#Also yes it's the three words one but .. I remix them all ;) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

deadcactuswalking · 3 months ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 14/09/2024 (Linkin Park Reunite! + Central Cee/RAYE, Fred again.. - ten days)

Sabrina Carpenter may no longer hold the top three of the UK Singles Chart but she still hangs onto the top two with “Espresso” at #2 and “Taste” at its third week at #1. It’s an interesting one so welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, discussion of sexual assault

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, those being songs that exit the UK Top 75 (which is what I cover) after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid farewell to a long list of hits, including “Double Life” by Pharrell Williams, “Bring Me Joy” by Rudimental and Karen Harding, “Pour Me a Drink” by Post Malone featuring Blake Shelton, “misses” by Dominic Fike, “360” by Charli xcx, Badger’s remix of “These Words” by Natasha Bedingfield, “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone, “Happier” by The Blessed Madonna featuring Clementine Douglas, “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen, “Houdini” by Dua Lipa and finally, “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners. Whew.

Now what ended up replacing this mass exodus of songs? Well, other than the new tracks, which we have plenty of, we also have re-entries for “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas at #74, “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls at #69 and “Numb” by Linkin Park at #41, which we’ll get to. We also see a few boosts for “Scared to Start” by Michael Marcagi at #65, “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor at #59, “Carry You Home” by Alex Warren at #36, “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish at #30, “We Play” by Coldplay and friends at #26, “The Door” by Teddy Swims at #16, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #13, “Move” by Adam Port, Stryv and Malachiii at #12 and “Somedays” by Sonny Fodera, Jazzy and D.O.D at #10, with most of the higher gains filling in for Oasis losses.

Our top five in the UK Singles Chart this week consists of: “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter at #5, “The Emptiness Machine” by Linkin Park at #4 (yes, I know, we’ll get to it), “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan at #3 then of course, Sabrina with the top two. As for what’s below, it’s pretty interesting so let’s start right at the bottom.

New Entries

#75 - “Embrace It” - Ndotz

Produced by RJ Pasin

We start with… what? Okay, so Ndotz is a rapper from the UK who imitates Cash Cobain’s cover art gimmick on this single’s art, but the music is anything but, going for a bass-heavy rhythm not dissimilar to a Neptunes beat but with bass so blown-out it basically comes as its own bass-boosted meme version, which makes sense given that it’s barely two minutes, mentions TikTok in the chorus and commands girls to twerk, presumably to this song, so the mystery is solved to why this cheap, kind of garbage mix is charting. The worst thing is, thanks to the silly acoustic guitar and the fact you can tell Ndotz is having some fun, I don’t even dislike this. I don’t want to give the obvious, somewhat cynical attempt at virality much praise, I don’t want to “hand it to ‘em”, but I gotta hand it to ‘em. It’s just somewhat funny, and that’s pretty much all it wanted to be. Sure!

#71 - “Circadian Rhythm” - Drake

Produced by London Cyr, Ben10k, Eli Brown and Gordo

So, the embarrassed post-beef Drake has been posting songs on social media, leaking them to his website, hoping the sample gets cleared, then tossing it onto streaming if the reception is positive, and this has been vaguely unsuccessful, with the songs - even potential hits like “It’s Up” with 21 Savage and Young Thug - not making much noise, even with Drake still dissing subliminally throughout these leftovers. This song from the latest re-release of 100 GIGS - in reference to the realest thing he’s ever done: dump a bunch of useless files on a website because he felt like it - is billed as somewhat of a sequel to his 2013 song “The Language” but this all just feels like a demo. The chorus is primarily drumless, filling space with a chipmunk sample, and the verses have oddly webby-sounding snares, with Drake’s verses not fully equipped to the beat yet, and some unclear vocals if I’m being honest where I absolutely had to check what he was trying to say. This might be common for Future but definitely not Drake, whose nasal drone has never been indecipherable. The song ends abruptly, has frankly nothing to say with pretty minimal and vague lyrics about the rap game betraying him and shouting out Toronto artists, which may be the realm he should be in: part of Kendrick’s critique was his lack of identity, and harkening back to when Drake was at least marginally closer to his birthplace may be a step in the right direction regarding that. If this is the Toronto sound, though, this may be the drowsiest of all time because this is clearly a dull leftover, and for Drake, whose discography is no stranger to dull leftovers, when it’s this obvious, that’s just sad.

#70 - “I Adore You” - HUGEL, Topic and Arash featuring Daecolm

Produced by HUGEL, Topic, A7S and Late Nine

The only names I recognised here were Topic and A7S, who had some hits together in 2021, namely the top 10s “Breaking Me” and “Your Love (9PM)”, which were both okay slices of European deep house. Here, the German and Swede DJs team up with HUGEL from France, Iranian singer Arash Labaf who represented Azerbaijan in Eurovision years ago and South African-born Daecolm for a considerably multinational collaboration. Music really is borderless these days so I was interested on how this would mesh, and whilst you can definitely hear Daecolm bring an Afro-house rhythm in both the percussion and higher-register vocals, they’re inserted into a more generic tropical house template that doesn’t allow the organic sense of much of the African music that charts nowadays translate very well. I appreciate the strings in the back of the chorus, but with such an echoed mix and incessant “la-la” vocals, the final product renders as overproduced with very few realised sonic ideas, just kind of an unemotive noise, which is disappointing but might be expected with four lead artists, four producers and a short runtime that aligns strictly with the typical EDM build-drop format, but without much impact as everything is a wispy cloud, made to soundtrack adverts telling me to visit the Canary Islands rather than actually form that solid of a groove or string me along with an anthemic hook. It just kinds of floats in the air, but with a stiffness brought to it by how programmed it all is, and how there’s little in the way of actually unique sound design. I suppose it joins “Move” in this niche category of international Afro-house tunes which set the energy to negative numbers, but we didn’t really need another one.

#68 - “BABY I’M BACK” - The Kid LAROI

Produced by Rogét Chahayed and Dopamine

I know this looks bad with The Kid LAROI and Drake, but I promise you that there is interesting, worthwhile and genuinely amazing music coming up, it’s just that there’s plenty of less impressive stuff to get through also, like all weeks. I was faintly interested to see LAROI collaborate with UK DJ group Dopamine, who typically don’t collaborate with rappers necesssarily, but that quickly left me when I realised it was another lazy sample flip. As I always say, the story starts in 1977, when Player released “Baby Come Back”, cheesy soft-rock adult contemporary schlock typically schmaltzy of its era, but just catchy enough to be a semi-ironic guilty pleasure, which Yung Gravy understood when using the track as the basis for his comedic storytelling track about MILFs, “Cheryl”, from all the way back in 2017. So why The Kid LAROI wants to try and get us to believe it as a semi-serious breakup narrative with some toxic piss-offs but still loving platitudes, is completely beyond me. The original song by LA band Player peaked at #32 over here despite topping the charts stateside, though Vanessa Hudgens brought it back to the chart by sampling it on 2006’s “Come Back to Me”, peaking at a whopping… #100. Mr. LAROI’s rendition is largely pointless, with a weirdly-mixed chipmunk variation of the hook, where you can tell it transitions to a version where the vocals may have been removed through an AI website, which is largely covered by the drums, so why so much of the song actively presents the sample without them is also beyond me, the drop doesn’t hit hard or anything. I suppose the bridge’s flip on the original hook with the pianos is sweet, but LAROI doesn’t have the soul in him to pull this off, at least not yet. Sorry, it gets close to being… okay, though.

