#no impressive vocals or instrumentals whatsoever

[ishikawayukis]

someone that i watch is listening to nj and honestly i've only listened to like two of their songs, and dude this is so fucking bland LMAO as someone said uninteresting enough to make it interesting

[sapphiclinos-moved]

a small list of some specific things and moments in skz songs that i think need attention drawn to them because of how much they FUCK. part 1?

these range from the delivery of a single word or a single adlib to an entire section of instrumental

and I did write it on a 14 hour flight several months ago so it's a bit all over the place.

anyway press more to read me being extremely autistic about skz music and trying to talk about it with 0 music production language knowledge.

in no order whatsoever:

charmer: 1:15 pigeons follow me [PIGEON IMPRESSION]

cheese the synth moment in the second half of prechorus???? eg 0:56 to 1:02

phobia the 'oooohhh' behind the oh Oh OoAH OOah (it happens twice at the very start)

domino changbins dadadadada of dominos falling at like 1:34

domino the instrument during some verses that sounds like 'wahwahwahwah' I love it

domino just holy shit the entire instrumental I could talk about it for actual hours not kidding

booster the higher vocals in the back throughout basically the whole chorus

booster the subtle ah~aah at 2:26

booster the escelation in the aggressiveness of the "one step ahead"

venom prechorus w the wrapped up around ur fingers bit just LISTEN TO THE LIKE. PERCUSSION? idk wtf I'm talking about so idk how to describe it but this song is like the audio version of a fidget cube to me

freeze the beauty of the fake buildup instrumental. like just really tune in to the instrumental 3:30 onwards it'd so pretty

battle ground 3:06 "toZEN👹" WHATT

mirror the ahhhhs in the prechorus ik we have all noticed it u need to REALLY LISTEN AND FEEL IT

levanter whatevers going on in the prechorus instrumental can u tell I love synths. I love levanter so fucking much man

levanter the way it ends half way through the chorus makes it feel so much more resolute? idk I love it

yayaya the CHOIR AT 2:19 FUCKING GOD

rock 2:23 changbins oh!! ,,,no:(((

question the instrumental at 1:18

YOU. the like?? retro japanese game show impact sound effect?? from 0:50 onwards (btw YOU (the i am you intro) is ot8 safe since only changbin, jeongin and hyunjin are in it)

get cool the instrumental at 1:05 owaouwooo uwAuowoo uWAOUuuu :)))

get cool 2:38 the 'ah~h~hh:)))' in the bg

0325 1:55 part from WHO? ( fun fact for the babystays that may not know since its never been ot8'd)

0325 3:09 BACK W THE GAMESHOW IMPACT SOUND EFFECT YUHHH

entrance 1:13 the faint ahhhhh in the bg that you can can BARELY hear (entrance is also ot8 safe from what I can tell apart from maybe some samples that are too pitch shifted to tell)

boxer 0:45 the way the instrumental comes back in just. rapid slideshow of robots for a half second

chronosaurus the percussion being fast and slow varying gives the sense of time coming faster than it should and I think thats neat.

19 the clock ticking throughout is again neat.

lovestay the strings !!!!!!!!!!! raaah I love me some strings

gods menu 0:37 the subtle 'oooooo's

this is a mere fraction of the things I have to list but I don't want this to get too obnoxiously long. I'm calling this part one for a reason cos I have SO MUCH to say. if u have any suggestions of specific parts or elements that are special to you, absolutely send me an ask pointing it out!

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #43:

Ry Cooder's Chicken Skin Music

My famous brother repeatedly pushes a few choice artists on me, artists I've resisted for years. After all, I figure I've got plenty of time to feel my way into The Feelies, plenty of time to flip on the Television, and plenty of time to consider a serving of Cale (as in JJ; John is obviously a long time given in my pantheon of greatness).

Ry Cooder comes up in these discussions.

"He's an amazing guitar player," my brother argues. Yeah, that doesn't sell me. So is (or at least was) Eric Clapton. But ever since he left The White Room he seems bummerful tonight.

"But he plays like a zillion instruments!" continues Senior Doom and Gloom. Give me a break bro: Stephen Stills regularly credits himself with guitars (always plural), bass, piano, organ, vibes, Moog programming, Clavier, orchestration, conduction, deduction, obstruction, destruction and cowbells - plural cowbells.

But my brother's third statement always sells me on Cooder: "Yeah, but he's totally weird though - his records are nuts." Now that helps. Nuts is good in the Dollar Bin.

And then my famous brother layers on icing for the hotcakes he's hawking: "And remember dude, Neil Young opened for Cooder for the Bottom Line Honey Slides show." Now we're talking! Tell Neil to cook me up some cheap, finely chopped grass so I can listen to some Ry Cooder.

And have him add the tasty morsel that Cooder shows up prominently and with convincing thoughtfulness in Linda Ronstadt's straightforward but occasionally beautiful bioflick The Sound of My Voice. Then I'll move Ry Cooder onto my Dollar Bin Yes list.

Well, all that went down, so this summer I picked out three Cooder titles, each for a single salty buck. Let's consider the first one I came across...

I have to say, Chicken Skin Music's cover makes it look like it hardly merits my hard earned dollar. If I wanted to see cartoon skeletons, or for that matter, any kind of cartoon whatsoever, fornicating with cartoon ladies in cartoon dirt I'd be, well, an altogether different person.

But I dropped the needle anyway this week and my first impressions were not too favorable. If I wanted a white person singing Leadbelly, complete with repetitive use of the n-word, I'd summon Lucinda Williams. I guess. But I won't be making that summons: we're almost 50 years past the Night of the Hurricane, people; the n-word's use is hereby bestowed only to Black people, and they can do with it what they wish.

Overall, the tone of Chicken Skin Music is weird alright, I'll give my brother that much. Around 1999 I spent a single night at Hussongs in Encinada, pounding Pacificos and getting way into the Gringo action. The place was nuts: it was the closest thing I ever want to see to an actual orgy - only no one was actually naked or making love, thankfully; everything was just way out of control. This album was probably playing in the background.

Plus there's an apocryphal story about my father spending a night in Ensenada jail at some point in the late 60's for breaking into that same bar via a bathroom window; the whole thing sounds like a bunch of bunk; but listening to Ry Cooder duet with a drunken accordion on He'll Have to Go makes me believe my dad's wacko through the window story and assume it was Cooder who gave him the boost in.

But the album's greatest moment precedes that track and features, allegedly, Laurence Fishburne on vocals. Yeah, that Laurence Fishburne: the guy who was (this is actually true!) 15 years old when this record was recorded and had, concurrently, lied about his age to land a role in Apocalypse Now. (Just think about that: when I was 15 I regularly wore a Lenny Kravitz T-Shirt and I couldn't tell the difference between a peace sign and the Mercedes logo; in other words, I was a childish dope; meanwhile a young Larry Fishburne spent his 15th year on the planet playing an adult soldier a nutjob film on the other side of the world.)

And, supposedly, Fishburne was singing on this record at that very same time! That, or someone is having a ball on the record's Wikipedia page. Let me know if you figure out whether or not the whole thing is actually true. And if it is true, how does one go about working with Cooder and Copola simultaneously on opposite ends of the earth - all while being 15? Perhaps the Matrix helped make it all happen, after all, Fishburne uses that film's version of the force or whatever to secure his sunglasses to his face with no temples. (Temples are the name of the curved sticks that connect your lenses and frames to your ears and face).

And what's with the mini me in that image above? I know: maybe there are actually two Laurence Fishburns out there: the big guy from the movies and a second, tiny version of him who sings on Ry Cooder records!

Anyway, tell me if you hear Larry in the mix here; this song is great!

Sweet huh? Why isn't the rest of Side 1 this soulful and earnest? If Fishburne had sang this song to Martin Sheen early on in Apocolypse's production maybe our future President Bartlet would have chilled the heck out, not gotten so drunk and not broken everything he could get his hands on in that hotel room; altogether it looks like a pretty lousy way to spend your 36th birthday.

But Sheen had demons to exorcise I guess, and apparently Cooder did too because he spends the entirety of Chicken Skin Music's B Side in a bizarre Hawaiian funk, performing songs like Stand By Me and Goodnight Irene like he's the last guy standing in an about-to-be-tornedo-struck tiki dive bar. He just keeps tossing off cheap mai tais and refusing to leave, convinced the paper umbrellas cluttering his drinks will defend him against the impending elements. They don't.

But is Chicken Skin Music ultimately worth my buck? Hell yeah! I'll listen to it whenever I'm breaking into Hussong's via the Matrix.

[riaaanna]

London - 11 Nov 2022

This is a very late post but I had a lovely trip to London last month on 11-13 Nov! I procrastinated sorting through the photos but now I'm finally getting to some of them before I go again in two days.

These will be for the Queen memorabilia I got to from the three Hard Rock Cafes in London (location links attached)! You can click on each picture to see them in full. Please do not repost these photos!

1. Hard Rock Hotel London (Marble Arch)

My first impression of the hotel - it's fancy! It was lively and there were a lot of security guards standing by. But the ground floor area is pretty much open for public, because it's a hotel, so it was accessible for photos.

This lovely piano sits in the center of the hotel's front lobby and impossible to miss.

Freddie Mercury This humble Kirkwood piano is a true piece of history. It was in Freddie Mercury's Middlesex home in the mid '60s - shortly after his family arrived in England from Zanzibar. A teenaged Freddie played this piano while dreaming of the superstardom he'd achieve in just a few short years.

The back of the case which the piano sits in has a lovely photo of Freddie, which sadly I didn't get a picture of, so this one above is courtesy of Bianca Dodeanu who posted on Google Maps.

While the piano was the most famous Queen memorabilia there, I went to the restaurant to see if there were any more and I found this! As it was peak dinner-night-out hour, there were people sitting below it and I couldn't take a very clear picture - this was my best (left).

The description photo on the right is courtesy of Tina Vogelzang who posted it on Google Maps.

Queen In 1963, legendary Queen guitarist Brian May built his famous "Red Special" guitar with his father. It has been his main instrument throughout his illustrious career. In fact, Brian is the only notable rock musician who has forged a style with a completely homemade instrument. This Guild BHM1 model is one of the few officially-authorized, commercially available versions. It was manufactured in the '80s and signed by Brian May himself.

2. Hard Rock Cafe (Old Park Lane)

Next I went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Old Park Lane. This location consists of two separate places - the restaurant and the Rock Shop. I went to the restaurant first - it was significantly smaller and cozier than the other two I visited. But it was the best one for me, because this wall alone has three Queen memorabilia!

This one I think is my favorite among everything else!

Brian May - Queen Worn by Brian May while he was in a band called "1984" (C. 1966 to 1967)

This guitar is pretty amazing but I was wondering why on Earth it was put on display without any protection whatsoever. It was hung quite low on the wall, it would be so easy to get damaged. It's a shame that the signatures have all pretty much faded as well.

Queen Incorporating layered guitar and vocal effects as well as possessing one of the most dynamic frontmen in rock history, Queen was widely accepted by fans who were previously loyal to such bands as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. This Fender Stratocaster was signed by all the members of Queen, including the late Freddie Mercury.

Lastly, this is a RIAA Gold Certification for Jazz.

