#electronic star duo

[knifegremliin]

when you're black, green and white and you're part of an electronic band

[animenostalgia]

Some sad news to share, friends - Leiji Matsumoto, the iconic creator of Space Battleship Yamato (aka Starblazers), Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, and many more, has passed away at the age of 85. A manga artist since the 50s who originally got his start in shoujo manga, Matsumoto’s works were a cornerstone of early anime fandom. American sci-fi fans of the 70s may not have known the terms “anime���, “manga”, or “cosplay”, but they knew and loved Matsumoto’s work, which was many fan’s first exposure to anime back in the day. One of the first recorded “cosplay” gatherings in the US was of fans dressed as mostly Leiji Matsumoto characters!

In other parts of the world, they also fell in love with Matsumoto’s work: as in France, where Harlock was known as Albator, and won the hearts of many fans. So much so that Matsumoto won many prestigious awards there, and would eventually be knighted in 2012 by the French government. French electronic duo Daft Punk was highly influenced by his work, and in 2001 collaborated with Matsumoto to release anime music videos (and eventually a feature-length film version called Interstella 555).

Modern anime & manga owe much to his work, as he was THE pioneer of space opera and what he liked to call “boy’s romance” stories--”romance” in the literarily sense--full of angst, heroism, and fighting for independence while celebrating nature, brotherhood, and friendship. He helped many people learn to never give up on themselves and their dreams, no matter how fantastical they may seem.

May his spirit travel on, in a new adventure in the endless sea of stars.

[rahonn]

Rust

A/N: Gobble up the angst my children

Pairing: Eustass Kid x reader (no pronouns mentioned!)

Word count: 3511

Trigger warning: mentions of alcohol and drug abuse, toxic relationship, a bit of crime

_________________________________________

He never intended for anything to come out the way it did. Foul smell of burned meat invaded his nostrils, clinging to every inch of his exposed skin. And once again, alone and angry, he threw the plates against the wall. Mashed potatoes, looking more like a soup, ran down the ugly greyish paint, slab of overcooked beef slapped hard against the floor soon after. This was the drop of grease that started the fire. Low rumble started deep within his chest, making him vibrate all over. Soon, he was roaring like a hurt animal, throwing things all around, smashing plates, stomping on the utensils, throwing chairs. One of them smashed the window and fell out. Someone screamed right before wood broke into pieces against the concrete. Not even five minutes later someone started to bang on his front door, but he didn’t even hear them. Blue and red lights flashed outside accompanied by deafening sirens of two police cars and only then he stopped, suddenly feeling empty.

All that was left of Eustass Kidd were ashes and acrid smoke.

He was never the one to be interested in love. Not after they killed Victoria. They were young, sure, but the fact police never even bothered to open an investigation messed him up real good. Only other person he could count on whatever happened was Killer. With time, Wire and Heat joined their fucked up duo-turned-group. They caused a lot of ruckus around town, they were a violent bunch. Only thing they were really good at was producing noise and fixing or recycling electronics and car parts. So they leaned into it, putting their anger at the state of the world into making money from fixing whatever they could that they later spent on studio and crappy instruments.

They sounded awful at first, but that’s how they felt. Nothing made sense in this fucked up world, why should their music do?

By complete chance they found themselves in the middle of the woods, drinking. Being still underage, this was one of few places police wouldn’t catch them. The sound they never expected there suddenly appeared – raspy, sonorous voice boomed all around them. They listened awfully familiar lyrics, perfect rendition of one of the bands they drew inspiration from. Peeking out at the main trail from behind some bushes, they saw young human dressed in all black, with tattered leather jacket on, few sizes too big and bovvy boots not even tied up.

That was the day their group got a new member and Eustass Kidd felt something move in his chest the second mesmerizing eyes looked at him. The smile light up his world. Nothing got fixed, it didn’t work like that. But Kidd started to change, bit by bit.

He started showing off more, expecting a praise from their new member. And he often got it. Everyone, him included, saw they were smitten, just head over heels for Eustass. They looked at him like he was the best this world could produce and he liked it. He got addicted to this feeling of being needed so desperately. He became their air, their water, their food, hobby and job. He was their everything. They were his obsession, but he would never, ever, say it out loud.

And maybe that’s where he went wrong.

All the times they practiced, drank the night away, went out to vandalize something or just to walk around, they tried to glue themselves to his side. He made fun of them a lot for it, they laughed it off. They loved him unconditionally. He called in the middle of the night? They soon stood on his doorstep, all sweaty and barely able to breathe. He told them to get him something? They would move heaven and earth to get it, even if it meant stealing or committing fraud. Or robbing someone. He wanted a star? They would somehow get into spaceship, burn their hands and destroy themselves, just to bring it down to him even if it was the last thing they’d do.

It was unhealthy, their relationship. Kidd, basking in the power he held over them, often poked fun at them, made fun of them. They laughed at it too, even though Killer and the rest tried to stop Eustass from saying such things. They were part of their small army, it was them against the world after all.

But one day, they became distant. All of a sudden Kidd lost his sun, his moon and the stars. His heart shifted, but he was too prideful to reach out, to ask what was happening. How furious he became after he saw they interacted with the rest of their band like earlier, before they decided on the name. What he didn’t know was they also slowly withdrew from the rest as well. It started with ignoring their texts, missing few practices here and there. Then it became more frequent. And when Killer, most emotionally mature out of all of them, asked what was wrong, they told him only about wanting to leave the band. Once Kidd heard it, his heart turned to stone. He jumped on his bike and drove straight to their house, forgetting about speed limits or even his helmet. He was furious, but cold. And he didn’t scream at them when they opened the door. Coldly he asked if it was true, if they were betraying the band like that.

If they were betraying him like that, but that part stayed silent.

Once shining eyes sparkling whenever he came into room, now looked at him without much emotion, dull and bland. They confirmed, they were indeed thinking about leaving to pursue higher education.

“We can’t play around like that for much longer. We need to grow up, sooner or later. I’m choosing now as my time of change.”

He spit on their shoes and with pure disgust he told them to never show their face near him. And that was that. He was hurt, he was furious, he felt betrayed once again. For the second time in his life, human he loved died in his eyes. This wasn’t the rebellious, up to anything person he met all those years before.

And they disappeared from the face of the earth after that, leaving black hole where Kidd’s heart once has been. The echo of their voice haunted him, whole band was missing them. But all members respected their decision. Only one that badmouthed them was Eustass, who put even more energy into their music, for the first time in very long with empty space near microphone. He forbade all Victoria Punk’s members from even talking about getting a replacement.

“We’ll manage without another leech just waiting to betray us.”

But when they caught the eye of one of bigger alternative labels, Killer sat Kidd down and talked to him for hours. That this was their chance of making it big and getting their story out there, shining a light at fucked up sides of this world. That he really needed to let them go already. They chose different path in life and that’s fine. It didn’t mean Kidd should let it hold him back from excelling in life. Eustass, after long few minutes of silence, said he got it, he’d find the vocalist soon.

First truly big concert was just ahead of them and he would make sure it’d make them talk of the country, if not the world. Stacks of song lyrics piled up under his bed, almost spilling out from there and their new frontman would sing them. After first fifteen minutes, they were already sweaty, giving their all. With guitar pick between his fingers, Kidd grabbed the mic, looking out into the crowd for a second, before closing his eyes and letting his voice carry through the air. With each word he got out there, he felt shield, carefully placed over his heart, bend, twist a bit and crack. Every song healed him just a little bit more, leaving him in the pit full of only sadness.

He missed them, their laugh, their eyes, the way they put all their energy into whatever they were doing. For maybe the first time in his life, when panting, covered in sweat he looked at the mass of bodies jumping and obeying his every word, he looked at his band, his best friends and smiled sadly. He walked over to Killer, who thought that maybe he wanted to change the song they were about to play. But Kidd just grabbed his bicep and looked deep into his eyes.

“I love them, Killer. And I need them back.”

As if lightning struck, Victoria Punk got their second, third, fourth and fifth big show, propelling them forward faster than it was necessary. Suddenly, they were doing interviews, got their own merch, started selling VIP tickets, had meet-and-greets with fans who cried and screamed upon seeing them.

Kidd made it his mission to find them though. He took out the songs they wrote and along with the band he mastered them, refusing to let even one word in them change. He hoped that maybe if they made it big enough, if they started to use their lyrics, they’d come to one of the shows. Because frankly, Eustass didn’t even know where to start looking for them.

The only time he wasn’t thinking about them were times when he snorted some coke or fucked someone. And it became his comfort, cushioning yet another fall after failed attempt of finding his love. It became his new habit, his new addiction to get rid of his old one – them.

Kidd started taking more drugs any of the guys from Victoria Punk even saw in their whole life. He often caught him mumbling to himself, off in his own world, their name leaving his lips all too often. Kidd smiled softly, staring into the void while sitting on the couch and talked under his breath about ‘how good it was to have them back’. And it scared Killer to no end. Soon, only he was allowed to enter Eustass’ room so the others wouldn’t know the extend of the damage done. He tried to pick the pieces of his best friend and mend them together, he searched all over for them, thinking maybe it would help. He even hired private investigator when all leads came up dry. All to pull Kidd back from the edge on which he balanced for the longest time.

And when investigator produced fresh photo of them, Killer relayed this message onto sober Kidd, rare occurrence these days. But Eustass looked at him with empty, sunken eyes and just smiled, not believing a word he said. Killer slapped the photo down with number hastily scribbled on the back of it and ordered his best friend to call them, then and there. To amuse his partner, Kidd grabbed his phone in trembling hands and pressed few buttons.

Phone ringed for a long time. And finally someone picked up making both men freeze on the spot.

“Hello? Who is this?”

No doubt, it was their voice. But Kidd panicked, because what would he even say? That he wanted them back? After all those years of no contact?

The voice whispered softly on the other end: “Kidd? No, there’s no way, right?” they laughed to themselves and cut off the call, leaving Eustass Kidd curled up on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, already deciding he’d go completely sober, he’d return to his old self and call again.

And he did just that. He got clean, cut off contact with all prostitutes he got to know for all those years. The whole time he nervously scribbled down and erased lines of his confession. The only outlet ever to his emotions became writing songs and singing them with all his chest. Once lead guitarist, now vocalist, Kidd composed the best song his band ever produced.

All to convey his feelings to them, to get them back.

It was first concert of their tour celebrating 30th anniversary of creating Victoria Punk. They managed to pull of starting the tour in the town they lived now instead in their hometown. Killer sent them VIP ticket that included meet-and-greet. In the envelope there was also long letter, describing how whole band felt it was time to maybe reconcile, how they all regretted the day they parted ways. Everything now depended on whether or not they wanted to meet their old friends.

Eustass Kidd thought he would maybe make dinner just to heat it up when he’d inevitably would bring them back to the apartment rented just for the time being, until Victoria Punk stayed in town. He decided to make something simple, so it wouldn’t take a lot of time to heat up, but also would taste good.

Suddenly, after almost 20 years of playing all over the world, he became nervous. He prepared everything, this was about to be greatest show of all the time, ending with his confession.

They walked on the stage, immediately getting into their positions. Instruments were ready, their hearts were ready. The show began without any problems, they rocked the whole stadium like they always did. Whole hour he searched the rows closest to the stage, VIP places where people could still mosh, but were separated from the rest. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spotted familiar sign. He saw that line over and over again, motive repeating in their songs, the handwriting that haunted him in his dreams.

You catch me when I fall, we sail off in the night

The last song Victoria Punk performed was a cover, most fitting to the title of their tour ‘For you’.

