#lent album my beloved

[rozugold]

I forgot to actually post my top 5 n stuff

[queerprayers]

Johanna's essential holy week albums <3

The Prince of Egypt soundtrack (obviously)

Lent / Liturgical Folk

The Gregorian Lent and Easter / Pro Cantione Antiqua

Golgotha / Poor Bishop Hooper

Dear Wormwood / The Oh Hellos (especially "Caesar")

Music Inspired By The Story / compilation

Lent at Ephesus & Tenebrae at Ephesus / Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Music of the Passion of Jesus Christ / The London Fox Players

St. Matthew Passion / J.S. Bach (lyrics & translation here)

Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack (flawed but beloved; all the casts have their pros and cons so I'll leave it up to you.)

This isn't an album but my favorite hymn is "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" and I had to mention it

addition: Good Friday Eastern Sacred Songs / Fairuz (thank you marymagdalenestan my favorite instagram user)

edit: forgot to add! put yours in the tags/reblogs/replies! no judgement just more music in the world!

[fagdykevash]

ough, maybe 📚📣💖🎥 for the music asks?? sorry if these are too many i just am constantly looking for excuses to find new music

!!! YIPPEE i get to talk abt music!!

📚 A song or album you could write a term paper on: okok whenever i mention songs that i like i gotta talk abt lent by autoheart at least once. the lyrics are ehhhhhh? but where autoheart Thrives is the beat and the rythm of the song. every single line is incredibly satisfying and steadying. every time i blast my eardrums w it i feel so much better afterwards. one day i even listened to it on repeat for 7 hrs. it's just. so good.

📣 A lyric that feels like it is specifically calling you out: the romantic by lauryn marie speaks to my fuckin heart ToT specifically the opening lyric:

I have romanticized every little thing that you've said to me I didn't mean it, it just happens when you have an overactive imagination

pov ur main source of comfort was fanfiction for 3+ years tbh T-T i am doin better tho and don't relate to this song aaaas much anymore, but when i first heard it it felt like such a callout lmao

💖 A guilty pleasure song: i'm forever furious that patricia taxxon's hyperpop cover of caramelldansen isn't on spotify. the chorus sounds like glass breaking in my ears and i turn it up to full volume every time. i'm generally a sucker for anything hyperpop and this song is the epitome of that culture. aaaaaa it's so good!!!!

🎥 A song that gives you a really specific mental image: stay for a while by gibbz my beloved!! the beat is vv soothing but i just loveeee the picture it paints lyrically. but personally, every time i hear it i just think about writing on my shitty phone in my family's trailer on a trip i didn't want to go on and listening to this song on repeat. but that trip inadvertently got me a lot more comfortable w writing so it wasn't all bad!!

anyway tytyty for the ask!!!! i loveeeeee talkin abt my silly little songs lolol :D

[dimsilver]

get to know you ask from @paranorahjones - thank you! :)

Three ships I like: Faramir/Eowyn (very longtime favorite), Lockwood/Lucy (new beloveds), Katniss/Peeta (been on my mind again lately)

First ship: idk, maybe Caspian and the Star’s daughter?

Last album I listened to: Dear Wormwood by the Oh Hellos. It’s such a good Easter album ❤️

Last movie: The Incredibles (it’s such a classic)

Currently reading: My Side of the Mountain (I’m reading it to my sisters over facetime periodically; technically I’m also doing a Queen’s Thief reread but it’s been a week or two; recently finished reading The Word in the Wilderness for Lent/Easter)

Currently watching: BBC Merlin (for the first time!)

Currently consuming: not enough water for sure

Currently craving: sleep :)

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #23:

Landing on Water

Neil Young often struggles to read the fine print.

When he decided to save the world from environmental destruction he hired a film crew and wrote an entire album about transitioning his beloved Lincoln away from fossil fuels before putting any actual engineers to work. Thirty years earlier, after first seeing Star Wars, he assembled an entire crew of jawas to act as his roadies before checking in with George Lucas. Lucas sued; the Lincoln literally blew up.

And when, in 1986, Neil buckled up in David Geffin's private musical jet and got to work on his first truly ambitious record with broad popular potential in nearly a decide, he hired David Kortchmar as his co-pilot.

What the hell was Shakey thinking? Kortchmar had spent almost 20 years adding mediocre touches to Carole King and James Taylor records; he'd then gone on to mess up Linda Ronstadt's 70's sound and had recorded a solo record entitled Kootch. I'd love to paste in a sample of that album's horrors but it appears that no one, in the entire universe, has uploaded a single track from the album to YouTube.

Nevermind, here's the album's lead track; the kookiemonster himself probably posted it, sure that 50 years later his moment had finally come. I think you and me are the first person to ever listen to this song:

Geffen surely passed Danny Boy's resume to Neil at some point around 1985 and begged him to consider it. "Give me anything, Neil, anything. Just so long as it does not sound like Old Ways 2: Even Older."

Young, in turn, was surely about to use Kootchie's resume to wipe his dog Elvis's ass; but then he saw something of interest:

Kootch had produced Don Henley's smash 84 record Building the Perfect Beast. And Young surely knew that album's lead track; after all, it remains one of the best white man songs of the 80's:

Who wouldn't want to grab hold of the guy responsible for such a song? Neil was probably just as taken with the high end schmaltz in its video as he was with the driving, instantly classic tune: once he had Korcharmer in his pocket, Neil surely fantasized that he too would soon be all over MTV, shirtless and grinning, surrounded by fawning jawas and buxom ladies.

But he should have read the fine print!

Building the Perfect Beast is not perfect. Indeed, it is alternatively transcendent and unlistenable. Spend a moment with the credits and you'll see why: the 4 good songs feature Tom Petty's Heartbreakers; Ben Tench, Stan Lynch and, most importantly, Petty's lead guitarist Mike Campbell lent Henley their mighty hands as he deftly climbed out of his rock and roll casket just moments before Geffen ordered him interned in the earth.

But the rest of the album? It's pure Kootchie Kootchie.

I dare you to try and survive all of Man With a Mission, one of the non-Heartbreaker tracks. Somebody get me a bucket...

... cause I need to spew chunks all over Henley's manicured perm.

And Boys of Summer itself? It's a Mike Campbell demo that Tom Petty himself took a pass on before Henley seized it and wrote some (admittedly pretty great) lyrics. And what, you ask, did the Cokemiester do on the track? He probably suggested more synths, thereby earning himself a co-writer credit; happily Henley passed.

Neil clearly missed these vital details. He thought he was gonna get his very own Boys of Summer vibe in the studio and, oh boy, that's not what he got. (And just imagine for a moment how cool it would have been if Young had hired The Heartbreakers instead of Danny Cockstapler. Imagine Landing on Torpedoes nestled majestically in Neil's catalog.)

My famous brother has ideas of his own about all this. He recently claimed in print that Landing on Water, the record Neil and Handy Danny ultimately made, is better than Trans.

Well, huh.

On the one hand, my brother is famous for a whole bunch of reasons. I mean check out his blog right now and you can get your hands on his first solo record, which he and others claim sounds like Yo La Tengo meets Guided By Voices (they're wrong; rather, it sounds like my brother meets Arthur Lee, as produced by Robert Smith) for the very Dollar Bin price of absolutely nothing.

