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plaguedoctormemes · 3 years ago

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Electronic Music Recommendations: First Impressions 1/?

This is a self-indulgent post! Whatever! I’m primarily going to search for these artists and songs through Youtube so if I’m missing some obvious stuff, just let me know. By the way, these are just my opinions and first impressions of these artists. So If i listen to your least favorite song or I’m not into whatever you recommend and it makes u upset, dont worry about it. It’s just music. I listen to some absolute horrid shit sometimes. Just really god awful music. Anyways.

1. @catboy-beb0p recommended CaseJackal/Hiimcase First thing that caught my eye was their lyricism. Once I found a song that really caught my eye, i was really impressed by the way they string lyrics together in a way that’s really, really satisfying. In their most recent album, Systemic Suburbanite, you can really see how much they seem to care about their music and want to improve. Their overall sound quality could still use some work, as some songs feel like there are some instruments missing and thus don’t hit as hard as they could. But! One particular song that won me over was “YOU ARE SO BAD” and “ETERNAL” from Systemic Suburbanite. I have been the SOLE VIEWS of these song on Youtube. And theyre really good! I love when they rap and I love their voice and I find their words extremely relatable. I can see them blowing up if the right person were to boost them. Let them know that the Plaguecore community can take them lmao. I’ll be coming back to finish this album. 2. @shazi-talks recommended their friend CatchinAshes Tell your friend to post their stuff on Youtube more! They only have one video of them doin’ their thing on Youtube 6 years ago and I cant hear exactly HOW good it can get cus its a live recording at a party and it sounded really awesome! But no worries, I found their SoundCloud. For some reason, one of the tracks that I really like by them is “Shift in Motion”. I like this elusive and unsettling nature of it combined with the hoppy rhythm. The falling sounds are also playful and add to this vibe. In kind of simplistic terms, it’s kind of giving me World Of Horror vibes but more dance-able? I notice that they dont create music (or share it) as often as they did 5-6 years ago unless there is somewhere else they post more often. I hope they keep going! 3. @transgenderpartydrugs recommended Gupi & Fraxiom (Foodhouse) Started with “Thos Moser”- what a fun start! I love the different directions it takes and it’s completely unapologetic with the auto tune, (although the very beginning brought me to a very bad place in 2008 but thats ok) LMAO. It’s also very reminiscent of that time but in a much more positive way. People don’t like to hear it but the late 2000s had good fucking electronic music, prove me wrong. Anyways. The music video is also hilarious. “Mos Thoser” fucks my ears in the way that I enjoy. I can see myself rushing graphic design homework to this, so I think i prefer this to the former for that reason. I’ll definitely need to be in a particular mood to enjoy their music overall, but I do enjoy and appreciate all the samples, synths and textures they offer. 4. @blueisagreatcolorforawitch recommended Fitz and The Tantrums

I decided to start with “Out of My League”. This is exactly the type of music I listened to all the time in my early highschool years (uploaded in 2013 so it makes sense) and It makes me feel extremely nostalgic for that. Makes me want to pretend like I can ride a longboard and try to pull off pull off bright colors and muscle tanks and beanies again. And I listened to “The Walker” and the top comment on Youtube made me chuckle out loud cus they got it absolutely spot-on. However, the song that I actually remember the most is “Moneygrabber”. I also feel that the lead singer’s voice actually fits really well with this style compared to some of their other bigger hits. I can see myself coming back to that song the most often. 5. @glittery-oubliette recommended Dorian Electra I have actually heard this name before among the younger LGBTQA+ zoomers on the ‘net. And to be honest, based on “My Agenda” and “Flamboyant”, and some of their other songs overall, their style doesn't super appeal to my current tastes. I probably would’ve been more into it if I were still 18-21. However, I really liked “Ram It Down” and “Adam and Steve”. Their vocals reminds me a lot of some recent Kerli for some reason (which for me is a relatively good thing). I wish i could be more specific about what parts doesn’t appeal to me, but I lack the musical knowledge and expertise to properly describe it. I do appreciate what they’re doing and find aspects of their flashy aesthetic charming- but again, not quite for me. And “Gentleman/My Lady” made me laugh out loud (and bangs hard near the end, which i love). I’d probably trust Dorian Electra fans with my life and I know of some friends that might not listen currently to them to be potential fans. 6. @plaguedocboi recommended Creature Feature

IDK if this really fits here but I dont care. This is another one I have heard of but haven’t taken the time to check out. I have some kind of aversion to finding musical artists online through word-of-mouth unless I specifically request it, as you can see. I started with “Buried Alive” because the thumbnail caught my attention and now I’m extremely pissed off because I would’ve loved this as a little emo/scene kid. I’ve always enjoyed Halloweeny music. I traveled the future to listen to “American Gothic” and then “Grim Grinning Ghosts” and i was delighted by it. I love the sound of their vocals. Their music also seems to fit the vibe of the current DND campaign I’m playing in super well (classic gothic faire) so I’ll definitely play them in the background of our sessions for now on. Funny how despite how campy and corny it can sometimes be, Halloween-themed music can be hella timeless. I will probably write and try listening to more music recommendations later or in the future but right now my ears and brain are starting to feel really fatigued. I really appreciate all of the recs and I love listening to new things, especially from people that I interact with/interact with me. 8^)

#the doctor is in #music recommendation #not plague #this is a long post so if its not covered by a read more im sorry

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queeraswolf · 4 years ago

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bRules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better

Thanks for the tag @reggietheghost

Name: Jack

Gender: Identifying as male but i am non conforming in style of dress.

