#honestly her whole self titled album is amazing

[princessmo]

straight up, jesus was a crossmaker is one of my favorite songs and it makes me SO crazy because it was about the songwriter, judee sill's ex and the chorus is like. he may be a horrible person but even jesus christ, this paragon, this pinnacle of goodness and holiness and innocence and light, crafted items that contributed to the pain and suffering of others, also not knowing that later, one would be used in killing him. even what's considered the absolute purest is not absolutely pure. and the line "i see the junction get nearer and danger is in the wind, and either road's looking grim" was her saying "well, i can give in to this despair and kill myself OR i can pour so much of my pain and sorrow and heart into this song. and i choose the second path even though it means i have to endure suffering." and i don't know how to elaborate anymore but. HE'S A BANDIT AND A HEARTBREAKER! BUT JESUS WAS A CROSSMAKER!

[beyond-a-name]

Top five music albums of the 2010's :3

Oh god I have to actually think about what came out in the 2010s. Uhhhhhhhhhh

1. Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino by The Arctic Monkeys: This is one of the first times I really excitedly bought an album and listened to it as a cohesive artistic piece, rather than just as background music or something I got with family. It is one of the few albums I let take up the very limited storage on my phone, and it is the first album I was interested in enough to research its meaning and concept. 10/10

(Uhhh okay I gotta go look up some other albums I'll be back.) [Exit stage right]

[Some time passes.]

Okay I'm back and I have reviewed albums.

2. Unearthing the Sentience by Beyond Flesh: So first off, I discovered this album this year through a friend of mine, and I absolutely love it. It's a technical death metal producer duo that released this and another album (the other one came out in 2020 and so doesn't count for this :/). It is entirely instrumental, but each song is so distinct. It'll introduce a concept, put a few spins on it, then tie it all together in a beautiful conclusion. The songwriting methodology honestly reminds me of Super Mario level design (as laid out by GMTK on youtube) in its expressive focus. Half of the duo, Juan Carlos Hernández, has genuinely become one of my favourite artists of all time. I have not yet had the pleasure of exploring his whole discography, but what I have thus far listened to has been extraordinary. Every piece is an imaginative journey that I delight in being swept up in. If you want to enrich your musical tastes a little more, you can find more of his work spread out across a few different bandcamps (his dungeon synth/ambience/fantasy works, his doom metal project, and his other works) or check out the occasional work posted to his tumblr at @imsobadatnicknames2. The works are entirely prolific and delightful, and this album in particular has been one of few that's started me getting into more metal. 11/10

3. Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me: I also found this one this year, and it was recommended through another friend. Amazing punk music about being trans (and other topics, of course). I had shown great interest in punk culture and aesthetic approaches, but this was a really good deliberate foray into the music itself that resonated with me personally (I'm a trains). The album was released after the singer and frontwoman came out as a trans woman, and it heavily centres her experience in doing so in a way that is really provocative and heartfelt. Some of the songs seem, I guess the word is insecure? In a way I don't really resonate with, but I guess that's the point, isn't it? The first two songs, Transgender Dysphoria Blues and True Trans Soul Rebel, have been permanently etched into my heart. I also really like Paralytic States. Really good to listen to as a full album. 10/10

4. Morning Coffee Chillhop Lo Fi Electronic Mix by Various Artists: "But wait!" I hear you exclaim. "That's not an album, it's just a youtube lofi mix!" Yes. Anyway, this mix has been my absolute favourite since I first heard it, and it really kickstarted my exploration of lofi. Like before this I was checking it out, but upon hearing this, I was well and truly hooked. The first song overlays audio from a tv scene (I think it's twin peaks?) about rewarding yourself every day, ("Every day, give yourself a present,") and it's a lovely sentiment to begin an album a mix on. the use of additional audio throughout is typical for lofi, but it is used to great effect here to elevate the music it's played over rather than obscure it while rendering each song distinct. It was also the first time (or at least most memorable time) I heard something like that. I do not know the name of a single song on this mix, and if I ever lose access to it, I will kill everyone within a five kilometer radius. 10/10

5. Starbomb's Self-Titled Debut Album: This is a comedy album around video games composed of several Game Grumps members, and I bought it as a teenager and listened to it front to back maybe more times than I got a good night's sleep. I'm not really into Game Grumps anymore, and now I kind of tend to skip NSP (other Game Grumps-adjacent band) when it comes up on older playlists of mine. But like, I couldn't un-memorize this thing even if I wanted to, and it is somehow one of like 6 albums still on my phone (Tranquility Base was unwittingly bought on Google Play Music and did not outlast its end) even since getting a new phone. Even the Caravan Palace album, while it's still on my device, didn't soundtrack my teenagedom nearly as pervasively, and it does not stand out as much as the other entries here (you should still listen though). I can sing along flawlessly to every track, and it is lovingly catalogued by that dorky teenager I carry in me as I keep growing through adulthood. It's my alarms sometimes. I want to rate it lower, but I have loved it too entirely for too long. 10/10

Surprise Bonus Play!!!!!!!! (Woa!) (Honourable Mention)

6. Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 by The Flaming Lips: This one is maybe cheating a bit as it's a greatest hits album, but whatever. I initially bought this on impulse as a gift for a friend for his birthday (I bought myself one as well), and I fell in love with how silly the song names and premises were. We all loved it, and had a blast listening to it via his playstation, then later in the car when we went camping together. I genuinely did not realize that it might be a somewhat well-known band before I saw the inclusion of one of their songs in the game Hi-Fi Rush. (Hint: They are very well-known. They have many awards and a long history. Their discography has its own wikipedia article seperate from their main article. I didn't know any of this until I came to wrote this.) I especially like "She Don't Use Jelly," which aside from being very funny, also implies a delicious toast recipe which I wholeheartedly recommend everybody try. 10/10

[barbylion]

literally just a list of my favorite webdramas and short-run tv dramas bc this is my house

My Fuxxxxx Romance (2020)

messy not-really love triangle where four people become friends in a bar. two of them start screwing around while the guy prefers open relationships and the girl's friend is hella toxic and in love/obsessed with her so she starts sleeping with the guy to prove he's shitty. the 2nd guy is there to be the foil/naiive one that's new to this whole world tbh. it's just a really great drama where there isn't a single character you're meant to like or cheer for. they're all sucky people in their own way lol. anyway, it was literally made around and to promote Park Won's album of the same name.

Please Find Her (2017)

it's CUTE, it's an ad for Itaewon, you learn some Korean at the end of every episode lol. about a mixed Dutch man named Jan who flies to SK to find the girl he fell in love with. the plot's a little all over the place, but it's an ad. and it's cute >:( Lee Hyun Jae is the love of my life. Hayoung and Hyungwon are there

You Raise Me Up (2021)

a man is going THRU IT with his life and self confidence and anxiety and everything genuinely sucks for him. his urologist and old gf (Hani) brags about him being this super amazing and jealousy-worthy first love bc her current boyfriend sucks. lots of emotional vulnerability and growth. i love it sm

The Witch's Diner (2021)

honestly this one's just fun! i love every single main actor, i love the dark witchy aesthetic. each ep follows a different main subject who needs their lives fixed in some way. but ofc if you make a deal with the devil/a witch, it's not gonna go exactly how you expected. idk i love this one, it's got my mother Song Ji Hyo in it

Little Mom Scandal (2008) and Little Mom Scandal Season 2 (2008)

a very old one that i watch yeeears ago but it still holds a special place in my heart. super real, less fairy-tale idealistic romance, as most 2000s dramas were. it's about an 18-year-old teen mom and her struggles with raising a baby, being a wife, and trying to live her life. the friendships in this one are what stuck out the most tbh. they're the primary focus, despite the title/attention grabber.

Birthcare Center (2020)

this one's about a successful career woman who suddenly finds herself pregnant. she spends the time after giving birth in a birthcare center, common places for moms to get help when starting out. she's self concious about being much older than the other women but makes a bunch of friends in the other mothers who have stories and struggles of their own and she actually has a healthy relationship with her husband. we love to see it. uh, found family :( <3

The Killer's Shopping List (2022)

about a guy who has an incredible memory and is locally praised for stopping a dangerous robbery when he was a kid but struggles to pass his civil service exam. he's determined to make it while working at his mom's convenience store. but a murder happens at the apartment building he frequently delivers to and they're huge suspects bc the delivery bag at the victim's house. so he, the market workers, and his cop gf (Seolhyun) try to solve the serial murders themselves. it has good queer rep imo, not gimmicky but not so subtle it might as well not be there.

Our D-Day (2023)

big tw for suicide mention, attempts, and ideation. tw for abuse, as well

it's still airing! one week left. but it's about a suicidal 30-year-old and his friends all trying to navigate their lives. he literally spends the entire drama so far trying to figure out how to end things and you slowly learn why throughout. it's pretty dark right from the beginning tbh but they balance it with humor that might not be everyone's taste. tbh it just feels real to me, so that part doesn't personally bother me. i do know why it would affect someone else, though. definitely not for people sensitive to the subject matter.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

The Pixies - Doolittle

Way back when I said that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was the best rock album of the 90s I did a little google search to remind me whether this album came out in 89 or 90 to see if I had to amend that to second best. Doolittle is one of my top ten albums of all time. The atmosphere maintains a sense of apocalyptic intensity even at its calmest moments. From the manic screaming on Tame right to the surf punk of Wave Of Mutilation. There are deceptively intellectual themes running through Doolittle too. Death, and torment run through the whole album with a strong focus on biblical violence. Dead recalls the story of David and Bathsheba in brief which leads to the the most amazing lyric of all time "Uriah hit the crapper". Gouge Away is about Samson and Delilah, and Monkey Gone To Heaven alludes to biblical numerology. A lot of lyrics are also deliberately vague leaving the meaning of the songs obscured surrealist imagery. Wave Of Mutilation according to Frank Black is about businessmen driving their cars into the ocean to commit suicide and Here Comes Your Man is about homeless people dying in an earthquake. All of this says nothing about how catchy these cryptic songs are. The melding of punk, alternative, surf rock, and generous use of triads and Hendrix chords leads to a discordant but focused album that manages to be infinitely catchy despite being extremely noisy. More than anything Doolittle, despite being fairly eclectic with it's sound, evokes a very cohesive mood. It's a weird simmering anxiety that sometimes bubbles to the surface but is never relieved. All of punk and alternative music has come home to roost in Doolittle and honestly if music had stopped right after it released that would have been fine.

