#genuinely she is more connected with a lot of that sort of vernacular and what it means that I am
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autistic-autumn · 1 month ago
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my 50 year old mother being far more connect with youth culture than I am is extremely funny. She'll be busily explaining what brat summer means and exactly what the latest trend on instagram or wherever is, but it does mean she'll sometimes come up and explain about learning phrase twinkdeath through harry styles tiktok
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nellynee · 2 years ago
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Trollstopia Blindblogging: episode 7b: Buckin’ Branch
Really can’t help themselves can they? The dressing is nice, but it’s still a “Branch can’t catch a damn break” episode. perfectly enjoyable across the board, from humor to song to lesson. Just... perfectly fine. Competent. Branch and Country centric for those who care. 3.5 out of 5 take it or leave it. 
(Well shoot, Tumblr crashed on me before I could save a draft at about the 5 minute mark of the episode, so it’s gonna be a little trimmed down but we’ll try again shall we?)
if that title isn’t a minced oath I don’t know what is
Thank you, James Cordon, for that lovely, ear piercing note. I legit had to turn down the volume it was actually painful
Noted, we’ve seen this valley before. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a regular hub of budding commerce, or if it’s just that they can’t think of a good place for pop village scenes other than “A valley” but it is noted.  seeing some hand crafted looking pottery... some clothing...a Funk Troll peddling pies.... that Creek lookalike in the bg....
Cocoa to go go
I mean I heard it before they even said it but they still said it
Branch going all Indiana Jones is so flipping cute. Just imagining sad little Baby grey Branch using it as one of his few forms of play alone... in the woods. OW
Biggie you have an extender arm for hair.... Biggie
fucking look Branch did it Biggie 
Ok Trolls you win my new Starbucks order is “Cocoa to go go”
Do I think “Cutie Patootie” is Holly Darlin common vernacular? Yes. Do I think Holly genuinely would be down to clown if Branch showed even a smidge of reciprocation? Also yes.
For real though ever since Satin and Chenille got hot under the collar over a wet and shirtless Branch in TBGO I’ve hard headcanoned that Branch has the Troll equivalent of very fine bone structure. He’s got a lot of room to clean up, but is also kind of just objectively attractive as a baseline. 
Oh he’s weak to being called special I’ma cry!
“Does that answer your question?” “uuuuuuuh?” that kinda confused shrug on Branch was really well animated. Like there’s a whole ass rotation in that
Branch’s outfit is so stupid cute I love it! He has no shoooooes!
Poppy looks like she’s about to bust a nut trying not to laugh
That’s so mean Poppy he’s just looking for the validation and sense of community he lacks in Pop village! 
For real though I think Branch would find something in Country that he wouldn’t find anywhere else. Not the connection to “sad music” ala the movie. Or at least not necessarily. Really I believe that all the tribes, specifically all but the “traumatized in such a way that they’ve created a culture of faux and aggressive happiness to combat it” Pop Trolls have multifacets to their music that could speak to others including Branch’s complexity. Country was abrasive and sorta violent and a little vitriolic when we saw them in the movie. I like to imagine that among all that aggressive southern style comfort and hospitality is a lot of passive aggressiveness. And from that comes a more friendly sort of ribbing and sarcasm and jabs as inside jokes. It’s using antagonism as inclusiveness. I think he’d find real connections there, and an ability to explore a side of himself that’s shut down very quickly in Pop village
I swear to god if Gust or Holly call someone or thing else special and break Branch’s heart I’m gonna break them over my knee
A very good point for the young'uns. Just because Poppy has called Branch special before doesn't mean it’s got the same meaning to him. Context matters
Her look of horror when she almost calls that troll special is hilarious
“There’s no way he’s using that lingo right....” “Nope”. That’s a big part of the humor of this show. Most shows would write his vernacular off as “lol southern sayings are so long and complicated you can’t even parse them isn’t that funny?” But this show looks suspension of disbelief right in the eyes at this really obvious not jokes and goes “That was weird? Wasn’t that weird?” And yes it was. Even if you don’t laugh, you will get a sense of... comradery from this show? It’s a big point of why it’s been so enjoyable
Pinata lassoing, greased balloon pig catching, adora-bull hugging (aka bull riding). These are all super cute and creative. I especially love the greased pig balloons
Branch at fluffy: awwwwwwww. me at Branch: awwwwwww
It’s Ok Branch. It happens to a lot of guys. Just a little performance pressure is all.
Oh noooooo pooor baby nooooo why were there three of them?
Branch’s musses up hair is a look and I’m here for it
That's a much milder panicked note James Cordon thank you
oh no.....
Gust.... real quick I need you to come meet someone.... real quick don’t worry this is only gonna hurt a lot for a very long time
Ok that is cute tho Biggie’s little hat and his little excited attitude it’s not his fault
That was legit a really good action scene! Branch backing out when it got to much instead of doubling down and causing more trouble, Fluffy’s design, the lack of physical comedy, Fluffy’s little smile at that smooch. 
“I know, I’m just as shocked as you are.” Pffffft ok yeah that got me
Me: furiously scribbling Country notes into my “Biggie is a lullaby Troll headcanons”
James Cordon you are hereby revoked of your cowboy accent privileges
Not what I was expecting for a lesson. Most usually settle for “Yeah I’m not good at this thing I was passionate about and other people are and that’s ok” But shifting over to “Just because it takes you more work than other’s to get the same results doesn’t mean it’s not worth while” is a refreshing take. I do think that a tiny bit of rework, just a few new lines or some shuffling (Gust or Holly mentioning trying again next year, how they’re sorry he didn’t have a lot of time to train, mentioning Biggie’s experience with animals...) could have made it very solid and cohesive, but it does actually work unlike some lessons
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luvneedsnosyt · 4 years ago
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My Favorite Albums of 2020
Here is my list of my personal top albums of 2020
You can find my separate list for top EPs of 2020 here
My Previous monthly lists from 2020: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
My list last year for my top albums of 2019 can be found here.
Honorable Mention:
Aluna - Renaissance Genre: Synth Pop / Dance
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Lead singer from AlunaGeorge steps out on her own with this fast paced romp. She brings along many well known producers like Diplo (who she’s signed with as a solo artist), KAYTRANADA, SG Lewis and more.
Proof: Warrior (Feat. SG Lewis) / Body Pump
Big Gigantic - Free Your Mind Genre: Electronic / Dance
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The Colorado duo Big Gigantic’s big breakout was their sixth album in 2016’s Brighter Future that really expanded the reach of their high octane music. Four years later we have their follow up in this joyous affair. With their use of horns (one of them is a trained saxophonist) they always have a big band feel that meets the club in their sound that's so infectious.
Proof: Burning Love (Feat. Kidepo) / You’re The One (Feat. Nevve)
Cam - The Otherside Genre: Country / Pop
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I’m not typically a big country fan but this country with a little infusion of pop is something I can ride for. Really digging the ways Cam expanded on a typical country vernacular while still staying true to it as well.
Proof: The Otherside / Classic
CloZee - Neon Jungle Genre: Electronic / World Bass
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CloZee’s musical landscapes are living breathing entities. Her music is lush and vibrant that seem to flow to and frow with a breeze. Not what most people would attribute to the genre which is why it stands out.
Proof: Winter Is Coming / Heya
dvsn - A Muse In Her Feelings Genre: R&B / Neo-Soul
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The third album by Toronto R&B duo dvsn and this is by far their best. A seductive and savory exploration through love, sexuality and heartbreak.
Proof: Dangerous City (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Buju Banton) / A Muse
Duke Dumont - Duality // Duality Remixed Genre: Electronic / Dance
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This is sort of a greatest hits with some new songs masked as a debut. The fact most of these songs we have heard before and some way back to 2015, knocks this album back a bit on my list. That being said Duke Dumont is one of the best at funk infused dance music and this album bangs!
Proof: Ocean Drive / Together (w/ How To Dress Well) // Ocean Drive (Purple Disco Machine Remix) / Together (Luttrell Remix) w/ How To Dress Well
Empress Of - I’m Your Empress Of Genre: R&B / Pop
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Empress Of’s sophomore album Us was quite an upward trajectory from her already good debut album. On her third record here that momentum is kept going with a little flair. This is her most danceable record yet with some nostalgic synths added to her musical attire that’s an accessory worth attention but not too distracting.
Proof: Bit of Rain / Love Is A Drug
Fakear - Everything Will Grow Again Genre: Electronic / Dance / Tropical House
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French DJ Fakear’s eclectic sophomore album is lush and expansive in it’s sound. You feel enveloped in an exotic and kinetic world that you can’t help but get lost in while listening. 
Proof: Sekoia / Rituals (Feat. Luiza Fernandes)
Georgia - Seeking Thrills Genre: Synth Pop
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This sophomore album by the english singer is a riot full of pulsating beats and neon lit synth patterns. The singing has Santigold/M.I.A. vibes without being an emulation.
Proof: Never Let You Go / Ray Guns
Halsey - MANIC Genre: Pop / R&B
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It’s been a pretty dramatic rise for the singer. She was already a sensation by the time her debut album Badlands came out in 2015. Now she’s one of the sought after features and a pretty big act in music. This third album MANIC is her most consistent, powerful and best. She has perfected how to utilize her raspy voice and how to connect with the listener and evoke strong emotions. 
Proof: you should be sad / Without Me
Illenium - ASCEND (Remixes) Genre: Electronic / Dance
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Illenium’s ASCEND was my 3rd favorite record of 2019. As quite a nice gift Illenium dropped off this super sized remix album with at least one remix of each song off the glorious album. 
Proof: Good Things Fall Apart (3LAU Remix) Feat. Jon Bellion / In Your Arms (Alan Walker Remix) Feat. X Ambassadors
Kingdom - Neurofire Genre: Electronic / Neo-Soul / Dance
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Even if you don’t know Kingdom off the top of your head you’ve probably heard a Kingdom produced song without knowing. He’s been a behind the scenes go-to producer and runs a label that has such artists as Kalela and Dawn Richards on it. Neurofire is a smooth soulful electronic album that has such an contagious bob to it you can’t help yourself but start dancing.
Proof: High Enough (Feat. Tiara Thomas) / His n Hers (Feat. Semma)
Lady Gaga - Chromatica Genre: Pop / Dance
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Despite her immense success, Lady Gaga is not a complacent woman. After readjusting her sound to something more stripped down on 2016’s Joann, Gaga did another about face this time leaning into the EDM world and making an ecstatic dance record. Linking with many big hitter DJs for production work in Tchami, BloodPop, Madeon, Skrillex, Axwelll and others, who create a great vivacious platform for Gaga to strut all over.
Proof: Stupid Love / Replay
Låpsley - Through Water Genre: Indie Pop / Electronic
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It’s been four years since British singer Låpsley’s debut album. But it seems that time was well utilized as this is a great leap for the artist. I enjoyed her understated debut but here she was able to incorporate a little more kinetic energy in her recording while keeping the sentimentalism of them really effectively.
