#ahab band

[hit-song-showdown]

My favorite songs of 2023

I am putting together my favorite songs released in 2023. I started off doing a project where I listened to as many new albums as I could (and recording my findings in a spreadsheet), but that project tapered off around June when my move + school year started. But even though I wasn't able to listen to every album that came out, I still came out of 2023 with some of my favorite musical projects of all time. Also as another disclaimer: I am not a professional music writer.

I am also limiting this list to 1 song per album/project.

1. Scaring the Hoes by JPEGMafia and Danny Brown. I wish I could go back and experience again what happened to my brain when I first heard this track so I could properly convey it with text. When I first saw this project was announced, I knew it would take over my life. When I heard this track before the album was released, I knew I would have to form some kind of religion around it. The reason why I'm limiting this list to one track per album is because Scaring the Hoes has 14 tracks so I wouldn't be able to fit them all (other songs I would have given the number 1 spot include Burfict!, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up/Muddy Waters, God Loves You, and Kingdom Hearts Key). But the title track is the perfect introduction. It's less of a single and more of a thesis statement for the entire project. The production throughout this album is incredible, but STH hits different. The rhythmic, almost menacing handclaps (fun fact: those aren't handclaps--that's the sound my asscheeks make when this song comes on) and the horn sample which I can only describe as Blood Money era Tom Waitsian, it is by far my favorite beat of 2023. Combined with Danny and JPEG's charisma and the way they bounce back and forth, this song is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. Also I saw them live and that experience elevated a 10/10 to a 20/10 for me.

2. Prof. Aronnax' Descent into the Vast Oceans by Ahab. I started seriously listening to German nautical funeral doom metal band, Ahab around early 2022 so this was the first new release I got to experience. Even though I loved what I heard previously, nothing could have prepared me for this. The opening track is everything I want from a doom metal song. It starts out with a frantic onslaught of screaming and inhuman growls before mellowing out into a serene instrumental before the mournful vocals kick in. It really feels like the initial shock of your body slamming into the water, then having to slowly drift among the waves as your muscles give out and you're taken deeper into the depths. That's what I like about doom metal: it's music to decay to. This track (and by extension this album) hooked me from a story-telling perspective right away, which shouldn't be a surprise as it was based on Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The story presented in this album intrigued me so much that I had to read the book for myself. Then I read it again. Then I read two different translations. Now I'm working on a visual novel adaptation. I know metrics for album rankings are subjective, so I'm willing to give an album an extra bump if it gets me to read a 19th century novel at least five times in less than two months and learn Python coding. (Other tracks I would have included: the album is at its strongest as a single listening experience, but I especially enjoyed Mobilis in Mobili and Ægri Somnia).

3. What A Man by Debby Friday. This is a track off of Nigerian-Canadian electronic musician Debby Friday's first album Good Luck and holy shit, what a debut. This is such a well-formed project I can't believe it. I was already enjoying the album throughout the first few tracks. It brought me back to listening to 2000s club music and thinking "wow I wish I got invited to parties." But then I got to What A Man and the world screeched to a halt. I think I was posting on my main blog at the time, so anyone unfortunate enough to follow me had a chance to see my incoherent screeching in real time. This track is incredible. Debby's warm and sultry voice, the spacey production, THE ELECTRIC GUITAR? The first time the guitar kicks in, that's just a teaser for what ended up being one of my favorite music moments of the year. The electric guitar feels like an oncoming storm and Debby is standing strong before it, taking on the wind and rain as her voice becomes louder and almost yearning. Then the song builds with Debby yelling to the high heavens as the guitars wail around her before fading back down into the low bass and rhythmic breathing motif found throughout the album. This track is an experience, and the music video is gorgeous too (the picture I chose for the banner is from the video itself) and the fact that it has less than 20K views hurts me. (Other tracks I would have included: I Got It, So Hard To Tell, Let U Down)

4. Bite Back by Algiers (ft. billy woods and Backxwash). Speaking of songs that build... This is the sixth track off of Algiers' album, Shook and by this point I was already feeling pretty good about the release. I was already prepared to put the opening track, Everybody Shatter on my top 20, but when Bite Back kicked in, something changed. Here's a recreation of my initial reaction: "this sounds pretty good, I like the way this intro...is that billy woods??") Just to be transparent: billy woods' involvement would have been enough to give this an automatic top slot for me, but it helps that his verse is fantastic. His flow is slower than the introductory verse, but that only makes his lyrics stand out more. From the opening lines "One hand wash the other, they both wash the face / Centrifugal force and inertia keep everything in its place / Slowly, spinning in space, speeding, lead foot on the brakes" I knew I was in for something special. One thing I really appreciate about this track is the production. billy woods has a very steady flow with an almost menacing quality to it depending on the subject matter of the lyrics, and the beat shifts during his verse to reflect that. It sounds like it could be a billy woods beat, but it doesn't sound like one of his beats was carelessly shoved into an Algiers song. It's like the beat ebbs and flows with the artists involved. The production gets gradually more intense as billy picks up more ferocity in his delivery. A detail I really like is when billy says "claws rattling, delicate as roaches' wings," the percussion on the backing track picks up an almost rattling quality, but it doesn't sound corny or too obvious. Then billy continues, the backing track picking up even more intensity until it feels like each noise is blasting at full power...and then the tension releases and settles down with Algiers frontman, Franklin James Fisher, delivering the second verse. His delivery contrasts wonderfully with billy woods' too, with his faster, almost whispered vocals allowing the track to pick up momentum again after the previous release of tension. This track knows when to breathe and it's fantastic. But it also knows when to take the air from your lungs as Fisher goes all out with the vocals in the hook and third verse, reinstating what an absolute powerhouse vocalist he is. And just when the track is at its peak ferocity, in comes Backxwash with the steel chair! If billy and Fisher were allowing the beat to gradually shift under their performances, Backxwash grabs the song by the throat and makes it do whatever she wants. Her verse then trades off into Fisher delivering the outro, operating at full power in his delivery. This song is so well-crafted and none of the artists feel out of place. (Other tracks I would have included: Everybody Shatter, A Good Man, Irreversible Damage)

