#he can have his funky solo art any day

[drawthething]

I have a buncha doodle ideas in my head right now but dang it I haven't done full coloured art for so long I HAVE TO!!

And it's a Jimmy Jr piece cuz, um, well, you know me

[moinsbienquekaworu]

i'm sorry for spamming your inbox please tell me to stop if i'm bothering you--

what even is the whole official star wars stuff. like except from the... nine? main movies that i all watched many times (i mean... "many" is for the first 6 but whatever), there is uhh rogue one? and solo right? i don't think i watched it. but like. there are shows too right? i never heard of those except that there is so much star wars lore that probably comes from ✨️ somewhere ✨️ (i hope). so what do i need to watch?? is there an order?? is there like. idek. things i have to know before diving into this? i feel like if you try to go away from the 6 (9) main movies you're immediatly going to get lost in the most crazy shit ever and never return from it and i'm ✨️ scared ✨️ and ✨️ lost ✨️ and ✨️ need help ✨️

also i spent the whole day reading kylux fics, like that's literally all i did, i'm way too prone to addictions it's scary (i'm glad the exams are behind me lol)

i love ✨️ sparkles ✨️ btw

One of us one of us ONE OF US!!!! I got you!!! Comme quoi it pays to be insane about stuff you like online. Anyway. Never worry about bothering me I am mentally ill about things on here for people to come up to me and say hi me too. I rewrote this a few times but it shoouuld be somewhat coherent.

Okay first there is objectively too much SW stuff for a normal person coming in right now with stuff to do during the day to go through in its entirety. The main stuff are the 6/9 main movies, which you've seen so you're good on that... and now I'm going to establish the concept of canon vs legends. If you've heard people talk about the extended universe/univers étendu, that's the old name of legends, but basically they're two different timelines. Canon is the 9 main movies, the The Clone Wars stuff, and everything serious Disney has done since they bought the franchise: Rogue One and Solo, and the TV shows Rebels, The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian (& The Book of Boba Fett), Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor. This is the timeline you're familiar with, but it's recent. Before this became the accepted canon, the 'official' 'true' version of events, there was just the extended universe/legends stuff, basically authorised fancy published fanfic, and sometimes one of the concepts created in those books/comics/games/role-playing games was made canon by being included in the more official, Lucas-made stuff, or was considered canon by the fanbase because most people were aware of the thing and liked it (like Mara Jade, Luke's wife in the legends timeline, who doesn't exist in canon). Basically if Lucas/Disney made it OR it's super popular it's canon otherwise it's just kind of fanfic that's tolerated as long as it doesn't contradict the canon stuff. I hope that was clear enough lol

So there's the main movies, and after that the most popular movies & shows are The Clone Wars (2008). There was a Clone Wars 2D series in 2003 but we're talking about the 2008 3D film and the following TV series here (though Anakin's design is funky in 2003 CW, but it shows different events because it's a legends series not a canon one). The movie is set at the start of the Clone Wars, a little after episode 2, and it introduces one of the most famous SW characters that's not even mentioned in any of the movies. Ahsoka Tano is Anakin's Padawan, she's a cool looking alien, chatty, she's like 5 years younger than him, and she starts out cringey but the general consensus on her is everyone likes her (that's because her creator, Dave Filoni, was in charge of most of the series, and you can tell he really played favourites with his OCs, and since she's not really a Mary Sue she's just extremely cool). If you're interested in the Prequels era you have to be aware of her at minima. You've probably seen art of her, her design is super cool. Ahsoka appears in TCW, but also in Rebels, the Mandalorian & Book of Boba Fett, and she's going to get her own series this year.

The thing with TCW is the first like, 3 seasons are generally "lighthearted" fluff about Jedi life and the war and the clones (as lighthearted as you get during a war, let's say it doesn't feel Super Serious because you know they all make it), but seasons 4 and 5 are closer to the end of the war and get more serious episodes, and then seasons 6 and 7 I haven't seen yet but they're I presume even less lighthearted and even more plotty. There was also a huge gap in when the seasons came out, which explains the tone differences, notably for S7 which is kind of not about the war anymore but just about Ahsoka and what she does after the Empire's rise I think? I'll give you detailed episodes but at least the episodes people recommend watching are the stuff with (Darth) Maul (you're into men so there's a good chance you will be into him - I'm ace and I regularly experience the closest thing I can to sexual attraction when I see him on screen because they animated him in a very...... in a Way that is. yeah), and then probably the 2/3/4 episode arcs that tell a coherent story (Rako Hardeen, Umbara, Zygerria, the Clovis stuff, the baby Padawans on Illum, 99, the Ahsoka stuff at the end of S5, etc). Personally I think the movie might be worth it to establish the characters, it's not super good but at least that way you have an idea of who's who. Once again I'll give you a list with all the details later, but I'm assuming you're not going to want to watch the like, hundred episodes when a good part of that is 'Ahsoka looses her lightaber and learns an Important Lesson about Patience retrieving it', 'R2 & 3PO go on an errand for three episodes' or 'droids are incompetently looking for a mcguffin for four episodes'. There's like an episode that explains why Chewie and Yoda know each other I think too, so that's neat if you're interested. The short answer is that Yoda fought on Kashyyyk during the war and that's Chewie's planet. I'll bury it here but if you want a good website to watch stuff, r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH has lists of sites that work (I recommend watching/reading SW stuff in english personally)

You mentioned Rogue One and Solo in your ask so I'll talk about these too: Rogue One is generally thought to be really good (at least in my circles?), it's set right before ep4, the characters are good, and generally it's a recommended watch. Personally I liked it, though not as much as other people seemed to, but the central romance is neat, and I cried at the end (and everyone liked Chirrut, for good reasons). Solo is kind of less good, but one of the main characters gave me adult movie Remus vibes in a way, it has a Maul appearance at the end for the people who watched TCW, and it gives unnecessary backstory for Han. Also Donald Glover looks good.

The Mandalorian is I think a pretty good entry point to the universe, at least seasons 1-2, because the main character doesn't know anything about the lore of the universe, so the show explains who's who what's what and all that. That said season three came out a few months ago and I haven't seen that so I don't know how badly they fucked it up, but they already pulled a shitty one on the audience by having like three crucial extremely plot relevant episodes of the show after the climax of S2 happen in another show, The Book of Boba Fett, instead of putting them in S3, so. Yeah. The other animated shows I haven't watched yet, Rebels is apparently really good but in universe it's set after TCW so I want to finish TCW before I get started there (it's been like a year or two since I started TCW, I'm slow), and The Bad Batch get much more mixed reviews so eh, you can see about that one later, it's less important in the general story of the world anyway. Andor was apparently a masterpiece but I can't say cause I haven't seen it. Visions also is a thing, haven't seen it but it's like, anime loosely set in the SW universe? It looks cool. If you're interested in Padawan stuff, there's Tales of the Jedi, which didn't make a lot of waves I think but has episodes focusing on Qui-Gon and episodes focusing on Ahsoka.

I'm going to give it its own paragraph cause in the Obikin sphere (which I am in obviously) this show was a divine miracle but the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, though it got shat on by other fans for being too silly or something, was to me really good. I feel like it really goes in depth with the Anakin-Obi-Wan relationship, and I remember every time an episode dropped my dash would be full of gifs of new interactions and new lines of dialogue of them being absolutely insane about each other canonically for real. It was wild, it was great, it was a fantastic high. It's 6x 1h, so I think it's fairly watchable compared to all the other longer stuff. It's more about the personal relationship between them, as people, but that's inevitably linked to the Master-Padawan relationship too (there's a good scene of them just before the war sparring at the Temple in episode... 4 if memory serves me right).

Then it's going to be mostly legends stuff, and at that level you just need to pick a direction and dig a little. Off the top of my head, here are different niches I've seen people be into/pists of where you might want to look: there's the old Jedi Apprentice books, aimed at a younger audience, that talk about Obi-Wan's padawanship, though they've been made explicitly non-canon by the recent Padawan book by Kiersten White (which was apparently good, and featured the one line where Obi-Wan says he wouldn't mind kissing any of his friend group but wouldn't want to do anything else, which prompted homophobes to explode and The Gays to celebrate even if we knew), or for more Qui-Gon-Obi-Wan stuff, there's the Master & Apprentice book; there's people who are way way into the clones, but that has more of a Marauders fandom vibe because individual clones don't get that much screentime, so you can see people whose fave is the equivalent of Dorcas Meadowes and who just make their own stuff up in their corner; there's the Mandalorians fans, which I personally cannot stand the majority of because most of the legends Mando stuff (that might have been made non-canon by S3 of the Mandalorian?) was written by Karen Traviss, a woman whom I personally do Not vibe with (come back for the rant later if you're interested), but that's a possibility too, you do you; there's the novelisations of the movies, though the only one that I hear about is the ep3 novelisation by Stover which is a really great piece of literature... and also very homoerotic with the Anakin-Obi-Wan relationship; there's the Aftermath trilogy which makes the transition between ep6 and ep7 and explains how we went from no Empire to the First Order, with cool characters (ie Sinjir whom I love and who is canonically if subtly gay); if you're curious about legends stuff and you want to know who Mara Jade and Thrawn are (if you've never heard their names before they're really popular, Thrawn appears in Rebels as well, he's cool and part of a popular ship in the wider fandom) you'll want to read Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (also introduced the name Coruscant for the capital!). Obviously I am Highly Biased, this is stuff I know off the top of my head, but it should let you explore some different eras and characters. Heir to the Empire (& the rest of the books in that series) is definitely a classic in terms of legends stuff though, if you want to check out the fan favourites.

For comics I don't really read those so you'd have better luck either looking at rec lists online or just wandering around Wookieepedia until you find something that looks cool, but if you just want to read a quick thing, the Age of Star Wars series is neat. It's a series split in the three trilogies eras, and in each era it focuses on 4 heroes and 4 villains. Age of Republic has issues for Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin & Padmé + Maul, Jango, Dooku & Grievous; Age of Rebellion for Leia, Han, Lando & Luke + Tarkin, Boba, Jabba & Vader; Age of Resistance for Finn, Poe, Rose & Rey + Phasma, Hux, Snoke & Kylo. If any of those interest you, you can find them on comics websites (like for example a website that would let you read comic online. for example. cough cough. I'm so subtle.) What I would NOT recommend are the Rise of Kylo Ren comics, they're just... I didn't like the artstyle, I didn't like the way it told the story of Kylo falling to the dark side, I really didn't like the careless way it both makes Kylo's relationship with Snoke worse but also doesn't address it at all, it was a big miss for me, Kylux fanfics do it better. If you're curious it's not a long read though. Can't help you more with comics, I haven't gone there much.

In general if you find a character/planet/species/group/etc that interests you specifically, you can go on Wookieepedia and go down to the appearances section, where you can see all the places that thing appears/is mentioned, in I believe in-universe chronological order.

I don't think canon does a lot of explaining the magic if you will, if it does I don't know where. You can try looking in a specific species' tag on here to check out what other people think of their biology maybe, but yeah I don't really know otherwise. In general canon does a lot of 'that guy's a spider. don't ask. shut up he's a spider that walks on his legs and that's it. no lore no culture no nothing he looks cool and evil. bam. we're killing him next episode anyway' but there are also 'little diagrams of the different parts of a lightsaber' moments (I know there's a drawing in the The Jedi Path book somewhere of the anatomy of Obi-Wan's saber). Good luck with that, I wouldn't know where to find it.

If you have questions you can look at @/gffa's sidebar to check out questions they've answered/what they rec, or ask them directly. They're The ressource for SW stuff in my mind, because they're pretty thorough when they answer I feel like. Once again, Obikin bias, be warned, but maybe they'll know where there's some more scientific stuff? They certainly read more than me haha.

I think that's all, I'm going to write down a non-exhaustive but very long list of TCW episodes I think are neat, with a summary behind to help you quickly decide if it's your jam or not. The order is arbitrary, it's half order of importance half chronological, but there's nothing specific from seasons 6-7, because I haven't seen them yet. (the format is episode number x season number, just in case)

Undoubtedly, the Maul stuff: that's the events of ep 5x16, which rest on eps 1, 14 & 15x5 (the start of the plotline that leads to the events), which themselves rest on eps 19-20-21-22x4 (who are the characters that are important and what are they doing here), but also on eps 12-13-14x2 (who are the other characters and what are they doing here), and on the other episodes where Ventress appears, but you can ignore her, just know that the bald lady with the red lightsabers is Dooku's apprentice early on before they part ways (but she's still a bad guy afterwards)

Random stuff that isn't too heavy: 6-7x1, Anakin looses R2 and goes looking for him; 11-12x1, which has some fun Anakin-Obi-Wan-Dooku banter AND Hondo (everyone likes Hondo); 17-18x1 which have the threat of death hanging over the main characters because of an evil scientist and some cool alien designs; (19-)20-21x1, the Ryloth arc where you can see clones being nice and the Jedi being cool, plus Twi'leks (I put the first episode of the arc in parentheses because it's not necessary to watch it to get the idea of what's going on); 8x2 which is the last part of a 5-ep storyline about mind-controlling brain worms, I recommend it because you'll probably like the interactions between Ahsoka and her friend Bariss + Bariss gets relevant waaay later; 16x2 which has the spider guy I mentioned that I like a lot and a bit at the start where I honest to god thought for a split second Obi-Wan and Anakin were going to kiss; 9x3, it follows 22x1 but you can go in kinda blind, it's just a little buckwild with its characters and I think you'll like Quinlan (if you do he appears more in some books & comics, and he's in fanfics a lot because he and Obi-Wan have a fun dynamic)

The Clovis stuff: Rush Clovis is an ex friend of Padmé that Anakin is really jealous of, he appears in 4x2 (and comes back in 5-6-7x6) and if you want to see Anakin behave like a jealous shit that's a good episode.

