--- title: "KŌAN" description: "A 2022 four-part alt-pop koan: an EP cycle that only becomes legible as a whole, using Zen paradox, Japanese songwriting, spatial sound, and post-pandemic happiness as pieces of one unresolved question." year: 2022 releaseDate: 2022-09-09 artist: "Scoobert Doobert" artistId: "#scoobert" bandcamp: "https://scoobertdoobert.bandcamp.com/album/koan-lp" spotify: "https://open.spotify.com/album/2wGa9TxP1UvCn1hnfyyV6v" apple: "https://music.apple.com/us/album/kōan/1618191665" tracks: - { title: "Think About It", song: think-about-it } - { title: "Let's Move to the Top of a Mountain", song: lets-move-to-the-top-of-a-mountain } - { title: "Boardwalk", song: boardwalk } - { title: "SHIAWASE NO IMI", song: shiawase-no-imi } - { title: "Information", instrumental: true, song: information } - { title: "Keep Calm Atomic Bomb", song: keep-calm-atomic-bomb } - { title: "Wouldn't It Be Nice", cover: true, coverOf: "The Beach Boys", song: wouldn-t-it-be-nice } - { title: "a song to quit your job to", song: a-song-to-quit-your-job-to } - { title: "Jolly Roger Bay (64)", instrumental: true, song: jolly-roger-bay-64 } - { title: "Less than Nothing", song: less-than-nothing } - { title: "More to Lose", song: more-to-lose } - { title: "High Society", song: high-society } - { title: "Intro", instrumental: true, song: intro } - { title: "No Worries, Yes Worries", song: no-worries-yes-worries } - { title: "Who Am I Really Fooling Anyway", song: who-am-i-really-fooling-anyway } - { title: "KODOMO MITAI", song: kodomo-mitai } - { title: "無門関", song: mumonkan } - { title: "What Makes You You", song: what-makes-you-you } - { title: "All My Friends Live on the Internet", song: all-my-friends-live-on-the-internet } - { title: "September", cover: true, coverOf: "Earth, Wind & Fire", song: september } - { title: "1101", song: "1101" } - { title: "Get the Funk Out of My Head", song: get-the-funk-out-of-my-head } - { title: "4:20 pm", song: 4-20-pm } - { title: "Miss Disinformation", song: miss-disinformation } - { title: "to everyone who had a good pandemic", song: to-everyone-who-had-a-good-pandemic } press: - outlet: "Glasse Factory" url: "https://glassefactory.com/scoobert-dooberts-new-track-think-about-it-is-experimental-funk-at-its-finest/" desc: "On “Think About It” as the KŌAN A opener; SDMA nomination; New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds Pop, Indie Brandneu." - outlet: "The Drop with Danno / GFN Gwangju (podcast)" url: "https://podbay.fm/p/the-drop-with-danno-on-gfn/e/1645786860" date: "2022-02-25" desc: "Full-hour guest session; world premiere of Think About It." - outlet: "The Drop with Danno / GFN Gwangju (Instagram recap)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CagJIpehMDgyck9nJ7tnJoDKsKF8xrXnXEvlII0/" date: "2022-02-27" - outlet: "The Damyang Drop with Scoobert Doobert (Spotify guest playlist)" url: "https://open.spotify.com/playlist/77UWmPK3oGauWe5xs5d2S6" - outlet: "egoFM / Max Klement: interview promo (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CcASTR8IrM7/" desc: "April 6, 2022 — Max Klement (@max_klement) promotes 6pm @egofm interview; split-screen Scoobert in dog mask; #koan #japan." - outlet: "Beformer — High Society on Spotify Indie Brandneu (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CcJEoDmPdvP/" desc: "April 9, 2022 — official Indie Brandneu add; thanks egoFM / Max Klement for on-air that week." - outlet: "Beformer — Wouldn't It Be Nice on Spotify Modern Psychedelia (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CdYkhnKlR73/" desc: "May 10, 2022 — Beach Boys cover on official Modern Psychedelia." - outlet: "Beformer — Wouldn't