Suboptimal is all about shrugging off the pressure to be flawless. It’s a wry, witty take on what it means to never quite measure up — and being totally okay with it. From school struggles to chaotic relationships, the song celebrates embracing imperfection with a grin and a middle finger to expectations. With a healthy dose of irony and swagger, it flips the script on failure and finds freedom in not giving a damn.

Suboptimal erzählt mit einem Augenzwinkern davon, wie es ist, einfach nie ganz reinzupassen – und wie befreiend das sein kann. Ob Mathe-Stress, Beziehungschaos oder gut gemeinte Kritik: Hier geht’s darum, all das nicht mehr so ernst zu nehmen. Der Song feiert das Unperfekte, das Unbequeme – und das Selbstbewusstsein, seinen eigenen Weg zu gehen, auch wenn der nicht “perfekt” ist. Ironisch, ehrlich und herrlich gelassen.

Suboptimal

Der alte Seidel hält mir mal wieder 
Die Matheklausur direkt vors Gesicht
Mensch Junge!
So geht das doch nicht...

Was soll bloß mal aus dir werden?

Das ist suboptimal
Sagt er, weit entfernt von perfekt
Suboptimal
Ist mir doch egal
Denk ich
So was von egal
Juckt mich nicht

Susie hat die Nase voll von meinem Chaos
Und sagt mir mitten ins Gesicht
Ehrlich Süßer
So geht das nicht...

Wie soll so jemals was aus uns werden?

Das ist suboptimal
Meint sie, ganz und gar nicht perfekt
Suboptimal
Mir doch egal
Denk ich
Echt egal
Du verstehst mich nicht

Immer dasselbe
Schon mein ganzes Leben
Irgendwer hat was dagegen
Und motzt
„Ganz sicher nicht mit meinem Segen“

Ist schließlich suboptimal
Und weit weg von perfekt
Ich hätt‘s aber gern wie geleckt
Wie gemalt, schick
Halt einfach perfekt

Heute sitz ich am Strand
Die Füße im Sand
Meine Songs gehen durch die Decke
Weil ich in den großen Hallen einchecke

Wie gefällt Euch das?
Ein Genie beherrscht das Chaos

Suboptimal
Scheißegal


Suboptimal

In Episode 301 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg offers his  anarchist annotation of the New York City mayoral candidates' debate. He makes the case that the promise of "socialism" represented by Zohran Mamdani is (alas) not as real as the threat of fascism represented by Curtis Sliwa—or acquiescence to fascism represented Andrew Cuomo. Both Cuomo and Sliwa invoked the too real possibility of Trump attempting to abrogate New York's municipal powers if Mamdani becomes mayor. However, this contingency could heighten the contradictions in a politically salubrious way—prompting the needed rupture between progressive-run localities and the illegitimate Trump regime. 

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/countervortex

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 63 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 64!

Fascism, socialism and the NYC mayoral race

A bittersweet alt-pop / indie rock ballad about the roles we play  
and the masks we wear to survive.  

“Mask Parade” moves from soft melancholy  
to an upbeat, ironic anthem —  
a performance we all know too well.  

It’s playful, sharp, and painfully honest at once:  
a soundtrack for every “I’m fine” said with a smile.  

🎭 Genre: Alternative Rock / Alt-Pop  
🎧 Mood: Melancholic • Ironic • Empowered  
🖋️ Lyrics & concept by Tani — music created with AI (Suno).

TaniSa - Mask Parade

Sound artist anti_saunt creates soundscapes that unfold like surreal stories — somewhere between the realm of dreams, dark fantasies, nightmares, and everyday life. Her pieces are stories with a touch of sarcasm.

Production & Lyrics: Aneta Demerouti

Graphic: Aneta Demerouti

Mixing & Mastering: Sarah Roellinger Shaikh

Voice / Spoken Word Track Im Moment: Tamay Paydas 

She sometimes records everyday sounds and accompanies them with spoken word in her pieces. But the sounds are often distorted in such a dystopian way that this very everydayness turns into horror. They are like a testimony to the lightness as well as the gloom and pain of contemporary life; at the same time, they reflect the latent, eerie threat that always resonates within it and affects us all on a daily basis.

