#and between all that excitement and a new album from one of my fave bands i had a whole short circuit earlier lol

[swordbreakerz]

I'm starting an attempt to speedrun twilight mirage and partizan so I can be caught up by the time the main palisade season starts and firstly i left off tm a lot closer to finishing it than I thought, but also I'm realizing why I kept getting stuck on tm49 specifically bc it's such peak friends at the table that my autistic little brain just overloads and all my neurons turn to dial tones

[gwynndolin]

Independent Album Review:

3D Country by Geese

I still have plenty of asks from people about music to review, but I figured there's plenty of room to talk about stuff I've been listening to independently!

So in my exploration into getting back into Apple Music, I decided I would not initially import all my previous music from Spotify, in attempt to get a new swing at the algorithmic content it would send my way, and it's worked certainly! The first song I heard by Geese was actually off their first album Projector, and I ended up trying to listen to that one for a little while. My final thoughts on Projector was that it was entirely interesting, but unfortunately not very memorable at first blush, but it showed a lot of promise. When I had told my girlfriend that I had started listening to them, she had noted that she recognized the 3D Country album art and said she'd heard at least one or two songs and thought that they were pretty good, so I jumped in pretty much immediately. And I'm glad I did!!

3D Country starts off with Cameron Winter's isolated voice, followed up shortly after by the blues rock number "2122". I think Cameron's voice is one of the most interesting things about Geese by far; it's extremely hard to tell what his default range is? He tends to sing in a slightly baritone register for the most part, but he's certainly not afraid to get up into his head voice, and it just works! The difference between where he's singing in the track "3D Country" and then in "Cowboy Nudes" nearly feels like a completely different singer. Honestly he sort of reminds me of Julian Casablancas, whereas Julian usually sings higher and occasionally goes lower.

Geese is one of these really exciting sorts of bands that I would lump in with BCNR, Black Midi, Maruja, and King Krule... I feel that, at least in the genres that I tend to listen to, there's been a lot of stagnation, and these bands feel like they're at the forefront of some well welcomed movement in the scene. And I always feel like you can really tell when this is happening when descriptions of these bands tend to offer like five or six different genres to attempt to give someone an idea what to expect.

To me, this reads as us being on the precipice of a new genre, or at the very least, a new subgenre, which is always very exciting to me. Obviously, genre is most often used descriptively instead of prescriptively (or at least, it is typically sought to be), but even in this, genre labeling, I feel, often allows for more focus into a particular sound, so to say that genres should only ever be descriptive seems a little reductive.

With that being said, while listening to this record, I kept thinking to myself "This is just Funkadelic for white people". Which was completely a joke, in my typical style of saying really broad statements about music that are reductive, but as I went on through it started feeling more real to me. "I See Myself" could honestly just be a track on Maggot Brain.

Anyway, I highly recommend giving this album a shot, and to keep an eye on Geese throughout the future, this is definitely a top 2024 album for me (even though it is a 2023 album..).

A VERY solid 8/10 for me, I think the album is pretty front loaded, but all of the tracks on it are all well enough and fitting for the album in their own right, and if Geese keeps moving like this, their next album might be an all timer for me..

Fave tracks: 2122, 3D Country, Cowboy Nudes, Undoer, Mysterious Love, Tomorrows Crusades, St Elmo

[jetstarred]

what i listened to in january 2024!

total: 9 albums top three: i didn't mean to haunt you (quadeca), good kid, m.a.a.d. city (kendrick lamar), colourmeinkindness (basement)

click below to see full reviews ^-^

colourmeinkindness - basement (2012) - fav song: covet - this is a really solid early emo revival album. it captures the emotion that was extremely prevalent in emo music and kinda lost in the mainstream emo that had dominated before this album came out. the vocals are great at conveying the lyrics, sometimes feeling vulnerable in a really relatable way. the guitar is solid and very fun to listen to. easily one of my favorite emo albums from this era. - rating: 8/10

everyone everywhere - everyone everywhere (2012) - fav song: the future - this album clearly takes a lot of inspiration from 90s emo, especially midwest emo. some guitar riffs sound really similar to american football riffs. the singers voice is very lovely and i love the use of trumpets in some of the songs. the lyrics are also perfectly nostalgic and almost whimsical, like someone wondering about their surroundings and future. it almost makes me wish this band had stuck around longer and had been able to evolve their sound more. - rating: 7/10

feels like you - whirr (2019) - fav song: wavelength - this album is very dreamy, with the noise a pleasant hum rather than loud and intrusive. every song blends into the next track seamlessly, there were multiple times where i didn't realize a new song had started. the album largely sounds the same, with all the songs being difficult to distinguish from one another. this is good if you like this kind of music (which i do) but it makes it hard for any of the songs to be real stand outs. - rating: 5/10

hatemail - in lieu (2019) - fave song: pin up - i didn't really vibe with most of this album. its exciting to hear more female vocals in the post-grunge and more noisy punk space. there's definitely potential here and id be interested to listen to their more recent releases. - rating: 4/10

good kid, m.a.a.d. city - kendrick lamar (2012) - fav song: money trees - this album immediately put me in the exact setting that must've inspired it. it makes me feel nostalgic for the black american experience i never had, even with all the ugly parts. besides that, i love the through-line of the voicemails and phone calls, some of which introduce the following song. the samples are really beautiful and i want to go listen to the original songs. i can't imagine how exciting it must've been when this album came out to see the beginning of one of the greatest rappers of this generation. - rating: 9/10

i didn't mean to haunt you - quadeca (2022) - fav song: don't mind me - i listened to this album on repeat for a week after my first listen. it's really refreshing to listen to a concept album that actually fully follows through with the concept. this album being about a ghost and his experience with dying and having to watch how his family deals with his death is so interesting and lends to a lot of very heart wrenching introspection. also sonically this is such a beautiful album with the choral voices, static, with a good balance of heavy and dreamy parts. shout out to picking up hands and fantasyworld for making me cry. - rating: 10/10

goblin - tyler, the creator (2011) - fav song: radicals - i like the concept of the album being tyler having a “therapy session” with his own consciousness. but a lot of the content in the songs is very offensive, gross out, shock humor that i don't really vibe with. i know that that type of rapping was what was commonplace and popular at the time but it's really aged poorly imo. the beats and flows are pretty decent and i could vibe with them more if it wasn't for the lyrics. also tyler baby stop saying a bunch of slurs! - rating: 4/10

from me to you - quadeca (2021) - fav song: candles on fire! - this album is a great transition between quadeca's earlier youtube rap inspired music and his newer more atmospheric and melodic music. the production is grand and electronic in a way that's really enjoyable. while i'm not a great judge for rap, i think this is a step up from his earlier stuff and much more accessible to me as a more casual rap fan. honestly it's difficult to judge this album as anything other than a transition from rap to more artistically driven music that still keeps rap elements and influence. - rating: 7/10

my back is killing me baby - car seat headrest (2011) - fav song: no passion - this album is half rough versions of songs that would be redone in later albums, half songs that weren't revisited. it's very rough and full of the diy sound that was more prevalent in cshr's earlier stuff. i like it more for background noise than something i can strongly focus on. - rating: 5/10

[mychem1calbr0mance]

idk much abt a7x, but i wld like to hear abt u fave song/album :)

AAA YESSS

Tysm for this ask, they are my favorite band of all time and I love talking about them sm <33

My favorite album by A7X is a three way tie between Waking The Fallen, City Of Evil, and Self-Titled, each album has such a unique and distinct sound it's nearly impossible for me to choose which album I like best lol

Waking The Fallen is straight up metalcore, with definitely a lot of punk influences and some classic 80s metal- it's a pretty straight forward and well rounded album for it being their 2nd album, a lot cleaner and more focused than their first album Sounding Of The Seventh Trumpet- probably because Syn joined the band around this time and he definitely has a very clean and distinct way he writes and plays the guitar, he's really organized lol. My favorite song off of that album is either Unholy Confessions (the guitar solo 💓💓) or Eternal Rest, which is extremely fast and one of the more punk driven songs off that album

City Of Evil is their 3rd album and has a really big hard rock/classic metal vibe to it, the harmonies and heaviness of WTF is consistent, but it's not as punk driven. Lots of very crazy and very fast drum tracks which I adore listening to- The Rev is SUCH a talented drummer and I really hope I can play like he does one day. Syn and Zacky are fucking brilliant on this album, they're great on every album, but this one especially, y'know? They really pushed themselves with this album, it's so articulated and so well rounded, and is definitely a big leap from WTF. My favorite song off of this album is Bat Country without a doubt, that song is nuts from start to finish, and I love it so much!!

Self-Titled is their 4th album, and doesn't really have a set sound- it's metal, mostly, but they really just branch off and play around with this one, even writing a country-ish song, Dear God, which even then still has some metal influences in it. It's definitely an experimental album, they found their sound in COE and went "Alright, we went pretty far, how much farther can we still go?". Not one song on this album is the same, from having straight thrashers and head bangers like Almost Easy, to A Little Piece Of Heaven, which has a really big Tim Burton/Danny Elfman feel to it, and then you have Unbound (The Wild Ride) which, as Syn put it, "is a magic carpet ride.". This album is so over the place, and it's the album that got me into A7X, so it has such a special place in my heart. My favorite song off of that album is either Scream (it's such a vibe, I've always loved heavy songs that still have a nice groove to em) or A Little Piece Of Heaven (that song is crazy bonkers + it's the first ever song I heard by em, so bias lol)

Tysm again for this ask, sorry if I rambled for a bit too long, A7X has helped me so much throughout my life and I love them endlessly- their new album is supposed to come out either end of 2022 or early 2023 and I am so excited to hear it, and maybe even see em on tour!!

<33

[spacenintendogs]

HIIII ROSE <3

1, 6 and 11 for the ask meme please and thank you :)

HI LOZ!!! <3<3 thank u!!

1.) 3 songs that come up when i shuffle my phone (i shuffled my likes bc it has every type of music i could possibly listen to lol)

1. CODE MISTAKE - Corpse & Bring Me The Horizon (a fucking BANGER!! i can not wait for the full album from BMTH!! also HUGE deal for corpse collabing with them i am proud of him!!)

2. Happier than Ever - Billie Eilish (i am a Huge billie fan she got me through lockdown & this album was like i grew with her. this song makes me angry at an ex i have never had)

3. Disposable Heroes - Metallica (i am not shocked they showed up. my fave band of all time & this is one of their anti-war songs. a fucking brutal thrash metal masterpiece! same album as master of puppets!)

6.) 3 songs i would erase from history (because they are terrible)

my music taste is dad rock and shitty 2010's pop so idk if i am one to judge but.

1. "Mother" - Meghan Trainor (if i have to hear this shit ass song at work one more time.)

2. "Timber" - Pitbull feat. Ke$ha (it was between this and a couple songs but this was one i hated even back in 2012. it scratches my brain in a Bad Way. love pitbull & ke$ha tho & i am excited for her new album!!)

