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Guide to Spencer Krug’s (Many) Projects

Before I start this post, I should mention this was my final project for my Music Appreciation class and I've basically just reformatted the paper for Tumblr. Also I have never used Tumblr before so please bear with me... Thanks, let's get to it now!

Introduction

Spencer Krug is a Canadian musician mainly known as a singer, songwriter, and keyboardist, though he occasionally plays the piano, guitar (both acoustic and electric), synthesizer, accordion, bass, and kick drum.[1] His first instrument was the piano, which he started playing when he was 12.[2] By the age of 15, he already had a drum set, guitar, bass, amps, and an organ in his bedroom. Around that time, he mainly listened to Fugazi and Sebadoh.[3] Some of his other influences are David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, The Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Erik Satie, Rachel Grimes, and Dan Bejar.[2] [4]

Spencer Krug first attended college in Vancouver where he “screwed around in arts and humanities,” before doing a few years of music school in Vancouver, then at Concordia University in Montreal.[3] There, he studied music composition and creative writing until he dropped out.[5] He has been part of six bands, as well as releasing solo work under the alias Moonface and his own name. Through these projects, he has contributed to nearly 30 releases,[1] which can make it difficult to decide where to begin listening to his extensive discography.

The intent of this post is to break down each of the projects he’s taken part in to (hopefully) make it easier for people to decide which project they’d be most interested in listening to. This post will include general information on each project as well as a description of how their releases generally sound, their similarities to other projects, and their differences from other projects.

Two Tonne Bowlers[6]

Years Active: 1994

Members: Jeffrey Allport, Kent Reimer, Norm Wickett, Scott Marshall, Simon Culver, Spencer Krug, Tom Reimer, Tony Bobbit

Releases: Mantifiluss (1994)

Genre: Reggae

Style: Ska

Two Tonne Bowlers is the first band Spencer Krug was ever in, but consequently the band there is the least information on, as he was part of it while in high school, when he was around 17. Spencer Krug was the keyboardist of the group; the other members played guitar, electric bass, trombone, saxophone, and the drums.[7]

As the band’s name indicates, their music has a two-tone ska style. Two-tone music is Jamaican ska and reggae music mixed with elements of punk rock music,[8] so Two Tonne Bowlers is one of the bands Spencer Krug contributed to that sounds furthest from his later indie rock projects, especially since Two Tonne Bowlers lacked certain punk rock elements, such as distorted guitars.

Mantifiluss is, in my opinion, the most playful and cheerful-sounding music Spencer Krug has put out. It feels like something to dance to without having chord progressions or lyrics that make you ponder complex concepts, unlike many of his other works. Another difference with other bands he’s been in is that he usually sings nearly all or a good part of the vocals, yet he doesn’t sing any of the vocals on Mantifiluss, apart from on the album’s 9th “hidden” track.[9]

Fifths of Seven[10]

Years Active: 1995-2005

Members: Beckie Foon, Rachel Levine, Spencer Krug

Releases: Spry from Bitter Anise Folds (2005)

Genre: Instrumental

Style: Modern Classical, Post-Rock

Fifths of Seven was formed in 1995 in Montreal,[11] but Spencer Krug didn’t join until around 2004-2005 when Rachel Levine and Becky Foon received a grant from the Canadian government and hired him as a third member.[12] Together they wrote their first and only album, Spry from Bitter Anise Folds, which was recorded in 2005 at Breakglass Studios.[11] The group is made up of Beckie Foon as the cellist, Rachel Levine as the mandolinist, and Spencer Krug as the pianist and accordionist.[13]

Although Spencer Krug has composed other instrumental songs, this is the only fully instrumental album he has worked on. Vocals and lyrics usually have an important role in Spencer Krug’s other releases, but the cinematic melodies in Spry from Bitter Anise Folds’ are able to tell the stories lyrics would. The droning cello, sparse to robust piano, and somber mandolin create a melancholic and fragile atmosphere.[14] No single instrument dominates the music, as each instrument takes turns leading and accompanying throughout each piece. The unusual combination of these instruments gives this chamber music an Eastern European folk music sound.[15] Although this group’s sound is vastly different from Spencer Krug’s Indie Rock bands, there are similarities in the way the songs are on the more experimental and avant-garde side of their genre.

Frog Eyes[16]

Years Active: 2001–2018, 2022–present

Members: Carey Mercer, Melanie Campbell, Shyla Seller, Dante Decaro, Grayson Walker, John Paton, Matt Skilling, McCloud Zicmuse, Megan Boddy, Michael Rak, Ryan Beattie, Spencer Krug, Terri Upton

Releases: The Bloody Hand (2002), Split w/ Jerk with a Bomb single (2002), Emboldened Navigator EP (2003), The Golden River (2003), Ego Scriptor (2004), The Folded Palm (2004), The Future Is Inter-Disciplinary or Not at All EP (2006), Tears of the Valedictorian (2007), Frog Eyes / Hello Blue Roses single (2008), Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (2010), Carey's Cold Spring (2013), Pickpocket's Locket (2015), Violet Psalms (2018), The Bees (2022)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Avantgarde, Art Rock, Experimental

Frog eyes was formed when Carey Mercer and Spencer Krug happened to meet and play guitar and organ in someone’s basement. They didn’t know each other well but both needed roommates, so they decided to move in together along with Carey’s wife, Melanie Campbell. They didn’t discuss forming a band; Spencer Krug playing Carey Mercer’s songs with him and Melanie Campbell happened naturally because they were living together.[12] Micheal Rak, a band member from Carey Mercer’s previous band, also joined the group and together they recorded The Bloody Hand and the Emboldened Navigator EP in 2001.[17] Carey Mercer played the guitar, Spencer Krug the keyboard/piano, Melanie Campbell the drums, and Michael Rak the bass.[12] Shortly after recording their first album, Spencer Krug left the band when he moved to Toronto for college, then later — in 2003 — Montreal, where he ended up forming Wolf Parade. He reunited with the band in 2006 and recorded The Future is Inter-Disciplinary or Not At All EP and the Tears of the Valedictorian album.[17]

On the album and EP recorded in 2001, the bass playing and the drumming were simple while the guitars were chaotic, and Spencer Krug was “able to lay [his] patterns somewhere in between all of that,” as he explained in a Last Donut of the Night interview. Carey Mercer was the songwriter, and Spencer Krug didn’t modify the structure he wrote but he did add things to it.[12] Carey Mercer’s songwriting heavily influenced Spencer Krug’s own songwriting, which feels most obvious when listening to Sunset Rubdown.[18] Around the time he was first playing with Frog Eyes, Spencer Krug wrote some of his own experimental music and messed around with computer programs like Logic Audio. Much of this music turned into early Sunset Rubdown songs that he put out himself once he was in Montreal.[12] One of the songs from Sunset Rubdown’s first album “Sol’s Song,” even became a song on Frog Eyes’ The Golden River, “A Song Once Mine Now No Longer Mine.”

Frog Eyes is also similar to Sunset Rubdown in their songs’ unconventional structures and lead singers’ powerful vocals. However “powerful vocals” is an understatement when it comes to Carey Mercer’s vocals which are as full of energy as they could be and filled with screams, yelps, and growls. But his striking vocals don’t make the rest of the band any less important to its sound; Melanie Campbell’s pounding drumming, Spencer Krug’s twinkling keyboard, Carey Mercer (and in 2006, McCloud Zicmuse)’s chaotic guitar(s), and Michael Rak's grounding bass are all essential to bringing each song together.[19] As for Frog Eyes’ lack of discernible structure, the songs’ messiness allows the ideas and feelings behind the music and its lyrics to truly shine.

Wolf Parade[20]

Years Active: 2003–2011, 2016–present

Members: Arlen Thompson, Dan Boeckner, Hadji Bakara, Spencer Krug, Timothy Kingsbury, Dante Decaro

Releases: Wolf Parade EP (2003), Wolf Parade EP (2004), Wolf Parade EP (2005), Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005), At Mount Zoomer (2008), Semi-Precious Stone single (2010), Expo 86 (2010), EP 4 (2016), Cry Cry Cry (2017), Thin Mind (2020)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Progressive Rock, Post-Punk Revival

Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner met in Victoria, British Columbia when they were both working at the same pub to make ends meet.[21] When they were both living in Montreal in 2003, they formed Wolf Parade along with Arlen Thompson and Hadji Bakara. The band was started when Spencer Krug was called to play a show opening for Melon Galia and Arcade Fire but he had no band. So he called Dan Boeckner and they wrote songs with a drum machine playing through computer speakers to have something for the show. About a week before the show, Spencer Krug offered Arlen Thompson to play a show that Saturday. They rehearsed as a full band the day before and the day of the show.[22] For that first show, they were only a trio, but the band was later made up of Spencer Krug as the lyricist, vocalist, and keyboardist; Dan Boeckner as the lyricist, vocalist, and guitarist; Arlen Thompson as the drummer; Hadji Bakara as the keyboardist and thereminist; Timothy Kingsbury as the bassist; and Dante Decaro as the guitarist and bassist.[23] Wolf Parade went on an indefinite hiatus in 2011, but reunited in 2016 and released their fourth album, Cry Cry Cry, in 2017.[24]

When Dan Boeckner was asked to describe the band’s sound in a Montreal Mirror interview not long after the band started, he explained that “ostensibly, we're just making folk music without any of the musical connotations of folk music.” Their sound was influenced by their lack of budget (and therefore limited equipment); they used keyboards because they didn’t have the funds to buy other instruments — initially, Dan Boeckner didn’t even have a guitar.[25] Sub Pop noticed the band and signed a contract with them, giving them a much bigger budget for Apologies To The Queen Mary than the 20 dollars they recorded their EP with.[26]

Their first album, Apologies To The Queen Mary, was an immediate success, and although they had all been in bands before, they had never had this level of popularity until then.[21] The album’s writing and singing are split evenly between the two frontmen, Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner. The two have distinct styles and consequently were different in the music they wanted to play, so they both had to make compromises to make cohesive albums.[27] Apologies To The Queen Mary is the most cohesive of all their albums, while later albums let each members’ own elements and styles stand out more.[28] Hadji Bakara and Spencer Krug both play keyboards, but in very different ways, according to Spencer Krug in an Exclaim! interview, “Hadji is one of the only elements of the band that's always variating,” while “Dan and [him] work in locked-in patterns.” Dante Decaro, as the second guitarist and fifth member, has more freedom to experiment within the songs musically.[26] And Arlen Thompson’s exuberant drums fill the songs with energy and set the mood when starting off songs, such as in “You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son.” Although Wolf Parade is the least experimental indie rock band Spencer Krug has been in, they still find ways to make familiar rock elements come together in an interesting way in each of their songs.

Just like one of Sunset Rubdown’s songs from their first album had ended up on a Frog Eyes album, another song from their debut album, “I’ll Believe In Anything You’ll Believe In Anything,” ended up on Wolf Parade’s debut album as “I’ll Believe In Anything.”[29] Listening to the two versions side by side really makes the differences between Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown clear. Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe In Anything” is more harmonious and polished, but to be fair, Sunset Rubdown’s first album is their most experimental and least polished — not that it’s a negative thing.

