#age of adz in full

[gayfranzkafka]

i just wish the new taylor swift album had come out BEFORE beyonce because beyonce's is the highlight of my year meanwhile i KNOW taylor's is going to be the worst of her career YET I will still be strapped in listening clockwork orange style. so wish I could have gotten that out of the way and then had this album as a reward alas we suffer

[unopenablebox]

after an unknown number of years in which i did not listen to sufjan stevens i think im ready to get back into it

[extraordinaryhistories]

#21 - 'Woman at the Well' (non-album track, 2000)

Beware, traveller: here we enter the most uncharted territories of Sufjan’s catalogue. All sorts of terror in these parts. But all sorts of beauty, too.

Sufjan Stevens’ output, when fully collated, is just staggering. To think that he by all accounts leaves the overwhelming majority of his songs unreleased. By my count, he has upwards of 300 released tracks across all sorts of albums, collaborations, soundtracks and modern classical cycles. He is so prolific that you can stratify his output into multiple, accessibility-based tiers:

Tier One: the heavyweight albums. Illinois, Carrie and Lowell, Age of Adz and Javelin, plus ‘Mystery of Love’ and ‘Visions of Gideon’.

Tier Two: the other mainline albums ­– Michigan, Seven Swans, The Ascension and A Beginner’s Mind, plus All Delighted People.

Tier Three: the most obscure full-length albums and collaborations. A Sun Came, Planetarium, the Sisyphus project, Aporia, Convocations and similar material.

Tier Four: where we start to get deep under the surface. His Christmas material goes here, as do projects like The Decalogue, Reflections and The BQE. Some of his one-off track collaborations, like Moses Sumney’s ‘Make Out in My Car’, are here too. Things that you can probably find on streaming, but that only the most dedicated of fans would care about.

Tier Five: the bottom of the trench. These are songs that many of those most dedicated fans will have never heard unless they are in way too deep. Piecemeal inclusions on no-name compilations, surprise Tumblr releases of demos made twenty years prior, one-off live songs like ‘Wild Horses’. The Wild West of Sufjanilia, where oddities abound.

There are few artists for which anybody could say this: Tier Five contains some of Sufjan’s absolute finest material. Without a shadow of a doubt.

This is especially the case in the very early days. I get the impression that we have only seen a miniscule fraction of the music that Sufjan wrote from the mid 1990s up through Michigan – this was a feverishly experimental period for him, catalogued in all its scattershot glory on A Sun Came but extending its reach far beyond that album. It seems that Sufjan made enough connections and was subject to enough blog-centred hype around the turn of the millennium to get featured on a swathe of multi-artist compilations, as well as other obscure releases. These are remarkably hard to track down these days, but enough internet scouring will lead you to an underbelly of Sufjan’s catalogue that most people don’t even know exists. Thus we get a series of isolated songs, many of which are barely above demo quality, scattered across CDs and mp3s and placed next to artists who have never been heard from since.

B-sides and non-album tracks of artists quite often have that status for a reason. Most artists have the same recording method: enter the studio, build up a series of tracks from loose ideas, select the cream of the crop for the album release, and discard of the chaff. Some of that chaff will be saved for bonus tracks, b-sides to physical releases, or ‘outtakes’ on deluxe editions released decades from now – filler that will appeal to big fans and few others. There is a very strong correlation between distance from the main release and a lack of quality, is my point here. This is the case for the majority of acts. There is a reason that most people don’t consider there to be many exquisite Beatles outtakes, for instance – likewise for Pink Floyd, or The Smiths, or the bulk of other classic bands.

For Sufjan, however, the recording method has always been different. Sufjan is fiercely varied and fiercely focused at the same time – his albums differ wildly in style, but each individual project coalesces around a very particular sound. And because he so insistently curates his albums, nothing on them feels out of place stylistically.

As with other artists, there are a lot of Sufjan songs that don’t make the big leagues. What makes them different is this: their exclusion would have been based less on quality and more on style. Sufjan was just relentless around the period following A Sun Came, and it shows – for every one song that found its way onto a compilation or Tumblr drop, we must imagine ten that didn’t, forever confined to a dusty four-track in a closet or a file on some buried hard drive. He eventually settled on the creative direction of Enjoy Your Rabbit, but this did not stop him writing a plethora of folk, rock and electronic music around this time too, and these songs show the rapidly maturing songwriting of a genius in the making. There are some truly astonishing songs in this creative nether region – they are not quite as mature as the ones that would be found on Michigan, but they are approaching that point with an unstoppable inertia.

And so we go to ‘Woman at the Well’, an unassuming classic of early Sufjan and a song in which we can see clear progression from the A Sun Came days. The steps forward in sophistication are palpable here – ‘Woman at the Well’ is many things that A Sun Came’s songs are not. It is well-recorded, for starters; we are not yet at the hi-fi perfection of Illinois, but there is none of that cassette-derived background noise that dominates the softer songs on Sufjan’s debut. The acoustic guitar sparkles, the drums (lightly) punch, the vocals feel immediate and alive, and all of it comes together to make a song of relieving clarity, like stepping out of a log cabin and getting a breath of the mountain air.

The whole song feels that way, in fact. This one is easy, expansive, effortless, three terms that do not apply to much of A Sun Came. We can put this partially at the feet of the arrangement, which strikes a comfortable balance between layered and intimate: guitars and banjo are supplemented by a cosy array of instruments, among them glockenspiel, organ, drums and recorder, all Sufjan staples that hadn’t been applied with this sort of subtlety up to this point. This is a strum-heavy singer-songwriter tune at its heart; a maturing Sufjan understands this, and uses the additional instruments not to overwhelm the song but to make it richer. Compare with a song like ‘Wordsworth’s Ridge’, where the various elements seem to fight for attention in the arrangement. ‘Woman at the Well’ has a similar palette, but the individual instruments mesh together in service of the chord progression – many components, one machine. How refreshing.

