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thesinglesjukebox · 3 months ago

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COLDPLAY FT. LITTLE SIMZ, BURNA BOY, ELYANNA, AND TINI - "WE PRAY"

youtube

Who is "we"?

[3.60]

Harlan Talib Ockey: I pray that someday I’ll be able to score a Coldplay song highly. The generic hype strings make “We Pray” feel like a particularly boring commercial. Or something Hillsong-adjacent, given that the lyrics sound religious, even though this song is about so little I’m not sure they entirely are. The problem with “big idea” songs that try to enumerate everything wrong with the world is that they rarely have room for an actual message. What is “We Pray” trying to say? “I hope literally everything bad gets better soon”? Coldplay does name a few specific things (Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, “Baraye”), but it’s not obvious why Chris Martin connects them here other than the general idea that oppression is bad. Meanwhile, the rest of the lyrics are just vaguely inspirational soup. “Pray that I can lift up, pray my brother is blessed”? What? Elyanna and TINI seem to only be on here for a single line of backing vocals, and Burna Boy is surprisingly scarce too. Little Simz’s verse is as aimless as the rest of the song, and a large chunk of it is verbatim from her feature on Sault’s “Free.” It’s not hard to guess that a song with four featured artists might sound unfocused, but then again, it’s never clear what “We Pray” wanted to tell us in the first place. [1]

Aaron Bergstrom: Coldplay debuted "We Pray" at Glastonbury, prominently featuring the lyric "pray Virgilio wins," four months after the state of Florida dismissed all charges against Virgilio Aguilar Mendez. Rare good news from the American judiciary, and you just know Chris Martin believes he somehow deserves some credit for it. [2]

Nortey Dowuona: Don't worry, Chris, he did! Song's cool. Simz' verse is good. [6]

Katherine St. Asaph: Equating "my friend will pull through" and "Virgilio [Aguilar Mendez] wins" with "some records to play" as prayers is the kind of megastar musician grandstanding we haven't seen since Bono. [2]

Taylor Alatorre: The near-opposite of Flo Rida's "I Cry," a song whose fidgety energy and unassuming nature allowed it to wring a skewed kind of poignancy out of the usual nonsense (as well as sneak an Anders Brevik reference onto Top 40 without anyone noticing). "We Pray" is also founded on placeholder lyricism, but it's far less kinetic than the Flo Rida kind, and the stilted ballroom pace puts the hollowness of its sentiments front and center. Little Simz and Burna Boy are all too capable of blending into the blandness, which doesn't help Coldplay but does serve as useful advertising for their own crossover services. Instant global village, just add vocalist. [3]

Will Adams: Not much of note about this piece of inspiro-dreck besides the fact that Coldplay released a few variants of "We Pray" in which either Elyanna or TINI take the second verse. They also released a version where the second verse is left blank for, in the band's words, "your own inspiration." I believe this is a cheap ploy to get people to perform unpaid labor in order to improve their bad song. Don't fall for it! [3]

Mark Sinker: No one is ever going to say that Chris Martin has an exciting voice — and maybe that’s alway been the point, why not? Just treat the long-gone Eno era as their true template: this sound and this song as nothing but by-the-yard generative ambient backdrop, with some actual throats and tongues and lips dropped in front of it, to be the real element that you remember. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: All of this mustered effort to create something only moderately more interesting than the median late-period Coldplay single. This aims for planetary benefit show largesse but instead feels like what would happen if Civilization got to commission e-sports jock jams the way League of Legends does — grand global gestures, hollow at their core. [6]

Ian Mathers: Surely he/they can't need the money, right? Even the bits where more interesting vocalists are performing, this just feels so hollow and perfunctory. It truly takes all kinds, but from over here it's hard to imagine anyone felt the white-hot heat of artistic inspiration driving them. More like it's designed to be minimum viable product to keep the Coldplay name alive and then be forgotten. [3]

Dave Moore: Credibility: borrowed. Feelings: expressed. Dragons: imagined. [3]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#coldplay #little simz #burna boy #elyanna #tini #music #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

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princesssarisa · 3 years ago

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Cinderella September-through-November: "The Slipper and the Rose" (1976 film)

This lavish live-action musical is surprisingly underrated given its starry array of talents. Besides a cast filled with distinguished names from British film and theatre, it features songs and a screenplay both written by the legendary Sherman Brothers, who provided the music for Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and other childhood classics.

The first and foremost way this adaptation stands apart from other Cinderellas is by making co-protagonists of Cinderella and her charming Prince Edward of Euphrania, rather than focusing chiefly on her. (Apparently this explains the film's title: the royal family's crest features the image of a rose, so "the rose" symbolizes the Prince, while of course "the slipper" represents Cinderella.) From the beginning, the film alternates between scenes of the royal court, where Edward chafes against his lack of freedom and resists his parents' attempts to foist a loveless political marriage on him, and scenes of Cinderella's hardships in her stepfamily's home... which are soon alleviated when she kindly lets a road-weary woman rest by her kitchen fire, and the woman turns out to be an unusually human, quirky Fairy Godmother.

This version's other distinguishing feature is its emphasis on realistic socio-political concerns. The royal court scenes constantly emphasize – in a satirical way – the importance of tradition, protocol and duty, while a minor subplot involving the Prince's valet John's love for a lady above his station highlights the rigidity of social class. All of this foreshadows the story's final act, which continues after the traditional fairy tale ends. The King is reluctant to let his son marry a commoner and thus lose the chance to protect his kingdom from war with a marriage alliance, so he and his Lord Chamberlain secretly send Cinderella into exile. It takes more intervention from the Fairy Godmother to save Edward from an unwanted wedding and reunite him with his true love.

All of the above details, plus the Sherman Brothers' love of long, sophisticated words in their lyrics, make this more of a grownup Cinderella than a children's version. (There's even a dark comedy song in the royal crypt, where the Prince and John sing about terrible past kings while literally dancing on their tombs!) But that's not to say there's any lack of magic or charm. The elegant settings and the luxurious 18th century costumes are gorgeous, and as a whole, the film strikes an excellent balance between comic satire and dreamy fairy tale romance. And while the Shermans' score might not quite be as memorable as their famous work for Disney, their array of songs ("Why Can't I Be Two People?" "What Has Love Got to Do With Getting Married?" "Once I Was Loved," "What A Comforting Thing to Know," "Protocoligorically Correct," "A Bride-Finding Ball," "Suddenly It Happens," "Secret Kingdom," "When He/She Danced With Me," "Position and Positioning," "Tell Him Anything" and "I Can't Forget the Melody") are still appropriately tuneful and winning.

The filmmakers chose to pair an unknown Cinderella with an established star as her Prince, yet they both give appealing performances. Gemma Craven's lovely Cinderella blends classic fairy tale innocence and feeling with inner strength and dignity, as well as a sweet soprano voice. Richard Chamberlain's Prince Edward likewise sings with a handsome burnished tone and strikes the perfect balance between the sarcastic humor with which he voices his frustrations and his romantic tenderness in the love scenes. The leading couple's chemistry and the genuine heartbreak they convey at being separated saves the last-act plot extension from seeming like filler. Annette Crosbie's Fairy Godmother excellently combines warmth, eccentricity and no-nonsense wit, Margaret Lockwood is an appropriately hateful Stepmother, Sir Michael Hordern contributes further humor as the anxious fuddy-duddy King, and the rest of the supporting cast (including Dame Edith Evans as the Prince's senile old grandmother the Dowager Queen, Kenneth More as the Lord Chamberlain, and an adorable little dog who helps the Fairy Godmother to help Cinderella) are excellent all around.

While not the definitive screen Cinderella, the Sherman Brothers unique and colorful spin on the story is still worth seeing, both for fairy tale lovers and for fans of classic, sumptuous movie musicals.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @superkingofpriderock

#cinderella #fairy tale #cinderella september through november #the slipper and the rose #1976 #film #live action #musical #the sherman brothers

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earthstellar · 4 years ago

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The Most 80s Cartoon Theme Songs Ever: Guitars, Synth, Emotional Lead Singers, Robot Voices

Now, I know this is on my Transformers blog, and I already made a whole big post about the objectively best Transformers theme songs here.

But if you like the Transformers 80s rock/synth music, I have some classic 80s cartoon series songs that younger people out there might not even know about-- And they are absolutely the most radical 80s songs you will ever hear.

You will either love these, or you will laugh extremely hard. I don’t know how anyone under 30 years old might react to these, but I want Gen Z to experience some of the sick jams I grew up with, so here you go!

1) MASK Theme Song: If GI Joe and Transformers Were The Same Show

If you follow me for Transformers: This show is what would happen if a bunch of bots used their holoforms to do a GI Joe adventure while driving around in a bunch of weird Combiner alt-mode vehicles.

Check that out. It’s a 50s Cadillac painted like a flaming hot rod with triplicate tires and a rotating tank turret. Look at how much ass that kicks.

MASK was about being rad, using cars and trucks that had a bunch of really goofy nonsense like laser beam headlights to fight the Bad Guys, who were mostly B-list GI Joe villains. This show is fondly remembered because it was fun and silly with some pretty cool design ideas and toys, and that’s all it needed to be. MASK was pretty great!

Best Elements of the Song: The song opens with soft synth keyboard, then kicks off into guitar and a heavy synth robot voice accompanied by a super passionate dude absolutely invested in singing about “always riding hard on Venom’s trail” (you can decide if it’s gay or not, personally I remember fanfiction about this series that was actually pretty good), before an excellent guitar solo that melts into a synth duet and a last round of vocals to close out the track.

Worst Elements of the Song: The lyrics are horrendous. You will either love how much of a jam this is anyway, or you’ll laugh at it because it’s so cheesy. Either way, it is still actually a great track, so give it a listen if you’ve never heard it before!

2) Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors: You’ve Probably Never Heard of This Show Because it was Made by French Canadians

If you follow me for Transformers: This show is what happens when Whirl spikes all the drinks in Swerve’s and

There’s a space outlaws themed episode where the above character uses her bisexual mullet and shoulder pads made of steel to defend her title as the space pirate queen. Please watch this show.

This show has everything, from multiple characters with mullets, a character who is a cross between Han Solo and Bender from The Breakfast Club, a space wizard, a magical Captain Planet space magic ring, space pirates, space vehicles of all kinds, surprisingly solid animation, and overall a really fun vibe. The character designs are really interesting, and it’s a shame this show isn’t more widely known. The famous J M Straczynski (look up everything he’s worked on and have your mind blown) worked on this show as well!

Best Elements of the Song: The track opens with the opening narration from the show, and immediately kicks off: “There’s a power that comes from deep inside of you, every day you’re reachin’ towards the light! And you know there’s a long long way ahead of you, but when your wheels get you there-- Things will turn out right! ” Absolutely great vocals accompanied by synth beats and hair metal guitar which goes into a vocal chorus, ending with an emphasis on the solid vocals for impact.

Worst Elements of the Song: It’s hard to find a full length version of the track. The one I linked above is still the TV edit of the theme.

3) The Real Ghostbusters - Hometown Hero: I Really Miss Cartoons With Synth Music

Honestly, the whole album is worth a listen, this is 80s gold.

This show was one of the biggest hits of the 80s. I had an Egon Spengler blue Ghostbusting jumpsuit, and this is the show I remember most fondly.

You knew shit was real when you got the frontal proton-guns-out group pan shot.

Now, you might laugh, younger people, but The Real Ghostbusters actually had some of the best writing of any animated show at the time, and it still holds up today. (I recently re-watched it, and I was impressed at how good it still is.) It was unreal how great and how adult the first two seasons were, especially. Janine was the coolest, most stylish, fiercest lady in cartoons. (I had a crush on her for years as a kid.)

It’s also probably one of the few 80s cartoons that is entirely watchable in the current day. The dialogue is genuinely funny, and the show gets deeply emotional at times, in very effective and real-feeling ways. You will cry when things get serious. You get entirely invested in what’s going on, no matter how wild or bizarre. The creature designs were amazing, and the animation was solid. This show was above and beyond in terms of overall quality, and the music matches.

Best Elements of the Song: I do recommend you listen to the whole album, because each song is very distinct and extremely 80s. The one I linked above, Hometown Hero, was made for a specific episode in which Ray returns to his hometown to bust a ghost that a family friend has requested the Ghostbusters help out with. However, Ray is afraid that people will think his career is silly or that people might be disappointed in him not having a more traditional job, so he’s nervous. However, when they get there (after lots of encouragement from the rest of the team), they successfully deal with the situation, and Ray’s courage is back! Cue the music!

It’s a very uplifting song, and a pretty good episode, too. (There was lots of good episodes, but I recommend the first two seasons in their entirety. They’re all good episodes, no lie.)

Worst Elements of the Song: Unfortunately this track ends eventually, but there is an entire album for this series, including one of the best Halloween themed bops I’ve ever heard, which you can enjoy here.

This post is pretty long already, but if you want to hear more 80s cartoon jams, let me know and I’ll share the objectively best ones!

#the real ghostbusters #real ghostbusters #80s #retro #vintage #cartoons #ghostbusters #MASK #80s cartoons #80s shows #80s music #music #1980s #animation #jayce and the wheeled warriors

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human-trash-fire · 5 years ago

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Shot Through The Heart Ch. 2

Aelin:

Aelin reclined deeper into the massage chair currently working the knots in her upper back, as the water continued to fill at her feet. Mimosa in hand she sighed and closed her eyes, she was at peace for a brief moment before Lysandra shrieked.

“OH. MY. GODS. A, why didn’t you tell me?!” She practically screamed, much to the chagrin of every patron in the upscale salon.

“Tell you what…?” Aelin replied, rolling her head dramatically to the right to look at her friend.

“You’re trending on twitter again” she shoved her phone in Aelin’s face, “and you’ll never believe why!”

Aelin looked at the Twitter homepage and there at the top, with 1 million retweets and counting was #AelinCallHimMaybe. “What the hell? Hang on,” she put down her drink and pulled out her own phone. Flipping apps she went to Twitter to find the hashtag. There was a video linked, by someone with the handle “@moonmoon69”right at the top.

“WAIT! I wanna see this” Lysandra said at the same time Elide, on her left leaned in and said “Click it!” All three girls, heads together and mimosas abandoned, crammed in to look at Aelin’s phone.

She clicked play and immediately one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen appeared on the screen. His sepia toned skin was glowing in the sun, and he had long blonde hair pulled into a bun atop his head. He was wearing a Terrasen Army uniform, though the jacket was completely forgotten, and the t-shirt he wore instead clung to every dip and curve of muscle. He was standing in what was clearly a military post somewhere in the desert and smiling with perfect charm. “Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, you are my Queen. I, Sergeant First Class Fenrys Moonbeam, would like to humbly ask you to accompany me to the Army Ball this year. Please, call me maybe?”

Aelin’s jaw hit the floor as the scene before her cut to boots walking on the ground, and the music began. Suddenly Fenrys was back on the screen lip-syncing the lyrics to possibly the cheesiest pop song ever written, and all three women began laughing. Aelin couldn’t help it when her heart skipped a beat as Fenrys turned to the camera and winked at the end of his verse. The scene changed again and this time Fenrys, and four other men, all equally muscular and attractive, were laying on chaise lounges in nothing but short-shorts and combat boots.

“You have to say yes, look at them!” Lysandra squealed, while Elide nodded vigorously on her other side.

The men continued to lip sync from different places on the base, always shirtless and shining with sweat. Aelin at this point had began to laugh hysterically, and all three girls crooned over the men dancing on screen. They had absolutely no talent, but seemed not to care how ridiculous they looked as they popped up from the dirt and lit off colored smoke in the background. Each of the six men had a turn to solo into the camera. Aelin’s breath caught again when, towards the end, the silver haired man with tattoos seductively danced around in what looked to be a makeshift kiddy-pool.