Sunset Rubdown[30]

Years Active: 2005–2009, 2022–present

Members: Camilla Wynne Ingr, Jordan Robson Cramer, Michael Doerksen, Nicholas Merz, Spencer Krug, Mark Nicol

Releases: Snake's Got A Leg (2005), Sunset Rubdown EP (2006), Shut Up I Am Dreaming (2006), Random Spirit Lover (2007), Introducing Moonface single (2009), Dragonslayer (2009), Always Happy to Explode (2024)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Art Rock

Sunset Rubdown’s first demos and album started as a solo project for Spencer Krug to have more freedom making experimental recordings. Spencer Krug explained in a Last Donut of the Night interview that he would “do shit like put pieces of paper between the hammers and the strings so it sounded insane.” Then he’d pull a sample from that and “pile it up into a weird shape on the screen, press play, and listen to what it sounded like. [He]’d build a two-dimensional pyramid out of a three-second sample,” to create songs.[12] Along with its experimental nature, the production (especially on earlier tracks) is very lo-fi, because Spencer Krug didn’t have any funds just like on Wolf Parade’s early EPs. The solo project that was Sunset Rubdown turned into a band in 2006, and what was once an exploration of sound and textures became an exploration of lyrics and structure.[31] The band members’ roles have varied depending on the album, but Spencer Krug has played the piano, keyboard, synth, acoustic guitar, accordion, and kick drum; Camilla Wynne has played the keyboard, omnichord, q-chord, and percussion; Nicholas Merz has played the bass and drums; Jordan Robson Cramer has played the drums, electric guitar, keyboard, and percussion; Michael Doerksen has played the electric guitar, bass, synthesizers, and drums; and Mark Nicol has played the bass and drums. All the members apart from Jordan Robson Cramer and Mark Nicol have sung some of the vocals, but the lead singer is Spencer Krug and Camilla Wynne is usually the one who does the backing vocals.[32] After releasing and touring their 2009 album, Dragonslayer, Sunset Rubdown went on an indefinite hiatus. In 2023, Spencer Krug had a dream that the band were back together and having fun. When he woke up, disappointed that it was a dream, he decided to email the members, and they all replied that they were willing to try getting the band back together. So they started with hanging out and making music, then relearning their old songs, then doing a reunion tour in 2023, and finally — after 15 years — making and releasing a new album.[33]

Progressively through each record, Sunset Rubdown’s music has become more put together and polished. The first album, Snake's Got A Leg, was curated from lo-fi bedroom recordings Spencer Krug had made in the early 2000s.[34] For their second album, Shut Up I Am Dreaming, the band reworked some of the songs from their debut album as well as writing new ones, and each song sounded more complete. But as Spencer Krug put it in an Exclaim! interview, the album was more of a “hodgepodge of songs than a fully realised album.” This changed in their third album, Random Spirit Lover, which was completely cohesive as a whole. Before recording the album, the band had already decided on the track list and they recorded it in that order, refusing to record a track until the previous one was finished.[35] Spencer Krug’s imaginative and storytelling lyrics particularly shine in this band, especially on theatrical-sounding songs like the ones on Random Spirit Lover. Random Spirit Lover was very elaborate musically and had a heavily overdubbed instrumentation,[35] so they decided to go another direction for their fourth album, Dragonslayer. Spencer Krug had an objective to write songs better so that they could stand alone and be played on anything, and that is clear when listening to Dragonslayer. In 2009, Spencer Krug explained in a Drowned in Sound interview that he felt the band was “at the pinnacle of complexity, and to make it creatively interesting, the next logical thing to do would be to take things away.”[31] After their hiatus, Sunset Rubdown released their fifth and latest album, Always Happy to Explode, which does sound less complex and musically busy than the previous records. The tracks on Always Happy to Explode were originally songs Spencer Krug had posted on his Patreon as solo work until Sunset Rubdown had a reunion tour and rewrote the songs together. But using some of Spencer Krug’s solo songs didn’t make the process of writing the album any different; all Sunset Rubdown albums have been songs that Spencer Krug wrote on piano or guitar and then brought to the rest of the members to arrange and add on to them as a band.[33]

Sunset Rubdown’s two most recent albums have more of a progressive rock style — closer to Wolf Parade — than their earlier albums which sound more experimental and artsy. Still, the two bands are quite different; Spencer Krug compared writing with both in an Exclaim! interview, “The band in Sunset Rubdown has the ability to be quieter than Wolf Parade and be more patient… I know that Sunset Rubdown can be more dynamic. We can play more sorts of twisty song structures and let it prog out a bit more without losing patience. And Wolf Parade just blows things out. Even when I write a quiet song on the guitar and take it to them, a month later I'm banging it out on the piano as hard as I can. And that's what Wolf Parade does well, so you might as well just go with it, right?”[35]

Swan Lake[36]

Years Active: 2006–2009

Members: Carey Mercer, Daniel Bejar, Spencer Krug

Releases: Beast Moans (2006), Enemy Mine (2009)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Experimental

Spencer Krug formed Swan Lake with two old friends, Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Dan Bejar of Destroyer and the New Pornographers. They had already been collaborating for years when the band formed, with Spencer Krug being an on-and-off member of Frog Eyes, and Dan Bejar picking Frog Eyes as his backing band for Destroyer album Your Blues, touring with them, and recording an EP with them. Additionally, Spencer Krug was roommates with both. First with Dan Bejar in the late 90s, then he moved to Victoria, met Carey Mercer, and became roommates with him in the early 2000s, around the time they started Frog Eyes. It was during the Destroyer/Frog Eyes Europe tour that they all played together and that the idea to make an album together first came up.[37] Throughout their two albums, Carey Mercer played the electric guitar, keyboard, and drums, Dan Bejar played the electric guitar, Spencer Krug played the keyboard, drums, and bass, and they all sang vocals.[38]

Each of the members wrote their own songs — having the chord progression, main vocal melody, lyrics, etc., complete — before recording them together.[39] Though compared to Sunset Rubdown, Spencer Krug tried to keep his ideas very loose so that the other two could fill in the gaps. Because the lyrics came from three different people, they had to unify the albums through the instrumentation.[38] At first, none of them were sure how to approach the project, until they decided to just go into the recording room and sing with an acoustic guitar. Once they had the tracks, Spencer Krug and Carey Mercer did the instrumentation, arrangements, and mixing. Initially, they considered Melanie Campbell as the drummer, but after watching the early sessions, she decided not to join the group. So to create the drum line, they recorded each part of the drums individually and put it all together during the mixing. “It makes for a pretty jerky drum track…it’s quite unsettling,” Carey Mercer commented in a PopMatters interview.[39]

Although Carey Mercer and Spencer Krug are often compared, especially because of their voice, they both feel like their aesthetics are quite different. Carey Mercer explained in an interview from Exclaim! that he has “this idea of weaving 20 different melodies, and [Spencer] wants everything to turn into one very cohesive whole,” and he especially likes “the parts on the record where you can feel all of [their] wills murking about.” In the same interview, Dan Bejar describes Carey Mercer as having “a kind of total disregard for melody, and a total insistence on it at the same time.”[40] Dan Bejar believes his strengths are in his lyrics and delivery of them but that he lacks any kind of musical sophistication, while Spencer Krug thinks his strengths are in his sophistication with the music and instruments but that he can’t write lyrics as poetically as Dan Bejar, and Carey Mercer feels that he equally works on both.[39]

Swan Lake’s first album, Beast Moans, was weavings of each of the members’ styles, often creating layer upon layer of various melodies and stylistics, sometimes creating a dissonant sound. On the other hand, their second album, Enemy Mine, is more stripped down which makes the melodies clearer, and it has a more deliberate approach to their collaboration.[41] This more stripped-down sound is most noticeable when comparing the song “Paper Lace” on the Enemy Mine album and the version on Sunset Rubdown’s Dragonslayer, where the instruments are a lot more prominent and feel more dense.

Moonface[42]

Years Active: 2010-2018, 2022

Alias: Spencer Krug

Releases: Dreamland EP: Marimba and Shit-Drums (2010), Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped (2011), The Way You Wish You Could Live In The Storm single (2011), Moonface With Siinai – Heartbreaking Bravery (2012), Julia With Blue Jeans On (2013), City Wrecker EP (2014), Moonface & Siinai – My Best Human Face (2016), This One's for the Dancer & This One's for the Dancer's Bouquet (2018), The Minotaur Instrumentals (2022)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Experimental, Avantgarde, Electronic

As Moonface is an alias Spencer Krug recorded solo work (apart from the collaborative albums with Siinai) under, I’ve combined the paragraphs on it and his other solo work below to avoid having two very repetitive sections.

Solo Work[43]

Years Active: 2019-present

Releases: Fading Graffiti (2021), Red Dress / Nightswimming EP (2021), Twenty Twenty Twenty Twenty One (2022), I Just Drew This Knife (2023), 20202021 Solo Piano (2024), Patreon songs (2019-present)

Genre: Rock

Style: Indie Rock, Art Rock, Post-Rock

While he has contributed to many bands, Spencer Krug has also created music by himself throughout the years. The earliest solo work he released was Sunset Rubdown, but the project later turned into a full band.[12] From 2010 to 1018, he released home-recorded instrumental and conceptual experimentations under the alias Moonface. After moving from Montreal to Helsinki, he recorded two albums with Finnish band Siinai, Heartbreaking Bravery and My Best Human Face.[44] But after releasing seven records as Moonface, Spencer Krug decided to release his solo work under his own name for a number of reasons, which can be summed up as that he felt the name created self-made misrepresentation.[45] Since 2019, he has released three solo albums as well as monthly new songs on his Patreon.[43] His solo work has mostly been played on the piano, keyboard, synthesizer, or electric guitar, and he also sometimes adds digital drums, strings, or other effects.[46]

Under the moniker Moonface and his own name, Spencer Krug feels more free to release works that wouldn’t fit the expectations people have for his other projects. He explained this in a San Francisco Examiner interview, “There are certain parameters that are expected out of certain bands. And it’s not just record labels or audiences or critics who place expectations. I’ve been guilty of playing to expectations. I don’t have to worry about that with Moonface.”[47] Even though he usually keeps his solo work more simple, this leads his releases to have much more variety in styles and sound. It also sometimes creates unexpected shifts between albums with, for example, Julia With Blue Jeans On being a solo piano and voice album, then with his next release, My Best Human Face, being an album recorded with another band (Siinai) and that has a more post-rock style, and then a more electronic and experimental album, This One's for the Dancer & This One's for the Dancer's Bouquet (which is actually a mix of two separate projects),[45] as the release after that. Another difference between his solo work and his other projects is that his solo songs usually have more literal and straight-forward lyrics, unlike projects like Sunset Rubdowns where songs are filled with figurative language.[27] On the other hand, his solo work is similar to Sunset Rubdown in the way that he has often reworked songs for both projects. He explained his reasoning behind reworking songs in a Beats per Minutes interview, “I think songs can change their impact, can change so much based on their instrumentation and the way they’re arranged for an instrument. And I find that really interesting. And then sometimes I find the two results will both be so strong that it’s worth sharing them both.”[33]

Conclusion

I hope this guide has been informative! Although I’d highly recommend listening to all of his projects, I hope this post will inspire you to listen to at least one of them. And if you’re already a fan of Spencer Krug, I hope you’ve learned a couple new things about his projects.

If this paper (especially the last two sections) looks rushed it's because I did the entire thing the last 3 days before it was due. Also if you spot any mistakes, please correct me.

Sources

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35. Thiessen, Brock. “The Weirdness of Sunset Rubdown.” Exclaim!, 16 Sept. 2007, exclaim.ca/music/article/weirdness_of_sunset_rubdown.

