Printed Hyperlink (& I Really Hope So)

Posted on July 28, 2023

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The printing press was invented a long time ago. Hyperlinks were invented much more recently. Old technology clashes with new technology, someone doesn’t take the time to remove their hyperlink before printing, and boom: printed hyperlink.

It’s an age-old story. Internet age-old, that is.

There’s no record of the first ever printed hyperlink, but there is this absolutely wacked-out website where they screenprinted hyperlinks onto a tshirt.

The Sound of the Song

As I mentioned in the inspiration list of IMURME, I’m a big fan of deep underlying sounds (e.g. kicks and 808s) that rip apart the song above them. In IMURME, you get some of this with the kicks at the top of each measure: hard distortion of the agogo synth, like the kick is shredding the chord.

In Printed Hyperlink, I took this effect to another level of extremity. It’s actually almost painful to listen to if you identify with the… agogo… in this song…

(I’m realizing now that I really like my agogos)

But it gets even more extreme as you proceed through the song. After the key change at 1:02 (marked by the weird distorted vocals that don’t say anything intelligible), the 808 gets a few notes lower, which actually really increases the distortion.

I spell out the distortion effect with the 3-octave “step-down” from 1:13 to 1:28:

At 1:13, the 808 goes really really high (almost comically so). There’s almost no distortion of of the other sounds at this point.

Then, at 1:19, it steps down an octave, and you get a bit more distortion – but there’s still coherence in the mix.

Then, at 1:24, it steps down another octave, and the 808 distortion borderlines parody. It sounds like it’s a screaming jock. I threw in one of those cheesy air-ride cymbals at this point to really get the beat going.

Then after that it goes blah blah blah slow part chord pattern, then finishes it all off with a minor-chord rendition of the initial chorus. Whatever, the idea is already out there.

But Wait, There’s More… I Really Hope So!

If Printed Hyperlink is the cocaine-addled Mario game, I Really Hope So is the dopamine crash. It’s got the same general idea as Printed Hyperlink (same instruments, same Logic file), but the execution is different. The agogos form a reverb-drenched nostalgic (repeating) chord sequence that the 808 can’t hurt as much. The beat is a bit more head-bangable, a bit more manageable from a “dance” standpoint. Then comes in the lead synth at the 31-second mark.

I fucking love this lead synth sound. It’s essentially just the default analog setting of a synth called “Retro Synth” with a tweaked flanger. It gets me going.

The whole point of I Really Hope So is the triplets this synth does. The rhythm and beat of the other instruments is absolutely critical, but mostly in the sense that they provide a substrate for the Retro Synth triplets to rip my fucking heart out. Makes me want to puke. The verses give me these “return to base” / “return to ancestral home” vibes that get absolutely shredded when the synth starts to scream in the chorus. In the final chorus, when shit starts going crazy and the Retro Synth gets all flangered to hell, this is like someone going “God, I really hope so. I really really really really hope so.”

Bonus: Early Promo Video

This was before I hung up the paper on the utility pole for the album cover.

Bonus: Unsure if Inspiration

Idk if you’ve heard of this Ricky Eat Acid track from 2011, but it’s got a similar idea. The song to listen to is “Slo-dancin'” (which is not what that hyperlink currently defaults to FYI). Bass rips apart the guitar above. Super cool.

Listen wherever you listen

Like on Spotify

or Apple music if you’re into that