#2000's minimalist

[alexvnderblvck]

" A second life" by @alexvnderblvck

Feat. Mia

[bunnidanshi]

i hate you fast fashion i hate you shein i hate you amazon i hate you aliexpress resellers i hate you replicas i hate you ultra consumerism i hate you tiktok hauls i hate you polyester!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you handmade clothes i love you hobby seamstresses i love you independent stores i love you second-hand i love you historical fashion i love you bespoke clothes i love you one-of-a-kind dress commissions i love you fashion pieces released decades ago that are still being worn today because they were made with great care and not out of nasty cheap plastic in a sweatshop

[twistedappletree]

I need a 2000’s mall kid zhuiling/zhenyi AU right now immediately because I just know Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling would be doing normal shit like little food court/arcade dates, browsing shops and putting silly little scarves and hats on each other, listening to music with the same headphones, etc. while Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen would beeline straight to a department store to cause chaos and Lan Jingyi would jump into one of those giant crates holding pillows and get security called on him because he can’t get out

[devildomresidentt]

How would they dress?

Younger Bros Edition

Satan

Mainly dark and neutral colors ~ Browns, Beiges, Sage Greens, and Blacks

Took him the longest out of all his brothers to develop his own personal style due to his lack and over-concentrated knowledge of Fashion

Always carrying some type of bag with him to store any books, notebooks/journals, and cat treats/toys for any strays

Isn’t inspired by any type of specific fashion type, but he has a specific style he likes to call his own that’s distinctive to him

Always wearing an oversized t-shirt and button up combo, or a Sweater + Button up combo

Asmodeus

A mix of colors ~ Light pinks & Reds to Whites and Blacks

Inspired by Preppy/Minimalist Fashion along with Club fashion (but I can also see him being into Rave Fashion/Culture)

Loves to wear revealing clothing like crop tops, tanks with cut outs, and low rise jeans, but also loves to wear sweaters, varsity jackets, and Wide legged/Flared jeans

He would wear thongs/g-strings along with low rise jeans or with a pair of regular jeans + a crop top (Or he’ll just wear them as a fun surprise for his partner <3)

Beelzebub

Mainly Dark colors ~ Blacks, Deep Reds, Grays

Same as Levi will always wear oversized Graphic tees and hoodies, Beel will always rock some type of tank/compression shirt

Prefers gym or basketball shorts over jeans, but also enjoys wearing loose sweats & Cargos

Isn’t really inspired by any type of fashion, he just wears what he finds the most comfortable to workout in, or what he thinks he looks the best in (he looks good in anything I love him so much)

One of the reasons he prefers tanks is because he has multiple tattoos across his the left side of his chest, to his shoulders going down his arm that all have important meanings (Some corresponding to his brothers, some representing Lilith, and even some to cover up his scars from the celestial war)

Belphegor

Little smelly emo shit.

Dark & Light colors ~ Deep purples, Blacks, Grays, and Whites

The first thing you notice about him when he enters a room is the sound of his pant chains jingling and his eye-catching studded belts

Always wanted to have to ‘Older brother in the 2000’s aesthetic’ so he took heavy inspo from it once he was given more individuality in his style after the Fall

I can also see him dressing more on the Colorful Scene side decked out head to toe in Neons, Blacks, and checkered patterns

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

batman recommendation anon!

i've been looking to get back into comics lately so i'd be up for a bigger series

i prefer a more serious tone but typically try to avoid gore simply for the sake of it

i don't know if this is canon to the comic books, but i like the kind of partnership between catwoman and batman in some of the movies

oh, ideal! this is such helpful information, thank you!

bearing in mind that these are some personal preferences, my taste is what it is, more recs are welcome but nobody give me shit about my shit:

Batman: Year One (Frank Miller and Mazzuchelli, 1987) - this is a short, 4-part series that locked down the new official origin story for Batman after Crisis on Infinite Earths. it's pretty serious but not gory, following Bruce and Gordon as joint protagonists as they each struggle through their first year protecting Gotham. Selina is also present whooping Bruce's ass before they ever become Batman or Catwoman, and if you want to see more of her side of things there's a Catwoman mini-series (Mindy Newell, J.J. Birch, and Michael Blair, 1989) that takes place alongside the events of Year One (warning for that one dealing much more heavily with the violence Selina was facing as a sex worker!). also I don't know how important the art is to you but I LOVE the art in year one, it's so moody and evocative and really makes the most of an extremely minimalist palette.

for serious, self-contained stories you really can't do better that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's triptych of the Long Halloween (1996), Dark Victory (2000), and When in Rome (2004). the Long Halloween is iconic for a reason, taking you on a tour through Gotham's rogues gallery early in Batman's career when costumed villains are just starting to overtake the old mob families with a newer, much more unpredictable breed of crime. the story is fairly simple - an unknown killer strikes each month on a holiday, and Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent are on the case - but sweeping and atmospheric. the sequel, Dark Victory, sees young Dick Grayson added to the Bat-family, and When in Rome follows Selina on a solo adventure to Italy seeking out information about Carmine Falcone. you only need a broad strokes understanding of Batman lore to follow along with the plots here, and Bruce and Selina's relationship in here is interesting and tense because they only know each other as Bruce and Selina, while Batman and Catwoman are still unsure how much they're on the same side. also I just really like how Loeb writes Selina, especially when she gets to be the star in When in Rome.

for a story that is part of the larger Batman narrative at the time but can be read as a standalone, I like Heat (Doug Moench and Russ Heath, 1993)! It's a 4-part story from Legends of the Dark Knight, a series whose rotating cast of writers and artists could introduce a brand new Batman story every few months. Heat is a pretty grounded crime story, featuring Batman, Catwoman, and Gordon all chasing a cat-themed serial killer while Gotham is in the grip of a crushing heatwave. aside from the costumed vigilantism of it all it's a relatively grounded story, with Catwoman dealing with the fallout of being a suspected murderer and Gordon having to quell racial tensions that arise in the city when the serial killer is suspected of being a Black man.

skipping WAY ahead in time, can I tell you about Their Dark Designs (James Tynion IV, Tony S. Daniel, Danny Miki, and Tomeu Morey, 2020). TDD runs from Batman vol. 3 issue #86-94 and is SUCH a fun story, centering on old plans that the Batman's fab four - Catwoman, Joker, Riddler, and Penguin - made in the early days of their crime careers coming back to bite everyone in the ass and rock Gotham to its fucking core. Bruce and Selina's relationship is very central, as she's officially made the leap to be more hero than anti-hero as she works alongside him, and it's very grounded in well-known characters while still serving up just a heap of premium bananagrams comic book bullshit. the plot is convoluted but a lot of fun, I had a great time with it and I infamously don't care for modern comics. this is important: you will be tempted to read what comes immediately after this. it's Joker War, and it's very bad. do not say you weren't warned.

lastly, if you want to get Catwoman-heavy I cannot recommend Catwoman: Lonely City (Cliff Chiang, 2022) nearly enough. although it takes place in a Gotham 20 years after Batman's death, Selina is still heavily influenced by her relationship with him and spends much of the series trying to puzzle out the legacy he left behind. it follows her fresh out of prison in a Gotham where Mayor Harvey Dent has outlawed costumed vigilantes and criminals alike, and you get to see Selina fighting to rebuild her life when the entire world around her has changed. you get middle-aged versions of classic characters - Selina, Dent, Barbara Gordon, Killer Croc, the Riddler - and some sparkling original characters - Edie Nygma, my beloved!!! - taking on a world after Batman, once again requiring very minimal knowledge on behalf of the reader to just sit back and enjoy the world. also, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Cliff Chiang's art if fucking gorgeous.

[rabbitechoes]

june felt like a relatively uneventful month for new records despite some big names dropping. that could just be because i was just obsessed with that one green album everyone was talking about, but idk. anyways, here are all of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes i wrote about this month!! to check out my thoughts on some of the songs that dropped this month click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

BRAT - Charli XCX

🥇 BEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH

◇ released: June 7, 2024 ◇ genres: electropop, electronic dance music, bubblegum bass, electro house

Ever since her landmark Vroom Vroom EP from 2016, Charli XCX has gained a reputation for making “pop music from the future.” Every project she released coming into this current decade was boundary-pushing, it sounded so far ahead of nearly all of her contemporaries. In many cases, those projects still do, and those said contemporaries are still playing catch-up all these years later. That sound was captured not only by her own artistic sensibilities and knack for off-the-wall pop songwriting but also through her collaborations with likewise boundary-pushing producers like A.G. Cook and the late SOPHIE. Following a relatively disappointing release in the form of 2022’s CRASH, a record made with the primary goal of fulfilling her deal with the Asylum label, many were left uncertain about what the future might look like for her. She clearly harbored some frustration with the label, but maybe things would be different from now on. BRAT is certainly something different, a very unique record. One that strikes an impressive balance between nostalgia and that forward-thinking experimentation she became known for. It blends a love for 2000s club/dance music with some of the most nuanced songwriting of her career. BRAT is an album that only Charli XCX could make and it’s a testament to her various talents that it works as well as it does. 

