#please the two myth albums are driving me insane

[the-fishh]

*violently shaking anyone who will listen* NO YOU DONT GET IT!!! THERE NEV- listen to me- THERE NEVER WAS A FOREST!!!!! ON THE ISALND. TTHERE WASNT A FOREST ON THE ISLAND- stop laughing. I'm dead serious. ARE YOU GETTING THE IMPLICATION?????? THE UNIDENTIFIED BEAST? THE "NEVERENDING" FOREST??????? THERE NEVER WAS A FOREST ON ST SASHA'S ISLAND

[lukamoonvibe]

Filthy Pride (Vil {Ryan}xTanya {Faye})

Vil, this isn’t healthy. We need to get out of this house, stop drinking so much. It’s driving you insane, it’s so dark and gross.

A knocking at my door caused me to listen to his worried pleas.

“Fine Ross, but this better be worth my time,” I muttered as I opened the door.

In front of me stood someone I didn’t recognise and an all to familiar sight.

“Holy shit, Ryan. Are you okay?”

That’s Jon, JON I’M NOT OKAY! HELP ME.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I say, crossing my arms.

“Well aren’t you gonna let us in, Ryan?” the female behind him asked.

I shook my head, stepping out of the way, “Please, come in.” I invited them in, rolling my eyes.

Don’t roll your eyes at possibly the only people who are willing to give you a second chance. Jon and Faye mean no harm and it would do you some good to have some company.

“Ryan, are you with us?” Jon asked.

I shook my head, “Not really.” I replied, causing them both to stare at me.

“Ryan, he’s still there, isn’t he?” Faye asked, causing Jon more confusion than before.

I shrugged, closing the door. I lead them down the hallway to the sitting room.

“Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?” Jon asked.

I turned on the light, letting them sit down.

“I know that he won’t tell you anything, because he’s too stubborn-”

“Hey! I am not.” I exclaimed.

She’s right you know. You should listen to her and learn from your mistakes.

“Shut up Ross.” I muttered, earning a weird look from Jon and a smirk from Faye.

“As I was saying, “Ryan” and I, we aren’t exactly who we say we are. You’ve heard of the myths that state about two people who find each other in every one of their lives and are destined to meet, no matter how they stop it,” Faye asked.

I looked at Jon who shook his head. “Like Hawkman and Hawkgirl, y’know Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara.” I explained and Jon looked less confused.

Faye shook her head, “Yeah. Anyway, we are something like that. Immortalized souls, forced to forever find each other and die together and start all over. The only problem being that when we are “reincarnated”, the body that we inhabit already has a soul, so we have to fight to get control. We don’t get reincarnated till our previous version dies, but our soul knows where it’s as soon as the new “vessel” is born. Which is where we come to this situation, I asked if Ryan was still there because right now, you’re looking at “Ryan” and “Faye”, but you’re talking to Tanya and Vill or-”

“Don’t say my name Tanya.” I growled, staring at her.

“Anyway. Faye accepted me, she let me take over her, as long as I still went by her name. But obviously, Ryan hasn’t, because Vill can still hear him. I always know when Vill has someone as a vessel, they change so much and it’s really noticeable.” Faye explained, “I thought it was Brendon at first, at that party, I was by myself, but Sarah and Vicky invited me, as soon as I walked into the room, I knew Vill was there, so I looked for people that had significantly changed in appearance, other than maturity happening naturally. So it was a toss-up between Ryan and Brendon, you both got my number. So Ryan is still fighting for his body back, he’s passionate about something, still attached to someone maybe.”

Jon looked at me, but I knew what he was doing, he wasn’t seeing me for who I am now, he was seeing me for how Ryan was.

“Clovers and Crickets. The album cover outburst. Everything after that was all because of Vil.” Jon started recounting all of the things I’d ruined, “Brendon was shattered, Spencer said that it took him so long to get over what happened, he thought that Ryan hated him and only dated him for pity. Brendon won’t even talk to me because I stuck up for you. You’re a monster.” Jon stood up and left Faye and I, I heard the door slam.

