#chinese opera vocals into pop

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Listen to 放下 Let go ⚡ A playlist by chu-lan-maria on SoundCloud ♫ ◠‿◠ hope you'll like it.

結束後，離開。 不要繼續給枯死的花澆水。 When it’s over, leave. Don’t continue watering a dead flower.

(PS. I don’t own any music and songs right, I just make the playlist for listening easily and enjoy all musicians your works and love to share it only. all copyright belongs to musician & singer. If you want me do delete yours from the playlist, please tell me then I will do it. Blessings! Thanks! Lan~*)

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illustration ©Jo In Hyuk /graphic designer, illustrator /Korean

[lil-tachyon]

For the last couple weeks I've been drawing logos / designs for local-ish (mostly NJ, some PA and NY) bands as warmups in the morning. Here's what I've come up with! Massive post below the break explaining each logo + where to find each band and listen to their music.

Teenage Halloween- a staple of New Jersey basements for probably about a decade now and finally getting wider recognition in the last couple years. Pop punk / power pop with a killer horn section. First time I saw them was in New Brunswick playing with Walter Etc. and Blowout. They played a killer cover "Build Me Up Buttercup" and my wife got a black eye in the pit. Recommended tracks: "Brain Song," "666," "Clarity." Their first EP is on a separate bandcamp page btw, check it out here it's great.

Sweet Pill - They will call themselves a Philly band but in my heart they'll always be from Glassboro. Definitely one of the more recognizable names on this list. Emo revival - early stuff is more twinkly, more recent stuff is heavier. All of it's great. Recommended tracks "Nephew," "High Hopes."

Shark Club - Central Jersey's finest. I'm very biased because I actually know these dudes and they did the music for my wedding. Some of the best pop punk you'll hear and the nicest people you'll meet. Recommended tracks: "Game Theory," "Bill Murray," "Heavens to Betsy."

Rest Ashore - My favorite band for the last (oh God I'm old now) eight years. From gut-wrenching emo ballads to virtuoso math-rock instrumentals they do it all. One time I got to sing vocals on "Lucy's Theme" at a house show- thank you Erica! Recommended tracks: "Hjarta," "Chinese Opera," "Devotion," "Soyuz Sweetheart." Too many bangers to name honestly, just deep dive their discography.

Morus Alba - First band I ever went to see at a house show and still one of my absolute favorites. Their music feels like the bridge between the best pitchfork, /mu/ alt rock bands and high energy basement emo. I mean that as a compliment and I hope it comes off as one lol. I should note that since 2019 Morus Alba has morphed from a band into an experimental hip-hop project so later releases sound radically different and basically disconnected from the earlier stuff. Also my favorite release from them, Live at Isabelle's, has been scrubbed from the internet but if you'd like the files just email me. Recommended tracks: "Skyscraper," "Human Resources," "The Goodnight Waltz."

Have a Good Season - another Jersey mainstay that's still going strong. Emo revival in their earlier releases, now with more 70s power pop influences in their newer stuff. See them live, they put on a fantastic show and usually play some great covers in addition to their original music. HaGS guys if you're reading this, please put your version of "Since You've Been Gone" online, I'm begging you. Recommended tracks: "Joseph / Shel Silverstein," (you have to listen to them together for the drop, so good) , "Gum, "Gleaux / Scab." Also, frontman Nic Palermo interviewed me once.

Elephant Jake - If you see any of these bands live make it EJ, they put on such a damn good show. Electrifying indie punk from the Empire State. Recommended tracks: "F.D.C." "Sarah Moyer," "Goodness to Honest," and of course you gotta learn "Sebastien Bauer" for the singalongs.

Blind Lion - Sadly one of the greats that we lost along the way. Defunct since about 2017. I only got to see them once but it was a great performance. Alongside their own stuff they played some killer covers of "Bad Moon Rising" and "Moonage Daydream." I had trouble doing a logo design for them because I actually really like the composition, if not the "Ed Hardy-ness," of their existing logo so what you see here are two separate attempts, neither of which feels entirely satisfying to me. Frontperson Larry Flately currently plays in Nematode and also handled production of Bradley Gardens joke hiphop group The Breakfast Boiz under the moniker "DJ Ova EZ." Recommended tracks: "Brumous," "Dinner."

Fighting Seasons - A band that I sadly found out about too late (via a sticker under the bridge in my town which has since been painted over). 2010s pop punk that packs a helluva punch, especially considering that I'm pretty sure the members were high schoolers for most of the band's existence. I think some members may have gone on to form Sawce (FFO Chon, Polyphia, that type of music) but I can't remember where I read/heard that so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Recommended tracks: "Fighting Seasons," "Oil on Canvas"

Milkmen- Another fallen giant, officially disbanded in 2019. Like Morus Alba, they played the very first house show I attended and their few releases remain on constant rotation in my home. Used to put on a great show and were one of the bands I always thought would make it big until suddenly they weren't around anymore. Frontman Ben Thieberger contributed guitar and vocals to Covid quarantine project Kin if you're looking for a bit of an extra fix but beyond that I don't know what these guys are up to these days, sadly. Recommended tracks: "Ramus," "Johnny Dangerously," "how sieves catch breeze," "K.O.T.H."

Stand and Wave - New York (now Philly) pop punkers delivering instant dopamine hits with every track. Another great live act, see them with EJ if you can! They often play shows together. Recommended tracks: "Convos," "Mrs. Dash," "Splashton Kutcher," "Michael Collins."

My Chemical Romance - You know who they are. While I was drawing all these other logos I ran a poll on Patreon to decide which famous New Jersey band should also be graced with a drawing from me. MCR won the poll by a hefty margin so unfortunately you won't get to see me do an illegible black metal take on Hoboken's Yo La Tengo. I ended up doing two versions: the one with the halo is the first, the one with the bats was the second. I tried to do something kind of thin and elegant with the first one and I don't think it's terrible but I also wasn't quite satisfied with it. For the 2nd attempt I tried to lean into the kind of pulpy, almost horror punk aesthetic of early MCR and I think that one looks better even if it's less original.

Anyway if you took the time to read through all this, thank you very much! And please support these bands! Also If any of the links aren't working please let me know.

-Logan

[kingsandbastardz]

I've been collecting a playlist of folk or traditional music influenced rock, metal or hip hop (currently mostly from Asia, but if you've got other recs, lemme know):

00. Xiao Shunyao - Mountain (live)

Genre: rap-rock + Chinese opera/folk singing

This is my favorite song of Xiao Shunyao's current ep/single (? not sure) as performed at his concert in 2022. There's been an ongoing sub-trend of using Chinese opera in theme songs and various traditional inspired pop in China, but this is one of the rare ones where the lead singer is doing the opera, the rap and the rock parts. My absolute favorite part is the second verse section that starts operatic, then flips to folk rock, and then back to opera until you can't really tell which is which.

Imo Xiao Shunyao's voice was seriously wasted during his 1st gen boyband days. He's truly meant to sing rock and whatever opera-hybrid this is - he's able to bend his voice in far more interesting ways than if he's stuck with just one genre, and the theatrical quality/ his vocal tone during the folk and opera portions really glues everything together. He's got fantastic vocal control and expression and he doesn't have any vocal inhibitions at all. I reeeeeaaaally want more songs in this style.

Here is a link to a bilibili playlist with his official tracks sung live at his concert from 2022 - none of the cover songs, though. You'll have to get that through fancams.

[damonalbarn]

“One of my lecturers brought me in to do a session with Damon Albarn. He was writing a Chinese opera at the time (Monkey: Journey to the West). There were six singers brought in. He was writing ideas and recording vocalists singing them in real time. He had a four-string Chinese instrument and an engineer. He was singing these ideas and they were popping it on to a laptop, printing it out, and bringing it in to us. We were singing it for him. He was getting an idea of what his ideas sounded like with real singers.

