#also only bangers of dialogue coming from singed like???

[lavellun]

cause of death: arcane season 2 episode 5

[violetwolfraven]

Watched the new Descendants movie out of nostalgia for the other ones.

It was disappointing.

Like the actors did their best with what they were given, the sets and props departments Popped Off, and costume design had a few bangers, but other than that I can’t think of anything nice to say about it. The character arcs were all over the place, all the singing got absolutely nuked with autotune, and it felt like every single song and half the dialogue was written by AI. Most of the choreography was also ass but that’s okay I guess because with all the crazy camera work you missed a lot of it anyway. No wonder 90% of the actors from the original trilogy didn’t want to come back. Ignoring the fact that rebooting Descendants when Cameron Boyce is dead feels like it’s in poor taste, the plot of the movie made no fucking sense, and that’s comparing it to the other 3 Descendants movies! A trilogy that you can only enjoy by embracing the camp aspect, plot holes and all!

No hate to anyone who did like it, this is just my opinion, but I genuinely don’t know what Disney was thinking, trying to make a Descendants movie without Kenny Ortega.

[rughydrangea]

Everyone's favorite type of post, in which I reminisce about things that happened decades ago because in the present day my life is too boring/revolves entirely around work.

Well, the thing is that I'm working on a presentation for a conference next week on the state of theater and theater studies in Russia post-full scale invasion. And so, as a form of procrastination but also because it's actually relevant, I finally decided to watch Finist iasnyi sokol, the play about Russian women who went to Syria to marry militants, for which the playwright Svetlana Petriichuk and the director Zhenia Berkovich are currently serving six-year prison sentences for justifying terrorism. Those sentences are, of course, a gross, cruel, and unimaginably idiotic perversion of justice; the fact that these two women are being punished in such a horrific way for their honest, thoughtful, empathetic, and smart examination of why people act in ways that seem incomprehensible is just so fucking evil that I can't stand it. The play is on YouTube with English subtitles; I highly recommend it.

Watching this recording made me remember how much I love and miss theater. And so, in the way that can happen after two paper planes and two glasses of wine, I found myself mainlining Wicked videos on Youtube, plus a bootleg not on Youtube. To be clear, Wicked could not possibly be farther from the heartbreaking dystopia that is Russia theater, and Russia, today. But I guess I wanted something that made me feel good. And the thing is, as a person who was a major theater geek middle-schooler when Wicked first started on Broadway, that show has a very special place in my heart. My school had a field trip to go see it! OBC, Saturday matinee, seats in the middle of the orchestra. It was incredible. I listened to the soundtrack obsessively for years. I read the book. I read the sequels. Even though I did not like them!

Here is the thing. I understand that Wicked is not, objectively, good. And, like, watching bits and pieces from the show tonight, I was reminded how genuinely stupid it is, even beyond the things that everyone remembers ("down at the Ozdust / if only because dust / is what we'll come to" remains an all-time howler of a rhyme). It's so dopey! The cutesy dialogue is dumb, the constant callbacks to The Wizard of Oz are hamfisted at best, the careening between comedy and tragedy makes everything kind of feel like it has no weight (I had forgotten that when Fiyero is carried off by the guards, he's strung up like a scarecrow, a visual gag that earns a laugh even as he's about to be tortured and we're transitioning into Elphaba's darkest number? It really ruins the mood!).

But its power over me is undiminished. Even with the cringey lyrics, the songs are just banger after banger ("No Good Deed," you are everything to me! Even with the cheesy chanting! I don't care!). And here is where I must confess my sin, that in this most lesbian of all musicals, I pledged my soul to the het ship 20 years ago and it's going nowhere. Elphaba/Fiyero was everything to me, and they still are! Golden boy who gives up everything (and leaves his fiancée!) for a no-friends loner who I definitely didn't relate to at all? Who literally is willing to die for her? (And in the book really does die, spoiler alert.) Who sings world's most sexy love ballad with her? (An actual and painful moment from my life: in the car with my parents, I'm probably 15 or 16, we listened to "As Long as You're Mine" for, roughly, the one millionth time, and my dad goes: "What does she mean, she feels wicked?") Plus there is one scene in the book with the two of them that was genuinely transformative for me (...I did not know that fingers could go there), and established Elphaba and Fiyero as a full-on grown-up sexy couple in my eyes. Like, you put all of that together and it was just everything me-at-14 wanted. And relistening to "As Long as You're Mine" today, I was reminded how much I love love love Norbert Leo Butz's voice, and how incredible he and Idina Menzel sound together.

Anyway. I have been, like, anti-looking-forward-to the Wicked film. I really did not like In the Heights, so I don't trust the director, and all the trailers have looked bad (like, the look is bad, super CGI-y and just ugly!), and the fact that it's part 1 is so stupid. All of this even though I really like Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey (and Ariana Grande has some songs I like!). And I wouldn't say that I am looking forward to the movie now, exactly. I've just been reminded that, oh yes, I am squarely in the middle of the target demographic for this property and it turns out it still works on me. And if I end up going to see it, there is a strong possibility that I don't care if it's good. Though, like... part 1? Seriously?

[septembersghost]

since you are both harry and Taylor fan do you think Stockholm syndrome is about taylor? Harry said it was about a 'nympho' so I always thought it wasn't about her because I didn't think he would call her that in an interview. But after complicated freak was released I am on fence about it. SS sounds like having a kinky chained sex and some of tay's song about harry has a sexual element. And I can't imagine complicated freak being about anyone else as he was pining so hard for her during that era. (Also ignore this if you got my previous ask. I sent the same one but my phone had trouble so I don't think you got it)

i got them both! in the previous one you said, "I also saw someone saying it's from a pov of the guy in blank space(she is the predator he is the victim so a satire)," and i've never thought about it that way before, that's actually a really fun interpretation!

short answer is yes i do think stockholm syndrome and complicated freak share her as the muse. definitely agree that complicated freak is pretty unquestionable and that there wasn't anyone else at that time that he was pining so hard for or would've described in that way.

i consider a lot of the stuff thematically in stockholm syndrome (an absolute banger btw) to be more metaphorical "who's that shadow holding me hostage? i've been here for days," "baby, look what you've done to me. baby, you've got me tied down" to me are like, he's so in love with/infatuated by/attracted to her that he can't escape constantly thinking about and wanting to be with her. i don't think it's literal *rihanna voice* ~whips and chains excite me~ as much as it's like, "you're always on my mind and it's overwhelming (and when we're together it's really good)." the song has a lot of elements about fear of commitment and how she's flipped his world and that's exhilarating but somewhat frightening too ("i fear i'm getting used to being held by you," "used to sing about being free but now he's changed his mind." harry also borrows her trick of referencing themselves in the third person there, which she does again in question, i'm just noticing that!). there's a clear sexual component and he, well. he made that joke, but there's a deeper aspect to that too, where he feels like he and his world are being reshaped by the intensity of what he feels for her. ("all my life i've been on my own/i used the light to guide me home/but now together we're alone/and there's no other place i'd ever wanna go" - notice he goes from being on his own to alone together). he sung stockholm syndrome and if i could fly regularly when touring hs1, and of course that's because he wrote them, but the themes also fit well with some of the other songs about this from his debut record.

i think where do broken hearts go is another aspect of this as well and his side of things referenced in ootw/iwyw (counted all my mistakes and there's only one/standing out from the list of the things i've done/all the rest of my crimes don't come close to the look on your face when i let you go/so, i built you a house from a broken home, and i wrote you a song with the words you spoke...the taste of your lips on the tip of my tongue is at the top of the list of the things i want/mind is running in circles of you and me/anyone in between is the enemy/shadows come with the pain that you're running from/love was something you've never heard enough).

the allure/attraction/sexy element definitely appears a lot in her music about him too, even in a softer, more romantic way, the idea of the tide of that love pulling you back in shows up too (lanterns burning, flickered in my mind for only you). definitely why, when you lay their songs side-by-side, they take on that element of unspoken dialogue.

[thepermanentrainpress]

SPACE QUEEN: NEBULA

Nebula – Space Queen Release Date: May 19th, 2023

Track Listing:

1. Battle Cry 2. Deluge 3. Demon Queen 4. Veil 5. Darkest Part 6. When It Gets Light 7. Sun Interlude 8. Transmission / Lost Causemonaut 9. End Transmission

Space Queen is an all-female trio from Vancouver. They create music that can be described as heavy, psychedelic space rock. Nebula is their second EP and longest release yet. Full-length songs are mixed with under-a-minute interludes to create a quality anthology of work. 

It's really just a jam. A very smooth work that never feels rushed or too drawn out. The sound and style are timeless—it honestly could’ve been recorded at any time over the last 50 years. I was impressed that the group is only three people; it really sounds like more members creating everything with this kind of complex style. It never feels lacking or too simple. If anything, it may be too rapid for listeners who like slower, less intense music. This is a release meant to be rocked out to, played loudly and listened to with passion. It's definitely not background noise.

Lead vocalist Jenna Earle has a very calming, mellow voice that can only be described as reassuring. Her pitch provides a nice contrast to the shredding guitar work – also courtesy of Jenna – that switches from pulsing slow beats to a pure metal, complicated rhythm. Accompanying her is Seah Maister with a deep bass, keyboards, and additional vocals. There's also the varied skilled percussion and other vocals provided by Karli MacIntosh. Together, they are a confident group who play with passion.

The opening – "Battle Cry" – is an aptly named banger that pulls no punches. It's got a 90s sound to it – sort of a grunge and post-punk feel. After a brief transition track, we're hit right with "Demon Queen." It is likely the most heavy song and certainly the fastest. Not a breath or note of silence is observed in over three minutes as Jenna sings of blue blood and taking you. It's speedy and it’s fun, and from here you've got a great idea of the style going forward.

"When It Gets Light” is a pleasant track and perhaps the most complicated of the EP. Each lady really shows her chops on their instruments here. They all vibe together in a way that's really special. This was a highlight for me, and in my opinion the best of all the songs presented. 

"Transmission / Lost Causemonaut" was my personal favourite. It is the longest song and features the most instrumental work. Very cool guitar solos, thrashing percussion, and a throbbing bass all make one hell of a song. The guitar actually whirs and screeches a couple times – it's such a unique effect. It has to be heard for the full experience but at over six minutes, there's plenty to love from the opening rising bass riff to the buzzing fade out.

We close with dialogue snippets – transmissions of a man saying he went to the moon, and a repeated message: "We've heard nothing yet. We've heard nothing yet…" Perhaps it's true. If these are the sort of tunes Space Queen has to offer relatively new to the scene, I'm very excited to see what cosmic works they come up with going forward.

Written by: Cazzy Lewchuk

[rpg-elf-girl]

Shadows House

I have a lot of thoughts surrounding this particular show, both good & bad.

Allow me to give a quick summary for anyone who hasn't seen/read it!

Shadows House is about 'a faceless family of nobles who all live within this giant manor, the Shadows House.

When a Shadow comes of age they receive a 'Living Doll' to both serve as their face and to clean the soot they emit from their bodies.

The most important rule of the living dolls is "don't fret over trivial matters"

A task which is difficult for the ever curious doll Emiliko.

Watch this tale unfold as Emiliko & her mistress Kate navigate this ever mysterious Manor together.'

For a fan of slow burn thrillers, horror, slice of life, supernatural & mystery series' this has been an absolute blast!

It's not quite the combination of genres you'd expect from a show, but it works really well here!

In fact I was so into the anime that this is actually the first show where I broke down and read the manga!

Unfortunately there's no official English release, but at least there are some people translating the series!

As much as I'd like to go on about the manga, this post is meant to be more so about the anime so I'll (try to) leave it at that.

Though i feel obligated to warn anime onlys I'll likely refer the manga a lot in a spoiler section latter in this post I'll try to be vague but I can't guarantee anything. For anyone worried about that I'll lable it do you can read on until then.

Everything from the animation to the music was amazing & completely fit the mood of the story! I remember a couple scenes where I actually teared up because of this!

The Ending theme is an absolute banger! I've listened to that on repeat ever since I first heard it! And the Opening is also great! It's cool for it to be an instrumental, stuff like that is pretty rare! I also heard the song in the op as a motif in the music throughout the show! It really sets the right mood in each scene it's in! It's amazing for getting into each episode!

In terms of adaptation almost everything from the beginning to the end of the Debut arc was done amazingly well!

Even with the stuff they cut it still holds true to the spirit of its source.

The main important part that was cut is something that could easily be introduced latter if they decide to go for a second season, so I'm not too mad about that.

However! Everything after the debut is a bit of a different story.

There was a lot I liked about the last couple episodes but there were some parts that were immersion breaking for me.

I've been being vague up until this point l, but I'm planning on going into spoiler territory for both the anime and manga after this. So I'll make a quick spoiler free summary of my thoughts before moving onto that.

I really really loved this show but in my opinion the last 3 episodes were the weakest of them all. They went anime only for the ending. I don't mind that on it's own, but it was rushed and the writing was sloppy at times.

