#i just wanted to do something with radiohead lyrics sue me.

[malzanya]

You'll go to Hell / For what your dirty mind / Is thinking

[hinamie]

u should drop some songs that remind u of itafushi

GLADLY

haze, real cool, adonis - fv

haze: this fucking song feels like falling in love with your best friend to me. it feels like falling in love with your best friend who you’ve known forever and knowing that hoping for anything else is futile not out of a lack of reciprocity but because th world and circumstances are unforgiving. former vandal and lost youth go fucking hand in hand and it matches th doomed There's No Time To Love You Like I Want To nature of itfs SO well 

real cool: different flavour of falling in doomed love with your best friend. while haze was resigned and small town lonely real cool is saying fuck it let’s make the most of the time we have let’s go on adventures let’s love to spite our fates let’s repress the inevitable for as long as we can and it will sneak up on us in quiet moments but for now we’ll ride the high together

adonis: the odd one out in my itfs fv trio but the lyrics say it all. it’s just this is a boy that I Want and who wants me and this is us making out. he has a lip scar. plain and simple

honey - troye sivan

it's poppy and probably a niche pick so i can see if others do not share my vision but let me tell u the amount of times i have looped this song bc it is so megu pining over yuujicore to me is embarrassing. makes me think abt him agonizing over whether or not/how/when/where to confess and i EAT. also honey=yuuji is an easy association sue me.

radiohead - nightly

something about the 3 count something about the dark blue/black satin sheets on the album cover it makes me picture each of them sitting alone in their separate dorms Pining and i feel sick about it! the line ‘you’re lovely in ways that i just can’t explain’ echoes in my heart and i think of Longing i think of downcast eyes not quite able to look up i think of generally wanting More than this but not knowing how to ask for it

jesus christ 2005 god bless america - the 1975

similar to radiohead the melody feels like pure unadulterated Pining also the lyrics “I’m in love with a boy I know / But that's a feeling I can never show” make me want to tear my face off they make me think so much of the situation where each party is like “i’m fine with how things are i can be satisfied with just this” and it kills me dead i die

gold - crywolf

ohhhhmygod listen okay pls. pls. this whole song sounds like falling it sounds like time slowing down while memories fade in and out in a haze. it sounds like reunion it sounds like wind through grass in the winter when the drums hit and the tempo picks up it sounds like sun breaking over a crumbling cityscape it sounds like running to each other. but all that aside bro . bro the fucking. thfucking lyrics i cannot it makes me so genuinely upset. “Closer than my own heart / You beat in its place / Alone we lay / I’m so afraid of you / And the way that you want me” mr crywolf shut the fuck up right now.  “You were right / I was wrong / You shake my shoulders trying to wake me up / Good god, I've been so cold to you” MISTER CRYWOLF SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPPPPPPPPP

[dominique-mini]

i love music and torchwood so i'll just vent about songs that fit with jack and ianto (because they're my fixations and i just can't think about anything else)

jack and ianto dancing to Heroes by David Bowie and then the line "though nothing will keep us together, we can steal time... just for one day" comes up

when ianto is dying in children of earth (yeah im quite obsessed with this scene, sue me) When The Party's Over by Billie Eillish comes up. and as jack begs ianto to save his breath, the lines "tore my shirt to stop you bleeding, but nothing ever stops you leaving" come up (the whole song applies to jack's immortality vs ianto's mortality but this line just hits SO. HARD.)

let's be honest jack has done some truly TERRIBLE things and i bet he feels like a monster... but i think not when he's in love. i think his hard feelings about himself soften up whenever he's loving someone and has that person loving him back. So i really think of Perfect Day by Lou Reed and the lines "just a perfect day. you made me forget myself. i thought i was someone else... someone good"

and on this note: How Soon Is Now by The Smiths with the line "I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does" because no one can call him a monster besides him

AND EVEN FURTHER: Speedway by Morrissey. this one is just so much but i'll put some lines here (imagine writing something based on this song)

"all of the rumors keeping me grounded, i never said that they were completely unfounded"

"and all those lies: written lies, twisted lies... well, they weren't lies, they weren't lies, they weren't lies"

"i've always been true to you. in my own strange way, i've always been true to you. in my own sick way, i've always stayed true to you"

and Karma Police by Radiohead is THE PERFECT SONG for Cyberwoman. The lines "karma police. i've given all i can, it's not enough... i've given all i can" represents just the complete sense of hopelessness of ianto when losing lisa because he had given all he could, all he had to torchwood. and then "this is what you get when you mess with us" represents jack's inevitable roughness with dealing with the team. if ianto messed with the team, jack had to do something about it, he had no other choice.

