#it's such a complex era in history and innocent lives were wasted

[ecoustsaintmein]

Anyway not me listening to Spandau Ballet's 'Through the Barricades' and tearing up thinking about what would have happened if Paddy and Eoin survived the war and lived through The Troubles?????

Like.

"Born on different sides of life We feel the same and feel all of this strife So come to me when I'm asleep We'll cross the line And dance upon the street"

And.

"Now I know what they're are saying As hearts go to their graves We made our love on wasteland Oh, and through the barricades"

[themathrockblog]

MEDITATIONS ON TALL SHIPS

An Ode to Math Rock Ancestry and an Indie Pop Hereafter 

For many a young person drifting hopelessly through those angst-stricken teenage years, music is the greatest comfort. Guiding lyrics sang in heartfelt tones can sooth in times of trouble, elevating an unassuming frontman into a sage of the stage. Reminiscing to oneself about having witnessed passionate performances from gigs past can bring about a warm nostalgia. In music scenes underground and with bands underloved, this is often accompanied by a feeling of privilege for having been one of the 30 or something strong audience, marooned inside a dingy venue taking shared solace in the evening’s escape. The pure release in the intimacy of these moments sets aside any lingering awkwardness of being in a room that everyone wishes was less empty. Nervous bands feel all-the-more appreciated, deservedly, as those hearty singalongs and well-timed nods prove the audience’s attentiveness and familiarity with the music.

Having seen them a dozen or so times in the past 8 years, Tall Ships embody these experiences like no other band. Ric Phethean intonates profound mantras with a sheepish innocence, an uncertainty that belies his impact in the room. Lyrics explore both the introspective and the exultant whilst instruments march along in tandem; the pensive plods along the keyboard in Vessels or Ode to Ancestors flow flawlessly into the pent-up energy of Hit the Floor or Plate Tectonics. I remember with limpid clarity the moment I heard ‘Oscar’ for the first time. On a tour preceding the release of Everything Touching, new tunes were working their way into the set. Out of an enchanting glut of songs filled with familiar sing-along anthems came a riff I had not heard before, from a band that – on recollection, I realise - were primed to air new material but also nervous about the abreaction they knew they were about to undergo. As the song rose to its crescendo (in that typically-tall-ships manner) I heard for the first time the line ‘I love you more than you know’; a heartfelt refrain pouring from exhausted lungs. Then bassist Matt Parker, crouched and cowering in the ache of the moment, paused and took respite, summoning enough energy to longingly and heart-wrenchingly reach for a lightly crumpled photograph of a loved one, sellotaped to the cabinet of his bass amp. ‘Oscar’ is about familial bonds, friends, ancestry and the joy of the unspoken contracts we assume with the people we love and care for. I’ve no compulsion to know who it was that Matt was paying tribute to so touchingly, to know that they ‘share more than blood’ and that their ‘heartbeat is the most important thing’ to him served to consecrate that moment as one of the most moving I have experienced from live music.

Approaching Tall Ships’ long-awaited second album with this rich personal history behind me was difficult. Having waited an extra month due to pressing problems, the time that had elapsed between the release of Will to Life - first aired back at ArcTanGent in 2015 - and the first full playthrough was nearing two years. How would this new album land, mixing upbeat festival songs by now so familiar with newer, mellower and more mournful offers. Long time collaborator and producer James Field had become a fully-fledged member, reducing the live performance workload of Ric to the benefit of his already engaging performance style. But how might a fourth man wholly focused on the keys in the studio play out on the album? Any nervous anticipation I had was shattered and reconciled about a minute into the album. The opener Road Not Taken is a perfect harbinger of the contrasting styles to come, the split sections  encapsulating the yin and yang of the album in one bifurcated song. Once the stripped-down opening has settled in, and whispered vocals and synths have passed, the band punch in with full percussion and guitar, giving a satisfying glimpse into the indie rock anthems to come. Amongst the most radio friendly of these anthems are the two tracks released as music video singles, Will to Life and Mediations on Loss, featuring thumping rhythms and nods to old influences like Biffy Clyro, with massive hook-filled choruses and a crunchy guitar-driven tone. On the softer end of the pop spectrum, Lucille darts in with an interlocked rhythm section reminiscent of early Bombay Bicycle Club, though Tall Ships make their own mark with a chorus of vocal lines - taken from all parts of the song and interwoven - that works so surprisingly well as an ending cacophony. Testament to the true accessibility of this album, Lost & Found features a short guitar riff that sounds like the Arctic Monkeys track ‘That’s Where You’re Wrong’, showcasing the indie band making ballads with a nostalgic 80’s tone.

