#just a little guy singing weird-ass songs with his little synth

[cookinguptales]

australia!!! you should absolutely send tom cardy to eurovision! look how well he's performing here with someone that you already sent!

[greed-the-dorkalicious]

All the discussion around AI lately got me thinking about an incident recently in which a guy got his ass sorely beat by the vocal synth community

For those of you not familiar, “vocal synths” in the electronic music sense typically refers to programs like Vocaloid, SynthV, UTAU, Alter/Ego, DeepVocal, etc., digital instruments that allow composers to create, as the name implies, synthesized vocal tracks. The way they work is that they draw from libraries (referred to as “voicebanks” or VB for short) of special studio recorded* vocal samples from singers singing different syllables at a consistent pitch. The program then splices these together and adjusts the pitch to match whatever notes you put in- You want to do All Star, it’s gonna string together “[suh][m] [buh][di] [wuh][n][s] [tO][ld] [mi]” or something like that. Basically it’s an extremely complicated sampler.

(*unless you’re using UTAU or another build-your-own-vocal program in which the “studio” is only metaphorical, and is sometimes somebody’s basement with a Rockband mic plugged into a laptop.)

Now, there is no threat of vocal synths putting actual singers out of a job. Even the best vocal synths always have a bit of a robotic sound to them, and the voicebanks take hundreds of hours of recording time from you know, actual singers. Any piece made with vocal synths has to be worked by a human hand in a process called “tuning” in order to sound any good, whether you’re trying to make it sound human or leaning into the robotic sound. This isn’t something that’s being done on a corporate scale to cut costs- This is something pretty much exclusively being done by small scale indie music hobbyists because we fucking love Hatsune Miku and her weird buddies. Most folks are less interested in doing something that sounds 1:1 like a human voice and more in going beyond what humans can do to make shit like this

One of the leading vocal synths right now is Synthesizer V (SynthV), created by a company called Dreamtonics. SynthV offers fancier versions of some of its voicebanks, which are called “AI” voicebanks. These use machine learning trained on, again, professionally recorded and legally licensed vocal samples to help make songs sound a little bit more smooth, a little bit more in line with whatever singing style you’re aiming for. Everything else previously mentioned still applies: They’re still painstakingly recorded and programmed, you still need to tweak it yourself to get it to sound just right, and it’s still never going to sound 100% like a human. And that’s fine!

For this next bit y’all are gonna have to trust me because the tweets all got deleted, though if anyone wants I’m happy to pull up screencaps of talking shit about it with other vocal synth folks when it happened lmfao

So basically. Since ChatGPT type grifters have convinced people that “AI” means “magic plagiarism button”, back in April some dipshit NFT guy on Twitter started complaining on an official SynthV update post that SynthV (which he apparently believed to be called “Dreamtonics”, the name of the company that makes it) should allow people to make voicebanks from “their own voice”, insisting that it would be easy and PROFITABLE!™ to do so. He also clearly did not actually mean “their own voice” but rather “the voices of celebrity singers shamelessly lifted without their consent”, which was made extra obvious from a tweet on his own page that was like “Teehee people in monitored Twitter spaces don’t realize their voices are being recorded and fed into AI!” which he then deleted after I linked it on the thread about SynthV. lol.

Dude proceeded to get whupped by actual vocal synth people basically saying shit along the lines of “Yeah we can all tell you just want to commit cheap plagiarism, jackass” and “Dude why are you here when you clearly don’t understand the very very basics of what this software even is” and “Go make an UTAU voicebank if it’s so easy then”. (UTAU being a Japanese freeware program that hasn’t been updated since 2013. Creating an UTAU voicebank is complicated and takes a lot of time and technical knowledge.) He still refused to learn the basics of how vocal synths work, and proceeded to ask if “UTAU or Diff is most compatible with Dreamtonics”, a question absolutely no one could make any sense of? Lol.

Anyway, I don’t have anywhere in particular I’m going with this, I just think AI grifters are morons, and it’s obnoxious how the vague and misleading term “AI” has gotten nigh-mythologized by shady tech companies to the point that people can’t tell the difference between perfectly reasonable assistive technology and magic plagiarism.

Btw, fun fact for anyone who’s wondering, there do in fact exist legally/morally questionable UTAU voicebanks spliced from outside vocals. These are called “jinriki” voicebanks and not only do they take the same amount (if not more) of hard work as any other voicebank, they’re far from the insta-Beyoncé this dude was aiming for, and instead they sound um. like this

[batarangsoundsdumb]

hae interrogationes multae respondeant quia demens .

if you read this entire ask post you deserve a gold star and financial recompensation

Um, Obviously because when you’re adopted by a white guy you automatically become white duhhh

this is about this post lmao and yeah youre absolutely right, you have to hand your poc card in when you get adopted by a white guy.

Do you think Cass would listen to Yanni, the YouTube channel epic symphonic rock, or some other stuff? There's some cool mashups but idk if that's up your alley, I kinda feel like I'm pushing it with my weird taste of music by recommending an orchestra cover of metal, but i just love that sort of thing and mashups :P @harvestyourcherries 

i haven’t heard of that? but in my personal (correct) opinion steph listens to classical music, and then both modern and older, and then also stuff like black sabbath, iron maiden, but also hardrock and hardcore. i like the idea of cass just liking the most extreme screaming songs full of noise and then also listen to pachelbel’s 370th sonata yanno? THANK YOU for the rec tho

speaking of ur cass playlist hc...reminds of the time (yesterday) i found 2 playlists randomly on spotify from the same user. one was abt 3 hours of instrumental/classical "dark" & "nostalgic" music. the other almost 11 hours of nothing but hardcore bass/synth/electronic music. just an incredible tightrope act to put on in public. the synth one was also called like "psalms for synth sluts" which is Also incredible

tbh i LOVE synth SO MUCH like for no reason at all but then also cannot handle a poppy electronic beat lmao. but this seems like the kinda thing i’d do but just in one (1) playlist bc i just sort songs by vibe instead of genre? that’s how i end up with britney spears and billy ray cyrus in the same playlist. 

Oh, I want Kate Kane playlist next! It would be amazing if you could do one when you have time and will 🙏

how rude would it be of me to just say no? like sorry kate but idk you and also you seem way too keen on the us military for an institution that homophobically targeted you? (and also commits war crimes) but let’s unpack the fact that the institution that caused the death of your mom and sister and also got you blacklisted for being gay is still one you align with???

'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' 'yes i am' 'no you're not' --- when i tell you i fucking screamed LOL!!!!!!! i can imagine the cameraman not knowing if he should cut to commercial or keep it on these two weirdos fighting on stage (bruce definitely ruffled dick's hair/noogied him right?? 

about this post but yeah lmao. this cameraman just turns to like the audience to get a reaction and it’s just multiple moments of CLEAR shock.

you are the only funny person on this hellsite

how egotistical is it for me to say that i get this ask multiple times a month? bc it literally happens so often it’s hilarious to me.

Wish there was more john/Bruce content 😔😔😔 was so hungry I actually looked at canon media 😔😔😔 (Justice League Dark babeeeyyyyyy)

check out batman: damned for some mediocre content but at least it’s john/bruce (also very interesting story and stuff, just got very >:( over this weird part where harley quinn tried to r*pe bruce or something? it’s not for everyone)

dick grayson but he's nicki minaj

his anaconda don’t want none,,, unless...... 

Dick Grayson was never a cop, he played Marshall on Paw Patrol

you are SO right. also paw patrol is a fucking good show idc. that shit could’ve been the new steven universe on this hellsite.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CS1lI0bLI7-/?utm_medium=copy_link

...

why do people keep reposting my CONTENT. if you are not funny yourself don’t just grab shit off of tumblr and post it on insta,,, get a life. sidenote: should i start an insta and get all these ppl to take my content down that would be funny as hell.

Might I suggest for a Gotham City Meme: something about the true crime fandom thirsting for the rogues gallery

ok can i just say something slightly controversial?? no? i don’t find true crime ppl who are into criminals funny, that shits disturbing irl im not gonna bring that into my very chill universe.

i may have never seen a 'jason cleaning guns in sink' fic but i do know he WOULD

THANK YOU

bestie im sorry to say this to you but while you can, and people do wash their guns in the sink, that is a lot of lead in a very vital part of the kitchen.

people tend to do it in the bathtub.

WHY???? like damn why do you even have guns

i dont think i read many gun sink fics exactly but i have read lots of fics where jason cleanes his guns in the living room. usualy dissembles them and cleans them with a rag i think

lmao fair enough, like i think that’s a large part of what i remember as well.

if you say you've seen/read gun sink fics I believe you. I think those of us who didn't see them are lucky or maybe didn't search for fics by tags or something idk

i mean ive never sought them out but i HAVE seen them,, like definitely i know almost for certain.

saw your tags and I'm interested in Steph/Kara now. They would be the most chaotic couple <3

literally thoooo, i have a wip where they get together in a zombie apocalypse and like UGGGHhhh i am so in love with them.

I am the Breece anon. Thanks for the recommendation; am reading now. I’ve always been a hardcore Superman fan because I love my pure himbo farm boy. My logic is, if one Bruce is a Broose, then multiple Broose are a herd of Breece. And this is a hill upon which I will perish.

fair enough,,,, like moose, meese, goose, geese, bruce, breece. i get your logic and i stand by it as well. (glad you enjoyed the comic recs!!!!)

It's a beautiful day in Gotham, and you are a group of horrible Breece

OH my god dude lmao

there only being 42 fics on ao3 for tim and bernard is honestly so sad i need more

it’s like twice that now!!! we did it lads. (tho very sad that my fic isnt number one but like number 4 :((((  )

i'm too late you already did the poll lol but may i suggest bethy (bernard + timothy)

shit dude that wouldve been so fucking funnyyyyy. think ppl have just stuck to timber tho, tim/bernard kinda died down recently and i think it’s too bad, they’re a great couple and i love them.

Wait, hear me out

Bernothy @redlightofdawn

great recommendation (lmao this ask is from like a month ago) but very sorry to announce that NARDTH is the superior shipname

Wait, we know that bernard likes milfs (Tim's step-mom) but what about dilfs? gilfs?

Wait no, I regret sending that ask

these were two seperate asks and they’re HILARIOUS. in my personal opinion tho,,, milfs, gilfs, dilfs are just about vibes and bernard is just attracted to sexy ppl who may sometimes be milfs, dilfs, or EVEN gilfs.

crime in bludhaven would drop to half if nightwing had a boob window. in this essay i will-

WHERE’S THE ESSAY ANON, WHERE’S THE FUCKING ESSAY

Wait if Barbra and Tim r at opposite ends at all times what happened to Barbra once everyone’s Tim’s ever love before started dying lol

she won a lottery ticket and spent 2 weeks on a resort in the bahamas before returning home and finding out that the joker was arrested for tax evasion and then spent a month staying at her big tiddie goth girlfriend’s house before conner came back to life and she broke her pinkie playing table hockey.

Why is the opposite end thing so funny and compelling to me. Tim comes back from his depression quest for Bruce and Babs is now a literal god

lmao when tim loses his spleen barbara reaches nirvana.

Are you still taking music recs because I have three songs that remind me of Jason that I think you'd like

send to me or lose a toe

🌸 ⭐ put this star into the inbox of your favorite blogs. it’s time to spread positivity! ⭐🌸😋

thanks, i wont tho on account of i wont.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMduBy3Sr/

⬆️

This is the whole of Blüdhaven and everyone anywhere.

Nightwings ass alone saves more people in a calendar year and does more for so society than most heroes do their whole career.Also u are one of the funniest tumblr pages out there. The vibes are unmatched and the memes and tags ✨send me✨.Thank u and goodnight @julia-flow 

fanksss also lmao.

That's going to be a little bit difficult to explain, but

There's some music that you listen to and you think, "oh my gosh, I can perfectly imagine Dick Grayson singing this song, with the same voice as the singer because that voice matches with Dick Grayson"?

oh yeah totally lmao. i have a lot of songs that i think are just entirely dick grayson yanno? kind of all of my playlists have that vibe, but i really find bleachers to fit with dick? idk.

"Lois lane/Superman" fics this, "Lois lane/Clark Kent" fics that, (/lh) let's get into the real good stuff. Some people ship Lois, Clark, and Superman as a throuple. Most popular fic tag for sure

yes totally, i think they’d be absolutely killer on ao3 and clark gets so fucking embarassed about it.

I miss your post, hope you’re doing okay!!

haha this was like 2 months ago, but i was doing fine then too! just didn’t have a lot of inspiration in terms of content.

Doot doot!

noot noot

I’m confused. What did DC do now? Like with nightwing? And another sibling? Please spoil everything for me

lmao they gave him a secret sister plotline where they had his dad cheat on his mom with tony zucco’s wife, bc dick’s life wasn’t traumatic enough yet.

sorry but it's so funny that batman is called "the dark knight" when the gotham city baseball team is called the gotham knights. it'd be like if a vigilante was running around new york called like "the scary yankee"

lmaooo no. but like yankee comes from dutch names or something so wouldnt it be HILARIOUS if gotham knights came from like german names and bruce would be running around called the dark KLAUS UND NIEK @graysonnightwing 

(not a batcest shipper) it’s so funny to me that the responses are “i’m a batcest shipper because i can differentiate fiction from reality and and it doesn’t bother me personally, but i understand why you oils think it’s weird” to “i wish all batcest shippers a very fucking die”

yeah lmaoo. i personally basically flipped my entire stance around to ‘i dont care please leave me and everybody else alone’ bc i think there’s really no point in starting a moral dillema over some fucking fandom bullshit. Please just,,, go home,,, log off, find a nice forest to have a little walk in and remember that somewhere in history, somebody probably died in the place you’re standing. and you will also die someday, and somebody will have to look at your internet usage and see you fighting multiple people anonymously while being named ‘nightwingsbuttchin200186′ like... calm down, we’re all gonna die this is not the thing to worry about.

so since like "wards" don't really exist in modern society almost all the batkids are foster kids, right? i used to work in the system and imagine: monthly visits from social workers and guardian ad litems, bruce having to get permission to take the boys anywhere out of state, calling their social worker at like 8 a.m. like "yeah dick broke his arm again... a gymnastics accident this time...." their poor social worker. bruce send her a huge bouquet and box of chocolates every month to stay on her good side

i imagine the social worker just getting into the case like ‘yeah let’s get this kid a good guardian’ and then ending up having to work with 22 y/o bruce wayne and his 50 y/o dad. and so this social worker is like ‘okay we can work with this, this is the best home i can find’ and then like it ends up landing on its feet and then the kid gets adopted and then they get a call a year later like ‘uhm so hi, this kid tried to steal my tyres can i adopt him?’ and like 3 years later. ‘okay so basically, my neighbours’ kid imprinted on me and now they’re dead, can i keep him?’ two years later it’s like ‘okay so this assassin child-’

ever since I saw that one post of yours, the meme that's something like "I know that abba's backup dancer got me" with a picture of discowing, I've been haunted. Every once in a while I'll be minding my own business then the image of abba's backup dancer dick grayson aka nightwing aka discowing will flash in my mind and I'll be frozen in place. Today at work I was in the middle of folding clothes and suddenly once again discowing entered my mind and I suddenly lost the ability to see anything except He. Thank you.

wow. the IMPACT.

Braver than any US marine man props to you🤝

this shit is about the time i wrote an article on batcest, like man,,, the fact that i didn’t get cancelled is MIRACULOUS. also like,,, uh if anybody on here did gossip on me,, send screenshots i’d love to see it.

Hello, just wanted to say your article was great. Thank you for taking the time to provide an unbaised answer. It should provide people with nuances they couldn't possibly conjure on their own.

May I ask where your username originates from?

yes you may (also thanks!!!) i thought it up when i was trying to find an original username bc i didnt want to be called like ‘timdrakes something something’ or ‘jason todd something smoething’ or ‘dick grayson something something’ yanno? so i thought batarangs, they sound so dumb and that’s my username story... now it’s my whole entire brand lmao.

yno that bit in kick ass where red mist asks kick ass if he wants a hit of his blunt, was that the inspo for stoner tim

no? it’s bc i think stoners are hilarious and drugs are great. (dont do drugs tho) 

How would u feel if someone actually wore one of those bruce or ollie pride shirts u edited

fenomenal next question.

Dick as lil huddy and Jason as James gave me radiation poisoning and now I’m screaming crying throwing up so thx for that

(Rico suave as Tim is perfect tho literally no changes needed)

i was so funny for that shit wasn’t i??? lmao i loved those weird ass fancasts

You're doing the Lord's work by providing us with all these Gotham/Metropolis citizens memes, thank you for being so relentlessly funny @nellethiel-aranel

you’re welcome!! i really enjoy making memes, but getting validation for my content and my memes is REALLY nice.

Bruce is such a slut in your memes and honestly i love that for him @rhodey-rhudert-rhodes-main 

he’s that much of a slut irl too dw.

Bruce and Alfred have an emergency pride flag for the batkids. Oliver Queen printed an emergency "I love my gay son" t-shirt and as soon as Roy told him he was dating Jason, Oliver started wearing that shirt everyday and Roy always cringes when he sees it. Oliver also has an emergency "I love my lesbian daughter" shirt just in case for Cissie.

lmao YES i had a post like this bc like all of their kids/family members are so gayy

stop bringing back batfam fancasts it is not real it is not real it is not- 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

oh yes it is my darling.

did discowing burn down the notredam because he hates the bees? @allulily

no he did it bc fuck the french.

im gonna beg for 1 thing and 1 thing only. please please please put physical by olivia newton john on dick's playlist

okay then beg. bc i wont. physical reminds me too much of glee and that hurts me mentally.

your playlist is sorely missing some Madonna. Specifically Into the Groove, Like a Prayer, and Vogue

i’m scared of madonna that’s why she’s not on there. she haunts me in my dreams.

suggestion: son of batman by aaron dews for dick’s playlist🤩

sorry, i listened to it and the vibe didn’t agree with me.

Hear me out, metropolis citizens sending rare pair fics of Clark Kent x Superman fics to Lois to edit

yes, absolutely hilarious. even more funny if they send like physical copies, no address attached and lois sends it back marked with red ink, SOMEHOW

Imagine all the smut Clark must of read editing the fics

clark reads smut confirmeeed

NOT LOIS READING SUPERBAT PORN AND EDITING IT A 2AM 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

hc that alfred is a meta that boosts healing factor of the people around him. if the bats are injured as much as they seem to be they would be doing bat stuff MAYBE half the year. no one including alfred knows about this. whenever the kids move out they inexplicably dont recover from injuries as fast and feel better whenever they visit the manor they just chalk it up to homesickness. bruce just thinks he heals really fast. alfred thinks everyone doesnt take care of themselves properly @finchcollector

that’s actually such a great idea, but i think that alfred would find out and learn how to concentrate it better so he can help more people, bc he’s great and i love him.

One of your dickfast posts reminded me of that tweet that goes: 'so you've had sex how many times? Yeah technically that's not a bromance' lol that's dickwally or dickroy

literally tho. like that’s all of dick’s friendships. once it gets past a certain time dick is like ‘wow i wonder what it would be like to make out with wally, wally come make out with me’ and wally’s like ‘we’ve done this like 40 times, dick, you know what it’s like’ and dick is like ‘sorry are you complaining?’ and they just make out.

superfam and batfam associations??

-batman and superman

-dick/barabara and supergirl?

-conner and tim

-jon and damian

pls enlighten me I am confused

nope,,, uhm batman and superman, but dick and superman as well, and then conner and tim, jon and damian and steph + babs with supergirl

I came across a fic in which Wonder Woman calls Batman "Stella" (like Stellaluna, the children's book) and I can imagine the batkids hop on the trend and maybe copies of the book appear at random places (aka, everywhere Bruce frequents)

sorry can’t reciprocate that was the name of my high school chemistry teacher and it gives me nightmares to think about.

good human what are your pronouns?

wouldn’t you like to know?

I need me some gothamites preferring harley over joker memes

everyone prefers harley over joker youre just very fucked up if you dont

don't understand why people try to add like veteran policy to the batfamily

dick pulling out his veteran batfam member card so he can eat first: step aside, peasants

Do you know the song Simmer by Haley Williams? It (the first verse anyways) reminds me of Jason? It's about rage.

damn yeah i LOVE HAYLEY!!!! youre right thoo

Okay so I like listen to your stoner Tim Drake playlist 24/7 but would he listen to skegss? Also I keep adding songs mentally it’s killing me 😩✋🏼 Anyways,, I literally love and worship your playlist 😃🤞🏼 And uh yeah have a good day ✨

stoner tim drake playlist is lyfeeee. also dont know who skeggs is? i’m stupid? have a good day!!

All the Robins (and Batgirl) decide to trade costumes for one night just to fuck with Batman and all the villains in Gotham. @subspacecadet 

batman knows it’s them youknow but like,,, what does he call them? he’s like ‘red hood?’ and 3 people answer and he’s not about to compromise some identities so he’s just Pissed.

