#i need more orchestral percussion

[a-very-cute-snake]

shoutout to the percussion in the TF2 soundtrack

[read-write-thrive]

inspired by my last post on dead boy detectives high school AU: obligatory band kid AU (and it ended up v long so buckle up)

instrumentation/roles:

edwin: if we’re talking still in his shell edwin, he’s an oboe/bassoon player. if we’re talking out of his shell edwin, he’s a French horn player. either way he is 100% first chair but will only accept the section leader title if there’s no one else in his section, he is not about to deal with marching band any more than he has to. he aces competitions and the like when he’s on his own, but rarely has the patience for ensemble work. his parents started him on his instrument younger than his peers so it makes sense he’s so good, but his ego is mostly separate from that—he’s just like that. he’s in the main/symphonic band, marching band with some hesitation, orchestra, and chamber/honors band

charles: while you could say almost any brass/low woodwind instrument and I would say fair enough, I personally think he’s a trumpet player. he does sports so he is often running back and forth on practice/game days but wouldn’t trade it for anything. he’s probably not first chair, or at least isn’t until his later years since he/his parents prioritise sports, he 100% would love being a section leader!! he fits the loud trumpet stereotype but is one of the few that’re complete sweethearts (as long as you keep him away from some of the more toxic dudes, he can get a little swept up in it from time to time, but luckily he figures it all out by the time he graduates). he doesn’t do competitions or any of the fancy stuff since he has obligations with sports, but it sometimes makes him sad that his friends are so good at his instruments while he’s juggling this other stuff and can’t match their level. he’s in the main band, marching, and jazz band in the spring semester

crystal: she’s a saxophone girlie 100%. she can play any of them if pushed, but she tends towards alto sax during marching season and tenor/baritone during the off season depending on the piece’s/concert’s needs. she kept up with some of the more toxic upper woodwind/percussion players in her mean girl era but she’s since come to her senses and avoids them whenever possible. she could be first chair and section leader if she wanted, she’s good enough (parents definitely put her in lessons) and charismatic enough, but she’s not enthusiastic about either position and often purposefully dodges the extra responsibilities. likewise, she’s not interested in separate awards or competitions or anything like that (though I think she also tried it her first semester, like orchestra, to try to get her parents’ attention—when it didn’t work, she dropped it). I can see freshman being simultaneously terrified of and crushing on her. she’s in the main band, marching, and jazz band, though she tried orchestrating for a semester before deciding it was not her vibe

niko: I see her as a violin/strings player who then switches to flute for symphonic/marching band, especially since she’s an international student. I don’t think she gets along super well with the other flute/violin players, so she’s glad to make friends with the group. she’s taken lessons for both violin and flute, but violin was mainly when she was a kid and flute was to help her catch up to everyone else. she does competitions and such mainly so she can get out of classes and hang out with her friends, but tries her best to do well without taking away from her other activities/free time. her instrument cases are COVERED in stickers. she’s super nice to the younger years but they stop talking with her much once they find their friend groups, which always makes her sad. she’s the type to be a “band mom” to an underclassman once one sticks around, but it takes until her senior year for that to happen. she’s in the main band, marching band (again, more to hang out with her friends than for any enthusiasm in the competition), and orchestra to get a chance to play the violin

monty: that boy plays the clarinet argue with the wall. he has his shy moments but also his outspoken moments, just depends on the people involved. he was never in lessons but definitely practices more than your average person. he’s the one to always be in a practice room, either actually practicing or giving people readings, to the extent that there’s a practice room that’s unofficially his (including him scratching/writing his name somewhere before he graduates). he’s perpetually second chair, and secretly would like to be section leader but is just enough of a people pleaser that it never happens (either by him giving it to someone else or the director doesn’t give him the position). he’s in symphonic, marching, orchestra and chamber

thomas/the cat king: so I think he’s a percussionist as his mood can be a little all over the place and hard to read, so I think the variety of percussion suits him. plus the putting on a persona thing just screams percussionist to me. if he isn’t the one dealing himself he 100% has an in with the local dealer (which ig isn’t band related but the percussionists were the dealers/stoners in my band so). he isn’t first chair by any means but he is 100% the section leader of the pit (I cannot see him marching). I think he’s also one of those guys who tends to date underclassmen which concerns literally everyone and breaks a few hearts but is ultimately harmless if a bit of a dick (said with love). he’s in the main, marching, and jazz bands

jenny: was a stellar saxophonist in her time, graduated a few years ago but comes back to help with marching band over the summers/eventually decides to become a band director herself and student teaches during the gang’s senior year. when she was in school she did every ensemble available, which honestly intimidated most of her peers (barring the sapphics bc she 100% had everyone crushing on her, dated quite a few of them too). she’s a great band director once she learns more on how to deal with the inevitable students breaking down in your office on random lunch periods

esther: monty’s mom but refuses to be part of any band parent organization. will occasionally show up to concerts, but if you talk to her she somehow makes it all about her. at some point she gets in trouble with her concerning relationships with minor girls and as a result can’t go to school functions, which monty doesn’t talk about to really anyone but secretly is glad about. she never played any instruments and openly calls monty a nerd for enjoying band

the night nurse: I’m sticking with her as an assistant principal/in charge of attendance/some cog in the bureaucratic system. the band kids are all too familiar with her as they’re often incorrectly marked absent when they go to band practice during lunch/free periods, so getting called down to her office happens to everyone sooner or later. during the gang’s senior year she’s assigned to be directly in charge of the band (for whatever reason idk) which has her suddenly showing up to games and concerts. no one really likes this but they eventually warm to her. she tried the flute once when she was in school but wasn’t good right away so she decided it wasn’t for her

tragic mick: I’m again sticking to custodian but specifically the custodian that’s in charge of the practice field/band rooms/etc and is as such a beloved if cryptic figure in the greater band family. he played the tuba when he was in school but when asked says it’s been far too long to remember anything about it

kashi: hear me out, Kashi as the band director goes hard. like he’s eccentric, always has a grand story to tell, and is simultaneously good at making you laugh and at giving advice. his main instrument is something weird like the soprano saxophone or the euphonium or flugelhorn or harp, but as band director he’s learned most of not all of the instruments in the band over the course of his career

david the demon: percussionist. I take back what I said about the cat king dealing, david is 100% the sketchy dealer of the band. Is also older than the gang. was in the main and marching band but that’s it.

Lilith: superintendent. cryptid type figure. is the one responsible for the shit that goes down with Esther. showed up to exactly one concert and everyone is still losing their mind over seeing her in the flesh

I cannot remember her name but the lady who ran the gift shop: the choir director/theater teacher/eccentric English teacher. well known by the band kid population but not directly involved

the finality or whatever that character is called: prinicpal. directly in charge of the night nurse. surprisingly agreeable for how much bs/cruelty she oversees. her coming in right at the end of the series echoes her showing up to graduation and that’s it for out side of school hours

the ghost mail carrier: he mans the front office desk. will deliver messages over the intercom that always make people jump

extra info/plot points in a fic i doubt I’ll actually write:

monty and edwin get close after being sat near each other in orchestra and then working together during a chamber piece

thomas/the cat king is also older than the main gang. edwin is one of the underclassmen he cozies up to, but edwin never actually dates him

the charles and edwin dream duo imo is charles on trumpet say behind edwin on French horn, with both of them constantly making little comments just to make the other laugh/roll their eyes/react during practice/rehearsal. their senior year they end up being co-section leaders of upper brass but only after some serious begging on charles’s part

crystal has a major crush on jenny at one point

not a single person can stand esther finch, to the point that Kashi slips monty some flyers on different help resources and the other kids all let monty crash at different points when she’s angry

it’s at one point revealed that thomas/the cat king’s parents aren’t in the picture for some traumatic reason and he’s being raised by his grandparent(s), which most people accept as justification for his iffy behavior (it isn’t, for the record, but ive seen this situation happen exactly twice over in my band career and it lines up with him too well not to include)

crystal and charles date for a time and are the band’s it couple when they do. a handful of people don’t like it, but it’s mainly bc they’re jealous they missed their chance with one of the other ( cough edwin cough ) but it doesn’t end up lasting

david and crystal date when he’s a senior and she’s a freshman and it’s BAD. like she’s partaking in drugs she doesn’t fully understand and he’s enabling it/actively supplying it. it’s ultimately jenny who notices the spiral and talks some sense into crystal/gives her a semi-relatable authority figure to lean on. aforementioned crush happens during the chaotic period during/immediately following this. david stays in town and still deals post-graduation, so he shows up to high school parties and without fail creeps on crystal if she’s around. as such she starts avoiding parties, which is the final mail in the coffin of her mean girl era, leading to her befriending charles and niko (and eventually edwin) and made part of the gang

there’s a running joke/conspiracy theory that Kashi and the night nurse are in love with each other. it has been used to embarrass freshmen several times over the years. the night nurse actively denies it but kashi keeps it vague just for the fun of it

at one point when charles and crystal are dating and the four of them are already friends, someone starts a rumour/starts suggesting that niko and edwin should pair up. edwin isn’t openly out but his friends all know so they laugh about it (I also hc niko as aroace for a multitude of reasons i won’t get into here but I think that adds to the humor of it all)

when the band plays for a sport that Charles is on the team for they all go WILD when he’s mentioned by the announcer/scores/what have you. to the extent that there a specific chant/riff/cadence/whatever they start playing specifically for him. this eventually gets them in trouble on some big championship game and the band only stops/does it quieter so that charles doesn’t get in trouble over it

charles had a letterman’s jacket that he adds his band letter to (as well as some diying with pins and patches and such to make it more his style). he uses offering it as a way to flirt/show off his partner(s). it is very effective (to the chagrin of some of those partners who wouldn’t otherwise be caught dead in a letterman’s jacket, incl crystal and edwin)

monty initially charges the rich-asshole kids for readings until he’s caught and forced to stop. he then stops giving readings to anyone he doesn’t already know/like. he uses readings as a way to flirt with edwin, who literally doesn’t realise it for an extended period of time. monty keeps trying to flirt/ask edwin our, but by the time he hyped himself up for it the bell rings and the lunch period ends. they eventually go on one date, which edwin doesn’t realise is even a date (despite his friends insisting otherwise) until monty kisses him at the end of it. it’s awkward for a while afterwards but they eventually settle into a friendship

several other band kids place bets on when edwin and charles will finally get together. niko wins the bet, despite actively encouraging monty x edwin along the way. some say she’s biased being so close to them, but she openly admits that she wasn’t sure it would ever happen

may add to this post later but ive written wayyy too much for rn so we’ll leave it here

[wildwren]

Okay favorite new themes after first listen:

Estrid - Definitely at the top of the list, the Hardanger fiddle is so heart-wrenching and the way the tune plays with scales offers a slightly sinister edge to an otherwise tender and romantic composition. The way it ends (on a more sinister note) makes me particularly curious but I love love love, all in all one of the most musically interesting tracks to me on Season 2.

