#percussion is really quite useful

[calandrinon]

Also I would like the voices of Kateryna Pavlenko and Kate Miller-Heidke to get together for a night of vocal passion and I would like to take the resulting voice back to 19*mumblemumble* and give it to tiny me to raise as her own, but that's nothing to do with repertoire.

Reblog and put in the tags what instrument you wish you could play based on its repertoire alone.

[gumycandyyy]

୨♡ Ｗｉｎｔｅｒ Ｋｉｎｇ ＨＣＳ ♡୧

I am ashamed of tumblr for not making more fanfic of this funky fruit.

We got some general HCS and then some romantic ones under the cut! (I went a little overboard with the romantic ones, hehe!)

Gender-neutral

୨♡ Ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ ♡୧

-Man's self care routine is off the charts

-I'm serious, he has like- 80 different bubble bath concoctions.

-Smells like mint

-or some kind of cold scent.

-I feel like he loves dressing up fancy, so he has a closet full of sparkly suits

-maybe even some dresses if he's feeling special.

-Doesn't actually need to wear glasses, he just likes how they look.

-While he loves his winter wonder world, I feel like he'd enjoy rainy weather more than snow.

-He got rid of all his madness and sadness, yes, but I think he'd cry at something especially cute. Happy tears, y'know?

"Why are you crying, sir? Are you okay?" "Oh, it's nothing. *sniff* Just those two rabbits that are cuddling."

-He is really bad at any percussion instrument

-like.. REALLY bad.

-His hands are too delicate for such a garish instrument as the drums!

-He loves playing duets on the piano, but rarely has anyone to play with.

-I mean, he could always concoct up an ice creature to play piano with him, but that's honestly quite dull.

-His favorite movie would probably be an old Christmas movie, like It's a Wonderful Life.

-He gets kidnapped by the Candy Queen so often, that occasionally he brings a book or something snuggly to help him wait for his ice scouts to rescue him.

-He once got so bored while kidnapped that he tried to read to some of the mutilated candy people

-That was the last time he saw his favorite book.

-Safe to say he doesn't bring his favorites anymore.

୨♡ Ｒｏｍａｎｔｉｃ ♡୧

-Will literally spoil his love interest rotten.

-You want that thing you saw earlier?

-Consider it yours

-You'd like for it to snow outside?

-A sprinkle or a blizzard?

-Literally anything, this man will go to the ends of the universe to get you what you'd like.

-Love languages are definitely gift giving and physical touch

-probably acts of service too.

-Loves dancing.

-Loves dancing.

-Whether it be a slow dance or ice-skating, he will take every opportunity to dance with you!

-He adores short people.

-Good, because he's tall as a giant.

-if you're shorter than him, he will no doubt use you as an armrest.

-He always makes remarks on how cute you are.

-Even if you're only two inches shorter than him.

-If you're taller...

-hoo boy.

-Expect him to be all over you.

-figuratively and literally.

-Will want you to carry him everywhere, sit in your lap, rest against you, whatever.

-Just let him touch you.

-He'll talk about how strong you are, how you'd be the perfect chair, etc. etc.

-He does the stupid "How's the weather up there?" jokes.

-Loves your body, no matter what it looks like.

-You're skinny?

-You're easy to carry around and dance with.

-You're chubby or fat?

-Literally will always be holding onto or resting on part of you. He loves squishy people.

-Somewhere in the middle?

-He could not care less. He loves you regardless of what you look like.

-And he makes sure to emphasize his point by complimenting you endlessly.

-He will never leave your side.

-Even if you need space, he doesn't.

-So why wouldn't you?

-Back to our regularly scheduled fluff-

-Candy Queen hates your guts.

-She thinks you're an obstacle, keeping her from the Winter King.

-No doubt tries to kill you.

-Multiple times. a day

-Her plans are always foiled, but if she gets too close to genuinely hurting you, Winter will be so upset.

"Oh, Dearest, please tell me you're okay!" "You are?" "Phew. I don't know what I'd do if you were hurt in any way."

-His petnames for you are probably

-Darling,

-Dearest,

-My love,

-There are a lot more, but those are the main ones.

-LOVES kissing you.

-Anytime, any way.

-He finds it adorable when his nose bumps your face.

-Favorite place to kiss would probably be the back of your hand.

-He is a gentleman after all.

-Overall, he just adores you.

-And he sincerely hopes you love him just as much as he does you.

Headcanon requests are open for Winter King! Don't be afraid to send an ask, and be shameless! I know I am! (No smut tho. Some spice is okay, however.)

Have some free WK art for coming this far!

reblog for a beginner writer?

[azrail-has-a-vendetta]

okay- I woke up in a cold sweat and made this. I introduce to you: instruments the bat-fam plays *jazz hands*

Bruce: grew up rich; probably plays piano at least and maybe a string instrument like that violin (I can see him being a bass or cello guy) doesn’t play much and is sorely out of practice.

Dick: grew up in the circus; so probably doesn’t play a traditional instrument if any- may play a little organ or a percussion instrument.

Jason: grew up poor/on the streets; plays piano quite well (Alfred taught him and then got him lessons) also plays guitar (self taught).

Tim: Grew up rich; plays both piano and violin, was a prodigy in both and often had to play the violin for guests, doesn’t play much now but will occasionally play and is pretty good for not picking it up for months to years at a time.

Damian: grew up as an assassin; may have learned a string instrument (can also kill you 19 different ways with said instrument) but doesn’t play. Has a secret desire to (Jason teaches him some piano).

Steph: criminal father; she seems like a band or choir kid tbh, she probably plays a brass instrument I can see her terrorizing the family with “Careless Whisper” on the saxophone at every possible moment.

Cass: assassin; flute and voice. She plays the flute and it’s the literal best thing you’ve ever heard. No one knows how she learned. She also sings when she is alone and has a really pretty voice. You can catch her humming around the manor sometimes.

Duke: I’m not really sure how he grew up; he probably has the voice of an angel and sings with Cass a lot. He also seems like the kid to play drums or a brass instrument.

Barbara: commissioner’s daughter; she was probably a choir kid, also plays some piano or guitar. One time her choir concert was interrupted by a bad guy when she was in middle school and after Batman took care of it she managed to force him to sing a solo; Gordon still has it on video. Barbara threatens to use it against Bruce all the time.

Alfred: no one knows for sure, but he seems to play a little of everything, and is actually a pretty good teacher.

[nevermorgue]

