#VOILÀ band

[ttpdlistener]

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY PICKS 21.06.2024

That's How You Make A Villain Pt 2 💽 - Emlyn (empowerment chapter let's gooo)

Glass Half Empty Pt 1 💽 - VOILÀ (cool new band I just got into, go check em out)

The Secret Of Us 💽 - Gracie Abrams (WITH A TAYLOR FEATURE HELLO?!?!?)

Stone Cold Summer 🎵 - South Arcade (newest summer bangerrr)

Homesick 🎵 - MICO (new long distance anthem)

Let's Start A Cult 🎵 - SOAP

Low and High 🎵 - Foley

please please please (acoustic) 🎵 - Sabrina Carpenter (she's so prettyyy)

Best Card 🎵 - cameron sanderson

[miashyperfixations]

CHRISSY COSTANZA & VOILÀ: THE SPIN THE BOTTLE TOUR

20.11.2024 @ Academy 3, Manchester (470 Capacity)

Written Dec 2024

A little late but here we are, my last concert of the year! I couldn’t be happier that it was VOILÀ alongside Chrissy Costanza on the sold out UK/EU leg of the Spin The Bottle Tour. I don’t think I’ve fallen for a band as hard or as fast as I did for these guys. The completely independent rock duo, based in the US, have been on my radar for quite a while, however I only started listening to their music properly earlier this year, as a soundtrack to my A Level revision. It’s safe to say I was hooked immediately, I haven't stopped listening to them since.

The Spin The Bottle tour was probably the concert I was looking forward to most this year. Undoubtedly, when I booked the ticket I was a fan of VOILÀ more so than Chrissy, and I still am, but she’s become a more permanent part of my listening rotation now too. Manchester is an iconic city in the rock music genre, not to mention this was my first concert at Manchester Academy. Ironically, the building Academy is in is the University of Manchester Student Union building and as an MMU student I couldn’t help but feel like an imposter.

As a co-headline tour, the two acts didn’t have a changeover, instead Chrissy & Gus (VOILÀ’s lead singer) switched back and forth for segments of the show, with Luke (VOILÀ’s lead singer) and a drummer onstage throughout the whole hour and a half set. The opening song was a collaboration between the two acts, ‘Caught It’ which is on VOILÀ’s 3rd album, and then closes with another collab ‘Seven Minutes In Hell’, from Chrissy’s ‘VII’ EP (a personal favourite of mine).

Chrissy Costanza is best known as the frontwoman of the American pop-rock band Against The Current. The band were named a Rock Sound 25 Icon this year as a part of the magazine’s 25th anniversary celebrations. Her debut solo EP ‘VII’ was released earlier this year and this tour marked her first (co-)headline shows. And she absolutely killed it, Chrissy clearly belongs on stage. Every song was given 110%, her energy was infectious.

Alongside her solo songs, Chrissy performed one ATC song (wildfire) as well as songs she has recorded for the League Of Legends video game soundtrack. This particular niche type of songs are a personal favourite of mine, with driven basslines and a musical storyline creafted by expert instrumentation behind powerful vocals. She also performed an acoustic medley of songs that have meant a lot to her over the years. As the frontwoman of a touring band, Costanza has experience playing shows in the UK, and several times during the set she hyped up Manchester as a home-away-from-home & her favourite UK city, of course the crowd went feral at this and kept up with her energy the entire show. 

VOILÀ are a Los Angeles-based pop-rock duo with lead singer Gus Ross moving over from the UK, and guitarist Luke Eisener hailing from Wisconsin. This tour is the band’s first, and it’s clear to everyone that both members of the band having their first hometown shows on the same tour was something special that they’ll never forget. As I said before, I haven’t fallen for a band as quickly as I have for VOILÀ, and I’ve also never become a fan of a band and seen them live this fast before. Every one of their albums is a detailed piece of work that ties together beautifully whilst also having numerous tracks that stand out from others, perfectly encapsulating their take on the pop-rock genre. I love that they are an entirely independent organisation, self-producing all of their releases and heavily involved with their fans too. In the lead up to the show, I met so many amazing people on their discord server and was able to meet most of them at a pre-show hang just before the gig too.