“I’m sure you’ll like our rendition of Starset’s song Die For You” Kidd smirked right into the microphone. He tried to convey his feelings the whole time he stood on this stage. Tearing his throat to shreds, he heard Killer slamming the drums with all his might. Wire broke guitar pick, Heat almost sobbed while delivering the bass line. And when the song ended, whole stadium erupted into cheers, believing this was the end of the show. They all let them believe it, walking backstage. But Kidd only waited for lights to be turned off. He grabbed acoustic guitar he held onto from the day all Victoria Punk’s members signed it, laughing about selling it once they’d be famous.

But Kidd grabbed it and walked back on stage. He sat on the edge with guitar close to his chest and struck a chord. Single reflector snapped on, finding him in a flash. Kidd found the sign he saw earlier and smiled.

“This last song is, and will be, unreleased one. I took a long time to try and convey my feelings since I’m shitty talker. The person this song is to knows who they are. And they are here tonight.” Murmur spread through the crowd, he could swear he saw their eyes light up just. Just like in the good, old days. Suddenly, people vanished, all that was left was Kidd, the guitar and them right there, clutching a sign to their chest.

I sleep on my dreams, living in a nightmare

It hurts, you see, when you’re not here

There’s no past and no future

So, tell me when, when to let go

When to let you go and keep living

Without air, without fire, without soul

So, tell me when, when to let go

When to let you go and keep living

He sang his heart out, holding an eye contact with the one that grabbed his heart and ran all those years ago. And when he was done, he thanked everyone and straight up ran backstage, preparing for meet-and-greet. He made sure security knew who with what ticket number to bring to the back where the table was set up with snacks and five chairs around it for original squad of Victoria Punk to talk in private.

They sped through meeting their fans, making sure they all knew how grateful all members were for them to be there. But Kidd could only think about them, probably already sitting at the table, all nervous, looking around, playing with their hands to let out some of their feelings just a bit. How confused he was when he walked to the back all smiley and happy just to find the table completely empty. There was no one there. Killer, Wire and Heat went around, asking the crew and security where was the person with this specific ticket number.

“Yeah, they were here, but all they wanted was for me to give this to you all” one of the guards said, holding out four envelopes, each with different name on it. Kidd, still in shock, couldn’t move. Killer grabbed two last envelopes from guy’s hand and smacked Eustass on the back.

“Let’s go, partner” he said, sadness tainting his voice. Kidd let him lead him all the way to the car. Whole drive to the apartment, he held onto the envelope with his name scribbled on tightly, as if it could fly away at any second. Killer helped him get out of the car and made Kidd give him all valuables. “Just to be sure you won’t have anything to buy drugs with” he whispered, explaining himself, but Eustass automatically just put everything onto outstretched hand. He even shrugged off custom-made leather jacket before marching up the stairs.

He closed the door, mechanically turning on the oven to heat up the dinner he made. And he sat down on the couch, envelope in hand. He stared at it for the longest time before carefully pulling out card from the inside.

Dear Kidd,

Words already started dancing and merging together, but somehow, he was able to read it. Slowly, line after line, he read about their feelings. How hurt they were, how he treated them like a dog, using their admiration to make himself make feel better, how they finally decided to cut him off because their mental health was lower than the floor back then. And how hopeful they were he’d maybe contact them once they heard about Victoria Punk’s first CD, how they spent fortune going to all shows they played in their country, how they saw him spiraling and then getting back up, how proud they were, how they wrote countless letters to him, but never sent anything in the end. And how happy they were to receive invitation to this show with VIP tickets and handwritten note from Killer, how they missed all members of their little rascal band from their past, how nice it was to know they still thought about them.

And I never told you this, but I’m sure you knew already. I loved you. All this time, I loved you like crazy. And honestly, I still love you. But I also know you better than everyone, Boss. I know you just miss having someone stuck to you like a velcro, staring up at you with limitless admiration. That’s all. You were honestly my everything. My world, my air, my water, my hobby, my job, my soul. But it’s too little too late.

I’m sorry, I didn’t want to say those things like that, but I know I would cave in if I saw you in person. I would fall to my knees and beg you to take me with you, make me a part of Victoria Punk once again. But I know I would never be loved by you. Not in the way Victoria was, not in the way I deserve to be loved. You would, at most, make me your mascot again, just like you did when we were kids.

I am happy now.

Kidd smashed the mirror in the bathroom, no longer able to look at himself.

I found a guy that loves me and treats me with respect.

Sink got ripped out of the wall and thrown on the floor, smashed to pieces.

I wish I could kiss you and tell you I love you one time.

He looked out the window, contemplating the jump.

But please, let’s leave it in the past.

But the door got kicked in, police swarmed the apartment.

I miss you terribly, wishing it was you who I slept by every night.

By the time they got to him, he blacked out from the blood loss, his left arm bent weird in four different places.

I love you, Kidd, like I never loved, love or will love anyone.

He woke up in the hospital, staring up at the ceiling, his heart of steel laying in the pool of tears.

Please, forget about me.

Killer, Wire and Heat stood by his side when he got the news – they had to amputate most of his left arm, which meant no more shows for a little while.

Forever yours.

But that didn’t matter anymore, since his heart that lived for music, slowly got eaten away by the rust.

[dreamings-free]

Outkast’s Big Boi, EDM artist Zedd, U.K. band Nothing But Thieves, Norwegian artist Aurora, rapper Hanumankind, guitarist-composer Cory Wong will perform in Mumbai on March 8 and 9, 2025

Anurag Tagat Sep 10, 2024

American punk-rock heroes Green Day, pop artist Shawn Mendes, U.K. hitmakers Glass Animals and singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson are among top-billed acts making their India debut at Lollapalooza India 2025 in Mumbai, between March 8 and 9.

The lineup for the third edition of Lollapalooza India also includes rap veteran Big Boi from Outkast, U.K. band Nothing But Thieves, Norwegian pop artist Aurora, electronic artists like Zedd, John Summit and Alok, American guitarist-composer Cory Wong (known for his work with acts like Vulfpeck), breakout rapper Hanumankind (also our latest cover star), South Korean indie rock band Wave To Earth and rising pop artists Isabel LaRosa and more. Folk-indie singer-songwriter duo Lullanas – comprising Indian-origin siblings – will also make their India debut at Lollapalooza India 2025.

More Indian artists adding heft to the lineup include singer-songwriter Dot., rappers Raftaar and KR$NA, Punjabi artist Talwiinder, sitarist and fusion artist Niladri Kumar, pop artist Lisa Mishra, rock artist Raman Negi, Ahmedabad rap favorite Dhanji, producer Spryk, pianist-composer Sahil Vasudeva, DJ-producer Anushka, multi-instrumentalist-producer Sid Vashi, singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle and indie multi-instrumentalist/producer Sudan.

The announcement in September makes for meme-friendly news for Green Day, known for songs like “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” The band announced their India debut on Instagram and said, “Another first for us!! India, you’ve been calling our name… and it’s finally time to answer. We’ll see you in Mumbai next March for @LollaIndia.” The trio comprising Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool released their most recent album Saviors in 2024 and will likely dig into all-time hits like “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life),” “American Idiot,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and more. Shawn Mendes, known for hits “In My Blood,” “Treat You Better” and new single “Why Why Why,” returns to the live stage after more than two years on his current tour, which includes Lollapalooza India.

Louis Tomlinson, who has a big following in India following his time with pop group One Direction, will also make a long-awaited India debut. Fellow Brits Glass Animals are a big draw on the back of releasing their new album I Love You So F***ing Much in July, but primarily due to their 2020 hit “Heat Waves,” which was the seventh-most streamed song in India on Spotify in 2022.

Glass Animals founder Dave Bayley – who visited India as a 16-year-old – told Rolling Stone India in 2020, “Thank you for the support, I hope you are staying safe and healthy. We can’t wait to come and visit.”

In a wholly new strategy, Lollapalooza India’s 2025 lineup is out six months in advance of the multi-genre festival taking place in March. BookMyShow Live also took a similar approach while announcing the lineup for their festival Bandland, which is taking place on Nov. 23 and 24 in Bengaluru.

Get Lollapalooza India 2025 tickets here.

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

"It’s more than sales – it inspired an entire generation of young girls to know they had a place in heavy music." Inside Fallen: the album that turned Evanescence into instant 21st century metal superstars

No rock band had an explosive a rise in the 2000s as Evanescence. This is the story of their classic debut album

Evanescence’s Amy Lee was at one of the many awards ceremonies she attended back in the first half of the 2000s when she was approached by a fan. This wasn’t unusual in itself, except this fan happened to be rapper and mogul P. Diddy.

“He said, ‘I love your album, I listen to it when I work out’,” Amy tells Hammer today. “And I was like ‘Really? That’s awesome!’ That was surprising to me. You know who I am? That’s weird.” Weird is right. Just a couple of years earlier, Amy had been a shy, aspiring singer and songwriter who had played no more than a handful of times with the band she’d co-founded as 13-year-old almost a decade earlier. And now here she was, getting star-spotted by hip hop A-listers at swanky awards ceremonies.

“What do they call that thing? Imposter syndrome!” she recalls today. “I definitely felt like I’d snuck in the back door and somehow got to go to the Grammys. Like, ‘I’m not supposed to be here and people do not know who we are and this is a prank.’ I think part of that is just it all happening so fast and being so young.”

The reason for the attention was down to the blockbusting success of Evanescence’s debut album, Fallen. Originally released in March 2003, and about to be reissued as a deluxe 20th anniversary edition, Fallen appeared at the tail-end of the nu metal boom. It offered a gothier, more dramatic take on that sound, which bridged nu metal and both the rising symphonic metal and emo scenes. It would go on to sell more than 10 million copies in the US alone, turning Amy Lee into an icon and role model for a generation of young, female fans.

Amy describes the young, pre-Evanescence version of herself as “a little bit shy”. Earlier this year, she told Hammer’s sister magazine, Classic Rock, that the death of her younger sister, Bonnie, when Amy was six, was a catalyst for “this soul, spirit- searching, expression mode”, which would eventually manifest itself in music. She wrote her first song aged 12, and others quickly followed. “I wrote plenty of songs that were crap,” she says with a laugh. “You just haven’t heard them.”

Things became more serious when she met future Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody in 1994 at a Christian Youth Camp in Little Rock, Arkansas, where her family had moved to a few years earlier. She was 13 and Ben a year older, though the two decided they could make music together. Amy describes their initial endeavours as “more like an electronic duo, like Massive Attack” than an actual band, though some of their early songs would end up on Fallen, including Imaginary, Whisper and My Immortal.

The nascent Evanescence didn’t play a gig for nearly six years, partly because of their youth, and partly because they wanted to concentrate on honing the songs they were writing. “The live part for me at that time just wasn’t my focus,” she shrugs. “I wanted to make stuff.”

Their first release was a self-titled debut EP that came out in 1998 via local label Bigwig, followed by another EP, Sound Asleep, the following year (both featured songs that appeared on Fallen). They’d played a few a low-key acoustic shows in their early days, but their first proper, plugged-in show was at a bar named Vinos in Little Rock on January 2, 1999, less than a month after Amy turned 17.

“It was difficult to be on stage at first,” she says. “I had to really work at being a good performer. I remember the first time we played a gig and four people knew the chorus to one of our dumb little songs,” she adds, self-effacingly trailing off.

It was an early version of My Immortal that caught the attention of Diana Meltzer, head of A&R at Wind-up Records, in 2001. Amy had just enrolled in college to study music theory composition when she got the message that Wind-up were interested in Evanescence - essentially herself and Ben.

“I still wanted to make music, but I was going to study so that maybe one day I could work on film scores as a backup plan,” she says. “We got signed three months in. I had one semester of school. I literally went from graduating high school to moving to LA and making our album in a year and a half.”