But on the other hand, he once claimed that Dylan's Live at Budokan was good, and some of you remember how I shredded his soul and stomped upon his dignity in response.

So let's put him to the test once again and give Landing on Water a fresh listen. I just hope I don't get korched in the process...

Side 1 opens with a lot of keyboard flatulence; in Weight of the World it sounds like Neil is hauling around all of Young Dan's new wave records on his back, rather than the world's mass, and they all seem to suck. Neil does supply a sensitive bridge chock full of self-pity. But it's hard to pity a guy who chose to make this record with D. Corkboard instead of Crazy Horse.

Next up is Violent Side and the song is certainly interesting. Typically, male penned confessionals focus on self-abuse and lady troubles. But here Neil counsels himself to take a chill pill before he breaks someone's face.

It should be great. But Young lets D. Crappy dress the track in plodding, anthemic garbage, complete with a choir. The song is about anger; Neil should have brought in Billy Talbot and David Briggs to kick Danny's wine cork sniffing ass.

Hippie Dream is, deservedly, the best known track from Landing on Water. The song feels important from the get-go and the Crockpot man's arrangement is less busy than otherwise on the record. Everything here is enjoyable sinister.

I imagine Neil had a fairly rough time trying to explain this song to Crosby and Stills a year or so later when they got back together on Young's ranch to make the mostly terrible American Dream.

Neil: Hippie Dream is not really about you two; it's more of a feeling thing, you know?

Crosby: Cut the crap, Neil. You said our wooden ship was capsized in excess, and that's just not true. Somebody hand me my golden goblet of unicorn milk; I'm thirsty.

Neil: No, seriously, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings!

Stills: Dude, what are feelings?

The album's fourth song, Bad News Beat, is pretty dull filler. What I find fascinating is that Yo La Tengo covered it in the late 80's. The song is a pretty good vehicle for Ira Kaplan's cranky nerd vocal stylngs, sure, but their performance mostly makes me realize just how earnestly people sat down to consider this record back in the day. Everyone really needed Shakey to resume putting out important music, and they didn't know if it would ever happen again. And so they seized on mediocre fare, talking themselves into its worth. Happily for them and us Ragged Glory was just around the corner...

Side 1 culminates with a pretty great song which, like just about everything on the record, would be much better as a Crazy Horse epic. I've written about Touch the Night a bit elsewhere. But the video, which is just like the one for Boys of Summer if you consider pigs and pigeons as basically the same thing, always deserves another posting.

OOOOOOO-ooo-WA! Hey, everyone: touch the night.

Side 2 is a bit less interesting. People on the Street sounds like it was intended for The Village People; Hard Luck Stories sounds like it was written and performed on an Apple 2E, I Got a Problem is better by the Shocking Pinks and Drifter, which features an annoying "did somebody step on a duck?" riff, totally sucks, in spite of its fairly gnarly guitar soloing.

But the second to last song, Pressure, is my favorite thing on the record. Packed tight with, well, pressure, it rocks, kinda like you're suddenly enjoying a terrible trip to the dentist.

While listening to this song I start to feel like my famous brother is right yet again. Maybe Landing on Water really is better than Trans... then again, maybe not.

Regardless, not even Danny Korchmar can ruin this frantic song. Go Neil go.

Cheers Everyone.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, USA - August 9, 1982

(x)

This is an eventful US Hot Space show played to an arena that is far from full. In fact, a second night in East Rutherford was originally planned for August 10, but later moved to New Haven due to the low ticket sales.

Roger's voice is uncharacteristically hoarse tonight, and he struggles on some of his backing vocals in Somebody To Love.

Towards the end of his vocal exchange with the audience after Save Me, Freddie tells them, "I'm gonna make you sing like Aretha Franklin", like he did during Now I'm Here in Milton Keynes a couple months back. But this time he doesn't succeed, as he gives up after only one line. "I knew you were from New Jersey. You had to be. I mean, I've been listening to Gilda Radner. She's right!"

Brian starts Get Down Make Love (which segues into his solo spot) with his John Birch copy. A bit over three minutes into his solo spot he breaks a string, and soon turns off the analog delays, trying to make the best of the situation for a brief while (the other five strings go out of tune when you break a string on an electric guitar with floating tremolo, so one must hold the whammy bar down in a specific place for the guitar to remain in tune - not an easy task!). But he ultimately gives up, and takes the guitar off and hurls it over his stack of Vox cabinets (the one and only time he did this), snapping it in half. Some audience members watch in bewilderment as they have witnessed the normally gentle and soft-spoken May lash out in frustration. Others cheer the 'coolness' factor. A roadie, visible to the audience, picks up a piece of the Birch guitar and holds it up for a brief moment. The beleagured axeman then switches to his Flying V, and he and Roger (barely) finish the segment, not before that guitar, too, goes out of tune.

The next song is Body Language, and the front of house tech switches on Mercury's harmonizer a verse too early, giving "you got red lips" a bit too much redness.

Brian (who hasn't spoken much on stage on this tour since Love Of My Life was his usual speaking spot) says a few words after Under Pressure. "People of New Jersey, we seem like good friends. I tell you, we've seen you a lot of times. We've been around quite a while and we've done some strange things here and there. And now and again we've done a song which actually means something, and I think this is one of them. This is a song Freddie wrote for the last album. This is called Life Is Real." Queen performed the ballad only a few times.

After the song ends, Freddie asks, "How are we doing with the guitars?" He tells the audience, "I think tonight's the night we're gonna break as many guitars as we've got. If anybody in the audience has a spare guitar, bring it over here!" Someone in the audience replies, "I've got three!" He continues, "OK, we're gonna do a song that requires everybody on their feet, because I mean, you gotta... I know you guys are very cool and laid back, this is a really dirty song. You know, it comes from here." No doubt a crude gestitulation follows. "It's from the c*nt. It's called Fat Bottomed Girls!" Brian lets out a lot of aggression in the last couple minutes of the song, even playing some heavy syncopated lines before the final few bars.

Frustration abounds in Freddie as well, as he responds to a drone he (and everyone else) is hearing. "Before this next song, we'd like... what is that fucking noise? It's been driving me crazy all fucking night. I bet it's not doing you guys any good, either."

It takes a little while for the Red Special to be restrung, so Brian plays his Flying V for a few songs, according to a fan who attended the show (although Brian stated in a January 1983 interview that he acquired the Flying V *because* of this incident - but this claim is questionable, as pictures from last week's concert in Toronto reveal his Flying V on a guitar stand side stage). These few songs sound different with this new guitar tone - particularly the Bohemian Rhapsody solo. He would return with his beloved home-made guitar for the hard rock section of Bohemian Rhapsody, but he wouldn't fully regain his composure for the rest of the evening.

In the second verse of We Are The Champions, a flippant comment from Mercury sums up the evening: "It's been no bed of roses, I can tell you!"

