Cardiacs’ A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window; Scrawl’s He’s Drunk; Joe Smooth’s Promised Land; and Billy and the Boingers from Bloom County themselves, dorky hardcore band Mucky Pup with their album Can’t You Take a Joke? Much of what I’d call wiseguy post-hardcore tickled me—lots of authentic sneers on guys who you nonetheless doubt would really beat anyone up.
1. LIA LIA: Boogiepop Blitzkrieg Blob
Germany
The moth is back!!!! It has now been four years without a proper Lia Lia album — I sort of like her this way, in little bite-sized dopamine spikes every couple of months. But it is the year of all of my favorites putting out amazing LPs, so it looks like she is joining the fray. New album is apparently called (or at least teased with the title) Music, Money, Sex, Fame, Love, Love, [rest of title obscured by cigarette ash].
2. Nia Archives: Boys in Blue
Jamaica-UK
Nia Archives’ album is out in about a month, and seems like it continues her trend of living a double life as impish mad genius DJ by night and ragtag alt-pop star by day. I will try not to spend too much of the next few weeks worth of these mixes telling you that a song is better than anything on the Olivia Rodrigo album (though it will happen at least once and maybe twice next week), but this is better than anything on the Olivia Rodrigo album. And please don’t use this as a Streisand Effect-style opportunity to talk about the Olivia Rodrigo album here!!
3. Alewya: Maktoub
Saudi Arabia-Ethiopia-Egypt-UK
Kicking myself that I didn’t find Alewya (born in Saudi Arabia to Ethiopian and Egyptian parents and then raised in South London) before the Pop World Cup. This song wasn’t out yet and her connection to Saudi Arabia is somewhat tentative, but the M.I.A.-minus-M.I.A. sound might have appealed to the electorate. Golden Beatology of the week.
4. Fyore: Afrokeb
Haiti-Canada
Second appearance from Fyore in the same month suggests she’s one to watch more intently. (Album soon??) She got through to me this time sounding very little like what she sounded like last time, too, still Caribbean-oriented but gradually accelerates to a near-avant breakneck.
5. Tinashe: Too Easy
US
Really didn’t expect a successful meme to push Tinashe into chasing the high with a string of novelty dance singles, but I suppose I can’t complain. It’s not what I liked or expected from her—which was a canny navigation of slightly weird but not off-putting minimal R&B—but her issue has always been relative facelessness in a crowded field so I see the appeal finding any possible way to elbow through, and this certainly has elbows.
6. Wezza Montaser f. Btates El 7up, Aka El Arab, Tayer
Egypt
7. TUL8TE, Saint Levant: Nano
Egypt/Palestine-Jordan-France
Recent past and future of Egyptian pop represented: first Wezza Montaser, whose hits mostly date from five to seven years ago, especially in collaboration with Wegz; then TUL8TE, a white-knit-masked rapper on the MDLBEAST label (home of my favorite Saudi Arabian pop find, Asayel) collaborating with Palestinian artist Saint Levant on a track whose video, if you had any doubt was supposed to be fun, opens in a toy store on a bubblegum dispenser and the artist portrayed as a Barbie doll.
8. SHINee: Atmos
South Korea
SHINee is a second-gen K-pop boyband I never really hooked into at the time despite their stature in the scene, but maybe time has made the heart grow fonder, or maybe I’m more sympathetic to boybands now that there seem to be fewer of them reaching my radar screen, or maybe they just have some top-shelf material this time out. Whatever it is, the relentless electropulse against the vocal sheen really stood out.
9. Sébastian Tellier, Juliette Armanet: Attraction
France
This one stood out by…not standing out? I thought it sounded like the original version of a song that no one has remixed into some hypothetical better version I’m obsessed with, but it turns out it is a remix of sorts: the French version of “Thrill of the Night,” which appears on Tellier’s 2026 album with Slayyyter singing. Her replacement with Juliette Armanet is like a controlled experiment in A-pop that just barely passes measures of significance, but whose results probably shouldn’t be overstated as they would not survive replication.
10. C6ix: Wakaru6
Ghana-Japan
The rare rapper that gets by on vocal grain alone, with almost nothing else to recommend the track. He seems interesting beyond that—Ghanaian artist based in Tokyo, with lots of videos online about what he likes most about Japan, which is where I learned (if I understood the video correctly) that he likes Perfume. Me too!
11. Katarzia, Robin Galia: Pozvi ma, neprídem
Slovakia/Czechia
Two from Czechia this week — first one has a propulsive piano bass line that made me think of Kate NV, but at about the halfway mark they go half-speed and speak-sing, diluting the impact a bit and dooming them to the middle of the mix. I really liked the lyrics that I translated, though, including the song’s (and newsletter’s) title.
12. Sosyete ‘25: Yan
Turkey/UK
Bongo Joe knocks it out of the park again with a psych/funk group with Turkish singer and UK rhythm section.
13. Michael Boothman’s Family Tree: Tabu [1972]
Trinidad
An Afrorock jam from Soundway’s compilation Kaiso Power: Sound Revolution in Trinidad 1970-1980. Big drums, clanging keys, and a flute line in the lead, it all gels.
14. Mexican Institute of Sound, Meridian Brothers: Ritmo Babilonia
Mexico/Colombia
Have featured both of these artists separately, neither seems as weird or interesting together as they did in isolation, but if the standard is a median Santana song I guess they still bring a bit of irreverence to the table.
15. Constança Quinteiro: 1 e 1
Portugal
Portuguese, but with a lovely Afrobeats sound, reminds me a little of Tems’s “Love Me JeJe.”
16. Sasuke Haraguchi: Isan
Japan
A smoother sound than I’m used to from pop and Vocaloid producer Sasuke Haraguchi, though perhaps more characteristic of his solo releases than his work as a producer. This is the title track from a somewhat daunting hourlong, 31-track album I haven’t listened to in full yet.
17. Helena Gao: Lao Shi
China-Denmark
Danish-Chinese bedroom pop up-and-comer from the renowned Danish Rhythmic Music Conservatory, the same school that Erika De Casier and Smerz attended (among others) and which seems to have shaped a decent chunk of the alt-pop of the last few years.
18. Mess: Fckme
Czechia
Second one from Czechia this week. At first glance it’s your standard wall-of-sound hyperpop miscategorized as “shoegaze” but you can hear a catchy indie rock song happening somewhere under all the fuzz and fuckery.
19. Slippers: Wants for Everyone
US
There’s the Amerindie jangle quota satisfied even before we hit Wheatus drone.
20. Friday Night Plans: Fight and Loving
Japan
4-track (or approximate) guitar loop and ASMR-pop vocals from a Japanese artist who seems to be on an awful lot of playlists to help people “chill out” and “focus.” Have I discussed before how I absolutely cannot have music on in the background for any other task? I don’t even really like to hear music in restaurants; it’s very distracting! But even if I could listen to music while doing something else, I definitely would not play this.
21. Vines f. Wheatus: Teenage Dirtbag
US
Mark Sinker famously (well, famous to me, anyway) was ambushed by unexpected emotion when he encountered the part of “Teenage Dirtbag” where the singer goes falsetto to take on the perspective of the crush. Vines have made sure you couldn’t be ambushed by anything, the whole thing stretched out into mush, but in a way I find more interesting than a somber reimagining of a pop song for a movie trailer—it’s more like Justin Bieber 800% Slower. (This is probably closer to 50%.)
That’s it! Until next time, let me know what albums from 1988 I’ve missed.
—Dave Moore (the other one)
Title translated from Katarzia, Robin Galia: Pozvi ma, neprídem (“pozvi ma, neprídem”)