#but I transcribed one of the songs we wrote all on my own

[thefaggifier]

I’ve journaled about it and told a bunch of friend about my plan, but I wanna say here too that I’m gonna write a musical this year by myself.

[jazzically]

MAG 32 HIVEEE BABYYY!!!!!!! oh my god this one. this one is sooooooooo fricking good. i loved every single word of it when i first listened to it and i still do now. its written SO GORGEOUSLY

just the simple fact of this literally being a firsthand account of someone being taken over by the corruption, the infiltrator, that utter terror that comes with every disgusting thing thriving under rotted floorboards makes the concept beautiful by itself

cause jane wrote this just after she became too far gone, fallen helplessly to the worms' song, but before she was completely incoherent due to the lovely harmonies formed by the slithering of thousands of individual bodies through her vital organs. you can hear her despair manifesting, those last dredges of what she truly was struggling through the cloudy haze of unearthly love. and she lets it speak through her so beautifully. remember this is the making of an avatar transcribed. she describes how her relationship with the hive grew into something far more personal than a threat to her safety or sanitation. it's about the confusion that drops in on you at the beginnings of addiction and the combination of desire and sunk-cost that makes you want nothing more than to sink deep into its open arms and fully give yourself over to the only thing that says it can save you.

and throughout it all, she somehow makes this Crawling Rot — this mysterious thing that we know to be inherently gross and despicably filthy, that jeopardizes the security of the archives and its staff — sound hypnotic, in its own twisted way. enticing, even. that is the true horror. that is the most terrifying part, to me: that we are suddenly able to see where she is coming from. it's kinda like how jon spoke on how it unsettled him that the distortion said it wanted to help them instead of hurt them.

plus!!!!! i mean!!!!!! its so viscerally horrible and i love it!!!!!! its literally the corruption its the bending and destruction of things we find familiar and safe (ooOOo stranger and desolation overlap?) like its not just plain old disease and dirt yknow? its the SYMBOLISM of that disease and dirt and what it means to people whose lives become infected :3 love how jonny prolly went "hmm what are people afraid of? bugs? sickness? germs? what does that tie into? ah yes corruption" i feel like this specific statement was a great opportunity to really showcase how the corruption affects the mind and jonny maximized the writing to that effect. that was a lot of unnecessary words but basically what im trying to get at here is that jane prentiss's statement didnt reframe the corruption and her worms for me, it took the whole situation and flipped it on its head, upside down and inside out. it made the flesh hive seem so graceful.

umm not to mention the way the statement drops foreshadowing for the institute being eye-aligned omgomgogmgfndibf

EDIT...

OLIVER BANKS!!!!!!!!!! OOOOLLLLLIVERRR

edit 2 :3

I KNEW THAT IT WAS NOT SO SIMPLE AS TO CALL OUT TO WELL-TRODDEN GODS!!!!!!!!!!

god that line has stuck with me ever since i first heard it. it's SO GOOD. it is a perfect way of putting that feeling

RRRAAAAHHHH the web and the hive are so awesome when taken together

AND THIS. the Hive, more infinite than it can describe itself, is beautiful in a way most will never understand, for beauty is subjective. its indescribability alone is astonishing. the radiance of its power, seen as simple and dismissed without true understanding ever permeating its frothing membranes, is far more than we could ever deserve

i think this paragraph is just SO well done dude like go listen to it feel the impact of those words again because it's so raw: i see now why the hive hates you. you can see it and log it and note its every detail but you can never understand it. you rob it of its fear even though your weak words have no right to do so.

that bit was introduced and explained perfectly. its so satisfying nnnnrrrrrgggghhhhhfnkkffncnnfr

the sheer poetry of this series never fails to amaze me. oh my god

also i love how when jane is addressing gertrude it's done more vaguely so that it's almost like she could be talking to jon and the institute of the present day

poor jane she mustve been suffering for a very long time

[hinamie]

ok i have composed myself i have transcribed the lyrics for wish you were here as best as i could. i am going to listen to this and only this until i lose interest or the ability to hear, whichever happens first

this song is SUCH a bop the soft guitar intro in2 the main beat is so good but can we TALK . about how . HE STARTS IT WITH A "MWAH" WHAT A FUCKING ICON I LOVE HIM I LOVE THEMMMMM the percussion is so good i love the soft offbeat claps in th bg they add such a nice lil pep n especially in verse 2 after "love you even if you hate my guts" they add like 4 extra clap beats and i am !!!!!!! ASCENDING

verse 1 is iconic i love the line "pack up my head might mail it back to your house" its so fucking funny it reminds me of that post thts like "i didn't know how to deal with the fact that i had a crush so i wrote her a note that said get out of my school" . but listenok listen. verse 2 is the one they posted a snippet of last year and first of all i love the electric-y/tv-turning off/guitar slide/quiet video game laser effect as the vocals start it makes my brain buzz aNYWAY this verse is my favourite between the two and has absolutely s tier lines such as "as long as you think of me I don't care what" and "love you even if you hate my guts" PLUS the lil clappy bits i mentioned they r so GOOD. not to mention his voice pls.,,, he sounds so good when he belts,,, his voice has a slight rasp to it that they lean into with the slightly muffled old speaker sound god he sounds so good all the TIME his vocals are so clear when he hangs on the words "singing" and "myself" into the chorus PLS. also the bg vocal 'a t-t-t-touch too sentimental' is so gd CATCHY

speaking of the chorus oh my god the CHORUS. the desperate cry of "don't you miss me? / don't you want me around?" is so devastating and heartfelt head in HANDS also the lyrics . im so excited abt them i cannot put into words how !!!!!!!! they make me just. gestures helplessly

wishful thinking is all that’s holding me down  lost on a blue moon  i wish you were here right now

in chorus 2 especially the way the beat cuts out after "lost on a blue moon" n comes back after "I wish you were here"??? AUDIBLE SEROTONIN TO ME ((plus in the final chorus changing the "lost on a blue moon" to "not like you used to" ??????? OW ???????????? that had a lil kick that got me a bit.. , being stuck with ur own wishful thinking as a stand-in for the physical affection of the person u like,,, ....fushiguro touch starved megu- *is shot dead*)))

HOWEVER the absolute lyrical Backbone of this song is the fucking bridge. i knew it would be i heard the snippet ages ago and i was like holy shit these lyrics go hard what are they from only to b dismayed to find that whatever song they were from did not yet exist. but now it DOES and i can listen to the way the bridge sounds like lights dimming. like headlights passing through a hazy window. it sounds like clouds parting

nobody else in this life or next  will ever have me the way that you do nothing in hell, heaven, earth, or the rest could ever take me away from you

THAT FUCKING EMOTIONAL BOMBSHELL against the original soft guitar from the intro drop the drums just reverb-y lyrics and background vocals and some of the most romantic fucking lyrics i've had the pleasure of reading let alone hearing one of my favourite artists sing.

i am going to once again fuse my fv brainrot with my megumi brainrot. realistically ik this is probably a missing your ex song but i do not care. this is a longing megumi song to me i dont CARE argue with a WALL (said to no one). the verses and chorus are pine-y and a bit snarky n very i like-like you and don't know what to do with how much i miss you. it's wry and frustrated n just tsundere enough but then u get to the bridge n there lies the sheer undying devotION god im unweLL this is all i'm going to listen to. this was worth waiting a year for if this is part of a new album they have in production im actually going to die

[blazehedgehog]

As someone who I know is intricately familiar with Genesis music and the FM synth it uses; why is it that many people (including myself) enjoy the Genesis era Sonic music but when Jin Senoue tries to emulate that sound using Genesis synth samples (Sonic Superstars being the most recent example) it just doesn't sound very good? I know it's literally become a running joke in the community that Senoue uses the Genesis synth too much but it's not like Sonic 1 or 2 had bad soundtracks even though they used the same instrumentation, and Senoue is obviously a very talented composer, so I don't really understand why his attempts to emulate the Genesis soundtracks always turn out so mid.