5. Billions by Caroline Polachek. As of writing this, I haven't been keeping up with other people's year end lists, but I know this album is going to make everyone else's. So I feel a bit intimidated to talk about it, but I will try. The production on this album is so good my brain can't even comprehend how it was crafted. I've seen it described as "maximalist," but that doesn't fully capture how well this album knows when to pull back and let the tracks breathe. Billions is one of the more sparse tracks compared to some of the others, but that only makes each production decision stand out more. The second time Caroline says "give me the closure," you hear a little musical sting in the background (probably some kind of synth, but at first listen I thought it was an electric guitar) which didn't show up after the first time that lyric was sung. It's that attention to detail and letting the production build on itself that makes this project incredible. And it goes without saying that Caroline is an outstanding vocalist. She sounds like a siren. It's ridiculous. (Other tracks I would have included: Welcome to My Island, I Believe, Hopedrunk Everasking)

6. The Black Seminole by Lil Yachty. Opening track off of Lil Yachty's psychedelic rock album, Let's Start Here, and what an opening track on a fantastic project. It should be clear by this point that I love songs that build, and holy shit does this song build. I first listened to this album while I was on a plane, and this track synced up with my takeoff. So while the plane was lifting off the ground and I was being pressed against my seat, Lil Yachty gave the final line before the electric guitars and the female vocalist kicked in, both wailing with equal ferocity. Top 10 music experiences of the year, but even going back to listen to that same track when I'm not on an airplane delivered the same euphoric experience. (Other tracks I would have included: Drive Me Crazy, Should I B, We Saw the Sun)

7. Xena by Skrillex and Nai Barghouti. I debated whether to put this song or Hydrate on the list, but Xena was the first track that made me fall in love with this album. With vocals by Palestinian singer, Nai Barghouti, Skrillex delivers an absolutely outstanding dubstep track. Like Billions, it's the kind of music production that makes me have to step back and fully appreciate the craft. The song is incredible at building intensity, but he also knows when to pull back to let the tension build again. And Barghouti isn't just a feature--she is the heartbeat of this song. Her voice melds with the production so well, but in a way that sounds like she's commanding it. My absolute favorite part of the song is when she starts singing in her lower register as the production turns to more naturalistic instruments. Sometimes I see electronic producers robbing their singers of their voices for the sake of cohesive production, but that isn't the case here. Nai Barghouti's voice is crisp, unique, and perfect. It's a fantastic melding of producer and vocalist that makes way more sense than it should. (Other tracks I would have included: Hydrate, Rumble, Ratata)

8. Babylon by Bus by billy woods and Kenny Segal. I already talked about billy woods, but he was a feature so this still counts. Everything I already said about billy woods' skills applies here as well, especially now that he has full control over the track. billy's flow sounds both effortless, and that he knows the perfect word to use for each line. And he uses interesting words. "Glistening waterbug on clean counter / Plague mask, gave the place a cursory glower / He ran away, I gave chase but gave up and sat on his gate for hours" I love this series of bars. He is a storyteller. And then, the beat pauses after billy's first verse, with low menacing notes, a clattering of naturalistic metallic percussion, and then the switch up??? Seriously the way the beat ramps up for SkrapKnel's verses takes the song to another level. The way the Curly Castro and PremRock pass the mic back and forth to each other is outstanding. This doesn't feel like a guest verse; this is a fully realized project. The shamelessness is even more apparent when billy takes the mic again for the final verse, but now with more ferocity in his delivery as if he's building off of the energy created by SkrapKnel. This song is masterful. "I take care of these words, Munchausen by proxy / Somehow beat the tox screen / God save the queen, but that train doesn't stop here anymore" (Other tracks I would have included: FaceTime, Year Zero, Soft Landing)

9. Drain You Empty by Cannibal Corpse. I listened to this album right around midterms and I needed it. But this was the song I kept coming back to. For one, it's fun. Obviously: it's Cannibal Corpse. But I love the way the song opens with a full minute of just blasting you before the drums, riffs, and screams really kick in. Good god the drumming on this album is so good. I absolutely love Corpsegrinder's delivery on this track. The way he shifts from bellowing growls to shrieks, the way he speeds up his delivery to match the pace of the drums, it's so good. I'm sorry I don't have a better analysis. It's fun. (Other tracks I would have included: Chaos Horrific, Overlords of Violence, Blood Blind)

