#HALLOWAY

[gummialien]

This is such a niche post. But this is a fan art piece for a Escape Experience called Phantom Peak where they have live actors interacting with you in a fictional town that has been built.

It's so much fun!

[rebelshoard]

hhhrhgh here comes the worlds specialest boy

[falsebooles123]

Confessions of a Recovering Genre-Phobic 1/13/24

Hey Whores, This Week was the middle of a giant blizzard through most of central and southern oregon. Did I get any snow? No so fuck the weather too. Anyway heres some music I listened to.

Emoji Antique (2015) - Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox

Genre: Jazz Length: (12 Tracks)

Figured I'd start this week off on an easy peesey album. When I first made this list in 2019 I added a lot of what I would now consider twee music. I made a point to cull out the various Movie Soundtracks, Comedy Albums, and other 'novelty' music from the list before the new years. To underline my adoration for this style in my cabernet/jazz era I also include the solo albums for Casey Abram and Hailey Reinhart on my watchlist, (listenlist?).

I will say that album despite it coming out directly before the last PMJ album we reviewed is subsequental lesser.

But I feel the need as a reviewer to properly anaylsis my own discomfort with the work. I will say that my ira with this album is fully subtextual right? Objectively the jazz in this album are good. These are great singers and they do a great job but PMJ is not an original work, its a cover band which means that are approuch to listening to this music is colored by us actually knowing the original work and are feelings about the original music to begin with. I think its also important to recognize that PMJ works best as a a live band. My initial interest in the band was from watching there youtube videos which are filmed as a chamber set often with a central Chanteuse character drawing attention center stage. It very much is playing off of the performance style of these genres of music and it works incredible well. These people are hot, they sing well, and they have an incredible fantastic stage presence. It what makes this songs have a lasting impact in my opinion. Listening to a purely audio version of these songs is a detriment and honestly the tangible albums have also felt a little cashgrabby. I mean they released four albums in 2015. Four of them. its really doesn't feel like these were artistic attempts and putting together the creme de la creme of there chambe sessions it feels much more like a bunch of singles they ripped to cd so that they had something to sell at merch tables.

Bad Romance and Barbie Girl are both fantastic stage performances and its truly sad that you can't see Sarah Reich in her footwork with a literally cd of this.

I feel like my thoughts are all over the place so I'm gonna try my best to make my critiques cognent. Why not a numbered list.

Lyricism

Famarity

Production

Lyricism

The opener of this album is All About That Bass (feat. Morgan James, Haley Reinhart, Ariana Savalas & Casey Abrams). Its meant as this fun, feel-good, pop number and it is and so is the original. The issue for me is that I just don't like Trainers message in it. this review is too long to get to deep in the paint about it but Trainer centers who own love and self-accemptance exclusively on whether or not shes fuckable to men and theres also quite a bit of skinny shaming in it. with some very weak lip-service and yes this song came out way before much of the culteral conversation over body positivity and body nutrality and all that crap but It still sits in the pantheon of other girlboss songs like 'before he cheats' and 'you belong to me' that have a kind of toxic feminitiy to. It rubs me the wrong way.

This is the two edged sword of PMJ because on one hand the torch singing style there known for focuses on the lyricism and songs that really sing on this album Creep, Barbie Girl I Believe In A Thing Called Love, and Only One have fantastic lyrics. Its acts as an appreciation to the craft of songwriting. Contrary-wise it makes the weak lyricism of other songs that much more thread-bare. If 80% of your song and mixing is focused on the words they have to be good or at least they pale in comparision to the tent-poles of there work. The enthralling torch songs that made me first fall in love with there work.

Familarity

So heres the thing right. If you have a cover band you want to cover songs that people know right? Usually this isn't a problem they choose a lot of big, and I mean like huge, top 100 pop songs. Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars. Songs that would be immediately recognizable and beloved. For fucks sake this album ends with a pared-down solely recreation of Take Me To Church. They play crowd pleasers. So lets play a game name who sings these songs.

Such Great Heights

I Believe in A Thing Called Love

That was The Postal Service and The Darkness. Oh uh yes these were top 100 hits in there specific genres in 2003. On further research I have heard Such Great Heights. Mostly because I really love 2000s indie pop but the main issue with this is that I don't recognize the song from the arrangement. The arrangement is fantastic its a great song but its not recognizable the same experience. And I don't want to act like thats a bad thing that an adaptation is *too* tranformative. At the same time I feel like we should question what is the point of a cover band doing a cover that nobody recognizes?

