#anyway this song is awesome. I love this band. good good stuff.

[shima-draws]

top 5 musicians/artists/bands you like

1. AJR!!!

2. Fitz and the Tantrums

3. Misterwives

4. JVKE

5. Marianas Trench

I only listed English bands/artists to make it easier nfndn but this list would be very different if I’d included foreign artists :’D

[burningcomputerpersona]

also how is it that spanish love songs has such good merch??? i don't think I've ever been to a show before where I had to struggle so hard to pick just one thing, like in a lot of cases there's only really one thing that appeals to me or I just get something bc i love the band and need to have them on me regardless of what the design looks like. but i was spending ages just staring at the merch stand trying to pick one out of alllll the things i wanted

[aspenthewriter]

Can you do some velvet x reader fluff headcanons? Please :).

five nights at fred-

HMMMMM?? WHATS THIS?! A REQUEST I SEE

“can you do some velvet x reader fluff headcanons please :).”

HELL YEAH! Thank you so much for the request anon!

Velvet Dating HC

Fandom: trolls 3/band together

Warnings: nothing just fluff

pairing: velvet x Gn! Reader

• let’s all be real, there will be major complications with this relationship due to select being a complete bossy asshole

• but this ain’t angst so let’s not get into that yet

• Velvet probably loves you with all her heart, she just doesn’t know how to show it

• so because she can’t show her love she writes it… either in poems or songs

• Velvet at the beginning of the relationship can’t initiate shit, so you’ll have to hug her and/or kiss her

• you’ll probably greet her with a hug every time and she’ll end up getting used to it so if you don’t give her one she’ll probably get sad and be all dramatic

• “wheres mg hug at?”

• “if you want a hug come give me one-“

• “ugh fine!”

• she loves you it’s just a little difficult showing her love

• she also spoils you rotten because well she has all this money and she’s already bought so much stuff so who else can she get stuff for

• oh right! You :)

• designer shoes, bags, clothes, newest phone model, YOU NAME IT! It’s already been bought and sent to your house

• she definitely starts giggling anytime you text her, she just gets so excited, she’ll leave you on read for like 10 minutes cause she doesn’t know what to say

• velvet will make you a end her your outfits of the day so she can match with you

• she loves doing your hair for you

• it’ll look awesome EVERY. SINGLE. TIME

• she even uses you to practice hairstyles she’ll do on herself

• she says “if it looks good on you, it’ll definitely look good on me!”

• loves showing you off

• purposely gives you kiss marks (and hickeys) so people know your off limits

• velvet love you so freaking much

I’m so glad you guys enjoyed veneers- anyways

I love you pookies 😘

-Aspen out

[headcanonsandmore]

Can you do the "all the Doctors" thing, but what would they do if they started a band?

I certainly can!

One: Gets gently pushed into it by Vicki. Can actually play the piano rather well, and starts chuckling to themselves when he starts getting into it. Ian and Barbara got a little sick of the solos after over half an hour, though.

Two: You'd think that a recorder wouldn't be a good instrument to play in a band, but you would be as pleasantly surprised as Two was. Gets on surprisingly well with the hippie crowd, although Jamie has to keep them from getting pulled into smoking illicit substances which may or may not be legal. With time lords, who knows what the effects could be?

Three: Can practically play any instrument given to them because "my dear fellow, it would be vain to explain why". Jo loves it when they play Beatles songs. Has an unfortunate habit of playing in venues that later get attacked or blown up by the Masters scheme of the week.

Four: Pulls the weirdest looking string instument you've ever seen out of their enormous coat, plays some weird jazz-fusion stuff that sounds like a cat making love to a washing machine, grins unnervingly and walks off stage. The stage is a random cafe that hadn't even asked them to play. No-one ever speaks of it again, just in case they come back.

Five: Likes to play ABBA on the rhythym guitar, much to the amusement of their kids young friends. Insists on explaining the themes of each song before starting. Has an unfortunate habit of falling over halfway through their set and knocking themselves unconscious. Given the time period, they often get requests to play "That's Entertainment"; doesn't mind playing it but wishes Tegan and Nyssa would stop sneaking away halfway through to snog in a cupboard somewhere.

Six: Loves playing the drums. Their main inspiration is Keith Moon. Mel says it's good exercise for them. Peri is just glad that they don't wear their coat whilst trashing about with the drumsticks, because that would be a chasm too far.

Seven: Spoons. Ace rolls her eyes but knows that they enjoy it. Is surprisingly popular amongst latter-day beatniks and jazz fans. Often gives some lecture after each song. The difference is that, unlike with Five, people actually listen instead of groaning.

Eight: Just has to sing. You would not be able to stop them. They are surprisngly good at it, although sometimes you wonder whether the words have a hidden meaning.

War: Doesn't play anything, for obvious reasons.

Nine: Bass guitar, and in a very no-nonsence sort of way. Can get down and be funky with it. Rose loves it, and enjoys dancing along, which makes Nine very happy.