The Wailers - Catch A Fire

There were a number of reggae acts in the early 70s that managed significant international success, but none quite as universally as Bob Marley and his band The Wailers. Catch A Fire was their fifth album, but it was the first to make it big in the states. The production is slightly nicer and that definitely allows Bob Marley's soulful voice to shine through. Marley definitely had a richer texture to his voice than most of his contemporaries and that likely helped him become a household name.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. This album is overrated. After War Pigs we get two completely throw away tracks before hitting a sort of stride and then ending on the fantastic Faeries Wear Boots. Honestly most of this album is good but not great. I like it, but I don't think it quite stacks up to their debut, Master Of Reality, or Heaven And Hell.

Madonna - The Immaculate Collection

Hey Rolling Stone, can i ask a question? What the fuck do you think you are doing? You already put two Madonna albums on this list and now you're saying a hits collection tops them both? Every album she released in the 80e was good actually. You could have put one of those on here. Her self titled debut, Like A Virgin, and True Blue are all worthy of being on this list. If you scrubbed some of the outright garbage from this list you'd have room for all three of them and more!

Adele - 21

An album that is bad all the way through is just bad, and an album that is bad with one or two good tracks is frustrating, but opening with two very strong songs and then delivering nothing but banal piano ballads for the rest of the album? Thats torture. It makes me so mad that Rolling In The Deep and Rumor Has It are really good songs that show off a blues rock side of Adele that she never ever visits again. If orgasm denial was an album it would be 21 by Adele.

[spencersstrawberryjello]

Treat People With Kindness (The BAU)

Summary: Garcia gets Reid into Harry Styles and everyone subsequently loses their minds over it.

Content: Honestly just funny I’m not sure what to call it

MC’s name/pronouns: No alternate main character, just Spencer.

Word Count: 1706

A/N: This whole fic was inspired by the fact that a fan gave Matthew Gray Gubler a Treat People With Kindness pin, which then sparked my friend Emily and I to theorize that Spencer Reid would absolutely be a Harry Styles stan. So yeah, this is literally just the product of one fan interaction lmao

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I got a good feelin’.”

“... What’s he doing?” Emily leaned over and whispered to JJ, who just shook her head.

“I’m just takin’ it all in.”

“Ok, what happened to Reid?” Morgan joined them, and they both shrugged, watching Spencer walk through the doors of the office. 

“Floatin’ up and dreamin’.”

“You know, maybe I need to add him to my drug test list too.” Hotch had stepped out of his office, trying to hide his grin as they saw Spencer making his way to his desk, headphones in and practically dancing over to his seat, mouthing every word of the song he was listening to. He plopped down in it with a little spin, opening a file on his desk without ever taking his headphones out. 

“Try ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” Emily laughed, and JJ broke away from their group, heading over to his desk. 

“Hey Spence,” She rested her arms on the divide between his desk and Emily’s, tapping on it to get his attention. 

“Maybe we can find a place to feel good.”

“Spence!” She tapped his arm this time, and he practically jumped out of his skin, turning to face her.

“And we can treat -”

He quickly tore the headphones out of his ears, setting them down on his desk and looking up at her, clearing his throat.

“Sorry. I was listening to something.” He gestured to the headphones still connected to his phone, as if that wasn’t already obvious. 

“Yeah, I noticed,” JJ laughed.

“Do we have a case?” 

“Nothing yet, you’re good.” She tried fruitlessly to hide her grin, and he gave her a strange look.

“Ok…”

“So,” She plopped down in Emily’s chair, rolling it over to sit near him, “What were you listening to?”

“Oh!” His face lit up, and he grabbed his phone, holding it out for her to see. She put the headphones in her ears, hearing the final moments of the song he’d been jamming to.

“And we can treat people with kindness, find a place to feel good.”

“Harry Styles?” JJ laughed incredulously, handing him back his phone. 

“You’ve heard of him?” He asked, taking the phone and sitting it back on his desk and turning back to her.

“I’m pretty sure most people have heard of him, Spence.”

“Ok, well, I hadn’t. But on Saturday I was speaking at the University of Mary Washington with Rossi, and one of the girls gave me this, after the lecture,” He grabbed his bag off the back of the chair, pointing to a round pin clipped on the strap. It was enamel, with light pink on the inside and a red rose in the center, encircled by the phrase “Treat People With Kindness” in black lettering. “And you know, naturally I thought it was a good message so I put it on my bag and I thought that was all it was. But then I ran into Garcia.”

“Oh god.”

“I was walking in yesterday and she saw it and kind of freaked out a little bit, and pulled me into her office and played me the song - the one you just listened to - and it was amazing and so I told her I thought it was amazing, which made her freak out even more and then you called with a case so I left, only to receive a a YouTube playlist a few hours later that she told me I had to watch every video on or she’d stop printing the case files for me.”

“You know she loves you too much to actually do that, right?”

“I mean, the odds were low, but I wasn’t going to risk it. Either way, I sort of listened to every single song on Fine Line and Self-Titled in one night and also a whole bunch of interviews that she sent me and he’s really funny and his music is great and the moral of the story is I kind of love him.”

JJ sent back in her chair, dumbfounded. “Dude… you mean to tell me Garcia made you a Harry Styles fan?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“I - Penelope!” JJ left without another word, making her way into Garcia’s office. Spencer just shrugged, returning to the file he was looking at - and his music - as Garcia spun to face JJ.

“Jennifer, my love, to what do I owe the pleasure? New case?” She asked. JJ just shook her head.

“You broke Reid.”

“I did not break Reid!” She defended with a grin. “I merely helped him reach his true form.”

“He willingly used technology, and he came into the office today practically dancing to Treat People With Kindness. So yes, you did break Reid.”

“JJ, dear,” Garcia got up from her chair, taking JJ’s hands in the doorway, “Do you remember when Reid got that adorable little shaggy haircut?”

“Despite the fact that he changes his hair like every month, yes, I do.”

“And do you remember what Hotch said?”

She thought for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock. “You did all of this… because of the boyband joke?”

“Like I said: true form.” Garcia returned to her chair, spinning around with a laugh. “In my defense, I didn’t know he was going to get a Harry Styles pin. I just took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. I already failed at teaching him to worship Lady Gaga, I could not miss another chance to try and pull him out of the dark ages.”

“You are ridiculous, you know that?”

“That’s why you love me!” 

JJ laughed, leaving Garcia’s office and heading up to hers, ruffling Spencer’s hair on her way by.

“You should grow your hair out again.”

“You think so?” He reached up and fussed with his hair, just as Garcia emerged into the main room. 

“Spencer Reid, my beautiful boy genius, did you do what I asked?”

“Garcia, I figured out how to download music to my phone because of you. So yes, I did what you asked.”

“You are officially my new favorite person.”

“Hang on, what is this all about?” Emily asked. Garcia grinned, hardly able to contain her excitement. 

“I’m finally bringing the lovely Dr. Reid here into the 21st Century.”

“Penelope,” Emily raised an eyebrow at her, “What did you do?”

“Garcia thinks she did something revolutionary by getting me into Harry Styles’ music,” Spencer clarified. Emily immediately clapped her hand over her mouth, about to respond before Derek piped up from his desk.

“Oh, she converted you too?”

“‘Too’ - you mean to tell me that you, Derek Morgan, are a Harry Styles fan?” Emily was looking between the three of them now, practically in shock. Derek just laughed, holding up his hands.

“What can I say, the guy’s got an incredible voice.”

“And the make up of his songs is so interesting as well; I mean, when you look at the music he’s produced in the last few years in comparison to what he performed while he was a part of One Direction -”

“Oh my god please tell me you’ve also listened to One Direction,” Emily said, laughing when Spencer nodded. 

“I don’t understand why you guys are making such a big deal out of this. He’s a singer, it’s not like he doesn’t have fans,” He defended. 

“Reid, two months ago you didn’t even know who Lady Gaga was. This is kind of a big deal.”

“Conference room in five,” JJ walked through the group, heading upstairs as everyone else got up to follow her. 

“Do not think I am dropping this,” Emily pointed at Derek and Spencer before jogging to catch up with JJ. Derek laughed, falling in step with Reid. 

“So, what all did Garcia make you watch?”

“Oh, just a bunch of interviews. I did some of my own reading though -”

“Of course you did.”

“- and what I found really interesting was One Direction’s actual rise to fame. Because the thing is, they didn’t even win X-Factor. They came in third, and yet they became the most famous group to come from that season of the show. In Forever Young - their book - they talked about their time on X-Factor, but it was so strange to me because their first album - Up All Night, that came out not even a full year after they finished the X-Factor live tour - sold 4.5 million copies within the first year. And they just kept growing… Morgan why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” They’d walked into the conference room by now, sitting down next to each other at the table while Derek tried to stop himself from laughing, looking at Reid in disbelief, “You read their book?”

“And their Wikipedia page - I told you I did my own reading!”

“You said you did some of your own reading, you didn’t say you’d memorized everything about their career!”

“Eidetic memory, remember?” He tapped his forehead, and Derek rolled his eyes.

“You never let me forget. I’m assuming you know everything about their solo careers as well?”

“Well I got into Harry’s stuff first, but I ended up reading all of theirs since I didn’t have anything else to do last night. It’s just so interesting to think about what One Direction’s situation reveals about human nature and celebrity culture. I mean, a lot of their fans are dictionary definition erotomaniacs, and yet -”

“I shouldn’t even be surprised that you read this all in one night.”

“Like I said: didn’t have anything else to do.”

“As much as I’m glad you boys are bonding, we have more important things to worry about than Reid’s newfound love for a British boy band,” JJ interrupted.

“Niall Horan’s actually Irish -”

“Spence. The case.” She pulled up the photos on the screen, and Spencer nodded, opening the case file in front of him as JJ began to review everything they needed to know. She finally closed out, and Hotch grabbed his tablet and rose from the table. 

“Alright, wheels up in thirty.”

Everyone nodded, gathering up their things and vacating the room. Spencer and Derek trailed out after everyone, Spencer picking up the conversation as soon as JJ finished. 

“You know, I’m considering learning how to knit - there’s this cardigan that Harry wore...”

