#Chappell roan nation how we doing

[crunchie-morris]

All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right…

Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right!!!

SHE GETS THE JOB DONE!!!!!!!!

[batboyblog]

https://www.tumblr.com/batboyblog/763234650399424512/the-recent-chappell-roan-thing-is-why-i-absolutely

I frankly also get the impression that a lot of these people genuinely think another Trump term will just be “business as usual” or “it’ll only hurt the people who deserve to suffer” and that they’ll just be able to hide away from the consequences for four years before someone comes along and fixes the mess for them and they get to benefit.

I don’t think they have any realization of just how bad this is gonna get the second time around, because the first time Trump was metaphorically behind a chained fence and held back by strong rope. This time he’s being let loose alongside his fascist theocratic friends.

I've puzzled about this for some time, because like do people honestly not remember what it was like? what those 4 years were like? the fear, the chaos, the national embarrassment. Every day waking up and going "oh god! what did he DO! while I was asleep!" and how often you'd wake up to some story that he'd tweeted something scary and dangerous at 4am. I believe him threatening to nuke North Korea (the "Fire and Fury" tweet) was one of those very early AM specials that we all woke up to.

I mean for people like Chappell, its hard to remember, but Trump has been the more or less national main character for 9 years, since the fall of 2015. I mean an 18 year old first time voter could have been 8 years old when Trump came down the gold escalators told us all that Mexicans were rapists and he was running for President. So for anyone under 30, Trump is normal since every election they've been able to vote in, he's been the Republican nominee. I've spent 9 years of my life, across 5 elections fighting Trump directly or indirectly. Depressing thought that.

but past that there's been a national effort to gaslight us all into thinking "yeah no it was normal" I mean I remember the media coverage of 2017, the first year or so of Trump's Presidency, every few weeks or so there'd be some "is it time for the 25th amendment now?" story about if Trump's weird behavior this time for his cabinet to step it and remove him. (A quick google turned up CNN Oct 2017, New York Times May 2017, The Guardian July 2017, and Vox February 2017) compare that to coverage today? The term "Sane-washing" has been coined where when Trump says something bonkers it gets characterized as "sometimes meandering" rather than "incomprehensible" and "worrying"

figures in the media have gone so far as to claim there's just no point to covering new Trump scandals because "they won't move the needle" which really should not be a journalist standard. And we see that they do, take North Carolina's Mark Robinson. Caught in a massive scandal, involving sex, porn, and being a Nazi, he's now down massively in the polls after nation wide coverage. Trump just had new court documents opened that showed he wanted a riot on January 6th, that his reaction to a mob threatening the life of his Vice-President was "so what?" and they he knew full well that he had lost but was going to "fight like hell" any ways. And its not much of a story, indeed I'm seeing more news about a NY Republican Congress having worn black face (new story today) than Trump's effort to over throw the government and kill Mike Pence.

past the media's gaslighting of course there's been a major and on-going campaign to effect how we see reality. I know that sounds very woo-woo, but to step back for second, most of what we know about the world is stuff people tell us, so you know Joe Biden is the President because other people have said so, most likely you've never met him or even seen him in person. Well as more and more people turn away from traditional media, and traditional media turns more and more to making of money by confirming the bias of people, it becomes easier and easier to slip things that are not real into "facts we are told". So for example "Joe Biden is President, and also in decline" there's never been any real evidence of that, but if on social media you are bombarded with it 4,000 times a day... you start to take it as understood wisdom.

people are also getting worse and worse at not just taking what they're told if it confirms biases they already have. Former Vice-President Al Gore wrote a book nearly 20 years ago now, called "The Assault on Reason" which had a ton of very interest neuroscience about the ways that moving images, TV he was talking about, by-pass the logic centers of the mind, the way we relate and trust someone talking to us in a way the written word does not. I can't help but reflect on that with the rise of TikTok and short form video as a "source of information" (lol)

any ways this is a long winded way of saying bad faith players, Republicans, left wing grifters, and agents of chaos, have been very good at flooding the zone all through the Biden Presidency with stuff "student loan debt" remember when that was SO! important SO big and Biden "not doing anything" (untrue) was the biggest deal? well yesterday his newest plan got unlocked in court and 3 out of every 4 people with loan debt will get relief.... oh you're just now hearing about that from me? huh... funny... I thought it was the number one issue and reason we should never trust Biden and the Democrats... weird....

but there have been other issues pushed up as THE! issue, its all misdirection, its all meant to get natural Democratic voters to feel frustrated, upset, and hopeless, and not to vote their interest. The world is a big complex multi moving machine, and anyone telling you that one issue either fixes every other issue or totally totally outweighs everything else and should for everyone, is most likely BSing you and doesn't have your best interests at heart.

and lets be clear, Trump is a Rapist he's a lot of things, traitor, racist, scumbag, criminal, scab, tax cheat, fraud, etc but for me any ways, I'm not gonna vote for a rapist to be President and if other people aren't gonna do everything they can to stop a rapist from being the President I don't want to hear how much they care about progressive issues.

[thestalwartheart]

007 Fest 2024 Masterpost

It's 11:59pm here on the 31st of July, and I'm signing off from Fest 2024 feeling like this:

Fics

toothpaste a cup runneth over the wait the quiet whisper i can't get no the hour before tea he's a little bit

Misc

Moodboard: TEXAS HOLD 'EM (00Leiter) Moodboard and ficlet: A little bit Alexis Bond Poem: first impressions

RADI00Q: 31 Songs for Bond and Q

A full playlist of every song featured this month is available on Spotify (thanks @eleanor-is-fine!) and YouTube.

Want to relive the moodboards? Here they are:

Song 1: Good Luck, Babe - Chappell Roan Song 2: Will We Talk? - Sam Fender Song 3: I Saw - Young Fathers Song 4: This Is The Last Time - The National Song 5: Everything - MUNA Song 6: Little Red Corvette - Prince Song 7: I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You - Tom Waits Song 8: Blue Monday - New Order Song 9: Love Calls You By Your Name - Leonard Cohen Song 10: Catherine Wheel - The Whitlams (covered by Megan Washington and the SSO) Song 11: Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground Song 12: England - The National Song 13: Phobia - Nothing But Thieves Song 14: Sunday Best - Megan Washington Song 15: You Are In Love - Taylor Swift Song 16: I Touch Myself - The Divinyls Song 17: The Heart Is A Muscle - Gang of Youths Song 18: Want Me - Baby Queen Song 19: Mystery of Love - Sufjan Stevens Song 20: Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys Song 21: Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn Song 22: I Wish I Was Sober - Frightened Rabbit Song 23: The Walls Are Way Too Thin - Holly Humberstone Song 24: How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths Song 25: Ocean Blue - Kita Alexander Song 26: Maybe You Know - Holy Holy Song 27: Writer - Paolo Nutini Song 28: A Sunday Kind of Love - Etta James Song 29: Linger - The Cranberries Song 30: Overcome - Nothing But Thieves Bonus song: Tears For Fun - Griff Song 31: 'Til Forever Falls Apart - Ashe & FINNEAS

--- GUEST SPOTS ---

Voice In My Throat - Pearl and the Beard Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby - Cigarettes After Sex It Had To Be You - Frank Sinatra Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift Shameful Company - Rainbow Kitten Surprise Splinter - MYRNE & salem ilese Please Please Please - Sabrina Carpenter Drive You Home - Garbage Hold Me Closer - Cornelia Jakobs The Ocean - Dar Williams Starlings - Elbow Talk - Hozier

I am genuinely so thankful to everyone who hyped up and supported me this month. You’re all angels.