36. “Swan Lake (2) | Discogs.” Discogs, www.discogs.com/artist/605693-Swan-Lake-2.

37. “Swan Lake Preps Debut Full-Length on Jagjaguwar.” Force Field PR, 6 Aug. 2006, www.forcefieldpr.com/2006/08/06/swan-lake-preps-debut-full-length-on-jagjaguwar/.

38. mmmbarclay. “Swan Lake: Spencer Krug.” radio free canuckistan, 17 Nov. 2006, radiofreecanuckistan.blogspot.com/2006/11/swan-lake-spencer-krug.html.

39. Kelly, Jennifer. “All for One and One for All: An Interview With Swan Lake.” PopMatters, 17 Jan. 2007, www.popmatters.com/all-for-one-and-one-for-all-an-interview-with-swan-lake-2495785739.html.

40. Barclay, Michael. “Three Men On Swan Lake.” Exclaim!, 15 Feb. 2007, exclaim.ca/music/article/three_men_on_swan_lake.

41. “Swan Lake.” Jagjaguwar, jagjaguwar.com/artist/swanlake/.

42. “Moonface (2) | Discogs.” Discogs, www.discogs.com/artist/1747096-Moonface-2.

43. “Spencer Krug | Discogs.” Discogs, www.discogs.com/artist/605695-Spencer-Krug

44. “Jagjaguwar::JAG222.” Jagjaguwar, 2013, jagjaguwar.com/release/jag222/.

45. “Jagjaguwar::Moonface.” Jagjaguwar, 2018, jagjaguwar.com/artist/moonface/.

46. Krug, Spencer. “Spencer Krug | About.” Patreon, www.patreon.com/spencerkrug/about.

47. Examiner Staff. “Spencer Krug’s Moonface Steeped in Empathy, Piano.” San Francisco Examiner, 18 Nov. 2013, www.sfexaminer.com/culture/spencer-krug-s-moonface-steeped-in-empathy-piano/article_7b87ad5f-9577-5f77-9d41-a3b00cf07747.html.

#spencer krug #wolf parade #sunset rubdown #two tonne bowlers #fifths of seven #frog eyes #swan lake #moonface #dan boeckner #carey mercer #dan bejar #music recs #indie rock #how obvious is it that im hyperfocused on spencer krug #btw i met him recently and told him about this paper and he told me to apologize to my professor for him

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bubblesandgutz · 2 years ago

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Every Record I Own - Day 759: Modest Mouse This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About

It’s been five months since I’ve written one of these album posts, mainly because 2022 was such a busy year. When I made my last album post on August 1st, I was still talking about my favorite albums from 2021. While I enjoy talking about current music, I think I get more enjoyment writing about music that I’ve had plenty of time to sit with, and consequently, I felt like I was running out of things to say about new releases.

I wasn’t sure how to dip my toes back into this project. Then on New Year’s Eve I got the news that Jeremiah Green passed away.

I’m sure Modest Mouse meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And for most people, their impression of the band starts around 2004 with their big hit “Float On.” For me, Modest Mouse will always be that curious local band from the early ‘90s.

A quick recap on Seattle in the ‘90s: Nirvana blew up in the fall of ‘91, and their success helped turn the spotlight on Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, and Mudhoney. Seattle was suddenly seen as a hub of underground rock music. But the reality is that we were a geographically isolated city with restrictive liquor laws and the Teen Dance Ordinance, a law that made all ages concerts virtually impossible. Rock music in Seattle was for the 21+ crowd. If you were a kid and you liked going to shows, you had to go to the youth centers out in the suburbs, or you had to go down to Tacoma and Olympia, or you religiously attended the one tiny all ages venue in the sketchiest part of downtown, The Velvet Elvis, that was strangely exempt from the ordinance on a technicality (namely, it had fixed seating, so you couldn’t “dance”). There was a distinct generational gap between the crowd that saw Nirvana play at the Central Saloon the summer before Nevermind came out and the local teenagers who picked up guitars in its wake.

Botch started playing in ‘93 and by the end of ‘94 we were playing shows at The Velvet Elvis. We were also playing spots like The Old Fire House in Redmond and Ground Zero in Bellevue, the suburban youth centers that held weekly concerts for the underage crowd. Some weeks you’d get a touring acts like Neurosis or Rocket From the Crypt, but we were so far off the standard touring circuit that most of the time you just got local bands.

Modest Mouse was a name we saw around a lot. The name sounded a bit twee for our tastes, but we knew their drummer Jeremiah had been in a hardcore band called Drown, and he’d been an early fixture at The Old Fire House. Despite the small nature of the underage scene in Seattle and the crossover in our musical interests, I wouldn’t hear Modest Mouse until Botch went out on our first tour in ‘96. In San Francisco, we played at the famous Epicenter Records. The bill was Modest Mouse, Scenic Vermont, Trial, and Botch. There were maybe 20 people there. But man, Modest Mouse fuckin’ ruled. They could be sweet and pretty one moment and screaming over distortion and feedback the next. We all became fans that night.

There was so much I identified with in their music. For one thing, it felt like every song started with a nugget of an idea---a solid verse/chorus structure---and then drifted off into some noisy exploratory jam session. It didn’t feel far off from what Botch was doing in that regard. We’d start a song with a couple of riffs that worked together, and we’d just jam in the basement until the rest of the song fell into place. It’s funny... I just assumed that was how every band wrote together. That’s what Fugazi and Drive Like Jehu did, after all. But in hindsight, I think it was a very unique approach, or at least it’s one that’s fallen out of favor with newer bands. When I listen to those early Modest Mouse songs, you can feel the excitement of a band bouncing ideas off of each other, letting happy accidents turn into whole new parts.

There was something else that really resonated with me about those early Modest Mouse records. There was a sense of wonder with the western landscape, a fascination with geography, and a sense of loneliness and alienation when you become uprooted from your childhood home. It was all there in their record titles---Interstate 8, The Lonesome Crowded West, This Is a Long Drive. I’d only moved to the Northwest in ‘92, so I felt uprooted too. But there was also this new appreciation for wide open spaces. After living on an island you could drive across in a couple of hours, it boggled my mind that you could just get in a car and drive for several days and still not see the other side of the continent. Modest Mouse’s music captured that excitement for the open road and the possibilities it offered.

This Is a Long Drive had come out just a few months before that SF show. This album, along with the Broke single, got a lot of plays in our camp after playing with them. National success for Modest Mouse was still somewhere on the horizon, but by the time summer was over it felt like they were taking off regionally. They sold out a show at The Velvet Elvis that fall. I didn’t even know bands could sell out The Velvet Elvis back then. Sure, it held maybe 125 people, tops, but I didn’t realize there were 125 kids hip to the weird art house theater tucked in an alley in a grimy part of downtown.

By the time The Lonesome Crowded West came out, they were a national act. A year or two earlier you’d only hear their music at friend’s houses or on the local college radio station. Now you heard their music in coffee shops, bars, and record stores all over the States. They belonged to the world.

Weirdly enough, my only interaction with Jeremiah would happen years later. At some point in the late ‘00s, after the success with Good News For People Who Love Bad News and his brief hiatus from the band, I was at a grocery store in Seattle with a mutual friend. “You guys know each other, right?” the friend asked in lieu of a proper introduction. We both shrugged and smiled, introduced ourselves, both saying “yeah, I know” in response. We were the same age, had come up in the same scene. I’d gone in to work a shift at The Old Fire House Teen Center the day he stopped by to talk to my boss about quitting Modest Mouse. We were in the same musical orbit, likely going through the same growing pains at the same stages of our lives, which is probably why their music hit me the way it did.

RIP Jeremiah Green. Thank you for the music.

#everyrecordiown #modest mouse

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schismusic · 9 months ago

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THE DISCOGRAPHY PRINCIPLE, Episode 5: Fugazi, or: People in high places are in on the kill taker

This is the first and only episode of the series that has a subtitle actually originating within the discography of the band it's discussing. More precisely, this sentence is in the packaging to a 1993 album called In on the Kill Taker, originally meant to be an EP produced by Steve Albini, local hero (you may recall him from Episode 2 of this very same series). At one point the band simply couldn't seem to stop producing new material, and collectively decided the new songs needed a more "produced" sound. So they split ways with Steve Albini right before his big breakthrough producing Nirvana's In Utero. The reason why I picked a sentence within Fugazi's work instead of turning to the usual postmodern shortcircuiting techniques is that Fugazi exist outside of any other reasoning, exclusively and crucially on their own merits and terms. There is no other band like Fugazi.

Think about it: upon reviewing any post-hardcore influenced band, no self-respecting professional reviewer after 1998 will ever compare them to Fugazi directly, even when they'd be right in doing so. There are a number of euphemisms to soften that comparison: maybe At the Drive-In (whose best record by far also happens to be their most Fugazi-inspired, as well as one of my favourite records ever), perhaps Refused if we're feeling exotic and we forget how firmly their tongue is lodged in their cheek at all times. Nobody touches Fugazi unless it's about Fugazi, and even then it's basically a given — they are either the best band ever or somewhere up there. If you don't know Fugazi, that might sound a bit too heavy-handed, and perhaps even get you to feel some aversion to Fugazi, until you listen to the records and realize "oh God, they were right". Here is where I, personally, realized that was the case for me:

Fugazi's superiority, at first, seems to lie within their internal policies and politics, their choices to sell any of their work and tickets exclusively below a certain price and to specifically push for all-ages shows, their strict code of ethics concerning relationships with fans and recorded music producers: no merch, no branding, no nothing, the point was first and foremost to make punk music with an attitude for research and dynamism and a social/political edge that wasn't afraid to tackle any subject matter in any manner that was felt necessary, all the while remaining firmly against (against discrimination, against violence, against a number of mainstream ideal models of conduct and thought). All else was window dressing and as such to be avoided. The Steve Albini debacle, if we want to call it that, ended up with Steve Albini's respect for the band skyrocketing — their ability to make such a decision with a producer already in ever-growing demand (who was himself eager to work with them) meant they were for real, they cared for the music much more than they did the publicity, and plain and simple had thought about what they did hard enough to know how to serve the songs. But that's exactly the main point: there's plenty of bands who don't care about the publicity and there's plenty of bands who try to make socially engaged music and there's plenty of bands who don't do social media. But how many of these bands are Fugazi — that is, how many have a track record this good?

I keep thinking back to this one thing that Francesco Farabegoli once said about Waiting Room in this here piece (Italian only, but I'll translate the relevant part, don't worry). For reference, Waiting Room not only is the first song on Fugazi's first EP, it's also the first song Fugazi ever wrote according to internal chronicles of the band, so it's got to sound a little bit surprising to those of you not in the know when FF writes that the song "lives within this paradox by which despite it not being the best song ever recorded by Fugazi, it's still the best song ever recorded by anyone". Hard to believe until you hear it, then you'll know what I mean. If I had to pick a favourite Fugazi song, that'd probably be Instrument, which I conveniently linked up at the beginning, and which neatly lines up with the fact that In on the Kill Taker is the one Fugazi album I have personally spent the most time with. In case you're wondering, a couple other picks might be Caustic Acrostic and Cassavetes — another cool thing about Fugazi is that they love their cinema. This might be the place where I first heard the name of John Cassavetes, as a matter of fact. But Waiting Room? There's simply no way to beat that as a first impression, and I get the feeling they might have known.

