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i-am-the-oyster · 20 days ago

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ALBUMS

Where's The Beef?

According to the man himself, Paul can bash out a song in the time it takes Linda to whip up a soyasome supper. But is this necessarily a good thing?

By Chris Ingham. Illustration by Richard Camps.

Paul McCartney

Flaming Pie PARLOPHONE

McCartney sans band again. Self-penned, played and produced, apart from contributions by Jeff Lynne, Ringo Starr, Steve Miller and son James McCartney.

I'VE STOPPED TRYING TO JUSTIFY LOVING solo McCartney. Of course some of the work of the last 27 years has been slack and misjudged. Yes, his trust in stream-of-consciousness and the inspiration of the moment ("If you're working too hard on something, it probably means its not very good") has left a catalogue with at least as much eccentric, cavalier material as substantial. But if you respond to someone, you respond. A lot of minor McCartney means as much to me as the major. The aloof will sigh; we expect more from a pop giant.

But there is more - the gargantuan Liverpool Oratorio has its moments, his minimalist-impressionist chamber piano piece A Leaf is a charmer, the forthcoming Standing Stones symphony is an intriguing prospect - it's just that these days, pop is only part of what he does. In pop, he's changed the world already, he's had his purple patch, and he hasn't had another genius to run his new songs by for quite a while; that can do things to a man's quality control.

However, though less spectacularly ambitious than the serious work, there is much to be enjoyed here. The indisputable melodic flair, the uplifting, doe-eyed optimism, the daft rockers, all here on Flaming Pie, an album in the McCartney tradition of pretty good, nudging upper middle. If you're hip to him, that's all you'll need.

Though not reaching the coherent, miraculous heights of Band On The Run (1973), it's miles better than the interminable live albums or his last, the heart-sinkingly ordinary Off The Ground ('93). Better, too, than the aberration of Give My Regards To Broad Street ('84) and the not-as-bad-as-you've-heard Press To Play ('86). So, it's probably on a par with Flowers In The Dirt ('89) which, though lauded at the time as a major return to form (prompted, no doubt, by the red herrings that were the awkward McCartney-McManus collaborations), now seems no better/no worse than the slick, unfailingly tunesome Tug Of War ('82) or Pipes Of Peace ('83).

What noses Flaming Pie ahead of the pack, however, is a return to the engaging home-made quality of his earliest solo work. Back in do-it-your-self, down-home primitive miniaturist mode, back on deep-groove drums and bluesy guitar, there are echoes of McCartney (1970) and Ram (1971) here, and it all has an authentic ring of auteur about it. It's not that Beatley, but it's very McCartney.

Some of it is positively reckless, there's a determination to follow the mood, have a laugh, see what happens. Three songs here are little more than jams. Flaming Pie was a self-imposed challenge to finish a track with Jeff Lynne in four hours (like you do). Funny, surreal lyrics, a cracking 3 Legs-type vocal, a thunderous Why Don't We Do It In The Road/Don't Bring Me Down groove and some hilarious, cack-handed barrel-house piano; this is the track I'm playing visitors.

Ringo and Paul lock into a super-taut, muscled riff on Really Love You and McCartney makes up the song as he goes (like Mumbo from Wild Life but with words); mad, indulgent, but kind of happening. Only the duet with Steve Miller on a slinky Texas 12-bar palls. Two minutes of this good-vibe, one-take blues would have been a treat, four minutes feels like eight.

Interspersing this japery is good and OK Macca fare made better, perhaps, by co-producer Jeff Lynne's ear for detail on over half the tracks. There are no obvious ELO/Wilbury mannerisms and, oddly, the ones that sound most like Lynne don't involve him (both the strangely sinister If You Wanna and lightweight, damnably catchy Young Boy - the one he completed in a couple of hours while Linda was tinkering in the kitchen - feature orchestras of acoustic guitars), though the dry-as-a-bone sound and upfront vocals elsewhere betray Lynne's welcome presence.

Track Listing

The Song We Were Singing

The World Tonight

Somedays

If You Wanna

Young Boy

Calico Skies Flaming Pie

Heaven On A Sunday

Used To Be Bad Souvenir

Little Willo w

Really Love You Beautiful Night

Great Day

The Song We Were Singing is a vivid evocation of an evening with friends in the '60s; the sweet, hazy vocal, the trippy twang of the guitar, the struggle to make "...discuss the vast intricacies of life" scan, the soaring, singalong chorus all combine to give the track an enchanting, stoned elegance. Heaven On A Sunday is prime, dreamy Macca with gorgeously textured sound. It also features his son's debut as Dad trades his Oo You guitar licks with 20-year-old James McCartney's Dave Gilmour ones. Souvenir is an oddball beauty; a soulful, lazy thing with a surprise guitar-riff-from-hell and a psychedelic fade. This is all very encouraging, Lynne appears to have helped McCartney sound more like himself, somehow. To be continued, hopefully.

There are three finger-pickin' solo numbers. Calico Skies is an earnest little love song which develops into an anti-war prayer. Somedays is a portentous song of doubt, always threatening to mean something, beautifully decorated by George Martin's arrangement. Great Day manages to allude metrically to the Vincent Youmans's 1930 standard of the same title and melodically to McCartney's own Big Barn Bed in a sweet, throwaway piece of unfeasible optimism. They ain't Blackbird, but they're fine.

It must be noted that the man's singing is a marvel. The grey-around-the-edges folk-balladeering of Calico Skies, the falsetto blues-croon of Heaven On A Sunday, the deliriously uninhibited rock-shriek of Really Love You re-confirm that McCartney's vocal-style range is without equal in pop. Sinatra's pipes had virtually cracked at 55. What is this guy on?

"No sleepless nights over this one," he told Steve Miller. What with the serious stuff people keep asking him to write, who can blame him? Making this will have been a holiday by comparison.

The World's Greatest Living Melodist crown must lay heavy; here McCartney is sporting his Eccentric Primitive Miniaturist colours. Flaming Pie is a fine reminder of how much they suit him.

Paul McCartney talks to Chris Ingham live from his car somewhere in the great British countryside.

Flaming Pie. Pleased with it?

Yeah, like it a lot actually. It's always good when you're proud of what you've done, because when you're not you're always moaning at the record company about how they don't put posters up, or how they don t get plays and all that. But I sort of don't care. Even if radio doesn't take to it, posters don't get put up and people don't say the right things, I've got a feeling that because I like it, I don't give a shit. I'm not sure that's 100 per cent true but the feeling's there. It feels good. I'm comfortable; there's a lot to be said for that.

Don't you feel like this after each new record?

No, not really. You always enjoy like having a new baby, as it were, but this one feels a bit special. It's like Anthology, people would ask, "Are you worried? Should you have done it? Is it right to do Free As A Bird?" I would say to them, listen, once The Beatles and George Martin have signed off on it, I always get a great feeling that it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks, we're a sufficiently cool enough gang of dudes, it's a question of sod the rest of them. I always used to get that feeling on Beatles albums; hey, it's The Beatles, we all like it, that's a pretty strong opinion.

It's not as easy to get that on my solo records because it's mainly me. I don't have the strength of the Woolwich around me. But on this one, there wasn't much pressure because the record people said, "We don't actually need a record from you for a while, so l started making music just for my own fun.

I think I've given the Anthology a decent interval, my stuff is suddenly ready, asked Linda if she had any photos, she had a great little selection, banged it together and it all suddenly seemed to work and it was, "Oh, there you go.

And I've told the marketing guys, "I don't want any sweat on this record, I don't care if you don't come up with a good idea, we're just gonna have a laugh." It's funny, they don't know where you're coming from, they re so used to that 'gotta get it right, get the right image desperation. Whereas I'm saying it'd be nice, but it's only a record. It really does cool things down.

One big thing with The Beatles, once in the early days we broke down on the motorway going back up to Liverpool in the severe winter, somewhere. One of us said, "Oh, what are we going to do now?" and another said, "Well, something'll happen." And it sounded so naive, we all laughed, "Yeah, something'll happen." Immediately a lorry came up and said, "Wanna lift, lads?" We all piled in. I'm a great believer in that "something'll happen" syndrome. It's like if you allow that space, that bit of peace in your mind, something sort of comes in to fill it. It's all very metaphysical.

You've said, "Songwriting's like the thumb in the mouth." It's interesting that through a worrying time with Linda being ill, you've made an upbeat kind of record. Is there a connection?

Yes, I think there is. When you have a major problem like that, it focuses what's important. I know everyone says that but it really does. For me, my family comes first, and a close second is music and working. I think it stopped me pissing around. I might have made a record and thought, Oh that's OK. But with that and having just done Anthology I thought, No I'm gonna make sure I'm happy with every song on this album. I don't want to waste time. I think that's the main force. If you're just breezing along you can think, Aah I've got forever, it's all great - you can find yourself wasting time. And also having looked at The Beatles albums and running your finger down the tracklist and it's Nowhere Man, Here There And Everywhere, Taxman, bang, bang, bang, every single one is a song you remember. I thought, I'm gonna make an album like that. I sorted a lot of songs and didn't bother with things I was in doubt about. So the whole episode focused me up quite a bit.

You've admitted in the past to feeling daunted by the Beatles' achievements, yet all this full-on Beatlosity of the past 18 months or so seems to have spurred you on.

Yeah well, the sort of plan was to take a holiday. But I'd just be sitting around with my acoustic, writing a song in a power cut in America, played it to a few people and it's "Ooh yeah, that's a good 'un." So I started stockpiling a few with nothing in mind, stuck 'em on a cassette and called them New Songs. Suddenly I had a lot of them. Called Steve Miller, who I'd known and played with once in the '60s after a Beatle session which was aborted because of, ahem, business differences. God, I've just come across a big field full of sheep here. Amazing. But I digress... I'd say to Steve, "look we don't need to get into heavy breathing, let's just knock it off", the way we did that track of his, My Dark Hour. He'd invited me up to his studio in Sun Valley, Idaho, did a track. Returned the hospitality, knocked off a couple more.

You're working with Jeff Lynne again. He'd passed the Free As A Bird test then?