‘Woman at the Well’ bucks trends in nearly every sense but lyrically. This is still an early Sufjan song, and its lyrics are very typical of early Sufjan in that they are unambiguously Christian in sentiment. The song provides a poetic account of an event that transpires in John, in which Jesus encounters and converses with a Samaritan woman. Samaritans and Jews, per tradition, met each other with hostility; the power of the story lies in how Jesus offers redemption to a woman that many other Jews would spurn (a common theme in the Gospels, with echoes in other anecdotes and parables.)

Many great artists, especially during the Italian Renaissance, took artistic inspiration from the story of the Samaritan woman. Sufjan does so too in ‘Woman at the Well’, but in a typically wry manner. Sufjan seems fascinated particularly with the image given in John 4 of Jesus as a giver of living water:

‘those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’ (John 4:14).

Thus the lines in the second verse about how ‘she supposes he is wet / She was a fountain then’, the message being that Jesus’ eternal capacity for salvation and grace invigorates all those who love him. He is a fountain, so she is a fountain, and she overflows now with goodness. It feels as if this continues the shift in Sufjan’s religious songwriting that we first see in ‘Joy! Joy! Joy!’, and in a lot of the other flotsam recorded between A Sun Came and Michigan. Very early songs like ‘We Are What You Say’ features God as a terror, in the wrathful, apocalyptic Old Testament sense. Here we see a more inviting New Testament sense of God that focuses on love and salvation, just as Jesus preached. There is a hint of Yahweh in the chorus (‘In fire, in fire, down to the last liar’, a very Revelations image), but ‘Woman at the Well’ is otherwise a song of Jesus through and through.

A song of Jesus in a quirky way, though. Sufjan can’t help himself. The Samaritan woman is described in this song not as a fountain but as a ‘fountain pen’ for the majority of its sections. What significance? Little, or everything, depending on your point of view. This is likely just a piece of free-associative wordplay that has the additional effect of making the song’s rhymes less laboured, but I could imagine how Sufjan might enjoy the connotations of ‘fountain pen’. Fountain pens are sophisticated devices; they are refined vehicles of creation out of which culture pours. The quality of Jesus as a refiner of the soul is central to Christian dogma (albeit expressed differently), and may be central to this song too. We have all heard the ‘is this Sufjan song Christian or gay?’ joke in the past (the answer is always both), but for pre-Michigan lyrics, we can just as easily ask ‘is this line complex or just there because it rhymes nice?’

A piece on ‘Woman at the Well’ wouldn’t be complete without at least mentioning the melody. It’s a beautiful one, and it’s notable insofar as it feels like the Sufjan we know and love, down to its smallest rhythms and intervals. Even the best stuff on A Sun Came, like ‘Happy Birthday’, feels a bit like the Sufjan Stevens of an uncanny valley that lies somewhere between Illinois and Either/Or. Not so here. The contour of the main ‘she was a fountain pen’ motif is absolutely classic Sufjan, the ‘pen’ (the 2nd of the scale) lending it a perfect wistfulness that suggests the relative minor. There is still a loose adherence to pentatonic major here, but like so many of the best Sufjan songs, the melodic quality of ‘Woman at the Well’ is that sort of forward-looking happiness mixed with occasional glances over one’s shoulder at the life you’ll never return to. That right there is precisely the reason I started a project like this. Nobody else is capable of such balance. Nobody.

And it’s the reason why we dredge through this early, dusty stuff at all. For many artists it would not be worth it. But for Sufjan, all the same magic and majesty that you’ll find in his mainline releases can be found (on occasion) here. Sometimes it might even be exactly the same magic. Listen to the section of ‘Woman at the Well’ that immediately follows the first chorus (starting with ‘he has her hand...’). If the melody there sounds familiar, that’s because it is. A few years later, Sufjan would repurpose that melody for one of his first true masterpieces, a song about new VCRs and long car trips and taking one last glimpse at your mother knowing that next time you see her she might be an entirely different person. Here it is, the best melody in all of ‘Romulus’, just sitting there on a no-name compilation throwaway that nobody with a safe grip on their mental health has ever heard, years before Michigan was even dreamt of.

That, to a Sufjan tragic like me, is really fucking cool.

[treybien]

perfect 10 albums (transformative, no-skips)

Illinois, Sufjan Stevens (fave track: John Wayne Gacy Jr) (followed closely by Age of Adz)

When I Get Home, Solange (fave track: Dreams)

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, Brand New (fave track: Jesus Christ)

Homogenic, Björk (fave track: All Is Full of Love)

The Crying Light, Anohni and the Johnsons (fave track: Epilepsy is Dancing)

Neon Bible, Arcade Fire (fave track: Antichrist Television Blues)

Renaissance, Beyonce (fave track: Heated)

Puberty 2, Mitski (fave track: Crack Baby)

Our Love, Caribou (fave track: Silver)

Crack Up, Fleet Foxes (fave track: Third of May)

Goodness, The Hotelier (fave track: Soft Animal)

Turn Out the Lights, Julien Baker (fave track: Claws in Your Back)

Under the Pink, Tori Amos (fave track: Icicle)

Historian, Lucy Dacus (fave track: Pillar of Truth)

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel (fave track: Oh Comely)

Kid A, Radiohead (fave track: How to Disappear Completely)

Skylight, Pinegrove (fave track: Darkness)

Divers, Joanna Newsom (fave track: Sapokanikan)

I'd love to know all y'alls perfect 10 albums!! @mrsterlingeverything @the-frog-blog @emperorscorpion @haierld @997 @haafuaki @globalmutt @nicky999doors @shetheyslain @prairiefevers @crouchingfawn and any other friends I forgot to tag

[rincewindsapprentice]

Top 5 albums of 2023 (for me)

This list is not at all exhaustive, but is representative of the albums and EPs that I listened to in full that came out this year. There are plenty of other songs that I loved, but these are the top albums that really resonated and are solid as whole units. I encourage everyone to try out listening to full albums when you have the chance since they can be quite fantastic experiences!

