#reverb 2018

[xxc4rt3rxx]

I will never get sick of danger days . Literally the wealth of fan content is so vast. Danger days girlies keep winning . Anyways what were your killjoys ocs named.

[brightfemurz]

guys don't listen to a song slowed and reverbed unless you're willing to let the normal version of the song sound squeaky and then you gotta do a whole damn detox to make it sound normal again

[userparamore]

hi! genuine question - why is it a disappointment that pmore performed at eras tour? i’m very neutral on taylor swift so i don’t really know the issues surrounding it. thank you in advance ❤️

i'm no taylor swift stan so i don't really want to, or have the energy to mention everything. but from a paramore fan perspective it's disappointing bc it's makes them come across as hypocrites. i've talked about this before and i don't want to get into it again but they've spoken up about climate change, hayley even jokes about root being about our planet "running out of time", they've partenered with REVERB on their this why tour (which i guess is a little greenwashing-ish but better than nothing). but this ends up being ungenuine when you tour with the artist who releases the most co2 emission out of every celebrity. the fact that she sued the kid who called her out for this, i think says alot about her as a person. paramore preaches about the shows being a safe place for everyone; all poc and lgbtq+. but then they tour with the prime example of white feminism, who only speaks up/comments on things if it affects her. and again with paramore claiming to be more political during the this is why album cycle, and expressed multiple times how important the diversity of their fans are etc. it does not seem genuine when they're praising an artist like taylor swift as much as they have been doing. i think that saying of: if you want to know someone, just look at who they choose to spend their time with, is very true.

another part of this and i think this is probably the biggest one for paramore fans in general is that the tours during this is why didn't include europe mainland (or asia). they toured only in uk&ireland for this is why, and then in interviews said they did an european tour. is the european tour in the room with us now? anyway, the last european mainland tour was jan 2018, and had only 3 dates that wasn't in the uk out of 8. so the last real european tour was summer 2017 with 18 dates. 6 of them was in the uk&ireland and 4 of the rest of the european dates were festivals leaving only 8 "real" concerts in mainland europe. lots of the countries on the eras tours, like italy, poland, switzerland etc paramore haven't played in over a decade (aka during the self-titled era). to have waited this long for them to tour and then for it to cost close to 400 dollars for a nosebleed ticket, if you even get a ticket, does not feel great. another thing is that for some of these countries paramore have made 2 albums since the last time they toured, and they've never had the opportunity to hear any of the songs from those albums live. as the opener act on the eras tour, paramore played 9 song. most of these were their greatest hits. as a paramore fan you obviously want to go to a concert to see them perform, but for that amount of money i think it's reasonable to want to hear other songs than still into you, ain't it fun and misery business. the setlist was catered to reach non-fans, and that's fine honestly, it would probably be worse for them to play songs "nobody" had heard, than the one's that had commercial success and makes them be able to have some crowd interaction.

either way, i don't think people would've been as disappointed by this tour if they had also announced an solo european tour. the argument that this will get them new fans and make them a bigger name doesn't hold water in my opinion bc paramore are already a big band. they're already a band who can sell out tours and big venues on their own.

[thekingofgear]

Sam Petts-Davies's Setup for Thom's 'Everything' Tour

A photo of the setup, shared by Sam on his instagram account with the caption "tour begins tonight. i’ll be parked at front of house with this box of esoterics for the duration. it’s going to be something really special."

Thom's solo tour has just begun with a show in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Sam Petts-Davies is along for the ride!

Since Radiohead's earliest shows, there's always been at least a few effects added by an engineer at the FOH (front of house) mixing desk to keep the band's sound clear and coherent. With Radiohead, that role was filed by Jim Warren. Even after Thom started bringing pedalboard full of vocal effects on tour, Jim continued to apply additional effects including plugins such as the Waves C4 multiband compressor for vocals. You can find more info on Jim's work in these posts.

For The Smile, even fewer hardware effects were needed at the FOH desk, in part due to Thom's expanded vocal pedalboard. In 2022, the Smile's mix engineer mainly relied on plugins from an Avid VENUE S6L-32D digital desk, supplemented only by a TUBE-TECH CL 1B Tube Optical compressor (presumably for Thom's vocals).

It's clear that when Thom is performing totally solo, a different approach is needed. But it's hard to imagine that any past FOH setup has been so full of hardware effects! And not just effects, but also modulators and an usual mixer, as we'll see....

For those who don't know, Sam initially served as a engineer under Nigel during the recording of Junun in 2015. He subsequently did engineering work on Spectre, A Moon Shaped Pool, and on the strings for the OKNOTOK singles. In 2018, he co-produced the soundtrack to Suspiria with Thom, and apparently Thom was a fan because Sam received a full production credit for Thom's soundtrack to Confidenza. He also produced both of the Smile albums released this year: Wall of Eyes and Cutouts.

For comprehensibility, we've divided the setup into four sections: the core, the modular, the pedals, and the rack. We'll start with the core setup.

Core Setup

This section is the nexus: receiving input from Thom's stage setup, sending it through various effects, and mixing it all together. The Matrix Mixer is using to both mix together and feedback the various effects in Thom's eurorack setup. The Yamaha DM3-D appears to be the central mixing console for the entire setup. Despite its small size, the Yamaha boasts 22 channels and a huge range of built-in effects, and on top of that it can also run VST plugins.

Death By Audio Echo Master delay

?