But by far what drives me to Fugazi the most is the very clear sense of linear, constant progression you get listening to their music in the release order. There is a core concept ("like the Stooges with reggae", in the words of Ian MacKaye) and then there are innumerable applications of said concept: its most stripped-down variant — of course the most solid, because it's the most rehearsed and strongest rooted — gets progressively more articulate and confident; but it reaches a breaking point, which the critics usually correlate to Steady Diet of Nothing; the band is able to rebound by slowly exploding that form, making it somewhat more articulate and chiselled; from In on the Kill Taker onwards everything turns more dynamic, the arrangement finds a community of intent and expression that transcend the base form and culminate of course into a record that simply chooses to refuse all further articulation. Ironically enough, that record is titled The Argument, it came out in 2001 after three years in the works — a very long time, the longest in the band's history — and then the band were so forward-thinking as to pioneer yet another dearly-beloved of post-hardcore bands all around the world: the term "indefinite hiatus".

It's much easier to say this than it is to split up for real, but what else were Fugazi supposed to do? They are still friends, they simply don't feel the band has anything more to say at this present time. Plus it's not like they stopped making music altogether — everyone of them has their own projects, their own things and most importantly their own life. I guess it's a matter of realizing that at one point you've reached an end, or that it would take too long for something to actually carry on in the proper manner. And I get it. Shutting up sometimes really says more than a hundred words, in that even absence implies non-presence (or past presence, in this case), it creates longing, it creates an empty space to be filled by whoever feels up to the task. In other words, I'm pretty sure something as big as Fugazi never really dies, and I think they too think so. "That is not dead which can eternal lie"…

#schismusic #musica #music #fugazi #long form content #schism writing #steve albini #post hardcore #Bandcamp

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chaosincurate · 1 year ago

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My Month in Music - November 2023

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee (relisten)

Slint - Spiderland

IAN SWEET - Sucker (new)

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

Spiritual Cramp - Spiritual Cramp (new)

Fugazi - 13 Songs

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Sampha - Lahai (relisten)

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues (relisten)

Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade

Wire - Pink Flag

Hüsker Dü - Warehouse: Songs and Stories

underscores - fishmonger

Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR (relisten)

yeule - softscars (relisten)

Pulp - Different Class (relisten)

Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time (new) (relisten)

Paramore - This Is Why (relisten)

The Strokes - Room On Fire (relisten)

Fugazi - Repeater & 3 Songs

The Strokes - The New Abnormal (relisten)

Samara Joy - Linger Awhile

Shame - Food For Worms (relisten)

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Alvvays - Alvvays (relisten)

Alvvays - Antisocialites (relisten)

Alvvays - Blue Rev (relisten)

Jane Remover - Census Designated (new)

Playlist link

Write-ups below

Fugazi - 13 Songs

Fugazi is an exceptional punk band in all the ways you'd expect: power in every single instrument, simplicity that doesn't get boring, and a heavy focus on societal ills. But there's more than just that. I feel like the thing that makes them not just exceptional, but unique, is that the lyrics strike an incredible balance between an interesting level of obfuscation and that crucial bluntness that ensures that the message doesn't actually get lost.

Naturally, the fact that this is a combination of EPs and not an album all its own makes the sequencing a little awkward, but as a collection of songs, this is some of the best punk I've ever heard.

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine

Oh boy am I late to this one!

I was only familiar with Killing In the Name (and only in fairly passive contexts) before listening to this album so I wasn't really sure what to expect, and whether it'd be a case of the album having one standout track and the rest just being filler. Well, Killing In the Name definitely stands out, but the rest of the album definitely isn't filler.

While I complimented Fugazi's balance of thought-provoking poetry and pure politics on 13 Songs, I have to say RATM makes pure bluntness come across too sincere to dismiss om the grounds of simplicity. Every single line is delivered with such potent anger, and it really got me whipped up in the emotion of it, at least on a second listen.

Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade

Zero expectation listens to punk-adjacent albums is a theme on this post, and a theme that Zen Arcade is contributing to. All I knew was that Hüsker Dü's reputation seemed good. My lack of expectation meant that 1. I only found out that apparently it's a story album after listening to it, and 2. I was absolutely blindsided by the album's more experimental flourishes.

One of my favourite flourishes came with Pink Turns to Blue, which takes punk and filters it through a noise-pop/shoegaze sort of sound to great effect. That is probably the most noteworthy example, but compared to some more repetitive punk albums I've heard, an album feeling so ceaselessly experimental it seemed disjointed by punk standards was honestly more to the albums benefit than it's detriment.

underscores - fishmonger

I'm very new to the hyperpop sphere, but I don't think I could ask for a better gateway to it than underscores. The blend of that indie rock sound with the eternally online stylings of hyperpop is a personal cheat code for pleasure for me, particularly on their new album Wallsocket, which you will listen to if you know what's good for you. After listening to her other projects, though, I can very happily say that they are scratching the same itch (if not quite as well).

I've written before about how the unique concepts of the tracks off the new album were a highlight, and, again, that extends to a lesser degree to her older work, which has been fantastic, and where the interesting concepts are comparatively limited, the execution makes up for it.

Given a few more releases of this sort of quality, underscores could well become one of my favourite music acts I just love this style so much.

Fugazi - Repeater & 3 Songs

Basically everything that I said about 13 Songs applies here, but there are a few differences that make this worthwhile to talk about on it's own. One of those differences is that this essentially plays like a regular album with three bonus tracks, which means that my one noted criticism of 13 Songs doesn't apply here. The other key difference that comes to mind is that it feels to me as if there is more aggression in this album. It's grittier and angrier, and while it does throw off the balance that I liked so much on the other album, I also appreciate that it makes it a unique listening experience while also not changing enough to make it clearly worse.

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

The Strokes were so back with this one. They happen to have left again shortly after, not having released anything in over three years, but they were so back for a second there.

This album brought back everything that made The Strokes great in those first few albums and occasional singles thereafter, and kept kept it all stripped back to it's bare essentials so they could really be heard. Their ability to have a musical composition in which everything (bass, guitar, drums, other guitar, synth...) both shines on it's own and comes together in this glorious tapestry is only arguably matched by Radiohead, and specifically during their In Rainbows era. And that talent is here on full force on The New Abnormal.

Also present is a tasteful experimentation with synths and electronics, which don't just justify themselves, but improve the songs they are on. They are used to great effect on At the Door, for example, where the sawed synths create a potent feeling of fear and harshness that makes it unlike any song The Strokes have ever made.

Between the outstanding mixing, versatility of sound, and the back-to-their-best Strokes songcrafting, this is the best Strokes album hands down for my money, but you guys aren't ready for that discussion yet, so I'll just leave it at "album good" until you are.

Samara Joy - Linger Awhile

I can't pretend that I actually have much to say about this, because I'm still pretty new to jazz, but Samara Joy is a very charismatic vocalist and the album is a great one for a chill vibe so I thought it deserved to be highlighted more than just putting it in the playlist. If you're looking for a modern in for jazz, I found this one very enjoyable.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

The second album of the post where I should have gotten to it way earlier. Pure dance music just never really appealed to me, nor do songs without vocals, generally, and I was under the impression that Daft Punk were entirely that. Clearly I was wrong, although I'm still unsure as to what degree.

In any case, I loved this album. Instant Crush is a massive highlight just on the basis of it's super satisfying pop sound and just-novel-enough concept. Giorgio By Moroder is also a great love letter to artistry, if a strage one to consider a highlight on account of the spoken word vocals. And of course it goes without saying that the Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams backed Lose Yourself to Dance and Get Lucky are amazing, funky, and infectious bops that keep you engaged for every second of their runtime.

It's a classic album for a reason, and I apologize to music for not listening to it earlier.

#chaosincurate #music #music reccs #music recommendation #indie music #alternative #punk rock #hyperpop #indie pop #jazz #fugazi #rage against the machine #husker du #underscores #the strokes #samara joy #daft punk

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anothersievefistedfind · 3 years ago

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Fugazi live photos © by George Curran

McGonagles street image © Patrick Brocklebank

Fugazi, McGonagles, Dublin, Ireland 9/17/1990 (FLS #0259)

The time of the recording presented here is September 17, 1990, Guy’s birthday, which makes this the first one out of Guy’s three “birthday shows” (although no mention of it can be heard on the tape), the other ones in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1993 and in Bremen, Germany in 1999.

The place of the recording is McGonagles in Dublin, Ireland, a venue the band played three times early on but would not return to after this show in 1990. In an interesting article from September 2, 2018, titled “McGonagles, Dublin: An icon of a gloriously shabby golden age”, author NickCD chronicles quite a bit of the McGonagles history.

According to the author, the venue “[...] held a special place in the hearts of Dublin music fans since the 1950’s. Originally named The Crystal Ballroom, throughout the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s the venue played host to the Jazz and Swing Orchestras and Showbands of the day. These bands provided the musical backdrop for a whole generation of young Dubliners who would show up week-in, week-out to dance to the latest hits.”

After hosting Johnny Cash in 1963, Thin Lizzy around 1970, the revered place “went on to play a central part in Dublin’s music scene” in the course of the next couple of decades, not only doing regular all ages shows on Saturday afternoons or Heavy Metal nights on Fridays, but overall “hosting bands and club nights that spanned the musical spectrum.” Furthermore, the location turned out to be “a particularly important venue for U2” as well, and “Ozzy Osbourne’s rehearsal gigs ahead of his world tour in 1991″ or “the indie fraternity Sonic Youth’s blistering show the same year” are still well-cherished memories by those who were fortunate enough to attend.

However, due to Ireland - “the run-down European backwater” - catching an economic windfall since the mid-nineties, “[t]he writing was on the wall for McGonagles. What chance could a worn out music venue situated a mere 30 second walk from Grafton Street, one of the most expensive retail rent locations in the world, ever have had against the shiny new future promised by the developers plans? Closure and demolition followed and McGonagles was no more.” And so it goes...

The beginning of the tape appears to catch Guy telling the audience they got “spared” this year, alluding to the band being on time for the gig coming off a show in Belfast, Northern Ireland on the previous night, instead of being hours late having missed the ferry from the mainland like on their first visit on November 29, 1988.

The recording documents a set of just 12 live songs, which is short even by 1990 standards. Interestingly though, no less than 8 of these are taken off of Repeater, with 3 off of the 7 Songs debut EP and just 1 song off of the Margin Walker EP.

While a slow rendering of Blueprint, still true to the studio version on the Repeater album, eases the listener into the set, it quickly becomes clear that the band found itself in front of a lively, boisterous Dublin crowd of some 800 patrons.

The result is the kind of performance where Ian and Guy really lay into it, at times getting frustrated because of stage-diving or because of some people blocking the view of others (“first off, get the fuck down, you, you, you, you... get the fuck down... we got a responsibility to all the people in the back here, why don’t you let them take a look at the show”) yet always feeding off of whatever comes their way and taking it in stride.

A case in point is a particularly snappy and engaging rendering of Bulldog Front (Guy not only references “Beautiful Child” by the Blow Monkeys but throws in some obscenities as well), as is the unexpected drawn-out bridge during Bad Mouth or a tumultuous rendering of Suggestion where the band have a woman come up on stage to join in on vocals.