[dreamysoshi]

MY TOP 9 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 

planet her // doja cat :: of course this album is a slay. doja is so talented and one of my favorite people. you can see how much effort she puts into her work, and how much she’s grown as an artist from her days of self-production

donda // kanye west :: okay like lord knows i’m not a kanye stan. i respect him as an artist but never listened to his stuff really, until this...and THIS...is actually incredible. some tracks aren’t as strong but ‘jonah,’ ‘hurricane,’ ‘priase lord,’  among some others are fantastic and so moving 

30 // adele :: the long awaited return of our queen adele. it was much less ‘poppy’ than 25 i think, and you can really see how she drew from black r&b performers. also the decision to have spotify take away the shuffle button...not only an incredible voice but an amazing songwriter. 

moodswings in order // DPR IAN :: CL’s boyfriend du jour knows how to make MUSIC. i’m a fan of the DPR system as a whole, but i do like this album the best maybe it’s because it’s english and i can understand this was a very unexpected find for me

the chaos chapter: fight or escape // txt :: so...txt is giving what all 4th gen boy groups should be giving. they really kill every genre and this emo pop punk turn was unexpected but very cool. also their vocals on anti-romantic are fantastic. truly one of the only bgs i enjoy nowadays. 

heaux tales // jazmine sullivan :: i hadn’t really listened to her before or seen anyone talking about her but when grammy noms came out i gave it a listen and this is ART. she deserves all the newfound hype. stream ‘put it down’ and ‘lost one’

only lovers left // woodz :: honestly thank GOD x1 failed because then we wouldn’t be gifted this iconic album. this kid is making nothing but indie r&b bops, i could snort this album like cocaine

sour // olivia rodrigo :: the wunderkind, so to speak. this is the teenage angst pop album i was missing when i was 17. she shows mastery of multiple genres and her voice is quite strong. she deserves all her popularity. 

lilac // IU :: IU doesn’t make bad music. this is actually playfully jazzy, i enjoyed the title track a lot, she really performs some vocal gymnastics. also plus five points for getting dean to come out of his cave for a collab

honorable mentions: solar power // lorde, star-crossed // kacey musgraves, life is a bi... // BIBI, peaches // kai, red (taylor’s version) // taylor swift, montero // lil nas x, an evening with silk sonic // bruno mars&anderson.paak&silk sonic, happier than ever // billie eilish 

i’ll tag @juanitasupreme, @stepmom, @scortchedtoast, @jennigarner, @blondekimlip​

[beetlethebug]

The Bad Kids (ft. Ragh) as songs from TWICE’s album “Feel Special”

Feel Special: Fabian. The title track. He’s the Bad Kid’s leader, and he sets the tone. This song in particular was written for one of the members, Mina, who took leave due to her anxiety. This song and album was her return to the group and group activities. It is a love letter from TWICE to her. In that vein, this is the Bad Kids’ love letter to Fabian. He’s not just their leader, not just some rich kid they hang out with, not just the son of Bill Seacaster. He’s their friend, Fabian. “One moment I feel like I’m nothing at all/ Like no one would notice if I were gone/ But then when I hear you calling me/ I feel loved, I feel so special.”

Rainbow:  Gorgug. He’s struggled a lot with his rage and I feel like he has a lot of self-esteem issues. But we’ve seen how kind, considerate, and amazing he is! He’s the real opposite of what we expect a barbarian to be. But he’s started to grow into himself and started becoming who he wants to be, and not what people want of him. Drumming in Fig’s band, becoming an artificer, I don’t think Gorgug saw himself doing those things. But now that he’s allowing himself to be who he wants to be and just go for it, he’s showing all his colors.  “Open up a new road behind the clouds/ Walk in the wide skies where your path will unfold/ You can go anywhere, wherever you want/ You can go anywhere, wherever you want/ It’s not too late, you can get to the purple line” 

Get Loud: Adaine. When pushed, she’ll push back just as hard. There��s a lot of rage building up inside her. Overlooked; treated as the second; inferior to her sister and unsuitable in her parents’ eyes. Carving her own path, not being afraid to bare her teeth and raise a fist (or ladle) at anyone who dares cross on her on this path of her own making. Willing to defend her friends at any cost, supporting them and twisting fate in order to ensure their success. She’s been silent for long enough; you’re going to listen to her, or face her wrath. “I’ll pass the line in front of me at my feet (Get Loud)/ Stop with the dangerous jokes, or there’s going to be trouble/ In my eyes, it’s right at the edge/ If you take one step (Get Down)?/ It’s a very close call, this is really big trouble (Might Get-Get-Get Loud)”

Trick It: Fig. Honestly this song just gives me Fig vibes! I feel like this is a reflection of Fig before she starts dating Ayda and really starts to be herself. The idea that she has to “trick” Ayda into loving her, because the Real Fig is someone no one can love without there being some trickery involved. The way she first starts bonding and connecting with Ayda being disguise self induced shenanigans. Preparing to be misunderstood but hoping that Ayda will understand her regardless. “Good misunderstanding, bad misunderstanding/ I secretly prepared it/ My behavior is weird/ But I need you to understand it”

Love Foolish: Kristen. This song is about a toxic relationship--being in love with someone you shouldn’t be. The more Kristen learns about her God, the more she realizes that He isn’t who she thought she was. But, she still has that desire to serve a deity, to find divine answers to all the questions she has. The more she searches, the more doubt she has, but she still believes that Something, Someone, out there has the answers. And even if it's foolish, she’s going to try and find them. “Yeah, it’s true/The sweet ones were dangerous/I know I was a fool…I don’t know what’s going on, I can’t explain it/I’m trapped in a labyrinth of strange feelings”

21:29: Ragh. This is Twice’s love letter to their fans, and it’s Ragh’s to the Bad Kids. His whole life changed because of them! Ragh finished his schooling with them, graduated because of them, and is going on a soul searching journey with Tracker because of them. He was able to come out and accept himself because of their influence! I definitely think that Ragh and the Bad Kids are going to be friends for their entire lives, but even if they aren’t, they changed him. They made a profound impact on his life, and that’s not something you can forget or take back. “Even if it’s a dream, I like it/ Tomorrow, I’ll be there (This is for you)/ Even if you’re not/ That’s okay, I’ll remember you (You’re my dream)/ Little by little/ Our memories piled up/ I will always keep them/ As they were (This is for you)” 

Breakthrough: Riz. Breakthroughs are when you hit that pivotal moment, find the one clue that brings the entire case together. A lot of Riz’s adventuring has been spent trying to reach this point. Going to Aguefort with the sole intent to locate Penny. Making friends to look for clues. Searching and searching until his hands are bleeding. He has to reach that point, or it’s meaningless. But then he starts to really trust the Bad Kids, starts to go on his own personal journey and find the clues for himself. And he’s reaching his own breakthrough, killing not only Kalvaxus but Kalina as well, avenging his father, solving the case, and becoming his own person. “Everybody break, break, breakthrough/ Cast aside all the doubts and grow up/ My heart links now to the future/ The beat is heating up, movin’ on, movin’ on/ Fight the weakness, gain strength from your heart/ Break the limit, baby/ Breakthrough let go”

[snlhostharry]

romeo and juliet thing

harry styles x reader

“rivals” to lovers au 

~3k words

warnings: cursing, mentions of sex 

my piece for @meetmeinfleetwood ‘s to lovers challenge, congrats on your milestone! 

a/n: amazing thing I realized while writing this: if you don’t put it off you can actually get it done in a reasonable amount of time... I will not be applying this to any other aspects of my life 

You’ve come to enjoy album release parties. The first one you’d ever been to was the one for your first album, something someone from your publicity team has put together, which they did a decent job on but you did not have a good time. You were so nervous about the album coming out at all that you tried to use alcohol to calm your nerves, so you can’t really remember anything about it besides briefly throwing up in the bathroom. After that incident, you resolved not to drink before the party ever again and the next few you’d been too for other artists were actually fun in their own special ways. 

By the time your second album is on the cusp on release, you’ve decided that you deserved it after the mess of writer's block you’d gotten in the middle of trying to write the thing, which had gotten so bad that you’d been called into a “special meeting” by management where they talked for what felt like hours about deadlines and marketing and basically tried to intimidate you into finishing faster. Something happened that allowed you to finish, it was an odd timing but it did help. 

But that was ages ago, and you’re trying to focus on the party. 

Which is easy enough, winding through the room talking to friends and investors, small talk is easy when you're trying to avoid something else. You’re talking to someone who’s name you are definitely not going to remember when this is over, when out of the corner of your eye you think you see someone who should definitely not be here. When you're finally released from said conversation you walk around the room, trying to find the intruder. You make your way all the way back to the bathroom, when suddenly the person you’ve been looking for slams right into you. 

You’re far enough in a corner that you think no one can see you, which is good because if anyone got photos of the two of you together you would never hear the end of it. Harry Styles looks at you like he’s been caught in the act, the guilty expression not leaving his face even as he says, “Funny seeing you here.” 

“At my own party?” You ask. 

He licks his lips, trying to buy time to think of something to say. “Before you say anything,” He says, treading cautiously, “I was told to come here.” 

You narrow your eyes, “By who?” 

“Someone who works for me,” He replies, “Which means that someone who works for you gave them the information.” 

You groan, “Of course they did, well at least make sure they get your good side when someone comes around to take photos.” 

He smiles at that, “That’s every side, love.” 

You shake your head, typing a message on your phone and quickly sending it, “It’s not but it’s cute that you think so.” 

“Ignoring that little comment,” He says, seeing that your attention is divided between him and the person you seem to be very angrily texting. “It’s a good song you wrote, I’m excited to hear the rest of the album.”

“Oh,” You say, eyes widening, “Thank you..?” He tilts his head to the side gently, clearly his way of asking a question without actually asking a question. “Sorry, I just didn’t realize we were doing the thing where we pretend this is normal, and you are normally at my party.”

He laughs, “Didn’t know there was pretending involved.” 

“I’m just so used to pretending to loathe you all day everyday that it's just so natural,” You say, and wait to see if he’ll get the joke. 

He shrugs, “Really? I don’t think of you all that much.” 

Your phone buzzes in your hand before you can respond, one message sits unread underneath the ten you’d sent a few minutes earlier in rapid succession. Honestly? I invited him because I thought it would be fun. Of course that would be her rationale for not telling you about this very obvious stunt. Inviting your “rival” to your album release party is the perfect way to get your name in some headlines conveniently before the whole thing goes live, not like you need them but then again you do pay people to manage this kind of thing so they figure they should be doing something. 