It was amazing to see him work; what an incredible voice and vocal range. The creativity is very obvious. To see him at work was amazing.”

jazz vocalist and musician Laoise Leahy [X]

[fyexo]

221209 LAY ZHANG IS FINDING HIS WAY

A young Lay Zhang had a clear goal in mind: in 2005, he enrolled in a talent competition, the Hunan-based Star Academy. Zhang Yixing (as he was known back then) did it for 50 RMB — an incentive that his father had promised him if he got through the first round of auditions.

He did, but more importantly, the achievement meant that he went on to become a finalist on the variety show. “I never dreamed that I would become an artiste,” Zhang reminisces. But the experience unlocked something inside him, as the creative teenager found himself continually drawn to the allure of the stage. He’d go on to make cameos in other shows in China, and each time he gained even more confidence and experience. It helped that Zhang was an easy crowd-pleaser; he was charismatic, and bubbled over with youthful exuberance. Plus, he could sing, rap and dance — he had all the makings of a teen idol. Not surprisingly, he ended up at a global casting by SM Entertainment, held in Wuhan in 2008, and was soon headed to South Korea to train as a performer at the age of 17. In 2012, he debuted as part of EXO — the wildly successful South Korean-Chinese boy band that has topped music charts worldwide since its debut.

Now, at 31, an older Zhang has a different goal in mind: to create works that speak to his roots, and that are unapologetically his. After 10 years with EXO, the Chinese pop star will be focusing on his solo career. But the experience of condensing years of hard work into mere minutes of an intense performance alongside his fellow members is something that Zhang continues to hold dear to his heart today. “I feel that it’s because I’ve gone through all that back then that I developed this awe for the stage,” he says. “It’s just so unforgettable.”

A hand-written note on Zhang’s social media account says: “It’s time to say goodbye… It’s also my new beginning.” That fresh start would see Zhang venturing into uncharted territory, where he melds Chinese classical poetry, traditional instruments and historical facts with modern musical influences — adding cultural elements into songs, raps, music videos, and more. “I want to share my music and my culture with my fans from all over the world,” he muses. West, his latest five-track EP, is a widely anticipated sequel to 2021’s East — and continues to be a heartfelt ode to his Asian heritage. When sharing how he blends and finds harmony in melding Eastern and Western influences, Zhang gets particularly animated. “That makes the sound feel very unique,” he says. “There’s something different, yet the same.” In the lead single “Veil”, what starts out as dreamy chords from the erhu, a Chinese traditional instrument, quickly segues into slick trap beats. The same Oriental motif can also be detected in “I Don’t Care”, a song about cyberbullying, and how it is important to stand up to the haters.

Most of his songs can feel vastly distinct at first; the groovy, flute-fuelled “NAMANANA” stands in stark contrast to the heavy, rap-driven “Lit” (the music video is a vivid reimagination of Xiang Yu in the historical Chinese opera Farewell My Concubine). But a common thread that runs across most of Zhang’s discography is a duality in terms of the language used. He flits comfortably between Mandarin choruses and English verses, connecting the dots, sonically, between seemingly distinct cultures — and thus bringing into full force his entire vision: of finding a higher purpose (and platform) for Chinese culture and folklore. He calls this Mix-Mandarin pop, or M-pop for short (not to be confused with Mandopop).

His music has certainly got everyone perked up, and tuned in. “Different languages help achieve different effects,” Zhang shares. Beyond cementing his popularity back in China, the pop star has also started to gain the attention of audiences elsewhere. His first solo performance in the States saw Zhang joining Alan Walker in a 2018 Lollapalooza set. The Chinese singer also lent his vocals to “Love You More”, in a collaboration with Steve Aoki and Will.I.Am. Diplo was impressed by the work ethic of Zhang when they met backstage, and referred to him as “the truth” in a tweet. In recent times, he sang — in both Mandarin and English — alongside American rapper 24kGoldn in “Dawn to Dusk”. “Through music, we can overcome language barriers,” he says in an Instagram post. Not that Zhang has ever let any obstacle get in his way. “Every small setback is a great opportunity to toughen you up.”

This might explain why the multi-hyphenate never shies away from a challenge — from his role as Er Yuehong in the action series The Mystic Nine, to voicing the sleek and chic Jackson Storm in the Chinese-dubbed version of Disney’s animated film Cars 3. Not one to be satisfied with the status quo, Zhang says: “I keep raising the bar on myself, on my music, on my dancing, and more. When I reach a certain level of quality, I raise it even higher — to make myself better.” In this continual pursuit for more, the entrepreneurial creative has embarked on yet another new path, as the founder of Chromosome Entertainment Group, where he, in turn, hopes to identify a new generation of superstars — and nurture in them a “respect for the stage”, the same reverence that got him performing in the first place.

These days, Zhang finds himself dreaming a new dream. He didn’t set out to become a global phenomenon — but along the way, he gradually found and settled into his own voice and identity. Zhang now wants to be remembered as a musician “with guts” — one who is unafraid to take risks, and make bold moves. “I hope to leave behind a spirit of not giving up, of chasing a goal regardless of the cost,” he says. It seems fitting that Zhang uses a quote from an ancient Chinese poem, A View of Taishan, to describe his journey thus far — “that at the summit, look beyond your feet, and everything else in the scenery will look small in comparison”. The stanza holds a huge amount of literary significance, but its essence, to put it loosely is be ambitious, trust the journey, and reap the reward. “I feel that the world belongs to the adventurous,” he says. And it’s clear that Zhang is embarking on the grandest adventure of all.

source: Fabian Loo @ Elle Singapore

[independentartistbuzz]

Vicki Lovelee Shares Daring and Orchestral New Alt-Pop LP feat. “Double Edged Sword,” Revealing the Masked Fool

Vicki Lovelee is a Chinese-Canadian alt-pop sensation based in Markham, Ontario. With a foundation in classical piano and a degree in jazz vocals, she masterfully blends her deep musical knowledge with a passion for pop – to create a unique genre she calls “dark pop ballerina music at the opera.” Her sound is a dramatic fusion of dark pop and orchestral instrumentations, offering a cinematic experience to listeners.

Lovelee’s new record, Phase 2: Power Struggle, continues her album series initiated in 2021 with Phase 1: Shadows. This whimsical, fun, and seering new LP represents a period of being in flux – “transitioning into a more confident person but still struggling to regain our power,” she explains. 

The album’s focus track, “Double Edged Sword,” grapples with one of the challenges to one’s confidence, the archetype of the masked fool. The theatrical alt-pop piece pulsates with anticipation and nimble strings as Lovelee stops falling for their tricks and reveals this individual for who they really are.

“Double Edged Sword” is about revealing someone’s true nature. There are some people who are kind and charismatic and everyone loves them and are drawn to them. But it’s all just an act; it’s just a mask that they’re wearing. If we take off their mask, we realize that they have selfish and nasty intentions behind their kind actions. – Vicki Lovelee

[aoiumine]

Idol Au HCs because ive been playing project sekai for 3 days

Group hcs

• Yu jin and Barbara are the main Vocals. Barbara and Yu jin have their own styles and inspos that they mix together. Yu jin listens to primarily cpop and traditional chinese theater music while Barbara listens to a mix of kpop, indie and pop

• Ayaka and Nilou are thr main dancers. They get along really well and make really good choreography to go with their preformances

• Xinyan plays guitar but is the mediator of the group

• They all get along, even though they spend some of their time in different groups

• They dont operate in school. They do stuff after school and online

• Based of nightcord at 25:00 but has the euthusiasim of more more jump

Individual hcs:

Barbara

• Barbara is the most insecure of the bunch but dosent show it

• She is considered the school idol even before the group came to be

• Rarely hangs with anyone except for her group, razor and noelle

• Overworked sweetheart

Xinyan

• Xinyan is the sporty type and does alot of athletics on top of guitar practice

• She is popular among her class due to her caring nature, so much so she was even nominated for class president