Ending on a note of relative optimism, Day by Day is a bittersweet anthem for repair and renewal, a chance ‘to redefine why it is you live your life’. These sentiments define this charming track as it fights its way towards being optimistic but ultimately remains grounded in the futile mire of reality: ‘we need to do something before we get too old.’  The tone is at times upbeat, the lyrics never too saccharine, the sad reflections thus far end with a glimmer of hope, like watching a split of daylight radiate between two grey clouds.

A word for the two tracks hidden away on the C side of the vinyl could not go amiss. Something of a concealed title track, Impressions creates a purposeful backdrop of layered synths as Ric roars out with a lyrical drive-by of the albums themes. A wallop of uplifting guitar slowly builds in a cinematic moment of anticipation reminiscent of their debut album closer, Murmurations; this fiery post-rock instrumental as engrossing as Rock Action era Mogwai. Meanwhile, Purge finishes the offerings of this album with a little guitar groove, jumping and darting, whilst the vision of Impressions is brought to a close with a plangent piano refrain.

As ever, Tall Ships’ drum work is understated, a highlight from Everything Touching being the simple fx-laden beat that starts and underlines Idolatry. Once again – and more ear-catching than ever - Jamie shows how best to serve the song by writing simple, crunchy motifs with the odd beat chopped off, reverb slapped on or percussive tone changed, as to excite the ear on the first listen but to let it settle in hypnotically upon repeat. Meanwhile, Matt’s complimentary bass riffs range from the pulsing grooves in Lucille to the thumping persistence of Meditations on Loss to the warm and wide undercurrents of Home.

Along this well-trodden path from largely instrumental, intricately looped and angular math-rock towards a more careful pop sound sit bands like Enemies and, more recently, Waking Aida. Similarly, Tall Ships’ turn from dense loops of interwoven riffs to an indie pop tone traces a clear path. From the spoken word samples on their first EP, to the big swooning vocal lines on ‘Chemistry’, to the more vocally driven parts of Everything Touching, now we have the complete package; nine tracks where vocal hooks don’t just adorn great riffs as an afterthought, but provide the foundation for the song. The stories and sentiments told feel as if they are influencing the style of the instruments for the first time in the band’s work.

Resultantly, the song structures are built around the lyrical drive too. And so, although the band have adopted a more indie alt-pop tone, outside of the radio-friendly singles they still have a penchant for longer songs with unusual musical throughflows. This pushes them to rewarding places. Ric’s unwinding narratives compel the band to forego the traditional verse-chorus set up in favour of one long, building and unfolding track that slowly envelopes those brave enough to listen attentively. In doing so, the band avoid a feeling of disjointedness; no longer treading back along old paths with a chorus repeated wholesale, but forging a new one on which Ric’s evocative message can develop. This allows songs like Home and Petrichor to germinate organically, to be as immersive sonically as the lyrics are in their narrative form.

Since the release of the B-side Send News from 2011’s single Hit the Floor, I have been enamoured with Tall Ships at their most delicate. When the bombast of pulsing drums and angular riffs subsides, you are left – in Idolatry, Ode to Ancestors and another B-side, Life Goes On - with layers of vocal, ripples of piano and delicate refrains to sing along to. For this reason, the lilting Lost & Found is without a doubt my personal highlight of this release, and arguably the best showcase of Ric’s unique ability never to waste a good lyric on a half-hearted melody, but to propel each line into significance with a memorable one. Lyrically, Ric writes the textbook for demonstrating how profound it can be to never worry about profundity, but to know the first words that come to mind often capture the idea at its most transparent and honest. On this theme, it is surprising that after the many years the band have had to self-produce the album, achingly crafting every single note and tone of each overdub, the album still sounds the result of an effortless, unstudied process. A common criticism from those that have been following the band since their guitar loop-driven early days is that they’ve lost their exciting mathyness. This was perfectly crystallised to me at ATG in 2014 when (in a drunkenly slurred Scottish accent) a young man confided in me his belief that ‘Tall Ships are wee bit too poppy.’ Well, I’d obviously argue after having written this ludicrously long review, I think they’re exactly poppy enough: utterly hypnotic, effortless, memorable, but still showcasing intricate, complex and thoughtful songs with stunning musicianship and a ‘less is more but 5 sets of backing vocals and 3 synth tones still aren’t quite enough’ sort of feeling. A masterful album and their best release to date. Another minute would be too intense to bear.