Roland RE-201 Space Echo tape delay

?

Erica Synths Matrix Mixer

Yamaha DM3-D Digital Mixing Console

Modular Setup

In the decade since Thom first used a Make Noise Shared System Plus to process his voice and piano, his eurorack effects setup has expanded quite a bit! The Shared System is designed to be both a sound generator and an effects processor, and since then Thom has created dedicated setups for each of those applications. This setup is the effects processor, with lots of delays, filters, and reverbs, plus some LFOs and CV sources to modulate those effects. The additional Doepfer case that Thom has on stage, might have some of his sound generators, but knowing Thom it could just as easily be even more Make Noise Echophon delays.

Row 1 (left to right):

Make Noise Maths (unused)

Intellijel Planar² joystick

Xaoc Devices Belgrad dual filter (unused)

4ms Dual Looping Delay

4ms SISM: Shifting Inverting Signal Mingler

blank panel (4hp)

Row 2 (left to right):

4ms QCD: Quad Clock Distributor (unused)

Soma Lyra8-FX (unused)

Make Noise Echophon delay

Make Noise Erbe-Verbe reverb

Vermona TAI-4 transformer-isolated I/O

Row 3 (left to right):

Intellijel µMIDI interface

Make Noise Richter Wogglebug random generator

Make Noise QPAS dual filter

Rossum Electro-Music Panharmonium spectral resynthesizer

?

Vermona TAI-4 transformer-isolated I/O

It appears that these are Thom's Rows 1 and 2 are kept in a Doepfer A-100P6 Suitcase 6U case. Rows 3 and 4 are kept in a Doepfer A-100PB Suitcase Base case. The modules on row 4 are impossible to identify at this angle, but Make Noise style knobs are clearly visible on the left-most module.

Pedal Setup

Furman M-8Lx power supply

?

Eventide Pitchfactor

?

Empress Effects Reverb

Rack Setup

We'll double back on this one once we have a better photo...

[deebeeus]

I have not posted in a while...very negligent! Here are a few recent shots:

2018 Custom Shop 1957 LP Junior TV Model Reissue with 1970 Marshall Lead 20

2002 Historic 1967 Flying V Reissue

1965 Duo Sonic with 1968 Traynor TR1 Reverb, 1969 Traynor YGM1 GuitarMate Reverb, and 1966 Traynor YGA1B Signature amp.

1961 Les Paul SG Junior

[autistme]

Laura + guitars souls

2008 IFeelSickToMyStomach blogpost 2016 She Shreds interview 2018 Making of Park Life Forever (reupload) 2020 Reverb interview

[bunnakit]

Not Me Episode 4 Music

Flares - Life in Colour

We immediately jump in with Flares as Sean is experiencing a nightmare. Stretch time but I guess if you wanted you could read this as Sean subconsciously sending up a signal flare for help.

Last Night, Last Night, Last Night - Well Then, Goodbye

This kicks in as Black is leaving Sean in the flashback; this could be a tie in with the 'Last Night' title as in it's a memory Sean is recalling that might feel like they just happened OR there could be a tie with the band name being 'Well Then, Goodbye' as Black very unceremoniously leaves Sean to his fate. (Either way, my ears don't particularly like this song, the reverb gives me ickies. Thank you misophonia.)

To Whom It May Concern - Rap Against Dictatorship (ft. Liberate P, Nazesus, and GSUS2)

The first time I saw the dance scene I got goosebumps and I could tell the show had done something big here. Allow me to infodump a bit. Rap Against Dictatorship uses their platform and their music to bring attention to the ongoing state of Thailand under military rule, especially during election time. They were founded in 2017 and released their first single in 2018. After the release of their single the members were threatened with arrest by police who later backpedaled after the music went viral and the group gained the support of the public. In 2019 they were awarded with the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent* at the Oslo Freedom Forum. During the 2020-2021 Thai protests one member was arrested with other pro-democracy activists and later charged with sedition. Their music is often censored in Thailand due to it's anti-goverment and anti-monarchy message. (I love them so much, your honor.)

*Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent is an award established in 2012 by the New York City-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF). According to HRF President Thor Halvorssen, the prize recognizes individuals "who engage in creative dissent, exhibiting courage and creativity to challenge injustice and live in truth"

Downloaded Truth - Marten Moses

As White and Todd are discussing Eugene and Todd is persuading White to reach out to her this song comes in. It could be just a neat song, it could be that White found this downloaded little piece of truth in the video on Black's phone.

Crushed by A P O L L O

I'm fairly certain this, or a remix of it, is what is playing as White is on his phone texting Eugene? I know I've heard the song before and I have it stashed somewhere, Crushed sounds very close but I can't tell if it's quite right? Sometimes they put a little filter over the song or play an arrangement that's midway through the song and it trips me up a bit. If it isn't Crushed then it's very likely another Apollo piece (though none of the ones on that album, I checked.)

As Gram and White discuss the aftermath of the fire we get a little more Downloaded Truth.

As Nuch, Gram, and White all meet in the garage a bit more of Crushed's beat plays in the background.

3 (Instrumental Version) - Bambi Haze (ft. Lu Ni)

Just as White is hugging Eugene and trying to placate her this song comes in. There are truly no connections to be made here, no leaps or stretches to be found. (Though both this and several of Marc Torch's songs are on Epidemic Sound, a host for a lot of royalty free music, so this could be where GMMTV sources a good chunk of their music.)