And if your song didn’t make it to RADI00Q this month: I’m so so sorry! There were a few I didn’t have the spoons to get around to. But stay tuned - August and September might bring a few surprises 😘

[ratherembarrassing]

2024: weeks 39 and 40 (wtf?!)

time is a fucking hamster wheel and i'm literally too lazy to edit this into the way i usually do, so. enjoy!

england!:

the cold that hit me on the bus home after chappell roan persisted through every event recorded in this post. just a little context for fun.

monday morning, awoke to a giant fucking billboard ad for hinge literally outside my hotel window having gone up overnight, which felt unnecessarily pointed and i decided i had to leave london immediately.

but i didn't, because i needed food. can we talk about eggslut's hashbrowns again? cause they are fucking incredible.

was immediately punished for not leaving london, as i turned a corner in shoreditch and walked straight into a film set, which did in fact give me a mild panic attack because reasons. it was citadel, so it was fine.

then i got the hell out of london. i got in a car and i drove! off into the countryside! apparently there was flooding across southern england, but as i drove literally all the way across southern england in both directions, i saw little more than puddles, so i'm not convinced. also, trees. so many trees!

thus begins what i think i will simply refer to in the future as "that time i drove all over southern england just because."

i did absolutely zero research or planning for anything beyond typing "seven sisters" into google maps to check how far it was, but i did not die so it's fine, and then i did in fact see the seven sisters. i did get asked if i was there to kill myself, which i was not, but i can see how i might have given off that vibe.

salisbury can go fuck itself, but it's probably not the town of salisbury's fault so much as the weather, the cunt at the front desk of the hotel i was staying at, and the horrible potato thing i ate there. they do have a very cool cathedral.

stonehenge can stay.

bath is in fact prettier than advertised. the hotel i booked while in some jetlag-fueled delirium was in fact a bath. at this point i did feel like wandering the english countryside was revealing something to me, which might have just been the general lack of sleep talking.

after a very early morning trip to the actual roman baths and stomping around in the rain, i had had enough of doing things, and that is how i ended up eating kfc at 4pm in my hotel bed and then sleeping for like 12 hours.

three days in the country was all i thought i could tolerate, so i went back to london for a hot minute to look at some art at the national gallery. once again i was denied seeing the turners i should have been able to see.

insert here the story of me frantically trying to find a way to charge my phone with only 1% battery and my train ticket trapped inside it and all of st pancras having exactly zero ways for me to do so.

train - the bad version.

@notabuddhist treated me to the sights of her lovely town! again, i feel like Seeing England has revealed something to me, if not about myself then at least about the goals of the white people in australia that were previously unknown to me. don't know what to do with this knowledge yet.

train - the good version.

and then: emma time. listen, i don't think that play was any great work of art. it might actually have been corny as hell. but that's not the point. the point is i didn't die, and i went back again the next night and didn't die again. growth!

i wasn't planning to go to the tate, but sometimes you just have to go to the tate.

refusing to concede my final day in england, brunch in soho, wandered over to the royal academy for some more art, took my life in my hands again biking from buckingham palace back to my hotel.

i did not manage to find a lick of football to watch, so i went to the airport and went home.

the nightmare that followed:

monday did not exist for me

tuesday i arrived home at like 5am, slept all day, slept all night.

wednesday???

thursday i went back to work.

friday, i have no fucking clue.

weekend??????????????????? will my sleep schedule ever return to normal, we just don't know. i'd like to be a cool international traveler who just bounces from place to place, but the timezones between here and there specifically have destroyed me every time on returning to australia.

the end.

[intothedysphoria]

Bloody hell, it’s been a fucking age since I’ve done one of these

Hey Harringrove nation besties. It’s gonna be ok.

I know it doesn’t feel like it with the state of well, anything that’s going on in the world but it will be. So I have created a list of good things both in the world of two fictional gay teenagers and a few things happening in the real world rn that are not depressing as shit

We have a new Dacre project coming! And it looks gooddddddd

If Billy was alive in 2024, he’d definitely be a Chappell Roan fan

I have now seen a photo of Joe in a yellow crop top and it has added several years to my lifespan

Imagining Harringrove running a drag race recap podcast that they’ve named something absolutely filthy and they’re happy and out and together

I do truly think Dacre knows what he means to us

Mullets are in full force again and the amount of men I have seen who look exactly like Billy Hargrove is incredible

Steve makes Billy teach him how to surf and he somehow manages to capsize every single time

Billy Hargrove’s hatred for capitalism lived on and on todays 4th of July, the UK got rid of the fucking Tories. Starmer may be a wanker but he isn’t a fascist.

@shieldofiron exists and I know I told her I wouldn’t tag anyone in this but Saf is one of the best people I know genuinely and she’s one of my best friends

This fandom is and continues to be one of the most resilient online communities I know. It’s been a tough year but the compassion I’ve seen people show each other in these spaces has really made me regain hope. And remember abuse is not the end, recovery is not linear and you will be ok. Promise.

(Yes this is actually me, I’m just on a new account!)

[rqsser]

song prompt list!

for romantic relationships

use these however you please! whether that be writing or creating a playlist:)

(song - artist)

hopeless/devoted

ocean avenue - yellowcard

there is - box car racer

are you gonna be my girl - jet

she’s out of her mind - blink-182

can’t help falling in love - elvis presley

vienna - billy joel

tear in my heart - twenty one pilots

come and get your love - redbone

ribs - lorde

i’m a believer - smash mouth

wherever you will go - the calling

my alien - simple plan

meet you there - simple plan

the rock show - blink-182

when your heart stops beating - +44

truly madly deeply - savage garden

cupid’s chokehold/breakfast in america - gym class heros

unrequited/complicated

should i stay or should i go? - the clash

dammit - blink182

complicated - avril lavigne

self esteem - the offspring

r u mine? - arctic monkeys

lover, you should’ve come over- jeff buckley

vampire empire - big thief

wasted summers - juju<3

you give love a bad name - bon jovi

roxanne - the police

fix you - coldplay

build me up buttercup - the foundations

i miss you - blink-182

stay together for the kids - blink-182

heartbreak hotel - elvis presley

jessie’s girl - rick springfield

what was i made for? - billie eilish

obsessive/delusional

every breath you take - the police

meant to be yours - heathers musical

paparazzi - lady gaga

do i wanna know? - arctic monkeys

are we still friends? - tyler, the creator

lovefool - the cardigans

maria - justin bieber

step on me - the cardigans

pacify her - melanie martinez

my strange addiction - billie eilish

national anthem - lana del rey

obsessed - olivia rodrigo

the red means i love you - madds buckley

tear you apart - she wants revenge

puppet - tyler, the creator

sexual/carnal

espresso - sabrina carpenter

crazy in love - beyoncé, jay-z

call out my name - the weeknd

rock your body - justin timberlake

sexy drug - falling in reverse

on my own - darci

runway walk - demrick

thong song - sisqo

goodies - ciara, petey pablo

california gurls - katy perry, snoop dogg

take my breath away - berlin

stacy’s mom - fountains of wayne

scotty doesn’t know - lustra

after last night - multiple artists

closer - nine inch nails

if u think i’m pretty - artemas

doin’ time - lana del rey

yearning/nostalgia

summer of ‘69 - bryan adams

happy together - the turtles

505 - arctic monkeys

lost in the woods - jonathan groff

end of beginning - djo

my girl - the temptations

please, please, please, let me get what i want - the smiths

good luck, babe! - chappell roan

need 2 - pinegrove

somethin’ stupid - frank & nancy sinatra

chasing cars - snow patrol

how to save a life - the fray

linger - the cranberries

so real - jeff buckley

slipping through my fingering - abba

race - alex g

no surprises - radiohead

love me - elvis presley

abusive/toxic

bad habit - steve lacy

nonsense - sabrina carpenter

please please please - sabrina carpenter

wake me up when september ends - green day

love the way you lie - eminem, rhianna

favourite crime - olivia rodrigo

drivers license - olivia rodrigo

set fire to the rain - adele

toxic - britney spears

don’t blame me - taylor swift

play date - melanie martinez

moral of the story - ashe

bad romance - lady gaga

jealousy, jealousy - olivia rodrigo

kill bill - sza

deja vu - olivia rodrigo

—

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 26/10/2024 (Bruno Mars & ROSÉ, Gracie Abrams, Morgan Wallen)

For a ninth week straight, Sabrina Carpenter holds onto the #1 on the UK Singles Chart with “Taste”. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, references to sex, violence, mental health (paranoia, suicide, abusive relationships)

Rundown

As always, we start our episode with the notable dropouts, those being tracks exiting the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to a fair few songs, it was a bit of a bloodbath even if I can see a lot of these making a return. We say our farewells to “KEEP UP” by Odetari, “Pretty Slowly” by Benson Boone, “You’re Gonna Go Far” by Noah Kahan, “Blame it on the Rain” by Milli Vanilli, “Free” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, “Angel of My Dreams” by JADE (more on her later), “Carry You Home” by Alex Warren, “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas, “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor, “Scared to Start” by Michael Marcagi and finally, “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay.

