#now that i know beth was the one who wrote the lyrics for the intro im adding her to the list of people who owe me

[risetherivermoon]

i want silly piss foot gum toucher era of season two back yall, im drowning in angst,

piss foot save me, save me, save me piss foot

[aili]

Valentine’s Day Music Newlsetter 2019!

Welcome to the 13th Music Newsletter! Short intro for the newbies - I love music. I love sharing music with other people. In college I started a "music newsletter" email with some playlists (aka mixtapes) I've made and some song/band recommendations. Why Valentine's Day? Because I think this day should be about love in many ways - including love for music!

That brings us to today. The first Valentine's Day mixtape I put together was actually a physical mix CD that I mailed to my home friends while I was away at college. That was in 2008 (11 years ago!). A lot has changed since then, but my love of music has not. While I feel sometimes too busy or too old or too out of touch to know what I'm even talking about, I hope you'll get some enjoyment out of this - as much as I've been enjoying listening to these songs and picking them for you! 

*Click here to download Valentine's Day 2019 mixtape!

Click here to play Valentine's Day 2019 on Spotify!

*Note that the file downloads as a zip file, double clicking on it to open it up should give you the individual songs. Then move the songs to iTunes into a playlist!

1.) "Happy Unhappy" - The Beths New Zealand indie rockers The Beths debut album, Future Me Hates Me, is full of catchy, energetic sad-twinged songs. This song feels like it could have come out back in the 00s when we had to find new music by reading blogs and actually downloading MP3s - it feels closer to the Garden State soundtrack era of indie than the recent moody electronic vibe. It's a lot of fun! Sounds like Courtney Barnett by way of The Wombats, with a splash of Los Campesinos.

2.) “City Looks Pretty” - Courtney Barnett Courtney’s 2018 album “Tell Me How You Really Feel” is only her second studio album, but somehow it feels like she’s been around forever. The album features a “fuller” sound and more production, which may appear dulled next to 2015’s “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.” However, I feel excited by Courtney exploring a more mature sound and think it accurately reflects the albums depressive theme. “Sometimes I get mad / it’s not all that bad” is sung with a definite apathy compared to her shout-singing past record. As the bridge settles in, Courtney captures the depression symptom of lack of interest in things you used to enjoy. The city looks pretty when you’ve been stuck inside isolated for two weeks. 3.) “Screwed” - Janelle Monáe feat. Zoë Kravitz Janelle’s 2018 album “Dirty Computer” is an anthology of songs (and truly, poetry) that tell of reckoning with being a queer woman of color in an oppressive, violent society. It’s an incredibly personal album with her fans in mind - “I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you. This album is for you. Be proud.” (Rolling Stone, 2018). My favorite part of this song is “See, everything is sex / except sex / which is power / you know power is just sex / now ask yourself who’s screwing you.”

4.) "BAGDAD - Cap.7: Liturgia" - Rosalía 25-year-old Rosalía Vila Tobella from Catalonia has an excellent 2018 album El Mal Querer. The album combines traditional flamenco with modern R&B. The album is a story of love and heartbreak over the course of 11 chapters/songs. This particular one might sound familiar due to the sampling of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River."

5.) "Gun" - St. Lucia St. Lucia's first release off of their 2018 album Hyperion caught my attention with its connection to a more traditional rock sound and the heavy-hitting, one-word title. The production and sound almost reminds me of Oasis or U2. Turns out that the album is indeed produced by someone who worked on records with PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, and U2. In interviews, Jean-Philip Grobler talks about how this song is generally about both gun control and power. "You said you wanted to feel a gun in your hands" in Verse 1 transforms to "You said you wanted to feel the blood in your hands" in Verse 2, highlighting the fact that guns are designed to kill. 

