#HER TRACK IS SO FUCKING PERFECT I LOVE IT SOOOOOOO MUCH. LISTEN TO IT

[cornertheculprit]

Iris Wilson ~ The Little Biographer Yasumasa Kitagawa

[pantoneblou]

I just finished listening to the last track after a long time and omg ..pure perfection. What do you think he means with "there's things that we'll never know?" I always wondered about that. The song is hard to pin point for me because it feels like he sings about a lover, an ex, a partner and a soulmate all at the same time. The back and fourth chant between 'We will be a fine line' and 'we will be alright' at the end sounds as if he's not sure himself 😭 can you do a song analysis plz?

Okay. Firstly, hi! I’m literally always here for some Fine Line appreciation, so I’ll happily do an analysis! In a crazy twist of events, both Falling and Adore You beat it on my most listened to songs on Spotify this year, BUT, I think that’s because it’s so deeply emotional, I can’t listen to it endlessly (like I can with Falling when I’m having a breakdown at 2am). So yes, agreed, it’s PURE BLOODY PERFECTION.

I’ll admit I do also find this song and its meaning incredibly hard to pinpoint. It feels sooooooo damn vunerable but at the same time, it makes me want to go full English teacher mode because what the fuck does any of it mean? For that reason, I think it’s one of the most intimate and closest looks that Harry gives us at his love life. Because, it’s almost like we don’t have to understand it. It’s not for us. It’s for his person, you know? It’s like he shared a song with us that was only ever meant to be heard by that one person. So, I’m going to try my best with this lyric analysis but please forgive me because honestly, I don’t think I’ll even be scratching the surface of Harry’s intentions with Fine Line.

Put a price on emotion

I'm looking for something to buy

This opening is confusing. I interpret these as Harry saying he would literally pay anything for the happiness that this person provides him with, buuuut of course emotions are priceless and the price he has to pay for their ups is all of the downs too.

You've got my devotion

But man, I can hate you sometimes

IMO, these are the clearest lines in the entire song. This is him saying, you’ve got me, you’re never going to lose me because I love you TOO DAMN MUCH but MAN you do piss me off! If you’ve ever read about twin flame connections, that’s the vibe these lines give me… This person isn’t just a lover but his missing half.

I don't want to fight you

And I don't wanna sleep in the dirt

We'll get the drinks in

So I'll get to thinking of her

I read ‘the dirt’ here as any version of life without this person. As though it doesn’t really matter how much they’re fighting, how awful the world is around them, it could never be worse than being without one another. ‘We’ll get the drinks in’ says to me, this fight isn’t over, and I’m still upset about this mysterious ‘her’ but, I know I need you.

We'll be a fine line x6

Ahhhh… the fine line between what? Love and hate, needing one another and wanting to be apart? The repetition is what really does it for me here. Harry repeating this line 6 times seems to suggest that they’ve face a lot of hardship, and he knows there’s more to come, but that there’s no way they could do it without one another.

Test of my patience

This just builds on the chorus and the last verse. This whole relationship is a test of his patience. It’s not a test he’s going to fail, but damn it’s not easy either!

There's things that we'll never know

This is the line you asked about specifically and I totally get why! Harry is so cryptic. For me, this is Harry referencing the early days of this relationship, which I get the sense was when they were both young and naïve. The things they’ll never know is how and why it’s ended up so complicated, or why so much is expected of them. Also, this describes the moment I think I went through at some point in my early twenties, when you surpass a certain level of intelligence and recognise that you only know a minimal fraction of how the world works. Harry and his person will never know why they found one another, what brought them together and to this point, they just know that it’s right. 

You sunshine, you temptress

My hand's at risk, I fold

I love this line, because it’s like he’s confirming that despite allllllll of the hatred that this person can instill in him, they’re still the source of his light. They’re the gold from Golden, the Sun of Sunflower Vol 6. He’s discarding his cards, ‘folding’, because trying to fight his feelings is useless, trying to walk away from this person will never work.  

Crisp trepidation

I'll try to shake this soon

Just, so much nervousness. So much apprehension. It’s been a long time and this person still lights a fire in him.

