#But yeah those vocals imo would sound very out of place in the show

[anosci]

selected albums ive listened to in 2024

this year I'm just posting the highlights so itll be shorter

[1] [2]

January

1/ VHS Head - Phasia (2023) first new album of '24 for me! "Strange Food" that zap pew beat is a delight! title track is p good, floaty. "Phocus" this is very vaguely leaning into…funk? i really like it. possible highlight? wondering why it shares the title of a different album.

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4/ VA - FM Synth 2 (2017) yeah i love fm "Mach 5 Fusion Force X" is a god damn tour de force. insane! "Work Without Rules" second fav of mine for its smoov smoov swingy wobs

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7/ Skee Mask - C (2024) first 2024 album in the list! dusty, crispy, chillout. analogue. deep bass when needed, never too thick of a presence. delightful chillout music. at worst, its a bit varied, as if it were an anthology. probably because it is. highlight: "Bassline Dub"

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12/ (all OCRemix posts from 2017) all over the place ofc some insano selections: "Multi-track Drifting" N R G!!! "Big Room Gobi" funny but in a goes hard way also: Star Salzman's Katamari mix!!! i keep coming back to that in particular

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15/ VA - Adventure Time, Vol. 1-5 (2019) they have extended versions of some sc cuts!! "Party With the Chief" esp(!) the biggest thing I noticed overall: this soundtrack is so…wack. meandering. ADHD in control of a quirky ensemble. continually amazed that this's from a hit show

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16/ Diverse System - JAPAN 2 (2023) a mostly rly good grab bag of bangers with a japan flavor! i adore the koto mixed in with tight electric beats. big big standouts with "灯火" !!! and the much more electric "Amatsu"

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17/ Patricia Taxxon - Bicycle (2024) laid back (mostly) textures n vibes. instant fav in "Frat Claws" and "I Do" specifically! i really like the FEEL within the sounds. i keep coming back to "Chipshop" and "Boys". visceral.

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23/ Aleksi Perälä - Starlight 1 (2018) surprisingly solid, albeit a bit all over the place much love for the smooth sounds of "UK74R1823040" much love for the stepfiltered "UK74R1823090" not as much a fan of the techno flavors this time but still!

it's hard to recommend this artist in general but ive been listening to a lot of AP music. just give those two highlights a try and see what you think.

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February

25/ BT - The Secret Language of Trees (2023) THE GOOD STUFF Producer's Cuts especially!!! "k-means clustering"……. the clicks in "Time Moves So Fast"…. if you ever wished ppl made more music from 2007, here it is. a return to the binary universe.

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40/ Tom Bragl - Regainable (2024) a few crunchy niceities, but just a few imo. "Klamra" f.ex. feels very 2007, which IS a delight. for anyone who wishes they made more music from 2007. here it is. funny it's marketed as "80s esque" lol. i hear it tho.

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43/ µ-ziq - 1977 (2023) mike has a very distinct style that stands out from a lot of his peers imo. i wasnt sure about this but the reverbed minimalist drum machine in tracks like "4am" and "Belt & Carpet" win me over. I think those two and the weirdly hazy house of "Houzz 13" are my favs. "4am" especially, with those ethereal (newage?) chopped vocals

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44/ Autechre - 2005-4-15 Glasgow (live set) apparently there are some old soundboard recordings laying around!!! this is super good. quaristice stuff. i love love love the multiple variations of chence9! the fast version of IO is rly good too. ez fav but still.

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March

47/ STAFFcirc vol. 9: MIDI MODULE FANATIX (2024) oh hell yes, midi AND rompler!!! "Thunder and Strawberry Wine" is otherworldly. i get how it was made but also. How? ooooghhh… "30 Domcaster St" delightful ooooghhh… "Cascade rev.2023" authentic zest "Yakumotatsu" god i love this trend of pushing msgs midi to the max "tunnel7_r35b" listen i love chimeratio and he brought his slapping

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57/ Fields Of Mist - Biospore Farmers (2024) try not to compare to boc challenge: impossible. it's lush damnit. but the perc is way way more analogue drummachine. its wall to wall good. that opening track would have blown my mind in 2007. they dont make it like that anymore, except i guess they do!

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60/ pilotredsun - Achievement (2016) an album misplaced in time. pristine early 00s bedroom musician vibes.

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[baka-writings]

𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬

Warnings: A tiny (Subin) bit of nsfw

YAY MY 1ST VICTON REQUEST

Also I went kinda overboard with Hanse, cuz I'm a biased bitch 😅

𝐒𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐨𝐨

the sweetest bf ever, no kidding

honestly he'd do anything for you, anytime

like you wanna go on a date at midnight? you got it

he'd take care of you

lowkey forcing you eat your meals

and of course checking out if you eat your meals properly

he'd be the gentleman he is almost always whether he's tired or not

very affectionate

pda in front of other members? oh yEs

gives you random kisses 24/7

he'd be really quick to notice if there's something bothering you

he'd ask you about it and try his best to solve your problem

would listen to everything you're saying, nodding here and there

he's very serious when needed so if you were telling him something really serious/bad he'd be in the top 3 of the most understanding members in Victon

but he'd be also annoying like

challenging you in everything

he'd let you win tho, ngl

unless it was in bed😌

he's a strong man and fairly tall so no escaping

but even then he'd be such a gentleman

at first

later he wouldn't be that gentleman sorry not sorry

(later in the relationship/when you already did the deed etc)

he's a dom obviously

and very vocal if you ask me

i feel like he'd lOve to use his tongue anYwhere on you

would be rough most of the time but at the same time be careful not to hurt you

he'd love to pull your hair

and you better pull his too

also kinda kinky imo

he can go from 0 to 100 real quick, in bed as well

so you better watch out 😌

𝐒𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐤

the sweetest bf ever no 2

he'd sing for you anytime you wanted

he'd be so happy if you compliment his singing

cooks for you

wouldn't let you cook so you'd have to plead him

he'd like nicknames you'd give him unless they are dumb 😂

my personal favorite for him is angel, cuz he sings like one and looks like one

he'd same as Seungwoo take care of you

like a true mom

eye smiles 24/7

unlike Seungwoo, he wouldn't show that much pda in front of the members cuz they'd tease him for that too

but would always stay close to you whenever you all hangout

he'd sing you before sleep and would get flustered if you actually didn't fall asleep and only listened to his singing

he'd like to have you close to him

especially when you sleep

WHICH REMINDS ME

😈

he's not as kinky as Seungwoo

but i think his biggest turn on would be your face while he's slamming himself inside of you

i can also lowkey see him liking to be slightly choked, but not too much

which reminds me

switch

i don't see him that vocal honestly

but would like you being vocal

yes he likes to keep you close during these times too sO he'd probably go too deep just to be close don't @ me

when you are done i see him switching to his momma self again and clean ya'll up

unless you want another round 😌

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧

aka my side hoe

clown 1/3

he'd talk the shit outta you

annoying

but cute

too much pda in front of others

unless someone teases him about it

then he'd add even more

pda with some inappropriate touches, always a yes for him

he wouldn't even try to hide it tbh

pls touch his dimples

he'd crack jokes whenever you're sad, mad, stressed etc

so honestly there would be NO time for such negative emotions ✨

but he'd also tease you sometimes so you better prepare some comebacks

when you two are already dating he might get a bit possessive i feel like

but not the jealous possessive

more like he'd be lowkey worried you'd leave him or something

mention his brother and he'll gladly introduce you, but would be protective af

talking about his bro, if you want to tease him or want him to make love to you, just say his bro was your bias in madtown and he'll show you why he should be the only one you look at ;)

but he wouldn't really show it unless needed

great kisser

like have you seen those lips?

delicious

cuddles every day, anytime and anywhere

he looks cute and innocent, but we know he ain't

call him byunchan (pervert + Chan in korean)

we all know what I'm talking about 😉

you should probably watch what you're saying cuz he will make double meanings and pervert things from anything

unless you want that

in that case get ready for some fun

kinda kinky tbh

a switch

those hips 🥵

he'd be slightly on the rougher side tbh

if his hips do the same thing as when he's dancing then well rip you

bitting kink

would maybe like to choke you while he overstimulates you 💀

𝐒𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐧

clown 2/3

another annoying one

would talk the shit out of you as well

every date is eating somewhere

him eating your food

eating competitions between you two

PDA!! Like he'd even show you off

compliments won't work on him cuz he knows he's all that

you'd like to scare him sometimes even with the help of his members

he'd cry

he'd let you borrow his hoodies

"it looks better on me tho"

he'd be happy if you jammed to his songs and sang his parts

wouldn't let you touch his dimples or kiss them for fREE

which means he has to have something in it to let you touch 'em

probably a kiss or something

such a tease

and a brat

he's a switch, nothing else

praising kink (recieving)

he'd be very confident in himself during these times too

would like his hair to be pulled

i can also see him liking mirror sex??

i mean seeing him fucking you from behind in the mirror sounds kinda hot if you ask me 🥵

also he is kinky too, but keeps his kinks a bit lowkey.. at first

would high-key love being tamed like a brat he is

oh and also i see him being vOcal, same like Seungwoo

not that rough, but deep thrusts making you lose it pretty soon ;) aka ego boost

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞

my main hOe

clown 3/3

loud af

pda in front of members

always

but for him I feel like it'd also be some kind of flirting and inappropriate touches so someone, probably Sejun would "get a room" y'all

tattoos, pls touch them

or lick them-

honestly, biased or not he'd be one of the best bfs from this group

he seems like he could kill a bitch, but we know he's a soft boy

sometimes

he'd be all giggly around you during your 1st days/weeks of dating

but then..ooof

a real clownery tbh

he'd like to be taken care of, like cooking for him, checking up on him and so on

that would make him so so so happy and happy Hanse is what we want

always.

he'd love you two have matching accessories like earrings or chokers! (so he could choke you later)

everytime he smiles, you smile and then he smiles when you smile and-

okay but then he'd also be a pervert and sometimes you'd have to go 'eH?' when he talks shit to check if you heard correctly or not

you'll always hear correctly

ya'll would paint each other's nails

everytime he makes a new song, he'd ask you what do you think because your opinion is important to him

he'd be a lil happy puppy when you compliment his songs (either solos or group songs since he co-writes the lyrics)

I'd like to think he wouldn't wake you up anNoYinGly as he did to Seungsik, but- uhh he would

you might challenge him in freestyle, he'd let you win and compliment your skills even If you were nOt as good as him (i mean is that possible?)

but also would be highkey shook If you did very good, he'd even forget his lyrics so you'd win

then he'd whine

anyway...a switch (dom lean)

his usual flirty line or when he's in the mood would be "mind tasting my piercing?"

and If you're in the mood just say "Sure If I can Do you as well"

honestly use the "Do Hanse" joke anytime and he's yours, truly..

i feel like he'd say something like "I'll Do you now" while he enters you and fucks you senseless (like he will dO you while hAnse is in you-)

vocal in bed, but mostly like high grunts

chOking both recieving and giving as well as bitting and all of these kinks

also..his tongue..with a rap like that I can't imagine how good he'd be eating you out ;)

rough thrusts all the way

keeps going when he hears your moans

𝐁𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧

big baby

back hugs or any kind of hugs

lowkey a brat too tbh

dimples show off™

he'd be actually vEry happy if you touched his dimples lmao

that would make him kInda cocky

would sing for you randomly and also teach you some dances

he'd actually enjoy dancing and/or singing together

a great cuddle buddy tbh

he'd be very clingy

to impress you he'd act manly and just hOt (see gif)

but would sometimes fail, because you'd start laughing 💀

borrowing his hoodies and shirts

but never giving them back-

if you're a lot shorter than him, he'd for example help you reach high places

if you're not that short well

he'd put things even higher so you'd ask for his help

kinda petty imo

anYway not really kinky, but on the more vocal side in bed

don't @ me but a sub

i think his most visible kink would be you doming him 💀 honestly

also some dirty talk (recieving) while you bounce on him

i can also see him mAybe being into some ice play tbh

just think about it😈

he's not rough, not vanilla either...perfect middle path

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐧

a baby™

cuddles! always, whether you like it or not

i think he'd be teased by his hyungs

and told to use a protection

he'd just nervously laugh like ugH yeah sure

he'd be jelly if his pets greeted you before him or payed more attention to you

he'd pout

he can be very shy sometimes, so it'd take him ages to ask you out

he'd probably be accompanied by Seungwoo if you guys met 💀

if you by any chance go drinking, you should probably stop him tbh

he'd also pout if you called him cute

"I'm not cute *pout*"

which is cute

he maybe wouldn't necessarily sing for you as he'd be shy and not very confident

but would LOVE if you sang for him, it would make him fall in love with you more... especially if it was either his song or a song he loves

he'd never interrupt you, just listen to your voice

he'd love if he brought food to him when he practices (other members would be jelly and steal his food so you better bring them too then)

sometimes he'd tell you some weird/dirty jokes without thinking about them first

his excuse would be "Hanse said-"

now all jokes aside, he is a babie but when you two are alone he'd have those dirty times

however he'd be shy to ask for what he wants, like he'd never or rarely ask for it

but you'd see it on him anyway

like he'd be unfocused and talk less

a sub(in)

you could have so much fun with him honestly 😈

tsundere (Seungwoo said it, not me🤷🏻‍♀️)

his hidden kinky

would love bitting, both recieving and giving

for some reason i also see him liking having a collar with a chain so you can pull him whenever and wherever you like?😌

he would be vanilla of course but not that rough either, however his secret dream is to go rough tbh

also he is young so he might want to try many kinks as long as both of you want that

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Croatia brings no men in a hamster wheel to Rotterdam 2021

Now could this be the teddy bear uprising invasion Muse has warned us about 12 years ago?

And LITERALLY, these review series make me feel like Croatia is openly taunting me - I watch the days go, I’m losing track of time, and when another day comes, I’m screaming “oh no I forgot to publish a review sooner than wanted!!”. Guess I’m for one glad there’s a time related song this year, hum?

ARTIST & ENTRY INFO

Repping the Adriatic coast nation that got all the sea instead of Bosnia & Herzegovina is some 22 year old Albina Grčić, who first popped up on X Factor Adria back when that was a thing, and got lumped into a girlgroup in later stages, but to that she said “hvala ne” and moved on with her life, getting eliminated just like that. Queen <3 She did get her second chance to compete as a soloist and make a more prominent mark on her career when she ended up on The Voice in Croatia. She did well, placing third overall in the season, but somehow, during the duel stage, her coach initially favoured her fellow Dora 2021 contestant Filip Rudan:

Her Voice success landed her a record deal with the Croatian division of Universal Music, she released a debut single, sometime later ended up on Dora, and here she is now, on Eurovision.

“Tick-Tock” is the song, a standard upbeat pop song, and one of the ones that talks about a girl leaving a terrible relationship and being so well over it that she “found [her]self and [she’s] finally free”, and the “tick-tock” here is used to represent the time passing by, not the sound of her heart, unlike a fellow ESC entry of a similar title. The tune (or its lyrics only) is co-authored by some dude you might’ve heard of from France’s 2018 preselection Destination Eurovision, and that is Max Cinnamon - some half-English guy with a half English song about love (”Ailleurs”) that did moderately averagely in the final... I don’t even know if his influence shows, I just love how 2021 has sort of become revenge of the NF flops but they’re writing other entries instead (Suzi P, “Adrenalina”).