Now I'm not telling you to not watch the show! Most of It's really really good, and I can still see people enjoying the parts I'm talking about if they want to give the anime a try. Overall I've fallen in love with this series and I could never recommend it enough.

If what I'm saying is giving you bad vibes the manga is available and doesn't have the issues I've mentioned. You can look for a translation online, it didn't take me long to find one so don't worry too much about that.

Also! if you're an anime only who's finished the series and want to know where to pick up the Manga I'd recommend at least skiming through the beginning. I know it might not be what you're looking for but there were a bunch of small scenes that either got cut or were merged for adaptation purposes that I think are super cute & give more context to different aspects of the setting. However! Pay close attention during the "night watchers part" something important got cut .

~~~Now for spoilers!!!!~~~

I don't want to make it sound like I'm some manga purist who hates the very thought of the slightest change from the source. I'm anime only for a lot of different shows and I've always despised it when that type of manga reader reared it's ugly head.

While I'll admit some changes did bother me I won't make a fuss about the smaller stuff.

With that said!

I hinted earlier in this post that I didn't have a big problem with Robe-same being cut. That was because without them there it does make for a more complete story if they only get one season to work with.

If there is another season they can easily be introduced latter on. Like maybe Emiliko & Shaun can meet them when the Debutant class reunion is going on before they talk on the roof (or right after that) I actually think that would be the perfect time to introduce them (other than the time they were supposed to appear, but I digress)

Louise teaming up & being friendly with Kate can be explained with some dialogue changes at the first Debutant Class Reunion. Louise can say she was just trying to show off or that she just wanted to get back at Edward and that she isn't interested in helping Kate with her problems. Things can then go on as they did in the manga.

Kates being reckless & telling everything to John can be explained by her being extremely panicked when Emiliko went missing, as long as there are some lines of dialogue adressing this it's fine. Though I do wish she tried to keep some stuff a secret but couldn't because Shaun tries to interfer because he's still brainwashed, or something along those lines. It felt a bit weird after she just told Emiliko to keep that stuff between them. Still that could be explained by how panicked she was.

There are other things, but I don't want to drag the post on too long. Most of the issues can be fixed with little changes here & there.

I never had a problem with the idea of them going in an anime only direction. I just want to have a good time with the show.

Unfortunately I can't 100% vouche for the direction the show went in. There were elements that I can't excuse, even viewing it as it's own entity instead of an adaptation.

My main complaint with it is how they handled the brainwashing of Ricky & Lou. They didn't say a word when the Debutants were talking badly about Edward & even went along with a plan to go against him. It makes absolutely no sense!

Shaun freaked out when John only suggested that he didn't have to be loyal to the house. These guys were flat out rebelling against an adult! It felt like Ricky & Lou didn't have a purpose & were just there to be there.

The whole point of the coffee is to influence shadows against doing stuff like this. It makes the coffee seem pointless and the adults seem dumb for relying on it to control the kids.

I haven't even brought up the fact that both of their brainwashings were broken by something as simple as a few kind words. It straight up contradicts the rules established by both the Anime and Manga.

This becomes very apparent when you consider all the trouble John & Kate went through to free Shaun & Emiliko.

This was my biggest complaint, but I have some other issues as well.

The next big one is how they handled Edward.

1. Why on earth would he even consider kidnapping Emiliko when he had complete control of the childrens wing? Before this point he was depicted as being a lot more crafty than this. He could easily have Kate monitored or something.

2. Why didn't he use his powers to stop them like what he did to Maryrose & Rosemary when they fought back being taken to the adults wing? He's already shown off his power at this point, why not?

3. Why did he reveal his soot powers at all!? Especially while using his face in front of the kids! The whole unification thing is one of the biggest secrets of the house for good reason! There's no way he wouldn't get in huge trouble for exposing it to children!

Here are some other related questions.

Why didn't Kate, Emiliko, & John react to Edward using soot powers? They shouldn't know about unification yet so why didn't they act shocked, or say anything about it?

Is Edward being banished even an option in the Shadows House? Wouldn't the third floor lords just dispose of him rather than risk letting him leave?

How did John even get a veiled dolls outfit? Louise had to use her powers to get Kate one & she left a long time ago.

I can't think of much else at the moment, but I think you get my point.

Please don't take this as me saying that I hate the show because of these episodes. Even if I consider them the weakest of the series I still found a lot of parts to be very enjoyable!

Like I thought it was adorable When Edward was attempting to interrogate Emiliko & she kept being her sunshine self pretending to eat & falling asleep.

Barbara getting to tell off Edward for breaking the rules was great!

I loved seeing Shaun hatch the plan to get Kate into the adults wing to save Emiliko.

Seeing John (attempt to) sneak around the adults wing had me rolling!

The ending scene of Shaun, Ricky, & Lou singing gave me the chills.

(Though I wonder how they'd handle Shaun & Emiliko being brainwashed again since they already used the scenes where they're freed)

Kate & Emilico being propelled by John back to the children's wing was absolutely amazing! I found Shaun & Ricky running over to catch them to be super sweet! (Not to mention the way that scene was animated was absolutely gorgeous!)

Getting hints to what was supposed to come after the debut was nice, at least the groundwork is there in case this gets a season 2!

To (try to) wrap this all up while there were a lot of things I loved and disliked about this show I still had a really fun time watching it!

I kinda hope there's a season two just to see if they can tidy up the mess that the last few episodes created.

Regardless of whether that happens or not I came out of this with a series I absolutely adore.

Heck I could make a whole other post about the manga. (Hopefully one that's less ranty)

Anyway! I won't take any more of your time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! And I hope to see you in my next post!

(Sorry if this one was a bit of a mess!)

[popculty]

52 Films by Women: 2020 Edition

Another annual challenge complete!

Last year, I focused on diversifying my list. This year I kept that intention but focused on watching more non-American films and films from the 20th century. Specifically, I sought out Agnès Varda’s entire filmography, after her death in 2019. (I was not disappointed - What a filmmaking legend we lost.) 

I also kept a film log for the first time and have included some of my thoughts on several films from that log. I made a point of including reviews both positive and negative, because I think it’s important to acknowledge the variability and breadth of the canon, so as not to put every film directed by a woman on a pedestal. (Although movies directed by women must clear a much higher bar to be greenlit, meaning generally higher quality...But that’s an essay for another day :)

* = directed by a woman of color

bold = fave

1. The Rhythm Section (2020) dir. Reed Morano - Not as good as it could have been, given Morano’s proven skill behind the camera, but also not nearly as bad as the critics made it out to be. And unbelievably refreshing to see a female revenge story not driven by sexual assault or the loss of a husband/child.

2. Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) dir. Agnès Varda - If you ever wanted to take a real-time tour of Paris circa 1960, this is the film for you.

3. Little Women (2019) dir. Greta Gerwig - Still my favorite Little Women adaptation. I will re-watch it every year and cry.

4. Varda by Agnès (2019) dir. Agnès Varda & Didier Rouget

5. Booksmart (2019) dir. Olivia Wilde - An instant classic high school comedy romp that subverts all the gross tropes of its 1980s predecessors.

6. Girls of the Sun (2018) dir. Eva Husson

7. Blue My Mind (2017) dir. Lisa Brühlmann

8. Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma - Believe the hype. This film is a master thesis on the female gaze, and also just really effing gorgeous.

9. Belle Epine (2010) dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

10. Vamps (2012) dir. Amy Heckerling - With Krysten Ritter and Alicia Silverstone as modern-day vampires, I was so ready for this movie. But it feels like a bad stage play or a sit-com that’s missing a laugh-track. Bummer.

11. *Birds of Prey (2020) dir. Cathy Yan - Where has this movie been all our lives?? Skip the next onslaught of Snyder-verse grim-darkery and give me two more of these STAT! 

12. She’s Missing (2019) dir. Alexandra McGuinness

13. The Mustang (2019) dir. Laure de Clermont-Tonnere - Trigger warning for the “protagonist” repeatedly punching a horse in the chest. I noped right out of there.

14. Monster (2003) dir. Patty Jenkins – I first watched this movie when I was probably too young and haven’t revisited it since. The rape scene traumatized me as a kid, but as an adult I appreciate how that trauma is not the center of the movie, or even of Aileen’s life. Everyone still talks about how Charlize “went ugly” for this role, but the biggest transformation here isn’t aesthetic, it’s physical – the way Theron replicates Wuernos’ mannerisms, way of speaking, and physicality. That’s why she won the Oscar. I also love that Jenkins calls the film “Monster” (which everyone labels Aileen), but then actually uses it to tell the story of how she fell in love with a woman when she was at her lowest, and that saved her. That’s kind of beautiful, and I’m glad I re-watched it so that I could see the story in that light, instead of the general memory I had of it being a good, feel-bad movie. It’s so much more than that.

15. Water Lilies (2007) dir. Céline Sciamma – Sciamma’s screenwriting and directorial debut, the first in her trilogy on youth, is as painfully beautiful as its sequels (Tomboy and Girlhood). It’s also one of the rare films that explores the overlap of queerness and girl friendships.

16. The Trouble with Angels (1966) dir. Ida Lupino – Movies about shenanigan-based female friendships are such rare delights. Rosalind Russel is divine as Mother Superior, and Hayley Mills as “scathingly brilliant” as the pranks she plays on her. Ida Lupino’s skill as an editor only enhances her directing, providing some truly iconic visual gags to complement dialogue snappy enough for Gilmore Girls. 

17. Vagabond (1985) dir. Agnès Varda – Shot with a haunting realism, this film has no qualms about its heroine’s inevitable, unceremonious death, which it opens with, matter-of-factly, before retracing her final (literal) steps to the road-side ditch she ends up in. (I’m partly convinced said heroine was the inspiration for Sarah Manning in Orphan Black.)

18. One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977) dir. Agnès Varda – Probably my favorite classic Varda, this film feels incredibly personal. It’s essentially a love story about two best friends with very different lives. For an indie made in the ‘70s, the diversity, scope, and themes of the film are impressive. Even if the second half a drags a bit, the first half is absolute perfection, engaging the viewer immediately, and clipping along, sprinkling in some great original songs that were way progressive for their time (about abortion, female bodily autonomy, etc) and could still be considered “bangers” today.

19. Emma (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde

20. Black Panthers (1969) dir. Agnès Varda

21. Into the Forest (2016) dir. Patricia Rozema - When the world was ending (i.e. the pandemic hit) this was the first movie I turned to - a quiet, meditative story of two sisters (Elliot Page and Evan Rachel Wood) surviving off the land after a sudden global blackout. Four years later, it’s still one of my favorite book-to-screen adaptations. I fondly remember speaking with director Patricia Rozema at the 2016 Chicago Critics Film Festival after a screening, her love for the source material and desire to “get it right” so apparent. I assured her then, and reaffirm now, that she really did.

22. City of Trees (2019) dir. Alexandra Swarens

23. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) dir. Eliza Hittmann - To call this a harrowing and deeply personal journey of a sixteen-year-old who must cross state lines to get an abortion would be accurate, but incomplete. It is a story so much bigger than that, about the myriad ways women’s bodies and boundaries are constantly violated.

24. Paradise Hills (2019) dir. Alice Waddington

25. *Eve’s Bayou (1996) dir. Kasi Lemmons – I’ve been meaning to watch Kasi Lemmons’ directorial debut for many years now, and I’m so glad I finally have, because it fully deserves its icon status, beyond being one of the first major films directed by a black woman. Baby Jurnee Smollett's talent was immediately recognizable, and she has reminded us of it in Birds of Prey and Lovecraft Country this year. If merit was genuinely a factor for Oscar contenders, she would have taken home gold at eleven years old. Beasts of the Southern Wild has been one of my all-time favorites, but now I realize that most of my appreciation for that movie actually goes to Lemmons for blazing the trail with her story of a young black girl from the bayou first. It’s also a surprisingly dark story about memory and abuse and familial relationships that cross lines - really gutsy and surprising themes, especially for the ‘90s.

26. Blow the Man Down (2019) dir. Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy - Come and get your sea shanty fix!

27. Touchy Feely (2013) dir. Lynn Shelton - R.I.P. :(

28. Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (2020) dir. Madeleine Parry - If you thought Gadsby couldn’t follow up 2018′s sensational Nanette with a comedy special just as sharp and hilarious, you would have been sorely mistaken.

29. Girlhood (2013) dir. Céline Sciamma

30. Breathe (2014) dir. Mélanie Laurent

31. *A Dry White Season (1989) dir. Euzhan Palcy

32. Laggies (2014) dir. Lynn Shelton

33. *The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood – Everything I’ve ever wanted in an action movie: Immortal gays, Charlize Theron wielding a labrys (battle axe), kinetic fight choreography I haven’t seen since the last Bond movie…Watched it twice, then devoured the comics it was adapted from, and I gotta say: in the hands of black women, it eclipses the source material. Cannot wait for the just-announced sequel.

34. Morvern Callar (2002) dir. Lynn Ramsay

35. Shirley (2020) dir. Josephine Decker