Ten: Maraccas, weirdly enough, and often with Donna. Both of them are laughing. The rest of the band doesn't really understand why but it seems to work so who cares?

Eleven: Glockenspiel. No, seriously. Amy and Rory don't know where it came from, and it's actually starting to get a little worrying. Especially when Eleven insists on practicing at 3am with no warning.

Twelve: Lead guitar, obviously. Nothing but shredding solos and awesome punk-style riffs. The fact that they don't have a top-selling album is mindboggling.

Thirteen: Fiddle in a folk-punk-fusion band. Very good at it and is having the time of their life. Loves to dance whilst playing. The happy love songs are their favourite, but has a habit of tripping over their feet on stage if they catch Yaz smiling at them.

Fugitive: Doesn't play anything; again, for obvious reasons.

TenThree/David Doctor/ sorry-mr-tennant-i-cannot-call-you-fourteen: Traded in the maraccas for a trumpet. Donna has a trumpet now too. Things seem to be going well for them.

Fifteen: Sampler. Creates tons of exciting sounds based on all of their previous lives, blending them together in a hopeful, joyeous mix. Well, so far anyway. We'll have to wait and see...

Thanks for the ask!

[apuff]

Today i will rate the skies in the covers of the stuff i have on spotify

Because i am offline while writing this i am naturally restricted by what it will display for me

1. collide with the sky (ptv)

9/10. lighter towards the horizon, great hue shifting, nice fluffy clouds, i love how saturated and blue it all is. one thing i really like is how the field is green and the treeline is so dark because that's just how it is irl for realsies. i guess the only thing that's subpar iis that i feel like for that type of cloud, it would look much more defined? but i guess that's cause the sky can't be distracting too much from the subject. anyways, really nice work. 

2. Master of puppets (metallica)

2/10. Just getting some mixed messaging here. Like, the idea of it being all spooky and warm colors like that is cool, but it just…it all muddles into itself a little much. The light on the crosses doesn't look quite right and it's really hard to parse which parts of the sky are glowing or reflecting or clouds or the background or mountains. This album is really good though so i'll add a point for that

3. Danger days: the true lives of the fabulous killjoys (mcr)

10/10. What is there to say? I mean, awesome gradient…great mixture of scrappiness and fullness in the clouds…those colors are just beautiful…i love how the sun rays are radiating out from the spider in the middle…gotta rep the rest of this composition cause it slays. Seriously, great sky. 

4. Joke cover of my demolition lovers playlsit (mcr)

4/10. This is very standard and pedestrian but seeing as it's literally just a normal stock photo of a construction worker i can't judge it too harshly 

5. Glow (pkch)

9/10. Pukicho is a great photographer and i really appreciate the artistry of this one. My personal preference is for a more crisp and thick cloud but i really like the vagueness and fogginess of these ones. It gives off the impression of a sunset or a sunrise without putting a literal glowing sun or garish colors in, and i like the perspective of the clouds as they approach the horizon seen through how the bands of dark and light get closer and blend into one shade. Just a very beautiful photograph altogether, great colors. 

6. Spirit phone (lemon demon)

5/10. Wasn't even sure if this counted as a sky or not, and i eventually decided it takes place outside during the night, but i did have to dock points for barely even being what i'm rating. I love the strange abstractness of it, the smeared perspective lines that have no purpose other than to look weird. Honorary mention goes out to the characters in the foreground that, though ghosts, can be understood as weather phenomena due to the song in this album "soft fuzzy man" (about a sentient storm that wants to date the listener); giving them the dubious honor of the weirdest clouds ever.  

7. Embers (beetlebug)

8/10 Another edge case, but i decided the patches were clouds so it counted. As a fellow watercolor artist i'm naturaly drawn to this, but who wouldn't be? It's another one that handles the sunset situation with tact and depth; the white edges aren't just a great painting move- they express light shining onto the edges of clouds. Another very clever composition utilizing the sun. just great. 

8. Until the end (beetlebug) 

6/10. Less stunning than the last one, but it's charming in an understated way. It feels very simple and childlike, but does have touches of maturity from the nuanced colors and defined clouds. I really appreciate the bold choice to make the sun red, it's unexpected but striking. 

9. Ride the lighting (metallica)

3/10. Perhaps this is due to my complete lack of experience with thunderstorms, but i just don't like the black thin scrappy clouds. It feels so noncommittal. I'm guilty about rating it so low because i feel like the album cover, overall, looks great (especially the awesome 80s colors, those get compensation points from me) but every time i zero in on the sky itself, i'm just perplexed. 

10. Purrple cat💜 (purrple cat)

1/10. This is just fine. It's a normal sky. It has normal stars and normal planets and normal nebulae. It's so uninteresting. Doesn't attract the eye. Every item evenly spaced out from the other. I don't understand why that planet is glowing but so dark. it just doesn't make sense. 

11. Hallows eve masquerade (beetlebug)

10/10. This is basically the epitome of what's good about beetlebug covers- like, there's a kidlike charm to how simple it is, but there's a finesse to the colors and concept. This one just has such an expertly handled warm color pallete. Love the subtle glow and the centered composition. 