[kendrixtermina]

So I found a walkthrough of “The Phantom Fable” and its reaction time

But don’t take my word for it click here to form your own opinion and thank the hero that made this possible

I like how connie has no patience for the townies.

It also has just a lil bit of plot like lore about the various magitech artifacts (It's interesting that gems from Peridot's generation aren't really that familiar with them anymore) and Steven is still recognizeably in his season 4 slump. Also even though the book is supposed to be super old there's a lot of those triangular sigils around - is the book so old that it's from before PD came to be?

arcane acropolis

Really excited about the potential for lore speculation from these new locations! So they were researching magic in this place! It does look like your archetypical mage tower with all the bookshelves and aqueducts though the apocalyptic log on the computer says "mad science", and it seems like some mage gem went behind the Diamonds' backs because even they thought this was too dangerous. One always wonders how the weird magic artifacts from the early seasons fits into the greater canon. 

Video games tend to be good at this "environment-based storytelling" but this is actually presented pretty well in a sorta melancholy haunting manner between the BGs, the music, the "ghost" of that unfortunate Pearl, various scattered hints that only sort of form a whole. Perhaps the uppity mage gem was Lonely Pearl's master.... 

...

OUCH from what I'd read it seems like they just "forgot" her/ didn't care enough to go back for her before the corruption attack but this seems like a way more complex story, like more of an individual act of cruelty/ deliberate punishment. 

The mage gem deliberately "forgot" her while leaving the outpost, but it was HER who betrayed the empire. The mage gem was deliberately cruel, too, telling her that she would be coming back. 

Lonely Pearl was basically being an upstanding citizen, reporting foul play to the Diamonds. 

That is, if they even had the right "traitor" at all. Did they just assume it was her because of something like a “gossip hen” stereotype?

But from how she acts she seems pretty devoted like her master was her whole world - maybe they got the wrong traitor and she was innocent all along. Or she tattled because she was concerned about her master's own safety. In any case they really done her dirty

In any case I’m not even sure this took place on Earth. Did she just go nuts/feral all by herself? If so this is the first time we’ve seen that, seems like it was more some recording of wherever the magic book was made. Was this a recording? Is the real her still trapped out there or did the book absorb her out of pity? Where is she now if she’s anywhere at all? Or was it all an illusion?

It’s a nice Detail that it couldn’t capture Steven and Connie because, as Lapis and Peridot theorize, it doesn’t know how to ‘categorize’ them. 

The taglines for the GUYS and GALS were genuinely funny IMHO

Buried Bastion

The Ruby Squad!

Though I do not quite get what Steven and Garnet are theorizing there.

Is it ‘our’ Rubies but in the past? Them inserted into some older memory of CG Ruby being deployed somewhere?Gah I love trippy stuff but you gotta give me a hint so I can work it out

It does seem to be earth tho. The desert too. Come to think of it, were the structures in the desert Pink Diamond’s former palace? Since she parked her ship there and was lurking around there without telling the others. Eyeball DID use to be part of her guard. 

If this all takes place on Earth this means Lonely Pearl is either still at the research facility or in the bubble room/ set to beuncorrupted. 

The rest of the squad was Era II tho none of them had really heard of PDs shattering, Leggy was implied to be fresh from the ground. (Which implies that both Rebel Ruby and Eyeball are in fact relatively old for Rubies. As footsoldiers it figures that they’d have one of the higher attrition rates)

And as usual their lines are comedic gold and full of personality Sand in my shorts lol

Perhaps in reality it was actually eyeball, but with a different squad of Rubies that are now long dead. 

Maybe i’s an erised/ Xion type situation. Steven sees the Ruby Squad, Garnet might be seeing CG Ruby’s old comrades. 