6.) “Apathy” - Frankie Cosmos With a catchy bass line, gorgeous lyrics, and endearing vocals, this song and entire album are not to be missed. As you may notice on this year’s playlist, this year I was super into what I would describe as punk-influenced, low-fi indie female vocalists. Pretentious enough for you? Haha. I just mean that there are a ton of young women blowing up in the indie music scene with a huge crossover in sound. As demonstrated in “Apathy,” many of these songs are short, lack a traditional pop music format, use low-fi production, and have a storytelling aspect of almost speak-singing. These elements are all found in traditional punk music, so it’s interesting and exciting to see these artists shaking things up and challenging the punk genre. Frankie Cosmos has a long history of creating music, under various projects using Bandcamp as a teenager. Her 2018 album “Vessel” is nothing short of delightful and another one of my favorites of the year. 7.) “Your Dog” - Soccer Mommy Soccer Mommy is Sophie Allison, singer-songwriter based out of Nashville. She opened for Paramore on their recent tour and she has launched into the indie music scene with a lot of attention in the past couple years. I love how her voice clearly carries so much anger as she sings about an emotionally abusive relationship. Her lyrics describe the agony of small, sweet gestures pushing her back to her ex, despite her wanting desperately to end it. Using the metaphor of being a loyal, sub-servient dog, she describes the way her SO treats her like she’s his property. Because the song lacks a traditional “pop” format (verse 1 / chorus / verse 2 / chorus / bridge / chorus), there is a sense of the story ending unresolved. Fortunately, she has an excellent album (one of my favorites) from 2018 called “Clean” where you can learn more of her story. 8.) “Pristine” by Snail Mail A stunning debut from 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan, “Lush” is a 2018 release not to miss. “Pristine” perfectly encapsulates teenage life and love - “it just feels like the same party every weekend. Doesn’t it?” There is such a sense of genuine hormonal angst that she is almost joyfully celebrating. Her album reads more like a diary - and how lucky she is to have these future memories and be able to approach them with such wisdom.

9.) "Uncomfortably Numb" - American Football feat. Hayley Williams Paying homage to Pink Floyd, legendary emo band American Football joins with Paramore's lead singer Hayley Williams for a devastating track about losing emotional sensation. "I blame my father in my youth / Now as a father, I blame the booze." I couldn't find too much information on the exact inspiration behind the track, but it's the second track released off their upcoming album out March 22nd. Hayley is usually front and center as a singer, and it's interested to hear her take more of a backing role, as well as explore a bit of a lower vocal range than she usually does.

10.) “Geyser” - Mitski Mitski absolutely killed it last year with “Be The Cowboy,” which was consistently rated not only in the top 5 best albums, not only top 3, but making MULTIPLE end of year lists as the number one album of 2018. It’s easy to see why, given the incredible breadth of music she wrote for her album. I see Mitski's influence reflected in the rise of fame in other punk-inspired female vocalists in the indie scene, building off her ability to capture the attention of a wide audience. Which is also very interesting because she incorporated elements of many other genres on this album (spot any disco on “Nobody”?) While it was difficult to pick one song for my playlist, “Geyser” stands out to me as not only an excellent album opener, but a fascinating look into Mitski’s own relationship with the art she creates. In an interview, she explains that this song is about her feeling like she has to create music because she would never be satisfied in life without it, but feeling sometimes stifled, stuck, and resentful when she puts music above basic needs such as her health and self-care. She needs her art to survive but it simultaneously kills her.

11.) “Me & My Dog” - boygenius It’s impossible to pick just one song of this album. Boygenius is the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker - who each could also have one of their incredible solo songs on my playlist. Partially because they enjoyed each other’s creative energies and partially as a response to constantly being compared to each other as “women in indie,” the trio came together to create an EP of emo-influenced, folk-inspired gorgeous tracks about grief, loneliness, identity, and heartbreak. This particular song features Phoebe Bridgers in the verses and is a beautiful representation of the embarrassing and frustrating feeling of being in love with an ex. Please check out the individual work of these artists too!

