#Jurakan's Hot Takes

[jurakan]

I feel like we live in a culture that's intensely "I want this, therefore it is morally good for me to have."

[gamingstar26]

More Donald FOWL AU stuff

the reason Bradford did not choose Della to recruit was because she is extremely loyal to Scrooge compared to Donald, can’t even keep a secret to save her life (most of the time she did mange to not tell anybody about Paperinik’s true identity), and her reckless behavior is not suitable for a secret agent. (Small headcanon: Della used to be a SHUSH agent for a short time before being fired, due to being horrible at it, she can’t be quite to save her damn life.)

Originally Black Heron wanted to use Scrooge’s feather, but then decided to use Donald’s feather cause he was nearby and it was easier to get.

The clones personalities:

Personalities:

Jurakan/Aku: takes his role very seriously, clever, strong, the brawn of the duo, hot tempered, insecure about himself, aggressive, sarcastic, stubborn etc

Yocahu/Paolino: the brains of the duo, quick witted, intelligent, prankster, also has a temper, really petty, can be diabolical, stubborn, etc

Amphitrite/Donna: the brains of the duo, sassy, hot tempered, intelligent, insensitive to others, sarcastic, very serious, insecure, stubborn, etc

Doris/Dottie: the brawn of the duo, ditzy, very forgiving, very emotional, obsessive, timid, strong, energetic, cheerful, caring, outgoing, etc

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 357: Rosa

Though Dario di Pace (Mystic Jungle), Raffaele Arcella (Whodamanny), and Enrico Fierro (Milord) have most recently been concentrating on 12”s filled with all manner of adventurous dancefloor fire…things such as Mystic Jungle’s Jurakan, Whodamanny’ The Dance Sucker, Milord’s new age-tinged M · E · T · A / M · U · S · I · C, the trio’s union with Giulio Neri as Masarima, or the spellbinding Italo-Saharan grooves of their Afrodesia project…it’s worth remembering that the main Periodica crew are equally adept at weaving mysterious narratives across the album format. Indeed, as the Mystic Jungle Tribe, di Pace, Arcella, and Fierro used psychoactive combinations of boogie, funk, and freakout to explore otherworldly paradises of tropical psychedelia on epic albums such as Qvisisana and Plenilunio, whereas separately, each member has dropped their own expansive long players: Milord with the inner space electro trip-outs and kosmische energy drones of Delta Waves Dimension, Mystic Jungle with the electrifying future boogie, intergalactic synth funk, and weirdo balearica of Night of Cheetah, and Whodamanny’s T.C.P., which comprises an esoteric journey of sci-fi dancing, synthetic splatter jazz, and ritualistic groove hypnosis.

So with all that said, it comes as no surprise that for Rosa, their new project as part Periodica’s recently launched “Serie Pegaso,” di Pace, Arcella, and Fierro are again dabbling in longform sonic narrative, though as a mini-LP, Acqua di Sale brilliantly cuts the difference between the trio’s more recent interests in euphoric dancefloor fare and their deft skills at weaving an interconnected album experience, for in so far as each track could work on its own as a club ready bomb, when taken as a whole, a mysterious story emerges, with themes resurfacing and reprising across the LP in a way that ties the whole experience together. In fact, to help inspire the imagination, the West Hill crew enlisted the literary skills of Marco Ferretti (from Musica Per Immagini and the review site SOUTERRAINE), who provides a loose plot concerning Napoli’s nighttime transformation into a setting of forbidden romances and dark temptations of the soul. And though in the past the trio have largely performed on their own, here, as on Afrodesia - Episode One, the palette has been expanded to include a host of session players, with the vibes of paradise disco, mediterranean funk, and cinematic pop made all the more colorful by live guitar, percussion, saxophone, bass, and voice, the latter of which is sourced by the enigmatic femme fatale Rosa from whom the LP takes its name.

