#and I think Taylor’s best most feminist songs are pieces like all too well and wcs and dear John and tolerate it

[memories-feel-like-weapons]

I guess I often feel like people want Taylor to do things in music that music is just not really suited for. Like idk, I know some pop music deals with electoral politics or financial crises (?) but not…in a terribly nuanced way I gotta say. I don’t think it’s the best artistic form for that kind of commentary…Like one of the speaker’s points was that Fearless isn’t representative of teen girls because teen girls were thinking about the 2008 election and the financial crisis and Taylor doesn’t have anything about that on Fearless…And true, but I don’t know that a good song about those things really exists?

[lavendergrace13]

riptide - a TS8 album concept

So... I saw a lot of album concepts going around online and I got inspired to create my own. Here’s ‘’riptide’’, an album that is like Lover and reputation’s love child with RED lyrics and Speak Now vibes. It’s pop country with a lot of other influences.

The idea behind this album would obviously be the riptide and how it can confront you with good and bad stuff as well as wash away both the good and the bad. It’s a representation of how Taylor has grown and how much she has learned over the course of her life and her career, and there’s a lot of different styles on it. It’s very reflective, maybe a little darker, but with a lot of love and light as well. Promo for it would start in early summer, with a September release. - because in September everything is brand new and as a nod to ‘’you’ll have new Septembers.’’ She’d announce it with a special video of her standing at the beach, what we will later learn is the location for the album photoshoot, telling us that this is a continuation of Lover’s vulnerability and reputation’s power. The era will have a lot of photoshoots, interviews for magazines and a lot of performances and singles, and she will bring back the polaroids. However, tis will also be a closer look into what her life is like now and it will help us understand more of why she has gotten so private. It really is all about where Taylor has come from and where she is now.

1. golden linings

the lead single and basically a continuation of Daylight with the use of the word ‘’golden.’’ It’s about how she’s happy now, how she has found a way to grow and evolve from everything that happens and how she has found that this is the best way to defeat the negative. Key lyric is something along the lines of ‘’baby, why settle for a silver lining when you can make it golden’’ and there’s a spoken word piece in it about turning her lessons into legacy (because this album is the very definition of that). It’s uptempo and the music video offers Easter eggs that are clear references to her earlier eras, with a lot of colors, pretty dresses and her doing a really pretty dance in the daylight.

2. welcome to court

a killer track in the same style as Cruel Summer, I Did Something Bad etc. It’s a call-out to the music industry and how that is like a corut full of intrigues and dirty games. It’s the fourth single - the first post-release - and Taylor goes all out with it by shooting the music video at a lavish castle and wearing the most awesome dresses, and it has scenes of her swordfighting, horseriding, dancing at a masquerade and being a queen. There’s also a small storyline in the lyrics about how she found ‘’a prince nor a king’’ who helped her flee. There’s Love Story references and this is heavily promoted as a diss to Scooter/Scott. It also resembles Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. 

3. riptide

the title track that is like a mix of This Love and Clean and uses metaphors of the riptide. The song wins two Grammys because of the gorgeous poetic lyrics and is completely self-written and played by her on acoustic guitar (first part) and piano (second part). It’s very personal as Taylor describes the things that have been her ebb and flow. It doesn’t have a music video, but Taylor promotes it in the same kind of way as she did with her journals, but this time by releasing a poetry collection to go along with the album called riptide, which also features drawings and bonus polaroids. 

4. heavenly

a mix between Holy Ground and Long Live and dedicated to her fans and how she feels when she’s performing, also dedicated to the newfound happiness she experienced during the reputation tour. 

5. caged butterfly

the ‘’track 5 syndrome’’ and the track we’ve all secretly been waiting for: it’s about how she sometimes felt held captive by her record label and about what Big Machine did to her, about how she was never artistically free, but also about the things about her career that damaged her, such as body image, the fact that she couldn’t go to college or have a normal life, the mockign and all that. It’s very emotional, like a continuation of The Archer as one of her most personal songs. It’s also the longest. 

6. heartstrings & headlines

a very sweet acoustic song and the second single. it’s intimate along the lines of Call It What You Want and Cornelia Street. It’s about her private relationship with Joe, and in the lyrics - it’s self-written - she uses a lot of picture details about what their life is like. It’s also about their decision to keep things private and have their own little bubble hidden away from the public eye. Key lyric: ‘’our heartstrings don’t make headlines, because they’re only yours and mine.’’ a fan favorite. the music video shows Taylor and an actor in a very cozy home, with cameos for the cats. 

7. catching fireflies (ft. Kelsea Ballerini)

a classic country song and the third and final single before the release. It’s super catchy and the music video has butterfly wings, glitter, birds, sidewalk chalk, pink champagne and all those things. It’s basically It’s Nice To Have A Friend meets 22 and is about how even when things are rough and dark, there’s always fireflies, AKA bright spots AKA good things. 

8. crumbled fairytale

a song that turns out to be entirely different than people initially think based on the track list: they suspect it’s sad and vulnerable, but it’s actually a feminist anthem about how girls aren’t princesses and they should shatter their glass ceilings and glass slippers and toss away their fairytales. It references the Women’s March and The Man and in the bridge she also talks about Time’s Up and #MeToo and her sexual assault trial and women in the music industry. It’s the fifth single and the music video has a variety of female-identifying fans in stunning power outfits breaking stereotypes: they each start in a princess dress and then tear it off with a sword to reveal butterfly wings. 

9. one million midnights

a self-written, vulnerable song about the darker times of her life. It references a lot of ‘’2am’’-parts from previous songs when she lay awake with a broken heart or a mind wandering about insecurities or scars from what people did to her, and it’s a lot like The Archer. a song she never performs live because it’s too painful for her to think back of those times. 

10. reins of fate

another song that is a deep cut and hits hard, about ow her image controlled what she did for a long time, like invisible reins in her spine from the life she chose, but not the choices se chose. It’s about how for a long time she wasn’t free to curse or drink or dress in a certain way and it’s also about her system of doing what people wanted from her or said she couldn’t do. the bridge is about cutting those reins and is very powerful. 

11. rewrite the stars

a continuation of track 10, but in a more empowering way with a very alluring beat and an encouragement to take control over your story, to adjust and rewrite the stars and determine your own direction. Kind of like New Romantics.

12. picture book (ft. Selena Gomez)

 the sixth single and the long awaited collab! It’s about nostalgia and growing up, referencing The Best Day and Never Grow Up, with a lot of memories and a really cute music video that resembles the Everything Has Changed one, but this time with two girls becoming best friends. There’s also some emotional parts about monsters under your bed that turn out to be nothing like the real life monsters, a nod to Out of the Woods and Soon You’ll Get Better. 

13. thirteen years

a hugely emotional, acoustic, very long, self-written song about the thirteen years of her career, the significance of the number 13 and the reflection on who she was and has become. the most anticipated track. she performs it with a 13 on her hand.

14. when push comes to shore

an acoustic ballad about letting go parts of yourself, parts of your life and realizing that you also sometimes need to let people go. it’s the continuation of riptide and it’s about how when push comes to shore, you will know who you really are and what you hold close to your heart and what you can let go of. the most underrated song off of the album. it’s the seventh and final single and the music video is very serene, switching between Taylor sitting at a campfire on the beach with her guitar singing the song and her standing in the riptide. 

15. slumber

a very sexy song much like Dress and False God, but on the next level, about temptation and experimenting and discovering your sex life and those slumbering moments right before or right after sex, moments when you can really feel close to someone and the whole world and everything fades.

16. olive branch (ft. Katy Perry)

the biggest surprise of the album: a song that is both upbeat and slow. it’s about forgiving people when the time is right and when you’re both better people, but also about how you sometimes don’t have to forgive, and also about how you should sometimes forgive yourself. Taylor’s quote ‘’you don’t have to forgive and you don’t have to forget, you can just move on’’ is a big part of the song’s philosophy. 

17. tightrope dancer

a slow, subtle, but powerful song about a relationship when you’re so trusting of each other that you know you’ll fall together, but that you’ll also be able to do the most complicated dances and catch each other. it’s about how you can sometimes tumble off the tightrope, but how that will be okay because the other person will catch you and you’ll climb back up together, through it all, and that the tightrope will never brack. it’s a lot like Delicate and people make expressive dance videos for it.

18. love letters only

a self-written, acoustic song that is basically a letter from Taylor to herself, about everything she has learned and how she has grown. it’s about the things she’d like to say to her past self and her future self and to her current self, and there’s a lot of gorgeous self-empowerment lyrics. it becomes an instagram trend to post love letters only to yourself.

In December, Taylor surprises us with a deluxe version of the album that features five bonus tracks, all acoustic collaborations. There’s no singles or music videos, but she does release an intimate video for each song of her and the other artist in the studio performing it, much like Ed Sheeran’s Abbey Road videos. She brings those other artists out on tour frequently.

1. night dreamer (ft. Ellie Goulding)

a song about sometimes wanting to escape, run away, and laying awake at night imagining that you’d leave and build another life for yourself somewhere else, to just drop off the face of the earth to start over.

2. kaleidoscope (ft. Ed Sheeran)

much like Everything Has Changed and a fan-favorite, it’s about how each person is a kaleidoscope of so many colors and shades and that it’s always hard to figure out what someone’s true colors are, referencing the backlash Ed got for not publicly supporting Taylor while they never got any less close.

3. you never had the right (ft. Halsey)

a smash song that is very powerful, addressing everything people think they’re entitled to when you’re famous. it strongly references Taylor’s sexual assault case and her stalkers and the ‘’I want the old Taylor back’’ people.

