{"version":"https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\/version\/1","title":"HOUDINI Magazine","home_page_url":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles","feed_url":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles.json","description":"The Culture. The Message. The People.","author":{"name":"Staff"},"items":[{"title":"I'll Let You Sleep by The Hotel Pool, Brother","date_published":"2026-09-03T09:00:00+00:00","id":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-03-ill-let-you-sleep-by-the-hotel-pool-brother","url":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-03-ill-let-you-sleep-by-the-hotel-pool-brother","content_html":"

Some thoughts from our Editor-in-Chief on the class friction and humiliation rituals brought about by wage slavery.. and what he's decided to do about it.<\/p>\n\n

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One of the worst parts about wage slavery is how it pits working class people against each other. Whether it's the customer who felt that the cost of the goods where too high, deciding to leave a complaint that only ends up getting the workers reprimanded. Why do I have to take the hourly temperature of the coffee? Because you said the coffee was cold after it was put out for an hour. Why did you say the coffee was cold? Because the room was too expensive and you're strapped for cash, and you're hoping that if you leave a negative review, you'll get a discount next time, or credit for your room. But in reality, all you ended up doing was creating more work and a write-up for the labor.<\/p>\n

What's even worse is when you have to play the property police. Because ultimately, if you're working at a business, you've been deputized by the police department to enforce that private property. Homeless man needs to come in. We have bathrooms in the lobby. I have to turn him away. I can't offer him one of the bananas in the back. I can't offer him the kindness of letting him use the restroom. I have to inform him that I will lose my job if he doesn't leave, and I will have to call the police if he doesn't leave. Me, the person who fundamentally disagrees with the concept of the police, now deputized by them.<\/p>\n

This is intentional. That's part of how the wage relation system maintains itself. But I'll let you sleep by the pool. How could I not? How could you stay in this place for four days, run out of money, be here with your wife and your six-year-old son, have nowhere to go, and me deny you that humanity? I cannot. I simply cannot. I'll tell you where the cameras are. I'll tell you that you shouldn't interact with me while you're here. I will tell you that if you stay by the pool, there's no cameras in the corner, take you that power nap. Because suddenly you couldn't pay, now you have to be dehumanized. And I have to do the dehumanization so I can maintain a paycheck that ultimately doesn't even make me enough to cover the cost of rent. Therefore, putting me in the exact same precarity you, my brother, my working class comrade, now face.<\/p>\n

\"pool01\"<\/p>\n

Could I be fired for telling him this information? Could I be fired for extending this hand of humanity? Could I be fired for letting the homeless guy use the bathroom? Could I be fired for giving him a banana on the way out, knowing that homie might not have food? Homie might not have ends. Homie is still a human being. Homie is still the homie, regardless.<\/p>\n

To me, this relation is one of the worst parts about working in a customer-facing role. It's one of the worst parts about working in general. I shouldn't have to deny my humanity, doubly so, one, when I clock in to be exploited, and two, when I act as the exploiter, enforcing the private property rights of a business owner that does not pay me enough to live, while also simultaneously telling me that I should be grateful for the opportunity to be what is ultimately a serf, a wage slave.<\/p>\n

So yes, my friend, I will let you sleep by the pool. Because the cost of sacrificing my humanity may very well be greater than the cost of my rent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"pool02\"<\/p>","tags":["2026","anti-life regime","labor","capitalism","class relations"],"image":"\/user\/pages\/02.articles\/2026-09-03-ill-let-you-sleep-by-the-hotel-pool-brother\/thumbnail.png"},{"title":"Review \u2013 Money for Girls: Amortized","date_published":"2026-09-02T09:00:00+00:00","id":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-02-game-review-money-for-girls-amortized","url":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-02-game-review-money-for-girls-amortized","content_html":"

The MindApe reacts to the latest Visual Novel released by no-world dreamer, Porpentine Charity Heartscape.<\/p>\n\n