Spreading you open

Is the only way of knowing you

Said it before and I’ll say it again. The most beautiful line he’s ever written. The only way I can describe why this line resonates so much with me is because it’s like… this relationship he’s talking about, despite all the shit it’s going through and how he can ‘hate’ them sometimes?? It’s still not toxic. No one’s doing any unhealthy idolising. This person may be his sun, they may be the most beautiful thing in his life but he’s also spread them so far open that he’s seen them at their absolute worst… and he still loves them?? Like he’s so aware that they exist both as a part of his life and as a whole nuanced person. (For me this line ALONE crushes the rads claims that Harry is a narcissist because narcissists aren’t capable of the empathy that it implies)

We’ll be a fine line x12 We'll be alright x2 fine line x 2 We'll be alright x 3

I think the jumping back and forth between alright and fine line suggests that Harry is aware their fight isn’t over. Whatever it is that they’re battling, it’s still here, they’re not done yet. But, I have to say I don’t get the sense he isn’t sure. I get the sense that Harry is saying ‘We’ve got through this before, we can do it again. I know it’s going to be fucking hard, but I know we can. And we’ll be alright, we always are.’ When he ends the song, he ends it KNOWING they’ll be alright.

All in all, I think that this song is meant to be about a soulmate, a once in a lifetime connection type of relationship. Someone who knows you better than you know yourself. The reason he hates them sometimes, is they make him realise all of the things he hates about himself. But they’ll always be his Sun, his light, no matter how thin the ‘fine line’ between love and hate grows.

It’s just gorgeous.

[artificialqueens]

Blue Neighborhood Series: TOO GOOD (Jackie-centric) - Mac

AN: All my love and thanks to Alex for betaing. She’s a star and I adore her. All my love to you all for continuing to read this story. I appreciate you so much more than you know.

Summary: Jan and Jackie talk about their respective futures as well as the events of the past few months and try to figure out what comes next.

Jackie breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to slow her racing heart. The cups of coffee in her hand were still so ridiculously hot that they burned a ring into the skin of her palm, but the uncomfortable feeling and the biting chill of the night air kept her mind clear.

For that she was grateful.

Not a second after she had knocked, the familiar red oak door swung open, revealing a frazzled looking Jan. She looked beautiful despite her evident stress, and Jackie would have told her as much if she were braver.

“Good evening, Miss Homecoming Royalty,” Jackie grinned, chipper as ever, even with it being nearly midnight.

Jan huffed and rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood for teasing, but as her gaze fell onto the matching cups in Jackie’s hands, her eyes lit up and she made a grab for the coffee.

Jackie’s arm darted away from Jan’s eager grasp and she shook her head mockingly. “Uh un, what do you say?” she prompted, barely able to suppress a grin.

Jan crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. If Jackie were a stronger woman she wouldn’t have found it as adorable as it was.

The older girl sighed. “This is the part where you say ‘thank you, Jackie, you’re the light of my life and I couldn’t do any of this without you.’”

Jan rolled her eyes once more. “I swear to god,” she cursed under her breath.

“Close enough,” Jackie chuckled, finally offering the drink to Jan with an outstretched hand.

Jan grabbed it swiftly like she was prepared for Jackie to whisk it away again. The older girl just laughed at her as the two made their way up the stairs to Jan’s room. Pristine and purple as always, Jackie swore the place was cleaner than a hospital with how often Jan vacuumed, the plush shag carpet sending sparks of familiarity and comfort up Jackie’s legs and settling in her spine.

The two girls threw themselves on the bed and began the arduous process of pulling out their various materials.

College applications were due in a week and with all the shit that had been going on in both their lives, they had conveniently put off writing their essays, or in Jan’s case, writing her essays and recording her audition tapes. Jan, having realized this, had called Jackie immediately and demanded that they get together and finish everything right the fuck now. Jackie, having been half asleep and not in her right mind, agreed, because it was Jan, and she never could say no to Jan.

Now, the girls exhaled, throwing their stacks of papers around the room and staring blankly at their computer screens, racking their brains for that perfect string of words that would determine the course of their lives.

