#pawsa

[radioalpes]

TOO COOL TO BE CARELESS

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 23/11/2024 (Sam Fender, Tate McRae, Linkin Park, Sabrina Carpenter, Jin)

Well, there’s a much bigger story to this Friday in music other than some Christmas songs on a singles chart… but that can wait. For now, “That’s So True” by Gracie Abrams lands a third week at #1 – I really am surprised by how well that’s lasted – and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, references to sex and abusive relationships

Rundown

The festive season is starting to be in full swing, but this is still a remarkably busy week on the UK Singles Chart, one that I didn’t initially expect to be as intensive as it ended up being, but we have nine new songs to cover, a whole bunch of re-entries and I’m hoping to get it out soon enough so I can listen to the Kendrick album and still get a good night’s sleep. Regardless, as always, we start our week with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, it’s honestly a bloodbath, in which it makes more sense to split what we have into different categories: first being songs that are hurt by the three-song rule as the artists have a new debut we’ll end up having to discuss later on in this episode, those being Tyler, the Creator with “Darling, I” featuring Teezo Touchdown and “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter. We follow that with a series of old songs – firstly, those that stick around forever and always resurge like “Yellow” by Coldplay, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift and yes, even “Mr. Brightside”, with the next set of old tracks being One Direction songs that had returned after Liam Payne’s passing, namely “Night Changes”, “Story of My Life” and “What Makes You Beautiful”. Then finally, after all those qualifiers, we have regular chart entries we bid adieu thanks to competition, ACR, the Christmas flood, or most likely a combination: “on one tonight” by Gunna, “NEW DROP” by Don Toliver, “Dancing in the Flames” by The Weeknd, “Guess” by Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish on the remix, “Cry Baby” by Clean Bandit, Anne-Marie and David Guetta and finally, “Who” by Jimin. It’s likely that we see at least some of these re-enter come January anyway, so take everything from this Christmas period with a grain of salt.

Now for our gains and returns which are really all over the place, starting all the way down at #74 with the return of “Headlock” by Imogen Heap, thanks to TikTok virality. Fun fact: this song has spent two weeks on the chart across 18 years, and both times, it was at #74, a peak it first reached in 2006 whilst My Chemical Romance were #1 with “Welcome to the Black Parade”. I love “Headlock”, I was introduced to it via samples by Clams Casino and A$AP Rocky, who actually are the co-leads on the weird remix mashup below the top 75 also with Imogen Heap (itself her first time charting since “Headlock”). Imogen Heap charting two songs incredibly low on the chart right before Christmas, neither of them new, both of them sampled by A$AP Rocky, is really a 2024 chart moment – anything happens nowadays, man. Then after that, we dip fully into holiday music.

As for our Christmas songs that re-enter this week, we have “Snowman” by Sia at #71, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #65, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by the late Andy Williams at #62, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at #60, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson at #52, “Jingle Bell Rock” by the late Bobby Helms at #51, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl at #48, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande at #46 and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee at #34. These aren’t necessarily all my personal favourites, but they’re the ones you expect to get in this early every year, alongside Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and “Last Christmas” by Wham! from last week, which move up to #17 and #16. Most of the other upwards movement is for songs new to the top 75, but we do see some gains in the top 40, for “Like Him” by Tyler, the Creator featuring Lola Young at #39 (more on both later), “it’s ok i’m ok” by Tate McRae at #28 thanks to her new single (more on that way later), and finally, Linkin Park land two gains thanks to their #1 comeback album, From Zero: “Heavy is the Crown” at #21 and “The Emptiness Machine” at #10. Yes, unfortunately, more on them later as well.

As for our top five, it’s nearly the exact same apart from one smash hit debut: “The Door” by Teddy Swims is still at #5, but right above is a new debut from Sam Fender, “People Watching”, his third top 10 hit, which we’ll discuss in more detail later, once we get through… everything else. Then it’s more typical: “APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars at #3, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #2 and of course, “That’s So True”. With all that out of the way, we still have a lot to get to with our new songs so let’s take a deep breath and begin.

New Entries

#75 – “MAYBE.” – SIENNA SPIRO

Produced by Max Wolfgang and Sol Was

This is an artist completely new to me, SIENNA SPIRO, a London singer-songwriter with just a few songs out that were recently released, compiled into a full album that’s just four songs. Given her earliest release is from this year, it seems that TikTok virality has helped her break out so quickly, with this being her first to chart and more interesting than I was expecting, given the stressful pace of the piano that leads the track, though SPIRO’s vocals are very much in typical indie girl territory and not showing much character. The breathy nature of that style of delivery definitely helps rather than hinder in a song so paranoid and minimal, taking hard turns into slower and faster piano melodies yet not adding much in the way of new layers apart from what appears to be some string swell in the back of the chorus. The relationship spiral that she sings about is not that specific, wrapped up in analogy rather than specific details for the most part, which doesn’t let me connect as much as I’d want to with a song this empty, but her vocals and those pianos fill up so much of the space in the mix that the song drowns in her regret for the previous relationship, taking a sinister edge with that chorus and bridge being about wanting to take revenge by ending the relationship, which is a draining pain for her but clearly fixes some kind of insecurity that would spiral out of control without her presence, hence why leaving would hurt so much. What that is I’d love to know, because that would make the song more biting and really sell me on the scorned woman angle, but that bridge would be the perfect place to drop it and it never happens, which is a damn shame because there is a lot of potential for a really resonant song here that never realises itself. I also personally could see some subtle horn sections elevating this tone-wise, really accentuating the righteous villainy of her lyrics that doesn’t fully come through with melancholy pianos and a weaker vocal performance. I like the idea of this song, but I’m hearing the blueprint instead of the fuller idea, and I really want to know where this could go, so I suppose eyes are on SPIRO’s next hit – if this can make it through the winter freeze – to take more steps.

