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moremusic · 2 years ago

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I started this website to promote the Adelaide scene and the bands that make it great. But every now and then I hear a song that I can’t stop listening to, and even if the band isn’t from Adelaide I interview them. That current song is “Dive In” by this weeks guest, Gone Fishin’. They hail from Wagga Wagga. Here is their interview.

Tell us a little bit about Gone Fishin’? Members, how did you get together etc?

Gone fishin�� came about I think mostly through mutual friends. We didn’t all know each other super well but Joey Skewes our guitarist knew that we were all into the same sort of stuff. We started jamming on some originals straight away and got really close pretty quickly.

Bass and trumpet - Mitch Davoren

Electric guitar - Austin Bellany

Guitar - Joey Skewes

Drums and backing vocals - Lachlan Coe

Lead vocals and synth - Anna Skewes

What are you short and long terms goals?

In terms of this year we would love to have a show in a city, maybe Canberra or Melbourne would be amazing. We’d also love to have an EP out before the end of the year

Some long term goals we’re aiming for include some bigger headlining shows and mostly just growing our following as much as possible. A tour is something we all dream of, it’d be incredible to play overseas and grow our monthly listeners to the thousands.

How was it dealing with the Covid Pandemic? Is everything back to normal?

We managed to form just after things started to settle down in terms of COVID (start of 2022). We haven’t really struggled in that area of things which we are very grateful for.

What is your career highlight so far?

Definitely the release of our single ‘Dive In’. It was possibly a year in the making, just with things going wrong with recording and sending it off. Thankfully Austin did amazing engineering and managed to get it across to Caleb Skewes who did an incredible job for us on the production. We’ve been so happy that so many people have been enjoying it.

Your song “ Dive in” is beautiful. I listen to it a lot. What is it about and how did you come up with?

The song sort of speaks to a girl who has rushed into a bunch of different relationships and has been constantly hurt over very small and short romances. And something that we’ve seen through school in particular is that potential friendships are often ruined by this unnecessary pain, and people feel like they have to avoid each other. Hence the line ‘no need to try and hide from your boyfriend’. I think overall we are trying to encourage younger people to slow down and think about who they chose to become romantic with to avoid pain and heartbreak.

Have you got any new music coming out? Or are you still recording?

We’re currently in the decision phase where we love all our songs and can’t choose which ones to release. We’re hoping to get in contact with some professional producers and studios to get at least a couple more songs going. Our good friend Josh Barr has been a huge help in linking us up with some big names.

Who are the greatest influences on you? Individually and as a band?

Joey Skewes - Alvvays

Mitch Davoren - Coldplay

Lachlan Coe - Spacey Jane

Austin Bellany - Snarky Puppy

Anna Skewes - The 1975

As a band I think someone we all take influence from would be The Strokes. Especially there debut album ‘Is This it’. We’ve written a few tunes that take from the choppy and tight movement particularly in the guitar and bass lines.

If you could invite 4 musicians to dinner dead or alive) who would you invite?

It’d have to be Paul McCartney, Lauren Hill, Phil Collins, and Chris Martin

Any gigs coming up you want to promote?

We’ll be playing at the Jungle Duke in Wagga Wagga along side The Radicals and Social Afterparty on the 17th of June! Starting at 8pm

And again in Wagga at the Festival of W on the 1st of July which will be awesome:)

If you were given the chance to support one artist in the world, who would you pick?

We’d all agree on Gang of Youths for sure. A few of us saw them live with Greta Ray opening who did such a great job, it’d be a dream to be up there with them

If you were stuck on a deserted island with only one record, what would it be?

We think something pretty influential, like

In Rainbows by Radiohead, incredible album

Where can people find out more about you?

Check out our Insta and Facebook for more info

https://instagram.com/gone_fishinofficial?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

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db-reviews · 2 years ago

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#155 - The Window Of Life - Pendragon (1993)

Neo-prog, for me, is never a complex genre that defies expectations, nay ‘less we talk about Marillion or IQ. Among the vast but seemingly dim stars of the 90s Neo Prog scene, with groups like Arena, Collage, Abraxas, and Pallas, one, I think stands at the most mysterious, and the most introspective of which, has to go to Pendragon. While they existed during the hay-day of Neo Prog in the 80s, they really got on their own track in the 90s, specifically with the release of ‘The World’. There, they showcased their full capabilities to strip away from the more standard pop sound of The Jewel and Kowtow, and instead showcase a bit more inspiration from the past. ‘The World’ was what really pushed Pendragon to the window of new frontiers, and the key to that window lay in wake of their fourth album, ‘The Window Of Life’.

If there is one obvious I’d like to get out of the way, it is that the sound Pendragon likes to use here on this record is very unoriginal to put it bluntly. The sound found here is definitely reminiscent of styles of Genesis, Yes, and some slight twiddling of Camel and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Heck, in The Walls of Babylon, after the 2+ minutes of synths and guitars, has a part that sounds very much like the beginning of Watcher Of The Skies from Foxtrot. This isn’t a hit on Pendragon as many Neo Prog bands have done these similar heavy inspirations of songs (Supper’s Ready sixth part of Apocalypse in 9/8 comes to mind with Marillion’s Grendel and IQ’s Harvest of Souls taking massive inspiration from such), but it is something to disclose as for anyone interested in a more, I guess, newer sounding Prog Rock album.

Despite the album’s less than new sounding elements, Pendragon showcases that they can absolutely make up for that fact by showing off very moving instrumentals in each song. Clive Nolan’s keyboards, in tandem with Nick Barrett’s guitars, absolutely sells this album in my humble opinion. After 3 albums of developing their sound, Pendragon absolutely masters these moody elements that sound very much like 80s Arena Rock of Journey and Boston, but put through the Progressive Rock ringer to make their more symphonic status into a newer element, and so, whilst the sound may not be “original”, the primary acts the band deploys sure makes up for it, at least for me. This is why I love classic Neo Prog like IQ and Marillion; the meshing of old Symphonic Prog with more famous and popular genres like Pop, Punk, and AOR just creates for an interesting, but very rewarding possibility.

I should also talk about Fudge Smith’s drumming styles, because they are good, like, really good. I’d say they could rival Phil Collins in his prime, as this expert of a musician just crafts these magical drum beats that work so well within the stratosphere of the album’s magic. Really, the best part of the album is just the very magical array of beautiful instrumentals.

I will say though, that I am really not the hugest fan of Nick’s singing. I know he is putting his all, but I cannot help but find him a bit monotone and a little lifeless. I think he needs MORE emotion and MORE drive in his vocals. Get more rowdy and raise your voice more, or get more cryptic when the moment shines with lower vocals. Create a varied dynamic to get the listener more pumped up. I think he should try a little more is what I say.

I also think the bass is a little nonexistent. I swear, on my first listen, I didn’t even know there was a bass until I looked it up. I am sure Peter Gee’s bass is very good, but I never once heard it until I kinda noticed it in some tracks by taking a keen ear. It sounds way too muted, especially in conjunction with Nick’s guitars and Nolan’s keyboards. It is a bit of a shame to be honest.

Even though I find that this album doesn’t always have the highest points of interest in the musical department, Pendragon’s ‘The Window of Life’ is one that is a great showcase of more Neo Prog music. Lots of beautiful workings on the guitar and keyboards, and the really tight drumming just bleeds masterfully. The album is a little imperfect as discussed before, but nevertheless it is still a fantastic showcase of one of Neo Prog’s more prolific bands of the 90s through early 2000s.

4.5/5

#music review #album review #progressive rock #rock

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1ddiscourseoftheday · 4 years ago

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Fri 19 March ‘21

Zach Sang’s 25 min of relaxing ASMR wait no I mean celebration of Zayn’s great talking voice wait NO I MEAN his ZAYN INTERVIEW (promised months ago then sadly postponed until NOW) is here!! Zach is such a good interviewer for these guys, you can tell he sincerely loves the music and he asks great respectful questions only, love it. And sure enough, this is a lovely interview and Zayn actually seems totally comfortable chatting and sharing his thoughts. They talk about lots of specifics about the songs on NIL; Zayn says NIL is his fave of his music and that he “tried to go a little deeper into my own personal things,” he said that he recorded the majority of the album at home in Pennsylvania and that yes, it is influenced by being there, that River Road especially is massively inspired by the locale and “I’ve got a very country vibe going on right now with the big beard and the nature, I’m enjoying it, it’s cool.” He says the cover painting is of “the blank expressions you might get when you’re speaking to somebody that’s not listening,” that “my teenage years were very different than I expected them to be and I learned a lot of things … to take things easy and at your own pace.” About Calamity that he often writes poems (zoems) and just takes lyrics out of them later, but friends voted he keep Calamity as is and go for it, that Sweat (the drums specifically) is an homage to Phil Collins, that he’s writing new stuff and will hopefully have something more out later this year, and Zach asks the pressing question we’ve all had: IS THAT A KAZOO ON CONNEXION? Disappointingly Zayn’s answer is only, I don’t really fuck with those fine details, that’s down to the producers. So no confirmation but also: it’s totally a kazoo. And finally this from Z: “I love music, it’s my solace. I love writing, I love being in the studio and being in that space, it’s something I love to do. I feel like as long as I’m alive it’s something I’ll do I’d like to be able to, I’d like people to remain interested for as long as I’m alive, I know that’s a long shot but it’s a long haul, we’re all trying to stay around for as long as we can.”

We got to see Liam today!! I’ve missed that sweet face! He recorded a little video while walking through a park (“on my way to the shops”) to show off his beautiful shaggy long hair and beard to say that he’s just surpassed 5 billion streams and a “humungous massive ginormous thank you to all you guys who are listening.”

Louis tweeted “a lot of these NFT projects are very interesting!” NFTs are unique digital things-- like normally anything online can be duplicated, unlike real objects, this way it can’t (it’s how crypto currency works), or rather: you CAN still copy stuff, just there’s a way to tell the original from the copy (of a copy). People are excited about this because it makes it possible to sell things that previously you couldn’t really charge money for (like unique digital art). The way it’s achieved is unfortunately via the massive and wasteful expenditure of resources though, it’s very bad for the environment; current bitcoin creation alone for example uses more resources than entire countries and the current NFT craze is racing to outdo that. Louis responded to a DM asking about that; “Louis are you aware the average NFT has a carbon footprint equivalent to more than a month’s electricity for a person living in the EU?” Louis says, “I’m aware and it’s something I’m looking to do differently if I do my own project,” then liked a tweet from a company addressing the issue: "Our carbon neutrality pledge is a step toward making NFT digital collectibles and the digital metaverse part of a green, environmentally friendly future.” IDK how realistic that is, but in any case Louis is aware of the issues and the fans’ concerns.

