#i based the colors on the sphere albums !!

[ph-cutie]

my disco elysium banger posts IE posts i consider to contain remotely useful resources OR free to use images for meme purposes or whatever else

3d model flat colors imgur album (ugly/ref)

harry and kim spinning gifs / everyone else spinning gifs

paledriver 3d model

noses of a bunch of characters / hands

harry and kim in the jackets drawing transparent png (you can put them in situations)

portraits in jagged spheres / diamonds (spinner gifs again. ugly)

based evrart gifs for union men (flashing)

[styleofdiamandis]

                  LOVE + FEAR TOUR: MAGGIE BARRY

Marina promoted her album “Love + Fear” with a world tour, which was her fourth tour! It was announced alongside the album and began on April 29, 2019, in Newcastle, England and concluded on November 18, 2019, in Madrid, Spain.

All of the styling was done by Mercedes Natalia and Fernanda Clark! Let’s check out the designs of one the designers.

Marina and Mercedes closely worked with two Los Angeles-based costume designers. Introducing to you: Maggie Barry! Barry created a plethora of pleather bodysuits with matching chaps, organza ruffles and detachable boleros. The first set I’m presenting you is the red one.

She combined it with red accessories, such as these Alison Lou medium-sized Jelly hoop earrings...

...and these Chinese Laundry Rami red suede slouchy knee-high boots!

Can you guess how many Barry created? Here’s the white version which is, shape-wise, identical to the red version above.

The superstar accentuated her white look with these Forever 21 star-shaped strass earrings...

...and a pair of matching over-the-knee white patent leather boots by Jeffrey Campbell. One of her favorite go-to brands for on-stage footwear!

For the blue version, which M wore on opening night, Barry additionally created a matching organza cape coat with ruffle trim!

Marina wore it with her Hermina Athens Amalthea gold-plated sterling silver statement necklace.

To match the color of her dress, Marina chose a pair of classic Vans light-blue canvas lace-up sneakers.

My favorite one of ‘em all is probably this apple-green one, which also features a pair of matching chaps and chiffon train. She switched up the accessories for this one a lot so let’s check them out together!

At the Boston Music Festival, our girl’s ears were decorated with these Marni pink lucite sphere hoop earrings!

In Milan, she wore a pair of ZARA gold-hammered heart earrings with pearl insets...

...and the “Dolce Vita” gold link chain and crystal letter necklace by Bijoux de Famille.

M completed this look with a modified green version of these Jeffrey Campbell Orville fringe-trimmed Western leather boots.

Lastly, Marina pulled out an orange and pink version of the same ensemble! I love how she always switched up the accessories.

For the orange look, she wore her favorite Chanel gold-tone metal diamond-shaped textured CC logo clip earrings...

...and the gold sunburst logo necklace, another vintage treasure from the French maison.

The Huarache sneakers in full white by Nike were added for a comfortable touch.

[writingmochi]

an honest review of romance: untold -daydream- purely from musical observation (not proofread because i'll post the proofread on rym n aoty) [ik it's two songs but for consistency!]

opening remarks: welcome back! no.2 out of 3. as i mentioned, ik that i'll be writing about two songs here from the repackaged but i might add up some analysis and its correlation with the romance: untold album.

first: concept photos and in general! i love the contrasting color of the album's pink with this repackaged's blue, especially as i think i heard them mention that this album is a bit of the melancholic side of untold ("if it stays untold" or something like that). i do believe that the cover art of this project for streaming is the best they've done, maybe even the best in current kpop. i wanna compare that to rm's indigo with how melancholic it looks. speaking of the album art cover, i would love to say that i love the blue noon concept photo SO MUCH! gosh the idea of using shadows, silhouettes, and scribbles to obscure people in a way that makes it melancholic is so *keyboard smash* gosh that would be such a good concept for a fic!

second: in regards to the whole hybe debacle. i would probably say that enhypen is the boy group with the closest proximity to this situation, especially with them being illit's brother group and the whole "let enhypen rest" situation that i'm definitely agree with. like, txt and enhypen are the current cash cows for hybe because both bts and svt have a higher negotiation power and it allows hybe to overwork them so much. i still can't even comprehend the level of exhaustion the members have to endure to do two tours back to back with comebacks near each other as well, not including japanese releases and their documentary that i'm not interested in watching cause i think that they pander too much to the fans.

i still think that because enhypen's concept is to pander to fans, belift lab is trying so hard to milk them as much as they can or as long as enhypen's is still relevant in the kpop-sphere. we see, from time to time, that engene can be a stubborn fandom and i still believe that enhypen coming back, with all of these circumstances, are a way for belift to push the problem with illit sideways by distracting you with enhypen.

and yet, i love how the concept photo for blue noon specifically comes out. i don't really like the white midnight version cause it does look a tad bit cheap. would love it if they could do the white midnight ver outdoors like txt's minisode 3's promise concept photo but with the idea of white midnight and connecting it with the idea of eclipses (correlating back to the vampire concepts with the whole connection to the stephenie meyer's twilight series)

p.s. i know the songs will not correlate to the concept sonically (a minus) but hey, let's listen!

1.daydream: such a short song. 2 freaking minutes my goodness

i get what people are saying that this sounds like an nct song, specifically nct u 7th sense/baggy jeans crew and nct 127. it comes from the same root as songs like walk with the hip-hop-ish style to it. in a way, this song is trying to show people their versatility especially in regards to rap cause they've tried that before with future perfect's drill rap. i do think this one suits them better cause it is more subdued.

also in regards to technique: rapping in whispers is hard. you basically have to compress your voice for the whispers to come out and having a song based on that is challenging because you have to stay like is hard. good on them actually and probably the song length as short as it is is a blessing in disguise.

but i do wanna criticize the mixing of the song. because the songs are mostly in whispers, i can the distinction between the vocal layers especially in comparison with the instrumentation, like there is a cut-off breathing sound (that i do think is intentional for the verse). but, i do still think that it could be mixed better. for a two-minute song: it feels complete but i do crave for a heeseung x jungwon x jake rnb-esque breakdown for a bridge. pretty good so far (also: jason derulo writing credit? wtf)

2.no doubt: okay, they come in with the 2000s rnb influence there.

when i heard this song, it kind of reminded me of bite me's much more gentle sibling in a way. and i get why they wanna have influenced by bite me as it is their most successful title track since tamed-dashed arguably. the song is very interesting in the vocal direction, especially jungwon in verse 2. the mixing is also good in a way that you can separate and hear clearly every element in the song. i would definitely reiterate once again that i think because of a vocal powerhouse heeseung, i think much of the members are echoing his technique as well cause they blend in so well yet can still be easily distinct from each other. definitely a better title track than xo

but (of course, i have a but), i do think that the title track still lacks the spark of the previous enhypen title tracks i adore. like, the drop in the chorus feels emptier in a way because it is trying to be consistently simple. definitely much better than xo, but it's not the same as drunk-dazed complex and brash sound. it's actually the same comment that i mentioned in my other txt review: i do think that hybe is trying to make their boy group songs easy listening whilst making their girl groups much more challenging, knowing that boy group fans are more loyal and will create more profit...

closing remarks: i'm currently listening to the whole album including romance: untold's songs to know how they integrate and, not gonna lie: it doesn't...

i think that if we still want daydream to be a reissue of romance: untold, it will be better to make more as a double-sided album with two different sides. the best example i could give is loona's xx where half of the songs are from ++ and it is a different perspective of ++ (a reflection or palindrome of each other). two tracks are not enough for the potential of the melancholic "daydream" concept. it doesn't create the periwinkle i hoped for because the influence of daydream and no doubt as songs is just too little. i agree with the sentiment of people saying that this will be better as single/ep instead, just add three more songs in the similar and that's a new comeback.

but because of that thought, it reinforces to me that this comeback is still a way for belift to milk enhypen with a concept so distinct from the album you reissue but it's not as fully fleshed. as long as the fans got a new project, they would be "satisfied"...

final ranking:

2.daydream

1.no doubt

ranking alongside romance: untold songs:

10.xo (only if you say yes) (44/100)

9.your eyes only (51/100)

8.hundred broken hearts (54/100) ^ (went down from no. 5 out of 8)

7.royalty (56/100) ^ (went down from no.4 out of 8)

6.highway 1009 (60/100) ^ (went down from no.3 out of 8)

5.daydream (63/100)

4.moonstruck (66/100) v (went up from no. 6 out of 8)

3.no doubt (70/100)

2.paranormal (78/100)

1.brought the heat back (84/100) (still the freaking best f yeah!)

small conclusion: bro i would love to listen to a 16-song romance untold double album into one like loona's xx... maybe i could add that to the list of things that for my video essay of "what i would if i'm enhypen's creative director"!

also that ending is so bleak, gosh i'm concerned with the situation of the kpop sound right now...

[klimkovsky]

Μουσική των Ουράνιων Σφαιρών — μέρος 1 — από το σούρουπο ως την αυγή

Friends, some of you know, and for some this will be news, but such a phenomenon as “Music of the Spheres” or “Music of the Celestial Spheres” came to us from ancient Greece (as well as many other things). Cosmos is a Greek word, and it means — neither more nor less — "Order". Music and Harmony are also Greek concepts. The desire of Greek philosophers to understand the structure of the World in which we live combined Music and the order of movement of the heavenly bodies in such a way that each planet or star had its own specific tonality or note, and the sound of these notes created Harmony. These were absolutely no joke researches — relying on them, the smartest people of that era found for themselves and other people the meaning of our lives (what do we live for?) and the rules, following which you can live your life happily, without suffering, because the laws of harmony are the same in Heaven and on Earth. It’s just that for now there is less Harmony on Earth, and more disharmony — disorderly, incoherent, out of step with the sound of each of us. But the Music of the Spheres can change this — at least, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and many other thinkers of ancient Greece thought so. Just as a tuner compares the sound of a string and the tuning fork by which he tunes it, so people had to compare their deeds and actions with how harmonious they are with what the Cosmos sounds around us.

