#going through several band's entire discography and not finding any songs for any of the letters like. bruh.

[bluebudgie]

Tagged by @vampiricsheep, thank you so much!

The rules of the game are to write one song for every letter in your url, and then tag as many people as there are letters in your URL.

Mostly Metal Edition.

B: Beautiful Death - Wintersun //top 3 or so metal song of all time tbh

L: Lokka Táttur - Týr

U: Ulvinde - Myrkur

E: Earth-Boiling Dystopia - Scythelord //5:06 <3

B: Brian Boru - Alan Stivell

U: Ukkosenjumalan Poika - Moonsorrow

D: Deemstering - Heidevolk

G: Galgasång - Finntroll //another top 3 metal song of all time

I: Ignited - T.M. Revolution //you're welcome for the stylistic incongruity.

E: Eweroun - Falkenbach

Uuuh oh man I've already tagged so many people in the last tag game & don't wanna bother more of you 😅 but if any of you remotely musically inclined people want to do this take this free pass (@ me)!! Would absolutely love to check out your songs!

[xxmolls]

Since I’m posting a lot of PJ Harvey tonight, I’ll share one of my PJ Harvey covers.

I recorded this in 2011. I was 21 years old and incredibly sick with (at the time) an unexplainable illness.

My Tourette’s had increased greatly in severity. In addition to my tics, I was having full body pseudo - seizures. My constant uncontrollable movements made it very hard for me to function.

I also had a bad “foot stomping” tic. I would stomp my feet so hard and so frequently, my doctors were afraid I was going to shatter my feet and leg bones so they insisted I not walk or stand anymore.

I found it very hard to communicate with my constant vocal and breathing tics, so I didn’t speak much.

I had just decided to leave college after my junior year to focus on my health. I was spending my days and nights living in my parents’ basement, often lying on a bare mattress (my tics made it impossible to keep a sheet or blankets on).

I was in terrible physical pain. I would often cry out for help, the pain was so bad, but my family would assume it was a vocal tic, and they wouldn’t come.

I often went to bed in such unbearable pain that I had the absolute certainty that I was going to die in my sleep, and there was nothing I could do about it. I wrote goodbye notes to my loved ones for them to find on my phone.

The bright side of my weird illness was that my uncontrollable movements seemed to lessen when I would sing and play guitar. I also noticed I may have trouble speaking coherently, but I could sing words just fine.

I had a Mac laptop with garage band on it that was my lifeline. I would spend hours in my parents’ basement, often in the middle of the night, recording songs on GarageBand. In that time, I got really into figuring out arrangements of my original songs as well as my favorite songs that other people had written.

I would start with a basic guitar and vocal track, then I would overdub vocal harmonies as well as any random instruments I had sitting around the house.

For one particular song I recorded, I sent my mom out to Walmart at 8 am (after I had been up all night writing music) to get a child’s xylophone that I was CERTAIN would be the perfect addition to a song I was working on.

Oddly enough, despite my entire body falling apart, I think during the worst years of my illness my voice and guitar playing were the best they’d ever been, just because I was using them so much.

2011 was also the year I got into PJ Harvey.

I had formative memories of when her album “Stories from the City…” came out. I was 11 years old and my dad constantly played the record at home.

My favorite songs were “This is Love” and “Big Exit.” I freaked out some of my middle school teachers by singing the lyrics to “Big Exit” in front of them and declaring it my favorite song. I loved how dark the song was (even at 11 I loved some dark shit), but I didn’t realize just how dark and upsetting the lyrics were (if you have not heard the song, it’s about suicide).

In 2011, PJ Harvey came back into my life when she released her album “Let England Shake.” I was obsessed with that album. I pored over the lyrics, analyzing them and looking up different WWI events they referenced.

I fell in love with the autoharp because of that album and immediately went out to buy one at a local pawn shop.

I began to dig deep through PJ Harvey’s entire discography, collecting things like my favorite acoustic live performances of songs, and my favorite b-sides.

On the day I recorded this specific cover, I had just gotten her album “White Chalk.”

About 15 minutes before I recorded this cover of the title song, I heard it for the first time. I was instantly entranced, as well as inspired.

The original version is mostly piano based, but I wanted to figure out a good acoustic guitar version.

I had been favoring playing my 2nd guitar: a Gibson J-45 from 1993. It sounded more tin-ny when plugged in, but acoustically it had such a rich, warm sound.

I pulled it out and quickly figured out the chords and a good finger picking style for the song.

I clearly did not know the words. The melody was instantly stuck in my head, but I have always had trouble remembering lyrics. Since 15 minutes before was the first time I had ever heard the song, I pulled up a safari tab on my laptop and had the lyrics in front of me while I was recording.

I still clearly messed up some of the lyrics. You will definitely notice that if you know the original song.

I had fun adding background vocals in different places, though the song didn’t need much.

I also noticed that on the original track, there’s a lot of delay (I think is the term) so the vocals kind of echo. I added that to mine too (and of course reverb as usual. I was never very light on the reverb when recording demos).

I am pretty pleased with the result. I like the arrangement and the quirky lil effects. It also brings me back to those almost manic days of creativity. The Lyme disease was definitely “eating my brain” at the time (those spirochete bastards easily cross the blood brain barrier), so who knows how much of this recording is hypomania driven.

It gave me a break from my suffering, though, and for that I am grateful.

[xcziel]

get to know me

tagged by @vishcount (thank you!!) and i'll follow her format bc making two posts seems a little much - i'm not that interesting!!

(hilariously, this post shows up as blocked for me bc of the tag 'joker' which? tumblr?????)

Part I

name: i'm an internet old, so i never use my real name online, mainly because it's spelled in a very unique way (thanks mom & dad) - i mean like, if you googled it you could find my home address in a few seconds kind of unique - but also, though i do enjoy the spelling, i actually don't like it very much when it's said out loud? (is it weird that my name written down is 'me', but my name aloud has never felt like 'me'?) always wanted a nickname but never acquired one :/

at any rate, i've had the username xcziel forever and i go by that 😊 (pronounced ex-SEE-zee-el, similar to etc. or ex-SET-er-ah! thanks @xia-xueyi for pointing out that it can be confusing to guess!)

rest behind a cut because it got long!

pronouns: she/her

star sign: i don't ... really *do* astrology? but technically saggitarius

height: 5'4" (162.5cm for the intl folks)

time: 5:43pm but these thing take me forever to type out so ... ???

birthday: playing the 'internet old' card again .. but it floats around american Thanksgiving depending on the year

nationality: american

fave bands/groups/solo artists: lumping these together because i just .. don't really do music much anymore. if you had asked me this back in my 20s i'm sure i would have had all kinds of opinions and things to share, but these days i actually mostly prefer to listen music from when i was a kid. part of it is also that as an old, i prefer to buy my music, even digitally, and i don't really use spotify - which does so much to enable diverse music exploration i admit! but i mostly have earplugs in all the time and music does not work for me as background noise, so...

so i guess my answer would be 70s disco and classic rock and 80s new wave artists? i've never liked any artist's entire discography and prefer greatest hits-type compilations, but i guess duran duran and def leppard and depeche mode would be considered formative? i love new order but specifically late 80s new order, NOT joy division. the only concert t-shirt i've ever worn was the cult? i loved sonic temple but i can't listen to most of it anymore though i still adore love removal machine. i think maybe if you get old enough, for some of us there's TOO MUCH good music and we can't pare it down anymore

song stuck in your head: jamiroquai's canned heat

last movie you watched: re: the above, i re-watched center stage, the 2000 one with zoe saldana and the mandy moore soundtrack, bc it's a happy comfort movie and i just got a digital version

last show you binged: i can't really "binge" very often bc after a couple of hours i need a break, so i guess i'd say the tgcf donghua on netflix since it was short enough to get through all in one go

when you created your blog: in 2012 i stopped lurking so i could post about the avengers movie

the last thing you googled: 5'4" in cm? lol before that it was chinese wrapped street food

other blogs: everything is here! i discovered i compartmentalize about as well as i tag reliably (😓) but i do have several automated ao3feed-tag style sideblogs. and i did, very briefly, have a *winces* hockey sideblog too

why i chose my url: ooh i know i've done this before, sorry if it's repetitive, basically it was the username i picked back when my family first got aol: short, unique combo of letters - 14-year-old me really thought about it! and then it wouldn't let me use anything other than my name. thirty-some-odd years later, trying to come up with a livejournal username that wasn't already taken and getting fed up, i plugged it in and went: good enough!

how many people are you following: like 760-something last i checked? although many, many, many of them are deactivated

how many followers do you have: idk i don't like looking at that stuff, but way fewer than i am following

average hours of sleep: it varies too much day by day, my sleep schedule is too wonky, i have no idea what the average would be

lucky numbers: 7? cliché i know, and again not really buying into it, but somewhere in my hindbrain i like it that my first, middle, and last names all have seven letters

instruments: none. i like singing

what i'm currently wearing: giant black t-shirt and baggy black drawstring shorts, standard sitting around the house gear

dream job: don't have one. if i did it would give me something to be working towards *sigh* this is how you end up in retail for decades, kids! but also, to quote a random post i saw in true tumblr fashion "i simply do not dream of labor"

dream trip: covered this one before but: back to the uk and some railway daytrips, or a really fancy northern cruise, atlantic/pacific either one

fave food: uhhh, don't really have a favorite but i'm almost always in the mood for pizza

top three fictional universe you'd like to live in: none really, if i had to still be me..maybe some kind of actually utopian future? but the pandemic has confirmed for me that i do NOT like living in interesting times, so most fictional story universes are RIGHT out. my favorites to read about like discworld or diana wynne jones' worlds would be way to chaotic for my comfort. possibly diane duane's young wizards universe would be safe enough to be okay?

Part II

last song: watching center stage made me think of my dance playlist so sunrise by simply red

last movielast stream: i don't watch streams or youtube often, so it was the same as you, vish! liu chang's birthday stream was SO enjoyable i screenrecorded the entire thing just so i could play it back (and maybe gif sometime if i ever get the drive to actually do it)

currently reading: well i just finished the translated quan qiu gao kao or global university entrance exam novel, which was sparked purely from catching a single rec post here on tumblr and basically just *falling* into this 166 chapter epic that is *amazing* and not coming up for air until i got to the end, which is typical novel-reading behavior for me (yes i was the kid who read through lunch period and got hassled by people who kept pestering me with "what're you reading" questions and yes i realize probably a lot of you on tumblr were too) plus, the new murderbot novel is out tomorrow!!!!! so that'll be where i end up next!

currently watching: the entire dmbj verse (that i can get my hands on) but ... sporadically and stopping at random different parts because the thing is ... this type of show is not really the kind i enjoy so much? so since it's more for "research" and learning character arcs (and let's be honest: shots of liu sang), etc. it's easy to get distracted by other stuff. i'm also watching the sleuth of the ming dynasty, mr queen, bromance, the expanse, re-watching farscape and stargate sg-1, just finished the falcon and the winter soldier, and then anytime something new and short gets introduced it jumps the queue. there are just. so. many. things. to. watch! (now i have to look into anti-fraud league too!? you all are cruel ...)

what is antipoetry to you: i ... don't really think much about poetry? i know what i prefer is usually the more basic rhymed kind like lewis carroll, emily dickinson, poe, coleridge, etc. so i suppose i don't have much use for classifying non-rhyming verse? i can appreciate stuff like rupi kaur which i guess would qualify? or that william carlos williams plums poem? but it doesn't really stick with me the way lyric-like verse does

currently craving: i never know what exactly this is meant to be in reference to ... hmmm, i would love a new high-concept, high production-quality movie like say, pacific rim, to be released, just for that massive, excited energy that comes with something new that hasn't already got tons of disappointing or conflicting history behind it - that would be so fun!!

other than that, right now, i mostly kinda want some fried fish? but that will have to wait until i go to get my second vaccine shot on wednesday since it's on the way there. i'd also like my internal body parts to settle down and fly right but it's been more than a month and they don't seem inclined :(((( maybe once i'm fully vaxxed i'll think about consulting somebody about it

tagging @foxofninetales @xia-xueyi @momosandlemonsoda @memorydragon @thewindsofsong @elvencantation @mylastbraincql @hesayshesgotboyfriend @aurawolfgirl2000 @smaragdine-galaxy and anyone who wants to! but never feel obligated and if you don't get around to it for like half a year that's totally fine, i am still interested!!!

[shatterthefragments]

Questions Tag Game

Thank you for tagging me @catholicnicky!

Hmm I'm supposed to tag 20 but I'll tag:

@kiaya, @caffeinatedbraincell, @randofando-spoonie, @cowgaykermit, @boutiquetraveltravelboutique @rhubarbdreams

If you want to play :)

1. Name/Nickname: Shatters <3

2. Gender: *shrugs noncommitedly*/nonbinary fits best

3. Star sign: okay so I took a thing and I'm going to assume that "Sun in Pisces" is this? bc i have no clue any time i look at that :eek:

4. Height: it is to my delight that I can definitely say 5'3" and not actually 5'2"! Bc I'm only a couple inches shorter than a friend and that would mean I'm taller than 5'2"!

5. Time: at the time of this Q: 12:20... ah I should get ready for bed soon... (longer by the time I post this at a little past 1 am)

6. Birthday: Feb. 26

7. Favourite Band: Currently? Maybe Polyphia? Most played currently at least. I've been vibing with Nothing But Thieves, Daughtry (again), 3OH!3 (i know), Florence + The Machine (though I have yet to do a discography playthrough yet), (ok so I'm scrolling through my saved artists for this one), The Neighbourhood, some local bands, and The Pretty Reckless lately.

8. Favourite solo artist: oh dear god. Um. Loving and/or getting back into: Rina Sawayama, Toby Fox, Ichika Nito, Tim Henson, Lil Nas X, King Princess, Hayley Kiyoko? idk it could be a lot more. But for Reasons it currently has to be Lil Nas X <3

9. song stuck in my head: because I caved and got TikTok (derogatory) because of the Chocolate Potato Cake (from 1912!) [and if you didn't just hear that in Dylan's voice you should find it on Youtube it's great] it's Maneskin's Beggin. When that's not recently heard, it varies between many other songs. If I whistle, it's usually a simple march we played in band. Maybe Soda. Maybe the hook from The Worst. Who knows~ not me!

10. last movie: either Waves or Wolf it's been so long since I've watched something. But soon hopefully Hartenstraat!

11. last show: Leverage! When I rewatched it last year or something!

12. when I created this blog: perhaps 2012 or 2013? I deleted most of my blog and started over though at around 15k posts so it may have been before that? But I don't think it was much before 2012 if so.

13. what I post: please tell me fuck if i know aaaaah whatever I see when I pop on when I have the capacity to actually reblog or queue it i guess? mostly related to whatver i'm fixated on <3 (speaking of - draining my queue for the tumblr post+ strike so that'll suck to get filled again afterwards :P)

14. last thing I googled: "Sugar and spice makes everything nice quote"

15. other blogs: theoldguardinshatters is my tog sideblog! I have some other... rather inactive blogs... not really sure I want to share them. Some are straight up empty.

16. do i get asks? not often

17. why I chose my URL: I'm a poet! jk jk (or am I?) but I wrote a poem back in middle school... actually a few versions based off the same premise/line (i was going to see if I could find it but looking back That Far in my blog is like "yeah, there's no way I'm faking my mental illness even when I fear I might be" so I'm just. not. going there. like holy shit maybe i should purge my old posts again...) But if I remember maybe I'll put what I can remember under a cut?

18. following: after swearing I'd never follow more than 100: 304. But many aren't active anymore :( (also literally me 5 yrs ago: 'oh god I follow more than 30 people I'm freaking out, it's too many!')

19. followers: 234, but who knows how many are porn bots I never really kept up back in the day

20. average hours of sleep: ...that is a good question... idk. maybe 5ish when I work and maybe 9ish when I am just me on my own?

21. lucky number: culturally: 8, personally, also: 3,7,13,17,19,23

22. instruments: formerly flute and tenor sax. I haven't exactly kept up oops >.< (so i guess rn I just whistle or hum or sometimes sing)

23. what am I wearing: shorts and a t-shirt

24. dream job: bookbinder, or some other creative pursuit that allows me to work with my hands - cake decorator? other arts? idk. maybe secretary? maybe fancy ass barista/pastry decorator? editor? illustrator? i have no clue please send suggestions <3

25. dream trip: with friends. Not having to drive the entire time. Longer than what I'm currently able to do... maybe a couple months... maybe in europe or asia? maybe just road tripping across canada. idk. It sure would be nice to see them again <3 hopefully camping with one (maybe two?) mid august-ish though! :D

26. favourite food: dim sum (bc I really miss going out with family!), sushi, desserts, pies, quiche, eggs benny, Popcorn, I'm not sure. those are also safe foods texturally usually too though.

27. nationality: canadian, half chinese.

28. favourite song: *shrugs* right now perhaps Soda or The Worst

29. last book I read: ...i don't know... maybe a reread I did of What They Always Tell Us or Martin Wilson's other book We Now Return To Regular Life last year?

30. top 3 fictional universes I would like to live in: ...fuck. I don't know. Most of the fantasy universes I read are fanfic... Maybe.... Waves Cinematic Universe - now that Gabriele has a boat, we could boat! Some universe with wings! A universe with UBI *sideeyes gvmt* Stardew Valley universe! :D

from what I can remember maybe (again - Several Versions of this were written... back in middle school...)

Shatter the fragments to see what's left Release the weight That's on your chest

There's nothing left For you to see Nothing left But apathy

[technicolortheshow]

BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE

My Bloody Quarantine part 1

The last six months have been pretty shit, hey? It looks like there is no future anymore... global warming, COVID-19, Australia on fire, wars... shall I go on?

ANYWAY, we are not here to talk about a stupid government led by a buffoon with a mop in his head (ops!) but to praise one of the bands who kept me company during this bloody quarantine of mine: BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE. This German act, in fact, hung out with me during the several nights of insomnia, which, trust me, were devastating, loooooong and cold. Cigarettes after cigarettes, wine after wine, I thoroughly enjoyed the discography of the quartet and I thought it was time to write something about them.