10. Crossing Guard by Model/Actriz. This is a song that made me wish I went to gay clubs more. Yes, it's a killer dance song, but what draws me in is how chaotic the production is. It starts out slow and quiet, then bam! The production starts screeching at you in a glorious onslaught of noise, held together with a fantastic bassline. I love the vocalist too. He can be monotone and subtle, but he also knows how to raise his voice to match the ferocity of the production. I listened to this song countless times last year (often while crossing the street and trying not to get hit by cars), and the line "Like Germanotta, Stefani / Pull the weight from under me" will be stuck in my head forever. (Other tracks I would have included: Donkey Show, Amaranth)

[feeshies]

me and the boys going to see the barbie movie together

[von-vom]

[chronivore]

2015

[popculturebuffet]

Pirate Month III: The Pirates! In an Adventure With Whaling! (Comission by WeirdKev27)

Ahoy all you happy people and welcome back to Pirate Month! As we wind it down, it's time once again for our yearly look at Gideon Defoe's pirates series. We started with Aardman's fantastic adaptation of his work, went on to the first book and now where we are at The Pirates! An Adventure with Whaling... or Ahab if your in the US like me... or Moby Dick for the reprint for the 2012 uk reprint.

For those just joining in pirates is a series of comedy novels by british author Gideon Dafoe. The first book, and parts of this one and possibly others but we'll get to that, was adapted into a movie by Aardman Animation. I'd seen that film but now kev has me reading the books as he's a fan too.

Last year I read the pirates first adventure, adventure with scientests where our heroes casued a lot of black comedy deaths, halfheartedly helped Charles Darwin on his adventures, wore dinosaur masks, picked up a new crew member in Jennifer, met a humanpanzie and other nonsense i've likely forgot. I also found out the film was a great adaptation as while it didn't follow the book to the letter it captured the spirit of these books fantastically.

I did have one worrying question in the back of my mind going into the second one: Would the books keep up the momentum or lapse into the formula of "the crew meets and teams up with a historical figure, wackiness ensues" i'm delighted that while that's technically true, Adventures With Whaling ups the ante, tightens the plot and is still gut busting all the while. It's a nice evolution of the series that makes me excited to keep sailing with the other three books eventually. To see what I mean join me under the cut for whale puppetry, mobs of cowboys in las vegas, and severe crippling debt.

So to start us off Adventures with Whaling has a tighter plot. Like Scientists, the plot is largely a loose frame to work jokes in but unlike Scientests, where the pirates really barely cared about Charles Darwin's plight and only needed his money, here the stakes are a lot more personal and are the reason for all the wacky nonsense we know and love.

This time Pirate Captain makes a mistake i'm sure many has and overspends. With the pirate's unamed boat falling to bits their fearless leader Pirate Captain takes the crew to Nantucket, insert your own dirty limerick here, intending to get the boat fixed by Cutlass Liz

Yup to my plesant suprise Cutlass Liz was also in the books, having a bigger role that likely could've come up , and still could come up, in any sequels. I'm seriously hoping now Aardman is on steady ground with netflix we get a sequel. And reading through the jackets of the future books it seems like the pirate of the year compettion is directly taken from Adventures with Napoleon. The Aardman Film simply took a bunch of neat bits and pieces and the basic characters and reconfigured them into it's own mostly original plot about charles darwin badly wanting to get laid. Not something i'm against mind as it worked well and like i've said it gets the spirit of the books down perfectly.

Here instead of just another rival pirate and the object of Pirate Captain's affections for one fantasy sequence, Cutlass Liz is an infamous pirate who runs a boat yard and enters the book killing a pirate who couldn't pay her while terrifying the crew. So naturally.. the Pirate Captain gets into massive debt with her due to a combination of trying to impress her and his oldest foe, Black Belamy.

Yes to my delight Black Belamy is back, having set off the previous book by setting our heroes on Charles Darwin. He's also not voiced by jeremy piven, another well worn plus. He has a bigger role this time out, not only setting off the plot AGAIN, but also coming back twice to bedevil our heroes. He's also one of the few things the film didn't do better as rather than just a broish bully he's the kind of bully who pretneds to be your friend while mocking you and is far more cunning. While he generally just meant to insult pirate captain here, his later two schemes show a nicely petty and manipulative streak.

To start he just mocks the boat Pirate Captain was going to buy and Pirate Captain's own ego does the rest, instead buying the biggest boat possible. Thankfully Bellamy leaves before he gives a bs excuse about his treasure he bragged about to impress Liz but still for some reason agrees to still buy it.

Liz is at least.. sorta forgiving and agrees to give him a few weeks to pay it off .. or else. SO our heroes with low suplies, less money and a threat to cut off the captain's luxioruus beard set off.

This elevates the book as rather than the adventures mostly being disconnected, with the very loose goal of we need money , we have a firmer goal: We need money or we're all gonna die horribly.