Ok Round Two

Only One

Poison

That was Kanye West and Rita Ora!!!!

Ok so heres the vibe. These songs are both from around early 2015, and were fairly popular on the radio at that time. In fact, Rita Ora released her single only two weeks before PMJ covered it. Neither or these songs to the best of my understanding had any staying power, (I for one had never heard of them before despite me being in my peak listening to the radio era), they didn't even make the top 100 for that year. If your wondering all the other contemporary songs on this album are on there. Its hard not to see this as Scott Bradlee's hearing a critical acclaimed song on the radio and then immediately turning around and making an arrangement for it for the clicks. Which don't get me wrong that was 85% of the trending videos on youtube at the time but it still acts as a burr in my side when looking at this from a artistic perspective. Because once again these songs don't sound like the original which brings us to my third point.

Production

To keep this slightly brief lets discuss. Paper Planes - M.I.A. You know the one its the song with the hook that goes "bang bang bang cash register and takes your money". The production on the song is fantastic. The beat is dreamy and gauzy, her vocals are muted but lathegic like shes in another room. Its a sound that is distinctive it feels like walking down the street in a 90s action film. right with that very specific california sunny filter that makes everything piss yellow. thats what the song sounds like and its because of the mixing and sound production because pop music is pretty complicated to make these days. It tends to be a very layered sound that what a producer is.

Big Band music can also be incredible complex and layered. Theres a lot of feeling that can be created between harmony and melody and procussion. These are two bad bitches that shouldn't be pitted against each other.

The issue for me with this song is that the percussion fucking sucks. The Paper Planes Hook. The part of the song that is so goddamn iconic is replaced by a paltry stacccoto brass section. The fuck. That is not in the original spirit of the song. Its one thing to take a fast-past hiphop song and sing it slow and bluesey, its another to listen to well-produced beats and then shit your goddamn pants at the percussionist section.

If I was given the task to incorporate these non-diegetic sounds into a orchestial style there are ways to do it. Large Snare Sounds, stomping, or you could do what my highschool theater class did and band two 2x4 together. Trust me it sounds like shots fired. Also here me out you get a vintage cash register place in on the table front and center and have your procussionist literally just open it during the hook. It would be cute it would be fun, it is so entirely within the realm, style, and humor of PMJ that what we did get is honestly kinda insulting. I just don't like the production on this song and I think it shows a lack of polish in the arrangement.

Now that I have been alittle bitch for longer then should be allowed. I want to say that my criticism of this album is entirely intellectual. It was fine it was a perfectly fine album.

The reason why I am writing these blogs is to think more critically about music about writing and about criticism. So me being a little bitch is me practising being a little bitch for money!!!!! HIIIII give me moneyh!11 pelase. This is not intended as a serious review. This is a writing project so take it as a grain of salt.

3/5

Dream Your Life Away (2014) - Vance Joy

Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Pop Length 49:00 (13 Tracks)

If your famalier with Vance Joy its most likely through his break-out single 'Riptide', a folksy acoustic balad with esoteric lyrics. Also an absolutely fantastic music video, If Radley Mertzger saw it he would cum.

Looking at the rest of his set on this album you get a very similar energy. Hozier-esque Vance Joy uses this indie folk stylings to sing sad ballads about love.

It feels like the insecurties you have when you began to date a beautiful person, it feels like the cold blue light of an newly empty apartment, it feels like watching somebody you love sleep and wondering what you did to be so goddamn lucky.

Its a very meloncholic album, something you put on when your alone and lonely. Good Shit.

4/5

Hug Of Thunder (2017) - Broken Social Scene

Genre: Indie Rock, Baroque Pop Length: 52:19 (12 Tracks)

I first listened to BSS entirely because it was off-handedly mentioned by a bunch of hipsters in the webcomic Questionable Content. You know back when it was about Jeff Jacques self-insert being emotional abused by a big titty hot chick and not existential trans-humanist conversations and milfs with fat cow tits, (I refuse to explain).

Hug of Thunder is the Fifth Studio Album from Broken Social Scene, which is apparently a musical collective with a rather large member list. This album has 23 listed musicans on it if that tells you anything.

I'm not great at describing sounds but its layered, indie rock that creates an almost soundscape type quality. IDK its moody indie stuff I'm bad at this and thats ok.