and right after, No Surprises by Radiohead. "A heart that's full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you... Bruises that won't heal" perfectly encapsulates ianto's feelings, his bruises, after lisa dies. "I'll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide. No alarms and no surprises" because I bet he considered the idea of quitting Torchwood and being retconned. ianto hated his life before torchwood, but the feeling of being useless and not having a purpose hurted way less than losing lisa. So he wants to forget it all, take a quiet life, even though he would still be in pain anyway. No rift alarms and no surprises for him.

jack. and Lazzarus by David Bowie. I don't even have a specific line (maybe "I was looking for your ass". iconic.) because this song is just so him

and Garden by Pearl Jam when Ianto falls in love with jack because of "I will walk with my hands bound, I will walk with my face blood, I will walk with my shadow flag into your garden of stone" which means that ianto will walk to HELL with jack (and it also sounds a lot like wedding vows, if y'all will allow me to be poetic)

jack. When You Were Young by The Killers. He doesn't look a thing like Jesus but talks like a gentleman-----

AND THIS IS THE FLUFFIEST ONE: when ianto falls in love with jack and has the chance to heal from his traumas, has jack to wake him up at night whenever he's having a terrible nightmare, i think of Like A Child Again by The Mission because of the most beautiful lines "I'm not scared anymore, I'm not scared of the dark when I sleep with you" (no but seriously i actually cry when i think about this one too much). and since ianto had a goth phase i BET he listened to his song and cried so much as a teen (huhhh maybe i'm projecting, let's get to the next one)

and Ordinary World by Duran Duran that talks about losing a beloved one and basically seeing their ghost everywhere you go reminds me that jack felt so much pain after ianto died he couldn't bare to stay on earth. he could've moved to any other country, but the earth as a WHOLE reminded him of ianto. that was the power ianto had on him.

Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne when Jack goes away to the year that never was (ok that one was predictable)

Ianto is such a soft person and his way of loving must be so wholesome and this has nothing to do with the lyrics but I genuinely think Mary by Big Thief is the way Ianto loves. I can't explain but you'll hopefully understand it when you listen to the song. i think it's the musical equivalent of receiving a kiss on the forehead of someone you love very much.

I really have written a chapter where Ianto and Jack are talking about immortality and Ianto just fears death so much he asks "and if I die here now, wishing wells and magic spells and everything between, can you tell me what it's like? Or how it's going to be?" which are the last lines of How It's Going To Be by Gerard Way

this took a long time to write but I hope you enjoyed!!! I definitely want to know your thoughts about the songs in the comments

[jane-wei]

3am bordem

1 Favorite place to be?

A quiet cinema with a massive screen

2 Something I can never live without?

Water

3 Hobbies that I’ll never give up?

baking

4 Three words to describe me?

Proffestional, day dreamer, loyal

5 My biggest fear?

ebaressment

6 What makes me angry?

ignorance towards others

7 My inspiration?

creativity and passion of others

8 Favorite wild animal? Why?

any big cats, because they literally are just big cats

9 Favorite food?

pizza, always

10 First memory of life?

probably playing with lego and having my dad make me spaceships out of lego

11 The best advice I got?

write every day

12 Where do I see myself in 10 years?

hopfully own my own flat or house, maybe running my own production company, maybe acting in some plays

13 Books reading these days?

im not a big reader, but when i read i read loads, i must read DUNE soon

14 The fictional character I want to be?

Luke Skywalker

15 My hidden talents?

quiet farts

16 Favorite type of music?

electronic or classical, if its both at the same time its magic

17 When do I feel happy?

when things are going right for collegues or loved ones

18 Which song would I like to hear to be happy?

duran duran ordinary world

19 My favourite word in English?

surety

20 My favorite word in Spanish?

da nada, that count as two?

21 Top 3 things on my bucket list?

visit hobbiton, sky diving, meet mark hamill

22 The most heard song in 2017?

redbone by childish gambino

23 Last book you’ve read?

probably a comic book or an excerpt from a book on how to direct actors

24 Favorite quote?

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. 

