#it happens to mainstream artists and their big hits

[delicatepointofview]

gonna have to deal with people missing the point of louis singing 1d songs in festivals... don't get me started on the other covers

[thisaintascenereviews]

Remember FOB For Centuries: A 10-Year Retrospective On American Beauty / American Psycho

One story I’ve told many times over the years is that I’ve been a huge fan of the band Fall Out Boy since 2007. They had just dropped their third album, Infinity On High, and it was their first album post-mainstream breakthrough. They hit it big with 2005’s From Under The Cork Tree, but Infinity On High was their first album where they were in the public eye. I was barely into music at the time; I only had gotten into My Chemical Romance, Panic At The Disco, and The All-American Rejects at that time, and those are all solid bands, but Fall Out Boy was the band that truly got me into music. That album, in particular, truly made me fall in love with music. I’ve talked about that story many times over, and I’ve also talked about my journey with this band many times over the past twelve years since their comeback from their four-year hiatus. They went on hiatus in 2009, right after releasing 2008’s Folie A Deux, but rumors of their return swirled in early 2013 (in the time between albums, they all participated in other side projects, some of which I really liked), only for them to officially announce their return with Save Rock & Roll. That’s a record I’ve had a rather complicated relationship with over the last twelve years or so, but I’ve come to enjoy it and appreciate it a lot more these days.

The same goes for the follow-up, 2015’s American Beauty / American Psycho, which just turned ten-years-old last month. Now that’s a record that I’ve had various feelings on over the last decade, but like with Save Rock & Roll, I’ve come to really appreciate it. I wanted to talk about my journey with this album, and to some extent, my journey with Fall Out Boy, because this album is an important one in their career. It furthered their sound, which had changed by Save Rock & Roll, but it also marked a newfound level of success that they hadn’t really achieved since their original heyday in the 00s. The single “Centuries” went onto being one of their most successful singles, although “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” still remains as their most successful single (but we can talk about From The Under Cork Tree at another time). That song, and that record, catapulted the band back into the mainstream (Save Rock & Roll did that, too, and the lead single from that album was very successful, but “Centuries” really took them to new heights). One of the other main singles, “Immortals,” is used in the Disney movie Big Hero 6, which is a huge deal to have a song of yours in a Disney movie of all things.

My feelings have always been relatively complicated on this album, however, especially even before it came out. In the lead up to this album’s release, I went through a pretty bad breakup, and it was with someone that I bonded over the band with. It was tough for me to listen to the band for a long time, because every time I did, it reminded me of that person, and how badly they treated me. In retrospect, it’s crazy to think that I let that affect me so much, because I was very young and it wasn’t anything important, but that’s the thing – I was young and let it really engulf me. It’s silly to think that I didn’t want to listen to the band, let alone listen to American Beauty / American Psycho, because it was still a fresh wound for me. That all happened around over a decade ago, and it’s crazy to think that it’s been that long. There are other factors in play, too, such as how the band changed their sound by this point, and I remember seeing a lot of people in the “YouTube Music Critic” sphere being so mad by these records, because they accused the band of “selling out” by making bombastic pop music that other artists were doing. You have to understand where music was at the time, because in the early 2010s, Imagine Dragons were really popular and made bombastic pop-rock that felt like a new version of arena-rock, but it was for suburban moms. Fall Out Boy rode on that train, and I was kind of mixed on their sound change at first, but in the last ten years, I’ve come to really respect that change in sound. Save Rock & Roll hinted at that change, but it was AB/AP that cemented it. Fall Out Boy ended up outdoing Imagine Dragons at their own game, and it makes sense why they were so successful. Sure, songs like “Immortals,” and “Centuries” aren’t super adept songs, lyrically speaking, but Fall Out Boy was always good with catchy and anthemic hooks. They got really good at that for a period of time, and while a lot of songs followed a similar formula, the hooks all stood out.

That’s partially because of vocalist Patrick Stump, who is my personal favorite vocalist in alternative music, whether it’s rock, pop-punk, or what have you. He has such a killer voice, and these albums wouldn’t have been as good without him, unfortunately. His voice has gotten a lot better, and it fits perfectly for the arena-rock / pop-rock sound that they were going for. The band also started utilizing something that a lot of artists do now, and they weren’t the first artist to do this, but the idea of interpolation was also a contested idea that fans had mixed feelings on. “Centuries” features an interpolation of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” whereas another “Uma Thurman” features The Munsters theme (to awesome results, by the way). Interpolation seems like a commonplace idea now, because a lot of artists willingly take melodies, lyrics, or ideas from songs that twist it into something new. It’s not a sample, as they aren’t taking the original work, but they’re recreating it into something else. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like Fall Out Boy really made that idea popular, especially in rock and alternative music. I think that part of this album is a bit underrated, because most people think they “sold out” with this album (which isn’t true, by the way; I’ve never thought selling out was really a thing, because if you think about it, every artist sells out in some way to get popular, whether it’s by taking endorsement deals, performing at and/or making appearances at events, or things of that nature), but they did a lot to separate themselves from the pack at the time and make themselves even more popular and still relevant.

American Beauty / American Psycho has a lot of songs from Fall Out Boy I really love, and a lot of their more underrated songs in their catalog from this album, such as “Irresistable,” the title track, “Jet Pack Blues,” “Fourth Of July,” and “Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel In NYC),” as well as the lead singles that I’ve mentioned already. I used to not be super into this album, because I thought of it as being a generic pop-rock album, but it’s not. It’s a more nuanced album than that, and while it’s not my favorite Fall Out Boy album, it’s a record I really enjoy nowadays. One thing I need to do is write another FOB album ranking, because my thoughts have definitely changed on all their records since the last time I wrote one. There were a few albums I didn’t love all that much, minus a handful of songs, but I’ve grown to appreciate everything in their discography. I prefer some albums over others, but I appreciate and value each album in some way, shape, or form. In the case of their albums, each one stands out on their own, and I wouldn’t be able to say that if they just made generic slop that a lot of their “fans” claimed they did with their last few albums. There are a lot of things to appreciate here, whether it’s the songwriting being concise, catchy, and anthemic, Pete Wentz’s lyricism being to the point and more direct, as well as clever and inventive in spots, or Stump’s vocals being the most impressive they sounded at the time. He’s only gotten better since, but he sounded great on that album. American Beauty / American Psycho also had them experimenting with interpolation to really fun and inventive results. This album is a lot better than people give it credit for, even myself, because it isn’t just generic pop-rock album. Here’s to ten years to one of Fall Out Boy’s most underrated albums (I think the number one spot goes to 2018’s M A N I A, which I absolutely love but most fans hated, although I kind of get why in retrospect), and here's to another ten more.

[blue-lollipops-and-ice-clouds]

Rock Sound 25 Icons - Sleep Token Article (Transcript).

Transcript written by yours truly!

(Original Article Link)

(Google Doc Version Link)

ROCK SOUND 25 ICON

SLEEP TOKEN

WITH A METEORIC RISE UNLIKE ANYTHING THE HEAVY MUSIC WORLD HAS SEEN BEFORE, SLEEP TOKEN HAVE BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUCCESS STORIES IN MODERN ROCK HISTORY. AS THEY ACCEPT THEIR ROCK SOUND 25 ICON AWARD, WE EXPLORE HOW THEIR GENRE-PUSHING VISION HAS RESONATED WITH FANS ACROSS THE WORLD, WITH SOME OF THE BAND'S FORMER TOURMATES AND SUPERFANS REFLECTING ON THEIR INCREDIBLE JOURNEY.

WORDS

MADDY HOWELL

PHOTOS

ANDY FORD

[page break]

LIVE PHOTOS

ADAMROSS WILLIAMS

It took less than seven minutes for the Sleep Token explosion to hit.

Gathering momentum in the UK underground scene with their 2019 debut 'Sundowning' and its 2021 follow-up 'This Place Wil Become Your Tomb', in early 2023 the masked collective set the internet ablaze with 'The Summoning'.

Nonchalantly dropped just 24 hours after the emotionally driven 'Chokehold' arrived, the inferno came out of nowhere for many heavy music fans. The song's gnarly down-tuned guitars and crushing metal riffs resonating deeply, its ominous, poetic lyrics searing with passion, and the voice of the band's masked frontman —Vessel — soaring over its huge, otherworldly chorus. It was the kind of mastery that proved difficult for any metal fan to ignore, but after five minutes, something wholly unexpected happened The riff-laden chaos segueing into a two-minute funk outro, from that moment - the stage was set for a revolution.

Forging their sound whilst remaining insistent on resisting genre classification, Sleep Token had been darting between progressive metal, R&B, and glossy pop with ease since their formation in 2016. Adding new styles and influences into their arsenal at every opportunity, from the second they erupted into the mainstream consciousness their expansive vision was impossible to ignore.

Capturing something elusive, something that had long felt absent from the contemporary heavy music scene, 'The Summoning' defied easy categorisation. Blending sounds in ways that were as unpredictable as they were seamless, the track catapulted the band to viral fame on TikTok. Clips of the song's outro paired with memes, fan art, and incredulous reactions from listeners flooded the app's feed, and within days the band's cult following began to expand rapidly, each new fan clamouring for more information about the mysterious masked group that were suddenly dominating their social media timelines.

"It's pretty crazy when you think about it,"' laughs John Famiglietti, bassist and producer of experimental band HEALTH.

"A lot of this stuff really doesn't have precedent but when TikTok was created, they built the concept of virality into the code. It needed to become the fastest route to virality, and they wanted to destroy YouTube. Sleep Token is the perfect example of that in action, because that song was released in what the music industry calls 'The No Zone'. It had a visualiser of a copyright-free Elden Ring boss, and it was nearly [page break] seven minutes long. That kind of thing just doesn't get big."