With this being their first tour, the setlist was something that fans discussed in detail before the tour started as they already had 2 1/2 albums released and the rest of the 3rd has been released since. The second half of their third album ‘Glass Half Empty’ was released the day before the London Show, which was also the final UK date of tour.

Due to this, cuts had to be made and some songs were sacrificed, but the band made up for it by introducing a surprise song. Taking inspiration from the tour’s name, they had a wheel they would get someone to spin every night and play the song it landed on - whether it was a Chrissy song or a VOILÀ one was all up to chance.

The first (and only) song that played after the set ended was South Arcade’s ‘Stone Cold Summer’. South Arcade are another of my favourite bands, and I’ve seen them a few times too. Funnily enough, I’m seeing them at this exact venue next year. There was also a post-show meet & greet, for the discord crew and a select few, thanks to one of the band’s crew members, Sutton. He was able to get both VOILÀ & Chrissy to come back out into the venue hall and give a brief meet & greet session. Security was quite tight about getting us out, so we took pictures in groups and I didn’t get to give them my usual spiel as a music production/live sound enthusiast. However, they were able to sign the door times I pulled off the wall as well as my art cards that I designed and printed for the band’s 2022 release ‘Happy Never After’. They each signed their favourite song on the album with Gus signing ‘Cursive’, an explosive collaboration with Kellin Quinn of the iconic American rock band ‘Sleeping With Sirens’ and Luke signing ‘Hush Now’, one of my personal favourites as well, heavily inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Sutton also gave us some spare packs of trading cards that were available at the merch desk (I ended up buying another one anyway) that we all opened and discussed, as well as hanging out after security kicked us out of the room. Trading Cards were something I’ve never seen before at a concert and I think it’s a really cool idea. Cards ranged from common ones like songs, albums & videos, to rarer ones like certain well-known crew members (including Sutton himself) & access to exclusive content.

Even though I spent way too much money on merch, I don’t regret it at all. I met so many amazing people and was introduced to such a welcoming and inclusive community, that it sometimes feels like a dream - I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Six months ago I had never heard any of these songs, but now they’re my favourites. Every single one of their songs means so much and hearing them live is something I’ll remember forever. Here’s to another year of concerts!

[s4pphic-sh3nan1gans]

I'M IN ACTUAL TALKS ABOUT STARTING A BAND WITH SOMEONE AKSJAKSJSK I'm so excited oh my goshhhh

[tricycle-jaune]

je dois l'écrire pour me décharger parce que j'vais exploser mais i swear mon syndic est la raison pour laquelle j'ai autant de cheveux blanc depuis un an et demi. j'ai connu que deux syndic dans ma vie et celui que j'ai connu pendant TRENTE PIGES était nul et servait à R parce qu'ils répondaient jamais (je balance, c'est foncia) mais là, MAIS LA STP, j'ai jamais vu ça : le harcèlement que j'me prends dans la poire pour soi disant des charges impayées que j'ai FUCKING payé et je reçois de manière totalement automatique (on est dimanche soir hein) une lettre de mise en demeure alors qu'en réalité je suis MEME PAS en retard parce que la date limite était le 10 et qu'on est le 8 mais QUAND BIEN MEME je suis de toute pas en retard puisque j'ai envoyé le chèque le 4 et que d'après le numéro de la lettre suivie (j'envoie toujours mes courriers en lettre suivie pour check justement si mon destinataire l'a bien reçu) ils l'ont bien reçu, alorst ok y'a des possibilités que la lettre se soit perdue dans leur boîte au lettre hein le bénéfice du doute tout à tout ça, et parce que la poste tmtc mais le fait qu'ils m'envoient des lettres de mise en demeure AUTOMATIQUE écrit par une putain de machine et le pire c'est que C PAS LA PREMIERE FOIS genre, encore une fois en trente ans j'ai JAMAIS connu ça avec foncia et pourtant y'en a des choses à dire, mais là avec EUX (c'est homeland, j'en a rien à foutre je déverse ma haine) genre je ressens de la HAINE, je les abhorre, je les exècre, et quand me connaît on SAIT que JAMAIS je suis comme ça, j'suis pas le genre de personne qui ressent de la haine (et y'en a qui le mériterait) et bah FELICITATION BANDE DE BATARDS, vous avez réussi à me faire ressentir ce que aucun autre être humain n'a réussi auparavant. jsp si y'a des gens qui travaillent dans des syndics et qui liront ce message mais si y'en a S'IL VOUS PLAIT, dîtes moi si c'est normal la vérité ils vont me faire pleurer de rage, pleurer de RAGE, moi qui suit de marbre en jouant à league of legends et qui suit blindée face aux commentaires de haine et de "i wish you were dead", bah EUX ils réussissent à me rendre FOLLE PREM DEG j'en viens à penser à invoquer des démons pour les tuer, pour les TUER VOUS M'ENTENDEZ