Oh yeah, Harry is supposed to be your “rival.” Think of some of the most infamous musical feuds of all time, and then knock it down a few pegs, and that’s where you would put yours and harrys. No one knows how it really started, something between a couple of twitter stans you’ve been told, but it suddenly gave each of your respective “people” the genius idea to milk that kind of exposure for all that it’s worth. The two of you have been pit against each other ever since the release of your debut albums, both self titled and both released within two weeks of each other. It hasn’t harmed either of you, being compared to the other, since you’re both pretty evenly matched in terms of talent. 

It seems to only exist to make the occasional headline when the media remember that it “exists.” There have been headlines wondering if you’ve mentioned him in tik toks (you didn’t) in instagram posts (you were shading someone but not him) and if this whole thing started due to a one night stand that went the wrong way (definitely not). 

You pull yourself back into the conversation, realizing you're being rude trying to think of something to respond to the text message. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“Who are you rage tweeting over there?”

“Rage texting actually,” You say as another one comes through, “Fucking Melanie.” 

“Unfortunate that her parents gave her that as a first name.”

You look up at him right away, “Not funny.” He laughs at his own joke anyway, “Melanie-” You say, holding up your phone for dramatic effect, “Is the head of the PR team, which is three people but anyway she is the one who seems to have coordinated this whole thing as a prank on me apparently.” 

“It’s kind of funny,” He says. 

You narrow your eyes at him, “I’m sure from your point of view it is.” Suddenly, someone comes rounding the corner near where the two of you are standing, and you freeze on instinct until they pass right in front of you without even looking in your direction. You realize that in a panic, you’d grabbed onto Harry’s hand and you decide that the two of you are going to have to finish this conversation somewhere else. “Come with me,” You sigh, leading him through the back of the room all the way to a small door that leads to an outside area at the back of the venue. You look at him again, his eyes glinting in the lights hanging above your heads. “What were we talking about?”

“Are you ever listening to me?” He asks, half joking. 

“Don’t take it personally I’m only half listening to everyone,” You answer, “It’s called multitasking.” 

“Seems tiring.” 

“Better than being bored,” You say.

He looks at you for a second without saying and then shoves his hands in his pockets, “Why are we out here again?” 

“I’m trying to figure out what’s the game plan here, if you’re supposed to be seen here alone, seen with me, if I’m supposed to throw some kind of tantrum about it.” 

“Besides the one your already throwing?” 

You stop looking at your phone, “Ouch.” 

“Punishment for continuing to ignore me.”

You turn off your phone and hold it in your hand gently, giving him your full attention. “I’m listening, but only if you’re going to say something that it’s some kind of thinly veiled insult,” You click your tongue, “You’re one of those guys who flirts by making fun of girls aren’t you?” 

He thinks about it, “That’s a type?” 

“Yeah, for people who are still mentally in high school.” 

“So you wouldn't be interested then?” 

You smile, thinking about it. Here’s the thing, despite the fact you very much have been pretending to loathe Harry Styles for two years just so you don’t slip it if someone asks, you recognise now that he is objectively attractive. The curls, and the eyes and the borderline too busy suit jacket he’s wearing (that both of you know costs an exorbitant amount) is all contributing to a look that is working for you at the moment. Also working in his favor? The semi enemies to lovers arc that you have going on in your head. “Despite the fact that I think that kind of flirting is beneath you, at this moment, it’s currently working for me.” 

You take a step forward, closer to him, and suddenly your phone starts going off again. You check it briefly, trying very much not to ruin the moment but very cognizant of the fact that this is your party and people are going to start noticing if you're gone. You look down, see it’s not a life or death emergency and look right back at Harry. “Let me guess,” He says, “She wants you to kiss me for the cameras?”

You laugh, “No, but I’m going to do it anyway.” You kiss him, he leans in and you think that you might just seal the deal with harry styles out on this very nice patio when your phone rings again. You pull away when it’s clear that whoever it is needs you desperately, you look at the message, and groan, “Fucking Melaine.” You look towards the door and back at Harry, “Okay this is not over, but I have to go take care of stuff, so just meet me here after the whole thing is over and we will finish this thing.” 

“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” You smile, “We could be an epic novel of forbidden lovers, like Romeo and Juliet without the ending.” You pause, “Well maybe with the end if Melanie kills me with her bare hands for not talking to this producer she wants me to meet.” 

“Later, then.” 

You take him back to your apartment that night. And you invite him back the next day, and then the week and then a few more times after that. As much as you had meant it a joke at the time, the kind of forbidden lovers aspect of trying to keep this whole thing under wraps is sexy in a way that you would never admit outloud. 

You’ve both become shockingly adept at sneaking in and out of apartments, neighborhoods (Harry has multiple priorities; why that is you're not exactly sure) and sometimes clubs if you're in a group and it’s dark enough that you think no one will see you. 

“Should I climb up through the window?” You ask Harry as you stand in the backyard of his house in London,  swimsuit clad even though you’ve gone nowhere near the pool. 

Harry looks at you from his place on the ground next to you. He’d refused to get a chirhair to sit on, so he just sits on the ground, looking out over the pool and the fence. “Why would you do that?” 

“Romeo and Juliet thing, didn’t he climb through the window to see her?”

He shrugs, wrapping his arms around your bare legs in some attempt to keep your attention on him, “I don’t know, never read it.” He laughs a little, “But I think if you did that some pap would catch you with your ass hanging out of my window.” 

You laugh too, “And you would never fucking stop laughing at that.” 

“No, I would not.” 

You kick your leg out so that you almost hit him right in the face, “Fucker, I thought you were over being mean to me as a tactic. You have successfully romanced me.” 

“Really? Because you’re staring at the house like you’re going to kill me for my money.” 

“You’d put me in your will? That’s sweet,” You turn to him, pulling your sunglasses onto the top of your head. 

“You are so hot right now.”

“It is hot,” You say, looking out at the clear sky, “What an observation.” 

“You’re screwing with me.” 

“Because I’m too tired to screw you at the moment,” You say, “Can’t we just enjoy one day in one of your two properties out in the sun before you start making me exercise?” 

“I wouldn’t call it that.” 

“It is work,” You say, rolling your eyes. “I’ve been thinking about that song you played yesterday, I think it needs to be less.. Ethereal.” 

“What does that mean?” 

You sit down next to him, laying your head in the grass. “Harry Styles is a rockstar, if you’re going to do a sad song, which seems to be your specialty, it needs to at least have a beat.” 

“People don’t want to dance to sad songs.” 

“Dude,” You say matter of factly, “Of course they do, I do and I think I speak for a very large section of the United States population.You need a sad song you can at the very least scream too, if not full out dance.” 

“So what’s your suggestion?” He asks. 

“Add more guitar,” You tell him, “Like a lot more. Take all the lyrics you have and put them on a track that sounds like it should be about your new puppy or something.” 

“Who writes songs about puppies?” 

“It was an example, H.” You sigh, “but you get the point.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“Don’t be like that.” He doesn’t say anything for a while, and you let it go as one of his moods for a while. But it goes on for longer than you thought it would be, and eventually you sit up. He’s staring down at his phone, frozen, and then he starts typing without saying anything to you. “What are you looking at?” You ask him, and he doesn’t say anything. “What is it H?” You ask again. 

“Fuck it all,” He says, dropping his phone to the ground, and covering his face with his hands as he laid down with his head in the grass. 

You pick his phone up off the ground and see that he’s opened twitter. Staring right back at you is a picture of the two of you kissing outside a small restaurant from the night before, you rack your brain trying to think if you saw anywhere when you were there and you swore you didn’t. Like it or not, everyone is going to know about the two of you now, including Melanie who had told you not to interact with Harry after the party expressly. “Shit,” You say, and your phone begins to ring the sound of Temporary Fix filling the small backyard. 

“Fucking Melanie,” Harry says, still lying on the ground, “She’s going to ream me.” 

“Well at least she’ll do it to both of us,” You groan, not even bothering to go and get your phone. You stand up, as a tension headache begins to form in your temples, “Well I’m going to get into the pool.” 

“Now?” He asks you. “Seems like the perfect way to avoid this problem, doesn’t it?” 

He also gets to his feet, and takes your hand, “Yeah it does.” 

And together the two of you jump into the pool. 

It’s an hour before you finally call Melanie back, even though you meant to avoid it for at least another hour. You sit at the kitchen counter while Harry takes a call in another room, dreading this call because you do not want to hear her yell at you for nothing, mostly because you're a grown woman and are above being lectured. 

“Were you just not going to tell me about this?” 

“Yes, that was the plan.” 

“I told you not to-”

“Yeah but I had already made plans by then that I couldn’t cancel.” 

“There was one man in the entire world, who you couldn’t fuck-”

“I know, what are the odds?” 

“Could you please stop fucking with me for one second?” She says, “This is serious.” 

“It’s not that bad, for you I mean.” You shrug, “I mean for me my personal business is all out on the internet now and I’ll be permanently known as one of Harry Styles’ girlfriends but for you what’s better press wise than a good ol enemies to lovers arc? I won’t tell anyone the enemies part wasn’t real if you won’t.” 

You hear her sigh from the other end of the phone, and then tap her nails against the desk. “You might be onto something there.” 

“I’m always onto something Melanie, I’m the artist here aren’t I?” And you hang up, before you say something that you’ll regret. You’d meant what you said, you were mostly just uncomfortable with everyone knowing who you're dating, especially the harry twitter stans who are known for being very excitable to say the least, you could see why they liked him so much but you would be lying if you said they didn’t scare you. You think of all the interviews you’ll do in the future where people will ask about him, about your relationship and maybe about how it ended. 

Harry comes back into the kitchen and grabs two beers from the fridge. He opens both and sets one out in front of you. “How did it go?” 

“Fine,” You say. You look at him, “Is this the part where we break up because you can’t be seen with me?” You put your face into the counter and let out another groan. 

“Never,” He says, taking a drink, “No one else I would rather weather this shit-storm with.” 

You smile, “Same here.” 

[desertsquiet]

31 Days Music Challenge

Day 7 - 3 favorite songs from Safe at Home

1) Luxury Liner

Look, I freaking love it, in every shape or form. I adore Emmylou’s version on her self-titled album and I love the original even more. The first time I listened to this album, I was progressively more amazed with each new track because I honestly couldn’t believe how good it was. It was the moment I realized that, as far as music was concerned, this guy could really do no wrong. And Luxury Liner was a big part of that. The way the lyric “I’ve been a long lost soul for a long, long time” seemed to be already a perfect incapsulation of his musical identity, the way the arrangement felt like the perfect marriage between country’s aching and rock’s defiant spirit. Seems kinda funny to be talking about an “underrated gem” inside of a career that is underrated and overlooked as a whole, but that’s what it is: a treasure within the treasure.