#64 – “Sticky” – Tyler, the Creator featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne

Produced by Tyler, the Creator

Like many albums that stick around and not just for a few big hits, Tyler, the Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA is playing around with the three-song rule and having songs drop out just for another to fill its space and this week, we get a track that I expected to swiftly enter the week the album released, that being “Sticky”, one of the album’s bangers and unfortunately I think those are sort of its weak points. I still like this one, though, even if only the second half seems to serve much of a purpose in the record’s overall thematics, mostly as a victory lap but also to warn the audience about how messy this album’s emotional baggage and honesty can get, and by extension, to just embrace that as much as one embraces the obstacles in life Tyler’s otherwise facing. Outside of that, it’s a brag track, and definitely a well-structured one, starting with a minimal, slightly annoying whistle and characteristic pitch-shifted chanting alongside other sound effects that will make it a perfect fit for high school and college bands, especially given the female group vocals that ride the incessant hook over calamitous, Timbaland-esque drums (turns out he co-wrote the record). Tyler’s falsetto verse makes reference to “the zone” – which could potentially be both the gay club and the hood, in a twist of words only Tyler can really do, making the lazy pronouns line later on even more disappointing. That said, if you don’t like one verse, it’s not like you get much time to decide, or much time to lament a mid performance, as the verses are nearly all just four lines, with GloRilla commanding the song despite not even being on the album’s vinyl editions, Sexyy Red flailing into a bombastic horn loop at least, and Lil Wayne clearly having more recorded that ended up getting scrapped.

What I mostly appreciate about this song however is the madness that ensues once the female group vocals start cheering “CHROMAKOPIA” with a squealing chuckle and quickly leading into that intimidating horn loop borrowed from Young Buck’s 2006 track “Get Buck”, and allowing for T’s longest and most fun to follow verse, no doubt helped by the added piano and Solange’s cooing. Sure, he spends most of the verse either flexing or, well, actually getting sticky, but it’s delivered charismatically and over undeniably hard production that it’s difficult to say it doesn’t work out, especially when that second hook of “Better find a mop, it’s gettin’ sticky in this bitch” might be the bigger earworm of the two, especially with how that deadpan mantra leads into frankly the hilarity of Tyler crooning “sticky” on the outro, a word that should never be sung that sincerely, let alone with that much detailed vocal layering. CHROMAKOPIA is Tyler’s funniest album since he got out of his less mature phase in the mid-2010s, and if any song shows it, it may have to be this one, even if for me, its charm wears off through middling guest appearances and perhaps a little too much commitment to its initial, quite thin bit. I personally would probably pick “Balloon” over this, but I can’t say why I don’t get the hype. It’s still a banger.

#55 – “Messy” – Lola Young

Produced by Solomonophonic, Manuka, Monsune and Carter Lang

We go from sticky, and now it’s getting messy, with British singer Lola Young, who I hadn’t heard of until her feature on Tyler’s “Like Him”. I was curious to how her solo work sounded but just hadn’t gotten the chance yet and I suppose what better time than this episode? This song, from May of this year, has finally bubbled up enough traction to appear in the top 75, and is way more relaxed than I’d expected, with a slick acoustic guitar line and detuned synth noodling that I suppose isn’t far from what you’d expect from Solomonophonic’s production, but what did catch my ear is Young’s delivery, which is a confrontational and semi-spoken approach that starts off with a typical smoky R&B style then consistently derails into angry ranting before catching herself and going back on track. It’s a perfect representation of that back-and-forth that comes with the frustrating relationship she’s describing in the song: the imperfect rhyme in the first lines of the chorus is great too, because of how her partner is clearly giving her diminishing returns for her stressing about not just how she acts but how she presents herself, none of which can be perfect for them. She’s rarely actively frustrated about it though, instead going for a dismayed tone that sounds hopeless with how much she’s tried to change and how little effort and love she gets in return. I love the bursts into harmonies from the end of that second verse onwards, they are beautifully blended and the production here strikes a subtle balance, even if that guitar solo between choruses feels weak and jerky, I would have included a vocal bridge or at least a change in the lyrics for the final chorus to make the crescendo work instead of an honestly awkward intermission that turns an amazing song into a great one that could be close to perfect. It’s still great, though, it just feels like finishing the song was the last touch that just slipped by. I am definitely interested in checking out that album now to see what else will connect but for now, I’d recommend checking this one out.