36. *Radioactive (2019) dir. Marjane Satrapi – The story is obviously well worth telling and the narrative structure – weaving in the future consequences of Curie’s discoveries – is clever, but a bit awkwardly executed and overly manipulative. There are glimpses of real brilliance throughout, but it feels as if the director’s vision was not fully realized, to my great disappointment. Nonetheless, I appreciated seeing Marie Curie's story being told by a female director and embodied by the always wonderful Rosamund Pike.

37. *The Half of It (2020) dir. Alice Wu - I feel like a real scrooge for saying this, but this movie did nothing for me. Nothing about it felt fresh, authentic or relatable. A real disappointment from the filmmaker behind the wlw classic Saving Face.

38. Mouthpiece (2018) dir. Patricia Rozema - I am absolutely floored. One of those films that makes you fall in love with the art form all over again. Patricia Rozema continues to prove herself one of the most creatively ambitious and insightful directors of our time, with this melancholic meditation on maternal grief and a woman’s duality.

39. Summerland (2020) dir. Jessica Swale - The rare period wlw love story that is not a) all-white or b) tragedy porn. Just lovely.

40. *The Last Thing He Wanted (2020) dir. Dee Rees – As rumored, a mess. Even by the end, I still couldn’t tell you who any of the characters are. Dee, we know you’re so much better than this! (see: Mudbound, Pariah)

41. *Cuties (2020) dir. Maïmouna Doucouré – I watched this film to 1) support a black woman director who has been getting death threats for her work and 2) see what all the fuss is about. While I do think there were possibly some directorial choices that could have saved quite a bit of the pearl-clutching, overall, I didn’t find it overly-exploitative or gross, as many (who obviously haven’t actually watched the film) have labeled it. It certainly does give me pause, though, and makes me wonder whether children can ever be put in front of a camera without it exploiting or causing harm to them in some way. It also makes one consider the blurry line between being a critique versus being an example. File this one under complicated, for sure.

42. A Call to Spy (2019) Lydia Dean Pilcher – An incredible true story of female spies during WWII that perfectly satisfied my itch for British period drama/spy thriller and taught me so much herstory I didn’t know.

43. Kajillionaire (2020) dir. Miranda July - I was lucky enough to attend the (virtual) premiere of this film, followed by an insightful cast/director Q&A, which only made me appreciate it more. July's offbeat dark comedy about a family of con artists is queerer and more heartfelt than it has any right to be, and a needed reprieve in a year of almost entirely white wlw stories. The family's shenanigans are the hook, but it's the budding relationship between Old Dolio (an almost unrecognizable Evan Rachel Wood) and aspiring grifter Melanie (the luminous Gina Rodriguez) that is the heart of the story.

44. Misbehaviour (2020) dir. Philippa Lowthorpe – Again, teaching me herstory I didn’t know, about how the Women’s Liberation Movement stormed the 1970 Miss World Pageant. Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s characters have a conversation in a bathroom at the end of the film that perfectly eviscerates well-meaning yet ignorant white feminism, without ever pitting women against each other - a feat I didn’t think was possible. I also didn’t think it was possible to critique the male gaze without showing it (*ahem Cuties, Bombshell, etc*), but this again, invents a way to do it. Bless women directors.

45. *All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020) dir. Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes – 2020’s 13th. Thank god for Stacey Abrams, that is all.

46. *The 40-Year-Old Version (2020) dir. Radha Blank – This scene right here? I felt that in my soul. This whole film is so good and funny and heartfelt and relatable to any artist trying to walk that tightrope of “making it” while not selling their soul to make it. My only initial semi-note was that it’s a little long, but after hearing Radha Blank talk about how she fought for the two-hour run-time as a way of reclaiming space for older black women, I take it back. She’s right: Let black women take up space. Let her movie be as long as she wants it to be. GOOD FOR HER.

47. Happiest Season (2020) dir. Clea Duvall - Hoooo boy. What was marketed as the first lesbian Christmas rom-com is actually a horror movie for anyone who’s ever had to come out. Throw in casual racism and a toxic relationship treated as otp, and it’s YIKES on so many levels. Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, and an autistic-coded Jane are the only (underused) highlights.

48. *Monkey Beach (2020) dir. Loretta Todd

49. *Little Chief (2020) dir. Erica Tremblay – A short film part of the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival, it’s a perfect eleven minutes that I wish had gone on longer, if only to bask in Lily Gladstone in a leading role.

50. First Cow (2019) dir. Kelly Reichardt – I know Kelly Reichardt’s style, so I’ll admit-- even as I was preparing for an excellent film, I was also reaching for my phone, planning on only half paying attention during all the inevitable 30-second shots of grass blowing in the wind. (And yes, there are plenty of those.) But twenty minutes in, my phone was set aside and forgotten, as I am getting sucked into this beautiful story about two frontiersman trying to live their best domestic life.There is only one word to describe this film and that is: PURE. I’ve never seen such a tender platonic relationship between men on screen before, and it’s not lost on me that it took a woman to show us that tenderness. Reichardt gives us two men brought together by fate, and kept together by a shared dream and the simple pleasure of not being alone in such a hard world; two men who spend their days cooking, trapping, baking, and dreaming of a better life; two men who don’t say much, but feel everything for each other. The world would be a much better place if men showed us this kind of vulnerability and friendship toward each other. Oh, and it’s also a brutal take-down of capitalism and the myth of the American Dream!

51. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) dir. Patty Jenkins - My most-anticipated film for the past two years was...well, a mixed bag, to say the least. Too many thoughts on it for a blog post, so stay tuned for the upcoming podcast ep where we go all in ;)

52. *Selah and the Spades (2019) dir. Tayarisha Poe

I hope this gives you some ideas to kick off your new year with a resolution to support more female directors!

What were your favorite women-directed movies of last year? Let me know in the tags, comments, or asks!

[letterboxd]

Obsession.

Ella Kemp dives into Letterboxd’s 100 highest-rated, obsessively rewatched films of 2020 to find out why we love them—and to give Hollywood a heads-up on what we want to rewatch again and again.

Take note, development execs: we want to watch more of everything that makes us feel alive; that makes us feel thankful to be. To bottle that feeling, and drink it up as often, and as obsessively, as we like. We also want: more singing, more dancing, more drugs, more talking animals, more of whatever Director Bong is serving—and make everything gayer.

We know this because, a few years back, the Letterboxd team asked one very simple question: what’s the highest-rated film of all time, when the criteria is that you must have seen it five or more times? Not the ‘guilty’ pleasures, not the ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ gems, but the already-excellent films that are also inherently rewatchable. The resulting top 100 from back then are all extremely, objectively good. What can we say—you have great taste.

Because 2020 is, well, 2020, we revisited this idea to see how four years and an endless quarantine might have changed things. The usual suspects have been rounded up (Christopher, Quentin, Ridley, Damien, David and company), but a lot has shifted in the Highest Rated Obsessively Rewatched Club for 2020.

The top ten in the 100 highest rated, obsessively rewatched films of 2020.

Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is now top of the heap, where Spike Jonze’s Her was number one last time around. In fact, only Jaws and Carol remain from the last top ten. The Letterboxd community favors a wider world view: in 2017, the top 100 had only one film by a female director; in 2020 there are eight. The list has gone from exactly zero films entirely in languages other than English, to two (Portrait and Parasite), with several more containing a portion of non-English dialogue. Not quite leaping the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, but it’s progress. And, there is substantially more LGBTQ+ representation all round.

This year’s top 100 shows that we still like to return to the idea of the auteur, and the challenge of a franchise. In 2017, Christopher Nolan was the filmmaker with the highest number of highly rated, obsessively rewatched films; in 2020 Quentin Tarantino has taken the lead, just ahead of Nolan. Joining them in the multiple-titles group are Edgar Wright, Peter Jackson, Joe and Anthony Russo, epic-scale filmmakers from whom we’ve learned so much, and whose films have more to offer the viewer on every watch. (When ratings are not part of the equation, Avengers: Endgame—still with a respectable 3.9 average—was the Most Obsessively Rewatched title of 2019. “You give me someone flying, turning invisible, super speed… that’s where I live,” explains obsessive rewatcher Max Joseph this Letterboxd interview. “In Endgame, I get a little bit of every genre and mood.”)

Obsessed with obsession

What is “obsessive”? To put some kind of parameters around the search for this year’s top 100, our team looked for the feature films that had five or more rated watches from a minimum of 150 Letterboxd members each, then we sorted that list by the ratings of those members.

But that word—“obsessive”—got me thinking. Just how obsessive are we talking here? It’s reassuring to know that Parasite is, naturally, a film we enjoy returning to, but when we’re talking about rewatches plural, what happens when we sort these 100 highly rated titles by another value: the number of diary entries logged by these obsessive members. And what would that list say about our tendencies as watchers?

Spoiler: we also pulled those numbers, and found an entirely different top ten:

The most obsessively rewatched, highest-rated films of all time, as at 2020.

Look at that image. Compare it with the inarguable cinephilia of the ratings-based top ten, which soars on critical strength. What are we seeing here? That’s not the question. The real question is: what are we feeling? What do these ten films do to us so consistently, that helps them to retain high ratings across many, many, many rewatches?

You see, in the top 100, members typically log their favorites between five and seven times—but there’s a select handful of titles that see an average of up to 24 viewings per obsessive member. You read that right. There is a film on Letterboxd that multiple obsessive members have watched 24 times or more, at the time of writing.

Comedy that never gets old

The film in question is Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows, a genre-smart mockumentary about three vampire housemates just, well, pure vibing. It’s entirely in a league of its own, no doubt helped by a spin-off series, with the next entry, The Lonely Island’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping racking up an average of 17.7 rewatches per obsessive member.

These top two most obsessively rewatched titles make sense. When you’re feeling low, or when there’s some time to kill, what better place to turn than somewhere where the jokes never get old? As James writes on Letterboxd, Shadows “never fails to make me laugh”. Never fails. Taking a chance on a new comedy harbors its risks, so when you find the ones that work, you have to hold onto them like gold dust. It’s the sense of familiarity that comes from the same sharp, self-aware sketches, the endlessly quotable one-liners and screenshots that make memes feel like works of art.

(On that note, I asked the team: what were the highest-rated, obsessively rewatched comedy specials? No surprises: Bo Burnham’s masterful 2016 Netflix special Make Happy, and John Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. Comedy is good when it catches you off guard—but in a pandemic, it’s even better when you can rely on it to deliver that same rush of endorphins, every time.)

Thank you for the music

Speaking of pick-me-ups, ever notice how much better you feel after karaoke? Or, when you know everyone else has gone out so you can let rip across every inch of the house with ultimate privacy? The cathartic thrill that comes from a sing-along is what keeps our obsessive members returning to musicals, increasingly. There’s comfort in memorized lyrics; the words we yell and hold dear.

You’ve got this in Popstar (‘Finest Girl’, anyone?) and, crucially, in a double-bill of jukebox musicals celebrating ABBA’s greatest hits: Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. With fifteen rewatches on average for the former, and almost seventeen for the latter, the sequel’s slight upper hand proves the film’s triumphant formula—there really is an endless supply of ABBA bangers—but also that the repurposing of the most pivotal tracks (‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Waterloo’) will work even better the second time around, due to the familiarity, both of the songs and now their new-found purpose in this world.

The feeling of singing along with Lily James as Donna, as she dances around Paris with her young Harry, of latching onto Cher’s every breath as she reunites with the eponymous Fernando—these moments become part of our own memory, and the satisfaction that comes from performing them again and again never fades. It’s also why so many musicals are rewatchable staples. Singin’ in the Rain, Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody and Pitch Perfect all feature in the top 100.

Out of interest, I asked the team to lift the curtain on non-narrative music films to see which greats we return to. Again, zero surprise (to me, at least): Jonathan Demme’s transcendent Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense is, and has long been, the highest-rated, most obsessively rewatched concert documentary on Letterboxd. And it’s only been a few months, but the Disney+ filmed version of Hamilton is up there, along with Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé. #BEYHIVE, come in.

Maybe we should trust love

At the other end of the spectrum, two titles in the most obsessively rewatched top ten point to our tendencies to find catharsis in our most extreme, most vulnerable expressions of emotion. Our two revealing films here are Love, Simon and Interstellar—one a grounded and sensitive coming-of-age picture of a teenage boy’s coming out, the other an epic space-travel thriller. Still, both films understand that, ultimately, love transcends all.

These films make room for us to revisit these most searing feelings, of love hidden, lost, afraid or universal, they let us cry out what we relate to, and escape into whichever onscreen emotions we prefer to project ourselves into beyond our own lives, time and time again. Because however much changes, you know you’ll always crave and be rewarded by love. (And by the existential exploration that often accompanies these big feelings: Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow is the highest-rated, most obsessively rewatched short film with Letterboxd members.)

