#i need to listen through a few albums with no bootlegs too

[schooloftuneage]

Lesson 3: This is not a test...

CLASS IS IN SESSION

Rick Rubin is one of the most influential producers in the music biz. He turned Linkin Park from what could have been a two-album flash in the pan into one of the deepest acts in alternative music (no kidding, A Thousand Suns remains one of this berk's top 20 albums of all time). He introduced the world to more iconic acts than I can count. And before all that… he was in a shitty punk group that was more known for fake fights and fake arrests than anything else. (His dad was a policeman and would pretend to arrest Rick when he got into planned altercations with planted hecklers - an attempt at getting traction that failed.)

But at the same time, Rick was keeping his thumb on the pulse of the New York music scene, and when he found out about a few rapidly growing groups that were turning out incredibly danceable music with an antiestablishment ethos, his first thought on listening to them was that it was Black Punk Rock.

The music in question was, of course, hip hop.

Let's delve in.

Hip hop was influenced by numerous sources - talking blues, disco, R&B - and tracking all those down would be great, but we're going to truncate slightly today, because A) I'm saving a lot of that for a later lesson, and B) because the most pertinent one is actually disco, believe it or not. See, like punk rock, there was a single spark that ignited the movement, and while it was slower to burn, it had the perfect kindling. The place was in the slums of the south Bronx, in a rec room at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue. The person was DJ Kool Herc, who spun records for dance parties there.

The above documentary gives us a good glimpse at how Herc did his thing. Today we just know it as basic mixing, but back in the day, this kind of thing was revolutionary. Add in an emcee - Coke la Rock - who would handle the microphone while Herc was mixing, and you had the first emcee-deejay combo.

Over time, more groups came together. Grandmaster Flash picked up Herc's skills, and then hammered them down, bringing them to new heights of awesomeness. He couldn't even try to get on the mic while he was mixing, too focused on the beats he was crafting, so he got an enterprising B-boy they called Cowboy to do the honors. Over time he amassed a group of five emcees to work with him - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The Treacherous Three, the Funky Four (Plus One More) - you can see a sort of theme in these early groups. Rap battles were a thing, inheriting a little bit of gang battle ethos from their founders - early rap adopters the Zulu Nation were ex-gang members who were trying to veer into a more constructive direction, and they did so well.

But for most, the genre was locked away. Sure, rapping was easy enough to do, but to be a real hip hop artist you needed a deejay, and that equipment was expensive. As I said, the spark was there, but it needed kindling.

And just as punk had its watershed moment in 1977 in London, so hip hop did in 1977 in New York. On July 13th, NYC had a city-wide blackout that lasted just over a full 24 hours. A mob mentality decended over the city, with widespread looting… and in the aftermath of these riots, a lot of expensive sound equipment made its way into the hands of enterprising would-be deejays, either through their own actions or through pawnshops who didn't ask questions about where the equipment came from in the weeks after the blackout.

Now, there is much - MUCH - to say about this scene… but as I'm delving in, I'm realizing that someone else has already done this lesson, and arguably done it better than I could ever dream of doing it. Cartoonist Ed Piskor has done a series, Hip Hop Family Tree, that chronicles the early rise of the scene beautifully. And in the spirit of the early rap bootlegs that we're going to be discussing… you didn't get it from me, but hereyago:

That's twelve issues of greatness right there.

Now, with THAT link dropped, let's talk seminal moments for the origins of hip hop.

The first track on wax that was nothing but a deejay showing off their mixing prowess? "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel". This one was even more notable because Sugar Hill Records didn't like paying royalties to artists that they sampled, and tended to use original compositions rather than having Flash or other deejays mix in the background (which, yes, was kind of insulting to the art of the deejay…). Also, please note, there are NO editing tricks here. This was just Flash at his best, and he laid the whole track down in only four or five takes.

The first rap "superstar", arguably, was Kurtis Blow. At the very least, the man was both responsible for the first gold record in the hip hop genre and the man who brought it to Soul Train, with "The Breaks".

And now, we're going to zig-zag-zig back to an earlier point.

The early hip hop scene was full of bootlegs. Some were recordings of live events - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five had a full live track that had never been released recorded, and it's still more popular, as the studio version lacks the passion of the live recording. (Bozo Meko's version of 'Flash it to the Beat', fyi.) Unscrupulous producers would record artists in the studio under the guise of 'letting them play around' and release their work under different names - and again, that happened to the Furious Five, with "We Rap More Mellow" being released as the work of The Younger Generation. And then there were bootleg compilations released for the deejays - packages of "essential" disco songs pressed as unofficial collections, distributed behind the counter of record stores.

Our TRACK OF THE WEEK is the first of those. A recording of a live event - something that we now recognize as the first rap battle, Busy Bee Starsky vs. Kool Moe Dee. A battle that Starsky phoned in because he assumed he'd have no real competition, and Moe came loaded for bear for. This one's a slaughter, kiddos.

And we're gonna have a lot to say about hip hop in the future... but for now, that gets you to the starting line.

Class dismissed.

[canwriteitbetterthanueverfeltit]

my like two year long depression-induced stint of not watching broadway musicals is (fingers crossed) going to end soon and I’m really really excited and happy about it

[no-reply95]

So I listened to the Something About the Beatles (SATB) latest podcast today, titled “Dear Friend” with the topic of conversation John and Paul’s relationship in the 1970s. So I was thinking that this would be great because I feel like the primary things talked about when the John/Paul 1970s dynamic is discussed is Lennon Remembers, How Do You Sleep and the PlayBoy interview, maybe they’ll throw in the Lost Weekend for balance if they’re feeling so inclined... I’m obviously exaggerating here but... Firstly, before I start my rant, SATB is a good podcast, they usually have great guests (Erin Torkelson Weber the MVP of course), cover interesting topics and Robert Rodriguez is a good host who’s good at challenging things in the story that don’t ring true.

However, I feel like throughout the Beatles active years and into the post break-up years there’s a narrative that has been established that so many people are wedded to, to the point that it’s part of the orthodoxy of the band. In my opinion the narrative is that from first meeting up until the moment that John died Paul was always doing everything to be John’s BFF, he was always trying to be closest to John, no matter what John said or did, Paul would always be the one to try and mend fences and throughout the 70s he was doing whatever he could to end up back working with John. I don’t think this narrative is completely wrong but I think it’s uneven mainly because, in all this, Paul’s importance to John is completely glossed over and John’s manoeuvring to ensure that he was the most important person in Paul’s life is completely missed. So, I just want to highlight some of the instances off the top of my head where I feel that John showed how much he needed to be prioritised in Paul’s life and how much he wanted to mend fences post break-up, that I feel don’t get talked about often enough:

1) John’s competition with Jim McCartney: There’s a lot of stock put into the John-Paul-Stu triangle but that obscures a weird triangle that, maybe Paul wasn’t even aware of, but I think definitely existed which is John-Paul-Jim. By all accounts Jim didn’t want John around and was against John and Paul’s friendship. Jim had a lot of influence over Paul and had a lot of sway as his sole parent once Mary died and I think John was resentful of that. We all know about the ultimatum John gave Paul when he took the job (that Jim implored him to get) which jeopardised his commitment to the band. In John’s eyes and own words, Paul choosing to quit his job to commit fully to the band was Paul choosing John over his dad. No one (in books I’ve only seen Joshua Wolf Shenk discuss this) discusses how Jim was effectively John’s Stu, someone that obstructed his closeness and ability to influence Paul to the point that over a decade later, post break up, John saw Paul focusing on the band as a victory over his dad. John had a jealously of Paul’s closeness and prioritisation of his family that would rear its head further down the road but, by and large, I rarely see this discussed.

2) John’s jealousy of Paul’s other close friendships: On this front, we hear ad nauseam, about Paul’s jealousy of Stu, which is fine because, even without Paul acknowledging it, it’s obvious from space that Paul was jealous of Stu’s closeness to John but we never hear about John’s jealousy of Paul’s other close friendships. All the Beatles were close to Mal Evans but I think Paul was especially close to him (he was the first Beatle to befriend Mal, Mal lived with him at Cavendish for some time, Mal helped Paul write some songs etc.) which got to John. In John’s own words when discussing Magical Mystery Tour he was “choked” when he found out that Paul had come up with the idea with Mal and Mal’s widow has said that Yoko told her that John had told her (whew Chinese whispers time) that he was jealous of Mal’s friendship with Paul... Then there’s Tara Browne, it’s interesting that despite Tara apparently being really friendly and outgoing John never took to him. Maybe it was because Tara was upper class. Maybe it was because after pestering him for months, Paul chose to do LSD with Tara instead of with John and the rest of the band. Maybe it was because Paul invited Tara up to Liverpool, right after Christmas, to hang out with his family resulting in the infamous moped crash. If I put my tin foil hat on, in “A Day in the Life” when John’s reaction to the death of a man in a car crash is “to laugh” is that meaningful? The song is thought to reference Tara but does that passage give us a glimpse into how John saw Tara? If he’s laughing about Tara dying then it sounds like he really didn’t like him, possibly due to his close friendship with Paul.

3) John’s resentment of Paul’s romantic partners: So this one is interesting... There are quite a few examples to walk through so here goes. We have the incident in Hamburg where Paul is in bed with a woman and John (in the aftermath of Stu’s death and probably high on prellies) comes charging in attacking the girl, cutting up her clothes and basically scares her out of the room, maybe that was just the prellies but there seems to be too much of a pattern to ignore. Then there’s Jane of course, we don’t know a ton about John’s interactions with Jane over the years but it’s interesting that he makes a terrible first impression with her (asking her to describe how girls masturbate) and it seems that their relationship is cordial at best going forward (note how Jane and Paul never go on holiday alone with John and Cynthia in the same way George and Ringo did with their respective partners). Peggy Lipton also tells the story about how when she came to hang out with Paul in 1965, John was really rude to her out of nowhere and asked “what she was doing there” and she seemed to think that John couldn’t understand why Paul wanted to take her to dinner if all he was going to do was fuck her. Then, there’s Linda... John consistently gives interviews in the early 70s when he talks about how in a few years Paul will wake up and leave Linda, according to Ray Connolly John couldn’t believe that Paul was staying faithful to Linda and then there’s other weird occurrences in that late 60s/early 70s period. There’s the fan who claims seeing John about to hit a pregnant Linda before Paul stepped in, there’s John rushing to get married as soon as Paul does (8 days later I think which is WILD to me), there’s John describing Paul’s wedding as a “funeral” in ‘71... What does all this tell us? That John was too busy replacing Paul with Yoko to care about Paul anymore? In my book, it’s John’s fears being realised that Paul would always prioritise his family over him when push came to shove, in John’s mind he had won when he was competing with Jim for Paul but once Linda came into the picture and gave Paul the family he always wanted, I think in John’s mind, it was game over. Maybe if Paul had divorced Linda in the 70s (like John predicted) they would have worked together more, we’ll never know, but in a similar way to Yoko, Linda was a wedge in John’s relationship to Paul.

4) John’s attempts post break-up to reach out to Paul: We hear a lot about Paul reaching out to John in the 70s and not engaging with the feuding anymore, it’s Paul that decides not to respond in kind to HDYS, it’s Paul that invites John to the Venus and Mars sessions, it’s Paul going to the Dakota to see/try to see John, it’s always Paul seemingly who misses John and wants to reestablish their relationship. However, according to May Pang, John was happy to do Bangladesh if Paul was doing it too. According to Ray Connolly, John gave him a letter to give to Paul, in the hopes that Paul would call him. According to Paul and other people involved in the One to One concert, John asked Paul to appear with him during his performance in ‘72. And in the face of the backlash from HDYS, John’s the one going around calling Paul his best friend ,other than Yoko, and sending him Beatles bootlegs for Christmas.

All this is to say that John and Paul did not have this one sided relationship where only Paul cared and wanted them to repair things or where only Paul was looking to manoeuvre a situation so he was closest to John, John also wanted to be the closest person in Paul’s life, he was jealously protective of their partnership (see his angry reaction to Paul not coming to him and only him to help with Eleanor Rigby) he also seemed to fear losing Paul to his family which may have happened in his mind, who knows. Because John’s most famous post Beatles interviews have him bashing Paul and Paul’s had 40 years to talk about how much he loved John, there’s this view that Paul loved John more than John loved Paul or that John loved Paul until Yoko came in the picture, at which point Paul was no longer relevant. If Paul meant nothing to John anymore, why did he even bother writing HDYS, if he was so tuned out he wouldn’t have been bothered by Ram, none of the critics were so why was John all over that album more than a Paul is Dead truther?! Why did Yoko block Paul’s calls to John, they were happy to hang out with Ringo, what was so threatening about Paul? Why, according to Robert Rosen, were John’s diaries full of his obsessions about Paul?? We’ll never know a lot of the answers to these questions but I would love it if more podcasts even acknowledged that these questions exist and acknowledged that Paul was such a huge part of John’s life till his dying day: “we have our ups and downs but I would do anything for Paul and I think he would do anything for me” John Lennon December 8 1980.

Apologies for the rant it seems listening to Beatles podcasts always seems to set me off! But SATB is a good podcast, just feel that there are so many interesting conversations that get missed in favour of the usual narrative time and time again, so close but no cigar!

Thanks to @onesweetdreampodcast and @anotherkindofmindpod for being the only podcast I’ve heard to date brave enough to discuss these questions, I think doing that will give us a much better understanding of the Beatles and how their story unfolded.

By the way most of what I referenced above can be found in @amoralto incredible blog, have fun!

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

Outlanders: How Jinjer survived a revolution and built their own world

Jinjer’s resilient spirit was forged in the civil war that erupted their native Ukraine in 2014. As the groove metal quartet prepare to unleash their fourth and most complex album to date, singer Tatiana Shmayluk relives the turmoil that shaped them. Cue: one of modern music’s most remarkable tales of survival, resistance and sheer determination…

It was when the first fighter jet flew overhead that Tatiana Shmayluk realised she had to run.

For the past few months, the mood in Ukraine had been growing increasingly tense. As a former USSR state, in spring 2014 the country had only had independence from Russia since 1991. Many citizens had wanted then-President Viktor Yanukovych to sign an agreement aligning the country closer with the European Union in November 2013. Plenty of others wanted to stay close to Russia. Protests began across the country. Then violence. Then Yanukovych was ousted from office in February 2014. Then more violence.

“There was a revolution,” says Tatiana. ​“There were huge riots in the main square of Kiev. In the end, our president, his ass was kicked out and he left the country. That was crazy. And then everything turned into chaos. And that’s when people really started hating each other.”

That April, following a highly suspect vote on whether to stay or go which resulted in a widely disputed declaration of autonomy for the region around Tatiana’s home-city of Donetsk in the east of the country, on the border with Russia, armed conflict commenced, involving Russian troops, tanks and air power. So began what Tatiana calls ​“a civil war – Ukrainians attacking Ukrainians”, with those loyal to their former Soviet masters on one side, and those wanting to break free, and have independence and closer ties with the EU on the other.

You may remember news footage of protesters banging dustbin lids at lines of soldiers and riot police. The politics of the situation are obviously layered and complex, but the simple version is: imagine a turbo version of Brexit that actually tore the country in two and resulted in one region declaring an independence that’s somewhat disputed by most of the world that isn’t Russia. And with a lot more violence. And a conflict that’s still piling up bodies now.

Tatiana was having a barbecue when she realised what was about to happen. ​“We were at a picnic, not far away from my building where I lived,” she says today from her flat in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. ​“We were just chilling on the grass, eating food and stuff. And we heard this loud sound in the sky – we looked up and saw a jet. And that was that. We just grabbed our stuff and ran home, and we started figuring out how to leave before it was too late.”

Had Tatiana and her friends – including other members of her band, Jinjer – waited much longer than they did, their passage to Lviv some 1,300 kilometres to the west, where bassist Eugene Abdukhanov and his wife were already living, might have been much more hazardous. Even as they ​“packed all our shit into a van” and made a break for it, the country was starting to change shape around them.

“Already there were borders built being built around our region,” she says. ​“And I remember when we were crossing it, we were met by a guy, a soldier with a weapon. And then we heard [machine gun fire] somewhere very close to us.”

As she describes this, Tatiana makes an almost amusing machine gun noise, but she is painfully aware that even seven years on, the situation remains a serious one. ​“There’s no way out for this problem,” she says, ​“No solution. And that’s really, really sad.” If one needed an example of the lasting effects here, her parents have remained behind in what she calls, with almost mundane succinctness, ​“the war zone”.

“There’s an actual border between Ukraine and the former parts of the country, and it’s all blocked. And due to the pandemic, they have no chance to cross borders,” she explains. ​“They cannot receive money from the government, their pensions. I always tell my mom, ​‘Hey, mom, just try once to do this, make really big effort and cross this border, even [if you have to go] through Russia. Just come here and stay here. I can help you in any way possible.’ But she is old school. And when you have been living on this earth for over 60 years, it’s really hard to change your way of living.”

But that’s what Tatiana and Jinjer have had to do. And growing from such trying circumstances has only made them more rigid in their resolve. Because literally having to run for your life will have an effect on a person. ​“Growing balls, maintaining your balls,” is how she puts it.

“Of course, it makes you stronger,” she says. ​“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Today, Tatiana has lived in Kiev for more than five years. As Jinjer’s singer, she is one of the rising stars of European metal, and made her living visiting countries as far-flung as Argentina, Australia and Japan to play her band’s music. Next week, the band release their fourth album, Wallflowers, a furious, razor-sharp work of metal that will delight fans of Cradle Of Filth and Conjurer alike, and will add nicely to streams that, in total, already sit at over 100 million.

Though she says that she’s only been recognised around town a handful of times, and that she probably gets noticed more for the tattoos that cover her arms and neck (“Old women who were born in the Soviet Union really reject people with tattoos,” she says. ​“They look at you like you’re a prisoner, or a prostitute…”) than for her music, at 34 life for Tatiana is very different to what she knew growing up. As a kid in the early ​’90s, after the collapse of the USSR, her family were, she says, ​“average”, but there were clues that the Shmayluk family were not one of society’s ​‘haves’.

“I remember that we couldn’t afford meat,” she recalls. ​“After the Cold War ended we got a lot of American food, like veggie burgers. It looked like oatmeal with brown [fake] chicken that you make into patties, and then you fry them. You eat them as kind of meat, but it’s not. It’s just some shit, like some very plastic stuff. I realised how poor we were. And I was crying, ​‘Mom, I just want some meat. I don’t want to eat this.’”