Anyway he also tweeted about football a bunch- because a former Doncaster player was picked for the England World Cup team!! Louis says the player “was at donny when I was training there. Top lad and top keeper,” and “he deserves every bit of success.” And in answer to queries, the official word from Louis’ merch site (responsive as ever, bless that twin) is that they do not plan to restock the album! No CDs! This is likely due to it having been put out by Syco, who no longer exist, but what does it mean in the long run? It’s a major release and I can’t imagine it simply going out of print forever, surely a reprint of some kind will be worked out?

What secrets was Niall hiding in his photodump yesterday? “What are you playing on the piano?” asks a follower, and Niall selected the tweet to, well not answer, but to draw attention to his failure to answer by simply replying with an eyes emoji, like a troll. Then he posted a picture of sunglasses on an electronic piano, but when asked again to spill what was up said only “a pair of sunglasses on a Wurlitzer.” But IS he trolling? “There’s nothing to know hahah it’s literally a pair of sunglasses on a piano!” he protests. He also tweeted “today is a good day!” which ALSO doesn’t tell us anything but you know what, Niall’s out there having a good time and good for him.

Lenny Kravitz tagged Harry in a throwback post of himself in a stunning look- “real men wear boas,” and the deuxmoi / Olivia’s PR team partnership rose to new levels of obviousness with the gossip blog using a supposed blind item about Olivia (you’d think she was royalty, the astonishing number of blind items they JUST HAPPEN to get) to announce a giveaway in partnership with a sponsor brand she is the face of. HARD eyeroll, imagine thinking that blog wasn’t get paaaaid, can’t relate.

#zayn #liam payne #louis tomlinson #niall horan #harry styles #well #not really #but sort of #19 mar 21 #sam johnstone #zach sang #then youtube was like do you wanna watch zach's louis interview again?? and I was like YOU KNOW WHAT #the last five minutes or so of that interview are like some of my favorite louis content out there #I did rewatch just that bit

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j0hn-deacons-perm · 4 years ago

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I’ve been reading Is This the Real Life: the Untold Story of Queen and some things in this...

-Brian and Roger got into it after a show one time and Roger just went in with hairspray in Bri’s face

-Freddie met with a group of people in tight satin pants and couldn’t sit down so he looked around and tried to not attract attention to himself while undoing them

-Freddie was also so exhausted during their US tour at one point he just completely passed out, face in his breakfast

-Roger chose the shirt Fred wanted to wear for their first Rainbow show so he stormed off during soundcheck and brian begged for him to come back

-Also during their first US tour, Brian got himself a love affair in New Orleans and had to be rushed back to the UK after waking up in New York with full blown hepatitis due to a vaccine he received earlier in the year.. Freddie got herpes apparently? Icons.

-Freddie kept up with visiting Brian in the hospital while they worked on Sheer Heart Attack since homeboy had an operation after he was cleared for his hepatitis bed rest then had an ulcer shortly after.

-Roger didn’t like his hair in the cover photo for Sheer Heart Attack so they added extensions in the final photo.

-Years after them leaving Trident, John was met with a former employee who recognized him at an airport and just completely shut him down. We love a king who knows his worth.

Edit #1 since I’ve read a bit more...

-Brian would somewhat irritate the person making coffee and tea. “...and then I’d ask Brian what he wanted. Then there’d be this pause and then he’d ask ‘How many teas are you making? How many coffees?...Two?...Three? Is it easier for you to make another coffee or another tea?’ You could spend 10 minutes just doing this. He was trying to make it easier for me, but in the end I’d be like, ‘Brian! Just tell me what you want!’”

-Bri thought Death on Two Legs was too mean and felt bad singing it.

-Freddie shutting down homophobes in the audience by shining the spot light on them and asking them to repeat what they said.

-Freddie didn’t believe the gold disc for a Night at the Opera was the album so he broke it open to play it and it was indeed their album. He was suspicious of EMI after everything at Trident which, I mean, valid.

-Mary out here recognizing her and Fred’s relationship was crumbling, accepted it and hugged him when he came out. We love a good support system.

-When in Australia, they had to go on foot to their venue due to a festival taking place. No cars could pass. But Freddie being extra, he was driven through in a limo while drinking champagne.

Edit #2

-Fred was being driven to the studio and they crashed so he went to a nearby house to use their phone...in a silk kimono with Queen written on the back...almost dressed in full stage attire. They let him in, made him tea and chatted.

-During their show at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Brian’s amp exploded and he ran over to tell Freddie but it was in his mic pretty much so everyone heard him panicing. Fred waved Bri away saying “Oh, just jump around a bit and the silly bastards won’t know the difference!”

-If Fred walked somewhere, a car would follow him with the door open in case he got tired. This boy is so extra I swear to god....

-I ALMOST FORGOT!! They had clocks as promo items for News of the World and they sounded kind of fancy so I looked it up and.....

Bitch...I low-key want one.

Edit #3

-That feeling when Roger could not confirm but didn’t doubt there being dwarves with cocaine at the Jazz debut party.

-In Munich recording the Game, the boys would split off to do their own thing after recording for the day. Freddie would explore the gay club scene while the others got drinks, dinner and a club then would meet back up with Freddie at the hotel. Taylor’s suite (not sure if it’s Roger or Crystal tbh) was the HH....the hetero hangout and Freddie’s was the PPP...the Presidential Pouff Parlour.

-John was nicknamed Ostrich because ‘He’s was like a bird who stays quiet until it finally lays a perfect egg.’ Kinda wish there was more about John in this book tbh

-the author really out here typing Deakey....unbelievable. Either Deacy or Deaky, binch. Come on.

-According to Crystal, Roger had his drum case be a close up of his face in case he had amnesia and needed to know what he looked like but we all know the truth, Rog 👀

-During a late night drinking sesh, one of the crew put on the Flash Gordon soundtrack and John, shit faced, asked who it was.

Edit #4

-Apprently Cool Cat was the first song written for/on Hot Space and Brian wasn’t a huge fan of it or Back Chat because it wasn’t heavy enough. Adding onto that, Staying Power and Body Language were thought to be too gay and Bri wanted things to be for everyone of different persuasions. Brian....let the gays have something.

-With the Works and Hot Space being my top two Queen albums...I was disappointed how much was just blown over with the recording process tbh.

-Paul Prenter was a massive cunt but everyone knows that.

-John was busted after a Phil Collins concert because he was drunk driving. He was driving his new Porsche but then got his license suspended for a year. Brian was a guest DJ for a radio show where he played Stevie Wonder’s Don’t Drive Drunk and dedicated the song to “John, whom some of you may know has had a little problem with his car recently.’

-Freddie’s pick up line for Jim was ‘how big is your dick’....I mean, in a way, it worked??? Iconic.

-Roger owned up to having their sound guy set false sound limits for the groups before them during Live Aid so when Queen went on, they were the loudest.

Edit #5, the last one since I finished the book

-Paul Prenter should have had someone kick him in the shins tbh fuck that guy

-Brian met Anita through a Eastenders event and he was gushing about how much he loved the show since Chrissie had him watch it then invited her to Wembley which she turned him down.

-Also fast forward to the later half of the 90′s, Anita helped Brian get into therapy for his depression and other emotional matters. We love a supportive queen.

-When the book finally talks more about John and it’s him saying the We Will Rock You musical sucked and he having an affair with a 25 year old erotic dancer like come on my dude....why couldn’t I be her??? But for real, I looked into it and found an article and wowza. When sd!Deaky be an actual thing????

-The press’ harassment of Freddie and his inner circle during his last years is absolutely horrendous to read about tbh. I think it was Roger (feel free to correct me on that if I’m wrong) who crashed his car because the camera flashes temporarily blinded him when he was trying to visit Freddie.

-Also Freddie was able to see the Bohemian Rhapsody clip from Wanye’s World since Mike Myers sent him a tape. Bri and Fred watched it and according to Brian, Freddie loved it and sent his seal of approval.

There’s the things I found interesting reading this biography. If you’ve read it or have any other fun facts, add them on my dudes!

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #john deacon #freddie mercury #brian may #damn this post got a bit long huh

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nightcoremoon · 4 years ago

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here's some controversy that has nothing to do with social issues.

a lot of people hate the band five finger death punch. saying those words provoked a visceral response in half the people reading this, and a "who?" in the other half. they're a groove metal band; similar to slipknot, mudvayne, disturbed, all that remains, system of a down, korn, and killswitch engage. they're one of those really controversial bands that are hated because they're ~not real metal~ by dumbshits who think that NWOBHM is the only valid metal genre. even though england ruined metal and punk but that's a conbfetsation for another day.

now, if you just don't like metal, that's fine. I don't expect everyone to like every genre. so obviously you won't like them, or any band in the genre. obviously. and these are not the people who are being targeted with this post. no, this goes to those who love metallica, ozzy, megadeth, slayer, pantera, testament, opeth, tool, manowar, meshuggah, children of bodom, cannibal corpse, fear factory, mercyful fate: this is to the people who love metal. now, I say this as one of us, but metalheads are one of the most judgmental groups of people in history. and frequently I find that metalheads make the same remarks in regards to their opinions on five finger death punch.

they do nothing but covers. they just yell and cuss. forty year old men with teenage angst. bad musicianship. they look stupid. they fuck their sisters and daughters. they sold out to the military. they're gay. they do too many ballads. they're redneck bait. they're toxic masculinity and macho personified. they rely on guest stars to carry their songs. they're talentless hacks.

these are all complaints I've heard multiple times from multiple people. and frankly I'm sick of it. I'm sick of hearing the bullshit complaints rather than the ACTUAL REASONS why they aren't the best band in the world. which I'll go through now.

