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itwoodbeprefect · 25 days ago

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shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. then copy/paste this ask to your favorite mutuals

hello friend. ❤ i think you sent this to me in april of 2024 so surely finding it in my drafts and actually responding to it in january 2025 is, like, normal. and stuff.

to make things better and/or worse, i'm going to be incapable of keeping this short. this is from my playlist just called "thai", which i need to start splitting up in some way that makes sense, rather than throwing everything in a pile, but i haven't done that yet, so it has 219 songs in it, nearly all of which are there due to some sense of emotional attachment:

สะมะกึ๊กสะมะกั๊ก (stuckling) - earth & mix ft. jennie panhan

fjdkfd okay, look. we're starting off strong with a song i skip half the time it comes on, but it stays on the list because it does also make me go <3 when i'm reminded of it. this is the OST for ossan's love thailand and it's very nearly unlistenable to me and i deeply love it. the MV is very loud chaos in its purest form (i thought that was true about the peaceful property MV and in hindsight that was SO wrong. the peaceful property MV is goofy in its own way but it's almost demure next to this). bonus points for featuring jennie panhan! i don't know how this series will turn out yet (it's a remake of a japanese property, a type of history on which gmmtv (the company behind this) has a mixed record so far) but GOD am i happy to see that they're finally letting earth (the one in front of the pool table) play a role that lets him be the useless immature babygirl object of everyone's affections, instead of a stoic forest ranger (a tale of 1000 stars) or "almost 40" at 29 (moonlight chicken (i am. still not over that. i may never be.)), because he's GOOD at goofy comedy! jojo tichakorn did not make mama gogo (yet another series) to prove this but he did, inadvertently, prove this! also, there's literally never a bad time to watch mix sahaphap on screen because he's always great. also also. a gmmtv series with an actor who is (actually!) 46 as third billed and an official part of the central love triangle shenanigans? yes, please, thank you. most of this paragraph is not directly relevant to this song but to me it is, because these are the thoughts i have when i hit skip. (actually, one thought that's truly about the song: this has an E rating on spotify, which is incredibly funny to me, because the english subtitles on youtube don't have a single thing even close to a curse word in them, but apparently the thai original may be more rude? or spotify is being weird, which is also possible.)

เพื่อชีวิตกู / peua chiwit koo - TaitosmitH

taitosmith!!! one of the first times i listened to them i put on a random album and most new thai song lyrics are way too much for me at once to catch more than a sentence fragment here and there, but then at some point i snapped to attention when it was, like, wait. are they singing that someone doesn't want to be a man? and they were. i love their songs, and i love the music videos they make for them, i love how often those MVs actually add layers or tell their own stories. they have a huge number of songs about class struggle, poverty, getting painted as a criminal, problems endemic to thai society (and many societies, but they're very clear about their roots). the MV for กี่ฤดู (kii reudoo, "how many seasons") tells a much smaller story but caught me at the exact right time to have me sobbing for a bit. and then there's one song that had me squinting at the title going ? is this called "helmet"? that can't be right. but it was! that's what it's called! so i was like, okay, this is a song about. wearing a helmet, i guess. but then the lyrics go something like, wearing a helmet isn't cool, i want to go really fast and smash my head into the pavement, it's my business if i want to take this risk. but then the MV was released (fairly recently, this is one of their newest songs) and in it a guy goes on a sort of vigilante spree to force people into wearing helmets and avenge his family member(? or friend?) who was killed by reckless drivers, and also there's a chance that at the end he's a ghost? which, just. i do enjoy a poppy catchy love song, but goddamn, the journey that one single song can take you on.

เจ็บก็สิอดเอา (stay strong) - MANG bamm

love this one, it's great! in the MV mang (from bamm. mang is her name, bamm is the group she's usually in) stands in the middle of a field in a giant hat and a beautiful dress and high heeled boots and it's honestly pretty impressive she doesn't fall over. it also stars daou and offroad (actors, singers (though not here), etc.; currently stuck on my radar because they're the leads in century of love, which is stuck in my head) playing characters seemingly called daou and offroad (it's on daou's namecard at the start, and near the end he's crying over offroad's actual instagram handle. choices.) who meet and start dating and break up because they have to follow their dreams (that's those few lines of on screen dialogue in thai in the second half somewhere. offroad saying that) and so during the entire video the village is performing a traditional healing method on daou (they're not preparing to burn the man! they're helping him with his broken heart), except then they keep piling more and more improbable things on the fire, and it's a very understated kind of comedy and i'm incredibly here for it. it took me a second watch to realize that at 2:30 daou is absolutely about to burn down the whole music building because it reminds him of meeting offroad, and it's only mang's wise guidance (she shakes her head) that keeps him from going to prison i guess. i unironically love every single thing about this.

แพ้คำว่ารัก / pae kam waa rak - calories blah blah

the title means something like "losing to the word love". we're staying daou pittaya adjacent somehow, because this song is here because he did a cover of it. i'm in love with the band name but i don't really know them. i'm pretty sure daou sang this on an episode of a tv show that seems to be about singers covering other people's songs (i'm right. it's here), and another one he did was รอพี่ก่อน / roh pi korn, which has one of my favorite (of many, by now) moments where i misunderstood what the lyrics of a thai song were doing, because the song is called, essentially, "wait for me", and it's about how he doesn't have money right now but he'll hurry up to get it and then he will, or so i blindly assumed, hurry to his lover. because at some point he sings something about a car, and a train, and a plane. except then it clicked that in between the car and the train he sings about a refrigerator, and for a while there i was having lovely whimsical visions of paddling down a river using a fridge as a boat (?? how else are you going to use a fridge as transport?), but actually. he's singing that once he's rich he'll pay for the car, and the fridge, and the train, and the plane. some of which seem like more realistic goals than others, but hey, go for it.