Yeah, that was the audition (laughs). He was sort of George's boyfriend, if you know what I mean, and, you know, you don't want to tread on people's toes. But I'd enjoyed working with him and found him really easy to get on with, we always had a laugh. And I said, "Do you want to come over for a couple of weeks?" He said, "Well, you can't do much in a couple of weeks." I said, "Well, we can do a couple of tracks and mix 'em.."

What was the dynamic between you and Jeff?

I'd show him the song. And then first of all we'd bang it down with a couple of acoustics so we'd have a wash to go against, instead of a click track. It's an old Beatle trick, really. Everything used to have two acoustics, at least. It was mainly me and John showing the guys the song. That's one of Jeff's production tricks, too. I can't think where he got it. A lot of people when I mentioned working with Jeff their eyebrows raised, and I picked up what they meant was he's going to make an ELO of you. I actually had that worry with Free As A Bird. But then I thought, No, we'd worked around it, and even though it was a Jeff Lynne-type production I still thought it sounded very like The Beatles. So I had a chat with him and I said, "I don't want to get into your recognisable sound." He was actually a little bit surprised, I don't think he thinks he has a sound (in surprised Brummie voice), "What do you mean?" He's a very innocent kind of bloke. I said, "If I feel we re getting into a bit of a Jeff Lynne formula, let's find a trick to get round it, subvert it." He was quite into it, actually.

John Lennon said in the late '70s that if The Beatles were still making records, they'd sound like ELO.

Yeah, it was important to Jeff to meet John and have him say, "Oh I love some of those ELO tracks." I liked them, too. It's a bit like Oasis. Anyone who gives such an obvious tribute to you, you either hate it or you love it, and I love it. They're taking our style and proliferating it, if that's the word. ELO were good, you know, pity about the haircut. (Pause) I'm only kidding about the haircut, you'd better put in brackets - he'd kill me. He's still got it.

Given Ringo's and George Martin's cameos, George Harrison remains conspicuous by his continued absence. Is it difficult, given your history and the reported 'artistic tension' on the Free As A Bird/Real Love sessions, to contemplate a Harrison/McCartney collaboration?

I don't know really. To tell you the truth, when I was working with John, it was so, I don't know, so full, you never had a minute, so if working with George never really came up, I got in the habit of not working with him, I never really learned how to do it. When we did Free As A Bird there were one or two little bits of tension, but it was actually cool for the record. For instance, I had a couple of ideas that he didn't like, and he was right. I'm the first one to accept that. So that was OK. We did then say that we might work together but the truth is, after Real Love I think George had some business problems. Er, it didn't do a lot for his moods over the last couple of years. He's been having a bit of a hard time, actually, he's not been that easy to get on with. I've rung him and maybe he hasn't rung back. No big deal. But when I ring Ringo, he rings back immediately, we're quite close that way. You know, I'll write George a letter and he might not reply to it. I don't think he means not to reply to it but it makes me wonder whether he actually wants to do it or not. And if you're not sure, you back off a little. But I love him, he's a lovely guy and I would love to do it. It'd be fun, he's good.

#always start with an apology for liking paul #transcription was partly automatic but then it started getting hinky so i had to type loads #please point out mistakes!#i guess i have to admit that i have a *collection* of vintage magazines now

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viperwhispered · 1 month ago

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It is here! The playlist for Emi's first year at NRC, and her relationship with Jamil.

Don’t get spooked by the Finnish in the first song, the rest are in English.

Basically, this mostly follows the timeline of Emi’s first year in NRC (for more details, you can check her intro post and the timeline of her relationship with Jamil). All from her pov, pretty much.

You can probably tell when the Jamil feelings start to take hold, lol.

Funnily enough, My Land was the first specific song that came to my mind when I started this up (hi Azul apparently the mood for your schemes is very specific). For the rest, I combed through my spotify library (and oop did it take longer than I anticipated).

There’ll also be a few bonus songs in a reblog, including some for Jamil's point of view (because tumblr likes to be silly about showing posts with links and I don't wanna try my luck more than I already am).

Also if someone would prefer a youtube version to more easily access the songs, do let me know!

Anyways, there'll be some rambles and explanations under the cut, both for my thought process and for what each song was chosen to represent.

Taikatalvi

I wanted to start off with something in Finnish, to express where Emi’s coming from before waking up in the coffin at NRC. Palasia by Harmaja was also a very strong contender, but I figured this had more of a magical and fairytale vibe which suited this occasion. Plus, like, Nightwish as a band has been with me about forever, so it was quite fitting from that perspective, too.

The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden

It seems to me this one might be reasonably self-explanatory. Emi doesn’t know where she is, she doesn’t remember where she’s coming from, and she’s not exactly having a great time trying to figure out what is happening. The joys of surprise isekai 🙃

Whatever Makes You Feel Superior

Our first overblot song. Emi’s rule following has its limits, too, and her first impressions of Riddle sure ain’t the most favorable.

Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

Basically, about Emi generally trying to cope with her situation and keep her hopes up. I also thought of using Turn the Page by Blind Guardian or Wishmaster by Nightwish to specifically refer to her escapism via books, but unfortunately those had to go when I was cutting down the playlist.

Mindfall Remedy

For Leona’s overblot - yep, Emi doesn’t have a huge amount of sympathy for Leona either, at least in the moment when she’s just scared. It Won’t Fade by Sonata Arctica was also a strong contender, especially with all the pack and animal imagery, but it didn’t quite fit - plus we already had another song from that album, and I figured I’d go for more variety instead.

Day Three: Pain

Emi struggling to come to terms with the fact that welp, she could’ve died, and this place is dangerous, and scary, and strange, and everything. Basically, things are not great.

My Land

I felt the mood suited book 3 and Emi’s feelings there quite well. Azul basically got Emi on a warpath - Azul’s taken something of hers, her home as much as she has one, and she wants it back.

Plus, this has been a very motivational / inspiring / uplifting song for me for ages, getting me pumped up for dealing with difficult things, so I figured it’d be very fitting here, with Emi squaring up to deal with Azul’s schemes.

The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me

Basically Emi’s mood after book 3 / as winter break approaches. She’s still struggling, but she is hanging on, and seeing more of a light at the end of the tunnel as she’s adjusting more.

Asking For It

For Jamil’s overblot. This was a tricky one to pick a song for, because it’s like Emi’s angry and hurt, but not completely without sympathy. My other options were Chameleon Halo by Entwine or Sin With a Grin by Shinedown. Honestly, all of them could’ve worked, but again trying to pick just one. Girl’s fear and all sure is turning into anger here, tho - and she sure doesn’t appreciate the feeling of being fooled and used.

Life

For ADeuce and friendship in general. It’s not all bad here, is it, and Emi’s gonna be very touched when she realizes the lengths they both are willing to go for her.

Clevermind

Some reflections post Jamil’s overblot. Honestly partially included this just since it talks about what could've been in December, it just felt too fitting. Like, Jamil could've had more sympathy and stuff from Emi, and Emi recognizes it, but boy did he squander it.

Arabesque

I’m sure y’all can figure out who this refers to. (I’m thinking the Scarabia duo in general, tbh, but yeah Jamil in particular when book 5 rolls around.)

Plastic World

For Vil’s overblot. I also considered Curtained Life by Entwine. Nothing much to say tbh, I feel it fits quite nicely.

State of My Head

Grim’s gone (and so are a few others), and turns out Emi cares enough to be feeling very protective. Not like she can rush STYX guns blazing but yeah, she’s not exactly feeling meek here.

Bleeding for the Cure

For Idia’s overblot. Was a bit tricky finding something exact for this, but I think the mood’s pretty fitting here. Plus how Idia's feeling like she doesn't have a chance for a future outside STYX and all that fun stuff.

The Symphony

Things are looking more up, Ramshackle’s starting to get more cozy with what Emi & Jamil have been doing to fix it up, some of the anxieties have been leaving Emi. And, mayhaps, there are some feelings stirring?

A Dark Switch & Aquaman

Emi’s starting to realize her feelings for Jamil and commit to it. I could've stuck with just one song but I could not bring myself to do so.

The Looking Glass

For book 7. Comatose by Ayreon would’ve also been great, but again, trying to cull things down.

The rest is basically more or less sappy love songs for Jamemi’s future, lol. Still, it’s not all sunshine and roses - there’s times of separation in their future, with them being on different years on NRC, they gotta lean on each other, and it’s not like they always see eye to eye.

Honestly it was so hard not to make this too long with all the songs I wanted to include, but I’m quite happy with the range here.

And like, how could I not dedicate some time to being thoroughly sappy with these two.

Tagging @scint1llat3 @moonyasnow @bibi-cha

If anyone else would like to be tagged for Emi things, do let me know!

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stormblessed95 · 2 years ago

Note

who hugged me tightly

only you

who protected me

who only protected me

who held my hand

who held my hand tightly

who reached out to me

who held out his hand

To you who looked at me greatly

🔗 https://twitter.com/jaksal_5813/status/1639683901571620865?s=46&t=6h2FRfv41Qg9RyUk25oCZQ

Such a beautiful song. I hate that it's only on CD. JIMIN YOU SAID ITS FOR FANS, GIVE IT TO ME SO I CAN STREAM IT THEN PLEASE?!

youtube

Here is my original post over Letter too, that I'll stick by what I said there and just add onto it in this post for now too:

During his live stream for FACE, he breifly mentions Letter, which the trans for that is here

The way I'm side eyeing the heck out of the way JKs involvement in this song is being completely ignored by BOTH OF THEM. LOL don't gatekeep please. Share with us!

Honestly the fact that it's named letter because he sat down and wrote his feelings out into a letter and then roughly transformed that into lyrics for a song and it turned out so beautifully. It's because Jimin is a GENIUS and he emotes so sweetly and his EQ is insane and translates so well. And so him just pouring his emotions into paper would of course turn into such a softly stunning song like Letter. 😭 he repeated many times that he emphasized honesty in this album, including letter. And that comes off so sincerely every time you listen.