What John explains is vital to understanding the magic behind Sleep Token's rise, because simply put - the whole thing is almost impossible to believe. From making their live debut in front of less than 500 fans at London's The Black Heart in the summer of 2017, to dominating the social media algorithms of thousands, their sudden and overwhelming rise is entirely unprecedented.

The release of 2023's Take Me Back To Eden' swiftly followed by a Best UK Artist award win at the Heavy Music Awards and an announcement of a standalone headine show at Wembley Arena, the excitement surging through the scene was palpable — evident as fans scrambled to acquire tickets for the landmark evening. Selling out within ten minutes of going on general sale, Sleep Token were officially an arena-filling rock band.

"It's not often you see that kind of leap anymore," John continues.

"In the span of eight months, Sleep Token went from small clubs to headlining arenas. For me, that's the most exciting part. I can't remember the last time I saw a band do that."

With HEALTH playing alongside them that historic night in London, John recalls the atmosphere vividly. Looking back then, how does he think Sleep Token's stratospheric rise happened?

"They're bringing pop elements in through the language of heavy music, and that's a big part of the appeal," he explains.

"When you're at a Sleep Token show, you can see the kids connecting with that shit and singing along. It's a big show, it's theatrical, and when everyone's singing along…that's where you get the chills. The crowd makes it, and you can see the smiles on people's faces. For a lot of these kids, it's their first concert. If your music can bring new people into this world, that's the most powerful thing possible."

With 'Take Me Back To Eden' landing the band their first ever Top 5 album, as well as becoming the most-streamed metal album on Spotify in 2023, Sleep Token's Wembley Arena ritual served not only as a celebration of a remarkable year — but a declaration of the future of metal.

Asserting that the scene was ready for change, from the moment that Vessel emerged into the stage's central spotlight, all12,500 fans gathered in the room knew that a new era of heavy music was beginning. With striking [column break] nu-metal inspired masks for band members II, III and IV unveiled on Instagram just moments before the band's scheduled stage time, the energy surging through the crowd was nothing short of electric.

A sonic and visual spectacle, from the assaulting intensity of 'Vore' to the raw catharsis of 'Ascensionism' each moment of the show shone with intent. The night blooming into a powerful karaoke session as Vessel suddenly became unable to sing mid-performance, by the time proceedings culminated in a heartfelt rendition of 'Blood Sport", everyone filtering out the doors of Wembley Arena knew they had witnessed something groundbreaking.

A remarkable achievement from a simply remarkable band, to understand how Sleep Token ended up taking their songs to a stage like Wembley, we need to take things back to the beginning.

Debuting the project with 2016 EP 'One' and 2017's 'Two', the groundwork for the world they were about to build was lain. A world filled with technical metal, expansive atmospheres, and an unapologetic commitment to musical experimentation, the band's early releases demonstrated an unusual level of ambition for a fledgling band. Not just blending genres but entirely blurring the lines that segregated them, their metalcore and djent influences bled into lush soundscapes, with emotionally raw vocals and progressive song structures constantly throwing the listener off-guard.

Evading every potential classification, songs like 'Nazareth' and 'Calcutta' felt cinematic yet intimate, drawing from ambient electronica and R&B with a steadfast spirit of eclecticism, yet never feeling disjointed. Carrying a coherent emotional thread — a mood of longing, heartbreak, and spiritual seeking — their vision resonated deeply with a small but passionate group of early fans.

Among those early to hop aboard the Sleep Token train was Holding Absence vocalist Lucas Woodland, who recalls his first encounter with the band.

"The first song I listened to was 'Nazareth', and it just blew my mind," he nods.

"It was just so cool, and to this day, I think that's Sleep Token's greatest strength. It's cool for kids that are just getting into this genre of music, but it's also cool for people like me who listen to bands like Radiohead and Bon Iver. It somehow manages to scratch two very cool but very different itches. Throw that together with vocals that are so out of this world… you' ve got something special. I was shocked to discover how small they were at that point." [page break]

With that, Lucas became one of the band's earliest champions. After discovering them, he immediately shared Sleep Token's music in the Holding Absence group chat, urging his bandmates to check them out.

The Welsh band joining forces with Loathe for a split EP titled 'This ls As One' the two bands were in the process of mapping out a co-headline tour. With shows set to take place in early 2018, they knew they had to find a way to get Sleep Token involved. Picking a local band to join them on each date of their joint UK run, they decided to offer the slot for the two biggest shows — London and Manchester — to the genre-slashing newcomers. Witnessing the earliest iterations of the band's live show, their full vision may not have been realised back then but already something was brewing.

"It was surreal," Lucas nods.

"The first two times I saw them were supporting us on that 2018 tour, and it was early days for them, but there was still this magical element to them. I remember speaking to Vessel after the show, and he was like, 'Sorry can't catch your set, I've got to run off and wash this I paint off'."

"When you look back on that, it's crazy to think that there was a period of time where they painted up, got on stage, played to 50 people, and then quickly ran off to have a shower in a Travelodge," he laughs.

"The third time that I saw them though, they played St Pancras Church to around 120 people. By that point, the vision was realised, and that was the moment where I realised that this was their turf now. Everyone in that room saw what this could be. It was a seated show, and it almost felt like a sermon. For that to be one of your first headline shows, and for it to captivate people in the way that it did..that's crazy."

Looking back on what shift may have occurred between the band he saw onstage that evening and the band Sleep Token have become, Lucas explains.

"When 'The Summoning' came out, barely anything had changed.. everyone else had just woken up to it."

"I honestly believe that the vision of the band, the message, and the sound has been there since day one. It's so cool to think that the band I watched in that church all those years ago and the band that is now playing to tens of thousands of people now is the same band."

The heavy music world had long been craving the kind of shake-up Sleep Token brought. Much of the scene tired of existing in a lull of stagnation as artists began to take [page break] bigger risks with their sound and experiment with fresh influences, a sense of scepticism transformed into intrigue.

Despite a growing longing for something different though, it takes something truly special to bowl in and completely shatter the boundaries of everything that existed before it. With little of the band's core identity changing since its inception, for Sleep Token to achieve such an explosion — the moment had to be right. With the world emerging from a global pandemic and grappling with a growing reliance on social media, Lucas reflects on the circumstances that led the band to greatness.

"It's important to note that every important band ever was in the right place, at the right time to ignite the culture,"" he explains.

"If Slipknot came out today, they wouldn't be the band that they are. If Metallica came out in the 60s they wouldn't have been as successful. Everybody has lived their lives terminally online for so long now. As musicians, for so long we were told that we must engage with our audience, because it's never been so easy to do it. We're told that we should be tweeting every day, we should be posting photos every day, and nothing is sacred anymore."

"You can engage with your fans at any given moment, but we reached a point where that almost plateaued. People are sick of hearing everyone's opinions, and they just want to hear the music. There are music fans who can't remember a world without the internet, and they can't remember a world where anonymity existed. They can't remember a world where mystery exists."

It's understandable then how the band's anonymity and carefully curated lore have forged a large part of their appeal. Whilst they are far from the first band to adopt masks and a hidden identity — with the likes of Slipknot, Ghost, and Hollywood Undead coming before them — Sleep Token's anonymity feels different. With social media making it easier than ever to know everything about a band, the collective have chosen to withhold almost everything, and that has only elevated fan's desperation to unearth more.

In a world obsessed with personal branding, where artists often cultivate parasocial relationships with their fans through constant interaction and engagement, Sleep Token's decision to remain an enigma marks a decidedly different approach to their peers. Their identities remaining closely guarded secrets Vessel- who has spoken just a handful of times in interviews early in the band's [page break] career has built a persona around the idea of serving an ancient deity known only as Sleep.

Carving out a role that feels entirely other-worldly, at the same time, there is something deeply human in Vessel's character, Wracked with emotion, pain, and a desperation to grow, their ability to tap into the deepest, darkest caverns of the human feeling is unrivalled. Their larger-than-life image clashing with the humanity and vulnerability of Vessel's lyrics, whilst fans may not know the identity of the men behind the mask, they can connect deeply with every word he says.

Because of this, the band's anonymity has proved much more than a gimmick, it's become a vital part of the identity that has forged a fanatical community. Stripped of a name and a human visage, Vessel is not a rock star in the traditional sense. He doesn't present himself as a relatable figure or even a person at all — he's an idea. An invitation to immerse yourself in the band's universe, the inability to put a face to the name makes every part of Sleep Token feel universal. Stripping away the distractions of celebrity and ego, it's allowed listeners to project their emotions and interpretations onto the songs like never before.

"They managed to line up this beautiful thread through the needle moment because everyone is so hungry to find out more about them," Lucas nods.

"We live in a world where we know everything about everyone, and they have been able to use that in a backwards sense. They've not only kept hold of the anonymity, but they've embraced it. They've turned II, III and IV into characters, and they're relevant parts of the band and the culture. They've always been important musicians on stage, but I remember being drunk at a house party and seeing the mask reveals on my Instagram feed. It felt like a new character had just been unlocked. It was such a moment."

That feeling of grandiosity is something that Sleep Token have become well-versed in creating. Each fresh reveal feeling monumental, it's elevated their live shows from simple performances to powerful rituals [column break] as though they've been a part of something much bigger.

As Sleep Token's rise has continued, word of their live shows has spread far beyond the UK. Kickstarting a new era after wiping their Instagram in early 2024 — leaving just a bio that read 'Nothing lasts forever' — North America were invited to bear witness to 'The Teeth Of God' tour.

A 21-date run taking place throughout April and May, they were joined by Empire State Bastard for the shows, with both bands playing to packed out venues night after night.

"It was an incredible spectacle to witness each night," guitarist Mike Vennart reflects.

"Their audience is hardcore. The most dedicated and obsessed fans. The best audience a band could hope for, really. Not to ruin the magic, but the lads in the band are wonderful too."

While many bands take years, even decades, to build up a loyal fanbase, Sleep Token have culminated a rabid community of fans in record time. Their collision of influences uniting people from vastly different sonic backgrounds, there are moments that speak to every kind of music fan.