2) Blue Eyes

Just one of the sweetest songs he’s ever written. It’s fun and it’s quirky and adorable in all the right ways. It never fails to bring a smile to my face and put me in a good mood.

3) Miller’s Cave & I Still Miss Someone

I’m very sorry, but I really couldn’t pick just one of these because I’m totally obsessed with both and felt they both deserve a huge shout out. Miller’s Cave may be my favorite sounding track on the whole album (those little piano riffs are so simple but so brilliant) and I love menacing atmosphere it creates even before you can see where the story is going. Killer vocals, obviously (excuse the pun 😂). And I Still Miss Someone, well, is a song *he* made me fall in love with. I’d already heard Johnny Cash do it, but once again Gram used his supernatural ability to make any other version pale in comparison in my mind. So much so that when I’m singing it, when it comes to the line “sweethearts walk by together”, I always instinctively put the accent on the word “walk” instead of “by”. Now that I’ve heard plenty of people perform it, I can say that he’s the *only* one who does that and I think that’s pretty cute.

[cotyledonal]

hi iris have you ever listened to weezers green album? personally, i'm a bigger fan of the white album but (i am asked to leave)

what i have for you is two albums. maggot by dazey and the scouts has a bit of a raunchier riot grrl beat but their songs are really fun and hype (i'm a big fan of maggot and groan). both are floral themed songs but somehow do it completely differently.

the second album is I Need To Start a Garden by haley heynderickx. WHERE DO I BEGIN! my favorite songs are Jo (there has never been a more tender and loving and powerful lament. this is what orpheus sang to let eurydice go. also lesbianisms). The second is Untitled God Song (which has defined a lot of my faith and my grapple w it more specifically). oom sha la la is amazing as well, i think you'll like it for reasons we've talked about in the past.

so i offer these to you with a bit of light metal because i can't help myself. sextape by deftones. here's my propaganda! i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed yours (which was a lot!) we have a venn diagram of music tastes so i hope this falls in the middle.

I listened to the Dazey and the Scouts album while eating a couple of hot dogs and I think that might be the ideal listening experience

a v solid album !! I love how balls-to-the-wall insane they’re willing to go lmao. I usually don’t like Funny Music™ bc the song often just. stops in its tracks to deliver the punchline, and it makes me cringe, wail, etc. but they wove it in really well. good for them. good for them

my only gripe is. the MIXING. the lyrics + vocals are so good but they’re so QUIET compared to the instruments,,, tbh that’s the only tell that this is a debut album. otherwise it’s really competent. I don’t fuck w tiktok or official spotify playlists so I probably wouldn’t have heard of them on my own ty 🙏

I HAVE heard of Haley Heynderickx, but I ignored her exclusively bc of the spelling of her last name. you only get one quirky variation in your last name that’s the rule. you can’t have “eyn” AND “derick” AND “x”, you gotta pick ONE!! it Annoys me. yes I’m extremely petty, yes I should be ashamed. I suppose I shall set aside my unfounded bitchiness for the sake of Friendship

anyway I was kind of guaranteed to like this (indie folk? check. complicated relationship w God/your place in the world? check. using nature as both a home and a metaphor? check. a song longer than 7 min? check) so uhhh thanks for the final push? Untitled God Song IS very relatable, we are spinning in a circle about this

I liked Sextape, but I don’t like nu metal/nu metal-adjacent 90s alt overall, so I probably won’t get into Deftones further 😔 sorry

I have So Many artists in my library that are comparable to Haley Heynderickx and that whole vibe which I think you’d love, but for right now (bc I don’t want to drown you in the Deluge of folk music), my only rec is that you listen to more Lady Lamb if you haven’t already. she’s my favorite artist of all time I have to do this I'm legally obligated. quick rundown of her albums:

Ripely Pine--her debut. v lyrics-heavy folk rock with touches of big band. it’s basically the Ultimate Dyke Drama Album, and yes it’s explicitly about a female love interest. the writing is some of the best I’ve ever heard; it’s v visceral in a rambly, poetic kind of way. lots of stuff about devouring-in-a-homosexual-way here

After--^same type of intense folk rock, but with slightly less of a focus on Dyke Drama and more on traveling, self-discovery, what-the-hell-is-happening-ever, well-at-least-I’m-gay. honestly imagine the themes of I Need to Start a Garden but the music is wayyy higher energy. also there’s a song about oral named Penny Licks which I just think is delightful

Tender Warriors Club--oh hey I got my current blog title from the last track on this! it’s a lot more spare with its instrumentation than her other albums, bc it’s. it’s Tender . and also the writing still SLAPS

Even in the Tremor--the most chill out of all her albums. religion’s always been a motif in her music, but it becomes a major theme here (this has Young Disciple !). I prefer the rougher production of her previous work, but it’s still p solid!

she also has 4 singles out currently that don’t have albums--We’ve Got a Good Thing Going + Arizona back in 2020, and Wolves of our Want + Ivy in the last month (please girl release a new album I will give you my major organs pl--). they are all v good.

picking out songs from her discog to recommend kinda feels like picking favorite children, but I think you specifically would like Aubergine, Crane Your Neck, Milk Duds, and We Are Nobody Else

[taetaespeaches]

favorite albums of twenty-twenty:

I’m indecisive, so disclaimer lol. But I wanted to be self-indulgent for a moment and share my very favorite albums of 2020. In a year where I felt both alone and lonely, music was massively important to me. I tried to limit this to my top ten but I’m too indecisive and a lot of amazing music came out this year so there’s eighteen albums lol. Why not. So yeah, enjoy or ignore, I just had the urge to do this. (This isn’t in order except BE, D-2, Maria, and Map of the Soul: 7 are all definitely in the top five.)

Also, if you see this and want to do your own, tag me! I’d love to see your top albums <3 

↬ BE — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Telepathy, Blue & Grey, Fly To My Room, Disease, Life Goes On

I mean come on. This was the pandemic album we all needed and I will forever be grateful for this masterpiece. I think this is an album that will grow with me and will kind of act as a companion throughout my life. The musicality, the lyrics, the variety, all of it, it’s just perfection. It feels like a friend who gives you comfort but also makes you confront your emotions, and that was everything I needed this year. I will forever be obsessed with this one. BE is my friend. 

↬ D-2 — Agust D

⟶ Top Tracks: People, Moonlight, Daechwita, What do you think?, Dear my friend

Agust D came back and he fucking owned it. The amount of pure talent and passion in this mixtape is un-fucking-real. Yoongi is just unbelievably talented and this album perfectly displays that. Plus, these songs have been my ride or die since May, like, there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t listen to this album in full at least once. Just incredible. 

↬ María — Hwasa

⟶ Top Tracks: LMM, Maria, Intro: Nobody Else, WHY, I’m bad too

This album is so connected to my fucking soul. I swear, Ahn Hyejin and I’s emotions are so similar and the way we process them is soooo similar, this album just honestly means the world to me. Plus, it’s amazing. Every song is a masterpiece. Obsessed. Much like D-2, I listen to this album at least once a week. And the number of times I have cried listening to it is unreal. Intro: Nobody Else is very much how I felt this year and LMM has made me cry more times than I care to admit. This album makes me feel what I’m feeling, gives me comfort, and helps me pick myself back up again. Another one that will grow with me. This year through the loneliness and in times that I felt I had no one, this was my companion.  

↬ MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Black Swan, Interlude : Shadow, My Time, ON, Friends, Moon, We are Bulletproof: the Eternal, Outro : Ego

Come onnnnnn. Perfection!!!! Quite literally the album that has been there with me through every step of this pandemic. I still cry watching the Ego mv. Why? No clue, just makes me sob tears of happiness. Black Swan? Possibly one of my very favorite songs EVER. OF ALL TIME. My Time? Relatable as fuck. Friends? The cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Moon? I’m sobbing again, that’s my emotional support Seokjinnie. Just, the album is a goddamn masterpiece, I don’t care who disagrees, my opinion is fact on this one.

↬ love is not dying — Jeremy Zucker

⟶ Top tracks: full stop, oh, mexico, hell or flying, lakehouse

Jeremy is another one that I just feel emotionally related too. Like I just get what he says and means and it hits me right in the heart and mind and gut. Another companion album. I think full stop is one of the most relatable songs I’ve ever heard- lyrically and the way it builds and becomes a bit chaotic… like whoah. I feel that in my chest. Also, oh, mexico is another song I related to so hard this year. This album has just made a massive impact on me and I love it.

↬ folklore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: seven, peace, the lakes, the 1

So Taylor surprised everyone with an album. What the fuck, ma’am? This is my second favorite Taylor album to date, second to only her second surprise album of the year. Like what? I’ve cried listening to this album and absolutely sobbed listening to seven. She just really popped off with this one and I don’t think I need to explain to you all why this album is so good. If you’ve heard it, you know.

↬ evermore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: ivy, cowboy like me, long story short, coney island, gold rush

Oh here we have another surprise album, and now my favorite album by Taylor. I think this album perfectly displays Taylor’s insane lyricism better than any of her works. This album just hit really different for me, every song was my favorite on first listen and I still have the hardest time picking favorite tracks. It’s just beautiful and it’s great and I love it a lot.

↬ SAWAYAMA — Rina Sawayama

⟶ Top tracks: Fuck This World (Interlude), Tokyo Love Hotel, Bad Friend, Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)

Have you heard it? If so, you know why it’s on this list. Pop perfection. Rina is a goddess. That’s that. It’s just amazing. Rina is a visionary and this album displays that perfectly. Comme Des Garçons was the first song of hers I ever heard and I was immediately obsessed. Next level, this woman. A queen.

↬ Petals For Armor — Hayley Williams

⟶ Top tracks: Crystal Clear, Why We Ever, Over Yet

Wow. Just, bless Hayley for this. Crystal Clear has quickly become one of my very favorite songs ever and Why We Ever is a little too relatable. And I distinctly remember hearing Over Yet for the first time in May and feeling joy for the first time since the pandemic started. This album is one to listen to when you’re mad, sad, when you need comfort, or when you’re ready to heal. Honestly, another companion.

