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piastrixpole · 12 days ago

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spinning into love - oscar piastri

pairing: oscar piastri x reader

genre: smau, written

faceclaim: buseksc

spinningaroundrecords just posted!

our new stock is here just in time for the holidays ft. our employee's recommendation wall curated by yn

liked by user3, user45, user27 and 3,419 others

user1: damnn yn's got taste

user2: do you guys have the chappel roan record in?

->spinningaroundrecords: we do!! in coke bottle clear and the coral anniversary addition

Yn had always wanted to work somewhere in the music industry. She lived, breathed and sleeped the euphoria of discovering a new favourite artist or record. From the moment she could remember, the thrill of discovering a new song, a new band, or a hidden gem in the deep corners of an album was enough to make her feel alive. It wasn’t just the act of listening; it was the feeling of music that consumed her. The electric pulse of a bassline, the bittersweet strum of a guitar, the raw, vulnerable emotion in a singer's voice—it all gave her a sense of connection to the world that she couldn’t find anywhere else. Since she wasn't the most musically inclined herself it she was extra passionate as a listener to compensate for it.

So, instead of focusing on creating music, she threw herself into the art of curating it. She spent hours browsing record shops, digging through stacks of vinyl, and chasing after obscure releases from up-and-coming artists. She was a listener, a connoisseur, someone who appreciated the artistry and emotion that went into every note.

It wasn’t long before Yn’s obsession became more than a hobby; it became her life. After years of working in different parts of the music industry—interning, managing small acts, or just helping set up gigs—she finally landed her dream job at Spinning Around Records. The record store wasn’t just a place to work for her—it was a sanctuary, a place where she could live and breathe music every day. And now, she was a permanent fixture there. She helped curate the store’s staff picks, hosted events, and even started her own little side hustle recommending records to people who had no idea where to start.

Today, Yn was standing by the store’s employee recs wall, carefully adjusting the placement of a few albums. It was a busy December afternoon, just days before Christmas. The store was filled with people rushing in for last-minute presents, some browsing, some frantically trying to find the perfect gift for that one person who seemed impossible to shop for. Yn loved the holiday chaos. There was something magical about the way music could pull people in, especially when the world was a little colder and people needed a soundtrack to their lives.

As she was straightening out the stack of vinyl, the door chimed, and Yn looked up, expecting to see the usual rush of people coming in from the cold. Instead, her gaze landed on a man—tall, with messy brown hair, wearing a jacket and jeans that somehow looked effortlessly stylish if it weren't for the drawstring style to the jeans. He was scanning the shelves, clearly out of his depth, a look of slight panic in his eyes as he searched for something among the rows of records.

Yn smirked to herself, watching him for a second. She knew that look. He was the kind of person who was very last-minute with his Christmas shopping.

“Can I help you find something?” she called over, her voice friendly and easygoing.

The man’s eyes shot over to her, and for a second, he looked a little startled, as though he hadn’t expected someone to speak up. He quickly recovered, flashing a smile that was just shy of sheepish.

“I hope so,” he said with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m looking for a gift... for a friend. Not really sure where to start.”

Yn raised an eyebrow, noticing the slight hesitation in his voice. “Are they into music?”

He chuckled, looking almost embarrassed. “Well, yeah, but I don’t know what kind of music they’re into. He's picky...and plays a lot of piano ”

Ah, so he was one of those shoppers, Yn thought. The kind who had no idea what their friend liked, but was determined to get it right. She could work with that.

“Well, I’ve got a few ideas,” she said, pushing away from the shelf and walking toward him. “Do you have any idea what kind of vibe you’re going for? Do they listen to anything specific, or are you just looking for something cool?”

“Uh... cool is good,” the man replied, clearly relieved that she wasn’t judging him for his lack of knowledge. “Maybe something a little indie, or a bit retro? I’m just trying to find something that’ll stand out, you know?”

Yn's smile widened. “I’ve got exactly what you need.”

She led him over to a nearby display of albums, her fingers dancing over the spines of the records as she pulled a few out. “This one’s a personal favourite of mine," she hands him a copy of Dogrel by Fontaines DC "if you want something indie that might surprise him, this would be a good choice or if you want more of a classic album then I'm always going to recommend Grace by Jeff Buckley if he doesn't already have it. No collection is complete without it! .”

As she handed him a few records, she couldn’t help but glance at his face, noticing the way his eyes lingered on the artwork. There was something oddly familiar about him—like she had seen him somewhere before.

“Do you... work here?” he asked, finally taking a breath after looking over her selections.

Yn blinked, then laughed. “No I just give recommendations for fun and know where everything is...Yeah, I do. I’m Yn,” she said, holding out a hand. “I basically live and breathe music. If you’re really stuck, I’m your go-to.”

He shook her hand, his grip warm and firm. “Oscar,” he replied. “And... I think I might need more than just a go-to. I need expert advice.”

Yn grinned. “Well, lucky for you, I’m exactly that.”

Oscar hesitated, looking a little sheepish again. “I’m actually getting this for my friend. He invited me over to his family dinner, and... I need something that shows I’m not just a complete disaster at picking presents.”

Yn’s brow furrowed slightly, intrigued. “A friend? Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Charles,” Oscar said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “He’s... I guess you could say we’re not exactly from the same world, but he’s been super kind. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t look like a total fool showing up empty-handed.”

Oscar nodded thoughtfully, looking down at the records she’d picked out. “I think these might actually do the trick.”

“Glad I could help. Just don’t show up without one of these,” she teased, before adding with a wink, “and maybe don’t tell Charles I’m the one who saved your Christmas dinner reputation.”

oscarpiastri just posted!

family dinner

tagged: charlesleclerc, arthurleclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, leo

liked by charlesleclerc, landonorris, arthurleclerc and 691,203 others

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charlesleclerc: Always room for you at the table, mate. You’re family now. 🍷🎄

alexandrasaintmleux: So happy to have you with us! Next time, I’m picking the wine, though🫣

arthurleclerc: My nephew👨‍🍼

messages!

yourusername just posted!

life lately🎼🎧

liked by oscarpiastri, yourbsf, user45 and 2,134 others

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yourbsf: Bestie, you’re just casually glowing in every single pic?? Teach me your ways immediately. 😭✨ ->yourusername: It’s all the good vibes and late-night playlists 😌

user45: Not me zooming in to see what books and records are in the background 👀

user89: Can we talk about how Oscar Piastri is casually in the likes?? 🧐

->user34: Right?? What’s he doing here lol. ->user77: Someone’s a fan of more than just F1, it seems. 👀

user777: This is such a vibe—are you starting a Pinterest board for us, or what?

user90: “Life lately” but make it the main character of a coming-of-age film. 💿✨

oscarpiastri just posted a story!

[pic 1:🎶 ] [pic 2: Bake Off Ready?]

twitter

discogs!

profile: oscar81

recently added....

pools to bathe in ~ the japanese house

salad days ~ mac demarco

midas ~ wunderhorse

f1gossip just posted!

rumoured new wag yn ln was spotted at dinner with oscar piastri. could this be the mysterious record girlie behind his soft-launch posts?

liked by landonorris, arthurleclerc, yourbsf and 32,407 others

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user4: lando in the likes? he's so messy i love him

->user3: and arthur, they defo know something

user15: so when’s the hard launch? paddock debut in Aus or a Valentine’s post? place your bets, people

user11: i give it two weeks before he posts her blurry silhouette holding a coffee cup

yourbsf: @yourusername no way haha

->yourusername: 👀

oscarpiastri just posted!

now i'm lost in your melody

liked by landonorris, mclaren, charlesleclerc and 765,091 others

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yourusername: JEFF BUCKLEY?? i've taught you well☺️

->oscarpiastri: saving my music taste since we first met🧡

charlesleclerc: so this is who i have to thank for my present �� bring her to the next family dinner son i approve

->oscarpiastri: will do dad 🙂⬆️

landonorris: ok lover boy

mclaren: we can't wait to meet yn🧡

->yourusername: me too admin!!🧡

user7: sleeping on the motorway tonight

user29: love IS real

#f1 #f1 fic #abby's writing #f1 fanfic #formula 1 fic #f1 smau #oscar piastri #op81 #op81 x reader #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri smau

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leopardom · 2 months ago

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so you happened to miss the live Q&A with Nace and Bojan on the Joker Out official discord server yesterday? worry not, i got you covered

Souvenir Pop Discord Listening Party - Q&A with Bojan and Nace ✨

questions are in bold and are all from discord

quotation marks are being used for all the the word-by-word answers by Bojan and Nace

dialogues between Bojan and Nace, reactions and some worth-mentioning moments are in italics

there were some questions about touring to specific places again or for the first time. answers to all of them were vaguelly positive, so i didn't include them here

the whole listening party lasted about an hour and a half so this is a long read

{steaming Muzika Za Decu and Šta Bih Ja and waiting for Bojan and Nace to join}

Q: How are you doing after the album release? [missed Bojan's answer] N: "Feeling as usual - super bad" *joking about it with Bojan*, had to get up early to take Pino to the vet

Q: Which artists were your musical influences for Lips? both: The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey and Nick Cave

Q: How did you do the screaming kids in Muzika Za Decu? N: initial recordings were done with kids of their friends. after bringing the tracks to their producer, he asked for more voices so they recorded more with some kids from a music school in Kranj (Nace's hometown). Nace was present in all those recordings

Q: Do you have any vacation plans? N: most of them are going to Thailand again B: Thailand is "too far away to call it a vacation" so he's probably going somewhere closer to Slovenia

Q: Why is Carpe Diem ever so slightly diffrent? B: they remastered the song because they realised the mastering they had done already was a bit bad - "that's why it sounded like it came out of a toaster compared to other eurovision songs"

Q: Any TV series recommendations? B: Atypical, Narcos, Peaky Blinders N: Game Of Thrones Nace asks Bojan if he's watching anything atm and he says only some history stuff. Nace and Kris are watching Naked and Afraid religiously, and according to Bojan, "in the van, outside the van, in hotel rooms, everywhere"

Q: How do you choose what the next song will be about? Are there any criteria? B: "The songs just happen as they do, a storyline usually comes with the vocal melody [...] The story is never a fake thing, it's always something real so there is really no choosing more in a sense of like "we have a couple of songs and we choose which one we're gonna have" but it's not connected to what the song is about. More like "what the song sounds like and what kind of a vibe we wanna put out""

Q: What is your go to effect for your instrument/for some songs? N: only uses drive and tape echo

Q: Which song did change the most during the recording process? B: Lips *Nace agrees* - it started as a whole different song called J’taime and was supposed to be an english/french or slovene/french duet and also very rock n roll

Q: Are there any more tour dates coming? B: yes but they have nothing planned yet so it will take some time

Q: If you had to live somewhere for 6 months where would it be? both: London B: "If I had to go live somewhere for longer, I would go to Palermo"

Q: Why are your songs so good!? How do you never make bad music? B: "We do, you just don't get to hear it"

Q: Who is writing the weekly updates? N: all of them *Bojan gets confused for a moment and doesn't realise they're talking about the openstage weekly updates*

Q: Thought process during the making of the album? B: "It’s a clusterfuck" *banter about how they love and hate what they do while making an album*

{break to listen to Carpe Diem and Stephanie. Pino starts barking at the first few moments of Carpe Diem and then Nace and Bojan realise they need to close their mic for that section lol}

Q: (question for Nace) What strings/bass equipment are you using and if you have any small tips for bass beginners? N: tip - "the equipment doesn't matter, what matters is what you do with the bass. start with lighter strings and try to learn as many songs as you can" // he's using D’Addario and La Bella flat strings

Q: Which song took the longest to finish? both: Šta Bih Ja (they crashed the studio pc because of the number of takes they had to do)

Q: What was your music inspiration for Mesto Duhov? both: there wasn't some specific inspiration music-wise

Q: Which song did y'all think think would be the fan favourite?? N: Bluza [missed Bojan's answer here because my laptop ran out of battery lol]

Q: Nace, what is your screentime on your phone because you‘re online like every time N: 9h 23min today “because it was release day”, usually is around 3-4 hours (Bojan's is 3h)

*Bojan proceeds to yap about how he's learning spanish on duolingo*

Q: Ever thought of selling posters ? It's a lil less expensive way to support you and also propaganda both: no because it's difficult to ship and they get ruined in the process. they may think about posters as merch for concerts only

Q: Who played the piano in Sonce? B: it's written and played by Jan N: "One of Slovenia's best piano players, renowned..."