12. Bee and puppycat- official soundtrack playlist [[star swirling emoji]] (milan records)

10/10. See, THIS is how to do a space sky properly. The glowing things glow and it's not desaturated as all get out. This has a good handle on the subtle pink-and-green nebula glow and it's cohesive with the rest of the palette-- I guess that makes sense, because this show is interested in that retro look where chromatic aberration like that is common. 

13. Fly by night (rush)

5/10. Even though i'm not the hugest fan of it, i respect the choice to keep the background elements a solid color. It plain and cohesive, and making everything blue except for the yellow of the eyes is a good idea. 

14. ???? (??)

7/10. This is like 20 pixels but it looks very nice. Going into this i wasn't expecting so many of these to use the sun or moon as a focal point of the composition but i guess it makes sense. I like the color shifting to the horizon. 

15. Kingdom in blue (kupla)

10/10. AAAAAH!! I love how this is a sunset but much more cool colors than all the rest! You don't see the pink + teal a lot but it looks great. The floating island adds a nice flow to the whole thing and a fantastical edge to the more common lo-fi vibe. 

16. Let's cheers to this (sws)

10/10. You know, this would look great if i could SEE it. I'm too miffed to explain why it's good. 

17. Dracula reading playlist (elizabeth)

8/10. i feel like this matches the vibe of the playlist and the book very well. i'm not a huge fan of fog as a stated before but in this instance it really works to punch out the silhouette of the castle, which is the main point. I also like how it's just straight up red. evil.

18. Teal album (weezer)

0/10 i'm mad that i thought this was a sky but it's just a teal background

[marcelwrites]

I've done so much travelling over the last couple of days. It's exhilarating but once you return to the homebase, give it a few hours, and then it all hits you like a tonne of bricks. Tiredness is reminiscent of some nameless, shapeless infectious disease, and it burns through you starting at your eyes and working its way down. It's been a pretty enlightening day and despite the tiredness I've got this warm glow and things feel good. I'm not going to articulate it beyond that. Speed were rad last night, Pain Of Truth were good too, Fuse too, but High Vis stole the show for me. If you haven't checked them out, please do. Incredible live performance, I'll throw some of their live stuff up here one day. Kinda reminds me of late 70s/early 80s Post-Punk. Super blue collar, down-to-earth loosely "Punk" adjacent music. Got to shake hands with and have a quick chat with their vocalist, Graham. I'm spewing that I didn't get a photo with him. Some band dudes you meet and you get the sense that they're not into it, but he seemed genuinely thrilled to be recognised. Anyway, High Vis were fucking awesome. Maybe start with The Bastard Inside or Trauma Bonds? Rad fucking songs. Anyway, I'm gonna go crack open an ice cold can of spicy water and unwind. Love y'all. Thanks for reading through my scrawled, tired rambling. Be kind to one another, listen to rad music, and just carry yourself with gratitude. I'm just thankful to be here at all.

[beatcroc]

Okay I finally generated an ask for you!!!!

What is your favourite genre of music? Or if you don't know how to categorize the music you listen to (like me), what is your favourite song? Or band? Or album? Something like that.

ohhhhh #1 question i am categorically incapable of being normal about <3

i typically just define my favorite music as "loud" or "aggressive" or "abrasive" bc most stuff that fits those descriptors will be in my faves regardless of the genre.

a more specific answer is that there are 3 main things i've noticed that will typically make me go apeshit without fail and they are: 1. hardstyle/gabber/industrial hardcore- sorta basskick 2. sickass metal guitar shredding 3. huge dramatic grandiose orchestral

if something has 1 of these i will probably like it, if it has 2 it will be a top fave, and all 3.... well i have yet to find it yet but im sure i will Ascend. here are examples of said top fave combos.

laur covers hardstyle+orchestral and i Cannot Get Enough of his shit man it goes so fucking crazy hard

metal+orchestral is unquestionably ruled by nightwish, but theyre not on bandcamp and i dont feel like finding other links so this one goes to the still-very-fucking-awesome runner-up, POWERWOLF

riikira and rabbitjunk hit metal+hardstyle, though it's less strictly hardstyle and more just general hardcore* electronica. if its got crazy amens its enough who cares. i put the ones that use actual kicks for the sake of illustrating the point here but these tracks are both pretty far from my faves from each lmao *hardcore referring to hardcore [edm] in this case, even though the genre these belong to is called "digital hardcore", which instead refers to hardcore [punk]. it's a mess out here. did you know theres two completely different things called doomcore where one is derived from metal and the other is derived from hardcore. and you never know which itsd going to be when you click on something in the doomcore tag. im dying squirtle

anyway on the other side of the hardstyle+metal combo is kobaryo [with his alias blaxervant], who's much more about the hardcore side of things and just has the metal as flair, but it is still: the best shit ever

laur also on occasion hits this side of hardstyle+metal becaue he just likes using whatever the fuck instruments

there are of course many other things i love a lot, primary examples being ambient/atmospheric, folk, and anything with a lot of Texture. im not gonna get into all that but i do have an extended list of faves/recs from the last time i was asked about this and went insane abt it. it took forever to make and my actual recs are not entirely the same as my Faves so im putting it on here too.