It's a fan song, yes. It's also... more in my opinion. Because things can be more than just one thing. It's also interesting that the majority of Letter lyric wise is written in a more formal tone/language and uses honorifics. But when the bridge hits, aka when JK joins in for the more heavy backing vocals, the lyrics drop the honorifics and use more informal language from what I've heard. And with the call and receive way the backing vocals answer Jimins main ones, it almost sounds like they are talking to each other there, rather than the fans. Jimin is always so formal and polite and kind when he speaks to us. And jikook often over do the formalities when they talk, or they drop them totally. Which is a consistent habit of theirs. So could the last part of the song be more for themselves? Maybe. Could it still just be for ARMY? Maybe. Could it be for both? Maybe. Regardless, Jimin said it's a song for the fans and JK made it very clear that everyone had always known that he is hyungs biggest fan

Letter IS a love letter. To multiple people I believe. JK being one of them. And I think it was a really really amazing and sweet way to end the album. Hidden in the ending of Like Crazy, after all the emotions and pain and hurt and confusion he went through over the last few years dealing with everything the world went through and they themselves adjusting to a new future.... things like having to quarantine alone for 2 weeks everytime they returned to Korea... getting covid and then having emergency surgery at the same time and having to recover in a quarantined hospital room alone. Facing the upcoming changes for the band in chapter 2 and the uncertainty that came with it. And more. Yet there is still this uplifting and positive emotion that we find ourselves in at the end. Letter feels like love and safety and that feeling of coming home after a really long hard day. It feels like peace. And I like to think that Jimin is expressing those emotions through that song. He finds peace, love and safety in the end. He feels the happiness of being home and embraced. He feels that love from ARMY. And with his choice to include JK in that song, it's like he is saying he feels that peace and love in Jungkook too. That's his home.

LMAO and I have to end with the way he scolded us for uploading Letter everywhere anyway lmfao so cutely. He literally wagged his finger at us!

But the way he said it he saw it ALL. Man if he typed letter in either English or Hangul into the search engine, half the videos that pop up are jikook edits to the song. I know he saw those! 🤣 HE KNOWS YALL, I KNOW HE KNOWS 😅

Anyways, amazing song. I shared it with my non army friends and they were also obsessed. Jimin sounds heavenly on it. I will never stop asking for an official streamable verison of this song. We waited so long for Promise. I'll wait for Letter too!

Editing super quickly to add this clip of Jimin singing a snippet of Letter live to an ARMY on the FaceTime fan meeting calls 😭😭😭

#jikook letter #JM letter #jikook #kookmin #Jimin FACE

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black-arcana · 9 months ago

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“We knew if we stuck together, we would create great things.” Amaranthe have three vocalists and make music that resembles ABBA on a bloodthirsty rampage. They might just be the most extra band in heavy metal

Swedish metallers Amaranthe open up on a career - and a sound - like no other

Amaranthe’s Elize Ryd and Olof Mörck can clearly remember the night they met. It was 2005 during an evening at Gothenburg’s now-defunct Diamond Dogs rock bar. At the time, Elize was an aspiring singer who had sung on a track by local band Falconer, catching the attention of Olof, who was making a name for himself as the guitarist in power metal band Dragonland. That night, they talked about the bands they loved for hours, discussed the universe and watched the stars. By the end of the night, they’d struck up what Elize describes today as a “spiritual” connection.

“We just knew, if we stuck together, we would create great things.” That’s exactly what they did. Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2011, Amaranthe have become one of the hardest-working bands in metal, releasing six albums and touring incessantly. And in that time, they’ve established themselves as one of power metal’s most OTT operators, with three bombastic vocalists backed by an undeniably divisive blend of death metal, power metal, pop and electronica, resembling ABBA on a bloodthirsty rampage.

The band’s seventh album, The Catalyst, might be their most audacious yet. While the band have often, lazily, been lumped in with symphonic metal – no doubt due to the presence of a female singer – for the first time, this record sees them lean into that genre’s splashy inclinations. It’s also their most conceptual release, delving into themes of transformation. Veering from the abstract to the unflinchingly literal, the 12 tracks breathlessly explore everything from climate change to Artificial Intelligence to vampire transformation (see grandiose single Damnation Flame and its bloodthirsty video). On paper, it reads like the band chucked ‘change’ into a word cloud. On record, it’s a fizzy, bombastic riot.

“Maybe it’s our most dynamic and brave record,” chuckles Elize over Zoom. “But it was also fun. We always made jokes that Olof is a vampire because he’s never aged.” Born in Sweden, pop music is in Elize’s bones. Outside Amaranthe, she co-writes songs for Finnish pop band Cyan Kicks, while any song on The Catalyst could easily own the stage at Eurovision – in particular, Outer Dimensions riffs off the vocal melody of ABBA’s S.O.S. While Olof handles Amaranthe’s arrangements and lead guitars, and they write the lyrics together, she is in charge of the ‘toplines’, the hooks and melodies that define the band’s gleaming sound.

“There was nothing else like Amaranthe,” she insists of the moment they emerged, sticking out like a sore thumb, in the late 2000s. “And today, I’m not sure actually if there is.” Elize was introduced to metal by her older brother and long-time Metallica fan, Johan Carlzon, a “local celebrity” due to his renowned growls as vocalist in local doom band Abandon. It was Johan who encouraged Elize to pursue a career in metal, although he never got the chance to hear her sing as part of Amaranthe: he passed away at the age of 32, following an overdose. At that time, Olof was struggling with his own grief, having lost his father. Looking back, Elize sees how their mutual pain brought them together as friends and artists.

“It helped to write more of the uplifting stuff, to push ourselves,” she explains. Writing songs, she says, was a way for her and Olof to heal, as well as keeping her brother’s memory alive. To this day, they’ve never had an argument. “We’ve always found comfort and peace with each other. That’s why it can’t be broken or taken away, because it’s an organic thing. It comes from a very real place."

Holed up during the pandemic in 2020 and unable to tour, the duo started throwing around concepts for what would eventually become The Catalyst, landing on issues that had been niggling on Elize’s mind, including the lasting effects of Covid on society, the looming shadow of worsening climate change and the impact of the rise of AI on creative industries. While the recording of the album was way underway by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the ensuing war has only compounded her sense of helplessness in the face of a world shifting on its axis.

“The album is not so much focused on the political, but more about the emotional aspect,” she says. “Even though the world is changing, how can you try to cope with it?” Watching the Ukraine war from afar has taken a toll: “I actually know people from Ukraine personally, so everything feels, for me, very close.” Yet that same attitude that first bonded her and Olof shines through in the music: “Love always wins over hate.”

From the beginning, Olof Mörck wanted Amaranthe to “provoke”. “When it comes to metal, fans are enormously conservative,” he says, when we speak to him on a separate Zoom call just before Christmas. Having wrapped up band business for the year, he chats to us from his Gothenburg home while gingerbread bakes in his kitchen. He remembers it being harder to cross boundaries during the band’s early days. “In 2008, it was infrequent for bigger metal bands to even have melodic choruses. There was a certain stigma to having really catchy hooks and that’s something that we challenged.”

In 2005, he was working a day job as a kindergarten teacher, but had released three albums with his power metal band, Dragonland. “I had gotten into law school... then we went to Japan with Dragonland and we got to headline this really cool festival and play in front of thousands of screaming Japanese fans,” he says with a chuckle. “It was the last nail in the coffin, like, ‘OK, let’s drop all the back-up plans.’ The trip to Japan was a total catalyst for me, for getting a kick in the right direction.”

Having grown up in Gothenburg during the city’s mid-90s melodeath boom, he had joined power metallers Dragonland in 1999, a band he’s still a studio member of now, although Amaranthe keeps him too busy to tour. But by the time he met Elize, he had envisioned a new band, one that blended pop gloss with power and death metal riffs, and had begun to flesh out ideas. He’s keen to stress, though, that Amaranthe are not “his” band.

“It was really only when I started to write music with Elize that the pop elements became good,” he says. “It went from zero to 10 as soon as she was involved in it.” What does the title of The Catalyst mean to him? “I think we are, as a collective species, going through a very transformative era right now in a lot of different ways, and a lot of them are not necessarily that positive,” he explains.

He reaches for AI as an example. "Fifty years ago they were dreaming about a future where robots would do the chores and we’d be free to focus on artistic things, but lately it has proven to be the opposite. You have AI producing art and music while you have a human still doing the same chores that we did 50 years ago.”

Sonically, he describes The Catalyst as the band’s “most eclectic and diverse” album yet – quite a statement in a discography where every album has actively tried to leapfrog the record before it in terms of excess. “There’s some 80s, retro, cyber punk vibes on a couple of songs,” he says. “There are even some almost Gaelic folk music influences here and there. It’s not about limiting yourself, it’s about finding the path forward.”

Last year, Amaranthe played the main stage at Wacken Open Air in Germany, a place tantamount to holy ground as far as Olof is concerned. “That’s been a lifelong dream,” he says. “We played there twice before on significantly smaller stages.” During the lavish track Amaranthine, he was struck by the magnitude of the occasion. “You see 40,000 or 50,000 people waving their hands while you’re in the middle playing this guitar solo...” He smiles, describing the memory as an “ego moment”, but also validation of how far the band have come.

Now their focus is on taking it further. When asked separately what the band have left to achieve, Elize and Olof’s answers are strikingly similar, citing collaborations with live orchestras (The Catalyst’s flirtations with symphonic metal are all via samples), and even, in a full 360 ̊ turn, an acoustic album. “I have so many dreams,” smiles Elize. “Something that we’re going to do now with The Catalyst tour, is more stage props, bigger production, more lights,” enthuses Olof, who cites the epic, battle-themed live show of fellow Swedes Sabaton as an inspiration. “In the future, lasers, more pyrotechnics...”

What they won’t do is change their genre-mashing sound, a product of that finger-up-to-the-purists mentality that has propelled them forward for almost two decades. It’s that attitude, Olof says, that has secured Amaranthe hard-won acceptance in the metal scene.

“We’ve always been outsiders in a way,” he considers. “With us still always trying to challenge conservatism and so on, I think it’s become much more obvious where Amaranthe belong as a band. People now feel more comfortable with listening to us and saying that they’re an Amaranthe fan.”