More than two thousand years have passed since then, but these ideas are still relevant. And a person finds happiness only when he is in harmonious resonance with the World around him. Well, if for some reason this resonance is suddenly upset, the Music of the Spheres still helps to return it.

When I recorded my first music album (in 1997) I didn't know any of this. But I intuitively searched for harmony and resonance of sound with the vibrations of the World, with the barely audible singing of the stars. When the record was ready, I finally thought about what to call it. At some point, a hint seemed to flash in my mind — “Call it “Music of the Celestial Spheres”.” And I gave it exactly that name, although at the time I had no real idea what I was dealing with.

Over the years, I then found amazing examples of other musicians and scientists going through a similar path. Johannes Kepler devoted many years of his life to attempts to create the “Music of the Spheres” based on mathematics and celestial mechanics. But in my search there was more of a desire not to calculate cosmic melodies, but to feel them with my heart, if such a thing is at all possible. It seems to me that I managed to feel something. In any case, many of my listeners who left reviews for that very first album uploaded to Youtube think the same.

Most of the time, this album was published in Russian and English versions. A couple of years ago I published an album with translations into Spanish and Chinese. And only recently I remembered that the idea of “Music of the Spheres” is of Greek origin, and that I simply must publish the Greek version of the album “Music of the Celestial Spheres”. My colleague, artist and singer Nataliya Victoria, who has lived in Athens for many years, helped me with this. And now the first album of the “Music of the Celestial Spheres” cycle has been uploaded to Youtube in Greek design — with Greek melodic names and descriptions in this beautiful language.

We also translated the design of the booklet for the CD and created a colorful digital ArtBook — all this is included with the digital version of the album. Those interested can receive it.

I hope this work will continue, and the next parts of the “Music of the Celestial Spheres” series will also be republished in the language of Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZSKna7FUFM

Happy listening, Friends!

[andy-uwm]

Noname: Extremely Talented Raps with Social Justice To Boot

Noname, born as Fatimah Nyeema Warner, is a rapper, poet, and activist from Chicago, Illinois that has been releasing music only since 2016 (with features going further back), but with social justice messages that stretch far beyond the years of her discography. Shortly after the release of her 2018 critically acclaimed album Room 25, Noname began organizing book club meetups and discussions surrounding radical literature, with each subsequent meetup ballooning more than the last. Her Instagram page, @nonamehiding, only contains 42 posts, with the bulk of recent posts surrounding her newly acclaimed album, Sundial. Therefore, I will be looking into the crux of her activist work within the multicultural reading sphere, the instagram page for the Noname Book Club, @nonamereads. https://www.instagram.com/nonamereads/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2019%2F02%2F10%2F692701998%2Fwe-need-to-exist-in-multitudes-noname-talks-artistic-independence-women-in-rap-a&psig=AOvVaw1mXg2KWlOeK3fkl3sF9Zr3&ust=1702688172561000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBIQjRxqFwoTCPD55u-dkIMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI

Immediately into combing through the Book Club's Instagram page, the idea of accessibility becomes pretty quickly noticed and realized through the bulk of the picture posts being of chapter meetups all around America. This idea that a chapter of the Book Club can be anywhere, with any group of people, also immediately brought to mind the work and activism of Antonio López, with his work being focused on the bridging of education and educational media with underserved youth. Even as López notes that the article's headline and focus is on Native Americans receiving this pedagogy, he also writes that the focus of providing access to media technology is "...not just a Native American issue, but one facing our broader society...it infects the entire grid." (111). The act and work of expanding radical literature to all communities, especially underserved ones, remains a critical goal for the Noname Book Club.

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A post shared by Noname Book Club (@nonamereads)

Pictured: Noname Book Club Columbus chapter meetup, 12/2/23

López continues with quoting Marshall McLuhan criticizing education through a "rear-view mirror" lens, that we tend to see pedagogy in the present through methods of the past that aren't effective for the current media landscape (113). López continues with, "...the trend toward standardized testing...is very much a rear-view -mirror orientation-it tests rote knowledge, and lacks a rubric for other types of learners..." (113). This is where I believe the Noname Book Club begins to take the current shape of pedagogy; while the idea and practice of book clubs is nothing new, the way in which Instagram and social media is used by Noname and her fellow organizers is up to the current trend for learning and finding out about informative, left-field literature.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aihr.com%2Fblog%2Flearning-vs-training%2F&psig=AOvVaw1WHFFceH0mGPSfgYlHE6YM&ust=1702688314856000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBIQjRxqFwoTCMihhbuekIMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

The use of social media, as the Noname Book Club has done since its inception, is not just limited to the younger generation even if they are the primary target group. Despite the idea of a newer way of pedagogy based upon the current climate of interaction in social media, Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre write of Judy Baca's digital artwork in collaboration with youth of color. They write of the current atmosphere too, but add that, "youth-identified cultural production is not necessarily a terrain restricted to adolescents and young adults." (Sandoval and Latorre 85). Plenty of speakers that do events for the Noname Book Club are well outside of the youth culture and generation, but see the opportunity and potential of digital activist work to reach a broader audience.

The Noname Book Club boasts about 152,000 followers on Instagram, which accounts for about 5% of Chicago's population if it were that localized. But it isn't, because the goal wasn't just to reach the youth in Chicago (although Noname herself maintains an important stake in the beloved Windy City), it was to reach engaged users of social media for the purpose of disseminating thought-provoking literature. For its size, it doesn't seem like a lot considering that they have roughly a third of the followers of Noname's personal account. Again, though, the Noname Book Club is clearly making a mark on the digital landscape within physical cities. As chapter meetups become more commonplace and with the constant rotation of radical literature, Noname has made an indelible mark on how we interact with and learn from digital media.

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A post shared by Noname Book Club (@nonamereads)

Pictured: Noname Book Club Boston chapter meetup, 12/1/23

Citations:

López, Antonio. “Circling the Cross: Bridging Native America, Education, and Digital Media.” Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media., 2008, pp. 109-126. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1162/dmal.9780262550673.109.

Sandoval, Chela, and Guisela Latorre. “Chicana/o Artivism: Judy Baca’s Digital Work with Youth of Color." Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media. Edited by Anna Everett. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 81–108. doi: 10.1162/dmal.9780262550673.081

[159071699]

I believe that more influential artists with followings could help bridge the lack of interest young people show in political participation. You do not have to be a Swiftie to recognize Taylor Swift's impact and power albeit, on the music scene or political. In a time where the younger generation is in a political interest downfall, a pop-icon is able to step in a mediate one of the biggest slumps of political engagement. A staggering 275 million Instagram followers alone would symbolize her popularity. But that's not all, New York University offers their own course on the star aught by Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos, she is currently on one of the largest grossing tours of all time with a profit of $2.2billion USD from her North American shows alone. This popularity is not just for the sake of it, her musical success is one to be contested. Swift's exceptional songwriting is a testimony to her capacity to transform her art for diversified audiences. She holds the title of 12 number one albums on the Billboard charts as well as being the only solo female artist to win the Album of The Year Grammy on three different occasions as well as 9 different other wins. She even has an impact on the tourism industry, with her highly successful Eras tour accumulating an estimated $5billion revenue to the economy alone.  

In 2018, we saw a different side of Swift. Usually one to shy away from political discussions that were prominent in the public sphere, we saw her publicly step into the political climate. Swift had noted in an interview with the Guardian that her fears of not being educated enough as well as watching the derailing of the Dixie Chicks' careers after their political stance on George W. Bush, made her shy away from public political activism. I empathize with Swift's reservations regarding participating in politics jeopardizing her career. However, in 2018 an Instagram post saw a turn of tides in regards to her withdrawn demeanour. Publicly standing for members of marginalized communities she states, "I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. . I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love." Thus, marking her political engagement through social media to speak to her audience.  

Now in 2023, we face a slump of disinterest and disengagement for the younger generation and politics. Nathan Manning states, "Research has explored young people’s relationship with politics, with some arguing that many young people lack interest in and knowledge of politics and participate at low levels". However, Swift has helped navigate a tide-change with her audience never before seen at such an influential level. New information technology readily available makes it 'possible for citizens to produce their own content and participate in the production' of political content. She possesses hundreds of millions of Twitter and Instagram followers and an engaged following, and she is capable of turning any needle with the simplest of gestures. "I've been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my U.S. shows recently. I've heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are," she posted on her Instagram Stories. "Make sure you're ready to use them in our elections this year!" Taylor's post then included a link to register at Vote.org. 

Vote.org reported a 1,226% jump in traffic only an hour after the post had been made. As reported by Vote.org, 157,041 potential voters viewed the website resulting from Swift's Instagram story in September, resulting in the largest National Voter Registration Day since 2020. Furthermore, the organisation projected a 72% spike in 18-year-old registrations in contrast to 2019 and a 115% increase in that age bracket compared to 2022. While I previously sympathized with Swift's hesitancy to post, it is amazing to see what influence she can have when she takes a stride. Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey said in a statement, "Our site was averaging 13,000 users every 30 minutes — a number that Taylor Swift would be proud of.” (If you didn't know because you live under a rock, her favourite number is 13 - “I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks") 

While Swift is a dominating power-house on all aspects she tunes herself to, it goes to show the power and influence that the new age media can have with citizens and political engagement. It is no question that the mediated public sphere has broadened in the modern day to include new media platforms such as social media that prove the rapid dissemination of information and ideas. Taylor Swift's engagement with politics illustrates the significance of celebrity discourse for influencing opinions and helping engage younger generations and bring them out of their political disengagement. Swift's Instagram story, negotiated standard media boundaries, reaching millions of citizens via social media thus, amplifying her public voice's influence. Her strategic use of digital platforms for promoting voting in elections helps illustrate the fluid connection which exists within our modern public sphere between media consumption, citizenship, and information dissemination. While once afraid to suffer from the backlash of what audiences would think of her political stances, Swift's boldness into political advocacy highlights the growing significance of celebrities as an advocates for influence with citizenship and political engagement. Swift established the power of celebrities through utilizing her influence to advocate for voter registration and political awareness and saw great reports and responses from this boldness and willingness to be open about political engagement. Her actions inspired people to value civic engagement on a record breaking level that even the CEO had to issue a statement to address.  