The Zillo Beast arc! 18-19x2, includes a big beastie, Palpatine being evil and kicking a dog (the beastie) to prove it, and Anakin's disability being visible. I give it here because it's often a trope in fics to have Palpatine killed by the Zillo Beast but it's not plot significant.

Clones stuff if you're interested: 5x1, with the first appearance of a group of clones that come back later; 10x2, it's part two of a plotline but the interesting clone stuff is mostly just in part two, in it there's an exploration of the clones outside of war (which they have literally been designed and created for); 1-2x3, introduce 99 who's neat and are mostly focused on clones

Padawan Lost arc: 21-22x3, Ahsoka being hunted for sport (literally), she kicks ass, and Chewie + another character I like show up in ep22

the Umbara arc: 7-8-9-10x4, a Jedi General is a real asshole to the clones we like, it's a little heavier and you can feel the transition from lighthearted start of the war stuff to the more depressing stuff that comes afterwards

the Zygerria arc: 11-12-13x4, the arc in which Obi-Wan gets hit & injured every episode I think, with cool designs because there's more Togruta and they look cool (warning though the Zygerrians are slavers, they enslave people). There's a cool moment at the end for Rex if you end up liking him (he's Anakin & Ahsoka's clone captain and one of the most important clones)

the Rako Hardeen arc: 15-16-17-18x4, more Obi-Wan violence! it's one of the arcs Obikin tumblr doesn't shut up about because basically Obi-Wan fakes his death and doesn't tell Anakin. It could have been better but it's trying something for sure

the Onderon stuff: 2-3-4-5x5, it's Ahsoka dealing with Romance (a little bit, the character she has Romance stuff with is already established from earlier seasons but you don't need to know him, just know he has a history with Ahsoka and he used to be a Separatist, ie on the wrong side) and I think you could like Steela & Saw Gerrera? Saw appears in Rogue One later on, but he's from TCW. The arc is about helping him, his sister and their people regain control of their planet.

the younglings: 6-7-8-9x5, little Jedi kiddos who go on their first big adventure to get their lightsaber crystal and then have to fight to come back home. They're really cute, the droid is voiced by David Tennant, and you can see Hondo in the last episode I think.

and finally, the arc you also gotta watch because it explains why Ahsoka isn't mentioned in ep3 when she was Anakin's Padawan and this boy gets attached way too fast: 17-18-19-20x5, which begins with Ahsoka and Anakin investigating a bombing in the Jedi Temple and ends with Ahsoka leaving. I put off watching it for so long because it's sad :(((

probably also the rest of the seasons, but you'll have to look at Wookieepedia descriptions to see if something sounds interesting (if I were you I'd focus on the Ahsoka stuff later on, apparently she does some cool interesting stuff). Wookieepedia has pages for every season and every episode with short & detailed summaries.

That'll be all, congrats on reading all that, ask me about stuff if you want I love never shutting up about this, I have discord if you want to chat, please give me impressions if you do end up watching/reading anything. Good luck with this monstrosity of a list lol.

[trashvinnie]

Thank you as well!! I only really started this whole thing because I was inspired by your art, enough to start moving my ass to actually get to it. I’m used to having my head in the clouds and writing a lot of wips, but this is the first time that I was actually able to finish one of the longer works I had. I’m just really thankful to you for that? Like, your art was so striking and it painted the picture so strongly in my mind. Or, well. Imprinted the idea?

On the rapper thing, I actually have a hard time imagining any of them as rappers, and then envisioned both Ace and Luffy as dance focused and having mixed street dance styles. It felt like an eenie meenie (Chungha, 2024) miny moe moment of who will do more rapping. In the end, the actual wips have them doing an equal mix of both in songs with all three. Makes sense though putting it that way, that he’d get to use his wordplay more often if he focused on rapping(it’s why i put bobby as his rap inspo, actually)

Unfortunately in the solo songs part in the concert fic I uh. Ended up giving Ace songs with just vocals (since I imagined him having one of those loud fight for your life msgs, and Ace having the entire crowd yell FUCK THIS MODERN LIFE stuck in my head).

Meanwhile Luffy’s has mostly fun/melodic raps, with lil singing. Just vibes and fun, really. Mostly because I have now realized I don’t have any songs based on fun vibes that focuses on singing. I need to dig deeper in the kpop archives probably, but now that the actual concert fic is over, I can pretend either way works and that he’s actually not rap focused. I see him more as bouncy guy great at making choreo, but it’s a challenge to actually make him *stick* to it. I think I’ll just make it flexible at this point,?

Sabo I just have in a little bubble of pop/rnb/jazz singing. Funky sexy bar singer vibes. On the idols that inspire their characters, I change the details every now and then? Ex. Luffy’s vocal inspo includes taeyong for fun singing times despite how different he sounds from Woosung. I think I added it the day after i made this post. Whoops pt2?

The notes in general in regards to them as characters: I didn’t want to make it too long or complex in the pics, but I do edit them A Lot. Add some more inspirations and whatnot. Something I want to note on more is the fashion aspect, but even if I’m a fan of Key’s work (shinee) or what idols like atz or skz wear, im not good at picturing things in my head, so imagining asl in certain clothes doesn’t really… work for me? Also I’d think that asl would rather wear things that would be easy to dance/move in, and would only think about fashion only if it were for fashion’s sake.

(except Sabo, he tries going for good looking but mobile. I imagine they get busier as time goes though and he leans more still on musical aspect than the clothes, so the fashion is come and go for him)

I am also absolutely losing my mind on the art? The dyed hair looks so funky, Luffy with red bangs, Sabo with the tips and Ace with the half-half… I’m . Yelling? Im gonna eat your Deuce

Hard agree on taking away the melanin part. This is fictional and I will bend the rules of reality to fit for these boys. ‘Indie kpop groups don’t make it that big bc —‘ yes well now they do, more expensive promotional rights or not. That stuff doesn’t exist here. Their melanin is celebrated.

Also the additional notes on Deuce and Koala… would you mind if I just,,, permanently added that to my character notes for them hahaha,,, I really like those ideas omg,,, Deuce truly just that guy who Ace became friends with one day and then one year later he’s employed as a manager.

I already finished the first fic (their first stadium concert) of the series, but now I have to figure out how to write everything else. I’m usually not that confident but your art helps a lot (even the ones not related to the au like wittb also inspires me, your facial expressions makes my heart go boom, to keep it short) in keeping my brain inspired.

Whether or not you do add art to this au, you really did help me create the train and then keep it going, no matter what. Many thanks for that, and for these amazing drawings as well! Im also going to eat the Law you drew

Also misc fic inspo:

Thank you for taking your time to make those drawings, and hope you’re doing ok despite any real life happenings!

inspired by @where-does-the-heart-lie and given courage by @wolf-eared-fangirl and their own wonderful rendition of the asl kpop au.

i got inspired a whole lot by the notes and artworks from whery but also tried to make it my own by making it increasingly impossible realistically. one of those it’s a fanfic and i can make anything possible vibes.

all of these are just concept notes and ideas i was able to keep down for the past what? two months or so? there are a lot more wips and ideas, and i wanted to see if there was anyone who wanted to bump brains with me or was willing to indulge seeing my messy thoughts/notes.

i made law important because i am obsessed with not only asl but him too. no escape from the brain worms, really. even if he doesn’t really pop up in a lot of my current wips for this au…

i should make storyboards but my brain has latched to grps like exo or atz for like. clothes inspo. i have multiple concert wips that needed me to make an entire fake asl concert setlist so that was fun, considering how i ended up adding eng and jp songs… i cannot contain myself and have been repeatedly editing everything I have on this for months ,,,

[carbuckety]

THE DAY HAS COME. Happy blogiversary @storyweaverofgondor​!!! I don’t know you super well but I’ve seen your writing & art around the fandom and can’t get enough of either. Thank you for letting me join this stellar event!!

My production was... Cats, Original Broadway Cast! Aka Grey Spreads His Tumbletoria Propoganda.

I LOVE THESE TWO. Tumblebrutus was often the one to do the pas de deux on Bway, since he got like, a character arc to match Victoria’s. :) And I got some HCs for them too!!!! And a short story about Goldenlonzo and Plato!! All under the cut... 👀

Victoria is a housepet who visits the junkyard with her father Bustopher.. 

Tumblebrutus is a former housecat, rescued from a hoarding situation with his best friend Pouncival.

The first time he sees her he thinks that it must be the Jellicle Moon itself in cat form. He has a crush immediately but Victoria doesn’t really notice him

Oh but Tumble adores everything about her — her silky smooth fur, her gracefulness, how kind she is to everyone, how she seems a bit chilly at first but is actually very warm and fun-loving like any other kitten…

She’s not at the junkyard very often so they don’t see much of each other :(

But, but, one time when she was visiting with Bustopher, he was trying to show off a back handspring to Pouncival, and didn’t stick the landing. He fell right over, right in front of Vic. He was totally mortified, until she laughed softly, asked if he was okay, and whispered something to Bustopher that may or may not have ended up getting him a bit of extra trout when it was time to eat.

The Ball we watch is the first Ball Tumble has ever attended, cause though he’d been in the tribe for a bit, he joined right after the last one. Watching Victoria do the White Cat Solo, he became totally determined to at least dance with her once.

His opportunity came during the middle of the Jellicle Ball, when everyone else had paired off and it was just them… he may have gotten really excited and literally headbutted her, on accident, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. :’D They danced at the Ball and Tumble feels the need to slap himself multiple times afterwards to make sure he’s not dreaming.

The pas de deux at the Ball was very much a one-time thing, though, since Victoria didn’t really show much more interest in Tumble after that — which was perfectly fine by him, as his crush started to abate a bit. He still admires her deeply for her dancing technique and her sweet personality, and hopes they can be better friends some day, though. :D

~~YOU HAVE NOW ENTERED THE FUNKY ZONE. Short little drabble about Plato & Lonz, Broadway besties, during the Tumbletoria pas de deux!~~

Plato and Alonzo were sitting together, off to the side of the junkyard, contently watching Victoria and Tumblebrutus dance together. Plato sighed and laid down, looking up at them with almost-longing eyes. “Oh, young love. Those two are adorable, aren’t they?”

“‘Oh, young love’?” Alonzo said, scoffing lightheartedly. “You’re not much older than those two, you know. But this must be Tumble’s dream come true. He’s had the eyes for her forever, it’s gotten a bit insufferable.”

“Insufferable? You’re insufferable, how about that. You’re just jealous that it’s not you and Demeter up there right now.” Plato nudged his friend, looking pointedly at the yellow queen who lay with Bombalurina on the other side of the junkyard.

“I’ve not a clue what you mean,” Alonzo said innocently, “and as if you’re one to talk. Don’t think you’re subtle with how you’ve been staring at Bomba.”

Plato sputtered, then pouted, looking up at Alonzo. “Not that obvious, I hope?”

Alonzo rolled his eyes.

“Shush.” 

“I said nothing!” he protested. Sighing dramatically, Alonzo rested his head atop Plato’s and looked back at Victoria and Tumblebrutus, the latter of whom had just set the former back down again. Both were looking at each other with sickeningly sweet eyes. “Young love,” he conceded softly, and dodged Plato’s upward swipe at him with a laugh.

[dustedmagazine]

Charles Mingus — At Bremen 1964 and 1975 (Sunnyside)

Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 by Charles Mingus

Any release of Charles Mingus material should raise a holler, and this two-concert four-disc set is no exception. We have the famous, or, as Bret Sjerven’s notes describe, infamous 1964 Bremen sextet concert complemented by Mingus’ next visit to that port city more than a decade later with only Danny Richmond appearing on both dates. Apart from “Fables of Faubus,” there’s no overlap in the set lists, and the playing itself demonstrates remarkable diversity. Best of all though, and somewhat ironic, is a unity of approach, not in the solos’ syntax but in the epic historical sweep that is the composer’s prerogative and the band’s emotive platform.