Because of the slow-moving and nocturnal nature of their music, a doom jazz plenty of end-of-the-world ballads, or, in their words "unholy ambient mixture of slow jazz ballads, Black Sabbath doom and down-tuned Autopsy sounds", I happily matched their records to these apocalyptic months. Just like a dark noir by Leo Malet, or a Terry Gilliam dystopian movie, Bohren & Der Club of Gore managed to convey, over the last 25 years, a deep sense of ethical abandonment and claustrophobic imprisonment. There is no future in the music of the German band, no escape from reality, which is doomed and looped into an endless limbo. A not long time ago - which now seems AGES ago, to be honest - I went to the White Cube for the latest Kiefer’s exhibition. I believe that the combination of BCG music and Kiefer’s artworks pretty well. 

Over the last months, while listening to them, between a Medoc and a Nebbiolo, I was picturing the band in a smoky “bar at the end of the world”, channelling some kind of Tom Hillenbrant’s dystopian political setting or a Lynde Mallison’s grey cold painting. The best description, though, comes from the band website: “Dear friends of nighttime drives, remote bridges to nowhere and empty multi-storey car parks”. Club Silencio state of mind, indeed.

The ensemble has constantly been releasing high-quality records since 1994, with the first doom jazz album called MOTEL GORE - albeit the first release was a 1992 cassette filled with post-hardcore noise published under the name of Langspielkassette. MOTEL GORE is, as someone brilliantly described it “audio pointillism”. I think this similitude is accurate: the band did draw tiny dots of obscure, eerie, music on canvases of sound. “Die Fulci Nummer” drives me mad, with its spectral adagio: it’s so good it would’ve been great in the Fulci’s masterpiece Non si Sevizia un Paperino. “Cairo Keller” is charming and evocative, reminding me of a possible soundtrack for Lovecraft The Nameless City. Extra points for the brilliant reference of the cover.

in 1997 BCG published MIDNIGHT RADIO, two hours of lynchian-LA-night-driving-without-a-destination soundtrack. if it is true that its predecessor "Gore Motel" is more song-oriented, and therefore a lot easier to listen to - it’s evident that Midnight Radio is more rewarding in its own special way: it’s a journey in the darkest corner of your mind. Yes, because the journeys BCG offers are not only external but often internal. The band has developed over the years a therapeutic dialogue between the listeners and their consciousness. Jungian jazz music anyone? LET’S DEBATE!  

By the way, while writing this article, I’ve realised how difficult is to talk about BCG music without quoting several cliches - everyone always ends up referring to the same stuff:” car parks”, “night drive”, “Lynch”. But I have to admit, in this case, it’s definitely true! Listening to BCG can really inspire these topics under our skins, as trivial as it sounds! The point is: they do it better than anyone else, they have been doing this forever and they represent the top in this particular sub-genre. With the results of a cinematographic component in their music that leads to these night drive scenarios, post-modern inner state of minds. Bravo!

Let’s go back to Midnight Radio, to BGC and their discography. It’s undeniable that their music fits perfectly in the set of the SLOW TV/MUSIC/YOUTUBE movement. From The Norway train to this 1986 Canadian TV show called “NIGHT WALK” (which, by the way, looks freaking awesome), from Andy Warhol’ “SLEEP” to Kiarostami or Tarkovsky cinema, the slow movement has left an imprint to contemporary culture. Arguably, BGC, with their long holistic records, is part of the movement. Calming the listeners and bringing them into a meditative state of mind, without being mindfulness - luckily. The point is: BCG makes you think about yourselves, finding out that you are someone you should be scared of! Know yourself, fear yourself!

All that Jazz came in 2000 with the thrilling “SUNSET MISSION”, thanks to the help of saxophonist Christoph Clöser. In this record the band opened up the sound, literally letting some fresh air to enter their music, easing the claustrophobic moods of the previous albums. A hint of lounge-ness came in, due to the mellow, yet sophisticated, sax of Mr Clöser. It is still quintessential BCG, with the nihilism of the band raising up form the bass. Slow, reiterated bass lines are running through the record, giving to Sunset Mission a gloomy, hypnotic cadence. The liner notes include a quote from Matt Wagner's Grendel comic book, which reads: "Alone in the comforting darkness the creature waits. As confusion reigns on this hellish stage, the deafening grind of machinery, the odious clot of chemical waste. Still, the trail of his ultimate prey leads through this steely maze to these, the addled offspring of the modern world.

According to many people, 2002 ‘BLACK EARTH” is BCG masterpiece. I don’t know yet, as I REALLY like them all. What I can say is that Black Earth sounds a lot more accessible, with an even more developed sense of ‘lounge-ness’ which was not so evident in the previous records.  Blach Earth is a good record. Perhaps the trick here is the balanced tempo of the saxophone. Perfectly played within the songs at the right time, Christoph Clöser’ sax conveys an open jazzy sound. One of my favourite directors ever is Jean-Pierre Melville, his movies are everything I like in term of style and plot. Noir a là Dashiell Hammett, but French and without hope - give me more of this, Hollywood, please! Enough of fucking Marvel heroes, give me noir hard-boiled movies! 

Black Earth could have easily been the perfect great soundtrack for Mr Melville’s movies - especially, IHMO, Bob le flambeur. Think about it: a french man, with a cigarette in his mouth, gambling his life for a young woman, in a dirty Marseille, with the BCG slow tempo doomed jazz. yasss please, give me more. Or a glacial Alain Delon killing his lover for money.

Black Earth was followed up, in 2005, by “GEISTERFAUST”, which is considered a slower than ever version of the former album. In Ghost Fist (this is the translation) Bohren & Der Club of Gore has stripped down its sound to the bone, becoming more gentle and less aggressive without any compromise. 5 songs only, named after the 5 fingers of the hand, for an hour of dark jazz. Again, excellent quality.

I have been buying BCG on CD, I think this music on vinyl does not sound perfect UNLESS you have an extremely high-quality sound system, Like some classical music issue, where you need to hear the pianissimo of the piano and single notes, BCG music deserves a very clean medium, I would say CD is the best.

Jazz de nuit again on their seventh album “DOLORES” published in 2008. This record is pure Badalamenti, pure Lynch in the night. Within the ten songs of Dolores, the core idea of slow-music is even more highlighted, with no guitars at all on the whole album and a sedated keyboard-based mood.  In 2009 the band released a 10 minute EP called “MITLEID LADY”. it is strange, because, albeit recorded just after Dolores, it sounds way more gloomy and somehow different. It is BCG but has another level of sophistication compared to the previous record. This step further in the direction of stylistic accuracy is confirmed two years after, in 2011, with another EP, this one named “BEILEID”. The cover of the record is a reference to the famous Edward Gorey, or at least I believe. 

The record includes the cover of  "Catch My Heart" by German heavy metal band Warlock, with vocals from Mike Patton. I believe this is the only song with a singer in the entire catalogue of the band. Beileid is a cinematic mood-changer composed of pained saxophone solos, and ghostly string sections, an album that will sweep your mind away into dreamland. A must-have IHMO.

In 2013 the ensemble released “PIANO NIGHTS” probably the warmest record of the band. The Piano obviously helps a lot in making the sound softer and brighter - candle lighted rigorously. A German Gothic feast, with a touch of Teutonic expressionism - who remembers the movie The Hands Of Orlac. BCG should definitely play the soundtracks of this movie. A twisted, dark, thriller with Gothic and expressionist elements. After many years, the band introduces the 

Finally, in 2020, the band published “PATCHOULI BLUE”. A pristine, unique, summa of their work, which manages to sound similar to other releases of the band, yet unique, with something different, like a small accent. 50s noir glam, Badalamenti, German Gothic, Slow-Movement philosophy are all elements we can find in this record, but there is something else: a hint of electronic, which can possibly open new territories to the band. I am curious to see if they will become a techno ambient act in the like of Gas (joking).

Aristotle once said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I guess this is the whole point in BCG’s music. The synergy the band has been consistently showing over the last 3 decades, and the constant refinement of their own skills. 

VIVA BOHREN! 

[hmel78]

In conversation with Steve Hackett ...

STEVE HACKETT : FROM “NURSEY CRYME” TO “WOLFLIGHT”  -  45 YEARS OF MAKING MUSIC

With a distinguished and well documented career which spans 6 decades , there is probably not much that music lovers don’t already know about Steve Hackett.   If, somewhere along the lines, you’ve missed out on the back catalog of his glorious guitar work - there is always time to discover something new ... and you should!

Whilst Steve Hackett is probably best known for his work as guitarist and vocalist with “Genesis” - recording a total of 9 albums with them between 1970 to 1977 - he has also performed and collaborated with numerous incredible musicians; was a key member of ‘Supergroup’ GTR [with Steve Howe] ; and boasts a solo discography that sees Hackett experiment successfully with every musical genre known to man, plus a handful of his own fusions inbetween! With the release of his latest studio album, Steve Hackett is currently enjoying more time in the spotlight, or should we say “Wolflight”? - and deservedly so.   According  to Hackett himself, “Wolflight” is both “Primal and orchestral” and marks a new, unexplored, chapter in the guitarist's career. “Ever since I got involved in the music business” says Hackett, “I have wanted to make this album, to break the rules ...” Whilst retaining the Hackett trademark of electric guitar running right the way through, the album also encompasses, beautifully, the addition of acoustic guitar, with a bizarre orchestra of instruments from the far reaches of our Earth ( some of which it’s possible you’ve never heard before!) Ten tracks which encourage the listener to “wander between parallel universes, on a journey through space and time, looking at the different faces of the endless fight for freedom”. Helen Robinson embraced a recent opportunity to speak to Steve, and managed to gain a little insight into the man behind this lifetime of amazing recordings. Whether we boldly went where no journalists have ever gone before, remains to be seen - but so far as musicians go, we’re fairly sure that Steve Hackett will continue to travel far beyond the final frontier ... HR - When you first joined ‘Genesis’, it was in advance of the bands 4th album "Nursery Cryme" - compared to the band's previous recordings, your input is immediately clear to the listener.   How hard was it for you to join an already established band, and have your ideas included? SH - Very hard indeed! They had their own musical language for various things they had developed since school days and at first I felt an earthling on Mars. I realised I had to learn to speak Martian very quickly and invent some new words too... I realised they needed a harder edge more aggressive aspect. I added some dark colours to their pastels, whilst also embracing their acoustic side with my own ideas for twelve string. With three twelve string players we had the capacity of thirty six strings all chiming away at once. HR - By the time "Selling England by the Pound" was released, ‘Genesis’ had become commercially successful, and You were being recognised as an influence on other musicians with your guitar techniques.  Were you aware of that at the time? Did your new musical / celebrity status affect how you continued to progress with playing guitar, or writing songs? SH - I had no idea that I was becoming an influence on players such as Brian May and Eddie Van Halen. We were pleased to learn that John Lennon was listening to “Selling England...” I didn't feel like a celebrity though. I just kept my head down, got on with my gig and continued to work on discovering what was hidden in the corners of the instrument. HR – ‘Genesis’ is clearly a passion that has never left you, and understandably so! ("Genesis Revisited" also landing you an 'Event of the year' award) . Across all of the ‘Genesis’ albums that you were a part of, have you a favourite track, or a favourite memory of recording with them? SH - I was particularly proud of 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight' because that one single song contained so many contradictory styles, which somehow all worked together beautifully.  "Selling England by the Pound" was a great blast for me because I feel we were on the cusp of several planes, including rock, classical and jazz. HR - You've appeared on dozens of significant artists' recordings - which means most to you to have been a part of? HR - I very much enjoyed working with Icelandic band ‘Todmobile’ recently because of the quality and power of their writing and performance. It was great to both record and then play with them along with a choir and orchestra in Iceland. There have been numerous others I've enjoyed too. It's wonderful to be part of a large ocean of talent. HR - And I must ask about supergroup "GTR"! Is that something you look back on fondly, or was it hard to retain a musical identity, and remain diplomatic, when recording as a unit with other successful musicians who are renowned for making music in the same genre? SH - I think the positives outweighed the difficulties. Although as with all groups compromises had to be made, I loved several aspects, such as the song 'When the Heart Rules the Mind' which successfully bridged the gap between progressive rock and accessible pop. It wasn't always an easy road but I do look back on it fondly. HR - Your first solo album, "Voyage of the Acolyte", was recorded whilst you were still with ‘Genesis’. Was it difficult for you to step out of their zone, and into your own, Or was it completely refreshing, to have the freedom to do something which was entirely yours? SH - It felt liberating to bypass band politics, but at the same time to have the full cooperation of the band's rhythm section. Also it was an early example of Phil's ability to carry a complete song as lead singer. Many ideas had been bubbling under for me during the whole period of rehearsing, recording and touring “The Lamb..”, and it was great to pilot my own dingy, which became a flagship for the whole fleet of albums that were to follow. HR - "Bay of Kings" was your first fully instrumental album - what inspired you to record something different, and how do you feel it was received? SH - Although it was an album of almost exclusively acoustic nylon classical guitar pieces, it was immediately accepted by an audience that were ready to try on something new from me. I've always had a lot of respect for the classical guitar, which I liken to an orchestra in miniature. HR - You've experimented with a number of musical genres, but where is your comfort zone musically? SH - I've had this chameleon like approach for as long as I can remember. I feel that rock 'n roll doesn't have to be just basic. It can be multi-faceted. Rock's shoulders ought to be broad enough to carry something of the unfamiliar. I always feel the need to bridge different genres, sometimes forming a new style as a result. It's also lovely to discover how one instrument can morph into another. Let's hear it for psychedelic skiffle! HR - Have there been any albums which you found particularly difficult to record, or which you now find difficult to listen to? SH - No album is easy to record or it wouldn't be worth doing. Sometimes the sculptor hates the stone and has to sweat blood before he is satisfied with the results. I struggle with listening to some of my early efforts because techniques come more easily to me now. HR - There's a whole host of guest musicians throughout your solo recordings - who have you most enjoyed working with? Who would you most like to work with? SH - It was wonderful to work with the late great Richie Havens. He had the most incredible voice, sweet yet with infinite power... A rare combination of velvet and leather. I would love to work with  everybody. Another singer I once knew called Dave Thompson also had a lovely voice and I've often thought I would like to do something with him. I enjoyed working with the Royal Philharmonic orchestra for my album "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and it would be great to work with them again. HR – with 45 years of a phenomenal, and successful musical career behind you, along comes your new solo album "Wolflight", which you say yourself is the best thing you've ever done. Please tell us more about it. What is it particularly that you love about the album? SH - I enjoy the cinematic scope of "Wolflight" - the breadth of the instrumentation. The whole thing works like an enlarged orchestra featuring world music instruments, rock instruments and vocals. It's like travelling in a time machine through the ages and around the world at the same time. It's full of complimentary opposites and unlikely pairings such as Australian digeridoo with tar from Azerbaijan or Armenian duduk alongside harp, and oud from Iraq with classical violin and viola... There's a strong sense of the primal and the exotic with a Gothic aspect. The subtext of the album is the long fight for freedom in all it's forms - freedom from slavery, freedom to retain multi-cultural diversity and personal freedom from repressive relationships. The title means the hour before dawn, hour of the wolf hunt. The album begins with a wolf cry and the characters in the title track see the wolf as their totem. The wolf binds all aspects of the album. HR - And for the future - can "Wolflight" be bettered for the next Steve Hackett solo album? SH - I don't know whether I can better this, but I'll always be on the hunt for unlikely and ancient instruments, be a musical archaeologist on Earth, search for life on planet Zog and explore more of those dark crevices and yawning caverns. To boldly go...

[vinylexams]

INTERVIEW with Brian Cook of SUMAC, Russian Circles, Botch, These Arms are Snakes, and Roy 

Brian Cook of the MANY gnarly bands listed above took time to answer a bunch of questions that had been burning a hole in my mind for years earlier today. Did you know that aside from playing bass in some of the heaviest bands currently in existence, Brian is also an avid record collector and he also runs a very similar page where he posts all of his records and writes up a bit of history and personal context with each one? A man after my own heart! I’ve dropped a link to his Tumblr below and you’d be a fool not to go check it out and follow his work there.

https://bubblesandgutz.tumblr.com⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I really appreciated having a chance to talk to a very talented musician who also places a LOT of importance on physical medium and the recording process. All too often I get submissions from bands who either don’t know the in’s and out’s of the vinyl format or they took a lot of shortcuts and deprive their art a chance to really shine in the ways that vinyl allows. I picked Brian’s brain about his approach to creation of physical musical media as well as his history as a collector (and even tried to convince him to get These Arms are Snakes play my big gay wedding reception!). Thanks for taking the time to tell your story to us, Brian!

You've been a member of several incredible bands over the past few decades (Botch, Sumac, Russian Circles, These Arms Are Snakes), all of which have released pretty much everything they've recorded on vinyl. How important is the vinyl medium for you as a musician and creator?

Thanks for the kind words. It's really important to me for my music to have some sort of physical format. I realize that mode of thinking might seem sort of old school or outdated, but i've always been enamored by music as a kind of historical artifact. When I was younger, that meant it was important for me to have an actual Dead Kennedys cassette as opposed to a dubbed version from my friend. It was like the difference between owning a painting versus owning a xerox of a painting. When I became a musician, it was a sign of validation. By having a record with my name on it, I had created something that would potentially outlive me. And now in the digital age we've convinced ourselves that everything lives forever on the internet, but it's not true. Myspace just lost all their music. I've written for a lot of online music outlets that have closed shop or simply deleted old posts. Meanwhile, I have a trunk full of old zines that outlived the supposed permanence of blogs. So while the digital age is great for convenience and scope, creating a physical recording is really the more reliable way to make sure something exists for more than five to ten years, or however long it takes for the newest technological fad to become obsolete. Vinyl seems to be the longest lasting format, so it's my preferred medium. But if my music exists on tape or CD, that's fine too. 