Star sign: Gemini

height: 4'11/9?

Time: 6:55 eastern time usa

Birthday: june 18th

Favourite bands: three days grace, korn, night club, depeche mode, static x, stuff from the baroque period of time, no doubt, in this moment, TLC, queen, garbage, bloody wood, brian setizer, bring me the horizon, i am all over the place.

Favourite solo artists: YUNGBLUD!, adam lambert, bowie, elton john, avril lavgine, billie ellish, dorian electra, lady gaga lewis bisett, troye sivan, gwen stefani, miley cyrus ,

again all over.

Last movie: After We Collided.. ( Oh yes.. i did watch that .... ;) )

Last show: Chilling adventures of sabrina the fourth and sobbing, last season.. not all done, i dont wanna be done.

When did I create this blog: orginally it started out as me a way to like certain stuff, then the new policies clicked in, and it was bad but i also wanted friends, and i gained more family than I did friends.

What I post: orginal works , fandom shit, whatever.

Last thing I googled: where one of my packages for my health conditons was..

Other blogs: my personal one on one rpg accounts and a hidden one for the people who will understand a certian part of me i don’t advertize..

Do I get asks: usually its bots.. :( i hope to get more of you all on here really asking i wanna make more friends i can call family really.

Why I chose my url: it was given to me by a dear friend i still call family, no idea where he is now, but i miss him. barry if you are out there thank you for all you did I love ya brother., I truly am QueerAsWolf ( combined queer as folk and.. well cause duh?)

Following: i have no idea, i follow sims stuff too but really only if i truly like the person i follow it, i have pirotities.

Followers: dunno

Average hours of sleep: varries

Instruments: I make my own with random items and its obnxious noise.

What am I wearing: white with black stripes tank top, and black boxers.. you asked, i told....

Dream job(s): Voice over artist.

Dream trip: I’d like to visit the ones i really have made into family .. and problem is i’d never leaVe.

Favourite food: i like fusing things together so its hard to say.

Nationality: fillpino.. no jokes eh? i’ll make em myself thanks .

Favourite song(s): I really don’t wanna link my spoifiy.. ;) too many on there man.

Last book I read: fan fic counts.. it always does, don’t let anyone tell you diffrent!, I was reading some medical stuff.. and other stuff.

Top 3 fictional universes I'd like to live in: ha, i’m dead in all of them so i really couldn’t say, i am gonna fuse them all too.

Tagging: @lillindyloo,@Crowboy @zoofitness@hbiccjsblog

@friendlybandersnatch and others. so many of you i really wanna get to know!

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quarkcore · 4 years ago

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1-5 for the asks :)

1: Song of the year?

ok so i feel like theres so many contenders for this. This year has been strange for me, and right until i finished my degree, I didnt listen to much new music. I had a real focus on nostalgic faves. Because of that I have a hard time placing a specific favourite; its all just this long blur of old familiar tunes. If we go by my spotify, “Alone Again Or” by Love is my top song, and i cant deny that its absolute bop. If were going by what song i consider my fave right now, its “Lay This Body Down” by Sam Lee. If i was gonna choose an absolute favourite new track, I think i would go with “Rack Of His” by Fiona Apple. Obviously, her new album is an absolute masterpiece, and thats the song that i just consistently enjoyed the most.

2: Album of the year?

Not Fetch The Boltcutters, surprisingly. For the place I was in, I personally found it just a bit too much to take in. I had a pretty massive shift towards pop, which FTBC just..... isnt. I needed comfort, familiarity, something i didnt need to analyse. With that in mind, The Mountain Goats’ The Jordan Lake Sessions is becoming a real late game favourite for me. I have started listening to stuff that challenges me a bit more again, but i still crave old favourites, and TJLS has packed a lot of old favourites onto one album, while also filling the gap that the lack of live music venues created in my life. Listening to TMG live is a really special experience for me and to have something replicate that, even imperfectly, really meant a lot to me.

3: Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

There isnt an immediate standout for me, so I’m just gonna list a few good contenders. Rina Sawayama, who id technically listened to before, but never to the same extent is an obvious choice, Noname (who id also technically listened to before) is another. Id also listened to the Kinks before, but got into them after watching a part of the umbrella academy and rewatching hot fuzz (they feature on both soundtracks). Ive really been enjoying Dorian Electra, and 100 Gecs became a new favourite in abt the same time period. yet again im limited by how little new music ive listened to lghdkfgj.