5: Bitter Reflection by Body of Light

Body of Light is a wonderful synthpop band, and Bitter Reflection was an unexpectedly great album! I have listened to basically all of the songs on repeat, and absolutely love "This Conversation" and "Never Ever" to the point where I'll sing them out loud when I cook.

4: Radical Romantics by Fever Ray

Fever Ray is always a trip to listen to, and this album is no exception. "Shiver" is one of the horniest songs I've listened to. The beats are funky and layered in such interesting ways, the instrumentation fascinating, and the lyrics complex and wild. Highly recommend "What They Call Us" and "Even It Out." Really hits it out of the park, and might be my favorite album of theirs.

3: Intra Apogeum by Belgrado

Literally did not hear of this Barcelona-based Polish-Venezuelan coldwave post-punk band until this EP came out, and I fell in love with the band and this album so much that I bought merch from the band, and I rarely buy anything! Extremely solid vibes that struck me so much that I've replayed it over and over. The sound is solid and you are able to pick up on the Dada and Bauhaus influences! "Boixar," "Nie Zapomnę," and "Elementy Umysłu" are highlights for me. If you have not listened to Belgrado, listen to them! Was my top EP/album of the year until the next two came out.

2: Momento Mori by Depeche Mode

A completely unexpected album for me, really. It feels like the darkest that Depeche Mode has done, at least to my knowledge (which is somewhat limited!), and it is a fantastic album from start to finish. The lyrics are meditative and dark, cynical and at times hopeful. The instrumentation and synths are heavy and wonderfully put together. There is not a single part of this album I dislike, and it is very cohesive. My favorites off of it are "Before We Drown," "Never Let Me Go," and "My Favourite Stranger." Give it a listen!

1: Javelin by Sufjan Stevens

Another unexpected album. I have been a massive Sufjan Stevens fan since I was a teenager and his music is what really shaped a lot of my music taste throughout much of my life, and this album felt like a return to form. I have liked basically all of his music, from Michigan and Seven Swans to his 10-CDs worth of Christmas music, but my favorite albums have always been Age of Adz and Carrie and Lowell. Javelin almost feels like a synthesis of those two albums at times, as well as reaching all the way back and across his entire discography. The album came out of an exceptionally hard year for Sufjan Stevens, and you can feel the heartache and pain throughout, but there is also a hope that is present. While Carrie and Lowell, a masterpiece, is so full of emotion and heartache that it can pull you under, Javelin does not pull you down quite so far, but gets you in touch with similar feelings. My favorite tracks are "Will Anybody Ever Love Me?," "Goodbye Evergreen," and "Shit Talk." It is fantastic, and I highly, highly recommend it to anyone.

[panopticum]

2: Who got you into the band you adore now?

6: Favourite Album?

8: Songs that you could listen to forever and never get tired of?

13: Favourite lyric?

27: What song/album do you listen to when you need a pick-me-up?

40: When did music become an important factor in your life?

46: It’s 3 in the morning and you wanna DANCE. What song do you blast to the heavens?

48: All time favourite photo of the band you currently adore?

I know you probably have fun answers :3

finally getting around to this and I’m sure I will think of other answers right after posting - so it goes!

2. fave band - the Peter Gabriel thing was a total divine accident. I was out dancing at an 80s-90s music video mashup night and Sledgehammer came on. I remember hearing the opening flute riff and seeing some guy near me contort his body in sudden recognition. the first beat hit and I can only imagine this is what people feel after doing their first hit of some deadly euphoric drug. the rest is history; I felt something in my brain go *clunk* and it was game over.

6. ahhh so many over the years but right now it’s Us by Peter Gabriel. I’m a total basic bitch for a good melody and that album is full of them, not to mention extremely relatable themes around longing, connection, “am I the problem,” and more. honorable mentions go to Age of Adz and Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens, Not Even Happiness by Julie Byrne, the original Hadestown album pre-Broadway, and O True Believers by James Blackshaw.

8. soooo many PG songs. but also: O.N.E. by Yeasayer, Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, Fake Empire by the National, and many more.

13. “we took the town to town last night/we kissed like we invented it”

(not sure if this counts but the “shh…listen” at the very end of Secret World, too)

27. I tend to listen to sad music when I’m sad lol. but: the Graceland album by Paul Simon is a good one. also the song Number One Fan by MUNA.

40. mmmm to keep it brief: I’ve always been a deep feeler and music felt like the one thing that could mirror that. I grew up listening to a lot of hyper-melodic music like Yanni and inventing dances to go with it. I was in band and choir all throughout high school and college and kept singing in different groups after college. now I get such a charge out of dance, karaoke, live shows, and jamming on my uke. music has also helped me remember moments in my life, i.e. the first time I heard a Julien Baker song while driving through southern Colorado in a rainstorm. like life snapshots.