It's not the only connecting bit too as while Liz is the looming threat that sets the plot off, well that and Pirate Captains fragile ego but that's the kind of threat you can nevery truly beat, there's another figure we see throughout the first half. While the Pirate Captain is having some drinks he runs into Moby Dick's Captain Ahab. I haven't read moby dick but thankfully this book just really requires you to know he's a grim old man whose leg got bitten by a whale and he's been trying to murder it ever since. Ahab pops up once or twice before becoming the center of the last act. It's small stuff sure but it helps make the silly story feel all the more impactful by the end: tying together these loose bits into one uprorarus set piece

Before we get there we have some smaller set pieces: the pirate captain's old mentor mails him a treasure map... that turns out to be a child's smile.. which they try to grin and bear but throw into the ocean because what the fuck man. I mean.. it's not a bad lesson but come on.

Since that fails the next one and one that made the book jacket is VEGAS BABY. Which I was so excited for and it did not disapoint. It's filled with kitchy landmarks, gambling and naturally our heroes loosing what little money they had left gambling. For once it's not even pirate captain's fault as he warned the crew. He runs into Ahab again who was told the whale was in the casino. And now I just want a version of Ocean's eleven where Ahab is one of danny's crew. I mean.. we're getting Godzilla vs the Great Gatsby and the rest of western literature this year, it's no longer impossible.

The Pirate Captain's real plan and reason for going is simple: Showbusiness! Vegas is all about those big flashy shows and this series has no concept for time or accurate history so the Pirate captain puts ona bit peformance. Antecdotes! Knife Throwing! An Albino Pirate! all the usual stuff.

To my shock given the title isn't adventures in vegas though given my love for vegas set stories I badly wish it was, it works. THey get a decent if not nearly enough pile of money scare a child who dosen't know the albino isn't a ghost, and have the child fead the albino merunge to show he's not threatning. All sentences I just got paid for recapping, all so over the top as not to be offensive

Sadly this dosen't pan out as Black Belamy, the bastard swoops in with a better show and the pirate captain's attempts to have a lymicrk battle with him result in him insulting an audience of cowboys and having to run for their life. A once an adventure staple, but not exactly good.

Our heroes seem to be at a dead end, depressed about their possible death and lack of success on the stage. I love how pettily angry the pirate captain is about how little they appricated his work. Such a good character. He stays largely the same this time, a bit of an ass (the bit about him trying to go into the showers while jennifer there has aged like fine mlik on a sidewalk but thankfully he clearly never got away with anything), an egotistic and a layabout, but a guy who genuinely loves his crew.

Well.. MOST of them. There's one exception introduced this book and he is a delight, the only pirate beyond Captain's #2 pirate with a scarf, the albino pirate and jennifer to really get much of a personality: The Pirate in Red. The Pirate in Red is a sarcastic bastard who freqnuently makes jabs at the Pirate Captain's expense, only stopping when the captain gestures to his cutlass. He's the only one besides pirate with a scarf who seems to have an idea what he's doing and unlike Scarf Pirate, will actually point this out.

While Pirate Captain DEFINTELY wants to kill him he either defintly knows...

Or more likely it's a sign of a change between books: Scientests relied HEAVILY on black comedy, lots of casual murder and death. This is still present in Whaling, Liz's plans ot kill our heroes are repsented by a threatning greeting card reminder and several people still do die, but it's tone down a bit, more in line with the eventual movie. There's still racy jokes, some that work like PIrate Captain not wanting his beard to get hurt as it'll hurt their gay following as he's known as a bit of a bear, and some age like fine milk left inside a monster truck in a hurricane, like the mention of thiland's "Ladyboys". Bleh. But most of the humor has held up perfectly and it's leaning a bit more into the nonsense, while keeping some casual deaths and murder for funsies. IT's a better ballance. I also got a rather large chuckle out of both times the inventory included the acordian pirate who died last book still stuffed and and mounted after his death.

So while Pirate Captain is loathe to agree with Pirate in Red, he finds his suggestion to... do some fucking pirating for a change actually has merrit. We get them boarding a leper boat an da school trip, both jokes that would be used in the movie. Both are pretty funny with the lepers giving them used bits and with the kids after getting what little money they had they just.. hang out. They build frankestines out of the leper parts, which is fucked up but man if I didn't giggle and Pirate Captain dosen't take them with him as they have moms to think about. Awww

Eventually though they find a whaling vessle and Ahab. Once again the rest of the plot is kicked off by a bad bit of piracy.. but it works largely because rather than someone they barely know.. it's a casual aquantince and it's hilariously awkward, with PC having run through his first mate and Ahab being angry as hell. I just love how it comes off as if you ran into a friend while doing something embarassing and having to make that awkward small talk. And invite him to dinner which is also awkard.

It does provide our heroes an out though: Ahab blows up at the pirate captain making a whale with his mashed potatoes, but admits it's more because he's just fucking tired. So he offers bounty: the same 6000 dubloons our heroes need.

So the rest of the book, the bulk of it really is truly an adventure with whaling as our heroes have no clue HOW to actually do this. The schemes are fast, furious, and stupid with having a bunch of pirates pretend to be krill, dangling various pirates off the bow, and naturally loosing a bunch more to sharks, and the Pirate Captain reading his secret romance novel loudly, which the crew naturalyl enjoys but dosen't do anything.

