#SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO THE SONG BUT TRY SPECIFICALLY TO LISTEN TO THE INSTRUMENTALS

[spirirsstuff]

im gonna fucking say it

i am a to break in a glove enjoyer

say what you want but seriously the song is actually kind of good yall just hate larry and find the topic weird but seriously michael park does such a good job and the instrumentals are pretty nice

[elliewithcellie]

The Taste of the Divine

summary: reader introduces eddie to Sleep Token's The Summoning (iykyk)

wc: 0.9k

cw: modern!eddie x fem!reader, I'm gonna say 18+ smut adjacent by the end. Its very suggestive lol, reader is called baby a lot, eddie calls reader good girl because it's one of the lyrics, Eddie POV

a/n: the way I revisited this song today and was like eddie should hear this then RAN to my computer to put pen to paper. It was like a fever dream, honestly

Eddie scribbled away in his notebook on the floor of the living room. The TV chattered on. The white noise was useful to him when creating the twists and turns of his campaign. While planning feverishly, it was peaceful to him, something he hadn’t done as often as he would have liked since working full time. He became so lost in his fantasy, he didn’t notice you entering the room.

“Eddie?”

He flinched at the sound of your voice. “Baby, you scared me.” He laughed.

“Eddie, you have to hear this band.” Your tone was insistent. “They’re so metal, I know you’ll love it.”

Eddie chuckled at your seriousness. “Like, metal metal?”

“Yes! I mean, I think so! Come on. I’ll play this one song for you. It’s, like, insane.” You squatted down and started pulling his arm up with you.

“Ok! Ok, I’m coming!” Eddie scrambled up from the floor, trying to gather his bearings, as he fought to catch up with the arm trapped in your hold.

You all but dragged him to your shared bedroom. You jumped into bed, patting the spot next to you. Eddie gladly accepted. He watched as you placed your laptop between the two of you. You typed The Summoning into the search bar.

“Have you heard of Sleep Token before?” you asked.

“No, I haven’t,” Eddie said.

“I really think you’ll like them,” you said, your voice soft.

“I believe you, baby.” Eddie placed his hand on your thigh, rubbing small circles with his thumb.

You nodded and clicked play.

The song began with drums and a guitar right up his alley. Instinctually, he found himself nodding his head to the beat. He loved the blend of the singer’s voice with the instruments, all working together in harmony. The scream caught him off guard.

“Oh, that’s metal, baby. For sure,” Eddie turned to you with a grin exposing his excitement. Your eyes stayed on him like you didn’t want to miss a single reaction.

He returned his attention to the screen following along with the lyrics and the rhythm. The guitar solos left his mind wandering, piecing together the technicality, the specific fingerings. He wondered how quickly he could learn this on his own. He smiled to himself. He loved how well you knew him. Even as simple as a song recommendation, he couldn’t help but fall deeper for you, especially when this type of music wasn’t quite your usual genre of choice.

The music began to fade out, and Eddie’s smile grew bigger. “That was really good.”

“It’s not over yet,” you replied, your eyes glued to the screen. “Just wait.”

His eyebrows scrunched together but sat back to listen, you now in his line of sight.

The new soft music juxtaposed what came before, quiet and mysterious. The music swelled, building louder and louder, anticipation gathering in his lungs. He watched you in intrigue and awe as you leaned forward, the anticipation seemingly getting to you, too.

“Oh, and my love Did I mistake you for a sign from God”

The groove shook him to his core. He had never heard anything like it, certainly not in a metal song. It transcended the genre to a new plane. He didn’t want to be dramatic, but this song was changing everything he knew metal could be.

“Or maybe just to turn me on”

Your breathing hitched, stirring Eddie from his musings. You continued staring at the screen, no longer looking to Eddie for approval. He got the sense that this song wasn’t just for him anymore.

“I would be lying if I told you that I didn't wish that I could be your man Or maybe make a good girl bad”

He watched as a sigh escaped your lips. Your breathing slowed and your cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.

“I’ve got a river running right into you I’ve got a blood trail, red in the blue Something you say or something you do The taste of the divine”

You clutched the comforter. You watched the screen, your pupils dilating with every word spoken. It was a look that was all too familiar to Eddie. A look you gave when the tension between you was too much to bear. A look you only gave him.

He felt heat rise to his cheeks.

“You've got my body, flesh, and bone The sky above, the Earth below Nothing to say and nowhere to go The taste of the divine”

As the song ended, you released the breath you didn’t know you were holding in. “What’d you think?”

Now Eddie was the one staring. “I can’t decide if I should be jealous of them—”

“Jealous?” you asked incredulously. “Corroded Coffin—”

“—for riling up my girlfriend right in front of me,”

Your cheeks rouged, your eyes drifting from his.

He leaned forward, closing the space between you. “or if I should be proud” –Eddie tilted your chin to face him, his lips hovering over yours— “that you got so turned on by a metal song.”

“I—I, I thought you would like it.”

“Oh, I did, baby. I did.” He chuckled. “But my good girl was thinking bad thoughts, wasn’t she?”

A chill ran down your spine.

“You’ve got my body, flesh, and bone, baby,” Eddie said, brushing his lips against your ear. “Now, let me take care of you like the heaven-send you are.”

[shepherds-of-haven]

The Shepherds of Haven Soundtrack (Volume 1) is Now Out!

Over the last several months, I've been working with the brilliant composer, Ivan Duch, to develop an official soundtrack for Shepherds of Haven! Volume 1 of that soundtrack is out today!

This volume contains 16 songs, including theme songs for specific characters like Shery, Riel, Chase, Red, and Trouble; motifs and signature music for the game and numerous locations throughout its alpha build; and so much more! 

Working with Ivan to create this album has been such a blast. I'm pretty new to working with a composer and commissioning custom music based on locations and characters that exist only in text (and my imagination), but Ivan is a bonafide genius and master of his craft. Seriously, if you have any desire to commission an orchestral or instrumental piece based on your own stories or characters, I can safely say you should run, not walk, to work with him! I have nothing but resounding praise for his work and how easy and fun this collaboration has been. :) Work on Volume 2 has already been started as well!

You can listen to the album at any of Ivan's links below. And please, give a shout-out to your favorite tracks! I'm over the moon about all of them... but Shery's Theme definitely makes me want to scream/cry/smile in the best way possible! 💖🎶

I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to give Ivan a follow, a share, or some praise if you feel like it! He has his entire library of music available to listen to as well, and it's all incredible: I've been listening to it myself while writing ShoH these last few months! 

(And last thing: if you want to read about Ivan's thought process when he was composing each song, try going to his individual songs page and click "Get it" on the song you want to see the description of. Here's Chase's Theme, for example! I just think it's really neat to see how he describes each track and his reasoning for each one!)

Links:

Ivan's Website 

Spotify 

Bandcamp 

[psychelis-new]

pick a pile: "Yes or No?"

take a breath and think about a question of any type; then choose the photo/number that calls you the most to read your answer.

don’t take the reading too seriously. only take what resonates with you and leave the rest. if you're not called by any pile, let this reading slid as it may not hold messages for you. if you're called by more than one, there may be messages in each of those piles. remember that is a general reading and some things may not resonate with you. energies can change and readings are based on present ones (as you read); you're always in charge of your life.