REVIEW

I often don’t really fully vibe with female bops in Eurovision as much as I want to, like, for the most part they’re overhyped, and I let the “yass queeeeen” audience gorge on the everything their favourite bops give them. But this year there are plenty of great ones to choose from, as I think that it’s safe to say that most, if not all, are tucked in somewhere inside my top 20, top 25 at the very minimum. Croatia managed to even do the impossible and land into my top 10.

Why?

Well, the answer is that the song is just so damn good.

I mean, what’s NOT to like about it? It’s a catchy and upbeat song that incorporates xylophones (or whatever is it that sounds like them), guitars and synths; has a good bassline in the chorus; and it’s just... a very good composition overall, like, all the instruments in it are just in their right place and uplift the song massively. I also like Albina’s performance on it, both live and studio, it clearly shows that she’s a very good singer (also shown on her cover of the scandalous Oscar award snubbery “Husavik”). Sounds like a song a common pop loving Eurofan could gear themselves towards. Besides, it also has possibly my favourite pre-chorus section of the 2021 year? Oh wait, there’s also Switzerland, scratch that. “Tick-Tock” has one of my favourite pre-chorus sections of 2021. It builds up so well instrumentally and the way Albina sings it is even better. I obviously like to believe Albina heard those voices from far away that helped her to escape, has found herself, and she’s finally free from her “partner’s” bad lovin’ and restraint. Yas queen go be free you didn’t deserve his tomfoolery anyway!  👏 (Also I admire a section that’s not quite the pre-chorus but is still before the 1st chorus, the one that goes “If you pull me down then I'll come around” - literally just a lot of the parts of the song are full of nice vocal performance and I don’t regret ranking this in my top 10 not a second.)

If it has any drawbacks, it’s just that it gets a tad too repetitive after the halfway mark... like, the pre-chorus before the second chorus is the one to be repeated once again, and no new verse, nothing - but it does launch itself into something extraordinary, and that is a chorus in Croatian, which I assume she would perform in Eurovision because there’s no Eurovision version on the song promo bundle, I suppose. Comparatively the Croatian chorus is not as complex in lyrics as the English language one, and flows slightly differently too. But the song still has a long chorus by the end, and song with too many choruses is never a good sign for those that look for a song that’s constructed well, but I guess it’s a good factor for those that value the song’s catchiness. I guess that’s what one of the two Eurovision 2005 hosts valued the most when writing the Ukrainian 2006 entry “Show Me Your Love”, which if you ask me, is straight up 75% chorus, lol.

So yeah my verdict is that almost everything about this song, I like. I’m just a little devastated that in a usually very easily gorged on category of female bops, this just tends to lag behind in love, like a fellow song I really like this year, Israel. Instead people tend to prioritize Cyprus (which I get because they’ve established themselves as a girlbanger nation since Fuego swept Eurovision) and... probably even Azerbaijan? (which I might also get because Eurovision rarely has this thing called an ethnobop anymore, and it has more ethno than “Cleopatra” did, but still unnecessarily underwhelming lol.) Well then, in a year of female bangers, I would just like Croatia to not be swept under the rug come semis I guess. Yeah “Tick-Tock” may not sound like it brings something totally never seen before in a Eurovision environment (foreign language lyrics, themes about a break up, hell even her dancers looked like they were wearing the same hats as Tamta’s dancers), but you got to have a lot in you to sell a worn out idea to the new heights, and Albina does exactly that in my eyes.

Approval factor: Yeah! There is a lot of it in here for me. Follow-up factor: A great follow-up, not so great in regards to panini but musically it’s just going up and up from what we had in the past few years. I’ve actually not minded “The Dream” for the most part but I knew it was a chanceless plodding ballad and Roko harboured heaps of wasted potential working with Jacques Houdek and having wings as part of his performance, uff. *_* And then there’s “Divlji vjetre” which I also like a lot - a much better male ballad winner choice! If the Dora re-up winners keep being decent imo just like this, I have a feeling I will follow it a lot more often than I did just this one time this year. I am just saying that panini-wise, it was a sucky move from HRT for not allowing their last year’s winner promote his new song with Tijana (from Serbia 2017) on the Dora night, so we sadly only heard a pre-recorded opening version of “Divlji vjetre” to start off with :( Otherwise I think it’s not Dora’s fault in itself that Damir himself chose not to even submit an entry this year because he hadn’t found a good one - much like with Diodato for Sanremo (he was NOT rejected, if you think he still was, shush). But aside that, musically, it just keeps going up for me. Well done Croatia, for you’ve used to be a Eurovision country I don’t necessarily care about, that you brought two pretty damn good entries in a row. Qualification factor: I can absolutely trust in Albina bringing in a little bit of her charisma and well-likedness, and on top of that, a great vocal performance, in Rotterdam. Don’t ask me why, I just do. She doesn’t really perform her song live on pre-parties as much as I’d like to hope she would, but you heard girlie on the national selection, she didn’t win for nothing. Yeah yeah there might as well be female uptempo songs hungrier for the last spot, but I’d like to think Albina is one of the ones ready to devour than to be devoured. Go girl! Take us all dancing!

NF CORNER

To be honest with you, “Tick-Tock” winning Dora caught me by surprise. Ever since its re-up, the last two editions were kind of won by male ballads, and maaaaybe the dancey females were doing moderately well enough for themselves, but not overall? But look, juries were very keen on Albina, probably because she can SANG and she creates one hell of a fancy presence on her performance. And somehow she ended up snatching a win out of the hands of 5G conspiracy theorist 2016 representative Nina Kraljić, who was at first too drunk to care, but too unexpectedly sober to yell all over the soc. media how she was robbed and how the contest was rigged against her with her being on first and all that. Which is a shame that she is one of THOSE people, because her NF entry “Rijeka” is kinda nice? We did have the Balkan-esque ballads coming from Croatia in recent memory, but we haven’t had a truly proudly folksy one at that from Croatia for a long while, if not ever. Nina could’ve very well brought that to Rotterdam (and another mismatched wardrobe choice oops). But instead she was the one screaming “oh no, oh no, oh no”.

Actually I regarded Nina as one of my faves pre-show, and Albina was on her way, though she didn’t really cement the personal fav status until after all performances, thus making Nina and Albina switch spots for me. But truly, the one song that was my top favourite, iiiiiiiiiiis

GIMME AN OCEAN! OF LOVE!

2021 made me realize that damn, maybe anything that’s funky is my favourite music genre afterall. Up until then I vibed with entries like “Tonight Again” and “What’s the Pressure?” that had this sort of energetic flair and very rhythmic kinda sound to it, but 2021 just simply cemented it to me that my music world has probably been about nice and smooth and funky all along. I owe so much gratitude to ToMa first and foremost along the lines of more to have come in this year’s lineups - I just can’t not want to dance to “Ocean of Love”, and ToMa is quite alright at selling it live as well. There are small gripes with some instrument usages but that doesn’t detract from the fact that I love love LOVE funky guitar tunes.

Aside from that, I can give shout outs to Beta Sudar, whose song not only was underrated, but also had an underrated meme format throughout its performance:

My other props go to Bernarda, who not only competed in a national selection singing a song about seeing “Colors” while blind (and ironically there was a song called “Blind” in that same NF sung by a well-seeing guy!!), but also for finally putting this every country’s reject to rest. Seriously. That particular song was passed on to everyone in need of a competitive Eurovision bop, from Poli Genova to Helena Paparizou as of recently. Oh well, at least the song died a honourable death - well performed slice of good typical Eurovision pop (maybe even overperformed a little towards the end), that got a good rank with the regional juries, but somewhat murdered in televote, fellow Boris Milanov composition “Chameleon” style.

This one Mia Negovetić chick was promising too! Her song was written by the Debs and you might be tired of them trying to continue infiltrating Eurovision at this point, but a lot of their Eurovision songs are usually something I enjoy, “She’s Like a Dream” is no exception. Nothing but 3 minutes of pastel-dressed Croatian Ariana Grande doing what she does best <3

Oh and also some dudes tried to play chess on stage too I guess. But their song is not worth looking into, because one of the acts on it is apparently also a conspiracist, and maybe because oft this their entry is aptly titled “Sing, for the freedom has arrived!” lol I wonder what exactly is the kind of freedom you’re thinking of my guy

Was this the “better mood game” Laura was warning everyone about? Beats me

NF CORNER (NON-COMPETITIVE)

• It’s still hilarious to me as to how one of the acts this year, Brigita Vuco, was planning to bring in backing dancers, only for them to show a fake COVID test or something and outright BARRED from coming with her on stage. <3 Whatever she intended to do with them dancers, I have absolutely no idea, but at least she committed to her song being about drunken nights visually by having all these blurry shots

• Nina Kraljić’s greenroom shenanigans, from the “1-2-3, 1-2-3, drink” to numb the sadness over some results (and the 8 she got from the region Rijeka for the song “Rijeka” lmao), to whatever she saw on the phone that made her smile or go neutral

• Greenroom reactions in general. I swear, this year had cameramen in every single corner everywhere just to make sure something covers up for a human audience instead of severals of Zoom screens permitted to act as an audience. Random people in greenrooms were doing some sort of emotions after random acts, and also randomly they ended up pointing a camera towards an act that lost, but the act didn’t treat losing as if it were such a big deal <3

• All the other memes the Croatian Twitter might’ve noticed me for:

seriously Bernarda was locked in a bluelight mathematical dice contraption. how fucking cool is that

ANY LAST WORDS?

I just fucking hope that Albina shatters any doubts that people have had about her song come rehearsals, and somehow Croatia AND Israel slip through, because never too many female bangers I appreciate in the final, if they all are the bangers I appreciate, lol.

[allgirlsareprincesses]

I would like the salt on BatB 2017 if you would like to share 👀

Okay but.... let's just be clear that it's GROSSLY unfair because I haven't seen the whole movie, just a scene here and there. I am genuinely not interested in it for reasons listed below.

First off, I'm biased against all Disney live-action remakes on principle because they rely slavishly on references and callbacks to push the nostalgia button. They are, generally, afraid to depart too much from the original, except in ways in which they transparently attempt to shoehorn in "woke" moments. The whole effort is incredibly cynical and inauthentic, and the biggest problem with all of this is that these are often timeless stories which have SO MUCH POTENTIAL and can be told in so many ways, so WHY would they adhere so closely to one adaptation??? Further, when the movies are THIS similar, the remake can't help but suffer by comparison because it actually relies on familiarity with the original for its appeal in the first place. It's completely derivative from the beginning.

My feelings about this apply to all of the Disney remakes so far (that I've seen) with only one exception, and that's Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella. The reason that one works is because it does what none of the rest of them do, and that's adapt the Cinderella fairy tale instead of the Cinderella Disney movie. Yes, there are a few references, but the movie clearly stands on its own as a Cinderella story. You might never have seen the 1940s animated Cinderella, but you could enjoy the 2015 version and not feel you were missing anything. Even the iconic songs are replaced with one simple lullaby. Branagh just went out there and made his own Cinderella movie and it's a modern classic, IMO.

So, back to BATB 2017. The 1991 animated film was nominated for Best Picture that year, the first animated film ever to be so honored, and it went on to be adapted for a very successful Broadway show. So already while the live-action version had a high bar to live up to, it also had a lot of great material to draw from in the stage show. But then for some reason.... it just copies the animated movie, song-for-song, sometimes shot-for-shot. And.... the shots in the original are lovely, but they are the way they are BECAUSE of the medium. The storyboard artists in the 80s and 90s (specifically Chris Sanders and Brenda Chapman) were mostly animators before they were film directors. They composed shots for 2D animation. Working with a live-action set is VERY different, and things don't translate exactly. Something that is a stunning graphic in 2D can look cheap on film.

One of the ways that this problem shows up is in Belle's iconic golden dress (AND YES IT'S GOLD NOT YELLOW DON'T @ ME). I know most Tumblr folks are younger than I am, so let me just tell you that when I saw this movie in theaters in 1991, the whole audience went "Oooooooooo...." when Belle appeared in her ballgown at the top of the stairs. Like a loud, audible sigh. I can hear it in my mind right now. That image left audiences breathless. Emma's dress? Yeah, not so much. I mean, firstly, again, the yellow of the animated film is cartoon shorthand for gold, especially since you can also see they animated a shine onto the gown. Not that I think the live-action gown should have been lamé or anything but you can see from Cinderella 2015 that it's possible to make a gown appear to shine and sparkle without looking cheap. Then there's the boring neckline and lack of sleeves. I mean.... it's a prom dress silhouette??? Nothing about this screams FAIRY TALE PRINCESS to me. And of course much has been written about Emma's fEmInIsT refusal to wear a corset. And yes, I think they went too far with Lily's corset in Cinderella and that was not cool, but the fact of the matter is that corsets are what give period gowns their distinctive shape. And corsets are implied in the silhouettes of the animated films these new movies are based off of. So without it, and lacking anything else to give it the WOW-factor of the original, this dress is just visually dull at what is supposed to be the most romantic moment of the movie. Fairy tale fail.

Then, Emma's voice. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I'm not a musically-skilled person AT ALL and even I cringe at the obvious auto-tuning. Whyyyyyy? I mean, first off, why did they even have to have the songs in this movie? Cinderella already proved that's not necessary. Second, if they WERE going to put the songs in the movie, why not hire the most talented singers they could, or give them all plenty of voice-training before filming? Because they MIGHT have gotten away with Emma's singing if the rest of the cast had been on her level, but when you have Luke Evans out there just BRINGING THE HEAT, and when you remember what the original with Paige O'Hara sounds like, poor Emma can't help but suffer by comparison. And then to auto-tune her is to just make even more obvious that her performance wasn't up to the standard they felt they needed. It's just uncomfortable. Further, auto-tuning loses the imperfections that actually carry most of the ACTING in a vocal performance, so it actually flattens the emotion of the song. This of course defeats the whole purpose of a song in film, which is to express emotions so strong that dialogue is not enough.

I have some other quibbles but those get into parts of the film that I honestly haven't seen, so I'll abstain. But let's just say that my main problem with BATB 2017 is that it didn't attempt to be an original retelling of Beauty & The Beast, and that's a shame because I think that could have been amazing. I might be in the minority but I truly enjoy the 2014 French film with Lea Seydoux, if only for the aesthetic.

I've really given up on Disney at this point. Right now they are just a nostalgia factory that keeps repackaging the same thing over and over. To me, the magic is gone.

[aylinaliens]

My Engineer Episode 13: Tent Scene Analysis (and why this conflict is probably for the best)

Okay. So let me start out by saying I loved Ram/King in episode 13. I loved that we FINALLY got to see some conflict and I was glad it had nothing to do with petty drama or jealously: instead the conflict stemmed from King. More specifically his feelings/lack of ability to express them. I think it’s safe to say that King has no problem taking care of Ram. He doesn’t even second guess bringing him home and giving him a place to stay. He pushes away his fear of dogs just because he knew how much they meant to Ram.

No, the conflict that King is struggling with is not related to HIS feelings. It’s related to Ram’s. Throughout episode 13 we saw how Ram seemed to always stick around King. Not only did he stick around but he kept a close eye on him. Every time King nearly tripped or actually did Ram was right there taking care of him. Each time King truly looked guilty and even a bit confused over it. However, it was the scene in the tent that really made whatever annoyance I had for this episode float away (I had some thoughts about Bohn/Duen but that’s for another time) because...damn. They really are subtly trying to show his insecurities. It’s starting to make sense why he never acted on his feelings either and why he honestly...probably won’t? Not in this season at least. It makes sense why he’s pretending to be in denial—I don’t think it’s related to the fact that Ram is a guy but more so because it IS Ram if that makes sense? What started off as a fascination quickly turned into something so much more. Like I said before I think eventually King would let Ram see his vulnerable side but the head injury quickened the pace significantly.