After about thirty minutes of this mindless staring, Jan sighed and threw herself back onto her plush comforter, trying and failing not to find it comfortable.

“What the hell do they mean where do I want to be in ten years?” She groaned. “Employed. What the hell else?”

Jackie raised a singular brow, judgment clear in her words.“Is that really UCLA’s essay topic? Yikes.”

Jan sat up and fixed her with a squint. “Well, what was Smith’s?”

“Most influential person in your life.”

“That’s sooooooo basic,” Jan drawled, rolling her eyes pointedly.

Jackie leaned over the mountain of pillows and made to poke at Jan playfully. The younger girl gave a dramatic shriek and began burying herself under the mass of pillows in an effort to escape. Jackie let her go after a moment, finding Jan far too cute and far too close.

The proximity, even after all these years, never failed to make her head spin.

“At least they didn’t ask a minimum wage job interview question,” she quickly recovered.

Jan scoffed and batted Jackie’s hands away. “I think you’re just saying that cause you don’t want me going so far away.”

Jackie couldn’t hide the way her heart sank in her chest at the comment, but she’d be damned if she didn’t try to conceal it with an eye roll. “Whatever. Like you won’t get into whatever school you apply to.”

Jan groaned again, turning her face against a pillow so she could meet Jackie’s eyes. “Juilliard has an 8% acceptance rate.”

“And NYU?”

“20%”

Jackie shrugged. “And what about it? You’re more talented than every one of those other bitches and you know it.”

Jan sighed, letting her eyes fall down to the bed beneath them, fingers tracing aimless patterns into the worn blanket.“I dunno, Jacks. Lately I’ve been wondering if I even wanna do music.”

“Are you serious?” Jackie asked incredulously.

The thought that Jan, the girl with musical notes for blood cells, wasn’t sure about her future was… alarming to say the least.

If anybody should be comfortable picking a path in life, she should.

Student body president, Homecoming Royalty, captain of the cheer team, soccer star, salutatorian. She was the perfect addition to any collegiate program.

Although Jackie supposed it made sense. Jan had been so driven, had worked so hard for so long that she had barely had time to breathe let alone think for herself. Always so concerned with what came next.

Freedom must seem like the scariest thing imaginable.

“Is this because of what happened at your audition last month?” Jackie pressed, still unable to fully wrap her mind around what she was hearing.

“No? Well, yes.” She sighed once more. “I dunno. I just don’t know if that’s my… thing. You know? Like for the rest of my life…” Jan trailed off.

Jackie nodded. She did know.

Just because she was happy with her chosen track didn’t mean she was sure of it.

But she had been in a similar position not too long ago when she had come out to her less than enthusiastic parents. Jackie had defined herself by her family and the rules of her culture since the day she could comprehend them.

It was scary, feeling so untethered.

The only reason she had gotten through it was the knowledge that she would get to escape one day. That college would come and she could be free from all the expectations and the pressure and the rules.

But Jan wasn’t like that. She craved rules and discipline and order. So much so that it had overshadowed everything else. Order had always come first. Before passion, before reason, before joy.

“Well you know,” Jackie paused, “you don’t have to decide right now.”

Jan looked up at her, eyes wide in confusion.“Applications are due next week I have to-”

Jackie cut her off with a shake of her head. “Who says you even have to go to college?”

The younger girl stared at her for a moment, mouth hanging open in shock, like she couldn’t believe that Jackie was actually encouraging what she was encouraging. “My parents-”

“Oh fuck off,” Jackie scoffed. “You don’t actually care what they think.”

Jan couldn’t meet her eyes anymore, shoulders tense as she attempted to process. Her fingers were flexing unconsciously against the sheets as her mind spun, falling over itself at the idea that she had the option to take her time.

That she didn’t have to keep running anymore. That she could finally slow down.

Jackie saw it all play out behind her eyes, and she noticed the moment that Jan shut down, not allowing herself to bask in the possibility.

She went to protest again. “Jacks-”

“You don’t have to pick your career right now,” Jackie said firmly, in that tone that always made Jan shut up and actually listen to her. She wasn’t sure why she was pushing so hard, but she couldn’t stop herself, the unrelenting need to assure Jan that she was fine and she had time making her mouth move before her brain could stop it. “You’re 18. You’ve got so much time. You can take a year off, or two years off, or never fucking go to college if you don’t want to.”

