#honourable mention: fire flies by gorillaz

[psychspark]

RULES: Post 5 songs associated with your OC, followed by 4 outfits they would wear

Thank you for the tag @causticcontemplation! It's been really fun gathering this stuff :)

Five songs is such a cruel and unusual punishment for me, I make all my character playlists 10 songs long and Nil has two but here are the greatest hits:

Lemon Boy by Cavetown

Monster by dodie

Nocturne by Keeno

Clean Slated State by The Altogether

bad guy by Billie Eilish

The outfits were SO fun to put together, Nil has two modes when it comes to clothes, so I really tried to capture her variety.

Paying it forward, too, @i-have-a-dragon for Honey, @thotsofblla for Liatris, and @lateralfire for Faustus!

[faceglitchsworld]

Discography tag

Tagged by @onlyoneofyouu (thank you Jo, I needed to do some new games 💘)

rules: pick an artist or band and share your favorite song/s from each of their albums and then tag some mutuals

Oke, since I'm a freaking multi and choosing only one artist would basically be the death of me, I'll choose five (5) groups/bands that I love this time.

Monsta X

Trespass: Trespass and One Love

Rush: Perfect Girl and Broken Heart

The Clan Pt.1 Lost: Ex Girl, Sweetheart, Because of U and Unfair Love

The Clan Pt.2 Guilty: Fighter, Queen and Roller Coaster

The Clan Pt.2.5 The Final Chapter: Ready or Not, Miss You, Beautiful, Incomparable, Need U, 5:14 (Last Page) and All I Do

The Code: DRAMARAMA, Now or Never, In Time, From Zero and Tropical Night

The Connect: Dejavu: Jealousy

Take.1 Are You There?: Underwater, Shoot Out and Myself

Take.2 We Are Here: must admit, I think every song here is good, I can't choose one 😅

Follow-Find You: Find You, Monsta Truck, U R and See You Again

Fantasia X: FANTASIA, Beautiful Night and IT AIN'T OVER

Fatal Love: Love Killa and Sorry I'm not Sorry

One Of A Kind: GAMBLER, Heaven, Secrets and BEBE

No Limit: Rush Hour and Mercy

Shape of love: LOVE, Breath and Wildfire

Reason: Beautiful Liar, LONE RANGER, Crescendo and Deny

Honourable mentions to Who Do You Love, Middle of the night, You Problem and The Dreaming from the English albums

Gorillaz (I needed to do them, their new album will come out like this friday 🤣)

Self Titled: Tomorrow Comes Today and 19-2000 from the singles, Sound Check (Gravity) and Slow Country from the b-sides

Demon Days: Feel Good Inc., El Mañana and Dirty Harry from the singles Kids with Guns and November has Come from the b-sides

Plastic Beach: uhm, all of them? I'm sorry but this was THE ALBUM, every song here is perfect 🥴

The Fall: Revolving Doors, Little Pink Plastic Bags, Amarillo and Bobby in Phoenix. No distinction between singles and b-sides because the only single here was Phoner To Arizona and I still don't like it that much 😅

Humanz: Saturnz Barz and Strobelite from the singles, Ascension, Busted and Blue, She's My Collar and Out Of Body from the b-sides

The Now Now: Humility and Tranz from the singles, Fire Flies and Souk Eye from the b-sides

Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez: Strange Timez, The Lost Chord, Aries and Dèsolé from the singles, Chalk Tablet Towers and Dead Butterflies from the b-sides.

Honourable mention to Hong Kong from the D-sides anthology aka the reason why I love songs with a traditional sound on it 🥹

Stray Kids (in honour of their deserved vacation, even tho it lasted like...three days 😅🥲)

Mixtape: Spread my wings

I am NOT: District 9 and Grow Up and Awaken

I am WHO: Awkward Silence

I am YOU: I am YOU, My side and Hero's Soup

Clè 1: Miroh: Maze of Memories, Chronosaurus and 19

Clè 2: Yellow Wood: Side Effects and the Mixtapes. All of them.