The last frame was all of them looking over the camera from above and smirking, before they walked away. The twitter handle @moonmoon69 popped up once more with the hashtag #AelinCallHimMaybe below it. All three girls were still giggling as she closed the link out, and looked up from her phone.

“Sweet gods,” she breathed, trying to calm herself down a bit. “Did you know the Army made men that look like that?”

“Did you see the one with long dark hair and black eyes? He looks like an angry sex God, and I think I need him in my life,” Elide replied.

“You’re saying ‘yes’ right? Do it for me, us.. Do it for Terrasen. It’s your civic duty,” Lysandra pleaded.

“For Terrasen?” Aelin replied with a conspiratorial grin, “Fuck it, i’m in. But you two are helping me figure out how to respond to this and, you’re coming with me. But first-” she chugged her previously forgotten mimosa, “Pedicures.”

***********************

“How do I even go about doing this?” Aelin asked over brunch a few hours later. The three women hadn’t stopped swooning over the men in the video, and if Aelin was being honest they had watched it three more times before ever arriving at their table.

“Well you obviously need to DM him” Elide replied, ever the voice of reason.

“Buuuuuut,” Lys dragged out the word with a smirk, “I think you should make a video of your own. It’s good press and he’s clearly in need of some feminine attention. You’ll blow his mind, and then hopefully other things,” she finished with an outrageous wink.

“LYS!” both Aelin and Elide screeched before the three erupted into a fit of laughter.

When they finally recovered, Aelin agreed that the first step should be making a video of her own. The publicity would do wonders for her, and she could reach out and worry about the logistics later. After a long debate they decided that the best way to respond would be something flirty but not embarrassing. “Let’s give the men overseas something to daydream about,” Aelin finished with a smirk.

*******************************************************

Rowan:

Half awake and entirely pissed, Rowan was sitting at the table eating breakfast with most of his Cadre when Fenrys burst in yelling “I TOLD YOUUUUU!”

“Its 0400. Why the fuck are you yelling?” He practically growled over his coffee.

“Because,” Fenrys smiled as he sat down, “She responded, you’ll never believe this… Hang on.” Fen pulled his laptop out and set it so that they could all see, then directed their attention to a video he had already pulled up. There she was, smiling at the camera with practiced ease, flanked by not one but two equally beautiful and famous women: Lysandra Ennar and Elide Lochan. Rowan’s eyebrows kissed his hairline.

“There is no way-” He began, but was quickly shushed by Gavriel, Connall, Vaughn, and surprisingly even Lorcan. Fenrys pressed play.

The three women were dressed in what could only be described as the “slutty Halloween” version of the uniform Rowan currently had on. Paired with black heeled combat boots and red lipstick, her long tan legs were on full display. Rowan hated to admit it, even to himself, but she was the literal embodiment of his “questionable” teenage dreams.

“Hello gorgeous,” Aelin practically purred. “First and foremost I’d like to thank you and your delicious Cadre for that lovely video.” Rowan choked on his coffee at the name she used for them, the name they used for themselves.

“I’d be honored to be your date to this year’s Ball, but I have a few small requests. My friends here,” she motioned to the women beside her, “would like to accompany us so that we can have a chance to properly thank you for your dedication to Terrasen. We’d like to take you Fenrys, and the men in your video on a night out in Orynth after the ball… If you’re interested.” She grinned at the camera, and the look made Rowan’s heart beat a little too fast.

“If you’ll have us,” Lysandra spoke now, “We’d like to show you around in style. A limo for the event, the penthouse suite at The Palace hotel, and a private after party for your friends and a few more of ours.”

“In the meantime,” Elide continued, “Enjoy the care packages we’ll be sending to each of you just as soon as we get your information. If you have any special requests, don’t hesitate to ask!”

“A little something to help the days go by faster on your long, and hard deployment,” Aelin winked. “We can’t wait to meet you.”

The last shot was all three women blowing a kiss to the camera. Rowan couldn’t believe it. The Princess of Orynth had responded to Fen. It took them nearly an entire day off to make that stupid video, more than one bottle of whiskey, and it had worked.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, the 6 men were still staring with their jaws on the floor at the frozen image of the women on screen, lips still puckered.

“I KNOW!” Fenrys laughed, “I told you it would work, and when we get home we’ll have the most insane night of our lives. You can thank me anytime.”

“Thank you,” the entire cadre chimed in unison while still staring at the screen. The next 2 months were going to drag along knowing what was waiting for them when they returned home.

Rowan cleared his throat, “But, you’re still on laundry duty boyo.”

__________________________________

Here’s a link to the video that inspired this fic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PKiUjRSKI8

____________________________________

FIRST AND FOREMOST: MAAAAAAAAD thanks to @highqueenofelfhame for editing this work, your writing is an inspiration and I’m so thankful to have you there to read my nonsense before it’s published!

Secondly: Thank you all so much for the positive responses/ reblogs on Chapter 1! I’m so excited to share this chapter with you and I assure you I have many more to come <3 Feel free to follow along on ao3 glam_reaper2 <3

Tag List:

@http-itsrebecca @highqueenofelfhame @feyrethedarklady @someonemagical @thebitchupstairs @over300books

#rowaelin fic #rowaelin #fenrys moonbeam #fenrys #aelin galythinius #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #throne of glass #throne of glass fic #ao3fic #AO3 tags #stth au

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symeraid-s · 4 years ago

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My 2020 Awards (Music & Anime)

Music

Song of the Year: xaa-xaa – Horror This is the most played song on my playlist this year and it’s deserved. It’s just a really great song with one of the best intro’s of the year. Kazuki’s voice is perfection.

Honourable Mentions:

SID – Siren This one could technically be considered SOTY, but I thought that Horror deserves it a bit more. Still, Mao’s vocals give me chills

Taemin – Criminal It’s definitely one of his best songs and one of this year as a whole. And you know… it’s Taemin.

MY FIRST STORY – Underground Has a cool beat and great vocals. I also adore the lyrics.

QUEEN BEE – BL Probably has the best beat/Bass-line of this yea. Also showcases Avu-chan’s range.

Artist of the Year: xaa-xaa (Horror, Happy Wedding, Reito Ningen) I love this group. They constantly put out Bangers only and yet always end up under my radar. But this year, with the rest of the J-Rock scene being kinda dead, they really stood out. All of their songs landed on my playlist this year, so they really deserve it.

Honourable Mentions:

Kenshi Yonezu (KANDEN, Campanella, Canary) This guy is just one of the most interesting Japanese artists currently active. His Stray Sheep album is also really good.

Stray Kids (gods menu, Back Door) This year, Stray Kids really took me over. They had two very well directed Comebacks with amazing Music Videos.

TWICE (More & More, I Can’t Stop Me, Cry for Me) I didn’t really care for them in the past years, but they really delivered good music.

Super Junior (2YA2YAO, Burn the Floor, the Melody) TIMELESS was my favourite album of the year and the tracks we already got for the Renaissance sound really good. The Sub-Units (especially D&E) also had good comebacks.

Best Music Video of the Year: Stray Kids – gods menu This music video is a piece of art. There are no unclean cuts or weird jump-cuts, the Transitions are really fluid and the editing in general is just genius. Even if somebody doesn’t like Stray Kids, they can appreciate this video.

Honourable Mentions:

Stray Kids – Back Door Has the same great editing as gods menu, but there is one(!) unclean Cut. But it does have my favourite shot of the year.

Xaa-xaa – Horror It’s really well made and basically a Horror movie in cue with the music.

QUEEN BEE – BL Has a really creative production design and colour scheme and some really nice transitions.

BUMP OF CHICKEN – Acacia This is just a Music Video straight out of Nostalgia. And it’s animated by Studio BONES, so your argument is invalid.

Dance Performance of the Year: Taemin – Criminal First of all: It’s Taemin. This man can make everything look effortless, no matter how hard it actually is. And dancing with your hands tied is really f**king hard! Let’s just cut this short before I actually get into a five page long analysis about why this choreo is so amazing and just say: It’s one of the best K-Pop choreos of all time.

Honourable Mentions:

Super Junior – Burn the Floor Probably has one of the coolest concepts of this year, but isn’t perfectly executed. The combining of classical and modern elements is really interesting though.

Stray Kids – Back Door It’s energetic and has one of my personal favourite choreo elements of the year.

BTS – Black Swan A cool choreo, but appears to be a bit overproduced. Still, that MMA performance blew me away. It’s also sad, that it got overshadowed by Jimin’s solo dance in the MV.

Dreamcatcher – Scream It’s one of the coolest Girl Group choreos and one of the few, that actually reserved a spot for a missing member, by replacing her with a masked dancer (take notes, EXO!)

Rookies of the Year: E’LAST (Swear, Tears of Chaos) They had one of the most interesting debuts this year, but got massively overlooked. The Comeback they had a few months later was definitely better executed and actually great, but was still overlooked. E’LAST really deserves more attention, please listen to them. If you don’t, them you could at least watch one of their dance covers of Black Swan, gods menu or Criminal.

Honourable Mention:

GHOST9 (Think of Dawn, W.ALL) They also had a really interesting debut concept, but their Comeback was a bit weaker.

Most Underrated Comeback of the Year: E’LAST – Tears of Chaos It’s a really amazing song with great styling, but was overlooked, because the group is from an unknown label and the stages were partly cut, since they couldn’t afford full promotions. Still, please check it out.

Honourable Mentions:

CIX – Jungle People somehow didn’t like this song and I can’t understand it. It definitely had one of the best breakdowns this year.

ONF – Sukhumvit Swimming This song needs more than one listening to like it, but it’s honestly one of the funniest/ most nonsense Comebacks of the year.

Super Junior D&E – No Love D&E is probably one of the best subunits and the song just slaps.

ONEUS – TO BE OR NOT TO BE It has an amazing build up, but the refrain is a bit weak. The Breakdown is the best of the year though.

Most Underwhelming Comeback of the Year: BTS – Dynamite Honestly, the Instrumental of Dynamite is really great, the execution of the rest is just… questionable. I still don’t understand, why this couldn’t be a Korean Comeback. About a year ago, they insisted that they were Korean artists and that they would not release and English song, but look were we are now. And I don’t even want to start on the Autotune. Jimin sounds like a chipmunk and I wasn’t able to pick out the difference between the rest of the vocalists. This could have been a Jungkook solo for all I know. With a better execution, this could have been a good song, but how it is, it’s just a stale earworm.

Honourable Mentions:

BTS – Black Swan It’s kinda the same problem. The Autotune is obnoxious and makes the song too forgettable. Without it, it could be great.

Super M – 100 It could have been better, but sounds a bit phoned in. There’s also a lot of questionable styling.

VAV – Made for Two Similar to Dynamite it also has a great instrumental with a weak execution, but it’s still a nice send off for Baron to the Military.

EVERGLOW – La Di Da The chorus and bridge are really good, especially the chorus, I love this chorus. But sadly the verses and rap fall flat. The rap-part is also slightly obnoxious.

Worst Comeback/Song of the Year: BLACKPINK – HOW YOU LIKE THAT I’m sorry, Blinks, but I really don’t like this song. The lyrics are all over the place, it rehashes the same formulas musical and video wise and the worst part is: It sounds like four songs stitched together. I kinda like the bridge, but the rest of the song is actively obnoxious.

Honourable Mentions:

BTS – Respect The entire 7 Album isn’t really good, but this song is just annoying. The way it starts really grates my nerves and, come on guys, this is basically a Cypher, when did you forget how to do this?

BLACKPINK feat. Selena Gomez– Ice Cream Whoever green-lit these lyrics deserves to be fired. Selena Gomez also sticks out like a sore thumb.

TREASURE – MMM Just… just… No! YG, go home, you’re drunk!

IZ*ONE – Secret Story of Swan The chorus is probably the most obnoxious one, I’ve heard all year. The Music Video is also a technicolour nighmare.

Anime

Anime of the Year: Jujutsu Kaisen This Anime has just really amazing Animation, some of the best animated fights of 2020 and, damn, the characters are engaging. Sukuna really seems like he could be one of the new greatest Manga/Anime antagonists. Park Seonghoo really proofed himself to be a really great director, so now it’s pretty clear, that Crunchyroll is to blame for the train wreck God of High-School turned out to be.

Honourable Mentions:

Attack on Titan the Final Season As a Manga-reader, I really appreciate that MAPPA is not censoring anything from the Marley arc. They really proved, that they can hold the torch from WIT.

Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited It’s just a really well made Mystery show, with interesting main characters, but not for the reasons Tumblr says.

ID:_Invaded A really interesting Sci-fi original Anime, with probably one of the coolest protagonists this year.

Moriarty the Patriot One of the most underrated Animes of the year, but Saito Souma really gives an amazing performance.

Opening of the Year: Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited (SixTONES – NAVIGATOR) It’s just a really cool song, with a very nice verse. The full version also has a really cool rap-part. It’s just a really well made OP and, even though the Animation isn’t the best, it really hits all the right notes. I also like how in sync with the Song the Animation is.

Honourable Mentions:

Moriarty the Patriot (Tasuku Hatanaka – DYING WISH) Just has a really nice intro and build-up, as well as good high-notes.

God of High-School (KSUKE feat. Tyler Carter – Contradiction) It certainly is the best animated OP of the year, but goes a bit too hard with the Techno for me.

Attack on Titan the Final Season (Shinsekai Kamettechan – Boku no Sensou) It fits the new tone of the season surprisingly well and yeah, it’s basically a banger.

Jujutsu Kaisen OP 1 (Eve – Kaikai Kitan) The song is pretty standard, but it looks really pretty and there is a panda running on a rooftop, so…

Ending of the Year: Jujutsu Kaisen ED 1 (ALI feat. AKLO – LOST IN PARADISE) This is one of the few Anime songs that actually gets me to stand up and dance. The Animation is pretty adorable and, damn, the final chorus hits way too hard in the full version, holy shit. I liked ALI fine for Wild Side (the Beastars OP), but this song really knocks that out of the park. This really is a band I’ll keep an eye out for.

Honourable Mentions:

Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited (OKAMOTO’s – Welcome My Friend) This was my ED of the year, before we got LOST IN PARADISE. It has a great intro and I really just adore the song.

ID:_Invaded (MIYAVI – Other Side) It’s really boring Animation-wise, but the Cologne Cathedral may be in it, so that’s a plus. On the other side, the song is really awesome and hits way too hard. I swear, this entire Anime is just a MIYAVI fan convertor.

Haikyuu!! To the Top!! 2 (SPYAIR – One Day) It’s a really nice song, certainly one of SPYAIRs best, there is only one problem: You just don’t hire SPYAIR for an Ending!

The Great Pretender (Freddy Mercury – The Great Pretender) I mean, it’s Freddy Mercury! How can you not like it? Also, the Animation is cute.

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krolock-in-the-snowlock · 4 years ago

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I watched Broadway’s Dance of the Vampires so you don’t have to

Ever wondered how bad the broadway version actually is? Now’s your chance to find out, my friend...

So about a month ago, I came across a bootleg of the broadway show and, because it was late and I am a Certified Idiot, I decided to watch it and write down my thoughts. Having heard how bad it was, I knew to expect a train wreck, but I had no idea just how much of a train wreck it was going to be until I pressed play and witnessed something that truly cannot be described in words.

I was originally just going to post my whole list of thoughts but it ended up being over 5000 words (many of which were me screaming NO and wHYYY) so I’ve put it in a separate post, so click that link if you want to read it in its entirety!

Instead, I’ve decided to do a (slightly) shorter summary of ‘highlights’, if they can really be called that, with a kind of silly score for each ‘category’. A review, if you will. I’m sure I’ll have missed some things, but this should hopefully at least give you an idea of what exactly they did to poor Tanz der Vampire. Still, I apologise for the length of this in advance - I just had a lot of thoughts, okay?

