#ive watched interviews about the album and concept

[bluebugjay]

my memory is actually so atrocious that no matter how obsessed I am with anything I will never be able to tell you a single concrete thing about it

[dojae-huh]

It's unfortunate, but it looks like I can't use YT at all if I want to save on i-net data. I've watched only 4-5 short videos, and 1/5 of my credit is gone in 1 day, heh. I will experience and enjoy the stages and concerts with a delay, in summer. There are always sacrifices in life...

With this NewJeans and Illit plagiarism scandal going on, it becomes clear how Big3 look not only for looks/talent, but personality, afterall. Whether I like BP or not, I have to admit that all the girls are very different and can stand on their own fan-attractor wise. Same with Babymonster, even with the same make up and beauty standart for every member, the girls are more memorable than most 4-5gen. NCT produced 4 soloists so far (I'm counting Lucas), and everyone's album is not like the other's. Riize also stands out among 5gen looks and concept wise.

Well, on the other hand, there is empty space to fill in left by Hybe, which young producers of small agencies try to occupy (StayC, Kiss of Life, Ive (maybe)).

Taeyong and Doyoung.

Doyoung's album feels more mature. Granted, Taeyong's 2 albums are more unique, individualistic, intimate in a way, debatebly there could be more artistic value to them, but it is still "Taeyong looks for TY" phase. There is hesitance. On the other hand, Doyoung knows who he is, I was wrong to doubt it. He might be afraid of whether fans can accept his non-idol self, the shift in the image, but he knows the road he wants to take. The album and the promotion feels like Doyoung sailing. It has that powerful element of the strong wind in the sails. The album already shows results close to IU and BTS guys in Korean charts. How happy Doyoung looks, how his true bold nature comes forward more and more in the performances. He is ready to take it, to enjoy everything. And yes, the timing is better for him than it was for Taeyong (both times). More room for concerts and festivals. However, the preparatory period was the same for both.

It is also about the voice. As I has been observing Do's progress since the time he made mistakes with pitch and was refusing to sing during interviews, I can feel the difference. He doesn't just sing well enough on the album, he shows different colours and techniques, uses his backvocals, in many places makes his work harder because he can (breathing, transitions, oberlayered singing with Taeyeon). During live performances he sounds weaker, so there is room to grow, but he will improve and catch up soon.

All in all, I'm personally glad SM doesn't allow the artists to go solo too early. Yes, maybe Doyoung could have released the album a year earlier. Maybe even two years earlier if covid didn't happen. The things happened how they happened though. Doyoung needed 127 to get Daesang and become a million seller, to perform at Tokyo dome and win over Korean fans, to get very close to Kenzie, to go through his burn out and overcome it, to invest some years into his love life with Jaehyun, to get the brand deal, the musical and tv-series first to be able to produce such an album, to approach renown song-writers and to ask for festivals and concerts in Japan and HongKong. The musical improved his vocals, the tv-series showed him he can succeed in a new area he is not comfortable in, DJJ let him get the experience of promoting outside of 127, gain support from fans with a new sound, the success of individual careers of the other members let him be "arrogant" and go for big things for himself. Mayhaps even the ousting of LSM was of help, who knows. LSM was known for being very involved in the work of his artists (to the degree of cutting off Seulgi's fringe for a better concept look right before the shooting of an RV's MV and changing aespa's "tsu-tsu-tsu" in the lyrics (which was genius on his part, but you know... his vision)).

Doyoung said people mostly remember Taeyong and Mark in 127, that he is not as memorable or standing out in the group in comparison. And it is true. It because he mimics an idol, plays a role for the group, (and loses points in dancing), he is confined in an image that is not him (Tae and Mark are themselves, Taeyong the soloist is a natural continuation of Taeyong the leader of NCT). Doyoung did it to himself, by the way, so the group is not to blame. In the performance on Mnet of "Little light" Dongyoung came out, and was as attention grabbing. He is not shakled by the level of success of the group (i.e. if he fails it won't affect negatively the unit), only the eyes of his own fans will be on him, the risk and reward are all his, so he is free to be more bold and greedy.

[northwestofinsanity]

HI AGAIN!!!

SO sorry for being gone for a hot minute. Life gets so busy and then i just fall asleep 😭

IM A HUGE SUPERTRAMP AND CHEAP TRICK FAN!! Theyre such big comfort bands for me! Also do you have any albums youd recomend to me by the who? Ive been wanting to get into their music more seriously!

Also i am SO glad to hear that you like elo and billy squier! Some tracks id recommend are, rich kid, young girls, learn how to live, all night long, the musics alright, too daze gone... all great tracks you should listen to! also idk if its a lesser known track but also shes a runner if you havent heard that one either! (really all of his debut album is perfect... really ALL the tracks on his first 4 albums are flawless) also just listen to his songs he did for fast times at ridgemont high and st elmos fire! AND AND!!! have you listened to his christmas song?? I'm sure youd recognize it once you hear it but i LOVE christmas is the time to say i love you 🫶

And i DO have my own physical music collection! i have a million records, cassettes, and 8-tracks! records are my favorite to collect! I always go after first pressings or at least as close to the original release year!

Aaand when it comes to holidy prep... I really just like buying presents for my loved ones :-] I love picking out something i know will make them so excited! I also love doing anything that has to do with christmas lights and figuring out what recipes i want to use for christmas dinner 🤩

-⭐

Hi!

Oh, don’t worry -it is A-OK!  I’m in veterinary school, and it’s a very lecture heavy time up until the end of the semester… I actually have a test on Monday with 43 hours worth of lecture content on it from the last two weeks of class (not gonna say what that does to my nerves!), and then I’ve got another lecture heavy week before the final.  And when I’m on break, I go back to my job working 12 hour shifts in the hospital… so there’s quite a few days I can relate with coming home and being *done* XD

Oh my goodness, Supertramp and Cheap Trick… Supertramp got me through so much a couple of years ago when I was at peak hyperfixation with them.  That piano solo on “School” still is just one of the best things in the world!  And Cheap Trick was probably my first true band hyperfixation way back when I was thirteen.  I spent so many nights in the summer between seventh and eighth grade, watching interviews on YouTube, and falling head over heels in love with Tom Petersson.  First of many rock star crushes I have had! (And he’s *so* sweet…)  I’ve become a lot closer with other bands since then, but they have a very special place in my heart for starting it all.

It’s possible I’ve heard that Billy Squier Christmas song, though I’m not placing it off the top of my head.  I’ll be spending a lot of time in this weekend prepping for Monday, so I’ll definitely put him on my streaming radio tomorrow and give those songs a listen!  I like to check out some newer things, or check in with bands I’m not as close with about this far out from finals, anyway, because then I can save some of the effect of my emotional support bands for when I need it most.  Or, occasionally, I go into a hype and find myself with a new emotional support band going into it …and that’s how I fell into my most recent band hype back in the Spring!

The Who are really one of my favorites that slowly sneaked up from being a casual favorite to a true top level one without a bunch of fanfare like my other bands have given me (it also sort of happened while I was still hyped on Supertramp), but there’s an album I revisited around that time that likely had a lot to do with it.  I love Quadrophenia.  It’s one of my definitive comfort albums, and it’s one of those rock-opera concept albums that never really hit the same without being played all the way through, because it’s all supposed to connect (most of the songs work alone, but they’re just better together).  But since it’s a double, it can be hard to find the time to really do that.  So it became an album I would always listen to whenever I was home sick from school or work, and there’s sort of a synthesizer motif that reappears throughout it that has a very soothing effect to me.  I associate it with being comfortable at home and feeling better from that, which makes me like it even more!  I also like almost all the songs on Who’s Next.  Tommy has become a favorite as well.  It also has a similar setup to Quadrophenia, but with Tommy, there’s a lot more songs that just do not work out of context.  It’s probably a more fun album, even though I don’t have that comfort association with it.