4: Movie of the year?

FINALLY ONE I CAN DO!!!!! ITS PARASITE ITS 100% PARASITE!!! nothing has worked its way into my brain in the same way, I’ve watched it 3 times and every single time i went fucking ballistic. i dont think theres anything i can say thats not already been said better, but the single bit that hits me the most is the one where the Kim family’s sub-basement has flooded and the father tells his son “You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan. No plan at all. You know why? Because life cannot be planned. Look around you. Did you think these people made a plan to sleep in the sports hall with you? But here we are now, sleeping together on the floor. So, there's no need for a plan. You can't go wrong with no plans. We don't need to make a plan for anything. It doesn't matter what will happen next. Even if the country gets destroyed or sold out, nobody cares. Got it?” because GOD how fucking real is that. every fucking day im thinking about parasite.

5: TV show of the year?

SPN’s Destiel but only for the bants.

Nah, kidding. its still deep space nine for me right now, but red dwarf is also a contender. both are rewatches (continuing the trend for the year glhfgkj). If you havent watched red dwarf, its a sci-fi sitcom, focussing on Lister and Rimmer, the two lowest ranking people on the ship red dwarf. Along with the Cat (exactly what it sounds like) and Holly, the ships’ AI, they on a quest to return home to earth. If you are a big fan of star trek, and want something extremely funny, and which in many ways critiques utopian sci fi (imo) you cant go wrong. Red Dwarf’s vision of the future is that its more or less the same as now, and thats mined both for comedic purposes, and for more serious plot lines. I first watched it when i was around 10 years old, and going back and rewatching only reinforced my belief that its one of the greatest shows of all time. It has a lot to say abt the british class system, and abt the capabilities of the peopel at the very bottom of society, in my opinion. It also unfortunately has a lot of homophobia and misogyny. The way i personally cope with that is by not watching the only season with an actual human woman (yes, really), and by taking all the gay jokes to their logical conclusion, and actually headcanoning multiple characters as lgbt. its my show now and i can do what i want.

if youre here, then i assume you know what ds9 is like and why its good.

edit: A) what did tumblr DO to this post, B) i forgot joanna newsom!!! its bc shes not on spotify rip. DEFINITELY a new fave and contender for new fave artist.

#thank you so much for the ask!#rip my lack of good answers to give #odetodata

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dont-offend-the-bees · 4 years ago

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for the ask game: 1, 29, 22, 8

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

Read: Can’t think of much off hand right now that particularly connects to my self-identity, but to understand the roots of my creativity and the worlds/stories I like to enagge with and make I’d recommend the Edge Chronicles series!

Watch: to understand a bit of my mental state/creative struggle growing up, definitely Whisper of the Heart. For identity stuff, I agree/identify with Daniel Howell’s Basically I’m Gay a LOT, although we had very different school experiences. I also have more gender dysphoria than he does, but agree that I also might as well be called a formless blob.

Listen to: See answers to 29/8!

29. three songs that you connect with right now.

I have a whole playlist of music that connects with/describes me from my lowest to highest self esteem lmao, but if I had to pick three from it I’d say... Hugs by the Lonely Island is gonna be me the s e c o n d it’s safe to go around touching people again, Bored by Tessa Violet is sorta my permanent struggle/mental state (when I’m not just in sheer bloody panic about the state of the world kfhdfk), and pretty much all the Ezra Furman’s are a permanent mood for me but right now I’d say Can I Sleep in Your Brain is the biggest mood, I’m sure in that ‘lemme just stop thinking and hand over the reins for a while’ kinda state.

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.

I could fill this entire list with variations of ‘watching stuff’, so to be fairer to myself I’ll lump those into one lmao

Watching stuff (largely rewatches atm, no thoughts, head empty, theres a lot of Taskmaster and Hbomberguy in there)

Scrolling twitter/tumblr semi-obsessively- I’m always on the alert for petitions to sign, I’m sort of building up my own spreadsheet of useful links and resources too

Reading- I’m tryna get back into this, I re-read the Hunger Games lately and now I’m on the prequel, plus I’m doing a lot of fanfic! Gotta read/comment on another Beginner Bang fic tonight ^^

Fic planning/writing. Largely in small doses atm. I also keep trying to come back to some original stories but they’re a lot harder to get started with.

Thinking about clothes to make/customisation. Hopefully when I’ve got my sewing machine co-operating I can turn this point into actually making/customising them lmao.

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?

It’s more recent but I feel very connected to Ezra Furman’s music, it really hits me where my gender euphoria/dysphoria hits. Going back further I was definitely raised on a lot of David Bowie, and that appeciation stayed when i started questioning my sexuality/gender. I loved a lot of the 60s-70s music I was raised on but a lot of the music I sort of identify with has come to me with more recent discoveries, like cavetown and Hozier and Dorian Electra. I’d also give a shout-out to MIKA, who was one of my faves in the mid-2000s and has grown in overt queerness with me!