i keep these curated to the top of my bandcamp profile so they're the first things that display there. it's a bit old by now and some have since been shuffled out, but it's still like 80% accurate.

as for the actual recs: the angel's message is there because it's my fave brand of intense and chaotic stuff and want it to kill you full force. it already has some tracks up there so im not re-linking it

this one i recommend just because i think it's really interesting and out there and i'm curious what other people think of this sort of stuff. it's also the prime example of what i mean when i talk about Textures in music.

wolfgun is an actual rec for being genuinely just really good music. probably the most objectively cool/platonically enjoyable thing in my library

[cannibal-nightmares]

everything everything is so awesome im glad someone i follow also likes them <3 thats all sorry i just love music

Never any apologies on my page 8D I can ramble about music incessantly, so thank you for your ask; I'm so glad to hear the same that you like them, as well! I've not organically met anyone in person who has heard of them, only friends who've discovered them through me or the wonders of finding shared-interest-mutuals on the internet. "Warm Healer" was my first Everything Everything song I had heard back in 2016-2017ishh; the tone of the polyrhythmic bass guitar INSTANTANEOUSLY hooked me in for good, then their interesting lyrical narrative was swift to follow suit... Also let's not ignore the madness of the fantastic cover art of "Get To Heaven," my god the colors, the design, the lines, the figure... And then, of course, the subconscious love for Radiohead (unknowing this was an element at play until around the release of "Re-Animator" when--to my knowledge--the band was more upfront about their inspirations and it all suddenly made sense).

Before the release of their lyric book, "CAPS LOCK ON," I had a list of B-sides and rarities, including stuff from Modern Bison, which featured Jonathan Higgs and Jeremy Pritchard from EE. On the list was/is "Wizard Talk," which has to be my favourite Everything Everything song on two points: Firstly, as much as Higgs loves to bend and snap vocal capacities with unimaginable peaks of falsetto + fast vocal cadences that leave their music uncategorizable to genre (and etc...), "Wizard Talk" is--in my opinion--unlike anything they've ever put out stylistically. "His voice sounds like he's playing marimba runs," I have repeated to friends over and over and over again, begging people to listen to this song. And then, secondly, comes the profound lyrics of this song. EE loves to play with elaborate metaphors to dance around politics, the state of the world, and social narratives, but "Wizard Talk" feels emotional on a level beyond their common frustrations, especially having been such an early track from the "Man Alive"(?) era, and also in contrast to the stark emotionality of "Re-Animator." Idk man. It hits hard. It's sad. It's hopeful. It's beautiful. You feel the character's defeat and his acceptance in that the hope he seeks is, will be, and always has been abstract in nature while he has spent so much time looking for a concrete and tangible handle to hold onto. It feels like their most vulnerable glimpse at what Jon really has to say. That song has meant a lot to me for a long time, so I am glad EE finally released (some of) the extras from "Man Alive" in the Deluxe re-release.

Ah, anyways, the B-side archive. Something something something, if I remember correctly, there's a few songs missing from the Man Alive deluxe release and even "CAPS LONG ON" is missing a few songs. I won't be cross-referencing this information right now, I'm in bed. Regardless, I will say that a song or two off of the re-release are completely different recording takes and mixes which I find of intruige (again, only if I remember correctly, I think it's at least "The Kids Are Obese" but dooonn't quote me on it..)

Anyways, what else... I've done a ton of art based around EE, some of which is lyrically inspired, others of which are direct tribute art to the band (including a piece to "Magnetophone"!) They're currently sitting at my third-most listened to band of all time, according to my LastFM page. I love them so very very much and I'm so glad you do, too; I hope your ask could maybe inspire others, as well ^^

Can't ask me anything about music and expect a short answer, heh, I still have so much more to say about EE. I am very passionate about music.

[terry-perry]

Papa Steven trying his best to bond with Marcy

Steven was the one up this morning. Marcy knew right away when she took into account his hunched-over stature and sweet smile upon taking off her earbuds. She did her best to hide her disappointment as she returned to her breakfast, but unfortunately, he noticed.

"Everything all right love?" He asked her as he made his way to the coffee. Not before he took a little detour at the stove so he could greet you with a kiss.

"Yeah, sorry," Marcy mumbled, her eyes focused on her food. "I thought you were Dad."

Your daughter had been aware of your husband's condition from a very young age. You wanted to make it as less challenging as possible for her to understand, going so far as to dub each alters as variations of dad to make things easier. She knew they were their own people and should be treated as such. It was also why she was a little sad Marc wasn't the one fronting that morning.

"Did you need him for something?" Steven went on to ask, growing a little worried in case it was something concerning. It was in his nature.

She shook her head, pointing at her earbuds. "I just wanted him to listen to this song. I wanted to get his opinion on it."