• Prefers music over work but still manages to get good grades

•she actually isnt a singer, just does the music

Yu Jin

• Yu jin was in theater

• Has a small crush on Xinyan. She was one of the first friends Yu jin made in school

• Specialises in traditional chinese opera

• Works part time at a tea shop

Ayaka

• Ayaka originally wanted nothing to do with the idol group. She became engrossed in her work so much that she never really had friends to hang with. That was until she saw Barbara singing on her own

• She is a talented dancer, very elegent and graceful

• Has a crush on Kazuha (so does he)

• Has a very supportive family

Nilou

• Nilou grew in a neighbourhood where art wasnt appreciated. She travelled to the same area as Ayaka to attend the school they all at so she could be free

• Shes super close with Barbara and Ayaka

• Long distant Bf (Cyno)

• Gets homesick really easily

Pls tag me if you draw this idea or write about it i would love to see it

[hunxi-after-hours]

a humble invitation to lose your mind about 《声入人心》 with me

finally getting around to a rec post for 《声入人心》 Sheng Ru Ren Xin / Super-Vocal because this lowkey might be the best show I’ve watched in the year of our eternal suffering 2021. yes, you heard me right, this variety show from 2018 is quite possibly my favorite television thing I’ve consumed all year

(rolls up sleeves) aight here we go—

what is 《声入人心》 / Super-Vocal, and what’s up with that title?

《声入人心》 is a 2018-19 Chinese variety show where they gathered a ludicrously talented cast of 36 classically-trained male singers and had them do ludicrously talented vocalist things for 12 whole episodes of musical virtuosity. nominally, the cast is competing for six 首席 shou xi / uhhh “finalist” seats, but lest that put you off, the first nine episodes feature absolutely zero elimination — they pit challengers from the remaining 30 against the top 6 each episode, and regularly re-shuffle the positions based on performance

the title is actually a delightful pun on the chengyu, 深入人心 shen ru ren xin / “to enter deeply into the hearts of people” (used to describe something of great influence and resonance) by swapping out the first character 深 shen / “deep” with 声 sheng / “sound” so the name of the show becomes something along the lines of “sound that reaches deep into your heart”

who knows where “Super-Vocal” came from, though I will concede that everyone involved in this show is pretty Super and there sure is Much Vocal happening

what sets this music-based variety show from other music-based variety shows?

good question! not one I’m particularly qualified to answer, considering that this is (checks notes) the first music-based variety show I’ve ever watched. 《声入人心》 focuses primarily on 美声 mei sheng / bel canto, which means most of their performances explore the spectrum of classical opera, operatic pop, musical theater, and folk songs (and sometimes Beyonce so tbh anything can happen, really). you’ll hear songs in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and occasionally a multilingual mix of the above

the show also makes technical aspects of song and music theory accessible; little pop-ups will helpfully identify when key changes occur, and the performances steadily increase in difficulty as the participants move from duets to three-part and four-part harmony (good god the harmonies on these performances). I genuinely felt like I learned a lot about music and vocal performance just from watching this show, which is super exciting!

that’s all very well and good hunxi, but what about the people?

GLAD YOU ASKED because I love everyone in this bar. like, the music in this show is objectively spectacular but the heart of this show lies in the interactions between all the contestants, who are overwhelmingly supportive rather than competitive with each other (I personally find it hilarious how the editing attempts to generate Conflict and Tension but really everyone is extremely wholesome and encouraging and mutually appreciative of each other). everyone just loves music So Much

anyway, the contestants range from 19-year-olds who are still in college to their professors who have put out professional albums to singer-songwriters secretly running the pop music industry to independent up-and-coming musicians to stars of the Chinese musical theater scene, so there’s quite a nice spread of experience, vocal ranges, and musical styles 

and because I, unsurprisingly, play favorites, I’d like to specifically shout out:

王晰 Wang Xi: this is in fact the man I won’t stop yelling about since his newest album 《B面图景》 just dropped; he has a baritone to make your knees go weak and a devastatingly dry wit capable of rendering even Ayanga speechless

周深 Zhou Shen: there is a dearth of him in the first few episodes but don’t fret! As soon as he gets the chance to sing everyone is immediately floored. This is still relatively early on in Zhou Shen’s career and outside of his musical comfort zone, so he’s actually quite shy and uncertain of himself until Wang Xi forcibly adopts him

阿云嘎 Ayanga: I made an entire separate post about this man and I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to call him the protagonist of this variety show. let’s just say that prior to this show I knew of him and after this show I would die for him

郑云龙 Zheng Yunlong: known as 音乐剧王子 “the prince of musical theater,” he definitively proves that he deserves that title throughout this show. One of the chillest chaos agents ever to grace a stage. Also he and Ayanga used to be roommates in college and I live for them dragging each other (okay it’s mostly Zheng Yunlong dragging Ayanga) every chance they get

honorary shout-outs to 蔡程昱, the goodest boy, 翟李朔天, for having The Most Flair All The Time, 方书剑, a literal sunshine puppy, 余笛老师, for a truly stunning range, and 简弘亦, who I maintain deserved far more screentime than he got, and look I can keep going but at this rate I’ll just go through all 36 of them so you should just watch the show and understand exactly why I’m like this now

can I get a sampler of the music so I can know what to expect?

absolutely! behold, recommendations based on any qualms or queries you might have:

“Operatic pop? What’s that?” Glad you asked, give "Grande Amore” a try, and if that doesn’t float your boat, I offer for your consideration “Melodramma” and “Les Rois du Monde”

"I mean, how good can the harmonies really get?” Get a load of Wang Xi, Ju Hongchuan, and Li Qi absolutely rocking these harmonies in “Sound of Silence”

“But I was promised musical theater?” and so you shall have it, here’s Zhou Shen singing “Memory” in two languages and Jia Fan, Cai Chengyu, and Ding Hui singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” in three part harmony, just because they can

“uhhh why are all of your recs not in Chinese? do they sing in Chinese at all?” yes they do, and they’re bangers

“Ayanga? 🥺” Ayanga <3. (also 双云 <3 <3 <3)

what else should I know going in?

hmmm, some housekeeping:

for reasons of copyright, some songs have been muted on the YouTube episodes; you can usually track down the performances by searching for the song/performers’ names + “声入人心 纯享版,” I only think there was one I had to go searching on bilibili for

the first two episodes are all 36 of the contestants performing a sample from their vocal range! don’t worry about remembering everyone; simply sit back and enjoy everyone mutually fanboying over everyone else’s talent

I think these have English subs on the YouTube videos! no idea how good they are, but they Sure Are There

ooooh keep an eye out for 马克 Mark, the pianist! he is a certified Legend

欢迎大家随我入坑 :)))))))

[synergysilhouette]

Continuing on with my Choices ideas for books from my banned Reddit account, here is "Four":

The fourth album curse is starting to weigh on your shoulders. By the time an artist releases their fourth album, it's believed that they're no longer popular, no longer a commercial success--of course, there have been exceptions. Do you have what it takes to be one?

Gameplay: your choices matter. Being a household name in the world of music, you'll decide whether to stick with the genre you love (pop, rock, hip-hop, or country), or if you want to experiment with a new sound. Along with this, your decisions will decide how your public views you, and if it tracks with your musical style. Are you into flashy, costume-changing performances, rhythmic dance routines, or intimate vocal performances?

LIs:

Dawn Diaz--a pop and R&B singer known for her phenomenal voice and having released 7 #1 albums ever since she began her career ten years ago. Over the years, she's become a master of the media, altering her image to supoort her music and shock her audience while remaining tasteful. When you collaborated on her hit single last year, she volunteers to collaborate with you on your new album. Her diverse style may be just what you need. (Argentinean-American, usually wears stylish designer clothing--unless she's anywear where there are normal people. Get ready for sweatshirts and jeans!)