Q: What happend with Schlager? B: "Nothing happened to it, it's doing quite well, we had a chat yesterday and everything is going fine in Schlagerland, but it couldn't make it to the album. Didn't feel like it. Maybe next time"

Q: When you first made music did you expect it to reach people so powerfully that it created year lasting friendships and have people travel so far to see you live? B: no because they were used to the way things work in Slovenia (smaller distances and sometimes people don't even travel from one city to another even if they're around 20 minutes away from each other) so this was very new to them but they're happy to see it

Q: How is the new album going to affect the setlist? Will you still perform older songs? B: the whole third album will be performed on the upcoming tour and there will be some variations on the setlists regarding the songs from the previous 2 albums

Q: Is there any possibility to hear you singing in italian on next albums? B: there was an idea for this album but didn't work out

Q: Do you have plans for a spanish song? B: "There was an idea called "si me das in beso más" but didn't go through [...] because it was getting into a reggaeton-ish direction"

Q: Will there be a french song in the future? B: J’taime was supposed to be one but didn't happen

Q: What about Souvenir Pop fridge magnets? B: they're considering it (Nace adds that he'd love to have one)

Q: Best slovenian cuisine and best places to visit in Slovenia N: food - prekmurska gibanica // places - Bovec and Bohinj B: food - kranjska klobasa and žlikrofi (to represent Jure) // places - Bohinj, Postojna cave, Logarska Dolina

Q: Nace, which cruise ships did you play on? We would love to have Joker Out cruise gig in Finland! N: the cruise ship he worked on was AIDAbella (belongs to german cruise line AIDA Cruises), he was there for 6 months and the cruise was in the Baltics B: would love to do the cruise from Finland to Estonia "where everybody supposedly gets extremely smashed"

Q: Was the writing process of Stephanie different, because you have Žare as composer but not Jure? B: the percussions were computer-based drum loops so maybe that's why

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from? Or do you just wake up with it one morning? B: "(inspiration) is memories becoming visible in your own head" - they all have memories and impressions in their lives that just get triggered when writing a song

Q: How did you get the idea of making Lips? It has such a different vibe of all the songs you have B: Žare showed them the heartbeat that can be heard in the song, Bojan came up with the "put your lips on mine" line and proceeded to finish the lyrics on their way back home from Bucharest after Summer Well fest. it was basically Nace who turned the idea of Lips into a song music-wise

Q: Why did you decide to release stephanie so close before the album release? Was it the plan all along? B: apparently he didn't know the song was getting released, he just saw it on their instagram stories and rolled with it lol

Q: Does lyrics just pop into your head and then you decide the story or do you decide on a common theme/story the song is gonna have and then make the lyrics about that? B: usually there's an insistent thought in his head and he works around it

Q: What do you think of Baldies Out? Which song do you want us to cover next? context: Baldies Out is a group on instagram which posts - you guessed it - bald edits of Joker Out. occasionally there are covers of Joker Out songs, adapted with lyrics that fit the bald theme of the account B: they could cover Lips and turn the lyrics into "put your hair on mine" or Ako Toga Više Neće Biti "so it's a man who's going bald singing to his hair - it's a song between a guy and his hair" Bojan is frustrated because he looks very bad bald meanwhile Nace finds himself cool in his bald edition, Bojan too believes bald Nace looks cool, Nace jokes about shaving off all his hair and Bojan says he'd like to see that and proceeds to complement his beard and tell him he'd look "badass as hell"

Q: What's something you want to experience in life but haven't yet? N: see mount Everest/visit Nepal B: have a farm *banter with Nace: he'd like to have goats, chickens, a horse, rabbits, dogs, cats and a bull*

Q: Why did you choose the openers for the tour that you chose (I love them) B: the answer was in the question; they love them too

Q: Also Romania misses you guys, please come back next year B: they all loved Romania and Summer Well, he then mentions how he's not a fan of festivals as an attendand and has been to one for a couple of days only once when he was 18

Q: Are the cities at the end of the Bluza MV a teasing of a European tour? B: no, they were just cities on the old radio they used for the mv

{break to listen to Ako Toga Više Neće Biti and Bluza}

Q: Ruisrock next year?! B: they loved Ruisrock this year and would love to be back

Q: What are your favourite books, if you have any? B: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini N: he's currently reading The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

Q: What's your favourite Big Foot Mama songs? both: Buldožer, Led s severa, Neki sladkega

Q: Have you heard of the genre "midwest emo"? both: no (and they had to google it)

Q: What was the most cathartic song to write and why? B: Everybody's Waiting, Lips and Ako Toga Više Neće Biti

Q: What’s your fav Schlager (as in the German music)? N: mentions Semino Rossi and Ibo and the songs Ibiza (by Ibo) and Rot sind die Rosen (by Semino Rossi)

Q: Are there more songs like Muzika Za Decu & Mesto Duhov (more loud and rock) songs in the vault??? B: no, just these two

Q: Souvenir pop Vinyl/CD when? N: CDs will be available at the gigs but they're not sure when they'll be available online. vinyls will come around January/February

Q: What is your favourite memory from making the album? N: the recording of Ako Toga Više Neće Biti *Bojan agrees*

Q: Fav Finnish artists/bands you know? (Käärijä doesn't count) B: Sonny, Ville Valo *Nace agrees*, Sunrise Avenue and he loves the Blind Channel cover of Left Outside Alone (Nace says this is Bojan's guilty pleasure song) N: Pikku G

Q: When new merch? B: it's coming with the tour

Q: Would you like to receive Get Watermarked stickers next tour? context: it's a photo of Mark in a pool(or a hot tub i'm not sure) and someone edited the phrase "Get Watermarked" on it and turned it into a sticker for the sys tour both: they'd absolutely want one

Q: Do you often get stopped by fans on the street or any public places? Is there anything that irritates you? B: gets followed around often but people are not very invasive N: doesn't get stalked as much as Bojan and doesn't mind when fans stop him on the street

Q: Are you familiar with Käärijä's EuroPass on Kollekt and would you consider doing something similar in the future? B: they don't know what that is and "if it's good then we should consider it but if it's not good then we're not considering it"

Q: Tying onto the q before, restaurant reccomendations and favourite sight? Bojan's fave restaurant is Aftr and Nace's is Sushimama, they both agree that their fave sight is the Ljubljana castle

Q: I noticed you guys follow some of my fav musicians on instagram so i was wondering Nace what’s your favorite Declan McKenna song and Bojan what’s your favorite Greta van Fleet song N: Nothing Works B: doesn't have a fave GVF song, just likes the band

Q: What are the possibilities for JO (whether concert and/or meet and greet) in the US and/or the UK? both: they were supposed to play in NYC in May but it was a very last-minute thing and didn't manage to get working visas in time. they'll have a gig or more in the UK next year

Q: When you were at the Sziget festival, have you tasted hungarian foods? if yes, what was it? / when will be new products in the shop? B: has been in Hungary twice (once this year for Sziget and once as a child) but hasn't tried anything hungarian - ✨I love food no matter where it comes from. Hopefully the kitchen✨ N: new products will be online hopefully by the end of 2024 but they're not sure yet

Q: Is the concert in Novi Sad definitely happening? Due to the tragedy a lot of events have been canceled out of respect for the victims so there's been some rumors about it possibly getting canceled B: the concert will go on and the profits will go to the families of those who have lost someone and those in need

Q: Are you gonna come back to places you've already performed at during the EU tour, or maybe try to get to new cities? B: "A little bit of both"

Q: What's your fav spanish dish? both: paella

Q: How is the trumpet playing going? Will we see it on stage? B: trumpet playing is going great, will happen on stage at some point too

Q: Is there any connection between Mesto Duhov and the lyrics : "mesto polno je duhov" ? "mesto polno je duhov" is a lyric from Padam B: "There is no connection except for the connection that both of them were written by me and it looks like I have horrible imagination"

Q: Did any of you play any unexpected instruments for any songs? For instance we already know Nace has a guitar track and a drum track on the album but are there any other surprising credits? - Jan played lots of synths and bass on the chorus of Stephanie - Nace played synths and programmed the drums for Stephanie and Lips - Bojan played the drums for Ako Toga Više Neće Biti, bass on the verses of Stephanie and also did synths for Stephanie - Jure played piano for Bluza (???) all credits are written down on the album

Q: Any chance of coming back to Scotland next year? *they both chant "no Scotland no party"*

Q: Do you like BOOOM? both: yes N: he used to be their producer and worked with them on their first songs

Q: Can you give advice for young musicians like you? B: "Surround yourself with people you love and people who inspire you. Trust yourself. Always be critical to yourself but not to a point where you become self harmful"

Q: What do you value the most in life? B: health N: health and relationships

Q: What book could you recommend? Or if you can't choose one, what book are you reading now? B: The Kite Runner and The Alchemist (he then jokes about how Nace should recommend some Disney cartoon)

Q: Who had the idea using the piano for Sonce and who played the part? (I assume Jan but still) And can you upload the damn music sheet for it? I need to play this B: the idea about the piano was collective and if anyone wants the sheet music for the song, they should ask Jan for it

Q: If you had the chance to record and release a cover of a song of any of your favourite artists, which song would it be? *Bojan jokes about it being Gangnam Style* N: something by The Beatles, maybe Let It Be B: Silencio or Bulería by David Bisbal *starts singing Bulería*

Q: Nace, what is the best bassist joke you have ever heard? N: most of them are in slovene and he doesn’t say any B: "I think being the bassist is the biggest joke"

Q: How do you approach writing lyrics? Do you prioritize storytelling, imagery, or rhythm? B: prefers and prioritizes storytelling

Q: Which song do you personally find the most emotional and why? B: "Everybody's Waiting because it's like a very personal struggle song, Ako Toga Više Neće Biti because it's… a very personal struggle song" N: "Whenever I’m hearing Sonce I just get in this special state like I'm getting drown in a song and stop thinking about everything else"

Q: Assuming you’ll come back to The Netherlands in the future, is there another city you’d like to visit or a venue/festival you’d like to play? both: they'd like to play Pinkpop fest

Q: Would you ever like to hold a concert in Ukraine?? B: they'd love that and hopefully as soon as possible

Q: Will there be music videos for the new songs on the album? B: yes N: they're recording a new video soon apparently Bojan wasn't aware of that either lol

Q: Any Italian French or Spanish music that inspired you to try writing in those languages? Also Bojan you can pick two+ languages on duolingo and do them at the same time N: they we listening a lot to an italian song called Il mio canto libero, he loves Nek and he listens to a lot of french electronic B: he's listening to italian, french and spanish music a lot, he loves a song called Buona sera signorina (note: had to google this and maybe the title is actually Buona sera ciao ciao) both: they all like L'Impératrice and Bojan butchers the pronunciation of the band name

*at this moment Bojan finds out you can learn two and more languages on duolingo at the same time and proceeds to add italian to his account*

Q: 1 - What were some of the inspirations for Muzika Za Decu? 2 - Bojan can you tell us a dad joke? 3 - I just wanted to say that Lips should be a soundtrack of a movie B: party breakers *doesn't answer the second question because he's too busy doing italian on duolingo* both: they agree that Lips should be in a movie soundtrack

Q: Do you know when will you release the dates and the cities for the tour? I assume there will be a european tour for the new album N: there will be a european tour at some point next year and they will announce it "once Bojan stops learning italian" (Nace basically makes fun of Bojan doing his duolingo right at that moment)

{break to listen to Lips, Mesto Duhov and Sonce}

Q: Bojan would you try to sing Carpe Diem in estonian ever again? B: yes

Q: Can we expect a new concert intro for the tour for one of the new songs like the intro for Katrina and Gola? N: yes

Q: Is Bojan learning finnish in Duolingo? B: no, only spanish and italian

Q: Will there be a chance of a collab between Joker Out and Käärijä? B: hopefully one day

Q: Do any of you play chess? B: he and Kris play chess online, Kris less often than Bojan

Q: Will you pop a souvenir in Istanbul soon? N: they want to but have to find a date to reschedule the cancelled gig from this summer

Q: Have you visited any tourist attractions while in Bucharest? N: no and only he and Kris walked around the city centre for a bit while being there

Q: Nace, why did you bring four basses to the recording studio in Hamburg and did you record on all of them? N: one of those basses wasn't his and "when you're in the studio you just wanna have more basses"

Q: Is Pino the best boy in whole world? N: yes ❤️❤️❤️

Q: How do you guys decide to who to follow on insta? (for example fan pages,artists) N: they just follow the pages they like

Q: Apart from Nace and gluten, are there any things you all don't like or can't eat? B: he doesn't like tomatoes and is intolerant to avocado

Q: Do y’all notice Joker Out edits on TikTok? Do (did) you like them? N: he and Bojan don't have tiktok. Jure, however, is addicted to it

Q: Did you know that all of you are saving and changing peoples lives? B: "When we started doing music none of us could ever believe, or think even, that it could mean so much to someone as it does to a lot of you. Even though we went through so many different stages in a very short period of time, because our life changed so dramaticaly, I will say that the fact that you actually feel the music and it helps you in certain situations and hard times... I just want you guys to know that literally it means the same to us. The whole sharing of this energy is very real and we are trying to do our best to kind of make you know that we're here. And sometimes it's also hard for us because we're trying to tolerate our personal life and everything else with the music and with communicating with fans, but we appreciate it so dearly and we're happy that it's changing your lives and, just so you know, you're also changing our lives everyday. We're very, very honoured to have you on board with us and so thankful for all your help and all your enthusiasm, for all the love. You're incredible artists as well, we see the arts that you create daily - a lot of it is inspired by us which is also crazy and incredible so... Just a big thank you! And thank you to the Joker Out discord server, you're doing an incredible job, it's become so much bigger than what we ever expected. (thank you) to Joker Out Subs, all the groups that have been formed, as well as Baldies Out. I think it's a very big contribution to the bald Joker Out generation 💀😂. Just thank you so much!"

*Bojan presses something, gets lost in the server and both he and Nace are trying to figure out how to get back to the channel with all the questions (they succeed), they announce that an art contest will start (more info about that can be found on the latest-news channel of the official server) and Nace informs everyone he has to take Pino for a walk before saying bye to the chat*

end

#note: wrote “je t’aime” as “j’taime” only because this is how they had written it themselves #any Pino mention was important and mandatory to include here. i don't make the rules #this took me ages to finish so i need to d word for a moment brb #enjoy ✌🏻#joker out #bojan cvjetićanin #nace jordan

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deus-ex-mona · 8 months ago

Text

just a tl of lxl's tv guide interview~

Q1: First off, please introduce yourselves!

Aizo: It’s nice to meet you guys! I’m Aizo.

Yujiro: And I’m Yujiro! The two of us make up the idol unit of LIPxLIP.

Aizo: We sing with all we’ve got to bring happiness to our listeners.

Yujiro: We’ve released many MVs as well, so please check them out as well.

Aizo: We also give it our all when we’re shooting our MVs, so you’ll be able to see us being all cool in them!

Yujiro: That sure is a lot of “all”s that we’ve given, Aizo.

Aizo: That’s cuz I really give it my all in everything we do. You do the same, right?

Yujiro: Of course I do. There isn’t a single day when I’m not giving it my all.

Aizo: See? You look calm and composed most of the time, but you’re actually a pretty passionate guy, huh?

Yujiro: It’s because you’re always giving it your all that I feel like I can’t lose either.