Whether it's the ethereal melodies of 'Alkaline', the crushing heaviness of 'The Offering', or the gutting piano melodies of 'Blood Sport', their refusal to be confined has become their calling card. Retaining a core heaviness whilst pulling from pop, R&B, progressive rock, and jazz, they've spawned a sound that speaks to people from all walks of life, never alienating any one group.

Before they were headlining rooms to thousands of fans Stateside though, one of the first US bands to recognise Sleep Token's potential was Issues. Looking for an opener for their 'Beautiful Oblivion' tour — celebrating their third and final allbum — their booking agent threw Sleep Token's name into the conversation. Having recently begun working with them, he sent over their debut EP, and bassist Skyler Acord felt an immediate connection to their willingness to push boundaries.

"It felt like it came completely out of left field," he recalls.

Everybody who's a fan of Sleep Token knows the feeling of finding them where you're like, 'What the hell am I listening to? Where did this come from? Why does he sound like that? Where are the masks for?' … I went through that whole experience." [page break]

With only a few songs out in the world at that point, a series of internal discussions took place about whether it would be a better move for the band to acquire an opener who was little more well-known However, with Acord recognising the potential Sleep Token had it didn't take long before they were on the bill for their first US tour. Watching the British band play some of their earliest shows, each night Issues felt more and more certain that they'd made the right choice to take a chance on Sleep Token.

"They're doing something really interesting and really different, and rock absolutely needs that," Skyler nods.

"I could tell that they were going to be huge, and I wanted to be the first to take them out. I love giving a leg up to anybody doing something different, because rock is so boring. especially in America. In America, rock is the most conservative popular genre I can think of. If you stray a little too far outside of the norm, you get shut down. However, Sleep Token found a niche. A vacuum that was just dying to be filled."

"As soon as we started playing with them, I could tell that they really wanted it. The crowd would start with confusion, it would slowly develop into intrigue, and by the end of their set it was all they were talking about."

Since forming in 2012, Issues have made it their mission to change the shape of rock's future, and whilst the sound and aesthetics of their respective projects may differ — Skyler recognised a kinship between the two bands. A drive to alter the music world's perception of rock, and a passion to confuse, captivate, and involve fans, he was instantly in awe of the world they were creating.

"Vessel is the creative force behind a lot of the project, and you can tell that he is coming from the perspective of a piano player," he says.

"That was confusing at first because I was like, 'Where are these riffs coming from?' They're cool, they're simple, but they're heavy. That dude is just a sick keyboard player, and any time you hand that type of great musician a guitar, they're going to come up with something that you never would have dreamed of coming up with."

Inviting Vessel to rip piano solo in the middle of the band's 2019 track 'Get It Right" throughout the run, Skyler and his bandmates had no doubt that Sleep Token would go on to accomplish huge things. Admittedly though, they never expected them to get to where they are quite so rapidly. [page break]

"I'm a huge metal fan, and the only bands that really make a diference are the ones doing something different, and doing it well," Skyler nods.

"Every once in a while, there's a band with a lot of hype, and when you check them out, they just sound like everybody else. There's nothing that special about it when you peel back. By removing identity out of the equation and digging into the mystery of it…Sleep Token mastered it. That approach worked for basically all the bands that I love who have mattered. It worked for Ghost, it worked for Black Sabbath, and it worked for all the black metal bands loved when I was in high school."

For Lorna Shore vocalist Will Ramos, Sleep Token's success also represents a turning point for the entire metal genre. A self-proclaimed superfan of the band, he penned an impassioned essay on the band to celebrate them taking home the title of Best British Artist at the 2023 Rock Sound Awards.

In the piece, Will spoke about seeing the band perform for the first time at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival, rushing over to the stage from Lorna Shore's own 'meet and greet' elsewhere on site.

"Ten seconds into running turned around and saw Of Mice & Men's singer, Aaron Pauley, following me. We started running through this huge crowd together, and everybody was so excited I'm not the type of guy to leave a meet and greet early, but I needed to witness that set. It was an act of true love!" He laughs.

"That's where it started to set in how freaking massive Sleep Token were becoming. They're one of the biggest metal bands that I'm aware of right now, and there were so many people watching that set. They refer to their live shows as rituals, their fans are the congregation, and the stage as a place of worship. It's something that could easily seem tacky if a band did it with little consideration for the details, but they're so committed to what they do."

"Even when they post on Instagram after shows, the captions are always like, 'The ritual has been completed in Copenhagen'. They totally absorb themselves in the spiritual aspect, physically, visually, and sonically. It's a brand, and they completely own that brand. They've made it exactly what it is, and they stick to it."

"The whole experience does feel super spiritual, and they don't just give 50 per cent to the theming, it's 100 per cent. People feel the emotion, see the way they embody this ideal, and hear this incredible music — and I think thats why people are so ready to absolve themselves in this spiritual moment. Everybody has a different connection to every song because of the different things [column break] everyone goes through in life, but they get to experience all of that in a place where everybody else is feeling something too."

Speaking on his admiration of their ability to bring new fans into the heavy music world, the frontman is quick to point out that Sleep Token's genre-blurring tendencies have not only broadened their fanbase, but have also breathed new life into the scene.

"For a long time, metal bands have been putting themselves in a box," he explains.

"It's so refreshing to see the evolution of music, and bands like Sleep Token out there bringing in all these different genres. Doing that brings in a whole bunch of different people, which is so important for the metal world. Half of the time, this genre is seen as dying, but then you hear something like this. There are all these people who didn't listen to metal before listening to Sleep Token, and I love that. It feeds into this community, because people who listen to R&B are listening to this band, and they're venturing further into the genre. It's welcoming to a lot of people, which is a beautiful thing."

What Will describes is a feeling that spreads far beyond music. Bringing together music fans from worlds that once would have clashed, Sleep Token's story is the perfect example of how a movement begins.

Embracing our differences and welcoming all into a world devoid of boundaries and specifications, behind the mystery and the lore, Sleep Token have tapped into some of the most vital, vulnerable parts of our human need for connection. Each note speaking to each person in a uniquely different way, their ability to unite has positioned them as one of the most important bands of this generation, and somehow it still feels as though this is just the beginning.

Reaching heights that most bands work for decades to hit, there is simply no other story quite like Sleep Token's. Each release taking a step forward, a deeper dive into their evolving, immersive sound, they continue to push the boundaries of not only what heavy music can be — but what it should be.

An invitation to feel, to come together, and be a part of something, they've given us a front-row seat to one of the most explosive musical phenomena of our time. Swerving all expectations pushed by the industry, their rise has become a reminder of why music matters. Inspiring a new generation of heavy music artists to strive for something bigger, Sleep Token are proof that with enough belief and commitment in a cause, there are truly no limitations on what you can achieve.

[sabrinacdaily]

Full Interview/Article By Lucy Feldman Below The Cut!

'Sabrina Carpenter is settling into a tiny banquette, one leg in pinstripe capris folded onto the bench, when she orders a… cappuccino. The obvious joke hangs in the air. “I've intentionally stopped myself from getting them now,” the “Espresso” singer says. The last time she was at this particular French restaurant in downtown New York, they surprised her with a round of espresso martinis.

It’s the kind of thing that surely happens all the time, now that the 25-year-old artist—unmissable with big, bright blonde curls and a 5-ft. frame—has rapidly become one of the most famous women in pop culture. To say that “Espresso” was one of the songs, if not the song, of the summer hardly captures the extent of her reach. The disco-inflected bop, released in April, became her first to exceed a billion streams on Spotify, where it hit No. 1 globally. But Carpenter’s buzz only got louder in June when she dropped the music video for “Please Please Please” (another Spotify global No. 1), co-starring her rumored boyfriend, the Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan. And the singer sent the internet into a full-blown tizzy in August when she released her clever and cutting, genre-blending album Short n’ Sweet alongside another viral video: a campy, Death Becomes Her-influenced love-triangle romp, co-starring Jenna Ortega, for “Taste.” The album, now certified platinum, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 at release and became the third biggest debut of the year, trailing only Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.

Carpenter is everywhere. Swift, Beyoncé, Adele, Christina Aguilera, and Selena Gomez have all sung her praises. If you didn’t catch her on the season finale of Saturday Night Live, you probably saw her on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. If you didn’t see her at Coachella, you definitely tuned in for her performance at the VMAs. And if you missed her opening for Swift on 25 stops of the Eras tour, you cannot be helped. The moment Carpenter herself says she knew she’d reached a new level: when there was a joke about her in Dan and Eugene Levy’s opening monologue for the 2024 Emmys. “That was probably the first time I was like, Oh, I'm not even there.”

When we meet for an afternoon pick-me-up, just over a month has passed since the album release, and Carpenter has been going nonstop. She’s back home in New York after the first three shows in her sold-out, 33-date Short n’ Sweettour, fresh off an 11-hour bus ride from Detroit. Hence the need for caffeine. “TMI,” she adds, “But I’m in my luteal phase, and just feeling like a monster.” When the server comes by with coffee, she orders a chocolate mousse for us to share. 

Carpenter may appear to have materialized from nowhere as a fully formed pop star, but she has been grinding for 16 years. Growing up in East Greenville, Pa., she started posting videos of herself singing on YouTube when she was 9. Her big break came at 13, when she landed a role in Girl Meets World, a reboot of the classic ’90s series Boy Meets World. Carpenter makes a point to note that she signed with her first label, Disney’s Hollywood Records, at 12—before she booked the TV show. “I knew that I wouldn't be able to thrive as a recording artist the same way I would have been able to working on a show as a child actor,” she says, “which I know sounds weird to have that perspective at 12, but I was really lucky to.”

Carpenter released four albums with the Disney-owned label between 2015 and 2019 and continued to act, in movies like Adventures in Babysitting, The Hate U Give, and Tall Girl. But she couldn’t quite break through to the mainstream as an artist. “For a long time, I was constantly guided and misguided,” she says. “I'm so grateful for all of those times where I was led astray, because now I'm a lot more equipped going into situations where I have to trust my own instincts.”