Antonio Sousa--a former Olympian and your bodyguard. You met him at one of the ceremonies when he was competing in karate, and you hit it off immediately! He's protective ith you but understands the price of fame you have to pay, allowing you to grow from success and failure. You mean the world to him, and since he puts family at the forefront of everything he does, he helps you gain perspective on a possibly intimate fourth album. But are you ready to take the pain that comes with how personal it can get? (Brazilian, usually wears suits, but can be found in a sleeves shirt and jeans if you catch him on an off-day.)

Mursi Bono/Mercy--a rapper and former girl group star. After she embarked on a solo career, her first album went viral two years after it's release, leading to her record-breaking second album! Can you help her keep the momentum going with her third album? She usually only writes with a select group of people, but her manager suggests your creativity is perfect for the visual album she's planning. (African-American, employs an emphasis on blue, pink, and purple for her out of this world wardrobe.)

Nathan Wrighter/Bright Boy--dubbed as "punk's airhead" for his soft-rock albums that employed a sense of nostalgia and naivete, he's one of the chillest people you've ever met, at least off-stage--when he's under the spotlight, his dancing and outfits are loud and show-stopping. His likeability and professional attitude is inspirational for you, wanting to remain kind and assertive at the same time. When you get to meet your hero, what advice will he give about defying expectations and redefining yourself? (Caucasian, leather and colorful clothing, secure masculinity in anything he wears.)

Rhiannon Lou--a renound songwriter known for her immaculate skill. But she's also known for her little patience; if she feels like your collaboration won't go anywhere, she'll stop and she won't mince words. However, she's not unkind, just direct, and you'll find that she's quite different when she's out of the studio, embracing a minimalist viewpoint that combats her maximalist cowriters. Her impulsive perspective may challenge the cohesiveness of your album, but perhaps you need to start from scratch. (Chinese, casual clothing that embraces an almost childish aesthetic.)

Darius King--an actor who you costarred with for a blockbuster animated film, he approaches you for a musical role opposite one of the most famous opera singers in the world, someone you grew up listening to a lot in your household. Your musical training (and acting skills) is about to be tested when you take the role, but it gives you more time to spend with your idols, and makes you think that maybe acting is a career you should pursue as a break from music. (Afro-French, classy and high-end fashion that is nothing short of regal.)

[twst-discourse-bot]

On Yun Jin. I remember when she was first released and everyone heard her singing for the first time, a ton of the comments were awful and rude. Lots of people being like "she sounds like a dying cat!" or "what is this monstrosity?" or "they should have gone with pop music for her." There was also "I hope I don't have to listen to this and they find different singers for the other languages."

And to my pleasure, ALL language voiceovers kept the Chinese singing for Yun Jin. So those people who didn't want to hear it, had to. Haha. Win for me.

Hello anon, thanks for your message.

I heard her introduction song on TikTok for the first time when she was announced, and it literally brought tears to my eyes. Beautiful music and vocals just really tug at my heartstrings, I can't help it.

And after that, I was introduced to a song from the Chinese opera The Peony Pavilion that I still have on the playlist I listen to on loop, it's so wonderful. People with no taste for culture are the losers in this case.

[ruanbaijie]

Recently collaborated with the amazing @sansatully (whose own playlist that inspired this collab can be found here!) to put together a playlist of 65 songs - 江风: A Collection of Chinese Songs ♫꒰･◡･๑꒱

[spotify] [youtube (more complete)]

To those who are looking for more songs that sound similar to those in the soundtrack of The Untamed, to those who want a list of Chinese songs to write, draw, work, study, or read to, or to those who are simply looking for new tunes: this one’s for you ✩°｡⋆⸜(ू˙꒳​˙ )

* not on Spotify

^ on Spotify by a different singer

More information on the playlist and selected songs below!

《赠花卿》 杜甫

锦城丝管日纷纷，半入江风半入云。

此曲只应天上有，人间能得几回闻。

Dedicated to General Hua (Du Fu 712-770)

In Jin City, the melodies of string and wind instruments are heard daily

Half of the music is carried by the wind over the river and half of the music drifts up to the clouds

This music should only belong in heaven

How many times can it be heard in the mortal world?

A large number of these songs are from the 中国风 (zhong guo feng “Chinese style”) genre: songs that are typically characterised by the use of traditional Chinese instruments, a pentatonic scale instead of heptatonic, and lyrics that allude to Chinese culture and/ or imagery. [x] [x]

F.I.R. 飞儿乐团: Thousand Years of Love 千年之恋

A really cool song with elements of rock that will bring you to the western deserts of China

Jackie Chan 成龙: Endless Love 无尽的爱 (from The Myth 神话) with Kim Hee-sun 김희선

Has Korean in it! The Korean lyrics in this particular YouTube video are the Chinese translations of the Korean lyrics; other videos are Chinese gibberish that sound like the Korean lyrics

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Blue and White Porcelain 青花瓷

Warning: very sad MV

The actor who plays the male lead in the MV is Baron Chen, who has also appeared in Fights Break Sphere and Pillow Book

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Faraway 千里之外 with Fei Yu Qing 费玉清

Fei Yu Qing (or Fei Yu Ching) is a 60+ year old Taiwanese singer who looks like he’s in his 30s-40s (ʘᗩʘ’)

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Fireworks Cool Easily 烟花易冷

First part of the MV is REALLY silly but the song is A+ and the lyrics are extremely pretty

To quote a comment: “妈蛋找遍中国的网站都没这首MV，还得翻墙来看，可这是什么鬼😂 damn it (literally mother egg lol) searched the entire Chinese web but couldn’t find the MV for this song, had to cross the firewall to see this, but what the hell is this 😂”

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Huo Yuan Jia 霍元甲 (from Fearless 霍元甲)

Some parts in rap and other parts in Beijing opera style overall A++ combination

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Worldly Tavern 红尘客栈

Another sad MV

The lyrics of this song allude heavily to poet Tao Yuan Ming 陶渊明 (c.365-427AD)

Li Nan 李楠: Dian Yu Si 典狱司 (from The Mystic Nine 老九门)

Some parts in Beijing opera style

Please listen to the Youtube version instead of the Spotify one, it’s much better

Li Yu Gang 李玉刚: The New Drunken Beauty 新贵妃醉酒

Some parts in Beijing opera style

Li Yu Gang is a Beijing opera performer who specialises in the “nan dan” role (i.e. males who play female roles)

PLEASE listen to the Youtube version, because the Spotify version has some weird ass rap for most of the song

Qi Ran 奇然: The Pipa Player 琵琶行 with Shen Mi Ren 沈谧仁

Some parts in Beijing opera style

The lyrics of this song are actually a poem by Bai Ju Yi 白居易 (772-846AD)

Sa Ding Ding 萨顶顶: Upwards to the Moon 左手指月(from Ashes of Love 香蜜沉沉烬如霜)

This song stretches across 3 octaves (◯Δ◯∥)

S.H.E.: Chinese Language 中国话

Challenge: try rapping this song

Wang Leehom 王力宏: Bridge of Fate 缘分一道桥 (from The Great Wall 长城) with Sitar Tan 谭维维

Amazing song with extremely powerful vocals

Wang Leehom and Sitar Tan sing in two different vocal styles: Wang Leehom sings in pop, and Sitar Tan performs a traditional Qinqiang - a folk Chinese opera style from Shaanxi Province

Don’t ask me why Matt Damon is in it ಠ_ರೃ

Zhou Shen 周深: Big Fish 大鱼 (from Big Fish & Begonia 大鱼海棠)

Don’t be deceived, Zhou Shen, the same Zhou Shen who sang Xue Yang’s character song in The Untamed, is a male singer!

[yanderepuck]

Music Tastes

I've been working on this for a while so someone may have brought something up before me

Already stated Arthur likes Jazz

Modern day though??

Maybe pop, dubstep, maybe even techno

Dazai is a kpop boi. Just he also likes jpop and jrock. Which he probably got Arthur interested

Vinc likes lo-fi, pop, maybe even rock. I'd like to say he'd enjoy Nightcore too, maybe even folk.