In a new age where political disengagement in younger people is prevalent more so than ever. With young people seeing "elections and politics as part of a game for power whereby politicians fight for positions” as stated by Zhang in his 2022 survey, it is important to emphasize the ways in which young people respond to political advocacy and citizen engagement.  Taylor Swift's movement is an engaging case study, suggesting popular culture's beneficial impact on developing an awareness of civic duty and strengthening the interrelated nature of celebrity activism, the right to citizenship, and the contemporary public sphere. We've seen Taylor Swift redefine the role as a celebrity to become an influential agent of change with new media – so why can't more celebrities shed their fear of criticism and do this? It makes me wonder if this is the new path to get the younger generation to engage more dependently in caring about the socio-political climate of their world.  

And I'm not even a Swiftie!

[miyonii]

TBZ LIGHTSTICKS: RIGHT HERE

since there’s no official lightstick yet (💔), this series is going to be lightsticks based on tbz songs/performances !! :>>

designed by the multitalented @aveluant1a !! go check out her beautiful writing as well !! 💗💗

[nerdwriting]

The Creative Directors Behind Fate: The Winx Saga Must Not Be K-Pop Fans

Also, they have a pretty wrong idea of the role fashion should play in a show.

There are a few words that will stand out across most reviews of Netflix's Fate: The Winx Saga - drab, boring, flop, flat, unimaginative. Critics and audiences consensus is that the show is not only a mediocre-at-best story, but also an atrocious (and ultimately confusing) choice of adaptation of the color pop and fairy magic cartoon it’s based on, 2004 italian cartoon Winx Club.

Fate has plenty of it's own issues - white washing and erasing characters, cringey dialogue, outdated melodrama, etc. But where it truly, unequivocally fails is as an adaptation. Fate misses everything that was magical and lovable about the original series, in all levels, from bizarre writing choices, - such as never actually developing any sense of friendship between the characters, who are based on a cartoon about…..a group…….of friends -, but it's especially and immediately felt in the art direction and costume design.

Winx Club is set on a fantastical world, Magix, where each of our main characters hail from a different planet, à la Sailor Moon. Alfea, the fairy school they attend, is the most common background: a pastel colored, futuristic high tech-meets-fantasy, art nouveau inspired castle. Alfea sets the tone for the whole visual of the cartoon: bright, colorful, futuristic meets vintage, leaning into the technological positivism of the Y2K style, uniting it with magic, DnD worthy monsters and, of course, fairy wings. Often featured are also the Red Fountain school, where the Specialists train, and especially Cloud Tower, the goth and gothic inspired witch school Alfea has an OxBridge rivalry with (How cool would that be in a live action? I guess we’ll never know…).

On Fate, Alfea is the only school we ever see, and it’s another beige boarding school in not-Britain, somehow set in a magical world where everyone has the exact same technology and even social media that we have on Earth in 2021, no transformations and, most egregiously, no fairy wings.

This lack of visual creativity is pervasive throughout the whole show, and its most heartbreaking iteration is in the characters' wardrobe. The styling has the barest bones of a color scheme, - such as 'Bloom has to only dress in red since fire, duh',- the clothes are ill fitting, bland, dark and very dated. These are supposed to be teenagers who enjoy fashion, and yet they look like varying types of soccer moms from 2010.

The series seems to operate on an old and tired vision that women and girls can’t have depth and have adventures and fight monsters while also caring about fashion, a vision that the original show played a big, big role in challenging in the early 2000's. Fashion and costume design sets as much of the tone of a visual medium as the script does; through clothes we can gauge characters’ backgrounds, passions, and personality.

Winx Club has some of the best examples of this in the cartoon sphere - Bloom’s comfortable and bright style, Stella’s glitzy and bold, Musa’s edgy and cool, Aisha’s sporty and fun, Techna’s neon and tech gear inspired, Flora’s earthy and romantic, they all work as extensions of each character and serve a narrative purpose. And that’s not even mentioning how insulting it feels that in their quest to make Winx “edgier, darker” and fit for an older audience, the creators of Fate somehow decided that was in opposition to caring about style and fashion. Most “girly” shows, including the Winx Club are just as much adventure action shows as the ones geared towards boys, and it’s emphasis in fashion, friendship and color does not detract from that. The original run of the cartoon deals with war, violence, grief, abusive relationships and even genocide; leaning into those plotlines would not require Fate to erase any integral parts of what made Winx so beloved, and the fact that they did shows that the Netflix team completely missed the point of fashion in the original show, and really, the point of fashion and costume design in the world building of any show.

That, however, is not a mistake K-Pop makes very often; (This might seem like a bit of wild swerve in topic, but stay with me here). Unlike it's western counterpart, the Korean pop scene never lost the emphasis on music videos and how the visual medium can complete and potentialize music and performance; the K-Pop culture is very album and concept oriented in a way that has been all but lost in many other pop circuits, and the music video, styling and set design of a ‘comeback era’ is a key point of excitement among fans.

As such, music videos that follow storylines, connected universes, boundary pushing concepts and visual effects are the norm, rather than the exception, and a list could be made of works that are beautiful examples of what a live action Winx adaptation could look like. In fact, and very smoothly, here is a small list of exactly that!

A Small List of K-Pop Music Videos That Are Better Winx Club Live Actions Than Fate: The Winx Saga

3. Red Velvet - Psycho

If it was a darker and more somber look that Fate wanted, there was a way to make it actually appealing. While it still feels a liiitle too grown up and elegant for Winx, (maybe this author is biased, as a full proponent for the Y2K fun) Psycho makes a very compelling argument for a witchy, mysterious, fairy tale-esque show that could look scrumptious and definitely not boring, or even a gorgeous example of what the witches in Cloud Tower could look like. Black and white, dark green, pastel blue and pops of jewel tones make Psycho's color palette. To add interest to the understated colors, the styling is heavy on textures; We see plenty of stonework, intricate embroidery, tassels, lace on lace on lace, feathers, bows, opera gloves and lots of glitter. All of that is offset by bold, dark makeup, leather accents and eerie cinematography. Needle & Thread, Marchesa Notte and Self Portrait lend their hyper feminine and intricately detailed tulle gowns, juxtaposed with the creepiness of the lyrics and the dark backgrounds; their deep berry and green fairy tale looks are built with pieces from Zara to Nina Ricci to Dolce & Gabbana to Alexander McQueen.

Red Velvet’s more edgy styling for 2018's Bad Boy would also not feel out of place on the Trix.

2. IZ*ONE - Fiesta

IZ*ONE kicked off 2020 with sweet and fun Fiesta. The MV features rooms with mismatched décor that go from retro to space opera, rocky faux landscapes that feel other worldly, and visual effects that would look perfect on the back of a transformation sequence. Mirroring the set design, the girls wear various outfits by sustainable up and coming brand Chopova Lowena. Their signature skirts made with discarded and repurposed fabrics give a cool and interesting twist on a schoolgirl look that would look very sweet for a band of school fairies that occasionally go off to save the world. Also, wouldn't those bedazzled headphones look great on Musa's fairy outfit?

1. Aespa - Black Mamba and Next Level

Aespa is what fans call a monster rookie. With only three music videos under their belt, they still have some of the most visually interesting work in the industry right now. Their concept is very tied in with high tech, featuring even AI avatars of each member, packaged in a glitzy, fantastical and futuristic aesthetic, candy pop meets cyberpunk. I think I’ve exhausted ways to say that is exactly what a perfect Winx adaptation should feature.

Their debut smash hit, 2020’s Black Mamba is truly a perfect moodboard for live action Winx. Wearing a sequined and colorful mix and match of Dollskill, Gucci, Didu and Balenciaga to a backdrop that features some alien fairy forest realness, a pyschedelic fever dream, rooms straight out of a Y2K catalog or donning lime green and black techwear inside a metro fighting the "black mamba", Aespa look through and through the part of fashion loving fairies who save the world together, while looking fierce, stylish and, most importantly, interesting.

The styling and the sets jump seamlessly from more casual colorful fits with blouses, shirts and baggy pants to barren, darkly lit backgrounds and fringe-and-glitter heavy pieces necessary to fight giant snakes, in a way so fitting to transformation outfits for magical girls we could cry.

In their third MV, 2021's Next Level, the cyber in their concept is taken up a notch (get it. because Next Level-), set to a futuristic urbanscape intersped with a planet made of crystals and the ocasional alien fauna popping up again. We get treated to Monse, The 2nd Skin Co., Johanna Ortiz and The Attico styled to fairy princess standards, sporty sky racers and a white and sequined group styling that is top ten fairy busy saving the world uniform material, or maybe even a specialist worthy getup.

This particular look from Ningning is so Techna that it almost feels as if it's mocking Netflix.

And doesn’t this Karina trapped inside the "black mamba" in Alexander McQueen feel like a perfect Dark Bloom moment?

These are only a few examples of interesting and creative designs that are in line with what a live action Winx Club should have given us. There are so many more I could list, even among other TV Shows, like Sex Education and even polemic dark Euphoria, that know how to have fun with style and design without losing the depth of their stories. In the end, it's hard to justify why Fate creators even wanted to make an adaptation that didn't even try to capture the heart of its source material, and all we can do is watch one more "Restyling Fate: The Winx Saga" video on Youtube whilst mildly dreading season 2.

[victheworld]

Journal No. 3

Is Media Necessary for Globalization?

Observation

Korean fashion or what we know as K-fashion is what’s “in” in countries that are widely open to Korean media that comes in the form of Korean pop, Korean drama, Korean fashion and even Korean beauty products - Philippines is not exempt to the consumption of all of this. Korean media consumers are fascinated not only by the talent of idols and the unique plots of dramas, but also by their fashion style.

Korean idols perform with different outfits for each music show. There is not the same outfit or look for them, their hairstyles and make-up change every time they release a new music, and they perform with beautifully designed costumes that match their concept. WJSN Chocome’s music has a cute concept calling for more colorful, patterned clothing and quirky accessories, as seen in the “Supper Yuppers!” music video, as well as LOONA's "Hula Hoop".