Producer Dave Fortman can remember the first time he heard Amy Lee sing Bring Me To Life in the studio. The guitarist in 1990s rockers Ugly Kid Joe pivoted to production after the 1997 break-up of that band, working with the likes of Superjoint Ritual and Crowbar before signing on to produce the debut album by an unknown band from Arkansas called Evanescence. After listening to their demo, he jumped at the chance to work with them. And then came the moment when Amy began singing in the studio.

“Amy was in the booth and this voice just came out,” Dave tells Hammer. “My engineer, who has worked with some of the biggest names in music bar none, turned to me with his jaw on the floor and said, 'Goddamn! This girl can sing.’ You just forgot where you were, you weren’t working anymore, you were just in awe of her. They were the most talented people in their age I’d ever been in contact with.”

The Evanescence that recorded Fallen was Amy and Ben, plus keyboard player/string arranger/co-songwriter David Hodges (who joined the band in 1999) and an array of session musicians, including future Guns N’ Roses/Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese. Dave Fortman estimates the album cost around $250,000 to make – a sizeable sum now, but relatively modest at a time when seven-figure budgets weren’t uncommon (Korn’s 2002 album Untouchables reportedly cost $4 million). Some of that budget went on the real-life orchestra that Amy insisted on using for many of the songs – a bold move for a new band, when an electronic recreation would have been cheaper.

“None of us were ever going to back down on that,” says Dave Fortman. “It had to be that way or it wasn’t going to work. We recorded the orchestra in Seattle where they have no union, so it was cheaper. If we’d have known it was going to smash in the way it did, hell yeah, we would have just recorded them in LA!”

Evanescence didn’t get everything their way. Bring Me To Life, which addressed Amy’s feelings of numbness while in an abusive relationship,  was augmented by the inclusion of rapper Paul McCoy in an attempt to appeal to the nu metal market - a decision that went  against the band’s wishes. “I was so scared in the beginning that we were going forward with something  that wasn’t a perfectly honest picture of who we were,” Amy told Metal Hammer earlier this year. “But it didn’t last long. After a few songs, the mainstream was able to hear more than the one song and it was like, ‘OK, they at least sort of get what we are.’”

Advance expectations for Fallen were modest when it was released on March 4, 2003. “If it had gone gold [500,000 copies], we’d have A all been delighted with that,” says Dave Fortman. As it turned out, the album smashed it, selling more than 140,000 copies in its first week of release alone and reaching No.7 in the US Billboard charts. Bring Me To Life was a huge factor in that success. Like My Immortal, the song made its first appearance on the big- budget, Ben Affleck-starring Daredevil movie, which hit cinemas a few months before Fallen came out. 

When it was released as a single in its own right, accompanied by an expensive-looking urban-gothic video that saw a nightdress- clad Amy somnambulantly climbing the side of a tower block, like a cross between a character from an Anne Rice novel and a comic book superhero, Wind-up reps had to beg radio stations to play it (“A chick with piano on a rock station?” was a common response). Those that did air it soon found their phone lines jammed with people who wanted to know what it was that they’d just heard. It entered the US Top 10 and did even better in the UK, where it reached No.1.

Bring Me To Life and subsequent singles Going Under and My Immortal put wind in Fallen’s sails. Those 140,000 sales shot upwards at a vertiginous rate: within a month, it had sold more than a million copies in the US alone. By the middle of 2004, it had reached seven million (in 2022, Fallen was awarded a diamond certificate for US sales of more than 10 million). The speed of the ascent left Amy Lee dazed. “There was just so much going on,” she says, exhaling. “I don’t know if I got to focus on it that hard at the time.” 

The label wanted to get Evanescence out on the road to capitalise on that initial success. A touring band was assembled around Amy and Ben – guitarist John LeCompt, drummer Rocky Gray and bassist Will Boyd were recruited to back them. Their rise as a live band was equally dizzying. The day Fallen was released, Evanescence headlined the 200-capacity Engine Room in Houston, Texas. Three months later, they made their first UK appearance playing the Main Stage at the inaugural Download festival, sandwiched between Stone Sour and Mudvayne. Two weeks after that, they returned to the UK to headline a sold-out show at London’s prestigious Astoria.

Inevitably, given the scale and velocity of Evanescence’s success, it didn’t take long for the backlash to kick in. Amy was the focus of much of the criticism, with the barbs ranging from the petty (one magazine questioned her goth credentials) to the outright misogynistic (she was painted as a diva with absolutely nothing to back it up other than the fact she was a woman). Evanescence themselves were perceived by some of their detractors as nothing more than a cynical marketing experiment; the phrase “Linkin Park with a girl singer” appeared a depressing number of times back then, which diminished the decade or so Amy and Ben had invested in their band and music.

“I felt a lot like people wanted to see me fail, especially in the beginning,” Amy says. “I think it’s partially that they want to see if you’re the real thing, and when you shoot up so fast and you have a lot of success really quickly, I think there’s a little bit of a human nature thing that wants to poke a hole in that. I felt on the defence, I felt misunderstood – I’ve got a badass, bitchy look on my face on the album cover, so obviously I must be some kind of bitch.”

Amy was just 21 when Fallen was released, and the criticism took a toll on her. “It was hard as a young person to feel misunderstood,” she reflects today. Things became even more complicated when Ben left acrimoniously in October 2003, just six months after the release of Fallen, with creative differences cited at the time as the reason for the split (in 2010, he admitted to trying to force the singer out of the band they had founded together).

“I felt frustrated,” says Amy. “I wanted to hide a bit in that initial aftermath. People always wanted to attach me to drama, like Ben leaving the band. All of that was trying to be made to make me look bad, like it’s my fault or, ‘Well now it’s going to suck because she didn’t actually do any of the work, obviously all the men behind her did all the writing and the creation.’ It just made me angry a lot.”

The criticism and fractured personal relationships may have been difficult to deal with, but the impact Evanescence had was undeniable. Fallen landed at a transitional time for metal. By 2003, nu metal was on a downward trajectory creatively and commercially, with scene heavyweights Korn and Limp Bizkit both releasing dud albums in the shape of Take A Look In The Mirror and Results May Vary respectively. The New Wave Of American Heavy Metal was bubbling up, but it didn’t possess the same kind of mainstream crossover potential.

Fallen was different. Nu metal may have been in its DNA, but so was goth and electronic music. It was heavy enough for metal fans but it was also dramatic and heartfelt enough to draw in the emo crowd and pop fans alike. The soaring piano ballad My Immortal, with its narrative of a grieving relative haunted by the spirit of the family member they’re mourning, and Going Under, another song detailing the feelings of hopelessness that come from suffering in an abusive relationship, were unquestionably dark, but Evanescence wrapped them up in ear-worm hooks and gothic allure, while Amy’s presence imbued them with a distinctly feminine spirit that was a world away from nu metal’s over-testosteroned aggro.

The broad-church appeal of Fallen was reflected in the range of musicians who garlanded it with praise. Over the years, it’s been cited as an inspiration by everyone from Lzzy Hale and The Pretty Reckless’s Taylor Momsen to pop star Kelly Clarkson. Björk praised Evanescence and so, more surprisingly, did Lemmy, a man not known for his love of goth-tinged ballads.

“They’re fucking excellent,” said the late Motörhead frontman when asked for his view of the band. Even more significant – and noticeable – was the devotion Evanescence, and Amy in particular, almost instantly inspired among fans, especially female ones. The look she sported in music videos, magazine photo shoots and TV interviews – goth-style corsets, black and red eye make-up - was taken up by countless rock club kids up and down the country.

But arguably the most lasting impact Fallen has had is musical. It marked a changing of the guard: not just the end of nu metal, but the beginning of the rise of symphonic metal. Bands such as Nightwish and Within Temptation released albums before Fallen, making sizable waves in mainland Europe, but Evanescence put a distinctly American spin on it, turbocharging symphonic metal’s rise on the back of Fallen’s success. Even now, Amy’s too modest to acknowledge the influence that Fallen had.

“People are always asking me that question: ‘What is it about that album that resonated with people so much?’” she says. “I don’t know. Some of it’s just out of your control. At that age and that time in my life, I don’t think I would have given myself that credit.”

Dave Fortman is far more forthright on the subject. “Did I notice it?!” he says. “How could you not?! That’s what happens when you become, not just a big band, but an icon. She truly changed things. All those symphonic bands that came in their wake? They’re all Amy’s children.”

Fallen helped turn Evanescence into one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. They beat superstar rapper 50 Cent to the award for Best New Artist at the 2004 Grammy Awards (Bring Me To Life also took the trophy for Best Hard Rock Performance). To date, the record has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide – only Adele, Eminem, Norah Jones, Lady Gaga and Linkin Park released albums that have sold more during that time.

Dave calls Fallen “a life- changing album”. He explains: “It’s more than sales – it inspired an entire generation of young girls to know they had a place in heavy music. To show they didn’t have to ever compromise.” It’s a sentiment Amy shares as she looks back at the shy 21-year-old of 2003.

“It was crazy, it was awesome,” she says. “But there was a lot for me that was going on personally, turmoil and relationships within our band. It was just this wild time where so many things that felt huge were happening at the same time. Did it change the musical landscape? I don’t know. But it inspired somebody for something good, it made them walk back from the edge, feel their self-worth in some way. I think it’s truly a gift and a blessing in my life.”

Originally printed in Metal Hammer #381

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

'90s MV of the day

Kelly Watch The Stars by AIR

Released in 1998 as the second single from French electronic duo AIR's debut studio album Moon Safari. Video directed by Mike Mills.

[one-additional-time]

Daft Punk in Chronic'art 2007/2008 - scans & translated interview

Here it is, the long-awaited monster interview that sat untouched on my bookshelf for 6 years. I bought this magazine on eBay in 2017, fresh off the Grammys performance with The Weeknd, and I was really excited when I realized it was a huge 10 page spread... Until I started translating and realized the content was extremely in-depth and complicated. So, it got put to the side and accidentally left there for many years.

Anyway, here we go. Buckle in for a long read! Please note that I did not translate the extra sections of the article titled "Discovered" and "Very Disco" as these are just basic information about DP's discography and samples they've used- they are not part of the interview.

My usual disclaimer- I am not French, nor am I fluent in French, so some of this may be incorrect or interpreted differently than the author intended. If you find any glaring errors, my ask box is open for feedback and I can update the post/files as needed. (Post updated May 2023 with corrections)

Feel free to repost to other platforms/social media sites, but I humbly beg that you link back here or give me credit because I really spent a lot of time slaving over this (like 50+ hours).

Thank you so much for sticking around my blog after so many years. I really appreciate this fandom and community and I'm excited to experience new music with you all soon!

(Trigger warning for discussion of suicide [Electroma] in the interview!)

Download full scans and translation at my Dropbox.

Full translation below the cut.

In ten years, from Homework in 1997 to Alive 2007 and Electroma, the electro duo Daft Punk have popularized electronic music, launched fads (the French Touch, filtered house, monumental live shows), and transformed a simple music project into a verifiable universal, even metaphysical, concept. Are Daft Punk dropping the helmets?

BY: WILFRIED PARIS & OLIVIER LAMM | PHOTOS: © MAUD BERNOS

SCANS AND TRANSLATION BY STEPH @ ONE-ADDITIONAL-TIME.TUMBLR.COM

(Please see the downloadable PDF file for translation notes/comments)

Everyone has been hearing about Daft Punk for the last two months, because their live CD (Alive 2007, from EMI) and the DVD of their robotic road-movie Electroma are being released for the holidays. We wanted to go a little bit beyond the obligated promo, and the repeated wooden language found in all the media, by trapping Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo for an hour and a half in a restaurant in the Latin Quarter, subjecting them to questioning, and if possible, making them drop the helmets a little bit, over ten pages and many questions.