3. "Zombified" - Falling in Reverse (bc i heard it recently. dogshit. awful. but erasing it would mean the parody by cera gibson that pissed off the lead singer of falling in reverse wouldn't exist. hmmm. (stream that instead lol))

11.) 3 songs from my fave movie or tv soundtrack

1. Forbidden Friendship - How to Train Your Dragon (obv lol)

2. Escapism - Steven Universe (i still listen to this my only thing is i wish it was longer...)

3. Over the Garden Wall - Over the Garden Wall (over the tree tops and mountains... over the blackened ravines... then softly it falls by a house near a stream... and over the garden wall, to thee...)

[soundsof71]

FIVE ALBUMS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!

aka, My Top 5 of 2020, but I didn’t want to seem too retro!

Yep, I have a classic rock blog. Yep, I think that the best rock and roll in history is being made RIGHT NOW. And yep, ALL of it is being made by women. 

(Shown at top, Nova Twins by Ant Adams [x] and The Tissues by Michael Espleta [x]. I was planning to make a collage of all my faves in concert, but  not all of them were able to play in 2020. Both of these photos are pre-pandemic.)

There’s been quite a bit of movement on this list, and all five of these have spent some time at Number 1 as the year has done (gestures broadly) All This™. Anyone looking for rock and roll is going to dig any of these. 

Rocking out is just the start of it, though. Wrestling with my bipolarity and schizophrenia is tough on a good day, and there haven’t been too many of those lately. The plague has also taken its toll around me, with two family members dead and a third who’s doing better, but will likely never be all the way back. (Mask up, kids!)

I’ve written plenty about how deeply Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers have moved me this year (and will do so again), but in those rare stretches where I’ve had enough spare energy to listen to music at all these days, I’ve mostly been looking for more than beautiful music. Heavy times need heavy lifting, and I find that in heavy music. 

The five albums here have all helped carry me, pointing the way toward light.

1) BULLY, SUGAREGG

Alicia Bognanno is a force of nature as a guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer/engineer. (While working on her degree in audio engineering at MTSU, she interned with Steve Albini, who remains both a fan and an admirer). A Nashville transplant from Minnesota, she’s still a natural fit in her home on Sub Pop: as heavy as Soundgarden, as hooky as Sleater-Kinney. 

I was blown away hearing her searing honesty while working through her discoveries of her bisexuality and bipolarity (double bi!), and her triumphant roar lifts me out of my seat every time I listen.

“She sings the hell out of [these songs], her voice fraying to the point of combustion every time she launches to the top of her range. This is phenomenal music for converting anger and anxiety into unbound joy.” ~Stereogum, Album of the Week

Also, check this fantastic interview with Alicia in the New York Times talking about what she’s gone through to get here. 

TURN IT UP!

2) GANSER, LOOK AT THAT SKY

Ganser syndrome is a rare dissociative disorder characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions and other dissociative symptoms such as fugue, amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual pseudohallucinations and a decreased state of consciousness. ~Wikipedia #it me

‘Just Look At That Sky’ doesn’t presume to offer solutions; it’s an honest document of what it feels like to wade through anxiety, day by day, not a survival guide or handbook of answers none of us actually have. Whether or not you pay attention to this, Ganser are simply one of the most invigorating, exciting new bands. ~Clashmusic

I saw one very positive review compare Ganser to a cross between Fugazi and Sonic Youth, but I think they hit much, much harder than either of those. And as you can surely guess, I also deeply relate to their themes of mental illness and dissociation while trying to make it through All This™. But my god, are they TIGHT. This is a BAND.

Ganser has two fantastic lead vocalists, and on “Bad Form”, bassist/vocalist Alicia Gaines wrote the song for the voice of keyboardist/vocalist Nadia Garofolo. Alicia also wrote a FANTASTIC essay on the strains that making an album during a pandemic puts on the mental health of the entire band at talkhouse: “Writing, recording, reaching out, balancing relationships outside and within the band, I found (and still find) myself under-rested and agitated to no particular end. More than not doing enough, I was not enough.” 

(If you can’t relate to that, I can’t relate to you, tbh.)

This video also does a fantastic job of showing dissociation. TURN IT UP!

3) THE TISSUES, BLUE FILM

“Blue Film” is a ten-song shot of dagger-twisting electro-(s)punk. It’s completely addictive from the very first listen. The tour de force is “Rear Window”, an art-punk masterpiece of slashing guitars and mad caterwauling. Copious doses of jaunty poetics and social commentary reward the earlooker patient enough to untangle Kristine Nevrose’s hysterical meowing about intergalactic salt shakers and hysterectomies, but I’m too emotionally invested to look under the hood.” ~ Sputnik Music

“Rear Window” is in fact my most-played 2020 track. TURN IT UP!

4) GUM COUNTRY, SOMEWHERE

It’s not all heavy! But even when I’m looking for something light and hooky, I need a bite, and Gum Country has done it with the kind of swirly, feeedback-laden wall of sound that Lush or Yo La Tengo would make if they lived in LA. (Recent transplants to SoCal from Vancouver, I do think that the sunshine has gone straight to their heads, in the very best way.)

Indie music nerds will know guitarist/composer/singer/front woman Courtney Garvin from The Courtneys, and she really does throw up a glorious wall of sound. I adore this video too! Sweet, swinging, fun -- and yes, the drummer is playing keyboard with one hand while slapping the skins with the other! 

I mentioned earlier that all five of these albums have spent part of the year at #1 on my list -- I think that this one might have spent the longest stretch there. Like all shoegaze, even as hooky as this, the truth of these songs is revealed in VOLUME. TURN IT UP!

5) NOVA TWINS, WHO ARE THE GIRLS?

Now, THIS is heavy! Amy Lee (vocals, guitar) and Georgia South (bass) are fucking LOUD, and insanely intense. A mix of grime, hip-hop, metal, punk, and good old rock and roll, they’re a harder-hitting, more theatrical Prodigy, with a pyre of intensity that recalls the heaviest howls of Rage Against The Machine. Indeed, Nova Twins spent a good bit of 2019 playing heavy metal festivals and toured as openers for Prophets of Rage. (Tom Morello has been a fan and supporter from the beginning.)

As you may have noted in the photo at the top of this post, their musical audacity extends to visuals too: they design their own clothes, hair, and makeup, they art direct their own videos, and more. They impress the hell out of me, and I’ve been a huge fan since hearing their first singles in 2018. I’ll plant a flag and say that Georgia South in particular is the most innovative musician on any instrument in any genre right now, but they’re both absolutely monsters. 

I’m honestly not at all sure that #5 is high enough for this, but I’m absolutely certain that after this video, you’re gonna need to rest for a little. LOL

“Taxi” is the story of two gleefully and creatively violent women shaking up the local crime syndicate as they use a vintage cab for their moving murder scene. This is the movie that Robert Rodriguez wishes he was making with Sin City, if it were combined with Blade Runner and The Matrix. And gangsters. And a snake.

I’m gonna take your crown I’m gonna, I’m gonna bleed you out We demand it by the hour We devour, control, power

I’m gonna burn it down Even the, even the royals bow

So not the same kind of therapeutic work being explored on this rekkid, but you know what? Fucking shit up is therapeutic too! 

Definitely take this full screen, and for the love of fuck, TURN IT UP!

SO. Not done with the best of 2020 yet? I’m sure not! A lot of my favorite songs aren’t on albums (at least not yet), so for an unedited list of everything I’m finding, check out my Spotify list, 2020: Shuffle This List! 268 songs and counting, over 15 hours, and not finished yet. I’m still checking out everyone else’s Best of lists (including yours! Message me links to yours!!!), so will probably be adding to this for most of 2021, too. 

And for more banging tracks by women from 2020, plus a few 2019 gems that I’m still grooving to, check out my more thoroughly curated Spotify playlist Women Bangers: A Tumblr New Classics Jam. (You’ll see a couple of these tracks there!) I’m working on a YouTube playlist and an essay to properly roll that one out. I’m also still tweaking the ending, but the three dozen or so tunes there are definitely bangin’.

Tell me if you hear anything you dig here, and tell me what YOU’VE found! We’re gonna get through this together.

Yr pal, Timmy

[doomedandstoned]

In Conversation with CRYSTAL SPIDERS

~Interview & Photographs by Randy J. Byrd~

Illustration by Jonathan Grimm Art

Longtime Doomed & Stoned contributor Randy J. Byrd brings us an interview with N.C. fuzz freaks CRYSTAL SPIDERS. Since 2018, Brenna Leath (bass, vox), Tradd Yancey (drums, vox), and crew have released a demo and two full-length records, the most recent of which is 'Morieris' (2021). Get to know the band, what drives them, and their favorite places to hang around Raleigh in the discussion that follows!   (Billy Goate, Editor in Chief)

MORIERIS by CRYSTAL SPIDERS

What is the central theme of your latest album, 'Morieris'?

BL: Almost all of the songs loosely reference classical mythology. Our album art and title are a play on “memento mori” - the art is our take on a “white trash still life,” with trashy ephemera from the last couple decades instead of the traditional (e.g., VHS instead of books, a bag of tobacco instead of flowers, a moonshine jar instead of a wine glass). Tradd and I collected items to assemble the still life and my tattoo artist Tyler Pennington of Talon Tattoo in Winston-Salem, NC, did an amazing job painting it.

Is there one particular person that writes the lyrics or is it a group effort?

BL: I write the lyrics. My background is in writing and literature, so rhyming/poetry are pretty second nature.

Do you all write your own parts or are there collaborative efforts going on during the process?

BL: We write our own parts, although sometimes we have suggestions for each other on tweaks or additions. For this album, writing for the guitar parts was a joint effort between me and Mike Dean, and Tradd and I wrote the keyboard/synth parts together.

Tell us about your special guests on the record and how their roles came about.

BL: Mike Dean is a good friend of ours. He is my bandmate in Lightning Born and has worked on the last few albums I’ve been a part of, so when he offered to do guitar work on the album, that was a no-brainer. He is crazy talented and very easy to work with. We have a good dynamic with him in the studio. He’s a stickler for the fundamentals, but he’s always game for an experiment, which we appreciate. For “En Medias Res,” we wanted some orchestral instruments to add some atmosphere and fill out the space. I think we all got excited about the creative potential for something like that. High Priestess Nighthawk from Heavy Temple is an excellent cellist. We had been talking about collaborating for awhile, and this was the perfect opportunity. Meredith Mitchell is a new friend who is a classically trained violinist, so it was exciting to have her in the studio.

Where was it recorded, mixed, and mastered?

TY: Another reason we love working with Dean is that he’s right down the hallway! We recorded everything at a pretty comfortable pace in his studio over a couple months. Nothing’s worse than feeling rushed to get a particular track/part done due to financial or scheduling constraints and we never feel that way working with Mike. He mixes the tracks as well, which we all collaborate on in a back and forth, try-out-on-every-speaker-we-own kinda way. We did that for Molt as well and it’s helped us get that vintage sound while making sure all the individual parts are clear and stand out. Brad Boatright from Audiosiege did the mastering and is great at making the car mirrors shake, so to speak.

Any special gear used during recording to help put the icing on the cake so to speak? I.E. Amps, Guitars, basses, effects units, drums.