Closer - Morphlexis

As Eugene climbs in White's lap this song plays and it could be a nod to Eugene wanting to be closer to Black or that she is physically closer to White, again, if we want to make some big stretchies.

When Eugene wakes up we're gifted with another appearance from Tripping over Danger which also wraps up the episode.

thank you so much to everyone who reads these! i recommend checking back at some older posts as i have made some updates (sometimes i miss songs and realize it later.) i promise to make a masterpost of these once we're done and i'll put together a little list of my favorites!

[subbykittyboythoughts]

im not done talking about how weird color bass is. it's seriously the only genre where the best free tutorials come from the big names, artists like Chime have been giving advice about small sound design things for years. brostep, complextro, anything that HAS tutorials has them by smaller youtube channels. ASH (or, as known back then, Foxhunt) made 2 incredible videos about making complextro and is very obscure compared to artists like Feed Me, Nitro Fun, Wolfgang Gartner, etc. it's also a very weirdly-spawned genre, where the term was coined by Chime in ~2018 to name the fusion of melodic and heavy styles in bass music, as the divide between the two had been steadily growing, as well as between bass music designed for live shows and for at-home listening. then, around the same time Ace Aura pioneered the use of harmonically-designed basses with resonators, creating melodic riddim. some started deviating from riddim, or using new techniques like vocoders, fft repitchers, or convolution reverb, and slowly "color bass" came to mean a style of bass music focused on rich, chordal bass synths. some view color bass as identical to melodic riddim or as an offshoot of it, like as riddim is to dubstep.

also chime is fucking based and he/they agender like me?? rad

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Klainebingo 2023

Thank you for hosting this event! I’m an old school reader and admittedly haven’t read much new stuff post-2016 or so, so it’s been absolutely lovely to find some new stories and authors!

1 Reverb (2018) by Fickelodeon

2 Wouldn’t Change a Thing (2020) by nontarelationship 

3 You Will Be Found (2020) by kurtswish

4 Avian Series (2020) by kurtswish (Occupation: Superhero Costumer)

5 Even Better Than the Real Thing (2020) by gleekto

6 Andante, Andante (2020) by fionapear 

7 Courting Royalty (2022) by hundredindecisions (Challenge: 3-2-1 Prompt Bang 2022)

8 (N/A)

9 Head Versus Heart (2020) by dizzywhiz (Trope: Hurt/Comfort)

Thanks for your list!!  Find them on ao3.  Rules here

1. Debut fic:  Reverb by Fickelodeon

Post-Michael thru Season 4, Blaine’s just a little unwell, and it’s not long before everyone can tell. Physical and Mental illness. Hurt/Comfort. If Robin Cook wrote for Glee and General Hospital, the story would probably go like this. Universe Expansion for Seasons 3 and 4 wherein I add some elements to canon and leave some out but manage to get everyone back to place where they can still have the endings they got in canon. Honestly, I just wanted to write H/C, but the more I hurt Blaine, the more I realized he wasn’t going to handle that very well, so I added in diagnosed mental illness. All in all, it’s everything I love to read in fic all in one epic story, just in case I don’t ever get the chance to write these characters again.

2.  Page turner:  Wouldn’t Change a Thing  by notarelationship

On the eve of his junior year at Dalton, Blaine’s dad kicks him out of the house, dumping him at the bus stop, cutting him off, and leaving him homeless. This is the story of how he survives, meets Kurt, and ultimately triumphs.

3. Need Tissues:  You Will Be Found  by @kurtswish

While on a National Broadway Tour, Kurt meets an intriguing man. With more than just miles separating them, they must make a choice. Will they go back to their different lives, or will they let themselves be found?

4. Unusual occupation: Avian Series by @kurtswish

Kurt Hummel always felt separate from his world and being the only one without a Soulmark didn’t help. Just as he is ready to end it all, something happens to change the course of his life.  Parts 1 - 3

5. Your choice:  Even Better Than the Real Thing by @gleekto

College AU/Famous!Blaine and Fanboy!Kurt - Kurt POV

Kurt really doesn’t have time to figure out the dating world between being a freshman at prestigious theatre school, LAADA, and his active but secret blogging life in the Sing!Fandom. So what if Sing! ended last year? There are still fics to read and actors to follow. Especially the uber talented heartthrob lead, Blaine Anderson. He can act. He can sing. He can even dance. He’s gay. He’s out. And he’s only 24. Kurt is willing to twiddle his thumbs and click refresh until Blaine Anderson’s next project.

He just didn’t expect the next project to be on his roommate Rachel’s new TV show.

6. Summer story:  Andante, Andante  by fionapear

Burt settles himself down in the chair of the vanity, peering up at the wall-mount TV at the movie. He fishes in his pocket for the piece of paper from the restaurant earlier. His fortune cookie fortune reads: “With time comes understanding.” It feels a little apt, even if he can’t place exactly why.

(Or: In which Burt Hummel, slowly, begrudgingly, grows to accept Blaine’s presence in his life.)