#44 – “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)” – PAWSA and the Adventures of Stevie V

Produced by PAWSA and The Adventures of Stevie V

We’re really making PAWSA a thing, huh? Even with how uncreative he is as a throwback house producer? Okay, well, this time he’s grabbed another great sample, that being from The Adventures of Stevie V, a dance act formed by, as you’d expect, Steve Vincent, and had a massive hit in 1990 with their 1989 debut single, “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)”. The track is a fantastic amalgamation of early 90s dance trends, with some great breakbeats and sampled yelping, deep-voiced incompetently-rapped interludes, and an anonymous diva at the lead vocals over a hypnotic bassline. This track in particular comes with a jazzy horn line too, kind of reminiscent of what Soul II Soul would put out in the same era. The seven-minute 12-inch edit is the best version, in my opinion, as the extended length and blend of samples really accentuates the sinister edge to the money-hungry vocalist. Back in 1990, this peaked at #2 in the UK, blocked by a similar but even better house classic from the same era, Adamski’s “Killer” featuring Seal, one of the greatest #1 hits ever, so you can’t complain, and it’s definitely not been forgotten since. Not only did it act as a rare stateside crossover for European house on the Hot 100, it was remixed in 1997 for a #69 peak, and was famously given a rework by UK rapper Dizzee Rascal, a fantastic song dissing both the people who spend their money without thinking, and the politicians who spend the state’s money without looking over the state of their own country, using London’s slums as an example and placing an entirely different meaning to “dirty cash”. Dizzee’s recession-era rant “Dirtee Cash” peaked at #10 in 2009, whilst Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” was #1, but would later spend two weeks at #2 the year after as part of a mash-up with Florence + the Machine. “You’ve Got the Dirtee Love” was blocked by Helping Haiti’s cover of “Everybody Hurts” and Jason Derulo’s “In My Head”.

To this day, “Dirty Cash” still gets a lot of play – in fact, it briefly returned to the chart under the top 75 this year and is doing great in the dance charts, which brings us to PAWSA’s remix under the same name but shortening it down, using stemmed vocals and replacing them onto an admittedly catchy if basic 90s throwback beat. Here we perfectly see what the 90s actually sounded like at its best versus what we may want it to sound like for the marketable pastiche, in a side-by-side comparison. Once again, PAWSA lazily reworks the song, using practically the same verses and choruses, in a very similar structure, just one with much less to it thanks to a shortened runtime and hampered instrumental, with much less moving parts here, especially in terms of ones that aren’t ripped straight from the original. With that said, it’s still “Dirty Cash” and there is an intensity to the bass and glitched sound that he finds by time-stretching mid-quality stems and stammering some of the vocal take. There’s more to this than what we’ve seen from PAWSA before, but considering we’ve had a hit song that brilliantly reinterprets and recontextualises an already charming song itself full of samples, this just doesn’t feel necessary. Are we just set to regurgitate forever? Listen to the original instead, but this isn’t worth spending much time on overall, and I doubt it’ll actually last either.

#25 – “Running Wild” – Jin

Produced by Gary Barlow, Ryan Carline and Jacob Attwooll

Clearly to draw attention away from his massive son, former Take That singer Gary Barlow is now producing solo work for BTS’ Jin, who has left less of an impact than his bandmates but did release a solo album last week, with this being his lead single and holy shit, of course this was written and produced by Gary Barlow. Not only can I hear Jin’s exact inflections in his voice, but it has a plastic synthpop sheen that’d fit an X Factor winner from the early 2010s, maybe not the winners’ single but absolutely a follow-up, especially with that cheap guitar lick and dramatic pre-chorus soundtracking pure lovestruck cheese. I wish Jin didn’t go into his falsetto so often so he meshed within the chorus’ mix a bit more and didn’t just stick out, but that level of unabashed commitment to something that sounds like a relatively cringey theme song – it reminds me of what the English dub of Pokémon would occasionally spit out – is charming in itself. There’s also so much compression here that a buzzy new rave angle could be heard in the synths, adding an extra layer of just “going for it” that’s full of charm. Sure, there’s basically nothing to it – not even a great cinematic bridge to really help it click – but it’s a vehicle for Gary Barlow to have a cheap slab of cheese hit the charts once again, and there really is something addictively sugary about it somehow. Give it to BTS to make fun from the insufferable, I suppose. Oh, and there's like eight versions but fuck that noise.

#24 – “Juno” – Sabrina Carpenter

Produced by John Ryan

Much like with Tyler, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet has been able to consistently have fan favourites pop in and out of the chart, this one being a long time coming and a personal favourite of mine and many others on the album’s release. Production-wise, it’s not particularly special, given its love of reverb and those delicate guitars that form a decent albeit admittedly stiff pop rock groove. Sabrina is truly what makes this song, with writing as awkwardly horny as the blank spaces she leaves in between certain lines to let them linger in the verses then a pre-chorus that goes for a much jerkier guitar lick and accommodating vocal line that leaves no space in the mix and even less to the imagination. The chorus, with a wonderful “ow!” to tail-end it, is when the writing really gets into interesting territory: the title of the song references the 2007 film Juno, about teen pregnancy, and Sabrina herself debunked any deeper double meaning it could have. It simply means that this guy should “mark [his] territory” as said in the hilariously cinematic bridge with those panned drums that make drama out of very unsubtle lines. She continues down this line of argument, saying that he should make her pregnant because this would mean there’s a second, even cuter version of her… okay, well, considering the film’s content and all the bizarre implications of that line, it gets a bit messy. Sadly, Tyler still has my mop, so it’s not time to discuss that – fun song, let’s move on.