Aizo: There it is, your tendency of hating to lose.

Yujiro: Well, we both hate to lose, don’t we?

Aizo: But, Yujiro, you’re able to do everything so easily without seeming bothered by the thought of falling behind, which never fails to surprise me every time.

Yujiro: I guess you’re the opposite of me in that regard, Aizo. You’re a straightforward open book. I think that any onlooker will be able to tell how much you love singing and how much fun you’re having at work.

Aizo: Eh? Do I really look like I’m having that much fun?

Yujiro: You’re always excited when we’re on site. But, Aizo, you’re actually surprisingly calm and even more observant of your surroundings than I am of mine. Even when I’m distressed, you’re the one who notices it faster than anyone else, Aizo…

Aizo: I’ve told you that you should ask for help when you’re troubled, but you really can’t be honest, huh? (laughs)

Yujiro: …Right now, I’m troubled by you and the way you’re smirking at me, Aizo.

Q2: What was the response to your 2nd Album “Be Grateful You Were Born!” like?

Aizo: Since this was our first album in a long time, we have received a lot of responses from our Julieta (what they call their fans) who have been anticipating its release. We’re really happy that it brought joy to them.

Yujiro: We had performed “White Day Kiss” live, so there were many Julieta who were looking forward to its album release too.

Aizo: Also, Narumi (Sena) who starred in the MV for “Julieta”, the sequel to “Romeo” from our previous album, congratulated us too. She said that she’ll recommend the album to her friends as well, which I appreciate!

Yujiro: I will be really happy if people who don’t know of us yet can get to know and support us through this album.

Aizo: We’ll continue to work hard as LIPxLIP with all we’ve got, so please root for us!

Q3: What were the challenges that you faced with this album?

Aizo: Well, it’s more like we faced so many new challenges that I don’t know where to start. (laughs)

Yujiro: In terms of the mood of the songs, I think “Meoto” with its Japanese taste and the Arabian-esque “A.B.Secret” have a very new feel to them compared to our other songs as LIPxLIP.

Aizo: We changed the way we sang to suit each and every song too, so I think we were able to show you new sides of us. For “Meoto”, I was conscious of the way I sang to fit the role I played in the setting of the song, and for “A.B.Secret”, there was that rap-like dialogue.

Yujiro: You may be surprised by the difference in intensity if you listen to “Oshi no Mahou” and “Yurushite Santa-san” after those songs. (laughs)

Aizo: With the “LOVE chu chu”s and the “Please, Santa-san”s, right? I’ll be thrilled if you can feel not just our coolness, but also our cuteness as idols! But… even though I was the one who said all that I’m starting to feel embarrassed.

Q4: The album has songs that would be a hit at live concerts, such as “Oshi no Mahou”, with its fun call-and-response bits.

Aizo: It goes without say that I definitely want to do the call and response with our Julieta!

Yujiro: Same here. I’ll be happy if everyone memorised it and came to watch us perform when that day comes.

Aizo: It’ll be super fun, right?! I’m looking forward to hyping up the venue and making it echo with all our voices.

Yujiro: Is there anything else that you’d like to do during the performance?

Aizo: Hmm, well… Maybe we’ll make a Möbius loop together with the audience… wait, the ideas won’t stop flowing if we carry on like this. (laughs)

Yujiro: Yeah, you’re right. (laughs) Let’s leave the details of the performance as something that our audience can look forward to when the time comes.

Q5: Tell us the secret stories behind the shootings of your MVs!

Aizo: I had a feeling when I heard Yujiro sing “Anata” in his lines in “Meoto”... But I was still surprised when I found out that Yujiro was dressed up in the role of a girl during the MV shooting. But, y’know, it suited you amazingly~. The air your makeup gave off was also different from how it’s like during our usual jacket photoshoots and live concerts, so I was a little charmed by you (laughs).

Yujiro: Thanks. Although I played the role of a woman this time, the costume I wore was a fantastical gorgeous kimono, within a unique setting, so it was easy for me to get into my role without feeling uncomfortable.

Aizo: I really didn’t feel uncomfortable at all either.

Yujiro: You looked good in your bewitching horned costume yourself, Aizo. It brought out your coolness, and you looked strong too.

Aizo: Right?! I was really pumped with all of the manly accessories like the horns, the mask, and the patterns drawn on my body.

Yujiro: Your long sharp nails suited you too. And in the MV, there’s a scene where the pair, played by me and Aizo, open their hearts to each other and hold hands while standing shoulder to shoulder. Be sure to pay attention to the contrast between our hands, okay?

Aizo: Speaking of the shooting, when I was hugging Yujiro during the filming of that shoulder to shoulder scene, I could smell a wonderful fragrance coming off of him. I was really surprised at the time, y’know? (laughs) “He smells so good!” I thought.

Yujiro: The staff had prepared some perfume for me. Although the fragrance can’t be conveyed through the screen, they had hoped to enhance the vividness of the setting for the viewers by having me wear the perfume as we filmed. I thought that it was a wonderful idea, so I had the staff apply the perfume to my costume.

Aizo: For “A.B.Secret”, we filmed a live concert called “Arabian Nights in the Dunes”, which was yet another tough day. (laughs)

Yujiro: To be honest, we got lost on the way to the venue, so we had to cross several dunes.

Aizo: We may look all nonchalant in the MV, but we’d used quite a lot of our stamina. I’m just glad that we were able to make it to the venue in one piece…

Yujiro: But we were treated to a lot of wonderful food after our performance, so I’d say that it had been a very satisfying day.

Q6: Since this is a TV guide… What TV programmes do the two of you tend to watch?

Yujiro: I watch all kinds of shows, but I tend to watch talk shows often. I think that it’s great that I’m able to learn about current events from all over the world in the form of an entertaining programme, no less.

Aizo: You don’t just check the news or something? You sure are a diligent one, Yujiro.

Yujiro: I watch talk shows just because they’re interesting. If I just want to know the news, I wouldn’t particularly watch a talk show for it.

Aizo: I watch them every so often myself, but I only watch the segments that introduce restaurants that serve good food or amusement park events.

Yujiro: I see. You watch TV too, Aizo? I had the impression that you’d be often off running outside or something instead.

Aizo: Well, I do watch TV, y’know? I like watching programmes hosted by their namesake comedians. And I check out singing programmes without fail.

Yujiro: Yeah, I watch music programmes often too.

Aizo: It goes without say that I check out my favourite bands and artistes too, but I have to know what the current trends are on the rankings! As idols, we can’t afford to lose to others and all.

Yujiro: Though, I do occasionally get hooked on particular trends just from checking them out. (laughs)

Q7: Going off the name of your album, please express your gratitude for each other and your Julieta!

Yujiro: Do you even have anything to be grateful to me for…?

Aizo: Yeah. I’m grateful to always have you as a nice wall for a rival.

Yujiro: A nice wall? Is that supposed to be a compliment?

Aizo: Yes, it’s a compliment. For example, I do pretty well in my studies and sports at school, but when I look at you, Yujiro, I find myself thinking that I can’t be satisfied with the way things are yet. I’m able to grow steadily because I have you as my literal worthy opponent.

Yujiro: You’re really grateful to me, huh?

Aizo: Well, since we have the opportunity now, why not? How about you? You’re not gonna say that you have nothing, are you?

Yujiro: Yeah. I have something too.

Aizo: Ooh, what is it, what is it?

Yujiro: There has been a lot of pollen in the air lately. So, when I sneezed, you immediately gave me some pocket tissue, the soft kind. You really saved me back then, so I’m grateful to you.

Aizo: Is that simple thing all you’re grateful for…?

Yujiro: Sorry, I was just kidding. (laughs) As I had touched on in an earlier question, whenever I’m depressed or distressed, you’re the first one to notice, Aizo. I tend to overthink all kinds of things, but you always make my worries disappear. So I’m always grateful to you for that, Aizo.

Aizo: Huh, so you do have a proper one after all.

Yujiro: It’s embarrassing to be this honest, so let’s keep this between us, okay?

Aizo: It’d be nice if you could be honest all the time, though.

Yujiro: More importantly, we have to honestly express our gratitude for our Julieta.

Aizo: Yeah. We’re more grateful to our Julieta than anything.

Yujiro: Thank you so much for cheering us on, Julieta.

Aizo: We were only able to release our new album thanks to your support, Julieta. We are able to continue on as LIPxLIP thanks to every one of you who listens to our songs, buys our albums, and sends us your thoughts and cheers.

Yujiro: Julieta, I’m grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. Also, I’d like to express my gratitude that you were born in this era and that you and us were able to meet like this.

Aizo: We will continue to do our very best so that we can return the love that we have received from you, Julieta, many times over.

Both: Please cheer us on!

Q8: What was your first trip together like?

Aizo: There were some pranks, and there were times when I felt exasperated, but it was truly a ton of fun!

Yujiro: We haven’t had many opportunities to go on a trip till now, so it was a really great experience for us.

Aizo: We got to see many places, plus thanks to the fact that we were in charge of the voiceover for the Izumo guided tour, we had a good knowledge about the places of interest and we were able to enjoy ourselves to the fullest.

Yujiro: I especially liked the footbaths. When I dipped my feet into the footbath after a tiring walk, I was truly impressed by how much it helped to relieve my fatigue.

Aizo: It’s amazing how it completely warmed your feet up, huh?

Yujiro: Yeah, its healing properties are amazing.

Aizo: No, y’see, your feet were flushed pink from the warmth of the water in the footbath after soaking in it for a while. When you took your feet out of the hot water, saying “It’s hot.”, it looked like you were wearing pink socks, which I found rather funny.

Yujiro: …If you want to bring that up, should I release that video of you scooting around on your butt to grab a towel with your legs raised up in the air because you had nowhere to put your wet feet?

Aizo: When did you even take that video…?

#lipxlip #lxl tl things #please feel free to correct me if i made any mistakes (grammatical or otherwise)!!!!!#some of the questions were soooooo long... so i might have missed some qc checks lol sadge #queuing this up for a few hours from now a n d ok gn guys~~~~~ (it's 5.23 in the am) dream of lxl tonight~~~?#remind me to do that other magazine interview from 2k22 some time lmao not now though im tiredddd

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x-on-the-calendar-business · 1 year ago

Text

ryan ross iceberg (tier 2)

tier 1, tier 3, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 7, tier 8

the tip of the iceberg:

the young veins:

this is the band that ryan and jon started after they split from panic! it included a few other members, and often times ryan’s good friends z berg and alex greenwald (of phantom planet), who will be mentioned more later on. they only released one album in 2010, called take a vacation! they played some live shows, but at the end of that same year, they went on an indefinite hiatus. HOWEVER, they made an official instagram account and have been active this year!! it’s likely that it's because there will be vinyl repress (further supported by a comment jon left on their only post) but it’s super cool nonetheless [i].

this is a personal aside, but i honestly like this band more than anything panic! released post split, with the exception of new perspective and the calendar. like god this was such a good fucking band.

dottie, elwood, and hobo:

these were all ryan’s dogs.

hobo was the dog he got in 2006. however, when he and keltie (we will discuss her soon) broke up, she took her with her [ii].

dottie was a dog he got circa 2015.

elwood is the dog he got in 2017.

i’m not sure if ryan still has dottie and elwood since he has pretty much disappeared from the internet.

eta: i misspelled elwood's name as elmwood in the iceberg image. sorry about that!

z berg:

this is one of ryan’s exes and his bestie. they dated around 2009/2010. they still hang out today and he’s made appearances at these events she does called proms. she gives us the majority of ryan content that we’ve gotten in the past few years.

he featured on one of her songs, “the bad list,” and she featured of the young veins cover of “nothing matters but you.” she will come up more in other entries as well, which is why i'm not going super in depth here.

throam:

whew.

this is a ryden fic – probably the most iconic after the milk fic – called the heart rate of a mouse, written by anna green. it was originally posted on livejournal, and it’s LONG, coming in at 3 volumes and over 500k words.

the plot summary is that in the 1970s, ryan is the lead singer/guitarist of a famous band called the followers, and brendon is a roadie on their tour. brendon is openly gay, and ryan and brendon start hooking up, even though ryan is “straight.” from there, the series becomes 3 volumes of angst and pining. of course, there’s so much more that happens, but i won’t say too much for the sake of spoilers.

despite it being a ryden fic, it’s incredibly well written (if you’re able to get past the explicit smut), so i do recommend reading it at least once in your life. i’m gonna keep it 100, i’ve read this series at least 10 times with a yearly reread and have physical copies of it.

anna also wrote some ficlets to go along with it, such as one from brendon’s pov and just some extra stuff that didn’t end up in the final cut. she also wrote a lot of other iconic fics (all of which i also recommend), like the black rose season, how a resurrection really feels, posing in a ballroom, miguel sanchez’s grand slam of love, amongst many, many others. sadly, she purged her entire livejournal account, so you would have to turn to internet archives to read anything other than throam [iii].

unfortunately, this fic also reached the icon status that the milk fic did so multiple people from the bandom sphere know about it and have acknowledged it. for example, keltie, ryan’s ex-girlfriend, has read it and mentioned it on twitter multiple times (embarrassing for her but whatever) [iv]. jon tweeted about it once [v]. also, i swear that vicky t from cobra starship mentioned it (i wanna say it was on instagram, but i could be wrong); however, i can’t find the comment she made anymore.

link to throam for those who are curious

jac and keltie:

these are two of ryan’s exes from the panic! days.

jac vanek was a scene queen in the early 2000s, and they dated from november 2005 until feburary 2006 [vi]. it was a pretty cringey teenage relationship that was overly (grossly) chronicled on livejournal, and if you’re interested to read more, there will be a link in a later tier.

an interesting tidbit is that while ryan was dating jac, brendon was dating another scene queen named audrey kitching, which will also come up later in this iceberg.