แม่เกี่ยว / mae kiauw - palmy

you know what. i actually genuinely don't have a long story about this one, not even something that's vaguely related around two corners. i have zero memory of how this even ended up on my list (spotify recommendation? maybe??? i don't really know palmy beyond this one song, though i keep meaning to more seriously explore), i just know i really really like the sound of it! i've been listening to this one a lot.

and finally! i don't think i'll be sending asks but i will tag some people: @redgoldblue (you may have forgotten by now that you ever did this, so that could be the perfect time to do it again, if you want), @theartichokesarepurple, @littlestarsailor, @spaceradars, @batvreason, and anyone else who wants. all of this with no pressure of course, only if you feel like it!

#ask #*#ask games #hardly any of daou's singing is on spotify because he's mostly doing covers (and presumably far too busy for anything else)#but still. one thing about daou pittaya is that he'll be singing.#i watched a vlog thing yesterday where offroad and a friend were trying to give him a birthday cake (it was his birthday)#and he made them wait because he was too busy weaving a dramatic ending to his rendition of happy birthday (to himself)

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dollarbin · 4 months ago

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Kristofferson:

A Dollar Bin Primer

I saw an obligatory "ten essential songs" list alongside the very nice NYTimes Kris obituary following his passing yesterday. Suffice it to say that the assembler of that list doesn't dwell with you and me in the Dollar Bin. Rather they live in Obvious Town, otherwise known as Spodify.

But Kris is a true lord of the bin: he sold tons of records in the 70's that no one listens to any more except me and my famous brother.

And now you! Here are nine deep tracks (plus a tenth from Willie!) in chronological order, one from each of Kristofferson's fairly-easy-to-track-down-for-a-square-buck-each 70's albums...

(Yes: incredibly, Kris put out nine separate solo albums in the 70's, plus three more with his wife-for-a-decade Rita Coolidge, not to mention starring in a half dozen films. Nine plus three is twelve. I doubt Radiohead have issued that many albums in their nearly 40 years of existence...)

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Casey's Last Ride from Kristofferson

Kris's self-titled first record is a downright mothercuddler: every song is titanic, funny and terrifying. Casey's Last Ride gives him room to swing from violent to sensitive; this perfectly miniaturized epic sounds like a blueprint for the film Peckinpah should have made with Kris instead of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid...

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Jodie and the Kid from The Silver Tongued Devil and I

Kris could write a weeper alright. I don't know if he ever really got over his first failed marriage and the ways it affected his children. Every time I was around Kris - he was a distant cousin - I'd see that he was most interested in the children at our gathering; the first time I ever met him he seemed literally covered in diapered offspring from his third marriage and he looked downright thrilled about it.

Jodie and the Kid was one of my grandmother's favorites of his songs - he loved her dearly and she loved the sensitive, ah shucks side of him on display in this perfect short story of a song.

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Little Girl Lost from Border Lord

Kris always took a lot of pride in his band: guys stuck with him for decades and he made room for their songs and their voices on all of his records. Little Girl Lost is really three different songs artfully shuffled together: there's brooding Doors-like intro followed by a honky tonk stomp that fades into a prayer. Kris and the boys ride the changes with concise poise.

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Jesus Was A Capricorn

He was just so good with words. Sure, this title track from his fourth solo record is a tossed off hoot. But there are poetic depths here, especially for a guy who was busy drinking himself to death. Just check out the verse work: he rhymes food and shoes and makes it work; he boils down an eight page paragraph from Dostoevsky about the return of Christ into about 6 words and then he lays this little nugget on us, all with a chuckle:

Some folks hate the whites who hate the blacks who hate the klan; most of us hate anything that we don't understand...

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Lights of Magdala from Spooky Lady's Sideshow

Kris was also an occasionally brilliant interpreter of other people's songs. The drunkest of his records, 1974's Spooky Lady Sideshow, verges on unlistenable at moments but it also contains the fitting closure of what I consider his great Freedom Trilogy.

Buried in the mix is also one of the bleakest pleas for salvation ever issued by a white male on record. For me, Drake's Black Eyed Dog, Young's Borrowed Tune and Kris's Lights of Magdala work together to chart out the depths of hell. They also make us want to reach out and help everyone we see.

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Stallion from Who's To Bless and Who's To Blame

Kris was always the first to put down his own singing and musicianship. Yeah, so he was no Mickey Newbury - but he knew his range and he knew enough chords to work with and there was never a truly dull moment in songs like Stallion. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a world where white dudes with oddball voices - think everyone from Michael Stipe to David Berman to Ira Kaplan - ever turn into rock and roll icons without the benefit of Kris's rickety but oh-so-cool foundation.

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You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine) from Surreal Thing

Occasionally, however, he'd write something he really couldn't sing. The ridiculous, tequila soaked chorus for You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine) is a good example.

But Kris had an ace up his sleeve: his version features a heavenly choir led by his wife Rita Coolidge; and alternatively, he could always just let Willie sing it...

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The Saber and the Rose from Easter Island

You can probably note a decrease in quality going on. As an old man, poor Kris couldn't remember too much about his life from this period. The guy had boxed too much, flown too many helicopters, surely blown out his hearing and drank way, way, too much - and none of that helps in the memory department - which is why I don't fly helicopters.

But in 1978 he made a concerted effort with Easter Island to reclaim some kind of high ground artistically. I have no idea what's really happening in this song but the piano pounds nicely and the storytelling is beginning to reemerge.

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Come Sundown from Shake Hands with the Devil

Happily, he survived it all: he sobered up, met a rather perfect human being and talked them into being his wife for the next 45 years. Did he ever write a song again that matched the glorious initial tracks on this list and on everyone else's? Heck no!

But Come Sundown is sure lovely...

#kris kristofferson #willie nelson

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loonarii · 1 year ago

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Ari's K-Pop Roundup: February 2024 (Twice, Le Sserafim, BabyMonster, JYP Family, BIBI + MORE)

If there's a comeback coming up you want to see talked about in March's roundup, drop me a message/ask and I'll make sure to include it :)

I Got You + One Spark - TWICE (With YOU-th)

GIF credit: @femaleidols

Twice are officially back lets fucking go, the girls are here.