A fan wrote to Brian at his Soapbox about this night:

"During the show you had problems with The Old Lady and came out with the Birch copy. Then the birch copy had some problems and you threw it and your roadie missed it I think because he held up something that looked like a broken Birch Guitar. You then played a good part of the concert on a Flying V. I remember wishing I had a camera to see you playing on the V. You played Life Is Real while repairs were being done. Freddie even joked if someone had an extra guitar to please bring it up. After the break in BORHAP you came back with the Old Lady."

Brian's reply:

"You evidently saw a special night ... the only night when I ever threw a guitar off stage in despair ! And, yes, I did hit the ground behind the stage - I'm pretty sure I thought I was throwing to someone, but evidently I misjudged it. And, yes, its neck snapped clean through. I kept it for a while, intending to get it fixed. But we decided it would probably never be good at staying in tune, because it wasn't a very rigid instrument. And not being able to get it in tune was what drove me to distraction that night, and this was what led to its demise! As I remember, this was on top of having problems with the Red Special in the beginning - in the heat of the moment, this was the final straw ! I imagine your bootleg of the show will reveal the problems I was having. These things usually make me feel ashamed, frustrated, angry, in the moment... I don't like giving people less than the best. So this picture really does tell a story ... a unique story. I wonder what happened to the Flying V ... As for the Birch guitar, well, we lent it to Guild, to compare, while they were making their Red specials under license in the 80's. Then we all forgot about it for many years. Then it turned up, and thanks to a friend (I think I told the story here) it now resides back with me. We have decided to keep it as it is, in pieces, just for historical interest, for the same reasons as before."

Brian has since reunited with the guitar, apparently after it was purchased on eBay. Its story and a couple pictures of it can be seen at Brian's website. It was repaired by Andrew Guyton, although it wasn't a complete restoration as Brian wanted to see exactly where he broke it.

The photo above was taken by Gary Gershoff. Here are a few pro photos from the show:

These photos were taken after the show, at a party in New York:

(x)

Fan Stories

“Queen played a great show, but when Brian started his Brighton Rock solo, he broke a string on "The Old Lady" and you could tell he was not happy. He actually threw that guitar at the stand and it fell over and me and my fellow RS/Brian/Queen fanatic buddy looked at each other in astonishment. He quickly was given the John Birch copy by his guitar tech and continued his solo. Well about two minutes go by and you could tell he was not happy with the Birch and then a string breaks on that guitar. He was on Deacons side of the stage and he runs over to his side towards his wall of Vox amps and hurls the guitar over the stack. His guitar tech brings out the Gibson Flying V and Brian finishes the solo. At the end of the solo the tech brings back "The Old Lady" restrung as Queen kicks back in. I believe at this point Brian was doing the solo in the middle of Now I'm Here. Some time between one of the next songs the Tech emerges from behind the stack to show Brian and the entire audience the result of Brians outrage as he holds up the two pieces of The John Birch. My friend and I looked at each other and knew we had just seen a bit of Queen history. From what I remember it was a case of the neck snapping off from the body. I remember a few months ago somehow the John Birch had turned up and Brian was curious about where and when it happened.” - Todd

[shemakesmusic-uk]

INTERVIEW: Sizzy Rocket.

Sizzy Rocket has released her third studio album, ANARCHY. The 10-track album includes previous heavy-hitting singles, 'That Bitch,' 'Smells Like Sex,' and 'Rollerskating,' as well as 7 brand new tracks.

To create ANARCHY, Sizzy rented locations in Laurel Canyon and Downtown LA, where she lived, wrote, and recorded the album over the course of 8 days. By fully immersing herself in the world of ANARCHY, Sizzy was able to deliver her most confident and authentic work to date. The record is full of bold and evocative surprises at every turn, juxtaposing slow burners like 'Spill My Guts' with in-your-face anthems like 'Straight To Mars' (feat. Wes Period).

Sizzy challenges what it means to be a pop artist in 2020. Rather than holding herself to a rigid set of standards, she constantly pushes the limits of her own musicality and creativity, ruthlessly coloring outside the lines in the process. Since her 2016 debut album THRILLS, Sizzy has built up a rabid online fanbase. Over the past few years she has continued to deliver beloved records, like her 2017 mixtape, Hot Summer, and her 2019 sophomore album, GRRRL, the latter of which was supported with a sold-out US tour. When she’s not writing her next hit record, Sizzy is trading fan mail with her cult, building her independent record label Lost Chrrry, designing and packaging her own merchandise, creating and distributing zines, and booking her own tours.

We had a chat with Sizzy all about ANARCHY, her DIY approach, her dream girl supergroup and more! Read the interview below.

Hi Sizzy! How are you? How have you been keeping yourself sane during this pandemic?

"I've been keeping sane by slowing wayyyyy down. I've been taking my time making breakfast in the morning, staying in the bubble bath for a full hour, meditating, reading a lot... those kinds of things."

You've just released your new album ANARCHY. What can you tell us about the record and what does it mean to you?

"I can say that it's aggressive — the record top to bottom is a pretty wild ride, an emotional rollercoaster. This album means everything to me. It came out in one big creative burst and we wrote and recorded the whole thing in 8 days. It's like I needed to express this and physically get this chaotic energy out of my body."

How is ANARCHY different (or similar) to your previous two full lengths Thrills and Grrrl? Were there any musical influences that you were able to incorporate on this record that you hadn’t previously?

"I definitely took the reins with ANARCHY in a way that I never have before. I immersed myself in the production and directed the whole thing. THRILLS I had no creative control over and GRRRL felt more like feeling around in the dark. Making ANARCHY I felt like I knew what I was doing, for once. I knew what I wanted."

What was your favourite part recording ANARCHY? Did you learn anything new during the creative/recording process this time around?

"My favorite part was just being "in" it. I lived at both locations where we were recording, so I would wake up and just go and go and go until I had to kick everyone out and go to sleep again. I think being immersed in the work and in the world of ANARCHY was essential. It definitely lent itself to the intensity of the record."

What do you hope fans will take away from ANARCHY?

"I hope it fuels you to envision a brighter future and express your truest selves! In the face of anything!"

You have a DIY approach to everything you do as an artist. How important is that to you and why?

"Being DIY wasn't really a choice - it's just that no one was executing the work the way that I needed them to! Details are important to me. So is presentation. Everything I do has meaning, and you're just not going to find that depth or that level of care in the corporate world. So fine — I'll be DIY. I’m never ever going to compromise who I am."

Outside of your solo work, you've also written for all the cool girls of pop, from Noah Cyrus to Bea Miller. Would you say it's easier or more challenging to write for other artists?

"It's just a different experience all together! I love working with other artists and helping them tell their story. But I was itching to tell mine, which is why I started focusing on my own music."

If you were to form a supergroup with other female pop artists, who would you pick and why?

"Ooooooo. I mean, I think me, Caroline Polachek, Charli XCX, and Kim Petras would be an insane supergroup!!!"

If there was one thing you could change about the music world today, what would it be?

"It's a strange time for music and being a new artist. The balance of power in the music world is fucked, which is why I stepped out of it, created my own label, and now operate in my own world."

And finally, what do you have planned for the rest of the year and beyond? I expect you’re excited to get out on the road to tour the album when it is safe to do so?