The album’s minimalist, crunchy album art was met with some derision when first revealed, even from myself, but Charli’s reasoning for the art ties into some crucial themes on the record. She rejects the dominant image of pop music and its adherence to the squeaky clean – the vulnerable in the most acceptable ways. Charli wants to be messy and this album revels in it. Her writing here is real, confrontational, and occasionally very touching. She pokes fun at her undeniable influence despite not being your typical pop star on tracks like “360” and “Von dutch.” On the track “Girl, so confusing” she takes aim at an unnamed woman in the music industry she’s had a contentious relationship with. “So I” is the most poignant moment on the record as Charli eulogizes SOPHIE in a touching way, while also recognizing her shortcomings and regrets when it comes to their friendship. Many cuts on the album have Charli waxing romantic over her new fiancé, George Daniel of The 1975, and it puts her in a very different light than we’re used to seeing her in – it seems to even catch her off guard. Her writing here is all over the place, but it’s all uniquely her. BRAT offers a messy portrait of the artist and it just feels so refreshing. It sounds like it’s meant to be off-putting and inaccessible, but it’s just entrancing. The fact the record is breaking her streaming numbers further proves that. 

The songs themselves are also excellent. I’m eating some massive crow because as this rollout was happening, I was admittedly a bit underwhelmed by some of the singles. However, hearing them in the context of the full album, it’s some of her best work to date. I don’t know how I didn’t immediately connect with the soaring, red-hot synths on “Von dutch” paired with those explosive hooks. “Club classics” and “B2b” were my favorite singles heading into the album, but they shine even brighter here. They’re just straight-up club anthems. The orchestral production of “Everything is romantic” caught me off guard at first, but the way it bleeds into this jittery electronic beat is just mesmerizing. There is just something so addicting about the production across this album. Even on the more subtle tracks like “I might say something stupid” and “I think about it all the time,” I’m just locked in. The record rarely ever loses its momentum. Charli, A.G. Cook, and a revolving door of some of the most interesting producers have crafted such a distinctive album.

I love BRAT. I think it’s one of Charli’s best projects to date and it further cements her status as one of pop music’s biggest visionaries. Despite being a “get back to your roots” kind of album, it still sounds so fresh and new. To put it simply, no one is doing it like Charli XCX. None of her contemporaries could make an album as nuanced as this while also keeping the “Club classics” coming. It’s just a mess by design and it works incredibly well. This is, without a doubt, one of the best pop albums of the year.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Sentir Que no Sabes - Mabe Fratti

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: art pop, avant-folk, art rock, chamber jazz

The only Mabe Fratti project I’d heard prior to this record was her debut, Pies sobre la tierra. I’m sure she’s had a nice, steady evolution leading up to this record – and I hope to go back through her catalog soon – but jumping from the debut to Sentir Que no Sabes was truly shocking. Coming from an art pop album with folk stylings to art pop with folk stylings AND jazz instrumentation throughout was a shift I wasn’t expecting. Fratti structures these songs like ambient pieces, which I find truly fascinating and unique. The instrumentation is layered and complex, deeply striking too. She captures mood so incredibly well. Hearing the booming upright bass thumps on the opener “Kravitz” was already a lot to take in, but then her vocals coming in with that unreal horn section soon to follow made me know I was about to hear a very special album – and that it is. 

The instrumentation on this album is so inspired. Just as soon as you think you have it figured out, the album does something you could never have anticipated. “Pantalla azul” is one of the more straightforward songs on the record, leaning heavily into the folkier sound, but then it throws these weird synth parts at you. It manages to work incredibly well too, very rarely does a risk not pay off. Fratti sounds incredibly confident in these songs, it comes through in her vocals just as much as it does the instrumentation. She knows when to lay out and let the music do the talking. Like on the “Elastica” songs – in which “Elastica II” comes before “Elastica I” – two instrumental pieces that are so strange. One with these chaotic, dissonant cello leads that make you feel on edge, and the other is just a serene ambient piece. Both are some of my favorite moments on the record. 

Her lyricism across this album also deals with some strange concepts, to the best of my understanding and translating capabilities. Like on “Kravitz” where she sings of “ears in the ceiling” or “Enfrente” where she sings of people lying in order to sleep peacefully. There’s a lot of anxiety on the record and it’s matched in both her lyrics and the music, it’s so fascinating. There’s so much to uncover on this record, I’m still piecing things together after multiple listens. I’m very enamored with this.

Sentir Que no Sabes is one of the most unique albums I’ve heard all year. A massive leap forward for Fratti who ideally can build off of this sound for years and years. It’s such an incredibly fruitful framework that can be molded into so many different shapes. Her range as a composer is on full display here too. These songs are weird, dense, beautiful, and frightening. She revels in all of those feelings. Please do yourself a favor and dive into this album. Despite my adoring this record, I have a feeling Fratti’s best is yet to come which is extremely exciting.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Impossible Light - Uboa

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: death industrial, dark ambient

Xandra Metcalfe, under the moniker of Uboa, created one of the most visceral and disturbing albums in recent memory with 2019’s The Origin of My Depression. Having finally ventured through that record not too long before diving into this new one, I thought I would be at least a little prepared for Impossible Light – I was dead wrong. There is no way to prepare for a Uboa album. Given the recurring themes both lyrically and musically in her work, you can anticipate what she might throw at you, but you will not be ready for it. I’m very familiar with the “primal scream” songwriting technique, but Metcalfe takes it to an extreme new level that is both captivating and deeply upsetting. Her words are often buried beneath these scorching soundscapes making it hard to discern what she’s saying without reading a transcription of the lyrics. Even without reading the lyrics, these songs crush you, but deciphering Metcalfe’s words makes it hit that much harder. It doesn’t sound like she’s conducting these random bursts of noise and other upsetting sounds, it’s as if she’s running from them – sometimes even resigning herself to them. That choice makes the themes of the album that much more impactful. 

A lot of the same themes from The Origin of My Depression and Impossible Light overlap, but this record dives deeper into them while also providing new layers to Metcalfe’s songwriting. This album kind of picks up where the former left off, I couldn’t imagine experiencing one without the other. She reckons with the traumas of her youth and by extension the struggles she’s faced being trans. This record feels a lot more current, divulging the fluctuating feelings she’s faced over the last few years. She fiercely dissects her own feelings and usually buries them beneath dizzying, disgusting noise in an attempt to drown them out.

“Endocrine Disruptor” is a scathing and brutal attack on those who wrongfully believe trans people are “unnatural.” She proclaims, after some of her most fiery lyricism, that “If we are unnatural like they say / Then we will take their precious nature away.” It’s chilling and made all the more viscous with the ramshackle percussion and suffocating synth work throughout. “A Puzzle” is one of the most viscerally uncomfortable songs I’ve ever listened to. The sonic shift a little over a minute in throughout the middle portion of the track makes my skin crawl, I genuinely felt a little sick to my stomach for a moment. This album is just unrelenting. Even in the more serene moments, there’s this looming dread that shakes you to your very core. Perhaps the only exception is the closing track, “Impossible Light / Golden Flower,” featuring otay:onii and Liturgy’s Haela Raveena Hunt-Hendrix, which ends the album on a surprisingly optimistic note. For that reason, it’s one of the most striking songs in her catalog. The instrumentation is a lot more light, still overwhelming, but it reminds me of the elation present in a lot of the arrangements on Björk’s Vespertine. She sings of a “light at the end of infinity,” seemingly hoping to find some recovery from all of the trauma she’s dealt with. It’s an emotional moment and ends the album in a much different place than its predecessor. 