Ink spots and needle drops

The idea of projection—of escape beyond our own lives—comes back often when thinking of the rewatch. But certain titles reveal how we choose to find escape in a quite literal form; observe the love for Tangled, rewatched on average ten times per obsessive member.

And then there’s Shrek 2, revisited on average 7.9 times (more on this bizarre, outstanding oddity on its own soon). The leap of faith into an animated world is one that offers a blank canvas painted over with new colors: the pastel pinks and soft peach oranges of sunset skies in Tangled, the rich purples and blues of the twinkling lights of the afterlife in Coco, the playful blue waters of Moana, with the sun giving everything a new glow. Animation works as relaxation here, clearing the mind and coloring it calmly time and time again. Elsa said it first: you can, and should, let it all go.

It is entirely probable, of course, that no Letterboxd parent is logging the Frozens—or any other animated family film, for that matter—as often as their household is actually watching them, the truth of which would completely upend this data. We know the math underpinning this whole exercise is somewhat arbitrary, but it’s an interesting starting point from which to analyze why certain things just work, again and again.

Take the oddity that is Shrek 2, deserving of its own dissection purely because of how masterfully it combines so many of the previously established elements. This film and its predecessor create so many vivid images that fit into the category of animated escapism, but music plays a major part, also. ‘Accidentally In Love’ by Counting Crows as Shrek and Fiona blissfully enjoy their honeymoon period; ‘Funky Town’ by Lipps Inc. as Shrek, Fiona and Donkey roll into Far Far Away; Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother, with her sublime cover of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out For A Hero’. There are too many perfect needle-drop moments to count, and every time the rewatch comes around, they feel new.

Add to the comforting visuals and euphoric music the countless one-liners, perfectly performed by Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers, but really, here, Rupert Everett as Prince Charming—a squirm-inducing, note-perfect pantomimic performance. Shrek 2 might just be the defining example of what makes a good movie the best movie, and one that only grows greater with every rewatch. Lucky us.

Festive fever

The inclusion of A Christmas Story, the second-last in our most rewatched top ten, makes sense when considering the times in our lives when we turn to movies for comfort (and discomfort: note the Hallowe’en-related rewatchables in the top 100). A Christmas Story might not be your first festive choice, but you will have your own equivalent. The Muppet Christmas Carol also made the top 100, with Elf, Love, Actually and the Home Alone movies bubbling under. We recognize all the beats, and seeing as the holidays return each year, it’s natural that we return to the titles that make us feel most at home within them.

Like Carol. Darling Carol. The last of our top ten most most most rewatched. Flung out of space into our eyeballs by Todd Haynes as some sort of Christmas miracle, its rewatchability as much seasonal as it is about love, representation, vintage glamor and that final scene. Let’s see where Happiest Season sits this time next year, shall we?

And so, what can filmmakers and distributors learn from what we want to see, not just once, but again and again? In just four years the list of titles the Letterboxd community has chosen to revisit and protect has blossomed with an open heart and feverishly enthusiastic mind.

Looking over the top 100 highest-rated, obsessively rewatched films in 2020, we want more queer love: Portrait, Moonlight and Carol but also Booksmart, The Favourite, Call Me by Your Name. We definitely need more singing and dancing: Suspiria, La La Land, Singin’ in the Rain, Mamma Mia and beyond.

We want more adventure, more time travel, more mind-melters, more drinking, exploring, investigating, more talking animals, more drugs, more laughs, more tears, more goosebumps. We want more full-body feelings of falling in love with a movie you know you’ll hold onto with everything you’ve got.

In the end, numbers can only tell us so much, and these numbers are drawn from what we’ve already seen, which is what’s already managed to make it through the system. There’s as much to learn from how these films were made as there is from what they’re about. Because, no matter how many AI tools people dream up to help with the green-lighting process, moviemaking is fundamentally about magic. And when all the right ingredients make it into the cauldron, the spell can be so strong that a film will win our hearts forever.

Related content

The Highest-Rated Obsessively Rewatched Club for 2020

Follow Ella on Letterboxd

[greenhatsinthesky]

lockdown film no. 37 - Slumdog Millionaire (2008) dir. Danny Boyle

23/05/2020

- I had seen this once before and it was an interesting experience because a) it was billed as a feel-good film and it Was Not at all until the last ten minutes and b) my dad really freaked me out by predicting what the last question was going to be. I lost my mind and he was very proud of himself

- the concept of this film is so good. Very easily put into a logline, really strong cinematography, great performance, aces

- also love that during production they decided to translate a third of the dialogue from English into hindi 

- salim’s character was very interesting. From being a kid and being horrible to all the other kids when they were staying with the terrible man and taking Jamal to sing for him — I wasn’t 100 % if he was going to let Jamal get blinded because he seemed pretty set on having a “successful” life. When he slung the acid at the man’s face I had hope for him but then he let go of Latika’s hand and my heart broke

- I hate how everyone was laughing at the host’s jokes like he’s really not that funny guys 

- PAPER PLANES

- while that songs an absolute banger there were some really tender moments between Jamal and Salim like where they were on top of the train with their hands linked

- and suddenly they’re old ! wacky shit

- it’s crazy how shoes hold so much currency

- “how did she die?” “a road traffic accident. maximum pileup.” “I thought she died in childbirth” “exactly, sir. she was on the way to hospital when it happened”

- doesnt feel great that Jamal saying “this is the real India” after getting beaten up by a police officer was very likely written by a white British person

- LOCH BIG BEN. NEXT TO SEAN CONNERY’S FLAT. I love him

- as I always seem to be, I was disappointed that they defaulted to Jamal and Latika being in a romantic relationship. Hayao Miyazaki said “I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” I feel that this is astonishingly relevant to this film, and I wish they’d taken a bit more care and put more thought into Jamal and latika’s relationship because this fits far better with them than a romance, I think

- it was extremely stressful trying to get into the host’s psyche of whether or not he genuinely wanted to help Jamal in the cricket question. It quickly became clear he didn’t 

- the first time I watched this, I watched it with my dad. It was also his first time watching. It did, then, surprise me that well before the final quiz scene, he said “i know what the question’s going to be”. I said “what?” And he said “I do, I’m going to write it down and give it to you”. He wrote it on a slip of paper, folded it up and passed it to me, and I put it on the armrest on my side of the sofa. When the film finished, I opened up the slip of paper, and on it was written (it was literally written) “what is the name of the third musketeer? Answer: Aramis”. And when I tell you I lost my mind? I Lost My Mind. When I asked him how he knew it, he said “it was the only thing that had been established that they hadn’t come back to.” My dad, everyone. 

- the dance sequence at the end is great and all, but my absolute favourite part of it is where the youngest versions of Jamal and Latika were dancing together. That absolutely warmed my heart

- this is a good film, and im glad it got the recognition that it did, although it is worth noting that it’s not generally favoured in India, and one of the most well known filmmakers in India described it as  “very anti-Indian”. He said “All the bad elements of Bombay’s commercial cinema are put together and in a very slick way. And it underlines and endorses what the West thinks about us… And at every turn is fabricated. At every turn it is built on falsehood. I was ashamed to see it was being appreciated widely in the west”. It would be extremely dodgy for me, as a person who is not Indian — and even worse, white — to ignore the viewpoints of people who know a lot more than I do and come from the place where the film is set and just go “it’s a great film, so realistic blah”. It received awards in the West and did incredibly well at the Academy Awards, but who votes on that? A lot of white people who have an extremely skewed idea of what realistic portrayals of marginalised groups actually are

[grimelords]

There is no limit to how many good songs exist! There are just so many!

My June playlist is finished, and on time too! Please enjoy all manner of bangers from Dave Brubeck, Nelly Furtado and everyone in between.

listen here

Night And Day - Hot Chip: I’ve started a band with some friends and my friend Tiana (who has requested a special shoutout in this playlist and is currently receiving it!) suggested this as a song for us to learn and she was extremely right to do it! It’s extremely funky and probably the most i’ve ever liked Hot Chip because they’ve finally allowed themselves to be emotional and feel the most important emotion of all: horniness.

Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells: The other day a friend of mine said ‘hey whatever happened to Sleigh Bells?’ and guess what: they have five albums and continue to release new music as recently as last year. They seem to steadfastly refuse to advance their sound and you’ve got to give them props for that. When nobody else sounds anything like you the smartest thing you can do is double down on your own weird thing. I’ve always loved this song and am totally enamoured by whatever mixing trick it is that enables this song to start loud as fuck and somehow finish even louder no matter what volume you play it at.

Hurricane - Bob Dylan: I haven’t watched the Rolling Thunder Revue thing on Netflix yet but I’m excited to because this is a good Dylan era and I’m always down for more footage of the world’s freak Bobby D acting like a maniac. This song is a good example of how have no control over how music is consumed once you release it because this is ostensibly a serious and angry protest song about a great injustice but my greatest memory of it is for at least a month when I was in boarding school a guy in my dorm would play it every morning super loud and we would all yell the words along as we were getting dressed. Having a great time being fifteen and yelling happily about a miscarriage of justice.

Grindin' - Clipse: I started putting together a playlist of songs with super minimal or no pitched instrumentation that almost totally rely on the percussion and the vocals to carry it. Basically the Pharrell special because he did it on this and Drop It Like It’s Hot and I’m sure more songs of his I haven’t heard yet. But also songs like Lipgloss by Lil Mama, Fix Up Look Sharp by Dizzee Rascal, Tipsy By J-Kwon (almost if it didn’t have the baseline) and The Whisper Song by The Ying Yang Twins. There’s heaps more I’m sure. It was a real minimal style for a little while in the mid 2000s and I think it’s great. It gives you so much space in the mix and it’s a great lesson: if the beat is hot enough and you’ve got enough charisma to carry the vocal you don’t need anything else at all.

Rock Lobster - The B-52's: Did you know the guitar in this is tuned CFFFFF? Did you know this song is nearly 7 minutes long? Did you know The B-52s had a hit with this and then didn’t have another hit until Love Shack fully ten years later? Truly everything about this song is insane.

Johnny Irony - Bad//Dreems: I think ‘are you bleeding?’ is my favourite bit of pre-song hot mic dialogue i’ve ever heard. I love the energy of this song, and what a fun throwback it is to I guess reference Lead Belly’s ancient song about doing cocaine Take A Whiff On Me for a new modern twist on a song about doing cocaine.

Girls On Film - Duran Duran: Have you ever noticed how the bass in this song is absolutely popping off? It rocks. I listened to just the isolated bass track on youtube the other day and it’s my new favourite song. I’m having a big moment with this early eighties art-funk thing where someone figured out you could put huge funky basslines into rock music and completely changed the game.  

Love - Lana Del Rey: I figured out this month that my vocal range seems to be just Lana Del Rey but an octave lower which is absolutely great news for anyone that wants to hear me sing this song in a cowboy voice in my car.

Want You In My Room - Carly Rae Jepsen: I am absolutely in love with this song and also absolutely furious at it. Absolutely in love with the way it’s written like a duet with herself, trading lines and overlapping and harmonising. The big ascending guitar line that leads into the chorus. I love how horny the lyrics are, I love the very 80s robot voice in the chorus who also wants to fuck. It’s just phenomenal, which brings me to the the think that makes me so furious: this song just fades out? After the second chorus just as the saxophone comes in? Just as it’s getting good???

Genevieve (Unfinished) - Jai Paul: It's just unbelievable how good this sounds. The bass sound. The way the whole mix seems to float around. The cuts to silence that feel like someone took a razor randomly to the master. It all culminates in this frenetic nervous energy that feels like the song could just fall apart and stop at any point. And it does! It just fades to silence and then comes back in as a totally different song near the end before fading away again.

Elephant Talk - King Crimson: King Crimson is on Spotify now and I’m comically striking them off my list of Bands I Have A Grudge Against For Not Being On Spotify. It’s always kind of surprised me that for someone who loved The Mars Volta as much as I did I never really had a big King Crimson phase. I always liked them fine, and I love this song, but I never really sat down and gave them a proper listen. Maybe now they’re on streaming that’s all about to change and my girlfriend will have to suffer accordingly.

Kids In The Dark - Bat For Lashes: Very excited for Bat For Lashes next album if this is an indication of the direction. She's always had a very hazy 80s feeling, so purposefully leaning into it is only going to be great.

CHORDS For Organ - Ellen Arkbro: My favourite lady is back with 15 minutes of rock solid chords. Something I've been thinking recently in regards to Ellen Arkbro and Holly Herndon is people who make pretentious art unpretentiously, truly believing in their process and outcomes but very aware  of and fine with the fact that it's silly, useless or unlistenable to anyone who's not interested. Ellen Arkbro posted a photo of an organ on instagram the other day and wrote "turned out this was one of the biggest instruments in berlin and it was also connected up to two other organs in the same space. Despite that I ended up playing an extremely quiet version of my music. I don't really know how that happened. I will play a louder version in st giles cripple gate in london this saturday if you're around" She posts like Courtney Barnett about her experimental organ drone music, I just love it. As for the music itself I don't really know how to explain this other than if you let it it can be extremely overwhelming. It's also the closest I've come musically to Malevich's Black Square and how I feel about that, which is hard to explain properly other that to say I love it.