Unfortunately for TWICE, only one girl group can have a good release at a time in JYP apparently, and NMIXX have snatched that privilege from them in this instance (Fe3O4: Break is a 10/10). The concept teasers for this era were super interesting and really beautiful actually, kind of reminiscent of 2018 LOONA and the ASAP - NewJeans music video, but its JYP, so naturally that vibe was completely absent from the music videos whatsoever, but I digress. The pre-release, 'I Got You' is a thrumming, synth fueled track that attempts to be anthemic, but doesn't quite meet the bar. It's pretty catchy, sure, and the lyrics are actually reasonably good, but it feels slightly uninspired and very dated. The y2k trend's days may be numbered, but its still a bit early to be referencing 2015 in our 2024 tracks, in my opinion at least. While I see the appeal, this track really doesn't blow me away, and I don't see myself returning back to it much in the near future.

The title 'One Spark' suffers the same pitfalls as 'I Got You' if not even more so. Maybe it's just me, but I found the hook to be so unbelievably boring, and the rest of the song felt wholly pedestrian in its construction. It's really quite frustrating that a song this dull got past the many rounds of production required to be released, because the producers for it are certified hit makers, and TWICE are far too talented to be releasing insultingly boring music. The music video is all about TWICE being timeless, which they are, but if they keep releasing subpar title tracks like this, that's not how they will be perceived by the average kpop listener. It's a shame, really, but with JYP's track record over the last couple of years, I can't honestly say I'm surprised. It's not unlistenable, but it's hardly up to TWICE's standard.

What's even more frustrating is that the b-sides are actually really fun, 'Rush' is evocative of PinkPantheress and is super cute, 'New New' is such a punch up from 'One Spark' that's far more exciting and catchy, and 'Bloom' is gloriously ethereal and kind of giving Chungha realness - its SUCH A FUCKING HIT. Even 'You Get Me' that I assumed was going to be the apparently obligatory end of album ballad turned out to be a laid-back, easy going finale that is both catchy and well produced. How is it possible that the two least exciting songs on the record are the only ones promoted??? Literally any of the b-sides could have been the title, especially 'Bloom' which I will be treating as the title track in my delusions. Great b-sides, boring promoted tracks, JYP doesn't know what they're doing yet again, what's new.

Easy - LE SSERAFIM (EASY)

A little bit Rosalia, a lot a bit Tyla, with a healthy dose of platinum blonde Chaewon, this is Le Sserafim doing CONCEPT better than pretty much everyone else in the industry right now.

Right off the bat, this is leaps and bounds ahead of 'Unforgiven', which had its moments, but generally failed to make an impact. 'Easy' is an effortlessly cool R&B trap track that's heavily inspired by the afrobeats trends in western pop. It's stylish, exciting, and suits Le Sserafim well - this is how to develop a musical style while not abandoning your roots. The overall metaphor that harkens to a swan on a lake (pure elegance on the surface, intense effort below) is interesting and works for their concept, but the actual lyricism in this song is utterly nonsensical. Maybe I'm just being dumb, but does 'pull up and I rip it up like ballet' actually mean? There's an English version out, which is somehow even more unintelligible, but I digress.

Lyrics aside, I like this track a lot, and the music video is utterly gorgeous. Does it live up to the heights of 'Antifragile'? No, not really, but it's definitely up there with 'Fearless', in my opinion.

The b-sides were okay, not bad, but not especially exciting. 'Smart' was easily the most exciting out of the trio, but I don't see it having the longevity of 'Blue Flame' or 'EPATBW'.

Great title, slightly dull mini album - I am seriously excited for where Le Sserafim goes sonically, they and NewJeans are undoubtedly the trendsetters of the 4th generation, and I can't wait to here more of their stuff.

Like Magic - JYP, Stray Kids, ITZY, NMIXX

GIF credit: @thankyou-taeyeon

If you are ever in doubt that capitalism is destroying music, feel free to give this one a stream. Genuinely awful.

Bam Yang Gang + Sugar Rush - BIBI

requested by @a-moth-to-the-light

Bibi is such an exciting idol. Her music is consistently exciting and innovative, and rarely dull. 'Bam Yang Gang' is such an honest, realistic, and in many ways comforting song that is as simplistic as it is perfect. It's a little nonsensical, and oddly relatable. Not sure what the rat thing in the music video was about, but on the whole, it's a beautiful, hilarious, highly enjoyable song, and I'm so happy it is charting so well in South Korea.

'Sugar Rush' is a little less my speed, but it is successful in what it sets out to achieve. The production is trappy, synthy, and feels a little bit NCT 127? This kind of concept is difficult to pull off, and when some idols do it, it comes off as kind of goofy, but Bibi pulls it off 100%. Not really my thing, but a fun song nonetheless.

(also yena and soyeon make cameos in the mv so that's fun)

Stuck In The Middle - BABYMONSTER

'Batter Up' was a huge grower for me, originally I found it a bit dull and uninspired, but I'm a dancer, and sue me, the dance is fun, so naturally I ended up streaming it a bunch while learning the choreography, and now I think I enjoy it. It was undeniably a controversial release though - the comparisons with blackpink inevitably flooded in, the whole drama with Ahyeon being on hiatus and potentially being fully out of the group was a total shit storm, and there were zero performances on music shows to boot. Not sure why that last one happened, BabyMonster do not have the kind of influence to chart with longevity without domestic promotions but me being confused at YG's creative directors is literally nothing new.

Then we got 'Stuck In The Middle', an slightly bizarre English ballad with decent (if a little vapid) lyricism, and 'Moonlight Sunrise' meets Kwangya esque music video sets. I'm not going to do my monthly rant about how shit the vast majority of kpop ballads are, and how boring this song is, but I will say this. BabyMonster currently has no clear concept that sets them apart from their predecessors and everyone else in the industry, and outside of the YG bubble of ad boosted music video views, this song was unsuccessful. It went utterly undiscussed by the wider kpop fanbase, and has minimal streams on Spotify for a big three group. I don't say this to rub it in the faces of the girls and their fans, if anything, I am hugely upset that young women this talented are under a company so stuck in the past. YG needs to get their act together if they actually want a shot at creating blackpink the sequel, because what they're doing right now is not working.