We also have to remember that Ram is not in the best place emotionally right now. This was evident in the few scenes where King accidentally upsets Ram by bringing his father up. Obviously he didn’t mean to do it on purpose but I kind of feel like it was King’s way of unconsciously pushing Ram away. Trying to remind his current state and that HE needs. That while they do have something going on it might not be the best time for either of them.

I ended up rewatching the tent scene multiple times and I noticed a few things.

1) King is always quick to apologize for these little things (like Ram handing him his medicine) because he probably believes that he’s a burden. Actually he states that when Ram asks why he didn’t tell him that the wound got infected. “I don’t want to be a burden to you.” The tone of voice Ram used during this scene was less demanding than the one he used in the waterfall scene. In that scene he was absolutely not taking no for an answer (not when there was a risk King would get hurt again) yet he also sound kind of exhausted. He’s noticing that King is starting to push him away but regardless of that fact he doesn’t understand why he tried to hide this. Still without being prompted he automatically helps King up to take medicine no questions asked. That is something I really liked about this pairing is because they seem to understand each other without words but...

2) It’s clear that King and Ram were not on the same page. Usually they excel at reading each other but King is especially good at it. Right from the start he was able to identify what all these little facial expressions meant. Yet the whole scene where Ram slowly starts to scoot over (very hesitantly and cautiously might I add) really hurts to watch.

What gets me even more is when Ram asks if he was cold and obviously he was yet he still lies. It’s clear as day that he’s in pain in this scene. He actually makes this same exact expression after he pushes Ram away which again, there they go breaking my heart. I don’t even want to talk about the tender way Ram touched his forehead. It reminded me of the bus scene where King kind of moved away in panic except this time he didn’t. That’s most likely why Ram misread the signals imo. He assumed that if King was allowing him to do that than he would be fine with laying next to each other too. They must of slept in the bed (pretty close from the last episode) a few times and even took a shower together so that intimacy was not unusual between them (at least that’s what I assume because it’s kind of implied off screen).

When he opened his eyes he looked so confused and kind of hurt over it. Especially when they stared at each other for a few moments before speaking. He was staring at Ram’s arms for awhile trying to process what was happening. I know the look on his face could be interpreted in many different ways but despite the confusion all I saw was just regret. Regret for this whole entire situation. That’s most likely why he ended up pushing away. He was starting to understand that he was giving Ram this false hope of them being together.

He pushes him away only for Ram to grab his wrist. Everything we saw this season proved that Ram is kind of stubborn (the whole not backing down from a boxing match with Bohn because of Duen) so the only way to get him to listen is to once again remind him of his current state and well to pretend like he was fine.

3) King is way too selfless. He is always putting others in front of him. Ram is no exception. More specifically he realizes that the only way to maintain distance is to bring up their friends. Once again we know how protective he is of his friends and I personally think he’s trying to get Ram to let them in to his personal troubles. Again I don’t think this has to do with the fact that King doesn’t want Ram to lean on him...he’s unsure if he can lean on Ram. So it’s better for both to create some distance with each other and hang out with their respective friends even if (the very next day) we can see just how much they both are watching each other.

4) Micro!! Expressions! Baby!! Micro expressions is a term in psychology that are basically involuntary and voluntary emotional responses that are happening at the same time yet conflict with another. Basically: you are not showing your genuine emotion but sometimes it slips through creating conflict. It usually happens for a split second and while this isn’t the perfect way to describe King during this scene it comes close. For example, the look in his eyes before he closes them is not the face of someone who doesn’t care or who even wants distance. No, he looks sad and before saying they should hang out separately he visibly gulps almost as if it was hard to get out (or that he was nervous). The scene was way too dark so it’s hard to tell if his eyes are glassy but they definitely hold emotion that even I can’t understand. Honestly he just looks sad. Throughout this episode he says one thing but his face tells a completely different story.

Another thing he does that if you don’t look close you’ll miss it: his eyes dart to the other side of the tent. He doesn’t roll over or completely face him but when he’s preparing himself to say that they discreet flicker to Ram to see if he was paying attention (except King never really gets a full look at him which leads me to believe it was more of a unconscious movement). I think it’s also important to mention the fact that he said those things with his eyes closed. Look at the look of pain on his face in that pictures too. It’s not quite as intense as it was earlier but we can see his discomfort. Yeah that could be because he was in legit pain from the head wound but it’s obvious that he doesn’t...want to say this? Or push him away? But he’s unsure how to process or communicate these feelings in a healthy way so he pushes him away.

But what’s even more heartbreaking is that AFTER he did that he opened his eyes. Just look at that face real quick. Does that look like someone who doesn’t care? Ram is not the only one suffering from this temporary break between them. He looks like he regrets what he did but again: the boy does not have the proper emotional intelligence to vocalize this so he tries to let Ram down easy.

4) I didn’t talk that much about Ram but I could honestly do another post just dedicated to him. He isn’t at fault for this situation but King isn’t either. I think if the audience compares them to MekBoss and BohnDuen you will see that while King SHOULD communicate what he did was less harmful in a way? Because it was based somewhat on honesty (both should hang out with their friends because that’s what they came on the trip to do) but that’s not to say he was better than the other characters or that it’s okay to lie. It’s just fascinating to examine all of these pairings because each are at a different level emotionally/physically. The dynamics are way different too. Still this whole episode was structured on lying or withholding the truth and King was definitely pushing Ram away because it’s easier than sitting down and talking it out. I do have to say I’m so happy that while Ram obviously didn’t understand this sudden shift he respected King’s decision. He might of looked at him most of the day but he didn’t approach. Ram might be stubborn and protective but he knows when to step back.

5) We as an audience ended up kind of holding RamKing to this higher standard than the others. For the whole season they were the couple that was off to the side never having drama with each other. We got to see them slowly get to know each other and develop feelings. I know people were upset about this conflict because random drama in the last 2 episodes of shows always equal no good. Especially because there’s a chance Ram and King will not end on a good note in the finale. I hope this isn’t the case though because it would just feel very cheap. That’s to say I’m opposed to them ending up as just friends because honestly? I don’t want them to get together now if we get a s2 because I like that they are slowburn. I just have a problem with them throwing in stuff that was never talked about until episode 14. Having the conflict surrounding King’s insecurities was just *chefs kiss* because it adds to the depth of his character. RamKing has always been the realistic pairing on the show (even if one never speaks and the other has an obsession with plants) so it makes sense for their “drama” to be about that rather than jealously. Miscommunication is no doubt happening here but I hope they address this in the finale. That’s all I’m asking for. Not for Ram and King to make declarations of love but to sit down and be like “hey, here’s how I’m feeling. let’s just stay friends for the time being okay?”

Anyways, I love this show but I’m already preparing myself for the inevitable fact that there is chance the writers might just add in random drama and have yet another pairing NOT COMMUNICATE

[echoes-of-realities]

hello! this is completely random but i saw in your bio that you have a BA in anthropology. I'm currently trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and anthropology sounds really nice. Are the jobs opportunities good when you graduate? I'm also from Canada! Thank you!

Hey! I’m going to put all this under a cut cause it’s, uh, a Lot of information lmao.

So I don’t know how much you know about anthropology, but the cool thing about it if you’re going into research, is that you can do basically anything with it tbh! At its most simple, anthro is the study of humanity, so that includes literally anything to do with humans. What to study residential school experiences of Indigenous people in Canada? There’s a plethora of research opportunities about First Nations people, usually under the sub-discipline of Indigenous anthropology. What to study the effects of the lack of media representation for LGBTQ+ people? Queer Theory is a huge aspect of modern anthropology. What to study human evolution in the Horn of Africa? Paleoanthropology is a huge field. What to know Far Too Much about projectile points across the prairies? Archaeology is for you. Want to study RV-ing retirees? There’s literally a book on it.

Anthropology is broken down into four sub-disciplines: 

Linguistic Anthropology: Studies relationship between culture and language; everything from language revitalization to how language usage can further oppression. This field is closely tied to linguistics, but is actually very different to it. Linguistics generally studies the structure of language, while linguistic anthropology studies how language can produce/maintain culture, and vice versa.

Biological Anthropology: Sometimes called physical anthropology, it’s the study of humans and non-human primates in terms of biology, evolution, and demography; paleoanthropology and primatology both fit here, as does forensic anthropology. I.e., the TV show Bones, except actually accurate lmao. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bones and it’s actually what got me interested in anthropology in the first place, but literally every time I watch an ep now I’m like “You can’t estimate sex from that. That’s wrong you can’t estimate race. Age estimates range from 24-82 not within two years. You can’t do that!” ff

Archaeology: There’s a Whole Bunch of specializations in arch like bioarchaeology or lithic analysis or pottery analysis; archaeology is kind of….. lagging behind the other subdisciplines in terms of feminist theory and queer theory and treating PoC respectfully. (Especially Indigenous people, NAGPRA exists because archaeologists continually dug up Indigenous graves and then refused to give the Native Americans and First Nations the remains back so……) But! There are a lot of younger archaeologists reforming the discipline and making feminist and queer theory more common in the field. Black Feminist Archaeology by Whitney Battle-Baptiste is the first archaeologists that comes to mind off the top of my head in terms of including more PoC voices in archaeology, but there’s Many others doing good work!

This is totally a self-plug lmao but if you want to know more about homophobia and sexual harassment in archaeology, which is unfortunately rather commonplace, here’s a link to my final project for my Gender in Archaeology class about the topic, it’s a narrative video game and I’ve Very Proud of it.

Cultural Anthropology: Just like it sounds, this is the study of cultures. “Culture” is a Really Contentious term in anthropology and there’s no way I’m getting into the decades of debates here lmao. But essentially, cultural anthropologists study all aspects of different cultures, from the Big Men of the Indigenous peoples in Papua New Guinea to gender relations in small fishing villages in Portugal to homeless drug addicts in urban centres. Often issues of cultural appropriation, racism, homophobia, gender vs. sex (spoiler: they’re Very Different and completely depend on the culture), and oppression fall into this subdiscipline, but they can be explored in every field of anthro.

If you Really want a taste of Cultural Anthropology, watch Ongka’s Big Moka, which I’ve watched no less than seven times because basically Every Intro level anthro class plus second year classes without prereq’s show it. My best friend who’s also in anthro and I joke that we know more about Ongka than we do certain family members, which is 100% true.

So, as you can see based on the subdisciplines, there’s a Whole Realm of possibilities when it comes to jobs. The most common is basically going into research (which includes ethnographies), becoming a professor at a post-secondary institution, or going into applied anthropology.

Research: Research can be done on basically any topic, but anthropological research is rather unique (some sociology research uses the same practices, but not as commonly as anthro). Of course, there’s the research that archaeology and paleanthropology do that falls closer to a “hard science”, but cultural anthropological research is different. Ethnographic research is holistic and includes living in the community for an extended period of time (usually over a year), learning the language, and participant observation (you must participate in the community you’re studying; this is where researchers in “hard sciences” usually scoff and accuse anthropology as being subjective and not objective, which is true, but what most scientists don’t like to acknowledge is that all science is subjective because it is done by imperfect humans).

Professor: In order to become a prof, you need to have a master’s degree (people with masters can teach undergrad, people with a doctorate can teach graduate courses), so you do need an area of research to do your thesis on. Most anthropologists eventually become college/university profs once their research days end, or they teach during the school year and do their research during the summer. One of my fave profs does bioarchaeology in Tanzania every couple summers with some grad students so!

Applied Anthropology: Applied anthropology is probably the biggest area of careers tbh. Technically applied anthropology is just anthro applied to practical problems, so it can technically be anything. Most often, it includes medical anthropology (which is one of my areas of research studies how cultural ideologies of health and wellbeing go into healing, Lots of interesting commentaries on Western medicine and traditional medicine and how one culture’s idea of “healthy” is often Very Different to another’s), work with NGOs or activism organizations, archaeologists, museum or archive work, ecological or environmental anthropology, political anthropology, economic anthropology, forensic anthropology, and so many more tbh.

So yeah, that’s a rundown of anthropology and the ways your career can go. Honestly—and this isn’t me being all “my field is the Best Field” or anything lol—I think everyone would benefit from taking a couple anthro courses. I took The Anthropology of Sex, Gender, and Age in culture my first semester of my first year, and it’s still one of my favourite courses ever, and honestly I think that everyone going to college should take that course. Not only do you learn about how sex, gender, and age all culturally determined (no, sex is not biological because “biological” is culturally determined; most Papua New Guinean tribes have no concept of chromosomes, so “sex” isn’t based on chromosomes for them), but you’re also taught empathy in that class. Same with the Anthropology of Race and Racism class I took. Being uncomfortable is the most important part of unlearning toxic ideologies, and those two classes really embrace the uncomfortable. The biggest thing you need to be an anthropologist is empathy imo. The main goal of anthropology is to gain an emic perspective (i.e., an “insider’s” perspective) when doing research. I was always Really interested in social studies as a kid because I loved learning about different cultures so anthro is basically the “adult” version of that lmao and anthropology is essentially an extension of that.

I will say, that it’s pretty hard to do anything in anthro without at least a masters degree, so you have to be prepared to do A Lot of schooling. As for job prospects after grad, it depends entirely on where you live and what field you wanna go into. There’s far more job opportunities for anthropology in Toronto than in a small town with 7,000 people. And the fields really matter too. For example, if you want to practice forensic anthropology in Canada, you essentially have to wait for the current forensic anthropologist to die or retire, whichever comes first, before you even have a chance at a job. But as for medical anthropology or anthropology that involves working with or researching for Indigenous peoples, especially in Canada, there’s basically always job opportunities because they are in high demand of research or of people who can act as consultants.

Anyways, this is Long but I hope it helps, and btw, this basically only scratches the Surface of anthropology. I didn’t go into anthro’s long, uh, let’s say shitty history, for simplicity’s sake, of racism and colonialism here, not because I’m ignore it but just because it’s Long and I don’t have the time right now lol. But most modern good anthropologists don’t shy away from criticizing anthro and being vocal about it’s past and current issues, as well as advocating for how to fix them. Anyways. If you have any other questions feel free to send me another ask, or just PM me too! I’m happy to give information about anthropology!!