12.) "bless ur heart" - serpentwithfeet Serpentwithfeet, aka Josiah Wise, has a gorgeous, intimate voice throughout his 2018 debut album, soil. This song starts off with a question of how his art will be received by the world. The rest of the song is a tender message of gratitude to his first love. It seems like Josiah questioned the choice to speak about his experiences with his ex in such a public fashion - with complexities of privacy, being open about sexuality, and possible painful memories on the table. Josiah's writing is very much like poetry, and his raw, unfiltered, un-autotuned vocals match the beauty of his words.

13.) "Bury A Friend" - Billie Eilish 17-year-old Billie Eilish is set to release her debut album, When We Sleep, Where Do We Go? next month. This song matches her goth aesthetic with a creepy story from the perspective of the monster under the bed. We learn that the monster is part of Billie herself, who is struggling with her own demons. 14.) "Loading Zones" - Kurt Vile A gorgeous guitar track, Kurt Vile paints a picture of his hometown Philadelphia and feeling on top of the world exploring his city's streets. He included a hilarious marketing strategy of sending fake parking tickets to fans in the mail to promote the song. Kurt Vile talks about the metaphor of "I park for free," which is how he sometimes lives his life - breaking the dumb rules because it's his life, his streets, his town. 15.) "Dylan Thomas" - Better Oblivion Community Center Is it possible to already be nostalgic for the late 2000's? Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers released this surprise collaboration last month and this is the standout track for me. Conor Oberst's incredibly recognizable voice is hard to match in terms of strength, timbre, and uniqueness. While Bridgers is young enough to be from a different generation than him (she also grew up listening to Oberst's music), he saw something in her that resonated with him. I love how they sing in unison on this track (and much of the album) and think their voices sound really good together.

16.) "Butterflies" - Kacey Musgraves Kacey Musgraves is bringing a breath of fresh air to country. After self-releasing three albums, she tried her hand at reality TV through Nashville Star over a decade ago. Golden Hour is her fourth album using a record label, and she just won Album of the Year at the Grammys! Her voice is beautiful and has an earnest, authentic approach in joining elements of country pop. 

17.) “Prior Things” - Hop Along “Bark Your Head Off, Dog” is Hop Along’s third album, released in 2018. Singer/songwriter Frances Quinlan has the ability to transform the themes of her songs. Layered with a multitude of different sounds and instruments, it could easily sound scattered and busy, but instead feels like we are huddled around a campfire with an enthusiastic, stream-of-consciousnesses storyteller. “Prior Thing” is the last song on the album and crosses time, space, and memories with the start of a hallucinogenic drug trip. She has the ability to take a phrase and transform the expected - pausing or elongating notes at unexpected places. This method keeps you invested in figuring out what the song is really about or what the conclusion is. 18.) "Kids" - Pup Emo/pop punkers Pup have a new album Morbid Stuff coming out on April 5th. Their songs are made for live shows - shouting/singing alternates, sing-a-long catchy lyrics reminiscent of the Hold Steady, and unison whole-band lines. Pup frontman Stefan Babcock said this song is about finding someone who agrees with your view of the world being a fucked up place, and enjoying small moments of solace in spending time with them. 

SPOTIFY

Don't forget to subscribe to my playlists on Spotify! Here is the link to listen to this year's mixtape on Spotify.

I try to add new songs at least once a week to this playlist: What I'm currently lovin' (updated freq)

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I hope you guys enjoy the new music and feel free to send me recommendations of anything you like!<3 aili

Previous Mixtapes:

Autumn Love mix | Autumn Love Spotify

Copenhagen mix | Copenhagen Spotify

Valentine's Day downbeat 2010

Valentine's Day upbeat 2010

Valentine's Day 2011

Philadelphia mix | Philadephia Spotify

New Crime mix | New Crime Spotify

The City mix | The City Spotify

Drive mix | Drive Spotify

Valentine's Day 2012 | VDay 2012 Spotify

King's Myth mix | King's Myth Spotify

Hold On mix | Hold On Spotify

Valentine's Day 2013 | Vday 2013 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2014 | Vday 2014 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2015 | Vday 2015 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2016 | Vday 2016 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2017| Vday 2017 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2018 | Vday 2018 Spotify

[glorifiedgpjfic]

Glorified G- Chapter 23

Eddie and Jo linked their arms together and made their way out to Eddie’s car, like a true gentleman Eddie held the door open for Joanne and helped her into his car- the gesture caused Joanne to break into a huge grin, which made Eddie blush lightly. He drove them to the mystery location ignoring Joanne’s ridiculous guesses as to where they were headed.