J.R.R. Tolkien

25 If I had a superpower what would it be?

Creating objects, although that has a lot of responsibility, but it would end world hunger

26 Favorite sport?

rugby, its the only one id watch begining to end, but to play definatly badmington, brutal game

27 Biggest Dream?

be a jedi

28 Favorite Singer?

the chap who won x factor uk last year, Dalton Harris, that guy can create magic

29 Favourite Cusine?

italian

30 A positive quality about me?

I want to know what you have to say, i might get  nervous at the answer or speaking other people in general but im interested

31 A negative quality about me?

push down my self confidence

32 Best place I’ve visited?

brecon beacons in wales

33 When do I laugh the most?

when something is funny, but also breaking through social conventions in a dark kinda way, nothing insulting just a little dark here and there

34 When do I get creative?

when travelling, trains and buses are great, but only when i can see a wide vista, so trains goign through the countryside are ideal, or in a creative soace with othe rlike minded creatives. enough of creativity for now eh?

35 Favorite lyrics?

nothing overlly specific, but i like Plan B’s stuff, Radiohead always do somethign interesting, A Tribe Called Quest are geniuses with words

36 The most scary thing I’ve done?

confront people, its tough, especially when you know something has to be resolved by words and talking

37 Biggest accomplished achievement?

going to film school, something i thought was impossible for a working class lad like me

38 What am I horrible at?

not keeping healthy

39 Favorite book genres?

sci fi and fantasy for sure

40 Any adventurous thing I want to do?

travel

41 Something I would like to try?

sports, i feel that if i was encouraged at school in sports id be a real jockey

42 Optimistic or pessimistic?

depends on the day, optimistic is the goal, that way your always looking up

43 Favorite TV show host?

Mel and Sue, old school bake off

44 A talent I want to acquire?

playing the violin and anoy other musical instrument i can egt my hands on

45 Something from my childhood that I still have?

1 teddy bear and 1 fluffy teddy style cat, those are going to be family heirlooms

46 If I had a chance to change something what would it be?

death of family members, but you cant dwell on such things, itll drive you mad

47 What would I do to calm myself?

music and cleaning

48 When do you find yourself singing?

while out walking or home alone

49 What do I consider unforgivable?

any attack on others, physical, psycological, verbal, insinuated

50 Have I ever sleepwalked?

as a kid yes but not since, if i did id definatly wear some kind of body camera and find out where id go

51 If I got a chance to go somewhere, where will it be?

everywhere, every continant at least 5 times

52 What is my dream career?

feature film writer/director

53 An impossible wish?

a real lightsaber

54 Who is my greatest role model?

i like elders who are accepting of others and those who take great joy in heling others

55 If I could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?

does the U.S.S ENTERPRISE count?

56 Favorite song currently?

Tiny Dancer by Elton John

57 Advice to people?

try to be understanding of others, dont put yourself or your skills down, make every day count, give yourself some credit for what youve done so far, make sure you get a little tlc every now and again

58 How do you handle jetlag?

sleep

59 Describe your style?

nerd

60 Favorite makeup product?

i dont use any, but i do get asked if i use mascara, all natural

61 What’s a guilty pleasure you have?

early naughties action movies, Van Heling with Hugh Jackman the main culprit

62 Favorite Star Wars Character?

The crew of the Ghost, you could never pick one over the other

63 Any pet peeve?

laughs with high pitches

64 If you could die your hair, what color would it be?

red

65 What’s your schedule these days?

in need of a job so a lot of job hunting, school is 2 days a week(ish) got a few writing jobs so putting pen to paper, need to start learnig lines for a play in the summer

66 Have you ever cut your own hair?

only the fringe and i didnt think it was that bad but when i got into school EVERYONE laughed #embaressmentismykryptonite

67 Who’s your style icon?

my friend zach, simple gorgeous colors

68 Do you consider yourself a good liar?

if the lie is a simple one

69 Favorite movies as a child?

star wars, star trek, lord of the rings, predator which i watched way before i was supposed to, i was also in the spy kids generation

70 Last show you’ve binge watched?

star wars rebels and the eric andre show

71 First toy you’ve had?

probably my teddies, but i do remember having star wars actions figures and lego very early on

72 What can you see from your window?

a main road which many buses travel down, a bus stop, a residential row of houses leading to a park, a betting shop

73 What’s for dinner today?

my other half makes great tempe and gyoza

[tweetermixtapeclub]

“My “Best of 2016” Mix

Hey guys! ThingsFallAfart here (aka Kathleen).

For my first mixtape post, I’m cheating a little and sharing with you something I made back in February: my favorite songs of 2016. The notable exception here is anything from Lemonade, since that’s not available on Spotify. That might be a blessing, though, because I don’t think I could pick one song off that album anyway!

I also want to note that these are NOT in order of how much I like them, but rather I tried to make them flow into each other well.

