Crucial Track for February 4, 2026

"diamond.pin.vertigo" by Imelda Marcos

#365songs (35 / 365)

I've always been more interested in music that commands your attention than pleasant background music; though there are certainly places in my life for the latter, it's not as fun to write about, so instead you get some stuff like "diamond.pin.vertigo." I discovered this track's album via a Bandcamp article and was reminded of it today when my friend sent me a link to this Angine de Poitrine set because I can never resist a chance to flex my more-outré-than-you cred (illusory, given the source of the cred). I kind of fell out with instrumental music around college and have been gradually finding my way back in via some stuff that explores the outer reaches of what's possible when you don't need to work around words or a vocal melody.

Agita is kinda similar to the Angine set in that both are stripped-down guitar/drums duos that make a lot of noise for two people, but whereas Angine de Poitrine plays with microtonality in the tuning of their double-neck guitar/bass, Imelda Marcos chucks tonality out the window entirely and ends up with something where the guitar more contributes (incredibly crunchy) texture and rhythm than anything resembling a melody. "diamond.pin.vertigo" constantly shifts between what that Bandcamp article calls "brutalist riffs" that sort of end up being catchy through sheer force of repetition despite bearing only the slightest resemblance to anything that could be called a "song." It all sounds incredibly virtuosic such that it's hard to imagine how two people could play it, but not (at least on the guitar side) in a "playing very fast" way so much as a "how do you even make those sounds?" way. Despite being instrumental music, this really seizes your attention with both hands: it's like they took the visually compelling parts of the Angine de Poitrine performance and translated them all into even more sonic novelty. Both are great! It's amazing that people are still finding new ways to do guitar music in the 2020s!