#im like “i grew up with prog rock”

[sandsorghum]

Nic, I come to ask…

What are your head canons regarding Higuruma’s music taste? 👀

omg chibi hiromi destressing with his lil juice box, how can any creature be so cute and sad at once - ahem

I think music is a conduit for Higuruma that lets him feel rather than directly express many emotions (as it is for so many) - in his specific case it's not because he's unable to articulate them per se, but his relationship to music is that it creates/curates a space where he allows himself to experience the depth and magnitude of feelings he normally doesn't. He doesn't get into impassioned monologues about his favourite artists but can easily (if you'll let him) talk at length about band lore and the evolution of their sound, his preferences for certain eras, the story behind the album art etc, peak geekery that way. The sort of thing that's borderline annoying if it weren't also so endearing and unexpectedly charming.

Higuruma was born in the early 80s (?) so a kid that grew up when cassette tapes were phasing out into walkmans; still very much an analog period, listening to the radio or hanging out at record stores would've been the way he'd discover new music. There's particular prerequisites to that process; one's actual physical presence and committed attention to (hopefully) well organised catalogues in the shops, so just because of that, as a teen he'd have been hemmed in to listening to the genres he already gravitated to. It would diversify quite a bit once streaming became more mainstream with the internet in the early 2000s, when he would have been in his mid20s.

Genre-wise Higu's heavy rotations would be

In his early to late teens: Grunge, alt+prog rock, punk, smattering of garage rock

Early to mid 20s: post-punk, jap hiphop, jazz rap, bit of electronica

Late 20s to 30s: indie rock, modal jazz, RNB, eclectic oldies

I've assembled some playlists but I don't necessarily think of all the artists or music here as his mainstays but more the type of sound and lyrics he'd like, based on his age and mood (some of them wouldn't fit chronologically anyway hahah). I assume he'd have mainly listened to the japanese equivalents of the more internationally recognisable bands in these compilations. Higu would also have had western influences but mostly during his college years!

Anyway here's what he listens to when

He wants to regress to his youth

He's having struggles/nostalgia for his ideals

He's commuting after a long day

He's making dinner for/with a lover

Thanks for the fun ask @tsukimefuku! (I'm sorry it became so longwinded but Im insane about this man)

[miiilowo]

I'm pretty sure? you've mentioned Call Me by Blondie before (my memory is awful bksnxks), but do you have any other songs you think William would listen to? What types of songs/music does he lean more towards

i think i may have mentioned that for Michael, but as for William's music taste, im not really sure. While I think making him listen to oingo boingo and devo would be funny, and it would match his personality energy wise, I dont think he actually would. the closest thing in relation to that would be MAYBE talking heads

now making him like hip to be square would be funny. that would be good. im gonna go w that. generally i would imagine its just like, prog rock and steely dan. dad music. no classic rock or speed metal or anything like that

then ofc he would probably just like music he grew up with, like everybody else does. songs from the late 50s and 60s, w early 70s for spice. im not as well versed in them as i am 80s and late 70s music, though i do LIKE older stuff so i could probably whip up a playlist or sumn

[borrelia]

OH HEY I LOVE MUSIC L'Via L'Viaquez by The Mars Volta (This is a highly experimental song and I LOVE IT for being fucking off the rails. This things goes nuts.) Passing Time by Ophelia Syndrome (I LOVE THIS SONG all of Ophelia Syndrome's songs are SO GOOD but not all their songs are on Youtube. Gotta use Spotify. Sad!) Beatophone by Caravan Palace (I love the Panic Album and nothing else by Caravan Palace. ELECTRO SWING FOR THE WIN)

THREE for the price of one!

L'Via L'Viaquez by The Mars Volta

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

can't agree that this is particularly experimental 😭 but it's definitely right up my alley!

EDIT: this is just prog rock fhgsdgsdf i still like it! but i grew up on prog rock so it's not that out there to me

Passing Time by Ophelia Syndrome

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

sorry its not bad i just got bored 😔 im not very big on acoustics or soft songs

Beatophone by Caravan Palace

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

lone digger got real popular when i was in high school or smthn so i already have a handful of caravan palace in my library from then :) beatophone is a nice one

[3ueueb47473hd82j]

i wonder what it is about ska-adjacent shit that i love SO fucking much besides it being. just like. really fun and good. its good music brent. but like. i didnt grow up with ska or anything. i mostly just grew up with prog rock dad shit and like stevie nicks so thats what my ears are really accustomed to. but i always LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED jazz as a kid i always had an affinity for it but i never really like. REALIZED how MUCH ive liked it and for how long until like.... semi-not-so-semi-recently. like maybe 3 years ago lol. like im ADDICTED to it like swing makes me fucking crawl on the ceiling and foam at the mouth like it gets me PUMPED. so like. reggae and rock and maybe a lil dash of punk all mixed together with a HORN SECTION? what the fuck is wrong with you? sign me up. 