1. “Identikit” by Radiohead. There’s a lot of baggage that comes along with being a Radiohead fan. I hate talking about them, because people tend to either think that they’re the new Beatles or that they’re overrated, both of which are boring opinions to me. I’m much more interested in how music makes me feel, physically, than in what Pitchfork thinks. And so, what I actually want to say: the layered voices in this song are so beautiful. And I love the echo-y effects. And I love how full and rich it sounds. I want to turn this up so loud and let it resonate in me. Do you know the feeling when a concert starts and you can feel the soundwaves in your chest? That’s the closest thing I have to religion, and this song does it for me.

2. “Jesus Alone” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. I don’t know if this is common knowledge for this particular audience, but Nick Cave’s teenaged son fell off a cliff and died in 2015 when they were recording this album. It’s such an unimaginable tragedy, and a lot of fans thought he would just be done with everything after that. But then they released this album, and it’s so haunting and tragic and grief-stricken, and it affected me almost as much as Blackstar did (which was a lot). I’m extremely attached to Nick Cave, and the droning guitars incite an almost meditative state in me.

3. “Father’s Child” by Michael Kiwanuka. This guy deserves to be huge. When the backup vocals and strings fill in the background of this song, my chest fills up. I love the dancey-soul beat and the way that he sings and the guitar work and the piano and the strings and the gospel-y backup singers. Talking about music is so hard! I’m trying to be more specific than “it sounds good”, but that’s, like, what music is, man.

4. “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)” by David Bowie. Were you affected by Bowie’s death? I was. I saw the news as soon as I woke up that day and collapsed into a sobbing heap. I’m one of the millions (billions?) of people who consider David Bowie to be one of the key elements of my identity. He changed the world. I couldn’t listen to this album for the first couple days he was gone, and then I listened to it every spare second for months, crying every time. Then I stopped crying, and I still kept listening. This album would’ve been one of the best albums I’ve heard even without the tragic circumstances. But it’s still inextricably bound to his death, and it will always make me sad, and I’m glad that we have this to remember him by. Why did I pick this track? I don’t know. They’re all perfect. This one got stuck in my head a lot. I love the driving beat and the minor key and the intensity behind “I kissed your face / I touched your face / Sue, goodbye”. Let’s move on to something less depressing!

5. “On the Level” by Leonard Cohen. Oh my god, come on. I’m sorry. 2016 sucked, you guys. So, here’s my Leonard Cohen journey: I have almost exclusively listened to his releases as an elderly man. I’m not very familiar with his actual hits. I’m very attached to the style he settled on as an old man, where he gravels his poetry with women singing gospel-type vocals behind him. His younger performances have those aspects, but he really leans into it the older he gets. If you like this track, I highly recommend his Live in London album from 2009. I like this particular song a lot. When I listen to it, I feel like he’s conspiratorially confessing to me at the beginning, and, when it takes off with the backing vocals, he’s practically joyful about his triumph over temptation. Leonard Cohen was an enormously important figure to me. His philosophy and spirituality and poetry have been my compass for many years.

6. “666 ʇ” by Bon Iver. Okay! Bon Iver! My husband hates him! He hates his high-pitched voice and the droning instrumentation! My husband is WRONG. I have loved every single Bon Iver release. This album is so weird and unexpected. Bon Iver has always had such a cool and unique sound, and with this album it got even cooler. The thing that binds together my musical taste is creativity, or, to be more specific, I like artists that get bored easily. I like artists who need to constantly change their sound. That willingness to experiment is, to me, a prime indication of talent. And also, related, I also get bored easily, so when I hear an album that surprises me, I fall in love. And I fell in love with 22, A Million.

7. “Sweet As Sweet Comes” by Robbie Fulks. Americana is a genre that I have trouble talking about. I love the country sound, with the focus on vocals and guitar and straightforward songwriting. I love the sound of Robbie Fulks’ voice. I want to see him live in a very small venue. This song makes me calm and happy.

8. “About to Find Out” by Margo Price. Okay, as much as Bowie and Cohen are part of my identity, classic country women like Loretta, Dolly, and Tammy are also integral to my life. I grew up on a farm in an extremely conservative county, and so, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve always been totally enamored by charming women using catchy songs and humor and incredible singing talent to lead a feminist revolt from inside the rural conservative culture. I genuinely believe that “The Pill” by Loretta Lynn is one of the most influential feminist works in American history. So I was thrilled to hear this album by Margo Price, who brings the same humor and talent and attitude to her music in what is clearly a direct homage to these incredible women (especially “Fist City”, which is one of the greatest songs of all time).