they have an overreliance on breakdowns as if they were a post-hardcore band but they're not. breaking benjamin also skirts the line between post-grunge metal and post-hardcore and have many breakdowns, but the difference is that BB's breakdowns have math rock roots and use different patterns that syncopate well. five finger's breakdowns are... eighth notes. it's the difference between, say, black veil brides- who have excellent syncopated breakdowns- and as I lay dying, who have shitty and boring breakdowns. the only difference is that AILD has blast beats (and is fronted by an abusive asshole), and five finger has... ivan growling threats or whatever because they think that it sounds cool to have metal blaring while he says shit like "you wanna disrespect me? I will slap you so fucking hard you'll feel like you kissed a freight train, fuck you," or "if there was ever a time for you to back the fuck up it's right fuckin here and right fuckin now" or "it's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog," or "in the end we're all just chalk lines on the concrete, drawn only to be washed away; in the time that I've been given, I am what I am", etc, all preceding screams. and no these are not exaggerations, these are literally exact quotes. there's also one that plays radio chatter from the military while he goes "hut hut oorah", which is different slightly. and in any case, they have done nearly a hundred different solos over their career, there is NO REASON for them to have such a ridiculous amount of breakdowns. they rival memphis may fire in that regard, but MMF actually has great breakdowns. churko is a metal producer, NOT a hardcore producer, and they sound empty when you strip out the vocals.

sometimes they will overuse a chorus, and hit the pop music pitfalls of having a song that's over half chorus. I'm sure they did this so the label would be happy with singles because the music industry is a commercialized garbage fire and holding it against the artists would be so fucking stupid especially since tool (the best metal band in existence) fucking said it best, "all you know about me is what I sold you, I sold out long before you ever knew my name, I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit, then you bought one; I've got some advice for you little buddy, before you point your finger you should know that I'm the man and if I'm the man then he's he man and you're the man as well so you can take that fucking finger and shove it up your ass". translation; the fact that you know a band at all means that they sold out to even exist in the first place because that's what selling out is. so even this complaint I have that sometimes they have repeated chorus is more of a complaint about a music industry which dumbs things down to sell radioplay to the lowest common denominator, which EVERY SINGLE ARTIST IS GUILTY OF. so moving on.

sometimes they'll have songs which are fairly simple from a harmonic/mechanical standpoint. opening verse chorus verse chorus solo bridge chorus chorus ending. verse goes some mix of eighth and quarter notes and rests in 4:4, solo is just the vocal line of the chorus, bass and drums are nonexistent and only serve to be a melodic backbone, and the music only exists to serve the lyrics... oh wait I can make the exact same arguments about metallica, rage against the machine, pantera, disturbed, and a hundred other bands. those guys aren't hated as much as five finger. hmm. wonder why.

the lyrics are often angsty. namely that they deal with honor, government corruption, mental illness, we live in a society, religious corruption, abandonment issues, recovering from toxic relationships, hey wait a minute these are all just insanely common topics for metal songs!

they usually play in the same key- wait shit every band has a favored key.

they do a lot of covers- wait shit they have literally more ALBUMS than covers.

(yeah that's weird to me too, but they only did a new level by pantera, from out of nowhere by faith no more, bad company by bad company, mama said knock you out by LL cool J, house of the rising sun by the animals, gone away by offspring, and blue on black by kenny wayne shepard... that's 7. they have 8 albums now.)

so shut the fuck up forever about the cover songs. metallica and the deftones and a perfect circle all had fucking cover ALBUMS, van halen only has a career because of the kinks, and every single rock band in the world is just ripping off the beatles, pink floyd, black sabbath, the who, led zeppelin, and cream. pick a legitimate reason to hate on a band, hypocrite.

alright what else...

"they're gay"

I'm not gonna dignify that with a response.

"they suck"

so does your favorite band. boom roasted.

"they're bad at music"

I'd like to see you do better then.

"they sold out to the military"

no they support the veterans and the troops; they fucking hate the military if you pay any attention at all. they believe in the good parts of the military that the government pays half our taxes to make us believe. you're not better than anyone else just because you see through one specific piece of propaganda because odds are you're blinded by another dozen. they write songs about how war is hell and how when vets come home they should be treated better. and anyway when you're in the dog eat dog world of the music industry hey guess what you need a market to sell to or else it's back to baskin robbins. I don't blame them for one second. if I had the option of endorsing cops to pay my bills you bet your ass I'll fly a blue lives matter flag and sell my soul to make money, and then donate shit to the black lives matter movement. flying a flag is worthless if I can do actual good with the money that those dumbasses send in. and name better irony than fighting to abolish a group that pays me to do it go on I'll wait.

"you're just a fanboy"

a) it's fangirl but metal elitists don't give a shit about the LGBTQ and b) just because I like a band doesn't in any way diminish the validity of my statements and any bias I might have is easily countered by whatever bias you might have and c) they're not even my favorite band you idiot I just think there's way worse out there just like I think it's unfair to say nickelback is the worst band in existence when drunk mom rock like hinder buckcherry savingabel and kidrock exists, and limp bizkit is standing right there, and d) they're not even the worst groove metal band, just look at fucking lamb of god, and e) if I was a fangirl I wouldn't have pointed out the flaws you fucking brainless troglodyte, and f) even if they were my favorite band in the world it doesn't matter if you think they suck because music taste is subjective anyway you goddamn moron. those guys write their own music, play their own music, perform their own music, and they love their fanbase more than most other bands. andrew biersack and kellin quinn and pepper keenan and glenn danzig and liam gallagher and axl rose and van halen and ted nugent and kurt cobain HATE their fans, or at least are huge fucking assholes. but not five finger. jeremy played until he literally broke his back; he's as devoted as phil collins, and if he made like atreyu and sang while drumming he'd be singing from a wheelchair, or like dave grohl when he broke his leg right in the middle of a concert, went to the hospital and got set and put in a cast, THEN CAME RIGHT BACK TO THE FUCKING SHOW AND PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG IN A CAST AND WHEELCHAIR. oh but wait, people say phil collins and dave grohl suck too, and turn around and suck mustaine's dick even though he's the biggest asshole in thrash metal behind tom araya and drunk james hetfield. point being, just because x doesn't like y doesn't diminish z's opinion.

"the singer fucked his daughter lol lol his grandchild is his son too lol lol his daughter is his wife lol lol it's funny because rednecks and incest lol lol" he's from colorado not alabama you dumb motherfuckers, and all the lol incest in georgia jokes are rooted in good ol yankee classism. also the guitarist is hungarian so the american redneck jokes don't even fuckin work. shut the hell up, you have all of the intellectual capacity of a common bog leech.

you can dislike the band. you can say you don't like it. you can say that you'd rather listen to different music. that's fine! that's okay! listen to justin bieber if you like him, listen to taylor swift if you like her, listen to new kids on the block if you want! I don't care! but stop expressing your opinions that you stole from someone else as fact. all you're doing is meme bandwagoning so you can find a community because you don't have the social skills necessary to meet people through the things you love so instead you try to pull serotonin out of making other people feel as miserable as you do.

with that being said, fuck all of the annoying dudebro douchebags who listen to the band and show 5FDP next to the confederate flag, blue lives matter flag, don't tread on me flag, punisher skull, trump sticker, and the crossed assault rifles on the back of your truck. you're all shit for reasons other than your music taste.

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greenlightmusicreviews2 · 4 years ago

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Hyperion - St. Lucia | Album Review • 7/10

Now Playing: Hyperion by electro-pop outfit St. Lucia.

I feel like where we fit in and where we're unique is that what we do is positive, but it's also not preaching to you or hitting you over the head with a message. I think it makes you feel positive.

- Jean-Philip Grobler (2018)

Bright, dancing keys - big, reverb-drenched drums - and bright, energetic vocals is how Hyperion, the third album from St. Lucia, electro-pop artist extraordinaire, begins.

“Bigger” is a heavy dose of the feel-good pop music that Jean-Philip Grobler - St. Lucia bandleader - is so intent on delivering. In his own words:

“I think that we need more positivity,” [Grobler] concludes. “Not in a brain-dead way where we don't acknowledge problems, but rather to show there's a way to overcome them. You can make reactionary music that is negative and aggressive, but I gravitate towards the things that feel more inspirational. Social change has often come from a positive force, not an anarchistic one. How can you make your life the most enriched positive thing that it can possibly be?”

Not every song sounds like the feel good hit of the summer, though every song does carry this quality of positivity. Even in darker sounding songs like “A Brighter Love,” where these dark, introspective synths glisten below Grobler’s lilted South African tenor, with partner-in-crime Patti Beranek offering her vocal talents in the chorus where the song “finds [its] way to a brighter love” complete with handclaps and sonic burps that remind me of Chi Ali’s repetitive uh - come on! on Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours (Revisited).” On a similar note, the fourth track “Walking Away” is as aggressive as it gets on Hyperion which has the memorable line “the summer days are numbered.”

“Walking Away” brings me to the unabashed 1980s synth-pop influence that is all over this record.

I had a friend tell me once that the 1980s was one of the most influential periods for pop culture - especially for music, basically saying that a lot of what we hear from many artists today, you can pick out the influence from ‘80s musical trends. I don’t think that’s a totally unfair claim to make - I think a lot of rock acts from the 2010s certainly had a neo-hair/glam metal way about them; there is of course the Lady Gaga/Katy Perry comparison to Madonna; and the wave of synth-oriented acts like St. Lucia.

You can hear the ‘80s influence often in the musical themes and motifs. The triple-threat of “Walking Away,” “Tokyo” and “Gun” are all very reminiscent of that cool mix of new wave synth and funk guitar with some big nods to classic rock of the 1970s. Take a song like “Gun,” for example, the faux-horns and the triumphant dun-dun-dun-dun electric keyboard that would not sound out of place on a latter-day Phil Collins record, and with a chorus that is achingly catchy. In fact, a lot of the album’s best moments manage to combine an older, traditional pop styling with a bit of psychedelic moments that are taken straight from Dark Side of the Moon. In particular, “Tokyo” and “Gun” both feature these dazzling and winding synth leads that remind me of the VCS 3 synth used on “Any Colour You Like.”

I want to highlight that line of thought - what Hyperion does best is blend traditional pop styling with a tinge of psychedelia that comes out in songs like “Paradise Is Waiting” with it’s sunny gospel-style choir and lyrics like:

Every night I dream about a man who takes my place Tells me to go up, up into the highest mountain In the dream I wait, among the lonely ancient beings ’Til I hear that voice, telling me to come to paradise

“Paradise Is Waiting”

“Paradise Is Waiting” is of course, one of a few songs featuring, again, the Pink Floyd-esque synthesizers, which brings me to “Tokyo,” where the synth comes in at around the halfway mark and just takes the song to the next level.

