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Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Ross Payton, Birk McBirkinson
145 episodes
1 week ago
Birk and Ross plumb the depths of vaporwave, dark ambient, and other haunted genres of music. Discover new music to listen to and find out why we're drawn to retro aesthetics and dark music.
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Music Commentary
Music,
Music History,
Music Interviews
RSS
All content for Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews is the property of Ross Payton, Birk McBirkinson and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Birk and Ross plumb the depths of vaporwave, dark ambient, and other haunted genres of music. Discover new music to listen to and find out why we're drawn to retro aesthetics and dark music.
Show more...
Music Commentary
Music,
Music History,
Music Interviews
Episodes (20/145)
Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
December New Music: Halogen Star and Oneohtrix Point Never
In our last new music episode of 2025, we’re checking out some recent albums with a focus on experimental electronic music. First up, we have an evocative journey through supernatural and eerie memories inspired by horror video game OSTs. Then we’re diving into the latest from plunderphonics pioneer and veteran Oneohtrix Point Never, an album that offers a lush exploration of 90s commercial sample CDs set against a hazy backdrop of digital nostalgia.
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1 week ago
39 minutes 4 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
A Utopian Scholastic Winter Break
Okay class, settle down and bust out your textbooks because in this episode we’re digging into Utopian Scholastic. It's the aesthetic of optimistic encyclopedias, multimedia learning, and the sleek, educational graphics that promised a brighter, hyper-informed future. We'll explore how Utopian Scholastic, with its love of Dorling Kindersley and Encarta, shapes our nostalgia for education in the 90s and its natural connection to vaporwave.
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2 weeks ago
42 minutes 35 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
November Late Music: DREAM SELECT and Once, We Were Infinite
Wow, would you look at that? It’s an episode covering some new music, and within Birk’s local light cone, it still qualifies as a November release. After spending an absurd amount of time on a couple of shout outs we get into two great albums. First up is some vaporwave/drum and base from Pizza Hotline inspired by nostalgia for early 00s video game soundtracks. Then we embrace the black friday recording date with some chillwave/mallsoft synth work from Dead Shopping Malls. Put down that 65” box of Kraft Dinner and join us!
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1 month ago
48 minutes 20 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
We’re VHS Poppin’
Wow, another genre episode! It’s been a while. What will they talk about this time? Will they talk about Bandcamp tags for an uncomfortable amount of time? Will they get hung up on overly niche hyper characterization of niche genres? The answer to all these questions is obviously “yes!” In this episode, we’re digging into the genre of VHS pop, which is often thought of as the upbeat and optimistic cousin of late night lo-fi. We talk about our history with the VHS format, attempts to classify niche genres, the power of nostalgia for physical media, and our hope for a revival of the sub-genre. Join us!
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1 month ago
37 minutes

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
October New Music: The Gargoyles of Vyônes and INFINITY VOL.II
Another episode already?! That's right! We're working to return to our regular release schedule. In this episode, we're diving into some new October music. As usual, we've got two albums: Ross stayed on theme for spooky month with a unique take on plunderphonics and dungeon synth from Magnum Innominandum, drawing inspiration from classic cosmic horror. Birk immediately jumped on that brand new Navigateur album, which offers an eclectic blend of genres and masterful production. We hope you join us in checking out these albums and supporting these artists.
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2 months ago
39 minutes 12 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Spooky Video Game Soundtracks
It’s a late start to the spooky season! We’re jumping right in with a handful of soundtracks from recent horror video games. We’re checking out the big meaty six hour journey that is the Silent Hill 2 (2024) soundtrack. Then we’re turning our attention to the soundtracks for Look Outside and Cultic. We discuss the games, their soundtracks, and what we love about video game soundtracks more generally. Grab these games, their soundtracks, and join us! Thanks so much for your support! There will be a deluge of episodes coming out over the next few weeks as we get back on schedule.
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2 months ago
34 minutes 58 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
September New Music: VIDEOFUNK and Leviathan
In this episode, we're diving into some new September music. With summer coming to a close, it seems we were both inspired to explore some of our favorite comfort genres. For Birk, that's the hazy and nostalgic VIDEOFUNK, a unique blend of vaporwave, signalwave, and future funk from FIJI島の水. For Ross, it's the evocative and cinematic dark ambient of Leviathan by NoRinTon. Join us as we check out some new music!
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3 months ago
42 minutes 5 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
The Curious Case of the Dungeons and Dragons Promotional Cassette
In this episode, we dare to enter Ross’s cherished domain: the tabletop role-playing game! We’re checking out “First Quest,” a 1985 promotional cassette released by TSR UK. The cassette features a wide variety of tracks from an eclectic collection of artists. The end result is a fascinating assortment of electronic music that ranges from upbeat and poppy synths to ambient and drony textured soundscapes. So sit down, grab a pre-gen, and join us!
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4 months ago
33 minutes 23 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
August New Music: Xeeland and Nmesh
It’s time for our August new music episode. This time there’s no obvious overarching theme between our picks so no clever episode title, sorry! We’re starting off with Master Builder by Xeeland, an album that takes you on an evocative journey through the horrors of brutalist architecture. Then we’re heading off to Hawaii for The Molokai Compendium by Nmesh, a richly produced and deeply layered plunderphonic adventure inspired by one of the best bad movies of all time. Join us and check out these albums!
