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callunawrites · 7 years ago

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By the grace of the fire and the flames You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins

Heather’s Top 25 38 Songs of 2017!

saturn — sleeping at last // run baby run — the rigs // the brothel (lidolido remix) — susanne sundfør // can’t pretend — tom odell // capsize — frenship // undiscovered first — feist // feeling good (bassnectar remix) — nina simone // kings — tribe society // river — bishop // human — rag’n’bone man // believer — imagine dragons // feel it still — portugal. the man // girl, you’ll be a woman soon — rafferty // wise enough — lamb // say you’ll be there — MØ // holiest — glass animals // the greatest — sia // bogeyman — johnny hollow // to be human — sia // strangers — halsey // cities in dust — everlove // history — monakr // messiah — prides // i shall rise — karen o // in the sea — ingrid michaelson // i put a spell on you — annie lennox // personal yeezus — chambaland // gold — imagine dragons // which witch — florence & the machine // thunder — imagine dragons // take me to church — hozier // trouble — valerie broussard // pure feeling — florence & the machine // battle royale — apashe // i may fall — casey williams // not today — bts // is this love — the governors // sweet dreams — mark hadley ft. dresage

short version | long version

So, the thing is, this mix was originally a whopping 262 songs. That’s 17 hours of delving into my headspace. I know this because the mix in full can be found on spotify, for those adventurous enough. By the end of the year, there may even be more!

The original 200+ can also be found in month format, for those that don’t feel like dealing with... all that. I’m actually a little sad that I don’t get to talk about every single one of them, though I’m sure it would have gotten tedious in the end.

i. saturn || sleeping at last I’d give anything to hear You say it one more time, That the universe was made Just to be seen by my eyes.

This was, according to my last.fm data, my second most played song of 2017. Well, third if we count the song that racked up 10,000 plays because I left it looping on my computer for a week. Whoops. These first four songs on this mix are my Mcshep songs. But also, Sleeping At Last is lovely. There’s several other songs by them on the full mix, but this one is by far my favorite. ii. run baby run || the rigs So wait, keep your heart inside My hands won't keep it safe I'll just feed on dreams & smile as hope slowly dies.

And here we have my most played song of 2017, which I’ve basically been listening to nonstop ever since I discovered @randommindtime‘s Mcshep fanvid. It is absolutely earthshaking, entirely haunting, and just all around a beautiful song that describes John Sheppard and all of his issues to a T.

iii. the brothel (lidolido remix) || susanne sundfør We are ruins within ruins On every corner a gladiator is begging for another century

I’m not sure why this is such a Mcshep song in my mind since I first discovered it as part of a really ridiculously awesome X-Files vid, but my guess is it got thrown into a playlist between two Mcshep songs and was forever that in my head. Fun fact, I only recently, when making the spotify version of this playlist, listened to the original version of the song. iv. can’t pretend || tom odell Oh, feel our bodies grow, And our souls they blend. This song is the only song that has made it onto all three of my year-in-review mixes. I originally found it in 2015 as part of a Bioshock vid and then last year I rediscovered it in the form of @randommindtime‘s other amazing Mcshep vid. And honestly? I haven’t stopped listening to it since. I have no doubt that it’ll be on 2018′s mix as well. v. capsize || frenship Capsize, I'm first in the water Too close to the bottom I'm right back where I started Said I'm fine I found this song through either a Stydia or a Sterek gifset. I’m like... 90% sure that it was Stydia, because it was around the time that season... 6? came out? Whichever one that Stiles is taken in, and thematically it works pretty well for it. But, I’m equally sure I’ve seen a Sterek gifset for the same song. Whatever. It’s pretty and I like it. vi. undiscovered first || feist The height and the breadth, is it wrong to want more?

Gosh. Okay. So, Legion. Mindfuckery of a show that can basically be summed up in words like “acid trip” and “dance numbers?” and “omg aubrey plaza.” It was brilliant and horrifying and really, really cool. But what’s more, it had the best fucking music. The 8tracks version of the mix only has two songs from the show, but the full mix on spotify has six or seven. vii. feeling good (bassnectar remix) || nina simone It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me And I'm feelin' good

This was the second song that I found through Legion. I mean, I’d heard the song before, but holy fucking shit. Like, I knew that I was attracted to Aubrey Plaza, but there’s every other character she’s ever played, and then there’s this role.

viii. kings || tribe society Lost in the world full of nonbelievers Searching for smoke in a stillwater pond A nothing king, they called a dreamer This is my life and I call it a song This and the next song I actually found because I had queued up feeling good on youtube while driving home from my friend’s house after watching that particular episode of legion, and youtube did that thing where it automatically queued up music afterwards? Only I lucked out that night, because the next six or seven songs were absolutely amazing. This was my favorite of those songs and quickly became my Horizon Zero Dawn theme song. ix. river || bishop Can't change the way we are One kiss away from killing

Another of the songs that I found that night! This one also got a lot of play while playing Horizon Zero Dawn. x. human || rag’n’bone man 'Cause I'm no prophet or messiah You should go looking somewhere higher This song I’d originally found through the Mass Effect Andromeda trailer but it quickly became a favorite of mine. xi. believer || imagine dragons By the grace of the fire and the flames You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins Even though this song has been in basically every fanvid since it came out, this was also solidly a Mass Effect Andromeda song for me, since I listened to it a bunch when I was playing the game. It’s one of the songs that I actually don’t mind coming on at work. xii. feel it still || portugal. the man Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now I been feeling it since 1966, now

I actually found this song before it got popular! The first time that it played at work/on the radio I was blown away, but I think the first time I’d heard it was on American Gods? At least I found it when I was watching the show. xiii. girl, you’ll be a woman soon || rafferty Well, I finally found what I've been looking for But if they get a chance they'll end it for sure Okay, so for anyone who is paying attention to this who lives in Columbus, I get my hair done at Virtue Salon, which is basically the best salon in the entire world. Even if you don’t live in Columbus, click on that link. Look at those pictures and tell me that isn’t the most adorable salon in the entire world. They have the best playlists every time I go in, and though I am not super fond of some of the lyrics to this song, I really love the slow croonyness to it. That was a really great day. xiv. wise enough || lamb I had a dream that all of time was running dry And life was like a comet falling from the sky I woke so frightened in the dawning, oh, so clear How precious is the time we have here

I first heard this song on the second season of Sense8 and I was struck by just how damn beautiful it is. It almost didn’t make this final list, but in the end I couldn’t count it out. xv. say you’ll be there || mo Any fool can see they're falling, gotta make you understand I'll give you everything on this I swear Just promise you'll always be there

I don’t actually remember what fanmix I originally found this on, but I remember that I was at the intersection of Clime and Harrisburg-Pike just outside the fire station when I realized that it was a gentle, gorgeous cover of a Spice Girls song and basically fell immediately in love. xvi. holiest || glass animals Yeah, you're the holiest, holiest thing I know This song I found as part of this mix, which is basically a young holy lovers mix and just. has so much quality music. But this song was the first that really made me start looking at Glass Animals. I’d heard some of their stuff before, but never when I was paying attention, not enough for me to decide if I liked them or not. Up until the last month or so, this was my top played track. xvii. the greatest || sia Don't give up, I won't give up Don't give up, no no no

Yeah, there’s no story here. I just really like Sia. xviii. bogeyman || johnny hollow And now I'm dancing for the doomed and the damned And I'm advancing unassumed with dirty hands

Someone I follow on tumblr had reblogged this song back in the spring-summer months when I was feeling very aggressively reylo, and I just. I really like that fairytale where the innocent girl grows up and eats the monster. It’s a favorite of mine and part of the reason that I like pairings like reylo and darklina. xix. to be human || sia And what's the point of knowin' it If you can't change it?

This song came on at the end of Wonder Woman and I made my friend Alex wait until I’d listened to it before I let him leave the theater. I fell pretty rapidly in love with it. xx. strangers || halsey We're not lovers, we're just strangers With the same damn hunger To be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all I won’t say that this is my favorite song off of Halsey’s new album, because that goes to Mourning, but it is the song that I listened to most. I’ve been toying with the idea of an original novel since around the time the album came out, and this song came on while I was plotting some of it out in my head. I really hope I end up writing it. xxi. cities in dust || everlove Your former glories and all the stories Dragged and washed with eager hands But oh, your city lies in dust, my friend I think the first time that I heard this cover it was when I discovered this mix back in 2015. It was a mix for Holland from the Darker Shade of Magic series, but I ended up going back and listening to the mix again while I was reading the third book in the series. While driving to work one day, I realized how utterly perfect it was for Dishonored, and basically compiled my mix, the salt water sting, over the course of that day.

xxii. history || monakr Oh… when they write of us in history lauded only for our victory They don't never tell, never fail to tell They don't ever tell Oh…. other side in history

So, back in the summer I read Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run, and it was absolutely fantastic. But in my humble opinion, the soundtrack that I discovered was somehow even better. I had to limit myself to only two songs from it on here, but a good half of them are on the spotify version.

xxiii. messiah || prides You don't have to lock the door I don't live there anymore.

This is the second song that I chose from that playlist, mostly because it ended up being the lucky track that had an extra play.

xxiv. i shall rise || karen o They'll know my name When they've forgotten all about you

I found this song well before I actually started regularly listening to it, and it ended up getting played around the time that I was mining for Dishonored songs for that mix, and those lyrics just called to me. Also, y’know, it’s a really great song. xxv. in the sea || ingrid michaelson No no don't rescue me I like the salt water sting

Another Dishonored song, this was obviously the song - and line - that gave me the title for the mix itself. I think I’d originally heard it as part of a Jaspis mix. xxvi. i put a spell on you || annie lennox I put a spell on you Because you're mine Okay, but this song in Annie Lennox’s smokey gorgeous voice just made me think of gay woodland witches and it was one of the best discoveries of 2017. xxvii. personal yeezus || chambaland Baby we livin' in the moment I've been a menace for the longest But I ain't finished, I'm devoted And you know it, and you know it

Okay, so let’s talk about Atomic Blonde. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve seen this year, but it appealed to a very visceral, gay part of me and ever since I saw this trailer I was basically in love. I’m sorry, but if you weren’t at least a little gay before watching Charlize Theron have a torrid love affair with Sofia Boutella while simultaneously kicking ass and taking names... you will be.

xxviii. gold | imagine dragons Statues and empires are all at your hands, Water to wine and the finest of sands. When all that you have's turning stale and it's cold, Oh, you'll no longer feel when your heart's turned to gold. I... don’t remember when I first listened to this. I think it was at work? But I saw some really good fanvids, and honestly? I should probably just admit at this point that I just love everything that Imagine Dragons comes out with.

xxix. which witch | florence & the machine Who's a heretic, child? Can you make it stick, now that I'm on trial

I am like 500% sure that I fell in love with this song because @kaikamahine said something about it, because I first started listening to it around the time that I realized Fantastic Beasts had a fandom.

xxx. thunder | imagine dragons Just a young gun with a quick fuse I was uptight, wanna let loose I was dreaming of bigger things And wanna leave my old life behind

Yeah, I just liked it. Also, there have been some really awesome Thor vids to this since Ragnarok came out.

xxxi. take me to church | hozier Offer me that deathless death Good God, let me give you my life

I wasn’t actually sure that I still listened to this often enough to add it, but last.fm tells me that it’s my fourth most played song. I mean, it’s a great song, and you can be damn sure that if in a twist of fate Hozier releases an album next year, every single one of those songs will be on the 2018 mix, but it has been a bit.

xxxii. trouble | valerie broussard Dangerously having the time of our lives These boys are just poisonous thorns in our sides Starting fires wherever we go Watching em gamble everything they own I’m just going to direct you to this animation and wail about Six of Crows a lot. Weirdly enough, I think I actually prefer the unfinished version of it. Some bits hadn’t been added yet, but I really love the grittiness of it.

xxxiii. pure feeling | florence & the machine Those strangers carry me I'm lost; they're finding me I... don’t actually remember where I found this one. It probably has to do with @kaikamahine. Either way, I have listened to it A LOT.

xxxiv. battle royale | apashe Work on 'em put a little work on 'em Trigger finger in the air I put a little dirt on 'em

This song is stupid awesome to blare while driving home from work a little fast at 2 in the morning. Also, y’know, it’s just great in general. See, Steve Rogers agrees. Also, oh my gosh, there’s a new Black Panther one.

xxxv. i may fall | casey williams There's a place where we'll stand outnumbered Where the wolves and the soulless will rise In the time of our final moments Every dream dies

So, sometime in the last few months I let my roommate talk me into watching RWBY. I’ve been less than interested in the past because I’m an animation snob and I just... couldn’t. But I marathoned the whole series in like a week. There were three songs that stood out to me, but this song is actually the one that made me finally break down and give it a chance.

xxxvi. not today | bts All the underdogs in the world A day may come when we lose But it is not today Today we fight!

SCREECHING NOISES. MORE SCREECHING NOISES. I’m sorry, but it has to have become apparent by now that my musical tastes are influenced almost entirely by fandom, but fanvids in particular. This song is the BEST pump up song that I’ve found in years.

xxxvii. is this love | the governors Did you think this was love Is love a future of your kind Don't you think I would mind If I would wasted all my time I can't love if you lie This song. Made my year. It’s dark and sexy and a little fucked up, and came around when I was in the middle of reading the Grisha Trilogy and struggling with just how hard Darklina was hitting on every single one of my kinks.

xxxviii. sweet dreams | mark hadley ft. dresage I travel the world And the seven seas, Everybody's looking for something.

This cover came out as part of the Wrinkle In Time trailer and I fell really, stupidly in love. This was actually a last minute addition, because I couldn’t stand it not being on here.

#fuck yeah fanmixes #2017 #year in music

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kierongillen · 8 years ago

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Writer Notes: the Wicked + the Divine 455

Spoilers, obv.

The specials have been quite the time, having several ways to stress everyone the hell out. The amount of work that goes into a special is far more than any single script can justify in cold commercial terms. It's lucky that I'm only choosing periods that I'm interested in researching to death.

I suspect (or at least hope) that in terms of background reading, 455 is the most. 1831 was hard, but is a relatively tight period I looked at in depth. 455 basically involved researching the whole of the Western Roman Empire. This means the work was a much broader sweep. In the same way I suspected the 1831 story would be about Frankenstein, I knew this would probably be about what happened at one of the sacks of Rome. Not definitely – I've always got room to change tack if something more profitable turns up in the research – but likely.

As I started work, I realised the main advantage of the sack near the end of the Western Roman Empire is that it means you can do a swan song for the whole thing. Everything has already happened, so you can use it all. Thus we've got something which feels a little like a Roman Greatest Hits story.

Simultaneously, there's the awareness that while I think a lot of this is relatively well known, even the most basic facts aren't. Early readers made me aware that even basic ideas like Julius Caesar being dead for 500 years by this period can't be assumed – a level of historical literacy equivalent of not blinking if Joan of Arc turned up in a WW2 story. That's just audiences, and the vague sense of “Rome stuff” fills about 1000 years of people's imagination. As such, that our story is acounter-history required the introduction of what the real history actually was.

As I knew this was coming along way off, the research was a slow boil. I knew Rome, in various periods, relatively well. From the Punic Wars to Augustus is stuff I've read about many times – Carthage is something I've always wanted to do a story about. What I was looking for is a long sweep across the whole thing, to live with it a while, and let me think along the way. The actual device I used was The History Of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan, which goes from legendary prehistory to about 20 years after 455. It's about 60 hours of stuff, by my rough match, which I worked into my listening routine – which is mainly when working out, running, travelling or doing the dishes. I listen to my podcasts at 1.5x.

That was for most of 2016. After that, it was digging down into specific texts, the majority which happened in December/January. Trying to play with various theories about the decline of the Roman Empire was paramount. Everyone has one, and be suspicious of anyone who gives you one reason. The book which generally was most influential in terms of how I chose to present Rome was The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History by Peter Heather, which basically forwards the idea that Rome fell due to trade across their borders creating increased population density of Barbarian tribes which (as opposed to earlier periods) the Romans were unwilling to integrate into the fabric of the Empire.

I went with my own counter-theory, of course, which was that an Old Lady Did It.

(The Old Lady Did It is a Roman Trope of long standing. I'm a proud owner of a Livia Did It T-shirt.)

Anyway – too much research, and I'll try and drop some things I'd wanted to use but didn't as we go through it. Suffice to say, there's nothing comforting about reading about Rome in the current political climate.

Anyway – Andre! I'd first encountered his work in Avengers AI, written by my friend Sam Humphries. That weird, neon-infused Cyberpunk vibe was a big part of the book's appeal for me, so I started following him. I believe we started talking properly around the time of his own Man Plus, which was is a Otomo-does-Akira-In-Portugal kick, and was another thing which made me file Andre in my “Sci-fi artist file.”

However, after we got talking, he showed me some of his other in-development pitches, which included historical and fantasy work. Which made me go “Hmm.” He's got a mass of gifts, but I had one image that I knew I needed for 455 – the Roman Triumph, with a God in the chariot. That demanded a certain sort of artist, namely one who was happy to actually draw a triumph in all its ludicrous glory. Andre, someone whose work had more than its fair share of city-scapes and crowds, seemed like someone who'd nail that – plus the confluence of European and Manga influences in the work would gel interestingly. We'd get Rome as a place, and that's what we needed.