TY: Brenna would definitely say her Kramer Vanguard bass. I’ve been using a custom Anchor drum kit for recording which has been known to summon a demon or two, and I know Dean loves his wah that he holds in place with a bottle opener. Straight-to-tape is also a must in terms of that classic sound we all love. We’ve all got our fave piece of gear, but we’re never opposed to playing something else or trying out new sounds. The search for tone never ends!

Molt by CRYSTAL SPIDERS

Any long-term goals, i.e. merch drops, special editions, and splits?

TY: We were talking about splits while making Morieris, and would love to do some longer-form stuff for a split or an extended EP. It never hurts to have extra recorded stuff in the back pocket and be okay with waiting for the perfect home. Special editions are cool as well. As a fan, I’m a sucker for special/limited edition stuff, like the new Boris/EarthQuaker pedal collab or Big Business’ tour EPs. Take my money!

When coming up with new material do you all reflect on past material to move forward?

TY: I think it depends on the release and where we are in the process. When we’re in the initial writing stages, each song is like an island unto itself for the most part. Only after the pieces are mostly in place do we judge how it will fit in the record holistically, or if it fits in at all. When constructing a live show, we absolutely review older songs so everything can flow nicely for the audience. But Brenna and I are seemingly always in the writing stages for other projects as well, so we rarely sit down to listen to the older stuff and go “we need another one of these” or “definitely not doing that again.” The creative train must always move forward.

Are there any side projects that keep your creative juices flowing?

TY: Brenna and I are like sharks. If we stop swimming, we die. She has Lightning Born (with Mike Dean) and The Hell No to keep her creative train rolling (she writes like most people binge-watch TV, btw) and I have Doomsday Profit, which allows me to experiment with a more heavy-hitting, Conan-type style and Positive Punishment, which leans heavy on experimental music and improv. Unless you’re Johnny Ramone, I’m pretty sure every musician has a side-project, even if it’s just in their head. Not every riff will fit with every project, so having a lot of fingers in a lot of pies can provide the perfect home for the perfect riff.

What are you all listening to nowadays?

TY: With all these best-of-2021 lists out, we have a lot of catching up to do. So many excellent releases came out last year; it’s gonna take a couple months to go through them all. Brenna really loves her dark wave and I dig obscure blues, but those will be on hold until we check out all that 2021 brought forth.

BL: I haven’t done a proper year end list yet, but some of my favorite releases this year have been Heavy Temple, Witchcryer, Book of Wyrms, and Erik Larson. The new Monolord and Green Lung were choice, as we knew they would be! My current darkwave jams are Molchat Doma and She Past Away, but Drab Majesty is always in heavy rotation.

Communication Breakdown (Led Zeppelin cover) by The Redux Project

Who inspires you to do what you do?

TY: A major inspiration for me would be Erik Larson. He is such an excellent player, insightful songwriter, and overall good dude, it’s hard not to want to emulate his contributions to the music community, both behind the kit and in front of it. A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to open for US Christmas and Nate Hall would be another individual that inspires me. Eat the Low Dogs was one of those records that stayed in my car for a decade and to share a stage with USX was a dream come true.

BL: That is a tough one. It’s hard to balance the need to create and hone art with. Everything else we have to do to keep the capitalist train trudging forward and daily life on the rails, so I am always amazed by people who do it with flair. I think there are several people I know personally who are big inspirations, like my drummer in Lightning Born, Doza Hawes, who is always pushing himself in every arena (fitness, family, music career). He seems to need a lot less sleep than I do, to be fair!

Any superstitions?

TY: This one I learned from Larson, the hard way: Never ever ever speak ill about your transportation, even jokingly. They’re always listening. Your van is your home and karma can remind you very quickly how important they are in regards to finishing a successful tour. So, Vandolf, if you’re reading this (and I know you are). I love you, buddy. You’re the best and you’re getting more cassette tapes for your birthday.

BL: Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. Also, I haven’t personally experienced this, but Rich from Scattered Hamlet told me to never listen to Dokken on the road. Apparently, there’s an associated curse where everything that can go wrong will go wrong. No Rockin’ with Dokken allowed!

Favorite place to eat in your hometown?

TY: Snoopy’s Hot Dogs. Been a Raleigh staple since I was a kid. Plus, depending how hungry you are, you can titrate to the perfect amount of full with the number of dogs you order.

BL: NC is famous for BBQ. For vegan/vegetarian, Fiction Kitchen is an amazing spot in downtown Raleigh that has killer vegan BBQ; for the classic Eastern NC pulled pork style, there’s a spot down the street from me in Garner called (creatively) Carolina BBQ. Although for pescatarian/any-tarian, St. Roch is a killer oyster bar and Cajun/Creole style joint that is one of my current favorite haunts.

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[bronanlynch]

bi-ish weekly update

time sure passes huh. meant to do one last week but I wrote like 5000 words on Wednesday instead, and I’m not really sure what happened yesterday but maybe Thursday is my new day for these

listening: two for the price of one this week since I’m excited about both of them. first of all, obviously, is the Sangfielle theme by Jack de Quidt because it’s time for a new season of Friends at the Table. I love their description of this season’s music

the other thing I’ve been listening to is the new album from one of my fave bands, You’re Welcome from A Day to Remember. this is by far not the most musically interesting or complex song on the album but it is about, as far as I can tell, a bad breakup with a vampire and I love it for that just on principle, but also it’s fun! a fun pop punk-esque bop about breaking up with a vampire!

reading: since last time when I talked about many romance novels I was reading, I mostly just read more romance novels because sometimes that is all the brain can handle. shout out to KJ Charles for writing a historical romance with a nonbinary main characters, you really do love to see it. I appreciate that she puts trans characters in her books, and I hope that someday she writes one with a trans man as a main character, because that truly would be a book targeted directly at me.

I’ve also been reading the Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator series by Alexis Hall (author of Affair of the Mysterious Letter, a weird fantasy queer Sherlock Holmes retelling that absolutely fucking slaps, highly recommend).

this is his author bio from the Kate Kane books, which really just sets the tone and also. what a fucking life goal

anyway. series starts with Iron & Velvet which is currently on sale, which is why I bought it, and it also fucking slaps. I’m like halfway through the last book right now but they have all been good and fun. Kate is like. archetypal disaster p.i. but done in an interesting way (i.e. the narrative actually addresses the depression and the alcoholism in a way that I personally really appreciated), and also pretty much every woman in the ~supernatural community she encounters is an ex or someone she will flirt/hook up with at some point, which is an accurate representation of every irl queer space I’ve ever been part of. she dates a vampire for a while. hot morally questionable vampire lady. the vampire power structure names positions after tarot cards it’s very fun and sexy and tailored specifically toward my interests. also she lives in the same part of London as my ex-girlfriend so it’s. fun to recognize place names and be like. oh I went there on a date once huh

watching: started watching Turn A Gundam because a twitter friend recommended it as being fun and also very different then any other Gundam series and they were right on both counts. the premise of it is ‘what if a bunch of people went to live on the moon and some people stayed on earth, the moon people got real into super advanced technology and the earth people are larping the 19th century, and now the moon people want to come back’ so there’s a fun mix of visual styles. would love to see serious analytical writing on this show by someone more versed in discussing indigeneity/colonialism than me though because there are things that I’m a little bit hmmm at but I don’t know enough to be able to explain why or know if that’s the right response to have

don’t know what’s up with the dude on the left’s sunglasses but my friend has promised me the fashion choices only get weirder

I know about the ‘wow cool robots’ meme but some of the mech designs are very cool and visually distinct both from each other and from the standard blocky humanoid shape that lots of mechs are, so that’s fun to see. and they’re all different sizes too, which for me at least makes it easier to get a sense of the scale of the conflict/threat. when they’re all the same size it’s easy for me to forget they’re like 40 feet tall but when some of them are 40 feet and some of them are like 10 feet it’s a lot easier to be like. oh. oh shit. these are big and destructive and scary as hell

there are mini versions of this big mech that are like. the size of one of its feet

also there’s some fun stuff about how the way society relates to a mech and what a mech is used for can change over time, which is part of what is maybe inspiring me to get back into trying to write games, because between Turn A and the fic I was writing about Integrity Friendsatthetable I was like. hey what if a hack of The Ground Itself by Everest Pipkin, a game about a place changing over time, except instead of a place it’s a mech

playing: finished Knife of Dunwall finally! please clap! I was kinda half-expecting not to keep to low chaos in the last mission because there are so many overseers but I did it! I did do a bunch of accidentally getting into fights, killing a bunch of people, and then reloading an earlier save so I could go back and not kill those people but it’s fine. anyway. fun game, fun level once I got the hang of it, and I do feel like I accomplished something a lil bit difficult so that’s a nice feeling. definitely harder than the main game. also, very sad about Billie and gay for Delilah. she shows up just to threaten you and then disappears again, and I think that’s pretty hot of her. also love the narrative parallels of having the choice to spare Billie and then the game ending with Corvo about to decide whether to spare Daud or not. I just think that’s neat

making: made some Thai green curry last week from this recipe, which was tasty and not too hard to make, but has just enough specialty ingredients to make it a lil bit too expensive to make too often. our grocery store only ever has lemongrass when we’re looking for things that look kinda like lemongrass but aren’t, and didn’t have any when we need it so we just used extra lemongrass paste and lime juice for the lemongrass, and for the kaffir lime leaves, which we were also supposed to substitute with lemongrass but. it’s fine it was still tasty

writing: a lot somehow, although it’s been over two weeks since last time I did one of these so I guess that makes sense. I wrote a couple of things for 15 Days of Friends at the Table, including Broun, Milli, and Thisbe cottagecore roommates, Clem and Gucci bickering/flirting, and an extended dream sequence that makes me very sad about Integrity (I’m very proud of the last one, I know it has a very small target audience because Sokrates/Integrity is very much a rarepair in an already small fandom, there are 6 works in the tag, 4 of them are by me, 2 of them are by the same other person, and one of those is a gift for me so. it’s mostly just me, but I think I wrote something pretty good)

also meant to write more for Persona 5 Girls Week, although so far I’ve only written one thing, a quick fluff fic which for once requires very little knowledge of the source material. meant to write something for today’s prompt but instead I had two job interviews and then cooked dinner for my household so that probably will not happen and I will probably watch more Gundam instead

[chiwoopsie]

ohh i know what you mean!! however there's nothing like the 10 minutes of pure happiness when i'm unboxing my kpop albums 😭

wow ok so first of all I think your opinions are definitely very much unpopular!!

re: hybe; i am somewhere in between you and the majority of this fandom like i hate hybe big time but i also don't think it's all that bad like it surely has some benefits to be a part of such big corporation, however renewal came as a surprise to me if i'm being honest but i guess it's another topic

re: hao's laugh; AAAA I 200% AGREE WITH YOU nothing like hao's giggles!!! heavenly sound

ok your questions!!! so no i have never seen them perform live unfortunately, but it is a big wish of mine <3 have you?