A quick disclaimer: While I have seen clips of producations of Tanz from various countries, I’ve only seen the whole production once - the Berlin bootleg from somewhere around 2009-11 - so I’ll mostly be comparing with that!

I know the broadway musical is a big taboo subject, so I’m not expecting many, if any, to actually read any of this. But if you ever wondered how bad it was and didn’t want to have to actually watch it, this post is for you!

So, without further ado…

The Characters: -7/10

Let me begin by saying that many of the characters bear almost no resemblance to the originals. The worst case, of course, is with Giovanni von Krolock. A cringeworthy caricature, his awful faux-Italian accent, terrible jokes and horrifying bat form make him the polar opposite of what Krolock is supposed to be. In my notes, I actually referred to him as Giovanni rather than Krolock, because this is not Krolock; where Krolock is mysterious, aloof, powerful, and occasionally slightly sarcastic, Giovanni is silly, makes puns in nearly every line, and commands no respect or fear whatsoever. I resent that I began to ironically enjoy mocking him by the time I’d finished watching it.

Alfred is absurdly confident and confrontational, and narrates everything he writes in his journal (and tbh is probably a closeted bi). Sarah now apparently has friends and is allowed to leave her room. Koukol doesn’t exist, and is replaced by a man that Krolock hypnotises, who sometimes acts like a dog. Herbert is French, ridiculously stereotypical, and there is a very poor attempt from Krolock at pronouncing his name in a French accent. The other characters are fortunately mostly the same as the originals, although not entirely.

The Music: 2.5/10

Oh, the music… how do I begin?

Long story short, it was generally horrible. Multiple songs were cut entirely, and others were mashed together into strange frankensongs. The opening song, for instance, is completely different (and was what immediately made me realise I’d made a terrible mistake in deciding to watch it). The lyrics were mostly not as interesting as the original German lyrics, and often had less syllables, so the songs often felt empty and drawn out.

Many of the songs had slightly different overall meanings/purposes to their German counterparts, and I though that songs like Total Eclipse and Invitation to the Ball were way too sappy and romantic, lacking any of the drama and tension of Totale Finsternis and Einladung zum Ball. Krolock had been so ridiculous the whole time that Die Unstillbare Gier sadly could never have worked, even if the lyrics had been better. The singing itself was actually pretty good from what I remember, which was the only thing that saved the music, but Krolock’s horrible accent ruined many of the songs he was in. There was so much potential for it to be good if they’d just done a faithful adaption…...

I could go on forever about the music (as I do in my full commentary) but that would probably need a whole new post! So instead let’s move on to…

The Costumes: 2/10

Boring. Sarah’s red ball gown is nice enough, but all of the other vampires’ costumes are painfully simple and poorly designed. Krolock lacks a cape for most of the musical (which is a crime), Herbert is dressed in a hideous bright blue coat and an aggressively yellow wig, and the finale costumes are just simple black leather coats. It all lacks any of the detail or, in Herbert’s case, sparkle, of any of the other versions of the costumes that I’ve seen. While I should probably note that this was in 2002, it is still noticeably simpler than other productions of Tanz around the same time. Krolock also lacks his usual makeup, and Herbert’s is just ugly. And Krolock’s top hat in the opening? Why???

The Staging: -5/10

When they aren’t dancing, most of the ‘staging’ is just the characters at opposite sides of the stage facing each other. It doesn’t matter what is supposed to be happening in the scene, or the message of the song; they just... stand there. Occasionally, if you’re lucky, the characters might stand next to each other, but such close proximity is a rare occurrence in Dance of the Vampires, saved mostly for Alfred or Krolock with Sarah or Herbert and, in a strange duet about books, Krolock and Professor Ambronsius.

Krolock does pretty much nothing in Die Unstillbare Gier, and the staging for Einladung zum Ball was very confusing, at least when they weren’t just standing still. Sarah’s bedroom inexplicably becomes a cloudy place with no floor, and it was never quite clear whether the scene was a dream or not. Considering the rest of the musical, either possibility is honestly equally likely. At one point at the start of the first act, Krolock literally rises out of the ground in a huge coffin. I could go on. Also the sponge Krolock gives Sarah is a fraction of the size of the one he gives her in the original, which I like to think is a metaphor for the broadway production itself.

The Sets: 3/10

While not accurate to any other versions at the time or since, a couple of the sets were admittedly quite pretty (though still not quite on Kentaur’s level). However, there was no inn structure for the first act, and some of the sets were quite limited. One of the most popular (and nicest) sets in the second act is a huge stairway covered in a frankly impractical number of candles.

In the finale, despite the characters on multiple occasions declaring that the story takes place in Transylvania in “18something”, the background is for some reason Times Square with all of its neon signs (which I’m pretty sure did most certainly not exist in the 1800s). Whether a huge location change and time skip of a couple hundred years has taken place or whether the directors and set designers finally gave up trying to make the story make sense, I have no idea.

Worst Moments:

I just had to include this section! These are only a few of the worst and/or most bizarre moments I could pick out. I’m sure there’s more that I forgot but here are some (read: quite a few) of my favourites:

Krolock, wearing a top hat, rising from the ground in a giant coffin before saying, “God has left the building”

Krolock appearing as a hideous animated bat thing

Sarah and her friends getting high on mushrooms in the opening

The fact that Sarah’s birthday is on Halloween at midnight during the total eclipse of the moon

Krolock offering Alfred a sponge shaped like a penis then slowly tilting it down when Alfred says no

Ambronsius decorating Sarah’s room in Halloween decorations to scare off Krolock

Krolock genuinely being convinced that Sarah is a literal princess until he visits her room

Krolock and Ambronsius harmonising about books together

The big grey winged gargoyle demons dancing on the bed during Carpe Noctem

Krolock repeatedly dressing in a big grey dress and pretending to be his own mother/wife/who even knows what

Alfred angrily threatening Krolock, followed by Krolock physically attacking Alfred (this happens on more than one occasion)

The nonsense ‘prophecy’ they randomly introduce

“I use my body as a bandage, I use my body as a wound” (and this is instead of “Ich will frei und freier werden, und werde meine Ketten nicht los”) WHAT DOES IT MEAN

Koukol-replacement saying, “Okay, here he is, the man you’ve all been waiting for, his excellency… the Count von Krolock!) and Krolock waving and pointing like a rockstar as he kisses people walking down the stairs to the ball

Krolock dramatically dying on the stairs at the end of the ball for a solid minute

The Good Parts

Surprisingly, there were a few redeeming features!

Firstly, the couple of songs where they kept things very similar to the source material (such as Knoblauch) were actually quite good at times. Unfortunately, this isn’t to say that they were necessarily good, but compared to the less faithful parts they were a nice surprise, even if Knoblauch was never my favourite song from Tanz.

The singing itself was generally pretty good too! I also hate to admit that I did at times find myself laughing a little at the awful jokes.

And... uhh...

...yeah, that’s about it...

Some Highlights From My Notes:

And finally, here are some out of context quotes from my notes that I feel sum up the musical quite well:

It sounds like he’s about to start a really sad rave

I was gonna roast the lyrics some more but I’m gonna be honest I’m not sure what he’s saying

This feels on the same level of what kind of acid trip hallucination parallel universe have I landed in as seeing the Cats film in the cinema

Is this actually Deadpool in disguise with all the fourth wall breaking

Crawford looks like he regrets everything and can I just say Michael so does everybody else

He looks like a potato or a rock or that neutral nicolas cage face that people put on the sequin cushion

This sounds like a poorly written Krolock/reader wattpad fanfic

Giovanni would highkey be like lol arent i so random rawr xd on myspace

He might as well have said, “Itsa me, Mario”

They’re just stood there like two pigeons aimlessly squawking at each other

Alfred is like a chihuahua with small dog syndrome barking at a bigger dog, except Giovanni is barely bigger and is a flea-infested Chinese Crested dressed in a cheap Halloween costume

The throne glides like a magic carpet only it doesn’t leave the ground so I suppose it’s actually more like a chair with wheels, which is much less exciting

He just stands there like a poorly-dressed rock

-22/10 would not listen again

Final Comments:

So, if you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope that was somewhat informative and/or entertaining for you! It took me weeks to get through the whole musical because I couldn’t stand watching it for too long at a time, and maybe you can see why! Like I said at the start of this monster of a post, there’s probably a lot that I’ve forgotten to mention, so if you’re unfortunate enough to have seen any of this car crash of a musical, feel free to add your thoughts! :D

#tanz der vampire #dance of the vampires #watching the broadway production was a good 4 hours of my life that I’ll never get back #was it worth it?#honestly I’m not sure #but here we are

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harryseyebrows · 5 years ago

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Fine Line - Track-by-track rating

I’m in the mood to start shit. So here it is. My comprehensive album rating list. Rating subcategories should be self-explanatory, but I’m judging based on lyrics, how listen-able the song is overall, how interesting it is in terms of JUST sound, and crafting/production/my perceived idea of how well done the entire song is in terms of all the elements combined. Think about the effort that Liam put into his album vs. the effort Harry put into SOTT. What was written and created with intent and what was created maybe more for the sake of creating. Then, I did ACTUAL MATH and came up with an overall score out of ten. Read with caution and yell at me if you feel the need.

Golden:

Lyrics - 7/10

“I know that you’re scared because I’m so open” is fantastic and it’s great to see him literally being more open with his songwriting, but he loses some points for the general repetitive nature and more common turns of phrase.

General listen-ability - 10/10

It’s an easy song to listen to, whether you’re putting it on for background noise, listening while driving, or listening specifically with the intent of paying attention and enjoying.

Sonic intrigue - 8/10

The slower beginning and then the slam into the guitars and drums is great. It flows nicely and has a good pace/rhythm.

Crafting - 9/10

Overall: 34/40 = 8.5/10

Watermelon Sugar:

Lyrics - 6/10

Nothing particularly thrilling. It’s a generally fun song with some lyrics that are suggestive but not overtly so. Good to know that he’s enthusiastic about oral, but again, it’s not his finest lyrical work.

General listen-ability - 8/10

Another more easy listening track. Good for any time. A fun, sexy little bop.

Sonic intrigue - 7/10

The horns and bass line save this song from otherwise being a bit lackluster in terms of production, and make it interesting in a subtle, understated way that’s very enjoyable.

Crafting - 8/10

Overall: 29/40 = 7.3/10

Adore You:

Lyrics - 7/10

Kinda cliche and corny; “I get so lost inside your eyes”. Otherwise, very fun and leans heavily into a more pop lens. Makes up for it with “You don’t have to say you love me / You don’t have to say nothing / You don’t have to say you’re mine” and the “Oh honey”s.

General listen-ability - 10/10

I want to listen to this song all day every day. There has to be something in the soundwaves that’s brainwashing me. Can’t stop won’t stop.

Sonic intrigue - 9/10

At first glance (listen) it’s a very basic sort of pop song. But the more you listen, you realize that it’s rooted in a more funk-style guitar lick and utilizes synths in a way that doesn’t come off as too manufactured or ‘fake’. It’s layered; you find more and more complexity with each spin.

Crafting - 9/10

Overall: 35/40 = 8.8/10

Lights Up:

Lyrics - 8/10

The lyrical structure, if you look at it on paper, could easily be read as some type of poetry. The song opens with a question: ‘What do you mean?’ and then proceeds to offer fragments of sentences that aren’t necessarily connected, but somehow offer a cohesive picture — a message that’s still a little unclear but offers multiple interpretations in meaning.

General listen-ability - 9/10

It’s fun and boppy but also surprisingly mellow. For me personally, the tempo and bass mean that it can be hit or miss in terms of how/when I want to listen to it, but for the most part, I don’t skip it. This might also have to do with it being the first song we heard from him since HS1, and I might have overkilled it a bit.

Sonic intrigue - 8/10

It’s hard to not compare this song to his work on HS1, for the reasons above. HS1 was definitely more rock-oriented; more bare bones production and an ode to the more classic methods of music making ie singer, guitar, bass, and drums. Whereas with this song, it was essentially a complete 180 in style and production, with a little flair of R&B style music while maintaining his classic air of whimsy in both the lyrics and his less-frequently-used breathy head voice. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that it’s a Harry Styles song.

Crafting - 8/10

Overall: 33/40 = 8.3/10

Cherry:

Lyrics - 8/10

One of Harry’s many talents is his ability to project tone with the combination of how he sings/emotes with his voice with the lyrics he’s singing. This song is no exception. It’s a sadder, more melancholic song, where he’s expressing some less-than-pleasant feelings, and you’re not only getting that from the words he’s singing, but HOW he’s singing it. It allows the listening to feel and empathize. It’s something he’s very masterful at. (See: the opposite would be something like Adore You, which under the guise of a more upbeat song, the lyrics are actually kind of sad and grovel-y)

General listen-ability - 7/10

I respect his artistic vision and the choice to include the voice note but as part of a general playlist, it can come off a little odd and out of place. Otherwise it’s very palatable. It just makes me sad, so I don’t often intentionally put it on to listen.

Sonic intrigue - 7/10

I liken this to a FTDT style song. Very raw. More singer-songwriter than pop. Some very lovely guitar playing and it’s nice hearing him sing in a register that’s been essentially neglected up until this album. But for the most part, I don’t think it’s his most interesting work. Very typical singer-songwriter guitar type song.

Crafting - 8/10

Overall: 30/40 = 7.5/10

Falling:

Lyrics - 7/10

I enjoy and appreciate his honesty, and perhaps there’s something to be said about the lack of flowery turns of phrase, but I just don’t feel like this is his most clever work. Again, great to see him being so honest, but it sounds like the extended version of If I Could Fly.

General listen-ability - 6/10

I can’t allow this to randomly come on shuffle without putting myself at risk of a depressive spiral. That’s where he loses points.

Sonic intrigue - 7/10

Every album has one, and this is it. The Basic Song. So widely palatable that it’s...boring. Shoot me, I know.

Crafting - 8/10

Overall: 28/40 = 7/10

To Be So Lonely:

Lyrics - 9/10

Currently, with just HS1 and Fine Line under his belt, THIS song is his lyrical Magnum Opus. It’s honest. It showcases an intriguing narrative. It’s clever. It’s fun. It’s a little sad. This is Harry and his amalgamation of musical influences mixed up in a bowl, poured into a pan, and baked into a perfect cake with frosting flowers.

General listen-ability - 8/10

This is another one of those songs that you can have on in the background and it fits into whatever you’re doing, or you put it on specifically to scream ‘arrogant son of a bitch’ back at him. It’s versatile.

Sonic intrigue - 10/10

The production on this song is clean but also a little rough around the edges, and I think it was done intentionally. You can hear the buzz of guitar and bass strings. There are peaks and troughs of volume. It has a sneaky little swinging beat that makes it impossible to not bop your head along with it. Again, it’s INTERESTING.

Crafting - 10/10

Overall: 37/40 = 9.3/10

She:

Lyrics - 8/10

I’m afraid to say anything negative about this song because I don’t want to be executed, but here goes. I think it offers a fun, interesting narrative on the first few listens. It’s a story; a little fantastical and sultry. But for me, it feels a bit like Woman 2.0

General listen-ability - 7/10

I have to be in the right mood to put it on specifically, so otherwise, it’s one that I won’t necessarily skip, but I prefer to have it on when I want to listen to slower music. Also kudos to Mitchell but the guitar wank at the end is just a little on the long side.

Sonic intrigue - 8/10

This is definitely a stylistic callback to the overall sound of HS1, and for that reason, I think it offers a nice bit of continuity.

Crafting - 8/10

Overall: 31/40 = 7.8/10

Sunflower Vol. 6:

Lyrics - 9/10

The story! The atmosphere! The pure, unbridled joy it offers! KISS IN THE KITCHEN LIKE IT’S A DANCEFLOOR!!!! I’m offended at how cute this song is. More men need to write songs like this.