SWIM - Holly Herndon: I'm obsessed with this Holly Herndon album. It's just amazing though I think the marketing and a lot of the writing about it is sort of.. misleading? There's a lot of emphasis being put on the machine learning and AI aspects of it, which as undoubtedly good and cool as they are, are sort of overshadowing what's so good about this in a simple way which is that it's just choral music for the future. It feels like it reaches so far back and so far forward at the same time it's incredible.

Too Real/Television Screens - Fontaines D.C.: I really had to stop myself from putting the whole Fontaines DC album on here because quite literally every single song on this is amazing. Just when you think guitar music is well and truly dead it pulls you back in!! Also the way he says 'aaa' at the start of Too Real just absolutely kills me.

Dangerous Match Ten - Scientist: I forget where I read it but some bass player was saying she learned to play by listening to Scientist albums, and so that made me listen to Scientist for the first time and go on a long dub trail and have a very good and dangerous day where I thought “..what if I become a dub guy?”. It’s very good. I don’t know anything about dub really, we don’t really have the jamaican population here for it to have any cultural currency like it does in america and the UK so my biggest exposure is the Dub radio station from GTA III and San Andreas which I’m now learning was mostly made up of Scientist songs anyway. Anyway dub is good, please keep an eye one me and watch as this playlist evolves into me becoming an evangelical dub guy over the next few months and start calling everyone m’brethren in a racist way.

Lipitor - Longmont Potion Castle: Lipitor. This is unfortunately unavailable on Australian spotify which is a crime but if you're from anywhere else please enjoy.

A Lot’s Gonna Change/ Andromeda - Weyes Blood: I am having such a time with this Weyes Blood album. Yesterday I spent all day playing A Lot’s Gonna Change over and over and over and today I spent all day listening to Andromeda over and over and learning how to play it. I suspect this will happen to me with the entire album, it has a complete hold over me.

I’ve listened to Weyes Blood before and she’s never really grabbed me and so it took a lot of people rhapsodising about this one to get me to give it a go and I’m so glad I finally did. This album really took me by surprise, and looking back now I love the development of her sound: from her original spacy noisy thing to the bonafide soft rock of Front Row Seat To Earth to this - an expensive sounding 70s singer songwriter pop album of absolutely devastating beauty and inventiveness.

Wasting My Young Years - London Grammar: I think what's so interesting about this song is that it sounds like an acoustic cover of a trance song. I don't really know how to explain it better than that. The way the deceptively fast four on the floor drums come in, the sort of adult-contemporary The XX instrumentation, the whole structure of it, it feels like a BBC Live Lounge cover of some forgotten rave classic. I love it regardless but it's an odd song as well.

Left Hand - Beast Coast: Beast Coast is lames and I didn't make it more that halfway through the album. On the fourth song there's a verse where one of these guys is doing that rap thing of talking way to graphically about eating pussy. He says lick lick lick it's gross. Anyway this song rocks though. The beat is that perfect mix of hard as hell and a little bit spooky and I love any song where one million guys do like four lines each.

Hung Up - Madonna: In the wake of not listening to Madame X I've been reflecting on how it's been 15 years since Madonna's last true banger, Hung Up, and in my opinion she's a legend forever for this song alone. Do you remember the Madonna x Gorillaz performance at the 2006 Grammys? Where she walked BEHIND the hologram? She still has so much to teach us. 

Never Fight A Man With A Perm - IDLES: I love just how purely sweaty man muscle this song is. 'concrete to leather' are you kidding me?? That's the coolest shit I've ever heard. 'You look like you're from Love Island' also quite good.

Speakers Going Hammer - Soulja Boy: I was listening to this the other day and had to keep stopping and rewinding because of how advanced the flow is when he says 'Style swift hot like it's July 10th/Fly chick in my whip with nice tits/Her boyfriend paid for it, I didn't" he's like five minutes in front of the beat and combined with the internal assonance it just sounds sick as hell.

African Woman - Ebo Taylor: Man goes ham on toy piano must see

(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone - The Monkees: My friend Tiana (who I've mentioned twice now!) came to band practice and said she saw The Monkees last night. I thought no, that's impossible. The Monkees are all long dead, forgotten legends from a forgotten age. BUT I was wrong! Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz, the surviving Monkees tour to this day! And she introduced me to this great song which we learned for the band! Monkees forever!

Whoo! Alright! Yeah! .. Uh Huh - The Rapture: Somehow as time goes on this song becomes more and more important to me and more and more groovy.I used to think life’s a bitter pill but it’s a grand old time. Now that’s wisdom.

World Of Stone/Loinclothing - Hunters And Collectors: I've been getting very heavily into early Hunters And Collectors over the last couple of months.  I think I put Loinclothing on last months playlist as well but fuck it, it's great. It's so primal and raw it feels like the first caveman who learned to talk fronting a band of cavemen who sing songs about caveman issues and passion. I love the incredibly wide open sound the drums and bass have and the fidgety guitar combined with the unhinged vocals creates this really unique ambience of menace and power without ever getting particularly busy and losing the spaciousness. Feels like yelling about monkeys on a wide open desert plain.

Coisa No. 10 - Marcello Gonçalves and Anat Cohen: I found this song ages ago on ABC Jazz I think, and I absolutely love the intricacies of it. It twists and folds in on itself over and over and over without ever losing the groove or relaxing into anything easy. There's so much tension in it even though the melody and groove are so fun, it's a great mix. I also found out it's from an album that's a tribute to someone I'd never heard of before named Moacir Santos, so I got the great joy of discovering his music via this song as well.

Monologue/Nana - Moacir Santos: Moacis Santos, as I understand it, was one of Henry Mancini's film composition assistants and also the guy that taught all the Boss Nova geniuses like Sergio Mendes. I love this Monologue where he tells the story of a mystical vision that inspired this song, which you assume being inspired by a vision would be of mythical importance and weight and but instead sounds like the theme to a cartoon about a grandma who has superpowers.

Weird People - Little Mix: I need more info about the identity of the robot voice in this song. What is his relationship to the singer. He starts off antagonistic: “get off the wall” then commenting on what happened to her: “fell off the wall” then just echoing her: “on the other side” then becoming her “i’m living my life”. It’s complicated and hard to explain but I believe the robot voice in this song is god. Anyway this song is a masterpiece. It’s an incredibly goofy and great piece of 80s revival that imagines a glorious alternate future where Oh Yeah by Yello is the template for all pop music.

3 Legged Dog - Marisa Anderson: Marisa Anderson used to write songs with words here and there among her instrumentals but it seems that over the last couple of albums she’s decided to stick to instrumentals only which I think is a shame. She’s obviously brilliant at it but I’d hate to be missing out on beautiful little slices like this. I love how small time this song is, it feels like a song you’d sing to yourself more than a song for anyone else.

Nighttime Suite - Adam Gnade & Demetrius Francisco Antuña: Adam Gnade is a guy I’ve been following for about ten years now who seems determined to stay obscure. He self-releases all his stuff in limited editions or on cassettes, some of my favourite things he’s ever done don’t seem to be available anywhere digitally any more (if they ever were). I remember years ago he seemed hard up for cash and he ran a deal on his website called a ‘lifetime subscription’ where if you sent him I think $100 he would send you everything he’s ever done AND would continue to send you everything he made in the future for the rest of his life. It was absolutely great, I would get CD-Rs and tapes and zines and things delivered randomly to my mailbox every so often for a couple of years and they were all fantastic. I guess at some point my lifetime subscription lapsed because he’s released a bunch of stuff I haven’t heard or read but that’s ok, you shouldn’t be able to buy someone’s eternal soul for $100.

Adam Gnade has developed his own style of folk music where he just recites a sort of prose poetry over music and it’s incredible. In the hands of anyone else it could feel overly pretentious, and he pretty often rides that line. He’s reaching for a sort of poet laureate of Americana ideal but very often he actually grabs it. His writing is great and magnifies the minor details of normal life into larger symptoms of the American mindset, like depression-era songs of marginalised and exploited people individualised and updated for the modern era. Most of the time he backs himself on a lazily strummed guitar or banjo and his music sounds like sitting on the front step or laying down in the tall grass, but for this song he’s teamed up with Demetrius Francisco Antuña for some real Godspeed feeling dark soundscapes and it’s really something.

We Are The Same - Lurch And Chief: I think it's a damn shame that Lurch And Chief broke up before they even put an album out because this song is a damn classic and I have begun praying every day for the return of Lurch and/or Chief. I love a big voice and there's two distinctly huge voices in this song fighting for position.

983/Near DT, MI - Black Midi: Fucking hell I love this Black Midi album. I'm so, so glad it exists. It feels like the next generation of the Slint Hella, Tera Melos etc lineage of math rock and I simply can't get enough of it. Pump it directly into my veins I'm obsessed with it.

Take Control - Amerie: I just screamed out loud in my car hearing this song for the first time because it samples Jimmy, Renda Se by Tom Zé one of my absolute favourite songs ever. And samples it amazingly, totally transforms it into something new while keeping the spirit of the original. Do you ever feel like a song was just made for you personally? It’s a very kind thing of my vlogger wife Amerie to do for me but I guess that’s just how she is. Also, thanks to Spotify’s new feature where you can see the actual credits for songs I got to find out that Hall And Oates are credited on this because it basically interpolates the the whole verse melody from You Make My Dreams Come True which I didn’t even realise until I looked up why they were credited.

Unsquare Dance - Dave Brubeck: Dave Brubeck's brain is huge. I can't belive it's possible to make 7/4 this funky. How come nobody else ever ripped off this rhythm? It deserves to be a whole genre. I also totally love the piano solo near the end where it turns into like a funky 7/4 stride and then abruply ends with a shave and haircut like it's 1925.

Suddenly - French Vanilla: Get a load of this fucking slice of dance punk that Discover Weekly served me up. I haven't even listened ot the album yet because I just love this song so much I'm stuck on it. Singing "I like the nightlife! I'm in the spotlight!" like you're being hunted with a knife? Incredible. The impromptue glossolalia about halfway through? Incredible. Everything about the saxophone? Incredible

Maneater - Nelly Furtado: There's nothing deft or subtle about Timbaland. Everything he does is just so heavy handed and thick. The drums in this are so straightforward and they sound like garbage cans.. Nothing ever plays at he same time as anything else . It's like a gorilla learned to play and it's absolutely fucking sick. And then the whole rest of the song! His insanely thick buzzy synth lines against the big beautifully stack clean harmonies

I, The Witchfinder - Electric Wizard: I've been getting back into Skyrim because I have a little worm living in my brain and I've discovered a good trick is to turn off the game music and turn on Electric Wizard instead. It increases the ambience because it feels like if you did an x-ray of the Dragonborn's head this is all that would be in there. It's just stoner metal in there and no other thoughts.

Music Sounds Better With You - Stardust: Can you believe how lucky we are to live in a world where the greatest song ever written is finally available on spotify? You can just listen to this any time of the night or day and immediately improve your life.

Don’t Chew - Spilled Oats: Here’s a very good and underexplored idea: what if guitar music but it sounds like chopped and screwed? Absolutely dynamite.

 As an extra bonus treat here the absolute best ever chopped and screwed channel I’ve found on youtube, please explore Scobed & Robed: https://www.youtube.com/user/scottalexanderburton

listen here

[graysongraysoff]

When you get this you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers 💖

sorry i’m just getting to this; i did that classic move where i opened it, said “i’m gonna answer this later when i’ve got more free time,” and then promptly forgot about it.

i’m gonna take a leaf from your book and try to be sincere about this instead of following that instinct to be jokey and self-deprecating so here goes!!!!

1. i am and have always been a very close reader/watcher of things. it’s not something i really consciously realized about myself until later in my college career; i didn’t realize there was any other way to read or watch a thing than by paying very, very close attention and trying to absorb as much information as possible. but latching onto little details and making connections between them is something that has always come really naturally to me, which is a large part of why i always did well in my literature classes. the other part of why i did well is i’m an incredibly good bullshitter, and i’m pretty proud of that, too.

2. i like that my taste in music is pretty broad and eclectic, thanks in large part to my parents, whose tastes in music are also pretty broad and eclectic. i have a brother who needed a lot of therapy growing up and i have a sister who played travel softball for most of her childhood, so i spent a lot of my time as a kid in the car singing along to my parents’ music, which covered more or less every major genre between the 1950s and the present day. i remember my mom having multiple bulky cd binders filled with everything from elvis presley to celine dion to the rascal flatts to p!nk, and when my dad got his first ipod and translated all of his cds onto it it had several weeks’ worth of music on it. i went through rebellious phases like anybody else (there was a period of time when i simply could NOT stand to listen to even ONE more billy joel or neil diamond song, dear god), and i definitely have preferences which i tend to gravitate towards (i’ve always had a soft spot for alt rock, emo, pop punk), but for the most part listening to so much music so constantly has given me a really vast knowledge of and appreciation for several decades’ worth of bangers that i wouldn’t trade for anything else.