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A girl detective faces her greatest mystery yet: saving her mom from crippling debt. But beware: the gorgeous tropical landscape conceals a world of sin. The popular girl at school has shown a disturbing interest in you, and your mother's predatory loan is dressed to kill. Can your sugary heart survive, or will the ants feast?<\/em><\/p>\n

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The first REAL afterschool special in over a generation.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re calling them the Moulting Generation.<\/p>\n

Wasps really go in for sweet red gunk this time of year. I think it\u2019s appropriate this game was released exactly now when we have maximum Hymenoptera \/ insect saturation. All you have to do is 1) go outside in the day and feel them hover around you 2) go outside at night and hear them insult you.<\/p>\n

\"moneyforgirls01\"<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go top shelf: this game has the same level of predatory hyperlexical intimidation as Disco Elysium<\/em>. The writing feels dangerous in the same way, a heady mix of gnomic mythopoesis and the crass demands of lizard brain pulling at You, the player, actually the Plaything. Like your mind is acting like your own mind for once? <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of commitment to this lying in bed trying to get to sleep bit. There are these odd little nocto sounds, cracks and hums, that periodically interrupt the night. I feel like the parts where you stare blankly at the wall or sit there doing nothing at home are maybe the real mechanics of the game and the daytime stuff is just flavouring.<\/p>\n

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Porpentine is probably the greatest diagnostic prose stylist since Ballard (and likewise seems to treat writing as a branch of neurology). Basically they both write as if trying to flirt via prescription pad.<\/p>\n

I have this theory that only the extremes of media matter\u2026 Like how the most psychotically experimental horror video pairs extremely well with a lot of 90s kids horror TV. I think this is because of the constraints imposed on one vs the absolute noncommercial freedom of the other both tend towards a certain ferocious derangement. The experimental film does it by excess. The kid show gets there by suppression. They each have distinctive feelings that separate them utterly from the mass of mediocre middleware, they each can hit that weird point of poetic knowhow. What\u2019s really incredible is that this game somehow manages to embody both feelings at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"moneyforgirls03\"<\/p>\n

The artwork can only be described as invasive. I didn\u2019t really realize there were these subformal conventions in visual novels, the characters always used to respect things like personal space. Here they are unearthly Large, Intrusive, Rabelaisian almost in their inability to read the room. Close-talkers. Lady Dirt? THE GODS ARE TOO CLOSE.<\/p>\n

Odd little mechanics like how the screen throbs and pulses along with your mouse movements. It\u2019s trying to tell you something. Maybe it\u2019s actually alive, like that Ranpo story about the pervert who hid in the chair to take the full daily weight of the sitter. It feels like this is not a game actually it is just a person inside there, peepholing you and suppressing hysterical laughter every time you make a \u201cchoice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Brown\u2019s Schooldays for the Maggot Era.<\/p>\n

Rated M for Microfibre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Play Money for Girls: Amortized on Steam today<\/a><\/p>\n

\"moneyforgirls02\"<\/p>\n

Genre: Indie, RPG\nDeveloper: Porpentine\nPublisher: INNOCENT Interactive\nRelease Date: 24 Aug, 2026<\/p>","tags":["2026","lgbt","game review","indie game","video games","visual novel","surrealism","dating sim","horror","romance"],"image":"\/user\/pages\/02.articles\/2026-09-02-game-review-money-for-girls-amortized\/thumbnail.png"},{"title":"Revisiting the Birth of IDM with 'Artificial Intelligence'","date_published":"2026-09-01T06:00:00+00:00","id":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-01-revisiting-the-birth-of-idm-with-artificial-intelligence","url":"https:\/\/houdinimagazine.com\/articles\/2026-09-01-revisiting-the-birth-of-idm-with-artificial-intelligence","content_html":"

Slug comes to us with a bit of electronic music history from across the pond. Sit back, relax, and get your headphones ready. We're talking Intelligent Dance Music, baby!<\/p>\n\n