Proof: Ligne 3 / Womxn
Lastlings - First Contact Genre: Electronic / Future Bass / Dance
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I haven’t heard the early EPs from Australian dou Lastlings so first listening to this album was quite a pleasant surprise. There’s some definite influences from fellow Australian act RÜFÜS DU SOL here. And influences that they utilize nicely.
Proof: Deja Vu / No Time
The Strokes - The New Abnormal Genre: Alternative / Rock
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It’s not often an extremely successful rock group after an extended hiatus returns and makes one of their best albums. Working with Rick Ruban the legendary New York group returns after seven years with an album that exerts a high level of confidence and maturity. It doesn’t scream out at you as an album yet the music is incredibly in depth and rewarding.
Proof: Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus / Not The Same Anymore
Sylvan Esso - Free Love Genre: Synth Pop
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For their third album the North Carolina based duo took a slightly scaled back sound as the tone is a bit more somber and muted then their past albums. The indie pop is much more dominant over the Electronic aspects of their music. It still however is their enjoyable meshing of the two and there’s still plenty of danceable moments, they are just more interspersed in a more internal faced record. 
Proof: Ferris Wheel / Frequency
Tchami - Year Zero Genre: Electronic / Dance
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The French DJ Techami finally drops a debut album and what a blast this is. Year Zero is a joy ride form start to finish with no real filler tracks of straight enjoyable dance records. 
Proof: Ain’t That Kind Of Friend (Feat. Modesty) / Ghosts (Feat. Hana)
Tyler Swift - evermore Genre: Indie Pop / Folk
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The second of Taylor’s 2020 albums; made with the National’s Aaron Dessor. This one you can tell is a bit of tracks that didn’t fit the construct of folklore. This has a bit of a “thrown together” feel, which sounds more harsh then how I mean it. With that being said these are still more of probably my favorite iteration we’ve seen of Taylor so I enjoy it immensely. More on folklore below.
Proof: ‘tis the damn season / ivy
We Are The City - RIP Genre: Rock / Alternative
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This is the fifth by the Concadian Rock group but the first I have heard by them so I can’t offer insight on how this fits in their past work. But when I heard the guitars and crashing drums come in on the thunderous opener “Killer B-Side Music” I was instantly hooked. This is a fun and emotionally gripping journey through this groups organized chaos. 
Proof: Killer B-Side Music / Saint Peter
The List:
Last One Out: The Naked And Famous - Recover Genre: Synth Pop
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New Zealand band The Naked and Famous return with their fourth album full of their patented form of catchy synth pop meant to excite and evoke. The songs are take their shoes off and make themselves at home in your head demanding a sing along.
Proof: Sunseeker / Bury Us / Come As You Are / Coming Back To Me
35. Grimes - Miss Anthropocane Genre: Synth Pop / Electronic
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It’s been an odd couple years for the singer/producer Grimes as her high profile relationship has pushed her further into the celebrity life then she has been in the past. Despite the chios she still is an extremely talented musician and this stellar album shows that off nicely. I feel Grimes was a bit too harsh on her previous album, 2015 Art Angels, which had a more general pop sensibility. I genuinely loved Art Angels. With her own frustration Grimes went back closer to her early sound with this follow up. Her ability to bend song structures to her will creates an ever changing and unpredictable landscape for the lister to get lost in.
Proof: So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth / Violence (w/ i_o) / Idoru / We Appreciate Power (Feat. HANA)
34. Taylor Swift - folklore Genre: Indie Pop / folk
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Taylor had a busy quarantine using this time to link up with Aaron Dessner of the National and Jack Antonoff to make not one but two albums. The first one here a surprise drop in July hit everyone in all the feels. The stripped down sound felt right at home with the isolation a lot of us were feeling during this pandemic. Taylor’s writing is as piercing as ever over these mellow and somber tracks.
Proof: cardigan / my tears ricochet / seven / august
33. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia // Club Future Nostalgia Genre: Synth Pop / Dance
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English singer Dua Lipa confidently busts out the sequence for this dazzling sophomore album. As the title suggests this is a futuristic blast from the past with influences from the 70’s disco and 80’s synth pop in a modern ensemble. The songs are all catchy af and danceable as hell but you still never lose sight of the true centerpiece and that is Dua’s authoritative voice. She has the perfect vocal conflexion for electronic songs as it's commending enough to not get lost in the kinetic ensembles but also light and malleable enough to ride the harmonies with grace. As can be seen by her getting all the GRAMMY nominations the world is taking note of this pop force.
Proof: Don’t Start Now / Cool / Physical / Break My Heart // Hallucinate (Paul Woolford Remix) / Don’t Start Now (KAYTRANADA Remix) / Physical (Mark Ronson Remix) Feat. Gwen Stefani / Cool (Jayda G Remix)
32. KAYTRANADA - BUBBA Genre: Electronic / R&B / Dance
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Montreal based producer KAYTRANADA picks up right where his 2016 debut left off with this smooth and sensual vibe fest of an album. The album doesn’t ever go for anything too high or too low. The tempo is pretty consistent in a controlled bob that can get a crowd up and dancing or can be played in the background for a chill environment.
Proof: Go DJ (Feat. SiR) / 10% (Feat. Kali Uchis) / Need It (Feat. Masego) / The Worst In Me (Feat. Tinashe)
31. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage Genre: Rock / Alternative
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With over 16 years in the game, The Vegas rock group and one of my personal all time favorite bands has not lost a step. Imploding The Mirage follows their 2017 Wonderful Wonderful as a return to their early form. This new album is a triumphant and boisterous affair exuding with confidence that only a group together this long can employ.
Proof: Dying Breed / Caution / Running Towards a Place / When the Dreams Run Dry
30. Blanche - EMPIRE Genre: Indie Pop
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21 year old Belgium singer Blanche’s raspy commanding voice is one beyond her years. It’s very delicate while demanding your attention. On this debut she utilizes the effective voice nicely by surrounding it with a cinematic harmonious backing. 
Proof: Empire / Till We Collide / Fences / How Does That Sound
29. BRONSON (Golden Features & ODESZA) - BRONSON Genre: Electronic / Dance
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Connecting from an admiration of each other’s music, Seattle electronic duo ODESZA and Australian DJ Golden Feature team up for this new trio that merges their sounds while give us something completely new from the artists. Where ODESZA’s sound is more light and airy this collaboration is darker and dense. The weight of each track give them a powerful emotive feel as they blend into each other while the album progresses. 
Proof: HEART ATTACK (Feat. lau.ra) / KNOW ME (Feat. Gallant) / TENSE / DAWN (Feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs)
28. GASHI - 1984 Genre: alt-R&B / Synth Pop
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It’s been a long road GASHI, growing up as an Albianian refugee before his family settled in Brooklyn as a child. GASHI struggled initially to learn English and eventually used music as his tool to learning the language. Dropping out of college to focus on music GASHI dropped a mixtape and couple albums that were pretty below the radar. It seems in 2018 connecting with DJ Snake was a catalyst for the singer. His last two albums have a focused synth heavy vernacular with an 80’s nostalgia. There’s a slightly haunting tension in his music that brings a level of wonder and mystery. The slight reverb makes the tracks feel as though they are recorded in a dark void with the jabbing synths as youre neon guilding light. 
Proof: Mama (Feat. Sting) / Paranoid / Never Give Up On Me / Mr. Ferrari
27. Caroline Rose - Superstar Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative
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Starting as a more folk/country based artist, the NY based artist took a dramatic shift in her music to a more indie rock style with some hints of synth pop and the move has proved rather fruitful. On her fourth album Caroline has hit a rather confident sweet spot. Superstar is filled with tunes you can jam out to with reckless abandon. 
Proof: Nothing’s Impossible / Got to Go My Own Way / Someone New / Back at the Beginning
26. Jason Ross - 1000 Faces // 1000 Faces Remixes Genre: Electronic / Dance
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Seven Lion’s understudy takes an emphatic step out of the shadows and it’s quite a big step! 1000 Faces pushes the twin cities DJ in the mix of top electronic DJs. He definitely shows off how he learned the use of dead space from Seven Lions but in his own style for dramatic drops in his ensembles. Suspense is used almost as an instrument leading to crashing moments meant to get you up and moving and your feelings yanked on.
Proof: When the Night Falls (w/ Fiora) / One that Got Away (w/ Dabin & Dylan Matthew) / Known You Before (w/ Seven Lions & Emilie Brandt) / 1000 Faces (w/ Dia Frampton) // Leave Me To Wonder (Just A Gent Remix) w/ Fiora / When The Night Falls (AWAKEND Remix) w/ Fiora / Known You Before (Trivecta Remix) w/ Seven Lions Feat. Emilie Brandt / Shelter (No Mana Remix) Feat. Melanie Fontana
25. HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III Genre: Pop
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The HAIM sisters are slowily chipping away at their sound adding in more elements, while also chipping away at the patriarchy. Women in Music Pt. III is a further expanding the trios musical pallet with more R&B and Jazz sensibilities then we’ve heard from them before. Their strength is still their strong consistency. At 16 tracks this album still feels like there isn’t a wasted moment, every song is solid in its own right and contributes to the overall arc of the project. My sneaky favorite track is the smooth “3 AM” that sounds like it could be on a Janet Jackson album with it’s soulful and catchy as hell chorus and bouncy beat that get your head bopping and shoulders rolling. 
Proof: Gasoline / Don’t Wanna / 3 AM / Now I’m In It
24. PVRIS - Use Me Genre: Rock / Scythe Pop / Alternative
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Rock music as a genre has been a bit pushed back from the limelight the last few years. However that doesn’t mean the genre is dying and great acts like PVRIS prove that. Following up their thrilling 2017 album All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell we see the rock group experimenting more with their sound. The 2019 EP gave us a teaser of the ways Synth Pop will infiltrate their vernacular more on this record. That doesn’t mean they are “going straight pop” here as this is still a rambunctious form of rock music. Just more blurry around the edges. PVRIS and lead singer Lynn are able to evoke such strong emotions in ever track, it’s impossible to not feel and sympathize with what her emotion is for that track while listening. 
Proof: Death of Me / Hallucinations / Old Wounds / Wish You Well
23. Disclosure - ENERGY Genre: Electronic / Dance
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After a decade in the genre and more then a 5 year break from their exhilarating sophomore album Caracal (one of my personal favorite records of 2015), the London DJ duo return with this double album stuffed with euphoria inducing dance tunes. The name of the album is the consistent throughline, every track is bursting with vibes and energy. There’s also an obvious globalization with their already inclusive music with many songs featuring singers in other languages and using themes from that culture in the beat making. It’s quite a thrilling journey that keeps you guessing song to song what will come up next.