3. i’m far from the best writer i know; heck, i’m not even the best writer i can be. but i’m damn good. not only do i have that eye for detail and ability to make connections that i mentioned above, but i have a keen ear for narrative voice and dialogue that i use to great effect. i’m really good at getting to know characters, whether they’re mine or someone else’s, and i’m getting better every day with sensory details and atmosphere. i’m not very prolific and i tend toward shorter pieces, but i make those few words count.

4. growing up i developed a bit of a reputation for being a scaredy-cat -- i was afraid to swim in the ocean, afraid to watch scary movies, afraid to go to the doctors, afraid to drive a car -- but as i’ve grown up i’ve not only conquered a lot of my fears, but i’ve realized there are a lot of things that scare other people that i’m actually pretty brave about. i’m still afraid of driving, but i’m not afraid to pick up my shit and move to a place where i don’t know a soul and just sort of figure it out. i’m terrible with directions, but i’m not afraid of getting lost; i’m patient about figuring out sidewalks and public transportation and i always find my way eventually. i’m introverted, but i’m not shy; talking to people tires me out after a while, but i’ve never gotten stage fright, and meeting and talking to new people doesn’t scare me or make me anxious. i’m still afraid of going to the doctor, but because my mouth was an orthodontic nightmare as a kid i’ve now been to the dentist enough times that it doesn’t even faze me. i’m not afraid of heights, or small spaces, or natural disasters, or crowds. i’m still scared of a lot of things, but i’m not a scaredy-cat; i’m a fully independent, functioning young adult who feels fear but then does things anyway.

5. i’m a lucid dreamer! and i just think that’s neat. :)

[anothersievefistedfind]

Fugazi, Theaterfabrik, Munich, Germany 6/16/92 (FLS #0468)

The city of Munich welcomed Fugazi 5 times between 1989-1999, this 1992 concert being the third stopover. It played out at the Theaterfabrik, as did the two previous concerts in 1989 and 1990 respectively. It turned out to be the last time as well, since the venue got torn down after getting shut down in 1992.

Although the audience are rather low in the mix which makes it difficult to discern part of the “dialogue”, it appears this is a bit of a confrontational gig, as several altercations between band and a handful of patrons (hurling insults or urging the band what to play) arise and the patience of both Ian and Guy wears thin because of it.

In this regard, it is interesting to note that in the December 1, 2011 NPR article Steady Diet Of Everything: The Fugazi Live Vault, Ian fervently recalls this specific show, as it portrays one of his favorite Fugazi live moments:

“There’s a really great show from Munich, in I think the early ‘90s, '93,“ MacKaye says. "At that time, it was pretty typical for the audience to say things like, 'Get on with it!’ and 'Play the music! Just play!’ I remember we had come back on stage for an encore, and somebody was lost or confused, or I don’t know; something had happened and somebody needed help. So we were trying to say, 'Hey, there’s a woman back here, she’s lost and she’s looking for her friends.’ And some guy was just yelling, 'Get on with it! Just play!’ And at that moment, I understood the dynamic, what was going on in this relationship, where he was a consumer and wanted to consume. He wanted sound. So at that moment, we just all turned on our guitars and started feedback, and it was a wall of feedback. And it was like, 'Okay, here’s sound. You just want sound.’ There was no actual engagement with the music; it was just sound they wanted."So it’s maybe five minutes of just feedback. It was a totally surreal moment, and when I hear that, I can smell that moment. It’s so visceral to me, but it’s one of my favorites, because we go right into a song from that.”

The overall audio quality of the recording is not the best, the vocals and drums slightly distant or “hollow” if that makes sense. But it is still quite good or enjoyable and the somewhat bellicose mood (Ian refers to it as “a curious relationship” every time they come to Munich) definitely adds to the merit of the recorded document.

The selection of 22 songs draws on the yet to be released (at the time) In on the Kill Taker album (4; note the different “Morse” on Facet Squared as well as a handful of different lines in the lyrics of Rend It), Steady Diet of Nothing (7), Repeater (5), 3 Songs seven-inch (1), Margin Walker EP (1) and debut 7 Songs EP (3).

The set presents a rarish 1992 live rendering of Burning (performed only 9 times, out of which 2 times in the US and 7 times in Europe) (the intro is cut slightly short here, probably because of the cassette getting turned). Bangers include Sieve-Fisted Find, which lights the show up for me, as well as Turnover, Two Beats Off (Guy is up to some more song referencing in his lyrics, but I can’t figure this one out), or Promises.

The band also performs a bit of rockabilly while they “trace the entire history of rock and roll, from, I don’t know, say the birth of Christ” to taunt some people demanding the band play Minor Threat songs, with Guy and Ian alternately singing “Jesus was born, son of [...] Mary” and “Jesus was a guy hanging on a cross.”

While the live archive contains numerous incredible Reprovisional improvs, this recording arguably presents the most outlandish, free-form, outright stellar live version of the staple (w/ extensive Roadrunner tag) I have heard so far, clocking in at no less than 8 mins 18 secs (for your reference, the album version is merely 2 mins 18 secs). If you listen closely, you can hear the guitars pick up the rockabilly theme again as well at one point, pure genius!

Right after Ian thanks the audience, someone announces “the police are outside, so this has to be it, so please exit quietly, thanks a lot.” This wraps it up.

The set list:

1. Merchandise 2. Nice New Outfit 3. Greed 4. Latin Roots 5. Intro 6. Reclamation 7. Sieve-Fisted Find 8. Facet Squared 9. Rend It 10. Interlude 1 11. Stacks 12. Turnover 13. Interlude 2 14. Song #1 15. Give Me The Cure 16. Waiting Room 17. Burning 18. Interlude 3 19. Long Division 20. Runaway Return 21. Great Cop 22. Two Beats Off 23. Promises 24. Encore 1 25. Sweet and Low 26. Repeater 27. Interlude 4 28. Reprovisional 29. Outro

[whatscoolaccordingtodom]

July 2018

As winter nyasto settles into the Southern Hemisphere, I can’t help but think that maybe we’re doing something wrong and whoever has been in charge of the weather these past few years is mad. Our ancestors wore nothing but a bit of hide over their groins 365 days a year, my great-great grandfather never slept inside anything his whole life. They say on particularly cold nights, his family would come down from the hills to sleep around his fire, where he would sit there playing his mbira into the wee hours.

Umphako floated down to us on the 6thof July and I’ve been Mascandi through the streets ever since. The 4 track EP sees most of the songs go in different directions, but still make sense on the overall project. “Abangani” features label mates Emtee and Saudi, it’s definitely in the running for Squad Song of the Year. The “Confession” sample sounds like it was taken from an old hip-hop song, maybe a 50 Cent track and; the vocals though beautiful as they may be are overshadowed by the lyrics. I’m sure a few Zulu boys are convinced though. “Intombi” -also about a girl- talksis about all the lies she hears from interested suiters. The remaining is the hustle track, even the production is more upbeat than we’re used to from him. 2018 has been good to Sjava too, he came out from under the shadow of his labelmate and established himself as a serious contender with the Black Panther nod, BET award, and oh so Afrikan press run; this EP serves to show he’s still the guy who gave us favourites like “Before”. At least for now...

Strings and Blings is one half songs that can be bangers and the other is half is talking RnB. Nasty C’s on and off long-time girlfriend is kind of like the centerpiececentre piece, often finding herself being spoken to, of, from, about, and with; but he uses inconsistent angles. (Also, S/O to the girl who always sings on his songs but never gets credited). “No Respect” is my favourite offering on the project by far, it sounds like it was getting good, like he was about to rip at niggers, he’s about to start going in at the 1-minute mark then the just stops.; Tthe track ends 25 seconds later preventing what probably would’ve been a PR nightmare for him. “Jiggy Jigga”, “Givenchy”, “Strings and Bling” and “Gravy” are all easy plays in the club. We would like to thank Nasty for saying a Zulu word on “Blisters”. The whole album plays very well except for “My Baby”, that song is terribly cheesy; it sounds like every song by a boy band with a potty mouth lead singer. “SMA” is a standout from the other side, the dialogue verse’s add a layer to the rapper and Rowlene is just perfect. “Mrs Me” and “Everything” are the other emotionally heavy songs. “Casanova” cements just how much Nasty loves Metro Boomin and is perhaps the one track that doesn’t really fit into the 2 sides of album, it sounds emotional, but the lyrics really just aren’t.

A welcome addition to my favourite rappers in South Africa is Zakwe, he’s been around for a while but Cebisa is the first project by him I’ve listened to and honestly, it carries itself even without Sebentin. In true South African fashion, the remix is a who’s who of our rap elite but it’s all overshadowed by the obvious trade of bars by HHP and Cassper., Cass just seems to rub some people the wrong way, poor guy. At 20 songs, averaging well over 3 minutes each. The album is a long play but it’s well worth the listen, with a plethora of features to keep you entertained it plays like a Zakwe and friends playlist. The man himself has honed his sound, this nonchalant cross between hip-hop and kwaito is best described by the albums stand out line “Pac was Jesus, Zola wrote the Bible”. He isn’t stuck in old hip hop either, trap beats found themselves nestled in the playlist too.    

Future gave us Beast Mode 2 and I am satiated, but Atlanta spoils us (I have a theory about how it had a direct influence on how music is frequently now released), they understand that the streets need new music often. Jeffery needs to give us something more now since Hear No Evil was a while ago and it was 3 songs long. Future seems to be the only one of late who can get Young Thug into the studio too., Tthey did release Georgia, but a Thug feature was not on the cards for BM2 which really only has 2 features, both young artists who were given a wide berth to shine. People who say Future isn’t a lyricist need to take time out to listen to the first Beast Mode. On these albums over Zaytovens most almost gospel like production, he addresses a wide range of issues from his self-medicating drug problem, he checks himself trying to hold onto some sense of reality I think, but he makes it so that you have to listen to know what he’s saying. Being a workaholic -the man releases projects at an alarming rate- and the excess that seems to come with the life of having your “Racks Blue”, he talks about his anxieties both external and psychological. BM2 is the classic mix of Futures braggadocio and insecurities. It plays like one long thing the first time, but if you take the time to listen to what he’s saying you might realise why his spot amongst those at the top of rap is a non-debatable topic.

Unjayam uSliqe… this calling card annoyed me when I first heard it, but it’s kinda grown on me since then. I know I’m about to hear a hit when it plays. His sophomore album is a shining example of how hip-hop albums by DJ’s have evolved into their own league. Jam packed with features, feel good songs, and amazing production from the man himself, I don’t know if he just makes the beats and let’s people do their own thing or if he composes and directs each song, maybe he does a bit of both. The formula works, Navy Black is like a calm afternoon with your friends, most of the songs share a skeleton, so the vibe is carried well. “Biskop” is a fitting way to begin the album, it’s an ode to how the journey Sliqe, Kwesta and Makwa has transformed the artists’ lives since they started hustling, when is a Kwesta verse not welcome? Chiano Sky is the new naughty white girl, “Aunty” was nice, but “Girls Jungle” is a lot; the sample is so perfect and her lyrics are irreverent. Sy Ari saw Black Panther 5 times, I was going to discuss this but then I found out he’s American; him and AKA really came through for “Oh Well” though, Supa Mega talks like the big brother all young rappers have always wanted. I’m kind of torn between “Fully” (because we get to say FULLY a bunch of times), and “Town Talk”, it’s cool to see Wrecking Crew members make hits without their big gun. “Backyard” is the vibe of the album, and who better to call for a feature than Mr Hennessy, Tshego can sound like him featuring him with the different pitches he can sing at; it’s smooth and never overly emotional?

Gigi Lamayne, in her short time has built an enviable career finding her place in the league of our small handful of rappers. “VI” is a 6 track EP, her first since signing with Ambitious and it was built kind of like this version Maslow'sMaslows pyramid.; Tthe top is tiny and signifies the worst song as we descend into the album the sections get thicker until the bottom where we find “VI” waiting for us. The tape gets much better immediately with “Iphupho”, this song see’s the artist sing her truths about living in this concrete jungle while demanding to cash in on her dreams. “Roll” is dirtier, real trap shit reminiscent of “Beez in The Trap”. “Stimela” is fun, Gigi even gets in some good raps and punchlinespunch lines, a highlight being “I’m Gautrain, you Shosholoza”. “VI” is really easy listening, with a light sprinkling of zulu lines, the beats are catchy but maybe none more so than “Twinkle”; “Londie London” croons the memorable chorus and Gigi offers her most solid verses on the project. Until you hear the title track, she does the correct thing on the outro; no chorus, shit she barely lets it breathe until the last minute.