Presented to: Radio One to commemorate the sale of more than 500,000 copies of the Elektra Records long-playing record album Jazz

After the pictures and dinner at the restaurant I made my way to the Rock Shop. It's in a separate building, and the basement level houses The Vault, which is a small museum of rock 'n roll memorabilia. There were a lot of high profile items in there but only one was Queen-related.

The Vault experience was apparently a guided tour. I barely made it like 20 mins before closing time and there was no other visitor, so I got myself a personal tour lol. My guide was very knowledgeable with a great sense of humor, I had a really great time!

Freddie Mercury - Queen Embracing the exaggerated pomp of progressive rock, heavy metal, as well as vaudevillian music hall, Queen created a huge, mock-operatic sound with layered guitars and overdubbed vocals. Apart from being one of the most flamboyant and entertaining frontmen in music, Freddie Mercury was also a keen collector of oriental antiques! This magnificent chair was owned by Freddie Mercury.

If anyone can translate what's written on the chair please let me know!

3. Hard Rock Cafe (Piccadilly)

My last stop! This place is quite big - I asked if I could go in to just take photos and I was let in lol. There was only one Queen-related item here but I love the screen display of Freddie, a very nice showcase.

Freddie Mercury - Queen The one and only Freddie Mercury used this Shure 565 microphone on stage. This model was Freddie's preferred mic for live use.

And that's all for my Hard Rock Cafe visits in London! I did all these in one go so it was a really fun night. I will also post the rest of my London photos where I visited Queen-related places very soon (hopefully)!

[whatsonmedia]

Music Monday: New Tracks You Need to Hear Now!

Get ready to blast your speakers and rock your world because it's Turn it Up Monday! We've got a smokin' hot playlist of new releases guaranteed to set your weekend on fire. From fierce social commentary to haunting melodies and dancefloor anthems, we've got something for everyone. So crank it up and dive in! Jessica Wilde's new slab of social commentary 'Here Right Now' set to heavy soul funk will send you Wild(e)! Now I don't know what it is about Jessica but she's one of those artists who'll appear on the scene and just knows how to make great records. Either that or there's something in the local water supply. Here Right Now is a great track.  Listen  https://open.spotify.com/track/4tsKUiAMJpTxf5jxixr1oy?si=6884d1e000ae496a Loose beat poetry fused with ravaged vocals on new Michele Ducci single - 'Hic'! Italian artist Michele's new single, Hic, has an almost haunting quality about it in that it's raspy and whispering in your ear, but then again that's probably where the genius of it is. Hic entices you in and makes you want to listen further. I'm rather intrigued myself  Listen  https://open.spotify.com/track/5u7CX4aBIUAYXQz56KVqEB?si=66b100d72b3b4bc2 The video is just as intriguing as the song, has that traveling feel to it. Watch https://youtu.be/osYPkSaWNo0?si=fi68PbA6wRMP8xZF Kaya Hoax flourishes with hypnotic new single "Kicker" out today! And I am absolutely hooked on it myself. Kaya's rapping and singing combo definitely gets my attention right from the start. I haven't heard a vast amount from her but even I think she's got quite a bit going for her. Kicker is a gem Listen  https://open.spotify.com/track/6O02LLxNzLhHcPCidEOwjJ?si=b9835b0afc9c4fda Has that urban grittiness look to it which fits the mood of the song. A good video  Watch  https://youtu.be/u9qVsXIV14A Rich Ruth shares new single 'Crying In The Trees' + video - new album 'Water Still Flows' out June 21st on Third Man Records This is actually a really good track and is really powerful to. One of the things I enjoy about it is that it relies entirely on the rhythms made by the instruments. There’re no vocals whatsoever but it's how strongly everything comes together. I enjoy the slight gothic feel in the music  PERFORMANCE VIDEO https://youtu.be/-loX1IL3Az4 LISTEN HERE https://open.spotify.com/track/6O02LLxNzLhHcPCidEOwjJ?si=b9835b0afc9c4fda WATCH HERE https://youtu.be/-loX1IL3Az4 Pre-order Water Still Flows  HERE Listen to "No Muscle, No Memory"  HERE  & watch the Joseph Bird-directed music video  HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQTtB_U-hkQ&feature=youtu.be Rich Ruth US Tour Dates: 28/4: Fort Worth, TX - Tulips * 29/4: Oklahoma City, OK - Beer City Music Hall * 1/5: Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea's Live * 3/5: Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light ~ 4/5: Asheville, NC - Eulogy ~ 5/5: Winston-Salem, NC - The Ramkat * 8/5: Raleigh, NC - King's ~ 9/5: Charleston, SC - Music Farm * 10/5: Savannah, GA - Victory North * 22/6: Nashville, TN - The Blue Room ~ 25/6: Washington DC - Pearl Street Warehouse ^ 26/6: Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's ^ 27/6: Woodstock, NY - Colony ^ 28/6: Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool ~ 21/8: Bloomington, IN - The Bishop ~ 22/8: Chicago, IL - Constellation ~ 23/8: Goshen, IN - Ignition Music Garage ~ 25/8: Detroit, MI - Third Man Cass Corridor ~ ~ Headline Dates * w/ All Them Witches ^ w/ Mikaela Davis CONNECT WITH RICH RUTH: INSTAGRAM BANDCAMP YOUTUBE Website  Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso  Heard this today and it got my attention just like that, and I am fully impressed by it. I hadn't heard of this American/Canadian singer before but will admit that she is starting to grow on me a little. As a song, Espresso makes a decent dance track and tempts you to move your feet https://youtu.be/DKB-1EV5qHw?si=xKI5TWFa4qB_7wHi Read the full article

[thisaintascenereviews]

Eidola - Eviscerate

By this point, some almost twenty years since Dance Gavin Dance released their debut EP, the term “Swancore” is kind of dated, and a little bit played out. The genre is, too, as every band that fits the bill sounds the same, if not very similar — a vocalist with a voice suited for pop music (and is almost always too good for the band), math-rock and mathcore instrumentation that’s combined with progressive song structures, and lyrics that are either utter nonsense or poetic to the point of pretentiousness. That’s exactly how I’d describe the new Eidola album, entitled Eviscerate. Released on DGD guitarist Will Swan’s record label, Blue Swan Records (hence the name “Swancore), vocalist and primary songwriter of Eidola Andrew Wells is also in DGD, and that’s just one of many cases of how these bands are all connected. They weirdly all share members, like some kind of cult or prestigious club, but I digress.

When it comes to Eidola, I’m somewhat familiar with them. I’ve listened to one of their albums from 2017, but they’ve put out another one before Eviscerate. I can’t say I was super into them, as these guys have always been a carbon copy of the other bands in this vein, but they weren’t bad, either. Wells is a great vocalist, and it’s sort of weird his vocals aren’t utilized more in DGD, but that’s another story for another day. If anything, you’ll get a good time from these guys, especially if you like this sound, and that’s all you can really ask for. I was curious enough to listen to this new album, as a lot of progressive metalcore came out this past weekend, and this was one of them.

I’ve given Eviscerate a few listens, and remember what I said about a lot of Swancore bands having really good vocalists with a sound that blends mathcore with progressive song structures and lyrics that are either complete nonsense or pretentiously poetic? Well, this album is very much in that wheelhouse, and it’s not much different from anything else they’ve done, but it’s not bad. On first listen, this album’s pretty cool, but giving this a few listens now, its issues show themselves more and more. I will say that the one thing about this album that genuinely surprised is how heavy it gets, and that’s different for a band in this vein. A lot of these bands opt for a post-hardcore sound, and their prior albums for, but this is a straight up metalcore album. This thing gets gnarly, and in the best way.

Sure, it’s nothing special, but it’s a welcomed change. Even then, Wells is still a formidable singer, but the problem with this record (and their whole sound) is that the songs just blend together, especially with a lack of hooks. There are a few, but they’re not strong whatsoever. A lot of these bands are in the same vein, they’ve got killer vocalists, yet their hooks and choruses are lackluster. They seem to favor the mathcore instrumentation over accessible songwriting. The record sounds great, and it sounds impressive, but with a runtime of 45 minutes, you can’t just make the same song 12 times. Aside from a few moments here and there, this record blends together, and not in a way that makes me want to hear the whole thing, especially where this band’s sound just go above and beyond anything other bands in this vein have done. It’s a good album, and worth hearing if you love this sound, but you’re not missing anything if you don’t, unfortunately.

[deep-hearts-core]

2012 - semifinal 2

originally posted 6/10/20

Serbia The instrumental on this is gorgeous, I really love the violins, and I think Serbia actually did a pretty good job with the staging here. Like it's not perfect but as I said before 2012 is a really rough year for staging. The vocal line is pretty boring until about halfway through the song so this isn't a huge standout favorite for me but compared to many other 2012 songs this is good. Macedonia Mmm, I really love this song... that scream is so iconic but also it works with the song you know? It's very pretty at the beginning but once the rock section kicks in in the second verse this song catapults to GREAT. Kaliopi is performing really well and this is such a good song for her, and actually the staging here is one of very few staging concepts that didn't make the stage seem enormous just because of the camera shots and the way everything was set up.

Netherlands Instrumental isn't bad but this performance loses major points from me because of... well, the disrespectful costume choices. Also Joan's voice isn't anything close to enjoyable to listen to. This is the dark side of Dutch country... like I think this is maybe the worst it can get. Malta This is pretty tacky, standard late oughts-early teens ESC, but Kurt's weird little stage performance is endearing. There is nothing that I fully hate about this - it's not quality music by any means but it does make me smile. Belarus A little clumsy, but there are parts of this that I do enjoy. That chorus is one of them, it's not incredibly strong but it's catchy, idk it just sounds nice. I also really like the staging concept, I don't know if it's cyberpunk or steampunk or what, just techno... something... punk and I just love it. Portugal This song fails to evoke any emotion in me. Like okay Filipa is a good singer I guess but the song and performance gives me no feelings whatsoever. I think I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Ukraine Umm, it's okay. I really like the horn melody that shows up during the choruses but the rest of the song, Gaitana included, is annoying more than it is anything else. Gaitana does have a really good voice and that stands out especially in the beginning but imo the song kinda goes downhill from there. Bulgaria On the whole, Love Unlimited is another OK song absolutely murdered by the 2012 stage design. Sofi does get kind of off the instrumental at certain points, there's bits where she's really out of time with it and that also puts me off the performance a little bit. Chorus is really catchy though. Slovenia Killed by the staging again. I also feel like they concentrated too much on that one backup singer. Like, this is billed as being Eva's song, keep the focus on her unless the backing singers are advancing the stage's "story" in any way - which they really weren't, they were just there to sing behind Eva and that's it. This is a nice song with a good singer and a strong chorus but it is also fundamentally very meaningless.

Croatia I remember having enjoyed this, but I feel like it kind of let me down this time around. It sounds nice, but it's not impressive on any counts, and the song doesn't super go anywhere. Sweden Euphoria changed the game in a lot of ways. It firstly was just a really good song, modern for its time and really well-produced, that both solidified G:son's reputation and showed off Loreen's awesome vocals. One of the big reasons why it won, though, is the staging. Euphoria's performance never ever showed the audience, and only showed the huge scope of that stage once, and even then it was from above and was narratively interesting relative to the song. Loreen is one of the only 2012 artists who didn't look tiny relative to that gargantuan stage and I feel like that really lent a lot to this performance. Without that staging this performance could have been very bad.