Really, a lot of my love for The Who comes from their dynamic and their antics, though… they are hilariously chaotic!  I wouldn’t be surprised actually if Cheap Trick (Rick Nielsen, especially) took inspiration with some of their antics, even though I don’t think there’s too many bands that have been able to top The Who on that front!

All of those holiday prep things are stuff I also enjoy… I also like to do art for some of my family, and I’m really looking forward to when finals are over so I can make some!

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Idk why something always seems a bit off about txt performances for me. Maybe bc they don't always seem to fit their concept? Or some of them fit it more than others? Sometimes they don't seem like a cohesive group or like there's something missing. They're so popular and keep getting more successful, so I always try to check out their new music, but I can't seem to get the hype. Most other successful bgs I understand why people see the full package in them, even if I don't stan, but it doesn't click with me with txt and I don't find their performances very memorable. I hope this doesn't come across as me hating on them bc I really want to like them since they seem nice

I think every single time TXT drop a new song or I watch their performances I comment on this. TXT don't really have star appeal to me. There's nothing exceptionally charming or attractive about them. They don't particularly stand out in variety shows, interviews, or their own content; none of the members, even Yeonjun, stands out to me individually outside the stage; their styling is super boring and always the same, not to mention uncool; their choreos are too repetitive and fast paced - I never have the time to appreciate anything since the boys are always transitioning from one move to the next at a steady pace, so nothing sticks out to me, with the choreos lacking dynamic, uniqueness, and being unmemorable, no single member ever having a point move or something that makes me remember them; their performances lack spontaneity and charisma too - they're just well rehearsed but not alive, exciting, hype, different. To me, TXT are a very typical boy group. They aren't any different from most groups who don't have much of a say in their artistic vision, and TXT do have songwriting credits on most albums, but even other groups have a bigger identity and ownership of their group. IVE aren't particularly involved in their artistic output, but already have a stronger brand and a more distinct and recognizable image than TXT. You know who IVE are and the members generally embody the concept of the group well without it seeming fake or too much like a concept. TXT, on the other hand, mostly feel like a group put together by Big Hit with the members just following orders and trying out the concepts they're assigned. It feels more like a business venture and less like a group. TXT have their own image and sound, and the members' bonds bring the group together, but, at the same time, it's like the group doesn't really belong to them and the members could be replaced to create a new TXT, like the concept of TXT is stronger than the group itself. I like the boys, but I can't imagine them ever blowing up. They're not memorable or engaging enough to me. SKZ's success makes so much more sense imo.

I'm not hating on them either, because I like them, but they're missing something for me too.

Thanks for the ask! I like being ask about other kpop groups!

[mx-misty-eyed]

thanks for the tag!!!!!

1. when/how did you discover them? + what was the first song you listened to?

first song I listened to was probably stressed out on the radio. I didnt really know them until maybe a week after blurryface was released. My cousin told me that she found this really cool band and showed them to me and I was immediately hooked.

2. have you been to any concert(s)?

noooo :( I want to go so bad but I absolutely cant afford that at all, maybe one day though, ive been saving up for a while

3. do you remember where you were when trench dropped (if you were a fan by then)?

kind of. I didnt really know how music worked until maybe 2020 so I didnt know about albums or singles or anything like that, I would just look up twenty one pilots on youtube and sometimes there would be new stuff, so i guess I remember sitting at the computer noticing there was new music, but i didnt really understand what had happened

4. favourite thing about the clique?

probably the skill everyone has when it comes to solving puzzles, or the insane talent. The clique has such insane art skill and shit like that and its just so awesome to see what people have created for this band

5. any memorable/funny/interesting quote (from interviews/bts footage/…) you especially like?

"a beach... in Michigan... is all about... the commodities. Its what you make it. And if you make the right decisions, a beach in Michigan can actually be a good decision... ok? So just grab a pack of tacos, grab a tall boy of some sort of lemonade, and- and just drink in the fact that you're on a beach... in Michigan." "Cheers. Michigan, where the sand is hot, the sun is shining, the tacos are flying down the throats, the tall boys are getting warmer, and little kids are watching me talk- How are you doing?" "You wanna dream big? you dream big! You wanna be a beach, but you’re in Michigan? You be a beach, Michigan Beach"

6. what would you want to ask/tell them if you got the chance?

idk ig thank them for saving my life lmao. Also I really just want to talk to Tyler about music, like any music really, I just feel like I could talk to him for hours about the concept of music itself.

7. which tattoo would you like to know the meaning of (if you do)?

Probably the bands on tylers arm, but other than that im not all that interested in knowing what they mean.

+1. from silverlininghills what do you think the genre/vibe of the next album is going to be?

i definitely thinks its gonna have a bit more of a dark and depressing vibe if its gonna follow redecorate like they said. Im hoping for something similar to Trench since that was definitely my favorite album+era. Im also hoping that the shade of purple that people have been theorizing about will come into play because I really like it.

additional question you want to ask the people you tagged:

What is your least favorite song by them

i dont think i really have many pilots mutuals lol, im tagging @thisisthewaytomando @disco-cowboygirl and @starboy14176 @phantaloon

no pressure ofc!!

7 + 1 twenty one pilots ask

i was tagged by @dasloddl!! ty!!

1. when/how did you discover them? + what was the first song you listened to? - either on the radio or on yt or at work or something like that, sometime in 2015. idk which song exactly but lets be honest, it was prolly stressed out 😅 or one of the other blurryface singles

2. have you been to any concert(s)? - no 😭 i totally would've seen them on the icy tour but they didn't come to my city 😭 but i'm hoping to go to at least one show on the next tour (either vancouver or, failing that, seattle), and hopefully also the DC show with my bestie!!

3. do you remember where you were when trench dropped (if you were a fan by then)? - weirdly, yes! it was like 9pm on october 4th, i was at home and got a spotify notification that twenty one pilots had released a new album. i listened to the first three songs, went "ehh", and stopped there 😅 which, in hindsight, is so tragic bc if i'd held out for just one more song i would've gotten to my blood, which is one of my absolute favourites!

4. favourite thing about the clique? - how smart and kind and inclusive everyone is!! like i know the clique's got it's share of toxic fans, just like any other fandom/community in general, but esp here on tumblr absolutely everyone i've met/interacted with has been sososo friendly and funny and smart and cool <3

5. any memorable/funny/interesting quote (from interviews/bts footage/…) you especially like? - i'm so bad at thinking up stuff like this off the cuff sldjskdljf there's always smth i think of later that i wish i'd said instead. for right now i'm gonna go with "two happy boys" (or any of the "two ____ boys" riffs that they do), as well as every single story abt how they met 😂

6. what would you want to ask/tell them if you got the chance? - FREAKING. SO MUCH. i'd want to thank them for rewarding us for looking deeper and caring more and sticking around. i'd want to tell them how what they've done w the dema/trench storyline is legitimately incredible and groundbreaking and to, in their own words, "never put a ceiling on their dreams". i'd also want to talk to them for roughly 6 hours abt death cab for cutie bc i Need To Know their thoughts abt literally everything sdlfkjsdkfl

7. which tattoo would you like to know the meaning of (if you do)? - i'm honestly fine w not knowing the meaning to any of their tattoos, bc i know they're v personal, but if i could know the meaning of one and have it be totally okay and willingly shared, it would be, for tyler, the symbols tattoo on the side of his forearm, and for josh, the astronaut-getting-beamed-up tattoo on his bicep.