He loves listening to lo-fi when he's painting

Theo gives of r&b vibes, heavy rock, some metal too. He's not fond of pop but him and Vinc found pop punk and it's something the two of them can agree on

Comte is a swiftie and we all know that. Classical hits home for him. Deep down he's a theater kid and loves musicals

Issac much rather be in a quite room. Traditional Chinese is vv soothing it helps me fall asleep. He likes more of the sounds of nature. But he secretly likes musicals

Napoleon will listen to just about anything. He's not too picky

But this also means that you never know what is going to come on next when he hits shuffle.

Will is all about theater and opera. But he loves songs that tell a story in just that short amount of time. Don't let him listen to A Little Piece Of Heaven by A7X

Yeah, Jean's probs into gospel or something, but that's boring. Napoleon is always trying to get him to listen to something else. He does like classical. He'd end up liking country lbr

Jean would end up being a swiftie with Comte

Mozart??? Classical. Just instrumental, occasionally opera.

Leonardo is probs into rock, pop, maybe some metal. He likes his music loud too.

I know Leonardo admits that he can’t dance.  But I can’t help but thinking of him dancing in his room to modern Italian music.  Hot as hell

Arthur and Theo both love Avril Lavigne.  HE WAS A SKATER BOY. SHE SAID SEE YA LATER BOY

Sebastian listens to a wide variety as well.  He’s probably the reason Dazai managed to find so many Japanese artists 

Mozart has found instrumental music that he enjoys.  He doesn't care much for vocals

When Will hears a song mentioning Romeo and Juliet he gets confused.  Its not suppose to be a great love story.  Its a tragedy??? Everyone dies??? 

Other than that Will is a sucker for love songs

Vinc and Napoleon probably share the most in common.  I could see the two of them listening to Demi Lavato

I remembered rap was a thing.  Maybe Theo?? Leonardo would be fond of some of it.

Due to Dazai also watching anime, he listens to anime openings and probably has given everyone some sort of opening song that fits them.

They all listen to a good amount of artists in their native language

Comte has a short playlist for everyone in the mansion . . . similar to his pinterest boards for everyone

Imagine a handful of them going on a road trip and fighting over the aux cord

Arthur listens to 90′s and 2000′s pop Hey hey you you I don’t like your girlfriend

You could probably run into Leonardo, Theo, Arthur and Napoleon at a club.

Leonardo and Theo may seem like hardcore guys, but hell yeah they’d rave

Masterlist

[guymaito]

been thinking about singing headcannons ever since i made the ozai singing you'll be back from hamilton so i decided to make atla headcannons about their vocal ranges (well more like voice types like alto/baritone/tenor) and which types of songs they like singing

under the cut <3

Fire Hazard Family

Zuko is a baritone, usually sings slow songs, sometimes even slow love songs or slowed down versions of upbeat dance songs

Azula is a alto and like Zuko, usually sings slow songs and slowed down versions of upbeat dance songs, also sings a lot of Latin and Thai songs 

Ursa is a mezzo-soprano and likes singing upbeat songs and love songs

Ozai is a baritone and usually sings songs like You’ll Be Back from Hamilton and, like Azula, a lot of Latin and Chinese songs

Iroh is either or a bass or a baritone, likes sings funny songs and upbeat songs, sometimes slow paced Japanese 

Lu Ten is a tenor, usually sings slow songs and upbeat songs, sometimes upbeat Thai and Chinese songs

Izumi is a counteralto and usually sings slow songs and Thai and Japanese songs

Iroh II is a baritone, doesn’t have a favorite type of song genre to sing but finds himself singing a lot of Thai and Latin songs

Snow Fall Family and Cloud Family (+pema)

Kanna can sing and does Inuit throat singing and often does so with Katara and both Kyas

Hakoda is a baritone and sings sea shanties and cheerful/upbeat songs 

Bato is a bass and also sings sea shanties and does Mongolian throat singing

Kya is a counteratlo does Inuit throat singing and sings slow paced songs

Sokka is a tenor and likes making and singing songs about his close friends and family

Katara is a alto and sings opera songs and she Inuit throat sings

Aang is a tenor and sings a lot of upbeat Tibetan songs

Bumi II is a baritone and likes singing funny and overall outrageous songs, likes singing sea shanties as well, knows a few opera songs cause of Katara

Kya II is either a counteralto like her namesake or a soprano, likes singing sea shanties and does Tibetan throat singing

Tenzin is a baritone and usually sings more calming songs and lullabies, knows Tibetan throat singing (yes i know that’s a woman shut up)

Pema is a soprano and usually sings cheery songs and lullabies but will occasionally sing more slower and laidback songs

Jinora is a alto and sings a lot of Tibetan songs and some sea shanties

Ikki is a soprano, likes fast paced and upbeat songs, especially songs where the lyrics go so fast you can’t really understand them, also knows some sea shanties from Aunt Kya and Uncle Bumi

Meelo doesn’t sing :/

Rohan is like, 5 maybe 6 or 7

Dust Cloud Family and Sandstorm Family

Lao is a tenor, sings songs about living on a farm with farm animals and sings Chinese songs

Poppy is a mezzo-soprano, usually sings Chinese folk songs but will sometimes sing Chinese lullabies her own mother sung to her

Toph is a counteralto and sings Chinese Rock, sometimes Chinese Punk Rock

Lin is a alto and usually sings Chinese Rock songs but will sometimes will be found singing those Chinese lullabies her grandmother sung

Suyin is a soprano and sings Chinese Pop and Chinese lullabies 

Bataar Sr is a bass and usually sings Thai songs but will sometimes sing Chinese songs

Bataar Jr is a bass-baritone and sings slow songs and Chinese songs 

Opal is a alto and likes singing upbeat songs and Chinese songs

Huan is a baritone and sings Chinese Punk Rock and Chinese Rock Songs

Wei and Wing are both baritones but Wei likes singing more upbeat Chinese songs while Wing sings Chinese Pop Rock

Spirit Water Family

Tonraq is a bass and sings sea shanties, slow songs and will sometimes sing slow love songs he hears Senna sing

Senna is a alto and likes singing upbeat songs and slow love songs

Unalaq is a tenor and doesn’t have a specific type of music he sings

Korra is a counteralto and often sings upbeat songs and slow songs

Eska doesn’t seem like the type to sing to me for whatever reason

Desna is a baritone, usually sings creepy songs or those songs you would hear in those terrible horror movies

Bending Brothers + family

Bolin can’t sing </3, he makes it up for enthusiasm though, sings upbeat Thai songs and Chinese love songs

Mako is a baritone and usually sings whatever he hears in the radio

Tu doesn’t know how to sing either </3 but that doesn’t mean that’ll stop him from singing, doesn’t sing a specific genre

San can’t sing either, still likes doing it though so there’s that <3, likes singing upbeat Thai songs

Naoki is a alto and usually sings slow Thai songs and upbeat Thai songs

Yin can’t sing </3

Technological Family

Hiroshi is a bass and likes singing those slow songs you would hear during a wedding and 70s Japanese Rock

Asami is a soprano and sings 90s/00s Japanese Pop and upbeat songs, maybe even some slower songs

Asami’s mom can’t sing </3

The White Lotus

Piandao is a baritone and doesn’t sing often

Pakku can’t sing ://

Jeong Jeong refuses to

Bumi can’t sing </3

Avatars + their S/O’s (at least, not the ones i already mentioned)

Roku is a baritone, usually sings songs from the plays he saw and lullabies from his childhood but will sometimes sing Japanese love songs he heard Ta Min sung

Kuruk is a bass-baritone, usually sings sea shanties and love songs he heard Ummi sung but will sometimes sing songs from his childhood and random poems he made

Kyoshi is a counteralto and usually sing the poems that Kuruk made but will sometimes sing songs like Lost Boy by Ruth B