I aspire to treat cops the way my dad treats them. This man is a 45 year old Asian immigrant to the US and the treats them like his pets. He talks about them like unruly children. Sometimes he pays off local cops to shut up and stop acting racist. And usually it works. I don’t know why but I can see Oliver Queen doing this

vibes... and also yes? oliver queen handing a local cop a donut to shut the fuck up lmao. but yanno i commit enough crimes to not really want to ever see a cop ever, so they kinda scare the everloving fuck out of me.

seeing as tim hasn't aged in years, that means he was 17 at peak emo tumblr era. im back on my emo tim bullshit and im not letting it go

emo tim had a wattpad account send tweet

People seem to think that batman is so dark and serious when the rainbow batsuit is right there. He wore it with no shame.

dude the 60s were a DIFFERENT TIME

dick grew up in a circus, jason grew up on the streets, and tim was probably raised by the internet

all of them cuss every other word and you cannot tell me otherwise

bitch i KNOW but dc has to change to an 18+ rating if they want to sell comix with swear words in them so we gotta deal with imagining the swear words in ourselves

thoughts on teen titans and young justice

haven’t seen teen titans on account of havent seen it and young justice was LITERALLY my favourite thing ever, tho i do gotta admit it’s not at all similar to the young justice comics unfortunately. i really wouldve liked to see timmy bart kon cassie and cissie animated on tv!!

ew ew ew how to delete batcest shippers I genuinely digust them

log off tumblr?

Okay as poc who was called racist for calling an Italian pastabrain: in the batfam are Italians bit Damian just yells various insults about the others being Italian. Just him yelling “What are you doing you moronic spaghettihead!” At steph etc

huh? i meant real italians. homeboy is telling steph he hopes she chokes on her fucking garlic.

I think it's dumb as hell to pull the batman is the best fighter in the batfam argument because like it's just irresponsible of Bruce to let his kids fight when they couldn't possibly be on his league or something

fair enough, but also like who cares they could all kill you just sit down and take a beating.

lady shiva, thalia al ghul and Selina Kyle are all milfs @notanothertimburtonenthusiastugh 

unfortunately, i have to admit,,, you’re right

why tf didn't someone give joker a death sentence already? like he's a mass murderer...give him the electric chair treatment wtf

idk i think plenty of people would have tried to murder him already (boring answer is: he is a popular character so they can’t kill him off bc he brings in lots of money)

There’s no such thing as “ copaganda”.

all american media is propaganda. happy to clear this up for you

is it bad that I find lady shiva owa owa

no. find her as owa owa as you want.

aight I'm guessing the order of your favs in batfam:

1. tim

2. Steph

3. dick

4. Duke

5. the rest

you’re wrong but it’s cute that you tried, i generally don’t have favourites, but i have a special place in my heart for steph, tim, dick and cass. bc they were like my introduction to batfam. but damian, jason, duke, bruce, babs and alfred are NOT FORGOTTEN OR UNLOVED

oh my god i was literally just readily willing to believe that italians werent white ty for clarifying it was a joke im so dumb sdkvjskdfs

i mean some italians aren’t white? italian is a nationality as well as an ethnicity, so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

since I saw so many people doing headcanons about the nationalities of batboys, I see Dick as an Italian.

dont know if youre serious or not, but sure.

super random but

jason 🤝 damian

old english

lmao fair enough.

tim absolutely has 1 gay uncle and his parents shit talk said uncle all the time so after bruce adopts him he specifically reaches out to this uncle to be like "heyyyy just so you know you majorly influenced my life yes i know i havent seen you since i was 5 and at the family reunion yes i know you dont remember my name idc thank you im gay too" and then they never talk again.

yuppp lmao that’s definitely something that could happen. i can also consider tim having no family members, like none. until he does like a dna test and he realises he has like an aunt living barely 2 miles away from him who’s like some illegitimate child of his grandpa.

I dare you one of them sends clark superman/clark fic and clark corrects the shit out of it and then goes like ps his dick is not that big, just telling as someone who has seen it. internet either explodes or goes who tf did he not fuck at this point.

i think everybody would call clark a buzzkill and try to cancel him over that.

so you're telling me Tim Drake wouldn't buy Starbucks?

no. dunkin donuts all the way

One of my favorite things is imagining people finding out jason came back from the dead and being like "oh no does he have magic powers now?!?!?" and he just pulls out a gun and tries to shoot joker

now he doesn’t even have the gun :) lmao

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

bruce gets codename ‘ugh’ everytime. he hates it.

crazy that tim being a 17 y/o ceo and a stoner who does brand deals are all actual canon things written in detective comics comics and not made up for shits and giggles by you, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb @rowdeyclown

SO CRAZY HUH?

batman au where everything is the same but his utility belt is bright pink

absolutely, but i raise you, his boots light up like sketchers when he kicks people.

unbeknownst to the superhero fandom writers in the dcuniverse, clark and BRUCE are one of the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag on ao3. clark writes the best lois x superman angst, full of unhappy endings and scenes that are a so detailed you'd think you were in the middle of a superhero beatdown. bruce made an ao3 account to fuel "the do the butts match" thing, and makes batman/bruce fics from time to time. he wrote a superbat fic as a joke but ended up making it REAL porny. @concrastinator

dude they’re WAY too busy for that. Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan on the other hand are the most prolific fanfic writers in the superhero rpf tag writing what is Mostly porn.

When the dining table topic gets to politics, Steph says "eat the rich" as the solution

bruce just silently takes away her fork and knife while she’s talking.

[vancilocs]

Is kabal and zephi on the table 👀 just dont answer what doesnt apply aaand colm and naomi?

they have a Thing going on

Who's the one who's reckless and always getting into trouble while the other gotta pull em out

They both think the other is the reckless one! But not getting in trouble, just being careless. Kabal would always like to make sure Zephi gets home safe and Zephi makes Kabal promise he drives safely

Colm doesn't think there's anything reckless about Naomi going into the forest during new moon, his mom disagrees

Who's the one to send the other "I love my gf/bf" memes

Kabal sends memes appreciating rude and powerful women who kick him in the nuts

If they had phones, Naomi more

Who's the one who listens to a music genre the other doesn't like and how does the other react

Kabal is dad rock 100% and that's his playlist when on roadtrips, Zephi is welcome to suggest other songs or even make her own roadtrip playlist if she wants to, but please don't be rude abt his taste in music

They'd both listen to folk rock sampled with mushroom growth sounds and throat singing

How one spoils the other more and do they ever get competitive to show the other more love

Not really? Zephi spoils Kabal by letting him stay at her place for a night or two, he spoils her by giving her flowers sometimes

Colm spoils Naomi by giving her extra affection, Naomi spoils Colm by letting him be by himself sometimes (but makes sure solitude doesn't drive him into a worse headspace)

How many years did it take to get married or was it just not for them

They haven't even discussed being serious yet, marriage isn't a big thing for either so like. It's whatever

Weddings and marriage aren't really a big thing in the clan, people just end up together and move in together and have kids without there necessarily being a ceremony (more like just a bonfire party). They just... became an item.

Are their friends/family supportive

Yeah... mostly. Mehara is fine with Zephi, Hafza is happy for her dad, Gabriel is pleased Zephi might have found someone fun. Herah is still very dubious but also doesn't want to interfere too much, Zephi is a grown woman who can do her own decisions

Very much so, Mahran is so happy to see Colm happy and she also very much likes Naomi. Myra couldn't be more pleased, Kaede is glad and Koldun doesn't really care but he's not very close with Colm in the first place

How does one comfort the other when the other is in distress/having a panic attack/crying

-

Naomi has to be careful because if she spooks Colm when he's agitated he will teleport by accident and she doesn't want him dropping himself off the rooftop again. Just speak to him calmly, give him his own space, reassure him he's safe and at home. If he allows, hold his hand or hug him. If Naomi's crying or otherwise distressed Colm will just hug her and pet her hair until she's okay.

Which one dissociates

-

Colm mainly

Which one stares at the other's booty like "damn" and how does the other react when catching them

Both honestly and neither really minds? Kabal will just ask if Zephi likes what she sees

Neither much, sometimes it's fun to walk past and give the other's butt a pat just to hear them giggle

When they live together what kinda place do they live in? What does their home look like?

More like what does Zephi's place look like, Kabal is practically homeless lmao

Cozy and warm, not too small so it fits their kids later on as well, decorated with dried plants and wreaths and branches etc., a bit messy sometimes but it's very much a home and a very comforting place

What do their dates look like

Grabbing fast food or going to a diner after work at like midnight or 2am, maybe going to a bar for a couple, Kabal being invited to Zephi's place, he brings flowers and gets tied to a chair

Go for a long forest walk, maybe take some food along and have a picnic on a cliff or something, enjoy calm nature, have a snuggle, kiss a little, avoid werewolves,

How does each act when getting drunk

Kabal gets louder and more jovial, careful not to trip all over his long-ass legs

Naomi gets a little giggly and very talkative, will talk your ear off about the stars and bones and how you can see the future if you do this this and this under the full moon. Colm starts sobbing inconsolably

Which one rolls over in the morning to wake up the other one just to kiss them

Could be a delicate way for Zephi to say you need to leave my apartment

Naomi, but after letting Colm sleep for a while

Have they saved each other's lives before

Nope

Nah

Does one have an interest the other thinks is weird but wants to listen to it regardless

Zephi has to introduce Kabal into BDSM delicately so he realizes it's a bit more than just handcuffs

Colm might not quite get Naomi's psychic tendencies but he knows it's important to her and people haven't always believed her about it, so he will listen to whatever she has to say

Which one uses cropped hentai as reaction images

I don't think Kabal even crops it

-

Does one of them kinkshame the other

Kabal will let Zephi know of his limits but he never shames her

Naomi has no kinks, Colm is ace

Is one of them self-conscious about their body? If so how does the other comfort them

I don't know if either, Zephi is shy but fine about her body in general

Colm has the scar on his belly from that time his dad stabbed him he's uncomfortable about, Naomi just doesn't acknowledge it. He's not super comfortable being undressed anyways so just let him keep his clothes on and he's alright

What song do they listen to while going on a joyride

Kabal has a whole playlist of dad rock and synths for his hours-long drives

What kinda joyrides do they go on? Relaxing ones or wild ones?

Relaxing for Kabal at least, excitement for Zephi when he moves on the highway and speeds up

Do people ever get annoyed of their PDA

Herah gets annoyed at Kabal for breathing but otherwise not really? They don't really show it anyways

Never, it's just cute.

Would they live in the city or the country

It's whatever for Kabal. He'd be going on a long ride nowhere anyways

They live a bit outside the village proper, more quiet which they prefer

Are either of them mentally ill, if so how do they help one another cope

I don't think so? Zephi is just shy.

Colm is a mess of PTSD and general anxiety, Naomi is just weird otherwise but she's very quiet, calming and comforting so if Colm wants to talk she's always available to listen and if he wants to be alone she'll make sure he's fed/warm/dry at least

Does one have a spot on them where they would melt when the other kisses them there

Inner thighs, neck almost behind the ear, throat when his head is bent back for Kabal

Naomi lives for cheek and forehead kisses (and kisses on the mouth), Colm likes kisses on his head

Do they dance together

They could hit a club, sure. Kabal is not super good at it, but passable

Hum a song and sway together at home, if real happy maybe even do a little dance at a bonfire party

Do they sing together

I could see them (or at least Kabal) belting out a tune in the kitchen or something when there's a good song on the radio

Sometimes, one starts humming and the other one joins

Which one is better at cooking than the other and makes most the dinners

Zephi is probably better, Kabal sustains himself on fast food mainly

They both kinda suck. Colm can grill a pheasant on a firepit but that's about it, and Naomi can chop up a cucumber and put some leaves on top. Mahran teaches them how to make the basic casserole before they starve

Are they a reckless couple or safe

Bordering on reckless?

Very safe

What be they kinks and do they try each other's kinks

Kabal isn't aversed to milfs and femdom but Zephi had him topped (hee hee) with bondage. The rougher stuff he will need to be eased into but he's always open for new experiences

Their kinks are Love and Care and Pants On Hugging

What would be their Valentine's gifts be to each other

A bouquet, some candy and a pack of condoms from Kabal

If they knew what it was, a good dinner and flowers.

Do they get into fights often? If so, what do they fight over and how do they make up?

They're not really in a serious enough relationship to have fights

They don't fight

Which one's top, bottom, verse

Both verses, but when Zephi tops she tops hard

What kinda sex they be having

If Kabal gets to pick, just... regular with a touch of rough. If Zephi gets to pick, he's screaming for mercy by the end

If Colm's ace ass is even in the mood it's lights off shirts on missionary

Who would fight in honor for the other if someone would insult them

Kabal would get mad if someone insulted Zephi, he wouldn't immediately throw hands but he'd be very vocal like hey, apologize to the lady

Don't get Colm angry the guy knows blood magics he doesn't have full control over

Do they want kids

Naaaaah. Kabal has a grown up daughter whom he adores and who's the light of his life, but he doesn't want more nor does Zephi

Yeah and they have a couple!

[haus-of-wu]

Bonamana (미인아) 10th Anniversary Album Analysis/Rediscovery

Happy 10th Anniversary to Bonamana / 4jib !

I viscerally remember this album coming out when I was in the 8th grade and using my damn iTunes gift cards to buy the album tracks for my iPod nano. (WTF was streaming in 2010)

Bonamana was the first album of many in SJ’s discography that didn’t have the full lineup of members. Hangeng had departed SM, Kibum had announced a hiatus to focus on acting, and Kangin was starting off what would become SJ’s almost decade-long military rotation era.

We’ve come a long way, and we’re still out here !!

Track analysis and re-reaction below the cut - as a veteran ELF I find that middle school me fixated on certain songs (and was the biggest Ryeowook stan), and then completely forgot about entire other songs, so it’s always a fun time going back down memory lane.

Bonamana (미인아)

Even if you look and look, look and look, look and look There’s no one else but me.

It’s true, true that my feelings don’t have a place to go. You know that I adjusted myself to fit you

honestly the best iteration of the “SJ Funky” sound that started with “Sorry Sorry” imo

an absolute headbanger !! if you aren’t already bobbing your head to the bass line and percussion in the first 10 seconds you are not human

this has just the right tasteful amount of autotune that makes it age a lot better than sorry sorry over the years

i’m sorry but the choreo absolutely fucks especially with kyuhyun going out there being like “you thought i was a main vocal? i’m in this fucking dance break”

re:choreo, it’s understandable that they’ve pivoted to the rock remix of this for super shows bc there’s a squat move they do that is not friendly on the knees at all

if you wanted a club BOP about a guy trying his hardest to figure out how to get a girl’s attention, this is it

donghae doing a magic trick for every music show performance of this, while looking fiercely in character while delivering his line as a man who is hella stressed about what to get the girl as a present

the way ryeowook and sungmin (tenor line !!) exchange lines

this song made me go feral in 2010

No Other

Hearing you tell me that you love me, I have everything in this world, You & I, You’re so fine, Is there someone like you? I love you Oh, please know it, to me there’s only you, That I stupidly see you As my everything 

that feel-good cute love song that served as the foil to Bonamana

the softest MV !!

just super chill and smile inducing

all the music show performances of this are just...so cute (also featured so many shenanigans like leeteuk yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEENIM/GOOD LUCK SHINEE, and random members playing rock paper scissors in the middle of the performance)

probably has the most evenly split line distributions for the time (each member has their own verse of sorts)

contains one of my favorite hyukjae rap parts - it flows in such a relaxing way

Shake It Up (Remix Version)

Hey get up, (Hey get up) everyone come here (everyone come here) Just shake (all your thoughts) Just shake it up!

your everyday repetitive life, right now shake it up your repeated thoughts of sadness- right now shake it up Are you separated from the world? It all depends on you

SJ said shake it up !

chill club song with the touch of autotune, heavy synth, and weird background “oh OHs” of the time

the predecessor to the electronic chill vibe that Skydive has

they really told us to have fun and enjoy

honestly the song i didn’t realize i’d need in quarantine as i jam out at my desk

All My Heart

The words I still can’t say The words that got stuck in my throat I love you more than anyone else It’s still you and me, me me me me me me me me

In this moment I’m really happy I’m really grateful that you came to me The one who gives everything to me It’s only you and me, me me me me me me just you

a simple guitar instrumental with soothing vocals, a wholesome r&b

composed by LEETEUK AND HENRY? fuck me up fam

as a kid this was just the “nanana nanana na” song (that’s the me me me part of the chorus lmao)

this is the happy song that you’d like wave your lighters to maybe

hyukjae’s been singing “don’t wake me up” for eons

god this song makes me so soft

A Short Journey

My heart that loved you My eyes that looked at you Are still here

Oh baby say goodbye, for a short while goodbye I’ll go back to the place when I once was When I open that door and take one step So that I can stand in front of you who I missed

My heart that loved you My eyes that looked at you Will wait

Kangin going to the military tribute song composed by Donghae and lyrics by Hyukjae? they really had all the rights in 2010

god the lyrics really hit me in my ELF heart. like we really went through a whole decade of military service and said goodbye for now so many times

the opening piano intro? i hate you donghae i really do

hyukjae these lyrics man. why. why you gotta make our hearts hurt like this

another simple instrumental with soothing vocals, but this time it hits you in the feels a bit

if you weren’t listening to the lyrics, this feels like a song you’d watch your parents slow dance to in the house

thanks for triggering the “i miss kangin” hours G O D

Boom Boom

From head to toe you are wrapped with all luxury things Hoo~ so eye-blinding, who would ever dare to touch you?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star I’m trying to get a hot girl, I’m drawn to her bad look look look am I wrong?

It’s nothing but such a beautiful sin

THE OTHER BANGER IN THIS ALBUM

yeah i feel like 13/14 y.o. me only was here for bonamana and boom boom back in 2010 which is like...pretty valid given the taste of your typical middle schooler in 2010

but literally. if you thought bonamana was about a guy desperate to get the girl, boom boom was legit like “shit she’s hot like sin and hooking up with her might be a mistake for me but oh well wtf why the hell not”

kyuhyun’s line at the beginning “from head to toe/머리부터 발 끝까지” is apparently used in a lot of lyrics, to the point where D&E were like, Bout You’s Korean title is gonna be that, AND it’s gonna be in the chorus. this was totally off-topic.

the whiplash in this album honestly. soft love songs to trying to get girls in the club to i’ll wait for you to finish military service. they have the RANGE

Coagulation

On the window and on my eyes Dew forms, tears form, a small stream is made Where they’re from and how they form over and over even I don’t know The only thing I know is that I just really hurt My formerly burning heart is slowly becoming cold It seems even I don’t know what to say, or how to hold on to you

time for a KRY ballad (can you BELIEVE they are finally having their first whole-ass album in june ??)

break up crying song included with the album of two absolute bangers

just close your eyes and get taken away on the sad rainy day ballad

Your Eyes

I want to erase all of my insufficient former self It seems like someone like me has nothing to give to you

Do you still remember, do you believe that it’s only you for me Do you know how long you can keep me by your side In this large world, there’s only one person (I only want you) Did you know this about me

sad piano r&b time !! brought to you by yesung and kyuhyun only

harmonies

kyuhyun’s bridge though

easily a candidate for some drama OST

i feel like this album really just had two sides - party rock central and r&b feels

My Only Girl

Even if I cover my ears I can hear it, even if I close my eyes, I can see it Even if I shut my mouth I keep calling out for you I am stupid I hate how I can’t get over you

we really opened this song with “cause i’m lonely” huh (screams at how applicable this still is for them TEN years later)

i love everything about this song except the chorus

the chorus is very underwhelming

My All Is In You

Even though I’m pretending to smile Without knowing why In truth I want to cry

It seems love is ending like this Before I know it our parting is approaching You say “goodbye” To me, letting you go is still difficult Please give me a little more time I can’t live without you My all is in you

another sad breakup bop why are you guys so good at this genre

the percussion comes in so nicely

little strings in the background that help accentuate the words (chef’s kiss)

KRY really were already yelling not even halfway into this song - perf

we literally are only in the second chorus folks

this song is great, it’s only sin was that it said “rap line you just don’t get lines”, so rip heechul, hyukjae, and shindong

Shake it Up!

the original - way less electro, more acoustic

has a very lo-fi beginning and then it amps up

has some interesting high pitched synth piano twiddling up there

a tad slower than the remix, but not by much if at all

dude the horns coming in behind hyukjae’s rap !! it fucks !

if the remix version’s vibe is people having fun in the club, this one’s vibe is a summer bbq party in the backyard

god i really love the horn line - it gives it such a nice vibe

another point in the “feel good” bucket

In My Dream

She’s walking away Embracing another person My chest’s like it’s being crushed under a heavy weight

I’m dreaming again, right? Cold sweat runs down my body It hurts to dream about things, I hate to remember

I wish I would fall asleep forever like this I wake up with her presence still… although I hope I don’t dream again, Like today, it seems I fall asleep with her presence

piano and string sadness here we go

bring back SJ KRY + donghae + sungmin

this chorus for this song stabs me in the heart every time

i’m mad where’s the MV for the heart-wrenching sad ballad

kings of emotional power vocals

we really are out here singing our hearts out about that ex-girlfriend that haunts us as we try to fall asleep

if they ever perform this all ELF in the vicinity would immediately die

One Fine Spring Day

A warm wind is blowing like it was that night The flowers you lovingly planted have bloomed Before I know it spring has come again I still want to deeply sleep like it’s winter

You are so very far, so very far To be honest I miss you every day Even the very small, very small trivial things make me think of you every day

still laughing the ryeowook brought up bonamana as his favorite album on weekly idol bc it contained his first ever solo track ;kasjf;aksdf king of promoting only himself

this is v soft, v much aligned with the little prince image that wasn’t even in the works yet

the imagery of the lyrics man. cute winter to spring yearning uwus

s o f t e s t

like this is literally the song that inspired every fanfic writer that’s ever written ryeowook as persephone in some greek god au

Good Person

When you laugh I feel good too, even when you say it’s just pretend You bring happiness to the days when I wait for you, the nights when I miss you Even when I’m alone it’s okay if I can just see you I’m always behind you, I’m always looking out for you, but it seems like I have to share

The difference between me and the person who makes you cry is that all I can do is comfort you

this song sounds like something that would be in the opening of an animated show that takes place in a high school

now that i’m looking at the lyrics, this is literally an upbeat sounding song accepting that they’ve been friendzoned and all they can do is support her relationship with the other guy

bittersweet nostalgia bop i guess

Here We Go

cue family/action movie credit music vibes

i don’t have much to say about it - i just isn’t something i’d listen to on the regular

it’s just happy-go-lucky finale type music

it has a really old-school hyukjae/shindong rap verse lmao

vocal line is out here yelling, very on-brand

[taste-in-music]

My Favorite Hit Songs of 2019

This year’s crop of popular music was... absolutely bonkers? I mean, this year we had Billie Eilish crash into the mainstream, Lizzo managed to get multiple hits out of songs she released nearly three years ago, the Jonas Brothers made a comeback, and the longest-running #1 hit in Billboard history became a rap/country crossover that got its start on Tik Tok made by a complete nobody and the dad from Hannah Montana. I’m going to admit, this list was pretty hard to put together, as I found it hard to find 10 songs that I genuinely loved that were hits this year. Despite that, the sheer absurdity of this year’s popular music gave me a spark of hope going into the new decade. For this list, I’ll be selecting my favorite songs off of Billboard’s year end Hot 100 songs list. I’m ready to recount this year in music, so...