General listen-ability - 9/10

This song instantly puts me in a happier mood. I don’t feel like a car ride is complete without listening to it at least once. It’s textural. I love it.

Sonic intrigue - 9/10

The backwards audio in the beginning. The weird bass. The vocal layering. The nonsense ad libs at the end!!!! FUN!!!!

Crafting - 10/10

Overall: 37/40 = 9.3/10

Canyon Moon:

Lyrics - 8/10

This song is deceptive — underneath the cheery, more jovial sound, it actually has some more echo-y melancholy notes — the ‘So hard to leave it / that’s what I always do’ and ‘I’m going home’s. It’s about reminiscing but still moving forward. Reflecting!!

General listen-ability - 9/10

Could easily fit in on a romcom soundtrack, and I mean that in the best way.

Sonic intrigue - 7/10

If I didn’t know that he specifically sought out Joni Mitchell’s dulcimers for this, it would feel just like any other upbeat guitar song, but I DO know his process behind it, so his score gets bumped a bit.

Crafting - 9/10

Overall: 33/40 = 8.3/10

Treat People With Kindness:

Lyrics - 7/10

Ohhh Harry Styles. He just wants people to be nice to each other! And maybe be a utopian society cult leader. It’s okay. We love him anyway. This song is full of idealisms; perhaps it’s a toe-dip into social commentary. Perhaps it’s a reflection of his own life, on dealing with friendships and loss and the overall nature of being a person. Who knows! It’s a batshit extravaganza in the best way.

General listen-ability - 8/10

If you can listen to this song without wanting to dance...you have a problem.

Sonic intrigue - 9/10

This song is all over the place but in a very thoughtful, cohesive way. It would not be the same if he sang the chorus; half of what makes it so charming is that he doesn’t, and instead, he sounds like some sort of unhinged ring-leader at the end, demanding ‘one more time’ and screaming. UNHINGED BUT MAKE IT JOYFUL.

Crafting - 9/10

Overall: 33/40 = 8.3/10

Fine Line:

Lyrics - 9/10

This song doesn’t have many lines, but the ones that do exist, are all purposeful and pack an incredible punch. It would be a disservice to him to try and pick a ‘best’ one, but ‘Put a price on emotion / I’m looking for something to buy’ and ‘my hand’s at risk / I’ll fold’ are up there as two of my favorite things he’s ever written. The repetitiveness of ‘we’ll be a fine line’ can be a little grating, but I find that to be entirely dependent on my mood, and not any fault of his own.

General listen-ability - 8/10

I put this on when I want to disassociate. Not ideal for when I’m driving down the highway, but what can you do.

Sonic intrigue - 10/10

One of the most, if not THE most, beautiful pieces of music he’s ever put out. Nothing more or less can be said.

Crafting - 10/10

Overall: 37/40 = 9.3/10

#this took me a long time to finish so you better appreciate it

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imaginexhobbit · 7 years ago

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Con Amore

Author | Imagine | AO3 Link

AN: In case anyone was wondering Con Amore is Italian (aka the language of music) for With Love. Some slight angst ahead, but I hope you enjoy!

Falling into Middle Earth had been, well…

Unexpected was probably the understatement of the century. Or Age. If you remembered right, Lord of the Rings lore had always been told regarding different Ages.

Falling, on the other hand, was probably a bit of an over-exaggeration. It was less a fall and more…random transportation. Not that you were complaining! You’d been taking a walk in the woods around your home town, violin case strapped over your shoulder as you searched for a quiet place to practice. Idyllic bliss had been what you were going for, but then all of a sudden, instead you’d gotten a company of thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard all surrounding you, a particularly broody Thorin Oakenshield glaring at your sudden appearance. Honestly, it was probably just a lucky thing he hadn’t decided to kill you for your unexplained presence. Even luckier when Gandalf decided to let you tag along (apparently visitors from another dimension were of interest to wizards. Who would’ve guessed?)

On one hand, it was actually nice, in a way. Middle Earth was pretty damn idyllic, especially by the time you didn’t have to keep looking over your shoulder in fear of more death glares. But on the other, you really did miss home. You’d been in rehearsals for a musical, and it was never far from your mind now, snippets of songs constantly flitting through your head to the beat of the horses’ hooves.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but,” Kili appeared at your side, practically out of nowhere. How lost had you gotten in your own head? “What is that you’re singing? I’ve never heard it before.”

“Come now, lad,” Bofur was suddenly at your other side. Were dwarves normally this stealthy? You never would’ve guessed. “Our songs are different than those of men. I would be surprised if any of our number could recognize their songs.”

“I’d be surprised, too,” you interrupted, “but, probably not for the same reasons you’re thinking of.” Really, the only songs you could remember from Middle Earth were the one sung by Tom Bombadil. And Pippin’s song. The movies really didn’t do justice to all the song writing in the books. “The thing I’m singing – it’s comes from the same place I do. Not from here. Actually,” you laughed a little, “you might catch me doing this a lot. All of them come from my world.”

“Oh!” Kili’s eyes brightened, a smile on his lips. “Could you perhaps sing them to us? I’m certain you have an incredible voice.”

“Yeah…I’m gonna have to take a pass on that. Trust me, my singing voice is passable, at best.” Quite literally. You were decent enough to hold a tune and pass your college singing class (required for your degree) but that was about it. In tune – mostly – but hardly beautiful.

“Y/N…” Kili whined, dark eyes wide with the most pitiful puppy-dog expression you had ever seen. “Please? Even if, by chance, you are terrible, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Cause that’s so encouraging to hear.” You shot him a friendly smirk. “How about you wait until we set up camp for the night? I’ll play it on my violin and teach you the words.” You patted your case fondly. “You can tell me if I’m wrong, but don’t you play, too?” It was one of the details you remembered clearly from the Hobbit. For probably obvious reasons.

“Yes! And so does my brother!” Kili gestured up ahead to where Fili rode near Gandalf, discussing…something. Before turning back to you, head tilted to the side and eyebrows furrowed. “How did you know that?”

“Little birdie told me.” You grinned and explained further, Kili just as confused as before, if not more so. “I think I heard it from one of the Company. Can’t remember who it was.”

“Did Uncle tell you?”

You actually laughed at that. “Pretty sure I’m not on speaking terms with your uncle. Am I even on speaking terms with your brother? I can’t really tell.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Fili likes you, just had a bit too much on his mind, I suppose. In fact,” Kili’s eyes shone again; you were pretty sure that was his default setting, “he can hear you play tonight! He was far better than I ever was. Perhaps you two have more in common than you know.”

With that somewhat cryptic statement, Kili was off again, heading to check on Bilbo, who was faring arguably worse than even you were. Come nightfall, Kili was back at your side, his older brother in tow, basically demanding that you teach them the song you’d been singing earlier that day. Which was how you ended up surrounded by a group of rowdy dwarves belting out Do You Hear the People Sing? by the light of a campfire as you giggled with your violin hooked beneath your chin. Apparently the dwarves were into musical theatre pieces about the mess that history books called France. To think, a production of Les Mis put on by dwarves. You would pay an arm and a leg (maybe even a kidney) to see that.

When it came to other music, well, the dwarves’ enthusiasm made up for any lack of skill. By which you meant that Hamilton wasn’t really something in their repertoire. Rapping just wasn’t really a thing in Middle Earth (unsurprisingly) and probably went slightly over their heads. But they tried, and you ended up with quite possibly the most energetic rendition of Yorktown you’d ever heard, which was all you could really ask for. At some point in the evening, the requests began to change, Ori asking if you knew other types of songs, too. After all, Do You Hear the People Sing? and a decent amount of Hamilton were exciting songs, and sunset called for a new kind of music. A few selections out of Into the Woods, Allegiance, and even some Hit List had the Company’s ear for quite a while; eventually, you and Fili randomly held each other’s gaze, him giving you a small smile that had you immediately looking away, Kili’s earlier words in your head. You were being ridiculous. For real, what was wrong with you? The embarrassingly flustered part of your brain was probably what was responsible for eventually choosing to fall back onto Phantom, the upper octaves of some of the melodies getting more than a few impressed stares from the rest of the Company. Which, unsurprisingly, ended with Bofur requesting you teach him the lyrics.

The completely mortification melted away at that, and you laughed through your response. “Tomorrow, okay? But maybe not the last one. I don’t really think you’ll be able to hit those notes. Unless you know something I don’t?”

Unfortunately, the universe on the whole seemed to know something you didn’t, or else you wouldn’t have been caught off guard when Thorin approached, clearly not in the mood, ordering the other dwarves to set up camp for the night. While ordering you to stay out of the way. Clear enough he didn’t trust you. Not that you minded too much, wandering off with your violin, listening to the way the notes echoed across the open land. Run Away with Me sounded particularly beautiful in this setting, if sorta nonsensical to the situation. Not like you could really run away without probably getting slaughtered by orcs or mauled by wargs, and who would that even be with? Every person you were close with was worlds away, literally, and you didn’t have the slightest clue how to get back to them. You would run back to them if you could’ve had the chance. Although, even back home, there wasn’t really anyone who would be able to sing that to you, or anyone you could sing that to, either. You’d hoped, but, well, what was really the use now?

“Y/N?”

You spun in place, the older of the princes watching you from across the clearing you’d meandered into. “Fili! Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

He smiled, glancing downward. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should be apologizing for forgetting to introduce myself, and for sneaking up on you.”

“No, no it’s totally fine. I was just lost in my head anyway. I thought Thorin wanted all of you setting up camp?”

“We have. I was sent to look for you.”

“You…shit, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done this. I mean, I have a decent sense of direction, but I’d probably never have been able to find my way back alone.”

“Trust me, it’s perfectly alright.” He signaled for you to follow him back to camp before speaking again as you walked. “You play beautifully. Another song from one of your musicals?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s one of my favorites actually. But that’s probably ‘cause I’m not a pianist and had to accompany all the singers who audition with it.” You were rambling. Why were you rambling?

Thankfully, Fili didn’t comment on it, actually holding a sane conversation, unlike you, apparently. “What’s it about? The song. I’m curious.”

“Love. And…doing anything for that love. Even when the world doesn’t want you to.”

Fili hummed slightly, in thought. “Perhaps you could teach it to me tomorrow. After you teach Bofur your other songs, of course.” The last part was said with just a bit of mischievousness, enough to make you laugh.

“I think you mean after I try. If you’re all woken up by ungodly screeching, blame him, not me. I’m still sure agreeing to that was the worst decision I’ve ever made.”

The days and few weeks to come passed by surprisingly quietly. No imminent fear of death (well, at least from anywhere other than Thorin), and a bunch of peaceful nights during which you could bond with the Company. There were still occasional requests to hear songs from your world that usually did turn into the dwarf version of campfire sing-alongs, and those always lifted your spirits. Aside from that, you got the chance to actually learn more about each of the dwarves; Peter Jackson and Tolkien both had done most of them an injustice, really.

Especially Fili.

Kili hadn’t been exactly right about how much the two of you actually had in common, but after he’d been sent to find you that one night, you did spend much more time together. Usually it was just talking, or sometimes finding a quiet corner and gazing at stars that were different than the ones you knew, dotted across the skies, bright without the lights of big cities. Pretty soon, you both knew more about each other than you’d really figured was possible, considering the whole alternate universe thing. He told you tales of his childhood, growing up in Ered Luin with his mother and uncle, never really understanding their history until he’d come of age. He and Kili had been told stories about dragons and kingdoms and warriors, of course (really, like a lot of the stories you’d heard, too, as a kid) but the dragon that had taken their home was another matter entirely. The weight of being a prince, being responsible for getting their people back home and the consequences should they actually succeed – all when Erebor had never really felt like his home, when a future in which they succeeded never felt like the life he wanted. He did care about the mission, their people, but his first priority would always be the ones he loved; he’d never bring it up to Thorin, but there were plenty of times when he didn’t agree with his uncle about this entire journey.

Maybe (or obviously) you couldn’t exactly relate to that, but that didn’t end up mattering. Not when you would talk on other nights about all the things running through your own head. How much you missed home, all the things you’d left behind – all the dwarves knew about that. But then also the conflict there now. Because, somehow, you didn’t really want to leave anymore. Home meant everything you knew, but also everything you knew you didn’t really know yet. The future, family, career, relationships – balancing all of those when just really figuring out one seemed impossible enough, but being expected to get it all right just the same. Middle Earth felt like a fairy tale, in comparison, because there weren’t any masks to wear, trying to please all the right people in all the right places. You were just you, and you liked that.

Among other things that made you wanna stick around. Things you didn’t tell anyone for a million other reasons.

But then the orc attack happened, bringing you all to Rivendell, and it seemed like things had changed somehow.

Not that most of the Company really seemed to notice, having too much fun antagonizing the elves. Kili basically demanded that you take your violin out again and accompany their more raucous drinking songs. Eventually, the excitement did wear down, though, pretty much in line with when the elves stopped shooting their group skeptical side-eye glances (apparently the elves giving up on them made things less fun). At that point, most of the Company – save Thorin, Balin, Bilbo, and Gandalf – began to drop off to sleep, and your muscle memory took over, the melody of Story of Tonight being carried out across the hidden valley.

It seemed weirdly fitting.

By the time the super-secret meeting with Elrond finished, you stashed away your instrument for a private word with the lord of Rivendell, before finding a secluded balcony and reclining against a pillar, breathing in the night air, not paying much attention to the rest of the world.

“Y/N?”

“Fili?” You turned toward your friend, his blue eyes soft and eyebrows furrowed slightly. He wasn’t stupid; he knew something was wrong. “You okay?” Easy deflection.

“Yes, I’m fine, I just…I realized you were gone, and…” he trailed off, looking away.

“Well you found me.” You patted the ground at your side. “You’re welcome to join.”

He did, looking ready to ask you what was wrong. Except… “What was that?”

You were completely caught off guard. “What?”

“With your hands. You were doing it just now, before you saw me, and I’ve seen you do it while we were riding, too. The same motions.” He held out his hand, thumb and pinky finger stuck out, gently raising and lowering it.

“Oh!” The sign language. Sometimes you didn’t even notice it at this point. “It’s…the lyrics to another song, actually. People who can’t hear, they talk with their hands, and there’s a group that does musicals with that language, too. I’m a bit of a fan,” you finished with forced lightness.

Fili nodded, quiet. “Y/N…I won’t mind if you don’t want to talk about it, but…what’s wrong? You disappeared, and…”

“No, it’s…it’s fine.” Really, it was. He deserved to know, if you were being honest. “I…talked to Elrond. About…staying here. Just for a while, until I figure out what to do.”

“What? No…no you can’t.”

“Fili, you and I both know I’m not a fighter. I’m gonna get myself killed at worst, or just hold you all back at best. Well, that and…” Oh, shit.

“And what?”

“You,” came your answer, breathed out and at length. “I just…I can’t.”

“Why not? I care about you, too, Y/N. I was afraid to tell you, afraid you might not feel the same, but if you do –“

“No, Fili, that’s not it.”

“Then what?”

“It’s…it’s what the song is about. The one you keep seeing me signing. Love that isn’t gonna work ‘cause it just hurts in the end instead.”

“But you can’t know that.”

“You’re right, and that’s why I can’t risk it. I’m not from this world, and I still can’t promise what that’s gonna end up meaning.”

“You said you like it here. I don’t mean to take you from your family, but…”

“It’s not just that. It’s…” the fact that, if this played out the way you’d read and seen, then he wouldn’t make it out alive. You didn’t know if there was anything you could do about that. “Just trust me. Please.”

He sighed, but didn’t push. “So then, this might be the last time I see you?”