Her 2022 album Emails I Can’t Send—her first more adult project on a new label—was an opportunity to do just that. She put out a collection of songs about heartbreak, attraction, and scrutiny that were wiped clean of Disney’s perfectionistic sheen. “My last album was f-cking sad, straight up,” Carpenter says. She describes the first stretch of the pandemic, when she was 21, as a time when she realized she wanted to “make some mistakes,” or at least be less hard on herself. “I wanted to make sure to still be young while I’m young… To go through your life trying to be a little robot angel, you’re going to have a lot of regrets later,” she says. “That’s also why during that time of my life I was a little bit of an emotional wreck.”

The album contained songs that fans connected with tantalizing gossip, having deduced that Carpenter might have been the “blonde girl” described as winning over the person (purportedly fellow Disney actor Joshua Bassett) who broke Olivia Rodrigo’s heart in “Driver’s License.” Carpenter’s song “Because I Liked a Boy” seemed to respond: “Now I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut / I got death threats filling up semi-trucks.”

“Because I Liked a Boy” made an impression during Carpenter’s Eras tour performances—but it was another song, “Nonsense,” about getting tongue-tied around a crush, that got new audiences hooked on the cheeky sensibility she's become known for. Carpenter says the tour with Swift, where she had no set, dancers, or props for her act, taught her how to stand in front of a crowd alone and put on a show. It stirred up hype for a tradition, which had begun on her Emails tour, where she delivered a punny new outro for “Nonsense” each night, creating viral clip after clip as the lines got more suggestive and ridiculous. One night in Australia: “Broke up ’cause the size was underwhelming/ Tried to give him pointers, wasn’t helping/ Maybe I just need a boy from Melbourne.” She confirms that she’s done with the bit, at least for now. “The extreme ‘it's over forever’ is just not in my repertoire. Maybe I’ll feel random one day and bring it back,” she says, but, “that was for that album, for that era. You’ve got to keep a thing good.”

Carpenter may be only 25, but she is coming into her own with the earned confidence of a veteran, and she knows how to give the people what they want. Her brand—she’s short, she’s funny, and she’s horny—is specific enough to feel authentic but also general enough to capture an ever-broadening audience. And she’s not afraid to make a joke about herself. “If you want to call me a Polly Pocket, a Bratz doll, I don't care,” she says. “You'll meet me and then you'll be like, damn, she talks a lot more than the dolls do.” It takes a certain amount of time under pressure to build the sense of self that Carpenter embodies—we’ve seen it this year with artists like Chappell Roan and Charli XCX, too. It’s hard to remember now, but even Swift was once a rising country-music star trying to break into the mainstream.

Jack Antonoff, who worked with Carpenter on multiple Short n’ Sweet tracks, was following her career long before they collaborated. “I look at all Sabrina's work, and she's just crystallized more and more,” he told TIME in a recent interview. “I guess the lesson there is there was nothing wrong. It was just about staying the course. That's really what it is to be an artist.”

Carpenter is reaping the benefits of her persistence. “There were so many things I dreamt of doing as a little girl I got to do this year that felt like such a cool, sweet, little bucket-list moment for my younger self,” she says. “I literally threw up when I found out about SNL. Not to be graphic.” The VMAs performance was another dream realized. “I grew up watching those performances and being like, I want to do that. But then it all just seemed so—not even out of reach, just like I had a different plan in my head of when it was all supposed to happen,” she says, meaning it wasn’t supposed to take this long. But now that everything has unfolded the way it has, Carpenter can see the advantage. “I feel so prepared for these moments,” she says. “If I was even 17 or 18, I think I would have been way, way more nervous and intimidated.” 

The next thing that could make her throw up with excitement, if the call came tomorrow: “If I could perform at the Grammys.” 

As polished and well-packaged as the Sabrina Carpenter brand is, it’s her willingness to be messy that really makes it all work. In Short n’ Sweet, she’s in turns cocky, desperate, petty, brutal, deliriously horny, and not all that pressed. The effect is that, no matter the drama at hand, Carpenter refuses to take herself too seriously. “I like the fact that I just put out a song that starts with ‘I can't relate to desperation,’ and then I’m putting out the most desperate possible sounding chorus I could in my life,” she says, of “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” “The idea is like: if everything is super calculated, then the second you make a statement, that's who you are for the rest of your life—as opposed to it being like: or you can be super confident one day and then the most emotional wreck the next day.” 

Carpenter describes Short n’ Sweet as a “time capsule” of a certain period in her life, and a few songs on the album seem to, fairly overtly, reference a relationship she had with Shawn Mendes during off-again stretches of his past romance with Camila Cabello. (See: the lyrics of “Coincidence” analyzed against timelines of who was seen where with whom. See also: the roast ballad “Dumb & Poetic,” “Taste,” and a particularly savage line of “Slim Pickins.”) Likewise, casting Keoghan in the video for “Please Please Please,” a song about begging her actor boyfriend not to embarrass her, pretty much eliminated the possibility that anyone would think it wasn’t about him. 

Carpenter won’t say specifically who she was thinking of when writing any of her songs—no savvy pop star would—but she is willing to talk about the feelings within them. “It'll probably bite me in the ass at some point,” she says, knocking wood, “but it's been a really therapeutic album to be able to just say what I'm thinking.” One example: “Please Please Please” captures a love-hate dynamic that will be familiar to anyone who’s found themselves wondering if they’re in the wrong relationship. “I’m so blunt and forward. I feel like, what is the reason that we're all hiding from each other when these are just real things? Sometimes men embarrass you. That's super normal,” she says.

Now, starting to see crowds sing along with her on tour, she’s recognizing how relatable that song in particular is. “This just really hits for the girls that have every right to go back to someone who isn't good for them, and know that those mistakes are absolutely human to make, and repeatedly.” She takes a bite of chocolate mousse, a dollop of whipped cream and a few cookie crumbles on top. “The amount of times that we've all been with people we shouldn't be,” she continues. “We either learn it the hard way, or we are a miracle and we end up marrying that person.”

When the lights dim before Carpenter takes the stage at Madison Square Garden two nights later, the collective scream is head-splitting. She dashes onstage in a towel that she opens, eyebrows raised, to reveal a glittering yellow Victoria’s Secret bodysuit. The show takes off from there, an hour and a half of glitzy group dance sequences, intimate ballads, and winking innuendos set in a two-story New York City penthouse. There’s a fireplace in the living room, a moody, after-dark balcony, a pink satin bedroom, and even a bathroom, where, in an offbeat highlight of the show, Carpenter sits on a toilet and ruminates as she sings about a hot dummy who jerked her around. “Some songs feel like bathroom thoughts to me, like when you're at a party and you go to the bathroom to cry or judge yourself in the mirror,” she says. “It's comical but also brings a little groundedness to the show.”

Despite Carpenter’s years of experience—including opening for Swift on the massive Eras tour—the intensity of playing her own arena shows is new. “The first two shows, there were enough technical difficulties to ruin my life,” she says. There’s a part when she gets lifted 18 feet into the air on a giant heart—on the first night, she got stuck at the top. “I was up there far longer than I was supposed to be,” she says, a reminder of why, after seeing Matty Healy perform on a rooftop set for a 1975 show, she thought playing with heights on tour would be too scary. Suspended over the crowd in Columbus, Ohio, she just kept singing and hoped that someone offstage was working to get her down. (They did.) “If one thing malfunctions, it can affect the whole show,” she says. “So I've just been learning, rewiring my brain, to be able to handle stuff like that.” Aside from tech issues, the hardest part is not tripping—Carpenter is constantly running up and down stairs. There was no intensive pre-tour training regimen, and her body is feeling it. “I've started doing ice baths like a little spiritual man,” she admits, a tad embarrassed.

Throughout the concert, Carpenter quite literally wears her sexuality on her sleeve. “Femininity is something that I've always embraced. And if right now that means corsets and garter belts and fuzzy robes or whatever the f-ck, then that's what that means,” she says. She adds a babydoll negligee over the bodysuit in the first act, changes into a black lace catsuit and slips into a slinky robe, both by French designer Patou, in the second, and, in the final set, steps out in an ultra-sparkly two-piece halter top and skirt from Ludovic de Saint Sernin, made with crystal mesh donated by Swarovski. Carpenter’s stylist Jared Ellner teases that there will be different lyrics printed onto Carpenter’s tights throughout the tour: they did “Taste me” for night one and “I’m working late” for Madison Square Garden. The singer notes that this is the first tour where she has doubles of her outfits. “In the past it would be like, if that outfit has stains on it, good luck,” she says. Some of the corset dresses she wore on the Eras tour were in pale colors: “I would sweat, and it would just be terrible.”

With all the lingerie and innuendos in mind, I ask Carpenter if, a generation later, she has been spared the vilification that artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera suffered for daring to incorporate their sexuality into their work. “No, I definitely get that as well,” she says. She’s trying to remember that social media is an echo chamber. “Someone told me this, whenever I would get upset or feel like I'm the only one getting criticized for something other people are able to do seemingly so freely: I'm the one that's seeing all the negative sh-t about myself. My friends don't see that.” 

Artists like Madonna, Aguilera, Spears, Beyoncé, and Rihanna all helped pave the way, Carpenter says. “But you'll still get the occasional mother that has a strong opinion on how you should be dressing. And to that I just say, don't come to the show and that’s OK. It's unfortunate that it's ever been something to criticize, because truthfully, the scariest thing in the world is getting up on a stage in front of that many people and having to perform as if it's nothing. If the one thing that helps you do that is the way you feel comfortable dressing, then that's what you’ve got to do.”