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4 months ago
43 minutes 20 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
A Dungeon Synth Picnic
In this episode, we’re finally breaking out the summer dungeon synth. But first we ask: what even is summer in music when freed from the burden of marketing and publicity? After that mild diversion, we chat about five dungeon synth albums that could, by some definition, evoke feelings appropriate for summer times. Whatever summer is to you we hope you join us and check out this great set of albums.
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5 months ago
34 minutes 14 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Summer Dungeon Synth? No, Summer and Dungeon Synth!
In this episode, Ross and I set out to find some new summer dungeon synth. That didn’t work out, so by complete chance Ross went with dungeon synth and I went with summer. It doesn’t matter! We ended up finding two super fun albums. Start your day off with a little patrol loop around The Borderlands then come back and settle into a nice air conditioned theater and enjoy some Summer Blockbusters.
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5 months ago
39 minutes 10 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Vibing with The Rat Man in Vermis
In this episode, we’re exploring one of our favorite metagenres: haunted media about media that never existed. This time, we’re delving into Vermis, a strategy guide for a game that doesn’t exist. It’s a beautiful and evocative collection of art and worldbuilding from the artist Plastiboo. We also check out the accompanying dungeon synth album by Radagast, released on cassette by HDK. Choose the nature of your flesh and then join us in the well!
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6 months ago
34 minutes 14 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
June New Music: Suburbia After Dark and Vistas
It’s time for June new music explorations and in this episode Ross and Birk have once again shown up with two very different albums. We’re discussing Suburbia After Dark, a compelling sample-laden darkwave journey, and Vistas, an upbeat love letter to Frutiger Aero and all the tech you love from the 00’s. Grab yourself a copy of these albums and join us!
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6 months ago
37 minutes 52 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Seeking More Sanctuary (Sanctuary 2025 Part Two)
In this episode, we’re back to checking out a bunch of great live and URL sets from Sanctuary 2025, a charity show for the TransOhio Emergency Fund organized by Nostalgia Lounge in March of 2025. We go through sets that cover everything from classic vaporwave, to house and techno, breakcore, and beyond. Join us on our musical journey through Sanctuary 2025!
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7 months ago
42 minutes 16 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
May New Music: celadonDREAM Suite and ZIAD!
It’s time for us to gather around the Bandcamppole and celebrate the working artists of the world with our May new music episode. We’ve once again (completely unplanned!) have selected albums that represent both the comfort and the anxiety in vaporwave. First, we’re checking out the smooth and lush classic vaporwave of celadonDREAM Suite’s sophomore album. Then we’re going on an adventure with some glitchy and eclectic space ambient courtesy of ZIAD!. We hope you join us and give these albums a listen!
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8 months ago
34 minutes 22 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
A Sanctuary Sampler (Sanctuary 2025 Part One)
In this episode, we’re starting our series covering as many IRL and URL sets as we can get our hands on from Sanctuary 2025. Sanctuary is a charity show put on by Nostalgia Lounge (run by Crystal Eternal) to raise money for the TransOhio Emergency Fund. It was a huge success and featured music from dozens of artists highlighting numerous genres from vaporwave and future funk to industrial and breakcore.
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8 months ago
41 minutes 52 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Patreon Rerelease: Corporate Art and Vaporwave
Hello! We’re starting a new project this month. We have almost 50 bonus episodes on our Patreon. The goal is to get these older bonus episodes out from behind the paywall. So travel back in time with us for poor recording setups, bad editing, out of date opinions, and so much more! Original Summary: Well friends, it seems like nothing gets us into a long conversation like the historical and sociopolitical landscape of corporate art, aesthetics, and marketing. We talk about everything from the post-WW2 rise of popular luxury to the current hellscape of flat purple vector people.
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8 months ago
42 minutes 54 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
An April New Music Sandwich
It’s time for our April New Music episode! This time around, we’re breaking the rules a bit by discussing three albums. Your three course meal starts with some classic USPS inspired vaporwave, moving on to an eclectic selection of chill experimental ambient before finishing things off with a moving tribute to the music of Twin Peaks. We hope you join us in checking out these albums and support the artists below!
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8 months ago
37 minutes 14 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Listenin’ To listencorp
In this episode, we’re checking out listencorp, a long-running magazine that covers vaporwave and electronic music. Each of their six issues features long-form articles, artist interviews, album reviews, and a whole bunch of great art and graphic design. We read through all of them and sat down to discuss our favorite articles. Grab their digital bundle on Etsy and join us!
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9 months ago
32 minutes 5 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Japanese Ambient Explorations
You should know that this episode was divinely ordained. The Discogs article below was posted by a listener on our Patreon Discord at the precise moment Birk was listening to a related album and thinking about this episode topic. As a result, you have to listen to us work our way through the landscape of Japanese Ambient in the 80s and 90s. We talk about the music of the time and how it might have arisen from changing material and technological conditions, the importance of funding cool art, and its resurgence in popularity over the past few years.
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9 months ago
32 minutes 13 seconds

Night Clerk Radio: Haunted Music Reviews
Birk and Ross plumb the depths of vaporwave, dark ambient, and other haunted genres of music. Discover new music to listen to and find out why we're drawn to retro aesthetics and dark music.