So in spite of this being a brief set, in spite of the guitars sounding rather distant or indistinct and the low end frequencies a bit murky, and in spite of a couple of seconds of Reprovisional missing because of the tape being flipped, it’s definitely cool to be able to enjoy this recording, and to be able to listen close and to listen carefully - in the words of NickCD mentioned above - to “hear the voices of the ghosts of gigs past roaring their joyous songs.”

And a happy birthday to you, Guy!

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Blueprint 3. Greed 4. Brendan #1 5. Interlude 1 6. Sieve-Fisted Find 7. Interlude 2 8. Merchandise 9. Bulldog Front 10. Bad Mouth 11. Interlude 3 12. Margin Walker 13. Suggestion 14. Interlude 4 15. Two Beats Off 16. Repeater 17. Reprovisional 18. Outro

#FLS1990 #fugazi #fugazi live series #dischord #mcgonagles #dublin #ireland #birthday show

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soundsof71 · 4 years ago

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FIVE ALBUMS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!

aka, My Top 5 of 2020, but I didn’t want to seem too retro!

Yep, I have a classic rock blog. Yep, I think that the best rock and roll in history is being made RIGHT NOW. And yep, ALL of it is being made by women.

(Shown at top, Nova Twins by Ant Adams [x] and The Tissues by Michael Espleta [x]. I was planning to make a collage of all my faves in concert, but not all of them were able to play in 2020. Both of these photos are pre-pandemic.)

There’s been quite a bit of movement on this list, and all five of these have spent some time at Number 1 as the year has done (gestures broadly) All This™. Anyone looking for rock and roll is going to dig any of these.

Rocking out is just the start of it, though. Wrestling with my bipolarity and schizophrenia is tough on a good day, and there haven’t been too many of those lately. The plague has also taken its toll around me, with two family members dead and a third who’s doing better, but will likely never be all the way back. (Mask up, kids!)

I’ve written plenty about how deeply Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers have moved me this year (and will do so again), but in those rare stretches where I’ve had enough spare energy to listen to music at all these days, I’ve mostly been looking for more than beautiful music. Heavy times need heavy lifting, and I find that in heavy music.

The five albums here have all helped carry me, pointing the way toward light.

1) BULLY, SUGAREGG

Alicia Bognanno is a force of nature as a guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer/engineer. (While working on her degree in audio engineering at MTSU, she interned with Steve Albini, who remains both a fan and an admirer). A Nashville transplant from Minnesota, she’s still a natural fit in her home on Sub Pop: as heavy as Soundgarden, as hooky as Sleater-Kinney.

I was blown away hearing her searing honesty while working through her discoveries of her bisexuality and bipolarity (double bi!), and her triumphant roar lifts me out of my seat every time I listen.

“She sings the hell out of [these songs], her voice fraying to the point of combustion every time she launches to the top of her range. This is phenomenal music for converting anger and anxiety into unbound joy.” ~Stereogum, Album of the Week

Also, check this fantastic interview with Alicia in the New York Times talking about what she’s gone through to get here.

TURN IT UP!

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2) GANSER, LOOK AT THAT SKY

Ganser syndrome is a rare dissociative disorder characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions and other dissociative symptoms such as fugue, amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual pseudohallucinations and a decreased state of consciousness. ~Wikipedia #it me

‘Just Look At That Sky’ doesn’t presume to offer solutions; it’s an honest document of what it feels like to wade through anxiety, day by day, not a survival guide or handbook of answers none of us actually have. Whether or not you pay attention to this, Ganser are simply one of the most invigorating, exciting new bands. ~Clashmusic

I saw one very positive review compare Ganser to a cross between Fugazi and Sonic Youth, but I think they hit much, much harder than either of those. And as you can surely guess, I also deeply relate to their themes of mental illness and dissociation while trying to make it through All This™. But my god, are they TIGHT. This is a BAND.

Ganser has two fantastic lead vocalists, and on “Bad Form”, bassist/vocalist Alicia Gaines wrote the song for the voice of keyboardist/vocalist Nadia Garofolo. Alicia also wrote a FANTASTIC essay on the strains that making an album during a pandemic puts on the mental health of the entire band at talkhouse: “Writing, recording, reaching out, balancing relationships outside and within the band, I found (and still find) myself under-rested and agitated to no particular end. More than not doing enough, I was not enough.”

(If you can’t relate to that, I can’t relate to you, tbh.)

This video also does a fantastic job of showing dissociation. TURN IT UP!

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3) THE TISSUES, BLUE FILM

“Blue Film” is a ten-song shot of dagger-twisting electro-(s)punk. It’s completely addictive from the very first listen. The tour de force is “Rear Window”, an art-punk masterpiece of slashing guitars and mad caterwauling. Copious doses of jaunty poetics and social commentary reward the earlooker patient enough to untangle Kristine Nevrose’s hysterical meowing about intergalactic salt shakers and hysterectomies, but I’m too emotionally invested to look under the hood.” ~ Sputnik Music

“Rear Window” is in fact my most-played 2020 track. TURN IT UP!

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4) GUM COUNTRY, SOMEWHERE

It’s not all heavy! But even when I’m looking for something light and hooky, I need a bite, and Gum Country has done it with the kind of swirly, feeedback-laden wall of sound that Lush or Yo La Tengo would make if they lived in LA. (Recent transplants to SoCal from Vancouver, I do think that the sunshine has gone straight to their heads, in the very best way.)

Indie music nerds will know guitarist/composer/singer/front woman Courtney Garvin from The Courtneys, and she really does throw up a glorious wall of sound. I adore this video too! Sweet, swinging, fun -- and yes, the drummer is playing keyboard with one hand while slapping the skins with the other!

I mentioned earlier that all five of these albums have spent part of the year at #1 on my list -- I think that this one might have spent the longest stretch there. Like all shoegaze, even as hooky as this, the truth of these songs is revealed in VOLUME. TURN IT UP!

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5) NOVA TWINS, WHO ARE THE GIRLS?

Now, THIS is heavy! Amy Lee (vocals, guitar) and Georgia South (bass) are fucking LOUD, and insanely intense. A mix of grime, hip-hop, metal, punk, and good old rock and roll, they’re a harder-hitting, more theatrical Prodigy, with a pyre of intensity that recalls the heaviest howls of Rage Against The Machine. Indeed, Nova Twins spent a good bit of 2019 playing heavy metal festivals and toured as openers for Prophets of Rage. (Tom Morello has been a fan and supporter from the beginning.)

As you may have noted in the photo at the top of this post, their musical audacity extends to visuals too: they design their own clothes, hair, and makeup, they art direct their own videos, and more. They impress the hell out of me, and I’ve been a huge fan since hearing their first singles in 2018. I’ll plant a flag and say that Georgia South in particular is the most innovative musician on any instrument in any genre right now, but they’re both absolutely monsters.

I’m honestly not at all sure that #5 is high enough for this, but I’m absolutely certain that after this video, you’re gonna need to rest for a little. LOL

“Taxi” is the story of two gleefully and creatively violent women shaking up the local crime syndicate as they use a vintage cab for their moving murder scene. This is the movie that Robert Rodriguez wishes he was making with Sin City, if it were combined with Blade Runner and The Matrix. And gangsters. And a snake.

I’m gonna take your crown I’m gonna, I’m gonna bleed you out We demand it by the hour We devour, control, power

I’m gonna burn it down Even the, even the royals bow

So not the same kind of therapeutic work being explored on this rekkid, but you know what? Fucking shit up is therapeutic too!

Definitely take this full screen, and for the love of fuck, TURN IT UP!

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SO. Not done with the best of 2020 yet? I’m sure not! A lot of my favorite songs aren’t on albums (at least not yet), so for an unedited list of everything I’m finding, check out my Spotify list, 2020: Shuffle This List! 268 songs and counting, over 15 hours, and not finished yet. I’m still checking out everyone else’s Best of lists (including yours! Message me links to yours!!!), so will probably be adding to this for most of 2021, too.

And for more banging tracks by women from 2020, plus a few 2019 gems that I’m still grooving to, check out my more thoroughly curated Spotify playlist Women Bangers: A Tumblr New Classics Jam. (You’ll see a couple of these tracks there!) I’m working on a YouTube playlist and an essay to properly roll that one out. I’m also still tweaking the ending, but the three dozen or so tunes there are definitely bangin’.

Tell me if you hear anything you dig here, and tell me what YOU’VE found! We’re gonna get through this together.

Yr pal, Timmy

#me #new classics #classic rock #women in rock #best of 2020 #bully #ganser #the tissues #gum country #nova twins #essay #youtube #punk rock #punk

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loser-poser-emo · 3 years ago

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brief history of emo (by me)

1. 80s - "first wave" 2. 90s - "second wave" 3. 00s - "third wave" 4. 10s - "now"

so where did it started? most people think it started in 1984, in washington, dc, when the legendary rites of spring were formed. their self-titled album came out next year. they were big fans of minor threat. also ian mackaye formed embrace - other pioneering and important emo band. it's useful to note that emo bands in scene back then fucking hated that label - like, can't other hardcore bands be emotional? but the difference i see from so-called-"emocore" (formed from emotional hardcore) bands and other hardcore bands - emo stuff is more melodic i think? and more about exploring emotions - while hardcore was more political. anyways, emo then was just a dc scene thing. and guys from rites of spring and embrace founded fugazi - an awesome post-hardcore band. must-listen!

notable bands form that period: rites of spring, embrace, gray matter.

you know that copypasta? "real emo only consists.."? that's what i'm talking about - "midwest emo". as i see this - it's emo, but influenced by math rock and all that suburbia sadness. more indie, may i say. still awesome, though. second wave started by one of the most important bands - sunny day real estate. with their 1994's diary they became one of the most popular bands in emo scene. not only grunge, but emo also became [more of] a subculture in 90s. but instead of continuing their hardcore legacy, emo more shifted into math rock/pop-punk/indie/etc influenced alternative rock scene, with the guys in it copying weezer's rivers cuomo "nerd" style - morrissey's glasses, mom-knitted sweaters, thrifted t-shirts... although are weezer themselves emo? a big question. someday i will write about it. emo became not just a dc thing - it was all over united states. specifically, midwest. most of midwest emo bands were located there... unexpected? nevertheless, in some way emo became more mainstream(but it fully broke into it in 00s) and we have may more different bands influenced by different genres than we did in 80s

notable bands:

of course. sunny day real estate.

more midwest emo: the get up kids, american football, the promise ring.

more influenced by pop-punk: jawbreaker, saves the day.

oh, the 2000s. this is gonna be kinda controversial, i’m afraid. i think, one of the first thing you need to know, some stuff you think is "emo" - is kinda... not. and it all started in here, when people realised they can make a profit of emo stuff and there were tons of bands who were positioned in society as emo bands while being their own form - and like that, fifteen years ago almost every popular alt-rock band was called emo! some kind of fashion became a deeper point in whole subculture - you know what i'm talking about - all this heavy makeup, huge fringes... this kind of style became inseparable of the word "emo" back then - and even now! everyone was "emo", everyone was listening to mcr, p!atd, the used... (none of them are emo ???)... while in 90s - aka "second wave" - everyone just dressed up way more casually and "vintage". but there were "real emo" bands in 00s, don't worry. in late 90s, and 00s, screamo was more and more involved in emo scene - i would recommend an awesome band i hate myself - and it shows. so yeah, screaming was almost always a part in emocore… now i’d like to write some bands, and some may not agree, i accept it. in this part, i’d also like to list some bands that are commonly mistaken as emo - one day i’ll make a post about why they are not emo.

notable bands:

emo: thursday, jimmy eat world, saves the day, taking back sunday.

not really: the used, blink-182(seriously? how?), green day, all time low, my chemical romance, fall out boy, panic! at the disco, paramore, arctic monkeys.

what’s up with emo now? the only thing i know, are “midwest-emo” bands, that are just making stuff like midwest scene did in 90s. i don’t know, are they real emo. they are just making math-rock influenced alternative stuff, and that fine… not always my thing. but they are great. apart from such bands, i don’t really think we really had an emo revival of some sort. all those “not really emo” bands like paramore and fob had albums in 10s, but they are even less emo than everything! seriously, i saw too much people guessing is fob’s mania emo or not. IT IS NOT. it‘s never been. it’s- it’s just alternative rock - not saying it’s bad, but… also like twenty one pilots??? no fucking way they are emo. i will explain it all later - however, it seems pretty obvious.

notable bands: modern football, mom jeans.

in the end i would say, topic of which band is emo or not (especially about 00s bands) is a really hard - because to resolve once and for all is your favorite 00s alt rock band emo - we would have to define what emo is. originally, 80s hardcore? or midwest scene of 90s? or fake emo bands like mcr are, in fact, emo, because it’s the emotion that counts, and we’re all just mistaken? who knows. stay tuned for more of my emo poser thoughts!