One of the album’s biggest highlights for me is “Tokyo,” a love song for that popular Japanese metropolis. The drums are perfectly understated, and the synth work is tastefully done with gorgeous vocals that are stacked and harmonized to perfection. The hook is catchy and not in the way that other songs are where it can be gratingly so.

Later on in the record, it does lose a little bit of steam. “China Shop” is good, though the annoying synth lead imitating something that I think is supposed to sound Chinese does not do it for me. A lot of the back end of this record begin with interesting ideas and sounds, and there are some great, lush and atmospheric instrumental passages (intro to “Next To You,” all of “Last Dance”) that don’t lead anywhere that makes it enough of a satisfying listen, and often just devolve into cliches by album’s end. Do we really need another song about “saving the last dance?” And “Next To You” has a verse where the descending chord progression has been done to death and reminds me of “Overkill” by Men At Work.

Although the group does occasionally fall into instrumental and lyrical cliches mentioned before, there are some poignant moments where Grobler displays his talent for writing thoughtful lyrics.

Apparently there’s a bit on this record that’s meant to be confrontational and political. “Gun” for example is an examination on the issue of gun control and power dynamics between men and women - however, there are times when Grobler’s lyricism is just too vague and toothless for any meaningful dissection of what he wants to get across. It’s interesting that “Gun” is the song that he chooses to make as an example, because there are other songs that convey his political messaging much better. A song like “Next To You,” which I wasn’t terribly impressed with, does have some of the most direct and interesting lyricism on the record:

And millions of people keep checking their phones As a Labrador keeps licking the bone That it hid in the earth 5 years ago The director tells the actress to say her lines quick There ain’t no time here to overthink The world’s changed, and it’s changing so quickly And can’t we build a skyscraper 20 miles thick And fill it up with all the shit that we bought At the president’s impeachment sale

“Next to You”

Even the album closer “You Should Know Better” manages to maybe convey some kind of message to the political and upper class in America.

Hyperion at times manages to reach the potential that its leader seems to so passionately reach for: music that is positive, meaningful, thoughtful and provocative in a proactive way - but sometimes it just amounts to pleasant-enough sounding electro-pop bedroom hits. In a featured piece in Riff Magazine, there’s a very touching and illuminating part of the profile where Jean-Philip is utterly candid in his experience recording this album:

[Grobler] felt like pop music stopped being about being truthful and inspiring others. “I take what I do very seriously, and I didn’t know how to bridge that gap,” he said. “I felt like what I was trying to make was so at-odds with where the music world is heading. Sometimes I wondered if it was even possible. It’s like climbing up a sheer rock face and not seeing another ledge to hang off of.”

Riff Magazine | Sept. 25, 2018

The back-and-forth struggle between the need for honesty and truth in your music, and the desire for artistic relevancy, was clearly on display on this record. No doubt the music industry has long been a pretty machine that spits out pop hit after pop hit while disposing of artists when they have no use for them anymore, but there are a lot of “pop” artists that still manage to create totally compelling works while not necessarily becoming the Billboard darlings, or while even being critical/commercial chart toppers. St. Lucia, and Grobler in particular, totally appear passionate about the music they create, and I hope that on future records that they can just run with it with no pretense of who to please other than their following and the muses in their heads. That’s when a lot of the best music is made.

Hyperion: 7/10

Favorite songs: "Paradise Is Waiting" • "Walking Away" • "Tokyo" • "Gun"

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onestowatch · 5 years ago

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‘Happy Endings With An Asterisk’ Is a Brilliant Showcasing of AUGUST 08′s Versatility

Originally known for his work as a critically acclaimed singer, arranger, producer, and background vocalist, Los Angeles native Ray Jacobs -- referred to as AUGUST 08 -- has certainly paved his own way in the industry since the debut of his first EP, Father, in 2018. After making a strong and impressive mark with this previous project, the pivotal member of Red Bull Records and the 88rising collective is back with Happy Endings with an Asterisk, a new EP that showcases the dynamic style that got us hooked to begin with. Though classified as a contemporary R&B artist, AUGUST 08 continues to blur the lines of what it means to be a “traditional” singer in the genre, implementing aspects of pop and rock that only highlight the soul that exudes from his thematic inspiration and melodies.

In Happy Endings with an Asterisk, AUGUST 08 draws on inspirations as diverse as Cocaine 80s, Phil Collins, Snoop Dogg, and Claude Von Stroke which allow him to develop a distinct style that paints a singular musical backdrop with raw and relatable storytelling at its core -- ultimately leading you to form a deeper connection with AUGUST 08 and his personal experiences. He shared,

“It’s my truth. It’s not negative to say, ‘I’m not always happy.’ I’m being honest. If you’re always searching for something, you remain in a constant state of progression. All of these songs have a message of duality.”

Though surrounded by a seemingly simple, rhythmic drum beat and harmony, AUGUST 08 delves into this project with “Spiral,” a track that addresses issues of drug addiction and depression. With contributing vocals from Wynne, he begins this EP by introducing us to one of the most intimate parts of his life. On the lead track “Good Girls,” he teams up with longtime collaborator Duckwrth to convey a story of complicated love. Pairing swooning vocals from AUGUST 08 and a fiery verse from Duckwrth, listeners are fully immersed in the good girl/bad boy saga.

Two prior singles, “Simple Pleasures” featuring Goldlink and “Blood on My Hands” featuring Smino are added to the EP as fan favorites -- and where AUGUST 08’s fluidity in the genre is showcased. On “Simple Pleasures,” Goldlink’s smooth flow is matched with deep drum loops and a style of production that has an intoxicating mix of electronic and funk elements. Similarly, “Blood on My Hands” layers higher pitched vocals from AUGUST over down tempo beats that complement Smino’s addition to the track. Lastly, he rounds out the EP with “Civilized” and “Swim” which are a continuation in lyricism that showcase the renegade spirit and anti-culture approach to AUGUST 08’s artistry.

youtube

Happy Endings with an Asterisk is just a representation of AUGUST 08’s authenticity as an artist. Although he likes to say that he’s just “a street dude who writes pop songs,'' he's giving his listeners a vivid and honest portrayal of his life. And not only has this caused him to win over the hearts and loyalty from fans all over the world, he’s become someone that has lived to create music that is sonically experimental and continues to shift the culture of the industry and its audience.

If you haven’t heard of AUGUST 08 before, now is the perfect time to be introduced. The Happy Endings with an Asterisk EP is out now and available on streaming services globally:

+ Catch AUGUST 08 at 88rising’s Head in the Clouds Festival on Aug. 17 at the LA State Historic Park:

#august 08 #hip hop #soul #88rising #album reviews #duckwrth #goldlink #smino

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torley · 1 year ago

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Meet the owner of the 'In the Air Tonight' car that plays the Phil Collins classic on repeat Text and photos by Stacie Joy It's very possible that you at least heard the "In the Air Tonight" car on East Village streets this holiday season — you know, the 1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL with an arena-ready sound system that plays the 1981 Phil Collins mega-hit on repeat. A mutual neighborhood friend led me to meet the car's owner — Don Garcia, a Bushwick-based plumber. We had questions for Garcia after the car was spotted in the East Village on Dec. 14... the subsequent EVG video clip was viewed nearly 120,000 times on Twitter ... Saturday night is not over until the ‘In the Air Tonight’ mobile makes a dance stop pic.twitter.com/IB89cJRyVd— evgrieve (@evgrieve) December 15, 2019 The two men shown in the video were walking by, and spontaneously felt compelled to start dancing along to the song, featuring that epic drum break, now played at sports arenas around the world. (Gothamist has more on this dance story here.) This holiday season, Garcia initially used the car — and its sound system — for a toy drive at the St Mary’s Healthcare System for Children. He does the Toys for Tots with the Legendary Muscle Cars Auto Club. Garcia seemed surprised but appreciative of the attention. He answered some questions before letting me do a ride-along in the East Village as he demonstrated the newly wired sound system and lighting. And of course, playing "In the Air Tonight." (For the record, Garcia did not wear any ear plugs, though I did for this trip)... How long have you been doing this? I have had this car for seven years, working on it all that time. But as far as the music and lights part, I started [on Dec. 13] — the day before the videos surfaced. Why this song? I was playing this song because it’s such a good song to tune the car stereo and speakers to. It’s a song that makes you want to go out and do something you didn’t think you could. It was me and Lito, the guy who wired my car. We’d been in Williamsburg earlier testing it out, and we were driving through the East Village when these two guys came out of a bar and requested, well demanded, that we put the song up loud, so we did. They jumped in front of the car and started dancing. We opened the doors at the light, pumped up the sound, and there were about 30 or 40 people standing there watching. When the song ended, we drove off. Do you play any others? Yes. I like rap, Spanish music, older stuff with no bad language. I like family-friendly stuff. Any conversations with the NYPD? No. Do you play the same song the entire time over and over? It's a good song and has a clear sound. People will stop and look, especially at night when you can see the lights. Garcia also said that he never gets tired of the song. It was interesting to be in the passenger seat as we rolled through the neighborhood with lights flashing and the song pumping. Lot of bass, and, of course, the famous drum solo. People waved, they pointed, danced, smiled and gave us thumbs up. A lot of people whipped out their phones and started filming. I didn’t see anyone react negatively. Sound & Music https://evgrieve.com/2019/12/meet-owner-of-in-air-tonight-car-that.html

#pinterest #Sound & Music

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stone-man-warrior · 4 years ago

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January 16: 2021: 4:51 pm:

Half-past a Bradbury.

Raytheon Thirty.

Witch Hunt ~ Rush Moving Pictures Album

Pagans (Pay-Guns)

War of the Worlds: A radio broadcast transmission.

Power Slide can be Automatic Transmission Fluid. ATF. (at Walmart, the sales associates always specify that the Transmission Fluid is Synthetic. There are dozens of brands of motor oil, and other “Oil”, in dozens of application configurations, and only few brands of Transmission Fluid. Truth is, it’s ALL synthetic, so, why does Walmart sales representative specify that the Automatic Transmission Fluid is Synthetic, when all of the oil is synthetic?)

