#i love music that sounds like shit

[heilos]

have you ever heard of starset? space is one of the main themes of their music in a way that i haven't seen any other artist ever do before!

Oh my god do I know Starset? DO I KNOW STARSET? I FUCKING LOVE STARSET

I HAVE SO MANY FAVS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY PLEASE ANYONE WHO SEES THIS POST LISTEN TO STARSET IF YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THEIR SONGS BEFORE THEY'RE SO GOOD

[ash-and-starlight]

i loveee musicians changing their style i loveee trying out new things i love versatility i love range i love the ever changing nature of music and creativity. except when they do things i don’t like. explode.

[rexscanonwife]

Lord help me I'm stepping back into my Aran phase 🙏 right now I'm thinking about an AU where my s/i is a lounge singer in the 1920s-30s that Aran is infatuated with. Only problem is that he doesn't have a penny to his name, so he does the logical thing and joins an underground bareknuckle boxing ring to make some extra cash, where he quickly becomes a well known and feared contender

I haven't done too much with the AU yet story-wise but I'm hoping to flesh it out more soon!

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

always impressed and a little scared by people who can know whether they like an album after listening to it just once. for me the first 3-4 listens just sound like a confusing mix of random noises until either it clicks and becomes the best music ever made or i realise idgaf

[sugaggukkie]

Back from the dead for more kpop opinions no one asked for but I have to share: Le Sserafim at Coachella edition:

You would think the way people online were talking about this set, the girlies went on stage and BOMBED. I was prepared to watch the worst live set I’ve ever seen. INSTEAD. It was so fun?????? Like incredibly undeniably extremely super fucking FUN!!!!!!!!!! I literally can’t believe the shit yall say on dolly parton’s internet about this group.

Firstly. Since the SECOND I got into kpop all I have seen is endless debate on the overuse of lip syncing and vocal smoothing and loud backtracks etc etc etc and I have always always always been on the side, as someone who has seen quite literally hundreds of live sets, of LIVE. VOCALS. I want to hear breathing I want to hear cracks I want to hear imperfections I want to hear actual singing from a real live person standing on stage. Were their vocals perfect? Obviously not. Were they still giving it their all, dancing at full energy, and putting on an insanely fun show???? YEAH GIRL. Not one person on planet earth bar beyonce can dance at that level and give absolutely flawless vocals and for the energy they were expending the vocals still sounded fine and most importantly, conveyed the emotion of the set they were going for. It was high energy! It was hot and fun! It was a party! Of course they’re going to yell and scream and hype up the crowd and run around, THANK GOD THEY DID.

Secondly, if I had watched it and the crowd hated it and the energy was bad and everything was awkward and weird that’d be one thing. But the ENTIRE time everyone in the crowd was losing their minds, screaming the girls’ names, and SINGING ALONG!!!!!!!! The energy was so good and fun and you could tell everyone there was having a blast which in my opinion is the absolute 100% nonnegotiable most important part of a live set.

Thirdly, I’ve watched all of their encores, other live stages by them, and I feel like I know what they sound like live in general and this was actually truly leagues better than they’ve been in the past and that wasn’t because their vocals were worlds better, they were definitely improved but not by like A TON. what actually made this their best performance I’ve ever seen was how fucking fun the entire set was and how you could tell what they practiced was their actual stage presence and the show they put on and it PAID OFF!!!!!!!!!! The entire thing was just so enjoyable to watch and I truly didn’t want it to end because you could tell they were having so much fun and really working the crowd.

My favorite parts were eve psyche in English, the bit about going out for a drink but then realizing eunchae and kazhua are underage, the live band, THE NEW SONG!!!!!! WHERE THE HECK IS SAKI!!!!!! and of course “Coachella shake some fucking ass”

In conclusion, you guys don’t go to enough live shows, don’t know anything about what makes a performance good, love to be miserable, and hate having fun. I on the other hand, who love to have fun, love talented young ladies putting on a great show, and love live music for all its flaws and imperfections, had an absolute blast watching this set.