OK BUT PERFORMANCES I'D LIKE TO SEE LIVE!!!! i'd be good with anything if i'm honest but here's a few that come to mind

who - i just simply think it's their best choreo to this day (another unpopular opinion??) i would love to see it in front of me iykwim 🥴

un haeng il chi - i love it when hhu goes feral

light a flame - no explanation needed

habit - or any other vocal unit song !!

snap shoot - or any other freshteen song but this one is just the biggest serotonin boost for me!!!

ok i really don't think i have these uhhh great visions and inspirations and ideas of what a great/fun concert would be like, i'm easy to please all you need to do is sing/perform, so i'm good with whatever as long as they're there

anyways, the game i mentioned !! it's really nothing special but: put svt's discography on shuffle and write your first impression vs current opinion on the first five songs

- 💎

omg i really hope you get the chance to see svt live someday in the future!!! just for mentioning who, un haeng il chi and habit alone!! like your 5 song setlist is FIRE and i would pay to watch that in a heartbeat and it's basically 2017 caratland 👏😂👌 I did see them once during their an ode tour, it was my last concert i went to 😭 'twas a super fun time, i remember losing my mind when they did adore u and pretty u heh

OH YOUR GAME SOUND SUPER FUN IM EXCITED

1. 24H - not as good as their previous jpn releases but following up fallin flower is a steep task anyhow, definitely a new but not totally different side of svt though -> 24H choreo makes this song period. still ranks in the middle/bottom half of their jpn songs for me tho..

2. Chuck - omgggg what a funky lil fave from the l&l album! don't really get the whole 'thumbs up' choreo they had going for this one but whatever fits i guess haha -> very nostalgic now that i'm listening to it again. Chuck isn't really my style overall, albeit one of the top tracks from this album. It fits in with their whole energetic funky debut sound (rock, ah yeah and shining diamond comes to mind)

3. Back It Up - SIREN SIREN WEEWOO WEEWOO 🚨🚨 what a banger!! -> first impression still stands but i do hafta say that back it up doesnt rank suuper high within an ode, simply bc all the songs in an ode are 10/10 but if im in a mood, alexa play back it up! also i always forget that this is a hhu song lol

4. Home; Run - confused as to why the mv concept was a heist instead of a baseball game 😔 not to mention that the song has a lot of big band jazz in there and i wish they did a musical theater concept not unlike thanks-ish -> i really want to love this song more bc i think it's the perfect song for the theater kids of kpop but it still doesnt resonate with me for some reason :(( their james corden + mama performances were ironically the perfect stages imo and helped me appreciate it more

5. Good to Me - good first impression, fits with the season/you made my dawn concept -> hate to be a party pooper AGAIN but i dont really get how hyped some folks get about good to me lmaoo like it's fine?? and the choreo is secsi for sure but yea it's just okay...full disclosure that the ymmd albums are at the bottom of my svt albums list so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[hawkland]

Dear Chocolate Box Creator

Hello and thank you for creating for me! 

For this exchange I am requesting fic for my gift, but I would always adore any art treats! (I just am terrible at coming up with art prompts most of the time, which is why it’s hard for me to specifically request them.)

For this exchange I’m giving more general prompts/likes than a lot for specific pairings - because frankly with so many pairings requested this would turn into a novel otherwise. Please just have fun and know that with most of these ships being on the rarer side, I’m thrilled to see anything new for them (minus any of my DNWs, of course ;) If I don’t have specific prompts for a ship below that doesn’t mean I would adore it any less than the other ships - my brain is just broken on coming up with new prompts for them at this point in time because I’ve been requesting them for so long :)

Do Not Wants (unless a specific exception is listed below)

A/B/O

formalized BDSM relationships and kink

pregnancy/kidfic 

permanent death or permanently disabling injury

violence/cruelty toward animals

2nd person "reader" POV 

trans or asexuality headcanons.

General likes/prompts:

For both romantic and platonic ships...

* Vacation/travel stories. Being unable to travel this past year thanks to covid-19 has me desperate to explore and live vicariously through my favorite characters! So I’d love a story involving travel to somewhere new. It could be a romantic getaway/honeymoon trip to somewhere special (and I love it when an author “takes me” to a favorite city/place of their own). Or two friends just going on an escapade together, maybe one sensing the other needs some time away from a stressful situation or workplace.

* Quarantine/life-in-2020 stories. I also enjoy stories about how characters have had to deal with self-quarantine, covid, and other related issues this year. I know many people may be sick of it, but as a health care worker myself stuck with it all for who knows how long (and missing family members overseas I can’t visit), it gives me some comfort to imagine how my favorite characters and ships are coping, too. Are they somehow stuck apart for a long period of time? Driving each other crazy cooped up at home? Discovering some new hobby or passion together? Being good emotional support for each other while dealing with distance from other family/loved ones?

* Soumates with a twist. I love soulmate/soulbond AUs, as long as it’s just not a shortcut to happily-ever-fluff. I want there to be some conflict or angst involved. For instance, I’d love seeing any “fusion” fics based off the concept of the AMC-network “Soumates” series - where there’s a scientific test a person can choose to take to find their soulmate (if the other person out there has also taken the test). That way it’s a choice to find out or not. Would an already established couple want to take the test to find out if they’re really “meant” to be together or not? What if they find out other people are their “soulmates”? What about the possibility of platonic soulmates vs romantic? Discussions for the future if/when one partner dies before the other? I’d love to see these questions played out with one of my fave ships in a happy or even somewhat angsty/dark way.

* Someone has an unexpected hobby or talent. One person has been holding out on the other about some unique interest, skill or hobby that they have. Could be anything from being a secret gourmet cook to stamp collecting - I’d just love a story about the discovery of this hidden interest, why the person never talked about it, if it’s something they could share together (or it just leaves the other person completely bewildered, aka, “You do you.”)

For romantic ships, specifically:

* Age difference dynamics.  The age gaps in a lot of my romantic ships are a plus, not a minus :) I like the general power dynamics involved in them, but generally with the twist where the younger individual is perhaps more experienced/worldly in some way than the older character (for instance, how Eleanor is so cynical and knows all about the world whereas Michael in The Good Place, despite being an immortal being around for millennia, has so much to learn about human behavior and humanity.) I’m not into formalized BDSM situations/power-play, for clarification, so it’s more of a relationship dynamic that I like, not a sexual kink.

Specific Ship Requests

Crossover Fandom

Stewart Copeland (The Police (Band))/Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) - one of my perennial favorite ships to always request. Would love any of my general prompts above.

Murdoc Niccals (Gorillaz)/Stewart Copeland (The Police (band)) - I’d love to see them meet up backstage or at an afterparty somewhere, and bonding over having their annoying lead singer/frontman “steal away” THEIR respective bands.

Murdoc Niccals (Gorillaz)/Peter Hook (New Order) - Something during the recording of “Aries”, of course! Is Murdoc jealous about having another bass player as a featured/guest artist? Have to prove who’s the one in charge? 

Lucifer (Lucifer TV)/Murdoc Niccals (Gorillaz) - “Hail, Satan!” indeed! What wouldn’t an avowed Satanist like Murdoc love about the chance to meet - and perhaps service - his hero and spiritual leader? What would (this particular) Satan think about Murdoc and some of his truly awful shenanigans?

Abe Morgan (Forever TV 2014) & John Munch (Law & Order: SVU) - I’ve had a long running headcanon that these two could have been friends back in their respective 60s/early 70s hippie days. I’d love either a story set back then, “pre-canon”, or them running into each other in NYC later in life. Munch ending up in Abe’s antique shop, for instance, while on an investigation?  

The Police

Stewart Copeland/Sting (The Police) - any of my general prompts, of course. Plus I’m always a sucker for reunion tour-era fluff, getting back together after all those years. Or something hot and sweaty set on Montserrat during the Ghost in the Machine or Synchronicity sessions.

Gorillaz

Murdoc Niccals/Stuart "2D" Pot (Gorillaz)

Murdoc Niccals & Noodle (Gorillaz)

Gorillaz is my newest obsession/fandom - and yes I know I’m like 20 years late for it. For 2Doc I would love anything angsty related to Plastic Beach/Phase 3 - I know it’s been done to death by now but it is my favorite part of the lore (and my favorite Gorillaz album). Also The Lost Chord video was so amazing...I’d love any kind of “what happens next” story set afterwards, what with 2-D saving Murdoc and all the feels that had to involve, after everything Murdoc did to 2-D on Plastic Beach.

I also adore the father/daughter dynamic between Murdoc and Noodle in phases 1 & 2...he’s such a “bad dad” but I love it. I’d love to see anything where he reacts to her giving him an unexpected gift, or just manages to warm/melt his icy bastard heart just a little bit.

Law & Order SVU

John Munch/Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (L&O: SVU) - they’re my perennial favorite request these days and I will never tire of stories about these two! Anything goes that fits my general requests or prompts!

ER

John Carter/Peter Benton (ER 1994) - I was quite excited to see this ship in the tagset, and yes, please, there needs to be more of them! I watched ER through completely for the first time a couple years ago and they were the first ship I had while doing so. The mentor/mentee dynamic is right up my alley, I loved how Peter was there with John when he needed help for his addiction, and oh, that final episode. Any little “missing scenes” between them would be so wonderful. Or, something modern day, where might they be now as a long-time established couple? Celebrating an anniversary, or perhaps taking a moment to acknowledge something less happy/lost loved ones from the past. 

The Good Place

Eleanor Shellstrop/Michael (The Good Place) - some day, some how, someone has to write some decent tentacle porn for this ship. They’d have to figure out some way to make it work with Michael in his true fire squid form. And while I’m not normally into kid/pregnancy fic, what if somehow Eleanor ends up pregnant with a half-squid half-demon baby? Yes, I know she’s dead. But somehow in this canon it has to be possible.