+1. dasloddl's question for me: which album cover do you like best? - excellent question!! even tho i do love SAI's aesthetic, i think i'd have to go with blurryface on this one. there's just so much meaning behind it!! the pull-out blurry face is genius, the patterns are so fun, it's simple yet evocative. just, stellar art design.

additional question you want to ask the people you tagged: what do you think the genre/vibe of the next album is going to be?

aaaaand i am tagging @mx-misty-eyed @melxncholyman @timedyne @gonerbird and @re4lize-th4t-its-g0ne!!

[dailykoreanpop]

[WhosPICK:View] "Because ATEEZ has a captain" The Best Leader in K-pop Who Makes Everyone Happy Like a Summer BBQ : ATEEZ Hongjoong

Group ATEEZ’s Hongjoong topped the list for best K-pop leader who makes everyone happy like a summer BBQ.

From July 12th to July 18th, the global K-Pop fandom platform ‘Whosfan’ ran a poll with the topic, ‘[WhosPICK] Who is the best leader in K-pop who makes everyone happy like a summer BBQ?’

Based on the fans’ recommendation on Whosfan’s official social media account, the poll’s nominees included leaders who work hard to lead their groups. The nominees included Girls Generation’s Taeyeon, BTS’s RM, IVE’s Yujin, Stray Kids’ Bangchan, ATEEZ’s Hongjoong, OMEGA X’s Jaehan, SEVENTEEN’s S.Coups, ENHYPEN’s Jungwon, TWICE's Jihyo, TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Soobin, (G)I-DLE’s Soyeon, and TNX’s Taehun.

As the result of the poll, Hongjoong won with a voting rate of 42.42%. The ranking was followed by Bangchan (32.09%) and Jaehan (7.85%) in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

To this, ‘WhosPICK:VIEW’ looked closer into Captain Hongjoong’s strong leader moments.

ATEEZ continues their pirate concept universe as the title of their debut song was ‘Pirate King.’ Hongjoong, the leader, is called ‘Captain’ to match the concept of the universe and is working hard to lead the ATEEZ members.

Hongjoong said that the things he says most as the leader of ATEEZ are “stop,” “please,” and “no.” As the members are usually high in energy and the atmosphere becomes chaotic in video content such as V LIVE, he can often be seen controlling them.

Seonghwa said, “When I was a trainee and I practiced alone until dawn, the member who was always with me was Hongjoong. Looking at Hongjoong’s efforts and mindset, I knew there would be nothing to fear if he was the leader of the team.” He thought that Hongjoong would be the best as the leader even before their debut.

Mingi says that he always takes Hongjoong’s side outside. Expressing trust in leader Hongjoong, saying, “Because he is the leader of the team, I try to follow Hongjoong unconditionally even if there are opinions that I disagree with.”

▶ Became the captain with endless effort

The fact that Hongjoong became a leader also had to do with the fact that he is a hard worker. In an interview about Hongjoong, composer Eden, who has worked with Hongjoong, had this to say.

When Eden first met Hongjoong, he said that he had never formally learned music, so he didn’t want to teach anyone. So, he intentionally showed Hongjoong an online encyclopedia containing 200 words related to composition and gave him the hard homework of memorizing them before the next day. However, contrary to the expectation that he would just give up music because it was hard, Hongjoong memorized it all night and was able to become Eden’s first pupil through that effort.

Eden said that when Hongjoong first became a trainee, he was on base zero in both rap and dance. However, he wanted to help Hongjoong to grow after watching him practice nonstop even during breaks. It was with this effort that Hongjoong stood out both when working on his songs and on the stage.

This is why the members also follow Hongjoong for song making. Even before his official debut, Hongjoong composed ‘FROM’ during his U.S. training session, recording it with his members and releasing it as content. Hongjoong’s self-composed songs have also been included in albums since his debut and cover songs he worked on himself through his personal content called ‘BY. HONGJOONG’ has been released to ATINY (fandom name). Hongjoong shows the literal meaning of ‘all-round leader’ in that he plans not just songs, but also concepts and outfits as well, and the members are always presenting great performances under the leadership of Hongjoong, too.

▶ Filling the stage with the captain’s presence

Hongjoong also shows his presence as a captain on ATEEZ stages.

If you look closely at Hongjoong’s stage outfit, you can often see an armband on his right arm. This means that he is the captain of ATEEZ and Hongjoong is the only one who wears it.

In particular, Hongjoong especially stands out on stage. On Mnet’s ‘Kingdom,’ they decorated many stages that connected ATEEZ’s universe with Hongjoong always appearing as the leading role, leaving a strong impression on many viewers as a ‘captain.’

Whosfan will run a pop-up ad on the app for a week for Hongjoong who placed 1st in this poll. Whosfan can be downloaded from the mobile App Store, Play Store, and Galaxy Store.

The topic of this week’s ‘WhosPICK’ is ‘Which idol is the representative refreshing vocalist?’ with idols who have voices that make you feel refreshed just by listening to them. The fans are also paying a lot of attention to the ‘WhosPICK’ poll that runs from July 19th to July 25th.

Credit: Hanteo News 

[ohimtherebabey]

what is/was paper kingdom?

ooooo thank you for asking me this i love talking about paper kingdom.

so! the paper kingdom, sometimes referred to as MCR5, was another concept album. ive seen conflicting reports of it following the black parade and of it following danger days. i think its more plausible that it would follow the black parade, as we know that they did scrap an album between black parade and danger days. the story for this album was a support group for parents whose children had died. according to gerard, it was super dark and the process of writing it was so self-destructive for everyone that it had to be scrapped for everyone’s well-being. the only song that was ever released from the paper kingdom was fake your death. 

gerard talks about paper kingdom and the break up in this podcast interview (start around 13 minutes) which is where we find out the general concept of the album. this shorter interview also has some of gerard’s comments about MCR5 (the first minute and the last few minutes are relevant to the paper kingdom, but theres a lot in here about the umbrella academy which i think is worth watching). this interview with grant morrison touches on gerard’s mental state following the black parade and the beginnings of the mcr5 era. after the reunion, some fans theorized that a new album could be the paper kingdom. gerard himself said that there could be a time in his life when he wanted to revisit the paper kingdom. 

as much as i would love to have a super dark concept album like this, i dont think we’ll get it. it just wouldnt be healthy for them to write, you know? especially because theyre all parents now and to put this album out would be to imagine losing their kids.

tl;dr: the paper kingdom was a really dark scrapped concept album about parents who had lost their children 

[grimelords]

My March playlist is finished! This one is slightly more diverse than usual, swinging all the way from vibraphone jazz to Bhad Bhabie to black metal so I’ve taken the liberty of actually sequencing it properly for you. So if you’ve got 3 hours you can listen to this straight through and be taken for a hell of a ride. No matter what you like I’m sure you’ll find something in here that you love.

Tahiti - Milt Jackson: For an unknown reason I had a big jazz vibraphone phase this month and when you're talking jazz vibraphone you're talking the Wizard Of The Vibes himself, Milt Jackson. I feel insane even having an opinion on this but it's a shame that some of the best vibraphone performances were made at a time when the actual recording technology wasn't really there, they all have this very thin quality that I think misses a lot of the great character of the instrument.

Detour - Bill Le Sage: Like compare this from 1971 to Wizard Of The Vibes from 1952, the sounds is miles warmer and gives so much more of the full range and detail of the instrument. I also listened to this song five times in a row when I first heard it, the central refrain is just so fuckin good. Like I said, big vibes vibe and who knows why.