[wombywoo]

Sharing my secret for drawing body hair ✨

So, for the most part, I draw my bodies how I want them, then add some darkened bits of hair in the places applicable, but this trick has become my lifesaver:

I found this image on the internet which I think is actually an album cover from some obscure band (right on🤙), but my mind immediately clocked it as the perfect texture for some man bush !!!

So whenever I'm drawing some woolly specimens, I put a slight blur effect on this bad boy and set it to multiply, then erase a bit to make it blend

An example below:

Voilà! Instant leg fur!!!

You're welcome 🙆‍♀️

[musette22]

In The Long Run

Pairing: Stucky (Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes)

Word count: 12.8k

Rating: explicit (18+)

A/N: While I'm chipping away at my multi chapter fic, here's a little Shrunkyclunks AU I've always wanted to write! It's mostly 💫 vibes 💫 and unapologetic smut, with a bit of soulmates and angst thrown in the mix, too. Hope you enjoy! Endless thanks to the marvelous @sparkagrace for the beta help! ♥︎♥︎

Excerpt:

“That looks broken,” Bucky says, with a nod at the stranger's face.

“I’m fine,” the man glowers.

Bucky can't help but smile at his surliness. “Whatever you say, lone ranger.”

It takes another moment, but eventually, the cracks a tiny smile of his own. He wipes his hand on his faded jeans and holds it out to Bucky. “Steve,” he says.

Ignoring the residual blood, Bucky takes the proffered hand, which is big and warm. “Nice to meet ya, Steve,” he offers with a crooked grin. “Name’s Barnes. James Barnes. But of course, everyone calls me Bucky.”

Read on AO3

Extended author's note under the cut for anyone who'd like to know more about the inspiration behind this one ♥︎

I've always loved 70s rock and classic country music (Eagles, America, Glenn Campbell, The Byrds, The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah, Bread etc.) and been a little obsessed with the vibes of so many of the songs in these genres. A while ago, when I was listening to Peaceful Easy Feeling and heard the lyrics,

"I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight / With a billion stars all around"

&

"I get this feeling I may know you / As a lover and a friend",

and was inspired (possessed) to write a Shrunkyclunks AU, so… voilà. Bonus points to whoever can spot all the lyric references in this one lol.

[marimayscarlett]

Rammstein in German media

I occasionally mention on here how challenging it can be to be a Rammstein fan in Germany, not least because of the media, which often treats the band poorly and dismissively. Today, I have a small example to illustrate this 📰

Alex Markusch, a guitar maker, gave an interview about his general work and cooperation with Richard a while ago - @franwikema thankfully posted this here. 🎸

In this interview, he said the following:

And Richard is someone who is very driven in the technical field. He's detail-obsessed. Collaboration isn't easy because the standards are incredibly high, and the technology is very complex. It's not Richard who makes it complicated, but rather the demands themselves. The challenge lies in having a lot of intricate technology that must be functional in the rough environment of live performances. When you look at a Rammstein stage show or even their open-air festivals, the equipment simply has to work. [...] It's definitely a challenge, but of course, it's also a lot of fun. Sometimes you're racking your brain, trying to find a solution, and then the guitarist says, "There has to be a way to make this work." And you're sitting there thinking, "Yes, but how? That's not even my job." My job is to make sure everything functions in the end. And it's always rewarding when Richard comes back and says, "Yeah, that was great!" Or when the guitar tech, Lutz, points out, "That wasn't quite right, we need to take another look at it today."

The Berliner Zeitung published the following headline following the article:

"Rammstein guitar maker from Friedrichshain: ‘It’s not an easy collaboration.’"