[tiesandtea]

A transcript of an audio interview done by David Barnett with Brett and Mat in 1998. Bits and pieces of the interview were originally included on the Head Musing promotional CD. Taken from issue 2 of Pornographic & Tragic, the official Suede fanzine (December 2004).

hello everyone it's brett here and mat from suede can you tell us a bit about the song on this CD, "implement yeah," particularly as it's quite an old song?

it was just a thing we did years ago in rehearsal. kind of messing about... we first played it in your bedroom did we? the lyrics definitely (sings) so it's probably the oldest suede thing ever that's right, on highlever road... we did it ages ago, before bernard joined i think. when me, mat and justine were just farting around doing nothing - but she's not getting a writing credit if that's what she thinks! don't send her a copy! how did justine's guest appearance at reading come about? she came to reading with us and i just said d'you fancy coming on stage and she knew the song and we just did it. you go through so many years of being sort of precious about everything you do so you get to a time when you just want to have a good time and enjoy yourself. we just did it for a laugh. you can't take everything too seriously all the time. it's not supposed to be too big a deal or anything. the other new song you played at reading, "john pong," is the only thing people will have heard of the new album. do you think it's quite representative of the record? it's actually gonna be called "he's gone." the way people heard it at reading isn't very representative of the kind of textures that we're using on this album. when we did it at reading it was quite trad, we hadn't arranged it properly it was just a song we just played it as a band in quite a traditional way. but the way it is on the album, it's quite a successful one. it's a ballad but we managed to update it. there's been reports that you've got about 20 new songs. how many of these are actually finished and how many are...? any good? we're working on a core of about 15, 16 while we're here. 5 will be b-list material. most of those 20 we've got an idea about. the whole angle of approach for this album is sort of slightly different from the ones before. what we're trying to do is let things grow in the studio a bit more. before we've always gone into the studio with preconceived ideas about what's gonna go on the album and what's gonna be b-sides and i think that's been to our detriment sometimes, we've thrown away really good stuff and i kind of want to let things grow a bit more and be a bit freer and a bit more experimental. people use the word experimental as in a style with lots of weird noises. i don't mean experimental like that but actually truly experimental as in doing something that your mind doesn't naturally arrange itself around. mat? brett's right. people are talking about a new dancey direction, or something heavily groove based. how true do you think that is? that's rubbish. every single album we do the press always has some story that manages to get the complete polar opposite of what the album's about. dog man star was supposed to be a rap album and coming up was going to be a double experimental album and you couldn't get much further from the truth. it's not dancey at all. it's not so rocky i suppose, but there are some stompers on it just cos steve's worked with a lot of dance records people assume we're going to turn into sabres of paradise. he knows his stuff. it's too one dimensional to say groovy or whatever. it's just a re-interpretation, an attempt to jog yourself out of... you know, you get into ruts when you work the same way all the time and we didn't really want to do that. why did you decide on steve osborne? he's cheap. he's very cheap! he was really into it and he's made some really good records and he was just easy to get on with. we did a couple of tracks with him, a couple of demos and they sounded really good. that's what made my mind up. we did a couple of songs before we decided to take him on and he did one, "savoir faire" that's gonna be on the album which is one of my favourite things we've ever done, i was very excited about what he managed to do with it. it's one of those songs that's in the wilderness, you're not really sure how it's gonna turn out and he just managed to get something really interesting out of it. it's good to work with new people cos you just tend to get different things out of them. you know, we've done 3 albums with ed and we had a good relationship and that, it's just good to try new things out. "feel" was the first 5-way co-write. is that jamming way of writing something you'll be doing again? we've done a couple of tracks we're working on for the album that have been jams. the whole writing process has completely changed. it's much less formulised. we'll grab hold of an idea and it doesn't really matter where it's come from. it might be simon humming a tune in the toilet, so the possibility of writing combinations are completely open. "europe is our playground" was a great success... it was a smash hit. will you be following that up? i think i've taken electric music as far as it can go. i'm going to take skiffle into strange new places... coming up was very commercial, was there any sense of deliberately trying to regain lost ground? we fancied doing it more than anything. we didn't check our bank balances or anything. you always want to make a different record from the last one we fancied making that kind of record. it's difficult to say how much is your subconscious, you know what i mean? that's the sort of record we wanted to make. we were excited about being a band again more than anything and it just came out like that. would you agree, though, that coming up achieved that, got you back on top and that now you're freer to maybe do something a bit more interesting? yeah, i suppose so. i saw it as a spring board. i do listen to it a lot though, i really enjoy it. it's probably my favourite out of the three albums. i do get a kick from listening to it. there's lots of things on the first two that i can't really listen to. i just sound like a different person really. is there a lyrical theme to the new album, what kind of things are you writing about? i'm not singing anything particularly emotional. i'm deliberately writing stuff that is kind of quite uninvolved. i don't want to be histrionic. people talk about passion and i always think that's a such misinterpretation of what passion's about. passion can be about something completely soulless and i've tried to write from quite a cold point of view. there's a couple of things on the last album which i thought lyrically were really successful. things like "she", which i thought was a really good piece of writing. it's really simple and it's really quite cold but there's something interesting about it so i'm trying to go in that direction. stuff like "europe" and "grafitti women" i like the way they're quite emotionally uninvolved. but having said that there's a couple of tear-jerkers on the album. i can never resist it. how much do you consider the influence your lyrics might have? are you trying to get across any kind of political or social commentary or is it more a case of what sounds good? it has to be a bit of both really. when you're writing if you're a musician which i am, the first thing i am, i'm a musician before i'm a lyricist. i always find it really dodgy when you can really tell that people's lyrics have been written separate to the music. i always try and just let everything flow together. the sound of the words is just as important as the meaning of the words and they're intrinsically interlinked and you can't really say one's more important than the other and that's not to say that some things, people could say oh that means that half the words you write must be flippant in a way but no, not at all. but who's to say which is more important, something to sound right or something to mean something, they've both got equal weight. it's like saying which is more important your sense of vision or your sense of hearing. it's one of those impossible questions it's really important to not concentrate on one side of things. for the song to be about what it feels like. i don't like music that's too theoretical. so what have people got to look forward to in the near future? mat? they can look forward to mat in the near future. no it's going really well. it's taking a long time like they always do. the thing is the tracks sound more different from each other than on any record we've done before. there's actually a bigger variety between the type of songs we're doing. it's all recognisably suede but there's a bigger range of songs on it. there's stuff that's like two chords and is almost just like a rhythm track and there's really complicated songs. it's quite varied. it's an unfocused lot of garbage basically. it's just a whole lot of stuff we had lying around. bits and bobs. when do we get to hear something? when the first single comes out? i hope it comes out january, february. any ideas what the first single might be? there's a song called "can't get enough" which i think is an obvious opening single which is one of my faves but you never know. like last time "trash" ended up being the first single and we never wrote that till a month before we finished recording the album. so you never know. you can't predict too far ahead...

[caravelmp3]

thank you so much @tellmama-allaboutit !!! i take any chance i get to talk about the boys lmao 

when did you discover greta van fleet?

i discovered them about this time last year! at that time i was getting into more classic rock after ignoring it for years (dumb mistake, i now know) and just wanted to branch out and find more artists similar to those i already loved. it honestly felt like it was written in the stars for me to discover them 

who is your favorite member?

josh very quickly became my favorite once i got more into the band and started looking up interviews/youtube mvs and stuff like that !! he’s just the brightest ball of love and joy, a cherub if you will, and pulled me in immediately. his power 

what lane have you almost swerved to?

oh god all of them at least once. but some more so than others. i was in jake’s lane for a few months back last year but it fizzled out and i went back to josh, but honestly??? anytime i see a picture of jake it still fucks me uppppp. when i’m in danny’s/sam’s lane i tend to just want to hug them or pinch their cheeks or cry bc they are so pretty, which comes around with any new photo of them lmao 

what was the first song you listened by them?

my first song was black smoke rising !! i had been seeing it around for so long and finally decided to give it a listen, which sparked all my love and interest for them immediately. it is still one of my favorites too and sometimes i get teary eyed and nostalgic while listening to it hahaha

favorite songs?

oh this is so hard omg because it changes with my mood. currently though, it’s when the curtain falls, because it’s such a feel good tune that i dance around my room to, edge of darkness is second, and then black smoke rising, followed by age of man !!! other favorites that deserve to be acknowledged are always there and talk on the street bc they tend to hang around my top 10 a lot 

least favorite songs?

i tend to tune out watching over a lot while listening to aotpa. it’s such a good song but i feel like the placement of it between when the curtain falls/lover, leaver is odd because i’m hyped after when the curtain falls, and then watching over tends to bring the mood down a bit before lover, leaver replaces it again. it’s in no way the worst song ever, it’s beautifully done, but just not my favorite !! 

what was your reaction when “always there” was released?

i wasn’t a fan when it was released, but MAN do i remember listening to it for the first time. i was at the dining table taking a break from homework and sat in shock when i began to listen to it - eyes watering, mouth open, that whole deal. i am such a sucker for it honestly lmao 

favorite live performances?

oh so many !!!! edge of darkness in toronto in 2018 is my definite top favorite, followed by their performance of the weight (one of my fave songs of all time) with yola in barcelona !! i also adore the white room cover @ the hollywood palladium and their snl performance of black smoke rising even though most hated it. also don’t get me started on the red rocks performance videos..... watching those is like a religious experience 

favorite music video?

ooh i would have to say age of machine is definitively my favorite, followed closely with when the curtain falls. age of machine just HITS different, and i feel like it’s so well directed and edited, making it creatively their best project yet. when the curtain falls is in there because it’s just so much fun and i love clowning josh’s sweater vest 

“my way, soon” or “age of machine”?

based purely on the excitement around it and just how much fun it is, i would have to say my way, soon !!! it was the first big thing to hit the fandom in a while and the whole lead up to it with the pictures in the mail and trying to figure it all out was a highlight. it’s just a feel good song that i feel like came at a great time + we cannot ignore the music video and how precious it is 

are you excited for “the battle at garden’s gate”?

most definitely !!! my sweatshirt just shipped out today too so it just adds to the excitement of it all. i am looking forward to the new singles & all the cryptic things that will surely come with it, and it will be the first album i am present in the fandom for, so it makes it a little sweeter :’) 

tagging (but you don’t have to take part): @sunshinesinhereyes @edgeofgreta @mrd-k3 

[hazzasgayvodka]

can you do an imagine where famous!y/n and harry just went public and everyone is freaking out about them and how amazing they look together:) also happy birthday!

“You ready for this?” Harry asks, the smile on his face the biggest you’ve ever seen, “The single’s out at midnight.” 

You let him wrap his arms around you from behind, leaning his head on your shoulder. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t nervous, releasing a song featuring your big famous boyfriend that no one knows about. It started as a joke, just a regular day in the studio recording your second album when Harry, who was notoriously bored if he wasn’t helping out in some way, grabs the Stratocaster out of the corner and starts strumming a few chords. He looks over at Mitch who is still standing behind the glass and nods his head over to the drum kit, urging Mitch to hop on it. 

You couldn’t help but shake your head laughing as Mitch pushes his way through the door to the studio and all of the guys standing in front of the sound board on the other side of the glass throw their hands up in frustration. 

“Get me a four on the floor going man.” Harry grins, grabbing your acoustic guitar and handing it to you. 

“Harry, what are you-”

“A minor,” He says, cutting you off as you throw the guitar strap over your shoulder, “Stay on it for four counts, switch to D minor on the one.” 

You do as he says, positioning your fingers and strumming along, falling into the beat with Mitch while Harry readjusts the strap on his shoulder, nodding his head along to the beat before coming in strong with a very familiar riff. He’s playing Miss You by The Rolling Stones, one of your favorites. 

Mitch is shaking his head as Harry stumbles over the notes in the riff a couple of times before locking them in and getting the strumming pattern down. You look up and notice the guys behind the soundboard don’t look too enraged anymore, instead they’re smiling and the recording sign is glowing red. 

“You ready baby?” Harry smirks, nodding to the mic in front of you, “You’re in first.” 

“I’m what?” You laugh just as he nods to you and Mitch and counts you in. 

“Come on y/n, ready, and one, two, three, four!” 

The little jam session Harry had started to get your mind off the album for a couple minutes turned into a full duet cover of the song. As soon as you opened your mouth to start singing and he came in with the lower harmony, the guys in the booth were shouting for you guys to keep going. 