#66 - “Neva Play” - Megan Thee Stallion featuring RM

Produced by LilJuMadeDaBeat, Shae Jacobs, B Ham and Peter Fenn

“Neva Play” is the newest single from Texas rapper Megan Thee Stallion, coinciding with the success of her VMAs hosting and her other stateside hit “Mamushi” with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, by bringing Korean rapper RM, of BTS fame, to the fold, though Megan had remixed “Butter” before so this is not the first time they’ve crossed paths. Hilariously, Megan makes what appears to be an active attempt to keep it clean here, to fit with BTS’ young fanbase, seemingly unaware that RM was not afraid to drop F-bombs anyway. Other than that trivial note, the song’s pretty cool, there’s a minimal phonk beat that really brings into question why it needed more than Megan’s long-time collaborator LilJu to bring it together, though the distracting deep backing vocal is a bit off-putting in the verses. Megan has a lot of charisma, and whilst the content isn’t anything new - or really anything referencing East Asian culture outside of a “Hadouken!” ad-lib - her verse is a lot of fun. The counting chorus feels a bit basic or immature for this kind of banger, but RM brings a really compelling verse here. In fact, he outperforms Megan by just being really interesting - I wasn’t familiar with just how deep his drawl could go, pairing interestingly with Megan by smokily floating in at the end of the chorus and quickly going into a staccato verse about how he paved the way for Asian artists, before swtching into different flows and paces, including one moment where he purposefully kills all momentum of his verse to echo into a different cadence that feels very fittingly Memphis and also surprisingly catchy, with a decent amount of unique character and swag to his warm tone that he later brings onto the final chorus. Without RM, this would be a fine if typical Megan track, but his performance is pretty interesting if not a bit awkward or slightly abridged, and I like to hear the BTS members stepping into weirder cadences and musical ideas. More of RM would be interesting to hear.

#64 - “peace u need” - Fred again.. and Joy Anonymous

Produced by Fred again.., Joy Anonymous, Barney Lister and Will Bloomfield

So this week, Fred again.. released one of my favourite albums of the year, ten days. I spoke more about this on my RateYourMusic 2024 listening log - account name: exclusivelytopostown - but in summary, the album acts as what I would imagine as a picturebook, a collage of postcards reflecting on a particular Summer wherein those memories are all stored in layered, gorgeous progressive house taking motifs from more ambient directions and placing them into slow-burn atmospheric dance tracks. Outside of “adore u”, I love pretty much all of the songs on there, and it’s an incredibly cohesive listen despite the fact that we hear so many different voices thanks to it consisting primarily of remixes, and perhaps succeeds in part due to that as we get to hear different stories that all tie into the reminiscent feeling of wishing you could experience that Summer all over again, with the sound collage interludes forming a togetherness that is really touching and reflects on Fred’s collaborative spirit.

“peace u need” is yet another highlight, with perhaps the most strident attempt at making a classic 90s house piano banger considering the faint crowd cheers and vintage piano notes placed against a falsetto moan not dissimilar to Moby’s “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” - at least that’s what it reminded me of. This track is a rare example of Fred providing his own vocals, longing for a relationship that has passed but hoping for amicability and fulfilment on both sides, given how lost he is without them but also how much they put into making it work, though this can also function as an analogy for nostalgia. “I let you take a piece of me” - your identity is found in memories you can’t revisit but also end up remembering, or dreaming about, on those particularly “quiet nights”. He teams up here with UK EDM duo Joy Anonymous here, who do not disrupt or honestly, really add anything new to, Fred’s distinct, stuttering style and greatly uses his sample of Snoh Aalegra’s 2017 track “Time”, fabricating a semi-duet between Aalegra and himself that really manifests in a creeping refrain of backing vocals that eventually overrides the entire track, leaving little of Fred’s vocals remaining as the “silence” - the distance from that period of time - “clouding” the mix entirely. The organic drums that rumble on occasion from the middle section onward as well as the tiny blips of vocal rendered as practically a sound effect shimmering just a bit too high in the mix, exemplify the album’s constant instrumental mirroring of the beauty of the humanity he experienced and that of the electronics he’s using to express it. Much like nearly all of the album, this is an incredible if not too accessible track, eschewing a pop structure for clearer and more concrete progression, including a weirdly eerie bass warp coming in at the last second to end that timespan for good. I don’t see it making a second week at all, but it’s absolutely worth your time, and thankfully, we have another one of my absolute favouritess from the album right up next.

#57 - “just stand there” - Fred again.. and SOAK

Produced by Fred again.., PARISI and Tobias Wincorn

ten days debuted just outside of the top five on the albums chart at #7, but that is still an impressive feat for an album that is simultaneously a remix compilation and almost sound collage, with “just stand there”, primarily a spoken word piece as Fred has explored a couple times before, coming towards the middle of the album. The piece pre-empting it, “.four”, has a car ticking aimlessly in a spreckle of rain, before a sample of SOAK’s spoken word piece “I’m Alive” featuring Gemma Doherty begins. SOAK is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter who broke out in 2015, whose track here is used mostly to have a spoken piece sat in the middle of wonky, heavily-manipulated vocal loops surrounding, circling the story being told, though it’s a different one from the original, as fragments from it are re-contextualised and at times looped to emphasise the awestruck moment of having someone tell you that she loves you. They stand there, amazed by the connection they feel and the appreciation of being able to “hear a world”, which makes them feel alive. There are many ways to interpret what now registers as a poem, in fact I have contemplated, given how introspectively focused some of the details seem to be, to if the “she” is the speaker themselves and it is a track about a confused sense of self-love and recognition of the world around them.

I love the pitch-shifted, distorted vocal leads cutting in as the song produces a slight bounce alongside more organic drums faintly set out to the left of the mix, I love the rise of pianos elevating the relative mundanity of SOAK’s poetry, the self-appreciation they find in observing other people live their lives and internalising that wonder, and especially the stuttering vocal that transitions the piece outside of that distorted bump of a kick into utterly transcendent territory, once the poetry steps way out of reality and into the surreal: “all four seasons happen in one day”, and whilst they’re already lovestruck, quite literally stuck in place because of their overwhelming feelings, it becomes unbelievable. Hell, it becomes too much to continue to try envisioning, and the song fades into echoes of vocal and synth that phase in and out, whilst they remain. Without anything, despite everything, “she loves me.” The fact that this is sandwiched between “fear less” with Sampha and “places to be” is really unfair, an emotional rollercoaster in the mid-section of the album that is as gorgeous as it is utterly overwhelming, which fits the nature of not just this song but the conceit of the whole record. It’s one of my favourite songs of the year, as if Fred again.. didn’t already have enough of those, and I cannot recommend his latest album more. Once again, this basically cannot last a second week, but God, it deserves to. Now, what’s next?

#38 - “Moi” - Central Cee and RAYE

Produced by Harry Beech and Eight8

…Cench, did you have to bring RAYE down with you? Central Cee, as he becomes more of a global star, has been swiftly shredding my goodwill for him, becoming increasingly gimmicky and embarrassing, seemingly taking his status as our biggest rap export to fuck around and make sure we’re never taken seriously in the genre again. We have an irrelevantly lovestruck French intro from RAYE here, which is atmospheric enough, but is completely rendered pointless by a flexing set of typical Cench verses where he talks about threesomes, drugs, the fact that you just HAVE to mention him when talking about drill - no, I don’t - and thirsting for random women in the public eye that he should just leave alone. He leeches onto the gay jokes again in the chorus, over a decent 2-step rhythm that transforms in and out of a stiffer drill beat, but the more telling line may be: “They gave me a fish, they ain’t teach me fishing”. Cench never struck me as ambitious, so the platform he has, largely off of TikTok virality and connections, I think scares him as much as it does me when it comes to how he represents UK rap. What’s frustrating to me is that I think he knows other people deserve the spot he has, but he cluelessly stumbled into it anyway and isn’t really willing to let it up at this point. Instead, he continues dropping these loose singles - allegedly from an album called Can’t Rush Greatness… okay - as he appears less connected, much less convincing and all the more deluded. Take a break, man, make something worth the pedestal you’re giving yourself and maybe stop relying on what got you there in the first place.

#4 - “The Emptiness Machine” - Linkin Park

Produced by Mike Shinoda

“This is not what I had planned. It’s out of my control.” One of the most successful rock groups of the century, Linkin Park, and the music world as a whole, suffered a terrible loss with the death of their co-lead vocalist, Chester Bennington, in 2017. Since then, the band has naturally been dormant on much new material but have played concerts, some in tribute, and have released troves of unreleased or rare material in compilations and reissues of their earliest records. There had been some concerning moments, namely the AI video for “Lost”, but the treatment of the posthumous material was respectful enough, at least as much as I can tell as I was never the biggest fan of Linkin Park. I would not say they have any great albums that are consistently fantastic all the way through, but what they do have to me are plenty of fantastic songs and even more fond memories dating back to my childhood, so regardless of my overall opinion, they definitely hold a comfortable place in my heart. So this reunion, which had been rumbling for a while, was probably going to grant strong opinions from me regardless of who it was and, ironically, I actually did not have strong opinions on new lead singer Emily Armstrong’s performance during the live shows. The livestream featured the Dead Sara frontwoman singing “Numb” which honestly did not seem all too different or interesting, though it clearly gave it enough of a boost for the song to return to #41 this week. She has a good voice, she was clearly present and has the range to perform much of their material, and since they’ll be recording and releasing new songs, she does not need to “replace” Chester.