Concerning Stoors - OH I love this so much! Bear's Harfoot theme has always been my least favorite from Season One, mostly because of how viscerally it reminds me of his work on Outlander, but Concerning Stoors is much more musically distinct to me, while still calling back to the textural vibes of the Harfoot theme. Really love the tune here, it evokes a whole new world. The hammered dulcimer sound is *chef's kiss*.

Rhûn - this track is SO sick. The children's choir adds such a unique texture -- polyphonic singing is so underused and it immediately evokes a different vibe from anything else Bear has written for Middle Earth. I love the way the folk instrumentation is layered with more orchestral sounds and how percussion-forward the track is. Also love the way these sounds combine with the Stranger's theme in Sandstorm at the Well.

Forgiveness Takes an Age - I'm basically assuming this is the Ent theme, as we heard an Entwife utter "Forgiveness takes an age," in the trailer. This track also includes Arondir's theme, which makes sense because we know Arondir will be with the Ents. The Last March of the Ents is in my top 3 orchestral themes from the Jackson trilogy, and this is definitely a different vibe but still holds some of that beauty and epic-ness. I really really love the texture in the first section, where the voices and the drums combine in a way we haven't heard before on the soundtrack, and when it opens up into more epic strings, it makes me want to cry!!!

The Last Ballad of Damrod - I wouldn't call this a new theme, but I have a lot to say about it. I know a lot of people weren't super into the vibe when it was first released, but I think this track fucking SLAPS. I also actually really appreciate it in the context of the full soundtrack, it fits perfectly between "Army of Orcs" and "Battle of Eregion," deepening and turning up the volume on the raw energy of the "Nampat" theme. The orchestration underneath also reminds me a lot of the "For the Southlands" theme from Season One, evoking Arondir's fight with the Big Orc. This make sense as we know that Arondir will be facing off with Damrod. Can't wait to have a heart attack! SNAP! GO THE! BOOOOOOOONES!

Special mention of the Where the Shadows Lie/True Creation Requires Sacrifice theme, which is not on its own track anywhere on Season 2, but which comes into play on several tracks, including "Last Temptation," "Emissary at the Forge," and "Cirdan's Perfection," all of which makes sense. I just think it's really cool that ROP introduced this theme in the very last moments of Season One, incorporating it into the Ring Poem, and now have woven it through the entirety of Season Two. Musical storytelling at its best!

okay i need to dive deeper into the new songs, especially Disa's and Gil-Galad's, but these are just my first listen thoughts.

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 19/08/2024

Apotheosis to Heaven

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More)

Ripped by Neofall

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

A big part of why I opened up the Request Form, and why I continue to use it for ideas for the blog, is to give me inspiration in areas of SiIvaGunner to which I'm less well versed. There are some games and some rips by extension where I feel completely unable to write anything of substance, because I just lack the needed context for the rip to hit for me - but other times, the form opens my eyes to rabbitholes which I'm all too happy to delve into, through rips like Plantasia 2, mlp racism anthem (comix zone arrange), guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​? and more. I've learned to trust eg_9371's judgement on quality as a requestee, and many parts of his massive catalogue of contributions have shown me quality in areas I'd never thought to look, through rips like kris gaming and Plasmaseeker. And so, I said, you know what? Let's give his endorsement one more shake, and approach a rip I'd initially looked past as not being for me. With that, I hit play on Apotheosis to Heaven - and was met with one of the biggest surprise hits I'd yet heard in the season.

Journey is a game that hits home for a lot of people, yet it was just outside of my periphery when it originally released back in 2012 - I was an 11-year old without a PS3. But even without attachment to Journey, Apotheosis as an ending theme to the game hits home to a degree I wasn't expecting, a swelling orchestral piece going through feelings of anticipation, sorrow, bittersweetness, acceptance, all throughout the span of a 7-minute long composition. The overall word to describe it, of course, would be grand. Yet much the same can be said, on the complete opposite end method, for the song with which Apotheosis to Heaven is being mashed up with, Ascension to Heaven by independant artist Xi. Like with the aforementioned Plasmaseeker, this is a song I know damn near nothing about, most prominently being featured in various Japanese rhythm games but seemingly also having a presence within the Geometry Dash community. Yet despite holding even less of an emotional connection to me than Journey did, it cannot be denied just how impressive of a piece Ascension to Heaven truly is, pairing a pounding electronic percussion with mellow strings and absolutely off-the-rails piano rolls - what feels like three entirely different forms of music and speed, mesh together for a piece with a sound I can only describe with the imagery of a lone bird flying toward the sun.

Loneliness, bittersweetness, strife, failure, perseverance - the emotions distilled into me through these two tracks are ones that were no doubt eons stronger for someone with attachment to either of the works from beforehand, and most definitely strong within ripper Neofall upon creating Apotheosis to Heaven. These are two songs that are both pulsing with emotion, yet accomplish it through very sonically different methods, one through swelling orchestral resonance, and the other through a pounding piano-driven rhythm. Yet that emotional core remains, and through some miracle and no doubt tons of love for the pieces featured, Neofall found a way to blend the two pieces into one grand feature - leveraging Apotheosis' atmosphere and grandure in order to use it as background scoring to Ascension to Heaven's insane melody. Even with one piece falling to the background and another to the foreground, however, it never feels as if one is overpowering the other - the two leverage one another's strengths seamlessly for a listen that manages to hit harder than just the sum of both's parts.

Without a thorough understanding of music creation or of either track's true sonic makeup, part of me does still feel uneducated, in a sense, to be writing about a rip of this quality in sound and scale - it's a mashup like many others, yes, yet every part of it feels ironed out and sandpapered to sheer seamless perfection between two tracks that would otherwise feel borderline incompatible. Yet...seeing such quality persist within areas of the channel that I remain uneducated on, feels like part of the magic of the SiIvaGunner channel. We are currently on SiIvaGunner's 8th year in the running, with its rippers having grown all the more able to express their passions and interests than ever before - and Season 7 and Season 8 have, in turn, given us some of the most ambitious, personal rips we've yet seen on the channel. Be it Luna, mi Amor, A Balcony atop the Labyrinth of Lights, The Paragoomba and the Wiggler, or so many more, we've had an onslaught of rips still only made by one to three people that feel creatively driven and magical enough to be justifiably mistaken for months-in-the-making passion projects. And even without a direct tie to its source material, Apotheosis to Heaven gives me that very same vibe: Of one ripper seeing what can be done through utilization of two tracks close to their heart, and going absolutely hog-wild in ensuring the execution be up to the standards raised by so many other parts of the SiIvaGunner team.

It is a blessing that we can be eight years into this channel's life, and still have rips of this caliber slip entirely through the cracks as if they're nothing but everyday, average rips. Today, the hearts of the SiIvaGunner team is on full display at just about every day of its operation - and I am eternally grateful that such seemingly niche pursuits like Apotheosis to Heaven remain part of that.

[thehuntfortrencherlostmedia]

The Magnum Opus, Masterpiece Theatre - A Marianas Trench Retrospective

Man... this is a HARD review to write. Masterpiece was my formal introduction to Trench, the album that made me a fan and made me hooked on them for more than half my life. It's always stuck with me and has become of my most listened albums of all time. This guy was on repeat SO MUCH that my original copy sadly has a error occur on Good To You xD But yeah, to get back to the title of this piece, what is a magnum opus? It means a large and important work of art... usually seen as the most important work of an artist or writer. And that certainly fits this album. This is where Josh opted to lean more into the pop side of rock, and wasn't afraid to get experimental. This album consist of a protagonist getting ready to perform after breaking it big, and reflecting on both his past and his present while he does so.

Masterpiece Threate I eases you into this universe, talking about how the actor puts on a performance for the audience, and he worries it might slowly drain him and make him lose who he is. (This will be touched on a lot more during the second portion of the album) We then oddly head into a trio that can only be described as the Honeymoon phase of a relationship, our protag pleading with a girl that he wants to commit to her fully, that he'll do anything for her, and that he misses her when he's on the road performing like crazy. All To Myself is punchy and aggressive, Cross My Heart is catchy as fuck (the CLAPS as percussion is what sells the song for me) & Beside You is a more somber and orchestral ballad that shows the bands love for those elements. We then have our first look into the past of the actor, reminiscing about his childhood home and the memories he made there, but also how it's all gone now... even if he sometimes reminisces about the nostalgia. Acadia is one of those songs where I feel like Josh gets shocked fans love it to much, but it's such a deep, emotional track... everyone gushes about childhood memories like that, even if they were REALLY DUMB in hindsight. Our Intermission Track is all about the fears and worries that come with fame. Not wanting to deal with the media, wishing he could hide himself and also not wanting to hurt his love... scared that they'll hurt her as much as they attempt to hurt him if she's in the limelight. Then we get to my personal favourite song off the record, Sing Sing. I've gushed about this track in a personal piece, but man... every time I play it, I see how it's both a reflection of the media telling him to shut up and sing... but also how singing was his coping mechanism during his stint in rehab. You can see how Still Angr evolved into this... while that was more a track about a bitter breakup and wanting revenge on the girl, this track is just UNFF to my ears. Then... we have a return to the Relationship stuff with Good To You, which feels so OUT OF PLACE here. Don't get me wrong, I love this song (if anything, seek out the demo dueted by Tania Hancheroff, it's a more stripped down version of the tune and it's brilliant), but I wonder if swapping it and Acadia for one another would've been a smart decision. Celebrity Status and Perfect are a great duo of tracks talking all about fame and how it eats at you. Being a perfectionist, Josh wants to make sure his stuff is as good as possible, but also know that if he isn't careful, this industry will chew you up and spit you out. Also, gotta love the callback to Sicker Things... such a good line, repurposed here brilliantly. Now, it's confession time: For the longest time, I didn't get Lover Dearest, but that was because I didn't know about Josh's heroin addiction. When I learned about it... holy cow did this song grow on me so much. Talking about his addiction like a toxic relationship... but knowing it needs to end for the best of the two of them... it's literally made me cry a few times. And lastly, our final crescendo, Masterpiece Theatre III. And what can I say about this song that hasn't been said by so many others before me? Seriously. This... is just magical. People call it a Bohemian Rhaposdy of the modern age, and while it is in many aspects, it's also it's own thing that showcases where the band was headed... leaning more into theatrics, harmonies and showcasing Josh's vocal range. Of course, Josh leaned into that hard.. going into a phase full of magic and whimsy. And what better way to tell that than a fairytale?