We’re not going to harp on what you already know (the French touch, the robot helmets, the live pyrotechnics), we’ll just say that we wanted to do this thorough interview with Daft Punk because they’re more than a CD or a DVD, more than music, more than any current pop group. They are an essential symbol of our post-post-modern times, speaking in a very clear yet always paradoxical voice (between hedonistic joy and profound existential sadness) on the human condition, no less. Over the ten years of their career (Homework, like Chronic��art, again, decidedly, appeared in 1997), Daft Punk have invented a new way of presenting music to the world. The robot helmets reveal (social uniformity) more than they cover (buried humanity) and have given them perfect anonymity, which seems like the anonymity of those who succeeded, not in annihilating the self, but becoming self-less. This anonymity accentuates the dominance of the art over the artist, and it has made Daft Punk a universally well-liked and famous group.

A conceptual, pop, philosophical, even metaphysical group, Daft Punk mixes Andy Warhol (seriality, pop art, emptiness) and Friedrich Nietzsche (the man who wanted to die in Electroma, the superhuman for and against technology), mass culture (disco, Albator, Star Wars) and esoteric symbols (the masonic pyramid), the dancing body and thinking brain. In that respect, they are a purely manufactured product of our culture and likely represent the completion of the pop figure began by the Beatles: fragmented culture (the sample) and repetition, theatricality and abstraction, universalism and experimentation, technological innovation and advanced marketing, refusal of the embodiment and worship of the personality…

The current tour (Alive can also mean “en vie”) also refers to an interstellar voyage, like Discovery and Interstella, which seemed to mean that humanity is, by nature, dispossessed, that humans do not belong on Earth but came from Heaven and are destined to return there, that they are “stardust.” They themselves [Daft Punk] are probably not aware of the symbolic and almost metaphysical significance of their creations, and they always prefer to talk about “emotions” rather than thoughts, the heart instead of the head, and they act as the “guinea pigs” for their own experiments. Listening to them, we realized that Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo do not really theorize their work, their music, or their image, but that they react to the infinite accumulation of data from our culture of abundance, that they are indeed the guinea pigs of an experience that has outrun them, marionettes played by “high culture,” pop culture, and the entertainment industry. Maybe Daft Punk really are robots, and no one is pulling the strings, certainly not them.

Chronic’art: Between Homework, which would correspond to your schoolwork or your learning phase, Discovery, which would represent your adolescence, the discovery of the world, microscopic to macroscopic, and Human After All, a moment of reset before a new cycle, it seems to us like you have come full circle, which would be represented by the mirroring of your two live albums, in 1997 and in 2007. Could you have scripted your career?

Thomas Bangalter: It’s strange. We have never written out any part of our career, because even ten years ago we didn’t think we would do this for a long time. After the fact, without having planned it, we realize more that we had sort of reset prior to the live show from 2007. For us, these concerts, this tour, this CD, they are more of a new step than a conclusion. We had not done concerts for 10 years, and there was something very exciting about doing things that weren’t technologically possible when we started. With the last live, we wanted to produce something original, that could predict what might become the norm of tomorrow. We know that we’ve done certain things in the past that were five years ahead of their time, and we are happy to be trying something no one else has done right now. We feel like, during each album, we’ve started back at zero and have had to create a new process, even if it’s true that there is a consistency which emerges in the straight line of our career. But this consistency is not defined a priori, we just emphasize working on projects that can become sort of a realignment of everything we’ve accomplished until now. Interstella was consistent with Discovery, the live show was consistent with our third album compared to the two previous albums, but each step represents, in the moment, the desire to start a new cycle. As for Human After All and Electroma, they’re about something darker, less celebratory… Maybe the live show is a loop; our record label released a Best Of last year, but the concert itself and the way we worked on it is more a way of combining things and expressing them in a new way, rather than celebrating a sort of anniversary or something from the past. We definitely didn’t want to give people the impression that they were in 1997, in a continuation of past music: we instead wanted to give them the chance to feel like they were really in 2007.

During the live shows, you mix together your own tracks, referencing and quoting yourselves. It’s like being simultaneously and precisely between 1997 and 2007, as if the past and the present were merging. All of your songs evolving in a sort of loop…

T.B.: It’s almost the third generation of sampling: us sampling ourselves. At the same time, it’s like having created a universe and an aesthetic that is more than the music, or that the music isn’t actually a central vector. Our approach isn’t at all demonstrative, it’s entirely sensory. There isn’t another message to understand. That being said, there is a desire for cohesion, to make sure that each element added to the structure resonates with the others, with the little mythology that governs this universe. It’s a bit like in a video game, each new element opens a new level in a new environment rather than replacing an older element. We wanted, for example, to break these things with Human After All, but in the end we realized that the album was very cohesive in the continuity of our work.

There is a very strong sense of nostalgia, mixed with a strangeness, in the timeless juxtapositions listeners are subjected to in the tracks. They seem to be complementing and responding to each other, as much musically as thematically… 

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo: It’s especially very exciting to see that twelve or thirteen years after our first maxi, our music has not aged too much. There is a sense of nostalgia1, but it still works in the present, and it’s very strange to see that we can mix four tracks from four different eras simultaneously, and not a single one kills the mood. Right after we started making music, we were seeking timelessness. It’s the same with Electroma. At our core, we are fans of timeless things. If you listen to the Beatles, aside from their very first period which is a little bit stuck in the past, you notice that time doesn’t touch their music. We are following that: we are trying to move through time without getting stuck in it. In the same way, we are trying to make sure that our music can be listened to by a lot of different people, without having to worry about languages or genres.

The Beatles were, for that matter, the first group to reference themselves, for example in All You Need is Love, where John Lennon sings She Loves You… 

G-M.H-C.: We don’t compare ourselves to the Beatles, either… 

T.B.: The idea is constructing a cohesive universe from a series of spontaneous attempts. If you watch Star Wars, people don’t seem to come from when the film was made. It’s as if the 70s have no effect on the film’s universe. Its atmosphere is its own, even if mixes a lot of things together. For about five or six years we have tried not to let the times we live in make an impression on us.

You are very privileged to be in a time when everything moves so fast, or everything ages so fast, right in the middle of acceleration. For example, you did a massive world tour without having an album to promote… 

G-M.H-C.: The day before the first concert of the tour, at Coachella, we were terrified, we weren’t sure of anything. Every time we try something new, we start back at zero.

T.B.: It’s the live show that sparked the craze, I think, truly. The success was really unintentional. Separate from that, being immersed in a certain underground before our first album taught us a lot. We’ve seen all the trends come and go—jungle, speed garage, electroclash, new rave, French touch, revival—and we are really surprised to have slipped by all of that. We didn’t want to be specifically concentrated on music, we only released three albums in 15 years, and we had a lot of luck. The legitimacy of our music, the future of our music lives in the combination of different forms of expression, the scope of influences, the mixing of techno with funk, with metal, the intermingling of rules and cliches. A lot of important decisions have been roughly made; also by means of spending time solidifying this roughness in order to share it. In fact, electronic music, in the 90s, put you in a state of experimentation, urgency, innovation, it literally prohibited you from repeating yourself. Electronic music was still very elitist, because it was expensive—you had to go to the library to find out about these musicians, you had to go to Beaubourg to make photocopies of books on filmmakers, you had to go to small shops to buy old drum machines. We know what changed, we’re familiar with the saturation that followed. We were also lucky because actually there wasn’t much of that happening when we started out.

The permanence of Daft Punk is also really linked to your image. People don’t only dance to your music, they dance with your personas, with the robots, like you predicted the fatal characteristic of the embodiment of rock (John Lennon, Kurt Cobain). With your robot helmets, you have made the entire process of love, requisition, and the sacrificial reclaiming in your place impossible. You come across as impersonal and therefore verifiably impossible to sacrifice. Not gods, rockers, heroes, nor rulers. The helmet prohibits any kind of identification process. When put on, they show the listener-viewer their own reflection. By giving nothing, the helmet says (silently), “Know thyself.” Can your work be considered an invitation for people to know themselves?

G-M.H-C.: Yes, I agree with that interpretation. At least, that’s what happens with our concerts. Audience members, rather than being lost in the view of a far-off guy, Mick Jagger or another inaccessible idol above the audience, find themselves between us, or even with themselves. It’s kind of like a rave, without superstars, like in the era of anonymity. The robots don’t give the audience much except music. There are robots in a pyramid, but the audience enjoys it in a more selfish, more self-centered way.

T.B.: It’s a mixture—the chance to show the listener their own reflection, to respond to a question with another question, but also the opportunity to go back to a fiction, in a cult that isn’t the cult of a personality, but of an art, of an image, of an aesthetic. Without personification. Then we can let ourselves to be two robots in a pyramid of light. If our faces were uncovered, it would be the most megalomaniacal thing in the world; with the helmets, no one sees us because we stay within the fiction. And without wanting to make a joke, there is also a degree of separation, a distance. A distance from the reflection, like in Electroma, or a distance from the entertainment, softer.

All the lines from Human After All work in the same way. They recall Kraftwerk, but Kraftwerk developed a precise message about celebrating, in a way, the immediate future. Your messages are a lot more ambiguous: are they critical, ironic, devoid of meaning? Like we see so well in Electroma, your helmets are, above all else, mirrors…

T.B.: Ambiguity is good, because it allows for a certain interaction between the viewer and the artist; between what the viewer interprets and what the artist is trying to depict. It’s very participative, and that comes from a desire to go against the demonstration. We are the first consumers of our music, and we hold the view that we can’t make any judgement values by calling things into question. In speaking about technology, about consumer society, which completely inhabits our art, we don’t want to teach a lesson, or offer a point of view or a judgement, we just want to find paradoxes and point them out as is. For example, we’re dependent on consumer society and it’s so appealing, productive, optimized, and at the same time totally terrifying, horrible, and very funny.

Your work is dialectical: sometimes it seems to denounce a sort of robotic totalitarianism (like in the Technologic video which depicts propaganda of a robot on top of a pyramid) and at the same time it plays with this imagery, strikingly. The video for Around The World also shows how robots surround and surveil the population; they are in the last circle, and they are the ones who chant the phrase “Around The World.” Does the video denounce the surveillance of us by nonhumans, or does it condition us to accept it? We never know if you’re denouncing a conspiracy against humanity or if you’re participating in it. You use of language is equally dialectical. Your language is refined, born from catchphrases and words of totalitarian order (Technologic), and if taken literally, it’s this: the phrase “Television Rules The Nation” can be taken as the assertion of an established fact. It then becomes constraint, manipulation. At the same time, the distance imposed by the performance can give the words a double meaning, and adds to them a critique of this established fact, even the denunciation of a totalitarian power. This recalls the “doublethink” in Orwell’s 1984: the capacity to simultaneously accept two opposing points of view and thereby put critical thinking on the back burner. Where do you situate yourselves in this in-betweenness?

T.B.: But it’s inside this paradox where we progress. In terms of our experimentation, we are in fact the heart of the system; it would be totally obscene to lean more to one side or the other, to claim to be part of a totalitarian system, as if we were giving lectures. It’s because this is so interesting that we refused to do any promotion for Human After All, because there couldn’t be a willingness on our part to encourage people to buy the album, because of this paradox. Because it’s like an unbiased opinion on technology, on consumer society. The video for Technologic actually gives you the keys to derive an ironic and scary message from the track, but it has since been used by Apple in a commercial for the iPod, and there the lyrics turned into blind praise for technology! It’s funny seeing to what extent the double meaning has effectively functioned. That’s why we so often refer to Andy Warhol who had an experimental approach through his connection to pop culture that, depending on the project, had as much a place in very elitist and private circles as it did on supermarket shelves. Creating with perplexity, in short.