10) Sucker by Jonas Brothers I never watched the Jonas Brothers show or listened to their music back when they were big on Disney, so I’ve got no nostalgic investment in them. However, this was a fun comeback to watch play out. This song was pretty dang good for a while, with the funky guitars and the instantly catchy lyrics. It reminded me of “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man. Then it got the point where three separate radio stations were playing it at the same time, and now I can barely stand it. I think that after the radio releases this song from its clutches it will warm up on me again though, because I do like it overall.

9) Better by Khalid The strongest attribute of this song is its ATMOSPHERE. The beat, melody, and vocal delivery all compliment one another perfectly, combining to create a smooth, almost sexy sound that washes over you with ever listen. I also like the Daft-Punk-y vocoded lines that pop in at the end, they’re so unexpected and yet they fit in perfectly. I've always loved Khalid’s vocal timbre, it’s so chill and yet warm at the same time. The only thing I can’t praise about this is the lyrics, because I have no clue what they are. Khalid, bless his sweet soul, cannot enunciate. It’s the same problem I have with Ariana Grande. I love your voice, I want to know what you’re saying! 

8) Trampoline by SHAED Give me the hipster points, because guess who knew about this song before it was cool! I’ve loved SHAED’s music for some time now, so it’s been thrilling to watch this song climb the charts and for them to get the recognition and success that they deserve. While this song isn’t my favorite by them, (that slot would probably be reserved for “Perfume” or “Melt,”) it does showcase the group’s strengths, which are emotive vocals and glossy electronic production. I love the effervescent backing vocals and bubbling keys that pepper this song, it gives the song a floaty feel while still keeping it tense. 

7) Old Town Road by Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus I can’t think of a piece of music in recent memory that has captured the public’s attention so swiftly and so completely, and you know what? Sometimes something gets big because it’s good. This song, despite all the memes and jokes and radio play and oversaturation, never ever got old to me. Every time it comes on, it puts a giant, goofy smile on my face, and I sing along to the whole thing. I want Lil Nas X to stick around, but even if he doesn’t, I want what this song represents, genre blending, trend-bucking, and a sense of fuck-it fun, to stay.

6) bury a friend by Billie Eilish Out of all the strange hits we had this year, this was the weirdest one to hear on the radio. It doesn’t have a classic structure! It’s about the monster under your bed! It’s got nothing but a shuffle beat, bass, and the sound of dental drill! It just doesn’t belong on the airwaves next to songs like “ME!” or “I Don’t Care.” Despite that, I’m beyond happy that Billie Eilish is bringing a bit of emo weirdness to the mainstream, because if the success of her music, specifically this song, says anything, it’s that pop is heading in a far scarier and more experimental direction. And I’m on board with that. 

5) break up with your girfriend, i’m bored by Ariana Grande The groove on this song is fantastic. The combination of eerie synths, bass, reverbed backing vocals, and rolling snares makes it feel tight and controlled, but also loose and flowing at the same time. There was a lot of pushback against this song due the sentiment of the lyrics, but it’s not like Ariana is unaware that she’s the bad guy in this position. There’s enough indifference and sarcasm in her delivery to show that she’s self aware. This was probably my favorite out of the hit singles from the thank u, next era, (”thank u, next” is great but got a bit old to me, and I don’t care for “7 Rings.”) 

4) Circles by Post Malone  This is embarrassing to admit, because I rarely, if ever, enjoyed any music Post Malone has put out in the past. But this song just hits different. The instrumental feels more acoustic-driven and has a nice pulse to it, projecting a warmth and comfort that none of his other songs have. This was a perfect hit for Autumn, being chill and relaxing enough for Summer, but the underlying bass groove makes you want to move into the productive patterns of the school year. If Post Malone made more music like this I’d reckon I’d enjoy his music quite a bit. 

3) Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith ft. Normani Sometimes radio filler turns out to be spectacular. The ambiance this track builds is relaxing but in an otherworldly kind of way, forming a soundscape of echoing drums and whispering synths. I’ve always stood by the opinion that Sam Smith sounds really good with an electronic beat under them, it helps their great voice move in a more free-flowing way. Normani also sounds amazing on this song, her vocals dipping into smokier territory, and when the two sing together they play off one another’s performances with ease. 

2) Sweet But Psycho by Ava Max Who predicted this in their last year’s hit song’s list? This bitch! I was so happy to see this hit the U.S. charts, you have no idea. It was such a breath of fresh air in that it was so splashy, sugar-sweet, and unabashedly pop. The lyrics are some of the silliest of the whole year, (”she’s poison but tasty” makes me chuckle every time,) but it doesn’t matter. The addictive melodies and the earnestness in Ava Max’s performance make them sound like Shakespearean poetry, or at least like she believes that they’re Shakespearean poetry. 

Should Have Been Hits

Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift This should’ve been a single. I get why Taylor chose the singles she did, but this was primed to be a Summer smash, with the glossy synths and vocoded backing vocals and soaring chorus. We were robbed. Robbed, I tell you!

Graveyard by Halsey While “Without Me” got all the glory, this is my favorite of all the Halsey singles we’ve gotten so far by a wide margin. It’s the only one that I’ve made the conscious choice to listen to on my own time for one. I love the way the production rushes as the chorus hits, and the synths that sparkle throughout the verses, and Halsey’s reserved performance.

3 Nights by Dominic Fike This was a hit in the U.K., and I even heard it on a few alternative stations, so why no cross over? If there was any song that should have been the chill Summer hip hop hit, it should have been this. This song is weirdly addictive, the chorus is so inexplicably catchy that once you hear it one time through you will know all the words to it. 

Blame It On Your Love by Charli XCX ft. Lizzo When the mainstream decide that it didn’t need Charli XCX? Because it’s wrong, it needs her very, very badly. The success of “1999″ in the U.K., the name recognition, and the Lizzo feature should’ve been more than enough to boost this onto the charts, but I guess we didn’t want an instantly catchy and fun EDM pop song on the radio. Oh well. 

Motivation by Normani Normani and Lauren are my favorite Fifth Harmony members, so I’ve been rooting for their solo careers like nobody’s business. This single in particular had so much potential: a bouncy beat, a stamp of approval from Ariana Grande, and a kick-ass music video filled with impressive choreography. I hope this gets a bigger push into next year, because Normani is a wildly talented performer that deserves success outside of her collaborations. 

Guilty Pleasures

bad guy by Billie Eilish This was a good song, just not my favorite off the album, or of the hits, (I prefer ”bury a friend,” obviously, and “when the party’s over,” which made last year’s list.) Still, watching this idiosyncratic little tune become one of the biggest pop smashes of the year was enthralling. Like “bury a friend,” it was so strange to hear this on the radio. 

Close To Me by Ellie Goulding ft. Diplo & Swae Lee When a melody gets its claws in me, there’s nothing I can do about it. This is not Ellie Goulding at her best, (I’ll admit that I miss the days of “Lights,”) but the way she delivers the hook on this song is absolutely infectious. I’m not the biggest Swae Lee fan, but he’s fine here too. I never minded when this song came on the radio. 

This year was a bit of a roller coaster for me. Needless to say, there were several instances where I felt quite a bit of stress and insecurity, and oftentimes, I would turn to music to make myself feel better. There was one song in particular that a friend of mine, @hasanminajs​, introduced me to, that instantly became a beacon of self-appreciation and enjoyment to me throughout the year. And when I tell you that I have never been happier to hear a song on the radio than I have with this one, I'm telling the truth. 

1) Truth Hurts by Lizzo I have never rooted for a song’s success like I have for this one, and watching a hip hop track this bouncy, confident, and enigmatic climb the charts was an absolute joy. There are so many great punchlines in this song, from “why men great till they gotta be great?” to “I don’t play tag bitch, I’ve been it,” to the ever-iconic “I just took a DNA test, turns out, I’m 100% that bitch.” This song raised the standards for lyricism in the mainstream. I want Lizzo to be huge, I want her to be influential, I want her to be one of the biggest pop stars of the next decade if not longer. Everything about this song, from its production to its message to its performance makes me smile. And you know what? Sometimes that’s all that pop music needs to do. 

Do you agree with this list? What were your favorite hit songs of 2019? Leave a comment and let me know!

[stopraidingmyheart]

About the character!

Tagged by the oh so lovely @falloutglow​

Your muse’s name: Loralei (Daughter of the chieftain)/Lo/Moody

One picture / faceclaim of your muse:

(Had to rush this halfway through because I wanted to finish this before I left for the day! Concept tattoos for everyone with one complete and one unfnished!)

Two headcanons you have for your muse?

She...actually has constant dreams of these strange looking creatures looking down at her and her home. Anytime she tries to leave, she can’t because there seems to be some sort of invisible wall preventing her from doing so. She wakes up in sweat because she’s screaming at everyone about what’s happening but no one believes her!

She gets cold super easily because she was spoiled by the canyons she grew up in that were constantly warm! She’ll usually have a jacket with her unless it’s straight up summer in the Commonwealth and will complain the entire time until the coldness is gone.

Three things your character likes doing in their free time:

Drawing/sculpting/tattooing! Loralei is a creative soul and looks for creative outlets. She has a sketch book filled with things from strangers to crushes and...some inner thoughts she’d rather keep personal. She’s also taken up sculpting small tiny statues from the trash/junk she finds throughout the wastes, it’s usually kept together with gum and is usually a horse. Then there’s tattooing! That’s right, she also tattoos. The intricate tattoos that she has, she didn’t do herself, she knows a guy at Bunker Hill who has a whole ass machine and found out a way to make colored ink. He’s her go to. Loralei doesn’t have a machine...yet, she does poke tattoos! Usually will only do small ones because she doesn’t have time for huge ones.

Listening to music/singing/dancing along with it. Loralei...also likes to sing. It’s a hidden passion that she keeps under wraps in fear of ridicule. Only those close to her will hear her small whispers of a song or if she gets swept up in a feeling. Often she’s singing ‘Begin Again’, the likes the melancholy tune and will often hum it while drawing as well. Dancing is much rarer to come by. This girl has great control of her hips. Dancing is such a popular element back at home, it's how they tell stories.

Fun fact...she likes to climb things. I guess parkouring is the word? Loralei has long legs and she has high ass agility too, maxed out. So often, she’ll want to find a quiet spot in the inner cities of the Commonwealth to just...think to herself. So often, she’s scaling buildings in hopes of a finding a good spot and...has anyone noticed the crows around here? Loralei has...they’re...strange. She doesn’t see life behind the eyes of, not like the other birds...she’s just being paranoid. Been around Tinker Tom for too long is all.

Seven people your muse loves/likes:

Deacon - Yes, believe or not...she loves this fool like her own brother...er...if she were close to her brother. They’ve had heart to hearts and she knows things of him that he hasn’t told anybody...and in turn he knows things about her that she hasn’t told anybody. They’re often partnered together because Loralei is able to reel Deacon back in when things gets a bit out of hand. She’ll be the first to tell him when an idea is garbage and yes...she did rip that dumb fake earring out of his ear. No, we’re not going into a raider base pretending that we’re “piercers giving out free cool piercings!”. That’s dumb! That’s stupid! And these raiders don’t deserve to be pierced by anything but a bullet! Plus Deacon helps her bleach her hair.

Glory - aka, Loralei's ’ huge crush. Loralei does develop crushes on women easily, just...be soft with her and you’ve caught her. Only difference between Loralei getting a crush on you...and Loralei wanting to date you is...well you have to be able to deal with Loralei at her worst. At her worst, she can be a challenge. She can be mean and snappy. She’ll out right refuse any help and would rather mope and suffer then anything. So she needs someone who knows how to give tough love while avoiding to step in a certain territory of abuse. Glory knows exactly what type and how much of tough love to give. When Loralei first started bumming around the railroad, after the second week was up, Glory was the first one to tell Loralei to get off of her ass. Gave Loralei this new motto of "Replace the bad memories, with new good ones.". It's why Loralei has fallen deep for her. Glory also helps Loralei shave the side of her head which is often since Loralei's hair grows so fast.

Old Blue - Loralei's soul, the reason she made it past 12. Old Blue is Loralei's big ass horse, he sadly is still currently back home. He's an old man of 23 and has been with Loralei since she was born. They share the same birthday and everything. He's a giant but an absolute sweetie unless you hurt Loralei then he's gonna try and kick you then stomp on you. He saved Loralei from a yao guai attack when she was younger and decided to hunt for the first time by herself. Plan for Loralei is to get a huge plot of land, build a farm there and live out the rest of her life raising horses and radstags. Loralei has a tattoo of him on her right leg.

Desdemona - Des was the one who even allowed Loralei to stay with the Railroad after her ex left her heartbroken. She felt bad enough for her and didn't even make her join. Was surprised when Loralei asked to be an official member. Figured that having a cruel ex who was a synth would be enough for that hate to start. Most people haven't met a synth and hate them. Then she notices the soft looks Loralei gives Glory and...well, that all makes sense doesn't it. Des will often get on Loralei's ass when she's having a particular bad attitude that day.

Tinker Tom - Tom is like an annoying little brother. His talk of aliens is grating to her sometimes, she just wanted to talk about her weird dreams without the "are you sure you aren't alien made? I mean, the fast healing, the blue blood-" but...she loves him like a little brother. She likes listening about his tinkering and is actually drawing her up something in hopes a making a tattoo machine. Safe to say that she does find him charming and someone she cares dearly about.

Freya (her mom) - most of Loralei's childhood is being ignored. She's always been labeled as someone who'll bring you down with her and for the fact that one of her eyes is blue instead of green...was said to bring bad omens. Was almost killed as a newborn but her father refused to ever let such a thing happen. Freya is the only person in the tribe that has the same mental issues as Loralei...but Freya would get caught up in keeping the tribe together and they just...never really talked. Loralei is like that with all her immediate family.

Lulu (older brother) - Lulu and Loralei get along better then the rest of their family. They're still kind of awkward and aren't sure how to show each other affection but when Lulu comes around for a quick visit then they'll often share a smoke together and just...talk about their lives together. One of them is supposed to take over the chieftain role when their parents no longer can but...neither one of them want to.

A phobia your muse has: 

Would it be weird to say meeting the beings in her dreams? She has so many dreams of just beings watching over her tribe. Seeing them as toys...or pawns or...pets. Loralei isn't sure. Just...she doesn't want to meet them. Ever. She feels like she isn't even supposed to know that they're there.

This is a tag free for all! So if you're seeing this, do it! It's a great way to delve into your OCs!

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 6, Number 2

Grisha Shakhnes

Time for another collection of short, sharp reviews, covering a gamut of styles. Our most tireless contributor, Bill Meyer, turned in a record eight Dusts this time, so if you like jazz, improv and experimental music, this is your edition. Other writers included Ray Garraty, Jennifer Kelly, Justin Cober-Lake, Tim Clarke and Ian Mathers.

Max B — House Money (Self-released)

Max B is doing 75 years in prison, yet before his bid he recorded a lot of music to be used by trusted collaborators. Last year’s Coke Wave 5 with French Montana felt authentic enough to be confused with Max’s pre-prison mixtapes, only a bit more polished. This new EP is no less wave-y and goofy, but too many guest verses dilute the fun. If French, with whom Max B recorded a lot of mixtapes together, seems like a natural collaborator, the rest of the guests are an uneasy fit. House Money is a Frankenstein-y affair exactly because Max himself wouldn’t invite them to his booth (not that they are lousy talents, they are just on a different frequency with Max B). It is probably mixed and produced by someone who thought that these collaborators would attract additional audience, yet the result is the opposite: Max B’s fans would feel alienated by impostors in his own domain.

Ray Garraty

 Jeb Bishop / Jaap Blonk / Weasel Walter / Damon Smith — JaJeWeDa (Balance Point Acoustics)

Pioneer Works Vol. 1 BPA 19 by JeJaWeDa (Jeb Bishop / Jaap Blonk / Weasel Walter / Damon Smith)

No matter how big the stage they occupy, it isn’t big enough for Jaap Blonk and Weasel Walter. Both men are masters of strategic exaggeration. Put them together and a clash is inevitable. Blonk not only spews sound poetry like a symphony of pan-lingual news broadcasts and surreptitiously recorded mouthwash experiments, he manipulates electronics with a video game controller that looks especially ridiculous in his gangly hands. Walter mugs and wallops, each movement lunging simultaneously at your ears and your funny bone. Perhaps you’re wondering, “isn’t this a record review? How will these visual descriptions clue me into the sound?” Play this record and you will know. And you will also marvel at the way bassist Damon Smith and trombonist Jeb Bishop balance the other half of the band’s nuttiness with seriousness so unfailing, you might put your money on them against Roscoe Mitchell in a game of poker.

Bill Meyer

 Ben Carey — Antimatter (Hospital Hill)

ANTIMATTER by Ben Carey

Sydney-based electronic musician Ben Carey played saxophone before he took on modular synthesizers. This may explain the quivering, palpable presence of the sounds he devises; he makes static pulse and shake like swollen lips engaged in the act of vocalizing. His deployments of attenuated tones, sudden swells, and insistent chimes are discontinuous and episodic, but also quite thoughtfully planned out. Both the sudden shifts and the long considerations of discrete elements feel as essential as the unforgettable bridge in a bubblegum cart hit, and the qualities of the sounds Carey ponders amply reward the attention required to follow their shifts in and out of audibility and back and forth across the stereo spectrum. If you’re inclined to get well acquainted with Antimatter, consider springing for the LP. Since both Carey and his label are situated in Australia, it might take some looking and spending, but Rashad Becker’s cut and the 45-rpm playing speed guarantee maximum presence.