The Mingus sextet comprising the composer, pianist Jaki Byard, reedsmen Clifford Jordan and Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Johnny Coles and the afore-mentioned Richmond, really needs no introduction here. Conventional wisdom has it that it’s one of the most accomplished, swinging and air-tight units of the time, which is certainly true but not necessarily in comparison to the 1975 quintet, which had pianist Don Pullen, trumpeter Jack Walrath and George Adams on tenor. A comparison of “Fables of Faubus”’s two traversals will tell a large part of the story. Suffice it to say that the sextet’s on fire during the April 16, 1964 concert in a version that more than doubles the length of the 1975 rendering. In 1975, the nasty grooves and funky breaks are brought in abundance as the multivalent romp has sped up and often drives harder than its 1964 counterpart. Like “So What” from Miles Davis Plug Nickel sessions of 1965, a completely different feel never quite masks original intent as Walrath and Adams maintain the expected radical theatrics by incorporating seamless quotations into solos of staggering invention. The thorny planes of metrically diverse ensemble interaction are somewhat tamed in 1975, and band dropouts during solos have all but disappeared. For that earlier effect as the sextet digs in, listen to Coles and Mingus dialogue as all else recedes or Byard as he ratchets up the humor in his allusive solo. Preconceived notions of temporal and historical relativity don’t even begin to get at the group dynamics here, collective or otherwise, as Mingus alludes to his own songbook at strategic moments or leads the ensemble slowly back in after a solo of extraordinary emotional power and virtuosity. The various solo vocabularies magnify the eleven-year difference. Compared to the vibrato-heavy and supercharged Walrath solo in 1975, Coles is cool, never quite aloof but just that little tantalizing bit behind the beat. Dolphy’s bass clarinet has never been better represented on disc as he revels in multi-phonics and those wonderfully dangerous leaps he perfected. By contrast, 11 years later, Adams keeps the fire burning at a higher pitch, as does the rest of the ensemble in a version whose political citations are clearly as current as the music itself.  

The 1964 concert has previously been released in inferior sound, though it was obviously recorded for broadcast; luckily, vast improvements have been made for this issue. Just listen to the opening of “Fables of Faubus” to gauge the new restoration’s success. Byard’s chords are no longer the muddle they were on previous issues, filling in the harmony while syncopating with his usual historically clear-eyed voicings. We are even offered the opening notes of the Fats Waller/Art Tatum tribute, missing from other versions. Each instrument is as clear and immediate as the room is ambient, which is fortunate, as there’s plenty going on in every moment. The ensemble and solo passages, not to mention the way they can blur, will be terra firma to Mingus devotees, but to say that each solo is epic is to justify a cliché. Dig Jordan ramping up the rhetoric as his solo on “Hope So Eric” slowly catches fire, first dragging and then propelling what we can only loosely call the beat, Mingus and Richmond somehow perfectly locked in behind it all. If band dropouts are the order of the day, look no further than the wistfully loping, rushing and roaring but pleasantly perfumed “Sue’s Changes.” Pullen and Adams just tear it all up, there’s no other way to describe the energy, sweep and scale—pun intended—guiding their burning through the vast histories this music encapsulates. Notions of range, chops and even pitch slide toward the backburner, sweeping preconception away in torrents of the freedom Mingus always sought, often achieved but rarely felt.

Solo and interaction stand at a kind of microcosmic crossroads, holding a mirror up to an evolving ensemble whose approach to the false boundaries separating improvisation and composition also elucidates the point at which teleology is thwarted in favor of a more cyclic progress. What’s behind the music, that unique blend of emotion and experience that any Mingus group manifests, is what shines through each note. Once again, Sunnyside must be congratulated on making prime Mingus available and for facilitating such an incredible aural experience.

Marc Medwin

[jazzviewswithcj]

A deeper look at Merci Miles: (Warner Records, 2021)

Miles Davis: trumpet; Kenny Garrett: saxophone; Deron Johnson: keyboard; Richard Patterson: bass; Ricky Wellman: drums

By July, 1991 Miles Davis was music royalty.  The previous decade saw him reach a level of popularity and stardom seldom seen in jazz.  By the early 80’s the trumpeter had changed music multiple times, 4 to be exact, with his foray into hip hop, the first recording to be issued after his death Doo Bop (Warner Bros, 1992) , marking the fifth groundbreaking turn in his career.  Prior to his passing from stroke complications in 1991, he maintained a vigorous touring schedule, and the performances of his sextet of the period, the finest late career band he ever led (and arguably one of the best bands of his entire career) were supercharged.  The music captured on the newly released Merci Miles: Live at Vienne (Rhino, 2021) marks the first time anywhere save two YouTube videos the concert has been available in full, and is significant and historically important for two reasons:  it is one of Miles’ final performances in France available legally, and it features two compositions by Prince, the cheeky entendre laden titles “Penetration” and “Jailbait” that the late icon wrote specifically for Davis.  

The picture of the late singer/composer/multi instrumentalist’s involvement with Davis is much clearer through the release of Prince’s own Sign O’ The Times multi disc mega box set and the official release of “Can I Play With U?” a track originally written by The Purple One during the legendary Rubberband (Rhino, 2018) sessions.   Prince’s track was going to be included on what eventually turned out to be Davis’ first album with his new label, Warner Bros. Tutu (1986) but was eventually shelved.  The track was then slated to be issued in the original, much more substantial The Last Word: The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings box set from the early 2000’s (of which promo copies existed) but was fazed out due to rights issues.

The trumpeter always regarded France warmly, from the time he first set foot on French soil as a 22 year old in 1949.  The country was also where in the late 1950’s he recorded the innovative soundtrack to Elevator To The Gallows or Ascenseur pour l’echafaud director Louis Malle’s smoky noir film of which the trumpeter’s soundtrack, completely improvised featuring a top French rhythm section crystallized some of the ideas the trumpeter later would apply on Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959).  France was also the setting for the infamous romance with the late French starlet Juliette Greco.  More importantly, France, being the first country to wholeheartedly embrace jazz and recognize creative improvised Black music to be on par with European art music, was ready for whatever Davis brought to the table, instead of the misdirected pining that many fans and critics demonstrated in the U.S. for his past, acoustic centered work.  

Merci Miles was captured on July 1, 1991 at the Jazz a Vienne festival, at a picturesque Roman amphitheater filled to capacity.  7 days later on July 8, Miles would revisit the material from Porgy and Bess, Miles Ahead and Sketches of Spain at the Montreux Jazz Festival  with a double orchestra conducted by Quincy Jones and featuring the late trumpeter Wallace Roney as a second voice alongside occasional spots for alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett.    The appearance featuring this music was followed by an appearance with former band mates in Paris on July 10 (a concert that unfortunately of this writing is  being thieved by bootleggers for album release), and the European swing wrapped up in Nice, France on July 16th.

Miles’ band that July 1st evening, featuring Deron Johnson (who grew up with Miles’ nephew and former drummer Vince Wilburn, Jr) on keyboards; Kenny Garrett on alto saxophone and flute) lead bassist and Parliament alumnus Foley, bassist Richard Patterson, and the late Ricky Wellman on drums were inspired and smoking.

“Hannibal” written by Marcus Miller, which appeared on the group’s latest studio album Amandla (1989) is the high energy set opener, with the rhythm section of Johnson, Patterson and Wellman in perfect sync.  Miles flies free with some solo lines before the head appears, and Kenny Garrett makes his first appearance with a lengthy solo.  Garrett (who has a new Mack Avenue studio album in August) is like a heat seeking missile, the rhythm section responding and creating inner dialogues with him in response to his impassioned, pulpit stirring cries.  Deron Johnson, often alongside with Garrett in taking some of the best solos of the evening, briefly dialogues with Miles before spinning off into his own, substantial solo turn.  Johnson is a complete history of the keyboardist’s who played with the trumpeter and distills everything in his sparkling, distinctive soloing voice, swinging slightly behind the beat against the mightily funky bass and drums underneath.

“Human Nature”, the classic ballad   from Michael Jackson’s Thriller (Epic, 1982) Davis first debuted on You’re Under Arrest (Columbia, 1985).  The sensuous existential track became a blank canvas for the Davis band to paint on nightly.  The trumpeter renders the melody with longing, then gradually shifts into a resourceful solo with a double time sprint.  Within Davis’ solo and the use of Spanish tinged scales, and the colorful keyboard backing, the intense drama of the beautiful arrangements that Gil Evans crafted for Sketches of Spain (Columbia, 1959) which Marcus Miller expanded upon in a sense for the film soundtrack Siesta (Warner Bros, 1989) are clearly felt.  Davis quotes “Nature Boy” and a few other asides before passing the baton to Garrett, who used the tune as a nightly feature for intense late period Coltrane trance like meditation.  Garrett fits in a quote of the old spiritual “Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho” before rocketing into space; Wellman in particular follows him wherever he goes.  Every now and then Miles jabs some mood setting chords with his Oberheim OBX synth as cues, while Garrett continues to combust.  The saxophonist bursting at the seams as a fragment from the bridge to “Milestones” is used as an ostinato, Davis signals a quick blast with his trumpet and the tune ends.  Garrett brought the audience and listeners at home on a thrill ride.

“Time After Time” , the Cyndi Lauper classic is ushered in as volcanic applause erupts from the audience, nearly drowning  out the music.  For 9 and a half minutes, the show belongs to Davis, as he gently finds all the melodic contours he can in the tune.  Like “Round Midnight” and “My Funny Valentine” of decades past, “Time After Time” became one of Davis’ signature ballads.  He drives his improvisation the same way  as Aretha Franklin, Pavarotti, Bocelli or Carreras would, with a marked sense of passion and timeless beauty.

Disc 1 closes with one of the Prince tunes, “Penetration” where everyone gets off on the raunchy funk.  Davis and Garrett are one during the track, and it truly shows the admiration and border less musicality that both icons would have shared, Davis struts with swagger between melody statements and Johnson rips into his solo with passion, Garrett’s searing alto ups the ante further.  As a contrast, “Jailbait” on disc 2, is a gut bucket blues where both Johnson and Garrett take scintillating solos..

The show closes with “Wrinkle” a wondrous maze of a melody that is awe inspiring when played a top speed, and “Finale” a drum solo feature for Wellman that showcases his patented bass drum triplets while keeping rock solid time on the snare, a sort of shuffle where the bass and snare switch roles, and some lightning samba as well as his signature Go-Go groove.

Sound:

Merci Miles is taken directly from the original tapes recorded and mixed by Patrick Savey and Mastered by John Webber at Air Studios in London.  Similar to Sony/Legacy’s Bootleg Series releases for Davis, the tape is from the official broadcast, in this case captured by the small Zycopolis studios.  Curiously for 1991, the sound is mono which could be due to whatever technical limitations of the tape, but it is very good strong mono.  The Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC manages to wring out very nice separation for the band in the mono soundstage: In particular, Davis trumpet is vibrant, brassy, golden and present.  Richard Patterson’s bass is commanding and takes the center of the sound stage, deep and rich.  Ricky Wellman’s drums are full of gusto, there is a reason his nickname was “Sugarfoot” and you hear that in all it’s glory.  Kenny Garrett’s passion radiates past the speakers, Deron Johnson’s keyboards float above the proceedings and Foley’s lead bass provides a wonderful textural contrast to everything else.

Concluding Thoughts:

The 80’s and early 90’s Miles cannon  has seen relatively scant archival releases versus everything from the 50’s-70’s.  Merci Miles is a welcome document of a band that truly was at the top of it’s game and at the peak of its powers.  Miles Davis, judging from this concert was showing little sign of slowing down in his playing, there is a vitality and joy here that  easily places this alongside his Montreux concerts of the period and the excellent Live Around The World (Warner Brothers, 1996).  A wonderful present honoring the great musical icon thirty years on from his passing.  The CD (reviewed here) and LP packages contain some particularly touching photos in a triple gatefold in the French Flag colors of Miles memorabilia from that final tour provided by Vince Wilburn, Jr and a superb liner essay from noted scholar Ashley Kahn contextualizing the history of the trumpeter’s French sojourns and the event itself, alongside some great photos.  The cover also features some nice embossing of the album title text and Davis’ name.  If there is any doubt about physical media, this album is a compelling case for why it’s so good to OWN a physical copy of an album.