Much of the reason for our grand list of dropouts would not just be the amount of newer entries we have this week, which span from viral slow-burn deep cuts to sudden smash hits that missed even my periphery, but it should definitely be noted how many re-entries we have this week, though the circumstances for them are quite unfortunate. Former One Direction member and English singer and media personality in his own right, Liam Payne, has passed at 31, having jumped out of his hotel room in Argentina after what is likely a period of intense substance abuse. Payne had recently been in the news for allegations of his own, and his career had never reached the heights of his boy band fame or even his contemporaries, though this still struck a lot of people, especially on social media where TMZ posted images of his corpse. Classy. Payne’s death is the tragic by-product of an industry, a series of labels and plenty of executives disregarding the likely traumatic outcome of being thrown into pop stardom at a young age. There were so many moments in the careers of the 1D boys where it seemed evident that access points to support just weren’t there, or weren’t taken seriously because of the fact they were a famous boy band – you just cough it up, right? It’s the industry, it’s just “how it is”. Chappell Roan has recently highlighted how terrifying pop music can be as a performer, and with Payne passing, maybe there’ll be a second look towards those who could have gotten to him in the years before his death, and simply refused, restrained themselves on the grounds of their own financial bottom line. Preventive measures need to be in place, and whilst I doubt Liam Payne of all people should be the figurehead of mental health struggles in pop music because of his own problematic history and real lack of career growth, he should be a stark reminder that those you forget about in showbiz don’t just disappear… until they do.

Of course, this show is about the chart itself, and ultimately, another awful reminder of how pop music can put you through the wringer is present in our non-Payne re-entry at #69: “Careless Whisper” by the late George Michael. Recently reissued in celebration of its 40-year anniversary, the classic hit spent three weeks at #1 as Michael’s solo break from Wham! in 1984. Possibly the greatest treasure George Michael brought to the nation was preventing Black Lace’s novelty “Agadoo” from the top spot. Sarah Washington’s dance version reached #45 in 1993, and a UK garage rendition by 2 Play featuring Thomas Jules and Jucxi D took “Careless Whisper” to the top 40 once again in 2004 at #29. Just to date these songs, the #1s were the late Meat Loaf’s “I’ll Do Anything for Love” and Girls Aloud’s “I’ll Stand by You”, respectively. The original recording returned for a few weeks in 2017 following Michael’s passing, reaching #44, and it’s back for presumably one week, though a grimly potent one.

Otherwise, we have Liam Payne and One Direction making their returns: as for his solo hits, “For You”, a duet with Rita Ora from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack is back at #43, near his most iconic track, “Strip that Down” featuring Quavo at #41, which I mostly remember for being co-written with Ed Sheeran and sounding like Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me”. It originally peaked at #3 for two weeks in 2017 whilst “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber was, unsurprisingly, #1. “For You”, on the other hand, which is – quite scarily – new enough for me to have reviewed on its debut week back in 2018, peaked at #8 for two weeks that year, whilst Drake’s “God’s Plan” held onto #1. Oh, and when I say I would have reviewed it on its debut week, I mean would have. I searched, and this is the second episode ever, that I mistakenly deleted in its entirety and replaced with a note essentially saying “whoops!” soon after. I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t do that today.

As for One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful” – which has spent nearly 80 weeks on the chart and was their debut single after their X Factor appearance – is back at #23. The now-iconic, mostly shit debut made the band parade in on first try to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, even if just for one week, and had appeared on the chart much lower but still regularly until as late as 2014. Our other returns from the boys are more sentimental: “Story of My Life” is back at #9, after peaking at #2 in 2013, blocked by Lily Allen’s cover of “Somewhere Only We Know”. My fun fact about this one is that Alvin and the Chipmunks have a cover that adapts their lyrics to be about their relationship with their owner Dave. Perhaps more importantly, however, it was co-written by all of the band members, a distinction it shares with its fellow ballad “Night Changes”, which resonates with fans partly because it is about accepting change that can come so soon and suddenly over the course of your life. I’m no Directioner by any means, but this is a beautiful, dare I say perfect song that has become their most-streamed just through sheer longevity, despite being far from their biggest smash at the time. It’s a slow burn that has the biggest star Harry on lead in the chorus, and ZAYN and Liam trading the first verse (ZAYN leaving after this single’s release), which really helps propel it – alongside the sentiment – to the top of the charts after Payne’s passing. It had a comparatively brief chart run compared to their other big hits in late 2014 and early 2015, only reaching #7 whilst “Uptown Funk!” was #1. There’s something really special about how when one component of the quintet is lost, the devoted fans, now mostly adults, have taken it just one spot higher to peak at #6 this week. Again, I’m no One Direction fan, I never had a connection with the boys like many would have, but this is the best song in the top 40 right now – a selfish part of me aches for a second run, but it’s unlikely it takes off past this week. It would be a beautiful moment though, for a song that in its chorus, defies that fear of change: even when everything you’ve ever wanted disappears at your wake, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Just look forward.

Oh, yeah, we also have notable gains, and you know, 74 other songs in the region I cover, though I could spend a great deal of time on “Night Changes”. However, we do see healthy boosts for “I Only Smoke When I Drink” by nimino at #57, “Bad Dreams” by Teddy Swims at #25, and that’s… actually it. This week’s top five on the UK Singles Chart starts with “I Love You, I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams at #5, then we have a new entry from ROSÉ of BLACKPINK and Bruno Mars at #4 with their duet “APT.” which we will get to discussing later. Then it should be more familiar: “Die with a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars (again) at #3, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez (who has her follow-up ready for next week) at #2 and of course, “Taste” at the top. So if we know how it tastes at the top, what about the bottom? I won’t say that again, new song review time.

New Entries

#75 – “Oscar Winning Tears.” – RAYE

Produced by Mike Sabath

This is the most recent viral sleeper hit from RAYE’s My 21st Century Blues, an album that had more longevity in moderate hits that backed up the smash of “Escapism.” long after that had left the charts. This serves as the first full song on the album after the introduction, or the overture on the live edition, setting out what seems to be the record’s primary narrative, at least in part, that of the constant manipulation of young women being taken advantage of by a manic and unjust music industry, that reflects upon the wider society enabling it. Whilst there aren’t many specifics – RAYE quickly dismisses his details as irrelevant since he’s just one of many men to have taken advantage of her – the track follows RAYE taking a seat and recognising his emotional outbursts in the ex-relationship as fake and full of lies, hence the name. There’s a cinematic showtune-esque approach to the rap-singing of the verses that ends up dipping in and out unevenly thanks to the mixing, but it still rests nicely into R&B, with a minimal shake-up of drums and piano that kicks its intensity up not through drastic changes but through stray details like a wanky guitar or a rattling hi-hat switch-up, eventually forming a mix that clouds up into nothingness. It doesn’t capture the swell it should, despite generally playing into its melodrama, and hence has the stop-start momentum that may fit its content but stilts its potential. There’s a confidence and empowerment to this track that decays on later, more jaded songs, and whilst it may be a good fit for RAYE, it doesn’t have the same touching vulnerability that bases some of her more powerful cuts in reality and adds a heartfelt backlining. It’s a good introduction, but as a single, it falters in really painting a complete picture.

#61 – “Piece of My Heart” – Wizkid and Brent Faiyaz

Produced by P2J, Dpat, Juice Cuice and Drew80HD

It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen either of these acts, but the Nigerian singer who helped propel modern Afrobeats into his current global success has teamed up with one of the most influential newer alt-R&B acts for a new duet fusing their styles. We probably wouldn’t have the hits we do without them, especially this year, so there’s a strangeness to seeing the two debut so low, though of course influence and inspiration don’t always translate chart-wise. What I also wouldn’t have expected was how ambitious this track ended up being, with Faiyaz being the main star in my opinion, as he effortlessly blends different vocal inflections and alterations into a slippery Afrobeats rhythm with uniquely hissy and busy drums, sounding really organic under and over the tropical guitars and sliding keys in that first beat. This is the cleanest Wizkid’s vocal mix has… ever sounded, really, and he frames himself as the sweatier, sexual intimacy to Faiyaz’s loving platitudes that importantly give this woman ownership of some of his heart, but restraining letting her have too much. It plays out in the song as a cheesy “I just won’t have enough for myself” one-liner but speaks to the empty, pitch-shifted promises of the intro and Wizkid sounding desperate in his quieter, stifled delivery once the hypothetical of him potentially hurting her come into play. Of course, you could, fantastically, ignore all of that and jam to how gorgeous this sounds as a piece of music, with an immaculate breeze of a mix forming from what should end up at least slightly too busy and chaotic.

