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palbabor-writes · 4 years ago

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Shota’s Cool Times Summer Jamz Mix

But for real, this is a Class 1-A Character Analysis, but with their music choices!

So it’s editing day, and @albinoburrito and I got a little off track. It started with, what do you think Bakugo would listen to? And then it just spiraled out of control.

So, here it is. Shota’s Cool Times Summer Jamz Mix

Izuku: Indie music, general pop, his dad’s old classic rock albums - was especially excited when he found out that All Might also listens to classic rock and uses it for his workouts. He prolly made like 20 new playlists after that and always tries to play them on the down low when All Might is training with him. He fucking loves it when All Might is like, “oh! I love this song”. Or, asks for him to turn the volume up. Has done some low fi for studies, but that’s really the only time he does it. He likes Young the Giant, MGMT, Alt-J, Strfkr and bands like The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison fill out most of his workout playlists.

Bakugo: Honestly, he doesn’t have any hard and fast preferences. If he likes things he SoundHounds them and moves on. He can cultivate playlists, but it’s not like he’s Kaminari level, having playlists for any and all activities. I do feel like he would lean more toward rap & hip hop titles. As well alt and alt rock. No fucking scream-o, or Eminem, please and thank you. Artists like: Childish Gambino, Travis Scott, Drake, blackbear, Missio, NCT 127, and Jaden’s Icon. However, he does have one low key, wind down playlist with sad, sappy songs that he had to immediately lock when the others found his Spotify. Shit like Band of Horses, Lord Huron, and Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish.

Sero: Indie and indie bops: i.e. Loud Pipes by Ratatat. Some rap & hip hop. Maybe upbeat alternative jams. He strikes me as a Gorillaz fan. He’s good at making playlists, he’s better at the low key ones. Things that you can comfortably listen to and don’t mind them. He doesn’t overthink this. If you hand him the aux you’re never upset. You’ll get bands like: Two Door Cinema Club, Passion Pit, St. Lucia, COIN and Coast Modern.

Kaminari: The KING of cultivated playlists. Like, has one for every occasion. Need something for a party that your parents will also attend? Cross generational? He’s got you. Pump up jams for specific people? He made them like a week ago and has choices. Makes playlists for certain people, but won’t give them out unless you actually want them, or ask him. Yes, he made one for Shinso after that training battle. No, he hasn’t worked up the courage to show him yet. Personal preference: he’s into all the latest pop & he keeps up with artists and tends. For upbeat playlists he goes for: Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Maroon 5 and Major Lazer. For low key playlists his go to are: NIKI, Khalid, KALEO, Transviolet, Noah Cyrus, and Bea Miller. His favorite artists waffle. They change rapidly. He loves them one week, but next week he’s got a new fav. He also likes the Jpop scene.

Mina: Hip Hop QUEEN. If it’s got a good beat she is all over it. MUST be a banger. She has mood banger playlists. Like, Kamanari, she’s got some good playlist cultivation skills. She’s also who you want to go to for road trip & sing along playlists. My girl loves a good upbeat “friendship,” playlist. She has a soft spot for some indie bands, i.e, MisterWives, Lorde & Billie Eilish. For her everyday listening needs she is all about: Run the Jewels, Lil Nas X, Quinn XCII, Logic, Calvin Harris, Nicki Minaj and Bhad Bhabie.

Jiro: She listens to all most everything. Massive, massive music pallet. Her family was always big on diversifying her musical tastes. Never let yourself be limited or judgmental because it’s not what you usually listen to. That said, she super big into rock and alt rock. She really like to follow bands. Like Paramour, Panic at the Disco. Bands that have shifted and changed over time. She admires that skill. Jiro cultivates playlists that are super specific and poetic. You know, those concept playlists that are like: enchanting, serene. You are laying in an abandoned castle and you’ve never felt this content and at peace. You are one with the universe, never in your life... Like that shit that’s like a paragraph long and you don’t even understand why, like, why is it so long? And so, specific? She’s got that shit locked down on Spotify. Mina found hers once, ONCE, and she tightened that security seconds later. She loves to listen to: Fleetwood Mac, The Zombies, Joni Mitchell, Terror Jr, Woodkid, Foo Fighters and David Bowie. Literally, she likes everything. Equal opportunity music listener. If it feels good it’s going in a playlist and that playlist is turning into a poem.

