#going for like 80s synth kinda look?

[faersflower]

[thumpypuppy]

oo! your last ask was really interesting! do you have anything to say on the relation between the various Loop related tracks?

it’s very cool that you’re talking about your music in such a way, thank you for engaging with this community!

So Loop's theme is just kinda silly weird mysterious. There's a chromatic walkup at the beginning of the melody because weird and silly.

Loop's hangout is one of the few tracks written by Alice Liston, who is no longer with the studio, but she's an incredibly talented composer who took a lot of the fundamental aspects of the original song and turned it into something dreamy, which I emphasized with some unique instrumentation.

Spoilers ahead:

The Loop fight is yet another one of my MEGA BATTLE compositions where I go ham because it's a fight song and I have to do way too much.

We start with that chromatic walk up in our classic title theme synth and immediately launch into Sandra's intense drums backed with Spitfire Audio's Albion ONE strings to fill out some space.

There are a couple of wild synth solos here written again by Alice Liston, and the drums move into a standard time with a staggered syncopation before jumping back into double time on the riff. Toward the end we build into a kind of combination prog rock EDM drop, and then…

Lo-fi! We take everything down here to a more sonically simplified version using some synth guitar designed in MASSIVE, a couple of simple wave forms, and some bit-crushed drums. We also introduce a new simple counter-melody here with a fairly straightforward motif we repeat while the exact notes change depending on the chord. We're still riffing on Loop's theme at this point, but we're adding some more context.

(Side-note: If you're interested in emulating vintage consoles of a particular era, one of the most important things to look up is the system's sample rate and bit depth! I'm 37 so "vintage" in this case is like… Commodore 64, NES, SNES, PS1, Sega Genesis, Neo-Geo, etc. It's also important to look up for something like the N64 where a lot of the sound design came from, like a lot of DX7 presets.)

Now with a powerful fill from the live kit we come back to our normal instrumentation, restating our previous section. Toward the end of this section we slowly build in our strings ramping up to a half-time breakdown that will lead into a totally new part.

The strings build intensity while also taking the responsibility of playing our main Loop melody, and we throw in a Dormont-style counter-melody to add to a sense of nostalgia as we ramp up our heart-string tugging.

Next, we bring in lead guitar-style synth to double our Loop melody that's playing in the strings to add an extra helping of epicness because come on, an electric guitar playing over the soprano part of a string section is like pique epic/dramatic.

Meanwhile the drums are still going in half-time to give it a breakdown feel (especially leaning on that china cymbal to give it a classic death metal breakdown feel), but at this point we're starting to get more embellishments and double kicks to make use of the space left to build further intensity until we hit that 80s metal crash mute and pause for emphasis, and then tom roll into our next section.

With the break into a new section we're saying NO MORE! We're getting serious now! We have a lovely riff written by Sadie Greyduck, which has a really uncomfortable and tense progression built into it that's emphasized by the strings that have moved to the very high soprano range to keep tension.

Then on our next repeat we jump into yet another solo! This one was partially written by Alice Liston, but ultimately I ended up fitting it into context and completing it. One thing you'll notice here is that there are a lot of passing tones and chromatic walk-ups to emphasize the Loop-ness of the situation.

Now we're jumping into yet another me(n)tal breakdown! This is more riffing on the Loop melody, but then we hear that brass section jump in! We're moving forward and doing a little more light riffing while the rest of the band takes us home in a slightly stronger and more triumphant fashion.

Finally we pick up the pace and we're back to our old classic, the title theme, but it's add odds with the context it exists in and starts to move in a spacier direction, eventually morphing back into Loop's theme.

For the album version we put a cap on it with a piano restatement of the beginning of the song!

(Also I finally looked it up and the other piano I used besides Spitfire Labs "Soft Piano" is Native Instruments "The Gentleman".)

Honestly I love fight/boss themes so much and they're always so fun to work on because I can go ham and the people I work with can do some of their more extreme work, plus it's always an excuse for Sandra to go nuts on the drums.

Thank you so much for sending in your ask! We're always so happy to get these and to hear how much our work has affected so many people! 🐶💙

[octaviasdread]

I hereby conduct this tortured poets society album meeting in all of its mania and sorrowful blues as I move from unhinged impressions to unhinged first-listen analysis because I am incapable of saying less.

(and to all the Aimees i’m so sorry but that’s on Kim)

This Anthology is taking me so long to process, but nothing feels like the first jarring moments of I Can Do It With a Broken Heart - the cacophony and flashes of a birthday breakdown bopping to 80s arcade game synth. It's crumbled cake and mascara streaks when Bejewelled is actually a delusional Mirrorball,

and The Secret Garden reference in I Hate It Here, oh god, she’s so me:

I hate it here so I will go to / secret gardens in my mind / people need a key to get to / the only one is mine / i read about it in a book when I was a precocious child

I need to come back to that. But the whirlwind of Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? Plans cancelled. IM THE ONE barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine, actually. It's me chained-up in that poor things victorian mourning dress shrieking elegies in my tortured nightingale screams.

She's Grammys Taylor looking at the crowd of her peers rolling their eyes, she's the litany of snide jokes diminishing her success, and the children, sisters, friends, and girlfriends of those who wronged her loudly singing her songs.

so i leap from the gallows and i levitate down your street / crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / who’s afraid of little old me

i was tame i was gentle til the circus made me mean / don’t you worry folks we took out all her teeth

ohhh, the throwback to Speak Now and the significance of MEAN. The song and its titular word show how childish language encapsulates that pointless spite and the bone deep hurt mean behaviour breeds - but now she’s a phoenix risen, and they hurl her youth and her downfall back in her face - word for word, surprised face - its the dark side the The Lucky One, of not escaping the cage of fame games.

you lured me and you hurt me and you taught me / you caged me and then you called me crazy

i wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me / you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me / so all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs / i’m always drunk on my own tears isn’t that what they all said?

PUT NARCOTICS IN MY SONG took me out. This album is funny in the most sardonic and absurdly humorous ways,

like the classic cowboy western guitar strings in her crime songs (I Can Fix Him, No Really I Can - pistols drawn), but especially the ones leading into Fresh Out The Slammer. Fucking genius, and to follow on with static sounds at 2:26ish to the house where you still wait up, is exactly the kinda detail I adore.

Naively, I thought Florence was done with me after Florida!!! It's a lyrical meme for single 20 & 30 somethings who moved away from home,

my friends all smell of like weed or little babies / and the city reeks of driving myself crazy / little did you know your home’s really only / a town you’re just a guest in

and the haunting morphs from the ghost of your girlhood into the catalogue of decisions and delusions which get you through adulthood. Yet it feels almost like an interlude within the song when

me and my ghosts we’ve had a hell of a time / yes i’m haunted but i’m feeling fine / all my girls got their lace and their crimes / and your cheating husband disappeared/ well no one asks questions here

appears like an alternative pov for No Body, No Crime with the girls and their ghosts and their pacts made over wine. Every Action has an Equal Reaction. Run away to Florida, or Texas, and lose yourself to lose the heartbreak. Its self-destruction, it's trauma-healing, bonding, and its breaking.

(what a song for an angsty girl collab, problematic girl in hand with problematic girl, lyrically and thematically, maybe the real love story is the friends we make along the way.)

And that wasn't even the last of it. It's Florence 2.0 with B side Cassandra, but instead of Dance Fever, its Taylor’s glorious mythology with all the allusions, parallels, intertextual and lyrical ruining of my mind:

when the first stone’s thrown they’re screaming / when its burn the bitch they’re shrieking / when the truth comes out its quiet

so they killed cassandra first cus she feared the worst / and tried to tell the town / so they filled my cell with snakes i regret to say / do you believe me now?

No apologies anymore. A girl given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, the GOD OF POETRY, is cursed with her prophecy never being believed: Burning all the witches even if you aren't one, indeed. She saw the truth of the Trojan horse, and the Trojans insulted her. Rep snake branding and the current cultural view of KK and Ye. I don't need to say anything else.

i was in the tower weaving nightmares / twisting all my smiles into snarls

the family the pure greed the christian chrous line / bloods thick but nothing like a payroll / bet they never spared a prayer for my soul

I literally played that THREE times before I got over it enough to finish my first listen,

and i’m still thinking about Clara Bow and that Stevie Nicks tambourine we collectively freaked over from the Spotify installation, and all the silent movie speculation from the track title release.

you look like Clara Bow in this light - you look like Stevie Nicks in '75 - you look like Taylor Swift

Three women whose public profession became entangled with their pain. Silver Springs. Boyfriend songs. The jokes. Clara Bow.