46. to pick only one: Let’s Go Crazy by Prince (a previous artist hyperfixation lol)

48. this was VERY DIFFICULT ahaha but:

I just adore this photo. it captures so much I love about this goofy man. I really relate to his perfectionism and tendency to get sucked into details. I love that he’s not a do-it-in-one-take guy like Prince. he’s obsessive and kind of lost in his world. but still tries to look up and out at the rest of the world around him. plus I love that Parachute label he wore so much of in the 80s (like this jacket here). p.s. I of course wanted to post some egregious 90s photo of him but there were too many to choose from.

thanks for the asks; this was fun <3

[conceptalbon]

drop the all hunger all restraint and poised bones annotated playlist bestie

i wanted to actually link the full spotify playlist here but i don't want to doxx myself and remaking it would take ten thousand years SO i'm going to add my comments here and link it later cool cool

1. i'm a fool to want you by billie holiday

this aligns with soulbond!george so perfectly in my head. his perspective on the whole relationship is that it's doomed from the start; he knows alex is not in love with him since before they share their first kiss, he knows this relationship will end before it even starts.

he promises himself he will end it on multiple occasions and yet he can't bring himself to do it. he wants to minimize the heartbreak of losing alex by breaking it off on his own terms but every time the possibility of it becomes real (especially during the infamous George Bakery Breakdown or, as we in the business call it, the gbb) he falls apart.

'i'm a fool to want you // pity me, i need you // i know it's wrong, it can't be right // but right or wrong i can't get along without you'

like come onnnnn it was ghostwritten by sb!george

2. wish on an eyelash by mallrat

i found this when i was nearing the end of the writing process already and went insane over how well it works with sb!au. literally almost every line is about them my god. but especially 'made a wish on my birthday // talk about you to heaven // i plan my days all around ya // planets orbit around ya'. it's so short but it talks about yearning and devotion in such a specific and hard-hitting way

it also works very well with a certain space au. 'i was lost till i found ya'? yeah.

3. futile devices by sufjan stevens (original version)

ah yes the song about how words fail when your feelings are too strong. in a story about characters whose feelings are so strong they literally develop a telepathic bond because they can't use their words. i am SORRY okay i love sufjan so so so much and age of adz is an incredible album and this song specifically creates a mood like no other does. this might be at the top of my spotify wrapped this year with how much i've listened to it and i adore the word choices in it and i am insane over it forever and always.

4. the bug collector by haley heyndericks

everything i write i write to spread our 'alex cares so much' agenda. i've done a tiny bit of director's commentary about him in the ao3 comments already but i will literally talk about him for hours if anyone will listen. the thing with alex in this fic is that he has never wanted anything without reaching for it with both hands. that's his modus operandi, which george correctly identifies (and incorrectly decides that alex not fighting for him means alex does not want him). BUT alex believes that he came on too strong when it was unwanted, thinks he has hurt george by displaying affection so directly and so he tries to tone down how intense he is as not to scare or hurt him further. still, he can't just Stop Loving him and defaults to acts of care that can be interpreted as more platonic (not really but that's what he thinks). he makes george avocado toast when he can't sleep, he skips his own debrief because he feels george's fear, he kisses his temple telepathically (god) when george is having a breakdown in the bathroom. he cares so much. in the words of haley heyndericks he must make him the perfect morning. he doesn't know how to do it any other way!

note also: alex saying 'you can be angry at the way i've expressed it but not at the feeling itself, george. i know you're not cruel enough for that' which is so important to me and which i can write an essay about because outward expressions of inner processes are The main theme of this fic and i have thought about this so much while writing. good god.

honorable mentions: flight risk by tommy lefroy (thee doomed from the start anthem! 'i wanted to be something you couldn't put down but i'm already gone' pleaseeeee), waltz right in by matt maeson (the second most listened to song in this whole playlist after futile devices, i'm so so so insane about it), gregory alan isakov's whole discography (very very galex coded!! gregory what a legend you are)

[cljordan-imperium]

Happy WBW! I know it's summer, but we're going back to school! What does the education system look like in your world? Is it standardized or trade based? Required or for certain people only?

Imperium isn't that different from Earth, since the basics are built off of it, so I'm going to discuss Uffern.

Uffern has different education in childhood, under one century of age, depending on class. The nobility and royalty have private tutors. The landed gentry and wealthy have private schools, similar to Earthly boarding schools. What type of boarding school they go to depends on their family and what their parents hope for them to be later in life. In some cases, it also depends on what their powers and abilities are. For those who are the average residents of Uffern, school is much like Earth grade through junior college. Every few years they graduate from one level of schooling and move on to a separate level, much like on Earth.

Once all schooling has been completed and the "child" has reached maturity, it is time to decide on a consortium either within Uffern or in another realm. Consortiums are like Earthly universities, only they are specialized depending on a very specific field of study. Grae went to a Diplomacy and Negotiation Consortium to prepare him for his position as Kellen's Chancellor. Seren is going to be attending a Consortium for Mage's. Korben went to a Financial Consortium. The classes are structured for practical rather than theoretical learning. When the students leave, they are fully trained to use their skills from day one.

Not all residents of Uffern attend a Consortium. Some will go into military service in the Legion of Uffern/Uffernian Army. Others will go into a trade such as blacksmith, baker, seamstress/tailor, etc. For those professions, there are trade guilds that will give them an apprenticeship as soon as their main schooling is finished. Most of those going into trades are following a familial lineage of the trade. Military service is considered an honor and Uffernian parents are proud if their child chooses to go into the military and serve their King.

While there are different socio-economic classes within Uffern, there is not much discrimination between them. It is amongst the races of beings that this is seen. Fae are enslaved in Uffern, as Adalicia was. They have been for a full generation, since Kellen and his father defeated a fae realm when Adalicia would have been just an infant. Elves and gnomes are servants. They are employees of the palace, but they are no considered equal with races of beings that originated in Uffern. Demons, ghasts, shifters, spectres, ogres, goblins, preta, ghouls, dybbuk, and adze are the only races of being originating in Uffern. Only those are able to receive formal education. Elves and gnomes are able to be educated by their elders. Fae are to receive no kind of education, Grae is of course going to break this.