Since the release, it's been announced that the it girl of the group, Ahyeon, is making a return for the first mini album, 'BABYMONS7ER', thank god for that, and apparently YG is now labelling all songs released thus far as predebut tracks, which is actually hilarious, they have no idea what they are doing.

Good luck babymonster, I think you will need it.

BONUS:

Super Lady - (G)-IDLE: (I know this was a January release I just forgot to talk about it ok) kind of iconic ngl; some of the English lines were questionable but the song is fun so lets move on; not sure why the song is only like 2 minutes literally nobody wants short songs

DNA - YENA: (requested by @a-moth-to-the-light) Yena is such a strong performer, but I think the production team let her down with the mixing of this song. The vocals should have more layers, or at the very least, be louder than the bass line. Overall though the song is super fun, and super Yena. I love the j-rock influences, I love Yena's gorgeous vocal colour; she is a soloist I am always sure to keep up to date with. It is so evident in her performances that she loves the music she is releasing, and for me at least, that's enough.

Holssi + Love Wins All - IU: Love wins all had a beautiful music video although the song itself felt a bit boring, but Holssi was unexpectedly groovy and understated - I can feel that it's going to majorly grow on me.

Diamond - TRI.BE: I was very pleasantly surprised that this song is actually really good? I haven't really tuned into their discography since the whole 'pretty savage' plagiarism stuff, but this is such a fun song that is impressively unique to them considering most groups of smaller companies like them tend to follow what the bigger groups are doing. Maybe I should check them out more - any tri.be stans reading, lmk some good recommendations :)

Young Posse Up - Young Posse: As a british teen, this sent me into fight or flight lmao

That's all for February, feel free let me know your thoughts on the comebacks discussed (or any I didn't mention) in the reblogs or comments, I'll look forward to reading them. Make sure to check back in for next months roundup but yeah thats it so byeeeeeeeeeeee

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pansy2005 · 11 months ago

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i think the reason your poll is going the way it is is just wording. decent/listenable doesn't mean good, the last good one was vices but i didn't think to vote the last good one first bc i took the wording literally

or at least, that's why i voted for what i did and i refuse to believe people actually like too weird or death of a bachelor in 2024 so im assuming it was a similar thought process

i was worried about the wording and i’m not sure i worded it as well as i could have lol. HOWEVER there have been QUITE A FEW people on the tags saying doab or even pftw are good so idk. also i do consider those and even a lot of too weird unlistenable personally fjfjfjf

i suppose the more direct question to what i had in mind would be at what point do you start judging someone for listening to patd or maybe even at what point did they fall off… if we had multiple choice i would have gone with what patd albums do you consider socially acceptable to listen to and enjoy but alas

honestly at the time of writing i was curious if people think it’s ~socially acceptable~ (within the smaller bandom circle and knowing that’s a very subjective thing..) to listen to vices or too weird to live or at what point in the discog the general “cringe cutoff” is

most everyone i know and have talked to abt it irl would draw that line around pretty odd/vices and i didn’t realize so many people actually liked or listened to anything after that cuz i completely disconnected myself from that fandom after the g/g/b video so i truly had no idea

all that said it’s interesting to see the results and peoples comments in the tags! it’s also making me feel old lmao

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fearforthestorm · 1 year ago

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y'know, it is always valid to dislike a thing for whatever personal reason you have to not like it. you're under no obligation to enjoy literally any given thing ever. however if you're being unnecessarily rude about it in the main tag I am blocking you because there is a difference between "i don't vibe with this musical style" and "this album is unlistenable" and I do not need the latter in my life or on my dash!

#.lyr #not specifying but i think you can guess!

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peppertaemint · 1 year ago

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Genuine question.

How is this approach good for long term sustainability?

Will they do this for every JK release? Will armys keep throwing money away every time the same way? Will they discount his album 50% every time, (and it's still first week too). And for how long?

We already know Jk China fb bought 1.5m of his albums on debt. That's a big unnecessary debt. That's about 15 or 16m usd or more, it'll take years for them to be free of it.

So what happens when JK releases something again in a few months?

Sooner or later Billboard might change rules and make versions invalid, who knows? Then what?

Seems like Bongo is just acting out of greed. There's no way THIS is their long term business plan.

Their longterm business plan will always be to maximum profits by any means, ie. new and creative ways to take army's money while giving little as a product. I think this is the diabolical part of it; people are paying for... voice memos? They're buying unlistenable, slapped together remixes of songs that were literally slapped together in the first place. It's sort of wild JK admitted he put in the smallest amount of effort on this project. He gave each song like 2-3 hours of his time. And now the fans are buying ten versions of it.

It is greed, anon. But that's not going anywhere. Bongo is a billionaire. He's Musk-level evil now. Exploiting people is his talent. So even if Billboard changes their rules, he'll find a way to exploit them. He's done that with every rule change so far.

And before someone writes in to say "everyone does it", last time I checked Drake and Taylor Swift weren't selling 5 different voice memo versions of song and like 10 useless remixes....

#the remixes are just #so blatant #at least do a collab on the remix #my god

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deadcactuswalking · 10 months ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 20/04/2024 (Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa, Perrie Edwards)

Hozier sticks to a second week at #1 on the UK Singles Chart with “Too Sweet” and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we actually have a bit of a massacre so we must bid adieu to: “7 Minute Drill” by J. Cole (that one we literally say farewell to, it’s been deleted), “Cinderella” by Future and Metro Boomin featuring Travis Scott, “Make You Mine” by Madison Beer, “CARNIVAL” by Hitler and Goebbels featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti, “Made for Me” by Muni Long, “bye” and “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande, “Would You (go to bed with me?)” by Campbell and Alcemist, assisted by a remix with Caity Baser, “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong, yes, really, “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift and finally, even though we all know it’ll be back, “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers.