7. Written for a challenge:  Courting Royalty  by hundredindecisions  @thnxforknowingmeme

During Kurt’s senior year, his friend Rachel gets some surprising news: she’s the princess of a tiny European country, and she has a twin brother to share the throne with. The summer after graduation, Kurt visits his newly-royal friend in the country she’s heir to before they head to New York for college. Staying in a castle and rubbing shoulders with European nobility is pretty overwhelming, but the most remarkable part is meeting Rachel’s brother Blaine, the new prince who Kurt instantly begins crushing on. This summer is either going to be a fairy tale come true, or result in multiple diplomatic catastrophes.Inspired by Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries series and the movie adaptations, but no background knowledge is needed to understand the fic.

8. n/a

9.  Genre/trope you wouldn’t normally read:  Head Versus Heart by @dizzywhiz

Blaine gets hit by a taxi and ends up in the hospital - so naturally, as his best friend and long-standing roommate, Kurt visits him at every possible opportunity until he gets to come home.

It only takes a couple of visits before Kurt notices something impossibly endearing: the beeping of Blaine’s heart rate monitor speeds up whenever his friends come to visit. At least, Kurt assumes it happens with all of Blaine’s friends, until Sam has no idea what he’s talking about.

#Jen

[bandhyukoh]

[Eastern Standard Times] Hyukoh and Sunset Rollercoaster: The Indie Collaboration of the Year

This interview belongs to Eastern Standard Times. December 5, 2024. By Andrew Yee.

Eastern Standard Times: How would you introduce yourself now? What is the most important thing to know about who you are today?

Kuo: I'll introduce myself as a lead singer, guitarist and music producer from Sunset Rollercoaster and the owner of my label Sunset Music.

OHHYUK: I'm OHHYUK from HYUKOH and I play guitar, sing, and I am also the producer for HYUKOH. While he (Kuo) owns his own label, I’m on the label DooRooDooRoo and I mainly focus on the creatives.

Eastern Standard Times: What were your first impressions of each other?

Kuo: Shy, but still brave. He does things. Just in a shy way.

OHHYUK: Very clever and talented, and very smart. When I first met him, I immediately realized he’s something really different, and he does his job very well.

Eastern Standard Times: Both group’s last releases were in 2020. Why did this feel like the right comeback project?

Kuo: It was really exciting. From the beginning, we didn't expect that we were going to do such a big project. 

We just thought we were going to just make some music, maybe two songs, three songs, a small special EP. But slowly the ambitions started growing during the process.

OHHYUK: I remember from 2017 to 2018, suddenly there were so many collaborations happening. I wanted to collaborate with the other musicians, but I didn’t want to make just one single or one track, and when I asked him (Kuo) to make an album, he agreed. I think it’s a very interesting collaboration, and was something I was waiting for.

Eastern Standard Times: Did you feel nervous about releasing music again?

OHHYUK: Are you nervous?

Kuo: No, not really.

OHHYUK: Yeah, me too. 

Eastern Standard Times: What are your memories of the first songwriting camp at Music Village 1939 in Gapyeong?

OHHYUK: Uh, the food was… bad.

Kuo: It's a small town. And I think we didn’t expect we were going to have really good food over there, but in the end, we found that we were eating the same food over and over again during the whole week. But I don't care about the food because we somehow still made really good music. So even though the food was bad, I think it was still worth it.

Eastern Standard Times: What is the process like creating music with ten different musicians? Did you approach every song in the same way?

Kuo: We created four songs in our jamming sessions in Gapyeong. And the other eight songs we created on the internet, file swapping. We also went to a friend's house, and he had tons of synthesizers set up, so OH and I just jammed over there and finished the arrangement of 'Antenna' (also listed as 'Aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa'). I would say we had a lot of different approaches to making the album. 

Eastern Standard Times: How did traveling to Seoul and Jeju Island influence the songwriting process?

Kuo: When we went to Jeju Island, the album was almost done actually. We somehow agreed to make one more song over there, but we still don't know what to do with it yet. 

OHHYUK: The trip was actually a vacation. It was snowing, so we were stuck in the Airbnb, but there was a pool, and nobody was swimming. So we just used the pool as a reverb hole, and we were recording in the swimming pool and some other rooms. It was really fun.

Eastern Standard Times: What does ‘AAA’ mean to each of you?

OHHYUK: Something good.

Kuo: Something reliable, trustworthy. Your time is guaranteed.

Even though English is not our native language, somehow we still make music in English. We love the way we approached it and tried to build a space for all our written lyrics. We tried to describe a situation so it isn’t a narrative and everybody can project their own idea about the music or the album. 

I think AAA has multiple meanings and everybody can put their own idea into it. That’s how we interact with people. 

Eastern Standard Times: During an interview in 2020, Kuo talked about music being its own language that connects people. Why does this idea resonate so much with both of you?

OHHYUK: Because we are from different cultural backgrounds, even though I can speak Mandarin, we still have little differences. But music is really simple. If you play something, then you know whether it’s good or bad. I think this kind of approach makes everything easier. 

Kuo: I think music is a language for sure. It‘s even built into our genes or animal instincts; when you hear something, you will get emotional feedback from it. So it's a certain kind of communication, subconsciously, I would say. So that's why I think everybody has this ability to communicate, even through music or frequencies.

And I think that that's why we have this bond to make music, I think our frequencies somehow match together.

Eastern Standard Times: How are Australian audiences different from other crowds?

Kuo: We’ve been to Australia before. And I think in Asia, our fans are usually more quiet, but every time we go to Western countries, especially Australia, people get more excited. Australia is kind of special because it's mixed with Western countries and Asian countries, but I can tell people get more excited.