Nevertheless, you use very strongly significant symbols, like the robots or the pyramid. The pyramid that you use on stage is a Masonic symbol. It is on the dollar bill, with George Washington and the note, “New World Order.” The pyramid represents the structure of society, from the masses up to the elites and the leaders. The cornerstone with the “all-seeing eye” surely represents the summation of technology which, though it could be plainly operational, will make sure that the “New World Order” can truly start coming forward and establishing itself on Earth. Some interpret it like the construction of a new technology, a technologic eye that would see all, through a generalized surveillance. With that said, the presence of robots like operators of this pyramid makes a lot of sense. How do you fit in with regard to these symbols and this story?

T.B.: We work a lot with the senses, with the power of symbols on the subconscious, and the pyramid, in effect, is a very heavy symbol, in terms of the senses. We don’t want to discuss the details of the symbolism, but to question its power without its history. The pyramid has become a symbol because, geometrically, harmonically, it’s a magical, occult, mysterious object. There is also this mysterious and occult, on the verge of paranormal, power in music. No one can really theorize about the effects of music on the body and mind, so it’s incredible. We just try to pass on that magic in a rather empirical way. Moreover, we could carry out experiments on the way in which light or sound intensity acts on the body and on crowds, to see which types of sensations or emotions are provoked by one frequency or another. But we could never really explain the reason for these effects.

G-M.H-C.: We are the guinea pigs of our own universe. We managed to create a sort of self-sufficiency between the two of us, which lets us experiment with a consistent voice, and what works for us tends to work for the audience, it’s like a small miracle. We put a pyramid on stage because we think it’s cool, and it makes everyone trip out.

When you talk about guinea pigs, it’s as if you were manipulated from the outside, by a mysterious third-party, as if you were also puppets. There is a determinism there, but one that serves humanity. According to the Laws of Robotics by Isaac Asimov, it’s humankind who constructed the robot, and the robot is at its service…

T.B.: Above all we want to express a paradox on the discussion of human dependency on technology. We’re not virtuosos and we rely on technology like a crutch. We could never do it without technology, and at the same time, we try to value, like any artists, the human element in our work. The process we’ve used for these fifteen years has been to try merging the machines and us. We are the operators of these machines, the editors of the experiments: we select them, we choose them, and we decide to keep them or not. Daft Punk is the product of a tug of war between human and technology, always questioning the place of technology in the project.

Electroma addresses this discussion between human and machine, in a sort of grand general inversion. Electroma seems to be the account of a traumatic experience: in the world of robots, the two characters presented a human face to the others, in openness, generosity, expressiveness. The result of this demonstration of humanity leaves them ostracized, chased, and reduced to aimlessness and suicide. Do you think that showing your humanity is dangerous?

T.B.: Yes, that’s the background of the film. But speaking more broadly, formally, it’s part of the same approach as what we’ve been able to do before; to know how to create emotion while using machines, in a creative process. Without actors, without a script, without a real plotline, but with photography, color, framing, made from machines, objects, just like a still life. We began with creating an environment around the spectator, who is almost like the only actor in the film, and wondering how to make them experience these emotions, which are not the same as those on the dancefloor, but aesthetic emotions, where the spectator can project onto themselves. The film is totally open, and we thought a lot about Magritte when making the plans. What you can see in Electroma is essentially sensation, that’s a lot more at the level of the gut or the eyes than of the brain…

Robots After All by Philippe Katerine was clearly inspired by your album Human After All and touches on the idea that human society has attained such a degree of conditioning and conforming that humanity became a species of robot, a determined creature, ruled by automation, in their language as much as their everyday comportment. When we recently asked what he thought about your music, Katerine told us, “I hear nothingness in it, so I want to find a place there.” Is the universality of your music due to the fact that it’s also, in a sense, empty?

T.B.: It’s empty because it’s more sensory than significance, yes. Theoretically devoid of sense, it allows people to see something from nothing and project themselves there. We just heard Katerine’s single. Our music is open, it can be interpreted and taken in different ways.

The musical abstraction and loops that by and large make up your music allow each person to take possession of the music and go beyond it. There is a shamanic aspect in this usage of emptiness and repetition. As a matter of fact, musicians like Animal Collective, who were inspired by shamanic trances, now cite you as an influence. Also, you could interpret the end of Electroma, when the two robots die by explosion and combustion, as referring to shamanic initiation rituals, in which one goes through a symbolic death by division of the body or self-combustion. Could you say that the end of Electroma represents, in some sort, this symbolic and initiatory death? In other words, do you perceive a shamanic side to your music?

T.B.: Yes, it’s a trance: the loop, the heartbeats… We use samples to express the desire of prolonging a strong sensation that comes during one or two seconds in a track, and wanting to repeat this sensation, not only feeling it for ten minutes, but also seeing what consequences come from ten minutes of that feeling, how everything unfolds. Visually, with Electroma, our desire is the same: to create images or an assembly of images that produce a physical sensation, a feeling of hypnosis, wandering, or weariness; in any case a state of mind that you can only reach by feeling this sensation for a certain time, for quite a long time. 

Wandering, loss of identity, and expropriation are pop themes in a sense. If you think of the Beatles, the “Magical Mystery Tour,” the transformation of the Beatles into the “Lonely Hearts Club Band.” As of now, you are a group that “turns,” that travels, to those “lonely hearts.” Is there a “trip” pop?

T.B.: It’s true that during this tour, we felt a little bit of a psychedelic thing: there are people who saw and re-watched the concert multiple times, almost like a Grateful Dead concert, with this idea of there being, during the concert, something imperceptible that you can never capture on disc or on film: an experience which was unique and can only live in reality, at a time where everything is virtualized. We felt like people wanted happenings, concrete experiences, which could consequently be produced by advanced technology: we could multiply the giant screens, have a very strong sound, and combine everything into these unprecedented audiovisual processes, which had never been seen anywhere before. Even a film projected in an IMAX theater could be no more than the “ghettoblaster” from another experiment with new technologies. Our music is moving: it was within an industrial system which ended, it was dependent on the economy. And the economy was destroying itself, it influenced new formats and new ways of creation, like the tours we’re doing currently.

Today, music needs to find new ways for distribution, with the death of the record industry and the virtualization of music. The live show, as a unique experience, is a response to this situation. You were the first to start a download site on the internet, with the Daft Club in 2001, which didn’t work out. Was it five years too early?

T.B.: Being current five years too early is really better than we can hope for. It’s good to be precursory, it’s almost our principal objective. Speaking about the musical economy, I think that music has never been as important as it is now, and the concert isn’t a response to difficulty selling CDs nowadays, because live shows are also very expensive. Economic upheavals are interesting: I read a book recently by Jacques Attali, Bruits, which talks about the musical economy and its power since the Middle Ages, and if you look at the place of music in the world in the last 2 thousand or 3 thousand years, the place of the record and pop music industries will have not been an end in itself, compared to music as a whole. It’s interesting to try to find out where music will go and what it will generate, in the sense that it is often a precursor of the relationship to come between social and economic powers. But we define ourselves less as musicians than as artists and creators, in trying to combine things and experiment with new formats and new technologies. We aren’t uniquely musicians.

Homework represents a sort of pinnacle of the age where a certain technologic novelty was expressed directly through music. You could literally hear knobs being turned. Does Daft Punk necessarily have to excel technologically in an age where all these methods have become normalized? Were the concerts from your new tour sort of like an advantage?

T.B.: It’s not an advantage, it’s a set of challenges that could be technological, actually. You wind up with a concert that looks sort of futuristic, like a remake of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or a mix of a Grateful Dead and a Kraftwerk concert. Making something that we couldn’t make before. We pick up the tools, we manipulate them, we try to progress. Electronic music in itself, in 2007, doesn’t seem to me to be very conducive to experimentation from a strictly musical point of view. I’m waiting for the new generations to prove to me otherwise… We pay attention to technological developments because we’re interested in them, and because they are at the heart of our art. Musical instruments are advanced technologies which have continuously reinvented music.

Since Human After All was released online, there were a lot of rumors about the album, which was an indication that people were waiting for you. In that context, are you able to feel free as musicians? Have you produced things in reaction to the public’s expectations?

T.B.: Actually, we aren’t free relative to our own expectations. We can’t totally set the public aside, but we have our own demands and we respond to our own vision of what we make, while taking into account paradoxes, contradictions, restarts, new beginnings. But we don’t think about the public: it’s both selfish and more respectful for people because we don’t have the pretentiousness of putting ourselves in their shoes.

G-M.H-C.: We are our own fans. We work until we find moments of pleasure in our work, and when we save those moments and explore them on an album or in a film which we release, that resonates for people. But within those moments, which are like lightning, we are like spectators—we feel like we’re revealing something, and discovering something we created at the same time. In this way we are ourselves in the position of spectators and fans. I imagine that this process is even more evident in painting: you have a piece of canvas in front of you, and there is a tangible process of creation. Creation is a mystery and you can really speak about magic when it comes to music or art.

Could the image of the pyramid that you use be a graphic representation of your music? With its foundations, progressions, ascents, and its climax? Bercy, it so happens, also has a pyramid shape…

G-M.H-C.: Not all of our songs follow a progression. We have flat songs, square songs, round songs… And in the live show, there are a few final moments where the tension comes back down. Bercy really does have a pyramid shape, but the top is missing. And it’s true that we would have really liked to play on top of it (laughs)…

[dustedmagazine]

Patois Counselors — Limited Sphere (ever/never)

Photo by Lindsey Miller

It’s been six years since Patois Counselors came out of the gate with Proper Release, an all-timer of a post-punk album that balanced furious energy with flights of surprising lyricism, a single-minded, oddball perspective with large ensemble arrangements.

The follow-up three years later was the Optimal Seat, a quieter but still menacing outing that got me thinking about the twin titans of the post-punk genre. My Dusted review ended with this: “I’ve slipped in a Fall reference already, but the real touchtone is Pere Ubu, whose bass-y, post-apocalyptic funk set the template and who also got quieter and weirder as time went on. If Proper Release was this band’s Modern Dance, then the Optimal Seat is its Song of the Bailing Man. Who knows what the next one will be?” A live album kept the seat warm earlier this year, and now Bo White tackles the question; what’s next is seething, writhing intelligence, wrapped in softer textures and melodies, but still bracing.  

Four songs make a return appearance after the live Enough: One Night at the Daisy Chain. None has changed significantly since then, though the live versions are, across the board, a bit noisier and rougher, while the studio takes allow for more carefully separated, cleaner sound. For instance, “Ranking Set,” a highlight in both albums, is a surging, pummeling rush on Enough. It’s not quite “qualified noise on a tiny speaker” as the lyrics insist, but there is a certain amount of compression. The studio take has the same sense of headlong energy, but you can hear more, the bass for one thing, a saxophone squeal, a sharp but irregular scratch of lead guitar. Likewise, “Serious Rider” pulses with ominous propulsion in both iterations, but the live one brings up the patter of syncopated snare and lets you hear an oscillating clarinet.  

Other tracks break more conclusively with past efforts. “Cathy Music” floats and shimmers and twinkles with electronic elements; the thump and hammer of post-punk disappears almost entirely under dream-state atmospherics. “Return to Sensitivity” also shrouds beats in silky swathes of synthesizer. It might remind you of Moon Duo’s Stars of the Light. “Marge Attack” slouches and grooves in trippy dissatisfaction, trailing bloopy bass notes and a wandering clarinet. 

And yet, Limited Sphere remains very much in Patois Counselor’s orbit, extending the palette, clarifying the details and continuing the journey.  If you love a band, you’ve got to let them try something new.

Jennifer Kelly

[that-irrelevant-ricecakeaddict]

My Review/Analysis of Stray Kids' new album

💫ROCK STAR💫

Part (2/6)

Track 2: LALALALA

Okay, first of all.

When I first found Stray Kids' music (late November 2022), one of my very first thoughts were "Wow I would like to see them make a phonk song".