9. “Sun Don’t Shine” by Drive-By Truckers. I just saw these guys in concert, which I’ve been dying to do since Decoration Day in 2003, and they did not disappoint. This band splits the songwriting and lead vocals between Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, and I love them both, but Patterson (who sings this song) is my personal favorite. He has such an evocative voice, and his songwriting tends to speak to me in a personal way. These lyrics are more obscure than a lot of their songs, and this song is a simple expression of an emotion. If you listen to the entire album, which I highly recommend, this song serves as an intermission for an album full of angry protest songs about Tr*mp, gun violence, and police brutality. Every song on this album is incredible, but I chose this one because it... feels good to me.

10. “Call to Arms” by Sturgill Simpson. Oh man. Sturgill. I said earlier how much I like classic country, right? Metamodern Sounds is one of my very favorite albums, and the reason is a combo of incredible songs and the fact that he sounds like the son of Waylon and Merle. And THIS album? He took those incredible songs and that classic country sound and added in HORNS and DANCE BEATS and it is SO FUN! When he released his cover of “In Bloom” (which you should go listen to), I didn’t think it could get better. I listened to it over and over and over. And then this album came out, and oh my god, I went nuts. This song is so frantic and is like the epitome of what I want in a rock n’ roll song.

11. “The Three of Me” by William Bell. This is a really wonderful classic soul-sounding song. I’m so glad that the music industry is back into this sound again. Soul has never really gone away, but in recent years there’s definitely been a resurgence, which allows old-timers like William Bell to put out new stuff. I love the horns, I love the lyrics, I love the beat.

12. “The Ballad of the Costa Concordia” by Car Seat Headrest. I’m sure you all know how great this album is. This song is mildly operatic and super long and super rewarding. I can’t believe they used the ridiculous cruise chip crash as a metaphor for life. I can’t believe it. It should be so dumb, but instead it’s so so good. I love that this song has acts, like The Decemberists wrote something important and modern (I love The Decemberists, but I also like making gentle fun of them). I love when the song gets confused and angry and loud in the second half before launching into a driving rock beat. There’s a lot to be written about this song, and I can’t do it justice. There’s so much. It’s overwhelmingly dense and rich and incredible.

13. “Never Be Mine” by Angel Olsen. Haha, jgleduc already used this song on his mix! I like everything he said about this song: “[it] reminds me of a contemporary take on the songs the Beatles started to do on their own but still heavily under the influence of girl group, the staccato guitar chords, guitar effects, and drum rolls especially.” I love the retro sound of this song, and the whole album is really really amazing.

14. “Once More to See You” by Mitski. Another sort of retro-sounding song, like if Phil Spector produced Lykke Li. Did you know that you wanted that combination? Well, here it is. It sounds like it belongs in the Twin Peaks reboot, which is a guaranteed way for me to love a song.

15. “Close to You” by Frank Ocean. Everyone loves Frank Ocean! I spent months exclusively listening to Channel Orange when it came out, and I was one of those people complaining about how long he was taking to release the follow-up. Thank goodness Blond is AMAZING. I had trouble choosing what song to pick, but this one always stuck out to me a lot. I like that he hides behind the synths, and I like that it doesn’t resolve. It’s just this little fragment of a song that feels like a shard of his personality.

16. “Gods” by Maxwell. Oh man, I love Maxwell. His voice is absolutely beautiful, and this song has a beat that really gets me. I’m really picky about R&B, and this whole album is perfect to me.

17. “Unfamiliar” by Common. Maybe I talk to the wrong people, but I don’t think this album got enough attention. Common has had a couple duds in his career, but I think this album is as good as his classics, like Be. Like the Drive-By Truckers track above, this song is a brief respite on an album of intense protest songs. Maybe I indulge too much in escapism? Whatever, this is a great song.

18. “Mad” by Solange. There were so many Important Albums released in 2016. I think Solange’s was the most surprising, though. She’s always been really good, but this album is a genuine masterpiece. It’s personal and intelligent and creative and insightful and fun and an integral part of the conversation. Also, thank you, Solange, for giving us a really great Lil Wayne verse. Those are hard to come by. (Side note: I’m seeing Solange in concert in two days and I’m so frickin’ hyped.)

19. “Solid Wall of Sound” by A Tribe Called Quest. Okay, A of all, Q-Tip is one of my all-time favorite producers. B of all, this song features Busta, who is one of my all-time favorite rappers. C of all, Elton John recorded a new verse for them, and it brings me unending happiness when hip-hop artists get dad rock guys to contribute to their songs. This album is required listening, and I honestly feel privileged that I get to experience it.