He was working on Generation Gone with Ales Kot, but they talked, and Andre took as month off the preparation for that to do the special. Thanks, guys.

Colours are provided by Matt “Eisner For Matt” Wilson, and seeing how the two of them worked together was definitely one of the more intriguing parts of the process.

Andre's Cover

Done early, before the script was actually completed, which meant we were more conservative with the choice. The Laurel reef being lowered by elderly hands, the arrogance of it. A call back to the head-shots of the first year of WicDiv too. Also, compare and contrast Matt's colouring choices here with his ones in the issue. This is a much more subdued, chalkier mode. Or that's wot I think anyway.

Jamie's Cover| We were originally talking about statues of multiple gods, but as the script was still in process we didn't want to tie down any of the cast bar Lucifer. Equally, we leaned symbolic on the cover – the flames of Rome, the statue, the grafitti's Chi-Ro in paint (or blood)? Symbolic is good. We like Symbolic.

The Chi-Ro is an old Christian symbol. It's what they say Constantine had his soldiers paint on his shields to ensure victory. My fave thing of Constantine from the research was that while he was more responsible than any for the Christianization of the Empire, he didn't convert until just before his death. I enjoy the theory that it's because the idea that baptizing may have been a one-time “clear all your sins” opportunity. The idea of confession and absolution wasn't around as much. So if you convert and then commit a mortal sin, you're off to hell. But if you commit a mortal sin and then convert, you're fine. So Constantine may have just been gaming Christianity to ensure the best chance of a good afterlife.

IFC

Oh god. Looking at the last paragraph makes me think this could be eternally long if I just keep on stopping and telling you fun anecdotes from memory. Also, factually dubious, as they're from memory, and my memory cannot be trusted.

Jamie designed the icons, and had to work out what vibe to give it. I suspect he was grateful to me for having most the cast already being dead so saving him work.

The Inverted Chi-Ro isn't a real symbol anyone used, but our best way to make a Lucifer. The biggest historical cheat in the series is using any Lucifer figure like this in the period – as far as I'm aware, the idea of a singular satanic adversary in this mode simply wasn't around. But it dovetails with our mythology.

I get asked whether any special will happen earlier in the cycle. The tendency to lean towards the ends is basically the same urge which pushed towards a Roman Special at the fall. Ends let you write about the whole thing. It's only at the end where you can say with any hope of being correct what was really happening, and even then it's only a hope.

But the 1920s special is a little earlier than the end, if only because we've seen the actual end in issue 1.

(More on the 1920s special soon – there's been a few changes in my planning on that.)

The text on the page is the standard WicDiv one, but the final two lines, briefly explaining the history of the Vandal sack in 455 were added at lettering to provide the necessary context to a reader.

Page 1-2

Steady angle shot, three panels on each page. The issue has been compare to Uber by several readers, primarily for the volume of the violence and the detail of the historical focus. It's also a little like it in its storytelling like this – this lingering attempt to make a scene very normal. We don't see the battle against the Vandals – instead, we observe from a distance. We try and make it documentary, with us an observer.

The animal being gutted is a goat.

An example of an earlier tweak, the shepherd's first line was “Wh...who in god's name are you meant to be?” This could read as that our Lucifer actually is Julius. Changing it to “Dressed up as?” brings the artifice closer to the surface. While the nature of lucifer/Julius is explained in a few pages time, it's not meant to be a mystery. Creating a false uninteresting question is just a distraction for the reader.

I kind of laugh at the idea of Lucifer wandering around near Rome, trying to find an army.

Ave Atque Vale! Is a quote from Catallus, related to death. Originally was Ave in my first draft, which of course means “Hello!” so makes no sense to say when he's heading away to the shepherd. If you were generous, you could say he was greeting the Vandals.

The first pages which Matt coloured were these, and when I saw them, I knew it was going to be something special.

Yes, panicked sheep in the second panel of page 2 is a star.

Page 3-4

WicDiv is about many things, but “The fucking obvious” certainly rates highly. Triumphs are one of the big core Roman rituals we think of, when a general is given a personal parade. They're rare and hugely important. The slave whispering “remember you are only a man” to warn against hubris is the detail which everyone loves. Clearly, in WicDiv, the resonances are all kinds of fun.

In terms of how comics panels are not one moment in time, have a nose at the last panel. You read the line, then the Oh!, and then the response of the slave seeing something, and then you look at the miracle, the smug, painted face, of Lucifer, and his Heh. That's a little journey.

The red face paint is ceremonial, to be akin to Jupiter. Bear that in mind for later, obv.

The big triumph is the first issue money shot – after 3 pages of very low atmosphere, we have the sprawl of Rome. Choosing the direction of the march was key – I gave Andre the best guess route of the triumph, and he chose his angle. By luck, he would enter via the gate here Lucifer is dragged out at the end of the issue. The triumph also ends at the temple of Jupiter, which is yet more fun subtext for those who really like digging into it.

We tweaked the colouring on the crowds, to try and get more of the cosmopolitan nature of Rome. The majority of legionnaires are white, but that's because most were Germanic in this period.

The triumph was originally planned for a spread, but I decided I needed another page later in the comic.

Page 5

Title drop, and a bleak laugh. The idea of calling a story IMPERIAL PHASE which isn't in the actual Imperial Phase trade came from thinking of Julian Cope having his single World Shut Your Mouth not on the album World Shut Your Mouth, an idea he in turn got from some sixties band I haven't time to look up.

The date was tricky to decide exactly, due to the timeline of real world events I wanted to get in. Clearly, for full trash-Roman pulp, I'd have pushed this story March, so I could Ides of March it, but alas, no dice.

Page 6

Nice atmosphere in the first panel, in terms of going from the chaos of the Triumph to something a little more contemplative.

Enter Dionysus/Bacchus. Flashback colours and... one of the thoughts of Matt was that the SFX budget for God Stuff would be lower back here. So the god powers aren't quite as SFX-y as they are in the present day. Not that there's much here, but I'm reminded by how low-key this is. The intent here is that he's done his god thing on stage and come off... but he could just be an actor, which is about as close as WicDiv gets to a 1:1 thing.

The nature of art in Rome (or “Rome”) is key here, and talked throughout. Actors were the underclass. To act was to be disreputable. The “actress as sexworker” trope arrives in Rome, I believe. I reference Lou Reed in the panel descriptions, in terms of these being a Walk On The Wild Side Romans.

Falerian is a type of fine wine. Mithras is presumably one of the other gods – Scythia being a place.

The nature of Imperial Phase has been about women involved with women, which has nagged. Having the humanising part of the story be a love story between men felt timely. It was a place we could do it, so we should. Though more on that later, in terms of the specifics.

There was the obvious worry of doing it, of course – where Lucifer ends up. Lucifer is not good representation. I haven't seen anyone pick up on that angle. We spend a lot of time worrying about stuff no-one picks up on, which is why we spend all that time worrying about it.

The word “play” is, of course, loaded, as are the name changes. Story about identity, we are in it.

Page 7

The best thing about the specials is definitely getting a chance to write Ananke again. She is a fun time.

If I had more space, I'd have almost certainly done more with Lucifer's adventures during the day. It's worth stressing that by this point, I believe Gladiatorial fights were no longer actually happening in Rome, due to Christianisation. My research has went straight on from Western Rome and barged into Byzantine Rome, and the story of the chariot races there is a delight.

Page 7-8

These scenes are very much me getting my I, Claudius on. Very limited set, two actors going off at one another. Of course, all of this will resonate with anyone who's been following the main series.

Panels 3 and 4 on page 7 are the bit of tight acting I like most from Andre here – it's all about the actions, and the space, with us positioned a little back from it.

I smile at Lucifer referencing something that was said of 2014-Lucifer in the first arc. Ananke has been doing this for a very long time.

A quick buzz through various other gods' fates in the first panel on page 8. There's a lot of historical reference packed in there to unpack for those who wish.

The Inanna/Attila The Hun panel is, I think, the largest panel description in the issue. Well... not true. The Rome Triumph one is much longer, but that's a splash. This one included a potted history of a bunch of Hun-related information for Andre to play with, in terms of deciding the looks, etc.

It was also the most discussed panel at the stage of pencils – avoiding objectifying Inanna here was key.

Attila The Hun died on (one of his) wedding night in the real life.

The “As I understand” is pretty key in the captions, as is other distancing effects. Lucifer would not have been a god when Inanna did this. It is very early in this pantheon's time.

I think this may be a place to have a word about Pantheon times through history. 455 doesn't seem to fit in one of these 90 years, if you follow that strictly.

The short version is, as seen in the first scene of WicDiv which ends the 1920s pantheon at Dec 31st 2013 and we start our story about 6 months into the new Pantheon on January 1st 2014, the question of where the 90 years is measured for has to be (to some degree) flexible. Gods appear over a period of a year or so in our 2014, and die at their own rates. You can assume that the “true” length of a pantheon can wiggle a little – some would be less than a year, some could theoretically stretch across 4 calendar years. As such, it's hard to predict exactly on which year any given recurrence could occur – even from the data we have from 1831, 1923 and 2014, we know that.

I suspect before the end I may give hard dates for every Pantheon. I suspect, anyway. I know where it would appear.

Page 9-11

You know, I suspect Page 9 – for an action scene – is one of the most story-beat laden of the issue, in terms. Lots of great Andre stuff here – the casual-ness of both the burning and the brutal-ness of the kick. Matt goes to town on the colours too, the reds taking over. Obviously the fire is a key thing with Lucifer, and his flame grows and ebbs as we progress.

There's some difficult hard cuts here – page 10 to 11, for example. We just have the “Ananke leaving” beat there, then moving to Dio and Lucifer in bed.

There is a tendency when discussing the ancients to be a bit blasé in terms of writing about their sexual habits. This normally is based around us mapping our readings of sexuality onto the past, while erasing their own social mores. I've ran with some of the information on page 11 before, when doing THREE, specifically the politics of different sexual roles. Relevantly, the status elements Lucifer alludes to here – in terms of being a bottom is always dishonourable. I could ramble at this at length, but I'll spare you.

Lots and lots of stuff here, in terms of trying to set up thematic elements here, but let's just say none of it would matter at all if Matt and Andre hadn't nailed the last panel.

Page 12-13

Lots of historical bits and bobs here. Perhaps the implicit question we don't answer is “what happened to the last Emperor?” He was cut to pieces a few days before this and thrown in the river, because he'd pissed off the Vandals enough to have them invade.

You may notice how thin the senate is populated. That's because the majority of the population of Rome have fucked off to hide. Rome's population is artificially lower during this point in history, which is a thing which tries to lend a little credulity to the Ananke/Geiseric cover-up.

The main tweaks here was making sure the exact nature of Lucifer's slip was tricky. Someone getting mixed up in the time-line requires making sure the reader understands the timeline. I half wonder why I went with Crassus rather than Pompey.

Anyway, let's hope that Lucifer manages to keep on the straight and narrow.

Page 13-14

Well, that escalated quickly.

When planning the issue, you start doing maps of time and space, and I rapidly realised with 25 pages, and so many other essential scenes, there was no possible way to show a slow descent.

The story's structure immediately suggested itself.

While the Triumph was the image we needed to enter the world, this is the one that will be remembered. People reference my Crossed work here – which is true, to some degree, in that it was also about turning flesh into art. I suspect I was more thinking of Banks, and a certain beat involving a certain object of furniture. I say, dancing around spoilers.

The influence here which gets kind of buried is Domitian, who threw the most goth parties of all time. Have a nose at this here, in terms of Things Emperors Got Up To.

Page 15-16

We've already namechecked Caligula and here comes Nero, the other of the most famous Roman Bad Emperors. The elements about Nero here were the closest thing the research unveiled which made me want to reposition the story to a different period – Nero interacting with the gods would have been fascinating, for all the reasons described here.

We had a reader question the direction of Imperial Phase, in that the insanity-leading-to-murder trope that appeared to be coming and the inherent ableism in that. It was a usefully timed question, as it made me dig more sharply into the exact choices we were making in explaining the idea. This isn't about going mad. This is – as Dionysus puts it – about excess. I'm thinking of Bowie living off cocaine and peppers. We lean into it pretty heavily in this issue, and hopefully it delineates the aim.

Just looking at my script, and found the anecdote about the time I threw up a handful of blood slipped in there. I'd forgotten that this page was autobiographical. Comics, eh?

Look at what Matt's doing with the colours here – the whole panel is bloodshot as we progress.

Page 17-20

In terms of buried research in the comic, that a hole was knocked in the roof of the Temple of Jupiter during this sack of Rome is the one which makes me laugh. Behold! Let team WicDiv present the true story of how the temple of Jupiter got a dirty great hole in it.

(I also like that this makes the sack of Rome much more efficient for the Vandals.)

This is an actor making a soliloquy scene, perhaps obviously, recalling both the stage and the Passion. While this issue is heavily in the research, it's also doing ahistorical work. Shakespeare's fingerprints is all over this, to state another obvious thing.

The “Emerge like an Eagle” thing is very much Roman Pagan belief.

I mentioned Nero, Caligulia and Julius. The other Roman Emperor who is in the mix with Lucifer was Julian the Apostate who was the last Pagan Roman emperor, and tried to revive Pagan Rome before dying early. A “What if Julian had lived?” is a counter-factual history which is always a fun one to swill around your mouth. He's the one we don't reference, but much of Lucifer's thought comes from mashing Julian with someone of lower birth and more melodramatic tendencies.

This is the sequence which I cut the page from the Triumph earlier to expand. Clearly this could happen quicker, but we need to let the death sequence come out, in all its horror. Also, the collapse on the page turn seems essential.

I'm almost surprise Et Tu Jupiter reached the final page. We were always wondering whether it was too funny. In the end, it was decided it was, but in juxtaposition with the art, sufficiently bleakly to not break the mood. Especially before the collapse on the next page, which is very much human stripped by the divine.

Clearly this plot beat, is the biggest one for close followers of the book. I suspect at this point of the story, there would be strong suspicions that the “you die in two years” isn't true. Unless this sequence is deeply deceptive, it is true. You die in two years, by yourself. We place the specials pretty carefully, in terms of what they reveal, so this being half way through Imperial Phase underlines what could await our cast.

In terms of craft, going silent for a page after the monologuing seemed key. I mean, Ananke's fundamental disrespect in terms of how she's carrying Lucifer says everything.

Page 21-25

Out the gate towards the Tiber. The names listed are famous Romans whose bodies were thrown in the Tiber so that they could have no honourable end – and in the case of Marius, that there was no place for his followers to gather. The man who did that was Sulla, btw. Marius was dead, he dug them up.

The “Pagan burial, but a shit one” is very much Ananke at peak “I will tell you the truth, but you really have to pay attention to the details” mode.

And here's Geiseric! Looking good. The Vandals have been in Carthage for 20 years, but we decided to have him be kind of pallid so as not to confuse people. Stories like THREE were all about the pure-historical aspect and risked (and often did) lose people by doing things in line with the best research rather than common belief. WicDiv has a slightly different set of priorities, especially on secondary aspects like tanned Vandals.

Heh. Story starts with butchery of a goat, and ends with butchery of Lucifer. WicDiv is a very subtle comic.

Sulla's an interesting dude, and I think the use by Ananke here seems pretty fair. The future she's pointing towards never happens – the marriage is there. Germanic hands ended up ruling what came after the Empire, but that's not really what is going. Of course, Geiseric is also entirely right in recognising he's being manipulated.

They're a fun pair, actually, in terms of the fencing. I kind of realise this is the sort of conversation which is going to be key in Spangly New Thing, which makes me excited about writing it again.

I smile at the Vandal line. People have wondered why I didn't do the earlier sack, so I could have had the goths. Well, it didn't really work for the story, which is about the end of an era. But also it would have been perhaps too much. I did have a joke take, where Ananke is debating which Germanic tribe to manipulate into invading Rome. “The Goths again? No. No More Goths.”

But 455 isn't that kind of book.

The final image! Lovely, in its bleak and awful way.

Page 26

City of God being Augustine's book, written primarily in response to the crisis of faith in the Empire over the 410 sack of Rome by the aforementioned Goths.

Anyway – thanks for reading, and thanks for Andre for joining us on this beast. We're back (eek) tomorrow, with Imperial Phase II. Onwards, etc.

#WicDiv #the wicked and the divine #andre lima araujo #matt wilson #Writer Notes

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salytierra · 8 years ago

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@hetaliafandomhub EMBASSY : SPAIN

WRITING REFERENCE: REGIONS & CHARACTER TRAITS

Spain Works a little bit like a federation… except not really. The different Spanish regions are called “Autonomous Communities” and are semi-self-governing territories that were established following cultural and historical reasons, almost 40 years ago.

This has brought some problems, but also a lot of hilarity, because the rivalry between some of the regions created a ton of funny jokes and stereotypes.

There are 17 Autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities.

So there’s no such thing as one and only, defined, version of Spain and Spanish people, rather Spain is a sum of all its differences. Like a real person, our country is polyfacetic, complex, and often contradictory in its behavior, preferences and personality. But at the core, there’s just something that we all have in common and that sets us apart.