I think people move their bodies with the music more. In Taiwan, people just sit there and it feels like they're judging us. They're happy inside, exploding inside, but the way they enjoy the show is by staring at us and judging us, and that’s how it is. 

Eastern Standard Times: Where would you love to perform next?

Kuo: Antarctica. Play to some whales.

OHHYUK: Actually, India.

Kuo: Oh yes, he wants to go to India.

OHHYUK: I’ve never been, so I really want to have a show in India.

Eastern Standard Times: What’s something we don’t know about each of you?

Kuo: My and OH’s birthday is only one day different. Mine’s October 6th.

OHHYUK: And mine’s October 5th.

[thisworldisablackhole]

Listening Log, November 2024

November is always kind of like the last month of the year in terms of big exciting new releases. There should still be a few sleeper releases in December, but I'll mostly be spending December catching up on older stuff and putting together my year end list. Anyway, lots of good stuff to get through.

FFO: HARDCORE AND CRUST INFLUENCED DEATH METAL Hardcore death crusters Mammoth Grinder have made an absolutely glorious comeback after a six year hiatus with their heaviest and most atmospherically dialed in release yet. These songs are just so crushing, definitely some of their most crust influenced songs too (especially "Decrease The Peace"), but the production on this thing harkens back to 2013's Underworlds; just the perfect amount of reverb to beef up the cosmic dread of each riff and guttural bellow. A beautiful return to form that fans of modern bands like Gatecreeper and Ripped to Shreds should love. Read the full review here.

FFO: EMOVIOLENCE

drive your plow over the bones of the dead might have a really long, attention grabbing name, but their riffs and songwriting chops completely speak for themselves. This band is insanely talented, no doubt. drive your plow effortlessly balance chaos and melody into a maelstrom of octave chords and fretboard mashing, but each song still retains unique properties that really reward attention and repeated listens. I highly suggest keeping the tracklist open for this one, because the songs fly by so fast and are connected by strings of feedback in a way that makes each song flow into the next like you're really watching a live performance. Not only is this one of the best screamo records of the year, it stands up against the classics that defined the genre. Read the full review here.

FFO: METALCORE

Counterparts dropped a surprise EP early November that sent vibrations throughout the heavy music community. Counterparts have been one of the most beloved and consistent bands in metalcore for years now, but I always felt like they were consistent to a fault—always good, but stagnant, never really pushing the envelope or expanding upon their established formula. Well, this EP changes that. Heaven Let Them Die seemingly takes influence from Brendan Murphy's other band END and ends up being the heaviest damn thing the band has ever done. The melodic leads have been pared back significantly, but these songs are still punctuated by swellings of grief and unrestrained rage that makes this just as memorable as anything else in their catalog. If this marks a new direction for the band, well, it's about time they switched things up.

FFO: ACOUSTIC FOLK

Haley Heynderickx's long awaited follow up to 2018's I Need to Start a Garden has arrived, and it's beautiful. To be honest, I never got into her last record, despite the obvious fanfare, but when this one dropped I jumped at the opportunity to get acquainted. Seed of a Seed just feels like an instantly classic folk album. Timeless, subdued—an expression of quietness that hides a rich world of emotion to uncover. The music really matches the album cover too, it just has a really earthy, grounded tone to it, like I can smell the soil clinging to the roots of every guitar strum and drawl of the strings.

FFO: MELODIC ANARCHO-PUNK

Without an ounce of hyperbole, Straw Man Army are simply one of those once-in-a-generation punk bands that are truly pushing the envelope of what punk can be. Not by reinventing the wheel, but by casting aside the self-perpetuating constraints the genre imposes upon itself, and grasping for influences that fall outside the fault line. At the end of the day, Straw Man Army are just doing what everyone else does: combining different aspects of the wheel into something that hopefully displays a shred of novelty, but it's the way that they do so while still remaining arguably more punk than any other band in the scene that is so damn impressive. Earthworks is one of the most original and thought provoking punk albums ever made, and will probably remain so for quite some time. Read the full review here.

FFO: METALCORE, BREAKCORE, FROMJOY, STATIC DRESS

Combining metalcore with dance music is not a new idea, bands have been doing it since the early 2000s, but there's been a few bands popping up lately that are doing this in increasingly tasteful and unique ways. No more ham-fisted trancecore please, we want breakcore, vaporwave and glitchy IDM. fallingwithscissors display a lot of cool ideas on this EP, but also a ton of potential that the band has not quite tapped into yet. This is as enjoyable as it is clunky. They are clearly just throwing things against the wall right now to see what sticks, so it's hard to fault them for what feels like a necessary step in their evolution. I'm very excited to see if they succeed to tighten up the concept for their next release.

FFO: POST-HARDCORE, EMO, POP PUNK

Interpersonal came out of nowhere and blew me away. This little-known band from Missouri deserves to be huge, and I think they will be one day if they maintain this quality of production and songwriting. This is their debut full-length, but it feels like it was made by music scene veterans. The Long Bright Dark morphs in a few different directions during it's run-time, but all of its ideas are executed to perfection, and they maintain a surprising sense of cohesion considering the diverse range of genre aptitudes that are covered here. It all adds up to a package that is slick, memorable, and endlessly replayable. One of the best post-hardcore albums of the year, hands down. Interpersonal has a Long Bright future ahead of them. Read the full review here.