Blowin' The Blues Away - Buddy Rich And His Sextet: Superhuman playing aside, it's unbelievable how good these drums sound. The whole first minute just feels like a tour of each specific drum and I absolutely revel in it. I feel like flute and vibes is a relatively rare combo so it's extremely nice to hear Sam Most and Mike Manieri go ham in tandem.

Yama Yama - Yamasuki Singers: A friend sent me this song that he's had stuck in his head for ten years ever since it was in a beer ad from the days when beer ads were incredible strange for complicated legal reasons about not showing people enjoying the product or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfkh0OojxY and this incredible song is apparently from a 1971 French concept album where a couple of guys wrote a bunch of psychedelic songs in Japanese for an unknown reason that later became a massive drum and bass breaks album, and one of the guys was Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk's dad! Music is crazy.

Alfonso Muskedunder - Todd Terje: I'm starting a petition to get Todd Terje to write the soundtrack for the next Mario Kart. I absolutely love this song and this whole album because it's so joyful and strange and it just sounds like nothing else I've ever heard. He seem to truly operate in a world entirely of his own.

Pala - Roland Tings: I love this song. It's like he wrote it with normal sounds and then went back and replaced every instrument with the party version. This song hands you a coconut and says welcome to the island where bad vibes are punishable by firing squad.

Keygen 13 - Haze Edit - Dubmood: There's a fucking album of keygen music on spotify and it's absolutely great and so good that someone's doing the work to recognize the value of the music this extremely weird scene produced and preserve it. If you don't know, back in the day when you pirated photoshop or whatever, you would download a license key generator which was a program made by extreme nerds who had cracked the license key algorithm to give you a fake one, and for unknown reasons they would make the keygen program play original chiptune music that someone in their nerd crew would compose. Who knows why but god bless them.

My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix) - Feist: The very concept of a Boys Noize remix of My Moon My Man is hilarious and it turns out it sounds absolutely amazing as well. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Low Blows - Meg Mac: I had a big Meg Mac phase this month too, listened to her album a lot and it's extremely solid. Great timing too cause her new one comes out in a month or so too. I really am excited to hear her next album because she's so good but I've always got this feeling that she hasn't reached her full potential yet, she's only going to get a million times better in an album or two.

Patience - Tame Impala: I love that the cover of this single is a pic of congas because it feels like that's the central thesis here. Kevin Parker bought some congas and is making disco Tame Impala now and I really couldn't be happier about it.

Unconditional (feat. Kitten) - Touch Sensitive: I love a 90s throwback done with love. There's nothing cynical or ironic about this it's just fun as hell!

Last Hurrah - Bebe Rexha: Get a fucking load of this Bebe Rexha song that interpolates Buy U A Drank by T-Pain for the chorus! It's a testament to how good that song is that she's using the verse melody as the chorus. T-Pain will quite literally never get the respect he deserves. Also this song goes for 2.5 minutes. There's something happening where pop songwriting is getting more and more compact, completely trimming the fat and ornamentation and it's very interesting.

Hi Bich - Bad Bhabie: Also I'm fully six months late on Hi Bich but I'm of the opinion that it's extremely fucking good. A perfect little reaction gif of a song and it only goes for 1m45!

Friends - Flume: I'm doubling down on my thesis about emo rap from last month but this song literally sounds like a Flume remix of a Hawthorne Heights song. The whole melody of it, the overlapping yelled/clean vocals. The lyrics obviously. I don't know it's just very odd how close it is. A sort of emo trojan horse to trick people into thinking The Used are cool again. 

How To Build A Relationship (feat. JPEGMAFIA) - Flume: I've been meaning to check out JPEGMAFIA (AKA Buttermilk Jesus AKA DJ Half-Court Violation AKA Lil' World Cup) for a while but this is the song that convinced me. There's just so much to digest in this. Every line is gold and delivered with massive conviction even when he realises it's total nonsense like 'dont call me unless I gave you my number'.

Bells & Circles (feat. Iggy Pop) - Underworld: Underworld alive 2019?? I love this song becuase Iggy Pop has been riding a fine line between punk provocateur and old man yells at cloud for a while now and this song is the perfect mix of both. You can't hijack airplanes and redirect them to cuba anymore and as a result it's over for liberal democracies. Just yelling about air travel for six minutes and it's good.

Guns Blazing (Drums Of Death Pt. 1) - UNKLE: This beat is some of my favourite DJ Shadow work I think. The menacing organ bass throughout, and especially the distorted drum freakout near the end. It's just great all the way through.

Homo Deus IV - Deantoni Parks: Another Deantoni Parks track like I was raving about last month. This whole album is great and flows together as a single piece of work amazingly. I love the purposefully limited sample palette of each track forcing an evolving groove throughout. He absolutely wrings every bit of variation he can get out of every single sound he uses and once you get into the groove of it it's absolutely mind blowing.

Boredom - The Drones: I love that The Drones can write a song about joining ISIS that's also a lot of fun. Spelling out radicalization in a way anyone can understand and sympathise with and then switching it in the second verse to spell out how we got into this situation anyway. 

Loinclothing - Hunters And Collectors: I love how much this song sounds like a voodoo celebration in christian hell.

The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died - Queens Of The Stone Age: There's a good bit on the live dvd they put out after Lullabies To Paralyze where they play this song and they say it was supposed to be on the album but somebody stole the master recordings from the studio, which is an incredible and brazen crime. Then when they put it out on Era Vulgaris as a bonus track Josh Homme said in an interview "The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft" which is extremely funny. This is really one of their best songs and I sort of really with it had been on Lullabies because it fits perfectly between The Blood Is Love and Someone's In The Wolf type of vibes, I love how it just kind of keeps shifting ideas and riffs throughout. An absolute jam overflowing with ideas.

10AM Automatic - The Black Keys: This song is an all time great in my opinion. It's so straightforward and so effective. I wonder if we'll get a blues rock revival ever or if Jack White still being alive and bad is souring everyone on that idea. This song also has one of my favourite guitar sounds in history I think - the outrageously huge sounding solo that comes out of nowhere and swallows up the rest of the mix like a swirling black hole near the end.

Gamma Knife - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: I've never gotten much into King Gizzard and because of their one million albums already it's hard to know where to start but I've been listening to Nonagon Infinity a bit and it's great, it's just good old fashioned 70s prog jams front to back.

Gina Works At Hearts - DZ Deathrays: I absolutely love this song and I absolutely love the second guitar sound in the chorus of this song that sounds like it's made out of thin steel.

Black Brick - Deafheaven: When I saw Deafheaven the other month I was right up the front and it was a life changingly great experience AND they played this new song live for the first time before it went up everywhere like three hours later which was very exciting to be given a sclusie like that. After they finished a guy behind me whispered to his friend "Slayer..." which was very funny to me.

Gemini - Elder: I found this band because one of my Spotify Daily Mixes was all stoner metal for a while, which is a good genre to see all lined up because it'll have Weedeater, Bongripper AND Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats right there in a row for you. Anyway this album is extremely good, the very best kind of stoner metal where it's groovy and fun and has big meaty riffs and ripping big solos and it's extremely easy to listen to three times in a row.

The Paradise Gallows - Inter Arma: My big obsession the past little while has been Inter Arma ever since Stereogum posted The Atavist's Meridian from their new album. It is just so fucking good and I can't believe I've never heard of them before. You know when you find out about an amazing band and then you find out they've been around for nearly ten years and you can't believe everyone in your life has been selfishly hiding them from you?

The Atavist's Meridian - Inter Arma: I think a big part of my enjoyment of this band has also been that I discovered them at the same time as I'm listening to an audiobook of the complete Conan The Barbarian omnibus so I'm very much in the brain space for music that sounds like it would be nice to swing an axe to.