Globalization is very much present in the idols' wardrobe. During the early industrialization period, women's fashion in Korea had been largely influenced by westerners from the US and its influences had persisted after the Korean War in the 1950s through the 1990s largely due to the close military alliance between the US and Korea (Choi & Oh, 2017). The groups LOONA and LE SSERAFIM wore denim fabric which popularized in the US because the songs they sang were written by foreign artists.

Black culture has been integral to the development of K-pop, just as it has almost every modern genre. As CEO of HYBE, home to BTS, stated, Black music is the base. (Dahir, 2022).  Black people selling songs they produced to Korean companies is highly practiced in the industry. An example of a popular Afro-Latin pop genre in K-pop is Le SSERAFIM's "Anti-fragile."

Many people who view K-pop on the sidelines are unaware that K-pop is actually influenced by other cultures as well. Globalization Historically, the foundation and development of K-pop music culture are attributed to the prevalent impact of Western cultural imperialism Shim (2006, 2011b). The dominant explanation of the global K-pop phenomenon is the “hybridity”. The rise of K-pop therefore is only natural, given the expanding forces of Asian Culture vis-à-vis Western Culture. In this sense, K-pop is not a new cultural force in the global cultural system as long as it originates from Japan and/or China (i.e., hybrid), both of which have already hybridized their pop culture with the mix of WC since the 19th century (Iwabuchi, 2004, Forthcoming; Park, 2006; Hirata, 2008; Ryoo, 2009; Shim, 2011). South Korea, like the Philippines, was put under the sphere of the political, economic, and cultural influence of the United States. Unlike the Philippines, South Korea used such suppression to their advantage and produced something of their own (Domingo, 2021). In other words, Globalization, particularly in the realm of popular culture, breeds a creative form of hybridization that works towards sustaining local identities in the global context (Shim, 2011).

It is not a secret that some of the most popular K-pop songs were produced by Foreign artists, as seen in album details. Hit song “After Like” by IVE was produced by Ryan Jhun and Anders Nilsen who is a Norwegian songwriter, the song itself features a sample of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive, an American singer. As well as “Next Level” by AESPA that used the sample created by Aston Wyld, an Australian singer and composer. The practice of putting on a well choreographed and synchronized dance, however, is unique to K-pop, another aspect contributing to their popularity.

While some argue that Kpop is a danger to Filipino culture since our radio plays Korean music more than Original Filipino Music (OPM), there is also evidence that it contributes to xenophobia, or a hatred of or prejudice towards individuals from other nations. An example would be the statement of Jinggoy Estrada during the Senate's budget hearing for the Film Development Council of the Philippines, "From what I have observed, we continue to show South Korean television series and that our fellow countrymen idolize Korean actors, while our artists are losing their jobs”. He also stated that he thinks of banning these foreign shows. Nuelle Duterte criticized his statement on Facebook, "We watched American television shows on Philippine channels. Politicians didn't seem to have a problem with them. It didn't 'kill' the PH entertainment industry". Cavite Gov. Juanito Victor "Jonvic" Remulla also said, "There are no boundaries in pop culture. Learn and take inspiration from what the Koreans have achieved".

These criticisms do make a point. No one bat an eye when Filipinos idolized Hollywood actors, and it’s not the reason why there is a lack of support towards Filipino Telenovelas. The recent unemployment of celebrities was due to the shutdown of ABS-CBN, a decision made by the country’s own law makers. Rather than taking inspiration from it, some people view Korean media as a threat to Filipino culture.

In a study from the International Journal of Social Science and Humanity it revealed that Hallyu or K-wave arrived in the Philippines through Korean dramas which are currently known as “Koreanovelas” in the early 2000. Hallyu was just the beginning of how Filipinos embraced the culture and products of South Korea. (Reasons why Filipinos love Korean culture and Products, 2022). Filipinos have been embracing Korean culture and goods for more than 30 years.

Korean dramas are appealing to youngsters. Every year, a huge number of youth dramas are produced. One the highest rated K-drama of all time is Reply 1998 with 18.803% (Nitura, 2022). It was a heartwarming drama that talked about friendship between 5 families during the 1998 summer Olympics. Most of K-dramas youth dramas reflect growing up experiences and friendships, which are heartwarming and relatable to Filipinos. In the Philippines, there are just 31 youth dramas, the most of them are about love which teenagers find “cringe”.

Another observable distinction between Philippine telenovelas and K-dramas is that the Philippines has “happy endings”, which I believe reflects the Filipino nature of optimism, as opposed to K-dramas, which occasionally finish in a gut-wrenching and agonizing finale. K-dramas are "binge-worthy" not just because of their intriguing plots, but also because they have few episodes, as opposed to Filipino telenovelas, which drag on for a hundred episodes.

Because of the availability of Korean media and technological progress, K-drama is undoubtedly influencing how Filipinos dress. If you look at the top ten dramas in the Philippines, you'll notice that there are 2-3 K-dramas on the list. Filipinos are exposed to other cultures, and they desire to follow these trends if it appeals to them. But, prior to the development of K-drama in the early 2000s, was there a distinct manner Filipinos dressed that was not influenced by Western culture? Take a look at these photos from the 1990s.

Before the Philippines was exposed to Korean media, the fashion of that time was denim clothing. Baggy and ripped jeans were popular during this decade, as well as denim jackets and chain wallets. Striped sweaters, jumpsuits, and unbuttoned flannel shirts were also a hit among teenagers (Mentos, 2016). Denim clothing is not unique to our culture but rather was influenced by the Western culture. Denim has been used in the US since the mid-19th century. Denim initially gained popularity in 1873 when Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, manufactured the first pair of rivet-reinforced denim pants (Denim, 2022). While the denim fabric originated in the southern French city of Nimes (Thrope, 2016). Prior to the 2000s, the Filipino way of clothing was already a product of globalization, and even the early popularization of denim in the US was a result of French export.

The trend in K-drama that Filipinos are incorporating into their wardrobes is more of a relaxed street fashion or Korean street wear, blending rock and hip hop aesthetics into street fashion pieces. Another popular K-fashion trend is the wearing of oversized trench coats, plaid suits and skirts.

Korean influence has not changed the "Filipino" way in which we dress. Before we indulged ourselves in Korean media, we were already wearing Western clothing.

Insight

Technology is directly responsible for the globalization of Korean culture, and Filipinos are impacted by it. However, it is arguable if it has erased or transformed our culture because the way we wore prior to the advent of Korean influence in the Philippines was already a result of Western globalization, and yet no one looked twice, no one complained.

Because of the power of technology, the Korean government has achieved its aim of accessing international markets, including the Philippines. But this isn't entirely negative as it resulted in  the resurrection of OPM and the growth of P-POP or Filipino pop, which are groups influenced by K-pop. These groups are: BINI, Alamat, KAIA, MNL48 (a sister group of famous Japanese groups AKB48 and HKT48), and the most popular yet, SB19.

On December 3, SB19 appeared at number six on Billboard Year-End Social 50 chart, making them the first Southeast Asian act to reach the top 10 of the magazine's annual chart. On April 29, 2021, SB19 became the first Filipino and Southeast Asian act to be nominated in Billboard Music Awards for Top Social Artist.

Contemplating the success of K-pop globally, this is the same goal of P-pop as an emerging and revival cultural phenomenon in the Philippines (Benjamin, 2020). The Philippines is learning to adapt to the influences of globalization, and this has caused the Philippines to gain popularity in the international scene.

The claim that "Filipinos are losing their cultural identity as a result of Korean media" is unsubstantiated. There is no scale to quantify how Korean media has altered Philippine culture. Our culture had already been touched by Westerns and Spanish colonists before the popularization of Korean media.

Learning

The media has played a huge role in globalizing cultures, fashion, and music, so yes, it is indeed necessary. Every country under the circle of globalization is influencing one another. It is inevitable for Filipinos to consume Korean media just as globalization is an unstoppable phenomenon. However, the Philippines can adapt to the impacts of Korean culture, incorporate their own culture into and ultimately use it to their advantage. Even though it is inspired by Korean choreographies, P-pop will remain Filipino-made. The world is always changing, and we must avoid being trapped in the past. We should work to globalize our music and telenovelas so that everyone can appreciate our culture and language as well.

References:

Oh, K., Choi, J. (2017). The Impact of the United States Fashion on Korean Fashion in 20th Century. Journal of Fashion Business, Vol.21(3), https://doi.org/ 10.12940/jfb.2017.21.3.80

Dahir, S. (2022, May 12). Naegaz in Paris: How Black Culture Created K-pop. The B-Side. https://berkeleybside.com/blackcultureandkpop/

Shim, D. (2006). Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. Media, Culture & Society, 28(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443706059278

Iwabuchi, K. (2004). “Korean Wave as Method Advancing the Studies of East Asian Media Culture Connections,” in John Lie (ed.), The Korean Wave (Hallyu), South Korea Popular Culture: Texts and Contexts; Affects and Audiences; K-pop, Politics, and Theories (New York: Palgrave, Forthcoming).

Park, S. (2006). “Munhwajeok Halin Kwanjeomeseo Bon Hallyuwa Junggukinui Hanguk Drama Sobi” [Consumption of Korean Dramas by Chinese and Korean Audiences in Aspect of Cultural Discount], in Soo-hyun Jang (ed.), Junggukui Hallyu, Eotteoke Ihaehalkeotinga [How Should We Understand the Hallyu in China].

Hirata, Y. (2008). “Touristization of Shin-Okubo and Hallyu in Japan,” in John Lie (ed.), The Korean Wave (Hallyu), South Korea Popular Culture: Texts and Contexts; Affects and Audiences; K-pop, Politics, and Theories (New York: Palgrave, Forthcoming).

Ryoo, W. (2009). “Globalization, or the Logic of Cultural Hybridization: The Case of the Korean Wave,” Asian Journal of Communication, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2009).

Shim, D. B. (2011). Waxing the Korean Wave,” Asia Research Institute, Working Paper Series, No. 158 (2011).