Rosa - Acqua di Sale (Periodica Records, 2020) This tale of temptation opens with “Sera di Posillipo” and its disco beats cracking through reverb while basslines slink between greasy growls and lizard funk slides. Palm-muting guitars cycle through AOR-kissed fairy dances and e-pianos smear into an equatorial mirage before locking into bluesy chord riffs, with the whole thing evoking a lackadaisical dance down some sunset beach. The vibe is made all the more romantic when Rosa starts cooing through expressive diva-isms and melodious lyricisms while starshine curlicues descend from the sky. There are sensual key changes led by splashing fusion drums, soloing blues guitars, and bell-tree sparkles and as we blast into the chorus, Rosa’s voice sings out with anthemic power while brass synths and Giulio de Asmundis’ saxophone blare in unison before settling into a heatwave drone that backgrounds liquiform synthesizer, guitar, and piano conversations. And in softly spoken climaxes, the sax blows currents of sexual warmth before giving over to soloing seascape vibrato electronics. The title track comes to life on splashing cymbals and machine gun snares before slow motion disco drums and packy tom fills fire beneath alien cymbal accents, guiro scrapes, video game lasers, and tambourine jangles. Further grease-soaked basslines walk the depths of the night, palm-muted guitars generate sensual colorations, flamboyant hi-hat and snare accents work the body, and synthesized mirages swell alongside stabbing synthbrass chords before a drum fill cuts the groove to silence, after which Rosa enters to lead a supremely sexual dancefloor strut, with her snapping lyrical flows intercut by moonlit guitar licks and zany six-string slides. Later, we are treated to saxophonic schmaltz, with de Asmundis’ tenor reveling in beachside adult-contemporary and sweltering sing-song desperation while being tracked by staccato synth bursts. Somewhere near the middle, we flow into a dopamine dream bridge wherein Rosa repeats the track title under longform and hypnotizing phrasing, the vibe ultra cool…like shades drawn against the mediterranean night. And following this passage comes a smoldering blues guitar solo, with overdriven tube amps singing and fluid runs landing like smoke.

Going out of order slightly, hyperspeed Latin fusion fills introduce “Il Sassofono Blu” before we lock into a swaggering and lowdown future funk groove, with galactic synthesizers carrying the spirit to a cosmic ocean paradise before sharply cutting away, leaving bass and drums to jam beneath confidently strummed guitar riffs and flashy hammer-on twirls. A massive drum fill introduces a super smooth saxophone hook…easily one of the catchiest melodic moments of 2020 and like a loner blues man using his tenor to serenade the soul...and at some point, those galactic synthesizers diffuse back into the mix, bringing blankets of shimmering cosmic magic before pulling away again. E-piano chordscapes change the vibe towards filmic romance and the saxophone moans in desperation while clattering hand drums and rainforest percussions roll all throughout the stereo field. There’s a moment where the mix devolves to four-four kick drums, sandy reverb snares, and tapped tones of bell and wood before a lone guitar enters to scratch out psychedelic funk riffs. The basslines slide effortlessly underneath and squelching fusion synth tracers melt over everything…like threads of mediterranean dream energy spilling over one another. After retuning to the earworm tenor hooks and ultra-confident body funk groove out, we ascend upwards once more, with e-piano riffs and sleepy-eyed chord decays supporting the saxophone as it screams towards a blood red moon. As mentioned in the introduction, Acqua di Sale expertly cuts the difference between club and concept and this is readily apparent with “Tentazione,” which is, in some sense, a dubbed out rework of the title track that excises most of the vocals and leaves slightly more space in the mix. Thus its inclusion can be simply seen as giving selectors an option between the original vocal version and a dubwise near-instrumental, or it can be interpreted as a thematic through line tying the narrative of the album together, as the track brilliantly reprises and reconfigures sounds previously heard while also expanding the vibe, which in the case of “Tentazione,” involves adding in a second dopamine dream bridge climax, wherein Rosa casts spells of forbidden enchantment by repeating “Acqua di Sale” under a delirium delay haze.

A-side closer “Bar Riviera” is a balearic masterpiece and begins with spaceage synthesizers climbing towards the stars before flashing into a broken and downbeat drum glide guided by low slung sub bass riffing and palm-muting guitar accents. Claps crack and heatwave chords blast all around, creating magical polyrhthms while future funk electronics evoke a psychoactive frog song. Rosa’s voice is a sort of moaned conversation, hitting like hot breath on the neck and with multi-tracked lyricisms sitting just out of phase and creating a feverish delirium effect before being trailed by anthemic sci-fi synthesizer themes…these galactic pad descents that send shivers down the spine. Shadow pop and romantic fusion interludes see double time hats ticking beneath whispered vocal spells, with oceanic synths billowing out into the interstellar ether, galactic winds whooshing, prog basslines journeying through cloudlands, and an electric guitar tracking the voice, creating beautiful moments of soul-jazz scatting. At some point we return to the introductory rhythm bashing, as the track works through an extended electro-drum vibe out before flowing back towards downtempo funk sensuality. Elsewhere we give over to soft square wave synth solos, which alight on paradisiacal adventures into the mediterranean night while polyrhythmic chords, broken beat disco drums, and pulsing basslines flow underneath. And towards the end, skronking blues guitars occasionally break free from the funk riffing for freaky psych squiggles while the aforementioned descending pads continue their epic themes of cosmic melancholy. “Bar Riviera (Strumentale),” which closes out the other side, can be interpreted, if so desired, as a functional dancefloor tool giving DJs the option between a vocal and instrumental version. But like “Tentazione,” this alternate version also serves to tie the album experience together and can be seen as a thematic reprise, one akin to revisiting the locations from the preceding night’s mysterious adventure, only now with everything seen in the glow of dawn…the effect like lying back on the beaches of Posillipo and watching sunrise colorations swallow the last sparkles of starlight.