Georgia I enjoy this song for what it is. It's really catchy in a way, the chorus is fun to bop along to and Anri has a really good voice and is performing pretty well. The staging sure is interesting but you know what? It leaned into being weird and I guess I respect that. Turkey I detest this song. This is probably one of my least favorite ESC songs ever. I hate Can's voice, I don't know what's happening in terms of the song itself, and I'm incredibly confused by the man boat. Estonia This is really just beautiful. Kuula as a song is... for some reason, majestic is the word that comes to mind, and the staging was simple and graceful and put all of the focus on Ott's incredible voice and the lovely song. Slovakia I dislike this style of music pretty strongly and especially don't enjoy it in Eurovision. Moving on.

Norway Tooji really gets bonus points for his energy. He's giving his all onstage and tbh I'm shocked he isn't out of breath for like half the song. Stay is trashy club schlager music but it's catchy as hell and I just enjoy it. It's not, like, a beautiful or incredibly well-composed song or anything like that but dammit it's fun! Bosnia & Herzegovina Korake Ti Znam bores me to tears. It isn't objectively horrible the way some other songs in 2012 are, and it's even a style of music that's palatable to me, but this particular song, and singer, and performance just aren't my thing. Lithuania Donny Montell is just... he's a performer. The one-handed cartwheel, the air guitar, his expressions and emotion onstage? I love it all. He really makes this performance - like, Love Is Blind is an OK song and all, but I genuinely like this performance because of Donny.

My personal qualifiers Sweden Estonia North Macedonia Serbia Malta Belarus Norway Lithuania Bulgaria Slovenia

Miscellaneous thoughts I like that the hosts went out of their way to thank the crew, I feel like that doesn't get done enough. The hosts are also using a relatively large amount of French? I'm lowkey impressed, most Western countries don't try that hard with the French. My opinion on these hosts is that they're actually pretty funny? Like they had a half-decent script and the jokes ("is there a lawyer? oh yes, Nargiz", "so who has to do it in French this time", etc) are genuinely good, I just feel like none of them spoke English quite well enough to get the timing down and the humor across. I feel like maybe I've misjudged them a little... they really are trying their best. This interval act with the past winners was pretty good but I just can't get over how drunk Dima Bilan is omg. Also, Rybak and Marija Serifovic really seem to be having fun with each other, lovely to see that some of the past winners are actually friends.

[baka-writings]

𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

Anon asked: Omg finally a good blog that writes about Victon!! 😭 Can I request something really small please? You can go ahead and do this wayyy later if it's too much work 👉🏻👈🏻 So my question is who in Victon would be impressed/attracted to someone who has musical talents? Like singing, rapping, playing instruments. But what I mean is for ex. they find out their crush is a really good singer, and that instantly makes them like her more? Which ones would be impressed by this and why? 🥺 

Hello lovely anon! Thank you so much for your kind words 🥺 I’ll work harder and try to make more VICTON content since I see really positive feedback ♥ Here’s your request, I hope you like it~ BTW I can relate to this ask as a rapper who biases Hanse, can see him being shook tbh

Also I changed it a bit, because If you're their crush you guys might be close and him crushing on you, but as well not that close only some convos here and there, Ya get me 😌

I think the most impressed would be Hanse and Seungwoo.

A/N: For Hanse I went strictly with rapping, since that is his passion, hobby, everything🥺

Hanse: He’d be very very very impressed If his crush could rap. At first he’d be like ???? wouldn’t believe his own ears tbh, would need to hear a few times If he's not dreaming, but after calming down he wouldn't be able to contain himself aka happy cute Sese 🥺The reason is probably that he would never expect that from you and he knows that rapping is not easy, so he'd be very surprised If you actually slayed let's say his songs and had no training or whatsoever besides your self teaching. I think he'd be speechless tbh. He'd ask you HOW COME YOU CAN RAP [THAT WELL]. Would ask you since when you rapped and how come you never showed him before (If you were friends already). He'd want to make music with you and would secretly record you rapping and probably, perhapsss use a bit of it in his next song 💀 his attraction to you would increase a LOT, would also challenge you for a freestyle and let you win, unless you're good enough to win without him letting you. So yeah tbh he'd probably confess the same week he finds out about your talents. Oh and If you need any tips, he'll gladly help you, but would never say something like "you need to correct this" etc by himself, only If you asked.

gif cr. to owners 🖤

Seungwoo: Alrighty so he's very talented himself, so I think finding out his crush is equally talented would make him melt tbh. He'd try to get closer to you (If you're not that close yet). He'd ask you when you learned to play the instrument you play, If you were a singer at the same time he'd be lowkey asking you to sing for him too (when you're close/get closer). Y'all remember that one time he vocal challenged Hanse? Yes that would happen too lol. Same like Hanse he'd like singing with you, but rather than making official music it'd be more like just singing for fun? Oh and would ask you to teach him to play on an instrument (if it's something he can't play, but he can do everything so I'm kinda like😭). He'd record the 2 of you "messing around" and singing anything you want, but unlike Hanse only send it to his members.

video cr. to owners 🖤

As for the other members, I'm not saying they wouldn't be super impressed, but they wouldn't show it openly that much. Like they would be shook, but maybe wouldn't know how to react at that time. I can also see Sejun and Byungchan messaging you a few days later how they really felt about your new found skills. They would bring it up next time you meet and ask you since when you can play on instruments/sing/rap..

[elizabethvaughns]

Can you rate all If/Then songs from the one you like the most to the one you like the least? If you want to also with rent and falsetto?

rent and falsettos is going to take a bit just due to the sheer number of songs (like 40+ songs apiece)

so if/then!

i find it really hard to rate them from what i like most to what i like least because i feel like i'm betraying the other songs, in a sense, by implying they're worse. but they're not! all of them are so amazing in their own aspect.

(prologue isn't a song here just for the sake of the totally not arbitrary criteria i'm using)

ranking under the cut

1. ain't no man manhattan: i've said before how this is my favorite song, and for good reason. it's a major bop, the timeline switches are incredible, the choreo in it is to die for, the plot associated with it is...pretty good. (also lucas is my favorite character no cap)

2. what if?: the first song of the show is incredibly important as usually when you're listening to the soundtrack, here's where you decide whether you want to continue listening to the musical or not solely based on the style of the song. and "what if?" hits it right out of the park. it's a perfect beginning! the acoustic guitar in the beginning, the ensemble lines, elizabeth's solo. this song holds an incredibly pivotal plot point: the splitting of the timelines in the first place. and it does it so well. the soundtrack reveals enough information for the listener to get a basic gist of what's going on, but still not have the full story. and when you watch it book included, oh man. everything, everything comes together. it all makes so much sense. just...wow.

3. map of new york: when you first think of if/then, you'd usually think of two specific songs in my opinion: "map of new york" and "always starting over". "map of new york" is the quintessential if/then song. both timelines show up, which i adore. i just...love it. i don't know what else to say. i love it.

4. best worst mistake: this is, subjectively or objectively, an incredible song. it's really cute and a wonderful duet. when i first listened to if/then in 2020, i listened to this song in particular on repeat. over and over and over again. i loved it so much! i still do. this is actually one of my comfort songs.

5. some other me: this is just...an amazing song. i don't know what to say. it makes me really sad, which i hate. but still. this is, hands down, my favorite song from solely beth-verse. also, complete sidetrack, but "some other me" always plays in the background of hey kid (more specifically "snack time") which is really funny for no reason whatsoever.

6. i hate you: now i know what you might say. why would i really like this song (enough for it to be in my top 10) if this makes me uncontrollably sad and i am on the verge of tears every time i listen to it? but hear me out here. this song has an incredible range of emotions. from anger, to--to hope, to anguish, to grief. it's just, all in all, a super impressive song. (also this was another one of the songs i listened to on repeat in 2020)

7. here i go: it's just a super sweet song and i love it a lot.

8. always starting over: all in all, an iconic if/then song. it's just phenomenal! the vocals, the starry lights at the end, the "hey, it's me" reprisal in the beginning.

9. you learn to live without: it's very sad and i love it very very much. tbh i love it very very much probably because it makes me so sad.

10. what if? (reprise): a perfect conclusion to a perfect musical. that's all i have to say about this.

11. you don't need to love me: it's just an incredibly beautiful song! the background instrumentals, the vocals, everything about this song is so saddeningly (is that even a word) beautiful.

12. this day/walking by a wedding: it's just a really fun and dancey song! i love how the energy is high during "this day" and then it switches to wbaw and becomes calmer and then it switches back to high-energy and so on and so forth.

13. it's a sign: appreciation for lachanze's vocals!!!!! ma'am just.....wow. this album just knocks it right out of the park song by song.

14. no more wasted time: an incredibly inspirational song. an anthem, even. i love the solidarity in this. just....aaaaaaaaaaaaa (screams of joy)

15. surprise: iconic song, full stop. perfect separator for the two acts. it's really fun when the timelines converge and show parallel characteristics. and this song/scene does it perfectly.

16. you never know: it just makes me very sad, okay?! i love this song, and i love the vocals in it, but i emotionally cannot listen to it over and over again.

17. what the fuck?: talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, etc. etc. timelines switches are fun. i love the turntables at the start.

18. love while you can: those of you who know me know i love kate/anne. also this song slaps. the harmonies near the end, especially. and josh's theme in the background near the end never fails to destroy me.

19. the moment explodes: this song is incredible. it slaps. full stop. (15 y/o me didn't know shit this song is amazing)

20. hey, kid: i love this song, but it also makes me sad. not as sad as ynk, but still sad enough. and also for the love of whatever that exists i always seem to jumble up the lyrics for this song.

21. what would you do?: now i love this song. honest. there was this one day when i played it on repeat because apparently i don't need emotions. but it's really short :( (also have you listened to the extended version. it slaps, doesn't it?)

22. map of new york(reprise): now this is not out of prejudice against stephen or anything(although let me state for the record that stephen sucks :)), but. this song is my least favorite. not that i don't like it! i love it! but it's less than a minute long. there's only one other song on my playlist that's shorter, and it's "something bad is happening(reprise)" from falsettos(40 s).

[wickymicky]

my top ten favorite kpop singles of 2021 so far: first quarter edition (january-march)

10. Pixy - Wings: I’m not as into this song as other people, but it’s grown on me, and I think they have a lot of potential. I did not expect a group called “Pixy” to have this dark of a concept haha, I like that. I like the choreo and overall performance of it too, I think that’s the highlight for me

9. G Idle - Hwaa: Not my favorite G Idle title track, but I do think it’s in the top half. It’s interesting to me that they did this song, since it is pretty much all in Korean, there’s no English whatsoever (the only English is a “yeah” at the beginning haha), which for a group like G Idle who has used a lot of English in the past and is very popular internationally is kind of a bold choice, and I’m into it

8. Ateez - Fireworks (I’m The One): I’m still not fully sold on Ateez’s direction post-Wonderland/Answer, with the “end” of their pirate concept (possibly, it seems complicated lol, idk, but you know what I mean anyway), but I do kinda like this song! It sounds kinda like... European lmao. Like I keep thinking I hear accordion in the drop, but idk maybe I’m just imagining things. I mean all that in a good way, btw. Like a good kind of European (if you can imagine such a thing)

7. Shinee - Don’t Call Me: As someone who only got into kpop in 2019, and didn’t even get into a single boy group for like 6 or 7 months (and even then, for a while I just had one single token boy group lol), Shinee isn’t a group that I had checked out much from until fairly recently. I’m still new here, I suppose lol. But yeah idk, this song is good! I love the production and their obvious charisma and talent. Like, I can tell even just from this song that their reputation is earned. It’s just a solid release

6. Purple Kiss - Ponzona: I do prefer Skip Skip, but I decided to limit this to singles and title tracks. I also prefer My Heart Skip a Beat (by a lot, actually), but that came out last year lol. This song has really been growing on me a lot though! Like, a lot actually. I like the violin, I think that’s a really interesting touch haha, I feel like that adds so much to the way the song sounds overall. Yuki’s rapping is impressive too, I like her flow in every song I’ve heard her in so far, especially since she writes her raps herself and Korean isn’t her native language. Honestly that’s one of the most impressive things about Purple Kiss... they seem to be involved in writing all of the things they do! That’s SO RARE for a group to do right from debut, especially for a girl group! I think that’s a great sign that things are changing, and girl groups are being taken more seriously and being allowed more creative freedom than ever before. Ponzona was literally a song written for a monthly evaluation when they were trainees. That’s really impressive. Skip Skip was too, but yeah lol. 