Her approach seems to be working. “Juno,” a seductive pop song that references the 2007 teen-pregnancy movie, brings a show-stopping moment when Carpenter drops into a suggestive position and delivers the line, “Have you ever tried this one?”—then rises into the air on the heart-shaped platform. At Madison Square Garden, she bends on her knees, whips her hair, and jumps up and down above the crowd, ebullient. 

Somewhere in the arena is Carpenter’s mom, seeing the show for the first time. Her dad and 94-year-old grandfather came to opening night in Columbus. “My fans online are like, I can’t believe she's bending over in front of her grandparents!” Carpenter says. “I'm like, girl, they are not paying attention to that. They’re just like, I can’t believe all these people are here.”

It feels a little absurd to ask Carpenter what’s next—she’ll be on the road through March, and isn’t that enough? But she’s already tinkering with new songs (a constant practice) and she hints that there are “a few projects” she’s working on for after the tour. In the nearer term, Halloween is coming up; she’ll go big, and she’ll take it as a massive compliment if you choose to dress up as her. And in December, she’ll release a holiday special on Netflix. “It's an hour of literal nonsense,” she says. “If people are expecting boring, me singing by a tree, it's not that. It's so fun, so chaotic. There are so many guests that I’m excited about.” 

To Carpenter, it’s all still a bit surreal. She says she’s been looking out at the crowds at night, checking to make sure they’re really all there to hear her songs. It makes her easy to root for: the girl who found her way into this world before she knew who she was, finally finding the success she’s worked so hard for only now that she can trust herself to do it all her way. 

I make a comment about how much experience she has behind her, despite being so young. She says thank you, and it’s clear she means it. “People like to make you feel like, when you’re above 21 in this industry, you’re haggard,” Carpenter says, her laugh filling the air. “But I’m trying to remember that I’m still quite young.”'

[maounosekai]

A bit late and I wasn't even sure if I can make a tribute art for Akira Toriyama, but here's a quick sketch.

My taste in men started when I chose Vegeta over Goku :)))

For this tribute art, I wasn't sure if I'd copy Toriyama-sensei's art style like how I used to draw DBZ fanart in grade school, or go with my own. ^^;

My introduction to Dragon Ball was through my cousins, but my memories of that are vague, and it wasn't until I was in grade school where one of the more mainstream local channels started airing Dragon Ball in Filipino dub that I got into it, and it was then that I understood why my cousins are so into it. I also remember watching a DBZ movie (tho I don't remember which movie was it because I was still not very familiar with Dragon Ball at that time) with my aunt, cousin, and a family friend's son in a theater. DBZ was a big hit in the country that not only it attracted male fans, but also female fans thanks to the likes of Vegeta and Trunks, haha! In grade school, I remember having friends debating on who the best DBZ guy is between Vegeta and Trunks, and also discuss about what happened in the last episode. It made us go home early to catch it on TV and look forward to school the next day to talk about it. This was a time before mobile phones and social media. I also used to make fanmade DBZ comic strips (like what I still do now haha!) on the back of my notebook or on a piece of paper, then share it to my friends. Fast forward to high school when I managed to get a copy of Chrono Trigger. When I found out that it was the same person who made Dragon Ball and the characters for Chrono Trigger, I was in awe. I never thought that a comic creator can also be an artist for a game. I went, "Damn I wanna be like that, too. Make comics and characters for games! I wanna be just like Akira Toriyama!" And that's how Akira Toriyama has inspired me. I took art seriously and took it as a degree along with game development. Now here I am, making my own comics, and have made character and mecha designs for games.

It is undeniable that Toriyama-sensei is a huge influence for creatives.

Thank you very much for your work, and for being an inspiration to many!

[lightleckrereins]

why did the aragon tour close?

For the record this is pure speculation and a lot of oversimplification. An official reason was never given (and probably will never be). Tldr, a mix of demand changing and it being more convenient to take the ANAT production lot to Canada instead of making a new one from scratch.

But in general very few shows can sustain two tours at the same time (and those who do only do it for limited periods). If you don't count Hamilton which tbh could be its own category aside from six in recent years only Wicked and The Lion King have had two tours at the same time.

First history time. Before the original Broadway opening (in march 2020) six had announced a new sit down production of six in Chicago for summer 2020. There was no announcement but a general assumption that it would be used to launch the US tour (which was later announced to be the case around reopening). But there is also a format some shows follow where they launch a long tour stop/short term sit down production independent from its US tour, where they will do anything from a couple of months to a couple of years in a city outside New York and then move to another and so on. With six there was definitely some degree of interest on doing this. And the Aragon tour ended up basically being that production, they did multiple stops lasting over a month while most tours stay on the same city for three weeks tops (usually one or two which they also did for some periods).

And it could have been just ANAT with a year of long stops before switching to the regular tour schedule, but they had the possibility of having a second touring company at the same time and I think it might have been convenient at the moment.

Tours are a matter of demand. Shows don't decide which cities they tour, theater owners approach them and offer their theaters (and then a lot of logistics happen to fit things within the theater seasons and make a semi coherent touring route). They try to balance a mix of different types of show that will appeal to their local audiences for each season. Broadway hits particularly of the family friendly variety, shows that jumped into the mainstream or have some mainstream appeal, older well known shows, and shows that aren't too expensive to run hold the biggest appeal for theaters. Better if you can boast a best musical tony attached to it.

Six has both pros and cons in its touring appeal. Pros: it is a hit show that went viral online through lockdown, is small so not too expensive or too complicated to run, appeals to young audiences including a lot that don't usually watch musicals and by extension their parents, music and message are very contemporary, hate to explain it like this but its diverse in a way thats easy to accept for most urban audiences, and it has a few important awards. Cons: it is a concept musical so kind of hard to explain if you don't know it already, its too hype and too sexual for older audiences, its a history reinterpretation so alienates some people, and while it won some big awards neither is a best musical Tony or Olivier which says music is good but not necessarily the whole thing. Theaters will balance this and decide if they want the show and if they want it fast.

And that fast is a key factor for the two tours thing. At the time Broadway reopened there were a lot of less commercial and more artistic shows opening that's great from a theater community perspective because it means a lot of shows and voices that usually wouldn't be in a stage as big as Broadway made it there. But a lot of those shows are unlikely to tour, or to do anything past a couple of short runs in other cities post closing basically what the 2019 six tour and later ANAT did.

If we go back to late 2021 and early 2022 the touring landscape was weird and not from a lack of tours. Most of the big tours were running, some closed and reopened in slightly altered formats, some long running tours continued, some reopened just to fullfill pre pandemic commitments before closing, a lot of short tours and a lot of tours that don't appeal to every audience happened. But the big new Broadway hits that would headline theater seasons were not really there.

Six and Moulin Rouge tours would open in early 2022 (with MR being delayed from late 2021), Beetlejuice and Tina got delayed, JLP was drowning in controversy, Mrs Doubtfire got bad critiques and doesnt appeal to a lot of audiences, MJ and Company had announced tours but had no date, and Funny Girl was in no place to announce a tour. With really only two new hit musicals touring Six being the smaller, easy to tour and to properly do with social distancing one had a lot of demand from theaters. Enough for two tours in slightly different formats to happen

But by early 2023 things had gone back to normal. More tours opened so more picks for theaters, most if not all the cities that would have short sit down productions had been covered, ANAT cast was moving on and the Canada opening was approaching. So things lined up really well for extending contracts for a few months (or bringing in short term replacements), closing one tour and taking that set to Canada. And in some ways Canada was the ANAT year two short term sit down production extension.

So yeah a mix of Six taking advantage of the status of things in late 2021 to open two tours and things going back to normal a couple of years later.

[solarwynd]

https://www.tumblr.com/solarwynd/765358565733072896/i-feel-a-bit-burnt-out-on-big-pop-songs-nowadays?source=share

Sorry this isn't really Jimin related but I was thinking about this today. Caveat I know there's a lot of great music and talented musicians who are doing cool stuff around but my gripe is that we're getting less and less mainstream exposure to it and all my points are specifically about how exposed the gp is to it, not people who are deep in a particular genre or the indie scene

For one thing the alt pop, rock, edm, britpop and punk genre has totally shrunk in on itself in the mainstream compared to about a decade or two ago. Hip hop and rap have generally expanded to sort of replace that void but this year has been disappointing I think? Is it just me? Apart from the KL - Drake beef in the summer ofc. I'm glad Latin music, afrobeats and kpop is getting bigger but it's also centered on a few big names imo, rather than being full fledged established genres. I'm no expert but that's my layman assessment. Countrys getting bigger but I dislike country so this is bad news for me 😭

But also do you remember when tv series used to try to promote artists? Sure they'd play some current radio hits or oldies and it still happens once in a while like running up that hill with stranger things but we used to get 22 episodes with at least a few indie songs playing in the past. Now that series are getting shorter and shorter, it's had this unexpected side effect of limiting that kind of exposure. Also does anyone feel mainstream movie soundtracks are getting worse too? I think it's cause most of them are marvel Disney movies and they're pretty barren from a soundscape pov. Using Justin Timberlake's bye bye bye during the Deadpool opening scene? Some of the most uninspired shit I've seen in a while.

Even the films that released as musicals this year - all of them are recycling songs from their original theatrical productions like wicked or mean girls or they don't have any new songs at all like joker folie a deux. I don't know if it's because I aged out of watching them, but it also feels like Disney channel used to have more music in general for their teen audience - high school musical movies, camp rock, victorious, Hannah Montana, descendants - need to ask some kids if they still have shows or movies like these still. Again I don't know if I aged out of this either but Disney also used to just release more animated movies with original music right? Not just releasing lion king and Mulan or whatever again with the same songs slightly tweaked with new singers. Also this is apropos of nothing but remember when glee was a thing 😭

But even as TV and movies were getting less musically diverse, I feel like in the late 2010s and around the pandemic, Tiktok, Snapchat, social media in general was taking its place and exposing people to new music. The problem is that music labels quickly caught on and nowadays tiktok is also the same roster of top 40 hits as radio with influencers being paid to dance to a song or tiktok being paid so-called heating deals to promote certain songs. Same thing with Spotify. Spotify has always had paid playlists but the way they push the same songs over and over again now is crazy.