(photos found on unsplash)

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

1 2 3 4 5 6 - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 1

answer: maybe You may have a goal or wish of sorts but it's like you're finding many impedimentson your road (or you're looking at other roads/possible shortcuts to get "faster" where you want: the fact is that, usually there are not shortcuts). Take some time for yourself, breathe, regain control, and go back on the road your guts/intuition are suggesting you. That is the only road that will take you where you want. Don't let emotions control you, use them (and what you have) at your advantage.

song: unplayed piano (instrumental) | damien rice, lisa hannigan

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 2

answer: yes It is time to stand up for yourself. To put things into perspective, to change your pov. To let go of the past that was blocking you. To move forward and take your decision for yourself. To stop worrying and letting the past (even your past behaviours) stop you or make you think about the worst. Now it's time for things, for you, to change. To move towards your dreams, to not let your fears sabotage you. You're doing it all right, take a breathe and keep going. Never look back, unless it's to look at the experience you gained and act accordingly.

song: happily ever after | case

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 3

answer: yes! Your question may be love related (for some: yes they are the one). Whatever it is, let your intuition guide you. If you need to follow a specific dream, just do that, whatever the outcome will be, it will be good. You've done the work, now it's time to challenge your fears, to try new things without fearing messing up or "failing", to treat yourself and receive (drink water btw). Universe wants to gift you something, stay ready. Oh and yes, you can gift yourself that thing (book, ticket, purse, tarot deck?...) you want. You deserve it.

song: my universe | coldplay, bts

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 4

answer: no Fox may be an omen/sign or you may be dreaming them. There's something you're not paying attention to or not listening at. You need to change that, to change an approach to something to receive a yes. It's like you've turned off your intuition atm. Maybe things are a bit overwhelming or stressing... it's okay, take a break, find your balance. It's okay if it's a new balance and it takes time: it happens after we go through big storms, we need to readapt, reconnect, to know our new self. Just realize it is a momentary thing. All is good, and good things are coming too (especially friends/lovers), don't worry. Have no fear.

song: dream a little dream of me | the mamas and the papas

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 5

answer: yes Smile. Talk. (Focus on mouth). Stop and think if it's really you talking or it is your wounded ego trying to block you through fears. It's time for a new change after all the ups and downs. Think different: you've seen both worlds, so you know which can apply to you the most. It's time to let go of what others want you to think, it's time to be your own person. Calm/slow and steady, to win the race.

song: relight my fire | take that, lulu

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 6

answer: no You may be getting signs already: for a new start to happen, you need to close an old chapter first. Stressing over something that cannot happen because you're unconsciously blocking it (staying connected from something in the past), wouldn't bring anythig different than what you have atm. I think you already know it, so take the right type of action. Take a breath, and let go. Even if it hurts. It will hurt more if you keep yourself there for no reason. New people coming in or a celebration of sort ahead!

song: pulse | the venice connection

[galacticfracture]

Sanders Sides x MCR

Not necessarily art but it is a fun little SaSi related thing I decided to do! All for fun, so even though I took it way to seriously and made lists/charts, take my choices with a grain of salt~🌟

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Explaination: So, I have a playlist that's just entirely songs from MCR/Gerard way that was 75 songs, but went up to 88 while I was doing this. I one day came up with the idea that I should take that and connect every single song on it to at least 1 SaSi character~🪐

With that out of the way, if you want to find out who ended up sharing songs by listening to the mixes I made for them all, I will be linking them at the bottom of this! (So avoid the images of the lists/charts and look for the group of 6 images with different shapes; the mixes will be just under that.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, how I did this is I basically listened through this 5 hour mix atleast twice, and wrote out a physical list of all the songs. If a character came to mind and stayed there they were then written down~

Which is why some have 1 person and others have 2/3. The order they're in here is basically whoever came up first.

Who got what was entirely based on the vibe I felt!

A lot of Logan's were dictated by this, but lyrics did come into play sometimes. Remus got a lot of solo songs for that reason, while the others came from a mix of both. (Instrumental sound could influence stuff too.)

I wasn't really thinking of shipping with the pairs for the most part by the way, but I don't really mind if people go in with any on the brain~

Some of them came to mind at the same time. Other times, the second person was a choice made later on. Same with the groups of 3!

I also made some charts tallying up how many songs they had per 'album', and I did do a set for their solo and paired songs as well. (Sorry I just like forgot to add them before editing this???)

If a song was generally from around the same time and/or it had the same kind of sound, I usually included it under an album instead of the other category. (Except I don't think I counted Bury me in Black under Revenge for some reason???)

There were not enough trios for me to do a chart like this for them but I did type them out and literally, almost all of them were from bullets--

I spent an actual full day making these charts and physically wrote the lists out twice, so I hope someone out there enjoys this!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now onto the mixes~! I did originally try and do versions of the different album covers but as the sides: it did not work out-

So I just made simple ones using the shapes I associated with them all. (Some turned out better than others-)

Mixes: Roman Janus Remus Patton Logan Virgil

Please shuffle them by the way, I did not organize them in a specific order really~!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Feel free to share your different opinions/perspectives!! I'd love to read what you guys think and if wanted I can also provide the versions of all the lists/charts with out my answers!

(The next post I make will be art don't worry! Sorry this was so long-)

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[khalewren]

Sonic character music HCs

 I’ve been obsessed with both the Sonic the hedgehog series and Music in general for over a year now, so i figured i could combine those interests in a fun way. I’m gonna describe what kind of music i personally think the characters would like/listen to. And just so you know, this is just my thoughts on it, i’m not saying im right or anything. And while i am trying to match these genuinely, it’s also not something i’m taking fully seriously. I’m just doin this for fun :)

I also suggest looking up some of the terms/artists/genres i use here if you’re not already familiar with them! Might help you understand my reasoning a bit more, and who knows, you might even find a new favourite artist 👀

Oh, and one more thing. While i am of course going to go off of music i’m familiar with, i’ll try to avoid assigning characters music that i like just because its music that i like. That being said, i will of course, be just a tad bit biased. Anyways, time to start with the blue boy himself!!

Sonic

Sonic is somewhat easy. Seeing as how his main thing is standing up against tyranny, i imagine he’d definitely be a fan of punk. At first i thought of pop punk specifically, due to its high energy, but i feel like Sonic would find it a bit too commercial. Same thing with skate punk. I feel like anarcho-punk could be a little more up his alley? Maybe something like chumbawumba.

Oh, and personal bias time: I think he would like King gizzard and the Lizard wizard due to the themes of enviromentalism.

Example of Sonic’s music taste

Tails

Now, i’m completely split between two different paths here. The first option is EDM. Just overall music that sounds electronic, maybe dance, i dunno. The second option however, is one that i personally prefer: Just like, music with weirdass time signatures and polyrhythms n shit. Math rock, Prog, that kinda stuff. Specific bands i’m thinking about is Tool, King crimson, Black midi, maybe even KGLW (again, personal bias). Tails would think music theory is fucking dope and would be OBSESSED with this kinda music lmao.