Domingo, L. Z. P. (2021). Korean Pop Music a Threat to Contemporary Filipino Identity? Globalization, Nation, and Interrogation in Philippine Culture and Identity. Asia Review, 11(2), 247–265. https://doi.org/10.24987/SNUACAR.2021.8.11.2.247

Reasons Why Filipinos Love Korean Culture and Products (n.d). Bria. https://www.bria.com.ph/articles/reasons-why-filipinos-love-korean-culture-and-products/

Nitura, J. (2022). The Top 50 Highest-Rating Korean Dramas of All Time. Preview. https://www.preview.ph/culture/top-20-highest-rating-korean-dramas-a00268-20200519-lfrm

Mentos (2016). '90s things every Pinoy millennial squad can relate to. ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/advertorial/life/11/03/16/90s-things-every-pinoy-millennial-squad-can-relate-to

Thrope, J. (2016). How the birthplace of denim is making jeans again. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37523552

Benjamin, J. 2020, Feb 03. “Filipino Boy Band SB19 Is Becoming a Mainstay on the Social 50 Chart.” Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/ chart-beat/8550040/sb19-social-50-next-big-sound-chart-filipino-boy-bandprofile (Accessed: October 24, 2022).

[wonderwafles]

8 People I’d Like to Know Better

I was tagged by @cormorant-red for this meme! Thank you :D

Favorite colors: Yellow, green, blue, gray (YES gray, it’s the color of stormclouds and it’s lovely)

Last song I listened to: Prelude to Bereavement by Shadow of Intent. It’s actually a Halo song, based around the Forerunner Saga! Fair warning, though, it’s pretty brutal death metal, screaming and all included. Fitting for the Forerunner-Flood war, though, I think.

Favorite musicians: Brothers of Metal, Oonagh, Lord Huron, the Mountain Goats, and Heilung are the ones who come to mind! 

Favorite Song: Start of Time by Gabrielle Aplin is the one that springs to mind for me - no matter how many times I’ve listened to it, I keep being drawn in just by how beautiful it is. Although of course picking a favorite song is very difficult. Honorable mention to Ainulindalë by Oonagh! (Also, can I just include the whole album of Music of the Spheres and the Forerunner themes from Halo 4, thanks)

Last film watched: Ooh, I’m not totally sure! I think it might have been Paul. Great movie, if preachy at times about religion. (...From the title, if you didn’t know any better, my description makes it seem like it’s about the Apostle. Nah, it’s actually about a nerdy cross-country road trip and a foul-mouthed alien who escaped Area 51)

Last TV show watched: My mom and I are working our way through Stargate Atlantis right now, after going through all of SG-1. I miss the Goa’uld dearly, of course, but Atlantis is still pretty fantastic. At times, better than SG-1, I think.

Sweet, spicy, or savory: Gotta go with savory!

Sparkling water, tea, or coffee: I haven’t been inoculated enough against the natural taste of coffee to ever have it unless thoroughly adulterated and practically turned into a milkshake first, so I have to disqualify it. Tea isn’t really my thing either unless it’s sweet tea, so that leaves sparkling water!

Pets: None right now. I’d like to have another dog someday, though! (I’d get a cat, I love them, but they make me sneezy ;_;)

Tags: I won’t get 8 but I’ll tag @saiansha, @timortien, @titan-mom. No pressure, as always.

[seaspiritwrites]

21 questions

Approximately 8000 years ago, @ofaclassicalmind tagged me to answer these questions, and I definitely forgot all about it until I was cleaning out my inbox today.

So...better late than never. I guess?

Nickname(s): In fandom, sea. Which works out pretty well, considering my actual name begins with "C" and I enjoy a good homophone.

Zodiac sign: Leo with Pisces rising. A walking contradiction, essentially.

Height: 5′5"

Last movie I saw: Rocketman. It somehow managed to be both whimsical and moving at the same time, and I highly recommend it, especially if you're an Elton John fan. It's worth it for the visuals and music alone, but I also thought Taron Egerton was fantastic! Oh, and spoiler alert: Richard Madden can't sing. AT ALL.

Last thing I googled: 1943 calendar, because I have been working on a fic set in that year for nearly 12 months and apparently can't be bothered to bookmark one.

Favorite musician: Impossible to choose. I grew up in a house full of 70s and 80s music, so artists like Billy Joel, Elton John, and John Mellencamp remind me of my childhood. I suppose 90s boy bands do, too, but we don't need to talk about that...

When I'm writing, I love classical music. Daniel Hope's "Spheres" album is a current favorite. I also, for some reason, have always loved the sound of uilleann pipes.

Other blogs: Nope!

Following: 131

Followers: 232 (Wow, when did that happen? Thanks, all!)

Do I get asks: Not many, but a few. And they're always welcome!

Amount of sleep: 7-8 hours, if I have my way. Less than 6 and things get very bad, very fast.

Lucky numbers: 7, because July is my birthday month and I am extraordinarily uncreative in this area.

What I’m wearing: Soft gray lounge pants and a two-tone blue baseball shirt. (You'd think I planned that, but I really didn't.)

Dream job: Honestly, I (mostly) enjoy my job as an academic writer/editor. BUT, if we're talking DREAM dream job, then I have to say novelist. Terribly predictable for a fic writer, I know.

Dream trip: England, Scotland, and Ireland. I have heritage in all three countries, and I haven't made it to any of them. Yet!

Favorite food: Bread. Seriously, I could live on bread (and maybe some cheese) if we didn't need pesky things like vitamins in our diet.  

Instruments: I played clarinet in junior high. It's still around somewhere, but I highly doubt I could play it anymore.

Languages: English. I took Spanish in high school, and I can remember things like colors and foods and how to ask where the bathroom is or how much something costs. Sadly, that's about it.

Favorite song: Another impossible question, as it tends to vary based on my mood and current life circumstances. I've been digging "Through the Ages" by Cloud Cult (an indie band from my area) lately. It weirdly gives me Jaime x Brienne reincarnation vibes.

Random fact: According to family lore, I am distantly related on my dad's side to Francis Scott Key, who penned "The Star-Spangled Banner." Is it true? Who knows!

Aesthetic: Cool colors, especially blues and greens, with a bit of tan or brown. Lots of nature photos on the wall, books piled on every surface, soft blankets, mismatched but comfortable furniture. Lounge wear within minutes of walking through the front door, jeans and tall boots or sandals (depending on the season) when I'm out.  

[ashleaannya]

The 2200, Chapter 1

Everything for Kamiya started with a deep breath. She took a deep breath before writing her hit single “Marketplace,” an semi-autobiographical Indy rock ballad about how men (her exes) treated women’s bodies like a grocery store. It was a hit. “It resonated” was how Billboard described her riffs and runs about feeling like, quote, a “man’s meat market”, with no say in how she should be loved. That was five years, two Grammy’s and three tours ago. She still took a deep breath before approaching the microphone, before recording herself in the studio, and before giving her fans the BTS (Behind The Scenes) content her 35 million fans craved—no, demanded.

           “Let’s do this,” Kamiya said to her herself, breathing deeply and sitting on the goose feather bed in her presidential hotel suite. She adjusted her DSLR camera to better frame her upper body and flipped the lamps on the hotel suite’s end tables. The tripod creaked with newness as she made the micro-adjustments to get her and her hotel suite backdrop in perfect focus. It was a little dark, but it would fit the mood she was about to create for her fans.

           Her phone pinged and vibrated beside her as another thousand comments on her social media rang through. Text messages burst through as people who wanted her money, attention or both made their voices heard in all capital letters, exclamation points and emojis. Without looking away from the camera flip screen, Kamiya reached beside her and powered her phone off. She glanced over at her hotel door, looking at the silk and gold furnishings and designer dresses hanging on a rolling rack. Rows of flowers from athletes, and fellow musicians wanting to sleep with her wilted on a glass dining table designed to seat twelve. No one ever ate there. It was a reservoir for gifts and miscellaneous stuff. She lived in this room now. The floor of this hotel was more her space more than the three homes she paid ghastly mortgages. Kamiya’s eyes lingered on the cream colored double doors, making sure it was locked. What she was about to do would cause her team to beat her door off the antique hinges. By then it would be too late.

           The camera’s light flickered and then settled on a bright amber. Kamiya knotted her fingers in her lap seeing the word “REC” blink in the upper corner of the screen. It was time. She had already left written, detailed instructions for her manager, accounting team, design team, social media team, and news outlets she wanted to break the story. The courier would deliver her instructions in exactly one hour. The timing mattered. Her wishes were explicit and once her video aired, the necessary parties would have no choice but to honor her demands. There would be nothing to second-guess. The video especially would be very clear. She practiced how she would do it and even recorded herself doing mock versions of the act to make sure she would not loose her nerve.

           “You got this, Miya.”

           Kamiya also knew that nothing else “groundbreaking” would be going on in the social media sphere that would distract from her message. The good thing about being connected was other celebrities in her circle and members of famous teams (say a stylists or nanny) told her what dates to avoid. For example, when Kamiya’s second album was set to drop on Sept 1st, a friend of a friend whispered that she should not use that date because TMZ was about to report on an impending divorce. Divorces in her world were common enough, but this divorce was a megachurch pastor and there was digital evidence the break-up of his marriage was due to a transgendered mistress who had a massive social media following. Needless to say, she changed the date. Her album release would have been overshadowed and her release week would have been abysmal. She released a week earlier to the delight of her voracious following and debuted at number one on the Pop charts. The same connections would today make sure her choice went viral. This was her one life. She should get to live her life on her own terms. A tear fell down her cheeks, realizing that her freedom was on the other side of this post. She would have her body back, her mind, her music, her voice. Should she go live instead? That way people knew it was real.

           Kamiya jumped up off the bed and grabbed her laptop. She would record both. Just in case.

           “Hey guys,” Kamiya said, waving at the screen.

           The numbers in her Live Chat jumped from 300 to 3,000 to 2 million instantly. Kamiya swallowed. Her mouth was dry and her hands were damp with sweat. Texts jumped up on the bottom of the screen as her followers flooded the Live Chat with emojis, declarations of love, and sexual comments that would make a porn star blush.