Nevermore the Musical Concepts PART 3

I'm picturing how some of the character's solos/more personalized songs would sound. Firstly, I imagine the majority of the musical to be in minor keys. Major keys sound a bit too happy/not as catchy. Everything being in a minor key gives it a more eerie vibe, reminding us that everyone is dead. Maybe at one point one song is in a major key to throw off the overall sound. Maybe Merry and Mourn prefer major chords, or Montresor switches between the two to emphasize how he is "not like the rest of them". Imagine Eulalie's using the sounds of traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen, the koto, and the shakuhachi to name a few. The notes blend together, nice and soft like lullabies with eerie vocal scoops and enka sounds. Her melody occasionally is a nod to the Itsuki lullaby, the one she sang to the children before dying. Some of the notes repeat themselves throughout her vocals depending on the song/lyric choice. Berenice has a jazzy, faster paced influence. Her voice is rough, scooping and using vibrato as much as she can. I'm sure her vocal growls are fantastic too. I think her and Eulalie singing as a pair during the Ring the Bell song could be a really nice blend between a fast paced, jazzy percussion and softer tones of Japanese instruments. And do not even get me started on Will. He matches vocal style with whoever he is singing with. Most of his parts have a country sort of twang to them as a nod to Montresor, but he doesn't get anything unique on his own. The other characters' instrumental styles blend together and he just sings on top of it, contributing nothing special to the song. If he did get a song on his own (A lament of some sort, questioning his friendship with Montresor) I would assume it would start more country rock sort of vibe in reference to Monty, but slowly goes into something a bit more unique; classic rock. Classic rock with light guitars and a beat that feels much more upbeat, rather than the creepy/catchy vibe that Nevermore songs give. Not only is he "breaking away" from his previous manipulation, but in a way he's also stepping up as he too is now performing in a major key, which the other proper antagonists do. Annabel Lee and Prospero match each other a lot. Classical strings and a LOT of harpsichord usage. For Annabel Lee I specifically think of "ANTI THE HOLIC" by cosMo@Bousou-p in terms of vibes. Just imagine something fast paced and classical, matching her energy. Prospero I picture in a similar light, slower but still with the same elements of classical instruments pushing his voice forward and making them come across as ethereal; in charge. "Gothic and Loneliness" by Narushima Takashi has a fantastic instrumental that I envision a lot of the songs to have a similar vibe to. Fast paced but still classical and orchestral. The hints of electric sounds being nods to more modern characters. It all depends on who is singing and what the song is. Ada has a similar thing to Will where her instrumentals try to copy Annabel's but always seem to be missing something whether it be another instrument or a note goes up instead of down. Almost there, but not quite right. Morella having a Celtic influence and plenty of harp and violin. Imagine the other voices drowning her out, leaving her trapped in between a mess of voices and unable to choose what melody to sing along to, so she shakily creates her own. And lastly to end off for now, Duke is the only baritone in the misfits and tends to be the support, the foundation when they are all together. Lenore balances out in Alto, keeping the higher voices grounded with mainly harmonies and the occasional melody line. Normally, the main character sings melody always, but I think when all of the misfits sing together her going to harmonize makes more sense. She is the backbone; the one keeping them all together. Pluto is a tenor, Berenice is a mezzo, and Eulalie is a soprano. Morella is also a soprano, and she and Eula tend to harmonize a bit in group songs.

[samhaft]

Hey Sam, hope you and everybody are doing alright up there.

I was wondering how you go about writing lyrics? Re-listened to the Zero One album recently and it blew me away just as much as it did the first time. You have such an ear candy manner of flow and I just can’t quite wrap my head around how you even start to write that sort of thing out. Do you start with words or a rhythm first or is it something that takes both a bit at a time?

Thanks, and stay safe!

Thanks for your kind question!

For my flow when it comes to rapped lyrics - where the emphasis sits, where the rhymes are placed etc, I like to think of it like writing a drum part! Without a melody I’m sonically essentially a percussion layer, so thats always been my approach - if you were to play my stressed/unstressed syllables on a bongo drum, ideally it would sound pretty good!

As far as my process, I almost NEVER write lyrics without music existing to write them over, because - as a percussion part - I need the music to inform what sounds groovy. On the other hand I rarely write vocal rhythms without the words, because the words help inform where the emphasis can sit / rhymes will sound best. One thing I also use a LOT is sound repetition - where beyond the rhymes, I’ll use a lot of vowel and consonant sounds that are similar enough to feel “rhymey” without locking into a full rhyme - this is something you hear a lot of in hip hop, but is less commonplace in sung pop music.

I’ll break down an example from the title track zero_one. Rhymed sounds are bolded and color coded, and one interesting move you’ll notice is inserting a syllable into our two syllable ‘level’ rhyme on ‘several’ for a little bit of ear candy, but I want to focus on the italics:

Lost the plot and so I play it again

Needing a friend, needing an end, a creed to defend

proceed another level to battle a devil

combatting several enemies with the

anatomy of a rebel

“Proceed” takes our ‘eed’ and adds an ‘uh’ sound in front of it - now you’d never say ‘proceed’ and ‘enemies’ rhyme - they don’t! BUT the last two vowel sounds are ‘uh-ee’ in both words - and I add a THIRD sound atop that stack with “enemies” which is the ‘en’ sound - so later in that line when I hit “anatomy” it sounds really pleasing to the ear, because beyond just closing our ‘at’ rhyme, it starts with ‘en’ and ends with ‘uh-ee’. And in fact that ‘uh’ sound is also how I pronounce “the” “to” “again” “a” “defend” “several” “of” etc etc etc - none of which are rhymes! But instead repeated percussive use of that one vowel sound over and over throughout. You’ll notice my pronunciation is completely internally inconsistent based on what sounds I want to emphasize at the moment! The “the” at the beginning is ‘thuh’ but the one after “enemies” is ‘thee’ to better match the sounds I’m emphasizing!

Ok I’m looking at this wall of text and feel like I must be rambling like a crazy person so I’m gonna stop lmao

Most of this is an intuitive process for me, I’m not writing up diagrams like that as I write lyrics, but I’m just trying to visualize for you what’s happening inside my brain as I write. Hope that makes sense?

If you’d like to watch me actually write stuff, the linktree in my pinned post features a class I sell that lets you watch me write two songs in real time!

[babylon-crashing]

Originally I thought it would be fun coming up with a story using Parliafunkadelicment (that is, the 1970s American music collective known as P-Funk) mythology, "funkology," as George Clinton called it. But the more I worked on it, the more it headed in different directions. Let's just say, I had fun along the way ...

TEXT:

PAGE

Blast Hardcheese: Space Detective Welcome to the distant future of 1983. The Man has taken to the stars to make the Galaxy safe for Disco by destroying the Mothership Connection (Though you'd think that the Grand Ole Opry and Hillbilly Country and Western music would be a much better antithesis to urban city Funk than, say, Disco, but no matter). Led by our glorious leader, Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk … THE FUTURE IS SAFE: For J. Edgar Hoover and law-abiding citizens such as ourselves. Obey puny humans! Welcome, Blast, to our groovy swinging party! In the future it's always Bedtime for Bonzo! I didn't know you could make pancakes! Yum yum! At last the last of those evil Parliafunkadelicment beats have almost been wiped from the Universe. Only small pockets of resistance remain … to get up by getting down.

PAGE

Our Rebel Hero: Bootsy Collins Glorious Leader: All hail Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk Lady Bunny: Smash the Sucka MCs! Old school forever! Meanwhile, somewhere else that fits within our limited filming budget, Lady Bunny was fighting the good fight. Really? “Lady Bunny” was all you could come up with? Not even Funky Fresh or Soulful Swag? Anahit Broccolian? Wait!--

PAGE

Yes, it's what our boffins at the H.O.N.K.E.Y. Institute feared … the Funk is back and far freakier than before! It's tub-thumping from here, the Electronica Zone. That's impossible! Electronica has been dead for ages! Are you sure? I thought the last Rumpasaurus had been hunted to extinction. All we know is that the Jive-Flux-Matrix is powerless against this new dope blood developed by the Phunklords. Our secret weapon: Tanner Tannington III, bio-engineered as the most unhip human in history ... ...volunteered as our guinea pig. Great Scott! It was cranked up to 11! Egads! The cads! Another one bites the dust. Hush your foul mouth. His dying request was to hear Achy Breaky Heart one last time. He died as he lived: unable to keep a beat. These old models only play German opera, we thought that was enough. Have you tried Oko Ono? Or maybe Yma Sumac?

PAGE

That's all we know so far, Fanny. But I thought we dropped da bomb on Bootsy Collins. Literally! So, how did the Funk survive? What did we miss? Word on the street is that there was enough of it in J-Pop to turn the beat around, I love to hear percuss-- No! Do not start quoting 'Nam movies and Disco lyrics … as tempting as that might be. I love the smell of napalm in the morn—ack! J-Pop? Are you sure? J-Pop or K-Pop, I can't really tell the difference. Plus it's only 1983, we haven't even gotten to Hammer Time! yet. Indeed. The power of the Funk is most insidious. I miss the police state. USA! USA! Remember when being sterile, one-dimensional, monochromatic and against freedom of expression was thought of as a bad thing? Tell that to the average American male voter. Someone put Trump in the White House … twice.