Anyway I sound like old man yells at clouds so I'm going to stop griping and start actively seeking out new music outside what's trending. I was just curious if other people also feel this narrowing or if it's just me

This is such a good assessment and I agree with you.

[fossil0000]

The following description was written by Sloane Angel Hilton, the creator of the facebook group for this aesthetic: Its rise and fall between the years 1996-2002 - a movement in pop culture that is spawned from the research of The Y2K Aesthetic Institute. A notable shift in the visual mood of pop culture happened during the turn of the millennium, but it wasn’t Y2K Aesthetic. One thing I have found is that it was en vogue to be between 25-35, the prime age of Gen X at this time. I think of the “Music First” era of Vh1 programming. Contrary to contemporaneous Y2K Aesthetic, and also McBling style of the early 2000s, Gen X Y/AC models in editorial fashion or artist marketing were much more "natural". You will see tons of nude lipstick, hair parted down the middle or natural textured hair, natural leathers, knee high boots, duster jackets, natural and muted colors - especially greens, beiges, tans, greys, and black. Design and fashion was moving from 60s revival into early 70s. Retro-futurism was Y2K Aesthetic, but Gen X YAC was more terrestrial. Its futurism was a mix of sterile and organic. McBling was a full blown disco revival, but here, we just see hints of the 70s. Depictions of city life through a colonialist lens. First wave gentrification. Urban life influenced graphic design, such as in the use of Helvetica as inspired by the NYC subway signs. The rise of a minimalist design revival. On the runway, the rise/peak of the modern supermodel - Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, and Linda Evangelista, who were all peaking at 25. In photography and film, prevalence of bleach bypass, cross processing, “Lomo effect”, and other color grading trends. Hit music in the US was heavily influenced or even imported from the UK and Europe. Notably, we saw a surge in french house/disco, big beat, electronic, trance, uk garage, and “easy listening”/adult contemporary marketed for Generation X. Less Pure Moods and more Cafe Del Mar. Pop artists were reinvented to fit, like Madonna (Ray of Light). "Soft Club" refers to club culture trickling down into mainstream culture. As the style shifts into McBling, club culture becomes so huge that only the rich can enjoy it in Ibiza. R&B + hip hop had a marked shift in production, due to producers like Soulshock and Karlin, Trackmasters, Darkchild/Rodney Jerkins, in addition to many more who formed top of the millennium sounds working with both these genres. Pop music was equally transformed by club music, R&B, and Latin pop. Rock, pop and poetry were put over trip/hip-hop & breakbeats. Songs that may not have been written for the dance floor were produced as club music. See: soft club. Get X young adults were into entrepreneurship, which supposedly fueled the 90s economic recovery, especially via tech industry. This is why they have been considered a generation which "sold out". Discussion is much deserved regarding the nature of media diversity, both genuine (largely POC in leading production roles across mediums) and as a marketing tool, and the start of gentrification as it would come to be known in post-industrial cities.

[sheinsidemymindvro]

you are probably one of the most interesting people i’ve ever stumbled upon online, and i’m incredibly immersed by your story. how did you and Elusin met? you said you followed her on instagram but how did it go from that to this? at what point did she decide to start doing this? do you think she’ll ever leave? what about her friends, how common are psychics and how do they find each other? you said she knows about this blog, is she bothered by you exposing her? has she tried to shut it down? is the distance not an inconvenience? like would her abilities be any stronger if she could use them on someone super close?

hey thank you. so i went and followed her on ig and she told me it was instant, she plays pretend as if she's a big deal but if you follow her, she will 100% check out your profile, shes obsessed with clout and cant get enough of a dopamine hit when it comes to followers. she also checks out everyone that follows her to find new people's minds to check out. long story short almost as soon as I followed her.

its as easy as browsing for psychics. I guess because I'm a producer/artist that's is not at all known (just starting) and she liked my style, she decided she would stick around and fuck with me in a bad way. they have done this for years and I just happened to be the next guy. I'm going public to hopefully connect with another one of their psychic abuse victims, I know there's many out there somewhere.

Her friends are her sister (Signe) and their friend (Frida), which they are childhood friends. They told me when it came to finding each other it was instant, to explain the phenomenon, if a psychic goes into another psychics mind, they will both know - they say when u know u know type of thing. its hard for non psychics to picture cause well were not psychic. Believe it or not there are psychics out there who's presence they cant feel so it depends on what ur born with I guess.

will she ever leave? eventually, what's a guarantee is she will be popping in and out to catch up later on.

my guess is psychics are very common, they could find each other accidentally by browsing photos like we do on our phones, or same thing irl. all they have to do is have a look through someone's mind by imagining their face (when i say this they basically get a livestream of what ur brain and eyes see and feel and think just everything as if its a livestream + memories they can skim thru like a highlight reel - in my butchered description) so if they accidentally run into a psychic, 99% chance they will both know and maybe they will be like sup or one of them is a psycho. or one of them is a next level psychic and can pretend they are normal and avoid detection (I was told about another psychic they know)

yes this blog does bother her and she told me she tried to report it for days on end, nothing happened lol.

I even know her blog on here - she keeps it low key cause she doesn't know how to blog yet/is internet illiterate - long story short she a lame and doesn't want to open up her blog to her fans yet cause she doesn't think its cool enough. @ llockedandloaded and frida's blog (the other psychic who is abusing me) @ femaledonniedarko and her sister is Signe Ralkov u can google her.

the distance thing, its insane I'm in new zealand, they are in norway and the communication/abuse is as live as if they are right next to me, our consciousness is faster than the speed of sound, apparently if they are closer they are stronger but from what i can tell the distance is not an issue for them, I could be in space or something and it would be all the same. our consciousness is beyond societal comprehension and we humans are capable of so much more than we have discovered in the mainstream - no doubt cia knows about this shit and utilises it.

makes sense that the closer they are, the stronger the abilities, its not a distance thing its a who i am thing. they are obsessed - its been a whole year, why? I'm an alt guy they think is cool and they wanna be like me, that's why they hate me. they think it will help them blow up to know every single thing I know and my style etc. it sounds so shit to have to say it like that but that's the truth.

the truth is I'm normal ish when it comes to alty people who like gaming, memes, internet culture and shit. they are just so so lame.

[akitossohma]

you know what im actually really sick of the Brat hate. before Brat Summer happened no one even knew about the goddamn album in the mainstream specifically. I’ve been a big Charli xcx fan for years now and I talked about the album nonstop when it first dropped and literally nobody knew what I was talking about. And now that it’s become a huge hit suddenly it’s mainstream cringe and charli xcx fans must not listen to any other music. Okay.

Like. It’s so frustrating because charli has been under appreciated for soooo long but now that she’s made a popular album suddenly she’s mainstream cringe??? she deserves so much more than that. she is a hyperpop trailblazer deserves to be recognized as such. The reason why so much pop music sounds like her is because they are all copying artists like her and SOPHIE. I wish people understood this instead of dogpiling on an album that was turned into an annoying trend. Like I get it Brat Summer got VERY annoying fast and cheapened the whole project a bit but that doesn’t negate the quality of the album or her talents.

[dearlittlefandom-stalker]

2024 Predictions By Me—

Whataburger opens in more states

Animators Strike

AI gets Sued

A Sasquatch movie is made

Joe Biden has a Health Scare

Something else is named ‘X’ 

Cornbread becomes a Meme

America gets involved in another war we have no business in

A Major Meteor Event

Bon Jovi hits mainstream again (either he releases a new song or an older song gets used in something or memed and becomes big again)

ACME Vs Coyote gets a theatrical release

Din Djarin comes back from the war (The Mandalorian season 4 comes out)

Ahsoka series gets a season 2

There’s a recall on canned soup

Duolingo does a ridiculously funny PR prank/stunt/marketing scheme AND IT WORKS

Barbie’s Princess and the Pauper becomes a meme

On that note, a new Barbie movie is announced/made

Big ~Presidential Race Debate Scandal~

Another Life Series (season 6!) (Bonus points if season 7 also begins!)

Also Hermitcraft Season 10 begins (Bonus if multiple Hermits base together)

A  world leader gets ousted/exposed and flees or is killed

Owl City releases a new song

Skillet releases a new album (bonus points if they have a crossover hit)

A 1920s-based or inspired movie is made

“Dice” becomes a slang term

Another poorly covered up government-caused catastrophe takes place 

A church service or livestream lasts for more than three days and sparks a revival

Tanera Double Chocolate (Everybody’s So Creative!) will make a video showing people how to actually cook

Something happens to before or during the Summer Olympics schedule that causes a delay or pause

At least two artists will release a movie in theaters of their live concerts (a la Taylor Swift and Beyonce)

New averse side affects of vaping are revealed

Some obscure holiday gets memed

The World Map changes (a country that exists now is dismantled or a new country is formed)

The Spanish-American war becomes relevant somehow

Something Weird is going to happen on February 29th 

[tomorrowxtogether]

TOMORROW X TOGETHER Reflect on the ‘Sense of Pride’ Collaborating With Jonas Brothers for ‘Do It Like That’

The fast-rising pop collab connected two superstar boy bands, as well as OneRepublic hitmaker Ryan Tedder, in ways that go beyond music.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER‘s highly anticipated entrance into the music industry in 2019 generated immense interest as the latest addition to the esteemed roster of Big Hit Entertainment (now BIGHIT MUSIC), whose strong music history was laid by chart-toppers BTS and innovative singer-songwriter Lee Hyun. 

Meanwhile, a cornerstone of TXT’s musical story has been the array of worldwide collaborators including global hip-hop stars (Coi Leray, iann dior, pH-1, Woodie Gochild), rising singer-songwriters (Salem Ilese, Seori, Lilas Ikuta), punk-rock icons (ModSun), EDM heavy-hitters (Alan Walker) and more. With TXT’s prime-for-pop-crossover smash “Do It Like That” alongside the Jonas Brothers, fans saw how the process goes beyond music.