Example of Tails’ music taste

Knuckles

Now, this is the rare instance that i feel justified in being biased, because his level themes in sa2 make me believe that knuckles is a hiphop head. Specifically, instrumental hip hop. I think he’d be a big fan of J Dilla’s style of hip hop production in general, with the soft fuzzy feel of songs like The light. Otherwise i feel like he likes some boom bap, like Illmatic.

Example of Knuckles’ music taste

Amy

I honestly feel like Amy is the kinda person who enjoys like, any type of music? Like this gal will listen to some chill folk music and then go directly to hardcore industrial rock lmao. I think her favourite genre is pop though. First artist that pops into mind is Carly rae jepsen, not only because she makes great pop music, but also since her songs are often about love, which i feel fits Amy pretty well. She’d probably like something more off-kilter like art pop too. She LOVES Björk, i feel confident in saying that.

Example of Amy’s music taste

Shadow

I’ve noticed that this one is quite varied (and if you’re curious, i don’t really mind the whole taylor swift thing, but i also don’t really care for it either), but i want to bring up a genre that i haven’t seen anyone else suggest Shadow being a fan of: Shoegaze. I think he would find the whole noisy, dreamlike, nearly overwhelming feeling of shoegaze calming. I don’t know, there’s just something about Shoegaze that makes me feel like it fits shadow perfectly. Only bands i really know are Slowdive and My bloody valentine, but i still feel confident in my opinion.

I also feel like the idea of him enjoying indie folk (something like the mountain goats) but would not be caught DEAD listening to it is really funny. The day that rouge finds out will not be a happy day for anyone in a ten mile radius.

Example of Shadow’s music taste

Rouge

Now, there’s a very easy answer here. Jazz. But i feel like rouge would also enjoy stuff like Soul and funk. She’d also check out music Shadow listens to, both to annoy him and out of genuine interest. Not much else i have to say here tbh.

Example of Rouge’s music taste

Omega

Harsh noise.

Silver

Similarly to Amy, i think Silver enjoys practically anything and everything, and is also super open to trying new stuff. If he has a preference though, i think he enjoys dance music? Or just electronic stuff in general. Daft punk comes to mind, specifically Discovery.

Example of Silver’s music taste

Blaze

I feel like Blaze is someone who simply hasn’t been able to listen to a lot of music yet? Her friends (particularly Silver and Amy) have given her a bunch of recommendations, and while she doesn’t have a preference yet, she has enjoyed some of the stuff that they have played.

Vector

On the complete contrary to Blaze, Vector is a supreme Music nerd. You name an artist or album, he is at the very least aware of them. He’s the kinda guy who will talk about some super obscure folk album from the 70′s and refer to it as if its some kind of holy grail. It’s great. He would have a vinyl collection, but due to the chaotix’s financial situation, he settles for CDs instead. Again, he enjoys practically anything, but i feel like his favourite genre is progrock. He also remixes music for fun.

And thats it!! I’ll try to think of more that i can add in a reblog, but for now, this is all that i can think of. Again, this is just my opinion, but i’d love to hear some of yalls thoughts!! why you think im correct or wrong or however!!

[sensitiveheartless]

🎶, 🍆, 🎯

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I do! I have tons of playlists for different fics, as well as ones that are just instrumentals for when I really need to focus. I have one that is basically just “for sad scenes in the rain”, I have one for the Skyline pigeon fic which does in fact have the song “Skyline Pigeon” in it as well as a bunch of Neighbor Totoro songs, I have a pretty giant one for the Howl AU…etc lololol as for what song I’ve been playing a lot recently…uhhh I have to check actually let’s see:

Ok so for the Howl AU, while I’m working on the epilogue and such, I’ve been listening to “Patience gets us nowhere fast” by Capital Cities, as well as “When can I see you again” by Owl City.

Also just as a general skk song: “No Lullaby” by Siames!

Oh, and less as something for a specific character and more just cause I like the song: “Loving You” by Cannons :D (I know that was more than one song but I like music alskdjfj)

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what’s your most popular nsfw fic?

…Ok so I have written a singular spicy stuffs, but I posted it on anonymous because a), I know at least some minors follow me and I didn’t want to inadvertently encourage anyone to read content they aren’t ready for (speaking as someone who had too much internet access as a kid and got exposed to certain things way too early), and b), I have an irl friend who may stumble across this account at some point and if they see that fic in particular then I will die a little on the inside.

So I won’t be linking it here, but if any of y’all are adults and want me to link it to you in a DM then I wouldn’t mind, just keep in mind that I am not a particularly adept spiceologist (seriously no clue what I’m doing, that fic is mostly an excuse to mess around and experiment with character stuff in a really low-stakes premise), and also the fic spawned from a “hey wouldn’t it be funny if” thought I had, which then grew a character study around what is still essentially just a goof.

Also of course y’all can probably find it on your own, I don’t think it’d be that hard lol — but if you are a minor please do not talk to me about the fic, I would be extremely uncomfortable.

(I would offer to make a sfw version but unfortunately the nsfw is baked into the stupid premise jskdkdjfhf) (…actually some parts of it are kind of a sillier version of the Skyline Pigeon fic so I guess I am working on a more serious and sfw version of it)

All that said, this (sfw) bit from it still makes me laugh, so here:

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

Just about everyone who knew the plot of Howl’s Moving Castle before reading the Howl AU (and even some people who didn’t!) guessed what the twists were going to be before the ~grand reveals~ (although fewer people caught on to the Oda reveal, I think in part cause that one was more based on the HMC book rather than the movie) and I was honestly expecting that going into it lol —

I felt like trying to make it shocking would be less fun than the readers being able to accurately piece everything together for themselves. I loved seeing people commenting “OH MY GOSH THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING” as they went through the chapters, because it meant they were thinking over all the clues! And that they cared about the story enough to do that! And even though most people knew what the “twists” were going to be, they still seemed excited to see how everything was going to pan out, so I had a great time :D

Ah, also, to be more specific cause I just realized I was being vague (spoiler warning lol): just about everyone knew that Chuuya was Starlight, most people guessed Rimbaud was the scarecrow, and I saw a handful of people figure out Oda before that reveal happened, too!

[aberooski]

The problem with my brain having been obsessed with knowing what fictional characters' singing voices sound like since I was a little kid, and especially now that I'm a vocalist as an adult, is that I can't listen to hardly anything without that voice in the back of my head being like "oh this sound. This specific moment in this specific verse or chorus or whatever. That's specifically what xyz character(s) would sound like!" And I hyperfixate on that for the rest of my life and I craft so many headcanons 😭

That being said, when he's singing seriously Atticus has an incredible voice argue with the wall. Atty has a very wide range but his voice really lives and thrives in the mid range. But he likes to sing higher pitches whenever he gets the chance and is very good at harmonizing. When he gets Chazz to sing with him he always let's Chazz take the melody as often as possible and harmonizes over him. He also plays like every fuckin stringed instrument and hosts weekly campfire jams for the J-Squad to unwind and hang out and de-stress ☺ he always schedules them around his and Chazz's Saturday night sleepovers so they never miss one 😌

Chazz can also sing but doesn't discover it until Atticus gets him to sing with him during like a campfire jam session or one of their regular hangouts. His voice is best suited for more mellow, slower songs like me wow wonder why I headcanon that 🙄. and everyone is very impressed by his vocals, but he gets huffy and embarrassed whenever anyone compliments his voice. In my head his vocal range is on the lower to mid range side and has a very nice rasp to it, especially on the lower pitches where it's a little more prevalent and compliments Atty's voice so they blend very well.