Jan still wouldn’t look at her, body still tense, mind still scattered; Jackie gently took hold one of Jan’s hands in her own, squeezing it gently in reassurance.

“You have time to figure it all out. And you will.” Jackie smiled lightly to herself. “I know you will.”

Because it’s you. She wanted to say. Because it’s you and you’re so incredible. And nothing you ever do in your whole life can be anything less than incredible.

Jackie looked up to find Jan staring at her with soft eyes, adoration so clearly etched in the lines on her face.

“What are you staring at?” Jackie coughed awkwardly, a hand coming up to worry the skin on the back of her neck, flush spreading subconsciously.

“Nothing.” Jan smiled, shaking her head and squeezing Jackie’s hand in hers. “It’s just… you’re gonna be a great lawyer.”

…

Jackie’s head hung off the side of Jan’s bed several hours later as the student body president looked through her color-coded planner, mind unfocused. Thoughts of sleep wandered through Jackie’s exhausted brain, but she forced her eyes open, meeting Jan’s even as she was upside down.

“Whatcha thinking bout?” Jackie asked her, with a lopsided grin.

“That you look silly like that,” Jan teased.

“Funny, you look normal.”

Jan’s eyes widened comically and her mouth hung open in a show of mock offense before she proceeded to poke Jackie none too lightly in the side over and over and over again. This lead to the both of them playfully hitting at each other like children, eventually causing Jackie to fall gracelessly off the bed and onto the floor, the two old friends proceeding to collapse into a fit of giggles and eventually calling a truce as they caught their breaths.

Their laughter subsided after an immeasurable amount of time and a comfortable silence fell between the two.

But then, Jan’s peaceful smile faltered.

“Are you thinking about her?”

Jackie felt her shoulders tense, the sudden change of tone making goosebumps rise on her skin. “Gotta be more specific than that,” she tried and failed to joke.

“Gigi,” Jan muttered, staring intently at Jackie, eyes brimming with… something that Jackie didn’t entirely recognize.

“Why?”

Jan shrugged. “I dunno. You were gonna go with her to Homecoming and then all of a sudden you weren’t.”

Jackie looked at Jan hard for a moment, unsure of where this line of questioning was coming from, and not sure she wanted to find out where it was going, as Jan’s stare was blank and unassuming - a dramatic deviation from her usual bubbly self.

Jackie shook her head as if to communicate that it wasn’t a big deal. “She wanted to go with someone else. It wasn’t a set in stone kinda thing. We were only going as friends.”

You knew that. Jackie wanted to say.

Because Jan had known that. Had known both of them for her whole life and not once had she… made this connection before.

The student body president nodded slowly, almost as if weighing Jackie’s answer. “So you don’t…” Jan paused, choosing her next words carefully, “have… feelings for her?”

Jackie felt something unpleasant settle in her stomach. Something that felt quite a bit like anger.

They didn’t talk about this.

Not about boys, or girls, or attraction in general. Jan always had Bryce and Jackie always kept her mouth shut.

“Why?” Jackie tried to keep her voice level, and not let the selfish, angry part of herself lash out.

“I’m just curious.” Jan shrugged, detached tone still making Jackie uneasy. “You never tell me about girls you like, and you and Gigi were all over each other at Widow’s birthday.”

Suddenly, the remaining pieces fell into place.

“So were you and Jaida,” Jackie shot back before she could think better of it.

Jan immediately shrunk in on herself, as if Jackie’s words had been physical blows. “That was different.”

Jackie laughed bitterly, the pooing disgust in her gut brimming to the surface. She raised one eyebrow pointedly, making unyielding eye contact with Jan. “Was it?”

Suddenly Jan was much closer than Jackie remembered her being, and she must have sat up or something because she could feel Jan’s labored breathing against her face now.

And just as suddenly as she noticed it, Jan was leaning across the small space between them to press her lips firmly, decidedly against Jackie’s.

Jackie’s entire body froze, suspended a freefall for several seconds.