[ofthecaravel]

Brandy

Chapter Four

Summary: A port on a western bay serves a hundred ships a day, and the lonely sailors flock to the Caravel Cantina, run by the Kiszka brothers (minus one). But when their brother returns with a handsome sailor in tow, the youngest Kiszka brother finds his perspective about his family and himself turned upside down.

Tags: Nothing but good vibes tbh

Words: 5.4k

A/N: This is my apology for the last chapter. My bad! Enjoy.

~~~

After two hours, the sun had finally started to peek through the heavy clouds. Though it had continued to drizzle, Sam and Daniel had decided to brave the weather and grab a quick lunch at the pub attached to the inn. Due to the weather and it being the middle of the work day, there weren't many patrons, and Sam picked a corner booth for them to eat quickly where nobody would bother them. Now that he knew why Daniel wasn't keen on public places during the day, Sam felt the inherent need to help blanket his presence with the antisocial cues he'd picked up over the years that he used to go unbothered in public. At lunch, Daniel spoke in hushed tones as he regaled Sam with his sailor's stories, and with each tale, Sam swore he could see the ocean fall and rise in his eyes. As Daniel got lost in the details of near death encounters and simple fishing trips, Sam could see the sea and all her raging glory. 

Sam had a few drinks with his meal, and when they'd returned to Daniel's room, he felt the liquor sitting warmly in his stomach and smiled at the calm it spread through his body. He'd been so wound up the whole day that it felt good to finally feel present in his body. Sam sat on the chair set up next to the record player and tucked his legs to his chest, resting his cheek on his knee with a dopey smile as Daniel locked the door behind them and tossed the keys onto the dresser. When he saw Sam curled up on the chair, he gave him a crooked smile and a questioning eyebrow raise.

"What?" Daniel laughed.

"Nothing," Sam chirped. "Wow, did they really provide a record player without any vinyl to play on it? What a scam."

"It came with one on it but I haven't played it yet," Daniel answered, lifting the glass lid and gently moving the record already on the platter. 

"Play it," Sam said, his demand coming out more like a gentle request. Daniel nodded without a word and turned it on, lifting and then dropping the needle as the record began to spin gently. A burst of soft crackles faded into a quiet orchestral suite, and Sam nodded along to it as Daniel sat on the edge of the bed closest to him. He began tapping the percussion onto his knee as they listened in rapt silence and Sam found himself tracking and humming the low notes as the music swelled.

"Before you ask," Sam blurted suddenly, startling Daniel but not interrupting his rhythmic tapping. "I don't dance."

"I wasn't going to ask," Daniel assured him with a grin, his eyes darting around the wall in front of him like it was plastered in sheet music he was following. "I don't dance either."

"It's just, I wouldn't put it past you to ask," Sam continued. "So I figured I'd clear it up."

"Fair enough," Daniel chuckled, and they settled into another spell of quiet as the record moved onto the next track, a romantic woodwind heavy song that furled and flirted. For some reason he couldn't put words to, it made Sam's cheeks burn in embarrassment, and he opted to avert his eyes from Daniel as he lolled his head against the back of the chair. His braids, now frizzy from the rain and humidity, pressed uncomfortably into his skull and he leaned forward again to pull loose their ribbons. Sam worked his fingers against the tight ribs of the plaits and loosened them, pulling free two curtains of waves that he finger combed together. When he looked up, Daniel was watching him with an odd glint in his eye. His pupils were wide but his lids were low as Sam shook his hair back and shot Daniel a grimace.

"What?"

"You're pretty."

Sam thought back to that first conversation at the jukebox only a few days ago when Daniel had said the same thing. He recognized the look in his eye now. He had seen it then, too. Sam didn't say anything but held his gaze, resting his head on his knee again and allowing himself to really look at Daniel. He mentally traced the shadow of his collarbones pressing against his shirt and the moisture still clinging to his curls as they framed his sharp face. 

"Like a mermaid," Daniel went on in a way that Sam expected to lilt upwards into a joke, but instead Daniel swallowed nervously and let his eyes flit to Sam's mouth for a moment as Sam's lips parted.

"I'm no mermaid," Sam insisted, his voice soft and gravelly.  

"You're as pretty as one," Daniel insisted. 

"You said that already," Sam pointed out with a coy smile. "Uh, so are you."

Daniel blinked in surprise at Sam's admission, leaning back but never tearing his eyes from Sam's.

"Complimenting me twice in one day?" Daniel mused. "Should we call someone about making it a national holiday? I mean, this is unheard of."

"Oh, shut up, I'm trying," Sam sputtered, pushing his hair out of his face anxiously. "We can't all be smooth talkers like you."

"I triple dog dare you to compliment me one more time before the day is done. Three is a holy number, you know."

"Are you a pious man, Daniel?"

Daniel grinned wickedly at that.

"I'm a fucking angel," Daniel said, and the grit in his tone sent a flash of heat through Sam.  

"As if," Sam challenged, giving Daniel an unimpressed look. Daniel shot it right back to him. 

"I thought I asked you to compliment me, not insult me," Daniel remarked. "You've done enough of that."

"Alright," Sam huffed, sitting up straight and taking advantage of the courage his adrenaline was supplying him with. "Just because you have an angel face doesn't mean you're an angel. There's a compliment and an insult to balance it out. Happy?"

"Yes," Daniel beamed. "You think I have an angel face."

"Shut up," Sam repeated dumbly, his nerves short circuiting his brain once again. 

"What should we do instead, then?"

Daniel wiggled his eyebrows teasingly at Sam to let him know that his words had no real bite to them if Sam didn't want them to. 

This made it all the more satisfying for Sam to watch his eyes widen in surprise when Sam abruptly stood up, straddled Daniel, cupped his cheeks and connected their lips all in one flurry of motion. 

Daniel gasped against his mouth and grabbed frantically at Sam, digging his fingers into the soft flesh of Sam's waist and pulling him into his chest, causing them to tip backwards and land with Daniel flat on his back and Sam hovering over him. They both laughed against each other's lips, knowing there were plenty of jokes to be made in this situation, but neither making any move to separate. Sam dove his hand into the pool of Daniel's waves and grasped them at the root, holding his head in place while he rained down a barrage of feverish, open mouthed kisses that Daniel received with smiling lips and panting breath. Sam hadn't kissed anyone since he was a kid, but with Daniel, it was like this was all they knew how to do together. It was a natural rhythm they moved to, with Daniel pressing their bodies together as Sam held them steady. Finally, Sam came up for air, his hair wild and his mouth pink and wet with spit as he struggled to breathe. Daniel stared up at him unblinking, his face painted with pure bliss and his hair fanned out around him like a painting.

"You were never going to kiss me first," Sam gasped between breaths. "Were you?"

"No," Daniel breathed raggedly, his hands smoothing up and down Sam's sides, eventually pushing up the thin fabric of his shirt to do so without a barrier. "Never."

"You're so..." Sam shook his head, not sure where that sentence was supposed to go. 

"Yeah, same to you," Daniel agreed, knowing in the way that he always did.

Sam was lost for a moment, staring into the depths of Daniel's face, only snapping out of it when Daniel pitifully knit his brows and tightened his grip on Sam's skin.

"Sam," he pleaded simply, and Sam couldn't help but indulge him, dipping down again and giving Daniel a much softer, lighter kiss. They both sighed into it, moving slowly and intentionally as Daniel licked over the dip in Sam's bottom lip and gently slid his tongue into Sam's mouth, who accepted it with a quiet whine. If he hadn't been so caught up in the moment, Sam would've found this involuntary noise completely humiliating, but Daniel rewarded him with a muffled groan of his own. Sam tested this, allowing another whimper to escape when Daniel squeezed his hips. Daniel proved his hypothesis with the manic way he sat up and suddenly flipped Sam, who landed on his back with a squeal and giggled into Daniel's mouth. His giggle was cut short and morphed into his loudest whine yet when Daniel's mouth left his own and traveled down Sam's neck, leaving behind a trail of feather light kisses that sent shockwaves through Sam's entire body. He'd thought the strain in his pants was the most sensitive spot on his body right then, but he decided it was definitely his neck, unable to keep himself from whispering a stream of praises as Daniel nipped at the base of his neck and kissed his way back up to tender spots at the corners of his jaw.

"I bet," Sam started, struggling to form words as Daniel pushed his shirt up further and ghosted his fingertips over Sam's smooth skin. "That move must drive your girls in other ports crazy."

"What?" Daniel asked absently as he kissed along Sam's collarbone.

"You know what they say, that a sailor has a girl in every port," Sam joked breathlessly.

Daniel moved away from Sam's skin, giving Sam a shockingly serious and earnest expression as he looked down at Sam. His hand moved up and brushed Sam's hair off his forehead, twisting his wrist to graze his knuckles along the outline of Sam's cheek and jawline.

"I don't have girls in other ports," Danny rasped sincerely, his eyes dancing over Sam's features. "I have you. In this port. If, uh, you'll have me."

Sam's face heated up and he linked his arms around Danny's neck, unabashedly shining his full, unrestrained smile up at him. 

"Yeah," Sam hummed softly. "Sure. I'll have you."

"Good," Daniel responded. "I mean, you know I can't stay."

"I know," Sam whispered, his stomach sinking a little at the thought that Daniel would be gone in only a few days. He recalled something Daniel had said at lunch and repeated it. "No harbor is your home."

"Nope," Daniel agreed, his mind drifting as he skimmed Sam's bottom lip with his thumb. "But, I mean, you know I've been sailing this whole time for you, right?"

"Fuckin' liar," Sam insisted, kissing the tip of Daniel's thumb. "You just met me."

"But I was waiting for a while before that. I knew there was something out there worth risking a life at sea for and here you are. I just have this feeling you're that 'something', Sam."

"Daniel," Sam protested, overwhelmed and flustered at Daniel's words. 

"I'm serious!" Daniel laughed, rolling off of Sam and laying next to him, propping himself up on an elbow. "You feel it, too. Admit it. You like me. You really, actually like me."

"Danny," Sam whined, covering his face with his hands. 

"Danny?" Daniel echoed with amusement. "You know, I've always hated that nickname. It feels so childish. But I actually like it when you say it."

"Yeah?"

Sam turned onto his side and put a hand on Daniel's cheek, tipping his chin down to look straight into his eyes.

"Danny," Sam breathed teasingly, drawing out every syllable in a sing-song melody. Daniel's eyes fluttered and Sam felt the skin under his fingers grow warm. 

"Sammy," Daniel breathed back in the same cadence, letting Sam drag him down into another long, spit slicked kiss that left Sam unconsciously arching up off the blankets and into Daniel's needy touch. 

"Stay," Daniel murmured against Sam's lips, lifting his own shirt up to press their bare chests together as Daniel leaned against him again. Sam shuddered at the welcome sensation of Daniel's chest hair tickling his own smooth chest, snaking his arm around Daniel's torso and tracing shapes around the muscles on the toned expanse of his back. 

"You stay," Sam countered, pouting.

"I want to," Danny muttered longingly, giving Sam a few more kisses before speaking again. "I do. But I have a job. That ship would fall apart without me."

"You're a model pirate," Sam teased, and laughed when Daniel rolled his eyes. "I'm serious! You're an inspiration. You should write a book."

"Ssh," Daniel shushed, his arm wrapping around Sam as he started planting a score of soft kisses on Sam's cheek and jaw. His voice was strained and quiet in Sam's ear, sending a plume of warm breath across Sam's skin that made him shiver and rake his nails against Daniel's back. "I don't know how long I get to have you like this."

"You dog," Sam accused with a giggle, his laugh cutting off into a shaking gasp as Daniel's tongue darted out against the hollow of his throat.

"Oh, please," Daniel hummed gruffly against his skin. "I bought your lunch. I'll even cover your shift for you tonight."

"Ssh," Sam mocked, cupping Daniel's face. "Kiss me."

"As you wish," Daniel smiled, doing just that and a little (a lot) more.

 -

Once the sky was brushed in mauve tones of the setting sun, Daniel walked Sam home, looking both ways down the road before giving Sam another kiss.

"You ready to handle this?" Daniel asked quietly, sensing Sam's apprehension at walking back into the fray of his family. Sam nodded in affirmation, but his heart was fluttering in his chest as he speculated about what exactly he was about to walk into. Had Josh calmed down at all? Was Jake even still there? 

"Hey, it'll be alright," Daniel purred, tucking one of Sam's wild waves behind his ear. "And if it's not, you know you have somewhere calm to sleep tonight if you need it. I'll wait up for you."

"You don't need to do that," Sam insisted. 

"I'll do it anyways," Daniel answered with a smile, and Sam's heart ached longingly. 

"You sap," Sam teased, patting Daniel on the shoulder before turning his body towards the door. "Thank you. For that, but also for today. You're sweet."

"And you're getting sweeter by the minute," Daniel fawned, gently tapping Sam's chin with his finger as Sam groaned and stuck his key in the lock.

"Oh, please, don't gi-" Sam was cut off by the resistance in the door when he attempted to swing it open, looking down curiously as he tried to push the door again. It felt like something was blocking it, and Daniel followed Sam's gaze as he jiggled the doorknob. 

"What the fuck?" Sam whispered, knocking against the door in annoyance and jumping when he was met with the loud crow of a chicken peppered with loud shuffling and muffled cursing. The door swung open from the other side, held open by a ruffled looking Josh and Clarice the chicken curled up in the crook of his arm. 

"Sam!" Josh cried, rushing forward and giving Sam a side hug with his free arm, effectively pulling him into the house. "Oh, my god, come in, where have you been? I was worried fucking sick! I've been sitting in front of the door for, what, 3 hours now just waiting for you to get home."

"I went to the inn and got lunch with Daniel," Sam paused nervously. "And, uh, dinner, too."

"Hi," Daniel piped up sheepishly, still waiting awkwardly in the doorway outside. Josh looked at him past Sam's shoulder, looked back up at Sam, looked back at Daniel and then smiled smugly up at Sam.

