Name(s): 90
Artist(s): 808 State
Release Date(s): December 4, 1989

Is 90 by 808 state “dated?” You bet it is. But something sounding like an album of its time isn’t a bad thing. It just means it sounds different from current standards. Isn’t variety in music the greatest thing about it? Why would anyone set a standard for the same instruments and production? How awful. There’s so many different minds of different artists to look into, and so many different worlds to explore.

“Magical Dream” is just that, enveloping me in a surreal world where I’m deep underwater, then floating among clouds in the sky the moment those vocals hit. Do you remember the kaleidoscopic bonus stages in the first Sonic the Hedgehog game? It’s kind of like those.

There’s something about ’80s/early ’90s electronic music. Remember Dreamcast games with their futuristic techno soundtracks and all those other surreal worlds in early 3D gaming? That shit was cool as fuck, and there really hasn’t been anything like it since. It wasn’t just pushing for the future—some pioneers were already living in it. I refuse to call it nostalgia. I’m still a city person, give me lights and sensory overload, fuck everything else. Dazzle me. “Welcome to Techno City” (“Donkey Doctor”).

The airy vocal samples and twinkling keyboards in 90 take you to another planet. I’m gonna go play Nights Into Dreams or some shit. Peace.