4. heartstrong (ft. Ariana Grande)

a power ballad about being confident and strong when people give you a hard time, about standing your ground and fighting back instead of shaking it off. very strong lyrics and a lot of power notes from Ariana.

5. karma (ft. Lorde)

a ‘’welcome to court/Cruel Summer’’-esque song about fighting fire with fire and being a snake or a dragon when you are wronged, but also abotu throwing off your armor because you know fate will pull at the strings to get them what they deserve. a song, in short, about knowing when to enter and exit the battlefield. 

So... what do you guys think? 

[curious-minx]

October 2010s Music Deep Dive!

A mock up poster for the only possible music festival line-up I would be willing to risk my life attending. Tony Allen’s passing has caused the entire Octoberfest to be cancelled indefinitely, but all proceeds from ticks will be given back to the community. 

Hope all of you special nobodies and overblown somebodies reading this right now are having a smashing start your first o November. All last month I had taken it upon myself to listen to as many albums and fragments of albums released sometime during the month of October spanning the entire 10’s decade, 2010 through 2019. This is all probably a result of drinking too much dead water, Quarantine brain, undiagnosed Autism, magical thinking and the death of boredom. I have created a Spotify playlist sporting 25 hours and 4 minutes worth of music with an arbitrary amount of albums getting multiple songs, but largely one song/album. This project did create a sense of madness because of the volume of music that gets cranked out. How can we expect anyone to properly criticize music when it is nearly impossible to keep up with it all? I largely culled these albums from Allmusic’s Editorial Choice section, but I did have to use Rateyourmusic to fill out the hip-hop and R&B gaps. In gathering up all of this music I am attempting to see if spooky music was relegated to the October season and any other possible trends. Even though October has been laid to rest her swelling calendar breast still contains a treasure trove of music worth discussing. Grab your broom, sharpen your heels and get the cobwebs out of your ears because we’re going on a Deep Dive! 

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The 2010s Old Souls and Musical Auteurs 

I consider any musician or band that endures more than a decade worthy of this veteran label. Music biz lifers seem found solace in the October release schedule. A trend that has carried onto the new decade with October 2020 offering revitalized releases by Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band. All three main members of Sonic Youth, Moore, Gordon and Renaldo are still harnessing that spooky Bad Moon Rising energy and carrying it over into their solo releases. 

KIM GORDON’s NO RECORD HOME

The first truly proper solo album by Kim Gordon following up her pretty good noise rock releases under the Body/Head moniker with Bill Nace. No Record Home towers over Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo’s mostly okay solo releases because of how truly experimental and refreshingly modern sounding No Record Home is. This album sounds like it could easily have come out from a young Pacific Northwest Trip-Angle (RIP) label upstart. Instead, Gordon is defiantly aging gracefully and remains an all around important feminist voice in experimental rock music. No Record Home did not pop up on a lot of “Best of the Year” lists in 2019, nor did Gordon embark on any kind of touring for the release. I am hoping that more people will eventually discover this great album and realize that Gordon was truly the best, most truly experimental aspect of Sonic Youth. Her vocals on this album are the best she’s ever sounded because she built these songs and sounds with the intergral collaborator, producer Justin Raisen. A glimpse at Raisen’s Wikipedia page is a who’s who of great artists of the past decade: Yves Tumor, Charli XCX, and Sky Ferreira. The collaboration occurred at an AirBnB shared between Gordon and Raisen and birthed the first single of the project “Air BnB.” A song that completely sets the tone of the album and features one of those amazing music videos in the same line us Young Thug’s “Wyclef Jean. “

Björk - Biophilia

Can you name the last album the rolled out with its own app? Nine years have come and gone and I certainly can’t think of another album with such wholesome ambitions. Björk was getting passionate about ecological concerns in her native Icelandic home with Sigur Ros and using her sphere of influence to try to good. 2014 the app has found a permanent home in the MOMA, but outside of this curio status the album itself is still a worthwhile addition to the Björk canon. Biophilia finds Björk in musical scientist mode using sounds captured from a Tesla coil and making a whole musical universe onto herself. The rest of the 2010s found Björk going for bigger and more ambitious projects that continue to frustrate those who wish she would go back to her poppier roots. She remains one of those most consistent solo artists around and someone no one will be able to predict what she does next. The only thing is certain is that it will be visionary and will probably include a wildly ambitious rollout and a new piece of physical art like Biophilia’s $800 tuning forks.

NENEH CHERRY - BROKEN POLITICS

Featuring production duties for the second time from Four Tet (who also pops up in the October playlist with his 2013 album Beautiful Rewind). Broken Politics in Cherry’s words, “is about feeling broken, disappointed, and sad, but having perseverance. It’s a fight against the extinction of free thought and spirit.” The music video for single “Natural Skin Deep” was filmed in Beirut, a backdrop made even more painful given 2020’s Explosion. Cherry is an artist with deep spiritual and blood connections with artists central to jazz’s history. Broken Politics also features songs built around Ornette Coleman samples. This is all to say that Neneh Cherry is always going to be someone tapping into a creative cosmic vein that spans generations, and with that comes a hard wisdom. Two years later we’re still dealing with the same god damn guts and guns of history. 

OTHER NOTABLES:

(Cat Power - The Wanderer; John Cale - Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood; Tony Allen - Film of Life ; Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill ;Bryan Ferry - Olympia; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen ;Yoko Ono - Warzone; Vashti Bunyan - Heartleap; Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now; The Chills - Silver Bullets; Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End;Laurie Anderson - Heart of A Dog;Janet Jackson - Unbrekable;The Mercury Rev - Light In You;  Rocketship - Thanks To You; Van Dyke Parks & Gaby Moreno - Spangled; Donald Fagen - Sunken Condos; Prefab Sprout - Crimson Red; Pere Ubu - 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo; Negativland - True False )

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TRILOGY OF BLACKSTARS

Three last albums released by three titans of 20th century songwriting. Two of them follow the trajectory of an older artist getting rejuvenated by a younger backing band. Lulu is beyond a meme at this point and is considered one of the most confounding flops since Metallic Music. Like Metallic Music, Lulu will get a reappraisal and find its audience. Mr. Blackstar himself Bowie considered  Lulu one of his favorite releases. “Junior Dad” alone makes this album a worthy addition in Lou Reed’s discography. Scott Walker invited some similarly hairy and intense younger rock studs into his private castle and pulls off a far more natural combination. Soused fits like a velvet glove on a elegant corpse hand swirling thick slabs of guitar and demonic percussion. Scott Walker effortlessly orchestrates between elegance and moribundity whereas Lulu wallows and thrashes against  the ugly riffage. 

No riffs or oozing wall of sound are  anywhere to be found on the sparse and pointedly elegiac You Want it Darker. Leonard Cohen never went full on sleazy I’m Your Man ever again but he didn’t become adult contemporary either. You Want It Darker finds Leonard and his son Adam Cohen. When Leonard passed away he was the only one to get a full David Bowie like museum tribute, Lou Reed only got a corner of a library. Cohen is far and away the most accessible mystical Jewish Buddhist monk with a penchant for fedoras and having a masked man with a leather belt beat him in the recording booth [citation needed]. You Want It Darker is the only one of these mortality laden kiss offs to win a Grammy. I do wonder if Cohen would have ever allowed a more adventurous production to touch his staid and timeless old fashioned sound. Tom Scharpling divides Leonard Cohen into his Pre-Fedora and Post-Fedora days. If you are being literal about that demarcation that still gives you a pretty vast body of music I just want sad bloated blurry black and white Leonard Cohen with a banana or the smiling cad on Songs of Love and Hate. Even the floppy fedora era has worthwhile albums and he sounds like if Serge Gainsbourgh was a muppet Gargoyle, he’s reliable. I will always beat myself for not buying that official Leonard Cohen raincoat at the Jewish Museum Leonard Cohen exhibit, but I hope someone has and they are finding comfort with Cohen’s music. A lot of his latter day period is comforting in a sardonic sexy mind bending nursing home sort of way. 

I am glad that these men were ultimately spared from having to deal with Covid times and even someone as tasteless as Brian Wilson’s Ghost can acknowledge that it’s more important than ever to keep your elderly loved ones locked away in a well ventilated pod. 

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(INSERT ARTIST HERE) SEASON

For a few sticky sweet select few artists the month of October proved to be a suitable release launch pad for more than one album. The Mountain Goats and clipping. have just joined the October two-timer club this year. The reigning queen of October releases is Taylor Swift and Adrianne Lenker. In chronological order swift released Speak Now, Red and 1989 probably Swift’s biggest run in terms of critical and commercial success. None of these albums have a particularly big place in my heart, in fact speaking on behalf of Brian Wilson’s Ghost Ltd. I’m not the biggest fan of America’s Sweetheart, Sweet Tea Poet Laureate.  All three of these albums all came out in the latter part of October and based on the Target brand synergy roll-out felt as inevitable as pumpkin spice. Haunted. Sad Beautiful Tragic. Out of the Woods. These are either song titles taken from these three albums are the names of the under utilized Romantic Halloween Horror Comedy genre. Lady Gaga might have been spooking it up on American Horror Story, but Swift gives a far more chilling performance in Tom Hooper’s midnight madness of Cats and I could envision Swift excelling really well as a horror film actor. Especially in a role like Scarlett Johansson’s Under the Skin. 

You cannot get more polar opposite from Swift than Adrianne Lenker. Who released her first solo album abysskiss   and the second Big Thief album of 2019 Two Hands. Lenker will have also gone on to make her third October release this year with her second solo album songs & instrumentals. Striking that such a ghostly autumnal band would have only released one album in October, but autumnal feeling albums are not beholden to release calendars. The song “Not” from the Big Thief album Two Hands is a watershed breakthrough moment for the band and put Lenker and her band on the map. In 2019 Big Thief became a band that could get booked onto a Goodmorning American performance slot and more or less made Big Thief one of the rare 2010s indie bands to become more or less a household name. 