In any case they seem to be guarding an artifact - presumably the book - so it “wont fall into rebel hands”. Interesting. 

This whole level has a very zeldaesque feel to it, there’s even pots to smash! I suppose the first one could then be likened to final fantasy. 

No wait that’s the era II sigil. So this here is definitely late in the war.

“Glyph of Illusion”, hm? So now the trippyness shall become interactive

The broken computers make me so angry. I want more apocalyptic logs damnit

YEAH Late war, the screes show fusion experiments and its full of those tubes they emerged from. 

And they found some magic bombs, too

Ohhhh boy, it WAS the fusion experiment lab. We know what it actually looks like now. Also was it just implied that they started with living dearth row inmates? Ouch. 

UGH there’s bits of uncessesful specimens all over. 

Note that there’s those red, vein-like “powerlines”, but they look more like the ones in the temple than the ones seen in various Era II structures

So they were sent to gather the last remaining research data and leave not witnesses - I mean clearly the Rebels never found out until Peridots arrival

Too bad we won’t know which of them said which of the Megaruby’s lines

In the end our heroes are not sure how much of this was real - but we all know there were fusion experiments. Maybe even the book only knew so much

Interim

Kinda curious where Amethyst has gotten to. Since we did both the distant past and the middle of the war. The sequence breaking in the forest and the beach is also kinda interesting.

Mysterious pillar saying “avoid the light”. Fascinating.

is that a nest full of donuts?

Aww you can find the hidingplace of onions friends in the forest

whoha its just like that one temple in breath of the wild!

Lost Labhyrinth

Looks like somewhere cold. There’s some random Quartzes but otherwise not much plot here. It’s like they ran out of ideas

ooo exit holes... in ice? Okey I possibly take that back plot might be forthcoming

I like the common theme that for each level the first half was named something vaguely mystical as it might look to an outside observer, and then the second bit is a crisp, spartan designation once the MCs figure out what it is. The duality of man gemkind, I suppose, though they really are kinda spartan as whole at least the mainstream/monarchist faction. 

Figures that there would be more kindergartens than just the two since we haven’t seen he one where the earth-grown Rose Quartes came from. Since this is delta that one must’ve been Gamma. Might not even exist anymore. 

That would mean there were four. One orange, one purple, one pastel, and one for the actual!rose quartzes. 

There’s a mean Jasper but it’s not OUR mean Jasper. Why are eye gems all.. like that?

Ahhh I see. They’re hunting a group of off-colors. Possibly rebellious off-colors. 

“You’ve sucessfully rescued all my Crsystal gem sidekicks” I can’t even

But of course they were only distracting us until the antagonist finally shows themselves and inevitably napps greg

yet more sequence breaking then

Interesting that you get the white sigil pieces in beach city

Final Dungeon

whats this zerg slime? re we doing starcraft now

though i suppose its also a tad like the blight ganons from breath of the wild where you had to shoot the eye

the musics also getting interesting

so its motive rant o clock. Coool voice, too

this is indeed getting breath of the wild-y. the korok forest anyone?

So far I was thinking that maybe the book spirit, excuse me, Fable, decided to record shameful occurences or maybe parts of gem history that were not so great aside from just recording the glory, perhaps even out of sympathy/emphasizing with the outcasts but as of now it seems more like she’s simply lonely

Poor Steven, it was mindfuckey how she offered to let him see his dead mom. He sorta feels pretty ambiguous about her so he’d probably be more frighteed by that prospect, but I’d say this would have worked on many a Standard Protagonist, like if this were Harry Potter or Shinji Ikari? napped.

Book-ception?! Fairly typical twist at this point but it would’ve been a waste not to do it. So they were napped after all, and put with all the humans in beach city

It’s interesting that she perceives Steven as “being unable to resist an adventure” but framed more in terms of the thrill than just chronic-hero-syndrome.

Now we are getting bullethell-sy for the final battle. Even the music is vaguely undertale-ish. i mean with how you have to get the one green bomb to defeat her that does kinda seem deliberate

So he talked her down of course, by promising to tell her some less awful stories for a change. 

And she winds up as Steven’s diary because of course

Nice enough from a design standpoint I guess cant realistically expect more than this from a spinoff game