With the beat switch into the chipmunk vocal on its second half, subtitled “Sometimes”, we get not just the other side of that loving character, but a grovelling acknowledgement of their flaws. That simple chorus really does get to the crux of it: “Sometimes, I might be a bad version of me”. Wizkid even attempts to link back and reminisce on the intimacy we heard over the first beat that has been subtly diluted with a shakier, frailer arrangement, to no avail before the tape stops. I’m not used to this level of narrative storytelling from Wizkid, especially not in the context of how seamlessly the production forms around it, and although Faiyaz may be the more significant performer here, it intrigues me more into how an upcoming album could shape up if this is the approach he’s going with. I’m kind of taken aback by this lead single, I am really fascinated to where he goes next, even if it may not chart anytime soon. He may have a new fan on his hands here.

#52 – “Fantasy” – JADE

Produced by Mike Sabath

Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix continues to work for solo success, with this being her third attempt after “Angel of My Dreams” was not overly impressive but a resounding success critically and commercially, though its follow-up failed to really climb up the ladder the same way, with “Fantasy” potentially suffering the same fate given its low debut. Is it worth the potential climb up though? Well, despite sharing the producer, it fails to echo either the immediacy or the core clash at the heart of that solo debut single, and whilst JADE is still bringing much more personality than any of the half-formed Little Mix solo singles recently, this borderline pride anthem feels a bit lost. The glittery disco synths meander until they combine into a flavourless dressing, interrupting with obnoxious woozy stabs any actual bassy impact and momentum those verses embracing kinks and freedom could be. Madonna’s Erotica – an unabashed EDM-pop embracing of queer sexuality – is one of my favourite albums of all time and whilst it can be abrupt, cheesy or indistinct, it always knows where it’s going and refuses to chug along into a full, greatly-produced but ultimately aimless mess of keys and stray ideas. I genuinely do not know why JADE or producer Mike Sabath would allow the lead to be so easily drowned out by the production, which then absorbs a wave of tropical-adjacent nu-disco elements that really overfill the mix, rendering it gross in the way that perhaps wasn’t intended. I’m all for over-the-top campness, but the message is quite literally lost in the breathy performance and playful structure, alongside the feathery soundscape. It feels like it’s taking too many detours – or, never really having the punch or strength to its hooks in the first place – before being able to deliver that confidence, rendering it much less impactful, more like a sugary syrup that resembled some form of liberation or resistance prior to manufacturing. On first listen, I just thought this was okay but it might actually be a more detrimental and unfortunate reading of its subject matter than it has any idea how to grapple with. This could be something, it clearly wants to be, but it fumbles far before the point of that potential being heard, let alone fulfilled.

#50 – “Noid” – Tyler, the Creator

Produced by Tyler, the Creator

It’s that season again – and by that, I could of course mean Halloween and the spooky season but I mostly mean the season in which California rapper Tyler, the Creator, after staying relatively quiet for a year or two, announces a project, a new identity or character to play within the persona of for that record’s promotion – if not the project itself – and within a few weeks, he’ll have dropped a few promotional videos and eventually, a full album, mostly self-produced and with exciting hidden features… that’s on Monday, however. Once again, Tyler has eschewed convention by refusing to release on the crowded Friday and instead delaying his album until the Monday, hence the debut for a mid-week single that feeds into the Halloweeny times by focusing on paranoia.

This album’s protagonist, Saint Chroma of CHROMAKOPIA, constantly feels like, for lack of a phrase that doesn’t paraphrase a seasonal one-hit wonder, somebody’s watching him. The music video depicts visions of violence and fear that may not be real but find themselves justified in the lyrics, stretching this fictional personality back to Tyler’s reality where he can draw parallels in between the home invasions still plaguing the friends he grew up with, to the paparazzi’s focus on his 2023 purchase of a million-dollar mansion, in terms of how that can both eat at you and isolate you. Los Angeles’ celebrity culture and his familiarity with the city leads Chroma, or Tyler, to not feel understood in his conflict, with the sarcastic hook expressing envy for those who can just enjoy the small pleasure of watching, feeling, enjoying the simplicities of life. Tyler, however, feels bombarded by the inhuman: cameras, satellites, screenshots – when screens are pushed in front of you and your extensive purchases are news, that same systemic oppression from living in an unsafe neighbourhood returns in a way that may not put you in immediate danger, but reassures how insignificant and statistical you are in the spotlight, with the beat switch segmenting the two sides of life as much as it branches the two together.

Sonically, I mean, it’s Tyler, it’s lengthy and detailed, finding even more ways to develop his typically fuzzy and complete sound into the specific energy he wishes to operate within for a particular album cycle. Zambian psychedelic rock samples texture the first half, with Tyler displaying his barer, flawed singing voice without the coating IGOR granted it, though the “runnin’” he’s been doing for years in his music and the immense vocal layers from his catalogue but particularly that album remain, with WILLOW and Tyler’s separate multi-tracked choirs constantly attacked by that sample of Paul Ngozi reflecting a similar mania in his own native language – crossing those barriers feels particularly potent for a song that’s really about homes. Hell, Tyler’s mother even appears on the interlude threatening to beat up anyone who messes with her son, whose frail, pitch-shifted vocals that follow her defiant words emphasise how much we owe to our households. I love how the second half extends its intensity on pure tedium with Tyler’s nasal drawling out of the “e” sound in “me” over real, but low-fidelity claps. As for the full release on Monday, I’ll be excited to see how powerfully this hits within that context as something so dense as this can be difficult to sift through as a single, and Tyler has definitely polarised audiences with his leads before a critically adored album to follow, so my ears are peeled. Tyler’s releases always feel like an incredibly well-planned and momentous event, where even if I don’t love the album as much as his last, I can respect the growth, and such a complicated song from such a complicated artist definitely deserves a look from the bigger picture. Hell, that may just be the point of his attitude towards fame since at least CHERRY BOMB in 2015. Nearly a decade later, I’m excited to see how his approach has changed.

#40 – “Love Somebody” – Morgan Wallen

Produced by Joey Moi and Charlie Handsome

US country star Morgan Wallen loves to drop these teaser singles so that those who don’t follow his every move never really know when a full new album is coming… until we see 30 tracks hog up the Hot 100 and we know just what has occurred. Regardless of the bloated albums and honestly being much less interesting each new song I hear, I have liked his songs before so there could be something here to enjoy. Shamefully, there isn’t, as this is about as country as a shirtless guy in a flag-branded cowboy hat going around a city as a novelty cowboy who can barely play “Wonderwall” and puts on a silly accent for foreign tourists. There’s almost a morbid appeal to how blankly Morgan Wallen’s singing and melodies “fit” over the chintzy guitars mixed into a synthy pop rock pastiche even AOR radio programmers in 1987 might see as outside of their remit. Morgan’s lyrics, however, are about finding that honest girl he can take back to the sticks, instead of some opportunist using him for the parties and fame, seeing if he can snatch some of his wealth. I’m not sure yet if when writing this kind of bitter, hapless lament about inauthentic women who leave him to dry once absorbing the parts of him that matter to her… he may just be writing about himself, if he’s even writing it at all. Next.

#19 – “That’s So True” – Gracie Abrams

Produced by Aaron Dessner, Gracie Abrams and Julian Bunetta

Gracie Abrams has recently popped up with the deluxe edition of her breakout record, The Secret of Us, which distantly eyed up a second week at #1, a spot currently taken by Kylie Minogue who unfortunately had no new entries this week. Instead, we have what singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams has left on the cutting room floor which, given my disdain for her overly-sanitised and overthought brand of folk-pop, could honestly be a good thing if I wanted something rawer or more compelling. Unfortunately, even the B-sides grow through the machine, and though Abrams embraces her obnoxious immaturity through the writing, much like the promising “Risk”, this doesn’t have the youthful panic, trading it for a stomp-rock chorus that, much like that Morgan Wallen song, borders on kind of embarrassing, especially when it leads into the most brow-raising description of sex I think I have heard outside of rap on the charts. The acoustic rumble is really not that bad, but it’s so stiff in its programming and even its structure, fixated on repeating that annoying “oo-oo-oo” sound with little variation, and all of the muddy swell it accumulates itself in the bridge with the distorted, irritating drums, ends up all for nought when the song refuses to free itself from the shackles of its claustrophobic percussion and inconclusive chorus. One could argue that this absolutely fits the awkward post-breakup teenage drama… but at least when O-Rod did it, it was fun, there were much more unique details than this sexless column of cliché, and most importantly, Olivia Rodrigo is an actor first, and those dramatics, those stakes are palpable in her performance. This song refuses to expand itself beyond petty bullshit even towards its abrupt end, wasting everyone’s time in the process.