Here’s the deal, though: Armstrong is connected to the cult of Scientology, which is extensively controversial, with Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta and his wife Chrissie on Instagram criticising the choice publicly by connecting her with the group and accusing her of being present at the 2020 trial of actor, Scientologist and convicted rapist Danny Masterson, which she admitted to and called a “friend”. Chrissie herself was a victim of Masterson, and with Chester’s history of being sexually abused as a child as he admitted to Kerrang! and NME, naturally this sparked outrage amongst some fans and music nerds in general who found that the choice of lead singer does not reflect Bennington’s principles, trauma, experiences and what he both fought for and expressed in his music, which has always been angst-driven and, at times painfully, honest. I tend to concur that this was a tone-deaf decision and though not all of his family have been open or even disapproving, his son Jaime has spoken against the decision and also about how band members including Mike Shinoda have ignored his concerns, and even that Linkin Park “fans” have harrassed him over his public opposition to the new singer. Armstrong confessed in a response that she did indeed attend the trial but was mostly dismissive of the contents or identity of what the trial actually involved, claiming to be unaware of details that at the time of trial, were - as allegations - readily available, especially to someone familiar with the then-alleged, now convicted.

I do not have to tell you that I have enjoyed music by bad people, I do not have to tell you that Armstrong is not the worst person ever, I do not have to tell you that the other members of Linkin Park I’m sure already have skeletons in the closet. I do have to tell you that this sucks. A man who formed some of my earliest memories of enjoying and connecting with music having his former band return, without the acknowledgement of his own family, alongside someone who defended - though not as publically as others - a man who afflicted sexual violence onto others, when Chester has been sexually abused and wrote earnestly about his overall trauma on the very records his band members played on, just sucks to me, and it seems many others, including Jaime and including the Bixlers. I cannot imagine how Emily Armstrong can guiltlessly cover some of his songs, and even if she relates them to her own experience as many fans have, Hell, many audiences have in general, including myself, I can’t help but feel a gross element to that. Those aren’t just not your experiences, they are experiences you worked in part to dismiss. For many, the apology will be enough, and that’s fine. Hell, I’m still going to listen to that new album when it’s out and it won’t stop me from relistening to their back catalogue which has some of my favourite songs of all time, like “Waiting for the End”, “She Couldn’t”, “Given Up” and a ridiculous amount of modern rock classics. Linkin Park are still a great band, and their legacy is not torn by this. But doesn’t it just suck?

You know what bothers me the most? The song’s fantastic. Armstrong’s not Chester, sure, but she already has an impressive chemistry with Shinoda, whose voice seemed off at first but blends perfectly with her more breathy rasp, and as a songwriter, Shinoda is in full pop form, with fuzz and reverb alongside some fantastically muffled drums leading in the echoing verses until a very typical but still anthemic chorus about falling victim to perhaps misguided hope and optimism leading you on in a moment of vulnerability: giving your life and receiving very little in return. It was a clever move to have Shinoda lead in, with Armstrong driving the song from the second verse on, but appearing in smokier, backing screeches during the first chorus, and once the full band comes in, whilst it doesn’t go as hard as it could, it’s still an incredibly full mix as you’d expect from Linkin Park. The band may have replaced the singer and drummer, but the core emotive thesis that LP have been working with for decades may still be here, and honestly, for as much shit as I will give her “apology” and public connections to Scientology, Armstrong kills it here. I’m a sucker for some good pop-metal and whilst this is far from their best, it’s a killer track, I’ll give it that, even if it probably won’t last too long past this week - though it’s 2024 so anything could happen - and it comes with a lot of baggage that I don’t think anyone was looking for.

For chart trivia purposes, as always: “Numb” returns after peaking at #14 in 2003 and returning to #20 in 2017. When it peaked, the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love” was #1. Its official mashup version with JAY-Z’s “Encore” matched the #14 peak on three separate occasions across late 2004 and early 2005.

Conclusion

I didn’t lie, did I? It was a fascinating week with an array of genres, artists, stories and even quality, but Fred again.. sweeps the competition here, getting Best of the Week for “just stand there” with SOAK and the Honourable Mention for “peace u need” with Joy Anonymous. Worst of the Week is more of a toss-up because the worst this week has to offer is largely just mediocrity, but I think Drake takes it by default with “Circadian Rhythms” as Cench wastes even more of our time with “Moi” featuring RAYE as the Dishonourable Mention. As for what’s on the horizon: The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Tate McRae, Charli xcx and Troye Sivan with Dua Lipa on the new remix, it could be a lot at the top of the hit parade next episode so prepare for that. As for now, rest in peace to Will Jennings, Frankie Beverly and the legendary James Earl Jones, and I’ll see you next week!

6 notes · View notes

dollarbin · 9 months ago

Text

Shakey Sundays #14:

Stills-Young Band's Long May You Run

I've gone all soft on Stephen Stills of late. After seven straight months and 50+ posts spent excoriating Neil Young's nemesis/buddy/paste-eating boyband classmate I've given Stills a break in March. He had no business interrupting my vital appreciations of Karl Wallinger, Kris Kristofferson and Sandy Denny. There was barely room for him in my far less vital ruminations on Neil Young's Life or Peace Trail.

But your play time is over young Stephen. It's time to pack away your blocks, crayons and wah wah peddle and face my puritanical, yet objective, judgment regarding a core phase in your suckiness: that's right, it's time for me to actually listen to all of Long May You Run.

It took me a few years to find this relatively common-place Dollar Bin record way back when in the 90's. That's because all my usual haunts dumped their fairly worthless copies of Long May You Run in the never-of-any-interest-to-anyone-with-a-decent-sense-of-ethics-and-self-respect Stills, Stephen section instead of in Young, Neil.

But I knew the album's title track from Decade and from what remains my most prized Neil Young record: a bootleg copy of his 74 Honey Slides Bottom Line Show (note: the bootleg is better than Neil's recent official release of the show in that every rambling, humble word and harmonica fumble remains intact). That bootleg was so expensive at a very sketchy shop on the Santa Monica Promenade (the place also sold Star Wars ephemera and water pipes) that I convinced three of my buddies to chip in $5 each in exchange for my commitment to have it transferred to tape for each of them post haste.

Every moment of the show is rich and fulsome, including the premier of the song Long May You Run, which Neil introduces as a song he wrote for his new bus because he can no longer deal with flying airplanes, a detail that goes a long way to understanding the concept behind one of his most complicated records, Landing on Water.

youtube

And so I am still never prepared to hear the original album mix of this song. Young ditched not just Zuma-era Crazy Horse but also his savant producer David Briggs to make the entire coked-up record; out of an equal mix of savvy and bitterness Briggs then remixed Stephen Stills almost entirely out of the song on Decade. He also chucked the most Briggs-like event in that original version, a what-the-hell-just-include-it errant harmonica blast before the song gets started. "No sloppy sounds are allowed, Neil" Briggs boomed from his captain's chair. "Not unless I'm around to approve them!"

youtube

The song is a Young classic, sure, but it's never been one of my favorites. Too pretty; too earnest. Yes, the verses include a good sex joke (we found things to do in stormy weather) and some juicy Beach Boys non sequitors, but Young is too wasted to land his own jokes.

Neil has a dozen or more different ways to sing while wasted. There's his terrific tequila stagger (just about everything on Tonight's the Night), the terrifying "someone, please someone, pull me out of my dumpster of sorrow" vibe on songs like Pardon my Heart and Borrowed Tune, not to mention his, "Hey, everybody look! I'm so high I'm a flapping penguin" vocals on Vampire Blues or Cripple Creek Ferry.

I could go on; Neil is a connoisseur of making art while altered. The only time Neil sounds unappealingly stoned is whenever Stills's percussionist/vocalist/dealer Joe Lala is around, cutting lines of coke for everyone on his handheld mirrors. Here are Lala and Young together during his Trans tour. Neil is inquiring where he went wrong; Lala is indicating that it all goes back to hiring him to play bongos.