Clara feared being left behind by 'talkies.' Miss Americana. The fear of 30 bringing death to a woman's Hollywood/Musical career,

beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours demanding more / only when your girlish glow flickers just so / do they let you know?

Three women who beat the odds - three women whose talent, craft, and popularity carried them through.

But there's something more to unpack here with cycles and patterns - of the past endlessly repeating. It's the transient nature of fame and our fleeting view of beauty mapped out in the untouchable, ever-changing, and culturally worshiped moon.

It's a body of physical craters, a natural body we call discovered, and fight to claim. We project emotions and create rituals of worship - you're the new god we're worshipping. Endless stories are told about her, but we can never fully see the moon with human eyes. Eclipses, shadows, - 'half moonshinе, a full eclipse' - half-truths and half-moons:

this town is fake but you're the real thing / breath of fresh air through smoke rings / take the glory, give everything / promise to be dazzling

There's a play on light and a play on words in the repetition of Dazzling, shining so bright so blindingly bright. Who is dazzled? Who is doing the dazzling? There's an instability between Director - Public - Star. It's Hollywood lights, No one in my small town thought I'd see the lights of Manhattan / No one in my small town thought I'd meet these suits in LA.

She beat the 'War Big Machine' - but for me, there's ambivalence and illusion on all sides of the final lyrics, you've got edge, she never did / the future's bright, dazzling.

(and ‘Edge’ is particularly ironic when you consider the songs on this album…)

Moving again into the B Side, it's Taylor's departure from Invisible string, red strings of fate, and golden threads à la the golden chain of fate in Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities that strikes me.

First, I thought her writing was a complete departure from the themes of destiny and fate, but then, The Prophecy:

cards on thе table / Mine play out like fools in a fablе

it isn't an absent symbol; it transformed. It's the evermore forest amped to the max. Witches, folklore, fairy-tale and fable - a homeric epic. Its the hero's journey distilled as she opens the song with a move from 'full throttle' adventure, to slowing down 'Hand on the Throttle' to appeal for Supernatural aid at the hero's transformative fall.

and it was written / I got cursed like eve got bitten / a greater woman wouldn't beg / but I looked at the sky and said / please I've been on my knees / change the prophecy

Lover asking Traffic Lights becomes spending my last coin so someone will tell me, and this might be the most slept-on heartbreaking line. Her search for reassurance can't be framed as an arbitrary musing anymore. It can't be dismissed as a mere thought on her drive home, or something triggered throughout the day - its intent. It's a quest for answers, a plea, a last-ditch hope difficult to deny.

and I sound like an infant / feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen/ a greater woman stays cool/ but I howl like a wolf at the moon / and I look unstable /

gathered with a coven 'round a sorceress' table / a greater woman has faith But even statues crumble if they're made to wait / i'm so afraid I sealed my fate / no sign of soulmates

She's asking for a gift from the Gods, and when the God's won't answer, she plunges straight down from heaven or Olympus into the self seizure of power in witchcraft. And when it fails, she descends further - Spending my last coin so someone will tell me it'll be okay - paying mortal fortune tellers, even if they lie.

The song leans on figures without redemption, on the Eve's, on the women cursed and punished, and those who scream like infants rather than enduring burdens and pain in silence. She's poisoned, infected like Aurora from the wound of the pricked hand with dreams of him. Is this a punishment?

She's infected, cursed like Eve got bitten, [lyric of all time!!!!] but does a monster always do monstrous things? Who is the monster? Who is the folkloric, the literary Mad Woman? Perhaps she's written from the desperate, the scarred, and the wronged.

and the transition into another tale with Peter? As in Peter losing Wendy? Is it an epilogue to the Betty trilogy? or a different use of the metaphor?

and I didn't wanna hang around / we said it was just goodbye for now /said you were gonna grow up / then you were gonna come find me / words from the mouths of babes / promises oceans deep / but never to keep

The triangle is echoed in love's never lost when perspective is earned, reflecting the different povs of Betty, August, and James, and placing Peter as the new conclusion - the shelf life of those fantasies has expired / lost to the lost boys chapter of your life/ the woman who sits by the window/ has turned out the (porch?) light.

Promises wear out. Wendy's window closes, and so does this chapter in her life.

my lost fearless leader / in closets like cedar / preserved from when we were just kids / is it something I did? / the goddess of timing / once found us beguiling

is also - intentionally or not - Narnia coded. Is the storybook collecting dust in her closet? Or is the closet still holding a portal to another fairytale land accessible only in youth, another home you can't return to (and another folklore parallel with mtr, anywhere I want just not home).

Side B is so harmonious with ttpd being the end of a chapter as the anthology moves through all the seven stages (or Taylor playlists) of grief.

The Manuscript, the signing of the autopsy, is the Death of the Author. It's the Roland Barthes realisation of All Too Well reborn in joy and fan culture, the story isn't mine anymore, of the Eras - 'I hope you hear these songs and think of this night' - Tour. She knew what the agony had been for - art. connection. - and its these things that create the hope lost in ttpd's journey through mania, disorientation, loss and despair. It all leads to healing, nothing left but a manuscript.

So many thoughts from listen no.1 and they’ll probably change, but i’m so exhausted from this 31 song rollercoaster that I'm just gonna let this sit. death of the author, I guess.

[insertlovelyperson]

What do you think each Quarry counselor's favourite genre of music would be?

Emma - It’d be a mix of pop, female rappers, and show tunes. When you hit shuffle on her playlist, you never know exactly what you’re gonna get. One of the billboard top 100? Perhaps. The main theme to Interstellar composed by Hans Zimmer? Also very likely.

Nick - “Relaxing Sleep Music, Calm Music, Yoga, Sleep Meditation, Spa, Study Music, Rain Sounds”  as found on YouTube (8 hours long)

Jacob - He’d claim to be a fan of rock music, but then he’d show you his playlist, and it’s all just swag rock.

Kaitlyn - Is actually a fan of rock music. Kind of a ‘rock snob’ as she will only listen to the old bands—scoffs at Jacob’s playlist. I could see her getting pumped to some ACDC, Queen, and Grateful Dead as she gets ready each morning.

Abi - 80s hair metal. One of her parents would play their favorite bands for her growing up, and she just attributes it to some good memories (she thought her mom was going to leave her dad for Jon Bon Jovi and used to cry herself to sleep over it). But I think if you asked her, she’d  lie and say she listens to whatever’s on the radio.

Laura - This woman had an emo phase in middle school. I can FEEL it. I think she’d listen to a lot of alternative music, and a big chunk of her playlist would be all the greats she listened to back in the day (i.e. MCR, early FOB, P!ATD but only the albums Ryan Ross was there for).

Ryan - Like Laura, I think he’d be into some alternative bands, but lean more toward metal and punk (rather than pop-punk). Lana Del Rey would be his secret guilty pleasure. 

Dylan - He’d be into some experimental, indie music. He just looks like the kind of dude to be like, “You listen to music with words in it? Let me put you on to some new shit,” and then just plays you an album of poly-rhythmic synth-jazz where every song is fifteen minutes long, and you just kinda have to nod along so you don’t hurt his feelings.

Max - Country. Or more specifically, CUNTtry. Just a bunch of women singing about how they’re gonna murder their abusive, cheating husbands. It makes him feel powerful.

[boonesfarmsangria]

"X-Ray" - yes. good

"All in Your Rows" - skip

"Latchmere" - music is good, lyrics are dumb but the interview where orlando was like a wavepool was a big deal. Idk what kinda place you lived where its not. 👌

"About Your Dress" - this is better live than on record. could take or leave

"Precious Time" - love it. so great. with very good lyrics. glimpse of what theyd become

"O.A.V.I.P." - no. not now anyway

"Tissue Shoulders" - nah

"Happy Faces" - no

"First Love" - this song is cute but maybs also annoying

"Mary" - what

"Lego" - sad

"Toothpaste Kisses" - absolutely not

"Love You Better" - great. the cadence, starting w better and being big out the gate. so great. orlando has gotten the voice now and god bless

"One Hand Holding" - ok. lil too zydeco school cheerleader come on eileen

"Can You Give It?" - love it. his voice on this is ahhhhhh

"Young Lions" - this is a good maccabees song. like all the talents working together perfectly

"Wall of Arms" - yes please. so good live

"No Kind Words/Bag of Bones Part A" - this is a good turn and like the dark(er)ness

"Dinosaurs" - amazing

"Kiss and Resolve" - nah. sweetheart could never be said again and thatd be too much knowing it had been said before

"William Powers" - good

"Seventeen Hands" - fine

"Bag of Bones Part B" - love it

look tbf i have no idea whats being said in a fair few of these like i just read the last line of seventeen hands and what the hell ?