[kae-karo]

marianas trench: phantoms

the absurd album overanalysis, commentary, and ranking nobody asked for

first, my personal ranking (don’t get me wrong tho i love the entire damn album):

1. wish you were here 1. don’t miss me 1. the death of me 2. your ghost 2. the killing kind 3. only the lonely survive 3. echoes of you 4. glimmer 4. i knew you when 4. eleonora

the album as a whole: oh such an awesome story and so awesomely inspired by the horror genres?? i think some of the non-singles hit the horror mark better but like oh my god it’s such a cool vibe the whole entire thing???? i know the concept was like,,,,,,descent into madness but you can totally feel this struggle with it and with the idea of a doomed/dead relationship, it’s just so so well done??? my one complaint is that i’m not musically inclined enough to recognize where all the references are bc unlike in no place like home and dearly departed, there aren’t really as many lyric references to other albums/songs, it’s more the music. and i know it well enough to go ‘oh that’s familiar, for sure’ but i can’t for the life of me figure out where from (in most cases)

eleonora: i mean the title is based on the short story by edgar allan poe (x) true to theme from the beginning, which (long story short) is about a woman the narrator falls in love with (well, his cousin) but she’s ill and will die, blah blah blah she does and the narrator vows never to marry anyone else but later he does and his first love comes back from beyond the grave to give her blessing for the new marriage - already basically i’m getting vibes of like,,,,,,a genuine desire to move on? which is great imo and like a step forward from previous albums? plus the whole acapella delivery is super reminiscent of so it goes (x) and the layered voices reminiscent of the intro to end of an era (x). plus we have the direct ref to the raven (x) by poe with ‘midnight dreary’. also the idea of ‘don’t hush’ which is later touched on as ‘just hush’ in the killing kind? oof interesting v v interesting

only the lonely survive: a bop a massive bop but! also! just a very intriguing take (at least to me) on a doomed-to-fail relationship, the idea that you can actively acknowledge a relationship is hurting both parties but...choose to stay. i also like the idea (which i might just be extrapolating) that to truly live, to have a really poignant relationship, you have to sort of give yourself over to it? ‘only the lonely survive’ - only those who isolate themselves truly ‘get out alive’ if you will but like, that’s the beauty of putting yourself out there? is like, you truly feel everything, i guess. ‘it hurts like hell to love this well’ sort of touches on that same idea for me. anyway the whole thing goes hard as hell and i love it. ‘he’ll never know you / not the way that i knew you’ we love intra-album references !!!

echoes of you: okay didn’t love this at first bc it felt repetitive (and it was coming on the heels of only the lonely survive which i adored) but it also felt really unique and a little different? when the released it as a single, it’s the first time i thought of this album as truly horror-inspired and totally picked up on the tell-tale heart vibe (x) which was just so interesting, i love how stories like that have turned into these really fresh songs that still call back to these kinds of madness-inspiring stories - that a love can inspire that kind of madness, even when it’s gone. i also wonder if the idea of ‘can’t stop myself from falling now’ has less to do with falling in love (which is, for me, the immediate connotation) and more to do with ‘falling into madness’. the verses and the tempo are so well-paced as well, like this frantic feeling? then the chorus comes in with this suspenseful set of chords? and the theremin in the background!!!! the best way to give a truly Spooky™ vibe. the idea of tell-tale heart, the story, too, is that the narrator is trying to sound completely sane, and explain the murder they’ve committed and why it was justified - that goes along with the theme of this album, too, where there’s this undercurrent of trying to insist that the doomed relationship is somehow justifiable

don’t miss me?: oh i adore this and the idea of ‘oh hah yeah no i don’t miss you like at all,,,,,,,,,,,,,do you ‘not miss me’ too?’ and like this,,,,,,not obsession but the idea of trying to actively move past missing someone? but just constantly getting caught up on it? unrelated to the meaning but oh my god the little background vocals, adore it. ‘some people try to raise the dead / some people try to live instead’ is like. that’s one of those things that i lowkey would love to get tattooed on my body or something. just really good words, because that’s what it’s like moving on from a rough relationship - and it’s hard to like, see that when you’re in the thick of it? bc like imagine losing a loved one and trying to bring them back to life - we’ve all heard the story, it’s never what’s expected, it’s never quite right and the same goes for relationships. and so, the idea of living instead, of moving on. also the vocal run up to the high note toward the end (x - look idk Music Words) reminds me of something but i can’t quite place it. also ‘i don’t remember why we stayed’ and then in wish you were here, we get ‘i don’t recall now why we’re buried’ which is a fun contradiction

wish you were here: that middle-of-the-night madness that goes alongside one love (x) like,,,,,if you took it one step on the other side of madness and entertained the idea of reviving a relationship that should be dead. except it’s such a bop unlike one love, like it sounds a lot like it could be on astoria, and it’s got that back beat matching this means war (x) in fact, it feels like the exact polar opposite of this means war (like...instead of ‘lmao i’m totally awesome without you’ it’s like ‘i’m,,,,,maybe not doing so great without you, shit i really wish you were here, wish we were together’)? but with the same sort of vibe in terms of the music itself? and the outro (x) reminds me hardcore of something else i can’t quite place

your ghost: this one also reminds me a lot of the general vibe of astoria with hints of like. modern touches? this one reminds me a lot of wildfire actually? (x) but a bit more upbeat? like that guitar style i think is what does it. it feels a lot like there’s this...almost unwilling pull toward the idea of ‘madness’ that they’re focused on, like....a sort of awareness of the descent? also the softer bit toward the end where it’s just josh and the guitar (x) reminds me a lot of something that i once again cannot place for the life of me

glimmer: oh no,,,,,,,,,okay first this (it’s just audio but tumblr won’t let me add audio on its own in a post like this):

so my first and most important comment is that all i can think about when i hear this song is ‘halo by beyonce halo by beyonce halo by beyonce halo by beyonce’ and it tends to run over everything else lmao. but! i think conceptually it’s more of that descent into madness, into seeing some sort of trace of a relationship, like some sort of residual glimmer that sticks to things, to people. ‘it’s funny what you find when you go without’, like the idea of....probably hallucinating in a sense, but starting to see the relationship/the other person everywhere, on everything, when you’re missing them? even to the point that, when the person comes back, maybe the memories of that relationship stick around too - ‘you’ve changed but it’s not enough / and doubt is insidious / creeps up on you softly / i can’t get it off me, i can’t get it off me now’ like this idea that even though it’s something wanted, to come back together (no matter how bad it might end up), memories and the past can’t really be forgotten - ‘you’ve changed but it’s not enough’ - very reminiscent of wildfire (x - ‘so now you show up when you’re alone again / but we haven’t changed, but now you’re interested) ngl too the overall feeling of the song reminds me of one love? (x)

i knew you when: so this song sorta came out of nowhere to me, like it felt weird and off-kilter like...i knew you when? when what? but like. now it makes a lot more sense, in this sort of...well, twisted way. it feels like things have been twisted around. it comes off the back of glimmer, too, and i think that’s like - oh, these memories are here, lingering, and this is almost a deep-dive into them? it tells a bit of a story and i think it’s less abstract, but it definitely harps hard on the idea that ‘i’ve been loving, loving you too long to just sudden-suddenly move on from this’ that sort of encompasses the entire album really cleanly. it’s interesting, actually, it almost feels like a very sincere moment of clarity and specificity amidst a mess of this drifting toward ‘madness’, but still hinting at that little bit of ‘okay but if you want to....i’ll know you then’, this like concession to that madness, an indulgence in it? 

the death of me: oh catch me melting over the transition between songs, utterly seamless. love it. this one is another one that like....feels like a breath of clarity in awareness? like this acknowledgment that there’s something off, this lingering desire for someone from the past, that there’s an emptiness, that this new thing isn’t right, even if it’s something wanted. because other wanted things (or people) make it impossible. i think it’s also the first time in a while where another party (ie not them nor the person they’ve got this tangled relationship with throughout the album so far) is mentioned which is v interesting. i think this track does an excellent job of bringing a ghostly vibe to it, the echoing vocals and background sounds, they almost elicit this feeling of like. the person is drifting away from the person they’re trying to make a new start with, like literally drifting? almost being pulled in by the ‘madness’? and it’s a heartbreaking song, too, bc there’s this emanating desperation to like...move on? and make things work? but this acknowledgement that...maybe that’s not happening? maybe it’s not possible? maybe there’s too much baggage, in a sense? there’s also that very long outro that starts off a little intriguing, adventurous almost, and then descends into this frightening crescendo (x - that also has a hint of something else in it) before these voices come in, crescendoeing again into this sudden stop and then you’ve got josh saying ‘save me from myself’ which i feel like is a reference?????? also cannot believe they made me download that and reverse it so i could figure that out lmao

the killing kind: it wouldn’t be a mt album without a song that’s all over the place and somehow still cohesive and intriguing, huh? oh big mood for the intro, with the very great imagery of wandering a haunted house at night, staring into the shadows, and then ‘the killing kind’ - i think the whole thing is a super interesting concept, again, this acceptance of some of the fault in a failed relationship? ‘but you’ve been haunted too’ and yet not all of it, i think a lot of media represents things as black and white, with all the blame on one person, when that’s rarely the case? anyway, it’s interesting it’s addressed. ‘nevermore’ of course being another edgar allan poe reference (disclaimer there may be other references i’m missing since i’m not massively well-read in the horror genre) i’m also intrigued by ‘can’t get out / from under it / nevermore to leave here’, is that a lover dearest (x) reference? bc that’s what came to mind, honestly. again, excellent with the background vocals giving that eerie vibe. and then the stephen king ‘it’ reference with ‘we all float down here’. ngl that one feels a little forced but again, i’m like. not well-read in the horror genre so there may be more layers to that one than i know. ‘it gazes back / sings to me / i know my love can be the killing kind’ - i think this is interesting that it sings back, that feels very much like a callback that maybe their own previous songs are hinting at the love being ‘the killing kind’. also ‘you should never be here’ makes me think of something (x) the hard guitar/violins in the background during ‘here and now / this is it’ etc remind me of something else. and then ofc we have the astoria run/vocals (x) and then the ref to echoes of you (although it sounds like the slightest pitch lower than in echoes of you?) and then the whole bit with ‘don’t love the bottle’ i swear on my life it sounds like it comes from somewhere? same with the background melody? but i have no idea where, it just sounds like a reference. and then we have the background little melody (x) after he says ‘a hidden melody’ so it’s like reinforced that it’s a reference but idk where from rip lmao. edit: ty to the lovely anon who mentioned it’s from masterpiece theater!!!!! and once again a++++ use of a theremin in the background for max spooky vibes. also ‘evermore’ is totally a reference to ever after (x) along with the little lift after that (i assume) and then the whole acapella bit calls back to eleonora and the ‘now’ bit to something (x) plus the ‘hear me now’ from something wow i’m great at this game lmao as well as the ‘don’t you hear me’ part. ‘we could be together here / forever we’re together bound in madness’ i think again a lover dearest and then ofc we have the vocal runs from something (x) and then the strong background violin from another thing (yeah yeah i know they’re all references i just don’t know what from) and then he says ‘just hush eleonora’ which, as previously mentioned, is a very intriguing development from ‘don’t hush’ like this,,,,,,acceptance of the madness? and then ofc he says ‘eleonoria’ in ref to astoria. edit: also the whole ending is so so similar to the ending of ever after

[livingwithkdramas]

Produce X 101 Position Evaluation Thoughts (Post ep 6/7) VOCAL/RAP POSITION

I just had a lot of thoughts after watching episodes 6 and 7 so just gonna rant here.

Firstly i just want to put it out there this the first time i followed a produce x 101 series for so long mainly because my main picks since the start are still there! (I’m looking at park sun ho and nam do hyun)

PLEASE DON’T GET ANGRY BECAUSE THESE ARE PURELY MY OWN OPINIONS WARNING LONG LONG POST AHEAD

So im just gonna go thru each performance and share my thoughts on each trainee of course im naturally going to be sort of biased so ill just follow my feelings.

VOCAL POSITION

4th. TO MY YOUTH stage,

I would say this was my least anticipated stage and i feel this is generally not a stage I would rewatch very often in the future. I’m not saying its bad in fact I love how emotional they are since I know very well how hard these lyrics hit myself being a avid bol4 fan. I just didn’t really like the arrangement of the song, its inevitable but comparing it to the original this arrangement seemed to dull out their voices abit as in it felt too loud. I think it was the adlibs that really sounded too loud when i was listening, it was emotional yes, but did it highlight their emotion as well as it could? I don’t think so. But other than that i do think this was a well done stage and finally i can start to see why everyone loves kim min kyu.

JIN WOO - I love that he chose this song because this song IS for all the teens out there trying to find their way in life and the lyrics just match him so well too and yeah it was just a good song choice i think.

SE JIN - i just like the tone of his voice its really soft and fluffy and it worked to his advantage in this song

WOO SEOK - He’s up in the ranks for a reason and he maintains that through this performance 

BYUNG CHAN - I felt like he got outshined by woo seok, maybe a poor song choice on his part, felt like his voice would suit day by day more but it is what it is and i think he did well just out shined

MIN KYU - I see improvement from my previous impressions of him and i can see him trying to sing louder as what the vocal trainers told him, only time will tell if he improves more.

3RD DAY BY DAY STAGE

This stage was nice. It was good. But it just did not really pop or leave a super lasting impression. I liked the arrangement into a rainy day style song. I liked the concept that they had. I liked their powerful vocals and harmonies. But it just didn’t stand out for some reason like I really can’t explain it. Its like the I am stage in produce 48 it was good but it just didnt pop.

CHOI SU HWAN - I’ll first declare i am biased towards him so don’t take me seriously but like i found it quite unbelievable that he got 5th place in the live voting because he was hitting those notes darn powerfully and his harmonising with yu bin was really nice and good so yes i like him and i hope he makes it through

SONG YU BIN - Same as woo seok he continues to show why he’s in the top ranks and that there’s a reason why he already debuted really nothing suprising

NAM DONG HYUN - I like his work ethic, he accepts criticism and works hard to get what he wants the arrangement that he did was pretty and his voice matched well with the song but didn’t really have much highlights during the performance apart from the high note with yubin

MOON JUN HO - I have no idea he existed until now but i loved his facial expressions and his voice aint bad but because of the lack of screentime he gets I really can’t talk much about him (im sorry)

KWON TAE EUN - Same as jun ho definitely does not get enough screen time considering the effort they probably poured into the stage

2ND TWIT STAGE

These 5 guys killed it, be it from the arrangement to their voices to their stage presence and performance everything conveyed their teamwork. Also i loved the outfits and the mic stands yes.

YOON JUNG HWAN - This guy’s stage presence is no joke where has he been all along? He knows what he’s doing that’s for sure and he is such a good pick as the center for this song, just watch the performance the way he moves its killer.

LEE HYEOB - WHERE HAS THIS GUY BEEN ALL THIS TIME TOO? When Bae Yoon Jung went “who is he?” i was like exactly I know right? This was a good song choice on his part and now i want him to go through as well maybe i just have a soft spot for independent trainees.

LEE EUN SANG - Clearly he ranked first based on popularity for this live stage but its not to say that he didn’t serve those killer looks, I could see him being a pretty good vocal but for this stage he stood out with the looks

KANG SEOK HWA - Another independent trainee that i have a soft spot for too, didn’t have many lines but was stable and did his job and also meshed well with the rest

LEE MI DAM - Damn if it weren’t for the comments I wouldn’t even be sure/ remember who arranged the song Mnet certainly could have given him some spotlight because i absolutely loved this arrangement into this sort of rock pop song

1ST ME AFTER YOU STAGE

Now this is a stage i’ve been replaying since it aired. This is up there in all the produce performances i’ve watched. These guys are made for ballads with their voices. Also i just love me a ballad and i do feel like this is the avengers team for the vocal position.

KIM YO HAN - He knows how to sing with emotion and when he does it feels like his heart is out on his sleeve, he may not have the biggest range (vocal wise) but he sure can deliver the feels

CHA JUN HO - I love the friendship between him and yo han but he definitely has to thank yo han for helping him but once that shell broke his vocals definitely shine through

KIM HYUN BIN - After the amazing performance with No More Dream i thought he was going to choose a rap position but no he chose a vocal position and he stuns. Similar to yo han he doesn’t exactly have the largest range but he does know how to sing.

HAN SEUNG WOO - He is good. He deserved the first and the center position, i feel like i’ve been saying this alot but he picked the right song he knows how his voice works and i respect him for that. But i wish someone would change his hairstyle.