Tokoyami: 100% listens to GOTH rock - POST PUNK jams. Don’t @ him. It’s just his vibe k? Siouxsie and the Banshees shit, The Cured, The Smiths, and some good ole’ Evanescence. The darker the better, Revelry in Dark y’all. He’s a sucker for rock opera, that epic extra shit, but it’s also low key embarrassing. He wants no one to know of this. Like if you find it, go away and leaf him alone. Also, never speak of this again. He’s redacted, he’s not even on this list. You didn’t see this.

Iida: Oh my king, he likes some of that Bastille, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, One Republic in his playlists. Low key, alt rock. Good ole’ safe, alt rock. But, he does like some pop songs. Not that he will talk to you about that. When he’s with his folks he likes to masquerade as a classic rock buff. But he’s bluffing pretty hard. He’s working on that with Izuku. He’ll get there you guys. He knows his brother loves it so he’s trying his BEST. For his pump up work outs he does go for that DAFT PUNK techno.

Aoyama: Oh. My. God. He loves flashy bands. Fucking Glam rock all the way. He’s also super, super up to date on the French hip hop and pop scene. Into people like Yelle, Phoenix, Soprano, Ayama Kamura, Stromae. Loves ELO just for the sheer operatic value. ABBA all the way baby. Anything exciting and anything that makes him feel invigorated. His playlists are a little scattered. He really just tosses whatever he’s vibing on in them.

Kirishima: You already know, why are you even looking here? He’s got the manliest playlists. When he was younger it was like, all alt rock, edgy stuff. Once he got to UA he cleansed that pallet. Not that he don’t go back to those playlists sometimes, but he’s also wanting to move on from those feelings. Now? He’s all about that positive rock babyyy. Anything that has a good, upbeat feeling he’s down for. He’s really looking for those VIBES. Things that get him pumped up and ready to go. Bands like: The Bleachers, The Mowgli’s, Banners, Jukebox The Ghost. Just real positive stuff, man. He also dips into classic rock for his workouts. If he feels like that rap song works with his workout jams it’s going in and he’s cranking it up. He totally found Bakugo’s sadboi playlist and immediately told him, hey, man, I have one of those too, emotions amiright? This is why Bakugo private locked his entire account HARD. Look what you did, Kirishima, you can’t see ANY of it now.

Uraraka: My girl likes pop. That bubble gum shit. But, she’s also has a superrrr hardcore rap playlist for her workouts, like, it’s kinda confusing. Mina found that playlist first and was like ????? I-Is this you? Like this playlist has DMX, Jedi Mind Tricks, Kanye, LL Cool Jay, A$ap Rocky, like, some tunes that get her GOING. But, she loves that cute Jpop and Kpop. She’s got tons of road jam playlists. Those you can put on and everyone is like, ooooooh, this song!!! She’s also has like 3 Disney playlists, for different moods. She also loves Girl in Red, Louis the Child, Hailee Steinfeld, and Mitski.

Todoroki: He...doesn’t have much experience with music cultivation. Like, he knows some songs, he didn’t live under a rock, but he also kinda did...so, that stunted him, in more ways than one. Thanks Endeavor. But, thanks to his classmates, he is starting to get the hang of this. He over thinks this stuff. Like, this music must speak to him. From Iida he likes Bastille, from Uraraka he likes King Princess, From Izuku he’s learned to love Grizzly Bear, and he really, really likes the playlist that Kaminari made for him. He’s leaning heavily on it to find some more tunes for his own small collection. He also learned that he loves anything that is hard rap as well. Especially if he can play it in front of Endeavor. You know, the ones are like, you didn’t fucking pay your child support, you ass. That aggressive, angry rap: Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, J. Cole, 21 Savage and Montana of 300. It’s to make his father as uncomfortable as he possibly can be.