"I’m going to be on tour the SECOND it's safe to do so! But we have a lot of special content and some merch goodies coming this year. Get your record players ready!"

ANARCHY is out now.

Photo credit: Terri Thomas

[bentenharuki]

I generally don’t do these but...

I will do this because it’s a badge of honor and a thank you for @todayintokyo who gives me a daily vibe out of my second fav Country in the world (first one is my own, of course. My messy, chaotic, genius Italy).

So for everyone interested (I won’t tag people either... if you are among my 250+ readers, do it as freely as you like to share this unexpected hard time along others. Sharing makes us all feel less stranded I guess :)) 

1. Are you staying home from work/school? Yep. My University (Milano Bicocca) holds in-house lessons and curses and also exams and testing are/will be online. What I miss most are the lab works and the exchanges with foreign schools. I took one a few months ago in London and I was supposed to have another in May but... NOPE, of course.

2. If you’re staying home, who’s there with you? I am alone in my apartment. At first it was supposed to be shared rent with somebody else but then my parents just bought this out and lent it to me. I know. I am spoiled. But very grateful for what I have. I always try to give back the best I can because no one has merits in being born in a family instead of another. (pieces of second-rate philosophy in all my LONG answers courtesy of my mum and her influence on me. She’s a University Professor and her field is.. guess what.. ETHICS PHILOSOPHY)

3. Do you have pets to keep you company? Nope. Not allowed. But I like cats. Cats. CATS. They are elegant, refined, very clean, and they give you consideration and affection ONLY if they like you. I prefer to conquer somebody’s love instead than to have it by default. Then I am naturally a cat person instead of a dog’s. But I like all animals (I like snakes as well, so my range is pretty wide ;)), even though I don’t feel missing any in  house. Generally I would be out of home most of the day and no pet would be happy in staying that much alone. I miss my grandparents’ kitty tho :)

4. Who do you miss the most? Family. Friends. Meeting new people when out. And... (is it fine to say it?) Well... in these lockdown times I miss... human touch. (You get what kind). I was seeing a guy when this all started and my old boyf also came back into the picture somehow. All on hold. And I avoid to think how that makes me feel because even in case I’d figure it out, what comes if one can’t act on the awareness? Exactly. So I put it all in a LONG pause. But yeah... I miss contacts. A LOT.

5. When was the last time you left your home? I go out every Thursday to buy all my grocery stuff. I am very methodic. My supermarket is pretty near and it’s BIG and I get there right before it opens (well... one hour almost before it opens, so I can be among the firsts in line). I look like a ninja: very sporty and technically dressed (like for a running competition!) with clothes and shoes which are easy washable, tech mask (it is for cycling competition, with filters specifically medical: the mask is washable as well after you’ve used it, while the filter is obviously not), cotton fit gloves and over them medical gloves (I can’t wear directly medical gloves because my skin is very sensitive and I suffer from nickel allergia, which makes latex gloves a NO NO directly on skin), teck googles which cover also the side of my face (those are from cycling items too) and of course PODS in my ear because I can’t live without music :)

6. What was the last thing you bought? I bought online a few garden tools for my biggest balcony. I have ZERO skill with plants (and I am supposed to become a biologist... the nerve! LOL) but I am keen at making grow at least rosemery for my recipes. I have a little peach tree and it is all fine so far. I have hope I can do better and anyway I have time now ;)

7. Is quarantine driving you insane or are you finally relaxed? I try to keep my routine as it was before. I wake up and perform all my tasks exactly as I was doing before this all started. I am VERY organized and to lax on that would ruin me, so I carefully focus on what I can control the best I can. It feels strange to say it maybe but... this way my mood isn’t particularly affected by this heavy revolution in my (and everyone elses’s) life.

8. Are you a homebody? NOPE. I love people, I love my Milan and its being always full of people everywhere. I love living in my town a TON, I love meeting friends anywhere, go dancing, I love to live my University life in this beautiful and renewed part of Milan; I like being surrounded by my people and meeting new ones. So being stuck at home would seem insufferable for me. But I learnt from this (there’s always something to learn in any experience) that I can be surprisingly ok with staying home too. I came to know better my neighbors. I feel a sense of community with everyone living nearby and I have come to love my domesticity too. It was a surprise for me first ^.^

9. What movies have you watched recently? In Italy, Italia 1 channel has had the WONDERFUL idea to rebroadcast all Harry Potter saga every Monday and Thursday. Today and tomorrow there are the last two installments, so I can say that is what I looked out the most for as in movie things these past weeks (funny how I never particularly adored the books of HP, I mean, I liked them but... being a Tolkien’s devotee Rowlings’ literary efforts always seemed lackluster to me.. and still I have always liked the movies. It’s incoherent I know ;)). But I have Sky at home so I can watch whatever movie I like to whenever I want to. And that leads to VERY little watch actually. I am reading a ton though. I watch what passes on in the National channels actually, out of digital and cable and decide to watch it or not. For instance last Friday Rai 1 (main Italian Channel) broadcasted one of my fav movies from the past three years, GIFTED (with Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer) and I rewatched it with immense pleasure.

10. An event that you were looking forward to that got cancelled? OLYMPICS. I was supposed to be back in Japan with a a couple of friends and my bro for experience the Olympics (especially the volleyball tournaments) between July and August and that got (of course) cancelled. We plan to move it all to next year of course. But it hurts SO MUCH because it was easily what I was looking forward to BEST for all 2020. Hands down.

11. What’s the best and worst thing you’ve had to cancel? Look up. For the other question, I never plan things I don’t like (or at least I try my best not to) and I almost never find myself in the position of being happy for something I had going on which I had to pass due to circumstances. I am a very honest (sometimes to the point of bluntness, though with age I got trained in the fine art of diplomacy, which for me is declined especially in the “IGNORE WHAT IS NOT WORTHY degree) person and if there is something I don’t like I tend to not get involved with it in the first place.

12. Do you have any new hobbies? Eh... the longest list... I love so many things. Sport don’t count as hobbies to me because I treat them as part of my daily life constantly. So take them off. I like to write, to draw, to paint... I like reading, I like learning... I am a tech geek; I like gaming (but that I have to cut it or it would absorb me too much)... I like TRAVELING (that is cut off too of course nowadays), and many other things so I guess I don’t literally have SPACE for new hobbies. My many ones makes it impossible to fall for new things though lately I am becoming a better cook out of needs ;)

13. What are you out of? My lists are made as soon my things become “two items in from having 0″. This way I can’t run out of anything. Did I say already I am a HUGE control freak? THAT ;)

14. What music are you listening to? My itunes collections lists so far 12376 ALBUMS. Then I have the random songs. Latest one I bought (because I buy them all) is Achille Lauro’s latest 16 Marzo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb-9RESbeWA

I am also listening a lot to one of my bro’s fav bands Radiohead and as usual a lot to my beloved Imagine Dragons. My mum and dad are also telling me to listen to Bill Withers (who recently passed away) whole discography because he was amazing. I love many music genres. I love ALL which makes the spirit soar and rage and evolve and love and cry and hope.