#elize ryd #olof mörck #amaranthe

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pretentious-art-love · 1 month ago

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Album Reviews #30 - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins

I accept that there are some long chunks in the record where to me the record is just okay, just okay, there are several songs that are just fine, just alright, but I love the idea of just a long, massive album having grunge, dream pop, post hardcore indie like early pixies, metal and everything in between. The album is not afraid of playing several sides of the 90s music scene and to be dark and heavy or to be emotional and beautiful. This is just a fantastic huge collage of alternative music from the decade.

Trust me, it won't throw you out for a loop either. Do you want to know that is the one single trick that all albums that try lots of styles and genres follow to keep a cohesive experience? They engulf all sounds and songs into one single consistent imagery. In Mellon Collie, the whole album enters you into a fairy tale and gives a strong late Victorian-era feel, and it feels like a huge adventure! The highs are really high and there are so many special moments so I won't blame the whole album because I just can't connect further beyond with some of the tracks this time of my life (and people seem to like as well), I saw that some people would have preferred to made the creative process behind this album a democracy, what an horror! If some tracks were removed, I am pretty sure we wouldn't have as much range in the music and so many ideas even if not everyone can't connect with 100% of the record. I even love some of the less popular tracks like Scorched Earth. Sometimes more is more! More! I know that a lot of people like to do change the tracklist since it's flow is rather obtuse, but with the digital era in our hands you can reorganize the tracks anyway you want and make the transitions a lot more subtle if you prefer. I also did a change in the order of some of the songs, but I still find it really cohesive and a wonderful experience from beginning to end.

I must accept that I also have some rather accidental connection with this record since some of the songs were played by my sister when she was into Rock and I was a little little kid. To me listening to To Forgive is like reaching to the most deep and primitive layers of my memory, to try and remember hazy feelings of very old worn out houses with yellow and green tiles, of seeing the world from so below, to not think about particularly anything and just explore everything with a temptative and curious mind, to me listening to this song is like letting myself be whispered by an ancient lullaby that takes me to the beginning of time. When the lugubrious vocals and tone of the song turn for a single moment into an uplifting hopeful melody, I feel like I am able to start my life from the beginning all over again. There are a lot of traces of these old blurry memories for me in these songs. Yes, it might be beautiful for me, but it doesn't really add anything to you, but aside from that anecdotic connection I have, I can guarantee the quality and of a lot of the songs as well as their emotional depth with the passionate and the naive.

To me this comes as an album that is more than the sum of its parts. Not only there are a lot of moments to enjoy but they are all varied in their sound and emotional reach. And if one thing is for sure is that I really, really love self indulgent, excessive, pretentious art. And the fact that the singer sounds like a cartoon character resonates with me in a level I can't even understand. Great album.

8/10

#the smashing pumpkins #billy corgan #grunge #90s #alternative rock #album review #music review #childhood #coming of age

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michiruze · 7 months ago

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Before Your Memory Fades - Thoughts

CW: Suicide mention, Suicidal Ideation

I'm back at the cafe! Now onto the third entry of the コーヒー��冷めないうちに book series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

But wait....this looks different, yet familiar. I am now at Café Donna Donna for more coffee, views of the seas, comedy, and....death.

And I wonder to myself, am I truly living in the present?

You can read my thoughts here for the first book and the second book. The series do gradually get better and that's why I'm back for more by reading the third book of this series! Even though it's still the same thing as the previous two books, I can see why these sequels exist.

They're saying something different, but ultimately arriving at the same uplifting conclusion each time.

And that's too good to be ignored, even though let's be clear, this book series is nothing special. There's already tons of 'reflexive' Japanese media like this one, and this book series seems to only offer its sci-fi elements to bring something new in the table. I mean come on, waitresses being living TARDISes hasn't even been explored in Doctor Who.

But the thing is....the formula works. If it ain't broken, just keep doing it. And yet, I still have tears in my eyes.

And so, once again, with the album "Steve McQueen" by Prefab Sprout still playing in my ears, wistful evenings in my home, and coffee in my desk, I am back at the cafe to think, to feel, and to go back to the past before the coffee gets cold.

As I finish this book, the cup of coffee in my mouth tells me to live in the present. Full (LONG) thoughts under the cut, as usual.

The first thing you need to know about this book is that while it's set in Hakodate instead of Tokyo, you still need to read the previous two books to get the entire picture. For starters, Kazu and Nagare remains as the main forces of the cafe.

This book opens with a direct reference to the fourth story of the first book due to the timey-wimey things in that story. So you're going to be lost if you haven't read those.

And even though the story is taking the reader into the breezy and calmer region of Hakodate with a new set of patrons and a new staff, the backstory of Café Donna Donna ties heavily to things about Kazu and Nagare's backstory that gets told in Book 1 and 2.

The new cafe is the first thing you see in the book. It has a better description that the Tokyo one and it looks rather unique, it actually makes me *want* to visit this nonexistent cafe in real life. The story being set in Hakodate also gives it a different, calmer vibe. I can actually picture myself sipping coffee in the balcony, looking at the rivers of Hakodate. "Bonny" by Prefab Sprout vibes wonderfully well with the new setting, in fact.

Something that this book also has in that there's a clear device that woven the stories. Several parts of the story contains snippets of stuff from the in-universe 'self-help' book “What If the World Were Ending Tomorrow? One Hundred Questions.” that I find interesting and adds to the message.

In addition, Reiji (the new waiter) and the patrons have little to no connections to the patrons of Funiculi Funicula in Tokyo so these are completely *new* set of people.

With a new set of stories, grief, and.....thoughts of death.

My love and I, we work well together. But often we're apart.... Absence makes the heart lose wager 'Till love breaks down, love breaks down...

New setting does not mean that we're starting from zero. The first story actually tries to subvert the typical formula that readers are accustomed to. Now, what if someone wants to go back to the past to curse and spit on someone for giving them a screwed-up life?

(this means that "Desire As" as Prefab Sprout immediately plays in my ears)

Although the way the story begins is pretty jarring, given that after pages of a normal day at the cafe you're immediately thrown with so much anger. The suicidal main character has so much pain and anger that her very reactionary personality and actions contrast heavily with the 'calm' setting. This, however, makes way for the story to turn into a Christmas Carol-like story where the main character sees the past and experiences a change of heart.

I admit, this was pretty damn effective for me. I actually cried at the end. The bleak, pessimistic main character with so much baggage....i feel her pain. I feel her woes and seeing her get better makes me tear up. It's such an escapist story by the end of the day, to go look at the core of your problems and actually face it --- and have it resolved.

And yes, it is one of those stories where the message ultimately boils down to "things will get better if you just admit your pain", but I feel so doomed and sick of everything right now and this story is a comfort and a reminder for me to keep going, and how things will get better.

If you thought that the first story is bleak enough, the second actually answers the burning question that every reader of Book 1 and 2 might have asked to themselves: "So, if you stay in the past and not go back to the present, you die and become the ghost in the seat? Wouldn't someone attempt to kill themself this way, then?"

And it answers the question with little drama. For starters, the main characters of this story are a duo of comedians. While the book don't get to actually show what kind of manzai act they are (probably because the author can't write manzai but what do I know about comedy anyway), this choice in writing highlights how even the funniest smilers could go down the drain when emptiness that the death of a loved one hits them. The suicide ideation is devastating to read. And it hits hard. With zero funny ha-has.

This is very much a story that we need today. Emptiness is devastating, and it can lead to terrifying thoughts and actions. Even the brightest and happiest people could fall victim to the void.

But this story tells you that no, the glass isn't half-empty. Moving on with the feeling that your passing loved ones are supporting you and helping you fills the glass. The glass is ultimately, half-full after all. And certainly people want to fill yours too.

Oh my, Oh my, have you seen the weather? The sweet September rain Rain on me, like no other Until I drown, until I drown

If you thought that this book will stop there, you're wrong. Third book directly tackles the problem of denying the pain from losing a loved one. The 'denial' phase of five stages of grief. Denial so great, that reality actually crumbles down.

Grief and Denial sometimes blurs reality that you'll run the risk of living in an invalid reality, and this book tackles this topic pretty well and concise enough without being too over-the-top. And it doesn't even add more fantasy elements (the TARDIS coffee is enough). It comes off as All Of Us Strangers (2023) without the fantasy elements.

The main character's pain is very hard to read, it's too real. There's nothing more devastating than dreaming of a passing loved one, thinking they're alive, only to wake up and find that they're no longer here. It really screws up your brain and it's not talked enough, and I'm glad that the third story brings this up.

Yes, the denouement and message of the story is corny. It's so schmaltz! it's so cheap! and yet, somehow, i -HAVE- to hear the message being said to me, as someone who had experienced a similar thing. It feels hopeful and got me rethinking about how to honor a passing loved one.

The fourth story is where it all wraps up. It's relatively less dramatic than the previous three stories as it suddenly shifts into something that you'd see in the first book: the pain of not being able to tell your feelings before it's too late.

What makes it different is that one of the problems that the characters face here is the inability to communicate well. Throughout the book series, this has been a source of many conflicts but most of the time the characters resolve this as soon as they get to do the time traveling bit. Here, it's still a problem even after the time traveling bit, and this leads to the book series's biggest message of 'living in the present' being reminded to the audience.

When love breaks down, the things we do, to stop the truth from hurting you, When love breaks down, the lies we tell, they only serve to fool ourselves.

SPOILER and TMI section!

The third story hit me the hardest because I understand Reiko's pain. You may recall in my post about the 2nd book where I mentioned that one of my best friends passed away.

I still dream of her months after she passed away. Then I woke up only to find that she's gone. It was a miracle that i did not develop any hallucinations during the early pandemic. Looking back, that was very strong of me, to not let 'invalid reality' invade my brain and distance me from people who support me.

For days, i couldn't accept reality. I cried for hours and again. There was a risk that my reality will break down and get me detached. It's a miracle that it didn't happen to me. But the pain made me numb. I feel pain, but i don't know what to do. I became aimless, in which I am facing the consequences from it today.

All because i couldn't smile because of her passing. It's actually pretty sad that it took me more than a year to finally accept my reality and stop moping and frowning over her passing --- through a hyperfixation that she'd be happy to see me showing joy out of. I once thought that my accomplishments would mean nothing now that she's gone, but so.....why shouldn't I be happy and proud? Why should my grief stop me from feeling joy? She would've been happy too, after all.

