A Lot on My Crate

We usually associate someone being chronically online as a negative entity. That they are just some weirdo that is constantly plugged in is being part of a cog of a machine, or living in some horrific dystopia. These sheeple will never wake up! However, this album is a love letter about a healthy and complex relationship with their technology. One of the singles is how I found out about Ninajirachi and is literally called “Fuck My Computer”, a song about someone who wants to you know they make sweet sweet love to their computer. After listening to the cute single about nostalgia that is “iPod Touch”, I was then totally invested and followed the release of this album. This electronic album has the most appropriate aesthetic for this theme. How else would you show your love and appreciation to machines than to convey your craft than with the power of technology itself? It’s an electro house and EDM album with meaningful and touching storytelling. Not only the beats and melodies stay with you, but the lyrics do too and this really felt like it was made by someone who truly adored their craft. This album is like a mix of Kero Kero Bonito with the vocals and older Porter Robinson production influences all laid out with some hyperpop elements. One of the best things about this album is that it’s so cohesive and seamless and it flows just like a DJ set at an EDM fest. I was so fortunate to stumble onto this and I hope this reaches out to others too!

We boot up the album and it goes into “London Song”. It starts out as a grimy cut that tells of Nina never being in London. But with the power of technology and the Internet, she can doesn’t need to physically be there, but using a browser would make it like she’s there. It’s a good starter on how Nina tells about some of the positive influences of what the Internet can bring. Then we get into one of the featured singles, “iPod Touch” and it just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling hearing all these nostalgic throwbacks and with references of a Pikachu case with an iPod Touch encased in it. Makes me miss my iPod touch and classic. But there’s just a certain charm that Nina was able to hit with the production on this one. And then it immediately hits us with something down and dirty with “Fuck My Computer”. The song just blasts the speakers with the synths and electronics that make it into a pop anthem, personifying her computer as something she gives all her being into. It’s a hard hitting banger and I love the responses the computer makes when it says her name. I had to look up what the next song title meant, but “CSIRAC” was the first digital computer from Austrailia, where Nina is from and also the first digital computer to play music, so thank you CSIRAC for your contributions! This track had stuttering chopped chipmunk vocals and goes into techno kick drum patterns that starts low key at first. The chipmunk vocals is a snake charmer that entices Nina about the power of the machines and then came the noise, signifying the drop and the music. The drop dare I say, is so satisfying with that long build. “Delete” is this satisfying electro rocker that has these satisfying fuzzy synth drops and comes around these background cheerleader vocals. It tells about the anxiety, the regret, and the passion to put something online for this one person and how it made her feel. “Infohazard” seemed to fit in an EDM set with a buildup and drop about Nina’s experience of how she saw a snuff film online. Although a relatable traumatizing experience, she stated it didn’t seem to shaken her resolve for her computer, being as how upbeat this track is. “Battery Death” seems to lament a machine, but it goes out with a breathtaking bang with these repetitive lyrics of “taking it too far.” And then we get to “Sing Good” takes an interesting approach as it is a softer tone about how she is saved by this tool. It’s very inspiring to the point that it almost brought me to tears. She admits she doesn’t sing well, but she’s going to keep trying as she just breathes so much life into “Sing Good”. If it weren’t for the touching songwriting, then I would’ve wrote this song so fast. It’s cute and makes you want to cheer for Nina. Then we get into the penultimate bop being “It’s You” with commentary on self-esteem and masking oneself online. After that, we get this banger of a closer on “All At Once” that just brings all the sounds together and this closer is one of many reasons why I keep coming back to this.

There are only a couple tracks that were lukewarm to me. The weaker ones seem to just slow down at the midpoint at me. I was not affected by “All I Am” as much as I was compared to the other tracks as the songwriting was kind of meh for me.

Ninajirachi is that weirdo, but she’s a self-reclaimed one who stands by that title. It’s a new spin on the motif that technology is not 100% evil and makes me look at it at a different angle. Nina loves her computer and has no shame to say it. It has molded her into the artist she is today. How can you question her love for it when she made something so moving and beautiful out of this? Nina will stay online for us and for herself. I can say with confidence this is my favorite EDM or even electronic album this year. I’m so fortunate to have stumbled onto this and will follow her for the future. Now, where the devil is my iPod classic?

FAVORITE TRACKS: LONDON SONG, IPOD TOUCH, FUCK MY COMPUTER, CSIRAC, DELETE, BATTERY DEATH, SING GOOD, IT’S YOU, ALL AT ONCE

LEAST FAVORITE: ALL I AM

You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and her discography is also available for streaming.

https://ninajirachi.bandcamp.com/album/i-love-my-computer