#22 – “Two Faced” – Linkin Park

Produced by Mike Shinoda

Out of all of the songs to chart from Linkin Park’s lazy, fine-tuned-to-work-on-rock-radio “comeback” From Zero, it really didn’t have to be the one that best exemplifies why the album is so insufferable. The entire record is mostly just bog-standard Linkin Park delivered soullessly, with the lyrics doubling as bitter reflections upon their fans for not accepting “change” – lyrics about identity and belonging are nothing new from Chester, or even Mike, but coming from the controversial new lead vocalist Emily Armstrong, they ring a little hollow and angry, whilst the writing, production and instrumentation doesn’t reflect that by being raw or aggressive in ways more than your average LP record, if not actively re-treading prior ideas. If your mission statement is “Fuck you, we’re back, accept us as who we are or get out”, maybe a deliver a product that is something worth pissing people off for, and not some stale, half-baked intimidation of better music. Otherwise, it comes off unjustifiably bitter, with this entire song being immature vagueposting, potentially veering towards the divided fanbase and the late Chester Bennington himself, with nothing ever really being up to the fault of Armstrong or Shinoda, in fact there’s a degree of patting themselves on the back for their bravery, whether that be in the pre-chorus or the passive-aggressive chatter outro wherein Mike reassures us we’re “on the same page”. Well, not exactly, given you haven’t updated your formula to fit the cleaner production or to make your rapping any less phoned-in and amateur. Hell, we even get a reference to the “zero” motif, the whole “starting anew” theme in the album that is completely unwarranted when what we’re working with here is the same foundation, just worse. Linkin Park can probably make great work with Armstrong – “The Emptiness Machine” is there – but that would involve making the pathetic half-risen middle finger much more prevalent. If you’re going to tell me to fuck off, do it with guts and gusto, not a half-hearted, flattened version of a decades-old formula that Linkin Park as a band was constantly trying to stray from during their time with Chester. I understand why after the lacklustre reception of their pop-focused then-final album that Shinoda would want to leave that behind and return to “form”, but he may have learned the wrong lessons for the frustrated and confused themes he wishes to pull from. Much like the rest of this album, this is worthless, sanitised and unnecessary, and I’ve spoken much more than I need to about this revival, which has been wildly successful regardless, than I’d have wanted to in the first place.

#8 – “2 hands” – Tate McRae

Produced by Ryan Tedder and LOSTBOY

So, Tate McRae has yet another song and I’m really struggling to find the appeal with her in general, and this is no different. Ryan Tedder goes for another 00s pop and R&B-influenced track but with a glassy monogenre sheen and faceless misunderstanding of what made songs from that era special – there’s a male vocal interplay ad-lib but it’s either this pitch-shifted refrain which, to be crass, just sounds fucking gross, or the same exact “Yeah” sound clip. It’s a charmingly unabashed sex jam with busy drums, but there’s a constant whooshing nothingness to everything else, whether it be the crashes, the airy synth fuzz, the Frank Ocean-esque vocal filters on the male vocal, or those obnoxious horn stabs that never justify their existence. I think McRae is in a difficult place wherein she needs to be interesting to survive in the pop climate as her kind of anonymous, generic pop star is not big on a global scale anymore, but being interesting is the exact opposite of her cursive-singing personality-devoid delivery, and it's the direct antithesis of ongoing hack Ryan Tedder, so we get vaguely interesting but completely tarnished messes like this and “exes” to try and fill a void that I’m not sure people were clambering for exactly, but if they were, Tate was simply the first to fill it, and we’ll be dealing with her for a while as a result. I just wish there was more to this and honestly more to her as an artist overall.

#4 – “People Watching” – Sam Fender

Produced by Sam Fender, Adam Granduciel, Joe Atkinson and Dean Campbell

Because of how long “Seventeen Going Under” ended up sticking around, to me, it didn’t seem like it had been that long since North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender had released new material, but this new single comes as the title track for an upcoming record that will be released nearly four years after his last. Fender has been performing this song for months, and detailed its subject on social media, that it was about a maternal figure that had passed away the year prior, and that Fender experienced this loss gradually in real time, being sat next to her as she died. This next album is in part dedicated to her, it seems, and what he owes to her, and that is definitely present in this one as despite its jangling, almost fluttery indie guitar tones and pianos making for a really big and joyful sound, the lyrics start on a much sourer note: “people watching” refers not to people watching him but how he will look at the public surrounding him when going home, feeling envy for them despite not knowing what problems they may be facing. Youth and perceived carefreeness provide some level of hope, but by the chorus, reality treads in: these people are just running on the treadmill of life, and it begins to feel like the entire town is collapsing in on him, under all the lights and weather. That second verse may be the most devastating – he describes the decaying care home, how he “cornered” the nurse to understand why this loved one wasn’t getting the treatment he thinks she deserved but soon coming to the sobering knowledge that it’s an understaffed, neglected institution that can barely be called “home” – the vision of seeing the nurse fleeting across the home overworked is what takes that last glint of youth and optimism out of him, and the yelled chorus with its propulsive drive and horns give a massive, heartland-rock sensation that reflects being faced with overwhelming wrong and being helpless to right any of it. If anything, there’s a guilt to having been able to contribute to it, and an endless fear that leaves him wanting to escape the entire country, stretched painfully into that strained squeal of the sax by the end.