#4 – “APT.” – ROSÉ and Bruno Mars

Produced by Bruno Mars, Cirkut, Omer Fedi and Rogét Chahayed

It seems like the BLACKPINK girls are here to stay as solo acts and whilst so far they have definitely gathered much traction in that first week then filtered off slightly, their quest for western pop success that could really last seems to have been solved… by Bruno Mars. I’m genuinely surprised he’s maintained his career well enough to sell these top 10 duets, and perhaps a relative newcomer like ROSÉ makes a bit less sense for him to play off on, but he’s surrounded by certified pop songwriters and producers here too, so a part of me definitely anticipated for a watered-down personality… which is not at all what we got here. In fact, it’s a bratty rush of teenage lovestruck energy that dismisses anything but the “now” in its buzzy, new-rave brashness, not too far from say, The Ting Tings, in its presentation that could be seen as obnoxious if not for its content, all about a drinking game and that immediate lust to be around someone you love. An incredibly percussive track, it balances Bruno’s breathy ad-libs, with a simple cheerleader chant of a beat ripped straight from Toni Basil’s “Mickey”, itself from “Kitty” but that’s another story, that gradually fuses with the guitar-based melodic elements of the track to form something really euphoric. That pre-chorus is such a sticky melody and the verses are so manically repetitive you almost don’t notice Bruno is singing or rapping some phrases in Korean. It almost functions as a bait-and-switch even, with the K-pop structure naturally having you expect incredibly distinct and disparate parts being separated via abrupt transitions and cloyed together as a “song” by an undeniable chorus. Instead, the third cheerleader chant chorus carries on the swell of the pre-chorus effortlessly into a confrontational bridge pairing a soaring guitar lick with stuttering Bruno blips panning across ROSÉ’s reverb-drenched promises that she’s on her way. It may not actually go anywhere, but it settles for the temporary euphoria, the togetherness, in such a cute and for me, unexpected way that I can’t help but find this frankly adorable. It may sour on me with time but for now, I recommend it and I’d love to see this borderline punk track be the BLACKPINK-derived track that ends up lasting.

Conclusion

Definitely a fascinating and diverse week that gave me way too much to discuss, overwhelmingly so, but not one that led me to a breadth of quality like last time, more just intriguing nuances that opened these songs up a lot. Except Morgan Wallen, of course. Gracie Abrams gets Worst of the Week for “That’s So True”, which shouldn’t be a surprise, maybe I really am getting too old for this, but Mr. Wallen swoops up the Dishonourable Mention just as easily for “Love Somebody”, JADE’s safe this week. As for the best, I am a bit of a fangirl, I apologise, there is going to be an inherent bias, but I do think “Noid” is a brilliant, multi-layered song so Tyler snatches Best of the Week, with a delightfully surprised Honourable Mention towards “Piece of My Heart” by Wizkid and Brent Faiyaz, which is honestly a very similar track in scope, form and even some smaller details like vocal effects; weird coincidence.

As for what’s on the horizon, we may see Halsey and Tyler battle it out on the albums chart alongside Megan, Tears for Fears and Bastille, but how much of that will actually translate to the hit parade is unclear. It may be more worth betting on Lady Gaga’s proper comeback single and whatever “Addison Rae” is up to, but time will tell. For now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Ka, and I’ll see you next week!

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (28 Jul-3 Aug 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Limited Release (rageprufrock) - 63K, modern XMFC AU - established cherik, FBI agent Erik, Charles being Charles, everyone hunting for domestic terrorist Shaw - really excellent fic, I really dug these versions of them

😊 Damn your love, Damn your lies (purpleweekend) - 66K, modern steddie, eddie's a rockstar who falls for bartender steve (who has no idea who he is) - the central conflict is 100% eddie not telling steve who he is - I was on the fence about this bc eddie doesn't just omit info he actively constructs a double life (which is usually my hard line) BUT the writing was solid enough that I wanted to see how it played out & overall i think the author succeeded - we're in Eddie's POV so we know WHY he's doing these actively dumbass things and he does grovel an appropriate amount for forgiveness - still YMMV on this topic

😊 Fer-de-Lance (Nero Wolfe #1) (Rex Stout, author; Michael Prichard, narrator) - looking for some kind of comfort read, decided to start NW again. Once again reminded of the wonderful '30s slang phrase 'Lovin' babe!' (as an expression of astonishment) which I really wish would be reanimated

🥰 Second Best (Nejinee) - 51K, buddie omegaverse - "Eddie has convinced himself that helping Buck through his heat was perfectly normal behaviour between friends. It didn’t mean anything." surprise! Eddie is WRONG. LOL. Enjoyable.

😍 ain't really quaint (quietnight, silentwalrus,) - aka Farm Hell (44K) this was my 4th? reread of this, this one for stucky bookclub. Still absolutely hilarious. Such a great mashup of MCU/comics into an absolutely fascinating & solid alternate timeline. Incredible characterizations, fantastic art and legit some of the funniest lines ever written in this fandom.

🥰 Smash & Grab (RELIC #1) (Maz Maddox, author; Kirt Graves, narrator) - pink punk dino shifter (utahraptor) + buttoned up paleontologist + menace from ruthless dino collector = silly fun adventure romance road trip. What a fun romp, the book equivalent of Romancing The Stone or Lost City or a National Treasure movie. Absolutely absurd but extremely enjoyable

😍 Not Easily Conquered series (dropdeaddream, WhatAreFears) - FINALLY reading this absolute classic in this fandom. And I absolutely get why! Even though I knew it had prose that knocked your socks off, I was not prepared. Womb to tomb, sweetheart. It's hell to love a fighter. So far I've read the first two stories: A Long Winter (35K) which is Steve's alt timeline life and The Thirteen Letters (35K) which is Bucky during the war, writing the letters

💖💖 +29K of shorter fic 💖💖

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Taskmaster - s13, e3-8

Um, Actually - s9, e12

Smartypants - s1, e8

Monét's Slumber Party - s1, e2

Adventuring Academy - "Reunion with the Cast of Escape from the Bloodkeep" (s1, e13-14)

D20: Never Stop Blowing Up - "Meet the Santangelos" (s22, e6)

D20: Adventuring Party - "The Penthouse Suite" (s17, e6)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

You're Dead to Me - Minoan Civilisation

The Sporkful - When Celery Was More Expensive Than Caviar

Re: Dracula - July 29: Another Tragedy

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Road Trip Week: Where to Go

WikiHole - Gossip (with Joel Kim Booster, Beth Stelling and Jake Cornell)

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - Outtakes: What office tradition is on the way out?

Re: Dracula - July 30: Last Night

Pop Culture Happy Hour - We're talking songs of the (Brat) summer

⭐ Today, Explained - Is your refrigerator running?

Short Wave - The Curious Case Of The Supermassive Black Hole

Vibe Check - Things Are Getting Weird

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Time Bandits maps contemporary vibes over a cult classic

Switched on Pop - Why Chappell Roan is the sound of 2024

Re: Dracula - August 1: That's What it Be

Death, Sex & Money - Olympic Legend Greg Louganis on Outliving and Outperforming Expectations

99% Invisible - The Art of the Olympics

⭐ Decoder Ring - Standing Up for Sitting Down

Films To Be Buried With - Chiwetel Ejiofor

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - The Sound of Apple

Re: Dracula - August 2: One More Gone

Dear Prudence - My Friend Told Our Friend Group That My Boyfriend Sexually Assaulted Me. He Didn’t. Help!

Dear Prudence - Prudie Plus: Is There A Polite Way To Not Invite My Friends’ Transphobic Husbands To My Wedding? Help!