Jaden has the perfect pop punk voice. Just the perfect tone and range, perfectly unrefined sound for it too. But if anyone asked he would shrug and say he couldn't sing. Of course he can, but he doesn't particularly think he's all that good and doesn't really care if he can or not, it's not that important to him like card games are so he'd rather not call attention to it askskskks. His ego is reserved for card games and card games alone 🤭. But he always hypes up the others during Atty's campfire jams and he participates fairly often because he thinks it's fun and everyone else seems to enjoy it when he does so he's down for it. He also lives in the mid range but has a pretty strong upper register for belting out those pop punk classics 😌 Dear Maria is his now Alex

Alexis is an alto, she lives in the mid to lower register, she does have a little bit of an upper register too but she lives on the lower side. Her voice is very warm and soothing and mature and just nice af. But she's self conscious about it so she doesn't sing very much and almost never around other people. Leading to the theory that when the subject could come up she, like Jay, would says she couldn't sing but unlike Jay, she just isn't confident in her voice even though it's very good. Atty likes to nudge her to try and get her to sing with him at his campfire jams, but she always declines. He keeps trying though 🤭

Hassleberry has a surprisingly good voice, very warm like Alexis's and lives in the mid to lower register like her. If she sang, they would blend very well I think. He's private about his voice too, but he'd be fine if the crew find out about it. His southern drawl is still quite prevalent when he sings and it really elevates the gentle warmth of his voice. His vocals are unrefined and amateurish but they're still very strong. He prefers songs with simpler melodies and really thrives in softer, more melodious country/bluegrass music which isn't a surprise to anyone but the fact that his voice is so warm and gentle despite his rough exterior makes people view him in a different light. But in a good way 🙂 he's embarrassed at first when the J-Squad finds out he can sing, but he comes around quickly and has participated in a couple campfire jams himself every once in a while.

Syrus's isn't very different from his regular speaking voice at all I don't think. He has a very young sounding voice and he hates it. It's not bad by any means, he just feels self conscious about it like Alexis but also like he's self conscious about literally everything. Same my guy. That being said, he's a tenor. He has almost no lower register but he has enough of one 👍. His voice is very light, which he's also self conscious about. And he tends to stick to humming, he feels less embarrassed and self conscious that way and wouldn't die on the spot if anyone heard him. Also like me, if he is actually singing along to a song and it gets too low or he just feels like it's too low, he sings it up the octave.

And unsurprisingly at least to me, I feel like Bastion has the most old fashioned type of voice. His range is also very wide like Atty's is. He knows he can sing and is confident about it around strangers, but if anyone he knew heard him or complimented his voice he'd blush and get very embarrassed in an adorable way. Honestly he enjoys the compliments but he doesn't really know how to handle getting them for something not having to do with how smart he is, so he gets flustered when people compliment his voice, to varying degrees depending on how well he knows the person complimenting him or not. That being said, if you want anyone singing the old school classics at the Christmas party or some golden age musicals, you want Bastion.

[momorin-translations]

DIG-ROCK Impish Crow Vol. 1 Part 1: The Best Indie Band

Track 01 最高のインディーズバンド The Best Indie Band (8:47)

Listen along here: https://open.spotify.com/track/5u2OJcNM4dWaK1W89U5Qqj?si=9991459ca7b94591

Girl: Ahh seriously, Impish Crow really is the best!

Girl 2: But today’s concert was tight. It’d be better if they could perform at a bigger venue. 

Girl: Mm… For an indie band, a place bigger than this doesn’t seem likely. Live houses are usually around this size everywhere.  

Girl: Ahh, but it’s such a waste! They have talent, and they’re so close to making it big!

Girl 2: That’s true, I wonder why they haven’t gone pro.

Sora: Excuse me! I’m sorry, um, please move aside!

Girl: Ah!

Sora: Ah, I’m sorry. Are you alright?

Girl: Yes, I’m fine…

Sora: Really? I’m sorry! Um, please move aside! Excuse me!

Girl: A guy in a suit… 

Girl 2: There certainly have been quite a few male fans recently. Impish Crow’s range of fans really is broad!

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Sora: Catchy melodies and the ability to write lyrics that charm their audience, the up-and-coming rock band, Impish Crow. Then there’s me, Tobikura Sora, one of their fans. This is the story of how their wings first took flight. It’s a precious story. Well then, let’s get started!

All: DIG-ROCK Impish Crow Vol. 1

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Sora: …Alright.

Sora: Please excuse- Uwah!

Tsugumi: Toki, stop, stop! 

Toki: What is it, Tsugu? 

Tsugumi: Toki, that’s definitely not right. Scrap that.

Toki: To match the melody from earlier, it’s obviously going to end up like this. 

Mitsuru: Hm… But I feel like something’s off too. 

Tsugumi: See, Mitsuru’s saying the same thing! First of all, the guitar’s tastiness is falling apart, right? 

Toki: In that case, this part could do this… 

Tsugumi: Ehh? Tsugumi: Mm… Something’s still off. 

Toki: What do you mean by “something”? Be more specific.

Toki: You’ve been quiet since earlier. What do you think, Hibari?

Hibari: Me? I don’t dislike it. 

Toki: That means you don’t like it either. 

Hibari: No no, Toki-kun~ You’re reading too much into it.

Mitsuru: If you play like that, I wonder if I should do this… 

Toki: Ah… It’s off. You’re right that something’s off. How do I say this, I feel like I’ve heard this noisiness somewhere before. 

Tsugumi: Right? It’s better if we break past the melody. It’s not going to work if we keep saying that something’s wrong or off. 

Toki: Are you okay with that? To ignore the melody that you made. 

Tsugumi: Idiot, songs that are boring are the worst, right? 

Toki: Well, that’s also true. In that case, the hook is catchy so let’s leave it as is. Let’s think about the rest of it some more. At this rate, the drums won’t be able to create a tasty sound either. 

Hibari: I’m fine with just playing the cymbals~

Toki: What I’m saying is, let’s rethink this. Stop smiling like that. 

Sora: U-um!

Live House Manager: Hey, you there! How many times do I have to tell you not to play your instruments here, Impish Crow?!

Sora: Ah, yes, I’m sorry! 

Tsugumi: Huh? Tobi-chan’s here! 

Toki: Hey, Tobikura-san. 

Mitsuru: Hello, good evening.

Hibari: You came! I didn’t notice you at all.

Sora: I did try calling out at first though… 

Tsugumi: Besides, why are you apologizing? 

Sora: That, I just found myself… 

Live House Manager: Not just this guy, you all should apologize! At this rate, your goal of getting 100 guests in this place will just be a dream, you brats!