“Oh my god. I figured it out!” She exclaimed after a few moments of silence, Eddie raised an eyebrow, “You’re gonna push me off the space needle!” He burst out laughing at her,

“Do you really think I’d do that Jo?” She shrugged her shoulders and smirked,

“I think if I keep guessing you might.” She chuckled. After driving for nearly twenty minutes they arrived outside a small Greek restaurant, Eddie rushed around to the passenger side to open the door for Joanne he took her hand in his and led her into the restaurant. The restaurant was decorated mostly white, with sky blue tablecloths- there was a stunning painting of Santorini with the sea and the buildings all painted in their glory, initially, Joanne did a double take as it looked so realistic. There were white fairy lights hanging from beams along the ceiling, the place was stunning. The waiter took the couple to a small booth which had a reserved sign on the table, and a single white rose- Jo shot Eddie a playful smile, the two took a seat and Eddie ordered two beers.

As Joanne read the menu Eddie caught himself staring at her, her brows were slightly furrowed and she was biting her bottom lip as she read, she felt Eddie staring and looked up at him,

“I don’t know what to order, everything sounds amazing.” She stated and Eddie nodded in agreement, they eventually decided on what to have and the waiter took their orders. The food came quickly and the conversation flowed throughout the whole meal, Joanne had never actually had Greek food before but she fell in love with it straight away, she had roasted red peppers stuffed with feta cheese and olives, Eddie had a baked spinach tart concoction- both meals were incredible. During the whole meal Eddie seemed more attentive than normal, and he seemed nervous- his nerves seemed to be at the same level as they are before any gig, Jo picked up on it all; the flipping his hair more frequently, fidgeting with his hands, and the occasional stutter- she found it adorable that he was so nervous but at the same time she didn’t want him to feel on edge.

After finishing their beers Eddie got the bill, which Joanne tried to contribute to but he refused to let her pay. As they made their way to the car Jo turned to Eddie with a grin,

“Tonight has been perfect Eddie, thank you.” He planted a small kiss on her cheek,

“Jo, this was just the start,” He smirked at her which made her blush slightly.

Twenty-five minutes later the two were standing at the top of the Space Needle watching the sun dipping behind the Seattle skyline, the view was incredible Joanne was in awe. When they had arrived Joanne had pointed out that she ‘called it’, saying she knew he was gonna try to push her off, Eddie just laughed at her. The colour of the sky was stunning, there were oranges swirling in with pinks and reds, Jo was speechless- they stood side by side in silence for a few moments,

“We are both official Seattle residents now-” Eddie joked,

“Wait, you haven’t been up here before?” She replied, Eddie shook his head and his hair fell forward, “It’s beautiful.”  Jo gawked,

“It is but it’s nowhere near as stunning as my view.” He mumbled staring at her, she turned to him just in time to see him blush, she grinned at both the compliment and the cheesiness of it she wrapped an arm around his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around her waist and they stood in silence watching the sun fully disappear.

Once the sun had completely set Eddie asked Jo if she was ready to move on to the next place, she nodded- how much was he gonna pack into the date? They drove for nearly half an hour and Jo could feel her eyes growing heavy, but refused to feel sleepy, they eventually made it to the final location of the date- Discovery Park. Eddie grabbed some blankets from the backseat of the car and handed Jo one, then the two walked down onto the beach where there was a small bonfire set up. Eddie lit the bonfire and put his blanket down on the sand, he took a seat and Joanne copied him, draping her blanket over the two of them,

“Eddie this has been perfect, thank you.” He smiled at her,

“Don’t thank me, Jo,” He whispered wrapping an arm around her, she turned to face him and leant in planting a kiss on his lips, he grinned and pulled her back for another kiss, “You’re gorgeous.” He mumbled between kisses, Jo blushed and moved a hand up to his hair she played with his hair as she pulled him in for a final kiss- Joanne’s kisses said everything she wasn’t able to say.