Poetry, spoken softly or distorted, hovers over the pieces like a mysterious fog, guiding listeners through these dreamlike worlds. Sometimes lighthearted, sometimes eerie, but always full of experimental brilliance, she moves in a space that dissolves the boundaries between sound, text, and imagination.

Her experimental soundscapes are reminiscent of the fleeting nature of fragments of memory in which reality constantly slips away. The familiar becomes something alien. The alienation seems like an overly sarcastic commentary. One ultimately ends up questioning one’s own existence, coupled with a feeling of the unbearable simplicity and heaviness of being human.

The contrasts inherent in anti_saunt's pieces give them their dark and narrative power. As if they were echoing through walls, as if they were recorded in a dark cave in the forest, and yet in the middle of the city. As if you were far away, yet accompanying anti_saunt on their musical journeys.

Bandcamp 

Im Moment

Sound artist anti_saunt creates soundscapes that unfold like surreal stories — somewhere between the realm of dreams, dark fantasies, nightmares, and everyday life. Her pieces are stories with a touch of sarcasm.

She sometimes records everyday sounds and accompanies them with spoken word in her pieces. But the sounds are often distorted in such a dystopian way that this very everydayness turns into horror. They are like a testimony to the lightness as well as the gloom and pain of contemporary life; at the same time, they reflect the latent, eerie threat that always resonates within it and affects us all on a daily basis.

Poetry, spoken softly or distorted, hovers over the pieces like a mysterious fog, guiding listeners through these dreamlike worlds. Sometimes lighthearted, sometimes eerie, but always full of experimental brilliance, she moves in a space that dissolves the boundaries between sound, text, and imagination.

Her experimental soundscapes are reminiscent of the fleeting nature of fragments of memory in which reality constantly slips away. The familiar becomes something alien. The alienation seems like an overly sarcastic commentary. One ultimately ends up questioning one’s own existence, coupled with a feeling of the unbearable simplicity and heaviness of being human.

The contrasts inherent in anti_saunt's pieces give them their dark and narrative power. As if they were echoing through walls, as if they were recorded in a dark cave in the forest, and yet in the middle of the city. As if you were far away, yet accompanying anti_saunt on their musical journeys.

Production & Lyrics: Aneta Demerouti

Graphic: Aneta Demerouti

Mixing & Mastering: Sarah Roellinger Shaikh

Blumenelblein

Schleim

Sound artist anti_saunt creates soundscapes that unfold like surreal stories — somewhere between the realm of dreams, dark fantasies, nightmares, and everyday life. Her pieces are stories with a touch of sarcasm.

Production & Lyrics: Aneta Demerouti

Graphic: Aneta Demerouti

Mixing & Mastering: Sarah Roellinger Shaikh



She sometimes records everyday sounds and accompanies them with spoken word in her pieces. But the sounds are often distorted in such a dystopian way that this very everydayness turns into horror. They are like a testimony to the lightness as well as the gloom and pain of contemporary life; at the same time, they reflect the latent, eerie threat that always resonates within it and affects us all on a daily basis.

Poetry, spoken softly or distorted, hovers over the pieces like a mysterious fog, guiding listeners through these dreamlike worlds. Sometimes lighthearted, sometimes eerie, but always full of experimental brilliance, she moves in a space that dissolves the boundaries between sound, text, and imagination.

Her experimental soundscapes are reminiscent of the fleeting nature of fragments of memory in which reality constantly slips away. The familiar becomes something alien. The alienation seems like an overly sarcastic commentary. One ultimately ends up questioning one’s own existence, coupled with a feeling of the unbearable simplicity and heaviness of being human.

The contrasts inherent in anti_saunt's pieces give them their dark and narrative power. As if they were echoing through walls, as if they were recorded in a dark cave in the forest, and yet in the middle of the city. As if you were far away, yet accompanying anti_saunt on their musical journeys.

What I Love About You

Random DB Time Capsule

A chaotic national anthem for the burnout generation. Dark trap meets apocalyptic EDM, dripping with sarcasm and distortion. It’s capitalism’s victory parade scored by your last nerve. Every beat mocks the system we keep rebooting. Sponsored content for your collapse - enjoy responsibly.