Proof: Lavender (w/ Channel Tres) / Douha (Mali Mali) w/ Fatoumata Diawara / Tondo (w/ Eko Roosevelt) / Know Your Worth (w/ Khalid)
22. Deante’ Hitchcock - BETTER Genre: Hip Hop
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What an impressive debut from the 27 year old Atlanta rapper. I wasn’t up on Deante’ until this album came out so I don’t have knowledge of his rise but this was a great introduction to him. You can really see the merging of older Atlanta influences from Goodie Mob, Outkast and Ludacris with new hip hop from J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Wale in his sound. Hip Hop is in a funky moment right now as there’s a bit of a struggle on what the dominant sound and style will be. This is a necessary struggle for such a diverse and malleable form of music. For me this is my favorite form of the genre and seeing new artists like Deante’ and JID come in with such vigor let’s me know it’s not going to die off. 
Proof: I Remember / I Got Money Now (Feat. JID) / Circles / Angels
21. Alina Baraz - It Was Divine Genre: R&B / Soul
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The soothing and sultry vocals of singer Alina Baraz have been some of my favorites since she slid on the scene as the vocalist on Urban Flora EP with producer Galimatias in 2015. Her soft and understated Soul music flows and sways in your head like a mellow gust of wind picking you up and carrying you to a better place. Starting from her previous project, Alina’s partnership with Khalid has quickly become one of my favorite pairings, that I hope they continue. 
Proof: Morocco (Feat. 6LACK) / Endlessly / Off The Grid (Feat. Khalid) / More Than Enough
20. Harry Styles - Fine Line Genre: Alternative / Indie Pop
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On the first round of albums from the One Direction boys I will admit I was more drawn to ZAYN’s alt-R&B sound. But even with that I still enjoyed and could tell Harry was doring much more musically on his 70’s rock influenced self titled solo debut. It only took him two tries to perfect his sound on this brilliant follow up. On Harry Styles I felt Harry was emulating his influences a bit too much but here he’s perfect keeping that same nostalgic vernacular while modernizing the sound. The 26 year old brit boasts a level of confidence here that is pretty engraved in the music. The R&B banger :Adore You” was my favorite song on the album on the first few listens but eventually the emotionally gripping closer “Fine Line” caught up with me for all the feels.
Proof: Watermelon Sugar / Adore You / Lights Up / Fine Line
19. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension Genre: Synth Pop
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Sufjan is an artist that likes to bounce around in styles project to project and this might be his most dramatic bounce as he takes on a more electronic palette then his normally acoustical vernacular. It still is a Sufjan album and very internal and subdued in vibe, but with a more expansive musical landscape that makes his normally intimate and crouched music a bit more of an expansive and sprawling affair. The moments of emotional outburst are mostly through the synths and drums rather than Steven’s words and lead to the tracks all individually wound tight with tension and then carefully crafted moments of erupting release. 
Proof: Video Games / Ativan / Sugar / America
18. Krewella - zer0 Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Dance
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Good things come to those who wait and we had to wait quite a while for the sophomore album from the sister duo of Krewella. zer0 is a burst of danceable pop tunes stuffed with numerous outside influences on the sisters. There’s some general pop influences from artists like Christina Agulaera, there’s electronic backings with notes taken from contemporaries like Alison Wonderland and there’s a definite spine of their Pakistani heritage audibly visible as well. This is quite a confident and exhilarating cannon shot of an album by the duo I feel has been a bit criminally overlooked.
Proof: Good On You (Feat. Nucleya) / Anxiety (Feat. Arrested Youth) / Ghost / Greenlights
17. Jack Garratt - Love, Death & Dancing Genre: R&B / Pop / Electronic
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British singer Jack Garratt returns with his bursting soulful vocals over a unpredictably windy electronic pallet. Every track by Jack Garratt takes the listener on quite a picturesque journey with dramatic shifts in tone and pace. In much less deserving hands this can be a recipe for a disastrously chaotic listen but as mentioned before Jack’s smooth vocal delivery is an effective juxtaposition to the kinetic melodies. You never know what the next turn is but whenever you feel lost, Jack extends his voice as a helping hand to reel you back in. Eventually you just know you’re along for a ride and to buckle up and enjoy.
Proof: Time / Return Them To The One / Better / Circles
16. Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now Genre: Synth Pop / Dance
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Only 8 months after her third album Charli returns with possibly her most refined project of her career. Made during the first month of the stay at home order from the pandemic, how i’m feeling now is an album about isolation and loneliness. Equipped with her standard unique form of deconstructionist pop and electronic melding with a dash of 0 fucks given, the rushed nature is sort of a vernacular the tracks wear proudly on their sleeves. There’s a stripping of some of the plasticity making the raw emotions of the tracks stand out.
Proof: forever / enemy / i finally understand / anthems
15. Louis The Child - Here For Now Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Dance
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After a couple EP’s and a speedy rise, the Chicago based Electronic duo Louis The Child release their debut full length album and flex a bit more diversity then we’ve previously seen from them. WIth a sound a bit more geared to expand their audience the group dables more in R&B, Hip Hop and pop then in their more electronic focused EP’s. This expansion is not a dilution at all though. Their unique melding of grooves in unorthodox way is on full display across this joyous album.
Proof: Nobody Like You (w/ Vera Blue) / Don’t Mind / Free (w/ Drew Love) / Fade Away
14. Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure Genre: Pop / Dance / Soul
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Needing a reset, UK’s Jessie Ware took a break from music to focus on her family and other forms of collaboration like her podcast Table Manners. Shortly after the birth of her second child, the itch came back but with a new outlook on life it was a different itch. Jessie has been one of the great sad song writers of the last 10 years, on What’s Your Pleasure? Jessie wanted to focus more on the positive love she has in her life and how she just wants to joyously dance in celebration of it. Using Disco as her muse Jessie makes a modern discoteca equipped the listener with alacrity and positivity while promoting they get up and get down. The timing of such an album was quite intuitive and brilliant by the singer. She started recording the album in 2019 but by the time it was ready to release was in the middle of a pandemic. Perfect timing for such a jubilant album.
Proof: Spotlight / Save A Kiss / Adore You / Mirage (Don’t Stop)
13. Buscabulla - Regresa Genre: Latin / Pop / Dance
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When Latin synth pop duo Buscabulla returned home they did to a post-hurricane Maria Puerto Rico. After years in New York they were returning to a place they love but that was forced to change dramatically. The married couple came equipped with a new record deal and new found personal stability, but chose to surround themselves in the instability their friends and family were forced to live with after the natural disaster. Despite the chaos their music evokes hope, and joy. My limited and very broken knowledge of Spanish doesn’t give me much of an insight on the song meanings but the vibe of this whole album just gets me up off my butt and moving my feet and hips. The latin based rhythms with an Electronic pop influence makes this project quite an infectious and joyous romp.
Proof: Vàmono / El Aprieto / Mío / NTE
12. Purity Ring - WOMB Genre: Synth Pop
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The third album from Canadian duo is a bit of a return to their darker and more brooding sound of their debut from the glossier and brighter sophomore album. Some of these descriptors may sound like a negative but trust me it is not. Now I seem to be in a minority that enjoyed the more electronic and pop focused sophomore album a bit more than their debut but it was still their debut that drew me in to them so this return is not met with any dismay from me. Always fascinated with the human body, WOMB is a coming of age album focusing on the weird things our body begins doing as we mature and how that affects us emotionally. It took them five years for this third album from another eternity but sometimes maturation just takes some time. 
Proof: pink lightning / i like the devil / vehemence / stardew
11. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 Genre: Hip Hop
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The first track is quite an exhilarating indication that even though this is the fourth record from the duo Run The Jewels, they haven’t lost any of their vigor. Dropped early during the protests going on around the country for police violence, RTJ had impeccable timing for their best project to date. All RTJ albums are quite a whirlwind and this is no exception. Both artists have been in the industry for over 20 years, but their collaboration has brought them both to new heights of notoriety for each of them. With this new stature nothing has changed in their music though, they still want to provide you music to party to and music to revolt to.
Proof: yankee and the brave (ep. 4) / JU$T (Feat. Pharrell WIlliams & Zach de la Rocha) / the ground below / a few words from the firing squad (radiation)
10. Super Duper - HALLELUJAH! Genre: Electronic / Dance
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The full length debut from Nashville producer Super Duper is quite an endorphin shot in the ear. I first found out about Super Duper seeing him open for Petit Biscuit a couple years ago without knowing anything about him. I enjoyed his use of electronic backdrops with reverb and echo to create space within it along with the cleaver voice samples and hard hitting drum patterns to inhabit said space. I immediately found his debut EP and eventually his follow up. When his EP Prelude came out earlier this year there was a noticeable uptick in the pop sensibilities in his sound. Sometimes this can be considered a negative but here it added another form of personality. His earlier albums were all expansive landscapes but the increase in pop singers and vocal samples adds a further human element for the listener to identify with as they explore these powerful backdrops.
Proof: We Had Everything / Quiver (Feat. Lonas) /  Feel Good (Feat. Bre Kennedy) / All On You / Religion (Feat. Bre Kennedy)
9. Joji - Nectar Genre: R&B / Pop
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Japanese singer George Miller has come a long way from his jokester YouTube days to his sophomore album here. Beginning his career in entertainment as an online shock humor performer, Joji is known for being responsible for the “Harlem Shake” meme craze years ago. In 2017 Miller decided to focus on a legit music career dropping off his debut EP In Tongues that year. The EP was a good introduction but suffered a bit of consistency. The kinks were ironed out a bit for his debut album, Ballads 1 which had the gut wrenching “Slow Dancing In The Dark”. There still was a bit of consistency issues present though but those are all but fully worked out on this impressive sophomore effort. Creativity was never an issue for Joji’s music but needed to be channeled more in a cohesive direction across a whole project and it seems he is able to find that focus here. “Run” is up there with one of the most beautiful songs to come out this year. It is pretty impressive the growth Joji has made in four years and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Proof: Daylight (w/ Diplo) / Run / Sanctuary / Afterthought (Feat. BENEE) / Your Man
8. Shallou - Magical Thinking Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Future Bass
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After a few lovely EP’s over the years, LA producer Shollou dropped off his melodic and ethereal debut full length. Shallou’s form of electronic music is very subdued and modest on the surface yet expansive and encompassing the deeper you venture as a listener. Where the music lacks in flash it does not lack in complexity, emotional depth and infectious melodies. Shollou created worlds of subtlety and sophistication, that double dips as easy listening sounds or music to immerse yourself and get lost in.