#loserposeremo #emo #midwest emo #history of emo #real emo

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confield · 3 years ago

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thinking about this one interaction i had a while ago. me and my friends were under a bridge. two guys who are from our school happened upon us cos i think i briefly mentioned one of them by name. i asked one of them if they listened to fugazi (he did because i told him to). they go to the other side of the bridge and start climbing across the lower beams like they're monkey bars for reasons that are beyond me. fugazi one cuts his hand on the rusty metal and falls into the river when he's like a meter away from the other side. they both get to our side and one of them writes a quote from albert camus on the bridge because i made some lame joke about him. he misspells one of the words and his handwriting is comically bad. he also draws this terrible looking creature on another part of the bridge and signs it with his real actual name but then crosses it out after he realizes it's a bad idea. he sort of misgenders me and my friend (we had it coming) and leaves. the other guy walks back with us but he's just carrying his skateboard without shoes because he fell in a fucking river.

it was pretty funny. covered the camus quote with a poster for my music last night though

#personal

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langdxn · 3 years ago

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6, 9, 11 & 13 for Fugazi vs Vanilla / Impatience 💚💜 - xavier-plymptons

aah thank you so much for these darling, i wish i had a new punk!duncan for you by now!

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

frankly, this was my first proper venture into an au. i’d never given alternative versions of cody boys the dedication i gave punk!duncan because my vision ever really reached past the versions of cody characters we knew on screen. i’d always bent the truth about the characters a little this way and that way, but i’d never delved head-first into a total rewriting of a character. duncan’s an ambiguous man as it is, we as a fandom have twisted and skewed that character beyond all recognition, but i wanted to make sure this au version of duncan shepherd was as true to his original as possible. he’s got the sass of an outgoing boisterous punk but that weakness around his family connections, his history and even his own feelings. that’s why he’s so hard to write for in my own mind, i’m so stuck in the actual duncan shepherd that creating this alternative personality goes against everything my tiny mind knows about him!

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

actually no! i never come up with alternate versions, i’m a shallow writer that just puts down what i think of and that’s the end of the story. i wish i had more preparation when i go into stories but that’s just me!

11: What do you like best about this fic?

truthfully? duncan’s appearance. from his hair down to his piercings, he’s every inch that typical punk you bump into outside shows. he’s got a cigarette hanging in the corner of his mouth at any given moment… except when he’s going down on his girl, of course.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

the strange thing is i definitely wasn’t listening to fugazi for this one, i didn’t want these characters to be clouded by the show they were going to see because frankly, they were much more interested in each other. i work in the music industry and we’ve all been to shows where the social interaction outweighs the music. that’s not to say that punk!duncan doesn’t love fugazi, his local band of choice on that fateful night, but he’s just got bigger priorities in the form of this chick he met outside. i was actually listening to def leppard’s pour some sugar on me, as odd as it may sound, because that’s my regular go-to soundtrack for writing smut — you can’t get much more filthy than def lep. so if you’re reading this, plug in some joe elliott and picture duncan battling with reader’s bondage belt. punks don’t exactly make stripping in the back of a camaro easy on themselves, do they? 😜

punk!duncan so far: fugazi vs vanilla // impatience

#punk!duncan

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canchewread · 4 years ago

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Author’s note: well, my week has sucked, how about yours?

Right, no rest for the wicked then. So as I mentioned at the tail end of last month, I’m working on a new kind of Recommended Reading blog feature here on Can’t You Read.

The tl;dr is these posts are designed to combine a sharable info graphic (or meme, if you must) with some short burst analysis and an important link to a related and often overlooked story by someone else. Ideally, all of this fits into an 800 or 1,000 word package that actually gives you enough time in your undoubtedly busy day to read the article I’m linking to.

Got it? Good, let’s get cracking.

American Fascism and Networks of Power

Well my friends, the last nauseating funeral gasp of the Trump era is almost over. With the recent news that (soon-to-be) former swine emperor Trump’s own Department of Justice can find no evidence of widespread election fraud, we all appear to be getting collectively closer to the final resolution of the Klepto Kaiser’s “chicken coup” and perhaps, the waning of his political influence even on the reactionary right.

Good riddance to bad rubbish I suppose, but as I’ve repeatedly tried to explain to virtually anyone who would listen, the end of Trump is most certainly not the end of fascism in the larger Pig Empire, or even just American fascism. The reasons for this are of course myriad but a short list might look something like this:

the pre-existing and increasingly normalized strain of ideological white nationalism in our society and ingrained into non-elected portions of the state (think police, ICE, and Trump’s complete transformation of the American judiciary; similar processes are also occurring in places like India, and Brazil of course.)

A weakened incoming, center-right administration (and its “liberal” establishment lackeys) that not only lacks the courage to purge fascists from public service but also attempts to weaponize far right violence against the American left, and regards antifascist street action as being akin to terrorism or crime.

the indefinite survival of an objectively fascist opposition party that probably has a better than even chance of retaining control of the U.S. Senate.

the existence of multiple right wing, mainstream media outlets and personalities that propagate fascist ideology, which are in turn buttressed by a seemingly endless wave of Astroturfed online media and internet psyops funded and controlled by fascist, or at least hyper-capitalist to the point of being reactionary, billionaires and their lobby networks.

the continued existence of violent, reactionary street gangs, far right neo-fascist militias, fascist conspiracy cults, and of course, roughly seventy-four million people who just gleefully voted for an open fascist and in some cases, continue to agitate for what would effectively be a coup.

the need for elite capital to defend itself against social upheaval and acquire soon-to-be scare resources in the face of evidence that capitalism is simply not compatible with avoiding the impending climate apocalypse our current political and economic course is actively ensuring will come to pass.

Naturally, I could have also mentioned the ongoing political, social and economic fallout from the still-raging coronavirus crisis, but I saved that for last because I want to unpack the ways we know many of the above forces function together in action - and as luck would have it, the Covid-19 anti-lockdown protests provide an extremely clear and documented example of what might otherwise look a little bit like a conspiracy theory.

Now as you may well be aware, a concerted and sustained disinformation campaign conducted by not only President Trump, but the larger Republican Party and right wing media has successfully weaponized the response to the coronavirus as a culture war issue in America; and that conflict is rapidly spreading across the entire Pig Empire.

This in turn was combined with a purely Astroturf protest movement, and judicious application of billionaire reactionary funding to literal white nationalist and fascist militias, to churn out thousands of cultists, chuds and other members of the reactionary “Volk” who demanded the economy be “re-opened” no matter how many elderly, marginalized or otherwise compromised people it might kill. Which as we’ve learned the month’s since, is quite a lot.

While each of these groups would vehemently deny it, it’s quite obvious that the billionaires and their media, are working with reactionary politicians in the Republican Party to marshal an aggressive, potentially violent protest movement against their political enemies and policies that threaten their profits. The rich guys get to keep raking in the cash, the politicians (who work for the rich guys anyway) get power and support from the chuds, and the Volk get to disguise a backlash against equality, decolonization and social advances as a battle against tyranny. All of which is wrapped up in a neat little bow under the auspices of covert white supremacy, in a situation that looks a little bit like eugenics, and bears all the hallmarks of historically racist (and obviously, false) attitudes in America about the genetic and more importantly *hygienic* superiority of whites over non-whites.

Of course and as I mentioned above, all of this might sound like a conspiracy theory, but if you’ve been clicking on the links as we go along you know that it’s all true; unfortunately, a bipartisan billionaire-owned media interest in protecting the power and influence of elite capital in the Pig Empire, by and large prevents the mainstream media from presenting all of this information in its proper context. To counter that problem, let’s turn to investigative journalist Alex Kotch, an anti-corruption muckraker of considerable ability and someone who exists at least partially (but not entirely) outside the corporate media sphere.

On October 21st, 2020, Kotch and the Center for Media and Democracy published an extraordinary story that laid bare the inner workings of American fascism (and its capitalist roots) - we’re talking about exposing the direct financial connections between billionaire propaganda networks, fascist chud militias, right wing think tanks, GOP politicians and Astroturfed anti-lockdown protests; dark money meets dirty deeds done dirt cheap in a fake uprising that ends in obstructive lawsuits, partisan impeachment recommendations and a plot to kidnap and maybe even execute the governor of Michigan for... saving lives, apparently.

This is what the fascist alliance of elite capital (DeVos Family, Koch Network,) political power and street violence looks like in direct application; this is why I’m certain American fascism will outlast Trump’s fall - it’s all there in black and white.

Unfortunately, hardly anyone noticed it at the time because the election consumed all of the oxygen in the room; as anything involving Trump is want to do. Let’s not make that mistake again - to check out Kotch’s incredible story, click on the title header below:

GOP Politicians and Conservative Groups Set the Stage for Attempted Kidnapping of Michigan Governor by Alex Kotch

-nina illingworth

Independent writer, critic and analyst with a left focus. Please help me fight corporate censorship by sharing my articles with your friends online!

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

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stellaluna33 · 4 years ago

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22, 38, and 48 for the asks :)

22. Music? I don't listen to music WHILE I'm writing, generally. It's too distracting. But I do listen to music beforehand to get myself into the right frame of mind for certain characters. Like for Jess, I've been listening to a lot of the Kinks, Fugazi, the Ramones, and Jimi Hendrix lately.

38. I've never really done any writing events or NaNoWriMo before. I can be independent to a FAULT sometimes, but also anything that starts to feel like an "assignment" tends to sap my creativity.

48. From "the Long and Winding Road": "Falling in love with Jess had been like being caught in a riptide and dragged out to sea. Dean had been the slippery rock she tried desperately to cling to, but her strength just gave out in the end. She could do nothing but drown." (Technically more than one sentence, sorry!)

Thank you SO much for asking!!!