Thanks for the ask lovely!! <333

Send me an identity ask! Or any ask, tbh, I’m fucking done with everything today and I’m trying to distract myself a lot

#therightprometheanfire #ask game #answers #about me

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19/12/2020

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” spends a second week at #1. It’s #1 in the States as well. We’ve got a week of Christmas music and a Taylor Swift album bomb so... God, let’s just get this over with. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So let’s start as always with the drop-outs from the UK Top 75, which we have a few of but not as notable as the last few weeks, as the less interesting 2020 hits that just can’t leave the chart are slowly dropping off. We have some of the bigger hits like “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax (Good song, by the way), “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as some more recent and more moderate successes like “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra and “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI. I can see this all rebounding after Christmas though, especially those last few. What I can’t see rebounding are the three Christmas songs that ironically dropped off from last week, particularly “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia which I do not remember being a top 20 hit. We do, of course, have some more fallers as well, like “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #14 and “Santa Tell Me” also by Ariana at #17 – not a good week for her, I suppose. I also find it funny that we have a couple Christmas songs that actually dropped places this week, not many of which are notable, but to give an example, due to three separate songs entering the top 10 this week, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé dropped five spots to #12. On the course of fallers, we also have “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #22, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #28, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #36, “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #44, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #48, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #50, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #51, “you broke me first” by TateMcRae at #57 (the biggest fall this week), “Golden” by Harry Styles at #58, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #60, “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes at #63, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #65, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #69, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee at #70 and “A Little Love” by Celeste at #74. Of course, we also have some notable returning entries and gains, those returning entries being “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by the Jackson 5 at #75 and “Baby it’s Cold Outside” by Adele Dazeem and Michael Bublé at #61. The most notable gains aren’t as plentiful this week because I feel like most songs, Christmas or not, are relatively stable if they’re not falling dramatically off the chart, so I’m not going to separate it into festive and non-festive tracks this time. We start off with “No Time for Tears” – the biggest climber this week – by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix up to #64, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #43, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #32, and whilst that’s it for notably large gains, we do see “Whoopty” by CJ and “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne enter the top 10 at #10 and #9 respectively. Delightful. Well, we’re already done with the rundown – oddly quickly – so let’s get on with these new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#72 – “The Business” – Tiesto

Produced by Anton Rundberg and Tiesto

I have no time for umlauts. They’re simply not productive. Dutch DJ Tiesto has been at it for a while now and “The Business” is his new house-pop track with vocals from James Bell, probably propped up the chart by a remix with English DJ 220 KID. The original song charted though, so we’ll talk about that one and I do like the cold, bizarrely eerie strings for a song like this, even if the pitched-down vocals make it more comical than anything. The deep house groove here is cool but mostly cheap, especially whatever the hell those claps are. The bridge is aimless and James Bell gives a performance really not worthy of note. At least this has some essence of personality and artistic intent, unlike 220 KID’s usual output, who actually improves on the song by giving it more of a 90s Eurodance tinge, in my opinion at least. The 220 KID remix is a remix of a song that already felt like a remix though, so everything about this is unnatural and awkward, even for EDM.

#71 – “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” – Dolly Parton and Michael Bublé

Produced by Kent Wells

The only time country music charts on the UK Singles Chart is when it’s barely country or Dolly Parton. Whilst a lot of country music is rarely appreciated out of the States, I feel like Dolly Parton is one of those singers that’s just universally loved. Michael Bublé on the other hand I have no patience for and I was dreading the time I’d have to review his songs again. The man made a career of off offensively inoffensive Christmas standards and his original music is painfully bad, so honestly, I’ll take it, but the man is clearly not interesting and whilst I understand why Dolly had him on her A Holly Dolly Christmas TV special in the vein of Mariah Carey’s this same year, I’m not excited to hear it. I’m not excited to talk about it either, because this is only vaguely country and is mostly just a jazz-adjacent traditional pop standard, except this is an original song. Neither Parton and Bublé have any chemistry, there’s a lot of empty space, and Bublé’s awkward attempts to add personality to what is and will always be a dull, painful slog of a track are just cringe worthy if anything. This song is barely about Christmas either or anything warm and intimate about cuddling up with family as I expected. It’s just the image of Dolly Parton banging Michael Bublé by the fireplace, and it goes on for about three minutes and 39 seconds too long. Next.