Thank you for this ask!!💜

THE IMPERIUM CHRONICLES TAG LIST - @ceph-the-ghost-writer @kjscottwrites @writingpotato07 @saltysupercomputer @careful-pyromancer @late-to-the-fandom @autumnalwalker @perasperaadastrawriting @fearofahumanplanet @jessica-writes22 @dogmomwrites @mjjune @verba-writing @blind-the-winds @shipping-through-eternity   @outpost51 @inkspellangel @blind-the-winds @sunset-a-story @writingmaidenwarrior @clairelsonao3

Please let me know if you would like +/- the list

[lennajune]

Something that lives rent free in my head is at pitchfork music festival while decked out in full age of adz gear suf really said “I’ve been touring the world singing about death and loneliness so if you don’t mind I’m gonna try to do some up beat stuff” only to minutes later “keep it going with a slow jam” and launch into the grooviest version of all of me wants all of you and do a little shuffle around stage in neon yellow sunglasses he then proceeds to lead the audience in a coordinated dance

[dzthenerd490]

Document of Interest: Foundation Sites

Description: Since we have been [data expunged] in a new [data expunged] with new [data expunged] and therefore new anomalies it only makes sense that we make new Foundation sites. Granted by pure miracle we still have our old sites, but we will need more room to contain new anomalous threats.

Site-AA - Site Director: Nancy James/ Location: [data expunged], Greenland/ Purpose: Common containment, testing facilities for anomalies/ Contains: SCP-AAJ, SCP-AAK, SCP-AAL, SCP-AAN, SCP-AAP, SCP-AAV, SCP-AAY, SCP-ABI, SCP-ABY, SCP-ACA-Beta, SCP-ACK, SCP-ACL, SCP-ACX, SCP-ADA, SCP-ADF-Ε, SCP-ADG, SCP-ADS, SCP-ADX, SCP-AEK, SCP-AEW, SCP-AEO, SCP-AFN, SCP-AFQ, SCP-AFV, SCP-AFW, SCP-AFY, SCP-AGF, SCP-AGI, SCP-AHB, SCP-AHI-1, SCP-AHP, SCP-AIB, SCP-AIU, SCP-AJE, SCP-AJK, SCP-AJT, SCP-AJV, SCP-AJZ, SCP-ALF, SCP-ALK

Site-AB - Site Director: Isaac Cortez/ Location: [data expunged], Greenland/ Purpose: Memetic and cognitive containment/ Contains: SCP-AAX, SCP-ABD, SCP-ACC-3, SCP-ACG, SCP-ACM, SCP-ADY-Alpha, SCP-AEV, SCP-AFO, SCP-AIE, SCP-AIM, SCP-ARR, SCP-ATQ

Site-AC - Site Director: Brain Veil/ Location: [data expunged], Iceland/ Purpose:  Containment of highly dangerous anomalies through freezing, containment of anomalies with limited or restricted testing/ Contains: SCP-AAA, SCP-AAD, SCP-AAE, SCP-AAQ, SCP-AAR, SCP-AAU, SCP-ABW, SCP-ABZ, SCP-ACE, SCP-ADE-beta, SCP-ADZ, SCP-AEC, SCP-AEG, SCP-AFL, SCP-AOY

Site-AD - Site Director: Dr. Wicked/ Location: [data expunged]/ Purpose: Experimental Containment of dangerous anomalies/ Contains: SCP-AAG, SCP-AAI, SCP-ABB, SCP-ACA-Beta, SCP-ACC-5, SCP-ACT, SCP-ACU, SCP-ADF-Α, SCP-AEK-Ξ, SCP-AFJ, SCP-AGD, SCP-AIV, SCP-AJU, SCP-ANE, SCP-ARN, SCP-ASS

Site-AE - Site Director: Elanore Whitlock/ Location: [data expunged], Atlantic Ocean/ Purpose: containment of dangerous anomalies that are or produce resources that are beneficial to the Foundation, Foundation transportation hub/ Contains: SCP-ADE-Alpha, SCP-ABO, SCP-ACQ, SCP-AEE, SCP-AEF, SCP-AJA

Site-AF - Site Director: Dr. tutela/ Location: Inside a pocket dimension within in a blast bunker hidden in the [data expunged] desert, Brazil/ Purpose: Containment of dangerous human and humanoid anomalies/ Contains: SCP-AAM, SCP-ABX, SCP-ACA-Alpha, SCP-ACC-1, SCP-ACD, SCP-ACY, SCP-ADF-Γ, SCP-ADF-Ζ, SCP-ADQ, SCP-ADY-Beta, SCP-AEX, SCP-AFI, SCP-AHK, SCP-AIL, SCP-AQC, SCP-ASZ

Site-AG - Site Director: Cornelious Nex/ Location: Salkum desert, Rubrum on Mars/ Purpose: Containment of Anomalies too dangerous to be left on earth/ Contains: SCP-AAT, SCP-ABC, SCP-ACC-4, SCP-ADN, SCP-AEN, SCP-AEP, SCP-AFG, SCP-AHI, SCP-AKB, SCP-APT, SCP-ARF

Site-AH - Site Director: Nova Davis/ Location: Kinos, Pulvis on Mars/ Purpose: Containment of anomalies found on Mars/ Contains: SCP-ACR, SCP-AGN, [data expunged]

Site-AI - Site Director: Maxwell Johnson/ Location: New Eriksson, Skoni on Mars/ Purpose: Living, work, and research city for Foundation staff living on Mars, Spaceship development and mass production/ Contains: Does not contain anomalies.