Do you approach your recording and production processes with specific formats like vinyl in mind? If so, what do you do differently? Absolutely. The main concern is that we're dealing with the time constraints of vinyl. For bands like Russian Circles and SUMAC who have really long songs, it means we have to be careful how we sequence our records because we can easily exceed the 22-minutes-per-side rule. We've also been told by pressing plants that it's better to have long drones in the middle of an album side than at the beginning or end because there tends to be more surface noise at the beginning of a side and more warble at the end, and drones don't do much to mask these imperfections. But while one can complain about the limitations of vinyl, there are also issues with digital formats that can alter the way an album is put together. For example, the digital version of Empros has a longer drone at the end of "Batu" than the LP version, partially because of vinyl's limitations, but also because digital outlets like iTunes don't recognize records with long songs as full albums unless at least one track is longer than ten minutes. So we stretched it out on the digital version so that we'd be compensated appropriately for our work, but condensed it on vinyl so that we didn't compromise the sound quality.

Of all of the albums you've contributed to, which one stands out to you as the one you feel most connected to?

Probably Geneva by Russian Circles, if I had to pick one. We wrote that record over the span of several months at a house in rural Wisconsin. It was one of those ideal scenarios I'd always dreamed of---hunkering down in some isolated retreat and just immersing ourselves in the writing process. I've never walked away from an album feeling as accomplished as I did with that one. It just felt like we'd achieved something that had previously been out of my level of expertise. I think we've made better records since then, but I don't think I've ever felt as successful in making the sounds in my head translate to the recording. With regards to my other bands, I feel that way about Botch's We Are The Romans, These Arms Are Snakes' Easter, Roy's Killed John Train, and SUMAC's What One Becomes. But Geneva will always hold a special place.

How did you get into vinyl collecting and how does it play a part in your life?

I started buying vinyl around '92 because it was cheap. My first LP was Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet's Savvy Show Stoppers. I bought it for $2. Then I discovered 7"s, which was the dominant format for hardcore and punk bands at the time. Throughout high school, I mainly bought 7"s because i could buy 3 or 4 a week on my allowance. And let's be honest... most hardcore bands in the '90s had better 7"s than full albums. But vinyl was so dead at the time that you could also go to thrift stores and scoop up the entire Creedence Clearwater Revival discography for the cost of one CD. Even new vinyl was cheaper than their CD counterpart back then. So it's a bit of a drag now considering that vinyl is currently the most expensive format, but I still get a thrill from going to record stores, digging through crates, and coming home with a new LP. I can't say I buy that many 7"s anymore though.

What do you think about the relatively recent resurgence of large-scale vinyl production and collection?

It certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. I buy a lot of reissues just so I can have a clean, good-sounding copy, so I appreciate the resurgence in that regard. At the same time, the vinyl boom has made used record shopping a bit more of a drag. I don't know how many copies of Neil Young's Harvest I saw in used bins throughout the '90s and '00s, and then when I finally decided to buy a copy five years ago, it seemed like they'd all been snagged and the reissue was going for $50. When the Zeppelin discography got reissued a few years back, I mentioned wanting a new copy of Physical Graffiti to my husband. He went to our local indie record store in Brooklyn and asked the owner if they carried it and he totally balked at the question. "Why would we carry a reissue when you can buy a used copy of that in any record store for $5?" he said. My husband was like "every used Zeppelin record you carry is beat to shit and goes for at least $20... what the fuck are you even talking about?"

If you had to pare down your entire collection to no more than three albums, which would you keep?

What's the broader context? Like, are those the only three records I can listen to for the rest of my life? Or is it just a matter of only being allowed to own three records? If it's the former, I'd probably choose Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, and a Can album... either Ege Bamyasi or Soon Over Babaluma. Ask me tomorrow and I'd probably list off a different three. If it's the latter... like, if i'm merely holding onto records because the actual artifact means a lot to me but I can still listen to music in some other capacity, then I'd probably go with the His Hero Is Gone / Union of Uranus split LP, Undertow's At Both Ends, and Sticks & Stones Theme Songs For Nothing, just because those seem like a pain in the ass to replace and they're important records to me. I have records that are worth way more money, but I'm not someone who buys records because they're valuable. 

Do you have a "white whale" record you still haven't found?

Not really. For ages I resisted the urge to buy used records online, but I've since relented. The record that finally broke my ordering embargo was Hack's The Rotten World Around Us. They were a band from Adelaide, South Australia in the late '80/ early '90s who sounded like a grungier version of the first couple Swans records. Super heavy and scary. I got turned onto them through a 7" on Alternative Tentacles, but the LP was never available stateside. The first few times I toured Australia i went to every record store I could find in hopes of finding a copy. No one had ever heard of Hack. The singer was in another band called Grong Grong, and members of that band had gone on to be in King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat, and Tumor Circus (with Jello Biafra on vocals), but no one had heard of them either. In my mind there was this rich underground of Australian noise rock from that time period that was still vital and valid, but the reality is that it was largely ignored and forgotten. I eventually found a copy online and bought it for $20. A year later i found a used copy in Boise. Oh well. I'd love to find Acme's To Reduce The Choir..., or an original copy of Popol Vuh's second album, or the Neu! 7", or the Greenlandic prog band Sume's Sumut album.

Hypothetically how much money would I need to raise to get These Arms Are Snakes to reunite to play my wedding reception? My family will hate it but my partner and I will be very happy, etc.

We still talk about doing some proper "farewell shows" since we bailed on doing them back in 2009/2010. Granted, now they'd be reunion shows, but in our hearts they'd be our proper goodbye. We're putting together a vinyl release of various odds and ends for next year, so maybe that'll give us an excuse to finally book something.

[ohn1m]

The Art of Being Mino

The South Korean hip-hop star wowed critics and fans alike with his solo album ‘XX’; but is he any closer to discovering who the ‘real’ Mino is?

Mino's journey is an ongoing one and 'XX' is a chapter that marks an artistic coming-of-age on this wild ride.

Understanding Song Minho is kind of like catching lightening in a bottle; impossible to do but the idea itself is so dazzling, you need to give it a shot anyway. Tall and blonde with bleached eyebrows and sharp features, Song���better known mononymously as Mino–cuts quite the intimidating figure. He’s intelligent, polite and forthcoming on every answer and there’s an elegance to him that’s instantly appealing. There’s one little thing that proves to be more charming than any of this, however, and it comes in the form of a little note he sends on email after the interview; “Thank you for your interest!” it reads cheerfully, accompanied by a smiley emoji. “I hope we do it again when Winner’s back!” It’s simple but sweet and suddenly there’s yet another dimension to the chic, fierce rapper we’re used to seeing onscreen.

Before sitting down with Rolling Stone India for a conversation in December, the 25-year old musician’s schedule through 2018 included the release and promotion of a full LP with his band Winner, a Japan tour, a more extensive Asia tour, a series of performances across his home country South Korea, starring roles in several variety shows and a feature on YG Entertainment labelmate and his senior Seungri’s viral hit track “Where R U From.” November was busiest for him with the release of his first solo LP XX, a 12-track feast of hip-hop, tradition, emotion and culture. December finally closed with yet another single with Winner and a series of year-end performances in Korea.

While a bit of a break is warranted after the whirlwind of activity, Mino confirms he has no plans to take it easy in 2019. “Winner will release a full album this year,” he reveals cheerfully. “I cannot talk about our plan in advance, but we are preparing a surprise gift with a great musician!” The four-member K-pop band are working on their upcoming third LP and have already begun their tour schedules in full force– they’re currently on a six-city run of the United States with stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and New York.

Over the past year Mino has embraced the avant-garde with ease, stepping away from his swag-heavy hip-hop image and slipping into a more elegant avatar.

As an artist, Mino is full of surprises with an evolution that’s been thrilling to map. He started his career as a rapper in South Korea’s vibrant underground hip-hop scene back in 2010 (when he was just 16) but success took a while to come along. He debuted briefly in 2011 with a group called BoM before its premature disbandment in 2013, and then finally signed with leading music label YG Entertainment as a trainee. In 2014 he got his big break after participating in TV channel Mnet’s reality-survival program Win: Who Is Next and ending up as a member of the winning Team A–which would go on to form Winner and debut that same year. He shot to fame quickly this time around, gaining attention as a solo artist after finishing as runner-up on the fourth season of South Korean hip-hop survival competition Show Me The Money in 2015. With several eyes on him, he wowed with a more bluesy, melancholic persona on Winner’s 2016 EP EXIT: E. That same year he and YG Entertainment labelmate Bobby announced a duo project titled MOBB, which showed off a completely different, swag-heavy, fun-loving attitude, but in that EP he included “Body,” a solo single that blended sex and passion with angst and regret. Winner’s discography as of late has been bright, tropical and electronic-pop and he’s able to adapt to it effortlessly as well. His career trajectory spells ‘chameleon’ and even in times of trial there’s a sense of chill around him, as though deep inside he knows everything’s going to work out.

Over the past year Mino has embraced a life of avant-garde with ease, stepping away from his swag-heavy hip-hop image and slipping into a more elegant avatar. He seems more comfortable and willing to express himself in ways outside of music. He’s always had fondness for art but now seems to revel in it, regularly posting images of artwork he’s created on Instagram, participating in media projects, exhibitions and editorials. Last year, he displayed some of his own artwork at an exhibit titled ‘Burning Planet.’ The pieces were a combination of installation art with media and performance art which explored the idea of burnouts, stress and humanity’s exhausting pace of birth, work, death. It’s morbid, futuristic and almost prophetical in its warnings about the pressure society puts on young people and quickly gained critical acclaim. Mino remains modest in the wake of all the praise, saying, “I do not know if I have had any talent when I was young, but I painted as a hobby since I was a kid. So I have become interested in art naturally. It was a very good opportunity to exhibit ‘Burning Planet’ with [eye wear brand and collaborator] Gentle Monster. It was a good time to learn and experience many things.”

It’s this artistic and emotional evolution which seems to have had the biggest hand in the creation of XX. “I wanted to give a tweak to my existing image, which I guess has been heavy with hip-hop and rap. I wanted to start afresh,” he stated at a press conference in November, according to a report by the Korea Herald. XX is an extension of his performance art–dramatic, creative with an ambiguous title to boot (he’s explained he wanted his listeners to have their own interpretations of it.)  The video for the lead single “Fiancé” features imagery around birds, dreams, fantastical landscapes and more. In addition to being involved in the entire concept, Mino also contributed to the set design–there’s a giant mural of a bluebird featured in the video which he painted himself. Several fans as well as popular YouTube channels like DKDKTV have attempted to decipher the meanings behind it and he’s thrilled to see all the various discussions. “It is one of the things I enjoy the most,” he says when I ask if he ever watches these theories. “Making parts that can be interpreted in various ways… I love watching them in various interpretations.” Could he tell us which theory got closest to deciphering his work? “I will never tell which one is correct or incorrect for more diverse guesses!” he teases.

“Fiancé” has also been appreciated for its unconventional combination of trot, a form of Korean folk music, and trap. To do this, the track samples Korean veteran singer Kim Taehee’s 1969 track “Soyanggang River Maiden” and blends it with bass-heavy, rolling trap and Mino’s drawling rap. “There was no intention to use ‘Soyanggang River Maiden’ from the beginning,” Mino says. “When the song was almost 80 percent complete, [YG Entertainment CEO and music producer] Yang Hyun Suk gave me an idea of putting a part of ‘Soyanggang River Maiden’ as a sample source, and it fit perfectly into the message and vibe of this song.” The haunting sample had younger fans enthralled and searching through YouTube to listen to the original track while applauding Mino for putting a limelight on Korean pop culture and history. Because in addition to the retro sound, the music video for “Fiancé” is a fever-dream blend inspired by the Korean Joseon dynasty and modern-day angst. In the clip the rapper wanders between fantasy and reality, dressed as an emperor as he searches the past, present and future for his one true love.

“I was getting to love myself, and everything [about that experience] is in this album.”

Is it possible that with younger artists like him using older genres like trot or paying homage to their history in music videos, it can help young listeners appreciate tradition a little bit more? Mino reveals that wasn’t really his intention at all. “In fact, I considered this song for older people than younger people,” he says, adding his plan was to erase misconceptions about hip-hop and ‘young’ music in the minds of older generations. “Even if the genre of hip-hop is popularized, it is still hard to catch up with higher age. So it seems like sampling of ‘Soyanggang River Maiden’ was a good plan for this song.” “Fiancé” has indeed added to the buzz around rappers defying expectations and stepping into traditional musical and visual territories. Hip-hop no longer has one definition and inspiration can come from anywhere. For Mino, the ideas for “Fiance” and XX came from several fragments of art. “I have so many things inspiring me, so I do not know which one to say first,” Mino says. “Among them, some works of  (Italian painter) Piero Fornasetti, various plants–especially blue roses– and the Japanese anime Devilman were in my mind. However, it’s my inner self that affected it the most. I stayed alone in the studio every time so I could be deeply involved in my work and I looked back upon myself.”

XX as a whole has been well-received thanks to its use of complex metaphors, puns and double meanings in its lyricism, but for Mino, making this record was about finding his true self. “I got down to work in earnest in the beginning of 2018 for this album,” he says. “It contains various songs ranging from a song written two-three years ago to a song written two weeks before the album came out.” The rapper has written and composed each and every track, taking a dive into his own psyche to unleash several different sides of himself. In a video teaser right before XX‘s release, Mino explained he’d made the album by “grating [his] soul into it” and the result is an LP that is diverse, clever, saucy and undoubtedly one of the best hip-hop albums of 2018. Lyrically, he tackles everything from waiting for a lost love (“Fiancé”) to calling out obsessive fans (“Agree”) and bold eroticism (“Hope”). He gets emotional on “Alarm” and “Her,” exploring heartbreak, his relationship with his fans and self discovery. “I was getting to love myself, and everything [about that experience] is in this album,” Mino tells me. “I got a lot of thoughts and experiences from it and I am so proud of the production process.”

It’s clear from the get-go that wordplay is key; in the vicious introductory track “Trigger,” Mino uses syllables in its Korean title to play on the curse word ‘shibal,’ blazing through verses of self-praise with swagger, while on “Rocket” he drops references to art, Korean mythology and more. It’s the realest taste of what he’s truly capable of and it surprises and delights in equal measure. The impressive roster of collaborators on the record include YG Entertainment’s biggest in-house producers Choice37 and Millennium, comedian and actor Yoo Byung-jae and up-and-coming vocalist Blue.D, among others. There was one artist, however, that Mino was particularly excited to work with. “It was all fun, but working with YDG was extremely impressive,” he says proudly of his collaboration with the Korean hip-hop veteran on “Bow Wow.” “It was one of my dreams from my childhood.”

Mino at a press event for ‘XX’ in November 2018.

With XX being his first massive solo effort, Mino confesses there were hurdles along the way that he hadn’t expected. “The toughest part was familiarity,” he says, adding, “When I listened to songs hundreds of times to make a song, I always got confused. That’s the hardest thing to me.” Working alone means more pressure and he says he finds it more peaceful when he’s working with the members of Winner– Hoony, Yoon and Jinu. “When I work alone… I get sensitive because I am dissatisfied with any result. When I work with Winner, it’s really a load off my mind. Each member has their own roles, and I think we fit in nicely with each other.”

Mino’s journey has been wild, difficult, rewarding and a little messy–we’ve covered a lot of it over the course of the interview, but it still feels like we’re scratching the surface. He seems to agree; there’s a lot more he wants to consume and learn and a lot more he wants to show all his fans, old and new. “I am always thankful to fans who have supported me from the beginning and everyone who has known me since yesterday,” he says. “I will try to put a little more of my own personality and style on next album, and I also want to challenge something that no one expected.” While the search for the ‘real’ Mino continues, XX is a chapter in his story that marks a significant turn; he’s found a balance between the sexy rapper we see with Winner, the exuberant hip-hop dudebro he turns into with MOBB and the expressive poet he is as a soloist. It might not be lightening in a bottle just yet, but it’s pretty damn close.

[iimaginedragons]

album review

“pray for the wicked” -- panic! at the disco [2018]

the highly anticipated sequel to the commercially successful “death of a bachelor” album by emo pop punk gone alternative band panic! at the disco is here, and i decided that it would be the perfect start for my new album review segment. i’ll break this down track by track in a moment, but first, some background and overall impressions.

although i can’t call myself a longtime panic! fan as i only really discovered their entire discography less than a year ago, i definitely enjoy their music a lot. i’m kind of glad that i wasn’t there from the start, since i was able to really enjoy “death of a bachelor” when i first found it without having any attachment to their previous sound, since i hadn’t heard it before. if you saw my chaotic rant about p!atd a few days ago, i ranked my favourite albums of theirs, “a fever you can’t sweat out” taking the top spot with “death of a bachelor” in second. from what i’ve seen within the fandom, this seems to be an unpopular opinion since they’re so different. since i absolutely love these two very different eras of panic!, and i figured that this put me in a perfect place to await “pray for the wicked”; i felt ready for basically any sound and i also felt like brendon was really going to hit his prime as the sole remaining member of panic! especially after a “début” of sorts with “death of a bachelor.”

however, as a whole, i felt let down by this album, especially after such promising singles. although there were many positives in “pray for the wicked”, it was also riddled with problems all throughout. here’s my opinion on each track along with my analysis of what went right and what went wrong on this album.

#1 -- “(fuck a) silver lining”

when this song was first released a while ago along with “say amen (saturday night)” i really only thought it was “okay”. i think that compared to the big roaring chorus and instrumentation on the other track, this one fell sort of short. however, after more listens, i really came to appreciate the bass in the verses, the brass on the chorus, as well as the vocal hook on the chorus, which i initially didn’t like because the lyrics “fuck a” felt awkward to me -- now, however, i feel like i’ve absorbed the beat of it a little more and i actually really enjoy it. also, it took me several listens to hear brendon’s high notes in the ending chorus since i was initially so irked by and hung up on the “awkward” lyricism, but they’re absolutely incredible. say what you will about his music, but this man can sing. the whole idea of this song, of nothing ever being good enough or totally okay despite silvers linings also really grew on me. overall, i think this is one of the strongest tracks on the album and it’s definitely a song that i’ve been and will continue coming back to listen many times around.

