WITLW: November 9, 2025
An experimental producer goes ambient, a viral rapper turns in a great album, and checking in with who's playing at Viva Pomona. Plus everything else I listened to last week!
What I Listened To Last Week:
Lawrence Matthews - Between Mortal Reach & Posthumous Grip 💿
Song of the Week: Nicholas - “my treat” 🎵
Lijan - Limbo’s Reject
I’ve been keeping up with UK producer Lijan since March of this year when I heard the song “Bally” he produced for Rico Ace and EsDeeKid. The beat is unhinged, a series of alien synths spiraling in and out of screen around a drum pattern that sounds like it was programmed by throwing a laptop down a flight of stairs. Frankly I don’t know how either of those guys got verses off on it. Nothing on this new mixtape goes as hard, but that’s not really the point. Lijan has a very unique ear, you can’t really pin down his style because he doesn’t hear the world in a way anyone else does. His compositions on Limbo’s Reject possess odd rhythms, they sputter and feign collapse before connecting at the last moment, giving the songs a peculiar emptiness, as if they’re playing out against a back drop of deep space. But in spite of how otherworldly this music sounds, it’s principally concerned with the here and now, trying to reflect and make sense of the strangeness of our modern lives. How do we see one another? How do we see ourselves? How do we cross the divide and connect?
Highlights: “buenavida”; “changes”
nasarima - 22 nasarima
I’m attending Viva Pomona later this month and spent a good chunk of my week researching the artists on the bill, one of whom is nasarima. Outside of a well-loved Soundcloud loosie from 2013, this 5-track EP from back in May is his only publicly released music. Lead single “rattlesnake” is a quick and catchy guitar diddy with an unfinished jangliness that reminds me of early Steve Lacy. The rest of the project is decidedly more grounded, keeping the guitar as a focal point but smoothing out its tone and letting it sit a little heavier in the mix. You could call this pop or indie rock or “alt-r&b” but it doesn’t really sit well in any of those categories, preferring instead to dip its hand in each and borrow as needed. “crush” is by far the standout on here, an exceptionally well written song about a love worn thin by time and personal baggage. Its one of those tracks that’s so simple in concept and execution that it defies easy comparison, though I’m tempted to evoke Nourished By Time given its clear mastery of form. Needless to say I’ll be checking out whatever stage he’s on in a couple of weekends.
Highlights: “crush”; “ghost on my shoulder”
My Favorite Color - Elmer
You might know My Favorite Color from that reel where he stands in front of Nickelodeon studios with his crew telling child sex pest Dan Schneider to go fuck himself. Or the one where he makes a diss track about Lil Yachty’s performative psych rock phase. Or, most recently, the one where he cusses out major labels for leadng him on outside the Columbia Records building. Suffice it to the LA by way of Pittsburgh rapper is a gifted marketer, routinely racking up tens and hundreds of thousands of views on social media, but it’s not just the short form content he excels at. On Elmer, My Favorite Color’s latest album and first since 2020, he trains his laid-back, conversational flow on more weighty subject matter: escaping problems through casual drug use, growing up adjacent to violence, and, most prominently, contending with life’s unescapable loneliness. The first few tracks have a veneer of humor similar to that found in his videos, but this largely gets abandoned as the project progresses and My Favorite Color drops his guard to reveal a surprising level of openness. The beats, all courtesy of producer Nice Rec, are jazzy and unhurried, leaving plenty of space for the rapper’s distinctive persona to take center stage. It’s always nice when the music backs up the antics.
Highlights: “Can’t Miss”; “Little Things”
SOTW: Nicholas - “my treat”
This song went platinum in my phone the night Nicholas sent it to me. An ethereal pop anthem about playing sugar daddy for the person you love, what could be more aspirational than that? I love the little vocal stabs that punctuate the verses, the two-dollar synth plug-in that scores the chorus, the part where he sings in Spanish for no reason. We are dealing with a pop mastermind folks, living proof that you don’t need million dollar budgets and a roster of Swedish songwriters to craft delectable ear candy. Treat yourself today.