Yangchan is a soprano knows how to do Tibetan throat chanting

Szeto is a baritone, doesn’t sing a specific genre

Salai is a baritone and again, doesn’t sing a specific genre

Wan can’t sing ://

Ummi is a alto and usually sings love songs and does Inuit throat singing

Ta Min is a alto and sings Japanese love songs and Thai dance songs

Rangi is a alto and sings Indian rock and Thai jazz

People who I wanted to add but didn’t fit into the other categories

Varrick can’t sing </3

Zhu Li is an alto and sings just whatever she hears on the radio

Aiwei is a baritone and can sing, but refuses too

Hama doesn’t sing

Jet can’t sing

Hahn is a baritone and can sing, doesn’t do it often though

[kingsandbastardz]

hi! if you're looking for recs for your folk/traditional music inspired rock playlist, may i toss 《我是来揍你的》 at you? i believe it's an ost song but it's got rock, rap, and a couple 戏腔 verses. originally sung by zhang jie but i'm linking the performance penny tai and liu yuning did on 《我们的歌》 because it was a lot of fun and i'm partial to it 😅 : https://youtu.be/48GmHc2pFWc?si=KVKcCQA4UFV7Ez_a

I've been collecting a playlist of folk or traditional music influenced rock, metal or hip hop (currently mostly from East Asia, but if you've got recs, lemme know):

01. 我是来揍你的 by Jason Zhang 张杰

Genre: rap, rock, chinese opera

This took me awhile to finally dig up the original audio version that had a martial arts video edit for the visuals (Because that's what this song neeeeeeds). It's a really fun song with an older, bouncy style pop rock with a rap portion and some opera. I feel like it's integrated pretty well! It is also lighter and gives a more humorous vibe than some of the other songs I've listened to. I really enjoy these lyrics.

Here is the Penny Tai and Liu Yunning performance. Liu Yunning has a fantastic voice and just from my own musical tastes, I'd love to hear him do more rock-specific songs. Something in minor key and with rough vocals/growling, or something that would stretch his range. He's already got fantastic vocal control and range and is super talented because everything I hear from him sounds effortless. I am super curious what kind of song he would find challenging.

[shanethvarosa]

Music Review: 2020

My blog has been a lot of things over the years, but it did originate as something I used to publicly review music; especially in the Visual Kei scene. Since I began the blog so many years ago, I had actually been hired to review Visual Kei and J-Rock music for an actual website: VKH-Press.com, work I am very, very proud of to this day. However, with not much news to comment on or work to critique, I haven’t been as active. Plus, personal issues always seem to stand in my way. However, I always take the time to discuss my passions at the end of the year. There were so many incredible releases, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and so I wanted to take the time time to discuss my favorite releases and, maybe, the not-so-favorites as well. Quick shout out to Bastille’s Goosebumps EP and Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News LP as I did not get to listen to them before I wrote up my lists, but were still excellent releases. See my thoughts below! 

Overall, there were about 75 albums or groupings of albums I listened to this year and split them between various tiers. Starting with the bad tier, there were actually only ten albums listed here and mostly just because they were seemingly unnecessary collection albums. For example, another Satsuki collection? Rides in ReVellion releasing two greatest hits LPs after only five years of work? Beyonce releasing The Lion King: The Gift again? None of those felt like necessary releases. There weren’t many albums that really screamed bad to me this year, but I really could not stand Vanessa Carlton’s “Love is an Art” or Justin Bieber’s “Changes.” The only other albums on this tier were just underwhelming compared to what I know the artist is capable of, but the “best bad tier album,” in my view, was The 1975′s “Notes on a Conditional Form.” 

The mid-tier albums had all sorts of reasons for being only mid-tier. They weren’t quite bad or outright unnecessary, but are mostly by artists who put out work that was nowhere near the caliber of their usual work or were re-releases or other collection albums. For example, Tove Lo’s “Sunshine Kitty: Pawprint Edition” or Man With A Mission’s remixes/b-sides/covers albums. Nice to have with good quality music, but I wish we’d just have had brand new EPs or LPs. 

The good-tier albums were all really excellent releases, but didn’t hit home the way anything on the “God-Tier” list did. Here, I’d like to share a quick top ten: 

10. Taeyeon’s “Purpose: Repackage” & Japanese EP, “#GirlsSpkOut” 9. Charli XCX’s “How I’m Feeling Now” 8. Miyavi’s “Holy Nights” & “Holy Nights: 2020 Lockdown” 7. TK’s “Sainou” 6. PVRIS’s “Use Me” 5. Buck-Tick’s “Abracadabra” 4. Katy Perry’s “Smile” 3. Alicia Keys’ “Alicia” 2. Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” & “Club Future Nostalgia” 1. Ava Max’s “Heaven & Hell

Without furhter ado, though, the God Tier Top 25: 

25. Acme’s We Are Visual Kei: Essentially a collection album of several songs that were b-sides that never made a full-blown album. This LP was loaded with some of Acme’s best work and shows that they are going to be here for a long time, despite Div not quite working out. Recommended tracks: Mononoke Requiem, Gekiyama Celluloid, Houkago no Shiiku 

24. Alanis Morisette’s Such Pretty Forks in the Road: Admittedly, a huge fan in the 90′s and loved her cover of Seal’s Crazy. However, before this album I didn’t really listen to much of her body of work and I can see why today’s youth might not listen to this album. It is very “adult” insofar as it deals with her struggles in marriage, parenting, religion, etc. Her vocal performance is exceptional and her song writing remains some of the best in the business. Recommended tracks: Smiling, Nemesis, Reasons I Drink. 

23. Niall Horan’s Heartbreak Weather: Not my usual cup of tea, but for some reason Niall’s music makes me feel softer than normal. He’s very cute and charming and his words are always so romantic. It feels more genuine than the music made by other members of One Direction and kind-of reminds me of earlier Taylor Swift writing, but from a male perspective. Recommended Tracks: Put A Little Love On Me, Arms of a Stranger, Still. 

22. K/DA’s All Out: I don’t even really understand what this is, but I love it. There’s something to do with League of Legends? Cartoons? International pop stars? Whatever it is, I’m totally obsessed. These songs just completely slap. Recommended Tracks: The Baddest, More, Drum Go Dum. 

21. Darrell’s Brilliant Death: This might even “officially” be a single, but there’s enough content to market it as an album. Darrell is a band formed from the ashes of Deathgaze and Ai’s solo project. Who knows why Ai didn’t just continue after his solo album, Confusion, but he decided to go back to the band-format with confusingly-named Darrell. This album is then, incidentally, mostly Deathgaze covers. It brings the production into the new era and gives you a lot of nostalgic love for old hits. Recommended Tracks: Brilliant Death, Evoke the World, Abyss. 

20. Alice Nine’s Fuyajou Eden & Kuro to Wonderland: Neither album was particularly long, in fact these were glorified EPs that could’ve been merged to one two-sided LP, but in either case... Both albums had something really special to offer and felt like a true comeback after years of name changes and finally going back to their original, kanji-styled name. Recommended Tracks: Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-, Testament, Replica, Glow. 

19. Mucc’s Aku: This album felt very long in the making after a series of weird singles that didn’t feel like they were going anywhere. Ultimately, a lot of those singles did not make the album including my favorite one: Taboo. The resulting album, though, did feel very cohesive and thematic and even featured one of this year’s heavy hitters: Hazuki. Recommended Tracks: Aku -Justice-, Memai, Ameria. 

18. Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts: This person is absolutely one of my favorite people in music. I’m pretty sure they have comeout as genderfluid/non-binary, so I want to stick with safe pronouns, just in case. However, they’ve always been a favorite and as they’ve come out as such a champion for the LGBT, I love them even more. The album though gave me a lot of hype for something very 80′s rock, but didn’t quite give me what I expected. All in all, the music was fantastic, just a little off-beat from expectations. Recommended Tracks: Gimme What I Want, Angels Like You, WTF Do I Know. 