The general theory I subscribe to is that with the soundtracks to Sonic 1, 2, and presumably even Sonic 3, those games were composed by people who were just writing "real" music. They would pick out real world instruments and write for that sound.

If you've never heard it before, for the 20th Anniversary, Sega put out a compilation soundtrack for Sonic 1 and 2, which included the original demo tracks Masato Nakamura wrote for those games.

Now these are basically just MIDI files, because they didn't need to be anything more than that. But you can tell he was thinking in terms of horn sections, bass guitar, and so on.

Nakamura would submit these MIDI songs on cassette to Sega, and Sega's sound engineers would transcribe those instruments into something that sounded appropriate for the Genesis hardware.

Now, Jun Senoue did the same thing, to a degree. Jun's first major Sonic soundtrack was Sonic 3D Blast on the Sega Genesis, and Jon Burton (of Traveler's Tales) revealed Jun's own demo cassette. If you listen to Jun's tracks, they're all done on the Honky Tonk/Rhodes piano. There's no attempt to utilize real world instruments or have any kind of sound diversity. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Instead of writing music for a band, he wrote music for an individual playing a keyboard.

Worse still, it has eventually been revealed as of Sonic Origins that Jun Senoue had very little awareness of how to make Genesis sounding music. Again, he only submitted his songs on cassette. He was not responsible for the FM Synthesis conversion, just the raw notes, which were all written on, and for, a keyboard.

(throwing the rest of this ask under a "read more" tag because it embeds a lot more videos and even some images)

So when it came time for Sonic 4, and they had Jun Senoue do the retro style soundtracks for those games, he was probably pretty out of his depth. He was writing for style of music he did not really have a nuanced understanding of.

So we get this crunchy, grating, disassociated "this is what the Genesis sounded like, right?" sort of sound. The musical equivalent of one of those early 2000's "How to Draw Manga" books: somebody who thinks they know what they're doing, has actual talent in other adjacent areas, but doesn't actually get this particular niche.

This is one of the reasons why I'm actually a little warmer towards Classic Sonic's music in Sonic Forces -- it's not Jun Senoue. Somebody on that project understood enough and had Naofumi Hataya handle a lot of Classic Sonic's music. He has actual experience with chiptunes and wrote something that feels like it belongs in a Sega System 32 arcade game or something.

Not every single one of Classic Sonic's songs are stone cold bangers in Forces, but at least they sound more authentically retro than Jun's attempts, because they were written by someone who knew what they were doing.

Beyond that, I don't know why Jun doesn't just, like... do better, in a sense. I suppose I don't know his composing environment and how easy or hard it is to slot in what he'd need to sound more "authentic." I just know from my own perspective how easy it is to grab a VST or a soundfont for common Genesis/Yamaha instruments.

But even then, more authentic instruments aren't going to solve the problem that this style of music doesn't seem to be his strong suit, even if somebody at Sega keeps pushing him to do it. Thankfully, I think somebody finally realized it, given how Sonic Superstars seemed to be full of his Sonic 4 style fake-retro music and most of it got replaced at the last second.

[team-mythic-beasts]

Seven Years of TMB, Part 4: The Iridescent Rover and the Angelic Author

By Lucas Reynard (feat. Aluros)

(Read series introduction here!)

Trying to outsmart a god, let alone a life deity, at what is basically hide-and-seek with extra steps… is totally impossible. Still, I thought Aluros deserved a little treat for winning— a book about him, written by yours truly. Well… I was going to give it to him eventually, considering I’ve been working on it for a few years already.

As expected, I found him taking the Princesses out for a walk in the woods outside Alphica, happily singing an old song he transcribed for his scholar friends; Clementine trotting around his feet, Lorelei on his head, Domino floating next to him, and Minerva being carried around in his arms, sleeping.

To be honest, I didn’t expect that he’d be here in his god form and not some other guise like… Bengt the Bard or that blue goblin whose name I can’t quite recall. But again, with practically no one in Phantasmia knowing who he really is (other than me), I guess he has nothing to worry about as long as he’s here.

Still, I’m not letting him tag along with me to Mikel’s place unless he changes into his elf form. I’d rather have my partner call Aluros “Mr. Reynard” rather than try to wrap his head around the idea of an “entirely new” deity.

Whoops, I’m getting off topic here… Anyways, back to my story.

“Oh, Lukey! Nice to see you again. The girls have been wondering when you’d…”

Aluros and his familiars were quick to spot me, but quicker did their attention turn towards the purple rectangular object I held in my arms. It’s the God of Colors’ favorite hue, and every author before me who’s ever written about him made that very clear.

Before I could fully explain as to why I got him this present, a collaborative effort from the two older Princesses swiftly removed the book from my grasp, then into their maker’s.

“All About Aluros: The God of Colors… You wrote this for me?”

And so he gently sat himself down, laid sleepy little Minerva onto his lap, and began to go through the pages, each word and picture, as the other Princesses gathered around him. His grin, which started off small yet soft, grew wider with every detail that amused him.

I wasn’t expecting much of a reaction from Aluros since it’s not really an elaborate gift, but looking back at it now… I probably should have. Unlike the stone-faced goddess that is my mother, he’s always been an emotional deity, and this time too was he moved to tears.

“I’m so honored,” “This is everything,” “Thank you so much…”

He kept repeating those words as he wept all over his new book and melted into a puddle, both his hair and the skies slowly morphing into a sweet, euphoric mix of purple, pink, and all those pleasant hues. The Princesses, Minerva included, meowed in harmony at the clouds, as they did every previous “purple sky.”

Like how the air turns golden to anyone who donates to a Moon Goddess statue, Aluros’ joy has the power to free anyone lucky enough to get to bask in it of their worries and all other negative sentiments. For all that my friends and I have endured these past few years, I admit this “purple sky” was much needed.

“Oh, I almost forgot… We got you a present too! Happy Birthday, Lukey!”

Well, I was so distracted from the joy of making Aluros happy that I forgot about my own birthday. Being the artist he is, obviously he’d have made me a portrait— marked with paw prints from all four Princesses.

Today, that portrait has its very own place in my study, framed in elegant wood and set right next to my table lamp. Whenever I’m a bit tired from writing, I’d put all my work aside and stare at it for minutes, even hours on end…

He’s gotten better at capturing my likeness yet again. 💕

Previous: Finny + Photia

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

WITHIN TEMPTATION's SHARON DEN ADEL: This Is 'Not Just Ukraine's War; It's Really Our War As Well'

In a new interview with James Wilson-Taylor of Rock Sound conducted at this weekend's Download festival in the United Kingdom, WITHIN TEMPTATION frontwoman Sharon Den Adel spoke about the lyrical inspiration for the band's latest single, "Wireless". She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When the war started in the Ukraine, we were in the studio writing songs, And it's one of the songs that we wrote. And it is about war, of course. It's about a soldier going to war and thinking he's going to liberate people, do good stuff and be a hero and everything, but then he finds out that he's been lied to by media but also government. And then he finds that he can't go back because he's already in his army gear, for instance. You can't go forward, you can't go backward because you have your buddies next to you and you'll all die in the field. And in front of you, you have a mission impossible almost."

The Dutch singer continued: "So that's what we try to do — maybe also shine a light on certain situations within the war. It's just we're storytellers — it's like amplifying a certain kind of emotion that people could feel in this situation."

Asked how she and her bandmates decided to use Russia's invasion of Ukraine as inspiration for one of their songs, Sharon said: "Well, from my point of view, it's not just their war. I really believe what some people are saying — it's really our war as well. Because it's next to us. They already said, they're not gonna stop at Ukraine; they're gonna go further. And a couple of hours flying from my home, it's already Kyiv. So it's also our war. I think we should be aware of the fact that this is a danger for all of us. They won't stop. And hopefully — we wanna keep this a little bit alive in our own small way by writing about it and talking about it and waving a flag on stage about it."