Since the article itself is behind a paywall (here is an accessible link), the content isn’t open for people who don't pay for this newspaper. This means the average reader who stumbles across the headline will likely think: 'Oh, Rammstein is causing trouble again, as always. Didn't expect anything else.'

The text, however, clarifies that the collaboration is not difficult because of Richard himself, and the article is actually quite short. It’s obvious that a single sentence from the interview was intentionally cherry-picked and phrased in a way that could easily be misunderstood. Then, the article is hidden behind a paywall, and voilà – another piece of media content that casts Rammstein in a negative light.

This is most likely not interesting for everyone, but serves as a little example for anyone wondering how the band is portrayed in the media here.

[ekman]

Delon nous a quitté dimanche dernier. Fin de bobine. 

La salle s’éclaire, les yeux piquent, les assises se rabattent sèchement sur les dossiers, les gens piétinent vers la sortie. Le bel Alain s’en est allé pour de bon, lui qui – semble-t-il – avait déjà quitté le monde sensé, laissant ses glorieux enfants se déchirer autour d’un terril d’or.

Journalistes, politiques, pipoles et piplettes : ils n’ont tous que des superlatifs à la bouche. Machin y va de son “c’était le dernier monstre sacré”, Bidule nous rappelle que “c’était un vrai prince”. La presse idiote rivalise en putasserie unière, à qui la plus belle photo, à qui le plus pathétique titre en guimauve pur sucre.

Mais moi je me souviens, bande de hyènes. J’ai rien oublié du tout. Je me rappelle bien de la ringardisation à marche forcée du ci-devant Delon Alain, coupable de choix politiques impardonnables. Fallait les voir se pincer le nez, les tenanciers de ce merdique show-biz gavé de thunes. Tu citais Delon et voilà qu’ils avaient grave la gerbe, ces gauchistes gueulards et ces soixante-huitards pédos. Beuark ! Macho réac ! Machine à cash ! Vieux beau qui s’accroche ! Tout le catalogue des amabilités en travers de sa belle gueule, le Delon. Ah ça oui, fallait les voir tortiller du cul quand on leur faisait remarquer que son fric, lui, il allait le chercher à Caracas et à Kyoto en vendant des clopes et du cognac pendant qu’eux tapinaient sous les lambris des ministères comme des putes de chantier pour se gaver d’argent public. Et pour quoi faire ? Des films de merde labellisés gauche-xanax où des couples idiots s’engueulent à la cuisine pour des histoires d’adultère foireux tristes à mourir. 

Je n’ai jamais pris Delon très au sérieux. Ça n’était pas un vrai soldat, pas complètement un tapin, plutôt un assez mauvais comédien... mais quel acteur ! Quel talent, le félin ! Au-delà de sa belle gueule, il y avait son charme infini de scorpion astralement pur : intransigeant, égocentré, jaloux, lumineux, charmeur, menteur. Elles ont été quelques-unes à y laisser des larmes. Et pas qu’un peu : par bonbonnes entières ! Mais lui s’en foutait. Il aimait, il vivait, il partait. C’est comme ça qu’il les a tous et toutes bluffé(e)s pendant plus de quatre-vingt ans. Au final, c’est la caméra qui l’a le mieux aimé. Cinégénique à en crever, le bonhomme. Pas un angle, pas une ombre pour nuire à sa beauté solaire – ce qui est le comble pour un aussi ténébreux Narcisse. 

Tous les plans qui éclairent Delon sont une ode à la masculinité. Même avec un imper trop grand et un bitos rivé sur le crâne, il est crédible. Je veux bien croire qu’il y en a quelques-uns que ça a vraiment du faire bisquer, dans le métier.

Avez-vous remarqué que “masculinité” lui va bien mieux que “virilité” ? Je dis cela parce que Delon n’inspirait pas le cul – il n’y avait rien chez lui de léger en bagatelle ou d’ostentatoire en braguette. C’était un dominateur silencieux, une emprise, un orage. Les femmes – et surtout les plus inaccessibles d’entre elles – ne s’y trompaient pas. Elles cédaient et lui, tranquillement, disposait. Avec tact et élégance sans doute, en tout cas jusqu’à son départ.

Et le voilà parti pour de bon. Un de plus, un de moins, peut-être le dernier. En tout cas, c’est bien raccord avec cette époque qu’il vomissait, à juste titre.