#2 -- “say amen (saturday night)”

i was very glad this song came on right after “(fuck a) silver lining”, because this one impressed me right off the bat and still does to this day. the vocals are clean, the subtle guitar fits very well, and the brass in the chorus works within the heavy alternative beat in this amazing way that p!atd can do. the long high note is obviously impressive as hell, but i also feel like the bridge’s low notes deserve some praise too. this track feels like a strong evolution from the style in many “death of a bachelor” songs, such as “emperor’s new clothes” and “crazy=genius” which are among my favourite panic! songs of all time partially due to their thickly produced alternative choruses. i think this is truly the song that got me the most excited for the new album because it’s so grand and well-mixed. it was smart of brendon to release this one first, commercially speaking, as it got really positive reviews. sadly, i feel like it ultimately came to bite him in the ass as hardly any other songs on “pray for the wicked” were able to live up to this one. 

#3 -- “hey look ma, i made it”

here’s where we unfortunately start getting into some problems. the album was obviously going very well so far, but i was especially excited for the first song that i had yet to hear, and man, was i ever let down. i feel like since this is a positive anthem with a shoutout to his mom, fans will jump all over this song; not me, sorry. we have some lukewarm vocals over a synth riff that just doesn’t do it for me at all, and a simple mellow pop beat, which is really not typical of panic! who i’ve always found to have excellent percussion, or else enough of the other things to make up for weaker drums. i also find the lyrics weak and tacky, your usual motivational, shrug off the haters and follow your dreams song. the vocal melody, especially, in the verses, is beyond dull to me. i really don’t like the “boo-hoo” before the chorus -- that’s probably what i detest the most about this track. i know it’s meant to be funny and it’s obviously sarcastic, and who doesn’t love sarcasm, right? this, however, isn’t sarcasm done right; it’s sarcasm done lazily and stupidly. brendon could have come up with a clever line or something like we all know he can, but no, we’ve got “boo-hoo”. i don’t like the trap-inspired beat on the second pre-chorus and the final chorus either; it doesn’t fit the song. i can’t say that there are many panic! at the disco songs that i would skip when listening to an album, but this is certainly one of them, unfortunately.

#4 -- high hopes

i enjoyed this one a lot when it first came out, since i get major “death of a bachelor” vibes from it. although it encorporates many aspects of mainstream pop (which isn’t inherently a bad thing of course) such as the clicking percussion in the intro, it is done well because it is cohesive with the rest of the production, notably a far more varied vocal melody, a hook that’s actually catchy, and excellent brass, all of which the previous track on the album totally lacked. although this is another motivational anthem, the lyrics aren’t awkward to me and the rhymes flow far better; they feel natural rather than forced (a fairly common problem on many tracks of this album). i think for me the vocals really make this song, as well as again, that heavy chorus. i love that acapella bit near the end, then the entrance of another typical pop build up for the rest of that chorus before finally landing into the chorus’s final renditions. i’ll stress this again: the drums, horns, and vocal melody are crafted well enough to surround and embellish the mainstream pop aspects of this song, make it different, and increase its substance; that, to me, is what alternative music is all about. this is also among the strongest tracks on the album for me.

#5 -- roaring 20s

the start of this song really caught me off guard, but i immediately had a good impression about it. i’m really gonna discuss the lyrics on this one because i’m super conflicted on it. immediately i got a “don’t threaten me with a good time” vibe, especially with the phrase “this is the strangest of summers” and the previous lyrics. however, the following lyric, “maybe i’ll medicate, maybe inebriate” is super problematic for me; this is one of those instances where the rhyme feels forced and a bit basic. same with “maybe i’ll smile a bit, maybe the opposite” -- i mean the syllables are counted just right, the words are similar and simple... it just feels extremely weak to me, as if literally any novice songwriter could have written it. i find the pre-chorus very good, and the ensuing hook “this is my roaring 20s” is fine as well, but let’s talk about “roll me like a blunt ‘cause i wanna go home”; i hate it, i think it’s absolutely stupid and it could have been tweaked just a tad to make sense (i mean, it comes up later as “roll me a blunt ‘cause i wanna go home” which makes a hell of a lot more sense and could have a deeper meaning -- is he only at home when he is high? it would totally work as the regular chorus line for the whole song if the vocal melody was altered just a tad). it’s unfortunate because i was willing to overlook the simple rhymes earlier because sonically, i find this song very catchy and unique (love the 20s vibe), but man, those lyrics... i will say this, though: it has been bothering me far less with more listens -- the sound is gradually making up for the poor lyricism everywhere (it only gets worse with the second verse). time for a huge positive score though, probably the best thing that came out of a non-single song on this entire album for me: the slowed down, 20s take on the second last chorus. i find it so incredible, well-placed within the song, and perfectly executed. it sounds authentic enough but somehow also fitting in a modern alt pop album -- i don’t know how he does it. for me, it makes the entire song worth listening to; i soldier on through the shit verse lyrics just to hear what i find to be a huge sonic achievement for not just this song or album, but for panic! in general. as i mentioned earlier, there’s also that modified lyric in the chorus that sounds far better. i kind of wish that every chorus had been like that sonicallt, but i don’t know if it would have had the same incredibly exciting effect that it had on me the first time i heard it; thanks to that, this track is the only non-single one that i’ve really been listening a lot. also, a little sidenote i just thought of: this is really the “stay frosty royal milk tea” of this album for me; i really like it sonically but the lyric issues are cringey -- let’s hope i can eventually overlook them as i mostly have with the fall out boy track.

#6 -- dancing’s not a crime

this song kicks off with a really exciting vibe aside from the obnoxious chopped electronic sample -- i like the guitar and brass as well. i’m really not a fan of the chorus, i mean lyrically it’s weak, but as i’ve been stressing this entire time, if you have enough of everything else to embellish a weaker part of a song, it can work, especially with the amount of layers there are in alternative music thanks to heavy production; here though, it just doesn’t work for me, as the drumming and bass are pretty weak as well. i’m not a fan of brendon’s vocals on the chorus either, he sounds like he is straining too much (i have heard people give the same complaint about “high hopes” and a few other p!atd songs on other records as well, which i can understand, but i guess it’s really up to personal interpretation because i personally love the vocals on “high hopes”). i think my biggest problem with this entire song is that i find it very tacky. i understand that he was sort of going for a broadway vibe on certain parts of this album, which works in some places and not at all in others; this is one of those “others”. the issue isn’t really that the song’s about dancing which in and of itself has come to be seen as a tacky theme in music; it’s more so a lack of effort in trying to make it not tacky that saddens me. the brendon that we’ve seen over the years has written of pretty common themes in music such as sex, cheating in relationships, drugs, and partying in general, but has done so in such refreshing unique ways. i’ve personally always admired his ability to make a party song that’s always a bit “too deep” to be your typical party song -- a prime example of that, again, is “don’t threaten me with a good time”; sure, it’s goofy at times, but it’s clever and it also has this dark, almost sad undertone, as if conveying already the regrets of the following days. here, however, i hear only a surface level song that tries too hard to be a jam and not hard enough to be an actually well-rounded song.

#7 -- one of the drunks

what i just talked about in terms of party related lyrics applies very well again to this track. the verse is very basic and very un-panic!-ish -- to me it sounds like something maroon 5 would write (and i really don’t mean that as a compliment). the guitar and beat in the chorus are alright, they’re mellow but in a good way this time -- i honestly don’t really have any particular problems with the chorus, but it’s also nothing special either. another one of my issues with these verses though is the very short, choppy statements; i mean, he’s not even writing fucking sentences. if you’re into that, then it’s okay i guess, but personally i like full or half sentences rather than just individual or very small groups of words just being sort of tossed around, you know? i like a cohesive statement; doesn’t have to be a story with perfect flow, but i don’t mind some sense of time and direction rather than feeling as though i am floating around in this cloud of space where words are just being chucked at me left and right with what seems to be very little thought behind them. this style of lyricism also reminds me of lots of current trap and trending hip/hop, which i find to be very weak genres lyrically-speaking. i think this song also tried to convey that “hidden sadness/depth within the party song” that i mentioned earlier, and although i do kind of feel it in the chorus, i find the vocals and production don’t convey it as well as they could have. i don’t like the bridge, but it does make that last chorus pop a hell of a lot more. this one isn’t a song i’d purposely skip, but it wouldn’t really be my first choice to listen to at any point either.

#8 -- the overpass

again, another track with an extremely promising start. that brass, those bongos... and then our typical high energy p!atd breakdown, followed by some awesome vocals and bass -- i mean i was feeling very good about this song, probably better than any other non-single start that i’d heard on the album thus far. i like the sound of the chorus, but i wouldn’t call it grand either -- i’m also not a fan of the repetition right at the start: “meet me, meet me, at the overpass, at the overpass”. i know brendon is clever enough to fill that in with some variation; it feels lazy. the vocal run before the bridge is clean and beautiful, yet the strings (which i felt lacked both quality and quantity on this album in general) on the bridge reminds me a bit of a watered down “(fuck a) silver lining” and i dislike the way brendon articulates those lyrics. although it isn’t super impressive and got a pretty positive reaction out of me initially mostly because it’s preceded by two bummers and a problematic fave, this is honestly not a bad song. there isn’t too much that’s really “wrong” with it (as you saw, i was being pretty fucking nitpicky), though of course, “not a bad song” is not a great compliment in comparison to what we are used to saying about panic!’s work.

#9 -- king of the clouds

despite being the shortest track on “pray for the wicked”, this song undoubtedly makes up in quality what it lacks in length. i was initially annoyed at brendon for dropping a fourth single since we already knew that the album was only going to be eleven songs and it was coming out in like a week anyways, so i tried to boycott it so as not to spoil the album for myself -- two minutes later i was listening, and i fell so hard for this absolute jam that i couldn’t even be angry. the acapella intro with all those layers sounds heavenly, especially as i am lucky enough to own a solid pair of beats headphones through which to experience it. that electric guitar lick hooked me immediately and i was just immersed in this song from then on out. heavy alternative production dominates, reminiscent for me of "friction”, “gold”, “smoke and mirrors”, “i’m so sorry”, and a few others off of imagine dragons’s “smoke + mirrors” album, a deliberately overproduced alternative record that just so happens to be my personal favourite of all time. the roaring chorus just demands to played at full blast. the lyrics are decent; not as existential as brendon intended them to be, but catchy nonetheless. the “below the sun” rhyme sounds, again, a bit forced, but within such a powerful track i can forgive it. the strings are really awesome here (probably their best spot in the entire album), and the outro vocals are great as well. this all sort of brings on an interesting idea for me; if you’ve been keeping up with panic! lately, you may have heard brendon discuss the making of “king of the clouds” and the fact that it was created very quickly and added to the album only an hour before their due date. for some reason, it just bothers me that my favourite and one of strongest songs on the album was created in so little time, whereas tracks like “hey look ma, i made it” were done way before and are far inferior in quality to me. it begs the question of what the fuck was he doing the entire time before the creation of “king of the clouds”? i mean “say amen (saturday night)” and other previously mentioned songs are strong and i can see time being dedicated to writing and producing them, obviously, but if it took brendon the rest of that time (aka any time way longer than it took him to make “king of the clouds” and the other strong songs) to craft something like “dancing’s not a crime”, i'd say that’s honestly kind of sad. i don’t mean to insult brendon’s work ethic; i just find that for the creativity that we know he still has to this day thanks to the “death of a bachelor” album as well as songs like “king of the clouds”, it’s disheartening to see final products like the mediocre at best songs i’ve described above. anyway, this is my personal favourite song off the entire album, i think it’s very well done.

#10 -- old fashioned

after what i just wrote on brendon, i feel kind of guilty because i love and respect him so much, so i really wish i had something nice to say right now about this next song... yet we open on this low horn type sound that i’m really not a fan of. thankfully it fades into the background, making place for a verse with a guitar style that sounds like it was sampled directly from the second verse of “say amen (saturday night)” -- the lyrics are okay in the beginning, yet the chorus is weak and the strings don’t fit the rest of the song at all. the “dead and gone so long, seventeen so gone” hook sounds like everything that is wrong with current mainstream pop. then for the bridge, we mix this broadway-like sound with nice brass, which works, but then we’ve also got the “say amen (saturday night)” type guitar and our current basic beat, getting this strange combination that really doesn’t work sonically for me. also, “get boozy”? like... really? i’m sorry, but to me that’s a pretty pathetic bridge. overall, this song is just not very exciting, and i don’t understand the thought behind so many of the sonic transitions, especially that final chorus. this is among the worst on the album for me.

#11 -- dying in la

my immediate thought with this one was “good on panic! for ending on a ballad again” as it really worked on their last album. this track begins relatively well with some nice piano (a little too broadway for my taste, but i can understand the appeal) and good vocals. however, it quickly goes downhill from there for me. maybe it’s because i was expecting another “impossible year” which is an incredibly difficult feat to top, and maybe it’s because i prefer mournful themes to dreaming, hopeful ones. either way, this song really fell short for me. i was good with it despite the cheesiness until the “dying in la” line where brendon hikes up his vocals -- i find it to be completely unnecessary and a huge turn off for the song. yes, he had been channelling his inner broadway on the album but it was subtle; this time all i could think of was some cheesy dreamer’s musical, with this song being the main character’s turnaround point where they then get shot into the wonderful life of stardom thanks to all their hard work and the fact that they believe! ...awful. i just can’t do it. i know this song is meant to be sad by talking about all these washed up people who came to this big city with their larger-than-life ambitions and simply turned into partiers, drug addicts, or whatever. it’s really a great idea for a theme and i would love a song about that, but broadway musical style is not the way to do it. the entrance of the strings really just kind of ended it right then and there for me; it felt like it was trying so hard to be dramatic, while i was sitting here just rolling my eyes. obviously brendon’s vocals are good, but i just can’t deal with the childishness of this song. this level of cheesiness is (and to me, has always been) beyond brendon; he’s always just been so above that, better than this. “impossible year” is somewhat cheesy, yet it’s way more raw and real than this staged shit. i don’t know, i feel like the fans are going to fall for this one as well because it’s meant to be sad and it’s the only ballad on there. for me, all it did was make me feel this aching melancholy for the better p!atd slow songs, such as “the end of all things” or “far too young to die”.

overall, the strong points in “pray for the wicked” for me truly laid in the singles and a couple of other songs. general layered production was decent though a bit muddy at times, the use of brass, horns, etc. within a variety of beats was admirable and refreshing despite it not paying off each time, and the overall cohesiveness of the album is the only thing it has on “death of a bachelor” which is a bit all over the place in terms of musical style. i think that it is really thanks to the consistent utilisation of those trumpets, saxophones, etc. that “pray for the wicked” feels more like an album.

however, the negative points in “pray for the wicked” aren’t few or small enough to simply overlook quickly. yes the album is cohesive, but as a whole it is relatively forgettable, with very few standout songs. there is an unfortunate immaturity and simplicity in terms of lyricism and some sonic aspects of the album that i’ve never really seen from brendon, which is really disappointing for me. certain songs also blatantly outshined others, which would be fine if those “others” weren’t as weak as they are; it’s as if all efforts were thrown into a select few songs and the rest were just tossed in there for length. although i praised the use of brass throughout the album for its uniqueness and its ability to make the whole thing sound far more collected than their previous album, i also think that it might have been overused, as it was dragged into settings (notably beats and some strings and synth arrangements) that really did not require it or sound good with it at all. 

i could see this album growing on me as i listen to it some more, since i find myself to become a bit of a “lazy listener” if that makes sense; to a certain extent, i’ll absorb the awkward lyrics, weird sounds, etc. and sort of set them aside and just listen, if there’s enough of a song to salvage despite all those mistakes. “roaring 20s” for example is so catchy that i’ve already been listening to it a lot and really liking it, whereas i don’t know if i could ever genuinely enjoy “hey look ma, i made it” or “old fashioned” at all since for me the blunders in those are just too prominent and/or numerous. only time will tell, i guess.

in terms of my ranking for this album in comparison to the rest of p!atd’s work, i’d rank “pray for wicked” last along with “pretty. odd.” (which i don’t even like to count in my book because it’s just not so my style at all that i feel guilty judging its quality).

essentially i had been hoping for further evolution from the great sound of “death of a bachelor” and the singles made “pray for the wicked” seem really promising; unfortunately the rest of the album fell extremely short for me.

i’ll probably get murdered by fans for this, but my final rating for this album is a 4.5/10.

i think i’ll keep doing some more of these in-depth track and album reviews like this with both new releases and old favourites. if there’s anything you’d like me to review (even if it’s not in my tags at all), feel free to just drop a song or album in my ask anytime and i’ll get it up there asap, obviously crediting you in the process.

---mel 

[musicoccurred]

Album Deep Dive: Binaural

Here at Music Occurred our goal is to give you a diverse selection of music-related content to keep you discovering new bands, revisiting bands (and records) you used to love and most of all, get you off your keister and go to a show. Today we're launching a new series: Album Deep Dives. We pick one of our favorite records (it does not have to be a new or megaselling album) and go through both the production of it and the record itself with a fine-toothed comb. Hopefully it will make you dig it out of the crate (or visit your local independent record store) and listen to it with fresh ears.

I've been on a Pearl Jam kick lately, yes that's funny to some of you... I don't actually listen to them all that much, mainly around concert time and new releases. I have a couple shows coming up and I've discovered a podcast dedicated to the band so I am particularly inspired. I consider myself a superfan but there are others that have more time and money to have seen the band literally hundreds of times. In a way I'm envious but truthfully I like witnessing a variety of music to help enhance my palate. Not that I feel you have to be a superfan to do an Album Deep Dive, but my Pearl Jam pedigree is pure. Two tattoos, tens of thousands of miles driven (soon to be more) hundreds of gallons of truck-stop coffee, dozens of shows and countless hours listening to each and every record they release. You can tell a true Pearl Jam fan by asking them what they think of a new track. Their answer will invariably contain "I need to hear it live first" before they render final judgement.

Aided by the passage of time I look back at Pearl Jam's studio discography and notice a distinct pattern: their albums seem to group up as the band evolves. For example, Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy all have a conquer-the-world, angsty sound with Vitalogy giving us a hint of what's to come. Withering from the bright lights and looking to shrink their footprint a bit, the next three albums, No Code, Yield and Binaural, show a band at war with itself, TicketMaster and fame in general. These three are my favorites, mature song-writing and a band with nothing left to prove only trying to figure out how to keep it all going. There seems to be a drastic change at this point. It's like they went from rock stars to graybearded sages. In other words, they grew up. Riot Act, Pearl Jam (aka Avocado,) Back Spacer, and lastly Lightning Bolt all seem to be straight forward rock records. I took artistic liberty with my groupings, I could totally see a Ten, Vs group with a Vitalogy, No Code and Yield group with Binaural and Riot Act together but hey, it's my site.