[allylikethecat]

Writing asks I came up with:

1. What got you into writing fanfic in the first place?

2. What boundaries would you not cross as a writer regarding content?

3. Has a fic ever made you cry? And if so, what was it about that fic?

4. How do you feel about abandoning fics?

5. Are there any novel authors you like that have influenced your writing style?

YAY!! Asks!! Thank you so much for coming up with these! Get exciting for me to ramble and overshare (but do you expect anything less?!)

What got you into writing fanfic in the first place?

I have been writing fanfic since before I was even old enough to know what it really was. I was always day dreaming and drawing pictures inserting my own characters into my favorite stories, or forcing my favorite characters into my own situations (my mother used to transcribe the adventures of various Disney princess for me lol) the first *real* fanfiction I remember writing was in 5th grade for the book Eragon. My childhood best friend and I had a red spiral bound notebook that we passed back and forth and wrote our fic in. In terms of The 1975- I've been a fan of theirs since the Robbers music video started showing up on my Tumblr dash back in like 2014? (I couldn't figure out who I wanted to be more... Matty or the Robbers girl and years later I still in fact do not have an answer for that one lol) And I realized they were the same band that sang the song Chocolate. However, I didn't start posting my writing for them until last year when I was Going Through It™️ and my Bestie encouraged me to use it as an outlet (sorry Fictional!Matty! that's why your life sucks!)

2. What boundaries would you not cross as a writer regarding content?

I don't think I've actually killed off any *main* character or public figure yet and I can't actually see myself doing that? At least in something that I post for public consumption? Honestly that could change though. I don't really have any boundaries I'm not willing to cross because I am a firm believer that fanfiction is still considered art and art is supposed to make someone feel something and even make them uncomfortable. I actually have a fic that I've been working on that I'm hesitant to share because I'm not sure boundaries exist and I don't want to offend anyone (again) 😂

3. Has a fic ever made you cry? And if so, what was it about that fic?

This question isn't fair. I am a cryer, everything makes me cry. I started crying the other day because I love my horse so much (he's totally fine he was just looking super cute and was all happy I brought him carrots.) So yes, lots of fics have made me cry. Anything that I read that I can tell the author poured their heart into writing is honestly going to make me at least tear up and I am not ashamed to admit it. That's why I don't wear mascara on my lower lashes and only wear waterproof eyeliner 😂

4. How do you feel about abandoning fics?

I've only officially done it once, for a Hockey RPF fic that I just, wasn't enjoying working on. Everything else is just on "Hiatus" until I remember it exists again even if it takes years. I don't consider myself a quitter and abandoning a fic that I've started posting kind of breaks my soul. HOWEVER I do have a folder on my Google Drive that's just a graveyard of abandoned and half finished fics that I never posted that I go and visit sometimes.

5. Are there any novel authors you like that have influenced your writing style?

Yes! For sure 100%. However, I am currently sitting here going "I have never read a book before in my life" which is obviously a bold face lie you should see my GoodReads page but not really because there is a ton of my real life personal information on it lol Even though he's not (technically) a novelist (even though he did write a book!) can I say Pete Wentz? He's probably one of the writers I look up to the most. The way he bends words to pen lyrics just... scratch an itch in my brain and I hope I can one day make someone feel the way Fall Out Boy lyrics make me feel and I 100% feel like the flowery way he writes has influenced my to some capacity.

Thank you so much for sending these in! It was fun!

❤️Ally

[omissilem]

birth pangs of a creative

I've always longed to write music.

I don't know when it started,

but I remember as a teenager,

I would hand copy hymns, and draw the staff with a ruler, perfecting the curves of the clefs. It led to teaching myself how to use music notation software to digitize various hymns and exercises I used at church. (We used Encore back then.)

I remember clearly when I showed my band teacher one of my scrawled scores.

I said, "Look Mr. Wall, I think I wrote a song,"

sounding unsure as I trailed off by the end of the sentence. It was a lie, and I couldn't speak it. I had copied one of my favorite hymns at that time.

Mr. Wall stopped to listen as I played it out at the piano. I was so satisfied to be able to play from the map I had carefully scribed.

I shakingly beamed, waiting for his feedback.

"Uhm...this is an old protestant song, I know this song!" He said firmly.

My insides dropped. My fabricated sense of accomplishment faded, and I felt ashamed. The very first time I wanted to share my passion for writing music, I shared a lie and got caught!

Cheeks hot, I stammered, "I guess I heard it before and transcribed it from memory, heh."

I never showed anything I had written (or copied) to anyone after that.

Year after year, I would sit at the piano and try to compose, learning how to talk my feelings out with the keys.

Undisciplined and lacking knowledge, I wasn't able to transcribe any of the musical ideas that would come out.

Year after year, I kept on, trying to write at least one song.

I bought MIDI keyboards, tested software, made countless recordings and free writes. I even took a college MIDI production/composition course, eventually dropping out. I literally couldn't do my homework, or labwork. I would sit at the workstation in lab, picking out notes, and not understanding how to put them together.

I would hear my classmates singing into their mics, and laying down their tracks. I listened as they played back their licks, seeing them smile and take pleasure in each step of the process.

I was disheartened, wondering why I could not create anything when I knew I had a strong musical talent. I knew the theory, I was a capable performer. Yet, I was utterly useless when it came to creating new music.

Normally people realize after so many years of failure, that they want to put their effort to something more worthwhile.

Not me, of course.

I bought journals, and staff-lined notebooks, filled them up with lyrics without melodies, and enough books to fill a bookshelf. I poured over literature on composing. I still couldn't make a single song. I practiced, recorded, tried collaboration, tried solitude. I bought gear. I thought that if I get this or upgrade that, I could make music. I would add one thing after another, curating a myriad of MIDI keyboards, pricey headphones, and numerous apps to help me.

I still can't let go of this one thing. I've developed a complex over it, worked on it, and still. I won't give up. I can't give up.

I can't buy any more gear though, I can't add any more onto myself,

except for an absolute commitment to discipline my work ethic when creating.

It's late, I forgot what I wanted to say.

I meant to say my need to produce that one song is like a late pregnancy. I'm full of this thing inside me, it is alive, and I'm bursting. My back is tired, all my resources are feeding it, and I'm turning inside out to finally see it come into the world.

I imagine it feels like Bella from Twilight looked right before she all but died before giving birth to her child.

Can anyone relate? Or is it my own personal insanity?

I'll keep going until I can no longer.

[grapesnolives]

@midnightinwales

Mar 26

Hi there

Lots of great points in your most recent musings as ever, always enjoy reading through them, thank you 😊

On the subject of STH and what you’d mentioned before about RP’s own feelings about his role in LZ as a whole, I was struck by his words here https://youtu.be/IFwU2qlEttg?si=LYEVWz8ZuFPfpJR_&t=77 (from 1 min 17 in case the timestamps don’t work)

I could be projecting, but it’s the way he gives credit to the composition while eloquently, yet noticeably distancing himself from his own lyrical input . It comes across like he reveres Jimmy’s contribution and was being a tad harsh on his own, crucial role in the creation of that masterpiece. He says it’s cos he was only 23 and writing from a youthful perspective, but I wondered if it wasn’t also partly cos of that point you’d said before about him not feeling as ‘worthy’ as the vocalist compared to the others?

IMO the importance of drummers is very often underestimated and the art of drumming is not given proper credit.  Completely agree, you appreciate a great drummer even more so when you see/hear a band with a poor drummer!  I think on the one hand,  it’s an instrument that people kid themselves that they can ‘play’ but far far fewer  can actually master.  I can’t even begin to imagine what sort of mind someone has to have to play parts with complete limb interdependence (eg Fool in the Rain) . And then,   in a band like Zeppelin where live performances were so off the cuff and to a certain extent, spontaneous, being able to come up with stuff on the fly is just incredible. In addition to all that, there’s the physical stamina required  too. Of course, in Zeppelins shows, everyone was a MVP and had to be ‘on’ at all times, but the drums needed such brute force for 3+ hour shows-it makes you realize how strong Bonzo was, especially for those days where there was no concept of hitting the gym and way (waaay!) too much alcohol.