I prepared a little, humorous piece on each region, highlighting its traits and most common stereotypes. Of course, this is oriented towards writers that want to make their character representation richer and more extensive.

You can use any of the following for Antonio and combine them at your like:

THE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES

Aragón: Legend has it, that not long ago the people from the aragonese Pyrenees still communicated with each other by yelling over the mountains. Whether that’s true or not, Aragón is considered the land of loud and headstrong people. And when I say headstrong I mean so stubborn that they will rather change the laws of physics than admit that they were wrong about something.

Their capital is Zaragoza and the cold is manufactured in its train&bus station. Seriously, its manufactured there and then exported to the rest of the world, I shit you not!

C. Valenciana: If orange trees disappeared from the face of the earth Valencia would cease to exist.

It’s the birth land of the paella and they won’t let you go until you’ve understood that. They are known for their corrupt politicians and have more metrosexuals for square meter than a gay gym. Speak catalan but call it “valenciano” and demand it to be treated like a completely different language. Collectively healthy and well-groomed. Valencian people are carefree, a little bit arrogant, and enjoy living the good life.

They also adore gunpowder; whether it’s a wedding or a funeral – there’s gonna be fireworks!

Asturias: “Spain is Asturias and the rest is reconquered land” and no Astur will ever let you forget that. They consider themselves the reason Spain exists in the first place and love reminding it to the rest of the country, whether it’s in the parliament or heavy metal songs. They really love their land, carry an Asturian flag everywhere they go, take pride in their history, landscapes, nature and… milk.

Anyway, their superiority complex is legendary and the worst part is that you can’t even pick on them for that because it’s all mostly true.

La Rioja: If you’ve got a wine mom, have ever been in the alcohol section of any supermarket, or studied the wine selection in a restaurant menu out of boredom, you probably know the word Rioja. It’s one of the most famous Designations of Origin in the world, which often leads to the assumption that Riojanos are drunk 90% of the time. Wrong. They are only drunk 70% of the time. They’ve also got a festival that is just like one giant water battle… but with wine instead.

Okay, jokes apart. Rioja has a lot more than just wine; its people will take you in with open arms no matter where you are from and make sure you never want to leave.

Andalucía: What the rest of the world thinks is Spain. Every stereotype you can think of? Surprise! Turns out it’s only applicable to Andalucía. Flamenco, frilly dresses and women called Carmen come from there. Sadly, they are often treated like a joke by the rest of the country, but to give them credit: take it really well.

Although in the rest of Spain we are convinced that the religious devotion is actually an excuse for huge parties and let’s be fair – you’d also siesta if the temperature outside got to 50ºC in summer afternoons. Andalusians are also everywhere; wherever you go you’ll find hordes of them and recognize them by their funny accent.

Galicia: Other countries have china-town. We have one giant Ireland-town and it takes up this entire region. Galicia is extremely beautiful, has a lot of forests and a very unique culture, not to mention a very sticky accent and their own language; which is so closely related to Portuguese it’s difficult to tell them apart.

Now, the Galicians are the human form of “to be or not to be”; or alternatively the object of Katy Perry’s “hot’n’cold” song. You won’t find more indecisive bunch on the face of the earth. They’ve also got collective “morriña” which nobody is really sure what it means but it’s sort of a good-melancholic feeling.

Cantabria: In Cantabria, one in every four habitants is a cow. Also, the last time something metal happened there, it was in the times of the Roman invasion.

They have the best anchovies and will not tolerate any offense against them. Apart from that, they are fine people that may be a little bit cold but talk in sing-song and work very hard and a lot. A little bit hard to crack maybe, or that might just have been my former housemate.

C. de Madrid: So… turns out there’s an entire Autonomous Community surrounding the capital. Although, to be fair, the city takes up most of it.

The Madrileños are always stressed out, always! They are always rushing everywhere like devil’s got their pants on fire and still get there too late. In an eternal competition with Barcelona about literally everything. They are also really prideful, but I’ve said that just about any region till now. Also, it’s the capital, they are supposed to believe themselves the shit xDDD

País Vasco/Euskadi: The special snowflake of Spain and the entire Europe now that we are at it. Actually rumored to be aliens. Their language doesn’t come from indo-european, their genetic code is different, there’s a hereditary disease similar to chronic insomnia that only affects Basques… What even are these creatures?

It doesn’t matter; we still love their pinchos, and making jokes about their brute strength. Because believe me when I tell you: there’re no humans on earth as BRUTE as the Basques. Yes, I also thought that was an exaggeration, until I started sharing an apartment with one.

Navarra: Are they actually Basques? Are Basques actually Navarros? We might never know. The truth is that the Kingdom of Navarra was one of the cool territories during medieval Iberia and now they are famous for their Asparagus.

Okay that was mean. Navarra is actually a beautiful place (with fiscal privileges) full of history and people that might never win a subtlety and delicacy contest, but party like no-one else on the face of the earth!

Murcia: When Spanish kids are little and learning the Autonomous Communities they always forget one while counting on their fingers. That one is always Murcia. Nobody knows why it’s even a region on its own. Maybe it’s because of the language? Although make no mistake, they don’t have another language, they speak Castilian… probably, but nobody understands them anyway.

I know I’m being quite rough, but my former step-dad, the man that raised me, was originally from Murcia. They are admirably good at making jokes on their own expense. Let’s give them credit for that, at least.

Islas Baleares: *currently under the occupation of German tourists*

There’s not much to say about the Balearic Islands. As any overly-touristic place, they’ve lost a bit their essence, but some charm still remains. They are also paradisaically beautiful. I remember Formentera looking like a real-life movie poster with see-through water and marine animals swimming between your feet.

But if you really want to learn about Spain, our culture and people – don’t choose Mallorca for your vacation. I’m sure at this point the locals will thank you for that too.

Castilla-León: The buffer between the green north and the barren south. Those scholars that are trying to discredit the “Duero Desert” theory obviously never had to drive through the area itself for hours. It is still pretty much a desert full of wheat and olive trees. And the occasional city from time to time.

Now, that region is old Spain, Valladolid used to be the capital before it got shifted to Madrid, as León was before that. If you want a lungful of history – just visit any town in that region, it’s bursting with it. Also they are supposed to have the most perfect, correct Spanish and its people love visitors.

Castilla-La Mancha: Even more wheat fields… wheat fields as far as the eye can see. Finally, after days of wheat fields you see a town on the top of a hill, it’s surrounded by a medieval wall and in its heart a castle stands tall and mighty. You climb the hill and enter the city. Everyone is carrying a sword.

You stand there thinking whether you are hallucinating from the heat or just time travelled. Until a fuckboy with a Vespa almost runs you over. Turns out that’s only their aesthetic™ and you haven’t left civilization at all. Enjoy your stay, it’s f*cking magical. (srsly tho: I really want to visit Toledo again)

Extremadura: I don’t know what’s in the water in Extremadura but its natives are always ready for battle. Seriously, almost all the famous (and universally despised) Spanish conquerors in history were from Extremadura. They are direct, opinionated and blame Portugal’s entire existence for not having a beach.

I mean it, never cross an extremeño, but having one as a friend is probably the best investment you can make. They also work the earth a lot, remain unusually religious and have a weird obsession with making dick jokes about their own region’s name. Oh, and they also make ham!!

Islas Canarias: Their days last 23 hours, shipping companies ignore them, the magazines are more expensive, and you never know how to find them on a map. No, I mean they are pretty visible on a map of Spain, there down in a small square shape reserved only for them. But try to find them on a world map, I dare you…

Anyway, they officially have the best climate on earth, receive loads of tourism, and grow the famous “plátanos” – Spanish-branded bananas, and I’m pretty sure also that weird bunch-y shape on the top of Toño’s bangs – along with many other things. The highest mountain in Spain is there and it’s a volcano.

Cataluña: Saving the best for last. And if that sentence is not the epitome of Catalan character then I don’t know what is. Seriously, my dearest home region needs to chill and a lesson in humility, but we are not that bad. The bit about us being hard workers is relatively true, as well as the stingy bit. We’ve got 99 problems but a lack of imagination is not one of them, for better or worse. Hipsters be here.

And finally; we like taking risks, as evidenced by our “castellers”: human towers as high as possible and on the top, 15m from the ground – a four year old kid with a bike helmet.

Take that one, Spiderman!

THE AUTONOMOUS CITIES

Ceuta and Melilla: Established like at VII B.C. by the Phoenicians, they passed through a lot of hands.

Melilla became Spanish in the latest stage of La Reconquista, in 1497. Since it used to be a Visigoth territory too, it was symbolically important for the Catholic Monarchs to take particularly that one city, and so they did.

But the custody of Ceuta was won in the divorce from Portugal. When in 1640 Portugal decided that the Iberian Union sucked, Ceuta, a formerly Portuguese territory, demanded to stay with Spain. Aww, such a cutie!

So this is it! I hope you enjoyed this wild ride. Aren’t we just a lovely bunch? xDD Anyway, as I already said – you can combine and extrapolate from any of these to form your preferred version of Spain. Just don’t forget that they are still only stereotypes! ;)

Please reblog to spread the word (and so I don’t feel sad because this was quite hard to make...)

Header and references: (x)(x)(x)(x)

And now a private word to the Spanish people around here:

¡Que nadie me venga ahora quejándose, que esto lo he hecho pa hacer guasa! Y si no os gusta, pues no haber dejado la imágen del país en manos de una catalana, cony xDDD

Será posible, que algunos países tienen como de 3 a 5 representantes y a mí me habéis dejado sola, panda de vagos. Venga, que presentarse a portavoz no cuesta nada… (porfii~ me siento solita 😢)

#aph ambassador #aph spain #btw: the mapping is from wiki #hetalia fanfiction #hetaliafandomhub #me he dejado alguna? creo que no #open to use #reference #si he puesto a murcia esque están todas xDD #spain #writing reference #embassy board

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grandemasterpyrokitsune · 7 years ago

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Happy 10th!

The time has finally come to talk about why PaF is so important. Really, anyone could do this anytime, but this date alone has a significance to it. To any of my followers who don’t know(and will sit through this brick wall of text to find out), today is the 10th anniversary of the sneak peek premiere of Phineas and Ferb; technically, February 2008 is when it officially premiered around the world, but I’m sure that everyone else in the fandom is eager to kick off the celebration today. I’m sure this will turn out to be a multi paged thesis, so I’ll try to split this up into parts.

-----------------------------------

PART 1: Best Day Ever

Anyway, ten years ago today marks the 10th anniversary of Phineas and Ferb. This show is considered an old soul of sorts, enjoying a long lifespan of 8 years, tons of merchandising and entertainment opportunities, the admiration and respect of many celebrities, and a very long summer. As formulaic as it appears, this show has more history to it than it appears to have.

PART 2:Busted

(This part details history of Disney’s TV animation ventures and basically life before PaF. Feel free to skip if you’re clued in to its history.)

The 2000s were considered a lousy time for TV animation . While many say it's the "worst" decade for it(whether worldwide or just in North America), I'd call it a transitional period. The 90s was an exciting a refreshing time for TV animation where the stories were driven by the creators, not toy designers. I would generally consider it more of the same from the Golden Age of Animation but more modern. The 2000s had newer technologies to work with and perfect while the ‘90s mainly just worked w/ cel animation and did it so well. Flash and CG were in their infancy, so I assume the software got a bit more attention than the stories. Primarily, companies were just looking to work with more cost effective options to make their shows with. It was a rough period,but far from the worst. Anyway, this kind of TV animation is still a relatively new type of animation. Disney were the first ones to spearhead this movement and they made three or four blocks of new cartoon for different generations of kids.

The first block(formally known as Disney Afternoon)was ushered in with three pilots; Fluppy Dogs, Wuzzles and Ducktales. While the former two merely tested the waters and the latter was the only one successful, all three were made with stellar animation and complex storytelling for what everyone knew as entertainment for kids. After the success of Ducktales, Disney was brimming with pride and made seven years worth of cartoons for this block. Even if some cartoons didn't strike people the right way, they were still wildly memorable. While their D.C. original programming generally doesn't get more than short compilation discs, the DA 'toons get full series releases digitally and through DVD. This prompted to launch One Saturday Morning on ABC.

With the acquisition of Nicktoon Doug, Disney paired it up with Recess and Pepper Ann, chasing after the success they had a few years before. The aforementioned series were the highest rated on the block while other series are more obscure and buried by Disney. They are acknowledged as good but were overshadowed by 24/7 network like Nick and Cartoon Network bringing a lot more cartoons to a lot more times of the day.

Disney started to notice how much of an animated surplus they had and that they air their cartoons for weeks on end. Thus, Toon Disney was founded,which became a more visible hub for the cartoon blocks of the 90s and all other ages of Disney. At one point,they started airing Sonic the Hedgehog and making their own co-productions under their most popular TV cartoon brand, Jetix. As extensive as these programs got, they were being seen by fewer and fewer people.

To overlap slightly with the end of OSM, Disney started making more cartoons for the Channel’s demographic. Shows like Kim Possible, Lilo and Stitch, and American Dragon:Jake Long began airing and netting extraordinary ratings. In fact, Disney Channel was probably most successful in the early 2000s. It found its new groove if you will with its signature style of tween/teen sitcom and animated series. The former seem to have more clout on the network after the premiere of Lizzie McGuire,solidifying the formula. Similar to OSM, many cartoons were more or less not acknowledged the way they were 10 years before. Since sitcoms dominated because they were faster and cheaper to make, it seemed that the outcome was better. Over the course of the period (c. 2002-2008) they released the smallest selection of DC cartoons ever while the sitcoms got more and more press. It’s unclear what Disney was going to do next, but soon summer of 2007 came along...

PART 3: Gotta Make Summer Last

Disney Channel aired the premiere of High School Musical 2 and decided to air the first episode of PaF afterwards. As a result HSM 2 netted 17.6 million views and PaF 10.8 million views. We could easily deduce that eager HSM fans made up the clout of viewers, but that’s not to say the show couldn’t prove interesting to viewers anyway. In fact, Disney delayed its original 2007 release in the US to release it in February in multiple countries. Places such as Latin America, Brazil, Japan, France and Portugal got to experience the show right along with us. International promotion was rolled out which only netted PaF even more press. It became one of Japan’s most popular Western cartoons, it got wild promotion in Latin America and most of Europe(all around) made excellent dubs and gave it the lion’s share of time slots. This was a pretty good outcome all things considered.

Thus the cycle began. First came DVDs and games, then came interviews and guest spots, than movies, Disney park attractions, live events and then omnipresence.... scratch that last one, but you get the idea. The TV Movie itself was more or less the peak of the show. It remains the 10th most watched DCOM premiere of all time and the show remains one of the longest running animated series of the main Disney networks(DC, XD, and Junior). I think the last time Disney mass merchandised a TV cartoon this much was Lilo and Stitch(last one not already a franchise was Doug or Recess). The show is even part of the Marvel and Star Wars universes(non canonically of course)Even then, Disney elevated the show to new heights. It had everything Disney wanted; likeable protagonists, innocent motifs, enough songs to last for days, episodic adventures, and tons of mass marketing appeal. This simple show connected people across the world(if the Tumblr/DA fandoms for PaF were any indicator)through its mult-faceted music and rudimentary themes. While this show raised the bar, it also left the bar to be raised another notch by...

PART 4: Meet the Man of Mystery

In 2012, Gravity Falls premiered as a sneak peek behind DCOM Let it Shine. While not an instant ratings hit, it quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed Disney TV cartoons of all time. The spotlight quickly began to fade on the smartest stepbrothers around as new episodes were coming infrequently. While the numbers were still big enough to make Teen Titans Go mutter in awed jealousy, it still was becoming less of a force on the main network. However on Disney XD, it was still Adored by the Network. I remember how I felt watching day long marathons several times a month, sometimes without reason. Despite its mass appeal, Phineas and Ferb could be classified easily as a boy targeted program due to the protagonists and the subject matter. Until XD found its groove, they would continue to spam PaF for what felt like eons. To this day, they still occasionally air it in primetime slots.

The way I wrote this last part may sound cynical,jaded, and/or pessimistic. However, it’s written that way to emphasize another point. After the success of this series, Disney went from relying on a few filler shows to releasing a new show basically every year and truly giving them all the promotion they could. While not all series got the treatment we all wanted them to have, a lot more of them have come and gone to try to re-innovate and reinvigorate the brand. Phineas and Ferb (more or less) singlehandedly convinced Disney TV to put more stock in their animation division. Don’t know how many Fallers know this but Disney actually asked Alex Hirsch to make his pilot for them after seeing his work. They were actively seeking out new talent and new stories. Honestly, while Kick Buttowski and Pickle and Peanut got a lot of flac in the day, they were(to an extent) a sign that the House of mouse was trying to experiment and make something they liked to see. The latter especially seemed like a personal pet project of XD’s off sense of humor.

I’m sure the networks would have reinvented their cartoons eventually, but PAF brought it out in the best way. In a way the boys were kind of dc celebrities in their heyday. When you can summon a bunch of popular characters from the live action sitcoms to dance for possibly hours for a two minute music video in the name of a teal platypus made out of digital ink and pixels, that’s pretty special indeed.