Music: 10/10

Sound: 8.5/10

Equipment used for this review

Audiolab 6000 CDT  transport

Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC

Marantz NR 1200 stereo receiver (as pre amp)

Marantz MM 7025 stereo power amplifier

Focal Chora 826 speakers

Audioquest Forest and Golden Gate cables

[x-exo]

Ahh never apologize for replying late! I understand, I'm just happy tumblr didn't eat my ask xD

Ndkandks all of wonho's new songs are just, ugh amazing. For me I think ain't about you is my fav. I find myself humming to it at random times of the day the most, the melody is simple and catchy (also his English has improved so much im proud of him) but them LOOKS for this era ??? He didn't come to play haha. Changkyun being the master of art as always. At first was a bitsad for now performances on music shows but then I remembered he uses uhh "colorful words" so maybe that's why cx nonetheless am proud of him, hands down my favorite mixtape that my favs put out

Welp, the mingyu situation has been fully cleared up (ibelieve you answered this before the final pledis statement?) Pledis cleared things up and mingyu did apologize in the statement (this of course may bring up if he was honest with his apology since it was through the company) and I want to say he was honest? Idk, maybe im naive with believing this but he was wanting to meet with everyone that made posts, he did admit he made jokes and simply went along with them so he is taking accountability. I think now, what is best is just try to like move forward from this. This is up to each fan so I totally respect and understand if you may feel a bit "meh" with getting back into supporting mingyu. It is VALID, any fan that says otherwise is a buttsock. If you need some time, that is ok! If you need a break from the fandom, that is also ok! Afterall, being a fan should be fun and be a happy space! So whatever you pick to do, I support ya! *hugs you* for me, im comfy with like reblogging stuff of him and such. Like im a bit upset still but im a bit more ok If that makes sense? What we are NOT going to do is send hate to OP because their feelings were valid as well

Chanyeol is off fighting indeed, It feels weird but im happy he is able to be away from the idol life (especially after his insta clear out, i got a bit worried there. Sadly the woozi pic didn't survive that clear out gjskdja) what I don't understand is how fans got mad for now group photo and I am like ??? Yeah it sucks to not see them sending off chanyeol but we are in a pandemic and also maybe chanyeol wanted it to be personal? Can kpop fans just chill? Baekhyun released his new album and its iconic, like always lol. May 6 is his date and It will be a shame for sure, but as you said, am happy they can take a break and such. I hope Baekhyun doesn't feel guilty because I'm not mad! (Laughing since exo likes to leave us with gifts before going lol) and minseok!obessesion is just flippen perfection. Like can we greenscreen him into the mv sm? He fits this concept soooo much!

But hoshi making a solo debut, HOLO HAS HAPPEN3D YALL! I cannot stop listening to it, the vocals, beat and dance is just everything to me (a bit sad its not more songs but I'm not complaining) I just was screaming the entire mv xD like it felt like I was being blessed by a God or something lol

Ok my phone is glitching as I'm typing this so maybe its time for me to go xD I pray this sends but until next time we chat!! I hope you are doing well and are safe! Continue being fabulous!

ain’t about you is soooo cute and funky!! but then the dance....😳 dhfsdiuhisuhis yeahhh i think changkyun said it in an interview somewhere that he kind of wanted to promote it on shows but his company told him that it was that or changing the “colorful words” to something more suitable so he declined...I’m glad tbh it makes the album more special imo also he achieved so many #1s and so many views on the mv!! he was so happy!

yeah, I’m glad the mingyu situation is cleared up and he apologised I was missing seventeen so much omg and the members’ messages on his bday the second pledis dropped the last statement...🤧 they love him so much. ALSO GOSE IS BACK!! I’m so happy omggg i missed my weekly dose of serotonin! I’m glad everything is slowly going back to normal. Yeah same i’m okay with it now too.!

have you listened to tomorrow??? omg it’s so so so good i love chanyeol’s voice so much it’s so soothing 😍 hope it was longer tho! yeah tbh fans always find something to complain about like we’re in a pandemic and the south korean rules don’t allow gatherings of lots of people how do you expect them to all get together for a pic and then post it like ????? but anyways I’m glad he got his family with him to say goodbye! also...

EXO IS BACK EXO IS BACK EXO IS BAAAAACKKKKKKKK

I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES I REALLY CAN’T omg they’re really coming back with a whole album and a power continuation mv!!!!! also the song sounds like power 2.0 so it’s already soty!!!!! I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

I hope hoshi releases more songs bc i love his style and everything he does for that matter uidhgiufisdfh also MINGHAO SOLO!!!AAAAH so many things happening omgggg

[valkavavaart]

no one asked but i wanted to do all of this in one sitting lets go.. this is long im sorry

1. favourite character 

jyushi, kuukou, ramuda.. i will not pick between them

2. least favourite character 

jyuto.. also saburo but he’s growing on me

3. favourite division

nagoya, baby!

4. favourite buster bros member

legally adopting jiro.. thats my boy i love him

5. favourite mtc member

rioooOoOOoOOoOoOoOOo i dont care the other two but like id give my life for riooOoOOOo

6. favourite matenrou member

doppPOOoOOOoOOOoo but also dr jakurai jinguji if ur out there...

7. favourite fling posse member

r a m u d and a.. whos that

8. favourite character song

UMMM drops and moonlight shadow both slap...?

9. favourite rap battle

its gotta beeeeee battle battle battle? i dont rlly listen to them much i just think abt the art where ramuda and jakurai are like face to face except we KNOW ramuda is barely like 5′0″ and jakurai is a big tall 6′4″ish man so how are they this close is ramuda sitting on his knee?? is jakurai kneeling?? is ramuda on a box

10. favourite tdd member

again.. ramuda lmao.. like esp tdd ramuda his outfit is so cute hes just so tiny..

11. your otp

UMMMM i like getting into a lot of ships?? id say my favs are probably like.. gendice or riodice maybe?? and ichikuu.. rn im like rlly into hitoya/jakurai too i want those old men to hold hands (i wanna draw them but idk any good poses for old dudes who r also boyfriends)

12. your notp

anything involving saburo uMmMMmm.. im not rlly a fan of samatoki/ichiro & tdd era samatoki/ichiro ESPECIALLY rubs e the wrong way.. i also dont rlly like jyushi/hitoya or kuukou/hitoya they just rlly rub me the wrong way

13. how did you get hooked on hypmic

ok so on twitter all my friends and the artists i follow got rlly into fire emblem three houses and i didnt own a switch at the time but i was like "cool i'll like find a bunch of artists that draw this and i'll UHHH maybe get hyped for it idk" and one of the artists was riryou_ on twitter who was posting like mochi blyeth and i was like omg so cute... and they spoke abt like hypmic a bunch too and i was like "oh i vaguely know what hypmic is (based off of all the samatoki memes and sasara fanart i’d see), maybe i should get into it??" then they like posted jyushi and i was like "oh he looks so dumb i need to know more" and i HEARD jyushi and i was like "actually he's adorable and i love him!!" bc i have a soft spot for like.. crybaby chuunis, and then downloaded the game and was like "wtf!!! where is jyushi" and thats why im here..

14. a character you identify with

im not assigning myself a hypmic kin!!!!!!!!

but i’ll pick doppo bc 1. never trust a doppo kinnie and 2. i too need a therapist

15. favourite character design

KUUKOU was designed specifally to cater to me here is exactly why

-SHORT KING. (HES THE SECOND SHORTEST BOY?? WHAT THE FUCK??? HE’S TALLER THAN RAMUDA SO GOOD FOR HIM.. BUT YOU’RE TELLING ME SABURO THE FUCKING 14 YEAR OLD IS TALLER THAN MY BOY KUU!??!?!?!? SHORT KING!)

-his hair. i cant draw it but i like it

-hes like >:3 all the time 

-he has?? fucking fangs

-cat boy energy

-the like contrast of him being a monk and then him also just being a little bastard.. love that

-i like his jacket

-his dumb fucking boots..

-he comfy

-radiates chaotic energy

-one of his eyes is usually like slightly squinted?? i dont know why he does that but i like it

-he wont hesitate.. bitch

-i forgot this was supposed to be like based on his design and went on a long ass ramble abt his personality but like sshhh you wont see that.. delete

-piercings... the big one looks like a stretcher? i like that

-his speakers that look like the dragon w the bell are cool

-again short king rowdy boy

-he has long eyelashes and wears eye makeup.. thats cute..

- >:3

16. a character you'd cosplay

again kuukou looks comfy but thats a lot of layers.. itd be rlly warm right..

id say maybe jiro! ichiro would be my next choice idk i like their jackets

17. a character you thought you'd like + 18. a character you thought you'd dislike  

ok so i just put these together bc like actually.. before i got into hypmic when all i rlly knew was vague fanart of the characters and that jyushi is my man i did a tier list to like get my opinions on them down.. and sometimes i look back to it and im like.. AHAH...

as u can see i was on board for jyushi as soon as i got here... but i thought sasara and kuukou were rlly neat and like i figured i'd like ichiro bc mmm... but honestly im not that big on ichi SFGKHDLF...

meanwhile in the bottom tier... jakurai, jiro, dice, rosho, ramuda, hifumi... the irony that i actually rlly like all of them... rosho took a while to grow on me but he's really good.. meanwhile hifumi probably still isnt a character im like SUPER into but i do like him..

heres my current tier list tho LMAO

19. buster bros or mtc?

hnn.. its gonna have to be buster bros...

i like jiro and rio a lot and dont rlly care for the other 4 but like.. i think i like bb and their dynamic and find them more sympathetic than mtc lmaoo... like ichiro went through a lot for his bros..

samatoki also went through a lot for nemu but hes stinky as hell and i think he's stupid. but i will not write an essay on that.

20. fling posse or matenrou

fling posse BABYYYYYY i love those funky little lads.. i like matenrou a lot too but like fp just appeal to me a lot more and i rlly love their dynamic.. i could talk for days abt fp...

21. mtc or matenrou

matenrOUuUuuUUuUUuu again i do not care mtc aside from rio.. i dont rlly have strong thoughts on matenrou lol i like their friendship tho :)

22. favourite hypmic seiyuu

saito soma or takaya kuroda.. saito soma bc i generally love his voice and also he voices other favs of mine (yamaguchi hq, 2wink from enstars..) and takuya kuroda bc im literally a simp for kazuma kiryu from the yakuza series,

also ive been insulting samatoki so far but i actually like his va like the man has the range?? between voicing samatoki hypmic and leo enstars?? HELLO????

23. a song you didn't like

basically anything by mad trigger crew SBJFGKJHLDSF the only song i actively remember by them is whats my name.. i only play it for rio..

UMMM otherwise i guess like??? new star.. sucks bc i actually rlly like saburo's va but i feel like he doesnt rlly get the best parts/songs...? that being said i like songs w him in it so

24. a hypmic headcanon

ummmmmmm i cant think of anything lol snnzzz.. i saw the hc that ramuda was the one that like dyed jakurais hair and it was so cute..

25. favourite solo song

wasnt this already a question or can i not read.. whatever my brain is like gya gya gyaran gya gya gyaran bam gya gya gyaran bam gya gya gya gya gyaran bam

6. favourite mc name

they all fucking suck LOL

evil monk is very literal and i like that. i also like that 14th moon ties into jyushi's name and everything..

UHHH i guess doppo cause its literally just his name LMAOO and i think doppos a cute name

7. the most attractive character

i know i said that kuukou is designed to appeal specific to me but gentarou? pretty boy. love to see it thank you saito soma. also tdd era jakurai.. maybe its just cause i like the manga art a lot but... dr jakurai jinguji if ur out there

28. a kink

PARDON.

29. favourite life quote & 30. favourite rebuttal or punchline

i dont wanna give a serious answer to either of those so on a completely unrelated note, i think abt this a lot

[redsoapbox]

MY TOP FIFTEEN TRACKS BY WELSH ACTS IN THE PAST DECADE.

Pictured - Davey Newington. Davey features in the list twice - as Boy Azooga and as a member of the gone but not forgotten Houdini Dax.

In my introduction to Pop Hack, my debut collection of reviews/interviews, I make the claim that ‘some of the best records I have heard in my lifetime come from the unsigned and unsung acts that I stumbled upon covering the Welsh music scene’. I repeated that claim the other day while being interviewed by Bill Cummings for his Cymru Am Bop podcast (see link below), so I thought it was about time I put some flesh on the bones. In no particular order, then, are fifteen tracks from some of the best singer/ songwriters and bands in Wales.

1. Dan Bettridge - Third Eye Blind (2015)

Released as a single in 2015, and wisely included in Dan’s exceptional debut album Asking For Trouble three years later. “Third Eye Blind” is a stirring soul workout, hugely influenced by Van Morrison’s classic track “Real, Real Gone”, and a surefire set closer by anybody’s standards.

2. Pretty Vicious - Cave Song (2014)

The mighty tune that famously sent the major record labels into a lather and into a headlong race to Merthyr in pursuit of the teenage rockers. I caught the band at the EVI (Ebbw Vale Institute), a few months after they had signed on the dotted line, and filed one of the earliest national reviews of the band for Wales Arts Review. I spent most of the review decrying their major label status; ‘Pretty Vicious has signed with Virgin, it’s the first uncool thing they’ve done’ I moaned. I ended the review on a note of caution - ‘Pretty Vicious would be wise not to rush into the recording studio just yet. You never get a second chance at a debut album’. My scepticism about the multinational’s motives was on the money - the band was unceremoniously dropped by Branson and Co in 2017 without even releasing an album!

https://soundcloud.com/prettyviciousuk/cave-song

3. Houdini Dax - Found Love In The Dole Office. (2015) 

I was a huge fan of Cardiff’s sadly defunct power-pop trio, whose two albums, You Belong To Dax Darling (2011) and, particularly, Naughty Nation (2015), are packed with bangers/earworms/crackers - take your pick. I was bemused by their complete lack of success, but nevertheless surprised when they morphed overnight into Monico Blonde. Drummer Davey Newington went on to bigger, if not necessarily better things, with Boy Azooga of course. “Found Love In The Dole Office” is a typical Dax track, matching a punchy melody with a clever lyric. 