Other notable artists to have released more than one album on October 2010s:

Less notable artists to have multiple October releases: James Blunt Korn

Calvin Harris 

Kings of Leon

Pentatonix 

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FORMER HARBINGERS OF HYPE

These are October releases from artists that once felt like whenever they put out an album a wider array of outlets and publications seemed to care more and would spill more digital ink over them. The big three artists that had the biggest drop off in attention and acclaim that stick out to me the most are Titus Andronicus,  Justice and Why? All three artists debuted with strong starts back in the aughts, but according to critical reception more or less crashed and burned. Titus Andronicus’ Local Business was one of the last times Titus Andronicus would get positive marks from Pitchfork. Local Business a fun and shaggy follow-up to one of the most self-serious concept albums of the 2010s. 

Justice’s Audio, Video, Disco similarly is a follow up to a highly acclaimed album that set the bar high enough to doom Justice into never living up to the hype. Justice’s 2007 s/t heralded them as the next Daft Punk, but unlike those soulful and thoughtful robots Justice mainly wanted to make big ridiculous unfashionable synth prog rock. Audio, Video, Disco is simply cheesy fun and even though we live in a world better off without parties and gatherings this album helps you feel like you are in high-def IMAX monster mash on the moon. 

The leaves us with Why?’s Mump’s Etc. an album that already had the job of following up an already divisive follow up record Eskimo Snow. Why’s Alopecia is a really important 2008 indie blog rap album that helped thrust the online indie blogs into the hip-hop genre hybrid experimentalism. Why? would never make another universally beloved album again and with Mump’s Etc. ended up permanently in Pitchfork’s hate pit. In the original release review the Pitchfork writer essentially deems this album an act of “career suicide.” The whole review is essentially an assignation of Why?’s figurehead Yoni Wolf and taking him to task for all of his awkward lyrical blunders and the fact he is narcissistic enough to be a musician writing about his career in a meta fashion. Yet when I listen to Mump’s Etc. I am more or less enjoying Yoni Wolf’s personality and find the whole thing to be pretty charming. A perfectly serviceable 3.5/5 release that a media outlet like Pitchfork turns into a flexing opportunity to show how that they have the power to make or break a career. 

A.C. Newman, an artist who appears on this playlist with his terrific 2012 Shut Down The Streets took to Twitter to scoff at the idea that a good Pitchfork review has done anything for his career. Shut Down The Streets currently remains the last solo album Newman has released under his name choosing to focus on his main gig with the New Pornographers. The Internet based hype machine is even more ADHD addled and twitchier by the day. The joy of doing this deep dive allowed me to revisit a lot of these artists and acts that I had fallen out of touch with. I had completely forgotten about King of Convenience’s Erlend Øye who released the album Legao in 2014. I rediscovered a good deal of bands like the Editors, The Dodos, Kisses, Black Milk, Crocodiles, Empire of the Sun, Juana Molina, Jagwar Ma, Here We Go Magic, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., YACHT, Peaking Lights, The Twilight Sad, Elf Power, Swet Shop Boys, Radio Dept, Allo’ Darlin, Foxes In Fiction, and HOMESHAKE are all bands not trying to change the world or challenge listeners with avant garde experimentation. Instead I feel like I maintaining relationships with old friends on the edge of obscurity. 

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A HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER 

A tradition stretching back as far as 2014 not October’s Idina Menzel’s Holiday Wishes, but Seth McFarland’s Holiday For Swing sweatily released on CD, digital, and vinyl on September 30, 2014.  2015 then brings us a Chris Tomlin and Ru Paul Christmas albums because every force of Neo-liberal good must be balanced with evangelical contemporary Christian music *shutters.* 2016 finds the Christmas in October era reaching a complete and utter nadir with R. Kelly’s final official LP 12 Nights of Christmas and A Pentatonix Christmas, but also buffered by Kacey Musgrave’s Christmas. 2017 only had time for Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas and no one else could evoke this feeling in October. On 2018, Michelle and Barack Obama’s combined one and only Christmas wish comes true, no not cancelling those drone strikes, but getting John Legend to join the October release jamboree; Eric Clapton claps open his guitar’s butt cheeks and hatefully squats out a half assed Xmas album defiantly opening the album with “White Christmas” [eyeroll emoji]; and finally 2018 found the Pentatonix announcing in October that Christmas Is Here. I apologize for all of that crude butt talk about the hateful racist Eric Clapton, but(t) I have festive gluteus Maximus on the mind, because in 2019 Norah Jones got her alternative country gal trio back together to remind us to shake our Christmas butts. Eat shit commercial shit, today’s Santa’s birthday! That’s the magic of the October release schedule! 

The hallowed Christmas in October tradition continues on in 2020 with Dolly I-Beg-Thee-Pardon  releasing A Holly Dolly Christmas right on time on October 2, 2020 (Carrie Underwood missed the memo and unwraps her unwanted My Gift in September 2020). Meghan Trainor, Goo Goo Dolls, and Tori Kelly released Christmas albums. Can you believe Seth MacFarlane comes up twice in this article, because his sleazy J. Michigan Frog croon is processed and grated like Parmesan cheese snow flakes all over a rendition of White Christmas.  What a time to be alive! 

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WHERE DID THEY GO?

A Brief Case For Class Actress’s Rapproacher

Among my October music travels I encountered one artist that really impressed me with her proper LP debut Rapprocher. The trio fronted by Elizabeth Vanessa Harper is essentially peddling the kind of competent moody 80’s inspired synth pop that belongs on a lost Donnie Darko sequel. Harper’s vocals are striking and expressive and they are melded with constantly propulsive bed of shiny synths and glossy barely-there gated percussion. Outside of an 2015  EP called Movies featuring exciting production contributions from Italo-disco icon Giorgio Moroder there has been nothing else from Class Actress. Highly recommend you check them out especially if you want to find the sweet spot between Chromatics and Kylie Minogue. 

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THE OCTOBER 2010s MASTERPIECES 

(Robyn - Honey, Big K.R.I.T. - 4eva is a Mighty Long Time  ,Miguel -  Kaleidoscope Dream, Crying - Beyond The Fleeting Gale , M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming ,SRSQ - Unreality, Sufjan Stevens - age of adz, Joanna Newsom - divers, VV Brown Samson and Delilah, Kelela - tear me apart , Neon Indian - VEGA Intl., Fever Ray - Plunge , Antony and The Johnsons - Swanlights (goodbye album) , Caroline Polachek - Pang , Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time . Bat For Lashes  Haunted Man, James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual , Grouper -  Ruins , Kero Kero Bonito -Bonito Generation , DJ Rashad - Double Cup)

Maybe if I surround this VV Brown album with more well known artists she’ll finally get some more clicks? I should also mention that Joanna Newsom’s Divers is nowhere on my Spotify October Music playlist because Joanna Newsom thinks Spotify is bananas, and she hates bananas. I know I should also mention Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city and Tame Impala’s Lonerism. That’s the maddening thing about October music that just when you think you covered all your ground you find another hidden hump underneath the carpet.  I feel remiss without mentioning striking debut and instant hidden gem Tinashe’s Aquarius, which did you know has a new album art on Spotify. Death Grip’s No Love Deep Web. T_T I didn’t even get around to making a big verbal mosaic to Thom Yorke’s witchy Suspiria soundtrack.Corpus Christi! I forgot to highlight The Orb album in the collage with my other veteran artists!  As you can see this project nearly ruined me. I did not necessarily listen to all of these albums from front to back, but I did listen all of the songs on the playlist and chose them from the immense collection of October releases. I am pretty sure this is the kind of content for no one in particular but I really needed to get it out of my system. Let’s meet back up October 2030!!!!!

(Thank you to my beloved partner, best friend and Spotify provider Maddie Johnson XD)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sdLaNNaqWpKEKXRZ3jNqY?si=SLZxUwLMQYOQ5wA1xuZc7w

[nostalgiaispeace]

1755.

GENERAL WOMANHOOD:

1. Do you like the color pink?

yeah

2. How easily do you cry?

very easily

3. What food do you eat the most of when you’re sad?

nothing

4. How often do you experience boob sweat?

too often now

5. What time of month is your time?

the end

6. How moody are you when you are on your period?

very

7. Have you ever thought you were pregnant because your period was late? yeah 8. Have you ever been on the pill? yes 9. Have you ever thought about having children someday? What is your current opinion? yes, i want a baby 10. Have you ever given birth? If not, would you ever want to? no 11. How much do you like decorating for holidays? not really my thing 12. How good of a cook do you consider yourself? an alright one 13. What is your favorite thing to cook? pesto 14. Do you prefer cooking, baking, or both equally? baking 15. Can you sew? i think i still can 16. How feminine do you consider yourself? not very 17. Have you ever been told that you are too girly or feminine? no 18. Do you consider yourself a feminist? not really. 19. How do you define “girl power”? a woman doing what she wants 20. How much of a neat freak are you? not much of one 21. How you ever wished you were born a male? only when i have my period 22. Breastfeeding or formula? both are fine 23. What is your opinion of equal pay? no politics here please 24. What is one profession you think needs more women? - 25. Are you pro-life or pro-choice? pro life 26. Have you ever experienced any sexism? If so, please explain. not that i’m aware of 27. Have you ever been called a blabbermouth or a chatterbox? a chatterbox

28. What is one thing about women you think most men don’t know? idk 29. Is there anything you dislike about being a woman? periods