Site-AJ - Site Director: Cullen Artia/ Location [data expunged], Canada/ Purpose: Full containment of SCP-AXA and similar instances/ Contains: SCP-AXA, no other anomalies are allowed at Site AJ.

Site-AK - Site Director: Lucy Doven/ Location: [data expunged] of the Sahara Desert/ Purpose: Production of AFA-1, AFA-2, and AFA-3. Also responsible for containment of special hazard anomalies/ Contains: SCP-ABS, SCP-ADF-Δ, SCP-AFT, SCP-AHV, SCP-AKD, SCP-ATA

Site-AL - Site Director: Dr. Malik/ Location: [data expunged], Madagascar/ Purpose: Containment of highly dangerous anomalies through burning or superheating, containment of anomalies with limited or restricted testing/ Contains: SCP-ADT, SCP-AEL, SCP-AFZ, SCP-AKQ, SCP-AMS, SCP-AWS, [data expunged]

Site-AM - Site Director: Veronica Pérez/ Location: No set location/ Purpose: Invisible sky fortress acts as a base for sentient and humanoid anomalies aligned with the foundation, also contains non-hazardous or low threat anomalies that are useful to the Foundation, homebase for Alpha-9 and Omega-45/ Contains: SCP-AAS, SCP-ABG, SCP-ABJ, SCP-ABL, SCP-ACC-2, SCP-ACV, SCP-ADV-Warden, SCP-ADW, SCP-AEZ, SCP-AGC, SCP-AZJ

Site-AN - Site Director: Tanaka Eto/ Location: the bottom of the Mariana Trench/ Purpose: Containment of extremely dangerous anomalies that can possess a constant XK class: End of the World scenario should they break containment but are still available for testing and research, also acts as a defensive base against SCP-[data expunged]/ Contains: SCP-ABA, SCP-ABT-1, SCP-ADR, SCP-ADU, SCP-AFB, SCP-AHD, SCP-AID, SCP-ATV, SCP-AXP

Site-AO - Site Director: [data expunged]/ Location: [data expunged] of the North Atlantic Ocean/ Purpose: Primarily for the testing of long-term effects anomalies can have on the public through an artificial city environment populated by [data expunged]. Secondary, for the purpose of either temporary containment or permanent containment of biohazardous, chemical, and aquatic class anomalies/ Contains: SCP-ABE, SCP-ADK, SCP-AES, SCP-AFU, SCP-AGE, SCP-AGL, SCP-AJR, SCP-AKS, [data expunged]

Site-AP - Site Director: [data expunged]/ Location: [data expunged]/ Purpose: [data expunged]/ Contains: SCP-ABP, SCP-ABV-4, SCP-ABV-6, SCP-AGS, SCP-AHJ, SCP-AHM, SCP-AHX, SCP-AJY-Prime

Site-AQ - Site Director: 476F64/ Location: The Arctic/ Purpose: containment and study of digital anomalies such as A.I., virtual worlds, and anomalous video games/ Contains: SCP-ACH, SCP-ADP, SCP-AED, SCP-AEM, SCP-AVH

Site-AR - Site Director: Malcom Wyllt/ Location: underneath the islands of Hawaii/ Purpose: Headquarters of the Department of Technology, Alchemy, Science, Magic, and Warfare. Containment of literature-based anomalies as well as containing extremely dangerous anomalies by other anomalous means. Most active Foundation Site for experimentation/ Contains: SCP-ACI, SCP-ACX-2, SCP-AGT, SCP-AHG, SCP-AIJ, SCP-AJW, SCP-AKW-Marker

.

Anomalous Sites: 

Site-AFTERLIFE

Site-GRID - Site Director: SCP-AVC/ Location: within 

Site-GATE

Site-GARDEN

.

SCP: HMF - Documents of Interest Hub

[borom1r]

Hdhdjsjs it's late but I remembered!! Questions abt Adz!! What, if any, kinds of hobbies does he have + if so, which one(s) is his favourite? & also, how did Sentry and Adz meet? Was it sudden or a more gradual progression? Did it take some time for them to warm up to each other? (Also taking his opportunity that I Adore both of their designs!! <33)

aaaaa i had almost an entire answer typed up last night + then tumblr crashed and i lost it!!

i've talked about his hobbies a little bit before + photography is definitely his favorite! he mostly photographs Sen + their other friends— I touched on it before but they do have photographic memory, but that was more because it was useful for the Primogenitors (they would never forget training and once they'd learned from a mistake they'd never repeat it, y'know? also makes it very easy to get comprehensive reports when your puppet perfectly remembers an entire deployment). it's a really powerful thing for Adz, to take photos because he thinks a moment is important

he also likes to cook! Protogen do need to eat (food is emulsified by specialized nanites in their visors, which can open like a traditional mouth), but they don't actually need to cook. Adz likes it because its a semi-repetitive activity and it results in something special for him and Sen to enjoy <3

as for him and Sentry, their first meeting was definitely out of the blue lol! Adz was having a late night out + stumbled across Sen in an alley after he'd gotten into a fight. and, like just the grouchiest mother hen, Adz insisted on patching Sen up. they ran into each other a few times after that, and eventually Sentry just invited Adz along for a night out— when Sen learned Adz was still living in a shelter for newly-freed Protos, he asked if Adz would like to stay with him instead until he got back on his feet. Adz agreed, and, well.. "you can crash here for a week or two" developed into a full-fledged relationship!

it did take some time for them to warm up in general, simply because Adz is generally standoffish and they both have some trust issues. Adz had his life turned completely upside down very recently and he is very much comforted by routine. thankfully Sen is also very routine-oriented, and even though Adz can be a little chaotic and aggressive, he's always well-meaning and is very protective of Sen (which Sen finds very adorable, considering he is twice Adz's age and specifically bred for combat. he could bench-press Adz.. Adz will still 100% insert himself between Sen and danger while beeping like a pissed off 90s fax machine)

+ aaa!! thank u dude!! i mentioned Adz' spines (like a lil hedgehog!) b4 since they don't come across in his design, but smthn that maybe doesn't come across for Sen is that the borders around his panels (where his symbols are) glow that pretty blue/green! he can turn it on + off at will like a very tall, buff nightlight lol (Adz' panels have simple metallic borders; when Sen's aren't glowing they're a matte black like the bottom of his chest/his groin)

[feenyreadscomics]

earth, honeydew, ivy?