CONCLUSION

Phineas and Ferb is my favorite animated series,explaining why I can info dump mostly from memory as I have in this post. While many have told me that it’s nothing special, to me it stands out as the brightest diamond in the rough and a shining testament to the duality of animation in general. Ten years from now, I hope that I can write better when I must wax sentimentality about my favorite cartoon show. Thanks to the cast, crew, creators, and fans for making summer last. See you at the 20th!

#Phineas and Ferb #phineas flynn #ferb fletcher #Disney Channel #disney xd #disney #analysis #personal essay #infodump #reblog with tag tldr for short version

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machinehead · 8 years ago

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MORE CORNELL

Below is a collection of the most interesting replies to my General Journal inbox and our Facebook page. There are many, many, many more great/fantastic replies in the FB thread here: https://www.facebook.com/MachineHead/posts/10154745571783823 But these are the ones that hit me the hardest for whatever reason. Reading everyone's replies made me realize that it’s been a very difficult thing to process for many of us. I appreciate the well wishes from everyone. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Yes, it triggered something dark inside me, something closer to the surface than I realized. Writing/talking helped me process it. Talking about it on our group-text helped a lot, talking about it with my guys at practice helped a lot. Writing the journal helped a lot, reading you’re replies helped a lot. And so I’m sharing your replies to hopefully help anyone else struggling with this. It needs to be discussed. His suicide, depression, mental health, whatever we want to call needs to be addressed. We need to get over our uber-macho, alpha-male-society, and be able to talk about these things. For ourselves, for our kids, for our future. My oldest son had heard Genevra and I talking about Cornell. Driving him to school 2 days ago, he asked me how he died. I told him. He didn’t understand why someone would do that. It was tough conversation. And my first thought was to not tell him what it meant, but then my larger fear went to "what if he feels this way already?” And before you go, “oh kids don’t feel that way, kids are just happy all the time”, I have 2 friends who are going though it with their tween/teenagers. So we spoke about it, and I told him "I hoped that him and Wyatt never felt that way because THAT scared me even more." It was heavy… How any parent lives through that I’ll never know. Back when the news broke, the band/crew were talking over the group-text, Phil shared something amazing with us. It was a post from our long-time friend Steffan Chirazi. He had posted his eloquent thoughts regarding Cornell's suicide (written before suicide was confirmed). If you read only one of the replies below, scroll to the bottom and read his. It’s well worth your time. ——————————— From: Paul Miller Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Yeah man. I know that's not a formal way to start a reply, but that last line, "Listen, Honor, Remember Chris Cornell"... that's the truth. Did so today. Soundgarden was one of those bands that I listed to and enjoyed, but I didn't run it into the ground. It was great music, and I didn't want to burn myself out on it. It would rotate, but I'd save it for special occasions. When "Black Hole Sun" hit MTV, I'd find myself turning the tv so that I wouldn't get sick of it, but it became unavoidable for awhile (at least here in Indiana). I appreciate your words. They ring true here, too. Never got that low, but my thoughts have been dark enough. It scares me, too. But, I want to forge ahead for my 5 year old - she is what keeps me runnin'. All the best to you, and thank you for the music through the years. I'm sure you hear people say that your music helped them through rough times. I believe it. It kept me focused on doing something personally productive to develop my chops as I wore out the cassette of 'Burn My Eyes' while learning to play your riffs! So, thank you for that. Take care, Paul From: Rochelle Mangan Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Thank you for this, I loved reading it and am enjoying re listening to a lot of the songs and albums you mentioned with a different perspective on them (this is something I enjoy doing with music a lot, listening to things after people have told me their ideas and opinions on them etc). I just want to say though that I hate the "they had so much to live for" type comments. Even if it's done from an emotional, irrational state, I can't not say something about it. I will find it hard to express concisely and over email the many reasons why but one of the main things is this.... Mental health is hard to deal with because it's invisible, it's so easy to feel like you're a flawed person somehow rather than recognise you are actually unwell. This can mean that experiencing severe depression or whatever when everything in your life is "going great" can (in my experience) often make it so much more confusing and distressing. I'm definitely not saying it's harder to deal with if your life's great! But, if things aren't great - you've lost your job, you're struggling with a relationship etc it's easier to sort of say to yourself "well of course I'm struggling". I feel like it's also sometimes easier for others to empathise with you if they can see some logical reasons why. It's also easier to get help from public health services (in NZ anyway). When I'm in a bad patch and I have good things happening in my life I ALWAYS find it harder to not do damaging behaviours because my external things are so at odds with what's happening internally. It's like a big war going on and it is so confusing, so exhausting, just one massive dangerous mind fuck! Anyway I hope this doesn't make you feel worse than you may already be feeling, I don't mean it to. I just feel that it's important to say these things sometimes. I know suicide can be confusing to people but as you may know, when you're there, it's not. Thank you for your ramblings and your even more amazing music. It has definitely kept me alive in a big way numerous times. Rochelle xxx From: Anita Hoeve Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Even though I'm a Machine Head fan from the start, and I really enjoy your journals, I don't normally respond to them. Surely you have better things to do than read all the comments, but wow, this day really sucked, didn't it? I was utterly shocked to hear about Chris' passing. Even more to learn it was suicide. Feel so sad that he felt this was the only way out. I love his voice, his music, listened to Superunknown just last week. Between all the social outpourings I read today, yours really stood out. Thank you for your story, your memories. For really taking the time to share them with us. They got to me. Take care Robb, give your kids and Genevra an extra big hug tonight. Love, Anita From: "Kondalski, Joe" Subject: RE: CHRIS CORNELL To: 'The General Journals' I was at the Fox Theater last night to see Soundgarden, here are a couple of pics from the show. We were in the front row and Chris gave us fist bumps and was very engaged with the fans during the show. Ps- these are cell phone pics, I will send some pics from my camera later. Feel free to post this pics anywhere. From: Fábio Gil Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals From a 34 year old fan boy trying to play it cool: if you need help, go and search for it and solve your shit, man. We all have demons and hard things we can't handle by ourselves, sometimes. So, for this fanboy, and millions around the world, for whom your TALENT and music inspires so fucking much, put yourself together and "headup". I have a band and we are looking for a proper singer for a time now, maybe a year... And you, dear Robb, your vocal approach, your melodies, ressonate in my head, pushing me to break my barriers and fears and step to the mic (I play of the guitars). This is how much you inspire me. And I'm... just one. Imagine what you do daily to your legion of fans. Is there anybody out there? Yea. There is. Always. From Portugal, with MUCH MUCH love, Fábio Gil. From: Jean-Baptiste Collinet Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL SPOTIFY PLAYLIST To: The General Journals Thanks for the playlist, Robb. Great choices, many almost-unknown songs. Great. Well, I tought about dropping a serious line about how Chris somehow "changed my life" (I know, that's so cliché, but I'm at loss for words, damnit). But I was too down last time you wrote about him. Not only did Chris, as a human being, kinda "redirected" me on a safer, healthier path… even if we never met (if there's heaven or hell, we may meet sometime. Let's be a hopeless optimistic-pessimist!) His music... Boy, it's just gut-tearing to think about the loss of the man who opened my mind and my ears enough to stop my technical frenzy and stage thirst for a huge while, and made me start listening instead of merely hearing. I even put aside performing for years, and I just started again maybe a few months ago. Not as a Swedish Melodeath drummer and guitarist, but as a viola da gamba soloist. Talk about a ride. It doesn't look like it, but both worlds share much more than one may think. Not sure I would have made it so far without Chris. Chris had this ability to quickly grok and understand the world and music in an unbelievably holistic way. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is... I could go on and on, rambling. Enough. Chris has still much to "teach" us, even if he's not "there". He made me wonder if we're not the dead, wrongly thinking we're alive. How can we dare think we're right? What if the ones we think of as dead/fallen are the ones alive? Anyone has an answer to this? Jean-Baptiste Collinet @Rich Hoit I both love and hate this. I love the passion, the honesty, and the wish to not shy away from the raw and heartfelt feelings towards a fantastic front man, singer, musician, friend and man. So much respect for that. I hate the fact that it had to be written so soon 😢 Bravo, Machine Head, a great piece and a great sentiment. And thank you, Chris Cornell. @Ashley Merritt You're strong as fuck Robb because you actually wrote how you feel honestly like this, helping anyone struggling with mental illness.. it helps to know that you're not the only one and the way you feel frankly is exactly the way I do. What a trip. Being open and around good folk means everything, there's always an up after a down. Always. @Theresa Alaimo Very proud of you, Robb Flynn, Machine Head, for this tribute to Chris. A s a journalist for my magazine, Black Planet, in New Mexico, I ran for over 15 years, I too am grieving for Chris Cornell, that beautiful man with an amazing voice. During the Voivod Tour they played at a club a few blocks from my work space apartment and the promoter asked if I could steam the crab legs for Soundgarden at my place. Delivering a plate of steaming hot crab legs to the beautiful Chris and looking into his eyes, made my legs steam as well. I believe I said, "Your Majesty, I present you with steaming hot crab legs" and bowed. I was such a dork, but I was so overwhelmed by his aura. I was also at the Foundations Forum where I saw Soundgarden and met you and other great guys. I interviewed you and we all became friends and hung out with Pantera, Biohazard, Exodus, STP, Lemmy, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden and up and coming new bands for a weekend. I still have my Scorpions beer mug they handed out from their helicopter flight, it was a great experience. Anytime you are feeling sad or depressed Robb, try to remember that you are a talented musician, a beautiful man and maybe not every woman in the world wants to fuck you, but be your friend and will listen if you need to talk. I might not ever know if you read this, Robb Flynn, but at least it's out there. We all love you and need you to stick around. We've lost too many, Dimebag, Peter Steele, Wayne Static, Scott Weiland, Layne Staley, Lemmy, just to name a few and when we barely catch our breath, then we lose another. We can't lose you too, our hearts are already broken. @Matt McDonald "And I think I'm strong, but I'm not. I'm not as strong as I project, and I'm not sure if I'm stronger than depression. Because I sink into it sometimes. And it's black. I hope I am. I need to be for my kids. For my wife... for myself." God damn that shit hit me. So personal, so profound, and so relatable. Counseling, medication, therapy... none of that is a guarantee. Whether it's a bout of sadness or full on throes of suicidal depression, sometimes the hardest part for overcoming it is simply reaching out. Be it pride, shame, guilt... find a way to overcome, find something that helps you out of the funk. Music can be so powerful, so thank you for still being here to share your deeply personal thoughts and feelings, and for continuing to make music. You never know how much it could help even just one person, I think that's reason enough to continue. Thank you! @Jennifer May It can be really hard to admit, you worry that you'll be labeled as an attention seeker or told that you just need to cowboy up and try harder to be happy. Medication is still really stigmatized and expensive, and talk therapy can seem intimidating. I'm very, very lucky and grateful that my mama works in mental health so I've had someone to help me navigate the system. RIP Chris, we lost one of the greatest today. @Phil Stein No matter how much one tries to capture the range of emotions evoked by Chris Cornell's vocals, the description falls short of what he could do and what he could convey. Let alone the beauty, poignancy and power that he could generate. It was like hearing a 5 course gourmet dinner from appetizer through dessert - it was varied and more than that delicious vocally. Thanks for the great description and memorial For Chris Robb. It's so on point and fitting. Perfectly stated!!! @Mark Garcia It's the asshole in me but I will never grieve for someone who takes their own life. I can appreciate all the words from fans and I may not have been a fan of sound garden some of the songs were worth listening to. This band as well as the grunge "sound" never resonated with me so maybe that's why as well. @Jimmy James Brute honesty again from mr Flynn. Bravo this is why we love you and machine head. Depression does fucking suck and you don't shy away from talking about it. RIP Chris Cornell! Man I was actually a big soundgarden fan back in the 90s before discovering metal. @Siri LH Thank you for your honesty and reflections! Highly interesting to read. I can relate to the sadness and the mind fuck. Soundgarden was the band that sparked my love for heavy music. I've been depressed myself and always felt comfort in listening to Chris Cornell's voice. It resonated with my mind. The darkness felt lighter when I put on a Soundgarden album. I was comforted, like someone got my mood. Whenever I've felt lost, I've put on some Soundgarden and found myself again. Soundgarden feels like the essence of my being and I will always be deeply grateful for their music, and for Cornell's voice, lyrics and mood. I've seen them live once and I smiled the whole show through. Eternal love for Chris Cornell and Soundgarden <3 My heart goes out to his loved ones. @Austin Kokel I saw them on Lollapalooza '96, and I'm glad to hear you say what I felt at that show. I was only 15, but I had Badmotorfinger and Superunknown and I absolutely loved both and was right up front. The band was definitely in a funk, and the bassist was an asshole, spitting on and insulting the crowd (and bot in the fun Ramones way I experienced an hour earlier). I try to explain their set to people now, and I can't. I'm glad to hear my 20+ year old sentiments echoed. That said, I always wondered about him after that day, but I never saw this coming either, not this far down the road. Thanks for your honesty and insight, Robb. We love you. We love Machine Fucking Head. Be strong. @J Ake Hess You've expressed so many feelings and thoughts rattling around in my head today that I just couldn't find words to put to. Cornell will always be uniquely amazing and in a class by himself. I was listening to his cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 You just last night and letting myself become entranced by his unique sound and incredible voice. Today I am sad, angry, and a bit enthralled with my own mortality. Nobody is immune and sometimes the struggle is too much for even the people with everything to live for. I can't imagine what his family is feeling today. Beyond tragic… @Steffan Chirazi No-one can be sure why he is dead, and when it is appropriate, we will know. But depression is a very, very real thing. It is a part of life, but for some, it carries deadly lows and utterly crushing weight along with a gravitational pull into darkness that many of us cannot fathom. I sometimes fight the rabbit hole. I see it, I feel it, I flirt with its edges, but then I bury my head in the dog or hug the cat or take deep breathes and get outside and find a piece of mental architecture to grab hard, fast and haul myself out. I am very lucky. I am slightly brushed with depression and anxiety, but fortunately I am always able to find the light. Fortunately I still retain enough of my natural mental antibodies to find the path out quickly and efficiently. There is no doubt that age makes that path harder to find sometimes, as a consequence of both the physical being and some of the inevitabilities which come with your 50s (such as more people in your circle dying). Others are not so lucky. It isn't because they 'don't want to' or 'aren't trying hard enough' or 'don't love their familes' or anything remotely like that. It isn't ever for the lack of trying. It is because depression (and anxiety) are a crushing, debilitating disease which this country, this planet, seems largely unable to recognize. We push people to the outer regions of anxiety and depression with no care that there are some who fall headfirst into a rabbit hole tornado and only through regular (and possibly unrecognized miracles) find themselves hurled into the escape bunker as opposed to the abyss. Yeah. Imagine that. A tornado that escalates within minutes from a slight, chilly breeze, a tornado that offers no pattern as to when it will appear. And imagine that the only help which can come your way is a bunker miraculously opening up beneath your feet and drawing you to a womb of safety until the tornado passes… ...Often, people with clinical depression will self-medicate. Not because they 'like to fucking party' but because there is no other way out. It's 'easier' to take a swig, take a pill, take a hit. It keeps the darkness in the distance and the tornado (when it pops up) is smashed into smithereens by the 'medicine’. Let me, by the way, be VERY clear. I am NOT saying he was doing ANY of that. He had his dances back in the old days, ones he has been very open about. But I thought he had left that behind. I honestly don't know but feel he had for some time. Whatever eh? Because we judge anyway. Yet we judge. We judge in all senses and all ways. Why do they do that? Why do they behave that way? Who do they think they are? Why can't they just cheer up...? Why are they being such an asshole? Yeah, cheer up will ya? You're handsome or pretty or rich or famous or successful or ALL of those things. Come on. All you gotta do is think about how much worse so many other people have it. Who do you think you are? There are people with 'real' problems out there… I heard the same shit about Cobain and Staley. Listen, does anyone really believe that they wanted to go? That they didn't with every sinew wish in their more lucid moments that they could find a way out? Of course not. Pain is one thing, emotional pain is a whole other ball of wax, but add that to a chemical equation in your DNA that can (without warning) turn your colours to black and white, your peripheral vision to a short, narrow tunnel and which leaves your light feeling cold-negative and it is clear to see that this disease is both monstrous and potentially crippling. The thing with tornados is that when you're in one, they don't afford you the 'luxury' of contemplation. Especially when it is your own chemicals, your own imbalances through no fault of your own, which rise from nowhere to envelope you in that tornado; I never heard of anyone caught in one who was able to see straight, let alone reason with themselves. Fortunately some find their way out. They discover a regular path out of the fog, and they can stick to it. That is not to judge people who cannot; every situation is different. But some simply can't. They try and try and try again. Maybe they achieve success in escaping dark moments, and maybe they eradicate self-medication and triggers from their lives with the help of great local support. However there are never guarantees. Again, I don't know why he died. I spent a little time with him here and there, enough to know that for years, there was a dark moodiness which expressed itself via his generally quiet way and rich lyrics. Later on he certainly spruced himself up, chucked in the deeper self-medications, and seemed a lot more comfortable with life than when he wrote the semi-self-ridiculing "Jesus Christ Pose" but what did I know? Apparently not much at all… ...If you see a friend struggling, if you sense or feel a friend or family member is drifting near a rabbit hole, please, check-in with them. However you have to, either directly or just create an excuse to see them, to talk to them. We are so emotionally guarded that we perhaps see it as 'intruding' or 'sticking our noses in'. Know your friends. Know your family. Be kind whenever you can with them, have a laugh or crack a shit joke. But touch base. Do it today. Much love to everyone who suffers and is either marginalized, trivialized or simply ignored. Much love to those getting assistance in their ongoing battle. Subscribe to The General Journals: http://thegeneraljournals.hosted.phplist.com/lists/?p=subscribe

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totaldramafan-lauri · 8 years ago

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Eurovision 2017 Opinions, Predictions, and Rankings

It's that time of year again! Eurovision starts next week, so here's my post where I talk about what I think of each of the 42 songs!