30. Complete this phrase: I’m so glad I am a woman because ______. i was born this way

LIFE EXPERIENCES:

31. Did you ever play with Barbie dolls as a child?

yes

32. Have you ever dotted lowercase Js and Is with hearts or smiley faces?

probably

33. Have you ever been a Girl Scout?

yeah

34. Have you ever been a ballerina?

No

35. Have you ever been a cheerleader?

No

36. Were you ever voted as homecoming or prom queen?

no

37. Have you ever hosted a sleepover?

yeah

38. Do you belong to a sorority?

No

39. Have you ever kept a diary or a journal?

yeah

40. At what age did you get your first period?

11

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

41. What is the longest your hair has ever been? Would you ever grow it that long again?

to my butt and probably not

42. Have you had a hairstyle above the eyebrows?

no

43. What hairstyle do you wear the most?

a bun

44. Have you ever died your hair? If so, how often?

yes, not often anymore

45. What is the heaviest you remember ever weighing?

fml

46. How muscular are you?

not at all

47. Do you have any piercings anywhere besides your earlobes?

not anymore

48. Do you have any tattoos? If you, where are they and what are they of?

yes, i have 9 on different parts of my body

49. Do you like wearing lipstick or lip gloss? If so, how often do you wear them?

no

50. How often do you paint your nails?

i paint my toes when they need to be

51. Have you ever worn any fake nails?

yeah

52. Have you ever worn fake eyelashes?

no

53. How often do you shave or wax your legs?

whenever

54. How white are your teeth?

they’re fine

55. Have you ever been told that you look like a certain celebrity?

yeah

56. How much do you look like your mother?

idk

57. How much do you look like your father?

i’ve been told i look like him

58. What do you think is your best physical feature?

nothing

59. What do you think is your worst physical feature?

my body

60. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions?

no

FASHION STYLE: 61. What type of clothing do you own the most of? tshirts 62. How big is your closet? normal sized 63. Have you ever looked through your closet and though “I have nothing to wear”? well yeah 64. What is your favorite fashion brand? i don’t have one 65. Do you wear skirts and dresses at all? If so, how often? dresses and for special occasions 66. What is your dress size? large 67. What is the shortest length of skirts and dresses you are comfortable wearing? knee length 68. How expensive was your prom dress? - 69. What is the most expensive piece of clothing you currently own? my wedding dress 70. Do you wear high heels or stilettos at all? If so, how often? not really 71. Have you ever worn high heels casually? yeah 72. How often do you take an OOTD (outfit of the day) selfie? Never. 73. Have you ever worn the exact same outfit from head to toe more than once? yeah 74. How often do you wear a bra when out in public? lol never 75. How often do you wear a bra when bumming it at home? never 76. When you get home from work, how soon does your bra typically come off? - 77. Have you ever carried a spare bra with you in your purse? No 78. Which are you more likely to go without: A bra or panties? bra 79. Does it matter to you if your bra and panties match or not? no 80. What type of underwear do you typically wear? comfortable ones 81. How much of your underwear is white? a good amount 82. Have you ever carried a spare pair of underwear with you in your purse? no 83. Do you like eyeshadow? Sure 84. Do you like mascara? Yeah 85. How much makeup do you typically wear? ether none or just a little 86. Have you every gone out in public without any makeup on? yes 87. How much jewelry do you typically wear? 2 88. Is there any kind of jewelry you pretty much always wear? my wedding bands 89. Do you carry a purse at all? Yes 90. Do you like tube and halter tops? no 91. Do you like crop tops? no 92. Are you comfortable showing off a little cleavage? no 93. One-piece swimsuits or bikinis? bikinis 94. Does it matter to you if your bikini top matches the bottom? no

WEDDING CRAZE:

95. Have you ever been a bridesmaid? If so, how often?

yes, onces

96. Do you have any desires to get married?

well i am so

97. For how long have you thought about your wedding?

i thought about it for a while

98. How much of your wedding do you have planned out already?

it’s over fam

99. Would you rather have a big or a small wedding?

i had a small one

100. Would you rather have a lot of bridesmaids or just a couple?

i have zero

101. Would you rather have an indoor or an outdoor wedding? Does the same go for the reception?

mine was outdoor

DATING & RELATIONSHIPS:

102. What is your current relationship status?

married

103. What is the longest relationship you’ve ever had?

7 years

104. Do you consider yourself a hopeless romantic at all?

yes

105. Are you a virgin? If not, which gender did you lose your virginity to?

no, male

106. What personality trait are you most attracted to?

strength

107. Have you ever been on a blind date?

no

108. Has anyone you know ever tried to set you up on a date?

yeah

109. Do you use any dating apps? If so, have they ever worked out for you?

no

110. Do you kiss on the first date?

no

111. How often do guys hit on you?

not often

112. Have women ever hit on you?

yeah

114. Have you ever kissed another woman while sober? If so, did you like it?

yes and no

115. Have you ever dated another woman?

No

116. After how long of dating do you typically consider a relationship to be serious?

idk

117. Would you rather your lover give you chocolate, flowers, both, or something else?

chocolate

118. Are you friends with any of your exes?

yes

119. Is sex before marriage wrong?

technically

ENTERTAINMENT: 120. What celebrity do you most admire and why? Lana 121. Do you like romantic comedies? Do you have any favorites? yes, the holiday 122. Do you have a favorite romantic movie? yes 123. Who is your favorite Disney princess? Belle 124. What is your favorite Disney song? don’t have one 125. Do you watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette? No 126. Have you ever watched Sex & The City? I have not 127. Have you ever watched any shows such as Project Runway or America’s Next Top Model? ANTM 128. Do you like watching any beauty pageants such as Miss America? no 129. Do you like watching the red carpet arrivals before award ceremonies? duh 130. Beyonce or Taylor Swift? neither 131. Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres? neither

A PILE OF RANDOMNESS: 132. Are you named after anyone? No 133. How many male friends do you have? 3 134. Have you ever been considered the mother of your group of friends? no 135. Have you ever called your friend friends your ‘girlfriends’? no 136. Have you ever called a non-lover a term such as honey, babe, dear, or darling? no 137. How many items do you own that are of a floral print design? none i don’t think 138. Have you ever scoffed at something because you thought it wasn’t feminine enough? no 139. How healthy do you eat? not that healthy 140. What is your preferred way to carry a purse: Clutched in your hand, on your elbow, or on your shoulder? shoulder 141. Besides you phone, money, wallet, and keys, name five things you always have with you in your purse. chapstick, mask, fidget, pen, shopping list

142. Have you ever lost anything inside your purse? yes 143. Have you ever used your bra or your cleavage as a purse or a pocket? no 144. Do you consider shopping a sport no 145. Do you shop more in physical walk-in stores or online? online 146. What is the most amount of money you remember ever spending in one single shopping trip? a couple hundred 147. How often do you have a girls’ night out? never

148. Do you prefer coffee or tea? coffee 149. How polite do you consider yourself? i hope decently polite 150. Can you do the splits? No 151. Do you like doing any yoga? no 152. Have you ever been told that you have cute handwriting? i don’t think so 153. How well can you write in cursive? well enough 154. Have you ever successfully been on a diet? no 155. Do you currently or have you ever belonged to a book club? no 156. Have you ever talked yourself out of a driving ticked by using your looks? No. 157. Have you ever drunk a non-alcoholic beverage from a wine glass? no 158. Do you prefer showers or baths? Showers 159. Have you ever snorted while laughing? yeah 160. How strict are you about manners? a normal amount

[abdicatedarchive]

discussion boards || juliette and daisy

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: freshens healthy restaurant // early march 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: juliette x daisy.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: none.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: TBD

Sitting at a table, Daisy was somewhat regretting her decision to leave her homework until so late. While she was very close to being done, it was due in class in a few hours and she would really rather just be sitting in her room eating popcorn and watching Bridgerton or some other trashy-yet-addicting Netflix show. She had decided that the best way to get herself through the final push was to eat at the same time (she was extremely food-motivated), thus her working away at her paper while stuffing food in her mouth. Looking up, she saw a classmate looking around, presumably for a place to start. “You can sit here if you want,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Unless you chew loudly. We’re humans, not cows.”

Juliette had been very selective about where she went on campus to avoid potentially running into anyone she didn't want to see. That list was extraordinarily long ever since she found out that her ex was here, she was doing her best to avoid all of her friends as well. Best to keep things secret. Sadly, there was no better dining option than to go to freshens, because neither of them usually would be caught dead there. Juliette was a junk food fiend. She saw her classmate, a girl she had noted was very loud, and the first words that came out of the other girl's mouth just affirmed that for Juliette. "Luckily for you, I am a very silent chewer" she said softly with a smile as she sat down across from her. Juliette pulled out her book out of instinct, she was very used to eating alone after last semester when she made so few friends that she had to transfer here. "You finishing up that paper?" Juliette asked as she put the lid on her salad to mix it up.

She thought that she recognized the girl from class. Jules or Jane or something like that. She also thought that she had heard some gossip about her, but she heard so much gossip and did not have the attention span to keep track of who was in what trouble or who was sleeping with who’s girlfriend. “Good. Then you can sit.” Daisy said, taking another sip of her smoothie as the girl took a seat, before asking if she was finishing her paper. “Yeah. It is a stupid paper anyway, but whatever. It will get done.” She eyed the book that Juliette had in her hands. “What are you, a book nerd?” She asked. It did not look like the kind of book that got assigned for class.

"A little bit yeah, this is What we talk about when we talk about love by Raymond Carver" said Juliette as she looked at the dog eared beat up copy in front of her. Juliette opened up the mixed salad and took a bite before talking again. "It's a comfort read, if you've ever seen 2012's Stuck in Love, it's mentioned in there a lot" the girl added, not sure if the fun facts were really going to help her. She also definitely could have left out the release date, but it was natural to her. Juliette knew if Daisy had a problem with that, she would definitely say something.