17. Rina Sawayama’s Sawayama: I didn’t expect to fall in love with this girl the way I did. My boyfriend recommended “STFU” to me as kind of a joke because the song discusses a lot of Asian racism that I’m always criticizing people in my life for falling into, but then the song was so bad ass I checked out the album. There were so many different types of music on it and she really did a good job with all of them. Then, with the deluxe edition coming out and the hardcore club banger “Lucid” being involved... Just really brought it all home. Recommended Tracks: Tokyo Love Hotel, Lucid, Fuck This World. 

16. Amber Liu’s X: This was just an EP, but every song on it was great. Amber Liu was from f(x), a K-Pop Icon Group, but she always seemed like the odd one out. She was such a tomboy, so silly and funny all the time, and didn’t really behave like other Korean idols. I mean, really, she isn’t actually even Korean. I believe she’s Chinese American. In either case, the EP really noted some of her own personal strugles in the business and also remaining pretty fun at parts too. I saw her live in Philly before COVID-19 and she was truly excellent. Recommended Tracks: Numb, Stay Calm, Other People. 

15. Blackpink’s The Album: Not much of an album at only 8 tracks, but that’s K-Pop for you. I bet next year I’ll be putting “Blackpink’s The Album: Repackage” on my top 25 list. The quality of the music was pretty dope though, all things considered. It was a very solid debut effort with all of their previous songs being somewhere in the same lane as this one. I still kind of believe they are a reminder of what 2NE1 could have been, but they’re doing well enough on their own. Recommended Tracks: Ice Cream, Lovesick Girls, Pretty Savage. 

14. Hazuki’s Year Over All: Kind of a weird way to word it, but Hazuki basically released two albums this year in different formats. His work with his band, Lynch., was pretty magnificent. I’m not one to usually dwell on a Lynch. album. Their singles or featured tracks are what I usually get into, but the actual album (Ultima) really did a good job of showing how versatile Hazuki can be. His solo album, Souen -Funeral-, was an entirely stripped down, gothic orchestral album of Lynch. covers and other J-Hard Rock artists. Hearing it done like this was almost transcendental. Recommended Tracks: Xero, Idol, Ray, D.A.R.K. 

13. Sam Smith’s Love Goes: They had me scared that their album wasn’t coming this year once they pushed it back, back in May. Then again, at the time, an album called “To Die For” was probably super tone deaf. In any case, literally every single released for this album had me in love. So, when they all got included in the final version, I was thrilled. Sam gave us a bonus song after the album as well, but I can see why that one didn’t get on. In any case, this is a huge step up from “The Thrill of it All,” which I didn’t really care for. Recommended Tracks: Another One, Dance (’Til You Love Someone Else), Forgive Myself. 

12. Troye Sivan’s In A Dream: I love this kid. He’s so gay and so not shy about it and it really makes me smile. The EP comes after his last LP, Bloom, where the title track basically talks about bottoming for the first time and this new EP deals with a few other queer issues over weirdly produced beats that just... make sense. Recommended tracks: Stud, In A Dream, Easy. 

11. Matenrou Opera’s Chronos: Unfortunately, this band just lost their guitarist again. Their original, Anzi, was basically the most consummate guitarist in the visual kei scene that wasn’t Hizaki and he left them. Their sound wasn’t quite right since and they seemed to just get it back with Chronos when Jay left them. I guess we’ll see what they do next, but I think Chronos could be their last great release. Recommended Tracks: Chronos, Silence, Reminiscence. 

10. BoA’s Better: A very recent release that hasn’t had much time for me to digest. This is strange for me to put it so high on my list for that reason, but BoA is one of my all time favorites. She never disappoints me. This album was no different. It wasn’t exactly up to par with “Woman” or “Watashi Kono Mama de Ii no Kana,” but it definitely gave us some new and very iconic Queen BoA bangers. Recommended Tracks: Cut Me Off, Start Over, Temptations. 

9. Kesha’s High Road: A semi-step down from Rainbow, only because a lot of the same melodic elements and, sometimes, even beats were used on this album too. However, her vocal performance was outstanding and she even gave us a new dirty-pop song with some interesting indie-pop tracks to go with it. Plus, who doesn’t love a Big Freedia feature? Recommended Tracks: Resentment, Raising Hell, Tonight. 

8. Lady Gaga’s Chromatica: Anyone who knows me knows I don’t really love Gaga anymore. After all the drama with Madonna and her experimentation with “Joanne” I didn’t think I’d ever like her music again. However, she definitely won back big points for me on Chromatica. It was finally fun, weird, dancey, and then simultaneously emotional and I was really able to get back into it. She’s always had the voice, but on this one it also showed us that she still has what made us love her. Recommended Tracks: Rain On Me, Plastic Doll, Enigma. 

7. Koda Kumi’s My Name Is... Angel + Monster: She is, very likely, my Japanese Pop Queen. She always makes these absolutely outlandish bangers of dance tracks that have such a great attitude and beat and when she released re(CORD)... last year? 2018? Who can remember... I thought she could never outdo herself. Then she released “Lucky Star” and I was floored. I was a bit disappointed when they were only to promote a “My Name Is...” collection album, but then, to my surprise, a full set of new tracks came out just after that just blew me entirely away. Guess the last 6 albums must be pretty great, huh? Recommended tracks: Killer Monster, Work It!, Alarm. 

6. Grimes’ Miss Anthropocene: I’ve never been a big fan of Grimes, but when Violence came out I was really looking forward to whatever album this was going to end up promoting. The song is actual fire, but then the LP ended up being some kind of experimental Gothic Pop with Asian Pop influences I never expected. I doubt I’ll ever find something she does this good ever again, but it was really a musical light in the darkness of this year. Recommended tracks: Darkseid, Delete Forever, Violence. 

5. Kylie Minogue’s Disco: Admittedly, my draw to Kylie has always been that she is like some kind of Australian Madonna. Madonna being one of my all time favorite artists... In fact, number 2 for all women I listen to, Kylie has some big shoes to fill with her sometimes generic pop that she puts out. However, I haven’t really truly loved a Kylie song since “Get Outta My Way” and then this album comes out filled with tracks to love for the rest of time. Recommended Tracks: Miss A Thing, Till You Love Somebody, Magic. 

4. Chanmina’s Notebook/Angel: I don’t have really any way of knowing how popular Chanmina is in Japan or if she is as popular in the Japanese Queer Scene as she should be, but god damn does she know what she’s doing. Her music is raunchy, bitchy, and condescending at it’s highest and deeply personal at it’s most mellow. There is no “lowest.” “Notebook” was a two-sided album and “Angel” a strong follow up EP, but all the recommended tracks are from “Notebook.” If you have not listened to “Picky”.... go do it now, I’ll wait. Recommended tracks: Picky, Baby, Lucy. 

3. The Weeknd’s After Hours: Incidentally, I got into The Weeknd after someone said something shitty about him here on Tumblr! I took their likely-valid criticism and went to check him out for myself and I gotta say, I love his work. The beats are literally always on point and his voice is like silk. This album provided more than a few iconic songs and I always can’t wait to see what he does next. Recommended Tracks: Alone Again, Heartless, Blinding Lights. 

2. Halsey’s Manic: The singles and features she did between Hopeless Fountain Kingdom and Manic gave me such insanely high hopes and I was not disappointed. HFK was a strong album of course, but this was near perfection for me. I think the production of this alt-pop album was the star of the show because it wasn’t all one way, there were heavy-bass songs, interesting piano riffs, striaght up punk rock, all of it. She really made an album quite like it’s namesake. Recommended Tracks: Ashley, Killing Boys, Still Learning. 

1. Dexcore’s Metempsychosis: A newcomer to the visual kei and death metal scene, they’ve been putting out single after single for years in preparation for their extemeley long and multidaceted debut album. With a total of about 33 songs, the entire second disc was rerecorded singles from their early days and some even got new lyrical treatment. The main series of songs were, of course, also totally flooring and all of the recommended tracks are the new ones. If you haven’t checked them out by now, you have to! Recommended tracks: Cibus, Scribble, Period.