4. Jodie Marie - Everyone Makes Mistakes (2015)

Taken from one of my all time favourite albums, Trouble in Mind (2015), “Everyone Makes Mistakes” is one of four or five outstanding ballads that form the centrepiece of this truly fine record. This is a heartbreaking song that leaves the listener reeling!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNBraJss7-4&feature=youtu.be&autoplay=1

5. oblong - Light Sleeper (2019)

I tossed a coin with this track. Llanelli’s bilingual post-punk combo has released two scorching albums, Brilliant...Gwd (2017) and Hollalluog (2019), which are brimming over with terrific tunes. Any one of them will set the pulses racing.

https://oblong1.bandcamp.com/

6. Danielle Lewis - West Coast Sun (2016) 

When we beat this virus and lockdown truly ends, this is the record that I’m going to emerge from my hideaway playing. A joyous tune that deserves the sun on its back and for people to be of good cheer when they listen to it. Danielle’s current single “Flowers” is another beautiful composition.

https://daniellelewis.bandcamp.com/track/west-coast-sun

7. Aled Rheon - Wrap up Warm  (2016)

It’s never the done thing to quote oneself, but as this feature is partly to publicise my book Pop Hack I’m going to take a diabolical liberty! In my review of the song I write ‘It’s a beautifully judged lyric with a performance to match, as Rheon’s fine-grained vocal manages to make James Taylor sound like Jello Biaffra’. Not bad, even if I say so myself!

8. Armstrong - Gratitude (2019)

Although this song dates back a good number of years, it was included in the deluxe release of Armstrong’s majestic album Under Blue Skies (2019). As with oblong, above, I was spoiled for choice and very nearly chose the exquisite “My Resistance”, then again I very nearly opted for the heartaching “Perhaps It’s Time To Say Goodbye”. “Gratitude”, though, has a life-affirming quality that somehow transcends the times in which we live.

https://bigtakeover.com/recordings/ArmstrongUnderBlueSkiesTheBeautifulMusic

9. Climbing Trees - Aliosi (2013)

Does this song really contain ‘the most romantic couplet in the history of pop’, as I somewhat fancifully speculated in my review of Hebron, the Pontypridd combo’s debut album? Perhaps not, but that’s what a great pop song can do to you. I happily plead guilty to getting carried away by ‘Sunlight streams into my eyes, It always brings me to /  I didn’t mean to wake you darling, but I can’t keep my eyes off you’. If that doesn’t set your heart racing, what will?

https://ilikeclimbingtrees.bandcamp.com/track/aloisi

10. Silent Forum - Limbo (2017)

Silent Forum had a great 2019, with their debut album Everything Solved At Once earning them rave reviews across the board. It’s a wonderful album and it would have been easy to choose its centrepiece, the stupendous “How I Faked The Moon Landing”. I opted, however, for “Limbo” an old favourite of mine and a song that stood out for me the very first time I saw the band play in 2015. This is Indie-noir incarnate!

https://silentforum.bandcamp.com/track/limbo-2

11. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard - Love Forever (2019).

Can there be any doubt that Tom Rees and his band are heading for the big time? The man writes killer tunes and has the chutzpah to carry them off. Rees is a real political animal, but he tends to separate that out from his music. On “Love Forever”, an ‘all you need is love’ protest song, he puts a hippy-dippy toe in choppy political waters for the first time. 

12. Boy Azooga - Loner Boogie (2018)

After missing the boat with Houdini Dax and Monico Blonde, Davey Newington’s ship finally came in with his solo project Boy Azooga, leading to support slots with the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. This tune is as fun ‘n’ funky as pop music gets.

13. Burning Ferns -  Bullet Train

Newport’s Burning Ferns are often compared to stellar names like Big Star, Teenage Fan Club and The Byrds, so if you admire classic songwriting, chiming guitars and three-part harmonies then their two fine albums on Country Mile See Saw Seen (2013) and Public Mono (2017) are must-have records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6m3GTm7DE

14. Georgia Fearn - Catch Me When You Can (2018)

An edgy and imaginative songwriter, Georgia Fearn was just 17 when she released her debut album, the dark delight that was Perfect on Paper. Equally influenced by TV, cinema and literature’s tales of the macabre, Perfect on Paper is something of a black comedy, one that you might want to listen to crouched into the foetal position whilst hiding behind the sofa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgVmBKAbn6c

15. Head Noise - Microwave (2018)

It defies explanation that Mitch Tennant left the mini-masterpiece “Microwave” off last year’s 14-track debut album Uber Fantastique. A fun pop artefact in the vein of Landscape’s “Einstein A Go-Go”, every home should have one - “Microwave” the song, I mean, not an actual microwave. Although I’m given to understand by the cooks in the household that a microwave is a product that comes in handy, personally I never venture into the kitchen, so I can’t properly comment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wXV_7fr7k8 

The five next best

Travelator - Anonymous Iconoclasts, That Night at the Table  - Beth Goudie, Just Rock ‘n’ Roll - I Fight Lions, Obsolete - Matthew Fredricks (not yet released), High -Clwb Fuzz.

http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2020/05/11/podcast-cymru-am-bop-episode-three-featuring-kevin-mcgrath/

All of the above acts are featured in my book Pop Hack

http://bit.ly/PopHack

[usgunn]

September 8, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 8, 2019 playlist

1.    The Walker Brothers - “My Ship Is Comin’ In” (1965)

It may be a music nerd cliché to love Scott Walker, but...I love Scott Walker.  I’m sure Scott will show up in other forms on later ARBTR playlists, but this week I felt like kicking things off with some quirky, string-laden late 60′s productions, and this early Walker Brothers song felt like a great way to start.  For a primer on Scott, check out the documentary Scott Walker: 30th Century Man, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.  A little extra trivia: this song was produced by Ivor Raymonde, father of Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde.

2.    The Left Banke - “Desiree” (1968)

The Left Banke are best known for their hit “Walk Away Renee,” from their first record in 1967.  That record was primarily written and arranged by keyboardist Michael Brown, who at the time was a mere 17 years old.  Brown parted ways with the band before their second record, The Left Banke Too, was released, but this track is one of the two songs on that album that he wrote and played on, and in my opinion a highlight of a small but dense catalog.  

3.    The Move - “Beautiful Daughter” (1970)

OK, so technically this song was released in February 1970, but...close enough to stick with our late 60′s time period.  A really wonderful string arrangement here, presumably done by singer and songwriter Roy Wood, who would later start ELO with Jeff Lynne.

4.    The Electric Prunes - “The Adoration” (1968)

This song comes from the fourth album credited to The Electric Prunes, Release of an Oath, but is an Electric Prunes record in name only.  The band that recorded “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” was gone, and all that was left was producer David Hassinger and composer/arranger extraordinaire David Axelrod, who would go on to compose and produce several amazing, hip, jazzy records under his own name.  I’m a big Axelrod fan and I’m sure he’ll show up on a future playlist, but this early example of his forays into the “rock” world seemed to fit with this week’s opening theme.

5.    The Soundcarriers - “Signal Blue” (2014)

Getting out of the 60′s, but this UK band has had both David Axelrod and Scott Walker referenced by critics as likely musical inspirations, among other hip 60′s and 70′s acts.  This comes from their album Entropicalia, released on the great Ghost Box record label run by Julian House, a graphic designer whose work has graced almost every Broadcast and Stereolab record sleeve, and who similarly does all the design for Ghost Box’s releases.

6.    SAULT - “Don’t Waste My Time” (2019)

Literally know nothing about this band.  Try and Google them -- as of when this playlist was released, you will find virtually nothing.  All I can tell is that the production was done by Inflo, a UK-based producer that appears to have some connection to super-producer Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse.  Kind of a sassy, ESG feel; just heard this this week and loved it.

7.    Shape of Broad Minds (feat. MF Doom) - “Let’s Go (Space Boogie)” (2007)

Hip-hop project led by prolific producer (and, I think, part-time Atlanta resident?) Jneiro Jarel.  This comes from a record, Craft of the Lost Art, released on Warp Records hip-hop offshoot Lex Records.  And of course, this song features the vocal stylings of rap legend (and, I think, also part-time Atlanta resident?) MF Doom.  Jarel and Doom later did a full-album collaboration, Key to the Kuffs, under the name JJ Doom.  I love the propulsive feel of this song, with a riff that feels like it’s leading somewhere but keeps repeating itself.

8.    George Smallwood - “You Know I Love You” (1980?)

I discovered this song on a compilation put out by the enigmatic DC-based label Peoples Potential Unlimited called Peoples Potential Family Album, compiling tracks the label had reissued on 12-inches.  PPU mainly mines obscure boogie-funk from the DC/Virginia area, from which blind singer-songwriter George Smallwood hailed.  I love the backing vocals on this song, they totally make it for me, along with the demo-like sparseness of the production.

9.    Sandra Wright - “I Come Running Back” (1974)

I’ve already forgotten how I discovered this, but something I saw this week led me to listen to this track, from the album Wounded Woman, recorded in 1974 for Stax subsidiary Truth Records but unreleased until 1989.  I’m glad I did--I instantly fell in love with everything about this song.

10.   Tim Maia - “Brother, Father, Sister and Mother” (1976)

Note the correct song title above - Spotify seems to have mucked it up.  Maia was a funk/soul guy in the 70′s in Brazil who was the subject of Luaka Bop’s compilation World Psychedelic Classics 4: Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia, where I discovered this song.

11.    Daphni - “Sizzling (Radio Edit)” (2019)

Daphni is the name under which Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith releases his more dance-oriented material.  This song, released this past summer, is a remix of an obscure 1981 funk track called “Sizzlin Hot” by Paradise.  It cooks.

12.    "Blue” Gene Tyranny - “David Kopay (Portrait)” (1978)

Note the correct song title above.  Tyranny was an avant-garde piano player and composer who dabbled the “rock idiom,” for lack of a better term.  He was briefly in the Stooges, apparently.  This song is adventurous from a compositional perspective but also remarkably funky.  Extra trivia: this song’s namesake, David Kopay, was an NFL running back and the first NFL player to publicly acknowledge he was gay.  In addition to the many things to love about this song, the extended synth drone outro provides a palette cleanser for the set of songs that close the playlist this week.

13.    Will Johnson - “Every Single Day of Late” (2017)

Will Johnson was the leader of the late-great Centro-matic from Denton, TX, one of my all-time favorite bands.  He released a couple of sparse solo records while Centro-matic was active, but since that band folded in 2014 his solo records have incorporated more varied sounds and approaches to songwriting.  This song, from his most recent record Hatteras Night, a Good Luck Charm (although a new one is due this year) opens with a somewhat menacing electric guitar sound and never quite feels settled, adding junkyard percussion and backing vocals with some interesting atonal guitar work in the middle.

14.   Rollerskate Skinny - “Lunasa” (1993)

Really, really weird and fearless 90′s rock band from Dublin, Ireland that featured Jimi Shields, younger brother of Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine, on drums and other instruments.  This song really gives you no idea of what the album this comes from (Shoulder Voices, their debut) sounds like--I’m not sure any individual song on the record does.  All over the place in the best way possible.  I felt like the backing-vocal heavy nature of this song went well with the previous song and the next song, even if they otherwise sound like they have nothing to do with each other.

15.    Kelley Polar - “Chrysanthemum” (2007)

Polar was (is?) a Julliard-educated violinist with an affinity for dance music who made two great string-drenched dance records in the early 2000′s and then, as far as I can tell, disappeared.  This song actually barely features strings, and I therefore hesitated to include it, but I love the starkness of this track and the rhythm “breaths” that drive it.

16.    Psychic TV - “The Orchids” (1983)

I’m not a Psychic TV fan, and I don’t get much of what they do.  The band, formed by former Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, often trafficks in drone and noise music that just doesn’t do anything for me.  But this song is different.  I first heard this song when Califone covered it on their Roots & Crowns album in 2006, and I still love that version.  But the original has a strange naiveté to it, with its lo-fi production and overlapping, cut-and-paste vocals.

[bites-kms]

HK Bars: Re-loaded

It’s vox populi that Hong Kong nights are great. The city is alive between the tetris buildings, live music venues, the poured-to-perfection drinks and the incomparable chill and fun vibe people foster. This is a re-vamp of the previous bar-hopping post on Bars in HK. This time, I had the opportunity to explore further and different neighborhoods with friends and fun colleagues. 