The same goes for SIBLY at MSG 1973. Such a magnificent performance overall. The flow of his expression – from soft bluesy notes to rhythmic speaking and unexpected screams. Blows me off my feet every time.

Great choice-speaking of SIBLY live, what do you think of the gut wrenching scream on the BBC version of that song?  https://youtu.be/MSeviGS1vM4?si=jzaYw9OYS5JQNNKd&t=290  (about 4m52)

The MSG version has become the ‘definitive’ live performance of the song I think, but I enjoy listening to all versions/eras of it and this BBC one has another layer of raw emotion that is quite shocking and stunning especially on the first listen. I was reminded of it when you wrote about the Knebworth In the Evening  having that scream that was “ so pained. So desperate”  It’s another example of how RP was so much more than a mere ‘frontman’ imo.

For example “If we could just join ha’ends” in The Rover (that’s my sorry attempt at transcribing it lol) – Yes! That’s a great catch. I hear a twang in his accent there. Those vocal inflections add such character to the performances and I think that’s why we sometimes prefer the studio versions, or at least feel more comfortable with them at first because they were almost concert-ready, ad-libs and all even at the studio level.

Sorry, I could ramble on about Robert for years. Feel free to stop me at any point if I bore you.

Not at all-please do Ramble on to your heart’s content-I do love Robert too. I find myself smiling at his interviews and chuckling along at his live Plantations-he was beguiling when he was young and as an elder statesman with the weight of the awful tragedy and challenges in his life-I feel he has the experience that adds a lot of gravitas to his words.

In addition, even though we’re both LZ fans, our affection/attention is on different members, so it’s actually interesting to hear about how other fans view their guy’s contributions within the band.

On one of my long walks with my earbuds in, I enjoyed listening to my LZ playlist in detail to select a few of each member’s standout moments and found another one for Robert in the wonderful Misty Mountain Hop (along with In the Light, one of LZ’s more ‘Beatle-esque’ numbers imo) here

https://youtu.be/y6M3YQ_EF2E?si=tHAe84wiD4Z5I3c7&t=136  (from around 2:16)  it’s a great vocal moment in itself, but in that one bit, you can almost hear the birth of so many vocalists who came along later on, particularly  Axel Rose.

I think in Jonesy’s case with his vast array of instruments, you could fill a book of links to great moments. Completely agree with the forboding, ominous opening to D&C and then his absolutely relentless playing in the latter part of it. I also love both his funky, sleazy bass in the slow part of The Lemon Song as well as the shift to the high speed part. He’s great in everything, but that song really frames his skills, I think. One of my personal favourite keyboard parts is at the end of one of those long NQ jams live here in Seattle 75. I love his closing part, but I’ll just add the whole link (actually, it's come up as the youtube video as is here) as it’s a wonderful jam that works brilliantly as chill out music when having drinks with friends-hard to believe it’s only a portion of a song as it could work as a piece independently, so fully formed and groovy it is.

I realized that although Jimmy’s legendary riffs are often what makes each song immediately recognizable, I think I have a personal preference for his acoustic work. It feels more entwined within songs, more collaborative than the showstopping, but dominating nature of The Guitar Solo. Great moments for me are Babe, I’m Gonna  Leave you, Going to California and That’s the Way . As for electric guitar, I’m moved and impressed by his sound in Tea For One-it’s mournful yet melodic, plaintive, yet sensual and brooding.

Speaking of Jimmy (and Robert) IMTOD – yes, it’s J and R having shameless explicit sex on stage, essentially.  Lol, I did my homework and re-watched it. There is a lot of growling, pouting, hair flicking music porn from RP and JP’s guitar neck is as blatant a phallic symbol as you can imagine! Get a room, guys!  I’m curious about P& P worshippers-do you think they (you?)  love the individual guys/the idea of them together or the idea of being together with them the most enticing? !  

Watching that performance prompted another question. Sadly, TV/live footage is few and far between, but from the few concerts that are available-with the magic of a time machine-which one would you attend? Denmark TV/ RAH/ MSG/ Earl’s Court/Seattle/ Knebworth and why?

@grapesnolives thank you for the link, I'll check it out during the weekend. I agree that their experimentation is always beautiful and fascinating to hear. They had singular sensitivity to the emotion – sound axis. And you can never be bored with it.

I've moved us to a new post, since our conversation is veering off the topic of the original post and I think we've hijacked enough of that already ;)

Unfortunately, I don't have the source for that quote about Robert, as I have been consuming a lot (and I mean A LOT) about LZ in the past few months, but in quite a chaotic manner and I haven't been taking notes. But If I come across it again, I'll send it to you. I was also surprised by it, but I guess it makes sense, since it was originally Jimmy's band and I believe that as time went by and Jimmy was losing his grip on reality more and more, Robert might have felt constricted a bit or started to develop a need for more independence. Nothing unusual in that, it happens in pretty much any band. He might have also been genuinely annoyed at the endless solos, quite like Bonzo, and JPJ probably too. I mean, to make a six and a half minutes long song into 45 minutes is both amazing and unnecessary lol. And Robert did have a bit of an imposter syndrome, still has, actually. He often spoke about them as 'three musicians and me'. 'I'm just a wedding singer who sang with musicians', and how his elaborate singing style developed as a method to stay in the song, cause the long musical intervals made him feel irrelevant. He definitely wanted to impress Jimmy and there was a lot of reverence for him as the worldly, knowledgeable, experienced musician who created his own band. But that began to disappear when Jimmy got heavily into heroin imo and definitely lost after 1977. Robert's priorities changed. His view of life changed. The love was still there, but Jimmy was no longer someone that Robert had to live up to, so to speak. Now he was someone to protect (and, in a way, someone to mourn). But the initial experiences formed Robert as a singer, set his standards and informed his view of musical expression.

I've also noticed that he makes fun of Bonzo (the diarrhea jokes will live with me forever, thanks Bob :/ ) and JPJ (and himself, occasionally), but not of Jimmy. IMO that's because he and Bonzo were 'bros', mates, and that's typical friendly behaviour in this kind of relation. JPJ was also a guy in the band and concert is entertainment, so it's only fair to make people laugh. It created a sense of dynamics, each band member had his quirks and image to play with. But with Jimmy he is only ever sweet and attentive. Not least because Jimmy Page can't take a joke imo. He's quite fragile and Robert knew it very, very well. But this doesn't read to me as reverential, but rather as caring. He knew not to make Jimmy the centre of attention that he might not see as entirely friendly. And his mysterious image had to be uphold too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but whenever Robert speaks to Jimmy his tone of voice slightly changes. It becomes softer and warmer. ‘is it alright, love?’ kind of thing. He definitely wanted to be in Jimmy’s good books and for more than one reason.

I’m not surprised you thought they were a duet, seeing the photos. I recall seeing photos of LZ throughout my life and they’ve always been focused on J and R. I didn’t know what the other band members looked like before I started listening to the band. I knew Bonzo’s name because of his tragic death, like I do many other musicians’ who met their ends way too early, and knew that he is recognised as one of the, if not the greatest rock drummer of all times. But that was about it. IMO, he is the greatest of them all and he’s the only one whose drumming makes me genuinely tear up. There is as much emotion in Bonzo’s drumming as there is in Robert’s singing. Astonishing.

If you’re asking how I got into the story of J and R, it was quite simple really. I remembered the photos I’ve mentioned (mostly the WLL mic in the hair singing) which have always looked very suggestive to me and had heard before that part of the magic of LZ was the interplay between the two, and so when I finally got into their music I started doing my research to see if my initial impression was correct. And found plenty of evidence to confirm it, some of it much more straightforward then expected. But if you’re asking how I got into LZ then I’d say it was time for them to come into my life. One night on YT they appeared on my list and the journey began. I knew some of their songs before (STH, WLL, Dazed, a couple of others) and I had quite an emotional experience listening to Stairway as a young teenager, but that was the extent of it. I firmly believe that music comes to us at the right time and there’s no point in forcing it. It will find you if it’s meant to. And it will be a journey you’ll never forget.