"You wouldn't want my opinion?"

"Well, it's a pretty heavy song. It's not exactly your taste."

Steven knew music was a big factor in her relationship with Marc. He was the one who would sing to her as a baby to calm her down and play her some of his favorite songs she ended up loving herself. It was nice they had their own thing. Steven knew Marcy loved him too, but sometimes he did envy that they had more shared interests they could bond over.

"I can still have a listen," he insisted, joining her at the table. "Maybe I l might like it."

She raised a brow at him, unsure. She gave him her buds, regardless. And she was right when she told him it was loud. He was right away met with a melody of roaring guitars and banging drums before a screaming voice spewed out the lyrics to the song.

"Interesting...beat!" He commented over the music.

Marcy didn't look very convinced and shook her head with a chuckle. She was ready to take the earbuds back when his next words stopped her.

"They remind me of Metallica,"

She was certainly not expecting that. "You like Metallica?"

"Oh yeah. Well, mostly their early stuff when they did a lot of guitar solos. And Justice for All was really good at showing that off. But I mostly like to listen to Rob Zombie since his stuff is pretty funky."

Well, this was certainly a surprise. Not a bad one though. You were even caught a little off guard by what Steven said, pausing your cooking to look over with a raised brow.

"Yeah...me too," Marcy uttered, smiling in disbelief. She pointed at her buds. "I'm actually gonna play this song tonight with the band."

Steven has never gone to any of her performances, not when he was fronting anyway. Marc was normally the one to go to The White Rabbit to see her play with her band since he would better appreciate their music. Steven and Jake were told by him that they were good, especially Marcy with all her solos. He wasn't sure about their frontman Eddie. He was an eccentric fellow, according to Marc.

"Dad usually comes to these things, but do you think you'd wanna?"

To say Steven was taken aback would be an understatement. This was the first time he was personally invited to hear her play. He was certainly not going to miss out on this opportunity.

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" He accepted right away, beaming. "I'd love to."

"Awesome," Marcy grinned back as she got up from the table to put her dishes in the sink. "Well, I actually gotta go get ready for rehearsal. Jack should be here any minute to pick me up."

She kissed each of you on the cheek before going upstairs to her room to change, leaving you alone with your husband.

"Metallica?" You inquired, going over to present Steven with his food. "Rob Zombie. How has that not been brought up in the 20 years we've been together?"

It technically has, just not through Steven.

"That's the adventure of marriage, love," he did his best to shrug it off, still smiling. "Always discovering new things about each other."

"Uh huh," you weren't buying it, but you decided not to say anything else about it. You simply kissed his forehead, your subtle way of thanking Marc for giving Steven the chance to spend more time with Marcy. No doubt he was also the one who educated him a little on her favorite musicians.

[rattusrattus3]

the other day i rewatched one of your lookbook videos that had a song for each outfit and the single Wingnut Disherwashers' Union song got me into folk punk, and now a week later i am head over heels for the genre.

also, just out of curiosity, would you considering the song Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes a folkpunk song? i'm not sure, it's on my folk punk playlist called 'is this folkpunk?' so. yeah.

(i'm really liking the songs 'Nice Bongo . . . [f-slur]' by 37 Cents, Love Letters by Pigeon Pit, and I Listened by Apes of the State)

thanks for being the final push to get me into this genre that i have been teetering on the edge of for a while :)

HELL YEAH folk punk has such a special place in my heart !!! (My fav bands are ramshackle glory, Johnny hobo and the freight trains and ofc wingnut (pat the bunny also has some good stuff, and cud eastbound, though that might like a little more folk than punk sometimes )) (if you’re looking for recs ☺️)

To your question,

Tbh I don’t have tons of musical knowledge in terms of where certain genres begin and others end, but I can totally see elements of folk punk Blister in the sun (like the lyrics, certain vocals, the strummy guitars….) anyway imo as long as You like it and it fits into Your playlist , that’s all that matters ! (Or at least that’s how I tend to approach my own playlists I make!)

I’m so glad you’re finding more love for such an awesome genre !!!!

Hope you find even more bands to love 🥳🥳🥳

[theflyingfeeling]

Ninth Day of Gift-Giving: Nice Compliments

Prompt: "You definitely have a talent for this. It’s awesome."

Resuming the sappy with this piece of the cuties making some music together (Rilla helped, of course, even if it's not explicitly implied; you just know she did 😌). Read the previous part here (yesterday's story was another horny standalone)

~

A pair of hands wrapped Olli in an embrace from behind as he was loading the coffee maker. Immediately he lost count of how many spoonfuls of coffee grounds he had already measured – and suddenly he didn’t really care either. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Aleksi asked, his tone as soft as the kisses he was leaving on Olli’s neck, so Olli knew he wasn’t actually upset. 

“Didn’t have the heart.” Olli thought back to waking up to fluffy-haired Aleksi sleeping peacefully beside him, offering Olli a chance to study his each and every feature until he couldn’t procrastinate going to the bathroom any longer. To make up for his absence, Olli had lifted Rilla on the bed and nearly awwed out loud at the dog slithering under Aleksi’s arm. Olli had only barely been able to keep himself from joining them, but he really did need to pee, and while he was up he thought he might as well start their breakfast preparations, like any good host would.