This took quite a while, and is very long, as per usual. XD

Now, if you were here at this time last year, you'd probably remember that I was a HUGE fan of last year's Eurovision. I didn't expect this year to reach that level, and for the most part, I was right

This is a solid collection of songs, but like I said before, it's not as good as last year. There are some real gems in here, and most of them are at a consistant quality, and with the withdrawal of Russia, I'm left with four "indifferent"s and one "dislike", as opposed to last year where I had FIVE "indifferent"s and one "dislike"...but for the most part, the good songs aren't as good as last year's good songs, and the bad songs are worse than last year's bad songs. But that's just opinion, like everything else in this post. Yeah, I have to emphasize this even more than usual: THESE ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS. The opinions of an American who can't vote, at that! I'm saying this because there are a certain few popular opinions that I....don't really agree with....>__> So, sorry in advance

But anyway, here's what I think of the year of EDM. Let's go!

(In alphabetical order by country)

Song: World Country: Albania Thoughts: Last year, I noted that for a while, Albania's entries have been good, but not GREAT, and that they needed some extra "oomph". That changed this year. BIG TIME! At least for me! This song is so....BIG. There is so much POWER in this song. I hesitate to call it a ballad, but I assume to most people, it is, so......best ballad of the year. Hands down. I'm rooting for Albania this year! Yeah, I can't believe it either! I wish people talked about it more. And sadly, this isn't the only instance of a song I consider underrated.... Prediction: I'm not counting on this to qualify, but I wish it would....but at the same time, there are songs I like more, and if those songs qualified and this one didn't, I'd be fine. But if it surprises me, well....that'd be nice!

Song: Fly With Me Country: Armenia Thoughts: I really like this one. This is a cool song! I had to wait a week after starting my first impression posts for this song to be released, and it was well worth the wait. I LOVE the beat here, especially once it builds. I can't explain it, but this song manages to be infectious without necessarily being upbeat. It's unique! After the contest is over, it'll be burned into my brain. It's not one of my absolute favorites, but it makes my top ten. I can definitely see why it got so popular Thoughts: Yeah, this one's a qualifier. Popular song + country that almost always qualifies = guaranteed spot in the final. And in the final, I predict it'll at least finish on the left side of the scoreboard. I'm one of its fans, so I don't mind! In fact, if a couple of my top seven don't qualify, then this song is one of my backup favorites! I'll probably be rooting for it to do well!

Song: Don't Come Easy Country: Australia Thoughts: As much as I hate to say it, this is the weakest entry Australia has sent so far. And the reason I hate to say it is because I DO like this song. I think there's a lot of emotion in it, which is the highlight, and there's nothing else this year that has this kind of "message"...That sometimes it's hard to open up to someone after you've been hurt before. That's pretty....deep. And I realize that saying this is Australia's weakest entry when it's only their third one is NOT saying much, especially when I'm comparing it to the awesomness that is "Tonight Again" and the overrated yet still powerful "Sound Of Silence". I guess I was expecting more, and that's what made me think it was underwhelming the first time I heard it. But it grew on me a lot. I can actually see this playing on the radio over here, and me not minding it Prediction: There's no doubt this song will qualify. In fact, in the coming years, I can see Australia becoming the same as Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Romania: a country that always qualifies no matter what. As for the final....My opinion from last year has not changed: I don't want Australia to win. I can see this in the top ten, but not winning

Song: Running On Air Country: Austria Thoughts: This is a cute song! It doesn't give me much to talk about, but I like it! Yeah, I like happy songs in Eurovision....no duh =P I don't have any problems with this song, but I can't rank it higher simply because there are songs I like more. "If you let me drown, I'll swim like a champion~" I like that lyric for some reason... (I also like the censor pause XD) Prediction: I kinda want this song to qualify, but I'm not rooting for it over my favorites. It's in the stronger semifinal, so it's got some strong competition. I won't be surprised if it gets lost in the mix. Then again, that's what I thought would happen to Austria's last entry, and I was wrong....

Song: Skeletons Country: Azerbaijan Thoughts: And so we come to the first of my top seven favorites - the songs that I absolutely and unquestionably love. And I'm not surprised that one of them is Azerbaijan's, considering their track record of sending awesome entries. From the first time I heard this song, I was in love. Those delicious, delicious synths, man! This type of music has always been my thing! So, yeah, I'm a bit biased here, but I love it SO much! Funny fact is that for the first week or so of listening to it regularly, I had no idea what most of the lyrics were. The chorus especially - besides "Have my skeletons" and "Bad boy", it sounded like gibberish to me. AND I STILL LOVED IT. I eventually looked up the lyrics, and now I like singing along to it. But to me, this song is about the beat, not the lyrics. Not to discredit the singer, of course! Also, this is an example of this year's lineup not being as good as last year's - even though I ranked "Miracle" as number 5 last year and this song is my number 4 this year, I'm still pretty sure I like "Miracle" a tiny bit more Prediction: Well, at least I won't have to worry about at least one of my favorites qualifying! Yeah, this one is no doubt gonna make it in the final. But will it get Azerbaijan back in the top ten? Hmmm....maybe. It'll at least come close

Song: Story Of My Life Country: Belarus Thoughts: A unique song, not only for being in Belorussian (which like....never happened before, I don't think) but also because nothing else really sounds like it this year. However, it doesn't QUITE do it for me...I've been really enjoying Belarus' entries lately, so this one kinda feels underwhelming. I still like it, the vocals are good, but it's not something I'd listen to after the contest. Not that it's a bad song at all. I always say that more happy songs in Eurovision, the better, plus this year's slogan is "Celebrating Diversity".....So, yeah, this is a song I wish I could like more than I do Prediction: Even though it's ranked pretty low odds-wise, I'd still say this has a decent chance of qualifying. It depends on how it is live. I can actually see this song having cute staging. But if it does qualify, I can't see it doing all that well in the final

Song: City Lights Country: Belgium Thoughts: Four words: I don't get it. I simply do. Not. Get. It. What do people like so much about this song? I've heard it so many times now, trying to understand, hoping it would grow on me....and it didn't. At first, I thought it was boring, and now, I think it's boring. So....what's so special about it? I don't wanna put down the people who like it, I just.....don't. I don't even dislike it! That would mean it gets SOME reaction out of me. But no, this song gets nothing out of me. It's just.....there. Maybe calling it "nothing" in my first impression post was a LITTLE harsh, but...I just can't get into this at all. When it comes to slow songs, there are many that I like more. This song just bores me. Sorry...The only nice thing that I can say about this song is that I'd much rather have a song that gets no reaction out of me than one that I outright DREAD listening to, like Portugal's song, which I'm gonna get to later (Oooooh, the things I have to say about that one....) Prediction: When I found out that this song, which was previously ranked in the top five in the betting odds, had dropped down to tenth place, below Denmark and Azerbaijan, I was SO happy! Looks like I don't have to worry about this song winning. However, no doubt we'll be hearing it in the final....I REALLY hope people wake up and realize there are more interesting songs, but that's wishful thinking. Belgium may be looking at their third top ten placement in a row

Song: Beautiful Mess Country: Bulgaria Thoughts: This is a fine song. Yeah, it's a massive step down from last year, but I expected that anyway. If you're new to Eurovision....Bulgaria are usually preeetty bad at it. Last year was only their second time qualifying. But anyway! This song....Like I said, I think it's fine. However, its apparent popularity....like with the Belgian entry, I don't get it at all. I've seen people call it a "masterpiece", and I'm like "....Are you listening to the right song?" (This isn't the Dutch entry) I at least like THIS one, but I'm not gonna act like I can see it WINNING like some people do. I don't even LOVE it, I just like it. I think it has some of the best lyrics this year. But a winner? Not in a million years could I see a song like this win Eurovision Prediction: Will qualify and do well in the final, but if it wins, I'll be VERY shocked. And NOT in a good way. I won't hesitate to say that, even though I like the song, I WILL root against it in favor of the more worthy potential winners like Italy and Sweden (AND THE NETHERLANDS). Sorry to fans of this song, but I simply cannot see Bulgaria 2018

Song: My Friend Country: Croatia Thoughts: This is....an interesting one. And trust me, I mean interesting in a good way! For me, this was the biggest grower this year. When I first heard it, I kinda liked it, but I knew I had to give it time. And OH BOY did it grow on me, especially when it hit me that this is ONE GUY singing. This guy can sing in TWO VOICES! That's incredible!! And the two voices singing in two different languages is such a neat touch! (Though I'm still kinda scratching my head at why Italian is the second language) It also gains this song uniqueness points, because have we EVER had a Eurovision entry like this before? I don't think there has been! I can think of NOTHING to compare this song to! That's a good thing. Add on the uplifting lyrics, and you get an unforgettable song Prediction: I do think Croatia deserve to qualify with this, but I'm not sure that's gonna happen. I can see interesting staging going with this song, so maybe that'll help it stand out more than it already does, but....will it qualify? Hmmmm...I'm gonna say....no. Yeah, I'm pessimistic, but they don't qualify all that often. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

Song: Gravity Country: Cyprus Thoughts: Oh my GOD do I love this one!! I can't get enough of it! It's flipping awesome and SO underrated! The lyrics, the beat, it all flows so well...I-I dunno what else to say, it's just excellent! And should I be surprised? It's this year's G:son song, after all! Has he EVER written a song that I disliked? OK, maybe I'm a LITTLE surprised...Because the fact that this song is written by the same guy who wrote "Alter Ego" last year. You would NOT have known that unless you looked it up, I swear. But anyway....When I first heard this song, it was love at first listen, and I was hooked ever since. If it wasn't for the masterpiece that is the Dutch entry, this would be my favorite song this year, and I GUARANTEE that if this were the entry of Sweden or Norway, more people would be going nuts over it. This is the highest Cyprus have ever been on a list of mine, and I don't think they'll be able to top it any time soon! Man, it is an unwritten rule that every song titled "Gravity" in Eurovision is gonna be awesome? Prediction: OH MY GOD AM I WORRIED ABOUT THIS SONG. I obviously REALLY want them to qualify, but it's a fact that it's not very popular compared to other songs in the first semifinal. If it doesn't qualify, I would be pissed, but I wouldn't be overly surprised....Of all my favorites in the first semi, I think this one has the slimmest chance of qualifying and I HATE that. The thought of Belgium and Portugal getting through and Cyprus not.....ugh....Please please please qualify, PLEASE sound good live, PLEASE. Cyprus deserve it so much....OK fine, you can have Belgium in the final as long as this makes it too

Song: It's My Turn Country: Czech Republic Thoughts: Yikes....and I thought their last entry was boring! This one is even MORE boring! There is absolutely nothing interesting about this song, but at the same time, there's nothing terrible about it, either. It's not annoying, and it's at least modern-sounding, unlike a certain OTHER snorefest. I guess if I give it something else, it's that the lyrics are good? But for the most part, this song's just....there. It's there, and I dunno why it is. Did the Czech Republic just have no other options? I mean, "I Stand" at least had good vocals....But this one? I have absolutely no feelings toward this song. It's dull, but harmless. It doesn't deserve anything more than indifference Prediction: If this song qualifies, I wouldn't know what to say. I mean, the only song I'd take this over is the Portuguese entry....which is in the same semifinal....But for the most part....Yyyyeah, we're not gonna see the Czech Republic in the final again this year

Song: Where I Am Country: Denmark Thoughts: Another one of my favorite songs this year! I absolutely adore this song. I thought it was gonna be in my top three at first, I love it that much. To me, this song works so well because of one main thing - Anja's AWESOME voice. The way she belts out that chorus like it's nothing just blows me away every single time...and sometimes gives me chills! This song NEEDED strong vocals, and it has them! It's a powerful song. I feel so emotional while listening to it. The desperation, the determination, the vow to make things right again.....This is a darn good song. I only have one problem with it, and it's a nitpick...Apparently, the lyrics are "Laying down my armor, laying down my guard". WHY is it not "gun"? I thought it was "gun" when I first heard it, because it just makes sense! Mainly because it actually RHYMES with "done"! But that's a tiny complaint. XD Overall, Denmark's best entry since "Only Teardrops". Prediction: Pretty much guaranteed to qualify. I already know she sounds amazing live. I can see Denmark in the top ten this year, or even top five, but I don't think this'll be their year to win

Song: Verona Country: Estonia Thoughts: Sleeping all alone, you wake up with a bottle in your hands~ *shot* Sorry, sorry! I'm not gonna type the whole thing, I just wanted to bring attention to how much I've been singing this song recently! Because MAN, I thought it was good the first time....and I thought it was AWESOME by the sixth. No question, this song belongs in my top three! In what I consider to be the spiritual successor to "Goodbye To Yesterday", the first thing I noticed is the Romeo And Juliet comparison and how, for once, it WASN'T to regard them as the pinnacle of romance. It's really becoming a pet peeve of mine when songs and stories do that, because THEY WEREN'T. It's like no one actually paid attention in ninth grade English class! Even disregarding the crap their families put them through, resulting in them DYING because of they insisted on getting married while barely knowing each other, Romeo was 19 years old. Juliet was ONLY 14!! C'mon, that's so wrong! And Romeo was a ladies' man who was JUST swooning over another woman before meeting her, and....Sorry, I went on a tangent. But yeah, this song brings up Romeo And Juliet....comparing themselves to them as a RECKLESS TYPE OF LOVE! How refreshing! And it's also just an awesome song in general! I think the moment it started to grow on me is when I realized how awesome the "Reckless type of love, reckless type of love / We never said 'I'm sorry', we never said 'Enough' / This western type of woman, western type of man / Disappeared in Verona" part was, and the rest of the song followed. Overall, I dunno why we got so many songs about unhappy couples this year, but this is the best of those. The lyrics are great, it sounds great, it's just excellent Prediction: Look, I didn't care about "Play" that much, so I didn't mind when it didn't qualify. This is a different story. This had BETTER qualify OR ELSE. And it probably will, but...I dunno, I'm still kinda worried. But I think I'll get over it. Yeah, I just checked the Wiki page to confirm - It ranked number five in the OGAE poll. People are recognizing its greatness. I don't need to worry, it's fine. Back to worrying about Cyprus, then

Song: Blackbird Country: Finland Thoughts: There are two words I'd use to describe this song: "atmospheric" and "relaxing". A huge mood whiplash from Finland's last entry which was basically Happiness: The Song, but I'm not complaining at all! I like this song a fair bit. There may be other slow songs this year, but nothing quite like this. The lyrics are very poetic, as well. I will admit, though, that my opinion of this song may be a bit soured by the fact that most of the time I've been listening to the playlist, it's been as background music while I'm playing Splatoon, so having a song that sounds like a lullaby come up while playing a high-energy video game doesn't really fit....It kinda kills the mood. But I'm not holding that against this song, it's still very pretty and a case of a slow song that's not boring! Prediction: I think Finland may qualify with this! This song stands out! Will I be surprised if I'm proved wrong, though? Maybe a little, but I won't be MAD unless it's to make way for Portugal. Every other song in the first semifinal deserves to qualify more than Portugal

Song: Requiem Country: France Thoughts: A nice, solid song. I pretty much have the same things to say about it that I said about Austria's entry - it's happy, upbeat, and I like it but I don't love it. It also grew on me a little bit. In my first impression post, I said that I liked it about at much as I liked "J'ai cherché", but after repeated listens, I now like this song more! Prediction: France will most likely not do as well as they did last year, but will still do reasonably well

Song: Keep The Faith Country: Georgia Thoughts: I like this one a lot. Songs about staying optimistic during tough times have always been things I've liked. This song kinda reminds me of "Peace Will Come" from back in 2008 (also a Georgian entry), which has a very similar message. I do like that one more, though, because it also had a great beat, but I'm getting sidetracked! Anyway, that's what keeps me from giving it the "too heavy for Eurovision" stamp - the optimism. This is what Hungary 2015 SHOULD'VE been. Yeah, I said it, and I'm sticking to it! The lyrics are enough to make me like it, but this song also has strong vocals and a buildup, which is what I love in my ballads. Not in my top ten, but definitely a song I enjoy! Prediction: I'm like.....99 percent sure this will qualify. Eurovision usually loves songs like this. It'll get overlooked in the final, though

Song: Perfect Life Country: Germany Thoughts: Another grower, and another German entry I find underrated. Is this song a bit on the generic side? Yeah. But there's something about it that just.....WORKS. Is it the vocals? The lyrics? I'd say both. This lady does have a good voice, I can hear the emotion, and "I'm not afraid of making mistakes"....is a message I WISH I could live by. So, this song gets a thumbs-up from me, and not JUST because I want Germany to stop getting undeserved last place. Also, apparently there are many people who think this song is a ripoff of Sia's "Titanium", and I find that absolutely ridiculous. Just because parts of a song sound like parts of another song doesn't mean it's a ripoff. It could be just a coincidence! This reminds me of in 2013 when people kept called "Glorious" a ripoff of "Euphoria"....Germany really haven't been able to catch a break in Eurovision.... Prediction: NOT LAST PLACE. I'd honestly be content as long as they DON'T end up in last place. My prediction is still that they'll place rather low. This song is one that has to grow on you, and will most likely not do much to stand out. And I'm fine with that! It isn't even on I'm in love with...it's just....a solid, good song. But speaking of love....