She'd be joyful if I keep living after her passing, she'd be disappointed if I see her passing as the end of my everyday life, as something that stops me from living in the present.

Everything will be OK. Death is not the end. And she'll be happy to hear that.

When love breaks down, the things we do, to stop the truth from hurting you, When love breaks down, the lies we tell, they only serve to fool ourselves.

And this ties back into the books ---- the stories are touching the subject of suicide that comes from grief. It really, really is a very harsh problem. I get why this book had to do that. grief just kneecaps your life and progress if you don't know how to process it and if you don't know that you can overcome it by making your life grow bigger than your grief (while NOT denying it) and accept it as a part of life and move on.

A reason why I like this book series is for not overly-dramatizing grief, with the dramatic reactions being just reactions to it. the portrayal of grief gets realistic at times. and I've been there before.

Ultimately, installment is about....death and loss. There's a lot more death and the dread and grief that comes from it. The previous books are more about regrets, guilts, and goodbyes and now this one dives head-on to the topic of death...suicide ideation...emptiness....denial...and how living in the moment is the way to overcome that because we don't know when will death comes for us all.

As repetitive as the books are, the different themes of each book keeps it 'fresh'. each book has something different to say, and this is not an exception.

While I highly enjoyed the book, it's not the first work to tackle the topic of death this way. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit had done this before with his masterfully devastating work Die Tomorrow (2017), tackling the similar topic on how death shouldn't be the thing that stops us from living our lives fully in the present. Death in serenity, as a closure, as the end of a chapter, as a fuel to live in the present.

This book is more focused on the latter. on how death shouldn't be something that stops us from living and doing better things.

Death shouldn't be a reason why you shouldn't find happiness and comfort. everyone dies in the end, after all. and the death of a loved one does not mean the death of our hearts and soul. nor does it mean that our lives are stopped in a stasis.

And also, we should not let death break love down.

Understandably, death can get people bewildered. Death can get people do baffling reactionary things to eachother. Death can change people for the worse. Death can cause guilt and depression. but now that we're still in the present...live in it as if death comes for us all.

Live as if the world is ending tomorrow.

SPOILER and TMI section ends.

When love breaks down, the things we do, to stop the truth from hurting you,When love breaks down, you join the rest, who leave their hearts for easy sex

There's actually a lot to love for this book, from snippets from the aforementioned “What If the World Were Ending Tomorrow? One Hundred Questions.” book that can be fun for readers to answer themselves, seeing a duo of comedians with the name "PORON DORON", the sudden shift to 'dark mode' (black page + white text) in the printed edition to depict a blackout, to a random Connecticut mention halfway through. It's certainly an improvement from the second book.

However, if I have to mention weaknesses --- it's the new characters. The Tokyo patrons all have distinct personalities that are easy to tell. You can immediately spot what kind of people they're like, as much as I had a problem with how the first book was written. In this book, the new patrons don't really go beyond their occupations, though I feel that Kawaguchi wanted this book to be less stage-y and more realistic but certain characters feel undercooked.

And also, Sachi....Kazu's 7 year old daughter has a very...interesting (read: baffling) characterization. How is she 7 years old and reads philosophy, a book compiling academic discourses on Picasso, and quantum mechanics?? Couple this with Miki's lapses of keigo in the second book and it's clear that author Toshikazu Kawaguchi has....interesting ideas of what kids under 10 are like. He really, really think Shounibyou is the same as Chuunibyou. He really thinks that kids aged 7 are the same as 14-year-old pretentious teenagers.

(I'm sorry but writing Kei's daughter speaking old keigo at random and Kazu's daughter reading a doomerist philosophy book.....i'm assuming that Kawaguchi was like this as a child.)

I understood that it's a way for her to read the fictional book so that the book's message and stories can be brought together, but the fact that she's 7 years old makes it jarring.

(but like real though, he thinks that shounibyou is 'kids reading philosophy and difficult topics they deem cool' and not 'acting out their favourite cartoons'.....except that the former is chuunibyou which happens to *teenagers* because they are teens!)

Unfortunately, I have to address yet another weakness, because, again, we have yet another weird writing about 'giving birth is a wonderful thing'. Because I really do not think that the question of "if you're inside your mother's womb and the world ends tomorrow, would you kill yourself or stay born?" was necessary at all. This, however, is limited to two passages so it wasn't as egregiously weird as similar stuff in the previous two books. I do hope it's no longer a thing in the fourth and fifth book...

I do admire how the 4th story doesn't do the "and we're gonna have kids" thing. It ends with an immediate future promise and ends there. This feels like another attempt to address the criticisms of the 4th story in the 1st book, which is alright to me.

That aside, I had a great time reading this book. Yes, the book still felt like an 80s ballad in book form, as was the previous two books --- but darker, this time. And again, that's not a bad thing. It's definitely what the books was going for and I can feel it fully.

We have seen what people would do if given the chance to go back to the past. Now we see that people will try to break from the clutches of loss and pain of the past to be in the present.

And once again, that's arguably what we need today.

Take a sip, and go back to the past. Say goodbye to tragedy, and plant the seeds of the future in the present.....before the coffee gets cold.

When love breaks down, when love breaks down....

And that concludes the month of coffee for me. I will, of course, read the fourth and fifth book as soon as they get translated, so stay tuned for more...

Note (because I can't put this anywhere): If you notice something, I've been repeating "Appetite" by Prefab Sprout during my journey in reading these three books. Well, you can see that it's because that the song and album happens to have similar themes as this book series.

This is a good opportunity to tell y'all why am I even reading this book series. See, it all started a month ago, in a boring morning, with me doing 80s British music shopping. And then, I found this song. I thought it was beautiful, but then I listened to the album version....it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Before you know it, the song was on repeat in my ears. And then, I listened to Appetite, then the whole album.

I thought that "Steve McQueen" is a beautiful, if not underrated album. I was imagining the perfect movie for this album, a slice-of-life movie about a shop that sells interesting items. Records, clothes from past eras, used music instruments, accessories, and such, with the stories focusing on the shopkeepers' sad stories and the patrons taking refuge from their pain through these items --- to represent the sophisti-pop sound of the album.

However, the album having a production work by Thomas Dolby means that the story needed a fantasy element. The fantasy element could represent his 'shiny/キラキラ' keyboard work and synths, along with the album's curious structure and wistful feeling that he brought into. And so I thought, what if these items can send its' buyers back in time to the past, to make them face their pain and resolve it, to ultimately live in the present?

The story sounded perfect in my head....and then I was informed that there's an actual book with the exact same premise (and was adapted into a movie as well, with a J-Drama adaptation coming soon). I just couldn't help myself and bought a copy of the first book immediately. And now here I am, finished with the third book, wistfully thinking about my own regrets, grief, and emptiness, and how to get myself back in my own two feet. And I will come back for the fourth and fifth book. As for the forthcoming American movie adaptation...well....see below....

Last note: Apparently according to the Fifth Book's blurb (in Japanese), there's going to be an American film adaptation of the first book. Oh boy...can't wait to see them butcher the book (or improve, I hope they're fixing the first and fourth story).

But also, it's not an inherently bad idea. All Of Us Strangers (2023) proves that you *could* make an English-language adaptation of Japanese books pretty well...and knowing that, I kind of hope that the American movie adaptation of Before the Coffee Gets Cold will be as good as the former.....though I wish it's being adapted as a British production.

With that being said, hey producers, I have a request: All Of Us Strangers (2023) has two Trevor Horn-produced songs in the soundtrack. And so to make it even, Before the Coffee Gets Cold should have two Thomas Dolby-produced songs in it. Better when it's Prefab Sprout songs. Just throwing it out there.....If the former can have Trevor Horn, y'all can (and should) have Thomas Dolby. There's no excuse!

#michiruze.txt #book review #before the coffee gets cold #before your memory fades #cafe funiculi funicula #toshikazu kawaguchi #michiru reviews #cw: suicide #cw: suicidal ideation

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edge-oftheworld · 7 months ago

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Apple Music interview

“[There’s an] eerily similar melancholy,” Luke Hemmings tells Apple Music, comparing his sophomore album, boy, to his 2021 debut, When Facing the Things We Turn Away From. “And that really propelled the emotion of boy and these seven songs. A lot of the stuff I write is very existential and trying to understand who I am and why I am. At this time, I was very disorientated and maybe a bit emotionally lost, even though life was moving forward in a really great way.”

The two albums were conceived and recorded in vastly different circumstances. His debut came together in isolation under the cloak of COVID lockdowns, while boy was written as he toured the world with 5 Seconds of Summer, the Sydney band the singer/guitarist co-founded as a 15-year-old in 2011. Still, the pair have much in common: turns out you can feel just as alone spending months traversing the globe as you can sitting in your house waiting for the world to open up.

Part of the reason for that disorientation was the dawning realisation that he was entering his late twenties, leading Hemmings to reflect deeply on his youth while considering a potential future as a father. “You want to be the most fully realised version of yourself before stepping into that sort of role, which is a work in progress,” he explains.

Taking inspiration from artists such as Damon Albarn, Beach House, LCD Soundsystem and Richard Ashcroft, boy exhibits a dreamlike quality, one that bathes in melancholy without ever sinking into depression—witness the way in which opener “I’m Still Your Boy” builds from a whispered acoustic beginning into a grandiose and uplifting climax; or the sad-happy mélange of synths and dance beats that propel “Close My Eyes”. Here, Hemmings takes Apple Music through boy, track by track.

“I’m Still Your Boy” “This song really encompasses the ache I wanted to get across and the growing pains it took to become a fully realised adult version of myself. It’s only until I started thinking of having children of my own that I began reflecting on the struggles I had myself as a teenager who grew up in the public eye. This song is about understanding my youth that was marred with trauma amidst beauty, whilst trying to become a good man. ‘I’m Still Your Boy’ walks on the high wire between boyhood and adulthood, looking both ways.”

“Shakes” “‘Shakes’ was written on a dreary evening in between long periods of travel and touring, so it easily came from an incredibly melancholy place. A feeling of yearning to be back home, of feeling lonely and emotionally desperate and depleted. There is a longing for love and self-acceptance in the lyrics, and I hope it to be a song that anyone listening [to] can find themselves in and attach their own story.”