J.-M. M.

[dooareyastudy]

Impression de gueule de bois post électorale non ?

On pourra dire qu'il y a 12 millions de racistes en France, c'est peut-être vrai mais n'oublions pas aussi que nos dirigeants portent une immense responsabilité dans le résultat de ce premier tour.

Voilà le résultat de la politique de casse sociale menée par Macron depuis son premier mandat (et les autres, depuis longtemps). Voilà le résultat d'une politique qui prétend s'adresser aux citoyens et qui ne sert qu'à tenter de relancer la machine de la croissance en France. Voilà le résultat d'une politique qui s'adresse d'abord aux agences de notation et aux créanciers de la France. Voilà le résultat d'une politique qui sacrifie progressivement de plus en plus de gens au sacro-saint marché.

Voilà aussi le résultat du discours d'incrimination de la gauche que Macron et ses sbires cherchent à nous faire avaler depuis des mois (s'il faut reconnaître et lutter contre les problèmes de la gauche, c'est bien à *nous* électeurs et militants de gauche de le faire, pas à cette bande d'hypocrites de droite). Voilà le résultat des ambiguïtés de Macron, qui se pose en rempart contre l'extrême-droite mais fait le pique-assiette quand il s'agit d'appeler à voter contre le RN.

Il n'y a rien d'anodin à dire que LFI est un parti antirépublicain aujourd'hui, alors même que le RN a clairement affiché et défendu des propositions discriminatoires toute cette campagne. RIP notre devise, j'imagine.

Ce n'est pas à Macron et ses pauvres 20 % de faire la police entre qui est un bon allié et qui ne l'est pas. Les macronistes ont prouvé qu'ils ne l'étaient pas en continuant à soutenir le Président qui nous a foutu dans cette situation dégueulasse, indirectement par sa politique et directement par cette dissolution dont on ne sait plus si elle relève du calcul politique ou de la pure bêtise.

Bon allez, j'arrête, j'ai une thèse à écrire...

[callsign-mustang]

Figure you out

Figuring them out… that’s all he could think about. Sure, he learned their favorite bands, their favorite color, those little books they read thinking no one knew, studying their expressions when anyone spoke, observing their every single movement… following the little sergeant as they went about their days like it was all he lived for. Their stupid significant other… they were a damning reminder the sergeant wasn’t his… yet.

His presence was like a shadow they never saw, looming over them but never seen. Learning it all�� dedicating days to ensuring they were always in sight… sacrificing nights of sleep to watch them from the window. It was like a tumor, growing… gnawing at his insides as a rabid beast would a meal.

Konig felt a hole burning in his throat from the vitriol he had to choke down when their partner would come to call. They knew nothing of his sergeant. Stupidly choosing the table right beside his as he pretended to type up reports and the like on his laptop. Yes, he was typing something up. But it was not at all work related.

As the partner held out a bouquet of flowers, he was thankful for his sniper hood as it hid his sneer. Quickly returning to his laptop to hide his reaction, not before he caught a glimpse of Reader… wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t trained himself to notice every single detail of their expressions. The twitch of their brow, the pause before giving a big smile.

-You’re faking… you hate roses… you think they’re cliché… why do you act like this? You like Dahlias… black dahlias… I remember, *Schatz*…-

‘Got you a ticket to that artist, hopefully you will have leave then so we can go together, Honey.’ The way he said it… Konig knew he had gotten the tickets in good faith.

-Oh, how stupid is he? You hate rap… you like indie bands because you had a phase in high school… you like rock because it reminds you of nights at home with your parents… you like old country… quit pretending… he doesn’t know you, not like I do…-

By the end of the hours long visit with Reader’s partner, Konig had a pages long rant of the incident typed out on his laptop. He reread it over and over. Why was reader still with this partner? He didn’t know them like he did. He knew what they liked….

The truth was that he didn’t even think Reader’s partner knew them. Talking so incessantly about *his* dreams, *His* friends, *His* accomplishments that Reader didn’t even get to speak about what they’d done. Oh, what Konig would have done just to have the sweet Sergeant utter a single word to him, to acknowledge him… he felt like a pathetic fool, vying for the attention of a soldier who didn’t even know he existed. This is what reader reduced him to… and honestly? He didn’t care.