Eventually in a turn I find neat that REALLY ups the stake the Captain gets obsseed: he works everyone harder, then does the unthinkable: his prized ham, which gets mentiond quite a bit gets nailed to the door for the winner.

I like how this emphasises how the crew works; Sure pirate captain's killed a few dozen of them, and is incompitent as hell.. but he makes the ship fun, gives them adventure and does love his crew. He's not a great leader but he's THEIR captain and him taking all that fun away makes them deseprate

So ... because rule of threes.. the turn to the devil himself: Yes Jennifer suggests the impossible: A few of them including her sneak out and ask Black Belamy. I'ts a genius turn I did'nt see coming: we've seen how clever he can be, and it's the exact worst thing.. but our heroes are short on time and actual ideas.

Belamy being his bastardly self is actually.. helpful, wooing jennifer with a dinner and to his credit not being a dick: he clearly IS trying to win her into bed with his fancy dinner, flirting and what not, btu when she just calls him friend and dosen't quite catch onto his intrest, he dosen't force it. It's a bare minimum but Bellamy is such a scoundrel it's neat to find out he has standards. And he agrees to help. Granted it's of course another scheme on his old school chum and arch enemy, but it's more of a solution than our heroes have

I love how Pirate Captain reacts too: he's mildly livid for a second.. but upon it being explained they were all worried about him, he's genuinely touched by their gesture and belamy giving them what seems to be THE whale in 20 minutes.

As I said though it' sonce again another classic Black Belamy prank. Honestly i'll be dispaointed if adventurees with communist doesn't have him pull some half assed con on our heroes at this point that only works because our heroes are a few barnacles short of a hive minded barnacle monster.

He painted a whale from the zoo white... and our heroes just run with it. Yeah for once his half assed scheme actually helps as they had no other plan so "Hope he buys it" is all they got. Pirate Captain naturally has to take it one step further and stupider: have someone puppet the whale from the inside and apologize. On his last fucking nerve with the guy, PC assigns pirate in red for the job.

So our gang plans to have the whale apologize and arrives to a sketpical ahab and cutlas liz for a GLORIOUS climax. I mean it this finale is just so damn good. It starts with Pirate in Red going off script to insult pirate captain who can't just point to his sword as he can't see him, one of my faviorite gags of the book. Lucky for them before Cutlass Liz can understandably kill them, Moby Dick himself shows up and starts destroying their boat thinking i'ts a lady whale. This is also a great callback as that was thier first scheme. So the book climaxes in pirate captain hanging on for dear life as the whale bats him around and destroys his nice new ship while everyone thinks he's a total badass, cumilating in him and his prized ham, which he ran back for while everyone else jumped ship, ending up in the whales blowhole.

With the newfound respect of their creditors and thier debts paid Liz gives the pirates thir old boat back and we get a pretty sweet ending as they all watch clouds as they did at the start of the book.. they didn't really gain MUCh from this adventure.. btu they learned something: don't get into debt to impress women. Also maybe whaling's not for them.

Adventures in Whaling is a perfect sequel: it ups the stakes, ties the plot together way better, ups the jokes nad in general is just a delight. I dont' knokw if I can wait a year for the next one, this one was pretty damn fantastic. Thanks for reading

[theartofmetal]

39. The Call of the Wretched Sea - Ahab (Funeral Doom Metal, 2006)

Art by Kinuko Y. Craft

She mostly creates book covers and is known worldwide for her fantasy-themed paintings - definitely worth it to check out her gallery!

[basil-touche]

I've been randomly flicking through parts of The Pirates! Book series today (for my brain is still obsessing over this years dead series) and I've come across the little bonus part in The Pirates! With an Adventure With Whaling (or Ahab or Moby Dick as this one has three different titles for some reason?)

After the part about dealing with debt, whale conservation and Nantucket there's one final gag about all the other books in the series, only one of which is real, their Adventure With Scientists, while the other 184 titles never exsited (yes I counted them all). There's one or two that would become other books in the series, intentionally or unintentionally I have no idea, such as The Pirates! In An Adventure With the Political Supremacy of the Bourgeoisie (The Pirates! In An Adventure With Communists). I think I've seen some used for fanfic titles before, I might use some in the future myself (still working on it :)!)

Here's a couple of my favourites:

The Pirates! In An Adventure With A Very Windy Day

The Pirates! In An Adventure With An Ant

The Pirates! In An Adventure With Lingerie

The Pirates! Commit A Series Of Horrific Atrocities

The Pirates Are Killing Music

The Pirates Justify Themselves

The Pirates' Rainy Day Indoors

The Pirates! Have Been Running With Scissors Again

The Pirates! Are Overdoing It A Bit

[im-still-a-robot]

How is anyone in this house functional.