It Be Nice on Spotify Indie Covers (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd8d2nzrQ-_/" desc: "May 24, 2022 — Beach Boys cover on official Indie Covers." - outlet: "Beformer — Who Am I Really Fooling Anyway on Spotify Indie Pop (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd1Q6u-v1hF/" desc: "May 21, 2022 — official Indie Pop editorial add; KŌAN C era." - outlet: "Beformer — Who Am I Really Fooling Anyway on Spotify Bedroom Pop (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce1qzrVPiys/" desc: "June 15, 2022 — official Bedroom Pop editorial add; KŌAN C era." - outlet: "Beformer — No Worries, Yes Worries on Spotify Indie Brandneu (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CffVLt-Jht_/" desc: "July 1, 2022 — official Indie Brandneu add from KŌAN C; next to Broken Bells." - outlet: "Beformer — No Worries, Yes Worries on Spotify Today's Indie Rock (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CfiDPxwFONB/" desc: "July 2, 2022 — official Today's Indie Rock add from KŌAN C." - outlet: "Beformer — Get the Funk Out of My Head on Spotify Soirée (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/ChNXXzZJ8Qh/" desc: "August 13, 2022 — official Soirée add; LP-only fourth movement ahead of full KŌAN LP (Sep 9)." - outlet: "Nagamag" url: "https://www.nagamag.com/the-latest/scoobert-doobert-no-worries-yes-worries" desc: "On “No Worries, Yes Worries”: Indie Brandneu, Today’s Indie Rock, CHAI and Shingo Murakami." - outlet: "Max Horwich — KŌAN LP release show at Wonderville (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAqjI6ONNh/" desc: "September 2, 2022 promo — free Brooklyn release show Sep 9; Scoobert first NYC set on LP drop night; Swimware, Trickster, DJ sets." - outlet: "KCRW — Morning Becomes Eclectic: KODOMO MITAI" url: "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/stories/morning-becomes-eclectic-playlist-july-5-2022" desc: "July 5, 2022 — KŌAN C track on MBE; Beformer Instagram celebrates Anthony Valadez on-air quote." - outlet: "Beformer — September on Spotify metropolis (Instagram)" url: "https://www.instagram.com/p/CidhoQVv0t8/" desc: "September 13, 2022 — official metropolis add; Earth, Wind & Fire cover; LP-only fourth movement." draft: false --- *KŌAN* is a 2022 four-part alt-pop koan: an EP cycle that only becomes legible as a whole, using Zen paradox, Japanese-language songwriting, spatial headphone production, internet friendship, atomic anxiety, and post-pandemic happiness as pieces of a single unresolved question. After [*Big Hug*](/albums/big-hug/), the project opens outward: Japan, spatial sound, playlist reach, and a release structure that rolled out as EP chapters before becoming the full LP. The arc, in order: [*Finding $D*](/albums/finding-d-remastered/) (lab notebook) → [*Swami's*](/albums/wami/) (lore dump) → [*Dragon Ball $d*](/albums/dragon-ball-d/) (narrative hip-hopera) → [*Masks and Monsters*](/albums/masks-and-monsters/) (pandemic record) → [*Little Hug*](/albums/little-hug/) (small recovery object) → [*Big Hug*](/albums/big-hug/) (accessible thesis) → **KŌAN**. **KŌAN A**: March 18, 2022, six songs. **KŌAN B**: May 29, 2022, six songs. **KŌAN C**: June 30, 2022, seven songs. **[KŌAN (LP)](https://scoobertdoobert.bandcamp.com/album/koan-lp)**: September 9, 2022: twenty-five tracks, about one hour three minutes, $10 on Bandcamp (24-bit/48kHz), on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/2wGa9TxP1UvCn1hnfyyV6v) and [Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/kōan/1618191665), ℗ 2022 Beformer. Four parts of one whole: the three EP chapters plus a fourth movement only on the LP (*September*, *1101*, *Get