Bill Meyer  

 John Chantler — Tomorrow Is Too Late (Room40)

Tomorrow Is Too Late by John Chantler

From the pig’s ass on the sleeve to the titles of the album’s two tracks, John Chantler’s Tomorrow is Too Late promises to deal with endings. But when you put the record on, you find yourself adrift in events that defy linear description, let alone the definition of a final point. Oh, sure, both of them end, but they don’t spend the time leading up to those terminations making sure that you know where they’re going. The title track was commissioned for the 2018 iteration of the French electronic music institution INA GRM’s Présences Électronique festival, and most of its sounds were obtained from a François Coupigny synthesizer that is over 50 years old. Rare earl synths are like worlds unto themselves, and the listener is adrift with Chantler as he invites sounds to converge, dispel, and recongregate in winking, restless masses. On “We’re Always at the End,” the electronic sound convergence make way for a pipe organ, which coheres into a solid sonic presence, but when it disappears, the piece does not. This is music to inhabit, over and over again.

Bill Meyer 

 Richard Dawson — 2020 (Weird World)

2020 by Richard Dawson

This sixth full-length from cult songwriter Richard Dawson unspools like a series of linked short stories, the characters sharing a blighted, latter-day English backdrop and perhaps avoiding one another’s eyes as they pass on the streets. Sung in Dawson’s wavery tenor — with flights up into a very uncertain falsetto — and backed with the most straightforward of rock-ish instrumental arrangements, the songs flourish in their specificity. The metal-riffing “Jogging,” for instance, tells the story of a mid-life crisis with startling exact-ness, an ex-school counselor, laid off and too anxious to leave the house, advised by a doctor to take up jogging. The story is told first person, in the most straightforward way possible, with minimal embellishments. If it weren’t for the crashing guitar chords, the squiggly lines of synth, you might be listening to a friend over coffee.  The scenarios are mostly dreary, of people stuck in soul-sucking jobs, in towns where things go wrong through neglect and inertia. Yet, once in a while the sun comes piercing through, and life, however stunted and bare and grey, turns ever so slightly hopeful. I’ll leave you with verse from lacerating “The Queen’s Head.”

“The guy from the vape shop Ferrying his chocolate labs Waves to us cheerily From a leaky kayak ‘I've lost everything apart from what counts’ Pointing to his dogs and then at his heart.”

Now that’s a pre-chorus.

Jennifer Kelly

 Frank Denyer — The Boundaries of Intimacy (Another Timbre)

On The Boundaries of Intimacy, composer Frank Denyer explores volume dropped to a soft level. The approach produces a sort of intimacy, nearly everything sounds hushed, although it remains unclear whether, as listeners, we're leaning into a confidant or cupping our hand to a wall to eavesdrop. Regardless of our position as listeners, Denyer continues his work with unpredictable instrumentation, highlighting sneh and koto playing in various places (including two version of a koto piece), and combining flute and electronics for a strange tonal study called “Beyond the Boundaries of Intimacy.” When he works with a more traditional set of instruments, as on “String Quartet,” the ostensibly comfortable sounds become unfamiliar, an experienced aided by Denyer's play with dynamics, turning from a crescendo to a near disappearance. Denyer presents those sorts of challenges across these pieces (written over the past 40 years). He requires attentive, patient listening, but rewards it with unsettling experiences.

Justin Cober-Lake

 Avram Fefer Quartet—Testament (Clean Feed)

This record is credited to the Avram Fefer Quartet, and it’s true that the Brooklyn-based alto and tenor saxophone wrote the tunes and leads the band. But he’s not necessarily the guy you will listen to every time that you play it. Not that there’s anything wrong with Fefer’s playing, which combines Sonny Rollins’ muscularity with an affinity for bold melodies rooted equally in soul jazz and West African pop music. He’s got ideas, emotion and chops to spare. But damn, what a band! Fefer and bassist Eric Revis have an association going back to the 1990s; no matter which way the music rolls, the foundation is solid. Drummer Chad Taylor is a regular member of a trio with Fefer and Revis which made a couple records a decade or so back, and he’s also a member of bands led by Revis and guitarist Marc Ribot. Taylor never misses a chance to turn the music up a little closer to a boil, and the blues-rooted tone that Ribot favors here adds steely sentiment to the blues, mass to the Afrobeat repetitions, and confident complexity to the free interludes in this music. So, if your attention wavers from the saxophone for a second, it’s probably because you’re listening to how one of his accompanists is playing off of another one. Wotta band!

Bill Meyer  

  Roc Marciano — Marcielago (Self-released)

In “Saw” Roc Marciano says, “Sometimes I pinch myself in disbelief,” referring to a level of fame he’s achieved after 20 years in the rap game. The listeners are pinching themselves as well, but for a different reason: Marciano doesn’t repeat himself. Roc Marci works with his lyrics on two levels: line by line as well as bar by bar. As defined by Marci, his songs are “poetry over beats.”Marcielago is a quieter effort, closer to Rosebudd’s Revenge 1 and 2, than to 2018’s KAOS and Behold a Dark Horse. To rephrase the poet himself, on Marcielago he’s more like a pimp than a mack. The standout here is “Ephesians” which starts with early electronica and then explodes into a full-scale attack. Marci’s long time collaborator Ka spits here a verse which does an impossible thing: Marciano is murdered on his own turf.

Ray Garraty

 Machtelinckx / Badenhorst / Cools / Gouband — Porous Structures (Aspen Edities)

porous structures by Machtelinckx/Badenhorst/Cools/Gouband

This quartet comprises two steel-stringed acoustic guitarists, one percussionist prone to placing stones on his drums, and one clarinet and a saxophone player who likes to sing. The album’s title implies permeability, and the music delivers by creating the impression of actions happen in different places at the same time. Ruben Machtelinckx and Bert Cools’ guitars create structures made of slow-moving, finger-picked patterns. Toma Gouband and Joachim Badenhorst often sound like they are playing in some resonant space outside of the guitars’ sanctuary, where their sounds can spread a halo of echo around and occasionally blow through the dry, close-miked string sounds. The former’s rattling rocks create more texture than motion; the latter’s distant croons and spare tones create a sense of distance. In their own quiet way, these musicians have arrived at a sound that can’t be mistaken for anyone else’s.

Bill Meyer

  Salim Nourallah — Jesus of Sad (Palo Santo)

The narrators of Salim Nourallah's songs don't often find things going so well. Nourallah's taken that point to its logical conclusion on new EP Jesus of Sad. Rather than indulging depressive tendencies, though, the songwriter brings his sense of humor for a parodic take. “So, you think you've suffered?” he sings to open the disc. “I sip the tears of the world from my coffee cup.” The hyperbole might immediately develops his exaggerated character. Accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Billy Harvey, Nourallah moves on to “Born with a Broken Heart,” a funky number owing something to Soul Coughing while providing one of the best bass lines in his catalog. The cut's full of wit while addressing serious questions about faith, gender equality, and more.  

“This Doesn't Feel like Peace, Love, or Understanding” (the second track here to echo a Nick Lowe title) sounds like quintessential Nourallah, with a pop-rock sound that would have fit on any of his last few records and a relatable sentiment conveyed in smart lyrics. Two versions of “Misanthrope” close out the disc. Nourallah co-wrote the song with Rhett Miller, but here he turns away from the Old 97's' bouncy version (called“She Hates Everyone”). Nourallah slows it down, building complex feelings; he can't fully enjoy his strange love now under his anxiety about the future. It closes the EP well, being yet more honest emotion that manages to misdirect and complicate things, the true heart covered by the knowing satire of “Jesus of Sad.”

Justin Cober-Lake

 Parashi—Tape From Oort Cloud (Sedimental/Skell)

When a record provokes images of a Captain Beefheart lyric turned inside out, you know its makers are on to something. The squelchy sounds that usher in “The Vanishing Coast,” which is the first of this LP’s four tracks, does not bring to mind synthesizers, even though that’s what Mike Griffin (that’s Mr. Parashi to you) probably used some time them. Nor does it bring to mind someone else’s record. Rather, I hear the words “slow and bulbous” as the music sinks slowly into its own swampy stealth. “Broadcast Failures” leaves even those alinear coordinates behind as it pings its way woozily into the depths. The titular malfunctions might be echoed calls which fail to distract the sonar-like main body of sound, or the squashed, distant carousel that follows. Or maybe it doesn’t. File this under best practice befuddlement, but be sure to tape a bookmark to the plastic outer sleeve to remind yourself of the necessity of playing it.

Bill Meyer 

Tom Redwood — The Glue (self released)

The Glue by Tom Redwood

With The Glue, his fourth album, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Tom Redwood has tapped into a rewarding strain of country/folk that pulls hard on traditional roots, while adding a knowing wink, flowing performances, and plenty of tuneful song craft. As in Jim O’Rourke’s beloved series of Drag City albums, the music-making is taken seriously but is undercut by self-deprecating humor. On “Easy Love” Redwood sings, “When I was young I was easy loving / But now that I’m old, I’m not so dumb,” and on the title track he makes a playful reference to “round, gorgeous thighs.” He’s not afraid to play it straight, though, such as on the haunting “Cold Mother Night,” and reflective closer “Shut the Door.” There’s superb lap steel playing by Kier Stevens, smart counterpoint on guitar and “cheesy keys” from producer Matt Walker, and ethereal backing vocals from Rosie Luby, which contrasts nicely with Redwood’s aw-shucks delivery.

Tim Clarke

 Grisha Shakhnes — Being There (Unfathomless)

being there by grisha shakhnes

Being There presents the listener with a document of actor, action and the arena in which the former enacts the latter. Essentially, Grisha Shakhnes recorded himself recording and recorded the room in which he was recording. Sometimes a recording device filters the subjects of his inquiry on the way to the recorder; while the sounds were captured by a Zoom digital recorded, some of them went through a Rvox reel-to-reel tape deck along the way. Equipped with the knowledge that you’re hearing Shakhnes making recordings, you quickly find yourself making decisions about what sounds to follow, and then dealing with the consequences of the choices you made as your act of following draws you into the chain of events that made the album in the first place. You are present with Shakhnes, sharing in the creation of Being There.

Bill Meyer

 Six by Seven — Dream On (Cargo)

D R E A M . O N by six by seven

One of the great shoulda beens of 1990s British rock (on the other side of the Atlantic, it’s doubtful anyone not reading something like the NME at the time would have heard much of them), Six by Seven are also one of the few from that era to keep going in a way that’s not just repeating old glories. Now almost entirely just frontman Chris Olley (his son Charlie drums here, but otherwise it’s a solo show) you wouldn’t guess it from the massive, warmly analogue psychedelic/motorik drones and drifts here. Stylistically speaking, Olley can be a restless guy, never really revisiting the glory of Six by Seven’s first three albums (what you might call their classic period, and well worth checking out) but also covering an astonishing breadth during the years since. The recent Dream On is as good a place to dip into his stream of work as any, boasting three massive soundscapes (the best of which might be “And No One Knows Your Name” as well as briefer, dreamier song like “Hey Kid” and the title track. Both his muse and the demands of making music your day job keep Olley forever moving, though — even writing up this release was marked by the appearance of a double album-length Dream On 2, so anyone on Olley’s wavelength can expect a lot to keep up with.  

Ian Mathers

[interesting-blog-name]

Frank Ocean - Blonde Review

All my time listening to rap, whenever Frank Ocean was featured on a track, everyone commenting on the song would praise him extremely highly, and honestly, I never saw the hype. The verses he’d write weren’t that good, in my eyes, but he’d have this mythical aura whenever someone talked about him, like he was the perfect singer, God’s musical gift to Earth. I never looked into his music that much, because I was too busy getting my ears blown out at age 15 from bass-boosted angry rap to look into what I assumed was an average R&B singer, a genre I didn’t have much knowledge on. So, as an introduction, I picked up Blonde.

I’m going to have somewhat of a hard time reviewing this one, and I feel like it’s because, to me, this album doesn’t really need to be written about. For Blonde to work, you have to let yourself be submerged by it, by the wonderful production mixed with Frank’s always-on-point singing; let yourself be carried by how the tracks progress, let the emotions drown you. My mistake in my first listen was that I pulled up Genius to read the lyrics while listening, and only in my second listen did I realize that’s not how it works. As Shawn Cee said when listening to Frank’s Moon River cover: “You don’t listen to Frank Ocean lyrics, you feel them.”.

Way before I thought about playing this album, I downloaded Nights and Pink + White in my phone, and - like any other song I get even a little bit attached to - played the shit out of those two tracks. This was a big mistake of my part, as when I listened to them in the context of the album, I was way too familiar to them. This is something I’ll try to overcome, this instant attachment and overplaying of tracks, where I play the same 10 songs for weeks, and then grow tired of them; I’ll try to substitute this habit with just trying to open myself up to new music, and letting the albums I’ve already listen to have a bigger effect on me when I replay them, due to me not growing tired of them from listening to them over and over. Anyway, I’m rambling.

Blonde is great at what it does, and that’s all that really matters: it is the definition of an emotional rollercoaster. The progression in the tracks is marvelous, whether it’s the beautiful closing verse over the violins in Self Control, the classic beat switch in Nights, the subtle change from synth-heaven to acoustic guitar in White Ferrari, or the voyage that is Seigfried (by the way, why is the song misspelled, couldn’t someone have looked the guy’s name up? Just a pet-peeve of mine). Frank’s vocals are so controlled and precise, they seem to just hit the perfect spot in the brain, and he and his team had this in mind; the tracks are built around his voice, the instrumentals are simplistic and at the same time beautiful, toned down, but crucial and memorable. The organ played by James Blake in Solo and Godspeed (easily the most gospel-influenced and gentle track here), the guitars in Ivy, the piano in Good Guy, they are all finely crafted in an intentionally lowkey fashion. That’s not to mention the instances where Frank’s voice becomes an instrument itself, being dowsed in effects in tracks like the just-mentioned Good Guy, the weird, distorted closing to Ivy, the high-pitched first leg of Nikes, and most notably and well-executed in my opinion, the gorgeously melancholic shorter track Close To You, where Frank sounds like he’s shapeshifted into a depressed microwave, and I mean it in the best way possible.

The impassioned scenes Frank recalls are very powerful, graced by his invested singing and simple, relatable style of songwriting. He seems to convey his feelings and memories in such an effortless, but amazing manner, that when he’s speaking of loves and summers that won’t come back, you can’t help but feel an urge to cry (or maybe I’m just too emotional). Ivy’s and Skyline To’s nostalgic tone (“That’s a pretty fucking fast year flew by, that’s a pretty long third gear in this car”), Solo’s and Nights’ wonderful, memorable choruses (“There’s a bull and a matador dueling in the sky. Inhale, in Hell, there’s Heaven.”), the rejection of the American dream in Seigfried (“Maybe I should move, settle down, two kids and a swimming pool. I’m not brave! I’d rather live outside”), stick to the listener the very first listen, and make this album more than just gorgeous melodies and strong-ass vocals.

There really isn’t much for me to say about Nights that hasn’t been said. Working brilliantly as the divisor between the two parts of the album, “Blond” and “Blonde”, the morning and the evening of the album; this song deserves all the praise it has gotten along the years, and the worst thing I can say about it is it is so addictive I almost got sick of it. The beat switch is legendary, the difference between the two parts makes the song memorable, and Frank’s vocals and flow are, of course, on point.

I can’t help but love what Frank does in Blonde, but it does have a few setbacks. Pretty Sweet is a chaotic definitive transition into the second leg of the album (separated by the beat switch in Nights) that I think could have been executed much better, as Frank’s vocal inflections in this song are probably the worst of the album, and the beginning distortion in the song is not a very welcome change of pace, and just ends up feeling out of place. The track Skyline To is not so special either, and I’m afraid I’ve grown out of Pink + White, as it doesn’t bring me the same feelings it once did when I first listened to it; that’s obviously my fault, but still, I don’t feel the song, as beautiful as Beyoncé backing vocals are, and as uplifting and nice it is on its own, shines so bright within the context of the entire album; not only that, but it also ends very abruptly, which is unfortunate.

My biggest problem with the record has to be Futura Free, however. I have very mixed feelings towards it, because in one hand, I enjoy the fresh beat drop and how the album offers it right at the last track, bringing some very standout excitement to the song, but I just can’t understand why Frank would put a 4-minute long interview with his friends, separated from the song by 32 seconds of pure silence. I appreciate all the interludes’ sense of nostalgia, the small little glimpses into Frank’s more personal life (especially with the very nice Buddy Ross sample present in all of them), but surely this interview could have been shortened and separated from the song it’s attached to. I know the album being exactly one hour long is a big deal to it, and it’s probably very difficult to round up that time perfectly without stretching some songs somehow, but surely there was space for at least a two-minute song to replace two minutes of the interview, which is mainly comprised of background noise between the chatter anyway.

Despite that, the album has way more highs than lows. The Andre 3000 verse has to be the best in the album, switching up the meanings in Solo, and even in its less memorable moments, Blonde displays an admirable elegance that will keep me coming back to it, an elegance that is displayed upfront in tracks such as Godspeed, where Frank sings a breakup song of unconditional support appreciation for his ex, for a very nice change of pace.

Overall, the production is meticulously calculated, Frank gives his best performance, it is personal, powerful, touching, and you have to be in the mood for it to work. Sit back and enjoy the experience.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: Self Control, Nights, Solo (Reprise), Close To You, White Ferrari, Seigfried, Godspeed

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: Pretty Sweet

 8.1/10

“In the wake of a hurricane. Dark skin of a summer shade. Nosedive into flood lines. Tall tower of milk crates.”

[aurora-daily]

Like A Bird In The Night: Clash Meets Aurora

Interview: AURORA for Clash by Lisa Higgins (July 4th, 2019).

Having just performed a headline slot with The Chemical Brothers at Glastonbury on Saturday night, where she was projected 50ft high onto the main stage screens, it’s hard to think of Norwegian star Aurora as the same shy and unassuming woman Clash met 10 days before in a quiet corner of a London hotel.

There to get deep with me about her third album, ‘A Different Kind Of Human’, the singer was celebrating her 23rd birthday contemplating the meaning behind her avant-garde pop sound. The new album covers everything from male suicide rates to climate change and consumerism, and Aurora is determined to empower young people to change their surroundings for the better using her compulsive natural talent for songwriting.

To be Aurora is to live with an incessant need to make music and while it can be anxiety-inducing having such a busy mind, the outcome is material of an impressive magnitude far beyond her dainty stature. And when she’s not creating other-worldly, dystopian soundscapes she’s either sober raving until 6am or listening to Slayer.

Basically this is not your average pop star.

You spilt your concept into two albums. How do you feel now compared to when you were embarking on the whole thing?

I love not being ‘up and coming’ anymore, it’s nice to be more established. I knew the work would come out like it has. The day I released step 1 I had everything in my head for step 2. I woke up in a hotel, in London actually, and had the album in my head and I knew what I was going to do. Now I’m already making my next album. I just can’t stop.

So you give yourself no time off - the end of one album sparks the creation of the next?

It does. I have the title and tracks and the concept straight away. It’s weird how I can’t do it until I’ve released one though. I’ll cry and laugh and think about all the work I’ve done, but then I’m empty and then I fill up with something new. It’s an eternal hunt or game between me and my mind. It’s very fun.

Why did you decide to split the record into two albums in the first place?

It was while making Step One that we discussed splitting it up. I have so many songs and I realised that the whole concept was two different aspects of one process. One is internal and emotional (Step One) and about letting yourself be infected by something… but then that will turn you into 'A Different Kind Of Human' (Step Two). And when you’re a different kind of human you can change the world and do something important.

The album is about making the choice to become a different kind of human. Many people think it’s about me, because I’ve always been a bit strange or different but it’s nothing to do with me at all.

We love the themes of nature and the environment. It often sounds as though you are singing from the top of a cliff…is that the imagery you are trying to create?

Yes, music for me is not about my own pain, relationships or breakups, I write about the world around me. I want the music to be a nature force big like a mountain, ocean or hurricane. Music for me is really big and the closest thing I’ve experience to something divine. I want people to be reminded of their inner warrior.

We’re in an important time, fighting for nature and what you believe in. I think we’re hungry for more. I write pop music and it’s very intellectual and full of emotion. I have many different styles within pop in my songs. Every song has a clear identity and asks for its own colour it’s own mood. I’m really missing meaning in pop music and I have been the last 20 years. I miss the force that we need and I believe that it’s up to individuals.

We don’t have a machine to clear the water of plastic, we have to do it by hand. It’s up to us, the people. The true power lies within the people it always has but somehow throughout history the rich leaders have made it seem like power lies with one person. But that’s so old fashioned, we’re getting out of that now, the power lies with the people. I really want to remind people of the power they have that they may have forgotten about.

Are there are artists you listened to growing up that you felt gave you this power?

I grew up in Norway without a radio or music on the TV so the only artists I listened to were Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Enya. They are really the only artists I listen to now. I like Underworld, The Chemical Brothers and rave music too, but I know very little about music. I think that’s why I started to make my own.

That’s interesting because for a lot of people, growing up with music is intrinsic. I can’t remember the first time I heard certain types of music but I did and all those influences are part of what I like now, so I suppose your music is very pure and intuitive because it has less of that?

