#in fact SOAD is my favourite band of all time

[nouveauxamoris]

cleaned up the fyodor painting from a few months back 👍🏽 father into your hands why have you forsaken me or whatever system of a down said

RBS APPRECIATED

[daronmalakianofficial]

"#soad #GOD. THIS HAS BEEN ON MY MIND FOR SO LONG#almost wanted to make a post similar #i just. ugh #first it was table memes and today it's a lot of terracotta pie ones#and i fear that being their legacy #instead of it being what they actually WRITE ABOUT #i was turned away from their music for a long time because the 'fans' had such an oversaturation of poor humor #but i learned more. the way they write about war genocide religion etc enticed me so much #maybe if we focused on their real purpose instead of watering them down to haha funny chop suey band... idk #don't get me wrong. i love humor about my favorite things! especially bands! #i myself am guilty of this. almost a year ago i posted art of them dying in a glue trap cuz it's funnt#funny* #sometimes humor or jokes can be a way of expressing your love for something #it certainly is for me #but i could write essays about my favorite songs from them#solo music as well. serj might be my favorite lyricist of all time#and daron malakian is such a master of melody #the way they write beautiful vocal harmonies together oh my god... ❤️ #sorry for the rant in the tags op. i'm just really dying to talk about this" "#soad #i have more thoughts on this actually #death grips receives a lot of this treatment because of racism #fans just view a black man as humorous. it's horrendous. #they have a surface level understanding of the music because they don't see past what's actually there #and the same could be said for soad! #a group of armenian men sharing truly personal messages has SO MUCH THERE #but that is ignored as well! #ugh. sorry again for the tag rant"

No actually, please do rant in my notes because you're completely right! It's all just racism and blatant disrespect towards artwork made by people of colour! I don't see people acting the same way about their favourite white musicians and bands quite like I see with how they treat musicians of colour, and that is to say that I don't see people doing what they did to Death Grips- very rarely do I hear about a band having to walk off the stage because the audience was collectively acting like a nuisance by throwing water bottles at them. Not to mention how going to see bands like Death Grips is becoming kind of a meme- the first few people who showed up with lollipops and propeller hats were kinda funny, but it's getting to a point where it seems like people don't go because they even like Death Grips to begin with.

I fear that the same thing is happening with SOAD, because of the fact that they are a band made up of indigenous Armenians whose work is very leftist and political. I think humour can definitely be a way for people to show their appreciation, and I know members like Shavo do share these memes pretty often, but I need people to remember that they have to be respectful before they can be funny. I'm not sure if I've heard of any horror stories with this transferring to how people act in real life towards them such as at a concert, but some of the memes I do see online are beyond being in such poor taste that it makes me wonder if people listen to SOAD because they agree with the politics in their songs, or if they're just in it for the memes. Never again do I want to see another meme about how Serj looks like a terrorist, to give a specific example.

Humour has a time and place, and it's so upsetting to see bands and musicians like Death Grips and SOAD be turned into the butt of a joke because people just can't get enough of being racist.

I’ve made my fair share of memes about SOAD but sometimes I feel like the band is getting the Death Grips treatment where people care more about turning them and their works into jokes rather than treating their work with respect.

Especially in SOAD’s case where they’re a band made up of indigenous people whose works are very politically charged. People can make some really funny memes from their work but don’t let that be the only way you engage with their work please and thank you

[vickytokio]

Tagging Game

tagged by @brokenfannibal

Rules: answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better. (I don't have 21 people to tag, so I'll just tag a few)

Nicknames: Most people just call me Vicky, but my family actually calls me Tuta (long story lol)

Zodiac: Libra

Height: 158cm (yes, I'm short, I'm aware lol)

Last movie I saw: Ahn... Wi-Fi Ralph maybe? I haven't been watching many films

Last thing I googled: For myself, I googled what a tack room was while reading fanfic (but I've googled a few things for work already since then)

Favorite Musician: That's a hard one... I really like Skillet, SOAD and Creed, and several other classic rock bands. I love Vivaldi, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and others. Then there's MPB from which I like many artists... It really goes from the mood, but usually instrumental music is my go to choice

Song stuck in my head: Right now, Breaking Free from Skillet (funny, 'cause I haven't listened to them in weeks)

Other blogs: Don't have any, I just post whatever comes to mind in this one

Do I get asks: Very rarely, but I treasure each one and love them

Following: 286 blogs, I think... But the number grows each day

Amount of sleep: Usually about 6/7 hours a night unless I'm depressed, then it goes from 2 to 10...

Lucky Number: Ahn... My favorite numbers are 7, 5 and 8, does that count?