WEI ZI YUE - He is trying, I can really tell he’s trying his voice is very unique and I’m not quite sure if he knows how to use it yet because the first time I watched the performance it felt a bit jarring because the rest of his team mates have those sort of clear voices but i could see he was trying to enunciate properly so thumbs up for trying.

RAP POSITION

2ND BARCODE STAGE

Before i watched the episode, I had hopes for a good stage because i love this song but after watching it i just wanted them not to cry. I think it was more upsetting because they made mistakes one by one and you could see them visibly getting less and less confident even though they were doing well. I feel sad because I could see the stage that this could have been with their different rap tones blending together and a very emotional lyrics.

WON HYUK - He was sort of evil edited but like he made up for it in his stage, he kept his calm and he kept his composure and i felt like because of that the team managed to finish the song. He was the only one that didn’t make a mistake and in fact i felt like he rapped harder because he wanted to make up for his team mates mistakes and he was good as a rapper which is surprising after his energetic performance.

BAEK JIN - He was really good and stable at the start which is why it was worse to see him fall, i think his nerves and his team’s mistakes really got to him and it broke him. His facial expressions were really good too.

YURI - His rap voice is so low and so different from his team mates that it made him stood out but imo i think from the start he already didn’t feel particularly confident, and it showed on his face and ultimately caused him to get flustered and make mistakes as well

LEE WOO JIN - I’m not sure about this but it felt like he was a vocalist? As in he felt new to rapping and the whole team vibe certainly didn’t help the situation if that was so. Tbh i think he needs more practice but he was really the most nervous even from the start but i wish him all the best

1ST SAY IT YES OR NO STAGE

https://youtu.be/uM07p0-GA-M 

MY FAVORITE STAGE OUT OF ALL THE STAGES!! This was just so fun. They were literally having fun on the stage and this was a stage where I absoulutely loved the killing parts and everyone had one! also all their lyrics are both fun, sad and powerful at the same time, i just love this team and want all of them to go through!

NAM DO HYUN - My pick since the start and I continue to love what he brings to the table, he actually took Cheetah’s advice seriously and he killed the stage especially the part where he says I’ll be your Oppa ji I was like wow that was good and on beat and on point

JO SEUNG YEON - He trained Jaehun and Seong yeon pretty darn well and he took care of his own part too and even though his own part was short it was IMPACTFUL like that line “naega” is too damn good, he’s both main vocal and main rapper and not a joke

JUNG JAE HUN - He’s trying hard too, I can see it but i loved how he just basically acted out his part about being nervous and the lyrics in his part are so honest that they’re kind of sad especially the part where he says “the only thing i’ve shown is my temple heart”

KIM SEONG YEON - Not sure if he wrote his rap or Seung Yeon did but it was nice and simple and effective and he had his own killing part at the “ pick pick pick” line. Kinda loved him as a rapper wanna see more of him as both vocalist and rapper.

CONTINUED NEXT POST

[sukisdeliveryservice]

helloo! how was your day milady? its always a pleasure reading your replies too! <333 and i hope you'll enjoy your hiatus :))

also idk i just find parrots rly pretty, and the way the supposedly repeat stuff you say is rly endearing too djhdjfhfb in all honesty, im pretty new to the whole baking thing, but i love making cookies :D they always smell so lovely djfjdjdj i'd love to explore and make more stuff!

you do digital drawing? :o id love to see something! only if you're comfortable sharing though ofc <3

mmm i haven't watched alot of tv shows really tbh. my favourite and the only one im invested in atm is friends, ive watched alittle of modern family and how i met your mother, but that's pretty much it ig jdndjdj

as for movies, i love the greatest showman! it hits a bit too close to home but i always love the goosebumps i get whenever i watch it :) next would be thor ragnorok, which ive mentioned before djjdjs but its just really funny and love it sm, and it was loki's turning point so bonus marks. black widow is also a new favourite <333 though i felt terrible when they were being tortured as kids, but it really showed a new perspective on natasha and her past. i also really like the notebook! everything was so sweet it rly nearly brought me to tears jsbdjdjjsh and finally the shawshank redemption! it was something i didn't rly think i would like, but i was really pleasantly surprised lmao. everything was pretty depressing but it also kinda blew my mind away :D

for songs, my no.1 song rn is nct dream's irreplaceable, idk why exactly but i love that song. i also have a thing for songs that are similar genres to baekhyun's un village, nct jaehyun's try again and jungkook's still with you, so those are three more though im not really sure if they're really the same genre anyways and its been almost a year now and i still cant get over how nct 127's boom makes me feel 💕

hmm for fics, i dont really remember everything i read, but i absolutely loved your ceo cheol fic 🥺 it was so cute and the way reader and cheol work perfectly together T-T most of the time fics like these consist of cold bosses who only show a little warmth to the reader, but cheol was so sweet throughout everything it just made everything so much more adorable and endearing. i really really loved it :'D <333

what are your top 5 of these? and also for the next question, have you ever

been to a concert?

sneaked out from your house?

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase?

had a crush?

had a pet?

performed in front of a crowd?

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally? (yes im asking for recs)

- 💎 anon who loves you lots!! <333

milady?? heh you sound like chat noir from miraculous ladybug (my guilty non guilty pleasure show) i was thinking carefully about these answers thats why it took so long!! i'm going to go to bed after this is posted hehe this is gonna be a long reply so take all the time you need to answer pfft- my day has been lovely thanks to this ask by the way!!

yeah i'd love to show you something!! there were a couple burried in my rambling tags but when we're allowed to turn off anon i'd love to show you!! do you have discord btw?? it might be easier to talk on there afterwards!!

ooh how i met your mother is probably my favourite sitcom!! maybe that and b99. its pretty long and the ending was erm...not good imo but i still think the long length was worth finishing!!

the movies you picked are lovely anon!! i am also a fan of the greatest showman since i am also a big fan of musicals!! it was pretty fast paced but overall the grandeur and visuals of it stunned me and the sountrack is amazing!! i haven't watched black widow but hopefully soon!! and i dont usually watch a lot of western films but i really want to check out the notebook as well!!

ahh your music taste is also exquisite!! so im guessing you're more into like soft pop/rnb kinds of songs!! i definitely listen to baekhyun's music before sleeping since his vocals really suit soothing songs. i really need to check out more of nct's music - hello future was really good!!

OMG ANON YOU READ MY CHEOL FIC??? i was so unsure about that one but it makes my heart squeeze that you read all of it and liked it :'D

okie so my top 5 (no particular order) i'm probably forgetting a few

tv shows - 1. HUGE atla fan!! i even liked legend of korra even though some poeple didn't 2. how i met your mother 3. horimiya 4. extraordinary you 5. yona of the dawn

movies - 1. your name 2. big hero 6 3. tangled 4. weathering with you 5. from up on poppy hill - literally any ghibli i've watched

books (sorry lots of these are manga) - 1. fruits basket 2. haikyuu!! 3. SNOW WHITE WITH THE RED HAIR (IT'S MY FAVOURITE EVERYTHING) 4. to all the boys i've loved before (it's very different from the movies) 5. i don't mean to bring up percy jackson since it's been years but those books are still everything to me

songs - 1. eight (iu, suga) 2. all my love (svt) 3. kidult (svt) 4. dandelions (ruth b) 5. somehow (day6)

thank you for asking anon! i loved listing these out! next to the never have i ever!!

been to a concert? NEVER!! waiting for svt to come to canada, they didn't list canada for ode to you :(((

sneaked out from your house? NEVER i've sneaked people into my house...

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase? I HAVE! bts but it was only for like a month before i fell in love with 13 men...

had a crush? soobin duh i'm beginning to realize now that maybe i've been more in love with the idea of love instead of harbouring genuine feelings // NEVER!!

had a pet? I HAVE!! multiple fishes...rip

performed in front of a crowd? I HAVE!! i've played the drums during school concerts and during a competition a few years back!!

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally?

for this last one i'm going to tie it in into my top 5 fics of all time!! (with mini reviews!!) i should make a masterlist of my recs honestly - when i compile all of my favourites i think that's when i've be brave enough to tag the writers fjdshfdkj

out of touch, out of time by @/by-moonflower // i read this months ago and my heart literally still sinks whenever it even crosses my mind. i don't think i've ever been so emotionally impacted by a fic before and this is my go to rec for anyone who wants to FEEL something. i don't wanna go in depth as to spoil it, so i'll just leave it at that for now.

outlasting the universe by @/by-moonflower // you know what i'm just gonna link their entire masterlist because all of their works (even the short drabbles) are just literary masterpieces. the way they write makes you feel so alive?? and everything just speaks for itself and is so authentic. they make you feel like you're wandering amidst a ghibli film, periof. authentic is the best word i can use to describe their work and this fic is just the definition of beautiful.

bluff and nonsense by @/thepixelelf // THIS FIC. it's my go to rec overall. it was so memorable had such good flow and just genuinely so genuine?? i have no other words to describe it, it's just so ,,, lovely. the plot takes you on a journey and it's woven together so seamlessly.

in a span of three months by @/viastro // i won't be surpprised if you've read this one already because this author is a true staple in the carat writing community and honestly all of their works are simple timeless. this one really hit the mark for the me the most though and i finished it all in one sitting.

wish by @chocosvt // goodness i'm a fan of hoshi fics aren't i? this one was also really memorable for me and i have read it several times!! friends to lovers but they really made the trope their own and added lots of twists and tadbits that gave it so much charm!! i would also rec this as a starter fic for svt :))

phew thank you for reading all of that anon, i really appreicate you taking the time to write such love responses and questions. now i'd like to know your answers for the same questions ,,, have you ever:

been to a concert?

sneaked out from your house?

gone through a one direction and/or bts phase?

had a crush?

had a pet?

performed in front of a crowd?

read a book/fic that you love so much you still think of it occasionally?

to add on:

been to a place/been in a particular mood after a specific event that you wanted to stay in forever?

written a piece of work that sparked energy within your fingertips!!

met a person/have someone in your life who you now just treasure so deeply?

this is getting super long we need to reveal our identities soon fkdsfkjlds

[minblush]

don't worry i feel the same way!! i was so looking forward to gayo's because of the song covers, and they didn't this time :( i mean i still appreciate the performances they gave us, they did a great job, but i am kind of sad too. it's just so exciting seeing them take on another groups style

yeah of course they still worked hard and delivered some amazing performances skdjkasd, but also despite different instrumentals and stuff, it’s still all performances we’ve seen many times before except for the short intros skdjakd but yeah i agree

Anonymous said:I was upset they haven’t done any special stages too :( I always look forward to them and enjoy them the most. ahh I just can’t get used to the change

we literally got so many legendary performances from these year end things that i still think about all the time, it’s a bit sad yeah dakjsd i liked these performances but also like, i doubt anyone will remember them or look for them two years from now on unlike the previous stages

Anonymous said:I totally feel ya.. I was really excited to see some solo stages nd im just dissapointed. Because they equally worked hard for all the performances they put out as a group, as rap line, vocal line. But each member cud have done smething solo for atleast a few seconds, just like Tae today. Donno wat bighit is upto but i dearly hope they don’t go with usual kpop popular grp paths.

i mean they had those short intros like jimin and hobi did, but yeah for the most part… :( honestly i think it’s a combination of them being really busy and also being so big now they just don’t have to do these stages anymore? cause for groups the special stages are a way to promote themselves and create buzz for the general public, so maybe bighit feels with all the massive exposure they now got in korea, that they don’t have to make the boys learn 6 new choreos over a month anymore? on one hand good cause they won’t be as exhausted, but i feel like there is still room for some special stuff… but also i want to ask you, is there really anything anymore that makes you think like they aren’t proceeding like other groups? what sets them apart anymore? tbh

Anonymous said:yoongi didnt write his part in mic drop? i dont know a lot of things about them omg do u mind spilling more tea? if u dont want to its okay i know u could get hate :( but i would rly like to know more about it

no he didn’t write it, rapline hasn’t written a lot of their parts in the last album sadly, you can just check the credits on albums if you want to see! that info is out there. and about tea, i really meant it like, there are things i also wish i didn’t know? so i’m not going to pass them on, sorry ;-;

Anonymous said:I think that’s why a lot of fans coming from HYYH era and even WINGS felt a bit let down with this album. My worry is that as they get bigger, they’ll eventually become what they had tried NOT to become which is another overly produced Kpop boy band with tons of external producers, composers etc. If Sea and the Outro (tho I didn’t like this outro) hadn’t been on this album, I’d have honestly started to lose faith in Bangtan’s sound moving forward. I rlly hope their next album is different (2/2)

ah sorry i didn’t get the first part? but i get what you’re saying because i’ve shared the same sentiment and talked about it a lot when the album came out. honestly i feel like they kinda reached the point you’re talking about with that album, external producers, less involvement from members, less substance lyrics wise. and honestly.. i wouldn’t hold my breath for any improvement? because yoongi said himself in the billboard interview, that they definitely do not want to ruffle any feathers with their -social criticism- that they want to bring people together instead, so with that we’ll just get very vague things and messages like -love yoursef- from now on, and considering the more personal lyrics had been hidden and kind of treated as just something for fans and not the real album material as well, like that just confirms it for me? so i just hope the songs will be bops, i hope bighit will stop media playing and exaggerating so i don’t have to feel all jaded, and i will just look forward to their mixtapes, solo work, hidden tracks where they will be able to express themselves more.. cause from how bighit had been acting and what has been said, i doubt we’ll go back to how things used to be anymore? but i’m also a huge pessimist sorry dakjsd i would love to be wrong

Anonymous said:hi i agree so much with what you said re: the boys involvement like… in the summer package how namjoon said yoongi writes what ~200 songs a year?? and looking at the credits for ly:h and how he had barely involvement it just breaks my heart that yoongi (and namjoon and hoseok and god knows whom else) are probably working so hard writing an dproducing and ur telling me not one of those songs was included… as oppose to prior albums… in favor of (imo djghdjfg) subpar tracks god its upsetting

Anonymous said:and as a follow on like… i cant help but feel sad that an album they barely contirbuted to is winning them all these accolades compared to the albums they were heavily involved in like.. idk how they feel about it but 2 me thats…. yikes

i think it’s unfair i believe their material would be better received anyway, like are you telling me yoongi didn’t make songs that are better than what the chainsmokers did? -.- idk i feel like bighit is making a mistake by trying to make the boys as universally appealing as possible when their underdog and difference from other kpop groups was what made a lot of people check them out in the first place… i get they can’t really act antiestablishment at his point even for show since they go around advertising even banks and mcdonalds and stuff, but how was her as an album at least, any different from what other groups do now? like seventeen or even exo musically, ykwim? lots of group throw in  a few writing credits in every now and then now for more credibility, but is that enough with bangtan? is that fair to them as artists? when in the past it was so different? 3: and yeah i’m so proud and happy for them but i also wish wings for example had been rewarded this way cause that was really the peak for the boys as musicians and as a group that is above the general kpop formula ;-; 

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta United Kingdom to Eurovision with a blatantly non-blatant Melodifestivalen reject

Yes, obviously, Eurovision: You Decide might as well be the safest NF to ever exist. We get that you don’t want to even try, the UK, but can you please act like you’re not in Big 5 for a year and ATTEMPT to try your hardest with the song??? I doubt that, despite SuRie’s bubbliness, “Storm” would’ve pulled numbers if it were in semi, unless the anti-neo-Nazi stage invader were to butt-in there and people would then send sympathy televotes the Brits’ way or something. Unsatisfying. (The man, that is.)