Iron Fairies  LG, 1 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong.

With sister locations in Bangkok and Tokyo, this bar is undoubtedly great and one never gets tired of visiting either this or any of the other locations— and, in all cases, it’s quite unlike anywhere else in the city. Sutton’s establishments, one very well renown interior designer and bar entrepreneur, are known for mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, eclectic decor, and The Iron Fairies is no exception. Indeed, this is one bar you’ve got see in person to believe. In LifeStyle Asia Editor in Chief, Micheal Alan words’ the “metal-making tools line the walls, vials of ‘fairy dust’ hang from the ceiling in clusters and — most incredible of all — some 10,000 preserved butterflies dangle overhead, suspended on tiny metal rods (...) are incredible. Watching them sway back and forth is simply mesmerizing”. I guess I’ll have to go to the Tokyo one to make an Iron Fairies hat-trick!

Iron Fairy by LifeStyle Asia  The Woods  G, L, 17-19號 Hollywood Rd, Central, Hong Kong.

This was a great venue where I met my friend Sammie from Singapore. It’s an eclectic bar, around the main area of LKF, where a mirror door disguises it, and a museum-kind-of-display about different cocktail elements merged with design fashion runway aesthetics is part of the charm. Drinks were delicious and music was great. It’s a fantastic alternative to the mainstream happening in the neighborhood. I dared to have a different approach to an old fashion and it was delicious, with a little of spices and herbs. Great choice. Foxglove + Frank’s Library  18 Ice House St, Central, Hong Kong.

This is a great hidden speakeasy featured as a deluxe umbrella shop. Delightful venue, with even more striking and delicious drinks, with super charismatic bartenders made our stay a memorable one. There was this jazz band playing stellar music and then a Philippine guy took the mic and literally brought the house down with his songs (I mean, Frank Sinatra “Fly me to the Moon”, of coz!) and voice. It was so much fun!  There’s a little speakeasy within the speakeasy called “Frank’s Library” and it serves a smaller, more selected list of drinks, in a library setting that isolates the music from Foxglove, turning this little bar into a cozier, more familiar one.  The Old Man- Ernest Hemingway  Lower G/F, 37-39 Aberdeen Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Photo Credits: The Old Man - Ernest Hemingway Website Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to this one. I did have nights to spare, but some of them I just strolled around, got lost and experience some great night walks and dinners, where I ended up with food-commas and completely exhausted. But I’m gonna write it down so I don’t forget to go next time I’ll visit the hood. It was honored as one of the World’s Top 50 Bars in 2018, so it’s a set date for sure. With unique decor, on its website one can read the true inspiration and homage this place gives to the author: “He was a sophisticated drinker, a lover of fine spirits, and a true connoisseur who sought out the best bars from Paris to Pamplona. The Old Man honors Hemingway by taking inspiration from his novels, history, and folklore, and by using novel ingredients and culinary accoutrements – thereby paying tribute to the spirits and cocktails he loved.” Damn... just realized I walked by its door so many times... I guess this time wasn’t meant to be! Piqniq R/F (Rooftop) HQueens, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong.

This is a nice surprise in the middle of Central HK. After a beautiful Yayoi Kusama art piece and strong pink and red decor that highlights the instagrammable worth of this rooftop, one finds a breathtaking terrace in the middle of Hong Kong skyscrapers with an unforgettable view of the bay and the mountains. A solo glass of prosecco, in between dinners and another bar date closer to the hotel, was exactly what I needed to bond with Hong Kong. 

Sevva  10 Chater Rd, Central, Hong Kong.

This was a fantastic double recommendation from my friend Mau and my friend Angelica. I remember Angelica mentioned it the first time I went to HK but, as it was expected, I was on its door and didn’t manage to find it properly. But this time, I went and enjoyed one of the few last nights with my ex-boss. We managed to find it and dare to take the elevator to the beautiful heights of its bar. It had a great drink list which I decided to pass on and go with my default and solid choice of prosecco to quench my thirst on this warm and cloudy Hong Kong night. We toasted for the good times and for the success we had over these days regarding our pitch.  It was a great experience which definitely made me grow as a professional and as a leader, where I needed to juggle, define, forecast and ask for the resources I needed to make it happen, that included a physical trip to this city to lead in-house workshops. 

Skye  Hong Kong, Causeway Bay, Gloucester Rd, 310號27樓

Skye Bar, provided by Pullman Hotel in Trip Advisor. Promise, this would be my last cheat-recco since I didn’t make it to this one either - although I managed to go to the Ozone Bar at the Ritz Carlton. This bar is similar,  it’s part of the Pullman hotel chain, and the literal cherry on top it’s its funky rooftop bar. Looks fun and with a memorable view.  Ophelia Shop F39A & F41A, 1/F, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen's Rd E, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

What a bar! Also, quite hard to find in a small pedestrian street in Wan Chai, on a third or four floor, without a sign on it’s outside facade. It’s completely hidden to the naif eye. But this bar, on top of its completely outstanding fashion, hosted by a hot, tall, blond, thick-accented and not quite friendly Russian, is something to experience at least once or twice in a life time. They allowed us to seat on a reserved table since we arrived early and then, when prime time started, the weirdness also made their appearance. This bar has actual women laid down on it’s shelves and bars, with fans, burlesque and S&M outfits, as part of the kitsch decor. I didn’t know how to feel about that but certainly caught my attention and was something I’ve never seen before (and trust me, I’ve seen some weird s*it over the years and trips!)

Ping Pong 129 Second Street L/G Nam Cheong House, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong.

What a beautiful and great recco from my friend Pink. I wish we had made it together, but I saved the best for last. Hours before leaving to the airport and after a blogging session in a beautiful cafe near to my hotel (where I almost leave my credit card!) I went for a second-to-last drink to toast for this comeback to Asia and this amazing time in Hong Kong. Below a hidden normal door with no actual sign but an bull-eyed window that, after a closer look one realized is a ping pong paddle, there’s a long stairs that leads you to the best and probably only “Gintoneria” I’ve ever been to. People get crazy with Tequila or Wine bars, but man, this one, was finding Neverland for me. What a fantastic idea. More than Gintoneria, it was paradise. This beautiful neon means “Take care of your body. Seriously, can it get any better than this?? I ended up talking to a video designers and producers from China with rusty English but with tons of willingness to talk to me and make themselves understood from Shenzhen, and actually followed my company on Weibo and managed to connect to FB to follow and add me as a friend. What a great, great finding and an even more fantastic night, today’s font and dear memory! 

[01tsubomi]

full bmc broadway cast recording thoughts: 

-more than survive thoughts have not changed but at least i know now that it’s stephanie for sure (also idk if i mentioned it but the “christine~” parts are REALLY really good) 

-play rehearsal is fun!! the added acting definitely reflects show-christine a lot better than the original did

-squip song is a bit different but not necessarily Worse, except for that they cut out the verse with the horns!! that was my Favorite part >:0

-there’s so much less energy in TPG, which i really expected because that seems to be a theme, but basically the saving grace of that song was that the two of them were unabashedly into everything they were saying and it’s so much harder to sink into when they don’t sound excited about it 

-YOU LOOK LIKE KEANU REEVES IN RECORDING 

-I Cannot Insult This Version Of The Squip Because The Actor Seemed Really Happy When I Told Him I Liked His Interpretation And I Can’t Take That Back 

-but you know? even though i like the old squip better, the new ver of bmc part 1 is REALLY cool! and the new intro actually caught me off guard, that’s one of the big surprises to me since they didn’t have it in the off-broadway ver!! it also helps lead you away from expecting the squip to be as cold and calculating as before. i’m a fan 

-the “terrible?” “TERRIBLE” in that song is really good too 

-”LOOKIIIIING. PRETTYYYYY. SEXYYYYY. BROOK-E” 

-big into the way Ride kicks up so much in the second verse, it’s very funky (also arr-e-vwar in recording!!) 

-”everything about me makes me wanna die” is almost better than the original, “going to be wonderful” JUST falls short of the impact the original had, will’s “BE MORE CHILL!!! hehe” is So much better than it was live. overall the reprise felt a little smaller than before? maybe it’s just because a lot of the pieces here seem bigger 

-ANOTHER new song???? 

-Sync Up is nice and simple and works well as a transition!! lets you see the squip a bit more before the upgrade. i can’t decide if the dialogue is a little heavy-handed, but i love the instrumentation a LOT (and the drama teacher’s line skfjfgdf) and jeremy + brooke’s part was fun!! 

-the WHOLE time while listening i was terrified they’d get rid of ‘all in all a not too heinous day~’, there’s definitely some irony in that they added the “now it’s time to be bold” for off-broadway then got rid of it so quickly

-stephanie’s vocals are definitely a little more mature? which is interesting given most of the rest of the cast sounds much more nasal (or maybe that’s just me noting the difference b/w will “jeremy 1.0″ connoly and roland) 

-THAT BEING SAID, i Don’t really get the direction they went in for kinda be into?? christine’s character has just gotten more and more dramatic with each new production, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that her song is so much more chill. i like listening to it a lot, it reminds me of if it was a song by a band and not in a musical, but it feels like a weird change to make (no surprise on the ending though since it was like that on off broadway)  

-i always really liked how Squip Lurks comes in like a fire alarm right after the end of kinda be into, this new inst just doesn’t have the same effect :/ very intimidating in its own right but just not the same as WARNING, WARNING, WARNING

-i really like this motif of brooke trying to speak french it’s really good ksjdgf

-i’m NOT SURE how i feel about the changes to Upgrade but i feel like i can’t even judge them against each other because it’s an ENTIRELY different song at this point. on one hand it’s nice to see them dive into that sorta serious ground BMC tends to avoid, it’s nice to see them delve into side characters’ plots, but...Upgrade was one of my absolute favorites from the original, and i don’t know how i feel about the soundtrack without that song. there were so many good impactful parts that are just gone now. when the squip joins in with brooke, “which means the house is empty so that’s fun!!”, the squip’s big solo (which musically might’ve been my favorite part of the whole musical)...i like the new version in its own right but i’m very (VERY) sad to see the old one go 

-i kept waiting for the old song to come in lmao

-i was legitimately shocked that LGW was different when they JUST put out the first recording of that a few months ago...and..hm........it doesn’t feel Big enough. i really saw LGW as one of the best songs in the show bc of how superficially happy it seemed while jeremy sounded like he was gonna cry the whole time. the slow down part doesn’t have as much of an impact if the whole song keeps stopping itself before it can accelerate. 

-oh also michael’s not in the new upgrade track ?? uh. i feel like that’s important 

-the outtro to halloween is SO good!! i don’t really like that the song starts Slower but if i had to say any of the new versions were better than the original i’d probably choose this one 

-i’d type out something about Hang but...i have no emotional attachment to that one...new dialogue is good for fleshing out chloe? i suppose 

-okay i just started the new MITB and i don’t hate it so far i don’t hate it 

-i don’t hate it...but i don’t love it...i mean it’s MICHAEL in the BATHROOM it’s gonna be good no matter what 

-very glad that they got the MTS and Kinda Be Into reprises this time !! i kinda liked the boldness in the older ver of the KBI reprise but i guess it’s more jeremy-ish for him to be timid 

-Tiffany Mann’s Vocals Are So God Tier That I Am Hesitating To Say Anything Else About Smartphone Hour 

-WAIT WHAT THE FUCK

-”BURNED DOWN JAKE’S HOUSE”??????

-trust me i am noticing + reacting to every changed lyric + bit of dialogue but sometimes it’s not worth commenting on, the pants song is still fun and unimpactful even with the good Say It Like You’re In The Army dialogue 

-i’m at the point where i’m curious about who in the cast enjoys being in the show and who just wanted to go to broadway, not because of anyone’s performance, just because it’s been like what 4 years? i love this musical but it must be tiring especially w how badly critics are panning bmc 

-Now Put Those Pills In That Beaker And Fill It With Mountain Dew 

-i already said everything i need to say about Pitiful Children after i saw the show, no major changes (in the song or my feelings) since then (i like how campy the Everything About Us part is in the new ver though) 

-literally all i have to say about The Play is...Kung Fu Fists Activate 

-that’s a lie, i really like the Glitch Voice Jeremy thing, and it’s SO good how they extended the “jeremy~” to the same length as his standard “christine~”, and LGW in the background during the Mountain Dew Red thing was good

-so was “AH” “oh god” “AH!!!!” “OH GOD” 

-”私は日本から来ました”.........

-i have tried to decipher. the squip’s meltdown jpn speech. so many times. and he was saying “i came from japan” this WHOLE time?? mr joe iconis i want a refund 

-THE MARACAS IN VOICES. THEY’RE SO GOOD. 