15. What are you reading? So far in quarantine I read 5 books. I have now to start ORIGINS by Dan Brown. I pick the books I have left unread randomly and that was the pick this time (people gift me with books constantly because they know I am a bookworm when I have spare time).

16. What are you doing for self-care? Keep loving myself and life and the world exactly the way I used to before this all started.

17. Are you exercising? Yup. Tapis roulant, golf training, stepper (all in my house lucky me) and mat and weight training. I have a routine for which I have to train at least one hour a day. NO EXCEPTION. I miss swimming but I will do. I am also in recovery after January’s knee meniscus intervention so my schedules are also taking that into consideration.

18. How’s your toilet paper supply? I'm OK. :)

19. Have you made any changes to your hair during quarantine? Nope. I love to stylize my hair but I don’t have specific cuts. It grows long and then I play with them hairstyles: braids, buns, ponytails, partitions and the likes.. But I have bleached hair and I had to follow my hairdresser advice because I can’t allow ugly roots to take dominance of me ^.^ So I bought the necessary to self bleach them. No need to say as soon as I will be able to, Hairdressers and Massages and SPA will be my first destination ^.^ (beside visiting family and friends of course).

I am fairly sure I put lots of typos and mistakes in this but I have my online lesson just starting in 8 minutes and I can’t review this (I generally never do it anyway). So forgive me and have a beautiful day ;)

STAY SAFE OUT THERE!!! Hugs K.

[boogywoogy]

“Water Bearer”—Sally Oldfield (1978)

This is a silly, beautiful, and beloved record from 1978. Sally Oldfield comes from a musical family, her brother being Mike Oldfield, whose record Tubular Bells was in the UK top ten for a time after its release in 1973 (and lent a song to the soundtrack of The Exorcist). Sally has a new-age sensibility and a certain dorkiness that I find deeply charming and sincere, and it’s out in full force here on her debut. Water Bearer’s eponymous first track is driven by a rollicking marimba refrain that gives way to shiny synths and classical guitar for the chorus, while Sally sings of an aquarius hottie. The first track exemplifies the astrological, celestial and natural themes of this record, but the deep affection I have for this album also stems from how unabashedly Sally sings about Elves on the next track.

“Songs of the Quendi” is a four-part ballad that is literally about Tolkien’s Elves from The Lord of the Rings (the “Quendi” refers to the name the Elves gave themselves upon first awakening, meaning “those who speak in voices”). The lyrics, often in Elvish, refer to the three rings of power bestowed upon the race of Elves, Galadriel’s return to the Undying Lands, and the Elves’ rich relationship with the land and the forest. Suffice it to say she loves Tolkien!

The second side of this record continues to be characterized by ornate guitar, funky synths, and Sally’s lilting and acrobatic voice, which has a remarkable range. Part of what makes this record so wholehearted to me lies in the quality of Oldfield’s voice, which bounces between throaty lows and dreamlike highs in a constant vibrato. Sally has a remarkable instinct for theatrics and drama, which means this record feels akin to a troubadour’s medieval lyric-poem. This is one of my favorite albums of all time… please give it a listen!

[your-fave-is-catholic]

Your Fave Is Catholic: Hayden Panettiere

Known for: Actress, singer, model, & activist, she has done several well known & beloved projects from various media of entertainment. She started her career as a child, & to this day continues to find success in her work. Television projects she is known for include One Life to Live, A Will of Their Own, Guiding Light, Ally McBeal, Normal, Malcolm in the Middle, Heroes, Punk’d, Nashville, & many many more appearances on other shows. Films she is known for include A Bug’s Life, The Object of My Affection, Message in a Bottle, Dinosaur, Remember the Titans, Raising Helen, The Dust Factory, Tiger Cruise, Racing Stripes, Ice Princess, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Fireflies in the Garden, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Scream 4, The Forger, & many more. She has also lent her voice to video games as well, including The Mark of Kri, Until Dawn, & her most well known being the voice of Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series. Besides acting, she is also a singer, & she has recorded several songs for the albums related to the television series Nashville. She is also an activist who has supported many charities, her most well known being her efforts to help protect dolphins & end the practice of whaling once & for all. 

Evidence of Faith: According to a page on LucyWho.com, it states that Hayden is Catholic, & was raised Catholic. There is also this Kohl’s advertisement that shows Hayden wearing a Catholic school girl uniform, though whether it’s for the beauty of it or her loyalty to the faith is uncertain. That said, while she is Catholic, she also doesn’t let that stop her from the roles she chooses. In an interview with Preview Online, she states: “I’ve never really based my choice of films on a religious belief… I believe that people need to just live life and enjoy it.” This may indicate that she’s not the most religious person out there, but that’s still speculation.

[trickhosken]

Stephen Malkmus: Groove Denied (2019)

Golden-hour 8 p.m. lighting lent my parents’ living room an eerie purple hue. My father had just gone to bed (yes with the sun still half-up) and my mom sat near the front window scribbling in her crossword book. Seemed like as good a time as any to let Groove Denied—the spooky, infamously delayed and uncharacteristic album from Stephen Malkmus—drip through my tinny laptop speakers. Sounds here don’t comfort. They poke and prod like surgical tools, the only salve being Malkmus’ trademark detached-yet-emotionally accessible vocals. “Belziger Faceplant” sounds just like the foreign, violent injury its title suggests. My mother heard it all but didn’t speak on it. And yet I was comforted. The open home, languishing hallways evaporating sun, the pillows in the back bedroom—and now a beloved voice. The first time I listened, the week prior, I sent a dumb text message: “It might be bad.” Now, “Viktor Borgia,” the New Order clone with a creepy, skinking melody, has quickly become one of my favorite songs of the year. It follows its own logic, like a dream. Could be that I heard the master himself talk about its origin a few days prior. Then he played “Spit on a Stranger” and followed it up with some of these deranged glitchy new cuts and, well, you don’t forget a moment like that. It would’ve been right around 8:30 or so. No windows in that room though. A shame.

[sexydeathparty]

Mark Lanegan, Screaming Trees And Queens Of The Stone Age Singer, Has Died Aged 57

Mark Lanegan, singer of the grunge band Screaming Trees, has died aged 57.

The musician was also a member of rock bands Queens Of The Stone Age and The Gutter Twins, and collaborated with artists such as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.

A statement posted on Mark’s official Twitter account said he died at his home in Killarney, Ireland, on Tuesday morning.

The statement reads: “Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.  

“A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley.  No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy.”

Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.  A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley.  No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy

— mark lanegan (@marklanegan) February 22, 2022

Mark joined Screaming Trees in the 1980s and went on to produce eight studio albums until the group’s split in 2000.

He first appeared on Queens of the Stone Age’s Rated R album in 2000 and lent his voice and songwriting talent to several songs.

He later formed The Gutter Twins with Afghan Whigs vocalist Greg Dulli. The musician also featured on the 1995 album Above by Mad Season.

As frontman of Screaming Trees, the 6ft 2in star produced some of the genre’s most psychedelic and experimental music.

Formed in 1985, their commercial breakthrough came with the release of 1992’s Sweet Oblivion, which was buoyed by the popularity of grunge bedfellows such as Nirvana.