Clè: Levanter: Double Knot, Levanter and Astronaut

Go Live+In Life: Back Door, We Go, Wow, My Universe and Another Day

NOEASY: Silent Cry and Gone Away

ODDINARY: Venom, Waiting for Us and Muddy Water

Maxident: Case 143, 3RACHA and Can't Stop

SKZ Replay: any solo song made by Han and Changbin+Deep End, Stars and Raindrops, Hug Me and miss you

Honourable mention to Hoodie Season, which is into SKZ 2021

Melanie Martinez (in honour of her trailer for her next album)

Crybaby: Pity Party and Soap from the singles, Alphabet Boy and Mad Hatter from the b-sides

K-12: Drama club, Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Juice and High School Sweethearts

Oneus (in honour of their vacation from the tour, hoping it will last more than SKZ or I'll go through a tantrum)

Light Us: Valkyrie, Red Thread, HERO and Crazy & Crazy

Raise Us: Twilight and BingBing

Fly With Us: LIT and Stand By

Lived: TO BE OR NOT TO BE and COME BACK HOME

Devil: Incomplete, Lion Heart and What You Doing?

Binary Code: I can't choose one song here, everything here is good. Yes, even Valkyrie (rock version).

Blood Moon: LUNA, Life is Beautiful and Yes or No

Trickster: Skydivin', Firebomb and Mr Wolf

Malus: Same Scent, STUPID LOVE, Mermaid and FULL MOON

Honourable mention to STAY, because the WeUs family is the most dear thing to me ❤️

Tagging @jongside and @atinystraykid

No pressure, have fun, I love you ❤️

[bishreview]

Top 10 Albums of 2018 (So Far. . . )

Ok, so I’ve decided I’m not going to do a top 10 singles list just because it’s too hard to cull it down, so I’m finishing albums and then going to write up Odette - To A Stranger review. This list is from albums between January and the end of June, so anything released last week isn’t included. This took me a while to cut to 10 and there’s a couple of albums that were late inclusions from albums I didn’t expect to like so much until last weekend. To be honest, this year has been kinda of average for albums, with most albums being in the B- to B+ range and only a couple reaching into the A’s. At the same time, a lot of the releases which were anticipated for me have still been enjoyable. Anyway, here’s the list.

Honourable Mentions: Camp Cope - How to Socialise and Make Friends (AUS), DZ Deathrays - Bloody Lovely (AUS), Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (US), Middle Kids - Lost Friends (AUS), Teyana Taylor - K.T.S.E (US)

10. Pusha T - Daytona (US)

I’ll be honest when I say I haven’t always been a fan of Pusha T, mainly because I’ve never got into the timbre of his voice. On Daytona though, his flaws (almost) disappear, delivering a short but brilliant album. The touch of Kanye (you’ll be hearing a lot of him on this list) in the production is obvious, with Pusha’s voice being moulded around strong instrumentation. Lyrically is where the album finds its success though, Pusha T. flexing his ability with the pen and delivering those words with confidence. 

Favourite track: ‘If You Know You Know’

9. Gorillaz - The Now Now (UK)

Squeezing just into the cut-off date, the sixth album by cartoon band, Gorillaz, is exactly what the year needed. Relaxed, low-key and contained, especially compared to last years saturated Humanz, The Now Now sees Damon Albarn bring his side-project back under his control, allowing his voice to balance delicately over dreamy synth instrumentals. Although the album does feel a bit like fan service, especially after the complaints surrounding Humanz not having enough 2-D vocals, Albarn is able to utilise his voice to create the bands most soothing album yet. 

Favourite track: ‘Fire Flies’

8. Ocean Alley - Chiaroscuro (AUS)

From when I first listened to Chiaroscuro to now, I can say that the album has grown on me a lot. Ocean Alley have seemed to really layered a lot of brilliant moments on this album, often very subtly. Baden Donegal’s voice is a pleasure to listen to, his development as a lyricist and vocalist fully on show on this release. I was really unsure where Ocean Alley would go last year, ‘The Comedown’ being a track which suggest great but different things were coming up. Chiaroscuro sees them evolve as a band whilst also redefining their dub and reggae influences, becoming on of Australia’s best releases this year. 

Favourite track: ‘Knees’

7. The Presets - Hi Viz (AUS)

And with the filthiest album of the year. . . The Presets seemed to be going in an opposite direction when they released Pacifica back in 2012. After popping up at nearly every festival in Australia since, their return to albums with Hi Viz is nothing short of exciting. And with this album they go completely batshit crazy, and it works. With big choruses, heavy instrumentation and a couple of good features, they release their best album in a decade and return to the top of the Australian dance scene.

Favourite track: ‘Feel Alone’

6. Hockey Dad - Blend Inn (AUS)

Hockey Dad’s rise in the Australian music scene over the last few years has been nothing short of exciting. From their humble beginnings, Blend Inn combines all their influences and builds on what their debut Boronia started. Zach Stephenson’s vocals are crisp and he writes some of the best melodies of his career, whilst their music has become thicker, louder and better. The band fully explores their influences, with shoegaze, grunge, pub-rock, and surf-rock all being on show. Blend Inn suggests they are going to be bigger and better and the product definitely proves this.