Have you always been interested in drumming or is it the first time when it has captured your attention so much? Have you been into LZ for a long time?

[drpanda99]

5-4-3-2-1 Fic retrospective + 2023 Things

I was tagged by @dragongirlg-fics - please go and check out her writing and translations! =D

Post the following: -top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular) -your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year -your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year -your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year -and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Answers under the cut.

Top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022:

Collateral Circulation; and other protective factors: This was my WIPbang fic that I spent almost the entirety of 2022 working on. This is my longest piece of writing ever and something I'm extremely proud I wrote! One of my friends was worried because of how ambitious my plans for this fic was at first, but I managed to do exactly what I set out to do! I imagined it kind of as one of those medical shows where you follow different characters and cut back and forth between their lives. I imagined the hospital as a living, working thing filled with all these characters with their individual lives and problems; we get to follow wangxian closely, but everyone else has their own backgrounds etc going on. Maybe one day I'll write a commentary on what everyone's backgrounds and stories are!

[Podfic] I Don't Want to Debut! by Countingcr0ws: This was my first big podfic and I spent many, many hours working on it. I upgraded my setup once in the middle and had to re-record the first two chapters to match the audio! This was also my first time incorporating music throughout a podfic. I also transcribed Chuang 2021's theme song into Ableton so I could have the midi track! That was something I was very worried about, but it turned out well in the end.

Five Shades of Home: This was my piece for the Chinese Diaspora event. I had actually forgotten what I had written, but I recently went back to reread it and I was surprised by how well I was able to intertwine the themes of family, grief, and different kinds of love into the fic! I wrote it around this time last year, so i had forgotten so much about it. But yay for cooking with your family and difficult conversations about grief!

root your love a little deeper: I wrote this as a pinch-hit with like 3 days?? for a remix event. It was my first time writing sci-fi and I had to come up with a bunch of worldbuilding as I went, but I ended up really happy about the overall fic and how I kept the themes of the original while putting my own spin on things. It was one I've read back a few times and still enjoy a lot!

your heart of shadows, your eyes like stars: This was the first fic I ever posted as a WIP (because I have a terrible fear of not finishing a fic I started) and it helped me get over a lot of anxiety around expectations/my working speed/etc. I was super surprised at how many people like it! It started out as a horny short scene, but then i had to fill in the backstory to get to where I wanted to go. It developed a much bigger plot than I anticipated, but I'm proud I pulled it off in the end! I'm also glad I got to explore some of the interesting parts of omegaji and the juiciness of LWJ's character against societal expectations of gender roles, love, and duty. I haven't read back over it yet, but it was a really fun experience (and I didn't have to edit the entire fic all at once, which was nice).

Your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year:

Secret bottomji big bang fic: Ooooh I'm so excited about this! I'm about 20k into it with an expected word count of around 60k. This could likely balloon because the plot got more complex, but that's ok! It's still a secret, but let's just say it incorporates some of my fave AU elements and I'm going way too hard on the structure of the fic lol.

Modern cultivation/poetry AU: This was my Nano project in November for a lack of other things to work on, but I'm hoping to release it this year! This started out as a modern with cultivation AU that would be released simultaneously with a "book" of poetry that LWJ either writes or studies from. I love the idea of making the reference material for within a fic and it isn't something I've seen that often! I don't know if I'm explaining it well, but it's me working on a fic + a poetry collection as LWJ at the same time. The cultivation part has taken over it, so I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna write myself out of this hole but oh well, I'm the author!

Wangxian incense burner CNC fic: set in a dream of the Cloud Recesses era where LWJ does WWX exactly as hard as he deserves lol. Inspired by maotuan's uncensored panels and WWX's talk about "why didn't you take me back then, you should have held me down and forced me, etc."

A non wangxian secret exchange fic: My first time (in this fandom) writing a non-wangxian main pairing! Details are still a secret, but I look forward to stretching my fingers into exploring other characters and dynamics.

Your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year:

Biggest is writing at all! I had not written prose for fun in over a decade when I rejoined fandom in late 2020, and I had barely started writing again. Fandom, writing, and podfic helped pull me out of a few months of really bad depression early in the year and it's given me comfort that I can make it through even the hardest of times. I've managed to keep writing despite other things in life going wrong and I'm super proud I've kept this up because writing was one of the first things I ever loved!

My dialogue writing has gotten way better! I struggled with it so much in late 2020 and everything felt awkward and stilted. I still struggle with it at times, but I've been able to make it sound more natural than when I started!

Using an outline: I thought I was a pantser, but I never managed to finish any longer prose works I started in the past. I started actually outlining my ideas and writing in plot details, which seemed to be the secret for solving my never-finishes-any-writing self.

Your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year:

Figure out how to make transitions less awkward/use fewer time skips. If I'm using timeskips, make them feel suitable for the tempo of the work.

Manage time a little better - plan out which events/fics I'm gonna release rather than jumping on anything that looks good! And also finishing drafts in time so I don't make my betas work so hard (deep gratitude for everyone who has beta'd my stuff lol).

Your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Ok a little cheating, but I'm putting in the entire paragraph with my fave line (aka two lines lol) highlighted. This is from chapter 14 of Collateral Circulation and is from Yu Ziyuan's letter to Wei Ying. I love Yu Ziyuan as a character; I find her so emotionally complex and compelling. She may not be someone I like, but I think she serves to highlight how multifaceted one person can be.

Yanli loves you dearly. Jiang Cheng does too. Both of my children, whom I fought for tooth and nail, love you as if you were the centre of our family. Unlike Jiang Cheng, Yanli is soft and loving, more than I could ever be. She’s been the perfect mother despite her youth. I see so little of myself in her that I wonder if she’s really mine, and then I see her stubborn love and I know that she is exactly like her mother. If I could excise the love from my heart, I would. She nurtures it instead.

And that's a wrap. Thanks for reading if you've read it this far! =D

[focsle]

[ID: Image of a page from a 19th century whaling journal reading: Whaling! It’s advertised in Albany NY + Buffalo 500 young Americans a whaling for to go. Cheer up cheer up my lively lads in spite of wind + weather. “ “ will all go home together.]

Another one of the shanties from the back of William’s journal. He’s just titled it ‘Whaling!’, but it’s known today as Blow Ye Winds. I just enjoy the idea that me and my friend from 164 years ago know the same songs--that good old oral tradition. This was sung using the lyrics he wrote down though lightly edited for cadence and I interspersed the common chorus line with the one he transcribed. Under the cut.

It’s advertised in Albany, NY, and Buffalo, 500 young Americans a whaling for to go. Cheer up cheer up my lively lads, in spite of wind and weather! Cheer up cheer up my lively lads we’ll all go home together!

They send you to New Bedford, that famous whaling port, To give you to some damn rascal to outfit you on board. They show you to your clipper ship that’s built both strong and stout, They say you’ll take 500 sperm before you’re six months out.

Blow ye winds in the morning, blow ye winds high-o! Clear away the running gear and blow boys blow!

Now comes your grub my boys and of that it’s not enough, All the week we’ve stinking beef + on Sunday a little duff. Next comes the running rigging boys, which all of you must know. If you don’t know it in a week you’ll lose your watch below

Blow ye winds in the morning, blow ye winds high-o! Clear away the running gear and blow boys blow!

Next comes that compass which grieves your heart full sore, With 2 + 30 points to learn of your own fall 40 more. Now we’re at Cape Horn my boys where the wind comes up to blow, Some are sick as hell on deck and the rest are down below.

Cheer up now my lively lads, in spite of wind and weather! Cheer up now my lively lads we’ll all go home together!

Now we’re at the Coast of Peru where the whales come up to blow, We lower away all of our boats and after them we go. Now the boats are lowered we’re all upon the level, If you don’t look out for his flukes he’ll send you to the devil!

Cheer up now my lively lads, in spite of wind and weather! Cheer up now my lively lads we’ll all go home together!