Earth: what is your strongest personality quality? I don't know definitely, but a lot of people have commented on me knowing a lot of things, or being soft/gentle, so I guess one of those? (But I can also be full of incredible rage, so....)

Honeydew: describe an ideal day out with a friend. Probably hiking, getting outside, something like that.

Ivy: what are three albums that have defined or shaped you as a person? Go Farther Into Lightness by Gang of Youths, Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens, and probably The Front Bottoms self titled album

Thanks for the ask!

[awisa-moved]

like . OOUGH. the way that age of adz starts off with futile devices and ends with impossible soul’s pleasure principle and are both the only fully acoustic parts of the album, and are both wholly about love but in completely different ways? futile devices is so sweet and innocent with the narrator describing his crush like its such a short song but there is so much LOVE in it!!! and impossible soul is a rollercoaster of both sound and tone and emotions, and pleasure principle is similarly innocent but like.. in a selfish way? ok i mean one of the lines is literally “i'm nothing but a selfish man” so yeah duh, but the narrator spends the whole song begging a girl to stay with him, then 25 minutes later goes “actually, i have no regrets with what i did i just wanted to fuck around oops sorry not sorry </3″. like the fucking DRAMA of this monologue of a song just to end it by accepting the end of the relationship.. i just love that it’s intentionally mirrored in sound but with different subject matter and different types of love!! and now that i’ve said i just looked at the tracklist and realized it’s all about love. every single song is about love. god i need to go back and listen thru it in full soon

[ladiesladiesladies-inactive]

i was tagged by @alitneroon to post my top 7 albums 🌟

thank you!! 🥰 this was a challenge lol! my favorites change all the time and I also listen more to playlists than full albums so I just put ones that I keep coming back to so no new albums (=from this year) or albums I recently discovered! so maybe fetch the bolt cutters or folklore or set me on fire immediately or a bunch of other stuff should be here but I had to set out some rules. (I also limited myself to one album per artist) also I wasn't sure abt Igor cause I haven’t listened to it in a long time and im not sure I like it as much anymore but I did obsessively listen to it when it came out and I had to pick something 🤷‍♀️ but it might as well be something else. ALSO choosing my favorite mountain goats album was impossible, it was between this and the sunset tree...... im sure I'm forgetting another album thats really important to me or that I listen to all the time but yeah. if I did this list tomorrow or yesterday it would be different sdfghjk

blonde - frank ocean

the idler wheel - fiona apple

all hail west texas - the mountain goats

ctrl - sza

veteran - jpegmafia

the age of adz - sufjan stevens

igor - tyler the creator

I'll tag @1934boyfriend  @emobarn  @cordeliachace  @lunarmagpie @pollyjean​  @dogdayevening​ and whoever else would like to do it <3<3 

[aaronmaurer]

Music I Liked in 2020

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

I can’t say I discovered a lot of new artists in 2020, but I did find a lot of solace in new records by familiar voices. During days of intense isolation and lonesomeness, music provided support, hope and the occasional semblance of peace. I’m especially grateful for the musicians who found new ways to perform live from their home studios, once the entire touring industry completely shut down. I’m sure we all found our own rabbit holes, but live-streamed sets from the likes of Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Atkins, Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, Geographer’s Michael Deni and Ben Folds kept me sane during April, May and beyond. As did all of these albums, which I highly recommend.

15. Serpentine Prison – Matt Berninger

The National frontman’s first solo record is a slow-burn that may not reach the heights of his work with his main group (or sideproject El Vy), but still has signature moments of poetic beauty. The title track is a clear standout (and when it gets stuck in your head, you can have fun brainstorming your own alternate non-sequitur couplets; examples: “Tripping on Molly / Salvador Dalí”, “Praying to Jesus / Ramona and Beezus” / “Sell it on Etsy / Heavens to betsy” / “Patio tables / Anne of Green Gables” It’s fun! Try it out!)

14. Local Honey – Brian Fallon

Speaking of Matt Berninger (and solo projects from alt-rock frontmen), I hear a lot of his influence on the latest from Gasoline Anthem’s Brian Fallon. This largely stripped-down affair has quiet splendor to spare and provided a balm in the early days of the pandemic.

13. Gigaton – Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam’s latest record finds the band operating in a variety of different modes – head-on rockers, balladeers, experimentalists – yet doesn’t quite gel into a whole the way their very best work does. That said, it’s an energetic album with many songs I look forward to hearing live, someday…

12. George Clanton & Nick Hexum – George Clanton & Nick Hexum

A vaporwave collaboration between electronic artist George Clanton and 311’s Nick Hexum? Really? Somehow it works, and its chill vibes were a perfect backdrop for lonely summer malaise this year.

11. Petals For Armor – Hayley Williams

Paramore’s Williams branched out on her first solo record this year, allowing her to operate in a variety of styles without losing her powerful voice. Moments of slinkily seething electronica (“Simmer”) share space with pop smarts (“Dead Horse”), quietly pretty harmonies (“Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris”) and all points in between.