"Something tells me you had dessert, too, huh?" Josh whispered, leaning his head so that Daniel couldn't see his toothy grin when he said it. Sam glared at his brother, his face flushing with heat. 

"Shut up," Sam hissed through his teeth, turning towards Daniel as Josh tried and failed miserably to wipe the cheeky smile off his face. "Thanks for walking me home, Danny. I'll see you in a few hours, yeah?"

"Yeah," Daniel confirmed, waving to Josh again. "Good to see you! Give Jake my best!"

"Mmhm!" Josh hummed through closed lips, waving enthusiastically as Daniel strolled away. Josh reached his arm past Sam and closed the door loudly, giving Sam another amused look as Sam looked over his head in an attempt to stave off the inevitable questioning and teasing he knew was coming. 

"What was that about?" Josh squealed in a failed attempt at a hushed tone. Clarice ruffled in his arms as he followed Sam from the door to the couch, sitting down harshly and sending a few stray feathers from Clarice cartoonishly up into the air. 

“What was what about?" Sam asked innocently, unlacing his shoes and kicking them off. He refused to meet Josh's eye as he shrugged off his coat and hung it up, keeping his eyes on the wall while he felt Josh's eyes burning a hole through his back.

"That tension!" Josh hissed, mock gasping and clutching a hand to his heart. "I mean, my god, the way that kid just looked at you. He looked like he wanted to take a bite out of you. It was disgustingly cute. Mostly disgusting, though."

"Oh my god, nothing happened!" Sam scoffed unconvincingly. "I can't have a friend?"

"Who are you fooling with that? 'Friend'...oh, please," Josh chuckled, shaking his head in dismissal. "I know you, dumbass. I know when you're sweet on someone."

"I'm never 'sweet' on anyone," Sam countered. 

"Exactly!"

Sam groaned and sat next to Josh on the couch, startling Clarice again and sending her scrambling out of Josh's arms and half running-half flying to the kitchen. The brothers watched her in quiet entertainment before Sam sighed and rubbed his neck.

"Hey, uh, before anything else," Sam started hesitantly. "Is everything okay here?"

It was Josh's turn to sigh, tucking his knee to his chest as he thought.

"Jake's been locked up in his room for the time I was out here waiting for you," Josh said calmly, shrugging. "I still don't know what I'm going to say to him."

"Me neither," Sam answered quietly, pausing before he spoke again. "We were pretty hard on him, huh?"

"I guess," Josh agreed begrudgingly. "It's just such an extreme situation I figured it warranted that same extremity back. But, I mean, fuck, man. It's Jake. I can't stay mad at him. And if he says he's being safe, then he's probably being safe. You know I worry about him more than I should."

"I do, too," Sam assured him. "And we can be mad about it, too. But he's here right now and I think we should spend time with him while we know for sure that he's safe."

"You're right." Josh smiled at Sam, crinkling his eyebrows thoughtfully. "How did you turn out so smart?"

"I guess I was raised by smart people," Sam replied with a shy smile in return.

"Aww," Josh cooed, leaning his head against Sam's shoulder. "Shucks."

"Come on, let's go get our questionably smart brother," Sam announced, standing up and leaving Josh to lean over and fall on his side on the cushions. He sighed in agreement and rolled dramatically onto the floor before getting to his feet and following Sam to Jake's door. They gave each other a nervous look before Sam rapped his knuckles against the wood.

"Jake?" Sam called. There was no response, so he opened the door and found Jake face down on his bed, one of his legs hanging off the edge and his arms buried under his pillow.

"Come on, Jake, up and at 'em," Josh urged, sitting on the mattress with a cheerful bounce.

Jake gave a muffled grunt in response, snuffling wetly and not moving an inch. 

"We're not mad anymore," Sam insisted, sitting cross legged on the floor by the head of the bed. 

"Concerned, yes, but not mad," Josh added, and Jake groaned. "Oh, for Christ's sake, Jake, we don't think you're some evil pirate villain."

"We do think you're stupid, though."

"A little, yes."

"But that's only 'cause we love you!"

"So much!"

Jake finally lifted his head from his pillow, and his brothers physically recoiled when they saw Jake's pink face puffy from tears, lined with wrinkles from the pillow and sweaty hair glued to his forehead. He looked absolutely pathetic and worn down and Sam immediately burst into raucous laughter. Josh's laughter escaped as a loud stream of air whistled its way out from between his clamped lips and Jake scoffed loudly at their reactions as he sat up.

"Some family you are!" Jake cried and Sam launched into another round of hysterics, falling back onto the rug as Josh clamped a supportive hand on Jake's shoulder but failed to let out any coherent words of affirmation, giggling whenever he tried to speak.  

"You look like Rip Van Winkle after his 20 year slumber," Sam wheezed. 

"Yeah, I was weeping because my family was furious with me," Jake explained slowly, sitting up while Sam and Josh attempted to contain their laughs. "And now said family is laughing at my sorrows."

"I'm sorry, Jake," Josh lamented, wrapping his arms around Jake's shoulders and nuzzling his curls against Jake's ear. "Your sorrows are just really funny looking."

"You're funny looking."

"No, you're funny looking."

"We're all funny looking," Sam said, leaning forward and joining in the brotherly embrace by resting his chin on Jake's knee. "Sorry, Jake."

"No, no, I'm sorry," Jake sighed, combing his damp hair with his fingers. "I shouldn't have lied to you guys, and I'm really sorry about that. I don't like lying, I just knew you'd get upset."

"And we did," Josh agreed, Sam nodding along with him. "You know it's because we care. Just...next time you become a swashbuckling pirate captain, please tell us."

"I will, I will," Jake finally laughed. "I love you idiots a lot, you know that?"

"We love you too," Sam hummed, and Jake patted his head. Josh crushed Jake in a hug until Jake started to wheeze for breath and haphazardly slapped his twin off of him, who kept his arms locked around him as they began to tussle. 

"Avast, ye scurvy dog!" Josh crowed in a stereotypical pirate voice as Jake pushed back against him, sending Sam into another laughing fit. He leaned back and watched his older brothers bicker and eventually roll off the bed onto the carpet as Josh chuckled and Jake clawed out of his embrace. 

"We don't even talk like that," Jake protested, chuckling breathlessly. "You'd be surprised."

"Do you have a skull and crossbones flag?" Sam asked, sitting cross legged attentively. 

"No," Jake answered patiently. Sam frowned. 

"Lame," Sam said in disappointment. "Daniel said you did."

"Daniel is a damn dirty liar, then. When did he say that?"

"Over lunch."

Jake's eyes widened and Josh's impish grin returned as Sam realized what he had done.

"Over lunch?" Jake parroted, his voice lilting in shock. "When did you have lunch?"

"Today," Sam answered coolly, ignoring Josh's silent kissy faces. "We hung out while I was mad."

"Wait, you were out that entire time?" Jake gasped, Josh's glee visibly heightening as Sam shrank back. "So, what, 9am to 6pm?"

"So?" Sam squeaked out, already breaking out in sweats from this interrogation. Whenever the twins cornered him, they always got the information that they wanted. Sam didn't even know how they did it. Together, they could weave together the perfect trap that Sam fell into every single time. 

"And you were getting lunch?" Jake continued.

"He also mentioned dinner," Josh chimed in. "So, lunch and dinner."

"Okay, lunch and dinner," Jake confirmed as they leaned back against the side of the bed in perfect sync. "My, my. That's a lot of time between those two meals. What did you two get up to?"

"We got rained in," Sam answered truthfully, keeping his face as neutral as he could, shrugging casually as he spoke. "Listened to a record, talked about pirate shit."

"He's telling the truth," Jake mumbled, narrowing his eyes to analyze Sam. Sam smiled innocently, wondering if this would be the first time he could actually get away with a secret that was all his own. 

"Hm," Josh grumbled, raising an eyebrow at Sam as a smile crept back onto his face. "So nothing else happened?"

Sam floundered for a moment too long, and he immediately knew he was screwed. Instantly, the twins descended on him in a flurry of triumphant yells and questions.

"I knew it! I knew it! Tell me everything!" Jake hollered, shaking Sam's knee. Sam kicked at them and backed up until he was flush with the wall. 

"There's nothing to tell!" Sam insisted, his voice hitting a shrill range that made him sound even guiltier. Jake and Josh's eyes were flaring brightly and Sam knew that it was going to take a lot more than that to get them to back down. 

"You lie!" Josh argued. "Spill. Did you hold hands?"

"No." Sam spat. 

"Did you kiss?" Jake asked.

Sam clammed up.

"You did!" Josh cheered, smacking Sam on the shoulder and then retracting it just as fast. "Aw, but also ew!"

"No details, have mercy," Jake pleaded, yet continued on his rampage. "But, like, was it good?"

"Ew!" Sam shrieked. "Why do you want to know, you perv?"

"Because I'm nosy!"

"I am also nosy," Josh added with an affirming head shake. 

"I'm well aware, thank you," Sam snapped, cheeks flushing hotly as he feigned supreme annoyance. 

"So?" Jake prodded, both in questioning and with a physical poking of Sam's arm. "Good? Bad? Yes? No?"

"It..." Sam trailed off, mortified beyond words. "It, well, okay, listen-"

"It couldn't have been bad," Josh decided, exchanging a nod with Jake. "You can tell Daniel knows what he's doing. I mean, and excuse me for this, Sam, but awooga." 

"Yeah, no, you need to lock that down, Sammy," Jake agreed sagely. "What if we meet some mermaids? You don't want them stealing your man away from you."

"I'm not worried about that," Sam noted mysteriously, a touch of pride in his voice as he recalled Daniel's mermaid comparison from earlier. 

"Awful confident, aren't we?" Jake teased.

"And yet, you won't tell us anything to give us motivation to back up this confidence," Josh sighed dramatically, side eyeing Sam pitifully in an attempt to pry out more information.

"I thought mum was the word on details, you freaks," Sam said haughtily. 

"We'll start worrying about details when you tell us one singular thing," Jake retorted impatiently. "So far that has not happened. Spill."

"Spill," Josh repeated. Sam let out a deep, deep sigh and rolled his eyes petulantly.

"Well..." Sam started, looking up at the ceiling as if it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. "I'll have you know I made the first move."

"Now that's a plot twist," Jake laughed as Josh let out a long, low whistle. "Nice to hear you have some guts. I mean, it's news to me, but, wow."

"Do you want me to tell you my salacious escapades or would you prefer to keep teasing me?" Sam snipped, crossing his arms. Jake and Josh exchanged a genuine look of consideration.

"Is 'both' an option?" Jake asked.

"I'd love to do both," Josh agreed. 

"Fuck off, the 'both' of you," Sam whined, weakly kicking at them again. "Now you get nothing."

"Noo," Josh booed. "Come on, one more thing. Then we'll leave you alone."

"Swear to God," Jake promised, and both he and Josh covered their hearts with very serious expressions. Sam sighed again and opted to hide his face behind his hand as he spoke.

"He, uh," Sam went on, hiding his face further in his hand as he powered through. "We kissed. I don't know how long but it was, you know, it was fine. It was...good."

Instantly, the twins recoiled and launched into a loud, theatrical cacophony of overlapping cries and gags. Josh fell backwards, slowly sliding down the side of the bed with a faux death rattle in his throat as Jake shook his head and repeated pleas for Sam to 'spare him'.

"You asked!" Sam shrieked, his body burning from head to toe with flames of embarrassment as his brothers writhed and moaned. They only broke their façade for a moment so they could indulge in the joy of seeing Sam crumple up and scowl at them.

"It was just so graphic," Josh insisted, a smile breaking through his howls of agony. "I mean, the thought of you kissing anybody is foul."

"Kissing is a sacred act," Jake explained, feigning grief as he rubbed his temples. "Now it's forever tainted in my brain."

"YOU told ME to go out with him!" Sam squealed, kicking Jake on the shoulder. "YOU asked to hear about it!"

"Did not!"

Sam let out a wordless howl of frustration and the twins bubbled over with satisfied cackles as Sam struggled to get to his feet, their laughs rising an octave as his socks slipped against the hardwood and he struggled to get the traction he needed. 

"I," Sam snapped, throwing open Jake's door. "Am going to get ready for work. Because I am a responsible adult."

"Okay, okay, but remember," Josh said, wagging a finger at Sam. "I expect you and that pirate boy to keep your hands off each other at work."

“Fuck off!”

Sam listened to his brothers continue to giggle and talk quietly as he stalked off towards his room and rolled his eyes. However, the second his door was shut, he couldn’t help but let his face split into a huge smile as he fell face first onto the bed. With a moment of quiet to himself for the first time all day, Sam let his brain replay every precious moment from his afternoon with Daniel that he could possibly remember. He wondered absently if he should write it all down, just so that he could keep the imagery of every glossy curl that swung in his face and the cadence of every breathy word from Daniel fresh in his mind. Sam’s face burned as he stayed buried in his pillow, trying desperately to keep a little exclamation of excitement from erupting as he thought of Daniel waiting for him at work. God, how was he supposed to focus during his shift? Having done what he’d done and not being able to dive deeper like he wanted to? It was going to be torture. Delicious, delicious torture. 

-

The night had passed slowly, and despite being distinctly aware that Josh and Jake were constantly on the verge of throwing a glass at his head, Sam had been absolutely unbearable and proud of it. Daniel had kept his promise and tried to cover as much of Sam’s tables as possible, but every spare moment was spent tossing glances back and forth and flirting unabashedly. After a particularly ridiculous giggle from Sam at something Daniel had whispered in his ear, Sam had heard Jake mutter something to Josh about a suicide pact, which Josh had accompanied with a gagging noise. 

But Sam didn’t care. He couldn’t care. He was fully aware of how unlike himself he was behaving, but he felt loyal to the compulsion to sink completely into the feeling that Daniel gave him. When walking home, Daniel and Sam strode far ahead of the twins, lost in their own little world. When Daniel talked with Jake for an extra 10 minutes about a Friday night dinner plan, Sam had clung to Daniel’s arm, listening quietly for maybe the first time in his life with his cheek pressed to Daniel’s bicep. When the twins were inside, Sam felt the world melt away into irrelevance when Daniel gave him a goodnight kiss on the front step that turned into two or twenty. And when Sam’s head hit the pillow, he felt every muscle in his body finally relax and his mind let him sleep. A deep sleep at that, one that dreams didn’t even touch, and even in this sleep Sam wished that it would last forever.

