#Frampton is like a 70’s rock deep cut

[geekgirlsmanifesto]

Kudos to Sand and his Peter Frampton T-Shirt. My boy is truly representing classic rock in his wardrobe and I, for one, am loving it.

[dutiful-wildcraft]

Task Force 141 Music Headcannons

Price

-He has some significant influences from 70s/80s heavy metal, mostly influenced from his mum who was a rebellious metalhead (and a feral KISS fan) herself, but toned down her partying when John was born. That didn't stop her from showing him the good stuff. 

-John’s earliest memories are of him and his mother going on roadtrips, radio blaring. His mom giving him little music “tests,” urging John to guess the artists of the song before they ended. Being so proud of him when he got them right.  His mom had a huge stereo system, an outrageously pricey thing compared to the rest of their meager home. It could play both CD’s and tapes and it was his mom’s pride and joy. 

-They had “cleaning” days where they would deep clean the house. Taking turns between swapping songs as they danced and dusted. A trend that extended well into his teenage years until he joined up.

-John would later pick up more thrash and progressive metal influences from his older CO’s and later by his own team. John is a radio kind of man, and other than the stuff he got from his mum he doesn't bother much with collecting, but he usually can find a radio station or two that plays what he likes. He still blares music when he cleans or works out.  

-John also dips into a bit of blues, folk and country.  He’s fond of the acoustic elements, it’s easy listening and some of them tell a good story.  

-Absolutely owned a “Frampton Comes Alive” CD. 

-Price was a bit petty about it at first, but the rest of the 141’s music tastes aren’t terrible…he still shoves the foam earplugs in on the truck ride home once Soap gets ahold of the aux cord. Though it gives him one hell of a laugh to see Soap cut a rug.  

-Gaz downloaded a huge playlist for the man and crammed it on his phone. Price was tickled pink over the selections, and now this is the only mix he fusses with, throwing it on shuffle and letting it play while he smokes and does his paperwork. 

-Man actually loves to dance, he doesn't just bop around like Soap does but he will take you by the hand and groove a bit with you. He loves to feel a warm body moving with his, letting the music move them together. This is actually how he woo’s ladies at the bar. A bit of liquid courage, and smooth song. He has someone giggling in his arms in no time. 

Soap

-His library is mostly made up of funk/groove metal, metalcore, pop, disco and electronic. He can party to really anything really, he just loves anything that is fast. Something that has a bounce to it.  There is never a wrong setting for this. Has nearly slipped and busted his head open having a one man mosh in the shower.  

-Used to have several piercings, his tongue and eyebrow namely, as well as a couple more pieces in his ears and nipples. They unfortunately had to go when he joined up. But he will still throw the earrings in when it's time to party. Some thicker captive bead earrings from where he had them stretched just the slightest. 

-He's actually pretty solid with a guitar. Doesn’t talk about it because it makes him feel like a douche. But he and his friends did have shitty garage band as teenagers. (Anyway..here's Wonderwall).

-Tries to keep it heavier when hangin with the boys but don't buy his tough guy bullshit, the next song is Madonna. His shuffle will give you whiplash. 

-He and Gaz vibe the most, both crowding into the front seats to put on a concert the whole ride. Having a jam session while they cook together or having heated arguments on whether something is a cover or not (Gaz is always right). 

Gaz

-The most eclectic out of all of them. Pretty similar to Soap, he tends to gravitate toward alt rock/indie, r&b, pop, and psychedelic. While he enjoys the upbeat electronic stuff that Soap enjoys, he prefers the groove. Something a bit slower and well…sexier.  

-He is actually pretty knowledgeable (special interest you could say) about music. The man is like an encyclopedia for music. Can name songs by the first 2 seconds alone. He is a menace on trivia nights for this reason. 

-Has started collecting records in his free time. He has favorites sure, but sometimes he'll just snag a few with interesting covers and give them a spin. He has found some gems this way…and also some straight *trash*. These songs have turned into memes between he and Soap.

-Makes playlists as a love language.

-Always trusted as the trip DJ, takes his job very seriously and considers all his teams tastes to carefully weave a mix everyone can vibe too. 

-Sung in the church choir as a kid, absolutely hated every minute of it. He was always the star of the christmas cantatas until he quit going as a teen.

-He and his sisters would have knock down drag out fights over the sole CD player they had as kids. Genuinely can't stand boy bands due to his big sisters obsession with them at the time. (The shit was on repeat for months.)