"Given to the Wild (Intro)" - good way to open

"Child" - beautiful

"Feel to Follow" - good. like the casually here remix and vocals better and have now realized that song was the first time i am aware of hearing orlandos voice*. and have since learned those were special re-recorded vocals. this version feels almost draggy *this is absolutely false. i already was in love with a quickening when i first heard this remix

"Ayla" - music on this with the lyrics is choice

"Glimmer" - maybs top 3 of theirs for me. so pretty

"Forever I've Known" - or this. also so pretty. have had this stuck in my head for a couple days & the parts when the music comes in heavy, amazing. and his voice

"Heave" - Good but also kinda annoying and repetitive

"Pelican" - sure. fun and good live. like the lyrics

"Went Away" - this has such big 90s feel to it. its good but also dorky but i love the shouty ending and also sad

"Go" - love it. pretty. very pretty

Unknow (featuring Catherine Pockson)" - i love this one too. vocals are super intense and love the sentiment. think i saw somewhere it was an attempt at a dance or electronic song but its very late 80s early 90s synth sounding to me

"Slowly One" - too precious. i dont like this. and the music is weird with these lyrics. idk what the plan is here

*Grew Up at Midnight" - this is teenagery af but its very pretty and nails the emotion perfectly. its manipulative. could be in a movie

i think this might be their best album. and touches on more relationship types and circumstances. there is also the preoccupation with time which is interesting to me. like time having passed..time has passed by. things are past now

Marks to Prove It - love it. orlando is a sting like lyricist but he does it better. he has a more people centered way of looking at things. hes making characters. anyway yes love this one and the yelling at the beginning is apt

Kamakura"- yeah of course. cadence on this👌 your best friends forgive you your best friends forget you get old. this is one of those lines that can be interpreted two ways and both work and which is it

"Ribbon Road" - this like toothpaste kisses and another one i cant think of right now are so super weird in the full picture of their work. like what is this song? its so idk americana-ish, westerny idk. and kinda 50s-ish. its just strange. not, not good, but out of place

"Spit It Out" - big fan

"Silence" - :/ no. this is sad and some of the lyrics are cutting but as a song i just cant. knowing this was it (final album) i get it, but still

"River Song" - i think this song is great. and the big swelling end is how this song should go. this as a singalong would be fun so long as you had a decent amount of booze and disregard in your system. but this song is also a lil crazy right?

Slow Sun" - mixed on this. sometimes i like it and sometimes im just like shutup

Something Like Happiness" - gold

"WW1 Portraits" - is this their best song? the of course they do part. died. someone on genius said if someone wrote this about me i wouldnt know how to behave and that is too right

"Pioneering Systems" - this is a weird song

Dawn Chorus" - this and a couple others in this are getting very leonard cohen-ish or maybe lou reedish and im not feeling that.

impo you can do sad lyrics with upbeat music or happy lyrics with dark/sad sounding music but never happy & upbeat (cloying, saccharine) or dark & sad together (gimme a break). its just too Too. there exists songs that prove exceptions to the rule, of course there are. but they are rare and have to be very good.

Musically these guys are all over the place which maybe is why both people loved them and why people didnt love them. they are very broad. its like when an artist just does everything and its all good or interesting but no one cares and then theres an artist that paints the same shit over and over but its their developed style and people lap it up and they get famous. Im just making the point. But what is true of music that gets really really stratosphere popular is that it is samey. Theres enough deviation (sometimes) to keep it interesting but its mostly the same for that band/group/artist to have a hook and a cozy familiarity, a thing they do that is theirs. Maccabees have a few different handfulls of songs that really go together. you might really like what 4 songs do but not what any of the others do...and you might not ever get a fifth of that type of song...that make sense? and maybe thats why live i kept seeing a similar setlist over and over no matter which year. and maybe there wasnt a strong enough personality in the group to drive & hone the creative flow. a natural one, not an oppressive one. idk & it doesnt matter & i probably wont find out. what i do need tho is orlando to stop being so sweet (as a solo artist) because the quality of his voice conveys other emotions so beautifully. (ill win your heart with a woop a woo vs im a child to your voice) or stay away from bullion ffs

[thesinglesjukebox]

CHAPPELL ROAN - "GOOD LUCK, BABE!"

Good Song, Babe!

[7.76]

Alfred Soto: Hey, y'all, Spotify played "Good Luck, Babe!" after ILLIT's "Magnetic" -- are the streaming gods Jukebox-friendly? Maybe a synth line patterned after Wham!'s "Last Christmas" and a vocal that commands attention despite singing a line like "sexually explicit kinda love affair." Then again, that's how people talk. [8]

Jeffrey Brister: What if the narrator of “I Kissed A Girl” was a fucking liar whose inability to admit her attraction and healthily process and metabolize her emotions made her so transparently readable her spurned girlfriend shot a bullet made of yearning, resentment, and justifiably venomous smugness directly between her eyes? [9]

Taylor Alatorre: I have a soft spot for music that performs a kind of empowerment driven by romantic spite, while at the same time being precision-engineered to make the singer look small-minded and weak to the sober bystander; this is why I can never forswear Drive-Thru Records or pre-2016 Drake. In that vein, "Good Luck, Babe!" can be heard as a more ideologically palatable version of "Hotline Bling," right down to the self-degrading tinniness of the initial backing synths. Both songs construct a character whose presumptuous sense of entitlement becomes more apparent with time, and both ask us to sympathize with that character, not in spite of that entitlement, but because of it. Because relatability, and because we're hard-wired to believe almost any convenient lie if it's made to sound pretty enough. Chappell Roan's relative vocal restraint here represents her attempt to come off as the reliable narrator, to prevent too many of her unnervingly real feelings from spilling over. It's an effort that comes undone as soon as she gets to the bridge, when she drops the blasé affect, claims the power of omniscience, and uses it to peer into her rival suitor's future bedroom. "You're nothing more than his wife" -- sure, whatever you need to tell yourself. What, too cynical, you say? Whichever reading the listener goes with, they're choosing cynicism, either the listener's toward Chappell or Chappell's toward the other girl, who at the end of the day may just be a garden-variety bisexual; we're not allowed to know. Love is still a battlefield in the 2020s, queer love not excepted, and "Good Luck, Babe!" isn't afraid to show off the sometimes gory aftermath of those battles, caked in just enough gloss to give us the option of seeing something different in it. A potent cocktail of unraveling passions and high-grade copium, it arrives just in time to be used in AMVs of the final season of Sound! Euphonium, otherwise known as the official anime of yuri-baiting. Good luck, Kumiko! [8]

Will Adams: A breakup song directed at a queer person who was clearly uncertain, self-conscious and anxious about their identity leading them to push a great thing away? Oof. I'm the problem, it's me! But any discomfort I have with seeing myself in "Good Luck, Babe" is assuaged by its giant hooks, a bridge that mounts the tension (sadly, a rarity for pop at this point), and Dan Nigro's production, which draws from the same pillow-soft '80s synthpop of "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings." It's the sugar to help the medicine go down. [8]