Song: This Is Love Country: Greece Thoughts: I could see some people calling this song generic....I am not one of those people. Yeah, this is another one of my favorites. This song is just AWESOME! Such high energy! Really captures the feeling of being in love. I'd compare it to "Falling Stars" from last year (which I had compared to Cascada). The chorus isn't as strong as "Falling Stars"', but the song as a whole is more well put together. The instrumentals in this song are SO good. The one before the last chorus, with the horns....it all sounds so grand! And tying it together is a singer with a good voice. Well, Greece are back in my favorites for the first time since "Aphrodisiac" in 2012 - but will they make it back in the final? Prediction: If the betting odds are to be believed, they will be back in the final this year. Unless it flops live, this should be another favorite I won't have to worry about. As for the final....It'll finish around the middle of the board, I'll say

Song: Origo Country: Hungary Thoughts: This is SUCH a grower! I remember having little to no reaction to it when I first heard it, but now I enjoy it every time it comes on. Even if I don't understand the lyrics, even if I can't sing along....even if it has a RAP....something about this song makes it enjoyable to me. Is it the synths? Usually, uniqueness points aren't enough to make me like a song (see Belarus above), but this one is different. A solid entry from Hungary once again! Prediction: There's no doubt in my mind this'll qualify. I can even see it do decently well in the final. Maybe not top ten well, but close?

Song: Paper Country: Iceland Thoughts: Whenever I haven't listened to this song in a couple days, I find myself thinking "Is this song REALLY one of my favorites?" And compared to my six other favorites, it does fall short, but....When I listen to it again, I can't help but keep loving it. And the reason is the chorus. It starts out slow, but that chorus just brings SO much life to it. And I dunno why, but I really like her voice. It's not one of the BEST voices in the contest, but her voice really suits this song. I never knew that shouting "PAAAAAAAAAPEEEEEERR!" could sound so awesome...The chorus as a whole has so much force to it. But I'm not gonna say this is a song everyone will enjoy. It is rather slow Prediction: After getting utterly robbed last year, I wish I could say that Iceland deserve to make up for that, but....Like I said, this isn't a song for everyone. I love it, but I think "Hear Them Calling" was objectively a better song, and it that couldn't qualify....can this? Hmmmm....I'll say no, but this being one of my favorites, I'm gonna root for it anyway. Plus, it's in the first semifinal, so the thought of it getting pushed out in favor of Portugal....No please....Maybe a miracle can happen?

Song: Dying To Try Country: Ireland Thoughts: A basic, boring ballad, but I'll take it over Portugal's and the Czech Republic's songs. At least this one picks up toward the end and has a big finish. It did grow on me a little bit, and yeah I do like that last chorus, but not enough for me to say I like the song as a whole. Overall, it doesn't get that much of a reaction out of me, nor does it give me much to talk about Thoughts: Sorry, Ireland, you've been screwed over in Eurovision the last few years, but this isn't gonna be a song strong enough to break that losing streak

Song: I Feel Alive Country: Israel Thoughts: Israel have been on a roll and they're not slowing down! This song is such a burst of energy, and is so much fun to listen to because of it! The reason I don't rank it any higher is because of strong competition, mainly from songs that do the same thing but better. But whenever I hear it, I WISH I could rank it higher. The song is called "I Feel Alive" and it makes you feel alive, how fitting! Prediction: This will be the last song performed in the second semifinal. Usually, people already have their minds made up on what they're gonna vote for by that point....either that, or it'll end the show on a good note and will be hard to ignore because of that! And I'm guessing this song will be the latter! So I think it'll qualify, yeah. But in the final, it won't do as well as Israel's last two entries did

Song: Occidentali's Karma Country: Italy Thoughts: This is the current favorite to win, and goshdarn it I can see (or hear) why! This song may have a music video that I'm surprised I haven't seen more complaints about (that's a good thing), but it's just impossible to hate. I pretty much love this song for the same reasons I like Israel's entry - whenever I hear it, I feel like dancing....and I'm a TERRIBLE dancer! But this song has so much energy! Such a great beat! THAT INSTRUMENTAL, OH MAN! I've said it once and I'll say it again - if all Important Songs were this much fun, I wouldn't be against them in Eurovision at all. I really wanted to rank this higher, but there are songs I like more in the end. But you can tell that Italy are in it to win it! Prediction: Do I even NEED to say that this is a potential winner? I've been in the Eurovision tag a few times this past week, and this is by far the most talked about song ON TOP of being the betters' pick. I have no problems with Italy 2018 at all! I'd consider this compensation for Ill Volo's loss two years ago. And considering their main competition is apparently Bulgaria, Belgium, and *shivers* Portugal....Yeah, consider me on Team Italy. NAMASTE...ALE!

Song: Line Country: Latvia Thoughts: Good, but not great. That just about covers it, because it doesn't really give me much to talk about. Not to say that it's not interesting, but I feel like I've said my opinions on this song about other songs. It's got a good beat, but there are better beats this year. It starts out slowly - maybe a bit too slowly - but it makes up for that at the end. I don't think about this song a whole lot, but when it come on, it's definitely enjoyable! My favorite part is the instrumental after the first chorus Prediction: I have NO FLIPPING IDEA about this one. If I had to guess, I'll say that I think it'll qualify, but I won't be surprised if it gets overlooked (because it's an overlooked song). I'm not rooting for it, but it won't hurt anyone by being in the final. Oh, and since it's in the first semifinal, if its qualification means no Portugal in the final, then I'll be happy

Song: Rain Of Revolution Country: Lithuania Thoughts: I like that name. It doesn't make sense, sure, but it sounds cool! But the song itself? ....Eh, it's OK. I guess I like it, but it's not a stand-out entry. Her voice is fine - not great, but it grew on me after a few listens. I like the "Dance to the rhythm of a song" part. I'm not gonna deny that it's a forgettable song when compared to the others, but it's my favorite of the "forgettable" songs because at least it has energy. I can't call it boring. That's a plus! I don't think it deserves the hate Prediction: Hmmm....Lithuania have surprise qualifications a lot, but I'm still gonna say they won't qualify this year. They had an excellent contest last year, but that was last year. In fact, even though I kinda like this song, I actively DON'T want it to qualify. It's in the same semifinal as countries with MUCH better songs, and its qualification could be at the expense of one of those. No please >.<

Song: Dance Alone Country: FYR Macedonia Thoughts: A good song, but nothing phenomenal. There are better dance songs this year - heck, there are better energetic songs in GENERAL this year, so I kinda find this one forgettable. I'd actually call it Macedonia's weakest entry in a while....But nothing against it! It just has stronger competition. To me, this song is good background music. For a better take on this title, check out Love Generation's song from Melodifestivalen 2011 Prediction: Highly, highly doubt this will qualify. If Kaliopi couldn't bring Macedonia to the final last year, then this definitely won't. But hey, if I'm proved wrong, I won't complain!

Song: Breathlessly Country: Malta Thoughts: This is a nice ballad. I thought it was boring at first and thought it'd end up as one of my least-favorites, but I find myself liking it more each time I hear it. It's still not anything special, of course, there have been WAY too many songs like this in Eurovision, and I can see why people wouldn't like it, but....I dunno, I can't bring myself to join that majority. Maybe because there are MUCH more dull and boring songs this year that this one feels full of life in comparison.... Prediction: This doesn't seem to be a well-liked song, so I don't think it'll qualify. If it does, it'll probably be because of the juries

Song: Hey Mamma! Country: Moldova Thoughts: Hooooly crap did this song live up to what I expected from the return of Sunstroke Project - A super catchy, fun song complete with the one and only Epic Sax Guy! When I first heard this song and the sax solo came on, I LAUGHED. I couldn't believe my ears! Epic Sax Guy, back in Eurovision! But he's not the only good thing here. When I called this song catchy, I MEANT it. This is THE catchiest song this year, and probably has spent more time stuck in my head than any other song recently. That chorus, man! Get it out, get it ooooout!! This isn't even one of my favorites, but it's just so unforgettable! Even now, sometimes I can't resist rocking along to that sax solo! Also, I don't think I like this song more than "Run Away", but I will say this much - their English has gotten a LOT better since then! Prediction: I'll say this right now.....If this song doesn't qualify for the final, Moldova might as well quit Eurovision. Seriously, the past three years, they've been screwed over despite sending genuinely good songs, and this year, if flipping Sunstroke Project can't get them in, I dunno what will. I know it's low in the betting odds, but I still have faith that they'll do it. This is an infectious song with THE Epic Sax Guy, c'mon! That's gotta get votes! So go, Moldova! You can do it!

Song: Space Country: Montenegro Thoughts: BEHOLD! The only Eurovision entry to ever mention a wet dream in its lyrics! That would normally be a small detail, and it kinda still is, but it's one of the first lyrics in the song and it definitely sets the mood. Because this is an....interesting song. And NOT interesting in a bad way! Repeating myself from what I said about Croatia’s entry there...I actually quite enjoy this! But it is NOT for everyone, as the massive amount of dislikes the official video has on YouTube show. It's ridiculous and cheesy, and I like that about it. It makes me smile, so....Even if part of my enjoyment is ironically, that's gotta count for something. The staging for this is gonna be fun, I can tell. XD Geez, it seems like Montenegro's entries are always super serious or super ridiculous with almost no in-between, huh? And they only qualify when they're taking the serious route... Prediction: Yeah, no qualification here

Song: Lights And Shadows Country: The Netherlands Thoughts: I'm gonna start this off with a question: WHY. THE CRAP. IS THIS SONG NOT GETTING MORE RECOGNITION!? Is the Italian entry distracting everyone!? I mean, I know that's a good song, but THIS song is a masterpiece! Yeah, I'm sticking to that! This is indeed my number one this year. Figures that in a Eurovision mostly populated by dance music and some ballads, that my favorite would be neither. And from a country that hasn't had a number one favorite of mine since 1998, no less! Just....my GOD, this song. From the first time I heard it, I knew it'd be my favorite. The first thing I noticed was how awesome the vocals are. The way these ladies harmonize with each other is just incredible. Then there's the uplifting lyrics, and the way it keeps building....Every direction this song goes in makes it better and better, and it all adds up to a song that makes me so happy. Whenever I'm listening to it, I can't feel anything other than happy. And that's the mark of a good song to me: emotional connection. I just LOVE this song and I hope it has the same magic when performed live, because I really really REALLY want it to start picking up momentum so it'll get votes. This is winner material, and I want people to recognize that. You can tell the Netherlands are trying to stand out this year, and they DESERVE to do well. I stand by that Prediction: QUALIFY QUALIFY QUALIFY. QUA-LI-FY!! If "Slow Down", a country song, could do it, then a masterpiece like this will! And it BETTER at LEAST finish on the left side of the board, or else! But even then, I think anything below a top ten finish isn't doing it justice! (.....I really like this song. I don't think I made it obvious enough)

Song: Grab The Moment Country: Norway Thoughts: A good, solid entry from Norway once again! This is quite the grower, but I still don't think it's anything outstanding. But it's still fun! I like singing along to it! If you like EDM, you'll like this song. There's nothing wrong with it, and it's a good song to listen to if you, well.....wanna kill that voice in your head! Haha, see what I did there? Of course you did, I'm not subtle....Anyway, thumbs up! Prediction: Ooh, I dunno....I know that Norway usually qualify, and that this isn't a bad song, but....The competition is strong, and it's not like there's a shortage of this kind of music. In the same semifinal as this song are Israel, San Marino, and Estonia, to name a few. So, Norway may struggle to stand out among the crowd, but it's not a lost cause, because they're....well, Norway. So, I'm gonna say no on them qualifying, but I would not be surprised at all if I'm proven wrong, nor will I mind (as long as my favorites still make it)

Song: Flashlight Country: Poland Thoughts: After Albania's entry, this is my favorite slow song this year. I love the lyrics, how it builds, and the atmosphere it creates. And the way that the beat it's built on sounds like a heartbeat is a neat touch. But the big finish is definitely my favorite part. My only real complaint is that the way it ends feels kinda abrupt, but I can overlook that. It's just a solid song, and I can't think of anything else to say! Next! Prediction: I could see this going either way, but I guess I'll predict it'll qualify. I won't be surprised if it doesn't, though. It has some strong competition, and there are songs I think deserve it more

Song: Amar Pelos Dois Country: Portugal Thoughts: UUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH. OK, if you like this song, do not read any further, because I'm not holding ANYTHING back. I've been WAITING to talk about this song, so here goes. This is my least-favorite song this year. BY FAR, I might add. While some songs may grow on me the more I listen to them, or at least I gain the ability to tune them out...this song is different. I dislike it more every time I hear it. Now, look, I know I might sound hypocritical by calling something "dated", given that I've liked songs like Moldova 2015 which sound like they were made twenty years ago, but here's the thing - some things age gracefully, and other things do not. 80s and 90s music can be really fun! But then there's stuff that isn't fun at all. Like, say, grandpa music that sounds like it came from the very first Eurovision ever. Now, I have an honest question: WHO watches Eurovision for stuff like this!? WHO!? People who actually like this kind of music would NOT be watching Eurovision, and people who watch Eurovision should NOT be saying "Hey, I really like Eurovision, with its happy, campy music, but you know what it needs more of? THIS!" It's not fun at ALL, it sounds ancient, it doesn't take any exciting turns, it's just.....DULL and BORING! And whenever this song comes on when I'm in the middle of a match and I can't skip it, just.....UUUUGGGHH. I can't learn to like this song! It makes me groan every single time! And part of me KNOWS that I shouldn't hate this song - that this is a song that isn't worthy of hate, or any emotions whatsoever. It doesn't hurt my ears, it's not obnoxious in the most traditional sense....it's harmless. And yet it pisses me off, just thinking of the thought process behind sending something like this to flipping Eurovision. I KNOW that the reason Portugal only compete every other year is because of financial troubles and that they likely don't wanna WIN the contest for those same reasons, but why this? At least send a GOOD ballad! Y'know, those exist! I mean, look at the Finnish entry - That's even slower, and yet it still manages to be INTERESTING! *sigh* ....I'm sorry....Like I said, I know this song is harmless, but for the life of me I cannot find a SINGLE thing about it that I like. I don't care if the singer's good! The song sucks! It's boring as sin! I don't care if it's not in English! It's boring as sin! Every time it comes on, it kills the mood. So good for you, Portugal - for the first time in years, one of your entries finally got an emotional reaction out of me. But in the worst possible way Prediction: And you know what annoys me? Apparently people like this song. Apparently people LOVE this song, in fact. So much that it made it to FOURTH PLACE in the betting odds. THIS SONG made people wanna bet on PORTUGAL winning Eurovision - Portugal, who are one of the most unlucky countries in the contest's history. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!? All signs are pointing to them qualifying, and UGH it sucks! Chances are, it's gonna be at the expense of a song I like! I wish I could predict that it'll come dead last in the semi like it deserves, but I know it won't....I want it outta the final so much...I guess the next best thing is that all my favorites in the first semi still qualify, and that'll cancel out my disappointment....

Song: Yodel It! Country: Romania Thoughts: Romania returns with a silly song that's impossible to hate! When I first heard it, I laughed, but I was also worried that it would get old after a while (due to all the yodeling). But it didn't! In fact, this is a song that SHOULD be annoying - I mean, it's half rap, and half yodeling. Sounds like a horrible combination, right? Well, it's unexpected just how well it flows! And it's just so HAPPY...It's far from a favorite, but I'm happy it exists. What would Eurovision be without a song like this? When it comes to silly Romanian Eurovision entries, I'll take this over Cezar any day Prediction: It's Romania, so it'll qualify. I have zero problems with this. It's one of the more popular songs, I've yet to see hate for it, but I can see the juries not caring for it, so it won't place VERY high in the final

Song: Spirit Of The Night Country: San Marino Thoughts: So, Valentina Monetta has returned. I was never a major fan of hers. "Crisalide" was my favorite of her three previous entries. Good song, but I remember finding it overrated during the 2013 contest. So, I wasn't super excited to listen to this new song.....And DANG did it pleasantly surprise me! This is the CATCHIEST song this year (aside from Moldova's)! I have no idea who the man is, but he apparently compliments Valentina very well. This is BY FAR my favorite Sanmarinese entry yet, and it saddens me how underrated this song is. I was THIS close to putting this in my top seven, but it lacks the forceful vocals I love about a lot of my favorites. So, eighth place it is! Prediction: Not gonna qualify. Like....done. And it SUCKS, because the one time San Marino qualified, it was with an incredibly boring song, and the fact that THAT made it and this won't....ugh. MAYBE I'll be surprised, maybe it'll get some love, but I highly doubt it. Especially when it's in the stronger semifinal. Ah well....at least I'll get to enjoy it once....