Eddie had spent the whole night feeling like a nervous wreck, but the second Joanne had kissed him his anxiety dissipated leaving him feeling invincible his hands felt Joanne’s curves and he held onto her although she was going to disappear at any moment, that he would wake up home alone and this would all be some elaborate dream- when he opened his eyes again she was staring at him, she hadn’t gone anywhere it was real. When he first met Joanne he was taken aback by her natural beauty, she looked tired and didn’t have much makeup on when they first met but she was the most beautiful woman in the place. But of course he was with Beth at the time and had to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, having Joanne as a best friend was incredible- she was reliable and the most caring person he knew, when she had called him yesterday he felt a strange sense of relief knowing that she relied on him as much as he did her. When he found Beth cheating Jo managed to take his mind off it and cheer him up as much as was possible while he grieved the relationship. After that she was the only thing on his mind, while the band were touring he thought about her- when he wrote the setlist he thought to himself ‘jo would love this’ or ‘I wish Jo was here’. And then to have Joanne beat him to it and make the first move it annoyed him, but he knew he wouldn’t have had the guts to do it- because he never actually knew if she felt the same, when she kissed him in the kitchen he felt shocked initially, but then he felt like the luckiest fuckin man on earth.

He tugged the blanket off their shoulders and told Jo to lie down, she did and then he did, throwing the blanket over both of them- they sat and looked up at the sky for a few minutes,

“There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight- did you know that? Or is this a coincidence,” Jo whispered, Eddie hadn’t planned it at all,

“Oh yeah, I definitely knew that-” He said with a hint of sarcasm, Joanne let out a laugh,

“There!” She yelled half a second later, her hand shooting up to point at something, “Did you see that one?” She asked, her voice sounding animated, Eddie shook his head,

“Missed it. What did you wish for?” He replied,

“I can’t tell you that, then it won’t come true.” She smirked before rolling onto her side and resting her head on Eddie’s chest, the truth was that she had wished for nothing to change.

The two lay on the beach for an hour before the bonfire went out and the temperature dropped, they were both growing sleepy and decided to head back to Jo’s. In the car, Eddie put a tape on which Jo instantly recognised as ‘Rocky McRock Face’ her tape, had he been listening to it for all this time? ‘Lay your hands on me’ by Bon Jovi started playing and Jo couldn’t help but join in,

“They say to really free your body you gotta free your mind, so come on-

Check this out.” The intro played and Jo took to playing the parts of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora on the guitar she pretty much nailed the vocals doing an alarmingly good impression which made Eddie chuckle, he joined in singing Richie’s backing vocals and Joanne laughed thinking they made quite the team, once the song ended Joanne was preparing for the next song, Eddie had kept the tape in his car and listened to it whenever he was driving - by now he pretty much knew the track listing and most of the lyrics so he joined in to Skid Row’s ‘here I am’ Jo shot him an enthusiastic smile,

“I better see a doctor

Cause I think I’m getting hooked on you.”

They arrived back at Joanne’s and Eddie returned her beloved mixtape, she grinned at him and invited him in for a beer they ended up sitting together on the sofa chatting about the night,

“Okay, I gotta ask- how’d you master the Bon Jovi impression?” Eddie asked, causing her to let out a quiet chuckle,

“I was around thirteen when Runaway was released and I kinda fell in love, I spent many evenings in front of my grandma’s mirror with a hairbrush microphone-” She laughed, the conversation grew more and more irrelevant as the two grew sleepier- Joanne being the kind soul that she is told Eddie to stay the night- pure intentions only. He didn’t take much persuading so just like the previous night Joanne got ready for bed and climbed into bed to have Eddie pull her into a tight embrace, she fell asleep to the sound of their synchronised breathing- a grin on her face.