Throughout Long May You Run, it sounds like Neil keeps catching glimpses of himself in Lala's chop glass, and every time Stills and Joe are there grinning over both his shoulders; you can hear the dull, self-loathing result in Long May You Run's vocals.

The same thing happens, only worse, on Young's potentially best song on the record, Let It Shine. I first came to the song via driving and soaring cuts from 76 Japan bootlegs (catch my details on that vital tour here).

youtube

But on the record Young sings Let It Shine with self-hatred and a layer of very unattractive menace. There's nothing funny here; it's just ugly. And the guitars sound like they too are supplied from Joe Lala's terrible stash.

I've never done cocaine. The reasons are many: too scary, too expensive, too many lives ruined by the drug trade, and did I mention, too scary? But I've never really needed to think twice about the drug because I've heard this song once a year, or so, for the past 25+ years. If this is what coke does, I want nothing to do with it.

youtube

Neil shakes all this weighty failure off a few times on the record. He sounds appealing silly on Ocean Girl, helps the band make a Bee Gees audition tape on Midnight on the Bay (Joe Freakin' Lala passed the test; I imagine Stayin' Alive is the best song he ever performed on) and earnestly asks us about some complex nonsense on the Florida-based, wave riding precursor to Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze, Fountainbleau.

youtube

For the record: I do not know who put the palm over your blond, Neil. Nor do I know who's been moving everything to where it last was seen. But I do know that Joe Freakin' Lala does everything he can to wreck this otherwise groovy track with his terrible, whoops-I-dropped-my-bong-on-my-bongos-again percussion.

I only play this record when I've got the chance to sit beside the turntable. That's because there are four Stephen Stills tracks littering up the mix, each of them unlistenable. But I will now make myself listen to them anyway.

Here goes:

Make Love to You is ugly terror. Stills thinks he's Ray Manzarek meets Neil Diamond. He gathers the band around him to buff and polish both his nails and his lizard skin pants. The song was recorded 48 years ago but the "girl" in question is probably still in hiding after hearing Stephen the bar crawling man monster bust out his bluesiest warble to announce that he wanted to make love to her and that it was gonna take all night.

There's a flute driven bridge planted in the middle of this harrowing track like a Trump Flag at a pro wrestling event; someone get me the hell out of here before Stills wants to make love to me too.

youtube

Black Coral is a soundtrack for my nightmares. The piano riff is fevered and gross, Joe Lala thinks he's getting paid per beat, and Stills has shanghaied us 200 feet down underwater (with Jesus of Nazareth apparently in attendance, I guess? Maybe he forgot how to walk on water?). Stills has no coherent plan other than reminding us to take care: turns out he's more than a terrible musician, he's also the world's worst scuba instructor. There's more flute here too. The drummer, Joe Vital, is responsible. He probably figured, I played a mean flute in elementary school so, what the hell? How could a song like this get any worse?

12/8 Blues is actually worth listening to, once, so as to hear Neil's tiny, I'm a mouse and I'm trapped, backing vocals and his fairly killer guitar. But the riff is toxic and so are the lyrics. Stills tells he's dying, but don't get your hopes up. He wants us to know that he's "got the music" and he grunts like he knows how to pump iron while Neil tries to make something worthwhile out of it all.

youtube

The album closes with Guardian Angel, which somehow manages to be boring and nauseating all once. Lala shows off his touch typing skills throughout. Curses upon him. Stills' guardian angel demanded reassignment the moment they heard this song.

Neil has a guitar solo towards the end of Guardian Angel that's mixed to sound like he's in another state; which of course he was, as he literally told them all to eat a peach and went back to Crazy Horse at his first sober and available moment.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do now too: leave the Stills-Young band solidly in my rear-view mirror, listen to Zuma and recover.

#stephen stills sucks #neil young #joe freakin' lala #shakey sundays #honey slides

2 notes · View notes

writeouswriter · 2 years ago

Note

Say, for instance, you accidentally closed all 300 tabs on your device. If you could only save three (3) of those tabs, what would they be?

A wikipedia article on termites? A sonic x Gordon Ramsey fanfic? A wikihow to make others think you are a vampire? Choose wisely.

Yes, for instance, hypothetically if I were to do that *sobs.*

What a cool question. Also those are the most fascinating example options you could have given and very specific to the point I feel like you have these tabs open 😆. I love those examples, how can I ever beat those.

Side tangent fun fact about me: in elementary school, I was the dork who’d wear fake fangs at recess and did convince several classmates I was a vampire. My friends now also think I’m a vampire because of my horrid sleeping patterns, pale skin and aversion to many foods. So I’ve got that down pat, no tab left open needed.

The thing with my many many lost tabs is most of them were fanfics I’d been planning on getting to, some of which were on old sites or some of which I went to ridiculous search lengths to find, and others were important tabs or reminders or writing research or occasional guitar TABs I kept open because if I didn’t, their very existence would slip from my memory forever... and uh well they kind of did immediately slip from my memory...

Not one of my 3 choices, but one particular (totally super duper important) bookmark I remember I had, though, was just a link to this song remix of the prime minister saying the words speaking moistly in 2020, lmao: X

Also pretty sure Shrek remade was there. But again I mostly lament the fanfics and research notes I won’t remember 😭

As for my choice of 3 tabs I’d save, they’re not the most exciting from the top of my head in comparison. I know the one I immediately reopened before anything else was this Pacific Rim fanfiction: From Out the Ocean Risen by Bluestar , but it thankfully was in my ao3 bookmarks, unlike others, so not lost forever to the void. (God, it’s gorgeously written.)

Oh, oh my god, I wouldn’t have even remembered it if not for this ask but my second choice would be this one page I found that told me how to copy/package a lot into the bin in Sims 2 even if there are already sims living in it. Oh my god, I need to go find this again immediately. I forgot it completely 😭 you’ve saved this information from oblivion for me.

Man, this is difficult because I don’t even know the half of the information and bookmarks I lost. That’s why they were open or bookmarked 😭

3rd one maybe my favourite 1990 something X-Files fic? But since it was a favourite, I do remember its name so it wasn’t really an unrecoverable loss like some tabs ��

I definitely wish I could save some of the fics I lost for a specific somewhat embarrassing fandom I shall not name, though. Mind blanking on any of them.

I’m curious, what would you save?? (Unless your amazing examples were your choices XD)

#ask #not writing #long post #whoops on the repetition I just really miss those fics

18 notes · View notes

icemankazansky · 1 year ago

Text

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by dear, wonderful @boasamishipper 😘😘

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

466

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

753,612

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Current fandom count is 68. I have fic for a boardgame, so, y'know, try me. I mostly write for Top Gun rn, though.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Ship to Shore (TG, Icemav, M)

i am writing graffiti on your body (TG, Icemav, M)

The Eye of the Storm (TG, Icemav, E)

Hurricane Blues (TG, Icemav, E)

What's the Problem? (TG, Icemav, M)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I always try to, but sometimes my health makes me drop the ball on that.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

And 'round his heart one strangling golden hair. (MCU, Tony/Wanda, M) It was for Trick or Treat, and my recipient specifically requested something dark and kind of fucked up.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, I prefer happier endings, but I'll admit that bittersweet spice is in my cabinet. Maybe i am writing graffiti on your body or i fall in love whenever we meet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have, on occasion.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I write lots of flavors, lots of pairings... I've written a lot for fic swaps and requests, so I have (and will) tried a lot of different stuff I may or may not have any personal interest in. I write a considerable amount of BDSM or D/s-flavored stuff.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Sure. At first, I was thinking the craziest was my Gay-Perry-is-Danny-Parker Kiss Kiss Bang Bang/The Salton Sea crossover, but then I remembered I wrote a Thunderheart/MCU crossover for Carla, so. (I did also write a Captain Marvel/Top Gun xover, but canon was BEGGING for it.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! Several. In various ways, in various fandoms, over the past two decades. In fact, a fairly well-known author has ripped off several of my works, but they're not full copy-and-paste jobs, so I cannot report them and am just, as the French say,

I think that's the shit that makes me the maddest. The straight up copy-and-paste plagiarizers are just kind of sad.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I have eight translations on AO3, into Russian, Mandarin, and Korean. I also have eight podfics and some number of remixes.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes. My latest is upcoming next year, the story @topgunreacts and I wrote for @topgunzine