“I fear for this crippled island” feels like it sums up tactfully how many people feel about the UK and what many would say is a state of perpetual decline, lacking the power it once had and falling into delusions about the shells it has left of its formerly great institutions. There’s not much focus on personal tragedy here – I imagine there’ll be more on the deep cuts – but there is a righteously devastated sense of how his loved one was failed by the systems he’s made to believe are working and supposed to be there for the general public’s safety. It’s not yet boiled into an anger, either, just an overpowering emotional weight that is prevalent in much of his music, and this is no different, in fact, it takes very little in the risk department and apart from the lyrics, wouldn’t be too dissimilar to “Seventeen Going Under” and songs from that parent album. It’s still a great song, of course, and there’s no problem in having a signature sound, but part of me wants something a bit new – Hell, maybe something a bit more stripped down and acoustic – from Fender in the long term. We’ll see next year, but for now, you really can’t complain about a song this potent launching into the top five on its debut week. Brilliant track.

Conclusion

What an exhausting week. So many new songs, so much to discuss in a few of them, and a messy rundown. We’re nearing December even closer next week, but as for what we have going on in this episode, it should be obvious who’s taking what: Linkin Park take Worst of the Week easily for “Two Faced” and fittingly, in second place, is “2 hands” by Tate McRae as the Dishonourable Mention. There’s more trying to snab the best but it isn’t particular close for Sam Fender’s “People Watching” taking Best of the Week, so I may as well tie the Honourable Mention between Sabrina Carpenter for “Juno” and Lola Young for “Messy”. I think we all know what’s happening next week between Christmas and Kendrick Lamar, but for now, thanks for reading, rest in peace to Andy Paley, and I’ll see you then.

[discobar]

The Castle Day Time Festival a Bellinzona 

Musica, storia, architettura, cultura e intrattenimento sabato 22 giugno 2024 a Castel Grande, Bellinzona, grazie al festival The Castle, che propone la musica di Marco Carola, PAWSA, Da Vid e tanti altri.  The Castle unisce il meglio della musica elettronica ad un sito come Castel Grande, riconosciuto patrimonio dell’UNESCO nel 2000 insieme agli altri castelli di Bellinzona, merito di una…

[lignanolanotte]

The Castle Day Time Festival a Bellinzona 

Musica, storia, architettura, cultura e intrattenimento sabato 22 giugno 2024 a Castel Grande, Bellinzona, grazie al festival The Castle, che propone la musica di Marco Carola, PAWSA, Da Vid e tanti altri.  The Castle unisce il meglio della musica elettronica ad un sito come Castel Grande, riconosciuto patrimonio dell’UNESCO nel 2000 insieme agli altri castelli di Bellinzona, merito di una…

[duxonocrotalus]

(Paluma) Шикарнейший сэт !

[omanxl1]

Defected Radio Show: Hannah Wants Takeover - 19.01.24

Digital Crate Digging Continues as we come through with this Fabulous Friday  / Flashback Friday edition. The saga  / struggle continues, it’s real but it’s a beautiful one so once again its on! we took the advice of the old school Baptist preacher up in Louisville who said keep living… …plus govern ourselves accordingly; recognizing where the border / boundary will be but my mind is open! now…

[mxdwn]

BROADCAST: Dennis Cruz + PAWSA (Yuma Stage) on the Coachella Weekend Two Livestream

https://music.mxdwn.com/2023/04/14/news/webcast-watch-weekend-one-of-coachella-2023-livestream/

[tamtommy]

Hellooooooo I'm new here and I hope I can make a lot of friends here. ⁦(⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)⁩ 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[gaasuba]

Heck yeah! Cutting it close but officially got it posted in time!! <3

Find Someone To Carry You

Summary:

Miles tries to sit up and hates how impossible the task feels. He wants so badly to find Hobie and tell them what's happening, but the relief of being here is already setting in so fast. He can't stop his body from giving up.

All he can do is cry.

It feels so stupid.... He's spiderman! He's not even injured or anything! No one would believe him if he said it. If he said that he just can't get up.

Tags Relationships: FlowerPunk (platonic or romantic), Miles Morales Needs a Hug, Miles Morales Gets a Hug, Soft Hobie Brown, Sweet Hobie Brown, Good Friend Hobie Brown, They/Them Pronouns for Hobie Brown, Autistic Miles Morales, Autistic Meltdown, Nonverbal, Agere

AO3 link

It's too much....

