In a surprise to absolutely no one, I am a huge “Christmas guy.”
Not in any religious way (ew), I just freebase the vibes.
C9 bulbs, festive Minions, Fred breaking Barney off with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles because it ‘tis the season.
Combine that with the DSM-5 diagnosis of professional DJ, and you can imagine how hard I dig for new (good) holiday tunes. In 2020 I stumbled upon a wavy lil Peanuts cover from Cameron Lew, a then-unknown California producer and songwriter going by the name Ginger Root.
It’s dope! But barely a teaser for the scope and specificity of Lew’s original music to come — a stylish and singular blend of city pop and yacht-adjacent classic rock that shares the lo-fi spirit of modern day slackers (Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, etc) but lives very much in its own, self-created universe.
Over the next few years, he would unspool these tunes over several EPs (please burn City Slicker and Nisemono on a single Volvo-friendly disc for the full Nick Experience) accompanied by a series of pitch-perfect DIY music videos.
Their CRT glow and handmade spirit weaves together an ongoing tale of imaginary TV stations, pop idols and Japanese prefectures (“It's so good to get down at the Juban District!”) where the “character” of Cameron / Ginger Root stumbles into constant and increasingly elaborate misadventures when his personal awkwardness rubs up against his creative ambition.
This wildly in-depth interview with Lew gets into the weeds — roots! — of his A/V process and influences. It’s timed with the release of SHINBANGUMI, a new album on Ghostly (how do you do fellow Herbs) that turns Ginger Root’s world building literal, thanks to a pop-up skyscraper inside the vinyl packaging.
Along with the LP rollout, he dropped a cover of the Zombies’ "This Will Be Our Year" that connects some aesthetic (and arguably, philosophic) dots, complete with fire engine red telephone mic.
SHINBANGUMI pairs nicely with Roman Coppola’s new perfect-bound, extremely font-y Enthousiasmos magazine — itself an adult, design-fetishist take on Japan’s long-running Popeye, the “magazine for City Boys.”
GR also reminds me a lot of hidden Y2K jewel sElf, another one man(ish) band with a penchant for cover songs, toy instruments and extremely “particular” vibes. He wrote the Expedia jingle!
I don’t have any deeper point to make here. This is all just cool stuff I think you should check out, from artists who mix Rube Goldberg inventiveness with a psycho commitment to the most granular details of their vision(s).
It’s impressive and inspiring.
But to tie it back…
Would not be mad at waking up to some creamsicle wax on December 25th.
Ho ho ho!
Babyface Ray, The Kid That Did — Ray has been on a “better than the last one” refinement run for the past few years that mirrors Ginger Root’s, except his songs reference various opiates and denim brands instead of Sailor Moon. We all contain multitudes.
Miami Vice At 40 — a deep dive that clarifies the accepted Michael Mann / “MTV Cops” origins and bigs up the layered collaboration that actually brought the show to life. Shout out Asian Dan for bringing “Cry (12” Extended Mix)” back into my rotation right before I read it.
An Oral History Of Blood & Bone — in our post John Wick world of stuntmen turned auteurs, it’s a delight to read about all the years of kicking and punching in the trenches that helped make it happen.
Cold Gawd, I’ll Drown On This Earth — wasnt sure what meme to post here, “you like shoegaze, name every shoe” or “i’m big enough to admit that i thought shoegaze was pronounced like benghazi.” Anyway, this has joints.
The Work Of Robin F. Williams — why yes, I would like several oil paintings inspired by I Spit On Your Grave.
Playlists updated!