~~~

[toffeelemon]

GET TO KNOW ME🤩

thank u for tagging me @skibasyndrome 🫶🏼

do you make your bed?

not ever since i read somewhere that leaving your sheets uncovered is actually good for airing it out and reducing lice risk sksk (excuses). i would if i’m a guest / at my parents��� though

what's your favourite number?

0 is pretty neat

what is your job?

an architect - in training sksksk (for the past SEVEN years but any day now guys) would very rarely self describe as a MuLtiDisCiPLinArY artist/writer/researcher if i’m feeling like a wanker or trying to impress wankers

if you could go back to school, would you?

constantly entertaining the idea of a useless phd sksks - mostly for the gender neutral title and the most distance from capitalism to be honest

can you parallel park?

no. i can only shuffle in if it’s a space for 2 cars sksk i literally used to circle the block endlessly when waiting for family to grocery shop instead of parking if there’s no 2 spaces for me to pull into

a job you had that would surprise people?

i’m not sure i have anything surprising. i sold car magazines at a book fair and i will not elaborate.

do you think aliens are real?

yes. and they’re purposefully not making themselves known to humans because they don’t wanna touch this clusterfuck with a ten feet pole

can you drive a manual car?

never ❤️ city gay refusing to drive forever😗✌🏼

what's your guilty pleasure?

pimple popping videos or in general mildly gross “satisfying” videos sksksk. i would binge until i get sick and delete them from my history so i don’t have to see any more suggested once i got my fill

tattoos?

2! 🦈🪼

favorite color?

pink and blue. i like most pinks, like them less the more purple they get, i like pastel blues and navy blues but the bright saturated ones in between not as much

favorite type of music?

i’m a pop girlie through and through - almost exclusively listen to queer and/or poc artists now. i like hyperpop, pop punk, indie pop

do you like puzzles?

i used to do so much with my mum and got pretty insane over it (like 1000 pieces sets) but not as much now

any phobias?

hmm i don’t have much Irrational fear - one would be i Hate the idea of having my back exposed i always have to sleep with my back to the wall

favorite childhood sport?