Now the whale is turned fin up we’ll tow him alongside, We got the fluke chains on him and rob him of his hide. The boatsteerer is overboard, the tackle is overhauled. The captain’s in the main chains and loudly he did bawl

Blow ye winds in the morning, blow ye winds high-o! Clear away the running gear and blow boys blow!

Now the blubber’s all tried out and the oil’s stowed away, Our share is full at 50 cents on the 170 lay. Now our ship is full me boys and we don’t care a damn, We crowd all on our lofty sails and start for Yankee Land.

Blow ye winds in the morning, blow ye winds high-o! Clear away the running gear and blow boys blow!

We arrive at New Bedford and think no more of sailing, So round New Bedford we steer off to damn and bugger whaling. Cheer up now my lively lads, we’ve come through wind and weather, Cheer up now my lively lads we’ve all come home together.

[angeli-marco-writes]

Loki Laufeyson - favourite crime

A/N & WC - I am not trying to pretend I am Olivia Rodrigo at all: total credit for all songs and lyrics used here goes to her and her team. No disrespect is meant towards her. I do not own the songs, I also do not own the characters I’m writing these blurbs for. Please read the preface. Yes I did correct the spelling of 'favourite'. 1.3k.

Warnings - slight Loki spoilers? but not really, just allusions. Please don't debate Sylki/Lokius here. Talk of heartbreak and breakups, mentions of murder and crime, crying.

Loki snatches me from Bucky’s arms when FRIDAY notifies him of his required presence. They share the solemn nod that only broody old men with similar mindsets can, an unspoken agreement between them as I’m passed over like a parcel. I don’t mind, it happens a lot.

“My darling,” he purrs, “I would love to hear your song. I won’t hinder you, just take your time, get yourself ready, I’ll keep my questions to myself.”

He lets me stand on my own two feet, but takes my hand and brings it to his lips, kissing me chastely on my knuckles before letting me tune my guitar. My cheeks are already burning, I can feel it, not because there’s anything between us, but more just because of how he treats me. Like a proper lady. Even though I was born into money, my dad isn’t exactly high society, so I wasn’t a debutante or anything. I’d contemplate doing it now, though, with Loki. He puts me in Asgardian gowns that make me look like a princess.

“I wrote this song… after you took me home. And pampered me. And talked to me about my breakup. I’ve never felt as accepted as I did then. I couldn’t have written this without you sharing your experiences with me, and listening to my own worries. This song is to thank you, Loki.”

He bows his head out of respect, and only after I gesture that he can does he sit down on the blue couch.

“You remember what I said to you. Despite my past, despite my reputation, I’ll be here for you…”

“Always,” we say in sync.

He settles as I begin to pluck at the strings. The feelings I felt when writing this song hit me like a truck: I haven’t played it since I finished transcribing it. Loki feels it too, his power palpable in the air.

‘Know that I loved you so bad

I let you treat me like that

I was your willing accomplice, honey.’

There's no point lying about the fact I bawled when he told me about his partner in crime. A beautiful person, he told me, as hell bent on vengeance as he was, more cunning and hedonistic than him, but with a heart of gold. Only for her to break his after all the time crimes they committed together. He did anything for her because he loved her, and if you ask me, he still would.

His long fingers flex, knuckles cracking as he endeavours to focus on my words and not the memories. Mine instinctively flex on the strings.

‘And I watched as you fled the scene

Doe-eyed as you buried me

One heart broke, four hands bloody.’

This was the way I felt after the fight that ruined us. No literal blood, but enough painful words and accusations hurled between us that the metaphorical blood stained like Lady Macbeth. Loki made those metaphors real, let me see the damage we’d done. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. He ran after he left me in that state? I already felt six feet under, but Loki wiped my eyes and showed me fireworks and made me feel ok.

‘Those things I did

Just so I could call you mine

The things you did

Well, I hope I was your favourite crime.’

I broke myself down to nothing, changed every innate part of myself on an aesthetic level just to be more pleasing to him. I did things, said things I never would’ve otherwise. And at the end, he didn’t even want me. I didn’t want me.

Loki shifts around on the cushions, drumming his fingers on the table with the beat. He somehow matches the song and my heartbeat all at once.

He did some terrible things to me, so awful that Loki claimed it on his level of, y’know, murder. Maybe it’s him being overprotective, but he promised he’d kill for me. I said no. He said it’d be his favourite crime to commit and worth the repercussions, ‘saving’ me from that wanker, but I’m not on the same level.

‘You used me as an alibi

I crossed my heart as you crossed the line

And I defended you to all my friends.’

Even when I came back bawling before the breakup, just after a fight or after he turned on me for no reason, I defended him. To every Avenger, every family member, I was fine, we were fine, he was an angel. Except Loki. The second time it happened, he broke my trust and entered my mind. I’ve never been so glad he did, because he shared a memory of his back. We made eye contact over the crowded room, his crystal eyes pooling with remorse, but we had an understanding. We weren’t alone. And after that, since I still wanted to keep up the façade, he became my alibi after I was already used up.

‘And now, every time a siren sounds

I wonder if you're around

'Cause you know that I'd do it all again.’

I wouldn’t necessarily: Loki would. He’d go back to them in a heartbeat, and after what he’s told me, I wouldn’t blame him. Sirens haunt us both, different sounds that echo through our dreams and wake us in the small hours. Even if my ex isn’t around anymore—not that he ever really was in the first place—I know Loki is.

His smile sustains as I sing through the chorus once more, but I see the tears forming, ready to spill down his flushing cheeks. A single one falls as I take a deep breath for the last chorus line.

‘I hope I was your favourite crime…’

I sustain this final word and leap into the bridge in one breath, the complex melodic idea scrambling my brain. I only strum lightly at my guitar, eyes squeezed shut as I focus on my words and melody, but I can feel Loki all around me, his presence like a magical hug.

‘It's bittersweet to think about the damage that we do

'Cause I was going down, but I was doing it with you.

Yeah, everything we broke, and all the trouble that we made,’

I feel his power ripple through me as I gulp down more breath to complete the bridge, high notes and all. He offers me love, support, breath all in one wisp of power. He shares my heartbreak, dissolves the memories of my descent into trouble and self-loss. The damage I caused to myself, my life, my relationships is irreparable. Trouble-making is only fun, I’ve learnt, when I’m doing it with the God of Mischief.

“Love should never be bittersweet,” Loki’s voice growls into my mind. He winks, I smile.

‘But I say that I hate you with a smile on my face

Oh, look what we became.’

After the high notes, I tail off and swallow as much air as I can, leaping into the final chorus with more vigour, ensuring Loki can see my heart, the memories we shared, how he consoled me.

‘All the things I did

Just so I could call you mine.’

My voice cracks, my heart breaking.

“Y/n…” he whispers.

I shake the cobwebs away and pick back up, my voice light and airy, the emotions flowing out of me, the pat becoming me as I finish the song unaccompanied.

‘All the things you did

Well, I hope I was your favourite crime

'Cause baby, you were mine.’

His head is bowed, his ebony hair hanging around his angled, white face. He reaches out for me without meeting my gaze, one slender, vein-lined hand, decorated with a single gold band on his middle finger. They gave it to him, and he let me wear it when he had to leave me once. I entwine my fingers with his, and let him hold my hand.

“Always?” he whispers, his voice full of hope.

“Always,” I confirm. “We’re safe now.”

[takethistoyourstardust]

Wondrous Tails of FFXIV - Music

(Important context; my WoL’s Echo, other than the canon ways it manifests, also manifests in being able to literally hear trial boss music. While most of the soundtrack you hear in game is non-diegetic, the trial boss music is diegetic to her and no one else. Also this is not WoLRaha; Ahrora is aroace.)

~

“Have you ever tried transcribing your songs?”