I believe Impossible Light is Metcalfe’s strongest record yet. It’s one of those albums where words can’t do it justice, you just have to experience it and see how it makes you feel. My first listen to this album took a lot out of me. I typically can handle heavy albums, but this made me feel like I’d been to hell and back. This is not my lived experience, yet I felt everything to my very core. Incredibly potent album.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Resort - Skee Mask

◇ released: June 13, 2024 ◇ genres: idm, ambient techno

German ambient techno producer Skee Mask has crafted an immersive and warm collection of tracks on his new album Resort. I usually find IDM stuff feels sort of cold, or wintery, but Resort is firmly a summer album. No doubt influenced by the fact that it’s currently summer where I live, but these songs all sound like summer. The hot pavement beneath your feet, sitting outside bathing in the sunlight, the cool breeze that occasionally blows past you for shorter than you would like, or sitting inside as the air conditioning saves your life, this album covers all of those feelings. It’s weirdly visceral. I find myself being unable to “zone out” to it, whenever I listen it has my full attention. I just end up getting lost in these tracks. 

Despite all of these pieces being very atmospheric and ambient, there’s usually something wild or crazy thrown in to shake things up. Like the jittering drum beats on “Reminiscrmx” interspersed alongside the sunny synth foundation. “Daytime Gamer” is one of the best songs I’ve heard all year, it’s so well-crafted. The song’s bridge is just otherworldly, he has such a good understanding of how to keep the listener engaged both with the sounds he implements and how these songs are structured. One of the wildest moments on the record comes with “Schneiders Paradox” which has the kind of rhythm you can’t sink into, it keeps you on your toes. I love all of the weird sounds on this cut. I also love the weird reversed percussion used on tracks like “BB Care” and “7AM At The Rodeo” it all just sounds so unreal yet it circles back to feeling very real. Most of the songs here are absolutely striking in some way.

There are so many cool little details spread across this album, some obvious and some that only reveal themselves on repeat listens. Resort definitely feels like one of those records that begs to be experienced more than once and the music justifies that. This album was the first time I’d ever listened to Skee Mask’s music and it was a damn good experience. I’m not super well-versed in the IDM world, outside of a few of the “important” artists, but it’s records like this that make me want to do a deep dive into the genre.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Dissection Maps - Old Saw

◇ released: June 21, 2024 ◇ genres: ambient americana, drone, american primitivism

Dissection Maps is like a roadmap for a place that’s completely out of time. Not in the sense that its days are numbered, but there is no context of time. This place is of both every time and no time at all. The one thing that’s for certain is that it’s all uniquely American, almost disturbingly so. Old Saw’s work feels both small-scale and sprawling. There’s this deep organic intimacy to it all, no doubt due largely to the implementation of a lot of traditional folk instruments, but it also feels all-encompassing. It captures a specific setting so well and without words. The music just guides you along and tells you all you need to know. It’s like a spiritual dissection of rural America's nooks and crannies – I don’t consider myself to be a spiritual person, but these songs feel almost religious. The instrumentation lifts you up to the clouds, surveying the sites beneath you. The trees, the plains, the long roads that lead you into town – however, it also feels like you’re completely grounded, looking up at the trees and out to the plains as you drive down that long road into town. Such a unique listening experience, at least for me. 

The feelings it conjures up usually aren’t serene or peaceful, they’re often desolate and hopeless. Like the drone towards the end of “Dealt in Silver” with the church bells ringing out of time without warning. It’s like you’re looking up at these bells shaking and rattling, making so much noise, as the hot sun beats on your face. “Revival Hearing” breaks things up a bit with the jaunty banjo and subdued bells that open the track, but then the drone comes in. It’s like even in the more joyful moments there’s a looming feeling of dread. It’s both captivating and frightening, an impressive display of the band’s abilities. I was a little let down by Old Saw’s last record, especially after how great their debut was, but they more than made up for it on Dissection Maps. It’s concise and effective, perhaps their strongest record to date. I encourage everyone to experience this.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

NO HANDS - Joey Valence & Brae

◇ released: June 7, 2024 ◇ genres: hardcore hip hop, east coast hip hop

We’re only about halfway through the year and NO HANDS might have secured the spot for the most fun hip hop album of the year. Pennsylvania hip hop duo Joey Valence and Brae have created a short, concise, and frenetic sophomore album. Full of amazing beats, courtesy of Valence, and some of the best hooks in rap I’ve heard all year. They have that bratty edge of the Beastie Boys, but the kind of humor that strictly sets them in the current day with references to things like Omnitrixes from Ben 10 and Beyblade. It’s very referential humor, which I’m usually not a fan of, but it just works for me here. Probably because, sigh, I am a Zoomer. There’s such an infectious energy to this record. It’s nothing world-changing, and it doesn’t need to be, it’s just two guys making a super enjoyable rap record. 

At just a little over 31 minutes, NO HANDS rarely wastes any time. The duo keeps up the energy the entire time. That Beastie Boys influence shines through especially on the first track with the opening call-and-response vocals and they do it very well. It never comes off as a parody despite the unserious tone of the record. That beat is just incredible too, pure hardcore hip hop goodness. “PACKAPUNCH” is even better with amazing performances from the duo and a hilarious Danny Brown verse. “Have your face fucked up like a 2K skin” has been in my head for days. The album throws a curveball at you in the form of the title track which has a great jazz rap beat. The verses from the pair are also among my favorites on the album. They have this kind of irony-tinged nostalgia, making them so much fun to listen to. “THE BADDEST” is their best attempt at a crunk song and it’s so much fun. The way they deliver the line “I’m the baddest bitch in this club” with so much force is so good. Like yeah, you guys are the baddest bitches in this club!   This album just sounds like two friends making music solely for the fun of it. They have incredible chemistry too. They always bring the same energy to these songs, they’re always on the same page. It can be easy to view this album as a joke, but Joey Valence & Brae have genuine talent. They have a good understanding of rap songwriting, especially in the hooks department. Valence’s beats are also incredible and I need to hear him produce more stuff this instant. Not every song is a heater, although most are, but they all sound like they’re trying to be. More often than not, they knock it out of the park. I learned afterward that these guys are big on TikTok, which makes a ton of sense. I usually try to steer clear of TikTok stuff, but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for these two. If you’re looking for a good time, definitely give NO HANDS a listen.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

One Hand Clapping - Paul McCartney & Wings

◇ released: June 14, 2024 ◇ genres: pop rock, power pop

It feels crazy to say this nowadays, but in the early 1970s, Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles output left many fans disappointed. He had a string of big-hit singles, but critically he was fighting an uphill battle. Especially with this new band Wings. Band on the Run marked a slow, but sure shift in McCartney’s favor and he was seemingly looking to bolster this band for stardom. In the summer of 1974, McCartney and crew retreated to Abbey Road Studios to bang out some tunes both new and old. Adding drummer Geoff Britton and young guitarist Jimmy McCulloch to the lineup as well. This lineup would carry them through the preceding Venus and Mars album, with Britton leaving the band during the recording of that album. One Hand Clapping was meant to be a documentary film, but it was abandoned as was the live album recorded for it. The film and the songs themselves have been drip-fed to us through various deluxe editions, bonus tracks, box sets, and whatever else has come out over the last 50 years, but this is the first time we’re getting a full version. This is a pretty fascinating album that features some of the most vibrant versions of these songs ever put to record. There’s this uneasy energy to the recording like everyone is still feeling each other out, but these songs just sound destined to be played in arenas. 

A hallmark of Wings’ live performances was how Linda McCartney would absolutely drench these songs in synthesizers and One Hand Clapping certainly doesn’t let you down in that regard. Hear the opening of “Jet” from this record which features said synths taking the place of the horns on the studio version. Despite that sound certainly not aging well, I kind of like it. It’s a little cheesy, but it does make this album feel a bit more intimate. Stripping away some of the pomp and circumstance while still embracing that schmaltz McCartney became notorious for. Some songs here implement some strings and brass – because many absolutely call for them, Wings did not make very intimate music – but I think it’s interesting to just hear the band on their own from time to time. This isn’t the most consistent or exciting live record, but it does reach some crazy highs. The three-track run of “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die,” and “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” is absolutely electric. Everyone in the band is giving it their all, but it also speaks to how well-written those songs are to begin with. The version of “Junior’s Farm” here is also a standout and might be my favorite version of the song ever. It really showcases McCulloch’s guitar skills too. As does “Wild Life,” which breathes some much-needed life into that cut. When the band goes into that next gear, they sound like superstars, ready to prove everyone wrong. McCartney especially sounds determined to make this thing succeed and the band pulled it off in the end. As I mentioned earlier, this record is full of some decent, sort of unessential songs mixed with some absolute heaters. Hearing Macca meander his way through Tin Pan Alley jazz cuts, “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” or whatever other small ditties he’s come up with has kind of lost its novelty to me after hearing so many outtakes and demos from his more creatively fruitful periods. Still, One Hand Clapping is a good listen if you’re a fan of McCartney and Wings.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

MEGAN - Megan Thee Stallion

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: southern hip hop, trap

On her third full-length album, Megan Thee Stallion takes absolutely no prisoners as she celebrates herself along the way. The aptly self-titled MEGAN is a bold look at one of the biggest stars in music today. I’ve always enjoyed a lot of Megan’s work over the years simply because she just has “it.” She has this undeniable energy and fire in her delivery that just makes her captivating. Made all the more powerful by the slandering she’s faced from hip hop media and her contemporaries in the wake of the whole Tory Lanez situation, which many used as an attempt to attack her for some reason I’m still confused about. I won’t harp on that long, but a lot of artists will express sentiments like “Everyone is talking about me and hating on me!” and it usually falls kind of flat, but in Megan’s case, it absolutely doesn’t. The coverage she’s faced over the last few years has hardly been music-related, it’s been drama and others using her name for clout. She puts her naysayers dead to rights on this album right from the get-go. Opening the album with “HISS” was a fantastic decision. One of the most decisive and effective takedowns of the year. Starts the record off very strong.