10. Mordechai and Texas Sun EP (with Leon Bridges) – Khruangbin

Houston psych-rock trio Khruangbin did double duty this year, first releasing a collaborative EP with Leon Bridges then following it up with a new full-length a couple months later. Both records hang in the air like hazy, languid summer heat, in the best possible way.

  9. RTJ4 – Run the Jewels

RTJ4 is just as rollicking and propulsive as Killer Mike and El-P’s previous collabs, but with a greater sense of socially conscious urgency and righteous anger, giving it an even rawer power. Tracks like “Walking In The Snow,” “JU$T” and “a few words for the firing squad (radiation)” are just the tip of the iceberg on this incendiary record.

8. American Head – The Flaming Lips

American Head returns the Flaming Lips to the melodic soundscapes of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which is my preferred mode for the band, and thus is my favorite thing they’ve done in at least a decade. The record is a bit more dreamily melancholic than those earlier releases though, creating atmospheres of contemplative beauty.

7. Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers

Coming after collaborations with boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center, it’s hard to believe this is only Bridgers’ sophomore album. Punisher takes the winning palette of Stranger In The Alps and mixes in more colors and texture. This is an album that rewards repeat listens; tunes that I had initially dismissed have ended up becoming my favorites as they get their hooks into me. The most immediate tracks like “Kyoto” and “ICU” don’t lose any impact over time, but the likes of the quietly devastating “Chinese Satellite” sneak up on you and gradually reveal their layers.

6. Imploding the Mirage – The Killers

I was done with The Killers. My interest always ran hot and cold anyway, but after 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful, no thanks. So imagine my surprise when I gave Imploding the Mirage a shot and found I LOVE it! It may be my favorite of their records yet, at least the most consistent, where they most fully realize the confluence of their Springsteen-tinged Americana fetish and electro-rock sensibilities. Bombastic 80s arena percussion and over-the-top synth flourishes combine in the best possible way. There’s not a dud on the album for me, but I’m especially fond of “My God,” “Lightning Fields” and “Dying Breed.”

5. The Ascension – Sufjan Stevens

The Ascension hits with similar energy to 2010’s polarizing Age of Adz, but with more easily accessible songs. It’s a dark and introspective record about disillusionment with America and oneself, but also highly danceable – if a bit overlong. Standout tracks like “Goodbye to All That” and “Lamentations” provide transcendent moments of soaring beauty like calm in the storm. And the brilliant title track plays like a self-interrogating rejoinder to Adz’s pep talk “Vesuvius” in which, instead of cheering himself on, Stevens probes and calls into question his motivations and beliefs.

4. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez – Gorillaz

The latest record from Damon Albarn’s ever-evolving cartoon collective is its most engaging since Plastic Beach, with a spirit of musical exploration that reminds me much of 2001’s self-titled debut as well. The project was introduced as a series of one-off singles, so what really surprises is just how well they cohere into a full record, featuring a plethora of A-List guest artists and Albarn holding down the fort with some of his best songwriting yet.

3. 10 Songs – Travis

Travis are a band that I’ve casually enjoyed (2001’s The Invisible Band is great) but never followed all that closely. I certainly wasn’t expecting much from a latter-day record from them, but 10 Songs is one of the 2020 releases I have returned to most. The songs are the audial equivalent of a warm blanket, with a lovely wistfulness permeating through. Standouts include “The Only Thing,” “A Million Hearts” and “Kissing in the Wind,” but all ten songs are great.

2. Devastator – Phantom Planet

Phantom Planet’s first record in 12 years doesn’t miss a beat, finding a sonic middle ground between their early indie-pop leanings and their later punkier direction. The hooks are plentiful and the lyrics poignant (this is basically a breakup album about the end of frontman Alex Greenwald’s relationship with Brie Larson), with highlights including the up-tempo “Only One” and the elegiac “Time Moves On.” Return of the year.

1. folklore and evermore – Taylor Swift

Top 40 Pop Music is not really my thing and while I’ve certainly appreciated some of Taylor Swift’s work before (Red has jams!), I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. 2020’s pair of surprise release records are a different mode of songwriting for her and right in my wheelhouse, with indie-leaning production courtesy of fun./Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff and The National’s Aaron Dessner. While my impressions of Swift’s past work have been navel-gazy and self-mythologizing (not a problem, but not that interesting to me), folklore and evermore broaden her storytelling to paradoxically become more specific in its universality and/or more universal in its specificity. The moments that are autobiographical (“mad woman,” “invisible string”) have an authenticity and self-assuredness that make them all the more accessible. This is romantically nostalgic poetry with the power to reopen old wounds and maybe also start rehealing them at the same time. While I still give folklore the edge (I love “august,” “exile” and mirrorball,” to name just a few), evermore is steadily growing on me with each listen.

Here’s a playlist songs from each of these records for your sampling pleasure:

Bonus! 2 Unexpected Cover EPs:

Switchfoot – Covers EP and Death Cab For Cutie – Georgia EP

As society grappled with lockdowns and concerts were uniformly cancelled the world over, many artists kept occupied with livestreams from their home studios. Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman and Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard were among those who posted daily songs or shows during the early days and their bands would each end up releasing EPs of cover songs during the year. Switchfoot take on a range of songs from the likes of Vampire Weekend, Frank Ocean and The Verve and Death Cab honor Georgia artists like R.E.M. and Neutral Milk Hotel for a Bandcamp fundraiser for voting rights. Both efforts provide some unexpected reinterpretations that elevate them above the average covers album.

[ohgaylor]

Taylor went full Sufjan Stevens with closure!!! Age of Adz era!