[mortimermcmirestinks]

a complete list

so we got the following already:

AFAB = assigned female at birth

AMAB = samesies but for the bros

ACAB = fuck them pigs

AHAB = guy who wants to fuck and/or kill a sperm whale

so I'm gonna give you the other 22. ready? let's go

AAAB: the muuuscle in your miiidseeection

ABAB: 🔥🔥swedish band typo🔥🔥

ACAB: fuck them pigs

ADAB: world's most rad dance move

AEAB: assigned evil at birth

AFAB: doctor said you were a dame right when you slunk out the pusspuss

AGAB: what the doctor said you was when you slopped on outta the verjubit

AHAB: from hell's heart I tap that cetacean or whatever I never read it

AIAB: all investigators are bisexual

AJAB: a friendly poke

AKAB: all kops are bastardz

ALAB: like asexual but for science experiments instead of sexual attraction. short for "alaboratory"

AMAB: doctor said you were a bloke the second you shot out of the ol' utero cannon

ANAB: someone very sneakily trying to name their D&D character after a banana. don't let them get away with it

AOAB: desperately trying to remember the official Maori name for New Zealand but I'm so so bad at spelling

APAB: assigned pussy magnet at birth

AQAB: the guy from the new GAY version of Moby Dick. this version's called Moby Pronouns. the woke agenda has gone too far!!!!!

ARAB: an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the ARAB world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant ARAB diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years. In the 9th century BCE, the As

ASAB: ahh!! stinkyyy!!! aww, baby

ATAB: the thing you start at a bar when you don't want to pay up right away. ALTERNATE JOKE: the thing you hit to go to the next cell in Excel

AUAB: sound a turtle makes when it's ramming ham

AVAB: only known word to be a perfect anagram of both "balaclava" AND "baklava"

AWAB: assigned weeb at boston

AXAB: amnestic XK-class anomalous being

AYAB: alla youse are bullshit

AZAB: mystery option. nobody knows what this one is. if you know what this one is, send your knowledge to the Pentagon and they will send you a shiny American penny.

glad to help out!! just playing my small role in the queer community. fuck cops also

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Fairport Convention - Royal Festival Hall, London, England, March 24, 1969

An extremely lo-fi audience tape of Fairport Convention in March of 1969? This is the stuff that Doom & Gloom dreams are made of. Especially if said tape includes one of the few (the only?) surviving live performances of that amazing epic "A Sailor's Life." This "Sailor's Life" showed up on one of the many official Fairport rarities collections over the year, but it sounds better here — and we get more of the set, as well.

"I'd been singing 'A Sailor's Life' in the clubs for years," Sandy later recalled. "It was one of the first real folk songs I learned. I think I probably got it from Bert Lloyd's Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. Carthy had recorded it and there are a lot of variants. I wasn't involved in the rock arrangement at all. It was a bit like — here I am with my old ballad and there's the band I joined and what they have done with it."

What they have done with it is pretty damn exciting, even through the tape hiss and murk at Royal Festival Hall, Sandy's haunting vocals hovering on the edge, the band ready to unleash the fury of the stormy seas, with Richard Thompson riding the waves like a deranged Ahab. Pretty amazing that they opened with this! What follows is great, too — "Autopsy," "She Moved Through The Fair" and "I'll Keep It With Mine." This tape serves as our last glimpse of this particular Fairport lineup. Just a few weeks later, a tragic motorway accident would take the life of drummer Martin Lamble. Never again!

[asterdeer]

hi!! ramble to me about moby dick for the ask meme! i read it once but i don’t think i properly appreciated it….. maybe you can lead me to the light 🐋

!!!!!!! thank you for letting me use my degree a little bit as well as ramble about things, bless

okay. so. i don't like moby dick so much as i am haunted by moby dick and its ridiculous over-verbosity which, somehow, grows a compelling story over top it like bread grows mold. i'm obsessed with the structure of moby dick - the actual story is pretty short, pretty thin, at least compared to the page count. i never did the math but i assume the Digressions take up half or more of the book, or at least that's how it feels even if that's not true, which should be infuriating and terrible and annoying and actually is all that to a lot of people, for good reason. (i get it, i started to read les mis and got so incensed when he straight up started the book with 'hey what i'm about to tell you actually has nothing to do with the story that proceeds it' that i gave it up on page 1, digressions aren't for everyone and every author).

but there's this completely off-page story going on in the framing of moby dick, there's this unpictured picture of ishmael himself trying to put what he has been through into words -- trying to express the depths of what he has experienced, the good men he's seen killed for nothing more than one man's megalomania, the senseless waste and destruction over what, practically speaking, stripped of ahab's forced significance, amounts to a dumb beast in the water -- and it's not enough. there's not enough story. there's not enough words. a whaling voyage is, a huge percentage of the time, pretty dull. florence + the machine says that "it's hard to write about being happy because.... / happiness is an extremely uneventful subject" and that's what this voyage was to ishmael -- maybe not happiness, exactly, but he was at home with queequeg and the other whalers. he was depressed and searching for anything that might steady him, might give him a place to land, and he found queequeg, he found the pequod crew. there is nothing to tell but he needs to tell us about it. he needs to make us understand the gravity of it, the weight of what he lost, but this isn't the story of a conquering war band, it's not a fantasy of knights and lords. they're just whalers. whalers die every day. whaling is an uneventful subject.

so ishmael makes the book heavy -- physically, in your hands, the book is dense and weighty. it's packed with not only narrative and story but information (sometimes/frequently incorrect!), the science and theory and philosophy and theology of whales and their hunters. what happens on the pequod feels loaded not because the story is necessarily so very compelling but because ishmael is doing everything in his power to make us understand what about it compelled him. with every "cetology" "the whiteness of the whale" "ambergris" he is saying LOOK. LOOK. THIS IS THE PRICE OF LIGHTING YOUR HOMES. WHEN YOU WEAR PERFUME OF AMBERGRIS YOU ARE WEARING THE BLOOD OF MY FRIENDS AND BROTHERS.