Loathe sports. i loved ice skating and it’s one of the few things i quit against my will and in another life i would’ve been a figure skater

do you talk to yourself?

ever since i’m not living with any family i need to check whether i still speak my mother tongue every now and then sksk

what movies do you adore?

i keep going back to ghibli films. my absolute favourite is howl’s moving castle

coffee or tea?

i don’t drink coffee.

first thing you wanted to be growing up?

studio ghibli animator🥹 also wanted to write full time. play orchestral percussion full time

tagging @prince-simon @cloudywilmon @ungaroyals @aro-of-artemis @angelbabysimon @tooindecisivetopickaurl

[tonyhentai]

Minor Referential Issues in Hip Hop—Text as Composition

Draft - may change before posting to https://bluevelvetreview.com

Rap music is the only genre of American music that’s achieved any degree of mainstream popularity that’s actually, successfully, diverged from the basic principles of European harmony. When you really think about it, earlier periods of rap barely even contained what we would consider notes—they were essentially accelerated and rhythmic speech juxtaposed with percussive loops juxtaposed with DJ scratches juxtaposed with maybe a short melodic phrase (sampled) that was looped again and again, alongside the drums. 

Other songs, true, indulge in more complex melodic structures in their beats, a good amount of popular rap today has integrated quite a bit of pop and rock harmonic structures, but ‘true hip hop’ songs usually  make no explicit reference to chords, or chord progressions—a ‘beat’ after all, by definition, being static in nature—which is obviously the fulcrum of any theory of harmony. 

In this sense rap is a new frontier structurally, its main preoccupations are timbre—of the voice, of the percussion—and tempo, with the level of acceleration of speech being generally associated with a greater skill level. Instead of concerning itself with the particulars of aggregating chords and developing equal tempered melodic patterns, it’s concerned itself instead with the minute details of timbre and tempo of the voice—and also, of course, the language that acts as a reference point. 

In this sense it’s tempting to categorize rap—because it’s so acutely language dependent—as a genre of language-compositions, texts that are in themselves compositions, and, sure, that can be true in select cases, but let me push back just ever so slightly on that concept: to the extent emcees write to beats I would personally argue that they’re not actually creating textual compositions. No—they’re retrofitting their language to an orchestral component. 

This was my chief issue as I approached rap, trying to ‘make music’. It was actually strenuous! Essentially what I wanted to do was divorce the language of rap from the 4/4 drum loop, from any set orchestration really, which, to be fair, isn’t entirely new—plenty of underground rappers write raps and actually rap in ways that are essentially discrete from the beat. But to the best of my knowledge there wasn’t any real system to that sort of off-beat rapping, you know? (This is what Robert Ashley was concerned with in an adjacent way.) The rap may have diverged from the mechanics of the beat, but did it introduce a separate set of mechanics? What I needed was a musical structure that I could plug the English language into, something somewhat formalized—that would divorce it from the beat, yet still retain a measurable logic, to some degree.

There’s a silent component in all of my text-based compositions. The silence is normal speech, specifically the tempo of normal speech. I’ve attempted to create a language-based musical rubric that’s based on fractal geometry, on the golden ratio 1.618 that informs the structure of the rap, of the composition itself, making it a truly independent musical line, that, yes, can still be supported and juxtaposed against a beat, but is no longer referential to the beat. We’re dealing with a form of monophony here—monophony, which is, in my view, derided in the West [with no real basis].

In all of my compositions there’s a silent line—it’s the silence speech uttered at approximately 233 syllables per minute, which is, give or take, the normal tempo of spoken American English, that’s underpinning the approximately 377 syllable per minute raps, which represent the normal pace of speech accelerated by the golden ratio of 1.618. The idea is that listeners implicitly will hear how they normally speak underneath the language they’re listening to.

In addition the structure of the text adheres to the elements of the Fibonacci sequence as well—for Only Exaggeration Can Make Things Clear, On Incongruities and Recollection as Fabrication, and Body Hair Awareness Month, each verse consists of 5 lines, each line consists of a range of syllables, between 34 and 55 syllables. That’s just for those particular records, but there are obviously many other combinations—8 lines, 13 and 21 syllables, 21 and 34 syllables, 13 lines, etc etc.

Essentially what I’ve attempted to do here—it’s mutate traditional rap into something that’s no longer referential to orchestration, that can still be combined with traditional (or non-traditional orchestration), not unlike, say rebetika, married the long microtonal melodic lines of Byzantine and Ottoman music to Western European chord structures. But, at bottom, the text is its own independent line of monophonic music, which, in my view, is just as complex and rich as harmonic music.

[bcbdrums]

Heyy! I'm curious about your musical career, so here are a couple of questions if you don't mind:

Do you play any instruments other than drums?? And do you play in a band or you sing too and are a solo??

that's kind of you, thanks! and sorry for the slow reply! this got buried in my drafts.

i'm an orchestral percussionist. fave instrument is timpani, hence the avatar. i play all percussion instruments you'd find in orchestra or wind ensemble, big and small, and i also play drum set of course and have taken tabla lessons but don't consider myself a tabla player.

i'm a music teacher, and coming with that territory is the ability to play "every" instrument just a little bit. by every i mean, standard instruments you'd find in an elementary school classroom or in a high school band. so i also play piano, acoustic guitar, flute, clarinet, trumpet, baritone, trombone, violin, and cello. i do NOT consider my strings skills to be worth anything at all, i can just play the instruments well enough to teach a kid how from scratch. i'm better at brass than woodwinds.

basically i'm better than a 10 year old and better than most middle schoolers at all the things except strings, strings i consider myself a beginner. but there's a lot to be said for having the ability to understand all the instruments, how they work... that knowledge helps a lot so often times beginner-level doesn't appear to be beginner... oh yeah i guess i can play recorder and ukulele too. i can repair all these instruments and more if i needed to. ah and i'm a decent piano and guitar player i guess. can perform on those, but i'm very definitely a percussionist.

as to singing, i didn't really start singing until i started teaching. i get lots of compliments so i guess i'm good at it. i could definitely benefit from some professional training and not the one beginning voice class i had in college, lol.

i don't perform vocally... i sing for work, that's about it. and whatever you see me messing around with here on tumblr, which is just recording into my phone lol. i tend to only perform with orchestras and wind ensembles playing percussion, but for work again i've had to play all of the things in front of people. i've been on concert tour in england with a professional wind ensemble, that was fun.

this was very rambly aahhh i hope i answered your question! thank you very much for the interest!

[autistic-autumn]

Music Rambling #4

I figured it was probably best for everyone if I learnt how to use paragraph breaks this time. Previously avoided because didn't want to type out more than a paragraph per piece but it turns out I suck at brevity. Enjoying having readable paragraphs before every one of these turns into a 400 page essay. Turns out it's actually hard to try condense my thoughts on a 40 minute long 5-part symphony. I've also added lengths to all the pieces because there is a such a wide range here.

Iesu/虻瀬とテナテル by abuse-ken ~5 minutes This was a recommendation by @aroace-poly-show. There are three versions of this apparently, the original, a remix, and a cover by vflower. I particularly like the piano motif in the original, and the point comes back in with the bass is particularly cool. There are a few very nice cutoff points, one of which the vocals are dropped 2(?) octaves. The remix has a more dense and rich texture but does loss some of the nice rhythms of the original. The final chorus in the remix is particularity powerful, although the original still has it very strong. They are both strong in different aspects and I'm not entirely sure which one I prefer. I don't really know vocaloid enough to comment on the differences with the vflower cover. It sounds a little less shrill to me and generally articulates better, although sounds a bit odd in the higher register (?). The better articulation does give a bit more color I think but I really don't know enough about all of it. I don't particularly understand japanese at all, or the lyrics even after reading the translation but I think I gathered enough to understand and it's sort of what I expected. From the pieces I've heard by Abuse-ken I get the feeling they quite like the repetitive almost circular melodies, something that can get fairly repetitive and dull if done wrong. They however do it very effectively and seem to lean into it a lot with the rest of the arrangement. This style fits very well with the themes of what I can gather from the lyrics and is something they pull of well.

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphony no. 7 - Sinfonia Antartica ~42 minutes I saw this one on the shelf and decided the name seemed to cool not to take it. Definitely worth giving a listen to as a piece and glad I found. Apparently it's spelt like that because it's the Italian spelling, although I have no idea why Vaughan Williams put the title in Italian. Maybe just to sound kind of fancy. It's a large 42 minute orchestral piece broken into five movements. It's a fairly large orchestra and happens to have an additional SSA choir, with each movement having unique text in the program notes. The texts are from various different place, such as plays, poems, the bible and Captain Scott's last journal, the captain who lead multiple voyages to Antarctic. If you aren't familiar with the second trip Captain Scott made to Antarctica then all you really need to know is it didn't go well due to bad weather and failing to be retrieved by the ship that was to pick them up.

The first movement is very nice and there is some really nice use of celeste, glock and xylophone to create some nice textures. Additionally the use of the choir and soprano soloist to simply add texture by only singing 'ahh' rather than any distinctive words really adds to the effect here. The second movement is a scherzo, and once again uses the extended orchestra and percussion instruments to great effect, particularly with some nice polyrhythms in there to get the texture nice and thick. The third movement is wild. The title itself, 'Landscape: Lento (slow)' is already very evocative of the harsh environment of Antarctica. All the slow moving lines that slowly go in different directions in some of the more dense choral sections are very cool, and the organ solo towards the end is phenomenal, something that would be far more power in person with the full effect of an organ. There is no break between the third and fourth movement. Nothing really unique to comment on this one but it's very good and plenty of nice melodies and textures here. The final movement was far more explosive than I was anticipating, particularly knowing how Scott's story ends and reading the text that goes along with this movement. The return of the choir singing without words is a very nice touch. The choir and the wind machine in combination is such a fascinating sound and not one I've ever seen written into music like this.

Overall an incredible piece really. It so vividly paints the harrowing and frigid scene of Antarctica. Would recommend sitting down with headphones and listening, perhaps reading up on the text that goes with the pieces and some of the history behind it because it really adds an extra layer of the depth to the music.