Elsewhere, though, Tatiana remembers her childhood as being ​“great”, a time she looks back on with fondness. ​“We didn’t have internet and stuff, so we just played outside all day long. And school was awesome.” The food imports post-Cold War might not have been the most brilliant thing she had ever seen, but the new order also brought with it more western culture. MTV introduced six-year-old Tatiana to hip-hop (“I’d practice dancing like MC Hammer”), but via going through her brother’s room and raiding his tape collection – often bootlegs – she also got turned on to Nirvana, Metallica and The Offspring.

“We had this family tradition that every evening we had supper together around the same table,” she remembers. ​“When I discovered The Offspring, I put Smash on my huge headphones. I was sitting in a chair, eating, and I wasn’t talking to anyone from my family, just listening to music. And then when I finished, I just sat back and just enjoyed the music, doing nothing.”

Her ability to both lose and find herself in music turned into doing something more significant at high school when, after years spent doodling herself playing guitar in a band with other girls in a sketchbook, Tatiana performed her first gig as part of a talent contest, doing covers of songs by Limp Bizkit and German metallers Guano Apes (“No-one voted for us,” she laughs). Her first gig as an audience member, meanwhile, came a few years later, when Soulfly played in Kiev. Despite the fact she didn’t actually get to see Max Cavalera and his band onstage, it was an experience in itself.

“I traveled from Donetsk to Kiev, like, 700 – 800 kilometres,” she says. ​“My parents were very protective, they didn’t want me going anywhere on road trips or anything, and they didn’t give me any money to spend. I only got to watch maybe 30 minutes of the show, because my boyfriend got drunk and started a fight with someone. Security grabbed him and threw him out of the club. It was quite a shitty day!”

In 2010, aged 23, having completed language studies at university, and working briefly at a dating agency, Tatiana joined Jinjer. Two years later, they self-released their debut EP, Inhale, Don’t Breathe. A year after that, they played outside Ukraine for the first time, in neighbouring Romania. ​“That gave us a push to move forward, because we really liked it,” she says. ​“And although we didn’t bring any money back – we didn’t earn anything – we realised that we want to do this, and we’re going to overcome any obstacle that is waiting for us.”

Eight months later, this would be put to the test by fleeing the war. Having moved to Lviv, Jinjer – Tatiana, Eugene, guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov and then-drummer Yevhen Mantulin – then all moved into what the singer describes as ​“a summer house” just outside the city. Soon, the band became a full-time concern. They still had nothing, but it was a more fun nothing.

“We were all just hoping for the best, touring just with money that we had, earning nothing, like one euro,” she says. ​“Sometimes we didn’t have anything to eat, basically, because we were broke, because everyone had just quit their jobs. We just had some coins to buy a beer. That was intense. But I remember those years only with a warm heart. That was fun. That was a really huge challenge for just people who had never done that before, but we happened to overcome all this shit because we stayed together.”

But as touring became a more regular thing and things for Jinjer seemed to be on the up and up, the band once again found themselves faced with bad luck that most will, mercifully, never know. On tour in 2014, they had a long drive to Russia for the next run of shows. Stopping at a friend’s house in Kiev for the night, Tatiana took a taxi back to her own place, leaving everyone else to continue partying and drinking. At 4am, she got a phone call about Yevhen.

“They said, ​‘You have to come here because he’s broken his spine,’” she recalls. ​“He fell out of the window. Everyone [had gone] to sleep, and he stayed there in the kitchen, sitting on the window frame, smoking. And then he fell asleep, and fell from the third floor. They heard someone screaming in the middle of the night, but they didn’t realise – they thought that it was maybe a dog or something. And then someone checked the kitchen and he was not there. Then they looked down and saw him just lying there.”

By some miracle, he survived, though he no longer has use of his legs. Tatiana says she and his bandmates were ​“in shock for many years”, and that, ​“I remember we were all around him, toured with him, just hanging out, and then he’s just like… bam.” But even this incident, which left him in a wheelchair and unable to return to the band, is talked about in the same spirited, fighty way that Tatiana talks about every challenge.

“He seems very positive,” she says. ​“He’s doing music and he tours around Russia with a band. It’s kind of a hip-hop band, and he plays guitar. He’s still doing tours, so that’s awesome.”

Should you ask Tatiana to describe to you the Ukrainian national character, she’ll tell you that they are “stubborn”, and that as a whole they feel “we have nothing to lose”. She’ll also tell you that, “Ukrainians are very passionate people. Not like Italians [are passionate], for example, or Spanish people. We are passionate with a straight face, you know, not smiling – more like Russians.” When it comes to danger, meanwhile, she says that “we take risks easily”.

Surprisingly, despite the above description matching the impression you get of Tatiana from her story, she doesn’t think of herself as ​“a typical Ukrainian”. She does, though, nod in confirmation when asked if she sees playing music as a form of resistance. Before any of the bigger events and challenges, this spirited defiance started with becoming a musician at all, at home.

“The first time I resisted something that really prevented me from doing what I love was my parents,” she says. ​“Mostly my mom, who didn’t want to see me as a musician. In Ukraine, it’s kind of a big thing. If you’re a musician, it’s not respected. From 17 to 23, I was protesting [her], silently. I didn’t, like, yell at her; I didn’t fight with her. I just said, ​‘Yeah, yeah,’ and I did my own thing. That’s when it started, and it’s still going this way.”

An example: on Wallflowers, there’s a song, Disclosure, in which Tatiana vents about treatment at the hands of certain media outlets in her homeland. Even being used to internet haters, giving the band shit for everything from daring to escape a warzone, to daring to have a female member, to daring to become successful, the experience left her boiling.

“Earlier this year, in March, me and Eugene went to some studio to do an interview with a Ukrainian guy who is a YouTuber, and he used to work on Ukrainian TV channels,” she says. ​“So there was a tense atmosphere, and very angry vibrations between us. And he was so manipulative. We had differences in our political views and stuff, and he didn’t want to accept that. So he really wanted to show us in a very bad, bad way. I was pissed off for three days after that, and wrote the song about it.”

As people with a profile, do you think you’re a target for that sort of thing?

“We absolutely are targets for those people, for haters,” Tatiana says. ​“They hate us for different reasons: for me being a woman, you know. And people think that we pay for [success], like with our money – some of them think that we are hugely rich. My mom is a bookkeeper! My dad worked in coal mining, he was a worker, just working class. But no-one cares. They always find something to blame us for. But at least they don’t do us any harm. Only with words and comments. It’s distant. They’re poison, but it goes nowhere.”

Tatiana Shmayluk is a self-evidently tough woman. She’s also extremely nice. Equally, she’s extremely modest. When she talks about her life’s trials and triumphs, survival and successes, she does so in a manner that almost shrugs these things off, that possibly anyone could do them. Possibly, if pushed by the sight of a war literally kicking off while you have a barbecue, we could. But it’s still surprising that, for someone with more real things to get angry about than most, she describes what she’s putting into Wallflower as simply ​“my whining and insecurities”.

“Every album, I find something to be angry about,” she says. ​“It’s pessimistic, but it’s nothing to do with the pandemic. The pandemic gave me some time to just sit and think about, different stuff that I’ve been going through. And we have to agree that the whole world isn’t getting any better – I put myself into this kind of state of mind that, ​‘Okay, it’s almost the end of the world.’ Maybe the next album will be more optimistic and more positive. Maybe…”

Pessimism or not, none of it makes her story of prevailing against the things she has any less stirring. Never mind the fact that the band she fronts come from a country most tours don’t even stop at. She’s – rightfully – proud of Jinjer’s success, and the work ethic it’s taken to get them where they are, but she’s almost at pains to share the glory with her bandmates. And in part, it’s this that’s carried Jinjer through all this the most. It’s this, she says, that’s helped her both survive, and to thrive.

“I would never do this myself. I wouldn’t be able to work on so many obstacles just by myself,” Tatiana admits. ​“And if I had some type of my own personal career, just a single singer, I wouldn’t even start doing that. I really need those guys. And the guys, I hope they need me. That’s just how it works: all together. Even having nothing in our pockets and empty stomachs, we could work.

“It just depends on how big your dream is.”

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Empire Theatre in Liverpool, UK - December 7, 1979

(x)

Freddie's black leather pants had both blue and red kneepads just to keep the football fans of both Liverpool and Everton happy, as Brian explained at some point during the show. For their own amusement during the acoustic set, Brian and Freddie played a bit of Mull Of Kintyre after Freddie mentioned how Wings had just played in Liverpool. Freddie jokingly said, "I'll be Linda McCartney." The band perform Liar on the second night in Liverpool, as they always did when playing two consecutive nights at a venue on this tour. The first picture was taken by Jim Jenkins, and the second by Ian Stewart Brown during We Are The Champions. The last photo set was taken by Doug Price and cleaned up by Ryan Newton.

Fan Stories

“I was fortunate to see Queen make their debut on T.O.T.P. in early 74. This was the time that Glam rock was at its peak, as a 10 year old I used to enjoy watching the likes of Mud, Slade, Sweet and Gary Glitter. I had never heard of Queen before seeing them on T.O.T.P, from that appearance I was hooked! The sound and visual image of the band took my appreciation of music to a level which was far ahead of the other acts that i used to enjoy. The song that they performed, Seven Seas Of Rhye, has stood the test of time so well over the last 29 years. For the next 5 years I would always listen out for a new Queen single release hoping that i could see the band perform the single on the TV. A couple of months after my 15th birthday I had the opportunity to see the band play live in Liverpool on the Crazy tour. It was to be an early Christmas present off my parents and they were taking me to the concert 80 miles away from my home town with another Queen fan called Elizabeth (good name for a Queen fan!). To say I couldnt wait was an understatment! Just over a week before the gig I went down with chicken pox, my Mother said "You can't go to the concert as you might give it to Freddie!", but, it was going to take more than chicken pox to stop me seeing the band for the first time! The concert took place on a Friday, I remember being in school and a couple of mates being almost as excited for me as i was for myself, as i was always telling them how much i loved Queen! We had excellent seats, in the 4th row, on Brian's side. There was no support band, so, when the lights of the theatre where dimmed you can imagine the atmosphere in there, a cloud of dry ice slowly wafted into the audience with the intro tape playing, I'm shaking my head typing this as I can remember it so well, just goes to show that you never forget your first one! This is what I had been waiting for, for so long, the opportunity of seeing Queen live, I had heard so many times of what a great live show they would perform, before this I had only seen their Christmas eve gig on the TV in 75. I hadn't even heard a bootleg tape before I purchased Live Killers, an album that I couldn't wait to buy, and played to death in my bedroom in the summer of 79! The lighting rig was suspended about 6 ft high above the stage, this was slowly raised to reveal the hundreds of white, green and red lights piercing through the dry-ice and into the noisy, excited crowd, an explosion was the cue for the band to enter the stage, they ripped into Jailhouse rock, with the customary, as I was to learn, always, last on stage appearance of Freddie. There he was about 10 ft away from me, unbeliavable, first impressions? He was smaller than what I thought, on the TV he seemed to give off the appearance he was a lot bigger, or was that just the way his stage presence came over on TV? He was dressed in all black leather, including the hat, and the "fly" eye shades. Not to displease any of the city's football fans in the audience Brian later revealed that was the reason, why Freddie was wearing blue and red kneepads! The set list was similar to Live Killers, but included Save Me which wasn't to be released as a single until the next month. The majority of people reading this will have seen Queen in concert, so you know how brilliant a Queen gig was. With the glorious benefit of hindsight I was fortunate that I had such a great seat to see the band in action for my first time. A year later and my first gig could have been at the back of the N.E.C. in Birmingham. All too soon the gig finished, on leaving the theatre O noticed that my ears where ringing from the volume of the concert, the ringing didnt stop until the next Tuesday! December 91, two weeks after Freddie has passed away and I'm back at The Empire for the first time since my first Queen gig, of all the places to go back to... I explained to my partner that it was a gig I wanted to miss as it would be too painful to visit the Theatre in the circumstances, she talked me around, so I took my seat in the circle to see the gig by Paul Young, who I had seen before, and to this day I still like. Whilst the support act was on, I looked down into the stalls, from the right of the theatre I looked at the 4th row and counted the seats until I got to the 12th seat, the seat I had for my first Queen gig, the memories came flooding back of that night, my throat was choked as I took a journey on the gigs that I had seen after I had been in that seat - 3 trips to Paris, 2 to Brussels, Cologne, Hot Space tour, attending the 7 gigs in the U.K. on The Works tour, down the front at the Live Aid gig, The Magic tour, every opportunity I had to see the band in action I took, they would never happen again, being a Queen fan you can probably realise how I was hurting at that time? A couple of years later Brian performed in Liverpool at The Royal Court Theatre, just down the road from The Empire, I was made up that he was playing in Liverpool as this was a chance to see Brian's first visit to Liverpool since my first concert in 79. It was a great concert with a brilliant atmosphere. On Brian's next tour 5 years later I was fortunate to meet him, and he signed a photo of a picture I had taken from his gig in Liverpool in '93. On telling him of the gig it was taken at, he commented on what a great night that had been, and how he was disappointed he couldn't book the venue on the tour he was on. The Brian gig in Liverpool was just what I needed after my return to The Empire, perhaps I am asking for too much, but, it would be great to see Brian perform sometime at The Empire! If your ticket for the gig is Row D, Seat 12, after reading this you can understand why I would want to swap tickets with you?!” - Kevin Hughes

“We set off for Manchester early Saturday morning one day in September 1979. I had to bribe my brother in-law(not a Queen fan) with the promise of a ticket and petrol money as I couldn't drive at the time. We arrived at Manchester Apollo before opening hours but found to my horror that they'd already been open an hour. We got to within sight of the ticket office and the inevitable happened - the sold out sign came out. Two long months later, concert day at last. I had a stomach like a child on Christmas Eve. I had a few cans on the way (Tartan bitter, remember them?) When we parked up I was physically sick due to the excitement of course(nothing to do with beer, honest). After a bit of banter in the queue we finally got to our seats. We weren't near the front but with it being a theatre we were never going to be that far from the stage. The lights dimmed, there was dry ice everywhere, the pizza oven began to rise, then Queen exploded on to the stage singing We Will Rock You. The crowd rose as one everybody jumping up and down like demented animals. We had a burst of Millionaire Waltz, Brian playing piano on Save Me. The crowd kept on singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love long after the music had finished and Freddie doing the dance he did in the video. I remember singing Love Of My Life the whole way through with the crowd as Freddie listened, then singing it all again with him. Roger's big drums, Brian's guitar solo, then Freddie and the boys whipping the crowd into another frenzy with Bohemian Rhapsody, Sheer Heart Attack and Tie Your Mother Down. Then Freddie on the shoulders of Superman singing We Will Rock You and then the song to end all concerts - We Are The Champions. As that was my first Queen concert, it was a very special one for me. I was lucky enough to see them six times and I can say "hand on heart" every show was a different experience. I think some of you will know what I mean. I'm no writer(as you can probably tell) so I hope this all makes sense to you and I hope you got a little bit of the excitement and emotion I had in 1979.” - Ducksoup

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Heavy Metal

Sometimes it’s fun to revisit old movies you watched when you were younger and find out, hey, this is better than you remembered! Sometimes your young mind just wasn’t ready to accept how awesome something was, and you needed time to fully understand what you look for and like about cinema to truly appreciate it. But then, sometimes, you watch something you liked when you were younger, and you realize… wow, this is absolute dog shit!

Such is the case with Heavy Metal. This is a movie I have frequently cited as a low-ranking entry on lists of the finest animated films of all time, and to be entirely fair to the film, it is important in a historical sense, being a cult classic that was passed around through bootlegs because music rights kept it from getting a home video release, and it came out around the dawn of the 80s and kind of destroyed what you would think an animated film was capable of. This film is full of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and it entirely, unabashedly unashamed of this, for better or for worse.

Now, while I do think the overall film is a bit lacking, it is an anthology film divided into segments, and there are some pretty good ones I will make note of; this is not a film with absolutely no merit. But before that, let me point out the one thing everyone can agree is amazing about this film: the soundtrack. You’ve got Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Stevie Nicks, Devo, Cheap Trick… if nothing else, the kickass soundtrack is worth a listen, though Blue Oyster Cult’s song inclusion irritates me to a great degree. The movie went with “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” for the soundtrack, despite the fact Blue Oyster Cult had a song ready to go that is literally about the final entry in the anthology, called “Vengeance (The Pact).” Why the people compiling the soundtrack made this choice baffles me; it reminds me of how they didn’t use “Jennifer’s Body” in, well, Jennifer’s Body, instead opting for a different Hole song from the same album.

But I digress. Let’s go one by one and touch on the segments:

The framing device is about an entity known as the Loc-Nar, who claims to be the sum of all evil, detailing to a little girl how it has influenced chaos and carnage across time and space. The thing is, though, the Loc-Nar doesn’t come out on top in any of the segments, and its schemes are often thwarted. So the entire movie is basically this supreme evil being detailing to a little girl how much it sucks ass at its one job.

The first segment is Harry Canyon, a story about the eponymous futuristic New York taxi driver. In some regards it reminds me of The Fifth Element, what with a scruffy, slummy, futuristic taxi driver trying to help a smoking hot babe find out the truth and all, but unlike that film, this short is a lot bleaker and gritty. You kinda know what you’re in for when Harry vaporizes a dude who tries to mug him, and if that’s not enough, the female lead of this short literally throws herslef at him, and yes, he gets to take a dive into her Harry Canyon – and you get to see it.

This is a running theme throughout these shorts – almost every female character has huge titties and is sexually promiscuous, throwing themselves at the first penis they see as if it was their job. It’s so incredibly juvenile and tacky as to be laughable, but I guess this comes with the territory considering the magazine this film adapted.

Anyway, the segment is harmless and unremarkable. It’s exactly what you’d expect from this sort of story, without much in the way of twists or turns.

The second segment, Den, is arguably the best segment in the entire film. We have a nerdy kid named Dan who gets transported across space and becomes the musclebound warrior with a huge cock known as Den. Every woman throws herself at him, every villain in his way gets pummeled, and no task is too impossible for this man! And did I mention that he is voiced by John Candy? Really, Candy’s comedic touch is what makes this entire thing feel fun and palatable; it’s a cheesy swords and sorcery romp through and through. Honestly, I don’t have much bad to say about this one, it’s just very silly fun.