Toki: I apologize. We’ve tried selling tickets around the neighborhood and in other neighborhoods as well. But regardless of that, you’ve been taking care of us yet we’ve been inconveniencing you. We will make sure to reflect on our actions.

Live House Manager: Y-yeah… If you just said that in the first place, I would’ve also… 

Toki: But, if we don’t work on it while we can, the sound will disappear somewhere. I’m really sorry. 

Mitsuru: Yeah. We couldn’t help that earlier. We didn’t make it in time for Hana Uta no Rock-On after all.

Hibari: The music gods come to Tsugu-chan on a whim after all~  Ah, also, this new song plays a part too.

Tsugumi: That’s right. The new song will make the live house more pumped up, and it’ll be fun for us too! Besides, this place’s staff shouldn’t say things like that~

Live House Manager: Geez… If you say it like that… Ah, that’s enough for today. Next time you’ll have to pay up, got it? 

Tsugumi: Yes, we’re sorry~

Live House Manager: Wait a minute, you there, the man wearing a suit. 

Sora: A-ah, yes! 

Live House Manager: If you’re their guardian, you should act more like one. It’ll trouble me if you don’t. 

Sora: Ah! Ah… That… I do want to be like a guardian, but… 

Tsugumi: He could let it slide a little, right?

Toki: But well, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to throw us out. 

Hibari: This is a good place to use after all. 

Tsugumi: I get that! But you know, it can’t be helped that it’s like this at the start. 

Tsugumi: Tobi-chan, around where’d you start listening today?

Mitsuru: From the second half of the second track, I think. 

Sora: You noticed me?

Mitsuru: Yeah. Guests in suits aren’t very common.  

Tsugumi: Mitsuru has good eyes after all~

Sora: I meant to get here earlier, but…

Toki: You were busy with work, it can’t be helped. 

Sora: Work is indeed important. But your guys’ live performance is just as important. Even if you perform the same songs, you won’t hear the same sound again. 

Hibari: As expected of our number one fan!

Sora: You won’t find anyone who’s as good at cleaning up after Impish Crow as me! Also, you’re a band capable of showing much more. No, I’ll show them!

Sora: That’s why… Won’t you debut with DIGNITY PRODUCTION?

Tsugumi: We won’t~

Toki: Tsugu, your way of speaking… 

Tsugumi: It’s straight to the point, right? 

Toki: You…

Sora: It’s fine, Toki-kun. I didn’t think I’d be able to sway Tsugu-kun’s feelings so easily. 

Hibari: You never give up, huh~

Sora: I’ve been trying for five years, after all. 

Mitsuru: It’s been five years since you last called out to us, huh. 

Hibari: Ah, that means... Tobi-chan, you’ve been working at DIG-PRO for five years? 

Toki: You must be busy.

Sora: Not at all. As a manager, I still have a long way to catch up with my seniors. But I have confidence that my understanding of your music won’t lose to anyone.

Tsugumi: You really don’t hesitate~

Hibari: You’re quite good~

Tsugumi: But sorry, Tobi-chan. We don’t plan on going pro.

Tsugumi: Ah shoot, I have to get to my part-time job! 

Sora: You’re working at this time?

Tsugumi: Yup, at the convenience store. I’ll be heading out first!

Sora: Tsugumi-kun, you can do it!

Toki: Tobikura-san, sorry about this every time. 

Sora: Not at all, this is much better than a cold response. In fact, it fires me up more!

Mitsuru: Tobi-chan really never gives up.

Sora: I’m more sorry that I couldn’t read the room. 

Hibari: It didn’t bother us at all~ Tobi-chan really likes our sound after all. 

Sora: Yes, I love it! I want your guys’ music to reach even more people. From the first day I met you, these feelings haven’t changed. 

Toki: We’re truly grateful for your feelings. But…

Sora: It’s fine, I know. You can reject me as many times as you’d like, but these feelings still won’t change. I won’t be satisfied until you go pro, and I want you to choose DIGNITY PRODUCTION. Until that day comes, I won’t budge!

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TL: hello hello!! i'm very excited to bring to you my first dig-rock translation! i wanted to give a disclaimer that i am in no way fluent and this translation does have mistakes, but i love dig-rock and hope you'll enjoy the story with me nonetheless. please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or corrections for this translation!!

i plan on translating each track as quickly as possible and figure out a schedule as we go~ i'll keep you updated, and i hope you stick along for the adventure that is dig-rock!! if you're unfamiliar with dig-rock, i definitely recommend checking out their music <33 see you again soon!!

[sydsplaylistfactory]

Want to discover new music?

The best high there is is discovering and falling in love with new music, whether they're new artists or just new to you.

Last night I was thinking about how much I love making playlists of new and old favorites that share a vibe and thought it might be fun to start making them for strangers, too.

If you're interested in getting a 10-20 song Spotify playlist, shoot me a message with an artist and/or song and/or genre and/or vibe you're looking for and I'll see what I can do! I also love making playlists inspired by fiction, TV shows, movies, books, etc. So if I'm familiar with the work of fiction, I'd be happy to make a playlist for it. And if you need a playlist to indulge a broken heart, cheer you up, dance to, anything like that, I got chu.

I am an elder millennial, with a love for music across decades and genres. It will be easier for me to list the genres I can't do:

Pop- specifically currently/recent pop. It's not that I don't like any pop, it just kind of defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to do. Basically, don't send me T Swift wanting other things like T Swift.

Classical/instrumental- I love classical music. But unless it's Clair de lune, I just don't have the knowledge

Electronic/techno- I love a lot of artists and bands that have an electro inspired sound but, I'm not someone who listens to like Daft Punk or anything like that. I love awesome vocalists and admire creative songwriters so I'm very driven by lyrics when I fall for artists.

I will let you know if your request is out of my wheelhouse. I'm not asking for payment or anything, but will happily accept tips because like a majority of the world, I struggle to get from paycheck to paycheck. But seriously, I'm mostly doing this for my love of music and a desire to share what I love with others.

Ok well, hope we chat soon...love you bye!

[isuckatwritingsobenice]

Hi! Can I ask for Seduce me the otome, the boys with a singer reader? Like they’re really famous and how the boys feel about it? Specifically a female reader if you don’t mind. Thank you so much! I love your work!

Of course! Thank you so much for your request! I’m going to try to do a different artists for each of the boys, for someone that I think would fit they’re personality. Enjoy!

Navigation

James: ( Artist inspiration by Sade )

Your voice is so soothing and he loves it

Your genre is a mix between Jazz and Pop music as well as R&B, and James likes the combination

He enjoys hearing your voice, and your songs are always on

He likes sitting with you during the song writing process, and likes to help come up with ideas and feelings for songs

Furthermore, he also likes finding the deep meanings to your songs, and he loves how everything, especially your lyrics, make his heart feel

He enjoys watching you sing live, your voice is soft and delicate but powerful as well and James is in love with it ; and you of course ;)

His favorite song for you to sing would be Pearls :)

Erik: ( artist inspired by Ella Mai )

He hears your voice AND IT IS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR THIS MAN !!