Listening as the girl rattled off the information on the book she was reading, Daisy just stared at her. Definitely the book nerd type, but in an almost endearing way. Not the ‘I read books, therefore, I am smarter than you’ type. Also the awkward type. Which could mean that she could be the useful type. “Never seen it,” Daisy said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Are you the Encyclopedia Brown of books in general, or is it just books about love?”

Juliette smiled and looked down a little before looking back up, the other girl was a good kind of intimidating. "Mostly books about love, and then a healthy blend of queer and feminist lit" said the girl as she took a sip of her water. Being at college meant she could just say whatever she wanted without judgement, and it was a new but captivating feeling. That she could just be herself. Every conversation was a new level of freedom. "Do you read for fun? It's kind of hard when there's so much stuff assigned all the time" she asked.

Daisy nodded. Yep. Definitely the good kind of nerd. The girl was also obviously one of those sweet ones that were still somewhat shocked by whatever freedoms university life allowed them. It was adorable. “Does that include Virginia Woolf, or is that too hipster for you?” She asked, and then shrugged at the girl’s question. “I like reading. I’m in the English literature department, so I’d have picked the wrong department if I didn’t like to read.” Then, she sighed. “I do miss me a good trashy romance novel, though. They never seem to assign them.”

"I enjoy Virginia Woolf from time to time, I try to get a few different view points just for my own education" said Juliette with a little shrug. She was happy to hear that she had met a fellow English major, the more people in her department that she got to know meant that getting help if she needed it later would be more easy access. Juliette laughed at the girl's joke, and began to nod her head at the trashy romance novel comment, "I don't know why they don't. I think that the whole class would pay a lot more attention to their discussion board posts" Juliette replied, another giggle escaping her mouth.

Daisy liked this girl. Or, at the very least she thought she could tolerate her, which in Daisy speak meant she liked her. “I agree. If they gave us interesting reading material, people would be way more likely to read the books instead of just skipping to an online summary.” She did not understand why some people chose to be English majors - you were literally signing up to read tons and tons of books, both boring and entertaining, as an English major. Still, she enjoyed a good, entertaining book. Especially if it was a trashy, entertaining book. “They should assign Bridgerton, and then let us watch the Netflix show as extra credit.”

Juliette had to laugh at the girl's Bridgerton comment, it was right up her alley. She had enjoyed Bridgerton, she had binged it pretty quickly. The only thing it was missing was more gay energy, that always got Juliette really into a show. But she did love a period style piece, "yeah there is so much to unpack with that show from costumes to sex education" she added, "the discussion posts would be wild, I can hardly imagine after what is it the fourth episode or the sixth? whenever the sex montages happened, specifically the one with taylor swift in the background" she rambled, "I feel like that would be a thought provoking essay."

“I agree. I get gay vibes from Benedict and Eloise.” She held up her fork and closed her eyes. “I speak their gayness into existence. Though I am biased because the lady who plays Eloise is super pretty. But then again, I would happily make out with anyone from the cast.” A little off-topic, but Daisy was never one for staying on topic. “Oh, honey, that would be so fun. Take ‘Wildest Dreams’ to a whole new level and a whole new meaning.”

"Oh for sure, potential for asexuality for Eloise as well" said Juliette, wondering where the next seasons would take all the characters. "She is absolutely stunning" she agreed. "The men are something, but I'm much more partial to the ladies in the cast" said Juliette, she was still having trouble naming her sexuality directly. It was a reflex from the before times. "I honestly think that if there is going to be sex on screen that there should be a Taylor Swift mandate." Juliette felt strongly about this, even though it was a joke. It would just add layers every time.

“Yes. I would love Eloise to be asexual homoromantic. It would be the cherry on top. Sadly, this is Netflix we are talking about so I have my doubts.” She crinkled her nose at the thought but digressed at Juliette’s next comment. “Partial to the ladies, eh? I don’t blame you at all. Ladies have a certain…” she outlined an hourglass shape in the air with her hands, “charm to them, don’t they? Sadly, I have a weakness for the weaker sex - males, that is - as well as women.” She sighed dramatically, as though liking men as well was a great flaw in her personality. “What other songs would you want? If you could direct, what are your top three Taylor Swift sex scene songs?”

"Netflix never really ... hits things on the nose. It must be in the contract that they miss the mark" she replied with a shrug. In a perfect world things would be different. She giggled at the hand motions, "a weakness for men? Most of my friends suffer from the same condition. I heard dating men is terminal" she said, playfully frowning before breaking into a smile. She had to think for a second about what Taylor Swift songs would be good for a montage, "Hmmmm, I would say for a good enemies to lovers moment ... I did something bad. Enchanted for those like ... meet cute instant connections. Ooooh, and Afterglow for missed connections or exes" said Juliette, not completely confident in her answers but proud that she could pick something so quickly.

“This is also very true. They should hire very invested college students to do the planning for them. Preferably ones that eat at Freshens and make fun of their poor creative choices.” She shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Yes, unfortunately despite my best efforts, I can’t shake the bi in bisexual. Men are just… ugh. There is something about them.” She sighed. “It will definitely be terminal.” She considered Juliette’s song choices and nodded her approval. “I approve. Netflix should definitely hire you to pick their soundtracks.”

A laugh fell from her lips, "I promise to not bi erase you, I will remember your terminal condition known as an affinity for men." Most of Juliette's friends were somewhere on the spectrum of sexuality, Gabrielle being on the far side of that. As straight as they come. She wondered about Jonah sometimes, but she never wanted to pry. "That would be an amazing job, maybe I should change majors and go into media and mass communications" she said, a smile forming on her face as she took a sip of her water. "If you could have a job that had nothing to do with your major and was super niche, what would it be?" she asked.

“I appreciate that. You’re a good egg. I think I am going to keep you,” Daisy said, pointing her fork at Juliette again. “Though I would appreciate you not mentioning my affinity for men in front of menfolk. It tends to go to their… heads.” She smirked. “Maybe you should change majors. It isn’t too late, but I am sure that you are… adequate… at whatever it is you do.” Her question gave Daisy pause. “If I could have a super niche job that had nothing to do with my major… hmmm… maybe someone who makes stage costumes? The really funky ones you see on the West End and Broadway. That would be fun.”

She smiled at the idea of being kept, it wasn't the first time she had heard something like that. One time she was told that someone wanted to pack her up in their pocket and take her everywhere with them. It was a strange compliment, but it was very sweet. "Bold of you to assume I would ever speak to a man" Juliette replied, laughing a little to herself. Jonah was a special exception, and Chase when he was also in his own dorm room. "I'm a journalism major, but I think it stems from a deep need to get out of town that I had in high school? So I'm not sure if it's actually something I want to do" said Juliette. She had a lot of time to change her major, so she was very comfortable where she was at. Jules still needed to adjust to this new college before she could really hunker down, a vague english major was where she was at right now. She listened when the girl was talking about costumes, "Well if you ever want to make that more of a reality, my best friends Gabrielle and Marina both know how to make clothes and costumes. Very talented ladies, they could make pretty much anything. Gabrielle does more contemporary stuff, but she's got the chops for funky costumes, and Marina does more period/fantasy clothing" she explained.

[thecaffeinatedkansasbabe-blog]

Random Questions For Women

Here is a set of random questions for women, conveniently categorized. Reblog this to your page and have people send you random numbers to answer (there’s 160 of them) or simply answer them yourself. Answer in a text post or film a video. However yo decide to answer these questions, please have fun with it!

GENERAL WOMANHOOD: 1. Do you like the color pink? 2. How easily do you cry? 3. What food do you eat the most of when you're sad? 4. How often do you experience boob sweat? 5. What time of month is your time? 6. How moody are you when you are on your period? 7. Have you ever thought you were pregnant because your period was late? 8. Have you ever been on the pill? 9. Have you ever thought about having children someday? What is your current opinion? 10. Have you ever given birth? If not, would you ever want to? 11. How much do you like decorating for holidays? 12. How good of a cook do you consider yourself? 13. What is your favorite thing to cook? 14. Do you prefer cooking, baking, or both equally? 15. Can you sew? 16. How feminine do you consider yourself? 17. Have you ever been told that you are too girly or feminine? 18. Do you consider yourself a feminist? 19. How do you define "girl power"? 20. How much of a neat freak are you? 21. How you ever wished you were born a male? 22. Breastfeeding or formula? 23. What is your opinion of equal pay? 24. What is one profession you think needs more women? 25. Are you pro-life or pro-choice? 26. Have you ever experienced any sexism? If so, please explain. 27. Have you ever been called a blabbermouth or a chatterbox? 28. What is one thing about women you think most men don't know? 29. Is there anything you dislike about being a woman? 30. Complete this phrase: I'm so glad I am a woman because ______.

LIFE EXPERIENCES: 31. Did you ever play with Barbie dolls as a child? 32. Have you ever dotted lowercase Js and Is with hearts or smiley faces? 33. Have you ever been a Girl Scout? 34. Have you ever been a ballerina? 35. Have you ever been a cheerleader? 36. Were you ever voted as homecoming or prom queen? 37. Have you ever hosted a sleepover? 38. Do you belong to a sorority? 39. Have you ever kept a diary or a journal? 40. At what age did you get your first period?