keltie knight (née colleen) and ryan started their relationship in august 2006 after meeting at the vmas, where panic! was performing and keltie was a backup dancer (she was a rockette). he was 19 and she was 24, which may not seem like a big deal, but it definitely played into some power dynamics in their relationship. for example, in keltie’s book, she says she often had pay ryan's bills for him. also in her book, she stated that he didn't take their relationship seriously, leading him to propose to her and asking her to move in (maybe he wasn't taking it as seriously as you because he was barely in his 20s keltie just a thought). they broke up in 2009 right before the split. we’ll touch on that again later. there is honestly so much more that i could say about this relationship/keltie, but some of it will be covered in this iceberg and the rest will be linked along with the jac info.

sun and moon:

another ryden entry. this refers to a theory about ryan and brendon about which one is considered the moon, and the other is the sun; it’s based on their personalities, like who embodies which more. polar opposites and all that. when ryden was still relevant, who is the moon vs who is the sun was a hotly debated topic (ryan is the moon, while brendon is the sun is the only correct answer).

this also loosely tied into some lyrics from panic and their solo music. for example, when the day met the night is often referenced in relation to this theory, although this song is definitely about keltie [vii]. also, in 2014 ryan wrote lonely moonlight, which also could refer back to this theory and kind of calls back to the lyrics in when the day met the night [viii]. however, this song is most likely about keltie too, if not another past relationship (not brendon).

dead end kids club:

this is a band/touring project that ryan was part of, including z berg, dan keyes, and the band palm springsteen. it was first announced in july, 2019. later that same year, they went on tour, hitting 8 cities for fall balls. this was referred to as the “1st annual” but….[ix]

in 2020, they released a song called lonesome town that featured a lot of videos from fans [x]. also that year, palm springsteen was accused of assault, which dekc posted a couple of statements about on twitter, here and here, stating that they had been removed from the project “a long time ago” [xi]. they pretty much disbanded after that and haven’t been active since october 2020.

livejournal:

iconic. livejournal (aka lj) was basically tumblr before tumblr existed. similarly, it could be used as a personal blog, a place to post rpf fic, an emo poetry hub, a photo album, etc. it’s on this iceberg because ryan was very prolific on livejournal, under the username i_amclandestine, and it’s essentially where panic! got its start. ryan made contact with pete wentz through lj, sending him the early demos, which lead to pete signing them and then cue domino effect to a taylor swift song.

anyway, ryan made many iconic posts on there, some of which will be addressed directly in this iceberg, but i will leave a link to an archive of his lj account for further viewing. he made his last post in june of 2006, but he deleted the account in july of that year after receiving a spam of hate. at the same time, brendon changed his (part_time_lovah) to friends only [xii].

along with the links to ryan’s old lj, i’m also going to link a youtube video by one of my favorite channels, the cozy representative, in which julian goes through ryan’s posts.

this is the web archive for ryan’s lj (does not include his last post):

this is a tumblr masterpost of all of his entries, including the last one missing from the above link:

and finally, julian’s video:

youtube

ryan and spencer childhood besties:

ryan and spencer became friends when they were around 5 or so years old, which was always the saddest part of the 2009 split to me. ryan and spencer were in the og band before panic!, which will be discussed later.

in 2016, spencer’s wife tweeted that ryan and spencer were still friends. however, ryan did not attend spencer’s wedding, which could have been for a number of reasons, one of which we will also discuss more heavily later on [xiii]. of course, there is no way for us to know whether ryan wasn’t invited or if he just decided not to go.

mcr makes me dance:

in 2004, ryan went to the chemicalromance livejournal community and posted, “hey im ryan im new i live in las vegas my chemical romance makes me dance” and history was made [xiv]. this became a "meme" amongst panic! fans, and they started bringing signs with that phrase written on them for ryan told in pics. this has continued even in recent times.

newsboy cap:

this is another iconic piece of ryan ross fashion. he wore it a lot in 2004-2006 cause he’s a little fruity. like seriously, this hat had him in the biggest chokehold.

now, we move onto some of the deeper stuff and into the waters.

tier 3

references:

[i] https://www.instagram.com/theyoungveinsmusic/

[ii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171475122211/did-keltie-knight-ever-steal-ryans-dog-or

[iii] https://web.archive.org/web/20170606154418/http:/beggarsnotes.livejournal.com/

[iv] https://youngveins.tumblr.com/post/141384273691/keltie-has-read-throam-this-is-not-the-twitter

[v] https://twitter.com/iamjonwalker/status/958805938227433472

[vi] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/170958104996/the-tragic-love-life-of-ryan-ross-part-2

[vii] https://genius.com/Panic-at-the-disco-when-the-day-met-the-night-lyrics

[viii] https://genius.com/Ryan-ross-lonely-moonlight-lyrics

[ix]https://www.instagram.com/thedeadendkidsclub/?hl=en

[x] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzcWGQQiFDU

[xi] https://twitter.com/DeadEndKidsClub/status/1275849828459823105, https://twitter.com/DeadEndKidsClub/status/1283511345330049026

[xii] https://prettyoddfever.tumblr.com/post/629056560433446912/why-ryan-ross-deleted-his-livejournal-and-brendon

[xiii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171901498176/so-i-saw-your-ryanspencer-post-and-i-was-just

[xiv] https://chemicalromance.livejournal.com/96360.html?page=1

#ryan ross #the young veins #panic! at the disco #jon walker #ryan ross iceberg #spencer smith #brendon urie #patd #ryan patd #panic at the disco #Youtube

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tipsheda · 1 year ago

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Favorite Music I Listened to in 2023

Through Census Designated this year and her various Dariacore albums, I discovered Jane Remover in 2023 and I'm really glad I did (thanks for the recommendation, Imogen!). Census Designated has an utterly fantastic vibe that resonates with feelings of nostalgia and melancholy like nothing else for me. It puts me in such a unique headspace and I will treasure it for that.

The album is supposed to embody dead grass, and it nails it. It makes me recall timeless moments with friends doing nothing together. Of countless nights driving back and forth between Rochester and Minneapolis back when I didn't live in Minneapolis yet but had friends there. It brought me back to some of the feelings I had right after college when I had to leave so many friends behind to join the Real World, and how I was able to hold on to some of those relationships despite distance and change. I didn't even like this album that much on first listen. It's been through repeated listens in different contexts that it's won its way into my heart. In my basement, listening with a friend. Outside, listening with some friends around a bonfire. On lonely drives to and from my various old stomping grounds.

TLDR: I have imprinted on this album and it's now a core memory and feeling that I can reference back to in the future when I want to revel in the emotions of a certain time period in my life. Good shit. Also, good companion piece to the game, Fallow.

I listened to some of the songs from Caroline Polachek's new album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, for the first time in the car with some friends driving through a small town in Wisconsin. It was on full blast. What a sound! The album has so much energy. It's just absolute banger city.

Say what you want. But I've waited so long for a new Skrillex album and we got 2 in one year. Been a fan ever since listening over and over again to every single track he put out back in middle and high school on my school bus rides from 2011-2014. His work had a huge impact on my musical taste and my own music. Not every track on these albums hit for me. They never have on any of the past albums. But the ones that hit, fucking hit.

I had listened to some underscores songs a couple years ago and liked them, but never looked much further into the artist's music until a friend brought them up again. Then they released a new album this year and all hell broke loose. Great music. Energy, passion, emotion, all the good stuff.

Frost Children is great. Saw them live this year. They sound even better live. Listen to Frost Children. Favorite song is COUP.

Also saw Arooj Aftab play live with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily and it was just chill and beautiful sounds with haunting vocals the whole time. Good stuff.

Dodgr had only really put out the occasional single for so long and each one was an absolute banger with a great and unique vocal style over some good beats. I missed that she put out a whole album last year. It slaps.

Also, I want to give one final shoutout to a band I forgot to mention, Geese and their album this year 3D Country. It's like neo-Dad Rock or punk country. A blend of country/rock music with punk cowboy vocals. It was the music that was the most out of my wheelhouse out of everything I've listened to this year and I love it now. Saw them live and they were great.

Honorable mentions:

Elise Trouw - Losing Sleep

KNOWER - KNOWER FOREVER

Alexander Panos - Nascent (2022)

Rebecca Black - Let Her Burn

#new music #aoty 2023 #best music of 2023

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mackeydoodledoo · 1 year ago

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The Florals: Chapter 9

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x (Fem MC)Reader

Summary: You and your best friends are one of the most popular local bands. After a gig you meet the bartender, who has caught your eye and interest.

Chapter Warnings: Band Competition/Performer’s Anxiety, Relationship-Repairing attempt, Panic Attack

A/n: Okay, kinda got lazy writing the performance part of this chapter. Idk why but I find it difficult to write performance aspects lol

Chapter Key: Italic = Thoughts, [Words] = Song lyrics, +*+ = Time Skip

Chapter Theme: The Florals Competition Score Youtube Playlist

----------------------------------------------------------------

One week before the big competition...

You woke up before Wanda, who was still asleep next to you. As careful as possible, you slip out of your bed and change out of your pajamas and get dressed for a long rehearsal day.

When you arrive to the theatre, you already see your friends there.

“Helmets are here,” Lark holds up one of them

You practically run up on stage and help organize them with everyone.

+*+

After helping one another organize the Impera Helmets and figuring out the clothing, the five of you begin setting up instruments.

“So this whole shindig spans 3 days, the final day being Friday,” Lark explains the email

“Who else besides us and My Heart Your Teeth?” Rose asks

“Vision.” Lark sighs in disappointment

Right...

You forgot about him... But, you heard that ever since he and Wanda (mostly Wanda) had called things quits with him right at his album’s release party, he didn’t even chart.

“Well, shouldn’t really be that hard,” You say, “Long as we keep our heads together, everything will of nicely.”

+*+

God it’s hot outside...

The six of you enter the main hall for the arena...

Whoa...

“We won’t be long,” You say

Wanda nods as you walk away to catch up with your bandmates to check in for the competition.

*Wanda’s POV* “Wanda,” A familiar voice calls you from behind

Oh... No...

You slowly turn around to see Vision... Slowly making his way to you. You immediately look around for Strelitzia to no avail. But, fortunately, Vision stops a several inches away from you; seeing how frightened you looked.

“What are you doing here?” You ask him, trying to keep the eye contact away from him

“I last minute entered this... Competition...” He says

“Why?” You ask, “You said this competition is for bands that are attempting to become big shots like you.”

He really isn’t a big shot... After I left him, his album didn’t chart in the top 10...

“I know but..” Vision says

“But?” You ask

“I’ve realized how much I've been sitting my nose in my music,” He says

Oh now he admits it?...

“But, it was to make a better living for the both of us,” Vision states

He attempts to gently grasp your hands but you back away in fear. He immediately straightens himself out.

“Don’t touch me Vision,” You say, beginning to tremble

“Wanda, please,” Vision begins to beg, “I know you still feel something for me and better to act on them now and come home...”

He attempts to reach out to you again but you take another step back.

“I said don’t touch me Vision,” You say, slightly louder

“Wanda please...” He continues to beg

You were about to turn away when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You look up and notice a familiar helmet that you’ve seen at Strelitzia’s rehearsals.

“Madam,” Lark plays their character, “Is this man bothering you?”

You take one good look at Vision, his face somber.

“Yeah he is Papa,” You play along with your girlfriends’ band’s characters

You immediately retract into Strelitzia’s embrace. Vision attempts to reach for you however, Strelitzia takes a step back as she pulls you with her and Lark presses their hand on his shoulder.

“I do not recommend messing with someone apart of our Clergy... Vision,” Lark says

“How-How do you?” He asks

He doesn’t know it’s us?

He nods as he takes a step back, pivoting to turn his back to all of you and walks away.

“You alright?” She whispers

You look up at your girlfriend and nod. You look at him walking away, back to his managers and friends. You saw some familiar faces as well... Some of your formerly close friends standing around him...You pull yourself out of Strelitzia’s embrace and run off somewhere where your former friends won’t see you.

*Strelitzia’s POV* You note Wanda pulling herself out of your embrace as you watch her run off. You take a glimpse at your friends as you turn to the direction Wanda ran in.

“Wands are you okay?” You ask, kneeling at her side

You take off your helmet, the awkward back face paint sitting on your nose.

“They’re all here...” She sobs, “They’re all going to try and gaslight me into going back with Vision... You saw how Vision was trying to grab at me...”

You sit next to Wanda as you pull her into your embrace again, trying to calm her down.

“Shhh,” You coo to her, gently brushing her hair

“Please don't leave me alone,” Wanda begs, looking up at you

“Baby, in a heartbeat I wouldn’t,” You say, “But, I have to soon...”

You would take her on stage if your were able to. But, apparently they’d put anyone who associated with the artist or band performing in the VIP area. But, your gut feeling told you not to do that.

“Can you get back up?” You ask her

You get up onto your knee but just before you could plant your feet, Wanda puts her hands on your shoulders.

“What?” You ask

She leans over and picks up your helmet and proceeds to put it back onto your head and then gave you a quick peck on the lips as she puts the mask back over your mouth.

“I saw Maria working backstage security,” Wanda says, “I’ll stick around her.”

“Do you want me to take you to her?” You ask

“I’ll be okay,” Wanda smiles, “Get back to them.”

You nod as you watch her catch up to Maria and her coworkers.

You head back towards your friends and walk to the VIP area to watch the first band that was scheduled to go on.

+*+

You take a deep breathe through your nose as you take your place onto the stage.

Now Presenting The Lore of Ghost, The Florals!

You hear the audience cheers echo through the arena: Rose waiting for the echoes to cease... Beginning her repetitive notes.

+*+

You rush off the stage to remove your helmet and catch your breath.

“Hey Hey Strelitzia, it’s okay,” Wanda rushes over to you

“I’m okay I’m okay, just need to... Just need to...” You try to find your breathing pattern

“Hey, Strel, look at me,” Wanda tells you

You do...

“Breathe in...” She says

You follow suit...