Ice Prince is an established name in Afrikan hip-hop and his confidence oozes out of his songs too. A few of them seem to be more about weed than anything else in particular and I’m okay with that. The albums opening track is a bass heavy banger, with the help of Jethro Faded, Ice-Prince “Shuts it Down”, which might be a weird way to start an album. Remy Baggins comes through for “Space Funk”, a Bruno Mars-y chorus with solid verses by Ice. “Hit Me Up” is the albums single, a typical South African trap track, PatricKxxLee & Straffitti help bring the head nods out. “‘Interlude”’ is his way of letting us know that this is the emotional track of the album and “Die For Your Love” does not disappoint, mans really promises to die for her love; but doesn’t miss the opportunity to mention weed again. I think I noticed all the weed references because of how frequently and prominently most of them are placed. “254” has one right in the chorus, but the verses are some of the most enjoyable on the whole album; they play like one long story. The uncredited singing bit at the end of “254″ is really nice, if that is Ice then kudos to him. “So High”, seriously, has Ice Prince always been this proud about his stoner ways? Anyways, “So High” is an anthem dedicated to just how high Ice Prince and Kay Switch get. By the sounds of it they use regular rizla and not Raw like Nasty C and Snoop Dogg, I might suggest switching to unbleached rizla if he really does smoke from Niger to Ghana. I mean, it’s an obvious metaphor for other kinds of highs too, success, girls, etc, but with the sound effects and lines like “puff puff pass, real nigger smoking that gas” the weed references might be all we get. “Watching You” is a simpler, way more vibey track where Ice Prince gets back onto his singing shit, helping keep the song as smooth as possible. The album closer is arguably the best, the production is really enjoyable, and he made sure to use easy to remember lyrics.

In The Faculty NEWS; on August 2, Human Error turned 19 and Tinayeishe Elisha Makoni better known by his stage name S.K.eye released his debut solo tape titled “Pseudology”. Please listen to it on Soundcloud @ https://soundcloud.com/tinayemakoni/sets/pseudology

Couldn’t leave without acknowledging Stay Dangerous and Astroworld, but that’s for later.

Beyonce and her husband are coming on the 2nd of December, but you have to earn a ticket. The only other ticket you work this hard to get in life is the one to Heaven, if you’re into that type of thing.

Edited by @NyraBlac

[radramblog]

Album Discussion- Absolution

Many hypothetical people who I made up have asked: Rad, since you’re such a massive Radiohead nerd, and are apparently into Coldplay as well somehow, how do you feel about other big UK alt-rock things? To which I will say, yeah, they’re pretty good, love me some Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys are good, I think Hard-Fi are super underrated.

“What about Muse?” the voice in my head says, attempting to pierce me with a single question.

Unfazed, I answer, banishing this dialogue from the script. I like them well enough? I have most of their albums on CD, but I’ve also not gone out of my way to listen to them in quite some time. So I guess we’re answering that question, and this time, we’re doing it with Absolution.

From what I can recall, this album was the one where the band tried to break away from being Radiohead-lite and developed their own style properly, which does show in a fair few tracks. But also, I only remember like 3 songs from this album, so this is going to be a learning experience for all of us. Shall we?

The album starts with a 22 second introduction. It’s marching and drums that leads into the start of track 2. Snore.

Track 2 is Apocalypse Please, a dramatic, piano-driven track that is mixed like shit (more on this later). Maybe it’s just the version I’m listening to, but everything is so utterly muddied aside from that piano and the synths that eventually come in. It’s a little frustrating, because the song would probably pretty alright, if I could actually hear any of it. The other elements of the track are playing off that piano nicely, I think, and the vocals do work with the style they’re going for. I know Matt Bellamy’s vocals aren’t really for everyone, and they can definitely get grating at times, but I do think this song suits them.

Next up is Time is Running Out, which I’m pretty sure is just one of Muse’s most iconic tracks. It’s no Supermassive Black Hole or big pop hit like Starlight (both coming from the next album, Black Holes and Revelations), but it’s overall just a very solid rock song. An extremely mid-00s chorus sandwiched between groovy verses and big handclaps and drums. I don’t know if the drums get enough credit on this song, their bit in the second and third prechorus is exquisite.

Muse is kind of interesting to talk about from a thematic perspective, because much of their work, especially on this and the next few albums, are going for this real larger-than-life, super big and important sort of vibe. And while there are some songs that do earn that, it can get to be a bit wanky at times. I don’t think Time is Running Out falls into this trap too much, but I’d argue the next one does.

Sing for Absolution, the title track, doesn’t really do it for me. It’s kinda hymnal, which is a fine thing to do in a rock song, but it also ends up being extremely plodding as a result. Even as the track picks up in the back half, it’s just sort of boring for me. I feel like you have to be fully committed to what the album is going for to really appreciate this, and I’m very much not at this point. Like, you put this as the third real song, and Time is Running Out isn’t as on-theme, so your big moment kind of lands as a whiff. Given time to breathe, maybe this track would sit better for me, but not here and not now.

By contrast, I fucking love track 5: Stockholm Syndrome. It might be my favourite Muse track, seeing as its just them unequivocally going for a banger- the drums are popping off and the guits are jamming, making it possibly the band’s heaviest song (to my knowledge, at least, though I suppose Psycho exists). That prechorus hits like a ton of bricks, and while the chorus is still incredibly Muse-y with the lyrics and spacey vibe, it works a lot better as a contrast to what surrounds it. I guess maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for hard rock, but this song goes and I’m not afraid to admit that.

At this point, though, I’m wondering if the mix issues I think I’m having are a result of the Spotify version of the album, or if it’s my headphones. And…yeah, fuck, it does seem to be a Spotfiy issue! I peeped Apocalypse Please and Stockholm Syndrome on random youtube uploads, and they sound way better. It would appear that Spotify’s version of this album is just kind of dogshit, so I’d recommend listening elsewhere! Here’s a good Youtube upload of the Japanese edition, though Muse’s own page also works.

Now that that’s over with, I can start shitting on things that actually matter. Like the next song, Falling Away With You. It’d been a while since I’d heard this track, so when it was going through the incredibly boring first section, I was ready to dismiss it entirely. It does pick up, though, so I suppose I won’t just consider it completely shite. I do like the chorus, but frankly, that’s kind of all the track has going for it. There’s a synth element that reminds me of We’re Finally Landing (aka that song that Summoning Salt uses for all those videos), but that’s not really enough to keep me going, yknow?

We then have an Interlude. It would be remiss of me to complain about these, considering how much I love A Thousand Suns, but I’m not going to spend long talking about it. The riff is good?

Hysteria is another of Muse’s best-known songs, and the one I always kinda forget about. Don’t ask me how, this song absolutely goes. It’s got the fuzzed-out vocals, its got riffs for days, it’s got a tempo that doesn’t let up, it’s just a very good rock song. Unlike several other tracks on this album, it doesn’t have any interest in wasting time- there are no stops on this train. The bridge is great, and the incredibly intricate bassline is absolutely killer. I’m going to try to not forget this track exists again, because it’s genuinely quite good.

 The next song is one called Blackout. There really are a lot of songs with that name, as it turns out, though I’m going to take this moment to reiterate that the Linkin Park song with that name is criminally underrated. Muse’s take on the title is kind of a surprise- it’s an orchestral, slow dance-esque track, that steadily gets more eerie as the vocals rise. And then there’s just a static-y thing that inserts itself in, and like, I get what it’s going for, and I do feel like they needed something extra for that part of the song, but I’m not sure this was the best thing to go with. I thing the song is on the whole solid, though its one of those ones were I cannot imagine listening to it out of context. Not my style, I suppose.

Track 10 is the last single from the album, Butterflies and Hurricanes. I actually really like the build this song starts with, what with the lyric “your time is now” referencing Time is Running Out. And then that piano kicks in, and the song get’s fucking good. I feel like much of the album is going for that apocalypse vibe, but this one really captures it. Something about this piano line makes me think of looking out on a city as the buildings start to crumble.  This isn’t your final boss theme, but this is the one for when you’re starting to head for the final battle, you feel? The whole track drops out for a piano interlude, much more grand and orchestral than previous songs (save Blackout), which is fine but it goes on for just a little too long- I’d rather be listening to the other sections, you know? It does elevate the song’s final act, but at some point they needed to stop fucking around there- reminds me of Tame Impala’s Let It Happen. I bet the radio/single edit does the same thing that one does. Overall good despite that section, but it does frustrate me.

We’re onto The Small Print, a track that is apparently determined to prove me wrong when I said that Muse didn’t really do hard rock tracks that much. This song is very much a mid-00s alt-rocky banger with all the trappings and pop-punk/nu-metal influence that comes with that title. And while I am a major sucker for that era of music, there isn’t much distinguishing this track from all its compatriots in that group. It’s fun, though! Slap it on your emo/punk playlist, you won’t be disappointed, but it’s not game-changing.

The next song is Endlessly, unless you followed the link I posted earlier, because apparently the Japanese edition just sticks the bonus track here instead. I actually do remember this song, but I don’t really have much to say about it. It’s basically fine, but it was also uninteresting enough that I started working on my resume rather than take notes. It’s an Album Track, with all that implies in this context.

Our pseudopenultimate (I’m counting the bonus track, so) track comes in the form of Thoughts of a Dying Atheist, which has a vocal line I do really like, but at this point listening to the album, I’m tired. I’m at the point where I’ve had enough. I’m afraid of this colouring my opinion of the song! But beyond that little vocal trail, the track doesn’t have that much to say for itself that the album doesn’t already. I feel like I harp on about “album tracks” a lot, so let me be clear- I do think when you’re going for a specific theme or vibe, you do need songs like this to solidify it. And no album is going to be 10/10s all the way through, solely through the variance of opinion. There’s nothing wrong with them, is what I’m saying, and in fact I know several in this mould that I dearly belove. But since many won’t stand out to me, I won’t have much to say about them, and so they aren’t going to particularly pique my interest.

Technically the last song on the album is this one, Ruled by Secrecy. It’s got this mysterious vibe that genuinely reminds me of the quieter moments of the Portal 2 soundtrack, which for the unfamiliar is in fact a compliment. It does feel like an appropriate closer, a sense of finality carried by that ever-present dramatic piano action- this would probably make a good credits/denouement theme for a movie, actually. Again, though, I don’t really have much to compliment it for beyond that- the orchestral instrumentation works well for what the song is going for, but the package isn’t anything truly special. Kind of a frustrating place to be.

The bonus track attached to I believe just most versions of the album at this point is called Fury, formerly a B-Side on Sing for Absolution. It has a pretty sicknasty menacing bassline that dominates the verses, and a fairly interesting staccato for the chorus- honestly the instrumentation on this track is quite solid in general. I can see why it got the upgrade to album status, though listening to it after Ruled by Secrecy’s quiet end is going to be awkward. My own CD of this song actually doesn’t have this track, so I’ve never heard it before, and I gotta say I do quite like it. The bridge goes pretty hard, too. It’s a shame the vocals are pretty whatever, but also, they’re low in the mix below the bits I care about, so I’m less worried about that. Overall I like this a lot better than, like, half the “actual” album tracks.

This concludes Absolution. When I was doing a spot of research on this album, I found out Kerrang listed this as the second-best album of the century (as of ’09), which seems utterly absurd to me. The album is largely Pretty OK, not nearly close to that level of greatness, and yet I’m pretty sure it’s considered some of the band’s best. I unfortunately think that, to me, this album suffers from one of the most damning issues any alt-rocky, artsy album can have- it’s a Singles album. One where the gap in quality between the a few tracks and the remainder is great enough that there isn’t a huge reason to listen to the whole thing. It’s a real shame, because I recall liking this more, but that’s the way it is for me at the moment.

I do feel like I have to stress that: this is like, my opinion, man. I know this album means a lot to a lot of people, and that’s entirely valid. I mean, enough people liked it that it went Platinum in the US, Australia, and three times over in the UK. But it doesn’t resonate with me in the same way.  Maybe it’s just that in our modern ages, dramatic apocalypse rock doesn’t resonate as strongly, because at this point, the apocalypse is banal, it’s what we’re living through at this point. The sounds of the end of the world aren’t dramatic pianos and stretched vocals to me, it’s the sound of highways and newsreels. I guess 2004 just had a different zeitgeist.

[mirrorfalls]

Lego Liveblogs ST: TOS, part 12 (of who-the-hell-knows-how-many?)

Lotta high hopes riding on this one, folks, in spite of the permanently-Simpsons-tarred villain name. Will they wind up breaking the Conscience of the King? Let’s find out.