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Also going to do three: Iceman Kazansky/Maverick Mitchell, Ray Levoi/Walter Crow Horse—oh God does it have to be one I write?!—OUT OF ORDER

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Top Gun Age of Sail AU, I do want to finish you 😭😭😭 have you considered perhaps one of us is cursed

16. What are your writing strengths?

Feels inversion.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing things, evidently.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

In general, I'm for it, but I dislike extensive foreign language use that the reader can't get to through context clues. At that point, are you as a writer serving yourself more than the reader? (Yes.)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Buffy

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Taggiiiiiiing @victimofthemusic @maverickcalf @topgunreacts @hangsters

#fic memes #tag games

6 notes · View notes

nerdyenby · 1 year ago

Text

Purple time :D I’m watching Oli

The depression is simply no match for an oli mcc vod

Ain’t oli like… 29? That’s not old king *looks it up* 28!! Dude, chill /aff

This team hasn’t had a single call, iconic

Ah yes, young, spunky, and full of beans, that’s my streamer

Sniff and Oli interactions are all I’ve ever needed in life

Charles bringing Sniff drugs, as they should

Harvey is so chaotic oh my gosh

“I don’t think I’ve heard your voice before” this can only go well guys

I thought Sniff was gonna make an ace joke, but nah, they’re just self-deprecating

Sniff and Oli 😭😭😭

“Harvey, I really feel like you don’t love this family right now”

This team is not chill, Pete is chill, everyone else is on a backpack leash

Harvey is such a mess lmao

Rocket Spleef

“Meltdown doesn’t like me” “Ok well, have you tried talking to her nicely?” “… I’ll try that next time” I love them

“Now that I’m reflecting, maybe I’m the problem” Pete my beloved

The team synergy!!

“We all did great!!” “Yes, and I was also there as well” and then Sniff hyping up Oli <333

I love this team, they’re all just saying words, it’s great :D

“I’m not a fan” “I’m not a fan, I’m an entire conditioner” thank you TapL Harvey :))

Harvey sounding so genuine when he said he was proud of Sniff ended me

The absolute power of Pete’s “That was like the fastest round ever, where’d everyone go?”

Pete and Harvey’s shock(?) when Sniff gets faux-emotional over being listened to is so

Grid Runners

Sniff on its igl arc :D

They’re crushing it!!!

Even struggling they’re doing such a good job keeping morale up

They’re genuinely laughing it off so well I love them <3333

They killed uppies!!!!

Grid felt so short that time it’s not even fair

I love their energy so much, it’s everything

Battle Box

It’s not that old, the only time it was played was in mcc26 (i think, it could’ve been 25 tbh)

This map is so wild

They’re not doing amazing but I’m having a great time

The guilty silence when they found out Callum dced and then goodnaturedly boasting when they found out he died first

THAT WAS SO CLOSEEEE

Sands of Time

Sniff and Oli going back and forth offering sandkeeper to each other can be something so dear

“Don’t be wrong again, okay?” “Okay 😭”

Oh that was a bit rough

“The captains aren’t captaining right now” Sniff 😭😭😭

WHO is honk mimimi-ing in my mcc?? /lh

THATS SO SCUFFED OH MY LORD ;-; /nm

“I’m a hard working sand gatherer and the billionaires up just taking time away, I’m sick of this!!” “Well personally — as the ceo of sand — I feel like you should’ve known that and should’ve just tried harder” this team’s chemistry is so!!!!

Ace Race

I love this team so much you guys ;-;

The music is so loud oh my gosh

The amongus remix 😭😭😭

“If you wanna blame the map, you’re gonna have to go through me” so true Pete!!

“What would be the funniest ending?” Harvey asking the right questions!!

“Toad in the hole in the wall” made me legitimately cackle

Parkour Warrior

“That’s how you get a UTI and then you can get a kidney infection and then you can get sepsis and then you can die” “AHH!!” “Yeah, that could happen” “But if I get top three in parkour warrior, like, does it matter?” they’re everything to me

“Oh I hope I don’t throw” “You won’t” “Well, I might. You don’t know me, you don’t know what I could do. I could throw really easily, actually, I’ll do it right now” “I do know you” *romantic music starts playing* THEM!!

I quite enjoy that they’re just chilling in vc together

WHY ARE PETE AND HARVEY BRITISH 😭😭😭

“I love pressing space bar” “Space bar is one of my favorite bars” “That’s right, you know what else is a nice bar? M&M” ah yes, thanks harvey

Who let these iTMG stand into MCC?? /j

I’m shocked we’ve made it this far without any gay jokes, we were overdue, truly

Clown to clown communication fr /aff

Y’all I started stimming so hard when oli first tried the medium ending it’s not even funny

THEY KILLED IT!!!!

HOLY PURPLE!!!!!!

Everyone hyping Oli up :))

Hole in the Wall

Oh they thought it was still food mode 😭

Sniff needing out over the fog effect with glass while Oli makes jokes about loving men my beloved

Oli calling Sapnap an absolute cringelord before deleting his message is so real

They’re popping off!!

Oli is absolutely carrying these comms

Their comms are so polite, I love this team so much, they’re so calm in between all the chaos

OH MY GOSH THAT CLUTCH

Skybattle

“I have fourandahalfhoursofsleep” “No you don’t. I’m actually- just so you know, I’m about to gaslight you: you have eight hours of sleep” “Ah, I feel so great now!!” This team is pure crack

Sniff is MrBeast and is gonna give Harvey Twitter memberships to use as currency to buy sleep, mhm

Can’t believe oli hates women smh /j

I’m losing my mind /pos

That was an absolute blur, I have no idea what just happened

Oli is an Aimsey supporter, as he should!!!!

Dodgebolt

Oli and Harvey making so many sounds that Pete thought he was lagging 😂

Harvey cheering on Scar is everything I didn’t know I needed

Sniff clowning Harvey for only just now realizing red is fnaf my beloved

WE TALK ABOUT SEXISM IN THE COMMUNITY!! Sniff saying it and the men loudly agreeing that “it needs to be said”

I was so hyped for this team’s chaos and they did not disappoint, great times great vibes :))

#mcc 32 #mc championship #nerdy’s mcc reactions #theorionsound #oli orionsound #snifferish #petezahhutt #tapl #cw caps

4 notes · View notes

ts1989fanatic · 2 years ago

Text

Conservative Christians are accusing Taylor Swift of promoting Satanism and witchcraft on her Eras world tour.

Yep, you read that correctly. We're not making this up.

The bizarre movement has cherry-picked a bit of theatrical stagecraft from Swift's Eras tour and are ranting about it on social media.

They seem to think the 33-year-old pop star is actually trying to promote naughty stuff through her actions on stage

One person took to Twitter to slam Swift and her witchy ways.

They wrote: "Never liked Taylor Swift, but now I definitely have a reason to. [I] just saw a video of her witchcraft/ritual performance on someone's Insta story. Nope! Get that evil out of here," before adding: “Believers should not listen to this."But before it gets better, it gets worse. There was one more bizarre rant that is doing the rounds.

In a now-viral clip on TikTok, one Christian woman takes Swift's stage performance a little too seriously.

"This is Taylor Swift's song 'Willow' where she is a witch during rituals," the woman said.

"The first video you saw was taken by a fan the other night at the concert and he says, 'yes, summon the demons b***h!' The worst part is that [Swift] commented twice [on the video]. [Swift] said: 'This is the new 'one, two, three, let’s go b***h'," the woman explained.

"So what she’s saying is 'summon the demons' is the new crowd chant that they all say when she does his witchcraft ritual.

The person added: "Then she commented laughing emojis."

Riiiight. Anyway, it somehow gets even more bonkers.

The rant continues with a bit on how people 'keep saying stop shoving in Christianity down our throats' when huge artists are 'shoving witchcraft and rituals, crystals, astrology and all that down our throats'.

She then went way off the deep end, giving her explanation as to why people seem to hate Christianity so much.

"It’s because the demons get angry every time you mention God. Every time you mention Jesus they start foaming at the mouth. They start screaming and they start manifesting demons,” she said.