That brings us to the album I've chosen to examine, Binaural. It's my favorite Pearl Jam record and I dare say it's at or near the top of most Pearl Jam nerds list. To me it's the birth of the modern era of the band. What we know about Pearl Jam today, starts here. Personally, the album’s release coincided with a major life change for me and the first tour of the band where I saw multiple shows in a short time. Fittingly this was Pearl Jam's first album to not go platinum. It debuted at #2 on the chart and moved a quarter-million units the first week then nose-dived. In the following 18 years (that's right Binaural can now vote) I'm fairly certain it has gone platinum at the global level. Binaural also marks the first album since Ten to not be produced by Brendan O'Brien, although O'Brien did mix a few tracks - more on that later.

Pearl Jam staggered into the studio mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. They toured relentlessly for Yield and felt they were at a creative crossroads and needed a change, exit Brendan O'Brien and enter Tchad Blake. Known for his binaural recording techniques (hence the name) he provided the band exactly what they were looking for. Recorded at Stone Gossard's Studio Litho in Seattle from September of 1999 to January of 2000 the stories from the sessions are legendary. Amps at full volume in a room with just the door cracked and the mics down the hall. Amps in trash cans and creative microphone placements are just a few. During final mixing the band found that the slower numbers were perfect for Blake's style but the faster tracks needed the touch of O'Brien. The resulting product is certainly different than any of their records before or after with a sound of its own. While it utilized the binaural recording technique it sounds fabulous on standard hifi gear. I frequently listen to it with my good headphones for the full effect.

Ask anyone their thoughts on Binaural and inevitably the word "dark" will be used. The band was facing inner turmoil as Eddie Vedder struggled with writer's block, Mike McCready dealt with addiction issues, Matt Cameron was new to the band and control of the band had permanently shifted from Stone to Ed. During the tour for Binaural there was a terrible accident at the band's performance at the Roskilde festival where 9 concert goers died. It nearly broke the band up. What's interesting to me is that Binaural sounds as if this incident occurred prior to the recording and the somber tones were a result of it. Earlier I mentioned that "what we know about Pearl Jam today, starts here," what I meant is Pearl Jam present themselves as a unified team, clearly Eddie's team, but a team of equals otherwise. At a Pearl Jam show Eddie will frequently tell a snippet of a story about the birth of a song or who wrote the music to this one. Often it will be someone else in the band. This didn't happen in the earlier albums. Ten, Vs, Vitalogy and No Code the lyrics were almost exclusively written by Ed. Beginning with Yield we started seeing more input, lyrically, from the other members. By the time they entered the studio for Binaural this new way of doing things was in full force. From this point forward their albums are very modular. With each member bringing in already constructed components and assembling them together. It may be a riff or a few lines, or it could be an entirely complete song just needing a solo from Mike or phrasing from Ed. Timing for this change was perfect. The band was nearing a decade together, they had added veteran musician/song writer Matt and Ed was mired in a horrific case of writer's block.

Track by track

Binaural opens with “Breakerfall” a punk inspired run through Eddie’s metaphorical lyrics in a tight 2:19. Side note: Pearl Jam are incredibly thoughtful about their records. They control every aspect of production, track sequencing and packaging. This album is no different, the tracks fit together perfectly. Next up is “God’s Dice” that begins with a rapid fire Matt Cameron drum roll and jams along with a rapid pace that belies the quieter songs later. “Evacuation” has an odd timing signature (hello Matt Cameron!) will strike you as a new sound from Pearl Jam but if you listen to later records you’ll find that some of their new sounds originated with this track. “Evacuation” also serves as a transition into the slower songs on the record. “Light Years” is where the album really begins to shine, music by Mike McCready, it has the classic Eddie story arc. You feel like you’re on a journey with the protagonist, anecdotally, it’s about a friend of the band, Diane Muus from Sony Music who had passed away a couple years prior. “Nothing As It Seems” showcases the binaural recording. Jeff Ament’s bass sounds like it’s behind and below you and Mike’s guitar is sitting on my right shoulder. This slow burn of a song really comes to life at concerts. “Thin Air” is a light acoustic style track reminiscent of college radio classics being played around a beach camp fire. Soulful lyrics, lush background harmonies make you reach for your own guitar. “Insignificance” is likely my favorite of the higher tempo songs. A meditation on war, it features a style of music that’s unique to Pearl Jam, they vary tempos like no other band I’ve seen, slow burn to full on rock all inside of a single song. Next up is “Of The Girl,” if you’ve never been to a Pearl Jam show, they typically open up with a quiet song with the lights down low, then launch into a rocker. Of all of them, my favorite is “Of The Girl” the clean riff with Mike’s lead lightly picking over the top. Eddie’s soft singing really settle you into a groove. I’ll post a video of it as an opener below. 

Shifting gears back into the noisier stuff, “Grievance” is inspired by the protests at the WTO summit in Seattle. It features that signature start-stop rhythm that showcases what Matt brings to the band. Beginning with Vitalogy Pearl Jam can get weird on you from time to time. “Rival” is probably the strangest song on this record. It begins with what sounds to be a pig eating an apple. The music is pretty standard Stone Gossard riffs but with the vocals layered on top.”Sleight of Hand” begins just with a single lead guitar and drums with Ed singing over the top. When the bridge hits the full band joins in only to abruptly go back to the single guitar and drums. It’s a very hard song to describe but sounds great. “Soon Forget” is a short ukulele song that doesn’t seem to fit the album (more on that later) fortunately for us it foreshadows a full album released by Ed a few years later. The album closes with “Parting Ways” an epic closer with a sitar sounding guitar and big tom tom rhythms. 

Member by member

Ed had the music for what would become "Grievance" and "Insignificance" two songs that shine in concert by the way. But he had no lyrics and had even given up the guitar. Thankfully he discovered the ukulele and began plucking away at it. This would explain why "Soon Forget" is included on this record despite not really fitting and displacing several other great tracks. It marks his conquering the demon that is writer's block. This, coupled with releasing the somewhat strange "Nothing As It Seems" as the lead single dismisses any notion that this is anyone else's band. In typical enigmatic Ed fashion, the album ends with a hidden track called "writer's block" that is just the sound of Ed pounding away on a typewriter for a couple minutes.

Aside from the music on “Light Years, ”Mike McCready did not write any of the songs on Binaural but he "McCreadys it up" on most of them. Mike is quite possibly one of the most under-rated guitarists of his generation he can absolutely shred but more so he has an instantly identifiable tone. On "Nothing As It Seems" his feedback laced guitar solos are so brilliant that I've personally witnessed the crowd chanting "Mike" so forcefully that Ed had to stop the show so Mike could take a bow. His battle with Crohn's Disease and subsequently prescription medicines certainly took their toll on him. Thankfully he overcame it and is healthy.

Stone Gossard, so aloof in concert but seemingly an engaging person in conversation is really the mastermind behind Pearl Jam. In the beginning it was his band, he wrote most of the music and knew what he wanted it to look and sound like. As mentioned previously, that leadership role shifted over to Eddie Vedder. It's not certain exactly when that happened but my opinion is around the Vitalogy/No Code era. For Binaural, Stone wrote the lyrics and music for "Thin Air," "Of The Girl" and "Rival." He also co-wrote the music for "Light Years."

Jeff Ament is widely known as Ed's best friend in the band. His songs are usually some of the strangest with eclectic phrasing and timing. He wrote "God's Dice," "Nothing As It Seems," and the music for "Sleight of Hand." Jeff is also a very talented visual artist and plays a hand in the album cover/packaging of the records.

That leaves us with Matt Cameron. Now many people have strong opinions on who is the best Pearl Jam drummer but my vote goes to Matt. He has the pedigree of his time with Soundgarden but more importantly his steady hand gave the band a stability they didn't seem to have before, an energy even. Pearl Jam went through several drummers in their first 7 years but Matt has been behind the kit for them for 20 years now. That is no coincidence. He wrote the music for "Evacuation" on this record. One bone to pick, most casual fans will say Dave Abbruzzese is their favorite Pearl Jam drummer. While Dave is certainly a very talented drummer, he was simply the first drummer most people saw in the videos from Ten, they likely don't realize he wasn't the drummer they were hearing on the record. For what it’s worth, his work on Vs and Vitalogy were stellar, the dude can drum.

For all that's included in Binaural, what's left out is just as important. As I've alluded to before, Pearl Jam is a fan's band. Their shows are legendary and each setlist is mostly unique and contains tracks selected just for that venue, crowd and city etc. Ed is effectively Bruce Springsteen Jr so the shows started getting longer and longer, break out the B Sides! Pearl Jam deep cuts are mainstays of the concerts and Binaural has several. "Sad," "Education," and "Fatal" have all become fan favorites.

If you’ve never listened to this record all the way through or if it’s just been a while. Pick it up and drop the needle.

-JS

[shark-myths]

4. wilson (expensive mistakes)

part 4 of shark-myth’s mania meta series

so even though there are a few posts of preliminary screaming about this song already (here and here), I haven’t done a proper crawl through the lyrics yet! hold onto your butts, kids. here we go.

Wilson is named for the volleyball in Castaway who is Tom Hanks’ best friend and sole companion as he sloooowly sinks into madness. The bond is imaginary, created entirely in Hanks’ head out of his desperation. There is no hope of the relationship ever being reciprocal—Wilson, by definition, cannot participate in it the way Hanks would want him to. Isn’t that an interesting choice of dynamics to frame this particular song with? ISN’T IT. The initial assumption I made on was that Pete was the Castaway (Pete with his endless endless ENDLESS way down south stuff, Pete with his introducing the song as ‘this is about the person you want to run away to a desert island with’). but later, when we get the video, that perspective shifts: it is Patrick holding the volleyball, Patrick from whom Wilson is violently ripped away in the Beyond the Video.

pair that with the soundplay-over-wordplay quality of certain verses of this song and the mentions of being drunk (which as quite rare in the FOB discography, but quite plentiful in the solo Stump discography), and I think Patrick had more of a hand in writing these lyrics than usual. (oh my god I promise that was an ACCIDENTAL youngblood pun.) I think that there is some sharing of voice, here: some of these verses are from Pete’s perspective, and some of them are from Patrick’s. sonically and thematically, as I have argued before, I anchor this song firmly in the 09 era, around the time of I Don’t Care (this song’s twin, I think) and the hiatus.

the song opens immediately with some classic p. steezy lyrical markers: stutter-singing and emphasis/rhyme by repetition.

 I was I was I was I was Gonna say something that would solve all our problems But then I got drunk and I forgot what I was talking about I forgot what I was talking about

If the lyric was got high, I’d think Pete wrote it. But it’s not, and I think this bit is Patrick. It’s the feeling of being the one with the power to say the one thing that would fix it all, but losing your nerve, or fucking up your intention. What could Patrick have said in 2009 that would have fixed every problem faced by the band, by he and Pete in particular? here you are in shark-myth’s creepy museum of queer conspiracy, so I think you know what I’m going to say. I love you. Patrick could have said Pete, I love you too.

and god. wasn’t it a mistake, not to? didn’t it cost them—everything?

Don't you, don't you, don't you know

There's nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody

There's nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody but you

Than to be loved by everybody but you, but you

this verse is pure Pete. Pete Wentz, adored and loathed in equal parts, jumping his own fucking shark in 2009, a media mogul and a reality star and our punching bag and our golden son all at once. (aside: even in their February 2018 interview in UPSET magazine, Pete still expressed that he’d rather be hated than ignored. this explains so much about pete wentz.) And all he fucking wants is for Patrick to love him, and he can make the rest of the world hang on his every word, and it doesn’t mean a fucking thing to him. Patrick is what he wants, what he can’t have. and it’s so fucking cruel.

If I could get my shit together I'm gonna run away and never see any of you again Never see any of you again

This is pure way-down-south escapism. I’ve got a whole post about it, linked above, if you want to hear more about that. It’s very consistent with 2009, and fits well as a line of thinking that preluded the hiatus.

I hope the roof flies off and I get blown out into space I always make such expensive mistakes I know it's just a number but you're my 8th wonder I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker color

This verse is definitely Pete’s voice. We’ve got the pop culture Wes Anderson quote, the pop culture Addams Family quote, and the sharp, clever wordplay to prove it. Pete loves Wes Anderson, and very specifically, this quote from Moonrise Kingdom is pulled from a movie about two oddball kids against the rest of the world who decide to run away from their mundane, misunderstood lives in the name of their true love. their love and relationship is very underdeveloped in the film, very adolescent, very becoming; it serves as an echo and an amplifier of each kid’s sense of not fitting in, of isolation. They choose each other as the miracle solution, the cure, to that isolation; an adult looking at their escape plan sees the futility of it: running away with someone else, someone who is totally untested in love, someone you have made into this huge lifechanging idol in your head but you don’t know very well in real life? they’re going to disappoint you. you’re going to get to mexico and you’re going to find yourself, and all your shitty feels, right there. You have to find a way to fit into your own life before you can fit there comfortably with anyone else. The movie is a good one, and it hits every fucking note for me when we layer it in next to pre-hiatus Peterick and the choice of the Wilson/Chuck Noland relationship as the title of this song.

‘I know it’s just a number’ evokes the weird fixation on math and accounting that some of their lyrics have had through the years, which I will write on someday when I sort out my thoughts about it. I like here too the acknowledgment of artifice; we get it again in TLOTRO, with ‘tell me I’m the only one, even if it’s not true.’ Words and symbols, endearments and declarations, we choose those: we wear them. They do not reflect a true quality. They reflect choices. Pete’s saying, listen, this doesn’t have to mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me; you are the most wonderful thing in the world to me. There’s the great pyramid, there’s the hanging garden of Babylon, there’s the temple of Artemis, and there’s you: Patrick fucking Stump of the golden heart and marble thighs. Which. Fucking same.

The Wednesday Addams quote is of course a fucking delight. It says ‘I’m intense, I’m overwrought, I don’t give a fuck. I’m only ever going to double down. I will never back off. I don’t care if you think I’m ridiculous, I am too much, and I always will be.’ I treasure this line. I sing it to my cat like, several times every day (which i understand is the normal amount)

On the wrong side of p-p-paradise And when I say I'm sorry I'm late, I wasn't showing up at all I really mean I didn't plan on showing up at all

The first line here ties well to Y&M—I woke up on the wrong side of reality—and I love the way it highlights the gap between what we say, for the sake of social lubricant, and what we really mean. Pete and Patrick are both self-identified hermits—Patrick has been speaking a lot lately about his horror of interacting with others, and Pete has said that his main goal on any given day is to speak to as few people as possible — so this line could really be either of them.

Don't you, don't you, don't you know I hate all my friends, I miss the days when I pretended I hate all my friends, I miss the days when I pretended with you I miss the days when I pretended with you, with you

OKAY IF THIS ISN’T ABOUT TRYST THEORY I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS

 Uses of Pretend in Fall Out Boy Relevant History:

the whole song The End of Pretend, written by Pete during the hiatus

"Pretend you don’t remember,” written by Patrick during the hiatus

“Don’t pretend you ever forgot about me”

“I’m outside the door, invite me in, so we can go back and play pretend”

“But I can’t just pretend we weren’t lovers first”

‘I hate all my friends’ is a good time-anchor too. We have the friends who only like you for your hotel suites, we have the making a few more fake friends, we have pete’s endless blog posts about fake people who don’t really care about him—this mentality is very, very indicative of pre-hiatus Pete, especially during his disillusionment in the Sell Out Era, when he moves from ‘the world’s not waiting for five tired boys in a broken down van/these friends are golden’ to a much more cynical ‘sham friends/friends just because we move units/we’re only good because you can have almost famous friends/these friends, they don’t love you/I’ve got a lot of friends…who are just black holes/my friends all lie and say they only want the best wishes from me’ perspective.

If we hadn't done this thing I think I'd be a medicine man So I could get high on my own supply whenever I can I became such a strange shape, such a strange shape From trying to fit in

THIS BIT HERE! This is SO GOOD! The song really shifts all of a sudden at the end. Pete has described himself of this era as a drugstore cowboy, and speaks very openly (especially in this amazing interview with playboy that will make you fucking weep, I need to own this magazine, yes for the articles, and in post-divorce articles about his mental state at that time) about his misuse of prescriptions during that time. so this is pretty obvious: if they hadn’t done the band, if they hadn’t somehow made it work, the only kind of future he can see for himself is dealing some kind of artificial high and keeping himself medicated, insulated, high above all the rest. Interesting, the lyrics say my own supply, but the actual track says our own supply. That shifts the content for me, a little: it makes it more about a collaborative magic that he makes with someone else. It brings me squarely right to the drug use peterick metaphors, the way Pete has written about Patrick as a drug and a high for so many years.

Finally, I love more than anything this line: ‘I became such a strange shape from trying to fit in.’ This, here in the strange tone-shift of the last verse, takes a step back. This is present-day Pete looking back at himself, the way he became contorted and wracked from trying to please everyone. He’s looking at the Pete who ran away from Chicago and floundered in the neon emptiness of LA, getting drunk and photographed and letting his body be used as a dramatic set piece in the flashbulb frenzy of up-and-coming starlets. He’s looking at the Pete who sold himself cheaply, because he knew he wasn’t worth much. He’s looking at the weirdo behind the awkward tragedy of Fresh Only Bakery, the Pete who bit off his own tongue so he never again had to hear himself speak. ARE YOU CRYING YET? I AM. But the line isn’t just sadness: because it shows us, now, the solid ground that present-day Pete is standing on. The distance he now has from his former life as a demolition derby heart. It shows us how well he knows himself, and what he needs, and what he is newly capable of giving.

To sum up: PETERICK IS DEFINITELY REAL

Love you guys! more MANIA meta soon, and keep your eyes peeled from some v day peterick on wednesday 💘 💘 💘 part 0

part 1

part 2

part 3

[oneweekoneband]

Flyer for one of, if not the, first show by the newly-christened “Dinosaur” in December of 1984 after the band had changed its moniker from the original “Mogo” when Mascis, Barlow and Murph began practicing as a trio without original singer, Charles Nakajima (who had also followed the former two over from Deep Wound).