“Breathe out...” She does the exercise with you

The both of you repeat that exercise until your heart beat

+*+

The six of you head back to your hotel after placing all equipment into your dressing room’s storage. You and Wanda were tasked with bringing food back for everyone.

“What’d you think?” You ask Wanda

“Despite that I knew what instrument you were playing, I was thinking you were playing all of the instruments,” Wanda says

“That doesn’t answer my question Wands,” You chuckle

“You should know what I think, I think you guys were absolutely amazing out there,” She smiles, “I was just commenting on the fact it could be anyone of you guys playing each other’s instruments.”

“I mean, we can, but for the. competition part of this, we have to stick with whatever we choose,” You say, “But if we win, our encore, we can do whatever we want.”

You grab the food after the host calls your name. As the both of you exit the restaurant, you and Wanda see Vision...

“Wanda, may I speak to you alone?” He asks

“Whatever you have on your mind, I’m not going to be offended to hear about it,” You take a step in front of her

“Fine,” He looks at you, his eyes narrowed, “Strelitzia made you cheat on me to get with you.”

“What?” You ask, nearly chuckling

“Vision, Steel wouldn’t do that,” Wanda tries to stand up for you, “She was solely conveniently available and she was willing to get me to wherever I need to get to.She never would have done anything to compromise our relationship. You did that all on your own.”

“I was solely trying to build a better foundation for us,” Vision spews his excuse

“We had a foundation,” Wanda says

“But-”

“But, it wasn’t enough for you,” Wanda says

You turn around to see Wanda beginning to retract into the wall. You turn to her and place the bags of food next to her.

“I won’t be long, I’ll make him go away,” You whisper

Wanda looks up at you, tears streaming down her eyes. She tries to smile but couldn’t in between her crying. You compose yourself and slowly turn to face Vision.

“Listen man, you have some real nerve trying to find us. Well, Wanda,” You start, “If you really think about it, that makes you a stalker.”

“H-How does that?-” He chuckles

“It definitely sounds like it buddy,” You say

“I’m not here for you Strelitzia, I am here to bring Wanda home,” Vision tries to brush past you

You force your hand unto his shoulder, preventing him from advancing any further.

“I don’t think so Vision,” You turn to him

“Please, I do not recommend keeping me from my goal,” He looks at you

“Wanda is not your goal anymore,” You say, “You can still continue your music career if you step back and walk away now.”

“My music career is nothing without Wanda,” He confesses

The both of you stop struggling amongst each other.

“So you rely on a single person for your music than just simply writing?” You ask, “That’s kinda dumb... If you’ll excuse us, we need to get back to my friends...”

“It’s not dumb it’s love!” He angrily states

From the corner of your eye, you see his bunched up fist. Last second you move your body out of the way; leaving Vision to punch air.

“Vision stop!” Wanda pleads to him

You continue to dodge his throws: making him grow even more frustrated. Your amusement to his growing frustrations. However, in the midst of finding that amusement, you felt a pain shoot through your cheek and then your palms hit the ground, following your body. As you regain yourself, Wanda places her hand on the back of your head and back as patrons seated on the outside of the restaurant holding Vision back from hurting you even further.

“Are you okay Strelitzia?” Wanda asks

“Yeah, let’s just grab the food and go back...” You groan

So the both of you do whilst Vision is being berated by the restaurant patrons.

+*+

As you enter the dressing room for your band, your friends stare up at you.

“You guys okay?” You ask

“Yo what did you do last night?” Lark asks

“Got dinner with Wanda, had an unfortunate run-in with Vision, then came back... Why?” You ask

“Vision got disqualified,” Pine tells you

“You’re joking,” You say

“Wish we were,” They hold up their phone to you

You take Pine’s phone and look through the roster for the day: Vision’s name being crossed off of the list.

“Dang,” You chuckle, “Guess he didn’t read the rules when his fist made contact to my cheek.”

The five of you watch through the TV in the room whilst running through Call Me Little Sunshine.

You walk around the stage as you continue to play the simple baseline to your ‘Ballad’ Song for the competition.

From what you could see from your lens, the audience wasn’t particularly jumping out of their seats.

Albeit it isn’t a high-upbeat song.

But, you see Lark clap their hands on beat during the bridge: People began clapping along with them too. But, you could also hear some people clap off beat.

+*+

The five of you hop out of makeup as your rival band performs after you. You all watch them through the monitor in the dressing room.

“Jeez their voices are raspy,” Lark sighs, taking a drink of water

“That’s what happens when you do a lot of screamo,” Poppy states, “Doesn’t your voice hurt after singing though Lark?”

"It does, but I know what my limits are,” They say

“We are further trained than they are,” You say, “Plus, we’ve been doing this since we were in diapers.”

+*+

You stop by Wanda’s room after concluding the second round of performances. The both of you lay in silence as neither of you exchanged words the entire time. You just assumed Wanda was either tired or still shaken up by last night.

“Wands... You okay?” You ask, finally breaking the silence

“Mhmm,” She says

“You sure?” You ask, “We haven’t exchanged words since I got here.”

“I can’t simply lay in my girlfriend’s arms?” She asks, pouting

“No, not at all what I was saying,” You smile, “You usually make small talk or something. But, I am also tired.”

+*+

As you stepped out onto the stage you look up and see how the arena roof was opened...

Didn’t know this arena could do that... Let alone it being a full moon tonight either...

But, you also knew it was fitting for the song for the third round of the competition.

You listen to Rose play in with an acoustic and play with Pine in her drum lead in. From there on it was smooth sailing.

+*+

“We absolutely appreciate every single one of you attending this year’s Pride band competition, we truly had some amazing bands perform over these last three days, however, there can only be one band to give you a show tonight,” The announcer yells through their microphone

You and your friends hold each others’ hands as the tension builds.

Only one of us gets to win...

“The winner of the competition is...” The announcer slowly unravels the envelope

Can he be any slower?!

“The Florals!”

Enormous amounts of cheers erupted throughout the arena as the five of you ease the grip on each other eases and take a step forward into the spotlight and soak in the victory.

+*+

Before the five of you set up to play your first three songs, you lift the bass to Rose: everyone but Lark and Pine switching back to your respective instruments. Gasps and murmurs in the crowd commenced as they all watch you switch instruments.

+*+

As quickly as you could, you motion for Poppy to switch guitars with you. With only seconds to spare, you step up to the edge of the stage, propping your leg up on a stage monitor and begin playing the guitar solo. the crowd goes absolutely nuts as they watched you. you look down to the ‘All Access’ area, seeing Wanda and Maria watching; Wanda in particular. Her green eyes illuminated but the you couldn’t tell because of the lights. But, you knew by the look on her face.

You take a step onto the crates an inch below the main stage, kneeling towards the audience as you continue through the guitar solo. Despite your in-ears blocking out the outer sound, you could tell that everyone was going wild.

You hop back up onto the main stage right before the last few notes of the solo and within those few seconds: you switch back to bass guitar.

You and Poppy absolutely shred through the rest of the song: walking around the stage, interacting with your friends that couldn’t move off stage, and towards the crowd that were trying to reach for your hand. You move onto some crates that were a few inches shorter than the stage and lean toward them the safest way possible.

[Right here Right....]

Your arm is raised: the crowd erupts into cheers, impatient for the final note. As if feeling the cue, all of you hit the note together and on time.

[Now!]

The crowd erupts into larger and louder cheers as you slam on your improvised bass note. As the music fades out, you swing your bass around to your back and look down at the front row of people and make eye contact with one of them. You point at them as they do the same for you. You kneel down and with as far as your arm could reach: you slip your guitar pick between your longest fingers and place it into their hands. You watch them jump in excitement.

You went back up to the main stage and take a bow with your four bandmates.

+*+

As soon as you went backstage, the five of you were pulled for an interview.

“That was some show you five have put on these last three days,” The interviewer says, “The way you all ”

Th microphone was held up to you.

“We’ve always known how to play many different instruments as you’ve said,” You explain, “It really just started out to be an experiment but then later concluded as a band that it would be a fun little thing to do. Make the audience sit at the edge of their seats, having them be in awe at the same time.”

“Now, for the encore song, you all switched instruments again, and the guitar solo, was that rehearsed beforehand? Intentional?” They ask

“All of that was on the fly,” Pine explains

“The time to find the moment to switch instruments was difficult no joke,” You say, “But, someway somehow we made it.”

“Wow! incredible!” The reporter dramatically smiles towards their camera, “You heard it here folks: The Florals win the competition tonight by using their multi-talent skills and stage presence to wow the crowd and the judges!”

You all finish the interview and make it back to the dressing room.

The five of you made it.

+*+

After finishing the interview, the five of you change out of your ‘characters’ to celebrate the win.

“Rose?” Maria Hill’s voice calls from the door

Rose turns to her, in the middle of removing the black face paint from her nose.

“H-hey Maria,” She blushes, throwing away the soiled makeup remover wipe

You noticed as she was walking towards the officer that there was some black face paint still left on her nose. But, you decided to let her find out for herself as she walks through the door.

*Rose’s POV* “Let’s take a walk, you and me,” Maria head gestures to exiting the dressing room

You nod and begin to follow her out. But, not before Maria takes your hand into hers: lacing your fingers together. You didn’t expect Maria to grab your hand so quickly, but who were you to complain about it?

*Strelitzia’s POV* You easily took notice of Maria’s gesture but decided against telling everyone. You finish up removing your makeup as you look at the doorway; smiling.

“Quite a show,” Wanda smiles

You stand from your seat and turn around, smiling as you saunter your way over to her.

“For you, my dear, always,” You smile

You slowly lean in as she does the same. But, before the both of you could have a moment and share a kiss...

“YO YO YO WHO’S READY TO-” Lark comes in, screaming, “Oh... We’re we interrupting something?”

“No, not at all,” Wanda clears her throat, “I won’t keep you five.”

“You... Don’t want to come with us?” Lark asks, genuinely offering Wanda to accompany you

“No no, I’m all people-personed out,” She sighs,”I’ll see you back at the hotel babe.”

Awkward silence hit all of you as Wanda’s fingers trail down your arm as she leaves.

“Well,” You sigh, lightening the room, “What are we waiting for then?”

Chapter 10 (Final)

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #Elizabeth Olsen #marvel #Scarlet Witch #scarlet witch x fem!reader #female reader

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allwaswell16 · 2 years ago

Note

I never read an A/B/O fic. Do you have suggestions which fics are good for a newbie?

Oooh okay. Hmmm...Okay, so I'm going to try my best here. First, here is a primer with links that I did for beginners:

🌸 A/B/O Primer

The first one I ever read, which is what got me hooked is:

Cameras Flashing by @juliusschmidt (E, 81k)

With his breakout single platinum three times over and his second album still selling out in stores around the world, Louis Tomlinson has made it to the top. However, his position as Pop Heartthrob of the Decade is threatened by the edgier, more artistic Zayn, who happens to be releasing an album a week after Louis’ upcoming third. Louis needs something groundbreaking- scandalous, even- to push past him in the charts. Much to Louis’ dismay, his PR team calls in The Sexpert.

Consulting with PR firm Shady, Lane and Associates pays the bills so that Harry Styles can spend his down time doing what he really loves: poring over data. On weekends and late into the evenings, he researches gender, presentation, and sexual orientation, analysing the longitudinal study that is his father’s life’s work. That is, until his newest client, the popstar with the fascinating secret, drags him off his couch and frighteningly close to the spotlight.

As the album’s release date approaches, will Tomlinson and Styles be able to pull off the most risky PR scheme of the millennium and beat Zayn in sales or will the heat of their feelings for each other compromise everything?

For beginners, I think I'll recommend some favorites of mine that have some world building, but aren't deep into wolf lore.

Light, Spark and Fire (series) by green_feelings / @greenfeelings (E/M, 239k)

Life’s pretty ordinary for Harry. He lives with his best friend, got into university just like he’s planned, and manages to support himself just fine for an unbonded omega. If he sustains that lifestyle by getting paid to help alphas through their rut every now and then, that’s nothing to be hung up on. Until he’s hired by an alpha that turns everything upside down.

Or, Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down, until he builds his own up.

where the lights are beautiful (series) by twoshipsdrifting / @polkadotlou (E, 48k)

Harry wasn’t wrong about that, not in a general sense. Lots of omegas did seek out rich alphas and betas, hoping or planning to go into heat at the right time. Plenty of omegas saw this as their duty, especially if their families weren’t well off. Worse, Louis couldn’t honestly say he’d never thought about it. If that had been his life, his goal, Louis would feel pretty good about himself now. As it is…Louis feels like shit.

Or the accidental bonding a/b/o fic.

Just for Tonight (I can be yours) by @sadaveniren (E, 42k)

Harry, prince of Cestrescir, has been betrothed to Ludvic, prince of Yorvik, since birth. He'd accepted a loveless marriage as his duty to his country, until an accident threw him in the path of a gentle alpha

Anybody Have a Map? by @2tiedships2 (NR, 12k)

Niall rolled his eyes, “You two are weird. Fine. Me and Liam will go by ourselves. Party poopers.”

Niall got up to get ready but first turned to Louis and asked, “Lou are you still kicking me out next week? I’ll see if I can make plans with Liam.”

Louis cringed. Because of course Niall would say something in front of Harry.

“Yeah,” Louis stated. “That’s still the plan. Now run along my little Irish idiot.”

Niall skipped the ten feet to his bedroom to get ready. Louis steeled himself for Harry’s inquiry.

“What’s next week, Lou?” Harry looked down at him with a confused look in his eyes.

Or the one where Louis met Harry in NYC where they bonded as fellow Brits in the large city. Years later, with Louis' upcoming heat, maybe it's time for their friendship to become something more.

a body wishes to be held & held by @turnyourankle (E, 9k)

Harry wants to return the favour after Louis helps him out with his heat.