The woman then added: The demons don’t want to hear about Jesus. That’s the only name they’re afraid of. That’s the only name they have to answer to.That’s the only name that sends them to hell."

Goodness gracious, talk about taking it too far.

Admittedly, however, Swift has previously said her song ‘Willow’ 'sounds like casting a spell to make someone fall in love with you'.

She then riffed off that notion, putting out several several witch remixes of 'Willow'.

Also, in her song 'Mad Woman' from 2020's Folklore, Swift sings: "Women like hunting witches too. Doing your dirtiest work for you."

She also referenced witch hunts on her 2017 album Reputation.

"They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one," she sings in the song 'I Did Something Bad'.

What these Conservative Christians seem to have missed is the more modern meaning of 'witch'.

The word is now used as a symbol of feminism and for strong and unapologetic women, as per Psychsex.

It has also become synonymous with the Cottagecore aesthetic, which you'll find all over Etsy and Pinterest.

It's also the 'era' from which Swift's twin 2020 albums Evermore and Folklore draws inspiration from.

So, yeah, perhaps someone needs to show these religious folk another one of her songs, entitled ‘You Need To Calm Down’.

ts1989fanatic I personally think the writer of this piece should take their own advice highlighted above.

This is a few crazies from Twitter I mean come on it’s Twitter, I am sure Taylor Swift has plenty of Conservative Christian fans to offset a couple of crazies. And that’s all it is a couple and as the lady herself says

haters gonna hate”

4 notes · View notes

randomsloredrops · 6 months ago

Text

Random's Lore Drops - Thee Who Munches Thy Chocolate

wow i'm writing this at 11:41 pm and NOT three in the fucking morning REAALALLLLAllALaL?!/1/ anyways yeah so basically this is the last MAJOR character, and i'll explain why I always refer to them as 'The First Fallen Human' instead of the name that's basically become canon at this point. yup, that's right, we're talking about a canon character whose name starts with C and has so much importance yet so little at the same time due to not being in the story for basically all of the neutral, until the end of Geno, and only in recordings in true lab in paci.

oh damn this image is a lot bigger than i thought it was. oh well idgaf. anyways this is uhhhh according to the wiki 'Chara', or according to the tarot cards, 'Fallen' but like REALLY distorted. anyways cue cut off

aw yeah this is happening. anyways, since i'm more awake, had a hot chocolate, and am now blaring a megalo strike back remix into my ears (and occasionally the recently released MOTI's lyrical cover of A Mother's Love just cause it's a banger). anyways, this is the first fallen. YES I WILL KEEP REFERRING TO THEM AS THE FALLEN HUMAN, THE FALLEN, OR THE FIRST FALLEN STFU I HAVE A REASON YOU'LL FIND OUT. anyways, i'm sure that yall know this one kid. if you only know them as the evil something something, uh... Cowabummer! Anyways, time to use proper capitalization. The Fallen Human is the human we see in the introduction sequence, who runs up the mountain and falls in. As it's probably known, they get adopted by King Asgore, Queen Toriel, and Asriel (it doesn't fit to call him Prince Asriel for me for some reason), and become the first human to ever fall into the underground. If you didn't play Undertale and you're reading this, uh... get spoiled lmao you came here you get this. The Fallen has a super similar style to the 'eighth fallen', Frisk, who ACTUALLY HAS A CANON NAME. Their SOUL is IDENTICAL to the player's, or rather, Frisk's, and their coffin (yes THEIR coffin, not Frisk's) is empty, seeing as the body was taken elsewhere (despite being taken back into the Underground by Asriel, leaving only one person to do so). The Fallen is, 'not exactly the greatest person', a misanthrope, my source being that Asriel literally confirms that they HATE humanity, canonically capable of making scary face, and, uhhhhh lemme see... right i have to make another paragraph, too many words. Anyways, apparently really secretive, and persuasive (wiki's words, not mines), never stating their plans on camera. There's SOME evidence that proves that the Fallen does occasionally narrate the story, but aren't always red (technically hinting to the narrachara (or rather, narrafallen) hypothesis (i dont say theory just yet)). I'm sure you know, but (uhhh tw ig??) the Fallen had poisoned themselves to die so that Asriel could take the SOUL, cross the barrier, and... well... kill a bunch of humans. Apparently control is split between the SOUL and the Monster (i assume the human has more control than the Monster when SOUL absorbed) and uhh Asriel went and nuh uh-ed Chara, leading to the double kill of Chara's SOUL and asri dremr. Now, before we continue, just to let you know, the Fallen only got the name Chara because of the fact that, all the files for the character sprites (including unused) are called Chara, with the Fallen's being called TrueChara, and the pick-a-name saying that Chara is the true name (as a supposed-to-be reference to the sprite names), and is also the replacement name when the files have the player name erased (once again proving it was just a placeholder name/name to the sprites, not the fallen's name) now then onto geno In Genocide, we actually get to MEET the Fallen in person, who takes the name that you typed in at the beginning of the game. They reveal that Frisk's SOUL and Determination are what brought them back from the dead (yes Frisk's SOUL not ours). They state that they are the 'embodiment' of the feeling gained when LV (read STATS) increases, before saying to just erase the world and move onto the next. You get the chance to say Yah or Nah, but either way, it leads to Chara going byebye to the world and you and decking you in the schnoz with a knife. Fun fact! There's code in the game that actually reveals that Toby Fox intended to make the application erase itself once the geno route finished, but it never worked, leading to just the application closing. Afterwards, opening the game and waiting TEN FUCKING MINUTES. TEN. GODDAMN. MINUTES. will lead to the Fallen getting the confusion and choosing to make a deal. Frisk's SOUL, for the world back. ya say nah? they dip. literally. you have to OPEN the game again and wait another 10 minutes. ya say yah? well, the world gets restored, but paci route changes.

#random's lore drops #chara undertale #utdr #undertale #I MAXED OUT THE CHARACTER LIMIT I CANT MAKE A GOODBYE PART #my fault gang. i was yappin too hard that tumblr had to tape my mouth shut #i used my phd in yapanese to the fullest

1 note · View note

trombone-minivan · 11 months ago

Note

1, 7, 11, 20, 30 for the songs ask please

1. three songs that come up when you put your phone on shuffle

well well, let's see what my liked songs have in store...

Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold (how fitting lol)

Industry Baby - Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow (another fave fr)

Rockstar Sea Shanty - Nickelback, The Lottery Winners (preserving the silly)

Anyway yes, a pretty representative trio if i do say so myself.

7. three songs you didn’t expect to like but eventually loved

Roadtrip - Dream, PmBata

yeah yeah a Dream song. "loved" might be a strong word here tbh. It gives me feelings of nostalgia but like, for something I never experienced myself.

Beh - Korben Dallas

When I encountered this one for the first time, I saw it just as a quality track I didn't really understand... then I re-discovered it in my final year of high school and i Understood.

just about any Ghost song

Around 18 months ago, I saw an unknown-to-me band being described as "metal for people who don't like metal" and, in direct response to that, as "scooby doo chase music". I didn't expect to find so many of the band's songs Quite Alright, nor did I expect the band to take 1st place in my spotify wrapped. Both of the aforementioned descriptions were correct btw.

11. three favourite songs from movie or TV series soundtrack

So This Is The Famous Suicide Squad - John Murphy

A fairly unremarkable piece of background music, but it made one of my coolest gaming moments ever.

Can't Leave The Night - BADBADNOTGOOD

my guys did NOT have to go that hard in 2014, but they did, and Lockwood and co. got an absolutely banging intro track.

No Big Deal - Brenda Song, Haley Tju, Anna Akana

killer birds and it's no big deal 🪿

riding snails and it's no big deal 🐌

eating flies and it's no big deal 🪰

finally me and it's no big deal 💎

20. three songs that remind you of the person who sends this one

oh that's not hard,

Ghost - Twen- just kidding lol Jesus He Knows Me

ABBA - Dancing Queen

Måneskin - Gossip

30. three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above)

Steel City - Kazzer

i'm not the only one who thinks this song slaps incredibly, right?

Tokyo Calling - ATARASHII GAKKO!

their entire aesthetic is chef's kiss. go listen to them.

Die Biene Maja - Emi Flemming SCHLAGERTECHNO Remix - Emi Flemming, Karel Gott

it doesn't get more outta pocket than a techno remix of the most legendary Czech singer ever singing the theme song of a popular Czech children's cartoon in German. and it also slaps. naturally.

