It was January 26, 2026, and I'd just spent the whole day in a suicidal episode. Crashed out on friends and self-isolated, writhing in bed like under demonic possession.

I'd previously found the Internet Archive to be a very grounding place, so I started wandering. I'm not sure of the specifics, but that's how I found NOISE-ARCH for the first time.

I was scrolling on the phone and every droplet of noise from the world made me more suicidal, so I hopped on the computer.

Almost immediately, the noise of these cassettes soothed the burns of the noise of the world. The enchanting cover art played a big role as well.

One of my favorites from the collection is



Be it warmth of faded tape or simple synth. The inherent quaint allure of a small world that fits in your hand, every law of the universe something you can understand.

Tom Munkasci's illustrations evoke a more at-peace and organically-inclined Ken Grimes, a man who massively influenced one of my favorite abandoned childhood gamedev projects. It's such a hyperspecific vision of sci-fi despite it's minimalism.

Somehow this collection's black sheep fit right in. It's all marching in harmony.