Song: In Too Deep Country: Serbia Thoughts: Like Iceland's song, this song takes until the chorus to grab me. To me, the highlight here is the lyrics. I'm just a pure sucker for songs like this...I absolutely LOVED Armenia's "LoveWave" from last year, and this song may not be a fraction as good as that, but it'll do! Music-wise, it's fine, but the lyrics are what keep me from forgetting about it. I-I dunno what else to say here! Prediction: Could go either way, but I'm betting it'll qualify, because Serbia usually do. No one's really talking about it, but I'd still call it a strong entry.

Song: On My Way Country: Slovenia Thoughts: This is a fine song. I like it. What keeps it from being boring is the drums. It's not a stand-out entry, but I do like whenever it comes on. But at the same time, it's also not very interesting, and I can see people tiring of it. It's good background music Prediction: It's very close to being dead last in the betting odds, so if it qualifies, I would be quite surprised. It'd be quite the underdog, but I don't think it'll happen. Not that I don't like it, but there are many songs that stand out more

Song: Do It For Your Lover Country: Spain Thoughts: .....It's "The Lazy Song". It's the flipping "Lazy Song". Don't try to argue with me on this. It's, like....EXACTLY the same. Well, except this one is partially in Spanish. I thought it would grow on me, and I guess it did a LITTLE, but then I happened to hear it one day right after rewatching an old review of "The Lazy Song", noticed the similarities, and my view on it was tainted forever. XD Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike this song. I'm not gonna act like it outright annoys me. I'm simply indifferent to it. And how fitting how similar it is to "The Lazy Song", because, well....it IS a lazy song! It's like the bare minimum required to be a Eurovision entry. “Cute” guy, simple tune that sounds like it's been done before, and lyrics that are, let's be honest, repetitive. Do it for your lover, do it for your lover, clap your hands and do it for your lover, do it for your lover, do it for your lover. JUST DO IT, JUST DO IT FOR YOUR LOVER ALREADY!! No, SHUT UP, what if I don't wanna!? Wait, what AM I doing for my lover anyway!? XD Prediction: Sorry for anyone out there who likes this song (I can see some people finding it cute), but this is my pick for last. Or close to last. Depends on who qualifies from the semifinals....

Song: I Can't Go On Country: Sweden Thoughts: Welp! Sweden are at it again! They're back in my good graces after "If I Were Sorry" with this catchy tune! I can't go on~ I can't go on~ When this song keeps getting in my head! Heh, sorry....But I enjoy this song every time I hear it. Gotta love that combination of dancey and synthy. Have Sweden sent better songs in the past? HECK yeah. But this song is just fun fun fun. And unlike the Belgian entry, I can definitely see the appeal here and agree with the popularity. If Sweden were to win AGAIN, they'd tie Ireland's record of seven wins, which is interesting....well, for me. XD Part of me wants to rank this song higher, but fact is, there are many songs I enjoy more than this one. If this were a weaker year, this would've been top ten material for me Prediction: Everyone knows they're gonna qualify! But as for the question of "is this a potential winner"....I think it might be! While I think there are better songs, this is still a good solid energetic entry that I wouldn't mind winning as long as my ACTUAL favorites still do well. I mean, Sweden hosted a GREAT show last year....They really know what they're doing with Eurovision....Maybe going back there would be a good choice!

Song: Apollo Country: Switzerland Thoughts: This is another song that I wish I could like more. It's a really good song with a great singer, but here's the thing: I'd like it more if I didn't have to compare it with the other songs. Because well....it's a lot like Denmark's entry. Which is one of my favorites. So, nearly every time this song comes on, I think "This is good, but I'd rather be listening to 'Where I Am' right now". Because well....that's pretty much the same thing, only better! They even have similar lyrics, both being about the singer worrying that her relationship with her partner is getting weaker and her not wanting it to. And, to me, the Danish song is just....MUCH stronger. It's more powerful and has an even better singer than this song does. Not to discredit this song at all, because I do like it, and it's great to see Switzerland sending a good song after having an off-year last year Prediction: It's in the same semifinal as Denmark, even! Though I doubt I'm the first one to notice the similarities, I'm not gonna base my prediction off of that because I KNOW there's people who HAVEN'T. It is a strong song. So, I'm gonna say this song has a chance at qualifying, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't. Maybe if it sounds good live?

Song: Time Country: Ukraine Thoughts: I didn't expect this to be as good as the last Eurovision entry called "Time", and I was right. The only rock song this year, it's....It's OK. There's nothing wrong with it. I will admit that the lyrics sound....improvised....It's kinda like the guy didn't have time to write lyrics, so he had to make them all up on the fly. "The song's called 'Time', so I'll just say the word 'time' a lot!" But I'm forgiving of that because it's VERY likely that English isn't a language that most Ukrainians are fluent in. XD What makes up for it is that admittedly awesome guitar solo, that is pretty much the entire reason I'm not indifferent to this song. I normally like rock music, and I don't mind it in Eurovision! I still love "Alter Ego" and "Midnight Gold"! But this one is just....missing something special. I can't explain it very well Prediction: Won't do too well, but I can't see it flopping either. So, around.....20th place?

Song: Never Give Up On You Country: United Kingdom Thoughts: Last year it was "you're not alone, we're in this together" and this year it's "I will never give up on you"....The UK really like this kind of song, don't they? Well, it seems like it....But anyway, this song is....fine. Just fine. It's sweet, it has good vocals, it has one specific part I like a lot ("The mountains CROOOOOooooOOoooossed!") but it's a bit outclassed compared to similar stuff. I still like it for what it is, but it doesn't do much to stand out. At least for me. A lot of people really love this song, and I can kinda see why Prediction: It's doing pretty well in terms of betting odds, but you know what other UK entry did well in that? "Children Of The Universe". And after seeing how that did, it's hard to make predictions for the UK. The televoters just don't care for them most of the time....Maybe this will be different, but like I said, this song doesn't stand out all that much. I can at least see them doing better than they did last year, though. That's my prediction. Better than last year

And with that, that's all the songs! As always, if you managed to read all of this, I'd tip my hat to you if I were wearing a hat. I love Eurovision, I love music, I've been holding back my opinions on these songs for a while and it's great to finally share my thoughts, yadda yadda yadda. Here's the most important part, my final rankings!

Favorites:

1. Netherlands 2. Cyprus 3. Estonia 4. Azerbaijan 5. Denmark 6. Greece 7. Iceland

Borderline Favorites:

8. San Marino 9. Italy 10. Armenia 11. Albania

Like:

12. Israel 13. Moldova 14. Sweden 15. Poland 16. Germany 17. Croatia 18. Norway 19. Austria 20. Hungary 21. France 22. Georgia 23. Serbia 24. Romania 25. Switzerland 26. Australia 27. Finland 28. Bulgaria 29. Macedonia 30. Montenegro 31. Ukraine 32. Latvia 33. Malta 34. UK 35. Slovenia 36. Belarus 37. Lithuania

Indifferent:

38. Ireland 39. Spain 40. Czech Republic 41. Belgium

Dislike:

42. Portugal

#eurovision #opinions

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visiodreams · 8 years ago

Video

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So here is my personal top 43 eurovision ranking with comments be below

Comments

-- Finland: My country so I won't rank this. There is always tendency to be a bit biased when it comes to your own country. I wasn't big fan of the song at the beginning but the live really made this song grow on me. They were clearly best act on the live shows so they did deserve to win. I think there is potential to go to the finals so fingers cross.

42. Czeck Rebuplic: Sorry but this song is just boring.. I don't even have that much to say about it.. Not the type of music I listen.. I'm afraid that this song isn't that memorable.

41. Slovenia: Oh Omar Naber the man who has made on of my favourite eurovisions of all time (If you don't know what i'm talking about check out esc 2005 slovenia) .. but this.. oh well this is just one very forgettable eurovision ballad.. sorry but it's no for me.

40. Germany: Okey I try to be nice with this. She sings good at live.. yeah that's about it.. I have tried to make myself to like this song but it's just.. I don't know.. lyrics are just bad and over all just meh for me.

39. Malta: There isn't exactly anything wrong with the song. It's just quite unoriginal eurovision ballad. Nothing new. If you like this part of eurovision then this is probably song for you.. I just don't like it.

38. Russia: Haven't checked the latest news if they are taking part or not but don't wanna exclude this either. This song.. well mm she's a sweet girl and it's a sweet song.. just not what I would listen.

37. Denmark: Oh Denmark I admit I probably dislike this song more cos I watched their national finals and liked other song way way way more than this (I'm a fan of cheesy euro disco and half naked man.. but hey can you blame me) This just not my cup of tea. I won't listen this more than I have to.

36. United Kingdom: I have started to like this song than I did before but still not my top songs of the year. I just think that UK would have so much potential for more than this. Just not fan of these eurovision ballads if you can already tell.

35. Georgia: I don't hate this song. She is powerful singer with powerful song. It's just not one of the songs I would put to my playlist. I can handle this when it comes to the live shows but that's about it.

34. Ireland: Very irish ballad. Nothing really wrong with the song. But to be honest can't remember nicely how this song goes. Quite forgettable. Sweet ballad nothing more nothing less.

33. Serbia: It's not bad song. It's just quite forgettable. There isn't any interesting hook in this song that would make me craving for more.

32.Lithuania: I'm actually surprised that this song got this high on my ranking. But this song has grown on me for a bit. At least it's not boring song. I won't go to refill my wine glass while listening this song. This songs is still quite too much bizarre to get enough votes i'm afraid.

31. Albania: I will complain about the same thing I complain about every year with Albania. Why ooh why you have to translate your songs? If you want to participate with english song then why not to make the songs in english in the beginning with?? why to first make it in albanian and then try to make it fit in english? it's just doesn't make any sense. I like this song more in albanian. It's still not that bad song. And she is gorgeous singer and sings amazingly in live. Defiantly not the worst song of the yea.

30. Croatia: Definitely one of the most interesting songs of the year. It has some Disney feel in it. Also i'm interested to see how he can change his tones in live. Definitely looking forward to see this song and him singing it. Just not my taste of music.

29. Creece: I'm a fan of cheesy dance songs but sorry this is just too cheap even for me. I can handle this that one night and maybe party a little but it's a no for me. I won't listen this much after esc are over.

28. Polan: This reminds me of Bond song for some reason. It's not bad song and I can see why there is people liking this song. It's just not my taste.

27. Ukraine: It's always refreshing to see other genres than cheesy pop and ballads. So I'm glad Ukraine chose this song. Is it my all time favourite rock song? Mmh not really. I do like rock music but this isn't really the song I like to listen all the time. It has grown on me tho' quite a bit.

26.Iceland: I think this sounds very nordic. I could imagine this kind of song coming from Norway or Sweden also. It's not bad song but not the top cast either. I do like it quite much and it's pretty catchy.

25. Israel: well I think this and Creece are pretty similar. Cheap pop songs that are okey to party on when esc party is on but there isn't much to tell to next generation eurovision fans about this song. Some other year could have been higher but this year there is just so much better dance songs. Okey okey I might have given some cute boy extra points to this song.

24. Romania: Oh Yodel it! It's definitely eurovision material. I'm glad they chose this song cos well comm’on it wouldn't be eurovision without acts like this. I'm glad that eurovision is getting it's weird factor back on. And I mean weird in good way. You have to admit that you can’t hear yodeling in everyday radio pop song. Btw both of them are good singers.

23. Australia: Very quality eurovision ballad. Pretty safe choice. Not the most memorable song of the night but it's not bad either. One of the best in category of eurovision ballads.

22.Latvia: This song will bring the burst of energy to the stage for sure. This song itself isn't just that kind of song I like personally that much.. It's okey song. It will be nice to watch in show but I'm not gonna listen it that much.

21.Netherlands: Is it throwback Thursday? Hello is it year '99 calling? Am I watching Charmed marathon on Netflix and still waiting for the episode where Leo first show up and scream like a fan girl cos piper x leo is the one and only otp.. oh sorry I got lost in track. I quite like this song. It's very old fashioned on it's on way but it's not bad thing. It gives you feels and things that give you feels can't be that bad.

20. Austria: Oh Nathan Nathan.. I have to admit I have a thing for him. I have thing for red heads I can’t deny it. Yeh this song got quite a few cute boy bonuses. It's a chill song. Not really the type I like that much but if Nathan sing it I can listen to it.

19. Belarus: This is just one very adorable song. It makes you feel good and makes you wonder if there actually is that small three hugging hippie living inside you. Who just want to sit next to bonfire holding hand in circle and singing songs. BTW love that it's sang in Belorussian.

18. San Marino: Okey remember the part when I said I love cheesy eurovision disco songs? Well like I said I love them and I love this song. Just want to get up clap my hands and move my hips like a John Travolta.

17. Switzerland: I follow you Apollo.. very catchy chorus.. very good live and man that woman is gor-ge-us.. definitely some hot woman extra points here. Not quite my top 10 material but definitely a good song that goes right to my playlist.

16. Spain: Yeah I know I'm cheap.. I dunno everyone seem to hate this song and i'm just here in my tropical printed shirt sipping pina colada from coconut and wondering what is it exactly that I'm gonna do for my lover.. Overall this Manel boy's surfer charisma has affected me and I'm quite enjoying the song.

15.Estonia: i'm quite digging this song. It also have some vibe from the past but it seems to be a thing this year.. Maybe i'm getting old cos it doesn't bother me at all. This Koit Tooma has very nice voice I specially like it. Not bad Estonia not bad at all.

14.Armenia: Uuuh I love the vibe this song has. A bit mystical and this woman has nice voice. I haven’t listen it as much I have other songs since it was the last to be released. But I'm liking it.. waiting to see how is the live show.

13. Azerbaijan: I admit it I was expecting again one very swedish sounding ballad sang by one gorgeous woman in glittery gown. So yes you surprised me positively Azerbaijan. Still a gorgeous woman singing but a bit more with an attitude that I like. Looking forward to see live.

12.Macedonia: Oh I like this song a lot a lot a lot. It reminds me of some other song can't quite catch which one.. but it's a type of music my big sis used to listen a lot and has affected me also .. very nice.

11.Bulgaria: On of my favourite ballads of the year.. more modern than others.. very quality song-- I can see this doing well.

10.France: Would have been better without forced english in the middle but still very nice song. This has been on my top 10 from the beginning. I'm glad France sending top songs every year.

9. Moldova: Well common it's a epic sax guy eurovision just got 100 times better. I loved sunstroke project last time and I love them now. Best party song of the year. How you can be not liking this song?

8. Cyprus: Very radio friendly song with catchy lyrics. Quality song yet again fom Cyprus I'm glad. Interesting to see how it's gonna be live.

7. Sweden: First time of the history of melodifestivalen Sweden picked the song I liked.. sorry but that Nano was way too similar to one other song and it bothered me way too much. Robin had by far the best show in melodifestivalen I dare him not to change a thing (Dressmanwalk and hot dancers in suits works for me). Sweden you just know how to make shows and this song really need its live show to get where it is now.

6. Hungary: Love this sone more and more by every listening. I love it's in hungary I love the violin I just love everything. Hungary is always strongest when they pick songs sang in hungarian. Unique and beautiful.

5.Norway: I just L-O-V-E this song.. amazing... He has so great voice and the beat is nice.. modern song.. good job Norway.

4. Portugal: Oh Portugal finally did it!!! Finally a song I adore so so so much.. I feel like crying every time I listen this.. and I haven't even had time to check the translation yet. But that old Disney feel you get from this. You get thrown middle of black and white film where you sit in smoky table and listen when this beautiful man sing like a bird.. I'm in love.

3. Belgium: What is happening this year? What are these great modern pop songs we are having.. It's just quality after quality.. Awesome job Belgium.. this song will do good.. She just need to be good in live show..

2.Montenegro: Yes I know and I'm sorry.. but couldn't help mysef. .I was like 'can I do this?' but then the spaceship hit me.. I mean ho you cannot love this song? Man Montenegro I'm surprised.. this kind of cheeesy euro disco I love love love.. Just need my glitter and I'm ready to paaartyy.. (this song would make a great condom campaign song.. just saying.. cos I have my suit on..no need to worry..)

1. Italy: Oh how I hate that he had to cut the song for eurovision.. But oh well I'm in love.. and nothing can change my love for you Francesco Gabbani I'm waitin..ghmm I ment I'm wai..waiwing for you song.. not like i'm waiting him to marry me or anything.. nope not at all.. I have very realistic ideas in my head.. but common it's cheery italian pop song I lvoe cheery italian pop songs.. and when you add a hot italian man with tons of charisma what can go wrong?