The album birthed their biggest single, the soaring Nearly Lost You.

When they disbanded in 2000 amid creative differences, Mark went on to establish himself as a varied and successful solo artist, working under numerous aliases and with artists including English multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood and cellist Isobel Campbell.

In 2020, he published a “no holds barred” memoir called Sing Backwards And Weep, in which the musician covered everything from “addiction to touring, petty crime, homelessness and the tragic deaths of his closest friends”, among them Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley.

Last year saw him publish another book, a memoir called Devil In A Coma, in which he detailed his battle with Covid-19. In an excerpt from the book, published by The Guardian, he told of being placed in a medically induced coma while in hospital in County Kerry, Ireland.

An excerpt says: “From the moment I was brought out of my chemically induced sleep and was told what had happened and where I had been, I was determined to survive this nightmare, even though I had very little say, actually, no say in the matter, and had zero ammo to fight with.”

Speaking to the PA News Agency about his book and friends, he said in 2020: “I think about them both a lot. And the book actually restarted that thought process all over again.

“I kind of made peace with a lot of that stuff but it doesn’t mean you stop thinking about those guys or stop missing them or stop loving them.”

His last album, Straight Songs Of Sorrow, arrived to critical acclaim in 2020.

Throughout his career he collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Massive Attack, Moby, Pearl Jam, the Eagles of Death Metal and more.

Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel has led tributes to his former bandmate and “big brother”.

May you truly Rest in Peace Big Brother @marklaneganpic.twitter.com/XwgO10bRkL

— mark pickerel (@mtpickerel) February 22, 2022

Very sad news about Mark Lanegan. "in The Fade" by @qotsa is one of the greatest songs of all time. nearly lost you is incredible 💔

— Mark Ronson (@MarkRonson) February 22, 2022

Devastated by this-heartbreaking a huge talent on so many levels-such an amazing voice and all those beautiful words-love and respect to family friends and all those who loved his unique artistic vision💔💔💔 https://t.co/7UszbGg7iz

— Manic Street Preachers (@Manics) February 22, 2022

Mark Lanegan was a lovely man. He led a wild life that some of us could only dream of. He leaves us with fantastic words and music! Thank god that through all of that he will live forever. RIP Mark. Sleep well. Love Hooky. X pic.twitter.com/Xnx76y68YC

— Peter Hook (@peterhook) February 22, 2022

MESSAGE FROM IGGY: Mark Lanegan, RIP, deepest respect for you. Your fan, Iggy Pop

— Iggy Pop (@IggyPop) February 22, 2022

Aww man, Mark Lanegan.

— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) February 22, 2022

Oh no. Terrible news that Mark Lanegan has left us. Safe travels man - you’ll be missed 💔

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) February 22, 2022

Hearing about Mark Lanegan passing away has properly stopped me in my tracks. I’m absolutely gutted. Met him on a couple of occasions and I was nervous because I loved him so much. He was a perfect gentleman, really kind. One of THE great singers of the last 30 years. So sad 💔

— Badly Drawn Boy (@badly_drawn_boy) February 22, 2022

Killarney councillor and publican Niall O’Callaghan said people in the town were saddened to learn of Mark’s death.

He told the PA news agency: “On behalf of Killarney and the people, we would like to sincerely send our condolences to the family of Mr Lanegan.

“We are all in the town saddened to learn of the untimely death. Killarney is a small town and we all know each other; it’s a tight-knit community.

“It is a sad day for the town when you lose anyone who lived here. For a man of the stature of Mark Lanegan, it was a real honour that he choose to live in Killarney.”

from HuffPost UK - Athena2 - All Entries (Public) https://ift.tt/zo09E5d via IFTTT

[solplparty]

Jonathan Ogden - Alright | Songs from Home https://youtu.be/ChFbOFRQXpw 매일 새로운 음악을 만나고 싶다면 다날엔터 구독( ღ'ᴗ'ღ ) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmctTnUfbeoycGhieZQAmw/ 🎤 Artist : Jonathan Ogden 🎵 Song : Alright 👉 Album : Songs from Home - #JonathanOgden #Alright #SongsfromHome Along with many places in the world, a lot of 2020 was spent at home. Near the beginning of the lockdown, the verse from Matthew 6 came to mind “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret…” and I took this time as an invitation to return to the secret place of prayer and worship at home. It was a special time, and many ways felt like a returning to the place that I first felt inspired to make music. I began to write songs from this place. Simple songs of worship and devotion. Songs that brought hope in the mundane moments. Songs of wrestling with all the thoughts and emotions that come from being alone with the Lord. In some ways I even wondered if these songs were to be shared. I remember the day when I started to consider recording these songs as an EP. It seemed a little thing, but I thought about how nice it would be to use a nylon string guitar to capture the close, acoustic feel of home-made songs. The very next day, somebody I had never met reached out to tell me that they wanted to send me a nylon string guitar! Within a week it had arrived at my home, and I took it as one of those little moments that God smiled upon the idea of capturing these songs. While much of this EP was made alone in my room, I was able to work with some great friends to bring an added beauty and depth to the songs. I had the honour of sending the project to Dave Wilton (A Boy And His Kite, Loud Harp) to do the mastering at his studio in Lafayette, CO. Joanne Clara provided cello for Sufficient For Me, Joe Bae added some bells and guitar lines to Love That Never Ends, Shaun Ng added violin to Jesus My Beloved ­ a song written over zoom with my friend David from Kindred Worship, who also sings on the second half of the song. Amy Lewis also lent some of her photography for the singles and cover art, capturing little moments of beauty and light in her own home. This is a deeply personal project and in many ways an exercise in restraint. After releasing a beat tape full of layers, samples and various instruments, I wanted this EP to reflect simplicity. I approached most of the arrangements thinking ‘what can I leave out?’ rather than ‘what can I add in?’. Choosing to leave behind many of the layers, techniques and effects I often use on my songs. I hope it encourages people in their own homes, and gives language to their conversations with the Lord. Enjoy! [Credit] All songs written / recorded / produced / mixed by: Jonathan Ogden Except Jesus My Beloved, written by Jonathan Ogden and David Yoon Mastering: Dave Wilton at Coalesce Studio Cello on 'Sufficient For Me' by Joanne Clara Guitar, Bells on 'Love That Never Ends' by Joe Bae Strings on 'Jesus My Beloved' by Shaun Ng Vocals on 'Jesus My Beloved' by David Yoon (Kindred Worship) Photography by Amy Lewis Video production by Jay Tran ⓒ Danal Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. - For More Information'◡'✿ http://music.danalenter.co.kr/ https://www.instagram.com/danalent_music/ http://www.facebook.com/DanalentMusic #다날엔터테인먼트 #DanalEntertainment #다날엔터뮤직 DanalEntertainment

[gundampilot]

Inspired by @dialup2002 to post some more old stuff. :) This is a desktop screenshot I posted on my DevART account January 2005. Kicking it with Windows XP, but I loved/preferred the classic style that I was accustom to (95-98-ME). I made the wallpaper used, but I’m having trouble finding a copy of it. I’ll prob try to remake it in non-1024x768 resolution lmao. Not sure if this is from 2005. It might have been from 2004, but I hadn’t posted it yet. I did that a lot. Some fun notes about some of the software icons pictured (lots of info):

Firefox - THE FIRST BROWSER TO DO TABS OMG. I was a huge advocate for Firefox, especially in its initial releases. They were doing things on the internet nobody had really seen up to that point, and made it popular! Since I had so many issues (as most people do) with Internet Explorer, I was shopping around for a new browser at the time of this shot. Google Chrome didn’t exist yet. (Can you imagine??)