5. Pentagon - Do or Not: I mentioned that for a while I just had one token boy group that I liked, and that was Pentagon haha, they were my first. I like that this is a return to their fun sound, but in a different way... like, this song doesn’t sound anything like Shine or Naughty Boy lol. Pentagon are just really good at conveying passion in their songs and I think that shines through here too! I like the way the bass and percussion sound, that’s just quality mixing lol. I also love that even though it’s this kinda pop-punk-ish-doo-wop-ish kpop song, it still has a bit of sadness underneath the fun, which is something I think is a trademark of Pentagon’s style haha. But mostly, it’s fun

4. Tri.Be - Doom Doom Ta: The main reason I checked this out was because it was written and produced by LE from EXID, and you can really tell haha. In fact, her voice is in the song at certain points, and like... she has a really distinctive voice lol. Anyway this song is like a pretty hard commitment to this Latin/moombahton kind of sound, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that trend in kpop, but either way, I do think this song is a bop. I’ve had it on repeat way more than everything below this point, in fact all the songs in this top 4 I’ve had on repeat like an order of magnitude more than the songs from 5-10 lol. it’s been a slow beginning to the year. I don’t have a lot of specifics to mention here about Doom Doom Ta, I just think it’s an earworm 

3. Weeekly - After School: This was really highly anticipated for me, because I love their previous title tracks. Tag Me especially is a song I consider to be almost perfect, which is not something I say about very many songs at all haha. I personally don’t think After School is quite as good as Tag Me or Zig Zag, but I do really like it! It’s always good to get more fun, exciting, unashamedly catchy songs haha, it’s a breath of fresh air. I love this concept for them too, I think it fits them really well! They’re just a lot of fun. This mini-album, We Play, is my favorite of theirs so far too, though that doesn’t necessarily affect my placement of this song in particular

2. Cherry Bullet - Love So Sweet: God damn, this song is really good. It’s really simple, but that works to it’s advantage imo. I love that the background melody of the instrumental during the verse is the same as the vocal melody in the chorus (or at least very close), that’s just super satisfying. Ending the song with an extended “da da dadada da da” segment was a big risk too lol, that could have been annoying, but idk I think that really is one of the highlights of the song. This song feels like the kind of song where the songwriter came up with that melody and went “YES! this is IT! YESSSSS” and they knew they had come up with something really, really catchy, and they built the rest of the song around showcasing it. And it works!

1. Dreamcatcher - Odd Eye: This probably isn’t much of a surprise lol. But similar to After School... This isn’t my favorite Dreamcatcher comeback, and tbh I think it’s my least favorite of the Dystopia trilogy. But like... that’s still enough to make it my favorite song of the first quarter of 2021. It’s great, I love the way they do the cyberpunk concept and sound without going into the synthwave direction like Everglow La Di Da did. I love La Di Da a ridiculous amount, but I just mean that it’s nice to see variety even within a similar overall concept. Also! Handong is back! And she crushed it! In previous title tracks she and Gahyeon often got the least amount of lines by far, and the least amount of screentime and such, and Gahyeon definitely got times to shine during Scream and Boca and made it clear that she’s leveled up a lot, and I was really hoping that Odd Eye would be able to do the same for Handong (without sacrificing Gahyeon’s screentime and lines)... and yeah, it really was, lol. Handong was all over this song, and her voice reaaaaaally complements this sound. This group has no weak links, and obviously all of us already knew that, but now even the people who only casually listen to them know that without a doubt too.

idk... i’m not totally sure about this list but that feels mostly right to me i guess. I feel like Odd Eye is definitely my favorite so far, but to be honest I don’t feel like it’s the Song of the Year. like, if it had been released in 2020, I don’t think it would have made my top 10. If nothing better than Odd Eye comes out for the rest of the year then sure, it will be my SOTY haha, but idk, I just think that there hasn’t been anything *truly* great so far yet. And that’s okay... I’m very picky about this kind of thing. I don’t give high scores to things that don’t deserve it lol... and like in my opinion there were only 4 songs in 2020 that are the kind of near-perfect instant-soty song I’m talking about, and three of those four came out in the second half of the year. So the fact that I don’t think anything so far has been at that top level isn’t a bad thing, and isn’t really something I’m worried about. I think we definitely have not gotten the best songs of the year yet (unless everything else ends up sucking lol, but idk i hope thats not what happens...)

oh also there was an WJSN comeback today, and that would probably have been on this list, but I havent heard it yet because i was waiting until I finished writing this haha. like, since it came out on March 31st, tbh I’m just gonna count it as an April comeback, so i’m sure it’ll be in my list for the second quarter that i’ll post at the end of June lol. i mean, unless i dont like it. but i’ll probably like it haha.

[nobody-knose--archive]

so guess who bought complete demos today on a whim

yeah i wasn’t expecting this one to be over as quickly as it was either. have your liveblog

-complete demos. i bought it today & already forgot the tracklist. listening to it on the mp3 player i got for hmcrmshcidshdamsth because why not. makes pausing/typing easier that's why

-who the heck just coughed

-good lord the mixing is. and boy that's steve drumming isn't it. wow

-i mean we've got the stereo panning just like ever but this is incredibly rough. they are true babies aren't they

-oh those flutes are amazing what the hell. can people stop yelling in my individual ears

-and there's the rough megaphone. it's so incredibly clear that these aren't studio recordings but like. still tally hall!

-i think i'm finding many of these a little too funny but gotdam you're pitchbending your own voice do you really expect that to not sound so goofy at such a high pitch

-oh we're not slowing down at all, this is the same tempo as before for sure

-the flipping around audio channels is very not good at all when it comes to disguising the cuts between takes

-a sculptor you say? (is that one in the later versions? i don't remember it at all)

-nothing but rob's voices in the background and maybe 1 or two from red. no ross bits whatsoever. that's wild

-quick move into the greener intro and even quicker movement into greener itself

-well those are extra harmonies. interesting that they removed them for later versions because they're not bad, maybe a little out of place though

-honestly the biggest difference in steve vs ross drumming seems to be more a difference in the quality of the drums themselves. or the recording software but that applies to everything in this album

-it's painfully obvious that everything was recorded in really different circumstances & not mixed professionally and yep. complete demos alright. not inaccurately named in the slightest

-reminds me of the beta versions of g&e songs we heard live before they appeared on the album, makes me wonder if we could've gotten an admittedly complete demos for g&e somehow

-anyway these little different synths-

-hello there rob. alternate bridge. i have remembered this is a thing. something about tissues? a shoulder to cry on? cool

-yeah the little different synths do capture my attention from time to time

-and a basic piano for the outro? huh. sure gives it a different tone alright

-hm? who's that right at the end there- ooh! wtth time! and this still has steve in it doesn't it?

-generally more enthusiasm when it comes to that T, wonder what lost him attention in later years

-boy is that beatboxing weirdly mixed.

-lawn

-well this chorus is actually rather snazzy. the vocals seem better mixed than anything else i've heard in this album

-"who's to blame?" that's like the 4th time now i've heard someone's random voice that i can't recognize. ...it couldn't be steve, could it? i am now aware i have absolutely no clue what his voice sounds like but that seems like it could fit. hm

-zubin sounds really unenthusiastic here. just faintly unenthusiastic all over the place. still sounds more like "badiggle" than anything else

-oh shit they're falling down a well

-red's bit is hella unchanged other than the direct invasion of my individual ears & extra megaphone useage (i really wish the megaphone became more of a tally icon than it did but that's neither here nor there)

-it's rather more barebones though. less andrew keys in general. the calliope-reminiscent synth he uses is different i suppose.

-they did more stuff with funny crowd voices i think i've noticed. playing around with falsetto, as a college band dude might do

-ok yeah steve is a worse drummer. don't ask me what made me change my mind but i did

-wow a crowd that can consistently clap on the 1-2-3-4? how utterly unrealistic

-no wonky wild & weird intro to taken for a ride because i don't think it's on this album. understandable, i can't imagine what sort of wild hell the vocoder would be if it was attempted this early in its lifespan

-1st 2 piano chords of just apathy has me thinking of i know your name (deporitaz ver.) which is certainly as good a start to a song as any

-extended piano intro has me thinking of the ending of mold en mono but nope here's rob's voice to completely knock that impression out of the water

-ohoho? rob cantor swearing momence? i hadn't realized there'd be this many lyric changes

-interestingly enough this track doesn't seem horrendously mixed so far- nevermind that guitar/piano together is way too loud

-the guitar itself does have a pretty cool unique sound. obviously they hadn't had any access to string instruments at this point so given that those're the main thing separating this song from your average sade rock ballad there aren't a whole lot of notable differences here other than said guitar

-very different tone to this lil bridge. faintly reminiscent of weezer but it's not like i know anything about weezer

-sounds like the same synth from wtth being used in the bg there. what, did they have just that limited a selection so as to need repetition that frequently, or did they really like how it sounds? hard to tell with 200 (uhhhh) 4 college band dudes

-and right into two wuv. yes i had heard there's no haiku in this one but i forget what else will be missing. not sure if anything else will other than hidden in the sand. they would have ruler of everything, right? and a track that appears here but not any other albums? something like that i think

-more of that piano in the bg and more of mildly unenthusiastic zubin singing. different melody for said singing but it's not much of a secret that these guys were more untrained vocalists at this time

- .subsides?