20. “Thieves! (Screamed the Ghost)” by Run the Jewels. Killer Mike & El-P are such important figures in the world right now. I don’t know your political beliefs, reader, but I think that these two consistently release work that is intelligent and striking and crucial.

(via https://open.spotify.com/user/thingsfallafart/playlist/2jDBx6YGpy0GQsFCHMfhHb)

[splitshortsyeah]

Blu 'Her Favorite Colo(u)r'

-Matt Duelka

Nobody gets to where you need to go without someone there to show you the way. Anyone who tells you otherwise, well, fuck ‘em.

I had a dude, a guy, a mentor if you will, that saw some potential – as small as it may have been – and decided I was worth the trouble. I mean, I wasn’t. BUT NEVERTHELESS, HE PERSISTED.

It’s 2007 and I’m prepping for a radio show during my junior year of college – a classic rap song, some indie dude I came across that might be good, yeah that’s the stuff. I’m pretty oblivious to what’s trending and any artists that have gained traction amongst the internet’s graces – but I like what I know and that’s what I’m gonna play.

“You gotta play this tonight”

*Throws CD at me*

That’s the dude. Anything he said I took as gold, so I scratched a few songs I thought were slappers (they definitely weren’t) and scribbled the ‘Promo Only’ CD into my 2am to 4am set.

“Listen to it first. It’s all fire. This kid is gonna be a game changer.”

I got some time. So I loaded that disc into the 1997 boombox in the corner and began an impromptu lesson on rap.

“Bllllluuuuuuuuuu-uuuu-uuuuuuuuu”

Tuggle was my guy -- DJ Tuggle. First time I met him was when I went to go see about becoming a radio DJ. He said “I just did an interview with Method Man. Fuckin’ A, man.” A few weeks later I was sitting in the staff room, meeting all of the radio DJs. I told them my favorite rap album was Atmosphere’s ‘God Loves Ugly’. As stupid as that was, I think I earned some points for not just going with ‘Illmatic’ or ‘Ready to Die’. Many years and rap debates later I asked Tuggle to DJ my wedding. He asked “You sure?”. No one could have made that night better than he did.

“This kid is from LA. Could be the best rapper ever some day.” Maybe he didn’t say that. But he wanted to. Tuggle knew his shit.

I’m sitting in the staff room listening to ‘Below the Heavens’ by the rapper Blu (produced by another southern LA guy named Exile). FLOORED. Literally, jaw to the filthy, dusty, hasn’t-been-mopped-in-years ground. It wasn’t a typical west coast jawn, though. Exile learned by listening to LA-based Madlib, and Detroit’s King of Beats J Dilla. Blu found Exile while collabing with Aloe Blacc (who was in a group with Exile called Emanon). Blu has said to be influenced incredibly by Common – trying to be a calm and composed -- yet compassionate rapper. Exile saw him perform and loved the style – the two meshed. ‘Below the Heavens’, now, is a way to know if someone knows their shit about rap music. It’s a classic, should be a globally acclaimed masterpiece, but only the folks who know what’s up know how good this album is. So now I’m a Blu STAN, stalking his updates for any bites on new music. Singles and collabs here and there (‘Johnson&Johnson’ – a joint album with Mainframe -- was a solid taste to hold me over) but I needed a bigger plate of Blu to keep satiated.

[Quick break of the 4th wall – I may be cheating because the mixtape I am about to talk about actually came out in 2009 on Blu’s Myspace, but then eventually became an album sometime between 2010 and 2011. I can’t recall, but I wanted to write about it, so here I am, and here we are].

As one does on the internet, one gets lost in the searches, and ‘next’ and ‘next’ and you’re on page 14 with 9 tabs open at 3:30am and you don’t know why you haven’t given it a rest. But that’s when you most likely will come across gold. I can’t recall exactly, but it’s 2009 and I’m probably 10 Busch Beers in and there’s a link on a blog with not much to it.

‘Download BluHerFavoriteColour.mp3’. Sure. Let’s see what the dude is up to. Maybe it’s a new single, maybe he’s on a new track with Exile. Worth checking out.

[Download. Open. Check length] 31mins long. Huh. No tracks, no explanation. Just a 31min track drop at 3am on a Friday. Welp. Here it goes.

[7 plays through on loop later0.

Yeah. I have no idea what this is, but please, give me more.