What I’m wearing: Jeans and a t-shirt and I am melting

Dream job: Getting paid to read fanfic... I honest to God just wish I could not work

Dream trip: A few... London for starters, but also Japan (anywhere there will do), Greece and Monet's Garden

Favorite Food: Pasta! With every flavor and salsa combination!

Do you play any instruments?: Does voice count? I can sing...

Languages: Fluent in English and Portuguese, with a fair knowledge of Spanish and a little bit of Japanese and Brazilian sign language (not enough for a full conversation, but I can understand a bit)

Favourite songs: I answered my all time favorites a while ago somewhere, so I'll say my current ones this time.

Strobe - Kick-ass; Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi - Amelie Poulin; Giorni Dispari - Ludovico Einaudi

Random Fact: I love walking, I stopped doing it for years 'cause I was just super tired all the time, but I started walking home from work everyday and it's the best I felt in a long time

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: The silence in mid-afternoon when there's no one on your street, a mug full of tea that's slightly too hot, running barefoot in the rain.

Tagging: Ok, no pressure here, I'll tag @pichitinha @dark-raven-world @bellatokio @sdewan6 @my-autistic-things

[darkwoodme]

Fun little questionnaire

I got tagged by @mewling-kitten (Thanks ;))

Rules: Answer these questions and tag twenty blogs you’d like to get to know better. ( Do it if you want, or not )

Nickname: It's my last name.(?

Zodiac: Gemini

Height: I'm not sure but I'm below 95 kg. Im kinda heavy

Time: right now? 21:18

Favourite band/artist: A7x, SOAD and Queen are my long time favorites but Opeth and Gojira are getting there... There is also John Coltrane and Miles Davis .... Mmmm this one is difficult (?

Song stuck in my head: Pain - Three Days Grace

Last movie I saw: The Lord Of The Rings

Last thing I googled: The lyrics to a song from Pantera... Im not good with memory and all of that.

Other blogs: i have only one more but its a trash blog for things random

Do I get asks: nope, and I don't think that'll happen for a long time(?

Why did I choose this username: I like the woods and forest, especially the dark and mystical, that mysterious magic that lies within deep on the unknown woods... so yeah that's why i pick that nickname.

Following: me? O what amount of blogs do i follow? Either way I don't remember

Average amount of 💤: From a couple hours to 10/12 hours,I have very bad sleeping habits

Lucky number: 5

What am I wearing:A black T-shirt with jeans. Very comfortable (?

Dream job: Drawing to live ? Something like that would be nice.

Dream trip: A trip to Europe would be nice but Japan is very appealing.

Favourite food: Pasta or (i dont remember the word in English) guiso(?

Play any instrument: drummer here(? I'm trying to learn bass... Oh also I sing but don't expect to much from that, I'm not very talented.

Eye colour: Very dark Brown, almost Black.

Hair colour: Very dark Brown, almost Black.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: A forgotten house deep on a dark forest. A broken mirror on a wall of an empty room. A shelf full of books. A crow that live there. (? Dunno

Languages you speak: Spanish is my native lenguage, but i speak English pretty decent. Also I now various words from French, Italian, Japanese, etc but I don't speak really speak them.

Most iconic song: I have many ... I can't choose so I'm ganna say my last one is: Octavarium from Dream Theater

Random fact: Even if many animals can communicate with us (sign lenguage?), none have ever asked anything, at all...

People to tag: Given that I don't have many blogs that actually kinda cares and a few people follow me, this is going to be the five that (i think) may answer. @ladysurreal @dipper2345 @thegothicalice @theropegeek @katevictoriax

Many thanks to @mewling-kitten for taging me it's very appreciated. Love your blog! If anybody read this ...

Go show her love!!

[radramblog]

5 random songs (again)

I have done this before, making it technically a retread of a previous topic, but I kinda just. Feel like talking about music, but don’t have anything in particular I want to go through, and also don’t really want to go through an entire album right now. I’m also not sure I even have the time to do so, so.

Anyway. This is gonna be me going through a handful of random songs, as determined by just going onto “liked songs” and hitting shuffle and seeing what pops out. We’ll… we’ll see how it goes!

#1. Anything You Want – Spoon

I am surprised to find that this band that I know only one song from and have never heard of beyond that is in fact kind of a big deal. Nine albums with a tenth on the way, and a few of them even charted.

There’s kind of a lot going on in this track. Little bits come and go throughout the verses, and the vocal delivery is pseudo-conversational. I really enjoy how the last lyrics are basically just a rambling reminiscence that trails off into the closing moments of the song.