Untoward Evocation - Impetuous Ritual: I love how halfway through this kind of just turns into a big swirling mist of dark sounds. It feels so formless and dark that it could just shake apart and dissipate at any moment and you'd look down to realise your skin is gone.

Eagle On A Pole - Conor Oberst: from Genius: 'In an interview with MTV news, Oberst stated “We were on the bus one day and a friend of ours that travels with us and works for the band kind of came out from the back of the bus and said that first line: ‘Saw an eagle on a pole… I think it was an eagle.’ And then this guy Simon Joyner, who is a great songwriter from Omaha and one of my great friends, he was on tour with us and sitting there and he was like, ‘You know, that’s a great name for a song.’ We kind of had a contest where he wrote a song with that first line, and [then] I did, and a couple of our other friends. We kind of all played them for each other. Simon’s is better than mine, but it is a good line to start a song.” Another version–Mystic Valley Band drummer Jason Boesel’s interpretation–is on the next album, Outer South.' The idea that such a good song has such a braindead origin only makes me love it more.

Lake Marie - John Prine: When I saw John Prine the other month he played this song that I had never heard before and I had to look it up after and now I'm completely obsessed with it. It feels like falling asleep during a movie and missing a critical plot point so the rest doesn't make sense when you wake up but is thrilling nonetheless. Also he absolutely screamed "SHADOWS!!!" when he played it which was a fucking cool thing to see a 72 year old man do.

Little White Dove - Jenny Lewis: The drums on this whole album are absolutely huge for some reason and I love it. My favourite recent sound is in the first chorus where there's a funny little pitch correction noise as she sings 'dove'. It's very strange and very very good.

Locked Up - The Ocean Party: I only found out The Ocean Party existed as they announced their farewell show this month which is a real shame but I'm glad I got to hear of them at all because they're very good. A very good song about that feeling we all know and love: driving for a long long time.

Plain & Sane & Simple Melody - Ted Lucas: I found out about this song from Emma Ruth Rundle's Amoeba Records video and she makes a good point about this whole album sounding like something's gone wrong and it got accidentally pitched down slightly in the recording process. It's unclear if that's what happened or that's just how he sounds but it adds a very softly spooky undercurrent to a very nice song.​ 

listen here

[longlistshort]

Silver Jews- Random Rules

I first heard about David Berman and his band Silver Jews a while ago, as they were one of those bands you heard about if you were a Pavement fan. But sadly, I never got around to listening to them until now.

Stephen Malkmus and David Berman went to the University of Virginia and later moved together to Hoboken, New Jersey. There Malkmus, along with their other roommate Bob Nastanovich, played with additional bandmates as Pavement, and together with Berman they formed the Silver Jews, although Berman soon remained the only constant member of the band.

When I discovered that David Berman had passed away and read the many quotes from his songs posted online by friends and fans, I finally spent some time listening to his music. There are just so many great lines in these songs. For instance, from Random Rules, posted above- “In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection/ Slowly screwing my way across Europe, they had to make a correction”. It’s a funny opener and the whole song is filled with quotable lyrics. Towards the end are the lyrics “I asked the painter why the roads are colored black/ He said, ‘Steve, it’s because people leave/And no highway will bring them back’.” So many of his songs are like this, the humor mixed with the pathos.

Silver Jews disbanded in 2009 and Berman quit making music for awhile. In 2011 he started a blog. In May, ten years after he stopped making music, he released the album Purple Mountains. The lyrics to the songs on this album, including the one below, are poignant, made even more so after his death. In a recent interview with Exclaim!, he discusses each song off that album.

Purple Mountains- All My Happiness Is Gone (song starts 2:06)

He also wrote poetry, and this poem, from his book Actual Air, is just so incredible I’m presenting it in its entirety (via poemhunter).

Self- Portrait at 28

I know it's a bad title but I'm giving it to myself as a gift on a day nearly canceled by sunlight when the entire hill is approaching the ideal of Virginia brochured with goldenrod and loblolly and I think "at least I have not woken up with a bloody knife in my hand" by then having absently wandered one hundred yards from the house while still seated in this chair with my eyes closed. It is a certain hill the one I imagine when I hear the word "hill" and if the apocalypse turns out to be a world-wide nervous breakdown if our five billion minds collapse at once well I'd call that a surprise ending and this hill would still be beautiful a place I wouldn't mind dying alone or with you.

I am trying to get at something and I want to talk very plainly to you so that we are both comforted by the honesty. You see there is a window by my desk I stare out when I am stuck though the outdoors has rarely inspired me to write and I don't know why I keep staring at it. My childhood hasn't made good material either mostly being a mulch of white minutes with a few stand out moments, popping tar bubbles on the driveway in the summer a certain amount of pride at school everytime they called it "our sun" and playing football when the only play was "go out long" are what stand out now. If squeezed for more information I can remember old clock radios with flipping metal numbers and an entree called Surf and Turf. As a way of getting in touch with my origins every night I set the alarm clock for the time I was born so that waking up becomes a historical reenactment and the first thing I do is take a reading of the day and try to flow with it like when you're riding a mechanical bull and you strain to learn the pattern quickly so you don't inadverantly resist it.

II two I can't remember being born and no one else can remember it either even the doctor who I met years later at a cocktail party. It's one of the little disappointments that makes you think about getting away going to Holly Springs or Coral Gables and taking a room on the square with a landlady whose hands are scored by disinfectant, telling the people you meet that you are from Alaska, and listen to what they have to say about Alaska until you have learned much more about Alaska than you ever will about Holly Springs or Coral Gables. Sometimes I am buying a newspaper in a strange city and think "I am about to learn what it's like to live here." Oftentimes there is a news item about the complaints of homeowners who live beside the airport and I realize that I read an article on this subject nearly once a year and always receive the same image. I am in bed late at night in my house near the airport listening to the jets fly overhead a strange wife sleeping beside me. In my mind, the bedroom is an amalgamation of various cold medicine commercial sets (there is always a box of tissue on the nightstand). I know these recurring news articles are clues, flaws in the design though I haven't figured out how to string them together yet, but I've begun to notice that the same people are dying over and over again, for instance Minnie Pearl who died this year for the fourth time in four years.

III three Today is the first day of Lent and once again I'm not really sure what it is. How many more years will I let pass before I take the trouble to ask someone? It reminds of this morning when you were getting ready for work. I was sitting by the space heater numbly watching you dress and when you asked why I never wear a robe I had so many good reasons I didn't know where to begin. If you were cool in high school you didn't ask too many questions. You could tell who'd been to last night's big metal concert by the new t-shirts in the hallway. You didn't have to ask and that's what cool was: the ability to deduct to know without asking. And the pressure to simulate coolness means not asking when you don't know, which is why kids grow ever more stupid. A yearbook's endpages, filled with promises to stay in touch, stand as proof of the uselessness of a teenager's promise. Not like I'm dying for a letter from the class stoner ten years on but... Do you remember the way the girls would call out "love you!" conveniently leaving out the "I" as if they didn't want to commit to their own declarations. I agree that the "I" is a pretty heavy concept and hope you won't get uncomfortable if I should go into some deeper stuff here.