================================================

Question:

On the internet, there are people who are able to walk you through a computer demonstration, with software that records the activity on the screen. Many people have such software, it seems as a perfectly good idea, a socially redeeming and life enhancing technology, one that is not readily available to everyone though. There is illusion that such software is available, because we can see that there are some people who have and use such screen recording software, the kind of thing that can easily demonstrate what kinds of mysterious problems a person is experiencing on their computers, if such software were really available to people who need it. But, that is not available in stores, and common sense would seem to suggest that such screen recorders should be standard operating system Trouble Shoot Component included from the factory. But it is not included. Only select people have such screen recorder software. It’s a Tesla, they made some, but you can‘t get one, because it’s an illusion.

Why are Screen Recorder Software not made available as part of the operating system for Trouble Shoot Diagnosis Tool? Why are Screen Recorder Software not available in stores? Why do only select people have and use Screen Recorder Software publicly online for demonstration of Screen Activity?

====================

Other:

Once the all of the books, printed knowledge, of all kinds, the whole Dewey Decimal System, all categories, is all collected and burned, there will only be digital Gnosis false knowledge available that can change on the fly.

The Christian terror pirates have been collecting all of the old books and destroying them.

The Fahrenheit 451 story is an instruction from the Vatican to collect and destroy the knowledge.

Think of the practicality of such an endeavor.

In the event that people needed to know how to turn iron ore, into a cast tool of some kind, or into a piece of steel, there is no way that will be available to learn to do that.

Consider the same with Aluminum. Instructions about how to collect the raw material, and cast a useful tool will be gone.

Therein lies the secret of why gold (AU; Hey You ~Pink Floyd; Hey Zeus... “Jesus! We have to start over, from the beginning! The books are all gone”; “Look... they have books on sail at the Walmart. Jesus!, look at the price, Vince.”) is so valuable, and is the reason only few, select people can afford to get some of it. When the shit goes sideways, Gold, is the only mineral that can be easily, and readily transformed into a tool that can be used for cutting, digging, can conduct electricity, and is recyclable such that the tool can change seasonally as needed at a given time, then change back to the tool it was before.

Take the books away. Make sure no one can afford Gold. The Pirates collect and hoard the books and the Gold. In event that something goes wrong with the global terror pirate plan, then, the Pirates have ensured that only Christian terror pirates will survive the meltdown, to start over. Gold is a fail-safe plan for terror pirates of the Vatican.

Practicality and common sense is out the window when seeing the truth about Gold. It’s super useful stuff, but we only use it in vein. Decorative Blood Gold, makes for a shiny target to shoot at, for pirating more gold. Pirate Mining is a Jewelry Store at the Fred Meyer, and a customer with a chipped debit card.

♣ “Jesus! It’s on Sail at the Fred Meyer Jewelry Store too!”

♥ “Yeah, but look at the price, Vincent.”

====================

The list:

Starts with:

Bill Gates/Eddie Van Halen, a team, one comes with the other, in 1971. Heathkit Company is Hijacked, Microsoft is born.

Elizabeth Windsor & Philip Mountbaten coin the phrase: “With assistance from two-squirrels and an owl, we shall rule the world”, while talking about a plan to eliminate all but 500,000 people on the planet, to start over, with use of nitrous oxide as a primary weapon. Invisible in every way, has no color, no odor, can’t taste it, it’s invisible, the victims will “Die Laughing”. The band Genisis is born, Phil Collins, both War Drum, and Singer/Messenger is out front, but behind cover of symbolic weapons on stage, as the voice of Philip Mountbaten calling the shots at the battlefields in USA.

All of that occurred on a basis made possible by a much other ground work that already had taken place, including that at the time, thousands or paratrooper Canadian terror soldiers had already landed in Southern California, and established themselves at residences of murdered victims, and most of the police stations in So Cal had already been taken, and manned with those Canadians, some of whom were Royal Canadian Mounted Police, specially trained as police, who could seamlessly infiltrate and blend in with US police at the stations, at neighboring police stations, on calls, in the battlefield that was the greater Los Angeles area at the time, late 1960′s early 1970′s. Many of the police stations nearer to Hollywood Studios areas had already been taken over by SAG actors, so that the Entertainment Industry could do as they please with sex trafficking and drug trafficking without interference from police. The Actors became the police, result of installation of Winchell’s Doughnuts all around the greater Los Angeles area.

The List, continued:

(Out of order here. Timing is not part of the list)

Steve Wozniak shows up. “The Wizard of Woz”. A skinny, very thin young man. He promotes the Cal Jam Concerts. Hundreds of thousands of victims are drawn to the enormous “Stadium Events”, Colossal Roman style terror is born. Cal Jam is among the first attacking done by the “Green Jello” terror cell, hence the name, “Cal Jam”. The “Three Percent Taking” became a model with Cal Jam for other such events, where 3% percent of the audience is killed, wallets and purses of three percent of the audience murdered there, are processed for Identifying the victims so that SAG can “Cast” replacement impostors, with help from CHP and California DMV data base information cross-referencing. The impostor replacement Cast begins to Vote for the shills that SAG arranges for them to vote for, on voting ballots.

Every once in while, at Alouette HQ, Leon Russel comes by, and all of the women go completely berserk when he does. Later, Leon performs a song called Tight Rope, a song about more than the cover story, and the cover story is all true on that one. The song was written by a ten year old boy who was held captive at Alouette HQ at the time.

Tony Iommi comes by Alouette HQ, stays there, for far too long, has a powder preference, loses two finger tips from angry ten year old boy, who is tired of Tony Iommi being at Allouette HQ. BFK was invented at that time, by the ten year old boy who was tired of Tony Iommi and his powder.

Mama Cass dies on the front porch at Alouette HQ, choked on the ham sandwich made with lettuce, she specified there would be no lettuce on the ham sandwich, was a colossal bitch, always pointing fingers and blaming the ten year old boy for everything that was going wrong, so, he put lettuce in the ham sandwich, and Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise. Mama died on the porch, the Green Sheet newspaper and LA Times were in conflict about where and how she died.

Ann & Nancy Wilson looked on, changed the name of their band from White Sail to Heart.

Ten year old boy is angry about Allouette HQ activities, writes the song “If looks could kill”. Heart records the song, makes tons of money, ten year old boy gets jack.

Ten year old boy has two best friends, Howard Wilson is one of them for many years. Howard became a LA area police officer ten years after.

MKUltra program was a thing, top secret special training organization of federal government, a Mr. Gottleib was in charge of that. He may have lived in Las Vegas. Details are sketchy. It seems as Mr. Gotlieb was killed, or taken as a captive prisoner, his son, Jack Gottleb was the other best friend of the ten year old bot (boy), and also wound up at Alouette HQ. Jack vanished at some point, when he and his mother Pete (Petie) were said to have moved to Las Vegas. Pete used to make the most awesome spaghetti made with tube shaped noodles, she called it Goulosh. Then, they both vanished.

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was kept in a closet in Jack Gottlieb’s house after the Jack moved away.

“Skeeter” moved in the house next to where The Wilson Sisters lived. He was difficult to get along with, was also a ten year old boy.

Leon Russel did not like it when people called him by his name, so, all of the Allouette HQ members (Green Jello Central Command) decided that “Leopold, Leopold. Leopold” would be the proffered method of addressing General Russell. Most Allouette HQ members adopted a three word repetition to say as their name, sex passion style.

Ted Nugent shows up, wants to know where is Mama Cass?

Dean Zelinsky takes over as leader at Allouette HQ. Ten year old boy begins to design and work on guitars for famous rock stars and not so famous ones. Requests from Eddie Van Halen to paint something special came in. and the ten year old boy began to design the Union Jack he was looking for on the guitar, scrambled egg version. The thing was not finished when he came to pick it up, so, he peeled off the masking tape of what had been painted, and that was the finished product after that.

Ten year old boy winds up in Century City on the top of a very tall building by helicopter for Astronaut training at a real astronaut training facility of MKUltra, and also at Los Angeles Harbor in a abandon US navy boat, one of many, that had been converted to a sound recording booth inside of a diving decompression chamber. Very scary. There were many ten year old boys and girls brought there, not all of them survived reaching the recording studio on the boat. The boys and girls had to dive beneath the boat from one dive port in the bottom of the boat, to a different dive port at the other end of the boat. “You need a bag to survive” were the instructions, and “Swim that way” as someone pointed out in which direction that other dive port was at in the abandon US navy boat at Los Angeles Harbor.

The members of Pink Floyd come to Allouette HQ. There is much talk, lots of musicians, Elton John was there, Jim Morison was there, lots of musicians. Ten year old boy winds up in a stone castle in Europe in a dungeon, for three months, escapes, stays in some Dutch style windmills in a field waiting to see if someone will drive by to hop in a truck to get out of there. Gets a ride to an airport, no one speaks English, points at a map to airport police. Tickets to California are provided, boy goes home, no one knows who he is, everything is different there around Allouette HQ.

Ian Anderson comes by, likes the songs that were written in the navy boat, gives the ten year old boy a satellite telephone, to write songs, and call them in.

Ten year old boy winds up on stage at Hollywood Palladium at a Doors concert singing “Ben“ from Micheal Jackson. Is carried offstage, put into a trash truck where there were four police officers also inside, one was still alive, gave his wallet to the boy, encouraged the boy to find a way out of the trash truck. Boy gets out, only wearing underwear, goes to the Brown Derby, to get help for the officers and some clothes. Gets a ride home.

After return from the castle dungeon, at school, fifth grade, after summer break, the assignment was to write an essay about what you did over the summer. The ten year old boy made up a story about someone else’s summer vacation. got a A+ on the assignment.

Someone gives the ten year old boy two Moog Synthesis and a VOX amplifier. Some asshole steals the tubes from the amplifier and puts them into the television. That is when the Pink Floyd came and off to the castle dungeon in Europe, this is out of order.

Boy stands on the edge of a volcano at Pompeii to hold the “Powdered Water” for the people inside of the volcano making the film Live at Pompeii.

Ten year old boy while at Allouette HQ is told to study the Bugs Bunny episode of the singing frog in the shoe box. Jim Morison and some others take the boy to Capital Records in Hollywood, after he builds a model of a “Flea Circus” inside of a shoe box, as he is told to do. The group goes to the reception area, and the boy is told to explain how the Flea Circus model works inside of the shoe box he made. The group of people is told to go up to the top floor.

Jim Morison jumps out of the window of the Capitol Records building.

The boy jumps out of the window after Jim Morison does, clings onto some drapes, lands on the next floor down in the window, runs away, sees Jim roll into a storm drain in the street, can‘t help, drives the black convertible with push button transmission, back home.