Thank you for the ask <3

#music #ask tag #long post #hyperobsession

1 note · View note

yeetthedragon · 2 years ago

Text

>:)

- the 1975: i guess they’re electronic pop but they have songs of different genres. they’re my favorite band :)

- 4TH WALL by ruel: his latest album, i love it so much. my favorite songs from it are I DONT WANNA BE LIKE YOU, SET YOURSELF ON FIRE, MUST BE NICE, and END SCENE but honestly the whole album is so so good. ruel just has really good songs, i also like younger and face to face, and his remix of golden hour. i like that song better than the original. trust me, it is better than the original

- chloe moriondo is a great artist, i really like her style

- i’ve been getting into lizzie mcalpine too, specifically erase me feat jacob collier, give me a minute, and doomsday

- ribs by the crane wives: ugh i found this song recently and fell in love. it has such a hadestown vibe, and hadestown is my favorite musical. great song, good band

- declan mckenna: specifically rapture (great song to blast through headphones), brazil, make me your queen, and in blue (fucking banger i love this song)

- sleeping at last: does good covers, i like you wouldn’t like me, looking at the world from the bottom of a well, and saturn

- vincent by don mclean: one of the songs i can repeat forever. love it

- briston maroney: YES YES how could i forget about him. freaking out on the interstate, rose, under my skin, and fool’s gold are my favorites

- alec benjamin: saw him in concert with a friend almost a year ago, it was honestly surreal because no band or artist i listen to ever tours in my city so to have one of my all-time favorite artists come to my hometown was a night to remember. too many of his songs i love to list, just go listen to him. one i highly recommend is paper crown, specifically the youtube version from 2015. i was addicted to this song when i was younger

- state champs: a band i liked a lot my freshman year of high school. their cover of real world is great, better than the original in my opinion. losing myself, all you are is history, secrets, and our time to go we’re favorites of mine back in 2019

- goodnight moon by go radio: another of my all time favorites. also great to blast through headphones. my brother doesn’t like this song for some reason. probably because i play it too often idk

- I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: great band love them 100%. clusterhug is an all-time favorite and i wish i could belt that final high note. it’s really not that high but i can’t belt. oh also razzmatazz. banger

- this too shall pass by danny schmidt: found this song from the welcome to nightvale podcast. good song

- in bloom by neck deep: love it love it love it

- call you up by viola beach: great for driving late at night

- i’m this close to just dropping my spotify

- jackie onassis by sammy rae and friends: literally in love with her voice please

- cherophobe by the royston club: another favorite :)

- i know that he loves me by autoheart: such a good vibes song

- acolyte by slaughter beach, dog: good for sunny days

- holy by PVRIS: vibes i love it. overall great band

- malibu 1992: something about it gives october vibes. also i have an october-themed playlist that i love

- persephone by the tragic thrills: gives off the vibe of like a dark green, i love it

- out of time by the weekend: i don’t wanna say it sounds ethereal, maybe other-worldly is a good word? idk i like this song a lot

if i keep going i will be typing forever so i’m cutting it off here. i already have way too many suggestions, and this was just from one playlist. granted it’s a playlist compiled from three years of my on repeat playlist that spotify puts together so. if people are interested i’ll drop the spotify and we can be spotify moots :D but yeah there’s that for now

i wanna branch out in my music taste so if you guys want you can start a chain of songs/artists/albums you recommended and we can call listen to new music yk <3

#music #song recommendations #i love music too much #it might be a problem #but that’s okay

7 notes · View notes

sitp-recs · 4 years ago

Note

hi :) i simply adore your blog and your fic recs are so spot on, you’ve made me fall back in love with drarry and hp. I rly love reading a fic before I go to sleep but I end up picking a 70k word one and end up staying up much longer than I wanted to so could you possibly recommend me any fics max 15k words, with a happy ending pls i need the cuteness to help me sleep 🥰 Thanku so so much xx

Hi anon! Thanks so much, I’m thrilled to know I had a small part in making you fall back in love with Drarry, that’s amazing! And what a mood lol I used to pick long fics before bed too, it’s a mighty trap 😂 I’ve read many short fics in the last year so I decided to go for these delightful and not-as-popular shorts, with excellent build up and happy endings. Perfect bedtime reads in my opinion! I got a bit too excited with this list so I’ll call it 31 Bedtime Reads! One for each day of the month ;) enjoy!

The Long Fall by @tackytigerfic (2021, M, 3.6k)

It's supposed to be a simple house renovation, and maybe it's just the paint fumes, but Harry is feeling dizzy around Draco Malfoy. And what's the real meaning of family, anyway?

oxygen by @maesterchill (2020, T, 4k)

Draco doesn’t smoke. Except when he needs to breathe.

A Charitable Christmas by Alisanne (2017, E, 5.6k)

Hermione’s plans to raise money for war orphans do not meet with Harry’s approval. Fortunately, Draco steps in to help him come up with a much more enjoyable strategy.

Harmony (Left-Handed Melody Remix) by mindabbles (2010, M, 5.8k)

He is the last person Draco was expecting, but then again, this is not a place Draco ever expected to be.

Vintage by momatu (2017, T, 7k)

Of all of the vineyards, in all of the regions, in all of France, Draco's blasted editor sends him to Potter's...

Our Ordinary Days by Lomonaaeren (2012, M, 8k)

Two men, both fathers of sons, meet in a bookshop. And the rest is the kind of history that doesn't make history.

Ice Snakes, Glow-worms and Wolverine Stew by khalulu (2015, M, 8.4k)

Harry Potter apparently wants to talk to Draco about something, but odd events keep getting in the way of that conversation – and bringing them closer together.

The Page Eleven Wars by fireflavored (2010, E, 8.5k)

In a gossip-hungry post-war Wizarding World, Rita Skeeter has a wildly successful column in the Daily Prophet known as Page Eleven. Naturally, her favourite targets are the poster boys of the two sides of the war: Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter.

Blind Date by JosephineStone (2016, T, 8.6k)

Draco’s been working with Harry for years when another one of his relationships goes stale. He has to be married within a year, and though the WizNet has burned him in the past, Draco finds a new possibility in man as desperate to marry as he is.

Stories in E Minor by @huldrejenta (2014, E, 8.7k)

Draco has found his place in the Muggle world. He's got his music, he's got his neighbours and he is content. Until a certain someone from the past enters his life again.

Life goes not backward by @shealwaysreads (2020, T, 8.8k)

Harry still isn’t used to gifts, but this one is different. A story of coming home, finding safe ground, and the wild courage of putting down roots.

Til Our Compass Stands Still by china_nightingale (2018, M, 9k)

Harry and Draco eventually realise that things don't always go to plan, even if it's a plan they've been carefully crafting to keep themselves safe from each other.

The Interest Here by disapparater (2015, T, 9k)

Draco has his own morning show on the wireless, which he loves; an ambitious assistant, whom he needs; and days in The Tea Shop, where he relaxes. He also has a new caller on the show, whom he finds bloody annoying.

Tidings of Comfort series by @blamebrampton (2012, G, 10k)

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. Luckily for Draco Malfoy, London has places where the tired can rest and recover.

Sweet Indulgence by @the-sinking-ship (2020, E, 10k)

It doesn't matter that Marcy from Accounting is dancing on the tables, Shacklebolt is wearing antlers, and Elliot from Transportation is on his third round of Mariah Carey on karaoke because all the free champagne in the world won't salvage the Ministry Christmas party for Draco if Potter doesn't show up soon.

Settle in in my slow-burning heart by orphan_account (2015, NR, 10k)

Five years after the war Draco is working a tech developer job in the Auror Office, and it's all great except this one thing: Harry Potter works there, too.

Adventures in Truth and Texting by @fluxweeed (2020, E, 11k)

Former Death Eaters are being targeted with a Veritaserum curse – it’s permanent, and makes victims speak aloud their every thought. Luckily, it’s easier to control when writing.

fine i'll hold my breath / til i forget it's complicated by teatrolley (2015, NR, 11k)

Harry and Draco become friends with benefits, and Harry thinks it's more complicated than it actually is.