[wanderinstar]

🎅 oh, i cant believe santa forgot to tell you their favorite yes album

you noticed how much i like the buggles so the answer is pretty much as clear as it can get.

its ....

magnification!

just joshing. i havent gotten to that one yet. hopefully will though.

relayer, drama and 90125 are the ones i like the most. relayer because soon is a tearjerker for me and i love that. drama because i didnt already listen to the buggle guys enough and 90125 has some great ones on it. first i thought our song was a love song but then i read the lyrics.

fun drama fact(i dont know if you know this already. sharing it anyway)! white car might be referencing gary numan, as he at one point owned a car(that was white) and that made him the man(in a white car). fun drama fact: its criminal that white car is not longer.

i have a few vinyls, most are passed down from my grandmother though and theyre classical/opera. one the yes album vinyl, a 90125 cd, and a tally hall vinyl thats been lounging around my house for about a year now. i am going to procure for myself a lot more of these funny little pvc discs because it feels nice to collect them.

listened to rare bird's somebody's watching and can confidently say i like that one more than the self titled! thank you for recommending, very cool. huge synthesizers fan, i am.

man, these keep getting longer and longer. im afraid tumblr will no longer be able to contain the magnitude of me being your secret santa. lets hope it holds on.

do you like king crimson? what do you think of them?

Ohhh yes, keep 'em as long as your heart wants, I love it ;)

I've heard the white car story, but I'm glad you shared it ♡ I didn't like 80s Yes the first time I listened to it (I only liked Owner Of A Lonely Heart, which I I've known since I was a kid), but then it really grew on me and now I love it.

That's so cool that you have The Yes Album on vinyl! I don't own any of their records, but it's ok, I have others which I treasure.

I'm glad you liked Somebody's Watching :) Unfortunately Rare Bird didn't release many albums (only 5), but on the bright side I like all of them. If you're wondering which one to listen to next, I'd recommend Epic Forest, it's my second favorite.

I do like King Crimson! I think they sound a little crazy and it makes them awesome. Oh I have a little funny story about them: when I was getting to know prog rock, I searched King Crimson on tumblr and, if I'm not mistaken, that's how I found out about the relation between JoJo and classic rock. I even watched some episodes because I thought it would be fun to see all the references, but then I ended up forgetting about it… A lot of people say that King Crimson's power on the anime doesn't make any sense at all and I find it hilarious! Btw this character is, in my honest opinion, hilariously ugly, please check it out if you haven't already, I bet you won't regret it! Now back to the band, Red is my favorite album of theirs. What about you, what do you think of them?

[cheolsbae]

i graduated w a marketing degree last year dec.! i have no idea how to describe my current job lol. im like the front end for people importing goods and make sure they have everything all set up for customs clearance and delivery. its a lot emails mostly. we import the most stuff from Brazil and Israel (tho the Israel imports are just one company) weirdly enough. oh yeah Shh grew on me over time. the old ones are still good!! ~sss 1/3

my go-to recommendations (aka long-running comics w a consistent update): Sakana by MAD. so funny. traditionally done! Ava's Demon. unique layout/style. some animations. The Boy Who Fell (used to be Hell's Kitchen). This Is Not Fiction (TINF). cool style. funny. The main comics ive read that are completed are on Webtoon lol. Witch Hunt by sso park. just !!. Oh! Holy by Ahyun. funny/cute. official eng sub unfinished: I Don't Want This Kind of Hero and Cheese in the Trap ~sss 2/3 

both those Webtoon ones are... real intense rn cuz they're wrapping up i think. (and no i have not watched the kdrama for Cheese in the Trap. i hear its awful). idk what style. not painterly realistic lol. Vian Izak reminds me of prog rock with how his songs and albums are structured lol. He even has a little comic on his site to go with the albums. they tell a story like the only prog rock artist ive really fully listened to, The Dear Hunter. Act IV is the best followed by Act V btw. ~sss 3/3

Wow that sounds exciting tho, Are your colleagues nice? 

i know Sakana, started to read it a while ago but i need to keep up with the latest updates. I’ll add the other ones to my check out list, haven’t read smth new in a long time

I still have some acrylics and watercolours, from time to time i like to pain abstract stuff bc i suck at drawing fbskdbgs. 

Does he? he seems like a multi-talented individual, i love that! the aesthetic of the album is really good

Also how was your weekend going? smth new? did you know svt has tiktok now? im like vgsfhkgks why? give them their insta accounts back :( 

[twinkrundgren]

I do agree with you that forgive me for the term "classic prog" has a very different sound to it since back then it was more a rebellion genre whilst today its more typical experimental and kind of accepted at this point at least in some circles. Ive been really into Pink Floyd for a while now and me being more into the modern stuff its interesting to hear the difference. What are some of your favorite prog albums?

there’s a big difference yeah, there’s so many factors in why they sound different people could write a whole thesis on it or something. and i’m not critical of modern prog- all music needs to evolve, and that’s what progressive rock sought to do, to evolve rock music into a respectable art form. that being said, i just prefer the 70s prog sound, it actually feels timeless to me, but i grew up listening to prog. 

some of my faves are supertramp’s crime of the century, utopia’s ra, and klaatu’s hope. i’m also really listening to yes’s drama to get ready for the upcoming yestival concert and i’m really into it. ELP is consistently great (except for love beach, but that’s a bit controversial) genesis’s foxtrot is amazing! Rush’s 2112 and hemispheres are tied for my favorite 70s rush album. 

the prog fandom here is mostly docused on 70s prog, and im sure theres a lot of reasons. we’re a lot different than other prog communities as well, being really open to lgbt identities and the like. its really peaceful here, not much drama at all.