#66 – “Baby it’s Cold Outside” – Brett Eldredge featuring Meghan Trainor

Produced by Ron Mousey and Jay Newland

“Baby it’s Cold Outside” spews controversy nowadays, and whilst I never found a reason to be mad at what is clearly a dated but to me pretty innocuous and satirical Christmas standard, I never found a reason to like the song. Even the classic Dean Martin version is pretty much a slog, but that doesn’t mean I can stomach John Legend’s “politically correct” version either, which is probably the worst rendition I’ve heard, although Bublé’s is close. I don’t mind Tom Jones’ attempt, I guess. Regardless, this version from 2016 is by another country singer, but it did just chart because Meghan Trainor’s here. These two might have even less chemistry than Dolly and Bublé; at least they tried, whilst here despite the song being a back-and-forth, they seem to be on completely different ideas on how to tackle the song. Admittedly, I like this flat, jazzy rendition of the track fine but if anything Trainor is an inconvenience to my enjoyment of this lounge track. She shows off her vocal strength a bit too much for it to work until that awkward burst of energy at the end. Also, Brett Eldredge exists. How unfortunate. It may also be insensitive in retrospect, and maybe ironic, that the song ends with Eldredge warning her she might catch pneumonia if she went outside. Huh.

#55 – “Forever Young” – Becky Hill

Produced by Charlie Hugall

“Forever Young” by Alphaville is one of those classic 1980s synth-pop tracks that sounds so obviously 1980s but is far from dated, with the lyrics being a take on contemporaneous political issues covered in optimistic calls for action and gorgeous strings that undercut Marian Gold’s longing, belting delivery and of course, that horn section at the end that sadly fades out instead of coming to a genuine climax but would be brilliant either way. The song has a legacy indeed, and is continuously topical, being covered by One Direction, Kim Wilde and Imagine Dragons, and being sampled or interpolated by Dorian Electra, JAY-Z, Maroon 5 and even Tangerine Dream. The song has had so many reimaginings that it’s hard to imagine what new can be done with a classic track that didn’t really need much reworking in the first place... so naturally, Becky Hill made an acoustic cover for a McDonald’s commercial. It’s just her singing it vaguely competently over an unimaginative piano rendition of the original, but it does offend me in how it strips everything out of the original song to replace it with a vague orchestral swell and exhaustingly boring delivery from Becky Hill. Sure, the original song sounds cheaper now but if anything, this sounds even cheaper, with mixing drenched in reverb that makes everything sound a lot uglier than it’s supposed to. JAY-Z screwed “Forever Young” up to hell and back on his track with Mr Hudson but at least he rapped over it and had a bit of a sample flip, instead of just reciting the lyrics and chord structure without realising what made the song so biting and anthemic in the first place. This isn’t REVIEWING THE ADVERTS though, even though most of the time it ends up being, so I won’t bore you much longer with this.

#37 – “Show Out” – Kid Cudi, Skepta and Pop Smoke

Produced by Dot da Genius, Plain Pat, Heavy Mellow and Gravez

I knew this would be the highest-charting track from the Cudi album as soon as I saw the feature credit, but I didn’t expect it to be the only one charting. Regardless, I should probably talk about the album because I have listened to Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, Cudi’s highly-anticipated follow-up to his last two Man on the Moon records, both of which are pretty damn great, and this one isn’t far from it either. I liked it a fair bit and even if its derivative first few tracks means it gets off to a slow start, there are absolutely moments on this album where we see a classic Cudi matured and aged, and able to talk about mental health in shallow detail as always but from a perspective where we see a Scott Mescudi that has settled down and is happy with life. While it’s far from a perfect album, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t heart-warming to hear Cudi like this considering how much he’s struggled in his decade-long career, and it’s backed by great, psychedelic production as always. “Show Out” is a complete abandonment of all of that, acting as a shallow turn-up drill track with a massive posthumous hook from the late Pop Smoke’s booming voice, accompanied by an Auto-Tuned Cudi mumbling over gorgeous string samples, which don’t feel like they’re watered-down by the overwhelming drill beat and instead accentuated, which I think is missing from a lot of UK drill. It helps that Skepta is here to slide effortlessly in his verse. He’s selling out shows and shooting guns “the same size as Kevin Hart”, and whilst the verse feels a little short, he absolutely steals the show when he’s there. That’s not to say Cudi doesn’t spit endlessly on his verse, which is also fire, before an atmospheric bridge where, in the midst of the gang violence and hedonism, he calls out to God to ask what the cost of it is. It’s the one part of the song that makes it make any lick of sense in the context of the album, but it’s also the one part I’m never so sure on. It sounds pretty jarring between Cudi’s verse and the hook, and it’s not cathartic when Pop Smoke comes back in so I think it could have been better used as an outro if anything. Other than that, the song is still really hard-hitting and one of my favourites from Man on the Moon III. Songs like “The Void” and “Rockstar Knights” with Trippie Redd blow it out of the water though.

