This is a cabinet for curiosities, a collection of things I find interesting that don’t fit neatly elsewhere. Expect playlists, notes on niche genres, and other ephemera.

synthwave

My love for synthwave runs deep. Here are a few channels and tracks that capture the specific retro-futuristic atmosphere I enjoy.

  • VISION84 A fellow enthusiast who makes music in Logic Pro, describing his passion this way: “Used to focus on electric guitar and singing in the shower, but my love has always been synthwave music.” A great example of the mood he creates is the mix “It’s 1986 and You’re Alone in a Rainy Diner at 2AM”.

  • The Midnight - Sunset From the channel Retrowave Cinema, which pairs retrowave music with scenes from ’80s films. This track is a quintessential example of the genre.

  • The Midnight - ‘Friction’ The Midnight (Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan) are masters of capturing a specific kind of nostalgia. Their own words sum it up best: “There is a Japanese term: Mono no aware. It means basically, the sad beauty of seeing time pass - the aching awareness of impermanence. These are the days that we will return to one day in the future only in memories.”

city pop

I’ve been falling down a rabbit hole of Japanese City Pop from the 1980s. It’s a genre built on an almost impossibly optimistic and luxurious vibe—a soundtrack for an economic boom that felt like it would never end. It’s fascinating how a sound so breezy and carefree can also feel so melancholic in retrospect.

On the academic study of liminal spaces

It turns out I’m not the only one fascinated by the uncanny allure of empty hallways and abandoned malls. The aesthetic of “liminal space,” born from internet culture, is starting to get some serious academic attention, which is both validating and deeply interesting.

A recent graduating project by Julio Ginter-Agreda at UBC, titled “Liminal Space: The Transient Experience of the Architecturally Obsolete,” does a fantastic job of tracing the concept’s journey from online meme to a serious lens for architectural analysis. Ginter-Agreda argues that these images of obsolete, “in-between” spaces are more than just an internet fad; they’re a way of understanding our contemporary relationship with the built environment.

Building on that, a new study by Song, Choi, and Li dives into the psychology of why we’re drawn to these images. In “What Makes People Like Dreamcore Aesthetics?,” they find a strong link between a person’s tendency toward nostalgia and their appreciation for “Dreamcore” imagery, which often uses liminal spaces as a backdrop. They discover that nostalgia positively predicts a liking for both the comforting and the eerie dimensions of this aesthetic. This suggests our fascination with these strange, empty places is tied to a sentimental longing for a past that is no longer accessible, a core theme in the study of nostalgia.

Finally, a thoughtful video essay titled “The Comfort of Liminal Spaces (and The Desire to Disappear)” explores this feeling from a more personal perspective. The creator argues that while these spaces are often described as unsettling, for many they provide a deep sense of comfort, especially during moments of emotional distress. The emptiness of the space resonates with feelings of sorrow or disorientation, creating a sense of being understood. The video suggests that liminal spaces feel empty because we’re meant to fill the void with our own feelings—to escape reality, even for a moment, into a world where that emptiness is a source of peace rather than anxiety.