Save his heart he was going to pass out he thinks your beautiful

He loves and gushes over the way you sing, and will preform with you sometimes, usually playing an instrument ( the piano )

He feels so honored to just be with you and know you personally, he’s absolutely infatuated with you

He likes watching you work, he loves the way your mind works and loves the way you make and handle your music, the raw emotion you put into it makes his heart sing to yours~

His favorite song for you to sing would be Naked :)

Sam: ( Inspired by Amy Lee/ Evanescence )

His. Jaw. Dropped. When he heard you sing for the first time.

His face like a mix of ‘Wtf’ and ‘This is amazing.’

could not put his emotions into words, like at all. He was asking a hundred-and-one questions

Like who taught you to sing like that? How long have you been singing? What’s your band like? What’s the hardest song you’ve ever had to sing? He goes full in with interest

He hears you sing and will literally block out the rest of the world, he can literally only focus on you when you sing, like vision is just YOU and your voice.

Sometimes you’ll sing to him and he’ll nervously laugh about it but he starts to hide his face because he just thinks your so fucking angelic ITS INSANE.

His favorite song for you to sing would be Call me when your sober or My immortal but he always tears during it so don’t sing that in public he will seriously cry

Matthew: ( Artist inspired by Sza )

He will have your songs on repeat 25/8

He’s like your biggest promotion and it’s not even an exaggeration he will seriously talk about you all. The. Time.

He makes Damien learn your entire album and will sing your songs with you, or just becomes your backup dancer

He will learn your dance routines, trust, and he will dance with you when you want to practice at home

He also loves going with you to photoshoots, he takes all the BTS pictures and sends them to you to post, with his credit due of course, your fans love Matthew to pieces

Matthew will often be a question brought up in interviews, like when you went on SNL to promote your new album, and you were asked about Matthew and how he affected the making of the album

“ He’s truly one of my biggest inspirations. You know? He just gets me so much and he’s my biggest supporter. I don’t know where I would be without him. He’s made such a big difference in my life and my view on the world I think he deserves just as much.”

yes he cried when hearing your answer and no we do not talk about it

his favorite song to hear you sing is Hit Different :)

Damien: ( Inspired by H.E.R )

You two write songs together, I can already see it

He enjoys listening to you find a rhythm for the lyrics, he also really enjoys when you play the guitar

Sometimes he’ll ask you to sing to him, your voice relaxes him and he can’t thank you enough for it

He loves the energy you bring with your music and how you’re voice just flows like the sweetest thing he’s ever heard

He likes going over tracks with you, he sits in the studio with you on nights where you get really stuck there finish up songs, with food and water snacks and blankets to make you comfortable as you work

He’s always the first one to hear songs and he has all the unreleased songs on his phone, listening to them whenever he misses you or just wants to hear them

His favorite song to hear you sing would be Comfortable :)

[invisiblegarters]

5 Songs - QL Show Edition

Tagged by @thatgirl4815 - thank you for tagging me!

When you get this, list 5 songs from the Asian QL media that you actually listen to.

🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series.

🎶Non-western tracks only. Let’s support Asian music and languages!

🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating.

🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

So I challenged myself to only put one song per artist/show here, elsewise over half of the answers would be the same artist, lol.

Anyway, without further blathering, my list:

Over the Moon (Eclipse OST) - hands down one of my favorite songs ever, not just from QL. I love everything about it, and it's one of the few songs I never skip, even if I'm not really in the mood. It has the ability to take me right back to watching The Eclipse for the first time, and how much I loved that damn show (and Akk, favorite character in just about anything ever). It just puts a sort of wistfulness in my chest and then just makes me want yet another rewatch. Also I just love Khaotung's voice. I said it. I don't think I've heard an OST he's done and not loved it.

It's Always You (Between Us OST) - Pretty much same as the above, really. I know that this show wasn't for everyone but it caught me and caught me hard, and this song will take me right back to that feeling every time. Just hearing the intro makes me a little misty, lol.

Follow (My Beautiful Man OST) - It was really a tossup between this one and "Bitter" from S2, but this is the OG and I was obsessed for a long long time so it nudged it out. I just love it - it's Kiyoi Sou, right there in a song - all arrogance and confusion and desperate need to be adored. Impeccable.

Sunshower (Eternal Yesterday) - Yet again, a song that just flings me right back into the place where I was watching this show that I knew was going to break me and yet unable to stop because it was just that good. I adore this song - it's wistful but hopeful at the same time, and despite how much that show broke me I can't listen to this without smiling (now, that is). Also just have to plug the show for a sec - it's so good, great chemistry and amazing performances and has the best confession scene I've personally watched yet. Third episode is perfection and honestly I can't recommend it enough if you can handle it. I love it so much (might actually be time for a rewatch).

Closer (Cupid's Last Wish OST) - Have I ever gone on here about how much I love this show? Because I do. It's so much fun, and this song perfectly encapsulates that. Every time I hear the song I get a little happy inside, and it's also really great to put on while driving. It's a song made for montages, lol. And it's got all the charm of the show - no seriously, CLW is super charming, I can't believe I almost didn't bother with it because I was afraid it would do the "I love you, not your body" thing (fine in theory, not my favorite thing when it comes to queer media specifically). Now it's one of my comfort shows. Rewatch it all the time when I need to smile. Mix's and Earth's voices complement each other really well, too.

Honorable Mentions: Let's Try (I can't with that high note okay I just sat there gaping at my PC the first time I heard it), I'm Not Boring You're Just Bored (introduced me to Tilly Birds, thank you Jojo (and trailers totally count hush)), Your World, My World, Strange Days, Go Sign, Bitter (as mentioned above), Kiyoi Sou's Theme (instrumental but it's so good),

Not tagging anyone because I don't know who has been, but if you are reading this and you haven't been tagged please consider this your invitation to play. But please tag me so that I can read the answers!

[thefuturewithoutus]

hilson playlist anon here <3

okayyy so

leave a tender moment alone (bc.. canon)

euthanasia (ohh my god i found it through youtube last month and i cried watching the music video and then i was thinking about housdmd late at night and it popped up on my shuffleplay and i was like oh my go d it fits- i would have rec'ed it if you didn't already have it on there!)