He was the one who got to see them at their most vulnerable… at their most confident. He was the one there when they took their first life in the field, when they went through the stages of acceptance. He saw them in that primal state of protective instinct for their team, the look in their eyes when they did all they could to save a fallen comrade. In his eyes, they’d never looked so perfect…

He never could understand why a civilian would bother with a relationship with soldier if they couldn’t cope with the fact that a soldier’s job wasn’t all flags and salutes. The Colonel wanted to feel sorry… to feel bad that the man had left her… but he couldn’t. All he could feel was a sense of excitement, of hope and elation. ‘You killed someone. I can’t get past that… I’m sorry.’ That was all he knew of the call with Reader’s call to their partner after the fact.

Konig had been the one to comfort them, savoring the feeling of holding them for that moment. Doing all he could to ease the pain they felt… some twisted part of him enjoying how they clung to him for security. This hug was so much longer than the ones Reader ever shared with their partner. His gloved hands instinctively rubbing at her back, caressing their hair as he spoke comforting words.

-It’s okay, *Mein Schatz*… it’s okay…-

Murmuring sweet words to make them stop shuddering and sobbing. Glaring daggers at any of the others who dared come close to the sergeant during this time of vulnerability. He could imagine himself holding them in a different setting, wooing them with the knowledge he’d gathered these past months. He’d be a much better partner than the former ever could be, more attentive, more supportive. The feeling of them in his arms was almost too much… the murmurs turning from words of comfort to the things he’d longed to say since the first time he watched them.

-I could love you so much better than he could… loving you… is easy… and it’s what I’m made for, *Schatz*… just say the word and I am yours…-

[aisakalegacy]

Printemps 1937, Hylewood, Canada (20/27)

Agathon n’en avait cure. Il avait passé la nuit à enquêter, à réunir des indices, à interroger des suspects - il avait enfin l’occasion d’être le détective  d’un de ses romans policiers, et il n’allait clairement pas la laisser passer, n’en déplaise à nos états d’âme. La matinée commençait à peine, l’orage s’était calmé pendant la nuit, la police serait là d’un instant à l’autre. Le moment était venu d’aligner toutes les pièces du puzzle, de tout nous révéler. Très honnêtement, je doutais que qui que ce soit dans la maison ait pu être coupable d’avoir assassiné qui que ce soit. Certes, Agathon m’avait convaincu avec son histoire d’électrocution simulée. Mais la seule explication que je trouvais à y apporter était celle des représailles par l’un de ces mafieux du gang de ce type qu’évoquait la lettre, Luis Ortega. J’avais certainement dû en faire accoster un la veille, il avait dû trouver le moyen de se faufiler chez nous et de repartir aussi vite. Je creusai ma mémoire. Personne dont je me souvenais ne ressemblait à un mafieux. Mais en même temps, Lorita non plus n’avait pas la tête d’une femme qui aurait pu être dans un gang. Et pourtant…