IE - As stated above, I disliked IE. It was kept for various reasons, however. Such as testing website layouts, since the mass-majority of people used it and things looked different in browsers when you were coding.

Opera - While giving Firefox a try, I also managed to snag a very, very early copy of Opera. I’ve always been the type of person that loved to try out new stuff as early as possible, and this was a very special piece of software that I wanted to give a go. The reason that it was special? You had to send away for a CD for it. That’s right, kids. They snail-mail’ed me a CD because it was considered “commercial software.” I paid to get that browser lmfao. I was super super hyped later in 2005, because it became “freeware” and I was able to more-easily push my friends to try it out. The devs were (and still are) seriously awesome. This is why I still use Opera as my main browser today! Ya’ll should try it if you aren’t already! You can even use your most-beloved Chrome extensions on it. :)

Soulseek & WinMX - Holy crap, you guys! lmao Is anyone here old enough to remember these programs?? XD This was basically where most people went after Napster bit the dust. This was when we were all scrambling, trying to find a new P2P sharing program. This was right in-between the eMule/Donkey phase and before the Limewire/KaZaA fiascos where people’s computers were being overloaded with viruses from companies trying to stop pirating. Ahh, the wild, wild west... Days were so exciting when you spent hours downloading something that could potentially ruin your computer lmao

WS_FTP - Still one of my favorite FTP programs for Windows! Works like a charm! These days I use Transmit 5 for Mac, but this was my first program ever for file transfer protocol. It’s basically a tool for uploading files to my website’s server, because back when I first registered it, there was no web uploader for that kinda stuff. Now I stick with that because it’s easier and I’m used to it lol

Veo Digital Studio - Used to use this for my webcam back before webcams were built into laptops, and before they were common enough to have amazing freeware available for them.  (Also this is hilarious.) The quality was horrible, but I was hella excited to take pictures and share them with friends and on my blog at the time. From what I remember, there was something I used after this that was some type of South Korean selca software. Haduri? Something like that. It was really cute and even let you do little animations. :) 

Animation Shop - Okay. So... from what I remember, this might have been owned by the people that made Paint Shop Pro? I think it was Corel. I honestly don’t remember where I got this from, but this is what I used to use to make animated gifs (because Photoshop just....didn’t for some reason? I had to use PSP at some point, I remember that. I just don’t remember why lmao. It might have been my copy didn’t allow it, or my computer was just too shit to run it good enough, or just stopped working because....Windows). 

Adobe Photoshop 5.0 - I originally got this rip from a friend of mine, whose dad got a CD from his company that he worked at. It was an official/real license, which was really awesome! I think this was the first version of Photoshop I ever owned (!!), which is pretty amazing to think about about! I had that CD copy for a few years. I initially was gifted a copy of the CD around 2001-2002 or so. I know for a fact I had newer versions (7.0 was legend before CS suite came around), so I’m not sure why I was using this one at this point lmao. My guess is, like mentioned above, something happened with my computer and I didn’t want to format it and reinstall everything lol or because it was the fastest version I had installed to boot up and do a quick photo edit.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 - I do remember this took a long time to start up. I can only imagine this was like a bad pirated copy or something, or was so bloated with new stuff in it, and that’s why I kept 5.0 for a quick boot. I know I used this majority of the time, though. Most of my backups for brushes and fonts are from backups that include 7.0 as a zip. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  My computer wasn’t the most powerful at the time, despite what I pushed it to do, so this is prob why.  But hell yeah! Photoshop represent! lol I still use it today, and its still one of the first things I install on a fresh OS install. Enjoying CC 2017 these days.

Nero Start Smart - I was so excited to make mix CDs and share them! Back in the day before you had stuff like playlists that were sharable on YouTube/Spotify, etc, you had this to share music. Or play in your car. Or CD walkman. Nero was a software you could burn your CD-Rs and make your own laser-etched album art! I begged for years to get a CD burner lmao. Back when casette tapes were still around enough that my parents were like “but why???” lmao. They were not common back in the day like they became over time, just, like, included on your computer. Back then you had to buy one and install it into your computer tower yourself! I got mine I believe.....in 2001? It was the year after the Playstation 2 was released. The first one I got was just a very standard burner. Did a very specific type of CD burning at a low (slow af) speed. It was $700 lmfao. Let that sink in for a minute because my parents didn’t let me forget about it for the next four years lmfao. I saved up birthday and Christmas money and went halves on it. Then I upgraded to the one that this one was! c: Which did the laser etching, and DVD burning! (And you better believe I was burning DVDs of stuff I was downloading online lmfao this was the golden age of the internet where everything was just available everywhere as long as you had the patience to download that shit, because it took forever to download)

Volume Control - My dad and I messed with the wires on all of these random computer speakers and stereo speakers that we had collected over the years and hotwired our own version of a 5.0 surround sound in the room, which was mounted to the ceiling corners and above the computer station. It was lit. I needed Volume Control easily accessible because sometimes the speakers needed redirecting, or I needed to turn the beats down because my mother was tired of my fifth time playing the Gundam Wing OSTs and Miyavi. (It was metal, okay???)

Windows Media Player - I did not use this to listen to media. Let me reiterate that. I did not use it to listen to media on. lol this was specifically used to rip tracks from CDs that friends lent me, because it was the easiest software I was able to use to change the KBPs for quality control and the ID3 tags so I could save it and organize it for use in Winamp and know wtf I was listening to lol. Nobody used WMP for listening to music.... xD 

Winamp - The best music player. Period. Still. Nothing beats it. Pls, pls, Nullsoft! Come back and make a native version for MacOS. :’((((  I would buy it! Doesn’t even have to have new features or look different. Classic look, pls pls! 

Media Player Classic - Do people still use it??? This player was amazing! Paired with k-lite codec pack, it played everything. It was like VLC before VLC. And it looked good. Clean. Small. Could be installed anywhere which was nice. And the codec packs just made everything look and run fantastic! 

Recycle Bin - .... Trash XD 

Magnifier - This was for my dad because he had bad eyes and couldn’t remember CTRL +/-/0 to increase the text on pages that he wanted to read.

My Documents - Where I saved all the stuff I downloaded. Not the real My Docs. Just a folder that I named as such, with a custom icon. I don’t know why I wanted it there lol. I think to just have a uniform square on my desktop haha

Journal - I renamed this. I forget the original name of the client, but it was the official client of LJ. It was basically a program that let you write up posts for Livejournal and you could format things, draft them, etc, and post without uploading to your journal/blog. I liked it because sometimes I couldn’t post right away, and it made making drafts a lot easier for me to go back and edit. It also let you edit past posts, which was really convenient instead of looking for it on the web version one post at a time.