↬ Nectar — Joji

⟶ Top tracks: Like You Do, Your Man, Sanctuary, MODUS, Run, Mr. Hollywood

I could honestly list nearly every song on this as a top song. Holy shit. Joji is another visionary. He’s insane and I’m obsessed with this album. I swear, every time I listen a new song jumps out as a favorite. Like You Do is a song that just means so much to me. A masterpiece. This album is my go to when I’m looking to get into my feels. Also Daylight isn’t listed in the top tracks but what a fucking bop. I’m just in love with this album. For real, obsessed.

↬ Plastic Hearts — Miley Cyrus

⟶ Top tracks: Angels Like You, High, WTF Do I Know, Midnight Sky, Never Be Me, Plastic Hearts

I’ve never been like an avid listener of Miley, just a few tracks, but this year I got more into her. And this album, goddamn. Every song is a contender for top track. How does that happen? Midnight Sky? Huge for me this year. Like I cannot tell you how massive of an impact this song made on me. Angels Like You is such a perfect song. High is a little too relatable. Just seriously, wow. Kind of speechless, I just adore this album.

↬ Positions — Ariana Grande

⟶ Top tracks: pov, obvious, 34+35

The way I cried my first time hearing pov. Ari what are you doing to me? That song is just such a beautiful way to look at love and this whole album is just so healing. A happy spot on this whole year. 34+35 is a thot anthem and I’m obsessed. This album is just another example of Ariana’s talent and we were all blessed to be able to hear it.

↬ CALM — 5 Seconds of Summer

⟶ Top tracks: Wildflower, Lover of Mine, Best Years, Teeth, High

I don’t care if y’all think it’s cool to like 5sos or not, this album is so fucking good. It far exceeded my expectations. Some of these songs are some of my favorites for the year. Wildflower is a fucking happy pill and Best Years makes me fucking cry. High is too relatable, and Teeth may as well have been written about me. And Lover of Mine perfectly relates to the most important relationship of my entire life. I’m gonna say it, Luke Hemmings is such an underappreciated lyricist. The man is good. I love this album a lot. 

↬ Manic — Halsey

⟶ Top tracks: Finally // beautiful stranger, SUGA’s Interlude, Forever … (is a long time), 3am

I never really listen to Halsey so it took me a long time to give this album a try and wow I’m so glad I finally did. It became an instant fav. Honesty, anything Yoongi touches is a favorite for me so obviously that song would be in my tops, but Forever … (is a long time) is so relatable and just so fucking good. And Finally // beautiful stranger is honestly my favorite Halsey song ever. It’s stunning. This album is amazing. Period.

↬ Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa

⟶ Top tracks: Pretty Please, Cool, Don’t Start Now

This album is just disco pop perfection and I’ve been obsessed all year. It’s the perfect album to listen to when you just wanna fucking dance and forget about all the shit that 2020 gave us. The perfect escape and it’s so so fun and the songs are just bops. I’ve probably listened to this album a hundred times because it’s just the perfect escape. If I wanna let go for a bit, this is my go to.

↬ Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers

⟶ Top tracks: I Know The End, Chinese Satellite, Garden Song

This album makes me feel some shit. Like holy hell we are in our feels. Phoebe’s songwriting is superb and these songs just hit. I honestly only listen to this album when I really need to get in touch with myself because it literally doesn’t allow me to avoid my feelings. But it’s pretty much perfection and I think it’s going to grow with me throughout the years. I just love it. I remember being blown away on my first listen, it’s just unbelievably good.

↬ Ungodly Hour — Chloe and Halle

⟶ Top tracks: Tipsy, Baby girl, Ungodly Hour

I don’t even know how to explain how good this album is. Like, have you heard it? You get it. These girls went the fuck off and all we can do is thank them for it. Thank you for your service ladies. This album is just a vibe from start to finish. And Ungodly Hour is one of the best title tracks of the year. That’s just that on that. Give them all the awards.

↬ IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? — DPR LIVE

⟶ Top tracks: OH GIRL, NO RESCUE NEEDED, KISS ME

This album isn’t just an album, it’s an experience. This man takes you on a musical journey. It’s a story. It’s flawless. I adore it. DPR LIVE is so underrated and I can’t wait for him to get the hype he deserves. This was the most surprising find this year and I’m so thankful I found it. Just so god. From start to finish, you just get sucked in and then it ends and you’re just left like, whoah. Amazing. 

[jiaraendgame]

hey!! could u let us know what fics u have in the works? i was just curious to know what we could expect next, i literally get so happy everytime u post!!

Hello lovely! You get excited when I post?! That means everything to me oh my god you are too sweet. Thank you so much! <3 I cry!

I have quite a few things in the works right now so here is a list and general summaries! Fun fact I was typing out this reply and my laptop died which caused me to lose my whole response so here’s to typing this all out a second time!

Works In Progress

Manipulation Part Two: I apologize to anyone waiting for this. Ya girl is struggling with it because I am being too picky about how I want it to go. I am working on it though I promise!

Missing You: This is another song based fic. Based on the song Missing You by All Time Low. General Summary: JJ x Reader fic. Y/N is struggling to find her place in the world while dealing with her Kook father and Pogue mother’s messy divorce. She is self-medicating with alcohol to cope. Runs into the Pogues and JJ takes interest in Y/N and teaches her what real love and friendship are all about.

Pogues x Breakfast Club AU: I have two working titles right now, haven’t chosen the official one yet. This will be my first ever “big” series. I love The Breakfast Club and thought this would be an amazing crossover. I only have the basic ideas written out for it right now. General Summary: Detention at Kildare High was never anything exciting, until one fateful Saturday. A Mixed group of individuals find themselves together for weekend detention. What happens next is history. (FIrst time the Pogues meet before the Pogues were even a thing! Except for John B and JJ as they already know each other.)

Untitled: This is gonna be an emotional one. TW: Depression. Found myself writing this one when I was in a not great head place as it was helping me cope I guess. Based on my own personal struggles and how depression has affected me. General Summary: JJ x Reader fic. Y/N has always been the mom of the friend group making sure everyone was always taken care of even if that means neglecting herself in the process. Y/N’s depression spirals and she avoids the Pogues not wanting to bother them as she is the newest member of the crew. They visit her house and find out what’s really going on as they didn’t know of her struggles. This is the most basic summary ever, I promise it’s better than it sounds. (Not entirely sure if I’ll even post this one honestly as it was really just writing for me so I didn’t spiral myself.)

Untitled: I saw the quote “Bad decisions make for good stories.” I got inspired by it and have about 4k+ already written for it so oops. General Summary: Kook!Reader x JJ fic. Y/N is a Kook with a family legacy. Her family owns and runs the infamous Country Club in Figure Eight. Her parents expect her to take over the business when she is older, even if she doesn’t want to. During a business meeting with the Cameron’s about Midsummers Ward suggests she takes a break and spends time with Rafe and his crew on The Druthers. Though she doesn’t want to her father forces her as being connected to the Cameron’s is great for the family name. During her time with Rafe there is a run-in with the Pogues and later on, JJ climbs his way to her window to take her out on a night of adventure. This is a terrible summary I’m working on it sorry haha.

Album Fic Series: The last idea that I am working on is an album fic series. I don’t really know what to call it, but one of my favorite albums all the songs on it would work really well for multiple fics so I’m thinking about taking that album and doing a different fic for each song. So it’s a series of stories based on the songs on the album. That will be a lot of work though so I probably won’t tackle this until I am on break from my college classes.

I also am currently working on 4 requests. They are supposed to be blurbs, but I’m terrible at writing anything short so apologies to the anons who are waiting I am working on them I promise!

Request One: JJ x Touron!Reader Affair. This has been a lot of fun writing so far! General Summary: Touron!Reader and her boyfriend visit the Outer Banks on holiday and a certain blonde Pogue makes things messy.

Request Two: Dress Code. Platonic Pogues! This was a request I got and is based on the post that @maybanktho made. Find the original post here. General Summary: Kie gets dress coded at school and in support of their friend the Pogues go shirtless at school in protest.

Request Three: Jiara fic. First time writing for my fave ship and it’s gonna be super fluffy per request! General Summary: Kie is sick and her best friend JJ is here to help.

Request Four: Kie x Platonic Pogues. TW: sexual assault. If I’m honest this one is gonna take me the longest because I refuse to write anything in a glorified manner so I’m taking this one pretty seriously in terms of writing. General Summary: Kie has been off lately and the Pogues aren’t quite sure why. When the news breaks they take matters into their own hands.

Okay! Sorry, this is such a long response! I wasn’t expecting it to be so long and detailed haha! Guess this just proves I’m not good at writing anything short so if it takes me a while to post that is why! This is everything I currently have in the works. I am in the process of making a Masterlist so once I post more of them they can all be located in one spot.

[haus-of-wu]

Chung Ha - Querencia: Album Reaction

This was a jam-packed album full of ChungHa’s versatility. Querencia truly is an exquisite product of ChungHa’s many months mulling over this album in its entirety.

Normally, I wouldn’t put a “Keep Reading” on these, but this album is LONG and I don’t want to clog up the dash.

SIDE A {NOBLE}

Nice mysterious instrumental that would be fitting of a teaser trailer. ChungHa’s voiceovers of “authentic self”, “where my desires are protected”, “my own oasis”, and ultimately ending on “querencia” set the tone for the album’s concept.

Bicycle

The trap percussion pattern and the instrumental is super catchy. However, this is not my favorite ChungHa title track.

What is interesting about it for me is that this is one of the first times that I get to hear her rap (and in English). The Ariana Grande Side to Side references in the imagery are very intentional. If anything, this feels more like something Blackpink would do, which is why it’s throwing me off so much.

It’s a bit confusing that we’re talking about a bicycle, but we have motorcycle broom/vroom adlibs. I think the verses are fire, but the chorus is ultimately disappointing compared to the rest of the song.

Masquerade

The Latin vibes on this one though !! The horn line and percussion are very characteristic of Latin pop. The chorus does a really good job of weaving the melody of the horn line with ChungHa’s voice.

Introducing some acoustic guitar in the second verse is a nice change-up. Throw “Masquerade” immediately into the good vibes playlist, bc it’s a innocuous fun beat.

Flying on Faith

The plucky electric guitar - a Touch!

One of Chungha’s all-English tracks in the album, and one that really Feels like it could be on Top 40 Radio here in the US. The beginning of this reminds me of some punk pop from the mid-2000s, and the rest reminds me of something Aly and AJ-esque.

I love how the chorus adds in several more layers to the instrumental, which help continuously drive the song forward.