[Transcription] Gizelle LeBris : Agathon, je t’en supplie, termine, qu’on puisse retourner se coucher avant l’arrivée de la police. Agathon LeBris : Mais j’y viens. Agathon LeBris : Sonia Houveau est née dans le quartier Lumière Rouge de Montréal. Son père, Marcel Houveau, était un caïd qui faisait la loi dans le quartier. Quand elle avait 12 ans, les types d’une bande alliée sont venus le chercher pour aller récupérer l’impôt spécial de protection dans les cabarets du quartier.  Agathon LeBris : Il n’est jamais revenu de sa tournée : le lendemain, la police est venue annoncer à sa mère que son père s’est fait refroidir, tué par une prostituée dans un cabaret. Celle-ci s’était envolée, et les autorités, bien contentes de s’être débarrassés de son père, n’avaient pas l’intention d’enquêter.  Agathon LeBris : A partir de là, il n’y avait plus personne pour protéger sa famille. Ses sœurs, plus âgées qu’elles, sont tombées dans la prostitution. Elle, elle a développé quelques talents, peut-être de pickpocket, et a réussi à rejoindre une bande, qui l’a entrainée de sales coups en sales coups.  Agathon LeBris : Il y a quatre ans, elle a découvert que la prostituée qui a liquidé son père est une Colombienne appelée Lorita, qui travaille pour un gang de trafiquants de drogue à la frontière des Etats-Unis. Utilisant sa réputation, Sonia s’est faite engager dans son gang, gagnant leur confiance et attendant le bon moment pour l’éliminer.  Agathon LeBris : Quand le fils de la famille LeBris s’est marié et que sa femme a eu un enfant, Lorita n’a eu aucun mal à les convaincre d’engager une aide - une fille de son gang, dont la véritable raison de sa présence, est de l’aider à acheminer son « matériel »…  Agathon LeBris : C’est une aubaine pour Sonia puisque ce poste la rapproche de Lorita ET lui donne une couverture pour ses agissements. Maintenant, comment se débarrasser de Lorita ?  Agathon LeBris : Faisons un nouveau bond dans le temps.  Agathon LeBris : Arrivons, si vous le voulez-bien, à hier après-midi. 1h. Gizelle sort de sa chambre et nous rejoint en bas.  Lorita commence à faire les chambres. 1h30. Nous déjeunons. 2h30. Nous finissons de déjeuner, Sonia prépare le thé. 3h. Nous partons tous vaquer à nos occupations.  Agathon LeBris : 4h27. Layla reçoit enfin l’appel téléphonique qu’elle a attendu presque toute l’après-midi, avec pratiquement une demie-heure de retard. L’appel est écourté car les plombs sautent. Vers 4h30, le corps est découvert par elle. C’est dans cette fourchette cruciale, mesdames et monsieur, entre 1h30 et 4h, que Lorita est morte.  Agathon LeBris : Entre 4h et 4h27, quelqu’un est monté à l’étage pour réarranger son corps - couvrir la véritable raison de sa mort afin de faire croire à un accident. Agathon LeBris : Voilà la proposition que j’ose apporter pour combler cette période d’1h30 qui a précédé.

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2008 - Number 12 - Mikael Konttinen - "Milloin"

Fun-loving Finland has other, more serious aspects. One of those is military conscription. Every man who is able must serve a short period in the military including basic training. There are a few specialist areas in which you can serve. One of those is the Finnish Defence Forces Conscript Band. Mikael Konttinen's voice got him that gig, and during his conscription period, he performed as a soloist.

This got him on the bill at the annual Finnish Independence Day celebrations at the Presidential Palace, televised to millions of Finns. A recording contract followed, and voilà, here he is at Euroviisut 2008 singing a song by two of Finland's foremost song-writers: Kerkko Koskinen and Kyösti Salokorpi.

Kerkko is one of the founding members of Ultra Bra who had gone on to become an in demand song-writer within the Finnish music industry. Even more in demand was Kyösti and not just in Finland. He was writing songs that had broader, international appeal. They'd worked together before, including writing possibly their most famous song. Shanghain valot (Shanghai Lights) as sung by Annika Eklund at Euroviisut 2006. I can't believe it didn't make my list for that year. It didn't get to Eurovision either but has gone on to have a life of it's own in Finland.

With the most James Bond-y of national final songs on their CV, getting them back together for 2008's Euroviisut alongside a singer who'd made a big impression while doing national service was a combination which felt electric. And the song does have that grand feel of a 1960s orchestral film track. Determined, formal, bombastic. It's not quite a Bond song. More Bond-adjacent. And underneath this presentation of something distinctly old school, there's something else. Something a bit creepy.

It's a song of unrequited desire. Mikael has his lasers set on a certain someone. Someone who is not returning his affection. Someone he has loved and lost. He's not ready to accept his situation though and with this grand gesture of a song called Milloin (When) he's readying himself for the day when they get back together.

When. Not If. Not a smidgen of wondering why they split up in the first place. Only the determination to get them back. This entire song feels like a villain origin story. If this was a musical, it would be the song in the first act when the antagonist sets out their agenda.

I admire this song sitting amidst all the pop, metal and gloom-rock of Euroviisut 2008. Having something this defiantly retro is almost refreshing. It may have only got there because of who the song-writers are and who the singer is, but I kind of like it's unapologetic throwback to 60s pomp and 60s attitudes.

Mikael qualified for the final comfortably, but once in that final he foundered to more modern takes on what Eurovision was. He may have had the Mum's vote, but Mikael was not appealing to anyone under the age of forty. He didn't make the super-final cut.