Please forgive the mild-obnoxiousness of using “Mach I”, “Mach II” and “Mach III” to signify the band’s three distinct chronological phases of 1984-1989, 1990-1998, and 2005-present day, respectively. It just started appearing on the page and I ran with it after having used living crap out out of “phase”, “era” and other synonyms.

The eight songs (two on each full-length) bassist Barlow has written for Dino Jr. Mach III could easily be autumnal Sebadoh fare of the heavier type if Mascis’ fretboard presence was dialed down or replaced by Barlow’s style of forceful strumming and shorter lead-work. Exactly two songs per album seems like pre-planned real estate and perhaps I missed some interview where it’s revealed as such. Nevertheless, it sure beats the hell out of the songwriting takeaway from his first period with the band (a grand total of two tracks..discussed below). Still, the man has been prolific since 2005, with several solo albums on Merge and Joyful, Noise, a nice little batch of releases by Sebadoh’s comeback incarnation, and some stuff under the Sentridoh 2.5 moniker.

Going back to the era of intended focus, Barlow may have written two songs on one Dinosaur Jr. album released between 1985 and 1989 (You’re Living All OVer Me...but again, more on those in a bit), but he does sing about half of 1985′s Dinosaur (along w/ backing and co-vocal performances), despite it being written by Mascis; front-to-back, carpet-to-ceiling.

The one most commonly highlighted quality of the album is its stylistic diversity, to put it lightly. Albums that are jarringly eclectic on a song-by-song basis are not historical anomalies, namely within the endless breadth of what constitutes underground rock. What’s a little more special is the ones that transcend the backhanded “and somehow, they make it work!” critic’s compliment and knock it out of the park. The period of 1983-1985 was not without its near-flawless specimens: The Cure’s Head On The Door, The Replacements’ Let It Be, New Order’s Power, Corruption and Lies as followed by Low-Life, and Husker Du’s trilogy of Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig immediately come to mind. However, part of what makes these albums great exists in the context of each band’s pre-established sound or aesthetic by that juncture in their trajectory. But a debut album that meets this criteria? Let’s shave off the ridiculous “Mountain Man” and aptly-titled “Pointless” (hey, each of the above-listed albums suffered from the cancer that is filler). What’s left? A full album’s worth of (nine) songs and one of the best rides gifted to the world by a band trying to find its place in the American post-hardcore landscape of 1985. That Dinosaur was released six months before Mascis’ 20th birthday might seem like an unfair consideration though this tidbit  undoubtedly helps its cause.

Despite Mascis’ repeated denial of a prominent Neil Young influence in favor of The Rolling Stones, the latter is something I’ve never, ever picked up on anywhere in the entire Dinosaur Jr. discography, while the former is a little more than feasible on Dinosaur’s two ballads, “Severed Lips” and “Quest”. Other influences heard on the album, sometimes within the same song, would be The Cure, Black Sabbath, Discharge/Broken Bones, St. Vitus, The Byrds, and circa-1984 SST.

A favorite Barlow-sung track on Dinosaur is the furiously played “Cats In A Bowl”. To unpack the vague mention of “circa-1984 SST” and further tread upon the thin ice of influence conjecture, the song certainly recalls the Meat Puppets, Minutemen and the lesser-known but often excellent San Francisco outfit, Angst. Maybe even The Feelies, The Embarrassment or R.E.M. while we’re on the accelerated jangle tip. “Cats In A Bowl” was performed only a handful of times during Barlow’s original run with the band then entirely excluded from the 2005-2006 reunion sets which focused on this era. Only later in 2015 was it played live for the ten or so shows that required a start-to-finish performance of Dinosaur to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

“Cats In A Bowl” studio version from Dinosaur (1985)

Next we move on to one of the two aforementioned songs Barlow actually wrote during Round One. Each adds something completely different to 1987’s You’re Living All Over Me, now generally and deservedly recognized as not only the band’s defining document but something that exacted a powerful influence across a very wide swath of underground music’s next 5 - 10 years, from more traditional game-changers such as Nirvana to My Bloody Valentine’s makeover as a world-beating monster in its own right with 1988′s You Made Me Realise EP. “Lose” and “Poledo” are sequenced together at the end of the album. Closer “Poledo” clearly predicts the first incarnation of Sebadoh, if not the lo-fi movement of the next decade. But it’s penultimate rager “Lose” that burns hotter than any of the preceding eight tracks (barring maybe “Raisins”). This is the first song I ever heard that made me think, “this must be what people mean by “post-hardcore”. Much like the best cuts from Rites of Spring’s brief run a couple of years earlier, the song has a believably-unhinged mood, there is a threat of structural collapse throughout, and it projects genuine emotion. Please note, however, that what you’re about to hear sounds absolutely nothing like Rites of Spring.

“Lose” studio version from You’re Living All Over Me, 1987

“Lose” live - from 1986 UMass performance prior to the album’s release. Some descriptions of this claim it’s a practice session, but it may simply be a sparsely-attended show (usually because the band was way, way, way too loud at the time-even for punk/hardcore audiences-hence the barely audible vocals). This is merely a curiosity in that it shows Barlow’s early lack of confidence onstage, which would soon end.   

“Lose”/”Raisins” - scorching live version recorded March of 1989 at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO. From the “Die Barney Die” bootleg 7″ and opposite a great blow through “Raisins”. Almost three years of road-dogging and a shit-ton of passive-aggressive drama separates this version from the previous one. Barlow certainly sounds as if he means it, or at least feels the end coming.

[swimintothesound]

Poptimism, Complexity, and Musical Stockholm Syndrome: Why Some Albums Grow On Us Over Time and Others Don’t

One of the biggest musical revelations of my life, like many things, came from a podcast. It wasn’t a cool song or the discovery of a new genre, but a conceptual framework that changed how I viewed the entirety of music.

The statement, born of a drunken video game discussion, found one of the hosts outlining his definition of pop music. His parameters weren’t based on the artist’s popularity or the sound of their music, but rather something that you could “hear once and enjoy.” He went on to elaborate “I didn’t even like most of my favorite albums the first time I heard them.”

I’m paraphrasing massively here (because I don’t remember the exact quote, episode, or even year), but this general notion is something that has stuck with me for almost a decade. It’s a bit of a roundabout way to define the pop genre (which I still love and appreciate), but it’s also a slightly snobby framework that looks down on an entire genre while simultaneously glorifying your own taste. So sure it’s problematic, but I also don’t think it’s entirely wrong. Pop music is scientifically designed to be catchy, appealing, and broad, that’s inherent in its DNA.

Still, the more I thought about this framing device, the more I found it to be true. I especially latched onto the host’s claim that most of his favorite albums were “growers” he found himself enjoying more over time. As I searched through my own music library, I realized that nearly all of my favorite albums were ones I’d listened to dozens of times and seemingly got better with each listen. In fact, most of them were records that I thought nothing of or flat-out dismissed at first but eventually grew to love. Oppositely, there were dozens of other albums (pop or otherwise) that I’d listened to once and forgotten almost instantly.

So this theory seemed to hold water, and it’s a filter that I’ve used to view music through for nearly a decade at this point. Recently the idea of albums being “growers” brought up online and spark quite a bit of debate. There’s one side that subscribes to the “grower versus shower” mentality, and another that views this behavior as simply subjecting yourself to an album over and over again until you like it. As with most everything, there’s truth to both sides and neither is truly “right.” So I’ve spent some time mulling over this framework, asking people about it, and gathering opinions from both sides of the fence. I’ve uncovered ten different inter-connected elements that are at play within the “grower” concept. I’m going to outline each point below along with personal examples in hopes that I arrive at some sort of conclusion or thesis statement in the process.

1) Denseness and Complexity

One of the biggest arguments in favor of returning to albums and the concept of “growers” is the idea that some genres/bands/records are so musically complex that they encourage it. Whether it’s lyrical, instrumental, or contextual, sometimes there is so much going on in a record that it’s impossible to take everything in on first listen. Take something like Pet Sounds or The Seer where at any given moment there are dozens of individual components all fighting for the same sonic landscape. You can listen to Pet Sounds once and “get it,” but repeated listens reward the listener by allowing them to slowly discover everything at play in these carefully-layered songs. It’s like crossing things off a list; once you know the lyrics you can pay less attention to the vocalist and focus on a different element of the arrangement. You can keep revising an album and delve deeper each time until you have the full picture; one that was impossible to see the first time you listened.

Meanwhile, pop music is almost always internationally bare. By remaining surface-level (both lyrically and instrumentally) pop songs are easier to grasp at first pass. This allows pop artists to more easily fulfill their primary purpose by transporting a single supremely-catchy hook or chorus into the listener’s brain. As a result, the pop genre as a whole actively avoids things that could “distract” the listener because those experimentations and imperfections are often things that risk detracting from the core message that’s being delivered. That’s not to say pop songs don’t require skill to make, just that they avoid anything too “out there.”

Take Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”: it’s a song that I adore, but I’ll be the first to admit there’s almost no substance to it. The main elements at play here are Katy Perry’s voice and a warm radiating synth line. There’s a guitar and bass laid underneath these primary elements along with a handful of ad-libs from both Mrs. Perry and Mr. Dogg, but those the closest thing to musical depth that this track offers. Much like the music video, “California Gurls” is a synthetic and sugary-sweet pop song that exists to convey a single straight-forward message. As a result, you have a song that’s catchy due in large part to the fact that it’s presented in a barebones way. By being lyrically or musically complex you risk immediacy, so you must present your song in a pointed way so as to embrace catchiness.

So obviously sheer mass and complexity are major factors in this debate. Some of my favorite records are indeed sprawling epics that I’ve essentially bonded with over the course of several years. Records that have drawn me back in time and time again and improved my impression of them in the process by developing a unique and ever-changing relationship with me. A musically-dense record will always be more rewarding to return to because it rewards repeated listens and allows the listener to pick up on something new each time. Meanwhile, a pop track may keep a listener coming back for the earworm factor, but won’t necessarily be as deeply rewarding the same way that a “complex” album would be.

2) The Unknown Factor

Sometimes there’s a mysterious, unknowable X-factor that keeps you coming back to a record. Even an album you don’t like can draw you back, if only to pin down its ephemeral magnetism. This has happened to me in 2012 with Carly Rae Jepsen’s megahit “Call Me Maybe” and (after dozens of listens) I’ve since pinned it down to her unique delivery of the goosebump-inducing line “and.. all the other boys.” Early on in his excellent 150-page CRJ-based manifesto, Max Landis does an excellent job of breaking down the song’s undercurrent of distress and subversion, but the point is in 2012 we, as a society, were collectively drawn to this song for some reason.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a weird vocal quirk, other times it’s an attention-grabbing instrumental moment, or a riff that gets stuck in your brain like jelly. In any case, these unique moments aren’t limited to one genre and their ear-worminess plays a huge part in why we return to a piece of art.

I’ve done this with countless songs. Sometimes I’ll find myself listening to an entire album just to experience a single moment in full effect. Sure I can listen to Hamilton’s “Take a Break” in isolation, but it’s only when I listen to the entire play from the beginning that I fully tear up at the song’s implication within the larger narrative. Moments in the song like hearing Phillip’s rap, coupled with Alexander’s growing distance from his family, and dark multi-leveled foreshadowing, are all made more impactful when the piece is taken in as a whole. We don’t get to pick the little things that draw us in, but this search is one of the most rewarding aspects of music appreciation and discovery.

In a third case (I’ll fully-delve into deeper this December), up until last year, Sufjan Stevens has been an artist that I wanted get into. Thanks to a serendipitous iTunes DJ Shuffle back in high school, I became infatuated with exactly three of his songs and I spent literal years listening only to these three tracks until I was ready to explore the rest of his discography.

The Carly Rae Jepsen example proves that there’s still room for these moments in a pop song. Experimentation and subverting expectations can reward the artist in unexpected ways, but if there’s not something there to make the listener curious enough, then it’s unlikely that they’re going to go back and try to figure it out on their own.

3) Critical Acclaim, Message Boards, and Peer Pressure

Like it or not, critics play a role in dictating taste within culture. I suppose it’s less like “dictating” and more like influencing, but I think we’ve all been swayed by reviews at one time or another. Whether it was being convinced to stay away from a bad movie, or giving a record a spin based purely on universal acclaim, critics have an undeniable impact on our cultural landscape.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. At worst it will make you more hesitant, and at best you might give something a chance that you never would have known about otherwise. I did this with Kanye West in 2010 following the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, after its perfect Pitchfork score and placement as their best album of 2010. Aside from Eminem, I’d never really listened to any hip-hop in earnest, but this level of praise couldn’t be a coincidence, right? I downloaded the album, gave it a reluctant spin, and came away from it mostly underwhelmed.

As a side note (before I get called out) it’s worth noting that I didn’t have any context for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy at the time. I had no idea about Kanye’s background, or what the album represented within his career. I also had no real appreciation for the record’s layers upon first listen (circling back to Point #1) but I went on to rediscover and genuinely love it in 2016. The point is I picked up this album solely because of critics.

Continuing the Kanye West anecdotes; I’ve already written about how the internet’s reaction to the release of Yeezus spurred me to give the album a shot. I still didn’t get him. For whatever reason, I gave the album another listen a couple months after its release and suddenly everything clicked. I loved Yeezus and soon found myself venturing back through Kanye’s discography from the beginning. I’d like to think that I came to love Kanye of my own free will, but the reason I gave him a chance in the first place (and the second place) is because of other people. Whether it was a “reputable” journalistic source like Pitchfork, or simply witnessing the unbridled joy of hip-hop heads on an internet message board, I could tell I was missing out on something, and that kept me open.

4) Personal Context, The Language of Genres, and The Passage of Time

After “discovering” Kanye West in 2013, he was the sole hip-hop artist I listened to for some time. I would casually browse forums and keep up on large-scale movements within the genre, but it wasn’t until years later that I would find myself delving deeper into the contemporary rap scene. By the end of 2015, I was listening to everything from leaned-out trap, conceptual double albums, absurdist mixtapes and even Drake. Soon I found myself listening to goofier (then) lesser-known acts like Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and Desiigner. I can guarantee you that I never would have latched onto any of those guys if it wasn’t for Kanye breaking down my personal barriers and dismantling my hip-hop-related hangups. It took time for me to go from actively disliking hip-hop to embracing it wholeheartedly, and that’s a journey that can only happen over time.

While your personal journey within individual genres matters, there are also things like general knowledge and maturity at play too. Once I got out of that shitty high school ‘everything that’s popular sucks’ punk mentality I opened myself up to dozens of new artistic directions. I gained a new appreciation for things I’d previously despised, and I began to understand why things like MBDTF were important. It’s a combination of open-mindedness and cultural awareness that comes with age, and one that I hope never slows as I get older.

Maturity is an uncontrollable factor that’s hard to pin down, and impossible to quantify. I’ve experienced “musical maturity” as recently as this year with the Fleet Foxes. They were a member of my generation’s pivotal “indie folk movement” and I consider them one of my gateway groups, but despite their importance, I’d never really considered myself a fan. And it’s not for lack of trying, I own all their albums, gave them multiple chances throughout high school and college, but I had always found them interminably boring. I didn’t see what other people saw in them… until this year. With the multi-month build-up to 2017’s Crack-Up, I found myself giving into the hype and giving their older albums another shot for the first time in years. To my surprise, after a handful of half-passive listens I really liked everything I heard. All three of their previous releases grew on me over the course of several weeks, and I became a fan like that. I can still see why I found them boring in high school, but I think the real reason is a lack of maturity. I now have the patience and appreciation for the kind of careful, measured indie folk they’re making, and that openness has rewarded me with hours of enjoyment.  

Circling back to Point #1: it’s often hard to fully grasp an album on first listen, and sometimes a record’s complexity doesn’t allow it to truly grab ahold of you until years down the line. In a way, this is also a point against pop music since so much of it “of the moment” it tends to age worse. It’s a genre that’s by nature the most tapped into pop culture, and as a result, it’s harder to go back and enjoy older songs when A) you’ve heard them thousands of times, and B) there’s more recent stuff that’s more tapped into the current sound. It feels like there’s more of an “expiration” to pop music which means it’s not necessarily as rewarding to venture back to.

5) Streaming, Permanence, and Getting Your Money’s Worth

A semi-recent extra-musical factor at play in this discussion has to do with how we consume music. Up until about a decade ago the process was 1) hear a song 2) go buy the album at the store 3) listen to the album. With the rise of iTunes, YouTube, and more recently, digital streaming platforms the entire process has become flattened. A song can come to mind, and we can pull it up on our phones within 30 seconds. You can hear a song at a bar, Shazam it, and add it to your digital collection within an instant.

As a result of this, albums as a concept have been diminished in both stature and importance. You have people like Chance The Rapper releasing retail mixtapes, Kanye West updating his albums after release, and Drake releasing commercial playlists. But on top of these (somewhat arbitrary) distinctions, there’s a layer of increasingly-pervasive accessibility. You can hear about an artist and have their discography at your fingertips within seconds. You can read about a new release and be streaming it by the time that it takes you to finish this sentence. That freedom has forever changed how we consume music. Comparing this on-demand accessibility with the “old ways” of going to a store and buying a physical record, it’s easy to see how the times have changed.

As a result of this shift, people are less committed to albums. If you don’t like an album you can play another just as quickly. We can jump ship with no loss at all. We’re not connected to the record, so it’s easy to abandon.

Funny enough, with the rise of streaming we’ve seen a near-direct correlation with the rise in the popularity of vinyl as it’s on track to be a billion-dollar industry this year. These are people that want and miss that physical connection with their records. There's an undeniable difference between listening to an album on Spotify and hearing it come out of your vinyl player at home. “Warmth” and all that bullshit aside, this is an example of the format influencing our listening habits. If you’re using Spotify and don’t like an album, you can easily stop streaming and jump to any of the millions of readily-available alternatives.

Most importantly, when streaming, there’s also no reason to “justify” your purchase because we haven’t dropped $20+ on a piece of physical media. If you bought a record and didn’t like you’d damn sure try to listen to it more than a few times because you invested in it, goddammit!