[anadvanceddegreeinquiet]

What, Me Pandemic? A Boho Crowd Stakes Its Claim (and Claims Its $48 Steaks)

Fricasse Dubois, 21, lamented the decision to pull her latest concrete poem from The Codswalloped Pisspot as she passed one of the whimsical “Maine-ducks-in-flight” mailboxes that serve as newspaper bins for the red-hot downtown rag. But her friend and intern, Banshee Fitzgerald, 33, had made a good point: The Pisspot had been flirting with questionable taste for months now. 

First there was the ironic opera libretto by Steve Bannon, which cast Leo “KIDS” Fitzpatrick as a Muslim refugee in a Copenhagen no-go zone. Then there was the edgy faux-memoir from Terry Richardson, modeled on O.J. Simpson’s unpublished “If I Did It,” and accompanied by a portfolio of Juergen Teller ass-Xeroxes.

But now, the Pisspot hype was growing, and Dubois realized that she might miss the proverbial boat. Interest in the nascent publishing venture was at fever pitch; a SPAC had been formed by laid-off Gagosian and Perrotin directors eager to stage a hostile takeover of the irregularly published ‘zine. 

And a dash of infamy certainly helped—the paper’s co-editor, Stizzy Fugger, had just launched a Tumblr in which she tallied the number of people she had inadvertently infected with Covid-19, updated in real-time (12,617 at press time, if you’re keeping score, more than the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally).

Anyone who has witnessed a “Pisspot drop” in the Dimes Square neighborhood of Manhattan knows to expect pandemonium. But nothing could have prepared this reporter for the foamy-mouthed jubilee and ecstatic violence of the occasion. 

It was 11am on a Tuesday, and the editors appeared at the corner of Seward Park, bearing several cardboard boxes of the paper. They were trailed by the usual suspects: Pimple-necked sadcore rappers, sex-positive Zoom therapists, former Artforum critic’s pickers who now run content for Chipotle, and middle-aged men who really shouldn’t skateboard.  

It’s a truism that an issue of Pisspot isn’t really read so much as it is imbibed, absorbed via the osmosis of social media’s orgiastic frenzy. In fact, the Times had a great deal of difficulty locating anyone who had physically held a copy of the paper in their smooth, unlined hands; many preferred to experience it as a series of fuzzy, thumbnail-sized images posted ironically on MySpace. 

“People used to say they read Playboy for the ads,” said Kit Murano, a fish-eyed, forty-something member of a downtown-based Adderall (™) street team. “Pisspot doesn’t have ads. And no one who knows anything would be caught, like, just sitting there and flipping through the thing. It’s an attitude. It’s an essence. It’s a lifestyle.”

Okay, sure—but what about the actual content actually published in each issue? Imagine an early iteration of Vice cross-pollinated with Tiger Beat, and then add a splash of sexual-harassment-era Paris Review. It’s a bit silly, and a bit loose. Bret Easton Ellis contributes a crossword puzzle in which every answer is just another reason why millennials suck. A party report—‘Reamed & Furred’—diligently transcribes the coke-addled bon mots of the same group of six people all eating at the same restaurant every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening. 

If there’s an ethos gluing all of this together, it’s a passing-of-the-torch from an older bohemian guard to a younger demographic, with their laissez-faire attitudes about sex, drugs, and global pandemics. “It’s, like, we can all still party together, and age isn’t really ‘a thing’,” explains Murano, leaning out the window of a Mini Cooper wrapped in shiny SunGen Pharma adverts.

The entire scene revolves around the lopsided triangle known as “Dimes Square,” which borrows its moniker from the culinary hotspot Dimes. (The name derives from Cockney rhyming slang for ‘elongated pinky nail.’). Every New York story is also, of course, a story about real estate. In this case, that means the Connecticut country houses that this cohort has Airbnbed out while remaining to weather the storm in lower Manhattan. 

Parts of this scene are “white, but probably ambisexual-adjacent; they’re members of the creative class, but they possess enough self-hatred to seem authentic,” says Dash Johnson, a Dimes Square hanger-on who many suspect of running the Steak-Umms social media accounts. “Most of them used to work for galleries, or websites, or Garage magazine, but when those jobs dried up, they woke up one morning and said: Fuck it. Let’s stop pretending. Let’s just tweet.”

One essential element of any good scene is a gossip column to keep track—and to keep score. ArtWet’s “Wet Ass Pigment” plays that role for the Dimes Square cognoscenti. It’s a bleeding-edge social diary written by an anonymous, Gossip Girl-style correspondent who communicates solely via Signal, using a vocal transformer. 

“I was sick of trying to break into this world,” they said. “I was sick of meeting Anthony Haden-Guest at a dinner, for the 387th time, and having him introduce himself all over again, like we hadn’t both thrown up in the same toilet less than three days before. Fuck gatekeepers. I built my own gate, and then I started keeping it.” 

It was a Wet Ass Pigment column, in fact, which broke the season’s buzziest news: semi-disgraced first son Hunter Biden had bought an octoplex apartment directly above Dimes, where he’ll be staying as he prepares for a September solo exhibition that will open concurrently across Andrew Kreps, 56 Henry, Shoot the Lobster, and a pop-up space for Recess CBD seltzer. Unlike the gentle, “meditative” paintings that Biden had been making in recovery, the new work is brash and rudely vulgar—the product of an unexpected friendship Biden had struck up with Bjarne Melgaard and Jordan Wolfson. 

Meanwhile, the group’s literary face remains 29-year-old Katarina Klaus, whose razor-sharp prose skewers her surroundings with the acidic wit of a young Evelyn Waugh. “I’ll be honest, I fucking hate writing,” Klaus admitted, blowing her nose into a Telfar bag. “I’m both super motivated and super lazy. Sometimes I’ll just copy-paste random chunks of Speedboat into a column and no one will even notice.”

So what’s next for this ragtag crew? “Dimes Square will probably be over by the time this fucking article comes out,” Klaus laments. “You’re going to have, like, some TikTok influencer house on the corner of Canal and Essex, and all the coke will have fentanyl in it again because idiots from New Jersey just have no nose. You know what? I’m regretting this already. This is all off the record.”

Meanwhile, Klaus is already rethinking her involvement in Pisspot. With a current print run of 250 copies, the instantly iconic newspaper suddenly seems a bit too exposed. She’s in discussions with a new, unnamed venture that would distribute articles and essays in a serialized format, via fortunes randomly inserted into cookies at various Chinese restaurants within a three-block radius of the Square. “It’s all about ephemerality,” she says, sucking on a DMT vape she brought back from Mexico City. “It’s all about staying relevant.”

This article was lovingly rewritten from the original by Scott Indrisek.

CORRECTION: The above edition of this story mistakenly cites Kit Murano’s age as “forty-something,” based on our reporter’s visual guesstimation. She is actually 19.   

CORRECTION: ‘Dimes’ is in fact Cockney prison rhyming slang for the expression, “a bent knob is straight twice a day.”

CORRECTION: An earlier online version of this story mistakenly identified The Codswalloped Pisspot as The Duct-Taped Shitberg.

CORRECTION: An earlier, subscribers-only post of this story mislabeled the gossip blog Wet Ass Pigment as being a Spotify podcast called Wank ‘n Pose.

CORRECTION: Jordan Wolfson died in 2014. 

CORRECTION: An earlier Google Doc of this story referenced a non-existent ‘hardcore maternity diary’ by Chloe Sevigny, which most likely did not appear in issue 4 of the Codtaped Shitpot. 

CORRECTION: A version of this story that was sent to hapless print subscribers in Texas and Connecticut wrongly identified the geographic boundaries of “Dimes Square” as being East 45th Street, Central Park West, Freeman’s Alley, and Bedford Avenue.