Unfortunately we are back to being not great with Captain Sternn. Sternn, played by Eugene Levy (of The Wacky World of Mini Golf fame), is basically an intergalactic war criminal on trial, and when his paid witness Hanover Fiste (played by Rodger “Squidward Tentacles” Bumpass) comes up to the stand, the Loc-Nar influences him to the most evil act possible… betraying this war criminal in front of the judge and jury! GASP! I’m not sure what the Loc-Nar is really trying to do here; you’d think it would maybe want Sternn free to continue spreading wicked influence across the galaxy, but nah, it just makes Squidward hulk out and tries to kill him, only for the tables to be turned and Squidward to be dropped out an airlock, further cementing how utterly useless the Loc-Nar is.

Thankfully, once that’s over, we have yet another very strong segment, another contender for best in show: B-17. This is a genuinely creepy zombie short film, and the zombies are utterly horrifying and grotesque. This is regarded as the most nightmarish part of the film, and for good reason; this shit is certainly worthy of being called “heavy metal.” Honestly, there isn’t much bad to say about this one either, except perhaps that it is over far too soon.

Then we get to what is probably the worst segment: So Beautiful, So Dangerous. The entire segment is sort of meant to be a lighthearted comedic breather between The last segment and the final one, but it just comes off as combining every problem the movie has into one segment: the uselessness of the Loc-Nar, copious and ridiculous sex, drugs, and so on. Really all that’s missing from this is gratuitous violence, but hey, guess you can’t have everything all the time, right? It just comes off as really dull and pointless, and there’s not really anything particularly funny about anything that happens in it, unless of course you’re a thirteen year old who thinks “big boob woman having sex with robot while aliens snort cocaine” is the funniest shit on Earth.

Thankfully, we end on a strong note with Taarna, which is about a proud warrior woman dressed in horrifically impractical armor (and this actually effects the plot, I’m not kidding, somehow there was some self-awareness here) and a cool alien pteradactly flying off to fulfill a vengeful pact after the slaughter of a peaceful race by barbarians mutated by the Loc-Nar, in what may be the Loc-Nar’s sole impressive feat. Taarna is the ultimate hero, giving us the trifecta of qualities a heroine in this movie should have – boobs, butt, and bush... Er, I mean, sword, cool mount, and ass-kicking prowess. This one is not quite as good as “Den” or “B-17,” but I still think it’s a solid finale that has enough action and awesome music to make up for its tackier elements.

The movie ends with Taarna’s defeat of the Loc-Nar echoing through time and killing it which… makes absolutely zero sense, but whatever, the Loc-Nar is an absolutely atrocious villain and perhaps one of the most useless in cinematic history, he gets a 1/10 on Psycho Analysis. Then the girl gets her own kickass space dragon thing and becoming the new Taarna or something and, honestly, it’s the exact  sort of batshit ending you should expect from the film.

So, is this really an awful film? In some places, no. It’s a love letter to cheesy, trashy sci-fi fantasy from the 70s, with all that comes with it, and in that regard it does succeed. But still, a lot of the film feels like the utterly juvenile fantasies of same sad high schooler, or perhaps even middle schooler, who has never had and who likely never will have sex. It’s a tashy little time capsule to a bygone era where this sort of storytelling was okay so long as there was enough blood and titties on display, so if that appeals to you, by all means, check this film out. It’s certainly not the worst thing in the world to watch, but animation has come so far and adult animation in particular is capable of so much more than adolescent masturbatory fantasies that this film has little value beyond a few solid segments and a damn good soundtrack.

Hell, just go listen to the soundtrack. I think you’d have a better time doing that.

[bobdylanrevisited]

The Basement Tapes

Released: 26 June 1975

Rating: 10/10

Following the motorcycle crash in 1966 that put an end to his ‘electric era’, Dylan and his new family moved to Woodstock, outside of the public eye. So to did his backing band, The Hawks later known as The Band, and during Bob’s recovery the musicians would meet up and record songs nearly every day for almost a year. Though recorded in 1967, there was no official release until 1975, when Bob finally gave permission to Robbie Robertson (guitarist for The Band), to select and mix tracks from these sessions. This review will be different to my others, as many of the songs do not require individual analysis, but rather I want to focus on three specific areas: the recording, Robbie’s choice of songs, and the highlights. The Basement Tapes is not only one of the best albums of the 20th century, strangely enough it’s also one of the most frustrating, due to an apathetic Bob and outside influence.

The Recording: I believe the recording sessions came about due to two very different reasons. The first is because Bob used it as his therapy. The motorcycle crash put his lifestyle into perspective and he morphed into a brand new man, as discussed in my ‘John Wesley Harding’ post. Gone were the days of acid and avant-garde, hanging out in New York’s high society art scene and facing down an audience of former fans and folk fanatics. He now chose anonymity, a simpler family life, and a return to less ‘controversial’ music. You only need to see his physical change from 1966 to ‘67 to see that this is not the same person who was booed at the Free Trade Hall. By ‘67 Bob has recorded seven albums in just five years, being laid up after the crash must have been hell for a young artist who had always stayed constantly moving.

The second reason is almost the antithesis of Bob wanting to record to stay creative and play with his friends. The crash had taken a high earning artist off the tour circuit and, as is often the way things go, some fat cat was losing revenue and wanted to recoup losses. Dylan stated in 1969 that he was being pressured into writing songs that could be sold and recorded by other popular acts, therefore still making him a valuable asset for record labels. Although it only seems like a handful of songs were actually recorded purely as demos to produce covers, and the majority of the songs do seem to be the musicians playing only for themselves, it is still a grim indictment on the industry that Bob was hounded to still produce hits after nearly dying just a few months prior.

The Band bought the now famous house ‘Big Pink’ very close to where the Dylan’s now resided, and according to Rick Danko (the bass player), Bob would constantly come round either with a new song ready to go or they’d all sit around and improvise until they’d figured out the words. This is the beauty of The Basement Tapes, it’s less about the individual songs, it’s more about the way it perfectly captures a feeling. That feeling of being with friends and having a laugh. That feeling of synchronicity you have with those closest to you. It also oozes Americana, an alluring mix of folk and country, with acoustic guitars and pianos creating lively songs about everything and nothing. Bob’s voice is relaxed and effortless, a million miles away from ‘Blonde On Blonde’. The tunes are slower and often happy, and it’s almost like the jaded beatnik of the prior three years had let all ill-will go. It’s somehow the perfect album for all seasons, whether it be a summers evening in the garden with a drink, or a winters evening wrapped up on the sofa, it’s perfectly evergreen. Despite my love for the album and the Bob we encounter on this record, there is an unavoidable problem with this release, and that problem is Robbie Robertson.

The Tracklist: Following ‘Blood On The Tracks’ and his critical standing seemingly returned to his mid ‘60s high point, Bob finally gave permission for the long bootlegged basement recordings to be made public. However, he wasn’t really interested in how these recordings were released, so Robbie Robertson took the task upon himself. This leads to the biggest problem with the album and the legacy of the recordings: the songs that were left off, and the songs Robbie faked to replace them.

Many classics were written and recorded during the legendary sessions. ‘Quinn The Mighty Eskimo’ had been a huge hit for Manfred Mann and had been performed live by Bob. Similarly, ‘Minstrel Boy’ had been part of his Isle Of Wight set in 1969. ‘I Shall Be Released’ had also been a staple of live shows, as well as appearing on Bob’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 in 1971 (albeit a different and better studio recording). So why the fuck were these omitted from official release?! Who could possibly hear the pure genius of ‘I’m Not There’ or ‘Sign On The Cross’ and decide the public didn’t deserve to fall in love with its weird and mysterious ramblings. Of course with The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Complete Basement Tapes eventually being released in 2014, everyone finally got to hear a properly mixed catalogue of these amazing months of musical perfection, yet it may have been 39 years too late thanks to Robbie’s bizarre song choice.

Of the 24 tracks on the album, 8 do not feature Dylan nor were recorded during the basement period. These are unreleased The Band songs which Robbie added to the album. Now, I want to make it clear that after Bob, The Band are my favourite musical artists, but there is something very disingenuous of Robbie to pretend that these songs were anything to do with Bob and the mythos of his reclusive year. Their studio recordings were even mixed to sound more raw, to match the rest of the album. It’s honestly mind blowing that a third of the album is taken up with these tracks, when the aforementioned classics were saved just for bootleggers and collectors. Whilst I still adore the album, Robbie’s ego and self promotion leaves a bitter taste.

The Highlights: As previously mentioned, the songs themselves are often short and simple, and they don’t require lyrical analysis. However, there are 3 tracks I did quickly want to mention.

12. Tears Of Rage - One of the darker songs on this otherwise happy album, Dylan’s singing here is incredible, as are his harmonies with The Band’s Richard Manuel. It’s one of my favourites on the album.

19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere - A happy song of love and unity (remember this was recorded during Bob and Sara’s happy days despite being eventually released during their break up). The recording on this album is great, however I urge you to listen to the 1971 studio version found on Greatest Hits Vol. 2 as it’s one of my favourite Dylan songs from the Woodstock period.

24. This Wheel’s On Fire - Similar to ‘Tears Of Rage’, this is dark, weird, and infinitely more memorable than most of the album. By far the best track, Dylan was still at his songwriting best when tackling metaphor and challenging imagery.

Verdict: As I previously said, this album is a cultural document of legendary artists essentially messing about. It’s a truly fantastic record, in spite of Robertson’s best efforts, and each song from the basement sessions makes you wish you could have been there, chilling amongst mates and being ludicrously creative every single day. However, this album is only a great introduction to these mesmerising recordings, it is essential you listen to The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Complete Basement Tapes. It is a joy to listen to the 138 tracks and find your new favourite, or find a hidden gem that Dylan likely forgot the second he stopped singing it. That being said, if you don’t want to sift through that many tracks, many of which are admittedly nonsense or badly recorded, then the 24 track album is still a brilliant overview which you’re sure to fall in love with. Following this release, we go back to Bob during his tumultuous marriage breakdown, his carnival live shows, and an album filled with mystique and violins.

[clumsyclifford]

hello bella i would like to ask you about future hearts, not in chronological order, and stories for monday -hazel

WAIT i pressed send too early i also wanted to throw a curveball and ask about the newsies original broadway cast recording :) -hazel

yeesh you picked some good ones hazel. okay. i'm gonna put a cut because four albums is a Lot.

send me albums!

future hearts - all time low

the first song from this album I heard: uhhhhhhh i don't remember, but i......hesitantly......say.......cinderblock garden. but i have no idea why i say that. no i don't really know at all.

do I own the album?: nope

my favorite song: don't you go but also if we're counting b-sides which we should be then how the story ends. and........edge of tonight. and runaways. i know that's a lot of songs i don't care.

my least favorite song: satellite i like it but it's unremarkable compared to the rest of the album and the structure of it is just a little weird to me

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: there were two future hearts songs that for some inexplicable reason didn't download when i bought the album on itunes back in like 2015 when i used itunes and this album came out so i just didnt know they existed for several months, and those songs were bail me out and edge of tonight. this isnt really relevant since i love both of those songs but i just wanted to share. i guess...i think runaways has grown on me. honestly i think thats a result of including it in baby driver fic, lmao

a song I used to like, but now don’t: well i used to LOVE cinderblock garden and now as you can see i don't list it among my favorites. and the same with dancing with a wolf. and for that matter, also satellite lol

my favorite lyric: another impossible question <3 this doesnt really count but the line in tidal waves "say i'm your filthy little, filthy little-" always makes me smile bc when i was younger and my older sister and i would listen to that song whenever we got to that part we'd both yell WHORE at the top of our lungs. and in fact i still do. real talk though, i think the bridge of missing you might be my favorite lyric in here. "grit your teeth, pull your hair, paint the walls black, and scream 'FUCK the world 'cause it's my life, i'm gonna take it back' and never for a second blame yourself" yeah thats the GOOD shit. WAIT I LIE I HAVE ANOTHER ONE: "beautiful scars on critical veins" (mmm and also "roll like thunder, burn like stars") from kids in the dark. mmmm. and all of edge of tonight. man this album has some gooooooood gaskarth lines.

overall rating out of 10: honestly? 10/10. even with satellite. this is such a good fucking album i constantly underrate it but i love it so much it can do no wrong

not in chronological order - julia michaels (this one is gonna be trickier because i haven't listened to the whole album that many times but i'm gonna put it on while i answer the rest of these so hopefully i can have some real opinions here)

the first song from this album I heard: it would've been lie like this i think, because that song was out before any of the other singles

do I own the album?: nope :)

my favorite song: that's the kind of woman, pessimist, lie like this, all your exes. i really LOVE about half this album and the other half i just don't really know well enough

my least favorite song: orange magic just Does Not do it for me. idk man

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: well i'm very much still working on familiarizing myself with these songs so i might still be in the phase of "didn't like at first" (betcha anything orange magic will grow on me lmao). there aren't any songs that i've changed my opinion on at least not yet

a song I used to like, but now don’t: see previous answer lol

my favorite lyric: "i love myself, but i'd love her more; that's the kind of woman i'd leave me for" from that's the kind of woman (that shit HITS), also "i'll stop checking horoscopes to cope with all my misery" and "you took a pessimist and turned me into something else" from pessimist because it gives me a lot of hope. and "it was you before i ever decided" from little did i know because :') romance

overall rating out of 10: 8/10 miss michaels KNOWS an album. this would probably be higher if not for orange magic lmao

stories for monday - the summer set

the first song from this album I heard: according to my spotify, all my friends! the first time i listened to this album was on shuffle while writing a prompt fic that was entirely unrelated. i know, it's appalling.

do I own the album?: no <3

my favorite song: MMMNNGNHHGJ i think. i think it's figure me out. and missin' you. yeah. those two

my least favorite song: honest to god i want to say all downhill from here but the little bass riff at the end of that song basically forbids me from saying that. so i'm gonna say change your mind instead. it's the vibiest but thats not why we COME to stories for monday now is it

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: don't know, maybe all in? i can't remember ever not liking one of these songs tbh. ironically maybe the answer to this is change your mind lol

a song I used to like, but now don’t: well i listened to all my friends about five million times when i wrote that fic based on it so it's in the same situation as i think he knows now. i need a little bit of an all my friends break.

my favorite lyric: bro this is literally an impossible fuckign QUESTION!! the entirety of figure me out. "i'm a bit too punk for the pop kids, but i'm too pop for the punk kids" and "i believe there's more to life than all my problems" both are really close to my heart. the bridge of all in about it being 4am in the parking lot we'll be singing blink songs til the sun comes up, that too. wait wait okay and also: "forever nineteen somehow" from jean jacket and "growing up can make you stupid, why is everyone so scared?" from wasted. okay okay i'm done i'm done

overall rating out of 10: fucking 11/10 bro this is in my top 10 albums ever i'm pretty sure

newsies - original broadway cast recording

the first song from this album I heard: no fuckin idea. it must have been the overture because i never listened to the cast recording before watching the bootleg so!

do I own the album?: i do not

my favorite song: mmm i. LOVE once and for all. but i also love watch what happens reprise. and brooklyn's here. and carrying the banner. ugh fuck i love so many of these songs.

my least favorite song: the bottom line reprise lmfao easy

a song I didn’t like at first, but now do: i don't know, i guess i like the bottom line a LITTLE more than i used to but it's a very low bar. wait actually, the overture. i have a much greater appreciation for an overture than i used to.

a song I used to like, but now don’t: i honestly can't think of one. maybe similar effect to something to believe in? i like it SLIGHTLY less but i still really like it so?

my favorite lyric: EASY answer, this lyric is among my favorites in all of musical theatre, i had it written on my mirror for a long time in high school. this part from seize the day: "behold the brave battalion that stands side by side / too few in number and too proud to hide / then say to the others who did not follow through / 'you're still our brothers, and we will fight for you'"

overall rating out of 10: 9/10. fucking banger of an album. i always say this is the best cast recording for a car ride and i stand by that

[enthusiasticmusicalquotes]

QUESTION OF THE DAY #12: What is your opinion on theatre bootlegs? Spill as much or as little tea as you want.

MY ANSWER: it would be incredibly hypocritical of me to say there’s nothing good about them. i discovered a couple of my all time favorite shows through bootlegs, and when i was a high school/college-aged theatre nerd stuck in the midwest (which i still am, just a bit older now), they brought me a lot of comfort that i could relive my favorite shows again. that said, i can understand POVs re: they weren’t filmed with consent from the actors. however, actors who are speaking out against them need to realize that mainstream theatre needs to be made more accessible in one way or another for poor, disabled, and international theatre fans. tldr: bootlegs aren’t going to go away if celebrities disavow them, but theatre might be able to become more accessible if more of them talk on THAT instead of how evil bootlegs are.

SUMMARY OF ANSWERS: out of 41 responses: 21 were an enthusiastic heck yeah, 13 weren’t as enthusiastic but still along the lines of yeah i support them, 3 answers were like eh i can see both sides i guess/leaning towards no, and 4 people outright said nah bootlegs are not the answer. All the answers under the cut!

if you wanna fight or agree with anyone, refer to the # and send in an ask or reply to this.  

also: while i agree with much of what was said under the cut, i will not come out and say which ones i agree with and what i don’t. my opinion is above and that’s all you need to know about what i think. i do not necessarily condone or agree with anything below. okay, enjoy reading.

1. Anonymous said: I may not be the biggest fan, but I totally get why they exist and have watched a few when they pop up

2.  Anonymous said: for the qotd: bootlegs are godsends

3. Anonymous said: oh god i literally just went on a tangent on twitter just now but bootlegs good!!!! people willingly watch blurry footage of a show bcs they want to know what the show is like, want to experience it live. bway shows arent accessable for everyone (due to prices and distance) but ppl still want to know what its like performed on stage. bootlegs literally dont harm the community. ive seen poto boots, proshots and the tour yet id willingly pay 2 watch again. boots make theatre more accessable imo !!

4. Anonymous said: Boots are good to get a glimpse of different productions? Like even despite Proshots existing of certain musicals, I'd still be curious regarding other interpretations of it! And also besides this it definitely helps make shows accessable to people who physically cannot watch the show!