“Aside from tomorrow morning, possibly.”

“Will you show me the song? All of it, just for something to remember you by.”

You smiled, even though it felt forced. “Sure.” Signing and singing at once, you mirrored the performance you’d seen so many times online, except that there was no slick piano to slide across to deliver that kiss. And maybe that was all for the best, really. Although the shared signs brought the two of you closer, hugging tightly as you trailed out of the chorus, both of your breaths labored.

“Be safe, okay?”

“I promise.”

A whole year passed, and very little seemed to ever change. You spent your days in Rivendell, Elrond always off to chat with either Saruman or Galadriel or a different powerful someone every day. About Sauron, no doubt, not that you could tell them that without raising suspicion. Aside from that – the slowly rising tension over the darkness on the horizon – you wouldn’t have known the days passed at all. The elves couldn’t find any way for you to return to your world (interdimensional travel wasn’t really understood, big surprise there) and you couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing. You did miss your family, your home, everything you’d grown up with. But you’d be lying if you said your mind wasn’t on Fili way too often. Technically, you knew he made it to Erebor without any harm coming to him, but that didn’t exactly make the waiting game any easier. Especially when you knew what you were waiting for, ultimately.

Maybe it would be better to go home. Not like you wanted to hear that he’d died in person. The movie was bad enough, even with how little importance it actually gave that. The book, too, honestly. He deserved so much better than that, than just…dying and…and…

You missed him. So damn much.

By the time the year had passed, you honestly hadn’t even noticed it. You only became aware of it when word came to Rivendell that the battle at Erebor had been won. That word…and a letter for you. The dread of opening that letter sent you back to that secluded balcony you’d last seen him, and your breath caught as you opened the page.

A letter from him, asking you to come to Erebor, hoping beyond hope that you hadn’t left, because all he wanted was to be able to see you again. Thorin had survived – injured, but ultimately alright – and he’d been hurt too, but not badly. Kili was in his usual high spirits, spending most of his days with a female elf they’d met along the way.

Somehow, things had changed. You had no clue how that was even possible, but it wasn’t like you cared, packing all your things to see him again and basically demanding that you be given a way to get to Erebor. Maybe this wasn’t destined to turn out badly, and like hell you were about to give that up.

Someday, you would find a way to get back, to tell your family what had happened, but, given the thundering beat of your heart in your chest as you rode toward Erebor, that wasn’t home anymore. No, home was where you could see your golden prince again, because now? It was time to teach him a happier love song.

AN: If any of you were wondering, the last song I’m referencing is The Word of Your Body (Reprise) from Deaf West's��Spring Awakening. It’s honestly my favorite thing ever.

#drabble #the hobbit #submission

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desktopgargoyle · 7 years ago

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the road trip series - chapter 4

AN: I’m sorry this has taken me so long to upload! Trust me to pick the Worst Possible Time to start writing a multi-chapter fic...whoops. I’m really sorry I can’t promise a regular update schedule, but I’m trying my best to write content that I’m happy with and that I hope you will be happy with; I’d rather focus on the quality of the chapters rather than how quickly they’re published, you know what I mean? Anyway, that’s enough rambling from me. Here’s Chapter 4, hope you guys enjoy it! - Danielle

ff.net version | the road trip series

Chapter 4

At Alya’s suggestion, they decide to make a few scenic stops along the way to Marseille. She figures that this way they’ll get to see a little more of the non-Paris edition of France as well as have time to relax and break from the intense driving. Or at least Alya needs a break, especially after the last tortuous forty-five minutes.

The traffic had, thankfully, dissipated and they were finally on the move again driving at just over 100km/h. It was great; they were more energised, they were blasting The Lion King soundtrack, Nino and Adrien were scream-shouting a load of nonsense that only vaguely resembled the actual lyrics, and Marinette had control of the camera, collecting footage for Alya’s blog.

“Smile, Nino!” Marinette giggles, zooming in ridiculously close to Nino’s face. He grins, crossing his eyes and holding up a peace sign as he and Adrien continue to dramatically re-enact the entire Circle of Life scene from The Lion King as best they can in the somewhat cramped backseat of the car.

Marinette turns the camera to Adrien next and he sticks his tongue out at her. Marinette huffs. In true Adrien fashion, he still manages to look abso-fucking-lutely perfect. Curse that flawless face of his. Curse that gorgeous hair of his. Curse – actually no, scratch that. He’s too beautiful to be cursed. Marinette sighs audibly, oblivious to Alya’s slight snickering from the driver’s seat.

“You okay there, Mari?” Adrien’s question snaps her out of her little space out and she promptly turns red, for perhaps the umpteenth time today alone.

“Me? Yes of course! You’re great! I mean – you’re fine! NO. That is to say, I’m fine. Not to say that you’re not fine because of course you are, right? You’re a model! Um…but of course you already know that…why wouldn’t you know that….ha.”

Adrien glances at Nino, eyebrows raised questioningly. Nino simply shrugs in return.

“How about we pretend I never opened my stupid mouth, okay?” Marinette laughs nervously, swiftly turning around in her seat to face the front. “Kill me.” She mouths to Alya before she buries her flushed face in her hands.

In a valiant effort to change the subject, Nino decides that now is the perfect time for a playlist brainstorming session. “So Maribro. I was thinking that we add a new playlist to our repertoire.”

Marinette swivels around again in her chair (making a great effort to avoid making eye contact with Adrien as she does so) to face Nino. “As much as I’d love to, I’m pretty sure you have violated the Playlist Rules, specifically rule number one, on more than one occasion.”

Nino gulps audibly.

“As a result of this disregard for the sacred rules,” Marinette continues. “I, as sole rule-abiding Playlist Executive, do henceforth revoke your Playlist Executive licence until further notice.” She grins smuggle and winks at him before spinning back around again in her chair.

“But that makes it a playlist dictatorship! I will not stand for this kind of oppression! Liberté, égalité, fraternité! Vive la France!” Nino presses his fist to his heart in what is supposed to be a patriotic manner. In fact, he gets a little too enthusiastic and winds up punching himself in the process.

Marinette retorts back that if Nino was so in favour of democracy then he would abide by the agreed rules. The argument (that is, if it can be called an argument) goes on for another couple minutes before Alya decides that it’s time to intervene. Honestly, if she had known that she would end up playing peacemaker between two apparent five-year-olds, she would not have signed up for this job.

In her sharp ‘I-am-in-charge-and-you-will-not-question-my-authority’ tone (which the past ten years of babysitting her sisters has allowed her to perfect), Alya declares that Nino is on Playlist Time-Out indefinitely, Marinette is Chief Playlist Commander, and Adrien is Assistant Playlist Consultant. She herself refuses to be part of this playlist nonsense because, frankly, there is nothing wrong with just hitting shuffle and seeing where they end up. The highly specific playlist names fiasco is just ridiculous, in Alya’s humble opinion.

Nino protests, claiming that the rules specifically ban Adrien from any playlist-related activities, to which Marinette points out that Nino cannot hold such a gross double standard concerning rule breaking, and Alya feels her eyes roll so hard that she’s pretty sure she will soon be able to see the inside of her skull.

“Everyone shut the hell up or so help me god I will turn this car right around and we will all go straight home!” Alya yells. She figures that this trick still works on her younger sisters, even though they’re now teenagers, so it’s worth a try.

The car falls silent and, surprisingly, it remains like that for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Alya breathes deeply and smiles serenely. “See? Was that so difficult? All you have to do is keep calm, breathe, and- FUCKING HELL, YOU MORON! WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU’RE DRIVING, ASSHOLE! USE YOUR FREAKING TURN SIGNAL! I SWEAR TO GOD I CAN’T CATCH TWO MINUTES OF PEACE! OH, YOU WANNA FLIP YOUR MIDDLE FINGER AT ME?! TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, BUDDY!”

Marinette and Nino exchange knowing looks and Marinette slams the play button on the ‘we-need-to-distract-alya-otherwise-she-will-get-into-a-fight’ playlist. All the while Adrien looks a little terrified in his corner of the car. He really shouldn’t be surprised at Alya’s outbursts, but he’s always slightly shocked that so small a person can house all of that tension. Sometimes he can practically see the steam coming out of her ears as if she was a cartoon character.

Alya scowls at the idiot who is now driving in front of her and grips the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white. If there’s one thing she cannot stand, it’s reckless drivers. People make mistakes every now and again when they drive, that’s just natural – Alya gets that. But this idiot was just blatantly ignoring all driving etiquette. Nothing pisses her off more than that.

“Hey, we’re coming up to Saint-Étienne, how about we take a break?” She suggests. Everyone is only too happy to comply.

Saint-Étienne is quite pretty, Marinette decides. They grab some pastries at a local café and make their way to the public gardens in the centre of the town, looking out at the architectural bandstand structure, taking in the calm atmosphere, and revelling in its stark contrasts to the hustle and bustle of Paris. Nino and Alya decide to take a walk around the gardens, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone on the bench.

“Can you imagine how awesome it would be to see an actual band playing on the stand?” Adrien grins. Marinette nods in agreement; it really would be a sight. “I can see it so clearly in my head,” Adrien continues. “Either a jazz-swing-blues band or an orchestra, I haven’t quite decided yet, and fairy lights – actually no, lanterns – strung up everywhere, people dancing around. It would be great.”

Marinette rests her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. “Sounds like quite the visual you’ve thought up there,” she smiles. “It sounds really nice.” She does her very best to not imagine that very image in the context of their wedding. Reel it in, Mari. Don’t do this again.

Adrien stretches his arms out. There’s a little voice in his head telling him to pull the cliché fake-yawn move so that he can rest his arm around Marinette’s shoulder but he tells this voice to shut up and folds his arms behind his head instead.

“I feel like Alya needs a break from driving.” Marinette says, between bites of her pain-au-chocolat. “I think she’s hit her limit.”

Adrien nods, sipping his coffee. He winces as he feels his taste buds disappear and is hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia. “Hey, Mari, remember that school trip we took to London?” That trip will always remain one of his favourite memories. It was the first time his father had actually willingly trusted him with some independence, encouraged it, actually.

“Yeah, that was a great trip.” Play it cool, Mari. Cool, collected, no squealing.

“I just got hit with some major déjà vu,” he laughs. Marinette loves his laugh; his eyes go all sparkly and they crinkle at the edges. She still doesn’t hear him laugh enough, but she’s glad that it’s becoming a more frequent occurrence. “Remember being stuck with me the whole train ride there and back?”

“Oh my gosh, how could I forget? You practically force-fed be overpriced snacks and wouldn’t let me pay you back!” Marinette pokes him in the shoulder accusingly in mock outrage.

“Well I wasn’t going to let you starve, was I? And besides, from what I remember you declared that you were ‘willing and ready to just marry this popcorn already’.” He pokes her right back.

“Don’t use my own words against me!” Marinette huffs, folding her arms across her chest and sinking slightly into the bench. Adrien simply smirks at her and holy frick he should not be allowed to be that hot. Granted, he is a model and she is fully aware of that but, nevertheless, he should not look that fricking hot. In a strange moment of self-control, she does not blush and instead opts for sticking her tongue out at him like the mature adult she is.

Adrien is somewhat taken aback by Marinette’s sudden ability to stay cool and flirt back (yes, he will allow himself to believe that she is flirting) with him. He watches as she quirks her eyebrow before sticking her tongue out at him (her nose scrunches up in this really cute way) and he is struck with the realisation that Marinette manages to look both freaking adorable and actually kind of hot at the same time. He gulps slightly, turning slightly red when Marinette looks at him questioningly, and silently berates himself. The tables have really turned this time.

In an attempt to distract herself from the fact that she not only flirted shamelessly with Adrien Agreste but succeeded in making him bush, Marinette looks up at the sky. Adrien watches her as she squints at a cloud and chews her lip slightly and he finds himself having to also look up at the sky before his imagination runs away with him.

“Is it just me or does that cloud look like a duck wearing high-heels?” Marinette wonders aloud.

For a second Adrien simply stares at Marinette incredulously. The thought is so abstract and outright weird that he then bursts out laughing. “What?” he manages to spit out in between wheezes of laughter. “A duck wearing – how?”

“I’m being totally serious, Agreste.” Marinette deadpans. “Look, if you tilt your head that way and then quint your eyes very, very slightly.” Adrien does as she says and actually, it does kind of look like a duck wearing high-heels. He’ll give her that one, even if it is bizarre.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a ball flies towards them. A small girl, maybe about six or seven, stands a little way away, calling out an apology and running towards them although unable to outrun the ball.

“Adrien, watch your head!” Marinette exclaims, skilfully volleying the ball in the direction of the girl from where she’s awkwardly sitting, half-twisted to face the girl, on the bench. The girl runs closer to catch the ball and thank Marinette.

“Thanks! That was really cool!” The girl gushes to Marinette, tucking the ball under her arm and brushing her messy bangs from her eyes. She grins widely and Marinette chuckles at the fact that she’s missing a tooth. “Hey, aren’t you the guy who’s on the front of all those magazines? My sister Alma has all those magazines and posters and I’m pretty sure she’s in love with you. I’m Jaqueline, by the way. I guess I’ll tell Alma that she’s out of luck because your girlfriend is way prettier than she is and she just saved your life, and your face too, I guess. My sister’s over there by the way, I should probably get back. Do you think you could teach me how to do that? Alma is too busy writing her essay. I don’t get why she would come outside just to write an essay, she said it was something about ‘changing her environment’ or something.”

Marinette flushes red for a second but quickly recovers. She’s always amazed by how much kids can just talk and talk and talk. She’s also a little startled by how fearless this kid is; didn’t anyone teach her about stranger danger?

“Okay, Jaqueline,” Marinette begins. “How about you run back to your sister and bring her over here?” Marinette suggests. She leans in to whisper conspiratorially to the child. “That way, Alma can meet my friend Adrien over here, who’s not my boyfriend, and I can teach you to volley. Sound like a plan?” She grins as Jaqueline nods in affirmation and skips back to where her sister sits.

A short while later, after a particularly shrill shriek from where Jaqueline and Alma are, Adrien is looking slightly uncomfortable but more or less calm as Alma squeals and talks and then squeals some more. He’s used to the fangirl culture, but it’s been a while since he’s had to listen to a star-struck seventeen-year-old tell him facts about…well…himself. For the most part, Alma is nice though. He glances over to where Marinette is teaching Jaqueline to volley. He didn’t know she was so good with kids, he’s really in awe of her, to be completely honest.

Marinette catches Adrien’s glance and smiles, shrugging her shoulders slightly. She turns her attention back to Jaqueline, who stands a few feet away. “You want to make sure that your hands are firmly interlocked when you volley. If your stance is strong, your volley will be strong. If you don’t have that control, you won’t be able to get the ball as high as you want. Got it?”

“Got it.” Jaqueline sticks her tongue out in concentration, readying herself as Marinette gently volleys the ball towards her. The first couple attempts are disastrous and Adrien finds himself ducking a great deal, except for one unfortunate occasion on which the ball hits him square in the face. Marinette laughs. A lot.

After about twenty minutes, Alma, somewhat mournfully, decides that it’s time for them to go. Marinette and Adrien bid the two girls goodbye, agreeing to take a picture with them before they leave, before settling on the grass to continue cloud watching.

Across the gardens, Alya and Nino sit on the edge of the fountain, hands intertwined and Alya’s head resting on Nino’s shoulder. Nino smiles fondly down at her and his heartbeat speeds up ever so slightly. Even after five years of dating he’s still as lovestruck as he was as a teenager, maybe even more so.

He wants to do something special for Alya this year, especially seeing as last year their anniversary celebration consisted of ordering an extra-large pizza and watching reruns of I Love Lucy. He has nothing against I Love Lucy, per se; after all, it was helping Alya with her English fluency for her internship, but it wasn’t necessarily how he imagined their anniversary would be spent. He’s thinking something a little fancier this year, something a little more meaningful.