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: 41. What is the longest your hair has ever been? Would you ever grow it that long again? 42. Have you had a hairstyle above the eyebrows? 43. What hairstyle do you wear the most? 44. Have you ever died your hair? If so, how often? 45. What is the heaviest you remember ever weighing? 46. How muscular are you? 47. Do you have any piercings anywhere besides your earlobes? 48. Do you have any tattoos? If you, where are they and what are they of? 49. Do you like wearing lipstick or lip gloss? If so, how often do you wear them? 50. How often do you paint your nails? 51. Have you ever worn any fake nails? 52. Have you ever worn fake eyelashes? 53. How often do you shave or wax your legs? 54. How white are your teeth? 55. Have you ever been told that you look like a certain celebrity? 56. How much do you look like your mother? 57. How much do you look like your father? 58. What do you think is your best physical feature? 59. What do you think is your worst physical feature? 60. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions?

FASHION STYLE: 61. What type of clothing do you own the most of? 62. How big is your closet? 63. Have you ever looked through your closet and though "I have nothing to wear"? 64. What is your favorite fashion brand? 65. Do you wear skirts and dresses at all? If so, how often? 66. What is your dress size? 67. What is the shortest length of skirts and dresses you are comfortable wearing? 68. How expensive was your prom dress? 69. What is the most expensive piece of clothing you currently own? 70. Do you wear high heels or stilettos at all? If so, how often? 71. Have you ever worn high heels casually? 72. How often do you take an OOTD (outfit of the day) selfie? 73. Have you ever worn the exact same outfit from head to toe more than once? 74. How often do you wear a bra when out in public? 75. How often do you wear a bra when bumming it at home? 76. When you get home from work, how soon does your bra typically come off? 77. Have you ever carried a spare bra with you in your purse? 78. Which are you more likely to go without: A bra or panties? 79. Does it matter to you if your bra and panties match or not? 80. What type of underwear do you typically wear? 81. How much of your underwear is white? 82. Have you ever carried a spare pair of underwear with you in your purse? 83. Do you like eyeshadow? 84. Do you like mascara? 85. How much makeup do you typically wear? 86. Have you every gone out in public without any makeup on? 87. How much jewelry do you typically wear? 88. Is there any kind of jewelry you pretty much always wear? 89. Do you carry a purse at all? 90. Do you like tube and halter tops? 91. Do you like crop tops? 92. Are you comfortable showing off a little cleavage? 93. One-piece swimsuits or bikinis? 94. Does it matter to you if your bikini top matches the bottom?

WEDDING CRAZE: 95. Have you ever been a bridesmaid? If so, how often? 96. Do you have any desires to get married? 97. For how long have you thought about your wedding? 98. How much of your wedding do you have planned out already? 99. Would you rather have a big or a small wedding? 100. Would you rather have a lot of bridesmaids or just a couple? 101. Would you rather have an indoor or an outdoor wedding? Does the same go for the reception?

DATING & RELATIONSHIPS: 102. What is your current relationship status? 103. What is the longest relationship you've ever had? 104. Do you consider yourself a hopeless romantic at all? 105. Are you a virgin? If not, which gender did you lose your virginity to? 106. What personality trait are you most attracted to? 107. Have you ever been on a blind date? 108. Has anyone you know ever tried to set you up on a date? 109. Do you use any dating apps? If so, have they ever worked out for you? 110. Do you kiss on the first date? 111. How often do guys hit on you? 112. Have women ever hit on you? 114. Have you ever kissed another woman while sober? If so, did you like it? 115. Have you ever dated another woman? 116. After how long of dating do you typically consider a relationship to be serious? 117. Would you rather your lover give you chocolate, flowers, both, or something else? 118. Are you friends with any of your exes? 119. Is sex before marriage wrong?

ENTERTAINMENT: 120. What celebrity do you most admire and why? 121. Do you like romantic comedies? Do you have any favorites? 122. Do you have a favorite romantic movie? 123. Who is your favorite Disney princess? 124. What is your favorite Disney song? 125. Do you watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette? 126. Have you ever watched Sex & The City? 127. Have you ever watched any shows such as Project Runway or America's Next Top Model? 128. Do you like watching any beauty pageants such as Miss America? 129. Do you like watching the red carpet arrivals before award ceremonies? 130. Beyonce or Taylor Swift? 131. Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres?

A PILE OF RANDOMNESS: 132. Are you named after anyone? 133. How many male friends do you have? 134. Have you ever been considered the mother of your group of friends? 135. Have you ever called a your friend friends your 'girlfriends'? 136. Have you ever called a non-lover a term such as honey, babe, dear, or darling? 137. How many items do you own that are of a floral print design? 138. Have you ever scoffed at something because you thought it wasn't feminine enough? 139. How healthy do you eat? 140. What is your preferred way to carry a purse: Clutched in your hand, on your elbow, or on your shoulder? 141. Besides you phone, money, wallet, and keys, name five things you always have with you in your purse. 142. Have you ever lost anything inside your purse? 143. Have you ever used your bra or your cleavage as a purse or a pocket? 144. Do you consider shopping a sport 145. Do you shop more in physical walk-in stores or online? 146. What is the most amount of money you remember ever spending in one single shopping trip? 147. How often do you have a girls' night out? 148. Do you prefer coffee or tea? 149. How polite do you consider yourself? 150. Can you do the splits? 151. Do you like doing any yoga? 152. Have you ever been told that you have cute handwriting? 153. How well can you write in cursive? 154. Have you ever successfully been on a diet? 155. Do you currently or have you ever belonged to a book club? 156. Have you ever talked yourself out of a driving ticked by using your looks? 157. Have you ever drunk a non-alcoholic beverage from a wine glass? 158. Do you prefer showers or baths? 159. Have you ever snorted while laughing? 160. How strict are you about manners?

[sandiegodjstaci]

The Hipster's Guide to Classic Country Music

The Hipster's Guide to Classic Country Music

Let’s face it…if your mountain man beard, microbrew fetish, and pipe collection are no longer enough, classic country music can help you get to the next level of hipster (so can a pair of Wrangler jeans). My name is DJ Staci, the Track Star, and I grew up on country music. I lived on a 5-acre llama ranch just outside of Seattle during the grunge era…do you see how there’s a hipster seed in there? I knew I was not your standard redneck when, at 14, my dad’s hunting drew me towards vegetarianism (celebrating 26 meat-free years now). At 18, I pierced my nose and moved to southern California where I could eat tofu, get feminism tattoos, and vote for democrats in a diverse, shame-free environment…but that country music seed definitely grew roots throughout my childhood. In fact, during my 20s, I escaped my days of drinking expensive juice and visiting organic farmer’s markets by honky tonkin’ every week. I would go line dancing at the Brandin’ Iron Saloon in San Bernardino (the biggest & best honky tonk a.k.a. country bar west of Gilley’s…and watch John Travolta & Debra Winger in “Urban Cowboy” if you don’t understand either of those references).

  Memes from We Hate Pop Country

  Unfortunately, country music withered up and died after the 2000s. After DJing at the world’s largest country music festival (Stagecoach–the country cousin of Coachella), I had to stop listening to country music on the radio. The so-called country you hear on the radio today is known as “pop country” by country music purists (those of us who prefer classic country or “real” country). The artists who “ruined” country music are people like Taylor Swift, Sam Hunt, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, & Luke Bryant (and many others). Follow “We Hate Pop Country” on Facebook to learn more.

If you like “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, “Honey I’m Good” by Andy Grammer, “I Will Wait” by Mumford & Sons, “The Country Death Song” by the Violent Femmes, “Easy” by Sheryl Crow, “Wish I Knew You” by the Revivalists, “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show, or Philip Phillips, classic country will be a great fit. If watching the movie Walk the Line turned you into a Johnny Cash fan, rest assured there is plenty more music like that out there. If you resonate as a defiant outsider or a feminist or a government-hating pothead, classic country music welcomes you with open arms! Classic country is outlaw music–pure and simple. It was created by people who knew they were on the outskirts of mainstream society and unshakingly flipped it the bird à la Johnny Cash at San Quentin (below).

  Johnny Cash after photographer Jim Marshall asked him to do a shot for the warden (San Quentin Prison – 1969)

  Did you know Loretta Lynn, who sang the feminist anthem “The Pill,” & Jack White from the White Stripes, who also has some killer bluegrass tunes, created an album together? Did you know Johnny Cash has covered songs by Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode? Have you heard Lady Gaga’s country roads version of “Born This Way?” Did you know Beyonce has a kick ass collab with the Dixie Chicks (the girl-power Texas band who was banned from country radio for saying they were ashamed that George Bush is from their home state) called “Daddy Lessons”? Did you know the black lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish bailed on the band so he could start a solo country music career (country fans know him as Darius Rucker)? Did you know when I DJ classic country parties, I have to ask the client if swear words are OK?

Do I have your attention now? I thought so. Let’s continue 🙂 You’ll love the country artists as much as you love their music–I promise.

  Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton performing together at the 49th Country Music Association Awards

  THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC

First, let’s start with the forefather of all country music kick-assery: Hank Williams. Hank signed to MGM Records in 1947 and his twangy anthems changed country music forever. He was famously fired by the Grand Ole Opry in 1952 after one of many no-shows. He lived a turbulent life that his son Hank Jr sings about in his cornerstone song “Family Tradition.” In true rock star style, Hank Sr. died of heart failure brought on by prescription drug abuse and alcoholism in 1953. Hipster-friendly Hank Williams songs include:

I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Hey Good Lookin’

Jambalaya (on the Bayou)

Tear in my Beer

Your Cheating Heart

  TOP 125 CLASSIC COUNTRY SONGS FOR HIPSTERS

Pour yourself some Popcorn Sutton’s Tennessee White Whiskey (that’s legal moonshine for you city slickers) & get ready for some serious drinkin’ music free of “Friends in Low Places,” “Achy Breaky Heart,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Old Town Road,” and “The Git Up.” I’ve includes lots of notes & trivia about the playlist songs because we hipsters can’t just enjoy music in a vacuum…we like to sound like a seasoned expert when putting on a playlist for friends, yes? I’ve included standards as well as a number of “B sides” that will even impress country music enthusiasts…you know the kind of people who still say “Country Western.”