Tsuyu: Fucking rainforest and ambient noises. Not really, but also actually. She likes calming sounds, ok? Everyone was like, this is a joke, don’t be ridiculous and then she showed them her playlist of rain sounds. I mean, you go girl. But really, her collection is mostly pop songs, she likes them easy going. Much like her fighting and hero style, she is the glue that holds things together with the class in terms of music selection. Kinda of the bridging gap. Music that you just can’t complain about. Besides, why would you? What’s wrong with you? It’s Froppy. She and Uraraka often find themselves overlapping on their upbeat indie pop playlists, stuff like: Sara Bareilles, Oh Wonder, Kygo, Kero Kero Bonito, Taylor Swift, MARINA, and Regina Spektor. She did find Uraraka’s rap playlist and didn’t....approve. Did not want to use it for their joint workout. No, thank you.

Ojiro: Oh, you don’t get enough screen time son. You really don’t. He’s very low key. Into some indie stuff, like: Lumineers, Local Natives, Morningsiders, Manchester Orchestra, Vampire Weekend. He likes acoustic sounds, really down to earth. Once again, you cannot complain whenever he gets to select the music. Izuku especially approves when he plays his music because he always finds something new. For his workouts he prefers some heavy, heavy rock. You know, when you get to wail the shit out of stuff with your tail. He’s playing that Five Finger Death Punch in his MIND.

Koda: Nature sounds. Honestly. Full. Stop. Dead-ass he is living for artists like Corrine Bailey Rae, Hozier, Alesia Cara, Adele, and Maggie Rogers. He’s also got that Kacey Musgraves and Florence + The Machine on LOCK. Anything that feels ethereal and light is right up his alley. He likes it a little spooky sometimes. He does have a killer Halloween playlist, but he hasn’t ever quite worked up the courage to play it for his classmates. Oh. Also, listens to Enya un-ironically. He also might have a repeat problem with Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek.

Sato: He’s into new bands that I don’t even fucking listen to. He loves him some alt rock too. But, he’s not above that classic rock. He just likes stuff that he can head bang to. Not a metal head, but low key IS a metal head. Stuff like: Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me The Horizon, Highly Suspect, Royal Blood, The Smashing Pumpkins. He also has a wonderful baking playlist. Like 1950’s crooners. Think Dorris Day, The Ink Spots, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, and Frankie Valli.

Momo: Classical. Moving on. But really, she loves a good brain playlist with musicians, cuz they aren’t artists to her, they have a specific name for the work that they do: Bach, Debussy, Beethoven, Strauss, and some Tchaikovsky...some of his stuff is too much, even for her. She is starting to broaden her tastes. She really loves Sato’s baking playlist, those 50’s and 60’s beats are right up her alley. Jiro is slowly getting her to try out some pop and low key alt rock bands too. She’s growing and learning, y’all.

Toru: POP. That Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera MOUSE CLUB STUFF. She likes sing-alongs. Like has 20 Disney playlists and is always, always down to do a Grease playlist. You honestly feel attacked by how upbeat and peppy her playlists are, ATTACKED BY A GOOD TIME. It’s teen bop pop all the way here folks, no need to dig too deeply into it. She likes: Lizzo, Beyoncé, T. Swift, but like, leans into her hard, she is a swifter head, or whatever it’s called...Arizona, Carly Rae Jepson, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, Katy Perry, and Kesha among the millions of others.

Shoji: This guy. He loves him some alt rock. He, like Ojiro, needs more screen time. He likely listens to lofi playlists fully. Like, not in the way Izuku just listens to them when he’s studying, but like, for fun. Like he actually GETS them, you know? He likes bands like: Cage the Elephant, Beck, Broken Bells, Modest Mouse, The Killers, Neon Trees and Grouplove. For real tho, he needs more screen time.