“Huh?” Ahrora looked up from her bow, examining it for any damage, Miqo’te ears flicking. “I didn’t hear you, sorry.” She re-adjusted her headband, since it slipped a bit forward with her head down. G’raha Tia has asked her the question, a fellow bow user, like her. He was the one who seemed to be the most excited to travel into the Crystal Tower, his enthusiasm seemingly only matched by Xiyu Moonfire, a Viera who Ahrora quickly claimed was her own brother. It was a bit odd, but he seemed so trusting, and he didn’t seem weirded out when she said it.

“Oh, sorry,” G’raha said, crouching down near her. “But I noticed you’re a bard, but you don’t seem to have a set list of songs you sing when you’re barding. Maybe if you wrote them down, you’d be able to remember them better, and you’d be able to fight better.”

Ahrora raised her eyebrow at him. “It’s not a bad idea, but I… don’t know how to write. Not very well, anyways.” It was a bit embarrassing to admit, especially when she could very clearly see the Archon marks on the side of his neck, proving he was much, much smarter than her. But while she had a basic understanding of reading, and had learned to read at a much higher level thanks to her dad, and she could at least write her name, she had no real reason to learn how to write.

“Oh,” G’raha said simply, looking down. He seemed to be thinking about how to change the subject.

“No, don’t feel weird about it,” Ahrora shrugged. “I just don’t know how. I mean, I can write my name, but that won’t help with writing down the music I hear.”

“Well, maybe when you have some free time, you can teach yourself how to write sheet music, at least.” G’raha said. “I could even help you!”

“You seem really insistent about this…” Ahrora said, smiling a bit warily. “Do you like writing your own music?”

“Ah, well,” G’raha started, “I don’t always, but sometimes, I’ll overhear Xiyu singing, and I’ll write it down, if only a little bit of it. He gets a little embarrassed by it, but he’s such a good singer, I can’t help it.” He was blushing a bit.

“Maybe he should be a bard, too,” Ahrora said.

“Maybe,” G’raha smiled. “But I can show you how to write the sheet music once we finish exploring all the secrets the Tower holds for us!”

“I’ll hold you to that!”

–

The candlelight of her inn room was surprisingly bright, even this late at night. Ishgard’s winds were howling, blowing snow against her window, but Ahrora didn’t notice it, or it at least didn’t distract her. She plucked a few strings on the small lyre she had been gifted by Jehantel, humming a note to see if she matched it to the string’s note. When she was satisfied with the match, she jotted it down on the paper. She pushed her hair out of her eyes on instinct, despite her hair being much shorter now, not even touching her shoulders.

G’raha had only given her the most basic tutorial on how to write her own sheet music. To be fair, he was a very good teacher, and she was able to grasp the fundamentals. But he had decided to leave a deeper dive for later, not elaborating that “later” would be “when he woke up from his sleep in the Tower, which might not even be within her lifetime”. Xiyu seemed to be the most devastated by G’raha choosing to seal himself in the Tower, but G’raha had promised that he’d see him again. Considering Viera lifespans, she didn’t doubt that G’raha was being absolutely serious about that. But again, that was not occupying her mind as she read what she had written down, playing along with the lyre.

“These voices telling me let it go… Let it all go… I try and try but I can’t say no… Try and say no… This endless nightmare has just become… Nowhere to run… My heart is dragging me down into…”

She sighed. It was much slower than the song she heard fighting Shiva. The guitar she had heard, that was a much harder sound than any guitar she had heard. Still, she wanted to get this song down, if only to understand Ysayle a little bit more. She plucked a few more notes on her lyre, and sang those last few notes as she wrote them down.

“Oblivion…”

–

It was a quiet night in the Crystarium, a rarity in recent days. With the permanent return of night, even with a few days having passed, people were still celebrating it. Even from her suite in the Pendants, she could hear the people cheering to the return of the moon. But tonight, the one night she didn’t want to sleep, everyone else seemed to. So, to hopefully not disturb anyone, she had retreated to the highest place she could think of, the watchtower near the rookery. It wasn’t her first choice, but it was the quietest choice. Now, sat up here, with her lyre in hand, she sang to the stars;

“La la la la la, lying lost in thought, Do you love me not? Follow these Petals cast aloft, la la la la la, Will you, when I’m gone, remember me?”

The notes on the lyre were light, but Ahrora’s own voice was dark. She felt it was the only way to honor the Lightwarden’s song, and the pixies in general; playful, yet dangerous to those who didn’t know better. She wasn’t a bard anymore, not in combat; when she was in Doma, she had come across the art of dancing, and had since traded in her bow for a pair of chakrams. Still, she found comfort in singing, in playing her lyre, even if it was to no one but herself. She was so focused on the song, that she didn’t hear footsteps behind her. She wasn’t even aware anyone was behind her until he spoke.

“And here I thought you had abandoned barding, Ahrora Xue.”

Ahrora had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. “You don’t have to address me so formally anymore, G’raha,” she said, turning around. The Crystal Exarch, G’raha Tia, had come up to see her. She was vaguely aware he didn’t need sleep, but she still felt the urge to ask why he was up so late.

“It’s a habit now, I’m sorry,” he said, walking up near her, but not sitting down. “Is that a song you wrote.”

“A song I wrote down, yes,” she said. “It’s Titania’s song… the former Titania’s, rather.” She stood up, holding onto her lyre tightly. “I’m not sure of the name yet… I’ll come up with it later, though.”

“I see,” he said, looking down at the lyre. “I’m sorry I abandoned our promise to teach you how to write sheet music, but you seem to be doing quite well on your own.”

“You didn’t, though,” she said, cocking her head to the side, her braid falling a bit quicker than the rest of her somewhat choppy hair. “You made good on your promise, remember? You taught me the basics, which was enough. So don’t worry about it, okay? Not after… everything.” Indeed, the events of nearly turning into a Lightwarden herself in front of a man who seemed so full of hatred that she was turning, despite absolutely encouraging it, was extremely fresh in her mind, as were the marble scars on the back of her legs, hidden by her jeans.

G’raha seemed to be quiet for a moment. “I… hadn’t forgotten I taught you the fundamentals. But I had promised-”

“You didn’t promise to teach me more than the basics, just that you were saving other lessons for later,” She shrugged. “It’s not ‘later’ yet, but if it makes you feel better, you can still teach me. I’m sure my sheets are only really legible to me and me alone.” Ahrora smiled, and G’raha, for the first time in a couple of days, returned her smile.

“I believe I can make time to do just that.”

[dustedmagazine]

Bill Orcutt — Music for Four Guitars (Palilalia)

Music For Four Guitars by Bill Orcutt

Whether through confrontation or deconstruction or noisy exploration, Bill Orcutt’s music cuts, or wrestles, song structure to its essence. But Music for Four Guitars slices more cleanly than most.

On the one end of the Orcutt spectrum is the wild, menacing abandon of Harry Pussy; Adjacent, if totally different in execution, is his mesmerizingly irritating 2021 solo digital piece, A Mechanical Joey.�� Elsewhere (here I must abandon the idea of straight lines) are Orcutt’s nearly unrecognizable renderings of some of the best-known entries to the Great American Songbook. And then there are his improvisational outings, both on his own and with longtime collaborators such as Chris Corsano: For 2021’s long distance collaboration Made Out of Sound, Orcutt improvised over Corsano’s recordings, piecing together a lovely slow-motion rock-tumbler of guitar and drums.  

Music for Four Guitars has been in the works, as a piece of music, since 2015, and was originally meant to be performed by four guitarists. On this record all four parts are played by Orcutt. The chance to hear his recognizably frenzied, blown-out guitar tone times four is our good fortune. Should you care to launch your own guitar quartet, an 80-page score transcribed by Shane Parish is available via download. (Don’t worry if you lack the chops: the record will be performed live by Orcutt, Parish, Ava Mendoza and Wendy Eisenberg next year at Big Ears Festival).

Orcutt has said that he is built for a certain kind of cyclical rhythm, which Music for Four Guitars offers in large supply. He told the Guardian in 2013 that, via this rhythm, he felt a kinship with Gertrude Stein: "The way that she wrote," he said, “it's not repetition, but repeating something with variations, with these tight loops. … I know this sound because it's in my head all the time.”  