[maybeimamuppet]

OKAY MUPPETS IT IS TIIIIME FOR EZZYS OPINION HOUR

i saw the mean girls movie yesterday and i have THOUGHTS. spoilers below the cut but general thoughts up here

1. is it objectively not a super great movie? yes

2. is it my new favorite movie? yes

3. will i defend this movie tooth and nail from people who don’t like it just bc it’s a musical or bc they’re a 2004 purist? YES

4. did this movie make me feel so many conflicting emotions back to back i have now had a tummyache for 24 hours? YESSS

5. will i ever, ever, EVER IN MY LIFE forgive tina fey for the ending? no.

alright babes welcome to below the elementary school gym class parachute

last spoiler warning!!

these aren’t all in order and are most definitely not all the thoughts i had bc i have the memory storage of a flea and once an experience is over it is GONE FROM MY HEAD so this is the list of thoughts i struggled to put together when i got home lmao

overall thoughts:

it felt very gimmicky. the stage production felt gimmicky too but in a fun way, this was gimmicky in a way that kinda gave me a touch of the ick

it did not feel to me very much like a cohesive movie. it felt like browsing ig or tiktok and just seeing a hodgepodge of scenes stuck together. which is a cool idea but idk how well it worked in practice and i also don’t know if it was intentional.

this is not the word i’m looking for but in terms of personality they absolutely whitewashed all of the characters and i really don’t care for that. the visuals and the casting were so immaculate but in terms of personality they just made them all taste like unsweetened corn flakes.

i’m biased and didn’t care for most of the tweaks they made to the songs individually BUT i think they blended with each other more cohesively than they do in the stage production so that was cool. and i am able to understand why they made them more pop-esque than theatre-y it’s just not my personal vibe

it all felt very emma watson’s beauty and the beast. like. not deserving of much hate but also just not as good. it has its time and place but i still just. the changes they made were too much for me. that being said i am gonna be the #1 viewer whenever it’s released to streaming platforms was not kidding when i said this is a new favorite movie

the whole like. tiktok and iphone camera thing was an interesting??? idea. i really liked it for cautionary tale but the rest. i think it was a better idea than the way they executed it.

i miss do this thing!! i wish they had done like a mashup with it and the stupid with love reprise but i wasn’t mad at the reprise so ¯\_(���)_/¯

fourth wall break was real cringe!!

thoughts abt cady:

angourie is so cute!!!!!!! she has the perfect look for cady. her costumes were kinda yikes but physically she’s mwah chefs kiss perfection

cady is so viscerally autistic in this version and it is DELIGHTFUL

but again i feel like they took so much from her. in the show she’s this overexcited little bubbly (autistic again but still) thing and she’s naive and then it’s revealed she’s conniving and manipulative and has this serious dark streak in her. in the movie it felt like she was just. awkward and then straight to conniving and manipulative. it was interesting but i miss my little jumping bean i wish they had given her some more spice

this movie has turned me into a cadina shipper of THE HIGHEST ORDER i’m already writing a fic for them and i call diiiiibs nobody else do it i write slow /j

i honestly really liked what ifs. i didn’t enjoy it as much as it roars but i think for the screen and for angourie’s voice it was a better fit. and i think it blended better with the new versions of the songs than it roars would have. not mad at it and the staging of it was really cool

cady being the one with a single parent is so interesting to me!! idk why they did that but i think it’s interesting. makes me wonder what happened to her dad but also go mom!!! women in stem!!!

her relationship with the art freaks was so???? weird??? it seemed like damian was the only one who really wanted all of them to be friends. i love this version of janis and damian together but when they were with cady it was all just so BLAND. it didn’t really feel like she and janis were friends at all which is what’s supposed to make the betrayal sting so much

whatever they were aiming for with someone gets hurt they missed hard bc holy cadina batman that shits gay dude BUT THE STAGING WAS SO COOL with everyone like frozen and then they all kick back in all crazy with the music it was great

janis thoughts:

THEY FUCKING RUINED HEEEEEEEER

AULI’I WAS SO PERFECT SHE WAS SO CUTE AND HER OUTFITS ARE SO COOL BUT THEY JUST TOOK AWAY ALL OF HER PERSONALITY

janis is supposed to be spunky and angry and hurt and vengeful and quirky and out there and firey and she’s meant to HAVE GRIT GOTDANGIT but again she just felt so whitewashed. like here’s a vaguely leftist lesbian in ripped jeans and cool eyeshadow that’s janis right?? LIKE NO IT IS NOT

i’d rather be me, while it had a little less vocal oomph behind it than the stage show, was as transcendent as i hoped for and i got chills multiple times. also the comedic timing of the bus was immaculate and the sound it made made me cackle