Aaaaaaaand Mineta: He needs less screen time. Thank you your honor, I rest my case. Um, but like, he’s down for that dirty rap. Like, the slimier the better. If it’s ass, money, pussy, he’s on it. Big Sean is his hero. He thinks the Weekend is the best singer known to man. If this upsets you, I am sorry. I love him too, but sometimes we gotta face the truth. Mineta loves, loves, loves the Weekend. He’s also super down on the Megan Thee Stallion train. Oh, and Cardi B too. He also likes Tyga and Sage the Gemini. These are his top pics. His current ringtone is WAP and Aizawa nearly snapped his phone in half when he heard that go off in his classroom.

Bonus:

- Aizawa: Yes, he has heard WAP. He’s literally attached at the hip to a dj and you know Midnight and Present Mic were all over that song when it was released. Those two tried to do that tiktok choral rendition of it. It didn’t go well. But seriously, this man likes a little bit of everything. He’s a no-fuss, low key guy and his music tastes are the same. He likes alternative and indie the most. Some of that: Sylvan Esso, Silversun Pickups, The Black Keys, The Flaming Lips, The Strokes, Cake, Incubus, and the Deftones. While he has no time to cultivate playlists, he does have a grading playlist that he quickly threw together. It helps him to zone in and work. Yes, Present Mic likes to add funky shit to it, just to ruffle his feathers. In the worst universe, slash in THIS universe, Aizawa was too lazy to get his own Spotify and he shares one with Present Mic. That poor algorithm has no idea what to recommend. He’s just waiting for that cease and desist letter from Spotify’s fraud department. Any day now.

Alright! Hope ya’ll liked it. Lemme know if you want more. We kinda started on one for the LOV, but it’s not finished just yet. In other news, we WILL edit the new chapter of “Look Upon the Light” tonight, don’t worry, we’ll be good. It should be out in the next few days.

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welovelofi · 5 years ago

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Tales Of Murder And Dust: Fragile Absolutes. We Feature, We Love.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6DMVg3nHhAadARNNw1dfpl?si=iuFBfCgKQhGEiYq-M2alqw

Århus based, Tales Of Murder And Dust are freshly out with their 3rd full-length LP, Fragile Absolutes. It’s the result of a long gestation and steady evolution of both the line-up and context of the group.

“It’s been the most difficult process we’ve ever had” is bandied around like a mantra in the organization. Why though? Tomad seems to have at times in their 12-year career, everything going for them in spades, but if you pull up specific moments of dormancy – a heck of a lot of forces working against them. Like plate tectonics or glacial migration – slow building pressures ripping them apart that the human sensory array could only detect with seemingly topographic charts.

After 2016’s “The Flow In Between” saw the band signing to English neo-psych magnate, Fuzzclub Records, they parted ways with founding member Kristoffer Vilsgaard, who shared lead vocal and songwriting duties with Christian Sinding Soendergaard. Vilsgaard left the operation amicably and still remains active in their now extensive ‘extended family’. Around the same time, TOMAD saw a drastic line-up shift in virtually every position except drums. Fellow ZRN (formerly Zeroine, a ‘side’ collab between Ess Beck and Soendergaard) and real-life partner, Ess Beck moved in on keys and auxiliary guitar, Rasmus Aaen Jensen entered on bass, and the slimmer, leaner line-up headed to USA for their very chaotic inaugural tour – plagued by missed connections, transportation break-downs and hellish drive times.

“It was our first time in the states, and instead of being able to soak it all in, we got into a van and drove 35 hours straight to a gig” remarks Jakob Korsgaard (drums). “I kinda feel like it doesn’t even count, that tour – it was just so chaotic at times”.