It actually turns out that the most interesting stories here outside of the top 10 and new tracks… are the returning entries, because there are quite a few, they’re quite high and also quite - at least tangentially - related to a cultural event. Firstly, we have the release of a biopic revolving around the late singer Amy Winehouse who has captivated audiences long after death and the recent release of Back to Black, as well as its soundtrack, mostly a compilation of Winehouse’s songs and her influences, has propelled the studio album of the same name to #22 on the album chart whilst giving some of her legacy catalogue a solid boost. The song of the same name, “Back to Black”, had several initial runs from 2007 to 2008, peaking at “only” #25, but returned with stride after her passing to find a new peak of #8 in 2011. At #1 that week was “She Makes Me Wanna” by JLS featuring Dev. The charts don’t always reflect what music actually stands the test of time, let’s just say that. Today, it’s at #51. An even more storied chart run comes in at #44 with “Valerie” by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse. Ronson’s version largely eclipsed the original Zutons version released the year before. The Liverpool indie rock outfit peaked at #9 with their version, whilst Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater” topped the charts, but by the time Ronson and Winehouse came along, the chart was instead reigned by Sugababes with “About You Now”, which halted “Valerie” from hitting #1. Similarly to “Back to Black”, it did return to the chart after her passing though not very high, so I assume that it must have some degree of prominence in the biopic, I’ve yet to see it.

As for our two other re-entries, they somehow have even more chart history dragged into them, so bear with me. Paul Simon wrote “The Sound of Silence” and recorded the track as a member of Simon & Garfunkel in 1964, and despite this being the most prominent and successful version, hitting #1 Stateside, it somehow never once appeared on the UK Singles Chart in any form until long after, specifically in 1966 when an Irish pop group The Bachelors covered it, basically taking any steam off of the original by peaking at #3. The Spencer Davis Group’s “Somebody Help Me” was #1 at the time. It wouldn’t appear on the charts again until damn near half a century later in 2012, when viral acoustic singer Kina Grannis took it to #93. However, and I really wish I couldn’t say this, the most successful cover may be from nu metal band Disturbed, who reached mainstream success worldwide by covering the track in 2016, by then it had been thoroughly memed to death as well as being a long-term pop staple, yet it still worked. Their mediocre version peaked at #29 and now it’s back at #47 because of an inexplicable, practically unlistenable house remix by Australian DJ CYRIL that Paul Simon could probably sue for murder. I didn’t like the Disturbed version, but this is a new level of groanworthy.

As for our final re-entry, we should look towards the album charts, wherein Oasis’ 1994 debut Definitely Maybe is actually down a full positions, lower than other Oasis albums. The irony in that is that it’s the iconic Britpop band’s 20th anniversary this past week, with them releasing special physical editions of their debut single “Supersonic” to mark the occasion. It never really peaked that high to begin with, only at #31, but it did stick around and return for several runs for basically most of the 1990s, only to return once again this week as our highest re-entry at #42.

The gains are a lot less interesting but there are still a handful of notable boosts, namely “Jump” by Tyla, Gunna and Skillibeng up to #38, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan at #33, “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by David Guetta and OneRepublic at #25 (Jesus Christ), and finally, “Hell n Back” by Bakar nearing its old peak at #21.

This week, our top five on the UK Singles Chart consists of: “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé holding at #5, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims floating at #4, “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas smooching its way up to #3, Benjamin of Boontown is at #2 with “Beautiful Things” and of course, Hozier still at #1. Now, there’s actually quite a lot to discuss in our new entries, despite the fact that Taylor is still a week away yet, in fact this might end up the more interesting week because no-one is dropping the same day as her. So let’s review them, shall we?

New Entries

#49 - “We Still Don’t Trust You” - Future and Metro Boomin featuring The Weeknd

Produced by Metro Boomin, Peter Lee Johnson and MIKE DEAN

Yup, all of our new entries are within the top 50 this week, and most of them well into the highest reaches of the chart. Given Taylor only has three songs coming next week, I’m pretty excited for a from-the-top shake-up that won’t be immediately torn down… at least until the temporary Eurovision blockade, but we’ll deal with that when it comes to it. For now, I had only heard one of the songs debuting this week before today, and it was this one, the intro and title track to the second of the Future-Metro collaboration tapes, which debuted at #11 on the albums chart this week. Not every track hits on this second album, but if you remember what I thought about the first album, you’d recall I preferred the hazier, more melodically-focused pop-trap that was prevalent through the middle section, and this new record is essentially an extended version of just that with a triumphant victory lap full of bangers on the back-half bonus disc to balance things out. Future is a lot more emotive, Metro is delivering beautiful cloudy soundscapes, and the hooks are catchier than ever, though it’s not nearly as immediate so I understand that it performed less successfully even if it is a damn shame. It also means we only have the first track here, which is barely even a song ultimately, more so an extended, hallucinatory introduction blending punchy synthpop drums with garbled psuedo-hooks about freaky girls from Future, a looming falsetto from The Weeknd over a borderline nu-disco groove and semi-verses that don’t really form into a complete song. In the album context, this is a brilliant introduction to where the album will take you: a late-night drive taking your mind off “the hoes” so to speak. As a charting single by itself, it’s honestly just weird. Other than being the intro to an album most people I imagine didn’t finish all the way through, I don’t understand why “All to Myself” didn’t take this one’s place. I guess it didn’t have the video treatment but regardless, weird single to push, even if it’s a great moment.