Everything is just too much....

Miles hugs his bag of supplies to his chest and hits one of the quick dials on his watch.

He doesn't even notice which one.

He doesn't care.

But he hesitates a moment when the portal opens.... Even tho the travel had been smoothed out some, the journey still seemed exhausting, but he knows he doesn't need to be alone right now, so he forces himself to fall into it and lets the current take him. If the friend on the other side isn't home, he's not actually sure how well he'll handle it.

Careful to land on his back, he immediately recognizes how his landing causes the whole room to rock.

Hobie's boat.

If he was honest, the best possible outcome. It's the least likely place to have unwanted guests.

He tries to sit up and hates how impossible the task feels. He wants so badly to find Hobie and tell them what's happening, but the relief of being here is already setting in so fast. He can't stop his body from giving up.

All he can do is cry.

It feels so stupid.... He's spiderman! He's not even injured or anything! No one would believe him if he said it. If he said that he just can't get up.

His eyes are shut tight and his ruminations are spiraling so terribly that he doesn't notice Hobie until they're lifting him, cradle style.

Most of the tension Miles hadn't noticed he was holding immediately leaves him, and he takes in a deep breath. Had he been holding it? He can't remember.

"I've got ya, sunseed. I see you." Hobie's voice rumbles comfortingly against Miles' side as they talk, and he buries his face in their shoulder, finding the soft fabric of their sleep clothes instead of their battle jacket, and not caring where they're taking him. "You remembered your kit. Good one. Let's get you all set up, ey?" Miles nods against their shoulder and grips their top with a tight fist.... then feels it rip. Can't stand up but can still ruin your friends clothes with spider strength? Stupid....

He whimpers.

"Hush with that. These clothes have seen worse and it's nothin I can't fix. Don't you fret." Their words are reassuring, but Miles can still feel his fingers anxiously sticking to the fabric and is certain he's going to rip it worse.

"St- uck," Miles can barely make himself say it before Hobie is setting him on the bed. They kneel so Miles doesn't have to let go.

"Yeah. I can feel it. Take your time. And you ain't gotta talk, mate."

Miles nods, then anxiously checks their color scheme for any hint of anger, as if he doesn't know that their themes aren't that clear cut....

Neutral. That's good, right? Hobie speaks again before he can overthink it.

"You wanna change into your cat?"

Miles nods again, then remembers the soft bundle he's crushing with his other arm. He holds it out to Hobie, his hands still too stuck to be useful. They reach in and, instead of his kigu, they pull out his stuffed cat, Mary Pawsa.

He grabs her with both hands and presses her belly to his face to inhale deeply. She smells like all of his friends at the same time. Like movie nights and sleep overs.

It takes him a moment to realize that she helped him unstick his hands... that Hobie helped him....

Hobie's so cool....

Miles lowers MP from his face then bumps his forehead to Hobie's briefly, making them chuckle and shift colors to their pink and yellow set. They usually turn these colors when they laugh.

"You're welcome, bruv. Now get out of that hoodie, yeah?"

Miles nods and grabs the bottom hem to lift it. He's only half way when he can feel his arms giving up. He's sure he'll start crying again if he lets them fall, but Hobie catches his hands and helps him the rest of the way.

So cool....

Miles can feel his brain getting dumber.... Giving up like the rest of him.

Hobie pulls out the kigu and sets it around Miles' shoulders, flipping the hood up onto his head. He lets go of MP, one hand at a time, to shove his arms through each sleeve while Hobie takes off his shoes and socks. Then he flips both of the paws on and hugs MP tight. He loves the feeling of hugging her with his arms on~

He's is startled when Hobie suddenly lifts him by the armpits and turns their sharp blue and pink. He mostly remembers Hobie doing really cool stuff when these colors.

"Alright. Kick your feet in~"

Miles laughs. He hadn't even thought about the legs of his suit. He kicks his feet back, latching them into the legs of the cat easily. He doesn't fit them in right, but it's good enough. Hobie sets him back onto the bed and pulls the ankles of the kigu up to beneath his knees where he likes. He tries to button it up himself but realizes he doesn't want to take his paws off....

Hobie finishes buttoning him up before he can start feeling upset about it.

"Safe. What next? Bed?"

Miles stares at the pillows next to him and tries to imagine laying on them.... but it doesn't matter. He can't. They're just pillows and he doesn't want them. His head starts to hurt as he thinks about how he should tell Hobie that.

"Shows then?"

Miles hugs them, desperate for their correct guess.

But he can't say it.... please...

"Got it." Hobie lifts him without breaking his hug. "Saw your files in the bag. We got um. Whichever you like."

They try to set him on the couch when they get to the living room, but Miles is stuck again. He hugs MP to his chest with his free hand anxiously. He really hopes Hobie turned monochrome just because the room is dark....

"No worries," they say, abandoning that plan. "I can work one handed." They lift Miles onto their hip, and carry him to their large screen. They drop the nearly empty bag on the floor to search through it for the file drive, adjusting Miles to sit on one of their legs as they crouch. They turn on the screen and the light turning them back neutral. "What you thinking? One of your usuals?"