Proof: Forget / Mutual Love (w/ Zachary Knowles) / Silhouettes (Feat. Vancouver Sleep Clinic) / Older (w/ Daya) / Good Together (w/ Ashe)
7. The Weeknd - After Hours Genre: alt-R&B / neo-Soul
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One of my favorite artists making music today (and one of the inspirations of me making this blog in the first place), The Toronto based singer Abel Tesfaye goes a bit back to his roots while still expanding his musical palette on his fourth full length record here. As the 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, hinted to us, the neon lighting synth pop of his precious two records are taking more of a back seat for the dark and moody R&B melodies of his first record and mixtapes.The difference is his early mixtapes were a consistent mood but After Hours is a whole experience. Now as a more seasoned artist Abel is able to more effectively mold the atmosphere to his will. And take in previous explorations as well as new ones into his atmospheric sound seamlessly. “Blinding Lights” that would have fit perfectly on Star Boy or “In Your Eyes” equipped with some new jazzy saxophone yet neither standing out in the whole composition of the project show this dexterity off well. The former being possibly the most successful single of 2020.
Proof: Scared To Live / Heartless / Blinding Lights / In Your Eyes / After Hours
6. Jonah Mutono - GERG Genre: alt-R&B / Soul
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London based Kenyan singer Jonah drops off a gorgeous debut album here. Jonah, who himself grew up in a very religious family, has been hiding his sexuality and this album addresses how that puts a strain on him and his relationships. GERG is a gripping expose as the singer comes to terms with his own needs and desires and brings to light them for the audience to see and feel. His voice is both commanding and soothing, mostly in a deep somber tone but can get up to some surprising heights when needed. His music sort of sounds like a cross between Kwabs and Frank Ocean. “The Low” which specifically is above loving someone in private from your family is maybe one of the most feels inducing songs of 2020. 
Proof: Shoulders / If You Mean It / The Low / Circulation / South Bank
5. Phantogram - Ceremony Genre: Synth Pop
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Despite the chaos in the world that is defining 2020, the return of one of my favorite groups in music is about finding the love that will keep you positive and moving through it. It’s been a bit of a journey for the New York duo with some thrilling highs and heartbreaking woes. After the success of their 2009 debut album Eyelid Dreams. The group really took their time on their sophomore effort knowing this will more be what defines their direction and sound then the debut. After a couple EPs to hold fans over when 2014’s Voices dropped it was a triumphant release that pushed their notoriety in the indie pop world to great heights. The next year was a gifted creative experiment collaboration with Oukast’s Big Boi in the Big Grams EP, but later that year tragedy struck with lead singer Sarah Barthel’s sister committing suicide. Three was released in 2016 written and recorded during the morning of this death which led to a much more emotionally charged offering. For their fourth album they could have kept with the darker vernacular of its predecessor but after going through the healing process from their own heart break, Sarah and Josh wanted to instead offer a record of healing and hope to the world in a time we all need it. That doesn’t mean Ceremony is devoid of the impacting sentiments of before. Ceremony is still as much a personal record as Three, but looks more to the future with a hopeful viewpoint then the past looking record before it. A necessary step for anyone to take towards healing from a trauma and/or tragedy. Nothing shows this off more than the poignantly brilliant “Pedestal”, possibly the most passionate and emotionally intimate record of the group’s career, that never fails to leave me in goosebumps no matter how many times I listen.
Proof: Dear God / Into Happiness / In a Spiral / Pedestal / Let Me Down
4. Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 Genre: Hip Hop / R&B
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For possibly his final album as Childish Gambino, Donald Glover left us an interesting crescendo of his musical career. 3.15.20 is a conglomerate of his previous albums wrapped up in a concise and cohesive, yet exploratory and eclectic album. The Boom Bap inspiration of CAMP, the spaced out futuristic wonder of Because The Internet, and the nostalgic and funk driven change up of Awaken My Love! are all represented here. The way the album meaders has been something critiqued of this record, but I find it’s part of it’s creative charm. Time being a theme of the album you feel the way time is a bit aimless as it just progresses, which leads to the moments you remember really sticking through. On your first listen you never know what time has in store for you on the upcoming track. Some may think this is peculiar and too subtle of a final statement, but I think it fits the artists perfectly. Donald can be in your face, but as his career in comedy and Television progressed he found his sweet spot at being subtle and rewarding those that pay attention to the margins.Who knows what is next for Donald’s career (he is halfway to an EGOT), but if this is the end of his musical journey I am very glad to be a witness of it.
Proof: Algorhythm / Time (Feat. Ariana Grande) / 19.10 / 42.26 / 47.48
3. Kacy Hill - Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again Genre: R&B / neo-Soul / Synth Pop
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It has been quite a journey for the 26 year old singer to this point. After beginning a career in modeling at the age of 16, a venture that she sort of fell into and wasn’t something she was passionate about, Hill also began dabbling in music. While on tour with Kanye West as a backup dancer for the Yeezus Tour, Kanye heard a self released single of hers and immediately signed her to his G.O.O.D. Music label. This is around when she popped on my radar. After a 2015 EP and a 2017 Album, Kacy decided to leave the label which leads us to this self released sophomore album from the singer. It seems the roller coaster of the young singer’s career up to this point has given a clarity for Hill to create her most emotional gripping and cohesive project. Part of the strength of this album was working intimately with Francis and the Lights who is a producer on 6 of the 11 tracks and gives the project it’s common vernacular. Utilizing Francis’ Synth and bass heavy backdrops, Hill allows her sweet falsetto to hit some impassioned locations. There is a sort of yin and yang to her vulnerable lyrics and the darker cavernous production that give each track depth. Kacy is now in full control of her music and we see she is very capable with this role.
Proof: To Someone Else / Much Higher / Porsche / I Believe In You (Feat. Francis and the Lights) / Six
2. Kasbo - The Making of a Paracosm Genre: Electronic / Future Bass
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It’s easy to get lost in the lavish and vibrant ecosystems of Swedish producer Kasbo’s immersive music. Kasbo’s debut album Places We Don’t Know was easily one of my favorite and most replayed albums of 2018. For the follow up. Kasbo ups the ante a bit with this lush and cinematic offering; each song is rich with so many layered melodies and bursting with gripping emotion. The coatings of pianos, synths and vocal samples are woven together with an orchestral composition. The tracks all have a form of deep breathes inward and explosive exhilations that lift the listener up in their swirling harmonies. Though the pieces all are vast and expansive they are both introspective and affectionately personal. Kasbo had a very tough time in between his debut and sophomore albums, with an undiagnosable bout of severe hearing loss. Once his hearing returned and he was able to continue where he left off on his music you can hear the sense of leaving it all out there in this project. He doesn’t know if the condition will return so he made sure to make this project one that conveys what he needed to convey; which despite that scary premonition is unbridled hope.
Proof: Play Pretend (Feat. Ourchives) / Blur / Lune (Feat. Vancouver Sleep Clinic) / Staying In Love (Feat. Nea) / Show You
1. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush Genre: Synth-Pop / Electronic
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From the opening chopped up and synth-out vocal sample you realize this journey the multi-instrumentalist from Australia is about to take us on is one much different than his previous efforts. It took Kevin Parker 5 years to follow up his mega acclaimed third album Currents. The album pushed him to a new stature selling out large amphitheaters on his own and as a consistent festival headliner. The long wait and meteoric rise proved fruitful for this outwardly exuberant and extroverted yet simultaneously introspective and internal album. The Slow Rush is for anyone that connects with people who while socially at parties or clubs constantly feel hidden to the world. Those who both see the world moving around them at a fast pace yet still feel as if they are moving in slow motion.
Musically, The Slow Rush is a sonic fondue pot of many genres and timelines melted and stirred together. There’s both nostalgia and futuristic aspiration swirled in every track with footsteps in every decade from the 60’s to 2020. Imagine Hall & Oates, Pink Floyd and Daft Punk having a musical orgy while on acid. Despite the sheer vast amount of styles and genres being pressured into this album there is an uncanny level of sophistication by Kevin in this science experiment of an album. The project’s crescendo is the psychedelic thunder cloud of “It Might Be Time”. The track starts out airy, spacious and understated, slowly synth keys start jabbing in, yet still don’t ready you for the bombardment of 808’s, and symbol crashes of  the momentous chorus that hits you right in the gut and gets you on your feet. 
The Slow Rush is both an album you can put on at a party as well as chill alone and vibe out to. On the surface are the euphoric dance indications but a deeper inspection, should one wish to take on, finds the emotional and gripping crosscurrents that are interwoven throughout. If there’s levels of protection from past pain, and uncertainty for the future holding you back, well “it might be time to face it”.