Lyrics:
Good evening, citizens.
Tonight’s forecast: late stage capitalism with a chance of debt.
Smile wider. The stock’s up higher.

Grocery aisle roulette, prices doing parkour,
CEO just bought another metaphor.
Thank you for your patience means bend over more,
We clap for crumbs like that’s what thanks is for.
We sell our calm for caffeine, our time for rent,
They raised the cost of breathing by forty percent.
Pledge allegiance to the quarterly rise,
God bless the brand that monetized our cries.

Buy the lie, earn the rage,
Spin the wheel, call it wage,
Every meltdown earns a like,
America, make it bright.

This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, smile wider, the pain’s hysteria.
Swipe left, pray to the algorithm god,
We’re trending broke, applause, applause.
This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, stock high, morals in the area.
Cash out your soul, buy the lie again,
We dance on debt, it’s the national brand.

Your data’s worth more than your dreams this week,
AI therapist says you’re unique.
Bills due, chill dude, buy another screen,
It’s self care now to scream in memes.
Health insurance just ghosted my text,
Guess healing’s premium, next season’s flex.
They say be the change, but charge per step,
Hope’s a service plan, auto renew your debt.

Buy the fear, sell the spin,
Call collapse a brand new trend,
Every meltdown earns a like,
America, make it bright.

This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, smile wider, the pain’s hysteria.
Swipe left, pray to the algorithm god,
We’re trending broke, applause, applause.
This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, stock high, morals in the area.
Cash out your soul, buy the lie again,
We dance on debt, it’s the national brand.

Attention shoppers, your despair points have expired.
Trade your empathy for bonus miles before checkout closes.
Flash sale on panic.
Debt forgiveness not included.
Emotional support animals now subscription based.

Out of stock.
Out of hope.
Everything must go, including you.

This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, smile wider, the pain’s hysteria.
Swipe left, pray to the algorithm god,
We’re trending broke, applause, applause.
This meltdown is sponsored by America,
Yeah, stock high, morals in the area.
Cash out your soul, buy the lie again,
We dance on debt, it’s the national brand.

This meltdown brought to you by America.

This Meltdown Is Sponsored By America

El primer tema que hice borracho, pulido y extendido. Letra creada por mi, voz e instrumental con IA

La Bebida Dorada

Flinch, Then Ignite:  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/shiitakeproducts/flinch-then-ignite

I built Shiitake Products because the world needed a home for beautiful nonsense and soul-splitting truth.

- Sometimes that looks like a dancefloor meltdown at 2am.
- Sometimes it’s a button that says “Mildly Okay Human.”
- Sometimes it’s a whispered hymn to grief.

It’s all real. It’s all me. This is my multiverse—and you’re invited.

Here, AI collides with human emotion to create music that actually means something.
From dark trap bangers to cinematic alt-rock anthems, from emo-folk confessionals to glitch-satire ballads—every track is a story, a mood, a moment.
Not built for algorithms.
Built to feel.

🎧 Genres? Trap. EDM. Alt-rock. Rap-rock. Folk. Comedy. Chaos.

🧠 Themes? Rage. Love. ADHD spirals. Existential dread. Healing. Heartbreak. Hope.

🎯 Mission? To punch through the noise—and hit something real.


🔥 Want your story turned into a song? I do that.

🎁 Every listen helps fund more sonic experiments, more weird merch, and more beautiful noise.

🔗 Links:
🎶 Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/7Hk4B9nLJs5XwqQEqOdMaU
🍎 Apple Music: music.apple.com/us/artist/shiitake-products/1766960367
☕ Support / Custom Songs: ko-fi.com/shiitakeproducts
🌐 More chaos: shiitakeproducts.com

⚠️ Marketers & "design bros" beware: I will waste your time on purpose.

My songs are born from my own thoughts, feelings, and visions. 
Every lyric, every idea, every concept starts with me. 
AI – in this case Suno – is simply the studio I use to give these inner worlds a voice and sound.

Poemas nacidos de una persona y musicalizadas por IA

Support my work on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/countervortex

Anti is a musician and designer from Cologne. In the path she did rock music. Her artwork now is the voice of experimental electronic music that takes you through her emotional world. She invites you to feel what she feels.

New tracks tagged #Sarcasm