IV four There are things I've given up on like recording funny answering machine messages. It's part of growing older and the human race as a group has matured along the same lines. It seems our comedy dates the quickest. If you laugh out loud at Shakespeare's jokes I hope you won't be insulted if I say you're trying too hard. Even sketches from the original Saturday Night Live seem slow-witted and obvious now. It's just that our advances are irrepressible. Nowadays little kids can't even set up lemonade stands. It makes people too self-conscious about the past, though try explaining that to a kid. I'm not saying it should be this way. All this new technology will eventually give us new feelings that will never completely displace the old ones leaving everyone feeling quite nervous and split in two. We will travel to Mars even as folks on Earth are still ripping open potato chip bags with their teeth. Why? I don't have the time or intelligence to make all the connections like my friend Gordon (this is a true story) who grew up in Braintree Massachusetts and had never pictured a brain snagged in a tree until I brought it up. He'd never broken the name down to its parts. By then it was too late. He had moved to Coral Gables.

V five The hill out my window is still looking beautiful suffused in a kind of gold national park light and it seems to say, I'm sorry the world could not possibly use another poem about Orpheus but I'm available if you're not working on a self-portrait or anything. I'm watching my dog have nightmares, twitching and whining on the office floor and I try to imagine what beast has cornered him in the meadow where his dreams are set. I'm just letting the day be what it is: a place for a large number of things to gather and interact -- not even a place but an occasion a reality for real things. Friends warned me not to get too psychedelic or religious with this piece: "They won't accept it if it's too psychedelic or religious," but these are valid topics and I'm the one with the dog twitching on the floor possibly dreaming of me that part of me that would beat a dog for no good reason no reason that a dog could see. I am trying to get at something so simple that I have to talk plainly so the words don't disfigure it and if it turns out that what I say is untrue then at least let it be harmless like a leaky boat in the reeds that is bothering no one. VI six I can't trust the accuracy of my own memories, many of them having blended with sentimental telephone and margarine commercials plainly ruined by Madison Avenue though no one seems to call the advertising world "Madison Avenue" anymore. Have they moved? Let's get an update on this. But first I have some business to take care of. I walked out to the hill behind our house which looks positively Alaskan today and it would be easier to explain this if I had a picture to show you but I was with our young dog and he was running through the tall grass like running through the tall grass is all of life together until a bird calls or he finds a beer can and that thing fills all the space in his head. You see, his mind can only hold one thought at a time and when he finally hears me call his name he looks up and cocks his head and for a single moment my voice is everything: Self-portrait at 28.

There is only so much time to read, listen to, and see all the wonderful things people have created. David Berman made work well worth spending some of that precious time on.

Rest in Peace.

[emojihobi]

nct 1-15

fjaklshdglaksdjfla ok soph this might take a while jfslkhgas

1. Who’s your bias? HAECHAN my biological child

2. How did you decide on your bias? i watched nct dream do the dance mafia thing and haechan was mafia and he was able to do the dance while listening to another song without messing up like....we stan talent. and also seeing him defend himself against the others lakshdgklsjdf he looked so cute and so i was like Him. i choose Him and will protect

3. Who’s your bias wrecker? i have so many......johnny, jungwoo, ten, doyoung, jaehyun

4. Hyung line or maknae line? nct dream is the superior unit so im gonna say maknae 

5. What is your favorite era? i guess maybe regular? all the hot mess american interviews were fun lol 

6. Your favorite song and why? ooooh ok i LOVE we go up, neo got my back, regular (eng i like actually singing along), simon says, go, without you, CHEWING GUM. almost every song i judge how good it is based on haechan’s part tbh

7. What’s the first song you heard? cherry bomb it had me SHOOK

8. Your favorite album? nct 2018 empathy jflsakdgjsf bc i know most of the songs there. 

9. Have they ever made you cry? i feel like i cried when i watched the facetime video johnny did that BITCH did it in english

10. Favorite music video? we go up and my favorite jc penny commercial, touch

11. What do you love about this group? i like the dynamics, i like how many foreign members (and english speakers) there are, i like johnny communication corners, and i like seeing members from different subunits interact

12. Who would you marry and why? mr. johnny seo im ready. 1) no language barrier 2) he’s hilarious and also witty 3) he’s v attractive 4) he said he’s very sentimental and i dont think i am sentimental enough...at least irl

13. Who would be your best friend and why? haechan pls he’s so fucking talented god i could hear him sing all day and he’s so funny and i GUESS he’s a brat but its ok i love him anyway

14. Do you own any merch? no but i own one (1) bts merch and ive liked them longer. i dont buy merch a lot.

15. What’s a concept you would like to see them try? i want more songs that highlight their extremely underused vocal line like taeil, haechan and doyoung....are fucking incredible singers actually use them and showcase their talent instead of having 5 rap breaks for mark and taeyong to do in every single. also the concept of learning what winwin’s voice actually sounds like

send me a kpop group and a number!

[kveom]

secret carat here again <3 im so sorry i didnt realize how much time passed since my last message, this past week feels like it went by in a flash... i hope you've been well in the meantime tho <3 ive been meaning to get into kdramas myself, my sister made me watch hes psychometric and devil judge with her (obviously shes a got7 stan hehe) and i really enjoyed them ! the hard part is finding something to watch next.. what are some of your favorite kdramas? maybe i can check those out someday <3

oooh trust me whipped cream on hot chocolate is SO DIVINE. i wont lie tho im not above making hot chocolate as an excuse to consume unholy amounts of whipped cream so maybe im biased 😳😳 it must be a little funny watching all these christmas themed movies and cartoons in winter wonderland-esque settings as a child tho~ do you actually celebrate christmas tho? and if you do, do you have any special traditions?~

oh agree ! 2017-18 was kinda like,,,, seokhan's honeymoon phase lmao the way these two would never shut up about each other and do everything together to the point where the rest of the members would constantly tease them about it hhhdfh like,, i very vividly remember boo and coups jokingly whining that "jeonghan only takes care of dk these days" ? dokyeom seems to hang out a lot with joshua nowadays and i really love their dynamic as well !! god theyre all so cute, i love all the different relationships between the members sm <3 for vernon and dk, that video of dokyeom splashing vernon with water and then himself is SO FUNNY and such a great example of how they click so well despite their different personalities,,,,, 218 best bros <3333

omg i think if i had a say in their next comeback concept i would just.. want them to have an Actual Concept? design, concept and styling wise svt's albums & comebacks in general have been a little underwhelming the past few years imo and its such a shame because their albums have SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL to tell these amazing visual stories to compliment their music. from their interviews it's obvious the boys have a clear vision for each comeback too so its really pledis who needs to step up their game.. fear for example, i feel like they couldve done something really cool with that; maybe like a dark, ethereal, almost fantasy-esque concept ? and they got sooooo close with some of the shots in the mv but it still felt a little empty and uninspired in the end idk. home run too, i think most carats can agree its downright criminal that we never got a vintage baseball themed stage (im still so bitter about this ashdjdj) idk idk ;;;

nooooo i still havent watched in the soop yet omg,, im waiting for the perfect moment to sit down and enjoy it in peace but it seems that moment might never come ^^" and i still have to watch some of the htr episodes too, and so many gose episodes that i missed this year (which is why i cant really answer your question about my favorite episode welp but what was yours of this past season?)........ yea omg that woozi moment in boo's past life destiny was so precious hfhfhhf has anyone made a woozi querencia compilation set yet cause i need it so bad 💔

naww it's so cute how you considered his love language to come up with a gift ;-; the survey responses would be such a lovely present and im sure he would appreciate it sm <333 i remember your 2018 birthday post for him so well, can i just say thank you for creating such lovely content for dk ! im so in love with everything you post and i can tell you put a lot of thought and love in your creations and emo rant posts about him its really sweet <3

speaking of christmas gifts !!! dokyeom gave us one too ;-; what did you think of you're my christmas? <3