Aleksi kept holding him while he started the coffee routine again from the top; Olli had had enough of kitchen disasters in the past few days, and messing up something as simple as making coffee would be the cherry on the top of that cake. With Aleksi’s hands caressing Olli’s stomach and his lips sliding along Olli’s jawline, focusing on counting the spoonfuls wasn’t an easy task.

“I was thinking–” Olli started, pausing just to collect himself when Aleksi’s fingers momentarily slipped under the waistband of Olli’s sweatpants. He cleared his throat and continued: “Would you like to work on some music stuff today? Not for the band, just…”

For us, he wanted to say, but swallowed the words; he was still a little unsure of how sappy he was allowed to get at this point of their… whatever it was they were currently doing. 

(Indeed, maybe there was another reason for Olli to make his silent escape before Aleksi would awake: at times, despite all that had happened these past few days, there was a small voice in Olli’s head that still managed to trigger his self-doubt if he stopped to listen for too long. This voice, although much more quiet now than it used to be, kept trying to convince Olli that he was being too eager, too hopeful about it all and that all Aleksi was in for was just a bit of fun between friends. Alas, Olli was yet to gather the courage to bring it up with Aleksi properly, to sit down with him and make sure they were on the same page, because Olli for one was more than ready and willing to see if something real would come out of this, his fears and worries aside.)

“Could be fun,” Aleksi said. He had abandoned his task of peppering Olli’s jaw with kisses and was now in the middle of burying his nose in Olli’s hair. “It’s not like Rilla’s gonna want to spend much time outside anyway, not in this weather. So a day in sounds nice actually. Cosy.”

“Day in it is then,” Olli hummed. When Aleksi began leaving small kisses on Olli’s earleaf and temple, Olli closed his eyes and bit his lip to keep a blissful sigh from escaping his mouth. Then, when Aleksi simply laid his chin on Olli’s shoulder, his hands still petting Olli’s tummy, he decided to let the sigh out after all: with Aleksi’s touch so loving and gentle, how could Olli ever doubt his affection?

~*~

If someone asked Olli what the two of them had been working on in his home studio all day, he’d tell them they had finished a song. Mind you, he wouldn’t even be lying, merely stretching the truth a little; they had, very much indeed, finished a jazzy little tune on Aleksi’s laptop, with Olli providing the guitar riff and Aleksi, well, everything else more or less, with Olli’s enthusiastic help and commentary. However, it was only one minute long, and it had, in fact, taken them the whole day to finish, not because they had been polishing it to perfection for that long, but rather because they had constantly been distracted by each other. In Olli’s defence, where else was Olli supposed to sit when his legs got tired of crouching by the desk if not on Aleksi’s lap, since he was occupying Olli’s only office chair (fetching a kitchen stool for Olli had somehow not crossed their minds)? How else was Olli supposed to react to Aleksi sneaking his hand under Olli’s shirt if not by grinding his ass against Aleksi’s crotch, feeling his slight bulge? What else was Olli supposed to do when Aleksi’s mouth kept searching for his own if not turn around and hold Aleksi by the back of his neck, guiding their lips together over and over and over again? 

It was unreasonable to expect anything else, if Olli was being honest.

At around nine in the evening, with just a couple of snack breaks and walkies to interrupt their long slog, they were finally listening to the finished product. Olli was standing behind Aleksi, his fingers playing with his fluffy hair, and Rilla, having lazed around the whole day due to the low pressure weather, was sitting on Aleksi’s lap, as if she, too, wanted to be part of the premiere of their music project. 

From the first notes sounding from the speakers, Olli was in love. Even though he did have a music degree of his own and was more than familiar with the processes of music production, he was still blown away by how something that had started off with a few simple chords played on his old, slightly-off tune acoustic guitar could be turned into an actual song with just some clicks from Aleksi’s mouse, in just a few hours (excluding the time they had spent focusing more on each other than the song).

It had to be some kind of magic.

"Have I ever told you you really have a talent for this kinda stuff? It’s so awesome."

Aleksi didn’t say anything for a while, and Olli almost forgot about it as they listened to their little creation on loop. When Aleksi finally spoke, his voice sounded small all of a sudden.

“Thank you.” 

If Olli hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought Aleksi had been moved by Olli’s praise for him. In truth, he was probably just tired.

Nevertheless, Olli decided to say nothing of the quiet sniff he heard a moment later, almost inaudible from under the music. Instead he planted a kiss on the top of Aleksi’s hair and took his sweet time nuzzling the soft hair there.

Olli was in love, and maybe not just with the song.

[tarotoftheendless]

Actually, Sturridgettes, what are your music recs for Tom?

I would recommend The Amazing Devil to him because he comes off as someone who would appreciate epic folk music but also music with heartfelt lyrics that are relatable yet also kind of niche like dressing up your cat like Batman because they're awesome like you. If you don't get that reference, listen to all of The Amazing Devil albums, I will not be telling you what song that's from because you should just listen to their music.