Proof: One More Year / Borderline / Posthumous Forgiveness / Breathe Deeper / On Track / It Might Be Time
Others:
Good: Abir - HEAT, A Boogie wit da Hoodie - Artist 2.0, AceMo - I Want to Believe, AceMoMa - A New Dawn [HOA007], The Aces - Under My Influence, Action Bronson - Only For Dolphins, Active Child - In Another Life, Actress - Larama & Desire, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad - Jazz Is Dead 001, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Roy Area - JID002, Aesop Rock - Freedom Finger [Music from the Game], Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guild, A. G. Cook - Apple, Agnes Obel - Myopia, Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road, Alaska Reid - Big Bunny, Alec Benjamin - These Two Windows, Alexandra Savior - The Archer, Allan Rayman - Christian, Alicia Keys - ALICIA, Allie X - Cape God, ALMA - Have You Seen Her?, Aloe Blacc - All Love Everything, Aminé - Limbo, Andrianne Lenker - songs, Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline, Ángela Muñoz & Adrian Younge - Introspection, Angelica Vila - Deception Szn 1, Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess, Anna Burch - If You’re Dreaming, Another Sky - I Slept On The Floor, Ariana Grande - Positions, Armin van Buuren - Lost Tapes, A$AP Ferg - Floor Seats II, Astrid S - Leave It Behind, Atmosphere - Whenever, August Alsina - The Product III: stateofEMERGEncy, The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You, Ava Max - Heaven & Hell, AWOLNATION - Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders Baauer - PLANET’S MAD, Bad Bunny - LAS QUE NO IBAN A SALIR, Bassnector - All Colors, Baths - Pop Music / False B-Sides II, BENEE - Hey u x, Banoffee - Look at Us Now Dad, Beach Bunny - Honeymoon, beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers, Becca Mancari - The Greatest Part, Becca Stevens - Wonderbloom, Benny the Butcher - Burden of Proof, Best Coast - Always Tomorrow, Beyoncé - The Lion King: The Gift (Deluxe Edition), Big Sean - Detroit 2, Bishop Nehru - Nehruvian Tuesdays: Vol, 1, blackbear - everything means nothing, BLACKSTARKIDS - Whatever, Man, Black Thought - Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Abel, Blu & Exile - Miles, Blxst - No Love Lost, Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, Bongeziwe Mabandla - iimini, Boniface - Boniface, Botany - End The Summer F(or)ever, boy pablo - Wachito Rico, Brandon - Coming Clean, Brandy - B7, Bree Runway - 2000AND4EVA [Mixtape], Brent Faiyaz - Fuck The World, Bryson Tiller - A N N I V E R S A R Y, Bryson Tiller - T R A P S O U L (Deluxe), Buddy & Kent Jamz - Janktape Vol. 1, Buju Banton - Upside Down 2020, Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, Burna Boy - Twice As Tall Cam’ron - Purple Haze 2, Cassian - Laps, Caribou - Suddenly, Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B, Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open, Chelsea Cutler - How To Be Human, Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour, Circa Waves - Sad Happy, Clap! Clap! - Liquid Portraits, Cleo Sol - Rose in the Dark, clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned, Common - The Beautiful Revolution (Pt. 1), Com Truise - In Decay, Too, Conway the Machine - From King To A GOD, CRi - Juvenile, Cults - Host, Cut Copy - Freeze, Melt D Smoke - Bad Habits, DaBaby - BLAME IT ON BABY, DaBaby - My Brother’s Keeper (Long Live G), Daecolm - Figur£$, Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar, Dave East - Karma 3 [Mixtape], Declan McKenna - Zeros, Dee-1 & Murs - He’s the Christian, I’m the Rapper, Dehd - Flower of Devotion, Delacey - Black Coffee, Delta Heavy - Only in Dreams (Remixes), Denzel Curry - UNLOCKED [Mixtape], Destroyer - How We Met, Diana Gordon - Wasted Youth, Diplo - Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil, Diplo - MMXX, Dirty Projectors - 5EPs, dj poolboi - it’s good to hear your voice, DJ Snake - Carte Blanche (Deluxe), Drake - Dark Lane Demo Tapes, DRAMA - Dance Without Me, Dreamville - Revenge of the Dreamers III Echosmith - Lonely Generation, EDEN - no future, Ekali - A World Away, Ela Minus - acts of rebellion, ELIO - u and me, but mostly me, Ella Vos - Turbulence, Ellie Goulding - Brightest Blue, E.M.M.A. - Indigo Dream, Eric Bellinger - Eric B For President: Term 3, Eric Bellinger - Hor D’oeuvres, Ethan Gruska - En Garde, Everything Everything - RE-ANIMATOR, Everything Is Recorded - FRIDAY FOREVER, Example - Some Nights Last For Days Fana Hues - Hues, Felt (Murs & Slug) - Felt 4 U, FINNEAS - Blood Harmony (Deluxe), Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters, The Flaming Lips - American Head, Fleet Foxes - Shore, flora cash - Baby, It’s Okay, Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo, Free Nationals - Free Nationals, Future Islands - As Long As You Are, Future Utopia - 12 Questions Gabrielle Aplin - Dear Happy, Galantis - Church, PG-Eazy - Everything’s Strange Here, Gengahr - Sanctuary, Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven - We’re New Again: A Reimagine by Makaya McCraven, Glass Animals - Dreamland, Good Sad Happy Bad - Shade, Gorillaz - Song Machinem Season One: Strange Timez, GRACEY - The Art Of Closure, grandson - Death Of An Optimist, Gregory Porter - All Rise, GRiZ - Chasing The Golden Hour Pt. 3 [Mixtape], Grouplove - The Healer, GUM - Out In The World, Gus Dapperton - Orca, Guy Sebastian - T.R.U.T.H. Half Waif - The Caretaker, Haiku Hands - Haiku Hands, Hannah Georgas - All That Emotion, HAWA - the ONE, Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor, Henry Hall - Neato, Hinds - The Prettiest Curse, HMLTD - West of Eden, Hudson Mohawke - Airborne Lard, Hudson Mohawke - B.B.H.E., Hudson Mohawke - Poom Gems, Hurts - Faith Icarus - Unfold, Isaia Huron - Libbie J Balvin - Colores, Jacob Latimore - C3, Jacob Latimore - Leo Season, Jack Harlow - Thats What They All Say, Jadakiss - Ignatius, Jade Novah - Stages, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Reunions, Jay Electronica - A Written Testimony, Jean Dawson - Pixel Bath, Jeezy - The Recession 2, Jeff Tweedy - Love Is The King, Jeremy Zucker - love is not dying, Jess Cornelius - Distance, Jessie Reyez - BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, Jhené Aiko - Chilombo, John Legend - Bigger Love, JoJo - good to know, J Lloyd - Kosmos, Jonah Yano - souvenir, Joyner Lucas - ADHD, JOYRYDE - Brave, Juice WRLD - Legends Never Die, Juicy J - THE HUSTLE CONTINUES, Junglepussy - JP4, Justin Bieber - Changes, Justine Skye - BARE WITH ME (The Album) Kaash Paige - Teenage Forever, Kacy Hill - Just Circling Back Here: Is It Selfish If I Talk About Me Again (Remixes), Kali Uchis - Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otris Demonios)∞, Kamaiyah - Got It Made, Katie Day - Mydata, Katie Gately - Loom, Katy Perry - Smile, K CAMP - Kiss 5, Keaton Henson - Monument, Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, Kevin Morby - Sundowner, Khushi - Strange Seasons, Khruangbin - Mordechai, Kiana Ledé - KIKI, Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Krow - Conan Gray, Kiesza - Crave, Kiiara - lil kiiwi, King Princess - Cheap Queen (Deluxe), Kllo - Maybe We Could, KLOUD - AUTONOMY, K. Michelle - All Monsters Are Human, Knxwledge - 1998, Kodaline - One Day at a Time, Kygo - Golden Hour, KYLE - See You When I am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!!, Kylie Minogue - DISCO Lane 8 - Brightest Lights, LANY - mama’s boy, LA Priest - GENE, La Roux - Supervision, Last Heroes - Finding Light, Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter, Laura Veirs - My Echo, Lauv - ~how i’m feeling~,  Lecrae - Restoration, Lewis Del Mar - AUGUST, Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas, Lil Wayne - Funeral, Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us, Little Mix - Confetti, LL Cool J - Authentic, Logic - No Pressure, Long Beach Dub Allstars - Long Beach Dub Allstars, Lonr. - Land of Nothing Real, Louis Tomlinson - Walls, Loyal Lobos - Everlasting, Lucas & Steve - Letters to Remember, Luh Kel - L.O.V.E., Lucky Daye - Painted (Deluxe Edition), Luke James - to feel love/d Mac Miller - Circles, MAITA - Best Wishes, Major Lazer - Music Is The Weapon, Mala Rodriguez - MALA, Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started, Marsh - Lailonie, Marsh - Lost in You, MAX - Colour Vision, Maya Hawke - Blush, Mayor Hawthorne - Rare Changes, Medasin - RIPPLS, Megan Thee Stallion - Good News, Megan Thee Stallion - Suga, Midwife - Forever, The Midnight - Monsters, Mija - Desert Trash, Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts, MisterWives - SUPERBLOOM, Mitch - Better For You, Moaning - Uneasy Laughter, Moses Sumner - græ, The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives, Mourning [A] BLKstar - The Cycle, Mura Masa - R.Y.C., mxmtoon - dawn/dusk Nada Surf - Never Not Together, Naeem - Startisha, Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner, Nappy Roots - 40RTY, Nas - King’s Disease, Nathaniel Rateliff - And It’s Still Alright, The Neighbourhood - Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones, Neon Trees - I Can Feel You Forgetting, Netsky - Second Nature, NIKI - Moonchild, NNAMDÏ - BRAT, No Mana - Secret Level, Norah Jones - Pick Me Up off the Floor, Nothing - The Great Dismal, Nothing But Thieves - Moral Panic Ohmme - Fantasize Your Ghost, Oh Wonder - No One Else Can Wear The Crown, Okay Kaya - Watch This Liquid Pour Itself, Omar Apollo - Apolonio, Omarion - The Kinection, Omar S - You Want, Open Mike Eagle - Anime, Trauma and Divorce, Orion Sun - Hold Space For Me, The Overcoats - The Fight PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYMOBILE, PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYPACK, Passenger - Patchwork,  Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Petit Biscuit - Parachute, Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot, Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher, Photay - Waking Hours, Pictish Trail - Thumb World, POLIÇA - When We Stay Alive, Popcaan - FIXTAPE, Poppy - I Disagree, Pop Smoke - Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Poolside - Low Season, Porches - Ricky Music, Post Animal - Forward Motion Godyssey, The Professionals (Madlib & Oh No) - The Professionals, Princess Nokia - Everything Is Beautiful, Princess Nokia - Everything Sucks, Public Enemy - What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?, Pure X - Pure X Quinn XCII - A Letter to My Younger Self, Queen Naija - missunderstood RAC - BOY, Ratboys - Printer’s Devil, Real Estate - The Main Thing, REASON - New Beginnings, Recondite - Dwell, Rhys Lewis - Things I Chose to Remember, Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA, Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye, RJD2 - The Fun Ones, Ro James - MANTIC, Royce da 5’9” - The Allegory, Russ - SHAKE THE SNOW GLOBE, Ryan Beatty - Dreaming of David Sad13 - Haunting Painting, SAINt JHN - While The World Was Burning [Mixtape], Sam Lee - Oh Wow, Sam Smith - Love Goes, San Fermin - The Cormorant I & II, Sasha Sloan - Only Child, SAULT - Untitled (Black Is), SAULT - Untitled (Rise), Savannah Ré - Opia, SAYGRACE - The Defining Moments of SAYGRACE: Girlhood, Fuckboys & Situationlists, Sea Wolf - Through A Dark Wood, Selena Gomez - Rare, Sérgio Mendez - In the Key of Joy, Sevdaliza - Shabrang, S.G. Goodman - Old Time Feeling, Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams, Shamir - Shamir, Shoffy - Flash, Shopping - All or Nothing, Sleepy Hallow - Sleepy Hallow Presents: Sleepy For President, Slowly Slowly - Race Car Blues, Smashing Pumpkins - CYR, Smino - She Already Decided [Mixtape], Special Interest - The Passion Of, Soccer Mommy - Color Theory, Social Club Misfits - Feared by Hell, Songhoy Blues - Optimisme, Son Little - Aloha, Sorry - 925, Spacey Jane - Sunlight, Spencer Brown - Stream of Consciousness, Steve Aoki - Neon Future IV, Steve Spacek - House, Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head, STRFKR - Future Past Life, Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), Sturgill SImpson - Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2 (Cowboy Arms Sessions), Sub Focus & Wilkinson - Portals, $uicideboy$ - Stop Staring at the Shadows, Surfaces - Horizons, Sweaton Klank - Good Days, Sweet Whirl - How Much Works, Swing Ting - 100 Dances, Symba - Don’t Run From R.A.P. TeaMarr - Before I Spill Myself, Tech N9ne - Enterfear, Tennis - Swimmer, Teno Afrika - Amapiano Selections, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington - Dinner Party, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder & Kamasi Washington - Dinner Party: Dessert, Teyana Taylor - The Album, T.I. - The L.I.B.R.A., Tiana Major9 - Back At Sixes And Sevens, Tiësto - The London Sessions, Tink - Hopeless Romantic, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Temple, The-Dream - SXTPA, Theophilus London - Bebay, THEY. - The Amanda Tape, Thundercat - It Is What It Is, Thunder Jackson - Thunder Jackson, Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2, TOKiMONSTA - Oasis Nocturno, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music,Toni Braxton - Spell My Name, TOPS - I Feel Alive, TORRES - Silver Tongue, Tory Lanez - The New Toronto 3, Trey Songz - Back Home, T.R.U. & 2 Chainz - No Face No Chase, Two Feet - Pink, Tycho - Simulcast, Ty Dolla $ign - Featuring Ty Dolla $ign Various Artists - Bad Boys For Life Soundtrack, Various Artists - Birds is Pray: The Album, Various Artists - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 1, Various Artists - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 2, Various Artists - Promising Young Woman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists - REPRISE: A Roc Nation Album, Various Artists - Sable Valley Summer Vol. 1, Various Artists - The Turning (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Varsity - Fine Forever, Vic Mensa - V TAPE, Victoria Monét - JAGUAR, Vistas - Everything Changes in the End, Vundabar - Either Light, Vybz Kartel - To Tanesha Washed Out - Purple Noon, Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud, Whitney - Candid, William Black - Pages (The Remixes), WizKid - Made In Lagos, Wiz Khalifa - The Saga of Wiz Khalifa, Wolf Parade - Thin Mind Xavier Omär - if You Feel Yaeji - WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, Yellow Claw - Never Dies, Yellow Days - A Day in a Yellow Beat, YG - My Life 5Hunnid, Yo Gotti - Untrapped, Youngr - Memories, Yumi Zouma - Truth or Consequences, Yves Tumor - Heaven To a Tortured Mind Zeds Dead - We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4), Zeds Dead - We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4 Deluxe) 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi, The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form, 2 Chainz - So Help Me God!, 5 Seconds of Summer - CALM
Meh: ARTHUR - Hair of the Dog, The Black Lips - Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart, Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR, Bruno Major - To Let A Good Thing Die, Cuddle Magic - Bath, Don Toliver - Heaven Or Hell, Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By, Foogiano - Gutta Baby, Frances Quinlan - Likewise, French Montana - CB5, Future - High On Life, Future & Lil Uzi Vert - Pluto x Baby Pluto, iann dior - I’m Gone, Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan, IDLES - Ultra Mono, Jacob Collier - Djesse, Vol. 3, Jason Mraz - Look For The Good, Jaunt - All In One, Jaye Jayle - Prisyn, Lil Baby - My Turn, Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake, Lil Uzi Vert - LUV vs. The World 2, Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall, Masiwei & Higher Brothers - Prince Charming, MHYSA - Navaeh, Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas, RARE Sound & K Camp - Rare Family, Rich The Kid - BOSS MAN, Rich The Kid & YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Nobody Safe, Rico Nasty - Nightmare Vacation, Social Club Misfits - MOOD // DOOM, WHIPPED CREAM - WHO IS WHIPPED CREAM?