(images from my personal copy)

[jurakan]

A bit of an odd one, but:

Someone I know posted a short clip of Matt Walsh's show or something on Facebook? And there were people burning an American flag. Then it cuts to Walsh saying, "A competent country would use force, perhaps lethal force, to protect its flag"

And

like

my guyz

If you think law enforcement should be able to actually murder people in order to protect the country's flag...look, that's messed up. I think you have such a twisted sense of priorities that I cannot even begin to understand your view of morality.

[jurakan]

I don't understand the idea that comes up in fantasy/alternate history sometimes, that Knights Templar/Templars are the sort to be witch hunters or be magic police or something. Like, I get they're a cool medieval order with a crazy reputation, but their purpose was guarding pilgrims to the Holy Land and fighting battles in the Crusades. I don't see how that translates to witch hunters.

[jurakan]

"The Jedi are borin--"SHUT UP. The thing that almost every fan loves about Star Wars is that it has warrior wizard monks with laser swords. They're Awesome.

What's boring is bad writing.

[jurakan]

I don't understand the school of thought that says, "If you don't take the beginning of Genesis literally, you're denying the power of God!"

Look, saying God didn't literally doing something isn't to say he can't. That's silly.

[jurakan]

Absolutely wild to me that some people (and I mean mostly other Christian denominations) read Saint Raphael's instructions in the Book of Tobit as "magic".

How ridiculous is this? Do you take it as magic when a prophet or angel gives someone instructions for a miracle in any other part of Scripture?

[jurakan]

Not every story has to be a mystery! You don't have to keep your audience guessing about who the real villain is! You don't need a twist! Sometimes, a story can just be straightforward!

A story doesn't have to shock/surprise the audience to be memorable!

[jurakan]

It's actually kind of weird that a bunch of people heard the Oh Hellos' "Soldier, Poet, King" and just... decided that it was their DnD song.

That's not bad, I just think it's weird.

[jurakan]

I sometimes see the notion in Catholic circles that one's child must be named after a canonized saint (and the Catholic hipster book I read suggested early Church saints' names).

I disagree with that notion.

[jurakan]

Okay, but, actually, I don't really like this idea that I see with my fellow Christians of, "Actually, the pagan Greeks were all stupid! Look at the gods they worshipped in The Iliad!" because I think it has a very simplified idea of ancient Greek religion. Like, you're assuming that ancient Greeks viewed Homer the way that we Christians view the Gospels, and that's... not really a fair judgment.

I strongly suspect it'd be like trying to judge Christians/Christianity by looking at Paradise Lost or The Divine Comedy.

[jurakan]

I don't know anything about the game, so I cannot say anything about it's quality (though most reviews I've seen make it seem quite good). However! There was one review I read of Black Myth: Wukong where the reviewer said, "I was unsure about this game for a while, but then, twenty hours in, something clicked, and I was hooked." And proceeded to say that it proves that it was a good game.

My guy

It should not take twenty hours for a game to prove that it's good to you. Most players are not going to give that much time, and taking twenty hours to prove its worth is not a good thing.

[jurakan]

The idea that ordained priests or even cardinals would speak at a national political convention for either party is scandalous and should be out of the question. It should not be happening.

[jurakan]

Absolutely hate that "Saint Brigid of Kildare is actually a pagan goddess" has become generally accepted as fact when the evidence that most people use to confirm this is that A) she has the same name as an Irish goddess (maybe) and B) they're both Irish religious figures.

For comparison, this is a bit like claiming Saint Dionysus the Aeropagite is just Christianized Greek god Dionysus because A) they have the same name and B) they're both Greek.

[jurakan]

I have never been fond of the thing that keeps coming up in recent Norse mythology adaptations (though it's not new--Votan rolls with it, too) that Frigg and Freya are the same person.