4/5

Halloway EP (2016) - Tessa Violet

Genre: Dark Pop Length: 16:52 (5 Tracks)

I remember when I first heard this album. It was 2019 and I was going through a major depressive episode. I was cold, both emotional and physically, and suffering through the most incredible emo of heartbreak. bitch was going through it.

Tessa refers to this album as her 'dark pop' album and that is understable. Theres a lot of heartbreak in the album and while some songs like 'not over you' are a feel-good anthem there is a certain rawness to Haze and On my Own that I still come back to all these years later.

This is an important album to me and for how much its forgotten by others I still have no choice but to love it.

4/5

Primordial Archive (2023) - Elliot Lee

Genre: Alt Pop Length: 48 Minutes (16 Tracks)

Elliot Lee has been a name I feel like I have always been famalier with. While its easy to compare her to artists like Jasmin Bean and Melanie Martinez who also play with creepy cute imagery and discuss themes of obsession and mental illness. Lee's work to me has always felt much more connected to internet culture. She makes the type of pop music that you would draw animatics of your OCs to.

Her work is angry, confessional, spoken word at times and she layers it over an almost nightcore or glitchcore sound. Electronica that is destinctly 2000s in sound with distorted vocals that lend an almost bluesy sound to her words. Its a strong distinction from comparable artists in the Alt Pop scene.

Primordial Archive is a fix-up album from Photo Finish Records. Putting together a variety of her earlier songs with a new Single 'Funny Bunny'. I was original concerned with cohesion with this album but on relisten in gelled a lot more for me. Lee has spent the last who knows many years putting out singles so when it comes together it turns out OOPS all bangers. Theres some fantastic tracks on this album and I think it manages to show her range quite well.

Funny Bunny the signiture single on the album is equally fantastic. You have lee's signiture confessional lyrics that are .... a little too relatable if I'm being honest over what can only be described as a DDR dance beat. Its recognizable Elliot Lee and its a damn good pop song.

4/5

Anyway Whores I'm not sure what tomarrow brings but I have to imagine its more music.

[musicalthought]

album review; tessa violet's halloway (2016)

♡ fav song: on my own

♡ least fave son(s): dream; not over you; haze

♡ overall: 6.7/10

Song by Song Review Under the Cut

Dream -> 6/10 It’s missing something…

Not Over You -> 6/10 Reminds me of Paramore / 2014 / Tumblr type of music.

Haze -> 6/10 This one is missing something too…

On My Own -> 8/10 It’s very topical. I downloaded this one to my personal playlist.

I Don’t Get to Say I Love You Anymore -> 7/10 It was better than the first three tracks, but it’s still missing something.

[yoshkerz]

the goddess herself…

[luc3ks]

second piece for @motherserieszine :] goin to duncan's factory n eatin lunch...

[dearemma]

happy new year!!

[caleohateclub]

look, i heard duke and miss halloway were sad but i have never been affected so bad by starkid. i literally found out kim whalen and curt mega were married while watching killer track and i just got back from a very emotional walk (dont ask). and annd anda adnnadnaddna IUAHGJS HE CANT REMEMBER HER BUT HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH ALL OF HER PERSONAS IS THAT WHAT YORU SAYING STARKID???!?!?!/1!/!1/1/

[shutterafterdark]

First Glance

[devilmaydaycare]

David Halloway & Antheia Dúlinnel || "For the first time in a long time, I think this is where I'm meant to be."/"Sitting squished into my chair with me?"/"Yeah. Can you believe that?"

[knockoff-fuze-tea-brewery]

what if?

[ofmdrecaps]

09/23-25/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Kristian Nairn: Beyond The Throne Release!; Rhys Darby; Leslie Jones; Rachel House; CW: Roaches: Samba Schutte; Vico Ortiz; Lindsey Cantrell; Crew For Life Hoody; Adopt Our Crew: Prompts/Research; Bi+Sexuality Day; Watch Party Reminders; Fan Spotlight; Love Notes;

Hey crew, sorry I've been completely exhausted the last few days, having to be up early with kiddo and drive down to see my dad + crazy work hours. I am just... flat out of it, sorry! Trying to get caught up today, this is going to be a 3 dayer to try and catch up quickly. Hope you all are doing well and having fun honking!

== Kristian Nairn ==

On September 23, Kristan's Beyond the Throne was finally released!!!