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ddrkirbyisq · 8 years ago
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Well, it could have been worse.  I could have spent =more= than 2 hours thinking about the past instead of sleeping... ===== Yesterday was a really interesting day...I had a really hard time getting out of bed for some reason, and fell pretty soundly asleep during the morning train ride as well.  After getting off the train the city was oddly quiet in a way that made me wonder whether there was some holiday going on that I was totally unaware of.  I was feeling pretty cranky too, for some reason, imagining negative scenarios in my head, as one is prone to do when feeling grumpy.  Maybe I just have some sleep to catch up on. Feedback has been coming in for our game, Raven Delivery Service, and people have been liking it!  I'll try to do a post-mortem post about it, as well as just advertise it via posting in general so we can get some more plays. Aivi & surasshu are performing later this month at Fanime!  What a pleasant announcement to hear -- it actually makes me quite excited to go.  Steven Universe is also getting an official soundtrack release next month -- about time!  More importantly, I overheard that their next original artist album has a name, "valk hollow"?  That's actually more exciting than anything, as you know the main reason I'm a fan of aivisura is because of their debut album "The Black Box".  I am not-so-secretly hoping that once they release their next album I will be able to do a full remix album of their works again, as I did with "Love Everlasting".  That album was one of the most interesting and rewarding projects that I've undertaken as a musician and I'd love to try something like it again. Big dance is also coming up this Friday!  Everyone should enter the dance contests, especially the ambi ones! Looking back at my records, here were the themes for those years, to help people remember: 2011 was Firefly 2012 was Star Wars 2013 was Last Airbender 2014 was Game of Thrones (2015 was a Little Big Dance) (2016 was a Little Big Dance) 2017 is Back to the Future (old-timers will remember some other ones, like pride and prejudance, etc) Remember, Little Big Dances do NOT count as all-nighters! (since they didn't last all night, of course)  So this'll be my 7th Big Dance, but my 5th all-nighter.  Hopefully it'll be fun, despite the fact that I've been shying away from people interactions lately.  I was half-wondering whether I should take a page out of the past and try and compose a song real quick for big dance so that Richard could play it.  But I don't think that will happen, hehe.  Not ruling it out as a possibility though -- inspiration could strike at any moment!  It would actually be pretty cool to start a tradition of writing a new dance song every year for Big Dance specifically.  Maybe! Speaking of dance music, next month I'll be going to a ballet performance set to my Celestial Melodies album!  Super interested to see how that will be, and never thought as I was writing it that my music would ever be used that way.  This is also a good point for me to try to design some (long overdue) business cards.  Hopefully I'll be able to use the All in a Day's Work 3 artwork, as that has become so iconic to me, but perhaps there are other options as well.  I'll have to decide what urls to put on there as well -- probably ddrkirby.com and ddrkirbyisq.bandcamp.com for sure, but I should really clean up the ddrkirby.com landing page.  I guess if I make a more proper landing page for ddrkirby.com I can just feature that, DDRKirby(ISQ), my name, and possibly a contact email (?) and have the landing page direct you to everything else.  More work that needs to be done!  Looks like a lot of designery work is in my near future... My birthday having passed now, I decided to go ahead and order a whole bunch of stuff online as I was in need/want of quite a lot of things here and there.  Yesterday those shipments finally started to get to me, so I now have an anova sous vide machine, a whetstone for sharpening my knives, a jaccard meat tenderizer, a mortar & pestle, new earbuds, a car vent mount for my phone, and a zojirushi vaccuum-sealed food container.  I also did a ton of grocery shopping last night, so I basically have a ton of new stuff to play around with and eat, whee!  I'm pretty excited about all of the items, haha. The Risk of Rain devs are apparently working on RoR2, in 3D??? (using Unity, as of course is the trend for everyone and their mothers now)  That's...cool, I guess?  Of course, it's still a project early in development, so it's barely even worth thinking about when or whether they'll finish, but...I guess that's cool?  It's not the most -exciting- thing because I don't think 3D is really necessary, or even a boon to the gameplay, but maybe they are just trying to take a page out of Overwatch and such games.  It makes me a little sad for my pet project Zenith Fighter which I abandoned, which was aiming to be an arena-style game with platforming and RoR-style abilities, as well as a bunch of upgrades. Speaking of pet projects, Rhythm Quest is on very shaky footing now as I haven't touched it in so long.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but the fact that I'm not regularly working on it is a red flag and I wonder whether it will actually become a thing, or whether it's not actually exciting anymore.  We'll see I guess, but for now I am going to remind myself that the reasonable thing to do is not to worry about it because I have other projects that are more pressing -- namely, finishing up my Sentience album, designing the business cards and redoing my landing page. Speaking of my Sentience album -- it's getting close to being complete!  I'll probably aim to do one or two more songs and then package it all up for release.  Very exciting to be doing another original artist album that is getting a full physical CD release, especially since this one has such a strong theme and could be called my first ever "concept album", I guess. I've been continuing to make my way through Hyper Light Drifter, which has still been great!  It's cool that, just like with Shovel Knight, I feel much more well-versed in the sort of "vernacular" of its level design, and am starting to really become familiar with where to look in order to find hidden areas and secrets.  I'm currently in the last of the four main "areas" (at least, that I know of!), though the game has made it very clear that even when I've beaten the boss there I will have to do quite a bit more searching and exploring. ===== I told someone recently that while many people find themselves needing to let go of their past before they can move forward, I find myself unable to move forward if I feel like I am letting something go.  I've been asked before just =why= the past is so important to me and there are many reasons -- I think loss is painful, letting go is painful, I'm strongly motivated by nostalgia and memory, I would much rather stick to what I know than embrace new experiences, I value lasting connections, I genuinely want to believe that things will last, etc. -- but in the end the answer basically is just that's the way that I am and I have learned that that is the way it has to be.  After many years of questioning myself and my feelings toward the past I came to a realization that even if it "slows me down", connecting with my past is ultimately something that I just have to do, out of necessity.  And if I try to avoid it and break free, I would only end up circling back again and not moving anywhere at all -- because "breaking free" is something I would never want in the first place.  And that is the reason that I can be so sure when I tell people I will always be here.  Always and forever. ...or at least, that's what I'd like to think.  After all, the girl of the stars also chose to leave her tower.  The story of the star and the girl is one that is incredibly important to me because represents a central conflict in life that I must always come to terms with.  The fact that "always" is not forever, and that despite my feelings and intentions, in the end I must accept that I cannot bring the past forward with me, and that I =must= by the nature of life move forward.  It pained me a great deal thinking about how the girl left the tower.  It still does, and always will.  But it's something that I need to understand too.  I think in the end, sinking deep into memory, holding traditions, treasuring artifacts, and "living in the past" are all ways of coping. Who can say where the girl is now?  But no matter where she is, the tower and the star will always be an important part of her.  Maybe she will be able to come back to the tower someday.  Maybe she will be able to see the star again someday too.  But even if she does not, it will still be in her memory, as something precious and treasured.  In the same way, my friend Kiki is someone who is always on my mind when I think of the past.  My relationship with her, in many ways, represents my relationship with the past, and that is a reason why it has always held such significance to me.
=====
I actually feel significantly better today.  Maybe all I needed was to feel like I am paying my respects to my memory...
(More to come later.)