-this chorus sounds significantly more laid-back than the later version

-the extra piano part sure moves this piece way further away from "rock love song" & way closer to "andrew horowitz song", especially that lil flourish where a bee buzzing might otherwise be

-ooh! andrew! he speaks! so does zubin! this song's two olsen boys coming in for a weird bridge bit! hell yeah oh this is adorable

-"because there's 2 of them :}"

-hm. are they actually just removing various parts because they don't have the technological capabilities to do a straight fadeout here? got dam

-i suppose letting zubin do a final solo-ish cadence works too

-uh- say it ain't so‽ w. no this is stationary love, the song that appeared here & nowhere else. cool, cool. strange but cool i guess

-i guess that can explain the multitude of weezer comparisons made for these lads. it's certainly there. honestly andrew was the only thing keeping them from being true weezer successors

-pure acoustic guitar thus far. this is my first time hearing this song of course & it seems like a pretty typical rob "homophonic heterophobic" cantor song

-nothing but acoustic guitar. nothing but rob vocals. nothing but alloromanticism. guess what! it's not my cup of tea! however i can't help but think if this song was worked on more, fixed up a la either mmmm release, with some more andrew/red touches, i could enjoy it some more

-not even any drumming. the simplicity could easily explain why it wasn't played live very often at all

-so the next thing i expect is some very funky & very weird spring and a storm which should highlight steve's (worse) drumming more than anything else i'm sure

-nevermind banana man's just getting slapped directly in here out of order compared to the later mmmm releases. this version i have indeed heard before because it's the version used in the music video

-therefore i have very little to say about it i haven't said on any of the other banana men. or other tracks on this album. the intrusions of vocal harmonies seem jarring because they're not mixed professionally, an effect that's only enhanced by the stereo panning & intense reverb

-this song really didn't change all that much over its lifespan, did it? vocal flairs were redone, but relatively few harmonies were added/removed, i don't think things like the bridge(s) were modified severely. not as noticeably as any of the other songs, at the very least

-i'm pretty sure i can hear andrew's voice in there but beyond that this is severely unsettling

-back to the chorus wahoo. relievingly  familiar territory

-get out of my left ear hawaiian guitar- wait a minute are my earbuds on wrong

-no i'm good

-oh holy shit i forgot this had to be somewhere didn't it‽ i know it's just the same! ok ok

-i've heard this one but only because i had no idea it was from complete demos, it's like rather polished too so i had never considered it would be on an unpolished album like this. i also had no idea that was goddam steve drumming in there too hot damn

-and this is the only recording of it‽ that's wild i always thought it was redone at some point & just kinda. manifested in one of the vague ways miscellaneous high quality tally hall songs do

-it's another romance one but the guitar arpeggios and extra layers give it a pass in my book. man i should watch the music video for it shouldn't i

-i still think it's utterly wild how tally hall played this at an actual high school's homecoming once. wouldn't that just blow your mind

-there's not a major difference between how it's performed here & what i've heard of it in from the occasional live performance, which is making me realize i should watch more live performances of this song

-angstier prequel to hidden in the sand

-or sidequel maybe. depends really. we can tell whatever stories we like

-did my hidden in the sand sotry come out of the queue yet? i feel like i queued it a while ago but also like y'all would've said something if you'd seen it

-bit slow paced innit. much like everything else in this album, it would have gained much from a professional studio treatment, but its mixing & general quality is still surely the best out of everything i've heard so far

-working your falsetto there aren't you my dude? ooh boy

-ruler of everything.... so no spring & a storm? >{

-yeah. ok. weird glockenspiel. almost sounds like a music box

-no vocoding either! i just realized that's a thing here! curious. and... those are some heavily wonky sfx in the background

-who's singing those aaaaas anyway? it's not a chorus which i thought could surely be handled and there's really minimal reverb too; strange considering not only is reverb a jh trademark but easily doable here

-the piano synth used is mostly identical to the 05 mmmm- oh holy shit there's different lyrics & they're being beamed directly into my skull

-even more nonsensical & it's because you can hear them hella easily too. that backwards segment did not need to go on as long as it did. also

-so no zubin vocals? >{

-slapping 5 billion vocal effects on doesn't make up for a lack of the best singer in this damn band

-especially because he sounds reminiscent of goddam fred. being fred before fred was even a thing. oh how accursed

-quiet down your guitars when you're singing shouting through a megaphone if you please

-and there's the earstrain-ass reverb + vocoding on the flibbity jibber jabber reprise. i feared as much would happen. doesn't sound horrible i just need to turn down the volume on my mp3 player

-honestly thing whole thing isn't bad at all in the sense that it's mostly just strongly different from the later versions & lacks zubin

-lease stop yelling though my dude schwiggling your voice like that isn't always a good thing at high volumes

-is that the end? are we.... at the end? i heard that's the name of some song from like sketches or something

-no. how silly of me to assume as much. anyway my dude needs to fix up his ukulele this one sounds like shit

-no vocal effects makes me realize how few times we got this one live-

-now what would you call a wonky little transition like that? puts a smile on my face, even if it does take me by surprise at the same time

-but at least one of the times this was done live featured casey shea

-now for the love of god i already hate the ending of something glowing (view-monster) for its weird-ass asmr finale don't reverse someone's cough & twiddle your ukulele strings directly into my right ear to end an otherwise really nice version of hidden in the sand if you please. oh mama mia. good night

[tisthenightofthewitch]

KISS THE GO-GHOST: AN INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS FORGE

Ghost, formerly known as Ghost B.C have cultivated a cult following within the metal community since their debut almost 10 years ago. Known for their dark persona and eerily catchy soundscapes, they not only have a sound that’s unmistakable, but a stage presence so involved that there are backstories to each Papa(the name used by each rotating front person) that has taken rein thus far.

I remember when I first discovered their 2010 release, Opus Eponymous, and how enthralled I was with their sound. Granted, I was late to the party, as they had already toured through Utah before. By the time I had completely immersed myself in their music, it was 2014—a year after their second full length album, Infestissumam had released. I was hypnotized by their macabre charm from the get-go, and I’ve eagerly anticipated every release since then. I’ve always loved how frontman Tobias Forge’s vocals shine against the instrumentals, as well as how grim the lyrics truly can be.

With the surprise “re-release” of their single Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, which originally had debuted in the ’60s (according to the Ghost timeline), this magic touch is exceptionally present. As 2018’s LP Prequelle had hints of disco and other nostalgic influences from the 70s and 80s, Seven Inches is laced with the catchy, punchy sweetness of the 1960s—inspiring sounds reminiscent of The Zombies and The Monkees with a sinister twist.

As their grandiose tour, The Ultimate Tour Named Death, conquers North America for the remainder of the month, Forge and I spoke about the band’s origins, song influences and meanings, and life on tour.

SLUG: What inspires you to make songs based around dark themes, such as Satan? Where does this aesthetic come from, and how does it exist in your full-length releases?

Forge: It wasn’t just an epiphany that I had. I grew up, as many others, in the metal underground community. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been a fan of hard rock, metal and all kinds of rock music. My main tool of expression and what I sympathized most with was heavy metal—especially the bands that were big around the time that I was very little. Around 1984, when I was three years old, all of the new, big bands were shock-rock bands like Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Wasp and Kiss. These, among others, were the first bands that I really, really liked. My older brother, who was significantly older than I was, gave me those records and it just went from there.

I’ve come to expand my liking of music a lot. I loved a lot of 60s music and 70s pop-rock and all kinds of musical styles. When it comes to expressing myself, there’s always been some sort of shock-rock value to whatever I’ve done—a little bit more explicit when it comes to lyrics and a little bit more explosive with image.

My first band that I ever formed was a death metal band and I spent my whole adolescence playing death and black metal where obviously satanic themes are omnipresent. So, when Ghost happened, it wasn’t like I was coming up with a new image—it was so natural. Then, it expanded over the years because I felt like if I’m going to keep things fresh and keep being inspired, I need to expand the lyrics going forward. I’ve always drawn parallel lines, and my ways of expression are always leaning towards darkness and goth in the same way Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen do. I feel more kindled with them when it comes to song writing than I would with Venom—even though I love them, too. The lyrics that I try to write nowadays are more focused on symbols for something real. Satanism is a very good symbol for turmoil or conflict, but most of the lyrics from albums two, three and four have more parallels to real life and the world. It’s just explained with satanic parallels.

SLUG: What are some of your favorite songs from your discography and why? What makes these songs special to you?

Forge: You have the “cream-of-the-crops” in a way—like, the immediate songs. I think “Dance Macabre” is an immediate song and is a song that I will be playing for the rest of my life. I think “Square Hammer” is like that. “From the Pinnacle to the Pit” is a song that is very immediate. I think “Cirice” is one of the best songs I’ve ever written and probably will ever write, but for different reasons. Sometimes I really enjoy songs that are simple. Sometimes it’s harder to write a simple song. You have all of the ingredients that you need in order to make a song, and a risk that the song will be considered premeditated. But, yes, it is. Every song that has ever been written was done so with some sort of intent. Even the songs that people think are made with no commercial interest whatsoever are usually written to feel or taste a certain way.

So, you’re always happy when you manage to say the things that you wanted to say and have the moods in the song that you wanted in there without making it complicated. It’s so easy to get stuck in a complicated arrangement that’s hard to get out of. Where “Square Hammer” is so simple, “Cirice” is a little bit more complicated. It has a long intro that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. It has more of a classic metal arrangement, whereas “Square Hammer” is way more punk. So, I like those songs for completely different reasons, but they both do the trick and they’re songs that will come to embody Ghost. That’s how it feels right now, at least.

SLUG: Your live shows and stage presence are always so elaborate and beautiful. How has your stage show changed with the introduction of Cardinal Copia in comparison to Papa(s) one, two and three? Where did the idea of having a masked band to this intricate extent come from? Why Papa and why Cardinal Copia?

Forge: Early on in the creation of Ghost, I was just reviewing what I had heard. When we recorded the first demo, when I heard my songs, my first impression was that it sounds like a heavily imaged band. If I were a fan of this record that I hear, I would be disappointed if it turned out to just be four or five dudes just standing in jackets and t-shirts. It doesn’t sound like that. It sounds more like an experience and that’s where it originated.

The aesthetics and the ideas are a mash-up of everything that I grew up watching and listening to. It’s black metal mixed with horror films and showmen. I’ve always been a fan of every single character that balances genius, charisma and being pathetic. That’s where Papa comes from.  He’s supposed to be cool, but he’s also slightly out of touch and pathetic—and funny, I think!

SLUG: The last time I saw you in Salt Lake City, you opened for Iron Maiden. Now, you’re touring North America after touring Europe with Metallica. What is it like to tour with these big names in metal? How have these bands influenced you in the past and what does it feel like to work with them now?

Forge: I am still as much of a fan of these groups as I was before, which is a very nice feeling knowing that I can completely separate my ideas, my dreams and my fantasies about both of these bands. But I think that has to do with the fact that for most of my life, I’ve idolized those bands while still always also knowing that what I wanted to do with my life was very similar to what they did—meaning record albums, go out and tour the world and change the world and have a deep impact on people in the same way that they had an impact on me.

On a very professional level, from the get-go, both Iron Maiden and Metallica have been very informative to their fan-base. Iron Maiden started that with their album Life After Death. All of their tour dates were in there, there was a lot of info about their touring life and the technicalities of playing live. I used to sit down with a map book and circle everywhere they played. I would try to figure out their days off and where they were playing next. Very early on, as a kid, I sort of approached it from a professional point of view. Not only did I want to stand on stage like I saw in the pictures, but I wanted to tour like they do. That’s the school of rock that I went to. Metallica would be even more informative later when they released their box set Binge and Purge. You could see old faxes between management and them, and I read everything I could see. I already knew 20 years later that that was a part of the program. I’ve learned so much from studying Iron Maiden and Metallica that when the day came when I started touring with them, I was like “I know this!” It was something I had done before. Now, I have the luxury of learning so much more firsthand.

SLUGMAG.COM

[mortimers-cross]

SPOILER-filled Review of CATS 2019

(or the beginnings of a review...this one was written in the aftermath of the first viewing...I have now seen it twice, and there are plenty more thoughts and some changed opinions I've not got down yet...perhaps I never will...we shall see.) 