#esc 2017 #esc #eurovision #eurovision 2017 #eurovision top 43 #my top #somments #finland #italy #belgium

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russiancircles · 8 years ago

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The Thin Air // Interview with Russian Circles

By Will Murphy

Ahead of shows at Dublin’s Whelan’s on Wednesday, March 22 and Belfast’s Empire Music Hall the following night, Will Murphy speaks to Brian Cook, bassist with Chicago instrumental masters Russian Circles about touring, politics, their latest album, the ideal audience, the craft of songwriting and more.

Hi, Brian. How’s the road been treating you? The next few months look pretty exciting in terms of venues and nations, is there anywhere that you’re all particularly looking forward to? What will you be listening to stave off the monotony of touring?

Touring has been good. We took care of our headlining U.S. dates last fall, and we divided Europe into two tours this time around just because there were so many cities we wanted to hit. We did Scandinavia and Eastern Europe back in October and November, which was pretty exhausting, but overall a great experience. Sometimes you get so accustomed to hitting the same places over and over again that it becomes easy to take things for granted, then you wind up playing a few shows in Romania and it serves as a reminder that we’re very fortunate to be able to do what we do. Now we’re out doing Western Europe and the UK, which is very familiar territory for us. Not as much of an adventure, but rewarding to be back in cities where we have friends and know the lay of the land. In terms of music, I’ve sort of reverted back to the old school touring listening habits. It used to be that you’d go on tour with a half dozen cassettes or a small book of CDs, then the iPod made it so that you toured with your entire music library and you’d never listen to the same album twice on a six-week tour. Now I’m back to traveling with just a few albums on my phone. I’ve been listening to a lot of Sun City Girls, Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, Michael Rother, and Lungfish on my headphones. There has also been more than a few spins of the new Power Trip, Oranssi Pazuzu, and Rotting Christ albums in the van.

I remember seeing you when you were last in Dublin. What struck me was how unwilling you were to rush anything. Everything took exactly as long as it was going to take. It was a really ballsy move, and I’m wondering has it ever backfired horribly?

The bigger problem is not allowing enough time. Mike and I have so many changes and adjustments we have to do between songs—different tunings, different guitars, different pedal settings, different Taurus settings—and we do it all while bridging the songs with interludes. Plus, there’s the whole thing of trying to squeeze in a swig of beer and a toweling down of the face between all of that. We used to tour with these auxiliary delay pedals at the end of our chain that served zero purpose other than to silently notifying the rest of the band that we were ready to go into the next song. If the red light on Mike’s delay pedal was on, we knew he was ready. Same for me. The only problem is that sometimes one of us would forget to turn it on, and we’d stand there waiting for nothing until the guilty party remembered to stomp on the pedal.

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Is there ever a frustration performing to an audience, given that so much intricate detail is lost when you port the songs to a live context? With that in mind, do you prefer to spend your time in studio constructing these mini epics or letting them loose on the audience night after night?

I’m not sure what the ideal audience would be. I remember Fugazi talking about how their anti-moshing stance grew to such mythical proportions that it seemed like people were afraid to dance at their concerts. I can empathize with that—I hate seeing violent dancing, but it also feels like a lot more work to play when people are totally stoic. The happy medium is when people are physically moving to the music but also respecting their neighbors. At this point, I try to look out into the audience as little as possible, because that happy medium is so difficult to achieve. As far as writing versus performing, they are both gratifying. I don’t think I’d be happy doing just one or the other. I love performing music live. Most of my love of other peoples’ music comes from watching it—or envisioning it—unfolding in real time. So the process of making a song happen in the present, in a very specific environment and with a select audience, is really magical. But if you don’t love the composition side of music, you should just stick to being in a tribute band.

You recorded a trio of albums with Brandon Curtis, each of which was absolutely stellar. Yet for last year’s Guidance, you opted to go with Kurt Ballou. What inspired this change? Was there ever a concern that Ballou might not bring out the same level of performance that Curtis helped to unleash? How hands-on was he during the recording?

Working with Brandon was amazing. We were really drawn to his ability to capture space and dimension with this work with Secret Machines. He’s also just an incredibly knowledgeable musician. He was good set of ears and a really good sounding board for those three records. We opted to go with Kurt Ballou on Guidance simply because we wanted to try something new, and we knew Kurt would share a lot of our musical reference points. Whenever you hire someone to produce a record there’s always that concern over their level of involvement, particularly if you come from a punk background. You don’t want some outside party compromising your vision and trying to make your songs appeal to a broader audience. But our songs tend to be so malleable and go through so many permutations that we have come to value having that set of fresh ears that can hear the different variations and have an unbiased opinion on what works and what doesn’t. In that respect, both Kurt and Brandon were amazing. I think Kurt tended to be a bit more focused on shaping tones while Brandon tended to have more ideas in terms of composition, but they both definitely made their mark on our albums. I can’t speak highly enough of either of them.

A number of groups who’ve recorded with Ballou have talked about Salem being a deeply unsettling town, given the commercialisation of its brutal history. Did any sense of this permeate the songwriting?

Salem is a strange place. It shuts down early. We would stop recording around 8pm just because dinner options after 9pm were virtually non-existence, which was an adjustments considering that we’re from Chicago and New York, where you can eat whatever you want at pretty much any hour of the night. But the witch trials weren’t really something that loomed in the back of our minds during our time there. The juxtaposition of the tourism trade and the public inebriate population was far more jarring.

Your songs feel so meticulously planned and crafted. How long do spend with a single song? How do you know when it is ready or, if it’s the kind that’ll never be perfect, when, if ever, do you throw your hands up and say “fuck it, it’s good enough”?

Some songs come together really quickly. Some songs are labored over for months and months, right up to and through the recording process. The album is bookended by two compositions that were crafted by individual members of the band and transformed into full-band songs with a minimal amount of effort. Then there are songs like Vorel that are transforming even as we play them over the course of this tour. We have to set deadlines for recording otherwise we’d tinker with songs forever. There’s an old lesson I learned in a painting class: every twenty minutes, step away from your work to reassess where you’re at. Inevitably, you’ll step away at some point and realize it’s done and any additional brush strokes are just detracting from the immediacy of the work. It’s a similar thing with songs in the studio sometimes. Every once and awhile you’ll hear a playback and realize that any additional changes or embellishments are just going to diminish the impact of the song.

Tracks like Afrika and Lisboa suggested a focus on geopolitics and a wider cultural sphere. What made you choose these subjects? What was it about the Portuguese capital that inspired you?

I was definitely drawn to political bands when I was younger. I liked topical punk bands. I liked ‘60s protest music. Basically, I just liked bands that obviously gave a shit about the world and expressed some capacity for empathy. I hated love songs. I hated songs about dancing, or partying, or money. Of course, being too topical can make your music a bit dated. I love punk music from the early ‘80s, but it’s a little distracting to hear bands ranting against Reagan and Thatcher. We’re not an overtly political band; there isn’t really a way for us to do that as an instrumental group, but I do like infusing our records with imagery that has some sort of historical or political context, just because it harkens back to a lot of the music I was obsessed with during my formative years. As far as specific song titles, they have very specific meaning to us personally, but we prefer to keep those meanings unclear to the general public. That said, we’ve already mentioned this before in other interviews so I guess I can say it again here, Lisboa was given its title simply because Mike began putting the song together during some downtime on tour in Portugal.

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Memorial featured some spellbinding vocals, whereas with Guidance you opted for a purely instrumental approach. What was the reasoning behind this? Are there any plans to bring in vocals for the next release?

We dabbled with vocals on Memorial and Praise Be Man because they seemed like interesting experiments. We have no plans of making vocals a recurring part of our method, but that isn’t to say we won’t feel compelled to explore the option in the future. I enjoy the fact that we can draw heavily from the world of underground metal, but I don’t think borrowing from the vocal styles of those bands would do anything to enhance our music. If anything, I think it would be a distraction. I think being an instrumental band has allowed us a lot more stylistic fluidity, and that is far more important to us than having a lyrical component to our music.

There’s a lot of darkness in the world currently. Trump and Muslim ban, Aleppo, the continued success of Nickelback. How, if at all, does the current state of affairs affect your songwriting?

Well, Guidance is ultimately a reference to our collective uncertainty. For the three of us in the band, it literally referred to a lot of uncertainty in our personal lives, but we tried to extrapolate that to a general sense of apprehension towards the future for the sake of the album. In that sense, “guidance” can refer to the mistaken notion that there is some sort of benevolent leadership out there that has the public’s best interests in mind, or it can refer more generally to the allure of some overarching answer to all our problems. It’s all a carrot on a stick. So it goes.

Finally, given the foreboding and gloom that your work is shrouded in, where and how do you find the inspiration for the more delicate elements of the tracks?

Being that we don’t all live in the same city, we spend a lot of time writing independently. And while we all write with the idea of crafting songs that lend themselves to the darker and louder end of our spectrum, we don’t shut out any ideas that may come up. When you’re playing your instrument alone in your room, a lot of times the quieter and mellower stuff winds up sounding a lot more satisfying than the paired-down versions of the heavier stuff. For example, Asa was not meant to be a Russian Circles song, but those notes sounded good together and it turned into a little song, and I forwarded it along to the other guys in the band just because we have a pretty open sharing policy with our music. And it wound up being something that resonated with Mike and Dave. Overboard was actually two separate songs that were written completely independently by Mike and I and they just happened to fit together. So while we never deliberately set out to write those kinds of songs, sometimes they just happen.

Photos by Ryan Russell and Tomas Mladek

(via The Thin Air)

#Sargent House #Russian Circles #The Thin Air #Brian Cook

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jonestowers · 6 years ago

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‘But Doctor...I AM Boy Genius!’

For a few years now I’ve been a keen follower of the Left And To The Back blog, where Dave Bryant plucks a forgotten record from the racks and writes about it. I’m always struck by the number of entries which end with some variation on ‘…no one knows who the line up were, or how this came to be made.’

Seeing these dead ends always makes me think of the band I was in, and the record we released.

Like a lot of the records highlighted by Left And To The Back, it sank without trace and, having come out in 2003 - just pre Web 2.0 - there’s virtually nothing about it online. This being the case, I’m writing this post so that if anyone ever picks up a copy of that single and googles the band, or song title, something will come up. Also, it came out fifteen years ago this week…

The band was called Boy Genius and the lead track on our ep was ‘As Long As The Sun Shines’. I was the keyboard player in the band, having joined two years earlier. We were called Serotonin at the time and played as a three piece (guitar/vocals, bass and keyboards, backed by a drum machine). The other members were Mark Estall (guitar, vocals and songwriting) and Matthew Denley (bass).

Of the songs on the ep, the first two (As Long As The Sun Shines and A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away) were in our set in this first incarnation.

In the second half of 2001 we recorded a demo (‘Crutches For Cripples’) and, I think, sent it out to venues in order to get gigs. We also must have sent it to Radio One because Steve Lamacq played a song from it on the Evening Session some point late in 2001 (in fact, he played half of the song in question because the second half had the word ‘fucked’ in it).

At some point in 2002 we changed names and became Boy Genius, playing lots of gigs around Camden and New Cross. By now we had sequenced backing tracks for gigs, along with some electronica-y interludes.

It was at one of these gigs, playing Nemo’s ‘The System’ night at the Water Rats on Gray’s Inn Road, that we met producer Julian Standen. We were impressed that he had produced The Lemonheads’ cover of Mrs Robinson (as well, it turns out, as a lot of other impressive credits). He gave us his card and asked us to call him. We made the call a few days later and fixed up a date to visit him at his studio, The Library in Harringey.

At this meeting (and a few subsequent ones), Julian outlined a deal to us whereby he would record a high-quality demo with us, producing it and sourcing a good session drummer, in return for a cut of the publishing on the songs.

After a lot of discussion and reading up on such matters, we agreed and contracts were drawn up. These were looked over by the Musicians’ Union (the singer was a member), some small changes were suggested and then we all signed.

As a result of this I own some unlikely-sounding percentage (16.5% or 12.3% perhaps) of the publishing on the songs on the demo.

With the demo recorded, we had a couple of hundred copies made and sent them out to an industry mailing list provided by Julian. There must be quite a few of them still out there as they keep coming up on eBay. I think I prefer the version of As Long As The Sun Shines on this demo to the final version.

One of the people (or perhaps the only person) to respond to the demo was Justin de Takats from CEC Management. He came to see us play and we had some meetings and he asked us if we felt we needed a manager. He seemed nice, and had been involved with managing people like the Boo Radleys and Kenickie (here he is in a really depressing documentary made during the latter’s final tour).

Also, Justin had a record label; Mother Tongue. In the past this had briefly been home to My Life Story among others. In addition to managing us, he wanted to put out an ep on this label. We were naturally very pleased about this.

We signed another publishing contract with Justin, splitting the publishing on the three supporting tracks with him (that’s why on the inner cover there are different publishing details for the first song to the other three).

For reasons I can’t remember, we opted not to go with Julian Standen for the ep, opting instead for Robert King. Robert was in a band called Alternative 3, who may have been another management interest of Justin. We set dates for recording.

By now we had a drummer, whose name was John. I can’t remember (or possibly never knew) his surname. He was very good and made a living playing in a Greek wedding band.

Recording of the ep took place at Robert’s studio which was beneath a pool hall in Gunnersbury. I remember it was the same week as Sugababes’ Freak Like Me came out (22nd April 2002) as I’d just bought it and listened to it on the way to and from the sessions.

We took a week to do the bulk of recording for the ep, along with lots of half days and evenings in subsequent weeks. The harp on the fourth song was played by Linnea Malmberg, who was a friend of a friend. She recorded a harp part which ran through the whole song but only the glissandi at the opening and close were used on the final version.

The high harmonies on As Long As The Sun Shines were provided by Justin Dempsey, the singer from Robert King’s band Alternative 3.

On the last day available for recording I stayed on at the studio while Robert finished the mixing. For reasons I can’t remember I had to take the tape reels away with me and keep hold of them so they came back in a cab with me to Highgate, where I lived at the time.

I have very little memory of what happened between completion of recording and the ep coming out.

Our manager recommended Simon ‘Spud’ Beggs (as he’s credited on the back sleeve) as a very good masterer so early one Saturday morning the singer and I took a train out to…Penge or somewhere to Simon’s flat where we sat a listened while he did computer things and mastered the four songs. We were there about half an hour.

We had more meetings with Justin to talk about artwork etc. The broad outline of what would be on the cover was decided and each of us did a version of it, with a view towards choosing the best one. As my day job at the time was in Kensington, I sat under a tree in Kensington Palace Gardens with paper and crayons to do my attempt. In the end we used the one the singer had done. He also drew the picture on the back (above). The pictures on the cd itself (below) were by Justin’s children (they’re credited on the back of the packaging).

At some point in this period we made a video for the song. After work one day I went to CEC Management’s offices in Camden and picked up a video camera. That weekend we filmed the video in and around Greenwich (where the singer and bass player lived). The man with the bottle of wine at 1:44 is our one-time guitarist Matthew Babbs. The video was shot and produced by Alfredo Velardi, who was house-sharing with the singer at the time.

It must have been around this time that we got our website up and running – its non-more-noughties Flash-laden front page is viewable on the waybackmachine.

In planning for the release there was talk of sorting out proper distribution but as far as I know this didn’t happen and the ep ended up being stocked in a couple of shops around the country; the ones I’m aware of were Rough Trade (Ladbroke Grove and Covent Garden), Rhythm Records in Camden and Piccadilly Records in Manchester (who remarkably still have it in stock, along with the only write-up of the thing I’m aware of).

The release date was set for September 25th 2003. As far as I recall we didn’t do a launch gig or anything like that. The singer, bassist, a new guitarist and myself met up in a pub somewhere in Notting Hill late afternoon that day and trooped off to Rough Trade to buy a copy each. I subsequently bought one from Rhythm Records too.

As far as I remember 350 copies were produced and I think I was told subsequently that most of them had sold.

I’m not aware of any radio play for the song; a friend said he’d heard it once on XFM but we never had any confirmation of that.

In that pre-social media age the only way to track online reaction to the ep was by googling ‘Boy Genius’ + ‘The Far Away Sunshine Is The Guiding Light Of My New Religion’. Doing so brought up one page from Portugal and one from Thailand. Both showed the ep’s lead song in a chart of some kind, although due to the language barrier, what kind of chart it was remained unclear. It can’t have been a sales chart, due to the small number produced and lack of proper distribution. Perhaps it was a playlist chart. I’ve still got printouts of both these webpages somewhere. I’ll check them one day.

Whatever the outcome, the manager must have been pleased with how things had gone as before long we were back in the same studio recording another ep, followed by lengthy sessions on an album.

It was towards the end of the album sessions that the band’s singer informed us that he would be carrying on the band without us, so that was the end of Boy Genius. Songs from those sessions were re-worked and were later released under another band name, but that’s not a story I know much about.

The Boy Genius ep remains (and likely ever will remain) the only record I’ve appeared on that came out under the traditional music industry model.

I’d wanted from the age of about seven to be in a band and have a record in the shops and, if nothing else, this release fulfilled that wish.

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When I work out a way of putting the three other songs from the ep online I’ll do a write-up of the whole thing, explaining such exciting matters as what was left out of the ‘radio edit’ of the a-side, and what’s wrong with all the keyboard parts...

#Boy Genius #As Long As The Sun Shines #The Faraway Sunlight Is The Guiding Light Of My New Religion

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