Favourite track - ‘Where I Came From’

5. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (US)

I’m not too familiar with Kamasi Washington’s work, mainly because I’ve never been a Jazz man. The only album I’ve heard was 2015′s The Epic, which I came too late and was really impressed. Despite this, I am familiar with his collaborations, with Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat and Flying Lotus being among the names I’ve heard him collaborate with. So this is why Heaven & Earth stunned me so much. The two and a half hour, two sided album is just a wondrous piece of music, combining Jazz, Blues, Soul, Funk and Neo music with political undertones. The saxophonist isn’t someone I normally end up listening to, as I said, I’m not a Jazz man. Heaven & Earth though is great and I can’t deny a great album when I hear it. Definitely my biggest and most pleasant musical surprise this year.

Favourite track: ‘Street Fighter Mas’

4. Kanye West - Ye (US)

Ye is the oddball of the Kanye discography. Like all of the other recent G.O.O.D Music, it’s seven tracks, and that both is an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage though is just that it’s so short. It’s advantage is that there is no filler, all seven tracks being at least good. It also has some of Kanye’s best phrasings, especially in tracks like ‘I Thought About Killing You’, ‘Wouldn’t Leave’, and ‘Violent Crimes’. Like all of the recent releases though, the production is where the album succeeds. ‘Ghost Town’ is flawless when it comes to the instrumental and all throughout the album, it’s hard to go past how good the mixing and instrumentals are. It may not be Kanye’s best, but it continues the consistency of his discography.

Favourite track: ‘Ghost Town’

3. DMA’s - For Now (AUS)

It was always going to be hard to top Hill’s End, DMA’s brilliant 2016 debut. The singles weren’t spectacular and a sophomore slump wouldn’t have been too surprising. For Now exceeded all expectations though. With a more 80s feel to it, the three piece have crafted another solid, Brit-pop inspired release. The instrumentals are thicker, with synths added to a few tracks, and the vocals and lyrics have improved, Tommy O’Dell really letting his voice shine. For Now might not have as many big moments as Hill’s End, but it’s a more consistent and mature release for the Newtown three piece. 

Favourite track: ‘Tape Deck Sick’

2. Lily Allen - No Shame (UK)

I remember sitting around one June 8th, just after midnight, checking to see if an album (soon to be mentioned) was released yet, only to see Lily Allen sitting there. I remembered the lead single ‘Trigger Bang’ (featuring Giggs) was pretty good and I frothed Lily Allen’s 2009 album It’s Not Me, It’s You when I was younger, so I checked it out. I wasn’t ready for the level of depth that the album reached, especially considering I always thought of her as this sarcastic, cynic that just ripped on anything popular. No Shame contains some of her best material, and definitely her most personal, with songs like ‘Family Man’, ‘Three’, and ‘Apples’ criticising her role as a wife, mother and person. The production is brilliant as well, with a rich, pop, sometimes dancehall soundscape which gives her voice a chance to shine, delivering her best vocal performances of her career. Although Allen does sound broken (despite the positive latter tracks), she also sounds better than ever.

Favourite track: ‘Everything to Feel Something’

1. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts (US)

This was the album I was waiting for on June 8th. To say I didn’t have very high expectations would be badly lying. A Kanye/Cudi album has been something I always wanted to hear but never thought I would, with the two artists collaborating many times since 2008′s ‘Welcome to Heartbreak’ (off Kanye’s fourth album 808s & Heartbreak). The album didn’t disappoint either. Rich with beautiful production, especially on tracks like ‘4th Dimension’ and ‘Reborn’, and some of Kanye’s and Cudi’s finest lyrical moments, Kids See Ghosts was such a pleasure to listen to. With a lot of themes detailing personal demons, both artists discussing their own mental illnesses and setbacks in their career, the album is surprisingly energetic and upbeat. At times, especially on ‘Freeeee (Ghost Town Pt.2)’ and ‘Reborn’, it’s celebrating both artist’s ability to survive and defeat their demons, and despite the darker two tracks at the end, ‘Kids See Ghosts’ and ‘Cudi Montage’, there is still this sense of rejoice and victory. From the insane “Grrrat-gat-gat-gat-gat-gat”, to Cudi’s infectious humming in the chorus of ‘Cudi Montage’, the album has a bit of everything, not only becoming one of both’s best albums, but also my number one album of the year so far. 

Favourite track: ‘Reborn’

Thanks for reading