“Benny” “This song is named after my brother, Ben, but in its entirety, it represents all of my loved ones and the guilt I feel being away from my family and living on the periphery of their world. It represents the mornings I wake up in a panic, anxious and worried that today will be the day I get bad news. News that would make my dreams of making music seem infantile and pointless. I’d do anything for the people I love.”

“Close My Eyes” “I wrote ‘Close My Eyes’ as I headed into my late twenties and felt an unavoidable wave of fear and anxiety towards the inevitable death of my youth. I found myself unable to sleep because every time I tried, it was as if a film of my life was projected onto the back of my eyelids—the mistakes, successes, everything that could have been and everything that was. I was sonically trying to tap into 2000s indie rock bands like LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture.”

“Garden Life” “I had the idea for ‘Garden Life’ when I couldn’t sleep in a hotel room somewhere in the world, sometime around 3am. The next morning, I went for a walk and wrote the lyrics on a park bench, watching life pass me by. It’s really just an existential love song to my happiest and safest place. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realised that sometimes the most beautiful and visceral memories in life are not the most grand and obvious ones, they can be simple and powerful. It’s not always the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Sometimes it’s a Friday night sitting on the couch listening to your favourite person laugh.”

“Close Enough to Feel You” “This song was inspired by sounds from Cocteau Twins and my bloody valentine, who I listened to heavily during the making of boy. The beauty in ‘Close Enough to Feel You’ is all in the details, both sonically and lyrically. Sometimes when you suffer a big emotional loss, something so mundane and otherwise unnoticed can become earth-shattering. A glimpse of a photo out of the corner of your eye, a stain on the carpet, an old sweater, sends you into the foetal position. This song is about the willingness and desire to live in that pain in order to feel close to who or what you lost, rather than moving on.”

“Promises” “‘Promises’ was the song written for the EP that finally made me feel like I was really onto something. It started with merely a drum beat, which I find ironic as I’m not a drummer. But I think maybe it’s that naïveté that led to this song being created. It’s about a time in my life when I saw the world through grey-coloured glasses. I was a pessimist, struggling with depression and my mental health, who fell in love and started to see colour for the first time.”

#luke hemmings #boy ep #5sos #5 seconds of summer #copied this over on my phone sorry for the lack of formatting #he’s thinking about having kids 🥹🥹#I’m still your boy #shakes #benny #close my eyes #garden life #close enough to feel you #promises

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sinceileftyoublog · 8 months ago

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Hurray For The Riff Raff Album Review: The Past is Still Alive

(Nonesuch)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

On The Past is Still Alive, the latest and best studio album from Hurray For The Riff Raff, Alynda Segarra looks back at a specific era of their life to pay tribute to chaos and imagine what could come from it. Their seemingly legendary but very real past is well-known by now: At age 17, Segarra left their home in the Bronx and hopped freight trains, played in a hobo band, and settled in New Orleans, a formative period of simultaneous struggle and freedom. That combined ethos has pervaded all Hurray For The Riff Raff records, but on The Past is Still Alive, Segarra's finally telling the tale, applying what they learned to the present day.

Notably, Segarra started recording The Past is Still Alive a month after their father died; while his voice appears literally on the album's final track "Kiko Forever", his musical uplift acts as a buoy for Segarra throughout the whole thing. Though they had worked with producer Brad Cook and drummer Yan Westerlund prior, Segarra had never recorded with the rest of the album's laundry list of stellar contributors, from Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, and Mike Mogis to guest vocalists Anjimile, Conor Oberst, and S.G. Goodman. That Segarra conquered a period of vulnerability to record the album with bonafide strangers is a terrific feat, but not necessarily surprising: This is a person who has the ability to treat even their fellow band members like the audience, recipients of some remarkable stories full of biography and symbolism alike.

Throughout The Past is Still Alive, Segarra alternates between timeless metaphor and hyper-specific details. On "Buffalo", they remark, simply, that "Some things take time," whether presently forming love or society's death-by-1000-cuts treatment of the oppressed. Segarra sings over strummed acoustic guitar and Mogis' pedal steel, the perfect accompaniment to earned wisdom. "Hawkmoon", on the other hand, is more electric, full of Duffy's bluesy riffing, akin to the epic sound of The Navigator, fitting for a song inspired by a lasting figure: the first trans woman Segarra ever met. As if to project to a stadium full of folks looking to honor Ms. Jonathan, Segarra sings a heartland rock-style salute: "She opened up my mind in the holes of her fishnet tights / Dildo waving on her car antenna and / I could've ridden shotgun forever." Pseudo title track "Snakeplant (The Past Is Still Alive)" juxtaposes both memories of chaos and lessons learned. As Segarra recounts shoplifting and having sex on top of an island of trash, they make sure to tell you what they took from a life among "the barrel of freaks": "Test your drugs / Remember Narcan / There's a war on people, don't you understand?" Duffy's distorted guitar and Matt Douglas's skronking saxophone create beauty from Segarra's warnings of disorder.

Some of the best songs on The Past is Still Alive are incredibly life-affirming. Opener "Alibi" is a plea to drug-addicted childhood friends, a promise that, "Maybe we'll start a band," on a song that introduces the swath of instrumentation present throughout the record, like gentle piano, steady drums, echoing guitar, and pedal steel. "Ogallala" and "Colossus of Roads" prioritize survival in a harsh world--Segarra compares themselves to the musicians still playing on the deck of a sinking Titanic--but not without a wish that the world itself would burn. Westerlund's crashing drums take the former to its logical conclusion, while the latter, inspired by the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado springs, makes the case for empathy along the way to the apocalypse. "Wrap you up in the bomb shelter of my feather bed," Segarra sings, fighting cruelty with compassion atop Phil Cook's mournful dobro and organ and Westerlund's funereal drum rolls.

It's a line in "Hourglass" that sticks with me the most among the lyrical and instrumental brilliance of The Past is Still Alive. Recounting feeling out-of-place among the status-obsessed, Segarra shifts their perspective. "Suddenly, a boulder's just sand in an hourglass," they sing. Though they spend much of the album concentrating on time and place, they recognize that our mark on earth is statistically insignificant, something we can use to our advantage rather than something that makes us feel small. What many in society consider important--celebrity, power, money--is volatile compared to the power of your own agency, of giving life to the past.

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#album review #hurray for the riff raff #nonesuch #yan westerlund #anjimile chithambo #matt douglas #the past is still alive #nonesuch records #alynda segarra #brad cook #meg duffy #hand habits #mike mogis #anjimile #conor oberst #s.g. goodman #the navigator #phil cook

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udo0stories · 8 months ago

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Introduction Meet Kacey Musgraves, a country music sensation who has captivated audiences worldwide with her authentic lyrics and bold style. Her unique blend of country, folk, and pop has set her apart in the music industry, earning her a dedicated fan base and critical acclaim. A Historic Grammy Triumph Kacey’s journey to stardom reached a significant milestone with her historic Grammy win. This achievement wasn’t just a personal victory for Kacey; it was a testament to her musical prowess and innovative approach to country music. The Grammy win catapulted Kacey into the global spotlight, cementing her status as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. The Birth of ‘Deeper Well’ ‘Deeper Well’ is Kacey’s sixth studio album, a project that reflects her personal growth and evolution as an artist. The album was born out of Kacey’s experiences and introspections, resulting in a collection of songs that resonate with listeners on a deep, emotional level. Each track on ‘Deeper Well’ is a testament to Kacey’s songwriting skills, showcasing her ability to craft lyrics that are both personal and universal. The Power of ‘Deeper Well’ ‘Deeper Well’ has made a significant impact on listeners worldwide, thanks to its relatable themes and powerful messages. The album explores a range of emotions and experiences, from love and loss to self-discovery and personal growth. Standout songs like the title track ‘Deeper Well’ and ‘Too Good to Be True’ have struck a chord with listeners, further solidifying Kacey’s status as a leading voice in country music. Kacey’s Evolution From her early days in Nashville to her current success as a Grammy-winning artist, Kacey’s career trajectory is a story of perseverance, creativity, and passion. Her evolution as an artist is as inspiring as it is impressive, marked by a constant drive to push boundaries and redefine the country music genre. The Deeper Well World Tour To bring ‘Deeper Well’ to fans worldwide, Kacey embarked on the Deeper Well World Tour. The tour was a celebration of music, connection, and storytelling, offering fans a chance to experience ‘Deeper Well’ live. From intimate venues to large arenas, the Deeper Well World Tour was a testament to Kacey’s ability to captivate audiences with her music and stage presence. Kacey Musgraves Top 10 Music Kacey Musgraves has released a number of popular songs throughout her career. Here are some of her most well-known tracks: “Follow Your Arrow”: An upbeat country song that encourages listeners to take risks and live life on their own terms. “Rainbow”: An uplifting ballad from her 2018 album, Golden Hour, that speaks to the power of hope and resilience. “Butterflies”: An upbeat, country-pop anthem that focuses on the idea of finding strength and resilience in the face of life’s challenges. “Merry Go ‘Round”: A mid-tempo country-folk ballad featuring acoustic guitar, piano, and a string section. “Good Ol’ Boys Club”: A song with a great deal of mystery in its implications. “Dandelion”: A traditionally-minded number that compared her crying reaction to the wildflower as the same emotion that happens when she thinks about her lost love. “Cup of Tea”: A song about how your life and your actions are not always going to be well-received by everybody. “Biscuits”: A song very similar to “Follow Your Arrow”, it’s about charting your own course in life. “This Town”: A song about the cyclical nature of life’s ups and downs. “High Horse”: A country meets disco song from her album, Golden Hour. Conclusion: The Future of Kacey Musgraves As Kacey Musgraves continues to make her mark on the music industry, fans eagerly anticipate what’s next for this talented artist. With her unique voice, authentic lyrics, and innovative approach to country music, the future looks bright for Kacey Musgraves. As we look forward to her next chapter, one thing is certain: Kacey Musgraves will continue to captivate audiences with her music for years to come.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IObit [web_stories_embed url="https://stories.udo0.com/web-stories/kacey-musgraves-deeper-well/" title="Kacey Musgraves: The Captivating Story Behind Her Historic Grammy Triumph and ‘Deeper Well’" poster="https://stories.udo0.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/cropped-cole-schafer-and-kacey-musgraves-attend-the-2022-met-gala-news-photo-1673207494.jpg" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

#Entertainment #PersonalDevelopment #DeeperWell #GrammyTriumph #HistoricGrammyTriumph #IObit #KaceyMusgraves

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wobinbug · 1 year ago

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Tagged by @kaiasky here to post five songs I actually listen to (which, I agree, is a very funny challenge name). I don't really have anyone I can tag, so I'm happy for (and encourage) anyone to continue the chain :)

MCR - This Is How I Disappear - I love this song; it's dramatic, dark and moody while having extremely addictive instrumentation (I'm still shook every time I hear the tambourine come in). I also find the lyrics really interesting. The whole Black Parade album is about a cancer patient coming to terms with their death and this song particularly focuses on the idea of being forgotten eventually, which is so ouch, but wonderfully cathartic. Alternatively, without that context, it's like the most dramatic breakup song you've ever heard lol.