And so we have gotten another safe as ever British entry this year, performed by an excited personality that got a side-dish song and now is tasked to sell the side-dish as greatly as he’s possibly able to - the first season of All Together Now winner, Michael Rice! The dish is “Bigger than Us” and I’m neither glad nor sad the song has not enough factor to eat up Michael as a whole if it’s that much BIGGER. Not even the fact that it’s a Melodifestivalen reject (yes, the title IS correct, one of the song’s co-writers, whom I’ll name later, has possibly said it at some point, and he couldn’t keep it to himself anymore so he sent it over to another country!) could help this poor number out.

If you strip the singer off, you just get a stereotypical Eurovision-y ballad you overhear when scavenging through foreign NF catalogues, wondering which kind of rent-a-songwriter-program person contributed to it. Well John Lundvik (yes THAT one) doesn’t sound like THAT kind of name you’d hear when you think of songwriters of such shtick but Laurell Barker is, so there you go. These are just the two masterminds behind this one, as there are more but icr their names and honestly idc to.

And there’s nothing wrong about these typical ESC NF shlocks. Only when you’re young and dumb enough to enjoy these kind of songs, but I had to unfortunately grow up and see just how “useful” they are... n’t. I mean, it’s great for the artists whose big dream is to taste Eurovision and NOT as a backing singer, but most of the time the singers that get these songs can’t even slightly relate to what they sing, and thus we get people like Bishara entering Melodifestivalen and Isaiah entering Eurovision.

Maybe Michael did get to experience the kind of love that’s BIGGER than him and his partner, idk. I certainly don't want to bother asking him. And frankly, it's only me overthinking this issue, because ain't nobody in the world really got time for that, definitely. Well, at least the relationship’s going on nice! (except for when Mike sings ��‘cause I can heare the universe when I’m feeling you breathe”... spooky. o.I)

Anyway, time to get to talk more about the song. It's actually not THAT bad, just a little too typical and unextraordinary, where in the current times the Eurovision has to not be predictable in sound and to excite the viewer with... well, anything that can excite anyone. Be it the visuals OR the song. OR both. What's so special about "Bigger than Us" that can keep the viewer on toes? Probably just that keychange. I wish there were more things about it but not every commentator out there would have enough time to let them people know Michael works in a waffle shop, let alone the time that "HE WON A TALENT SHOW'S FIRST SEASON BUT THE SHOW ISN'T THE X FACTOR OR THE VOICE ZOMFG!!". Let alone people even listen to any Eurovision commenting these days, lol. It might be a charming little piece for some people though, but I don't see them voting for people selling their songs vocally much more than songs that draw in viewers with different ways. It's just a standart talent show winner song for a standart talent show winner that sounds like it's slightly too stuck in the mid-to-late-00s-early-10s rather than the 90s, which is warm and cool and all, but it's likely gonna not do the cool lad Michael the justice he'd need, just like SuRie's song for SuRie. Mayhaps a top 20-ish, or, in Lucie's case, even a top 15, is possible (although it's mostly thanks to the juries - they're the only ones eating up big voice ballads. And anything Maltese. And anything Australian. And anything Swedish... that only represents Sweden. Sorry Lukas Meijer), but when the British optimism levels are set in a deep deep ditch by default every year when the BBC comes with their platter of choices for EYD, what else could be there to raise them up after even Lucie hasn't done that amazing enough for everyone to believe that the UK are capable more than just always finishing last with 0 every year? Of course, a better than average song, but does BBC care about even pulling one out of a songwriting camp? These kind of songs are too shite for their taste, apparently, so with songs they send like these, it's probably yet another meander-er.

Which is a shame, because once again, it's not bad. It's just too plain Jane for Eurovision anymore. It's like everyone dressed up gorgeously for Miss Universe's National Costume event and you went with a cheap-ish designer dress that is decorated by small details that are notoriously known as the country's symbols just to count as something "national". It's like everyone brough their best baked (and dare I say extreme) dish to a dish competition and you only brought in a nice looking baked cod and circled the fries around it. It's like a prom night where everyone dresses casually and you come up all in a dull olive colored jacket and jeans with torn out knees. There might be something hidden in its niceness that can conquer (nice piano, nice chords, nice vocals, nice chorus, nice song formula, nice choir, nice keychange, nice message)... but with everything too nice, it just feels like that the UK are not feeling like getting a 'nice' result. Unless there's something that can make Michael do a 'male Lucie' and launch it around the 14th-19th place at best, but...

And here's the section where I repeat myself some more of what I think of the song as a whole and chances as a whole:

Approval factor: Eh I'll probably have to approve this but only reluctantly somewhat, maybe because I felt positive on the first listen unlike these people who wanted UK to dare to do something else than safe... yeah lol

Follow-up factor: It’s rather marginably favourable song than SuRie’s and only because I like it despite its ‘blandness’. “Storm” is just a song that I don’t really care about. Provided Michael gives all out personality-wise though and the revamp’s not gonna suck balls (if there’s one), this is a decent step in a decent direction for the UK... hope Michael’s not getting stage-invaded by anti-Israel people!

Big 5 factor: Thanks to all this pre-partying kicking in heavily as I put out these reviews (and actually having finished), it turns out that Michael is one of those people that clearly works his hardest to sell this typical British averageness (like he sells his waffles), with his live being so decent enough he was thought of to be a perfect EYD winner this year, so, if he keeps building up his vocal strenghts and rehearses a lot (and stays well and such), he’s actually likely to at least achieve something above bottom 7! Yes, yes, John Lundvik is still the master that will beat his pupil in the end, but that wouldn’t seem that excruciating for the UK anymore if they happen to have a place that’s not bottom 3 or anything. Just for the Michael to do his utmost best out there, and if he does, the UK won’t be in an extremely bad position this year - just not a very high reacher, because at the end of the day there are more nations that run straight with their A-game and therefore continue leaving the common-appealers in the dust. Only Sweden (and Australia until 2018 or so) usually excels at their safeness. The others must outstand to survive. And to wrap things up on this factor section, imo the UK just meanders in the safeness for another year - but at least the good enough safeness that might even be able to qualify if it were sent by a semifinalist country! (apart Sweden ffs, of course Mr. Lundvik would qualify with this one if he kept it to himself, jeez)

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Thankfully EYD didn’t really stink this year, because of certain key factors:

• There’s always this one or two act(s) that acts like a saviour each year. Bianca and Dulcima (or Darline idk) from 2016, Holly and Salena from 2017, Asanda (and maybe Jaz? or even Raya??) from 2018 and... ponder no more, Kerrie-Anne’s got you covered in that spot! Her version of the two one’s of “Sweet Lies” was arguably the greatest possible choice for the NF (or, in this case, the “very least bad”, and eventhough it’s incredibly reminiscent of Sigala’s “Sweet Lovin’” (vocals provided by Bryn Christopher, who - controversial opinion - is probably my fave male singer of all time), which makes it “dated” (to a 2012-2014 pop radio degree, yes), it still was a bop that I’d want to dance to in rollerskates (if I had any!!) and spray the colourful smoke things that... well idk what it is but the said video of “Sweet Lovin’” demonstrates the action. Get back to me to let me know what’s that, anyone reading this. K-A lowkey underperformed though (just like Asanda from last year) but the bop remained AND she was rightfully included in the British televote’s superfinal trio! ^^

• The hosts were, yet again, the ever-so-loveable comedienne of Lithuanian roots, Mel Giedroyc, and the witty-ass Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. The duo is charming as usual and delightful to see on the Beebs when there’s the Eurovision case. If I didn’t know him better I’d even say Måns is a native English speaker. When there’s at least the drought of the ever-so-good entries in an EYD, we can look back at the hosts provided us some entertainment we’ve probably been missing while trying to find some on those competing entries. My favourite moment throughout that evening was the “next up is” jokes, all randomly stringed together, all in one row - all of those “next ups” were so hilariously random (until one hit the point - I think it was something about adverts or another performance being next up).

• The postcards were lovely too. With the format of EYD upgraded to make it as a three-song duel between two different versions of each one and the juries deciding on the best one for each (one vote per version), we got to see some nice friendships over there (I mean, a postcard for two people who did duel over whose version is the best - they had to listen and compliment each others’ versions) and some nice things the artists said themselves on separate postcards. Like the time when the only band of the competition of the year’s, MAID, named Buranovskiye Babushki as one of their girlband idols (a ‘so random yet glorious‘ answer) and the victorious Michael confessing that he’s “never been to Tel(iv) Aviv”... that’s true Michael, I believe ya. You’ve so never been there that ou struggle to even say it right! Not to mention that the postcard setups were cozy, too.

• Can we all just kind of agree that at least the jury for EYD made THE BEST CHOICES POSSIBLE??? I mean, yeah, it’s a biT cruel they’re the ones to choose the superfinalists without the audience’s interference, but they still made the best choices possible, at least imo. Anisa’s “Sweet Lies” was a godawfully dreary sex slow-jam (no really, I can’t not imagine a scenario where you can’t use it anywhere other than a sex scene in a movie, or a steamy hot shower scene. Call me crazy-minded but it’s true), MAID’s “Freaks” was godawfully too creepy, strange and unbearable, and Holly Tandy’s “Bigger than Us”... well... while much more chill and way less overbearing (also with not enough “BIGGER” memes potential), it would have probably not stood out all that much - just written off as a Kygo remix rented for a cheap price of half a pound (but still co-written by John Lundvik though!!). So thanks to Rylan and the other two for picking the superfinalists reasonably, unlike A Dal jurors this year. It still wrenches my gut whenever I think about it, ugh.

• What even would be an appearance of Måns if he didn't try to remind y'all of his enthusiasm for Eurovision. No one really cares he won Eurovision 4 years ago, if anything, I dread that he's only being remembered as the "male singer guy of Love Love Peace Peace song" by the newer fans. At least Pepperidge Farm I remember how Måns really wanted to get to Eurovision (even if he didn't participate in that many Melodifestivalen editions). So in this year's EYD he went all out to be a part of the Eurovision best (British?) songs medley (and we got Katrina and the Waves later in the show, performing the nation's last winning hit, 22 years later... and that wasn't even a fully British-branded win, if yanno what I mean!), and it's all courtesy of the Melodifestivalen's best known scriptwriter and an occasional Eurovision commentator (and Melodifestivalen's narrator too), Edward af Sillén. Or at least I remember it being written that he has written some stuff for Måns to do in EYD, IDK. Eitherway, it was kind of a fun thing, the interlude. Just remembering all the nice Eurovision entries out there, even including Gina G (whose ESC entry was also sung by another person in another NF whose review will be up next I suppose!).

• Heyyyyy, wasn’t it all kinds of nice to see SuRie doing an interval act and a reprise of her own run-of-the-mill entry “Storm”? I applaud her of doing a tremendous piano rendition of it, with even singing some notes a little higher than in the actual song. Maybe THAT version could have done so much better in Lisbon - showing off SuRie’s vocal decency, intimacy and... idk about the intruder part, hopefully he’d have had no way to wrestle the mic out of SuRie’s hands that time. At least SuRie had just enough support from Eurofans to be wanted to represent the UK one more year in a row, with a special EYD designed for her, where the songs could be mostly composed by her and not by the useless songwriting camp. While it’s a nice idea for some British and non-British people to get to know each other on these camps, the end results barely end up satisfying because the artists barely get involved in the songs they’re singing - not even a song line, not even a hum of contribution! Why can’t you at least take examples from German songwriting camps... (except for the time “Sister” was invented, that one could have been a perfect contribution for an EYD (not necessarily in this year’s format but still)

All in all, this may seem like an improvement of things, but I still am really hoping that BBC will give into a decent internal selection... afterall there are good names that are down to do Eurovision and didn’t even say it will harm their ‘reputation’ (*cough* Paloma Faith *cough* Hurts), and yet BBC refuses them somehow, not thinking that Eurovision is more than just a SONG contest (while ironically not even having their songs sounding THAT ‘great’, oops)? Or at least reformat EYD big time and make it exciting a la Australia Decides is (you know you suck when even your colony does better NFs than you). For now, I’ll just grit my teeth and nicely wish Michael Rice all the best in Tel(iv) Aviv. You’ll need it, chap! And in secret I hope that you’ll get it xx

[cyb3rci3lo]

review shinees lucifer album 🐸 (im judging anything below a 9/10 jsyk)

send me an album and i’ll review it

alright SO 2010 kpop, lucifer was arguably shinees break out album (really theyve been the shit since replay with that rookie grand slam, PLUS with ring ding dong as a strong single of the ep Y.O.U.) i personally think this is due to how shinee was branded as actaully fucken amazing at dancing, and the lucifer choreography is honestly something unmatched, especially for the time that it came out.

but honestly for me as how i view things in shinee’s discography timeline, as well as with sales or what not i really think lucifer was that staple that not only was hype af when it came out but its main single “lucifer” still brings people onto shinee to this day so? really iconic album

however, as a long time shinee fan, i really love lucifer mostly nostalgically, like most people the first video i saw from shinee was lucifer, the first album i downloaded was lucifer, i tried learning the vogueing part from lucifer (and i still remember it lmao) so for me lucifer is really? great, mostly because it’s album i listened to when i was super young and kinda brought me onto shinee which in turn brought me to a wider spectrum of music

however, while it may be shinee’s amazing throwback album, looking back on it as a whole it really did not showcase the amazing powerhouse shinee is.

im not talking singing wise, lucifer does showcase amazing vocals but, shinee as a whole has a huge history of being contemporary, of always bringing people that new shit-that good shit-that cutting edge shit. and i think it’s taken them some time to grow into that contemporary mindset, before this mostly imo theyve been contemporary in the terms of style and what not but musically they’ve more or less sat comfortably of what was kinda going on. rather than being on the edge of the trend imo they brought out something that refined the trend to further establish it as the norm-before moving on as the trend changes

(imo shinee breaks out with sherlock as THAT group musically and artistically, that constantly pushes kpop music but thats for another review)

however lucifer is a staple in shinee’s discography and it’s a really nice album for that 2010 nostalgia era, it has cute upbeat songs, the freaking catchy lucifer as well as some gr8 ballads (and electric heart, imo one of the BEST songs shinee’s ever done)

anyway here’s the track by track review lmao:

(disclaimer, vocally shinee’s performances never disappoint (maybe rap wise but never singing wise) this is mostly me critiquing like the actual music and what it brings to the table as a cohesive album so not really shinee but mostly the production team backing them up and sm’s musical choices lmaoooo)

the first track is up and down, it’s classic 2010 kpop era type of song, it’s cute it’s catchy it’s upbeat. the main vocalists voices are strong af and the backing voices are really noice as well, the chorus is extremely catchy and it’s just? a straight forward catchy song. honestly nothing really new, especially with the placements of the raps but? it’s just a sweet listen, maybe a bit too sweet as the years pass, i think ready or not is a better catchy pop-y song imo but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the next track is lucifer and honestly im gonna give my actual opinion, i dont listen to lucifer anymore sure i love lucifer but honestly i think this is just the perfect throwback song that you’re super hype for but in my opinion i dont listen to on the daily, like its good and it’s just catchy but, it follows that generic verse chorus verse chorus rap chorus. really what brought shinee into the lime light imo was their dancing and lucifer showcased that AMAZINGLY, but songwise it’s pretty? catchy but ?? you feel me??????