Kristan was on NBCNews and Pix11News!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

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A post shared by New York Live (@newyorklivetv)

Kristian was featured in the New York Post and Screenrant!

A lot of the crew has been expressing excitement for the book!

Still looking for a copy? Maybe a signed copy? You can grab one on his linktree!

== Rhys Darby ==

Sept 23rd was Rhys and Rosie's 27th anniversary! Happy Anniversary you two!

Speaking of Rhys and Rosie -- Friday Sept 27, Rhys and Rosie will be doing an episode together!

Source: David Booth's Twitter

Rhys is going to be taking a big part in BadJelly! (Guess who else is there? Pop Pop (Cohen Halloway!)

Source: BadJellyTv / Rosie's IG

Are you gonna be in LA on Oct 1? You can check out Rhys' "Saying Funny Things Society" at the Largo Los Angelos! Get tickets here.

Source: Rhys Darby's Twitter

== Leslie Jones ==

Leslie's off to see the yankees!

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A post shared by Leslie Jones (@lesdogggg)

Source: Leslie's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

For Latine Heritage Month, Vico was featured in a Glaad article!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Samba Schutte ==

There's quite a lot of speculation going around because of how active Samba is regarding AoNZ and OFMD....he's been sharing a LOT of @adoptourcrew's Glaad Media Awards stories...

And reminding us he went to New Zealand 2 years ago...

And.. what is with these Roaches in a box? Some folks have said... 3 pictures = S3, some have said they see S3 in the roaches themselves. What do you think?

Source: Samba's Instagram Stories

PS: I love that the Advanced Chemistry Movie Socials are clowning with us all.

Source: AdvancedChemistry Twitter

== Rachel House ==

Can it be? Is The Mountain finally coming to dvd and digital! Apparently! Oct 2 is the day in the US - AoNZ Oct 1!

Source: TeMaunga's Instagram == Linds Cantrell ==

Lindsey with a new Haircut!

Source: Linds Cantrell's Instagram Stories

== Crew For Life Hoody ==

Final hours for the ShopStands Crew For Life Hoodie!

Source: ShopStands.com

== Adopt Our Crew ==

Our crewmates over at @adoptourcrew have been trying to keep engagement gowing with a couple prompts! If you have twitter please hit them up, they'd love to hear from you!

Source: AOC's Twitter

Source: AOC Twitter

Our Friends over at @adoptourcrew also put together some cool research regarding shows that have been picked up by Netflix! Check it out here!

Source: AOC Tumblr

== Watch Party Reminders ==

Sept 26 is the end of Season 1 of OFMD with @adoptourcrew and @astroglideofficial!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Articles ==

The Mary Sue put an article out about the OFMD Cancellation, but it caused a little controversy because of this glaring error:

If you wanna check the article out below here it is:

Source: Sorry I can't remember who I found it from initially!

== Bi+Sexuality Day ==

Happy very belated Bi+ Sexuality day! As always-- you are seen, you are valued, you are valid; no matter who you've chosen to partner with, or who you've been with in the past. So much love your way lovelies <3

Source: Glaad Instagram

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

New Episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction-- this time The Fluff Episode! Check it out on their linktr.ee!

And new episode of Gay Pirate News Hour on October 5th! Check it out on Our Flag Means Fanfiction Youtube!

Source: Our Flag Means Fanfiction Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Alrighty lovelies, I wanted to get so much more done today but I ran out of picture room and I'm catching up on so many things so everything is behind. I want you to know that you are doing a great job out there. Not just with clowning/honking, but with life in general. Things keep happening, and you keep on kicking, and that means so much to me, so much to your crew! We care so deeply about you and so when you succeed, or you struggle, we want to be there with you every time. <3

This world is hard, but you keep being kind regardless, and we're so proud of you for that. Sending so much love crew <3

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A post shared by Katie Abey 🌈 (@katieabey)

Source: Katie Abey's Instagram

[nanaten]

warmup sketches of my au where ninten and lloyd grow up to be teachers at twinkle elementary :D

[starions]

"she said she wanted a nuka-cola quantum."

thank you @chrisfroot for this amazing comm of butch and my lw gigi <3 just in time for my birthday!! you captured them both so well.

[luc3ks]

first piece I did for @motherserieszine B) I luv u teddy

available as a print here if u so desire!

[unsafescapewolf]

Laundry day!