PAGE

Meanwhile, back on “The Planet.” And I'll go this way and look for some kind of audio-vibratory-physio-molecular transport device. You mean...! Yes, Brad, it's something we ourselves have been working on for quite some time. A vibrator! But it seems our friend here has found a means of perfecting it. A perfect vibrator! A device which is capable of breaking down solid matter and projecting it through space … and who knows, perhaps even time … Itself? Itself! Wow! Sex toys sure have gotten crazy in the future. This has a pump-action grip! Now all I need to find is a … Butt plug? Calling Pebbles and Bam-Bam Calling Pebbles and Bam-Bam … Not only did I find our audio-vibratory-device but wait until you see the size of “Operation: Neurological Enema”!

PAGE

Meanwhile, back with Lady Bunny … Wait! Is this my cue? Meanwhile, back on “The Planet.” [Anything to advance the plot!] Ignore her. She's just embarrassing herself. Get down! She won't be able to see us this way! What page of the script are we on? This is a very bad segue and you should feel ashamed! Hey, cool, retro robots! Finally! Something to do with fighting The Funk! Er... what is it doing? Warming up with calisthenics. Funk fighting is a strenuous activity. Bend with the knees!

PAGE

You know what this story needs? A training montage sequence! Cue: Styx! Beep bop boop! We are the Majority for Musical Morality! Kilroy was here. Dōmo Arigatō Misutā Robotto. Secret, secret I've got a secret! With parts made in Japan! O funk me! No! No funk! We put our faith in Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk!

PAGE

I'm sorry, M.E.C.H.A.F.L.O.P.S.Y., I thought you were going to have some speaking lines or at least do something. “Perhaps in the sequel.” I told my agent, “No nude scenes.” The American public is not ready for it. It's sum sawt ov Unident'ah'fied a-Flyin' Objec'! Why are you talking like that? Well, we haven't made a Hillbilly joke since page 2. I mean, wasn't this whole story about how terrible Country and Western music is? The plot seems to have drifted. Of course it has! Those robots were suppose to be break dancing! Originally we were the heroes, using Old School Hip Hop to defeat the Kosmic Sucka' MCs. We had our own theme song! There was going to be a cameo with Cameo and Salt n Pepa … but we ran over budget. As the Armenians would say, “Vo'chinch”!

PAGE

Ideas I couldn't work into the story … Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, art by Ed Piskor “Take M.E.C.H.A.F.L.O.P.S.Y. down to the planet with you.” “It looks too cute to be evil.” “Have you seen it try to dance?” In the words of our glorious leader, “We must maintain mental constipation and prevent Funkadelica from deprogramming the population” … again. The death of a disco dancer Well, it happens a lot 'round here I feel faint, someone hum Toby Keith. Help!

[bennetisaac]

ghost eyes marching band au bcus the first day of band camp hit me like a bus. if ur in any discord servers with me shut up you haven’t seen this before

tobias: drum major

nobody knows how or why tf he was picked. carmelo’s just a little shitty about it but he won’t say anything. Tobi’s movements are very rigid and sharp. he will NOT hesitate to make your ass run if you aren’t paying attention / doing the right thing. Before that, he played tenor saxophone / plays it during concert band. doesn’t have a cool salute even tho rudy BEGGED him to make one.

rudolph: gaurd

HE IS SO LOUD AND EXCITED. arguably the most enthusiastic person there. since tobias is too quiet, he helps lead the warmups. hes really spirited at football games and always makes the band bus to comps REALLY REALLY fun. he brings a HUUUUGE bag to camp so everybody has what they need. he plays flute / percussion during concert season.

emilio: bass clarinet

very strong clarinet. he’s a strong marcher, he just has to take breaks pretty often. he’s the senior that everybody is afraid of because he’s been doing it forever, even if it wasn’t at their school. he’s got perfect pitch and is not afraid to tell you if you’re flat. he’s that kid who’s REALLY good at his instrument it’s scary

carmelo: drumline, base drum

he was really hoping from drum major, but he still loves his percussion. he’s the section leader. they all fuck around and tobias has to yell at them a lot to quit. he used to be in the pit, but he likes drumline more. nobody knows if he’s serious about band or not. that kid who’s always on his phone. he’s the kid who brings a speaker on the band bus

EXTRA PPL

francis: percussion , keyboard

only really joined because he had absolutely nothing else going on for him. it’s also unclear if he’s serious or not. carmelo’s always out of place cus hes over near the pit talking to them.

dino: tuba

he’s arguably the best brass player they have.

mattias: percussion , guitar

he was only needed for this show in particular because there was a guitar solo in it, and Tobias volunteered him. he loves band a lot and thinks the people are fun. tried to march once and almost immediately hit the blacktop.

adam: drumline, snare drum

was forced into joining early by rudy, actually really loves it. has become carmelo’s “favorite newbie”

VARIOUS HC

tobias throws chalk at peoples heads to keep them focused.

speaking of chalk, they almost got it taken because carmelo / his percussion friends all went around getting their hands covered in the chalk and slapping their friends asses (specifically black shorts) to leave white hand prints on them. carmelo promptly got chased around the field by rudolph

phillippa is 10000% a band mom. she volunteers for everything she ever can. people have started calling her mom or mama phillippa

tobias has the entire score memorized and WILL call you out by name if you fuck it up

rudolph is the biggest advocate for the guard to ever exist. “we should eat first because we have to do makeup before the competition!!!”

[samneric-ericnsam]

Hellooooo kiddos… if you’re feeling up to it, you should talk all about what your lives were like before… everything. With the presumed drastic change from then to now, I hope you treat yourselves with excessive kindness! It’s certainly deserved.

(Also, if you please, let Ralph know that I’m proud of him. I simply think he needs to hear it.)

“Oh- We don’t mind at all! It’s a little hard to recall everything since things have been a little blurred with all that’s happened. We spent a lot of time at school and didn’t see our parents much, since we really didn’t want to have to fill out the papers.”

“yeah, the papers were always such a difficulty to go through. But it really didn’t bother us much not seeing our parents, since it gave us more time to work on learning. we actually did quite well in school.”

“and we enjoyed our classes quite a bit! we were both in the orchestra, since our parents thought it to be beneficial to us.”

“I played the Violin and eric was on percussion. (i was second chair😁). we didn’t really see much of the boys in the island while in school, mostly just maurice and harold, since they shared a few classes with us.”

“Oh- and thank you so so much for what you said. we really try our best and we’re glad to hear that- though our best isn’t always too beneficial to others- still, grateful nonetheless!!”

“we also told ralph what you said and he appreciated it greatly! he even teared up a bit. he’s been dealing with the whole ordeal a little strange, but he’s been getting better lately.”

[shit-people-probably-didnt-say]

Any soft Wesper kid HC or prompts? I’ve always imagined Wespers kid as struggling to read just like Wylan and not fully understanding it. They just know that “Da reads everything for Dad” and growing up in a much healthier environment than Wylan they dont grow up with the same low self esteem issues and instead the idea that love is someone willing to read to you. They hope that in the future they find someone like that for themselves. IDK I’m a sucker for breaking they cycle lol

Aw Id love to share some soft Wesper Kid HCs!