THIS. THIS SONG. IT HAS SATISFIED THAT VERY THOUGHT THAT I HAD AS A BABY STAY.

What is phonk?

By dictionary definition, it is an underground style of hip-hop/trap music directly inspired by 90s Memphis Rap, mostly present on SoundCloud as trill style beats with old funk and nostalgic samples, often accompanied by vocals from old Memphis Rap tapes.

(A phonk song I would recommend is Wither by Japanese artist takayan. Some of the beats in this track actually sounds similar to it)

Moving on!!

The opening high-pitched but bouncy beat is an amazing intro choice. Like it creates a buildup to the members' vocals and rap, but it also makes you curious as to what's gonna follow it. Combined with electronic beats and effects gradually joining it, it makes a GREAT INTRO.

OMG CHANGBIN OPENING LINES??? EVERYONE WAKE TF UP 🗣🗣🗣His scratchy rap tone is sensational for opening lines!! 👏 it DEFINITELY kept me wanting more!! Followed by felix and hyunjin's (?) rap lines carrying it on!

And do I hear leeknow rapping?? 🧐🧐 I LOVE how his voice sounds when rapping, especially since he usually sings!

Followed by seungmin and jeongin's verse bringing the song to the beat drop before the chorus. Omg. Vocalracha ATE THAT UP.

Now, I know some people think that using auto-tune on lines in a song (besides the purpose of fine-tuning the singers' tone) is a "questionable" approach. But lightly auto-tuning Han's "LALALALA, LA-LALALALA"? JAW-DROPPED. His high voice actually fits quite well with light auto-tune!! Combined with the song's base background phonk beats, it sounds 🔥

LEE KNOW AND CHANGBIN'S COMBINED CHORUS ‼️ I don't think I've heard them have lines together before, so this combo was surprising but nonetheless a great choice in lime distribution!!

Wrapping the chorus up with Felix's "LALALALA, LA-LALALALA" was like OMG. It contrasted well with Han's same line at the start of the chorus and 'closed' off the whole chorus really well.

Moving on, we have one of Hyunjin's ICONIC 'low-key' raps. In my opinion, it gave me a "break" after the heavy chorus, while still keeping it interesting. Love it. 10/10. Easily one of my favourite parts.

The part after hyunjin's rap where the members (it sounds like more than one member to me, I'm not sure) go "we go ROCK, ROCK" and "STOP, STOP" with the beats on "ROCK, ROCK" and "STOP,STOP" with pauses in between to emphasise them??? IN LOVE RN. It also builds up really well to Changbin and Han's fast-paced, combined rap!!

Followed by Bangchan and Jeongin's pre-chorus verse!! The blend of their singing tones is just *chef's kiss*

Then SURPRISE!! The chorus doesn't come after that!! Instead, Felix and hyunjin's low voices drastically change the vibe to that of a hero and a villain having a final showdown on a dust-ridden, corpse-strewn battlefield. Combined with the wind orchestra in the background? Literally. What. The. Fuck. AMAZING BUILDUP. JAW-DROPPING. I LOVE IT WHENEVER THEY USE WIND OCHESTRA IN THEIR SONGS (another eg of this: chorus for TOP)

THEN Han's voice literally BREAKING the 'silence' followed by Felix's low "Lalalala, la-lalalala"?? Sensational. Then Hyunjin REPEATING Felix's line using his AGRRESSIVE TONE?? EVEN. BETTER. TOTAL EAR ORGASM DJZBXJSJBXJDJDJD (can u tell this segment is my favourite part of the song 😭)

Ahem ahem anyways...

Han and Felix combined chorus!!! I love how they were the ones to do the chorus the second time round. Especially Han's! The way it literally blends and contrasts at the same time with hyunjin's aggressive "lalalala" adlibs is SO SATISFYING.

Followed by Seungmin and Chan's higher-pitched English lines for the outro chorus!! Underrated vocal duo OMFGGG.

Finally, Leeknow's amazing vocals (HIS ENGLISH IMPROVED SM BTW IM SO PROUD OF HIM) closing off the whole song before the background phonk eventually fades out.

The phonk beats combined with a striking metal guitar chord playing one last time before the song ends is so 🔥🔥🔥 LIKE- 😭 where are my words. Taken away. Like my breath after listening to this track.

Overall, I LOVE LALALALA. It might be one of my fave title tracks from SKZ rn. I manifested hard enough for SKZ to do a phonk song, and it happened!!! Legit so happy, you've no idea how big of a smile I had when I recognised the phonk beats in the very beginning on my first listen of this track. 😭😭 I really hope SKZ continues experimenting with all these split genres!

Honorable mention: LALALALA rock version. I'm in love. Pls.

Thank you for reading my review!! Stay tuned for my reviews on the 4 other tracks in their new album. Stream 💫ROCK STAR 💫!!

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

McMusic 16 2001 Pop / Teen Pop / R&B / Pop-Rap

Resuming this intermittent Euro-trip that I've been on where I get snapshots of what different countries' pop landscapes were looking like at certain points in time, and today, for the first time ever, we're taking a look at 2001 Norway, with this 16th installment in one of the country's own Now That's What I Call Music!-type series, McMusic.

Now, usually when it comes to these types of ephemeral Euro-comps from yesteryear, I'm looking for three separate boxes to check off: one for a nice and poppy rush of nostalgia, another for a good tune or two that didn't do anything Stateside, and third, something that's so insanely dumb, bad, and Eurotrashy that you have to appreciate the beautiful mind that conceived of it. And while there is plenty of bad Euro music on here, unfortunately none of it falls into that highly sought after category of 'so bad it's good'; it's just unremarkably bad instead.

But with that said then, let's start with the nostalgia rush. There are a few instantly recognizable, intercontinentally classic y2k bangers on this album, but no tune among them happens to go harder than Destiny's Child's "Survivor," a song that took the group's criticisms and constant ribbing about their own personnel turnover to task and ended up resulting in the most ferocious and intense single that they'd ever made; an absolute, certified, string-frenzied bop that you can cathartically wallop a punching bag to 🥊😤. Beyoncé's entry is just so electrifying on this one, and the chorus' constant background chants of "What?" à la DMX, are super infectious too.

And then for something that didn't really do anything in the US, we have "Chillin'" by Modjo. Generally, before EDM got coined as a term, there was no outlet for electronic dance music on a mainstream level, discounting the largely cheesy 90s phenomenon of Eurodance. Some stuff managed to peek through a little bit, though, like Modjo's own "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)," but this French duo's follow-up single that sampled from Chic's disco classic, "Le Freak," was pretty sleek too. Shame America never developed much of a taste for house music back in these times, because with our total affinity for Daft Punk now, we seem to have societally missed out on a whole lot of this goodness.

And one last song I have for you all amounts to a Mandela effect kind of thing, but in reverse, because this is a track that apparently performed pretty decently in the US on a certain mainstream chart, but I don't think that anyone either knew it existed or that they remember it at all. But let's see. Ever heard of a co-ed rap group from Philadelphia and Brooklyn called Spooks? I have, but only because I've heard them on another one of these Euro-comps before. Spooks were enormous in Europe in the early 2000s, and one of their biggest singles, "Things I've Seen," which had a retro-60s cocktail lounge-Amy Winehouse-styled beat to it, was featured in the Laurence Fishburne-written, directed, co-produced, and starring direct-to-video film, Once in the Life, and also served as the theme song to the European version of the US TV series Dark Angel. And the music video for this song featured Fishburne himself in it too!

"Things I've Seen" managed to peak at just #94 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, but it was #13 on the different Hot Rap Singles chart. And if you're an American who doesn't concern themselves with early 2000s Euro-popular music or has never seen that specific Fishburne project, then I think you're flat-out lying if you tell me that you remember this song. I feel like this thing has been memory-holed to the point of complete erasure.

So that's a little taste of the Norwegian commercial pop landscape of 2001. Didn't find anything mesmerizingly and uniquely awful here, but still ended up getting what I came for on two other critical fronts—some memory lane tunes and stuff that I've never really had much of an opportunity to be exposed to, outside of sifting my way through other releases just like this one 👍👍.

Highlights:

Destiny's Child - "Survivor" Nelly - "Ride Wit Me" Spooks - "Things I've Seen" Opus X - "Girl What's Up" Jennifer Lopez - "Play" Eve - "Who's That Girl" Modjo - "Chillin'"

[1997thebracket]

Round 1

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Into every generation, a Slayer is born: for ours, Sarah Michelle Geller stars as Buffy Summers, a supernaturally-gifted and interpersonally-burdened former cheerleader who loves a pithy one-liner, a night at the Bronze, and a chic taupe lip color. What began as a promising but critically divisive 1992 film would blossom into one of the biggest television hits of 1997, and a cult franchise for decades to come. As a story, Buffy didn't just work for the simplified impression of "girl power" that sold well in the 90s, but for its complex themes of morality, identity, the isolation of responsibility, and the echoing effects of laying the world like a chain on the neck of a child. ("Girl power" was however a fundamental part of the puzzle, and that would expand through the show's run to explore the strength of Slayers, witches, vampires, demons, Gods, girls made of bugs, girls made of nothing at all, and most potently, lesbians.) Buffy's recognizable dialogue and time capsule-like preservation of the era's fashion and music gives the show a sense of style and vibrancy against the frequently dark cemetery backdrop.

Daft Punk's Homework: If the pop world knew then what we know now, we would've invested even harder (better, faster, stronger.) Homework is the debut album by the French electronic duo Daft Punk who would come to be known not only as pioneers of house music, but for many, as the masked face of it. Featuring the singles Around The World and Da Funk, the album brought the then-underground progressive house music out of the clubs and into the homes of millions. Band members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo had originally given their demo to the DJ at a Eurodisney rave, and in a few years would see bidding wars between major labels before ever releasing a studio album. Homework, which by the duo's admission is comprised of a collection of singles rather than a planned album tracklist, could have been inaccessible to pop music fans disused to instrumental electronica-- instead, it found success Around The World and paved a path forward for the genre.

[seoul-bros]

More musical clues for PJM1?

In the W Korea interview released this week, Jimin was asked who he was listening to recently and he mentioned Park Hwayobi and Honne.

Since it's a pattern that these guys like to drop clues in their interviews let's dig into this a bit.

Park Hwayobi

Park Hwayobi is known as SK's "Queen of R&B". Her biggest hit which got to No.6 in the Korean charts was Bye Bye Bye in 2010.

Her latest single was Sunset in 2021.

Fun fact and possible additional clue, RM posted her song How is it going? from the Because I Love You album on Instagram this month (23/01/2023).

Instagram Link

I wonder if Jimin is going to pull an RM on us with an R&B collaboration with an established star.

Honne

Secondly Jimin says he is listening to Honne (本音 or "true feelings") the British electronic music duo who debuted in 2016 with their album Warm on a Cold Night. This album was really popular in South Korea where it went platinum.

It also included their song, Somebody that Loves You with Izzy Bizu.

Their association with BTS, and in particular RM, goes back to 2019 when they released Crying Over You featuring RM and Beka.

In 2020, the were producers on RM's Seoul

and last year they have credits for Closer on RM's Indigo album.

As far as I can remember they weren't amongst the songwriters and producers that have posted about working with Jimin last year but you never know they too could be in the mix for PJM1.

Post Date: 29/01/2023

[justforbooks]

The musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has died aged 71 of cancer, spent his life as a restless traveller, both personally and musically. “I was born in Japan but I don’t think I’m Japanese,” he said in 1988, two years before he moved to New York. “To be a stranger – I like that attitude. I don’t like nationalities and borders.”

A founder member of Tokyo’s pioneering computer-pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose work between 1978 and 1984 has proved a lasting influence on hip-hop and electronica, Sakamoto was able to combine his skills as an academically trained musician with an aptitude for electronic music and an ear for countless musical styles. He sustained a lengthy partnership with the British musician David Sylvian after first working with his band Japan on the track Taking Islands in Africa from the album Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980), following which the duo collaborated on the double A-side Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music (1982).