The change from anger to elation was so sudden, so consuming, that her whole body felt aflame.

After a beat, her brain slowly kicked back online and she began to move her mouth in time with Jan’s bruising kisses.

Jan tasted like coffee and sunshine and a familiarity that made Jackie’s spine tingle. And Jackie didn’t know how she had gone so long without tasting her.

The kiss turned slow, lazy almost, as the two old friends lingered in each other’s space long after they had come up for air.

But when the student body president pulled away, there was something decidedly less joyful in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Jan started to apologize.

Jackie smiled lightly. “It’s okay.”

Jan kept shaking her head back and forth quickly, anxiety creeping into her words.“No, I mean… I shouldn’t have done that. I… I wanted to see if… I thought maybe-”

Jackie reached out with a gentle hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of Jan’s face, but the younger flinched back like the contact burned, and the sick feeling in Jackie’s stomach was back, threatening to suffocate her.

“Take your time, it’s okay,” A rejected Jackie nearly whispered.

Jan just kept shaking her head, letting out a puff of air through her nose. “It’s really not.”

Jackie looked at her, really looked at her for a moment, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It finally came in the form of Jan’s teary eyes meeting Jackie’s.

I’m sorry. They said without words.

And suddenly it hit her what exactly Jan was apologizing for.

“You… you don’t like me like that. Do you?” Jackie said slowly, allowing each of the words to drift from the back of her tongue and fall off her lips coldly.

Jan met her eyes again, lip held tightly between her two perfect rows of teeth, and shook her head.

Jackie nodded. “It’s Jaida, isn’t it?” she couldn’t keep the disgust out of her mouth.

Jan hesitated, freezing up for a beat before giving in and nodding minutely.

The silence was back, heavy now in the wake of Jan’s admissions.

And then suddenly, all the years of repressed feelings came bubbling to the surface, and Jackie was helpless to stop the anger from winning out this time.

“Why didn’t you tell me? What, you didn’t think I’d understand? Didn’t think I could handle it?” She spat.

Jan shook her head, helpless. “I didn’t know how to-”

“You didn’t even fucking come out to me! I didn’t know you liked girls, I had to use fucking context clues!”

“I didn’t know how to tell you it was someone else.” Jan rushed out. “I always thought, if it were going to be anyone, I thought it’d be you…” she shook her head sadly. “But it’s not and I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know how to tell myself.”

“So what, you just fucking kissed me for what?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, you fucking failed”

Jackie, vision blurry in a mix of rage and hurt, started grabbing her school materials and shoving them blindly into her bag.

Jan tried to stop her. “Jacks-”

“Don’t.” The ice in Jackie’s voice shut Jan up immediately, the younger girl sinking back into her position on the bedroom floor.

Jackie made her way to the door, silently fuming to herself. She only stopped when she heard Jan’s meek voice from behind her.

“I’m sorry. I wanted it to be you.”

Jackie laughed bitterly, facing the door to hide the tears threatening to spill over. “You can’t help who you like, Jan.”

…

Jan’s words echoed in Jackie’s head as she fled the house.

“I wanted it to be you.”

Me too. Jackie thought. Me fucking too.

She wanted to be angry. So much so that she convinced herself she was. Cursing Jan’s name under her breath, wishing they’d never met in the first place.

But as soon as the chill of the October air hit her skin, she felt the tears fall. She was helpless to stop them, so she didn’t try to.

As she wandered around the familiar houses of their neighborhood, all dark save for the one at the start of the road, she let the past years of fear and regret and sadness fall from her eyes.

She sat under the flickering streetlamp at the start of their street, ignoring the way the harsh sidewalk rubbed rough against her clothes.

“I wanted it to be you.”

“I wanted it to be you.”

“I wanted it to be you.”

The words circling around and around and around in her head like a merry go round.

It would be so much simpler. So much cleaner and nicer and easier if Jan could just love her back. Could force herself to settle for someone as plain and boring and utterly inferior as Jackie.

It would be easier. And it wouldn’t hurt so much.