This is one of the few times being self-indulgent pays off. Megan rhapsodizes herself across the album over some unabashed Southern – specifically Texas – hip hop. She teams up with frequent collaborator and Texan LilJujuMadeDaBeat among other predominantly southern producers across the record to pretty good effect – although I do think it’s time for a bit of a shift after this record. The first half of the album is full of heaters, but most of my favorite tracks come from the middle section. “Otaku Hot Girl” borders on corny with the intro vocal sample of Adam McArthur, voice actor for Itadori Yuji from the Jujutsu Kaisen English dub, and Megan’s various anime references, but it’s just so much fun that it’s hard to get upset with it. “BOA” was a great single leading up to this record and it still maintains its fire on the record. It’s also an earworm, the repeated “womp, womps” in the hook stick with me for some reason. The latter half of the record sees features from a variety of Southern rappers, most notably UGK – one of the most iconic Southern rap duos. Their feature is nice, but they could’ve phoned it in and it still have been a cool moment. “Accent” has Megan teaming up with GloRilla for their second collab of the year and these two just have so much chemistry.

Megan wanted to fit herself and what she loves on this project, this is all about her. It’s a joy to listen to, even if every song doesn’t end up leaving too much of a lasting impression. This is a statement record, Megan Thee Stallion is here to stay. You certainly haven’t heard the last of her yet. She sounds ready to take on the world.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Tw*ts - bar italia

◇ released: June 5, 2024 ◇ genres: slacker rock, post-punk

Everything about bar italia just feels so effortlessly cool and this new EP, The Tw*ts, showcases that very well. Even though I am relatively unfamiliar with the band’s past material, I just get their whole vibe from these four tracks alone. These songs all have an undeniable groove anchoring them, meanwhile the vocalists and the guitars just sort of play along within that groove in often weird, noisy ways. Everything feels so rigid, but also free-flowing. I have a difficult time believing the clashing instrumentation of something like “Sarcoustica” was heavily rehearsed, it sounds so off the cuff. The band just sounds like they have concrete chemistry, knowing how to get the best they can out of these songs while sounding like they are putting in the least amount of effort in the coolest way possible. Like the dreamy, drawn-out closer “sounds like you had to be there.” It’s like a nonchalant attempt at an end credits song. Nothing sounds like a grand statement of any kind on this EP, it’s just a band playing some kickass tunes. These near-12 minutes alone have made me a fan of bar italia, I can’t wait to dive into the rest of their stuff very soon. Doing further research leads me to believe this might be a bit of a “leftovers” EP from stuff made during the recording of their last album, The Twits. Which does make this a weird entry point for the band, but I hope to fill the gaps soon enough.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

HEAT - Tove Lo & SG Lewis

◇ released: June 14, 2024 ◇ genres: dance-pop, euro house

In all honesty, I haven’t been too impressed with Tove Lo’s music over the years. I often find it just doesn’t click with me, although I do have some nostalgia for that “Habits (Stay High)” song because it was one of the wildest things I’d ever heard at the age of 11. Also, it was a free iTunes Single of the Week so I had it on my iPod! However, HEAT is the most I’ve enjoyed a project of hers yet. She teams up with house and disco producer SG Lewis for a collection of club bangers that all fly by while inviting you back for more. The groove of the title track is intoxicating, it is just one of those songs you turn your brain off to and enjoy. The hook is so amazing too, it’s such a well-crafted Euro house track. The other songs are good too, although they don’t reach the heights of that song. Aside from the closing track “Desire” which has both artists working to the best of their abilities. The EP is worth hearing for those two songs alone. One of my biggest takeaways from this EP is how great of a producer SG Lewis is. His production really shines here on all of these cuts. Even when some of the songwriting on the two middle songs leaves something to be desired, it sure as hell sounds good. If you’re in the mood for a quick fix of house bangers, certainly give HEAT a try.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Samurai - Lupe Fiasco

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: jazz rap, abstract hip hop, boom bap

I had very high hopes upon hearing the title track leading up to this record. It was another great example of Lupe Fiasco’s lyricism as well as his ear for good, jazzy beats. I was excited to hear where he would go on the rest of the album, but I never could’ve predicted what this album was going to be about. Samurai is a concept album and tribute to the late Amy Winehouse. Lupe set out to answer the question, “What would it be like if she was a battle rapper?” It’s a fascinating concept – a unique one to be sure. Unfortunately, despite the intrigue, the music here leaves a lot of potential on the table. Lupe’s lyrical prowess is on full display, but the album often feels unfocused on both the lyrical front and the musical front. He’ll have these elaborate complicated bars and the beat will be very good, but it just isn’t as impactful as I would like it to be. I was more so just impressed by his rapping rather than actively enjoying it. 

What makes songs like the title track and the following “Mumble Rap” great is that they both have hooks that sort of anchor them. Lupe does his lyrical thing, but those hooks elevate the songs to higher levels. The chorus in the latter has him almost mumbling the words playing into the name of the song, which I thought was clever – also helps that the song isn’t just another track dogging on “mumble rap” and instead plays into the concept of the record. “Palaces” and “No. 1 Headband” are also highlights in that regard, but his verses lack a sense of urgency that grabs you. At a brisk 31 minutes, The album’s lasting impression leaves a lot to be desired. These tracks are not bad by any means, many are pretty good, but the bulk of the songs on the album never hit that next level they have the potential to. Samurai has an interesting concept, but the execution just could’ve been a bit stronger.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Born in the Wild - Tems

◇ released: June 7, 2024 ◇ genres: alté, contemporary r&b

Tems has been making some waves throughout the hip hop and R&B world over the last six years or so. The Nigerian singer-songwriter has released a bunch of singles, two EPs, and has had some notable performances on albums from artists like Drake and Future. Now we finally have Born in the Wild, her debut album, and it’s just as promising as it is disappointing. There are many moments on here where she shines, like on “Burning” or “Love Me JeJe,” but this record only scratches the surface of what I think she is capable of. She seamlessly switches between Alté and neo-soul throughout the album which gives it a good bit of depth, but I can’t help but feel it would be a much stronger project had it been a bit more concise. I do love the production across this album. Tems handles production on multiple tracks here, but it also features contributions from notable Afrobeats producers like GuiltyBeatz, Spax, and P2J. Afrobeats have been making an impact across the world and I don’t think we’re too far off from it being one of the dominant sounds in pop music – we might already be there actually  – but I would much rather an artist like Tems be at the forefront of that rather than someone like Selena Gomez. 

I adore the two tracks I mentioned earlier. The smooth neo-soul of “Burning” perfectly showcases Tems’ ability as a vocalist and songwriter. The chorus is simple, yet effective, which I unfortunately can’t say about some of the cuts here. She has such a commanding presence vocally, I just wish some of the songwriting here matched that same energy. The subtle Afrobeats stylings of “Love Me JeJe” are so satisfying. The song interpolates and shares the same name as a 1997 song from Seyi Sodimu. It’s one of those songs that should be a big hit, but I fear the window has already closed a bit. “Ready” is also a brilliant song, I love the way the sort of jagged percussion juxtaposes both the soft synths beneath and her gorgeous vocals. There’s no shortage of really good stuff here, nothing on this album is bad by any stretch, it just has the potential to be much better. The songwriting leaves a bit to be desired on some of the songs here and it really makes you feel the album’s length. Like the sustained “Oh boy, oh boy …” chorus of “Boy O Boy,” it just feels like a song that isn’t fully finished yet. 