Ahead of the July 7 release of “Do It Like That,” the K-pop stars shared a series of teaser videos to piece together their biggest Top 40 moment yet. Amid the U.S. leg of TXT’s Act: Sweet Mirage world tour, the quintet jetted off to meet OneRepublicfrontman Ryan Tedder in the studio. While the super-producer behind multiple Hot 100No. 1s already pumped some mainstream magic into the track, adding TXT’s Republic Records label mates in the JoBros expanded the song’s appeal to a broader generation of boy-band fans for maximum pop appeal.

With nearly 20 million views on YouTube since its release, the song is beginning to connect worldwide in its quest to become—as TXT’s eldest member Yeonjundescribes it—”the perfect summer track” for 2023.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai‘s took a moment to delve into the collaboration with Billboard to share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, aspirations for the song, who would make the best TXT/JoBros sub-unit and the latest message to their fans, affectionately known as MOAs.

Billboard: Tell us more about how TOMORROW X TOGETHER and the Jonas Brothers came together for “Do It Like That.” Have you ever previously connected with Jonas Brothers, or was anyone a longtime fan?

YEONJUN: It was our first time meeting Jonas Brothers for this collaboration and I had personally been a fan of their music growing up and even practiced with their music as a trainee, so it felt surreal to be working with them. “Do It Like That” seemed like the perfect summer track and when Jonas Brothers also expressed their interest in the single, we met up in the States during the U.S. leg of our world tour in May to make this collaboration happen.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER has collaborated with several artists, but we got to see you meet, interact and record fun content before the song release. What was the vibe like? Any fun stories from the day?

TAEHYUN: From recording the track to shooting content, this collaboration was such a fun project. Jonas Brothers were even cooler in person and their friendliness helped us work together in a chill environment. 

BEOMGYU: Jonas Brothers were incredibly welcoming from the moment we met. They were just as enthusiastic as we were about shooting content, which we really appreciated.

YEONJUN: We gifted Jonas Brothers our most recent album The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION! We shot a lot of content together, and I remember being pleasantly surprised by how good they were at filming TikTok videos. 

Do you want fans to look out for anything specific in the music video?

HUENINGKAI: Viewers will be able to see how much fun we had on the set if they pay attention to TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers’ facial expressions and gestures within the music video!

Fans loved Jonas Brothers’ sharing “concept photos” in the style of TOMORROW X TOGETHER on social media. Did you enjoy?

HUENINGKAI: We thought their concept photos turned out really well and felt a sense of pride seeing the positive reactions from fans. 

In what ways do TXT and Jonas Brothers have similarities, and in what ways are they different? 

TAEHYUN: I’d say TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers are both artists who have a jam-packed discography with quality music. We, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, are not related by blood like Jonas Brothers, but the five of us are a band of brothers too and a family nonetheless. 

What are your personal and professional goals with this single?

SOOBIN: It would be amazing to achieve good results on the Billboard charts with “Do It Like That,” but more importantly we hope that this single acts as a window for more people to discover TOMORROW X TOGETHER and get to know us.

Sometimes K-pop groups split into “sub-units” for certain performances or albums. What would be the best combination if one member of TXT and Jonas Brothers formed a duo?

BEOMGYU: I think HUENINGKAI and Nick Jonas would make the perfect duo because their vocals complement each other very well. 

TOMORROW X TOGETHER has a lot of big things coming up: Headlining Lollapalooza 2023, a Disney+ documentary, of course this new single. What’s your message to fans as you roll it all out?

SOOBIN: We can’t spoil too much, but including our new single, we have a lot of exciting plans coming up for the rest of the year beyond what you mentioned. It’s a busy time for us, but we’re thankful and working hard to put our best foot forward for the many opportunities to meet our MOA. As always, we would appreciate our MOAs’ excitement and support every step of the way!

[thefluffspace]

Trying to get a chapter for my yax oneshot thing out for yax week. Been making progress. But in case I’m not in time, thought I’d share this interaction as a sneak peek XD

“Journey?” Max chuckled. "how old are you?"

Yakko raised both his brows. "I happen to have good taste in music," he drawled. "What, pray tell, is your idea of good music, Maximillian?" he snarked.

"Powerline," Max automatically answered.

Technically, he liked a lot of different bands; but as Powerline was the most popular of them, it tended to be his default answer when he didn't know someone that well yet. His internal logic being that there was a high chance the other person would at least be semi-familiar with the singer.

Yakko gazed at him for a second, then burst out laughing. "And here I thought you would have more interesting tastes than that!"

"I do!" Max hastily said. "Tons of people like him -"

"Exactly," yakko said teasingly. "How is it cool to like such mainstream music?"

Max groaned. "What, do you completely avoid listening to anything that's remotely popular or something?"

Yakko smirked; Max waited, almost in suspense, for him to say something.

The response came in a form he hadn't expected; Yakko started singing.

"My dear, my dear, look to the stars, and know that I rest below them. And should you follow the brightest one, I'll be waiting for you. In the starlight, we will dance as one, and I will pledge to never leave…"

Yakko stopped singing and slyly glanced at Max, who was staring at him with his mouth open. "Does that answer your question?"

Max felt as though he had been hit by a metaphorical hammer. Not just because of what Yakko had sung, but because he hadn't expected someone with such a nasally voice to sing so well…

It's beautiful.

"I thought you said you didn't listen to Powerline," he stuttered.

The lyrics Yakko had just sung weren't from one of the artist's well known albums; it was from before Powerline had been a big name. Back when his songs had been more slow paced and niche.

Max loved both eras of his work, but he was used to most people he encountered only knowing of the songs that were frequently played on the radio and at parties.

"I never said that," Yakko corrected, his expression mischievous. "You just assumed that was the case."

"So…" Max still felt as though he had been struck dumb. "You are a fan?"

As this is part of my Unwanted Fates au, Yakko technically has a different name in the actual fic. But for simplicity’s sake I used for his normal name here.

Hopefully my amateur attempt to write a song was okay lol.

[emergingghost]

Obligatory 'stats and popularity don't mean anything, she has enough to happily sustain a career which is the main thing that matters' blah blah. I do think it's super interesting that JB has around 500k followers on spotify as well as 500k listeners, while Lucy also has 500k followers but 1.5m listeners. (For now, I'm so sure it'll skyrocket after this next album, I really feel like it's gonna be huge for her). But anyway, while they have the same core audience size of dedicated fans, Lucy also has an extra sphere of more casual listeners because she has big hits like Night Shift that will end up on playlists and so on. It shows spotify's bias to "viral hits" as well as Lucy (and Phoebe, obviously) generally having more mainstream appeal. I don't know if it's weird and gatekeepy of me, but I don't really mind she has low numbers? Like yeah, I kinda Get why she's not as popular, her music's way more niche.

totally! i find the streaming stat wars that happen in fanbases like billie eilish and tswift's so exhausting like?? just! enjoy the music! why are we competing! but it is of course always interesting to look at the way people consume the media you also like. but yeah youre so right, when artists have hit songs that people listen to repeatedly like Night Shift it definitely influences the stats (like before the record i definitely was aware of lucy but because of songs like night shift and i dont wanna be funny anymore - i would listen to those a lot without really knowing much else about her). and i don't think it's gatekeepy, i mean maybe just because i feel the same way haha - when someones music is so special to you its natural to feel like 'okay the more people who get their hands on this music, the more opportunity there is for people to be weird about it' so its nice to just be in a smaller community like that sometimes.

[singlesablog]

The New Wave

“Rock with You” (1979) Michael Jackson Epic Records (Written by Rod Temperton) Highest U.S. Billboard Chart Position – No.1

Before I begin this entry a few disclaimers (in the style of the wonderful Andrew Hickey, creator of the absurdly great podcast The History of Rock and Roll in 500 Songs, which I wholeheartedly recommend), there has been so much press, and bad press, about Michael Jackson since his death that it should be acknowledged.  Much of the bad news is the accusation that he was a constant, and serial, sexual abuser of young boys.  The jury will forever be out on these accusations based solely on his influence and power, which have grown steadily since his death in in 2009.  His estate is vastly wealthy, and continues to grow.  It does not surprise me that he was disturbed considering the amount of child abuse he suffered, or that the truth was heavily twisted by him (just watching him in old footage deny his physical alterations, plain for the eyes to see, is evidence enough that he was severely distorted in his relationship to truthfulness).  However, I cannot deny how powerful and productive his artistry was and is, and his influence is undeniable.  His role as a conduit for other artists alone is wildly impressive.  He was one of the greatest innovators in many ways.  I believe he was in a lot of pain, and perhaps he caused a lot of pain by displacing that.  But his musical influence, which is the reason for this entry, is my absolute focus.

I understand that this set of posts have been under the title of The New Wave, which would lead one to associate all entries to New wave music, and in way, they do.  And yet stylistically, what exactly is New wave?  It is technically a catch-all phrase, a term for the many, many styles emerging post Punk.  A big factor for my purposes is the era; here, 1979/1980.  All of these records represent a shift forward in musical styles and tastes, and if not (or if you disagree), they did that for me. Perhaps they were just the cleverest and most sophisticated pop songs happening.   Although this track is certainly disco, that dirtiest of words, “Rock with You” was one of those musical shifts forward.

It opens with a drum fill— a solid rat-a-tat-a-tat that is an absolute hook to the song, and more wonderful in that it doesn’t appear again.  Drum fill to flute sounds, what could be better? Then strings, a chorus of heavenly voices, and a beautiful, perfect vocal.  Danceable but midtempo, it is maybe one of the most approachable, perfect radio hits ever.  When I first heard it, I felt my teenage life change; it must have been what the Beatles were like in the 60s, just like that drug of newness.  It was a song that felt like it belonged entirely to its year and era, but was singular.  I rocked and rocked and rocked (the dance move that accompanied the hit).  I bought my first album ever in Off the Wall, and played the grooves off of it.  But perhaps the real secret to the song was its composer: Rod Temperton.