5. galactic-greens said: I truly see no harm in bootlegs as long as they are treated respectfully. While the creation and consumption is technically a crime, it by no means whatsoever makes you a bad person. It's essentially documenting theatre, and ensuring generations to come will be able to experience what could have been so fleeting. They maintain a community, and as long as NFT dates, masters, and general spread of bootlegs are respected then there really can be no problem. It's just a way to immortalize the art!

6. Anonymous said: On bootlegs: oftentimes they’re the only way someone could be able to see a show, because not everyone can afford the tickets or even the cost to just go to New York for a show. However, it should be acknowledged that filming obviously in the actors’ faces is pretty rude, but at the same time bootlegs at least give a chance for people like me to see shows I might never get to see otherwise.

7. Anonymous said: I love bootlegs because I don’t have the means to be able to travel to see shows or afford tickets, i also do theater and i feel like the point of the art is to share it as much as I can

8. Anonymous said: i've never seen a large-scale live show bc they are not accessible to me. bootlegs are amazing. truly glorious.

9.  Anonymous said: i understand that this is a rather unique experience, but i live in nyc, so bootlegs never measure up to the real thing for me. i know that this isn't something everyone can be lucky enough to say, but live theatre could never be captured in the form of a bootleg-- i don't even like released proshots as much as the real thing

10. Anonymous said: for me bootlegs are fine for those who can't see it live because of the price and they are living from another country though i know there are a lot of actors disagrees about it

11. Anonymous said: as someone who can't afford to go to a professional production of anything, absolutely gimme a bootleg. obviously I wouold prefer, like, a proshot of a show and I really hope that becomes more of the norm (I watched the Newsies proshot on Disney+ and had the happy wiggles for hours afterwards, and I can't wait for the Hamilton one to come out) but until that starts happening I'll take a bootleg any day.

12. Anonymous said: I like that it helps people get into fandoms/musicals that they wouldn’t’ve otherwise but I would prefer if theatres professionally films them.

13. maycombhoney said: they will be a part of theatre culture until live theatre is made accessible for more people

14. Anonymous said: bootlegs are great and until the theater community decides to produce pro-shots i’m all for them

15. zoueriemandzijnopmars said: I would personally feel kinda bad for watching bootlegs, because it won’t directly bring money to the people who worked on the show. I don’t judge people who do watch bootlegs though, because let’s face it, bootlegs are not a replacement for actually going to the theatre and it’s not gonna lose the creators actually money. It might even make them money, because people will listen to the album/buy tickets anyway when they can. I’d just personally be more comfortable watching a proshot

16. Anonymous said: I don't pretend bootlegs aren't stealing but whatever harm they do is abstract enough - and my decisions are drop-in-the-bucket enough - that I do it anyway

17. Anonymous said: I’m totally fine with bootlegs. I’ve watched so many of them that it wouldn’t be fair if I wasn’t. The fact is most people just aren’t able to see shows. Either they live too far away or they can’t afford it, and if this is the only way someone can experience a show, it’s better than never seeing it at all

18. Anonymous said: i think bootlegs are important for accessibility but i really wish more theatres would release proshots. i wouldn't even mind if it were after the broadway run or after the original cast is switched out, but i think it's valuable to have those recordings out during the run of the show to get more people interested and actually wanting to go out and see it. plus, if they're worried about money, they wouldn't *have* to be free. just cheaper than tickets and travel.

19. Anonymous said: about the question of the day, honestly i think bootlegs are fine as long as they're done respectfully and the filmers aren't distracting with it

20. locke-writes said: For the question of the day: If there’s absolutely no way I can see the show live or from a professional recording then I’m going to watch a bootleg. Theater should be more accessible and sometimes a bootleg is my only way to access a show. Having been part of film crews who have shot live theater I think a lot of the lack of pro recordings is the idea which that theater is difficult to record. It isn’t. Give me a pro shot show over a bootleg anyday but I’ll take what I can get

21. Anonymous said: My opinion on bootlegs is I prefer professional recordings ONLY because bootleg quality is terrible for my auditory processing problems and I hate the washed out quality. But since professional recordings are rare (unless you are, interestingly enough, Sight & Sound Theatre); for everyone else: BRING ON THE BOOTLEG! ~ Stripe Conlon

22. Anonymous said: Bootlegs are complicated! As a fan/consumer I think they’re okay, especially considering how inaccessible theatre is for people living in other countries, people who can’t afford to experience shows live, and disabled folks. But as someone who also performs, i understand that it can be distracting and legally complicated for actors who are trying to do their best and did not consent to being filmed that night. I just hope that pro shots will become more common.

23. penguinated said: Bootlegs are fine. They don't cost Broadway a thing since people will literally never not pay to see live shows (except during covid of course). and for many people, seeing a certain show with a certain cast will NEVER be possible, so what's the harm in watching the bootleg? The bootlegs aren't the problem, it's the inaccessibility of live theater, ESPECIALLY Broadway shows. If more things were available to stream (i.e. BroadwayHD) there wouldn't be a need for bootlegs. Bootleg away, imo.

24. Anonymous said: until theatre is made accessible to everyone and there is a proshot released for every show, bootlegs are absolutely necessary for the prosperity of theatre

25. Anonymous said: It's so sad that people think bootlegs are necessary! and it's even sadder that in a way they are. however, too many people use them as an excuse to not pursue alternate affordable alternatives for theatre (such as broadway hd, pursuing local shows including high school and college theatre, and utilizing legally free shows online). In addition, bootlegs absolutely CAN be unethically sourced- recordings of locally produced shows can get theaters in trouble and bankrupt them with legal fees. and if you're recording something from Broadway (which is fine imo usually), if you're actually making people PAY for your illegal recording, that's profiting off the work of others and is both very unethical and exploiting the very people many bootleggers claim to work for the benefit of. When it comes to bootlegs, it's one thing to pass around shows that have finished their runs on Broadway for free- but there's too much unethical and even HARMFUL bootleg behavior and it needs to stop.

26. Anonymous said: since Broadway is too rich and doesn't wanna spend money(for some reason) streaming their shows, then bootlegs are the only option.

27. Anonymous said: Theater is so inaccessible that bootlegs are necessary for a lot of people because with a lot of shows you can’t get a good idea of the show just from the soundtrack but people that share nft boots are assholes

28. Anonymous said: Bootlegs do more good than harm. Those against bootlegs are elitist and don't understand some people cant afford hundreds of dollars in theatre and plane tickets. Bootlegs make people crave the live experience more, a dark and shaky video with shit audio doesn't satiate the desire to see a show live. And if the show is closed all the more reason to watch a bootleg!

29. lynntjeeee said: Theatre bootlegs are amazing and are why there are fans. I live in a country with no musical theater (except the occasional sucky original production with a local celeb who can't sing) so if it not for bootlegs I wouldn't be able to watch any shows and wouldn't be a fan (thus not spending money on cast recordings, etc). People need to realise this, bootlegs do not harm the theater, in fact it only helps it. If there were official recordings, there would be many more fans (and thus more profit!)

30. Anonymous said: Opinion on bootlegs: They wouldn't be necessary if the theater industry would get with the times and release professional shots of their shows on streaming services/cable.

31. Anonymous said: I think that people are really overreacting about bootlegs. ESPECIALLY bootlegs if shows that have already closed- you may never get a chance to see that show! Ever! Now there’s an affordable and accessible way to see shows that people would kill and die for. It isn’t losing Broadway money, in fact it is bringing more people into the medium. Maybe if full proshots were more common I would feel differently, but since there is literally no other way, boots are fine.

32. Anonymous said: Bootleg opinion: just go absolutely hog wild. Fuck it. Be gay do crime.

33. Anonymous said: Bootlegs are one of the few things that are keeping me sane right now, plus the fact that not everyone has dat cash money to see the shows live, so yeah they're good stuff (as long as they are available online w/ at least vaguely good sound quality anyway 😆)

34. Anonymous said: I see it both ways. I can understand why those in the profession are against it; it’s their hard work that’s getting pirated. But I’m also poor. I have no access to theatre outside of cast albums and bootlegs. I don’t watch bootlegs because I personally feel guilty, but I will not and do not judge others if they do.

35. whatdoscissorsdo said: I think broadway bootlegs r okay?? eat the rich amirite

36. Anonymous said: I trade and watch bootlegs and don't plan on stopping, but I've recently realized that it must be super uncomfortable for actors to be filmed without their knowledge or consent, or just to have to have on their minds that they might be being recorded at any time in a performance. Like, I've happily watched Many™ Spring Awakening videos in the past year, but I doubt Alexandra Socha is that thrilled knowing there are videos up on YouTube of featuring her nude at age nineteen.

37. i-am-having-an-emotion said: they will remain a necessary evil until theater is more accessible to the masses. seeing real live theater is always better than a boot but literally like 95% of people can’t access live theater, especially at a broadway caliber, so like..... do The Poors not *deserve* theater??? what are we supposed to do BUT make bootlegs?

38. ope-okay said: bootlegs are blessings from heaven and no one can convince me otherwise

39. Anonymous said: I think it can really hype up the want for the musical. And a really good boot release can bring new creations to an otherwise small fandom. Personally I’m more interested in seeing the musicals I’ve seen boots of than the musicals I haven’t

40. Anonymous said: On the topic of bootlegs, I think they’re great but like especially for people who do not have the means to go see the shows during their runs, I feel like if you do have the means to go see the show you should do that instead

41. Anonymous said: I have a REALLY hard time with bootlegs. Because artists deserve to be paid for their work, and there are a whole host of copywriter issues that come with the mass production of a show. In addition though, I understand the anger you feel at not getting to see a show live, however there are so many resources available to help people get the idea of their favorite show even if they never see it. Honestly Wikipedia is my favorite resource, as often that has a full synopsis of the show. I’ll read that and then listen to the recording a bunch so I can understand the story and imagine what it may look like. A lot of shows put clips on YouTube, the Macy’s parade, the Tony Awards, NBC does a whole broadway week, there are so many ways that you can get glimpses into these shows without resorting to bootlegs (which at this point are still illegal) I’m not a supporter of the “theater must be seen live” idea. While I LOVE live theater (and as a performer I like feeding off an audience) but I’ve see shows with just proshots or just the movie version and they are still just as good. Unfortunately I think the only way we’re are going to make theater more accessible to audiences is through time. Bootlegs I think only make people less inclined to record shows and mass produce them. There are a whole lot of legal things that go into that as well. What I can say is what I’ve done. Read up on the show, watch all the clips you can, sometimes scripts are posted online maybe read those, listen to the album, look at pictures. It SUCKS that theater is exclusive, but bootlegs are not the solution.

let me repeat: if you wanna fight or agree with anyone, refer to the # and send in an ask or reply to this post.

[iggy-licious]

Camera Eye

This will be a multichapter story. I'm the type of writer who flies by the seat of her pants, so I can't tell you how long it might be, or when I will update next, but I do want to come back to it. ❤️❤️❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fern finished her last sip of coffee and wished she had put something stronger in it. Any minute now, her photoshoot with Iggy would begin. She was excited to film him. She had never attended one of his concerts, but she knew his reputation. Sexy. Unpredictable. Incredibly physical.

For those reasons, she was concerned he might be more than she could handle. Some of her friends and colleagues told her story after wild story of The Stooges’ concerts when she mentioned her assignment. Some of them wished her good luck, with sympathy in their eyes. Others jokingly debated whether she should have a jar of peanut butter or some antiseptic and bandages on hand, in case he decided to take the photo shoot to the extreme.

In the end, curiosity won out for Fern when she was asked to take on the assignment. A photo shoot with Iggy sounded like a good challenge that could end up with amazing results. As long as everything went well, she thought.

There was nothing for her to do until he arrived, because she'd set and checked the lighting, picked out and cleaned the lenses she thought she'd need, scouted out a few scene options inside and outside of the studio, made sure the stereo speakers were loud and clear if he wanted music, and put a few rolls of film at hand so she wouldn't have to kill the mood scrambling for more.

She wished he would come already, but he wasn't her first rock star subject, so she knew the drill. He could be anywhere from minutes to hours late. Or a total no-show. But she had no choice; Creem needed a quintessential Iggy cover photo for the latest issue being developed.

She left the rented studio room to get more coffee from the kitchen. She'd find out later whether it was a good idea--walking off some nervous energy and putting her hands around a soothing, warm mug--or if it would be a bad idea because she would be far too jittery.

She realized she was on edge because of the unpredictable situation, but also because something about Iggy called to her primal instincts and she liked it. He had something special about him that would not be denied. It came through in the stage prowling and crawling that she had seen in photos, as well as the feral screams that she'd heard on the albums and bootlegs.

The fact that a couple of her friends had seen his cock, mid-concert, on separate occasions and described it as legendary also made her curious. "Iggy has a biggie," one of them said dreamily. She'd even heard that a couple of his fans put their mouths to his member in San Francisco once, after he dove into the audience. She inhaled sharply, thinking of that story. She drifted off into fantasy for a minute, imagining it had been her bracing her hands on his athletic thighs, barely covered in tattered denim, and welcoming his length between her lips until he tore away in a fit of spastic dancing.

With coffee in hand, she returned to the studio. She was surprised and confused to hear swinging jazz rock blasting in the room.

She crept to the doorway and saw Iggy putting the sleeve for Miles Davis's Jack Johnson album on top of her pile of records while nodding his head to the music. She was surprised that he was right on time. He had silver hair and was wearing a tight t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

He stiffened as though he knew he was being watched. He turned and saw her. "Are you the photographer?"

"That's me. Fern." She approached him and extended her hand to shake his.

"Uh uh, none of that formal bullshit." He hugged her in a friendly embrace.

She was taken off guard. She had expected a savage practically foaming at the mouth, but instead she got a sweet, gracious guy so far, even if his pupils betrayed the presence of some drug in his system.

She stopped tensing her body. His strong arms meant a strong hug. Rock solid, like his chest beneath the clingy shirt. "You're right on time!" she exclaimed.

"Fucking straight, doll. I'm not one of those lazy, cream-of-the-crop, piece of shit rock stars. I don't take these things lightly. I need this as much, if not more, than the magazine does, you know? I'm here for as long as you need me." He stood with his arms across his chest. His blue doe eyes widened, his nostrils flared, and his mouth was set in a defiant pout.

His gaze held Fern’s hostage, but his flare of passion burned away quickly and his sunny disposition returned. “Aside from all that boring public relations stuff, though, I enjoy doing photo shoots. It’s another way to perform, another way to connect in an unexpected way with the audience, you know? I really respect what good photographers do to make heathens like me come to life in the newspapers and magazines. It’s an art. And you, my dear, are in the artist category. I went snooping and found some of your work. Yeah, it's real fucking creative.” He caught her gaze again, but this time, his expression was soft, and his smile was infectious. Positive sincerity looked good on him, she thought.

She sensed there was nothing to fear, as his outburst seemed more directed at his music contemporaries and the industry gatekeepers than her. She hoped she was right. Either way, it only made him more interesting, she had to admit. He was as arresting when angrily passionate as when he was in good spirits.

"I like your spirit, Iggy. I'm sure we'll get some great photos of you."

“I think we'll make a great team, Fern."

He stooped down to take off his shoes and socks. "Whatever you need from me. And I hope you’ll indulge me on any ideas I come up with.” He looked up at her again and winked before standing.

And then his instincts took over. He had been busy making a good impression, to the point that he hadn’t noticed how cute she was. He observed her and hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

Her fine features were enrobed with pecan-colored skin. Her Afro was high and wide, bursting forth from a green bandana tied into a headband. She wore baggy overalls with a tight navy tank underneath, and worn white sneakers. His face lit up with a smile that was somehow pure and lewd at the same time.

"Miles Davis, though?" she inquired, deflecting the effect of his smile, which she was sure was masking impure feelings underneath. She wondered whether he was a tender lover, or if he was prone to chaotic, high-energy trysts.

It surprised her how much she hoped to find out someday. But not today. She vowed to block the thoughts out and put her best professional face forward.

He padded toward the backdrop on bare feet, and she inhaled deeply while his back was turned, hoping to steel up her professionalism. "You sure you don't want something else to listen to?"

He turned to face her. "I listen to this album just about every day. It’s good shit. And I like to think of Miles as, uh, a mentor in some ways. He was at one of our shows--"

“Really? What was he like?”

“I don’t remember any of that night, but Ron said we all went through a big pile of white with Miles. They told me he enjoyed himself. Said we were original, and he liked our spirit. Despite the fact that I apparently whipped out my dick and threw up on stage. Fucking Miles Davis!” Iggy shook his head, still in disbelief.

Fern was starting to get a sense of why some of her friends had taken pity on her, but his earnest surprise and joy was contagious.

"My last boyfriend got me into Miles. I love all of his different periods. But this album is something special. I love Bitches Brew and Sketches of Spain, too."

“Mmmm… Both great albums. Fern, I admire your taste in music. And you’re a beautiful girl. Real beautiful.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and turned to get her camera off of the table. It gave her time to hide her blushing.

“OK, ready?” She turned around to find Iggy lying on his back on the floor.

“Ready, willing, and able,” he said with a seductive rumble before closing his eyes.

“OK…” She was thrown off by the deepness of his voice and how it made her feel. She fought to sober up quickly. The thought of the photos they might come up with did the trick. Their conversation flowed easily, and she hoped that it would translate to artistic chemistry. She sensed that Iggy really would do anything to give her a great series of photos, but the connection she would establish with him would make all the difference. She hoped that she, and Creem alike, would be ready for Iggy.

She stood above him. His stomach curved inward under his shirt, thanks to his prone position, and that made the bulge in his pants seem more prominent in comparison. His eyes were closed and his made-up eyelashes stretched surprisingly far toward his cheekbones. He was like a sleeping, muscular, mythical creature. He held all the cards as to what would happen once he opened his eyes. It was as thrilling for Fern as it was nerve-wracking.

“Let’s begin.”

[mackies-thoughts]

Life in Music

Music has always been a major part of my life, so naturally my life can be defined by what music I was listening to at the time. I will listen to my music on shuffle and say “Oh, I remember listening to this in [insert random moment in time here]”. Thus a definitive list of my life in music is born!

Fall 2018

Shawn Mendes album (I listened to this on repeat while suffering through my online algebra assignments)

Youngblood - 5SOS album (I listened to this for the first time packing for winter break!)