Well. This year's Jellicle Ball was certainly something else. Something else entirely. One of those dreams when you just want to wake the next morning and forget everything that happened, except the wonderful moments. (The moooooments of happiness...) So, when that film was good, it was amazing. When it was bad, I was sinking down into the depths of my chair with embarrassment. The bad bits didn't ruin the entire film for me, but it did make me less inclined to invite friends to it. If they don't "get" the show, I don't think they will "get" the movie version. Let's get the negatives out of the way first: 1. Jennyanydots. I thought Taylor Swift would be the worst part of the film, but Rebel Wilson beat her by quite a bit. Apart from Munkustrap and the cute mice, "The Old Gumbie Cat" was one long cringe-fest. Rebel robbed Jenny of any semblance of dignity, and pretty much did the same in every scene she was in. Her stupid jokes and comments were not funny.  2. Rum Tum Tugger. He wasn't exactly bad. It's more that he made little to no impression whatsoever. His song was rather boring (though I did like some of the new instrumentation - once it got going; the beginning was awkward sounding). Throughout the rest of the film, he didn't do very much at all - though to be fair, it will probably take multiple viewings and close observations to notice what any of the characters are doing in the background, just like with the 1998 film. 3. Judi Dench's singing. I adore Judi Dench, and she made a great motherly figure. I especially loved her interactions with Victoria and Munkustrap. But it was painful hearing her attempt the songs. Clearly they were out of her reach vocally, and I don't understand why she didn't just speak everything. If Rex Harrison can get away with it in My Fair Lady, Judi Dench should be able to get away with it in CATS. Sigh. Some Neutrals: 1. The "Macavity and Growltiger Taking Jellicles Prisoner" sideplot. It was so awkward, but I...think I liked it? Not sure how I feel on this one yet. I do wish Munkustrap and Macavity had still had their epic showdown, but Macavity was more of a trickster in this version, not so much a physical confrontation guy. I do like how Skimble, Gus, Jenny, and Bustopher worked together to make Growltiger walk the plank. 2. Macavity, specifically the song. I thought I would hate this scene because of Taylor Swift, but I don't think I did. Still not crazy about her voice, but I liked when the other "Macavity Queens" joined in, and the "hypnotising with catnip" was kind of cool. I loved how everyone was trying to help Misto and Victoria sneak away.  3. The Live Singing. Tom Hooper is obsessed with everyone singing live on set. That's all well and good, but I prefer the more "polished" studio sound when it comes to films. Just a personal preference. And the Positives (in no certain order): 1. Munkustrap! This one was a no-brainer. I love Munkustrap and Robbie Fairchild was a great casting choice. I did think his interactions with Victoria were awkward at times. Was he a fatherly figure, or in love with her? Couldn't tell. (Was this some sort of Lord Melbourne/Queen Victoria reference?) Certainly by the end he had taken on the role of "proud dad who totally ships Mistoria." But anyway, he was so sweet and always trying to take care of others. He even (if I remember correctly) protected Jenny’s singing mice, which she was planning to eat. O.O I also enjoyed all his solos - and the fact that he even got a few extra ones. 2. Mistoffelees. I thought it was an interesting change to have him struggling with confidence issues and still trying to perfect his magical abilities. His immediate and obvious besottedness with Victoria was adorable. He was just adorable all round. I do wish his song hadn't had so many of the awkward pauses in it during his multiple attempts to bring Old D back, but it was still enjoyable. The way he magically made all the musical instruments float up to the ceiling and play the accompaniment?? So cool! 3. Victoria. She was simply lovely. I do wish she had had more dance solos. I thought the bit she danced with Munkustrap just before the Invitation was awkward. Certainly no replacement for the usual Victoria opening dance. I thought her singing was lovely; you could tell she wasn't fully comfortable with it, but that worked well for the state of uncertainty she was in as a character. All her interactions with Grizabella were perfect.  4. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. I thought their song and scene would be my favorite. Well, it ended up being my second-favorite because of what's coming next on the list. But I have no complaints about them whatsoever. Irish Teazer and Cockney Jerrie? Yes, please! Original London version of the song? Yesssss. Doing Macavity's dirty work but then pleading, "It was just a bit of fun!"? Totally them. 5. SKIMBLESHANKS. This, by far, was my favorite scene in the entire film. The dancing, the set, the costume (hey, the trousers and hat worked for him!), and (the most unexpected) Steve McRae's voice! I had no idea he could sing that well! He sounds so much like the original London Skimble! Overall: I enjoyed it. The cringey bits were very cringey, but I'd still watch it multiple times. But it's not the one I'd use to introduce friends to CATS or try to change someone's mind on the show. I will buy the DVD when it comes out, and it will be one of those I watch/dance along with by myself when no one's around to complain.

[supertodd5000]

Mono? Stereo? Both?

Admit it. You’re flummoxed, fried out and forlorn. And it’s not because your baby left you. No, it’s because you woke up one day and realized you’re a record collector. With a serious problem. And not just the physical kind. It’s true that record collectors suffer from a host of very real problems – lack of social graces from dealing with heavy-handed and judgmental record clerks, bad breath from breathing in mold spores wafting up from water damaged records, plumbers butt, and a scoliosis-like malady called “crate-diggers hump” (not as sexy as it sounds) acquired from years of slouching, sagging and stooping over anything and anyone just to fat-finger a copy of that one record that makes your heart flutter, your spleen ache and your bowels tremble.

No, your current dilemma is a horse of a different color. Which version of your favorite records sound best? The mono or stereo copy? Which one should you buy? Should you buy both? Neither? Your mind is melting. 

These days there’s something akin to “Mono Mania” going on in the world of record collecting. To many of us it’s quite welcome. Especially if we’re one of the poor bastards not old enough to have purchased The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society in mono when it came out and we don’t have enough cold, hard cash to buy a minty fresh original flip-back gatefold copy for $425. To us, a sealed mono reissue is just what the doctor ordered.

To others, this mono vs. stereo issue is as baffling as watching your grandmother cut chewing gum out of her dog’s hair. What’s with all these monophonic reissues? To a cynic it seems like it’s the well-orchestrated and profitable reissue of every single recording ever made in a unique mono mix. You’ve seen them poking out of record bins everywhere. They’re typically pressed on 180g vinyl, tucked gently into nice inner sleeves hidden within tip-on covers and created lovingly and painstakingly (note: these are words that usually mean “expensive”) using “the original mono mixes.” But are they better? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Sometimes they’re just different.

This next bit of quasi-intellectual, ponderous gibberish is purely subjective. More so than everything up to this point in this pointless essay. Back in the mid-1960s there were primarily three reasons for buying a mono recording when a stereo recording was also available: you had a hi-fi system with only one speaker (more common that you think), you were deaf in one ear like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys (look it up) or you were a cheapskate (mono records cost about $1 less per album). Sometimes you were all three. Sad.

Why jump back to the mid-60s? Because that’s a period of time when record buyers had a real choice to make. In most cases you could amble into any record store in the world and buy a great sounding, thick pressing of your favorite record in mono or stereo. Sometimes fake stereo. More on that later. Before the mid-60s, stereo records were a bit of a crap-shoot if you were into rock, blues or jazz. They might sound goofy. With instruments and vocals haphazardly panned left or right. It took a while for engineers to figure out how to make the most of stereo, and at the same time artists were figuring out how they wanted their music to sound.

Classical music is a bit of an exception to this. Conventional wisdom is that stereo recordings of classical music tend to sound better earlier on. And as far as jazz goes, producers and engineers like Rudy Van Gelder, Orrin Keepnews, Creed Taylor and Teo Macero were also a bit of an exception. They got into stereo early on and figured out how to make stereo sound cool with very few microphones. You can read on and on about this (and should) from many sources that are far more expert on this topic than your lazy, stoop-shouldered author. 

Speaking of jazz, the jazzbos tend believe that mono is best no matter what. Original 1950s and early 60s pressings of anything on Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside, Impulse and Columbia are more valuable. And it’s true that these mono records often do sound best. To my ears they can sound louder, with clearer sounding instrumentation and, in the very best cases, the sound can seem to pounce out of the speakers. But how much better are they? I used to avoid stereo pressings of jazz records from the mid-60s and earlier. I was under the impression they were “fake stereo” created in dimly lit back rooms in order to jump on the stereo bandwagon. Some are. Some aren’t.

Let’s push on.

Stereo vs. mono. Which is best? It depends on the recording, the vinyl pressing and your personal taste. Sure, there are albums that everyone says are amazing in mono – the pre-1967 records by The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, etc. The list goes on and on. But there are recordings that sound more eventful and interesting in stereo (Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd comes to mind). Rock records released between 1967 and 1970 tend to be the ones that are far more subjective. And you’ll find plenty of beard-scratching know-it-alls with strident opinions who’ll tell you what to think. Some of these guys are right. But many of them also live in their divorced mom’s basement and only emerge from their listening lair to attend a record fair or to run out to buy mom a carton of Benson & Hedges cigarettes. Occasionally, they come upstairs to rub their mother’s bunions. 

People tend to crave the mono releases in part because they’re so rare. I know I’ve got my faves. I prefer the mono pressing of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles because (to me) it sounds more like a rock band and less like studio frippery. But the songs themselves are not that different. It’s not like hearing the record in mono for the first time could convince you that the stereo record you’ve been listening to your whole life sounds like a Jim Nabors Christmas album. Sometimes the performances are different or mixed peculiarly (the mono mixes of Don’t Pass Me By and Helter Skelter from the Beatles White Album come to mind).

For the purposes of this stupefyingly silly essay, I went back and did some side-by-side listening tests to confirm all my preconceived notions of what I like and don’t like in some hallmark recordings yanked from the overloaded racks in my fantastically disorganized music room. Stereo vs. mono. Which is it?

  The Who Sell Out (US mono reissue vs. Japanese stereo reissue):

From memory I thought I preferred the stereo pressing of this. Armenia City In The Sky is a fave of mine and I thought stereo was the only way to hear this tune. Wrong. Not by a crazy wide margin in my case but wrong still. The mono pressing sounded heavier and punchier yet still retained the fun frippery of the studio trickery baked into the tapes on this record. Mono wins. 

The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Japanese stereo reissue vs. UK mono reissue):

I already tipped my hand on this one. As a kid I only heard the stereo copy. Loved it. No issues whatsoever. But, ever since hearing the mono copy of this record in college (several semesters ago) I became a monomaniac. Fact is, this might be the very first record where I became convinced of the majesty of mono. Mono wins.  

The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Are You Experienced” (Reissues of US stereo, US mono and British mono pressings):

Ok, read anything about this record and the experts will tell you the British mono pressing is the only one worthy of a spin on your turntable. I don’t own an original mono pressing. Who’s got that kind of dough or good fortune? I DO own a mono British reissue. A US mono reissue. A few stereo copies including a stereo reissue (the double LP Hendrix Family version) I used for this test for a couple reasons (it’s readily available at record stores and my copy was also readily available). To my ears the stereo copy is the clearest, coolest sounding and has effective panning and the sort of soundstage tomfoolery that makes stereo fun. To me it’s the best-est. Stereo wins.