Blu released ‘Her Favorite Colour’ on his Myspace. Just randomly threw out it there and, artistically, it was one of the inspirational things I had listened, or absorbed, in quite a while. Since ‘Below the Heavens’ had come out, Blu seemed to be evolving. As I mentioned, ‘Below the Heavens’ was a classic. But it was a rapper and a producer doing a thing really, really f’n well. All of Blu’s stuff after that seemed to want more. I compare it to what Phonte (Little Brother, Foreign Exchange) said about a lot of fans complaining that Foreign Exchange’s albums that followed their first one (‘Connected’) weren’t in any way the same, even though ‘Connected’ was also a classic album. Phonte basically said ‘Connected’ was what it was but they could never just do a ‘Connected 2’. They had to move on because they succeeded in what they wanted to do -- but in order to progress as artists, they needed to evolve themselves into something different musically (their future albums’ sound, he has said, is more of why they formed Foreign Exchange in the first place – not just to be a rapper and a producer, but more than that). Blu wanted to do more and ‘Her Favorite Colour’ was his foray into that.

Blu seemed to take sounds and techniques of producers he worked with, but also what he did mostly was want to emphasize his childhood in his music – utilizing gospel-esque sounds and old jazz with a lo-fi mood. At this point, we all knew Blu could rap, so this tape seemed to be a test in the waters of ‘why not?’…what did he have to lose?’

The tape was birthed not just from his inspirations and childhood tunes, but also from a severed relationship which I could only assume, but definitely have no sources to confirm, was the relationship consistently mentioned in ‘Below the Heavens’. Sucks it didn’t work out, but glad something positive could come out of it.

[Billie Holiday “Am I Blue” Horn Solo] “I used to have…”

As is with some other mixtapes, I originally expected some interesting but already very produced beats (maybe renditions of other popular rap) with just Blu rapping over them. But the cover art (or better yet, Thumbnail art?) spoke to me a little different. It was telling me this was something more than a 50 Cent type deal. And from the gun this tape had my eyes open and ears peeled to the speakers. You think you get the jest of what artists are gonna do – or what they should do in order to showcase talent and get you to listen to their jams. Even though this tape isn’t monumental, and the production value isn’t top tier, it takes a lot to be SURPRISED these days, and this was something that even Left Field didn’t have on their radar.

I have to admit, it took me a few days of constant listening to even UNDERSTAND what the tape was. There were no tracks, I couldn’t tell if there were interludes or parts of songs. You couldn’t, and still can’t, pull a few minutes from that tape and try to sell it as a single, or “Hey give this a listen what do you think?” It’s 31mins or bust.

Sure, I’ve probably hyped this tape up to ‘Da Drought 3’ levels, so sue me. But it made an impact for numerous reasons. The first would be the simplicity of it all. Blu took old era jazz, and instead of turboing up a Thelonious Monk piano riff, he cut and lo-fi’d the hell out of it. But I was still sitting in the jazz club. And it was me and the 30 others who were rifling the internet for something different. I’ve got a cheap gin martini, cigarette smoke everywhere. That’s the vibe. Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald HAUNTED this tape. Their voices eerily present – I can feel it in my bones. But it’s not sad. Like, I’m not in my feelings. There’s a definite broken heart involved, but nobody is crying.

“Goooood Moorrrrrning…”

Ella’s sample on “Morning” is most memorable for me. The voice is great, but it’s not 100% the main reason why the sample and track stand out. More so because of how the music and how Blu splices movie dialogue over it – they juxtapose each other so well. And the fact that there is nothing BUT movie dialogue – but we will get into this one a little deeper in a little bit.

My favorite sample – well co-favorite —is Astrud Gillberto’s “Corcovado”’s sample on “Silent”. It’s 35 seconds long, no rapping, but the IDEA of what this track could become is what makes it incredible. I can imagine a 4 and a half minute SLAPPER of a track and I git GIDDY. Nothing about the 35 seconds should scream at you, BANGER, but to me, it’s a lovely and jarring coupla cuts of Gillberto’s voice, the piano is perfect, but the MVP is what I believe to be in-between breaths that Blu spliced in, very specifically. It’s flawless.

PHEW.

The other sample that shares high honors for a COMPLETELY different reason is Radiohead’s “You and Whose Army” on “Untitled(Loveu)2”. It’s mainly because – WHY THE FUCK IS BLU FLIPPING, LITERALLY FLIPPING, A RADIOHEAD TRACK. The answer is, because he fucking can. The lyrics on this one are split into 2 entirely different thoughts yet sewn together quite nicely. At first he’s LITERALLY explaining why he’s making this tape, and what you should be expecting from him (in comparison to other rappers).