Ten year old boy goes to school, tells all of the adults what is happening, no one believes the ten year old boy.

Every once in awhile, some black limousines show up at school, to take the ten year old boy to many field trips, then return to school before the end of the school day. To a place in Palm Springs at Hwy 111 where the road takes a sharp 90 degree direction change at the center of Palm Springs, is a house with a pool that has glass walls around one side, and a fish aquarium is there, so you swim and the fish are right there on the other side of the glass in the pool. The boy was taken there, where there were other MKUltra ten year old boys and girls from other schools, at that place. The boy never went into the house, always stayed in the pool. Refused to go into the house. The house was round.

The ten year old boy had learned of the nitrous gas, that it was rocket fuel, was volatile, and started to carry around a giant size Zippo lighter all of the time. At the school, the teacher could smell the Ronson fluid, but did not take the Zippo away. There were “Cloak Rooms” at the school between the class rooms, where the supplies, books, students put their lunch pails and rain coats into the “Cloak Rooms”. Every once in awhile, the girls were told to go into the cloak room. When that happened, the teacher would point at the ten year old boy, and then to the Cloak Room. “Zippo” to the Cloak Room”. So, the boy opens the door, the girls are in their underwear, and the boy lights the Zippo, collects the girls, and their clothes, to go back to the classroom, where the girls get dressed after that.

There was a mean German nurse that worked at the school health department, where the boy was often sent after opening the cloak room door.

The boy became the Audio/Video Monitor at the school, was in charge of bringing the movie projector and the overhead projectors from the AV Department to the classrooms on movie days in each class. Sometimes, the boy was also window monitor, to open and close the big tall, double hung windows in the classroom.

That’s all for now.

=============

1-17-2021: 11:10 am:

Allouette HQ is a period of time at a particular place. The place has symbolically magnetic qualities such that they are capable of drawing in terror leadership like the shine of gold nugget in a creek bed draws a prospector to it.

“Gone Postal” was born there. “The Stork” birthed itself, at Allouette HQ.

It began in 1968, reached a peak in around 1974, and petered out by 1978, mission accomplished.

=============

That’s all for now.

===================================

9:36 pm:

Important local conditions information:

Use of the phrase “Check-In“ while trying to make contact with someone on a text message by cellular phone, will result in a Confusion Service at Monroe’s terror cell, where someone will portray “Deb Monroe”, at a chicken coup, where chickens are kept, the confusion is used to frighten someone who will be shown that a loved one is held captive, in distress, or, as a “Booty Call”, where the phrase Check-In is used to fool federal fools who are far away, refuse to do their own research, rely on the local terrorists to do their research for the federal fools who insist on being fooled all of time because they continue to trust the local authorities, who are Christian Terror Pirates, and are also Screen Actor Guild Actor terror pirate captains who command the Christian terror pirates to do terror activities.

There is absence of helpful people anywhere around here.

There are no possible ways to get in contact with helpful national security caliber of people.

The absence of helpful people extends to the south to Mexico, and to the north to British Columbia.

There are no helpful people of the caliber necessary to stop the further murders of more millions of citizens in any direction for more than one thousand miles.

The west coast of USA is no longer part of USA. It only appears to still be a part of USA. The entire population of the west coast of USA was killed over the past twenty years or so. In California the mass murdering began sooner, in the 1970′s. So, fifty years of mass murdering, replacing with impostors, and voting for the SAG shills on the voting ballots has already happened.

There is no US national Guard any more, on the entire west coast.

Wake the fuck up.

===============

10:09 pm:

I am not able to send important text messaging with my phone. The whole cellular network of towers is hijacked by the terror army, This account is made difficult to use also, takes much effort to write, the keyboard is controlled by people who make the keyboard not work as it should, and many ways to make writing a cry for help such that it is very discouraging to continue to try to get help. All of that happens as I am being poisoned with nitrous gas and other poisons, right now, at this time while I explain this at 10:13 pm on 1-16-2021 I am subject to poison gasses. Everyday by terror soldier at the window, or airplane fly over, or by railroad car pressure gas tank cars on a train driveby and by trucks and cars that release gas in the neighborhood, almost all of the forest animals are all dead, gone, except the ones that are collected from the nearby mountains and brought here to fool the federal fools who insist on being fooled all of the time, by refusing to do their own research, and rely on terrorists to do that for them.

=========================

1-17-2021: 11:31 am:

“Zippo to the Cloak Room”

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theeclecticfactory · 4 years ago

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The Whip of the 80s

My sister and I were baking banana loaf (they’re surprisingly easy to do) one Wednesday night. The kitchen is usually boring and silent at this time, so I decided to play some music. Almost every home architecture attributes the kitchen as a public area and, with my parents in the vicinity, I had to be very careful with my music choice. Being very thoughtful, I “hey Google”d Africa by TOTO, something that would be very much familiar to the Gen X parents. Spotify, by default, plays the Spotify Radio for a specific song when you request for it via Google Assistant. And so the 80s nostalgia train chugged on incessantly with songs like We Built this City, Every Breath You Take, Rosanna, and this iconic anthem of today's generation.

After accidentally rick-rolling myself in the most unfunny way possible, I remembered Estelle Caswell's great analysis of music from the 80s. There’s this artificial sound-processing technique artists of this decade used called gated reverb. And it’s eVERYWHERE. It’s that punchy, almost whip-like sound that you hear in nearly e v e r y song of the 80s. You’ll hear it on a-ha’s Take On Me, Tears for Tears’ Everybody Wants To Rule The World, and Deniece Williams’ Let’s Hear It for the Boy. Oh and literally all Michael Jackson songs.

So what is it with this sound, and why specifically this snappy whip sound?

I think we need to start with how the sound is made. Reverb, in the most basic way possible, is produced by playing an instrument in one side of a sound-reflective room and placing the recording device on the other side. It’s effectively that lingering sound, the sound that gets left behind when you scream in a tile-laden bathroom. It’s close to an echo, but not quite. This is achieved when the sound waves reach your ears at very v e r y small delays that you won’t perceive them as echoes but instead a lingering effect.

This recording technique has been around even before the 80s. Experimental rock bands like Pink Floyd have played around with reverb to heighten the aural atmosphere of their music. This is very prominent on all parts of Shine On You Crazy Diamond and you can hear it to great effect with that iconic guitar riff at the start of Part II.

But the key to understanding this 80s whip sound stems from the gated part of gated reverb, and it was only truly made possible around this time.

You see, gated reverb isn’t a sound that can be reproduced in the natural world. It’s artificial. That whipping, punchy sound is produced by cutting off the volume below a certain threshold and reverb then amplifying the resulting sound. The result of this is that immediate punch sound that whips, disappearing as fast as it cracks. Aurally, there’s no recognizable reverb in the traditional sense. The entire sound is the reverb. It all just sounds like one snapping whip sound because of the gating.

Gated Reverb Explained GIF from How a recording-studio mishap shaped '80s music'

The development of this sound was truly made possible by the great strides in technology brought forth by the turn of the decade. The 80s was prefaced by the digital revolution of the 70s which brought us technologies like integrated circuits (IC) which paved way to (relatively) inexpensive computers. Tech giants today in the names of Apple and Microsoft all trace their roots to this decade. By the 80s, this technological advance trickled to many real-world applications and music production is one of them.

Estelle Caswell of Vox presented this fact on her well-produced (as always) video, How a recording-studio mishap shaped ‘80s music. Back in the 70s, only the big, well-known bands had access to expensive equipment and studios to produce the sound they want for their music—reverb is one such sound. The first-ever application of the gated reverb in pop music was in 1981 when Phil Collins released In The Air Tonight. This is widely considered to be his greatest and most influential work and for good reason—this song paved the way for the decade’s musical character.

In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, the first pop song that used gated reverb

But the breakthrough really only happened with the release of a reverb unit named AMS RMX16 in 1982—the first of its kind to be powered by a microprocessor (yes, it's that chip that runs your computer). This shoebox-sized circuit wizardry allowed for musicians and sound engineers to put reverb on whatever sound they wish. There was no longer any need for renting out expensive studios and elaborate (often bulky) equipment. Suddenly everyone had access to these luxuries, and these luxuries were thoroughly made use of. Gated reverb cracked its whip across the charts. And by across the charts, I meant aCROSS THE CHARTS. Every year from 1983 to 1989 had AT LEAST a month where the chart-topper was a song with a gated reverb drum line. This sound became so quintessentially 80s that artists today (looking at you Bruno Mars) make use of gated reverb to infuse a throwback-ist vibe to their music.

The widespread use of gated reverb might suggest that there has been no resistance to making use of the whip. There was a 1985 cover of That's What Friends Are For by a powerhouse four-way that you'll forget gated reverb even existed. Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight sang the melodramatic song to the top of the 1986 charts. From radio stations to MTV specials and even in kitchens where your mother had probably sang the eponymous line, it's an instant classic. And there's no denying it of that achievement. But doesn't it seem like the song that just sticks out? When you think of 80s music, is it really the one that comes to mind?

Not only is there a gated reverb, but there's a particular mood to both songs. This mood permeates with other songs of the era.

A close listen to Bleachers' Don't Take The Money makes it instantly recognizable. Comparing it to another song of the same era, Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Tears, and there's a tangible connection. Not only is there a gated reverb, but there's a particular mood to both songs. This mood permeates with other songs of the era, only they're not from the same era. Don't Take The Money is from Jack Antonoff's side project Bleachers, from 2017. But the music footprint is so distinctly similar with that mood so very persistent that they just belong so much together. And, I don't know if I'm the only one who hears it, but doesn't a gated reverb snare sound close to people clapping in a concert?

The character is in the beat, the beat is in the drums, and the drums are in gated reverb. It's the punchy drums that whip your feet to the beat.

Arguably, the most iconic song of the decade has to be Every Breath You Take by The Police. Its sweet, simple guitar, bass and drum line accompanied with Sting's smooth vocals make for its deliciously captivating tone; you'll bob your head for days on end. It's the song that you'll gently glide and snap and clap your body to while you cook dinner. Qualitatively, it's not even a sweet song (it's actually about big-brother-esque surveillance) and the mellow bass line isn't really one to dance to, but you dance anyway. If you listen to the song without the drums, it's an entirely different song altogether. The character is in the beat, the beat is in the drums, and the drums are in gated reverb. It's the punchy drums that whip your feet to the beat.