i can’t tell how i feel about the new middle school incident. i think it takes so much of the pain out of it for janis which is meant to be her main motivator. she was not supposed to be KICKED OUT she was PULLED OUT but i do kind of like that they clearly made it where regina kissed a girl and liked it and freaked out and that was the catalyst for everything

i do not ship this version of cadnis and that to me is unforgivable. they have sooo little chemistry as friends let alone lovers i just can’t stand it. janis doesn’t ever even seem like she wants cady around. it seems so much like they took away what makes janis janis just to turn her into another catalyst for regina and cady’s stories

apex predator was fun!! i honestly like it being janis and damian singing it better than janis and cady i think it works better as a warning and stuff! and also the band in the tree made me laugh so hard. i’m glad cady had them as her tour guides but again that’s all it felt like they were to each other and i miss them being a little posse

REVENGE PARTYYYYYYUH. i thought the staging was really fucking weird?? like all the pastels and shit didn’t really fit i would’ve much preferred it to start like that and then have blood dripping down the walls or something when they’re talking ABOUT PEOPLES HEADS ON SPIKES. but musically it was my favorite of everything!! i’m so happy they put the original verse back i almost screamed out loud in the theater when i heard it!!!!!

i never thought i would say this but i wish they had not canonically made her a lesbian. i will never forgive tina fey for having her end up with that random girl. no shade to the girl, she’s gorgeous and i’m glad we got some on screen, good, healthy queer rep. but in my eyes that is absolutely just a cop out because they know people wanted her to end up with cady or regina. they’re spitting on us and saying “here have your fucking lesbian and enjoy it this is what you get” and expect us to be happy with it. i get so angry every time i think about it and it honestly kind of ruined the whole thing for me. i would rather she have ended up with kevin g again. or like. honestly damian romantically would’ve made more sense in a twisted fucked up way. i just absolutely hate how they handled that.

damian thoughts:

HE! WAS! PERFECT! i am a grey henson stan first and a human being second but by golly he might be my new favorite. comedic timing on point and the fact we barely get to hear him sing is a FELONY. he was delightful and i love him also we love black queer rep!!! fuck yeah!!!! his bit with the fan before id rather be me. sent me into the dang stratosphere i love him so much

ALSO HIS DATE AT RHE END WE LOVE THESTRE BOYYYYY!!! ugh so cute i love

regina thoughts:

HOW DID THEY MAKE HER SUCH A COWARD???? HOW DO YOU TAKE A CHARACTER WITH SO MUCH POWER AND FUCK HER UP THIS BAD???

again everything that’s a core tenet of her personality was removed. i wasn’t afraid of her which is a CRIME bc renee on broadway’s regina was TERRIFYING. she just felt like one of those girls that every hs has like 7 of. they’re a dime a dozen, they’re rich and hot shit and they know it but you don’t care what they do because you know they’ll be divorced and broke and probably fat at your 10 year reunion. it’s giving peaked in high school and not queen bee which is really sad honestly

it made cady seem so much more evil tho?? like regina seemed. hurt. and cady was still so gung ho about taking her down. and it made janis seem much more manipulative too. i don’t care for either of those things

her costumes were so weird??? half that shit regina would not touch with a ten foot pole but it’s renee and she would and she’s hot so i do not care. also this isn’t a criticism but her halloween costume was giving gargoyle more than angel lol

plastics thoughts:

gretchen again felt really reductive. she was all anxiety. not that gretchen isn’t that onstage but it just felt like that was her entire personality. but bebe was adorable and i loved what’s wrong with me she did a great job

avantika was DELIGHTFUL. i loved her so much more than i was expecting to she was the only one where i never had a moment like “i am watching people acting in a movie they are repeating written lines” it felt much more like fluid with her. 10/10 beautifully done to her

aaron thoughts:

HOW DID THEY MAKE HIM MORE BORING????? MY GOD

he was already the most redundant character in the whole goddamn thing and they somehow made him even more useless. he could’ve been removed from the movie entirely and it would’ve changed NOTHING. he is white bread if he was a spice he’d be flour. didn’t think it was possible to make him more that but by golly they did it

HOW DID HE AND CADY END UP TOGETHER HE HAS THE CHEMISTRY OF A BRICK WALL. she has so much more romantic fire and chemistry with regina this is some of the most comphet shit i’ve ever seen. it’s giving wicked levels of comphet like gooooddamn.

misc. thoughts:

THAT LINDSAY LOHAN CAMEO HAD ME OUTBOF MY SEAT I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING BUT IT WAS AMAZING also that “i don’t know your life” was mwah

MS NORBURY SND MR DUVALLLL WERE SO CUUUUUTE i squealed ngl i love them

overall like 7/10 good movie i’m angry about a whole bunch but this is also amazing i’m so glad we got this new content and i am definitely hyperfixating on it now. so not that different from my stage show opinions lol

[carcarrot]

having another one of my job-related crises

[syn4k]

also the noise cancelling in my noise cancelling headphones is fucking up. ive had these for two or three years now. time to start looking into getting new ones i guess

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Heavily encouraging y'all to send me songs to listen to (not necessarily for the gay porn writing playlist)

[hooked-on-elvis]

"If You Don't Come Back" (1973)

Recorded July 21, 1973 at Stax Studios, Memphis · Released on October 1, 1973 · Album: Raised On Rock

MUSICIANS Guitar: James Burton, Reggie Young, Charlie Hodge. Bass: Tommy Cogbill. Drums: Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Carrigan. Piano: Bobby Wood. Organ: Bobby Emmons. Vocals: Kathy Westmoreland, Mary (Jeannie) Greene, Mary Holladay, Ginger Holladay, J.D. Sumner & The Stamps. OVERDUBS Guitar: Dennis Linde

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"If You Don't Come Back" — LYRICS Songwriters: Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller (Woke up early in the morning) (What did the poor boy find) Well the car was gone and you were gone And I almost lost my mind If you don't come back (if you don't come back) Hum, if you don't come back today (if you don't come back today) You can call up the people at the crazy house And take this crazy man away (He threw himself off a gas stone wall) (He tore his clothes out the door) I ran out on the street in my stocking feet Tell the police I've been robbed If you don't come back (if you don't come back) Hum, if you don't come back today (if you don't come back today) Well you can call up the people at the crazy house And take this crazy man away Mrs. Brown's been talking about me To the people across the street She said (I cooked that boy a pot full of stew, But the poor thing just won't eat) If you don't come back (if you don't come back) Hum, if you don't come back today (if you don't come back today) You can call up the people at the crazy house And take this crazy man away

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RECORDING SESSION Studio Sessions for RCA. July 20–25 1973: Stax Studios, Memphis On that first night Elvis left the studio after four hours, having recorded absolutely nothing. He arrived late again on the following night, his speech so slurred that he seemed scarcely awake. The sound of his voice on the session tapes makes it painfully evident that he had little interest in recording at all. Freddy Bienstock began by presenting a Leiber and Stoller number, “If You Don’t Come Back,” which he had secured under the new publishing arrangement, and Elvis barely managed to drag himself through five indistinguishable takes before Felton called him in to listen to the results. In the end the ninth take became the sorry-sounding master, devoid of anything like fire or enthusiasm. Excerpt: "Elvis Presley, A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

Elvis Presley at Stax Studios in Memphis, July 1973.

In order to understand better what was going on in Elvis' life at the time the first Stax recording session was held in July 1973, let's get some facts on his life during that year.

1973 RECORDING SESSIONS (BACKGROUND STORY)

The Aloha From Hawaii concert (January 1973) demanded a lot of energy from Elvis. Once it was over he was very tired due to all the months of preparation for this huge concert to which, for example, he went through an extremely restrictive diet to get in a good shape and, to make matters worse, couldn't get enough rest at night either; but things would get even worse in the following months with a very busy schedule ahead.

Following the Aloha From Hawaii was a four-weeks engagement at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas (January 26 - February 23, 1973), to which Elvis missed several performances due to a bad case of laryngitis (he wasn't even supposed to be working, according to doctor's orders). After the Vegas engagement Elvis had a mini tour in April (April 22 - April 30, 1973) when he performed in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado. Not enough, Elvis then had a two-weeks engagement scheduled at the Sahara Tahoe Hotel, Las Vegas (May 4th - May 20th 1973), to which some dates also had their concerts cancelled, allegedly due to the flu and a chest infection, and back on the road once more another mini-tour followed (June 20th - July 3rd 1973), with Elvis visiting cities in Alabama, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Other than demanding a lot of him physically at a moment his health was as delicate as it was, those concerts ended up being emotionally tiring for Elvis as well. Some of those concerts were highly criticized by the press, highlighting that, for example, Elvis had gained thirty pounds, looked puffy and white-faced, besides he was blinking against the stage lights during the shows (due to secondary glaucoma to which he had been diagnosed in March, 1971) and on top of that, the worst for the audience, his voice sounded weak and his performance lacked in enthusiasm. It wasn't the Elvis Presley everyone knew, loved and praised, and knowing about all that criticism must have felt disappointing to Elvis himself.