Tolga Yayalar - Nell'estate un paradiso, nell'inverno un INFERNO (after Vivaldi) ~ 11 minutes Following the previous symphony, I was reminded of this piece I remember hearing a while back. The title translates to "In summer a paradise, in winter a hell". It's fairly recently and is arranged for four string quartets in different locations around a room, for extra spacial sound details that are unfortunately lost somewhat on a computer. This piece is to describe the harsh and cruel landscape of Antarctica in the winter. The piece uses motifs from Vivaldi's famous four seasons, specifically the winter movement. However instead of the luscious harmonies and generally more bright atmosphere Vivaldi brings, the piece here quickly deteriorates. All sorts of extended techniques are used to pull Vivaldi apart into this harrowing soundscape, that at many points is barely more than white noise. The intro I think is one of the most hard hitting parts of this piece really but there is some nice other stuff towards the end. The piece has really fallen apart so much by then that it almost looses the strong effect the start had I think. A very strange piece however and a good example of the stark difference between Vivaldi and contemporary classical music.

Samuel Barber - Piano Concerto Op Op.38 ~26 minutes Very excited for this one. Been big on Samuel Barber binge recently and was very excited to learn that he wrote a piano concerto. Immediately some odd things on the score. Trumpets are above the horns and the horns are written in alto clef? The score I have is in C, yet still uses the traditional notation of not giving the horns a key signature, despite being written in the 60's. I believe this is the original publisher, and I assume first edition so no idea what is up with that. The english horn is also written in alto clef which is odd by not entirely unusual, less than the french horn anyways.

The first movement is fine really. Didn't particularly grab me and I thought starting off with a mini-cadenza is odd. Some of the phrasing just didn't feel right and at one point I just forgot it was a piano concerto with how long it had been without the piano doing anything notable. I know part of that is just the style of the piece but didn't care for it regardless. The second movement is great. The slower pace and sparse texture was extremely well managed and it's very nice to listen to. The second is easily the best movement of the three here. The final movement is also very strong, although didn't capture me as much as the second. Manages texture and colors very well and the 5/8 rhythm was very cool. The section with xylophone and clarinet was particularly interesting.

Overall was a nice concerto but not one I would be desperate to see in person, particularly not with the huge amount of piano concerto repertoire from the era that I believe is far stronger. As a side note the book smells extremely old, much older than 60ish year it claims to be. Oldest stamp I can find in the book is from 1965 and piece was only published in 1962. Very interesting though.

[thelensofyashunews]

Lupe Fiasco Sharpens His Pen on 'Samurai,' His 9th Studio Album Out Now via 1st & 15th

With over two decades of tenure in the rap game, Lupe Fiasco is a savvy veteran of hip-hop, but that doesn't mean he doesn't take the time to hone and perfect his craft at every turn. Today, the Chicago MC unveils his latest album Samurai, a smooth, yet cerebral, 8-track album brimming with ideas, that radiates Lupe’s pure love for the art of emceeing and committing himself as a servant of the rap game. “The word ‘samurai’ means to serve,” Lupe says on the album’s title. “My relationship to that word has always meant that you need to be at the service of other people, either in the overall community, or in this instance, the rap community at large that I’ve been a part of for years."

Samurai, Lupe's ninth studio album, is produced in full by Soundtrakk, making it their second full album collaboration following 2022's DRILL MUSIC IN ZION, and the first album that Lupe and Soundtrakk worked on with their longtime manager, and 1st & 15th co-CEO Charles "Chill" Patton, since 2007's The Cool. Patton also serves as executive producer on the album. It's home to recent singles such as the title track, "Samurai," praised by Rolling Stone, Complex, Billboard, HYPEBEAST, Clash, The Needle Drop, and more, plus the lyrical beatdown, "Cake," which shows off Lupe's supreme ability to attack the beat with poetic and energetic bars.

Lupe's ninth full-length to date opens with aforementioned title track, "Samurai" and is a loose and soulful record that gently lopes along with a prominent drumbeat and a lilting soprano sax lick, as Lupe dons his battle rap persona, attempting to draw a crowd with his poetic devices. While the chorus imitates a busker or carnival barker's call for attention, the verses dig deeper. The first verse analyzes the awkward relationship between hip-hop culture and high culture. The second verse tells the story of a struggling artist, contrasting her glamorous dreams with her gritty reality, but brimming with her unbroken spirit.

Lupe takes the listener on an introspective journey but also utilizes different eras of hip hop to tell the stories that lay within each individual track. From experimental melodies infused within hip hop beats that carry ‘90s twang like “Mumble Rap”, or paired down, sentimental percussions and keys as found in “Palaces,” and the orchestral, street freestyle-esque “No. 1 Headband,” Lupe weaves the many faces of hip hop, along with the many lives he has lived within the industry, into the narrative of his project.

On Samurai, Lupe retreats inward to deliver fans one of his most personal albums to date. “I sometimes get tagged by my fans as not doing personal records,” Lupe says, “but I always tell people there's me in there if you listen closely enough. This album is one of my more personal records to date. It's not a full biography, but my personal experiences are tied up in all of my music. A lot of the records are me. Some are from the POV of a character. and some are me. The album weaves things from my life as an artist, touching on things other artists go through.”

Samurai is Lupe's first new album since 2022's DRILL MUSIC IN ZION, which earned critical acclaim from NPR, Complex, The FADER, and many others, including Vinyl Me Please, who wrote "At their best, Lupe’s bars are as visually and phonetically pleasing as popped bubble wrap." The product of a burst of thoughtful spontaneity, Lupe created DRILL MUSIC IN ZION over a short period, diving into a folder of beats sent by Soundtrakk and emerging with a fully-realized album in just three days. In 2023, Lupe kept busy by releasing tracks like "Wild Child (Remix)," a new version of his 2017 track created in collaboration with Chicago house luminary Vince Lawrence, and "Out There," an archival track from the 1st & 15th vault. The iconic Chicago native also settled into his position as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he teaches "Rap Theory and Practice." Beyond music, Lupe continues to focus on the community organizations he founded, including We Are M.U.R.A.L, The Neighborhood Start-Up Fund, Society of Spoken Art, and his cross-cultural content venture, Studio SV.

Along with Samurai’s release, Lupe also dropped the accompanying video for “No. 1 Headband” where we see the Chicago native driving around his hometown reflecting on his surroundings, his early life and lyrically slicing through any one who dares to think they can match his ability. Lupe paints a soulful scene in an otherwise ordinary industrial suburban landscape. Shot in black and white, joined by beautiful back up singers, and featuring visual cuts of a saxophone player's hands tickling the instruments' keys when the jazz-heavy chorus of the track kicks in, the viewer has the opportunity to ride around the rapper's hometown and listen to him share his personal anecdotes. The video represents a return to home that pairs well with the themes found in the track's lyrics and the entire album as a whole.

Samurai is available to stream all platforms via 1st & 15th.

[sang8262]

oh and official SF6 sound track is out, and because i need to obsess too much about everything, JP related tracks, with some thoughts on the more notable tracks::

Versus BGM

Disc 1 - 12. The Plunderer

JP's theme! The overall consensus seems to be it's A Good Theme, though it can get repetative quick. Though I agree for Rounds 1 and 2, I personally think the Final Round portion is the best part and I can get enough of it.

The ticking that's part of it is much like a clock... perhaps a countdown on a bomb... And the beat also sounds like a heartbeat to me, which create a general sense of foreboding. Oh, and low health with the syncopated beat is exactly how to make an already stressful song more stressful.

Gotta love the piano and strings, gives it an orchestral flavor that of course, fits JP's aesthetics a whole ton. And I swear the main phrase for the Final Round is referencing an existing piece. Or maybe they made it sound just vaguely reminiscent enough to sound familiar, idk.

Whatever it is, that Final Round goes hard. It's the harpsichord sounding support/accompaniment bits that give it that Vampiric mood. I really would love to hear a piano cover for his theme, maybe even learn it...

Disc 2 - 14. Suval'hal Arena

JP's stage theme!! I have it set as my online mode stage cause it's JP's, but also I do like the music for it a lot. Really interesting blend of genres that make it feel both ancient and modern, honorable and sinister. Gotta love the duality of it for none other than JP's stage, of his own design of course.

There's this part of the melody(?), that plays normally the first time, but sounds reversed the second time it plays. It's a really cool effect, and sounds especially nice in the Final Round. Kinda adds to the feeling that this arena wasn't built under natural circumstances and is out of place from the rest of Nayshall, despite its surface appearance being 'seeped in local tradition'.

The percussions/ drums are a lot of fun too. I think that's what really convinces the grand, outdoors tournament feel of the theme. And there's a hint of strings in the Final Round that do remind you hey, it's JP's stage by the way.

Disc 4 - 29. Suval'hal Arena, Prep Area

There isnt a background track for the outside the arena location that you can find JP as a Master at, so I'm treating this as the next best thing. And besides, JP does hang out in the Champion's Belt room under the arena proper, so, it sorta still applies to him.

More atmospheric, but I think it captures that sense of hyperfocused, serene, yet restless anticipation before heading out onto stage for a performance. Or tournament, as we'd have it. I almost want to say it reminds me of the first few seconds of an orchestra tuning their instruments.

World Tour Cutscenes BGM

Disc 5 - 47. The True Value of a Champion's Belt

World Tour cutscene that introduces JP. The first part of it's mostly ambience, with the horror-esque shrills for when the phantoms show up. Then we get some of that piano again for JP, and this WONDERFUL transition into this?? jazzy(?)?? little section at the end that I seriously wish were longer?!

Gosh, it's playful and classy, but also makes a point about him being Evil thanks to the Evil sfx. I just love the cello/ bass in this.

Disc 5 - 48. The Suval'hal Martial Arts Tournament (He's briefly in it at the end of the cutscene, showing off the champion's belt)

Disc 5 - 50. With a Bang (What a nice award ceremony, I'm sure nothing will go wrong!)

Disc 5 - 53. Congratulations (He lost and he's totally not salty about it.)

World Tour Master BGM

Disc 6 - 7. A Vessel for Psycho Power (Cutscene for becoming JP's student)

Disc 6 - 21. JP Style Mastery

The slight alternate version of his main theme. But compared to the amount of variation that other characters got for their Mastery themes, JP's doesn't differ too much!! I think only the tempo and bass gets a noticeable enough change. It's almost exactly the same phrase that's in the Final Round of his original theme, with a bit more clarity on the grand piano's playing. I mean I do love it, since this is my favorite portion anyway, but idk they could've gone further with it I think...