Miles doesn't even try to answer the overwhelming question. So many usuals.... And he doesn't want to bother Hobie by picking one they hate. They probably wouldn't complain if he chose an annoying one so he doesn't want to pressure them like that.

"Maybe that dinosaur one? With the youngers?" they suggest while plugging in the drive and clicking the "shows" folder.

Miles nods against their shoulder. It sounds as good as anything else, and he assumes Hobie wouldn't suggest something they thought was annoying.

Hobie lowers the volume a few levels and clicks for the show to play. They toss the bag and a remote onto the couch before standing, adjusting Miles back onto their hip, and carrying him to the couch. They try to sit with him in their lap, but Miles is certain he can unstick now, so he shifts, thankful that he was right. He leans against their side and is glad they leave their arm around him. They kick up their bare feet onto the coffee table and settle in to watch the show with him, their colors shifting to pink and blue again.

Miles tries to enjoy the show... So why isn't it working? He really wants it to work... He loves this show. Right? What's wrong...? Oh right... Everything...

"Oi, little bruv," Hobie's quiet words and gentle grip on his upper arm pulls him out of his spiraling. He looks up from the carpet and realizes how badly he's slumped over. Hobie looks so worried.... When did they turn blue and orange? "S'alright to say you changed your mind."

Was that what was happening?

What was there to even change his mind to?

His breath hitches.

Hobie snags the remote, turns the volume to 1, tosses it aside again, and then kicks their feet off the table to properly turn to Miles. He feels his tears spill before he even realizes they were building. Hobie pulls him into a hug. He tries the stop the tears, clenching his teeth and gripping MP tightly. He thought he was done crying!

"It's ok if this is what you need, mate." They hug him tighter. "I got you."

They gently pull him to lay down across the couch with them so that the hug will be more comfortable, then sandwiches him against the back of the couch to deepen the feeling. "You're safe," they say quietly, pressing Miles' forehead into their chest, letting his shirt soak up the tears again.

The urge to fight against his own feelings finally lets go, and Miles gasps for breath he had desperately been trying to take. It's followed by an embarrassingly pathetic sob. He lets Mary Pawsa stay smooshed between them as he wraps his arms tightly around Hobie's waist, squeezing them like his life depended on it, thankful to have someone who can handle his strength. He weeps freely into their shirt, even wiping his face against them and shifting it to find dryer spots. Hobie allows all of it, occasionally giving reminders of "It's alright", "I've got you", and "You're safe."

Miles feels like he stays there for hours, but he doesn't have the energy to find out by the time his breathing finally returns to normal and he can hear the tv again. His grip on his friend loosens, and he laughs weakly when he hears one of his favorite jokes.

"There he is," Hobie says with a chuckle and giving Miles' back a rub. "You steady?" Miles takes a deep breath then nods. "Good. Good. You done with your show?" Another nod. "Bed then?" And another nod. "Right then."

Hobie gives them another squeeze, then sits them both up, turns off the show, and scoops Miles up, turning monochrome in the darkness. Miles lets himself be carried back to the bedroom.

"You want to sleep apart?" Hobie asks, back to neutral in the dim light.

Miles shakes his head, smiling.

Hobie sets him on the wider bottom bunk and shoves him towards the wall so they can sit while they fish in the bedside table for bonnets. They make sure Miles has his on before taking off their wet shirt, and he turns away to wait for them. He closes his tired, puffy eyes and listens to them change and click off the light. It's a struggle to not fall asleep before he feels them wrap their arms around him and pull him close against their chest.

"Goodnight, sunseed."

"Goodnight, Hobie."

[tokyopandaclub]

when you get this, list 5 songs you like to listen to, publish. then, send this to 10 of your favourite followers <3

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As of recently

You know what - N.E.R.D

Money Talks - PAWSA

Different Side - Michael Bibi

hey now - Kendrick Lamar

4 angelitos - Judeline

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 07/09/2024 (Nothin')

Sabrina Carpenter takes the entire top three for a second week - “Taste” at #1 (also its second week there) with “Please Please Please” at #2 and “Espresso” at #3. And whilst we’re here, the rest of the UK Singles Chart’s top five consists of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” at #4, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish at #5, and this episode at… 8:15. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start the episode with the notable dropouts, those being songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to “Did it First” by Ice Spice and Central Cee, and yes, that’s it. This was not a particularly exciting week and the rest of the dropouts simply weren’t notable, much was just Fontaines D.C. naturally slipping away after the first week. In fact, realistically, you can skip this week. We’ve got two debuts in the lower reaches and a whole bunch of gains that mostly just feel expected or temporary given how slow this week was in particular. There’s not much in the way of a surge or fascinating trend here, just kind of a stall-out, which is natural for a chart but does not leave me with much to say, hence the stalling.