“You really screwed up this time. But Vil, we can fix this, you know how to fix this. I’ll see you next time.” she said, following in Jon’s footsteps, closing the door quietly.

“I guess you win Ross. Go and help the confused girl that’s going to be sitting outside and find Brendon, explain everything, every last detail, sorry for making the last eight years a living hell.” I said to my vessel, before closing my eyes and hearing a thud on the ground.

I opened my eyes, blinking slowly.

Wait, my eyes, I opened them.

I sat up, “Shit.” I muttered, looking around.

“I’m back.” I said, looking at myself.

Go and help the girl.

My eyes widened and I stood up, rushing out my door, slumped in the front yard was Faye.

I rushed over and shook her, “Faye, Faye are you okay?” I asked.

She groaned and smirked, “So I wasn’t imaging meeting you. Shit, where’s Tanya?” she asked, looking around.

I smiled, “Her and Vil are both gone. We’re both free.” I said.

“Oh. That’s uh great.” she said, looking down, “It's just, she’s the reason I have any friends, I’m very, uh, socially awkward.”

I chuckled, “Well if your friends don’t like you anymore, I’ll be your friend. If you want that is.” I say.

She nodded, standing up, “I’ll see you later Ryan. Maybe.”  she said, “And by the way, my name is actually Elizabeth Berg.” she walked away, leaving me by myself.

I smiled, “Z.” I said to myself, heading back inside.

[themelbournetone]

Top 10 Albums of the 2010s [Countdown]

Written by: Ziggy Cross

The world has changed a lot in the last ten years, but luckily for us, music still exists. Without further ado, here’s the 10 best albums that were the soundtrack to our decade:

2010 - THIS IS HAPPENING, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

This Is Happening is the third and “final” album by New York dance band LCD Soundsystem, released before their 2011 split (ending with the legendary 4-hour Madison Square Garden farewell show).

Following up their sophomore LP, Sound Of Silver, was always going to be a huge task, and This Is Happening holds up well, while also having an insanely ink-able title. It isn’t the group’s best album, it’s sure as hell a good way to start off the decade.

Highlights include the albums opener Dance Yrself Clean, I Can Change, and All I Want (which might sound strangely familiar to fans of David Bowie, who was a friend of LCD’s frontman James Murphy).

Notable mentions: Tourist History - Two Door Cinema Club, The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

2011 - THE ENGLISH RIVIERA, METRONOMY

The English Riviera is the third album from English indie pop band Metronomy. This is their most commercially successful album to date, including notable singles The Bay, and The Look. Most of this album was made solo by founder and producer Joseph Mount, with occasional assistance from the band members who have joined him along the way.

The album strongly rewards repeat listens, with tracks that might seem bizarre at first becoming certified bops after enough plays. The whole album is filled with some outrageous sounds from an extensive library of hardware synths. On the track Some Written, Mount brings out profound kazoo talent, as well as some impressive clarinet use in the following track, Love Underlined.

2011 was a huge year of development for the indie pop genre, with more bands embracing an electronic sound. It would seem that all the stars aligned for this release, and put them on the map. Metronomy is a band who have built a reputation for pushing limits, while managing to stay approachable enough for a wide appeal. They’ve got some pretty weird tracks if you’re willing to test the waters, but The English Riviera is without a doubt the best place to start.

Notable mentions: Torches - Foster The People, This Modern Glitch - The Wombats

2012 - BLOOM, BEACH HOUSE

Bloom is the fourth album from Baltimore dream pop band Beach House, and is their highest charting album to date. The album is packed with luscious synth and melancholy soaked guitar, reverberating in every direction far and wide. 

The track list is impressively solid, and while a lot of tracks may appear quite “same-y” at first listen, they are nuanced enough to allow for some great repeat listening. You always know what to expect when you’re listening to Beach House, and they never fail to please.

Bloom is filled with some incredibly memorable tracks, and some highlights include: lead single Myth, with its incredibly powerful guitar build and grounding synth line, Lazuli, with its catchy vocal stacking and driving synth arpeggio, and New Years, with it’s ear worm of vocal melody that will stay in your mind for all of eternity.