“I plotted, planned it for a year or so Hoping folks hear Below And see I'm not the same as Lil Wayne They say I bond with the spiritual But hollar if you hear me though”

He also jumps in on his breakup, which is the MAIN arching theme of this tape – giving him an outlet to get what needs to off his chest. This “track” is also located towards the end of the 31mins so it could be a wrap up of everything he’s been talking about and what he wants everyone to know moving forward.

You can listen to this 30, 40, 50 times (which I did for the first 3 days) and you can solely enjoy the smooth offerings of the musical interpretations that Blu is delivering without focusing on the other things. To be honest, this tape was one of the first recordings where I actively searched for the samples used because they were so blatant, but also so alluring. It’s become quite the pastime over the last 10 years, and I HIGHLY recommend playing this game with all of your friends. I also am able to SEE the samples in these, and imagine CREATING the finished product, and get so inspired by it. If I ever dove into music production, I’d have this tape as my blueprint for what I’d want to create. I’ve never been as jealous of a recording as I was this one. Nothing too fancy, but able to alter the sound just enough to create a new atmosphere around it.

At some point, though, you need to stop and focus on the other, maybe MORE, interesting aspect of this tape (MORE!?!?!). Blu not only samples some stellar jazz tunes, but he also splices in movie clips from some fairly middle of the pack independent flicks that just you make say “Of course he did.” There was no Scarface, no Godfather clips. Pitfork said it best in their review – “Blu seems like the kind of rapper who’s really proud of his DVD collection.” I’m talking Punch Drunk Love, The Life Aquatic, and the best one in there was from Closer (best maybe isn’t the BEST word for this…).

Oh man.

I teased it earlier, but needed to time to warm up into discussing this. If you’ve never seen the movie ‘Closer” I highly recommend you do it. But not because the movie is that good (I actually don’t remember how good it was. It was probably okay. I saw it in the theatres while in High School. Maybe I was in over my head), but because this would make a lot more sense. On the track “Morning”, right after Ella welcomes us, if you didn’t know the movie, you’re immediately hit with an incredibly vulgar-for-no-reason interlude that lasts way way too long. If you did know the movie, you immediately know you’re knee deep in a vital part of Clive Owen and Julia Roberts’ relationship issues (maybe similar to Blu’s? I hope not). I was floored that a young rapper from LA decided this, THIS was the clip needed for his tape.

If you didn’t want to be happy for 2 hours, I’m sure you can find time to watch the flick, but otherwise this part of the 31min tape does hit a big plot point – and is easily the most memorable “track” for no other reason than you have to cringe the entire few minutes (yes, this goes on for minutes) the two are jawin’ at each other. Just haymakers at each other right smack dab in the middle of the tape. If it’s your first listen, it’s hard to get through, but as soon as you get used to it, you start to get the popcorn ready and await a Ali/Forman-size rumble. But, make sure you’re by yourself, because if your wife or in-laws are around, you’ll definitely regret it.

“It tastes like you, but sweeter.”

“What in the HELL are you LISTENING to?!?”

The marriage of the samples from both the music and movies really opened my eyes to what is possible out there. I mean, Blu took this project on his own, without any funding or help from others, and just put it out there for everyone to see – “hey, I know I can rap, I know that shit was dope. But look at this. I can do it all.” I was a 22 year old when this first entered my life, and I was trying to figure out how I could bring unique, fun, and meaningful content into this world. This project was something I looked up to – even to this day – and I don’t mean “I’m gonna splice up some movie quotes and samples and send it out like he did.” More like, I can try something a little weird and a little unconventional with the talents I have and see if the world takes it.

And to anyone telling me none of this is revolutionary – I get it. The ground didn’t shake, and oceans didn’t part when this was dropped. But it hit me, it was like a whack on the funny bone and I’m sure it did the same to others too. But if someone wants to splice some movie clips on eerie jazz lady vocals and lo-fi that shit up – HIT ME WITH IT, I’M OPEN. I’LL EAT THAT UP ALL DAY.

It’s been 10 years, maybe 11. And I have to admit that I haven’t been able to push myself to doing that thing that this SHOULD have inspired me to do. I don’t know what my version of “Her Favorite Colour” is but I’m not afraid to keep looking. I cheated my way into writing about this for a reason. Accountability is key. I feel like Blu held himself accountable to become more than just that dude that rapped on ‘Below the Heavens’. I’m gonna be more than some dude who wrote this.