#46 - “KiKi (What Would Drizzy Say?)” - D-Block Europe

Produced by Eight8, Harry Beech and Ari Beats

Well, Drake’s in the news thanks to all the dissing back and forth so being the young brilliant entrepreneurs they are, DBE pushed out a song with him in the title, in a vague reference to Drake’s own “What Would Pluto Do” but a much less vague, openly cheap interpolation of Drake’s “In My Feelings”, and the chart history did not stop with our re-entries as if there’s a coherent theme with some of these new tracks, it’s egregious referencing. “In My Feelings” samples a plethora of tracks in the first place, but none as explicitly as DBE have riffed from it here. The original spent four weeks at #1, but I don’t see Young Adz’s nasal auto-croon rendition getting any higher than #46. I actually feel kind of relieved with this because this is back to the stupid, barely functioning DBE of old (and by old, I mean the late 2010s), with a terrible bass mastering job, overly loud flutes that nearly drown out Adz himself attempting to sing his way out of his lack of content, in the same melody as Drake’s chorus until he just starts talking instead midway through. Some of the 2020s improvements are actually present here though; Youthful Advertisements has much tighter rhyme schemes once he actually starts rapping, and they aren’t as audibly out of tune or beat with everything else as they probably would be if they tried this out when the original was big. He also puts a shell in his back like he’s a turtle, tells the girl to close her mouth and leads into Dirtbike Lb’s small contribution, a brief, half-dead and wordy verse that still washes Adz: this is what I’ve come to expect from the duo. There’s not much of an attempt at wordplay but cool turns of phrase that kind of imply he thinks Hermés is the name of the crocodile they killed to make the bag and not just the brand name… they’re good enough. This is good fun.

#41 - “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey

Produced by Nevin and Sean Cook

Okay, if we’re going to sample egregiously, this is how we do it: not trying to play it off as a completely new song but not serving in the exact same lane and purpose as the original. Instead, let’s make unabashed re-recordings and reimaginings that don’t necessarily modernise or improve the song, and don’t set out to, instead crafting a different experience from the same fundamentals. Now I don’t like the original 2004 track “Tipsy” by J-Kwon mostly because of, well, J-Kwon being useless, but there’s a great hook to it, especially the radio edit, and the beat making up nearly entirely of weird sound effects over a distorted clap sample is pretty clever. The original “Tipsy” peaked at #4 for two weeks, whilst “Lola’s Theme” by the Shapeshifters was #1, and later The Streets’ “Dry Your Eyes”. Shaboozey, a singer featured on Beyoncé’s latest pivot, has taken advantage of that extra traction to completely reimagine the chorus of “Tipsy” and its general conceit of having fun at a gathering to take your mind off problems, especially with girls… but there’s a lot of depth added through the extra populist twist thanks to the financial troubles referenced in the verses, and some particularly really smart intricacies like turning the counting gimmick into counting the rounds of drinks at the bar. He recontextualises a basically meaningless gimmick into something that is a lot more resonant, and that’s really special. Sonically, it feels like a bit more organic stomp-clap soarer, and isn’t really all that special, but the inspired interpolation of “Tipsy”, alongside some great strings in the post-chorus, makes this what it is, and it doesn’t run out of tricks. The shift to a rap flow in the second verse to continue the momentum is brilliant, the spoken backing vocals amidst the multi-tracked crowd hook, which I almost wish was even louder, is a fun idea… and that’s before that final chorus where it breaks down and becomes a true drink-a-long. Sure, this may be a reimagined version of a song I don’t like really at all, but it goes far beyond just that and creates a new experience not just as a cover but as a separate entity entirely that embraces and benefits from its referencing. This is how you do sampling in pop, it’s excellent. I hope this is a smash.

#35 - “These Words” - Badger and Natasha Bedingfield

Produced by Badger

Alright, once again, we have a sample, this time with Natasha Bedingfield’s “These Words”, that other song you might remember from the album that parents “Unwritten”. What you may not remember is that whilst this hasn’t had nearly as much longevity as the title track, it actually peaked much higher, debuting at #1 and topping the charts for two weeks in 2004. This is in spite of it being complete garbage. I like meta narratives in pop music when done well and outside of its camp, it can be genuinely difficult to get through the jerky, dated production and somewhat embarrassing performance, especially lyrically, from Bedingfield. I understand the appeal, and the writing isn’t really a deal-breaker usually, but it’s especially striking to me when the actual music behind her quest to find the best words for her love song… just plainly sucks. Come 2024 and enter UK garage producer Badger, who remixes the track, crediting Bedingfield on streaming but for whatever reason not on the Official Charts page, and I have to say, completely stripping this catchy hook outside of its tedious context is another inspired reimagining, mostly because it turns the “I love you, I love you” refrain into a muffled, glitchy funfest over some of the most detailed, hyperactive 2-step drums I’ve heard on the charts in a while, alongside a hazier synthscape that really shines against the rawer vocal from Bedingfield. Once again, modern artists turn a song from the 2000s I never really liked into a completely different experience, in this case completely removing you from Bedingfield’s narrative to fully envelop you in the euphoric end goal she hints towards in the original. Hope this takes off too.

#31 - “Tell Ur Girlfriend” - Lay Bankz

Produced by Johnny Goldstein

Speaking of taking off, it seems we finally have the inevitable breakout single for Lay Bankz. I’ve been paying attention to her casual flexing and dismissal of pretty much anything else over firy, fast-paced Philly club bangers for a while now, probably since I discovered “Na Na Na”, and it did seem like TikTok would grant her an easy hit any moment now. She finally got it with “Tell Ur Girlfriend” and here, if you don’t remember the specific production elements of its original material, you might not recognise this has yet another interpolation. I wasn’t a fan of Ginuwine’s 1996 track “Pony” for a long time because I felt its dissonance harmed its ability to be a sex jam but… let’s be real, rarely do sex jams actually succeed without being in some way disruptive due to awkward lyrics or stagnant beats. Once I learned to shut up and appreciate Timbaland’s vocoder burping that calls itself a bassline, all was right in my world. It peaked at #16 over here in 1997 and did have a shelf life extending to an EDM remix peaking at #39 in 2015. Bankz and Goldstein don’t really make much use of “Pony”’s fundamentals rhythm or melody-wise, outside of that out of place vocoder burp that is repurposed as a measure-demarcating stab over a comically jerky, sing-songy synth that slows down the pace enough for a 2-step-influenced 2000s throwback, Destiny’s Child-esque, not to rap but closer to R&B. Bankz surprises me to a degree with just how effortlessly she swaps between faster jabs to the smooth choruses, and it almost makes me forget that this is a song about mutual cheating. Does it justify that? No. And who cares? They’re having toxic fun over the Ginuwine “Pony” vocal burp and some of the ugliest synths to hit the top 40 in years, this is not morally righteous in any regard. It’s just pure, sweaty, regretful fun and does not waste any of its two-minute runtime trying to justify itself, and given this whole song is a sarcastic power move about how they should probably tell their partners they’re sleeping with each other, I don’t think she cares in the slightest.