TK from Ling Tosite Sigure - First Death - So, the best way I can describe this song is it makes me feel a very similar kind of way to 'This Is How I Disappear' haha. Of course, this song is a Chainsaw Man ED and the lyrics are pretty specifically tailored to the preceding events in the anime (which I won't spoil here, but they seem to reflect the inner thinkings of a certain character during a certain event). It's energetic and cathartic, with falsetto tones that remind me of ghosts which is so unique.

Takuto - All Categorise - This is ED for Young Black Jack and previously my alarm for several years. Why? Because I think it's a pretty uplifting and cute song, really gets me energised! The lyrics fit well with Black Jack as a character in the series: he's fairly idealistic, but the world is pretty strongly against him. That said, ultimately, he's pretty dead-set on becoming a doctor to help people. The lyrics of the songs itself, as far as I can tell, seem to be about trying to see the bright side of things and appreciate the beauty in life, even where it's hard to find.

Rie Fu - Life is Like a Boat - AKA my current alarm... I feel like I don't need to elaborate much with Rukia in my pfp here, but I just think this is a beautiful song and so nostalgic for me. It was probably also the first song I heard that combines English and Japanese verses, which I think it super unique. I don't have too much to say about the lyrics, but they certainly tug at the heartstrings... Idk, I just love it, it makes me want to start rhythmically waving my lighter in the air (a terrible idea for someone just waking up lmfao).

Ghost - Square Hammer - My friend really fucking loves Ghost and I absolutely do get it, their songs scratch a specific kind of itch. I kind of feel like this is how people in the 80's must have felt listening to 80's music drop (if that makes any kind of sense :')). Anyway, this is one of their songs that's made its way into my playlists because I just find it so easy to listen to (this is a good thing). I also like how, from an engineering perspective, the lyrics are absolutely asking the correct questions (sorry 😂).

#realistically i could've just listed MCR songs but that felt boring lmao #i swear i don't have some strange obsession with death asdgjhsak #it's extremely hard to find the 'all categorise' mv every search engine gets so pissed off with me #like it's not my fault it's called that back off!#musings

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monsata · 2 years ago

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5 of 1001

Today's album: Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman (1988)

Right here, this is the heart of why i started this project.

An excellent album that I've never heard. I know the one song that everybody knows by Tracy Chapman.

Yeah, the one that's playing in your head right now as you are reading this.

And it would have been such a shame to have never given this album its due, because it speaks to a lot of things that are very near and dear to my heart.

That Things are Not Good. That Things Could Be Better. That Love is not nearly as easy (or as complicated) as it seems in the movies.

Simply put: this album really blew me away, and here, only 5 days in, I'm so glad i decided to try this insane 3 year long musical odyssey.

Talkin' Bout a Revolution- I really, seriously wish Tracy's revolution had come to pass. What a beautiful sentiment: the uplifting of the downtrodden, everybody getting their fair share. But nowadays, it mostly sounds to me like something that would be used as an ironic backdrop for footage of anti-fascist and anti-police riots from the last decade.

Fast Car- The only Tracy Chapman song that i could name off the top of my head. What more can be said that thang been said dozens of times already? It's such a pretty, sad song about how Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.

Across the Lines- same basic sentiment as Talkin' Bout a Revolution, but not ironic this time. Prescient, in that this album came out a few years before the Rodney King beating would prove her 100% correct.

Behind the Wall- Cops have always been fucking useless parasites.

Baby Can I Hold You- so far the most dated song in instrumentation, this feels VERY late 80s. That said, WAIT, HOLD UP, IS THAT A SITAR!? Nice.

Mountains O'Things- feels very much like "in your eyes"-era Peter Gabriel with all the layered and intricate percussion with synthy "world music"-style woodwinds. "All of those rich guys better watch out once i'm finally one of them!"

Also, in a moment of serendipity, i listened to a podcast about Citizen Kane earlier today (shoutout to The Worst of All Possible Worlds) and i can't help but draw a few parallels to "depressed and unfulfilled poor rich people".

She's Got Her Ticket- wasn't expecting a reggae song today, but it works really well with her voice. That said, there's definitely a recurring theme of "she's gonna get the fuck out of here" throughout the album.

Why?- The other recurring theme on this album: EVERYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIBLE, WHY ISN'T ANYBODY DOING ANYTHING ABOUT *ANYTHING*? WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE EVEN DOING!? Damn, i wish Tracy's revolution had been more than a whisper.

For My Lover- honestly, feels like an anthem for the battered, and that feeling of "if i leave them, I'll have nobody."

If Not Now...- "now loves the only thing that's free, we must take it where it's found, pretty soon it may be costly" damn, what a line.

For You- a beautiful song about being truly lost in love for someone.

Favorite Track: oh it's still gotta be Fast Car. I can see why it was the single, and i can see why it exploded. Incredibly relatable, soulful, coming from a place of hurt, but damn it were gonna make the best of this hurt because it's all we've got.

Least Favorite Track: She's Got Her Ticket. While it's still a good song, it's really the odd one out of the album. The reggae styling kinda sticks out like a sore thumb here, and there isn't much in this song that doesn't get covered in a better way in other songs on the album.

#1001 albums #dancing to architecture #Tracy Chapman

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chaosincurate · 2 years ago

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My month in music - April 2023

Little Simz - NO THANK YOU (relisten)

Whitmer Thomas - The Older I Get the Funnier I Was

Young Guv - GUV III

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (new)

Caroline Rose - The Art of Forgetting (new)

Blondshell - Blondshell (new)

Wednesday - Rat Saw God

beabadoobee - Beatopia (relisten)

Waterparks - Intellectual Property

mau from nowhere - The Universe is Holding You

Feist - Multitudes

Daughter - Stereo Mind Game

Ramones - Ramones

Alvvays - Blue Rev (relisten)

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising

beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers (relisten)

Warm Human - Hometown Hero

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (relisten)

Waterparks - Fandom (relisten)

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Prince - Sign 'O' The Times

Björk - Post

Write-ups below

Little Simz - NO THANK YOU

A largely laid-back hip-hop album that still displays an ability to uplift when necessary, with great use of brass instruments in particular to introduce energy or glory to a song.

Recommended song: Gorilla

Apple Music link

Whitmer Thomas - The Older I Get the Funnier I Was

An indie slacker album that doesn't take itself all that seriously, with humorous songwriting throughout.

Recommended song: Rigamarole

Apple Music link

Young Guv - GUV III

Light, jangly, and airy, indie-leaning power pop. It's well produced and well executed, and worth a listen if that sounds like your sort of thing.

Recommended song: It's Only Dancin'

Apple Music link

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

A diverse electronic pop outing from indie darling Caroline Polachek which casts a broad enough net to please pretty much anyone who likes the genre, which I think is the biggest reason for the hype and "must-hear" status amongst reviewers. Don't mistake my comments of broad appeal for accusations of blandness though, because there is a very satisfying identity to the album which, while not groundbreaking, isn't something that can be easily found elsewhere.

As the album art suggests, the album transports you to a paradise, so if you fancy an affordable holiday, and you like indie music, this album could be just what you need.

Recommended song: Bunny Is a Rider

Apple Music link

Caroline Rose - The Art of Forgetting

A great, expansive indie pop album which excels in personable lyrics, left-field pop production, and earning its melodramatic moments. Most of my favourite elements are present on Miami, particularly that explosion of sound towards the ending. Give it a listen!

Recommended song: Miami

Apple Music link

Blondshell - Blondshell

I don't know if I just have a warped perception of the alternative rock scene lately, but it seemed to me that Blondshell came out of nowhere with a polished sound, high-profile playlist spots (at least on Apple Music), and sudden credibility, but even if that makes me suspicious of where she came from, I'm glad she's here, because the album is good. The album has energy, unique themes, and a healthy dose of passion, making it exactly what you've come to expect from alternative rock, and it's executed well enough to not get boring.

Recommended song: Salad

Apple Music link

Wednesday - Rat Saw God

Another alternative rock album, but this one is a little more unique, blending the more expected sound of the genre with country and shoegaze, creating a noisy, harsh wave of sound, which lead singer Karly Hartzman passionately wavers over with vocals that can pump you up as well as they can tear your heart out of your chest.

I'll leave it at that because I don't think I could make a better case for this album than it's 8 minute epic Bull Believer can. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you're a rock fan.

Apple Music link

beabadoobee - Beatopia

beabadoobee always excels in charm, and this album is no different. Every song on this album, whether the ones I like or dislike, has this innate childish wonder about it. A nostalgic, innocent warmth and fun that you can only really instill in the art you care about. In this instance particularly, the album revolves around that childishness, as confirmed by the album title and artwork which was conjured by a way younger Bea.