As it stands, Born in the Wild offers a pretty decent showcase for Tems’ various talents, but her best is definitely yet to come. With some spruced-up, more focused songwriting I could see her being a force to be reckoned with. Mark my words, Tems will have a big global hit within the next few years. If I’m wrong, I’ll be surprised!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Bad Cameo - James Blake & Lil Yachty

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: art pop, alternative r&b, neo-psychedelia, electronic

I’ll fully admit that I went into Bad Cameo feeling jaded at both of the artists involved in this project. I’ve never been a massive fan of James Blake’s work on his own and his comments on “erasing” the saxophone and its contributions to music, even if they were in jest, rubbed me the wrong way. Lil Yachty’s novel shift away from trap with Let’s Start Here and his subsequent shading of the genre that he made a name for himself in has also irritated me despite liking a good bit of that record. So, yeah, I wasn’t exactly excited to hear from these two. Bad Cameo is an awkward, decently crafted record with a couple of bright spots and a whole lot of snoozers. 

Yachty and Blake have the kind of chemistry that suits neither of them. Both of them sound lost on these largely atmospheric tracks. Blake’s vocal style is the same as it’s always been and Yachty’s haven’t adapted well to this style all that well, but I guess I admire the effort. Yachty’s unwieldy singing here has a bit more feeling than Blake’s at the very least. Everything he does sounds so pristine that it makes me feel like if I get too comfortable I might end up knocking some kind of expensive vase over. Like on “Midnight” where Yachty tees up Blake for the most washed-out vocal handoff I’ve heard in a while. Very rarely do these two strike a perfect balance on the record, it often ranges from decent to tolerable to “y’all have no clue what you’re doing and it’s obvious.” I do enjoy some of the production on this record, that’s always been one of Blake’s strongest assets. I adore how “In Grey” sounds, definitely my favorite track on the record. Bad Cameo is ok at best. It offers some decent surprises sometimes, but it often just feels far too aimless and clumsy for its own good. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Dopamine - Normani

◇ released: June 14, 2024 ◇ genres: contemporary r&b, pop

Gaining prominence as a member of Fifth Harmony, everyone’s favorite girl group, and through her breakout solo single “Motivation” in 2019, the anticipation has always been decently high for Normani’s full-length solo debut. Well, after all this time, we finally have Dopamine. I enjoyed “Movement” a decent amount, but I would never call it a favorite. Still, I was hopeful to see what she could do on a full album. Unfortunately, Dopamine is a very middling debut when it should be a very exciting one. She falls into all of the R&B cliches and in the process removes almost all of her individuality as an artist. What should be a mind-blowing step forward for a young artist just ends up feeling like … another album. Dopamine’s biggest crime isn’t being bad, although some moments prove to be rough, it’s just painfully generic. Most songs warrant nothing more than a shoulder shrug.

Normani carries herself well, but these tracks fail her, I feel like there’s so much more she’s capable of. The music here shifts between pop rap, R&B, and some dance pop which should give her the chance to show what she can do, but they leave a lot to be desired. The amalgamation of these established pop songwriters and producers doesn’t help matters either. It means everything is competently executed, but it lacks that flair that should make a debut so special. Still, there are some relative gems here. “Take My Time” is a sugary-sweet jam, one of the few songs where everything just works. Normani sounds like a star on this track. “Tantrums” with James Blake is another one of her strongest performances and Blake’s signature ghastly vocals fit well. She teams up with Cardi B on the closing track and lead single “Wild Side,” and it’s decent. Normani sounds like she’s having fun here and Cardi’s exaggerated lyricism provides a good foil. Strange choice for a closer though. Dopamine isn’t a bad album, but it’s held down by generic songs that don’t showcase Normani in the best light. The majority of the tracks here just don’t excite me. Despite it all, Dopamine is the best solo album from a Fifth Harmony member!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

C,XOXO - Camila Cabello

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: alt-pop, contemporary r&b

This new Camila Cabello album was one of my most anticipated of the month because every sign pointed to it being a trainwreck. The shift in sound displayed on the album’s singles and snippets – which many have rightfully called out for being a hodgepodge of much more interesting and subversive pop aesthetics – did not suit Cabello well at all. C,XOXO is a deeply vacant album that also happens to be embarrassingly honest. It’s like a fish out of water that’s hastily reading their diary entries in front of everyone. Cabello sounds desperate to be taken seriously, but not too seriously as to allow for some moments of levity. The end result is just a mess, a boring mess – the worst kind. 

Much has already been said about the lead single “I LUV IT” with its blatant, on the verge of plagiaristic, Charli XCX influence and weird Playboi Carti feature, but that is hardly among the most bizarre choices she makes here. The core of this album is Cabello trying her hand at a variety of pop sounds to varying, often boring, levels of success. Amidst these sterile tracks, we get an interlude featuring BLP Kosher where he starts talking about how Cabello’s music was there for him when he was going through a period of heartbreak. What? Why is this here? It feels like ego-stroking, also who the hell is BLP Kosher? This is a 32-minute album with like three different interludes, she doesn’t manage the time on this album well at all. Perhaps the most bizarre moment on the album comes with “HOT UPTOWN” with Drake – who famously hasn’t been doing too much lately – where the pair stumble their way through a dancehall track. This leads into the song “Uuugly” which, I kid you not, is a Drake solo track. A solo Drake song in the midst of a Camila Cabello album? Not even a good one either, it’s just a baffling decision. I guess Drake’s feature rate has gone down drastically over the last two months. It also takes the focus away from Cabello on her own album. She isn’t doing much to set herself apart either, none of this album sounds uniquely her own. It’s like she’s having a 32-minute identity crisis.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Timeless - Meghan Trainor

◇ released: June 7, 2024 ◇ genres: pop, dance-pop

Some albums you just listen to out of complete morbid curiosity and Timeless from Meghan Trainor is definitely one of those. The “All About That Bass” singer had a bit of a comeback a few years ago through some big, very irritating, hits on TikTok leading up to her last record Takin’ It Back. That album wasn’t very good, pretty much none of Trainor’s output has been that stellar. The follow-up, Timeless, is perhaps her best album yet and I’m only saying that because I think the opening track “To the Moon” is pretty decent. Trainor makes commercial music. You could imagine pretty much any of the tracks here in a bright and colorful Vitaminwater commercial or something. In fact, the music video for the song “Whoops” features an extended section of Trainor showing off and enjoying a cherry limeade-flavored Sparkling Ice drink during the song’s bridge. She’s brand-friendly in pretty much every aspect. It’s music more obsessed with image and commercial viability than forming a genuine connection with an audience. Her lyrics are all feel-good and empowering which makes you feel like a total asshole for not celebrating it, but my cynical anti-capitalist heart just can’t stomach it all. It’s so impersonal and commercial – money is the motive. The music across this album ranges from either unremarkable to irritating, which is to be expected. Trainor’s blend of doo-wop with current pop sensibilities is more often than not a recipe for disaster and that proves to be the case here as well. T-Pain pops up occasionally to breathe some life into this thing, but it doesn’t do much. Timeless didn’t surprise me, I knew what I was going to get coming into it. The only thing I learned is that I should probably start managing my time better. I could’ve gone for a nice walk in the sun instead of listening to this, I just didn’t need it.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Secret of Us - Gracie Abrams

◇ released: June 21, 2024 ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, folk pop, alt-pop

As I’m writing this review, The Secret of Us is predicted to debut at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Now I don’t care about charts, but hearing just how creatively bankrupt this album is, I’m just shocked. I know music is subjective, but this is such a transparently empty record. Gracie Abrams, daughter of film director J.J. Abrams, seems to be the hand-picked apprentice of one Taylor Swift – don’t know if you guys have heard of her. She makes music in a similar vein, that corporately confessional verbose heartache riddled in these songs. Alongside Swift herself, many people from her “camp” are also here – so much so that it feels sort of like a pet project. The National’s Aaron Dessner co-writes most of the songs on the record alongside Abrams. Jack Antonoff obviously produces on the song “us.” – the duet with Swift. Even Justin Vernon, who seems to be wrapped up in this vortex, appears throughout the record. These are all competent artists in their own right, especially Vernon (please get back in the studio, i need another Bon Iver album), but no one is bringing their best here it seems. The album stays in that middle ground of sometimes bad, but mostly just … nothing. None of this makes me feel anything. It’s total in-one-ear-and-out-the-other singer-songwriter music. That kind of breathy folk mixed with the occasional art pop production either doesn’t suit Abrams well at all, or it’s been beaten to the point of exhaustion over the last few years.