And then I would recommend Sleep Token because Tom comes off as someone that would love alt music, he is an older millennial after all. But also Sleep Token has lore, which means there's a story going on in the music. Also it's metal, but also almost like worship music which is really healing for people who have religious trauma. Also, Sleep Token just is a band full of amazing musicians. It's a good time.

I recommend both these bands because all the songs are good, there are no bad songs. So that's like 6 or 7 albums of amazing music for Tom to listen to.

But yeah, what music would you recommend to Tom Sturridge? Maybe we can compile a list and find a way to send him said list? His birthday is coming up, though I doubt we would be able get him the recs by then seeing as he doesn't have a known social media account anywhere. But maybe for a Con someday we can appoint the list to someone to give to him? You guys think he'd like that? New music recs? I think it would be thoughtful and who doesn't like to be turned on to new music?

I might also be searching for new music, lolz....

Also, what music reminds you of Tom? Or a character or Tom's? I am curious about what people think goes with Jake or what Will Donner would listen to, stuff like that.

Like I think the song "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry is so Jake, though I don't think he'd be caught dead listening to Katy Perry.

Anyway, what are your music recs for Tom Sturridge? Also what songs remind you of Tom and or any of his characters? And what songs do you think Tom does listen to and or what any of his characters would/does listen to?

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

hi cubeguy i sent u an anons a while ago that i dont use tumblr but i periodically check ur blog bcus it specifically rocks & im back. i listened to an album u recommended on here but im curtailed by the character lim to give a review so i typed out a real time extremely long reaction to the songs LOL definitely the logical nextstep. its @ pastebin.com/Ejd8E9VX idk if im allowed to link shit on tumblr?? anyway i hope to get around 2 other musiks u like bcus i lovedd this btw its get to heaven that i listened to THANK U 🎀🙇‍♂️💋💗💗💗

HEY YOU HAVE AN AWESOME WAY OF TALKING ABOUT MUSIC. GRINS SO MUCH. i’m glad you enjoyed gth it’s so so special to me genuinely the album of all time …. my favorite songs off it are s/s/w/d the wheel and blast doors Lways a joy to see someone go crazy about them

^ really fond of this descriptor here also i think it succinctly puts a lot of what i love about ee’s songwriting down into words…. the weird entanglement of love and hate and confusion and clarity it’s a very very special moodset

also YEAH the way you described the vocals…. the early everything everything albums play a lot with like. roughness and scratchiness and the kind of ‘animalistic’ register of the human voice. (honestly everything before raw data feel. this is literally because the singer just decided to learn how to sing in high registers without falsetto for the first time which is like cool but also AUGH i miss that old sound

OK SO the thing about this bit

absolutely YES the thing about get to heaven is that it’s literally just like. a complete album of bangers. going down through their other stuff is gonna be a little more rocky, you might enjoy the like once-per-album weird slow ballads you might not, even though i’m lazy about listening to some of their weaker stuff when i do go through the entire albums i still find a lot of quirks in the instrumentation or lyrics that manage to impress me. i’d recommend delving into either man alive or arc next those are basically on par with gth although a bit more weird and morose? if you’re feeling it id then recommend raw data feel which oscillates more around pop/new wave but still has some really interesting musical constructions, gets extremely electronic and synthy…. a fever dream is like a 50/50 split between really long slow songs which are just Fine and really fast heavy bangers. just go listen to notln, can’t do, desire, good shot, run the numbers and ivory tower LOL. uhhhh reanimator is arguably their weakest album probably the most unremarkable but it’s also like my second favorite right after get to heaven. it’s weird and glowy and flimsier than their other tunes. that enchants me i guess…. they’ve also got an upcoming album that once again seems to be more pop oriented, cold reactor is the best of the singles they’ve released for it yet. what else. there’s like a youtube playlist out there of demo/outtakes/non album stuff that you can find real easy, there’s some really good stuff in there. personal favorites are the come alive diana demo, even the dogs and dna dump

ok so the fucking thing about the “lore” of this album. there technically isn’t any and most of ee’s albums are a per-song thing usually revolving around like. modern social commentary. the genius pages for most of their songs have like. direct songwriting annotations by the band and explain the thought process behind them. however for gth there’s also like a small layer of overarching lore about this one guy called thomas silhouette as a character. he’s not so much the crux of any narrative or presence as much as he’s just like. funny anagram arising from a lyric in fortune 500 that gets alluded to in later albums because he’s loosely representative of a lot of themes that get tackled in ee songs like capitalism and dread and shit like that

[sonicenvy]

so I found about this cool website that @annieversary3 created that displays a recommended album submitted by anyone each day, and i got a little excited about submitting some cool stuff from bandcamp that i like. i also thought i'd share them here, because, well, why not? what else is having a blog for anyways?? lol so, here are the albums that i (sorry) spammed annieversary3's website with that you all now also have to see.