The nostalgia comes from the sound palette, but crucially, not the the sound itself. The sound palette is very reminiscent of the music her childhood-starved generation (which I also happen to share) grew up on: 00's alternative. She wields this sound palette in very peculiar ways, most clear with the first proper song on the album, 10:36 and later on Talk when distorted guitars are used, not in an aggressive way, but instead with a sort of sparkle. I think that sort of contradiction is how beabadoobee makes music that is so representative of this generation. It captures the anger, but centers the yearning for childhood as we retreat to youthful expressions and experiences, especially the idea of doing things simply because they are fun and offer reprieve. It's a false innocence. A distorted representation of a sparkle that our eyes have lost.

To be clear, I'm not saying that this was all intentional and that they necessarily knew the effect this small touch would have on me and potentially others, and even if they did, I'm not saying this is exactly why they thought so, but all the same, this is what it means to me. The reader decides why the curtains are blue, not the writer.

Apple Music link

Waterparks - Intellectual Property

Although it might be considered a hot take in some of the circles I usually find myself in, I like Waterparks. From their harder pop-punk style at the start of their career, through the poppier first few albums, to what I will call the hyperpop-punk style of their past couple albums... I think they're a great band that has evolved very satisfyingly up until this point, providing some rare pop experimentation.

This one though? I found this a big step back. The opener, ST*RFUCKER, promises a pretty high-quality retread of the last album's sound, which I would be on board for, but REAL SUPER DARK is a more accurate representation in my view. The album more broadly does retain Awsten Knight's ability to add interesting twists to common themes (such as turning a love song into a self aware obsession song), but the execution is almost always distractingly flawed. It also doesn't help that the mixing on this album is dreadful, particularly with the vocals being buried beneath generally unaffecting instrumentals. That latter point was so bad that I didn't even realize one of the songs had backup vocals until I relistened when the lyrics were added on Apple Music.

This was just a very disappointing listen, and I genuinely don't know who to recommend this to other than the people who would have heard it already. Greatest Hits is just way better if you haven't heard any of their hyperpop-punk style, Fandom is a better overall summary of the band's sound, Double Dare is the best example of their pop-punk stuff, hell, even Entertainment has some great stuff on there as the band start to experiment and find a more individual sound, and honestly I think INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY is the worst of them all.

Recommended song: ST*RFUCKER

Apple Music link

mau from nowhere - The Universe is Holding You

If I were to attempt to find a common thread throughout this album, I'd probably have to settle on something broad, like lo-fi, because it is one of those incredibly sprawling, artistically indulgent projects that I love to listen to, but hate to try to make a write-up for. Without doing a track-by-track, the most useful thing I can do is tell you that mau traverses many different styles with great ease, and recommend a handful of songs.

If a laid-back and poppy hip-hop jam sounds good to you, Haba Na Haba is a great choice. If you're after something with a little bit more energy, closer and title track The Universe is Holding You is a great choice in that style too. My favourite though is the straightforward lo-fi pop bop Refuse Refuge. The whole album is high quality though, and there's only a few I don't really like, so its well worth a listen in my opinion.

Haba Na Haba || Apple Music link

The Universe Is Holding You || Apple Music link

Refuse Refuge || Apple Music link

Feist - Multitudes

A singer/songwriter album with a warm, earthy tone and poetic lyricism. The album makes good use of sparse instrumentation that somehow still manages to fill the soundscape well and places the lyrics front and center.

Recommended song: The Redwing

Apple Music link

Daughter - Stereo Mind Game

I often feel like obscure indie music can fall into this trap where it sounds all light and airy, perhaps in the pursuit of that 'immaculate vibes' type of sound, but without realizing that it still needs a pulse to get there. It can easily be overlooked, because it's usually quite subtle compared to the flood of reverb and synths, but it is absolutely crucial, at least for me, to make the songs memorable and enjoyable.

Daughter fully understand this though. This album never left me bored because it is always moving forward. It is usually slow enough to still be laid back, but it's always moving forward and never feels aimless. It's a good album if verby and vibey indie sounds like it'd appeal to you.

Recommended song: Be On Your Way

Apple Music link

Ramones - Ramones

Okay, look, I know this is a classic. I know that I risk losing my punk fan license if I say anything bad about the granddaddy of the genre itself, but this just didn't do anything good for me. Maybe one day I'll look back and think I was a fool for this, but this album - this 29-minute album - bored the shit out of me. Every song sounded like the last except for some tiny tweaks, and it was a sound that was best executed on the title track Blitzkrieg Bop.

But that isn't a deal-breaker. Hell, some of my favourite albums are somewhat sonically homogeneous, but this didn't have anything else to make up for it. No interesting lyricism or themes, no experimentation with instrumental palette, nothing.

And yeah, sometimes if you aren't used to a genre or sound, it can all feel a bit samey to you, just through inexperience, but I grew up on pop-punk (an offshoot of this album's purer punk), and have listened to a bunch of comparable stuff since, and it doesn't help me hear much difference between tracks.

It was an okay listen for me, don't get me wrong, but it is just too flawed for me to respect it as a classic, and the group of people I can imagine recommending this to is tiny.

Recommended song: Blitzkrieg Bop

Apple Music link

Alvvays - Blue Rev

I've already gushed about this album enough on my post on Alvvays, but suffice it to say that this sprawling indie album is exceptional and must-hear for any indie fan. I love it dearly.

Apple Music link

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising

I'd never listened to a Bob Marley album before this, but my brother recommended this album to me last month (as in April), and I was suitably interested, so I gave it a go. Naturally, it was my first reggae album and remains my only reggae album to this point, so I don't really have the adequate tools to speak at all critically on the album, but I did enjoy it. The messages are conveyed well, and the music feels as communal as the lyrics.

Apple Music link

beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers

This should be a quick one. Pretty much everything about Beatopia also applies to this, except the sonic diversity. Her first album is pretty focused in comparison, but retains all the charm, fun, and energy of her most recent effort.

Apple Music link

Warm Human - Hometown Hero

Warm Human describes their sound as 'sludge pop', and I think that works excellently to describe the sound of this album. It takes distorted guitars, drenches them in reverb and somehow delivers it in a way that sounds appealing in that particular pop way.

Recommended song: Daylight Savings

Apple Music link

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

I listened to this one to commemorate the anniversary of it's release. That should tell you I love this album, and this most recent listen changed nothing on that front. From the blistering pace of opener Brianstorm, to the cheeky, bouncy fun of Fluorescent Adolescent, and, of course, the album's patient swan song 505, along with plenty more, this album makes a great case for being the best Arctic Monkeys album for me, and by extension, one of the best modern rock albums.

Apple Music link

Waterparks - Fandom

Now I get a chance to be positive about Waterparks! On Fandom, I believe they strike the perfect balance between pop cheese, pop-punk melodrama, and otherwise meaningful artistic expression. Sure, sometimes the scales wobble a little, but it never feels like its falling far enough into one facet to noticeably undermine the others or feel bland.

I think this album probably also makes itself a great contender as the quintessential Waterparks album, with it being placed at their stylistic crossroads, and being so passionate and personal, so clearly cared for, that I struggle to see how any other could be placed ahead of it as a representation of the band. To paraphrase Awsten in future lyrics, they got everything they wanted on album 3 and it shows, with the band clearly demonstrating a radical self-acceptance, allowing the music to be cheesy at times, a tad melodramatic, impatient, as well as the more accepted traits like energetic, inventive, catchy, and fun.

I know Waterparks have their haters, but if you're willing to approach them with an open mind, this album is a great place to start if you ask me.

There. Now everyone is unhappy.

Apple Music link

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

I should have gotten to this way sooner. I had heard Little Simz' name a lot since this album dropped, and always meant to get to it, so when I saw she dropped another album at the end of 2022 I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get into her music, but after starting with NO THANK YOU, which underwhelmed me, this album dropped down my list of priorities. That was a mistake.

This album is everything I thought NO THANK YOU lacked. It's full, energetic, fun, and had themes I was way more able to grab onto, as well as a far more satisfying execution of those themes when listened to as an album. Not only are interludes used to great effect to reiterate the broader themes, the albums thematic flow is so smooth, with it being pretty common for the last few lines of any given song to tie itself into the next song on the album.

I should have gotten to this way sooner.

Apple Music link

Prince - Sign 'O' The Times

This isn't the first time I've tried to get into Prince. My brother is nuts about the guy's music, and has tried to get me into it as well, to little avail. He got me to listen to two albums, Purple Rain and Dirty Mind. I appreciated both, but always felt like, considering his legacy, I was missing something. I loved the hits, and always felt like that they lined up with what people said about him, and I respect a lot about the guy, but I couldn't get into an album of his the way I thought I ought to, which was very frustrating.

That was all a while ago though, and seeing this album as I was looking through AOTY, I thought I'd give it one more go after listening to the title track. After all, my brother loves it, and the title track seemed up my alley, so maybe this could be the album to finally give me some understanding.

Early on I got concerned it'd be another album where I could take a few songs from it but ultimately be unfulfilled. I even considered calling it a day after 5 or 6 tracks, which I hate doing, but the incongruity between what I hear from other people that I respect about Prince, and what I hear from Prince is too frustrating for me to have an enjoyable experience. I'm glad I held out though, because I loved the second half of this album, and I finally had something sustained for me to latch onto. I don't think I'll be bothering to explore more of Prince's music, but I'm so relieved that there is a run of songs within an album that I can point to and say "this is Prince earning his reputation", especially considering my brother's passion for the music.

Apple Music link

Björk - Post

I've only been writing about music on a public platform for a few months, but one thing I've experienced a lot is the thought that, despite my passion and the potential for a good post about something I love and want to share, it isn't worth making because it's popular. Everyone has already heard about it, so it's just preaching to the choir. Hell, I even felt it to some degree talking about Arctic Monkeys earlier. But the fact that I hadn't listened to Björk yet and only really considered it when Mic the Snare did a Deep Discog Dive on her is one hell of a counterpoint to that. We all have blind spots, and it never hurts to help people find music they might love, even if it's kinda on their radar.

But enough about me, this album was an incredible listen. Experimental, full, and uncompromisingly weird in a way that just makes the emotion more palpable. It's largely cohesive, it's entirely unique, and always passionate. I could compliment this album forever, but I could never fully describe it, but I'll give it my best succinct shot: I once heard someone describe Lorde as essentially gay Radiohead, but from what I've heard from all three artists Björk fills that role way better.

Apple Music link

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