I hesitate to say Abrams is a bad songwriter, she just seems painfully average. These songs are all deeply personal, yet have no distinct personality to them. They sound like heartbreak songs that could be shipped out to a number of different artists. They’re also very unadventurous musically. No surprises are thrown at you, once you press play on a song you know where it’s gonna go. Start subdued, go up an octave in the chorus, bring it back down again, rinse, and repeat. I guess it’s just a basic songwriting formula, but when nothing about this album is unique or interesting it wears thin quickly. The best song here is, in fact, the duet with Swift entitled “us.” It opens with this Carrie & Lowell-esque fingerpicked acoustic guitar, but thrown through that pop filter that sucks out the rawness of what makes that sound so special. Despite that, it’s still the most interesting song here musically at least. Everything else about it is fine. Whatever. Who even cares? This isn’t a good album.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading :3

psssst. i made a discord server called COSMIACORD ... if u wanna join and have fun, talk about music, play fortnite, or whatever here's the invite :3 https://discord.gg/rsHMenTU

[andmaybegayer]

Project "Let's watch every single Fast & Furious movie"

Alright I looked at the Wikipedia page and apparently in addition to all this they have six seasons of an animated series about *checks notes* a group of evil racers bent on world domination. Cool. I will decide whether I'm watching that or not later let's just do the movies for now.

The Fast And The Furious (2001)

Oh there's so much on display here. FF was not the first bit of street racing media but it was what brought it into the mainstream for sure, and the echoes of this movie are still being felt. This influence is made all the better by the fact that the movie has no goddamn clue any of this is about to happen.

You may look at the big beefy muscleboys and sexy fawning girls and go "this is going to have a lot of gender in it isn't it" and while you wouldn't be wrong you'd be missing that gender mostly takes a backseat to race. There's a lot of race in this thing. You've got the three racially distinct gangs with their racially distinct hangers on driving their somehow racially distinct cars. Or in the case of the nebulously Asian group, racially distinct motorcycles, because. Japan.

The setting is so 2000's, unbearably normal suburbs of Hollywood. Dominic Torretto lives in the most ordinary suburban house I've seen in a movie in years, because of course it's 2001 and everyone does not yet live in ethereal perfectly decorated minimalist houses. This really helps sell the multiple times the Gang are all hanging out in this space watching a shitty move on a tiny TV or having a fun little barbecue in the backyard.

I'm not sure they had realized they had made this little found family so endearing yet because about 20 minutes after this scene, Torretto takes the protagonist for a walk and tells him all about how the only thing he cares about is drag racing and screw his gang, which I expected to be a setup for a more explicit realization/rejection later but no he reiterates this in full at the end of the movie with no apparent realization. This despite

The fun barbecue and movie times

Toretto immediately going after his missing friend when he is at extreme risk of going to prison

I think they probably only figured the whole family angle out fully later but you can see the framework is already here.

Actually an aside for the funniest bit of Torretto characterization in the movie: shortly after winning a race, almost getting busted, getting saved from the police by the new kid, accidentally violating a gang agreement, getting threatened by the Asian gang (in front of a chinese restaurant), almost getting killed in an explosion, and catching a taxi home, he gets in to his house where a moderately rowdy house party is going on. His girlfriend comes up and is like "hey do you want to go upstairs and have some epic sex with your win wife" to which his response is:

"But what about all our guests?"

Perfect moment no notes. A man who is wondering whether they're going to run out of nachos.

I had to remind myself very often that this show was from 2001, so when they pull out a 1995 Supra my first thought was "oh, of course, the 2JZ is a legend" not, "oh, the current Supra." This happens with a few cars, the Honda S2000 is a 1999 car, it's basically brand new in this movie, not the classic that we now know is a huge pain in the ass because it only makes any power at redline.

You know people made fun of FF for being obsessed with shifting and I don't see it. They do make a note of it but I mean come on, it's a drag racing movie, shifting is 9/10ths of the game. It's not overdone.

The cinematography is so much. Most of the time it's reasonably normal, some fun crane work when they're out in the desert, but the amount of compositing and post-processed camera shake and bizarre undercranked cuts during races is unbelievable. The undercranking especially is so weird, it's an unusual approach to conveying speed, standard cinematography would say you want to have motion blur but these were shot either extremely slowly or with extremely small shutter angle so it looks almost stop motion. It's almost the opposite.

You may notice I am not really talking about the plot, and I'm not really talking about the romantic subplot either. These both exist. The romantic subplot of Mia and Brian is fine, it's cute, but it's so foregone as to be ignorable. It is eye candy if nothing else, Paul Walker went full force prettyboy for this movie, it's unreal. The plot is there to move you from scene to scene but this is absolutely more of a movie about each individual scene rather than what happens when you put those scenes in sequence.

The emotional through line of all these independent scenes is reasonably strong. As mentioned, you get to see Toretto and his buds hanging out and bonding, they're all so endearing, the scrappy ECU tuner tells our protagonist about how he dropped out of school despite being good at maths because he has ADD. The choice to not show Brian ever being a cop, and instead dropping you right in the middle means you have no attachment to whatever past life he may have had, I don't think you learn a single thing about his actual background beyond "cop who wants to make detective" and "quit smoking."

I am very interested to see how the rest of the series handles the character of Toretto because he has a lot of room to be a very strange kind of center of gravity around which other people collect, but he could also just become a modern Big Beefy Action Hero and that would suck. I do think he just fucks off for the next two or three movies though, so.

Brief return to "this setting is normal as fuck," the climactic final drag race occurs on the back street outside a high school. Zero flair.

The Fast and Furious movies have long reaching consequences in other media. It's no surprise that Need for Speed Underground came out two years after this. I'm interested to see some parallels in wider media as I go here, obviously Tokyo Drift was what brought Initial-D style drift obsession to people who didn't watch Anime, and street racing went from being a niche thing that only people invested in the scene cared about to being a thing twelve year olds cared about.

[exoid-the-locomotive-monarch]

I think since today’s the day, I should get off my chest what I think about Homestuck and the epilogues: the former is good and the latter is like an uncooked steak covered with diahhrea.

To elaborate, Homestuck is a cake that used too much baking soda and cooked in the oven for too short, its the same size as a cake but the outside is too airy and the inside is mushy and liquid batter, disgusting.

But there’s this middle part, between the layers that’s delicious as all hell, it uses grandma’s secret recipe and the chef was running a rush order, it’s a miracle he used the perfect ratio of egg to sugar to flour and milk, you can’t deny most chefs wish they could prepare a cake this good, and when one ingredient is off and it was underbaked, many critics would absolutely drop a solid 9 to a 5/10. It’s still good in my heart.

Now leaving the metaphors, I love this comic to an autistic degree. Its art direction and narration perfectly mix the feel of a strange adventure game published by some studio pushing the boundaries but had no budget so they end up reusing assets from stock images for most of its run, and for the second half abandoned jpgs for minimalist bean shaped heroes.

It has multiple flash animations, interactive walkarounds, and plenty of callbacks and reference to its own story beats and panels, it’s really good and even the secondary characters have a lot of dimension to them! The big issue was the pacing, and by god did Act 5 Act 2 cone out the miracle it did, balancing troll to human conversation perfectly, never abandoning the kids, and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the mess the trolls were about to make for themselves.

I even like act 6. Yeah I said it. Caliborn is funny, Calliope is eh, Roxy is the obvious character with the most going for her, Dirk has a good arc about his own struggles, but between him and the alpha kids, not so much. Jake had an arc for him to realize who he can be and his linits and how he should stand up for himself, and Jane was learning to trust her friends while being able to sleuth out manipulation or bad actors. Some of these words are in past tense because Hussie was now ping ponging to the boring 3 years where the kids are separated by dream bubbles and a long yard, almost never interacting with each other’s side of the 3 year journey (minus one DISTACTION by Rose and John hammering Bec’s head in with COOL NEW BREATH POWERS)

The pacing was a whole lot and openbound was a waste of time for 10 characters the fans could play with as dolls, but Act 6 Act 6 united both alpha and beta parties to actually do stuff.

But Hussie was also developing a (STILL UNFINISHED) adventure game(s) for his two new kidsonas that were going to give Alternia more breathing room and two new kidsonas an adventure to expand on the lore of Beta earth Roxy, Jake Harley, and a dead flighty broad.