The Flow In Between sold well internationally for them, and the EU bookings were steady, yet it seemed always to this writer that it was getting increasingly difficult to see them here in Aarhus or let-alone find their records in one of the many physical shops. In fact, I ordered my copy of “Fuzz Club Sessions” from England (the 2018 Ltd edition live-in-studio EP, first to feature the re-vamped TOMAD line-up), and it took weeks to get here (You can fly direct from AAR to Stanstead though for less than the price of a beer and be wheels down in 1.5 hours). Something was rotten somewhere.

The difference between The Flow In Between and Fragile Absolutes is significant in almost every way. All plusses though if you’ve gotten this far. WHEN one was able to catch TOMAD in this constellation between records, I always had the feeling there was something über-special about their sound. It was like something was gestating, brewing…fermenting even. ZRN seemingly would cycle through a period as well, ESS and Christian seemed to dichotomize the sound picture. TOMAD at times would be more punky or gothic, while ZRN would move into territory that was more ambient, improvisatory and even post-modernist ‘classical’. It seemed like the two groups had a significant impact on each other – which makes sense with the personnel being partly the same, but yet able to morph under a different moniker and (for lack of a better term) ‘power dynamic shift’. At any rate – TOMAD was evolving and peeling away from the “Psych” or “Shoegaze” pigeonholes that seemed to be applied by the lesser astute of my colleagues over the decade.

With the departure Of Vilsgaard as co-lead, That left Soendergaard in full creative control of the group. This is one of the important dynamic shifts that lead to the content and feel of “Fragile Absolutes”. Far from being a 3-legged cat however – Soendergaards growth as an atmospheric composer and arranger in a more widescreen cinematic format was amplified. With the departure of Vilsgaard, also left the final leanings of TOMAD being justifiably a “Psych” outfit. The darker hues of something weightier and more substantial began covering the band like strangler vines around the once verdant trees of the woods.

“Fragile Absolutes” was recorded in several different locations – initial basic tracking began a few years ago in Aarhus’s Tapetown studios. Tapetown’s penchant for recording “Alternative” and “Indie” genres served as a template for a slightly more bombastic base coat to several of the numbers. For whatever reason, TOMAD decided to complete the recording in various settings where they could hack away at it. A cabin on the west coast of Jutland is mentioned (the closest thing Denmark has to an artic desert), and various bits and pieces here and there. I’m sure all of this adds to the mystery surrounding the record, but the end result and finished ‘product’ is a record that is produced by the band with an air of achieving perfection in whatever it is they first set out to do.

Knowing the genesis and long gestation of the record – I see this as a re-birth for the band. They might not notice it. A heap of things in the band’s own personal life have also necessitated the change. Some members became parents themselves, geographical and logistical strife caused periods of inactivity and even as I write, a global pandemic has altered the way the band has to plan live bookings. I hate to say something as pedestrian as: “you gotta roll with the punches”, but this record existing at all, let alone being the masterpiece that I truly deem it to be, is no small feat.

The Review

In my 2016 review of “The Flow In Between” I ended up calling it “Probably the greatest record to come out of Jutland”. Before we get going on the breakdown – I’ll have to amend that bold statement from 4 years ago and relegate “TFIB” to “Probably the best record to come out of Jutland as of 2015”. Fragile Absolutes has frogged its way into #1 for me. Shucks – I’m even going to have to one-up myself here. It’s my favorite Danish album, ever. There’s a LOT of great albums out of my adopted home country too. Laban 4 comes to mind….

“Fragile Absolutes” kicks off with the wallop of the monastic meets Viking cinema “Distances”. It’s evident that they are picking up in context where some of “The Flow In Between” leaves off (see: “Sisters”). There’s a heavier texture of orchestration underneath which basically weaves it way through the record. There are shimmering jangly bits layered with piano, synths and whatever the hell else they used bathed in subtle sustained feedback. This continues into the slightly dirgy title track “Fragile Absolutes”. The monotonic guitar lines giving way to almost plainsong layered choirs underpinned by some subtle tinkling on the ivories and a chugging and building rhythm section that leads into orchestral stabs at a climax and finally a resolution.