There’s also a pattern of familiarity at play too. Every time you open Spotify you’re given the choice between something new and something that you already like. If you gave an album a shot and didn’t like it, you’re now given a choice between that and something you know you already like. So why would you ever opt for the thing you don’t like?

Reddit user nohoperadio explains this phenomenon and the wealth of choices that we have in the modern music landscape:

“Those pragmatic constraints on our listening habits don't exist, and we have to make conscious decisions about how much time we want to devote to exploring new stuff and how much time we want to devote to digging deeper into stuff we've already heard, but every time you do one of those you have this anxious feeling like maybe you should be doing the other. It's only in this new context that it's possible to worry that you're listening wrong.”

It really is an interesting psychological door that’s opened with our newfound technological access, and analysis paralysis aside, it explains why some songs draw listeners back by the millions. Drake’s “One Dance” is the most streamed Spotify song of all time with 1,330 million plays. It’s a good song, but not that good. It’s an example of a song achieving a balance of accessibility and pervasiveness until it becomes habitual and self-reinforcing. That’s something that only could have happened in the streaming world.

6) Fandom

Up until now, we’ve mostly been talking about this framework within the context of “new” albums, but what about when you already have context? What about a non-accessible release from your favorite artist?

This has happened to me with many albums over the years. I wrote a 7,000-word four-part essay that was mostly just me grappling with my own disappointment of Drake and Travis Scott’s 2016 releases. For the sake of talking about something new: The Wonder Years are one of my all-time favorite bands. I’ve written a loving review of their second album, and I plan on doing the same thing with their third and fourth releases as well. After a trio of impactful, nearly-perfect pop-punk records, the band released their fifth album No Closer to Heaven on September 4th of 2015. While it’s not an “inaccessible” record, it’s easily my least favorite from the band and a far cry from their previous heart-on-sleeve realist pop-punk. It took me months of listening to the album to fully-realize my disappointment, and even longer to figure out why. I’m still not sure I can accurately explain why Heaven doesn’t gel with me, but that’s not what this post is for. The point is I’ve subjected myself to this album dozens of times racking up nearly 700 plays at the time of this writing. In fact, it’s my 19th most-listened-to album of all time according to Last.fm, and that’s for an album that I don’t even enjoy that much!

I was driven to this album partly by my frustration and confusion, but also my love of the band. I’ve enjoyed literally every other piece of music they’ve ever recorded, what made this one so different? I guess 700 plays isn’t something you’d afford even the most promising album, but this is an example of the listener’s history influencing their own behavior and desire to love an album. It’s trying to make an album into a “grower” when it may never be one in the first place. That leads nicely into #7…

7) Instant Gratification, Uncertainty Tolerance, and “Forcing It”

The most common argument I see against the concept of albums as growers is the idea that the listener is “forcing it.” This is problematic mainly because everyone’s definition of “forcing it” is different. Some people have a specific number in mind ‘if you listen to an album three times and don’t like it, then you're forcing yourself’ others base it on feeling ‘if you’re despising every second of an album, then just turn it off. Otherwise, you’re forcing it.’

The idea is you force yourself to like something out of pure habit or by subjecting yourself to it over and over again, eventually becoming hostage to something that you didn’t really like in the first place. To me, this is the meatiest discussion point here because it’s such a multifaceted issue. I’ve already discussed this concept within the context of Drake’s Views, but to briefly recap: I loved his 2015 album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and he had a killer summer with What A Time To Be Alive and a high-profile rap beef. I was beyond hyped for his next release in 2016 but came out of my first listen incredibly disappointed. Over time I grew to like most of the songs, presumably from sheer repetition, but I still recognize it as an album that isn’t good on an objective artistic level. So is this forcing it? I never hated any of those listens, I just grew to like the album more after time had passed, but I still don’t think it’s good.

I’ve done the same thing this year with Father John Misty’s Pure Comedy. After an impeccable 2015 release and a meta months-long interview-laden lead-up to the record’s release in April I, again, emerged from my first listen disappointed. I have come to enjoy the album more over time, especially after giving myself a break from it and seeing some of the songs performed live. So maybe these two cases just have to do with unrealistic built-up expectations and already being a fan (Point #6) but no matter how you look at it, I wanted to like these albums and kept subjecting myself to them.

At any rate, the biggest flaw with this argument is that everyone’s definition of “forcing it” is different. Unless someone’s making you listen at gunpoint, there is no force. You can stop at any time and you shouldn’t feel pressure to like something just because. But I fully recognize someone could see my listening history with Drake’s Views and say “my god, why would you listen to an album you’re lukewarm on that many times? That’s torture!” but I guess what’s torture for some is simply passive listening for another.

For a more scientific perspective, this youtube video details some of the crazy behind-the-scenes factors at play in making pop music particularly pervasive. Everything from the radio to Urban Outfitters to fucking memes spread music and have the ability to make something exponentially more popular. This circles back to “forcing it” because you may have no power in these cases. God knows after years of the same retail job I grew to hate some songs that were otherwise great just from sheer repetition. It would make sense that this then becomes “forcing it” since you have no power, but sometimes even that can circle back to genuine love if you build enough positive associations over time. I may not like “Hotline Bling” as a song, but god knows I’ve upvoted enough memes featuring the turtleneck-clad Drake that I enjoy something about it.

Furthering the pseudo-scientifical discussion of articles I that don’t have the intelligence to write of research: this blog (which cites this study) discusses “addiction economy” and explores the profiles of “explorers” and “exploiters.” The primary difference between the two groups is their propensity for either delayed or instant gratification. The study explores the idea that technology has accelerated this process which (in a music context) circles back to Point #5 of streaming’s role in our listening habits. Why bother trying to listen to something “difficult” or “weird” when you can have the instant hit of euphoria that comes with a bouncy non-offensive Taylor Swift song?

I really think this one comes down to what you’re in the mood for. If you have the attention, time, and necessary background, why not explore something rich that you may love? But if you just want something quick and easy, just put on the Spotify Top 50 for some background noise. It becomes the musical equivalent of a hearty homecooked meal versus a big, greasy fast food burger. One may be objectively “better,” but it’s not always right for the situation.

8) Expectations and The Initial Approach

Another factor that exists outside of the music itself is the listener’s initial approach. If you go into any art with a preconceived notion you’ll either be surprised by the outcome or have your beliefs confirmed. If you go to a shitty movie expecting it to be shitty, you’ll emerge thinking “well duh.” The inverse of this could also be true (a shitty movie turning out good, etc.), but the real discussion here has to do with the viewer’s initial expectation.

I do think with music it’s rare that you’ll do a complete 180 in either direction. The most likely case of a “grower” is generally a record that you go into not knowing anything about and then some unknown factor (Point #2) keeps bringing you back. It’s also true that you could dislike and album and over time come out liking it (as I did with Views). And while it’s a rare occurrence, I suppose an album could also be a “shrinker” that you love on first listen, but grow to dislike more and more.

Circling back to genres, I think pop music tends to be a shrinker more often than not. It’s something that’s (by nature) immediately accessible but slowly drives you mad with each repeated listen like a screw tightening into your skull. We’ve all been there (especially anyone with a retail job) but I can’t think of a single occurrence where I’ve done that to myself of my own free will. Oppositely, I know people that only interact with music by listening to songs until they’re absolutely sick of them. That’s not how I prefer to interact with art mainly because I feel like there’s only so much time in the day and so many other things to listen to, why force that upon yourself?

I think that the listener’s starting point is a huge concept. Reddit user InSearchOfGoodPun outlines his thoughts on the initial approach and the impact of time on your listening experience:

“My personal opinion is that if you listen to almost anything enough times with a receptive attitude, you will start to appreciate it. It might not become one of your favorites, but you'll like it for what it is. In any case, at the end of the day, you like what you like.”

The key phrase here is receptive attitude. If you aren’t listening with a receptive attitude, then you’re forcing yourself. Then you’re just making it unenjoyable no matter what. I think this is one of the biggest points in this whole write-up and a key indicator of who you are as a consumer of art. It’s all about being receptive regardless of your starting point.

9) The Language of Genres

Jumping back to Kanye: it was a long and winding road filled with lots of resistance, but despite my own hangups, I now consider myself a hip-hop head. I listen to the genre constantly, I’m up on the “newcomers” and I find myself devoting an absurd amount of time to researching the realm’s happenings each day. I wouldn’t have cared that much without Kanye, and I wouldn’t have discovered half of the shit that I currently love without Yeezus breaking those barriers down.

I’ve spent this entire time talking about albums as “growers,” but it’s also possible that this concept could be applied to entire genres too. I mean, after all, a genre really is like a language you have to learn, and I was fortunate enough to have Kanye as my teacher. Through his discography, I learned about the genre’s history, who its major players are, as well as the language, cadence, and frameworks that it uses. In another sense, it’s almost like “building up your tolerance” to something you previously didn’t understand or couldn’t grasp.

I’ve detailed my own history wading into genres like hip-hop and indie, but it makes sense that this personal context would impact how we would interact with albums through the broader umbrella of their genre. I wouldn’t have understood hip-hop if I jumped straight to Migos. Everyone has a starting point for their musical taste, and it spreads outward from there. Pop music is an easily-accessible taste, but most other genres take a little bit more of an adjustment to get used to. Certain albums or genres are just objectively less-accessible, and harder to get into as a result.

In fact, it could easily be argued that exploring a genre could be the biggest decider on whether an album is a “grower” or not. Contextualizing a record within a larger space can help the listener and understanding it better and appreciate it more. Listening to one album multiple times might be the exact opposite of the correct approach, because while the listener may not like it, they may find something musically adjacent that’s more up their alley.

10) Songs Versus Albums

For the sake of furthering the discussion outside of albums, it’s also worth zooming down to a micro level to look at individual songs. While I tend to listen (and think of things) in terms of albums, it’s undeniable that songs are the main component at play. In fact, a single song is probably the reason for you checking an album out in the first place. Thinking “hey I like this one thing, maybe I should check out the rest” is how I’ve discovered most of the music in my library.

But this same framework of “growers” can easily be applied to songs too. When listening to an album the first time, occasionally only individual songs will jump out at you right away. I love Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs, but for the first dozen or so times I played the album, the only song I could remember was the opener “Under the Pressure.” That song had a memorable chorus, a catchy riff, and a driving rhythm. It alone is the sole reason I kept coming back to the record, but each time I put “Under the Pressure” on I’d find myself thinking ‘ah, I’ll just let the rest of the album play.’ Eventually, the rest of the record revealed itself to me and individual songs emerged from what was once an amorphous blob of sun-drenched heartland rock.

I did the exact same thing with Young Thug’s breakthrough 2015 album Barter 6. I’d already had a passing interest in Thug thanks to his previous collaborative efforts with Rich Homie Quan, so I gave Barter a semi-attentive spin and left underwhelmed. After a glowing Pitchfork review (Point #3) I gave the album another shot but couldn’t find myself getting past the first track. In a good way. I kept relistening to the album opener “Constantly Hating” and every time I tried to move onto something else, this transfixing opener drew me back in. Soon Barter 6’s second track grabbed me just as hard. Then the third. Then a single. Then a late album track. Eventually, I was listening to the whole thing front-to-back and enjoying every song. Individual songs are a viable path to an album becoming a grower, and while I don’t like digesting albums piecemeal, sometimes that approach can allow an album to creep up on you over time.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, there’s a difference between feeling lukewarm on an album then giving it a few more chances and hating an album but feeling like you’re obligated to listen because you “should” like it. Usually, there’s some redeeming quality that brings you back, God knows there’s plenty of albums I’ve heard once then forgotten forever.

Patience is key, and that receptivity can lead to an album becoming better over time. With pop music, I feel like there’s an individual tipping point that everyone hits where you go from fully-embracing a song to actively combatting it. We don’t all have the time or patience to devote ourselves to “difficult” albums, so sometimes the road less traveled is less appealing.

After writing all of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that my initial theory is a flawed. Like many things, it’s not universal. There’s no one “right” answer or perfect framework that applies to all of music. This theory still works on a case-by-case basis, but there’s nuance to every genre, artist, and song, and this broadness makes it hard to view music through such a broad lens.

If anything, a big takeaway is that there’s no one “better” genre, just different fits for different people. With all these possible elements at play, it’s easier to see how someone could gravitate towards one easier genre meanwhile a different person has cut their teeth in a different genre and has a more developed understanding of its intricacies.

And whether you look at it as “a grower” that gets better over time or a “shrinker” that driver you more insane with each listen, there is a point at which you are “forcing it” but (again) that varies from person to person. The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.

The truly compelling part of music is the way that you interact with it. What you bring to the experience and how you interpret the artist’s work. Whether it’s going track-by-track or listening front-to-back, or listening to one single song until you’re sick of it. Music is special because of what we project onto it. The memories we make around it.

It’s obviously incorrect to view all pop music as shallow, just as it’s incorrect to view all rock as deep, or all rap as thuggish. Everything is on a spectrum, and your perspective within the genre, the artist, your life, and the world all come into play when listening.

I don’t think there’s any defined “conclusion” to arrive at, just many different elements to keep track of. These frameworks can help explain why I like A while you like B. The absolute most important thing to take away from this is to keep an open and receptive mind.

I’ve recently come to the realization that my dream job, the one thing I really want to do, is to share things that I love with other people. To spread art, joy, and love in hopes that someone else is affected by these things the same way that I am.

That requires an objective mind, but you still won’t ever like everything. And that’s okay. You shouldn’t have to.

I think sharing things and spreading love is productive for the world.

It’s the most positive impact we can make on the world around us.

It’s spreading beauty.

Both being able to see why someone likes something and being able to share your own experience. It’s the one universal. The human experience. We all have unique perspectives, thoughts, and lives. Sometimes sharing is the only thing we can do.

Art is a bonding agent.

What we add to it is the special part.

Remain open.

Share your love.

Additional Reading and Citations

As the Roots Undo by Circle Takes the Square Doing Good in the Addiction Economy Internet Explorers (Not Exploiters) Is Pop Music Holding You Hostage? The Mozart-like Complexity of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Biggest Hits Reddit Indieheads Discussion Thread A Scar No One Else Can See The Secret Science of Pop Taster’s Choice: Let’s Talk About Love

[listenherereviews]

Favorite Albums, Songs, And Musical Moments Of 2018

2018 was a great year with plenty of new albums, songs, and other musical things that truly make music an amazing art form. As always, this list is in no particular order and it covers music for the entire year. Happy New Year!

 Favorite Albums

Shawn Mendes, self-titled: Releasing his debut album Handwritten in 2015, then 16-year-old Shawn Mendes finally struck it big after finding success on the video platform Vine. Releasing six second videos often from his bedroom in Pickering, Ontario, the teenager struck a chord with young girls and eventually crossed into the adult market with his second album Illuminate (2017.). With his self-titled album being released in May, we finally see Mendes coming into his own as an adult artist. With John Mayer and Justin Timberlake inspired jams, Shawn Mendes is truly a piece of art. And while some of the tracks certainly show Mendes’ age, it is an album that challenges Mendes to be the artist that can successfully break out of the teen mold and the box that critics placed him in with the release of Handwritten.

The Moffatts, Chapter: II: Fresh from a hiatus of 18 years, Canadian sibling band The Moffatts quietly announced their return last year. Performing a few concerts in The Philippines, where the brothers found success in the early days of their mainstream career, the brothers ended up releasing their new EP Chapter: II in November. Comprised of six tracks that not only show how far they’ve come, Chapter: II demonstrates just how good they still are, remaining fresh after so much time away. With rock tracks such as “Secrets,” that play off the sound they left fans with on their 2000 album Submodalities, and a new take on their old country influenced tune, “Love,” The Moffatts haven’t expressed exactly where they will go from here, but Chapter: II better not be the only release from the band, as releasing nothing else would be a missed opportunity.

  

Divided Minds, Mood Swings: While pop punk has struggled to make a comeback after fading from popularity in the mid 2000’s, its bands such as Divided Minds that remind music fans that the genre hasn’t completely faded away. With songs such as “Norterra Parkway,” and “Take My Hand,”from the band’s latest EP Mood Swings, the group knows how to absolutely nail the biting sounds of punk while throwing in the melodic sounds of pop. With a strong EP like Mood Swings, 2019 is bound to the year for Divided Minds.

  5 Seconds of Summer, Meet You There Tour Live: While the Australian four piece has only been around since 2011, it would be unfair to write off the ambitious nature of 5 Seconds of Summer, who just released their second live album Meet You There Tour Live. Releasing their first live album LIVESOS in 2015, the bands magnetic force came through the speakers immediately, making you feel as if you were the room as the band performed. While this album leaves out songs from past albums except for the big hits, there are some real gems on this LP. With an entirely acoustic version of their 2014 hit “Amnesia” and the haunting “Ghost of You,” 5 Seconds of Summer may be young, but you end the record feeling like you need to put the band’s show on your bucket list.

    Coldplay, Live in Buenos Aires: Anyone familiar with Coldplay’s music knows that their live shows are expansive with a sound big enough to comfortably fill an arena. On Live in Buenos Aires, the England based band performs for over an hour, treating fans to their beautiful catalogue with front man Chris Martin taking the title as one of music’s best front men and songwriters. With an enthusiastic crowd to accompany the recording, nothing is left out here, leaving die hard fans deeply satisfied and newcomers wanting to dive deeper into the group’s extensive discography.

  Needtobreathe, Acoustic Live Vol 1: Known for their Southern rock sound and Christian undertones, Needtobreathe is perhaps one of the best rock bands playing in music today. Recorded during the All the Feels Tour at different venues last year, on Acoustic Live Vol 1, Needtobreathe get up close and personal with their fans, stripping things back so that everything feels raw and immediate. While every track is a standout one, it is the performance of “Brother” that wraps up the LP, as one that is addicting and illustrates the band’s talent. Giving the band much authenticity as the group performs the song entirely without mics, it’s as if they are performing at a party or intimate gathering.

Favorite Songs:

We Three, Heaven’s Not Too Far: Making their debut on America’s Got Talent earlier this year, We Three made an emotional debut singing an original tune called “Heaven’s Not Too Far” about their late mother who died from cancer. In addition to the single release, We Three has dropped their self-titled debut album with a music video for “Heaven” that provides stunning visuals of singing in warehouses and a room with a floral pattern. Visually striking, the path looks steady for one of Oregon’s most promising acts, soon to put their hometown of McMinnville on the map.