After delaying when the comic should have ended by one and a half years, Hussie says “fuck it” and drops an awesome flash where everyone fucking dies. I was sad a little bit but remembered the comic had to end with the good guys winning so I just slogged another 500 pages watching a cool concept unfold: alter the timeline to unfuck the doomed timeline and fix the time paradox that would cause Lord English to not exist. Cool yeah?

The problem was after undoing 2000 pages of characterization Hussie needs to redo those 2000 pages and give characters worthwhile new arcs to solve, make everything both hunky dory on our way to the finish line but also start a new problem from railroading the characters into this new chance to win the game, and are clearly still coping or ignoring their other timeline’s struggles.

The best Hussie could do was 750 pages.

Build the new universe, kill the bad guys, save the troll race, finish Dave, Dirk, and Roxy’s character arc’s, we’ll finish the rest in a new timeline, the epilogues stuff. Drop in some vague shit at the last minute like “Ultimate Selves” “Aspect design and destiny” and some lip service to how these aren’t the same kids John knew, the look like them but they’re ever so different.

Then for like 6 months that was it, then the credits explained what happened to them and where they are now, and what’s unfinished.

Bonus updates we see a human cosplay space fish horns Hitler, a troll cosplay an immortal time demon hellbent on wrecking the corpse of every Universe he is aware of, and a carapacian cosplay a teleporting radiant dog demon that killed 3 parents. This was for Halloween.

Jane gets kidnapped by the goons you loved back when the comic only had 4 kids 3 adults a dog, some 4 chess friends, Jack, the midnight crew and the felt, and then she mind controls Jack and says she is going to get political.

Also the woobified side characters Wayward Vagabond and Oeregrine Me dicant are no longer “the deterrent of the original bad guy” and “silly marketable plush character who was once a veteran of the bloodiest massacre in Sburban history” they’re dead.

So what an ending huh, that was overwhelming, also unfinished. That epilogue should really tie in loose ends and end the narrative stakes of a work of fiction to a calm and satisfying pace like a traditional narrative does, boy oh boy can’t wait to expect that from the postmodern work of Homestuck hahahahahahahaha.

[mr-charcoal-585]

Random vampire idea

Imagine modern vampires, but not like the ones in modern media.

There wouldn't be like a bloodline or something, there would be groups instead, they'd live in suburban apartments based on their likes and aesthetics at these corners of the city. Note that this would be in some cryptid city which I still haven't come up with a name.

Each apartment would have their own vibe and clothing style, and all the vampires would have corresponding clothes and listen to corresponding music.

Each area would have a specific style. The north would be softer, like cottagecore, soft boy and soft girl. The south would be the darker, older, fancier aesthetics, like vintage, dark academia, minimalist, etc. The east would be more indie, like grunge and skater. And the west would be streetwear stuff like y2k,and 70's - early 2000's streetwear. Aside from aesthetics they would also have general differences in the way the act and do things.

[phoenixwrites]

Last year I found that I'm capable of shipping fucked up ship (controversial fucked up villain, you can compare him to Billy but worst, and MC basically) and it fucked with my head because I thought I was a bad person. It's silly but I finally got over it because I'm not. Then months later I found Hellcheer and I was so relieved because finally I found a WHOLESOME ship!! and then I dag deeper into the fandom lore and background and you can guess what bullshit I found, right?

You're talking to someone who shipped Jessica Jones and Kilgrave back in the day. I love me a fucked up darkship. (It was like me and one other person who shipped this and we did it under the cover of darkness because we were so afraid of getting harassed.) I even remember feeling that same kind of shame that I shipped it, because I know Kilgrave is a rapist, I know that canonically it is disgusting and I'm so glad canon Jessica murdered that fucker...

But in fiction, I can watch two characters destroy each other over and over again and no one gets hurt. And it took me years to realize that what I read and enjoy in fiction has zero bearing on what I condone and believe offline.

Perfect example? Johanna Lindsay novels. I loooove Johanna Lindsay novels, the trashier the better. Now I don't think there is a SINGLE Johanna Lindsay novel that has a genuinely healthy romance. She didn't even really address "consent" as a thing until the mid to late 90's (Her first book came out 1979) and even then, it was a wibbly concept and always the woman's fault that she didn't just sit back and enjoy it.

Now despite the fact that I am trying to get a copy of every single Johanna Lindsay novel (with the Fabio covers, you can keep your boring minimalist covers of the 2000s) and read them obsessively--

Does this mean I want a hulking Viking to kidnap me and have his horrible way with me? No.

...

Okay, maybe I do a little bit, but if any of the guys I was seeing talked to me the way a Johanna Lindsay hero does his heroine, I would punch them in the face. Johanna Lindsay is not writing blueprints for relationships, she is writing sweeping purple prosey romance without a care if it's "ethical" or "moral" or "feminist". She leaves that to me to talk about how bodice rippers represent female liberation. (I'll save you the TED talk.)

I am getting increasingly concerned with how Gen Z engages with fiction.

[purpleglitch]

I was going to send you an ask but I couldn’t think of anything interesting so take this as an opportunity to talk about whatever you please

hi anonito thank you for the ask anyway, send me asks whenever you want :3

so, i found this collage on pinterest but i really miss when technology ui looked like this

ever since i found out that the mid 2000's - 2010's aesthetic was called frutiger aero i havent stopped thinking about it because it brings back so many memories and feelings and now i'm studying design and i hate how minimalistic and "clean" everything is, it's awful. it's why i look back to aesthetics like vaporwave, y2k and frutiger aero with so much love even though i wasn't born for the first two, and the fact that it wasn't an aesthetic for only technology but a lot of things like interior design, product design, etc. like, it was so fun back then and now everything sucks :( i genuinely dislike the minimalistic corporate designs everything has. take me back to when every wallpaper was about splashes of water on a green field with a clear blue sky as butterflies fly around a png of a computer screen,,

[duchess-music]

|| Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend ||

Genres: Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Chamber Pop

REVIEW

In light of Vampire Weekend releasing their 5th album tomorrow as of writing, I feel like reviewing their debut is fitting to better understand the band and boy do I understand them now!

'Mansard Roof' was definitely a good introduction to this band; It's short, poppy, and got me in the mood to enjoy some pretty 00's pop music. The instrumentation is definitely unique, too.

'Oxford Comma' has very relatable songwriting as I do not give a fuck about an oxford comma. To me, this whole album sounded quite whimsical and silly and it works! I love the happy vibe of this thing, especially on the next track: 'A-Punk'. The guitar riff is so bouncy and fun! I can see exactly why this charted, it's so cheery!

I'm absolutely in love with the instrumentation on 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa', the rhythmic hand drums add so much to this song. The Peter Gabriel reference was also a cool surprise. The production is equally good on following track 'M79', though less minimalistic. The lyrics on 'M79' are great too, particularly the bridge.

'Campus' is the only song I new already from this album. It's always a great moment when you're listening to something and realise "OH IT'S THIS SONG". I love the clean guitars all through this album, but particularly here. They add so much to the sound of the band.

After 6 bangers, 'Bryn' is the first track I'd describe as just "good". This one sounds a bit more all over the place as opposed to their neat, clean production on the rest of the tracks. It's still good, though. As is 'One (Blake's Got A New Face)', which I applaud attempting a slightly more experimental feeling. Unfortunately it doesn't go all the way, and ends up sounding like a particularly mediocre Talking Heads song. I prefer it to 'Bryn', though.

On 'Walcott' the band returns to its great songs. The organ (i think?) melody is so much cheerful, I but it's string arrangements put me off a little bit. Can't help but think they sound a little bit sappy?

'The Kids Don't Stand a Chance' isn't one of the best outro's I've heard, but it does its job. It's production is in line with the rest of the album, stellar, but I felt a little bored through it. Definitely still enjoyable, though.

Vampire Weekend's debut is one of the most entertaining pop albums of the 2000s I've ever heard, providing minimalistic production and stunning vocals. The worst thing about the album is its front-loadedness, but wow is that first half good! Its lyrical content also falls flat sometimes, but not enough for the issue to be glaring. I'd certainly recommend this album.

FINAL SCORE: 85/100

[evelynnegrace]

New In's for 2024?

Is it true that 'Clean Girl' era is over? Is it true that messy eyeshadow looks are back in? Big fur coats?

Are the trends from the 90's and early 2000's coming back?