Leah Isobel: I'm convinced that Taylor caused a lesbian pop revolution. Not on purpose, obviously, but perhaps inevitably; of course her simultaneous insistence on both the femininity and the import of her perspective would inspire a generation of gay girls young enough to look for validation from pop culture and old enough to perform deep reads on the line "she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers." Some of those artists have even made minor commercial breakthroughs, though nothing has heralded the arrival of a real-deal pop star the way that "Good Luck, Babe!" has. On a musical level, I don't know if I see it. It's catchy, sure, but its chorus isn't quite as singalongable as "Red Wine Supernova," and it doesn't sell Chappell as a persona the way "Pink Pony Club" does. Its production and vocal delivery are so arch that all I can see are the references: a little Wham! synth here, a little Marina & The Diamonds-circa-The Family Jewels whoop there, a "Bags" melodic bite for good measure. (Sidebar: I'm compiling this for an eventual piece about how Immunity is the most influential pop album of the last decade no one steal this from me thank you!) But maybe that's it. A pop star is voracious, ambitious, all-consuming; she cannibalizes. What "Good Luck, Babe!" offers isn't mushy sincerity, but steely-eyed purpose. I don't love it, but I do respect it. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I've written so much about about the power of "Good Luck, Babe" but I don't think it's perfect. Among my nitpicks; the "sexually explicit kinda love affair" line doesn't land, the ending nearly kills the momentum, and I've always heard some weird aliasing artifacts on the hi-hats, even in the 24/48 flac download (which might be the nerdiest thing I've ever written on TSJ). But there’s a reason I've been obsessed with this song, and it's not just because I've wound up The Other Woman in emotional affairs with queer/questioning women before. I wasn't as on board with Roan at first, then this song made me go back and get acquainted with the Femininomenon. Unlike most of Midwest Princess, this is not OMG I'm a girl??? and I like GIRLS??? music, and unlike several similar songs about loving women in denial, it's not self-pitying. This feels more real, with palpably complex emotions underneath the showy vocals, and it feels messy in a way that queer pop stars were once supposed to avoid. I could go on and on, and I have, but I'll say this: I genuinely think this song will change lives and cause people to reconsider their identities. At least one of my friends has already mentioned crying to this song. I recently spoke with a music writer that claimed music wasn't necessary, but for the right person, some songs are. [9]

Alex Clifton: I don’t know what I can say about this song that Hannah didn’t already say in her excellent Billboard article, but I’ll try. Up until now Chappell Roan has been my good-time music, with tracks like “Pink Pony Club” and “Red Wine Supernova” regularly stuck in my head.  She’s a girl from small-town Missouri in full drag regalia aiming to give everyone a great time, and she constantly delivers on that front. “Good Luck, Babe!” sounds happy but is one of the more lyrically devastating songs I’ve heard this year, and Roan’s performance is incredible. The way she screams “I TOLD YOU SO” at the end of the bridge rips at something in my heart. It’s angry as all hell but also has a level of concern; Roan doesn’t want the subject to end up in a dead-end relationship and just wishes she’d get her shit together. It’s a delicate line to thread but goes to show that Chappell Roan isn’t just a novelty pop writer. It’s exhilarating watching someone’s star rise, and to watch this song specifically become the catalyst for additional recognition is unlike anything I’ve seen before.  [10]

Ian Mathers: I was hugely impressed with "Casual," even more so with Roan's first record overall, but I'm lightly gobsmacked here with how quickly she's put out something else that simultaneously feels like it could have been on The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, like it sums up what that album was doing (and how well it does it), and like she's already moved past her work there. And it's her most successful single so far? It very much feels like things are going to keep going up from here. [10]

Jackie Powell: When “Good Luck, Babe!” came out last month, it wasn’t what I was expecting on my first listen. I got a tease from friends about what this song was about, but I was underwhelmed by the fact that I couldn’t clearly understand the story that Chappell Roan worked very hard on constructing. Her vocal style on other tracks like “Red Wine Supernova” or “Casual” is much more based in her chest voice and as a result is much easier to lyrically comprehend while listening. On “Good Luck, Babe!” Roan slurs a lot. She opts to implement much more mixing in her head voice during the hook which matches the sonic feel of the synths and drum machine that producer Dan Nigro has added in. The hook flutters and it flutters in a tone that’s paradoxical to the story she’s trying to tell. This is a song about rage, is it not? This is a song about compulsory heterosexuality, a phenomenon that is incredibly frustrating as it is prevalent in 2024. We don’t hear that rage until the absolutely mind blowing bridge where Roan’s upper register soars when she tells her past lover that she told her so. This story that Roan tells is one that so many queer people often face. It’s that same level of discomfort that Ben Platt and Renee Rapp have both sung about in their respective songs “Andrew” and “Pretty Girls.” This track’s importance can’t be understated. Its rise in popular culture can’t be undervalued. But I do wish that the story was illustrated more blatantly. Slurring aside, where is the music video for this? The video for “Casual” was exactly what a Roan fan would expect: a cross between the films Splash and Jennifer’s Body with a dash of heartbreak. I’m reminded of the queer women artists like Hayley Kiyoko and Zolita who have both gained a following for the honest queer stories they’ve portrayed in their music videos, which have garnered meaningful amounts of views. Meanwhile, DJ Louie XIVI recently had a Pop Pantheon episode that pondered if the music video is indeed dead. I would hate for that to be the case for Roan, an artist that thrives on theatrics, visuals and play— the fuel that her exponential and unexpected rise to stardom requires. [7]

Isabel Cole: I feel like it was probably deliberate to set the big bursting kiss-off chorus up in the flutiest part of her range where she can't really enunciate, but I still find it annoying to listen to. The bridge is pretty good, though. [5]

Mark Sinker: Gorgeous control of voice over bare control of desire; fragments of the crunchily expressed across the oldest (cliched, she says it herself) story, oh i'm the “other girl”!!¡¡ and then the closing device (which you can call brechtian if you’re fancy, or lazy) undermines it a little, at least musicially.  [6]

Joshua Lu: The bitter, lesbian reimagining of Gwen Stefani's "Cool" I never knew I needed. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I am all for Chappell Roan's meteoric rise to fame as the next local drag supporting queer, but this song feels as basic camp as the fonts used in the visuals for her Coachella performance.  [6]

Nortey Dowuona: If anyone is wondering why this is the Chappell Roan hit, it's because it sounds like a synthpop song from 1986, and pop fans are still somehow locked into 1983-1988 as the best time to listen to pop music. That said, "you're standing face to face with 'I TOLD YOU SO'" is a FANTASTIC LYRIC. [9]

Katherine St. Asaph: The belted "I TOLD YOU SO" is unexpected and amazing. The part that flips the hook from "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" into a soprano trill is great -- between "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl" ("Footloose") and "Red Wine Supernova" ("What's Up") she's now three for three on rewriting the Great Karaoke Songbook for 2024. The line "you have to stop the world just to stop the feeling" is so perfect it feels like it must have been written in stone centuries ago and just now unearthed. But if I'm being completely honest with myself, everything else in the track is pretty mid, and repeated listens just make the mid parts seem proportionally larger. [5]

Andrew Karpan: An exuberant jubilant kiss-off for fans of Roan’s last version of this (“My Kink Is Karma”) but more pointed, less funny and charged with a contemplative melancholy bellied under its titanic build. The radical space of queer longing turns into an ocean that lifts all boats. “With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife.” We are lifted and listening.  [8]

Rachel Saywitz: I worry sometimes that I’m not wanting enough. Or I want, but the wrong things. Or I don’t want the right things enough. Chappell Roan is want, maximized and poptimized, and “Good Luck, Babe” is its earnestly sweet manifestation. Roan masters pop’s narrative drama as she coaxes her past, closeted self to breathy, sapphic jubilation with the wave of a bouncing synth wand and a Florence Welch operatic belt. Love is want, at its core, and I feel it cascading through me with each listen, urging my spirit to coalesce with my mind, for once. I want, I want, I want. [9]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[blindrapture]

so I got Peter Gabriel's newest album, i/o. I was curious about it; I've never owned a Peter Gabriel solo album before. ("I loved him in early Genesis" would be an understatement. just, never got around to his solo work!) so this is my first. I like the man himself, I love his singing voice, I admire him as a public figure. and this album looked... rather interesting!

because, see, it's an album with three faces. there's 12 songs on three discs. each disc has all 12 songs, but each disc is mixed by a different person with a different approach to audio engineering. so there's a Bright Side Mix (mixed by Mark 'Spike' Stent, described as like a painter's approach to the album), a Dark Side Mix (mixed by Tchad Blake, described as like a sculptor's approach to the album), and an In-Side Mix (mixed by Hans-Martin Buff, a very fancy mix that makes you feel like the music is happening all around you). so. to listen to this album is, ultimately, to hear it three different times.

anyway, so, I've listened to the Bright Side to start with. I've listened to some of the songs multiple times, as some of them got my attention right away and I already love them. and I've begun a sort of... comparative listen to the Dark Side, so I'll be listening to the Bright Side songs again and then immediately following up with the Dark Side version.