Here the track titles, read together, form a kind of poem, in a style not dissimilar to that of Stein. If the listener/reader is playing along, their awareness will shift from “In profile” to “Seen from above” to “On the horizon,” and so on.  But perhaps it’s best not to overthink the titles, though they fit the musical pieces, which are likewise brief and relatively accessible, and more complex than they might seem.

In a recent Substack post about the philosopher and mystic Simone Weil, poet Emmalea Russo wrote of “the dreariness of not looking down, of not looking up, of gorging on culture and forgetting what lights it up.”  

Music for Four Guitars is both steeped in solar brightness and grounded in the dirt, but in its more baleful moments — see “Only at dusk,” a foreboding perpetual canon sliced through with a gorgeous ascending note — it reminds me of the complex, darkly-toned psalms I was drawn to as a child in church. We had no official choir, so parishioners sight-read their separate vocal parts from their hymnals.  

Four Guitars is, to be clear, not worship music, unless you subscribe to a Weilian idea that music is an expression of pure attention, which therefore makes it a form of prayer. And, as Tom Carter argues in this record’s liner notes, Four Guitars is too indelicate to be considered chamber music, tempting as that classification may be. Of course, anyone as rooted in American music as Orcutt cannot help but brush up against the pew now and again, and American church music, like Orcutt, can be a real bruiser. 

But as with church music, or choral music, Orcutt builds musical structures layer by layer, part by part. These compositions are sometimes jaggedly ecstatic – “Or head on” for one, leaps and lurches with joy. As in any congregation, sometimes a delighted, discordant, untrained voice rises in volume above the rest. 

Margaret Welsh

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Even after all these years, the whole David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hagar discussion is still ongoing. There's no definitive answer to this debate as both singers contributed to Van Halen's legacy. But at this point, it seems as if the whole thing took the spotlight away from Eddie Van Halen.

During a recent interview with Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony discussed the differences between the two singers and how they fit in the band. The whole discussion started when Anthony was asked about his friendship with Hagar and how long they have been loyal to each other. He replied (transcribed by UG):

"A long time now. When he first came in as a solo artist, played on a few shows that Van Halen had done. There were some outdoor shows that we did where he was an opening act or whatever. And I never knew him, though. I mean, I knew his music like everybody does. All the bands, they know each other. I know Eddie had met him, also, but I never actually met him until he walked into '5150.' After he and Eddie jammed, and he decided to come in and see what this Van Halen thing was all about. I don't even think Sammy had any intention of joining the band at that point. I think he just wanted to come to the studio, see if the party, drugs and drinking rumors were true." [laughs]

He also added:

"My introduction to him was just as the new lead singer. But we became fast friends. Because let's put it this way – I owned two cars when he joined Van Halen. I had one and my wife had one. And by the next year or whatever, I owned 10 cars, and my wife hated me for that. She owed it all to Sammy Hagar." [laughs]

But it does seem that Anthony is more of a Van Hagar than a Van Halen fan. When asked whether he thought the band was "selling out" or whether they "were doing what the band always needed to be doing," Anthony replied:

"Nothing that Van Halen ever did was a conscious effort. Even from the beginning, Warner Brothers would say 'Hey, what's the first single gonna be?' We said, 'Hey, you guys choose it. We love all our music, we made it, so you guys choose whatever you think.' And we never wrote towards that way, 'We need a number one single.'

When 'Jump,' which was our only big single from the early days of Van Halen, Roth didn't even want that song on the album, because he's all, 'Eddie, you're a guitar god, man, you're not supposed to be playing keyboards.' And Eddie, he grew up classically trained. Piano, in addition to picking up guitar.

When Sammy joined the band, I think it was just a natural progression of the band. We just continued writing and Sammy brought in this whole knowledge of being a guitar player himself, he understood structure of music and stuff like that. From that standpoint, where David would always write the lyrics and go, 'Yeah, man, play that hard or whatever,' Sammy's like, 'Hey, you got this chord here, what if we play this chord or whatever, make this change.'

He brought a whole new element, and it just kind of changed the dynamic of the band. We weren't going to continue doing what we didn't want to continue doing, what we were doing with Dave. Because that was with Dave. It's the natural evolution within the way the band was evolving."

Elsewhere in the interview, Michael Anthony discussed Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang and how he's "doing his own thing now." Reflecting on how Wolfgang is always associated with his father's work, Anthony commented:

"Obviously, you get pigeonholed into it, you know? He doesn't want to be known as Eddie Van Halen's kid his whole life. He wants to go out there and make a name for himself, which I totally understand and I agree with."

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

DORO PESCH Says Her New Album Will Include A Dream Collaboration: 'It's Somebody Everybody Knows'

In a new interview with Brazil's A Rádio Rock, German metal queen Doro Pesch spoke about her upcoming studio album, which is tentatively due this fall. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There will be a great duet on it. I can't tell you the name, but it's great. It will be with somebody I love. So you guys have to wait a little bit more. The record will come out this year. But it's just in the making. And there's another collaboration which I dreamt of my whole life… It's somebody everybody knows."

Asked what fans can expect to hear on her new LP, Doro said: "Many anthems. Many diehard metal songs. Many soulful songs. And a great, great guest. A great collaboration on one of the songs. And I think this will be probably my second 'All We Are' that people always wanna hear it and sing it. And there's one song for the animals, because I love animals. It's called 'Heavenly Creatures'. And I wanna do something with this song. So that's dedicated to all these heavenly creatures."

She continued: "I grew up with dogs and horses and parrots, and I miss that in my life. That's the only thing I miss. I have no regrets whatsoever, but I would have loved pets. But it's impossible when you're on tour. So I do something else. And I just adopted two horses. But they're not close to where I live. They're actually in a different country; they're in Austria. But they're someplace where people take care of animals. It's so nice. It's a paradise — for people and for animals."

Pesch added that the plan is for her to release her new album on October 27, one day before her 40th-anniversary concert at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Düsseldorf, Germany.

This past February, Doro spent time at Miami Beach Recording Studios laying down vocal tracks for her upcoming studio album.

Last October, Doro spoke to Metal Rules about the status of the songwriting and recording sessions for the follow-up to her 2018 double album "Forever Warriors, Forever United". She said: "The new record is almost done. It's like 80 percent done, and there are awesome songs. There are anthems, fast songs, and some really soulful songs. So, I think that 80 percent of the record is already done. I mean, 80 percent of the songwriting is done, and we have recorded lots of stuff. It will be out sometime later [in 2023]."

Asked if her new album will be stylistically similar to "Forever Warriors, Forever United", she said: "Yeah, but it's probably not a double album. The next year is my 40th anniversary as an artist. And, of course, we want to do something special, but it will be a single album."

"Forever Warriors, Forever United" featured 19 regular tracks and six bonus songs.

In September 2022, Doro released a very unique single — a soulful adaptation of her classic metal anthem "Raise Your Fist In The Air". The track was made possible by the new ZDF (national German TV channel) music show "Music Impossible".

In May 2022, Doro told Sleaze Roxx that she does most of her songwriting now with former SISTERS OF MERCY guitarist Andreas Bruhn. "I met him, I think, in 1986," she said. "We've always worked good together. Actually, the new bass player we have in Europe, we wrote a new killer song together so that's a new friendship. It's an anthem. It's good! And I wrote one song with my very first producer from the 'Hellbound' album. We met up again and wrote a nice song together. It's a song for the animals because I love animals. It's called 'Heavenly Creatures'. That will definitely be on the new record I'm planning on putting out next year. Next year, I have my 40th year anniversary so we want to celebrate it big."

In celebration of 35 years of the "Triumph And Agony" album from her former band WARLOCK, Doro released "Triumph And Agony Live" in various formats, including CD, vinyl, cassette, DVD, Blu-ray, and a huge box set, in September 2021 through her own label, Rare Diamonds Productions. The "Triumph And Agony" artwork centered on Geoffrey Gillespie's famous original drawing of the "Warlock" embracing the blonde rock star.