#10 - “Forget About Us” - Perrie

Produced by Steve Solomon and Andrew Goldstein

Okay, the samplefest ended up going pretty fantastically, so I have some hopes for the trio of pop girlies we have lined up all debuting in the top 10, starting with the solo debut from Perrie Edwards of the former girl group Little Mix. She’s always been one of the most prominent vocal talents in the group, so regardless of if the song actually works, there’s going to be power here, and that’s guaranteed, even with an Ed Sheeran writing credit and a compressed to Hell and back mix. In this soarer, Perrie’s ex has become a successful singer after the breakup and Perrie is begging for them to never forget about what they lost in the relationship, especially given how neither seem all that over this relationship and its fallout. There’s a propelling pop rock drive to this, even if the lack of electric grit may harm it a tad, not letting it get into truly bitter territory… which might actually be for the best. Ms. Edwards sounds great belting here but there is a level of restraint in all the acoustic swell that might sing closer to the desperate content, acknowledging the flaws in the relationship and that it is over, but that it should, please, stick to them as a memory. A less kind approach may have flattened its overall sincerity, so even if sonically, I’m not over the Moon about this, I can recognise that this is a tightly-written, excellently performed little pop rock jam that will serve as a good introduction to the solo career. I just want to hear where it goes next.

#9 - “Illusion” - Dua Lipa

Produced by Kevin Parker and Danny L Harle

Okay, Dua, let’s be straightforward. Mixing PC Music’s wildcard Danny L Harle with Tame Impala should lead to much more interesting music than what we’ve heard from Radical Optimism - a disgraceful album title - so far, and I won’t lie and say what has been put out post-”Houdini” hasn’t been somewhat disappointing. I was hoping that “Illusion” could take a bit of a different step, tap into some less recognisable territory for Dua, and whilst it may not have done that exactly, it’s definitely much more interesting. Harle and Parker go for a much tighter house groove here, with elevated pianos, chips of percussion that end up much more minimal under the looming vocal loops and progressive electronic synth beeping, maybe much less impactful than you’d expect. So where’s that in the content? Well, Dua sings about disappointment, playing off a façade placed up by this guy who’s just not impressing her at all, as she’s growing up from just being reckless with her lovers. It’s in the same vein as “Training Season” but with a more unique and honestly more fitting soundscape for that kind of romantic disillusionment, especially given a major conceit of the bridge is that she’s still going to dance all night with that illusion, she still gives in despite her best interests. It also has a ridiculous synth solo slabbed right in for no reason. Genius. Inspiring.

#6 - “Espresso” - Sabrina Carpenter

Produced by Julian Bunetta

I really have not been going into Sabrina Carpenter singles that chart with high expectations or really any expectation that I’ll enjoy it, and she keeps proving me wrong, but not in the way that say Dua just did. No, Ms. Carpenter shares more in common with D-Block Europe in that the appeal, at least for me, comes in the lack of subtlety and disregard for functioning outside of existing pop tropes, whilst still thoroughly embarrassing her public image, cycling around enough for me to be unironically on board. Like “Nonsense” was a plain rip-off that ended up surviving beyond the genuine article on comedy alone, and “Feather” is as light as possible, no pun intended, yet still pinches at you with its infestation of hooks, “Espresso” is emphatically stupid. “Switch it up like Nintendo”? “My give-a-fucks are on vacation”? “I know I Mountain Dew it for ya”? “MOUNTAIN DEW IT FOR YA”? It reminds me all too much of Selena Gomez’s nu-disco embarrassment “Love On”, but instead of selling the cringe with sheer forcefulness, which did surprisingly work for the incredibly limited vocalist Selena is, Sabrina plays the guitar licks and downright invasive pre-chorus synths off with utter, robotic dismissal. Sure, there’s vocal riffing and harmonising, but the main vocal line in the chorus is a multi-tracked, reverb-drenched, Melodyne-controlled nursery rhyme, and it doesn’t escape that lane for nearly all of its three minutes. There are spoken word interludes where she acknowledges the stupidity of the song and its content, but it’s always breezy and lacking in the cringe that would come with it if she cared much at all. The deadpan “Yes” ad-libs in the pre-chorus, and the detail put into the production, are what really sell this to me though. It’s orchestrated to make it seem like she doesn’t care, but there is an entire team twisting the knobs to turn that faux carelessness to a seamless radio edit… and well, they need a raise. She’s done it again. This is ridiculous.

Conclusion

She doesn’t get the Best of the Week though because that, far and above, goes to Shaboozey for “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, and the Honourable Mention… well, I can’t give out a Worst of the Week at all here. Or even a Dishonourable Mention. Sure, Perrie’s song is a bit generic and maybe my enjoyment of the DBE track is purely for the comedy factor, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with them, so I’m just going to tie the Honourable Mention between “These Words” by Badger and well, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, which is shaping up to thankfully be huge. As for what’s on the horizon… Taylor Swift and Drake. It’s back to the big leagues in the next episode but for now, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #future #metro boomin #the weeknd #sabrina carpenter #dua lipa #natasha bedingfield #badger #shaboozey #perrie edwards #lay bankz #d-block europe

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dancing-to-architecture · 2 years ago

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18 of 1001

Today's album: Einstürzende Neubauten - Kollaps (1981)

Initial thoughts: okay, so i have seen this album in like, every record store I've ever been in and have never actually listened to this band. I just know i recognize that album cover.

Wikipedia says they're an avant-garde aggressive German industrial band known for using power tools as percussion and causing property damage during their sets, so, i mean, at least this should be interesting.

(Okay, it's all in German. I'm not dedicated enough to this project to run every single lyric through a translator, so we're going on vibes today, lyrics-wise.)

Tanz Debil-

Well, it's certainly early 80s industrial. Noisy and rough. I think the singer is just screaming and I'm kinda here for it.