By all accounts the British-born Rod Temperton was the most modest of supreme talents as a songwriter (he is described as quiet and unassuming); not only did he write “Rock with You”, he arranged it in minute detail (including vocal and rhythm arrangements) just as he had as a bandmember for all of the big hits in the disco funk 70s band Heatwave (“Boogie Nights”, the ballad “Always and Forever”, and the exultant “The Groove Line”).  He was an expert songwriter and arranger, and his ability to mainstream soul records was not missed by Quincy Jones, who snapped him up to write new songs for Michael’s record (he also wrote the title track “Off the Wall”, and later the title track for “Thriller”).  

Of all of the songs in Jackson’s catalogue, none float over the airwaves as effortlessly.  Like the drum fill open, Michael’s first line (“Girl, close your eyes, let the rhythm get in to you”) is masterful: sexy and inviting, a soul record.  The song itself is forged in disco, 4/4 time.  It invites you to the dance. The bridge of the record is a flute solo, with mellow velvet voices as a cushion, an Adult Contemporary record (think Carpenters).  So, in this one song, a sweet romance about coming to the dance, you have a perfect fusion of what in many previous eras the parts of which would have segregated to its own chart, own region, own audience.  The magic of the single was that it existed at all, because Michael was the perfect performer to truly bridge these gaps.  It was overt, it was executed to perfection, and it was designed to top the charts, and it did, for 4 weeks.  And it made my teenage heart burst with joy every time it came on the radio.

The list of musicians on any Jackson record is surely going to be a who’s who: among them Quincy Jones as producer, whose long career was uncanny (or well, extremely canny for winnowing talents), Greg Phillinganes on synths (a prolific career), and John Robinson on drums, to name a few.  Robinson, the architect of that famous drum open for “Rock with You”, was so revered as a session musician that his Wikipedia page is dizzying.  He appears to have been on every pop single ever post-Michael (Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” notably has his drums on it).  He was famous for perfect technique, and a sure steady hand.  I had never really ever considered just how much I love the drum opening for “Rock with You” until now, and that without the drums that begin the song, well, I am not sure my heart would have beat quite as fast.  

Coming to the end of this post it is apparent how hilariously un New wave “Rock with You” is.  It is not post anything, but obversely it was the full flower of 1979, the apotheosis of 70s pop and disco, and possibly a harbinger of the excesses in studio production that the 80s would bring to recordings, not least in Jackson himself trying to top Off the Wall.  If that record sold an astounding 20 million copies, Pink Floyd’s The Wall would sell 33 million in the same year.  Michael Jackson would have to do something about that.

Rod Temperton passed away in 2016; John Robinson, Greg Phillinganes, and Quincy Jones are still with us.

[dropintomanga]

Anime NYC 2023 - I Still Have a Place

What a weekend.

Anime NYC 2023 just ended and while there were a few things I didn't like, I really enjoyed my time there this year. And more importantly, it was a personal epiphany for me.

I started the weekend by attending the Viz Media panel. There weren't really any significant announcements, but Yoshifumi Tozuka, the creator of Undead Unluck, stopped by and he was great. It was a teaser of his own panel the following day, but Tozuka-sensei did enlighten fans about Undead Unluck and how he wanted to present the series to fans worldwide.

After that, I went to the Autism in the Anime Fan Community panel. This was a live panel version of the "Autism in the Anime Fan Community - Solo Version" video by James Williams, an anime fan diagnosed with autism and a public speaker on autism awareness. James has been doing the panel at various conventions over the past couple of years. It was a very raw and vulnerable panel on the challenges those with autism face at conventions. James also had a special guest, Larissa Grabois, an artist who uses music and art to teach people about children living with autism. She has music videos and books pertaining to autism on her website and I will be paying very close attention. This provided much food for thought.

After that, I didn't stick around for the night panels. Though It was nice to hear Denpa license the ODDTAXI manga as I know people who adored the anime when it came out.

So onto Saturday, I went to the Yen Press panel and was impressed with what they did. They did a fun "Know the Editors" section alongside their announcements, where each editor would promote a title they work on and provide "Useful Nihongo" (which isn't actually useful in a regular context) to use. It was pretty funny to see. Yen Press also gave a shout out to The Summer Hikaru Died, which I yelled "YES!" to. Not many of the new titles they licensed caught my eye, but the one that did was She Likes Gays, But Not Me. I will say this - the manga isn't a romantic comedy and that's why I can't wait for its release in 2024.

Afterwards, I went to the Dark Horse Manga panel. There wasn't really anything new announced per say, but they did promote the latest Deluxe Edition of Berserk and the 1st omnibus of Innocent coming out very soon. Also, Carl Horn and Zack Davisson are truly the manzai duo of the manga industry scene. They have a very fun chemistry that really takes the best of both of their personalities and mixes them into something you really don't see in manga publisher panels. Both also know A LOT about comics in general. If you ever get a chance to see a Dark Horse Manga panel, do it. Carl and Zack really make worth it your while.

I didn't stick around for the later panels on Saturday night, but I know the Kodansha Manga panel that happened that night was great. There's a LOT of fun stuff coming out from them in the future. Blue Lock has become arguably THE big mainstream manga hit of 2023. I love a lot of their titles as their stories are often ones I value highly. What I'm looking forward from them? Home Office Romance (which was REALLY popular in the manga Reddit) and Sheltering Eaves (Another Rie Aruga story? Sign me up).

On Sunday, I only attended the Star Fruit Books panel. I got to learn a lot about the company being there and it was actually a small group of people who attended. So it made for a more intimate experience compared to other industry panels. Even though the publisher started during COVID, they have made huge strides in being an strong publisher of independent manga (alongside Denpa). I actually inquired about them possibly licensing manga stories from indie creators about mental health/illness because I have heard there's a lot of manga out there in Japan that covers those topics.

After that, I was done with everything. I did manage to get some nice items from booths and played mahjong with the Riichi Nomi club.

I think the convention was fine for the most part. It was crowded, but I didn't feel overwhelmed. I always had space to move around. The only things that stood out to me were that some of the panel rooms were a bit too warm to my liking and that the gaming area just felt too tight. In particular, mahjong. My club's presence last year had a good amount of space for mahjong. This year, we were relegated to the show floor and to a far end corner of the convention center. I hope this changes next year.

(Side note: NYC public transit on the weekend continues to suck ass. Why have a train stop right next to the convention center when weekend construction would prevent trains from stopping there? Sigh.)

And speaking of next year, Anime NYC 2024 will happen in the summer - August 23-25, 2024. It's going to be the bang that ends summer convention season in the U.S. after Anime Expo, San Diego Comic-Con and Otakon. There's definitely concerns about the timing, but they will have the FULL convention center at their disposal. I don't mind honestly as I dislike going to a convention when it's happening a month before winter starts.

Anyway, I'm going to finally make a reference to the headline of my post. For those of you who read my birthday post, anime and manga don't seem to inspire me a great deal lately. Getting into mahjong was one of the best things I did for my mental health over the past 2 years. Despite being a manga blogger, I was becoming more of a mahjong addict.

However, when I arrived to the con on Friday, I was greeted by a manga journalist/colleague that I hadn't seen in years. It was a surprise to see them and we caught up. We had a wonderful discussion about manga, comics and pop culture.

And then on Saturday, I got to meet people I followed on Twitter that I never met in person. I even reunited with a few blogger folks along the way. We talked about manga and convention trends that made me smile. I also met up with Anime for Humanity (who I volunteered in the past) and finally met its founder at the event. I even reunited with a local Japanese culture personality that I hadn't talked to in years. It felt really cool.

To cap it off, I finally reunited with Peter Tatara, who was working the Japan Society booth. For those who don't know, he is the founder of Anime NYC and now Director of Film at Japan Society New York. He also has a long and established history of promoting anime in New York. When I first started my foray into anime fandom in 2008, it was Peter who MCed events at the Kinokuniya NYC store that got me hyped. We worked together at those events a few times due to a mutual connection we both shared. Even though he's a huge and very busy personality now, Peter would take the time to talk to me in years past. We both shared laughs and talked about how long we known each other.

Ever since I got so deep into mahjong, I questioned my place in the manga fan community. I wasn't active as much on Twitter as other online manga personalities these last few years. While I do get hyped, I don't get heavily excited covering manga license announcements. I don't have a huge manga collection at home. I struggle to keep up with everything.

And then someone at the con told me that because of my interest in what's happening the world regarding mental health problems that plague communities, I still bring a certain view that's unique and refreshing to hear. After meeting and reuniting with a bunch of faces, I can't leave the manga blogging scene. I just can't. I love talking about manga so much still. Mahjong still has a place in my heart, but there's nothing that gets me going like talking about the stories and characters that shape people's lives.

What's more important is that being around the industry/pros/press folks I was with at Anime NYC tell me that I still have a place here. I may not be attending everything manga-related, but I want to be the person from the shadows who talks about things that definitely deserve to be heard. Besides, it's much cooler doing things in the shadows than being in the spotlight.

An old friend I saw at the convention on Sunday said that I looked the happiest I've been in years. Mahjong definitely played a huge part in that and I want to bring that energy back into my manga blogging.

I've been going to conventions for 15 years now. So many people in my life that I met via conventions have come and gone. People that I wish were still here. I have often felt lonely. Being 41 now also doesn't help either.

And yet, I keep meeting new people at conventions like Anime NYC who inspire me and value my take on things. I may not be living the best life, but I'm definitely happy-ish with what I have now. And that's all I ever wanted to ask for.

Also, thank you to everyone I talked to at Anime NYC. I'm now really ready for the 2nd half of my life.