Beach House have established their own brand of melancholy, and Bloom is probably their best showcase of that. Along with many of the other great releases from 2012, this one is for those whose hearts play in a minor key.

Notable mentions: Dark Eyes - Half Moon Run, Bored Nothing - Bored Nothing

2013 - TROUBLE WILL FIND ME, THE NATIONAL

After the wild success of The National’s 2010 album High Violet, I’m sure many fans wondered what the band would do next. Trouble Will Find Me features wall-to-wall lyrical and instrumentational masterpieces. This is a *seriously* solid album.

The album has a great mix of ‘great-the-first-time’rs, and plenty of ‘this-will-hit-hard-on-listen-twenty’s too. Believe me when I say, every listen of this album will  leave you with a different ‘favourite song’.

Standout tracks include: I Need My Girl, a love song written by Berninger about missing his wife and daughter who stayed at home while he was on the road, and Don’t Swallow The Cap, a medium tempo alt-rock doomer anthem with the same understated power of LCD’s All My Friends.

Trouble Will Find Me also serves as a perfect warm up for the bands latest (2019) release I Am Easy To Find, if you’re that kind of fan. But I mean come on... even the titles match!

Notable mentions: The Bones Of What You Believe - CHVRCHES, Overgrown - James Blake

2014 - ABOUT FACE, #1 DADS

About Face is a special kind of album. Melbournite and all round musical genius Tom Iansek (also of Big Scary and No Mono) never fails to release pure magic into this world. His work truly is the hidden gem of Melbourne’s music scene - and those who have found it could not cherish it more.

Behind it’s quiet front, About Face holds the emotional force of a B-52 fighter jet. The production and gentle instrumentation will move you with force, there isn’t a single unremarkable track.

It should also be noted how impressive the lineup of collaborators on this album is; Tom Snowden, Ainslie Wills, Airling, AND that incredible saxophonist on Camberwell (you know what I’m talking about 😉).

It’s should come as no surprise that this album was nominated for an Australian Music Prize. While it did lose to REMI’s Raw X Infinity, at least we can have some comfort in knowing that Tom did win the prize the year before, for the wonderful Big Scary album, Not Art.

Notable mentions: There There - Washington, The Dew Lasts An Hour - Ballet School

2015 - CARRIE & LOWELL, SUFJAN STEVENS

“I don’t know where to begin...” where do you even start with an album like Carrie & Lowell!? How do you follow up an album that ended with one of the most powerful 25+ minute epics ever made? (I’m talking about Impossible Soul, if you haven’t heard it in full, drop everything and listen now - and if you have heard it, enjoy this shorter Car Seat Headrest cover)

Upon it’s release, Carrie & Lowell was hugely successful with critics, and was often cited as Sufjan’s best work yet. This album is quiet, I can’t count the number of times I've fallen asleep to this album on the train home from the city.

Despite it’s soft production, this album hits hard with it’s lyrics, something Sufjan now has now had over 20 years experience perfecting. Standouts include Should Have Known Better, Blue Bucket of Gold, and Fourth of July (see Sufjan leading a festival chant of ‘we’re all gonna die’ with the power of 10,000 suns here).

This album holds a warm place in many listeners hearts, and is well deserving of 2015′s top spot.

Notable mentions: Pretend You’re Mine - Pearls, The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us - Beach Slang

2016 - 22, A MILLION, BON IVER

Notable mentions: Not To Disappear - Daughter, Light Upon The Lake - Whitney

2017 - GO FARTHER IN LIGTHNESS, GANG OF YOUTHS

Standouts include slow burner Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane, anthemic Atlas Drowned, past punching What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?, and once in a lifetime worship anthem to Nietzschean affirmation Say Yes to Life. 

Read our review of the album here.

Notable mentions: Zone - Cloud Control, Visions Of A Life - Wolf Alice

2018 - FUTURE ME HATES ME, THE BETHS

Notable mentions: Lush - Snail Mail, Evening Machines - Gregory Alan Isakov

2019 - LOW GRADE BUZZ, HUNTLY

Notable mentions: You Deserve Love - White Reaper, First Body - Two People