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18 Wheels & a Dozen Roses, Kathy Mattea

9 to 5, Dolly Parton

A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash

All My Exes Live in Texas, George Strait

Amarillo by Morning, George Strait

Are You Ready for the Country, Waylon Jennings

Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?, Waylon Jennings (Referring to Hank Williams Sr.)

Back Where I Come From, Kenny Chesney

Bed You Made for Me, Highway 101

Before Country Was Cool, Barbara Mandrell

Born to Boogie, Hank Williams Jr. (Hank Sr’s son)

Chattahoochee, Alan Jackson

Church on Cumberland Road, Shenandoah

Coal Miner’s Daughter, Loretta Lynn (Watch her biographical movie “Coal Miner’s Daughter” staring Sissy Spacek!)

Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton

Copenhagen, Chris Le Deux (Yep, chew killed this underground country singer with a cult following. His catchy, hilarious love song to Copenhagen chewing tobacco is like a country version of “Can’t Feel My Face” or “Mary Jane.”)

Copperhead Road, Steve Earle (Listen carefully…After coming home from war, this soldier gives up on the family tradition of making moonshine because he realized when he was in Viet Nam that he could just grow weed instead.)

Country Boy Can Survive, Hank Williams Jr.

Country Club, Travis Tritt

Country Roads, Take Me Home, John Denver (Lucky if I get through this one without tearing up…)

Cowboy Take Me Away, Dixie Chicks

Crazy, Patsy Cline (Sadly, the anthem of Battered Woman’s Syndrome…Patsy was in a violent marriage at the height of her fame. Written by Willie Nelson.)

Cripple Creek, Earl Scruggs & Lester Flatt

Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band

Digging Up Bones, Randy Travis

Dixieland Delight, Alabama

Down at the Twist & Shout, Mary-Chapin Carpenter

Dueling Banjos, Roy Clark & Buck Owens

El Paso, Marty Robbins (After writing this song, Marty Robbins was flying over El Paso & had a revelation that he was the cowboy in the song in a past life…so he wrote “El Paso City” about that experience.)

Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys

Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys

Every Little Thing, Carlene Carter (Yep, June Carter’s daughter…she called Johnny Cash “Stepdad.” Roseanne Cash’s “Tennessee Flat Top Box” is also a good one.)

Family Tradition, Hank Williams Jr (A proud nod to his famous father…”Put yourself in my position–if I get stoned and sing all night long, it’s a family tradition.” When you hear this song at a honky tonk, know the customs! When Jr sings, “Why do you drink?” The crowd shouts back “To get drunk!” When Jr sings, “Why do you roll smoke?” The crowd shouts, “To get high!” When he sings, “Why must you act out the songs that you wrote?” The crowd shouts, “To get laid!”)

Fancy, Reba McEntire

Fishin’ in the Dark, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Flowers on the Wall, Statler Brothers

Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash

Fool-Hearted Memory, George Strait (His first of SIXTY #1 hits–the most in country music history! Too many for this list but do check them out.)

Get a Rhythm, Johnny Cash

Guitars & Cadillacs, Dwight Yoakum (One of the few west coasters on the list…from Bakersfield, California — also a vegetarian!)

Have Mercy, Judds (A female country duo–mother & sister to famous actress Ashley Judd!)

Highway Man, The Highwaymen (The Highwaymen are Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, & Kris Kristofferson.)

Hillbilly Rock, Marty Stewart

Honky Tonk Man, Dwight Yoakum

Hooked on an 8-Second Ride, Chris Le Deux (Pronounced “Le Doo”)

Hot Rod Lincoln, Commander Cody

I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This, Waylon Jennings

I Love a Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbitt

I Think I’ll Just Sit Here & Drink, Merle Haggard

I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash

I’m No Stranger to the Rain, Keith Whitley

If You’re Gonna Play in Texas, Alabama

If You’ve Got the Money, Willie Nelson

If Your Heart Ain’t Busy, Tanya Tucker

It Only Hurts When I Cry, Dwight Yoakum

Jackson, Johnny Cash & June Carter

Jolene, Dolly Parton

Jose Cuervo, Shelly West

Kaw-Liga, Hank Williams Jr. (Hank Sr also does this one.)

Lay You Down, Conway Twitty

Long Time Gone, Dixie Chicks

Louisiana Saturday Night, Mel McDaniel

Luckenbach Texas, Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson

Mama Tried, Merle Haggard

Maybe It Was Memphis, Pam Tillis

Meet Me in Montana, Dan Seals

Midnight Girl in a Sunset Town, Sweethearts of the Rodeo

Mountain Music, Alabama

Mud on the Tires, Brad Paisley

Mule Skinner Blues, Dolly Parton

My Kind of Girl, Colin Raye

Next to You, Shenandoah

No Time to Kill, Clint Black

Nobody Wins, Radney Foster

Norma Jean Riley, Diamond Rio

One Piece at a Time, Johnny Cash

Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line, Waylon Jennings

Orange Blossom Special, Johnny Cash

Pancho & Lefty, Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard

Papa Loved Mama, Garth Brooks

Past the Point of Rescue, Hal Ketchum

Pick-Up Man, Joe Diffie

Play Something Country, Brooks & Dunn

Redneck Girl, Bellamy Brothers (During the corresponding Redneck Girl line dance, when the song says, “A redneck girl got her name on the back of her belt,” dancers shout, “Bullshit! Bullshit! F— you!” When the song says, “She’s got a kiss on her lips for her man and no one else,” dancers repeat, “Bullshit! Bullshit! F— you!” When the song says, “A coyote’s howling out on the prairie,” dancers howl. Finally, the song says, “First comes love, then comes marriage.” After “love,” dancers interject, “Then sex!!!”)

Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash

Rockin’ With the Rhythm, Judds

Rodeo, Garth Brooks

Rough & Ready, Trace Adkins

Saturday Night Special, Conway Twitty (Yes, the same guy they famously poke fun at on “Family Guy”–see below)

Sin Wagon, Dixie Chicks

Smoky Mountain Rain, Ronnie Milsap

Sold, John Michael Montgomery

Some Girls Do, Sawyer Brown

Song of the South, Alabama

Stampede, Chris Le Deux

Stand by Your Man, Tammy Wynette

Straight Tequila Night, John Anderson

Streets of Bakersfield, Dwight Yoakum

Sweet Dreams of You, Patsy Cline

Tempted, Marty Stuart

Tennessee River & a Mountain Man, Alabama

Thank God I’m a Country Boy, John Denver (He’s an outspoken vegan and & rep for P.E.T.A #MeatlessMondays)

That Kind of Girl, Patty Loveless

That’s My Story, Collin Raye

That’s What I Like About You, Trisha Yearwood (She’s married to Garth Brooks & is a celebrity chef with a reality cooking show.)

The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

The Pill, Lorettta Lynn (Also check out her cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made for Walking.”)

The Race Is On, Sawyer Brown (or any of the older versions)

The Thunder Rolls, Garth Brooks

Ticks, Brad Paisley

Tight-Fittin’ Jeans, Conway Twitty

Tonight We Ride, Tom Russell (We played this at my dad’s funeral…definitely a “b side.”)

Tougher Than the Rest, Chris Le Deux

Tulsa Time, Don Williams

Two Feet of Topsoil, Brad Paisley

Walkin’ After Midnight, Patsy Cline (Check out the Cyndi Lauper cover!)

What Was I Thinkin,’ Dierks Bentley

When You Say Nothing At All, Keith Whitley (Alison Krauss’ version might be more popular though…)

Whiskey, If You Were a Woman, Highway 101

Why Not Me, Judds

Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks

Will the Circle Be Unbroken, dozens of versions

Wrong Side of Memphis, Trisha Yearwood

You Ain’t Woman Enough, Loretta Lynn

You Really Had Me Going, Holly Dunn

You’ve Never Been This Far Before, Conway Twitty

    There are a few current country artists with that classic country sound: Chris Stapleton, Brothers Osborn, some Miranda Lambert (try “Gunpowder & Lead” or “Little Red Wagon”), or Cody Jinks.

If you’re afraid country music is too white, straight, or conservative for you, check out Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush,” Maddie & Tae’s “Girl in a Country Song,” the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl,” Los Lonely Boys’ “Heaven,” Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow,” Big & Rich’s “Love Train,” Garth Brooks’ “We Shall Be Free,” John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind,” or anything by Charlie Pride, Cowboy Troy, k.d. lang, or Freddie Fender.

If you enjoy a good DJ mix, I’m not the only one doing creative things with country music–check out DeeJay Silver, DJ Sinister’s Country Fried Mix, VDJ JD, DJ Bad Ash, or DJ Hish (who I was on the roster with at the Stagecoach Festival and the Moonshine Miles Festival).

Film enthusiast? In addition to watching Johnny Cash’s biographical Walk the Line, you can also try some of these country cult classics: Coal Miner’s Daughter (about Loretta Lynn), Urban Cowboy (with John Travolta & Debra Winger), Pure Country (starring George Strait), Sweet Dreams (about Patsy Cline), Eight Seconds (with Luke Perry)…as well as anything starring Dolly Parton (like 9 to 5 or Steel Magnolias) or Kris Kristofferson (like A Star Is Born or Blade). Dwight Yoakum has a few famous cameos as well (like Sling Blade or Crank). But the real question is: are they “acting” or just “acting natural”? Once you understand that reference, you officially get a gold star in the hipster country music Olympics!!! (Leave me your thoughts in the comments below.)