FFO: BRUTAL, TECHNICAL DEATH METAL

Defeated Sanity are one of the most celebrated brutal death metal bands alive, and it's easy to see why. They utilize the same addictingly grotesque production techniques as some of the most vile slam bands, but when it comes to pure musical proficiency, these guys are leagues ahead of almost everyone else. Just look at the second half of 2016's Disposal Of The Dead // Dharmata, that shit is basically just free-jazz played by metal musicians. These guys could easily be a world class band if they toned down the abrasiveness, but Deafeated Sanity's refusal to dumb down or reject brutal aesthetics to make their music more accessible makes them one of the greatest underground acts of all time. Endless respect. Chronicles of Lunacy is easily one of the best death metal albums of the year.

FFO: METALCORE, POP

I talked about Poppy's new album in my last roundup, but now that it's out in the world, I'm putting it in here again, because this album ended up being way more diverse than I could have ever expected. While I enjoyed the first few singles for this album, I was a little worried that FIFTEEN tracks of metalcore Poppy would get stale super fast. Thankfully, Negative Spaces retains a significant amount of Poppy's signature synth-pop weirdness, and ends up sounding more like a proper follow-up to 2020's I Disagree. The difference is that this time around, Poppy's metal influence is given ample room to blossom into fully formed ideas instead of being restrained to a collection of rock opera mashups. The track list ebbs and flows between moments of blistering aggression and dancefloor bangers that coalesce into a theme park ride that never gets boring, despite it's moments of derivative indulgence. If you look closely, it's pretty easy to see which tracks are just imitations other bands (BMTH, Knocked Loose, Loathe, Evanescence), but Poppy brings everything together with her individual charm into a package that is just so much god damn fun, and that's all that matters.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

SETTINGS INCLUDE: "BLAST," "MIX," "BOOST," "COW," "MED," AND THE FUNNY AF, "HIGH AF."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a first edition [blue] Hilbish Design Pessimiser Distortion guitar pedal, a King Buzzo/MELVINS collaboration, c. 2017. Only 150 made worldwide.

Sources: https://reverb.com/item/68904671-hilbish-design-pessimiser-king-buzzo-melvins-first-edition-blue-86-of-150-2018-blue (Reverb 2x).

[deep--dive]

Fallout Ride through the sky remaining blue Delayed echo reverbing all night long Fallout with me, Galvanize your soul Delayed echo I soon will embrace you

We were always to be crawlers I was always a hard faller Stay close to me as I will fall in Fallout

from ARMORED CORE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK 20th ANNIVERSARY BOX Special Disk 2 (2018)

[embellishedbookworm]

D --> Too nerdy for a python script you are so cute

oh my god i am not too nerdy for a python script. i'm talking about the music! like did you know pokemon gold and silver never got any kind of soundtrack release? red and green got one but it's got a ton of reverb because game freak had never released a soundtrack before, at least as far as i know. they figured that out with the hoenn games, and even gave fire red/leaf green, and heart gold/soul silver soundtracks, but then in 2018 they stopped releasing game soundtracks entirely. no sword/shield, no legends arceus, and no scarlet/violet soundtrack release.

which is fun. but that's what fan communities are for. they solved the problem, btw.

[anosci]

selected albums ive listened to in 2024

this year I'm just posting the highlights so itll be shorter

[1] [2]

January

1/ VHS Head - Phasia (2023) first new album of '24 for me! "Strange Food" that zap pew beat is a delight! title track is p good, floaty. "Phocus" this is very vaguely leaning into…funk? i really like it. possible highlight? wondering why it shares the title of a different album.

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4/ VA - FM Synth 2 (2017) yeah i love fm "Mach 5 Fusion Force X" is a god damn tour de force. insane! "Work Without Rules" second fav of mine for its smoov smoov swingy wobs

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7/ Skee Mask - C (2024) first 2024 album in the list! dusty, crispy, chillout. analogue. deep bass when needed, never too thick of a presence. delightful chillout music. at worst, its a bit varied, as if it were an anthology. probably because it is. highlight: "Bassline Dub"

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12/ (all OCRemix posts from 2017) all over the place ofc some insano selections: "Multi-track Drifting" N R G!!! "Big Room Gobi" funny but in a goes hard way also: Star Salzman's Katamari mix!!! i keep coming back to that in particular

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15/ VA - Adventure Time, Vol. 1-5 (2019) they have extended versions of some sc cuts!! "Party With the Chief" esp(!) the biggest thing I noticed overall: this soundtrack is so…wack. meandering. ADHD in control of a quirky ensemble. continually amazed that this's from a hit show

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16/ Diverse System - JAPAN 2 (2023) a mostly rly good grab bag of bangers with a japan flavor! i adore the koto mixed in with tight electric beats. big big standouts with "灯火" !!! and the much more electric "Amatsu"

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17/ Patricia Taxxon - Bicycle (2024) laid back (mostly) textures n vibes. instant fav in "Frat Claws" and "I Do" specifically! i really like the FEEL within the sounds. i keep coming back to "Chipshop" and "Boys". visceral.

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23/ Aleksi Perälä - Starlight 1 (2018) surprisingly solid, albeit a bit all over the place much love for the smooth sounds of "UK74R1823040" much love for the stepfiltered "UK74R1823090" not as much a fan of the techno flavors this time but still!

it's hard to recommend this artist in general but ive been listening to a lot of AP music. just give those two highlights a try and see what you think.