next is electric heart and electric heart TO THIS DAY is one of my favorite all time shinee songs. dude shinee has not done this type of song before, and it’s the only time they do this type of song on this album. the vocals are breathy and self assured, the harmonies are fucken angelic, the instrumentals fit their voices perfectly gives a very moody almost? seductive type of vibe that’s really punctuated by their falsettos. fucken A+++ track and honestly it really stands out from the album IMO just because of the way they sing and just how they all work together to make the song work. it’s groovy and sensual and jams when it needs to and just? a great listen all of them work so well in this ugh i love it

then it’s a-yo which i used to love when i was younger, not to repeat myself but the way i feel about this track is how i honestly feel about up and down with the exception that this song isn’t as upbeat, it’s more of a subdued upbeat song, something that in my opinion would fit perfectly in their replay album? i feel like it has that 2008 vibe. anyway yeah. catchy, cute, nothing new but nothing wrong w that

ok then we hit obsession and it’s one of the few shinee songs i actually dont like. i will give them the fact that it’s pretty experimental i guess?? for them??? for this album? the only problem is how out of place it feels, like we have upbeat and catchy then kinda sensual rly nice electric heart and then this? it has a darker tone and it’s? okay i guess i just think they really didn’t go all way that they couldve on this, i feel like theyve really refined the “darker” songs or more desperate sounding songs on the misconception albums. like it’s dark then soft and then you’re hit with jonghyun almost pleading chorus, honestly im not that big of a fan of it, especially with how the beginning and the chorus sound so disjointed on the same song but not in a Cool Experimental way imo, i kno i lot of people like it and if you do please tell me why!! would love to discuss w you all c:

after you’re hit with quasimodo which is a str8 up ballad and it would sound weird to have on an album that has songs like up and down and ready or not but? being placed after obsession was a great choice imo so it doesn’t sound so jarring. this is a complete ballads with fucken amazing vocals but especially the way they all just work together especially on the verses leading up to vocals. imo im not a huge fan of ballads but this is a really beautiful song that’s just, a great soft listen if you like those types of ballads. imo not anything new or groundbreaking but honestly it’s a Typical Ballad song in which jinki kills it so??? not really complaining

ok then it’s shout out which i was….obsessed with and honestly i….never listen to it now. it’s a great, “we’ve gone thru so much shit and here we are bitch we’re back and we dont give up” song i guess. however, in my opinion as a rap song? it’s not really? anything new or anything really?? astounding, imo listening back it’s kinda? i dont wanna say childish but i think like as utilizing “rapping” as a form of conveying music shinee (esp minho and kibum) have really improved on that a lot in their after years, and this is like a last remaining album of kibum and minho rapping the way every kpop group did in 2010 you know? nothing really shinee-like it’s just? idk it really isnt that great listening back and how far theyve come since it (odd eye guys, the rap in odd eye is a perf example because the rap goes along so well with the song itself and it feels like it sits in shinee’s discography as a perfect shinee song rather than A Rap Song They Did) and idk yeah, not a big fan now and i honestly think it’s great to show just how much shinee has grown as a kpop group to actual artists.

next up is wowowow and it’s? another catchy upbeat song but it’s not really with a lot of substance imo, like i feel they really went hard on the autotone like autotune can be used as a really cool device in song producing but i feel like? it’s a bit off putting with jonghyun’s high vocals you know?  it’s catchy but???? it’s just cute that’s it, what are they offering here that the other upbeat songs on this album dont offer? not to bash on it but?? there’s not much to say that i havent already ;A; (it’s still really cute)

your name is next and it’s? a cute slower song. it’s slow but not ballady. it’s like if wowowow was w/o autotune and like a bit more chiller. it’s just a sweet song nothing really???amazing i guess?? the “lalalala” the members do is really nice and i like it towards the end, once minho raps and the song changes a bit, i feel like it’s less generic and a cooler listen, like most songs in this era there’s a slight change towards the end of the song with the first two halves sounding extremely similar. nothing much to say w this one just. it’s cute.

then it’s life, which if i have one thing to say about this album’s lack of a cohesive feel is the fact that they put the slower songs with perfect transitioning songs before them, so listening to the album straight isn’t a jarring experience so honestly??? good on them that was a fab choice. now in my opinion, quasimodo was a better ballad-mostly because all the members really work together backing each other up and it sounds greater orchestrally than this song. life takes nearly two minutes to pick up, now i lov a slow start to get the tension started but really it doesn’t pick of until 1:50 and there isn’t really? anything amazing going on instrumentally to garner attention imo, shinee’s vocals are beautiful but?? u kno???? like most songs the cool shit is towards the end but i feel like it’s just subdued with some great notes belted out. classic ballady song if you like it, but again i think quasimodo really brought it home without sounding like it’s taking a while to get to the good parts you know????

after it’s ready or not. which i know i mentioned having transitining songs from slower to upbeat, which is NOT the case with this. but i FUCKEN lov ready or not. it’s literally like a better version of up and down imo, up and down sounds incredibly repetitive because of the whole rollercoaster ride thing, but this is like a repetitive song that doesnt seem like it’s looping. it has some embarssing 2010 song moments but honestly??? i dont care it’s literally a cute up beat song, generic especially with that kpop formula and the slight change towards the end but honestly thats what shinee was doing at the time, and it was fine. im only being so hard on this album because shinee Really Fucking Worked on their music and really went like beyond everything to become the shinee we know and love and appreciate today. so yeah. generic cute pop song that i still jam to but dont listen to often.

then it’s love pain, which i mean? it’s like a more hurt ayo lmao. like in the way it’s sung and it’s feel, the subject matter can be totally different. anyway not much to say just like…this album is so 2010 and this song really captures that like idk not much critique on this, i dont love it anymore but? vocals are gr8 and it’s a cool slow song

the album finishes with love still goes on, which is i think an AMAZING reference to the song love should off their first album. it’s a nod to the past while showing off how theyve grown and how theyve improved their vocals. the problem i have with this song is literally the same with ready or not with a dash of side eye at the raps but honestly?? it’s cute its happening and i just think the nod to their first album was a cute way to finish the album. it doesnt finish with a band but rather with a thanks, and i think that was really lovely

anyway my final review is: nostalgia/10 (with me mostly only listening to electric heart, ready or not, love still goes on and up and down)

but again this was me really just? giving a thorough critique lmao i still really lov this album, i own it (a ver AND b ver) and honestly if i ever see shinee live and they do any song off this album you will catch me wiping the tears from my eyes while belting out the lyrics. hyped as fuck. i kno this album like the back of my hand istgggggg i really do love this album, it’s just musically we all kno shinee is that group, but it’s super cool looking at their progression as artists and how theyve moved along musically!!

[brokebecauseconcerts-blog]

Father

John

Misty

Where oh where do I begin? I try not to pick favorites, in anything I do. I think picking favorites sets people up for failure. I figure there will be one day another candidate outshines the favorite, resulting in disappointment. But fuck it, Father John Misty is my favorite. And I trust it because there is virtually nothing he can do wrong that would take that title away- and he does a lot of textbook things “wrong”.

Josh Tillman stole my heart when I heard “I’m Writing a Novel” on WFUV Radio when I was in college (around 2012) Not knowing much about him personally, I started listening to “Fear Fun” and fell in love with his music. “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” and “Everyman Needs a Companion” landed every mixed CD (yep, still made CDS in 2012) and I decided to dig a little deeper and actually check the dude out. WOAH he’s hot! WAIT he was in Fleet Foxes? OMG he has the exact the type of humor that I adore, equal parts witty, snarky and dark. Fuck, he has a girlfriend. I’m absolutely done, they’re getting married. I can’t remember a time I fell so hard for an artist post-emo/punk/highschool days (Think Gerard Way and Travis Barker). 

However, I’m really fucking glad he was and is in such a beautiful relationship because thats how his sophomore album came to be. i wasn't sure If I’d ever love an album as much as “Fear Fun” but lo & behold: “I Love You, Honeybear” took & continues to take the damn cake. Has there ever been an album (albeit, Rumours) that has described love so honestly? It talks about the honeymoon phase in depth, the ga-ga feelings and pedestals that we put our partners on in the beginning. The way new love helps us start to feel creative again, or creative in a new, fresh way. And then after time, how love can start to get a little paranoid and jealous. It’s messy, it’s raw and it sort of made me hate his beloved Emma (who eats bread & butter like like a queen would have ostrich and cobra wine. Listen if you don't get the reference but also stop talking to me: https://open.spotify.com/track/2eg2gvPXuwZ9FyrPaLgrXi) Could you I-M-A-G-I-N-E having someone write you a love song such as that? Fun fact, I heard this song for the first time freshly after ending a 4 year relationship. Bad timing? Nah, it actually was so beautiful and uplifting that the song gave me hope and made me feel secure that I haven't found the right person yet and that I didn't just lose that person (burn). It gave me hope that I’d eventually meet someone that I could picture having a satanic christmas eve with or dance around to a mariachi band with. Spoiler Alert: FJM did help me find love. I will get to that at the end. Any who, this album ruled and continue to rules my world. The title track “I Love You, Honeybear” is about taking on the shitastic world we live in with someone you love. “Bored in the USA” is about the absurdities within our pop culture and the bullshit promise of the American Dream gone wrong. The album as a whole is romantic and existentialist and I am 100%AboutThat.com

And then we were gifted “Pure Comedy”. I write that with a sigh. Not because I am disappointed but because It’s heavy. It highlights our current political and social climate and it does so in a very dark, darker than usual way. When he realeased the video for title track, “Pure Comedy” a few short months after the election I wept at my desk. The song itself is so eerie and fantastical with the baritone sax wailing the fuck off as Donald Trump’s face slyly pops up. I Think FJM is making the point that everything happening right now is so fucking ugly and wrong that it’s absurdly funny. Not haha-funny, just...funny. As in “something smells funny”, as in our country. He attacks religion, pop-stars (gotcha, Taylor Swift), environmental issues, the delusional lifestyle of LA inhabitants, you name it. But, in true Josh Tillman fashion, and we know theres a big beating heart in there, he ends the album in a hopeful way with “In Twenty Years or So”. In the song, Tillman addresses the cosmic indifference of the universe and the existential fear that comes with it. In the first two verses he sets up the great comedy: That despite all our grand gesturing and philosophizing (with the character of Father John Misty as the embodiment of this behavior), we ultimately don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Then in the second verse he starts to assign a little more meaning to the chaos.

That in twenty years More or less This human experiment will reach its violent end But I look at you As our second drinks arrive The piano player's playing "This Must Be the Place" And it's a miracle to be alive

I *think* he’s saying, “Look, the world is fucked, we’re only getting worse, it’s too much to handle, but thank god I have you to navigate it with. And we have music, and it really all is amazing, isn't it”. I’m sorry it sounds like a basic Audrey Hepburn wannabe annotation of his beautifully written song, but It comforts me. It’s like a really elongated and philosophic way of saying “All you Need is Love”, but The Beatles beat him to it.

All in all, “Pure Comedy” takes us through a (trippy) walk of life thats starts out as that scene in Willy Wonka where they’re all taking a boat ride through the tunnel of hellish images, to a calm setting where all you want to do is hug the people you love and be left with the simple yet complex thought, “it’s all going to be okay”. Bravo FJM for creating such a mature and powerful album. I think melodically it is not for everyone, as it is much slower that what he’s done. But give it a good listen through and really listen to what he’s saying. If 2017 had to sound like anything (besides screams and tears) it would sound like “Pure Comedy”.

Kk thanks for reading.

OH WAIT, yeah I forgot this is a concert blog. Well! I saw him last night at the Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn. A tremendously stunning place to see live music, in my opinion. He played most of “Pure Comedy” straight through, without any speeches or commentary. Nerd moment- I fuuucking love when artists do this with newly released albums. it shows they care about it, it shows they're not just trying to appease the crowd with favorites. It’s saying here is the art i just created and worked on for mad amount of time. Sit the fuck down and experience it. He did every song except the 13 minute “Leaving LA” (good call IMO) and the last two songs, yanno, the uplifiting ones. Then halfway through he broke out the oldies, a couple from “Fear Fun” and a bunch from “I Love You, Honeybear”. The whole theater was standing and dancing and watching HIM dance and holy shit I love when tall lanky men swivel their hips. Probably one of the best parts about seeing Father John Misty live is watching him break it down. He was even slow dancing with himself at one point during “Strange Encounter” and i was both turned on and hysterically laughing. One interesting point to make was that he was oddly quiet. He’s known for long on-stage rants, whether they're actually anger driven or just a comedy bit- they usually always show up on Pitchfork the next day. This was my third time seeing him and i’ve had the pleasure of hearing some of those rants and raves. This time he was quiet, appreciative and...mature? IDK I really liked it. I think it mimicked the seriousness of his newest album and demanded that you pay attention to the music and what it’s trying to say. I noticed a bunch of Brooklyn bros at the end of the show making comments like “he wasn't that funny!” “I thought he was going to talk more” and thats fine, but maybe consider why that is. After he came back on for his encore he played the last two songs on “Pure Comedy” and ended on a very special and postive note with a v sweet sun and moon setting in the background. Father John Misty is giving us hope.

Also I felt this deserved it’s own paragraph but his band absolutely blew me away. I would 100% go see them live without vocals. He had an entire orchestra + five piece band. Another additive to the experience compared to past Father John Misty concerts, as he’s always played with just a 5 piece band. It made the album come alive in the most spectacular way.

All in all, he is still my favorite. I hope to see much more from him in the future because I think he has a really really good thing going on on all levels. So back on the topic on Father John Misty and hoping to find love. JOSH, BABE. if you ever see this, I owe you some thanks. If it weren't for you and if it weren't for Tinder syncing my Facebook page likes, I never would have matched with my current partner whom we both share a massive and almost grotesque love for you & we wouldn't have anything to talk about on our first date, or a an album to makeout to for the first time. so really, thanks. At the risk of sounding like a cheese dick, It’s amazing to me that your song, the one that gave me hope and an idea of an ideal partner, led me to so much happiness. Awwwww.