Steh auf Berlin-

CHAINSAW INTRO?!

Percussion: literally banging on a trashcan (Doug Funnie approved).

Very aggressive noise.

This is Difficult Music To Listen To.

Negativ Nein-

I cannot imagine the scarring on this guy's throat from all this screaming.

Sounds like a very bad mental breakdown. Plunky strings and mechanized screeches.

(At this point i offered to listen on headphones, this is pretty much the exact opposite of what my wife listens to, which is "good music, played with instruments".)

U-Haft-Muzak-

Clanky, weird instrumental.

Death march drumming with "extremely drunk man falling onto every part of a foley artist's table" and the occasional sounds of a man strangling a guitar.

I like industrial and punk and eclectic noise, but this might be a bit too much.

Draussen ist Feindlich-

Weird and short.

Schmerzen hören-

Aaaaaaaand i am officially getting a headache from this album.

Gonna call it on this album. I can see what's here, and it's not for me, not today anyway.

80s Germany, you're WAY more hardcore than me, and I'm not afraid to admit it. This is definitely for someone.

I'm sure a lot of the industrial artists i like were inspired by bands like this, just unlistenable stuff that pushed the boundary of what could even conceivably be called "music".

I thought i was ready for something aggressive, i just wasn't expecting it to actively try to cut my skull open.

Favorite Track: well, I've never heard a chainsaw used as percussion before, so I'm giving this one to Steh auf Berlin.

Least Favorite Track: Schmerzen hören, only because my brain hurts now and it was the last song playing.

#1001 albums #dancing to architecture #einsturzende neubauten #kollaps

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iwonderwh0 · 2 years ago

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Any more microtonal music recommendations? I'd rather get recs than hop blindly into the youtube unknown lol

YES, of course! I'm so glad you asked since now I have an excuse to share here more of my micro-obsession

Little disclaimer - at first most people find it absolutely unlistenable and some even find it deeply disturbing, but it's only because they are not used to it. It takes time

So it might be reasonable to start with

"King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard" - this is Australian indie rock band that often uses microtonal instruments for their music -- not all of it, but enough to be a good starting point to get used to some of it. I'd start with "Nonagon Infinity" - this album is FIRE, and the cool thing about it is that every song of this album flows flawlessly into the next one, and the last one flows almost flawlessly into the first one if you listen to them on loop. Other album I'd recommend is "Flying Microtonal Banana", and one specific song that I was absolutely obsessed with that I also want to link is Crumbling Castle This band is where microtonality is mixed within familiar type of music, so it feels comfortable and familiar and not intimidating

Okay, moving on to other microtonal examples on the beginner-friendly side

I remember really liking this one in 19EDO, here it's really gentle microtonality, just enough of it to be noticeable without overwhelming someone who'd listen to it for the first time. Also perfect example of how microtonal music can convey the kind of mood that would be impossible in 12EDO

Next, this one is really nice, and it's a pity there's not much more from this musician as I find it adorable.

Brendan Byrnes - Cave Dance I just realised I completely forgot that he exists, I only remember that this songs slaps, should probably dive into his discography myself

Now getting closer to my absolute faves - Xotla and Sevish. All of my following recommendations are just individual songs and albums of theirs. Xotla is probably more beginner-friendly, so I'll start with his songs

Xotla - Surprise me This was the song that made me obsessed with microtonality, here is where it started. I remember listening it on repeat just because 4:15 <-- MY GOD I can't even describe how amazing this place felt when I listened to it for the first ten times or so

Xotla - No Longer 2:50 ❤️

Xotla - Cosmic Microwave pure goosebumps the first listening

Xotla - Dance of the Forest Lights (Reimagined) - the new version of this song. I love both of them

Xotla - Robots Dream To Dance absolute bop

Xotla - Sipping Tea By The Sea already familiar to you, It's from "Seeds of Moonlight" album. If you liked this song maybe you should check out the rest of the album. My favourites from this album (other than that): Metallic Lilypads and Losing Connections. Although this album is not my favourite.

Okay, I realised maybe I should just recommend albums. All of them (except Planting Seeds of Microtones, it sounds too much like pop music and it's not the Xotla I love), my favourite is Science Fraction

Lastly in regards to Xotla I wanna note Funkrotonal (0:56 !!!)

Also Between Space (3:24 !)

Okay, now I'll link THE WHOLE SEVISH DISCOGRAPHY (no, but really)

But really, this is the most important place of this post

SEVISH

Sevish is the kind of microtonality that you probably shouldn't jump on when you're just getting used to microtones, because this is where most of my irls noped immediately. But if you're ready and your heart is open, his music is literally out of this world

Sevish - Outside (!!!!) - this is where my head exploded when I listened to it for the first time. The moment I realised that microtonal harmony is absolutely unearthly GEORGEOUS

Sevish - Better Left Unanswered - more of absolutely gorgeous microtonality

Sevish - Gleam - if you're using tiktok there's a possibility that you've actually heard this one, it was trending at some point. The moment from 0:50 specifically

Sevish - Horizons - I just want to leave here this comment that was written under this song on youtube:

Here I'll just link the whole Morphable album - I listened to it more times than I could count, but here are some songs from it that I like more than others:

Tritavium (absolute insane percussion at 1:17, I'm not normal about it at all)

Launch (1:29 is 🤌✨😩)

Smashing, actually damn I can just link every single song from this album, they're all uniquely amazing

Songs from other albums

Sevish - Freathy the end of this one is heaven-like (3:12) and I mean it, it's like church-choir

Sevish - Desert Island Rain - this was one of the first I listened by sevish and it scratched my brain in a way no other song ever did, also 4:34 here is a completely different vibe. This is also the song I tried to show to my irls that made them make such a face expression as if they're in physical pain. Well, definitely not the best one to familiarize anyone with microtonality, as this one is amazing if you're ready, otherwise it's miserable

Also check out "Formless Shadows" album if you love ambient

Damn

I LOVE microtonal music

I got so used to it that when I now listen to usual 12EDO it feels like something is missing

#microtonality #sevish #xotla #microtonal music

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