If you enjoyed the Hipster’s Guide to Classic Country Music, I urge you to explore bluegrass and folk music. And, yes, I know not every “staple” classic country jam is on the list (again, comment below). I also have my Guitar-Infused Country & Classic Rock Wedding Cocktail Hour Playlist and Ultimate Bluegrass Wedding Cocktail Hour & Dinner Music Playlist you can scope out. Some say “crank it up,” but, around here, we say “Hank it up!” Enjoy your hip classic country tunes! 

  LISTEN TO THE HIPSTER’S CLASSIC COUNTRY PLAYLIST

Check it out on YouTube or Spotify.

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Marching Through the Streets of Rhydyfelin

A response to The Wales Arts Review’s Roundtable discussion

Pop Music: Searching for the young soul rebels- why has pop given up on politics.

For an unreconstructed Socialist, who is also a passionate believer in the power of protest music, this opening discussion promised to be the ideal way to launch The Wales Arts Review’s much anticipated Millennium Centre symposium. The inclusion of Rhian E Jones (Critic and author of Clampdown: Pop-Cultural Wars on Class and Gender), Richard Parfitt (Songwriter / Former member of 60ft Dolls and senior lecturer in Music and Performing Arts, Bath Spa University) and Gray Taylor (writer and member of Goldie Lookin’ Chain), on a panel to be chaired by our very own Craig Austin, promised a forensic examination of a key cultural question. We seemed in safe hands, what could go wrong?

Perhaps the writing was on the wall, even before the debate began. Following Adrian Masters and Adam Somerset’s warmly received introductory remarks, most of the critics present decided to take up the undoubtedly tempting option of attending the launch of The Wales Arts Review’s excellent ‘Fiction Map Of Wales’ anthology in an adjoining room. It was immediately noticeable how many younger critics had joined the exodus – further proof perhaps of youthful dis-engagement with politics, or pop, or both?  A quick glance around the Victor Salvi Function Room revealed that just three dozen or so hardy souls had remained behind to man the barricades.

I wasn’t altogether surprised. The evening before, I had cast my bread upon the listless waters of the internet, randomly pitching phrases into the all-powerful search engine like ‘Why pop isn’t political anymore?’ or ‘Why isn’t pop angry?’, to be met by and large, with barely a ripple upon the stagnant pond of political discourse. An inexact science for sure, but somewhat discouraging, nevertheless.There was the obligatory rallying call by Billy Bragg, but little else. A piece in Village Voice, from 2006, another American piece ‘Apocalypse Then: Why Rock isn’t angry any more’, dating from 2010, a short analysis by Smashing Pumpkin’s frontman Billy Corgan, headed ‘Billy Corgan thinks rock isn’t reaching teenagers anymore’ and, lastly, a blog by John Robb, ‘Why politics and music don’t mix anymore’, which provided a glimmer of hope, or, at least one heartfelt response to it did -

‘Well maybe some people just aren’t trying

We are

Hack attack

We just put it out today,

Suburban Mousewife

This seemed to warrant investigation. A quick search revealed a promising list of song titles that made explicit the radical, feminist protest music, I could expect to hear – ‘Botox Skin’, ‘Shopping’, ‘Gulags for Slags’, while their handful of youtube videos unveiled an all-girl, multi-racial, five-piece combo, playing a spiky brand of garage rock, behind a lead singer wielding a mean tambourine. It looked and sounded too good to be true, and indeed it was. A quick glance at their facebook page revealed the following message, dated 13th Feb 2013:

‘Big thanks to all you lovely people for your support. The band is on an extended break at the moment.’

An ill omen perhaps? The waste of a bloody excellent band name, certainly.

Suburban Mousewife

Disappointingly, the panel’s discussion never really got past first base, partly as a result of unavoidable time constraints, but mainly because the debate was strangely sidetracked into a cultural cul de sac which, to paraphrase Dylan, might best be termed Stuck inside of Newport, with the Bristol blues again. This amiable detour down memory lane was entertaining enough in its own right, but did little to address the wider political context the panel was supposed to be engaging with. Craig and Rhian tried bravely to steer the discussion away from the confines of South East Wales with a perceptive analysis of Ben Drew’s ‘Ill Manors,’ a genuinely threatening pop-protest song. Unfortunately, the forum never quite re-focused itself on the central proposition.

Incredibly, the whole debate passed by without any reference to the current political landscape. For the best part of twenty years, the mainstream political parties have been busy stealing each other’s clothes, cross-dressing their way to the mythical centre ground of British Politics. The Tories actually went into the last General Election with a manifesto commitment to ring-fence spending on the NHS, something which Labour, its creator and proud champion, steadfastly refused to do. Furthermore, the coalition between Britain’s then most right-wing and left-wing mainstream parties, desperately cobbled together after the last election, has increasingly served to apply a brake to radical dissent. It’s in this context of unprincipled allegiances and bipartisan accommodations, that the weak-kneed response of today’s musicians can best be understood. Equally, the genuine prospect of this now fragile consensus being smashed apart at the next election by UKIP, and how this just might kick-start a slumbering protest movement into action, went altogether unexplored. It’s entirely possible that the resurrection of Rock against Racism, (the historical significance of which was barely mentioned), may now be more than this 52 yr old pop fan’s ultimate fantasy. In a fevered post-election climate, where the race card will not only be played, but undoubtedly dealt from the bottom of the pack too, an imaginative grassroots resistance could take many forms. Rap against Racism, anyone?

Similarly, Two–Tone, another protest movement with its roots in the politics of race, was never mentioned at all, despite it arguably producing the greatest pop protest song of all time – The Special’s number 1 hit,’ Ghost Town’. Indeed, UB40, a band on the fringes of Two-Tone, charted regularly at the time, with the most radical sequence of songs ever to infiltrate the playlists of mainstream radio. Between March 1980 and August 1981 the band scored five top twenty hits with songs about Third world starvation; ‘Food For Thought’, Racism in America; ‘King’, Nuclear war; ‘Earth Dies Screaming’, Atheism; ‘Don’t Let It Pass You By’, and Mass Unemployment; ‘One In Ten’.

Plausible reasons for the decline of political pop were flagged up, but not followed up, (the immediacy of the internet as a first preference for those with a personal manifesto, and conventional record company insouciance, being amongst the most convincing explanations.)  At the same time, rather too much of the discussion was given over to boxing Ed Sheeran about the ears, not that he didn’t deserve it following his cringe-worthy attempts to gladhand David Cameron at a recent gig. Even here, though, the chance was missed to broaden the discussion, by asking tough questions about why the recent folk revival was so insipid and non-political in nature.

Even where the discussion briefly came to life - every one of the panelists made perceptive comments about the impact of Brit Pop, and particularly the best song to come out of it, Pulp’s ‘Common People’- the theme could not be sustained. In all fairness, I should acknowledge here, the herculean nature of this particular task. It was a time after all, when Tony Blair was ruthlessly triangulating dissident opinion out of existence, constructing New Labour’s big tent, in which there was room for everyone, except Socialists of course. This was an age when there wasn’t any politics in politics, never mind in popular music.

Pop Music may be a young person’s game, but in the year when Pete Seeger passed away, where was the discussion about the role of the elder statesman in popular culture? Billy Bragg, our Seeger, justly escapes censure, but with Springsteen and Young still energetically campaigning in the USA, what do we make of Weller and Costello’s extended leave of absence from the front?

Admittedly, not everything could have been covered in the allotted 50 minutes, though it was clearly a mistake to guillotine the Q&A at the end, where some of these issues might have been taken up. The critic who ignored Craig’s genuine apology, and rattled off her question about the dominance of ex-public school pupils in today’s chart, caused quite a stir. I too, would have liked the chance to ask whether anybody had actually heard of Suburban Mousewife, and if not, whose fault would that have been - the band’s, the mediums or ourselves (in our guise as both critic and consumer)?  Or, I might have posited my pet theory that The Mighty Sparrow’s 1983 Soca classic, ‘Capitalism Gone Mad’, a diatribe about the cost of living crisis in Trinidad, if re-released now, in an age of economic meltdown, might just be the spark that ignites a world-wide revolution. The first verse alone, is enough to persuade me to get the red flag down from the attic, dust it off and start waving it about the streets of Rhydyfelin-

‘You got to be a millionaire or some kind of petit-bourgeoisie

Any time you’re living here in this country

You got to be in skulduggery, or making money illicitly

To live like somebody in this country

It’s outrageous and insane, them crazy prices in the Port Of Spain

And like the merchants going out dey brain

And the working man, like he only toiling in vain.’

The Mighty Sparrow - Champion of the Oppressed

Finally, though the panel saw little cause for optimism, the radicalisation of Scottish Youth in the referendum campaign has apparently made little impression on our guests, there is every prospect of a generational re-engagement with politics. The next election could be something of a watershed for Wales. A crass marriage of convenience between UKIP and the Tories could see things turn ugly very quickly. The cheap shot mantra “English votes for English laws”, has the potential to disseminate the seeds of division throughout the UK, which in all probability, will be seriously destabilised by massive constitutional change and the endless re-packaging of austerity. More positively though, a space seems to be opening up on the left, that an enlightened Green Party are well positioned to occupy.

England might be on the verge of electing the most right-wing Government in its history, at the exact same time that the people of Scotland are voting into office its most left-wing Parliament. Trapped in the vacuum, between two opposing philosophies, Wales will have to forge a new identity for itself. The conditions will then exist for freshly radicalised, free-thinking artists, to do the same.