I am willing to go to lengths to experience this because, uh, this album fucking rocks??? not.. not like rocks, it's definitely not a rock album, it is far closer to a pop album. with my limited experience listening to entire pop albums, I can only really compare this to a few things-- Coldplay, Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool, Madonna or Poe. it sounds very modern. it is probably something other people will be much less impressed with, though may also really like straight away! the songs are all at consistently slow tempos, with soundscapes of synths, bass guitars, varied percussion, and a full string orchestra that comes in at cinematic moments on each track. it's.. like, it's not the kind of music I normally listen to outside of if it's in a film or a video game, I definitely don't normally listen to entire albums of this. and it's taking me a lot of focus to really dig into and notice things, learn the songs. but it having multiple mixes encourages that!!!

and. like. there are really a lot of slow songs on here, there's one that's entirely voice, bass, and piano, and there are some songs that I would consider "bops" but this is not a bop album. but. it's also not what I'd expect from pop-- and wikipedia classifies it as "art pop"-- because the average song is like 5 minutes long, there are a lot of 6 minute songs, and there's even a song approaching 8 minutes. though there aren't exactly loads of lyrics either; this album spends a lot of time just letting the music groove and breathe!!! I'm... super impressed with that.

what else. uh.

naturally, I've been mega curious about that whole... "three versions of each song" deal. I didn't know what to expect from it. and I'm only two songs into the Dark Side Mix, but I do have a clearer idea now. the Dark Side so far strips back some of the more melodic side instruments, where they're otherwise busy and add onto the verses and stuff, and instead cranks up the drums and the bass. even in the vocals, the lower parts are far more pronounced. gives a very different flavour to the many moments of groove and atmosphere. I would not consider it inaccurate to draw comparisons with how Sonic 3 & Knuckles handles its Act 2 mixes in later levels, where the songs aren't immediately different but there is a definite shift in focus. (plus, comparing things to Sonic is in character for me.)

like. specifically. track 1, "Panopticom," isn't all that different between mixes, and I can kinda give or take each version. I think that song's drum part can drown out the riff, so the Bright Side holds its own by mixing the drums a bit softer, making the whole song sound like... 80s/90s synthpop of some sort. but track 2, "The Court...." hoo boy. first of all, that song grew on me very quickly. it has a flow to it, it has a mood to it, it is really fun. both mixes are, frankly, great. and the Bright Side Mix is superior in exactly one place-- the line "we know that justice is blind" at the end of the song just.. sounds better here, I really like how it sounds. but "The Court," Dark Side........ ohhhh man. that is where the true excitement to this album began for me, my excitement at how they're doing this multi-mix thing. Bright Side got me to like the song, know what to expect, and I really liked the song! but then Dark Side.... brings up the drum and the bass...... and lets the stranger deeper ambient sounds throughout the song be heard..... and brings the vocals in the choruses lower, makes them more like an ethereal dreamlike chant. it is so good. I fucking love "The Court." I love it. and it wasn't even my favorite of the Bright Side songs!!! and there's still 10 other Dark Side tracks I haven't even listened to yet!!!

(incidentally, my favorite on Bright Side was probably "Four Kinds of Horses," which has a baffling name but is shockingly good. but some of those really slow stripped-back songs are a close second, especially "So Much." that song is.. breathtaking.... but "And Still" is also stunning??? holy shit that flute.... that mood....)

so. so.

I dunno, maybe some of you like your art pop. go check out Peter Gabriel. the new album's legit.

I leave you with The Court, Dark Side. but I also gave some other song names up there, go check those out.

I do love pop sometimes....

[thatonefangirlly]

Sabrina Carpenter- Please Please Please Review

Hey Krazies! We're back again with another Sabrin Carpenter song. Now I know I've been doing a few western songs, but I promise I'll get back to the K-pop. I just like to give you the scoop of what else is out there. So let's get into it

Lyrics:6/10 Its ok. I guess I had high hopes given my review on her last single "Espresso" so I was definitely looking forward to what this was about. I mean they're typical girl crush lyrics and that's ok. Just not the vibe for me.

Beat: 2/10: I'm sorry I hate it. the 80's Synthes and the country tones really confused me. I don't have much to say but something made my brain short circuit.

Visuals: 7/10 So, I watched the video with my best friend, and I can tell you that I did not get the concept. When my friend told me the concept, I then understood it. Unfortunately, I never seen one of the movies it was based off of and I kinda don't plan to. All in all, it as cute

Overall: 5/10 Another one that's not my fav. I'm a little disappointed but I also understand that this song isn't for me. The girls that get it get it and I'm the girl that doesn't and that's ok. I will say though I plan on listening to whatever else that Sabrina puts out because I like her. So go listen to Please, Please, Please and form your own opinion.

This is definitely a song that has an acquired taste. Either you like it or you don't. But this girl is talented ad who can hate her for that? Even though this son is miss for ME, I want her to be a t the top and I can't wait to see what she does next!

Annyeong!

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Control The Violent Side

Do we talk about Landing On Water enough?! Trans has been thoroughly rehabilitated at this point, but Neil Young's further dabbling in synth-iness later on in the 1980s still feels like an unloved outlier in the man's vast catalog.

Here's an entirely imagined mid-80s conversation between Neil and an A&R dude at Geffen Records, taking place in some glassed-in skyscraper high above the Sunset Strip.

A&R Dude: Haha, Neil, you got us — we asked you to record a "rock 'n' roll" album and you gave us Everybody's Rockin'. Good one.

Neil: Heh heh.

A&R Dude: But now that you've got that out of your system (and Old Ways), how about a rock album ... you know, like ... 80s rock?

Neil: ... 80s rock, huh? You mean, like ... Prince?

A&R Dude: Uhhh.

And scene! Landing On Water, released in 1986, is even more hermetically sealed within the era's production techniques than Trans — big drums, synthetic textures, overdubs everywhere. Neil called the album "the beginning — or the end depending on how you look at it. I just wanted to try somethin' else, break out ... I felt like I was dying. Felt like if I didn't do something, I was gonna lose it. Something had to wake me up." And yeah, the songs here are characterized by a certain uptight and nervy vibe that's unique in Neil's career. It's a weird record, but kind of great? Listening to it this week, my hot take is that it's actually better than Trans. Make of that what you will!

Anyway, when it came time for Neil to hit the road again in '86, he didn't "try somethin' else." He took Crazy Horse with him — their first US tour since the Rust Never Sleeps period way back in the late 70s. They didn't exactly go heavy on the Landing On Water material though, mostly preferring to stick with the hits. But they did play a few of the tunes, so I've put together a kinda "What If?" collection — Landing On Water as played by Crazy Horse! Some songs here are actually from the 1990s, though ... why did Neil suddenly revive "Hard Luck Stories" (very briefly) in 1997? Who can say? But I'm glad he did.

[spaceorphan18]

Glee Musical Retrospective: Borderline/Open Your Heart

Sung by: Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson Original Artist(s): Madonna

Oh hey! It's a Finchel duet I actually like! As well as being a mash up that I think is incredibly underrated. These songs just flow together seamlessly, and I love it.

Story Analysis

As usual, this mash up completely serves the Finchel story. Rachel may be with Jesse, but her feelings for Finn are still very much near the surface. Meanwhile, Finn is not about letting go of his own feelings (even if he's still trying to figure them all out.)

Something in the way you loved me won't let me be I don't want to be your prisoner so baby won't you set me free

It's interesting that Rachel is singing these lines. The first line, especially, speaks to how Rachel is trying to push past her feelings for Finn, but they're still right there in the open.

Stop playin' with my heart Finish what you start When you make my love come down

Again, interesting lyrics for Rachel -- since she's the who's in a relationship now. I feel like this speaks to the previous episode -- where Finn dumped her and now wants her back.

Don't try to resist me Open your heart to me, baby I'll hold the lock and you hold the key

And then we get Finn's lines -- which are pretty straightforward. I mean, look at the intensity he gives off all during the song. He's zeroed in on her, and not letting that feeling go.

Something in your eyes is makin' such a fool of me

Again, a Rachel line! (even if it's repeated by Finn) - right now in her life, she may have found some one who is perfect for her (and, editorial comment -- he is) but the heart wants what the heart wants. And she still has strong feelings for Finn that she's going to have to deal with.

I see you on the street and you walk on by When you hold me in your arms You love me till I just can't see So you choose to look the other way Well I've got something to say... Open your heart to me, baby I'll hold the lock and you hold the key

They both sing this together... which is kind of where we're at with Finchel. Sure, it's going to take the rest of the season for the two of them to work their way back to each other but how they feel are not in question. And they'll continue to sing at each other until they work through the stuff they need to work through.