You had fun with it and so did he. He was dancing around the studio, bopping his head around and sharing your mic with you to sing the little adlib riffs of ‘ooh, ooh, hoo, ooh, ooh, hoo, ooh’ every time they came back around. Mitch eventually hopped on the guitar to show Harry how it’s done, playing the notes of the riff fluidly and effortlessly before adding a sick guitar solo to the end. The entire track was finished by the end of the day and your manager was almost begging you and Harry to put it out as early publicity for your album. 

This was the first time you’d ever done something together for the public. You hadn’t planned on announcing your relationship for quite some time but with the way the media is, Harry knew what the tabloids were going to say whether you two confirmed it or not. Harry wanted people to hear it from him, not some dicey article online, but you were still wary. What were his fans going to think? The first time they ever hear about you being with Harry and you’re already releasing a song featuring him. How is that going to look? They’re gonna think you’re in it for the money or the fame just like what they say about the rest of them, you’ve read enough tweets to know how they feel about the women who get linked to Harry Styles. 

“I don’t know, Harry.” You say nervously, your stomach twisting in the worst way. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” He asks, suddenly serious as he spins you around in his arms and meets your eyes with his own, “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m just thinking about what everyone’s going to…” You sigh, letting your sentence trail off, “Never mind, don’t worry about it.”

You pull away from him to walk back to the bathroom and worry about this in solace, not wanting to drag him down with you since he seems so excited about your big debut as a couple. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” He calls, grabbing your hand and pulling you back to him, “What’s going on, love? I thought you were excited about this.” 

You want to lie and tell him that everything’s fine, but you know he’ll see right through you when he’s staring at you like that, his eyes drilling into yours. You hang your head on your shoulders, staring down at your shoes but he grabs your chin and tilts your head back up to face him. 

“Baby, I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” He murmurs, moving his hand from your chin to cup your cheek instead. 

“I just don’t know if I can do this,” You shrug weakly, “I don’t know if I can be the Harry Styles’ girlfriend.” 

“While I’m appreciative of the ego boost,” He teases, tucking your hair behind your ear, “I’m just as nervous about being the y/n y/l/n‘s boyfriend.”

You shove him off, rolling your eyes, “Don’t even, Harry.” 

“I am!” He laughs, “What if your fans hate me? I’m some old news boy band guy and you’re like the hot new shit topping the charts, you’re like a rock goddess y/n.” 

You can’t stop the heat creeping up your neck and flushing your cheeks pink. You know your face is as red as a tomato as you shake your head, trying to hide your beaming smile from him. 

“I am not,” You sigh, “You’re Harry Styles, if anyone should be worried about fans, it should be me, they’re going to tear me to shreds Harry-”

“You think?” He smirks, taking out his phone, “Let’s find out then, huh?” 

“What do you mean? What are you-”

You’re cut off as he holds up his phone and kisses your cheek just as the flash goes off. You gasp in surprise, squeezing your eyes shut and laughing as he attacks your cheek with kisses. You look over at his phone to see the picture, his puckered mouth pressed against your cheek and you laughing hysterically. It’s absolutely adorable and you can feel another blush creeping onto your cheeks when you notice his giant smile as he opens Twitter. 

“Harry.” You warn.

“Midnight. Miss You cover with my girlfriend, the one and only y/n y/l/n. All the love as always, H.” He reads along as he types, attaching the picture and hitting Tweet. 

“Harry, no! What did you-”

“Look,” He says, shoving his phone in your hands, “They’re so cute, can’t wait, she’s so pretty.” He reads, scrolling through the hundreds of replies already flooding his account. 

Can’t believe my two faves are dating AHHHH

MISS YOU? AND Y/N?? HE WANTS US DEAD

oh my god guys he looks so happy I love her already

can y/n drop her skincare routine ??

You can’t help but laugh as you continue reading through a couple of the replies. You can feel Harry’s eyes on you, staring at you while you scroll. You finally look up to match his gaze and he smiles, taking you in his arms. 

“See?” He asks, taking his phone back and slipping it in his pocket, “I told you they were gonna love you.” 

Suddenly your phone is buzzing out of control in your pocket and you realize that your followers must have gotten wind of your new relationship status. You take out your phone and toss it onto his desk, letting it buzz away while you grab his face in your hands and pull him to you, sealing your lips to his. 

By the time midnight rolls around, the nerves have started to creep back in but for an entirely different reason. You could tell Harry was a little nervous too, he would never admit to it but you could see him picking at his bottom lip as he scrolls on his computer. 

“Five minutes.” He calls over his shoulder, his knee bouncing underneath his desk. 

You get up from the couch and pad over to him, placing your hands on his shoulders and gently massaging the skin between his shoulder blades. He sighs in relief as you do so, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“They’re gonna love it Harry.” You assure him, leaning down to peck his cheek. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” He sighs, sitting back upright, “What about your fans? What do they think of me?”

“They love you Harry,” You smile, loosely draping your arms around his shoulders and leaning against his back, “Everyone’s had good things to say.” 

“What kinds of things?” He smirks, clearly fishing for compliments. 

You look over at the computer as the page refreshes and suddenly your single is live, “Harry, look!” You grin, pointing at his laptop. 

He turns around quickly and smiles, pressing play and instantly nodding his head along to the track. Your phone starts buzzing in your pocket and you take it out to see half a dozen twitter and Instagram notifications coming in. 

You start to scroll through what everyone has to say just as Harry reaches out and snatches the phone straight out of your hand. He points your phone at the small mirror on the desk you use for doing your makeup and you lean forward, reaching around him to try and grab it. He holds it further away and just before he can snap another picture of the two of you, you cover his eyes with your hands. He puts up a peace sign and takes the picture anyway. You stand up straight, looking over his shoulder to see the selfie of the two of you in the reflection of the mirror and smile. He opens your Instagram and chooses the photo, typing a quick caption and pressing share. He turns around and hands your phone back to you with a big cheeky grin on his face. 

“What are you up to now, Styles?” You laugh, looking at your most recent post. 

@y/n: hackstagram 

You look up at him and he’s still grinning, clearly proud of his work. You shake your head and turn back to your phone in your hand but he sighs, taking it back and tossing it onto the desk. 

“Can we worry about what people think tomorrow?” He asks, taking your hands in his, “I want to go out and celebrate,” He smiles, “In public, with my girlfriend.”

I promise I tried lmao also thank you for the happy birthday :)

[fleetwooded]

talk about music!!!!!! gimme the whole top ten, then i also want 22, 44, and 88!!

THANK YOU FOR ENABLING ME STEPH!!! this ended up predictably long-winded, so here is the list, and you can click through to read how i feel about all these songs if you want to. if you’re on mobile, and have to scroll through, i’m so sorry. 

1. why, fleetwood mac2. from the dining table, harry styles3. home, one direction4. animal, troye sivan5. i’m yours, pixie geldof6. ambitions, donkeyboy7. bring it on home to me, sam cooke8. bad (live), U29. american tune, paul simon10. 1950, king princess

22. everywhere, fleetwood mac44. trouble, lindsey buckingham88. border, years & years

ask me about my favourite music of the year! 

1. why, fleetwood mac - this is ZERO PERCENT a surprise, i think i’ve fallen asleep to this song every night for the past three years. it is one of my favourite fleetwood songs even though it’s a real niche one - the final track off mystery to me, which is uhhh not one of their more popular albums. but a) i am very fond of the awkward post-peter green pre-lindsey/stevie albums, b) christine mcvie gets paid DUST by everyone, but she is an incredible songwriter with an incredible voice, and really held the band afloat during that era, and c) this song is so gentle and beautiful and i could never ever get tired of listening to it. i’m obsessed with the extended guitar opening, which keeps you waiting for the piano to kick in for ages and makes you instinctively listen more closely to the guitar throughout the whole song. also the lyric well, my heart will rise up with the morning sun / and the hurt I feel will simply melt away is such a beautiful and clearly expressed sentiment. and when those strings come out from the back of the arrangement just before the last stanza!! ugh i love this song.

2. from the dining table, harry styles - honestly this is only so high up because it is one of the other two songs on my sleep playlist and therefore gets played every day lmao. i will say that this is pretty much the only song of his where the studio version is better than the live version, and therefore the only one i regularly listen to after going to his concert bc i don’t resentfully compare it to the live experience. that harmony on the third maybe someday you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too and the strings in that whole section make the entire song worth it. 

3. home, one direction - lol i always say that my favourite 1d song is walking in the wind, but it’s really this one. i was in a very small, l*arry-free corner of the fandom when this came out, so it never had those associations for me, and i just think it’s a very warm and beautiful song and i DO NOT understand why it was not on the album. i also used to listen to it every morning back when i had to walk to work at 4:30am (in the winter! when it was pitch black and i lived in a not-so-great area!), and it was very very comforting to me, so listening to it always sparks that feeling of comfort, like being wrapped up tight in a warm blanket.

4. animal, troye sivan - the last song on my sleep playlist, and one of the best songs off his new album imo. my favourite kind of song is the kind where you can put on big headphones, get on a bus or train, close your eyes, press play, and just have an experience. it’s unquantifiable! everyone’s mileage will vary! you either feel it, or you don’t! but i really really feel it with this one, especially on the second verse. it’s such a stripped back song, but has this rich sonic landscape that just pulls you in if you let it. 

5. i’m yours, pixie geldof - ugh, this album was such a huge and exciting discovery for me this year. i had no idea she made music until i heard woman go wild on one of nick grimshaw’s insta stories and looked it up, and then i listened to her album over and over and over again for months and developed a massive, useless celebrity crush on her. it’s a little bit derivative, definitely nothing groundbreaking, but so perfectly matched to my sensibilities and so endlessly listenable. i also find it very satisfying to hear something and instantly know it’s going to be your new favourite thing, and then get to prove yourself right. i usually listen to the album all the way through, so i don’t think about the specific songs too much, but if i had to pick a favourite, it would be this one!

6. ambitions, donkeyboy - i’m pretty sure i found this song because it was referenced in a fic lmao? if that is the case, a million thank yous to whoever wrote that, because i never would have come across it otherwise. it’s a collaboration between a 2000s norwegian synthpop band and a girl whose only other resume builder was finishing in seventh place on norwegian idol. but it is a BOP, and a bop with a strong emotional drive, which is the best kind. the lyric I can't tolerate / the feelings that I feel when I feel is another one i spend the whole song waiting for. 

7. bring it on home to me, sam cooke - another song i have been listening to for years and years and never tire of. when my best friend moved out of her parents’ house, she said that the only reason she wanted her own place was so she could sit in her living room and play this song on a turntable. she did play it, often, because she only owned a few records for the longest time, so listening to it always brings me back to curling up on her couch and talking and talking while she made me dinner in her tiny and dark but beautiful home. 