tropic of cancer (this one wasnt an original conclusion, i got it from the music video that was going around houseblr.. anyway i love the song. im a ballet dancer also and like not to geek but that harp progression is from a pas de deux of the sugarplum fairy. gutpunch choice. to get into nutcracker lore: tchaikovsky was especially close to his sister and she died while he was composing the nutcracker (which prior to that point he didn't have much inspiration for) and it became kind of dedicated to his dead sister. most modern productions do it with a more settling ending with clara/marie/masha going back home but iirc in the original she stays in the land of the sweets. which.. an irreversible transition someone goes through. its been hypothesized that the sugarplum fairy represents womanhood (and clara cannot go back from that) OR the afterlife (which clara also cannot go back from, and tchaikovsky lost his own sister to). and also i have a kind of pavlovian response to nutcracker music at this point so i kept anticipating the descending violins after the harp progession that there is in the nutcracker music. but it's just looping. stuck in the limbo before the end. 'you can't come back / you won't come back'... and to tie it back to hilson. that amv was insane i cant even analyze it. also the fact it was written about grieving someone lost to cancer.. and the lines (got to like what kills / it kills just to know what kills).. wilson the oncologist and house not being able to do anything but accept that it's cancer and he can't swoop in and diagnose and save wilson. that was long huh)

take care (i love the sort of echoey feel to it. and 'i'll take care of you take care of you that's true'... need i say more. also beach house my beloved)

john my beloved (the whole song is so..raw. stumbling words at the bar / beauty blue eyes, my order of fries. CAN THIS BE MORE CANON. i am a man with a heart that offends / with its lonely and greedy demands. icarus point at the sun. so can we be friends sweetly before the mystery ends)

tell me you love me (my love, i've lost my faith in everything / tell me you love me anyway. canon dialogue from that car scene)

francis forever (another one on my "late night hilson brainrot + shuffle play. this gives hardcore early season 5 when house is trying to get wilson to come back)

me and my husband (but me and my husband / we are doing better / it's always been just him and me / together / so i bet all i have on that / furrowed brow / and at least in this lifetime / we're sticking together / me and my husband / we're sticking together. literally what could be more hilson. theyre so codependent and in love)

and just for fun i'll make a hilson song recomendation! turtles all the way down by sammy copley. it's one of my favorite songs regardless but in the context of housemd it specifically makes me think of the whole amber-wilson-house dynamic.

anyway yeah! hopefully when i get my tumblr blog set up (long and complicated process due to my specific circumstances) i'll let you know and we can talk about house md :-)

YAY okay thank you for this response 🫶 going to do my best to respond to everything however i did just get out of class help. euthanasia literallt saddest post s8 hilson song of all time seriously 😭 ALSO? DID SOMEONE ELSE MAKE A HILSON YROPIC OF CANCER AMV? we need to link up. AND WOW... i never knew that about the harp instrumental in that song and I've been listening to it for years?? and with that context too that makes it make so much sense and even more sad ty for telling me that i'm going to be thinking about it forever probably. You get it though Tropic of Cancer destroys me actually it's one of my favorite songs ever.

no literally francis forever. have to admit my favorite type of hilson song is the one where it's pov house is pining. i gotta be real i see their relationship as wilson being the primarily giving one for a large part of it until amber then it flips. I've talked about this before but it was a huge shift for house i think it's that whole wilson fell first house fell harder like you get it.

i listened to turtles all the way down and you're so right.... so awesome i love it when house is miserable bc wilson is in a relationship helpp it's going on the playlist 🫶

[kckenobi]

helloooo!!! Sage, taro, and papyrus for the asks?? 💕

Hiiiiii!!!

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

I think it might be music. It's interesting to me though, because that wasn't always true—like I've been doing music since I was 5, and it was never something emotional for me until after I'd stopped taking it seriously. The first time I can remember a piece of music making me cry was Beethoven's Symphony No. 4, I was in a concert hall in college with my freshman roommate, and I just went :'))))) "oh."

And in recent memory, music makes me cry all the time. Usually it's the combination of lyrics and melody, rather than just instrumentals, but I think that's the way I'm easiest moved. Or poetry, but poetry and music are similar for me in a lot of ways. Just like, the rhythm of words and all that, ya know.

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

lol it was anti-hero by taylor swift! And oh wow okay, this album has a lot of things associated with it, but specifically this song I was listening to a lot when I was having some family issues, and it was just like,,,,a way to vent fear, like "oh hey maybe I'm just as bad/worse than (person I was in conflict with)" and that was!!! Kind of weirdly healing!! Lol like let's take my insecurities and turn them into an absolute bop, which yeah, is like the entire point of the song sksjsks

taro ⇢ if someone called you right now to catch up, what’re the things you’d tell them about?

I would tell them about finishing my first semester of grad school, about how living with my parents is fine but weird and how most of my friends moved far away, which is lonely. I would tell them about how I ran a 5k last month and how I want to get back to running but it's too cold and I'm always tired lol. I'd talk a little about work, and how I love it even if it's draining. And lastly, I'd tell them about this girl I really like, and how I'm scared of how it feels like magic, but how I'm learning that being scared is okay.

There's a Mary Oliver poem that goes something like that: "When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world." So I am trying to live, and be messy, and scared—and it is all good :)

getting to know you asks

[jeffandcyrusgetrevenge]

I envy the portable cassette player generation. Cassettes may melt but they don’t skip!

But anyway I have a lot of nostalgia for any media that involves a physical object with self-selected songs, that you can give to someone. I used to make mix CDs for my friends in high school. I used to make mix CDs for myself! I had a lot of fun writing the track list in tiny sharpie spirals around the CD so that it would all fit.

You can put 120 minutes of music on most CD-Rs, how was I gonna waste ANY of that? My mixes always had 30 songs on them, some with long titles, and I always included the artist, occasionally the track length, and usually I’d have space for a mix title & small illustration somewhere. Essential!

I also liked getting the kind of mix CD that came with a flimsy jewel case and lined paper on which to write the track list. Then I could devote the surface of the CD itself to a larger, more legible title. Maybe a to/from note. Maybe a drawing.

Now we have online playlists…and while I do like those, I can’t give them to people, and that makes me sad. I can’t even share most of mine because I’m on Apple Music and most people have Spotify. I could try switching to offline media and give people flash drives full of curated music, but that’s sort of fundamentally a Different Thing.

I’m seriously considering learning how to make mixtapes, and giving people cassette players to play them with. The nice thing about a mixtape is that you can also record messages in between songs, like a radio DJ for a very specific audience. “This next song on the tape is called ‘Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding’ by Jesse Winchester off the album Love Filling Station, and it’s about nostalgia for young love, nostalgia for old love songs, nostalgia for youth, and nostalgia for nostalgia. Whenever I listen to it I think about 50s high school movies, middle school Sock Hops that were retro even when we were kids, and the way I felt about my own high school sweethearts” …you know. Personalized stuff!

(The Dream is to learn to play music well enough to do an all covers mixtape once in a while…I’m a rank beginner at learning the guitar, and I’d need a few more instruments if I wanted to lay down some decent tracks for a lot of songs, but I’d love to be able to record even one stripped down basic cover of “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young and put it on a mix for someone I love. The trouble is most of the songs I want to learn are full of angst and idk what message that sends to the audience, but hopefully once I get a little more confident on guitar I can branch out. Nobody wants to get “Lua” on a romantic mixtape, lol. Bad sign! And “Needle in the Hay” is for a pretty niche audience of Elliott Smith fans and people who really connected Luke Wilson’s arc in the Royal Tenenbaums. Plus I can’t actually play it yet. Anyway - work in progress.)

What was your first source of portable music? Walkman? CD player with headphones? MP3 Player? iPod? Phone? 

[bigfatmusicblog]

Current Joys - East My Love ALBUM REVIEW

The leaves are changing, the hot cocoa is starting to be made, sweaters are coming out of their hiding smelling like mothballs, hurricanes are ravaging the southeastern United States, and I just changed my bong water which means one thing - IT’S FALL BABY!! And what genre of music goes better with the fall season than folk music? The acoustic guitars, slow soft songs with heart wrenching lyrics that you listen to despite already feeling super fucking sad, plus guys in flannels?? I literally cannot think of anything more fall. One album that was released at, seemingly, the perfect time for me to open the windows and take in the newly cool autumn air, as if they planned it that way, is the new Current Joys album - East My Love.