It’s a good track. Baseline on these is that I do like them, considering they’re in my “liked songs” list, but I have no actual attachment to this band beyond this. The song is one of bitter memory, as the permanence of a relationship ending settles in, but it doesn’t seem mean-spirited about it, which is a trap frustratingly many breakup songs end up in.

 #2: Needles – System of a Down

At some point I thought I might go through every SOAD album on this blog. For a while, I put them up in my top 5 bands (maybe even top 3?), but I’ve kind of lost that particular interest. Still might do, like, Steal This Album or something.

Needles is the second track from Toxicity, System’s second and unquestionably most popular album. I remember a few of the songs on this album being obviously filler, but this at least isn’t one of them. Toxicity is an album that hits you immediately and constantly, with Needles’s bridge being kind of the first moment of respite on you get- Prison Song certainly doesn’t let up. Always have really liked this bridge- from memory, Daron didn’t get as many spots to shine vocally on the first few albums, so I do like getting to hear him on there.

Needles is harsh, loud, aggressive and abrasive. It’s also a little weird and silly, despite the subject of the lyrics. Basically, all you have to do is drop in some politics and you’ve got the perfect encapsulation of a System track in this song.

 #3: An Infinite Regression – Animals as Leaders

I had to skip two songs I’d already talked about before to get to this one (including one I literally did two days ago!), as well as one from an album I plan to cover in future. Turns out it’s a bit more complex to do this when you’ve already been going through so many pieces of music you like, huh.

Animals as Leaders are pretty obscure, I think- they’re one of a surprisingly high number of progressive metal acts that don’t have a vocalist (I mean, I can think of like, two others), though I think they’re a bit more Djent-y than Scale the Summit at least. This song in particular is like a thrill ride all the way through- it’s going through these very rapid sections that almost sound mechanical (flashing back to the new machine I learned how to operate this afternoon), or in some cases very digital, and other parts that are huge, vast, and loud as you’d expect the genre to be. It is a hell of a way to open an album, which is something I remember it doing.

It’s also not my favourite AaL track- that would have to be Physical Education, which funnily enough is an excellent song for me at the gym. That one gets me going every time. Maybe I should try An Infinite Regression out there too, huh.

 #4. Psychosocial – Slipknot

We only got here because my app randomly decided to feed me like 5 SOAD tracks in a row, and I don’t want to do 2 in one post. I don’t even have that many saved, do I?

I have no idea how Slipknot is perceived by The Community at this point. They were always a bit weird, what with the whole masks gimmick and probably being one of the fuckin edgiest bands a quote unquote “normie” would have heard of. So who knows whether I’m going to ruffle feathers here? I sure don’t. But Psychosocial is a great fuckin track.

Something about the chorus vocals that sounds almost crowd-like in a studio track, something about the slow build to the song’s (admittedly otherwise kind of mid) climax, it all clicks together. The kind of vocal delivery done in the verses doesn’t always work that well, but it does for me here, at least. And the way it all comes together for the last verse is really satisfying. Iunno. Song good.

Still a little salty about the Metallica/Slipknot concert getting cancelled because James Hetfield went into rehab again, even before COVID could fully kill it off. Pretty rude if you ask me.

 #5. Asteroid – Kyuss

Wait, have I deadass never talked about Queens of the Stone Age on this blog? Literally how? Oh, that’s got to fucking change. Anyway, here’s a song by that band’s predecessor, I suppose.

I dunno why this Kyuss song in particular stuck with me. I don’t know that it’s significantly different from most of the other output in the band, outside of being an instrumental. It’s this very loose, spacey track despite the heavy guitar tones, one that just lets some of its bits hang and drag for a while before it moves on. It’s to the point where the song fades out so slowly you might think it’s over (especially if you’re listening to it fairly quietly) before its opening riff starts again- though I do like the extra development on it the second time around.

The playing on this track is kind of impeccable. It’s not hard to see how Josh Homme went on to make such bangers after the fact.

Anyway. I guess that’s some music? Sorry, this was kind of scattered. It didn’t help that apparently today was the day the program decided to remind me that System of a Down existed and are great. Anyway. More music next Tuesday, proper album, maybe SOAD, maybe QOTSA, maybe something else. We shall see.

[your-typical-defensive-tool]

A list of me-things

I don’t talk much about myself so I figure you deserve an explanation of who I am.

My favourite colour is maroon.

My mother was born in Saint-Sauvan, a small village in France. I’d like to go sometime.

My favourite song is between Violent Pornography by Soad or This Means War by Avenged.

My favourite band is avenged sevenfold

My favourite drink is black coffee with three sugars.