#19 – “no body, no crime” – Taylor Swift featuring HAIM

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

As you probably know, Taylor Swift dropped a new album last week called Evermore, which is basically a much weaker collection of B-sides from the Folklore sessions. I’ll discuss my gripes with the album more as we get onto “willow”, so I’ll give some short individual reviews here. This is one of my favourite tracks on the record, mostly because of how it takes Taylor back to her country roots but in sharp contrast to the original bubblegum country-pop style she had on her first few albums, she and HAIM of all people perform a pretty convincing true crime story about a missing persons case that might just end up being a murder. With a catchy chorus, oddly eerie and menacing delivery from Taylor Swift that sounds determined and honestly kind of badass with those electric guitars in the post-chorus, as well as some descending melodies in the verses I admittedly love, this is one of the best tracks on the album without hesitation for me. It’s one of the few tracks on Evermore that feels like Swift’s storytelling, knacks for infectious choruses, and the more serious, rootsy acoustic guitar-based instrumentation, are in perfect harmony, even if it is a bit short and much like the rest of the album, it falls victim to the meandering nature of these songs and their aimless bridges or outros. Either way, it’s good. Check it out if you haven’t already. It’s cool to see HAIM back on the chart too, by the way.

#15 – “champagne problems” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

When I was listening to Kid Cudi, Avalanches and Taylor last Friday all in one session, I was constantly engaged even through the duller parts of the second half of We Will Always Love You or the most rote, derivative Travis Scott rip-offs present on Man on the Moon III. I was only awake for about three and a half hours when I first went through Evermore, but you know that feeling you get in your eyes when you start feeling tired or exhausted? Maybe that’s just a me thing, but “champagne problems” is that feeling when your eyes start to sore a bit and you start blinking a bit more. The storytelling isn’t as engaging as it usually is on this track, and although I do like the main narrative, it takes a detour and doesn’t decide whether it wants to focus on that or a vaguer metaphor about mental illness and how it’s affected Taylor as a celebrity. I care about that on Reputation but I do not give a damn when it’s presented with this uninteresting chasm of piano melodies and a really awkward, pointless outro, once again, that’s out-of-place if anything. I wish anything on Evermore was as good as “seven” but that’s wishful thinking. Anyway, let’s start rambling, because it’s the big-boy debut time now.

#3 – “willow” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Aaron Dessner

I have nothing to go off when judging Aaron Dessner’s production. He’s the frontman behind The National and he does contribute to the album vocally on one of the worst tracks but usually takes a backseat in production. On Folklore, although Dessner was still greatly involved, it felt a lot more varied and interesting from Taylor particularly, who went on unexpected songwriting angles and some melodies I genuinely love. I’m not a fan of the indie-folk direction for her – I think her style of writing and vocals actually fits better on pop tunes, which might be a hot take but I mean, my favourite album from her is Reputation so I’m full of those when it comes to Taylor. I can appreciate when it’s done well, though, and I like her storytelling abilities most of the time, unless of course the song itself is nothing to be interested in... and, I’m sorry, but half of Folklore was aggressively dull, particularly the back half, and I can barely make it through songs like “exile”. Maybe I just don’t “get” it, maybe I’m just not “listening hard enough”, or maybe, perhaps, I’m just not a fan of Taylor doing exactly what she usually doesn’t do on her albums, which is bore me. Say what you want about Red, 1989 or even Reputation, and ESPECIALLY Lover, but they take risks, intriguing ones at that and whether they’re successful or not is obviously up to listener’s interpretation, but regardless, it makes for a listen that is unpredictable and often fascinating. Lover is an absolute mess full of pretty mediocre attempts to do... well, anything, but it’s a better listen than Evermore out of sheer intrigue alone. It’s interesting to hear Taylor try all of these different musical ideas, whether it’s her trying obnoxious bubblegum-pop on “ME!”, ballads with the Dixie Chicks, 1980s-style synth-pop on “Getaway Car” and the majority of 1989, or even industrial-pop rapping on “...Ready for It?”. It’s not interesting to hear her make 16 quite similar songs and less than half of them have a unique flavour to them that makes the hour-long listen feel like you gained anything from it. It’s not just the album experience either that Folklore and Evermore lack, but it’s also the songs themselves, particularly in Evermore. Let’s look at “cardigan”, one of the best songs on Folklore, with Swift’s pretty low-key but emotive delivery, a noticeable and profound refrain, songwriting that evokes a pretty sweet metaphor and tells the start of a story that runs throughout the record in a way that can detach itself from the rest of the record, infectious choruses (even if they are cribbed somewhat from “Wildest Dreams”) and that subtle drum machine with pretty intricate percussion patterns covered by gorgeous string compositions, and a four-minute runtime that feels worth it, especially for that last chorus and verse, an effortless switch-up. Now let’s compare it to its equivalent lead single “willow”, a track with a checked-out Taylor singing pretty janky, awkward melodies over a cluttered mess of guitar strumming, with absolutely none of the very few ideas Taylor has musically actually succeeding. The song has to drop out entirely because Taylor and Dessner apparently can’t handle the three over-lapping ideas just in the first two verses and choruses, and whilst it still has that switch-up for the third verse/bridge, it does not feel worth it because there is another, over-long chorus with no lyrical adjustments to the hook that made the subtleties in “cardigan” so special. The song is 20 seconds or so shorter than “cardigan” but feels a lot longer because of how directionless the outro is, and none of it feels like anything other than a pretty folk-pop tune (which is barely qualifies as anyway because of how ugly these acoustics are, and how meandering Taylor’s cadence is throughout). She tries out the chorus with and without the falsetto for no reason other than to extend the song by the end and it makes effectively no change to how the chorus feels like it’s delivered. I’ll give “willow” credit that it’s listenable and a lot less boring than other tracks on Evermore but I can’t see this as anything more than a failed attempt that should be met with a “game over, try again” screen. I’d accept the musical chaos of misshapen ideas if I ever felt it was genuinely warranted. On Evermore, nothing Taylor does is what the audience deserves accompanying – or maybe even improving on – Folklore. Sorry.