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Britain's popular soundscapes during 1991-1992 are not particularly surprising: U2's Achtung Baby<\/em>, Enya's Shepherd Moons<\/em>, Nirvana's Nevermind<\/em>, and an insanely high volume of legacy rock'n'roll and post-punk bands' \"Greatest Hits\" records.. not exactly mind-blowing stuff. (We're cool with Enya, though.) Anyways\u2014something else was happening in the undercurrents of the British music industry. In an unassuming record store in Sheffield, an entire subgenre of electronic music was putting down its roots.<\/p>\n

\"warp_records\"<\/p>\n

Warp Records store image from The Star<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

At a time when pop music reigned supreme, 1980s Sheffield had a single oasis for electronic music lovers: FON Records. Two young employees of the store, Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, were looking to bring the sounds of American electronic music to the city's music scene. In 1987, they convinced the owner of the shop, Robert Gordon, to rebrand the store and call it Warp Records. They began specializing in imports from Chicago house and Detroit techno labels like Trax and Metroplex. The duo quickly realized that there were plenty of Sheffield-based musicians creating their own dance music and believed there was a market for it.<\/p>\n

In 1989, the shop morphed into an indie record label while retaining its namesake. Warp released a number of \"bleep and bass\" singles, like Forgemasters' Track With No Name<\/em><\/a> and Nightmares on Wax's Dextrous<\/a>,<\/em> which became a top-40 hit. They were truly independent: hand-delivering records to shops across England, splitting the profits with their artists. They partnered with the now-iconic design company, Designers Republic<\/a>, to create a recognizable record sleeve that stood out from others. You might recognize some of their work:<\/p>\n

\"designers_rep\"<\/p>\n

Despite Warp's initial success with club-oriented tracks, they would fall into financial disparity in 1990 after a string of poor business deals. Determined to be an album-oriented label rather than a singles-focused one, they released Sweet Exorcist's CCCD<\/em> in 1991. The album sold well, especially in the United States, and its success saved Warp from bankruptcy. Riding on this success, Mitchell and Beckett took a sharp turn into left field, compiling what would become Warp Records' defining release: 1992's Artificial Intelligence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"cover\"<\/p>\n

Diving into Artificial Intelligence<\/h2>\n

Artificial Intelligence<\/em> is not a club record. As suggested by its bizarro CGI cover (designed by Phil Wolstenholme), this record is different from its early-90s peers. It's experiential, best enjoyed in your living room with a spliff and some headphones. Steve Beckett had this to say about it back in 1999:<\/p>\n

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You could sit down and listen to it like you would a Kraftwerk or Pink Floyd album. That's why we put those sleeves on the cover of 'Artificial Intelligence' \u2013 to get it into people's minds that you weren't supposed<\/strong> to dance to it!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Brimming with metallic flavors of ambient techno, acid, and breakbeat, Artificial Intelligence<\/em> is a near-perfect snapshot of the IDM genre in its infancy. Although no one knew it at a time, the album would mark the beginning of Warp artists' dominance on the frontier of \"electronic listening music\" for the home.<\/p>\n

On the very first track, we hear a young Richard D. James'<\/a> first (and only) release as The Dice Man, Polygon Window<\/em>. Fans might recognize this name as one of James' future monikers. It's a solid ambient techno track, albeit very simplistic when compared to his later work under Aphex Twin. Other standout tracks include Autechre's contributions, Crystel<\/em> and The Egg,<\/em> both of which remain earworms and exemplary of what makes them such a great outfit. I'm also a big fan of the hypnotizing bassline on I.A.O.'s The Clan<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The sounds of Artificial Intelligence<\/em> might sound conventional (maybe even dated) to the modern ear, but in 1992 this wasn't something you'd normally listen to at home. I still find the entire record pleasing to the ears, although a lot of the Roland sounds you'll hear have been beaten to death some thirty-five years later. Either way, this album is worth a listen, even if solely for the experience of a pivotal moment in electronic music history.<\/p>\n

Spark one up, press play, and melt into the recliner like it's 1992. It's the closest you'll ever get to time traveling.<\/p>\n