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February

25/ BT - The Secret Language of Trees (2023) THE GOOD STUFF Producer's Cuts especially!!! "k-means clustering"……. the clicks in "Time Moves So Fast"…. if you ever wished ppl made more music from 2007, here it is. a return to the binary universe.

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40/ Tom Bragl - Regainable (2024) a few crunchy niceities, but just a few imo. "Klamra" f.ex. feels very 2007, which IS a delight. for anyone who wishes they made more music from 2007. here it is. funny it's marketed as "80s esque" lol. i hear it tho.

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43/ µ-ziq - 1977 (2023) mike has a very distinct style that stands out from a lot of his peers imo. i wasnt sure about this but the reverbed minimalist drum machine in tracks like "4am" and "Belt & Carpet" win me over. I think those two and the weirdly hazy house of "Houzz 13" are my favs. "4am" especially, with those ethereal (newage?) chopped vocals

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44/ Autechre - 2005-4-15 Glasgow (live set) apparently there are some old soundboard recordings laying around!!! this is super good. quaristice stuff. i love love love the multiple variations of chence9! the fast version of IO is rly good too. ez fav but still.

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March

47/ STAFFcirc vol. 9: MIDI MODULE FANATIX (2024) oh hell yes, midi AND rompler!!! "Thunder and Strawberry Wine" is otherworldly. i get how it was made but also. How? ooooghhh… "30 Domcaster St" delightful ooooghhh… "Cascade rev.2023" authentic zest "Yakumotatsu" god i love this trend of pushing msgs midi to the max "tunnel7_r35b" listen i love chimeratio and he brought his slapping

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57/ Fields Of Mist - Biospore Farmers (2024) try not to compare to boc challenge: impossible. it's lush damnit. but the perc is way way more analogue drummachine. its wall to wall good. that opening track would have blown my mind in 2007. they dont make it like that anymore, except i guess they do!

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60/ pilotredsun - Achievement (2016) an album misplaced in time. pristine early 00s bedroom musician vibes.

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[robinsnest2111]

Here's the promised Def Leppard/Mötley Crüe concert experience post <3

Under a read more because I don't want to hit any of you with this giant wall of text, videos and photos without any way to skip past lol

I arrived at the venue with time to spare, saw many people in just black bandshirts (for comfort which I totally get. Not everyone's as extra as me who dresses up like he's Mick Mars' stunt double in the 80s lol)

I sadly had to throw away my umbrella. It wasn't allowed inside the pit. I get it, hazard and whatnot. The 4€ fee to have someone look after it and only a half hour window to get it back after the concert ended seemed not worth it for a cheap umbrella so buying a new one on monday it is.

I got myself a shirt as soon as I got in. The choices were not great, gotta admit. Mötley Crüe seem to be going for some japanese-esque Samurai-inspired graphic for their new era (felt like an Iron Maiden copy-ish thing to me, not my thing)

The rest of the black shirts were meh, either too plain or prominently featuring John 5. The only shirt with Mick on it was a pale pink and was 5 bucks more expensive than everything else. All shirts and tank tops, both for Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard, were 45 bucks each (rip my June budget fr), bandanas were 25 bucks, basecaps and limited edition signed prints 35 bucks, etc. The Mötley keychains were all sold out by the end of the night, else I would've gotten one of those. My Iron Maiden keychain from 2018 is looking a bit worn and I would've loved to have a new one but oh well. I can still try and DIY one myself. I wanna get more into bleach-painting and patch making and embroidery anyway so it'd be great practice!

I had a t-shirt and tank top by the end of the night lol

---

After the initial shirt purchase I still had ample time for a toilet break (and a sip of free sink water) after almost 2 hours of travel time and found a nice space in the crowd somewhere in the middle distance from where I could see most of the action on stage.

A local rock radio station did the pre-gig music entertainment. I also met 2 nice dudes who are in a band called Nathanael and play Victorian folk metal! They handed me their business card and I will definitely check them out as soon as I can, maybe even go to one of their gigs soon?

Between the rock radio station signing off and the start of the actual gigs they played some other songs to keep the crowd entertained, Fox On The Run by The Sweet among others! A personal mini highlight 🦊💕

Mötley Crüe was up first and they took their sweet time to actually get on stage.

There was a pretty long classical music piece playing before their proper intro sequence.

The official start was supposed to be around 6.30 pm but they got on stage at sometime around 7.30pm? My inner punctuality freak was not amused but it is what it is lol

I loved the song selection, knew almost all of them but had trouble singing along for reasons other than my Swiss cheese brain. Not sure if it was intentional or just very unluckily adjusted speakers but most of what I heard of the songs was the droning of the subwoofers. Most of Vince's vocals and a bit of Nikki's bass, John's guitar and Tommy's drums were drowned out by the reverb of the sound system and the overwhelming boom of the speakers. Kinda disappointing. It also rendered the audio of most of the videos I filmed during their set useless. But ah well.