And if you end up loving these like I hope you do, here are my other a/b/o fic recs:

🌸 A/B/O Fics / Part Two / Part Three

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Alpha Harry

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Canon

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Daddy Kink

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Long

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Luna Louis

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Omega Drop

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Omega/Omega

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Short

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Styles Triplets

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Styles Twins

🌸 A/B/O Fics - Touch Deprivation

#ask #anon #ficask #ficrec

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waugh-bao · 9 months ago

Note

i saw your previous ask about keith's solo work and now i'm curious about your opinions on charlie's solo work! also, do you have any recommendations for charlie, i've only listened to from one charlie

If you discount session work (because Ronnie did a ton both before and after he joined the Stones), Charlie actually has the most extensive solo/non-Stones catalogue. It’s very diverse and I think the vast majority of it is very high quality.

So in terms of his session work, far and away his best contribution (that we know of - this isn’t even listed on his Wiki) was as the drummer for The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. He, Bill, Stu, Steve Winwood, and Eric Clapton acted as the backing band for Howlin’ Wolf on a Chess Records-Rolling Stones Records collaboration covering some of his most famous songs in 1971. For my money it’s one of Wolf’s best albums and showcases beautifully what a talented blues drummer Charlie was. He could have gone toe to toe with the old Chess guys like Fred Below if he wanted to.

It was only for one song, not an entire album, but he, Keith, and Ronnie were the backing band for Marianne Faithfull’s cover of “Ghost Dance” by Patti Smith in 1993:

Charlie was in a few non-Stones bands. Probably the most famous, although it’s really not terribly well known, is Rocket 88. The founding line-upwas Stu, Charlie, Alexis Korner, and Dick Morrissey and membership fluctuated during different projects and concerts during its active period (1978-1981). You can find a couple videos of their performances on YouTube, but their one released album, from a live concert in 1981, is really fantastic. Jack Bruce does bass and vocals on it and he and Charlie make an absolutely amazing rhythm section. 20x times better than anything he ever did with Wyman.

He was also associated with another boogie woogie band, The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie, which he didn’t co-found, but which he got into through Dave Green (his childhood best friend and the bass player for most of his solo work). That band also unfortunately only has one album, but there’s a lot more available on YouTube to enjoy because they were around in the early 2010s. This is my favorite song they covered:

youtube

It’s never been entirely explained how it came about, except that it was initially facilitated through one of his friends, the trumpeter Gerald Presencer, but Charlie did an album with the Danish Radio Big Band in 2010 that was released in 2017. The 7 tracks include 2 original compositions and 5 re-arranged Stones songs. Whoever did the arrangements and composition did a wonderful job and it’s great highlight of Charlie’s flexibility and originality as a drummer.

In the late 1980s, he and Keith did a cover of Charles Mingus’ “Don’t Let Them Drop That Bomb on Me”, it’s worth it just for the little documentary clips of the two of them, never mind the song itself, which is also well done:

youtube

That’s not everything Charlie ever did which wasn’t explicitly his own project, but it’s the highlights.

As far as his own bands/albums go, unfortunately his first album, Live At Fulham Town Hall (1986) isn’t available to stream, but you can find the tracks on YouTube and a neat little documentary/live performance clip:

youtube

(This would also be a good time to mention that there’s a beautiful, very high quality segment of Charlie playing a Duke Ellington composition on BBC4 in 2019 along with Dave and some American jazz musicians, as well as a cute little interview with the two of them after):

youtube

Everything that follows that album, with one exception, is a variation on The Charlie Watts Quintet, the group which appears on 1990’s From One Charlie to Another:

The biggest difference between his jazz albums, other than the number of players (it tended to range between a quartet, a quintet, and a tenet), is whether or not they have a vocalist. The last one, Watts at Scott’s (2004) is the one which does not and it’s a mixture of original compositions (generally written by his pianist Brian Lemon) and covers of jazz standards, including Ellington’s “A Train”:

1991’s A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings is a really neat, original project. It has Bernard Fowler narrating the story of Parker’s life through Charlie’s book about him from the ‘60s and covers songs which were on Parker’s own With Strings album as well as original compositions like “Terra de Pajaro.” There is one song “Lover Man”, which has vocals provided by Bernard, the rest is purely instrumental. Pete King was the saxophonist for all of Charlie’s jazz projects and he absolutely kills it on this album.

The two albums which really showcase his collaboration with Bernard and his skills as an accompanist to a vocalist, Warm & Tender (1993) and Long Ago & Far Away (1996), are lovely collections of jazz standards and standouts from the Great American Songbook. I love them both, I think which one you want to listen to just depends on your mood. The second album is definitely more melancholy:

It also has Charlie’s only solo music video, for “I’ve Got a Crush on You”, which is gorgeous and good humored:

youtube

The weirdest album in Charlie’s oeuvre, to put it bluntly, is the Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project (1999). It’s very avant garde, probably the most purely creative but also least accessible thing he ever did. The album was made at the same time the Stones were recording Bridges to Babylon, so Mick and Keith pop up on two different tracks (separately), but the bulk is Charlie, Jim Keltner, and a few other percussionists who contributed bits and pieces. It’s a world music-jazz-techno-beats melange of original pieces, some of which were inspired by the work of certain jazz drummers and some of which are more entirely abstract. To be honest it’s not really something you can describe, you sort of just have to listen and see if it’s your thing.

#hope that’s helpful!#the rolling stones #charlie watts #ask response #music reccomendations #music exploration #clothwaltzes #music guide

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vampylily · 1 year ago

Text

In honour of manifesting international dates for tourdust 2024 (2ourdust 2 furious), here is Joe's phone interview with a publication in Korea about their upcoming performance in 2013 for Pentaport Rock Festival. (source.)

[T/N: May contain errors, I am not a professional by any means.]

Q: This is your second visit to Korea after your visit in 2009. How do you feel?

Joe: I had a good time on the first visit, so I’m looking forward to it. It was a shame I didn’t get to look around as much as I wanted because the schedule was short. One of my close friends was raised in Korea and has family there, so I’ve always wanted to visit Korea.

Q: Any memorable moments from your last visit to Korea?

Joe: It wasn’t as foreign because I grew up in an area with a lot of Korean people. When we were traveling Seoul from the airport, we crossed a really long bridge and that was impressive. I remember thinking it was cool as we were driving across the bridge. Also, Koreans are very friendly.

Q: “Save Rock and Roll” was No.1 on the Billboard album chart. Did you expect it?

Joe: I didn’t expect it at all. Because it was the album we released after a few years of hiatus, I was expecting a small, fan-centered reaction. It came to a surprise to all of us that so many people were interested in us.

Q: We know you guys are making a series of music videos. The plot development is getting intriguing,can you give us a hint about the ending?

Joe: There’s going to be surprising plot twists. Each episode reveals new storylines, but I don’t want to spoil the fun (by giving hints about the ending.) What I can say is that while questions will be answered one by one, there will be questions left unanswered at the end even after watching all the videos. It’ll be left up to the interpretation and the imagination of the viewer. Unlike “Lost,” most plot questions will be answered.

Q: This album has been a commercial success, but it is also being well received by the music critics. What were you focused on when you were making this album?

Joe: We talked about the direction we wanted to take in the future after we got together to work on the album, and everyone agreed that we wanted to show how we were progressing as a band. We decided to maintain our unique colour, but not make something similar to an existing album.

Living as an artist is a very scary thing. We have to meet the general public’s expectations of us, but also, how can we call it art if we keep on repeating and rehashing the same style of music. I’m not saying we’re a great band, but when you look back, all the great bands have tried something new with their music. The best part about working on the new album was rediscovering our innate uniqueness. That was a difficult task.

Q: What is your favorite song from the new album? Or a song that you would recommend to Korean fans?

Joe: It’s been changing, but the first song I liked the most was “The Phoenix.” Listening to the finished track through the speakers was memorable. The song I’ve started to like recently is the title track “Save Rock and Roll.” It became a favorite after we started to play it live in our performances. We play the song faithfully to the original song on the album, but it feels special everytime we play it.

If we look at all the tracks individually, the song that shows the album’s personality the most is “My Songs Knows What You Did in the Dark.” So, if I were to recommend one song, it'd be “My Songs,” or “Alone Together.”

Q: What can Korean fans expect from this performance? Is there anything special planned?

Joe: I think the most important point is that we’ve recharged as a band. If fans from the 2009 performance saw us again, they can expect a more energetic performance. At least, personally, I’ve started to enjoy performances more energetically after a hiatus. That’s why I’m looking forward to this performance. I look forward to the day I’ll be performing in Korea.

Q: Any words to Korean Fans.

Joe: I’m really excited to see you guys on stage for the festival. I saw pictures of people waiting in front of the stage without umbrellas even when it was raining. I hope it rains on the day we perform. We’re ready to show our best performances.

Photos from Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival 2013:

Translation of Pete's interview in 2009: here.

#joe trohman #fall out boy #fob #save rock and roll #srar era #fob interview #fairly straightfoward interview #but its the second of the 2 interviews about their festival performances in korea #vampylily.txt

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eldritchmochi · 1 year ago

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yeah I am pretty young lmao, I'll spare you from another playlist by just naming some artists that gave me inspiration for god knows at some point

first off you mentioned Hozier, which I kinda only mention because he released a new album recently. Arctic Monkeys and Father John Misty are kinda in the same boat as him. More like the same lake.

The Amazing Devil and The Oh Hellos never fail to give me some sort of D&D/character inspiration. Ghost does?? something??? as well with characters, but specific ones. Same with Steam Powered Giraffe.

other than that, Library Magic by The Head And The Heart is very Wizard, along with The Magician by Andy Shauf. and because I just can't go without mentioning it, Queen is my favorite band. :)

that's all! with any luck it'll end up being useful somehow lol

hozier is one of those artists who i dont listen to on purpose like ever i dont thinki could name a single song of his with confidence BUT i know his voice starkly as one i really lusted after pre-t. i saw he just dropped a new album and i HAVE to give it a listen to especially the video of sssomething or other (full album mv??? pLEASE) because it stars domnall gleeson and i am still horny for that man even after all these years (he's the actor for hux for context lmao)

queen is also one of my long time favs, though definitely a band i dont know in and out the way i do with a lot of more modern punk bands lmao. freddie has and always will be Gender (god the video for i want to break free was IT for me in like 8th grade right around when i came out)

ive seen spg live before!! they are *great* experience even if you're not deep into the lore (i had friends who were big lore fans). i have heard precisely One And A Half Ghost Songs and im keeping it that way on purpose because its just sooooooo funny that im not into them because aesthetically they are way up my alley (and one of my sibs, a number of irl buddies, and MANY artists i follow are all nuts for them)

ive some passing familiarity with the artic monkeys, enough that i can pick out a number of their more popular songs on the radio even if i cant name them (i am garbage at song titles tho so)

i'll have to check out the rest, especially good Wizards Songs 👀

in response!! further things to check out:

FUNKY.FM - playlist by alexmoukala who is one of my FAVOURITE video game composers. i know him primarily through twitter where he posts snippets of remixed or reimagined video game music... but FUNKY (this one is particularly relevant to u based of ur playlist shared w me)

ye old spooky club 1995 - playlist by unnerving governess who i am 90% sure is gothic charmschool. i know i got the link thru her but i thiiink she also made it (another playlist that may vibe w u based off your playlist)

creature feature, especially the album "the greatest show unearthed" (ookey spooky rock with a lot of vincent price era horror camp and a lot of really impressive technical skill. i want it to be halloween damnit)

the mind electric by the miracle musical (behold, the essence of the inside of my brain but in tangible form. it is. incredibly ominous. do recommend headphones for max goosebumps (includes a lot of records played backwards type sounds and other distortions))

dance monkey by tones and i (one of my big essek songs since i get a lot of that vibe where he's beholden to his station for *so much* that its a disservice to his growth as a person)

bottom is a rock by mother mother (my m9 as a whole song. the chorus has a line for each of them i stg and if i could reliably draw i would do an old school lyricstuck to it)

my verdict on ur playlist btw is that it is very solid and cohesive a+, but *just* to the left of my tastes, largely because a lot of it skews 70s/80s which just by nature of the beast lacks the bass i like (because it was mixed entirely different compared to modern music, which is better suited for sounding big when played digitally through smaller speakers. ive heard some of these bands on big sound systems and theyre MUCH more in line with my tastes then lmao)

#mochi rambles #mochi music #dragonknuckles #public reply since no links and also these recs are great imma make people look at em lmao #i have definitely pilfered a couple songs tho

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leviathancries · 1 year ago

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FAKEVOX

[Plus-Tech Squeeze Box] (2000)

Plus-Tech are a Japanese Picopop trio (They are a trio, not a duo. Wikipedia is WRONG!!!) who are known for their off the wall music and lively sound.

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box's first album, released in 2000. 'FAKEVOX' is all over the place, It's a kid who cant sit still. Full of wonder and life. High-pitched sounds and upbeat melodies are the backbone of this album. If this Album was food it would be a strawberry sundae. It's hyper sweet, cute and feels like a sugar rush.

(also on a side note. I have noticed that Plus-Tech have been featured a lot in British stuff, for example they have been on the BBC quite a few times and featured in a British Coca-Cola ad. Just thought that was interesting....) anyway on with the review.

Track 1: Channel No.17

"What time is it?!"

Plus-Tech really sets the tone of the album with this intro track. You are hit with all sorts of sounds from VOX samples to bowling balls and carnival sounds. It's fast and alive.

Track 2: early RISER

"Bouncy!"

Track 2 is quintessential 2000's hyper J-pop. This song reminds me so much of the Jet-Set Radio OST and I love it. Plus-Tech create super catchy ear worm songs that play on loop in your mind all day. It's so upbeat you can't even be annoyed at it.

Track 3: A Day In The Radio

"I'm a plus-tech girl friend!"

Track three is more vocal based letting Kamada sing. This is another cute song you can't possibly feel mad when listening to.

Track 4: Test Room

"1,2,3,4. Plus-Tech!"

Test Room is a super bright song. It's fast, lively and experimental. The vocal chop in this song carry it a long way. It's just so satisfyingly to listen to lol.