Ghost

-absolutely uses the balaclava to hide a earbud when he's just doing paperwork in his office.

-It's his ritual after an op. Simon pops his earbuds in, leans his head back and rests. You don't talk to Simon during this time. He'll take them out when he's ready to talk. 

-He also keeps one in while on leave, focusing on his music in the grocery or doing mundane errands. But just one earbud, he keeps the other out to listen for anything sus.

-Simon's music is pretty precious to him, and something he's actually pretty protective of. He never listened to his music out loud, even kept it turned down low with his headphones to prevent any accidental overhearing. 

-He picked up a lot from his brother that he used as a springboard after that. Lyrics that gave him goosebumps, words for feelings he could never articulate. To him, there was music for anything. Anger, sadness, elation. 

-Simon Riley who's favorite past time was rooting through old used CD's with his big brother at old video rental shops.

-Tommy who would usher him into the bathroom, putting big clunky headphones over his ears to block the sounds of their father's abuse. Clicking play and mouthing a “Stay here” as he clicked the door shut behind him. 

-Simon Riley who scrawled his favorite lyrics onto the soles of old dingey converse. Colored them into the skin of his forearms in a mock up of the tattoos he would later get.

-And he would, Gaz finds them later, inky poetry weaved into the images along his arms, and on his collar. He subtly looks up the words later. Smiling as lyrics of old grungey 90s songs fill his screen. 

-Tool enjoyer, literally just plays the albums start to finish, he is actually really fond of the instrumentals

BONUS!! Alex

-very similar to Price though he leans away from some of the heavier stuff. He loves the easy yacht rock type vibes with some classic rock. As well as some 90s and outlaw country. 

-He is an absolute crooner when he’s drunk. He actually has a gorgeous singing voice, low and rich, reminiscent of Tracy Lawrence.

-He does know the dance to Copperhead Road, tried to teach Farah who does not have rhythm to save her life. 

Actual Playlists

Price Soap Gaz Ghost Alex

I'll be adding to all these mixes as time passes, I would love to hear what you have in mind too <3

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 254: ind_fris

Much of my time over the past few months has been spent exploring the dreamy fusion and house landscapes of ind_fris, the Osaka based musician and producer who runs Scaffolder Recordings and who has operated the nomadic 異レギュラ (iRegular) party throughout Japan since 2010. As a high school student in the US during the mid 2000s, ind_fris discovered the Digital Performer DAW by MOTU, which was the genesis of his interest in songwriting and production. Over the years, he patiently honed his craft, also using the iRegular party to further explore new sonic worlds and take in increasingly diverse influences. In 2017, he started Scaffolder Recordings, using it to shine a light on like minded travelers as well as release his own work, which has thus far proceeded across three volumes carrying the title Portfolio. Each of these cassettes flows like a balearic mixtape in the most classic sense, with ind_fris combining mediterranean atmospheres, deep house expanses, exotic fusion journeys, new age dreamspells, future jazz zone outs, dance floor psychedelics, city-pop enchantments, and 90s chill-out grooves to delirious effect. And he continues inhabiting and expanding on these musical environments with his newest (and first) LP Sink in, a romantic seaside adventure built from aquatic guitar shimmer, analog electronic warmth, and vintage Rhodes magic.

ind_fris - Sink in (Scaffolder Recordings, 2019) The title track sees wavefronts of droning ocean mesmerism surrounding deep house pads and squelching synth textures. Crystalline pings and gemstone glimmers pan around colorful sea creature while strange liquids boil and bubble...as if ind_fris is rendering the microcosmic ecosystems of a primordial tide pool into sound...all while bass pulsations weave deep sea lullabies and acoustic guitars swim through mirage hazes. And high in the sky, new age synthflutes overlap with joyous bird chatter and long arcs of screaming feedback. The swelling orchestrations and foggy symphonics of “Guitar under water” surround a gently jacking kick beat while repeated washes of euphoric sound crash against faraway seashores. 303s swim through mermaid kingdoms while skittering snare static morphs through dubwise delay fx and everything seems to rotate about some hidden center, with swirling vortices contracting while building in velocity as dreamworld synth leads are buried under layers of murk. The titular underwater guitar flows on rainbow currents and sunlight filters down through the water’s surface, with the aching six-string runs cycling endlessly through heart-throb hooks and post-rock ecstasies. Later, a beatless expanse of aquamarine ambiance is followed by an ascendent climb towards swaying twilight exotica, with stuttering broken beats, panoramic rimshot rhythms, boiling acid lines, and layered shakers pulling the body into deep dance hypnosis while piano leads glisten on currents of ether.