Tobias’ face makes me want to puke the least. In fact I quite like it.

I absolutely love banana yogurt with chocolate flakes.

I basically live off ham slices because it doesn’t have the texture meat has. I like pancakes and fried eggs with maple syrup.

My favourite food though, is beans on toast.

I love boarding, longboards are alright but I prefer skateboards.

I don’t care about much, and everything’s pretty black and white in my eyes.

I used to want to see Maddy burn, but not anymore. I think she’s alright. I think Tommy’s alright, too. I’m glad I stuck around.

I felt happiness for the first time tonight

I like video games a lot.

I remember things best in lists.

I’m very straight forward. If you have to beat around the bush, there’s no point in saying it.

Not a lot scares me apart from the dark and Steven, but I don’t tend to let fears hold me back.

I’m hot headed, I’ll race into a fight without regard for anyone.

And finally, though I’m quite harsh and cold, I have a soft spot for Tobias. Though I still maintain he’s pretty lame.

I like all four of them quite a bit, but Tobias steals top spot.

[albumoftheweek]

Album of the Week - 44

Hey Hey!

I know Starsailor are cheesy.  I know... But they are so easy listening!  And such a simple pleasure for one's ears :).  

So to counteract the cheesiest, pop-iest, sleaziness of Starsailor, we are doing a 180!  That's right!  What can the opposite of catchy, pop music with a lot of intensity look like?!?!

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf 

Yeap!  A hard rock / heavy metal album for HeKi!!!!  But it remains damn catchy and is one of my favourite albums of the 2000s while I was growing up.

So I decided to give you this album when we heard "Go With the Flow" in Circus bar in Trondheim.  May I say... I used to go to rock clubs at least once a week back in the day when Songs for the Deaf came out (2002... btw) and I had not been in one for a VERY long time!  This MUST change!  Rock bars are so much fun!  Right??

Anyway; this was voted my favourite album of 2002 (it was back in the day when I made best of lists for the year), and although I know that it might be a bit too much for you, I'm willing to take the risk.  I mean.... I was actively listening to heavy rock/metal music for over a decade, so at some point I would have to give you one album from the genre.

And what better introduction to it, than this!  QOTSA are a Californian band who have been around since the late 1990s.  Their singer/guitarist and original bass player were actually the guitar and bass player for one of the most historic and important Stoner Rock bands, Kyuss.  From the ashes of Kyuss (you wouldn't really like Kyuss) came QOTSA.  And although they were quite successful immediately due to their past connections with Kyuss, they hit it big with their second album (Rated R) and broke through to heavy MTV (ah... remember MTV back then when they played hard rock music ALL day?) rotation with their third album (Songs for the Deaf) and in particular with No One Knows.  

You've heard No One Knows.  To this day it remains a brilliant hard rock music single, that is the perfect balance between hard rock and catchy tune.  And QOTSA got that right in many other songs in this album too:  First it Giveth, Go with the Flow, Hanging Tree, God is in the Radio, The Sky is Fallin'.  Although they are loud, intense, hard rock songs, they are very catchy and with great melodies.

And of course there is also the instrumentation on this thing.  Josh Homme is a brilliant guitarist.  He is superb at constructing very groovy guitar riffs!  And in this album he is coupled with a special drummer!  No other than the drummer of Nirvana and singer of the Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl).  And with Nick Olivetti's bass playing they combine for a potent combination of amazingly catchy and groovy songs with some amazing melodies.

I remember listening to this thing when it came out in 2002.  I bought it as a CD and I would have it on repeat for months.  That, along with Tool and System of a Down were the only things I would listen to (Tool and SOAD are 2001 albums).  I was living in Greece at the time, for 12 months, between my bachelors and my masters.  In fact at the time I was considering not coming back to the UK but going to the USA for my Masters instead.  As such, I started going to classes to prepare for a GRE/GMAT exam.  I would attend class and would walk in with my rucksack and my Discman (anti-shock - of course baby!) and speak to no one.  I would do my lesson, leave, and put on QOTSA as loud as possible in the middle of the streets of Athens.  Every time I hear this album I remember those classes.  So rock.  So rebellious.  So silly huh?

For the record, I didn't bother with the GRE thing.  I took the lazy way out and came back to the UK instead.  The rest is history :)

I hope you enjoy this album kiddo.  There are some noisy moments, and I suggest you skip track 4 (Songs for the Dead), as it is quite intense.  But the rest is a brilliant album!  

Crossing my fingers that you will like it kiddo! (and I will be looking into what rock bar we will be going to next week!).

xxxxxxxx

http://open.spotify.com/album/4w3NeXtywU398NYW4903rY