Track 5: rocket coaster

"Rocket coaster! la, la, la, la-la."

Track 5 is Plus-Tech's most popular track for a reason. It's definitely their most accessible song by far for a normal audience. It's got a nice duet going on, a catchy chorus and a light rock instrumental. Really sweet and cute song.

Track 6: Scene1 - launch a spaceship into space →

Track six is an interlude following the space theme of the album.

Track 7: ☆

"Have you ever met a great astronaut?"

Track six takes us right back into the cutesy vibe with an instrumental that wouldn't be out of place on a Frenesi album, especially with those tom drums and pluck-y melody.

Track 8: White Drops

"fantastic..."

Man, White Drops. This song will always have a special place in my heart. I really do love this song. It's so nostalgic to me. It's so simple yet so affective, It's upbeat, endearing and... idk cozy?

Track 9: MILK TEA

"しまうのさー”

Milk tea is an other nostalgic song for me as I used to listen to it a lot. It's got guitar, synths, vocals and bleeps n bloops. what more can you ask for in a song to be honest?

Track 10: Scene2 - citybilly lived happily after

"BEEEWOOP! FUNNY GUITAR!"

Lots of sounds and a guitar. This song is like if you were at a fair on many, many substances.

Track 11: Sneaker Song!

"Why don't you tell me? hey! you're little rascal!"

Sneaker song goes right back to the hyper sound that the rest of the album follows. Lots of bleeps and gated sounds. This song has more of a pop-rock guitar lean though.

Track 12: clover

"いつのまにか降り止んだ雨"

Clover is a great outro because it changes the vibe of the album completely. It is the complete opposite of the rest of the album taking on a more melancholy down-tempo tone. A lot less vocal processing and FX. But the a happy sounding melody comes in creating a bitter sweet end to the album. This song reminds me of looking through old photos. Sad it's over, glad it happened.

Overview: FAKEVOX

FAKEVOX is a great introduction to hyper J-pop and Picopop, if any of this sounds interesting to you I highly recommend this album. It's sugary sweet with a lot of life to it.

Rating: 7.5/10

If there’s any typos or inconsistencies in this review it’s because I can’t be bothered to proof read it.

#music #music review #fakevox #plush-tech squeeze box #jpop #picopop

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queerstevieharrington · 1 year ago

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hi. if you have not read the your love is standing next to me series by fivecenturiesverse - aka @fivecenturiesverse - on ao3, what are you even doing with your life?

i originally had a lot more words planned to review and rec this fic, but i forgot them all in the span of 24 hours, so i'll do my best.

the series is a 10-parter, all oneshots, well-formatted and, as usual for fives, extremely well-written. it's an almost epistolary future-fic, written as outsiders' social media posts about steve and eddie, who in this case are both singers in bands. eddie's band is indiana panic, steve's is nail bat babysitter; the two are in a collaborative band called bright teeth bat bait.

this fic features tumblr posts, interviews, and absolutely phenomenal lyrics. they have all been compiled here in case you want to skip ahead and read those first; i wouldn't recommend that though. get the context first!! i read this entire series (all 24K words of it) in one night. i could not stop myself, and once i finished i found myself strangely bereft as though a friend had left my house, much like some characters in the last fic of the series.

it features cameos from the kids, robin, and surprisingly enough, tammy thompson. however, she makes it work. i never thought i would be appreciating a social media fic series so much, but it is brilliant. the lyrics, the meaning behind them... as an aspiring songwriter, i truly adore what is written in these pages. my favourite lyric is: “time feels like rust on a porch swing // like flowers growing where the earth // opens her mouth to sing // time feels like that, on summer days” [Greenwich Mean Time, “The Orange Tree House” NBB, 2007] as featured in the last fic. however, all of them are brilliant. i'm also quite partial to: “wrinkles and sun damage // on Leonid leonine eyes // textures my fingertips have known // counted, loved // smoothed and designed // an image of time // I: the architect” — Lionesses Stalk My Kitchen, NBB: TOTH 2007 - from the same fic.

i suddenly find myself of the urge to simply... fill in the gaps of the bands' discography, where fivecenturiesverse has not given lyrics - almost to tease readers into filling in the blanks ourselves, to think of what the song might be about just by name only. my favourite album or place mentioned in the story might just be The Orange Tree House.

here is the summary from the first work in the series, love like an ache in the jaw:

Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson, famous musicians in their own rights, have a collaborative band together called 'Bright Teeth Bat Bait'. They return for a surprise fourth album, almost a decade after their last. (Organised social media posts and news articles chart the release of the album.) assigned-batbait-atbirth GIF set description: several instances from Indiana Panic live concerts in which they bring on Steve for a BTBB song or two; Gareth (Indiana Panic drummer) looks like he’s dying inside, meanwhile Steve and Eddie come close to having sex on stage in the foreground of the GIFs #i want what ever these two have going on #but instead i am gareth

if you read it, i hope you enjoy - and don't forget to leave a kudos and a comment!

this review kind of got away from me and i really like this fic if you can't tell !! i might do some more of these reviews some other day :~)

#steddie fic recs #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #fic rec #ao3 #fivecenturiesverse #future fic #i rec

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jarateblog · 1 year ago

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The Ultimate Gary Numan Album Recap

(long post, you don't have to read it unless you really want to)

Because my OCD willed it into existence. Over the past couple weeks I've been relistening to each of Numan's albums and felt like I'd just write short reviews/recommendations for each of them. I planned to make a page on my website for him, but I may just end up copy-pasting this post on there or embedding it in some fashion since the blog function here works pretty well. Without further ado:

Tubeway Army (1978)

His first album with his initial band lineup still going under the name of Tubeway Army. Early demos heard on The Plan compilation show how rooted these tracks were in the stereotypical punk sound of the late '70s, but his songwriting and alien-like vocals made them unique and fun to listen to. The addition of synths to the final renditions of the songs that ended up on this album punch and feel overwhelming on a good stereo, illustrating Numan's common retelling of discovering synthesizers for the first time. While I feel it may be a hard sell for some on first listen because of Gary's idiosyncratic voice, I feel approaching with an open mind will provide a satisfying listen.

Replicas (1979)

Still under the Tubeway Army name, this is technically their last album and the transition to Gary's "solo" career. The Tubeway Army lineup would still be his backing band until 1981. This album is one of his most successful though and it makes sense. There are even more synth-heavy hits that utilize the electronic sound in place of guitars, and an overlapping but loose set of narratives about a dystopian future of androids going about their dingy, daily lives. I feel his lyrics are probably at their most creative here, as they aren't as repetitive in their format as they would kind of become from here on. A high recommend for a listen to the full album, especially if you're familiar with "Are 'Friends' Electric" or "Down in the Park," two of his most popular singles.

The Pleasure Principle (1979)

Artists in the '70s were cracked. Making two albums within the span of a year is insane, especially when they're both masterpieces. Outside of the obvious worldwide hit "Cars," every track is worth a listen on here too. If I were to critique, however, this is the beginning of Gary finding one instrument sample and sticking to it for a few years before finding something else to use to death. The string synth heard on "Cars" is everywhere on this album, even right from the beginning on "Airlane." It's far from a bad sound, it's actually really cool, very sci-fi-esque, but it's still worth noting that you'll hear it pretty frequently until around '82. With the strings, however, every track feels like an orchestrated event with a rock touch, and the bass and drum work is sublime.

Telekon (1980)

An even more grandiose event than The Pleasure Principle. The opening of "This Wreckage" is still one of the most satisfying introductions to any album for me. The lyrics have a sense of finality to them, partially because Gary planned to retire from the fame and elaborate live shows after its release. It is overall a great close to his self-dubbed 'Machine-Era,' although I'm not a big fan of every song on here to find it a complete masterpiece. The singles released around this era are some of my most favorites of his, however, like "I Die: You Die" and "We Are Glass."

Dance (1981)

Man, did this one take FOREVER to grow on me. Perhaps the most experimental of Numan's work, his original band went on to form their own ill-fated group Dramatis (that Gary still featured on) while he brought on many well-respected producers and instrumentalists to help bring this project to life. It's got ambience, jazz, funk, and rock, and is a long ride in comparison to his previous albums, reaching almost 50 minutes in length (two songs are almost 10 minutes on their own!). It's one of my favorites now though. I'm so glad I gave it another chance after so many years.

Even though I had a hard time getting into it originally, I feel that anybody who has had a longer stake in music than me would find appreciation much quicker than I did.

I, Assassin (1982)

The first album of his that I'm a bit more mixed on. While I feel instrumentally, it is outstanding, this is also one of Gary's most inconsistent vocal performances. Fretless bass provided by Pino Palladino is what gives this album a distinct, sometimes improvisational sound, but it is often marred by lots of vocal drags of Numan's that either don't fit with the funky, danceable grooves, or fail to flow into each other well. Regardless, there are still great tracks like "War Songs" and the B-Sides "The Image Is" and "Noise Noise."

Warriors (1983)

His last album on the Beggars Banquet label, and what feels like another end to another era of his music. Continuing with the experimental, ambient, and funk inspirations from his previous two albums, this album is highly mixed by the public. It took some time for me to fully appreciate, but I like this album about just as much as I, Assassin, if not more on occasion. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of consistent female backing vocals being introduced to his music (something Gary has documented before as a recommendation from Beggars, who must've started losing faith in the uniqueness of his voice). They aren't that bad here, though, the '80sisms of their presence had yet to come I think. Gary's vocals are much more consistent and confident here too (perhaps as a response to the backing vocals being added). Personally, I feel the singles "Warriors" and "Sister Surprise" are the most catchy, while the many other tracks fit well as deep cuts despite their slower compositions.

Berserker (1984)

His first album on his newly opened Numa label. This era started off with a bang that would be nearly impossible to follow up on subsequent albums in the decade. Numan's new ghostly image is paired with heavy drums, icy synths, an occasional oriental theme, and remix-like production edits. Not every song is a masterpiece despite Gary owning full creative control over his music at this point, as he still brought the backing vocals with him and they're even more prominent than last time. He must have taken the haters' criticisms to heart... There is a heavier focus on a pop-funk sound too, which can at times date this record. I still love it despite its flaws and would consider it one of my favorites of his.

(Side note: Gary uses an old slang/offensive term for lesbian on "This Is New Love," but within the context of the lyrics and album concept he isn't condoning the use of it. I guess you could call it a MF DOOM situation, IYKYK)

(Side Side note: Albums from the rest of this decade into 1994 are nearly impossible to listen to in full on streaming services because the current rights holders are lazy, make bad digital transfers, and Gary's ashamed of this era in retrospect. I don't blame him for some, but it's not all bad. The stuff is easy to find on YouTube though. Numa records really didn't release copies outside of the UK either, so a lot of the stuff is absurdly expensive today and piracy is the only feasible way to listen in 'high' quality without going broke.)

The Fury (1985)

While Berserker felt like the perfect start to a new era of Numan's career, The Fury dives further into what I found to be the weaker aspects of it. Opening track "Call Out the Dogs" seems to question the lack of radio play he's been receiving, and this becomes a common theme for MANY, and I mean, MANY of his songs in this decade. In later interviews, Gary has often discussed feeling insecure during this period, and that lead to very uninspired lyrics.

Other tracks are honestly just kind of disgusting to listen to because they require you to suspend your disbelief that Gary is some sort of stud who gets all the ladies (I mean, look at the cover, who wouldn't want a man in a white tux???/s He's legitimately sexy as a DILF nowadays tho ngl). The female backing vocals are at their most prevalent and grating too, often overpowering Gary's own and exuding a level of '80s cheese that no one should have to be subjected to (no offense to the singers, they just shouldn't have been on this album).

I will still say that the song "Tricks" is really good though. I wish the stems for this album would leak or something, because minus the vocals it is quite fun to listen to. There are even more metallic sounding synthesizers that paired with the funky rhythms could really stand on their own. It's noticeably lower in budget than Berserker though, using many stock samples that ignore the sound experimentation he used to employ. I don't hate this album, but it is very mediocre and insulting in comparison to what came before and after.

Strange Charm (1986)

A more positive package than The Fury, thankfully. About 7/8 of the songs on this album are good, great, or amazing, with some being his very best. "My Breathing" is a long, Mideast-inspired piece which he occasionally performs live today, and "New Thing from London Town" is a foreboding collaboration with Bill Sharpe from Shakatak (who'll show up later). Thankfully, the backing singers are actually in the back for the majority of this album, which helps enhance the experience like on Warriors rather than overpower it like on The Fury. There's a broader use of electronics here too, helping it stand out among his other albums from this era.

Metal Rhythm (1988)

As the name implies, there is a heavier focus on using loud, reverb-heavy drums, akin to many industrial acts of the late '80s. Unfortunately, because it seems Gary had never listened to bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Ministry, or Skinny Puppy at the time (or he had but was too afraid to take the risk), this album still leans heavily into the pop-funk style like The Fury. Minus the often uninspired or questionable lyrics...

On "Voix": "I don't like young girls, I don't like boys; I like some bitch to scare me, I like that noise"

?????

...there are some tracks that hit exceptionally well. He even played "Voix" well into the '00s, although he never bothered to improve the lyrics. About half of the songs here are good and catchy, but they come with some caveats. The rest are bland attempts at radio-friendly sounding music with generic synth pads and repetitive choruses although the lyrics often gave stations reasons not to air them.