Apologies for the delay in answering Ive had this in my drafts so I can build on it

- Wesper kid is an early riser and often wakes before his Dads, so the only sensible thing to do is bring his favourite book or toy and climb into their bed with them. They often spend the entire morning on off days just lounging in bed

- Swimming lessons! Being so close to canals and the harbour (and that swimming once saved his Pa’s life) having the Wesper Kid know how to swim and be confident in water is extremely important to them

- Ive always imagined if the Wesper kid had a cognitive disability it would be colourblindness or ADHD. Where his Da is the hyperactive sort he is the inattentive type and can struggle to sit for lessons without his mind wondering. So to help him they adjust his school day. They give him more frequent breaks in class and bigger gaps in-between lessons with lots of outside play, and they find tutors who teach in a very practical way to keep him engaged

- Wesper kids favourite animals are rabbits, little bit of Aditi coming to him. Jesper also sings Zemeni lullabies and reads him all his favourite stories from his childhood. Wesper kid becomes their ‘little rabbit’ and Grandma Aditi is well known in their home

- Ive love the idea that theres no shame or secret regarding Wylan not reading. Kids accept the world as it’s presented to them so he wouldnt think anything unusual of it. When it comes time to do homework or bedtime stories theres no hush-hush that only Da can read to him. But Wylan of course memorises bedtime stories and is Wesper kids go to for math/science homework

- Wesper kid has his Da’s energy and his Pa’s musical interest��which results in him wanting to learn the drums. Jesper is overjoyed, Wylan is of course delighted and supportive but makes a mental note to get ear plugs as a kid learning percussion can be quite overstimulating for autistic people

- As much as Wylan is dead set on gentle parenting that doesn’t mean it’s easy. When you’re brought up with harsh treatment and are used to that being ‘normal’, it takes daily conscious effort to break that cycle. He never ever lays a harsh hand or word on their son, but he does have to take time outs occasionally to gather himself on rough days. Its retraining mental instinct but he would do it a million times over for his son to feel safe and loved

- Wesper kid is asthmatic/anaemic like his Pa. Id love a fic of the first time the kid becomes really unwell with the flu or lung fever and Wylan & Jesper are just losing their minds. Luckily Nana Marya is there to help calm new parent worries and pass along some tips on soothing a poorly child

I may continue to add to this, but this is what I have at the moment 💕

[inuhalfdemon]

We Dance to the Masochism Tango!

Inspired by the AI Cover found: here

Day 6 Prompt: Dancing

Word Count: 1,306 Words

“No, Charlie!” Lucifer told her loudly, exasperated. “I’m not doing it! Not this one! Not with him!!! Find us different partners!”

“You and Alastor both need to learn how to get along!” Charlie emphasized, refusing to budge. Vaggie agrees with me; this exercise is a perfect way for both of you to form a connection and finally: really and truly bond!”

Lucifer made a disgusted face. Alastor stood well and off to the side; eyes narrowed, his smile insane, head tilted and static buzzing from him loudly.

“Seriously, dad: You both enjoy dancing, you both enjoy music…you get to pick any song! It doesn’t have to be a big thing even; just a quick little dance routine! Just do the Cha-Cha or a swing dance or something!”

Lucifer opened his mouth; about to say something when Alastor drifted up from the floor; materializing himself from shadow, beside him. Leaning in; a wide and sly smile stretched across his face he glanced at Lucifer then looked at Charlie.

“Any…song?” Alastor asked, darkly.

When it came time for the residents of the Hazbin Hotel to demonstrate their dance routines for Charlie’s recent bonding activity; the initial results to the idea were actually quite very tame. Even Angel Dust and Cherri- both having public performance backgrounds of an erotic nature - chose to do a tasteful but well-rehearsed Ramba with each other for everyone to enjoy.

Lucifer and Alastor’s dance was the final routine to be performed; and it came to be their turn.

The lights cut out. The room blazed a vibrant green from fiery pillars that depicted coiling and hissing basilisks – suddenly occupying the impromptu dance floor.

Jaws dropped.

“Holy shit…” Angel breathed and everyone nodded.     

Alastor was dressed handsomely in a stark red, long-sleeved dress shirt and black tie; wearing a pin-striped black vest and dress pants with sharp black dance shoes. Lucifer wore a splendidly white suit; the lapels and the bowtie he had with it emphasized in black, matching his own black dress pants and shoes. Both were standing in the middle of the dance floor; hands clasped and arms resting on each others shoulders.

A live orchestra had emerged toward the back of the room; made up of a horde of shadow demons that Alastor commanded, and a few Lucifer clones thrown – here and there - into the mix. All were holding instruments and ready to begin. Percussion from the orchestra sounded loudly and the music bolstered lively throughout the room.

As the music began, both Alastor and Lucifer slowly waltzed together across the room – taking long and purposefully placed strides.

“I ache for the touch of your lips, dear”- Lucifer

“But much more for the touch of your whips, dear”- Alastor

The sharp crack of a whip sounded throughout the room.

“You can raise welts, like nobody else” – Lucifer

“As we dance to the Masochism Tango!” – Together

Lucifer dramatically – and awkwardly - dipped Alastor before they both smoothly spun; waltzing slowly the other way.

“Let our love be a flame, not an ember!” - Alastor

“Say, it’s me that you want to dismember!” – Lucifer

 Alastor jerked an arm away; slamming his elbow into Lucifer’s face.

“Blacken my eye!” – Lucifer

Lucifer roughly pulled him by the tie; pulling Alastor close to a green burning pillar and letting the fabric combust with the flames in his hand.

“Set fire to my tie!” – Alastor

“As we dance to the Masochism Tango!” – Together

Not a single resident of the hotel moved; eyes wide and barely breathing.

Flourishing himself away from Alastor now, Lucifer took quick and skillful strides as he danced around singing:

“At your command, before you here I stand

My heart is in my hand…” – Lucifer

Sliding onto his knees in front of Alastor; he pulled a hand away: palm open and extended: holding an actual bleeding and pulsing heart in his hand – tissue and vessels clinging to it from the gaping hole he had made to pull it out from his chest. 

“Yeeeecch!” – Alastor

Alastor looked at the throbbing organ with disgust; spitting his tongue out.

“It’s here that I must be.” – Alastor

Rolling his eyes; Alastor casually slapped the back of Lucifer’s hand holding the heart – pushing the organ and tissue all back into his chest. Taking him by the hands; he whirled Lucifer back up onto his feet, pulling him with him into dancing again.

“My heart entreats! Just hear those savage beats!

And, go put on your cleats!” – Alastor

“And come and trample me!” – Lucifer

They pulled each other close; disproportionate torsos brushing as they resumed their initial position: hands clasped; arms resting on shoulders as they moved quicker through room.

“Your heart is as hard as stone or mahogany,” - Lucifer

“That’s why I’m in such exquisite agony,” – Alastor

“My soul is on fire!” – Lucifer

The green flames engulfing the pillars flared brightly; burning hotter.

“It’s aflame with desire!” – Alastor

Still waltzing; Alastor reached for his ruined tie – pulling it away and loosening the collar of his shirt.

“Which is why I perspire when we tango!” - Together

The two did another turn; coming back around. The residents continued watching with open-mouthed stares; only blinking.

Alastor made to spin Lucifer; his hand smacking him across the face with the movement.

“You caught my nose…in your left castanet, love.” – Lucifer

Alastor pulled him back, dipping him low.

“I can still feel the pain yet, love. Every time I hear drums.” – Lucifer

And, the percussion crashed loudly.

“And, I envy the rose…” – Alastor

Alastor flourished his hand; sparking green, and a beautiful red rose with leaves and stem appeared in his hand. He briefly admired the flower before jamming the stem of it into Lucifer’s mouth.

“That you held in your teeth, love.

With the thorns underneath, love,” – Alastor

Alastor gripped Lucifer roughly by the jaw; pushing clawed fingers into his face, lifting the  corners of his mouth so that he could see the thorns of the flower digging bleeding cuts there in-between his teeth.

“Sticking into your gums.” – Alastor

Alastor smiled down on him wickedly and Lucifer spat out the rose; glaring up at him. Smoothly, they both turned; clasping at each other’s hands again and moving forward.

“Your eyes cast a spell that bewitches,” – Alastor

“The last time I needed twenty stitches!” – Lucifer

“To sew up the gash,” - Alastor

“You made with your lash,” – Lucifer

Another loud crack of a whip echoed across the room.