The origin for all those health problems, apart from physical exhaustion caused by pre-diagnosed health conditions, adding to unhealthy eating habits and not enough rest, was also emotional. Elvis' personal life was not in the best fitting. He was dating Linda Thompson since mid-1972 but in 1973 he was still dealing with the divorce procedures with Priscilla; the heartbreaking part of it all, what could've been affecting Elvis' mind the most, was worrying about what the divorce would cause to his daughter, Lisa. That can be supposed by a bad reaction to a song Elvis would cut at the Stax, "My Boy"; He showed his feelings about that song telling Felton Jarvis that he wanted it to be done in two takes tops. When asked to sing the song for the third time Elvis snapped at Felton (record producer), "I told you to get this goddamn thing in two takes. I can’t sing it no more." Elvis' divorce with Priscilla was only final on October 9, 1974.

As evident, Elvis was dealing with a lot in 1973. His choice of city for a recording session at that time was Memphis because he wasn't feeling specially excited with cutting records at that moment, let alone travelling to get to a studio in another city. The American Sound Studio's producer, Chips Moman, who had worked with Elvis in 1969, was no longer in Memphis, so the Stax and its crew was a fairly good alternative to them. The initial Stax recording session ended up being disappointing- with only seven songs getting a master approved to be released on the next album. With the lack of sufficient material for a new album after the July recording session at Stax, RCA managed to get their mobile-recording truck at Elvis' property for a home recording session at Elvis' home in Palm Spring (September 22-23, 1973) because Elvis was hesitating in going back to the studio one more time. The album Raised on Rock was finished after that home recording session, and it was released the following month (October 1973), but proved to be a failure in sales.

By December 1973 Elvis seemed to be feeling good again, at least good enough to go back to the studio for another recording session at Stax. He was in a better place physically and mentally by then. But as for the first recording session at Stax, that's the background story... things didn't worked that smoothly in that studio at first.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FURTHER INFO Vegas 1973 engagements (cancelled concerts)

LAS VEGAS HILTON — January 26 - February 23

Elvis was supposed to perform two concerts per night — a Dinner concert at 8:15pm and a Midnight concert at 12:00am) — with an exception for the opening night, with only one evening performance. From January 26 to February 23, 1973 for that Vegas engagement at the Hilton, Elvis performed every single night but the January 31st, with both concerts being cancelled. The other cancelled concerts were exclusively the Midnight concerts, with Elvis performing the dinner concert in those dates. The days the Midnight concert was cancelled were: February 1, February 6 and 7; February 13, 14 and 15.

SAHARA TAHOE — May 4th - May 20th 1973 (ended up sooner, on May 16th)

As for the Sahara Tahoe Hotel engagement (May 4th - May 20th 1973), the agreement was similar in schedule as for the shows at the Hilton — Dinner (in Sahara Tahoe at 10:00pm instead of 8:15pm) and Midnight (12:00am), with the opening night having one evening concert only. On that engagement there was also an additional show ("Mother’s Day" concert) at 3:00am on May 13, apart from the Dinner and Midnight usual concerts prior to this one (which was a benefit concert; the proceeds would go to Lake Tahoe’s Barton Memorial Hospital where Elvis' mother Gladys had once undergone surgery). From a two-weeks engagement, both concerts from May 17 to 20th, 1973 had to be cancelled (eight concerts).

Source: elvisconcerts.com, elvisinfonet.com, graceland.com; "Elvis Presley, A Life in Music: The Complete Recording Sessions" by Ernst Jorgensen.

[bandzboy]

this is honestly very upseting

[apllsauc]

you are my sunshine

[how-the-feathers-have-fallen]

Me, fighting tooth and nail against my irl friends who are sw*fties: yeah well, maybe I want my sad girl music to have a 3 minute guitar solo and distorted audio after the second verse of vaguely gay lyrics have you considered that ?!

[bmpmp3]

thank god for indie devs making like tiny little maximum 10 megabyte freeware games on itchio keeping the art of filesize optimization alive. ASSET REUSE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ratwars]

End of an era. I donated my instruments today.