(it's very modern in this way, i wonder if there was something of the jungle to it in the mid 1800s that we don't see as clearly now)

when it comes down to it i am incredibly compelled by moby dick because of its overwhelming desperation. there are passages and whole chapters where i could practically feel ishmael reaching through, grabbing my shoulders, begging me to understand. it's just so palpably..... tired. grief is written all through it, even in the most boring cetology chapters. you have to understand that we weren't just out here whaling for the hell of it, the chapters are saying -- their purpose isn't to impart knowledge, it's to impart history. dignity.

aahhhhhh shit i've gone on way too long and i could keep going for a dozen pages more but imagine if i had read the damn thing recently enough to have fresh feelings for it lmao. one day i'll dig up my old lit homework and see if i can find that essay i read for class about this exact thing, i could have sworn edgar allen poe wrote it but i could never find it again. none of these thoughts are original to me, i just got assigned the essay to do a presentation on and it rewired my brain

[ddrqoyote]

ahab lives rent free in my head cause i'm terrified of ending up like him, wasting my life on being mad at shit i can't change, cutting off my family, leaving no legacy, dying in a stupid way trying to do a stupid thing

the band mastodon wrote a song about ahab but there's actually another song of theirs that feels more like him to me, "jaguar god". it's a little like if bohemian rhapsody was a prog metal song and it was about cancer instead. he tries so hard to fight his fate and get revenge but he doesn't even get that close... i don't know, maybe i'm projecting.

[sheirukitriesfandom]

Tag game from @wispstalk: post your 9 favorite album covers. Aesthetics, not necessarily favorite albums.

Got tagged by @dirty-bosmer and @skyrim-forever. Thank you, you know how much I love to nerd about music & related topics. All metal this time because let's face it, we just got the best album covers. We wear them on shirts for a reason 😁

1. Cathedral - The Ethereal Mirror

I actually have a favourite album artist:

Dave Patchett, responsible for those gorgeous Cathedral album artworks as well as the Electric Wizard debut album and, funnily enough, the infamous artwork of Dance of Death by Iron Maiden. However, the band used the barebones prototype, which resulted in Patchett not wanting to be credited.

What I love about those covers is not just their freaky, Hieronymus Bosh-esque design, but also that they come as posters in the actual booklets, so one can really appreciate all the little details.

2. Kamelot - The Black Halo

I love the sinister undertone of this artwork, befitting a two-album story loosely based on Goethe's Faust.

3. Ghost - Meliora

This is a cover that warrants a second look. At first it's just sinister in the same way how, at night, some people tend to interpret grimaces into everyday things. But then you take a closer look and see that there's some sort of sacrifice going on.

4. Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction

You look at this artwork and know everything there is to know about the album, from the topic to the sound. And both punch you in the face.

5. Epica - The Holographic Principle

Not much to say here; I just love the use of colour in this piece.

6. Ahab - The Call of the Wretched Sea

I love how this artwork feels like a painting from the late 18th/early 19th century. Also, it's one of those tell-tale artworks. You know this album is atmospheric, brutal, and about Moby Dick.

7. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

This is an album artwork where, the longer you look at it, the more details you spot. At first it just looks like an abstract pattern but then...

8. Subrosa - More Constant than the Gods

Minimalist elegance compared to the rest of the list, but no less beautiful and very fitting for the album.

9. Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane

This artwork fits the album soo well. I love how those people almost seem to interweave, just like their lives are intertwined on the album. I also love how this artwork conveys intimacy despite only depicting two approximations of people. There's also a hint of darkness in there—love it!

Tagging: @elavoria @thequeenofthewinter @miraakulous-cloud-district @littlegalerion @alma-amentet and @nostalgic-breton-girl

[drawing-a-thousand-plateaus]

1730 paragraph 17

Panel 1

Moby-Dick in its entirety is one of the greatest masterpieces of becoming; Captain Ahab has an irresistible becoming-whale, but one that bypasses the pack or the school, operating directly through a monstrous alliance with the Unique, the Leviathan, Moby-Dick. There is always a pact with a demon; the demon sometimes appears as the head of the band, sometimes as the Loner on the sidelines of the pack, and sometimes as the higher Power (Puissance) of the band.

Panel 2 and 3

Let us clarify that: every animal swept up in its pack or multiplicity has its anomalous. It has been noted that the origin of the word anomal ("anomalous"), an adjective that has fallen into disuse in French, is very different from that of anormal ("abnormal"): a-normal, a Latin adjective lacking a noun in French, refers to that which is outside rules or goes against the rules, whereas an-omalie, a Greek noun that has lost its adjective, designates the unequal, the coarse, the rough, the cutting edge of deterritorialization.13 The abnormal can be defined only in terms of characteristics, specific or generic; but the anomalous is a position or set of positions in relation to a multiplicity. Sorcerers therefore use the old adjective "anomalous" to situate the positions of the exceptional individual in the pack.