Clean Girl never met my expectations. It was minimalistic, plain and boring. Pilates every morning at 8:00, slicked back hair, little to no makeup and basic easy put together outfits. I mean, you know it's great, little to no effort but still looking put together and looking 'fresh'.

But what about a 'Messy Girl'? the smudged makeup still on her face was from last nights party, messy hair that doesn't look perfect, giant fur coat with a tiny skirt, high heels with a top she found on the floor of her wardrobe and of course, completed by pieces upon pieces of jewellery.

Messy Girls are always running fashionably late, makes any outfit work, no matter how bad it clashes it looks cool. When a messy girl enters the room, everyone's heads turn and acknowledge her because her presence never goes unnoticed, they always have this 'cool girl' energy around them.

You think about girls like Kate Moss, a fashion icon that revolutionised the fashion industry in the 90s or Serena Van Der Woodsen from Gossip Girl who is always running fashionably late and is the definition of a messy girl.

Let's talk makeup.

Clean girl makeup is supposed to be a glowy natural 'no-makeup makeup look' which, in some cases natural makeup is good but, the glowiness is just off putting when it reaches a certain points. Most of the bases i've seen for clean girl makeup is just glow to the fact it's not even glow, it just looks greasy and oily. Like, it doesn't actually look clean.

Messy Girl makeup is obviously not clean, i mean that's the whole point. It's not disgusting, obviously. It is the idea the makeup gives off. Makeup is a form of art and art is up to interpretation. Messy girl make up could make someone think they have a 'I don't give a fuck attitude' about them and in some cases, that's what she wants. Though, it could be unintentionally which is way cooler.

Messy Girl makeup and clean girl makeup are completely different looks and aesthetics that individuals wanna achieve but Clean girl is boring, bland and, the make up is disgusting unless done correctly.

EVG xx

31/01/24

[kazimortem]

I think the reason a lot of people truly miss early 2000s-early 2010's internet, myself included, is because things were so customizable back then. You could truly be unique with your geocities or MySpace profile or deviantart widgets, and now there are essentially 3 social medias to pick from with little customization at all (Tumblr only really being customizable on browser when most people use phones now) or variety or uniqueness. We are all part of this endless, uniform stream of content bleeding into other content and constantly hearing bad news and being treated poorly by the people running these social medias.

I miss when communities were more close-knit and Fandom was more fun and I could make the background of my deviantart widgets a rainbow checkerboard and I could go on YouTube with no ads and no sponsorships and I could browse the internet finding unique websites that didn't cater to the minimalist aesthetic and

[burlveneer-music]

Gregg Kowalsky - Eso Es - RIYL Japanese electronic New Age of the 90s

Raised in South Florida and trained at Mills College under Fred Frith and Pauline Oliveros, Kowalsky first came to prominence during the mid-2000s as a member of the thriving experimental music scene in the Bay Area, issuing a series of stunning albums on imprints like Kranky and Root Strata and contributing to a reinvigoration of American made Minimalist and electroacoustic music. In an addition to composing solo works, pieces for large ensembles, film soundtracks, dance performances, and site-specific installations over the past twenty years, during the 2010s Kowalsky concentrated his energies as one half of the critically acclaimed duo Date Palms, performing extensively and releasing three hypnotic albums, including 2011’s Honey Devash on Mexican Summer. Eso Es is an album that might not have been; a phoenix from the ashes, born of restlessness and fatigue, that doubles as a poignant reminder that experimental music doesn’t have a fixed aesthetic or “sound.” Returning to Kowalsky's childhood fascination with synthesizers and plunging headlong into the joys of the unknown that drew him toward experimentalism decades ago, the album was composed and recorded almost entirely on a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer and sequencer both guided by overdriven MIDI data. The album’s seven compositions are the result of an entirely new process for the artist, embracing chance and the organic dialogue between an artist and the limitations and possibilities naturally presented by an unfamiliar instrument. While unquestionably led by a clear sense of process and structure, both were developed responsively, in real time, emphasizing listening as a key element within the act of composing. The resulting lines of shimmering synthesizer and intoxicating rhythms bubble with a gleeful naiveté that often informs the early years of an artist’s practice.

[bobsliquorstore]

Top 5 Sade Albums List

Sade is the epitome of counter-culture, which is why streetwear gravitates so much toward this mystic English band. With Sade Adu as the lead singer, Stuart Mathewman at guitar, Paul Cooke on the drums, and Paul Denman playing bass, the synergy of the band is top tier. Breaking the rules of fitting in a certain genre and pop culture, Sade blended the musical arts at their disposal. To this day, they can disappear and reappear 10 years later with a new album that everybody will stop what their doing and listen to it, going at least triple platinum on 5 of 6 of their albums. Sade Adu's immaculate voice and the band's perfect blend of genres creates a quiet storm of self-reflection in love and heartbreak. Since the 80's Sade has had a hold on the culture mesmerizing their listeners. We have concocted a top 5 list of their classic albums that you can't ignore. I wouldn't recommend to Sade and drive, it heavily impairs your driving abilities. 

5. Lover’s Rock

2000’s Lover’s Rock was released after the band’s eight year hiatus from music. Some people say it was something to do with group turmoil, others say it was due to Sade Adu having her first child. Despite the rumors, the album didn’t disappoint listeners awaiting a new project. The album had a heavy reggae influence giving it a distinct sound that stands out from previous projects released, with very minimal instrumentation, relying more on the raw talent of Sade Adu’s mellow voice with meticulously crafted lyrics. Most of the album was composed with an acoustic guitar with songs like “Lover’s Rock” and “By Your Side”. They came with a completely different approach than previous efforts with a minimalistic aesthetic, standing on pure raw talent. This album aged very well as well as the rest of their catalog. Sade has another hiatus for 10 years after this album unfortunately.

4. Love Is Stronger Than Pride

The album’s title is such a beautiful tagline that matches the music. The album cover of Sade Adu on the beach gives you the backdrop of the album, very serene and chill. Starting with the title track “Love Is Stronger Than Pride”, it gives you somebody at peace with their decisions right or wrong. Love Is Stronger Than Pride had a more upbeat feel to it with songs like “Turn My Back On You”, and “Give It All”. This album didn’t have as much of Sade’s signature style of sorrow and heartbreak in its subject matter as their previous projects, which is actually a plus; not everybody wants to feel the sadness.

3. Promise

With the pressure from their debut album being such a world-renowned classic, Sade had high expectations on their follow-up. Sade didn’t fall into the traditional sophomore slump fortunately. The follow-up of the Diamond Life album didn’t disappoint, with classics such as “Sweetest Taboo”, and “Is It A Crime”. Promise was a great sophomore album compared to the critically acclaimed debut album Diamond Life, utilizing the same producers from the previous project: Robin Millar and Mike Pela. While recording for Promise, the band began experimenting more with early digital technology such as digital keyboards, drum machines, and synthesizers that were not around during the recording of Diamond Life. The album is filled with love ballads with the soft, laidback voice of Adu. Promise was covered with Sade’s signature sorrow voice, luring listeners without much vocal variation. The album was named after a letter from Sade’s dad promising the hope to beat cancer before his passing. Listeners gravitate towards Sade because of Adu’s ability to engage the audience with experiences of being in love entangled in the lyrics.

2. Love Deluxe

By the fourth album you can tell they found their stride in their music. With peak production, instrumentation, and lyrics, this album is almost neck to neck with the debut album Diamond Life. With peak storytelling from Adu in songs like “Tar Baby” being the chef’s kiss of the album. Sade’s lyrics touch on a lot of subject matter, like “Feel No Pain” going through unemployment Packed with finely layered instrumentals throughout the album. Creates very serene ambiance with songs like “Cherish The Day”, “Bulletproof Soul”. This was their last project before their 8 year hiatus from music. Heavily inspired by smooth jazz and rnb.

1. Diamond Life

Debut album from Sade released in 1984. Diamond Life includes their biggest all time hit “Smooth Operator,” which crossed over into a mainstream success. The album boosted them into stardom, selling 10 million albums worldwide, keeping them relevant over the decades. With jazzy instrumentation, stacked with Sade’s beautiful voice, takes you on a lonely trip of love and heartbreak. The album was solely written by Sade Adu and guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman. Diamond Life introduced Sade to the masses of American pop culture and worldwide. With classics like “Love Is King”, “Sally”, and Timothy rendition, “Why We Can’t Live Together.” This album changed all contemporary music from 1984 forward, inspiring numerous genres. The band did an excellent job blending rnb, jazz, soul, and blues, setting the trend for their future projects.