In 1983, Sakamoto achieved a peak of commercial visibility by not only writing the soundtrack for Nagisa Oshima’s film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, but also co-starring in it (as Captain Yonoi) with David Bowie. The soundtrack, which won him a Bafta for best film music, contained the Sakamoto/Sylvian composition Forbidden Colours, a vocal version of the film’s main theme, which was a Top 20 hit in Britain.

Soundtrack work became one of the main planks of Sakamoto’s career. He won an Academy Award (along with his fellow composers David Byrne and Cong Su) for his soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), in which he also had an acting role, and worked with the director again on The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Little Buddha (1993).

Sakamoto scored the 1990 film version of The Handmaid’s Tale, Pedro Almodóvar’s Tacones Lejanos (High Heels, 1991), and Brian De Palma’s Snake Eyes (1998) and Femme Fatale (2002). Oliver Stone hired him for the soundtrack to his TV series Wild Palms (1993). Alejandro González Iñárritu used some existing Sakamoto recordings in his 2006 film Babel, then recruited him to write the score for his multiple Oscar-winner The Revenant (2015). For the opening of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he provided El Mar Mediterrani.

Sakamoto released solo albums regularly between 1978 and 2017, many of them reaching the Top 30 in Japan but not registering on charts elsewhere, as well as six live albums and a string of compilations. However, Sakamoto’s subtle, exploratory music earned him a charismatic reputation that drew international guest stars to his projects.

On B-2 Unit (1980), he collaborated closely with Andy Partridge from XTC, and the electrofunk track Riot in Lagos proved inspirational for the likes of Mantronix and Afrikaa Bambaataa. Thomas Dolby featured on the pulsating Field Work from Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia (1986), the track accompanied by an ingeniously conceived video, while for Neo Geo (1987) Sakamoto enlisted Iggy Pop, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Sly Dunbar.

Brian Wilson and Robbie Robertson appeared on Beauty (1989), an album that spanned rock, technopop, flamenco and classical Japanese music. Heartbeat (1991), on which Sakamoto tried rap, funk and jazz, and lyrics in French, Japanese and Russian, numbered Youssou N’Dour, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Sylvian and John Cage among its contributors. In 1993, Sakamoto co-produced Aztec Camera’s album Dreamland.

Born in Tokyo, Ryuichi was the only child of Keiko (nee Shimomura), a hat designer, and Kazuki Sakomoto, a literary editor. While attending the same progressive primary school that once taught Yoko Ono, he was already writing music for the piano with their encouragement.

The American presence in postwar Japan introduced new western influences to the country, and Sakamoto was enraptured by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He attended Tokyo’s University of the Arts to study music composition, and felt a strong affinity for the compositions of Claude Debussy, in which he discerned an Asian influence. However, in addition he soaked up the work of contemporary composers such as Cage, Pierre Boulez, Györgi Ligeti and Stockhausen, as well as jazz musicians including John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.

His early compositions were in an avant-garde vein, while he also performed with free jazz bands and played keyboards with the folk singer Masato Tomobe. He graduated with BA and MA degrees, having studied classical and assorted world and ethnic music, and taken his first steps in electronic music by working with Moog and ARP synthesizers.

He formed Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 with Haruomi “Harry” Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, whom he had met when they worked together as session musicians. Combining electropop with stylish graphics and costume design, the trio brought wit and warmth to the use of electronics, which contrasted with the studied alienation of European counterparts such as Kraftwerk or Gary Numan.

YMO released eight studio albums during their original lifespan, all of them climbing high in the Japanese charts, and three of them reaching No 1. The group inspired Beatlemania-like hysteria in their homeland. “We were very big, that’s why I hated it,” Sakamoto said. “We were always followed by paparazzi.”

YMO’s albums made little chart impact outside Japan, but their influence was nonetheless widely felt, not least in their innovative use of electronic sequencers, drum machines and sampling. Firecracker, from their 1978 debut album, was itself sampled in Afrika Bambaataa’s Death Mix. In 1980 they had a Top 20 hit in the UK with Computer Game (Theme from the Invaders), which chimed with the craze for the Space Invaders game. Behind the Mask, first conceived for a Seiko wristwatch commercial and then included on their album Solid State Survivor (1979), became a Top 20 UK hit for Eric Clapton; a version by Michael Jackson appeared on the posthumous album Michael (2010).

YMO paused their activities in 1984, though the trio continued to collaborate on each other’s solo work, and they reformed to make the album Technodon (1993). They subsequently reunited several times for recording and live performances, their last shows being for the No Nukes 2012 festival in Chiba, Japan, and the 2012 World Happiness festival in Tokyo.

In his teens in the late 1960s, Sakamoto had been a hippy with leftwing political beliefs – “not 100% Marxist, but kind of” – but he gradually became disillusioned with the failure of political movements to effect significant change. He decided that his music was not the place for social or political messages, observing that “I’ve changed from an avant-garde person to a pop person,” though he would subsequently support causes he felt strongly about.

He campaigned for changes to music copyright law, which he considered outmoded in the internet era, and founded Commmons, a collaborative platform to assist aspiring musicians. He formed a group of musicians called NML (No More Landmines), which featured Brian Eno, Sylvian, Kraftwerk and the other members of YMO, and in 2001 they released the single Zero Landmine.

In 2006 he launched the Stop Rokkasho movement by releasing the track Rokkasho (by a group of musicians dubbed Team 6), in protest at the building of Japan’s Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, and he campaigned to have the Hamaoka nuclear plant shut down to avoid a repeat of the 2011 tsunami disaster at the Fukushima facility. He and Byrne teamed up to record the single Psychedelic Afternoon to aid tsunami survivors.

His solo work continued to explore a huge variety of styles. In 1982 he had ventured into medieval and Renaissance music on the album The End of Asia, a collaboration with the Japanese early music group Danceries. Smoochy (1995) was a detour into easy listening, while Discord (1998) comprised an hour-long orchestral composition.

The album 1996 was a selection of Sakamoto pieces arranged for piano trio featuring the Brazilian cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, and Sakomoto reunited with him and his wife, Paula, a singer, for two albums in celebration of the bossa nova composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, Casa (2001) and A Day in New York (2003). In 1999, his multimedia opera, Life, was performed in Tokyo and Osaka.

Meanwhile, he struck up a fruitful collaboration with Alva Noto (a pseudonym of Carston Nicolai), which resulted in a string of electronica albums including Vrioon (2002) and Insen (2005), culminating in Glass (2018). With the Austrian guitarist and composer Christian Fennesz he recorded Sala Santa Cecilia (2005), Cendre (2007) and Flumina (2011).

In 2014 he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but by the following year was feeling “much much better”. His recovery from illness inspired the creation of his last solo album, Async, hailed as one of 2017’s finest forays into experimental electronica. Its making was documented by Stephen Nomura Schible in the film Coda (2018).

His final album, 12, was recorded during hospital stays in 2021 and 2022, and released in January. In December, he livestreamed a solo piano concert from Tokyo.

Sakamoto was first married to Natsuko, then to the musician Akiko Yano; both marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife and manager, Norika Sora, and their two children; and a daughter from his first marriage and another daughter from his second.

🔔 Ryuichi Sakamoto, composer, musician and producer, born 17 January 1952; died 28 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[thornsofthefuture]

an interview with lucy lamb — a talk about couchsurfing, australia and the afterlife

today's thorns of the future guest is lucy lamb, a rising star of modern post-crystal castles electronic music, inspired by early 2010s fashion. lucy is an artist from melbourne, australia. she describes her music as "alt, indie, electronica, dance-pop and witch house with elements of darkwave". lucy is a producer and a singer, as well as a lyricist. her first ever release was a single titled "hello", which was self-released by lamb through distrokid.

thorns of the future: how did you start your journey with music?

lucy: I’ve always loved making music ever since I was a little kid. Started singing lessons when I was like 7 years old, fell in love with Miley Cyrus which was the reason I wanted to become a singer lol. Started making music when I was about 16, and released my first EP when I was 18.

thorns of the future: what are some of your favourite songs right now?

lucy: My favourite songs right now are Canary Wharf Drift by Bassvictim and Your Face by Wisp.

thorns of the future: who inspired you to make music?

lucy: Literally Miley Cyrus in the Hannah Montana tv show I was so obsessed.

thorns of the future: what is your craziest experience during a live show?

lucy: I played in this club in Tokyo which was a wild experience for me. There was no stage so I was just on the danceflooor with the crowd and kind of just walking around like weaving through everybody with my microphone which I definitely wasn’t used to.

thorns of the future: what software do you use to make music?

lucy: I use Logic Pro, I’m still learning how to use it properly though.

thorns of the future: what's "the other side" about?

lucy: The Other Side is about crossing over to the after life pretty much. It talks about being scared to die and the things you would miss. It can kind of be interpreted as being about any sort of transition from one thing to another, any sort of change, but I think the obvious one (especially when watching the music video) is the transition to death. It’s just a fictional sort of story if you will.

thorns of the future: are you planning any new releases?

lucy: I have 3 singles coming out in the next few months all with music videos. ‘Bed of Snow’ is coming out on September 20th and I’m so excited for it. All the songs are of course dance/electronic but I’m leaning a little bit into like indie rock elements in two of them, with the third being like a full commitment to witch house.

thorns of the future: what's a country you would never travel to?

lucy: Probably North Korea for obvious reasons.

thorns of the future: tell us about the things you enjoy most, except for making music.

lucy: I love travelling that’s my second favourite thing in the world after music. I went on a year long trip around the world in 2022 which was absolutely amazing. I went on a 5 month road-trip around Australia earlier this year too. It’s a little hard to travel like that while also doing music so I think for now I’m taking a break from travelling. I also love animals, especially weird exotic ones. The weirder they look the more I love them because it just makes me thing how weird and amazing the world is.

thorns of the future: have you ever met anyone famous from the electronic scene? who was it and how was your experience with them?

lucy: I can’t say I have yet. Someone I’d LOVE to meet is the guys from Air. They’re a huge inspiration for me and one of the most talented electronic duos I know.

thorns of the future: what's the riskiest thing you've ever done?

lucy: The riskiest thing I’ve done was probably when my friend and I did couchsurfing through Europe. There’s this app called couchsurfing where you can arrange to stay at strangers’ houses for free while you’re travelling. We were pretty nervous every time we stayed with someone because there was always the question of like what’s in it for them? Why are they letting random people stay at their house for free? The people we stayed with sometimes turned out to be weird and kind of put us on edge but a lot of the time they were really cool people too so. We were literally on such a tight budget we had no other option but to do our accomodation this way.

thorns of the future: are there artists you truly hate? why?

lucy: I don’t really hate any artist in terms of the kind of music they do like I respect all genres and whatever kind of music you wanna make even if I don’t like it. Like it’s got nothing to do with me so I don’t really care enough to HATE any artist.

thorns of the future: what is the best live show you've ever been to?

lucy: There’s this experimental electronic duo from Melbourne called Npcede. I played a show with them and they were really great. It was a guy singing and a guy playing bass. They both had like really amazing stage presence and interacted with the crowd so much. The lead singer started playing the electric guitar with a violin bow halfway through as well I loved it. I also have to mention seeing the band Film Noir in Berlin, they’re an indie rock band and the lead singer’s energy was so compelling it made the whole thing sooo immersive and fun.

thorns of the future: name one thing you really hate about australia.

lucy: Honestly I think Australia is a great place to live I think it’s beautiful, it’s diverse and it’s very liveable. If I had to say one thing I hated about it I guess just how far away it is from everything lol because it’s always so hard and expensive to travel anywhere.

thorns of the future: tell us about the weirdest thing that has happened to you as an artist.

lucy: The weirdest thing that’s happened to me as an artist is probably when someone randomly approached me on the street when I was in Tromso, Norway, and told me they recognise me and love my music. Was superrrr weird for me because Tromso is a pretty small town with not many people and it was just really random to meet someone who knows me there.

we would like to thank lucy lamb for answering all of our questions. we really appreciate you. that’s all for now.

images & videos: lucy lamb

spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1fLl0QDFau1trbJkpjvyEt

instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/luucylamb/

hyperfollow:

https://hyperfollow.com/lucylamb

peace.