~ your secret carat ⛄

FIRSTLY I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT DK'S SONG UNTIL I SAW YOUR MESSAGE AKNDAKAK THANK U I LOVEEEEE that his solo is a Christmas themed song?????? It's so bright and hopeful and so fitting. He really just keeps on giving 😭

ooooh he is pyschometric got me back into crime dramas!! I originally watched it for the romcom but got sucked into everything else. I mainly watch romcoms but if you're into crime?? then I would recommend tunnel, signal, stranger and I'm watching the good detective right now! If you don't mind romcom I would also recommend suspicious partner, it's romcom/crime and is one of my top 3 kdramas hehe

yeah sometimes it doesn't feel like Christmas here because I associate Christmas with winter and snow etc. and yeah I do celebrate Christmas! Do you?? I don't have any tradition other than spending time with family and eating but what more could you ask for tbh

for dk's birthday a few years ago I did a set for each dk pairing and it was soooo fun even though I could *not* do that again ajdbakak but I remember for seoksoo their moments were mostly in the background like their little dinner date hehe so cute <3 but yeah! a couple of years ago I tried making a set which had all 78 svt pairings and while looking through videos for the different scenes I realised once again that all pairings really are just. Amazing in their own ways (I never ended up making the post but u know how Miley Cyrus said it's the climb? Yeah)

akdjakaka I know what you mean. Like obviously seventeen are doing amazing and I just feel like the standard for MVs and concepts doesn't match up?? I am one of those carats that expected a baseball themed stage 😔

aah they really have been putting out so much content hey. I have yet to finish ITS and HTR lmao but my fave gose ep for this year was probably the best friends ep!! (Highly recommend) you can just tell they're having so much fun and man the things they come up with....seventeen are truly top tier. I actually made a querencia set ages ago (probably my first member focused set that wasn't of dk lmao) and I wanted to make a new one because of that specific moment (plus woozi best producer moment) but as always I don't follow through with my ideas ajsjaka. I too would love to see that set tho <3

Ohh :( thanks so much!! I know caratblr is not as active as other spaces but the amount of LOVE and support everyone here has for each other makes up for it n that's why I love making DK content 💖💖💖💖

[getanattitude]

The Ultimate Glossary of Terms About best beginner keyboard

“The greater you dig into a bit of Ives, the more enjoyment you get from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk mentioned not long ago, sitting in a piano in a rehearsal space on the Juilliard College. “It’s like solving a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and conveying the themes and motifs embedded during the intricate textures of the intriguing score.

Mr. Denk is going to launch a disc, “Jeremy Denk Plays Ives” (Feel Denk Media), showcasing two piano sonatas, an esoteric decision of repertory for any debut solo album. But then, there is nothing generic relating to this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest the two in his playing and on his site, Feel Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, whether or not a lament about inedible meatballs or possibly a spoof job interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will exhibit his much more mainstream credentials when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. one with Charles Dutoit as well as Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday with the Kimmel Heart in Philadelphia and on Oct. 12 at Carnegie Corridor.

Mr. Denk argues which the Ives sonatas, composed early from the twentieth century, are mistakenly classified as avant-garde works instead of “epic Intimate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” For the relaxed listener, the audio that Mr. Denk describes in the CD booklet as “good, creative, tender, edgy, wild, first, witty, haunting” can unquestionably sound avant-garde. Ives, who created his living in the insurance enterprise, included jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and folk tunes into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, rich in polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so splendidly in-your-confront,” Mr. Denk reported, demonstrating a very maniacal passage inside the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also fairly amazingly unattractive. There is one thing maddening about his sense of humor. Ives is repeatedly thumbing his nose at you in a method.”

But Mr. Denk implies that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates beautifully On this recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is commonly about things recalled,” he reported, “or Recollections or visions fetched out of some tricky area.”

He performed the harmonically misty passages in the next movement on the “Concord,” exactly where Ives directs that a piece of Wooden be pressed about the higher keys to make a cluster chord. “It doesn’t really feel gimmicky in the least to me,” Mr. Denk said. “It’s all blues in The underside. Ives understood tips on how to use those tiny clichéd bits of Americana in a way that all of a sudden will get your gut. You may’t believe how touching it truly is.”

Mr. Denk, 40, has long been enthusiastic about Ives because his undergraduate days at Oberlin in Ohio, the place he carried a double significant in piano overall performance and chemistry. “My full double diploma expertise was considerably of the continual freakout of 1 kind of A different,” he explained.

He had been a “genuinely nerdy highschool student” that has a constrained social existence, he reported. “Ever considering the fact that I used to be A child I desired to check out Oberlin and preferred the liberal arts. Of course I really get intensive pleasure from drawing connections involving pieces and poems and literature and concepts.”

Mr. Denk described himself as being a “observe maniac,” but his horizons have prolonged far beyond the follow area since Oberlin. Though nibbling a massive bit of chocolate product pie at an Higher West Side diner near the condominium he has rented considering the fact that about 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his site, calling it “an surprisingly superior outlet to release tensions of 1 variety or A further.” He claimed it had drawn new listeners to his concert events. An avid reader of liberal political blogs, Mr. Denk goals of crafting a classical tunes Model of Wonkette, he claimed, but that could be tough to do with out offending persons. And he tries to steer clear of offending men and women, he added, even though he did a short while ago submit a rant about plan notes.

Mr. Denk, who phone calls himself “a real Francophile,” is delicate-spoken but extreme, his discussion peppered with references to varied “obsessions”: coffee, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a several years in the past, he mentioned.

“That was a unsafe time, and every thing in everyday life seemed drawn out of a Balzac novel,” he additional. “I shed about a few decades of my life to Proust. I’m positive it modified every little thing, which include my enjoying.

“One day my manager was like, ‘Dude, You need to center on your vocation and finding your stuff jointly.’ ” At that time, Mr. Denk reported, “I used to be bringing Proust to meetings.” He additional: “I’m not sure I really experienced a profession route. I was just carrying out my Bizarre issue, which possibly seemed like a disastrous nonroute to most of the folks who have been watching above me. I keep in mind some exasperated meetings with my administration, but they ended up very individual and devoted, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., one among two brothers, a son of tunes-loving nonmusician mother and father. His father, that has a doctorate in chemistry, continues to be (at distinct situations) a Roman Catholic monk as well as a director of Computer system science at New Mexico Condition College.

Mr. Denk stays hooked on the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he stated, seemingly only half joking: “The red and the green and The complete spirituality of chili peppers. It’s nevertheless a huge Component of my life. Once i go household I drop by this actual dive and obsess in excess of their green meat burrito.”

When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time together with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist as well as the director of orchestral routines and setting up at Juilliard, wherever Mr. Denk obtained his doctorate, finding out with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin recollects owning been impressed by “the maturity and intensity” of Mr. Denk’s actively playing and remembers him as “a rare scholar who absorbed items very speedily.”

Mr. Denk explained he “was in school forever” until eventually “at some point I chose to trust my own instincts.” Now he teaches double-degree undergraduates for the Bard Faculty Conservatory of Music. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who analyzed with him, mentioned he was “concerned with a great deal greater than the notes around the web site, always citing literary and historical references.”

“Now I endeavor to tactic songs within a additional holistic standpoint,” she extra. “He is quite passionate. He used to soar across the room and bounce about and wave his arms. It was actually entertaining. He tried to get me to consider the new music having a humorousness.”

This combination of enthusiasm, humor and intellect, so vivid in both equally Mr. Denk’s taking part in and his crafting, is what distinguishes him, based on the violinist Joshua Bell. The two have already been typical duo associates due to the fact 2004, whenever they carried out on the Spoleto Pageant United states of america.