(Also beginning with guitar but ending with piano? N i c e !)

Luce Sicut Stellae

There’s Latin percussion rhythms in this one, with a nice mellow tempo.

“Shine for, shine for me tonight” - the chorus is immediately happiness inducing for absolutely NO reason. :)

It’s good music to study or work to. The instrumental is simple, and you just get to enjoy ChungHa’s vocals.

SIDE B {SAVAGE}

Very nightclub vogue beats for this instrumental. Fitting, since it’s basically taking us into the next quarter of the album which focuses on dance music.

Stay Tonight

“Stay Tonight” has such a great groove to it; it was an instant addition to my playlist the moment I first heard it. A very solid ChungHa dance track, paired with some really great visuals (I was a sucker for the blue extensions).

The instrumental introduction really just builds your interest all the way up to the verse. And the chorus? It drops, and the bassline gets grungy while ChungHa’s voice sails above the whole orchestration.  STAAAAAAAAAY~

Dream of You - with R3HAB

When ChungHa dropped this all-English dream of a song, I immediately latched onto it. It’s confident and honestly a bit of a tease.

“I can’t stand that you might be in someone’s bed, with some ____ all over you” - like OKAY we’re HERE

The build up to the chorus is suave - the backing instrumental that reverbs every time ChungHa sings the chorus just adds ante to it.

But also, favorite lyrics of the album: “I got whiskey, I got gin, and lingerie”

Bother Me

The “distant audio” effect at the beginning just makes the verse come in even HARDER - this is a Groove.

The spoken drawling verses that launch into quick rolling lines are such a nice contrast. The booming bass and funk make this a club hit.

Chill

Chill gives a cruising down the street in the summer with the roof down vibes.

It embodies its title - it’s Chill.

There’s a huge contrast between how much instrumentation the verses have compared to the choruses. The verses are pretty clean, with only percussive elements and one bass instrument, so ChungHa’s voice shines easily. On the other hand, the chorus of Chill has layers of backing vocalizations, much more instruments providing bass harmonies, which enables ChungHa’s clear timbre to give this song a burst of color.

SIDE C {UNKNOWN}

This instrumental is just the whacky percussive elements thrown together. It sounds like a mix of EDM and sci-fi video game music and sound effects.

Play - feat. Changmo

Summertime tropical beach beats - the metal drums really lend themselves to creating that vibe.

Changmo’s rap feature here is Legit and he gets a solid amount of air time - definitely a solid collab.

I think what I appreciate most about Play is how the chorus and adlibs allow ChungHa’s vocals to really shine.

Demente - feat Guaynaa

ChungHa in ESPAÑOL?? With a collab?? YES !!

It’s wonderful to hear how much she worked on her pronunciation to be able to put together a song with several verses and a chorus in Spanish.

The foghorn noises though - very on brand for the genre I suppose.

Guaynaa’s bars were wonderful, but I especially LOVE when the two of them sing the chorus together. Good harmonies folks, we love that

Lemon - feat Colde

This song immediately gives off swanky retro lounge vibes. The “Lemon, Lemon” chorus moves from ear to ear.

Overall, a soothing rhythmic tune to listen to when getting stuff done.

Honestly, I think one of the best things about this album is that Chungha’s collabs allow Byulharangs to find new artists - Colde definitely is up my alley for chill rap.

BYULHARANG (160504 + 170607)

The acoustic guitar chords immediately jerk me back into mid-2000s TSwift country pop. It’s comforting, a song directly for the fans, and it feels like a warm  throw blanket.

SIDE D {PLEASURES}

Synth noises? Also a candidate for sleek mysterious teaser music

X

Soulful, sultry, with good vocals - X has It.

It has a lilting, wistful vibe, one that reminisces on what could’ve been, but ultimately did not happen. The instruments gradually layer on in a neat manner as we approach the chorus, and continue building as we hit the last chorus.

“You should’ve loved me at my worst, now you just watch me on your TV screen”

All Night Long

The way the instruments wiggle between your ears is trippy - but this has a nice minimal setup for the verse.

In this chorus, ChungHa just croons, and it’s breathtaking.

Everybody Has

An almost drama-esque piano intro - it’s a calming conclusion to the amazing novel of work ChungHa has given us with this album.

The mixing on this track with the variety of acoustic instruments...very tasteful.

Comes N Goes

A clappy feel good pop anthem - it also has the elements of a happy-inducing girl group track. The airy pre-chorus, clear carefree chorus.

Querencia (Epilogue)

Hypnotic chord progressions with a snappy snare. Fin !

[artemisfromkq]

WHY is the first solo mini album by Artemis Lai, it was released April 20, 2020. The album has four songs and was well received by the media, taking home one music show win.

Tracklist.

1. Why [Taeyeon's Why].

Lyrics by: Lai.

Produced by: Hyojin.

Why is a vocally powerful, tropical house title track that talks about freedom and the desire to escape a pressuring environment, is a song that symbolizes breaking through your fears and pushing you to become yourself despite all of the hate you can get. Lai wrote this song based on her time while training at SM, with the intent of passing a good message to her fans.

2. Sea, sea [insp. Oh my girl's Dolphin].

Lyrics by: Lai.

Produced by: Hyojin.

Sea, sea is a slower, yet still fun song that talks about going on a trip to the beach and admiring the waves of the sea. The hidden message behind this song is to forget your problems when you're having a good time and to just appreciate the natural things that life offers you that you tend to not mind.

3. Beautiful [insp. Loona's Number 1].

Lyrics by: Lai.

Produced by: EDEN.

Beautiful talks about self esteem and acception, looking into the lyrics, Lai says she's beautiful both inside and out and that one isn't more important than the other and that, in the end, the most important thing is to feel good with yourself.

4. Woman [insp. Chungha's Chica].

Lyrics by: Lai.

Produced by: Hyojin.

The closing song of the album talks about the beauty of women in general, it continues with the whole self love message of the album, now directioning it to the listener, it gives the album an upbeat and happy ending.

Era highlights.

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique.

Lai just announced the start of summer, it doesn't matter if it isn't summer, it's summer now.

A whole concept, it was so fresh and happy??? A huge contrast to Hyojin's previous dark fest

There was literally nothing to complain, everything was perfect

Actually, there was. Woman would've been a better title track, we all know it, it passes the message and was made for the gays, people still dream about an MV until this very day.

She was so smiley :(( her smile was so wide in every stage!! She indirectly incorporated the song's mood.

She was nervous to be promoting by herself, specially because she was scared of hate comments, but she did great

She released a dance practice for Woman!!! And that's how we keep winning.

Her vocals popped off, she was out there proving why she's the main vocal

And how can she hit those notes while dancing that choreography? A queen indeed.

The backup dancer who dances with her in the choreography actually went viral, people were crazy looking for his sns.

Honestly? This era was just as fresh as the concept, we saw happiness, we saw memes and we saw freedom, happy lai is the best thing in the world <3

Era styling.

Oh, this was summery and fresh.

There was jeans, a lot of jeans. There were also a lot of cute and colorful crop tops :((

Two notable outfits were the red flannel outfit with braids and the blue bomber jacket with space buns, those looks were top tier gorgeous.

As always, KQ please give those stylists a raise!! They're doing god's work.

Her hair was light brown for this era, nothing out of the common but she still looked stunning.

[5secondsofdrama]

Just gotta say it's nice to find fans who are OG and also a similar age to the boys cos fr I feel like the majority of the fam are like 14-16 (18 tops) and I'm out here the same age as the boys like ... Ahaha. And I do think it gives a different pov of their music to be their same age. Like, SGFG is my favourite, but ofc it is "immature". Nonetheless, a good half of the SGFG songs they could still perform today and it wouldn't sound weird for a mid 20s to perform (eg SOAU, V, OS, C22) 1/?

Like, dgmw, I adore JBH, but it's whole vibe is so teenage that I would have thought they would have dropped playing her by now (likewise with SKH...) Heck, even their early stuff they could still play and it not be weird (the exception of the obvious being like 18, KMKM, LB) but fan faves like WAYF or IYDK I don't think would be weird for them to play. They could also change the songs up a bit, too to make them sound more mature. Idk, it seems a waste if they plan to shift fully away. 2/?

They have a catalogue of what, over 100 songs? And seem to want to move away from all their early stuff when so much could still be played today. Yb is a great album, it's matured and you still have alot of SGFG (and even their 2014 EPs) vibes in there. So I'd say it's objectively my fave as I can understand the direction they took to mature to get there. CALM however I can't stand. It feels so try hard. I'm all forcreative expression but honestly can't stand the tinny RnB mix acoustic style 3/?

The mainstream complaint of the boys back in the day was that they were a boy band who were try hards to not be and to be punk rock when they aren't punks cos they don't have that edge to their attitude that punks do. But now they're very obviously trying sooo hard to be mainstream people don't seem to pick up on that. The whole RnB vibe when let's be real, it doesn't suit who they are at all. 4/?

Last one I swear sorry but I was just thinking about all this before I went to sleep aha. They claimed CALM was genre bending when it just doesn't work to be (while Yb was more so and actually worked) and also as tho that's unique to them when you have artists like Post Malone, YUNGBLUD and MGK out here executing genre bending incredibly well but that blatantly isn't their aim, they just make music they enjoy. Wish 5SOS could just reflect and do the same instead of being try hards.

*************************************************

Ok so, I think this last one goes with this grouping but I’m not sure? It’s not numbered and I technically already answered it but I’m throwing it in here anyways.

There are a lot of younger fans, I try not to judge them too much bc I was pretty young when I started listening to the guys, even tho I’m closer to their age. This being said there are definitely 15 year old fans out there being super problematic and immature on twt and everywhere else. The fandom was toxic way back when too tho, and there are people in their 30s, and mid twenties out here acting like immature disrespectful brats. You can find 16 y/os who are respectful of others, they may still have some growing up to do but I don’t think it’s fair to group alll younger fans into one category and all older fans into another. As I mentioned there are some pretty poorly behaved older fans out there, who flaunt their behaviour, as immature as it is. I think overall maturity is majorly lacking across all facets of the fandom. You’re lucky when you can find small pockets of it.

When we were on ST people liked to call us all sorts of names and sent us hate. And would turn around and say that we were so immature and hateful to Sierra. Reality is that we’ve never stooped that low, and we never will. We don’t post hate, we don’t send it and we don’t promote it.