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gigsoupmusic · 5 years ago
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Shlomo Franklin is Finding and Telling Stories of the Beauty of the Mundane - Interview
Growing up in small-town Monsey of Upstate New York, Shlomo Franklin finds beauty in small-towns, in people, and what could be considered by some as mundane. The beauty he sees is put into the poetic lyrics in each of his songs. Of his recently released debut album Franklin said "I wanted the songs to come from a place where you couldn't tell if the story was being told by a seventeen-year-old or a seventy-year-old." The twenty-two-year-old singer-songwriter has stories to tell and does it impressively in his music. In addition to the eleven-track album Shlomo is also creating in another medium. With a series of Travelogues the singer is taking his love of storytelling and showing the beauty he both sees and vocalizes. What stories does he aim to tell? "I am obsessed with the beauty of the mundane, small-town stories, with stories that are so damn good but aren't flashy or headline-worthy but still encompass everything that is grand about life and that we love about life," Franklin says. The videos being released on YouTube are an artistic blend of poetry, nature, and music. There is an innocence to the process that is authentic and beautiful. Shlomo Franklin has a song for everyone, and in this space, he has a story for everyone and they are stories you want to hear. I had the chance to interview Shlomo Franklin for the second time. We talked about his journey with music and early connection passed down from his father, his debut album Apt. 16, creating in a visual space as well as in the studio, and more. Read the full interview below. https://youtu.be/QLYvWkvLI9k Hi Shlomo, it is cool to be on the phone with you. It's been a while since we last talked. I am glad to do it again. I am especially glad because in our first interview you were opening for Sawyer Fredericks at a City Winery show and I had interviewed Sawyer and his sweet mother who is his manager asked if I would be interested in interviewing the opener Shlomo Franklin. I start thinking about how I had done no prep and had zero questions but I was happy to do it and you were very patient with me. So I reread that interview and yes I'm excited to be talking to you having prepped and knowing what genre music you sing. How have things been since we last talked? Shlomo: Oh they have been great! It's funny because I remember our conversation being simply delightful. Kirsten (Sawyers Mom) was kind enough to involve me in a very generous way, which already I think having me open the show was a kind gesture. Then including me in that way and therefore introducing me to you was really cool. So that whole experience was pleasant, it was fun, and like I felt cared for and lucky. Then just you know talking to you and hearing a bit about your background you know was awesome. Yeah and that is something that I really wanted to talk to you about, in talking to you I found that you have this really incredible story with your journey with music. You had mentioned in our interview you grew up as a Hasidic Jew and that you didn't really listen to anything outside of Jewish music, except for your dad would sometimes play Bob Dylan with you. You had no idea who Bob Dylan was or that he was this legend but he had this weird voice and you liked it. So now here you are making music yourself, could you tell me a little about your background and your journey into music? Yeah, I grew up extremely sheltered. My parents were very sincere people who wanted to shield their children from a harsh and confusing world, a seemingly apathetic at times, and turbulent universe. So we were brought up extremely sheltered. I loved music, but the music that I was exposed to really didn't go all that deep and didn't really say that much and really wasn't of the best quality. My father was a hippie in the sixties and he used to go see Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Dave Van Ronk in the early sixties in Greenwich village before their careers really took off. So he had a really sacred and personal experience with Dylan's music. So growing up I think it was a form of him really sharing something personal about himself with me. He would play these CD's that he hid in the glove compartment of his pick up truck that he hid below the road maps (laughs). So he had these CD's and he would show them to me and it always felt like a very personal way of him trying to tell me about himself and about the world that he came from and the world that he experienced. I always knew that my mom didn't love Bob Dylan, and she didn't love that he still listened to Bob Dylan but she respected his love of that music enough to the point that years later my mom and I went to a Bob Dylan concert and she snuck down to the floor really close to the stage for the encore with me. Which was a beautiful experience. Yeah, it was a beautiful experience of solidarity with her. Hearing this music it was so apparently and drastically different than what I was used to, so it sort of hit me in the face. Like anyone listening to Dylan for the first time, the nasally drawl and controversial vocal quality was the first thing I noticed. What also stood out was how absolutely different it was. How much conviction he sang with, how much passion there was in both his lyrics and his performances. It really took a toll on me the melodies were sort of playing in my head. I would go to school and feel perhaps lost, or you know there were times that I was being bullied and just really felt like I was floating in a large pool of nothing and these like melodies and little phrases and lyrics would really sit with me. I noticed that these songs sat with me and they stayed with me even when the CD player was off and there was nothing but silence these songs played on in my head and no other music had done that before. I wasn't all that aware that Bob Dylan was this national treasure and the world's most regarded songwriters and poets, I just knew that he was this weird guy in my dads' glove compartment that my dad used to see back in the sixties. https://youtu.be/vzkdS0pHuD8 That's incredible. What a special relationship with your parents and a special relationship with music. I think it is amazing you were listening and following in love with Bob Dylan without knowing he was this icon, you just connected with his music and lyrics and fell in love from that. Now here you are and you are this awesome musician. I saw your show that night we met at City Winery never having heard you and you take the stage and it was a beautiful night I still remember and your music suited the venue perfectly with the seated candlelit room and it was just you and your poetic music. Since then you have released your first album which I'm excited about, how have things been since you released Apt. 16? First of all the fake candles were a great touch that night and it is very gratifying to me to hear that you have a good memory of that night too. I share that sentiment. The most fun thing about putting out my first album is that nobodies favorite song is the same. So I get comments or messages or at shows, people really gravitate to different songs. That reception has made it feel like a victory because I do believe that I have a song for everyone. Not every one of my songs is my favorite song at the same time, but every single one of my songs is my favorite song at a certain time. The fact that that resonates with people and that comes through and it's not like there's like two of the better songs and the rest are sort of filler or the rest aren't unique or different or just latch onto what's already been said. The fact that I dodged that very common bullet feels really good. I love that. A lot of what you do in person and lyrics come across very genuine to me. You are also a very creative person and you are doing this really artistic thing with your travelogue series on YouTube with your music behind them. What can you tell me about what you're doing with these visuals on YouTube? This is so much fun because for a long time I would watch certain YouTubers that were awesome cinematographers and I always admired a lot of the storytelling and related to them. I didn't really ever see myself in that medium and I didn't think that I would have a genuine or natural way of fitting myself into that art form. But it kept sort of bugging me and creeping up into my imagination and I found the right tone and certain vernacular where I could perform in that area and tell stories or talk about small mundane mini things that brought me joy or intrigued me and I found a way to do that with a certain amount of self-respect and dignity. A lot of that was due to Anthony Bourdain and Parts Unknown which sadly I only got into that after he passed. But his voice in those things and his words frankly really resonated with me and it was quickly apparent that he and I liked similar writers, which after some research proved to be true. So I am really fired up with this ability to fuse my songs and little travels, whether it is throughout the east coast or just upstate New York or eventually hopefully the world. I am able to do it all with my iPhone with a couple of accessory lenses, iPhone Gimbels, and iPhone microphones and eventually I'd like to pick it up to where it can compete with the visual and sound quality of anything that is out there. Right now though experimenting with this very DIY homemade style home videos and tour diaries have been really fun and really has grabbed my attention. I am still trying to crack the code and figure it out and get better at it but it feels very fresh and new which is good because there is an innocence to it but I have a lot of experience still ahead of me to get the quality and type of product that I dream about. https://youtu.be/VOGa5ChubXk You talked about the innocence to it, what has been something you have learned about yourself in the process of finding your voice in this medium? I learned that I am obsessed with the beauty of the mundane, small-town stories, with stories that are so damn good but aren't flashy or headline-worthy but still encompass everything that is grand about life and that we love about life. The things that inspire us and make us feel whole and happy. I am so passionate about storytelling and telling other peoples stories. Which that is the vision eventually that I had with this is I'd love for it to be mixed with people that I encounter and let them tell their own stories and give over their own world. Where I would just listen and simply be the narrator or the curator of a museum that is full of other people's life experiences. You mentioned things that inspire, I wanted to ask you what is something recently that has inspired with you and stayed with you? Recording is the trickiest art form for anyone I think because Tom Waits once said that songs don't want to be recorded and that it is a violent process trying to record them. That's why, and I wonder if you share this same feeling that a lot of times we prefer the live versions of songs as opposed to the recorded. Especially if the first time we listened was in a live setting. So the recording studio generally speaking is designed to be a very stale and bland environment with little conflict and no personality. It's a blank space and an empty page that waits for an artist to make its mark. However in the real world you write a song say in your apartment in a city and as you are writing there are sirens across the way, there are people chattering in the streets, you hear the distant rumble of a crowded subway, and pigeons on the fire escape and so there is this whole soundscape that influences and inspires your music. Then if you take it out to a noisy bar or a packed theater you are still playing with sound and energy with different people. So then trying to replicate that same performance in a deafly quiet sterile recording studio is a fun challenge and it is really unnatural at first. My first album really chronicles my experimentation and my first experiences in really learning how to operate this instrument that is the recording studio. I have been really excited and inspired by my next album because it is a whole new level and I've really found what works for me, what doesn't work as well, and recording has only been feeling more and more natural and conducive to what I know the songs sound like in my head and what they should feel like. The fun-ness the light-ness the ease and joy that comes along with songs and hopefully the more I do it the less nervous and self-conscious I'll be and really let the song just sing for itself. https://youtu.be/zjvSDfqyM-I That is really interesting. It is cool to see you recognizing that with your second album and approaching the studio as an instrument you can master. I wanted to go back to the night we met. I ask people their go-to karaoke song in every interview and we said we'd circle back while you thought of yours and we never did so I am happy to now. Do you know what your karaoke song would be now? (Laughs) It is a great question. I think it would have to be something by The Smiths would be great. Because nobody is as cool as Morrisey, nobody is as out there as him. So I think filling those shoes for fun after a night perhaps of a few drinks seems like an ideal scenario to place one's self in. Being so inspired by your next album like you said, I wanted to ask what's next for Shlomo Franklin? I want to finish this album. I am about halfway done. I hope that the songs will resonate immediately and give people at least a small part of the joy and inspiration that they have given me. I'd also like to go on a European tour soon. That's a little tricky for a completely unknown artist but I'd like to make that happen. I'd just like to continue to go and find my audience and bring these songs to people that need them and want them and maybe don't know that they exist yet. So I am just determined to make sure that these songs meet their targets and make sure that if anybody wants these songs that they know they are here for the taking. For you I think all you need is a seated audience and even if you do sometimes feel like an unknown artist you won't be after that night. I think I speak for the people that were at that City Winery show and it was incredible and I really appreciate you and your time Shlomo. Thank you I hope we can do it again sometime. Thank you Tom, I would love that. We should definitely talk again both on and off the record. You're a great guy and I love talking to you. Thank you so much. https://youtu.be/aM9ALQYlCew Check out more from Shlomo Franklin on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. For tour dates and to sign up for his email list visit http://www.shlomofranklin.com/ Read the full article
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alejandroscales-blog · 7 years ago