           “Whoa, whoa, guys, this is going to be quick so I can’t answer a million questions right now—um, guys, whoa, um, no, no I can’t do a video chat with anyone. Thank you though that went bad last time,” Kamiya said, laughing awkwardly.

           She glanced up to make sure her camera was still recording. It was.

           “Ok. I have an announcement. I wanted to record it and make it all fancy, but my career started here, right?”

           Thumbs up emojis and hearts flooded the screen in unison. She smiled and tears pricked at her eyes, but she coughed and rubbed her eyes into her sleeves. People were commenting about how they had followed her since abandoned building days.

           “Wow, that’s a throwback. Um, for those who don’t know, let me explain all of the abandoned buildings comments.”

           Kamiya sat up and twisted her long curly extensions in around her fingers. She dug her nails into her spray-tanned legs, leaving pink nail marks. She was already black, but her team told her, going a shade darker would make her skin look even and was the ideal skin tone for her audience.

           “Ok. So most of the videos have been deleted because, well, I was fat then.”

           That comment was met with encouraging remarks and angry emojis. She felt relieved at that response. Then as if reading her mind, onscreen comments appeared. Some people were proud of her ‘healthy weight loss journey’. This pride flooded the comments. She ignored them. She was thin now with the dimensions of a doll, narrow waist and all. She ate 400 calories per day and had more cosmetic surgeries than a Kardashian. She was discrete about them and timed everything so it looked more believable, but nothing was healthy about her new body.

           “Um, yea. I actually started on social media for singing in abandoned buildings with my sister. She would record me singing in old churches and subways and other random places that were technically condemned but had great acoustics. That’s how I build my fan base and YouTube channel. A lot of people think it was from Marketplace, my first single, but I didn’t get attention until after my Abandoned Concerts page went viral or whatever.”

           The comments zoomed by so fast she could barely ready them. The emojis were all wide-mouthed shocked faces and then there were demands for her to post the old videos. Kamiya shook her head and laughed. She did not want to see her old body ever again. Kamiya froze seeing a familiar handle enter the Live Chat. It was @Camera_Cat, her sister. She was in the hotel lobby grabbing dinner and would likely be banging on her door at any moment. Everyone knew that Kamiya hated going live so Cat would be giving her the Catrina patent “WTF” face.

           “Okay, guys, real quick. I have an announcement,” Kamiya said, straightening her back and lowering her voice. She had to say this seriously or people would think she was playing a game. As you all know, I hate social media and, like, hardly ever post, because—well, let’s keep this all the way real, okay. You guys are trash.”

           Question marks and angry and shocked emojis flooded the screen at lightning speed. Kamiya smirked ready to drop every bomb in her arsenal before the grand finale.

           “Yes, you are. Half of you lie to yourself and to others every day and will never accomplish your dreams because you are inconsistent and talentless. There. Now you know.”

           Kamiya jumped hearing rapid knocking on her hotel room. She pulled her laptop closer and swallowed. She could hear her sister calling her name.

           “I don’t care if it hurts your feelings. It’s true. You aren’t loyal to yourself or your dreams so why should I expect you to be loyal to me or care about my mental health. I have done so much and sacrificed so much to make you bastards happy. I’m literally so damn lost right now I barely recognize myself. I hate having you guys around me.”

           Some of the comments were consolatory and others were curses and name-calling. Kamiya did not care. She was right and she would show them.

           “If half of you were forced to be honest about how jealous you are of my life before you could comment on my posts, you would never hate on me. You hate me because your dreams are dead and your work ethic is trash. Do you have any idea what I go through to be here. I’m supposed to be nice to you hateful bitches when you are all collective trash.”

           The banging on the door sounded like thunder. Muffled yelling echoed outside of the room. The voices were getting louder and Kamiya was glad the deadbolt was on because her sister and manager had keys to her room. Well, technically, they could access her room through the hotel app. The app could not work against a deadbolt and an old fashioned chain.

           “I’m being honest when I say I hate most of you. I wish you never heard of me. I wish I never shared my music with you. You don’t deserve me. I give so much to you people. You people who are supposed to be the woke generation. I hope you die alone.”

           Kamiya sat back and watching as the number of people watching her quadrupled. Screenshots of her and clips of her ‘rant’ would be viral in seconds. She smiled ready for the final blow.

           “Effective immediately, my social media is closed. My website is closed. My brands are closed. I am closed. You hear me? You no longer have access to me. You all have officially been fired from being my fans.”

           The word ‘no’ with about a hundred Os flooded the screen, followed by side-eye emojis and comments about her going crazy.

           “There is one exception,” Kamiya took a deep breath. “Moving forward, I am only accessible to 2200 loyal fans. I will hand select these people. If you look at my main page now, you will see that no one is following me and I am following no one. You will also notice that all of my posts are now gone. In one hour, my page will be private, so get your screen shots now. Yes, I’m talking to you Shade Room.”

           The number of people watching her, now exceeding the number of followers she had ever had on any platform. Tears pricked her eyes realizing she finally had their attention. The same question kept popping up: “How do I join the 2200?”

           “You don’t join. I choose you.”

           Kamiya slammed the laptop closed and fell backward on the overstuffed pillows of her European king bed. Phase one was complete. Now on to phase two.

[happymetalgirl]

Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest

Well, it took long enough and came with a lot of hurdles, but I’m finally writing about Behemoth’s highly anticipated follow-up to The Satanist, an album I and a large part of the metal sphere have lauded as a triumphant and elevating return for the band after Nergal’s bout with leukemia. And it really is a massive improvement on a sound they had been consistently improving over the course of their entire career, and for that reason I and everyone who loved The Satanist were of course very eager to hear what Behemoth would do next. I can’t blame Nergal for his hesitation earlier last year about continuing with Behemoth, knowing how much he had to live up to now, and honestly, I would have been okay with The Satanist being the last chapter in the band’s story. It’s a beautiful, intricate, deeply cathartic, and conclusive body of work that leaves me so fulfilled every time I listen to it. It’s the kind of album that by the time the climax of “O Father O Satan O Sun!” finishes, I’m left just savoring the silence of the post-experience high, not immediately reaching for another piece of music to listen to. It really is a masterpiece, and as much as Behemoth has consistently grown in their approach to blackened death metal and carved out their own dominant identity synonymous with the genre, I Loved You at Your Darkest was never going to surpass The Satanist. The most I could realistically hope for amid Nergal’s own indecisiveness about where to go with the music on Behemoth’s next project was something worthy of living in The Satanist’s shadow after all the hype died down.

I Loved You at Your Darkest was, nevertheless, easily one of the most anticipated releases for me this year, and because of that I definitely wanted to sit with it for a while and let it resonate with me at whatever frequency was best. I didn’t want to just write my early impressions of the album and my reaction to my own anticipation. I also sat with this album for awhile because a good few songs on its predecessor were growers for me as well. During the first week or so after the album’s release, I saw a lot of people praising the album immediately and saying it was even better that the Satanist, which even my first impression didn’t agree with. But as the hype died down, zealous fans slowly seemed to come to accept I Loved You at Your Darkest as something not quite on the same level as The Satanist, which is kind of where I stayed all the way up until writing this piece. Strangely, the impression I’m left with is my first impression of this album. It’s a satisfactory follow-up, and not much more, which is unfortunate because I was kind of hoping that Behemoth could easily surpass my conservative expectations. It’s still representative of the huge growth the band made with The Satanist, but musically the uncertainty of direction on this album is what sticks out like a sore thumb.

Nergal had strongly stated that he definitely did not want to simply milk The Satanist with an identical follow-up and that he wanted Behemoth to continue to progress, but he was just so conflicted about how to do so. Well, that aspect of the album definitely shows, but so does the irony of it. In many ways, I Loved You at Your Darkest does rehash a lot of ideas from The Satanist (not in a bad way by any means), but the band’s attempts to define the album as something dramatically different and separate come across as desperate and sometimes clumsy. The first bit of hype I heard about the album was the incorporation of all these new musical elements that were going to spice it up and make it a wild stylistic ride, and the thing Nergal kept bringing up was the children’s choir, which shows up on the intro track and the lead single “God = Dog”. I could have seen the children’s choir really emphasizing the humanism of the lyrics’ Satanic theology and being a really chilling presence at the forefront of a few passages. However, the mere chant they ritualistically recite makes them feel so underutilized and even out of place on the otherwise melodically well-supplemented song. There’s also the melodic clean singing (which also sounds a bit like an invocation) on the song “Bartzabel”, which again just feels like something Nergal thought to just throw atop the mix of spiritual blackened death metal for the sake of differentiating it from The Satanist, even though The Satanist also had a melodic vocal section on its closing track that was much more invigorating. In fact, a lot of songs incorporate these short choral mantras to enhance the songs’ liturgical nature (especially on the song “Sabbath Mater”), but they are often thrown in so sporadically and without proper support that they just end up distracting from the whirl of sacrilegious death metal surrounding them.

As clear as it is that Behemoth couldn’t really find a sure way to move on from The Satanist, that’s hardly a bad album to have spillover from. In fact, most of this album does feel like a sequel to The Satanist, and it’s when Behemoth don’t try to force their way out of a style or process that they have perfected when this album is at its best. The best execution of this tried-and-true style comes on the patient and spiritual “Havohej Pantocrater”, which builds over the course of heavy tom drumming, acoustic guitar leads, and choral clean vocals into a massive solo-driven bridge and a deservedly theatrical outro. As far as most of the writing on here goes, though, it really is like runoff from The Satanist, with knock-off musical ideas that capture the identifying features of that album, but much less of its charisma and potency.

There are plenty of times when the band does move away from that sound or go back a little bit to their more direct blackened death approach, and it does provide the album with some much needed diversity. The album’s second song, “Wolves ov Siberia” nicely blends the relentless black metal tremolo picking and blast beat ferocity of Evangelion with a grand ode to freedom that characterized The Satanist. The extended instrumental outro of “If Crucifixion Was Not Enough” and the ripping blast beats of “Angelvs XIII” also hearken back to Evangelion. The simple, slower, punchy beat of “Rom 5:8″ is a nice change of pace for the album too. But for the most part, I Loved You at Your Darkest really is just the afterthoughts of The Satanist trying to dress themselves as something completely different.