Endless Summer, Your Own Kinda Beautiful: Making their debut in Nashville several years back, Endless Summer is comprised of Clint and Bob Moffatt, who first made their musical debut in the 1980’s with the Canadian band The Moffatts (who are featured in our best of albums section with Chapter: II.) Always one to strike out on their own, the twin brothers have gone through a slew of projects together before deciding on Endless Summer as their latest venture. While the brothers have released a few singles this year, “Your Own Kinda Beautiful” is one that sticks with you. Beginning with soft acoustic guitars and the brother’s impeccable vocals, it’s a song to easily get lost in as the brothers sing about being grateful for their significant other. Performing authentic country songs is something that the twins seem to be after and songs that tell a good story is also something that the brothers do incredibly well together, gaining fans with each new release.

  Sean And Conor Price, Quit: Appearing on the 2017 UK X Factor, Irish brothers Sean and Conor Price released their mini album Dreamer earlier this year, featuring the hypnotic track “Quit.” Featuring Conor’s gorgeous vocals and brother Sean’s rapping skills, for a band so young (Conor is 16 and Sean is 18,) they’ve got a positive road ahead of them. While they haven’t toured outside of the UK and Ireland yet, we will be patiently waiting for when they come across the pond.

Niall Horan, Finally Free: Ever since his band One Direction went on a hiatus in 2015, it is member Niall Horan who has perhaps made the most impact alongside his band mate Harry Styles. The first member to appear on a soundtrack, Horan lent his chops to the animated film Small Foot, performing his folk stomping tune “Finally Free,” in the end credits of the film. While it was rumored that the producers of the film wanted Horan to write the entire soundtrack for Small Foot, “Finally Free” has a chorus and guitar line big enough to satisfy fans and moviegoers until Horan releases something new.

Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, DJ Khalid, No Brainer: Dropping his album Purpose in 2015, Justin Bieber has come a long way from the train wreck he was becoming in the first half of his career. After gaining what looks to be some much-needed clarity and level headedness, Bieber has released a string of collaborations, all of them total bangers. “No Brainer,” featuring Bieber almost exclusively on vocals alongside Quavo, Chance The Rapper, and DJ Khaled, and quickly becomes one of those tracks that you’ll find yourself nodding your head to, as the chorus becomes ingrained in your memory. The production is top notch too, as the entire team knows what will get their fans ticking, and while it might not be the most artistically minded track of the year, its undeniable bounce only makes up for what it lacks in any historical relevance.

    Other performances:

Photo by: Xadacka Photography

  Brendan Murray, X Factor UK audition, Woman’s Work by Kate Bush:

Getting his start as a 16 year in the boy band Hometown, Galway, Ireland based vocalist Brendan Murray auditioned for the UK X Factor in 2018 singing “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” by Ella Eyre. After being told by judge Simon Cowell that the song didn’t fit his voice, Murray spent the next several hours, learning “Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush. What resulted was an epic audition that was one for the books, compete with comments from judge Robbie Williams and a paper drop of the lyric sheet from Murray that displayed his never give up spirit. While Murray didn’t end up winning the show, his appearance on the X Factor gave his undeniable talent a platform that did not exist before.

      Favorite Albums, Songs, And Musical Moments Of 2018 was originally published on Listen Here Reviews

[theparaminds]

It’s not as though much in Wes Park’s current state makes endless sense to him. He isn’t always sure who he’s supposed to be, what he’s supposed to do or where he’s supposed to go. Yet, through it all, he has found the constant guiding force of creativity. No matter the day, no matter the insecurities, his art is his greatest friend. 

He makes art not for glory, opting instead to do so for the health of his heart, for happiness to constantly be within his existence. Every sunrise can be a misguided mess, a day without a pathway for Wes, but, he knows his music will overturn that. He knows his creations will bring him peace. He knows, through all the confusion, that his creativity will guide him to a new plateau, one previously desired, yet never grasped as of the present.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been?

Today was tough. I have midterms this week and I’m starting to get really busy with school, but otherwise, I’m doing pretty well. Could be a lot worse.

Have you been enjoying school and all it entails? Have you found the new city to be enjoyable?

It was really odd adjusting to school away from home at first. I think i got the hang of things and the general rhythm of campus life pretty quickly, but the midwest is way different from so-cal, so it’s a big change. Definitely enjoyable though. It’s nice to see snow in the winter.

To start, how did you find your original location to be influential to your introduction into music and becoming a musician as a whole?

My friends back at home were the biggest influences to me doing music in the first place. I think as early as like 8th grade we’d share cool bands we found. My bud Rohit, he goes by the moniker Dark Tape right now, really got me into a lot of the music I listen to today, so I can only thank him for that. In high school, I met Harrison (Harry Teardrop) and we started a band together called Sundive. He was a huge inspiration and that’s about when I really got serious into writing and producing music. It was kind of like back and forth, sharing each other’s demos and figuring out cool riffs, and from then it was almost like a persistent goal to just get my stuff out there for people to listen to. Also, my childhood friend Tony always backed me up on guitar, so I could always count on him. I haven’t found anyone like these awesome people back in Irvine.

But when was it that you realized music was a legitimate path and calling for you? Was there a moment or spark that you realized you had to pursue this as more than a hobby?

Just watching my favorite musicians travel and get paid to do what they love was always an attractive idea for a future in music. Even still hearing feedback from people about how they can connect to my music is a really motivating and rewarding aspect that keeps me going. I definitely had an aha moment when I met Harry in high school since he really stepped up the production quality game and kind of externally motivated me to get my music online. I think since then when I was 16, I always wanted to be like a rockstar or pop star or something sweet like that. Music is still technically a hobby to me, but I probably spend more time working on music than on studying and doing homework.

As a whole with your music, what is the largest goal and vision? What is it you’re working towards and hoping to build?

My biggest goal is probably to get a large enough following to travel to interesting places and play music for people. Honestly, the dream is to tour with my old bandmates as our own separate projects. Right now I’m just trying to get better at writing/producing cause I want to put out songs that I’m really proud of. The goal is still in the back of my mind always, but I’m just trying to get into a chill habit of working when I feel like working or when I’m inspired to. Not burn me out and get discouraged or tired of making music.

To shift gears a little, where do you find your current artistic inspirations stemming from? What artists, events or ideas have inspired your new pathways?

Currently, I’ve been REALLY into that new Kero Kero Bonito album ‘Time n’ Place’. It really opened my eyes to experimental noise and power pop sounds that I’m trying to incorporate into some of my new tracks. My roommate also got me really into Japanese City Pop. I love how catchy the synth melodies are and I started playing around more with synths. And generally, I have a playlist of current jams that I listen to for inspiration (Mitski, Beach Fossils, Homeshake, etc.) Oh yeah and also my friend Deaton Chris Anthony’s live performances are super inspiring. Like HELLA inspiring.

Those are amazing people to pull from. What would you say of all time is your favourite album and artists and how did they truly affect you?

My all-time favorite album is probably Ella Fitzgerald sings the Cole Porter Songbook. I used to spin it every night in high school before going to bed, and I learned a lot about cool chord progressions and variations from the instrumentation. I also always loved how genuinely sweet and romantic the lyrics are in vocal jazz, which kind of inspired me to experiment with that. I think also Beach Fossils was really influential when it came to guitar music, especially their album Clash the Truth. Their entire discography is great, but the drum parts, driving basslines, and perfect guitar tones are especially dope on that album. I think for like 2 years I was trying to emulate the sound of Clash the Truth in some way.

It seems like you have great care and love for instrumentation, is that something you focus and put special effort within your sound? Or are you more in the base of caring for lyricism and aesthetic.

Definitely. I think I prioritize instrumentation and how well different parts play with each other a lot more than just going for an aesthetic since it’s really satisfying hearing very singular parts come together into something totally new and full. And I think the aesthetic aspect really comes naturally once its all orchestrated, so it was never something I had a primary aim for when writing. I do focus on lyricism a lot, but I still think I'm really lousy at poetry and writing lyrics. I’m trying to practice more and be more honest with myself, so we’ll see where that takes me. But for the instrumentation, do you ever hear like one small part of a song and it makes you shiver? Like all you want to do is repeat that one section over and over and over because it’s so perfect? That’s what I’m trying to do.

Absolutely, those moments are so beautiful, is there one you think of a lot when you talk about those moments?

YES. In one of Deaton’s old songs, Nylon Heart, the ending is awesome. It's just like FM piano and sparkly chimes and cymbal swells while he's saying “I’ve fallen in love, I can't get up” and then it ends on this very pretty chord on the keys.

That song is so good. With specifics to lyricism, where do you draw inspiration for that side of your music and how do you approach lyricism as a whole?

Believe or not, I used to never write lyrics down. I used to freestyle and just use the 3rd or 4th take, like on Washington Square Park and Midnight Low, I literally made those lyrics on the spot. Now I tend to just write about what's on my mind in a journal, then organize them into coherent lyrics for songs. A lot of the time I feel like it's essentially me venting. But again, I gather most of my lyrical inspiration from vocal jazz since it's so romantic and kind of gooey. Like there’s this one Ella Fitzgerald line on the Errol Garner song Misty that always stuck with me, “walk my way and a thousand violins begin to play.” stuff like that where it's very real but also dreamy, imaginative, almost like watching an old movie.

Would you say that’s what you’re trying to do with your new music? Create a film style quality? Or is there a different motive and purpose to the new sounds and avenues?

Yeah, I guess. My music is pretty much a soundtrack to my life at this point, but I’m still very much willing and open to experiment with new sounds. I don’t know, it’s kind of up in the air where I could go next. I don’t really have a definite motive, but I  guess subconsciously I’ve been slowly shaping a narrative of my life and the people around me through the songs I’ve been putting out.

Do you have any work set in stone to come out though? And if so, how does it differ from past works?

I have nothing set in stone, but I’m trying to conjure up enough good work for an EP soon. I have a couple tracks finished and I’m pretty happy with the direction I’ve been taking, I just don’t feel like I have enough just yet. For the new stuff, expect a lot of noise and distortion and a lot more synth. It’ll be a big departure from my slower repertoire from past years, but I think it still sounds very much like me.

What fears or anxieties have you found existent while in this next stage of your work and career? What is it you’re unsure or nervous or questioning still?

I’ve always feared that my work wouldn't amount to anything big, and the potential of kind of flopping and falling out has always been a HUGE anxiety of mine. Like watching my friends around me blow up and get noticed is super inspiring, but I kinda feel like I’m missing out, you know? That’s kind of on me since I’ve been severely slacking though. But I think that I shouldn’t really worry about things and just let whatever happens play out. I’m really unsure about how people will react to my new music, but I’m definitely not afraid to do new things since I’m having so much fun and satisfaction on my own just music as it is.

Is there, through this new mindset and ignited creativity, a message or ideal that above all you hope resonates with listeners of your work?

Yeah, I really want everyone to express themselves! To find something, anything, they can use to express themselves and share it with the world. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, there are a ton of people out there who share your anxieties and fears. That’s what I’ve learned myself and it's been amazing. If there's anything you could take from my music, it's probably that.

If money were no object, where would be one location you would play a live show at?

I would kill to go to New York and play a show with a bunch of friends. If money and logistics were completely out of question, then I would want to go to Korea and play a show so my parents can come watch!

That’s so sick, do you find your Korean heritage to be something you draw from? Or is it something you hope to pull closer to with time?

I really want to create a really strong tie between my music and Korean heritage. I think the connection is really lacking currently, which is a bit disappointing since I identify myself so closely with that cultural background. I was raised in a pretty ‘korean’ household, so I’m really familiar with like all the foods, slang, cultural norms and stereotypes. The catch is I’m god awful at speaking Korean, and it’s kind of embarrassing being a phony. But I’m working on it! I definitely want to experiment with Korean lyrics in future songs once I overcome my embarrassment.

Honestly as longs you're trying to get closer to it, it matters. To go back to live shows, what are some of the performances you’ve seen in your life that have had a significant impact on you and your work?

Saw Wavves in 2015 with Rohit. From then on always aimed to have a super fun and hype shows. I also think I said before that Deaton’s live sets are really inspiring. I can’t really say much about his live set, it’s hard to explain and it wouldn’t do justice to how good it is. I saw Homeshake too I think last year around May or something. They play very tight live and Peter uses his sampler creatively live. I’m trying to find a sweet spot somewhere in between really outrageous and really tight and clean.

If you could recommend one film to everyone reading this currently, what would you tell them to watch and for what reason?

I guess not a movie per se, but I’ve been watching Cowboy Bebop lately. you should watch it, it’s really fun and has great aesthetics.

Always meant to get into it, always been a Dragon Ball guy at heart. To wrap up, do you have anyone or anything to shoutout or promote? The floor is yours!

Shout out to my band Sundive, the boys Harry Teardrop, Tony, Dark Tape. Shoutout to my buddy Deaton! New album dropping soon. And listen to my song Holding flowers it came out in February, but it’s the latest single as of this interview. Hopefully, I get around to finishing up an EP. Thanks so much for the interview, oh and let's give a quick shoutout to Christina Applegate.

Follow Wes on Twitter and Instagram 

Listen on Soundcloud and Spotify

[evilradmedieval]

Slowdive - “Slowdive” Review

When one thinks of dreampop, one of the first acts that comes to mind is English band Slowdive. Led by lead singer and guitarist Rachel Goswell, Slowdive’s contribution to this genre has been a transcendent, as they were influenced by the works of The Velvet Underground, Cocteau Twins and even George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. They’ve gone on to influence many other current contemporaries, such as Beach House, M83 and even the xx. Initially forming in the late 80′s, Slowdive came into prominence with their albums Just For a Day and their seminal Souvlaki, which both incorporated sounds from dreampop, ambient, shoegazing and post rock. The latter album, although divided among critics for its unfashionable style in comparison to the current Britpop movement of the 90′s, went on to become their best album of their discography. Their subsequent album before disbandment in 1995 that same year was Pygmalion, which in my opinion was a disappointment due to its more ambient style and departure from what really made Slowdive popular in the first place. However, things changed over two decades later when the band hinted at a possible reunion which then came into fruition. In 2016, Goswell confirmed the release of a new album the following year which resulted in their self-titled release this month. Although it’s been well over 20 years in the making, the album delivers everything that was once great about the band, as well as the dreampop genre itself, while also delivering a healthy dose of post rock and shoegazing. 

Slowdive is known for blurring the lines between instrumentation and drowned-out vocal performances, letting the atmospheric tones and airiness of the strung shoegazing guitars take care of conveying the mood of the track. “Slomo” does just that, with the title being a great description of the overall tone of what’s to come on the album, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Neil Halstead and Goswell contribute these very ethereal vocals, drowned out by the very moody instrumentation. However, Goswell’s performance seems to stand out even more, as her vocals contrast more so with the guitars. In essence, the song plays out like a folk song according to bassist Nick Chaplin, due to the vocal melodies that Neil showcases on the track. One of the slower, more dreampop-oriented cuts on the tracklisting, but a great start to the album.

“Star Roving” is one of the lead singles from the album, as it’s known for its more shoegaze-esque feel with strung out guitars yet a more upbeat tempo. The riffs are heavier, but still retains that dreampop feel where it sounds like their stuff from the early 90′s. Again, Slowdive does great in creating moody textures with their instrumentation, yet giving an explosion of sound that still gives off so much energy and personality. Neil contributes a noticeable performance, yet again here the focus of the song is the very emotional musical composition.

The energy from the prior track is followed through with “Don’t Know Why”, coming through with another burst of lowkey drumming and guitars, which surges especially as the song kicks off and during the chorus. The song then settles back into a dreary yet relaxed section during Neil’s verses. What I especially love about this track is the chemistry between both Halstead and Goswell, where their harmonizing performances are backed well with the heightened instrumentation especially during the hook.

“Sugar for the Pill” comes through slowly with that bass guitar, which then is kicked off by these thumping 808 drums. Neil again comes through with a noteworthy performance, which isn’t drowned out as much due to the lack of shoegazing guitars. The song is moodier and more atmospheric, yet isn’t as detailed or layered as the previous two tracks, an ambient sound found on their previous album. 

Goswell takes the reins on the next song, which is pure dreampop and shoegazing bliss. On “Everyone Knows”, Slowdive continues this same formula, however with a more doninating performance with Goswell’s harmonizing vocals. The guitars are strung out, but not as overbearing to the point where it completely drowns out the vocals. The track is similar to “Don’t Know Why”, yet less melodic and definitely moodier.

“No Longer Making Time” happens to be one of my least favorites, probably due to the fact that it sort of resembles tracks off of the xx’s debut album back in 2009 initially. However, this is not the case especially when the shoegazing guitars kick in during the chorus. Although not one of my favorites, it still showcases a great performance by Chaplin.

Slowdive experiments more with the ambient sound on “Go Get It”, which features several lapses of really minimal instrumentation. Although the similar shoegazing strung out guitars are features on sections of the track throughout, I find myself zoning out and not knowing when and where the track actually ends and transitions into the next one. Half of the song features any sung performances, as the band uses these ambient/ post rock instrumentation as a crutch to get through to the next song.

The album ends beautifully, however, with the outro in “Falling Ashes”. We get these pretty piano keys to kick off the track, which sort of follows this same formula in the previous track. As you get deeper into the tracklisting, it appears the band transitions slowly from dreampop shoegazing into more post-rock and ambient elements, which isn’t for everyone who expects more guitar work. 

Sitting at a good 45 minutes, Slowdive makes a welcome return with their fourth studio self-titled record, giving their fans a healthy mix of everything that made them popular in the early 90′s to the post rock sound that inhabited their last album in 1995. Despite this, Slowdive was a perfect culmination of their entire discography, as they stick to their guns and deliver a dreampop sound that is slowly coming back. The vocal performances aren’t the core focus of the album, but yet the moodiness and emotional impact is conveyed through the simplistic and lowkey instrumentation. All in all, Slowdive makes a definite worthy effort in creating some worthwhile dreampop. 

RATING: 7/10