AIM+ - I loved AOL Instant Messenger, but over time the ads became too much. I invested a lot of time in 3rd party clients. I was constantly switching between AIM+, Adium, DeadAIM, Pigeon, Trillion, etc. Depended on what I wanted to do that day. Want to clone a SN? Want to skin the colors of the chats? Need transparency? Want to customize your lists? Want to log into more than one msg system at once? They all had their strengths. This was my msg service of choice. Back in the day you were either on this, MSN, or Yahoo!. Some people rocked ICQ and there were a few others, but these were the most common from who I knew/hung out with. I miss those days. <3 

You can see WinMX running in the taskbar lmfao so I was prob downloading something at the time of snagging this quick shot. I also had DevART open (prob because I was gonna share this on there). I really wish I had more programs open at the time of this! XD It’s wild to look back at some of the software changes over the years!

Anyway, that’s one of my oldest screenshots that I can find that I’m able to share right now. :) I’m going to be posting a remake of that wallpaper that I did later today for those of you that want that, too.

If you read this far, thank you!! Hope you had fun reading about old stuff! 

[depechemodespiritera]

If art and music are the litmus test for the current socio-political climate, based on Depeche Mode’s rapturous 90-minute Sunday night performance in front of a packed Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion crowd, these are trying and divisive times we live in.

Not content to simply play the hits, revolt and upheaval hung over the massively popular U.K. band’s 22-song set like a thundercloud that mirrored a world where reality game show hosts can rule the country, fighting tooth and nail with those who seek positive change. It’s not entirely coincidental that NFL players took a knee earlier in the day. This was a band on a mission to use high art and an impressive, multi-screened stage backdrop to push the envelope.

Early 2017 release, Spirit, was the most politically pointed album from a band that never really had been known for its subtlety regarding issues such as sexual liberation and religion. The trio of Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (guitar/synth/vocals) and Andy Fletcher (synths) — rounded out by an extra synth/bass player and drummer – favored darker, symbolic, mid-tempo cuts from the band’s nearly 40-year-old catalogue to fit the tenor of the show’s theme early on.

While many of Depeche Mode’s trademark songs rely on synthesized sounds and Gore’s expertly placed electric guitar riffs, a live drummer lent the requisite oomph needed to bring a more organic and visceral feel to the proceedings, ultimately a good and bad thing. It made many of the songs even better live, but it also meant that many of their early synth-pop favorites would be passed over for their latter hits, which may have left some clamoring for the more celebratory gems like “Just Can’t Enough.”

Perhaps purposefully, this is the heaviest the band’s live show has been in two decades when it flirted with industrial goth sounds during the extremely successful late-'80s, early-'90s run of masterworks, Music For The Masses, Black Celebration, Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion, all of which got airtime Sunday night.

After an great opening set from Los Angeles quartet Warpaint, the band walked out following a snippet of the Beatles’ “Revolution” and played a handful of charged Spirit tracks including “Going Backwards,” “Where’s the Revolution,” and “Cover Me,” mixed with songs from their later work, including “Corrupt” and “Wrong” from Sounds of the Universe, a bass-driven remix of “A Pain That I’m Used To” from 2005’s Playing the Angel, and a pounding “Barrel of a Gun,” from 1997’s Ultra.

The weighty mid-section of the evening’s set list dragged a bit (Gore’s obligatory mid-show spotlight, “A Question of Lust,” and “Home,” included), before picking up steam when the group unleashed the hits, much to the delight of the audience.

Political message firmly made, Gahan and company went to their bread and butter in the latter third of the night, starting with 1983 fan favorite “Everything Counts” from 1983’s Construction Time Again. The dapperly-dressed lead singer reminded everyone of his legendary frontman status, prancing and posturing to exultant reception throughout, his moves belying his 55-years of age. Simply put, the man exuded sex appeal.  

Die-hards and casual fans alike grooved to the set closers from their most beloved albums “Stripped” (Black Celebration), “Enjoy The Silence” (Violator) and “Never Let Me Down Again” (Music For The Masses), which Gahan was happy have the crowd sing along to, more content to direct choreographed hand waves and claps.

The five-song encore cast aside any doubts that Depeche Mode might be losing a step as one of the best bands in the world. Gore kicked it off with the gorgeously sung “Somebody” from 1984’s Some Great Reward, leading many to tenderly embrace their loved ones. It was followed by a stellar “Walking In My Shoes” from Songs of Faith and Devotion, video screens poignantly depicting a transgendered woman preparing to face the not-so-simple task of going to the café.

A touching tribute to David Bowie, “Heroes,” revved into the one-two punch of “I Feel You” (from Songs of Faith and Devotion) and always thrilling chart-topper “Personal Jesus” (Violator, again). The impact of Depeche Mode’s earlier calls for revolution may have sailed over the heads of many who may have been there to dance in the aisles, but there was no denying the expert craftsmanship in how these alt-rock/new wave vets doled out their stylistic and exciting manifesto.

Set List Intro Revolution (The Beatles) Cover Me (Alt Out)

Main set Going Backwards So Much Love Barrel of a Gun A Pain That I'm Used To Corrupt In Your Room World in My Eyes Cover Me A Question of Lust Home Poison Heart Where's the Revolution Wrong Everything Counts Stripped Enjoy the Silence Never Let Me Down Again

Encore Somebody Walking in My Shoes Heroes (David Bowie cover) I Feel You Personal Jesus

[globalworship]

Sufjan’s ‘The Transfiguration’ covered by City Church SF

City Church San Francisco has released several digital albums. This is the title track of ‘The Transfiguration’ EP.

The Transfiguration EP by City Church San Francisco

The song was composed by Sufjan Stevens; hear a studio and a live version by Sufjan, and a cover by David Crowder, in my earlier blog post at http://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/42362570586/sufjan-stevens-the-transfiguration 

 When he took the three disciples to the mountainside to pray, his countenance was modified, his clothing was aflame. Two men appeared: Moses and Elijah came; they were at his side. The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die. Then there came a word of what he should accomplish on the day. Then Peter spoke, to make of them a tabernacle place. A cloud appeared in glory as an accolade. They fell on the ground. A voice arrived, the voice of God, the face of God, covered in a cloud. What he said to them, the voice of God: the most beloved son. Consider what he says to you, consider what's to come. The prophecy was put to death, was put to death, and so will the Son. And keep your word, disguise the vision till the time has come. Lost in the cloud, a voice: Have no fear! We draw near! Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Turn your ear! Lost in the cloud, a voice: Lamb of God! We draw near! Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Son of God!

by Sufjan Stevens © 2004 New Jerusalem Music

http://music.citychurchsf.org/track/the-transfiguration

+++

Read what Sarah Bessey wrote about Lent at http://sarahbessey.com/why-lent-matters-to-me/

Joel Littlepage has created a 2017 Lenten Prayer Book filled with prayers, songs, scriptures, and much more. Get the free PDF download at http://www.joellittlepage.com/blog/2017/2/23/2017-lenten-prayer-book

+++

Transfiguration - Contemporary icon by Greta Maria Leśko of Poland. http://www.pracowniaikon.pl/