Sting in the music video of Every Breath You Take

Listening to other gated reverb classics like We Built This City, Karma Chameleon, and I Think We're Alone Now exemplifies the 80s mood perfectly. It's the enthusiasm, the tempo, the outpouring energy of these songs punctuated with the gated reverb drum line that make them irresistible to slide and pump and clap to. And that's not even a figure of speech, that gated reverb snare drum is the one you'll clap along to, along thousands of people listening independently like a concert that permeates through space and time. That sound is no coincidence. That pronounced snare drum claps very prominently throughout all those 80s songs. It's a Footloose in each and single one of them. (And yes, Footloose by Kenny Loggins has a gated reverb drum line). Even the mellow Every Breath You Take reeks of the energy. It's this transcendental vigor of energy and dance of most gated reverb songs that enveloped the music scene of the 80s. It's the natural evolution of the disco, albeit a much lively and more electronic evolution.

Going back to the AMS RMX16, there's really more to it than just gated reverb. For everything it is, it's actually a very revolutionary piece of tech.

Another aspect of how 80s music came to be is exactly in HOW it came to be. Going back to the AMS RMX16, there's more to it than just gated reverb. For everything it is, it's actually a very revolutionary piece of tech. Functionally, it only really is a reverberation processor and the world was still long ways far from the studio-in-a-garage technology, but it marks the starting point. Its predecessor, the DMX15R, was the first-ever microprocessor-controlled digital reverberator, the keywords being microprocessor and digital. Before this, the norm was analog sound processing. Pink Floyd made use of the EMS VCS 3, an analog synthesizer for their most famous albums, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.

EMS VCS 3 By The Standard Deviant - https://www.flickr.com/photos/15599859@N06/2285052142/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6359789

This archaic technology looking the likes of early-WW2 air force equipment was released in 1969 and was extremely popular with progressive rock bands. It was a dainty piece of equipment, prone to tuning instabilities and incredibly difficult to use. It was so bad that bands avoided using it for producing the melodic tunes of their music, instead opting for producing electronic background effects and ambient sounds. In contrast, this is how the AMS RMX16 looks:

Before this fantastic piece of music circuitry, really the only effective way to produce and manipulate reverb was through plate reverberation. In essence, sound is transmitted through a large plate of sheet metal from one side then picked up by contact microphones on the other. Reverb time (time before the sound completely fades away) is adjusted by moving framed acoustic tiles, called a damping pad, closer to the metal plate without touching it.

A DIY Plate Reverb Contraption, with man to scale

This hulking contraption is about the size of a large classroom chalkboard, including the wall it's hinged on. At least one person has to be dedicated to operating it as has large moving parts that need to be adjusted to get the much-wanted r e v e r b e r a t i o n w a v e s. With all the fuss in operating reverb machines there was no time for gated reverb to be accidentally created—you'd have had to be very specific in finding that sound if you wanted it.

Gated reverb only really happened by accident when Hugh Padgham, the sound engineer in Peter Gabriels' eponymous third solo album. The sound was picked up by an overhead studio mic that was used as an intercom for the band to communicate with the people in sound processing. It made use of a noise gate that cut off sound below a certain level and a sound compressor which modified the loud and quiet sounds to be closer to each other in level, resulting in that classic whip sound. When the AMS RMX16 came to the scene, it included gated reverb built-in. It made use of a microprocessor to do everything. Instead of having to turn knobs and move huge metal plates to manipulate the sound waves, a push of a button will command the microprocessor to do all that for you. The reverb processor comes built-in with multiple presets that would require significant effort and fine-tuning with previous technologies. No need for the overhead mic and a separate reverb processor; it's all in the box.

This paradigm shift in music production predicated an era of digitally-produced music.

This digital (music) revolution allowed for everyone to achieve that sound in an easily-reproducible way, thus allowing for its proliferation throughout the airwaves and into the lives of everyone who had at least a radio. This paradigm shift in music production predicated an era of electronically-produced music, a wave that proved to be an unstoppable force of nature. Earth, Wind & Fire, a band that rode the disco scene to superstardom, incorporated the electronic sound in their 1981 album Raise! with the sound fully realized in the disco-synth hit in Let's Groove. While their disco roots was still prevalent, that heavily synthesized bassline and intro vocals is undeniably 80s; and the electronic shift that came with the era. It proved irresistible even to bands that were long-standing vanguards of their genre. Jefferson Airplane, a much-loved hardline rock band from the 60s which through its tumultuous history morphed into Jefferson Starship then finally Starship, with that final incarnation completely embracing the commercial, electronic wave of the era—much to the chagrin of their long-time fans. Even The Smiths, a band known for their rejection of synthesizers and dance-pop, couldn't resist the use of electronic wizardry. A listen to their best work, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, and there's that recognizable whipping beat. The appeal was undeniable, and the soundscape forever changed.

Earth, Wind & Fire

Jefferson Airplane, shortly before they became Starship

The Smiths

At this point in time, the banana loaf we baked has long since been completed and consumed. And similarly, that 80s sound has also been widely consumed to the fullest extent of everyone's music palate, completely sickened by that repetitive whip sound that is gated reverb. But the music revolution persists. The culture of electronic music production and digitalized soundwaves lives on until today, and will continue to be alive into the future. So how do you like the taste of it? That banana loaf still lives rent-free in my head, and I'm not complaining at all.

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theeclecticelectrician · 4 years ago

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The Whip of the 80s

My sister and I were baking banana loaf (they’re surprisingly easy to do) one Wednesday night. The kitchen is usually boring and silent at this time, so I decided to play some music. The kitchen being a public area and with my parents in the vicinity, I had to be very careful with my music choice. Being very thoughtful, I “hey Google”d Africa by TOTO, something that would be very much familiar to the Gen X parents. Spotify, by default, plays the Spotify Radio for a specific song when you request for it via Google Assistant. And so the 80s nostalgia train chugged on incessantly with songs like We Built this City, Every Breath You Take, Rosanna, and this iconic anthem of today's generation.

So what is it with this sound, and why specifically this snappy whip sound?

But the key to understanding this 80s whip sound stems from the gated part of gated reverb, and it was only truly made possible around this time.

Gated Reverb Explained GIF from How a recording-studio mishap shaped '80s music'

In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, the first pop song that used gated reverb

Not only is there a gated reverb, but there's a particular mood to both songs. This mood permeates with other songs of the era.

The character is in the beat, the beat is in the drums, and the drums are in gated reverb. It's the punchy drums that whip your feet to the beat.

Sting in the music video of Every Breath You Take

Going back to the AMS RMX16, there's really more to it than just gated reverb. For everything it is, it's actually a very revolutionary piece of tech.

EMS VCS 3 By The Standard Deviant - https://www.flickr.com/photos/15599859@N06/2285052142/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6359789

A DIY Plate Reverb Contraption, with man to scale

This paradigm shift in music production established an era of digitally-produced music.

This digital (music) revolution allowed for everyone to achieve that sound in an easily-reproducible way, thus allowing for its proliferation throughout the airwaves and into the lives of everyone who had at least a radio. This paradigm shift in music production established an era of electronically-produced music, a wave that proved to be an unstoppable force of nature. Earth, Wind & Fire, a band that rode the disco scene to superstardom, incorporated the electronic sound in their 1981 album Raise! with the sound fully realized in the disco-synth hit in Let's Groove. While their disco roots was still prevalent, that heavily synthesized bassline and intro vocals is undeniably 80s; and the electronic shift that came with the era. It proved irresistible even to bands that were long-standing vanguards of their genre. Jefferson Airplane, a much-loved hardline rock band from the 60s which through its tumultuous history morphed into Jefferson Starship then finally Starship, with that final incarnation completely embracing the commercial, electronic wave of the era—much to the chagrin of their long-time fans. Even The Smiths, a band known for their rejection of synthesizers and dance-pop, couldn't resist the use of electronic wizardry. A listen to their best work, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, and there's that recognizable whipping beat. The appeal was undeniable, and the soundscape forever changed.

Earth, Wind & Fire

Jefferson Airplane, shortly before they became Starship

The Smiths

#music analysis #80s #music #rickroll #michael jackson #africa #reverb #gated reverb #soundengineer

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 4 years ago

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50 Ridiculous Rock Star Quotes: Random Quarantine Thoughts

Noel Gallagher

1. If there were gold medals for taking drugs for England I would have won a shitload.”

2. “Didn’t go into rehab like all me mates did – fucking lightweights.”

3. On Thom Yorke: “No matter how much you sit there twiddling, going, ‘We’re all doomed’, at the end of the day people will always want to hear you play ‘Creep’. Get over it.”

4. “I reckon if Thom Yorke fucking shit into a light bulb and started blowing it like an empty beer bottle it’d probably get 9 out of 10 in fucking Mojo."

5. “Kids have got to make their own choices. I don’t want my daughter’s record collection to be the same as mine – I don’t want her to be as cool as me."

6. “Ewan McGregor was my neighbour, right, and he came round my house the night he got the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I just happened to have two of those lightsaber toys, so I said, 'Come on – in the back garden.' And we had a fucking lightsaber fight. His first Jedi training session was with yours truly in my back garden at eight in the morning."

7. “You can’t write songs about your wife if your brother’s singing it. No, that’s not going to go down well."

8. “All I ever wanted to do was make a record. Here’s what you do: you pick up your guitar, you rip a few people’s tune’s off, you swap them round a bit, get your brother in the band, punch his head in every now and again, and it sells. I’m a lucky b**. I’m probably the single most lucky man in the world.”

9. “Just because you sell lots of records it doesn’t mean to say you’re any good. Look at Phil Collins.”

10. “If I ever get to go to the moon, I’ll probably just stand on the moon and go 'hmmm, yeah... fair enough... gotta go home now.’"

Kanye West

1. “50 is Eminem's favourite rapper… I'm my favourite rapper."

2. “My greatest pain in life is that I'll never be able to see myself perform live."

3. You basically can say anything to someone on an email or text as long as you put LOL at the end."

4. I think I do myself a disservice by comparing myself to Steve Jobs and Walt Disney and human beings that we’ve seen before. It should be more like Willy Wonka…and welcome to my chocolate factory.”

5. “I have to dress Kim everyday so she doesn’t embarrass me.”

6. “Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed. I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am a proud nonreader of books."

7. “You may be talented, but you’re not Kanye West.”