(Another side note: Because his own Numa Records were running low on funds, Gary had to move to Illegal Records in the UK and I.R.S. Records in the US. Therefore, most countries outside of the UK finally received this album as New Anger a year later with an extremely botched track lineup. The original is still probably the preferred way to listen, IMO, but this album as New Anger is available for streaming)

Automatic (1989)

Throughout the '80s, Gary collaborated with Bill Sharpe of the band Shakatak to provide vocals to what were mostly Sharpe-composed synth-pop songs. This album is a sort of compilation of all their tracks from 1984 to 1989 (minus "New Thing from London Town" which featured on Strange Charm), with this album's own "I'm On Automatic." They are very of the time, but well-produced, catchy, and fit together regardless of the years each track originally released. I feel Gary could have utilized more input like this in his sound during the mid-to-late '80s on his own albums, because as it stands, this is one of my favorite (partial) projects of his! According to him in later interviews, he considered collaborating more, but didn't want to rely on other people for his image and career. Which, I suppose that's understandable. Still, for as rough as the '80s had been on him, it may have been better for his mental health in the end.

Outland (1991)

Probably my least favorite album of his.

*GASP,* the imaginary Numanoid I made up in my head reading this goes

Sort of an experimental album like Dance, in the sense it attempts to build an atmosphere with "Interval" tracks and segues. Musically, many songs just feel off, like they're in the wrong key, but it's more likely that it's just an unfitting choice of instrument samples being used. They're often stock or cheap sounding.

It again goes for a pop-funk sound with some more prominent soul influences. "Confession" is a guilty pleasure, "My World Storm" is pretty good, and "Dream Killer" is one of his better ballads, but I can't really stand to listen to the rest. It's not that they ooze too much cheese that it's fondue, they're just... failed attempts at making fromage bleu... I don't know where the fuck I'm going with this.

You may like it. As implied above, there are actually many fans of this album in the community. My thoughts below will probably discredit all my other reviews anyways.

Machine + Soul (1992)

Funny that both Numan and Aphex Twin sample the same thing around the same time lol. Gary's self-proclaimed "low-point" to pay off debts. He claims that this album is musically sound, but not a Numan album, and to that I say BULLSHIT because he's been making non-Numan albums for about a decade at this point if going by his implied definition of what makes one! Anyways, beyond the romanticism of claiming this is the worst to push everything afterwords on a needless pedestal, this album is FINE. It's a perfectly FINE record. It's dated by about 5 years in its style and production, but so was Outland.

Hell, I'd even call some songs good. Great, even. The title track rocks. "Generator" is a slightly embarrassing but catchy pop song. "The Skin Game" is relentless though. One of my least favorite tracks that oddly became one of my favorites upon revisiting. It's actually quite introspective for this time in his career. The lyrics are very self-deprecating when reading into them and it makes sense that Numan almost quit his career after releasing this album. It's veiled under backing vocal refrains that mimic a standard pop song, but it's actually quite bleak. Sounds like something off Cabaret Voltaire's CODE, just half a decade too late. "I Wonder" and "Love Isolation" are two of my favorites of his as well. They evoke a lot of what makes his subsequent '90s releases so good. The B-Sides and Demos of this album (and admittedly many his '80s albums) also really demonstrate that he could make some killer ambient, ominous, or somber tracks that just wouldn't fit with his desire to appeal to radio-play.

You could also tell that he had to really push the runtime for tracks to reach about 50min in total with samples and room to let the drum machines just go, but there aren't many tracks that are hard to listen all the way through. "Poison" is one exception, which has an off-key sounding trumpet reminiscent of Outland and a poor attempt at Gary trying to rap... I think? The Prince cover of "U Got the Look" is fine but sad as Gary rarely covered any artist throughout his career. Plus, Prince should've been the one covering Numan.

Sacrifice (1994)

If Machine + Soul HAD Gary's soul and desires to make what he always wanted. While this album was a sign of things to come, for better or for worse (lyrical themes focusing too much on hardcore atheism basically, something he would only allude to in passing on previous albums), this album is a perfect example of making something with what you have. The ultimate industrial mindset as it were. His to-be wife supposedly introduced him to a world of music he hadn't experienced in his chase for attempted radio-friendly material, including Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails' mainstream industrial records of the time, and the new influences are worn on this album's sleeve while still feeling completely original.

Gone are the backing singers with the exception of the one and only TJ Davis (yes, of Sonic R fame) who adds to the emotion of "Scar" in its chorus and bridge. Every track is amazing on here to me, so it's undeniably my favorite album of his along with Replicas and Dance. Sure, it's lacking any sort of production that should have been expected at the time, and for such a relatively high-profile artist, but it has such raw emotion and energy in it that was sorely missing from his albums in the decade preceding it. It was almost entirely created and produced by himself, with some additional guitar and help from M+S producer, Kipper. So, with no live percussion, Gary just intentionally programmed the drum machines and sequencers to be relentless in their composition while he could focus on singing.

May not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly how I like mine. It's just a shame it's not available on any streaming services.

Exile (1997)

Thanks to the turning point of Sacrifice and a conveniently released tribute album by Beggars, his resurgence into popularity seemed to help Numan release this album with a greater budget and worldwide release. You can actually stream this album! While Sacrifice had many moments of introspection and outward atheism, Exile creates a fictitious narrative where there is no distinction between Heaven and Hell. Some fans left at this point because of the concrete shift in lyrical topics. I personally don't care as I'm not religious myself, but I don't have a hate boner for it like Numan. I feel the lyrics could have been fleshed out more for a better defined world that he is describing though.

Although the tracks still rely heavily on drum machines, there is a heavier focus on live guitar, even an acoustic which shows up in the final, eponymous track, ending the album on a somber but foreboding note in its strummed chords. The rest of the album feels fittingly dark for its themes and expression, and Gary's vocals are often shrouded in reverb like he's singing in a black, empty room. There's an official extended version of this album (as well as the rest of his Numa releases minus Strange Charm for some reason), and it's well worth listening to on its own even though some tracks are pretty lazily edited to be longer (like the opener/lead single "Dominion Day").

Pure (2000)

Probably the first true album of Gary's modern era, so his recent albums can be referred back to here for their song structures. As a result, this is where I slightly fall off of the hype train as sacrilege as that may sound coming from me. There are still some elements of the previous Sacrifice and Exile albums here (mainly the keyboard samples), but a greater focus on utilizing live studio recorded equipment that leans further into what I self-dub "headache-metal." Think of NIN from The Fragile onwards, or bands like Pearl Jam, Breaking Benjamin, etc (I know that's A LOT of crossover but if you grew up in the '90s or '00s you probably have at least an inkling of what I'm getting at).

Therefore, this may be just the perfect album for those who like those bands! It's just not my thing, personally. That's where I like the more fast-paced tracks like "Listen to My Voice" or slow but calmer songs like "Little InVitro" (which mourns his wife's miscarriage). He never fully devolves into screamo territory, but he does do a lot of yelling here. This album is LOUD. Like, the first album of his I had the turn the volume DOWN for. Potentially a result of the loudness wars.

Jagged (2006)

The time between Pure and Jagged was filled with smaller collaborations, remix projects, and touring. His touring band started getting involved more in the recording process though, with guitarist Steve Harris finally being given the credit he deserves (I have one of his guitar picks, so I'm biased!). I think Gary was also trying to find someone to help produce this album, leading him to Ade Fenton, who briefly joined his live band on keyboards and has now been his main producer for the past 15+ years. Ade's production work isn't as prominent here, but there is a greater use of electronics than on Pure throughout. It's a bit more of the same though.

Many tracks blend together in sound and lyrical topics (though the latter is expected if you read my parts on Sacrifice and Exile). Tracks "Halo" and "Haunted" are pretty good, but that's probably because I've heard them live a couple times that I can recall them from those experiences lol. This album feels LONG though. Over an hour for 11 base tracks. The slow pace of most of them doesn't help.

Thankfully, two years later, Jagged Edge released (and thankfully, is available on streaming, unfortunately the original version for comparison isn't) and helps give some tracks a more distinct identity. It's a remix album worked on by a number of people including Fenton and members of Sulpher (who produced Pure) that polishes up some demos and edits of final tracks. There are two discs, but I think the first beats out the second in content. So, kind of like Rush's Vapor Trails.

Dead Son Rising (2011)

An odd release from the past two decades of his work, at least in the sense that it's only about 40 minutes in total when removing the edits of two existing tracks. Some call this an EP, especially for its limited physical release (requiring you to stream or go broke nowadays), but I think this project has the perfect length for an album. Because it doesn't stretch into the hour territory, songs can comfortably last for 3-5 minutes and feel memorable. Unlike Pure and Jagged, I can actually name every track on this album! The lyrical themes are a lot more abstract here too, helping distinct them from 'unfiltered atheism' like his previous few albums.

The production is a lot cleaner, so guitars are less muddy and headache-enducing. "Big Noise Transmission" and "Not the Love We Dream of" are some of my favorites of his career, and I got so hyped when I first heard him play "The Fall" live. Highly recommend this for its modern production and length. Definitely my favorite release of his in the 21st century so far.

Splinter: Songs from a Broken Mind (2013)

An album inspired by recent marital issues and bouts with depression Gary had been dealing with. Thankfully, during the production of this album, things seemed to work themselves out. Songs are often very emotional and slowly build to a powerful climax, utilizing string sections akin to what was present in the late '70s/early '80s for him, just with heavy electric guitars spruced throughout. There are very few up-tempo tracks but "Love Hurt Bleed," a standout that I'm still convinced plays better live than on here. "I Am Dust" is outstanding and the music video for it is probably the only one worth watching out of the rest of his 'videography' (I kid, but most MVs for him are very low-budget and just focus a camera on his face the whole time).

Despite how negative I may sound on here, I do really like this album. It's perhaps just a bit too long and some tracks could have been scrapped and used as B-Sides. I also have a bit more appreciation for the officially-released demos on the Deluxe version that clearly have less of producer Ade Fenton's touch. Feels more dark and gothic than Ade's definition of ""industrial.""

Savage: Songs from a Broken World (2017)

Likely his most accessible modern album, especially for how many new fans it introduced to his work (myself, kinda included, it's complicated). Inspired by a story he supposedly wrote (but for the life of me cannot find a published copy of) about civilization in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with a heavy emphasis on the Middle Eastern region for aesthetics and compositions. There are more uptempo tracks than on Splinter, but many can still blur together and sound the same, and that's nothing to say about the slower tracks that fit the structure of stuff seen since Jagged.

Gary's vocals are at an all time peak, however, and his own daughter Persia (who helps fit in the regional theme by name alone) adds some additional backing vocals. You can barely tell she's there half the time though, along with Steve Harris or Tim Slade (guitar and bass, respectively), because everything has been post-processed with the same booming, heavy synth sound (supposedly Omnisphere software). It's cool when used sparingly, like on Splinter (even NIN uses a similar sound on The Fragile), but it's too repetitive at times. There aren't really excuses to not diversify the palette even slightly when this album had 4 years in the oven and in the 21st century no less. The Pleasure Principle was made in less than a year in the '70s, so its repetitiveness I feel has its excuses to exist (plus, it still sounds more diverse thanks to the help of the Tubeway Army lineup's bassist and drummer).

Don't want to shit on it too much, it's not a terrible album, but I really wish its success didn't give Gary and Ade Fenton the idea to just keep going in this direction. It's certainly a gateway album for those looking for some heavy electronic rock/metal/industrial, but I feel after listening to the rest of his catalogue this album gets pushed further back in listening preference for me. I've seen many a new fan whose enjoyment of this album just lowers as time goes on too.

Intruder (2021)

At times, diet Savage. I personally find the songs on here much more sonically diverse, but the compositions are very familiar to the past two decades. I'm convinced "Saints and Liars" is just a repackaged "My Name is Ruin" for how similar their chord progressions are. This album was inspired by a poem by his youngest daughter as part of a school assignment that questions the destruction of the environment from the Earth's perspective. Right up my alley, as a tree-hugging freak myself!

As an album released in 2021, there are a couple moments that allude to COVID like on "The Gift," one of the Earth's methods to alarm the population to their actions. It's overall an interesting concept, but it still could have been further fleshed out. The lyrics mostly mirror vague topics and atheism again.

I've seen him live 3 times since its release and I've nevertheless enjoyed every show he's performed. I'm just hoping the future takes a step in a fresher direction, like what Dead Son Rising had going for it.

Conclusion

I can be very critical of Numan's output, especially in recent times, but it is because he is one of my favorite artists that I know can make some amazing and memorable works regardless of who he collaborates with. I wouldn't call him my FAVORITE artist, but my near-religious regimen of listening to him every other day speaks otherwise. Perhaps it is a form of Stockholm Syndrome because I am too deep into the pipeline at this point. I'll shamefully call myself a Numanoid, I collect too much of his shit to be considered anything else.

He's a very open person with official released interviews available from even extremely early on in his career. We know his story better than many, so it's a bit of a shame when some, including himself, overlook certain aspects of his history and the context behind it in order to glorify certain aspects (such as in the case of M+S's reputation). Then again, I can't claim to be a scholar as I have yet to listen to EVERY interview that's easily available. There's definitely gaps I'm missing or have been misinformed on as well.

In my honest opinion, I really do not have high hopes for the rest of this decade of output as long as he sticks with Ade Fenton. Even his oldest daughter is looking to make a break in the industry and he is producing her album (and is a bit too close to her in pictures... That's like at least 20y in age difference...). He's a perfectly competent producer, better than anything I can do, but he has so little diversity in his sound choices and I feel Gary's (and potentially Raven's) sound has suffered as a result. Gary has had an issue with a lack of experimentation too, his lenience is why Ade can continue what he does, but as much as I didn't care for Sulpher, they were at least providing something a bit less samey when it came to Pure and Jagged Edge. That's why I'm afraid of the Sacrifice, Exile, and Pure remakes due to release some time this decade. They deserve better production, yes, but their charm will undoubtedly be lost in translation.

All I can do is stay positive, however, and continue supporting his efforts until I can obviously tell he's running out of steam and wants to retire. I doubt that though, he's got too much energy and flexibility for his age.

Anyways.

How original, a tier list. Here are my objective facts, not opinions /s.

This is not concrete, but about the same as it's been whenever I've made it other years. Savage has only moved down while M+S has moved up though, lol. Maybe one day it will usurp it, you never know.

#gary numan #album review #retrospective #music #choppost

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