Conclusion

Yeah, “no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM takes the Best of the Week, but it was a toss-up between her and Kid Cudi, who gets the Honourable Mention for “Show Out” with Skepta and Pop Smoke. For the Worst of the Week, it’s really picking your poison between sickly Christmas duets, but I’ll ignore them and give it to Becky Hill for absolutely butchering “Forever Young”, with a Dishonourable Mention also going to Taylor Swift and “willow”. Here’s the top 10 for this week:

You can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more ramblings and Taylor Swift hot takes, if you’d want to see that. I won’t post another episode before the 25th so, if you’re reading this, merry Christmas, everyone, and I’ll see you on Boxing Day!

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ne0nwithazero · 1 year ago

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REALLY NOW

#Jay Talks #Wrapped #Spotify #Spotify Wrapped #GEE I WONDER WHAT SHIP CONSUMED MY BRAIN TO CAUSE THIS #Also Dorian Electra is my top artist aGAIN

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largelungs · 5 years ago

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END OF YEAR *2*0*1*9*

Girls who love computers // Meathead sad boy hardcore // Extremely horny pop music // Weirdo dance music // Inoffensive indie pop // “World” music // Rap that white people like // Rap that nobody likes // Things that sound like Yung Lean // Things that are Yung Lean // A bunch of stupid shit that sounds bad

...

03 Greedo / Trap House

100 gecs / money machine - I fucking hate this band

Aldous Harding / The Barrel

Amnesia Scanner / AS Aca

Anamanaguchi / Lorem Ipsum (Arctic Anthem) - I’m never not listening to this song

Angel-Ho / Business

Angel Olsen / New Love Cassette

angelic milk / acid & coca-cola - the most normal sounding song by a Russian artist on this playlist

Ariana Grande / 7 rings

Babyface Ray / The Streets - The Levels section of Pitchfork is criminally underrated and they told me that Babyface Ray is the Voice of the Detroit, which I believe because I just believe everything I read

Baby Fendii / Glock19 - I don’t know shit about this song but I just looked up the music video and its in my fav genre of “hoes with guns in the pool”

Bad Bunny / Callaita - I literally can’t tell the difference between Bad Bunny and any other reggaeton but FUCK IT

Bella Boo / Do The Right Thing

benny blanco & JUICE WLRD / Graduation - this song played at Juice WRLD’s funeral

Bicep / Glue

Big Thief / Forgotten Eyes

Bill Callahan / Young Icarus - really haven’t sat down with my very good friend Bill Callahan’s new album (he’s my friend) and given it a hard listen but I’ve been a big fan of this song so far so I just listen to it a bunch

Billie Eilish / bad guy - this song was refreshing af to hear on the radio at my old cafe; you can make a valid argument that billie eilish is super corny but, uh, she’s seventeen??? I hope she sticks around cause I’m really curious how her work’s gonna mature if its already this realized

Blind Seagull / Nails - I was always under the impression that Russia has two genres of music: pretty sexy boy and ugly old man who is yelling at me, but it turns out they also make insanely catchy post-punk! Detritri records is a godsend and I’ve listen to so much Russian music this year that I can’t relate to any of my friends anymore

Bonnie Baxter / ELF OWL - One of my favorite genres is “dropped a bunch of stuff on the ground and then recorded it”

BUMP OF CHICKEN / 記念撮影 - Despite the ridiculous name this band is huge in Japan; I found out about this song cause its used in an emotionally overwhelming One Piece music video that is just a 5 minute ad for noodles.

Burna Boy / On The Low

Caroline Polachek / So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings - It’s the singer from Chairlift! Remember them??

Cate le Bon / Home To You

CHAI / Great Job

Channel Tres / Sexy Black Timberlake - house music + hip hop

Charli XCX / White Mercedes - I am nothing if not a Charli XCX stan - put it on my fucking headstone, baby

Charly Bliss / Under You - I know nothing about this band but this song was used in a promo for a dope looking DIY slice of life game

Clams Casino / Rune - Am I supposed to rap over this?