Welcome to Night Vale - Detours

Welcome to Night Vale - Bonus Episode: Hey There Cecil

You're Dead to Me - Robert Bruce

Re: Dracula - August 3: I Know the Secret Now

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" [Shaboozey] Radio • Familiar

"Victoria's Secret" [Jax] Radio • Familiar

The Aquabats

Chappell Roan

Presenting The Offspring

Pop-Punk Party-Starters

Energy Supermix

My Mix #2 (White Zombie, Iron Maiden, Dio)

[heymacy]

🎶 blast from the past music game 🎶

i was tagged by @howlinchickhowl (ty for creating this howl ily ily!) as well as @energievie, @creepkinginc, & @metalheadmickey to play this fun music tag game!

name: macy

nation of birth: united states

teen decade: 2000s (oh god 😭)

share a song that you once would have included on every playlist/mix cd/mix tape you made, but which hasn't travelled with you into 2023: everytime we touch by cascada

where did you first hear this song? my friend’s bedroom, in the (late) summer of ‘06, during a saturday night sleepover. on the radio on her purple boombox, no less. we went absolutely HAM

how old were you when you first heard it? thirteen

being who you are now, how do you feel about the song? IT’S A BANGER

what is a song you love now that fills the same kind of vibe as this, but more befitting your current self? pink pony club by chappell roan

i’m tagging @gardenerian, @iansfreckles, @nicksobotka, @heymrspatel, @whatwouldmickeydo, @gallawitchxx, @whatthebodygraspsnot, @7x10mickey, @sleepyfacetoughguy, @sickness-health-all-that-shit, @thisdivorce, @deedala, @michellemisfit, @rereadanon, @mishervellous, @crossmydna, @vintagelacerosette, @squidyyy23, @callivich, @arrowflier, @too-schoolforcool, @grumble-fish, @harrowhark-a-vagrant, & @xninetiestrendx ✨

[troglobite]

apologies to op but this is the 500th time i've seen this today and i'm taking this as the opportunity to correct the record bc i dislike it when partial and incorrect info spreads.

direct quote from the rolling stones interview:

"My visit to Roan’s house took place a day after an embarrassing press conference hosted by then-presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Roan and I commiserate over how horrifying both the presser and his recent debate with Trump had been. At the time, Roan’s views echoed those of a lot of young voters, especially in the face of multiple wars, drag bans, and diminished health-care access for both trans people and those seeking abortions. “I’m pretty, ‘Fuck the government, and fuck everything that’s going on right now,’ ” she says, middle fingers in the air. “I don’t have a side because I hate both sides, and I’m so embarrassed about everything going on right now.” Later in July, of course, Biden would drop out of the race, and Kamala Harris would become the Democratic nominee. Even after Roan turned down the White House invite, she would become a part of the campaign: Kamala HQ’s official TikTok would use “Femininomenon” in a video edit. “Harris-Walz” camo hats bore a striking resemblance to Roan’s “Midwest Princess” camo-hat merch, down to the orange font; she would repost a side-by-side of the hats on X with the caption “is this real.” During the Democratic National Convention, “Good Luck, Babe!” soundtracked the Missouri delegation’s roll call.  “Right now, it’s more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people’s civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community,” she tells me in August. “My ethics and values will always align with that, and that hasn’t changed with a different nominee. I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee.”"

i have no interest in discussing/arguing the ethics of voting or not voting or any of that, and i'm not an obsessed stan of chappell.

HOWEVER.

the quote circulating is inaccurate and incomplete. there was an update/addendum to the issue. the original was from before biden dropped out. the above is everything that was said and done on the issue since then. and in case anyone has forgotten, before biden dropped out, even moderates weren't too hot on voting. and plenty of ppl who don't care abt chappell at all are STILL not keen on voting. separate issues.

i'm also gonna go out on a limb and say that chappell wouldn't have enough influence on enough voters for it to fully matter whether she endorses kamala harris or not. she's become an overnight sensation, but she's still not tswift. and she also literally encouraged her fans to vote.

additionally, here's the three paragraphs before the above section

At Gov Ball, Roan revealed to the audience that she had turned down an invite to the White House’s Pride Celebration. Before singing “My Kink Is Karma,” she dedicated the song to the Biden administration, protesting its involvement in the destruction of Gaza and death of civilian Palestinians. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come,” she said. At her house, Roan tells me she had something “way worse” planned. She was originally going to say yes, show up, and then refuse to perform; instead, she would protest with some poetry. “I had picked out some poems from Palestinian women,” she says. “I was trying to do it as tastefully as I could because all I wanted to do was yell. I had to find something that’s tasteful and to the point and meaningful, and not make it about me and how I feel. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that close in direct sight of the president ever in my life. This is my shot.” She talked it through with her publicist, who was supportive but made a point: “You fuck with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family’s.” Roan opted to turn down the invite, though there were some who misread what she felt was a pretty clear message. “I saw a couple of TikToks where they were like, ‘So she’s pro Trump?’ ” Roan’s face contorts into disgust. “It is not so black and white that you hate one and you like the other. No matter how you say it, people are still going to be pissed for fucking some reason. I’m not going to go to the White House because I am not going to be a monkey for Pride. And thank God I didn’t go because they just made a huge statement about trans kids a couple weeks ago,” she says, referring to the Biden administration stating its opposition to gender-affirming surgery for transgender minors in June. (The administration would walk back those comments a month later.)

POINT BEING if you still disagree w her and want to criticize her, absolutely your prerogative! adding the full quote bc like i said, this is the 500th time today i've seen a partial misquote without context or info and it's frustrating.

and in case anyone thinks i'm doing this bc it's chappell roan--i have spent weeks trying to dispell misinfo that was spreading on here abt solar energy and power companies, among other things.

chappell being a "problems on both sides" girlie was not on my 2024 bingo like i knew she had refused to go to the white house over Palestine/Israel and I totally understood that but when you're talking about who to vote for please please think before you speak, like. "Problems on both sides?" Girl one of these candidates is telling people schools are giving sex change operations to children and women are killing babies after they're born and the other is literally calling for a ceasefire, supports roe v. wade being codified, and performed some of the first gay marriages in the nation. now is not the time for "problems on both sides".

[batboyblog]

The recent Chappell Roan thing is why I absolutely hate the lack of political literacy in this country. Big-name celebrities think they're really cooking when they say "well Kamala still supports blowing up Palestinian babies because she won't cut ties with Israel, so therefore I'm not voting for her and you shouldn't either! Both her and Trump suck so I'm not voting/voting third party!"

Like it or not, Israel is an ALLY of the United States. We CAN'T just cut ties with them unless it's a long drawn-out process, and even then it's probably NEVER going to happen. This is basic shit we learned in social studies, holy shit!

Trump would be so much fucking worse for everyone involved, including Palestine, and not voting or voting third party is pretty much just handing your vote over to Trump due to how voting WORKS in a two-party system dictated by the fucked up electoral college.

This was a long ramble and you've probably gotten similar asks the last few months like this, but fuck, I just have to get this off my chest, and the most recent event with her was like the straw that broke the camel's back. Celebs in general need to shut the fuck up about politics unless they are actually partaking in activism instead of this virtue-signaling bullshit.

Taking things one thing at a time.

I'll admit to having only seen Chappell Roan's final video on the subject, so idk what she said before that (outside of generally)

The two things that really stuck out to me and pissed me off about that live/video was she 1. accused Democrats (she said "the left" but was clearly in context talking about the Democrats) for "transphobic policy" (also genocidal, equally silly) and it was SUCH a groundless lie, such a baseless, stupid, uninformed, silly lie. It'd be like saying "yes the right is bad! but Kamala Harris says she wants to shoot a pony every day of her Presidency and I can't support that!" And to be a Queer artist who's whole thing is centering Queer art, particularly drag who's got a young maybe not very informed queer fan base who's made talking about trans rights your main political thing to just lie about the nature of the threat to trans rights and trans lives at this moment is fucking awful and downright criminal.

Listen right now Republicans are aggressively attacking Democrats on trans rights. Trump went after Harris at their debate for "trans surgeries for illegal aliens in prison!" Republicans are attacking Tim Walz as "tampon Tim" for the idea that he supports trans male students having access to tampons (and other crazy transphobic attacks on him) Republicans are centering transphobia as a main campaign issue, anyone who gives a fuck about trans people in this nation should know Trump and Creepy Vance in charge of the federal government? is the nightmare. You can't claim to care about trans people or be "centering" them and not be doing all you can to stop Republicans at the ballot box this November. And both siding it and saying bullshit that somehow it will be just as bad if Democrats win is not stopping Republicans no matter how you personally vote.

The Second thing in her video that really annoyed me was she said she was voting for Harris but then had a whole word salad about how everyone needed to make up their own minds about who would be best. Basically saying that while she was voting for Harris, a vote for Trump was a reasonable conclusion people could reach. Again if you truly care about the issues she says she cares about, no, you can't vote for Trump. And again to use your platform to push "both sides" is to throw the very people you claim are your brand under the bus in the worst way.

I don't like to throw people under the bus for their family, Tim Walz' brother is a MAGA lunatic for example, but Chappell Roan talked about Republican family that "loved her" and I can't help but wonder if she was thinking of her Republican State Rep uncle, Darin Chappell. Again people can't control family members and I'm not asking anyone to come out and attack their family in public. I'm just wondering if her views on Republicans and finding a middle ground and "they still love me" is colored by Uncle Darin and not understanding he might love her and be proud of her but he still walks into the Missouri state capital and votes for abortion bans and transphobia.

to move onto the meat of your ask which I think is less about Roan in particular and more generalized about a certain type of celebrity and GenZ very on-line types. On the whole Israel-Palestine thing, I think most of the people posting about it know very little or know a lot of misinformation, you every see people boldly posting "I don't need to know everything to know right from wrong!" you run into that a lot. And I'd say yes, you do need to know a lot to comment on a complex multi generational ethnic-political conflict with many state and non-state actors.