#Fanfiction

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youcanblogifyouwantto · 4 years ago

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Biff’s Year in Music

2020 what can I say… I feel like this meme summed up the first half of it pretty well.

https://cheezburger.com/12209157/ant-man-meme-gives-a-recap-of-all-the-horrors-of-2020-so-far

Then to top it off this last week my son developed a spontaneous pneumothorax which basically is a collapsing of his lung for no apparent reason other than he is a tall thin white adolescent. To make matters worse he is 18 and COVID is raging in all the hospitals. Thankfully my wife is an RN and should have been a lawyer as she was able to argue her way into staying with him. Good thing she did because one the doctors fucked up so bad she gave him another Pneumothorax by turning a valve a wrong way. Needless to say it has been a very rough year and especially rough week for me and my family. Music has been and always will be the only constant positive release for me. 2020 had some great music and being home for almost an entire year now has led to a lot of music consumption. The only other thing I did almost as much as listen to music was drink and cook food to match what I was drinking. I’ve always loved beer and wine and dabbled in Whiskey but this year was the year of the cocktail for me. I would discover a new alcohol type and then plan crazy elaborate dinners that cocktail would either be an aperitif of digestif for. Fun yes, healthy? …That is yet to be determined. I did take up running again to counter the amount I was drinking and eating and I would say that I have consistently worked out more this year than any other year so my liver might be fucked but my heart and lungs are strong.

So to start it off, this year saw releases from some of my all-time favorite musicians that I found nice and good even but never clicked or haven’t yet. I had been eagerly anticipating Matt Berninger’s solo release all year and I dig it but strangely not enough to return to it unless I purposely tell myself to. The same goes for Bright Eyes, Real Estate, Sylavan Esso, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever minus Cars in Space (I played the shit out of that song), Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Car Seat Headrest, Dirty Projectors, Sufjan Stevens, Laura Marling (on first listen I thought easy top for the year then Fiona Apple came out and I haven’t returned to Laura Marling since), Damien Jurado, Jason Isbell, Neil Young (Homegrown had a special place in my heart for a month but again haven’t returned since August), Future Islands, Kevin Morby, and Busta Rhymes. All of these albums I do not hate or even dislike in fact some I liked a lot at first but just didn’t have staying power. The following list are albums I loved that some stayed all year in rotation. Not in particular order but kinda like a Coachella poster if it’s near the top it’s one of my favorites of the year. I can be very longwinded on paper and very brief in person so I will try my antisocial tendencies to describe these albums. I will say for the most part the albums that hit this year are like comfort food music for my soul.

Waxahatchee - St. Cloud – Home, comfort, introspective

Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher – Witty, production, great voice

Run The Jewels – RTJ4 - best running album ever. My favorite from these guys and best rap album I’ve heard in a while.

Jeff Tweedy – Love is the King. Maybe blasphemy but I like better than Warm. Perfect example of music comfort food. His biography is great too and so is the Summer teeth deluxe reissue.

Fleet Foxes – Shore – Beautiful, peaceful everything I needed from them and more. Side note Helplessness Blues was the first album review I ever wrote for ATR and I’m so glad I found those guys! Thank you for continuing the tradition.

Jeff Rosenstock – NO DREAM There was some good punk rock this year but this was the best also great running music. Rosenstock is now my go to for punk

Taylor Swift- Folk Lore- Story Telling, Sweater music, more music comfort food. And now Evermore continues the greatness. Dorothea might be my favorite track from both records. If you would have told me a Taylor Swift album would be in my tops for the year a couple of years ago I would have laughed you out of my face and now she has two albums in my tops. 2020 is one crazy year!

The Avalanches- We Will Always Love You- I’ve loved every single and was waiting for this to drop before posting this. Well Worth the wait. I like it better than the Gorillaz release and that is saying a lot. It’s hard to have this many spot on features and keep a cohesive vibe! Johnny Marr meets MGMT is another need more of this collab.

Loma - Don’t Shy Away- If 2020 could be articulated through music disorienting but also working from home has some perks. Good balance of weird and comfort

Adrienne Leckner – Songs- She writes great songs and performs them immaculately

Muzz- ST – The last show I went to before shutdown was Morrissey with Interpol opening and I forgot how much I love Bank’s voice. This album is highly underrated in my opinion especially Evergreen.

Gorillaz –Song Machine – Best since Demon Days and Robert Smith/Damon Albarn Collab was never anything I thought I needed but now want more of. When Tony Allen died I went through a deep Tony Allen dive that was quite enjoyable. Great Drummer!

Dinner party – ST – The title explains it better than I can

Against All Logic – 2017-2019 – Kelly Lee Owens and this were the only electronica to stay all year both great running albums and If you can’t do it good do it hard is worth the price of admission alone

Hamilton Leithhauser- The Loves of your life- I love this man and I loved the walkmen. I feel he for me is like Frank Sinatra was for my mom. Not as sweet as a voice but can sing the hell out of a song.

Walter Martin – The world at Night- Another Walkmen member, this is another comfort food album it just feels right in my soul

Ka – Descendants Of Cain – Criminally underrated for too long this dude paints lyrical mood pictures like GZA.

Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately – Beautiful Authentic Elegant

Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters - Lyrically and sonically slays me. You have to like spoken word and weird rhythm texture but she nails both of those.

Bonny Light Horseman- ST – Great folk indie I just knew this was an album for me on first listen

Rose city band - Summerlong – Best new discovery, feeds my jam band meets indie soul

Strokes - The New Abnormal – I don’t know why this didn’t get more love? I loved it and The Adults are Talking is top five best Strokes songs.

Pinegrove- Marigold – More indie comfort food music

Bartees Strange – Live Forever – Second best new discovery. This dude is all over the place but in a good way. If you like this check out his singles where he covers many National songs.

Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song- My Friend Antony described this better than I can at the current moment. Inner songs indeed.

The Killers – Imploding the Mirage- Most surprised album of the year, I’ve never been a big Killers fan but this one just wrapped it hooks inside me and didn’t let go all year

Young Jesus – Welcome to Conceptual Beach- Avant-garde or experimental music stretches me in ways that are very good for my soul and this one was such an album

My Morning Jacket – Waterfall II – Took a trip up to Humboldt in Early August and this was the soundtrack of the trip. Very much needed social distance return to nature vacation.

Hum- Inlet – I rocked out to this many a summer early fall evening sitting on my dock fishing and drinking beer.

Haim- Women in Music Pt. III – Best Haim yet and yes they are maturing into great song writers

Nation of Language- Introduction, Presence – Third best new discovery.. My friend Spencer at Shadows and Noise (a blog I’ve contributed to on occasion) accurately describes this album nicely. My wife loves Depeche Mode, New Order, and Erasure so this album is a new version of that genre that she and I can love together.

Coriky- ST – Half of Fugazi with a female drummer that sounds like classic Sleater Kinney in fact Fugazi meets Sleater Kinney is how I would describe this and that can’t be wrong!

EP’s Singles

James Blake- Before (Great marriage of his old and new)

Kruangbin & Leon Bridges- Texas Sun

Local Natives – Sour Lemon

Radio Dept – The Absence of Birds

Leon Bridges – Sweeter

Tom Berlin – Projections

Father John Misty – To S/ To R

Rostam- Unfold you

Mank is one of the only great movies of 2020!

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makeste · 5 years ago

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a BnHA playlist/fanmix thing

@psqqa so I finally put together a list of some of my BnHA playlist tracks! this is by no means comprehensive because I have literally half a dozen different playlists with different themes (e.g. “instrumentals”, “BakuDeku”, “songs that either remind me of Kacchan or that he would work out to”, “angsty apocalyptic final battle”, and so forth) and omg it’s a lot. but this is my most inclusive playlist, which consists of general character theme songs for most of class 1-A, the League of Villains, and a few others. my taste in music generally leans towards alternative/indie/rock/grunge, but it can kind of go all over the place. so the genres may vary here and there, especially since I opted to go with whichever song I felt fit the character best regardless of how well the tracks all blended together musically.

also I have a bakudeku bias but THAT’S NOT EXACTLY BREAKING NEWS what can I say. and this is actually me holding back lol but oh well.

Deku - Rise (Katy Perry) - “makeste did you really just kick off your BnHA playlist with a Katy Perry song” yeah I did! because!! I won’t just survive/oh you will see me thrive/can’t write my story/I’m beyond the archetype. like, this song was made for anime protagonists. oh ye of little faith/don’t doubt it, don’t doubt it/victory is in my veins/I know it, I know it. this kid just doesn’t give up. this is no mistake, no accident/when you think the final nail is in, think again/don’t be surprised/I will still rise.

bonus: Blood (Archis) - this song is fucking gorgeous both musically and lyrically. don’t let them win/don’t let them get/under your skin, into your head/they’re full of it/you’re full of life/you’ll prove them right if you’re giving up/so let’s go for blood. it really is fucked up how dismissive BnHA society is of anyone who’s quirkless. it’s so stupid too, because the majority of quirks aren’t even all that great. “look at me I can make DSLR lenses pop out of my body!” lol fucking great. so obviously superior to normal people who have to take pictures with actual cameras like fucking scrubs. anyway, so Deku was written off from a young age as helpless, defective, and deficient, all because he lacked a quirk. so it’s been so fucking great to watch him finally prove them all wrong. (...by getting a quirk. lol. but STILL.) well it sure took a while to turn it around/but I never gave up on me.

Bakugou - We Will Rock You (VonLichten mix) (Queen) - I like this version of the song because it adds a bit of an extra oomph and it’s a little bit fiercer. anyways, this has been my Bakugou theme song since day one, and what I love about it is that each verse works for a different stage of his ~journey~. buddy you’re a boy/make a big noise/playing in the street/gonna be a big man someday -- this is Katsuki as a fearless young child, with hints at the growing chip on his shoulder (kicking your can all over the place). and then the second verse is him a little older, starting out at UA -- buddy you’re a young man/hard man/shouting in the street/gonna take on the world someday -- and proclaiming to the world that he’ll be number one. and lastly we have the final verse, with its line gonna make you some peace someday, which I know is meant in a make-peace-with-things-before-the-end kind of way, but in a BnHA context you can totally tweak it to be a reference to the man he’s aspiring to be. gonna make you some peace, because he’s gonna be greater than the Symbol of Peace himself someday.

bonus: Defy You (The Offspring) - the wind blows/I’ll lean into the wind/my anger grows/I’ll use it to win/the more you say/the more I defy you/so get out of my way. perfect song for a boy who cannot and will not be stopped. you cannot stop us/you cannot bring us down/never give up/we’ll go on and on. or, in his words: “I will win... that’s what heroes do.”

All Might - Legends Never Die (League of Legends OST) - listen I have never played League of Legends lol, but ever since I heard this song in a Marvel edit, this has been the All Might song for me. you could probably just watch the Kamino battle on mute with this song in the background and everything would fit. legends never die/when the world is calling you/can you hear them screaming out your name?/legends never die/they become a part of you/every time you bleed for reaching greatness/relentless, you survive. the lyrics basically speak for themselves. we stan a champion.

Aizawa - I’ll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan OST) - y’all I went through so many songs looking for something that summarized Aizawa’s tiredness/doneness-with-life while also alluding to his mentor side, and then suddenly BAM, it hit me. anyways so yeah. you’re the saddest bunch I ever met/but you can bet before we’re through/mister I’ll make a man out of you. also just try to listen to the “say goodbye to those who knew me/boy was I a fool in school for cutting gym/THIS GUY’S GOT ‘EM SCARED TO DEATH” part without picturing 1-A bitching about their scruffy teacher overlord whom they secretly love.

bonus: I’m So Tired (Fugazi) - if you’re looking for something more musically cohesive with the rest of this playlist in general, as opposed to SUDDEN DISNEY SONG OUT OF NOWHERE, this may be a bit more up your alley lol. I’m so tired sheep are counting me/no more struggle, no more energy/no more patience/and you can write that down/it’s all too crazy and I’m not sticking round. anyways Aizawa needs a nap.