Bob Dylan “Bringing It All Back Home” (US stereo original vs. US mono original):

Here’s another one that the professional listeners with hyper-tuned ears say should ONLY be heard in mono. I remembered liking the mono best years ago. Then I listened today. I compared a mono original to a stereo original. The mono copy was snagged by me only a couple years ago. It had been (mis)priced by someone at a national used bookstore chain. The price was too good to turn down and the record is so clean I sold my mono reissue. The stereo copy I got from my wife’s uncle who owned about 300 records. 290 of those were Irish music except for a few Greenwich Village favorites like Dylan, Baez, Seeger et.al. Despite being a well-loved copy with plenty of tiny hairline scratches and marks, I prefer the stereo copy. To my ears it’s the opposite of what I said about The Who Sell Out. In this case, I thought the stereo had more punch. Stereo wins.

Horace Silver “Blowin’ The Blues Away” (US mono original vs. US stereo reissue):

Ok, one of these is a pricey collectible and the other isn’t. Bet you can guess which is which. I fully expected the expensive mono original pressing to blow away the 70s “black b” pressing. And it is better. Louder. Hotter sounding instruments. In some cases Blue Mitchell’s trumpet is positively piercing. Right up into the red in the mix (God bless Rudy Van Gelder). Same way with Junior Cook’s sax. But, the stereo reissue from the 70s is not bad at all. Nice and punchy. It’s a real stereo recording too. Nothing fake about it. Rudy Van Gelder recorded this session in stereo and mono in 1959 and he’s one of the few cats who knew what he was doing in the late 50s. Make no mistake, the mono is better. But if I found these two records cozied up together in a bin at my local record shop and the mono OG was $150 and the stereo reissue was $10 I’d buy the stereo copy in a heartbeat and spend the rest of the money on elocution lessons so I could sound smarter. Mono wins.

Note: I’ve found that most of these “black b” Blue Notes sound pretty good. I also love corduroy and canned beer so take that with a grain of salt.

Bottom line? It turns out the ears are the best test. Do YOU like how the record sounds? That’s what matters most. I prefer some mono records and some stereo pressings. I’ve even dabbled in fake stereo from time to time. I happen to love some records that have been “electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo.” After all, in many ways, life is a simulation. I can’t say I love tons of fake stereo records but I do love a few. In fact there are a few country music titles that fall into this sadly maligned category that I hold dear to my heart.

Here’s the insidious thing. Record collectors often have mono and stereo copies of their favorites. Sometimes the really sick bastards have multiple copies of pressings from all over the world. These people should be celebrated or pilloried. I’m not sure which. Perhaps a little bit of both?

Records. In the end I feel like we’re living and breathing in the promises and perils of records at the same time. Plumbing the depths of the dollar bin and scaling the heights of a pricey wall of record store collectibles. Sometimes on one dirty, dimly lit Saturday afternoon. And I loathe hyperbole. Sort of. 

Mono. Stereo. Both. Indeed.

[taww]

Quick Take: Audiovector R 3 Arreté & SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté

After moving to a much larger living space last summer, it became apparent that my fondness for large-scale orchestral music combined with the volume of my listening area (a 26’/8m long open space with 12’/3.7m ceilings) were going to be an insurmountable challenge for my current speakers, a rotation of the Silverline SR17 Supreme and Audiovector SR 1 Avantgarde Arreté. They actually both do an admirable job - the Silverline has the body and tone of a much larger speaker, and the little Audiovector is shockingly capable of energizing the space. But physics are physics, and as they say in the car business there’s no replacement for displacement. One simply needs to move more air in a larger room. And thus I’ve been on the hunt for a bigger, full-range speaker that can retain the virtues of my beloved monitors - the speed, the focus, the purity and lack of distractions - which is no easy feat, and generally requires a considerable jump in budget. There are many big speakers under $10k that can play plenty loud but in my experience they give up too much in the process. Which leads me to these two contenders from Audiovector, a brand that I discovered only a couple years ago but immediately latched onto. Could they deliver the big sound I was seeking without compromise? I took advantage of a work trip to California to visit the crew at Audiovision SF and give them a listen.

The Audiovector R Series

I was excited to see Audiovector announce a big update to their “SR” line last fall, with the SR 3 floorstander, SR 1 bookshelf, SR C center channel and SR S subwoofer all transitioned to “R” models. (I admit, I was also a little crestfallen given I had recently purchased an SR myself, but c’est la vie). Similar to in the car industry where technologies from concept and flagship cars trickle their way down to models you and I can afford, the R series incorporates ideas and learnings from Audiovector’s most recent top models - the R 11, R 8 and SR 6. Visually the differences are fairly subtle - they retain the same proportions and “boat” cabinet and sport the same basic driver complements - but look more closely and there are actually too many changes to enumerate here. Some highlights to me:

The Arreté models boast a number of features taken straight from the flagship R 8: their latest-and-greatest AMT tweeter; a carbon-fiber back plate to eliminate interactions with crossover magnetic fields; and “Freedom Grounding,” which purports to reduce distortion by grounding the driver frames directly to earth via a dedicated cable.

The woofer has a new cone material, still utilizing carbon fiber but sandwiched with an artificial wood resin, giving it a distinctly glossier finish.

While the enclosure looks nearly identical, it’s said to be a new construction that’s measurably stronger and more inert.

The “Avantgarde Arreté” top-model designation has been shortened to just “Arreté,” a welcome simplification (the old name was a mouthful, and easy to confuse with the lower Avantgarde model).

The base “Super” model has been dropped, logical given the QR series is covering the more affordable end of the market.

The honey-toned American Cherry finish has been replaced by Italian Walnut that’s much more amenable to current interior design tastes.

So why isn’t there an R 6? I have an email out to Audiovector CEO Mads Klifoth about this, but Antonio @ Audiovision thinks it’s probably a few years away, as the SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté was updated a couple years ago to a 2.0 version that incorporated some of the technologies that made it into the R line, and being a much more complex design it’ll take some time to improve on it with the latest tricks. This gave me a bit of pause considering a purchase now, but as you’ll read later the SR 6 remains plenty compelling in the here and now.

The Setup

My previous demos of Audiovectors at the shop utilized a Chord DAVE DAC feeding either Chord or Naim electronics wired with Nordost. This audition retained the DAVE, but with an interesting new wrinkle - a Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amp (USD $16,000) wired with Audience FrontRow cables. I was pretty excited to hear the Gryphon as I’d read great things about it, and their mega-buck systems at shows always impressed. (Incidentally, I hear after pairing with Naim for many years, Audiovector now demos with Gryphon a lot in the EU.)

The Diablo integrated impressed, combining unflappable grip and composure with musical body and flow. Plenty of high-end integrateds claim to be as good as separates, but more often than not you're still left with a nagging feeling of compromise, often in terms of the range of dynamic and tonal color, the scale of the presentation and the blackness of backgrounds. The Diablo's performance in these areas was stellar and up there with some of the better separates I've heard. I could hear just a trace of that Gryphon darkness I've heard at shows - not a lack of brilliance or extension, but a very slightly chocolatey midrange and darkened soundstage that’s quite nice if a slight deviation from neutral. And while I hadn’t heard the Audience FrontRow cables before, I’m intimately familiar with their sibling, the Au24 SX line which are my current reference cables. I heard the purity and naturalness I’ve come to expect from top-flight Audience wire, and they seemed to take off a trace of the edge I’d heard prior with the very detailed Nordost cables. I would call this a substantial upgrade (or at least one more suited to my tastes) from the previous front-end, having a deep, organic presentation with lifelike scale that was immersive. From the first notes, I could tell this was going to be a good session.

Listening to the R 3 Arreté (USD $9,999)

I nestled in the GamuT Lobster chair and got a good hour or so listening to my usual assortment of tracks via Tidal/Qoboz streaming - Magdalena Kozena Mozart Arias, Lisa Batiasvilli Prokofiev Concertos, Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals for two pianos and ensemble, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, Francois Leleux Telemann oboe solos and some Ella Fitzgerald and Carly Rae Jepsen thrown in for good measure. I was most interested in that new resin/fiber mid-woofer, said to be more detailed and articulate than the outgoing unit. The carbon fiber unit in my SR 1 Avantgarde Arreté is clean to extreme but just slightly dry, so I was hoping for a bit more body and resonance with voices and orchestral instruments. 

Quick impressions:

The new woofer definitely has a subtly different tone, sounding less dry and bringing out tonal complexities better. It’s just as fast but it supports the leading edges better with a bit more body. It also sounds better damped, taking off a bit of crispness in the upper midrange that can sometimes be heard in the old unit. This really helps out bring out more of the beauty of vocals and wind instruments. 

The tweeter is a similar upgrade, being slightly sweeter and more articulate. It too also sounds a tad less dry, giving flutes a bit more fluidity and harmonic fullness.

The updated drivers and cabinet, as well as the Freedom Grounding system, make the speaker sound exceedingly free of distracting distortions and noises, even more so than the SR series.

The slight dip in the crossover region around 2.8kHz that both @mgd-taww​ and I have heard in the SR 1 (and that I have measured in my SR 1) seems a bit smoother in the R 3.

The bass was huge for a speaker of this size - it could really pound out a full orchestra and bass guitar line with weight and gusto.

Overall the midrange was more relaxed and expansive than what I heard from the prior SR 3 model (the hyper-tweaked Avantgarde Arreté Raw), with a similar fullness in the mid-bass but noticeably stronger output at the bottom end and a much bigger overall presentation. Antonio described it as an evolutionary upgrade over the SR 3, but I felt the many little changes added up to a substantial shift (and improvement) in the overall presentation. It sounds less uptight and clinical than the old model without losing the trademark Audivector speed and incisiveness.

So all in all, a very nice upgrade that makes me excited for how the R 1 would improve on my SR 1. But was I sold? This is where things get a little tricky... the R 3 is no doubt a compelling speaker - fast, detailed, polished and packing a big punch. But similar to when I auditioned the SR 3 before deciding on my smaller SR 1, I felt I heard some trade-offs of adding an extra woofer and larger cabinet to a super precise monitor design. The SR 3’s slight loss of lower midrange clarity vs. the SR 1 is still there with the R 3 - it sounds bigger and fuller, but not as tightly focused. While the extra bottom end is great and results in a much more complete tonal balance, to my ears tones below 250Hz (where the extra woofer kicks in) didn’t quite seem to match the blazing speed of the midrange on up. I liked a lot about the R 3, but I wanted it all, without any compromise whatsoever.

And so...

The SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté (USD $24,999)

Antonio listened to my assessment, and suggested the big-brother SR 6 might hold the answer. At 2.5x the price, it wasn’t originally on my list, but as he had them all set up behind the R 3’s I figured what harm could come from giving them a listen... (famous last words)

Wow. I had heard the SR 6 before, when Mads Klifoth demo’ed them on a visit to the store, but this was my first time sitting down for a serious audition. And it became immediately clear what happens when you give a top-notch designer and firm more than double the budget to build a full range speaker. It had all the speed and purity that I loved of my SR 1, but with even more clarity and resolving power. It then took that speed, and extended it all the way down the frequency spectrum. Every instrument in the orchestra, from the celli to the clarinets to timpani, had the same startling presence and completeness of tone. This is probably the closest I’ve come to feeling like I had the speaker wires plugged directly into my ears.