Last night JD Vance and Tim Walz had their debate and every time there was an issue, housing costs, medical costs, gun violence, inflation, Vance would move it around to how if we just deported all the immigrants the issue would be fixed, no more drugs no more gun violence, housing would be cheap, just get rid of the people I don't like.

And I see a lot of that with Israel, "Palestine is a climate issue!" "Queer as in Free Palestine!" etc where if we just get rid of Israel it'll all be fixed. Which of course connects to long standing antisemitic ideas about Jews running the world, people happily sub in the word "Israel" or "Zionist" and then repeat the same old racism thats followed the Jews around for 1,000 years.

So long and short I think most people talking about Palestine don't know enough to talk about it, but what's worse don't really care about Palestine at all

I'm reminded here of Trump's "Deal of the Century". Oh? you don't remember it? shocker, in January 2020 Trump released a "peace plan" drawn up with no Palestinians involved, where Israel would be allowed to annex everything in the West Bank it would want, the Jordan Vally cutting Palestine off from Jordan and totally encircling it with Israel. The West Bank would be Swiss cheesed up into little pockets connected by tunnels or overpasses but with Israeli territory running through it everywhere. The Palestinians said "no!" and then Netanyahu claimed that Trump had green lit Israel to annex the land it wanted even without Palestinian agreement to the plan and without giving the Palestinians anything. There was some confusion and thankfully that didn't happen. We may never know the fully story of what stopped it, but I do think Trump agreed to annexing much of the West Bank, but pulled back under pressure from Gulf Arab Oil states who later in 2020 made peace with Israel in the Abraham Accords in an effort to stop Netanyahu's annexation plans.

any ways to point out, 1. Palestine was on the edge of annexation the end of the dream of Palestinian statehood in any meaningful sense, and where were the protests? the encampments? etc? it never comes up, 4 years ago, and all the people who live and breath this stuff never mention it? 2. We have reason to believe Trump signed off on a far-right government of Israel annexing much of the West Bank, his "peace plan" abandoned the outlines that American Presidents since Bill Clinton set forward for getting a Palestinian state on 95+% of the West Bank in favor of "what does the Israeli right want?" and again no one is talking about it in the context of this election, we know what he'll do, because he's done it before.

but again its not really about the Palestinians, its not about building a Palestinian state, its "get rid of Israel" and then what? what happens to the 9 million people who live in Israel? and people don't have a realistic answer, because its a political fantasy that if they just do X everything will magically get better, even on totally unrelated issues.

[lemmeaskthedevil]

I'm listening to the new album gonna post my thoughts

1. I like it, "I love you it's ruining my life I touch you for only a fortnight", not the best instrumental. I think it would've been better as either a post song or a solely Taylor song weirdly enough. Underwhelming Collab which hers usually aren't (this doesn't include the reputation album I didn't like those).

2. No. Too many words, none of them good to me, and the instrumental is boring.

3. H&m type song, no.

4. Not bad but it needs something more... I think if it was another artist, even a younger artist or like not mid tempo pop. Really like the outro, could be a good song for ship edits.

5. Interested in the intro then got less interested with the pulsing beat, second chorus feels better, don't like the bridge. "Pissed off I gave you all my youth for free" is a good line.

6. The title is good but this isn't doing anything for me, like almost but no. Like I can skip it and be fine.

7. Feel like this didn't sound out.

8. This is sounding good. Florence came in and I realized why I'm not into this album and I will stop listening here.

While I love all kinds of music, pop music only sticks out to me if it's something like Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Troye Sivan, Lady Gaga and this... Is forgettable to me for a few reasons.

1. None of the songs are distinguishable. All of them feel like they're around the same tempo, there's no beat or melody that gets stuck in your head, and so then we rely on the lyrics.

2. The lyrics aren't gut wrenching or easy to grab. Pop is famous for its good hooks at the very least, and so far that wasn't the truth at all. It's not like wordy songs don't work, but it wasn't working in the favor in this case. I think Fortnight was the perfect example of a pop song that works and could be a little bit catchy in Taylor Swift style but all the other songs were basically just Fortnight over and over.

Sidenote: wordy pop/deeper meaning pop songs exist and work in a lot of cases (Pretty isnt Pretty, Stoned at the nail salon, The Louvre, tbh the whole melodrama album)

3. The same song vibes also made me think about her whole discography and how I feel like there should be a little bit of growth in something but TS follows a formula, and it's still here and now it's feeling juvenile. I know it isn't actually all "boy break my heart and he sucks" but the overall vibe ends up getting there anyway.

But when I got to Florida!!! I realized my final problem.

4. Taylor Swift is an amazing storyteller and an okay vocalist. Pop songs get phenomenally better with better vocals but that still doesn't mean you need to do anything fancy. Troye Sivan has never own me away vocally but every song is enjoyable because the lyrics, voice, and beat are all there. This album requires you to rely on lyrics and voice... And neither of them are strong here.

Florence's tone is so unique it made whatever she sang sound so good. I think when Taylor sings:

"And my friends all smell like weed or little babies And this city reeks of driving myself crazy"

It's not even a bad line but something about her singing it feels odd. It's kinda like "Snow on the Beach" which sounded like a Lana song and should've been one.

But yeah that's why I stopped listening.

Idk I know a few "The National" songs and I don't listen to Jack's band but the vibes were way better in evermore and folklore.

[crazyintheeast]

No what happened was this :

In one of the most dangerous election in human history Roan when first asked went on a whiny both sides rant . Then when pressured to clarify she decided to go on a Tik Tok rant where she went on about how she just woke up ( because yes you should totally treat potlucks causally and like an annoyance instead of a life and death matter ) , then she continued with a two minutes word salad where she whined about democrats , barley mentioned how vastly more dangerous republicans are , couldn’t even proper to announce Kamala’s name right

Then finally she said would vote for Kamala with the time of a spiked child who finally agreed to wash her hands . And she claimed that all this nonsense is because of how much she cares about the issues even though we have literally never seen her actually do anything about it except social media bullshit . She didn’t support any politicians who supported Palestine ( and got crushed by the zionsit lonbh backed candidates ) , she didn’t organise any eve for concerts for Palestine , she didn’t encourage voters to write to their representatives , she barley ever mentioned it in her nationally televised interviews

She also seem to think that endorsing means worshipping . Now this stupid attitude can be tolerated when done by idiot irrelevant Tik Tol kiddies but wee are talking about a famous and influential person who can have real impact on voters . Let me remind you that Bush won by 500 votes and Roan can influence a hell of a lot more then 500 people with her idiocy

All this on toon of the fact that NO ONE FORCED her to say these things . She could have stayed silent . She could have also consulted with REAL activists who actually work in politics on how to phrase her stances . Instead she CHOSE to behave like a dangerous idiots and parrot dangerous propaganda that could alienate voters and bring us one step closer to a Trump / Vance regime

She deserves every bit of criticism and apart form idiots brainwashed by Russian Trump bots you all know this is true . If Swift had same nonsense you would eat her alive . But because you like her you make excuses for her dangerous and irresponsible behaviour

it’s time for Chappell Roan to grow the fuck up . Her mental health problems are not an excuse

Chappell Roan really was like "I won't endorse Harris because of the continuing genocide and the fact that the Democrats aren't protecting trans people. I am voting for Harris but won't endorse. You should expect more from your politicians and that's what I want before I endorse anyone" and got absolutely insane amounts of hatred and vitriol for that not only normal, but morally righteous take. And then because of aforementioned insane amounts of hate had to cancel shows due to mental health and then got MORE HATE. Like wow! Starting to think you don't want principled and authentic celebrities, don't care about women's feelings, and don't understand how mental illness affects people! It will entirely be entitled fans fault if she steps back forever from releasing music

[signedskylarlee]

My Top Albums of 2023

I posted it on my old account but I am reposting it here because it got deleted. Please share your thoughts and feelings I'm interested to know what people think of these albums too! I'll link these albums to their youtube playlists.

Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey

I recently heard this album described as luscious and I think that is the best adjective for it.  It’s very rare for me to get behind an album that is over an hour long, but with an almost hour and a half runtime on this one I somehow was left wanting a 2-3 hour long album.  The songwriting and production on this album was the biggest flex I have ever heard.  I remember before A&W was released there was a rumor going around that Jack Antonoff produced a song for Lana that completely shifted genres in the middle of the track and I couldn’t wait to hear it.  My favorite albums from lana are Norman Fucking Rockwell and Chemtrails over the Country Club and now I think Did you Know that there’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. is in the top 3.

Top Tracks: 

A&W 

Grandfather Please Stand on the Shoulders of My Father While he’s Deep-Sea Fishing 

Margaret 

Let the Light In 

Paris, Texas 

Taco Truck x VB 

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. 

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan 

An album that takes the experience I know a lot of rural midwestern young adults have when it comes to figuring out their sexuality and dips the whole thing in glitter.  The vibes and aesthetic of this album are immaculate and I find myself revisiting a number of the tracks frequently.  It’s messy and boisterous and electrifying, and since this is a debut album I look forward to what else comes out of Chappel Roan.

Top Tracks: 

Pink Pony Club 

Red Wine Supernova 

Hot to Go! 

Femininomena 

Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl 

Guts by Olivia Rodrigo

This is an incredible sophomore album from Olivia that really expunded on all the things that were amazing on Sour.  The riot grrrl influences were so strong and I love that she leaned into the sound that she had on the track “Good 4 U” on her first album.  I think she really excels in that form of songwriting and production. 

Top Tracks: 

All-American Bitch 

Ballad of a Homeschool Girl 

Get Him Back! 

Love is Embarassing 

Teenage Dream 

This is Why by Paramore

This is such a fun album from Paramore! My favorite album by them is still After Laughter but this still has some tracks that are reminiscent of it while still paving a way for a newer sound from them.  I saw them in concert this year and man do they know how to put on a show too.  Hayley is an incredible vocalist and there were a lot of tracks on this album that showcased that.  I want to give a quick shout out to the response album to this Re: This is Why.  My only disappointment with this album was that it was only 10 tracks long and no deluxe version was released, but this collab album was incredible.  C'est Comme Ça is now an official Wet Leg song to me, and other tracks like The Linda Linda’s version of The News and Julien Baker’s Thick Skull were beautifully done

Top Tracks 

You First 

This is Why 

The News 

Thick Skull 

Figure 8

The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski 

A beautiful addition to Mitski’s discography.  This album combines her usual prose with a folky americana production style.  It’s a very immersive album I find myself having to listen to the whole album at once instead of just putting on certain tracks from it.  Mitski is really our here dominating the song writing game with Lana and Taylor, and this album is a great demonstration of that.  Usually I care more about the production of an album than the lyrics but with this one it was very hard not to pay attention to what she has written. 

Top Tracks 

Buffalo Replace 

The Frost 

I Don’t Like my Mind 

My Love Mine all Mine 

The First Two Pages of Frankenstein by The National 

This was such an amazing album especially since Berninger talked about the writer block he had. When they wrote Tropic Morning News they said that was a turning point in their songwriting process which is really cool, it is definitely my favorite track from the album.  I also love Frankenstein and I think the title of the album is interesting and so relevant to what the album is. Also putting Phoebe on two songs was very slay of them. 

Top Tracks 

Tropic Morning News 

Grease in your Hair 

Once Upon a Poolside 

The Alcott 

Your Mind is not Your Friend 

The Record by Boygenius 

Love the boys!! When this album got announced I was so hyped along with a lot of my friends.  The first songs that were released were so exciting and then when it was announced Kristen Stewart would be directing the music videos I legit almost keeled over I was so excited.  The Record was a phenomenal album and like Mitski’s it works better listening all the way through than just singles.  I also love that more people were introduced to Lucy Dacus from this album it’s what she deserves. 

Top Tracks 

$20 

Satanist 

Cool About It 

True Blue  

Speak now TV 

Miss Taylor.  The queen.  Speak Now TV was AMAZING and everyone moved on from it too fast.  I understand everyone is excited for the re-records, but I feel like a lot of people aren’t taking the time to savor them.  I think Speak Now and Red are her best re-records to date.  Her vocals are so powerful and the vault tracks were very well done.  I’m still thinking about the music video for “I Can See You” with Taylor Lautner and Joy King, that is definitely one of my favorite Taylor Music videos to date. 

Top Tracks 

Haunted 

The Story of Us 

Superman 

Electric Touch 

When Emma Falls in Love 

I Can See You  

So much for stardust by Fall Out Boy 

As soon as I saw Ethan Hawke on the tracklist I knew this was gonna be a great Fall Out Boy album.  I heard a lot of people critisizing the songwriting on this album but I personally that it was really good, just not as emo as their past stuff lol.  Heaven, Iowa is definitely one of their best songs to date.  I also was able to see them live this year and the pullet of the dog was one of the coolest set pieces I have ever seen.  

Top Tracks 

Heaven, Iowa 

I am My Own Muse 

Hold Me Like a Grudge 

Love From the Otherside 

So Much (For) Stardust 

Unreal Unearth by Hozier 

I was able to secure tickets for the second leg of this tour for next summer I am very excited.  I was so excited when this album came out and the singles that were released were immaculate.  I eventually want to do a read of Dante’s Inferno and compare it to the album, I think I might get a lot more out of this album if I do that.  But I think the songwriting and vocals on this album were great and i enjoyed a lot of the tracks off it. 

Top Tracks 

Francesca 

Eat Your Young 

I, Carrion (Icarian) 

All Things End 

Honorable Mentions 

Desire, I Want To Turn Into You by Caroline Polachek 

Something To Give Eachother by Troye Sivan 

Scarlet by Doja Cat 

Snow Angel by Ranee Rapp

[hungerpunch]

full concert review (that's mostly just gushing) under the cut ✨

THE SCENE: a mid-sized club that has a max occupancy of 1,400 ppl and baby it was SOLD OUT, sold out. we rolled up 30 mins before doors and the line was down three city blocks (city "blocks" here are massive). and everyone was dressed UP like eye personally have only seen for a beyoncé or lady gaga show. the fits. the glitter. the enthusiasm. the SERVE. i have seen many artists live, including many big pop artists, that did not gain that level of costumery and fashion from fans.

THE OPENER: so chappell always has a drag queen open for her. for this show, it was chicago legend shea couleé & she was an INCREDIBLE opening act. a PERFECT choice! she got on stage and was like "honey i tried to get tickets to this show and could not get them because y'all bought them up in two seconds. so when they called me to open i said yes just because i want to SEE the SHOW!" 😂

CHAPPELL ROAN: she opened with "femininomenon." her last song before leaving the stage was "my kink is karma." her encore was "california" followed by "pink pony club."

i can only compare it to what i think it must have been like to see lady gaga on the cusp of the fame. like. SO gay. SUCH performance. SO VOCALLY GIFTED. like truly sounds better live than on her records, which doesn't happen often. she was BELLLTTTINNNGG that shit. and her live band was SO good, SO tight. i LOVED the sound of the songs live honestly bc with a live band they're a little heavier, hard-hitting and it brings some guts to those dance tracks. the whole crowd knew every single word to every SINGLE song and was SCREAM-singing along 🌈✨

(also this fellow short person noticed me struggling to see so they invited me up to share their 1 cubic foot of space on a raised step and i got to see everything perfectly then—LOVE!!!!)

she took some time to say some really touching things. she said she was really glad to be able to do that show before she had to do her lollapalooza set. kind of speaking to how like, she's been grinding and hustling for yeeears and just about gave up until like 6 months ago she started going truly viral and getting all this fame really fast. she said it's been so hard to process it all happening so fast. so she was thankful to have the club show first because it was like. Her show where she could See Us All and really interact with us. versus a festival. & of course she talked about how the queer community has given her wings and she loves us all and she's so thankful for us. & she got emotional singing quite a few of her slower songs. i myself got teary-eyed during "california" bc like. she put this album out almost two years ago before all this national attention. and she sings "come get me out of california/no leaves are brown/i miss the seasons in missouri/ my dying town/thought i'd be cool in california/i'd make you proud/to think i almost had it going/but i let you down" and like everyone just SCREEEAMED and she put her face in her hands for a second to cry bc like girl…. u MADE IT!!!!! the narrative of her singing about like almost giving up on her dreams bc it wasn't happening to a room full of ppl knowing all the words… then leading into PINK PONY CLUB? my heart!

i feel extremely lucky. i know she'll go into arenas and amphitheaters next and that was my last chance to see her in that small of a crowd (funny that 1,400 is considered small, but RELATIVELY!) and it was perfect. that's all 😭💖✨

chappell roan time :)