Steam “Pure Comedy” & go through an existential crisis, today! https://open.spotify.com/album/3CoFoDt6zt5EKxmTpOX32b

[berrymeter]

new onewe songs!!!!!!! i am, as always, slightly disappointed with the title track it’s so catchy but it seems so rushed i guess? but u should listen to this mini bc ur boy (dm) his voice has improved a lot and he gets to shine imo! my faves are ai and cosmos: ai is so chill and cosmos is peak historical fantasy ost.. also aurora but they’ve performed that live before so i ruined it for me by playing the live version over and over before the album was released 😓😓 also in other news everyone’s clowning e3 and my only thought is BOTW 2 COMING 2022 i’ll die i’ll dieeee and it looks like the terrain is floating chunks islands which is my favorite fantasy terrain ever it gives me castle in the sky it gives me the mmmh music video i’m so exciteddd unless they let me down again.. 🔪 -تي تي that’s arabic for tt i hope you missed my rambling blocks of text staining ur inbox

ok first thing i wanna address is that the "staining" my inbox reminded me of a gintama arc 😔💧 don't remember what the hell sougo & kondo were saying but it was beautiful & poetic so i find figurative stains endearing now . hi tt anon my beloved ❤

so i have only listened to the title track for now but i will pretty much write my reactions to the bsides as i listen to them LMAO, and personally i rlly liked it even though it could've been... more? but to be fair topping a book in memory is hard and if i expect a book in memory everytime they release a song i'll never be happy HJFDHKJ. i really enjoyed it, it's going into my current faves playlist for sure. i actually enjoy the acoustic guitar for once 😭 my biggest problem i think is that the mv is very much Not Delicate (albeit i guess a bit boring) but the song feels so... it doesn't go as hard as like. nearly being fucking drowned 😅😅😅 and as a lover of Anger and Passion and Strong Feelings in music it feels like a watered down moonshot. now i'm not sure how they could've bettered it actually though. let me think. maybe harin going harder on the drums? and More electric than just during the bridge? which i get isn't easy for when u play it live but... yonghoon should play the acoustic guitar while kanghyun plays electric guitar. i think this would make it better. also crazier vocals though i'm already happy with what we got but yonghoon relies on his falsetto so much can he scream more please. maybe a different rhythm in the chorus too but i like it in the post chorus, i really like the post chorus actually!! the drums should have a different rhythm i the chorus however i think it's the same problem i had with valkyrock. the rhythm is done weird. it's fast paced like in a pop song and ykw it reminds me of avicii which yeah it fits weird with the song... omgg can u believe initially i was gonna say "i don't have many thoughts on it" LMAOO i can never shut up can i

now for the bsides... well the intro is an intro. i do not have much to say 😔

aurora..... is so nice? i haven't heard it in full yet but this is really good and is also going on my playlists!! the chorus is very satisfying to hear i love it 😭 i hadn't heard it before bc i don't keep up with shit HDJKSHFK but i really like it a lot!!!

miss logo i do love her...... it still feels like there's something missing ngl but i'll still cry to it so it's all good! i'll need a couple more listens to have fully formed thoughts i think but i like it very much!

onto a.i....... ohh a song with a brighter tone from onewe? hasn't happened since end of spring LMAO. ohhh this is really good this is really really good!!!!! *free jazz mcdonald's tiktok voice* i'm lovin it. i will absolutely do a feedback on giwook dongmyeong & yonghoon once i'm done with the mini bc i have many thoughts especially on dongmyeong yeah 😭 u were right he has improved but i wanna elaborate on that. OHHH KANGHYUN WITH THE GUITAR!!!!! this is so pleasant OHHHHHH DONGMYEONG WITH THE ONOMATOPEIA THAT WAS SO NICE i love that song. i will marry her. i like this kind of song but they're not usually my favourites and well so far?..... so good

i do like veronica :00 this is gonna be an unpopular opinion but i actually don't like ateez' older songs that much for the majority when it comes to the happier/brighter songs and veronica fits in with those songs, except it's better and has a band. like if winner & ateez's best happy songs had a baby and it was better than both of them. that's veronica. does that make sense. it's not groundbreaking but i love it

cosmos now!! oh you're riiight about that song. historical fantasy drama with this song as the soundtrack i would definitely watch. this is so tragic and beautiful i can only imagine what kind of storyline they'd add into a drama like that. it's hmmm maybe not one of my favourites on this mini but to be fair? they also all are favourites. they're all really good songs and ykw i don't wanna pit winners against each other. love wins

NOW ONTO MY BELOVEDS i will not judge harshly at all except for yonghoon i Guess but like. hmmm! oh yonghoon how i wish you used your mixed voice more! falsetto is hard to use (at least for me) so i get that he's showing off but sometimes you just gotta yell really loud and strong. it would make the songs a lot more powerful imo (not all of them but like, some). ofc i'm not gonna criticise his technique i just wish he used his voice differently with every release giwook is more & more pleasant to listen to which is really cool considering he already started out pleasant lol... now we all know how kpop rappers are but idk he's nice he's neat. he mostly just talk sings as they do but it's at least nice to hear, and everytime he and dongmyeong play off each other in songs it's a delight!! just very good. 10/10 and of course. dongmyeong. you're absolutely right he's been improving a LOT with every release and personally i really appreciate when he uses his lower tone as well bc you can feel he's comfortable with it (unlike... well.) bc he's really learnt to use his range. and actually? as i have compared yonghoon's use of the falsetto to jonghyun's (bold move but i'm not taking it back) i will compare dongmyeong's vocals to taemin's. they both have this smoother tone that makes them really good as supporting vocalists, something i realised listening to this mini, he will never be a vocalist like yonghoon in the way that his voice will never sound as powerful, like powerful for a main vocalist in a kpop group, but used the way it's being used as a lead vocalist, it really fits!! and if he were to like, go solo or whatever (extremely unlikely i know this is just hypothetical) i could honestly see him do similar stuff to taemin when it comes to how he'd sing. ofc i'm not expecting him to become a dance master even if he's onewe's best (and only?) dancer LMAO but their vocals are similar in that way

whew that got super long i'm so sorry but I AGREEEEE BOTW 2 MY BELOVED. ppl have been drawing comparisons with skyward sword & saying that it might be taking place in skyloft and honestly? HONESTLY? please. i'm already excited for ss hd (as upsetting as it was that most of the game had nothing to do with skyloft itself i just spend my time flying around lmao) but botw 2 i am Looking. and yeah it does give castle in the sky ohhh my favourite ghibli film oohhhhhh my beloved OOHHHHHHHH

[westakoasta]

Joe Dub - WCI, 2005

Alright, tell us about your childhood in SF, the records that had an impact on you..

Growin up in "the city" was cool... It's one of the most diverse and open minded cities in the States. A lot of pride... Not just for the city itself but for culture as well. Music and art is not only embraced, it's encouraged. I started off singin in a choir and playin the trumpet. Plus my Mom would paint so I'd get in home art lessons. But I was hella into sports also. I played baseball from like 5 or 6 years old through high school. I was a raw ass in fielder... But couldn't really hit too well though... Haha! But yeah I had a typical childhood I guess. Gettin into trouble... Girls... Yunno that kinda shit. It wasn't really until like 85 that I started rhymin. It was more some fuck around shit we'd do in the schoolyard at lunchtime. Just freestyle shit.. Braggin and baggin.. Recorded some shit just for fun... I still got those tapes.. Fucking funny stuff man.

Around 86 or so I remember listening to KPOO (local hip-hop radio station in the bay) when they had dj's like... KK... Marcus Clemens and Dan the Automator. One night I remember they played Eric B and Rakim "Check out my Melody," Mixmaster Gee "The Manipulator" (check artist), BDP "My 9mm Goes Bang" and Just Ice "Latoya" in succession. I recorded that show still have that tape in fact. Anyways, once the show ended at that moment I knew I wanted to do this shit seriously. The beats moved me but I was more trying to rap then. It wasn't till 90 or 91 when I into making beats.

As far as records that inspired me rapwise? I was a fan of all of the old stuff. Flash, Kurtis Blow, Spoonie G, but it was the progressive shit that had me buggin. Anything that Kurtis Mantronik did... Just Ice (dopest mc of all time imo)... T LA Rock... All that... Schooly D was like a surrogate father to me as a child. Quite the role model!!!  Hahahahah!

Let's talk about the Westcoast Workforce. How did y'all came along together, the records/ tracks you did collectively... Everything. I once read about a reformation with you, Sub, Radioinactive, Xinxo, Liferex and Omid.. Is that true?

Well the Workforce was around before I was put on. It was Xinxo, Sub, AntiMC, Radio, Premonition, Memorex, Rhetoric and some other folks. It wasn't until 99 when I was at the B-boy Summit that I met Sub and AntiMC. We traded tapes and that was that. That was like February or March. Then in July of 99 P-minus hits me up and is like "Radio and Antimc are in town and trying to get at you" gave me the number. I called em... Chopped it up for a good second but we never got a chance to hang out then. In September, Deeskee, Maleko and I rolled down to LA to kick it at the Shapeshifter house in Westwood where Rob One (RIP), Exist, Bleek and Dr. Lewd lived. We left SF at about 5 AM and got in at 10 PM. Pull up to the house and Rob is sitting outside car full of records, sayin "cool you guys are here... Let's go." He had a gig and was waitin on us. So we go to the show... And i'm outside smokin and sub walks up and he's like what's up, you wanna be down with the Workforce? That was pretty much it. Megabusive, Liferexall and them got down right after that. As for getting back together, me, Xinxo, Radio, Subtitle, and Rexall, got together and talked about it when I was in LA in 2004. Some of the old names came up, but due to differences and conflictin schedules we left it at that. Omid and Premonition were included as well. But with everyone doing solo shit right now, it's just a name we claim, no albums or tours will be coming anytime soon. Me and Xinxo joke that we are the Workforce. But all of us still work together... Still hang out and what not... The timing is just off right now. I'm trying to get a Workforce song on my album... We'll see!

You probably have one of the most prolific discography in the bay, tones of collaborations and obscure groups... What were the most important ones  to you? Also there's this one called The Citadel, which was supposed to be you, Sub, Liferexall and Megabusive.. Does this one only ever existed?

I've been blessed to work with the people I have! My favorite one would have to be with the folks I know the most. Friends... Not just MC's doin songs together... People. Cuz there's no chemistry there. It's not just like "Hey let's do a song to do a song". It's because you know the person and you know they'd fit the mood of the song, whatever it may be. Some shit is fuck around and some is serious with money involved, but either way if it's the homies... It's fun! The folks I like workin with are like... All the Workforce, Deeskee, the Shapes, Khule, Topic, Tommy V, and the list goes on. It's laid back and relaxed when we work. Bustin jokes... Talkin story... That's what I like. Like me and 2Mex did this song when he was in Hawaii... Some quick shit... He's talking about his trip to Hawaii... I was talking about mine to LA. It's probably won't ever come out... But those are the best collabs when you do it for fun.

Citadel? HAHAHA. How'd you hear about that? Yeah we did that at Sub's mom's house in Mid City. Me, Megabusive, Subtitle, and Life were kickin it hard. We all made beats and rapped so Sub had the idea let's each make a 2 beats and do songs in like a week. But the only way Sub would let me rap on it was if I styled hard....HAHAHA! See he saw me freestyle once and I was stylin it up... Haha... Blowed style. But that's another story... So yeah we did that shit... Came out tight. But it was just for fun... Wait so you have a copy? Cuz I don't. I think Sub is the only one with it.

You moved recently to Hawaï... Tell us about it, how's life out there, differences with California, the hip hop scene, if it's a good place for cratedigging... Anything.

Life in Hawaii is slow. A far cry from the pace of the rest of the States. Everybody out here does things at their own speed. Where as in Cali everythings done on a schedule. I pretty much work between the two... Though it's tough sometimes. It's a small island so the scene is smaller than I'm used to. There's some good talent and the fans support. I don't get out that much though so I can't speak on it too much. Yeah man there's a few dope spots for diggin out here. I left a lot of my records back in Cali and I have like 5,000 here in Hawaii. Most of which I got here, some common shit, some rare shit, but theres a lot of come ups, not many people out here are lookin for the kind of stuff I am. So I always find something worth while. Plus, the prices are cheap... No record is ever over $20... Almost everything is under $5... I'm kind of spoiled with that!

Do you have a job besides hip hop?

Nah, I haven't had a 9 to 5 in about 3 or 4 years. Music hasn't been great to be but it's been good enough. I just sell beats and work on music all day. Hit the beach and drink myself to sleep.

You got an album with Ellay Khule called In A World Of My Own that will be released soon... Can you tell us about it? And also, what about this 8′’ vinyl released by Anti-Party? I'm curious to see what a 8" looks like?

It's actually called "In My Own World". The album came about through a mutual friend of Khule and I. He told Khule to check out my beats and I've always been a fan of Khule since I can remember so I was obviously down. At first I'd send him beats in the mail... Then he wrote the songs... Then I flew out to LA to lay the beats and vocals down.... I prefer doing music in person not long distance. It helps the chemistry. But yeah, I didn't want to give him elaborate beats... I wanted his vocals to be the focus... There's something for every Khule fan on the album... There's some hard Rifleman shit... Some Ellay Khule aggressive styling... And some real heart felt personal shit... This album is probably the most complete project i've worked on to date... Me and Khule have talked about doin another project together so this definately won't a one shot deal... As for the 8′’... It's a collection of about 5 or 6 songs off my old "Noise Pollution" tape... Yeah DJ Plankton from Anti-Party really wanted to release the whole album on vinyl but... I'm about moving forward... Plus the sound quality on that tape really wouldn't cut in on vinyl... So we agreed to bust a limited run of 8"'s with some of the songs off Noise Pollution instead... It should be coming out in july... Very limited though... I heard something like under 100 are being pressed...

What's your opinion on the evolution of the underground scene?

Umm I mean... Damn... Haha... It's weird... I'm kinda removed from the Cali scene being out here in Hawaii... But... I’ll say this... The way the scene used to be... Everyone knew their place... You had the MCs/ DJs/ producers/ B-Boys... The vendors... Promoters... And the fans. And who you were was cool. Everyone respected it... Now with all the advancements with technology and free programs for computers... I'd have to honestly say that 70-75% of the people in the scene are MC's or producers now... Now i'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed their voice... But... Go through the proper channels... Pay dues... Hustle... No one has to hustle anymore... We used to take the last 100 bucks we had... Go get tapes made... Have about 20 bucks left... Spend that on gas and roll to LA... Just to slang tapes at shows...n Ad to tap into a different region... Get our shit out there... Sleep in cars... On couches whatever... We'd sell about 50 tapes or so in a weekend for 5 bones... And come back home broke... But to us the trips were always a success... Now... Everyones got a website with a store... It's so easy now... You don't have to leave your house and you can move 1000 units no sweat... I'd have to sum it up by saying that there's less passion nowadays... I really don't want to go any deeper into this.... Haha.

How do you see yourself at 50? And do you project yourself in the future as a rapper, I mean, do you have plans of doing something else?

At 50?.... If i make it that far... I'll still be making music....if i'm rappin still it'll probably just be for myself....but i'll still be producing...i'm a proud drop out...so....i don't think i'll ever rock a career or a 9 to 5 for that matter again....but if my life changes drastically by then....i can say i'll always have music....

What are you listening to right now... and your all time 5 favorite lps..?

Right now....i'm listening to ellay khule-califormula...alot of mandrill.....gong....totally insane....young ed....alot of my beats(not because i'm an ego maniac...but because i'm kinda forced to listen to them as i make them)....and all the myspace mc's who want me to "check out their tracks".......all time 5?......shit.....here i mean.....i'll just give you 5 incredible albums i'm listening to now.....utfo-lethal earth wind and fire-greatest hits...sade-love deluxe......cid-harder they come.....just ice-back to the old school

What about your future releases? do you plan to have some other artists on Asita?

For me i got my new album "pooretry" almost completed...that should be coming out in like sept/oct of this year....the pain killers album...which is me and my homegirl topic...that's gonna be out on beyond space ent....not really sure of the date there....but that one's bangin....we got beats from...sach...deeskee...liferexall...matth...meaty ogre...alex75 and many many more.....like i said before....the khule album is pretty much done...we're just waiting for califormula to drop....before we release it.....yeah there's gonna be alot of other folks comin out on asita....once i finish my album...i'm going to start a project with nocando....he's a younger cat coming out of blowed and his crew customer service...he's got some specific shit he wants to do so i'm making sure i'm free of all commitments before i start on that....plus an asita/la2thebay beat series....the first installment i believe will be myself...deeskee...liferexall and sach....just all instrumentals...some old some new....we'll be puttin out new ones like twice a year...featuring all the producers in the family....and i'm currently trying to do a couple projects with some other folks but so far it's just talk.....

Thanks a lot for the interview.. any last words?

I guess just thanks to all the supporters world wide....from hawaii to europe....and of course one love to all my family....blood/friends/musicians.....the people i do this for... be easy.

Interview conducted by Pseudzero for West Coast Indies, 2005.