He did continue to sing and released an album later in 2008. Another solo album followed as well as a collaboration album. Mikael still performs regularly, but his main gig is flying. He qualified as a commercial pilot in 2010 and now is a regular pilot for Finnair.

Brace yourselves. This is Mikael's version of Cha Cha Cha replete with green bolero and dad bod performed in 2023.

[dj-bouto]

1994-2024 : 30 ans !

Voilà notre dernière prod° de l'année qui regroupe nos efforts passés et présents dans la veine techno, techno, techno...

Sur la photo, prise dans une doline du Larzac en '95, on peut apercevoir Martine G, encore et toujours présidente du collectif !

[vinylfoxbooks]

James, at 16, writes Figure You Out after he learns that Regulus and Barty got together and records it on the old, dingy tape recorder his dad got him for his 12th birthday. He then promptly forgets about it, horrified by the possessive jealousy towards a man who hates him, a man who isn't even his.

Years later, he's now in an established band with his best friends and doing numbers. Sirius is helping James clean out some old trunks from the attic and finds the tape recorder and a small box of tapes. He starts listening to them, happily reliving the fun memories with James, Remus, Pete, and himself captured on the tapes.

Until he finds the song. It's grainy and bad quality and James is far from the recorder when he was singing but good nonetheless. And despite Sirius being the lead singer of their band and their music focusing on rock, he convinces James to sit down and rerecord it because he sounds amazing.

So he does and the fans adore it and now James sings it at almost every show, except now he sings it making eye contact with his boyfriend Regulus.

[hurlumerlu]

Hey! Ça fait très longtemps qu'on s'est pas parlé (je crois que ça remonte aux ateliers d'écriture pendant le COVID aha), mais tu n'arrêtes pas de poster sur THK et ça me donne trop envie de regarder. Tu sais où je peux trouver les épisodes ? (aussi trop bien la petite fic que tu as publiée)

Ouiiii, c'était fort fun, d'ailleurs! Comment ça va? Une des très grandes qualités de The Heart Killers c'est que la séries est disponible gratuitement sur youtube dans la plupart des pays (dont la France). Voilà un lien vers la bande-annonce et un lien vers le premier quart de l'épisode 1 (ils sont postés par quarts). Sinon elle est aussi dispo sur Gagaoolala et Iqiyi. Les six premiers épisodes sont sortis, le septième sort le 8 janvier (pas d'épisode la semaine prochaine, il semblerait). Je ne sais pas si tu as déjà regardé des séries thaïs, mais si ce n'est pas le cas, sache qu'elles sont souvent produites assez vite, pas toujours avec un budget de ouf, et que ça se sent parfois dans le son/montage/scène qui avait besoin d'une autre take. Si tu n'en as jamais regardé ça peut désarçonner un peu, au début. Evidemment je recommande chaudement THK, non seulement je m'éclate mais je pense sincèrement que c'est une très bonne série, mais comme je te vois souvent apprécier des œuvres plutôt léchées, je préfère te prévenir un peu à l'avance. (franchement je trouve thk très sympa visuellement et j'aime beaucoup l'intégration de la bande son mais j'ai vu des gens râler alors je sais pas !) Si jamais tu la regardes, viens m'en parler ! Clairement je ne m'en lasse pas. (et merci ^^)

[au-jardin-de-mon-coeur]

Toc toc toc… Hé oh, je sais que tu me vois ! Ne fais pas comme si je n’étais pas là. C’est moi, Lundi ! Je sais que je n’ai pas toujours le beau rôle. Mais je vais te présenter des copains qui te plairont. D’abord, Mr Café, ensuite, Mr Ptit Dej, ils sont gourmands et ils te donneront la pêche, tu verras. Tiens, voilà aussi Madame Onsedépêche (elle est un peu stressante celle-là. Surtout, ignore Miss Réunion et Mr Patron, il sont barbants. Et là, c’est ma bande de copains : mardi, mercredi, jeudi et mon meilleur copain, vendredi ! Allez, viens avec moi, on va vivre une folle semaine ensemble !

Sur ces Toc Toc Toc de Mr lundi, je nous souhaite de vivre une folle semaine comme il nous l'a promis !

Soyez heureux et prenez soin de vous ! 🙏🫶