The weight and scale was impressive, but what really shocked me was listening to Francois Leleux’s solo oboe. The recording is nothing remarkable, made in a church by a small label. But for the first time, I could clearly make out precisely where Leleux’s long tapered notes ended, and where the echo of the church began. It was uncanny, and I had to bring my wife, an oboist, in for a listen the next day. She observed the same: “Wow, it’s so clear. I can hear all his breathing and where his notes begin and end. And I can also now hear all this extra nuance and phrasing in his playing. Dammit.” (She’s always hard on herself when she hears what the best musicians in the world can do with their instruments.) We moved on to the slow movement from Brahms Symphony No. 1 (Berlin Philarmonic/Rattle), a recording we know inside out, and she noted how she had never heard the orchestra with such realistic weight and size, and how this changed the entire balance of the recording to be far more realistic, as you’d hear it in the hall (as in, harder to hear the oboe solo!). She listened some more, and despite knowing the hefty price tag, she couldn’t help but remark “this is really nice...”

And just to make sure it could have fun, I pulled up Carly Rae Jepsen’s Julien (from Dedicated) and heard the track as I’ve never heard it before. The SR 6 sucked me into a soundscape so vivid, it felt like I was being pulled inside the mix, rather than listening to it from the outside. I was engaged, stimulated, bouncing around in my chair. This speaker (not to mention the rest of the system) can definitely boogie, and I could have happily sat there for the rest of the week going through all my favorite tracks.

So, yeah, a $25k speaker model sounds better than the $10k one. Shocking. But it was a clear illustration of how at a certain point with high-end reproduction, you just need to expend a lot more money to get to the next level of realism. It’s diminishing returns for sure, but how sweet those returns are.

It did leave me wondering what an R 6 with the new woofer and all the latest trimmings could sound like. The SR 6 better integrates its midrange with the woofer than the R 3, but it has just a hair of the same dryness that the new resin woofer in the R 3 ameliorates. Not to over-generalize, and a clever designer can massage away much of this, but the material of a cone tends to impart its distinct texture to the sound - untreated paper can sound dry and papery, plastic woofers tend to be plasticky and mushy (examples: early Devore speakers, countless monitors from the ‘90s using the Seas polypropylene cones), metal can be hard and ring-ey, etc. Treated paper tends to be a nice compromise by damping the break-up modes, carbon fiber can also be good (example: Role Audio speakers) but can lean a little dry and mechanical. Dynaudio was onto something when they developed their magnesium-silicate-polymer (MSP) cone - they’re distinctly less dry than paper and carbon fiber, while being much faster and crisper than plain poly cones, and are used to great effect in their Esotec woofers (Example: Silverline SR17, and of course Dynaudio’s own line). I would say the carbon fiber woofer in the SR series is just a tad on the dry side, while the new resin version moves it about halfway between the old woofer and Dynaudio Esotec without sacrificing speed, which to my ears is a very nice place to be. That said, the SR 6 is a considerably more refined speaker than the R 3 and the overall completeness of the design far outweighs the nuances of the driver material. I think I read online somewhere that the R 3 could now give the SR 6 a run for its money; my experience most definitely did not concur with that assessment!

So to sum up: the new R series’s numerous tweaks seem to make an appreciable difference in character and musicality, the R 3 Arreté is impressively fluid and big-sounding, and the SR 6 Avantgarde Arreté is still a killer speaker in its current form... so much so that it’s jumped to the top of my list of potential reference speakers for my new room. I’ve got my eyes and ears on it...

Huge thanks as always to the Antonio, Taylor and the entire Audiovision SF crew for their hospitality.

[thats-the-teen-spirit]

Bring Me The Horizon - amo album review

I’ve been a fan of BMTH since the late-There is a hell era and obviously they surprised me once again. I’m gonna go song by song on the album because each of the songs have something in them that differs from the one before.

i apologize if you feel something, the first track is already a lot more different than the previous BMTH albums. It begins as a typical intro with long silences between the melody. Then Oli starts to sing on a really high pitched poppy autotuned voice. You can hear no instruments whatsoever except the synth that plays the melody. Then it changes to this ambient style that somehow suits the band’s music but feels awkward without the guitar and drums. When I first heard this song I already realized it was nothing special, just a little intro that might hype up the crowd before they start performing.

MANTRA, the first single of the album is a little less heavy than the That’s The Spirit era songs. A lot less heavy if you think about how Oli’s vocal style changed since 2015. It finally has drums and heavily distorted low tuned guitar and even screams in the background but it still feels like an alternative rock song just because of the verses and the high pitched bridge. The guitar riff is banging, the chorus is catchy, not a bad song afterall but it will still disappoint the old fans of the band.

nihilist blues is definitely the weirdest song on the record. It’s basically a trance/europop song that divides the listeners to two types: the first one would say: what the fuck is this shit, i’m not listening to this album anymore, and the second one would be: wow they’re brave as hell for doing this, I’m looking forward for the rest. I’m not a big expert on europop or trance or whatever electronic music genres there are but it really reminded me of an Armin van Buuren beat and apparently they copied a little from a relatively new Evanescence song as well. Grimes is featured in the song and her vocal style fits it really well. It has a creepy feeling that makes the song feel like you’re in a club full of drug addicts and the only thing left for you to survive is becoming an addict (for the music). Personally I think probably something like this was on the band’s mind when they wrote this. You definitely won’t like this one unless you like electronic music. You can hear the drums and guitars in it (they’re playing the electronic distorted thing with a tremolo pedal probably) but it’s barely recognizable.

in the dark, the next song has a really strange feeling. It sounds like a pop song because of the samples it uses but it still has the guitar (both clean and distorted) that reminded me of Doomed from the previous album. Both the guitars and the vocals are catchy as hell and after the first few listens you can hear what was the point of writing this song, here that “gateway band” thing begins that Oli mentions in a lot of his recent interviews. They want to be a gateway band that shows people the grand spectrum of music from electronic to heavy metal (or metalcore if you’re a genre-nazi) and do the same thing that Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit did for popularizing the crossover of rap and hip-hop and screamy, heavy rock music. It has the same experiencing feeling that got me into Linkin Park and even tho the song and its lyrics are kinda forgettable, the intention is clear and I personally like it a lot.

wonderful life, the second single of the album is without a doubt one of the heaviest ones on it. The intro seems like a classic BMTH style guitar intro with a little less distortion and a really weird, progressive time signature (for my ear at least). The main riff is simple, heavy and you can definitely bang you head to it. The chorus is catchy, the lyrics are relatable for the emo kids, it has a squealing scream from Dani Filth, which makes it seem like the metalcore days are creeping on the band. The outro chorus reminded me of their song ‘Oh No” from the previous record just because it’s so monumental but maybe that’s just me.

ouch is a cheap interlude in my opinion. It’s not even 2 minutes, the samples get boring in the end. It has a drum and bass kind of feeling to it. It reminded me of Cure For The Itch by Linkin Park, just because of the placement and the “drum” beats on it. The nanana thing that goes on in the chorus also gets boring really quickly. The lyrics are about Oli’s ex-wife Hannah Snowdon and it has a nice throwback to their 2015 song, Follow You with the “under your spell” lines, and it’s clear that he left that time behind with this song.

medicine, the song with the weird-ass video is the next one on the album. If you haven’t heard a single BMTH song in your life and you’re into the more pop-ish side of alternative you’ll probably say: holy shit this is a banger. The first couple of lines in the chorus are really far-fetched in my opinion, it’s the “we’re edgy and cool kids” vibe that is either cringy or makes you feel like the band got old and they still want to appeal to teenagers and young adults. The message of the song is the same as the previous one. The melody of the chorus and the vocals overall are not that bad, they’re catchy, but just like the intro of the album, it still misses the guitars, although this one has some really quiet clean guitars in the background. It’s clear that the vocals are in the focus and it’s stressed by shoving autotuned Oli’s voice down our throat.

sugar, honey, ice and tea is one of my favorites off the album without a doubt. The riff is heavy, the song still feels like an alternative rock song but this time the guitar tone for me seemed like an old HIM song that’s mixed with a That’s the spirit era beat, lyrics and melody. It has the same feeling when I heard Happy Song for the first time but this one has a Throne-like chorus with the samples going instead of Oli’s voice. In the outro Oli goes crazy and lets out Count Your Blessings-era styled screams which definitely help the song appeal to older fans. It’s gonna be played at concerts for sure.

why you gotta kick me when i’m down, oh boy where do i begin. Imagine Post Malone writing a song for a no name alternative rock band. Add overdistorted guitars and a mumble rap beat and lyrics. You’re done, you get this song. It shifts genres so fast that it seems like Oli went from ‘Lil Sykes’ and back to himself a couple times in just 4 minutes. It’s not a terrible song but if you don’t like the style of modern soundcloud rappers and the whole mumble rap mixed with guitars thing you’re gonna hate this one. 

fresh bruises, after the mumble rap song the boys in the band were probably like: hmmm what’s the next popular thing in 2019 that has nothing to do with rock. That’s right:”lo-fi hiphop for sleeping and studying” radios. The lyrics are only 2 lines, the beat gets faster but it’s still boring, even for an interlude. Definitely the most forgettable song in the album.

mother tongue, is the last single before the album came out. It’s the most honest love song from Oli that he’s probably ever gonna write. For personal reasons right now I can relate to it but if you can’t, you’re gonna forget this song even after a couple of listens. It has a powerful chorus, a radio friendly pop beat, cute ass lyrics and the most important thing: it has the potential to infect the radio stations and get the band even more recognition. The chord progression is really popular, (has the same chords as Africa by Toto), the vocals (with the help of autotune) are great. It has the Follow You vibes all over again but here you get an impression of a happy Oli Sykes that is in a fulfilling relationship and has a stable mental state. This progression is really respectable even if you don’t like the song itself.

heavy metal is my most favorite track from the record. It’s basically a huge “fuck you” to the oldest fans who only play Medusa and Pray for Plagues on repeat to this day, 13 years after their release. It’s got that middle finger in the lyrics that makes you think: damn this band really wanted a change and nothing can stop them. The song made me feel like Meteora days Linkin Park once again because of its beatbox styled bridge and the dropped, heavy guitars. This song shows the new direction of the band once and for all: they wanna make all types of music for both new AND old fans (listen to the last couple of seconds for the Pray for Plagues style vocals from Oli) but still says that nope we’re not gonna change, we grew up, we still like our old songs but you’re not gonna hear them from us because we’re different people now. Big props to the band to be this brave and say: this shit ain’t heavy metal.

i don’t know what to say, the last song on the record for me seemed really off topic from the album until I read what it’s written about. It’s about a friend of Oli who passed away from cancer. Oli didn’t write a song posthomously but the lyrics make it seem like he did. The song itself would sound like an 80′s power ballad from a classic rock band for me if I wouldn’t notice Oli’s vocals and the modern drum beat at some places. It even has a damned guitar solo, an acoustic guitar throughout, and orchestra. (which again reminded me Oh No, the closing track of That’s The Spirit) The song is forgettable for me, even though the message is really touching and meaningful. For a closing track it’s good but since it’s really different from the rest of the album it seems that they only put this song on just to honor that friend that it’s written about.

The album is one of the weirdest concepts I’ve heard from any rock band since A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park. The band put their heart and soul in it, you can tell by the level of production. On some songs it’s really well executed, others seem cheap and boring. My summary is that old BMTH is dead, they’re still gonna play rock music as they did with their previous records but they’re gonna expand and experiment to other directions, making it as progressive as possible just to keep the music entertaining.