Sometimes he’s not sure how he got so lucky but he figures it’s best not to question it. If this is what the Universe wants for him he’ll happily take it.

“You’re quiet, everything okay?” Alya nudges him and lifts her head off his shoulder to look at him.

“Yeah, I’m great, babe,” Nino presses a kiss to her temple. “Just contemplating whether or not I can successfully push you into this fountain without getting dragged in myself.”

Alya snorts and swats him away. She knows Nino too well at this point; when he gets quiet like that it means he’s thinking about something serious. Lord knows he can’t keep his mouth shut for more than two minutes under normal circumstances. Her eyes rest on some squirrels chasing each other around, scrambling up and down tree trunks and darting in between the fence and she wishes that, for even just a couple moments, her life could be that carefree.

“I feel like that would be us if we were animals,” Nino muses. Alya hums, she’s not sure if squirrels are really how she’d describe them but she’ll go with it. “Squirrels? What squirr- oh. No, I was looking at those two pigeons over there. They’re fighting over bread.” Nino says seriously, pointing at the birds a little behind the squirrels. Alya gives him the most disbelieving look she can.

“You’re impossible.”

“Excuse you, I thought it was incredibly romantic!”

“Remind me why I haven’t broken up with you yet?” Alya stands and begins walking back around the fountain in the direction of the bench they left Marinette and Adrien sitting at, removing her glasses to wipe them clear from where the fountain spray spattered them and muttering about how if the anniversary goes anything like this the relationship it over.

“Al, you love me.” Nino jogs to catch up with her, grabbing her hand and swinging their arms back and forth.

Alya snatches her hand back and shoots him a pointed look. “You called me a pigeon.”

“Yes, but I also called myself a pigeon. Haven’t you seen The Notebook? If you’re a bird, I’m a bird?”

Alya’s jaw drops. “You just – what – Nino…” For the first time in a long time, Alya is left speechless. (She will admit that she is a little impressed that he just quoted The Noteboook at her, but she is not impressed enough to get off her high horse).

She storms her way all the way back to the bench, huffing very audibly. Marinette and Adrien look up from where they are now lying on the grass, completely absorbed in their cloud watching. Alya’s eyes instantly focus on where their hands are resting on the ground, mere millimetres apart from brushing, before zoning back in to their upper body language. Adrien’s left arm is bent at the elbow and his head rests on his hand. His body is ever so slightly turned towards Marinette and hers to him, her right hand resting lightly on her stomach. They have absolutely no idea how cute they look; to a stranger they could be just any other couple sharing a romantic afternoon looking up at the sky. Alya makes a solemn vow that she will get them together, even if she dies trying. (Okay, that might be a little dramatic but, then again, when is it ever not dramatic with these two?)

“So, uh, how was the walk?” Adrien asks, shifting slightly so that he is facing Alya a little more.

“It was…interesting,” she responds as she sits on the grass beside them. “Nino compared me to a pigeon.”

Marinette blinks at Alya a couple times, not really sure how to respond to this. Adrien turns his head to look at Marinette seemingly trying to find out how he should react to this information. Upon seeing Marinette’s confused look, Adrien is satisfied that he is also allowed to look appropriately confused.

“I also quoted The Notebook, Al. Don’t forget that bit.” Nino sinks down to the ground and wraps an arm around Alya’s shoulder, placing an over-exaggerated kiss on her cheek with a loud smack.

“Really, Nino? Nicholas Sparks? No wonder she stormed over here with a literal black cloud over her head.” Marinette scoffs as she props herself up on one elbow. From beside her Adrien gulps slightly and hopes to God that she didn’t hear him.

“Yeah, whatever, Mari. At least I tried, don’t I get points for effort?”

“Not this time, bro.” Marinette rolls onto her back with a smirk.

“Dammit.”

“We left you some snacks,” Adrien decides that changing the subject might be a good idea. “I had to physically restrain Mari from eating them all.”

Marinette rolls her eyes. Yes, in theory he had physically restrained her, but she wasn’t going to eat them all per se. Even then, his version of ‘physically restrain’ was in fact ‘snatch pastry out of Marinette’s hands and keep box far away from her’.

Alya and Nino stretch out on the grass beside Marinette and Adrien, munching on the leftover pastries. Nino muses aloud that this is almost like a double-date, which results in much coughing and blushing from Marinette and Adrien, and Alya responds in kind, lamenting the fact that this is not a double-date.

Double-date or not, the four of them spend the next hour pointing out particularly strangely shaped clouds, laughing their way into the early evening. They’ve had a little drama along the way, but Alya reckons that this road trip is definitely starting to look up. She curls into Nino’s side as the air begins to cool. He may have called her a pigeon and quoted the cheesiest film on earth to her, but she loves him.

Also he’s warm.

#this update is so late #soz y'all #the road trip series #miraculous ladybug #tw: swearing #adrienette #djwifi #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #ml #ninalya #mlb

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freddielocks · 5 years ago

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Here are, by Discogs' ratings, the 10 most valuable singles in my collection. The descriptions will aim to give you as much detail as they can about each, if there's any terminology that needs explaining just ask!

They'll go in reverse order:

10) John's Children - Desdemona

B-side: Remember Thomas a Becket

Label: Track, cat 604003

Year: 1967

Highest sold for on Discogs: £122

Rare Record Price Guide Value (in mint near unplayed condition): £150

Price paid: £30 on eBay

Condition: Record and sleeve VG (some noise)

This Desdemona, the rarest of all the singles I own by my hero Marc Bolan, is made much more valuable as it has the rare picture sleeve, an oddity for British singles at the time. Both sides are decent mod tracks and the A-side was banned by the BBC for the lyrics 'Lift up your skirt and fly' which Bolan maintained was about a witch.

9) Nicky James - So Glad We Made It

A-side: I Need To Be Needed

Label: Philips, cat BF 1566

Year: 1967

Highest on Discogs: £140

RRPG mint Value: £7 (!)

Price paid: 40p in Plastic Wax Records

Condition: Solid VG (edge cracked but not affecting grooves)

Nicky James aka 'Thunderthroat' was a big voiced but obscure singer, who came close to hits and almost joined the Moody Blues, who later went on to enormous success, signing him to their record label Threshold. I found this after hours of searching and got really excited (confused stares in the shop) and got it home only to see its low book value. However, it was not listed on Discogs, and so I put it in the database myself, to find a few years later that the B-side is considered a collectible Northern Soul record and it had started to sell for way more money! Not my favourite record by him though, which is Reaching For The Sun.

8) The Creation - Making Time

B-side: Try And Stop Me

Label: Planet, cat PLF 116

Year: 1966, charted at #49 for 1 week

Highest on Discogs: £150

Book value: £35 (would be £50 with sleeve)

Price paid: £25 on Discogs (lucky!)

Condition: largely VG+ but one deeper scratch causes pops

The mod band The Creation were rivals to the Who in their heyday, and this aggressive punky single, produced by the renowned Shel Talmy and issued on his (uber-cool) Planet label, showcases their talent, as well as the invention of playing the electric guitar with a violin bow to crunchy effect! It's a classic and a must-have for any collector.

7) The Misunderstood - I Can Take You To The Sun

B-side: Who Do You Love

Label: Fontana, cat. TF 777

Year: 1966

Highest on Discogs: £150

Book value: £80

Price paid: 50p in a warehouse clearance in Cadoxton, Wales

Condition: it appears that this was left by the radiator at some point, and it's a bit wavey around the edge. This causes a few wobbles in the sound and a little sizzle at the end, but still listenable

The Misunderstood were a mysterious American outfit, who only released this single while in their original line up, with the dual guitars of Englishman Tony Hill and Glenn Ross Campbell (not the famous one). 1966 puts it at the cutting edge of psychedelia, and both tracks are amazing and utter classics, with the A-side taking you to space and back and the B-side being the most screechy Bo Diddley cover ever! It was a dream to find a copy in the dingiest place in the world, and well worth the damp knees and hours without any natural light.

6) The Maytones - Botheration and The G.G. Rhythm Section - TNT

Label: Blue Cat, cat. (Haha) BS 165

Year: 1969

Highest on Discogs: £150

Book price: £35

Paid: it's still a secret but it's around £30-35, from Plastic Wax

Condition: solid VG again, which for a reggae/rocksteady single is practically a dream.

This single split between two artists very popular in Jamaica (The G.G. All Stars were connected to pioneer Ernest Ranglin) was released on the Blue Cat label, arguably the rarest of the numerous sub-labels of legendary company Trojan Records. Both sides are chilled rocksteady and among the label's best work, justifying the steep rise in prices for it. My reggae buying career has been essentially for the labels they were released on, but this was a huge coup as it was a brilliant record too!

5) James Royal - I Can't Stand It

B-side: A Little Bit Of Rain

Label: CBS, cat. 2959

Year: 1967

Highest on Discogs (and only sale to date): £150

Book price: £125

Price paid: 50p in Rick's Records (rip), Hastings

Condition: looks utterly trashed and has a small crack going into the playing surface alas. However it plays very well given its appearance - it's loud!

James Royal is not a well known name - he made a fair few singles before joining a covers band and leaving the big time for Australia, having played with a host of future stars (Rick Wakeman of Yes, John Entwistle of the Who, Nick Simper from Deep Purple) along the way. This classy two-sider is his rarest record and shows his vocals to great effect against an amazingly lavish production. As usual with soul records, the demo copy (which amazingly was the reason I didn't leave it in the box for so cheap!) doubles the value, although any copy of this fetches big prices - that £150 is looking a little low. I more treasure it because musically it's superb. Check it out!

4) Kaleidoscope - A Dream For Julie

B-side: Please Excuse My Face

Label: Fontana, cat. TF 895

Year: 1968

Highest Discogs: £175

Book price: £40

Paid: £5 on eBay

Condition: has a crack which has led to a small piece missing. I have just about got it to play without the needle getting stuck in there. You can appreciate this one's a 'collection filler' (for someone who didn't care - I bought it for the music obviously!)

Kaleidoscope are a now legendary English psych-pop outfit, who narrowly missed success both in this form, making waves with 'Flight From Ashiya' (which I also own after a long and arduous search) and as their later Fairfield Parlour incarnation, scoring a near-hit with 'Bordeaux Rosé'. As I Luv Wight they recorded the theme for the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970, but the festival DJ ignored instructions to play it in between every act and tossed his copy into the crowd (it was perhaps a little too advanced, but I like it (and own it)). A Dream For Julie is a bizarre danceable record with sheer nonsense lyrics ('Mexican clowns' and 'strawberry monkeys' surround Julie for starters). The B-side is typically mellow and stately.

3) The Kinks - Long Tall Sally

B-side: I Took My Baby Home

Label: Pye, cat. 7N.15611

Year: 1964

Highest on Discogs: £207

Book price: £120

Paid: £16 on eBay

Condition: VG playing above grade - a surprisingly great copy! Probably one of the best in this list

The Kinks need no introduction, but this was their first ever single released just two records before You Really Got Me practcially invented fuzz guitar and changed rock forever. Both sides are snappy beat numbers with character and the characteristic weird vocals of Ray Davies. eBay does have miracles - this bidding war happened in prime hours (8pm) and I held on by 50p or so, for a record which otherwise would fetch much higher and has a huge collector's market in beat and Kinks fans alike.

2) Crocheted Doughnut Ring - Two Little Ladies (Azalea and Rhododendron)

B-side: Nice

Year: 1967

Label: Polydor, cat. 56204

Highest on Discogs: £307

Book value: £40

Paid: £12.50 on eBay

Condition: VG-, crackles a fair bit as both sides are quiet.

The (Crocheted) Doughnut Ring were an obscure outfit who issued around four singles in the late 60s. This record's A-side is a rather meandering psych-pop affair which is rather soft. Having no other material for a B-side, producer Peter Eden (who lent his talents to a whole other bunch of records and adds collectibility) fooled around with the A-side tapes and created an incredible soundscape - inventing ambient music in 1967! There's nothing else like it for at least another four years, when Brian Eno and Robert Fripp released (No Pussyfooting) (which I do own, and yes, the brackets are part of the title), the first major incidence of tape manipulation in popular music after The CDR's accident!

1) The Spectres - I (Who Have Nothing)

B-side: Neighbour Neighbour

Label: Piccadilly, cat. 7N.35339

Year: 1966

Highest on Discogs: £350

Book value: £300

Paid: Nothing! This was in my aunt's garage in Manchester, although mum has no idea who owned it in the first place - mysterious Auntie Laura was the only candidate. Other records in the box were also rare, causing disbelief as mum thought they were awful!

Condition: incredibly for a record stored without any protective sleeve in a flimsy box in the dankest most cluttered garage in existence, it's a solid VG with great sound.

This record, the first of three, was the first recorded appearance of Status Quo! This creates its incredible value, although it is the most common of the three (not saying much). Both sides are not brilliant versions of standards recorded by lots of bands, although I (like others) have a soft spot for the B-side, which is an R&B number with traces of the psychedelic sound early Quo (before they decided to only write songs with three chords!) were to hit success with, as Pictures of Matchstick Men became a top 10 hit. In between the Spectres and that single, the band were known as Traffic Jam, and the Almost But Not Quite There (accurate name!) single is the most sought after. My aunt nearly threw it away! Jesus!

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yeahhiyellow · 3 years ago

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Thank you for the tag!!! Here some random facts about me:

I'm taking 4 AP classes this year for some fucking reason. One of them is a class with all seniors except for me (I'm a junior). I'm going to be very stressed

I got my hair dyed yellow last week and it looks awesome!!!! I should update my pfp with it actually

I have been obsessed with Detroit: Become Human for over 3 years now and I honestly think this obsession (similar to my obsession with yellow which I got in 1st grade lol) will stay with me for the rest of my life

I had a dream last night in which I reconnected with an ex-friend and went over to her house. While there, I got to take a quick look at the games on her ps4 (I'm quite sure she doesn't have a ps4 in rl but this is dreamland so whatever). She had dbh, the Sims, the LIS series and The Last of Us (both of which I really want to get in rl but also money and parents), and some other games that don't actually exist but existed on her ps4 because, ya know, dreams. One of them was a game called "Detective," with a MC called Connor (god even my subconscious is obsessed with dbh). She opened it up and while the character idly stood there, she explained the concept of the game to me. However, while explaining the concept, I ran out of time to get the character to complete a mission, and he ended up being forced into this cuberpunk-ish machine in a cyberpunk-ish building where he was tortured by the corporate antagonist for it. The dream-game mixed the capitalistic horror with some humor surprisingly well for a dream. When I woke up this morning, I was like "huh, this is actually a great idea for a game," and with a bit of working around to get the weird nonsensical dream parts out, I think it could actually be really cool. I've only just come up with the idea today (which is probably a curse because I don't need yet another idea I'll probably never have the time to write), but I've already worked out a couple different paths the player can take, more details, a couple possible endings, analogies, the main plot, and title ideas (I'm currently torn between "Detective," what it was called in my dream, and "Put a Face On It"). That was really long but I'm just very excited lol

I also just finished the basic "instrumentals" (aka the produced backtrack without vocals) for a song I'm writing. This was the first one I finished an entire piano version for, came up with most of the production for, and then after wrote the lyrics (usually I write lyrics first and then the instrumental). It came out surprisingly well all things considered, and I hope to publish it on my YouTube within the next few months!!! (Also yeah I'm Alpha K. V. on YouTube so maybe check that out???)

I'm currently waiting to a) find out which chair I got in my school orchestra, b) if I got a clean energy scholarship for possibly $1000 for an invention I made, and c) my math test grade from yesterday. It is tearing my soul apart. Help.