Oye Como Va - Tito Puente (this was discovered during my World Music class and my roommate and I would listen to it over and over again)

Duck Tails theme song (again, my roommate and I have weird taste in music I guess)

Killer Queen - 5SOS

Polaroid - Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella

Fine - Spencer Sutherland (I would listen to this song on repeat at least 15 times in a row)

Shotgun - George Ezra (My dad got me into this song)

Still New York - MAX and Joey Bada$$

8 Letters (album) - Why Don’t We (the beginning of a lovely obsession)

Happier - Marshmello (DO NOT watch this music video, whatever you do)

Have It All - Jason Mraz (This is a super specific memory but I was listening to this walking to Centennial Hall and it put me in such a good mood which algebra class ruined immediately)

LANY (album) - LANY

Spring 2019

Dan and Shay - all albums (but I like the Obsessed album the best I think)

Unbelievable - Why Don’t We (the best WDW song to date, I will fight people on this)

Don’t Change - Why Don’t We

Phases - PRETTYMUCH (I remember many cold mornings at 7 am walking to Chemistry and listening to this on repeat)

If I Can’t Have You - Shawn Mendes (I remember driving to surprise our best friend at his college graduation and blasting this song with the windows down, such a fun day!)

Look What God Gave Her - Thomas Rhett (I have a specific memory of driving to Walmart with my roommate and choosing this song to listen to)

Someone to You - BANNERS (this song was used in After and I saw that with my roommate and another friend during Block Party weekend)

NIKES - Jake Miller

Here With Me - Marshmello feat. CHVRCHES (I listened to this one so much that my roommate actually banned me from listening to it around her because she was so sick of it)

Love Me Less - MAX & Quinn XCII

Who Do You Love - The Chainsmokers & 5SOS

I Don’t Belong In This Club - Why Don’t We & Macklemore (pretty sure there’s a video of me singing this song very poorly 😂)

comethru - Jeremy Zucker (feat. Bea Miller)

Cody Simpson - all new albums (this obsession started after I saw him in Anastasia on a trip to New York and I’m now in love, he has such a summer vibe in all of his newer music)

Fall 2019 (aka worst semester everrr)

Kill My Mind - Louis Tomlinson (anxiously waiting for Walls to release!!)

Yellow Hearts - Ant Saunders (courtesy of TikTok)

Fine Line (album) - Harry Styles (my roommate became obsessed with Watermelon Suger so I thought she would become obsessed like me - thought wrong; the video for Adore You dropped and I watched it while getting ready one morning to which my roommate said “What the heck are you watching?”)

Ophelia - The Lumineers (TikTok again, I might be obsessed)

5SOS - Sounds Good Feels Good album and Teeth (this semester made me feel angsty and SGFG definitely helps with that)

Colors (EP) - Jacob Whitesides (I may have cried out of pride listening to this the first time which was as soon as it was released)

What Am I - Why Don’t We (changed my mind, this is the best WDW song)

Next to Normal soundtrack (watched a bootleg of this on YouTube and cried)

Flicker (album) - Niall Horan (I’m a bad fan but I just now listened to this album...oops. It was on repeat studying in the library for finals with my roommate)

Put a Little Love on Me - Niall Horan

Nice to Meet Ya - Niall Horan (this song excited me because he speaks French and the only class I enjoyed this semester was French so)

Suburban Girl - Lostboycrow (I jam hard to this song, I was listening to a chill playlist while doing laundry and that’s how I discovered this song)

10,000 Hours - Dan and Shay (I also listened to this one on repeat as soon as it came out, along with Kill My Mind)

Mother - Charlie Puth (I saw this king in concert and he will forever be one of my favs)

Things That We Drink To - Morgan Wallen (I discovered him on a band bus ride back from Shippensburg University and I fell in love with this Australian country singer)

Aaand during winter break I have been listening to High School Musical: The Musical: The Series which I was ready to hate but I’m actually in love with!

Spring 2020 - aka Corona Virus University

Goldfish Crackers - Good Revere (best TikTok dance everrrr, my roommate and I are obsessed with it and we do it together a lot, even if it is just over FaceTime)

Heartbreak Weather (album) - Niall Horan (so so amazing, I could listen to it over and over for the rest of my life which may or not be happening)

CALM (album) - 5 Seconds of Summer (again, great album and have it on repeat)

Common Sense - Joshua Basset (cute, cute song from a cute, cute boy)

IDK You Yet - Alexander 23 (another really cute song)

Starry - (this is a musical based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh, sounds a little bizarre but I promise it’s incredible! Dillon Klena is part of the team now although he didn’t sing on the actual recording)

Whistler - Kathryn Gallagher (she’s part of the Jagged Little Pill company on Broadway and she’s so good!)

Jasper Avenue - CaRter (vibeeees)

Little Women Soundtrack - (all instrumental and I’ve written many an English paper/Genetics paper to it)

Intentions - Justin Bieber feat. Quavo (I only know a few words but that doesn’t stop me from vibing as hard as I possibly can!)

Sunday Best - Surfaces (another TikTok song but it is so so good and gets stuck in my head. Bonus is that I can do the dance!)

Winter Hurts (EP) - Jacob Whitesides (another banging album from my dude! Go check it out if you haven’t already!)

Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney (this has always been my favorite song but it now has so much more meaning to me because it was Corey La Barrie’s favorite too. Rest in Paradise bud<3)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch album (specifically the Riverdale cast album, some may say it’s cringey but I loved it! - “Here’s to Ronnie...”)

Fall 2020

Fallin’ - Why Don’t We (such an amazing group of guys that are finally producing music that is 100% them! I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of their album because if it is anything like this then it is about to break the charts)

Julie and the Phantoms Cast Album (OH MY GOSH I need to make a post with all of my JATP thoughts because this show has so many layers that make it absolutely incredible. There are no skips on the album AT ALL)

Hold Me Down - Jacob Whitesides (This is his best song by far and I streamed it for about 24 hours straight so my boy could rack up his streams on Spotify 😌)

mama’s boy - LANY (another amazing album by them! My favorite differs from day to day but currently it is (what i wish just one person would say to me))

Lotus Inn - Why Don’t We (This is such a feel-good song and honestly I’ve listened to it so many times and am still not tired of it at all. The music video is incredible and it was another of Corey’s favorite songs <3)

evermore - Taylor Swift (holy cow, this girl is amazing! My favorite is happiness, tolerate it, and gold rush!)

Wonder - Shawn Mendes album (so many cute love songs and Monster with Justin Bieber is sooo good!)

Almost Maybes - Jordan Davis

Spring 2021

Every Girl I Ever Loved - Noah Schnacky

It’s Not You It’s Me - EBEN

Roses - The Band CAMINO

Greek Tragedy - The Wombats

About You Now - Sam and Sounds

Glad You Exist - Dan and Shay

Honeymoon (Demo) - The Shadowboxers

remember the mornings - Clinton Kane

CHICKEN TENDIES - Clinton Kane

Break My Heart - JC Stewart

u suck - Emily Bear

afraid to die - Jacob Whitesides

losing a friend - Jacob Whitesides

Summer 2021 (CMERA in particular)

everything sucks - vaultboy

Alaina - John Harvie

Casual - Ian McConnel

Lemon Drop - Raynes

Big Kids (Bergie Remix) - Lukr, Bergie

Cheers to My Teenage Years

Best Thing Ever

Fall 2021

Love Back - Why Don’t We

I Guess I’m In Love - Clinton Kane

[kimarchive]

“the girl can’t help it” | lil’ kim interview with mtv news

Kurt Loder: It's been four years. What have you been doing?

Lil' Kim: A lot of people have seen me on the covers of...

Loder: Every magazine.

Kim: Well, yeah. I was just handling my business. I had a lot of behind-the-scenes personal and business problems that I had to take care of in order to be comfortable today. After Biggie died, it was really, really hard for me. I had to take on responsibilities that I really didn't want to do.

Loder: You're signing checks now?

Kim: Yeah... and I'm accepting checks.

Loder: That's always good.

Kim: I want to be comfortable, because I love what I do. If it meant taking a lapse of two or three years, then that's something that I had to do. My record label and I were fighting -- I'm going to tell the truth -- we were fighting, and we're kind of getting it together now. We're trying to come to an agreement, but it's hard. They really don't know what I need as an artist, and I don't think they understood what kind of artist I am. Now I think they are understanding, but now they have to catch up.

Loder: What do you need as an artist?

Kim: Well, Puffy gave a quote-unquote: "Kim is a real artist." A lot of people didn't know that, and they didn't think that, because a lot of people thought Biggie wrote all of my lyrics and that Biggie [and] a whole bunch of men [were] responsible for my career. But, you know, I had a little to do with it.

Loder: On this record, we see you've written everything.

Kim: Yeah, exactly. [Biggie's] not here now, and I don't have a lot of [male] influences in my life right now. I have my family and a few people that came in the game with me. But me as an artist, I need to be accommodated, because I'm a very accommodating person. If you accommodate me, I'm going to accommodate you.

I believe strongly in my work and need time, because I put 100 percent in everything I write and everything I do. My modeling, my music, my acting, everything that I'm getting ready to get into, I put 100 percent into. I want whoever is going to back me with it to put 100 percent into it. And my record label, they just weren't doing that at that time.

I have my own record label, which is Queen Bee Records, and my first artist was Lil' Cease. His album didn't do very well on the strength that [Atlantic] just was giving me that label and letting me put Lil' Cease out. Just like saying, "Here. Here's a label. Here's Cease. Now let's focus on what we need to do." That's not what I wanted. If I could have just made my mark in letting people know that I really know how to produce and I know how to also write [and] be an artist, that would have made me feel much better.

Loder: Were you and Puffy going back and forward about the content of this record? Was he happy with the sound of it? It's been pushed back quite a bit.

Kim: Puffy and I. One thing I can say is, Puffy and I work very well together. [Rolls eyes] Over the past few years, Puffy has been going through his little... you know... personal...

Loder: He's busy.

Kim: Yeah. Very. Busy. [Laughs] It's been hard, because he's been so busy. That's something that I had to understand. He had to work out with his schedule, and also with me working on an album. I'm not on Bad Boy -- he's really just a consultant and friend of the family, and he also executive produced the album with me. We work very good together. We're like Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye, I would say... actually, sorry, that's me and Biggie. We're like Berry Gordy and Diana Ross. [Laughs]

Loder: What does Biggie's not being here mean? That you had to do so much more work? Did he take a lot off your shoulders when he was with us?

Kim: Yeah. Biggie was like my everything. I love Biggie from the bottom of my shoes to my heart, all the way up to my head, all the way out. Biggie was very good in what he did as an entertainer. He had an eye for everything. We picked my first pictures. He was at my video shoot. He kind of knew how he wanted the video shoot to go. He always had an idea of what kind of artist he wanted me to be. We always collaborated, though. That's the amazing thing with us, too: We kind of always agreed. If there was a look that I wanted to look like, he always agreed with it. If it was something he didn't agree with, he would be like, "Well, I think you should do this," or "I think you should do that," and I would go, "Hmm, maybe," and we'll work it out. He was a very important asset, plus he knew music very, very well.

Loder: Your album, of course, has been bootlegged. How annoying is that?

Kim: Very annoying. Oh my God.

Loder: When did you find out about it? Did somebody come running in and say, "Oh my God, I bought it on the street?"

Kim: Yeah. More than one person. This is when it really bothered me: I have a girlfriend who's away. She just graduated from college. She lives in North Carolina, and she called me up and was like, "I just bought your CD, and it isn't out," and I'm like, "What? What do you mean?" She described every song. There was about seven songs, and I'm like, "Oh, my goodness." That's when I knew it was real, because she was all the way out in North Carolina. Then I got a call three weeks later from a fan -- fans get my number [to] my house and cell phone, I don't know how -- but this fan just called me up and was like, "You know, Kim, I just wanna say I got your CD, and it's hot, and..." You know what I mean? I'm like, "Who are you, number one..."

Loder: "And where did you get my CD?"

Kim: "And you live where?" He's, like, in San Francisco, California. I'm like, "Oh, my goodness." I knew it was real then. So I made a few calls, and we got on top of the problem. Then it got even bigger. They were bootlegging and selling my album overseas. I had to send my troop over there and kinda pick up whatever was out there. One thing about bootlegging is once it's out there, it's out there. It's hard to get it back. What I did, though, was in honor of my fans. I went back in and I recorded eleven extra songs.

Loder: Whoa.

Kim: You could only imagine. We had only about three weeks to do it. Sometimes it takes me three days to write a song. It can take me three weeks to write a song. Sometimes I have writer's block. I want it to be perfect.

Loder: What do you think when your bootleg comes out? Do you start thinking, "Was it my sound guy?" Do you get paranoid?

Kim: With all this modern technology today, you don't know what it could be. When you're recording in ProTools, people, if they're on the Internet or their computer, they can download while you're recording. It's ridiculous. It hurts, because this is our livelihood. It's how we make our money. It's how we eat. This what we do -- this is what we want to do. It's hard, because these songs are dry. They're not mixed, they're not mastered.

Loder: What do you think about the Napster phenomenon, and Dr. Dre suing these people?

Kim: I'm all for him. Do your thing. I'm going to get behind you, Dre. Because it's ridiculous. It's really not fair. It's stealing. It's cheating. It's just not right. There has to be a way to handle it. What they do, anyway, is they take our stuff and they sell it and make money off of it, so we might as well get our money back from them.

Loder: Have you been working out a lot? You seem more muscular.

Kim: Well, yeah, I work out, but I'm trying to keep in shape. I kinda work out to keep my mind clear, I would say. It kind of relaxes me. I had to figure out a way I could feel relaxed, because I kind of felt I was uptight for a little while, with a lot of the things I've been going through and a lot of the mischief I have seen.

Loder: Is your personal life fine and balanced out now? You have a boyfriend or anything you can tell us about?

Kim: No. I can't say it's balanced out, but I can definitely say that I'm content on the road that I'm going to be balanced out and to be happy. There's a lot of things that make me unhappy, like when my record label makes me unhappy and they don't do what I want them to do, 'cause they have to understand that everything has to be perfect, especially when you haven't been seen in the past three years and people don't know, kinda. Especially with me.

I'm trying to change music and the way the direction of music is going. I like to do different stuff. My new single, "No Matter What They Say," is different, and that was my whole reason for doing it. I love it. It has a calypso flavor, which is kind of popular these days.

Loder: [What do you do] when you go in the studio?

Kim: One thing that I'm going to get more into on my next album is producing my own music. That was another reason that took my album a little long, too, was I tried to go back to all the original producers that I worked with on "Hard Core," [and] they weren't giving me what I wanted. The only way you can change music is if you know what you want as an artist. I knew what I wanted right off the bat.

I wanted music that everyone can listen to. I love rock music, I love R&B; music, I love rap music. I've been listening to music since I was a baby, so I know all kinds of music. I like to put it all together, you know what I mean? I used to love to go to the Dance Theater Of Harlem with my mom, so I know that kind of music.

Some of the producers that I worked with, they just didn't know what I want, so I worked with new producers this time, and I kind of told them what I wanted. I would get sounds in my head, I don't know where they would come from, and I would say, "I want something that goes like this," and I would hum it or sing it, and they would make it to be. That's what makes a good producer. That's what makes a good team.

Loder: Where do you get these little outfits? Are they hard to find?

Kim: Some of them are, because some of them come from overseas. I'm very fortunate to have designers who love me, and when they design their lines, they think of me. Oh, Donatella [Versace], she makes outfits for me. That's just my girl. I support her to the fullest. If I'm in Miami, I'll walk into the store and just buy something, just so I can have my normal Donatella Versace look if I don't have anything with me.

Loder: And keep food on her table.

Kim: Yeah. And then I have a stylist... she always picks out, like, really wonderful, cute little things that no one may have. We're basically off of the couture shows. We love couture clothes.

Loder: You know what's really interesting -- your mother is in your video [for "No Matter What They Say"]. How is your relationship?

Kim: That's my best friend. I love my mother. [We've had] a best-friend relationship since I can remember.

Loder: Not everybody can say that.

Kim: That's true. That's the one thing that I love. My mother is the best, and I'm living now so that she can live. I'm working so she can live. I want her to have the nicer things in life, and I want her to enjoy herself.

Loder: What have you bought for her? You got her a car or something like that?

Kim: Yeah, yeah, she has a Mercedes. She has her own allowance, and she can do whatever she wants to do. She takes trips when she wants, and I'm building her a house. She wants to move to the Poconos. I don't want her to move to the Poconos.

Loder:The Poconos?!

Kim: Yes! She wants a house out there so bad, I'm building it.

Loder: Where did this idea come from?

Kim: I don't know. I'm gonna ask her, "Mom, can you find somewhere where it's nice and warm all the way around?" But whatever she wants, she can have.

Loder: Are you still in contact with your dad?

Kim: I haven't spoken to my dad in years. On Father's Day, I really wanted to call him. I had no numbers on him. However, he did call my mom around Father's Day and left his number. Actually, he didn't leave his number, he just left where he would be staying. And, he was only there for a few days. So I don't know. I said to myself, "One day I'm going to call him."

Loder:You think that relationship might be repaired somehow down the road, maybe?

Kim: Yeah, definitely. I love my dad. Things happen in life. Everything isn't perfect. God understands that. I'm very spiritual, and one day I'm looking to be reunited with him, I'm sure. My father's a very good person. We're both the same sign, and that sometimes does not work.

Loder: What sign is that?

Kim: I'm a Cancer.

Loder: No.

Kim: Yeah. What's your sign?

Loder: [Laughs] Huh? What?

Kim: What's your sign?

Loder: Oh, don't ask me that. That's terrible. There are some mentions of Foxy Brown on the album. Do you get along, you two? Or not, I should say, probably...

Kim: Personally... um... ah... to mention her name would give her too much props.

Loder: Oh, okay. Do you think your lyrics have changed since the last album? That you've become a little less in-your-face?

Kim: Well, I don't think it's really changed. I think I've just made a change as far as in which way music is going. To me, I'm just doing something different, that's all. And I still have those hardcore songs [where] the lyrics are very explicit and just right in your face. I had to do that for my fans. Not only that, but I love doing those kinds of songs.

This time around, I think I wanted to experiment more on a creative side. I did a song with a little girl. At the time that I did it, almost two years ago, I didn't really hear or see too many people putting out little kids and stuff like that. But now I have this creative side.