It is very intuitive and it comes by instinct. I just make music and I produce in a way where I don’t think about where it comes from, it’s just energy. But I did learn from Dylan and Cohen that you can make something beautiful and tell something important without being condescending. I feel like a lot of music on the radio lately is underestimating people, as though they wouldn’t understand complicated music.

What’s your favourite track on the album?

'Soulless Creatures'. It means a lot to me and it’s written about giving too much. It’s Mother Earth writing to humankind about wanting to thrive again. Sometimes I don’t understand what a song means for a while. It sounds pretentious and stupid but it does happen. I just write and write all the time. I have songs already for my fifth album.

Wow you’re so prolific, you’re like the Beatles!

Yes haha! It’s very messy in my head. I have to constantly make notes and colour co-ordinate them. It takes a lot of planning!

It sounds exhausting. How do you look after yourself emotionally and mentally, having compositions weaving through your mind all the time? Obviously you love it, but it sounds tiring.

It can be, and album release week is always a mess for me, as I can’t sleep. I stay awake until 6am every night and wake up at 10am. It can be a pain in the ass trying to go to sleep and then I hear a melody and harmony and all the instrumental parts come. I record it down quickly and once it’s out of my head I feel better.

I have a very strong relationship with heavy metal. It was the first music I discovered for myself when I was 13 and I remember the force of the anger in it. People think it’s noise but it’s not. I love the polyrhythmics of it; I’m a good percussionist and that comes from my love of heavy metal. I love System of a Down, Gojira, Masterdon and Slayer.

I first went to a Gojira show in Bergen when I was 11. I find it calms me down and I can fall asleep to it. I often need to come home and put some heavy metal on, scream and dance and then make myself some dinner. If I listen to music I listen to heavy metal or Enya. But generally I find it hard to listen to any music because music is in my head all the time and I’m so afraid I will miss an idea.

How else do you relax?

I love rave dancing; it’s my favourite thing. I’ve been to a few rave parties on boats in Paris, London and Berlin. I like the ones that are secure with no drugs and I don’t drink alcohol when I go raving because then I can really dance and I feel safer.

Dancing makes me feel comfortable in my own skin. I would recommend to everyone out there to challenge themselves a bit and go out to dance, because no one knows you. It’s very good for self growth. I’ve been 20 times in the last two years and I prefer it to dancing with friends. It’s always on evenings that I should be tired and then often I’m not home before 6am the next day.

Are there any other stand out tracks on the album?

I want to mention 'Hunger'. It’s about all our consuming, the endless hunger for money, food, clothes and how we’ve destroyed the world because of that hunger. We force ourselves to not see the people dying to make you a t-shirt because you’re hungry to buy as many T shirts that you can. We waste money and time on things that won’t make a difference.

I hate everything in fashion. I make my clothes or buy vintage. A fan gave me a piece of fabric from Indonesia that I’ve stitched into my trousers and made a top from. She carried it all the way for me and gave to me at a tiny show in Norway.

You recently wrote with The Chemical Brothers on 'Eve Of Destruction' tell me about that?

I got an email from Tom Rowlands in 2017 and he just said: Do you want to write with us? I couldn’t believe it. I don’t get starstruck but my musical respect for them is so huge and it was so nice that he asked me direct rather than through his management.

I took a week to reply because I couldn’t find the right words. Tom lives in the countryside with no phone reception. I stayed at an inn and a South African oil painter was living there in exchange for teaching the owner’s children to paint. I love to paint, so we went out together to paint by the ocean after I had been writing with Tom in the day.

It was a dream to be in the studio with Tom and all the synths. I was nervous to pitch the ideas I had but I also knew he would like it somehow. He’s such a nice guy and I felt that we are similar with our passion for music. I think one day we will make more music together.

Is there anyone else you’d like to write with?

I would love to work with Underworld. If they want my number I will happily give it out! I also love Imogen Heap, Lorde and of course, Gojira.

[saportuh]

ok panic concert highlights

(plus some personal adventures)

this was the portland show on the 12th k

so it was a fuckin hour and a half drive bc where i fuckin live now is far away from everything i hate it anyway that sucked & i ran my phone down to 80 percent during said drive which proved problematic

we get there (me & my lil sis) & our dad drops us off & we run up & im bitching about how weird the fucking venue is (it’s normal, it’s just not what i’m used to - in vegas the venues were typically in the casino/resorts so you lined up inside the halls & sat against the walls & tourist-watched, in this venue u stood outside in a line???? ughhh)

so we approach the line & something happens, i’m gonna make a separate post about it because holy shit

befriended two excitable gay kids, maybe 8th or 9th grade?? & i was like woah i was u once. now im old & jaded. eugh. then they bailed on me so.

we got into the arena & were on the wrong fucking side so we had to JOG all the way AROUND THE WHOLE FUCKINGN PLACE UGH

THEN WE GOT IN & SAT IN THE WRONG SEATS so the guy next to me (dad w a thick accent, maybe ukranian?? it wasn’t russian but it was close) politely informed me & i was like fuck well until they get here we’ll stay, but i had anxiety so during an arizona song i pretended to go to the bathroom & came back to look for our actual seat, someone took it so i pussied out & went back, had hella anxiety about it, then before hayley the ppl showed up so we had to move & i had to kick some preps out of their seat & they called my lil sister a bitch ;-;

OK SO ONTO THE PERFORMERS

arizona was cute, gotta check them out... singer kept getting emotional & wiping his eyes, it was sweet, and he was hella feeling himself dancing & stuff lmaoo. idk em but im proud of them.

HAYLEYYYYYYYYYYY her dancing & drumming & outfit??? also all the lesbians/wlw getting crunk in the crowd was so damn good haha

ALSO shout out to hayley’s band, they were so cute??? the guitarist & her kept having moments & he seemed like a cool dude, & the girl on synths was so pretty omg??? & smiley i loved her. & the drummer, they were goin so hard i couldnt get a good look, but they had kewl hair

“if you don’t know anything about me, there’s one thing you should know: I LOVE GIRLS” there was so much gay energy at that show i was teary the whole damn time

k confession, i love everything about hayley but i find her voice a little grating on the ears, something about it, but it was super angelic live & didn’t bug me once, & wanna be missed fucked me up cuz it’s my fucking f a v

SHE DID THE DRUMMY IT WAS HOT 

her oufit was so damn iconic rlly tho, the pants & shoes totes fit her but wouldn't look good on anyone else, but that shirt, the hot dad look w the open v & all the jewelry, holy fuck that’s how im tryna be

during girls like girls, everyone had their lights out & there was a bunch of pride flags out, and i got this gorgeous shot of a gay pride flag illuminated by lights (i posted it)

most of the songs they played between the breaks were gay themed too which was powerful dude i was so damn emotional

then during the countdown to panic, they played the next episode by dre (the “smoke weed every day” song) & then africa by toto jsfndjfndjskfnjdk

THEN PANIC CAME OUT 

WHOLE ASS STRING & BRASS SECTION BDEN RLLY WENT THERE WOAH

KENNY & NICOLE WERE SO CUTE THE WHOLE TIME THEY KEPT GOOFING AROUND ESPECIALLY KENNY IT WAS ADORABLE

THEN BREB POPPED OUT THE DAMN FLOOR

ok several things about breb

one, i never was heavy into panic, but considering how obsessive i was into bandom a few years back, i still know a lot about early panic, livejournal shit, ryden bullshit, etc, so it was really weird being there with normies who were just like “he’s hot & sings good” when i was like “yall lucky fucks never heard of myrtle beach ” dsjfnjsdnfds

two, four years into panic & i never was attracted to brendon, but dude, EVERYONE fell in love with him at this show, myself included, & i was starin at this bitch ass motherfucker in a trance before i was like “wait ur a bastard STOP U ENDEARING DICKWAD” he was so fucking endearing it was ANNOYING cuz i’ve seen some of the shit he’s pulled damnit. srsly tho, so absolutely charming, wow.

three, and what stuck with me most; brendon loves what he does. a little bit of exhibitionism, i think; he likes ppl looking at & admiring him, he’s that type of person, a showman, but also, i think he just loves making music, people singing along to the music, etc. ive been to eight concerts now, and i don’t think i’ve seen someone who clearly loved being on stage so much. a lot of ppl act like it’s a chore to tour, but brendon clearly loves it, and it made me happy, especially as an aspiring musician. 

four, the straighties drooling over him and the gays drooling over him was truly straight/gay solidarity

ok what else happened... brendon would throw in random ass high notes towards the ends of songs... my sister looked at me super alarmed when he first did it during dtmwagt lmfao... ppl would cheer & it was impressive, but kinda piercing & i was like “show off” lol

HE DID THE ‘I MAKE THESE HIGH HEELS WORK’ thing, i thought he retired tht?? so i was pleased lmfao

i dont rmr anything that stands out about ready to go or la devotee but the lights & backgrounds during them were very pretty & i got some good pics of brebbois face (i finally got semi decent quality pics im rlly happy abt tht, concerts r so hard to photograph)

hallelujah was cool cuz there were, like, those catholic(?) church windows projected on the top part of the stage, it was pretty af, they rlly outdid themselves with the visuals

and mona lisa had like pipes & industrial stuff?? idk it looked dope, and it contrasted rlly cool it was super pretty

nine in the afternoon,,,, the only pretty odd song... i dont even like pretty odd but it was like,,, damn. & he had the piano, total live in denver vibes ;-; but he wasnt dripping sweat this time lmao

golden days, brebweenie knows hes hot, kept winking & doing mic flips & shit & i was like u fucken weenie ive seen that pic of u w a bowl cut in a bra, die

k he’s a fuckin bastard but hhe’s pretty & talented fuckin big ego bitch ... can yall tell i hav a lovehate relationship w him bc i do

I GOT THIS ONE PART ON VIDEO DURING GOLDEN DAYS WHERE KENNY & NICOLE R FUCKING AROUND & MAKING FACES & GOOFING IT’S SO CUTE

during casual affair in the chorus, the mic would echo each word (just lay (lay) in the atmosphere (sphere) & the ‘lay’ was rlly good on my ears idk sometimes certain vocal notes sound GOOD & that was one i keep replaying it

SO VEGAS LIGHTS as yall kno i was born & raised in vegas & a vegasfucker69 it’s my fucking home i moved last november (not my choice) & miss it violently & i was CRYING during vegas lights hard & it was so beautiful im gonna watch the video i got over & over & over that song means so much to me IM SO FUCKING HOMESICK

speaking of which, im pretty bitter i didnt see panic in vegas, this was my first panic show & that kinda bothers me, like i should’ve seen them in vegas a few yrs ago but it never worked out.... still, im grateful i saw them at all & im glad i saw the song live. i had my fob snapback on too, it says ‘las vegas’ on it cuz i got it there haha, wore that on purpose

he did the fucking running man thing towards the end & everyone cheered & i was like dONT ENABLE HIM

sat down during dancing’s not a crime cuz im a bitch who doesn’t like half the new record & also my knees hurt cuz im old apparently, anyway this chick glared at me then sang every word wat a fuckin prep lmao

o yah i forgot, in golden days he got in the crowd & let a girl sing the last chorus it was amazing i bet that made her life

AND DURING DOAB HE WALKED THRU THE CROWD that was SO FUCKING ENDEARING i was like “wow what a guy” then i was like “HE’S A BITCH U KNOW HIM” & i was like “hmm??? what a guy” but omg he made so many people happy it was really beautiful & sweet & i was like... half in love & then i came to my senses jksjfhjsdhfkjsdn

RLLY THO HE WALKED THRU THE CROWD & HIGH FIVED PPL & SHIT & GAVE HUGS & TOOK ART/LETTERS IT WAS SO DAMN GOOD HE WAS SO SWEET & LEGIT EVERYONE WAS FALLING FOR HIM & I WAS LIKE SUFFERING

legit guys, like it’s weird i used to watch his parascopes in 2015 or w/e & he’d say some Bad shit on there sometimes, like ik he does some messy shit BUT HE ACTED SO FUCKING LOVELY BLEH

also he’s very short, like he’s 2 inches taller than me but he looked so little in the crowd i was like... aw

the piano thing ;-; it was rlly pretty but my paranoia & anxiety was off the charts i was like that things gonna fucking fall & crush the crowd it’s gonna fucking fALL but it didnt ofc but i was stressed bleghh

but ok on a positive note, that was soo fucken lovely, bden stopped to try to make eye contact with as many ppl in as many places of possible, like he made the effort to get to everyone & make them have a special moment & it was ... magical ok thts fucken cliche as shit but it rlly was

ok i did smth lowkey embarrassing, i doubt he saw, but when he faced towards us i was just overwhelmed w like.. gratitude?? ive had a bad 2 years in every way, so being somewhere filled with love & fun & kindness & joy & all around good vibes, i was so grateful? i just wanted to thank him for creating that kinda atmosphere. so i like,,, blew kisses but not in a weird way, like later i was like oh that was kinda weird whyd i do that, but at that moment i didnt use my head & it was jus my instinctual way of saying thank u idk it’s lame but it happened so there ya go idfk

fun fact, my vid of it is out of focus cuz i was so enamored watching him & watching the crowd react it was pretty fucking magical it rlly was

once he got down from that piano he went “wow i feel so fucking inspired now” & i was like “bitch me too tf” 

legit it was absolutely indescribable, even watching my vid now.... wow. and u can hear me lightly crying in the back of my video too lmao, and i was shaking p hard, it was so fucking magical. like im getting emotional rn cuz it was exactly what i needed to remind myself that there is good stuff in the world thats worth staying for. 

i never was super big on panic or breb like i said but if i ever meet him im gonna thank him bc that. wow. transformative.

also that transition from the piano cover he did to dying in la was smooth af. it was all around gorgeous.

OK GIRLS GIRLS BOYS, I WAS SO CONCERNED W FILMING I COULDNT PUT MY LIGHT ON (i had a red heart) BUT OMG

he got a bi flag first, then a rainbow one, then another rainbow one... one was those hayley ones lol, and one ended up on the stage out of his eyesight & he never saw it & i felt so bad fjdnfds

G-D ALL THE GAYS SINGING WAS SO EMOTIONAL & THE RAINBOW BEHIND THEM ON STAGE (AND PAN FLAG COLORS AT TIMES?!??!?!)) IT WAS FUCKING MAGICAL & BRENDON LET A FLAG DRIFT IN THE WIND FOR A SEC BEFORE HE PUT IT ON IT WAS GORGEOUS

AND ALL THE RAINBOW LIGHTS IN THE CROWD FUCK DUDE

breb might be a turd but he’s the only one of these emo dudes who parades around draped in flags & so aggressively empowers gay fans through it, and for that, i respect him. ik the song has more perverse origins but now it’s a bi anthem that rlly connects w lgbt fans & it’s rlly beautiful, AND i got another gorgeous shot of a pride flag surrounded by lights & im just. wow.

after, breb said “that is gorgeous btw” about the rainbow lights, and “thank u for participating in love” & giggled, i got this shot of the lights in the dark lookin incredible ;-;

also said “this a record number of flags tonight, very cool” so portland is rlly gay apparently, kewl

nicole doin the nicotine bass line slayed me dead wowie u can hear me go “WOO” on the vid lmfao (im a bassist so i lov her double)

ive seen miss jackson live twice now cuz at my monumentour show, new politics brought lolo out to cover it so that’s dope lmfao

anyway bden did the fuckin valley girl voice for “the scenery is so loud” which was delightful

he had us do the ‘ayyyy’ bit woo

NICOLES BASS,,, SPARKLY

drum thingy ;-; speaking of monumentour, andy & patrick famously did a drum off & i MISSED IT cuz the stage at my venue wasnt large enough to fit both sets ;-; so they didnt do it ;-; but bden doin his own drum solo kinda made up for it a little bit

fuckin show off tho he played like 3 instruments & i was like u bitch stop

there was some kinda audio sample that went “i got a fever & the only prescription is more caffeine(?)” & bden mouthed the words along, and some girl behind me went “SAME” 

UPDATE: googled it, i knew i recognized chris walken’s voice, he says cowbell not caffeine & it’s a skit from snl that i’ve SEEN im a disgrace anyway that was fun also woo cowbell

the big screen kept cutting from bden drumming to a shot of the crowd & someone holding a pride flag & i was like yah drumming is gay now

lmao i only filmed like a minute of a song unless i rlly liked it so i could spend the rest of the song gettin funky right?? & i like king of the clouds but not a ton, but i filmed the whole thing cuz the visuals were so pretty lmfaooo i jus was staring at them like wowwww prettyyyyy

during the ‘i dont feel anything at all’ he looked rlly sad & i couldnt tell if it was genuine or if he was goin for like a pouty look djfdsjfndjks then right after he winked so ig pouty thx breb

at some point he introduced nicole&kenny plus the strings & brass ppl as “his friends” it was sweet & he was like “these lovely ladies” about the strings & “these handsome men” about the brass & i was like WOO GAY RIGHTS

FIRE DURIN CRAZY EQUALS GENIUS. BOZ FLASHBACKS. FIRE ON MY FACE HUNDREDS OF FEET AWAY. FEAR. DONT LIKE FIRE. SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. KENNY WAS TOO CLOSE. FEAR.

a whole arena singing bohemian rhapsody 25+ years after freddie mercury’s death was Incredible, i dont believe in afterlives but if there is one i hope he was watching & enjoying & knowing his legacy was staying alive bc wow that was powerful

THE END WAS CRUNK AF HOLY SHIT BDEN GOT DOWN

i cant believe i remember the day emperors came out like,,,, jeez. so lit live tho

I HAVENT MENTIONED HIS SPARKLY SUIT YET. KING OF SPARKLY SUITS

BRENDON DOIN HIS HIGH NOTE BIT & THE STAGE LIGHTING UP FULLY ON FIRE FUCK DUDE

bitchden took his shirt off when he came out for the encore..... bitch

SINS,,, FUCK DUDE,,,, MY CHILDHOOD WAS CRYING HHYSTERICALLYYY, 

in the background of my vid u can hear me do the ‘ily’ ‘ily’ from the mv emo ass

my lil sis got fucken turnt to sins lmfaooo??? danced her ass off???

us: W H O R E bden: ily

VIOLINISTS GETTIN WILD TOO

they played footage of the music vid & breb & his fuckin iconic outfit & i was a lil emo kid again omg i cant believe i saw it live

he did funny voice durin calls for a toast nerd ... least he’s not entirely bitter abt songs ryan wrote anymore tho lmao... or maybe he is considering theres only two on the 30 song setlist ;-;

i gotta listen to afycso again damn it’s so iconic

oh yah at some bit he said “ive been doing this for 14 years, im 31 now” & it reminded me like.. most of these emo bands, they started so young. & got successful at such a young age. it’s so crazy. idk. wow. 

he got growly during the chorus, that’s pstump’s thing beeb dont steal it lmao

CONFETTI fitting ending, & i got him walking off which is cool, other bands it goes dark & they just kinda disappear & it’s unsatisfying ;-;

so yah i finally saw breadman live, i got 400 pics and 30 videos so that all got spam posted over the last few days lmao

[suckmycoxon]

Hi :) could you give me a little background on omd? I don't know anything of the band except for a few songs, so maybe you could say your knowledge of the band and the members?

OH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THRILLED I AM TO DO THIS

Let’s get to the band members first!

Andy McCluskey

Here’s the bossy one. As he puts it, he’s the butcherwho cuts off the raw materials of the song; the director who basically tellsPaul what to do, the one who sees the big picture, while Paul is the surgeonwho splices the details. He sings, plays bass, and writes the lyrics for mostof their songs. And he always dances madly, even in the recent years! For a58-year old guy with bad knees, he’s VERY energetic. So as you can see, he’sthe dominant one. Powerful, loud, cheerful, salty as fuck, thoroughly hatesrock ‘n’ roll, claims he hates cliché love songs but writes them anyway. I lovehim nonetheless

Paul Humphreys

THIS IS MY FAVORITE GUY OFF OMD. MY LOVE. MY HANDSOMEHAMSTER. HE’S CUTE ISN’T HE? Alright, so… he’s the keyboardist, the creativeand technical one. He’s the one who usually comes up with a melody and thenAndy directs how the song should turn out. He’s the one who does most of thesynth sounds! In the old days, he used to build his own “noise machine” bymessing with the circuits and such of old, broken radios. Don’t tell me that’snot badass. He also sings in a couple of OMD’s songs, most notably in“Electricity”, “Souvenir”, “(Forever) Live and Die”, and “Secret”.Personality-wise, he’s the complete opposite of Andy. He’s more quiet, shy,soft, and just lovely overall 

Other members are MalcolmHolmes (the long-haired one in the picture above) who was the drummer from the beginning of the band until 2013. Inthat year, he had a cardiac arrest and temporarily died so he had to retire.From 2013 onwards, Stuart Kershaw tookthe drummer position. Another member is MartinCooper (the one with the blue shirt), the saxophonist/keyboardist/occasional bassist. He’s still with theband until now! Except when OMD broke up because he and Mal went along withPaul instead of Andy, but I’ll get to that later…

They embrace the “punk” attitude in terms of music. Youknow, making music as simple as possible. They always say this joke of “We’rethe punks of electronic. Punk plays with one chord, we play with one finger!”