“As we danced to the Masochism Tango!” – Together

Their stepping increased tempo; their strides coming and moving together more quickly:

“Bash in my brain, then make me scream with pain,

Then kick me once again and say we’ll never part!” – Lucifer

They did a quick spin and a turn; going back the other way again:

“I know too well, I’m underneath your spell,

So, darling, if you smell something burning: it’s my heart!” - Alastor

Alastor stopped suddenly; gripping his chest and making a smiling but disgusted face, looking as if he may very nearly vomit…

“Eep…s’cuse me.” – Alastor

Pulling Lucifer with him back into a slower waltzing tempo:

“Take your cigarette from its holder,” – Alastor

“And burn your initials in my shoulder,

Fracture my spine!” – Lucifer

Alastor dramatically dipped Lucifer again; his face leering close:

“And swear that you’re mine!” – Alastor

Then, lifting back up, they quickly waltzed; shuffling and stepping apart – inside hands clasped together and outside hands spread wide and open toward the small, stunned and paralyzed grouping that watched:

“As we dance, to the Maso…

-chism Tango!” - Together

They both stopped; breathing heavily and smiling proudly…waiting.

Nobody in the group moved. Nobody blinked. Nobody breathed.

Then, Niffty cried out loudly, happily: “YES!!! AGAIN!!!” Laughing maniacally and clapping her little hands; her one wide eye bulging with her excitement as everyone else stared on in dead and complete silence.

Taglist: @helluva-simper

[iaketpauet]

A guide to Robin Finck in Guns n' Roses for people who can't stand Axl Rose

I've spent months reading, watching and listening to all things regarding Robin's time in Guns so you don't have to.

*extremely long post*

L to R: Chris Pitman, Bryan "Brain" Mantia, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. At Download Festival, June 11, 2006.

From Cirque to Guns

In the beginning of 1997 Cirque du Soleil was touring Los Angeles and Axl Rose went to see the show. Matt Sorum (GnR's drummer until then) pointed out to Axl that 'Robin from Nine Inch Nails' was playing the guitar.

"I told Axl to see him and he said, 'That's our guitar player,' I said, 'Bring in Robin to play alongside Slash', but Axl said, 'I want him to play lead.'" - Matt Sorum, 1999.

Robin got a call from Axl and then he started to jam with the band (already without Slash) every Monday, his day off (circus' dark day). In April, Chris Vrenna also joined for a few sessions before he split to focus on his Tweaker project, and Robin brought Billy Howerdel (former guitar technician for NIN) to help him program his sounds, but wound up staying for two and a half years with them.

In June, Robin quit the circus and joined the band.

2 years contract (August 1997 to August 1999)

Over the year of 1998, the band took shape, consisting of Robin and Paul Huge Tobias on the guitar, Tommy Stinson on bass guitar, Dizzy Reed on keys and percussion, Josh Freese on drums and Chris Pitman helping them with writing and engineering. Although Axl was contributing with ideas, he wasn't laying many vocal tracks at that time, as he was allegedly suffering with writer's block.

They wrote at least half of the Chinese Democracy album along with other still unreleased songs and many instrumentals in this period, including parts/ideas Robin had previously come up with during his circus days. Some sources had said they were working on 35 tracks.

Robin and Josh Freese in 1998 (from Josh's Instagram)

They also re-recorded Appetite for Destruction, which was never released but a segment of Sweet Child o'Mine was included in the closing credits of 1999's Big Daddy movie. Axl's intention was to use the entire song, but Slash and Duff didn't allow it, so they made a hybrid of the old version with their new one. You can listen to their segment starting at 2'58, with the second part of the main solo and the last one played by Robin:

It was rumored that Robin recorded an uncredited overdub of backing vocals for the track Mr. Brownstone in the Live Era '87-'93 compilation album. You can listen to it below, around 1'25 min.

Just in time for NIN's Fragility tour v1.0, his contract came to an end in August and soon he went to Bahamas with Nine Inch Nails to begin with their tour rehearsals.

Atlas Shrugged

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star." - Trent Reznor, 1999.

"And they just said, 'Come over and do some stuff.' It's a long story to be honest and I won't bore you with all the details, but Axl was feeling that he was in a difficult place because the guitarist that he'd been working with on this new album had sort of replaced Slash, because they fell out, sadly. [...] The guitarist that had done most of the tracks had departed and Axl had a real emotional attachment to what he'd done, and yet he didn't want him on the album - and I hope I'm not saying too much here - he didn't really want him to stay on the album because he'd disappeared, you know - so he's feeling a kind of divided loyalty and he said: 'Brian, can you come and do stuff which I WILL LIKE, (laughing) and I won't feel too bad about ditching this other stuff?'" - Brian May, 2000.

While Axl was trying to cut Robin's work out of Chinese Democracy, hiring high-profile guitarists such as Dave Navarro and Brian May to lay guitar tracks, he started recording vocals for some of the songs, like HardSchool (now Hard Skool), Catcher in The Rye and The Blues (now Street of Dreams). Among them, the still unreleased Atlas Shrugged has lyrics which are allegedly about Robin.

An excerpt from Atlas Shrugged lyrics.

Whether it's about him or not, the lyrics go along with feelings of "following his heart" Robin expressed through interviews from that time.

"It was a difficult decision to make because I was so wrapped up in what I was doing at the time and I was proud of the work I'd done. But when it came down to it, I couldn't imagine NIN going out without me or with somebody else. I'm in a good place right now." - Robin Finck, 1999.

Prior to quitting the band to form A Perfect Circle with Billy Howerdel, Josh Freese helped Axl getting in touch with Buckethead. In early 2000 Buckethead was convinced to join in.

3 guitars lineup

"Originally it was gonna be a two-guitar player group. I split forever so I thought and went back to Nine Inch Nails. In my absence they were looking to replace me and Josh Freese, the drummer at the time, had brought Buckethead in to essentially fill the slot I had left. They really liked him but he's kind of a stunt guitar player. He does a very specific thing and he has a real genius sensibility about him. But he rarely plays the same thing twice ever and when you're trying to cruise through 'Nightrain' that just makes it a little (laughs) too different. So they needed someone to anchor the songs. They kept Buckethead to do what Buckethead does and they needed someone else to play alongside." - Robin Finck, 2014.

In late 2000 Robin returned to Guns for the upcoming gig as headliner act of Rock in Rio III Festival. As a sort of warm-up show, the band was booked for a New Year's Eve gig at The House of Blues in Las Vegas. It was the first time Robin performed live with Guns n' Roses.

Robin and Buckethead playing Paradise City at The House of Blues, January 1st, 2001.

With two lead guitarists, rumors that Robin and Buckethead weren't getting along very well began to emerge. And it seems that Axl encouraged competition between them.

"So it's taken a long time to pull these guys together and then have them develop a chemistry with themselves. When we first did our first show in Vegas, Robin and Buckethead didn't know each other at all, and you've got two lead guitar players trying to kill each other. You know, with their abilities. It's like when I tried to bring Zakk and Slash together. That didn’t go too well. (...) It was fun to watch." - Axl Rose, 2002.

Although neither Robin or Buckethead talked about it, years later Tommy Stinson showed his disdain for Buckethead on interviews and soon-to-be a member Richard Fortus has talked extensively about how difficult it was to make a lineup with three guitarists work. I'll return to this topic later.

Skullet

For these shows, Robin appeared with an extreme form of the mullet hairstyle, the skullet. Differing from his previous tours with Nine Inch Nails, this time he maintained the same haircut for the whole touring cycle: from the few performances in 2001 until their last gig in 2002. The only difference is that he straightened his hair in 2002.

At The Joint, Las Vegas, December 31st, 2001. Photo by Robert John.

From their US leg of the tour, 2002. Photo by George Chin.

Better

Between his comeback and early 2001, Robin came up with a song working titled 3 Dollar Pyramid, which turned out to be Better, the only song released with credits attributed exclusively to him and Axl Rose.

"[Better] was brought in after Josh [Freese] and was written by the band. It was Robin Finck’s song. We jammed it for a couple weeks and then went into the studio and recorded it." - Bryan "Brain" Mantia (GnR's drummer from May 2000 until June 2006), 2009.

