1. Plastic Whatever

Let me start by saying that my first exposure to desired's work was Nineteen + Memory Tape.

I HATE Nineteen + Memory Tape, and because of that I almost never found this album.  But one day, browsing through youtube, Neon Maze came up in my recommendations.  It had a picture of Sailor Moon on it, so I clicked it(As you do)

Let me also say that when I'm "reviewing" an album I'm not rating it.  I'm not a musical expert nor do I think you need to read yet another opinionated so and so giving scores out of 5 or out of 10 to music.  I'm just writing down how the tracks make me feel.

A lot of Futurefunk albums start you off with a mellow tune as an intro.  Macross tends to get things rolling with a cassette tape being inserted, or some light static.  Yung Bae likes to have the DJ tell you it's time to "RETVRN TO THE CLASSICS."

Desired does not do this.  Desired already had the tape in the VCR and was waiting for you to walk in.  We jump right in to a a man who's lost his girl, and after a few seconds of Desired adjusting the tracking on the tape(Kids, go ask your dad what a VHS tape is and how the tracking button on the VCR works), the bass kicks in and we're off to the races, and also a sweet saxophone solo.  The vocals switch to Japanese, but the singer stays male and the second sample fits the tone of the first.

A great intro Reminiscent of City Lights opening Sailorwave II with a bang.

Plastic Life makes great use of the fade effect throughout, and I give it bonus points for having the word plastic shared between it and the album title, but it feels like a transition piece.  And that's not necessarily bad.  There are some grand transition tracks out there.  The problem is, the following track doesn't need a transition, it's a moody piece with a rain effect and another really nice Saxophone riff.  It's honestly also a transition piece, but it gets full marks because it sets up the 4th track perfectly...

It's Neon Maze, nothing I write will do it justice.  Just go listen to it.  Stop reading this blog, go listen to Neon Maze, and come back.  I'll wait.

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Yeah, I know.  If you wanna go listen to it again feel free.  Come back again when you're ready.

An instrumental track, and a nice mellow tune(With drum and bass to back it up.)  At least you thought it was a nice mellow tune until Desired blindsides you with an electric guitar solo in the final 30 seconds and then before you can figure out what's going on the whole song just drives off into the distance without you, guitar and all.

Track 6: Love Letter(For You)

In an experience completely foreign to myself and anyone reading this blog, the woman providing the vocals here is in love with the listener.  The vocals do the heavy lifting here, and the piano makes for a nice complement.  The drum and bass isn't overpowering, but the vocalist briefly takes a dive beneath the bass so she can triumphantly emerge out from under it.

Oh boy, a schizo thread synth track!

A lot of glitch effects here, but nothing ridiculous, and a solid synth melody backed up by bits and pieces of vocals.

Literally just a commercial break.

This is my favorite track on Plastic Whatever.  It's not the best track, but I love the feeling I get when I'm cruising down the street to this, especially when the record scratch hits.

10/10 would drive off into the sunset blasting Android Shelter again.

Opens in a similar way to Can't Find Out, with the track faded out.  Instead of the tracking button, a scream fixes our audio issues.

Unlike the man in Can't Find Out, this woman has found love, not lost it.  Her verses have all been eaten by the synth, but the synth is good and her verses probably weren't important anyway.

The guitar from Distorted Silhouette is back, but he's playing backup to the real stars of this track: The cowbell, and you the audience clapping along to the clapping sound effect.

I'll be honest with you: I don't get this one.  I don't hate it, it just confuses me.

Another track where you can clap along.  The electric bass gets to shine here, and briefly gets some screen time to itself.

Yes that was a sparkle sound effect you heard at 0:22.

Speaking of sparkle sound effects, that's the vibe here.  The synth zounds almost but not quite like a xylophone here and combined with some high pitched vocals it works. Fates out into static, and then fades back out of the static into...

This is the end, things are upbeat, but the song feels lost in a fog.  The vocalist gets stuck on one long "ahhhhhh" with a fade effect over top, and there's the briefest of homages to Plastic Love, this album's namesake at 2:10.  Then we're back to our one note vocals until the song is ultimately consumed by the fog.