Technical Thoughts

Brad is smiling during this song -- what is even going on??

The thing about this song is that the mash up works SO. Well. The songs blend beautifully with each other -- and it makes such a catchy song that you can't help but bopping along to.

Madonna has this relentless energy. Even if this song is a bit angsty -- it's still so upbeat and poppy and driving. The camera work here is fast and whirling, following Finn and Rachel as they float around the school. It's kind of crazy (but so are Finchel) and it really kind of works for the song. The last shot around the piano is absolutely dizzying, but I think it works -- signifying how Finchel is dizzy for each other. (Also - notice they're in eye contact for nearly the whole song?)

So, when they're in the library -- Finn suddenly just starts grabbing books off the shelf and throwing them to the floor. It's so random that I crack up every time I see it. Why, Ryan Murphy - Why?? Also -- Cory is so much taller than Lea, he's half bent during this entire song, lol.

Anyway - here's an interesting thing to listen for. The original Madonna version is very 80s sounding in its use of synth. They've taken most of that out here -- but if you listen to the background, you can hear a little of that synth sound buried. It's kinda cool and a nice nod to the original source material.

Speaking of Easter Eggs -- probably the most fun part of the song are all the Madonna outfit cameos. I don't know enough about Madonna to tell you what is what -- but I do recognize them all, and it's just a ton of fun seeing them all peppered throughout the hallway.

Meanwhile - contradictory to me actually liking this one, I don't... actually like how either of them sound on the song? It's too high for Finn and not really a good style fit for Rachel. But I don't even care - the song is that much fun.

vs. The Studio Version: It's literally a cleaner version of the televised version. Exactly the same. Huh. Probably cause it's a mash-up.

vs. The Original Version: (Borderline / Open Your Heart): Ooff it's SO 80s! Lol. Something I noticed with Borderline - in the mash up they never use the Borderline refrain because they're using Open Your Heart for the chorus, but I think it has some interesting lyrics that fit the Finchel story -- 'you keep pushing my love over the borderline' -- and that's the thing with them. They keep pushing boundaries. Rachel pushed hard during the Front 13, and now it's Finn's turn to see how far he can get....

Meanwhile... what is even going on in the video for Open Your Heart?? You can tell this was a risqué thing back in the 80s. Anyway - comparatively - the Glee version updates the arrangement to make it sound a lot less 80s -- and, honestly, the whole thing really works. I kind of like when the show takes a song in a different direction and ends up making something that not only doesn't sound like a Kidz Bop track, but makes something engaging and fun.

[randomvarious]

Today’s mix:

The New York Beat: New York's Hottest Club Hits by David Phillips 1987 Freestyle / Dance-Pop

God, it must've been such a fuckin' vibe to pop something like this into your tape deck back in 1987 on a late, balmy New York City night and just cruise down the streets blasting it with your windows rolled all the way down 😎. When done right, freestyle music can be *so* good, man. You load a piece of a vocal into a sampler, chop up a Latin-tinged, pitch-shifted melody out of it, and then lay that melody over some layers of synths and drums and then I'm all yours 🥰.

And you happen to briefly get a couple of those sublime moments in the instrumental portions of the final track on this mix, "I Won't Stop Loving You," by C-Bank featuring Diamond Eyes. C-Bank is an electro and freestyle project that has actually belonged to a handful of producers over the years. In fact, the other C-Bank track that's on this mix appears to have been produced by a guy named John Robie, who had previously crafted some classic old school electro-hip hop jams for Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force—namely, "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Renegades of Funk"—and he also plays synthesizer on the group's most famous hit, "Planet Rock." But Robie's C-Bank song, I think, pales in comparison to the other one on here, which appears to have been co-produced by a pair of rookies named Elvin Molina and Mickey Garcia, who'd both go on to make a lot more freestyle tracks after they released this one. And the version that's on this tape actually sounds a bit different than the version that's on YouTube, which I'll provide here.

Because of those instrumental bits with the melodic vocal stabs, that C-Bank track is my favorite tune on here. But the one that precedes it by Bronx trio Sweet Sensation is a pretty quintessential 80s dance tune too; it was their debut single and it hit #64 on Billboard's Hot 100.

But outside of those two tracks, nothing else on this mix really seems all that special. And some of these tunes were actually pretty big hits in their day, like Sicilian singer Nocera's "Summertime, Summertime," which hit #2 on the Billboard dance chart in 1986. But looking back, a lot of these tunes actually just sound kinda simple, formulaic, and cheap 🤷‍♂️.

However, despite the overall lackluster selection, the mixing on this tape is still pretty damn good. And according to Discogs, this appears to be the only mix that this David Phillips guy ever made. Prior to this mix—if it is indeed the same guy—he did an updated 1986 dance remix of pre-Monkees Micky Dolenz's 1967 blues-rock single, "Don't Do It," which he front-ended with a coked-out, uptempo, hypnotically surfy hi-NRG beat. And I gotta say, it's really... something 😅; worth a listen just for the sheer novelty of it.

Really was not expecting this dancy freestyle mix to have just one degree of separation from Micky Dolenz, but there you have it! 😄

Now, I don’t have any links to this full mix, but I managed to record it with one of those cheap cassette-to-mp3 converters, so if you *really* want to hear it, feel free to get at me.

And here’s a short Spotify playlist of some personal freestyle faves of mine; nothing out of the ordinary, but some absolute bangers that span from the early 80s to mid-90s 😌.

Highlights:

Sweet Sensation - "Hooked On You" C-Bank Featuring Diamond Eyes - "I Won't Stop Loving You"

[dancing-to-architecture]

23 - Van Halen - 1984

Starting with a sentence that is pretty much guaranteed to piss off my dad: i was never a big Van Halen fan. (Look, if you heard "Right Now" as many times as i did growing up, you'll understand.)

That said, a few of the songs on this one are among the songs by them that i do actually like, and the cover art cracks me up every time i see it.

Also, my wife is exactly one day older than this album, and i just think that's neat.

• 1984-

Spacy synthy intro song. Not what i was anticipating this album to start off like. Kinda dig it, though.

•Jump-

An absolute classic. As I'm fond of saying: "it ain't about the fall down, it's about the bounce back", and that's the whole idea of this one.

Also, that guitar solo is fucking insane.

•Panama-

One of the songs that broke Noriega, and i think the govt used it solely because of the irony of the title being used against a Panamanian asshole dictator.

Personally, i like the idea of using songs over bombs in combat. Fewer pieces of bodies to pick up afterwards.

That said, what the actual fuck does the nation of Panama have to do with this song that's about a hot lady being described somewhat like a sports car? The world may never know.

Fuckin banger, though.

•Top Jimmy-

(But, i hardly know Jimmy!)

Holy shit, Eddie, are your fingers okay? Because goddamn that's some fast fingering on those harmonics.

Top Jimmy cooks, you say? Well, let him fuckin cook!

Another kick-ass solo, naturally.

Didn't know this one before today, but it fuckin slaps.

•Drop Dead Legs-

To be honest, i always figured Diamond Dave was a tits man, but apparently he also appreciates "a giant butt". Good for him.

All in all, gotta say that ZZ Top wrote the better leg-song.

•Hot for Teacher-

A song that has been relevant a number of times in my life, and that's all I'm gonna say on that matter.

That drum intro absolutely whips ass, and the guitar coming in only makes it better.

It's a little skeevy, lyrics-wise, but overt horniness can't stop it from being an all-time banger.

•I'll Wait-

Oh, that early-to-mid 80s synth. 😍

Kind of a weird one, since it's literally just about jerking off while looking at a legally-distinct-from-a-Playboy magazine. Not the best song on the album, for sure, but it's interesting enough to keep my attention.

I still can't believe this was a single, though.

At the end of the day: the centerfold isn't gonna fuck you, dude. Oh wait, shit, you're David Lee Roth... never mind, yeah, she might, actually. Go for it, bro.

•Girl Gone Bad-

"I'm in love with a prostitute", the spiritual prequel to "I'm in Love With a Stripper", i guess?

•House of Pain-

Just couldn't fuck dirty enough for that girl, could ya? Or, from a different, much darker point of view, kinda feels a little Josef Fritzl-y.

So, yeah, this album is pretty fucking great, (surprising nobody, considering it's their best-selling album).