* Easily the least science fiction-y opening we’ve had so far: no Enterprise bridge, no stars, just a single line of dialogue this is an Earth play being done by non-Earthlings. * Aww, Kirk’s pals with Nick Fury! * So the inspiration for this one isn’t hard to figure - fugitive Nazi hunts were all the rage back in the ‘60s. Which makes it all the more interesting how eager Kirk is to brush the whole thing off. * The best forensics Starfleet has to offer... what, couldn’t even get fingerprints for comparison? * Hope you’re read up on your Poe too, good Captain. You oughta know what happens to Lenores... * Woo. Now there’s a mood-killer. ** I swear, if it turns out he faked his death just to guilt Kirk into investigating... * Now, now, Mr. Spock. Green isn’t your color. * “The regulations are very clear about taking on passengers... especially after that Charlie kid passed through.” * Another benchmark (I think) the first solo Spock-Bones dialog. ** “Now I know why they were conquered.” Jesus, Bones, I thought you were past your racist phase! * So... the tour scene. I can practically feel the effort dripping off every word of the script, but it still falls a ways short of actually convincing me Kirk has any  emotional investment in this, rather than just stringing her along for leads. At the very least, they could’ve found a slightly more organic metaphor to tie into the idea of Kirk being chained by his command. * In contrast, this very next scene is something that shouldn’t work but does: Spock spits out the entire story behind Kirk’s behavior in roughly two minutes, before the episode’s even halfway done. Part of it is Nimoy, letting just the right amount of “fuck Vulcan culture, I have things to say about eugenics” fury seep through, and the other part is all in the script: Kodos’ butchery is one of those things that looks kiiiiinda reasonable if you’re in the ruler’s seat, and absolutely goddamn horrifying from literally any other POV. Both options, at least on paper, could driving Kirk’s own stake in this whole thing. * Oh hey, it’s the Irish guy from The Naked Time! Welcome to the “only people who can hang Kodos (assuming he’s still alive)” club! ** Aaaaaand goodbye. Really, hanging out in that big a room by yourself, you were kinda asking for it. ** (Also: Windex in his milk is a hilariously Realistic(tm) way of going about it, but I kinda wish they tried ear-poison for full Shakespeare points.) ** (Also also: Why do I get the feeling someone on-set probably cracked a “Christ, Uhura’s singing was that bad?!”) * So Bones and Spock confront Kirk over... something. I’m theoretically happy that the script isn’t taking the easy way out and making them go “You’re just seeing things, Jim!”, but the whole oooh-Kirk-might-snap thing isn’t much good for building suspense, since at this point Kirk still insists on taking the investigation slow. Hell, if anything they should be dragging him over not putting more men on the case! * And now, Kirk and Spock reenact me searching for my car keys * Alright, we’re deep in the third act now, so let’s get that face-to-face showdown going. I’m sure Kirk’s carefully arranged the most subtle, intricate questions for teasing out- ** Or he could just ask him “Are you Kodos?” point-blank. Captain’s privilege. ** In all seriousness, this scene jumps out to me for one reason: neither of these men needs to go this far. All Kirk needs is a straightforward voice-print; all Kodos (or is he?!) needs is to go “Oh gee, this Kodos of yours sounds like a douche! Sure hope he’s gone for good!” Instead, they lay all their cards out, because tiptoeing around their motives feels inherently repugnant; what they’re doing is Right, element of surprise be damned. * Alas, we end the act not on this, but on another goddamn sitcom cue of ~Lieutenant NPC overhearing something~ * Alright, so I guess this thirty-second sideshow is meant to prove how Kirk is still keeping a level head, but it’s a bit dulled by this being the exact part where the script tosses out any ambiguity. He is Kodos... and it looks like Murder For The Greater Good runs in the family. * Still, whatever problems I have with the script (which is getting less morally nuanced by the second), Lenore’s actress sells the hell out of her being genuinely delusional enough to think murdering people to cover someone’s tracks is equivalent to being a Soldier In A Cause. ** And I’ll admit: “The play’s over. It’s been over for twenty years.” is an absolute banger of a line. * Welp. ** C’mon, guys, I know you remastered this - couldn’t you have made it look even slightly less like she shot him on purpose? *** Unless... that was the point...? * Even if it was, though, this finale tips things from Unsettling to Just Plain Silly - rambling famous Shakespeare lines does not a compelling breakdown make, guys. ** And on top of that, because Females Are More Innocent, she doesn’t even have to live with what she’s done. * “You really cared for her, didn't you?” “I had about two-and-a-half scenes with her, Bones. What do you think?”

This play’s the thing, all right - it’s not quite as good as Balance of Terror, but it aims just as high, if not higher, and it get more than halfway there. Whatever my problems with the direction or Lenore (who’s a bit of a nonentity before the last act - I couldn’t even buy into her having a fake romance with Kirk), Shatner’s clearly having an absolute ball doing Shakespeare in Space, and Kodos’ actor brings a kind of pained gravitas that even the Romulan Commander never quite hit, almost enough to make you forget he massacred 4,000 innocents and didn’t even have the guts to own up to it until the very last second.

And more important than any of that, this is probably the biggest plank in Kirk’s backstory we’ll ever get: past friends and flames will definitely be walking onto the Enterprise for years to come, but none of them could cast such a haunting lens onto every action he takes from here on out. His Captaincy isn’t just a matter of playing hero or serving the Federation, but because he personally saw what horrors the self-righteous and powerful can wreak - and, so long as there’s a single breath left in him, vows he’ll never see again.

Next: Seven men walk into a planet...

[123moiaussi]

First off, thank you so much for the tag @gripefroot 💖. I feel incredibly honoured and lucky to be apart of your tag list as I’ve loved your other fanfics and I adore your writing.

I apologise for only writing down my comments now but I felt like I needed to do your fic justice. So, buckle because I have 6 pages of comments and ideas and just me fawning over your writing✨

We start off chapter with the absolute banger of a vision. This section of the chapter is so different to the rest and it works perfectly well. It manages to highlight the contrast of what I am assuming is a vision that Elain has had recently (or maybe it’s from way back that she hasn’t spoken about it yet).

I notice that you’ve made references to some certain and absolutely wonderful theories; specifically @offtorivendell & @shadow-singing. I’m waiting in anticipation to see how you’ll weave these wonderful theories into the storyline🌅

Girl, you had me sold by the description of the night in Velaris. 

“The night was an inky black shield dotted with the silver and gold (I legit imagined starry night). Velaris far below, the stars above and only the whistling wind and thump of his own heart for company.”

This small section is magnificent. The detail is brilliant and  poetic. I just love how the description indirectly emphasizes how silent and beautiful Velaris is as well as how as is also a still at this moment. Just before the wolves come 🐺

Following on from the wolves thought, the metaphor of the wolves as Az’s inner thoughts and wants is great. The association of wolves evokes the idea that his thoughts torment him (how they hound-him if you will).

Az’s shadows are so sneaky and they’re this mysterious entity. His shadow’s always react to Elain’s presence even before he notices. I’m excited to see how the shadows are drawn to Elain since they seem to betray his orders and reservations around him by inviting her into his room. They seem to ‘cling’ to her and maybe they’re collecting intel on her and her relationship to Azriel.

How you use the description of Elain as well as the contrast between his actions and his thoughts is phenomenal. He’s physically still but his thoughts portray his wants🥵🔥

Onto the first section of dialogue. It’s not very flowery or descriptive (the direct conversation between them) in nature but it shows how they can read each other pretty easily. I appreciate how you’ve made Elain very blunt with Az. She’s hurt and confused and she’s looking for answers (as she should). Her observant nature is highlighted with her watching his body language and his wings as he is observant of her facial expressions and reading the emotion in her eyes.

Along with Elain’s bluntness, there is this innate sense of vulnerability that she cannot hide. With her family, she finds it easy to mask her emotions or prevents people from seeing how things affect her. Feyre, highlights in ACOFAS that Elain’s mask is cracking but she braves it all. This scene shows her without her mask and that is vulnerable🎭

“Secrets were best whispered alone in the night: Azriel had always known that. Known that honesty could burst out at the right moments, if prodded enough, uncaring of the consequences it could bring.”

Instead of brushing her off, Az recognizes this vulnerability and puts his own reservations and feelings aside. It’s likely that Az’s understanding and capability of listening to people has been learnt through spying👀🕵️

It is very interesting to see how Elain prioritizes Az’s feelings. In the canon text, we can see how Elain tries to not disappoint the people around her as well as be a source of joy for others. We can see in this chapter that she misses him but feels guilty for being the reason behind his absence at family dinners and his isolation. She is willing to give up time with her family and something that she enjoys (well at least then there wasn’t this awkwardness between them). With this in mind, Az’s comment on her not caring is stark in contrast to the reality. By prioritizing Az’s feelings, Elain is showing through her actions that not only does she feel guilty and responsible for his unhappiness but what she is willing to do to ensure that his spirits are lifted. As a bonus, we see Elain’s determination  when she makes the decision to stop attending family meetings so that Az can attend. 

“You’re hurt when I’m not there,” he said. “No different than I am at your absence.”

Finally Az admits that he is unhappy because there is distance between them and this really ups the angst. With the following paragraph, it’s interesting how Az is attempting to rationalize his thoughts, feelings and words along with Elain’s. He sees this as some sort of Love game (I had to drop a Lady Gaga reference here since I had the opportunity to do so)👩‍🎤. This interaction accentuates how the distance between them pains them but on a small scale what they are willing to sacrifice to be near each other (which could be foreshadowing for something). 

Elain’s confession is chef’s kiss🤌💋It perfectly reflects Az’s POV. She feels the same amount of angst as Az does but for different reasons but have the same basis: they can’t be together because of a social expectation of respecting an unwanted mating bond. They stay away and hate it because it feels like punishment. They are avoiding their feelings but it doesn’t help dilute their feelings, it makes the angst and desire more intense😩

Despite Elain’s confession, Az is still trying to convince himself that she seeks him out for necessity, such as, to relieve herself of her wants and desires, instead of the deeper reason. With her declaration that she cares for him and wants him, we know along with her words and actions that she is drawn to him and is willing to accept all that he is. Elain is willing to break rules and disappoint her family (which was highighted as a potential fear and insecurity she has in the Feysand Bonus POV) to be with him. With this she is taking a stand for what she believes in and she is allowing no one (including Az) to decide for her. Yet, he can’t see why she deems him worthy because of this self-loathing issues. Those definitely need to be addressed and I’m sure that you will address them 😉

In addition to this, the punishment line really hits the nail on the head with what Elain and Az are both feeling and my goodness is it excellent. It mirrors some of Az’s confessions in the canon POV and its brilliant🪞

Even with the risks that Az states, Elain is willing to do whatever it takes to be with him and provides him with solutions. He is trying to rationalize fighting against his feelings and she’s replying back with answers she can see what he is trying to do and is attempting to stop that train of thought. She is committed to making this work (and this follows through in chapter 2) even when Az has his doubts. This shows the growth that she has gone through in the background of the series and I am here for it.

Ugh, I love love love this raw honesty in their dialogue and actions. 

“Once I have you…I won’t be able to stop wanting to have you.”

“I’m afraid….of what my life will be without you. I’m afraid of wanting you for the rest of my life with no hope of having you.”

“There’s nothing in me that can deny you.”“

These are honesty bars, they could easily be set to beat and placed into an operatic ballad.

When they say each other’s names, if it doesn’t happen in canon (next book) at the same level of angst and adoration, I don’t want it. This made me have incoherent thoughts with how good it was. And in addition to the names, how Az is affected and concentrates on every movement and every touch is so good.

“Will you have me?

Will you risk it all?

He could see in her shining eyes. I would risk it all for you.”

And to top it off, even though its already so angsty and passionate, their final confession isn’t even said. It is seen and understood and wow I love how brilliant it is. They can read each other and thank you for putting the stake in the heart of the miscommunication trope because that definitely isn’t their style. 

Once again, it is significant that despite the declaration, Az still tries to convince her that being with him is a bad idea. The subtext highlights that he still feels unworthy of her adoration, sacrifice, and her attraction. He is trying to convince himself that she is hesitating or wants something else because he is baffled that she has chosen him. He promises to do anything and everything to be worthy of her yet she tells him she only wants his heart. He is willing to destroy Ramiel, that is quite the declaration🗻

Now onto the more physical and steamier parts of this chapter. Ma’am the tension and chemistry for the rest of the chapter is absolutely phenomenal. He hasn’t even kissed her but they can leave each other breathless. Call it what it is: undeniable attraction and devotion ( starts playing Call It What You want - Taylor Swift).

 AND THEN HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO SEND HER AWAY!!! Wow, the way I wanted to throttle him because he hurt and confused her again. We know he’s trying to savour her touch, her smell, her taste and everything but he feels unworthy of it. He wants her everywhere and he wants her in his heart just like she confessed that he is in hers.

I’m beyond excited to see where this story goes and what you have planned. Thanks once again for the tag✨

A Court of Dusk and Shadows ❲1❳

The throne was white. 

No - it was every color of a sunset. With the descending sun blazing behind it, it turned gold and orange and pink and purple. New shades spreading across with each passing minute as night crept on. And beneath it - shadows lengthened and spread from the carved base, wild and free. 

The throne beckoned. Come sit, it said to me. Come take your place. 

Beyond the throne were marble pillars that stretched proudly into the sky, woven with vines of moonflowers and orchids. I could not see any roof - dusky clouds obscured the view. And below, far, far below - the sea rippled in shining waves, beating against the island in shimmering hues. Boats with bone-white sails seemed to drift forever. Distantly I could hear voices: voices laughing and talking and teasing and bargaining. The calls of animals, the hammer of forges. 

And everything smelled of salt and fragrant flowers and lemon. 

But I could feel, rather than see, what was making my heart wrench away from the lovely sight. A hand outstretched in front of that throne, leading up to a smiling face clear of sorrow and fear. 

A scarred hand. Extended from the dark, and I knew that between us was where light and shadow met.

Come sit, he said, echoing the throne. Come take your place, and I’ll be at your side forever.

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