Control Top / Office Rage

Counterparts / Wings of Nightmares

Danny Brown / uknowhatimsayin¿

Dorian Electra / Career Boy

Drinking Boys and Girls Choir / National Police Shit

Dump Him / Unimportant - finally, a lesbian Tom Delonge

Earl Sweatshirt / El Toro Combo Meal

EARTHGANG & Young Thug / Mirrorland

Ecco2k / AAA Powerline - This is Swedish culture like it or not

Ecco2k & Thaiboy Digital / Western Union - SONG OF THE YEAR SONG OF THE YEAR SONG OF THE YEAR

E-Saggila / Aziza - Dropped stuff again but the stuff is really heavy this time

Fire-Toolz / Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace) - it’s like Burzum but he’s trapped in a computer (and also not a Nazi)

Floating Points / Bias

Galen Tipton / Fake Meat - This time you dropped a bunch of baby toys

Grimes / 4 AEM - The more you hate Grimes the more I stan her, and I honestly DO NOT KNOW WHY

Griselda / Chef Dreds - Buffalo rap! RAP RAP RAP!!! STREET SHIT!!!

Hannah Diamond / The Ending - You’re gonna hate this

Headie One / Both - The UK’s best exports are grime, breakfast, and bar brawls

Holly Herndon / Frontier - this album is Holly Herndon and an AI choir and its fucking INSANE

James Ferraro / Recycled Sky

The Japanese House / You Seemed So Happy

Jay Mitta / Don Bet - AYYYYYYY

Jenny Hval / High Alice

JPEGMAFIA / Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot

Juan Wauters / Blues Chilango

Knocked Loose / Mistakes Like Fractures - I listened to a lot of a meathead hardcore this year but legit it all sounds the same so this is just a stand-in for all those albums

Koffee / Toast

Lafawndah / Ancestor Boy

Leonard Cohen / Happens to the Heart - He ain’t dead bitch!

Lil Reek / Maintain - Rap game Andy Milonakis

Lil Tecca / Ransom

Lingua Ignota / MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE

Loraine James / Glitch Bitch

MahiToThePeople / Madaanoumigaaokattakoro

Mannequin Pussy / Patience

Mindforce / Excalibur - Somehow it took this long for someone to mix hardcore and high fantasy

Moor Mother / Imagines - Death Grips adjacent

The Mountain Goats / Possum By Night - My favorite song about being a possum

Nilufer Yanya / Heavyweight Champion of the Year

Nikvek / Walking in a Spiral Toward the House

Nonlocal Forecast / Celestial Nervous System

Octo Octa / Imminent Spirit Arrival - New Hampshire house music

Organ Tapes / Springfield - Actually my most listened to album of the year

Oso Oso / basking in the glow - The logical progression of Long Island emo / glad to see Jade Lilitri still getting love years after State Lines

Otoboke Beaver / datsu . hikage no onna

Partybreaker / Cвет истины - Russian straight edge hardcore

Pharmakon / Spit It Out - I was gonna see her live but I bailed cause I AM OLD

Polo G / Through Da Storm

Pop Smoke / Dior

Restraining Order / Don’t Really Think - less meathead more snot-nosed

(Sandy) Alex G / Hope - Snuck in Alex G real quick last minute; I have not listened to them in like two years lmao

Shin Guard / Kennedy

Shirokuma / Black Lungs - scratches that blackened atmospheric emo itch left by Pianos - who are apparently still a band?

Shitty Life / We’re Dead - SNOTTY!

Shortparis / Страшно - soundtrack to my Russian fever dream

Shygirl / BB

Sisso / Biti No. 5

Slayyyter / BFF - Reminds me of crunkcore but somehow even hornier?

Slowthai / Doorman

Solange / Stay Flo - I think I can name more Solange songs than Beyonce songs??

Soul Glo / 31 - Brings the total number of black dudes in hardcore to like 6

Storm{O} / Ho Chi Minh - Huge soft spot for Italian hardcore

Sturgill Simpson / Sing Along - this man is literally the only country musician actually innovating the genre besides maybe Hank Williams III who made an album that’s just blast beats and cattle auctioneers

Substance / Countdown

Sudan Archives / Confessions

Swan Meat / Suckling - I FUCKING LOVE THIS SHIT

Tami T / Princess - I literally cannot tell if this is good but I’m fucking obsessed with it (also SWEDISH)

ТЭЦ / Видел я немало лошадей

Thom Yorke / Dawn Chorus

Tre Oh Fie / Give it 2 Em

Triad God / Gway Lo

Tyler the Creator / EARFQUAKE

Vampire Weekend / This Life

Vi som älskade varandra så mycket / Men livet går vidare - SCREAMO FROM THE MOTHERLAND

Weezer / The End of the Game - I’m sorry

Weyes Blood / Andromeda

Wizard Apprentice / You Won

yeule / Pretty Bones

Young Thug & Lil Baby / Bad Bad Bad

Yung Cortex / I’ve Been Waiting - I have no idea what the fuck this is but its terrible and I fucking love it

Yung Lean / Blue Plastic

Yu Su / Little Birds, Moonbath

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