Todoroki - Alive (Sia) - I grew up overnight/I played alone, I played on my own/I survived/I wanted everything I never had/like the love that comes with life/I wore envy and I hated it/but I survived. guys this little candy cane boy has been through some shit. but he hung in there and now he is thriving. I’m still breathing/I’m alive.

Ochako - You Gotta Be (Des’ree) - because she’s a badass. you gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser/you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger/you gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. anyways I sure would like Ochako to get the spotlight in an arc again one of these days. she’s the best.

Iida - Never Die (FNDTY) - it was actually pretty hard to find a song that fit Iida’s unique forty-year-old man personality since my musical tastes usually run towards moody shit and he’s pretty much the opposite of that lol. but I think the tempo of this song fits his quirk, at least, and it makes me smile, which he does also. you can run/you can fly/you can never die.

Kirishima - Guts Over Fear ft. Sia (Eminem) - so this is a song all about overcoming your insecurities and finding the courage within yourself. I freaking love how the pre-chorus I was afraid to make a single sound/afraid I would never find a way out builds up and transitions into so here I am and I will not run/guts over fear. I’m so proud of Kiri you guys.

Momo - You Are Young (Keane) - another song about getting the better of your personal doubts and demons! hey now, don’t be scared, baby, don’t be scared at all/of all the things you don’t know/you’ve got time to realize. Momo has so much potential and she’s going to be such an incredible hero one day. now that she’s gaining more confidence the sky is pretty much the limit for her. you’ve got time/you’ve got to try/to bring some good into this world/cause you are young.

Mina - Safe and Sound (Capital Cities) - oh hey it’s the most upbeat song in the world, for the world’s most cheerful and optimistic and endlessly delightful person. I could fill your cup/you know my river won’t evaporate/this world we still appreciate/you could be my luck/even in a hurricane of frowns/I know that we’ll be safe and sound.

Kaminari - Thunderstruck (AC/DC) - okay yeah maybe I didn’t try too hard on this one lol. BUT IF THE SHOE FITS and honestly, it does. title aside, I think this song fits Kaminari musically too. it’s badass and it puts a smile on your face. went through to Texas/yeah Texas/and we had some fun/we met some girls/some dancers who gave a good time/broke all the rules/played all the fools. and then, of course, the chorus. you’ve been thunderstruck.

Jirou - Dream On (Aerosmith) - you know I had to go with a rock song for Jirou, so might as well go with a classic that’s all about (a) loving music (sing with me, sing for the year/sing for the laughter, sing for the tear) and (b) shooting for your dreams. dream on, dream on/dream until your dreams come true.

Tokoyami - Dark Necessities (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - I could have possibly gone with something a bit more goth for Toko as opposed to the Chilis, but the lyrics just fit so well though. you don’t know my mind/you don’t know my kind/dark necessities are part of my design/tell the world that I’m falling from the sky/dark necessities are part of my design/do you want this love of mine?/darkness helps us all to shine. Tokoyami doesn’t get enough respect for being a teenage edgelord without being a cringey mess. he’s setting such a good example for others.

so that’s pretty much it for my 1-A songs, but here are some bonus BakuDeku songs because I am obsessed

Muddy Waters (LP) - this is my theme for Deku VS Kacchan 2. goddamn Katsuki is such a hot fucking mess during this fight. and he’s hurting so much, and he’s reaching out to the only person he knows to reach out to in the only way he knows how. I will ask you for mercy/I will come to you blind/what you’ll see is the worst me/I’m not the last of my kind/in the muddy water we’re falling/in the muddy water we’re crawling. this song brings that good angst you guys. this is a relationship that has been through the wringer, and two boys who have basically no idea what they are doing, just kind of stumbling along. it is not clear why we choose the fire pathway/where we end is not the way that we had planned/all the spirits gathered round like it’s our last day/to get across you know we’ll have to raise the sand. anyways these kids chose the highest possible difficulty level for their path forward, but they’re doing it though. together, y’all.

Admiration (Incubus) - because Izuku is frankly infatuated and doesn’t even try to hide it. you’re an unfenced fire/over walls we’ve trampled/it’s you I admire/my living example. “an amazing person who was even closer to me than All Might.” he’s so open in his respect and awe for practically everything Kacchan does. just staring at him in starry-eyed wonder. and this part of their dynamic has always been so compelling to me -- how unconditional it is on Izuku’s part. that is some fiercely strong love there on his part that it can survive all the bullshit Kacchan heaps onto it, and all his best attempts to snuff it out. he just latched on and wouldn’t let go. anyways it resulted in something extremely unhealthy for quite a while, but it’s turning around now and being reciprocated, even if Kacchan’s version is prickly and tentative. don’t get ahead of me/could we just this once see eye to eye?

Ordinary Love (U2) - I can’t fight you anymore/it’s you I’m fighting for/the sea throws rocks together/but time leaves us polished stones. I fucking love that metaphor, though. yeah, just give them time. they’re gonna figure this all out one day.

and have a bonus theme song for class 1-A in general before we move on

Charlie Brown (Coldplay) - something about this song just embodies that restive, fidgety energy of youth to me. all the boys, all the girls/all that matters in the world/all the boys, all the girls/all the madness that occurs/all the highs, all the lows/as the room a-spinning goes/we’ll run riot/we’ll be glowing in the dark. there’s like a disorderly, disheveled beauty to this. say what you will about Coldplay, but some of their songs are like the musical equivalent of a rainbow.

anyways so now I’m gonna segue into some songs for a few of the season 4 characters. starting with...

Nighteye - While I’m Still Here (Nine Inch Nails) - ticking time is running out/yesterday I found out the world was ending. I still can’t get over how psychologically devastating Nighteye’s quirk is. it’s basically just Major Bummer: The Quirk. this season is really going to fuck me up emotionally isn’t it. a little more/every day/falls apart and/slips away/I don’t mind/I’m okay/wish it didn’t have to end this way. fucking hell. guess I better brace myself for some solid gut punches to the soul.

Eri - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Florence + the Machine) - nothing to see here, just a little girl being treated as nothing more than a human bloodbank, and told that her quirk is nothing but a curse even as her abuser hoards it and uses it to wage a war. this is a gift, it comes with a price/who is the lamb and who is the knife?/Midas is king and he holds me so tight/and turns me to gold in the sunlight. but I also picked this song for Eri because of the way the POV slowly gathers up their courage and tries to fight back. I wish that I could just be brave/I must become a lion-hearted girl/ready for a fight/before I make the final sacrifice. excuse me I need to go hug Eri.

Mirio - Carry On (fun.) - okay so it was kind of hard to pick a song for Mirio, I think maybe I was overthinking it. anyways I ended up going with something hopeful to try and embody his endless, determined optimism. this song has kind of a quiet courage that builds up as it goes on. my favorite part is the second bridge: cause we are/we are shining stars/we are invincible/we are who we are/on our darkest day/when we’re miles away/so we’ll come/we will find our way home.

bonus: Mirio and Tamaki - Kids (Acoustic) (OneRepublic) - back when we were kids/swore we would never die/you and me were kids/swear that we’ll never die. lol at least we have one healthy childhood friendship to stan in this series.

and now on to THE VILLAINS, yay. this is probably the most musically cohesive section of this playlist, since VILLAINS!! means I can go with an overall darker ambiance.

All for One - Sympathy for the Devil (Neptunes Remix) (Rolling Stones) - didn’t even have to think about this one. please allow me to introduce myself/I’m a man of wealth and taste/I’ve been around for a long, long year/stole many a man’s soul and faith. this is the gentleman villain song and a perfect fit IMO.

Tomura - Pet (A Perfect Circle) - or really, this is more “AFO and Tenko”, I guess. manipulating a traumatized child into hating the world and raising him to become a killer. pay no mind to what other voices say/they don’t care about you like I do/safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils/see, they don’t give a fuck about you like I do/just stay with me/safe and ignorant. this is one of those songs where literally the entire song fits both lyrically and musically. just perfect. I’ll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices, son/they’re one and the same/I must isolate you/isolate and save you from yourself. like it’s a struggle here not to quote the entire song. ...eh, one more. swinging to the rhythm of the new world order and/counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums.

bonus: Flesh and Bone (Black Math) - Tenko angst. god that last arc was so fucking good. I walk alone, beside myself/nowhere to go/this bleeding heart that’s in my hands/I fell apart. stupid manga with its darkly compelling villain character arcs.

Dabi - Shadow on the Sun (Audioslave) - aaaangst lol. and I can tell you why/people go insane/I can show you how/you could do the same. p.s. Dabi you still owe me a flashback! also “shadow on the sun” is a pretty good metaphor for his relationship with Endeavor. fire quirks make for such great metaphor potential.

Toga - Bones (MS MR) - you know I really have no idea why this song pings me so hard for Toga lol. but whatever, it is what it is. marinate in misery/like a girl of only 17/man-made madness/and the romance of sadness.

Twice - Misfits (Third Eye Blind) - my people are the misfits/the ones that don’t fit in. this is another song that clicked pretty naturally without requiring much thought on my part. well those are the ones for me/yeah those are the ones for me/the misfits, the freaks, the enemy/you and me.

Spinner - Normal Person (Arcade Fire) - is anything as strange as a normal person?/is anyone as cruel as a normal person/waiting after school for you/they want to know if you/if you’re normal too/well are you? this song is such a burn on quirk society and all of its issues. I can’t tell if I’m a normal person, it’s true/I think I’m cool enough/but am I cruel enough? I especially love the ending -- if that’s what’s normal now/I don’t want to know.

and a bonus League of Villains song:

Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover) (Lorde) - just change “rule” to “destroy” I guess lol. help me make the most of freedom/and of pleasure/nothing ever lasts forever/everybody wants to rule the world. god I love this cover. this is one of those songs I’ll play over and over again anyway so it’s nice to have a good excuse what with the direction this new arc appears to be headed in.

and lastly, a couple of Hawks and Endeavor songs because they don’t really fit in any other section and I didn’t really plan out this post!

Hawks - Weapon (Matthew Good) - just a really nice, angsty theme for the man who goes too fast, off on his spy mission of doom. careful, you be careful/this is where the world drops off. plus some bonus angst about how he’s trapped in this role that he never wanted to be in. and you give in/and you give out for it/ain’t it so weird/how it makes you a weapon.

Endeavor - Find My Way (Nine Inch Nails) - lord my path has gone astray/I’m just trying to find my way/wandered here from far away/I’m just trying to find my way/you were never meant to see/all those things inside of me/now that you have gone away/I’m just trying to find my way. I don’t really need to comment more on this, do I? also, the part where Trent Reznor’s voice drops to a whisper and says please/I never meant for this, though. omg. Endeavor you’re such a bitch and you had all of this coming, but even so. oof.

and that’s pretty much it! she said, like this post wasn’t long af as it is lol. anyway so there are... 34 songs here, lol. I should probably try and put it all into a youtube playlist or something for convenience. I’ll edit once I’ve done that.

edit: playlist!

#bnha #boku no hero academia #class 1-a #bakudeku #league of villains #fanmix #bnha fanmix #bnha meta #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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