From the top, left to right:

Puberty 2 Mitski (2016) ❀ Fav track: A Burning Hill

Carrie & Lowell Sufjan Stevens (2015) ❀ Fav Track: Should Have Known Better

Top 25 Austin Bands of 2012 [comp] Sonic Vault ❀ Fav Track: 7 Mile Creek Blues

You Had Me At Goodbye Samantha Crain (2017) ❀ Fav Track: Antiseptic Greeting

On Oni Pond Man Man (2013) ❀ Fav Track: Deep Cover

Narrow Stairs Death Cab For Cutie (2008) ❀ Fav Track: Talking Bird

stray ikea graveyard (2014) ❀ Fav Track: Parker

The Birds & The Beats M.anifest (2009) ❀ Fav Track: Ghana, 52

Easy Way The Cactus Blossoms (2019) ❀ Fav Track: Got a Lotta Love

sidenote, to find more cool tunes 🎵, in addition to annieversary3's awesome website, y'all should also check out:

❀ birp.fm (download and listen to a monthly 100+ track playlist of new, old, and emerging indie music)

❀ radio.garden (Find and listen to online streams of FM/AM radio stations from everywhere in the world on a cool 3d globe)

❀ radio paradise (ad free internet radio 24 hrs per day.)

❀ @despite-everything's radio station & spotify (just good stuff 😊)

❀ 90.9 FM WDCB (Jazz, Blues, and Classic Radio Shows)

❀ streamfinder (find internet radio stations)

❀ 8tracks.com (yes, it still exists)

❀ boilthefrog (generate a playist on spotify to get you from one random artist to another)

❀ lofi-fi hip hop beats to study to infinite stream on YT (all instrumental)

❀ NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

❀ Streema (find more internet radio stations)

❀ egoisticalgoat.de (clone of turntbl, pop in anyone's tumblr url to get a playlist of all of the songs they've shared on tumblr)

❀ musicmap (type in one artist to see artists that are related/similar to that artist)

❀ classical wfmt (for all your classical music needs)

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sunday #31:

Zuma, Part 4

Thanks for putting up with the piecemeal approach I'm taking for one of Neil's all time great records this week. Shakey often collages his records together from different eras, different bands and different moods so I feel justified in taking the same approach here. Zuma is loud, lovely and runs the gamut from hopeful to harrowing. And that's just Side 1!

Today let's flip the record and drop the needle on the album's two most problematic - but still awesome - tracks: Stupid Girl and Drive Back...

At some point in college my graduation requirements dictated that I take Sociology 101. I was a good boyfriend and an equally good student - always on time and meeting my obligations - but I was also a bit of a pretentious jerk, alternatively focused on vital topics such as E.M. Forster's colonial biases and the campus-wide compost program. Intro to Soc struck me as soft, beneath my level. Like I said, I was a bit of jerk.

Anyway, the course asked for a final paper on a topic of your choice. Other students spent weeks doing research into houselessness, mental illness and the human condition. I did no research whatsoever and wrote my 15+ page paper in one sitting, starting at 10pm the night before it was due. My thesis: classic rock is a hotbed for misogyny.

No research was needed because I played records all night while I wrote and every new album contained yet another topic for discussion. A young George Harrison, who'd go on to be a serial adulterer, pronounced his lady friend dead if she so much as looked at another man; Van Morrison considered every female he encountered as both a sex object and as a "little girl". Creepy stuff.

The paper wrote itself and I got a big fat A which I surely did not deserve. Art has - so far! - almost always served as a vehicle for patriarchy; the teacher should have given me a C- and said thank you for your contribution Captain Obvious.

Stupid Girl may be Shakey's greatest contribution to the whole hateful genre of man hate towards other genders. Not only does Neil spend the entire song telling the lady in question that she is dumb over and over again, he does it - thanks again in large part to David Briggs' menacing production approach - with venom and conviction.

Just listen to Neil's double tracked vocals. He hates ladies in every possible octave:

I am tempted to defend my musical hero by pointing out all the songs in which he sings with earnest praise for women of all kinds and by arguing that Stupid Girl is an aberration in his art. But then I remember a long ago NPR interview with his poor second wife Pegi, whom he summarily dumped not long before she died of cancer, and I feel that defending him here may be a well, stupid, move.

Neil's complicated, that's for sure. I'm glad I'm not married to him, and I'm glad my sister isn't either. But meanwhile, Stupid Girl freakin' rocks.

And so does Drive Back.

I long considered this song problematic only in the sense that it was not as incredibly awesome as the rest of Zuma. Why include this workmanlike track instead of any of the other essential songs Young had on hand at that point; we're talking Powderfinger (or Big Waves as it was known as way back in the After the Goldrush era), Sedan Delivery, White Line, not to mention the rest of Homegrown...

My entire attitude shifted, however, as soon as I heard Neil's Odeon/Budokan record in official release; there Drive Back sounds like a song David Briggs, Neil, you and me can get behind. It's frantic; it's taut; it cooks. It's on fire.

It's Neil Young.