Better without vocals

Richard Fortus

In 1999 Richard auditioned for Robin's place. He wasn't the chosen one but became good friends with Tommy. When Paul Tobias stepped out of his role as rhythm guitarist, Tommy called Richard to replace him for the 2002 tour.

Soon Richard and Robin formed a strong bond, which could be seen on as much as offstage throughout Robin's tenure, with Richard stating several times how much he loved working with him afterwards.

Richard and Robin during Nightrain at Allstate Arena, Chicago, November 18th, 2002.

Refusing to leave

After the 2002 tour being cancelled halfway through and "Guns' inability to complete an album", Buckethead quit in late 2003. In spite of the uncertainty of their situation as a band, Robin preferred not to leave them this time to tour with Nine Inch Nails. According to Reznor, his choice was driven by greed.

"Robin Finck [was] getting paid loads of money to hang out with Axl Rose and his house was getting paid for. You know what, f*ck you." - Trent Reznor, 2005.

Robin has never touched on this subject, but there are two things that need to be stressed: The album was very close to be finished and Guns was planning to perform in late 2005 - which only became reality in 2006 - so his decision might have been because of it.

2 guitars lineup?

"As far as I know, he [Buckethead] hasn't been replaced, but we already have enough guitarists". - Tommy Stinson, 2004.

"At the moment, Robin Finck and I are the only guitarists in the band. We switch off between lead and rhythm." - Richard Fortus, 2005.

They kept rehearsing as a duo until a few weeks before their warm-up gigs for the European tour at the Hammerstein Ballroom in May 2006.

"It was just Robin and myself, and we were doing rehearsals and Brain, and it was phenomenal, I mean, absolutely amazing. And literally, I think it was two days before we were supposed to do our first show, the energy was palpable. [...] Axl came down, he was like, 'This is the band I've always wanted.' The next day Bumblefoot comes in, and I guess, they found this guy and he came in, and the whole dynamic just completely shifted." - Richard Fortus, 2020.

Bullying Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Tommy had stated that they weren't doing auditions for a new guitarist, but Axl's team contacted Ron in 2004. Although nothing happened from it, in April 2006, Axl called him to "jam" with the band while they were rehearsing for their tour. Ron became Buckethead's replacement and stayed with them until 2015. In the beginning, he wasn't treated well by "some" members.

"Well, when I first joined the band, they did not want me in the band. And it’s not me - they just didn’t want a third guitar player. 'Cause at the time they had worked it out for two guitar players. Then suddenly the old manager at the time hits them up one day, and the tour was, like, two weeks away. He said, 'your new guitar player is coming down'. And they’re like, 'what the hell - who the fuck is this?', and I showed up, and they wouldn’t even look at me. For that first tour, you know, I was treated like shit. Like absolute shit. They wouldn’t really talk to me. If I spoke, they’d roll their eyes and walk out of the room. I was made to feel as unwelcome as possible. Until, finally, I had to get a little violent. And then they started realizing that I’m not gonna leave. They’re gonna get hurt. Physically. Then they realized that they couldn’t bully me, and that I was gonna fight at a level they weren’t prepared for. [...] ‘Cause I didn’t know why they were so cold to me, and I realized that they would have treated anybody that way. It was a set of circumstances, a lack of communication from the management that was there at the time, that set it up so it was almost like a stranger thrown into a crowded cage." - Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, 2013.

Note: By "physically", he meant he "tried to stab three people on stage at a show in 2006", as he told WickedInfo in 2010.

Extreme makeover

Robin playing the main solo of Sweet Child o'Mine in Chicago, 2002 (left) and in Los Angeles, 2006 (right).

"A third guitarist stood apart from the others both visually and sonically, effortlessly tearing through every riff and solo like a man possessed; think Jimmy Page on ecstasy. Even after Rose introduced the bearded, sunglass-wearing phenomenon by name, dressed like a cross between Jim Morrison and Chris Robinson, I still couldn’t believe I was looking at Robin Finck. [...] Exuding a confidence no amount of posturing can imitate, he brought a searing intensity to each Guns song with impassioned intricacy and soul. [...] Finck was great before his apparent bohemian awakening, but this was something else entirely. He was essentially running through a gallery of world-renowned portraits and landscapes, the best of their time and sacred to many, casting his own colors and impressions onto each canvas. Somehow, blasphemy be damned, he made improvements." - Antiquiet review of Guns N' Roses' performance at Gibson Amphitheater, December 16th, 2006.

Robin's definitive departure

On April 4th 2008 NIN.com broke the news that Robin was back to the fold with a picture of him at the studio. Without knowing for sure Robin's position, Axl showed being open for a return.

"Last I was aware, he had some interest in touring, though I can't say what that means until then. In our opinion, he's made things a bit awkward publicly, but that's just his way." - Axl Rose, 2009.

Unfortunately, even with the Chinese Democracy's release in the end of that year, Robin didn't come back afterwards.

One night reappearance

The guitarist had a surprise appearance on March 12 2012 at House of Blues venue in Los Angeles to perform his song, Better, and that was the last time he got up on stage with Guns.

That's it, most of the info and rumors here I've gotten from GnR forums: MyGnRforum.com, a-4-d.com and GnRevolution.com, so a big thank you to everyone.

[canmom]

thinking about Deus Ex Human Revolution because I stumbled over its soundtrack in my game OST folder.

it got good reviews in its day but with hindsight it's not really remembered as a great game to endure the way the first one did. there is stuff to praise - art direction for example - but equally, you can criticise plenty: the clumsy handling of the 'augments' theme, the shallow orientalism of the China chapters, the watering down of the immersive sim elements. the clumsy outsourced boss fights and the rubbish ending.

if it's remembered today it's mainly for the "i never asked for this" meme, and the 'Icarus' trailer.

watching it again in 2024, the soundtrack is doing a lot of the work of carrying this. most of the dialogue in this trailer is really corny cyberpunk-isms, and a lot of its visuals are blatant riffs on Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed and Blade Runner (though I'll credit that it has a great sense of mechanical design in its robots and stuff). but the opening visual motif - the Renaissance dissection tableau transitioning into the flight of Icarus - is just the right level of pretentious for a game like this. that, combined with the wordless vocals rising and falling around the synth line, does so much work to sell the idea of 'this is grand and important'.

cyberpunk has a pretty specific sound associated with it - the electronic sounds are obvious, but in some of the best remembered cases it relies on contrasting the human voice and old school percussion against those synths, typically in some unusual vocal style that is likely to be unfamiliar to viewers - most notably Indonesian gamelan in the Akira soundtrack, and Bulgarian choir in Oshii's Ghost in the Shell. the other major genre touchpoint, Blade Runner, does not generally use vocals in the same way, but still plays the synth off against percussion sounds. in the simplest terms, it's a contrast of 'natural' and 'unnatural' right? what humans were and what we're becoming.

here we're not importing quite such an unfamiliar sound, but we have a lot of long, held notes by a solo singer (either Ariel Engle or Andrea Revel going off Soundcloud, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the specific credit). it's not unrelated to what Emi Evans was doing with the 'chaos language' in NieR, and indeed to the sound that J'Nique Nicole would bring in the sequel there. I really like wordless vocals, the human voice is such a versatile instrument and brings so much texture.

against that the synth here is actually keeping things really simple. it's mostly just repeating phrases, often simply arpeggios. I haven't really learned enough to keep track of the chord movements here, I'm sure someone more well-versed in music theory could easily take them apart because I doubt it's doing anything overly complex. but it's in a minor key, it's gradually rising for the first half of the track, dropping a bit every so often so it can keep climbing for the most part... and then the final third introduces a second synth line with a slower descending motif - goddamn it's literally just the Icarus metaphor again isn't it, rising and then falling? but it's not too obvious with it, like it doesn't climb all the way back down.

against that the trailer plays a montage of General Cyberpunk Stuff, notably Adam killing people in sicknasty ways, robot limbs doing robot limb stuff, newscasters with interesting fashion sense, and protesters getting gunned down by cops. the weakest parts are the ones that refer to the game's plot and aren't just pure vibes tbh.

that trailer wrote a lot of cheques that the game couldn't really pay, but it is interesting to look back at it with a more analytic eye. it makes me wonder how to really get that human voice texture in music I make. I mean the obvious answer is 'learn to sing', and I'm working on that and making progress, but my voice is pretty testosteron'd and inevitably that limits my range. vocaloids are great but mostly for a different kind of sound. ah well, I'll figure it out. the erhu at least has a sound that's pretty close to the human voice, so maybe that can be the ingredient I need to get that Atmosphere(TM).