This album to me is more creative and more versatile than my last album. I think that's what people have been looking for. My whole image, to me, the reason why I came out with "Hard Core," the sexy thing, was to make me different from every other female rapper that was out. That's exactly what I'm trying to do now, is make myself different, because now we have a lot of rappers doing the same thing that I did when I came out the first time. What I'm trying to do is separate myself again from the rappers that are out now.

Loder: You'll be wearing stuff buttoned up to the neck and down to the floor soon.

Kim: No, I don't think I'm gonna cover up any time soon.

[luvneedsnosyt]

My Favorite Albums of 2020 So Far

Here is my list of my favorite albums half-way through 2020

You can find my list of my favorite albums of 2019 here And my list of my favorite EPs of 2019 here

My Monthly top albums lists from 2020: January, February, March, April, May

Keep in mind I didn’t include albums released after June 12th on this list

Honorable Mention:

Blanche - EMPIRE Genre: Indie Pop

Proof: Empire / Till We Collide

Caroline Rose - Superstar Genre: Synth-Pop

Proof: Nothing’s Impossible / Someone New

Deante’ Hitchcock - BETTER Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: I Remember / I Got Money Now (Feat. J.I.D.)

dvsn - A Muse In Her Feelings Genre: R&B / neo-Soul

Proof: Dangerous City (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Buju Banton) / A Muse

Grimes - Miss Anthropocene Genre: Synth Pop / Electronic

Proof: Violence (w/ i_o) / idoru // Bonus: We Appreciate Power (BloodPop Remix) Feat. HANA

Halsey - Manic Genre: alt-R&B / Pop

Proof: You should be sad / Without Me // Bonus: Marshmello & Halsey - Be Kind / You should be sad (Tiësto Remix) / Graveyard (Axwell Remix) / Without Me (ILLENIUM Remix)

Illenium - ASCEND (Remixes) Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: Good Things Fall Apart (3LAU Remix) w/ Jon Bellion / In Your Arms (Alan Walker Remix) w/ X Ambassadors

Jason Ross - 1000 Faces //   1000 Faces (Remixes) Genre: Electronic / Dance

Proof: One That Got Away (w/ Dabin & Dylan Matthew) / 1000 Faces (w/ Dia Frampton) //  Known You Before (Trivecta Remix) Feat. Emilie Brandt / Shelter (No Mana Remix) Feat. Melanie Fontana

KAYTRANADA - BUBBA Genre: alt-R&B / House

Proof: 10% (Feat. Kali Uchis) / Need It (Feat. Masego)

Lady Gaga - Chromatica Genre: Pop / Dance

Proof: Stupid Love / Replay

Låpsley - Through Water Genre: Indie Pop / Electronic

Proof: Ligne 3 / Womxn

Loote - heart eyes EP Genre: Indie Pop

Proof: This is How U Feel / All The Fucking Time // Bonus: teamwork., Loote & John K - Wasted Summer

Matoma - RYTME EP Genre: Electronic / House / Dance

Proof: Don’t Stop The Rhythm (Feat. Bryn Christopher) / Beside You (w/ Captain Cuts Feat. Georgia Ku) // Bonus: The Bender (The Him Remix) (w/ Brando) / Time To Go

Seven Lions - Find Another Way EP Genre: Electronic / Dance / Trance

Proof: Only Now (Feat. Tyler Graves) / Another Way (w/ April Bender) // Bonus: 3LAU - Tokyo (Seven Lions Remix) Feat. XIRA / Abaxis , Dimibo & Seven Lions - Half Of It

The Strokes - The New Abnormal Genre: Alternative / Rock

Proof: Brooklyn Bridge To Chorus / Not The Same Anymore

Tchami - Born Again / Buenos Aires EP Genre: Electronic / House / Dance

Proof: Buenos Aires / Proud (Feat. Daecolm) // Bonus: Proud (Steffan City Remix) Feat. Daecolm / Ghosts (Vowed Remix) Feat. Hana

We Are The City - RIP Genre: Rock / Alternative

Proof: Killer B-Side Music / Saint Peter

The List:

15. Alina Baraz - It Was Divine Genre: R&B / Soul

Proof: Morocco (Feat. 6LACK) / Endlessly / Off The Grid (Feat. Khalid) / More Than Enough

14. Harry Styles - Fine Line Genre: Alternative / Indie Pop

Proof: Watermelon Sugar / Adore You / Lights Up / Fine Line

13. Krewella - zer0 // zer0 (The Remixes Pt. 1) EP // zer0 (The Remixes Pt. 2) EP Genre: Electronic / Synth-Pop / Dance

Proof: Good On You (Feat. Nucleya) / Anxiety (Feat. Arrested Youth) / Ghost / Greenlights // Good On You (MOTi Remix) Feat. Nucleya / Greenlights (MADGRRL Remix) // Anxiety (Prince Fox Remix) Feat. Arrested Youth / Like We (BEAUZ Remix) Feat. Yung Baby & Alaya

12. iamnotshane - iamnotshane EP Genre: alt-R&B / Electronic

Proof: Afterlife / Security / Perfect / Right Now // Bonus: Afterlife (Michael Calfan Remix) / Perfect (Thomas Gold Remix) / Right Now (jackLNDN Remix)

11. Jack Garrett - Love, Death & Dancing Genre: R&B / Pop / Electronic

Proof: Time / Return Them To The One / Better / Circles

10. Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now Genre: Synth Pop / Dance

Proof: forever / enemy / i finally understand / anthems // Bonus: claws (Whethan Remix)

9. Buscabulla - Regresa Genre: Latin / Pop / Dance

Proof: Vàmono / El Aproeto / Mío / NTE

8. Purity Ring - WOMB Genre: Synth Pop

Proof: pink lightening / i like the devil / vehemence / stardew

7. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 Genre: Hip Hop

Proof: yankee and the brave (ep. 4) / JU$T (Feat. Pharrell WIlliams & Zach de la Rocha) / the ground below / a few words from the firing squad (radiation)

6. Shallou - Magical Thinking Genre: Electronic / Future Bass

Proof: Forget / Mutual Love (Feat. Zachary Knowles) / Older (Feat. Daya) / Good Together (Feat. Ashe) // Bonus: Older (Felix Cartel Remix) Feat. Daya / I Leave Again (w/ Petit Biscuit) / Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler - you were good to me (Shallou Remix)

5. The Weeknd - After Hours //  After Hours (Remixes) EP Genre: alt-R&B

Proof: Heartless / Blinding Lights / In Your Eyes / After Hours // Blinding Lights (Chromatics Remix) Feat. Johnny Jewel / After Hours (The Blaze Remix) // Bonus: Blinding Lights (Major Lazer Remix)

4. Jonah Mutono - GERG Genre: alt-R&B / Soul

Proof: Shoulders / If You Mean It / The Low / Circulation

3. Phantogram - Ceremony Genre: Synth-Pop

Proof: Dear God / In A Spiral / Pedestal / Let Me Down

2. Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 Genre: Hip Hop / alt-R&B

Proof: Alogrhythm / Time (Feat. Ariana Grande) / 19.10 / 42.26

1. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush Genre: Synth-Pop / Alternative

Proof: Borderline / Breathe Deeper / Lost in Yesterday / It Might Be Time // Bonus: It Might Be Time (Louis The Child Bootleg)

Others:

Good: A Boogie wit da Hoodie - Artist 2.0, AceMoMa - A New Dawn [HOA007], Ada Lea - woman, here EP, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaeed Muhammad - Jazz Is Dead 001, Active Child - In Another Life, Aesop Rock - Freedom Finger [Music from the Game], Agnes Obel - Myopia, Alec Benjamin - These Two Windows, Alexandra Savior - The Archer, Allan Kingdom - Iddtfm EP, Allan Rayman - Christian, Allie X - Cape God, ALMA - Have You Seen Her?, Amber Liu - Rogue Rogue EP, Amber Liu - X EP, Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline, Anna Burch - If You’re Dreaming, Anna Calvi - Hunted EP, Ant Saunders - BUBBLE EP, April - New Conditions EP, Ari Lennox - Shea Butter Baby (Remix EP), Arin Ray - Phases II EP, Atmosphere - Whenever, Audrey Mika - 5 A.M. EP, AWOLNATION - Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders, Bad Bunny - LAS QUE NO IBAN A SALIR, Baril - One More Rush EP, Baths - Pop Music / False B-Sides II, Banoffee - Look at Us Now Dad, Beach Bunny - Honeymoon, Becca Stevens - Wonderbloom, Best Coast - Always Tomorrow, Big Gigantic - Free Your Mind, Bishop Nehru - Nehruvian Tuesdays: Vol, 1, Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, Bongeziwe Mabandla - iimini, Boniface - Boniface, BOSCO - Some Day This Will All Make Sense EP, Brandon Banks - STATIC EP, Brent Faiyaz - Fuck The World, Bring Me the Horizon - Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To EP, Buddy & Kent Jamz - Janktape Vol. 1, Calvin Harris - Love Regenerator 1 EP, Calvin Harris - Love Regenerator 2 EP, Calvin Harris - Love Regenerator 3 EP, Calvin Harris & Eli Brown - Moving EP, Cam’ron - Purple Haze 2, Caribou - Suddenly, Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B, Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open, Charlotte de Witte - Return to Nowhere EP, Chelsea Cutler - How To Be Human, Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour, Christian Paul - Christian Paul EP, Christine and the Queens - La vita nuova EP, Chromeo - Quarantine Casanova EP, Clap! Clap! - Liquid Portraits, Cleo Sol - Rose in the Dark, Conor Matthews - Balloons EP, D Smoke - Bad Habits, DaBaby - BLAME IT ON BABY, Daecolm - Figur£$, Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar, Day Wave - Crush EP, Delacey - Black Coffee, Delta Heavy - Only in Dreams (Remixes), Denzel Curry - UNLOCKED [Mixtape], Destroyer - How We Met, Diana Gordon - Wasted Youth, Dijon - How Do You Feel About Getting Married? EP, Diplo - Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil, Dirty Projectors - Windows Open EP, Disclosure - Ecstasy EP, DJ BORING - Like Water EP, dj poolboi - it’s good to hear your voice, DJ Snake - Carte Blanche (Deluxe), Drake - Dark Lane Demo Tapes, DRAMA - Dance Without Me, Dreamville - Revenge of the Dreamers III : Director’s Cut, Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia, Dua Saleh - Rosetta EP, Duke Dumont - Duality, Ebenezer - Bad Romantic II EP, Echosmith - Lonely Generation, EDEN - no future, Ekali - A World Away, Elah Hale - Room 206 EP, Ellie Winter - Yeah, No. EP, Empress Of - I’m Your Empress Of, Eric Bellinger - Hor D’oeuvres, Ethan Gruska - En Garde, Everything Is Recorded - FRIDAY FOREVER, Example - Some Nights Last For Days, Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Flatbush Zombies - now, more than ever EP, flora cash - Baby, It’s Okay, Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans, Fractures - EP III, Fred again.. - Actual Life EP, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo, Free Nationals - Free Nationals, Gabrielle Aplin - Dear Happy, Galantis - Church, Gengahr - Sanctuary, Georgia - Seeking Thrills, Gil Scott-Heron & Makaya McCraven - We’re New Again: A Reimagine by Makaya McCraven, Giveon - TAKE TIME, The Glitch Mob - Chemicals EP, GRiZ - bangers[5].zip EP, Grouplove - The Healer, GUM - Out In The World, Half Waif - The Caretaker, Hailee Steinfeld - Half Written Story EP, HAWA - the ONE, Hayley Kiyoko - I’m Too Sensitive For This Shit EP, Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor, Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor I EP, Hinds - The Prettiest Curse, HMLTD - West of Eden, Icarus - Unfold, Incubus - Trust Falls (Side B) EP, i_o - NRG 444 EP, Isaia Huron - Libbie, iyla - OTHER WAYS TO VENT, J Balvin - Colores, Jack Garrett - Love, Death & Dancing (Vol. 1) EP, Jack Garrett - Love, Death & Dancing (Vol. 2) EP,  JACKBOYS & Travis Scott - JACKBOYS EP, Jacob Latimore - C3, Jadakiss - Ignatius, Jade Novah - Stages, James Smith - An EP, Japan, Man - Cautious EP, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Reunions, Jauz - Dangerous Waters EP, Jay Electronica - A Written Testimony, Jeremy Zucker - love is not dying, Jessie Reyez - BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, Jhené Aiko - Chilombo, Jody Wisteernoff - Story of Light EP, JoJo - good to know, Joyner Lucas - ADHD, JOYRYDE - Brave, JP Saxe - Hold It Together EP, Justin Bieber - Changes, Kali Uchis - TO FEEL ALIVE EP, Kamaiyah - Got It Made, Kaskade - Redux 004 EP, Katie Gately - Loom, K CAMP - Kiss 5, Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, Kevin Ross - Audacity, Vol 1 EP, Kiana Ledé - KIKI, Kid Krow - Conan Gray, King Princess - Cheap Queen (Deluxe), Khushi - Strange Seasons, Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Sun EP, KIRBY - Sis. EP, K. Michelle - All Monsters Are Human, Knxwledge - 1998, Kodaline - One Day at a Time, Kygo - Golden Hour, Lane 8 - Brightest Lights, LA Priest - GENE, La Roux - Supervision, Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter, Lauren Auder - two caves in EP, Lauv - ~how i’m feeling~, Lil Wayne - Funeral, Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us, Little Simz - Drop 6 EP, LL Cool J - Authentic, Long Beach Dub Allstars - Long Beach Dub Allstars, Lonr. - Land of Nothing Real, LOONY - JOYRiDE EP, Loud Luxury - Nights Like This EP, Louis Tomlinson - Walls, Lucky Daye - Painted (Deluxe Edition), Luke James - to feel love/d, Lupe Fiasco - Chill Spotlight EP, Mac Miller - Circles, Mahalia - Isolation Tapes EP, MAITA - Best Wishes, Major Lazer - Soca Storm EP, Mala Rodriguez - MALA, Manatee Commune - Crescent Lake EP, Mason Maynard - Lookin’ At Me EP, Medasin - RIPPLS, Megan Thee Stallion - Suga, Mick Jenkins - The Circus EP, Midwife - Forever, Mija - Desert Trash, MILCK - Into Gold EP, Moaning - Uneasy Laughter, Model Man - Beta Songs EP, Moses Sumner - græ, Mourning [A] BLKstar - The Cycle, Mura Masa - R.Y.C., mxmtoon - dawn, Nada Surf - Never Not Together, Naeem - Startisha,  Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner, Nathaniel Rateliff - And It’s Still Alright, NNAMDÏ - BRAT, Noah Cyrus - THE END OF EVERYTHING EP, No Mana - Secret Level, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Blue Moon Rising EP, Norah Jones - Pick Me Up off the Floor, Ohmme - Fantasize Your Ghost, Oh Wonder - No One Else Can Wear The Crown, Okay Kaya - Watch This Liquid Pour Itself, Omar S - You Want, Orion Sun - Hold Space For Me, The Overcoats - The Fight, PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYMOBILE, Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot, Photay - Waking Hours, Pictish Trail - Thumb World, POLIÇA - When We Stay Alive, Poppy - I Disagree, Poolside - Low Season, Porches - Ricky Music, Post Animal - Forward Motion Godyssey, The Professionals (Madlib & Oh No) - The Professionals, Princess Nokia - Everything Is Beautiful, Princess Nokia - Everything Sucks, Pure X - Pure X, RAC - BOY, Ratboys - Printer’s Devil, Raveena - Moonstone EP, Real Estate - The Main Thing, Recondite - Dwell, renforshort - teenage angst EP, Ric Wilson & Terrace Martin - They Call Me Disco EP, Rileyy Lanez - Beautiful Mistakes EP, Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA, Riz Ahmed - The Long Goodbye, RJD2 - The Fun Ones, Robinson - Watching You EP, Ro James - MANTIC, Royce da 5’9” - The Allegory, Roy Woods - Dem Times EP, rum.gold - aiMless EP, Russ - SHAKE THE SNOW GLOBE, Ryan Beatty - Dreaming of David, Sam Lee - Oh Wow, San Fermin - The Cormorant I & II, SAYGRACE - The Defining Moments of SAYGRACE: Girlhood, Fuckboys & Situationlists, Sea Wolf - Through A Dark Wood, Selena Gomez - Rare, Sérgio Mendez - In the Key of Joy, Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams, Shakey Graves - Look Alive EP, Ship Wrek - Mirror Mirror EP, Shoffy - Flash, Shopping - All or Nothing, Sleepy Hallow - Sleepy Hallow Presents: Sleepy For President, Slowly Slowly - Race Car Blues, Smino - She Already Decided [Mixtape], Soccer Mommy - Color Theory, Son Little - Aloha, Sorry - 925, Spacey Jane - Sunlight, Spencer Brown - Stream of Consciousness, Steve Aoki - Neon Future IV, Steve Spacek - House, Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head, STRFKR - Future Past Life, Striking Matches - Night EP, Subtronics - Scream Saver EP, Surfaces - Horizons, $uicideboy$ - Stop Staring at the Shadows, Sweaton Klank - Good Days, Sweet Whirl - How Much Works, Swing Ting - 100 Dances, Tank - While You Wait EP, Tate McRae - all the things i never said EP, TOKiMONSTA - Oasis Nocturno, Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - What Kinda Music, TOPS - I Feel Alive, TORRES - Silver Tongue, Tory Lanez - The New Toronto 3, TeaMarr - Before I Spill Myself, Tech N9ne - Enterfear, Tech N9ne - ENTERFEAR Level 2 EP, Tennis - Swimmer, Tiësto - The London Sessions, Tink - Hopeless Romantic, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - Temple, The-Dream - SXTPA, Theophilus London - Bebay, Thundercat - It Is What It Is, Tokio Myers - BLACK DAWN EP , Tourist - Wild (Remixes) EP, Trivecta - Everyday EP, T.R.U. & 2 Chainz - No Face No Chase, Two Feet - Pink, Tycho - Simulcast, T3 - Mr. Fantastic EP, Various Artists - Bad Boys For Life Soundtrack, Various Artists - Birds is Pray: The Album, Various Artists - Ophelia Presents: Advent Volume 1, Various Artists - The Turning (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Varsity - Fine Forever, Vistas - Everything Changes in the End, Vundabar - Either Light, Vybz Kartel - To Tanesha, Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud, WENS - Lemoncholy EP, William Black - Pages (The Remixes), Wiz Khalifa - The Saga of Wiz Khalifa, Wolf Parade - Thin Mind, X Ambassador - Belong EP, xylø - The Ganglands of My Heart EP, Yaeji - WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, Yellow Claw - Never Dies, Yo Gotti - Untrapped, Youngr - Memories, Yumi Zouma - Truth or Consequences, Yves Tumor - Heaven To a Tortured Mind, Zeds Dead - We Are Deadbeats (Vol. 4), Zsela - Ache of Victory EP, 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi, The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form, 5 Seconds of Summer - CALM

Meh: ARTHUR - Hair of the Dog, The Black Lips - Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart,  Bruno Major - To Let A Good Thing Die, Don Toliver - Heaven Or Hell, Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By, Frances Quinlan - Likewise, Future - High On Life, iann dior - I’m Gone, Jaunt - All In One, Jeezy - Twenty/20 Pyrex Vision EP, Lil Baby - My Turn, Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake, Lil Uzi Vert - LUV vs. The World 2, Liquid Stranger - Ascension EP, Masiwei & Higher Brothers - Prince Charming, MHYSA - Navaeh, Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas, Rich The Kid - BOSS MAN, Social Club Misfits - MOOD // DOOM

[swedeandsour]

Oh Land on Love, Tragedy and the Wonders of the Natural World

Tragedy can hold an underlying beautiful meaning or cause. It's tragic when you lose someone you love. But it's only tragic because you love. And love is beautiful. In that sense, all emotions are connected.