-actually i’m really into the new arrange!!! the new lyrics i’ll have to think about...i do like how it seems like they really tried to flesh out the characters and the theme of Everyone’s Going Through It but putting in the morals in the girls’ seemed a liiiitle forced...man now i really wanna see the show again just to know how much effort they really put into turning the characters into Not just stereotypes so!! curious there 

-anyway the new voices is def a bop, probably the most pleasantly surprise in the whole thing!!

-okay 4 final words: bowling. alley. performance. art.  

[bobrosenbaum]

George Cables and John Heard, Los Angeles, 1981.

One of my all-time favorite pianists, George Cables, is a gorgeous traditionalist with outstanding accomplishments as both a sideman and a leader.

There's this tendency in jazz to call any artist older than 60 a 'legend', but even at age 40, George had rightfully earned that honor through his extensive work with some of the greatest players of the late 20th century – people like Woody Shaw, Billy Harper, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper.

No doubt George has always been in demand because of his highly sensitive, swinging, and sometimes downright funky accompaniment. He also brings the entire range of jazz piano history with him, and plenty of the inventiveness that front line players need to keep the fire in their music.

One result of his tenure with so many leaders is his distinguished lyrical style with its often mesmerizing sound and rhythm. Another result is a trunkful of beautiful, memorable compositions that have enjoyed treatments by the leaders above, and many others.

 Listen: “I’ve got the best seat in the house, because I can listen and I can play too!”

When George lived in Southern California, I was fortunate to see him regularly in various musical settings, record him at The Lighthouse, interview him for my jazz radio interview series at KCRW-FM, and also be blessed with his extraordinary personal warmth and friendship, which continues to this very day.

You can get an idea of George's eclectic range with just a few clicks. Hear how he lifts alto saxophonist Art Pepper in the high-speed bebop classic 'Cherokee' from 1977. Check George's gorgeous solo work with tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon on 'Tanya' from 1979. You haven't really heard George at all until you hear him with his own ensemble, playing 'I Told You So' from his 1980 album Cables Vision.

Nowadays, George performs the world over with his own Trio, as well as together with a group of companion legends (Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Donald Harrison, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, and others) who have named themselves 'The Cookers', in tribute to the classic live 1960s Blue Note album which inspired them. Check out 'Traveling Lady' from 2021. Thankfully, George's work is well recorded and readily available. Find a nice discography here.

Today is George's birthday. Here's wishing you a beautiful birthday George, and so many more to come – your music is really a gift that you give to all of us!

[veryotl]

Sooo for the past... three or four albums I’ve done a reaction to the Highlight Medley... And I really need to get back into making content again! So here we go! Here’s my breakdown of the “You Make My Day” Highlight Medley!

1. Oh My!

I will be completely honest here: I wasn’t liking the sound of this song until I saw the MV teaser. It felt a little bit busy with all the noises in the background, and a little bit jarring without a before or after section to show a progression in music. However, in the MV teaser, we got a little bit more of the song as well as some of the dance to kind of bring the beat and melody a little more to the forefront, and with the added context of the progression of the song, I can now say I’m very excited to hear the rest of this song. It’s not really like anything Seventeen has ever done, and relies a little more heavily on strange synth-y noises instead of the Seventeen style of funky bass and really present instrumentals. If I had to draw a connection anywhere, it would be to Change Up. A repeating melody line with mostly simple instrumentals, however even that isn’t exactly what this song is. But as always, far be it for me to say what Seventeen’s style is or isn’t, not after Clap and Call Call Call were so good. They constantly subvert my expectations and I trust they’ll pull this off like they always do.

2. Holiday

The snippet of this song we’re given seems to be from the first chorus, judging by the drop and how kind of understated and simplistic the backing vocals and instrumentals are, if it was later in the song I think there’d be more. It seems like a lighthearted fun song like Thinkin About You or Healing, although a little more chill and laid back than those. There’s not a whole lot I cans say about it from the teaser, except for that it seems to really fit the flow of this album? Thematically speaking, this album looks to be really cohesive and strong, but we’ll get back to that later.

3. Come To Me (Vocal Unit)

If you have been following me for any length of time, you probably know how excited I am for this song because for years I have been talking about how much I want to see Vocal Unit break out of their ballad element. Don’t get me wrong, I love their ballads, and they’ve taken some interesting creative turns like Don’t Listen in Secret having a jazzy-nightclub feel, but they haven’t had an upbeat happy song since 20, and while I can understand wanting a vocally impressive song it’s not like you can’t do that with a brighter tone. In the past, I’ve recommended a 50′s-60′s style song or a Vocal Unit Band song to break Vocal Unit out of their arena, but the direction that this song takes is much more chill house vibes, which is kind of the style right now. Which is fine, especially since Joshua has already exhibited his abilities to jive with that style on Rocket. You can really tell this is a vocal unit song, though, because even in the short clip they gave us you can hear like 3 layers of harmony. I’m super stoked for this departure from the norm and I hope this song is vocally challenging and also successful enough that it gives Vocal Unit some confidence to explore other styles!

4. What’s Good (Hip Hop Unit)

Now it’s time for the pendulum to swing in the complete opposite direction, and that’s because Hip Hop Unit has done it AGAIN. They’ve done a full 180 on my expectations and explored yet ANOTHER new style. Hip Hop Unit is probably the most unexpected unit in my opinion because every time they drop something new it’s completely against their established style. Ah Yeah seemed to be a good solid style, but then Fronting came out of nowhere with this peppy chill vibe, then Monday to Saturday took it a step up and brought back some kind of classic Hip Hop vibes while still exploring this idea of laid back rapping, and then Lean on Me comes out of nowhere with vocals and ballads, and then If I seems to go back into a darker vibe with some super heavy backing instrumentals and melody, and then Trauma goes modern??? With autotune and Mingyu doing vocals?? And now we’ve got this weird... pop... upbeat... groovy song? Hip Hop Unit always zags when I think they’re gonna zig. I cannot wait for this song and for Hip Hop Unit to zag on me again. This is gonna be great. 

5. Moonwalker (Performance Unit)

In some aspects, Performance Unit is similar to Vocal Unit in that they found a style with the success of Highlight and Swimming Fool and are sticking to it, and Moonwalker is in that wheelhouse. However, I can’t really begrudge them anything because they’re all FRICKIN BOPS and the style they’ve found I think really fits with their general feel as a group and the individual styles of the members. Plus, with songs like Who and The Real Thing, the members will often break out of their comfort zones and I appreciate that. Maybe in the future, I’d like to see another Who-style sexy intense song, but for now I’m perfectly content with another Electronic dance song, especially if accompanied by a sick dance like Swimming Fool was. Plus, I lowkey expect Dino to shine in this song, which is something we haven’t seen a whole lot of.

6. Our Dawn is Hotter Than Our Day

First off, this sounds like it could be a bridge-esque clip, maybe near to the end of the song, so the flow of the song might be different. Secondly, I think this might be a mistranslation, where “hotter” or “뜨겁다” should refer to a burning passion instead of a physical heat? Either way, I love this clip. The8 seems to be the main voice with maybe Coups and/or Wonwoo backing him, and it seems like a real impact moment, and I love that they’re kind of giving it to The8 as the main instead of their usual impact-hitters of Jun or Wonwoo. In terms of the general sound, it’s got this kind of lower energy vibe to it, something kind of akin to Campfire or Smile Flower in terms of atmosphere, but also more hopeful and positive in terms of feeling. The kind of song you listen to in the dusk of a summer night with the top down and the feeling of winding down instead of at 3 am with the feeling of looking back and crying. A very content song, I think. In general, the teaser doesn’t give us a whole lot in terms of progression, but I really want to see where the song goes as a whole and what they do with it.

Full Album Summary

In general, I think this album is a lot more thematically put-together than some of the older albums. I feel like they’ve recently tried to be thematically consistent, but there’s usually one song that breaks the theme, like Swimming Fool on Al1 or Clap/Hello on Teen.Age. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, especially in the recent years of not having to listen to an entire CD to hear the songs you like. However, having a super solid album that is consistent from top to bottom could make it so that more Hip Hop unit fans start to listen to Performance Unit, more people listen to the full album every time instead of just various songs, more people want to buy the entire album. 

As for the style, it’s a direction I didn’t really expect Seventeen to take, however it feels like a natural progression from Teen.age thanks to the inclusion of songs like Rocket and Change Up and even Without You to an extent? I think it’s a step away from Seventeen’s established style, but not necessarily a step in the wrong direction. In fact, I love that they don’t feel trapped in making the same song six comebacks in a row to have to keep their fans. They’re free to explore genres and styles and evolve and change, which is a necessity for any artist who doesn’t want to feel confined and trapped in their art. 

To make some predictions for this album, I think DK will become a real star this time around. This style really appeals to some of his voice’s natural charms. Joshua is going to do well with this concept, but I’m worried he’s not gonna get a lot of recognition for it due to the fact that he fits it so well that it feels very much like he’s a part of the furniture and not necessarily having a spotline shone on him. More on the concept of the MV, I think Seungkwan will be a big point in this comeback because the color scheme fits him super well and he stands out against warm colors really nicely. Also, we can expect to see more of debut, childlike playful Hoshi coming back this era. Vocal Unit’s solo will be a summer staple, Wonwoo’s solo part in the Hip Hop Unit song will kill and Vernon and Mingyu will shine in the concept, and Dino will come into his own with this Performance Unit song. Hopefully, The8 will become a popular pitch-hitter like Jun and Wonwoo this comeback as well!

No matter what, though, I absolutely cannot wait for this comeback!

[bestdjkit]

Your EDM Q&A: Noveliss and Dixon Hill Team up to Bring Music to the I Ching [Video]

Beatmaker Dixon Hill and rapper Noveliss have both been making waves in their own right, in their home city of Detroit and the hip hop scene at large. A touring artists with an MF Doom tattoo and a love of philosophy, Noveliss (Jarred Douglas) splices hard-hitting subjects with peaceful pronouncements and has been releasing well-crafted, Asian philosophy-tinged work since 2018. Dixon Hill is a lover of vintage mods and funky melodies, Dixon Hill’s put out a number of game-changing releases both solo and working with other artists. They came together recently in a collab that rivals any indie hip hip release out there, the recently released album, Book of Changes.

While both subject matter and sound on Book of Changes would lead some listeners to tag this album “conscious rap,” the work is also fun, danceable and works as a piece of music that’s not just about its content. That said, the content also happens to be quite expansive. You couldn’t really come away from this album without clocking some serious insight, and you wouldn’t want to.

Without drawing too many parallels with Wu Tang (and specifically Rza, his various meditations, his book The Tao of Wu and the Ghost Dog soundtrack), it seems both Noveliss and Dixon Hill wanted to work together on their interpretation of the famous I Ching of Chinese tradition, also known as the Book of Changes. With funky, semi-lofi beats from Hill and articulate, thought-provoking flows from Douglas, it seems the pair are modernizing the ancient text and contextualizing it for the modern era, and it’s none too soon with current events as they are.

Normally when introducing artists to our readership, YEDM likes to do a new artist spotlight or some other short form, but it was clear with these two artists and the quality of the record that they have a lot to say, and we wanted to hear it. We sat down with Noveliss and Dixon Hill to talk about Book of Changes, “conscious rap” and why, with this album, it just clicked.

How did the two of you come to work together on the Book of Changes album?

Noveliss: Dixon reached out to me and I checked out his work and was instantly excited to see what we could come up with.

DH: I had a connection to Detroit through my work with Guilty Simpson and I started reaching out to other emcees from ‘the D’ that I respected. I sent a batch of beats to Nov via email, having been a fan of his since the early days of Clear Soul Forces. I would periodically hear his voice in my head while making beats. He was quick to get to work, and the rest is history.

Noveliss, East Asian culture and philosophy seem to feature heavily in your work and you both have an interest in I Ching and other philosophical guides. Aside from the obvious Wu Tang influence, what is the draw for you of these texts and ideas? 

Noveliss: As a longtime student and practitioner of Martial Arts, I’ve always been interested in Asian philosophy and the spiritual nature of martial arts, sometimes even more than the physical side of it. I’m always interested in reading something or practicing something that can lead me to a better version of myself.

DH: Wu-Tang is for the children.

Left to right: Noveliss and Dixon Hill

Dixon’s style contains quite a bit of funk and melody, which is a little more smoothed out than previous Noveliss offerings and it seems to give Book of Changes a more peaceful outlook. Was it a conscious decision to smooth out the edges with more funk and lofi vibes?

DH: When I make beats, a lot of different styles and influences tend to come out of me. In one day I may make something quiet and introspective and the next beat is aggressive and rash. When I was picking beats to send to Nov for the project, I was more concerned with how his flow would match with the beat and whether or not the beat gave him enough space to be creative. I find that when you keep this in mind the beats tend to naturally fall into place and later you discover the thread that unifies them after the lyrics are added.