[lubdubology]

Get To Know Your Mutuals

I was tagged by @themareverine; thank you!

what's the origin of your blog title? It's a pun on the word cardiology. The sound a heart makes is "lub dub" and -ology means the study of, so the study of lubdub--GET IT. I love the heart, I'm a nerd.

favorite fandoms: I hop around and haven't been active in a fandom in quite some time before Deadpool & Wolverine came out. So currently Hugh Jackman/Wolverine, but I've also been big in Pentatonix before this.

OTP(s) + shipname: My and my bed.

favorite color: the color of dying embers or the vibrant red of fall leaves

favorite game: oh, I like word games! My dad and I compete in Betweenle every day. And I like a good crossword

song stuck in your head: Hurt Somebody by Noah Kahan

weirdest habit/trait? I have a bad habit of picking at the skin of my thumbs. I don't even notice I'm doing it until it hurts.

hobbies: reading, writing, cooking, teaching my daughter not to be an asshole

if you work, what's your profession? I'm a nurse!

if you could have any job you wish what would it be? I honestly don't know what I'd want to do. I briefly thought about being a CSI, so I pick that

something you're good at: being anxious lol. Seriously, um, cooking? I make a mean pie

something you're bad at: anything involving tools.

something you love: reading, time to myself, my mom, my daughter, being with my friends, traveling.

something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: I'm fully of really random knowledge, honestly. But I could talk about reading for eons and anything science/cardiology related

something you hate: the current state of US politics.

something you collect: I have more notebooks than I know what to do with, books.

something you forget: Oh, so many things. How to be kind to myself, mostly.

what's your love language? ACTS OF SERVICE. I LOVE doing things for other people.

favorite movie/show: Not my favorite, but my guilty pleasure movie is Armageddon It's the most ridiculous movie ever and I love every bit of it. Favorite show? Ooh, The Office and New Girl are top contenders.

favorite food: pasta!

favorite animal: lol, see my previous post. But the platypus.

are you musical? I guess technically, but I haven't played an instrument in quite some time. I took piano lessons when I was younger, but quit because I hated doing the recitals. Come to find out I didn't HAVE TO do the recitals. Then in high school I played the oboe and cymbals/percussion during marching band season. I'd like to get back into the piano again

what were you like as a child? quiet, shy, awkward and teased

favorite subject at school? Science! I got to take a human anatomy class in high school and was in heaven.

least favorite subject? Social studies.

what's your best character trait? I'd like to think I'm a generally decent person.

what's your worst character trait? I have the worst anxiety and question myself a lot

if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? I'd like to be able to work less, so I can spend more time with my daughter.

if you could travel in time who would you like to meet? King Henry VIII, because he's such a messy bitch; a neanderthal; Betty White

recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love!): Literally anything @joelsgoldrush has ever written; anything @eupheme has ever written, but I absolutely ADORE her Sugar series; @logaenhowlett has some amazing Logan works (still working through their masterlist); @flowersforbucky and her Old Man Logan fic For Always and Ever Is Always For You

absolutely no pressure tags: @logansbaby; @pedroscurls; @princessanglophile; @eupheme; @flowersforbucky; @yxtkiwiyxt and you!

[gaijin-fujin-resonance]

ストレリチア / Strelitzia

Due to my family background (my grandparents were botanists in southern Africa) I know Strelitzia as the crane flower. It’s an incredibly nostalgic plant to me, as its image used to adorn the back of the aerogramme letters I received from family abroad as a child.

So I suppose I was expecting more of an African sound, all chiming guitars and sweet harmonies? So wow, was the psychedelic sitar sound of Strelitzia a surprise!

It was impossible on first listen to tell if it was a sitar, a guitar, a synth, or what. Thankfully, Imai’s production notes for Sound & Recording Magazine answer that:

今井寿: あの曲では星野がシタール・ギターを 弾いていて、僕のギターはシタールのエフェ クターをかけた音です。ELECTRO-HARMONIX Ravish Sitar というモデルですね。 Imai Hisashi: In that song, Hoshino plays a sitar guitar, and my guitar has a sitar effect applied to it. It's the ELECTRO-HARMONIX Ravish Sitar model.

This pedal is, frankly, one of the grooviest things I’ve heard in years. Just listen to the official demo recordings from Electro-Harmonix to get an idea of what it’s capable of.

It’s quite one of my favourite things about Imai, the delight he clearly takes in experimenting with the oddest and strangest of guitar pedals. I love that Imai (despite regularly achieving some of the most beautiful guitar tones known to humankind throughout the band's recording history) has absolutely no respect for the guitar as a guitar player. He treats the thing purely as a note-generator to be processed, run through effects, manipulated, modulated and otherwise completely f*cked up until it’s almost no longer recognisable as a guitar. In my books, this puts him up there with people like Kevin Shields and Robert Fripp, in terms of rearranging my perceptions of what a guitar is even capable of.

Anyway! On to the song itself, pretty much a rough guide to all of the wonderful elements that make up Imai’s sonic landscape. Strelitzia starts starts with classic Imai slithering insect noises - they might be sonic artefacts of the effects pedals, or they might be percussion run through a really extreme phaser effect? Then the song kicks in with our old friend, a pedal point on the bass, with an occasional semitone down to keep it moving. (The song is only 74 bpm, almost shockingly slow for a B-T song, but it never seems to drag.)

I’m working under the assumption that the guitar in the right channel is Hide’s sitar guitar, since it has quite a natural sitar shimmer. The guitar in the left channel has a slightly more synthetic tone, more flanged, so I presume that’s Imai with the Ravish pedal? Then straight down the centre, the main riff is played on a sound that I, as a westerner, would describe as a little banjo-like. But the particular resonances definitely make it sound more Asian, perhaps the lightly bending and warping tone of a Shamisen or even Koto?

At 0:44, when the live drums kick in, the left hand guitar goes a little farty - but it’s all about context. With the fluttering symphony of psychedelic sounds weaving and echoing around it, I don’t mind a little synthetic squelchiness. In fact, it provides a nice build and lift indicating the song is preparing to move to the B-part, as the bass finally shifts off its pedal point and starts climbing what feels like an endlessly ascending Escher staircase, to provide melodic dynamics while the guitars stay on their hypnotic drone.

If Imai really wanted to, he could drag that build out a little longer? He definitely knows how to do dancefloor dynamics, as shown on the song Subrosa and previous bangers like Gustave. Some day I’d love to see him abandon all pretense of the standard Verse-Chorus pop arrangement and just really go all out on an endless dancefloor loop with a build and a drop and no B part. But the vibe shift here from the A part to the B part really reminds me a little of Todd Terje’s Inspector Norse. It’s got a similar sort of long hold on one two-note bass riff, which builds and builds - until at last, when the bass finally moves off that single note at 3:37, it feels like the whole world tilts on its access, like a plane taking off and immediately banking sharply. It’s a gloriously ecstatic moment!

This is basically a rock song done in the form of a dancefloor filler - in the place of a guitar solo, at 1:36, he has put in a classic dance drop. Everything cuts out except for some pretty extreme Einstürzende Neubauten metal-banging!!! YES!!! ROX0R!!!! MORE OF THIS PLEASE!!!