Photo: Lasse Bech Martinussen Words: Peter Quincy Ng Perhaps Nanna Øland Fabricius' most ambitious record to date, Oh Land's fifth and latest record "Family Tree" is a surprising effort. Eschewing the limiting architecture of traditional pop structure in favor of more a instrumental sound, Oh Land's subtle hacking of classical music yields vivid textures and the lush poetic of her storytelling lyrics. Written in a time beset by personal tragedy, "Family Tree" anchors itself in both heritage and through her connection to the natural world. A meaning bound in metaphor and in animistic reverence, Oh Land's allusion to the centuries-old tree has become a symbol of both resilience and totem of honor in her family lineage of musicians and explorers. Speaking to us how the record came to be, and how resilience has become her second nature, Oh Land wrote to us ahead of her upcoming tour in support of her stunning record "Family Tree".

Putting together a new sound is always a bit difficult. As an artist being "just being yourself" or doing what you are used to is an impossibility and an unsustainable thing because you are always trying to challenge yourself creatively. Rather it amounts to having a vision and sticking to it. You are now on your fifth record, how did that having a creative vision and sticking to it amount to what it is?

I think the answer to that is that "yourself" is an evolving ever-changing thing. So unless you stay the same it's hard to keep doing the same thing. For me, in particular, the past couple years have changed me in many ways, and to just keep doing what I've always done didn't feel like an option. How can you go through massive change without it soaking into the art you're doing? 

For me, that was a question I asked myself. And I guess, seeing how my life has changed in the past, I give myself the freedom to change again in the future. That doesn't mean that I'm a different type of animal now. I'm the same species, but having learned what I've learned, I have a different perspective now (-:

Oh Land’s Live Video of “Brief Moment”

Your international debut was released on a major label but you've since been releasing music independently. What is it about having your own creative vision and also the difficulties of releasing music independently? I know your previous “Earth Sick” was done through crowdfunding. What's it like to know that you have a record that is entirely funded by your backers? That was a very cool project, but also hard work. I think every project that is done independently is a lot of work, but rewarding when you succeed with your goal. I'm thankful for every opportunity I've had of releasing music, both on major, through crowdfunding and on my own indie label. And mostly, thankful to have listeners who care! 

It's a bit surprising to see how you've moved on from your electronic pop roots to something more classical. I remember you saying how you once hated classical music because of its rigidity; the fact it was bound by definition. Why did you end up creating something that was more classical in nature and how did you turn the rigid structure of classical music into something that was yours. I guess my perspective has turned, perhaps, or I've found a way to "hack" classical music now. Cause I actually see the liberty more than the restrictions. There are no compositional rules of A, B, A, B like in a pop song. It doesn't have to be 3 minutes and it can be more abstract and textural. I think the short answer is that I love music - all music! And I like to expand my musical language

Oh Land’s Video of “Family Tree”

The title of your album is called "Family Tree". I suppose that having a more classical album is a way of honoring your roots in the family tree. You come from a creative family of musicians and explorers. You grew up as a ballet dancer and now a musician, was a creative career path in your blood would you say?

I've never imagined doing anything that wasn't creative. I just haven't seen it as an option. Only because I've always felt that I've seen things from an odd angle, which has given me problems sometimes-- learning things and understanding the world in a more structured and traditional way. Music and art have been something I've understood. A natural language to me. There were no other options. 

A lot of the album has been written about what has happened in the last few years, but first the return to Denmark. On your album "Earth Sick", your track "Sleepy Town" talks about the move from small-town Denmark and dreams of city lights. How has that changed moving back? Denmark is a very safe and very privileged part of the world to live in. People don't struggle the same way they do in many other parts of the world. It's easy to become a little too content. It's very important for me to travel the world and never get stuck. Cabin fever can be a thing in Denmark.

The record touches on many deeply personal and tragic events in your personal life. Has it been a cathartic feeling to sing about such difficult moments?  

I have no choice. My inability to "talk it out" when I'm troubled leaves this huge desire to express my feelings otherwise and that has, for me, become music. 

A lot of your artistic career has been being no longer being afraid to step out into the light, this speaking post-injury. What is it about being persistent, not being afraid of failure and having a particular honesty and openness that has been crucial to the vision of Oh Land? I think the experience of failure I have experienced on many levels. Being an injured "retired" ballerina at the age of 19, then redefining a goal. Going through a divorce. All of those things - you survive; surviving "failures" improves stamina. builds emotional muscle. I'm unafraid.

Oh Land’s video for “Human Error”

Your music has always been bright and cheery, but with dark undertones. In a way, it's a contrast between the light and the dark which you have previously mentioned. Is it strange how beauty and tragedy intertwine so readily?    Tragedy can hold an underlying beautiful meaning or cause. It's tragic when you lose someone you love. But it's only tragic because you love. And love is beautiful. In that sense, all emotions are connected, Besides music, you've spent time advocating for the environment. Tell us about your work with Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund, you grew up being fascinated by animals and you've even had your wedding at a zoo. Also as a person with a platform, why should we advocate for the environment and what do you think we can do to help? I wish I could do more is my initial thought reading this. I try to follow people like Greta Thunberg who inspires young people around the planet to act for the climate. But really, the best thing you can do is be very considerate where you put your vote. Vote green!

I know there's been a lot of heavier questions and we know you call your beloved fans narwhals, but what can you tell them about your animal friends, your rabbit in particular and the majesty of the Gobi desert, slow loris and the infamous sloth?

Haha, I'm currently sneezing cause I have rabbit fur all over. I love animals, they never need me to explain. they just live and let live.

Oh Land will be joined on tour by Arthur Moon who recently remixed her track for “Salt”. Arthur Moon will appear alongside Oh Land for all dates except Toronto*. You can check out the remix below alongside their tourdates:

SEP 23 Great Hall Toronto, ON* SEP 24 The Bell House Brooklyn, NY SEP 25 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, PA SEP 26 Miracle Cafe Washington, DC SEP 27 SPACE Chicago, IL OCT 20 Columbia City Theater Seattle, WA OCT 21 The Old Church Portland, OR OCT 23 The Independent San Francisco, CA OCT 24 Bootleg Theater Los Angeles, CA 

[disinvited-guest]

12/31/2018 Philadelphia Recap

The wait for this show was absolutely wonderful, as I got to reunite with old concert-going pals (in case you were wondering, @monopuffstan and @integrityproject remain as wonderful as ever) and meet several new ones.  Even if the concert hadn’t been absolutely wonderful, hanging out with all of these awesome folks would almost have been worth the trip itself.  

We had a wonderful, if cold and soggy, wait.  Flans walked right through our line to get to the venue with a polite “excuse me.”  I happened to be one of the people in his way and I shuffled to the side, mortified.

Once we got inside, things became a bit less jovial.  I did not get along with the people to my right, who were more than a little drunk. I’m not going to include their antics in the recap, but they did have a negative effect on how much I could hear and see of what was going on onstage.  Reminder:  there is a bootleg of this show floating around, so you can listen to what I missed.

JoCo came onstage at 9:20 sharp  wearing a tuxedo with a very stylish bow-tie.  After playing Artificial Heart, he commented faux-disapprovingly on what the crowd was wearing “I thought this was a party!”  He told us he had never played a show in a tux before and was worried for two reasons:  that it would restrict his range of motion, and that he would sweat through it in 5 minutes.

He played Shop Vac, then mopped his face with a towel and warned us that it was happening.  Someone shouted at him that he should take off his suit, and he responded that there was “nothing underneath.”

The crowd cheered at this, but JoCo responded that we were cheering now, but “after, you’d be disgusted” and that he’d be all over the internet the next day as a “weird asshole.”  

Introducing Future Soon, he told us that instead of looking back on 2018 we should look forward into the Future.  Afterwards, he took of his bowtie, warning the crowd that this was “As far as I’ll go.”  He introduced the next song as being about getting old and being sad about being old “but that’s okay,” which led into Glasses.

“I have a new album,” he told us after the song ended, “It’s called Solid State and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.” When the crowd cheered in response, he gave a world-weary sigh and continued in a grudging voice. “Of course we need a concept album about sci-fi.”  He sighed again, then added “And how the internet kind of sucks now.”  Another sigh “And how technology will either destroy us or save us.  One last huge sigh and then “And I’m sorry, but there’s a companion graphic novel.”  With the crowd cheering counterpoint to each on of his sighs, it was truly hilarious.

While messing with the laptop he had onstage, JoCo told us that “The album makes a lot of bleep bloop sounds.  This is just a normal acoustic guitar.  It doesn’t make bleep bloop sounds, so I brought out this.  This is a computer.”

The computer made excellent bleep bloop sounds as JoCo played All This Time.  Putting his guitar down after the song was over, JoCo picked up the machine with knobs and buttons all over it (If you haven’t seen him play Fancy Pants on this thing, my description isn’t going to do it justice. I’m begging you to look it up on YouTube.)  He warned us that on this machine “Even when I’m well-rehearsed, I’m barely hanging on.”

He immediately put the lie to his words by showing off a bit of what the machine was programmed for.  He then explained the song, verse by verse, before actually going into the song.  I was unprepared for just how glorious it was.  He added a bit of Auld Lang Syne into it, singing along a bit before declaring that no one knew the words anyway, and a bit of Single Ladies, and topped it all off by having the machine tell us “Gonna be the best in everybody’s pants.”

After returning to his guitar, JoCo brought up his wife, which got a cheer from a few people in the crowd.  “Some fans of my wife here,” he said, bemused, before moving on with his story.  

Apparently, before he met his wife, she wanted a tattoo, but didn’t have a particular one in mind.  “Which I later learned was typical of her, to have a goal in mind without considering the steps in between.”  She looked through the books in the parlor, “like

at a barbershop” JoCo explained to us, and picked out one she liked.  She got the tattoo, but regretted it.  Once he and his wife had started dating- “and I had an opportunity to see it,”  he added in wickedly, getting a cheer from the crowd-  he asked her about it and she grumbled that it was stupid, and she had just wanted the idea of a tattoo.  Recently though, his wife went in again and got quotes put around the tattoo, so now it is actually a tattoo of the idea of a tattoo.  All this talk of tattoos led, of course, into the song Your Tattoo.

JoCo mentioned that They Might Be Giants would be on his cruise, but that it was too late to buy tickets because it was sold out.  He told us it was a missed opportunity and that we should have followed his blog.  He then introduced the next song, I Feel Fantastic as a “song about how you’ve all made me feel tonight, but it’s also about being on drugs.”

Afterwards, he left the stage as we cheered.  After a few seconds, Flans came onstage, a scrap of paper in his hand.  The crowd’s cheering greatly increased.  He came up to the mic and announced “The owner of a blue Dodge Neon double-parked in front of the venue. Move your car or you will be towed.” The paper in his hand did say something about the car, so I have no doubt it was there, but somehow the context made it hilarious.  Having gotten all car-related news out of the way, Flans announced “Jonathan Coulton, everybody!” leaving stage as we cheered JoCo back on.  

JoCo thanked everyone, then had us practice our “part” for Re: Your Brains.  The first time around was too good.  He explained “Zombies get distracted.  They can only think about how much they want brains.  Some weren’t good singers to start with and rotting doesn’t help.”  Our next attempt was much better/worse, so he started into the song.  Afterwards, he thanked everyone once more and left the stage.

Immediately, that same stage was swarmed by the crew.  I got a glimpse of Fresh’s socks, which were full-color prints of a basketball player in the middle of a slam-dunk.  There was no riser for Curt, confirming that he wasn’t there.

The intro music came on quickly, followed by the band.  There was very little banter at this show.  I think they were worried about what point in the show they would take their break for midnight.  They played their first several songs without pause, starting out with The Communists Have The Music, then Twisting and I got a mouthed  “hi!” and a smile from Danny.  During Why Does the Sun Shine, Linnell told us that everything on the sun was a gas “copper, things that aren’t gas, iron, and even gas.”  He told us he was doing a voice so that “the tone of voice makes you think I’m condescending and impatient.”

They played Birdhouse in Your Soul, then went into Particle Man pausing only long enough for Linnell to grab his accordion.  He didn’t add another song into the interlude, simply switching into a minor key for a description of triangle man.  During the Famous Polka, Dan and Linnell executed a wonderfully in-synch kick (though not nearly as high as the Flans kick photo that’s been going around from that evening).  The audience all contributed to the song, chiming in with a fair imitation of the “doop-doop”s the bridge has in the recorded version.  It was one of those crazy-beautiful moments of serendipity you only get at tmbg shows.

After Famous Polka ended, they had the first banter of the evening.  Discussing his day, Flans told us all a story about his stop at a Popeyes next to a museum he had visited.  At the Popeyes, he was waiting next to two women and a man speaking “not-from-this-country” Italian.  He then pointed out to the guy that Popeyes! also spells ‘Pope yes!’ and the group found it hilarious (after the guy translated the joke to his companions).  Flans felt like it was a great start to the the year, and was about to say more but broke off to add to his story.  Apparently one of the women “the only English word she knew was ‘leg’” had done the Pope blessing thing with a chicken leg.  Flans demonstrated the motion to us, then said that in the new year he wanted “less of this-” miming pushing something away, “and more of this-” repeating the chicken-leg blessing.

Linnell decided that there were “little dramas like that going on at every stop on the turnpike.”  He decided that at the Molly Pitcher stop they were chanting “We want a pitcher not a chicken-leg itcher”  This prompted them both to start listing stops on the turnpike, some real and some decidedly not.  Eventually, they decided they were losing the crowd with all of their outdated references.  Flans asked Linnell if he was still jetlagged.  Linnell responded that he was, then explained to us that he was still on Scotland time, where “it is very late at night right now.”

“That’s what this next song is about!” and they started into Memo to Human Resources.  I was so excited that it took me a few lines to calm down enough to actually pay attention to the song.  I’d been chasing it all year and honestly thought I’d never hear it live.

Flans introduced the next song quickly “We have a new album out.  It’s called I Like Fun and this is I Left My Body.”  From there they went straight into Science is Real.  It was the first time I’d seen them play it without Flans using a cheat-sheet for the lyrics, and he did mumble a few of the words he forgot.

I believe it was here Linnell brought up Clara Barton as another potential stop on the turnpike, and both Johns began asking the crowd about the nature of the stops; if there were criteria for naming them, if there was a list of stops, etc.  

Eventually, Flans introduced Dan Miller on the keyboards “anything is possible!”  Dan extended his index finger like he was going to play a note, then pulled it back, shaking his head.  Danny watched the whole process with extreme interest.

“Don’t mess with those dials.” Flans told Dan.

They played Let’s Get This Over With and Doctor Worm, during which Flans was a bit distracted, looking of stage a lot, and even heading off once or twice.  During the Doctor Worm solo, Danny had to cover a bit of his part.  

Flans came back downstage and they played Robot Parade, starting slow and gradually becoming more and more rocking.  Flans attempted a human theremin during this song.  He gave the audience 15 seconds “for people who know what a theremin is to explain to people who don’t know what a theremin is.”  He then counted down the 15 seconds.  I’m not sure how much explaining was done, as a large portion of the crowd counted down the 15 seconds with him. He then gave a brief explanation and began.  It didn’t work super well and he wrapped things up quickly, but it was fun to be a part of.

Next up was a quick introduction to Trouble Awful Devil Evil, and it was also when my asthma started acting up.  I used my inhaler and when I refocused on the stage Danny was watching, presumably to make sure I was okay.    After Linnell put down his little clarinet for Trouble Awful Devil Evil, Flans briefly introduced him on the Contra Alto Clarinet before they played All Time What.  

Flans had Dan play a note on his guitar to show off the synthesizer, which Linnell claimed could “make a guitar sound like any instrument.”  Dan made a face and Flans amended “Well, any instrument purchased at a Radio Shack.”

They played We Want a Rock, then went straight into Bills Bills Bills.  During the start of the song, Dan posed next to Danny, guitar held at a precise angle, foot tapping.  He then nudged Danny and demonstrated the pose for him until Danny copied the pose and played that way together for a few bars.

Afterwards, Flans told us that the count-offs for the evening were “provided by Al Gore.”  He then proceeded to explain to us that they had seen other bands start without count offs and had been really impressed, but then “we switched and no one noticed.”

“Until now,” Linnell told him.

The two debated whether or not it was too technical for the audience to understand, but then Flans decided we were pretty smart “Three-fourths of them knew what a theremin was,” and they played Letterbox.  

They moved from Letterbox into Spy.  The ending was as fascinating as always, with Flans and Linnell each adding their bit, but rather than actually ending the song, they simply transitioned straight into Dan’s intro to Istanbul.  It was great to see the song getting the full Dan Miller treatment once again.  He was truly amazing.  At one point, he was playing one-handed, just plucking at the frets, at another point, he pointed to the crowd for a cheer before continuing on.  He even attempted to trick the rest of the band into thinking he was wrapping things up (they all got ready to start) before continuing on for another several seconds.  The whole thing was glorious.