The next major problem with this album lies not with he style, but with the more formulaic writing. It’s not formulaic the way Nickelback’s music is formulaic, but so many songs seem to work in so many of the same ingredients from The Satanist’s cabinet in the same order across their run times, which renders the band’s attempts to mask it with clean choral vocals and children’s choirs come across as almost gimmicky. The somewhat homogeneously liturgical nature of these songs makes me thirst greatly for the likes of a guitar anthem like “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” or “Chant for Eschaton”, a gritty riff-based banger like “Conquer All”, or a cinematic epic like “Lucifer” or “The Satanist”. This is honestly one of the flattest albums in the band’s catalog; there’s just so little substantial deviation from the norm

I know a lot if this sounds really harsh for an album I actually really like, but I do feel like this album rides The Satanist’s coattails more than it would like to admit, and by being so similar (with only superficial differences) to such an album in aesthetic and style, it’s hard not to point to how much better the band accomplished this kind of album four years ago. Again, an album like The Satanist isn’t a bad thing at all to have residual inspiration and ideas from permeating a new Behemoth album, and I had my expectations set pretty reasonably, evidently, for I Loved You at Your Darkest. I am both satisfied with this album and disappointed that I’m only just satisfied with it. I think Behemoth have the ability to continue to make compelling music even after they’ve clearly peaked, and I think they could still take all the progress they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learned and channel that through the most honest version of themselves, because that’s what bugs me about this album. It’s trying so hard to not be its predecessor, but it was clearly unavoidable, and the few new elements the band threw didn’t cover it up. Again, this album is still rife with ethereal blackened death metal arrangements, scriptural lyricism, and so much of what Behemoth’s sound has culminated to. There is still so much of what Behemoth have made themselves famous for here on this album; it just seems like they were trying to do so much that wasn’t them just for the sake of not coming across as lazy by repeating The Satanist. But honestly, if they could manage to match The Satanist with something of similar style, it would be anything but lazy. If anything, the flavorless coloring added to the diluted runoff that pours into this album is what comes across as lazy. I’m not saying the whole project is lazy, but it’s clear that the band were just stumped at the question of how to progress past The Satanist. And instead of patiently pushing through an understandably thick creative barrier, they opted to just toss a few novel musical elements atop their current sound and call it solved. Behemoth’s conflicted and stalled creative process is what taints I Loved You at Your Darkest, and I just hope they don’t overthink their next album (if there is a next album) the way they overthought what they wanted this album to be in the context of their discography. The more religious aesthetic of the album could potentially be seen as reflective of the going through the motions by the band in their inability to come up with answers to their self-imposed questions, and I’d be happy to see the raw, unfiltered enthusiasm of Demigod or Zos Kia Cultos (Here and Beyond) in the more refined and dynamic form of The Satanist and Evangelion in the future.

I’ll end this on a good note, because, again, I do still think this is a pretty good album. For what is the product of the clearly stressful post-masterpiece crisis for this band, I Loved You at Your Darkest still manages to channel a lot of energetic performances and layered arrangements in a manner that proves that The Satanist was not a fluke and that the band can still do great things. And I still look forward to a hopefully bright future for Behemoth.

[onestowatch]

10 Songs To Rock On Your March To Rock The Vote

After weeks of campaigning commercials, polarizing televised debates and dinner table discussions, midterm elections are in full swing. Millions of voters across The United States are flocking to the polls to exercise their ‘Murican rights, creating a buzz throughout the nation that promises progress. Millennial voters are expected to turn out in record numbers, switching the perception of an apathetic generation to the next wave of leaders. Regardless of political affiliation, the midterms are a time to listen to each other, come together as a nation and take action toward redefining what the representation of our country really looks like. In the spirit of election day, we’ve taken the liberty of curating six songs to inspire you while you’re waiting to fill out your ballot.

YUNGBLUD - “21st Century Liability”

YUNGBLUD’s passion is contagious. The North-Londoner is known for his controversial lyrics, touching on medication, gun violence and consent in his debut album, 21st Century Liability. YUNGBLUD is a train careening out of control, smashing into the alternative rock sphere with unparalleled spunk. The title track of his album will put a zip in your step as you make your way to the polls. Stay tuned for our “All Eyes On” NYC performance with YUNGBLUD coming soon.

RAY BLK - “Got My Own”

Another London artist, RAY BLK has achieved the perfect blend of socio-political lyrics and healing harmonies found in R&B hits of the early 2000s. Her 2018 album Empress is packed with empowerment anthems, inspiring young listeners to dream of a better future. Her song “Got My Own” will put a fire in your belly with the line,

“Call me Mrs. President cuz I’m a boss. Call me a dentist everyday I gotta floss.

 Pay all my bills and I buy all my meals, don’t need anybody’s money.”

grandson - “War”

Grandson is a voice for the outraged. He uses gritty, hard-hitting rock to express his disgust at the state of our government. “War” touches on white supremacy, civil tensions and classicism, and the cover art says it all. Grandson also champions young voters to take action, recently playing “The Midterm Massacre” show with YUNGBLUD and Arrested Youth to encourage participation.

Tanerélle - “In Women We Trust”

What would this list be without a female empowerment banger? Tanerélle is a promising up and comer, singing of the distinct struggles that accompany womanhood. Her dreamy sound echoes early Lana Del Rey tracks, but contains a sizzling confidence that makes her all the more striking. Her song “In Women We Trust” details a woman ready to take on the world. She sings,

“Sugar and spice makes everything nice

But nice don't make no money

As a little girl all I wanted was the world

Now I've learned how to play in the big leagues”

Ivy Adara- “Currency”

Ivy Adara is an Australian pop songstress with an affinity for capturing youthful sentiment in her lyrics. Her song “Currency” is sitting at over 7 million streams on Spotify alone, serving as inspiration for the next generation to focus on love rather than money. This is a good one to listen to if you need a boost from Election Day blues.

RAT BOY- “NO PEACE NO JUSTICE”

RAT BOY has a youthful, punk energy that urges listeners to ask more from the world around them. “NO PEACE NO JUSTICE,” a track from his forthcoming album INTERNATIONALLY UNKNOWN, is the perfect soundtrack for battling election day crowds. RAT BOY is an artist for the common man.

Noname - “Blaxploitation”

Noname challenges conventional song structure with free-flowing verses, fusing poetry with music. The Chicago-born up and comer has over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, which is a testament to the power of her lyricism and conversational delivery. Noname speaks to religion, identity and the Black Experience. Want to be more politically woke? Listen to “Blaxploitation.”

MUNA - “I Know A Place”

Dance your way through election day crowds with MUNA, a female-fronted dark pop power trio based in Los Angeles. They’re best known for their songs “Winterbreak” and “I Know A Place,” which uses gun violence as a metaphor for vulnerability. Their lyrics drive their music, singing,

“I know a place we can go, where everyone gunna lay down their weapon. Just give me trust and watch what’ll happen.” 

Not to mention, the way lead singer Katie Gavin sings “weapons” is oddly satisfying.

Duckwrth - “SOPRANO”

If you haven’t yet noticed, we’re obsessed with Duckwrth. The up and comer is known for his blending of R&B, hip-hop, funk and soul, separating himself from the pack with unbridled lyricism and expressive vocals. His latest release, “SOPRANO” is a piping hot track. He leads with the line,

 “My tongue is a weapon, 40 caliber shooting at the heavens.” 

We recommend you set “SOPRANO” as your alarm to wake up the right way.

Buddy - “Hey Up There” (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)

“Hey Up There” featuring Ty Dolla $ign is a song for the dreamers. Buddy, a young artist from Compton, raps with an infectious underdog mentality. His debut album Harlan & Alondra Listen touches on police brutality, neighborhood dynamics, sex and love and coming of age as a person of color in the United States. Listen to this one after you’ve voted and allow yourself to imagine how good the future could look.

[dndeed]

Critical Role Miniature Rollout: C2E24-25

With Andrew Harshman

A summary and review of minis used on Critical Role.

No miniatures in episode 24, so without further ado... Boil your tar buckets and shut the door behind you, it’s time for Critical Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 2 Episode 25!

The Characters

Photo from the Geek and Sundry Twitter The Mighty Nein Prototype Steamforged Games Critical Role Miniatures 

So many RPG miniatures are directly based on existing artwork, but not so many look this brilliantly accurate. Massively impressive work by Steamforged Games. It will be interesting to see how many party mini changes we get in the coming episodes.

The List

Dwarven Forge Dungeons

Dwarven Forge Mountains

Dwarven Forge Short Rubble Pile

Dwarven Forge Tall Rubble Pile

Dwarven Forge Wicked Cavern Pack

Dwarven Forge Dungeon Floor Pack A

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom

Dwarven Forge Master Maze Door

Pathfinder Battles Maze of Death Dressing: Portcullis

War of the Dragon Queen #27 Cadaver Collector

Prototype Steamforged Games Critical Role Miniatures

Reaper Bones Familiars

Custom Lollipop Spiritual Weapon

Custom Cat’s Paw

The Terrain

Sealed Chamber of the Gear Hold Dwarven Forge Dungeons , Mountains , Short Rubble Pile, Tall Rubble Pile, Dungeon Floor Pack A, Dungeon of Doom , and Master Maze Door

Architecturally, the Gear Hold is mostly made up of Dwarven Forge Dungeon and Dungeon of Doom components. The walls, floors, and the majority of the doors (the doors laying on the ground being resin Maze Master doors) The rubble pieces are from Dwarven Forge Mountains, Caverns, and Castle Builder sets.

Two Large Portcullis Doorways Pathfinder Battles Maze of Death Dressing: Portcullis

Portcullises? Portculli? A school of portcullis? A gaggle? Whatever the plural form may be, we’ve got two of these present in this encounter. This Pathfinder Dungeon Dressing is grand. I managed to snag one of these from none other than Erik Mona of Paizo Publishing, host of the annual Pathfinder-centric PaizoCon Miniature Trading Party. Thanks for the good trade Mr. Mona!