[leasthaunted]

Least Haunted Character Recap: Consent Fetishist "Rassy."

This Friday (12/22/23) Least Haunted will release its 4th annual fully dramatized Holiday Special: Consent Fetishist Rassy's 100% Consensual Christmas Extravaganza!

But some of you who are unfamiliar with The Least Haunted Podcast might be a bit confused as to what the hell is going on, or who the hell "Consent Fetishist Rassy" is? So We have prepared this Helpful little character bio/recap to bring you up to speed.

This will include all appearances of Rassy in both Halloween and Holiday specials. It will gloss some of the non special appearances for completion. But you really should listen to the show, because they get mentioned rather frequently. Are you ready? You have to say "Yes" first! Those are the rules...

NAME: Rassy

ALIASES: Consent Fetishist Rassy, Consent Fetishist Elmo, Tickle You Elmo, Dr. Funninstuffed phd

AGE: (as of 2023) -7 is from a nullified future timeline/parallel universe. will would have been manufactured ca, 2030.

HEIGHT: 2.5 ft, .762 meters

WEIGHT: Surprisingly more than you would suspect

GENDER: Whatever you want them to be

ORIENTATION: Pansexual Polyamourous

PRONOUNS: They/Them

First, we need to talk about The Backwards Carousel of Time!

The Backwards Carousel of Time was introduced in Episode 04: The Clownening, and is a mechanical device later revealed to have been built by Cody using specs from the internet, and parts kluged together from a Tiger Electronics X-Men handheld game from the 90's, and a Tickle Me Elmo doll. It allows for Cody and Garth to travel through time to observe events discussed in the podcast a la "The Ghost of Christmas Present."

The Carousel SHOULD not allow for interaction between the observed and the observers... It is used primarily as a narrative device to keep things interesting.

All of this changed however in Episode 44: OOPS! All Christmas! Which served as the show's second Holiday Special.

In this holiday special Cody has added some modifications to the Backwards Carousel of Time that would allow for travel to the future and not just the past, and he wants to show them to Garth. Unfortunately a spilled holiday themed beverage causes a malfunction which transports the two to an alternate future in which The War on Christmas was decisively and brutally won by Christmas. Now every day is Christmas, and all culture and economy are yuletide based.

It is revealed that the carousel doesn't actually travel through time, and it never has! Instead it creates a small pocket dimension that operates much like the Holodeck from Star Trek. However this time due to the spilled drink malfunction the simulated people within the pocket dimension can see and interact with Cody and Garth.

In order to escape back to their rightful time/dimension Cody and Garth must team up with a cadre of militant Santa Clauses who are waging a guerrilla campaign to overthrow the fascist holiday state and return balance to all holidays with the true meaning of Christmas.

To repair the carousel they need a chip from a Tickle Me Elmo equivalent, which in this timeline is called "Tickle You Elmo!" (The doll with no sense of personal space!), and it just so happens to be the must have toy of the season. Also, Tickle You Elmo is a fully autonomous AI animatronic toy now.

Working with the Santa's they successfully steal the toy in a heist, use the parts to repair the carousel and return home. Unfortunately in the process the carousel is destroyed, AND the Tickle You Elmo came back to reality with Cody and Garth!

Using quick thinking, the duo lock the pesty robot in a room with the broken Backwards Carousel of Time with instructions to "Fix it."

That is where Tickle You Elmo is left...

That is until, Episode 50: The Garth Moon Hoax!

In this regular episode of the podcast, it is revealed that not only has Tickle You Elmo completed repairs on the Backwards Carousel of Time, but due to some deep soul searching and self exploration Tickle You Elmo has learned the value of consensual interactions, and in fact now consent is their kink. Thus they are rebranded as Consent Fetishist Elmo!

Tracking Coyotes...

[PICTURE REDACTED/CLASSIFIED]

Around this time Consent Fetishist Elmo was sent to help Patreon Monster Squadron member, and wildlife biologist, @thebibarbarian in their research regarding Coyotes. Consent Fetishist Elmo officially became The Bibarbarian's research assistant, and along the way got alarmingly good at shooting a tranquilizer gun. A skill that would have been much more troubling if developed at a past point in their life. Also, a skill that translates into a general proficiency in long-guns...

Episode 65: Helldoodle!

In this, the third Halloween Special, Cody and Garth accidentally open a portal to Hell by playing a Three Men and A Baby Breakfast Cereal premium collector's 45 rpm vinyl backwards.

The resulting portal allows a number of Demons to come through into our plain of existence. One such Demon, Malacoda gets renamed Garth-Two and aides Cody and Garth in closing the portal and returning the other Demons to Hell. Garth-Two sticks around to become another recurring character.

Consent Fetishist Elmo show's up at the end to tranquilize a coyote and announce that they have returned from their time as a research assistant.

At the end of the special it is implied the Garth-Two tries to eat Consent Fetishist Elmo. In the process one of Consent Fetishist Elmo's eyes is damaged. It is later revealed through dialogue in regular episodes that the duo of Garth-Two and Consent Fetishist Elmo have actually become close friends, and that the two have embarked on a roadtrip through The American Southwest together.

Episode 91: Bottleeen!

In the fourth Least Haunted Halloween Special it is revealed that Consent Fetishist Elmo and Garth-Two have returned from their Thelma and Louise style voyage of self discovery. Also In order to escape the lawyers of "Big PBS" and The Children's Television Workshop, Consent Fetishist Elmo has adopted a new moniker!

Since Elmo it a nickname based on the name Erasmus, they have adapted a new variant of Erasmus and now go by, Consent Fetishist Rassy

In the episode Rassy shoots a fake Cody (a bottleganger) in the head sniper style in order to save Garth from being trapped in a small bottle-episode dimension. Although that part may not be completely canonical... You'll just have to listen to that episode to find out!

Which brings us up to speed with this year's holiday special, Consent Fetishist Rassy's 100% Consensual Christmas Extravaganza! Which premiers FRIDAY DECEMBER 22ND wherever podcasts can be heard, as well as on www.leasthaunted.com.

Who would have thought that a small independent artisanal podcast about paranormal skepticism would develop such a complex and intricate backstory and canonical universe? Eat yer hearts out Marvel!

p.s. You should also probably be aware that in the parlance of The Least Haunted Podcast, the term "Notes" can refer to weed. That might be helpful to know in the special as well.

[irismfrost]

August 12 - Kyoto Guided Tour and Fushimi Inari Shrine

Today I booked a guided tour for 10:30am. This means I had an early day because it takes an hour to get to Kyoto from Osaka, not including the time to buy a ticket or for me to get ready and eat breakfast (I am so glad I pre-bought hotel breakfast). By the end of my journey, I figured out how to use the self serve electronic ticket machine. In my tour, there was a family from New York and their son actually had the same name as my dad and brother, and is the first person I've ever met with his same name. There was also a mother-son duo from Zürich, Switzerland. And our tour guide was Kareem who is from Quebec and has been living in Japan for 5 years. His wife is Japanese and they have a one year old daughter that they're bringing to Canada in November for the first time. It was nice to make friends with everyone and honestly to just have human interaction in a language I know. We started in the bamboo forest and went to the nearby Shinto shrine. Then we went to the former home and garden of a famous Japanese movie star, Denjirō Ōkōchi, called Ōkōchi Sansō. This was his second home and he died one year after building it. It has themes of zen Buddhism, a popular sect of Buddhism here. Here, we stopped for a little break; there was a rest area with tea and some cold drinks. I hadn't tried Calpis yet (they had it in Taiwan) because the name threw my off but they had some here and it was actually delicious. We left the bamboo forest and walked to a zen Buddhist garden called Sogenchi Teien. It was a beautiful Japanese zen garden and is a classic example of a zen garden. These places intentionally make the steps a little rockier to make you walk slower and appreciate the nature around you, which I thought was a cool design technique. Before we broke for lunch, we tried some foods: we had this rice patty thing (which was basically what the outside of mochi is) and I bought some and will need to eat it right when I fly back to Florida because it expires on 8/20. We also tried this sesame chili spice topping (with rice) and I bought some of that too. We broke for lunch and our guide helped me find some vegetarian food and he joined me because by the time I ordered food we only had like 30 mins left for lunch and I told him about Taiwan. It's on his bucket list. We also took a brief stop by this Kimono park thing which had a bunch of poles with the Kimono fabric. Our last stop was a mountain with monkeys. It does not compare to monkey mountain in Taiwan, definitely more commercialized and a fraction of the hike, but it was pretty cool. You get to feed the monkeys through the wire cage and their hands feel like human hands which is a little unsettling but makes sense. There was also this cute little baby monkey and later I saw his mom carrying him around and back to the safety of the mountains away from the people. And that was the end of our tour.

Our guide and some of the other people in our group suggested I should visit Fushimi Inari Shrine - so I did. This is a very famous Shinto shrine and is known for its thousands of torii gates that lead to Mount Inari. The gates are basically sponsors and are an avenue for Kami (the god-like spirits) to enter through (that's why you are supposed to walk on the sides- to give spirits room to walk through the middle). Inari is the Shinto goddess of rice (perceived gender has changed over time, but in ancient times Inari is depicted as female). Today, Inari's domain is more than rice; over time rice was generalized to agriculture which is now just business. You pray to Inari for success in business. I prayed at a few different shrines along the way and I prayed at the top of Mount Inari. I will say taking pictures at religious monuments makes me a little uncomfortable and feels a little wrong. It supposed to be a sacred site and there you are making sure you take a picture of yourself to post - just seems a little disrespectful to the faith I guess is what I'm saying. And honestly, I took some pictures of my experience too and they will probably end up on Instagram so I'm being hypocritical. But I will say, some of these people are taking pictures of themselves with professional cameras in the middle of crowds holding everyone up, some are leaning on the torii, some people wait in the middle of the path for other people to pass them to get a picture. It just feels like the reason they're there is for a picture and not to immerse themselves in a culture. As you got closer to the top, there were less people because there are many opportunities to cut the loop short- it is a long and mountainous loop. And by the time I got back down, all of the tourist shops were closed so I didn't get any trinkets or charms.

This was a HIKE. I was basically doing stairmaster for an hour and a half. I was very dehydrated and even ate my emergency snack and laid down for a second. I had some protein (20g) chocolate milk from the convenience store before and after my visit to the temple and was very hungry so I picked up this bento box at the train station so that I wouldn't have to leave the hotel after I got there. It was so nasty. They didn't have anything vegetarian so I settled for fish and I didn't even eat it. The egg loaf saved me on the protein side. And I had the probiotic drink for dessert. yum. Those probiotic drinks are very popular on this side of the world.

When I flipped on the TV in the hotel today, I found myself on a news channel that was in English, but was for China. Consumers are spending more on services than goods. Consumption is also growing in China overall. Consumption is also less quantity and more quality oriented. I think these are trends that the rest of the world will see as well (at least for large first world countries like the US). When the weather turned on, I noticed that Taiwan was considered a part of China and it just hit me how even though Taiwan is so independent and has so much of its own identity, it still has a conflicting political stance. When I was there, I was in Taiwan, not the Republic of China (imo, for legal reasons).

more pictures in next post