We see returns for “These Words” by Badger and Natasha Bedingfield at #75 and “You’re Gonna Go Far” by Noah Kahan at #60, but most of the stories, if you can call them that, are deep into our notable gains, with boosts for “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor at #64, “The Man Who Can’t be Moved” by The Script at #62 and God, you know it’s a slow week when “Mr. Brightside” is up six spots to #59. After that, we see rises for “You & Me” by Disclosure featuring Eliza Doolittle at #56, “Black Friday (pretty like the sun)” by Tom Odell and Lost Frequencies at #55 - can’t be mad at those - then “Close to You” by Gracie Abrams at #53, “Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae at #50, probably the most notable gain here for a pretty mediocre song, then “Pretty Slowly” by Benson Boone at #43, “WE PRAY” by Coldplay and co. at #31, unfortunately, “I Love You, I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams at #25, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #24, “Slow it Down” by Benson Boone at #19 and some residual hype for the Oasis comeback really seeping into the highest reaches of the chart: “Wonderwall” at #11, “Don’t Look Back in Anger” at #9 and “Live Forever” at a brand new peak of #8. Now to look at the two songs debuting in the top 75 right near the bottom and see if I’ll look back in anger at these flops or that these iconic smashes will live forever. I… don’t think I can pull that one off.

New Entries

#73 - “Indestructible” - Andy C and Becky Hill

Produced by Andy C

Part of me is somewhat excited for a song like this - a lesser-known producer, so one less likely to be coasting on name recognition, teams up with a recently inspired Becky Hill, whose last album was great, for a single with a cover art that looks straight out of 2014. Surely, this will be alright, and it very much is in the vein of what I expected, though with a sense of epic bombast that the charts do sometimes miss… and contrasts heavily with our other debut. The layered buzz of synths behind Becky are peppered with smaller synth plucks that are really cute to notice, and eventually transform into a pulsing build-up that, whilst sometimes clunky with its percussion, locks in well enough for a distorted, warping bass in the expected drum and bass drop alongside some really detailed synthwork in that moment that really fills the mix in what is basically just a dancefloor smash with little error. It’s not going for anything too drastic, in fact, the sound is reminiscent of exactly what I expected going in, but it dedicates itself to that sound in a way that is far from cheap and ends up being just as immersive as the best tracks from Becky’s last record. I could even see it slotting in and not doing too much damage to the tracklist cohesion. As far as if it will be a success, who knows? I do want to say it has some promise on sheer quality alone, but we’ll see.

#72 - “TOO COOL TO BE CARELESS” - PAWSA

Produced by PAWSA

PAWSA was the guy behind the second of the Nate Dogg bootleg remixes - if that sounds weird to you, it is weird but I covered it in detail when those songs debuted - and it seems like that has actually landed him some vague follow-up success, with our highest debut - weird to say that about a #72 peak thus far - being his single that had been bubbling under for a few weeks. Our story actually starts long before, however, in 1984 with the release of “Don’t Look Any Further” by the late Dennis Edwards featuring Siedah Garrett, an R&B staple that has been prolifically sampled in countless of rap songs, primarily for its bassline and iconic vocal riffs. The original actually only peaked at #45 here, but a cover by M People reached #9 in 1993, whilst Meat Loaf was #1 for “I’d Do Anything for Love (but I Won’t Do That)”, and again, it’s been sampled way more times to even list here, as the songs that sampled it have themselves become iconic, oft-sampled hits like “Shackles (Praise You)” by Mary Mary or “Hit ‘Em Up” by 2Pac. In his new version, PAWSA pitches it down and emphasises the subtler synth funk elements in the original mix to an almost vintage house sound that really is minimal in both presentation and composition, getting by on a classic bassline and some cute but basic drum programming, as well as the flickering synth line and a mixed vocal from Edwards that does not sound great at this pitch. What’s most disappointing is that you could easily turn singular elements of this song into fully realised, new songs as has been done before, so if you’re packaging this as its own thing, not just a remix, it wouldn’t hurt to take a few more artistic risks, and I’m honestly confused as to why PAWSA wouldn’t want to outside of laziness or just knowing that a great sample that was a minor hit back then can be just as successful at a different tempo. This is definitely better than hiss Nate Dogg remix, but I do feel like there could be much more potential here that’s untapped.

Conclusion

I mean, it should be obvious given I’m picking between two tracks, but Andy C and Becky Hill get Best of the Week for “Indestructible” whilst PAWSA snabs the Worst of the Week for “TOO COOL TO BE CARELESS”, though saying I have any strong feelings about these would be a lie. As for what’s on the horizon, I expect Megan Thee Stallion, Central Cee Linkin Park to do some damage but maybe The Chainsmokers, Aitch or Fred again.. can spice things up too. Somehow, the easier weeks end up as the dullest to write. For now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Rich Homie Quan, and I’ll see you next week!

[7acary]

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[afrohouseking]

Pacha Ibiza Summer 2024 Opening ft. Macro Carola & PAWSA. Pacha, the legendary nightclub that blends tradition, music, and elegance. It's a vibrant fusion of genuine vibes, unexpected moments, pure enjoyment, and prestige. For almost five decades, Pacha has led the way in Ibiza's dance and cultural revolution, where the essence of freedom and the spirit of the island intertwine.

[theghostart]

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[davids-scrapbook]

PAWSA & Adventures of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)