Rebuilding Draco Malfoy by khasael (2011, E, 11k)

Draco wants to do something to get his life back on track, but no-one seems to be taking him seriously – until he finds himself in an Auror training session led by Harry Potter.

Cold Like Fire by QueenofThyme (2012, M, 12k)

Head Auror Harry Potter had no problem with mandatory consent training for his team. He’d actually been looking forward to it, that is, until he discovered who the teacher was.

What’s My Age Again? by @lazywonderlvnd (2018, E, 12k)

Harry Potter has had enough of pleasing the public, and his reckless tendencies are finally getting out of hand.

Title of Their Sex Tape by @cibeewastaken (2020, T, 12k)

What are the Wizarding world's most elite law enforcers doing when they aren't catching criminals? It seems Auror Malfoy is often caught throwing food into Auror Potter's mouth when he's mid-yawn.

Kill, Fuck, Marry by @lettersbyelise (2018, E, 12.6k)

Harry and Draco unexpectedly meet again on Draco’s birthday, years after their last encounter.

The Year of Non-Magical Thinking by whiskyandwildflowers (2018, E, 13k)

“I don't know what I'm going to do, Potter. I'll think of something. So will you. But this is my journey to self-actualization," Draco managed to smirk. "You can fuck off and get your own."

Evolution by @potteresque-ire Pie (2013, M, 13k)

Draco Malfoy was condemned to live a Muggle’s life for his three-year probation. His wand was locked away, and he was forbidden to set foot in Wizarding Britain until Hermione Granger secured a job for him in the Aurors’ stock room.

Plan Alphabet by @xx-thedarklord-xx (2019, T, 14k)

After realizing that his feelings for Harry were unfortunately real, Draco embarks on a foolproof—yes, Longbottom, foolproof—plan to woo Potter.

Countdown by dysonrules (2013, M, 14k)

When the Wizarding world is plagued by random outbreaks of Dark Magic, the Ministry assigns Curse-Breakers to assist Auror teams on their missions.

All Roads Lead Home by @dracogotgame (2015, G, 15k)

Draco is strong-armed into spending the first Christmas after the War with the Weasleys. And Harry Potter.

Espresso Patronum by @tasteofshapes (2020, T, 15k)

When Draco reappears five years after the war and opens a wildly popular coffee shop, Harry’s pretty sure that Draco’s Up to Something. He just has to prove it.

An Act of Kindness for One Harry Potter by a Sympathetic Draco Malfoy by 0idontknow0 (2014, E, 15k)

Someone should give Potter a better rogering than that sorry sod had. The man had saved the bloody world—okay, mostly Europe—the least someone could do was give him a proper shag.

Turn and Face the Strange (time may change me) by @punk-rock-yuppie (2019, T, 16k)

Draco and Harry and how their relationship—and themselves—change over the course of eleven years.

#asks #anon #Drarry reclist #bedtime reads

752 notes · View notes

phoebe-delia · 3 years ago

Text

Hogwarts Talent Show Headcanon

Yes, yes this is sorta like my karaoke headcanon but it's different enough so whatever lol. Enjoy! Takes place after the war, so 8th year.

To promote inter-house unity, McGonagall announces the First Annual Hogwarts Talent Show.

Everyone thinks it sounds lame at first, but most of them are intrigued enough to try it once McGonagall says that the winning act will get a prize of a free dinner for two in Hogsmeade.

Everyone will vote on their favorite act, but they vote on parchment that's magically charmed to prevent them from voting for themselves.

The acts are as follows:

Ron burps the alphabet (He can totally do this how is this not canon? It's honestly like 30% of the reason why Hermione broke up with him shortly after the war ended.)

Hermione demonstrates a series of obscure but useful spells to make life easier that she read in random books in the Restricted Section. McGonagall raises an eyebrow knowingly at Hermione as she walks off the stage and Hermione doesn't meet her eyes.

Luna plays the recorder, and it moves a few people to tears with how surprisingly beautiful it is. When she finishes the song, she just smiles at the audience and walks off before they can applaud.

Seamus and Dean partner up for an act. Seamus is center stage, sitting on a stool and holding a banana. Dean is off stage with a microphone, narrating and adding dramatic commentary as Seamus nonchalantly peels and eats the banana. It's the funniest act of the night.

Neville is a surprisingly good DJ. He shows off his remixes and mashups and they're really fun; after the show, McGonagall asks him to be the DJ for the Yule Ball.

Pansy and Draco perform a lip-sync to the "Me Against the Music" by Britney Spears. Ron doesn't notice the way that both Hermione and Harry both go wide-eyed and blush during the performance.

Finally, it's Harry's turn.

Harry walks on stage and grins at the audience.

"For those of us who grew up in Muggle households, it came as quite a shock to find that not only was magic real but that we were magical. We heard of Muggle magicians who performed sleight-of-hand tricks for entertainment, and while the average Muggle couldn't tell you how it was performed, no one believes that magic is real."

"Well today," Harry says with a smirk. "I'm going to bring a bit of Muggle magic to Hogwarts. But I'll need a volunteer."

Countless hands shoot up in the air as students clamor and shout for Harry to notice them, to pick them. While McGonagall tries to settle them down, Harry's eyes search the crowd, overlooking every waving arm to find—

"Malfoy, how about you?"

Draco looks up with a start, trying valiantly not to blush as the entire school stares at him with a mix of shock and jealousy.

Draco shakes his head "Er, Potter, I don't—"

"C'mon Malfoy, what, are you scared?"

As a wave of "Ooohhh"s ripples through the audience, Draco clenches his jaw. "You wish."

Everyone whispers fervently as Draco walks onto the stage to greet Harry, who grins.

"Alright, Malfoy," Harry reaches into his pocket to reveal a deck of cards, which he fans out in his hand in front of Draco. "Pick a card, any card, and don't tell me what it is."

Draco raises an eyebrow, but he selects a random card and examines it; a king of hearts.

"Have you got a good look?"

Draco grits his teeth but nods.

"Good, now put it back." Harry offers the deck for Draco to easily slide the card back with the others.

Draco watches, fascinated, as Harry shuffles the deck. Draco tries to listen to what Harry is muttering about; something about the importance of 'building bridges' and 'healing.' But all Draco can focus on is the easy, practiced way Harry's hands manipulate and shuffle the cards.

Finally, Harry holds out the deck in one hand and uses the other to wave over it. "Abracadabra," he says dramatically, staring intently at the cards as if they hold the secrets to the universe.

Harry steadfastly ignores the mix of bewilderment and suspicion on Draco's face. "Go on, choose another card."

Draco picks one; it’s the ten of spades.

"Is that your card?" Harry asks hopefully.

"No," Draco can’t suppress a satisfied smirk as he shows the wrong card to Harry.

Harry frowns. "Hmm...Okay, let's try again." He clears his throat and repeats the same action as before, this time enunciating the "Abracadabra" a bit more clearly. Satisfied, he looks back up at Draco expectantly. "Pick another, please."

Draco rolls his eyes, but he reached into the deck and pulls a four of diamonds.

"Is that your card?"

"No, Potter."

Harry looks so defeated, Draco has to suppress it when he feels his chest twinge in sympathy.

"Damn. I really wanted to get you that card back," Harry says mournfully.

Draco rolls his eyes. "Yes, so did I. I was quite fond of it."

"Oh, wait, actually, I think I can help you there. Check your pocket for me, would you?"

Draco furrows his eyebrows but he reaches into his pockets, his eyes widening when his right hand clasps a flimsy, smooth plastic card.

He takes it out and gapes at it in astonishment as the words, "Dinner?" flash and settle into the king of hearts. Draco looks up at Harry, who smiles sheepishly.

"So, Malfoy? Was that your card?"

"Yeah," Draco breathes, nodding quickly.

Harry grins. "So...is that a yes, then?"

Two nights later, Harry and Draco sit in a corner booth at the Three Broomsticks. Harry reaches gently behind Draco's ear to reveal a galleon.

Draco surges forward and kisses Harry, and all Harry can think is, Abracadabra, indeed.

My ask box is empty!! Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it.

#drarry #draco malfoy #harry potter #drarry headcanon #drarry headcanons #drarry fic #drarry fanfic #drarry ficlet #drarry fanfiction #this is basically a fic #but in bullet form #hpdm #drarry squad #harry x draco #draco x harry #harry and draco #draco and harry

243 notes · View notes