Funny (but also lame as shit) fact: "The front cover was censored in the UK at the time of the album's release. It featured a sticker that obscured the cigarette in the putto's hand and the pack of cigarettes.".

For real... Are y'all okay over there?

Favorite Track: Hot for Teacher. Every aspect of it just kicks ass.

Least Favorite Track: House of Pain. On one hand, it's creepy. On the other hand, it's very creepy.

[overfedvenison]

@mariomarc tagged me with a listened to songs chain letter thing I'm not super one for music, but I guess I can list a few... I have no way of knowing which I have actually listened to the most of, so here are ones I have been checking out of late Instead of the assignment I'm going to ramble about some stuff I've listened to a lot recently 1 - Recently, I've been listening to a lot of the Oh Hellos. They are a folk band. This song is from a cycle of four albums they did. I don't have much to add here, but they're awesome.

2 - I go back to Chipmunks Sludgefest more than I probably should. Notably, Alvin and the Chipmunks is a family act - Dave Seville is the stage shared between Ross Bagdasarian and his son, Ross Bagdasarian Jr, who took on the Chipmunks after the passing of his father. The series has been largely centered around these two, and he has voiced all the modern Chipmunks except the hollywood movies. He even reprised his role in the still-ongoing CG series - which is why it contains a lot of holdovers from the 80s one. So, if that is Ross Bagdasarian Jr on these tracks? Well, he has a -surprisingly- strong voice. Which makes sense, I suppose, given he has to have the vocal talent to make three similar characters sound distinct through a filter. (Maybe 6? I'm not sure who voices the Chipettes) ...Anyways, I swear this is good, give is a try

3 - ...Actually I like Alvin and the Chipmunks and novelty music in general. Bardcore is mostly kinda more a meme than even a novelty song, but I tend to get pulled back to Hildegard Von Blingin's stuff a lot:

4 - Emerson Lake and Palmer was an 80s band that has been up in my recommendations for a while after I looked into them. Now relatively obscure in the west, they had a profound influence on the music of JRPGs, and on the later Dungeon Synth genre Check out this one, which sounds like an outright Final Fantasy fight theme at times

5 - Recently, I was reminded of Saya no Uta, a cult visual novel uhhh.... Eroge/Horror after watching a long review of it. Since then, I have been listening to the OST a lot. The songs are REAL good, and it hits that sense of being sort of comforting while simultaniously twisting a knife in your gut - much like the visual novel itself

Granted, I definitely have not listened to this as much as some others So uhh... Part 2: Japanese orchestral music is really good. Just like in general.

[mfmilligan]

In the Midst #2

I don’t know why in the two and a half months I’ve been here, I haven’t thought to find a radio or anything that plays music. All this time, I’ve been living in unbearable silence and hating it so much. It just makes me so paranoid about going anywhere or being alone. Leaves too much room for my mind to imagine things that would make me more scared. If I had something that could play music, news, or literally anything, things would be a little better.

     I’ve also been thinking I ought to explore more. Like really explore. As is evident by the partial list I gave last time, a lot of this town remains a mystery to me. Mostly because I just walk the streets. Knowing no one is around doesn’t make the buildings any less ominous. Instead, it makes the houses feel like they could be sentient. It’s as if now that no one’s around, the houses have woken up and are watching everything – watching me.

     Anyway, I don’t like going inside. But once I have something to break the silence and save my sanity, I should. There could be useful things in the houses, schools, and offices. If nothing else, there might be clues as to what this world is. Its history, its people.

     If there were people. There would have to be people, right? Why else would all this be here? You can’t have architecture without someone to build it.

     Spent all day and nearly gave up, but I have music!

     First, I looked around the mall. I’d been through every store before, but I just wanted to double-check. When I didn’t find anything, I moved onto the downtown area. It has more restaurants and clothing boutiques, but I figured it was worth a shot. Then I was at the edge of Daisy Hill, checking every little place I could.

     By then, that very faint hiss you hear in town sounded louder. I’m sure it was just me freaking out inside, but it really did feel like something in the air was closing in on me. Trying to block my ears to anything else. It got to the point where I was too dizzy to walk. Plopped under a tree, I looked over at the identical cream houses of Daisy Hill, fearing today would be the day when I’d know them better.

     But as I rose, I saw something lying on the sand of a nearby playground (Blue Jay Playground = explored). It was a Walkman with headphones. At least, that’s what it looked like. The lettering for the brand name was mushed and illegible. That didn’t matter, though. Immediately I tried turning it on. Success! It worked without a hitch and it’s what I’m listening to as I write.

     The only downsides are these. I have no cassettes and even if I did, I wouldn’t know exactly how to use them (I was very small when they were still popular). On top of that, there are only two radio stations. One is constant static. And the other plays, well, Weather Channel music. Very 80s and 90s smooth jazz fusion stuff. I mean, it’s not the worst, but…I don’t know. It’s just bland and it makes me kinda sad.

     It makes me think of Uncle Jerry.

     He was one of the only relatives I have clear memories of. Probably because he was the only relative who was comfortable hanging out with his small nieces and nephews. Tall and robust, he wore only Hawaiian and polo shirts, a flat cap, and colored sunglasses. He was always either golfing or bowling. And wherever he took us, he’d always play The Rippingtons – one of those bands you’d expect to hear on the Weather Channel. The music bored me to death, but I liked being with Uncle Jerry, so I’d sit through every minute of saxophone and synths.

     He was the only one who noticed something different about me back then.

     “You look out the window a lot, kid. What do you see?”

     “What everyone else sees.”

     “No one seems quite as interested in it as you.”

     I shrugged. “I imagine things, too.”

     “Like finding shapes in the clouds?”

     “Hmm…” I caught my attention slipping and forced myself to look at him. “Not really. Sometimes I imagine stories. Other times I just…drift. I kinda go places.”

     He nodded. “You know, your mind is a powerful thing. Sometimes it’s scary, too. It can fill you with bad and sad thoughts. Or it can wander so far you feel lost.”

     Lost as in I feel like I’ve left my body? Like I can’t find my way back? I didn’t say any of these things out loud. Instead, I asked, “How do you get…un-lost?”

     Uncle Jerry turned up the volume.  

      “Music!” He tapped the rhythm on the steering wheel. “When everything in your head is big and loud or you don’t know where you are, you blare it all out with music. It brings you back to earth without bringing you down.”

     I don’t remember if I responded to him or not. Or if I went back to staring out the window. But I suppose I took his words to heart because I listened to music a lot more after that. I didn’t sense any magical changes, but music did keep me grounded. Especially in the teen years when nothing seemed to go right and all I wanted was to run away from everything.

     By then, however, it was too late to thank him for the advice. He died when I was ten.

     Sheesh…what am I doing talking about family stuff at a time and place like this? Nothing about my life before means anything here. Here I am, full of these old memories, thoughts, and experiences, and not a single one of them makes sense in this place. This world with no past and no future…

     I wish I wasn’t alone.

     Woke up from a bad dream. Heard something from beyond the fountain. I got up and walked over there and, as usual, saw no one. But a mannequin had tipped forward and was leaning against the display window. Must have lost its balance. The sound of it hitting the glass was probably what I heard.

     Nothing to worry about. Going back to sleep.

     I was going to explore today anyway, but I think it’d be best if I was out of the mall all day.

     The store with the tipped-over mannequin is a mess. All the mannequins were on the floor when I checked the store. A lot of clothes racks were thrown over, too. And there’s a big crack running along the back wall.

     For my sanity’s sake, I’m going to assume I slept through a little earthquake.

     There’s nobody else here so no one could have done this.

     There’s nobody else here so no one could have done this.

     There’s nobody else here so no one could have done this.

     No one.

     I’ve got my Walkman and I’m going out. There’d better not be anything else happening at the mall while I’m gone. If there is…well, I don’t know what I’ll do. Except maybe find somewhere else to sleep. If it was an earthquake, then that’s just another factor I have to live with.

     If it – god, this is going to sound so stupid. But if it’s the world itself doing stuff, then I guess I’d better learn its rules quick. And if it’s anything else, like some creature I haven’t seen yet –

     No, I can’t go there. Stop thinking these kinds of thoughts. Nothing has happened for two months. Nothing will happen. I’ve lived here long enough to know that nothing ever happens in this place.

     I’m just going to listen to the stupid jazz and explore. Everything will be fine.

[thesinglesjukebox]

††† - "INVISIBLE HAND"

Claire recommends a Deftones/Far superduo with an ungoogleable name. (Literally! "Your search - "†††" - did not match any documents.")