And wow that was really long. If you couldn't figure it out by now, and I guess I could put this in as a bonus fact, I get unreasonably excited about things (and then everyone else thinks I'm weird for it oop). Anyway...

Ok so how am I supposed to choose 10 favorite blogs???? Some of my favorites already got tagged here and like you really think I can narrow it down to 10 blogs??? Bitch?????? I'll just tag 10 blogs I really like lol: @radioactive-raptor @thou-creature-of-the-deep @orchidberry @martina-leanza @deviantwaddles @fire-fira @ajunkblogorsomethingiguess @dreamxeyes @not-mary-sue @senorpugbean and anyone else who wants to join in, only if you feel like it! 💛

List 6 random facts about yourself and then pass it on to your 10 favorite followers!

Thanks for tagging me, @sheyshocked!

Alright, let's see:

1. I take and edit photos as a hobby. I'm especially fascinated by nature and abandoned places.

2. There's a blue spot above my upper lip that looks as if I accidentially colored myself, but in fact it has always been there.

3. I use to watch the same 4 series over and over. Whenever I get back to one it's like returning to old friends XD. It's not that I actually sit down to watch every scene again and again, but my favorite series are basically always running in the background when I do chores at home or create my 3D pics.

4. I LOVE creepy stories.

5. I have two small tattoos and one bigger tattoo.

I'm tagging @veilder @nightmarecrypie @oh-fortheloveof-ra9 @connork1000 @lukasvdm @doesitsparkjoytho and everyone else who would like to do this.

#yay it's another tag gameeeee #tag game #ugh why am i so easily excitable #and cursed with too many ideas i never have the time or motivation to complete all of

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midnightiscoming-kasabian · 7 years ago

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*Noel [Gallagher Fielding]

DIY Magazine, August 2017

Kasabian: Forever having the last laugh

Much loved and misunderstood in equal measures, Kasabian are still the band your mother warned you about.

Keep reading

Back in 1998, when Tom Meighan was 17 years old, he stepped out onto the stage of The Shed in Leicester in front of a group of friends and family and began Kasabian’s first ever gig as though he were headlining Glastonbury. “I remember hiding behind the stairs and then appearing like it was some fucking [arena]. That’s the level my head was at then,” he recalls. “It was all our mates in the crowd, so everyone’s gonna tell you you’re good. But we knew we were good anyway. We knew we had something special.” Fast forward 16 years and four Number One records later to 2014, and Kasabian were headlining Glastonbury for real. This month, now with yet another Number One (current LP ‘For Crying Out Loud’) to add to the tally, they’ll headline Reading & Leeds for the second time. Tonight, they’re headlining Glasgow’s TRNSMT to 50,000 people. Taking top billing alongside Radiohead and hometown heroes Biffy Clyro, theirs is the only day to sell out.

Undeniably, Kasabian are one of the biggest bands in the country, sitting in a top tier cohabited by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Muse and very few else. It’s a mountain they’ve scaled while being hit with endless criticisms along the way – for their lyrics, their ethos, their entire ‘schtick’; surely no other band of their stature has received such a media mauling as Tom, co-conspirator Serge Pizzorno and bandmates Chris Edwards and Ian Matthews. But through it all, Kasabian have always had two indisputable weapons in their arsenal: a world class live show capable of silencing even the most po-faced of doubters, and a twinkle of the eye that suggests they’re forever having twenty times more fun than any grumbling muso slagging them off. “We’re a big band. We sell albums. People don’t like it, that’s the way it is,” intones Tom, plainly. “We’ve never been arse-licked; we’ve grafted, me and Serge, to where we’ve got. Everyone hated us when we came out and we’re still here. I don’t regret any of [our choices]. It’s all tongue in cheek, you know? That’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

Our whirlwind 36 hours within the Kasabian machine begins the night before at Glasgow’s O2 Academy. The band have hired out the venue for a final rehearsal and, despite their flights from Estonia being cancelled the night before, meaning a time-consuming re-routing and a police escort to get them on a train to the city, they’re trucking on regardless. Flight cases emblazoned with the group’s logo fill up the venue and two delivery drivers bearing stacks of pizza boxes higher than their heads arrive to fuel the touring party; when the band appear just before 9pm, Serge recalls how he was bottled the last time they played here, requiring six stitches and leaving bloodied hand prints down the dressing room corridor walls. It’s fair to say that almost everything in Kasabian’s orbit is bigger and madder and more quote-worthy than normal life.

Their reasons for tonight’s additional run through, however, are impressively un-starry. Kasabian don’t like to go into a gig cold - “We’re trying to get this collective mass of people and take them somewhere, but if we have three or four days off, I feel like it takes half a set to get there,” explains Serge. “Whereas now I think, well, we were here last night so we just carry on” - and so for two hours, on the eve of one of their summer’s biggest shows, they play some of this decade’s most hedonistic hits to a handful of non-plussed roadies in an empty room. There’s possibly none more fitting a picture of Kasabian’s strange dichotomy – excessive and purposefully ridiculous yet grounded and down to earth – than watching them blast through a live karaoke version of ultimate sesh anthem ‘Fire’ (Tom’s ducked out by this point) to precisely no-one.“The thing is though, we really care,” enthuses Serge the next day, red roses stitched onto his tracksuit as he lounges with a cup of tea back in the band’s country house hotel. “There’s a responsibility when you’re at the top of the bill to end the night on a massive fucking high, and we’ve built a reputation for that. Anyone who’s indifferent to us and doesn’t get it, misses the jokes and misses the point, they see it live and at the end of the gig they understand. It’s really important to us that people go away thinking…” He pauses. “Well, we try and change your life.”While Tom bats away any mention of the band’s detractors with the dismissive attitude of a man who genuinely doesn’t give a shit (“Nah. Done it. Can’t do anything else. Headlined Glastonbury; got six albums; probably do another 10 more. That’s how it is”), Serge is more frustrated by people’s frequent misconceptions of his band. It’s indicative of the yin-yang personality types at the heart of the duo.

In conversation, Tom is gregarious and hyperactive, with the attention span of a six-year-old on Christmas Day. He says exactly what he thinks and is already distracted by the next thing before you’ve even processed the answer. Serge, meanwhile, is a generous conversationalist, ruminating in depth on any topic he’s given. On stage, Tom, says his bandmate, has been “exactly the same from day one. He was quite a powerful character [even] at school; he’d walk into the year area and you could tell his presence.” Serge, however, has only more recently come to embrace the thrill of the stage. “I didn’t feel the need to be Freddie Mercury - that compulsion some people have to perform,” he explains. “But there was a moment when I realised I can just fuck about. I think about what I can get away with to make the other lads laugh in front of all these people. It’s ridiculous standing on stage, so you should embrace it.” But while Tom and Serge might come from different angles, both have always been united in the pursuit of fun and playfulness, of keeping things just that little bit silly. During the campaign for 2014 LP ‘48:13’, they performed backed by a series of flashing slogans including ‘Free Deirdre’ and ‘Maggot Munch’. When they headlined Glastonbury, their only ‘special guest’ was pal Noel Fielding dressed as a cartoon vampire. Joyously irreverent, theirs is a humour entrenched as much in a Young Ones-esque tradition of eccentric British comedy as one of boisterous British bands. That’s the bit that so many people seem to struggle with. “One of the most frustrating things is when people miss the humour. There’s so much piss taking in everything we do,” begins Serge. “We’re in on the joke, that’s the thing that people don’t seem to understand.” The oft-quoted stereotype, we suggest, is of Kasabian as a kind of real life Spinal Tap, dialling up the rock’n’roll cliché to 11… “It’s that middle class, apologetic, broadsheet opinion,” he replies, getting slightly rattled by the thought. “Kings of Leon: that’s Spinal Tap. Kanye getting stuck on a fucking digger truck at Glastonbury: that’s Spinal Tap. I mean, hearing Kanye singing Freddie Mercury out of tune at Glastonbury is as Spinal Tap as anything anyone else has ever done, so… it’s rich, is what I’m saying. The parody and the ridiculousness of being in a band is all nonsense. It doesn’t matter what kind of band you’re in; it’s all nonsense.”

Back in the early days, around 2004’s self-titled debut, Serge admits that Kasabian embraced all the “nonsense” rather a lot more. “We didn’t think it was gonna last longer than one album, so we decided that we were gonna experience everything we could,” he grins, with the look of a man who’s seen a few detention slips in his time. “We’d turn up to festivals and just fucking go through people. Run in dressing rooms, off our fucking heads – honestly, we were so fucked. No-one liked us. We were just fucking horrible little shits, which was perfect. I love The Stooges and those kinds of bands… We wanted everyone to fucking hate us. It was great. It’s all part of the show.” If social media had existed back then, he notes, “it would have been disgusting”. Now, both Tom and Serge are fathers and in their mid-30s. Five albums after releasing the debut they thought would be their only record, they’ve settled into a space surprisingly far down the other end of the rockstar bullshit spectrum. Say what you want about the on-stage swagger and lairy bangers, but underneath it all Kasabian have kept remarkably grounded. “That’s the thing, we’re just not fucking like that. We live in Leicester with all our families and all our pals and that’s because we saw through the fakeness from day one,” Serge shrugs. “You could reel off the people who’ve turned into dicks and that’s fucked them, but that’s just not us. We saw through it. How can I write music for the people that I relate to if I’m not around them? 50,000 people aren’t gonna relate if I stand around with a load of supermodels opening envelopes. No one gives a fuck about that guy.”

Cut to later that evening and 50,000 people are most certainly giving all the fucks. Having spent the hour before stage time blasting out Beatles songs and milling among a small and unanimously entertaining group of pals including Trainspotting legend Robert Carlyle and a perma-sunglasses wearing old friend only known as The Turtle, Kasabian take to the TRNSMT stage to a deafening roar. “It’s about anticipation, it’s like a boxing match,” notes Tom about the build up to stage time. “We’re like monkeys in a cage, and it’s my job to rattle the cage. I go from Clark Kent to Superman. BANG - like that.” The set, as always, is huge and cathartic and powerful; a 90-minute, all-consuming escape from reality that has the entire field uniformly losing their minds in unison. To paraphrase Serge’s own words previously, even if you don’t get it before, by the end of the gig you’ll understand.Off stage, enjoying a post-show beverage or two, we notice that Serge is wearing not one, but three identical gold Casio watches up his arm. The theory, he explains with that twinkle in his eye, is that casually observed on stage, they’ll look like a standard bit of bling. “But then when you look closer…” he chuckles, with a wink. It’s exactly the kind of weird and wonderful thought process that characterises the songwriter and his band of childhood pals. Some people will scoff and chalk it up as another example of the band’s rockstar buffoonery, but Kasabian have always known it’s far more fun, having a laugh down here with the people. “I genuinely just think life’s too short,” smiles Serge. “The odds of any of this happening. I mean, just to be born in this country alone, you’re already dreaming - then to have the life I’ve had. So I figure, I’ve been given this, and I can’t explain why, but man, I’m going out in a blaze of glory. And I figure if I worry and hide, then what a waste. I’m gonna have the fucking time of my life on that stage. I’m gonna have it so big. And maybe that’s what people see in us? Like, you know what? They’re living it.”

#kasabian #diy august 2017 #interviews #interviews 2017 #my scans

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metalshea · 5 years ago

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A Perfectly Doomed Christmas Carol: A Reflection on A Perfect Circle Through Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

Reflecting on the holiday season, I’m a little surprised at myself. Maybe it’s because the lead up to Christmas was shorter here in the United States than it usually is. The Thanksgiving holiday, our historic kick off for the Christmas season, was very late this year and so in some ways it doesn’t quite feel like Christmas time, yet. And so, I have yet to watch what is easily my favorite Christmas movie, A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a TON of great Christmas movies: Die Hard (YES IT IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE—I WILL FIGHT YOU!), Elf, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, The Santa Claus, Miracle on 34th St., It’s A Wonderful Life, and, of course, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original with Boris Karloff, not that Jim Carey nonsense), but there’s something about A Christmas Carol that resonates so clearly and seems so relevant beyond the holiday season. I can’t say that about many Christmas movies.

Ok, maybe Die Hard. Yippee Kai Yay!

Maybe it’s because I share a birthday with Charles Dickens, but I really love and appreciate his writings. There is a clear moralism running his body of work that is still pertinent even today. He continuously tries to call attention to disaffected working peoples, structuralized disadvantage, and implores his readers to simultaneously feel empathy and outrage. A Christmas Carol does this as well. I won’t spend long summarizing it because, really, who hasn’t seen or read it in the English-speaking world? If you haven’t, go check out A Muppet Christmas Carol, it’s surprisingly accurate to the original text and Michael Caine plays a great Ebenezer Scrooge. Or just read the novella and prepare to be shocked at the surprisingly unsettling atmosphere of the book. What, surprised that the original is actually pretty creepy? It’s supposed to be a ghost story!

“Dude, when are you going to get to the music?”

We’re getting there, I promise!

A Christmas Carol follows Ebenezer Scrooge, a deeply flawed and emotionally insecure man who insulates himself from his insecurities by devoting himself entirely to his business. He takes an “I got mine” approach to life, disparages and ignores the outside world—often at the expense of those in his employ or influence, and in the process begins to literally damn himself. Not to mention his name is literally synonymous with miser. Scrooge’s deceased friend appears to him in spirit form and basically sets him up for a round of speed dating with 3 ghosts who show him the error of his ways by bringing him through his past, the present world around him, and the very not too distant future.

Sounds familiar, right? If you speak English, it should ring a few bells even if you haven’t read any Dickens. The literary device he uses is pretty common in Western literature because it basically invokes Dante’s Divine Comedy: the idea of a character being led by around by spirit and shown a picture of the world around them or the world that awaits them.

“Dude, now you’re shifting to Dante Alighieri?! When are you getting to the metal music??”

Right now.

Just like Dante and Dickens, Maynard James Keenan uses the same literary trope in the writing of A Perfect Circle’s, The Doomed.

Did I just blow your mind?

Before I go further, if you haven’t heard the song, you probably should. Otherwise none of this will make much sense. If you have heard it, give it another listen. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvfbvuJtS8

When this song dropped in 2018, it immediately resonated with me because of it’s use of religious symbolism, particularly the invocation of the Beatitudes. When I started actually reading the lyrics, I realized just what Maynard did in it’s construction and started to get excited, he basically alludes not only to the Beatitudes, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Gospels, but the narrative structure of the song alludes to Dante. This religiously-raised, English-majoring musician and metalhead in started bouncing for joy. Not only is the song pretty damn good, but it has a freaking point! Hold me, Maynard!

But it’s Christmas, dammit, so we’re going to ignore Dante for now and instead examine this through the lens of A Christmas Carol.

Truth be told, I actually think A Christmas Carol is a better lens to view the song than Dante, anyway, but I’m pretty damned sure that Maynard wasn’t even remotely considering it when he wrote The Doomed, let alone the absolutely glorious Muppet version. Alas!

Ok, let’s start with the song itself and maybe some context.

The Doomed is a damning portrayal of our current societal state. You could probably make an argument around equality or neoliberalism, Trump’s America or capitalism, or the global refugee crisis, but I don’t think it’s meant to be so narrow a commentary, and for our purposes, I’d rather focus on the religious language at play here.

The song was released in 2018 and was probably written closer to, if not in 2017. At the time there was a growing on focus on the plight of the disaffected and a growing dialogue about how people interact with others with different life experiences. There was a Huffington Post OpEd from around that time that this was likely being written titled “I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People” that sums up the broader societal dialogue quite nicely. I wonder if Maynard read it as well?