8. bad (live), U2 - god i love this song. i think i have talked about it on here before, so i won’t go on and on, but i LOVE this song. tbh i have never actually listened to the album version of this song, and maybe it is just as good, but i really love live albums - when they can capture the spirit and energy and RISK of a live concert, they feel so electric. anything could go wrong at any moment when music is being played live, or it could go SO right, and the artist and crowd could feed off each other’s energy until the whole venue feels alive, and the music could take on a whole new artistic life. idk what exactly it is, but i feel all that potential in this song. it’s eight glorious minutes of that electricity, and every time you think it’s peaked, it just keeps going and reaches new heights. my favourite is the bit where bono just belts out the words desperation, dislocation, separation, condemnation, isolation, desolation, isolation, let it go like a cry out into the universe. i think about it so often. sometimes i also want to just stand in front of a crowd and yell ISOLATION, DESOLATION. i feel that live music can often feel like a purging, or a cleansing, or a transformation - like singing about these feelings of profound misery or pain or anger with a crowd of people who also feel those feelings can reshape them into something joyful and exultant instead.

9. american tune, paul simon - damn, this really was a melancholic year!! this is another of my go-to comfort songs when i am feeling those lost feelings. i listened to it a lot in the winter, and again this fall, and related a little too much to the bits about being so far away from home. it’s got this sense of deep weariness in its lyrics and structure that i like listening to when i am very tired and want to commiserate. the drums leading up to the and I dreamed I was dying are my favourite musical moment, but my favourite lyric is the ending, with: tomorrow's going to be another working day / and I'm trying to get some rest / that's all I'm trying to get some rest.

10. 1950, king princess - honestly, introducing me and the world to king princess is the best thing harry did all year. first of all, it’s truly remarkable how much cultural power he has - not that this song wouldn’t have been successful without him, but literally every write-up and interview mentions him tweeting the lyrics as a mark of approval that propelled her into the public eye. it’s also just an incredibly well crafted song, and i’m endlessly impressed by her talent. to write and perform a song like this at her age is no small feat, and i’m very glad she’s ended up getting the attention she has. i got to see her live this summer with my sister and a few of our friends, and she was every bit as commanding and magnetic as i would have imagined. 

22. everywhere, fleetwood mac - another all time favourite!! at my work this summer, my boss was a very cool woman who played in a very cool all-female punk band. we got along tremendously, except for that she had NO patience for me constantly playing what she referred to as “mom rock.” this one is the only fleetwood mac song she liked, so i would just play it over and over and we would delight in that shimmery little intro. when i was closing, i would put it on just as the sun went down enough to shine right through the big windows at the front of the store, and it feels good to know that i am going to listen to it years from now and remember that summer and that sun.

44. trouble, lindsey buckingham - my fave song of his, except maybe never going back again. i really like this whole album, but this song is another one i just want to burrow inside because it feels so rich and dense. i feel like i have nothing to say about him that hasn’t already been said - he’s a massively underrated guitarist, and a great songwriter, and i just love listening to him play.

88. border, years & years - a fantastic song off a fantastic album. i’m ngl i was a little disappointed by their sophomore album, so i just kept listening to this one. also brings me back to great memories of seeing them live and the catharsis of yelling my heart, it will start to shine / and I will be alright with a whole crowd of people. live music is magic!!

if anyone made it here, thank you for reading. i love year-in-reviews. it feels good to take stock of a year and try to put all the little moments and periods of time in order and make some sense out of them. i also love music, and it feels good to sit down and listen to my most listened to songs with new ears and try to remember or figure out why i listened to them so often. it’s been a long, hard, tumultuous year, but my relationship with music has really flourished, and stuff like this feels like nurturing that love.

[jaceyourself]

End of Year Wrap-Up 24/12/2018

Happy Merry to all you readers!

I’ve had a great year but all us music fans have had an even better one! Streaming services mean that now more than ever we can experience the musical output from all corners of the globe (though overwhelmingly the English-speaking parts of it) to understand different points of view, learn of the goings on in other parts of the world and most importantly indulge ourselves in a bit of a boogie. All the moods, genres and feels you could think of are out there, so over the holiday period perhaps try and listen to something new. Who knows it might break the tension with that younger/older relative round the xmas table when you find they also happen to like k-pop/jazz-funk/grindcore or at the very least you can bicker about the tragedy of the current album charts (Greatest Showman: 21 weeks!). To aid you in your quest for knowledge/excitement/small-talk I have spent almost 30 minutes curating a best-of for both albums and singles in the year of 2018. 

(NB even with my album-a-day policy, there’s no way I can get through everything I want to within the 365, so if your fave appears ignored, let it be known that I probably haven’t heard it yet. The full list of everything I’ve listened to this year is at the bottom)

So in no particular order:

Albums 

Jinx Lennon- Grow A Pair!!!

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

The Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Mount Eerie- Now Only

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Singles

Confidence Man- Out The Window

Cardi B- I Like It

Janelle Monae ft. Grimes- Pynk

Lori McKenna- People Get Old

SOPHIE- Immaterial

Marie Davidson- Work It

Car Seat Headrest- Stop Smoking (We Love You)

BLACKPINK- AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST

The 1975- It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

https://open.spotify.com/user/jaceyourself/playlist/1kFex3QLVv0l3cCqjVC6dT?si=_GqTJXrOSoSXYaMC9ra_lg

Have a great festive period and I’ll see you in 2019 :D

2018 Albums what I listened to

Floating Points- Reflections – Mojave Desert

James Elkington- Wintres Woma

Miguel- War & Leisure

Ride- Weather Diaries

Sidney Gish- No Dogs Allowed

Emperor X- The Orlando Sentinel, Oversleepers International

Broken Social Scene- Hug of Thunder

MC5- Kick Out The Jams (Live)

Public Service Broadcasting- Every Valley

JJ Doom- Key to the Kuffs

HAIM- Something To Tell You

Camila Cabello- Camila

Sheer Mag- Need To Feel Your Love

Taylor Swift- reputation

Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines

This Is The Kit- Moonshine Freeze

Japanese Breakfast- Soft Sounds From Another Planet

Tune-Yards- I can feel you creep into my private life

Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic

Various Artists- The Passion Of Charlie Parker

Waxahatchee- Out In The Storm, Great Thunder

Offa Rex- The Queen Of Hearts

Dizzee Rascal- Raskit

Alvvays- Antisocialites

Childhood- Universal High

Marmozets- Knowing What You Know Now

Declan McKenna- What Do You Think About the Car?

Paul Heaton- Crooked Calypso

Lana Del Rey- Lust For Life

Charles Lloyd New Quartet- Passin’ Thru (Live)

Rip Rig & Panic- Circa Rip Rig + Panic

Avey Tare- Eucalyptus

Justin Timberlake- Man Of The Woods

Rio Mira- Marimba del Pacifico

Oddisee- The Iceberg

Aimee Mann- Mental Illness

Katie Von Schleicher- Shitty Hits

Arcade Fire- Everything Now

Girl Ray- Earl Grey

Ezra Furman- Transangelic Exodus

Randy Newman- Dark Matter

Dead Cross- Dead Cross

Chronixx- Chronology

Mondo Cozmo- Plastic Soul

Kesha- Rainbow

Lal & Mike Waterson- Bright Phoebus

Steve Reich- Pulse / Quartet

Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng

Ratboy- SCUM

Prince- Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times

Stanley Cowell- No Illusions

Oneohtrix Point Never- Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Downtown Boys- Cost Of Living

Screaming Females- All At Once

Rob Luft- Riser

Sibusile Xaba- Open Letter To Adoniah

Jen Cloher- Jen Cloher

Everything Everything- Fever Dream

Grizzly Bear- Painted Ruins

Bob’s Burgers- The Bob’s Burgers Music Album

Superorganism- Superorganism

Maren Morris- HERO

Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life, May Your Kindness Remain

Stefflon Don- Real Ting Mixtape

Ghostpoet- Dark Days + Canapés

Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too, Cocoa Sugar

Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf

Thurst- Cut to the Chafe

John Moreland- Big Bad Luv

Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism [Piano Solo]

Mount Eerie- Now Only

The War On Drugs- A Deeper Understanding

Various Artists- Pop Makossa

Liane Carroll- The Right to Love

Fickle Friends- You Are Someone Else

Nadine Shah- Holiday Destination

Various Artists- Howsla

George Ezra- Staying at Tamara’s

The Doors- The Doors

Filthy Friends- Invitation

Susanne Sundfør- Music For People In Trouble

LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, American Dream

Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun

Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour

The National- High Violet, Sleep Well Beast

The Klezmatics- Wonder Wheel

Hercules & Love Affair- Omnion

Mount Kimbie- Love What Survives

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Matthew Bourne- Isotach

Finished- Cum Inside Me Bro

Forced Into Femininity- I’m Making Progress

Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion

Hamell On Trial- TACKLE BOX

Confidence Man- Confident Music For Confident People

Swet Shop Boys- Cashmere

Princess Nokia- 1992 Deluxe, A Girl Cried Red

Steely Dan- The Royal Scam, Aja

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Nonagon Infinity

Sparks- Hippopotamus

J. Cole- KOD

Fat Tony- Macgregor Park

L’Orange and Jeremiah Jae- The Night Took Us In Like Family

Little Simz- Stillness In Wonderland

Lady Leshurr- Queen’s Speech

RAY BLK- Durt

Brand New- Science Fiction

Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Talk Tight

Fred Thomas- Changer

Myra Davies- Sirens

Laraaji- Sun Gong

The Killers- Wonderful Wonderful

Descendents- Milo Goes To College

Frank Turner- Be More Kind

The Horrors- V

Moses Sumney- Aromanticism

Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People…, AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Oxbow- Thin Black Duke

Dee Byrne’s Entropi- Moment Frozen

Mike Stern- Trip

The Vampires- The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

Gogol Bordello- Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, Super Taranta!, Seekers And Finders

Umphrey’s McGee- Zonkey

Hard Working Americans- We’re All in This Together

Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel

Jllin- Black Origami

Various Artists- Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa

Wolf Alice- Visions Of A Life

The Young’uns- Strangers

Fever Ray- Fever Ray, Plunge

CHVRCHES- Love Is Dead

Oumou Sangaré- Oumou, Mogoya

Charlotte Gainsbourg- Rest

Daniel Avery- Song For Alpha

Daphni- Joli Mai

Kanye West- ye

Cécile McLorin Salvant- Dreams and Daggers

Trio Da Kali, Kronos Quartet- Ladilikan

Kelela- Take Me Apart

Bob Dylan- The Times.., Another.., Bringing.., Highway.., Blond.., John.., Nashville.., New.., Blood..

Lily Allen- Alright(,) Still, It’s Not Me(,) It’s You, Sheezus, No Shame

Fanfare Ciocarlia- 20

Wolf Parade- Cry Cry Cry

SOPHIE- OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Zara McFarlane- Arise

St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION

Margo Price- All American Made

Bebe Rexha- Expectations

Motörhead- Under Cöver

Orchestre Les Mangelepa- Last Band Standing

Drake- Scorpion

Various Artists- Gentle Giants: The Songs Of Don Williams

Noga Erez- Off The Radar

Baxter Dury- Prince of Tears

John Maus- Screen Memories

Lankum- Between the Earth and Sky

Shamir- Revelations

Years & Years- Palo Santo

Converge- The Dusk In Us

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino- Canzoniere

Fred Hersch- Open Book

A. Savage- Thawing Dawn

Big Thief- Capacity

Kelly Clarkson- Meaning Of Life

Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose

Robt Sarazin Blake- Recitative

Shed Seven- Instant Pleasures

Spinning Coin- Permo

Call Super- Arpo

Laura Perrudin- Poisons & antidotes

Ellen Andrea Wang- Blank Out

Lori McKenna- The Tree

Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Lee Ronaldo- Electric Trim

Deer Tick- Vol. 2

The Paranoid Style- Underworld U.S.A.