Now, it’s history time. Let’s go back to the 70s

Andy and Paul had always been the hipsters of that era. Theylistened to electronic bands like Kraftwerk, Neu, La Dusseldorf (Kraftwerk,mostly) while their peers listened to prog rock. Andy was in a band and Paulwas the roadie. Despite always being in the same school, that was when theynoticed how they shared the similar interest towards Kraftwerk, so Andy quitthe band and formed his own with Paul that we now know as the pretentiouslynamed Orchestral Manoeuves in the Dark

They started off as a supporting band fo Joy Division inEric’s Club in Liverpool. They didn’t expect to have a longlasting career… theyreally thought it would be their first and last gig. They just wanted to provethemselves and their mates that they dared to go on stage doing somethingdifferent; doing weird electronic music, hence the odd band name. With such apretentious name, they wanted to show the audience how they were doingsomething different

And then they were offered a second gig in Manchester.That’s where they met Tony Wilson, and he signed them up to Factory Records.Then “Electricity” was recorded, and Tony sent it to various major labels, oneof which was Virgin Records, so they moved to Virgin. It was in 1979/1980 Ithink? And with their 1980 album, Organisation (their second one. Their firstone, the self-titled one, was released in the same year) – which they claim asbeing influenced by Joy Division, so this album is basically the child of JoyDivision and Kraftwerk – which included “Enola Gay”, they became well known.They got even bigger with the Architecture and Morality album, which has“Souvenir”, “Joan of Arc”, “Maid of Orleans”…

They commercially dropped dead with Dazzle Ships (1983). Itwas an experimental album, which I personally think sounds great, but probablynot acceptable enough at that time. Despite having quite successful hits like“Telegraph” and “Genetic Engineering”, that album almost single-handedly killedtheir career. So they took a safer path in their next album, Junk Culture(1984), embracing a more pop-ish sound. It can be heard on their catchy hitsfrom Junk Culture, like “Locomotion” and “Talking Loud and Clear”

Their 1985 album, Crush, was produced by Stephen Hague, whowas also the producer for New Order and Pet Shop Boys. They finally got intoUS’ charts with that album, I guess?? Regarding that album and that year, theyoften say something like “We were trying to break America, but America broke usinstead”, so I can’t be quite sure of what happened… commercially, it waspretty successful, I think… with singles like “Secret” and “La Femme Accident”

It was also in circa 1985 where their most notable song, “IfYou Leave”, was also made. Fun fact: they only wrote it in a day, because JohnHughes changed the ending suddenly and called them and said, “Hey, the song youwrote won’t fit to the new ending, could you write a new one?” right beforethey went on tour. The track that was initially going to be used in Pretty inPink, “Goddess of Love”, was later put on The Pacific Age (1986). Speaking ofwhich, that album has “(Forever) Live and Die”, which is a BANGER and is sungby my handsome hamster, Paul

Then they broke up sometime in late 80s. 1989, I think. Theyowed the company a lot of money, so they made a Best Of album. But even thatwasn’t enough. Their choice was either to make another new album (which canmake money, quite possibly, but due to their past experiences, they barely gotany money left because the touring expenses, royalties to their manager, etcwere so expensive) or to stop and just wait for the money to come from theirprevious albums’ royalties (I’m not really sure about this one, they’ve toldthe story a couple of times during interviews but I could never 100% understandthe story). This is where Andy and Paul went their separate ways. Andy chose tocarry on while Paul chose to stop. So Andy carried the name OMD alone (underhis stubbornness). A couple of years later, Paul, Martin, and Malcolm formedThe Listening Pool. Both were obscured by the new trend in 90s that was Britpopand such (Andy often implies that he blames Britpop for the obscurity ofelectronic bands and I loathe him for that smh I’m a Britpop hoe, fuck youAndy). Andy (as OMD) released 3 albums on that decade, tho. Later on, he formedAtomic Kitten

And then they were reunited in 2006/2007, because they wereasked to perform in a German TV. Then they thought, “Oh, people still like us.Maybe we could make music again.” And so they did… they released History ofModern in 2010, English Electric in 2013, and their latest record, ThePunishment of Luxury, was released a month ago! Unlike the 80s, they are nolonger pressured by their record company, so they’re really doing this purelyfor fun. By the way, their latest single off their latest record, “What Have WeDone”, is sung by Paul and it’s fucking glorious. You should listen to it ifyou haven’t

On a more personal note, I find it weird how they’re bothvery influential and infamous. I mean… they don’t only influence other synthpopbands, but also an alternative like Radiohead. I heard that “Fitter Happier” byRadiohead was influenced by “Genetic Engineering”, and now that I think aboutit, “Fitter Happier” does sound like something out of Dazzle Ships. I’ve been aRadiohead fan since 2011/2012 and yet I literally never heard of OMD until thisyear; not until I got to New Order and was getting more cultured regarding 80ssynthpop acts

Lastly, here are some trivia you might not want to know butsounds like fun to share:

Before realizing that they could be actual musicians, Andy wanted to be an archaeologist, while Paul wanted to be an electric engineer

Atomic Kitten was basically Karl Bartos’ (Kraftwerk) idea. Andy wanted to keep writing songs, but he wasn’t confident enough to perform the songs as OMD, so he thought of just handing them to someone else. Then Karl suggested that he should create a pop group where they would sing his songs. Andy thought, “What’s the most popular group nowadays? Oh, I know, 3-piece girls!”

In the recent years, OMD often have underwears thrown at them lmao. Especially during “(Forever) Live and Die”. Poor Paul having to deal with nasty fans (but honestly… I’d do the same). But sometimes they have hazardous shits thrown at them too. One time, Paul had his head hit by a glass bottle (I’LL FUCKING MURDER ANYONE WHO DID THAT. HOW DARE THEY HURT MY BABY). And Andy almost got decapitated when someone threw a metal tray aimed to his neck. Terrifying

Somehow, when they were touring, the bus they rode on resemble a group of terrorists’ bus, so they were surrounded by guns… and luckily, “Enola Gay” was already a big hit, so Andy just waved a magazine with their faces on it and said “’Enola Gay’! Pop stars! Not terrorists!” jesus Christ

There’s actually a version of “Souvenir” where it was sung by Andy. In 2015, Paul was hospitalized in New York, but he insisted that they should do this gig in Perth, so they did, only 3 of them… “Souvenir” was on the set, and Andy sang it. It was… okay, I guess. I’m so used to Paul’s soft voice singing that, so it’s kinda weird to hear Andy’s powerful voice singing it

 …I’m sorry if you expected a shortsummary and get this re-writing of OMD’s Wikipedia page instead. I never realizedhow deep I am in their ass until I answered this message with a 1600-word essayabout OMD that was based on my memory alone. Good god

I’m awfully thrilled every time someonementions OMD-related to me, so don’t hesitate if you want to talk about them tome!!

[londonmusicreview]

Live Reviews November to December 2019 London, UK

Gig List:

Youth Sector/Earhart/BEACHTAPE|Nov. 7th, 20:00|The Victoria (Dalston)

BUGS/Flöat/Watch Paint Dry|Nov. 14th, 20:00|Off The Cuff (Herne Hill)

Team Picture/Blue Bendy/deathcrash|Nov. 18th, 20:00|The Shacklewell Arms (Hackney)

San Raquel/Clarence Oddbody/Big Wednesday|Dec. 17th, 20:00|The Victoria (Dalston)

Bleach Lab/Youth Sector/Birthday Card|Dec.19th, 20:30|Notting Hill Arts Club

Reviews:

Nov. 7th, 20:00 Show at The Victoria (Dalston)

Youth Sector went on first and they were phenomenal. Let me tell you that when you show up to a free show, you never know what you're gonna get, sometimes it's terrible and sometimes you're pleasantly surprised, but NEVER have I been so blown out of the water by a band. They are comprised of three guitarists, a synth/percussionist, and drummer. All of them sing backup except for the drummer who enthusiastically mouths along with all of the songs anyway, and the lead singer/guitarist reminded me of Timothee Chalamet and Robert Sheehan. They're all charming, enthusiastic, and thoroughly entertaining to watch, but the lead singer really gives it all when performing and acts unlike anyone I've seen. They sound like The Vaccines a bit, but are entirely original and themselves. I'd consider myself to be a new lifelong fan, if they keep it up for that long. (Insta:@youthsectorband)

Earhart were tall, almost too tall for the stage. The lead singer mainly, who reminded me a little of Bono for some reason, but with a little Adam Levine thrown in for kicks. At first, I didn't like them, despite the fact that the crowd seemed to love them. I thought they were melodramatic, and too into themselves; they seemed to take themselves a bit too seriously. They grew on me towards the end; they had one or two songs that were better than the others, and that set them apart. I understood why the crowd loved them, the intensity can be contagious, but I think I'm too chill of a person to really be into that sort of musical act. It's just not my cup of tea. RIYL: Twin Atlantic (Insta:@earhartband)

BEACHTAPE came on later than expected, but the crowd was still there waiting for them. Four guys: three guitarists and a drummer, and they play enthralling surf rock to which they refer on their Instagram (@beachtape) as "slop rock". Though I am not a fan of that term, I do see where their coming from, as their composition seems sloppy, but that is the truest form of slacker pop, soft indie rock, surf wave, whatever you want to call it. It is made to sound like that on purpose. Take Mac DeMarco for instance, his music does not always sound pristine, but it's not supposed to, and that is why it's so good. Though I don't agree with how they've categorized (they also call it "junk" on their Facebook page), I do consider myself in the fan category for this band; they're great and they put on a good solid indie rock show. RIYL: Phoebe Bridgers, Turnover, Day Wave, Real Estate.

Nov. 14th, 20:00 Show at Off The Cuff (Herne Hill)

Watch Paint Dry went on first, and she was incredibly endearing. With only a simple set-up (keyboard, peddle, guitar), she was able to create an ethereal experience through which her voice rang like a bell. Modest, nervous, and excited to share her work, I think she came out the other side for the better. Even when she forgot some of the words, it only ended in a charming report with the audience, in which we didn't care about the right words being sung and some wouldn't even call it a mistake, but instead a happy accident. It sounded seemless, regardless of her admission of forgetfulness, and everything else afterwards worked especially well with the character she shared. RIYL: Jade Bird, Snail Mail (Instagram: @watchpaint_dry)

Flöat was next, and they had four members, two guitarists, one of which was the lead singer, a trumpet player, and drummer. They played fantastically well together, and had decent variation in their songs. The only things that stuck out were the lead singer, who had a spectacularly pleasant singing voice, was absolutely inaudible past the first row of people when trying to say things in a normal speaking voice in between songs. It was utterly bizarre, I've never experienced it before in my life, but maybe they just had a soft voice? I don't know, but either way, have someone else make the announcements or commentary in between songs, if no one can understand you. There was also this awkward moment when the lead singer/guitarist wanted to do a "solo" (the only word I could pick out of what they said), and the rest of band sort of just stood idly by looking slightly dejected. Overall good set though in terms of the music itself. RIYL: Birdy (Instagram: @floatbandfloat)

BUGS is a punky garage girl band who aren't afraid to crush the men that have crossed them in some way with their brutal revenge ballads. They weren't all about men, there was one in particular that inspired that statement, but all of their music was inherently feminist, which I appreciate. The only problem I had with them was this one song that calls this bully out by name, and the singer even encourages people to go find him on social media and tell him off. I understand that bullying is a real problem, I've experienced it myself, and from that experience I know for a fact that telling someone off, or exacting revenge in some way, never actually makes you feel better. It seems like a pretty unhealthy message to be sending to any audience, especially young impressionable females who might look up to you as a feminist role model and get the wrong idea about what feminism is about. Overall they were badass and rocked my socks off. RIYL: Jawbreaker Reunion, Girlpool (Instagram: @bugs_band)

Nov. 18th, 20:00 Show at The Shacklewell Arms (Hackney)

deathcrash- five members: three guitarists, a drummer, and a percussionist. Style- skater boy chic. Genre: post-rock, very droning, reminded me of TWIABPAIANLATD, but with fewer lyrics. The first song was really more of recorded spoken word over their noises. Then they had the lead singer contribute live for the rest. Clearly have an attention to detail that contradicts their slacker appearance- peddles, percussion elements, blending only achievable through a great deal of trial and error in my opinion. RIYL: TWIABPAIANLATD (Instagram: @deathcrashdeathcrash)

Blue Bendy- six of them, which is the maximum amount of musicians possible to fit on this tiny ass stage in the back of The Shack, it is not built for a huge band. Keyboardist, guitarist/keyboardist, lead singer(who sounded a bit like Morrissey)/guitarist, acoustic guitar/tambourine(sunglasses), bass, drums. Misfits for sure, they did not seem to fit as a group, and I never would've picked them out of a crowd individually to be put into one cohesive band. But they played great together, especially the tambourinist, he really added a lot to the performance, and I'd love to go see them again. RIYL: The Smiths (Instagram: @blue.bendy)

Dec. 17th, 20:00 Show at The Victoria (Dalston)  

Big Wednesday went on first, they had three guitarists, one of which was singing, and a drummer who sang as well. She was the strongest vocalist of the bunch, so when her and one of the guitarists switched so he was on drums as she sang lead, I was pleasantly surprised. They had a lot of repetition in their lyrics, but with the hearty dynamic voices it didn't seem to mattter. They finished with "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, and did it justice. These guys (and girl) have a lot of soul, and they spared no ounce of energy as they their mix of indie folk pop. RIYL: First Aid Kit (Instagram: @bigwednesdayband)

Clarence Oddbody were a mismatched bunch of misfits, but thoroughly talented musicians. The lead looked like your cool history teacher in his jeans, button down, wacky tie, and formal vest, but with Weird Al hair. He was shredding the guitar, and delivering a delightful mix of humor and individualistic sound. They had a bit of that feeling like they'd be the band at someone's bar-mitsva or wedding, may have been the crowd-centered humor, or the unprofessional appearance. Nonetheless they played wonderfully, delivering on a promise they didn't make, and radiating rock n' roll with a sense of humor; the drummer wore a t-shirt that said "Relax, the drummer is here". They had some 70s rock vibes mixed with the occasional jazz or new wave influence sprinkled in. RIYL: Weird Al Yankovic (Instagram: @clarenceoddbodyband)

San Raquel were my favorite of the night. I didn't realize it until the end, but I'd been standing near their lead singer the whole night. He'd been downing pint after pint, and I just thought he was a drunk audience member. Turn out he radiates talent, but seems tortured by it or maybe the lack of recognition for it? I don't think it's the latter, as he avoided all applause, and continually thrust the glory upon his band members and away from himself; at one point he called his bassist an "angel" and himself an "asshole". Despite being two sheets the wind at the start and three by the end, he put on one hell of a performance. I don't know if this is less impressive here in the UK, as there seems to be a different capacity for alcohol here, but to me it was down right inconceivable that this person was able to put on anything near to a coherent performance. He was completely at home on the stage, in a very literal sense; he wasn't wearing shoes, his shirt was half undone, and he treated the space as his own. At one point, he took the mic and loosely wrapped the cord around his shoulders so as not to trip on it as his balanced on the front lip of the stage, jumping down to bring the crowd closer, and coming down to dance with them multiple times as the show progressed. The juxtaposition of this band was stark, as the backup for this Austin Powers/Nick Cave mashup of a man were these three straight-laced guys playing with the upmost precision. You could tell that they loved him, even in his state, and I think that came down to the charisma and fawning he did over their solos. The drummer was from Clarence Oddbody, as he was wearing that same shirt, but he gelled flawlessly with this entirely different ensemble, so I think that is a true testament to his dexterity on the drums. Overall, the most entertaining performance, and the most accessible music; a funk rock extravaganza with one AND ONLY ONE cover from The Stooges. RIYL: The Stooges (Instagram: @san_raquel_)

Dec 19th, 20:30 Show at The Notting Hill Arts Club

Bleach Lab had two guitarists, a singer, and a drummer. When they started off, I immediately noticed how blended and professional the instrumentals were, maybe because the juxtaposition with the vocals was so stark. Later they announced it was their first ever live show, so that is most definitely the reason for this. The lead singer was understandably  nervous and fidgeting, but her voice sounded like a mix of Lana Del Ray and a more lo-fi Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries. They sure have a lot of potential, and I can’t wait to see what they do next. RIYL: The Smiths, London Grammar, Youth Lagoon. (Instagram: @bleach.lab)

Youth Sector are a great band to see live. They have this energy that starts high and stays high throughout the performance. Nick Tompkins was a little more reserved at first than the last time I'd seen them, in November, but he brought out the charismatic moves later, after his guitar stopped working. They are just purely entertaining to watch. They played the same songs, just as well as before, and I'd go to see them a third and fourth time even if they don't put out any new music. These guys are in a league of their own. RIYL: Faux Ferocious, 1,2,3, and Astro Cowboy are the closest I can come to the feeling of this band, but still sound totally different in real life.  (Instagram: @youthsectorband)

Birthday Card came on with the air of professionals or a new band on the cusp of greatness, and played a great show. There was  humor and rapport between the band-mates on guitar, keyboard, and synth, as they were sort of the three in one corner. It was obvious they liked the music they were playing. The drummer was over in his own world, playing his heart out, but for once the drums took a back seat in these tunes; a backseat to the autotune and emotion coming from the lead singer. He came out with very 90s *NSYNC  mixed with modern day E-Boy style, which immediately made me think this was going to be terrible. But it wasn't. Yes, there was  little bit of EMO in the lyrics. And Yes there was a little bit of 'f*%kboi' poser energy coming off his movements and the way he held his mic, etc. BUT LISTEN, they weren't bad, they really weren't. The autotune wasn't too overpowering, the beats were contagious and modern, and the band as a whole meshed really well; they played it cool. RIYL: BØRNS(Instagram: @birthdaycardx )

[6onmyshoulder]

Hi, I wrote some cringe stuff about ‘space song’ and ‘instant crush’ if you want to check it out aha.

How apt is it that a song like ‘Space Song’ exists on an album titled ‘Depression Cherry’?

There’s this one scene in Atlanta FX, if I remember correctly, where Donald Glover’s character has headphones on and is reflecting on whatever happened to him and this ‘Space Song’ plays softly in the background. I remember being mesmerised by the weird loopy synth so I went to find the song and well, it was a Beach House track.

The song is about the passionate longing the protagonist has for whoever she is/was in love with. And Victoria Legrand’s voice captures this yearning and heartache and sadness in such a captivating way that it really just fucks me up. Like ma’am, you’re about to make me ugly sob on this crowded ass train at 10am on a Tuesday morning.

Her vocals are slightly hazy, and the instrumental meanders along nicely as they both compliment each other in perfect harmony. But what really makes the song is that fucking weird loopy synth that I can’t describe with words...it’s really something you have to hear. The synth, that comes in mostly when Victoria takes a break, adds to this melancholic vibe the track seems to go for, and it really is the icing on the cake.

‘It was late at night,

you held on tight’

‘Fall back into place’

‘Tender is the night,

for a broken heart’

‘Who will dry your eyes,

when it falls apart?’

‘Were you ever lost?

Was she ever found?’

The way the song starts where it slowly builds up and gets louder, and the way the loopy synth kicks in at the peak is just so fucking gorgeous to me.

Just a perfect fucking song that you really can listen to anytime. It’s perfect in the morning, in the afternoon, late evening, 12 midnight, 3am etc etc.

The song just makes me feel like Legrand is stroking my hair and telling me that it’s going to be alright and that she’s here for me while I sob uncontrollably about unrequited love at 2am after having watched ‘Love, Rosie’ for the 15th time this month in a room with some really soft yellow lighting and I’m covered in a thick ass comforter...

————————————————————

Daft Punk’s ‘Instant Crush’ has accompanied me through every sad phase I’ve had since like my second year of junior college. It wasn’t ‘Marvin’s Room’ or the entirety of ‘808s and Heartbreak’ surprisingly but the very song I always find myself coming back to is the Julian Casablancas assisted record from Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’.

‘Random Access Memories’ has some fucking stellar songs. ‘Give Life Back to Music’ is a fire intro. ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ has such an engaging monologue before the beat drops into an 80s disco inspired funky song. I usually skip skits and monologues after multiple listens but I can never bring myself to skip Geovanni/Giovanni Giorgio saying ‘my name is geovanni giorgio...but everybody calls me...giorgio’. ‘Get Lucky’ and ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’ made the billboard charts and ‘Motherboard’ is just a gorgeously meandering track.