Before going too far down that particular rabbit hole, let’s actually break down the lyrics. The vocals open:

Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering New beginning, new word And the word was death And the word was without light The new beatitude "Good luck, you're on your own"

To my eyes, the song opens from the perspective of Dante’s Virgil. Or, since this is Christmas, the Ghost of Christmas Present (GCP). In my head, I picture the scene where Scrooge and the spirit stand outside the window looking into the Cratchit’s kitchen. The spirit explains to Scrooge what he is seeing, an impoverished family making the best of what they have. In Maynard’s retelling though we aren’t greeted with a touching Christmas scene, but rather a new Sermon on the Mount. In the opening lines of the song, he immediately calls to mind the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John. But it is the last two lines of the verse that are the most striking and set the tone for the rest of the song:

The new beatitude "Good luck, you're on your own"

For those who are not Christian, or for those Christians that never learned about The Beatitudes, it helps to have some extra context. The Sermon on the Mount is a scene from the Gospel of Matthew and elaborated on in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus Christ gives a lengthy sermon to a crowd and during this famous speech, he issues The Beatitudes. You can kind of think of them as the New Testament’s answer to the Old Testament’s 10 Commandments and be kind of in the right ballpark. For all the hype and focus in Western society on the 10 Commandments, the Beatitude are often overlooked by a lot of Christians. Which is kind of bonkers if you think about it and may hopefully become more apparent by the end of this article.

Christianity is big on layering imagery and call-backs to earlier Biblical writings. Seriously, Christians love that shit. It adds a feeling a depth and purpose to The Scripture. We can sort of view the weightiness of The Beatitudes through the doctrine of the Trinity. Basically the idea that The Son, The Father, and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same being. Ergo Jesus Christ is the literal physical manifestation of God. Just as God the Father literally wrote the 10 Commandments in stone, Jesus Christ, The Son, issues a new set of Commandments, The Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount.

Yeah, they’re supposed to be THAT important.

Most Christians can name probably 6-7 of the 10 Commandments without too much thought, but they probably don’t know The Beatitudes, at least as a term. That being said, almost everyone would recognize them:

Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the patient; they shall inherit the land. Blessed are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God. Blessed are the peace-makers; they shall be counted the children of God. Blessed are those who suffer persecution in the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. (Matthew 5:3-11)

The Gospel of Luke, a later chronological writing than the Gospel of Matthew, further expounds upon The Beatitudes, adding a bit more flavoring and essentially turns them into action items rather than just virtuous states of being:

27 And now I say to you who are listening to me, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you insultingly. 29 If a man strikes thee on the cheek, offer him the other cheek too; if a man would take away thy cloak, do not grudge him thy coat along with it. 30 Give to every man who asks, and if a man takes what is thine, do not ask him to restore it. 31 As you would have men treat you, you are to treat them; no otherwise… 36 Be merciful, then, as your Father is merciful. 37 Judge nobody, and you will not be judged; condemn nobody, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and gifts will be yours; good measure, pressed down and shaken up and running over, will be poured into your lap; the measure you award to others is the measure that will be awarded to you. (Luke 6:27-31, 36-38)

Luke also offers a complimentary set of warnings to accompany the Beatitudes, known as the 4 Woes:

Woe upon you who are rich; you have your comfort already. Woe upon you who are filled full; you shall be hungry. Woe upon you who laugh now; you shall mourn and weep. Woe upon you, when all men speak well of you; their fathers treated the false prophets no worse. (Luke 6:24-26)

When I was growing up in a very devoutly Catholic household, I remember my mother telling me that as important as the 10 Commandments are to the foundations of what was then my faith, The Beatitudes were absolutely critical to my being a good Catholic and, what’s more, no person could ever hope to have a shot at entering heaven without ascribing to them.

Something about a rich man, a camel, the eye of a needle, and the prosperity gospel, amirite? But I digress.

It’s funny, re-reading the Sermon on the Mount and Luke 6, after I don’t know how many years, I really am struck by how the Beatitudes really are positive action items. The quotes I provided above don’t really delve too deeply into how the broader context of the Beatitudes demand positive action. This is article is going to be long enough as is without dissecting the full text of the Sermon on the Mount from both Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but they’re interesting pieces to read from a moral philosophy perspective even if you’re not religious. Where the Commandments say essentially, “Don’t do this or else”, the Beatitudes basically say: “Do these things, act this way, and you will be rewarded; don’t do them and you won’t be”. That is a MARKED difference in tone from the Commandments, and it is baffling why as a religion Christianity focuses so much on the consequences of negative behavior as opposed to the positive outcomes for good behavior.

Getting back to the song, it is through the Beatitudes that all people are called to approach and treat others with compassion and empathy. As the GCP shows us though, this is no longer the case: you are no longer expected to care for others, and you should not expect them to care about you. You’re on your own now.

As The Doomed progresses, we get a better picture of scene the GCP shows to Scrooge. The underlying music shifts to more of a march feel. There is a call-and-response at play between an unnamed preacher, the New Christ, and his followers, The Same Old Horde:

Blessed are the fornicates May we bend down to be their whores Blessed are the rich May we labor, deliver them more Blessed are the envious Bless the slothful, the wrathful, the vain Blessed are the gluttonous May they feast us to famine and war

Maynard covers a lot of ground in these two short verses. He’s alluded 3 Gospels already--2 of which we’ve dug into, I’m not getting into John here, but yeah that allusion to the Word comes from there (among other places… Christianity is big on scriptural call-backs, what can I say?)--and now he’s inverting the Beatitudes by referencing the 7 Deadly Sins and even the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Damn. Maynard’s smart.

Like the Beatitudes, the 7 Deadly Sins are familiar to most Christians, but they’re fundamentally misunderstood. They are not explicitly Biblical, and their legacy mostly comes down to us through early Christian mysticism and through the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. They are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. What sets these apart from sin as it’s normally understood is that they are not actions. According to Aquinas, sin is a moral evil that is not in accord with reason or Divine Law and it fundamentally requires some type of decision and action. The 7 Deadly sins are more states of emotional being that lead us to moral evils. Through wrath and anger, we’re prone to violence and poor decision making. Through sloth, we’re prone to inaction in the face of evil. And so it goes.

The 7 Deadly Sins are inherently selfish mindsets. They are considered so in Western culture because allowing ourselves to fall victim to our lust or greed is the same as saying that we are sating ourselves potentially at the expense of others. Such a mindset is in direct conflict with the words of Christ vis-a-vis the Beatitudes. The contrast is so strong that, in a way, you could look at The Beatitudes and the 7 Deadly Sins as extremes on the end of a spectrum. It is the human condition to err towards the Sins, but it is imperative for all humans to move towards the Beatitudes, not only for their salvation but for the betterment of society (anybody else catching a whiff of Freud here? Id/Ego? Just me?). Maynard flips the script: the worst impulses of humanity now guide us.

The music shifts again, this time to something more innocent sounding, and we hear our Scrooge speak for the first time:

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful? What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful?

It’s a little difficult to tell if it’s our Scrooge or GCP who utter the next two lines, I like to think it’s the latter, but the sentiment is the same either way:

All doomed All doomed

In this new world, those that embrace the values and actions embodied by the Beatitudes are left behind.

The music picks up again and the GCP again address Scrooge. The atmosphere almost feels more somber and reflective:

Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering New beginning, new word And the word was death And the word was without light The new beatitude: "Good luck"

This repetition of the earlier verse brings us back to Dickens’ scene outside the Cratchit’s: The spirt echoes the earlier words of Scrooge while Scrooge solemnly considers Tiny Tim’s health: “’If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.’”

The music shifts, again, this time back to the innocent, meek section we heard earlier in the song. Scrooge interrupts GCP:

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful? What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful? What of the righteous? What of the charitable? What of the truthful, the dutiful, the decent?

Once again Scrooge directly references the Beatitudes, but this time he expands beyond them, alluding to people that embody other parallel virtues to those referenced in the Gospels. There’s a sense of pleading and desperation to his words as Scrooge tries to capture the gravity of the implications of GCP’s descriptions.

The music shifts again to the marching beat, with a dissonant guitar lead, purposefully played off key. GCP is becoming angry and annoyed. “You’re not getting it, stupid”. He responds through Maynard, who now sings with a clear edge to his voice:

Doomed are the poor Doomed are the peaceful Doomed are the meek Doomed are the merciful

For the word is now death And the word is now without light The new beatitude:

GCP directly calls out a number of the virtues of the Beatitudes, but this time his cynicism is crystal clear. He finally exclaims to Scrooge, anger boiling over:

Fuck the doomed! You're on your own.

Again, I’m reminded of Dickens and the final exchange between Scrooge and GCP. Scrooge laments the state and health of those whose lives he has just seen. The sprit, angry that Scrooge still seems to be missing the big picture—that Scrooge bears responsibility for their state, let alone their opinions of him—uses Scrooge’s own words to drive the point home: “’Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "Are there no workhouses?’". It’s a final, damning rebuke for Scrooge to ponder before being confronted by the most terrifying spirit of the night. Just as we are left to ponder the implications of the “New Beatitude”.

See, I told you there was a good reason to use GCP as the narrator as opposed to Dante.

Plus, Christmas.

So there.

Some final thoughts:

I’ve been struggling how to relate the two children that accompany the GCP in A Christmas Carol, named Ignorance and Want, back to “The Doomed”. In some ways they could be tied into the 7 Deadly Sins as they are both expressions of pure human selfishness, but, you know, square peg/round hole. Still food for thought though.

Even as I have moved in my own faith journey from Catholic to absurdist (a la Albert Camus), I still refer to myself as “philosophically Catholic”, and have been known to reference Luke’s version of The Sermon on the Mount in casual conversation, specifically this gem:

By what right wilt thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me rid thy eye of that speck, when thou canst not see the beam that is in thy own? Thou hypocrite, take the beam out of thy own eye first, and so thou shalt have clear sight to rid thy brother’s of the speck. (Luke 6:42)

I love that image.

The Beatitudes, The Woes, the 7 Deadly Sins, and their larger roles as measures of personal morality are really meaningful to me. Even though I don’t consider myself Christian, I still ascribe to them. They are guideposts towards achieving The Golden Rule—if such a thing could be considered a state of virtue—and in their broader context they are calls for us to engage of certain types of action, especially considering Matthew 25:36:

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Re-reading The Beatitudes for this post, I’ve also been so struck by how little sense of primacy there is in them compared to the Commandments. There’s no explicit demand that we follow the Christian God, but that we embrace the Beatitudes and their broader contexts as moral bedrock. Christ reflects later in the Gospel of Luke that not using them as the basis for our personal morality would be like building a house in a flood zone on dirt instead of bedrock. There’s a lot of truth to that, and that message transcends a lot of the nonsense that tends to lead people away from the religion.

I think Maynard might be coming from a similar viewpoint. The values that we are supposed to espouse and embody are outdated in this New World. Kindness is obsolete. Those that embrace virtue are kicked aside just as readily as those that we would otherwise consider to be lesser than ourselves. The Doomed urges us to reflect on this and consider how we view the people and world around us. Like Scrooge, in order for us to make a substantive change in ourselves and around us, we need to really consider what we’re seeing before us in the present moment.

And it’s not a pretty picture.

But it’s not all bleak. The last line of the song uses the conjunction and pronoun “You’re” and “your”, respectively. Both variations of “You”. We could spend hours discussing and dissecting the grammatical implications of the lyrics, but suffice it to say: as much as a condemnation as the last line is, it’s also a recognition that it’s on us to act. No one else.

I’ll end this 3500-word beast on that note.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Let’s do a little bit better every day.

Shea \m/

#a perfect circle #a christmas carol #maynard james keenan #eat the elephant #charles dickens #Christianity #sermon on the mount #beatitudes #seven deadly sins #heavy metal #metal #alternative metal #catholicism #thomas aquinas #aquina

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dumpsterfireblog · 7 years ago

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Jenn’s *Fun* Top 10: Week of 7/31

This week’s list is a bit of a shitshow, featuring three different languages and some pretty old songs. I’ve mainly been listening to music to write and do some work, so the focus was mainly on how easy they were to listen to.

1. Bolbbalgan4 - When You Fall in Love

As I mentioned in my post two days ago, this was a song that I had been trying to find for at least a month. The chorus had already been stuck in my head from Heart Signal before I even knew what the song was. Despite me only finding it the other day, it’s been on repeat for 48 hours so I think it deserves the current first place on this list.

2. Reol - No Title

Reol is one of my all-time favorite utaite and that’s saying a lot, considering there are some real gems that come out of Niconico. Pretty much everything she sings is pure gold. No title was a song that I knew I would love from the first note. It’s a bit less hype than some of her other music (see: YoiYoi Kokon), but it’s uplifting and has such a clean, pleasant sound. The summery beat keeps this a super easy song to just keep replaying, but her voice also conveys a tinge of sadness at times. It’s also just generally catchy, which doesn’t hurt.

3. Allison Weiss - Wait For Me

A song that almost made me cry when I first listened to it, and I’m still not sure why. I honestly have no idea where I stumbled upon Allison Weiss’s music, but I assume it was some Youtube algorithm nonsense. This song was made for you to think about a specific person while listening to it, whether it be a long-distance lover or a faraway friend. Allison’s bare vocals hold a raw emotion that’s hard not to empathize with.

4. Heize - 널 너무 모르고

I just like Heize’s singing voice, so I automatically have a bias toward her songs. This song definitely has the same groove as her previous title tracks, which makes it easy to like. I also think the lyrics are pretty relatable, and apply to a lot of people in modern relationships.

5. Yerin Baek - Bye Bye My Blue

A true coffee shop song, if I ever started going to coffee shops regularly. There’s something calming yet slightly addicting to the piano melody of this song, and Yerin’s natural voice complements it very well. It’s a fairly simple song, and I think the simplicity does work for its vibe.

6. Los Campesinos - Hello Sadness

One of my biggest soft spots is when a song has sad lyrics to uplifting music. This song is one of the classic examples, and I haven’t gotten tired of listening to it in five years. I love how this song (and all the other tracks in this album, actually) explore a type of disturbing romanticism that sets itself apart from nearly everything else I’ve listened to.

7. Lee Jin Ah - 마음대로

Lee Jin Ah, I swear to god. I loved her in Kpop Star when she was on it, more for her songwriting ability than her unique voice (though obviously, her voice is great as well.) Her new song, Random, just came out a week ago and it was alright. Maybe it’s a dick move, but after listening to that song I immediately starting listening to 마음대로 again instead, a song that she sang on Kpop Star back in 2014. I actually did cry when I heard this for the first time on the show. I feel like her voice is so soft and gentle that it fits these kinds of ballads better than the upbeat songs she’s been singing since debut. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.

8. The Colourist - Fix This

Another one of those bands that I can automatically put on without thinking and I know I’ll be into whatever song comes up. I did say before how I liked bands with a female and male vocal duo, right? Well, yeah. I always sing along to this song subconsciously when it’s playing, which attests to how well it worms its way into your head. One of the things that I like the most about this upbeat indie pop/rock song is how it tells a really clear story with its lyrics.

9. Nano - Hysteria (acoustic)

Speaking of utaite, Nano is also an amazing singer that emerged from Niconico. This song is completely in English, and I fell in love with the acoustic version before I even heard the original. There’s a very nostalgic feel to this song, and it builds up to a very powerful emotional climax at the chorus. The original version of this song is just as good (albeit much more energetic) but as music to play in the background, this just fits better.

10. Swings - 듣고 있어?

One of Swings’s more chill songs, and the one that I find myself listening to the most often on lonely nights and rainy days. It makes you feel a little empty inside, but it’s definitely a pleasant song to listen to, and the chorus is surprisingly catchy. Swings actually sounds GENTLE in this track, a bit of a departure from what he’s normally known for *cough* Bulldozer *cough*.

#jenn #top ten list #nano #swings #allison weiss #reol #bolbbalgan4 #los campesinos #lee jin ah #heize #yerin baek #the colourist

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