It was a conscious decision to sit down and make beats, but after that I’m reacting to sounds and working on instinct; it is only after the fact that I can put a label on it and tie the beat’s identity to any sort of vibe.

Noveliss: The sound of this project was all Dixon Hill, as well as the idea to tie it all into the I-Ching or the Chinese Book of Changes. We both share a mutual interest in these philosophies and it was dope to stumble upon that during the process of making this.

How did the songwriting process go in terms of working together?

Noveliss: Noveliss on the pen, Dixon Hill on the sound. We were subconsciously on the same page before we even discussed the central theme of the project. The beats he was sending and the stuff I was writing just matched up perfectly. Some of the songs required me to open up some of my books and refresh my memory. My favorite example is, in the song “Feng Shui,” the entire song is based on the five forces concept of feng shui.

The “metal” force of feng shui has been described as the “sinking sunset.” I have a line in the song that reads “Internal growth, he swam to the sinking sunset, eight Immortal Sword, his studying wasn’t done yet…” that ties in my connection to the metal force which would be my studying of the sword. I’m extremely proud of the way this song was written.

DH: The process was smooth from a production standpoint. I trusted Nov to take care of his verses, because he takes his craft seriously. The only time I asked him to re-do a verse was when he told me he knew he could better. I could tell he was pushing himself and that makes me feel good because I know he was taking the project as seriously as I was.

On the flipside, Nov respected my production decisions and allowed me to get creative with the concept. Every song is a puzzle and there are always challenges when trying to make a project feel complete but this project represents us at our absolute best because we had the freedom to experiment. Nov left some spaces on “Feng Shui” so I ended up singing a hook. That was never the plan, but that’s what happened. The process just felt natural.

Noveliss, you seem to have a knack for being able to speak about heavy subjects but balancing it with philosophy or spiritual ideas. How important is it for you to get your ideas out in this way? Is this a balance you feel you like to strike in your own life/experience?

Noveliss: Absolutely, everything is connected. I always try to provide a perspective of learning from each experience and applying everything to achieving the best version of yourself. Balancing these heavy subjects through the lens of spiritual nature or philosophy is just connecting the dots, trying to make sense of things we really don’t understand.

Speaking of heavy subjects versus spiritual balance, as both of you seem to be on the indie edge of hip hop, how do you feel about the whole “conscious rap” genre or style? Do you think it needs to be labeled as such? Do you have any criticism of the current mainstream hip hop culture/subject matter/sound?

Noveliss: In my opinion, there is no such thing as “conscious rap.” To be conscious? Like what does that label even mean? To me, it implies that being aware of the world around you, and sharing your view is rare in hip hop and that’s just not true. Sure, we might not like what other people talk about or how they get their message out but it’s all “conscious,” whatever it is.

DH: Labeling music is a marketing decision. When we label a piece of music we essentially negate the nuance and details of it. It is convenient to corral music styles into genres, but it doesn’t get to the bone of what we actually experience when we hear any particular piece of music. Its very easy for rap music to become too self-referential or stagnant by way of its own traditionalism, and the more artists that ascribe to genres of hip hop the more we as listeners tend to get bombarded with the same repackaged content.

Hip Hop has always been a style of music that represented creative freedom for me and I find that most of the time, hip hop that is labelled “conscious rap” captures that freedom more often for me. I think if you step outside of the commonly accepted subject matter of hip-hop you tend to hit peoples ear’s with something fresh, and sometimes that just gets boiled down to “conscious rap”. Rap that encourages people to look at their world differently is exciting and should be celebrated for its courage and its detail, not labeled for convenience sake. Oh yeah….and mainstream music is mostly garbage.

Dixon, how was this project different for you and how did you adapt your style? Was it easier or more difficult to incorporate your beloved vintage equipment on this album?

DH: This project was different in a few key ways. Noveliss was great to work with, like I said before, he takes his craft seriously and I feel he reacts to the mood of my beats accurately.

I have had situations where I send an introspective beat to someone and they come back with a verse about sending dick pics, and I think to myself “were we listening to the same beat?” That was never a problem with Nov.

As far as arranging the album, the process fit easily into my trajectory as an artist. My last instrumental album (Holodeck Beats: Program 3) I made a conscious effort to tie the beats together with a narrative, and have the album feel like a complete whole with nice bookends and transitions. Book of Changes was a full realization of that same goal and part of that was the wealth of raw materials I had and the environment in which I was working. I still rocked with my tape machines and old gear for sure, but I was isolated in a cabin in the desert, with no internet, completely locked in on the album and the I Ching concept.

What’s up next for each of you? Any plans to work together again?

DH: I always have music in the works. Some collabs are on the horizon although I cannot say too much yet. I would love to work with Nov again, I think we can continue to make great music together. He was a great collaborator and I am proud of what we made.

Noveliss: Hopefully getting back to touring, always working on more stuff. Definitely would love to work together again, I think there’s something here that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

Book of Changes is out now and can be streamed or purchased on multiple platforms here. Check out other work from Noveliss and Dixon Hill by clicking on their respective names.

This article was first published on Your EDM. Source: Your EDM Q&A: Noveliss and Dixon Hill Team up to Bring Music to the I Ching [Video]

from Best DJ Kit https://www.youredm.com/2021/12/21/your-edm-qa-noveliss-and-dixon-hill-team-up-to-bring-music-to-the-i-ching-video/

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Horse Lords

Baltimore-based Horse Lords have been forging their own take on experimental rock music since 2012. The quartet, Andrew Bernstein (saxophone/percussion), Max Eilbacher (bass/electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar) and Sam Haberman (drums) weave together pieces drawing on divergent sources that include everything from 20th and 21st century classical music to just intonation tuning to African and Appalachian musical traditions to intricate polyrhythms and studio experiments. In a recent interview, Gardner talked about their approach to putting pieces together. “We generally write right up to the edge of our abilities. And sometimes slightly beyond. We’d had to scrap quite a few songs because they proved to be basically impossible to play... It keeps it interesting.” Ian Forsythe covered their newest release, The Common Task, noting that “Their nearly ten-year core pivots rhythmic and tonal ideas athletically, and their ability to pull elements from anywhere and everywhere is seemingly more fluid with each record.”

For this Listed, the four members runs down a list of live shows, recordings, blogs, movies, and books that have been on their minds.

Gleb Kanasevich plays Horațiu Rădulescu’s “Inner Time II for seven clarinets (Op.42b),” Baltimore. 2018 (Owen Gardner)

A near-hourlong ear workout, combining impressive sonic and structural brutality. The interaction of what these close dissonances do inside your ears with what the clarinets do in space (Gleb played live with 6 recordings of himself, meticulously arranged around the audience) is a haunting experience, celestial but with no concession to human music.

Maryanne Amacher — Perceptual Geographies, Philadelphia 2019 (Owen Gardner)

https://issuu.com/bowerbirdphilly/docs/amacherprogramonline

So much revelatory material has come out of the Maryanne Amacher archive so far, and particularly these loving reconstructions of her instrumental music. A lot more attention seems to have been given to “Petra,” which is certainly gorgeous and shows fascinating symmetries with the spatial/timbral concerns of her electronic music, but “Adjacencies” struck me as the Major Work of 20th Century Music. She wrote the damn thing in 1965 and it sounds fresh half a century later, which we can say of no previous piece of percussion music and not much written subsequently. I am slowly losing my mind waiting for Amy Cimini’s book on Amacher to come out, craving a deeper dive into her theory and methods.

Sarah Hennies, Bonnie Jones, Lê Quan Ninh, and Biliana Voutchkova at the High Zerofestival, Baltimore 2019 (Owen Gardner)

One of at least three great things Sarah Hennies did last year (Reservoir 1 on Black Truffle and the 90 minute cello/percussion duo “The Reinvention of Romance” being the others) was to take part in Baltimore’s High Zero festival, four mind-frying days devoted to free improvisation. This set was one of the highlights of 2019’s festival; each of the four performers having at least one foot in composed music (Ninh is a long-time Cage interpreter and Biliana has collaborated with Peter Ablinger) seemed to lend it a certain sureness and serenity, but ultimately their combined strength as improvisors (fastidiously captured by High Zero’s crack recording team) is what makes it such an engaging listen.

El Chombo — Cuentos de la Cripta (Owen Gardner)

A relentless tetralogy that nicely balances the rawness of ‘90s proto-reggaetón productions (the first volume self-identifies as “Spanish Reggae”) and the slicker, synth-oriented sound and settled genre conventions we’ve come to enjoy (or not) in the 21st century. This was helpful when working on “People’s Park,” not least for its insistent connection to Jamaican music. I can understand very little Spanish but I'm guessing the lyrics are not unproblematic; signifying language always disappoints.

Wallahi Le Zein! (Owen Gardner)

http://thewealthofthewise.blogspot.com/

An invaluable resource for anyone interested in African music, much more consistent and informative than the often yucky reissue market, which seems to prioritize awkward (and marginal) attempts at Western musical fads—as if what was available was not an impossibly rich and heterogeneous network of self-sufficient musical cultures but merely a broken mirror facing America. The archive of Mauritanian music alone makes this the most worthwhile stop on the information superhighway. There’s plenty of goofy drum programming and appalling sound quality if that’s your bag, but the rich variety of traditional musics is what keeps me coming back.

Miles Davis — On the Corner (Max Eilbacher)

Some might say Stockhausen serves imperialism but he did his little part to help cook up some of the most twisted American Jazz/funk jams ever. Davis only kept one cassette in his convertible sports car during the On the Corner sessions, a tape of “Hymnen.” He would take each member of the band on highspeed joy rides with the car’s stereo system on full blast. That same energy was channeled in the arrangement and editing. The convergence of a lot of different elements keeps this record on my top 10 list ‘til the end of time. The little detail of Americans taking concepts from European Neu Musik and making something incredibly funky and pleasurable is the cherry on top.

Olivia Block & Marcus Schmickler at Diffusion Festival, Baltimore 2018 (Andrew Bernstein)

This was an amazing pairing, with both artists playing in 8-channel “surround sound.” Marcus’ set was incredibly intense. Pure synthesis with a lot of psychoacoustic inner ear tones and unending overlapping melodies. It felt like the sonic equivalent of watching a strobe light at close distance. Olivia’s set was a slow creep, laying samples to create lush textures that were truly immersive. This was the kind of concert that reminds you of the awesome power of music.

Blacks’ Myths at the Red Room, Baltimore 2019 (Andrew Bernstein)

Blacks' Myths II by Blacks' Myths

I’m there for anything bassist Luke Stewart touches (see Irreversible Entanglements, his solo upright + feedback work, frequent collaborations with too many people to name). Blacks' Myths, his bass and drumset duo with Warren Crudup, is loud, noisy, and intense, and this set at the Red Room last year was particularly transcendent.

“Blue” Gene Tyranny — Out of the Blue (Andrew Bernstein)

Out of the Blue by "Blue" Gene Tyranny

I have probably listened to this record more than any other the last few years. Perfectly crafted pop songs segue into proggy funk jams and then into stream of consciousness drone pieces based around the doppler effect. I’ll put it on over and over again, an experience with an album I haven’t really had since I was in high school.

Bill Orcutt — An Account of the Crimes of Peter Thiel and His Subsequent Arrest, Trial, and Execution 2017 (Max Eilbacher)

AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRIMES OF PETER THIEL AND HIS SUBSEQUENT ARREST, TRIAL AND EXECUTION. by BILL ORCUTT

Legendary underground American guitarists from the most important American rock band also makes top notch conceptual digital audio art. Years ago I thought computer music lacked a certain sub cultural attitude. While this was/is not true, this 2017 release feels like it exists in its own world. High and low brow are in perfect harmony for this patterned enjoyable hellride of a listen. What if Hanne Darboven had to make art while working a full time job and dealing with mild substance abuse?

Lina Wertmüller — Seven Beauties 1975 (Max Eilbacher)

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42000553

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Beauties

During this pandemic I have been talking film shop over emails nonstop. I went through a big Wertmüller phase in 2018-2019 and as people are trading recommendations I usually try to recommend something by her. This film is the one that I keep reaching for. The email recommending this film usually starts as a draft with “this is really intense” and then I try to hearken back to my film school days and write about the male gaze, patriarchy, communism or something of that nature. I end up writing a bit, feeling like it’s way over the top for a casual email and then I end up deleting everything except “this is a really intense and beautiful film.”

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O’Neill (Sam Haberman)

https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/tom-oneill/chaos/9780316477574/

The last book I managed to check out of the library before it closed. Though it in some ways resembles works of conspiracy theory, Tom O’Neill is always straightforward in telling the reader that, though the official story of the Manson case is almost certainly not true, the actual details don’t cohere into any kind of Meaning. Every new discovery is its own digression that points to a new unknowable truth or unverifiable claim. This really inverts the normal thrill of conspiracy theory, which invites you to either buy into the story being presented or reject it all together, either path offering its own sort of comfort. Chaos offers no such comfort.