[weaponizedalibi]

Finally homestuck oc posting! I’ve delayed this post for a while because I couldn’t figure out how to explain their lore, so I’m just gonna rip off the band-aid and do it now.

Important to know: this story is set in like, troll biblical times (???) so ancient alternia when the sufferer was still around.

Kij Lepus: Burgundy, lepus (the rabbit) constellation. Due to Kij having a short lifespan and being lowest in the pecking order, the hounds Maera and Laelaps are tasked with eventually hunting him down and killing him to prove their strength. Kij is more than up to the challenge of surviving, though, because he’s a skilled and mischievious puzzle master. His red shoes leave marks on the ground, and by dancing he paints riddles and clues to leave for the hounds. He’s part of the rebellion, and isn’t accepted in troll society. S o m e t i m e s h e t a l k s slowly and sometimesveryfast.

Meve Ursa: Bronze, ursa major (the great bear) constellation. Meve used to be a soldier. However, she’s been accused of eating two of her comrades and is now on the run from the authorities. No one knows if Meve actually commited the gruesome crime or if she was framed, because she likes threatening people as a joke. She has a talent in hiding, and she and Kij are good friends because they’re both hiding from people. (She speaks in parenthases- even her words are hidden.)

Maera and Laelaps Canis: Gold, canis minor and canis major (the small hound and the great hound) constellations. Maera and Laelaps are an interesting case- instead of each holding the dual power that most gold bloods are blessed with, one of the twins holds either side of the power. Maera harnesses her blue energy in her electric lasso, and Laelaps harnesses her red energy in her jaw, which turns into a deadly beam in combat. Due to them splitting the power between them, the twins are convinced that they’re different parts of the same consciousness in two bodies. They are bounty hunters, and they take their jobs very seriously. They work for Ahab Orion, the sheriff, and power his ship, but they seem to do most of the work for him. Maybe if they could catch that damn rabbit they could prove they’re more suited to a leadership role, but hopeful thinking won’t get you far on alternia.

Echo Lyra: Jade, lyra (the harp) constellation. Lyra used to be a popular entertainer for the high court, but one day her audience got bored of her and instead clamoured for her public dismemberment. She was able to flee the scene and joined the rebellion, but the subjugglators still torment her with visions. Thankfully she keeps up the lively spirit of a hostess despite her struggles. Because she’s the only caste that lives exposed to sunlight, she has a special connection to plants, and adorns her harp with them.

Ahab Orion: Teal, orion constellation. Ahab is the cocky sheriff tasked with capturing the rebels and bringing them to justice. He’s also the boss of the hounds. Although trolls of his caste are supposed to be brilliant investigators, Ahab takes advantage of this ability and doesn’t treat his title with much respect. He’s much more talented at socializing and being charming, which often leads to him getting sidetracked or taking bribes. Since he’s a free spirit who only has his postition because of his caste, the hounds do most of his job for him, mostly Maera. Despite his smooth-tounged ways, he’s a little bit obsessed with Caduce and would do anything for his approval.

Tressa Columba: Cobalt, columba (the dove) constellation. Tressa is an interesting case. They’re a mutant, and have wings instead of arms. They would have been slaughtered if they hadn’t proved their talent as a messanger. Because of their wings, they’re able to send messages from land to sky to sea, and are employed by the highbloods. They threw their life into their job, because they wouldn’t have a life without it, and therefore didn’t question the ways of the empire before they got kidnapped by Meve and Kij and later experimented on by Caduce.

Caduce Ophiucus: Caduce is a highblood, and his role is that of the royal doctor. He’s in charge of all research that goes into the troll species, and his ways don’t have to be above code when he’s the one who dictates the code. He’s the mysterious mastermind, watching the bounty hunters chase the rebels like rats through a maze. He’s very interested in mutations, and while Tressa thought she could trust him at first, his ways were soon revealed to be nefarious.

[milfronin]

"Sunny" isn't Comrade Sunny's actual name. Her full name is Ephraim Ahab Menuck. I've decided on this based upon a handful of references that I feel connect together well sonically as a name.

"Ephraim" is a nod to The Lighthouse, and Ephraim Winslow, one of the two characters in the movie. The Lighthouse is one of my favorite films and the aesthetics of it are something Incredibly dear to me.. I truly adore it, so to have a way to pay homage to it with her is very lovely.

"Ahab" is of course a reference to Captain Ahab of Moby Dick fame. A seafaring captain reference for an ex-Zailor, hm? And her ambition, chasing after whatever Whitlock was going for, could almost be seen as a white whale, though it may be realer than expected! Though it may well spell her downfall, too.

"Menuck" is more niche, but it is a genuine nod to Efrim Menuck [who also inspired the first name...] a notable member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, one of my favorite bands. The band's music has genuinely changed my life, and I do not know who I'd be without them.... A lot of their moody atmospheres I also find fitting for the image of a long night at Zee.

She is called Sunny because she was far, far too optimistic when she first began Zailing.