As this was my first time seeing Mötley Crüe on stage I have no idea if it's a common thing for the sexy dancer ladies to have their own mics and sing some of Vince's parts? It didn't matter much due to the aforementioned "subwoofer drowning out most of the sound" issue lol

And how could I forget the tits cam zooming in on the crowd, at dear Tommy's request. I guess if you're famous enough you can simply ask to see your fans' tits and most of them happily oblige. I've never seen so many tits out in the wild/on the big screens, it was strange. But it firmly cemented just how wildly asexual I am. Although I am capable of appreciating some nice boobies from an aesthetic point of view no problem, they don't do anything for me beyond that haha

Strangely, the only song the audio was fine on was Home Sweet Home. I really wish I could've heard more of Vince's voice in the other songs like that :')

John 5's formal intro was an almost 2 minutes long guitar solo, not sure how to feel about that. Like yes, he's good, he has the skills, but. Eh.

(Loved the violin bow on guitar strings intro to Kickstart My Heart tho, that was kinda cool :P)

Nikki and Vince introducing their older more well known songs with "Wanna hear more of our old shit?" rubbed me the wrong way? On the other hand Nikki said the band loves Germany (he even waved the German flag on stage) and loves the crowd so, eh. I guess I'm a weenie and that's just how they are haha

Also got a little sad about them changing some of the lyrics to Smoking In The Boys Room (from "my buddies Sixx, Mick and Tom" to "my buddies Sixx, 5 and Tom") and the caricature and logo on the screens near the end of their set featuring John 5 instead of Mick. I wasn't quick enough to get a photo because the sadness of a new Mick-less Crüe era hit me full force in that moment. Can't help that my brain is hyperfixating on Mick Fucking Mars and that I missed him dearly all night long :'))))))

At least they didn't cut him out of any of the 80s footage video edits playing on the big screens during some songs. It would've been pretty asshole-ish if they did. Like completely erasing him from their band history.

On a lighter note: Vince introducing Nikki as his brother, who he has known for over 40 years, and their little in-sync swaying back and forth with the mic stand and bass respectively moment with them laughing and talking and exchanging smiles and grins was super cute :') <3

Also Tommy receiving a small bouquet of roses, smiling, and then proceeding to stuff them down the front of his pants lmao

And that was that for Mötley Crüe

A little break in-between, enough time for another trip to the loo and afterwards sip some more water from the sink like an animal (not gonna pay anything over 5€ for a puny little cup of water from the overpriced beverage stands, no sir)

Def Leppard were in another league compared to Mötley Crüe! Their sound was PERFECT. Very harmonic, powerful, you could hear everyone SO WELL!!! None of the pesky subwoofer problem the Crüe had, and they all looked like they had so much fun!!! I'm not as well-versed with Def Leppard's discography and all the band members (yet), but everyone looked great in their stage outfits! The lights and background videos were so nice too!!!

And they played the 2 songs I do know (Foolin' and Pour Some Sugar On Me)

but also a bunch of songs from the album they worked on during the worst of the pandemic years. Which also sounded very good!!! I'm actually considering buying that new album if I see it out in the wild for a decent price.

The background video montage for Photograph was so adorable with all the pictures from the band's history, from the late 70s to present day. They were all such adorable babies back then and seeing all the photos gave me the same warm fuzzies as looking at old band photos and candid shots online does <333

Very much a 180 to Mötley Crüe in every regard, Joe Elliott thanked us in German and English, and told us the band loves us <33

I might actually try to get more into Def Leppard now that I've seen how awesome they are on stage <33

The crowd for Def Leppard was a little older and less rowdy, a very welcome change. Still a bunch of almost blackout drunk people, sloshing their beer everywhere and bumping into everyone around them. One major thing I dislike about bigger concerts tbh.

---

I also got a bunch of compliments on my hair, make up, and outfit throughout the evening <3

Even got called Nikki (and Mick, after informing people of my style influence) a few times lol

A couple older folks said they admired my style and that you don't see many people like me anymore and that I should keep doing my thing because it's so cool to see :')<333

[Some comments bordered on some icky misogynistic topics tho, like "oh girls nowadays are too prissy and not as cool and rock-n-roll and bold and rough-and-tumble as they were in the 80s/like you", etc.

And yes, I let everyone think I'm a girl. Not worth it trying to correct tipsy and/or drunk off their asses metalheads in a loud crowded venue. I don't really pass on a masculine day; much less dressed to the nines, face slathered in theatrical 80s make up and hair backcombed and hairsprayed to hell and back.]

On my way to the train station I got to talking with some other tram passengers heading home after the concert, an older couple and two guys around my age. The couple had pretty cool battle vests, all covered in various pins and patches. One of my favourites was the Zappa For President patch on the lady's vest which made me think of @feeshies , really wish I'd asked for a photo :')

The guys my age roped me into going to a strip club with them instead of going straight home. They even covered the entry fee for me, so I didn't have to pay anything! They were very respectful and I was free to go whenever I pleased. It was interesting to see pole dancers/strippers up close in real life and not only on TV, but it's definitely not for me lol I'm too aroace and neurodivergent for this. The ladies had some badass pole skills tho! Effortlessly dancing in 10 inch platform stilettos and with barely anything covering their bodies? I could never! Kudos to the ladies!

Anyway, it was good I decided to head home around 1am, I could already feel the joint pain creeping up on me. it's full-blown throbbing and piercing agony, 7/10, now. I only got 3 hours of sleep before the aches woke me up the first time orz

But hey, 3 hours and a bit of dozing here and there are better than nothing. I spent Sunday taking it kinda easy, only did a few chores around the house, and went through all the photos and videos i took (111 files in total) of course! I weeded out all the blurry and shaky ones and the few good ones should be peppered throughout this post!

Hope y'all had a good Sunday and Monday <3