Youssou N’Dour- Set, Joko- From Village To Town, Nothing’s In Vain, Seeni Valeurs

Gaika- BASIC VOLUME

Kasai Allstars- Around Felicite

Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- Who Built The Moon?

Anna Ternheim- All the Way to Rio

U2- Songs of Experience

Mônica Vasconcelos- The São Paulo Tapes

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Nabihah Iqbal- Weighing of the Heart

Van Morrison- Versatile

Jim James- Tribute to 2

Criolo- Espiral de Ilusão

Maciej Obara Quartet- Unloved

N.E.R.D- NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

Maryam Saleh- Lekhfa

Naomi Bedford- Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me

Jens Lekman- Night Over Kortedala

The Spirit of the Beehive- pleasure suck

Tom Rogerson- Finding Shore

Paul Jacobs- Pictures(,) Movies and Apartments

Ariana Grande- sweetener

Rina Sawayama- RINA

Marcel Khalife- Andalusia of Love

Gunter Hampel- Bounce (Live at Theater Gütersloh)

BAYNK- Someone’s EP

Omar Souleyman- To Syria(,) With Love

Blood Orange- Negro Swan

Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

First Aid Kit- Ruins

Shame- Songs of Praise

Homeboy Sandman- Veins

Playboi Carti- Playboi Carti

Eminem- Kamikaze

Troye Sivan- Blue Neighbourhood, BLOOM

Joey Bada$$- ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$

Priests- Nothing Feels Natural

Rhiannon Giddens- Freedom Highway

King Krule- The OOZ

Django Django- Marble Skies

Bon Iver- For Emma(,) Forever Ago

Calexico- The Thread That Keeps Us

Mary Gauthier- Rifles & Rosary Beads

Hookworms- Microshift

Aphex Twin- Collapse EP

Rae Morris- Someone Out There

Field Music- Open Here

Rhye- Blood

Shopping- The Official Body

MGMT- Little Dark Age

Christine and the Queens- Chris

Alela Diane- Cusp

Sonic Youth- Sister

Brigid Mae Power- The Two Worlds

Deafheaven- Sunbather

Various Artists- American Epic: The Collection Disc 1, 2, 3

Rich Krueger- Life Ain’t That Long

Lil Wayne- Tha Carter V

Modern Mal- The Misanthrope Family Album

Rejjie Snow- Dear Annie

U.S. Girls- In a Poem Unlimited

The Orielles- Silver Dollar Moment

Tal National- Tantabara

Marie Davidson- Working Class Woman

Superchunk- What a Time to Be Alive

Brandi Carlile- By The Way(,) I Forgive You

Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy

Loma- Loma

Quavo- QUAVO HUNCHO

Marlon Williams- Make Way For Love

Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap

Insecure Men- Insecure Men

Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther

Rapsody- Lalia’s Wisdom

Khalid- Suncity

Tracey Thorn- Record

Anna von Hausswolff- Dead Magic

Jinx Lennon- Grow a Pair!!!

Gwenno- Le Kov

Judas Priest- Stained Class, FIREPOWER

Robyn- Robyn, Body Talk, Honey

The Magic Gang- The Magic Gang

Essaie Pas- New Path

Bob Dylan and The Band- The Basement Tapes

The Decemberists- I’ll Be Your Girl

Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

BCUC- Emakhosini (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness)

Jack White- Boarding House Reach

Yo La Tengo- There’s A Riot Going On

Sidi Touré- Toubalbero

Lil Peep- Come Over When You’re Sober(,) Pt. 2

The Breeders- All Nerve

The Vaccines- Combat Sports

CZARFACE- Czarface Meets Metal Face

Laurence Pike- Distant Early Warning

Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band- Bone Reader

Leo Kalyan- The Edge

Hayley Kyoko- Expectations

Tristen- Sneaker Waves

Thelonious Monk- Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana- Mehliana: Taming The Dragon

Amy Rigby- Til The Wheels Fall Off, Little Fugitive, The Old Guys

BLACKPINK- BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA

Rose Cousins- Natural Conclusion

Nora Jane Struthers- Champion

Lilly Hiatt- Trinity Lane

The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, Aftermath

MAST- Thelonious Sphere Monk

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Jhene Aiko- Trip

Don Bryant- Don’t Give up on Love

EMA- Exile in the Outer Ring

Small Believer- Anna Tivel

Vera Sola- Shades

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers- Years

Goat Girl- Goat Girl

Vic Mensa- HOOLIGANS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food

Alasdair Roberts, Amble Scuse & David McGuiness- What News

Kali Uchis- Isolation

Wye Oak- The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Migos- Culture II

Hinds- I Don’t Run

DRINKS- Hippo Lite

Alexis Taylor- Beautiful Thing

Jenny Wilson- EXORCISM

[arashikurobara]

10 Albums I Loved in 2018

2018 was the year I finally, finally started just listening to a whole bunch of music again, admittedly in good part (but not all!) spurred by getting super into one band, and then listening to members' other work, and influences.

But since I've gone from really enjoying branching out to trying to even more by doing stuff this year like switching back over to Spotify for my at-work listening and already found a bunch of stuff I'm loving even within the past week, I figured I'd make a post with 10 of my favorite new-to-me discoveries from just that last few months of 2018, and maybe use this as a jumping-off point for 2019 and beyond!

While this is nominally an album recommendations list, pretty much everything here is more of an artist recommendation where I picked one favorite album to share—there's a couple that only have the one album and a couple where I haven't gotten around to listening to more yet.

OK Go, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky [Youtube] - [Spotify]

So I know I've made an OK Go music videos masterpost, because their videos are what they's famous for, I love these guys so, so much even just straight up as a band. I really regret letting them fall off my radar and not even really looking into them much back when they were. It's so hard to pick my favorite album of theirs, but I think it's gotta be this one. Please listen to my beloved nerds.

(The live album, 180/365, would also make a very good jumping-off point though. It's heavy on stuff from this album since that was the current album at the time but it's still got a solid selection from Oh No and the… one… song off the self-titled debut that they still do a fair bit (without shenanigans).

Secret Dakota Ring, Do Not Leave Baggage All the Way [Youtube] - [Spotify]

So this was the solo project of OK Go lead guitarist/keyboardist Andy Ross before he joined the band. (He also put out a second album, Cantarell a few years after joining the band, between their albums.) It's got a couple tracks I'm not that into (a couple that are mostly monologue/speech clips from stuff that are interlude-y and one actual song that leaves me flat) but even those feel mostly coherent as part of the total package and everything else I love a ton even just on their own merits, and I think this album might be my single favorite discovery this year outside of OK Go's work as an entire band.

Pyyramids, Brightest Darkest Day [Youtube*] - [Spotify]

*The Youtube playlist absolutely used to exist but it straight up disappeared last time the auto-generated album playlists updated

This is the other OK Go-adjacent band I checked out because we know I'm always on my bullshit; it's a side project between albums of bassist Tim Nordwind with a vocalist from another band (note to self: I really should remember to check out He Say/She Say at some point). I wish I had more to say about it, I don't find myself listening to it quite as much as the Secret Dakota Ring albums but I do like it a lot or else it wouldn't be here. (I'm not so on my bullshit I'm gonna tell you all to check out something I don't actually like a ton!)

Pixies, Surfer Rosa [Youtube] - [Spotify]

Pro tip: a really good way to find media you might like is by checking out things the people who make stuff you already like like. (Primarily when working within the same type of media, like, say, your favorite band's favorite bands, since then it's likely to have actually influenced their work, but if you find out your tastes line up in some other sphere then that's also great!)

Surfer Rosa vs. Doolittle seems to be the eternal question; while it loses a little for not having "Debaser" I think this one wins out for me personally. (I'd also like to give some brownie points to Bossanova if only for that opening track though.)

Depeche Mode, Some Great Reward [Youtube] - [Spotify]

No, this isn't Violator, and yes, that's probably heresy. But while the songs I'm particularly into are spread pretty evenly across the span from this to Songs of Faith and Devotion, I think this is the Depeche Mode album where the average hits highest for me.

But anyway, I'd been meaning to try out a decent amount of new wave for a while, and when Youtube recommendations started serving me up some Depeche Mode, I figured I'd give them a whirl, and I came out really happy for it.

Muse, Simulation Theory [Youtube*] - [Spotify]

*The Youtube playlist seems to have a very hard time keeping the [super] deluxe version remixes versus the regular versions straight, so there's some missing and some duplicates

Y'ALL. MUSE IS GOOD AGAIN.

Okay it's probably an exaggeration to imply they were ever truly bad, but the two previous albums were kind of underwhelming to me (though not without highlights!), and most of my friends who like them seem to agree. But goddamn this was a triumphant return to form. And the super deluxe edition has remixes/alternate arrangements of nearly every song, so this is more like the best two Muse albums in at least a decade.

All Hail the Silence, AHTS-001 [Spotify]

This one's cheating a little bit—it's an EP, not an album, and I actually did listen to it once back in 2016 when it released. But at the time, everything but "Looking Glass" left me feeling pretty unsatisfied, and that particular track had come out back in 2012 and had me excited for years waiting for more, so kind of left it alone for years in disappointment. But recently the other few songs have grown on me a lot, so now I'm really looking forward to ‡ (read "Daggers"), which comes out… oh, this Friday.

The Slow Readers Club, Cavalcade [Spotify]

These guys are the major competition for Do Not Leave Baggage All the Way in "favorite discovery other than OK Go last year", I think it's too close to call. In probably one of the weirder ways to pick up music, I actually checked this band out off a retweet from Bands FC, a twitter account that mashes up bands with soccer team logos, when they put out a new video, and I was into their sound pretty much instantly. But while last year's album Build a Tower is great I think I might be even a little more into this one from a few years back. And maybe the word gets spread we can eventually get some tour dates outside the UK someday. =P

(And in another instance of "yo, check out the things your faves like", one of my favorite new-to-me bands this year already I picked up off a retweet their lead singer made this past weekend.)

Thank You Scientist, Stranger Heads Prevail [Youtube] - [Spotify]

So apparently TieTuesday popped this album on as background music on stream one night. While I missed that particular stream, the sheer volume of people the next day thanking him for introducing them to it got me to pop it on the next day at work. Turns out prog rock with some brass is a sound I, too, am in favor of? (Also they apparently formed pretty close to where a couple of my friends live, which is neat trivia.)

Band-Maid, World Domination [Youtube] - [Spotify]

I feel like most of the people following me probably already know about Japan's girls metal band boom, but it's a very real thing, and it's not just Babymetal! But this was another band I found through Youtube recs and I'm pretty into it even though I thought I wasn't that into metal.

(I've also really liked the few Cyntia tracks I've checked out even besides the not-very-metal "Akatsuki no Hana", and Doll$Boxx shades into metal a bit. Maybe I just like a real specific subset of metal?)