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Lots of folks end up in a regulatory position or SOHO ownership almost by nonpayment. Human beings are assorted and also complicated and that is actually excellent; nevertheless, when our team develop a much better understanding from ourselves, our team are actually a lot better prepped to enjoy a significant live. I order to possess a successful cinquain, not unlike other poetry, the writer must choose his phrases carefully and also design a meaningful and also warm rhyme. Discussing significant meals opens up a door that lets individuals in, as well as enjoying these accounts is actually merely an opportunity. If you liked this article and you would like to acquire extra facts pertaining to yellow pages uk (advice here) kindly stop by our own webpage. 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gigsoupmusic · 5 years ago
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Shlomo Franklin is Finding and Telling Stories of the Beauty of the Mundane - Interview
Growing up in small-town Monsey of Upstate New York, Shlomo Franklin finds beauty in small-towns, in people, and what could be considered by some as mundane. The beauty he sees is put into the poetic lyrics in each of his songs. Of his recently released debut album Franklin said "I wanted the songs to come from a place where you couldn't tell if the story was being told by a seventeen-year-old or a seventy-year-old." The twenty-two-year-old singer-songwriter has stories to tell and does it impressively in his music. In addition to the eleven-track album Shlomo is also creating in another medium. With a series of Travelogues the singer is taking his love of storytelling and showing the beauty he both sees and vocalizes. What stories does he aim to tell? "I am obsessed with the beauty of the mundane, small-town stories, with stories that are so damn good but aren't flashy or headline-worthy but still encompass everything that is grand about life and that we love about life," Franklin says. The videos being released on YouTube are an artistic blend of poetry, nature, and music. There is an innocence to the process that is authentic and beautiful. Shlomo Franklin has a song for everyone, and in this space, he has a story for everyone and they are stories you want to hear. I had the chance to interview Shlomo Franklin for the second time. We talked about his journey with music and early connection passed down from his father, his debut album Apt. 16, creating in a visual space as well as in the studio, and more. Read the full interview below. https://youtu.be/QLYvWkvLI9k Hi Shlomo, it is cool to be on the phone with you. It's been a while since we last talked. I am glad to do it again. I am especially glad because in our first interview you were opening for Sawyer Fredericks at a City Winery show and I had interviewed Sawyer and his sweet mother who is his manager asked if I would be interested in interviewing the opener Shlomo Franklin. I start thinking about how I had done no prep and had zero questions but I was happy to do it and you were very patient with me. So I reread that interview and yes I'm excited to be talking to you having prepped and knowing what genre music you sing. How have things been since we last talked? Shlomo: Oh they have been great! It's funny because I remember our conversation being simply delightful. Kirsten (Sawyers Mom) was kind enough to involve me in a very generous way, which already I think having me open the show was a kind gesture. Then including me in that way and therefore introducing me to you was really cool. So that whole experience was pleasant, it was fun, and like I felt cared for and lucky. Then just you know talking to you and hearing a bit about your background you know was awesome. Yeah and that is something that I really wanted to talk to you about, in talking to you I found that you have this really incredible story with your journey with music. You had mentioned in our interview you grew up as a Hasidic Jew and that you didn't really listen to anything outside of Jewish music, except for your dad would sometimes play Bob Dylan with you. You had no idea who Bob Dylan was or that he was this legend but he had this weird voice and you liked it. So now here you are making music yourself, could you tell me a little about your background and your journey into music? Yeah, I grew up extremely sheltered. My parents were very sincere people who wanted to shield their children from a harsh and confusing world, a seemingly apathetic at times, and turbulent universe. So we were brought up extremely sheltered. I loved music, but the music that I was exposed to really didn't go all that deep and didn't really say that much and really wasn't of the best quality. My father was a hippie in the sixties and he used to go see Bob Dylan, Doc Watson, Dave Van Ronk in the early sixties in Greenwich village before their careers really took off. So he had a really sacred and personal experience with Dylan's music. So growing up I think it was a form of him really sharing something personal about himself with me. He would play these CD's that he hid in the glove compartment of his pick up truck that he hid below the road maps (laughs). So he had these CD's and he would show them to me and it always felt like a very personal way of him trying to tell me about himself and about the world that he came from and the world that he experienced. I always knew that my mom didn't love Bob Dylan, and she didn't love that he still listened to Bob Dylan but she respected his love of that music enough to the point that years later my mom and I went to a Bob Dylan concert and she snuck down to the floor really close to the stage for the encore with me. Which was a beautiful experience. Yeah, it was a beautiful experience of solidarity with her. Hearing this music it was so apparently and drastically different than what I was used to, so it sort of hit me in the face. Like anyone listening to Dylan for the first time, the nasally drawl and controversial vocal quality was the first thing I noticed. What also stood out was how absolutely different it was. How much conviction he sang with, how much passion there was in both his lyrics and his performances. It really took a toll on me the melodies were sort of playing in my head. I would go to school and feel perhaps lost, or you know there were times that I was being bullied and just really felt like I was floating in a large pool of nothing and these like melodies and little phrases and lyrics would really sit with me. I noticed that these songs sat with me and they stayed with me even when the CD player was off and there was nothing but silence these songs played on in my head and no other music had done that before. I wasn't all that aware that Bob Dylan was this national treasure and the world's most regarded songwriters and poets, I just knew that he was this weird guy in my dads' glove compartment that my dad used to see back in the sixties. https://youtu.be/vzkdS0pHuD8 That's incredible. What a special relationship with your parents and a special relationship with music. I think it is amazing you were listening and following in love with Bob Dylan without knowing he was this icon, you just connected with his music and lyrics and fell in love from that. Now here you are and you are this awesome musician. I saw your show that night we met at City Winery never having heard you and you take the stage and it was a beautiful night I still remember and your music suited the venue perfectly with the seated candlelit room and it was just you and your poetic music. Since then you have released your first album which I'm excited about, how have things been since you released Apt. 16? First of all the fake candles were a great touch that night and it is very gratifying to me to hear that you have a good memory of that night too. I share that sentiment. The most fun thing about putting out my first album is that nobodies favorite song is the same. So I get comments or messages or at shows, people really gravitate to different songs. That reception has made it feel like a victory because I do believe that I have a song for everyone. Not every one of my songs is my favorite song at the same time, but every single one of my songs is my favorite song at a certain time. The fact that that resonates with people and that comes through and it's not like there's like two of the better songs and the rest are sort of filler or the rest aren't unique or different or just latch onto what's already been said. The fact that I dodged that very common bullet feels really good. I love that. A lot of what you do in person and lyrics come across very genuine to me. You are also a very creative person and you are doing this really artistic thing with your travelogue series on YouTube with your music behind them. What can you tell me about what you're doing with these visuals on YouTube? This is so much fun because for a long time I would watch certain YouTubers that were awesome cinematographers and I always admired a lot of the storytelling and related to them. I didn't really ever see myself in that medium and I didn't think that I would have a genuine or natural way of fitting myself into that art form. But it kept sort of bugging me and creeping up into my imagination and I found the right tone and certain vernacular where I could perform in that area and tell stories or talk about small mundane mini things that brought me joy or intrigued me and I found a way to do that with a certain amount of self-respect and dignity. A lot of that was due to Anthony Bourdain and Parts Unknown which sadly I only got into that after he passed. But his voice in those things and his words frankly really resonated with me and it was quickly apparent that he and I liked similar writers, which after some research proved to be true. So I am really fired up with this ability to fuse my songs and little travels, whether it is throughout the east coast or just upstate New York or eventually hopefully the world. I am able to do it all with my iPhone with a couple of accessory lenses, iPhone Gimbels, and iPhone microphones and eventually I'd like to pick it up to where it can compete with the visual and sound quality of anything that is out there. Right now though experimenting with this very DIY homemade style home videos and tour diaries have been really fun and really has grabbed my attention. I am still trying to crack the code and figure it out and get better at it but it feels very fresh and new which is good because there is an innocence to it but I have a lot of experience still ahead of me to get the quality and type of product that I dream about. https://youtu.be/VOGa5ChubXk You talked about the innocence to it, what has been something you have learned about yourself in the process of finding your voice in this medium? I learned that I am obsessed with the beauty of the mundane, small-town stories, with stories that are so damn good but aren't flashy or headline-worthy but still encompass everything that is grand about life and that we love about life. The things that inspire us and make us feel whole and happy. I am so passionate about storytelling and telling other peoples stories. Which that is the vision eventually that I had with this is I'd love for it to be mixed with people that I encounter and let them tell their own stories and give over their own world. Where I would just listen and simply be the narrator or the curator of a museum that is full of other people's life experiences. You mentioned things that inspire, I wanted to ask you what is something recently that has inspired with you and stayed with you? Recording is the trickiest art form for anyone I think because Tom Waits once said that songs don't want to be recorded and that it is a violent process trying to record them. That's why, and I wonder if you share this same feeling that a lot of times we prefer the live versions of songs as opposed to the recorded. Especially if the first time we listened was in a live setting. So the recording studio generally speaking is designed to be a very stale and bland environment with little conflict and no personality. It's a blank space and an empty page that waits for an artist to make its mark. However in the real world you write a song say in your apartment in a city and as you are writing there are sirens across the way, there are people chattering in the streets, you hear the distant rumble of a crowded subway, and pigeons on the fire escape and so there is this whole soundscape that influences and inspires your music. Then if you take it out to a noisy bar or a packed theater you are still playing with sound and energy with different people. So then trying to replicate that same performance in a deafly quiet sterile recording studio is a fun challenge and it is really unnatural at first. My first album really chronicles my experimentation and my first experiences in really learning how to operate this instrument that is the recording studio. I have been really excited and inspired by my next album because it is a whole new level and I've really found what works for me, what doesn't work as well, and recording has only been feeling more and more natural and conducive to what I know the songs sound like in my head and what they should feel like. The fun-ness the light-ness the ease and joy that comes along with songs and hopefully the more I do it the less nervous and self-conscious I'll be and really let the song just sing for itself. https://youtu.be/zjvSDfqyM-I That is really interesting. It is cool to see you recognizing that with your second album and approaching the studio as an instrument you can master. I wanted to go back to the night we met. I ask people their go-to karaoke song in every interview and we said we'd circle back while you thought of yours and we never did so I am happy to now. Do you know what your karaoke song would be now? (Laughs) It is a great question. I think it would have to be something by The Smiths would be great. Because nobody is as cool as Morrisey, nobody is as out there as him. So I think filling those shoes for fun after a night perhaps of a few drinks seems like an ideal scenario to place one's self in. Being so inspired by your next album like you said, I wanted to ask what's next for Shlomo Franklin? I want to finish this album. I am about halfway done. I hope that the songs will resonate immediately and give people at least a small part of the joy and inspiration that they have given me. I'd also like to go on a European tour soon. That's a little tricky for a completely unknown artist but I'd like to make that happen. I'd just like to continue to go and find my audience and bring these songs to people that need them and want them and maybe don't know that they exist yet. So I am just determined to make sure that these songs meet their targets and make sure that if anybody wants these songs that they know they are here for the taking. For you I think all you need is a seated audience and even if you do sometimes feel like an unknown artist you won't be after that night. I think I speak for the people that were at that City Winery show and it was incredible and I really appreciate you and your time Shlomo. Thank you I hope we can do it again sometime. Thank you Tom, I would love that. We should definitely talk again both on and off the record. You're a great guy and I love talking to you. Thank you so much. https://youtu.be/aM9ALQYlCew Check out more from Shlomo Franklin on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. For tour dates and to sign up for his email list visit http://www.shlomofranklin.com/ Read the full article
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