When I saw photos of this model before its release as part of the Maze of Death Pathfinder Battles set, I thought it would be much smaller than it is. Fortunately, Paizo made sure to get this produced in a properly impressive size. As you can see, it fits seamlessly into Dwarven Forge setups. Given that nearly everything else in the terrain is Dwarven Forge, it feels like the use of this Pathfinder terrain was very deliberate. I wonder if Matthew Mercer had specific mechanics in mind for dropping the portcullis onto the Clockwork Warden or blocking its path. Alternatively, he may have just liked how it looked, which is a cause I can definitely support!

The Monsters

Clockwork Warden War of the Dragon Queen #27 Cadaver Collector

I love the Cadaver Collector. I love the mini, I love the concept, I love the name. On that note, is cadaver collector an official title? Or is it more of an Eberron colloquialism? It sounds like a cutesy name to describe what is an otherwise ghastly construct. I will have to check with my D&D group’s resident Eberron expert.

To describe this monster I will quote myself, “[the cadaver collector is] a large golem covered with spikes that roams battlefields collecting corpses, one of its attacks involves grabbing enemies, swinging them about, and impaling them on the spikes along its back” (an attack sorely missing from the 5E version of this monster).

Based on the DM description of the Clockwork Warden, this is an excellent miniature pick. Beyond the overall general accuracy, the Cadaver Collector also fits the tone of the encounter and the encounter’s physical setting. This part of the Gear Hold is littered with charnel remains and this mini has bits of bodies hanging all over it. There’s even an intact dead humanoid splayed atop its shoulders. Very brutal, very death metal album cover, very Cannibal Corpse. It’s a miniature that is awe inspiring in its details and awfulness.

As good as this mini selection was however, it’s not perfect (was was remarked on by the cast). It’s such a tricky monster to portray with an existing prepainted mini. But if I were to propose a potential alternative, I would put forth the following options:

War of the Dragon Queen #07 Slaughterstone Eviscerator

For its mechanical appearance and frightening array of wicked weaponry Slaughterstone Eviscerator works fairly well. The bizarre insectoid legs keep it from being an ideal match. It does however have an overall curved shape which makes up for the presence of legs somewhat. Furthermore, Slaughterstone Eviscerator makes for a perfect thrash metal band or Kurt Vonnegut novel name.

Rise of the Runelords #057 Forgefiend

This mini is the right metallic color tone and shape. In addition, it has these great Willy Wonka blueberry vibes, that’s always a plus. The photo does not quite convey how round this miniature is. The ball design aligns nicely with the physical description of the Clockwork Warden. Alas, I worry that it is not intimidating enough.

As a third alternative, I have a very obscure pick that is nearly impossible to find because the Etsy store has been on break since 2015:

DUNGEONbitz SPIKED-HELLBALL TRAP!

A mechanical sphere, just about perfect. Too bad it was never mass produced. Hopefully DUNGEONbitz will return someday. I purchased this figure awhile back along with some of their other great trap models. In general, we need more traps in the prepainted market. If you’re going to kill a character with a trap, best to have a miniature to properly set the mood. 

Closing Remarks

Excited to see the new studio when the show returns from their brief break. I am hoping that there will be space on the new set for a cache of auxiliary miniatures in the event of unexpected combat encounters or perhaps a whole wing constructed out of Dwarven Forge.

#criticalroleminiaturerollout

[jazzworldquest-blog]

World Music Mix: The Tiptons Sax Quartet(USA)-Wabi Sabi

 The Tiptons Sax Quartet(USA)-Wabi Sabi

Composer: The Tiptons Sax QuartetAlbum:Wabi Sabi(2021)Label:Sowiesound Records

For over three decades, THE TIPTONS SAXOPHONE QUARTET & DRUMS have been making music to galvanize the senses and take listeners through unforgettable soundscapes. But in that time, they’ve been around the block enough to know to appreciate the unexpected ways in which the process of making good music can sometimes unfold. So rather than bemoaning what is not perfect in a perfect world, they’ve learned as improvisers how to work with limited resources or unforeseen challenges.That is the spirit behind the band’s new single “Wabi Sabi” (out Feb 19, 2021) inspired by and named after the Japanese philosophy that translates roughly as “find beauty and take pleasure in the imperfect”. The track promises a forthcoming collection of new music to illustrate the sometimes unexpected beauty in our chaotic world.The Tiptons’ 14th album Wabi Sabi (to be released April 2, 2021 on Sowiesound Records) features eleven new compositions for saxophone, voice, and drums that explore styles ranging from modern emanations of traditional African American field hollers to the hum of tires on the Autobahn, tricks for the mind, a yodeling deconstruction, popping funk for December’s doldrums, and upbeat grooves for bad people with good intentions.With this latest release, the internationally renowned all-female saxophone quartet with drums is celebrating over 30 years as a band. Founding members/co-leaders Amy Denio (alto sax, clarinet, voice) and Jessica Lurie (soprano/alto/tenor sax, voice), are joined by Sue Orfield (tenor sax, voice), Tina Richerson (baritone sax, voice), and Robert Kainar of Salzburg, Austria on drums and percussion.As a testament to the human willpower to survive obstacles when on a determined creative path, the band takes its name in honor of trailblazing transgender saxophone icon Billy Tipton. Born female and named ‘Dorothy Lucille’, Billy took on their brother’s name, choosing to live their life as a man in order to embrace their chosen identity and pursue a career in music as an instrumentalist in a heavily male-dominated field.The all-women sax quartet had originally been going by the moniker Phlegm Fatale until they learned about the death of the tenacious musician and booking agent in 1989. The band asked Tipton’s family for permission to use their name, and with the family’s blessing, re-named their sax quartet in honor of the artist. At first, calling themselves the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, the group later expanded their repertoire and eventually shortened their name to ‘The Tiptons Sax Quartet’.”“We started as an all women’s saxophone quartet back then because there really just weren’t any,” says Denio. “And as saxophone players, we loved the idea of getting more play-time because in typical bands sax players often have to wait around for very restrained participation.As the group developed, we began to experiment more with working out our own arrangements, and that in turn evolved into us writing our own compositions.”Those out-of-the-box origins and their comfort with evolving and reinventing themselves over time are both indicative of elements that really bring charm to the band: that they are a truly diverse group of individuals, composers, and musicians. The individual members of the band are all interested in disparate traditions of world music, have different tastes, and very different styles of playing, making what they do together that much richer. Another unusual aspect of the group is their incorporation of the human voice into the band. Most saxophone quartets don’t sing, but the Tiptons love singing. “All sax all the time can get tedious,” says Denio. “And I think that’s why we added drums later too, adding a groove to inspire different colors and add dynamic. We’re always interested in expanding our sphere.”This unique admixture of influences and dynamics has resulted in an expansive catalog of Tiptons material, ranging from micro-Big Band to Gospel, Bluegrass to Balkan, whimsical Chamber Jazz, and nocturnal Funk to Free Jazz Improvisation. Using saxophones, clarinet, their own voices, drums, and inventive percussion, the band creates a genre-busting ‘world soul’ sound. That sound achieves new creative heights on Wabi Sabi.“December’s Dance,” a Bebop number composed and arranged by Tipton’s baritone player Tina Richerson, shows off a compelling funk groove layered with acrobatic horn lines, propelling forward into reflection, soloist expression, and a surprise ending. The track goes a long way in defining the Tiptons as a powerful groove band, able to play complex music with difficult melodies, yet making it fun and danceable rather than something that has the feel of an intellectual exercise.Literally translated as ‘the large urinator, “El Gran Orinador” is written and arranged by Amy Denio as a Latin-tinged composition inspired by Pablo Neruda’s poem about a crazy rainstorm.. Somewhere between a Mosambique or possibly a Songo, the song can only be described as truly Tiptonesque! In a rare opportunity to improvise on a studio recording, the track features a free section in the middle where the band improvises the sound and fury of a storm using unusual saxophone techniques such as breathing through to make wind sounds and moving fingers on keys without playing to emulate the sound of raindrops.“Working Song,” composed and arranged by Sue Orfield is inspired by traditional field hollers, a type of work song created by African-American slaves working on cotton plantations, not meant to keep a strict rhythm with the work, but to express the feelings of the workers.“Torquing of the Spheres,” a composition by Jessica Lurie, is based on the safe yet Kerouacian maneuverings of the band’s Austrian driver Robert driver. The song describes a point in the middle of a European tour when everyone was exhausted, zoning out napping in the car. And all of a sudden, the band was awakened to the sounds of Robert intermittently speeding up, slowing down, moving off and onto the rumble strip on the side of the highway. He was amazingly playing the Autobahn like an instrument to the Tioptons’ inspired awe.“For us, Wabi Sabi is the very richest array of compositions that we’ve done thus far,” notes Denio. “The compositions are super-refined, showing that all of us have really matured as composers. And technically as players were, we’re really out shining what we’ve done in the past. I like to say it’s a trifecta: it’s great compositions, really, really strong playing …and this all came together in a really inspiring environment.” …’Thanks to a successful crowd-funding campaign, the Tiptons Sax Quartet met in Seattle in January 2020 to rehearse, perform and record the 11 brand new songs just ahead of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that would soon put a death grip on much of the music industry. The band only had a couple of days to rehearse before a trial by fire, doing several live radio broadcasts and performing concerts with the new material before heading to Seattle’s Studio LITHO, owned by Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, to work with the Tipton’s favorite recording and mixing engineer Floyd Reitsma.Meanwhile, one by one, the band members came down with the worst case of the flu imaginable right in the midst of recording, often having to lie down in between takes. Yet, the band persevered and somehow managed to record everything in three days before sending the mix off to be mastered by Rachel Field at Resonant Mastering in Seattle.“That’s how we roll and that’s the beauty of this group. We all bring our own unique contributions and ideas to the unknown; we improvise and songs tend to mutate and evolve through the experience. It’s always a super labor-intensive effort. But in the end, you get this vital, live feeling. It’s really is, basically, a live album with very few overdubs”

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