Because even if she did, even if Jan could love her, Jackie would always know that she wasn’t good enough. And it would hurt, but it would be fine because at least she could be mostly happy. And it would only hurt in that quiet, burning kind of way that you only ever felt if you moved a certain way.

Yes, it would be easier that way.

But Jackie couldn’t ask her to do that.

But maybe…

Just maybe…

She could ask someone else.

Before Jackie could think it through, she was across the street knocking loudly on the only other house with a light in the window.

She waited impatiently, leg bouncing up and down, rapping once again on the door until it swung open revealing a mostly tired, slightly surprised Gigi.

Jackie didn’t think, she just pulled Gigi in by her hips and angled her head to capture her lips in a kiss that felt like a lie.

Gigi let out a surprised yelp a first, then froze as Jackie’s lips moved passionately against her own. But Jackie didn’t let up, only doubling down on her efforts, channeling everything she couldn’t say to Jan into Gigi’s mouth.

Ultimately, the younger girl melted, kissing back cautiously if not a bit demurely.

When Jackie finally relented, letting Gigi up for lungfuls of air, she couldn’t help the satisfied feeling pooling in her gut.

Gigi stared at her, wide eyes showing a mixture of shock and awe and a tiny bit of desire.

“Y-You don’t want me,” she finally managed to say.

It was only then that Jackie noticed her red eyes.

She had been crying too.

What a pair they made.

“I’m so sick of people telling me what I want.” Jackie whispered. “I want you. I want to be with you.”

Gigi looked at her hard, gnawing at her bottom lip.

After a beat, she nodded.

Gigi still looked nervous, like Jackie was going to take it all back and change her mind, but Jackie was too high off of the intoxicating mix of desire and anger and pain.

She pulled Gigi into another bruising kiss and pretended she tasted like coffee.

[todaysbiggesthits]

The Exam

Best Music Moment of 2019

BC: Three straight hours of this

in my Chapman Ryder Cup match with Code  -The Robert M. Chennault Playlist in my Ryder Cup match with Laser  -Vampire Weekend's "M79" with Parks and Rec theme interlude in Pawnee Peytonville with my babe  -Late night music game with JD and Chaps this Fall  -My kids competing for best air guitar solo to Daft Punk's "Digital Love"  -The Stones soundtracking Raceday morning with Counterfeit Kenny and the Kennel Boys 

Codem: -Picking up the keys after closing on #our house and listening to Arden's dreams for the pad while listening to the songs that brought us together in the first place. -Perched in the balcony of Park West watching Chromatics live and in person. -The Chapman format playlist that Brendon and I put together.  It was just one song on repeat.  Xtal - Aphex Twin -Plugging in my klipsch's for the first time in the new house to listen to elliott smith on the day of his death. the sound of his discography wafting throughout the whole house was a true delight.

Bronco: My 6-year-old discovering Green Day.  My 9-year-old discovering Metallica.  Both discoveries have awakened something in them that is hilarious and awesome to behold.  And seeing Tool was pretty flaming awesome.

JD: March: Realizing I’d never heard this Stones song, nodding along to the opening riff, and exploding into my biggest laugh of the year at the first line.

June: The Joni Mitchell performance in the Rolling Thunder Review documentary on Netflix. June: Catching the Thom Yorke Anima short film at the IMAX theater on the Upper West Side. July: Code and I getting a perfect 99 score on the greatest rendition of “Emotional Rescue” karaoke you’ll ever see. October: Playing the music game WAY too deep into the night with BC and Chap (look for the next day’s hangover on my worst moments list).

Chap: Patrick Stickles singing "I'm sorry dad no I'm not making this up" to his dad in the audience.

Nasty: Listening to music at BOB. Nothing but jams that whole weekend. Driving in with Laser - GOOGLE MUSIC JAMS. Trip to the casino - JAMS. Hanging out on the deck - JAMS. Driving to the course with Blazer Black - Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth aka JAMS. In the cart with Code - JAMS. Driving Chappy and Sfreddo to the rental car - JAMS (but quietly).

Larse: Greta Thunberg speech dubbed to metal

Best Shows Seent in 2019

Nasty: The Killers @ Summerfest. Hot Fuss will always be an all-time favorite album and Mr. Brightside is the best pop song of our lifetime, IMO. Also, my wife loves them which is about the only band in middle of the venn diagram. 