“Come on Eddie, my grandma is the most chilled person around.” She pouted at Eddie who sat in the passenger seat with his arms crossed, “You really scared of an old lady?” Jo teased,

“No but she’s your grandma- it’s like meeting the parents, but so much more important!” He replied, Jo just laughed,

“I can bring her to you, or take you inside to her where there is a one hundred per cent chance of cookies- which would you prefer?” Eddie groaned before getting out of the car, “attaboy” Joanne smirked before pulling him into a kiss, “Ed, don’t worry at all- I love you so I’m sure she will.” Joanne stated before realising what she had said and turning beet red,

“You love me?” Eddie asked with a childish grin, Jo simply smiled,

“What do you think?” He blushed,

“Good, cause I love you too.” He grinned and pulled her towards him, the two made their way into the small bungalow,

“Grandma! I’m back! I brought someone I want you to meet!” Jo called, her voice echoing through the old house,

“In here, Poppet!” Her grandma hollered, grabbing Eddie’s hand she made her way to the living room where Christine was sitting on her rocking chair, with a plate of freshly baked cookies on the coffee table-

“Grandma, this is Eddie. Eddie this is Grandma, well Christine.” Joanne grinned as Eddie nervously held his hand out to shake Christine’s hand,

“Come here! If you’re the guy my little Jay has been talking about you deserve a hug! I hope she’s not being too much of a pain in the ass!” Christine said with a smirk and Joanne simply glared at her while stuffing her face with a cookie,

“Can I expect great-grandbabies any time soon?” Joanne nearly choked on her cookie and Eddie simply laughed,

“Probably not for a while Grandma! Jeez- way to make him feel uncomfortable!” Jo half laughed,

“Sorry Eddie, I’m just so thrilled to meet you.” The three sat and chatted for a while before Eddie excused himself to the bathroom, as soon as he was out of earshot Christine rushed to sit beside Joanne, “Jay, he is just simply darling!” Joanne laughed,

“I see you two a lot, did you know that?” Jo shook her head, “Well I can see what you have- it’s special. Don’t let him go, he’s one of the good ones.” Joanne smiled and pulled her grandma into a hug, “Now come with me I’ve got something to show you!” She took Jo’s hand and rushed outside, Eddie had joined them in the garden.

In the garden growing up the side of the house stood two giant sunflowers, one was Joanne’s height and the other was a little shorter than Eddie, Jo pointed at the taller one,

“You cheated again!” Jo accused and Christine laughed,

“Maybe, maybe not.” Joanne rolled her eyes and Eddie looked truly baffled, “Oh Eddie dear, let me explain. Every year since Jay was so high-” Christine pointed to just below her hip, “We’ve planted a sunflower each and had a competition to see who’s grows highest, and my little Poppet is a sore loser, every year I win and get accused of cheating.” Eddie laughed as Jo stared at her sunflower with a pout,

“Because you do cheat!” Jo added, Christine winked at Eddie as she replied,

“No, I don’t!” Jo didn't reply she just rolled her eyes at her grandma, “You’re such a child Jay.” Christine smirked and Jo stuck her tongue out at her, “maybe next year there’ll be three sunflowers.” She added, her gaze flitting from Joanne to Eddie suggestively

Joanne woke up with a smile on her face, she peered at the clock to see it was only three so she could sleep for four more hours, that thought made her grin even more- she rolled over to face Eddie who was still sleeping, he hair forming a curtain over his face, gently Joanne moved the hair out of his face and gazed at him for a few moments before leaning forward and kissing him on the head, she rolled back over and felt Eddie’s arm tighten around her he pulled her closer and started kissing the side of her neck Jo rolled to face him to see he was now smiling like a Cheshire cat, he cupped her face and his lips quickly met hers she couldn’t help but grin into the kiss.