“Crippled Figurines” treads on more familiar territory in a sense. The Percussion is sidelined, instead being inferred by a gently strummed acoustic guitar set in counterpoint by the ever- present drone and simple right-handed synth melody, comfortingly recalling something that wouldn’t be out of place on a late 80s Depeche Mode album. All this mood is closer in reality to say, an early Fever Ray track rather than a gothic synth-pop piece and retaining the best integral bits of each.

With “Flawed Beliefs” we’re back to the structure of the opening gambit of the record – the ever-present drone met by delicate flights of neatly layered butterfly kisses from unidentified hands. “Flawed Beliefs” builds again upon a simple but effective passage, subtly and organically changing shape to a cacophony of doom until disappearing.

“Wear Your Skin” again pairs the dulcet tones of fluttering sprinkles of what sounds like hammer dulcimer with a tightly layered cauldron of foreboding flares in the lower register. You wouldn’t be wrong for hearing traces of Cocteau Twins or even “Pornography”-era Cure, hence why some folks can’t resist attaching a “Goth” accreditation to TOMAD on this album cycle. I’m not sure Goth is such a dirty word anymore – I’ve dabbled myself and in these Isolation times – I don’t think anyone should blame me. “Deconstructed and Dissolved” follows this mood perfectly, plunging the listener further down the k-hole of the world in flames while simultaneously being frozen in the wasteland that our collective esoterism has created.

“Entropy” and “Consoling Words” again bring us back to the now familiar overall vibe of the record. Infinite layers of aurally pleasing yet disturbing symphonic drones paired with a slowly plodding and ever-present funeral march of backbone.

You’d be forgiven for being lulled into a sense of not knowing where the album begins or ends at this point in the record – but the whole affair is masterfully shuttered with the somewhat surprisingly delicate and bare “Remnants” – where for the first time, a simple piano and vocal are to the fore of the mix. There is something heartbreakingly haunting about Soendergaard’s vocals on the closing number – finally pushed into the theoretical spotlight, yet still fragile and nearly incomprehensible. It’s a perfect ending to the constant wash of dark matter and symphonic pummeling of the previous 8 tracks.

“Fragile Absolutes” as a whole, is damaging in its epic-ness. I know “epic” is thrown around a lot in somewhat ironic terms by suited frat boys on TV, but I honestly can’t think of another term for what this LP puts you through. From the invocational wallop of the opening numbers and the adagios and lulls of the moodier tracks, it’s quite an emotional roller coaster. Everyone I know who has heard any of these tracks all drop references to “Soundtrack”, “Nordic” and “Dark”. I’m happy to agree, even if I can’t offer up a pigeonhole of a mini-sub sub- genre to attach to it. The remnants of Shoegaze and Neo-Psych are still evident, these are the kind of bands that TOMAD will always be billed with – but “Fragile Absolutes” is their most powerful and complete work to date. While the bulk of the writing may be Christian Soendergaard’s singular vision now, What the rest of the band add to the mix is staggeringly appropriate and serve the material with a reverence and aplomb that is rarely found in a band that have been through this massive of a personnel shift since their last record. My only wish on several of the songs is that there were more dynamic builds and decrescendos – adding to the romantic and cinematic appeal of some of the “louder” cuts on the LP. This only means that it can evolve and grow live in my book – and for my dollar, I can’t wait to see what TOMAD can do in full flight with this material and line-up at a proper concert whenever that is possible. That will have to occur in 2021 though. Thanks Corona virus.

Words - Bobby McBride

Order Vinyl/CD direct from band: https://talesofmurderanddust.bandcamp.com/

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#music reviews #newmusic #underground #indie #noise #vinyl #talesofmurderanddust #aarhus #tapetown #fuzzclub #2020 #denmark #shoegaze #doom #psych #goth

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