Larse: The Lonely Island at Summerfest

BC: Dead & Company

JD: 1. The Rapture at Music Hall of Williamsburg 2. Viagra Boys at Bowery Ballroom 3. The Strokes and Parkay Boys at the All Points East fest in London with drunk lads screaming along to the guitar parts 4. B Boys at Union Pool 5. Titus Andronicus at Bowery Ballroom 6. Avey Tare at Market Hotel 7. Tame Impala at MSG 8. Weeping Icon at Elsewhere 9. Priests at Elsewhere

Code: interpol - chicago theater illuminati hotties - hideout it looks sad - subT downstairs robyn - riviera steve malkmus - art institute eleventh dream day - hideout colleen green - sleeping village swearin' - lincoln hall surf curse - subT shura - the bottle

Chap: TA was the only show I saw. It was great!

Bronco: All of them.  They were each great in their own way.  Aside from Tool I was able to interact with the band members at each of the shows.  One I didn't have a ticket for and scored one at the door.  One was in the tiniest venue I've seen a show at.  One had a surprisingly entertaining opening act.  And Tool surprised me with how much I enjoyed an arena show despite being so far away I couldn't see the facial features of the band members.  And there was SOOOOOOO much weed being smoked in the Garden that night.  And I was with a few good buddies.  And I was able to sell my fourth ticket for twice what I paid, simulatenously covering me and my fourth friend who had to bail because his life sucks because his wife sucks. 

Confession of 2019

Nasty: I consume more music at my cushy, suburban OrangeTheory workout classes than in my own free time. S/O to Coach Vanessa for having some Girl Talk on her playlists. 

Codem: i had more fun listening to stuff that i already knew about than stuff that was coming out.

BC: I saw a Yacht Rock cover band and didn't hate it -I succumbed to social pressure and saw DMB -I didn't realize until the last minute that my favorite album was released in 2018 (Wild Nothing). Removing it greatly reduced my loyalty to my list.

Bronco: I'm losing my edge.  I enjoyed way more lady singer bands this year than in any other year.

Chap:  Couldn't get my shit together on the tracks list so just posted a random playlist

Larse: Not really a confession but more of a TIL (today I learned), but Raphael Saadiq was an original member of Tony! Toni! Tone!

Biggest Disappointment of 2019

Bin: The National @ Summerfest. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "the frontman was completely detached, even confessing at one point that he was excited to get back home to his family. The result was an incredibly depressing show — which, given the band's dour songs, is really saying something." ... Huge Bummer.

BC: Didn't see nearly enough shows with nearly enough of yous 

Chap: Sturgill Simpson... unlistenable!

Bronco: Baroness.

Laser: Modest Mouse opening for The Black Keys

Code: i was really messed up by dave berman's passing. i had tickets to see him play at the end of august. it was going to be my first catching him live and in concert. i had waited for this moment since i picked up american water back in 2003.  two weeks before he was supposed to come through town, he up and died.  also, much less of a bummer, the chromatics show in miami that Arden and i were going to attend got canceled two days before the show.

Most Overrated of 2019

Nasty: Kanye's shoes

Chap: LEGACY! LEGACY! – Jamila Woods seems to have been highly regarded? Not my thing

BC: FKA Twigs

Bronco: Baroness.

JD: Big Thief

Code: cancel culture

Larse: Mayor Pete

Make it Stop 2019

Chap: In my house, the Nutcracker Suite. It's great, until the 300th time that day.

Nasty: Cage the Elephant (but children, instead of elephant, and in real life, not the band)

BC: Lizzo 

Code: lizzo

JD: Memes

Larse: Trump

Bronco: News

Biggest TBH Regret of 2019

Chap: Can't seem to get to more than one show per year; Jessica Pratt in a church by my old place

JD: Missin’ dat Pratt yet Nick!

BC: Should've listened to the Kanye album.  Should've spent more time with the Deerhunter record.

Rotty: Skipping CHVRCHES at Summerfest

Code: another year with no fog party

Nasty: Not going to Indy 500. lol jk.