I won’t say I’ve followed Current Joys for this long but I have been listening to them since 2018, specifically their album A Different Age. I pull this album out yearly like Halloween decorations, trying to feel something in a season where I already feel too much, let’s say I use it for special reasons. A lot of their other releases have fallen under the radar for me except for their previous release LOVE+POP with features from bigger named artists like Lil Yachty, a fun dive into a different sort of genre overall, but didn’t resonate with me personally. 

East My Love, similar to LOVE+POP, is another exploration into a different genre for the multi-instrumentalist Nick Rattigan, the driving force behind Current Joys. As I mentioned before in my Alien Nosejob write up, there is a lot of fun to be had from making music solo especially as a multi-instrumentalist where you can delve into whatever genre of music you want to make - and this time Current Joys sheds the indie droning of A Different Age, as well as the pop sensibilities of the aptly named LOVE+POP, for one that’s dripping with influences from the Alt-Country phase of the 90s to the pop-folk craze that owned the radios in the early 2010s. East My Love is thick with folk cliches, including songs titled “Oh, Sister” and “Lullaby for the Lost” - just based on the album art alone you know what you’re getting yourself into when you click play. 

And if the song titles and album art weren’t convincing enough to you that this is a folk album, what greets you as the first song is the beautiful Echoes of the Past. The simple instrumentation, just guitar and violin/fiddle (The difference being a tone thing or a speed thing I don’t know) is all they need to intro an album like this. It lulls you into thinking it’s just a simple solo-artist folk album before it goes into the full band sound of California Rain. It feels almost out of a Matchbox 20 album from the beginning, then at the chorus it gets loud only in the way that non-traditional folk artists know how to. After a repetition of the verse and chorus there is a breakdown featuring the fiddle, with some guitar in the background too almost making a brass effect to it. Seriously, it’s difficult to tell if there are trumpets in this or not, as it’ll make you think one thing before showing you something different. To be included with this song is Days of Heaven, sort of an interlude after California Rain - invoking the feeling of being at church on a Sunday morning.

Next is Never Seen A Rose, another example of the 90s influence on this album - as Nick’s voice takes on a higher raspier pitch, androgynous like how Wheatus sounds on Teenage Dirtbag. This utilizes dual vocals, as well as Nick’s general vocal range and ability, creating a feeling that he is singing a duet with himself. Especially as the big chorus comes in, using both their falsetto and head voice to create a robust sound. Then after that large sound comes the soft slow drawl of a fiddle/violin (fiddlin?) reminding me of informational videos at museums, before going back into that 90s sound. The song fizzles out and sizzles right into the next track Lullaby for the Lost - another classic folk song with some fun production choices, especially the back and forth with the vocals and violiddle (I really should’ve done more research) in the second and third chorus. It’s sort of an energy killer, but good if you’re just chilling out, going for a nice long drive.

We pick up the pace a little bit with Oh, Sister another song that plays into folk cliches to help familiarize the audience immediately to what’s going on. It’s a very relatable track for anyone else who has family members that don’t necessarily agree with their lifestyle. This is a plea to his sister to treat him the same, but to also respect who he is as a person. Ending the song with the haunting lines “Time is an ocean, but it ends at the shore, you may not see me here tomorrow.” Then we have the unfortunately titled They Shoot Horses, this song has a classic country ride to it, you could almost hear Toby Keith crooning those lyrics, although if they were truly written by him they’d probably be a little more insincere. It uses the imagery of having to euthanize a horse after they are injured in what is the rider's fault. They didn’t do anything and yet this innocent creature must suffer for your mistake. These deep lyrics with a beautiful chorus sandwich two huge swelling instrumental breakdowns before slowly fizzling out.

SPEAKING OF SLOWLY, next is Slowly Likely the Wind. Another simple acoustic song, they leave the frills behind in this one, even the violiddlin isn’t even present as acoustic guitar and bass ring out. Just the walk up to the chorus gets me so pumped to hear what’s gonna happen next, with a beautiful hook to tie it all together. This I think is where a lot of their 70’s folk rock influence comes out, conjuring up The Band and the Eagles especially in the simple but impactful chorus. Lullaby to Slowly is definitely longest part of the album with some of these songs kind of falling into almost boring territory, though bringing you back in with a solid riff or breakdown. This album is for a long car ride, okay? You gotta be in it for the long haul.

But we pick things up a little bit with Tormenta, finally using electric guitar as the main rhythm force, something we have yet to hear on this album. You can definitely feel a lot of Bright Eyes inspiration in a lot of this album but it’s truly on display with Tormenta. There are great harmonies when there needs to be in this song, using it to amplify the uniqueness of Nick’s voice as it’s against this angelic backdrop. 

Now I will say I am starting to get a little tired of the song structure all of these songs take, verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus/verse outro, I want something fast, that I don’t have to think too hard about, OH WHEN WILL YOU COME?

Bitch I’m right here! says Sister Christian the next song on the album. One of my absolute favorites for sure right here, this song fucking rocks. So very alt-country, I love it when any song can use a riff as a hook/recurring theme. They do meander a bit, pushing the song to be a little bit longer when it really could’ve been a tight 1m50s, GET ME IN THE EDITING ROOM! But really I love this song, definitely a huge stand out track, I wish it were earlier in the album just so I could’ve heard it sooner. 

The second to last track is the title track, East My Love, and boyhowdy what a title track it is. The longest song on the album it starts off with Nick going into their falsetto rasp during the first verse into the chorus. Then the second verse comes along and I’m just gonna type it out not say anything else about it, just, it’s good - AND I WILL BURY ALL YOUR TEARS/CAUSE THERE’S ALWAYS USE IN CRYIN/AND I WILL CONSUME ALL YOUR FEARS/SO YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO HIDE THEM/WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DISAPPEAR/ FROM EVERYTHING YOU ONCE RELIED ON/SO WHEN YOU’RE STUCK OUT IN THE EAST/THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A LIGHT ON. Man, I love that. After that we hit up the chorus one more time then end with another instrumental outro. Lastly is a Simon & Garfunkle cover, Feelin Groovy, I kind of wish they used this as a secret track at the end of East My Love just to be a little fun. It almost seems with how the previous song ends, maybe that was the intention? I don’t know if there are rights issues since it’s a cover or something. But it’s a fun way to end a pretty sad album, leaves ya with a good taste in your mouth.

Overall: This is a great driving album. As someone who spends a lot of time on the road, you have no idea how much that means to me. With catchy hooks that aren’t too simple or too complicated, songs that make you think and relate to. It’s these types of albums that feel so good to listen to at full volume, windows down in your car. It’s okay if you’re a little cold, grab that sweatshirt from the back of your car and let yourself be made warm by the sweet sounds of acoustic guitar and viofilinddle.

Grade: A-

Favorite Songs: Never Seen a Rose, Sister Christian, They Shoot Horses