“You obtain the intellectual musicians or individuals who don their coronary heart on their sleeve and not using a lots of musical thought,” Mr. Bell explained, “but Jeremy manages to carry out both of those, Which’s ideal. Now we have lots of arguments in rehearsal, which can be the fun section at the same time. The actual fact we don’t normally see eye to eye retains things fresh and would make me query every little thing I do.”

Mr. Bell, whose selections of repertory are typically more common than Those people of his a lot more adventurous colleague, stated he wasn’t always an Ives fan: “Which has a great deal of recent music I’m somewhat cautious. Despite Ives, right up until I listened to Jeremy. He just delivers it alive. He has this sort of a great creativeness, and nothing is done randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk explained, “are in a method like animals that don’t want to be tamed.”

“Just about every efficiency needs to be so diverse,” he included, just one purpose he was at first hesitant to file them. Like Bach, he mentioned, Ives leaves lots to the performer’s creativeness.

A great interpretation of your “Goldberg” Variations at Symphony Room in 2008 disclosed Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will carry out the operate and Books 1 and a pair of of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Hall on Feb. sixteen.

To keep the “Goldberg” Variants refreshing, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he claimed, “to reactivate the link concerning my brain and my fingers After i’m taking part in it.”

“I believe it’s an actual magical position when you have the muscle memory,” he included, “although the brain is ahead of your fingers.”

Transforming the fingerings is one way to stay clear of program, he said. “I get actual enjoyment from creating in a very superior fingering. It truly is like relearning the piece, and it will make you not choose any Take note without any consideration.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk relates to Bach, Ives and various repertory is probably finest summed up in that site put up on program notes: “I’ve by no means been an enormous enthusiast in the ‘Envision how groundbreaking this piece was when it was penned’ faculty of inspiration. For my revenue, it ought to be innovative now. (And it's.) No matter what else the composer may need intended, she or he didn’t want you to Assume, ‘Boy, that must are already great again then.’ The most elementary compositional intent, absolutely the ur-intent, is that you Participate in it now, you make it transpire now.”

[charlesgrey1875]

Tbh. I also felt conflicted with the new American sucess. I am so very proud, yes I am. As someone who has been a loyal ARMY since their debut and trainee days, I cant help but feel proud for how much they have achieved with so much hard work and dedication.

But while I loved the attention they were getting, I also hated it.

I felt that their new found success was a new stepping stone into furthering their careers, which is great and amazing. But I dont feel that the new fans love them for what we old fans love them for.

The fans who are new to the ARMY world don't seem to love them cause of how hard they work or how much they struggled to get this far. Of course their are new fans who dig deep deep back to catch up on everything. But many new fans like BTS because "theyre so hot and good looking" or "they're so popular".

Also, I've noticed, and maybe its just me. But many American artists tend to gravitate towards BTS's huge fan base and popularity to bring awareness to themselves.

I just feel like overall, the American industry is using BTS and their popularity as a stepping stone for themselves.

Do people really like BTS? Or is it "I'll like BTS because they have such a huge fanbase and maybe if they see I like BTS they'll like me too!"

I'm so happy for how much they have achieved and how happy they are. But I just don't want the world to like them cause of how they made history. They are so much more than Billboards Top 100. They are so much more than just endorsement material.

They are a group of 7 talented, hardworking, kind and loving boys who love to have fun and make music while growing together as brothers. They are genuinely pure and amazing. They deserve much more than just "7 handsome boys who dominated the american music industry".

Its also a mutual feeling with their american promotions. I absolutely hated it. It was cute at first cause of the language and cultural difference, so interviews asking how they felt and what their favorite foods were in LA were OK. But the more repetitive it got, the more annoyed I got. Where was the REAL interview questions? Not "What's your favorite foods?" Or "Who's your favorite actress" or "What's your favorite body part?"

What happened to asking how they felt about their new found success? How much pressure do they feel? Do they feel stressed? What made them think of such a deep concept as in the Love Yourself series?

DID THE INTERVIEWERS EVEN DO ANY BACKGROUND CHECKS??? Did they watch all the LY:Her highlight reels? Did they watch past MVs? Watch some VLive broadcasts? Watch ANY Korean BTS interviews? Did they do the research they needed before making these interview questions????

Cause all I see were last minute, "Oh, just ask who their favorite american actresses are and if they have these foods In Korea."

How is that even important to their album?

Also, I am aware only Namjoon speaks and understands English, but come on. Ive seen documentaries with better interviews in non English speaking countries than that.

They couldve atleast had the brains to have a korean translator standby instead of Namjoon having to translate and answer everything. I mean for all I know, BigHit Probably wanted Namjoon to do it. But in my opinion, it just seemed unprofessional and unfair to the rest of the members, and unfair to Namjoon.

Namjoon who was already under stress for the speeches and interviews himself, but also had to worry even more about translating everything.

Unfair to the rest of the members who had to sit at every interview like smiling statues and only laughed whenever everyone else laughed without even knowing or understabding what was really going on.

The music part, I can't speak for because while I also agree with you about how manufactured and generic it feels compared to the Blood Sweat & Tears Era (and the Eras before that) I personally also loved DNA and FAKE LOVE. The LY Series is beautiful, both the music and the message they are trying to get across.

However, its just not as deep as it used to be. I remember listening to I Need You and feeling like I lost a boyfriend I never had. I felt all those emotions listening to Save Me, RUN and their WINGS Solo songs. But with FAKE LOVE, while the lyrics are so beautiful and tell a tale, I can't feel that emotion in their singing like i used to.

I mean Singulartity, The Truth Untold, and Outro: Tear are emotional and have that reminicing emotional feel. But idk, I just feel so unconnected with it overall.

You are also right about the VLives and their practice videos. Its not as laid back as it used to be, and its so professional these days. Maybe I'm just not used to their change and burst of fame, or maybe I just feel jealous and protective of my boys, but I feel that shift.

I am still very excited for their new album LY: Answer, but I feel like its been rushed. They dont need to pop out so many new songs all of a sudden, they can chill and take some time off.

Blackpink took like a year on hiatus, I'm sure BTS can take at most Half a year before throwing a comeback. But 3 months right after Fake Love? I mean I'm sure its gonna be bomb asf and the songs will be amazing, but when are they going to get the time to rest?

This is why I have a love hate relationship with their new found American Debut. I kinda want the old BTS back ya know.

Love them both old and new, but I liked the small tight nit family we had before it all blew up with Fame.

I hope you all respect my opinion on this matter.

Before I start I would like to say that everyone has different opinions and it’s ok if you disagree. Please don’t attack me. Anyway so I’ve been confused for a while as to why bts’s fame and success has seemed very bittersweet to me ever since they blew up after the 2017 bbmas and I think it’s because they became very popular for a sound that was very different from the one that made me love them so much. Don’t get me wrong DNA and fake love were great and I get that they’re growing as artists and all but I feel like their best work was during bst era and run and I need you era. Their new music is still great and all but it feels kind of manufactured and very generic while their old music from 2015 and 2016 felt very unique from anything I had heard before and it sucks that a lot of people have probably never heard it because they only know bts for DNA and fake love. Also this comeback didn’t really feel like a comeback. It felt very distant like they were waving at us from behind a glass door. I hated the American promotions. They were all asking the same questions and namjoon was the only one talking. They didn’t do any variety shows which is honestly one of my favorite parts of K-pop comebacks. Everything kind of changed and became very professional all of a sudden for example their dance videos used to be so much more laid-back and fun to watch from the squeaky sounds of the floor to them just having fun with the routine and vlives used to be a more common thing. Now they mostly only come on vlive to talk about their new album which is absolutely fine, it’s just that it used to be a bit more of a random occurrence. I know that as they grow and get more popular, things are bound to change but these were just a couple of things I had on my mind that I wanted to share.