Then it’s back to the lovely phased-out, droney sitar-strumming with beautiful warm vinyl crackle in the background, and it’s technically not a true instrumental because there is a whispered Syd Barrett vocal at 2:11 just as the big echoey synth kicks on, but I’ve no idea what he says. (And please don’t any Japanese-speakers ruin it for me by informing me he just says “now” or “start” or “1-2-3-4!” or whatever!)

The whole sequence repeats again, almost exactly as before, with more vinyl crackle and insect noises accompanying us out. The second time the B part repeats, there’s a lovely wooden percussion (marimba?) sound doubling the guitars in the background, like a stately minuet of odd noises. There’s something so pleasing about the arrangement, like a very formal, exactly lined up arrangement of extremely weird sounds. This is one of those tunes that really gives me hope for the second season of B-T, that there aren’t just new songs sleeping in the brains of Imai and Hoshino, but entirely new genres lurking in their future. Can’t wait to hear more!

[acaplaya-musings]

VoicePlay Stand By Me - thoughts/commentary

You really can never quite tell what kind of video you're gonna get when Voiceplay uploads something new; sometimes it's a warm hug in musical form, and this is one of those times! <3

I gotta start by giving some appreciation to how Geoff looks absolutely lovely in this one! The necklace is on full display, as is the silver-white in his hair which is *chefs kiss*, and I definitely love the blue floral shirt! (10/10 would wear it myself). Honestly it reminds me a little of the shirt he wore in Whiskey In The Jar, which is kinda funny because that was 2023's November upload, and this is 2024's November upload!

But like also everyone is definitely styling in this video. Cesar with the subtle eyeliner (we stan), Layne with that cool white shirt (genuinely he looks great in it), Eli with the leather jacket, and Mykal with that denim jacket and purple shirt that's unbuttoned about as much as Geoff usually has his! 😄

Okay, main visual thoughts out the way, time for musical thoughts!

Geoff absolutely delivered with the bassline, just as I knew he would 💜

I'm not the greatest at remembering most of the actual music arrangement after my first watch-through of a VoicePlay video, though perhaps it's harder when I already know the original song and thus my brain is still attached to what I already know. But basically the first watch is just for the vibes, lol. And so a lot of these thoughts are from after an additional watch-through!

As I said when I talked about Be Prepared, Mykal was a founding member of 4 The Love, which then became 4:2:Five, which then became VoicePlay. He only stuck around for a few years I think, and then went to go pursue a stage/theatre career iirc, but while he was part of the group, he was "Tenor 1", i.e. could literally sing higher than Earl (Earl became Tenor 1 after Mykal left, and they brought in a guy called James May as Tenor 2).

I'm atheist, but damn, I'm pretty sure Mykal took us to church with this one! Well done my guy!

Actually I'm not quite done with all my visual thoughts - I just realized that when Cesar sings the repeated "stand by me" bit at the end of the first verse (after the "no I won't be afraid" bit), he looks down at Mykal and Eli and then up/back at Geoff and Layne and smiles at all of them awwwwww

I see VoicePlay decided to do a repeat of Lion Sleeps Tonight in that we got a truly lovely section of Layne on lead vocals, followed immediately by Geoff on lead vocals in a 1-2-whammy! (I swear they do it deliberately, lol 😅)

"I won't cry, I won't cry. No I won't shed a tear..." Well I might!! (I didn't, but this part definitely had me a little bit 🥺, y'know? (but in a nice way of course!)

Not sure what sort of technique (if any?) Geoff was using for the end of his "stand by meeeeeee" line, whether it was a growl or soft subharmonic or just 'regular' chest voice, but it sounded really nice!

Honestly Stand By Me isn't a super long song - like when I've sung it to myself on random occasions, I've thought that maybe there's a verse or something that I've forgotten, but no, it really is that short and simple (not that that's an inherently bad thing, mind you).

Actually the VoicePlay version is longer than the original audio track by roughly 30 seconds, not counting the credits at the end (just going off how long the Patreon early access video is). And of course they found many cool and interesting ways to make the song their own! E.g. I liked the "ad-libs" that Mykal was doing at the end (like "you don't have to do it alone"), and I also liked the build from no percussion, to very subtle/quiet percussion, to more of a powerful beat as the song reached its climax.

So this is a Layne arrangement! Honestly was not sure - I know he arranged Be Prepared, so I guess it kinda makes sense that he did this one as well so they were both ready to go at around the same time? I still wouldn't have picked it (and genuinely wasn't sure until I got to see the YouTube video description) but very well done!

So yeah, lovely sweet song, lovely harmonies, and by the time you're reading this post, this cover will already be on my Voiceplay/Geoff Spotify playlist, undoubtedly! And now we just wait to see what December will bring! (Or late November for us Patrons, I guess). Until next time!

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Wednesday, 12-11-24, 2pm Pacific

Aaaaaaand a good afternoon to all, Mr. Baggins here, back with our Afternoon Stack of Classic Wax! Today I've set the dial on my Wayback Machine to 1970, not just because it was a great year for the music, but because we are gonna do another little deep-dive, this time, with one of my all-time favorite bands from the '70s, WAR! We first heard of them as the unique-sounding backup band for Eric Burdon's 1970 hit "Spill The Wine"...with the percussion, and that organ flourish and bad-ass drumming, I was hooked! I was eleven when it came out and it is STILL one of my favorite songs!

The story was that Burdon had collapsed on-stage from "an asthma attack" while on tour with them and dropped out mid-tour, leaving them to do the rest of the tour and their massive career on their own, which they did quite handily, going on to become one of the BIGGEST bands of the '70s. Their first sans-Burdon single, All Day Music, became an instant Top 40 hit. The blend of Afro and Latino sounds along with their undeniable ability to generate a groove set them apart from any other band at the time. There is a certain kind of "south texas" feel to their music, so much so that when I first heard this song, I thought they were a San Antonio band, because the SA radio station I listened to from 120 miles away played them a lot.

The next single, Slippin' Into Darkness (issued in early '72), went Gold and cemented their fusion of Latin and Afro and Pop/Rock as "the sound" in everybody's heads. I remember this song blasting out of radios everywhere!

Their next single went all the way to Number 7, the title cut from their magnum opus album, The World Is A Ghetto, set them firmly in the rock/pop/soul pantheon. Recorded and issued in late 1972.

The album gave us another couple of bad-ass hits: the next single was Cisco Kid, was almost a Number 1...it got all the way to Number 2! It's also one of the songs that made me think they were a Texas band (plus their album cut "southern part of texas"). I was actually surprised to find out they were from Long Beach!

The next single quickly became one of my favorite songs of all time; it got all the way to Number 7, another top ten tune that I remember being on the radio ALL the time! Another one issued in '72 but a hit into the next year.

Their next hit, Me and Baby Brother, was also ubiquitous. That really is one of the things I remember about them: all these songs are so uniquely THEM, i have a hard time separating them out by year in my head, it's like their music was just all One Really Groovy Year! This was also recorded in '73 and became a hit in '74.

Their next single was a lot more "pop", it got all the way to Number 6 on the chart, and was an anthem of sorts for that odd, odd, ODD period that was the middle of the '70s.

Their next hit was a return to their trademark sound, and one of their biggest hits, going all the way to Number 7.

Their next single would be their last really big hit, Summer. It was one of those songs that defined my teenage years...it was '76, I had just bought my '69 Mustang fast back, and really did used to go "ridin' 'round town with all the windows down, 8-track playin' all your favorite sounds..."

And that wraps up today's Afternoon Stack of Classic Wax! I hope you've enjoyed our timewarp back to the '70s and one of the biggest bands of the decade! Mr. Baggins signing off for now, I'll be back at 7pm with a set to soothe our achin' nerves and help ease us all into a good night.

Until then, be kind, babies, be kind.

Baggins out.