“Wave transition” starts in a world of hippie beach folk, all dusty acoustic guitars and relaxed hand drums locked into an Ibizan sway while oscillating lasers and spiraling space synths suffuse sampled wave crashes. Big bulbous basslines dance in the distance as ind_fris slowly yet magically morphs everything towards a floating house epic, replete with hypnotic shaker motions and acid lines that sound like they are beamed in from a different dimension. At some point the rhythms vaporize, leaving behind a golden new age glow and intertwining layers of electro-acid, rainforest percussion, and filtering synth vocalisms. But the bubbling basslines soon fade back in, bringing with them a pillowy kick drum locked into a four-four glide. There’s an ethereal dream logic at work as the song flows effortlessly between distinct yet blurred movements, sometimes seeing pianos soloing softly while crazed fx sing out like alien birds, other times letting chewy 303 lines chug through aqueous expanses while hats and snares lock into a jazz-kissed break. The energy escalates once claps start cracking through the air, with the song flowing ever closer to 90s ambient dancefloor perfection as radiant ivory melodies seek out the heavens. And all throughout the stereo field, a morphing talkbox lead wavers, breaths, and stokes the heart with nostalgic melodic magic…the whole thing coming off like Peter Frampton scoring a tropical sunset using the sonic vocabulary of DJ Sprinkles-style deep house.

The rhythms of “Airplane going nowhere” are carried by jazz-wise snares, propulsive shakers, and storming kick beats reduced to a pitter-patter pulse. Infinite echo hazes smear around doo wop basslines and guitars and pianos are woven into a web of diamond refraction, their melodious crystal liquids and late-60s fusion riffs blurring into indistinction. An accordion sings songs of the sea and brings a perfect touch of mediterranean magic while crazed oscillations sometimes obscure the mix. And the air is thick with salt and the smell of the see as beautiful ships unfurl their sails against a sunburst sky and bass guitar romances intertwine with aching reed melodies above a joyous balearic glide, one that evokes roller skating down a summer boardwalk within the romantic haze of youthful nostalgia. Then in “Mean time”, a tick-tock percussive pulse of bell tones and mid-bass drum taps is surrounded by deep blue hazes and oceanic riff cycles, with guitars swaying through a stormy breeze. Rays of sunshine break through the swirling shades of grey and an exotic drift emerges, created from galloping octave basslines and shuffling drum hypnotics dominated by brushed snare accents. There’s a moment where the track fades into a beatless float, wherein panning sonar pings are obscured by searing currents of noise. Rhodes pianos mimic new age flutes while moving through psychedelic oscillations and as the basslines build in urgency, they return us to a world of groovey tropicalia, though everything sounds progressively submerged within an oceanic dream fog.  

Stars shoot though the night sky and lackadaisical hand drums generate an equatorial pulse in “Moon inside me,” while a triangle splashes metal radiance across the mix. Laser flutters and incandescent drones give way to a downtempo future jazz zone out, with contrabass riffs locking in over a bopping chill-out drum groove. ind_fris’ piano playing is loose and free, with his oceanic chordscapes and dreamy leads heading nowhere in particular, and as tapped ride cymbals are cut-up and layered, sickly streaks of synthesis bend across the spectrum and aquatic pads ascend through sharp attack slopes before decaying like a polychrome mirage. The final track here is an instrumental rendition of the age old standard “Blue moon,” which starts with color morphing wah wah melodies descending over island breeze hand-drums. Then comes the melody…that familiar and prototypical 50’s progression, all heart and soul magic and ice cream colorations dancing within a tropical paradise and carried by screaming organs, frying synthesizers, and fluttering guitar chords. The mixture of 50’s jazz and blues romance and South Pacific exotica recalls nothing so much as the late 70s work of Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita, especially the trio’s Pacific…just heart-warming sonic magic that sweeps the spirit away to some faraway beach locale where palm trees sway in a warm breeze and impossibly blue water laps against a short of sparkling white sand. As things progress, the guitars space out, leaving behind the touching jazz ascents while flowing into post-rock psychedelia, with dreamy-delay fx carrying the six-string vibrations towards a moonrise horizon.

(images from my personal copy)