Bronco: I didn't buy tickets to a few shows I would've liked to have seen.  One of them I went to the venue and didn't get in.  That bummed me out, but I crossed the street and had a few beers by myself for good measure, so it wasn't a total loss.

Detective Murtaugh of 2019

JD: Everything.

Bronco: Shows that don't start until 10pm. That Girl Band show nearly wrecked me.

Chap: How much I loved Bruce Springsteen's adult contemporary western-themed old-man album.

BC: The ten seconds I lasted with 1000 GECS

Nasty: For the life of me - I cannot figure out how to operate the "play next" queue on these apps. 

Laser: Lizzo at Summerfest - lot of younglings running around; people were racist towards Lizzo's security guards, she vowed not to come back to MKE, one of the most segregated cities in America :(

Resolution for 2019 Status

Laser: — How It Went: Who can even remember this shit...I'm sure it was that I'd do better at keeping track or listen to more shit people suggest and I'm sure I failed.

BC: Listen to one new album a week; reboot the Classic Album Review Club How It Went:  Noooot toooo gooooood

Code: catch ovlov, pictureplane, washer, chromatics, EMA and colleen green live this year. How It Went: i saw chromatics and colleen green. last i checked .400 gets you into cooperstown.

JD: Greater consciousness of how I’m using my attention - an ineffectual and meaningless protest of the ways the world is burning down in pursuit of it. How It Went: Not bad! I especially nailed the “ineffectual and meaningless” part.

Chap: Learn Piano; Guilt Joe Dons into finally inviting me to a concert. How It Went: Learned some piano but got to busy for it... Couldn't guilt JD to invite me anywhere but I DID invite him to a show! The same one I went to! With him!

Bronco: Read more 'classic’ books. I didn’t read many of them, even in school (especially in school? Never could read a book I was told to read). But I’m leaning in the sci-fi direction of 'classics’. I just read Dune this summer, and wrapped up Fahrenheit 451 the other day. I’m feeling an unexplained need to beef up my nerd credentials and this seems the way to accomplish it. How It Went: Nope.  Fell back in to zombie-apocalypse genre series that I've been reading for a while. But I am currently reading arch-nerd Neal Stephenson's "Fall; or, Dodge in Hell". It's almost 900 pages, I feel like I've been reading for months now, and because I'm a stupidly slow reader, I read only before going to bed, and can only make it 10 minutes before falling asleep and hitting myself in the face with my phone, I'm only 25% of the way through. But man is it painting a creepy yet eerily plausible scene of the near future. Guy just knows how to write.

Nasty: Hope last year I was smart enough to leave this blank. (editor’s note: [removes shoes, pets cat, puts on slippers, retires to favorite easy chair, sips martini, slowly pulls reading glasses out of cardigan pocket, dusts them off, loads todaysbiggesthits.tumblr.com, scrolls to ‘Resolution for 2019’] “Nasty: I’m sticking with it - get to NY for a show with JD.”)

Resolution for 2020

BC: See Phish in 2020

Codem: i'm making it easier this year. catch ovlov, washer, EMA and colleen green live this year. bonus points: see dom's much anticipated return to the stage.

Bronco: Build a vinyl collection. I know I dumped on Brendon for suggesting he press copies of Carpet Affair, but my kid's getting way into music and listening to it on his own (via Alexa in my bedroom which is super fucking annoying), so we're getting him his own record player and I think it's going to be a cool activity to go record store diving for whatever classics we can scrounge up.

JD: Get to more shows. Take more aimless strolls spinning tunes.

Bin: Send an email about music on the TBH! thread. 

Larse: None

Chap: Eh I'm cool

Most Anticipated of 2020

Code: my man dom said that he is coming back to the world this year. i have to believe that he'll keep his word. i'm thinking 2020 is going to be the year for chromatics' Tommy.

Chap: TWOD, Perfume Genius, Jason Isbell

BC: Huey Lewis and the News, Tame Impala, Run the Jewels

Bronco: Kvelertak and Mastodon, maybe some surprise extra Tool material?

JD: Working Men’s Club

Nasty: Spotify getting Jay-Z's catalog back.