But man...’Instant Crush’ is something else. Also on the theme of unrequited/failed love, Casablanca’s delivers a gorgeous vocal performance that sucker punches you in the heart.

Some of the lyrics might come across as a bit incel-y. Like when he sings ‘so I chained myself to a friend’. It seems a bit sus because we can’t tell if he chained himself to her with the hopes of something blossoming and then is upset that nothing happened or because he just genuinely wanted to be her friend. Mans MIGHT be on that ‘Nice Guy’ bullshit. I mean that’s one reading of it.

Also, I was reading the genius annotations for the above line and someone said ‘Julian wants to take the relationship somewhere but he doesn’t know how to phrase(?) himself properly so he just plays it safe and keeps himself as a friend’...big yikes/oof/oh no...

‘A little time with you is all that I get’

‘I listened to your problems, now listen to mine 

I didn't want to anymore, oh-oh-oh’

‘And we will never be alone again’

‘Kinda counted on you being a friend, 

Can I give it up or give it away?

Now I thought about what I wanna say

But I never really know where to go

So I chained myself to a friend’

‘Cracks in the road that I would try and disguise

He runs his scissors at the seam in the wall’

‘One thousand lonely stars hiding in the cold

Take it, oh I don't wanna sing anymore’

The instrumental and subject matter don’t match because the former is uplifting and the latter is depressing but that’s what makes this song just all round perfect for what it is. Just a conflicting mess of emotions within Casablanca’s headspace mirrored by the conflict between beat and lyrics.

The instrumental is almost hypnotic, putting the listener in a trance with its electronic production, while Casablanca’s autotuned voice adds to this sense of inorganic digital hypnosis. The synths during the chorus sound sharp and jarring and just work perfectly with Casablanca’s vocals in pushing forth his conflicting emotions.

Can imagine myself walking along a dimly lit street with neon lights(don’t ask me how this works) with my hoodie up and a slight drizzle going on, at around midnight, with this song playing through my headphones as I step on puddles that have formed along the pavement and a car honks in the distance and people are running past me trying to escape the rain before it gets heavier. I stop, reach into my backpack, pull out a raincoat and put it on. I press replay on this song, and continue walking along this street.

————————————————————

Both songs mean a lot to me, not because I have memories attached to either or anything but simply because for some nostalgic reason, I find myself listening to both these songs at random points in my life. It’s almost instinctual that when a certain emotion pops up, my reflex when choosing songs to listen to leads me to either song.

Plus, I usually talk about hip hop music so I just wanted to give credit to two songs that aren’t really in the hip hop sphere that have had a huge impact on me.

Emotions/feelings are complicated and somehow, both songs seem to engage that idea spectacularly, while also weirdly making me numb to my own emotions while listening to either song.

[atommadchen-blog]

Greenhouse Effect (GreenhousEfect) on Twitter – “Manipulation” 1992 Palle Carlson Drummer. SuperNetCelebrities.Com 2010.

89,357 Views – The hillarious but highly Rocking Greenhouse Effect Videos from their “Final band meeting” Of November 1992 at El Segundo California’s Jet City Sound Studio have been spliced into other G.e clips. Four Songs were shot that night; Three Versions of “White Black Thang’, Search and Destroy, Two Versions (Or more) of the Beatles cover version of “Please Please me”, …and ofcourse several for the somewhat uptemp G.e. Rocker “Manipulation”. Clark Hagins calls the Video for “Manipulation” his favourite; “We look like we’re havin’ fun there,..we look silly but one can tell that when we played live – We Rocked,..and we rocked hard,…we were a weird unusual band,..to say the least.” Greenhouse Effect exploded in notoriety in 2007 with some of Google Videos Most watched clips World Wide; “Our drummer died in 1999 in a bizarre Gardening accident (Laughs)” says Clark Haggins. Ofcourse Hagins is only kidding as he is referring to hillarious Danish Drummer Palle Carlson , the Denmark Drummer who resembles Spinal Tap’s first percussionist in old 1965 black and white clips. “Greenhouse Effect was a World sensation for quite a long time,..we attracted alot of attention and 50,000 Twitter Followers,…I never wanted all the internet fun to end,…but I do see things now finally slowing down in 2010” says Clark Hagins. “We only get about two Million looks a day now,…thats pathetic compared to the kind of business we used to do in 2008.” – There are ofcourse no plans for Rock’s most watched band to reassemble any time soon and Hagins sees the 1992 demise of the band as just another bizarre mistake from his life’s journey; “We were around for like 7 years,…Me and Flipper (Phil Keegan Guitarist) had planned to be the biggest Rock Stars in the musical universe – but it never happened,… ,…until I was like 50 years old (Laughs) ” says Haggins. “We watched all those music industry bands like Nirvana and Green Day hit it big while we did things like work in cubes and clean Pools,..its just a damn shame” says Higgins. Hagins says that the tired band eventually grew ‘into futility’ by late 92′ ; “We had all these Great songs and a great live show but we made enemies with all of the biggest wigs in Hollyweird …there was no way I was ever gonna kiss their arsses – I would clean Swimming Pools before I would do that (Laughs).” Hagins calls the Video for “Manipulation” the absolute Last Hurrah for G.E. ; “The End of the video is hella fucking cool – it looks like Ted is trying to fuck me in the ass and then Palle just picks his nose,.. its pure Lame Rock n roll the way you love it,..it’s fuckin’ hella cool ” ================== 148,037 Views – “Ripping Reason” Comes roaring Out of the speakers with sheer Psychedelic Power !! This Track Sounds so Great in this ‘other’ version – A 1992 “Remix” by sound studio engineer Bill Krodel in El Segundo California with Clark Hagins. “Ripping Reason” is a personal favorite of mine” says Higgins. “I was trying to make it a ‘hit’ I remember,…sorta like “Brandy” but it is so much ‘more’ !! It’s not really a hit so-to-speak ,…its just a flat out Good solid song – A Great piece of Songwriting,…and it sounds Great At Jango Radio !! ‘Ripping’ was recorded in the frantic final days of G.e. and it doesn’t rely on gimmicks like punk speed or guitar solos to get by,…it drudges along in pure melody to near abstract rock perfection and brilliance !!! The confused and tortured lyrics make this track a real winner in cyberspace – and a somewhat ‘unusual’ song for the always quirky G.e. !!!!!!!!! =============== Irie Bob. This 1992 Track is a real Winner for Greenhouse Effect Music Online and in particular at Youtube and GoogleVideo.Com “I started SuperNetCelebrities.Com with Homestead Web hosting who I found through Michael Savage’s Website -…to help bands get exposure” says Clark Hagins in 2008. “Its my goal to make sure that Great bands like Los Angeles’s Batlord get seen more,….and man, do I ever get them seen – ALOT”. IRIE BOB IS THE Pixies-Like 60’s Stooges Like track that appears as the second song on the 1995 “Fountain Weird CD” available at itunes and CD Baby. “The Song was originally entitled ‘Yuri-Bawb’ says Clark Higgins; “But when I suddenly saw the Red CD out of the boxes that day – In October of 1994 from Rainbow Records in Los Angeles – ,…I was horrified to see that they called the Song “Irie Bob”,..I just laughed in horror because the CD was all printed and all done !! And it seemed to be promoting all that 420 Marijuana culture cliche crap,….’Something I personally never wanted any part of in my life,….but now after 17 years,..the name has stuck,…and sometimes people email me,..thinking that I am this pot-head,..because I wrote Irie Bob by G.e. !!! (Laughs) – IRIE BOB Has become a cult classic of G.e. lore what with it’s annoying repetition, distorted bassline, fuzzy guitars (Which Haggins feel need to be turned up more in the final mix), and meandering lyrics and singing which yappily tell the story of a guy who “has been too apathetic,…and thus finally ‘approached Gold thats gleaming”….all in a 4/4 beat of some of Hagins’ best dance beat drumming. This 1992 pop emo song would certainly influence the likes of Beck, Weezer, and others; “When ‘Irie’ was all done and recorded, I just loved the whole ‘feel’ of this little tune,..it was so built around it’s beat and chorus,….Recording Engineer Bill Krodel did an incredible great job at Jet City Sound Studios in El Segundo,….I played all the instruments on this thing myself ,..except then, I got Billy to come in and add these keyboards,..which today – turn out to be the ‘key’ as to why this song is so killer !! I would direct Billy on which sound to implement on the synth,….all the keyboards were always my call with G.e. – though there are many in the South Bay today who try to say that Billy did everything for me,…thats NOT true at all,…Bill Krodel let bands do their own thang,…though he did put in alot of input,…I always had the final calls,…the silly 1960’s keyboards here were entirely my doing,….I dreamed up all my songs,…my songs are good ,..not because of alcohol or drugs like many in the South Bay try to say,…they are good songs simply because I am creative,..and I have been since i was four years old when I drew all those ‘paintings’ at 251,…” Irie Bob, Like all G.e. material Would be rejected by the Program directors at KROQ back in it’s day; “Well,..I would painstakenly try to set up appointments with KROQ Radio Fm programming way back then and they would just say that my songs suck,….I would give them all my tapes,…and nothing would happen,…I would follow up and call back but it was pointless,…thats just the way it is in music industry – even way back then in 1992 and 94′,….you simply ‘had’ to have some kind of major label affiliation in order to achieve FM Airplay,…so thus, songs like IRIE BOB and BRANDY,….NEVER saw their potential back in their day,….I couldn’t do it all alone,….nevermind the fact that I had all the shit goin’ on with Bam Magazine and all. Today, IRIE BOB has racked up Great ‘views’ numbers at Google, Mefeedia, and other websites as it is simply one of cyberspace’s catchyest little secrets. – Originally Recorded September – November 1992 and Appears as part of the 1992 “Big Teen Dollar$” album cd. Produced By Clark Hagins and Bill Krodel. Greenhouse Effect Photos – ?µe???? ???s??? Rock s?????t?µa “fa???µe?? t?? ?e?µ???p???” t?a???d?a.Description199,403 Views – ?µe???? ???s??? Rock s?????t?µa “fa???µe?? t?? ?e?µ???p???” t?a???d?a. – “Misogynistia” is the Great Song that is heard thousands of times a day in 2007 for G.e. – This August 1992 Song was recorded right around the same day as “Five Years” (Which sounds nothing like Miso) and the epic classic “Addicted”. These Songs would compile the September 1992 “Big Teen Dollar$” CD that Clark Hagins Would issue through Massachusett’s Label “Rock City Records’ as well as on sale locally in Redondo Beach at Goboy Records and Mark Theodore’s Alternative Groove Store in Hermosa Beach. “BIG TEEN DOLLAR$” Would be recorded in Early September 92′ with Sound Recording Engineer Of the South Bay Bill Krodel at Jet City Sound Studio in El Segundo Ca. “BTD” Would be a cultural and Lyrical triumph for Haggins as he belittled and attacked Music industry Standard Barers from Kurt Cobain to Henry Rollins to Sammy Hagar to Def Leppard and Bon Jovi too; “BTD” is definitely one of my favorite songs ,..just for how silly and retardedly angry and ironic it is” says Hagins. “Misogynistia is like the anti-dote to BTD,…IT IS just like such a cheesey confused song from 1973 by the Who or Chicago ,..or maybe 80’s-like Duran,…the Song is so serious where-as BTD is absolutely toungue n cheek and DEFINITELY ‘NOT’ !!”……”Writing Sarcastic funny songs from “Star” to “Ben is dead” to “Hey Negrita” in early 91′ had prepared me for some of my ultimate Songwriter moments,…and these would be among my final recordings as I had run out of money by late 92″ Says Higgins – “Waiting 4 Your Love 2 Fail!” explodes with brutal anger, punk speed, angry passion, technical guitar and drumming and plenty of Angst from the World’s Most watched band; Redondo Beach California’s Powerful Greenhouse Efect !!!!! Guitarist Phil Keegan (Dr. Phil) blazes a revolutionary hard rock guitar path here that no other band after the Mighty G.e. could quite copy or capture (Nevermind keep up with !!) …. Clark Hagins pours every ounce of his tortured angry soul into the chilling lyrics and bassist Rick Carmody hangs on for the ride !! – “So Much Better” or Simply “Better” is an ‘ahead of it’s time’ G.e. Song From November 1992 that would also effectively function as quite possibly the last ever idea that Greenhouse Effect and Clark Hagins would ever record. “The Bam Magazine Scandal devestated our band, ruined my concerts, and shook our group’s confidence to the core,…Our bassist Rick Carmody left and soon joined up with the South Bay Redondo Beach Punk band ‘The One Handed Readers’ says Clark Higgins in January 2010 from his offices in San Diego’s “North County’ where today he is a full-time Swimming Pool cleaner,…a job that Hagins says ‘pays the bills’ in the household with just him and his wife; “My life is nothing today,…People say that back in the 90’s I shoulda been a huge Star,…after G.e. flamed out,…I turned more and more to alcohol and by 95′,…I felt my life was technically “Over” up there in Bel Air ,..where I was a Professional Landscaper,…people and other organized bands would still call me, wondering if G.e. was ever coming back,..or if I was ever gonna start throwing concerts again,…but I couldn’t get my psyche into it,…in 96′..i took my Swimming Pool cleaning job with A To Z Pool and Spa in Torrance Ca,..when I moved back down there to the South Bay, ..thats when I knew music for me was over,…I tried to get some people into my shit or to help me but no one would,..nobody cared,…I financed the Rock Opera “White Suburban Liar$” all by myself in 95′,…’put it on sale at GoBoy in Redondo,…but I was 30 years old and not in an active playing band,..man, ..it was over,…I couldn’t do it without Carmody,..atleast I knew I had to have him there”. – Today, Greenhouse Effect explode on the internet (and at itunes) with their old tracks like 1991’s “Brandy” but Hagins calls the scene of music today “almost pointless”. “You got bands like Green Day and Foo Fighters and all their songs sound the same,..they are completely boring people who have never suffered or been picked on in their lives,…they are robotic and their music reflects this,…Dave Grohl is like some jock on a football team,…that guy is ‘NOT’ Rock n roll at all,..yet today, he passes for like as if he is Great like Pete Townshend and the Who or Zeppelin or something,…its disgusting,..People today are so fucking stupid and addicted to drugs and video games,…they don’t know shit about fucking piss ass nothing !! Music sucks now,..and thats all there is to it,..I think Rap music is pathetic….People hear my music,..and suddenly, they hear a trully fucked up person who is ‘really authentically’ fucked up,…thats why I work with a large World audience,…people will never understand what i went through as a child,….but when you hear Greenhouse Effect music,…you suddenly hear it all crystal clear !! I’m a Great drummer and a great guitarist who ‘got that way’ because I had no friends,…I had nothing else to do,…I didn’t fucking learn shit in a book like Dave Grohl,….that guy is not the last of 8 kids,…fuck that guy,..he doesn’t know shit about shit !!” Hagins says that his number one goal and desire would be to see Barack Obama impeached from Office; “If me and my music can play a small part in getting Democrats un-elected,..and getting people out there to ‘learn’ about rightwing politics,..and to stop voting for these assholes,..then that is Great and more power to ‘THAT’,…DEMOCRATS ARE ELITEST TYPES OF PEOPLE WHO RAISE TAXES AND STEAL YER MONEY,…I’m not saying Republicans are all that much better or different,…but they are definitely the lesser of two evils,…..I think that drugs are one of the most serious evils of our Western culture,…We need tougher laws to stop people from using them,…People get high on weed and then they simply naturally are gonna vote for evils and snobs like Your typical Democrat type person,…’when I hear some fucker in a suit and tie say that he wants to ‘help’ people out there,…well, to me,…that is an immediate code RED FLAG word for he wants to ‘rule’ and be bigger, more important, and better – ‘OVER’ the people,…!! Because he is an insecure piece of shit !! Used car salesman,..and ,..like some Leo mother-fucker,…he naturally knows how to get over on people,….I DON’T WANT ANYONE FUCKING HELPING ME,….I HELP MYSELF THANK YOU !!” Hagins says that people need to get ‘properly educated’ and learn to stop voting for socialist minded individuals at all cost. “I practically virtually feel that we need to “Outlaw” people from saying that they are running for office because ‘they want to help people – FUCK THAT,…THEY TAKE THE POWER AND CREATIVITY ‘AWAY’ from the individual – thats what they are really trying to do – period – THEY ARE TYRANTS IN SUITS !!” ============================ In September 2009, Greenhouse Effect achieved a very important personal goal for Los Angeles Top Musician Clark Hagins. The Goal you ask ?? 10,000 Twitter Followers. “We got our 10,000th Twitter follower at One of our many Twitter accounts, but in reality, We really have over 63,000 Followers because we have like 33 different accounts,…its hard work” says Hagins. The pressure is always on Haggins because he is probobly Los Angeles’s “Most seen” musician along with his other bandmates Bassist Rick Carmody and others as his band is always loaded at the very tops of all search engines with the Net’s Top tracks of indie music from “Brandy” to the classic “22nd Street” and “Coke Snortin’ Love Boyz”. “We get seen alot – way more than any other band,…its attracted the attention of several Cable TV Networks,..among them Halogen and others,…People want us to go do a brand new album but I am now nearly 50 years old and I am a swimming Pool cleaner kinda stuck in ‘that’ life,..I doubt seriously today that I could pull off another song like “Brandy” in the studio although I am very intrigued by this new idea for “The Famous on TV”,…thats this new track I’ve been fuckin’ around with…” Hagins says that the Potential for the Halogen Tv Show could produce a windfall of itunes mp3 music sales for G.e. that the band badly needs; “Well,..My wife and I ,..we watch alot of Halogen Tv here with our new Cable Company Time Warner Cable in San Diego’s North County,..I could really improve their Tv network,..it needs to be more gritty and hip and there is nothing more hip online with people than G.e.” 10,000 Twitter Followers isn’t a small thing in an era where some of Mtv’s biggest Hip Hop artists only have 900 or so; “We are a big band online,…we are like this huge phenomenon where websites and businesses fight to link and exchange with us or just be word associated with us,…you know yer big when even porn wants to be near you” says Hagins. “I’ve been tryin’ to convince Halogen Tv to let me do it all my way and let me be 100% completely in charge of my project,…They will get big ratings if they listen to me” says Higgins. – Guitarist Clark Haggins Blogs about his band’s ability to get ‘heard’ on the Web and the importance of Jango Internet Radio and other Web Radios such as Pandora. “The key to something Like Jango.Radio or Last.Fm, Pandora, and all these is ya gotta have good songs first and foremost,…..if yer Songs suck, then its really not gonna matter what you do. You gotta have a good recording too. If you have a song or a demo that sounds like a piece of shit,…then Jango and alot of these are probobly not gonna wanna play it,…and even if they did,…a potential new “Fan” or Twitter follower is probobly gonna wanna change the channel,..just like a TV….” – For many consecutive years, the Greenhouse Effect Song “Brandy” (and other songs of theirs) have been able to fight their way to the tops of search engines and into constant rotation at Jango and Pandora. “Our Song sells itself,…because it’s a great song,..we got lucky there when we wrote that one,…alot of people say that it doesn’t even sound like a typical Greenhouse Effect Song,…but then again,..what does ??” says Hagins. “I would recommend at Jango, if yer an artist there,…don’t let people just ‘play’ yer song at yer profile,..instead rather,..let them “add” it,…that way , you will get into more playlists and stations,..you will become ‘preferred’ more,…it will add up to ALOT of Airplay” Hagins and the band’s Management Team say that “Brandy” is responsible for “about 75%” of G.e’s success in cyberspace. “We are known primarily for one song,…but we got other good tunes,..its not like we’re a complete one hit wonder on here,…When people see me in the street, they always comment on Brandy but some have said it’s really not our best Song in reality,..but it ‘is’ the one that the web seems to like and that Jango and Pandora seem to ‘use’ to get listeners to their network sites,….I would advise bands to stick firmly with just one indie radio site,…Jango is the biggest and the best,..it is sorta like a version of Myspace or Youtube in it’s own rite,…Pandora forces you to ‘mail them’ a cd and as we all in bands know – ‘that’ is a big hassel,….at Jango,…you just upload songs,..its easy,…its sorta like i-sound or Sound.cloud ,..or one of those,…all of those millions of little ‘indie’ so called web radio sites are sorta a waste of time,….yer better off just sticking at Jango,…if you get into a zillion different little sites – and i mean places like Echoboost,..well,..if you got alot’a money sittin’ around to burn ,…then maybe,…but i think it’s more likely that you’ll just go insane at night,….just get yer band onto Jango Radio,…and stick with one -‘that’ one !!” Haggins says that Last.FM has in recent years become kind of a hassel. “I used to love LAST.FM but they mix bands profiles together and they do some weird shit,..i admit that i rarely go there really anymore,…there and Pandora”… – Hagins says that if You are an indie band that the odds of getting on to a Real Fm dial Radio Station like KROQ FM or KLOS FM In Los Angeles are at best slim to none. “Alot of those so called ‘real’ radio stations are just shills for the Record Labels , lawyers, and Hollywood,..theres alot of shady shit goin’ on where there are back room ‘pay offs and payola’ no better than back in the 60’s,…I’m sorry but thats just the way it is and reality…..it would be great if you can manage to get your band played on them,…but you probobly gotta be on some major label or lndie label that gets big cred and respect,…but i would say that a good band that likes it’s own independent sound and image would have to adapt and change too much,….and that can be a bad thing,…all in the name of airplay,..its not worth it ,…but….theres really Great good news though now !! – These days in 2009 and 2010, the ratings for real FM Dial Radios have really fallen,…infact many of them are struggling to stay afloat and are going off the air too … ,..EVERYDAY,…..THE REALITY IS now, more people listen to Jango Radio than they do listen to a station like say KROQ FM,….ALOT of new bands are really gettin’ discovered and getting their sound ‘out-there”,….I would say that technically, its probobly more important to have a hit song at Jango than at KLOS, POWER 106, or Kroq FM,….because now, nobody is listening to those three anymore,…not nearly as much anyway,…the web has taken over,..as a vehicle,…plus things like Talk Radio on the AM DIAL in people’s cars – Stuff Like Michael Savage and Hannity,….nevermind the fact that alot of today’s pop music sucks,..I mean just watch the Grammys if ya don’t believe me,…it all sounds the same and it’s boring,…things like Rap music have been a God-send to guys like me,…people get sick of Rap and they listen to Songs like Brandy by Greenhouse Effect – So it all works out well” ———- “22nd Street” is the Soaring classic from G.e’s 1991 epic cd “Going Legit” which was an album Simply recorded by Haggins and Bassist Rick Carmody alone in the studio; “They Shoulda just signed me long ago” says Hagins “Now,..I’m one pissed off hombre,……I won’t stop until i take over EVERYTHING,…..I see my Google Stats n shit at Webilizers,…I get big plays,…it gives me alotta fuckin’ confidence,….I know I got good shit” – Rock City Productions Pro Management SuperNetCelebrities.Com ============== “Big TEEN Dollar$” is the Hillariously ironic Song and anthem from August 1992 that Clark Hagins wrote over the long hot 92′ summer while mowing lawns “up in Bel Air” and “talking to himself” for inspiration and “coaching”; “Bel Air was a very beautiful place,…I worked for this wealthy Arab at Owlwood Estates – thats where Tony Curtis and Sony and Cher once lived,….and Jane Mansfield lived next door at the big “Pink House” on Carolwood,…at the time, Englebert Humperdink lived there next door,….and Marylin Monroe once lived in our Dog House,..where we kept the German sheperds,…Molly, Marko, and Midnight,….Some people suggested that her ghost was in there (Laughs),….I remember those beautiful hot Beverly Hills afternoons and drinking my 40 of beer….I don’t drink now though,..i’m 45 years old,…” – Backing Vocals ; Jeff Crisfield, Bill Krodel, Mark Nathanson – Remainder; Clark Hagins. Idea for Song conceived in Redondo Beach at 251. Lyrics @ www.LyricsMode.Com – SuperNetCelebrities.Com ===================== Hagins admits that websites Like Blip Tv allow Over-self indulgent bloggers like himself to fully ‘create’ their own arenas and that unlimited blogging spaces are a Heaven ; “Vimeo and BlipTV are awesome incredible things,….I can really vent my spleen thoroughly,…and ofcourse many people read,..and thats the goal,…to get them reading,..then they go to my other sites, ..or Youtubes,…and then they go to itunes,..and they buy,….the bottom line is they get interested in me and my music,…and they get to read alot,…it gets them more intelligent,…its way MORE educational than a video game,….Video games are something that Democrats cooked up so you will just sit there and be a moron and smoke pot and be a fucking idiot,….and thats how people like Barack Obama and other Democrats get voters,…they create their own pool of morons THAT THEY CAN EASILY CONTROL,…..I would prefer to get the intelligent, more informed votes of hard working American people ,…People like electricians and or Swimming Pool People,…they tend to be way more informed and intelligent because alot of them listen to Dr. Michael Savage in their trucks during the day as they work – Him and Mark Levin talk radio too.” – “Wilson Phillips” comes barrelling out of the Speakers as a heavy Black Sabbath like G.e. Anthem of hard rock. “Ted told me on the phone one day about 1995 that he thought that ‘newer G.e.’ wasn’t as heavy and was too “Happy”,…man,…I guess he was referring to stuff like “Addicted” and “Irie Bob”…, i just fuckin’ laughed at that shit,…I think Ted just started to smoke too much pot and it fried his head !! Clark Hagins blogs that his ‘ideas’ for society and his ability to ‘copy and re-paste entire blogs elsewhere’ is as important as the music itself ; “Shit like Tubemogul can be awesome,….Everybody knows that I don’t do all this writin’ shit so much for the music,..infact, I really don’t even give a rat’s ass about the music so much as I care about getting my politics and society philosophies across to the general public,…..Greenhouse Effect was always about being political,….We were good irish boys who went to church and who had fears,….but then others in the world would come and try to corrupt us,…and try to make us be like everybody else – to conform,….I say ; fuck that,….I keep the same shit that I was at 16 and 23 today still at 44; I am an old fashioned conservative – what-ever that means,….I’m against abortion and Gay marriage and legalizing or promoting lame drugs that I know destroy great minds,…you can write better shit whilst sober !! I listen to Michael Savage,…and if people don’t like it,..then what the fuck,…they can suck my cock” – Tags – tagcloud, asher roth, politics, lil wayne, eminem, asher roth, susan, mel gibson, brandy, wayne gretzky, kroq most played, paramore, muse, radiohead, tom delonge, weezer, pork, hole tour, hip hop, bmo, brandy, lmfao, sky blu fox, cnn, smokey robinson, michael savage radio ———— ============ The exciting Greenhouse Effect are the New “Nirvana” of the internet for these times of the new millineum of 2008, 09, and 2010 !! Great Songs that evoke melody of the 1960’s and bands like the Mersey Beats to the Sounds of the 70’s and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer to Zeppelin !! High Melody is always G.e’s aim !! This little Redondo Beach three piece band has spread their music all around the World like no other band in History !! They use a tight mix of Jango Radio constant Airplay, Pandora Radio attack with the classic “Brandy”, and millions of constantly running Google Videos and Twitters !! Virtually every person you know HAS SEEN A G.E. VIDEO and probobly Downloaded it !! Clark Hagins considers himself every bit as much a “Politician” as a Great musician; “I can see why all these Arab Countries hate the west and the United States in a way sorta… – They don’t want our shit in their countries !! We despicably take our freedoms for Granted and we abuse and take libertys wrongly,…..Hollywood is a buncha fucking Liberal scumbags,….But Thank God, Our Country is on the right track now,….We have won three key races in a row in Late 2009 and here in 2010,….We won in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts and even though this Scott Brown character just seems like another RINO,….I will still choose ‘that’ over the Obama-Liberal Martha WTF her name is !! Thank God Almighty that we won that Massachusetts one – that was critical !! I am certain that the angry things that I write definitely play a role with the TeaParty Protesters,…THEY READ MY SHIT – THEY’VE BEEN READING IT FOR YEARS !!,……NOT ALL MUSICIANS are Liberals,…Some of us listen to Dr. Michael Savage and Mark Leven Talk Radio,….We are informed,….but we already ‘knew’ from the beginning,….I’ve been a conservative from birth ,…probobly because I am a Taurus born April 27,…..people say that I am crazy – and I fucking AM !! BUT I know that music is the key,….it takes beautiful music to get people to the ballot booth and pull the lever !!! As the unofficial “Leader” of the Tea Party movement, Hagins blogs are often caustic, terrifying, angry reading – but effective. “People used to pick on me,..back in the South Bay and I figured it out,…it was ‘Liberals’ that WE’RE PICKING ON ME,…..tryin’ to say how I’m so “close-minded” when all along it’s THEM who is really that… Liberal Pot-heads and People who sit around listening to Rap and playing Video Games who DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ANYTHING – ‘THEY’ ARE THE ONES who are always putting other people down,…and usually because they are insecure Gealous Motherfuckers who got no TALENT – ATLEAST NOT LIKE ME !! ” ========= Tags ; tags, tagcloud, asher roth, politics, lil wayne, eminem, asher roth, susan, mel gibson, brandy, wayne gretzky, kroq most played, paramore, muse, radiohead, tom delonge, weezer, pork, hole tour, hip hop, bmo, brandy, lmfao, sky blu fox, cnn, smokey robinson, michael savage radio Likes: 40 Viewed:

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[surrendertodaniel]

Surrender To Daniel’s Top 250 Tracks Of 2017ish (250-201)

Opening Blab

250. Kelly Clarkson - Love So Soft (Cash Cash Remix)

“Love So Soft” was always meant for a “the nice restaurant lounge at the good mall” EDM remix that could tear a dancefloor to shreds. Please don’t do that, though. That sounds expensive. 249. Trinidad Cardona - Jennifer

A sticky sweet singer-songwriter plea for forgiveness that might not win back Jennifer, but has done pretty well for itself. (As it should.)

248. Arcade Fire - Electric Blue

OH! I get the U2 jokes now! I kid. I kid. I really wanted to like the new Arcade Fire album for what it’s worth. I wish them no harm. Everything Now felt explicitly like the album in the 2-page magazine discography review that gets cut down to 10 words due to space limitations and WHO COULD ARGUE? I think “Electric Blue” is fantastic, though. It’s a smidge “Sprawl III (Electric Beyond Blue” and that’s cool by me.

247. Valerie June - Shakedown

“Shakedown” is the sort of tune that inspires me to dance around like I’m goddamn Scrooge McDuck doing a bunch of weird pointing and twirling and shit. (That doesn’t sound like an endorsement but it is. An enthusiastic one! “Shakedown” is probably a folk festival floorfiller parkgrassfiller of some sort, I imagine.)

246. Rozwell Fitzroy - Block Game

The ReBoot Reboot soundtrack is coming along nicely. (Let me imagine this.)

245. Fickle Friends - Hard To Be Myself

Sparkling youth activity centre pop that comes in its own shade of neon!

244. Katy Perry featuring Migos - Bon Appetit

Katy Perry’s Witness came across as a bit of a lame duck record after “Chained to the Rhythm” missed the mark, didn’t it? It didn’t really help that the videos seemed second tier (or like a “favor” from JibJab in the case of “Swish Swish”) and that clunky SNL showing. Even if Witness isn’t my cup of tea (I’m rooting for the next Katy cycle)“Bon Appetit” is a first-rate muff-diving anthem with Migos making a welcome showing.

243. Chip - Snap Snap

Wait! Wait! Wait! Is that? Could it be?

Holy moly! How did I not put it together that Chip is the artist formerly known as Chipmunk? Anyway, Chip would prefer if his partner cool it on all the Instagram posting. The music video presents a convincing argument about this lovely woman’s endless selfiecrafting. I’m onboard for some sort of rebuttal track if that’s in the cards.

242. Borussia - Kinda Love

An infectious dance colossus whose power only grows by the number of bright cocktails taken in during your evening. Or morning. Look, I’m not here to judge. (Outside of this silly music judging exercise.)

241. Lady Gaga - The Cure

It’s been AGES since we had a Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special. I wonder if we’ll get one in like 2018. I hope she hasn’t had a falling out with any of the Muppets.

240. Sonamoo - I (Knew It)

I go a little too hard stomping to this K-Pop kiss-off. Like T-1000 (or whatever) stepping through that skull quarry in Terminator 2 only I’m far more prone to slipping on most surfaces.

239. Taylor Swift - ...Ready For It

2017 Taylor was not elite Taylor. (”Look What You Made Me Do” was a music video masquerading as a proper song, for goodness sakes.) Non-elite Taylor is still capable of incredible feats. “...Ready For It” reaches the sublime as its meticulously built ULTRA STADIUM POP grandiosity consumes us all. Just blinding pop light. It took me a while to get on the “...Ready For It” trolley, but I’m happy to be here.

238. Joyride - Aunty Tracey’s Cookies

If you’re going to get creative with your cookies, do so with the hopes of having a blissed out anthem sung in your treat’s honor.

237. Carly Pearce - Every Little Thing

One of those classic country songs where if you see the listener’s face go a certain way you let them sing their heart out.

236. Eves Karydas - There For You An elegant and enormous part the seas anthem, plus Eves does some excellent slowly sliding down the stairs work in the promo.

235. Vic Mensa featuring Pusha T - OMG

A chain swinging, bubbling cauldron of a cut with Pharrell production teleported in from the ‘00s. By the way, if anyone needs a dopey white guy to say something like “oh my goodness” as the hook, gimme a call. Look for 21 Savage x Dan MacRae’s “Geez Louise” on iTunes in 2018.

234. Tigertown - Warriors (St. Lucia Remix)

A Capri-Sun kissed groovy remix of Tigertown with charm to spare.

233. Lady Leshurr - Juice

Lady Leshurr is the sort of entertainer where she’s do damn likeable that I’ve spent the past 3 hours imagining TV projects the English MC can do on the side.

232. Frank Ocean - Chanel

You know the Frank Ocean drill by now. Press play, immediately feel it in your chest.

231. DYGL - Let It Out

Albert Hammond Jr. endorsed Tokyo rock outfit DYGL have crafted a tightly wrapped indie gem with Britpop and Blogosphere First Wave tendencies.

230. Old Dominion - No Such Thing As A Broken Heart

The video for this is so quarter-assed (glass houses much, Dan?) that I have been increasingly MYSTIFIED with every rewatch. Like, the concept is that Old Dominion are in a video game world that’s stuffed with wacky high score gags and kwazy on-screen graphics. The execution doesn’t pan out, so instead it’s like you’re watching someone try to recreate a Christian edit version of Scott Pilgrim from memory and STARTED COOKING WITH GAS! The song’s fantastic, though. Arena country brimming with warmth and even a touch of Ed Robertson’s Barenaked Ladies output.

229. Super Junior - Black Suit

Unlike “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart,” the video for Super Junior’s “Black Suit” fudging ruuuuules, buds. The promo is the best piece of art involving an elaborate suit heist you’ll come across all 2017 and the entire operation looks awesome to boot. K-Pop’s Last Men Standing® teeter on the brink of jazztronica at times and it’s a treat DANG IT!

228. Barenaked Ladies & The Persuasions - The Old Apartment

Is this cheating? It is, isn’t? Whatever. BNL (a term used exclusively by cool insiders) and The Persuasions were a fantastic match in 2017 and combo performances like this update of “The Old Apartment” feel so damn alive I wish both parties would consider hanging out a lot more.

227. Ayo & Teo - Lit Right Now

As infectious as a yawn but lit (FUCK!) like a firecracker, Ayo & Teo are making Frosh bangers you want to throw paint to. Or maybe I just want to chuck paint. I dunno.

226. LCD Soundsystem - Tonite

Did LCD Soundsystem really need to come back? Probably not, but they’re welcome to stay. (Look at me! I’m doing rulings now, apparently. Ha ha, life.)

225. Pip Blom - Babies Are A Lie

Nothing will top “Babies Are A Lie” in the 2017 song title sweepstakes. Also the hook is an absolute dream.

224. Shay Lia - What’s Your Problem

Pulsating R&B brilliance that sometimes leads me to do ill-advised arm choreo on my balcony. (I’m allergic to rhythm so it’s a tragedy and I apologize to anyone that’s gone down George Street this year.)

223. Lauren Alaina - Doin’ Fine

Play this at just the right volume and you will be powerless to resist the urge to belt out this country anthem while wrapped in curtains, a comforter or both.

222. Jachary - Yellow Vision

An absorbing electronic pop blend (think a spiritual second cousin to Discovery) with a chorus that swings into action like a battering ram.

221. Cende - Bed

A melting ice cream cake of mid-misery assessment wailing power-pop. Or glower-pop if you will. You will not? I completely understand and apologize immediately.

220. Waju featuring Phantom Thrett - If U Wanna

Blissed out hip-hop soul that marinates nicely in the brain. The video’s pretty darn good too.

219. AOBeats & Annabel Jones - Strangers

“You run your heart like a club: One in, one out.” It’s important to note this is a fantastic dance number for anyone that enjoys doing mid-level theatrical glances in lieu of actual dancing. (Read: Me.)

218. CupcakKe - Barcodes

Burn your motivational posters, this horn-aided banger from CupcakKe will slap you in the face with ESSENTIAL life advice about knowing what you’re worth and not budging. Also CupcakKe has some awesome lines on “Barcodes” that made me legitimately guffaw. It’s not easy to pull the guffaw out of the Dan laugh library.

217. Aly & AJ - Take Me

I think I’ve been on about this before, but there was a brief time I confused Aly & AJ with Prussian Blue. Not important. What is important is “Take Me” which is a synth-soaked sledgehammer to the sky that sounds absolutely massive. It’s a big tune is what it is.

216. Tyler, The Creator featuring A$AP Rocky - Who Dat Boy

Ya blew it, Schoolboy Q. 

215. Joe Goddard - Music Is The Answer

Hot Chip boy Joe Goddard turns in an engrossing frosted electronic effort that feels like backstroking through gel in the nicest possible way.

214. Gabrielle - Nye Joggesko

“Nye Joggesko” glides, strolls and spikes like hybrid pop should.

213. Amber Coffman - No Coffee

Pastel (but not Pastels) tinted guitar pop that gets the “breezy” tag even though I wouldn’t quite put it in the “breezy” camp.

212. Diamond Platnumz, Harmonize, Rich Mavoko & Rayvanny – Zilipendwa 

Last I checked, “Zilipendwa” was embroiled in a saxophone copyright scandal. No matter where you stand on the issue, it’s 14 seconds of sublime saxophone worth fighting over.

211. Ugly God - Fuck Ugly God

“You act like a freak, but you ain't never sucked no toes.” Ugly God treats self-immolation like a superpower. Even though the dude is doing a vivisection of his own shame, "Fuck Ugly God” hits like you’re the one being powerbombed through a table. 

210. Royal Canoe featuring Begonia - Fussin’

If this Western Canadian folk festival tent is rockin’, it’s cuz of what Royal Canoe and Begonia are clocking. (Or there’s a live ferret rescue on the grounds. Either way, respect people’s space.)

209. Ah Mer Ah Su - Meg Ryan

“I’m a white woman, I can do whatever I want,” declares Ah Mer Ah Su on the marvellously woozy pop carousel “Meg Ryan” and yes, she does mention City of Angels on the track.

208. Wesley Gonzalez - Piece of Mind

Nervy indie pop that lands somewhere between They Might Be Giants and XTC. But NOT Adam Ant. (WHO IS THAT JOKE FOR? IMPROV KIDS BEATEN WITH THEIR OWN MEAD BINDERS? WHO?)

207. Smino - Anita

The T-Pain remix is gorgeous too. Be sure to tell T-Pain if you happen to hang out with him in the future.

206. Hannah Jane Lewis - Raincheck

THIS TRACK IS BUOYANT AS FUCK, GANG! There’s also a great bit in the video where a cursor has to choose between “Accept (heart sign)” and “Raincheck” which is something I like in a music video. Play your ace, Hannah Jane Lewis.

205. Mollie King - Hair Down

This is tacky-as-you-like pop the way only the Brits can do it (you can practically see visions of loud Panto ads if you close your eyes) and should poured down your gullet like it’s Tetra Pak booze. In retrospect I should have watched E!’s Chasing The Saturdays when I had the chance.

204. Ten Fé - Twist Your Arm

A Guardian review pegged Ten Fé as something like Madchester meets Springsteen, but “Twist Your Arm” is more a glimmering ‘80s AOR creature than anything else. Probably goes down a storm with Q’s readership. (Not a dig.) I can totally picture a lot of spouses doing intense bicycle repairs with this CRANKED in the garage.

203. Charlie Worsham - Cut Your Groove

Full points to Charlie Worsham for having an first tier country name. Say it out loud right now for fun. It’s great, right? Charlie lays out a sweethearted country self-affirmation anthem that feels like warm embrace on “Cut Your Groove” and I’ve done some power twirling to this.

202. iLoveMakonnen featuring Rae Sremmurd - Love

This combo effort would be quintuple platinum if satellite radio were still “a thing.” I am 10000% convinced this would have been gargantuan in that era. Fight me and my ghost on this and I’ll fudge you up, bud. I also believe this would be fantastic on Riverdale.

Vaguely Related: I’m behind on Riverdale and need to catch up on season 2 so my dad and I can talk about it at length this Christmas.

201. Allison Crutchfield - I Don't Ever Wanna Leave California

“Darling, you're too mid-Atlantic,” begins (ex?) Swearin’ talent Allison Crutchfield on this solo cut and that’s an incredible way to start a song.