Arcade Mode BGM

Disc 7 - 13 - Kimberly Chasing the Truth 2 (Kimberly's arcade mode cutscenes that JP shows up in.)

Disc 7 - 21, 22, 23. JP Nayshall's Suval'hal Tournament 1, 2, 3 (From JP's own arcade mode)

Disc 7 - 31. Cammy The Investigation Continues 2 (Cammy's arcade mode, the cutscene which JP shows up in)

Disc 7 - 45, 46. Ken Questions Without Answers 1, 2 (Ken's arcade mode, which JP shows up in.)

Talking about all the arcade modes at once since they share similar observations. Things obviously sound more dire whenever JP shows up, since he's the final boss for everyone else's arcade modes. Usually denoted by more strings and sounding like Suval'hal Arena.

A minor thing, but even when Kimberly shows up in JP's arcade mode as the last boss fight, none of her pop/ 80's themes are added to the music. You wouldn't even know Kimberly was in the scene based on music alone, which to me suggests that's how little of a presence she is to JP, narrative wise. The opposite energy of "why do I hear boss music".

And for JP's 3rd arcade cutscene bgm, once again the violin/strings get heavily used, plus the Suval'hal Arena-esque drum beats. It's so dreadful and melancholic, in a cinematic way. Honestly a horrible mood to end this post on, but what can I do.

[resonanz]

Instrument & Music Headcanons —

It's mentioned throughout LE that the Voice allows Ebenholz to pick up most any instrument with ease, so I wanted to delve a little more specifically into that for future reference.

He is proficient with most (Western) orchestral instruments; this means he can pick it up and wield it properly, and probably do a decent amount of sight reading because he is being guided by the Voice (embouchure, fingering). Anything on the more technical side and it becomes obvious he's kind of inexperienced in instruments he did not specifically dedicate his time to (eg, his cello performance in his oprec)

I specified Western since the Witch King hailed from Leithanien and those were what he was probably the most familiar with. 'Foreign' instruments that have a reasonable analogue (such as fretless string instruments, or wind instruments made of wood) would require a bit of work since he is without explicit guidance, but his prodigious ability to play music would facilitate the learning process

I'd imagine his instrument proficiency generally flows as Woodwinds > Strings > Brass > Percussion. He's more skilled with soprano/treble instruments than those lower on the staff; the iteration of the Witch King's will that he hosts is described as a shrill, commanding melody, so it would grant him an affinity for instruments that could mimic that (i should probably make him an instrument tierlist?)

Has perfect pitch, saves him from needing a tuner lol

When conducting, he can keep time and guide the ensemble through passages fairly well - he is surprisingly expressive with his hands in this regard. However, he is uncomfortable with the process of nitpicking and essentially ordering others around...

Future instruments: I think he'd eventually pick up a guitar because 1) it seems like there are a lot of ops who play guitar (HoSF furniture) and 2) he eventually warms up to rock bands (or at least the sound of operation pyrite); despite his upbringing with classical instruments, he'd be open to trying something that would offend the Voice in his brain

Idk if i can imagine him in full emogoth stuff like some people are fond of doing but I think he could pull off the 00s emo band look where they wore formal suits... I should probably draw this when I get some time (thinking)

[newmusickarl]

Top 50 Albums of 2022

5. angel in realtime. by Gang of Youths

One of the personal highlights of this year has been getting to write reviews and features for Gigwise. Since joining the team in January, I've been introduced to some great new artists and projects throughout the year that may well have slipped my radar otherwise. Back in February in one of my first reviews for the publication, I was introduced to an Australian indie rock outfit on their third album who had somehow escaped me till then.

The more I researched for the review and delved into the story behind the album, the more I became intrigued by it. Then when I eventually hit play on the record itself, I was simply blown away with what I heard – that album was angel in realtime by Gang of Youths, one of my Top 5 Albums of 2022.

Although angel in realtime is ultimately a personal story centred on frontman David Le’aupepe’s late father, the themes and emotions that course through the record are those with which anyone can relate. Not only does angel in realtime succeed in being a poignant and emotional tribute to Le’aupepe’s own family heritage, but it also delivers a richly composed, beautifully orchestrated indie rock record that flourishes in its examination of the complete human experience. Here's what I said in my review back in February:

“In the five years since their highly-acclaimed sophomore album Go Farther In Lightness, there’s been a lot of change for Australian alt-rock group Gang of Youths. In late 2019 founding member Joji Malani left the band, before being replaced shortly after by multi-instrumentalist (and Noah and The Whale alumnus) Tom Hobden. More importantly though: in 2018, frontman Dave Le’aupepe lost his father, whose life and legacy serves as the primary inspiration for their sensational new album, angel in realtime.

Sonically it is dazzling, with Gang of Youths remaining a rock band at their core but bringing in elements of classical, dance and folk music, helping this collection of songs to really soar. There are also more than a few nods to Le’aupepe’s heritage found within the eclectic sounds on display too, with contributions from Pasifika and Māori vocalists, as well as samples of composer David Fanshawe’s recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian Islands and wider South Pacific region.

All of this is evident almost immediately too, as 'You In Everything' is a spellbinding, hugely orchestral opener where Le’aupepe intricately describes the final moments with his father. It is the perfect scene-setter, with widescreen instrumentation as Le’aupepe goes through each sense on the heartbreaking refrain of “I will (need/see/hear/feel) you in everything.” It’s an emotional hook that pulls you into the record, with 'In the Wake of Your Leave' continuing the story, as backing harmonies are provided courtesy of the Auckland Gospel Choir and percussion by several drummers from the Cook Islands. Lead single 'Angel of 8th Ave.' is then where you can really start to hear Tom Hobden’s influence coming into the fold—a hugely anthemic love song set in London, buoyed by strings, synths and a big singalong refrain of “there’s heaven in you now.”

Oddly, despite the wealth of instrumental splendour, it is probably the album’s most stripped-back song that offers the finest moment. Le’aupepe never knew the full extent of his father’s life and ancestry until after he had passed away, which is where he also learned he had two older half-brothers. After tracking them down and meeting them for the first time, he wrote 'Brothers', a raw piano ballad that pays tribute to his father’s legacy whilst outlining the highs and lows of the relationships he has with his siblings. It is exquisitely written and makes for a devastatingly stunning piece of songwriting.

For Dave Le’aupepe and Gang of Youths, the goal for this new record was clear: “I hope the record stands as a monument to the man my father was and remains long after I’m gone myself. He deserved it.” Whilst time will tell whether they have ultimately met their target, one thing for now is certain—this is a beautiful and moving tribute that extends beyond Le’aupepe’s own experiences and allows the listener to connect with the human stories they find at the heart. With gorgeous writing, an emotional resonance, as well as magnificent, diverse compositions throughout, you can’t help but get completely swept away.”

Best tracks: brothers, the angel of 8th ave., in the wake of your leave

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Listen here

[supercantaloupe]

wooow what a first half!!

the opener was i think the second (possibly third?) Valerie Coleman piece i've heard performed so far and one of my favorites yet. she has real skill as a composer (and performer!! was lucky enough to see imani winds live last year) and her orchestration (esp for winds) is just wonderful. loved the touches of harp and mallet percussion, and managed to include vocalizations/shouts/claps from the musicians in a way that WASN'T totally cheesy or tacky. well done!! i need to listen to more coleman

and the emperor concerto. what can be said about it that hasn't already!! it's just wonderful, i think it rivals some of beethoven's symphonies in terms of its quality. the soloist was great, although the exaggerated way he threw his arms back after a forte phrase ending or accent always threatened to make me laugh out loud. same with the very exaggerated moves from the principal oboist LOL. it's like she's trying to conduct with her instrument or something from the middle of the stage.

soloist played an encore too before the intermission -- i think it was the third mvt of the moonlight sonata? -- the audience would Not let that man leave the stage. an honestly impressive applause imo given that this hall is like a third full. overture to los esclavos felices and shostakovich 1 next, looking forward to it 💪

[pre1ude]

What type of music does your muse enjoy listening to? // @rhpsdys

Anything and everything. He may be a snob at heart, but there aren't many types of music he despises in entirety. At least one or two songs of each is bound to charm him, either with lyrics alone or melody. He has a whole collection of guilty pleasure listening.

It all hinges on the way he experiences music in general - He devours all genres with the ardour of a newly arrived extraterrestrial, buys in bulk from record stores and always tends to have a new track spinning as background noise during his downtime. All at the risk of whatever task he's performing suffering a big fat record scratch if the song turns out to be trash, of course. But he's discovered plenty of gems like that as well, so he sticks to it, since it trumps heeding anyone's suggestions.

Classical, obviously, is his bread and butter. He's partial to the more structured Baroque and mid-period Romantic era pieces, as well as actual Plainchant. Orthodox cathedral chants in particular, what an otherworldly genre of choral music. It does make him feel like a bad catholic, though. Would never subject himself to solo piano and violin concertos unless he's preparing for a performance. As entertainment, he likes orchestral or choral arrangements a whole lot more. Puts himself to sleep with the most unhinged requiems of the Lacrimosa variety.

There's a lot of strange, obscure and foreign music on his list too. Or genres he enjoys for the esoteric experience his synaesthesia allows him to have. Percussion-only music, hard metal and bassy jazz feel thick and powerful, a neat sensation whenever he's upset, for example. The classical guitar techniques applied to latin music, on the other hand - calming, pleasant, often warm.

But reacreationally? In terms of casual listening? Rock is his favourite. Oh man, classic rock and roll & glam secretly have a soft spot in his heart. Anything grainy, upbeat and campy with boogie-down potential gets put on a spin loop for him to bop his head to, maybe dance if no one's looking. It's his pump-up, feel-good music for whenever he needs a lift of mood. Legitimately the happiest whenever he has his funky little hair bands on, so I would honestly say he enjoys listening to rock the most.

Bonus: In a cheesy fantasy where I get to direct a fight scene for him, I'd have it play out to I Was Made For Lovin' You by Kiss. As in, him actually putting on the song and using his sonomancy to weaponize it. Just a groovy lil' interlude.

Headcanon prompts // accepting