[6.09]

Ian Mathers: Wait, is ††† just Chino from Deftones doing noisy synthpop? Did I forget about this? Was I not informed? [8]

Claire Biddles: This time last year, ††† released a cover of George Michael's "One More Try", a swoony bit of December melancholia that also served as a direct acknowledgement of inspiration. Much like Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Chino Moreno has always carried Michael's influence in his vocal performance, and no more so than in his work with †††, his Depeche Mode-ish duo with producer Shaun Lopez. In "Invisible Hand", Moreno's croons are propelled by internal drama, lifting and surging in the middle of words. His lyrics are either enigmatic or nonsense, depending on one's position, but the song itself is dense with narrative. Lopez switches modes and textures with every verse, laying a sheet of synths only to shoot through it with ten-foot-tall industrial drops; stabs of synthesised voices are weaponised; glass shatters as if in a locked room. Listening to the song, looking at the blue-lit model on the album art, I'm struck by the commonalities between the sheen of '90s/'00s alt-rock and Michael's contemporaneous "adult" period: the thread that links "Spinning the Wheel" and "Digital Bath", ending up with "Freeek!" and "Invisible Hand" -- the kind of industrial that isn't made from scrap, but from chrome coated in silk. [9]

Michelle Myers: What kind of Deftones girl are you? I'm from the Saturday Night Wrist era, but I probably would have told you my favorite album was Around the Fur if you were a metal dude I bummed a lighter from at a party in 2007. Anyway, I like this as an album cut, though I'm not sure it stands on its own as a single. Still, nobody does hot, sleazy angst better than Chino Moreno. [6]

Micha Cavaseno: I've said plenty about Chino over the course of my life, so let me go over to Shaun Lopez (or "Slopez" for those of us with far too much familiarity) first. At one point, this guy was a great post-hardcore guitarist, responsible for a number of great records with his band Far. "Love, American Style" and "Bury White" still get regular play from me, and even though that comeback album was bad and his post-Far band The Revolution Smile was some of the worst middle-of-the-road radio rock possible... the guy's had great moments! Chino -- again, I've said so much about my love for the guy! Crosses... ? Always getting worse! Part of it is that Shaun is such an unimaginative producer. So many of these riffs and little digital stabs of "hard clubby synthpop" just come off like the worst sort of adult-oriented electronica. Deftones have been mostly uninspiring to me in the last decade and a half, but if I wanted Chino doing his best faux David Gahan over Phantogram-level cliches, I know he's done better. (Team Sleep was right there! And all their gimmicky electronica was perfectly in vogue with the '00s!). So here I am, begging these men to get off TikTok, stop scrolling through legions of goth girls calling themselves "baby bats" dancing to warmed-over faux-'80s music mislabeled as "darkwave," and get their heads back in the game. [2]

Katherine St Asaph: Chino from Deftones going Dave Gahan mode (NOTE UPON REREADING: pun actually not intended, god) over a song composed entirely of bridges and final choruses. So when the actual bridge and final chorus arrive, they're identical, no more tension to be had. The half-time bit at the end could have gone somewhere. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: I was kinda excited to hear Chino's powerful yet silky voice rise over the swollen stolen valor of the 808 kick by Shaun Lopez, who also provides the newly drowned synth keys and seething guitar. But then they decided to add a Phil Collins drum track throwaway for the chorus. Big sigh. At least it's only a test. [5]

Alex Clifton: When the synths hit in the chorus this is pretty cool, but the rest of the time it feels like a knockoff Imagine Dragons song. [5]

Brad Shoup: The AWOLNATION EP was a dud, so this will have to tide me over for yowling modern rock with self-conscious electronic production choices. (Well, this and the Pumpkins' space opera.) Chino's voice remains a marvel. His sighs still don't feel like shtick, which is why I'm amazed at how much I enjoy them on the chorus paired with bog-standard synthwave. [6]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: An expertly executed take on some shit I really, really don't want to listen to -- every big noise and faux-gothic tone here has clearly been assembled by true appreciators of a dogshit form. The hook soars and the bass breaks the speakers and oh my god this is so tedious. But honestly, I respect it -- relative to the active rock and alternative radio baseline that these guys are pushing up against, this is a masterpiece. [4]

Frank Falisi: That sound is stuck in me. You know the one. [10]

Tim de Reuse: An unnerving, staccato vocal sample and an pleasantly grimy bass stab segue abruptly veer into a competent synthpop cruise. It'd go down smoother if the lyrics reached beyond the vaguest tendencies of early-aughts nu-metal. By their tone I understand that we're not happy, but I haven't a clue what we're supposed to be upset about. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[thankstothe]

1. Denmark. Literal child? Voice doesn't have enough power to hit those notes. Like that pink to green change on stage

I SEE THE DADI FREYR IN THE BG OMG ICELAND BABY (btw did they bleach their flag?)

2. Armenia. Laying on the floor. Classic. Somewhat continued pink theme at start. The thing I love, no sarcasm, is that sometimes you can't tell if they actually sing in English. Oh it wasn't a floor, it was a wall. Revolutionary.

Ew, showing Beatles statues. Have to shove your famous boys against a poet and clowns? This is why no one likes you UK

3. Romania. Oh let's go, native language, cool voice, pink suit, playing with genres. This is why im here. Staging is a letdown, you could literally just follow with the camera on foot.

4. Estonia. Oh piano plays itself, no fire yet. Now she plays it. I hope it ends with piano retaliation and attack. Average ballad and in English, boring. Go off piano, love that it has a mic too.

5. Belgium. Pink is back, yas. Love asymmetrical hat. Okay back up vocals have more power that main man, like damn, turn them up! Kinda like that low beat. Fun.funfun

Graham yooo, the only uk host im excited to see in final. So weird to see him and hear him at the same time lmao.

6. Cyprus. wooo. Didn't get memo for the pink theme. woooOOOooo. English, but accent is thick so I'll take it. wooooOoOoO. Gets some shoes boy, barefoot look didn't add shit. I wonder how warm is the floor tho, lights and all the pyre prob heats it up good. Woooo

7. Iceland. Everyone shut up its iceland. Im biased. Laying on the floor, brilliant move. Oh red lining in the coat, great. Some pink light's so were in the clear there too. Asserting more dominance over the floor and laying on in some more. She jacked, wow. Good voice. Song? I felt nothing.

8. Greece. Laying on the floor. Waiting for the pink to cross it off my list. Oh no your voice isn't there to jump or even move and sing, sorry. Also no pink. ФEELINGS. Why are you doing that with that alphabet shuffle. Causing me pain, that's what. Do that with sung word and we'll talk.

9. Poland. Pink hell yah. This is makes me have flashbacks to the 00s radio. Everything, voice dance, costumes, underwhelming. Oh so her dress was shitty because it was hiding another dress and not 00s reference? Makes sense. Fuego attempt, sorry you're not HER

10. Slovenia. Not English + nasty bass, okay boys! Some pink clothing. Raided their parents closet from 80s. Can't pinpoint the high singer sadly.

11. Georgia. I was excited that she was yelling at me and then she stopped... Obsessed with the instrumentals. Pink appears on the screens briefly, if you care. Amazing voice, blew the dress away.

WELSH FLAG YES BITCH

What is that actor forgor here, he's not here to talk about anything substantial I bet. Alluding to Ukraine, not even head on mention, are you kidding me?

12. San Marino. Rocky. What's with the sound mixing this year, they let this one down. Oh eyes on the walls, ok. Laying on the floor gives you some kind of points, at least I can have list. No pink, but there was like only red.

13. Austria. Okay fun start, go queens! Very interesting vocal turns and melodies. Staging is immaculate! Costumes are great. UGH. Edgar lmao. A lot of red, we moving the spectrum it seems.

14. Albania. I swear Albania sent this before. Sorry, deja vu is insane for me here. Flashing aggressive red lights solidified spectrum change. Native language is an automatic W. Wait, I thought the limit was 5 people on stage, they had 6.

15. Lithuania. Pink and red, bold choice, bringing it all together. Okay more of a purple and orange, shut up. Back up is overpowering her when they sing chorus, at least it mixed better.

16. Australia. Oh I liked thier postcard bridge. Doing interesting thing with camera, lights. Some pink and red. Oh was that a brief breakdown, alrighty. Crisp guitars and synth. Ending with headbang, very energetic!

Pretty fun semifinals overall