During the song itself, Danny gave me a goofy look, and I snorted in response, then immediately covered my nose, embarrassed. Danny cracked up laughing and walked away.  During one of the fake endings, in the space where Dan and Curt had ‘battled’ in other 2018 shows, Dan and Danny did the same for a bit, switching off for a few lines, which was amazing.

As the song was wrapping up, Flans went around getting everyone's attention and wiggling his outstretched fingers at them.  This marked their departure from the setlists and led, accurately and amusingly, into Fingertips.

During I’m Having A Heart Attack, Flans did his boy band bit, but instead of facing the audience for it, addressed off stage right, where I had noticed Robin hanging out in the wings earlier.  I don’t know if she was still there, so I’m not sure if it was intentional or not.  

Dan did the first of the two whispered “Fingertips” without incident, but as he was about to repeat himself, a guy in the crowd shouted “Fingertips!” in the near-silent room.  Dan pointed in his direction and steps back from the mic and the band moved on to I Walk Along Darkened Corridors.

They went straight into The Guitar from there.  Trying to get close enough to midnight, they ended it with a big solo for Danny which was absolutely amazing!  Danny never gets enough time to shine in my personal but admittedly biased opinion and this was an amazing chance to see all that he could do.  Dan and Linnell stood next to each other behind the keyboard to watch Danny.  Dan looked over to Marty, keeping time on his set, and motioned to him that he stunk, pinching his nose and grinning.  Marty must have responded with a worried look because Dan immediately waved it off and gave him a thumbs up.  Linnell did the double point to his eyes and then to Marty in an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.  

Danny’s solo was truly amazing, it was well over a minute in length and just when you thought it couldn’t get more awesome, it did.  The whole thing was made even more interesting by the fact that, since it was somewhat to stall for time until midnight, every so often Danny would glance over at Flans to check how much longer he wanted him to keep going.  Eventually, they wrapped up the song and a sweat soaked Danny accepted a new water bottle from Fresh while toweling off his face.

There was still more than a minute before midnight when The Guitar wrapped up.  Linnell decided we should “take a moment to remember the people in the crowd we lost along the way.”  The Johns went back and forth on this idea for a while, with Flans mourning “the people who were brought by their friends and are never coming again.”

Eventually they brought up a projection that had instructions for counting down, screaming for 2019, the words to Auld Lang Syne, etc.  The countdown was started at 15 seconds to midnight, but the crowd started out too slow, and in trying to catch up began counting too fast.  We overshot our goal and began celebrating the New Year a second or two too early.  They played Auld Lang Syne into an absolute explosion of confetti as things onstage devolved into an absolutely beautiful chaos.  Fresh, who was helping the confetti tech load the cannon, was eventually pushed out of the process by an incredibly enthusiastic Flans, who loaded the cannon at double speed and moved it back and forth so it would hit everybody.  The confetti got absolutely everywhere, covering the stage and the crowd for the rest of the show.  

Onstage was an absolute hugfest.  Danny hugged Dan, then went over behind the drum riser to hug Marty.  Fresh got a hug from Marty then ran offstage pumping his arms like he’d just won a prize.  Dan lifted Marty off of his feet while hugging him.  There was evidently champagne offstage as someone later set the bottle on an amp.  Flans chugged some directly from the bottle.

As the last of the confetti settled, Flans took the fan that was set up onstage and began using it to clear off some of layer of confetti coating absolutely everything, making a joke about needing a clear stage.  Danny scooped up big handfuls and ran around throwing them over people in the crowd.  At one point, Marty saw him at it and asked why he hadn’t thrown any confetti over his head.  Danny eventually obliged, although he waited until the encore when Marty wasn’t expecting it.  Linnell had the opposite problem, seeing Danny carrying a handful of confetti and worrying it was meant for him.  Danny saw his worried expression and indicated it was meant for the crowd and Linnell relaxed.  The crowd itself was also throwing big crumpled handfuls of the stuff, which packed a bit more of a punch than the drifting flakes, and just about everyone, onstage and in the crowd, got hit by one of the clumps.

Eventually, Flans brought the show back into motion.  He thanked the band, the crew, and the crowd then told us they had a few more songs.  They played Dead, a poignant counterpoint to the beautiful insanity preceding it, with Dan Miller watching from the wings.  At one point he waved to someone in my general section of the crowd, but when I turned around to look, I couldn’t see anyone looking in his direction.  He came back on for Man It’s So Loud In Here, which was introduced as the last song of the night.  They left the stage after that, leaving us to cheer for their return.  You could tell that people were tired.  While the crowd kept up it’s cheering before each encore, a lot of the wild enthusiasm usually present was lacking.

The first encore began with Mrs. Bluebeard, which I’m always happy to hear live.  Dan Miller got the bit he had been so frustrated with in the fall without any problems, and was clearly pleased with himself.  Flans thanked everyone once again and they played Damn Good Times, with Dan wow-ing the crowd with another amazing solo.

Flans, Linnell, and Marty were the only ones returning to the stage for the second encore, soon followed by John Carter and Fresh carrying out the glockenspiel.   Fresh and Marty had another mallet spin-off, with Fresh having improved his game since the Buffalo show, but Marty still the clear victor.  

They played Shoehorn With Teeth, with all due decorum going into the playing of the glockenspiel. Flans forgot which verse he was starting at one point, starting partway into the first line.

After the song was over, Flans told us that they didn’t know where the other tassel was.  Linnell decided that the number of tassels showed how skilled the glockenspiel player was, and that you had tassels removed as you moved up the levels.  Marty, he explained, was a one tassel player, but would eventually have the other tassel removed.  Fresh, back onstage to remove the glockenspiel, made a big show of acting like he was removing the remaining tassel and then ‘changing his mind’ and leaving it.

By then, Dan and Danny had returned to the stage.  Flans told us all that this was the last song “for real now.  Last time we were lying.”

“This is the song we like to do last.”

They played the Mesopotamians, then left the stage for the final time.

As soon as they were gone, Fresh was out onstage, assisting the girl next to me who had lost her glasses over the railing towards the end of the show.  Her efforts to retrieve them had made me feel less than charitable about the whole situation, but it was wonderful how prepared Fresh was to help her.  While Flans, Danny, and Marty were passing out stickers and setlists, Flans even brought over his fan to blow away some of the confetti from the spot and make finding the glasses easier, eventually handing the fan to Fresh so he could continue the search.

I didn’t quite cry leaving, but it was a near thing.  I hope for many more concerts to come, but since have to take a break from my touring habit, this show was a wonderful high note to end on.

[harrisonstories]

RTE Radio 2 Ireland - BP Fallon interview with George Harrison (18 Oct. 1987)

Photo by: Brian Roylance, Genesis Publications

This is an interview I’ve edited and uploaded to youtube because it’s quite long, and it was in two parts, so I’ve combined them together. You’ll notice at about 14:52 there’s a slight jump in the conversation which is where the second part begins. 

I really love this interview. It’s one of - if not my favourite interview he ever did. I strongly suggest you give it a listen. Similarly to the Swedish Fan Club Tape, George is extremely calm and open, and Irish DJ BP Fallon asks refreshing questions. BP Fallon has himself had an interesting life, and at one point worked at Apple for Derek Taylor (You can also see him miming the bass in the Instant Karma Top of the Pops video). I’m guessing this related to why George felt relaxed. I hope you enjoy it.

Below I’ve included the written version of this interview by BP Fallon for The Sunday Tribune. It has some information not available in the audio (not sure if it simply wasn’t recorded, or if there’s another version which includes the full conversation):

"Sometimes it feels like another world, another life, some previous incarnation," George Harrison says. "I view it a bit through a haze but, y'know, people don't ever stop talking about it so it's hard to got too much distance between myself and The Beatles." 

George Harrison doesn't mind that, not anymore. "I used to," he admits. "I used to not like it at all. I wanted to be free of it. Now I've learned to live with it. And also, don't forget, there was a period when The Beatles split up and there were all kind of court cases and bad vibes and stuff and that left a bad taste in the mouth for a while but after the years it's all cleared up, everybody's friends again." 

He's sitting in a little office in the house owned by his company Handmade Films, just off Cadogan Square in Knightsbridge in London, a few streets behind Harrods. Fourty-four-years old this man is, he has a bit of a beard and his shortish hair is swept back and there are new lines on his face. He drinks coffee and smokes ciggies and when you sit talking to the geezer you can't help but feel warmth for him. 

As one of John, Paul, George And Ringo, The Fab Four, as a member of the most popular, the most inventive, the most influential rock group of all time, he has gone through one of the strangest trips ever. They were Gods once, The Beatles. And sitting here now, George Harrison comes across as a normal bloke.

He was born in Liverpool, the fourth child of Harold and Louse Harrison. George's father was a bus driver - before that, he had been a ship's steward on the White Star Line for ten years and from one of his travels in America had returned with an old wind-up gramophone and records by bluesman and yodeller Jimmie Rodgers and country singer Hank Williams. Young George was smitten. He listened to skiffle, people like Lonnie Donegan and songs about the Rock Island Line. And then he heard Elvis Presley singing Hearbreak Hotel. "It came out of somebody's radio," George Harrison says, gazing out the window at the autumn light fading behind the trees, "and it lodged itself in the back of my head. It's been there ever since." 

At the age of 13, for £3, he bought his first guitar. Two years later, Paul McCartney introduced George to his friend John Lennon (George - "this snotty-nosed kid" as Lennon recalled). George joined John and Paul in their skiffle group The Quarreymen. In 1962, when George was 19, John, Paul, George and their new drummer Ringo Starr made their first record together. It was a fresh-sounding bluesey pop record called Love Me Do and they now called themselves The Beatles.

They changed the world, these four Scouse moptops making new noises and singing about wanting to hold your hand and about walruses and about revolution and all you need is love. 

And for eight years The Beatles were bigger than Jesus.

For a while, The Beatles - at very least by example - endorsed smoking dope and taking LSD. John, Paul and George were each busted at least once for breaking the cannabis laws. "A lot of the stuff that happened..." - and then George brings himself up to the present tense - that happens, it's just like when Prohibition was on. If they make a big deal about stuff it becomes bigger than it actually is. In moderation... you have to have moderation in everything. The worst drug of all is alcohol... it actually kills more people then heroin." He says he was fortunate as a kid to see a film about the trumpet player Chet Baker, about Baker's heroin addiction, "and that and maybe something else made me aware that this thing was just too much. 

"Of course, the other things, the psychedelic drugs, are much different because they don't put your body in a stupour, they sort of..." and now he's laughing... "they sort of catapult you out into the universe. It's a totally different perspective." Then his voice is serious again. "These things obviously can be very dangerous too. I'd hate to have some right now because I don't think I could handle it. It just gives you too many things to think about all at once."

Love and peace went out the bathroom window when The Beatles split in 1970, with Paul McCartney publicly announcing he had left. George says he realised The Beatles weren't shaking a couple of years before that. "Everyone was just getting all uptight with each other. The new wives were coming in and, y'know, living under the piano and there was no privacy anymore for us as far as the group was concerned in what was normally the only privacy we ever had, the four of us when we got into a studio. And we'd just grown away from each other. One time or another every one of us left that group before we finally stopped." 

George left during the making of what would be Let It Be. Ringo left another time "and went on holiday, and John was always wanting to leave and Paul too. You know, it was too much pressure and we'd been through those years. It was just too much.”

He emphasises that the remaining three Beatles are good pals, now. "Paul and I went through a shaky period but we're okay, now. All the old aggravations have passed a long time ago. There's no reason not to be friends."

By 1971 George Harrison was the most successful solo Beatle, with his triple album All Things Must Pass and the enormous hit My Sweet Lord. Four years later his single Ding Dong Ding Dong - a record even worse than McCartney's Mary Had A Little Lamb - was the first release by a solo Beatle to fail to enter the charts. Several years later a court ordered him to pay £260,000 damages for plagiarising the Chiffons' song he's So Fine with My Sweet Lord. That Harrison had modeled My Sweet Lord on another song, the gospel Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, was bad enough. That he had to pay the money to his former manager Allen Klein - "a looney who didn't take care of business" George describes him now- because Klein had scooped up the publishing of He's So Fine... that rubbed salt into the wound. 

His career and also his marriage to his first wife Patti Boyd were in pieces. Patti had gone to live with George's close pal Eric Clapton, who had written Layla about his best friend's wife. George started drinking heavily, contracting a serious liver complaint that his friends feared might be the end of him. 

George's chum Eric Idle had found it impossible to raise the necessary finance to make the Monty Python film Life Of Brian, so George chipped in with half the required money, £2,250,000. It turned out to be one of the best investments George had ever made, reaping a profit of more than £30,000,000. Since then, Harrison and his film company Handmade Films have scored with another Monty Python film The Meaning Of Life - banned in Ireland - and delivered films like Time Bandits and Mona Lisa as well as Shanghai Express, a disaster for its stars Sean Penn and Madonna and its producer Harrison. But what the heck. George isn't short of a few shekels.

In 1978, George married Olivia Trinidad Arias, a 27-year-old who had been born in Mexico and had been working as a secretary in A&M Records in Los Angeles. George's health had been desperate. He was fading away. Olivia contacted the Chinese acupuncturist Dr. Zion Yu and within weeks of treatment George had regained his energy and his spirit. 

They have a nine-year-old son named Dhani - the Indian for wealthy - and the other day he asked his father to make him up a cassette of Chuck Berry songs. After George appeared at the Prince's Trust concert in London five months ago with Ringo, Eric Clapton and Elton John, Dhani came backstage. George had sung his own Beatle compositions While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes The Sun. "I asked him 'What did you think?' and he said 'Uh, you were alright Dad, but why didn't you do Chuck Berry songs like Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny Be Good and Rock'n'Roll Music?'" 

He has a new LP out any day now, his first in five years. It's called Cloud Nine. "Have you heard the album?" he asks solicitously. "No? I'll see if someone's got a copy." George Harrison wanders off, and returns with a young woman who says "It's a bootleg I taped from the CD." George flips the cassette into the music system and spins it through, looking for a specific track. "I think you might like this one," he says in his dry Liverpudlian drawl, settling himself into another chair as he watches for reactions. 

Ringo's drums with cellos straight from Lennon's I Am The Walrus lead into George singing with fondness for former Beatle times. It's a track that could fit on a Beatle record and it's called When We Was Fab. "Fab... but it's all over now baby blue" George sings, and at the end there's sitar sounds like George cosmicing out on Sgt. Pepper. It's... well, fab.

When John Lennon was murdered in 1980, George Harrison didn't suddenly lock himself away from the world in his Gothic mansion. Near the riverside town of Henley-On-Thames, this bizarre 70-roomed palace called Friar Park was remodeled a century ago by the eccentric Sir Frankie Crisp and is set in 33 acres of parkland with three lakes with secret stepping stones so one can appear to walk on water, underground caves linked by a river and a reproduction of the Alps that includes a perfect 100 foot high replica of the Matterhorn. George was already in hiding.

"I was already trying to hold onto some sort of privacy. I think everyone needs to have a bit of space, y'know. I mean, if you were just being mobbed and on the TV and that all your life you just turn into a loony, and long before John got shot I was already just digging in the garden, planting trees and just trying not to go on television, just having a bit of peace. 

"But what it did, it affected me probably like anyone who loved John and who grew up with him and his music. And it was a very sad thing and, um, it didn't make me feel..." Harrison's voice trails off, and for a moment his eyes look away and he's lost in private thoughts. He looks back. " It made me wonder about ever gettin' into situations where there's fans, although at the time you can't blame fans for that. There's one loony in every crowd, I suppose. But I go on living normally. I don't panic unnecessarily."

There was talk that for Live Aid Paul, George, Ringo and Julian Lennon might let it Beatle together, but George dismisses any idea of reunions. "I don't think we'll play together. The Beatles certainly can't play again and I think it's best left as it is, y'know." 

Long before Live Aid, George Harrison's Concerts For Bangladesh raised £45,000,000 for the starving. He didn't appear at Live Aid but says if he'd known more about it "maybe I would have done it but they did alright without me." George talks at length about the planet, his concerns about destruction. Last year he participated in an anti-nuclear rally in Trafalgar Square, and he's a member of the ecological organisation Greenpeace. "I love those people because they go out and actually do it. I mean, if it wasn't me that's the kind of thing I'd like to be, out there on a ship getting harpooned by Russians and Japanese."

At the turn of the Seventies, George became a benefactor to the Hare Krishna movement. He not only made records with them and talked about them publicly but also forked out a quarter of a million pounds to buy them a 15-room Elizabethan mansion with 17 acres of land. 

Since then, George's friend His Divine Grace Guru Bhaktivechanta Swami, the leader and founder of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness, who was 77 when they met, has died. George feels that some of the remaining Krishnas have at times abused his patronage, and he cites letters from people who wrote saying that they were hassled at airports by devotees using Harrison's name. 

Nevertheless, he still subscribes to "the Swami's ancient Vedic way of having God consciousness. The technique of chanting, just like the monks and Christians, they do it too really but it's just using beads and chanting these ancient mantras... they do have great affect. I wouldn't knock them at all. I am always a bit dubious about organisations and since the swami died it does seem to be chaotic, with all kinds of guys thinking they're the gurus. To me, it's not important to be a guru, it's more important just to be, to learn humility." And George still chants. "I've still got my bag of beads and they're really groovy now, all polished up."

Is he a happy chap? "Yeah, I'm okay. Sometimes I get depressed. It's a constant battle, isn't it? You have to consciously make an effort to be happy and considering everything, I've come along quite nicely. There's always room for improvement but, um, I have a laugh and I feel quite good about things." He believes in reincarnation. "The only reason we're actually in these bodies is to learn and develop love of God and liberate our souls from this round and round, the Memphis Blues." He reckons he'll come back again. "Well," he says laughing, "by the look of things I'll probably have to... but I'd like to give it a pass one of these incarnations!"

And, George Harrison, what would you like to be remembered for? 

He pauses. "I don't know... I don't know." And then he smiles and looks you directly in the eyes and you see the face of a man still searching, still looking to extend his gentle vision for all time. He'd like to be remembered, he finally says, "just as somebody who's not bad, not that bad”... 

"That'll do, yeah."

Fair play to you, George.