As for age changing how people experience music, I tend to agree with you. There are certain songs that are attached to young experiences of mine. I think self-titled is the most immature, Amnesia makes me think about my high school heartbreak. I can’t relate it to my current life at all. I don’t really think SGFG is that immature, a part from the name. I think they just had a lot of other influences. I disagree that JBH has a teenage vibe to it. I would say for songs like Money, SKH, and Hey Everybody, or Gotta Get Out, Social Casualty, Reject etc. But JBH has more of an undercurrent of mental health than a need to break free of social constraints put in place by school and parents.

I fully agree that they should play more of their old stuff they have some amazing lock ass songs. Ones that didn’t become massive hits, but the majority of people that buy their records and come to their shows are fans that have been around awhile. They have it in their head they need to appeal to a bigger audience. Whether that’s a then thing or that’s soemthing management is imposing we can’t be sure. I feel like overtime they’ve grown less appreciative of the fans.

People have said if they didn’t evolve their sound they wouldn’t have survived, and I think some evolution is important but I don’t know that an outright complete genre switch is necessary for them to remain successful. Youngblood was a change from their punk pop roots, which we embraced and it was good but it was different. Why they felt the need to entirely shift from that seems so strange to me, and almost unnecessary? Maybe they are having an identity crisis. Even if they had stayed pop punk forever I think they would have been fine. As you mentioned the fanbase was always so strong behind them and a lot of the fans will blindly buy whatever they put out. I’m glad we got YB, I don’t understand why they could have just evolved form their rather than doing whatever the hell they did. Overall, I agree with a lot of what you had to say. And if also like to add I miss the punk vibe and the damn lip ring, grumble.

[fuckheadwitha]

Listening to Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time

Rolling Stone released an updated list of their top 500 albums of all time and being trapped in the purgatory of covid quarantine this seems like the perfect moment to tackle what an almost completely irrelevant former counter-culture institution has to say about music (we can’t actually blame Rolling Stone for this list, a huge number of musicians and critics voted to make it). I am going to listen to every single one of these, all the way through, with a level of attention that's not super intense but I'm definitely not having them on in the background as simple aural wallpaper. Two caveats though: I can make an executive decision to skip any album if I feel the experience is sufficiently miserable, and I'm also going to be skipping the compilation albums that I feel aren't really worth slots (best ofs, etc.). In addition, I will be ordering them as I go, creating a top 500 of the top 500 (it will be less than 500 since we've already established I'm skipping some of these).

Here are 500-490:

#500 Arcade Fire - Funeral

I can already tell I'm going to be at odds with this list if one of the most important albums of my high school years is at the bottom. That being said, I haven't actually given this whole thing a listen since probably the early 2010s, before Arcade Fire fatigue set in and the hipsterati appointed band of a generation just kinda seemed to fade from popular consciousness. I actually dreaded re-experiencing it, since the synthesis of anthemic rock and quirky folk instrumentation which Arcade Fire brought mainstream has now become the common shorthand of insufferable spotify friendly folk pop. Blessedly, the first half of the album easily holds up, largely propelled by dirty fast rhythm guitar, orchestration that's tuneful rather than obnoxious, and lyrics which come off as earnest rather than pretentious. The middle gets a little sappy and “Crown of Love”, a song I definitely used to like, really starts the grate. And then we get to “Wake Up”, whose cultural saturation spawned thousands of dorky indie rock outfits that confused layered strings and horns with power and meaning. This song definitely hasn't survived the film trailers and commercials which it so ubiquitously overlayed, but the line about "a million little gods causing rainstorms, turning every good thing to rust" still attacks the part of my brain capable of sincere emotion. This album is probably going to hold the top spot for a while, because although so many elements of Funeral that made it feel so meaningful, that made it stand out so much in 2004, have been seamlessly assimilated into an intellectually and emotionally bankrupt indie pop industrial complex, the album itself still has a genuine vulnerability and bangers that still manage to rip.

#499

Rufus, Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus

Before she became a name in her own right, Chaka Khan was the voice of the band Rufus, and it’s definitely her voice that shines amongst some spritely vibey funk. That’s not to say that these aren’t some jams on their own. “At Midnight” is a banging opener with a sprint to the finish, and although the explicitly named but kinda boring “Slow Screw Against the Wall” feels weak, this wasn’t really supposed to be an album of barn burners. This was something people put on their vinyl record players while they chilled on vinyl furniture after a night of doing cocaine. “Everlasting Love” is a bop with a bassline like a Sega Genesis game, and the twinkling piano on “Hollywood” adds a playful levity to lyrics that are supposed to be both tackily optimistic about making it big out in LA and subtly realistic about the kind of nightmare world showbiz can be. “Better Days” is another track that manages to be a bittersweet jam with a catchy sour saxophone and playful synths under Chaka Khan’s vamping. This album definitely belongs on a ‘chill funk to study and relax to’ playlist.

#498

Suicide - Suicide

We’ve hit the first album that could be rightly called a progenitor for multiple genres that followed it. Someone could say there’s a self-serving element of this being on a Rolling Stone list (the band was one of the first to adopt the label ‘Punk’ after seeing it in a Lester Bangs article) but the album’s legacy is basically indisputable. EBM, industrial, punk, post-punk, new wave, new whatever all have a genealogy that connects to Suicide, and it’s easy to hear the band in everything that followed. But what the band actually is is two guys, one with an electric organ and one with a spooky voice, doing spooky simple riffs and saying spooky simple things. Simplicity is definitely not a dis here. The opener “Ghost Rider” makes a banger out of four notes and one instrument, and the refrain ‘America America is killing its youth’ is really all the lyrical complexity you need to fucking get it. “Cheree” and “Girl” have almost identical lyrics (‘oh baby’ vs ‘oh girl’) but “Cheree” is more like a fairy tale and “Girl” is more like a sonic handjob. “Frankie Teardrop” has the audacity to tell a ten minute story with its lyrics, but of course there is intermittent, actually way too loud screaming breaking up the narrative of a guy who loses everything then kills his family and himself. The song is basically a novelty, and I think you can probably say the whole album is a novelty between its brevity and character. But for a bite sized snack this album casts a huge shadow.

#497

Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

The fact that this particular compilation always ends up in the canon has a lot to do with the cultural context it existed in, being America’s first encounter with South African contemporary music during the decline of apartheid (it wouldn’t end until a decade later in 1994 with the country’s first multi-racial elections). Music journos often bring up the fact Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the all male choir singing on the album ender “Nansi Imali”, sang on Paul Simon’s Graceland like their virtue is they helped Paul Simon get over his depression and not, like, the actual music. But also like, how is the actual music? Jams. Ubiquitous, hooky guitars propel the songs along with bright choruses over low lead vocals, but I didn’t expect the synthesizer on the bop “Qhude Manikiniki”, nor the discordant hoedown violin on “Sobabamba”. “Holotelani” is a groove to walk into the sunset to.

#496

Shakira - Donde Estan los Ladrones

So this is the first head scratcher on the list. It’s not like it sucks. And I think I prefer this 90s guitar pop driven spanish language Shakira to modern superstar Shakira. But I mean, it’s an album of late nineties latin pop minivan music, with a thick syrupy middle that doesn’t do anything for me. The opener and closer stand out though.  ‘Ciega, Sordomuda’, one of the biggest pop songs of the 90s (it was #1 on the charts of literally every country in Latin America), has a galloping acoustic guitar and horn hits with Shakira’s vocals at their most percussive.

#495

Boyz II Men - II

So, if you were alive in the 90s you know Boyz II Men were fucking huge, and the worst song on the album is the second track “All Around the World”, basically a love song to their own success, and also the women they’ve banged. You can tell it was written specifically so that the crowd could go fucking wild when they heard their state/city/country mentioned in the song, and I’m not gonna double check but I’m sure they hit all fifty states. Once you’re over that hump though you basically have an hour of songs to fuck to. “U Know” keeps it catchy with propulsive midi guitar and synth horns, “Jezzebel” starts with a skit and ends with a richly layered jazz tune about falling in love on a train, and “On Bended Knee” has a Ragnarok Online type beat. Honestly this album can drag, but you’re not supposed to be listening to it alone in a state of analysis, you’re supposed to have it on during a date that’s going really, really well.

#494

The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

A singles compilation of the Ronettes, the only ones I immediately recognized were ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Going to the Chapel of Love’, the latter of which I didn’t know existed since the version of the song I knew was by the Dixie Cups, which was apparently a source of drama since the Ronettes did it first but producer Phil Spector refused to release it. I feel like as a retro trip to sixties girl groups it’s full of enough songs about breaking up (for example “Breaking Up”) getting back together (for example “Breaking Up”) and wanting to get married but you can’t, because you’re a teenager (“So Young”).

#493

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

This album only exists because Marvin was required by his divorce settlement to make it and provide all of the royalties to his ex-wife and motown executive Anna Gordy Gaye. It’s absolutely bizarre, phoned in mid tempo funk whose lyrics range from the passive aggressive (“This is what you wanted right?”) to the petulant (“Why do I have to pay attorney’s fees?”). There is a seething realness here that crosses well past the border of uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s an amazing album to listen to, but it’s an amazing album to exist: Marvin Gaye is legally obligated to throw his own divorce pity party, and everyone's invited.

#492

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

I have never heard of Bonnie Raitt before but apparently this album won several grammys including album of the year in 1989 and sold 5 million copies, which I guess goes to show that no award provides less long term relevance than the grammys. The story around the album is pretty heartwarming, it was her first massive hit after a career of whiffs, and Bonnie Raitt herself is apparently a social activist and neat human being. I say all this because this sort of 80s country blues rock doesn't really connect with me, but the artist obviously deserves more than that. I unequivocally like the title track though, a hand-clap backed winding electric piano groove about literally finding love before your eggs dry up.

#491

Harry Styles - Fine Line

I do not think I have ever heard a one direction song because I am an adult who only listens to public radio. I’m totally open to pop bands or boy bands or boy band refugee solo artists, but I don’t like anything here. It’s like a mixtape of the worst pop trends of the decade, from glam rock that sounds like it belongs in a car commercial to folky bullshit that sounds like it belongs in a more family focused car commercial. This gets my first DNP (Does Not Place).

#490

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

Another soft-rock blues and country album which just doesn’t land with me. But the opener “You’re No Good” is like a soul/country hybrid which still goes hard and the title track hits with the lyrics “And it's only love and it's only love / That can wreck a human being and turn him inside out”.

Current Ranking, which is weirdly almost like an inverse of the rolling stones list so far;