8. “You know, I’m a creative genius and there’s no other way to word it.”

9. “You should only believe about 90% of what I say. As a matter of fact, don’t even believe anything that I’m saying at all. I could be completely f—g with you, and the world, the entire time.”

10. “Trends come and go, but cool is forever."

Keith Richards

1. “Some things get better with age. Like me."

2. “I’ve been through more cold turkeys than there are freezers.”

3. "I've never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.”

4. “Some doctor told me I had six months to live and I went to their funeral.”

5. "If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet."

6. “If you've gotta think about being cool, you ain't cool."

7. “Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat."

8. “And then I think we realized, like any young guys, that blues are not learned in a monastery. You've got to go out there and get your heart broke and then come back and then you can sing the blues."

9. “I was number one on the Who's Likely To Die list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list.”

10. “Rap — so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another.”

Axl Rose

1. "I write the vocals last, because I wanted to invent the music first and push the music to the level that I had to compete against it."

2. “I'm not God but if I were God, ¾ of you would be girls, and the rest would be pizza and beer."

3. “I'm late to everything. I've always wanted to have it written in my will that when I die, the coffin shows up a half hour late and says on the side, like in gold, 'Sorry I'm Late'."

4. “It's really hard to maintain a one-on-one relationship if the other person is not going to allow me to be with other people."

5. "If love is blind I guess I'll buy myself a cane"

6. “I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.”

7. “I don't even know my own phone number.”

8. “If you are really into waiting, try holding your breath for Jesus, 'cause I hear the payoff may be that much greater.”

9. “Rock n' roll was a bad and evil thing. l remember once I was singing a Barry Manilow song, "Mandy," In the back seat of the car. It came on the radio, and I kind of sang with it, and I got smacked In the mouth because that song was "evil."

10. “Sometimes your friends are your lovers, or have been at one time.”

Dave Grohl

1. “How could you not want to do this? I get to sit around and talk about rock’n’roll all day, then go play music with my friends and laugh my arse off backstage, until it’s time to have a beer and get 80,000 people to sing with me. That’s not work!”

2. “I can truly say out loud that ‘Gangnam Style’ is one of my favourite fucking songs of the past decade. Is it any better or worse than the latest Atoms for Peace album?”

3. “I once received a cape [from a fan] that was made from the little purple bags that Crown Royal Whisky comes in. I know! I used to wear it but I don’t anymore.”

4. “Rick [Astley] is the man. The seventh Foo Fighter. He’s such a sweetheart.”

5. “Every record we go into make we go in thinking we’re gonna make ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ or ‘The White Album’ but at the end of the day we end up with a Foo Fighters record there’s nothing we can do.”

6. “If you play a Nickleback song backwards you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forwards you'll hear Nickleback."

7. “Because you have things like 'American Idol' and you've got radio stations that play music made entirely by computers, it's easy to forget there are bands with actual people playing actual instruments that rock."

8. “What's the last thing a drummer says in a band: Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?"

9. “There's something about heartbreak that makes for great music, but the same could be said for Jägermeister. Hangovers make for great music, too."

10. “To women, drummers seem like these adorable, sexy Neanderthals, and lead singers seem mysterious and dangerous. So while the lead singers all want to be David Bowie, floating into parties and being the center of attention, it's the drummers who are in the corner doing keg stands and breaking tables. Usually it's the drummers who get the fun-loving ladies and the singers who get the nutcases."

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radiopulzeblog · 7 years ago

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JMSN Comes Drinkin’ in Asia (2017)

American all-round musician, JMSN (pronounced Jameson), has returned from a six-month hiatus with his latest album, Whatever Makes U Happy. Taking half the year off is a considerable break for any job, but considering how JMSN has already released five studio albums in six years, the pace of his musical output is exemplary – and uncommon, by industry standards today. We speak with JMSN on what keeps him making music, and his philosophy of happiness.

youtube

What inspired the trip to come Drinkin' in Asia? What’s your favourite thing about touring?

I love playing live and finding good food! I love Asia! We toured China in 2015, so [we’re] really excited to come back [to] Asia and make new fans in new places.

What's your most memorable personal memory that made it into a song?

That’s a good question…. I'm really not sure actually. I try to always look forward, so [it’s] hard for me to recall exactly what inspired. Life, in general, is where I find inspiration and it’s always happening and changing.

How are things different ever since you've gone independent? What are the pros and cons of making music on your own? Are you happier with your own record label?

They're different in many ways. Pros would be artistic freedom. Cons would be not having as much money to help with that artistic vision. I am happy how it is right now, and I don’t know if I'd be happier another way.

Are there plans to expand your label, White Room Records?

Yes for sure. I’ve signed an artist from Toronto named Alcordo that we're trying to get out very soon! We’ve released one single called “No Good.” It’s on Spotify and YouTube.

youtube

We now know that fellow labelmate Pearl is actually your alternate alias, but how is Pearl different from JMSN?

It's different singers than just me and we collaborate. It’s a good home for songs that I like, but they don’t quite fit into JMSN.

youtube

And having worked with Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, The Game, J. Cole, and Tyga, what do you enjoy most from collaborating with other artists? Who would be in your own dream team?

I enjoy seeing other people work hard and getting inspired by them. Prince, Whitney Houston, Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones with Phil Collins on drums.

You've had a musical childhood and have spent over a decade in the business, how has the JMSN sound evolved after all these years? What genre do you consider your music to fall under (if it can be neatly compartmentalised by labels)? What genre would you like to attempt next?

It’s evolved with my life. I've grown as a person, a singer, a producer and an artist. I fall under the JMSN genre. I don’t like "neatly compartmentalized.” I'm just gonna continue to explore and see what happens.

Is there a connection between naming your latest album Whatever Makes U Happy and the world we live in, in 2017?

Yea it's how I felt in my life. The message applies to any time, not just 2017. I think you should always do whatever makes you happy.

JMSN – Live in Singapore is happening at EBX Live Space, Friday 10 November, 8pm. Tickets available online.

#jmsn #whiteroomrecords #alcordo #pearl #whatevermakesuhappy #drinkin #radiopulze #rpinterviews

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lunapaper · 7 years ago

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Album Review: ‘Lovers’ - Anna of the North

Life is but a dream for Anna of the North.

Comprised of Norwegian vocalist Anna Lotterud and multi-instrumentalist Brady Daniell-Smith, that dream began when Lotterud (studying Graphic Design in Melbourne at the time) met Kiwi Daniell-Smith at a small club, intrigued by her acoustic cover of Kings Of Leon’s ‘Closer.’ Their musical bond remained strong even long after Lotterud moved back to Norway, releasing ‘Sway’ in 2014 (later remixed by The Chainsmokers) followed by a string of other tracks, including ‘The Dreamer,’ ‘Oslo’ and ‘Us.’ ‘Sway’ also managed to catch the attention of Odd Future’s Taco, who later orchestrated duets between Lotterud and Tyler, the Creator, resulting in the tracks ‘Boredom’ and ‘911/Mr Lonely’ (both of which appear on Tyler’s latest record, Flower Boy).

Anna of the North’s brand of soft, cloudy 80s pop transports you to another world, another place, another time, their debut album Lovers providing a wintry escape into nostalgia as it examines love in all its bittersweet forms.

The gentle harmonic cruise of ‘Moving On’ sees Lotterud advise a friend ‘don’t forget about the good times’ in the wake of a shattering break-up, proving to be quite an uplifting self-help anthem as lilting guitars caress effervescent synths. She faces her own heartbreak, though, on ‘Friends’ as distorted echoes call out from the shimmering deep full of stuttering snares and mournful, subterranean beats, ready to take yet another blow as she pleads ‘Tell me where, tell me where, where we went wrong/I don't think I'm strong enough for us.’ On the title track, she asks ‘Show a little loving/Shine a little light on me,’ cast adrift in gauzy waves of coastal synths, drum claps and wistful glitches that are reminiscent of Texas’ 90s pop oeuvre, while on the album’s fifth track she bemoans ‘I'm tired of being in love/Always in the background,’ trying to get her clueless crush to notice her through the dusky haze of heartbeat bass and otherworldly bleeps.

Final track ‘All I Want’ is 80s easy listening given a modern makeover, embodying the spirit of Phil Collins’ ‘One More Night’ with softly-lit mono synths and power ballad-worthy riffs as Lotterud tries to recapture that lovin’ feeling (‘We don't have to start a fight/It don't even matter anymore who's wrong or right/But can you stay the night?’) On ‘Someone,’ she makes a hangover feel ultimately blissful, channelling other 80s faves like Yazoo and Tears For Fears as Lotterud concedes ‘I'm only human, baby/Sometimes I act a little crazy’ while trying to make sense of the night before. In another life, this would’ve been a track on The 1975’s debut record.

Her desperate longing continues on ‘Feels,’ a cut of vaporwave-lite pop swimming in twinkling synths, moody reverb and a steady cascade of drums that come straight out of a scene from a John Hughes film, as well as previous single ‘Baby’ as it floats across a sweet, sugary stream of hypnotic drum ripples and watery synths, filled with vivid imagery that neatly captures the all-consuming rush of first love (‘You see, you came in like a thunderstorm/Electric shivers shooting through my bones/You make my heart start beating in my chest/Baby, hold tight’).

Not that Lotterud and Daniell-Smith dwell too much on relationship woes. The ultra-glossy ‘Money’ serves up a bright, airy bed of thudding bass and icy plinks as they take aim at gold-diggers, while ‘Fire,’ a fizzy, playful slice of tropical pop that doesn’t look too out of place amongst the current crop of Scandi talent – MØ, Niki and the Dove, Tove Lo – turns romantic despair into a swaggering schoolyard taunt.

Lovers is a subdued, introspective debut for this cross-cultural duo, the latest act to come out of the recent 80s pop renaissance with light, diaphanous layers of sound and the clean, pastel-hued aesthetic to match.

But underneath it all is raw, unabashed emotion, the album recorded as Anna Lotterud’s own relationship came to an end. This isn’t like your average 80s film where some guy’s gonna hold up a boom box outside your window or you finally hook up at the big dance with the most popular boy in school. Lovers is all about the underlying tension, the morning after regret, the what-ifs, the crippling doubt and falling right back into old habits. It’s confusing and downright rough at times, but Anna of the North manage to make heartache sound oh-so serene…

- Bianca B.

#music #anna of the north #lovers #new #reviews #albums #Bianca B

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