the Funk Out of My Head*, *4:20 pm*, *Miss Disinformation*, [*to everyone who had a good pandemic*](/songs/to-everyone-who-had-a-good-pandemic/)). [Max Horwich](https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAqjI6ONNh/) promoted a **free release show** that same night at **Wonderville** in Brooklyn — Scoobert’s **first New York performance**, with Swimware, Trickster, and DJ sets by Saltzshaker b2b N0serv1ce; [Songkick](https://www.songkick.com/concerts/40585348-scoobert-doobert-at-wonderville) lists the date. The whole thing is doing the koan move: each part appears separately graspable, but the meaning is withheld until the listener sees that the parts do not resolve into a normal thesis. Four doors, one room. Or maybe four rooms, no door. That is the point. The Bandcamp note on KŌAN A states it plainly: **“A koan is and isn’t a paradox. With and without power.”** That EP was built for headphone listening, with spatial audio / Dolby Atmos / binaural work and “a 360 swirl of sound.” Not just a batch of songs; a listening-format experiment. Two tracks have **360° music videos + spatial audio** with [Max Horwich](/with/max-horwich/): [*a song to quit your job to*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIHcBx5EkEI) · [*Wouldn't It Be Nice* (cover)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAVzu5PS-F8), on [/music/#selected-videos](/music/#selected-videos). **Intro** (track thirteen on the LP, KŌAN C) is instrumental, the clearest binaural/spatial example on the record: and leads into [*No Worries, Yes Worries*](/songs/no-worries-yes-worries/). The same note says [*SHIAWASE NO IMI*](/songs/shiawase-no-imi/) was Scoobert’s first song written in Japanese, and that Japan mattered to the record’s name, aesthetic, and the people who inspired the songs. Luke sang in Japanese on *KŌAN* for that reason, and because of how much he was reading Zen at the time. *SHIAWASE NO IMI* roughly means “the meaning of happiness.” *KODOMO MITAI* means “like a child” ([song note](/songs/kodomo-mitai/)). [無門関](/songs/mumonkan/) is *The Gateless Gate*. The hinge inside the record is [*Think About It*](/songs/think-about-it/) → [*SHIAWASE NO IMI*](/songs/shiawase-no-imi/) → [*Keep Calm Atomic Bomb*](/songs/keep-calm-atomic-bomb/): quantum/paradox jokes, Japanese happiness-pop, then historical dread and inherited burden. Still the same Scoobert move: make the scary thing singable. Happiness or anxiety, childlike or adult, internet or real life, joke or sincerity, beach ease or atomic dread. KŌAN C is where four tracks on this site live: [Who Am I Really Fooling Anyway](/songs/who-am-i-really-fooling-anyway/), [無門関](/songs/mumonkan/), [What Makes You You](/songs/what-makes-you-you/), [All My Friends Live on the Internet](/songs/all-my-friends-live-on-the-internet/). [Glasse Factory](https://glassefactory.com/scoobert-dooberts-new-track-think-about-it-is-experimental-funk-at-its-finest/) frames [*Think About It*](/songs/think-about-it/) as the KŌAN A opener, with *Big Hug* nominated at the San Diego Music Awards and Scoobert showing up on Spotify’s New Music Friday, Fresh Finds, Fresh Finds Pop, and Indie Brandneu around this era. [Nagamag](https://www.nagamag.com/the-latest/scoobert-doobert-no-worries-yes-worries) on *No Worries, Yes Worries*: Indie Brandneu, Today’s Indie Rock, and production work with [CHAI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_(band)) and [Shingo Murakami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingo_Murakami). What comes next is [*Moonlight Beach*](/albums/moonlight-beach/): Encinitas, covers, collaborators, and songs built to be played outside.